Full summary: When Edward Elric returns from Creta three years late, his brother Alphonse feels that something is not right. Al's suspicions are soon confirmed as a bleeding, half-dead Mei shows up at their doorstep, proclaiming that her clan has fallen and the 'situation' in Xing is worsening. Soon Al is thrown, along with several other favorite characters, into a new Xing, filled with violent alchemic war, dangerous rebels, merciless terrorists and worst of all, horrifying mutations that cause hallucinations, excruciating pain, and eventually, without fail, death. Can Ed, Al, Winry and several others keep themselves and their love ones safe in this terrible new world? Will they even keep their humanity? Or will they, and all their loved ones, simply die a meaningless death in a war that could have been stopped before it even begun? Additional characters: Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Ling Yao, Lan Fan. Pairings: EdWin, Royai, Cutesy!AlMei Warnings: War, occasional appearance of an OC, and Badass!Winry
A/N: Yes! This is finally posted! I've been thinking of this and writing and re-writing the first chapter over and over and over and ugggh I'm so slooow. Lack of inspiration and writers block don't help either, and apparently I can't write for Ed or Winry at all, I always gravitate towards Al's POV. Trust me. Al wasn't even supposed to be in this fic, and now he's a main character. ;A; I also find writing author's notes and extras so much easier than the actual story it's funny. This author's note is a stream of random blabble that's in my head, and the fic is a bunch of formulated ideas that I had to struggle to write. Sigh.
Enough rants. Welcome to 'The Young, the Foolish, and the Dead', my first fic that's actually going to be work to write. And it's going to be longer than an oneshot! Yes!
Anyway, I'm proud as hell of this idea, so if you do leave a review (please please please please), try to make it positive. If you must say something negative, please put it in the form of constructive criticism. If you can't do that and just want to say I sucked like a black hole (except black holes don't actually suck), please don't bother, I'm actually scared of black holes (they're creepy, ok?).
I appreciate that you're reading this; I hope that you will follow! Updates will come out once every week or two, sorry. I don't have enough spare time to write a lot. I AM ALSO LOOKING FOR A BETA READER FOR THIS IF YOU ARE INTRESTED PLEASE CONTACT ME VIA PM OR REVIEW.
Edit: I re-uploaded this because I had accidently uploaded my rough draft instead of my revised copy -_-
I also changed the name from 'Under the Blood-Stained Sky' to 'The Young, the Foolish, and the Dead'. Equally cheesy, twice as morbid.
Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist and all related titles. All rights belong to their respectful owners. No copyright infringement intended. Etc., etc., please don't sue me.
A lone figure walked a dusty gravel road. His worn boots left no mark in the dirt he trod upon, the road was traversed so much that it had been ground flat. He paused for a moment, as though memories were returning to him, lost for a long time. He took one breath, and continued on his way.
It was early morning, and the sun was just peaking over the top of the hills, spreading warm light all over the valley beneath it. Morning dew still sat in fat droplets on the grass, and the only noise was the rustling of livestock as the shifted in their pens. A soft breeze played across the earth, playing with the traveler's long hair and whipping his coat around his knees. He stopped at the edge of a cobblestone fence, and glanced up at the modest yellow farmhouse that stood behind it.
"I'm home," he murmured quietly to himself. Then turning around, and looking down the road he had just come from, he added,
"But not for long."
Winry awoke early in the morning as she usually did, but was reluctant to leave the warmth of her bed for the cold wooden floors and chilly air that lay outside her bedroom. Song birds sang softly outside on the lawn, and the sun shone through her window, illuminating the sheen of metal and labels on oil cans scattered around the room, tucked into corners and messily shoved on shelves. As usual, Winry's entire room smelled like oil and cold metal, but where others would find it strange and foreign, Winry found it comforting, because this is what home smelled like.
Her door opened slowly with a creak, disturbing the morning air and sending a draft to tickle against her skin. The breeze ran across her arm and then out the window. Winry smiled sleepily. The warmth and familiarity were comforting. Then, something wet, cold and very uncomforting touched her arm, causing goose-bumps to shoot across her entire body. Winry jumped.
"Den!" she yelped, bolting out of bed, glancing down at the elderly black and white dog who sat expectantly at her elbow. She sighed, running her fingers through her long hair, and set her bare feet on the cold floor.
"Fine, I'll get you breakfast..." she told the dog, yawning. She tiptoed down the stairs, skipping the third stair from the bottom, which creaked. She entered the kitchen, and pulled the dog food off a shelf above her head. She was filling Den's bowl when she heard the cough behind her. Spinning around, she jumped as she saw a man sitting at her dining room table.
He grinned at her, and Winry became conscious that all she was wearing was a loose nightgown.
She screamed, grabbing the closest thing she could find, and throwing it in his direction. As the object hit him with a solid thunk, she opened one eye tentatively. The man had fallen off his chair, a wrench wedged securely in his forehead.
"Ouch..." he muttered, and Winry reached for a frying pan sitting on the stove.
