Fire it Up [Private]

[★Ryuujin★]

(This thread is for Possk with her Edward and Smiff with her Ranfan and Ling)

Mustang

The fire held in the mouth of the wolf-dog dimly lit his way as he padded through the fog. The moon rose high above, full and covered by thin clouds, giving it a rather mysterious aura. This aura crept through the night air down to the earth, offering minimal lighting to the shadowed surroundings. Half frozen dew on the grass below his paws clung to the fur, melting on contact. Mustang didn’t like the feeling of the water on his paws, matter of fact, he didn’t care much for water at all, but he learned to deal with it to be in one of his favorite areas.

Ears laid back as he came to a stop, looking around. A noise had reached him, the sound of something shuffling around in the grass. Lifting the flame higher to offer him a little more light for his search, but found nothing. With a deep growl, Mustang lowered his head and continued on. There were so many creatures in this strange land, one couldn’t be sure if it were a bear, something they could eat, or perhaps another canine. He knew there was a pack that claimed this area for their own, but he had never met them, thus he didn’t know if they would attack at the first sight of him or not. In truth, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out.

The sound of rushing water quickly met his ears as he padded up to the edge of a small cliff above a rushing river below. Wrinkling his nose at the scent of the water, Mustang turned to move along the cliffs edge, wearily eying the water below.

Finally reaching the bottom of the slope, he looked at the rocks that were lined up across the river – stones to jump across on. Shifting the fire in his mouth to grip it tighter, Mustang slowly made his way to the very edge, crouching before leaping onto the first rock. Laying his ears back, he steadied himself on the rock before leaping to the next. A surprise bath really didn’t sound like fun at the moment. Continuing this pattern, he made his way across the river, landing in the grass on the other side with a soft thump.

Animals fled from the light the fire cast on the shadows, some crying out in displeasure simply at being disturbed by Mustang’s presence. He didn’t care about them, not now – he wasn’t hungry. From above, an owl cried out as it shuffled its wings, swooping down above mustang to catch an unaware bat. Laying his ears back, spooked by the owl’s sudden movements, Mustang crouched low to the ground and looked up to see the owl flutter away, prize held tightly in its beak.

Slowly standing back up, he let out a frustrated growl. Perhaps he was being too cautious and on guard. Every time he visited this area, nothing big happened; there was no reason to be on guard, right? Besides, there was a specific reason that he had traveled here. The scent of some former allies had led him here, and in his little trek around his favorite land, he was surprised to find another scent. One of a current ally and friend. The question was now, where were they?

[Possk]

Mist. Fog. Screeching owl. Even more mist. The squeak of a mouse, the distant howl of a fellow canine. And the mist! Did he fail to mention the mist? 'Bah, I can't see a damn thing.' The pale yellow dog grumbled crossly, shaking his head from left to right in hopes of clearing his senses. Everything felt strangely muffled in these lands, as if everything was as alive and active as himself, yet at the same time being as dead and buried as rotting bones. The Shiba, Edward, disliked the sense of eeriness the crept up his spine, and quickly hurried forward along the stone path.

"Where the hell is that Colonel anyways. I'd know his stench anywhere, but this place is like a maze," Ed muttered mutinously. Paws aching from his long travel, he longed for nothing more than to simply curl up and go to sleep. But, of course, Mustang had gotten in his way. Again. Once he'd caught the scent of that pompous fool, he knew he'd have to catch up with him. Who knew what the consequences would be if he didn't? A loss of information most likely, and when Edward needed information like his own hind leg, there was no way he could pass up the opportunity. Still, it didn't mean he had to like it. 'Bad timing as always, Colonel! You better have found the Philosopher's Stone already.'

