DISCLAIMER: Nyah, I does not own Full Metal Alchemist, so if you're trying to bribe me to make more screen time for NV or Wrath, don't bother. Also, the series already finished... (boo hoo!) so I couldn't do that anyway...
Whee! I'll try to update often if I gets reviews! So R&R people!
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Edward descended the train with a smile on his face. It was good to be back at Resembool. His own pastoral hometown. Who would have ever thought a great, famous, not to mention TALL, state alchemist would have come from such a quiet rural town? He certainly wouldn't, if he hadn't been that great famous TALL state alchemist. Ed looked around the train station. It was mostly empty, save for a few families waiting for their relatives. Resembool was such an out of the way town, hardly anyone came here. But Ed liked it. There was something about the country that made him just relax and slow down, even if he was only visiting for a few days. He breathed in the sweet air from the open air train station. Nothing could be so peaceful as this. Noth--
CLANG. CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANG.
Ed opened his eyes. Al was disembarking the train as well, and it was awful how loudly his body sounded within the train station. The few families that were there looked over at the two of them. Ed grinned at them and waved. He was trying to save face. The families smiled and waved back, then turned away. Ed could hear them muttering. He let it go, and pretended he couldn't hear them. He turned to Al. Al was waving at the families too, but stopped as Ed faced him.
"Glad to be back at Resembool, Brother?"
"Yeah, Al, if only for a few days. Let's go."
They started from the train station, down a long wide dirt road that led to the Rockbell's house. Ed was enjoying the scenery when Al spoke.
"Brother, do you have the feeling we're forgetting something?"
Ed shook his head.
"No Al. Try to shake the feeling off. We're here on a little vacation after all."
"But... I can't help feel we've forgotten something..."
"Ignore it Al. I want to get to Winry's house as soon as possible. Dark is going to fall soon."
"Okay Brother, if you say so..."
They walked another 15 minutes before Ed shouted, "WAAAAAAA! I left my suitcase on the train!"
Al sighed. "I told you so... I had a feeling..."
"NYAAAAHHHH! My money, pocket watch, and clothes were in there!" Ed flung himself to the ground and banged his feet and fists into the dirt like a child throwing a temper tantrum.
Al looked at his brother on the ground. Then he turned his metal head to the train station, about a mile off in the distance. It was already getting dark...
"Maybe the train is still there..." Al mused aloud. Ed stopped banging his fists and shoes in the dirt, and said, "Hey, yeah..."
Ed stood up quickly and started running towards the station. Al gasped.
"Brother, ah, wait!"
Ed didn't turn around or stop. "I've got to hurry Al! Tell the others I'll be at the house soon!"
Al sighed again. He really didn't care for his brother reckless descisions, but he'd be loathe to stop Ed from reaching his goal. He decided against running after his brother, and walked on to Winry's house.
"Sometimes I just don't get him. The train will be gone by the time he gets there. I'm sure he knows that. He's way too short to reach the train on time..."
Al chuckled to himself. "Henh. Brother is vertically challenged, but he'll never admit that to himself."
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Ed reached the train station in 10 minutes. The train was gone.
"Damn it! Damn it all to fucking hell!" Ed punched a train station wall with his fist. A huge pink purse came out of nowhere and whapped him across his face.
"What the hell! I'm already having a bad day!" Ed looked up from the floor to a tall skinny lady with a baby slung over her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes. Edward closed his and got up off the floor.
The lady smacked him again with her purse. He stumbled, but didn't fall this time. He chose to ignore the smacking, and proceeded to the wide dirt road. He reasoned that when he left for Central in a few days, the conductor would be able to tell him where his belongings went. It wouldn't make sense to go back to the train station while he was staying at the Rockbell's. The train station was kinda far away, and it would be a pain to go walk down to the station tomorrow, or any of the days he was staying here.
