Disclaimer: … Already stated in the last chapter…
A/N: Wow, I'm going to go through the first part of this chapter WITHOUT a Author's note!
Chapter Two: Metal
Two weeks and four days earlier…
Winry swiped at her forehead with the back of her gloved hand to wipe the sweat that began to bead above her brows. As she put the last of the tools away, she scratched the bridge of her nose, smudging black grease there. She felt the sudden feeling of the thick grease on her nose as if mud had been rubbed there and took her gloves off, placed them atop her tool bench and walked to the kitchen for a wet cloth.
Grandma Pinako had just finished assembling a auto-mail limb for a young man and had asked Winry to put everything away. They had worked well into the evening and to Winry's surprise, she didn't feel the desperate plea that was hunger. The sun was beginning to submerge itself behind the hills in the distance; where dark clouds could be seen gathering. Another storm…
Every time the sun said goodnight and a storm followed it's descent, it felt like the last night of the world; almost like the world would end as the storm started.
Winry wiped away the grease and sweat from her face with a wet cloth and opened the front door to lean against a support beam on the porch. She stared at the sun's colorful descent and longed for her own descent into sleep. She was exhausted…
The crickets weren't chirping like they usually did when the sun set, and the fireflies were also nonexistent as she looked around. Yes, it was going to rain. As if that was the signal, a lone rain drop fell, dispersed and pooled on the wood beneath her feet. Many more began to come down and Winry looked up as if expecting something else to fall to her feet but knew it wouldn't come.
Almost three years… She had thought about giving up her anxious waiting, but she couldn't out of habit. She had always waited for Him, for both of Them, and always would. But, with the rumor that Ed was dead…
She lifted a hand to her face, covering her eyes with the cloth that she still had clutched in her hand. The soft sound of rain was slightly calming, but her thoughts were not and she felt inclined to cry. But what good would it do; it wouldn't bring him back… Breaking that habit was harder than she wanted to admit. Reducing yourself to a fit of sobs didn't make the situation any better. She had shed so many tears over him in the past, she wondered if possibly her tears would drowned her and all of the world.
Winry swallowed hard, the corner of her mouth frowning as she held back a choking sob. She continued to shield her eyes with the cloth until she knew no tears would escape her burning eyes. The air around her was humid and she could almost taste the mist in the air she breathed. She took one last shaky breath through her frown before moving the rag down her face slowly, revealing her eyes. The cold air around her immediately attacked at her exposed skin where the warm cloth had protected. She gave a heavy sigh gave the landscape around her a quick glance before turning and going inside.
Lightening illuminated the sky and surrounding land that was Resembul. Winry sat on the couch, now dressed in clothes for bed, where she intended to follow after she had finished reading. Pinako had already retired for the night and Winry was left awake to read by herself, which she preferred. It was quiet and the only sounds were the rumblings and pitter-patter of rain outside.
She turned the page of a magazine; a auto-mail issue. She let a admiring smile tug at her lips at the fascinating creations before her. She longed to improve her auto-mail skills so as to have her own work displayed among others as well…
She jumped as several loud thuds and bangs, then the sound of glass shattering carried from outside to where she sat, clutching a wrinkled magazine in her shaky fists. She gave a nervous laugh and tossed the magazine on the couch beside her before sitting up. Den lifted his head avidly as she made her way to one of the windows. She wiped at the glass to relief it of the fog that had condensed there and looked through it, looking for anything that could have caused the disturbance.
Winry gave a grown as she spotted it; one of the gas lanterns she had left to hang on a hook on the porch had been blown off it's suspender and had fallen to the ground, resulting in it's own destruction. She grabbed a coat, opened the door and began to pull the sleeves over her arms as she stepped out into the stormy night. The air was thick and wet and she bent down to pick up the relatively large pieces of glass that lay on the porch and the frame of the lantern carefully. She gathered the shards of glass in a cloth rag so as not to cut herself and shivered as a cold wind swept over her body. Her night clothes, long, white cotton pants and a blue tank, were peppered with stray rain drops that were carried by the gust and she quickly finished.