The Philosopher's Stone. A gem so rare and wonderous, it was said to even be able to restore life to the dead. But Edward had no interest in bringing someone back to life. No, he had already tried that--and paid for it dearly. His heavy metal limbs were a reminder of that price. Not only had he lost his hind left and front right legs, but he'd nearly lost his younger brother, Alphonse, in their attempt to bring their mother back. Alphonse had been cast a new iron skin to replace the one he had lost in the accident, but though Al constantly told Edward he was fine, Ed sensed the despair and loneliness inside. He felt tremendously guilty for being the cause of all that had gone wrong, and he vowed he would one day restore Alphonse to his original state. The stone could provide that. And he would find that stone at any cost. The only problem was just when he'd come across it.

An owl screeched overhead, startling Edward out of his thoughts. It flapped its wings with ease, mouse tightly clamped in beak, and soared back to the trees. After a heartbeat, Edward snorted and padded his way over to the edge of the path. Really, this place was all too creepy. Why had the Colonel come here, of all places? It had crossed his mind more than once to just leave and meet up with Mustang later, maybe next century, but his curiousity and need for information forced him to keep going. Immersed in his musings, Edward didn't realize he'd reached the edge of the stony slope so quickly--and promptly walked over it.

"HOLY--" With a yelp, Edward was thrown down the path, scraping his paws and sides on rock in desperate attempts to stop himself. Thankfully the slope was not high, so it wasn't a long fall, but by the time he finally reached ground, Edward was bruised and bleeding all over. If his pride was tangible, it would've looked like a crushed soda can. "Ow ow ow," he groaned, picking himself up gingerly. Nothing seemed broken, but one of the toes on his automail leg had been bent badly. Ed grimaced; Winry would be sure to reprimand him the next time he came to Resembool for maintenance. And by reprimand, he was sure she'd try to bite his ears off.

Irritated and embarrassed, Ed snarled "Hey Alphonse, why didn't you stop me from falling? You could've lent a paw but--" And then he remembered. Of course Al couldn't stop him if he wasn't there in the first place. Though it had been Edward's decision in the first place to go alone, the two had hardly been separated before then and he sometimes forgot his little brother no longer was beside him. Loneliness gripped the small dog like claws. He missed the close company he had shared, but he quickly pushed away the feeling. Now was not the time to be despairing like a lost child.

"Pah," Edward spat, flicking his bruised tail upwards. "Now where did Mustang go?"

[shadow]

At watching the small yellow dog tumble down the path, Ling let out a silent chuckle. He and Ranfan had been stalking the tiny canine for awhile now. For the Prince, this was just downtime, and a good time to have fun. There was nothing better then randomly stumbling upon the infamous Edward Elric, because hey, aside from the fact that he was shorter then a grain of sand and therefore cute, he was fun to bother.

Ranfan followed her Prince without a word, but inwardly sighed. How many times did Ling plan on doing childish shenanigans? It seemed so... unlike royalty. However, something in the back of Ranfan's mind remembered that both she and Prince Ling Yao were only just out of their pup years. Perhaps... perhaps they could afford some fun. With that reasoning in her head, Ranfan let out an uncharacteristic smile, though, it was hidden beneath her mask. "Prince Ling--"

"Just Ling," the Prince corrected.

"Ling...." she said slowly. The word by itself felt odd on her tongue. She was not worthy of calling him by his real name.... but then again, Edward, the dog they were stalking ever so silently, called her Prince by even less respectable names.

"What shall we do?" she finished.

Ling made a grunt as though he were about to speak, but he was abruptly cut off by the small Edward wondering where Mustang was located. So... there were more of the military dogs wandering around today. Odd. Ranfan's thoughts were broken however, as Ling ordered her to go and locate Mustang. Nodding, the Prince's guardian leapt into the next tree, and then the next, until she finally vanished into the fog....

Now that Prince Ling Yao was alone with the small dog before him, he knew he could get as carried away as he wanted. With a vile smirk written all over his face, Ling leapt down from his treebranch and landed square in front of Edward, "I can take you to Mustang shorty."