"I guess some things never do change…" He grumbled again, sitting up to face her, face a perfect picture of annoyance. She loosened her grip on the frying pan in surprise.
"You...you're back."
"Well yeah, it seems so. Mostly because I need more space to keep all my research notes. That and the fact that my knee keeps collapsing, I think one of the gears is becoming eroded…I fell in a few rivers, so I wouldn't be surprised."
Winry stared at him for a moment, but tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffled, and yelled,
"IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS YOU IDIOT!"
The man winced, and abruptly stopped his attempt to sit up.
"You said you'd be gone for two! Maybe three! And look at the state of you; you look like a beggar who came crawling off the streets of Central!"
It was true, the brilliant red coat had faded to a dull brown, the elbows were patched clumsily, and the black design on the back was peeling off. The soles of his boots were also peeling away, revealing socks darned so many times that their original color was indistinguishable. His hair was ragged, as if he had not seen a barber in months.
"Well, things didn't go as well as I had hoped... I spent a lot of time traveling around and not getting much accomplished..."
Winry set the frying pan down on the counter, and dropped to her knees beside him. He looked at her. Down at her, she noticed. He'd gotten taller again? It was hard to believe that she had once teased the man about being short.
"Well, that's one thing that hasn't changed about you, at all," she whispered, and flung her arms around his neck.
He hugged her back, and said quietly,
"No, that's more like Al. He's the one who always couldn't accomplish anything, always picking up another stray or something."
Winry laughed, rolling her eyes, and sat back on her ankles.
"Sure, Ed. Speaking of Al, he's going to kill you when he sees that coat ruined. He made it himself with alchemy after it was destroyed on the promised day."
Ed groaned, as if he had been thinking about his punishment from Al for a while,
"Don't remind me. How is he doing, anyway?"
"Same as always. Nothing really happens these days, you know, since Colonel Mustang became Führer, everything's been peaceful. No war, no strife, and no little boys losing limbs...everything is normal."
"I was not little!"
Winry gave him a pointed look, and Ed glared back, but their expressions soon softened into laughter,
"Ok, maybe I was. Maybe. You said everything is normal...but what is Al's normal? What's your normal? I feel like I've been gone for more than a few years. It took me a moment to recognize you when you walked in. At first my brain was saying, 'Who's this woman in Winry's house?', and then I realized it was you…"
Winry stared at Ed for a moment. She hadn't changed at all. Sure, her hair wasn't in its usual ponytail this morning, her face had thinned out a bit, but in a good way, the infant-like roundness of her cheeks had disappeared, but nothing else had really changed.
"I haven't changed that much Ed…"
He shook his head suddenly, "Y-yes! You haven't really changed at all. It's just my life has been pretty crazy. You're the exact same as you were when I last saw you…"
Blushes both flashed across their faces, and Ed quickly added,
"…an arrogant gear-head yandere!"
"I am not a yandere!"
Ed laughed, but then frowned, and said,
"But seriously…what have you guys been doing? What's normal?"
"Al's normal is just Al. Just like how my normal is me. We're living our lives, Ed."
"So...being caring and kind, constantly bringing cats home, and keeping this place calm and boring?"
"Boring? Calm doesn't always mean boring, you know."
Edward laughed, and helped Winry to her feet. Yes, he was definitely taller than her, more so than he had been when he had left for Creta.
"So, how about we go find him and let him know I'm home?" Ed suggested, glancing around the homely kitchen excitedly, looking for his brother who could walk out any minute.
Winry hugged Ed one more time, making sure that he really was back and well. She buried her face into his coat, which, despite its unkempt appearance, still smelled like the road; sage and bracken, and just…Ed. Pulling back, she laughed,
"Geez, at least let me get dressed!"
"Alphonse! Do you have it yet?" Pinako called from the bank, waving Al's shirt in the air.
Al grimaced as he waded deeper into the icy creek. Sharp stones cut his feet, but he relished the pain, as he did with everything, from the warmth of a fire to the smell of oil that constantly occupied the Rockbell residence. He still remembered not being able to feel anything at all except emptiness.
"I'm trying, Granny. It won't move from that rock, and I'm not close enough to reach it."
Pinako fretted from the edge of the river,
"Just don't get your chest wet, you'll catch a cold!"
Al refrained from mentioning that at least he was capable of catching a cold now.
"Yeah, I'll be careful!"
The elderly woman still only worried about Al, which made him sad, in a way. She didn't seem to care that her arthritis was so bad she could barely unclench her hand around Al's shirt. She didn't care that her gray hair, that had once been chestnut, as Al had been told, had turned stark white, and she didn't care that she had managed to shrink even more. Whenever Al and Winry were worried, asking her if she was in pain after a nasty fall, or helped her reach something on a shelf out of her reach, she'd say, 'Alphonse, you're still skin and bones! I've been trying to fatten you up for years and you're still nothing more than twigs!', or, 'Winry, where did that scrape come from on your elbow? It looks painful, let me bandage it.'
The sad part wasn't the fact that the woman was stubborn and refused to admit that she was becoming very old. The sad part was that the biggest problem Alphonse had was an overly dotting grandmother.
