Chaptire.VI
Reference Point

It wasn't long before the village appeared as a dot on the horizon. It was comprised of not more than a dozen or so sloppily constructed homes and a tiny town square. It looked more like a permanent camp than a town.

As the group neared the settlement, there was a visible flurry of activity among the inhabitants. The watchman began shouting from the tower posted at the entrance to the village. The group couldn't make out what he was saying, but soon a few people appeared at the gate and headed toward them.

"Looks like our arrival has caused quite a stir," Fay said.

"Oy!" one of the approaching villagers shouted. It took a while from the time the man began shouting until the sound actually reached the group. "Turn back! You'll find no shelter here! This village is cursed!"

The group stopped and everyone looked at each other for a moment.

"We seem to come across cursed things a lot," Kurogane said.

"We certainly do, don't we?" Fay said, smirking. "But usually not altogether by chance."

"It could mean there's a feather here," Syaoran said, narrowing his eyes. He turned to Mokona, who was still in Sakura's arms. "Mokona, what do you think?"

"It's faint," Mokona said. "But Mokona can sense the feather's energy."

"We have to get to that village, then," Ed said. He glanced at Mokona. "You better know what you're talking about, Rabbit Ears."

Mokona's only reply was shameless raspberry.

"Turn back!" the villager shouted again. "We haven't any water!"

"Is that all they're worried about?" Ed mumbled. Then he shouted back, "We've brought water!"

The three people stopped as if in shock, then bounded forward. One of them broke away to run back to the village.

"Oh, sweet, merciful God, you do have water!" one man said as soon as he was close enough to see Al carrying the jar. "Please, are you willing to sell that? We'll pay any price! Our village desperately needs it! Our source dried up over a month ago and we've sent letters to the military, but we haven't received a reply."

"Yeah, well your first mistake was putting your faith in the military, stupid," the other man said, softly smacking the first man over the head.

Ed sighed and held up his pocket watch. "Edward Elric. State Alchemist."

"Are you here because of our letters?" the first man said, face brightening.

"Well," Ed said, bringing an arm up to scratch the back of his head. He smiled brightly. "We've got some water here…"

"We knew you were in trouble," Sakura said, stepping forward. "The water is for your village. You are welcome to all of it."

"And there's more where this came from," Ed said. "We can show you the aquifer we found that's just an hour or so from here."

The two men looked like they'd been cured of a fatal disease.

"Thank you, thank you!" the other villager said, stepping forward to shake Ed's hand vigorously. The other man began pulling Al in the direction of the village. "Please, follow us back as quickly as you can. Many in our village are very ill."

The group hurried after the two men who whooped and hollered "Water!" in the direction of the village. By the time they got to the entrance, there was a crowd of about fifteen or so people waiting for them and eying the jar Al was carrying as if it were made of solid gold. They cheered and surged forward as Al set the jar on the ground.

"There's plenty for everyone!" the villager who first spoke to Ed said as everyone tried to get to the jar first. He seemed to be in charge. "And these kind people also know the location of another aquifer nearby, so more water will be on its way soon!"

There was a collective gasp and some hugging and cheering from the villagers, then a bit of chaos as everyone fought to dip their cups into the jar. The leader regulated everyone as best he could, but the mob really wasn't violent—just thirsty.

"I hope you don't mind that I didn't tell them you're with the military," the leader told Ed in a low voice over the noise. "Some people here may not receive you too kindly."

Ed shrugged. "I get paid all the same."

As the leader turned back to the crowd, Al leaned down to Ed and whispered, "Besides, it's not like you're here on orders. If you were, the military would definitely want some recognition for saving an entire town from the brink of disaster."

Ed laughed through his nose. "Taking responsibility here would be a big mistake. The only people who would look at this as a success are the people who already have positive opinions of the military. Everyone else would just find some fault in the rescue." Ed leaned up against the wall and watched everyone scramble for a drink. "Nope, I'd much rather just be a regular guy here. A regular guy who just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Well, maybe the military had a little to do with it," Al said. "I mean, we wouldn't be out here at all if not for your orders."

