D3ath: So, I've had this idea in my head since Christmas Break, and it's been bugging me since. Can you imagine, Zelda: Wind Waker and Fullmetal Alchemist together? I can! :D And this is post Season 2 of the FMA series, the GOOD season. :3
Enjoy!
The Legend of the Midget
By D3athrav3n92
Chapter 1
"This is as far as I'm takin' ya'll," said an old sailor gruffly. "Waters past 'ere are filled wit monsters an' such, an' I ain't sailin' in that."
"Thank you," said a tall, broad-shouldered young man. He gave the sailor a small bag full of coins, and the sailor dumped them into his hand and counted them before nodding in approval.
"Good luck findin' yer brother," he said, tipping his hat towards the young man and his companions.
"Thanks," the young man replied, giving the sailor a small, polite smile. The sailor waved a hand, and stepped back onto his small ship, sailing it back out into open waters again.
"That was kind of him, to take us out this far," said a young woman, quietly grabbing the young man's hand. She was a little shorter than him, and the young man nodded, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb.
"Well, this was as far as he was willing to go," grumbled an older man, heavyset with dark skin and thick dreadlocks.
Another man, roughly the same age as the other one, nodded, before wiping sweat off his brow. "Man, this tropical weather's not good for me at all. I'm sweating worse than a pig."
"Maybe because you are one," countered the other man.
"At least I'm not a frog, fish-lips!"
"OI! Who're you calling fish-lips, ugly?"
The young man and the young woman watched in exasperation as their two older companions argued, and the young woman shook her head.
"Stop arguing, you two!" she reprimanded sharply. "The longer you two argue, the longer it's going to take to find Edward!"
Immediately, the two stopped, looking at the young man sheepishly. "Right. Sorry, Alphonse," said the thinner man, Zampano, with a sheepish grin.
The other man, Jerso, clapped his hands together and began to rub them. "Right! Let's get to work!" he exclaimed.
The young man, Alphonse, nodded, his golden eyes burning in determination as he studied the island they were on. "Let's ask around the village. See if they've seen anything odd lately, like a large ship, or suspicious characters."
The others nodded, and split up, heading to different parts of the island.
Alphonse sighed, reaching up to massage the bridge of his nose. He wasn't looking his best; ever since he had heard of Edward's kidnapping, he had been getting less and less sleep, too worried to focus on his alchemic studies.
Edward had been kidnapped three weeks ago, taken by a man that was described as "big, dark-skinned, and the orange-est colored hair that I'd ever seen!" as quoted by one of the farmers in Resembool, the one that had seen the incident. He had also described black-colored alchemy, the likes of which Al had never heard of before.
"You're looking for your brother, mister?" Alphonse jolted, looking down. A young boy was standing in front of him, hair as bright as Winry's and big, dark, curious eyes. He was very tan, and was dressed in a blue shirt with a white crawfish pattern and orange shorts.
"How'd you know?" asked Alphonse, tilting his head. A sudden hope flared within him. Maybe the young boy had seen him! Maybe he knew where they went!
"I heard you and those other guys talking about it!" chirped the boy, smiling brightly. "Can I help you look for him?"
Alphonse tried to not let his disappointment show. "Maybe, if he's here on the island," he replied, crouching down to the boy's eye level. "You haven't seen a guy that looks like me around here, have you? He has his hair in a ponytail, though, and his bangs kind of hang around his face, like this." Alphonse drew the style over his face with his finger, and the boy's face scrunched up in thought. "He has the same eye color as me, too," Alphonse added. "He's really loud, and kind of rude…"
The boy shook his head. "Nope. There hasn't been a guy like that on his island. Ever. Until you came."
"How about a big guy with dark skin and red hair?" he asked hopefully, but the boy shook his head.
"There haven't been any visitors on the island other than the mailman. But he's a bird. Is that who you're looking for?"
Alphonse sighed and stood. "No. Thanks."
"No problem!" the boy exclaimed cheerfully, dashing away. "Glad I could help!"
