I picked the short stick this time, so we're back!
Really, we have too many excuses to explain.
{So, please just accept our apology! And many thanks to everyone who reviewed! They really encouraged us to keep writing.}
Chapter 20
Research
It wasn't until the middle of breakfast that the conversation that Edward overheard last night came back to him. He stared at his plate with a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth. Slowly, the toast tipped until gravity pulled it to the plate. Ed's mind was working fast to recall the exact memory of last night.
Harry had been telling Sirius about recent happenings. He had mentioned that he had seen what the first task will be. Then he had mentioned dragons. As in the large, ferocious beasts that could breath fire. Edward thought that he had been doing a great job embracing this magical world, but the strangeness was starting to get to him again.
It was not a stretch to believe that dragons exist after everything else that he'd seen since he arrived at Hogwarts, but it surprised Ed that they would put something like that in a tournament for students. The only thing Ed remembered about dragons was that they used appear briefly in some of his mother's stories she used tell his brother and him. He would have to go to the library.
Pausing briefly to grab his toast and return it back in his mouth, Edward grabbed his bag and ran as quickly as possible without being considered suspicious. He followed the now well known path to the library. Once at his destination, it did not take him long to find the section that held books on magical creatures. After all, he knew just about every inch of this library - or at least where the different sections were - just in case he would, like now, be in need of some stranger information.
He pulled down the first book he could find that looked promising: Every and All Magical Creatures. Ed leafed through the book until he came to the section about dragons.
Dragons are giant winged, fire-breathing reptiles. Widely regarded as terrifying yet awe-inspiring, they can be found all over the world and are frequently referred to in Asian and medieval European folklore. Able to fly and breathe fire through their nostrils, they are one of the most dangerous and hardest to conceal creatures in the wizarding world. The Ministry of Magic classifies them as XXXXX, known wizard killers that are impossible to train or domesticate. Despite how dangerous they are, there are people who are trained to work with them, called dragon keepers, or dragonologists. A wizard who trades and sells dragon eggs (an illegal activity) is referred to as a dragon dealer.
Reading through the rest of the fairly small section, Ed noted that the book gave a good basic description, but the information was not much help to him. The list of reference material in the back of the book, though, could turn out to be very informative.
~~~~O~~~O~~~O~~~O~~~~
They were not. Every other reference of dragons he could find was useless or over exaggerated or didn't match up at all with the other articles he found. There was only one book left in his previously large pile. This was a very special book. He wasn't looking for any mentions of dragons in this book. No, he was looking for dragon keepers. Basically, this was his last resort. If he couldn't find any mention of dragons in the library then why not go to the source?
Finding the information he needed wasn't hard. After all, this wasn't Amestris. He didn't need an entire address, just a name. It was possible that he'd be able to complete his self-assigned mission with even less than that. If there was one thing he had to admit about this crazy world, it is that it had a great internal post system.
He found it: a list of current dragon keepers from the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.
Belinda Horits
Cindy Justins
Victor Orthus
Kevin Porthis
Drake Ryuunosuke
Charlie Weasley
This would do nicely. Edward quickly picked a name and found a fresh piece of parchment.
Dear Mr. Ryuunosuke,
I am an Amestrian researcher and current diplomat to the Ministry of Magic. I have recently come across some rather vague yet interesting information about dragons. Dragons are mere folklore in Amestris so I have been trying to research these creatures. Unfortunately, the information that I have come across does not seem relatively reliable and I am not sure what to believe about these creatures. Therefore, I have decided to go directly to the source.
As a dragon keeper I am sure that you have much first hand knowledge on Dragons. I would welcome any knowledge that you see fit to share with you. I would be interested in anything from their maternal instinct to their bone structure. Thank you very much for your time. I will be looking forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Edward Elric
Well if that didn't drip with formality then Edward decided that he wouldn't be able to explode at the next person in Central who calls him a country bumpkin. Who would have thought that those countless reports for Mustang would have come in handy.
Now all he had to do was get one of those owls to deliver the letter. Edward trekked up to the owlry, silently cursing the number of stairs in the school while thanking Izumi for the rigorous training. Once he got to the owlry, Ed was thankful for the lack of company. He knew that he was undergoing a difficult process and was glad that no one was there to witness his definite embarrassment.
His prediction came true when he attempted to first find a bird. Edward swore that these birds were ADHD. They would flap their wings and escape from every attempted capture. When he finally had one, he tied the letter to it's leg and stared the creature down.
"Ok. Now, you are going to take this letter to Drake Ryuunoske. He's a Dragon Keeper at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. You take this letter straight to him. No pit stops, just the straightest, fastest route, you hear me? Dragon Keeper at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. And make sure you stick around for a reply. I'll be waiting with some payment when you return." Edward stared into the bird's eyes for a few more seconds in a pitiful attempt to convey his message before practically shoving the bird out of the window. Now all he could do was wait for the reply, which would probably take a while. In the meantime, he decided to discover any techniques that could be helpful in fighting a dragon. All he had to do was expand his search from fighting dragons to fighting large creatures or scaly creatures or fire-breathing creatures. The search shouldn't be too hard.
~~~~O~~~O~~~O~~~O~~~~
Hours later, Edward was regretting his decision - all of them. He remembered all those times he was able to stay awake for days, burying himself inside books. Somehow, his single-minded attention disappeared as soon as he stepped away from his brother and stopped working. Instead of focusing on the task ahead of him, thoughts of Alphonse burrowed into his thoughts, disrupting any progress he had made.
Edward slammed his current book shut. He leaned back until the chair was balanced on two legs and rubbed his eyes. If nothing else than to find some peace of mind, he made a mental note to ask Hermione when the next break was. Hopefully, the answer would be soon. For his sanity, however, the pile of books were replaced, and Edward retreated to the school grounds. He ran a few laps around the grounds to clear his head.
The wind helped; although, Edward could feel his metal limbs already aching from the rainy weather. That was one thing he hated about this country. It did not matter that it had not rained recently or was going to rain in a few minutes; his limbs constantly had that ache. He couldn't wait until he could go back home and bask in the heat an Amestrian summer. Such fantasies, unfortunately, only brought his thoughts back to his brother.
In a last ditch effort to clear his mind, Ed took a running jump at the side of the castle and started to climb up the wall. Using Alchemy, he did have to form handholds in places where the weather had worn the wall and he was not quite tall enough to reach the next lump in the castle's outer surface. Once he was able to climb inside a widow, Edward headed back to his dorm to write a letter to Alphonse.
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