[Action]

[automailed]

[When Edward Elric wakes up in the middle of the forest after his kidnapping, he is not quite himself. Outwardly, of course, there is no change- he looks a little more tired, perhaps, as if he's been sleeping poorly, and it seems like he hasn't eaten well for the past month. If asked, he'll complain about a seemingly perpetual hunger that no amount of food seems to satisfy.

Beyond the physical sense, however, he's not Edward at all. Not that he'll let anyone else know about it. There's a homunculus in control of his body, tied by a twisted bloodline, with a maelstrom of wailing voices in the back of his mind, one he's grown so used to over the course of several hundred years that it's nothing but a dull background noise now. With one additional voice that just happens to be louder than all of the others-

"You bastard! You bastard, Pride, give me back my body!! You think I'm going to sit here quietly while you use me like this!? You can't just take over!! You can't shut me up, dammit!!"

But even with all that shouting, all that effort... it's still nothing more than just that: background noise. And he can ignore it, as long as it takes. Homunculi are skilled at such things.

Still- he lingers in the woods for a while, considering his next step. Separated from Amestris and Father, no goals to be met, no Promised Day of which to ensure the successful passage, no allies to speak of, and a new body to which he needs to adjust. Fullmetal has friends here, people who would fight him if they knew the truth. And as strong as he is, he can't fight off an entire village of powerful fighters.

The alternative is obvious, and not, he assumes, difficult. He's spent more than fifty years pretending to be a young child; a teenage alchemist shouldn't be that hard.

When he finally makes it into the village, his first step is not to head back to his own house. Truth be told, he's not certain where that house is. His priority instead is getting himself a good meal, and for his current stomach, that means ordering a lot. So "Edward" can be found in Seventh Heaven for most of the afternoon, eating enough food to fill about five people, minimum. With a bit of directional help, he'll be heading to the smithy to look for Winry, then home itself. He can be pestered in any of those locations, in the woods, or in the village somewhere on the way. He's been gone for a month, so his sudden return is something to celebrate, right...?]


(ooc: like the post says, Ed's basically shifted to an AU where Pride took over his body in volume 26 of his canon. This means that his body is that of a human-based homunculus, and has the strengths and weaknesses of Pride and (to a lesser extent) Gluttony. The journal prided may occasionally be used for special icons, but he'll be keeping his true identity on the down-low as much as possible. If your character can sense multiple souls or other such things, please contact me! It would suck to spoil the surprise to everyone before it's time |D)

Comments

[savedtheworld]

Oh, okay. [He raises an eyebrow, then slides into the chair. Did that sound blunter than Ed usually was? Perhaps this is just the way Ed acts after being stressed by having been kidnapped. Aang thinks little of it.] But are you okay then? Did the Malnosso do anything weird to you?

[automailed]

[Familiar indeed. Pride scrutinizes the other boy cautiously, still internally sifting about for a name. If he's going to have company, he should definitely be more familiar.]

If they did, I can't remember it. Don't worry, though- it must not be anything bad if I feel okay, right?

[savedtheworld]

You're right, Ed. Maybe it'll just be something weird like making your burps sound funny. [He's about to order food for himself, but with the abundance of food, already here, surely Aang can ask for a little of Ed's food to hold him over.] Can I have some fries please?

[automailed]

[Strange imagination, this one. Pride considers refusing - he fully intends to eat everything he'd ordered - but he's well aware of how excessive it looks, and Fullmetal's always going on about fairness and equality and treating fellow humans decently or something. He'd share.

He nudges the fries in Aang's direction, picking idly away at a vegetable platter.]

Knock yourself out. And you can tell me about what I missed while I was gone- Equivalent Exchange, right?

[Surely a friend of Edward's would know the principles of alchemy, right? He goes on and on about it enough everywhere else.]

[savedtheworld]

[He gives a cheery smile as he picks at the fries. Those vegetables look good, too, he feels that would be a worthy order. Although oddly enough, equivalent exchange does not seem to have come up directly in their past conversations, to the best of Aang's recollection.]

Uh - yeah! That sounds really equivalent to me. Well... a new year started while you were gone! Hiccup's been feeling better from his surgery, Sokka's taking care of Foofoo Cuddlypoops, Winry - well of course I bet you already caught up with her and Elicia! Things have been kind of quiet, I guess - I can barely even remember anything that happened a few days ago! E-except that Katara was kidnapped, too, not long after you. She already came back, but she's stuck as someone else for now.

