Like a Wounded Animal

As Roy lay there, he began to whimper out in pain. The triggering of memories that Riza had inadvertently caused wasn’t anything pleasant for the chimera. Not at all.

He remembered leaving the Hughes residence after dinner one night, and taking the long way home. He liked walking, and going the long way often gave him a chance to reflect on what he had done that day and what was probably expected of him in the next coming one. Unfortunately, it also brought him through some places that someone half blind, be they trained military or not, should never go. Someone had snuck up on him on the left, and had gotten in a lucky shot before Roy had even sensed them coming.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up to the sound of chains and feeling himself being dragged. He looked up, seeing that he was, in fact, being dragged through a darkened tunnel by two burly looking men. Every few feet down either side of the hallway was a lit torch, the only illumination he could get. His head swam, and he was actually glad there was no more light, but he wished the metal-on-stone scraping sound would stop. Looking down, away from his two captors, he caught sight of what was making the sound that made his head ache so badly.

He was in chains. Heavy, iron ones at that.

‘How did I get myself into this one?’ he thought as suddenly stopped in all motion. He was flung forward with ease, despite the weight of the metal bearing down on him as well as his own, by the two men. He landed with a heavy thud and a loud, resounding sound of scraping metal. Something hard struck him in the ribs, and he looked over to find that not only was he chained, but there was a heavy metal ball attached to his shackles.

Trying to ignore the throb in his head and the now pounding protest of his ribs, he forced himself to look around. Of course, now he was in a well lit area, and it was hard for him to see, his eyes having adjusted to the darkness. What he could see, however, was that he was in a large antechamber, sitting in its precise middle. Looking down, he could see thick lines painted on the floor.

“What in the name of hell?”

“Bring in the creature!” He heard a feminine voice ring out. Despite the fact that it was a woman’s voice, it was deep and throaty, almost masculine in a sense.

Blinking, Roy tried to pinpoint the sound of that voice. All he could gather, though, was it was coming from somewhere on his left. One half of him was bathed in complete darkness, and the other in light so blinding he could hardly see. It wasn’t a very good situation.

Then he began to hear that sound again. That horrible scraping. He knew it wasn’t his chains that were the culprit, this time. They were too heavy for him to move, especially with his head still swimming.

Then he heard a feral growl, and froze. Now he was glad that he couldn’t see.

The feminine speaker let out a low, rumbling laugh at seeing whatever beast had just been brought into the lit room with him. “A wolf. How appropriate for a dog such as yourself, Fuhrer Mustang.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Sapphira. You however, shall be calling me Mistress from this day forth, mutt.” There was a loud clap, and he felt an overwhelming pain take over his body, and he blacked out.

When next he awoke, it was to the sound of a whip cracking, and a howl of pain. It took him a moment to realize that, the howl he had heard had been his. His throat burned, and his entire body ached horribly. The source was his heart. It was pounding at irregular beats, and it caused his head to spin, worse than it had before. He whimpered, putting a hand over his head to try and protect his face.

There was that horrible sound again, but he was able to move, so he didn’t complain. Something fuzzy laid down amongst his hair as his hand came over it and he blinked, tracing the thing with his fingers.

Ear shape.

On top of his head.

Dog ear.

He pulled it, and it hurt. It was attached.

He sat up with all the speed he possessed, practically hyperventilating. Remembering hearing the whip crack, the put his hands over his face, and noticed claws growing off of his finger-tips.

“AHHHHHHHHH!” He cried, half out of shock, and half because he had just sat on something that felt like an extension of his spine. Almost afraid to look behind him, he did, to find a fuzzy, black tail sticking out of his trousers. He let out a whimper.

‘Chimera… I’m a… c-chimera…’

His heart shuddered, and he fell forward, hearing himself whine like a dog. Wolf, more accurately, apparently…

“Silence!” Came a loud roar of a voice, and Roy looked up to see a very large man standing before him. This man was also a chimera, but one that had been constructed differently. He had the main body of a lion, but the wings of a bird, and the face of a man. “The pain will calm soon enough. Eat and regain your strength.” The lion rumbled, pushing before him a bowl full of unidentifiable goop.

Not even sure if he should ask, Roy gobbled the slop down, feeling his pain begin to subside, though he felt immediately like vomiting. He managed to keep whatever it was down though, and just lay there, letting out a soft sigh. He wanted to go home… He needed to find Maes, get out of here, and get back to running his country.

‘You’re a chimera… anyone who saw you would kill you’ he thought, instantly killing his hope.

He blinked as he lay there, looking himself over. Aside from the addition of the more animalistic features, he was perfectly fine, nothing was wrong with him. That and, the ache that had ebbed away when he had eaten, but that was gone now. No harm had really come to him that he knew of. With a sigh, he let his eyes slide closed, only to awake a few minutes later when his shackles were undone and he was picked up gently in someone’s arms.

Opening his dark blue eyes, he looked up, only to be met with the face of a bull. He yelped, but was then cuffed in the back of the head.

“Quiet.” The bull grunted down at him, before entering a room and setting him down before leaving again.

Tentatively, Roy stood, scratching the back of his head with his long nails. Suddenly, he heard an ear-splitting crack, a second later feeling a sting that traveled down from his left shoulder to his right waist. Soon the sting turned into a mighty burn and drove him down to his knees.

“That’s a good mutt.” He recognized Sapphira’s voice then, and heard boot falls coming close to him. He felt a hand suddenly on the back of his neck, and the next thing he knew, his forehead was pressed to the floor. “You remain on your knees unless required to stand for your Master.”

Not sure what else to do, and not liking the position he found himself in, as he felt embarrassed and exposed, Roy let out a low growl, only to have a heel connect with his side. The hand on his neck let go at the same time, and he was sent skidding across the floor at a loss for breath.

“And you’re to be a good, quiet little boy, mutt.” Sapphira added, before coming down to kneel before him. He couldn’t get a very good look at her face, but was too caught up in trying to catch his breath to really care. He winced, feeling her hand tracing the scars on his arms up to the large one on his left shoulder.

They were markers from his fight with Fuhrer Bradley, the Homunculus Pride that had been running the country before him. The fight after which he had lost the sight in his eye.

“So, you already know pain.” She said, and let out a laugh much like the one from earlier.

“Good, this should be easy, then.”

Roy let out a howl of pain then, jolting awake and feeling that old pain return to his heart. A yip ensued after he had felt that particular sting. His eyes wide, he couldn’t remember where he was, that he had escaped and was home… or close enough to it anyway. He heard boot falls coming down the steps into the basement.

“Roy… Roy what’s wrong?” He heard Maes’ voice but didn’t hear it at the same time.

Then he was vaguely aware of something soft coming around him, and feeling arms holding him, and he began to quiet, though he was whimpering still from time to time. Looking up, he saw that Maes was holding him.

Only Maes, no one else.

He sighed, forcing himself to calm the rest of the way.

“What’s wrong?” Maes asked his friend again, wanting to calm the chimera.

In response, Roy leaned up and licked his cheek softly.