In Another Time
Chapter 1
Amestris was nothing but a village of a few thousand people. The times where tough but the people were relatively happy. They each had their jobs to do, potters, hunters, solders, smiths, scholars, and cooks. They had been brought up with the skills of their parents. In Edward and Alphonse Elrics case it was an old woman and her grand daughters profession. Their parents had died when they where very young when a village to the north Drachma had attacked them only to be fought off by the then leader Bradley.
Now Amestris was led by an elderly man named Grumman, with Olivia Armstrong as his second in command. Grumman had tried to promote peace with the bordering villiages surrounding them with mixed results.
Ed Elric was a smith, possibly the best in all of Amestris. His brother Alphonse, or just Al, was good but not as good as his older, albeit shorter, brother. They had been taught by the Rockbells who were known as the best smiths on the entire continent.
Roy Mustang, Alex Armstrong, Maes Hughes, and Solf Kimblee were the best soldiers the small village had to offer. In a time of swords and shield Roy Mustang was unmatched amongst his own soldiers and any other villages soldiers. His back was always watched by his close friends Jean Havoc and Riza Hawkeye. It was strange for a woman to be a part of any army but when you laid eyes on Riza Hawkeye you knew she was not a person to be trifled with.
Roy Mustang was the best swordsman in any village and everyone knew it, his skill with a sword was rivaled only by Hughes intellect, Alex Armstrongs physical strength and Kimblees sadistic nature.
Roy carried a zanbato into every battle. The sword was longer then the man was tall. It had taken Ed quite a long time to craft such a large weapon, Roy had come by the forge quite a lot while he was crafting it. Ed always asked if the sword was trying to over compensate for something. Roy never dignified that with a response.
Ed woke up at dawn to start working the forge, the solders always needed a steady supply of weapons. Amestris was threatened on almost every side, though Drachma in the north was always the most guarded. They were constantly under attack. Word of a growing army in the southeast was just reaching the medium sized village.
Ed stood in the running water of the shower. His metal arm was water proof so he didn't worry about it. Winry was the best when it came to automail. Al was the best when it came to armor and Ed was the best when it came to weaponry. Only one soldier had decided to completely forgo armor, and his name was Roy Mustang.
Alarms began going off in the northern end of the village and Ed watched as Kimblee and Roy ran off, they lived here in the south side. Hughes and Armstrong lived in the north so they were the first ones there. Drachma had sent a group of border skirmishers.
Hughes was confused, he could not understand why they would send such a small force to attack. It was made up of only fifty men give or take. Roy probably could have taken them by himself. They didn't fight as if they wanted to be here either. He could tell their hearts weren't in this fight. Alex had taken most of them apart by the time Kimblee and Roy showed up.
"It seems we missed all the fun." Roy said walking up and standing next to Maes. Roy could tell something was bothering his friend. The two had grown up together and had been best of friends ever since.
"I don't get it. If Drachma wanted to overrun us they could. They could have sent a larger force and would have pushed past us by the time you got here. It doesn't make any sense." Hughes said deep in though. Roy could tell the man was more thinking out loud then having a conversation.
Ed saw them come over the hill and quickly hid as many people as he could in his basement and then he and Al stood at the forge weapons in hand. Roy had taken the time to show both the basics of swordsmanship. Ed was a quick learner but if push came to shove he knew he wouldn't last long against fully trained soldiers.
That's when a large bald man stepped in between the two boys and the fairly large group of soilders that were quickly setting upon the village.
"Yoy boys go inside and stay there." he said quietly. Ed and Al looked at each other and ran inside, but watched the large man. He was burly, almost as big as Alex Armstrong, but his mustache was black. "I am Bas Grand, no solider in this village is as well versed as I in the art of.." He was unable to finish his sentence before he was cut down by a man with a x shaped scar across his face.
Ed put his hand over Als mouth as to not alert the dark-skinned red-eyed men. There were maybe twenty or so and as hot-headed as Ed was he knew when to pick a fight. They moved through the village slaughtering as may people as they could, though there were not many as most had been hiden.
They moved through and where gone as quickly as they had come. That's when they heard the alarm from the center of the village.
Roy and Maes quickly turned around and set off towards Grummans house. It was at the dead center of the village and they knew what had happened. Drachma had flanked them, but what they saw surprised both of them. They saw bodies from both sides laying on the ground, but the enemies where not from Drachma. They were Ishvalians.