[automailed]

[There's a useful flood of names. Hiccup (what the hell kind of name is that, anyway?), Sokka, Katara: people he knew here but not from home. Winry and Elicia were- Fullmetal's girlfriend, he knew, but the other...

Hughes' child. He'd heard from Wrath after the funeral. Unimportant.

...Foofoo Cuddlypoops?

"Don't expect to get any help from me, asshole."]

I haven't seen Winry yet, actually. You know where I could find her?

[savedtheworld]

Oh, you... haven't? [He blinks. Wouldn't letting his loved ones know he was back and okay be his priority before... well, this?]

I'm not sure where she'd be if she's not at your house or the smithy. You should try calling for her on the journal if you're having trouble finding her!

[automailed]

[Pride pauses at that, chewing slowly to give him a moment to think. Journal... right, he'd found one when he woke up. He'd have given it a closer look, but he'd assumed it was Fullmetal's notebook. So it was a communication device...? Interesting.

Something to look into later.]

I'll try to find her there first, then. It's not like it's an emergency or anything, just a little delay.

[savedtheworld]

S-sure. Just don't wait too long! She's been worried, after all.

[automailed]

It won't kill her to wait an hour so I'm not starving. Relax, I'm heading over there as soon as I'm done, promise.

[savedtheworld]

[He's taken aback by Ed's bluntness. The way Winry had described Ed and the good times he'd had in the past... he had assumed Ed was a better boyfriend.]

They must have... really starved you. I knew I would've checked in with my loved ones first, and- and then had dinner with them. ...But I guess as long as she finds out you're okay soon, it'll be okay.

[automailed]

[He purses his lips at that; yes, Edward probably would have checked on them first. The problem is he hadn't had the foggiest idea of how to go about doing that. Which was problematic enough to delay it, which had led to a meal that felt endless, and...

...and he can hear the stupid, smug alchemist pointing out how he'd been caught already. Idiot, like he hasn't had hundreds of years to deal with these kind of situations already.

He glances down, expression masked with embarrassment and reluctant concern.]

Don't look at me like that, I- ...would you believe that I just didn't know where else to go? I can't really... remember everything as clearly as I'd like.

[savedtheworld]

[He frowns; now he's really wondering if this confused state is what the Malnosso did to him.]

It's - it's okay, Ed. You must have been through a lot, so it's hard to think clearly. Then... [He offers a slight optimistic smile.] Eating a lot could help you feel better!

[automailed]

That's what I'm hoping. And I didn't want to find Winry and then sound like an idiot when I try to talk to her.

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<small.>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

That's what I'm hoping. And I didn't want to find Winry and then sound like an idiot when I try to talk to her.

<small.>[If there's one thing he remembers most clearly about Fullmetal, it's the ego.]</small>

[savedtheworld]

That's a good point, too! If went there without feeling like yourself, that could also worry her.

damn you html

[automailed]

Yeah, exactly. And the last thing I want is to worry her more after all this, you know?

[savedtheworld]

[Aang nodded... slowly. Not worrying Winry more, that was a good thing, right? Maybe he's... not so bad?]

Yeah, I see. Worrying her less, that's the key! Then she and Elicia can just feel relieved.

[automailed]

There's a saying about that, I think- happy women make a happy home.

[savedtheworld]

[Selim what are you even saying anymore.]

Oh. I never heard that one. But I don't see how they wouldn't, so it must be true!

[automailed]

[You read a lot when you're like 400 years old, okay.]

Speaking of women, what was that about Katara?

[Better to steer the conversation off of himself as soon as possible.]

[savedtheworld]

[And he's frowning as soon as her name comes up.]

She was kidnapped by the Malnosso, too. And she came back a few weeks ago, but... not as herself. She doesn't remember any of us, except maybe Sokka, and now she's the age she was when we first met. They... they replaced her with a different version of her life, and she's still not back to normal.

[automailed]

["Not as herself", eh. Interesting.

"You think that's funny!?"]

Sorry to hear that. I'm sure she'll be back to normal soon, though. These things usually don't last long, right?

[savedtheworld]

Yeah... at least that's what I hear. This is the first time something like this's happened to someone I know that well since I've come here.... outside of experiments that is.

[automailed]

I can't remember if it's happened to me before. To someone I know, I mean.

["You are so damn full of it, you make me sick. Just tell him-"]

What does she think about it all? Must be really confusing.

[savedtheworld]

I'm not sure. It must be. Because it's too hard to reach out to her. She's been avoiding all of us... even her brother.