Equivalent Exchange

[Ben]

((This is going to be fun ^_^ Can't use Wrath or Pain, not too sure about Greed or Sloth, but Envy, Gluttony, Lust and Sorrow should be good enough...))

Shara was thinking the same thing. "Edward I have to tell you something..." She said and then took his hand and dragged him around the side of the the building away from the people who'd shown up. She looked around to make sure people weren't watching and then pulled off her left glove.

The stone still sat in it's bracket, but it had a giant crack running down the middle. "I don't think they're real." Shara said softly. She ran her pointer finger down the crack and then sighed. She reached into her right pants pocket and pulled out the shard that had come out and been the source of the crack. She showed it to him "Thats what I wanted to put into your clock"

[Evoth]

"I-I see." So it didn't matter. They thought that the stone was at hand, but it seemed to disappear before their very eyes, "Al's going to be disappointed." he thought, "I'm sure we can think of something else." Edward looked at the long crack in the stone and sighed.

"It's just a Red Stone" Edward and Alphonse had ran into many of these stones. Nothing more than incomplete fakes of the real Philosopher's stone. "All it does is amplify our powers. People who seek the power of the Philosopher's stone usually end up with this fake. It's this kind of stone that kills people because of the Red Water."

[Ben]

She studied the shard and then stuck it back into her pocket and slipped her glove back on. "Nothing but a catalyst" She said with a smile. "All the better for me, anyway..." she said leaning against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest. "...Would you mind If I staid with you while you trained me?" She asked and played with a few strands of her hair.

Almost absent mindedly Shara began to speak, mostly to herself. "well at least I'm getting paid and with my sister's help I think I can afford a new arm or maybe two if i wait for a bit. Know of any good Mechanics?" she paused, but only for a bit and then cut off any thing he was going to say. "I've heard that there's a good mechanic and Resmbool, but I've only been there once before...Rockafeller maybe? Not sure..."

[Evoth]

"I guess it's okay. But if Mustang decides to send me on one of his little quests again you're gonna have to stay here in Central." Roy's little missions sent them far and wide. They always seemed to land them in trouble. The last thing He and Al needed was to take care of an Amatuer alchemist.

His ears perked up when she said Rockafeller. She couldn't mean, "Rockbell." He muttered when his gaze meet hers, "The names Rockbell." Ed and Al knew the Rockbell family. They were like a second family to them. Pinako and Winry were always there for them when they needed help. Edward's hand went to his automail arm, "I know the family personally."

[Ben]

"I heard about Mustang," She said and then an Idea popped into her mind and she smield to herself. When he said 'Rockbell' her attention turned back to him. "Yeah, thats the name..." She dropped the rest of the sentence off when he said that he knew them personaly. "Oh..." she looked down at her feet, "I'll meet you later." She said and walked off her mind tangled up with thoughts.

She stood before the river. Shara didn't remember how she'd gotten there. Fist thing she knew she'd turned her back on Ed and walked away, the next thing she was standing on the banks of the river. The water sparkled in the afternoon light and her mind turned to her memories again. As her memories shout throught her head she knelt down and took off her boots and set them to the side.

"Come on Shara I'll teach you how to swim!" Shara watched eve as she slipped into the creek and swam around. Shara finaly nodded and jumped into her sister's arms. tHey played around in the shallows and by that evening Shara could swim on her own. As they sat on the banks and dryed themselves off shara made sure to keep his memory in store for later.

"Memories..." Shara mumbled and raced back to the buildings and then turned around and raced full speed at the river. She leapt up onto a boulder and dove off into the river. As the cold water raced over her she swam for the bottom, letting the memories wash away. She rememberd touching the bottom of the river and then everything going black.

There were heavy foot falls in the hall and then a loud knock came at Ed's door. "Ed! Al! Have you seen Shara?! I can't find her anywhere!" Eve was out of breath and tired. She'd raced all over Central city looking for her sister and ahd found no trace of her. She finaly had to go ask Ed and Al hoping that Shara would be there.

