Author's Note

Hello. This is an old fic that I had been thinking about and organizing every now and then, writing notes and ideas for the plot. Recently, I decided to rejoin fanfiction once again to give digital existence to my ideas. Anyway, my original character is Noelani, but I'll leave the details in the story. Just to let you know, I'm slightly Royai biased. Just a heads up. When typing this, I realized my prologue was very short, but since I'm putting it with the first chapter it doesn't really matter. Before publishing, I will edit this as much as I can, but please forgive me if I have some slight errors. When it comes to typing and editing, I have a brain lapse every now and then. Also I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters. I think it will be obvious which characters are of my own creation.

Prologue

"I hate the cold…"

Slowly but surely, a figure in blue trudged up the snowy mountain trail. The only real hint of a path was the fact that on either side was an impenetrable wall of evergreen trees, while straight ahead the way was clear. The only sound was the crunching of snow under boots and the occasional grumble of complaint of the bothersome temperature. The young woman dressed in blue military drab was wearing a pair of glasses that prevented snow-blindness, but she was used to the desert sands reflecting merciless glares of sunlight.

Noelani let out a sigh looking up into the sky, her dark brown hair falling out from her tan face. She listened for something, anything. But the only thing audible was her own breathing. She would never admit it, but she felt frightened, being so far away from her horse, her best friend, her sister.

With another sigh, she continued up the snowy slope alone.

Chapter I

Noelani noticed the slope was beginning to flatten. This meant she was approaching her destination. Deciding she deserved a break, she made her way to the tree line, but made sure not to be directly under any snow laden branches. Since the snow was about a foot thick, she would have to clear a spot, unless she wanted to sit in snow and have it melt into her uniform. Picking a spot, Noelani held her hands out in front of her. A blue glow emitted from her hands as she focused. In a split second, the snow was transformed into a warm vapor, leaving a somewhat dry spot adequate for sitting.

As she sat down cross-legged, she pulled out her pocket watch. She estimated that she had about ten minutes to catch her breath. A ten minute break after several hours of walking up a snowy mountain trail may not have seem like enough, but for Noelani, it was just fine. Her childhood lifestyle had left her with the endurance of a desert horse.

Noelani sipped out of her canteen and ate a bit of dried meat for a boost of energy. Even though this trip was only going to last the day, she conserved her food and water like she was going to be in the wilderness for a week. She took the phrase "You can never be too careful" to heart.

For the last few minutes of her break, Noelani wanted to practice a new trick she had been working on back at Central. She had all the resources she needed right in front of her. Still sitting, she held her hands to the snow. As blue shone from her palms, snow was drawn to the area of her focus. When the transmutation was finished, the compacted snow was now ice. This time, however, Noelani put more focus into form. What was now in front of her was a small, gorgeous ice replica of a desert stallion in a combative pose. The color of the little equine was a deep blue because the ice was very dense and there was no air trapped within it, as it is in natural ice.

Smiling at her finished product, Noelani silently thanked her commanding officer for her beautiful white gloves with an even more beautiful blue thread that formed the transmutation circles on her palms.

--

"Finally... a sign of people."

Noelani had come to a posted sign that read, "Government Property: No Trespassing!"

"Good thing I'm the government," she muttered to herself as she moved on past the sign.

About half a kilometer past the sign, Noelani came to a crossroads in the path. Without hesitation, she headed up the left path, which was steeper than her current path. This trail was much narrower and less used. The tree line wasn't neat, and sometimes she would stumble on a rock hidden in the snow. This trail was also much more convoluted than the last one.

She could have kept straight on her original path, but she was on a, more or less, sneaking mission. As she climbed, she thought about what she had to do. Noelani was on her way to a military lab on top of a mountain on the Amestris side of the Amestris-Drachma border. Here, scientists who specialize in creating chimeras captured local wild animals to make beasts that could do more than normal animals. Noelani's mission was simple. She was supposed to check up on the lab's activities, document her findings, and if she wished, bring back a specimen. Most importantly, she was supposed to make sure the lab wasn't doing anything illegal, like transmuting humans into chimeras. The best way to do this was to arrive unexpectedly, catching the lab off guard, with nothing to hide.

Finally the steep incline opened into a flat, clear area. In the center of the snow field was a fairly large lab building, dull and old looking. Surrounding the building was a three-meter tall fence, and Noelani could see a couple of dogs patrolling the perimeter. She was about a hundred meters from the fence, still in the trees and out of sight of the dogs.

She spotted the front gate.

"I guess it's now or never," she thought as she stepped out into the open.

Within half a minute, the dogs spotted her and raised the alarm. Within another half minute, a guard in a white snow-suit emerged from a pair a huge steel doors. He approached the front gate, assault rifle in hand.

Noelani immediately held her hands up in a gesture of peace and yelled, "I'm here from Central!"

The guard seemed to relax slightly and waited for the young government official.