Alphonse watched the boy sprint down the beach, completely ignoring the bridge that connected the two parts of the island together. The young boy dove into the water, swimming to the other side of the strait, before climbing back out onto the sand and heading for a tall, wooden watchtower at the edge of the island.
Judging from the conversation with the boy, Edward hadn't come through here at all, nor had his mysterious kidnapper. On an island as isolated as this from the main continent, any dark stranger or ship would have caused a flurry of discussion, one that the boy would have heard about in passing.
He hoped that Edward was as safe as he could possibly be.
"You bastard! Let me out of here, and I'll show you why I was called the Fullmetal Alchemist!" snarled a golden-eyed man, his blonde hair disheveled as he gripped the wooden bars of his prison. He had tried kicking out of it earlier, but apparently they were strengthened with metal or something, because they hadn't budged or chipped a bit when he kicked it with his metal leg.
The man that kidnapped him smirked, folding his arms as he loomed over the young man. "Not until you give me the information I want," he replied calmly.
"Fuck no! I'd rather drink milk than tell you!"
There was a pause, before the large man spoke, obviously amused.
"So the answer is no?" he asked, leering, and Edward bared his teeth.
"Of course it is, you asshole! I'm not telling you shit!"
The large man shrugged. "Very well. You'll give me the answers I want, sooner or later. I just wanted to see if you wanted to give me the information without any pain involved." And with that, the large man strode away.
Edward kept up his defensive position until the man left the chamber. After the door closed, he let out a sigh and relaxed, backing away from the prison bars.
"Um…are you okay?" asked a small voice, and Edward turned to the two other girls he was sharing the prison with. The one that spoke was small, thin, and in a tattered rag of a dress, her brown hair falling limply around her darkly-tanned face. She seemed to shrink into herself as Edward turned his burning golden eyes onto her. The other was almost the complete opposite, and held herself with poise and elegance, turning up her chin as Edward glanced at her. Her once expensive dress was ruined from her kidnapping, but she still appeared haughty, and had a personality to match it. Her blonde hair was in neat curls, despite their situation, and she fanned herself snobbishly as Edward turned back to the first girl.
"I'm fine, Maggie," he replied quietly. She nodded and looked down again, fidgeting. "That guy just irritates the hell out of me."
"Hmph!" snorted the other girl, Mila. "I don't see why I have to stay in a cell with riffraff like you," she said scornfully, upturning her nose as she snapped her fan shut. "I should have my own private cell! Doesn't he know who I am?"
"Yeah, a brat," countered Edward. "And he probably doesn't care shit about who you are."
"But he cares about you," she snapped in reply, her dark eyes narrowing. "He's probably going to kill you or something, if you don't give him what he wants."
"Not until he gets the information he needs," Edward replied, sitting down on a pile of nearby boxes and leaning back. "He can't afford to kill me, either, unless he wants to start a war with my country, which is probably something that he won't want, especially considering the army he has at his disposal now. They'd be wiped out."
Mila frowned. "That doesn't stop him from hurting you, like he mentioned earlier," she retorted, and Edward gave her a lazy grin.
"Aw, any more, Mila, and I'd think you cared about me," he drawled, and the girl flushed, opening her fan again and fanning herself furiously.
"I-idiot! I just don't want your blood to stain my dress, that's all!" she stammered, glaring at the nearby wall.
"Thanks for your concern, but I'm engaged. I'm not interested in girls younger than me, that are all pampered and spoiled," he replied with a smirk, and the girl reddened further, but didn't say another word. In fact, she looked a little disappointed, something that both amused and embarrassed Edward to no end.
"What's your fiancé like?" asked Maggie, and Edward's head tilted back to hit the stone wall with a dull thud.
"Her name's Winry, and she's the most amazing girl on the planet," he said, a silly grin stretching across his face. It then disappeared as a more solemn thought occurred to him. "She's probably worried sick out of her mind. My brother, too."
There was a silence, before Maggie drew her knees to her chest, tears falling down her face. "I miss my dad."
Mila had a few tears rolling down her face too as she nodded in her agreement.
