I just realized something…this chapter here will be the fourth one I've uploaded today, and the seventh one I've uploaded this weekend (including Friday's chapter). I guess I'm just trying to make up for the issues from the last chapter.

Either way, please enjoy and review!

Chapter Twenty-One

A week and a half had passed since Edward and Alphonse left Central to go find their sensei in Dublith. Both brothers knew that they were actually going nowhere near Dublith, and were definitely not going to look for their alchemy teacher. Edward got wind of a large Ishballan settlement to the north, and wanted to see if anyone there knew the process of making the Philosopher's Stone without using human sacrifices. There had been rumors that it had been done, and he was going to find out. The brothers wandered around the various towns looking for information on either the settlement in the north or on the stone, when they heard of a few criminals in nearby Rush Valley who were exceptionally strong and always beat anyone at arm wrestling matches.

"What do you think, brother?" Alphonse questioned Edward one day after overhearing the conversation about the criminals.

"Well, it may be that they are just using alchemy, or hell they may just be really strong," Edward said, contemplating their next move, "But I guess it's worth a shot. We might be able to find something about the stone or the northern settlement while we're there."

The train took less than half a day to get to Rush Valley, and when the brothers stepped off the steps they were awed at the magnitude of the city. Tall buildings filled the middle of the city, with shining automail limbs hanging and sitting on every windowsill. Merchants called out to Edward, trying to entice him into buying a newer updated version of the automail he wore. He smiled, but declined the offers, knowing full and well that Winry would kill him if he traded his limbs in for newer ones; which he would never do in the first place anyway. Edward and Alphonse stood by the train entrance and were admiring the city, when Edward felt a body push into his, nearly toppling him over.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" He yelled loudly as he caught his balance, causing people to turn their heads in his direction. The girl who had run into him moved quickly and began to walk off, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, you! Where do you think you're going! How about an apology?" he yelled over the crowd to her. He saw her raise her hand and waved an apology, though she kept walking without turning around.

"What the hell? I can't believe she would just walk off! C'mon Al, let's go tell her-"

Alphonse placed his hand on Edward's shoulder to prevent him from running off, "Let it go brother. We were standing in the middle of the train's exit…"

"Yeah, but she could have at least said excuse me or pardon me, or even hey you, move!, but not just walk off like she did."

"Well, she's gone now, brother, so let's just go and find a place to stay, okay?"

Edward growled to himself, and stomped off to find a nearby inn. He was beginning to dislike this place.

Edward and Alphonse started early the next morning in search of any information regarding the settlement or the Philosopher's Stone. Most of the time they wandered around town, looking at the many limbs for sale, and keeping an ear out for any information that may be valuable to them. They came to a gathering of people around two men and a table during the mid-morning hours, and stopped to see what the commotion was. The two men were challenging any and every person to an automail arm-wrestling match; the winner taking home the cash prize.

The two brothers watched the men challenge, and would see people putting down money left and right to challenge them, but the men just kept winning every match. After one spectacular defeat, Al leaned in and whispered to his brother, "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"
"Yep. It's definitely alchemy they're using; though nothing like with what you would see with even a fake philosopher's stone," Ed spoke quietly. He turned to his younger brother and began to walk away, "C'mon Al, let's go—"

"Sir! Yes, you in the suit of armor! You look pretty strong, so how about a match?

"Me?" squeaked the younger brother, "No, that's okay. I'll pass."

"Suit yourself, who's next…" the smaller of the two men said, looking around for his next contestant, "How about—nah, never mind, it'd be bad to make this bean boy challenge the champion!"

"DON"T CALL ME A BEAN!" Edward yelled loudly, charging at the man, only to be held back by his brother.

"You're pretty energetic for a bean!"

Edward broke loose from Al's grip and faced the large man sitting at the table. If looks could kill, this man would have been cut into a thousand pieces.

"Then, let's begin," the smaller man announced. Ed gripped the larger man's arm in his and glared at him.

"Ready…Fight!"

Not a moment after the arm-wrestling match began Edward growled and ripped the arm from his opponent. The crowd gasped at the power this young man just used. The crowd was silent for a moment before Ed spoke.

"Sorry, but it looks like the recycling center will have a busy day today," he smirked as he threw the arm behind him into the pile of broken tables from the prior matches. The crowd broke out into cheers, then dispersed after a few minutes. The prize had been won; there was nothing else left to stick around for.

