Tabula Rasa

By UltimatePalmTree

Chapter One

Puppy Love

"Can I keep him?"

Greed cocked an eyebrow at his dog chimera subordinate in slight interest. He had been wondering what had happened to him when Dorchette had staggered into the Devil's Nest from the pouring rain outside, hunched over and his arms wrapped around his middle in an almost protective way. He had initially believed that Dorchette had finally met his match in a swordfight on the streets of Dublith. The avaricious Sin was initially going to tell him to not bleed all over the floor and then go back to his whiskey.

It was at that moment that Dorchette straightened up, shook his head to get rid of the rain, and looked around the bar. He was clamping his white shirt shut with his left hand, and his right arm was supporting an odd bulge in his middle. Thoroughly confused and with his curiosity officially piqued, Greed tried to figure out exactly what the object was when it actually moved. Something alive.

Aw. Crap.

Dorchette padded over to his boss, still holding the bulge and sat down next to Greed. "Hi, boss," he said with a puppyish grin on his face.

"What's with you?" Greed asked, indicating the bulge with a wave of his whiskey-filled glass.

As if on cue, a black ball of fuzz forced its way out of Dorchette's shirt, examined Greed critically and then yipped, almost in a happy sort of tone.

"It's a puppy!" Dorchette explained happily.

"I can see that…" Greed said as he examined the pup's slightly squashed-in face.

There was a pause before Dorchette finally asked the dreaded question. "Can I keep him?" Which pretty much brings us up to speed with the action going on in the Devil's Nest that rainy evening.

Now, Greed liked dogs in general. Friendly, loyal little things when they weren't barking their fricking heads off. This was part of the reason he took so kindly to Dorchette. But a dog chimera with a well-developed sense of what to do and what not to do in certain situations was a different story compared to a small puppy that—in just a minute—could create a mess that only a Category Five tornado could create.

Greed laughed apologetically after a long pause and scratched the puppy behind the ears. "I'm sorry, Dorchette, but I don't think a puppy would be taken too well here,"

Dorchette's grin receded from his face a bit before he tore his gaze away from Greed. "Alright… But I can't just kick him out in the rain. Can't he at least stay the night?"

Greed's expression changed from apologetic to slight concern. Dorchette was positive that he was going to say "Alright, just for tonight," when the puppy in his arms became very fidgety. It was clearly trying to escape. Aw, crap… Dorchette thought, tightening the grip on his puppy. Not now… The puppy was unheeding of his silent prayers and squirmed out of his grasp and onto the bar counter, its little claws clacking against the wood as it ran down towards the other end.

"Rasa!" Dorchette yelled, diving after the loose dog. If he didn't catch his pup in a matter of seconds, Greed was gonna be one pissed-off Homunculus; that he knew for sure. He may just become one pissed-off Homunculus anyway, seeing as how when Dorchette had dove for his new friend, he had managed to knock Greed's whiskey off of the counter and straight into his face.

Dorchette had expected the pup to merely stop at the other end of the bar and look around for another way to run, therefore giving him a shot at catching the dog. However, the thing was smarter than he looked. It immediately jumped for the nearest bar stool and then leapt down from there, unfazed at the impact from the ground. Then the teddy bear-like dog decided it was time to explore his new territory at close to top speed.

The first person the dog decided to check out was Martel, who was sitting at one of the couches and quietly reading a book, somehow entirely oblivious to the whole thing with Dorchette's puppy. The dog took one sniff at her and decided he didn't like her. The Devil's Nest exploded with the sounds of inexperienced puppy barks. The snake chimera jumped slightly and looked down at the dog. "Dorchette! Not again!" she yelled angrily at her friend, who was currently slithering down one of the bar stools like a drunken lizard.