Shara's body washed up a long way down river on the shores. He'd been fishing when he looked up to see her body on the banks. He waded out of the water and put his fishing pole down and then flipped shara over on her stomach and pressed ahrd on her back. The water was pushed from her lungs and when it was all out Shara took a deeo breath. The man rolled shara over again and helped her sit up as she came to.

"It's been three years and coutning." Shara's eyes wided and she turned her torso and threw her arms about the man's neck. He chuckled and stood up, lifting her up in his arms. "You're a little light, but I would expect that from you." Shara burried her head into the man's shoulder. "Oh Sothe I didn't think we'd eve see eachother again." She mumbled as another memorie came back to her.

She sat silently on the road wondering what to do. Shara had just run away from home taking the few thing she had with her. She knew how to do alchemy and the secret she kept hidden helped her out, but she was still very new to it and knew if she was going to even try to master a bit of it she'd need help. She spotted a boy walking down the road and got up her skirt flapping in the slight breeze. She gatherd up her things and watched as the boy got closer and closer.

"Hm?" Sothe said, seeing the girl. "What're you doing here?" Shara looked him up and down before she anwserd his question hugging her pack to her chest. "Heading off into the world, trying to figure things out..." She continued to study Sothe carfuly. After a bit she gave a small small shy smile "I could ask you the same thing." "True," he said. "Same with me...Alchemy, the world, and everything else. What is it all?" He seemed lost in thought, as if his body was in reality, but his mind was somewhere entirely different. In truth, his thoughts were still at that Gate, searching the information granted to him at the cost of his left forearm.

She eyes him "Alchemy did you say?" Her eyes went wide "You're an Alchemest?" She seeemd almost hopeful and her hand slid to the gold chain around her neck. Her smile grew and she waited for anwsers to her questions. maybe he could teach her alchemy. "Um, yeah," he said, snapping back to reality. "Do you want me to teach you?" Her eyes grew even wider. "You really mean it? Thanks!" She gave him a warm smile and fitted on her pack. Wow, a real alchemest was going to teach her alchemy. Her father would be proud to hear of it, perhaps she should write a letter!

Shara sighed softly and felt Sothe moving away from the river. By the time Sothe made it to his house shara was fast alseep. he couldn't blame her. He made sure she was striped of her wet cloths and tucked in tight and let her sleep. He went back and fetched his fishing pole and returned to the house. Sothe would have to go to Central City eventualy to get more food if Shara would be staying with him for any amout of time.

[Evoth]

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Alphonse opened the door, his body covered in multi-colored crayon marks all over his body. Lt. Hughes had him watch his daughter while he and his wife went out. In his hand he held a cloth dyed from all the colors, "No, we haven't seen her all day." Edward came to the door and opened it further and stepped out.

"She's gone missing?" It didn't seem to hit Ed as anything to be concerned about, "Perhaps she wanted some time alone." Unless...Sorrow Ed's eyes opened up wide. Fear instilled in them. What if she had encountered Sorrow? "Damn it! Al, you go check Central's library. Eve check Headquarters. Maybe she was summoned by the colonel."

[Ben]

Eve nodded and took off for Headquarters. She got to the Colonel's office and kocked on the door and when she asked waht she was doing there she explained and that set every body on edge. Shara was missing and since Shara had what she had, fake or not, she needed to be found.

Sothe gently shook Shara's shoulder "Shara, I have to go get some things. I'll be back soon alright." Shara nodded "As for the Rouge Alcemist, she'll get what you need." she said and went back to sleep. Sothe sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He walked out the front door and went around to the round pen in the back and mounted the large black draft horse that was there. sothe opened the gate and gave the horse a kick and they took off.

The horse thunderd through the streets of Central City towards the military grounds. There was a flurry of activity all around him, he paid no attention to it, only to where he was going. Once there were on military grounds, Sothe dismounted as his horse came to a stop. Sothe held the reins and looked around and then Eve bumped into him. "Sorry..." She mumbled to him, Sothe "Where might I find the Rouge Alcemist?"

