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Tina burst out of the trees, panting. She could hear the man right behind her, running through the bushes. He had a rope around one of his arms and glasses.

"Come here, my dear!" the man called to her.

Tina hid in a tree, hoping for him to go right past her. She never saw him. She waited for a few minutes. Still he never came. She turned around to get down from the tree only to come face to face with him, smirk and all.

"That's not nice, hiding from me like that." He scolded. There was a wicked glint in his eyes.

He lifted his foot to reveal a tattoo of a dragon chasing his tail.

Tina gasped, "Keep away from me!" More quietly she added, "The oroboros tattoo."

"Tina. Tina!" the man spoke, but it sounded like her Mother. "Tina! Tina, wake up!"

Tina woke with a start. She didn't recognize her surroundings. Then she remembered that she had left Xing to go live in Central.

Meanwhile

Chance and Seth dragged Hope out. Hope was in her pants and shirt on, not a dress.

"Where are we going?" Hope whined.

Chance smiled at her, "We're going to go for a walk."

"Why?" Hope asked in a high-pitched tone.

Seth sighed in annoyance, "Because we are! Now lets go!"

They walked around the house for a bit. Then something that was both shocking and exciting at the same time happened. Tina was walking towards the house. But she looked anxious.

"Tina!" Hope cheered, charging up to her and giving her a big hug.

"Hope, Chance!" Tina chirped happily, forgetting whatever she was thinking about earlier.

Chance ran up to join the hug, "Hey there, Tina! Do you want to come for a walk with us?"

"Sure." She smiled. "Where are we going?"

Seth walked up and nodded his head politely to Tina, "We're going to explore the forest."

Tina and Hope frowned, a distant look on their faces. It looked like they had both had a bad experience in the forest.

With a sigh Tina nodded, taking a step towards the forest before becoming stiff. She was… scared?

"I'm not so sure…" Tina whispered to herself. "I know he's there… I just know it."

Chance shook Tina's shoulders lightly "Come on! Lets go! We gotta be back before it gets dark!"

"I'm coming!" Tina snapped goodheartedly.

Hope shook her head, "I'm not sure."

"Come on, Hope! You scared?" Seth joked.

"Am not!" Hope protested quickly.

They walked into the forest, finding a path. Hope gasped, seeing the same bushes where the man had staring at her before.

"Hey, come look at this!" Seth called to the girls through the bushes.

The girls rushed through the bushes and saw a note written on a tree saying 'Watch where you step, kids.'

Hope gasped, "Is that meant for us"

Chance sighed, "No, idiot! It must have been here for a while! It's probably a warning to watch out for bear traps and transmutation circles."

Seth rolled his eyes, "You are such a wimp, Hope!"

"Am not!" Hope disagreed hastily.

Tina just stared at the tree, body rigid. The others looked at her, waiting for her to state her opinion.

"Tina, what do you think?" Chance asked.

"Huh… Uh, yeah, it's probably just a warning." Tina stammered.

Chance grinned, "See Hope, nothing to worry about."

After a few hours of wandering in the forest they forgot which way was home. They were lost. Lost in this big, scary, haunting forest.

"We have to find a place to stay the night. Okay, guys?" Tina said quietly.

Chance nodded, "You and Hope gather firewood, Seth and I will gather look for a place to sleep.."

"Fine." Hope said icily. "It's not like it was my idea to come into the woods. I protested against the idea."

Chance glanced at her sister, "What's gotten into you? You're acting like someone just made you do something you don't think is safe."

Hope glared at Chance, "Because you guys did! I didn't want to come here! I don't think it's safe!"

"Why don't you think it's safe, Hope?" Seth asked curiously.

"Because, earlier I looked out the window in my room and there was a man in the bushes over near the house, watching me. He had black hair, glasses, a military uniform, and a rope around one shoulder." Hope explained.

Chance and Seth looked at her, while Tina stood stiff near the tree like she had seen the exact same thing. Tina didn't look like she was breathing when she looked up to meet Hope's gaze.

"I… I've seen him before." Tina whispered to her, barely breathing. "In a dream. He was chasing me through the forest He has an oroboros tattoo. He's the exact same man as the one you just described."

Hope nodded, "Mustang has a picture of him in our house. He says that it's his best friend, Maes Hughes. But Maes Hughes died many years ago, before Mustang and Riza started dating."

Chance cleared her throat, "Okay, lets split up. We'll meet up back here after we've found what we're looking for."

Everyone nodded and headed off in their groups. Hope linked arms with Tina as they walked farther away from her sister. They had gathered a few twigs when Hope saw a bigger branch on the other side of a tree, lying on the ground.

"I'm going to go grab that branch." Hope said before walking over to the branch.

She was just about to grab the stick when bare feet snapped it, sending little shards flying. She looked up to see the same man that was in the bushes before.

He smirked, "Hello, Hope Mustang. My name is Maes Hughes."

Hope gasped, "But… you're dead. You can't be here."

"Yes I can." Maes Hughes grinned.

He lifted his foot to kick her in the face. Just before his foot connected with her skin she saw something that Tina had said before. There, on his heel was a tattoo of the oroboros.

Then, all was black. Pure pain ran through her body.