He continued walking down the road. Night was falling. "Damn" he said to himself. And he had sort of hoped that Al would be waiting in the road right where he had left him. But that was a stupid thought. Al wouldn't have wanted to stay in the road, he would have helped Ed on his quest for his luggage. A fruitless quest. Ed grinned. Al was probably telling the story to Winry and her grandmother right now.
His stomach growled. He picked up his pace. The sky was tinged pink and orange, and quickly changing to blue and black hues. How peaceful and pretty the countryside was. Even if it was going to be swallowed by darkness soon, he couldn't complain. His hometown really was a beautiful place. He asked himself again if anyone would have thought that the Full Metal Alchemist came from such a place.
"Well, if I wasn't the Full Metal Alchemist," Edward said aloud to the coming night, "I would certainly want a house here."
Which was ironic, seeing as Ed and his brother burned down their house two years ago in Resembool. The only home they had ever known.
Ed continued his fast walk to Winry's house. The night was fully on now, no more pink or orange in the sky. Shadows danced along the road as Edward's eyes got used to the settling dark. He wasn't afraid of the dark, but he remembered he used to be. Henh, that was a long time ago. Well, no it wasn't. That was eight years ago. Hmm. I take that back. That was a long time ago.
Ed walked along, at a moderately fast pace, thinking about his possessions that were still riding on the train. He thought about what he was going to do if his things weren't on the train the next time HE got on the train. He snarled.
"Kick the conductor's ass! No, more like track down the guy who took my stuff and THEN kick THAT guy's ass!" Ed grinned maliciously at the thought. His evil grin faded. "But how would I do that? Hmmm..."
He mused to himself. Perhaps he should get a police bomb sniffing doggie to help him. Yes, that would probably work. He wouldn't pay the owner though... henh...
A twig snapped behind him. Edward whipped around and slashed at whatever was following him.
"I GOT YOU! You can not fool the Full Metal Alchemist! You--" Ed stopped. Nothing was there. He scratched his head with his automail. "Weird... huh. Maybe I snapped the twig, and scared, uh, I mean... tried to attack... whatever." He started walking again, listening intently for someone following him. He heard nothing. He shrugged. He started to whistle. He failed misreably. He couldn't whistle very well. Well, with two fingers he could, but that wasn't relaxed, calm whistling. It was more like "Get over here right now you idiot!" whistling. Yeah.
Someone seized the back of his red cloak and pulled it over his head. Before Ed had time to react, the same someone grabbed his wrists and shackled them together with alchemy. His hands now in fists, he could not perform alchemy himself. His cloak was still over his head. The guy who had jumped him was tying a rather strong cloth around his eyes, so he couldn't shake off the cloak. He tried to speak, but the guy shoved cloth material in his mouth. Before Ed knew what happened to him, the guy was marching him down the road. The guy's hands were so strong Ed couldn't break his hold free.
"Stop struggling. March."
Edward had no choice now. He knew ultimately this guy would lead him somewhere, and then probably take off the blindfold and shackles. Otherwise, the guy would have killed him right here. He allowed himself to be walked by the guy, hating every single step of it. The thing was, he could breathe and he could tell the guy who was leading him was walking behind, out of reach, leading Edward by a long chain, so he wasn't holding him directly. Whoever this guy was, Edward was sure he'd had experience jumping people before. Otherwise, he wouldn't have acted so smartly. Especially with the Full Metal Alchemist.
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"Al, are you sure Ed told you to come up to our house? Maybe he wanted you to wait for him..."
"No, Winry. I'm sure I heard him right. He said to come and tell you he's coming after he gets his suitcase."
"Hmmm. Okay then. So how are you Al?"
Al had made it to Winry's house a little bit after dark. He had run part way, just to get to the house faster. He wanted to see Winry again. He couldn't believe it when Ed had wanted to go to Resembool for a week to take a vacation before following up on their next lead... whatever that was. Perhaps Ed was tired of being a state alchemist already. Mmmm... I should have become a state alchemist too. Al thought to himself, sitting at the Rockbell dining table, with food laden on it. Al wished he could smell the foodstuff. He had vague recollections of what duck, stew, salad, and banana pie tasted like. He wished he could taste it again. Or at least smell it again.