[Evoth]

Edward and Alphonse met up in Central square, "Any luck finding her brother?" Ed shook his head in defeat. He couldn't find her anywhere he looked. Al let out a sigh that echoed in his body, "I had no such luck either. Maybe Eve had better luck then we did." Ed nodded.

"Let's hope that she did. Come on! Maybe she went back to the barracks." Ed and Al ran back to the barracks in hope of finding Eve. Luck seemed to be on there side. Out of breath Ed and Al stopped by her side, "We...we could find Shara anywhere. It's like she vanished from the city itself." He and Al hadn't noticed the man standing before Eve. Ed managed to catch his breath and straighted himself. "Who the hell are you?" he asked noticing the man

[Ben]

Eve nodded and then looked over at Ed when they said they couldn't find her anywhere. Sothe followed this excange carfuly and then studied Eve, Ed and then Al carefuly and eventualy his brows went up and then he looked around at the mass havoc around him. "hmm..." He sighed softly and mounted his horse.

When Ed asked 'who hell the he was' Sothe scowled and didn't reply to him. "What's going on around here? Has there been like a bomb threat or something?" He asked his eyes going to Eve and Al, who he guessed was the famous Full Metal Alchemist. Eve explained "My sister, Shara is missing." That caught Sothe's attention and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"She's not missing, she'd ben foun...." He swollowed and then looked down at eve again."What's up?!" Eve demanded "Shara, I found her on the banks of the river, She's at my place but Sorrow...." His words trailed off as there was laughing and The figure of Sorrow took off down the street. "DAMN!" Sothe barked as Sorrow took off. "How the hell dose he do that?!"

[Evoth]

Ed turned to see the last glispe of Sorrow fleeing the area, "Damn him." The mere thought of him made Ed mad. His last battle with didn't seem to even phase the damn creature. The words 'she's at my place' hit him.

"She's at your place! Is she alone?!" His words were frantic, "Sorrow, he probably knows!" Edward was jumping to conclusions quickly. But at times like this it seemed logical to jump to such things.

[Ben]

"Of course she's alone!" Sothe grumbled and hauled Ed up by his shirt. and seated Ed behind him. "HANG ON!" Sothe barked and looked back down at Eve. Eve nodded and raced off again for Headquarters "I'll find Roy!" She called back to them. Sothe turned his horse around and Kicked it. With one hand he held onto Ed's shirt collar so he didn't fall off and with the other he held onto his horse's mane.

The horse took off with a burst of speed and once it's pace steadied Sothe let go of E'd shirt. "Sorry about that, I'm Sothe. I meet Shara three years ago." He explained as they rode through central and out of the city. "My House!" Sothe exclaimed seeing a trail of black smoke off in the distance.

They came to a stop infront of Sothe's house which was currently going up in flames. Sothe looked around and then dismounted and walked around behind the house. "SHARA?!" "Sothe? Help me..." The sentence was cut off and Sother lookeda round and spotted Sorrow standing there with a blade at Shara's throat.

[Evoth]

Edward heard Sothe's cry. He quickly dismounted the horse and followed the path Sothe had taken, "What's going on?" he asked as he turned the corner of the house. There stood Sorrow with Shara in his grasp. He held his sword to her neck. The blade was seemed so close that it would slit her throat.

"Bastard!" Said Ed. His hands were clinched and shaking. There had to be a way to free her from the humunculi's grasp. Edward fidgeted, "Sothe we got to think of a way out of this." he muttered through his teeth. The reaction of Ed charging forward could cost Shara her life. A thought the Edward didn't even want to have. What option could he take?

[Ben]

"Distractions..." Sothe mumbled softly. "You're better at alchemy than I am, I'm sure. If you can distract him, I can bring him into close combat." Sothe said fingering the dagger at his waist. "three....two.....one..... go...." He said softly and dashed off to the right and circled around behind Sorrow, hoping Ed would distract him.

