Well, here it is. It took a while, but I finally did it. On a side note, I'm setting up a limit for chapter sizes. So for now on, all my chapters will be at least 1500 words long. I hope you like this one!

BIG GIANT HONKER NOTE! I have made some changes near the end of this chapter. Hopefully you'll like them: I sure did.

Disclaimers: I don't and will never own Fullmetal Alchemist… (sob)

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Ed woke up, groaning. Every fiber in his body was screaming from pain, causing him wince when he sat up. With careful slowness he stood up, bracing himself against a nearby boulder. A sharp pain lanced up his left arm. Ed looked down at his hand, remembering the sickening crunch he felt during the fall. The hand looked broken, almost mutilated, but thankfully it was entering the stage of cold numbness.

"Damn," he muttered, panting heavily from the pain. His body screamed for him to rest. But Ed knew better. He had to find Al, and soon, or else he (Al) would scream at him for making him worry. Fixing a splint to his hand, he set out for the top of the mountain. Suddenly, he heard a low growl behind him. He peeked behind his shoulder.

A pack of wolves, twelve in all, paced slowly and menacingly towards the short alchemist. Their fur bristled, their hackles raised at their prey. They looked skinny, almost starving, giving them a look that was all the more menacing. And their eyes were a glowing red. "Damn," said Ed darkly, quickly transmuting his metal arm into a sword. "Not now!"

The wolves attacked.

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This is a little side story I'm making so that I can pass time. Here it goes.

Once upon a time there was a cat named Random. Random was the queen of cats. She wanted to become a human. So, dabbling in the study of alchemy (I don't know how she learned to read), she transmuted herself a beautiful human girl body and put her soul in it. She renamed herself Mary Sue. Then, she met Edward, and seduced him until he fell in love with her and married her. The end.

Suddenly, Neko-Queen-o-Randomness (a.k.a Random) woke up from her dream. It was a very strange dream. She was the queen of cats, and she made herself human and made Ed fall in love with her. She shuddered. It was a horrible nightmare, in her opinion. Except for marrying Ed. That was good. (Neko-Queen-o-Randomness: Yay! I love it!)

(AN: This is all very weird, I know, but I friend wanted a part in one of my fanfics.)

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Boulder after boulder was carted away by the strong, yet idiotic villagers. Under the careful eye of a sensible looking woman, the damage from the avalanche slowly disappeared. The woman was a skinny looking teenager, about 15 or 16, who wore wide-framed glasses and had her wavy red hair up in a simple ponytail. A plain blue dress hung loosely over her tall frame, and a staff with intricate carvings was grasped firmly in her hand.

Suddenly, a group of workers broke away from their work and walked over to the lady. "Look, Mum!" they shouted to her. "We found a talking stone buried under here!"

"Oh really?" asked the woman with interest. She glanced down, and blinked. Even though there was still some layers of soil left to clean up, she could easily distinguish what looked like a piece of metal jutting up from a crevice in the boulders. "Why did they say the metal was talking?" thought the lady. Suddenly, the metal moved, and with an explosion of rocks and dust, a suit of armor jumped up. The woman was startled.

"AAAHHH!" shouted the woman, jumping away.

"I'm free!" shouted the suit of armor. "Now I need to find brother!" And with that the suit of armor sprinted down the mountain.

It took a few moments for the lady to recover herself. When she did, she jumped up and ran towards the armor with her staff at hand.

It took a while for the lady to catch up with her quarry, as she was not a fast runner. But the armor stopped often, lifting heavy rocks to look under them and calling out for his brother. "Hey!" she would shout from time to time. But the armor seemed too distressed to hear her. After a while, the lady finally caught up to him, her face dripping with sweat. The armor noticed her. "Hello," he said politely. "I'm sorry, but have you seen my brother?" It was at that moment that the lady spotted a figure far below them slowly climbing up the mountain. She pointed, seeing if the armor would recognize it.

The suit gasped. "Brother!" it yelled, racing down the mountain side. "Al!" said the figure, quickening its step.

"Brother!" cried the armor once more. Squeezing the stranger in a bear hug, he ignored the cries of pain. "I was so worried!" The armor said.

"Al, could you quit squeezing me into a pulp?" shouted the stranger. The armor, Al, released him. The woman then decided it was time to interrupt.

"Excuse me!" shouted the woman, running towards the two. "Are you two the visitors who…" she stumbled. The newcomer was a boy, with braided blonde hair and sharp gold eyes. Though his red coat hid it well, blood was drenching his figure.

"Blood…" whispered the woman, swaying. Her face slowly turned pale. Al noticed the blood, and gasped. "Brother! You're hurt!"

"I'm fine, Al," replied the boy. "I just met up with some weird wolves."

