Well, it's Saturday, and I'm about to get showered and clean-like for friendly gathering soon for my and my friend's birthday tonight! I wanted to go ahead and post this and chapter 10 before I left, and (since I'm feeling nice wink wink) will most likely post 11 tomorrow morning or afternoon. I went out last night to a local club and had lots of fun, so hopefully tonight will be a repeat! And thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! Thank you for making me feel old! (Just kidding)
Either way, I'm happy to be getting more reviews, so here's the next two installments!
Note: I want to apologize beforehand for this short chapter, but I couldn't really find another place to cut it at. Please don't hate me!
Chapter Nine
"I thought we were never going to get here!" exclaimed Winry as she stepped off the train, dragging her bag behind her. The trip had taken all afternoon, and Winry could still see some of the setting sun in the distance. She stretched her sore limbs as she waited for the two brothers to exit the train, while looking around at her surroundings. Even for being a newer city, New Heissgart seemed pretty run-down. Homeless citizens huddled together in alleyways to keep warm during the cold nights, and small kiosks littered the train station; the owners sold their wares to any interested tourists. Edward and Alphonse exited the train to see Winry gazing around her, and Edward could see she was already checking out the city. Walking up, he placed a hand on her shoulder to bring her out of her concentration. She turned and smiled at her friend, "Let's get going!" She began to walk off without Ed and Al, "It shouldn't be long before we find an inn."
"How do you get used to all that traveling?" Winry asked as the two brothers caught up with her, "I thought I would go crazy if I was on there another hour." She turned around to face her friends, walking backwards. Edward shrugged at her question and glanced towards the ground, "It's never really bothered me before. I just kind of zone out after awhile."
"Well that explains why you weren't talking most of the time. And to think I thought I did something wrong agai-" Winry was cut off as she walked straight into a local citizen, knocking both him and his pile of bags over. Scrambling to her feet, she apologized as she helped the man up, "Oh no! I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have been walking like that if I not familiar with where I am!" The man, receiving help from Winry, stood up and brushed himself off. Edward and Alphonse reached down to pick up his bags, while Winry rushed to fix the man's carvings that broke when they spilled out of the bags. She quickly repaired the items using her alchemy and placed them back in the man's bag before handing it to him. "Here you go, mister. They're as good as new!"
The man stood there astonished after watching the girl's work. He quickly shook his head and glared at the girl and sneered, "Why are you here, you alchemist? What has this city done to deserve your brutality?"
"But sir, I'm not one of those outlaws. I'm here to help." Seeing the man's distrust still, Winry reached into one of the pockets on her dress and pulled out her pocket watch. "I'm a state alchemist. I'm going to rid your city of those out-"
The man closed the distance between himself and Winry, "So you sold your soul to be a dog of the military, and you expect people to thank you for that?" His face was inches from hers as he continued yelling, "Missy, I don't care who you are, but you might want to leave town. An alchemist is an alchemist, whether a dog or not…"
The man had raised his hand to strike the girl during his last statement, but was stopped as Edward stepped up and grabbed his wrist inches before it would have hit her face. He had quickly pulled Winry back by the wrist and placed himself between the two before the blow fell. The man jerked his wrist out of the boy's grasp and glared at the teen, while Edward glared back at him. Silence surrounded the area as the two males continued to stare at each other. Winry stood directly behind her friend, not moving from the place he put her. She fought with her emotions, and felt the tears welling up behind her eyes, but forced herself to not let them fall. The girl couldn't understand the hatred some people showed for the help they receive.
Alphonse looked from where he stood at the scene before him. Edward had been standing next to him while Winry was handing the bags back to the man. Al could see the anger in his brother's face from the treatment his friend was receiving. Just as the man was raising his hand, and before he could do anything to stop it, he felt Edward leap from his side and quickly place himself between the two. That man had just tried to hit Winry! Al had begun to walk forward to comfort the girl as the two men continued to stare at each other, but stopped as the man suddenly backed up. He still glared at the trio, and spit on the ground near Ed's feet.
