A/N I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter Six

They had left the forest behind an hour past the bridge. The three trudged along through a grassland next to the tracks. Al was a bit fed up with the others antics and was now leading the group. He was doing his best to ignore them. Ed and Chen, while quiet at the moment, were both pouting.

After eating the berries and mushrooms Al had gathered during their argument they had settled down. They were both feeling hungry again now though, as that was three hours ago. This was not improving their moods. Al had demanded after their last argument, one involving the logic of wearing a dress while traveling through the forest, that they remain quiet. To make matters worse they had yet to spot a good place to stop for the night.

"So. Does anybody actually live in this country?" Chen finally said in an irritated tone.

"Millions of people live here." Ed replied equally irritated.

"Then where are they?" Chen said. "We haven't seen anybody since the train. Why isn't anybody looking for us?"

"They probably are. It's a big country." Ed shrugged.

"It's not that big."

"I'm sure Colonel Mustang is looking for us, but they won't know exactly where we were forcibly deboarded so it could take a few days to track our movements." Al interrupted, certain that Chen had been about to take the conversation to BAD PLACES. Places involving the word small. He hoped to avoid yet another fight.

"Should we be moving then? What if we miss them because we're walking away from them?" Chen asked.

" Nah. We can't just stop here. It's no good for waiting for rescue there aren't enough resources. It would probably take longer than just walking anyway." Ed said. In all honesty, he hadn't considered anyone coming in search of them when he'd started leading the others along the tracks. He hadn't considered the possibility at all until Chen asked.

"We could go back to that river and wait there." Chen suggested.

"… We are committed to this direction." Ed said.

….

Three Days West of East City

(On foot)

Late morning

Colonel Roy Mustang and his team had located the camp the children had made the night before, though they had clearly left hours ago. Roy was certain the camp belonged to the boys, confirming his theory they were headed east. "Alright men, clearly the theory Fullmetal is leading the others back to East City is correct. They have about a seven hour lead on us if they broke camp shortly after dawn. Assuming they will make camp again tonight we should be able to catch up with them tomorrow if we travel through the night."

With no objections, not that Mustang would have accepted objections at this point, they returned to the tracks and continued on their way. They had ridden the train as far as Hamlet as planned, then briefly searched the town in hopes of finding the children before they began the track back toward the city. Falman had reported his belief that he had spotted a flash of light that possibly came off of Alphonse's helmet near a river not far from here. That combined with the campsite motivated Mustang's belief that they weren't that far behind the children.

He wanted to find them before they reached East City or got themselves into trouble. He just hoped they were all in good condition when they found them. It was entirely possible that Edward at least would just keep walking no matter his injuries. The boy was sometimes to stubborn for his own good. Part of Mustang was annoyed they hadn't just stayed at this campsite and awaited rescue. Perhaps they had stayed near that river Falman had noticed. Hopefully the boys had simply wanted a water source to wait near.

The other problem that he knew they were going to encounter would be getting them home once they were found. Unless there was a town or at least a road nearby, they would have to simply continue walking with the children until they either ran into a smaller community or the city. Another reason, among many concerns for their health, that Mustang hoped they were still near the river. They could then double back to Hamlet and get back on the train, provided the princess was willing to trust their trains after all of this.

All in all this rescue mission felt like a failure before they could manage to find the children, and he was certain it would get worse before it got better. At least he shouldn't be swamped with paperwork as soon as they got back. Aside from whatever this little adventure drummed up. Mustang forcibly pushed aside all thoughts of paperwork and returned his attention to their search there would be time enough to dread paperwork later.

"We will find them, sir." Hawkeye said as she fell into step beside him.

"I know. Those are the most resourceful children I have ever met. Don't tell them I said that."

"I won't sir." Hawkeye nodded. "You should give the men a short break. You haven't slept since your nap yesterday."

"…I didn't take a nap yesterday." Mustang said after a moment.

"Of course, you did. You nap every day just after the weekly personal reports arrive, before you sign off on the weekly budget." Hawkeye said. "We are all well aware of your napping habits."

"I don't nap."

"Of course, sir."

Mustang frowned but said nothing more as he considered allowing a short break when they reached the river. As it was, they were far enough behind that it would be near dusk when they arrived.

….

They had arrived at another river, with a fairly decent sized grove of trees. Though Ed had originally intended to have them walk at least another hour he was concerned they wouldn't find a better shelter for the night. Plains sat behind them and in front of them. He wasn't certain when they would come across another river.

Ed and Al set about making camp, Al started a fire while Ed constructed another lean to by pulling stone directly from the ground with a clap of his hands. Al then went to set snares with a glare that told the others not to fight OR ELSE.

Ed rolled his eyes at his brother with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest. Al took that as an agreement to behave. Without a word, Ed walked over to the river to fill the waterskins and bucket he had created. Chen sat under a tree watching the boys as they worked. Ed returned from the river and dumped the water into a stone bowl to boil.

"Teach me." Chen said.

"What?"

"Teach me. Please."

"I already told you it would take to long."

"No, not alchemy, though I still want to learn that too. Teach me all this." Chen said as she waived her hand around camp. "I want to help."

Ed stared at her silently, trying to decide if she was serious and where to begin. With a sad sigh she stood. "Never mind then." Chen said quietly with a crestfallen expression.

"No wait!" Ed said quickly." I was just trying to decide the best place to start, you know? I'm going to show you please don't cry. I have no problem showing you how to camp, this is stuff you might need to know one day."

"Yeah, like if I were to somehow fall off a train in the middle of nowhere." Chen said with a completely innocent tone that raked Ed's nerves.

"Really? Okay never mind. C'mon let's start by how to gather wood." Ed grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the fire before she could say anything else.

By the time Al returned they had gathered enough wood to make it through the night, and had gathered a bowlful of wild berries and mushrooms. Al stared at the two of them, as they sat quietly side by side as Ed showed her how to tie a fishing line. Al wondered if he should just back away before his presence broke whatever treaty the two had managed to make. Ed spotted him however and waived him over.

"Hey Al! I'm about to show Chen how to catch some fish, wanna come?" Ed said happily.

Al nodded as he continued to wonder what had happened while he was gone. He then remembered how the pair had gotten along the night before, and filed this as further proof their fights were to pass the time.

Bridge location

Early Evening

Two and a half day west of East City (on foot)

They had reached the point were Falman believed he had glimpsed Alphonse roughly six hours after finding the campsite. They had been walking slowly in search of clues, or the children themselves. This was frustrating to Mustang. Though he had given the order, he couldn't help but feel the speed they were searching was allowing the children to get further and further ahead of them as they wasted time searching for clues.

The boys were clearly on the way East. Unless they found one of them collapsed or signs of a fight (both events he hoped they did NOT find) then it was unlikely to see anything of importance. Mustang had long ago learned to hide his frustration and concern behind a professional mask. One he knew Hawkeye could see through as easily as a window.

"Sir. The men need a break." Hawkeye said as Mustang looked over the river for signs the kids had been there. Mustang frowned as he looked over to his men. Havoc and Falman showed no sign of slowing down, but Breda was red faced and Fuery looked about to fall over.

"Very well. Rest. Get something to eat. You have half an hour." Mustang said. Hawkeye quickly and quietly insisted he sit and eat himself. Mustang scowled, but agreed to eat. He wanted to keep moving but didn't want to push his men to far. After all, all evidence they had found suggested Fullmetal and Chen Li were perfectly fine, aside from being stranded