Authors Note: This story is about a small chimera who has yet to find her place into the world, an Ishbalan who wishes for nothing more than her brother back, a few messed up homunculi, our favorite alchemists and their families, a Xingese prince and his minions...

And did I mention explosions galore?

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, and will nevr, even if my life depended on it.

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Dawn was scratching at the door, but the sun hadn't yet peeked out over the Eastern horizon. The forest was freezing and frosted with morning dew.

The girl's feral eyes darted back and forth; her nails were caked in blood and earth. She pressed a hand against a large gaping wound in her right arm, as blood squeezed past the makeshift compress and dripped to the forest floor. Her heart was beating against her chest, so hard she felt it would explode…she had to get out of here. What went so terribly wrong last night? How did she end up all the way out here? She needed a doctor. Her left leg wouldn't work properly, and she was covered in bruises and welts. She gathered up all of her strength, and tilted her body to press her palms against the ground for balance. She sunk her fingertips into the loam and pulled with all of her strength. The pain was excruciating. Her vision blurred as she bit her lip to keep from passing out. She knew the road wasn't far from her position, she'd grown up in these woods, played here many times as a child, hidden many secrets under it's dark canopy. She prepared herself to move again, and pulled, dragging her limp body against the ground.

The sun was fully up in the sky by the time she reached the road, and she collapsed against the wooden guard railing, exhausted. She knew she didn't have the energy to signal anyone, and the gash in her arm had been bleeding badly the whole trip. She was positive she'd die here, so close to safety. She should have predicted what happened last night; she cursed her vanity, thinking she was invincible. Fortunately, it was over. She couldn't yet deal with the aftermath; it would have to wait until she was well. Her large, wolf like-ears pricked- something was coming. She lolled her head to the side, intently watching the road for any signs of life. There, in the distance- lights! She struggled to move her arms, but they would no longer respond. As the car approached, she began to panic, and screamed for help at the top of her lungs.

The horror in the eyes of the driver as he passed was proof enough that she'd been heard. He slammed on the brakes, and the military transport vehicle he was driving fishtailed violently, finally coming to a screeching halt perpendicular to the mountain road. The man pushed his door open with a grinding metallic squeal, and sprinted up the road towards her. As he approached, he kneeled down and looked right into her eyes. She could see her reflection in his glasses; she looked as though a wild animal had mauled her. Her face was puffy and swollen, and a trail of blood from a wound on her scalp had run down her face and dried on her cheek.

"What happened, are you all right? Were you in some kind of accident?"

"I was attacked."

"Attacked?" He looked alarmed, and squinted at the dense forest beyond the road.

"My leg… Please, help me."

"Yes, yes," he stammered, "Here, put your arm around my shoulder, that's it, up you go!"

She screamed as he lifted her up off of the ground, and her eyes rolled up in her head as she lost consciousness.

x0x0x

The girl was short, and although her hair was matted with dirt and blood, Sam thought it might be blonde. She looked very small in the passenger seat, like a child-which is what she was- that had fallen asleep on her way home from a big day out. He absentmindedly pushed his glasses back up onto his nose as he tried to think of who or what could possibly have done so much damage to this poor girl. He was amazed that she was still alive. Her skin had taken on a sickly hue and her leg was burnt and severed to a point it would have to be amputated, so he stepped on the gas a little harder.

As he drove, Sam wondered if he had been cursed – first Mary, and now this. Was someone trying to tell him something?

Ever since he had gotten promoted to Colonel, his personal life had been slowly whittled away until he was working 14 hour days in front of a stack of papers, buried in a maze of offices.

His wife, Mary, had turned from supportive, to irritated, to downright sullen as the months dragged on. He had tried to do everything he could in the little time he had away from work to make her life easier, but she was reluctant to go out and meet new people; they'd only recently moved to Central from East City, and she was uncomfortable so far away from her family.

One day, their son, Liam wouldn't get out of became little more than a ghost, barely disturbing the dust on the carpet as she prowled the rooms in his PJ's.

A horn sounding urgently behind him jolted Sam out of his reverie. It was a green light, and the driver behind him was giving him the single-finger salute while moving his lips in a pattern of words Sam was sure weren't polite. He drove on, and turned into the hospital at the next light. He pulled up to the emergency entrance, wrenched open his stubborn door, and walked around the car to open the passenger side. He flagged down some EMTs that were standing outside smoking to help him get his passenger to a bed. After seeing her condition, they tossed their butts, and rushed over to undo her seat belt and hoisted her up between them. They disappeared inside of the double doors, and Sam wearily followed them, unsure of what to do next.

A man in a lab coat stopped him right before he entered the Emergency room.

"Sorry, sir, you'll have to wait in the lobby. Go ahead and sign in, and we'll let you know how… what is the patient's name, sir?"

"I...I don't know, I picked her up on the side of the road, I found her like that."

"All right sir, we'll find out when she comes to. Please, have a seat."

Sam walked over to the coffee machine set up in the lobby and poured a cup. He sat down, and eyed the magazines lined up on the table. A voice from the radio caught his attention.

"…And in recent news, a village believing to house military deserters has been eradicated by a group of skilled State alchemists, the targets have not been found upon the corpses, and several soldiers are missing from their posts. Military officials have refused to comment on it as of now, more after the break."

The hair on the back of Sam's neck stood on end. This girl was out in the woods that day! The situation must have been more serious than he thought. He wondered just what happened out there. Was this a related incident? She was covered in blood…had she…killed other officers? Sam began to feel a little sick. He swallowed, and frowned. No, she was just a child...He decided not to be distracted by his own morbid imagination. He'd have to wait until she could explain herself. He'd contacted the authorities on the way to the hospital, he was sure they'd come to question her sooner or later.

For now, all Sam could do was wait. He listened intently for any more information about the incident on the news, but they didn't mention it again. He leaned his head back, weary of detergent and loud used car commercials. Moments later, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

x0x0x

So it starts off slow, bite me. It also Jam packed with OC's, so if you don't like that, there's a small box at the corner of your screen with an 'X' on it. Click it, I dare you.

R&R is very appreciated...

By the way, something happend to this document while uploading, so there are now many errors in something that had once been error-less...

-Sighs- Don't flame me too badly...