I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter 4

The sun bright afternoon sun shone brightly onto Ed and Al as they walked. "Hey Al, do you hear that?" Ed asked his brother.

Al nodded. "Yeah."

Ed began to run towards the sound but Al held him back. "Let go," Ed said.

Al sighed. "Ed you cant just go charging toward a river. There are people looking for us and you can't make too much noise."

Ed sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Ed followed Al through the bushes and they quietly emerged at the riverbank. A cold, clear stream wound it's way through the trees and around rocks. Ed walked to the edge and peered into the crystal clear water. Small fish swam in the deepest parts of the shallow stream. Ed was about to walk away when a creature burst from the bushes and knocked Ed into the water. Ed's head went through the surface of the water and heavy paws pushed Ed deeper into the water. He struggled to get free and soon he held his breath. After what felt like forever the weight vanished and Ed sat up quickly and gasped for breath.

"Looks like we've finally caught you," a voice hissed.

Ed looked around and spotted the creature standing beside a tall man with dark hair and a muscular build. The man was holding Al's hand behind his back to prevent him from using Alchemy. Blood dripped from a deep gash of Al's forehead. Ed got out of the water and looked at his brother. What do I do? Ed thought.

"Stay back if you don't want your friend hurt," The man warned, bringing out a small gun and pointing it at Al's head.

"Ed, run!" Al shouted.

"Shut up," The man snarled, he kicked Al in the ribs and his brother looked at Ed pleadingly. "Ed, go," Al groaned.

"I'm not leaving without you!" Ed yelled. He turned to the man. "Let my brother go."

The man grinned. "And why should I do that?"

Ed gritted his teeth and clapped his hands. He quickly bent down and touched a large stone on the ground, he picked up the transmuted sword and pointed it at the man. "Let my brother go," Ed said quietly."

"As you wish," The man said. He threw Al to the ground and slammed his foot on his arm. The man turned to Ed. "Do you want to fight?"

Ed nodded, out of the corner of his eye he saw Al slowly get up and move to the trees before collapsing to the ground. "You bastard!" Ed shouted at the man. Ed ran and swiped the sword but the man easily dodged.

"Is that all you got?" The man taunted.

Ed growled. He lunged at the man and swung the sword again. Blood dripped from a small scratch on the mans face. The man wiped he blood away with one hand and looked at Ed with eyes full of hate.

The man pulled out his own sword and turned to face Ed. "You asked for it." He ran at Ed with amazing speed and swung the sword. Ed tried to dodge but the sword hit him in the side. Ed's hand gripped his side as blood flowed between the fingers. Damn it, he's too strong, Ed thought.

A plan slowly formed in Ed's mind, it was a stupid plan but he had to try. Ed clapped his hands and touched the ground, creating a wall to block Al from the battle. As the man swung his sword Ed leaped through the air. Pain exploded in his stomach as the sword hit him. The man was temporarily stunned and Ed took that opportunity bring his sword down onto the man. The sound of stone tearing through flesh, screams being cut short, and lifeless bodies hitting the ground. Ed was horrified at what he had done. He looked down at the lifeless body of the man that had attacked him. "Sorry," Ed said softly but the man didn't respond.

Ed ran over to where his brother was and saw him sitting against a tree. "'Al!" Ed called, but his brother didn't respond. "Hey Al!"

A deep snarl sounded behind Ed, he turned and saw the gray creature staring at him with deep red eyes. It's jaws parted and a low growl escaped from it's mouth. It took a few steps toward the two boys before leaping. It's jaws bit down hard onto Ed's arm when he jumped in front of his brother.

Ed flung the creature off of him and clapped his hands, but before he could transmute the creature let out a loud deep growl and the wind blew violently and more howls could be heard. Ed was still holding his side as even more blood fell to the ground. His vision blurred and Ed stumbled back. Damn it, I'm losing too much blood, he thought.

The creature ran at Ed again and jumped and sliced his claws across his chest. Ed took his hand off on his stomach in a desperate last attempt to beat the creature. He clapped his hands together and toughed the ground and a sharp pillar of stone shot out of the ground and caught the creature by surprise. The pillar went straight threw the creatures stomach and blood spilled out onto the ground, staining the grass red. The creatures paw twitched once and then was still.

Ed ran over to where his brother was and found him standing beside a tree. "Al!" Ed called as he ran over to him.

"Ed," Al asked surprised. "You're hurt!"

"It's just a scratch" Ed said quickly not wanting to worry his brother. "Come on." Ed walked away and Al followed.

"Where are you going?" Al asked.

Ed stopped and pointed at the towering mountains. "There."

"Why?" Al asked.

Ed shrugged. "I just have a feeling that we should go there." Ed walked off again, ignoring the pain in his side. Al walked beside them and soon they had left the forest behind and were heading to the base of the mountain.

Meanwhile...

"Where are the Elric brothers?" The boss demanded. "I told you to bring them to me."

"I-I'm sorry sir," A man said nervously. "The runt killed one of our men and demon. I had to go or he would have killed me too."

"Fool," The boss snapped. "You should have known that I would kill you if you showed up empty handed.

"I'm sorry, please don't kill me," The man pleaded. He was on his knees now, a drop of sweat fell from his head and his hands shook nervously.

The boss grinned. "Bring the lion."

Two other men walked into the small room, a lion was being puled between two long chains around it's neck. It let out a deep growl and stared hungrily at the cowering man. The chains were dropped and the large Lion lunged at the man. It's jaws ripped through flesh and claws tore through the clothing. Soon all that was left was a small stack of bloody bones and ripped clothing. The chains on the Lion tightened as the Lion was pulled out of the room.

"You can't hide for long, Fullmetal runt."

In Central.

"Hello Winry," Riza Hawkeye greeted. "What brings you to Central?"

"I, um, well, I want to ask Colonel Mustang something," Winry told her.

Hawkeye nodded. "I can take you to him if you want."

"Thanks," Winry said. Riza led Winry through the halls of Central HQ and then they got to Roy's office. Riza walked in and Winry followed.

"Colonel, you have a visitor," Riza announced.

Roy looked up from his paperwork and looked tiredly at Winry. "Winry, it's a surprise to see you here."

"I'll leave you alone," Riza said, she walked into the hallway and shut the door.

"What are you standing there for?" Roy asked. "You can sit down if you want." Roy pointed to a chair in front of his desk

Winry sat down in the chair Roy was pointing to.

"What do you want?" Roy asked.

"I know how to get Ed and Al back," Winry blurted out.

Roy looked at her, his eyes widening in surprise. "You do?" Roy asked, his eye widening. "How?"

"I was reading one of Ed's alchemy books the other day and I came across and interesting page, I also looked through Sheska's book and found more information. But I'll need your help in order for it to work"

Roy thought about it for a moment. "I'll help," He decided.

Winry smiled. "Thank you."

To be Continued...