[★Ryuujin★]

He had traveled farther into the lands of mist, taking up many more minutes of his day, and he still had yet to find Edward or the other two scents which he found himself surprised to have picked up on. One would think it shouldnt be so hard to track down another canine, but then again... Ed was very... small. Mustang snickered to himself at the thought. If the bean were here now and was able to pick up on thoughts, he would have attempted to pummel Mustang. At least it would have been more amusing than the landscape.

He loved this place, and always would, but now that he felt he had a mission, he couldn't help but to feel rather annoyed. The mist did a very good job at erasing scents from the air, and the dew on the ground made it no easier, but he could still smell them, all three of them. Narrowing his eyes in sheer annoyance, Mustang soon found himself distracted as the light from the flame illuminated the clearing before him. Trees circled the small grassy field, little white and yellow flowers sprouted out from the dew covered blades of grass, but none of this attracted his attention.

No.

What held his attention was the tree dead ahead of him. It stood at an angle from the earth, dead branches hanging almost limply from its trunk, but the one that had the gears turning in his head was one that was higher up. This branch in particular was already broken. To any other creature, it was nothing special, but to Mustang, it was an opportunity. Quickly, he threw the fire in his mouth into the air, licked his maw as it fell back down and caught it once again, the wood sticking directly out in front from his maw.

Crouching, Mustang dug his claws into the damp earth below, his entire being focusing on the splintered wood. With a flash of his eyes, Mustang bolted forward, maw clenching around the fire in his mouth as everything around him blurred and was soon ignored. Including the fact that Ranfan had discovered him. She stood high above in the branches of another tree in the circle, eyes focused on him.

With a growl, Mustang leaped, landed and crouched, then pushed against the ground, launching himself into the air. Gripping the fire ever tighter, he stretched out before curling in on himself, carefully tucking his tail underneath himself so not to catch fire. The instant he did this, he began to spin, picking up speed in the air toward the tree - the Battouga. But it was not your normal Riki, Gin or even weed battouga. The flame in his mouth soon blurred and widened with the force of the wind around him, giving Mustang the appearance that he were a ball of fire.

Perfect.

With a loud crack that resonated through the forest, Mustang flew passed the dead tree, the semi-broken branch now falling to the ground, the dead branches around it now crackling with fire. Shifting the fire in his mouth to the side once again, Mustang uncurled himself and landed on the other side, sliding in the grass, panting softly. Raising his head as he turned to gaze at the tree, he laid his ears back, eyes focused not on the tree, but what he saw through the burning branches.

The mist slowly put to work on putting the small flames out as Mustang walked around the fallen branch and back into the clearing, now facing Ranfan. Had she seen? What would she think, if anything? She was the first to see or even know now that he could use the Battouga. Laying his ears back, Mustang kept silent, eyes still focused on her, waiting for her to speak.

[Possk]

Edward's ear twitched. He stopped in his tracks, tail slowly falling to the ground with a small thud. There was no mistaking that voice..that cocky, idiotic voice that had been used to mooch off food from him more times than he cared to count. And he had called him...
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A DIMINUTIVE BEAN SO TINY HE COULDN'T EVEN BE SEEN BEHIND A GRAIN OF SAND, YOU THIN EYED BASTARD?!"

Well..Edward was fairly known for his predictability. Especially concerning his...rather short stature.

Huffing with rage, the Shiba turned to the husky mix that had unfortunately dropped into his company. Ling, still grinning, looked down at him...looked down at him, as if he could enjoy nothing more than a fine day of torturing his 'friend'. Which he probably could. Squinty Eyes here had a very strange sense of humor. And by sense of humor, his comedic values usually involved falling to the ground like a clown and begging for food or picking on the smaller in society--

Smaller. Small....er.

Edward could have died of shame right there. '...That did not just happen. I did not think of myself like...that. No, nada, nope.' Or, at least, that would be what he would continue to tell himself. Oh well. With a final huff of fury, he decided to answer Ling's request..grudgingly, of course. He still wanted to deliver a nice old fashioned round house kick to the idiot Prince's face.