"True," Ed said.

"And we never would've found the water without Sakura-san," Al said.

"We never would've been out here at all if not for them," Ed said bitterly. "We'd already be in Yous Well talking to Halling."

"And we would've completely overlooked this town and the possibility that the amplifier is here," Al said.

Ed gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Don't you think it's strange?" Al said. "Your charges have a real knack for stumbling across things. Especially Sakura-san. First she finds the water and then she predicts that the town will need it. How do you think she knew that?"

Ed shrugged and fell silent as he watched the four foreigners on the other side of the crowd help with the effort to distribute the water.

"I mean…" Al said. "Do you really think she can talk to ghosts?"

Ed shook his head. Whether he was answering Al's question or simply trying to clear his head was difficult to determine.

"Come on," he said. He started in the direction of where Syaoran and the rest of the group were standing. "We shouldn't leave them alone. It'll give them a chance to talk like we just did. I don't want them plotting anything behind our backs."

As Ed and Al joined the spot where the other four were standing, an odd quiet fell over the village as everyone drank their fill. Meanwhile, Ed, Syaoran and everyone took a moment to look over the village itself.

It seemed to be a hastily-built settlement that had once been just one or two homes, but gained several more inhabitants as the years went by. There were a little over a dozen homes, all mudstone and thatched roofs, sitting in a loose circle with a bright red brick town square in the middle. A 10-foot-high brick wall bordered the town on all sides with a heavy wooden gate at the entrance and a rickety wooden watchtower stood to the left of the entrance behind the wall. The village had been built on a plateau of rock in the desert, so the ground was packed dirt, not sand.

"Our little village isn't much," the leader said, coming up to the group, wiping water from his mouth. "But it's home. I settled it five years back with my son because I wanted out of the city and away from the politics. Little by little, people passing through just never left. Had to fight off a couple of bad seeds once or twice, but most travelers were good people."

"Why is your village so far from the old aquifer?" Syaoran asked, intrigued at the idea of someone founding a new town. "Usually people settle closer to their water source."

"That oasis was known to marauders and thieves as well as caravans and the military," the man said. "I wanted away from all of that, so I made sure my village was far off. I used horses and a cart to bring in water every week. It was a long trip, but I thought it was worth it."

"What are you doing asking ridiculous questions like that?" Ed grumbled to Syaoran, pushing his way to the front of the group. He swiped the chimera's head away from Kurogane with his right hand and set it heavily at the man's feet. "What do you know about this?"

"Now that…" the man said. He took a step back and stared at the head as if it were going to leap up and bite him. "That is something I hoped to never see again."

"Did you make it?" Ed said, his tone sharp.

"No, I didn't," the leader said. He lowered his eyes.

"But you know who did, don't you?" Ed said. "Spit it out! Who did this?"

The man was silent as he stared at the sand.

"Please," Syaoran said. "We need to know—"

"Inuki!"

Six heads turned in the direction of the voice. A tall girl with very short black hair longer on her right side than he left and black eyes was running over to where they stood, her gaze locked onto the head lying on the sand. When she got close, she kneeled down beside the head and smoothed out the fur behind its ears.

"Yuzuriha…" Sakura said softly. The girl didn't seem to hear her.

This is the same girl we met in Otou Country, Syaoran thought. The one with the dog. He looked down at the head. I guess she had a dog in this world too.

After a few moments of silence, Yuzuriha looked up at the group. "What happened?"

"We killed it," Kurogane said. "It attacked us and went after the water."

Yuzuriha shook her head and stood, wiping her tears away. "I'm so sorry. Inuki was such a good dog before…" she paused and looked on the verge of tears again. Then she said, "Was anyone hurt?"

"No," Al said. "Everyone's okay."

"But just barely," Ed said. He struck his finger down, pointing at the head. "Did you transmute this thing?"

"Me? No!" Yuzuriha said, looking outraged. "I would never mutilate Inuki like that. It was—" her gaze skipped to the village leader and the she looked at the ground. "Somebody else."

