Author Note: So I participated in NaNoWriMo this year, though I was not a winner. But I did write a huge portion of this story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
As Ed hopped off the train, he cast his golden eyes around the station with a hint of speculation. "Are you sure this is the right place Al?" He questioned the suit of armor behind him casually. The suit of armor, his younger brother Alphonse, stared intently at a map of the south-west region.
"It is, brother." He gestured at a sign on the wall of the station with one hand, "the city of Scorpia, as scheduled." His armor clanged loudly with every step on the wood paneled floors, echoing loudly on the curved ceilings and drawing a few stares as they moved toward the entrance of the station. Al, being used to the extra eyes following him, ignored it. Ed, on the other hand, glared boldly at the nearest perpetrators, a group of four teenage girls. They looked away from his gaze quickly and giggled loudly. Ed scowled and Al chuckled lightly; his brother always did have a short temper.
After weaving through a few long hallways and escaping a security guard who got a bit frisky with a metal detector, the boys finally made it out into the open air. The afternoon sun blinded Ed for a few moments as his eyes adjusted, and a breeze rustled his long blonde braid. The sun, while blinding, also warmed his face after spending hours on a train.
While Ed got his bearings, Al looked around to see what street corner they were on. The city consisted mostly of two story buildings with narrow alleys between them. Most of these buildings had stores or restaurants on the first floor with flats for living in on the second.
The boys were at the corner of 1st and 6th street, and Al consulted another map to figure out where in the city they were. The wind nearly stole the map out of his grasp, but he managed to hold onto it. The streets in the city were all named after numbers with even numbers running north to south and odd numbers running east to west. Their destination was supposed to be on the corner of 3rd and 8th street, about a mile away from the train station.
"It's that way brother." Al pointed up 6th street and Ed nodded, falling into step with Al as they strolled down the road.
"What are we going to say when we get there?" Al questioned Ed quietly, wanting to be on the same page as his brother when they arrived.
Ed responded with quite a bit more volume. "You should become a State Alchemist! That's what we will say. And if the bastard Lieutenant Colonel has anything bad to say about that then he can answer to me." Ed shook his automail fist in the air as if imagining hitting something with it, something like the Lieutenant Colonel's head. As the brothers turned onto 3rd street, Al shook his head and frowned at his brother.
"I'm sure he would have fewer complaints if you weren't so rude to him." Al smiled inwardly as Ed turned red and spluttered, waving his arms around and being unable to form a complete sentence for a few moments.
"Wh-wh-what are you talking about?" Ed scowled, "Maybe he should just be nicer to me! He's the adult in this, he should act like one." He nodded firmly and smirked, the red fading from his expression.
"You're already 14 brother, maybe it is time to grow up a little." Al shrugged, "you could even start drinking milk to prove your maturity."
"Milk is gross and nasty." Ed's scowl returned and he scuffed his shoe on the sidewalk. "Anyway, that has nothing to do with maturity." He came to a halt suddenly, looking around the intersection in front of him. "Doesn't this look like that drawing the Lieutenant Colonel gave to us?"
Al nodded, "Oh yeah!" He pulled the drawing out of his loincloth and unfolded it, comparing it to their location. "Alright!" he grinned, "this is the right place. According to the map, we need the house over there." He pointed at one of the buildings on the opposite side of the intersection. It stood at the same height as the other buildings around it, but had a rather run down feel to it. There was no business on the first floor and the purple paint on the siding was fading. One of the windows on the second story was broken with spider web cracks spreading through it. The front door was boarded up, so Ed and Al went through one of its' alleyways until they found a door to the upstairs portion of the building. The door had a few holes in it, which didn't stop Ed from knocking on it loudly.
After a few moments of tense silence, he turned to Al, "Maybe nobody's home." He took a step away and was about to gesture for Al to follow when he heard the sound of hinges creaking. Ed spun around and lifted his arms defensively as the door moved open a few inches. A dark shadow cast out of the opening, leaving a dark stain on the ground.
"What do you want?" A young female voice asked aggressively. Ed stepped towards the door, keeping his hands up and fists clenched just in case.
"We are looking for a local plant alchemist; do you know anybody like that?" He smiled slightly, trying to seem innocent and friendly. This tactic failed; the person behind the door closed it down to an inch.
The voice in the door contemplated it for a moment. "Why do you want to find them?" They sounded suspicious.
"We come on behalf of Lieutenant Colonel Mustang to recruit this plant alchemist for the State Alchemist program. Any information you can give us would be…" he was cut off by the door slamming shut with a loud click. "Oy!" he shouted, "Don't close your door on me!" He reached out to pound on the door, but Al grabbed his arm.
"Quit it brother," Al stated reasonably, pulling Ed away from the threshold, "there must be a reason she doesn't want to talk to us. Maybe she doesn't like the military."
"Yeah, yeah." Ed grumbled, yanking his arm out of Al's grasp and rubbing it angrily. They exited the alleyway as Ed looked up at the sky in surprise. The sun was already setting and a chill had settled on the street. "It is getting kind of late." He started walking down 8th street with Al following closely behind. "We should find somewhere to stay."
"Alright, how about that bed and breakfast over there?" Al pointed across the street at a place called B Squared Inn. Ed agreed and the boys walked over to the inn. The style matched the rest of the city, though the shutters were painted blue in contrast to the brick walls. It was the closest place to stay, so they went in. The lobby was cozy with a small fireplace burning in the corner and some tables and chairs around it. The only person in the lobby was an upper aged woman who had her shoulder length hair pulled back into a neat bun. A plaque on the table identified her as A. Sanders, owner. She stood behind the counter and Ed approached her slowly.
"Hello," she said with a monotonous voice, "How can I help you?"
"We need a room for two please." Ed said politely, trying to exert his newfound maturity.
"That'll be 6 thousand cens for one night, 10 thousand for two, 15 thousand for three, etcetera." Sanders looked Ed straight in the eye as she said this, as if challenging him not to be able to pay these rates.
"We just need one night for now." Ed met her challenge and placed the 6 thousand cens on the counter.
"Very well." She took the cens off the table and replaced them with two room keys. "Your room is 204, have a nice evening."
Ed scoffed and snatched up the keys, all signs of maturity forgotten. "Thank you very much ma'am" Al bowed slightly at her before following his moody brother. They worked their way up the stairs and through the building until they got to room 204. It had two twin beds, a window with grey blinds, and, much to their surprise, a phone on a nightstand.
"I've never seen a phone in a hotel room before." Al stared at it in wonder, curious about how the wiring worked for it. "You know, we should call the Lieutenant Colonel with it. He did say he wanted to hear from us."
Ed gagged and frowned at Al. "We don't need to call him. He doesn't really care about this mission anyway."
"But I bet 2nd Lieutenant Hawkeye does." Al grinned, poking Ed in the side, "and I also bet she wants to hear from us."
"Fine," Ed rolled his eyes, shoving Al's probing finger away. "I'll call tomorrow morning. But only for the 2nd Lieutenant. I don't care what that damn Lieutenant Colonel thinks." Ed plopped down on one of the beds, kicking his shoes off. He lied back on the bed with both hands behind his head, relaxing into a comfortable position. Al sat down on the other bed, smiling warmly at his older brother.
"Goodnight brother."
"Goodnight Al."
End Note: First chapter done. Hopefully by the time I post all of the chapters I wrote in November I will have written a few more.
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