"When I get my real body back, I'm going to eat and drink until I explode."
Winry looked at Al from the metal stove top she had designed herself. She really loved that stove top. What Al said made her take a wooden spoon out of a pot of boiling pasta and drip some hot water on it.
She didn't notice right then.
"What did you say, Al?"
"I-- what? Did I say that out loud? Ah, heh heh." Al stretched his metal arm and rubbed the back of his neck. More out of habit than anything. He couldn't feel anymore.
Winry nodded slowly and went back to her pasta. She happened to glance down at the stainless steel stove top where the water spot was.
"UAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Winry screamed, and put her face as close as she possibly could to the water stain. Then she turned around and started searching frantically through the kitchen cabinets for some stove top cleaner.
Al, alarmed by Winry's scream, stood up and nearly up-ended the table.
"What! What is it! What's going on!" Al tried to come round to where Winry was, but suddenly she whipped around and started spraying at the stove top like a maniac.
Unfortunatly, this made the fire boiling the water in the pasta pot flame up about ten centimeters, charring the stainless steel stove top and sending more boiling water out of the pot and onto the stove.
"Winry!" Al pleaded, "Turn the stove off!"
Winry, after spraying ten more seconds of the flammable stove cleaner, did exactly that. That was partly because the aresol can was empty. The stove was now covered in black soot and water stains, along with the mess of the stove top cleaner.
"Stainless steel my left foot." Winry snarled under her breath. "Now I can't use the stove and my pasta is ruined!"
Needless to say, Winry was very upset that the seller of the stainless steel had lied to her and swore revenge on him. Al was not pleased Winry swore revenge on the traveling salesman, but was happy she had started to calm down.
However, it didn't help when two minutes later Edward came bursting through the kitchen door and was battling someone who was very fast with his eyes still covered by his red cloak, slashing at everything within reach.
"Show yourself, you bastard! Come and bring it on!"
Ed hit his back against the table, and, face in an evil grimace, sliced the poor table in half. It crashed down to the clean floor in two, spilling soup, duck, pie, salad, and stew all over the place. Ed evidently heard the crash, because he ripped off his blindfold. Then he stared in shock at the neatly cut table and food on the floor, and slowly raised his head to an irate Winry, a scared Al, and a flash of black and white that zoomed out of the kitchen.
"EDWARD!" Winry yelled.
Ed gulped. "Hiya Winry, I guess I'm gonna get beat up now. I'll start running then..."
Ed never got the chance. Winry chucked the metal pot of pasta at him, and he was out like a light.
"Winry... uh..." Al stammered.
"Save it Al. I'm going to the restaurant nearby."
"I'll come with you!" Al said quickly.
Winry looked him once over, and nodded. "My grandmother will be there. She's trying to talk the owner into buying our newly fashioned stove tops. Let's go."
Before the front door to the Rockbell house slammed and was locked, Al glanced at his brother out cold on the floor, and whispered his apologies. Then he (somewhat guiltily) went with Winry to the new restaurant a few kilometers down from the Rockbell place.
It was going to be a happy night for him.
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Will Ed ever wake up from his pasta pot induced concussion? Will you, the reader, ever find out who attacked Ed in the dark of the night? Will it indeed be a happy night for Al? And will Pinako ever get the owner of the restaurant to buy the faulty stainless steel stove tops? Will I, Day of Diana, ever stop announcing things in a deep dramatic voice?
Stay tuned for the next chapter of Total Drama... er... I mean... Shredding Faults! Cool title, but it sort of a CRACK fix. I mean... fic. Yeah, crack fiction. Hahs.
o.O I needs to get out more.