Nacht und Wind
Edward peered warily through the fog and trees of an unknown forest. The wind whistled in the dark branches that were almost invisible in the feeble moonlight. Edward shivered in his cloak and put his right arm around Alphonse's shoulder, hugging the comforting warmth of his brother's body. It was at this point that he dimly thought he might be dreaming.
He had never seen these woods before. The mist hung low to obscure the ground; all the trees looked the same. But he knew that there was a path that would lead them home, if only he could find it. As Edward pulled Alphonse along beside him, he was hardly aware of his own footsteps, though they seemed to be traveling at a swift pace. He had no way of telling whether they were going toward home, or deeper into the darkness.
Suddenly Alphonse stopped in his tracks, whispering breathlessly in Edward's ear. "Brother? Do you see that?"
Edward didn't want to see, but his gaze was inexorably drawn to the blackness between the trees. A faint glow suffused the mist in the far distance, like light spilling in from a bright doorway.
"It's only fog," he said defiantly, turning his back to the clearing. He dragged on Alphonse's arm, urging him away from the light as the skeletal branches swayed like thin, black, waving arms.
Alphonse came a little way forward, then halted again, searching the trees. "Don't you hear it? That voice..." A faint hum and chatter, unsettlingly familiar, buzzed in Edward's ears. He knew what the voice was, but he didn't want to remember. It was something abhorrent and hellish; it was something that lived just beyond his consciousness.
"Come on, Alphonse! Move!" Edward pushed uselessly at his brother's back. He felt weighed down, as though his legs were encased in metal or ice. Alphonse looked at him with wide golden eyes.
"Listen, Brother..." The white glow grew closer, and Edward heard the dim echoes of laughter and whispers, coming from everywhere and nowhere.
"I can show you everything... I know what you desire."
Edward struggled against the force that rooted him to the forest floor. "Don't listen, Alphonse! We have to go—"
The voice now resonated clearly in the air, accompanied by the rush of the wind in the dry leaves. "Ah, where are you going, little god-seeker? Didn't you come here to know the Truth?" The space amongst the black trees was suddenly teeming with watchful eyes. Edward felt dread wash over him in a sickening wave as the bile rose in his throat.
He clung desperately to Alphonse. No, no, no, you won't take my brother, he wanted to shout, but his words were snatched into the wind. His heart galloped and leapt; the rest of his body was immobilized. If I can just hold onto him, you'll never get him... He felt Alphonse shudder with fright. Never, never, never.
The voice laughed softly, and the sound was a terrifying roar, all the voices in the world laughing at once. "No, no, that won't do. I did take your body once, my child..." Edward saw Alphonse squeeze his eyes shut and shake his head frantically. "But if your brother here wants to keep it, I'll still claim what's rightfully mine." The white mist all around them was close and blinding, cold and sharp as steel, thousands of tiny clawed hands reaching, grasping—
Alphonse screamed. Edward's voice was choked by the cloying fog, but the paralysis on his legs lifted at last, and he broke into a sprint. The thin body he carried didn't seem to weigh him down at all as he fled from the voice and the eyes and the ghastly light. Alphonse cried feebly out for his brother, and Edward hurtled forward even faster, the trees whipping past in a blur.
When he finally emerged from the woods, he slowed his pace, panting with exertion and relief. He still had Alphonse and all his limbs—nothing had been taken from him. His brother was safe now. Then he glanced down, suddenly aware of the cold, heavy weight in his arms.
He gazed down into Alphonse's eyes, finding them glassy and lifeless, and felt his heart stop.
Edward gasped as he jolted awake, covered in a cold sweat as though he really had been pelting through a forest at high speed. He fought dizziness and panic, jerking himself upright and yelling hoarsely into the darkness. "Al? Alphonse!"
A creak and thud of metal sounded from the other side of the room, then a timid voice pitched high with worry. "What is it, Brother?"
Shivering slightly, Edward sank back down on his mattress and sucked in a breath. "It's... it was just a nightmare." He fell silent, staring at the blank wall across from his bed.
The suit of armor stood up from where it had been crouching by the window, approached the bed as quietly as possible, and gently laid an empty, gauntleted hand on Edward's left shoulder. Swallowing a quiet sob, Edward grabbed hold of it and blinked away his burning tears.
The armored hand was cold and dead, but it was a reassurance to Edward that Alphonse's soul still existed. It would always be enough of a comfort to get him through the night.