Edward's face hardened.
He would do whatever it took to keep these girls safe while he was here, even if it meant dying.
Al and Winry would be upset, but they would understand.
"Nothing, Al. Nothing at all," sighed Jerso, slumping down onto the sand.
"Nobody's seen any strangers other than us," Zampano added, sitting down next to his companion.
Mei Chan and her panda cat nodded. "Same here, Alphonse-sama."
Al rolled his eyes at the suffix attached to his name, but for once didn't reprimand her. "Same for me as well. Looks like we'll have to find a way to sail further into this area of the ocean."
"There aren't any boats that are willing to sail," Mei replied immediately. "I reached the same conclusion, and asked around. The only ones they get are the merchant ships, and they already left yesterday."
Alphonse groaned, following Zampano and Jerso's examples and collapsing down into the sand. "And there aren't any more leads we can follow…" he mumbled, staring up into the sky.
Suddenly, a pair of dark eyes blocked his vision, and Alphonse blinked for a moment as he looked up at the young boy he met earlier.
The others jolted a little in shock, as none of them had seen the young boy come up.
"Are you tired, mister?" asked the young boy in concern. "Because you can stay in our house if you need to sleep. It's a lot safer in there, because you won't be attacked by monsters at night."
"Monsters?" asked Mei in confusion.
"Yeah, monsters!" the boy affirmed, looking up at the Xingese. "They come out at night and attack anyone that's out there! We tend to stay in our houses after it gets dark. Not only that, but sometimes you get pinched by the crabs that live in the sand during the day! That's why it's not good to sleep on the sand."
There was a pause, before the boy smiled brightly. "And Grandma makes the best soup! And it's my birthday tomorrow! We're having a big party, and I'm sure you all will be welcome to come! I'm turning twelve tomorrow!"
"Really? Congratulations, kid," grunted Jerso.
The boy's expression fell a little. "…You don't know what's so special about it?" he asked the large man, and they all adopted expressions of confusion.
"What's so special about your twelfth birthday?" asked Zampano, and Link tilted his head.
"It's the day I become of age on Outset Island," he said, puzzled. "You've never had anything like that?"
"Oh, for us back hom it's when you're eighteen, and allowed to drink," replied Jerso.
The boy pouted. "Eighteen? But that's like…forever! How can you live with that? I couldn't wait until I turned twelve, and it feels like I waited years!"
"He probably did," muttered Zampano to Jerso under his breath.
"Well, congratulations then," Alphonse said carefully before the boy could become even more upset.
The boy nodded. "I'll make sure to tell Grandma to make a lot of extra soup tonight!" he said, dashing away.
"That kid's really energetic," grumbled Jerso. "Makes me feel old."
Al smiled. "He kind of reminds me of Ed, just without the temper."
Mei giggled. "I can see that."
Moments later, they spotted the boy dashing back to them, panting as he reached them. "I forgot to ask you for your names," he said sheepishly.
"Alphonse Elric," Al replied, holding out a hand that the boy seized and shook. "This is Zampano, Jerso, and Mei Chan." Mei's panda cat appeared on her shoulder and squeaked indignantly. "Oh, and her panda cat, Xiao Mei."
"Cat?" the boy asked excitedly, peering up at Mei's shoulder. "Cool! My name's Link! Grandma said to bring you guys with me so that you guys can settle down and rest." He began to run back across the sand. "Come on!"
"Really old," Jerso muttered under his breath, and Al chuckled, getting up and helping the two older men onto their feet.
Mei slipped her hand into his again as they followed Link, and gave him a reassuring squeeze. Puzzled, Alphonse looked to her, and she smiled.
"We'll find your brother, Alphonse," she said quietly. "And everything will be alright."
Alphonse nodded, determined.
He would find his brother if it was the last thing he ever did.
D3ath: So tell me what you all think! Was it Yay or Nay? And please review!
And for some reason, I've always imagined Wind Waker Link as really reckless and energetic, as well as really curious about everything, until he matures at the end of the game. He's so adorable!
