Full Metal Alchemist

Always Brothers

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, Funimation do

Author's note :This chapter is a lot longer than the last, simply because of all the action and stuff, it's hard to describe in writing exactly what you can see in your head. Once again this is an AU fic just in case those people who are incredibly picky about these thing decide to flame me for it and once again no major spoilers for the series, this chapter is mostly action anyway.

The stifling heat and dry air were finally getting to Edward as he trudged from the last train station in Liore to Ishvar. The golden haired alchemist refused, however, to take off his characteristic red jacket, just because he felt a little hot under the collar, and that was definitely in more ways than one. After discovering his younger brother, Alphonse, had become a 'Dog of the Military' Edward wanted to have a little discussion with him that would most likely involve a shouting match, maybe including some alchemy, he hadn't decided yet. His original plan had been to go straight to Central, storm the young man's office and have the yelling competition there. But upon discovering that most of the Central Branch division had gone to Ishvar to help resettle the Ishvarites back into their own land he had been forced to travel by train to the mostly rebuilt city of Liore and walk to Ishvar from there. So now, Edward found himself in a predicament that involved walking halfway across a desert yet again.

"Al is really going to pay for this." He muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a gloved hand. His golden bangs were sticking to his face, and every so often the sweat would run down a strand's length and drip onto his already soaking wet shirt. It had been three weeks since he'd arrived back in his own world once again and a week and a half of that was spent with Granny Pinako and Winry as they fixed up his new arm and had it fitted. Edward had forgotten just how painful re-attaching an automail limb could be, and he regretted it as soon as the new arm was locked into its socket. Ed shivered at the memory, his bright golden eyes looking slightly dazed, but they soon brightened up again as he flexed his right arm, thankful that it wasn't too heavy.

"Good old Granny and Winry, they've done a fantastic job." He smiled as he stopped to rest for a few moments, taking out a bottle of water from the inside pocket of his jacket. Whilst gulping down the refreshing liquid gratefully he took a look at his surroundings. There wasn't much to see; sand and sky were the only two real things he could make out. As he panned his vision, however, he could make out a column of smoke rising from behind a dune.

The scene around the new Ishvar settlement area was absolute chaos. Soldiers and officers ran to and from various tents with either paper or wounded, the battle scene itself was filled with shouts of orders and guns being fired by both sides. In one of the tents off to the left of all the noise General Mustang was briefing all the 'new' State Alchemists on their orders. Standing to his left was his best friend and aide, Colonel Riza Hawakeye and to his left, the bulky form of Major Armstrong was clearly visible, albeit without the characteristic bright, pink sparkles that seemed to follow him everywhere. The mood inside the tent was tense, as many of the State Alchemists questioned why they weren't allowed to use their talents as an offence. Alphonse was amongst them, staring straight ahead of him at nothing in particular. The young, dusky haired woman to his right elbowed him sharply as General Mustang began talking,

"You really should pay more attention, son." She hissed. Al just nodded,

"Y…yeah, gomen ne." he apologised. The young woman just shot him a friendly smile,

"It's alright, if its any consolation I'm new to this too. My name's Freya, I'm the Marina Alchemist." She stated, holding out her hand so that Al could shake it. The sandy haired young man took it gratefully,

"Alphonse Elric, the Metal Ore Alchemist." He replied with a genuine smile. Both Alchemists turned their attention to the now standing General Mustang, who cleared his throat quietly,

"Right then, since all of you are newly drafted State Alchemists, I have been given the delightful duty of giving you your orders concerning current situation." Everything went quiet as the people sitting in front of the dark haired, dark eyed General sat more to attention,

"I must warn each and every one of you that your alchemy will be viewed harshly by the Ishvar dissidents and they will not hesitate to kill you on sight. Therefore I must order all of you to use your alchemy only as a last resort defence and not as an offence against them. Do I make myself clear?" he barked,

"SIR!" the alchemists shouted back. General Mustang was pleased that the young men and women in front of him had at least been paying attention to him, even if some of them would blatantly ignore those orders. He signalled for Major Armstrong to come to the front. The great bulky man did so with a sombre expression, his usually bright and rather oddly cheerful disposition had completely vanished, along with the sparkles. The memories of the last Ishvar massacre still haunted him, but he stood his ground here as he was not about to let a bunch of cowardly dissidents destroy all that he had worked so hard to achieve.

