Preface:

Okay so this story is going to need a page of its own for an Introduction. This fic is a huge departure for me and it needs some explaining before we get into the meat of the story.

In my newfound love of all things Fullmetal Alchemist, two characters really came into prominent focus, besides Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.

These two were Ishvalan's - Major Miles of Fort Briggs. Who is probably the most under appreciated character in the entire series, and that bad boy most of us love known as Scar.

Scar is hands down my favourite character. Go take a gander at this guy, courtesy of ZeldaDweeb who kindly lent me the use of this picture! However, FF.N Won't let me link to the artwork. Go find her on Deviant She's excellent!

Anyone who has seen Fullmetal Alchemist knows what an incredibly rich, layered, and textured story it is. The entire series is fascinating, really deep, and focuses on a lot of incredible issues. It's full of adventure, humour, angst and probably one of the greatest unrequited love stories ever seen!

* clears throat *

"Royai"

* coughs *

It was sad to come to the end of the series. There was so much left unfinished. Especially what happened to Scar and Miles and the Ishvallan people after the series ended? We know that Miles and Scar ended up in Ishval. But what happened? I was desperate to find out so I went hunting.

One thing I noticed rather quickly in my new found passion is the lack of any fan fiction regarding one or both of these characters. However upon searching for fics to read, I stumbled across probably one of the most amazing, fully fleshed, and highly detailed series that I have ever seen online.

That would be Sons of the Desert by capn_hoozits. She can be found on FF.N and on AO3. Again, FF.N won't allow links on these pages so I recommend highly you look her up.

If you haven't read her series, stop right here and go do yourself a huge favour.

READ HER SERIES!

Seriously, read her series, because what I am posting here right now would be better understood when you do!

Capn_hoozits took on the incredible challenge of not only tackling the future lives of Miles and Scar, but she added family, devotion, music, culture, angst, drama, romance, and Oh Lord you name it! It's all in there. She literally created Ishval in all it's glory and strife. This series is world building at its finest and it is full of so many compelling characters that you forget they are not actually part of Fullmetal Alchemist. Seriously, these are OC's that are the very best they can be written.

If there was ever going to be a sequel to Fullmetal Alchemist focusing on the rebuilding of Ishval, this series MUST be it. I cannot recommend this series enough, it's a masterpiece. It's also got eight different stories in the series and things happen that will leave you gasping! It's that good. She tackles impossible to think about situations and pulls them off magnificently. Seriously. Olivier married?! Go read... just go read her series!

So, why am I giving this fic of mine such a long preamble?

It goes right back to Scar and Miles.

Sons of the Desert set these two characters up in a setting so real that my musae (aka the Wenches) keep kicking my tush to write something for it. I kept thinking they were nuts! This isn't my series, this is her original characters, her works, her culture, her world. These were her stories. Who am I to presume writing something in someone else's world? Especially as I fell in love with so many of her characters (Shua, for the win!) I felt like I needed more stories about them.

I was literally wanting to write a fan fiction of a fan fiction... how convoluted can that be?!

I have three other Fullmetal Alchemist stories on my desk that suddenly got shoved on a back burner because of this idea that my Wenches refused to let go of. This includes the climactic scene of Roy's final exam in trying to obtain his State Alchemist certification.

* ducks hurled tomatoes *

Something had to be done.

By this time, I had been emailing the good Cap'n, telling her how fantastic her series was and I let slip how much I wanted to play in her sandbox.

Imagine my astonishment when she told me that I could...

My Wenches went insane and what you are about to read is the result of that simple request.

If you are at all familiar with Capn_hoozits stories, this fic of mine is set between Sons of the Desert and The Day The Circus Came To Town. Taking place as Miles is establishing his new command at the garrison and before Winry Rockbell arrives in Ishval. I have done my absolute utmost to weave my story into her world as seamlessly as I could. With plot bombs galore should I take this effort into future stories. There is also material threaded in that ties directly into the other stories she has written in her series.

All I can do now is present this story to you readers and hope I have done both Fullmetal Alchemist and Capn_hoozits a good service.

Author's Note:

My intentions were to have accessible links to Capn_hoozits stories and to Zeldadweeb's illustrations. However, even though FF.N allows you to put in links when you are uploading, AND THEY ALL WORK, your links don't actually work once you get the page up. Which pisses me off. Email me for the links.

There is, scattered throughout this story, words and phrases in "Ishvallan". Capn_hoozits created a dictionary for these words that can be found on tumblr. (Look up Sons of the Desert FMA) . As time for her permits, she will be updating this dictionary with the things I have added.

This story is a work in progress, but fear not. I am 18 chapters in and heading for the climax and conclusion. I will be posting a chapter a week. All I can say is... fasten your seatbelt!