"You did it?" Ed said, whirling on the village leader. Ed had suddenly assumed a great air of authority and his State Alchemist pocket watch glinted in the sunlight.

"It was my son," the leader said, unable to look Ed in the eyes. "Bernd."

"But we don't know where he went. Last time we saw him, he was leaving the village with that monstrosity he transmuted from Inuki," Yuzuriha said. "They went looking for water."

"Please," Syaoran said. "Tell us everything you know about the person who hurt your dog. It's very important."

"Your son," Al said, turning to the village leader. "Was he an alchemist?"

"Bernd has always been fascinated with alchemy," the leader said. "He'd applied for the State Alchemist exam for the past three years, but never got past the interview. He wants to be an alchemist more than anything, but, truth be told, he just doesn't have what it takes."

As the leader trailed off with his story, Yuzuriha picked it up again. "But one day his alchemy got really, really good. Just like that. Suddenly he was transmuting statues out of aluminum cans and creating houses from sand. It was amazing! There was no way he'd fail the State Alchemist exam when he could do all that stuff. But, I could tell something was happening to him. Something changed about him. He got irritable and distant. When we ran low on water, he volunteered to go out to the aquifer alone and refill our supply. He came back lugging more water than we've ever seen at once out here. He said he'd been able to tap the aquifer and that we'd never run out of water again."

"A damn fool he was," an older villager said, coming up behind the Yuzuriha. "And damn fools we were for believing him!"

The leader cast his eyes to the ground and didn't say anything.

Yuzuriha looked to Sakura with watery eyes. "You don't understand. Water is so precious to us here. When he came back with all that, well, we got excited…"

"You wasted it," Ed said.

Yuzuriha nodded to the ground. "We planted more gardens, we took long baths, we drank it down in celebration like alcohol… We just thought there'd be more. But when we went back out to the oasis, we found that Bernd-kun had completely dried the aquifer."

"We had only enough to last us a couple of weeks," the other villager said. "So we went out and searched the desert for another aquifer. The smart ones took their rations and left for the city right away, but most of us were determined to find another source without running to the city for our first crisis."

"You could tell Bernd-kun felt guilty," Yuzuriha said. "He was the most dedicated out of all of us to find water. He left the village for days at a time and still drank the least."

"But the more desperate we became, the more irritable and volatile Bernd's mood got," the other villager said.

"Guilt will do that to a person," Ed said.

"But he'd never acted that way in his life!" the leader said. "He's a gentle boy and he loved that dog like his own."

"It's true," Yuzuriha said, her eyes filling with tears again. "Bernd-kun really loved Inuki almost half as much as I did. So when he asked to go out into the desert with Inuki to find water, I thought it was a fine idea. After all, Inuki could find anything.

"But… dogs aren't made for the desert. So when Inuki started to get tired out there, Bernd-kun… h—he…."

"He snapped," the other villager said. "Raving about snakes and their stamina out in the desert, he took the dog and a snake and transmuted them together."

"I've never seen alchemy like that in all my life," the leader said, his face going pale.

"What, animal transmutation?" Ed said.

"Well, there's that," the village leader said. "But also the way he did it…"

"It was the Devil, that," the older villager said. "I know a little about alchemy. And that weren't no natural thing Bernd did. No, sir. It was evil."

Having heard enough, Ed abruptly plucked Mokona from Sakura's arms by the ears and, as if he had shoplifted something and was trying not to be noticed, calmly walked off to a deserted corner of the village.

"Moko-chan!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Nii-san!" Al said over Sakura's outcry. "You can't do that! It's rude!"

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Kurogane thundered, stomping off in Ed's direction. "You can't go around taking stuff that doesn't belong to you!"

"You make it sound like Mokona belongs to you, Kuro-tan," Fay said, bouncing after Kurogane.

"WellI paid for the pork bun!" Kurogane said over his shoulder.

Sakura moved to follow, but Syaoran put a gentle hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

"Don't worry, we'll get Mokona back," Syaoran said. He nodded towards the village leader and Yuzuriha. "In the meantime, didn't you have something you wanted to say to these people?"