"All those to the right from the centre shall accompany Major Armstrong to the battlefield to rescue the Ishvar people that have been caught in the cross fire, the rest of you report to the medical tents." General Mustang ordered. The Alchemists stood and saluted their superior officer before setting out to do as they were told. Freya smiled at Al warmly,

"I'll see you later then Alphonse." She stated as she marched off in the direction of the Medical tents. Al nodded as he followed the Major towards the battlefield, a shout from Colonel Hawkeye, however, made him look back,

"First lieutenant Elric, I am ordering you not to let yourself get killed out there. General Mustang asked me to relay those orders to you." She stated sharply. Al saluted her at once,

"Of course Colonel and can you tell the General 'Don't worry, like Major Armstrong is going to let that happen in the first place' and I quote. 'I would sooner lose the alchemical abilities that have been handed down throughout the generations of the Armstrong family, than let the youngest Elric brother get killed.' End quote." He said, a smirk playing across his features as he dropped his hand. Hawkeye grinned as she shuffled the papers she was carrying in her arms,

"Of course First Lieutenant." She stated as she turned smartly on her heel and marched back to the strategic ops tent. Al did the same as he continued following The Major and the rest of his team.

Edward Elric, the golden haired, angel son of Honenheim of Light and Trisha Elric stood in shock at the scene playing out before him. He had never thought something like this would disturb him so much as he had seem much worse in his quest for the philosophers stone. Maybe it was because he had never witnessed a battlefield first hand, or maybe it was the thought that his younger brother, Alphonse, was involved in it. Whatever the reason, the Fullmetal alchemist could only stare in horror at all the dead and dying from both sides lining the borders of the earthen version of Hell. Ed looked around frantically for his younger brother; even a glimpse of him would be enough to placate the rising anger, confusion and frustration bubbling up inside him.

"ARU!" he called out desperately, not caring if he was caught in the cross fire or not, all that mattered to Ed at that moment was that he find his brother safe and well alive somewhere in this hellhole. He only looked at the people surrounding him when a young Ishvarite male knocked him over. The young man whirled round suddenly at the contact, his crimson eyes wary, his rifle locked and ready to fire if the person he had bumped into was hostile. Upon seeing Ed, he snorted with disbelief,

"So they've got their children involved in their military now?" he shook his head, his dark brown hair shadowing his eyes, "It's a real shame, but if killing a shrimp like this is the only way they'll take notice…." He never had time to raise his rifle before a clap was heard and a very sharp object came very close to his neck, Edward was on the other end of it, eyes blazing with anger,

"Watch who you're calling a tiny grain of sand that isn't even detectable by an electron microscope." He growled dangerously, not all that eager to draw attention to himself when his main aim was finding Alphonse. The Ishvarite man backed off quickly, clearly frightened by the sudden appearance of the Halberd by alchemy.

"You're…you're a state alchemist aren't you?" he stuttered, raising his rifle to fire straight at Edward. Edward didn't have time to argue his case before the young man in front of him fired. Ed suddenly ducked down to the ground as the bullets went whizzing over the top of his head, his red jacket billowing as he did so. He suddenly jumped to his feet and began running towards the young man, hoping to get past him and find at least some recognisable member of the Armestris Military. He didn't have much luck; however, as he kept on running into more Ishvarites with guns than was comfortable. After running into the 20th group he finally gave up, clapped his hands together, creating the odd sound of flesh against metal, and placed them on the ground. As soon as Edward had placed his hands on the ground a stone barrier sprang up between the Ishvarite dissidents and him. The damage, however, had already been done. Though he had not been aware of it, his actions had placed all members of the Armestris military under an even greater threat, his younger brother included.