"If you would be so generous," Edward growled through gritted teeth. "But how would you be able to see where you're going with those eyes of yours, Idiot Prince? Bah!" Though he refused to admit it, secretly he was glad that, however moronic the dog may be, Ling had found him. It would make finding the Colonel that much simpler in this huge place. Somehow, the Xingese could tell where others were with extreme ease. While Edward still didn't understand it, he decided not to question it.

"So," he began again, flicking some stray dust off his red furred back with his tail. "Where's the Colonel, Ling?" Ed blinked, realizing that Ling's usual companions were not with him. "Wait, where's Ran Fan and old geezer Fu? Don't you usually travel with them?" It had been a while since they had met up, and Ed supposed a lot must have happened to separate the two guardians from their Prince. That or Ling had fallen unconscious somewhere at random, leaving the poor bodyguards to search for him like mad chickens. 'While this guy seems like the average cheery, annoying buckaroo on the surface...he must be really evil to worry his friends like that,' Edward mused wearily.

Suddenly, a huge crack split through the area. Startled, Edward shifted his position to the left. Through the darkness, he couldn't make out the small light that flared from where the sound had come from, but he could just barely make out the scent of burning wood. Which could only mean, where there was fire, there was Mustang. That bit of news didn't really make him feel better though.
"What does he think he's doing?" Edward grumbled, more to himself than Ling. "Putting a forest on fire isn't going to help his reputation. Still, I guess we'd better go meet him."

[shadow]

Ranfan had no trouble finding Mustang through the thick fog and foliage; she was a master of using her Mind's Eye technique after all. Regardless, when she arrived in his presence, she was greeted by the strangest of techniques. Ranfan knew that Mustang was a dog skilled in wielding fire, but even she was astounded at the fact that he could master a battouga with it.

Of course, her surprise could not be shown, for she was wearing a mask. Mustang looked up at her, wondering what she thought, but in truth, Ranfan didn't care so much about him. Her Prince had ordered her to find Mustang, and that was exactly what she was doing now.

"Impressive," she said emotionlessly, leaping down from her perch on the tree square in front of him. "Prince Ling Yao and Edward Elric are seeking you out. They are not far from here." Her voice stayed the same; while she knew Mustang from previous encounters, Ranfan was not one to show much emotion. He was basically a stranger after all. All she needed to do was get down to business and that was that. Thankfully, the awkwardly tense air was lifted as the two dogs Ranfan had mentioned came parading into the clearing.

"You know, I find it amazing that you're older then me and you still manage to be about half my size. That's pretty sad. Oh, do you have any food? I'm starving!"

Ranfan sighed, a sweatdrop forming at the side of her head. Really, there were times she wondered why she bothered to be so serious about protecting such an immature man.... But of course, the moment her mind strayed that far, she mentally slapped herself. She knew exactly why she needed to be on her guard. Ling not only meant a brighter future for Xing, but also the world to her, something he would never, ever understand or know.

[★Ryuujin★]

"Impressive,"

Raising his ears as she leaped down from her spot in the trees, Mustang closed his eyes. Tch. She was never much one for pleasantries, was she? Oh well, that didn't matter to Mustang, not now as he heard the approaching noises of two familiar voices, one rather enraged about shrimp. Edward. Heh... His eyes opened once again to land on Ranfan as he silently hoped she wouldn't leak his "move". He didn't think it would matter, but part of him feared what the military would make him do with it... especially after what they did with power in the past...

"You know, I find it amazing that you're older then me and you still manage to be about half my size. That's pretty sad. Oh, do you have any food? I'm starving!"

And once again, as it seemed, Ling was going at it strong with poor, shrimpy Edward, and the Shiba didn't seem entertained, at all - as usual. Not only that, but Ling was hungry... again. Wasn't that canine ever satiated? Mustang shook his head softly, no, most likely not. As the two approached, Mstang held himself more proudly, letting his relaxed state go, the fire still clenched tightly in his maw. He knew by now that the mist would have doused any evidence that the tree behind him had been burning, besides the faint smell still lingering in the air, and the branch on the ground. But now, it looked only as an old, dead, fallen branch, nothing more.