Sakura smiled softly. "Yes. Thank you."

Syaoran moved off as Sakura turned around to face the two people.

"I have something I need to tell you," Sakura said. She looked right into the village leader's eyes when she said, "About Bernd-san."

Sakura felt her heart pang as she watched the man's face fall and go pale. He swallowed. Yuzuriha shifted on her feet and stared at the ground.

"Do you have somewhere private where we could talk?"

Syaoran watched from a distance as the village leader lead Sakura and Yuzuriha into one of the larger mudstone homes. The heavy curtain that served as the home's front door fell across the entrance. Syaoran jogged the rest of the distance to where Al, Kurogane, and Fay were standing around Ed who was questioning Mokona.

"So," Ed was saying. He had pulled Mokona up by the ears so they were staring eye-to-eye. Mokona remained silent and motionless. "You heard what that guy said, right? That's the work of an alchemic amplifier if I've ever heard one. The feather has to be around here somewhere, right? Right?"

"Nii-san," Al said disapprovingly. "Pulling it up by the ears is probably painful."

"How would you feel if we strung you up by your ears, Edward-san?" Fay said.

"I'd like to see you try it," Ed said. He held Mokona out to Fay. "Here. Ask it about the feather."

Ed set Mokona into Fay's hands and the little while puff ball instantly came to life.

"Fay!" Mokona said, ears twitching. "The feather isn't here."

"What?" Ed said. "You said it was!"

"Mokona sensed the feather's energy," Mokona said. "It's everywhere. It's inside the buildings, it's under the sand. The power was used here for a long time, but the feather is gone now."

"Can you tell where it went?" Syaoran asked.

Mokona nodded and raised a paw to point out into the desert in the direction opposite the way they had come. "That way."

"What's that way, Edward-san?" Fay asked, peering into the distance as if he squinted hard enough, he could see anything but sand.

"Yous Well," Ed said. "We were headed there in the first place."

"That's a good sign, Nii-san," Al said. "Maybe Halling will have some information."

"I hope so," Ed said. "Answers would be a nice change of pace."

"So what's the plan now?" Kurogane said. "Travel until nightfall and then set up camp?"

"Honestly, I was hoping for a quiet respite after nearly dying," Fay said. "Twice."

"The village leader seems like a nice man," Al said. "He'll probably let us stay in town for the night."

"Hopefully with a meal or two," Ed said, holding his stomach.

"So it's settled," Syaoran said. "We'll stay here for the night and then head for Yous Well in the morning."

There was an awkward pause as everyone simply stood around without a clear idea of what to do next.

"Where's Sakura-san?" Al asked suddenly, piercing the silence.

"She wanted to talk to the village leader and Yuzuriha-san," Syaoran said.

"About what?" Ed said, cocking an eyebrow.

"She probably wanted to tell them about Bernd," Syaoran said.

"By herself?" Al said, staring out at the house that Sakura had gone into. "I don't know if I would have the courage to tell a complete stranger that his missing son is dead."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the man actually thanks us for the information," Fay said, grinning. "Sakura-chan is that good."

Syaoran smiled. "She's very good at understanding people's feelings. There's no one else that I'd rather hear bad news from."

Al found himself staring at Syaoran as he said this. Syaoran was smiling, but the tone of his words seeped into his face to make the expression indescribably sad.

Al had never given a thought to everyone's relationship to each other until that moment.

And as the expression disappeared from Syaoran's face, Al got the feeling that it was probably complicated.

Very complicated.

The group made their way to the house Syaoran had seen the village leader take Sakura and Yuzuriha to. It was slow going. Every couple of feet, the group was stopped by a villager who would thank them emphatically for the water. Most were content with a simple "you're welcome," but a few wanted details of their trip and the reason they happened to be passing through. Fay's excellent people skills came in very handy at this point and he only required a few interjections from Syaoran and Al to get everyone off their backs. Ed and Kurogane were perfectly content to stand to the side of the group and let the three handle this particular aspect.