"You three had better leave town soon, before the others know you're here. But then, I don't care if you get killed or not. It's just less alchemists to put up with in this world," he sneered as he walked off down the road. Edward continued to watch the man walk down the road, making sure he wasn't coming back for more, but finally turned around when he heard Winry moving behind him. She had walked over to where her bag sat on the ground, and picked it up. Looking around at her surroundings, she quickly wiped her eyes before turning back to the brothers.
"Well, shall we?" she said sadly, and motioned to the inn that was less than two blocks away. "I told you we didn't have to look very far," she tried to joke as she turned around and walked towards the building.
The trio checked into two rooms without any more incidents. The owner informed them that, even though it was beginning to get late, they would still be serving dinner for another hour or so. The teens nodded in agreement and went upstairs to unpack their belongings. Winry changed out of her dress into the more comfortable jeans, tank top, and coat she had become accustomed to, and went next door to the brothers' room to see if Ed was hungry. She was starving as the trio got off the train earlier that evening, but the confrontation with the local man took away her entire appetite. Since she hadn't eaten all day, Winry knew she was going to have to force something down to keep her strength up.
Edward opened his door just as Winry was about to knock on it, surprising the both of them. She could see inside that the boys had already spread out some of the borrowed books from the library. "Oh, I didn't know you two were busy already…I was just wondering if you were hungry, but I'll leave you two to study then," she said as she turned around to leave.
"That's funny," Ed said as he smiled and scratched the back of his head, "I was just coming to your room to see if you wanted to grab some dinner downstairs. Al told me to go on ahead since he didn't need to eat." Winry nodded as Edward exited his room and shut the door, "Good timing, though, huh," he joked, eliciting a small smile from his longtime friend. He knew she was still upset from earlier, but didn't know what he could do to make her feel better.
The two teens walked downstairs and found an empty table in the corner of the small dining room. Winry was quiet most of the time, barely even registering the waiter when he came by to take their order. Ed watched as she glanced at all the patrons from the corner of her eye.
After eating their meals, the teens sat in silence, watching the rest of the room. This area of the inn turned into a bar during the night hours. Most people were sitting with friends, drinking alcohol and laughing at badly told jokes.
"Edward?" Her voice brought him out of his trance, and he turned to face the girl. "Why do people hate us so much?"
He sighed as he contemplated his answer, "Not all people hate us. There are just some who dislike us for who we are: lapdogs of the military. We are the weapons they send out first in a conflict because of the damage we can do. Not all alchemists are good people, so some people don't like us because of bad experiences they have had with those alchemists. Others just don't like us because we are different from them."
Edward looked up to see his friend in silent contemplation, "We aren't here to make friends. We're here to do what we're told, and we can't please everyone…"
Winry looked up from her thoughts, and softly smiled, "Thanks. That helped a lot."
He grinned back, "Anytime."
Edward watched as Winry became more comfortable and lively instead of quiet and sullen like she was just a few moments ago. She sat up straight and straightened the gloves on her hands, then stretched her legs again. "I still can't believe how long that train ride took. And to think, the trip to Central from Rizenbul took even longer, but I had my automail pieces to tinker with to pass the time. I'm just gonna have to get used to all that traveling, since I may have to do it more often now."
Ed leaned back and rubbed the back of his neck, "It's not that bad. I find it gives me a lot of time to think about stuff like the stone, and how to get our bodies back."
"Oh, so that's why you were looking so pissed off and not talking to me half the time," she laughed when he scowled at her comment. "Well," Winry said while looking around the inn, "this town doesn't look terribly big, even from what I saw at the station, so why would there be so many alchemists wanting to gather here?"
Winry saw a few people shift their gaze from the corner of her eye. She took her palm and hit her forehead with it, realizing her idiot comment. "Nevemind, I'm not interested in that subject anyway," she sighed looking up to see the silent agreement on Edward's face.
I probably just let everyone in here know what we're supposed to be doing. Way to go, Winry, she thought, chastising herself. Standing up, she placed enough money to cover her meal and tip, and waited for Ed to do the same before walking upstairs. From the corner of her eye, she could see some people watch the two teens descend the stairs. I hope I just didn't do something stupid, she hoped in her mind.