Good.

"Good evening Elric, Young Prince Ling." It wasn't until Edward stepped into the light of the flame in his maw that he saw the shape of the young shiba. He certainly didn't look like he took to venturing through this territory like a walk in the park such as himself. No, he looked more like he had tripped through that part. Mustang smirked softly at this. Even if he asked, he would get a witty remark, but he was in the mood for such.

"Geez Elric, what happened to you?"

[Montgomery]

Mashinkage

From branch to branch, Mashin nimbly dashed, speeding throughout the tree tops. The air was brisk and cool as he skillfully manuevered his way through this dead snowy forest. It certainly was a spooky place in these woods. He was certain that he had heard voices and rustling through the thick bushes, so he decided to follow the sounds.

"Jeez...its thick and foggy here...Better be careful..." He was nearing the group of others now, he could feel them as he silently leapt to the ground and kept low. As he got settled on his feet he saw the branch get snapped by the dog in front. His eyes widened as he watched the branch burn on the ground. ::Holy shit...I better introduce myself...Don't wanna tango with this dog...::

Mashinkage took a deep breath before stepping out of the brush, being not far from Mustang. Without hesitation he spoke. "Greetings...I am Mashinkage. Do not be alarmed, I am no threat." He could barely see the 'fire' dog let alone the others that were approaching with his external eyes. Although he could clearly see them all with his mind's eye. "This may not be any of my business...but why are so many dogs doing wandering about such a...dead place as this?"

He bowed honorably before the group, whether they could see it or not.

[Possk]

Edward was at his breaking point by the time he and Ling had finally ventured into the clearing. Yap yap yap, that was all Ling could do. Food this, short stuff that. He had to wonder if Ling kept his brain in his tail. Or, more likely, in his stomach by the way he constantly complained about food. 'If he asks me one more time to catch a mouse for him, I'll hit him, Edward thought darkly.

He didn't have to worry about that at the moment though. Crunching a twig underpaw, the Shiba looked up to see Mustang, in all his conceited glory, and Ranfan. Edward felt a twinge of relief that Ranfan was still there; it had worried him when Ling had not responded over what had happened to his two loyal followers. So they'd been scouting; spying probably. The twinge of relief fell to irritation however when he realized Ling and Ranfan must have been watching him ever since he stepped paw into the Sanguine Hollows. Well, that explained where Ranfan had been anways. Now where was Fu?

"You know, I find it amazing that you're older then me and you still manage to be about half my size. That's pretty sad. Oh, do you have any food? I'm starving!"

Edward bristled angrily at yet another 'size' comment. He looked up at Ling, silently comparing the heights. Then...

"...UGLY MORON. At least I manage to be better looking than a squinty eyed idiot like you!" Totally ignoring the fact that he was changing the subject, he flicked his bushy tail into Ling's mouth in hopes of finally shutting him up--or choking him. Both seemed like very favorable results. "And go find someone else to leech off of! Do I even have to remind you of that very extensive list of food I hunted for you the last time we met up?"

Grumbling, he flicked his tail away again and turned to the Colonel. Ignoring the greetings, he instead rolled his eyes at Mustang's question. Always looking for things to point out whenever they had the unfortunate business of 'catching up'. Mustang was obviously still the same arrogant ass he always had been.
"I could ask the same of you, Colonel," Edward said dryly. "Why were you trying to torch the forest to ashes? Haven't had enough of trying to show what a great leader you are to the higher ups? You--"

The Shiba broke off however as soon as the leaves rustled, making it known to the odd company of a newcomer. Edward squinted, trying to make out who--or what--had interrupted his tirade.

"What do you want?" He turned to face 'Mashinkage', ears twitching.

[shadow]

[WIP]