A/N: Sorry again for the long hiatus. It has been an interesting few months, but more on that later; check out the A/N post-chapter if you're inclined to know. Otherwise on with the show!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. Duh.

Chapter 13: The Brewing Storm

Envy crouched in the long grass. The army had been marching for a full week. After their destruction of the last town they had turned around and proceeded to return back to central. The only problem was that they didn't head back in a straight line. Every day or so they had taken a turn and headed towards a small township or village; and every one ended the same way. The town in flames, those who didn't resist in chains, those who did, dead.

Envy had done what he could but even trying to save as many as possible he had managed a couple hundred at most. For nearly a month of terrorizing the towns, it wasn't a good ratio. This last week however, things had been vastly different. The army had been pointedly marching in one direction, passing up towns and villages without so much as a sideways glance. It was more than a little concerning as they were heading directly in the direction of Resembool.

That was what had the homunculus terrified. Had the army returned to Central as it appeared that they had intended, Envy would've made it to the town weeks ago; but he could not in good conciseness leave these animals to their hunt. Especially if their final target was Ed. He had to find out what was really going on, and the sooner the better.

"You have no idea what you're leading the boy into do you?"

Pride's words echoed in Envy's mind and he shook them away. Now was not the time to panic, now was the time to think. They were about 2 days from Resembool by Envy's calculations, and unless they planned on exhausting the soldiers before they arrived, they would have to break tonight in preparation for whatever battle may come.

Envy was sure Ed would want to put up a fight, even if he somehow didn't know that the army was coming. He was sure however, that was not the case. Even if Envy wasn't able to directly get a message to Ed at this point, there was no way that the former State Alchemist wouldn't have heard of the army's rampage. It had been broadcast on many networks.

To the people of central it was spun as the "elimination of terrorists" or the "quelling of those who plotted against the government" but Envy and Ed had heard it all before. Ed would know it for what it was; a witch hunt. And even if he didn't know why, he would know he was on the target list. Mustang had made that very clear.

The homunculus was so lost in thought that he nearly fell over a cliff and down to the army below. Luckily he caught himself as his foot slipped, a stray pebble tumbling down. He swore as he dove behind a bush, hoping none of the army sentries saw him. He could hear the stone crack and bounce as it made its way down, but didn't hear any unusual chatter from the scouts below. Slowly, he backed up and began to work his way around the side of the army. As Resembool sat in a very hilly section of plain, it wasn't hard to find a tree or a brush to hide behind, but as few and far between as they were, it made moving from one to the next perilous at best. There had been many moments where Envy was forced to rely on his shape-shifting to get him out of a tight situation, and even then he was certain that the scouts knew someone was following them. He just hoped they didn't know who.

Climbing up another hill behind the army, Envy laid on his back and looked up at the sky. Night would be falling soon. He could make it to Resembool before daybreak if he ran, he could see Ed again before all the chaos started. Envy shook his head. He needed information before that. He needed to figure out how to keep Ed from doing exactly what he had wanted since the day he lost his mother.

The sound of footsteps made Envy jump. They were too close for him to hide so he merely continued to lay on the cooling grass, fashioning his fingers into needles. Whatever poor scout had found him would not be surviving the night. The berm he lay on however, prevented him from actually seeing whoever was walking up the hill without revealing his position to the army below. Envy had no choice to wait until the person was close enough to pull over the hill and out of sight.

The footsteps stopped just on the other side of the hill. The person was maybe a meter away, but still out of arms reach unless Envy crossed the top of the small hill. He cursed under his breath. Rolling to his stomach he pushed up ever so slightly in hopes of getting a glance of the person sitting on the other side. He realized from where they sat they could easily see all of the army below, but were at such an angle that only the scouts on the outer most ring of rapidly rising tents would be able to clearly make out the figure above. It was a clever vantage point. The figure had long black hair, feminine in form. She turned to look in Envy's general direction, but Envy couldn't see her face.

Her voice however, was immediately recognizable.

"Envy doll, why don't you come sit with me."

Envy swore.

–

Ed rolled over and looked up at the moon above Resembool. The last month had been more than stressful. He had arrived three weeks ago after running the countryside with Al; and had nearly collapsed at Winry's door. The scene with Roy wouldn't stop playing in his head over and over. All he could see in his mind were the flames, and Roy's smiling face.

Even though he was laying outside, he got a sudden feeling that he was trapped. He wanted to run away from it all, run out of his own skin. He felt like he was going to go insane. Maybe he already was. This was all too much to understand. Life had been so simple, so easy. What had happened?

Well that's a stupid thought, Ed thought to himself. He knew exactly what happened. Each day of the last few months had something etched in his memory and he hated it. What was worse, the more time he spent away from Envy, the more he began feeling like it was the homunculus that was to blame. Deep down he knew it wasn't true, but he heard the same thoughts over and over again in his mind.

It wasn't like this before Envy.

Roy always got over things before.

Riza couldn't really have been there. I must have imagined it.

The thoughts plagued him more than he would have liked to admit. That none of this was real, that every morning when he woke up he thought he would be next to Roy, the raven haired alchemist laying with his arm around him. And every day, still, he felt the sting of the words that same man had said not more than a week ago: "The former Full-Metal Alchemist". It was all insane, and now out of nowhere Central was waging war on innocent people. Was it all a simply a manhunt for him?

Ed shot up to his feet and screamed at the moon. "FUCK IT ALL!" The moon didn't answer. It simply looked down, it's silver glow illuminating the large empty field outside Resembool where Ed stood. The cool breeze giving his topless form a slight chill. It wasn't uncomfortable, and if he had been in better suits, this would be the exact kind of night that he'd wish to lay with Envy under the stars. He knew the homunculus knew of his home town, but he doubted very much that the man had ever truly experienced it. After living in the city for so long, the quiet town seemed to be the most peaceful place in the world.

Not that it will be when Central's army shows up he thought nastily. The thought, sapping what little positive mood had been spurned on by the calming winds. He had transmuted a variety of traps and spyware as they had approached Resembool, as he had a feeling the army would follow after. What better target to draw out a wanted man that his hometown? But Ed had no intention of letting anyone he knew here get hurt. All the neighbors he had told had fled, some to central, some away. All except for Winry and Granny.

Ed sighed as he glanced up at the moon once more. He didn't know what the sun would bring, but he felt more afraid then he had in a long time.

-tbc-

A/N:

Thank you all so much for reading! The spider's strings are slowly becoming a web and let's hope that it doesn't wrap itself around Ed or Envy too tightly! Please like/review/etc! I love reading them!

Also: If you're at all curious, aside from my usually busy schedule I have gone out and made a youtube channel. It has nothing to do with FMA or Naruto, but is a let's play channel. So if you're at all interested in visiting, I'd love your support. As an author and as a creator, being able to entertain and touch the lives of those around me is very important. If you care at all you can find it at:(youtube) /inukouga11

I love you all so much for sticking through this and reading!

Next chapter up soon!

Ja ne!

-Novi