Sand in Yer Boots (Open)

[Touma Kamijou]

Touma Kamijou breathed heavily, sucking air into his lungs to regain his breath. The punks were gone, but now he was trapped in a desert that certainly wasn't in the middle of Academy City, or anywhere around if for that matter. "Such misfortune," he muttered as he examined his surroundings.

Sand was everywhere. Not even a hint of water or any trees for cover. "Shit, Index and Aisa are going to destroy my room without my supervision. I just know it." He held his face in his hands. "And neither of them will take care of Spinx. That poor cat."

He suddenly remembered that he was still taking remedial lessions as well due to all of his injuries. His eyes widened. "Komoe-sensei is going to kill me! SUCH MISFORTUNE!" he shouted, sinking to his knees.

Along the distance, far away, he spotted what looked like a city skyline. It was far away, enough to make the buildings look like specks in the distance, but it was better than being trapped in the desert. With renewed determination, he jumped to his feet and rushed off toward the city with no sense to save his energy for the, undoubtably, long trip.

[Sven Volfied]

Sven took a deep breath as he opened his eye and looked around. Looking around all he saw was what looked like an endless expanse of sand. He never liked the sand because it would always get in his shoes and drive him crazy. He pulled his hat down and sighed.

"Where am I?"

He silently asked himself. He started to walk when he realized his briefcase wasn't by his side, he jolted backwards to look for it.

"Damn! Where is it? My smokes are in there!"

He started frantically digging through the sand he saw its handle sticking out.

"Ah there you are."

He said pulling the briefcase out of the sand and dusting it off. He pulled a cigarette out of it and carefully lit it. He sucked in deeply and let a puff of smoke escape his mouth as he sighed in relief.

"That's better. Now to figure out where I am and where I'm going."

He turned around squinting trying to see something through the suns bright rays, but couldn't really see anything but the tons more sand ahead of him. Nothing else he could do, so he picked a direction and started walking.

It wasn't long when Sven realized his clothes were probably the worst for walking in the desert, he was wearing his usual white suit with several undershirts, and long pants.

Eventually he took his coat off and threw it over his shoulder. He looked up and saw a boy running past him...It took him a moment before he turned towards the boy and started running after him

"Hey kid, wait up!"

[Touma Kamijou]

Touma slowed upon hearing the man yell after him, and turned at his waist. "Ah, this is great!" he called back to the man. "A travelling companion, maybe my luck is turning around." As he said this, he tripped over a rock in the sand and rolled down a dune.

As he picked himself up and spit out the sand in his mouth, he muttered, "I guess I spoke too soon."

Walking back up the dune to the man, he dusted himself off, and called out. "My name is Touma Kamijou. It's nice to meet you sir."

[Sven Volfied]

Sven stood there for a few seconds catching his breath. He sucked in deeply and sighed.

"Its nice to meet you as well Touma. My name is Sven Volfied."

He extended his hand to shake Touma's.

Sven reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief handing it to Touma to dust his face off.

"That was a nasty fall. Are you alright?"

He waited briefly and then asked.

"You wouldn't happen to know where this place is would you?"

He asked gazing around at all the sand around him.

[Touma Kamijou]

Touma shook Sven's extended hand and gratefully accepted the handkerchief. While he was wiping his face off, Sven said, "That was a nasty fall. Are you alright?"

Touma waved dismissively, handing the handkerchief back to him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've been through a lot worse recently."

"You wouldn't happen to know where this place is would you?" Sven asked.

Touma shook his head. "Sorry. I just found myself here not too long ago. I can see a city off in the distance, though with my luck, it might be a mirage. I figured running to it would be better than just standing around in the desert with no food and no water. What about you? How did you get here?"

[Sven Volfied]

Sven glanced around him looking for the city Touma mentioned. He squinted and started to make out the buildings in the distance. His face drooped into an almost sadness really hoping that he didn't see it because of the desert heat and not because of his age. He thought to himself (I'm only 30! Why am I even thinking about this.)

"Hmm, you are a smart young man."

Sven said scratching his chin.

"I don't know how I got here, It seemed like I was asleep and when I woke up I was knee deep in sand."

Sven stopped talking and pointed towards the city

"You're right, we should get there as soon as possible and get some grub!"

[Touma Kamijou]

Touma nodded. "Let's go!" With that, he started running off towords the city again.

[Sven Volfied]

"Ah damn not more running."

Sven mumbled to himself taking off after Touma.

[Touma Kamijou]

After running for a few hours, Touma noticed Sven lagging behind. "Awe, hurry up! I could really use some food!"

As he stood there waiting for Sven to catch up, the ground started to rumble. "What the..." he muttered, looking around.

Just then, a large claw burst from the sand, throwing him through the air. "Oh crap!" The sand was soft enough to brake most of his fall, but he still landed with a heavy thud.

From the ground, a large scorpion pulled itself free from the sand, poised to finish off Touma. "Just my luck."

[Sven Volfied]

Sven was falling behind, that city was a lot farther then it looked. He saw Touma waiting for him.

"Kids have so much energy" he mumbled to himself.

As he got closer he felt the ground begin to rumble and saw Touma fall onto the ground.

He saw the large scorpion emerge from the sand and gulped.

"You alright Touma?" he yelled out as he approached him.

"That is one big bug. But maybe I can handle it."

Sven pressed a button and grenades shot out at the scorpion. They exploded on impact. "Got it!" Sven yelled as the scorpion fell to the ground and then disappeared back into the sand. He looked around "Thats not good" The scorpion popped up right underneath him sending him flying into the dirt.

"I'm not done with you yet!" He yelled as he flicked a switch on his briefcase. A machine gun barrel emerged from the side and he started shooting the scorpion dead on. But the bullets seemed to bounce off pretty easily.

Sven gritted his teeth. He flipped another switch and a net shot out over the scorpion. "Run Touma!" Sven yelled and took off. "That'll keep it busy for a bit."

[Touma Kamijou]

Sven's various gadgets had proven an effective distraction, giving Touma enough time to pull himself up.

"Run Touma! That'll keep it busy for a bit," Sven called over to him.

Shaking his head, Touma launched himself at the scorpion. "No way, I'm not leaving you high and dry while I run away!" he shouted to Sven. Under his breath, he added, "Besides, if this thing is psychic or magic based, it's toast." Pulling back his right hand, he jumped up at the scorpion, only to be batted away by one of it's claws. "Shit!"

[Alphonse Elric]

The sand whipped around Alphonse as he traveled through the desert. He had long grown used to it from his travels in his home world, but this place was wholly different.

It was a pleasent surprise that he could still use alchemy. While he was a capable fighter, he still enjoyed his ace in the hole as it were. Having regained his memories, he could use all forms of alchemy with a simple clap of his hands, something that would suprise an alchemist unfamiliar with such methods.

As he walked, he caught sight of a large scorpion pulling itself from the ground, fighting with a teen and an older man. Neither was fairing well, as the boy was easily tossed aside, and the man's tricks served as a mere distraction. The boy, unwilling to listen to the man's call to run, pulled himself up and tried to fight the scorpion, only to get thrown aside again.

Al was already running his fastest to reach the pair the moment he seen they were in trouble. As he reached the scorpion, he clapped his hands together. Blue light flashed around his hands as he slammed them into the sand, transmuting a large stone spike that impaled and lifted the scorpion off the ground.

As it let out one last anguished cry and fell dead, Al found himself sighing. "Phew, that was close. Are you two okay?"