Chapter One: Chimera

The coarse wind blew rough across Colonel Roy Mustang's face as he plowed though the streets of Central. It had been two weeks since First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye had gone missing. The thought of her missing made his head pound and his heart beat half as strong. Suddenly, dry lightning cracked along the sky, but there were no storms around, and no sirens for a tornado going off. He hurried to Central Command Center and sighed as he walked to his office to find her seat empty once more. A small note was on his desk. He looked at it and stared at it for a while. It read simply.

"Riza Hawkeye. Find her. 1923 Chui Street"

He put on his coat and jammed his ignition gloves into his pockets. You'd better not be screwing around with me. Nobody does that when it comes to my Lieutenant!

The only sounds heard was the thunder that ensued the ominous, blinding lightning and the almost silent clicking of Roy's heels as he paced himself in quick pursuit of finding Riza. He turned down Chui street to find abandoned buildings lining it's cracked and uprooted gravel and cobblestone insides, as if machines had come and torn up one piece of land out of all Amestris. All hell seemed to had broken loose on this small patch. He turned to the other seemingly perfect streets to make sure there was no mistakes before he carefully tread through the rock that seemed an old battlefield left for ruin. He took a deep breath as he lightly pushed the broken down door of '1923 Chui street' and it fell forward to the floor with a loud thud. Howls and yells filled the before silent air, and Roy began to ponder what could possibly be here. Stepping into a warm, slimy liquid, he looked around to see an excess array of broken open cages. His skin crawled at the thought.

"Chimeras, no dou-" His sentance stopped cold as he thought about why he was there. He narrowed his eyes and called out. "Lieutenant! Lieutenant Hawkeye!" He ran down the halls, hands trembling and small beads of sweat forming on his brow. His dark eyes darted from place to place. Countless dogs and disformed humans were growling at him from their cages, but he paid them no mind. Please don't be here, please don't be here, please don't be here..! he would chant in his mind like his life depended on it. He finally came to the end of the hall, where a door leading to the top floor was. He kicked it open and ran up the stairs. He saw Riza tied down to a chair and gasped. Next to her was a dog. A man quickly put his hands on the ground and a bright flash of light ensued.

"LIEUTENANT!"

A small scream escaped Riza's lips as she felt an undescribable pain. Dry lightning cracked once more and all was still. The man stood up and cleared smoke from near his face.

"There we go. Now... Did you turn out right..?" He moved in the circle and the rest of the smoke cleared. "Oh, dear... I guess not..!"

Roy felt his anger lifting through his entire body and he ran to the circle, punching the man. The man fell back and squirmed away. Roy sunk to his knees as he saw a blonde dog, quivering next to the chair. The dog wasn't blonde before, though..! He crawled over to the dog, reaching a hand out to it. But it cowered and backed away slowly. Roy shook his head slowly.

"Lieutenant..! I mean, Riza..." He sighed. Trying to get her to at least remember her name might set them in the right direction. "Riza. You're alright. It's me. The Colonel."

"..." The blonde dog looked into Roy's piercing onyx eyes, her brown hues reflecting, even in the darkest of rooms, that bore little to no light. His eyes highlighted in a pleading gaze. The dog slowly began to make a sound. "C...Co... Colonel... Colonel... Mustang... Roy..."

"That's right. Roy. That's all you need to say for now, Riza, alright? Please, let's go home..!" Roy's eyes were dry and he kept blinking, hoping it was a horrible nightmare, that everything would be alright, that Riza was still just normal at her home, resting peacefully.

"Home... Roy..." She kept repeating. "Home, Roy, home! Roy, home!" The dog quickly got to it's feet, beginning to pace around, then proceeding to run smack into the middle of a wall.

"Riza, stop!" Roy jumped up and tried to stop her without harming her.

"Home..!" She hit it again. "Roy..!" She hit it once more and slowly stopped before she could get another in. The dog fell to it's side, panting softly.

"Damn it, Riza..." Roy slowly helped her back onto her four feet and held her by some of the fur on her neck area. She slowly began to walk to the door and he led her down and out to his house. He slowly walked her in and sank down on his couch. She slowly hopped next to him on the couch and got comfortable, laying down with her head in his lap. Softly, her breathing echoed the room along with his.

"Roy... Sorry... Was reckless..." Was all she mumbled, then all was silent, her eyes closed and she fell asleep. He gently placed a hand on her head.

"No, Riza... We both were. I am the one... Who should be sorry..." And he sat there the whole night, just looking at her, wide awake.