The Half-Metal Alchemist

Chapter 1

"Brother, are you ok?" Al asked his slouching brother. Ed looked just looked at him.

"Al, we've been traveling for days and all we've seen so far is field," Ed sighed. "At this rate, we'll never get to the city." Al looked around to find something to make his brother happier.

"Maybe she can help us," he said pointing to a girl sitting in the middle of a field of flowers. "She doesn't look like she would hurt us." Ed looked at her more closely to see if that statement was true. Her long, blond hair was gently braided and strands in front of her face were flowing in the wind. Her deep, blue eyes were pointed at the sky as if they were drawn to it. She was dressed in a red outfit with black trimmings and a white trench coat much like Ed's outfit and red trench coat. Also like Ed, she had on white gloves and black shoes. "Well, are we going to talk to her or just sit here staring?" Al asked.

"Al, look at her belt," Ed said not taking his eyes off of her. Al turned and looked at it, and if he had eyes they would have grown wide. On her belt was the silver pocket watch of the State-Alchemist. "I don't think talking to her is such a good idea." As they stood and stared at her, a dog came running up to the girl and when it reached her, it sat down and wagged its tail. The girl looked at the dog and gave it a sad smile as she started to pet it.

"She still doesn't seem like the type of person that would hurt us," Al said. "I think I'll go talk to her."

"Al wait," Ed said reaching out to his brother, but he was too late. Al was already making his way toward the girl. When he reached her, his shadow covered the girl and the dog. It startled her a bit, but after she saw him, she smiled.

"You're not afraid of me are you?" Al asked. She simply shook her head. "Could you lead me and my brother to the city?" The girl looked over at Ed and nodded. She got up and walked toward the path, allowing Ed to see how alike they really are. In fact, they could pass for twins. The girl flashed a smile in Ed's direction before walking up the path. Al and the dog followed her, but Ed just stood and stared. Everyone walking stopped and looked at Ed. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, sorry," Ed replied shaking off his shock. He walked to catch up with the group and when he did, they all started walking. "Not much of a talker are you?" he asked the girl. She looked at him and shook her head. "Why?" She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped and looked at the ground. "What did I say?"

"Brother, maybe we should leave her alone," Al suggested. Before Ed could say anything, the girl stopped and pointed into the city.

"Aren't you coming in?" Ed asked her. Again, she shook her head. She turned around and started to walk back down the path. Suddenly, a fairly large rock came flying through the air and hit the girl squarely in the head making her fall to the ground unconscious. Ed turned around in anger.

"You better stay out of this city or you'll get more than that!" a boy shouted to the girl. When the boy saw Ed and Al, he turned around and ran away.

"Why did he say that?" Al asked.

"I don't know," Ed replied. He turned around to see the girl struggling to get up. Ed ran to her side and grabbed her arm to help her up. When she was up and Ed let go of her, she fell backward into Ed's arms.

"What should we do?" Al asked. Ed looked at the girl in his arms and sighed.

"Take her into the city I guess," Ed replied. The girl looked up at him and shook her head in fear. She must have shook her head to hard because after she was done she put her hand up to her head. "I'll take that as a no." The girl pointed to the dog in front of them. She barked and walked into the field.

"I think she wants us to follow the dog," Al said.

"That's what I'm getting at. Can you carry her?" Al nodded and took her from Ed. The dog barked again impatiently. "We're coming," Ed said to it. They walked across the field into the forest. They walked a few meters in and came to a clearing with a small cabin in the middle. "This must be the place." They walked into it and looked around. It was a one-room cabin with a bed in one corner and a chair in another. By now, the girl had fallen asleep and Al placed her gently on the bed.

"What do we do now?" Al asked. "Should we stay here?"

"Yes. I want to make sure that she's alright," Ed replied. In truth, Ed wanted to know what the thing at the edge of the city was all about.

"So what do we do while we wait?"

"Just stand around I guess," Ed replied. "I don't really care."

Ed and Al did exactly what Ed said; stand around. Eventually Ed got tired of just standing around and leaned against the wall. Then, the dog that had led them there jumped up on the bed and started to lick the girl's face. She pushed the dog's face away from her own and opened her eyes.

"What am I going to do with you Lilly?" the girl asked sitting up.

"So it is possible for you to talk," Ed said.

"Oh, you're still here," she said a little shocked. "I thought you would have been in the city by now."

"Why would we want to go to a city that treated you like that?" Ed asked her.

"Oh no, you have it all wrong. They're really friendly people just… not to me," she replied with a sigh.

"What makes you so different?" Al asked.

"Let's just say that alchemy changes people's thinking by the way you use it," she said with a sad smile.

"What would be so horrible to deserve a rock to the head?" Ed asked.

"Something I did a long time ago." She sighed again and started to pet the dog. "So are you going to leave?" she asked them trying to change the subject.

"I just have one more question," Ed said standing up straight. The girl looked up at him. "What is your name?"

"You can call me the Half-Metal Alchemist. HM for short," she said with a proud smile. Now Ed was confused as well as scared. Even their state nicknames were almost the same.

"How did you get that name?" Al asked.

"I'm sorry, but I'd rather not say."

"I think I know why," Ed said in a flat tone of voice, hoping that he was wrong. The girl looked at Ed with confusion. "Some of your limbs aren't real are they?" Her smile faded and nodded. She took of her trench coat first. Looking ashamed, she took off her inside coat reviling her red tank top and a mechanical left arm. "Man, sometimes I hate it when I'm right." She also pushed up her right pant leg also showing her mechanical leg.

"You must be the Full-Metal Alchemist," she said pulling her inside jacket back on. "You wouldn't know so jump to the conclusion that I had metal limbs right away if you were all flesh and blood."

"Very good analysis. You are one of the first people that has called me that without me or Al saying so," Ed said very impressed with her. She just shrugged and pulled on her trench coat.

"Now with the time I have, all I can do is analyze things. And I'm good at it. I figure I might as well do what I'm good at." She stood up and wiped the dirt off of her coat. "If you really don't want to go into the city, you are welcome to stay at the second cabin."

"You have a second cabin?" Al asked.

"Well, it used to be my dad's backup cabin. If something happened to the city, we would have a place to go. It's much nicer than this thing I can assure you." There was silence for a moment until HM got impatient. "So how about it?"

"Sure," Al said. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said with a smile. "This way." She led Al and Ed out of the cabin and back into the forest.

A/N: This is my first FMA story, so please, review and be honest what you think.

-VDG