8: Forest

Something cold and prickly was jabbing his cheek. Edward sighed heavily and forced his eyes open, taking the blurry green mass that soon came into focus: grass. He pushed his hair out of his face and sat up, wondering why he fell asleep outside. He was supposed to have gone back in time or something like that...

"W-what the hell?" he mumbled.

All around him was a forest. He knew there were forest areas in Amestris, but he had been practically in the heart of East City. And... judging by the thickness of the surrounding foliage, he'd say he was deep inside the forest.

"Al... hey, Al, where are you?" he called. "Al!"

Something rustled in the bushes behind him. He quickly transmuted his arm into the standard blade and absently wished he had kept the cybernetics equipped with all those weapons.

"Hey, it's me!" Alphonse cried, waving an arm.

"Don't scare me like that," Edward sighed. He changed his arm back to normal.

"So... any idea where we are?" Alphonse asked, his voice wavering slightly.

"Uh...a forest? Honestly, I'm not sure. I'd like to say we're in Amestris, but I don't know..." Edward replied in a similar tone.

"How far back did we go?"

"Wasn't it supposed to be four hundred years? You'd think there'd be a city or at least a small town here or something..."

"Josie yelled at us... maybe we screwed something up?"

"That damn cockroach... he should've told us how to use the Hourglass properly!"

"Speaking of which, where is it?" Alphonse asked.

"You don't have it?" Edward replied.

"No, I thought you did," Alphonse shook his head.

"Then..." Edward started, anxiety gnawing at his core.

"That means..." Alphonse added.

"We lost it?" they cried in unison.

"Look for it!" Edward barked, leaping into a mass of bushes.

"It's got to be around here somewhere!" Alphonse screeched, running back to where he first woke up.

"Where could it go?" Edward raged, yanking handfuls of his hair.

"How did you lose it?" Alphonse demanded.

"Me?" Edward blanched. "Why didn't you hold onto it?"

"You're the older brother; show some responsibility!"

"Age has nothing to do with it!"

After a few hours of frantic searching and heated bickering, the two brothers fell back on the ground. No matter where they looked, they just couldn't find the Hourglass. Both had come up empty handed.

"How are we gonna get home now?" Alphonse whined.

"You think I know?" Edward replied sourly.

"Some prodigy you are," Alphonse scoffed, turning away from him. "Can't even keep track of a simple object."

"So... what do you think we should do?" Edward chattered. "You wanna start walking and see if we come across a town or something?"

"Might as well. Who knows what's lurking in these bushes," Alphonse agreed.

"I think I hear water somewhere. If we follow it, we might come across something," Edward said, sitting up.

Sunlight cut through the branches and leaves overhead, making them bright green. The ground was sort of soft and squishy, and the area smelled like it had rained recently. Alphonse grumbled as his foot sank into a puddle of mud. Through gaps in the branches they could see a bright blue sky, dotted with fluffy white clouds. Birds chirped somewhere in the distance, and a few black dots soared across the sky.

"No way..." Edward chuckled to himself.

"Something wrong?" Alphonse asked.

"C'mon, follow me," Edward said, quickening his pace.

"Brother, where are you going?" Alphonse asked, matching his brother's speed.

"I had a dream like this. Just trust me," Edward grinned.

"Brother, wait!" Alphonse cried as Edward took off running.

The blond vanished into a tangle of bushes. Soon after, he heard a yelp. He fought his way through the shrubbery, getting his arms and face scratched by thorns in the process. He emerged on the other side and felt the ground beneath him give way.

"Ouch..." Edward grumbled, spitting out a mouthful of muddy water.

"Oops, sorry Brother," Alphonse apologized, standing up and helping his brother out of the mud and muck of the riverbed.

"Ugh, that's so nasty. I look like I fell in a pile of crap," Edward grumbled, peeling off his shirt.

"Well, we found a river. Should we go with or against the current? Either way, we ought to find something..." Alphonse mused, glancing down the riverbed.

Edward scrubbed his shirt clean of mud and then did the same with his pants. Alphonse was lucky to only have gotten wet. He climbed back up the bank and reclined, waiting until his clothes were dry.

"We're going to go against the current, towards the source of the river. We can get help there," Edward decided.

"What? How do you know that?" Alphonse asked.

"Just trust me," Edward sighed.

"This isn't like you," Alphonse commented. "And why don't you just transmute your clothes dry like you usually do?"

"Because we've got nothing to do. Even if we get help, there isn't anything anyone can do until we find the Hourglass," Edward grunted.

"I found it!" Alphonse announced, slogging into the river and pulling the Hourglass out of the water. "Now what?"

