End to End
"I'm sorry!" The Xingese guards tossed Al into the cell without heed to his Amestrian pleas. While searching for Ling and May, he ran into a clan and at the mention of their names he was taken into custody. Figures that the only thing that they understood would be the name of one of their ancestral rivals. In retrospect he should have learned more about the position of the Yao and Chang clans in relation to the others before crossing the desert.
"Now who do we have here?" A slickly dressed man asked, his accent hardly noticeable "An assassin in the pocket of one of the other clans?"
"I'm not an assassin!" Al declared, "I just came to visit my friends."
"Friends, mh? What friends might you have here, you foreigner?"
"May Chang and Ling Yao, we met when they were in Amestris. I just came here to learn more about Alkahestry, I'm not here for your politics!"
"Wow, you are either the worst spy, or trying to plant false information. Ling and May? I suppose the Chang clan could be backing the Yao for support, I hear they aren't as strong as they used to be. " He shrugged and turned away "Whatever, it'll be dragged out of you. I hope you don't find our questions too much of a…pain. Ahahaha! I crack myself up sometimes."
Alphonse couldn't think of anything to say before the figure left, the man was clearly off his rocker. Considering what he said, torture had been implied and he needed to find a way out and quickly. Surely in a situation like this it would be okay, even if he didn't have Ed's hatred of any and all authority. However with hands bound, he couldn't perform transmutation and couldn't escape.
Starting to rap his head, Al winced, once again being reminded he escaped from his suit of armor. It made him happy, but he still felt regret that Ed sacrificed his alchemy to bring him back. How did Ed even come up with the idea to exchange his very gate to Truth? Brother was an alchemical genius, but without alchemy…Al needed to pick up the slack. Without his brother, he needed to fill that void with his own skill.
Where to even start though? Without a transmutation circle or being able to clap his hands, he couldn't transmute. If only his hands stretched a little farther they could connect.
Al sat up in a tiny revelation. The clap that he, Ed and Teacher used represented the transmutation circle, the unseen flow. But why would it have to be the hands; that would be just too arbitrary. Al felt silly to try out his new theory, but there wasn't much choice. Tapping the side of his nose with his finger, he pushed his face against the wooden manacles. The familiar glow of alchemy lit the cell, before there was a crack and his hands were released.
From there, escaping the cell was an cinch. Testing other combinations, he transformed his clothes to something a little more native. Quickly moving out of town he laughed, he couldn't wait to share his discovery with Brother!