Flame and Fullmetal
Chapter 29 – Little Country Town

A month later, he and Riza were on their way to Xing.

Roy wasn't quite sure as to what had suddenly made his boss push for the extended mission, but he didn't mind. Fullmetal, on the other hand, had a permanent scowl on his face as he outlined the details. There would be no sneaking, after all, except hiding their military occupation from the general populace. Their role, rather, was to answer the questions of the royal families of Xing on Amestrian alchemy, and in return gain information about their Xingenese version. They were delegates, in that sense. Delegates in a country whose royal family was vast and complicated and whose head was approaching the end of his old life.

Which, Fullmetal explained, meant all the families under the royal banner would soon begin warring for their right to take the throne. 'So be careful,' he snapped, though they'd both seen enough temper tantrums from him to know his anger wasn't directed at them, 'and please avoid starting another war.'

Not that they'd started any wars so far, but he knew what Fullmetal meant. They'd heard the rumour of an Amestrian soldier killing an Ishbalan child which triggered the Ishbalan Civil War. Of course, they didn't know how much truth was in that rumour but caution to avoid an incident like that couldn't hurt.

Though he had the feeling he'd meant something else. Unfortunately, it only occurred to him on the train out East.

'What is it?' Riza asked.

'Trying to work out our orders,' Roy sighed. The stuff on paper was simple enough, though long and tedious. Border papers for both Amestris and Xing, travel itinerates, their schedule once they arrive and letters of introduction on top of the usual mission briefing. And then there were his own notes on the parts of alchemy he wasn't as intimately familiar with and couldn't just pull out of his brain at a moment's notice.

'The orders themselves are plain enough.' But Riza was frowning. So she'd noticed it too. How long before him, he wondered. 'But Edward's instructions sounded like…' Then she shrugged. 'I can't quite place it.'

'…me neither.' Though he thought he should. Unless there was still some part of the story they were missing. Some part they'd either forgotten or just hadn't been told.

But try as they might, they couldn't work out the secret order thrown in. Why couldn't Fullmetal simply have told them directly what it was?

.

For some reason or other, after New Optain, they were stopping in Resembool. Roy was sure it wasn't necessary, because he'd been to Youswell before – his first assignment, he reminded Riza, and he hadn't needed the extra day, train or stop to get there. Except it had worked out that they'd missed the direct service and would have to wait another two days.

Trains to New Optain ran from Eastern Command every day and they weren't exactly in a rush, so why hadn't they simply waited another two days?

'Perhaps Edward wants us to do something in Resembool,' Riza suggested. 'This is where he's from, right?'

'Right,' Roy confirmed, though he frowned. Fullmetal did have a habit of sending them on scavenger hunts at times, but in his own hometown? There were bound to be secrets he didn't want them knowing about as well.

Then again, he was an alchemist and had an insatiable urge to know everything. And if it was going to make the cryptic (and occasionally frustrating) Fullmetal make a little more sense, he'd happily dig around a little in the afternoon they had.

But first, they had to get there. Which apparently meant hauling their luggage up a long dirt path to the main road, and then bouncing along at the back of a farm cart with a chatty farmer.

'So where are you two heading to?' he asked.

'Just stopping over for the night,' Roy replied. 'Does the town have an inn?'

'Resembool?' the man chuckled. 'Nah. Only place that takes guests is the Rockbells because that's the only reason people stop over in this backwater town.' He glanced behind at his two companions. 'Though you two look like you have all your limbs still attached.'

'The famous Automail mechanic?' Roy asked.

'Yup,' said the farmer, 'that's the one. They may put up with people who aren't patients or related for the night as well. Unless that Elric boy's brought a few friends back again. Though we'd have noticed if he had.'

'Edward Elric?' Riza asked. Roy was trying to consolidate "Elric boy" with his commanding officer. He wished the other boy would hurry up and turn eighteen already so that whole child thing could be sorted out…and then thought of what a sad thought that was, because he'd skipped part of his childhood and the entirety of his adolescent years. He wouldn't legally even start at the Military academy until the following year, and yet he was a Lieutenant Colonel already.

'Yup,' said the farmer again. 'Guess you've met him, then? Lad's becoming pretty infamous. Hope he hasn't started sending tourists over here though. This sleepy old town can't handle too much excitement, you know.'

'He's…' Did the village know he was with the military? 'An acquaintance,' Roy settled on. That sounded ambiguous enough. 'And I don't think so. There just seems to be a mistake with our itinerary. We were actually heading to Xing.'

'Ah,' said the farmer. 'Need to go to Youswell for that, don't ya.'

'Yes.' Roy nodded, though only Riza could see because the farmer was fixated on the road again. 'We're taking a train there tomorrow.'

The man chuckled. 'Those trains are a pain in the butt – literally. Too bad, because the ones from New Optain are hale bays better. Or lack of hale bays, rather.'

Both Roy and Riza grimaced at that. Hale bays, then dust and the desert. They'd be stuffed scarecrows by the time they got to Xing.

.

The Rockbells turned out to live in the biggest building in town. They also doubled as the doctors, apparently, since the nearest hospital was New Optain's and the Rockbells had to have medical experience to deal with all the complications of automail surgery. And the nearest school was the next village over, with all the little kids walking up the hill to the farm cart that'd take them there and back each day.

Very different to life in Central where there were multiple schools and clinics within walking distance. Though they'd both had their share of missions in country towns, together or separate, to not be as thrown off as they'd been on their first town mission.

Actually, Youswell hadn't been that bad, considering he'd been dealing almost entirely with the mine.

In any case, the farmer dropped them and their luggage off, gaped at the generous tip and tried to hand most of it back (which, of course, they didn't accept – but seriously, he expected to be paid peanuts for a lift they really couldn't have done without?) and were now standing on the hill that housed the Rockbell house. And the sky was turning pink.

'Nice view from here,' Riza commented, though her eyes were sharped as she scanned the quaint little town. The only thing that really stood out was the ruins of a building on the next hill over. But she knew what they were. They both knew, even if Roy had been the one to tell it all.

'That's your job,' Fullmetal had said, when Roy wondered why he wouldn't tell her directly. 'The two of you are partners.'

Which didn't mean Fullmetal couldn't tell Riza those things directly, but it made a sort of sense for him to do it, he supposed. At least it meant he wasn't supposed to keep his little history lesion a secret, and he was relieved for that.

Though Fullmetal seemed to be on edge even then, before quickly sending the pair of them on a mission out west. And by the time they came back, the mission to Xing had been finalised.

'What are you two standing out here for?'

They didn't jump, though if they hadn't been military, they might have. As it was, they simply turned and smiled politely at the old woman staring at them. 'Are you Pinako Rockbell?' Roy asked.

'That's right.' The woman stared at the both of them. 'You two must be that boy's.' She shook her head. 'Wish he'd come down himself more often, but –' She shook her head again. 'Come in, then.'

Roy and Riza exchanged looks. They'd been expected?

Turned out Fullmetal had called ahead (surprisingly, muttered Pinako as she yelled for a "Winry" who showed up ten minutes later, covered in grease) and warned her of their arrival. Which heightened the idea that they had some purpose in the town – though, unfortunately, neither Roy nor Riza knew what it was at that point.