Shara stood there,her heart beating five miles a second. Sweat beaded on her forehead and her eyes were squeazed shut. They'd come soon after and had captured her as she slept. After she was out of the house, they set it alight and waited. She knew they were out there, waiting for Full metal to show up and try to save her. She was scared.

[Evoth]

"Fine!" Said Edward. He watched as Sothe took off out of the corner of his eye and ran towards Sorrow, "Nows my chance to reacted." Ed stepped forward, "Sorrow time for you to pay!" Slamming his fist in the ground he looked up at the Humunculus, "Armstrong's fist." A stream of light ran across the ground and straight at Sorrow.

Ed kept his hands at contact with the ground until it erupted. A statue grew from the soil in the appearance of Major Armstrong. It reached out for Sorrow's blade and grasped it firmly in its hands. "Hurry while it's holding!" Yelled Edward. It was in hopes that with the blade controlled Sorrow would be to distracted by the statue.

[Ben]

Sorrow watched as a statue of Major Armstrong appeared before him and then growled loudly as He was stabbed in the leg by Sothe. He had to let go of the sword to swing his fit at Sothe. Sothe danced away Shara dropped to the ground and tripped Sorrow so he landed flat on his face.

Shara slipped away and wracked her mind for some kind of transmutation circle she could use to finish off Sorrow. She finally got something into her mind, she'd made it up true, but if it worked... if.... Sorrow got to his feet and dodged Sothe's next swing and then yanked his sword from the statue and the two fought a heated battle, each landing numerous blows.

Shara made her way over to Ed and talked to him "The rest of them are here too... I'm not sure where exactly, but they're here! and they took my watch..." She said heatedly and looked around. Once of her hand held her right side and subtle signs of pain flickers across her features. "I have an idea, but I'd need a catalyst..." She said and let out a high pitched whistle.

The stallion raced over and Shara slid his bridle off. "You know what to do Clyde" she said softly to the horse and it took off for the battle. Sothe heard the whistle and knew what it meant, he took the defensive and blocked Sorrow's blows waiting for Clyde to get there. When the horse finally made it to them sothe sheathed his blade and leaped up on. Sorrow managed to make a gaping wound in Sothe's thigh before they were off in a cloud of dust.

Eve showed up soon after. She stopped next to her sister and looked down at her, Shara looked up and Eve's eyes widend. "It's the only way..." Shara mumbled softly. Eve nodded and looked back as Mustang, Armstrong, Hawkeye and several others came to a stop behind them. Sorrow stood about fifty feet from them laughing. Cylde came to a stop behidn them all and Sothe dismounted, ignoring the pain he he was experiencing.

Shara whisperd to Sothe and his eyes went wide and then he nodded and Shara said the same thing to Eve. Shara nodded and strided forewards her mind drawing the transmuataion circle needed. About halfway between Sorrow Shara stoped and both Eve and Sothe walked up behind her and knelt down, drawing on the ground. With one hand fastened around Shara's ankle and the other hovering just above the circles they waited for the inventable.

Sorrow charged and Shara reached out as he got to her and her hands held fast to his blade and wrenched it out of his grip and stuck it through his ribs. Sorrow stood there, shocked and confused as Shara clapped her hands and fell to her knees. As her hands hit the ground Sothe and Eve placed their free hand on the small human transmutation circles they'd drawn. The smaller circles flared up blue and then the air turned purple as Shara drew on the power of her 'stones' and then finaly everything burst into a bright yellow light as Shara sent all of the power she had into the human transmutation circle she'd drawn up in her mind.

All four stood before the gate. Shara seized Sorrow and as the doors open she shoved Sorrow into it and barked out "Here's our sacrifice! Take him and his life!" black tendril whipped out of the doors and wrapped around Sorrow and pulled him in. Sothe looked over at Eve and Shara and then dove head first into the gate. Shara sank to her knees and hung her head as Eve watched in horror. When the gates slammed shut before them the bright yellow light disspersed. The bodies of a girl and a woman lay infront of them, with sothe and Sorrow nowhere to be seen.

((Sorry if i seriously GMed, but I was so bored...))