The day passed by fairly quickly after the wrestling match. People from the streets would come up and congratulate Edward for finally beating the two men, who could never be beaten before today.

"Brother, maybe we are asking the wrong questions about the philosopher's stone…that's why we haven't gotten anywhere today," Alphonse commented to his brother later that afternoon. Edward stretched out on the bench they sat on and nodded his head, "Yeah, maybe you're right. Hmmm…"

"I think I've got one, brother!" Al said, jumping up a few moments later. "C'mon!"

The brothers made their way into the marketplace, away from the automail stores. Alphonse walked up to an elderly female at one of the booths and got her attention. "Ma'am? Excuse me?"

"Yes? Oh, look how big you are! And you," she said, pointing a finger at Edward, "You're the one everyone has been talking about today. You went and beat those two hooligans who kept taking everyone's hard-earned money with their tricks! Good for you, dear…"

"Uh…yeah…Thanks…Anyway, ma'am, I was wondering if you knew anyone around this area who knows alchemy really well, or is known for using powerful alchemy…" He saw Edward tilt his head, trying to figure out where Al was going with this.

"Why yes dear! But that's very funny, because someone just came here not a moment before you walked up asking the very same question!"

Edward's head shot up, now definitely interested in the conversation, "Who, do you know who they were?"

"Why yes, dear. She's right over there. The one with the short red hair…"

Ed looked over to where the old woman pointed and frowned, "Al, it's that wench who pushed me off the train the other da-"

"Now you don't just go around calling nice, young ladies 'wenches' my lad! Who taught you your manners?" the old woman frowned at his comment.

"Sorry, we'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Edward said as he walked off, not waiting for the woman's response. Al was surprised at his brother's reaction and quickly apologized to the woman, then caught up with his brother.

"Ed, what has gotten into you? What are you thinking?" Al scolded.

"Think about it, Al. That girl wants to know what we want to know. We just need to find out how much she knows…"

The brothers followed the girl for a few minutes, walking a short distance behind her, but not making it noticeable that they were following her. The girl was medium height and slim, and looked to be maybe late teens, or possibly in her early twenties. She had reddish hair, which was very short and spiky. She dressed in a simple black tank top that was tucked into her camouflage pants that had quite a few pockets. Edward and Alphonse could see a holster that went over her shoulders and held two large handguns against the sides of her back. She also had two smaller pistols; each one strapped next to large knives on the outside of both legs. The girl had an automail for her left arm, which in Rush Valley wasn't too uncommon, but even hers stood out to most people. It was a very simple design, but looked extremely durable and strong.

"Brother, she seems to be armed pretty heavily," commented Al as they both continued to follow her. The crowds lessened slightly as the trio moved further away from the marketplace, and Edward wondered where the girl was heading. He saw her glance over her shoulder, though couldn't make out her face due to the sunglasses she wore. She quickly turned her head back, and he knew she realized they were following her. His thought was confirmed when the girl suddenly leapt from the smaller crowd and began running full speed down an alley.

"Al! Let's go!" Edward yelled as he began to run towards the alley the girl went into. When he got to the entrance to the alley, he looked around, but was not able to find her; it was as if she had disappeared. He slowly began to walk down the alley, looking in places that she could have hid. Movement from above caught his eye, and he saw her on the rooftop running away from them.

"Al, try to see if you can stay ahead of her! I'll chase her from behind!" Edward yelled as he jumped onto the fire escape she used to get up so high. Alphonse ran down the alley to try and cut the girl off in case she came down.

Edward leapt up the last few rails and climbed onto the roof. He quickly glanced around and spotted the girl running in front of him. He took off, being careful when he jumped between the close buildings. Pinako would be furious if he broke his arm or leg in such a stupid way.

"Hey! You! Wait up a second!" he yelled to the girl as he gained on her. He could see her turn her head and watch him as well as Al from below. She would often change directions in the hope that the armor would get stuck in a dead end. After switching directions slightly the girl finally stopped at the edge of the rooftop and pulled both of her bigger guns out, pointing them straight at Edward. He stopped short of her when he saw the guns, and put his hands in the air slightly.

"We just want to ask you a few questions…We're not here to hurt you or anything…" The girl lowered her guns slightly, her short hair waving violently from the wind and the running He could not identify her still because of those sunglasses she still wore, though the shine from her necklace was slightly blinding him. It held a pendant of some sort, though he could not see it since it was underneath her top.

