Colliding Paths

by kay125

Edward Elric is on a mission to retrieve his and his brother's bodies. He is searching the city of Liore for answers about the mysterious Philosopher's Stone. Allen Walker is on a mission... one of many. He travels the Earth, defeating demons and purifying souls. What happens when they meet? Set at the beginning of Fullmetal Alchemist and the middle of D.Gray-Man.

AN: I do not own D. Gray-Man or Fullmetal Alchemist. They belong to the brilliant Katsura Hoshino and Hiromu Arakawa, respectively.

Colliding Paths - Prologue

"Agh… It's too hot… I'm either going to melt or fry. Remind me again why we're walking at the hottest time of day to get to a town with a name I can hardly remember?" Ragged blond hair hanging limply in a loose braid was revealed as the speaker turned wearily to glare at his companion, who strode easily along the dirt path, despite the heavy metal armor he bore.

"Don't worry, Brother. Whether you melt or fry, you'll get a nice funeral anyway. I'm sure the military will take care of it." A teasing tone was evident, though at odds with his imposing figure.

The smaller traveler grunted. "I'd rather not have any sort of funeral, just yet. I've got better things to do." He squinted at a dark blur coming into view. "Wait. Is that…?"

"Liore," the other finished, "Still about a mile or two away, I'd say."

"Damn, still that far?"

"Not much compared to the twenty miles we've already covered."

"Nineteen on a train. Until that stupid engineer broke it."

"You're the one that broke it. While fighting with the engineer. And the conductor. And the brakeman."

"Eh, they were jerks anyway." The slight figure tugged at the edge of his hood, its protective material hiding his face in shadow. "Come on, Al. Let's see if we can get there in less than an hour."

XXX

"Link…"

"No."

"Link…"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say, do you?" Soft gray eyes slanted down into a frown as the teen pouted at his companion. "You always say no just to spite me."

His companion, a blond soldierly man of mid-stature, replied with dry sarcasm. "It took you that long to figure it out?"

"Hmph." The teen turned away, peering out the window at the sand dunes whizzing by. "How much longer do we have to travel? Liore's not that far away now, is it?"

The soldierly man chuckled, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. "Well, it is halfway across the continent, you know. We're a few hours away now. We would have been there sooner, if not for the breakdown two-thirds way through this ride."

"Yeah, yeah! I heard that it was some young blond kid that was messing around up front," the teen chattered excitedly, "You're not related, are you?"

"No."