Nearly twenty minutes later, the group finally reached the village leader's home. After listening briefly to make sure they weren't dropping in at a crucial moment in the conversation, Fay gently knocked on the wood plank beside the home's entrance.

"Excuse me," Fay called. "We're not interrupting, are we?"

"Of course not," the village leader's voice sounded from inside. "Please come in."

The five people entered the small home to find the village leader, Yuzuriha, and Sakura seated at a table against the far wall by a window. Sakura smiled at the group as they filed into the small space. She was holding Yuzuriha's hand as the dark-haired girl blotted her eyes with a cloth napkin. The village leader's face was streaked with dried tears, but he got up from the table as everyone entered and gave them a deep nod of his head.

"Sakura-san told us what you did for Bernd in his last moments," the man said, taking a few steps toward the group. He held out his hand to Ed. "Thank you."

Sakura gave the group and meaningful nod as if to say, "We did help. Play along."

"Erm," Ed said, awkwardly accepting the man's hand. "You're welcome?"

"We're only sorry we couldn't do more," Fay said, taking his turn at shaking the man's hand.

The man shook his head as he shook Syaoran and Kurogane's hands in turn. "Bernd was too far gone by then. The power of that talisman corrupted him."

"Talisman?" the five said at the same time.

The man nodded. "Sakura-san said you're looking for it so you can destroy it. I hope with everything in me that you can. I don't want one more life to be tainted by that thing."

"It was a feather, right? A white feather with pink markings?" Syaoran said eagerly.

"That's right," the man said. "I only saw it once because Bernd guarded it so closely, but one time was enough to engrave the image in my mind. Whatever that thing is, it doesn't belong in this world."

"Where did he get it from?" Ed said, stepping forward. He'd taken on his authoritative interrogation stance again. It would have been laughable if he weren't so serious.

"A couple of merchants came through here a few months ago," the man said. "A really attractive woman and this stocky little bald guy who didn't seem all there, you know? Everything they had to offer was absolutely worthless, but Bernd found the feather right away. The couple sold it to him for much more than I thought my son had and then they left. That's when Bernd began acting strange."

"Where is the feather now?" Al asked. "You must have some idea."

"Bernd took it with him, of course," the man said. "I would've thought if you would find it anywhere, you would've found it with his—his body."

"It wasn't there," Syaoran said. "We would've known."

"Which means it was probably stolen," Ed said, hand on his chin. "I wonder if he really did just die of exposure."

"The desert winds are brutal," Kurogane said. "It could've flown away after the corpse began rottin—"

Fay stepped on Kurogane's foot as Bernd's father cast a devastated look to the ground.

"We'll continue to look for the talisman, sir," Syaoran said to fill the silence.

"And we'll do everything we can to make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else," Al added. "We may even know where to search next."

"Really?" Sakura said from her seat at the table next to Yuzuriha.

"We recently received some very reliable information from our sources," Fay said, raising Mokona slightly in his arms as if simply shifting his balance. "And we now have a fresh lead."

"That's very good news. I wish you Godspeed," The village leader said. "But I insist you stay the night here. I'm offering lodging, of course. It's the least I can do after everything you've done. And then in the morning, if you don't mind, you can show me where this new water source is before heading back out."

Syaoran smiled wearily. "Thank you. It's been a very long trip and we're all pretty tired."

"And we haven't eaten in days," Ed said pointedly.

"Well, we don't have much after the drought," the village leader said. "But I'm sure we can find something for you all. Come on. The next house over is a guest house for those passing through. I'll get you settled."

The man held the curtain over the entrance open and Fay, Al, Kurogane, and Ed stepped through. Syaoran waited for Sakura as she slowly rose from the table, giving Yuzuriha's hand a friendly squeeze before letting go.

"Thank you so much Sakura-chan," Yuzuriha said, folding the damp cloth napkin neatly onto the table. "Bernd-kun was like a brother to me. It's really comforting to know that at least he… died," she paused and swallowed the words. "He died in his right mind."