"Please, just talk to us…" he panted. The girl slowly put her guns away, though she stayed on the edge of the building. Edward reached a hand towards her to help her down, only to be shocked when she jumped backwards towards the ground.

"Wait, no!" Edward yelled. She would hurt herself if she landed from the height they were at. He got to the edge of the rooftop in time to see her grab onto a pipe that extended between the two buildings and swing around it. After a few swings, she let go and landed gracefully, and began to run again without pausing.

What is she, part cat? Edward thought to himself as he clapped his hands and slammed them to the rooftop surface. Stairs formed and jutted out from the building he was on, and he wasted no time in running down them. He continued to yell at her to stop, but she ignored him and kept running away.

Edward had finally had enough running and slammed his hands to the ground. An eight-foot wall appeared in front of the girl, and instead of stopping her, Edward was amazed that she easily jumped and caught the top of the wall, and then pulled herself over. How the hell does she do that? He yelled in his mind as he came across his own wall. He quickly slammed his hands against the surface, causing it to crumble away. She wasn't in front of him anymore, but Edward noticed an intersection between the buildings ahead. She must have gone down one of the other paths.

Edward made it to the intersection, and looked around to see that each of the other paths had their own intersections as well. "Damn city! Why do you have to be so freaking big?" He yelled out. Looking down, he was able to pick up her boot prints and began to follow them.

Alphonse quickly lost the chase when the teenage girl began changing directions slightly. He would have to go to the next intersection and listen to his brother yelling, and then go in the direction he believed them to be in. He continued to run along until he came to an intersection he believed to be close to the two teenagers. Sure enough, a moment later a running figure crashed into him, and they both toppled to the ground. Al got up quickly to see the girl scrambling to get up, and then look frantically around for the sunglasses that flew off when she collided with the armor. Looking down, Al noticed the glasses were by his feet, so he picked them up and cleared his throat. He could see the girl's body stiffen, and slowly turn around, keeping her head down. She tried to quickly run past him, forgetting about her glasses, but was stopped when he grabbed her by the wrists.

"Hey, we're not here to hurt you, we just want to ask some questions…" The girl became frantic and tried to escape, but Al would not release his grip from her. "What's wrong? Why are you fighting so much?"

"Please, just let me go, Al," whimpered a familiar voice. Surprised, Al looked down to see Winry's face staring back at him. She looked quite panicked and worried; turning her head every time she heard a slight noise.

"Winry?" questioned Al, causing the girl to nod her head, "What are you doing here--"

"Al! Good going! We got her!" came Edward's voice in the distance. Winry snapped her head up, and she looked pleadingly up at Al.

"Please, Al…"

Al knew her reasons for not wanting to see his brother, and nodded. He let all pressure off of her wrists, but made it look like he still had them in his hands. Without waiting another moment, Winry wrenched her wrists away from Al, grabbed the sunglasses, and put them on quickly. Edward, realizing the girl broke loose from his brother, picked up his speed, gaining ground and coming closer to the two. In a split second, Winry had both guns out and kneeled slightly, taking aim at Edward.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Al yelled, about ready to lunge and grab the guns.

"Trust me, Al, I know what I'm doing," Winry muttered quickly as she glanced around, looking for a target. She shot one round off and hit a clothesline at just the right moment, tangling Edward up as he ran towards the two. Caught up in the clothes and sheets, Ed quickly got wrapped and fell forward. The two could hear him audibly cursing, trying to break free. Winry quickly holstered both guns, and looked to Al.

"Thank you," she whispered before taking off down one of the other alleyways. Al turned and watched her go, and then disappear around a corner. Moments later, Edward came running up, finally disentangling himself from his bonds, "Why'd you let her go?" he demanded.

"I didn't, brother. She was just pretty strong for a girl." He saw his brother begin to run again and called out to him, "Brother, why are you still going to chase her?"

Edward panted as he walked back to his younger brother, "Al, she probably knows something we don't. We gotta catch her!"

"But think about it brother," Al commented, trying to give Winry plenty of time to escape, "She didn't use any alchemy on us. Why would she know something we don't when she can't even use alchemy?"

Edward stood for a moment to catch his breath and think, "Okay, fine. We'll let her go for today, but I'm going to keep an eye out for her," he finally grumbled. "I just think she knows a hell of a lot, and I want to know what it is."

"Yeah, brother," the younger brother said as he saw the sun disappear behind one of the tall buildings. He knew his friend was far enough away, "She knows a lot…"