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31_days2010-09-21 06:42 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2010-09-21 06:42 pm
[Sept. 21] [Fullmetal Alchemist] Alongside the Wolves of the State
Title: Alongside the Wolves of the State
Day/Theme: Sept. 21, 2010 "Human jackals for every human disaster"
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Character/Pairing: the Slicer Brothers (as per my other fic, Cam & Dom)
Rating: PG-13 (for blood/murder/violence)
One man's misfortune could be another man's windfall. That was the lesson life had ground into Cam and Dom for as long as they could remember. Without a father, on the edge of a war zone, their mother had been prey to anyone stronger than her. She had fought to protect her sons, but she had been weak and sick and she couldn't fight hard or for long. Her money, her body, her cloak, her food, her shelter. They had been just children then. There had been nothing they could do as all these things were taken from them.
Now they could take their revenge on the world. Cam flipped his blade, expertly spattering the majority of the blood away, off onto the ground. He wiped the remainder off with a stained gray cloth he carried tucked into his sash for precisely this purpose, and slid the shining metal back into its sheath. This sword, supposedly forged in Xing, was the nicest, most expensive thing he had ever owned. He treasured it, just as he treasured his brother.
Dom didn't think of it as revenge. He turned over the body of the man Cam had just cut down and began to pick through his pockets even while he was still heaving his last breaths. This wasn't revenge at all. It was just living. This Ishvallan had been forced off his land by others than them- by the cruel and useless government itself. This wasn't a government that protected its people. It wasn't even a neutral one. This state preyed on its own. Why then should Cam and Dom, as good citizens of Amestris, be expected to do otherwise?
The blood that gushed out over the dirt was thick and dark. It looked so different from the tiny trickle of blood that appeared when he nicked his finger on one of their blades that Cam almost had trouble seeing it as the same thing. This was probably why he did more of the physical work in the murders than Dom. Killing came easily to him.
The Ishvallan didn't have much. Another side effect of the wolfishness of the state. A little money, which Dom pocketed, a striped sash- nice enough if one didn't mind the fresh blood stain marking the fringe, and a couple of vials of medicine that might sell well enough on the black market. "There are more where this one came from," Dom said. The first words after a killing always felt heavy on his lips.
Cam didn't feel the same way. There was no drama to words- the last ones a person spoke before dying or the first words they spoke upon meeting the target they'd picked out or the first thing the two of them said after killing. Words were just words. Cam wasn't really much of a talker anyway. "Are we going off toward Ishval then?" As usual, he would defer to his older brother's judgment.
"The wolves of the state might be stripping it clean, but they have different desires than us, right?" Dom adjusted his pack and wiped his fingers clean on the tunic of the dead man. "There will be bones left to pick, I think, even if it's only in the form of the refugees we meet along the way. Anyway, if the state's killing them off in the first place, I can't imagine they'll care much if we strike down a couple more for our own purposes."
"Sounds about right." Cam rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. It was still humming with the joy of use. He wouldn't mind to take it into battle again sometime. It felt like it had been awhile since he'd last really gotten to use his skills to their full potential. Dom preferred things to be quick and easy, but it was more exciting when people fought back.
"It's a plan then. Ishval." Dom turned and looked toward the horizon. Refugees wouldn't have much. Not anything they couldn't carry. But in the towns and houses they left behind... They'd come from a war zone in the beginning. Another one seemed worth the risk.
He waved his hand. There wasn't any need to say more. Cam followed, sauntering along.
Day/Theme: Sept. 21, 2010 "Human jackals for every human disaster"
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Character/Pairing: the Slicer Brothers (as per my other fic, Cam & Dom)
Rating: PG-13 (for blood/murder/violence)
One man's misfortune could be another man's windfall. That was the lesson life had ground into Cam and Dom for as long as they could remember. Without a father, on the edge of a war zone, their mother had been prey to anyone stronger than her. She had fought to protect her sons, but she had been weak and sick and she couldn't fight hard or for long. Her money, her body, her cloak, her food, her shelter. They had been just children then. There had been nothing they could do as all these things were taken from them.
Now they could take their revenge on the world. Cam flipped his blade, expertly spattering the majority of the blood away, off onto the ground. He wiped the remainder off with a stained gray cloth he carried tucked into his sash for precisely this purpose, and slid the shining metal back into its sheath. This sword, supposedly forged in Xing, was the nicest, most expensive thing he had ever owned. He treasured it, just as he treasured his brother.
Dom didn't think of it as revenge. He turned over the body of the man Cam had just cut down and began to pick through his pockets even while he was still heaving his last breaths. This wasn't revenge at all. It was just living. This Ishvallan had been forced off his land by others than them- by the cruel and useless government itself. This wasn't a government that protected its people. It wasn't even a neutral one. This state preyed on its own. Why then should Cam and Dom, as good citizens of Amestris, be expected to do otherwise?
The blood that gushed out over the dirt was thick and dark. It looked so different from the tiny trickle of blood that appeared when he nicked his finger on one of their blades that Cam almost had trouble seeing it as the same thing. This was probably why he did more of the physical work in the murders than Dom. Killing came easily to him.
The Ishvallan didn't have much. Another side effect of the wolfishness of the state. A little money, which Dom pocketed, a striped sash- nice enough if one didn't mind the fresh blood stain marking the fringe, and a couple of vials of medicine that might sell well enough on the black market. "There are more where this one came from," Dom said. The first words after a killing always felt heavy on his lips.
Cam didn't feel the same way. There was no drama to words- the last ones a person spoke before dying or the first words they spoke upon meeting the target they'd picked out or the first thing the two of them said after killing. Words were just words. Cam wasn't really much of a talker anyway. "Are we going off toward Ishval then?" As usual, he would defer to his older brother's judgment.
"The wolves of the state might be stripping it clean, but they have different desires than us, right?" Dom adjusted his pack and wiped his fingers clean on the tunic of the dead man. "There will be bones left to pick, I think, even if it's only in the form of the refugees we meet along the way. Anyway, if the state's killing them off in the first place, I can't imagine they'll care much if we strike down a couple more for our own purposes."
"Sounds about right." Cam rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. It was still humming with the joy of use. He wouldn't mind to take it into battle again sometime. It felt like it had been awhile since he'd last really gotten to use his skills to their full potential. Dom preferred things to be quick and easy, but it was more exciting when people fought back.
"It's a plan then. Ishval." Dom turned and looked toward the horizon. Refugees wouldn't have much. Not anything they couldn't carry. But in the towns and houses they left behind... They'd come from a war zone in the beginning. Another one seemed worth the risk.
He waved his hand. There wasn't any need to say more. Cam followed, sauntering along.