On The Way to Central (Open)

Davis chewed the metal needle in his mouth, rolling it over with his tongue and savoring the blood like taste it had to it. He'd been chewing on an iron needle the whole way so far, so he pricked his tongue in the center of the alchemical circle tattooed upon the soft flesh of his tongue. He pried a bottle of mercury out of one of his pockets and pulled out the stopper with his teeth, pouring the liquid into his mouth. It was lethal to ingest, so Davis immediately formed it into the desired needle. A mercury needle, once stuck into an opponent, could be deformed into liquid, poisoning the opponent and killing them.

Davis sighed, he'd had to learn such offensive forms of alchemy lately, no longer was he aiding the world with medicine, now he was killing it with poison. Still, the mercury needle had a better taste to it than the iron one. He'd build a tolerance to all the kinds of poisons he carried, he wouldn't die from anything short of swallowing the whole needle, though it didn't sit well in his stomach. Davis spat out liquid iron and stopped it inside the vial, placing it into the pocket he'd retrieved the mercury from. He'd learned that little trick a while back, how useful it was, liquid metal was so much more portable.

The road was dusty and barren, though the city was within site. They took such great care of themselves, but the outlying communities looked like crap. How thoughtful of them. A dog of the military, bah, he'd be a dog that bit the hand that fed it, even if he stood alone in this ambition. "Whatever it takes to stay alive Davis, whatever it takes..."