Author's Notes:

This is an alternate universe FullMetal Alchemist Fanfiction. It is the tale of the Crimson Alchemist, Zoe J Kimblee. She's also been turned into a chimera instead of taken to jail or used as an ingredient in the Philosopher's Stone. This is written from her perspective and it's pretty much her version of her backstory. It starts out in Ishval, just before the fighting starts. Told from her point of view.

--------------

I had no idea where exactly I was. All I knew was that the train ride had been long and I had spent a good portion of it asleep. I hadn't been a state alchemist for very long before I had been sent out to the front lines. I guess I'm just lucky. I didn't talk to anyone on the train; I'm not one for talking in my sleep. I know that I had gotten a few odd looks from a few of the other alchemists around me. Most of them were nervous about being sent out to the front lines to fight. Me? I didn't care. As long as I got to make some fireworks then I would go where ever I was sent and kill whoever I had to. I guess that's why not many people like me. I saw no real need for friends. I was a loner most of my life, following a few people around because I thought they were interesting enough and then leaving when I got bored.

I covered a yawn and looked around. This place just looked like some dust ball, nothing seemed to be of any real worth, but there was plenty to turn into fireworks. I looked down at my palm for a moment. The alchemy matrix tattooed there. It was the only real thing aside from the silver pocket watch that marked me as a state alchemist. My other palm had the complementing matrix tattooed on it. They were such small things, easy to hide from others until just the right moment. They won't even know what's going to happen to them when I use my alchemy. They'll just wonder what's changed…then they'll goo BOOM! I can't wait.

It didn't take me long to find the encampment. After all, it was easy to follow the crowd of blue and silver uniforms. A short walk later and I could see a small city of tents. Looks like I would be sleeping on the ground for God knows how long. No one knew when we would all be going back home, that is, if anyone made it back home. This was war and there were always casualties.

When I finally made it to the tent city, I had to figure out which one I would be sleeping in. I knew that I would be sharing it with someone, after all, there were a lot of soldiers and state alchemists in the military and it looked like all of them had been deployed to this dust ball of a country. It didn't take me long to find someone in charge, I just followed the long line of soldiers. It eventually led to a table that had all of the assignments.

It turned out that I would be staying with several others. I didn't care who they were, I wouldn't be paying much attention to them at all. All I wanted to do was to blow things up. Then again, if I really wanted to have a bit of fun, not many could stop me. I'm not that stupid though. I know when to have my fun and when to do what I'm told. I am a dog of the State, a rabid one, but still a dog of the State. I would follow my orders and do what I had to do for my country.

I was going to have so much fun in this place.

After finding my tent, I shrugged out of the jacket and tossed it on top of my rucksack. It was hot as hell out here and that jacket was making me uncomfortable. I didn't think I would need it right now anyway. I was just going to look around and maybe meet a few people. I didn't know what time it was and I really didn't care. I had my State issued pocket watch, but I hardly looked at it. Just seeing the chain made most of the soldiers keep a good distance away.

I eventually found out where the tent that served as the temporary mess hall and peeked inside. There were several rows of tables set up and a few soldiers were milling around talking and eating. I stepped inside and everything went quiet as all eyes turned to me. I knew it took skill to become a state alchemist and that most of the others were male, but I didn't deserve to be stared at.

"What? Haven't you seen a State Alchemist before?" I snapped, letting the tent flap go as I slipped my hands back into my pockets again. I didn't like being stared at. It just pissed me off and when that happened I tended to blow things up. I kept my temper in check though. I didn't need to start trouble in this place. I was going to be able to have my own fun when I finally got sent out to fight.

"How could they let a girl like you become a state alchemist?"

I didn't know where it came from, but I just smirked, pulling my hands out of my pockets and showed the alchemy matrixes tattooed on my palms. "Because I've got skills that a normal soldier like you doesn't have."

The idiot probably didn't even know what the matrixes on my palms did. I heard a laugh and looked around for a moment to find the source. It was a rather large soldier, taller than I was by probably half a foot and definitely more muscled. I didn't look like much. I had always been on the thin side and I knew that I was rather pale. I preferred working at night. It had been a long time since I had been out in the sun for an extended period of time.