"Guess we can get moving, then," Edward replied flatly. He wondered if Alphonse had found the object out of sheer luck, or if he had it all along.

"Are you sure you know where you're going, Brother?" Alphonse asked wearily after several hours of walking.

"It's just up a head, I'm positive..." Edward huffed. The walk had been a lot shorter in his dream. The Hourglass around his neck swung as he staggered forward. He was hungry and tired and getting more than a little irritated.

"We've been walking for hours now! Are you sure this is the right way?" Alphonse screeched.

"Look, it's the best lead we've got, alright?" Edward snapped.

"You're almost there... just a little further," a female voice laughed playfully.

"Please tell me you heard that too," Edward mumbled.

"You mean the ghost woman voice?" Alphonse muttered.

"Maybe we're dreaming..." the blond mumbled under his breath.

"Y-you think so?" Alphonse wavered.

"I said maybe..." Edward huffed.

"Come on, you can't expect me to come find you myself. It just isn't proper for a woman to seek out a man," the voice giggled. "People would think I'm a slut in this day and age."

"It's talking again..." Edward started.

"Shall we run?" Alphonse asked.

"Yes! I don't want to be alone with a ghost!" Edward wailed, launching himself forward. Alphonse wasn't far behind.

"Through there!" Alphonse pointed at a thick covering of vines. "I bet you twenty sens there's a cave we can hide in until the ghost goes away!"

The pair sped up and dashed for the vines, only to hit a stone wall face first.

"Brilliant idea..." Edward grumbled, holding his nose and wiping away the blood dripping from it. "Pay up."

"It seemed like a good idea..." Alphonse mumbled, fishing a few coins out of his pocket and tossing them to Edward. He gingerly touched the scrape on his forehead, wiping blood out of his eyes as it trickled down his skin.

"It was. It just wasn't our day..." Edward mumbled, tilting his head back to stop the blood from flowing. The two sat around and waited for their wounds to stop bleeding.

"Now what? The source is coming from behind the wall," Alphonse sighed. "There's a hole here, but it's big enough for... Brother, transform!"

"What?" Edward blanched. "You can't make me do that on command; I don't work in the circus!"

"This is your dream, right? Don't tell me you just sat here and waited for something to come eat you!" Alphonse barked. "Transform, now! The sooner we find out where the hell we are, the quicker we can solve the problem! Do you really want to stay here?"

"What are you doing?" Edward screeched as Alphonse grabbed his collar and throttled him. "Alright, I'll do it! Let go of me! I can't keep my promise if you strangle me!"

"I'll try to see if I can climb over the rock. Go as far down the tunnel as you can," Alphonse directed. He snatched the Hourglass from around Edward's neck and put it around his own.

"Since when do I take orders from you?" Edward scoffed before turning into his cat form.

This might not be the reason why, but he was still glad he had been made a chimera. He watched as Alphonse began scaling the wall, using the thick vines covering it for hand and footholds. The tunnel was small and dark, with a faint light far ahead. He recalled the time he invaded the fifth laboratory. Now he was really small... he grabbed his head in the agony of calling himself small. He had grown, but comments about his height still irked him. His ears twitched as the sound of rushing water grew louder the further into the tunnel he wriggled. He thought, over the roar of the water, that he heard someone singing. He couldn't make heads or tails of the words, but it was definitely a girl's voice.

A girl's voice... that was somehow familiar.

He sped up his scrambling and came ever closer to the end of the tunnel.

"Brother, are you in there?" Alphonse's voice echoed down the hole, making his ears ring. "I made it to the other side."

"Clearly," Edward grumbled as he crawled out of the hole and shook himself free of dirt and cobwebs. "But... now where are we?"

"You expect me to know?" Alphonse scoffed.

The brothers looked at their new surroundings, unsure of whether to be shocked or in awe. There was a massive waterfall flowing into an equally large pool. Large white flowers bloomed along the stone face beside the waterfall, the mist glimmering in the sunlight.

"Well, it's about time, you two," the voice said smugly.

"Who's there?" Edward demanded.

"Really, how rude," the voice snickered.

"Show yourself!" Alphonse added, getting into a fighting pose.

"Alphonse, I thought you had more manners than that. After all, you are the more polite one out of the two of you," the voice laughed.

Edward and Alphonse stood back to back, ready to attack should the owner of the voice jump them suddenly. A warm breeze blew strands of blond hair across Edward's face, blocking his view. He thought he saw something large move in the distance.