He could remember when his biggest problem was 'Oh, I don't have a body...right. And Brother's missing half of his, he's a dog of the military, oh, and we're being hunted down by invincible monsters.'
In all honesty, Al wished that something a little more exciting would happen every once in a while.
Alphonse would later regret those words with all his mind, body and frequently transmuted soul.
Taking a few more steps forward, the current tugged at Al's legs and threatened to sweep him off his feet. He stopped, dug his feet into the bottom, and stretched an arm out towards a small rock poking out from the middle of the river.
"Come on," He growled, but then shouted in triumph as his hand reached a bundle of damp, shivering fur.
He spun around carefully, rescued cat resting in his arms.
"I got it Granny! And it's –"
Al broke off abruptly, staring over Pinako's shoulder. A scruffy blonde man was standing behind her, grin plastered on his face, and Winry waving by his side.
"Hey, Alphonse! Is that another cat?" Ed shouted, raising a hand in greeting.
"Brother?" Al cried.
Ed grinned wider, and Winry cupped her hands around her mouth,
"Come on Al! Are you just going to stand there all day?"
Al started back across the river the way he came, towards the shore, thoroughly overwhelmed by his brother's abrupt reappearance, cat clutched securely to his bare chest.
He saw Ed speaking with Pinako, but only caught the last bit of their conversation as he reached the shore.
"-and he refused your assistance? What was the idiot thinking? I know he's technically an adult, but still! What are you going to tell-"
"Granny, can we discuss this some other time? I just got back, I want to see Al and catch up with him. We were both studying different forms of alchemy; I'd like to hear what he found."
"Ed," Winry said, "Is this really the time to be comparing alchemy notes? Why don't we all head out-"
"I told you, he doesn't want help. He'll refuse it no matter how many debts we remind him of and no matter how much we pester him, he'll just…ugh. I should have never mentioned it! Just for-"
Ed spotted Al out of the corner of his eye, and ran up to embrace his sopping younger brother.
"Hey, Al. I'm sorry I'm so late."
"Brother, late is an understatement," Al stuttered through chattering teeth. They stayed like that for a few moments, before they heard,
"Nyaa!" The cat mewled between the two brothers.
Edward laughed, holding his brother at arm's length. Al had grown yet again and was at least a few inches taller than him. His hair was beginning to grow longer and darker, more like their mother's had been. Water ran from his clothes and pooled around worn boots, although his were in much better condition than Ed's.
"Grrr…You've grown again," Ed muttered, handing his brother his shirt. Al laughed, and slipped into it, setting the cat on the ground. Ed tussled his hair.
"It's great to s-see y-you again, Al," Ed yawned.
Pinako clasped the two on their shoulders. Winry grinned behind her grandmother at the brothers.
"Bed, then, Ed," Pinako ordered in her gruff voice.
"No... Al hasn't seen me in years, and…"
"Edward."
"You're no fun…"
Ed slept through most of the day, completely forgetting the alchemy notes he was supposed to go over with his younger brother. He only awoke to eat a hasty dinner and rant about the addition of his favorite white cow juice to the meal. Other than that, life continued on around the Rockbell home as they had for the last three years. Constant noise of drills and machinery hummed and clanked throughout the house from Winry's workplace, and Pinako spent her day cooking and answering the phone. Alphonse had a little more on his mind than his alleged grandmother and childhood friend. While their day flew by, and their minds were at peace knowing Edward was alive and well, Al had trouble believing that his brother was being completely truthful.
'Ok, so Brother gets back, three years late from Creta. I know that's not too odd, he's completely irresponsible at the best of times, thoroughly rash and thick-headed at the worst, but then…what was he talking to Winry about?'
Al absentmindedly stroked the cat that sat on his lap. It was the same one he had rescued in the morning, and now the sun was setting on the rolling fields of Resembool. He had named her Luna, although he knew that he wouldn't be allowed to keep her.
Luna purred and snuggled against Al's stomach.
'Granny mentioned something about someone technically being an adult…making their own decisions…but what were they talking about? We don't even know anyone in Creta'
Al was confused, but stood from the river bank anyway to head back home.
"I don't get it Luna, nothing's wrong, but something really feels off here," He murmured to the cat.
"Nyaa!" Luna meowed, but then turned and dashed off into the bushes.
Al watched her go.
"You know… I think you're right. Brother is just being the kid he's always been."
A/N: Ok, points to make clear:
Yes, Ed left for Creta in a brown coat, but you know what, Ed without Ed's coat isn't Ed. Plus, the coat will get included in different chapters.
This is my first time writing EdWin (In fact, it's my first time really writing anything in the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom. Screw that, in fanfiction). So please don't expect anything professional.
My writing will get progressively better.
Well, there you have it. Drop a review that doesn't plainly say I suck. If you want to say it, then hint at it by mentioning black holes, vacuums, or yaoi-ish implications, and we are all good! I'M STILL LOOKING FOR A BETA! IF YOU ARE INTERSETED, PLEASE PM, OR REVIEW!