"Anyone can draw a circle." I said, walking over to the soldier and his friends. I smirked, looking at the group of them. They would make such good bombs, but no, I couldn't do that. We were supposed to be working together out here anyway. Like I cared about that. "But it takes skill to use one to blow someone up."

"Why not use a grenade?" The soldier asked with a sneer.

"Because doing something like this is so much more fun." I said as I clapped my hands together and then grabbed the plate in front of him and closed my eyes. I know exactly how to rearrange the elements within something to turn just about anything into an explosive. It didn't take long to complete the transmutation. Setting the plate down, I backed away a little bit with a small laugh.

"You haven't done shit." The soldier said, looking at the plate and then back up at me. At first glance it didn't look like I had done anything, but not all changes were visible.

"Oh just wait." I said, grinning. I had to look like some sort of fiend as I waited with my hands in my pockets. It wouldn't be much longer then I would enjoy a small explosion. Since I couldn't blow someone up, I had to do what I could to keep myself amused around this place.

It didn't take much longer and then the plate exploded, causing the soldiers to scatter. A few of the other soldiers stood, drawing their weapons and looking around. I just stood there and laughed. It felt good to cause this much chaos with just a small explosion. "Calm down boys. Nothing's going to hurt you, well, at least, not right now." I wasn't planning on hurting anyone right now. Who knows what might happen within the next few days though.

The soldier whose plate I destroyed didn't take long to get back up from where he had fallen after shoving himself away from the table. I just laughed again as he looked at where his plate had been and then back at me. "Got a problem?" I asked, smirking still.

"That was a cheap trick, bitch." He growled at me. I just shrugged. He didn't scare me. I had dealt with a lot of people like him throughout my life. I had always been an outcast of sorts, causing a bit of trouble here and there until I learned about alchemy. It took me years to learn my craft.

"You asked for it." I said, watching as he and his buddies started to walk towards me. This was slowly going downhill and fast. I just rolled my eyes a bit, a childish thing to do, but he was starting to bore me and I don't like being bored. "I was just showing you what I could do as an alchemist. Do not underestimate me because I am a woman. That will get you killed."

Most people like this idiot standing in front of me never understood these kinds of things. I don't care how big you are or who you're friends with. I don't care if you're a man or a woman. I'll still turn you into a bomb and laugh as you explode. I'm just that twisted. The soldier in front of me apparently thought that because he was bigger and probably stronger than I was that I would be afraid. I wasn't going to back down.

"So you're bigger and stronger than I am. Doesn't matter. A simple transmutation and you'll explode just like that plate. Boom. Easy as that. There won't be enough left of you to gather up to send back to whatever family you have left. If you think that what I did to that plate was a cheap trick, then you've got me all wrong. That was just a small sample of what I can do." It wouldn't take much effort to turn this lug head into a walking time bomb, but I would have to do the same thing to all of his little friends and I doubt that they'd give me the time that I needed to do so. It wouldn't take that long, but still, if I grabbed a hold of one of them, I'm sure that one of the others would try and pull be off before I could finish the transmutation.

I really hated brawls and it looked like this was going to turn into one. How boring. The idiot hadn't even said anything yet. Before he could, I turned to head out of the tent. What little appetite that I had when I first came in was now gone. I didn't want to deal with these morons anymore. They had now gotten boring and I knew they weren't going to understand anything that had to do with complicated matters such as alchemy. They didn't have the brainpower for it.

However, things changed when someone grabbed my wrist. Wrong thing to do. I was roughly pulled back and spun around to face the idiots again. "I'm not done with you yet." The leader said, looking down at me. I jerked my hand away and rubbed my wrist again.

"Oh? And here I thought that you were too stupid to do anything besides stand there and stare. What's wrong? Afraid of the little State Alchemist that used her dirty tricks to blow up a plate?" I was asking for a fight with that statement, but I really didn't care. I knew how to fight and I could definitely handle myself, but these idiots didn't know that.

"Touch me again and I will prove just what kind of skill I really have. I won't hesitate to turn anyone into a bomb. Friend or foe, man or woman. You're all just components to a bomb to me." I snapped before turning to leave once more. If they grabbed me again, I wouldn't hesitate to do what I said. What they didn't know was that I would take them piece by piece. I wouldn't do it right here, in front of other soldiers, but late at night, when others weren't looking, that was another story.

However, I couldn't leave. There was someone blocking my way.