Winry dusted herself hurriedly and turned to walk back inside, but bumped into something solid near her legs and stumbled to catch herself on one of the support beams.
"Argh! Den!" she whined as her heart pounded within her chest. She sighed nervously and regained composure, "C'mon, Den, let's go." she snapped her free hand's fingers and made her way to the door, "Den!" she turned to Den after he didn't follow. She looked down at him and noticed him staring off into the distance, rigid, and his ears perked and twitching. "Den…?"
She followed his gaze and had to squint slightly. A tree… or something, was moving in the distance, about eight feet away. She hesitated, and wondered if it was wounded, for as she watched, it staggered and stopped suddenly. Should she help? What if that person was dangerous? All hesitation was pushed off to the far side of her mind as the figure in the distance staggered a moment, then fell motionless.
Winry placed the broken lantern on the kitchen table and almost tripped over Den's worried prances around the room at her sudden rush in movement.
"Get back, Den." she whispered as she put on her shoes and without another thought, ran into the rain toward the fallen figure. As she approached, she slowed, so as not to splatter mud onto the person from her hurried feet. Her body was already freezing wet and she sputtered as water slid down her face.
She knelt down and hesitated a moment. This person was so covered in mud, that she couldn't even tell if this person was male or female. The person muttered hoarsely something into the ground and she realized from the tone, it was male. He moved in a motion that suggested he was trying to get up, but his right arm buckled beneath him and he fell again, splashing her and himself with more mud. He seemed to have not noticed her and she grabbed his right shoulder, he flinched badly, suggesting he was injured. She noticed a red tint in the mud pooled around him and in a knew determination, she pulled at his brown, leather coat. He grunted and his body remained limp and motionless as she tried to flip him over so she could drag him. His front side was no cleaner than his back, and she struggled to get him to the porch without hurting him the best she could. She hooked her arms beneath his and noticed his right arm was moving oddly, almost rigid and had fractured movements. He must have a fractured arm… she thought as she finally reached the porch's steps.
Den began to bark excitedly and she gave one last heave before she landed roughly on her back side, the man landing just as roughly on her legs, smearing thick brown and red mud into her pants. He grunted some more disapprovingly ("Why don't you try picking yourself up?" Winry grumbled savagely) and she pushed Den away from the man's face as he tried to lick at his muddy cheeks.
"No!" she snapped at him.
"I wondered what all the noise was about…" Winry whirled around where she sat, the man sprawled on her legs, making movement difficult, resulting her in her back popping in several places. Pinako stood in the doorway tiredly, looking down at the scene in front of her. "A traveler, huh?" she made herself around Winry and observed the man that lay unconscious on her porch.
"I-I think he's injured.." Winry said as she struggled to free herself from the man's weight. The back of his head hit the wooden porch with a thud and he cringed.
"Well, let's get him inside… He'll get hypothermia if we don't." Pinako muttered. Winry nodded and knelt down to remove his coat so as to help make him lighter. He shivered slightly and she bit her lip as she struggled to get the coat off. It was clinging to his body now that it was wet and making it even harder to remove it.
Suddenly, she froze above his right shoulder, her eyes narrowing on a certain spot that was revealed now on his shoulder. His coat had clung to his shirt that lay beneath it as she tried to remove it and had moved it over ever so slightly… Metal.
A/N: Oh, I know! Cliffhanger! I WILL update soon. Boy, this chapter was easy as far as writing the material is concerned, but I did have to do RESEARCH on diseases and everything! I found that the common cold and flu CANNOT be caused by weather… which was a flaw I almost made. It wouldn't be believable if I did write it as so…
Nyago: Thanks for the age info! I would have made a big oopsie if it had not been for that bit of info! I thank you ever so much! ;3
Hiei44: When I look at Winry, I see a VERY determined soul and I think that is a pretty good evaluation of her personality… When I first thought of this story in my head, I knew that the story had to kick off with a type of puzzling meaning so as to reel you guys in! Keep reading and you'll figure out just what she meant by 'I promise' (if you haven't already).