"And he was relieved to find someone to pass on his message," Sakura said, smiling sadly. "I don't think he could have rested in peace if he couldn't somehow apologize to you."

"Promise me you'll find that feather," Yuzuriha said, her expression pleading. "It tears me up to think that it's still out there somewhere, waiting for someone else to come along."

Sakura nodded. "We'll find it and make sure it doesn't hurt anyone ever again. I promise."

Yuzuriha nodded. "I know I can trust you."

Sakura smiled and then headed for the door. As she turned her back to Yuzuriha, the smile on her face disappeared, replaced by a heaviness that sank into the corners of her eyes and mouth…

And right into Syaoran's soul.

"Don't leave tomorrow without letting me say goodbye," Yuzuriha called as Syaoran lifted the curtain over the entrance for Sakura.

Sakura replaced the smile on her face. "I won't."

She waved and then stepped onto the other side of the curtain. Syaoran followed her.

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura said, once the two were out of Yuzuriha's earshot. "This is so awful. Yuzuriha-chan and the village leader just kept talking about what a nice, wonderful person Bernd was. It was like his personality completely changed the moment he touched the feather—my feather."

She looked at Syaoran, squinting her eyes against the sun. "I feel like it's all my fault."

Syaoran shook his head vigorously. "No. Never think that. There isn't an evil molecule in your entire body, Princess. People are responsible for their own actions no matter what the circumstances. There is nothing in this world—or any world for that matter—that can make a person do something against his will."

"You really believe that?" Sakura said.

"I do," Syaoran said. "People are complicated, that's all. We don't really know anything about this Bernd person's mind. The feather could've simply given him the means to do all the terrible things he's ever wanted to do."

"Still," Sakura said, lowering her voice as they got nearer to the house where Al's metal body could be seen sticking half-way out the entrance. "I'll feel so much better once we can get this feather back. I was being completely honest when I promised Yuzuriha-chan that I wouldn't let the feather hurt anyone else."

She paused and nodded deeply to herself. "I will never let anyone use my feathers to amplify their alchemy if I can help it. There is no reason great enough to go against the laws of nature. Right?"

The two caught Al's attention as they approached the guest house. Al waved to them and Sakura waved back.

"I certainly can't think of any reason good enough," Syaoran said.

"Syaoran… Syaoran!"

The small voice cut through the darkness in the guest house like a beam of light.

"Mokona," Syaoran said blearily. In between his words he listened to the sounds of everyone else sleeping soundly in the beds around him. "What is it?"

"There was a huge burst of energy from Sakura's feather just now," Mokona said. Syaoran's eyes had adjusted just enough to see a big white blob sitting on top of his stomach.

Syaoran sat up and Mokona hopped off his stomach. "Where? Close by?"

"No, very far away," Mokona said. "Farther than it was before."

Syaoran sighed. "Then I guess there's not much we can do about it now. Let's just go back to sleep so we can be well-rested for tomorrow."

"Would you rather not have known about it?" Mokona asked with a voice that sounded like a six-year-old on the verge of tears.

"No, of course not," Syaoran said, patting Mokona on the head. "I want you to tell me everything you feel about the feather no matter what, okay? Even if you have to wake me up in the middle of the night. Even if there's nothing we can do about it. I always want to know."

"Okay," Mokona said, waddling back up onto Syaoran's pillow to get comfortable right next to the boy's head. "I'm glad you wanted to know because the feeling was very scary."

"Scary?" Syaoran repeated.

Syaoran could feel Mokona nod.

"Something really terrible just happened somewhere."

"Terrible things happen all the time everywhere," Ed grumbled from the darkness. "Get over it and go back to sleep. We'll deal with it in the morning."

End note: Sorry about this crazy "Bernd" guy and the lack of other X characters along with Yuzuriha (oh, and the unexpected character death—I just realized it this second that I had crossed that line.) I claim the right to blame writer's block. This really isn't one of those chapters I'm particularly proud of, character-wise. However, this is an extra-long chapter, so I hope you're not too angry with me… Please review!