I Do Not Own FMA at all. The following story takes place after Brotherhood ends. If you haven't read the manga or watched FMA: Brotherhood, I highly recommend doing so before reading this fic.

The story is told in Edward's point of view.

Chapter 1: Where Art Thou Brother?

"Alphonse!? Damn it Al, where are you!"

I felt the ground shake beneath my flesh and steel as I tried to trudge myself forward through the wind and rain, listening to the crackle of thunder above my head with every few steps. The lightning of the storm provided me with my only light as I scrounged the muddy wasteland, running and screaming as the sounds of mortar fire tore through the stormy night air like a hot flame of an alchemist's hand searing through the eyes of his enemy. To my left, right, from any direction really, I could hear the sounds of other men, as explosion after explosion cried across the battlefield, the aftermath consisted of blood curdling screams evoked with terror and unrest. This..this was chaos. A turbulent tornado of horror and murder cried it's sorrows carelessly across the land we thought we'd saved. This conflict, though smaller than the civil war, was becoming an even bloodier conflict than Ishval could have ever dreamed. I dropped my gun onto the ground to help me run faster. Cupping my hands back over my mouth, I called aloud through the blood tainted air, the copper taste of my own blood coating my mouth as I screamed through the loud explosions that surrounded my hearing left and right.

"ALPHONSE!"

In the eyes of this ceaseless Armageddon, my brother was the only thing that mattered to me coming off of this battlefield. He was only a year younger than myself, but this madness was not something I ever wanted him to witness. He already has seen so much in his life time, suffering more pain than any man on this entire frontline. His eyes, though stained with the sin that I made him commit all of those years ago, were still pure enough to see the true evil of this entire scenario. This was a war, they told us. No. This was our own human salvation coming into questioning. Not even a single nation had any desire of assisting our soldiers, nor our Fuhrer, after the damage that King Bradley left behind for us when he was still in power. This was a fight only we could defend, as nation after nation have slowly turned against us. Our alchemic power of a nation was slowly collapsing, falling desperately without hope into the cold and lifeless hands of Creta and Drachma. Ignoring the dangers around me, I cried to the skies again.

"AL!"

"BANG, BANG, BANG!"

As I called back into the blackened skies, they were answered swiftly by the sound of three shells, freshly fired from a rifle echo nearby. I couldn't stop running, even as one of the three shots actually struck and bounced off of my automail leg upon impact. I felt the bullet hit a nerve cord in my now stiff and almost unusable prosthetic, causing me to lurch in pain. But I had to keep moving. Even if it took all of the strength I had left, I had to keep running, searching for my little brother. He was deep into the core of this battle, fighting as a State Alchemist while I was deployed to be nothing more than another gun handling piece of bait now that I'd lost my alchemy. I had the rank of a Colonel, but it was meaningless out here to throw my title around to anyone. This battle was getting out of control, so nobody cared anymore whether they were shooting at their own rank. It was all for one out here now, hoping to claim victory. If I still possessed my alchemy, I could have been out on the battlefield with Alphonse fighting along side him, meaning that we would have never been seperated like we are now. But me sacrificing my alchemy, one of the only things that ever truly helped me save people was the only way that I could retrieve Alphonse's body from the gate all those many months ago. Now, the burden I once carried as a State Alchemist was placed on his back, forever to be a reminder of what I used to be.

But would it be the thing that kills my brother, permanently, was what worried me the most. If Al was killed in this war, there were no second chances. Without my alchemy, I even can't bind his soul to a shotgun shell, let alone a rock or a blade of grass. Their would be no chance of rescuing him. No chance of ever seeing him again.

All I felt as I ran was the uselessness inside my head focusing my thoughts to the weapon I'd carelessly tossed in order to increase my speed. What would that gun I dropped of done for me besides slowed me down since I refuse to use it? I'd rather fight somebody using a knife or a sword than shoot them away from me. A weapon with limited ammo has limited capability, while a sword can do a lot more damage in such a close range environment as this. The battlefield itself was a muddy, barren and blood saturated wasteland, with the souls of now over one thousand Amestrians who have fallen since the battle started three hours ago dwindling upon it's tainted soil. It made me come to realize even more than ever the true face of reality. How expendable a human life truly is, and how expendable of a life I have become now that I was powerless, fighting as a useless foot soldier standing ceaselessly at the Gates of Hell.

...But although this trudged into my mind as I raced through the mud, my focus was prominent, attention drawn to the fact that I needed to locate the only family member I have left before he wound up getting shot to death in all of this merciless chaos. He was my little brother afterall...

...And I'll do anything, to protect him.

So this is chapter 1, and like with most of my stories, it takes place later on than the story really does. So, what do you think so far? Please review and tell me what your opinions are about this story and whether or not I should continue it! ^_^