"Sorry, Martel!" he yelled back, trying to straighten himself up. "Sorry, boss,"

Greed simply glared at him, amber droplets of whiskey dripping off the tip of his nose and the rims of his glasses. Dorchette then launched himself at the dog, hopefully to get a grip on the dog's waist. However, the dog seemed to be just as fast as him and sped away, still barking hoarsely. A sudden yell of "C'mere, dumbass!" told Dorchette that Greed had joined the chase, possibly with murderous intentions. The dog chimera picked himself up off the ground (he had plowed chest first right in front of Martel, who's expression was a hybrid of annoyance and disbelief) and started after the overexcited puppy.

He and Greed were fast on the puppy's poofy tail and had almost backed the dog into a corner when it took a sharp turn to the left and sped right past them in the opposite direction. "Ironic, isn't it?" was Dorchette's comment to his boss.

"Screw irony! Get the dog!" Greed bellowed.

Dorchette nodded and tore after the canine, Greed following after him. The bluish-black diamond skin covered his hands; if he tried catching the dog with those talons, the dog'd be gutted and quartered in no seconds flat. The words Aw, crap flashed through his mind for a second time as he ran after his precious Rasa.

In the ensuing scuffle, Dorchette had managed to both plow chest first into the ground one more time and get the dog by grasping its hind legs. Not the best of plans, Dorchette knew, but it would have to do until he got a better grip on the dog. This plan, however, was failing. Seeing as how Greed was straddling his upper back and holding Dorchette around the throat. The black diamond claws dug into the fragile skin of his neck, probably on accident, but Dorchette couldn't be sure. Whatever his intentions—hostile or no—he was succeeding in slowly and painfully asphyxiating him.

Then the massive boots of a familiar cohort were right in his line of vision, right in front of Rasa. "What the heck was going on here?" a deep voice asked. Roa. Most definitely was Roa. Dorchette looked up (as best as one could look up when diamond claws were being forced into your throat) and saw the bull chimera's usual stern expression. His brow was slightly furrowed in anger, and he was holding that massive metallic maul.

"Dorchette brought another new friend here," Martel explained from her position by the couch. "A dog this time,"

Greed ignored this comment and said, "You already named the dog?"

Dorchette nodded carefully and said, "Rasa,"

"Stupid dog…" At first, Dorchette wasn't sure to whom this comment was directed: him or Rasa. But a comment a second later made Dorchette know who this was directed at. "Now we can't let it go away. It'll come back here again, looking for its master,"

"Interesting name," Roa commented absently. "Where'd you hear it?"

"Some people were talking a few streets back. Something about… what was it? It sounded like 'tablet rasa', and I just used the last part," Dorchette explained, voice raspy with lack of oxygen. "Greed, get your hands off my throat!" Instantly, the death talons let go, but the Homunculus remained firmly straddled on Dorchette's upper back. He had probably cracked two ribs by now; he didn't realize his boss weighed that much!

"Do you mean tabula rasa?" Roa asked, annunciating the first word.

"That's it," Dorchette nodded. He carefully shifted his grip on the dog's right leg towards the dog's chest. After he was certain he had a firm grip on Rasa, he moved his left hand towards his companion and pulled him closer so as not to have a repeat of the previous accident. He didn't feel like seeing Roa peel Rasa off of the wall and throw him away in an unceremonious process.

"What is it?" Greed asked. His tone of voice was very interested now.

"It's the belief," Roa said carefully, "that one is born with a blank mind. Therefore, you are molded by your surroundings,"

Now it made perfect sense. The puppy was still young; Dorchette would have to teach him everything. That is, if Greed let him keep it…

"Since when did you become a philosopher, Roa?" Martel asked sarcastically.

"Alright," Greed said. "We need to figure out what we're gonna do to this dog. I say we let him stay one night until the rain's over with. Then we take the dog as far away as possible and leave him there,"

Rasa had begun to lick Dorchette with a small, rough bluish-black tongue. Now Dorchette couldn't do anything to get rid of his friend. He hated all these canine loyalties and bonds…

Roa nodded. "Sounds fine," Martel said. Now it was Dorchette's turn. He paused for a second; somehow oblivious to Rasa's licking his cheek now. "Well, Dorchette?" Martel leaned on the back of one of the couches, waiting for his response.