"Wolves?" whispered the woman, swaying all the more. "Did you say wolves?"

The boy noticed the lady. "Hey, who are you?" he asked. The lady impatiently stamped her staff on the ground. "Were there any wolves!" she cried impatiently.

"Yeah," said the boy, looking offended. "They attacked me at the bottom of the mountain. Now answer my question."

"Did they bite you?" asked the woman quickly. She anxiously fingered her staff. The boy thought.

"No," he replied slowly. "Now will you please answer my question?" The lady looked relieved. "Alright," she said. "My name is Helen Arthur. I live around here."

"So you're person we're looking for!" exclaimed the blonde. "My name is Edward Elric. This is my brother Alphonse." The armor waved.

"Hello," he said. Helen nodded absently, deep in thought. Ed watched as she gently rubbed her staff. Up, down, up, down. The motion made Ed feel sleepy, or was it the fight that tired him out? Ed's mind was too hazy to think it through.

Helen broke the silence. "This may seem sudden," said the woman, "but do you two want to come to the festival tonight?"

"There's a festival?" asked Al eagerly.

"Yes," answered Helen. "At least, there will be."

The two boys looked at each other. "Why not?" said Ed. "But we'll have to treat my arm first." He lifted his hand. In one glance Helen's face turned from pale to green. She nodded quickly, and with a quick pace set off for the town. The boys followed.

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While Ed's arm was treated by a kindly doctor, Helen set off making the preparations. It didn't take long. After a few quick words with some important families, the townspeople grouped together and set up the stalls. Minutes after the three's arrival, the main street of the town was filled with brightly colored banners and food-filled stalls. Ed's stomach grumbled with the smell of dinner.

After the preparations were complete, the villagers waited excitedly for the start of the festival. As the crowd lingered anxiously, a few men set up a platform, and a man with a big, bursting belly stepped up. Taking in a deep breath, he paused, and with a deep, booming voice, yelled, "LET THE FESTIVAL BEGIN!" The crowd cheered, throwing lollipops in the air.

In a way, the festival was fun. The villagers were surprisingly musical, and the food was delicious. Everyone was in a happy mood, even the two newcomers, and they sang and dance and drank until they couldn't walk straight. The feeling of joy was infectious. Eventually, the celebrating died down, and everyone rested their aching bellies.

Helen found Ed sitting next to a dumpling stand with his swollen stomach exposed. Standing next to him was Al, who was scolding Ed for eating too much. Ed was to busy moaning to take much notice.

"You know, you really shouldn't have eaten those pork ribs," said Al.

"My stomach…" groaned Ed.

"And I think the 15 meat buns were a little too much."

"The pain…"

"Also, don't go off slurping a dozen ramen bowls at once next time. It's not good for you."

"It hurts…" Ed collapsed, falling asleep from all the food.

"He looks like he had a good time," remarked Helen.

"Oh! Hello Miss Arthur," greeted Al.

"Please, just Helen," said the girl. Digging inside her pocket, she brought out a bottle of amber liquid and tossed it to Al. "Give this to him when he's awake. It should help his hand get better."

"Thank you!" exclaimed Al, bowing his head to further his statement. Helen seated herself next to him and snuggled in the best she could.

For a while they looked at the stars, twinkling oh so nicely above, when a question popped up in Helen's mind. "Hey Alphonse," said Helen, "why did you and your brother come here to this little village?"

"Well, actually," answered Al. "We came here to find you, so we could study your research."

"Research?" asked Helen, cocking her eyebrow in confusion. "Like a scientist? But I'm not a scientist at all."

"WHAT?" Ed sat up from the ground, anger marks brewing on his forehead. "What do you mean, you're not a scientist?"

("Brother, you're awake?" asked Al. "But you just ate a dozen ramen bowls...") (AN: This would be sort of like a... smaller dialogue. Like those tiny words outside the speech bubbles in manga.)

"Ex, exactly what I said," said Helen, a bit startled from Ed's sudden outburst. "The only scientific thing about me is my interest in reading. I have no knowledge at all in things like trigonometry or Einstein's theory on relativity."

"Eh?" said Ed.

"Oh wait, that comes later, doesn't it?" remarked Helen. "Sorry, forget relativity, it's just a little joke of mine." A thought struck the girl. "Hey," she said. "Why don't you two stay at my place? I have room, and it's much better than the hut they call an inn here." She jerked her thumb at a small, wooden shack across the street. The windows were boarded up, and the wind howled through the cracks in the walls. A small sign proclaiming "IN" in large block letters swung on a rusty chain. Next to it was a dumpster, filled with leftover food from the festival.

"Let's go," the two brothers said in unison.