"Where are you?" Edward asked softly, more to himself than to the owner of the voice. Well, it was a girl's voice, so maybe it was safe to assume the owner was a girl. Then again... Envy had a feminine, if rough, voice but he was a man. Were there cross-dressers here, wherever here was?

"Come on, surely you can do better than that," the girl teased. Something struck Edward's face.

"Agh," Alphonse grunted as something slapped his face. He felt the scrape on his forehead start bleeding again.

"I've been waiting for you two for quite some time now. Don't tell me you don't know," the girl continued, this time slapping Edward's face.

"Dammit, quit hitting me!" the blond raged.

"Aw, but it's so entertaining," the girl giggled.

"Knock it off," Alphonse snarled.

"Al, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Edward asked coyly.

"Could be..." Alphonse agreed, catching on quickly.

"Here it comes..." the blond mumbled as the blur moved around them again.

"Ready?" Alphonse asked.

"Now!" Edward called. The two brothers clapped their hands and hit the ground. Blue light flashed as the ground was transmuted.

"Nyaa!" the girl cried.

"Got her!" Edward exclaimed.

"All right!" Alphonse punched the air.

"Ooh, how could you do that to such an adorable cat?" the girl whined.

"Now, let's see who you are, shall we?" Edward said smugly, sauntering over to the stone cage the two had transmuted.

"A... cat?" Alphonse asked, peering inside the cage and the brown mass of hair hunched over on the ground. The large cat ears twitched and the tail flicked angrily. "What, you mean like a chimera?"

"No, not really. Nice work. But then again, look at who I'm talking to," the girl laughed and stood up.

"No way..." Edward blanched, taking a step backwards. "It can't be... but you look just like..."

"Brother..." Alphonse started, his voice small.

"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and Alphonse Elric, Edward's younger brother and the Soulbound Alchemist. Or at least... that's what my future self's memories tell me."

The cat-girl looked up and smiled, her long brown hair falling over her green eyes. Her ears twitched as birds flew overhead and her tail waved like a flag in the wind.

"Brother, she looks just like Aislinn and Christin!" Alphonse hissed to his brother.

"Mmm, close, but no cigar," the cat-girl chuckled.

"Who... are you?" Edward asked, his voice wavering slightly.

"I'm a cat-spirit. This is the first time in over a hundred years that someone has been able to see me, let alone two genius alchemists," the girl smiled, walking up to the edge of the cage.

"My name is Elrin, and I believe you have my Hourglass."


Area 51 1/2 1-x-11: I'm so happy things have been set into motion. I've wanted to write this part since I got the idea back when I was still writing book two. I can't tell you all too many details yet, because it'll ruin the story. They'll be explained in the next chapter, so hang tight, okay?

Let's see... what can I talk about... ooh! I know! I watched a really interesting anime over the weekend. Anyone watch Hell Girl? Me and Cissy were talking about how when Ai says 'My name is Ai' people always say 'You're Hell Girl' and they just assume! We also decided that one of us will cosplay as Ai and when someone asks 'Who are you' we'll say 'My name is Ai' and then the other will say 'You're Hell Girl' and the one dressed as Ai will say 'No. My name is Ai. Weren't you listening?'

And I kept going on and on about wanting to see someone either pull the red thread before Ai explained the 'equivalent exchange' of the straw doll thing or not pull the string at all.

Speaking of Hell Girl... Todd Haberkorn (Ling's voice actor) does the voice of a guy in Hell Girl. I don't know the guy's name, but his voice sounds almost like Ling's, so I'm sure you intelligent people can figure it out. The character, I mean. Obviously, I know Todd Haberkorn's name.

I know I've put this in, like, three different stories already, but here it is for those of you who don't read my other stories, .com/ though I hope you'll read Horsefeathers. It's an AU story involving Roy as the main male character. I hope it satisfies...

I finally got more songs for Saru! I got Golden Time Lover (the third opening song from Brotherhood) so you can be sure I'll listen to that one more than twenty times in a row. I also got Ready Steady Go (from the old anime... well, actually, it's from their album Smile, but it's used for the second opening of the old anime) and some Linkin Park songs. LEave out All the Rest is a very important song for this book, so I really needed that one... and Hands Held High reminds me of Hughes and Roy (after Hughes' death) and it's made me want to draw a picture of Hughes. I'm definitely gonna put it on my DA account. You're Not Alone by Saosin is also a good song... kinda describes the relationship between Rin and Ash.

I'm sure you've read this before, but I'm gonna move everything to my DA account. So no more website. Hey... anyone know a cheap way to get Ranma's outfit? Because I can cosplay her now that my hair's red... you can see a pic on my DA...

Well, until next time! You can't see, but I'm waving at you.