(A/N)

Hey. This is my first FanFic! Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Fullmetal Alchemist.

That's a real shame.

Anyway, please enjoy reading!

Also, it has a lot of tin can jokes in. You know. About Al. grins

Chapter One – Nothing's Ever Simple

'And so we catch the train to where?'

Edward Elric considered the option of kicking his younger brother, Al, but three reasons overcame his urge to do so: one, he was in a suit of armour. Two, it would be as loud as someone kicking a tin can right into a loudspeaker, and most importantly, it would hurt. And no-one in that particular train station wanted to hear Ed scream.

'Rizenbul, Al,' Ed said, very slowly, to cover his anger. He clamped his hands over his ears as a train rushed past. 'We're going to visit Winry.'

'Oh God. ST Girl.' Al groaned, rolling his eyes.

'ST Girl?' asked Ed, genuinely bewildered. It soon came to him he shouldn't have asked.

'You know, ST Girl,' Al grinned. 'Spanner Thrower Girl.'

Ed glared at his little brother.

'Oh, Edward, don't tell me you've forgotten already? You must remember! She threw that spanner at you and it hit you right between the eyes and knocked you out for -'

Ed decided he would kick his little brother. And yeah, it made a loud sound, and yeah, his toes throbbed, but Al stopped talking. Okay, it didn't quite wipe the thrilled smirk from his face, but the stupid tin can shut up at least. Ed wasn't that fond of the thought of the few people walking past them knowing that he was knocked out for 4 hours by a spanner.

'Seriously, Al, if you don't shut up pretty damn soon, I'll grab some water, pour it over your soup can of a head and stand you in the desert until you rust!' Ed spat.

Al mimicked a look of sadness. 'Brother, I am deeply offended!'

Ed rolled his eyes again. 'Anyway, what's got you acting so cocky today? Normally you're in my shadow all the time!'

'Someone my size, in your sized shadow?' muttered Al quietly. 'Nothing, Brother.' he added.

'Al, tell me. There's something.'

'Um, no there isn't.'

'Yes. There. Is!'

'Seriously, Ed, there's nothing.'

'Al quit being such an ass and spit it out!'

Al looked at the floor. 'Okay. I just... was looking forward to seeing you getting hit by a spanner again.'

'ALPHONSE ELRIC, ONE OF THESE DAYS I'M GONNA PUT YOU IN A SHOP, FILL YOU WITH VEGETABLES, LEAVE YOU TO STEW AND SELL YOU OFF AS A RARE AND UNCOMMON TYPE OF HOLY SOUP!'

'Well then, I'll package you up and sell you off with the shrimps!'

An hour later – train to Rizenbul

Scenery sped past in smudges of colour, and Ed had his faced pressed against the cold window, his breath steaming up the clear glass, trying not to fall asleep. He didn't want to miss something important. The train shook gently as it sped over the hilly route to Rizenbul, filled with the noise of cheerful chatter from its passengers.

Al, however, was not paying attention to his older brother's antics. He was talking to the Ticket Collector, who it turned out was a natural ginger, even though his hair was currently dark brown. The sound of their pointless conversation was bugging Ed, and he turned to face Al. His evil glare of doom was enough for Al to accidentally spill his Ribena over himself and scuttle off you the bathroom.

Ed wiped the happy thoughts of his brother rusting in blackberry flavoured, tooth-friendly juice out of his mind as the Ticket Collector shot him a puzzled look.

'You're off to Rizenbul, I reckon.'

'Huh?' Ed tore his eyes from the blurred images that made up the world outside to look at the man. 'Rizenbul? Yeah.'

'That's what that boy said. In the suit of armour. Peculiar, he was.'

'Oh, really. How come?'

'Well, apart from the armour thing, he kept talking 'bout something called alchemy. Dunno what he was on about.'

Ed felt a feeling clamp his chest tighter. 'W-what? You must've heard of it!'

'Nope. Never in me life. Anyways, ticket, please.'

Ed handed the man his ticket. He sat up straight and reached for a piece of splintered bark in his pocket. He'd pulled it from a tree back in the city of Lior. It wasn't that often you found a tree in the desert, so he thought it might've been worth keeping it.

He snapped the brittle wood in half, and slapped it on the table in front of him with shaking hands. He clapped them together violently and jammed them onto the bark.

No Light. Not even a spark.

Panic bathed him in cold, like he'd been draped in a blanket made from frost.

'I just did it wrong!' he whispered to himself. 'I just did it wrong, that's all!'

He tried again, this time focussing more. Still the same result. The bark stayed split. Feeling slightly desperate, he knelt on his seat and tapped the woman behind him on the shoulder. She turned round, and he blurted out his question.

'Um, have you ever heard of alchemy?'

'Alchemy? No, never. Sorry.'

Ed froze. He dived to the seat on the other side of the table, and tapped the man behind it.

'Have you ever heard of alchemy?'

'What?'

'Alchemy! Do you know what it is!?'

'No, I'm afraid I don't.'

Ed yanked his bag from under the table and ran down the carriage to the men's bathroom.

'Al!' he shouted, his voice tinged with worry. 'Al! Where are you!?'

His brother came out, a towel in his hand.

'Shh, Brother, people are looking!' he hissed, waving his hands.

'None of them have heard of it!' Ed spat, slightly quieter.

'Heard of what?'

'Alchemy!'

Al shook his head, un-fazed. 'One of them must have.'

He stood on his tiptoes, though it was hardly necessary for someone his height. 'Yes, hello. Um, have any of you kind people heard of something called alchemy?'

Mutterings of 'No,' and 'What is he talking about?' and 'Why is there a talking can over there?' came from the passengers.

Al turned back to Ed, whose face was contorted with worry. 'And I can't perform it either! Al, it's like it's been completely wiped from everything!'

The train jolted as it moved slowly up a hill. Ed ran to the nearest window. At the top of this hill was what he'd been waiting for. The burnt remains of the house where he used to live when his mother was still alive. Him and his brother had burnt it to the ground the day they left to become national alchemists.

'What!? I don't understand!' he whispered. Al paced slowly towards the window.

And there, where the burnt ashes should've been, stood a house.

With lights glowing in all the windows.

'Al,' Ed choked. 'There's someone in our house.'

Right then, that's finished! Please review! And read the next chapter! laughs

Dying by sherbert, signing out x