Dorchette sighed and finally said, "Alright. Just one night. I promise,"

The next day, the four residents of Devil's Nest did just that. They took the sewers out of the city and started across four miles or so of meadow before reaching a creek. There was a fenced-in pasture of some sort a few yards away from the opposite bank of the stream; maybe there'd be a farm or something that Rasa would be able to be adopted onto. He walked through the stream, holding Rasa in his shirt and allowing the alert puppy to see what was happening to the outside world.

He then took Rasa out of his shirt and absently rubbed the top of the fragile creature's head as he set him down on the grass. "Stay, Rasa," Dorchette ordered firmly. The puppy merely looked up at him with glassy dark brown eyes, head cocked to one side. "May your spirit be unbroken,"

"You done yet?" Roa asked, breaking the moment.

Dorchette turned around to face his friends and nodded. He waved to Rasa one last time, and splashed through the clear stream once more. To deplete all of our scents… he thought. "Let's go," he said once he reached his friends.

Greed snorted slightly and said, "'Bout time you got rid of him. One night was enough for me," He turned around and started walking off towards the Devil's Nest, hands shoved into the pockets of his low-risers. Not long after, Roa and Martel followed him. Dorchette knew he was supposed to as well, but he couldn't. Rasa was sitting on the opposite side, looking up at what he had come to know as his father of sorts.

Dorchette couldn't do it. He made sure that Roa, Martel and Greed were a fair distance away, and then picked up Rasa once more. "If you be very quiet," Dorchette whispered, "I'm sure you can get a nice bed back at home,"

Rasa seemed to understand. Once Dorchette placed the puppy in the knee-high grass (the dog disappeared easily in this), the dog didn't make any sounds except for the rustling that could've just been the wind. Perfect. With that, the pair marched off towards their home.

Disclaimer

Alright. I don't own anything from Fullmetal Alchemist or anything else referenced here. I don't own any songs I may use here just to clear that up, too. The only things I own of this story is the created plot (of Dorchette getting a puppy), the characters I created (unless stated otherwise, like if they're from someone else), and possibly some of the items in the story. I own Rasa. –pets Rasa, but then hands him to Dorchette—Frammit, haven't you toilet trained him yet?

Author's Notes

Yup. First chapter of my new Devil's Nest fanfic, Tabula Rasa. I am quite proud of myself. This is my first multi-chapter FMA non-slash story. Woot! Go me!

Anyhoo… I know you've probably seen this story fifty-thousand times on this site. I am hoping you don't find this story a copy of them. I was just wondering one day how Dorchette would react if he had a puppy, because… Ya know, bein' a dog chimera an' all… So, this was born.

If you're wondering about that line that Dorchette says towards the end ("May your spirits be unbroken."), here's where it comes from. I'm a Peter Gabriel fan, and I was listening to the song Wallflower while writing this. For some odd reason, in the scene where Dorchette has to say good-bye to Rasa (temporarily good-bye, at any rate), I could hear this song in the background as he did this. One of the lines in the chorus for Wallflower is "They put you in a box, so you can't get hurt/heard. May your spirits stay unbroken, may you not be deterred." The chorus fit with the whole situation with Rasa. Although, I think it's about a mental hospital patient, but I can't be too certain. The song Wallflower. Yeah, I listen to good (but weird) music.

Alright. I've finished chapter one (obviously), and I have an idea for chapter two. However, I'm going to ask any reader who manages to read this to help a sister out. I need ideas for the Devil's Nest and Rasa. You can submit anything you want: trying to train the dog, dinner time, visitors, etc. I don't care as long as it's an idea! But I can't guarantee I'll use it, or at least, not right that second. Palmy can only take so much before her brain decides to go asplody.

So yah, I'm begging for ideas. That's pretty much it, actually. I've got nothing else to say, except for keep watching my profile for updates on Tamers and other new stories (I've developed a taste for one shots like Murder in the Lounge and Kimblee's Twisted Transistor.)

Oh, and one last thing…

Do any of you know what species of dog Rasa is?

I know it, but I'm not tellin' anything yet! So… I guess… Until next time!