Chapter Two: Disclaimer
Dustin: Wow! You're back. If you're reading this that means that some one out there likes this fic enough to come back. Heh… No offence Lor, you're a great writer, it's just… I still believe this whole thing is a little out there.
Lor: P yeah but between the two of our minds it's so amazing, they're bound to get addicted at some point…By the way, Hughes lives. Why? Because I can't stand the thought of that frikken asshole, Envy, getting away with killing him.
Dustin: But anyway, boy do we have a surprise for all you readers! We were able to get a hold of … Dun dun DUUUN! Gannon! That's right! We have managed to convince Ganon to take part in this fanfiction!
Ganon: MMMMPH!
Dustin: Yea… Well we kinda have him tied up for the safety of our readers. But before you get too excited, we must first mourn the loss of the famous Crocodile Hunter Steven Irwin, who gave up his life in order to "convince" Ganon he should be involved!
Steve: Eh mates! That Ganon was a feisty little bugger!
Dustin: HO SHIT! You're still alive! Aaah! Australian zombie!bang bang
Lor: HOLY CRAP! hiding behind Dustin IS IT DEAD!
Steve: is dead now XX
Enaru: pokes with stick …Pretty dead, Lor (for those who don't know, Enaru is Lor's anime-d equivalent)
Lor: huge sigh of relief
Dustin: Heh… On with the disclaimer! Ahem!
The characters and places in this fanfiction are owned by their respective creators. Also, Steve Irwin is under the ownership of uhh… Steve Irwin. However, the theme, setting, and any original characters (such as Fyz) are still owned by us (Me and Lor.)
Dustin: Now on with the fic.
Chapter Two: Operation "Protect The Princess"!
There had been almost ten hours of searching, and Roy took it upon himself to go look for the brothers on his own. His team consisted of two new soldiers added to his small regiment, along with his Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc, Heymans Breda and the Lieutenant-Colonel and Head of Investigations Maes Hughes.
Meeting up with Riza, he put the rest of his party under her control. "I'll head north and look around the mountains," he confirmed, showing her an area on a spread out map. "I want you to continue west through all that forested area. Considering the damage here from that explosion, Edward will have rocketed off somewhere if he didn't burn to death." Roy was certain the boy was alive. The fact that there had been nothing to confirm otherwise was the hope the military was riding on.
Riza nodded, folding her arms. "Alright…we should be equipped for a trip. By when should I report back?"
Roy thought for a moment, before glancing at her. "If you don't find anything seven days from now, return to H.Q."
Riza saluted, nodding. "Yes sir. Good luck."
"…you too, Hawkeye." They began their separate ways, Riza's party sticking out with the large, sparkling form of Armstrong tailing behind her. Roy looked at the mountains with a sigh. He noted a larger one in the distance. That was a large area to cover, hopefully the two were in one piece.
He zoned back in as Hughes put a hand on his shoulder. "Was that a moment I sensed there, Mustang?" he asked, looking out after Riza as she disappeared into the tree line.
"No, Hughes, get off of me. Better call your wife up now, you won't be home for a few days. I'll need your investigations expertise to find him."
Hughes sighed heavily. "But…but my darling Elysia…I won't get to see her or kiss her good night…" Sniffling, he went to the temporarily set-up phone to make the call. "Gracia baby, something's come up with work…oh no! Nothing like that dear, Edward's train was hijacked again and he's one of a few passengers missing." For a long while he didn't speak. "Yes, dear, I know. Give our precious little girl an extra kiss or two from Daddy! …Love you too." After a kiss he hung up the phone and grinned at Roy,
"Well, let's go, the sooner we find them the sooner we can find you a wife!"
"Drop it Hughes…Breda, Havoc, I want you two at the back so that our new recruits don't get themselves lost." Roy walked ahead with Hughes, stepping to the side of the tracks. "So, any idea if we'll really find the brothers in this direction?"
Hughes shrugged, pushing up his glasses. "Not much more than some intuition telling me it's possible he was shot off that way. If that's the case, I sure hoped that alchemy helped to soften his landing."
"No kidding."
"Is this it?"
"Maybe."
"Well whatever, let's go find somewhere to eat, I'm starved." Ed ignored the stares and looked around the shops of the Marketplace, sighing with a smile as they finally found a restaurant. It had taken the brothers almost ten hours to find the city and the sun was beginning to set. Eating went fine, they spoke a little (rather, Edward complained a little more about all the extra traveling), before Ed stood up to pay for his food. His wallet had been one of few things he hadn't lost in the explosion, and he received an odd look when he went to pay.
"Um…Brother…everyone's staring…"
"Did they see my pocket watch or something?" he whispered back, glancing around. "I didn't do anything to piss anyone off in this city…right?"
"I don't think so…"
Their waitress approached them. "That will be eighty rupees, good sirs."
Ed looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Eh…rupees you say? What are those? Is there a bank where I could get my money exchanged…" He looked around more, those stares were starting to creep him out.
"One moment." Ed waited, shifting his weight from foot to foot anxiously. His eyes became wide when an older, fatter, and angry man came out with two soldiers decked out in old armor and chain mail.
"Them, that's the two that won't pay!" he roared.
"Time to bust, Al!" Ed took off without waiting, calling out apologies as he knocked over stands and plowed through people.
"Sorry!" Al said to one man as he tripped over what Ed had knocked down. "Excuse us!" The guards that had been standing at the city gate crossed their spears, intending on stopping the boys.
Well Ed just wasn't going to sit there and take that hostility. Stopping, he clapped his hands to the ground and caged both guards in. "Hurry it up Al --!" Ed made a screechy yelp as a different guard's spear butted him in the back.
"Take the little one and contain him…"
The poor guard didn't get to finish before Ed, in all his pint-sized glory, had finished off the guard and took out another. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU COULD BURN HIM LIKE INSECTS UNDER A MAGNIFYING GLASS!" Al finally picked his brother up and carried him out of the now riled up city, not wanting to commit more acts of violence against soldiers.
Not even a week and they were going to be wanted criminals, wonderful.
The wall guards declared some thing or other before the drawbridge was pulled up. Ed, panting from his outburst, shook his fist and shouted out his own obscenities before shoving his hands into his pockets. He walked off in el direction, Al following.
"Brother, was that necessary? Maybe they misinterpreted what we meant. I'm sure we could have solved that," he tried, but Ed ignored him.
"I can't believe that guy called me small! Did you hear him Al! He's lucky I didn't wipe that soldier-smirk right off his pointy face!"
"Brother, what are we going to do when it gets dark? We didn't get a chance to buy a map…or get any information." Al stopped speaking as Ed hunched his shoulders. He obviously hadn't thought of that before his rash decisions.
"There's nothing we can transmute around here is there?" Ed asked rhetorically, staring at the bare grassland. Hyrule field was really nothing special, odd enemy here or there, but really, really boring.
And big.
Did we mention boring?
With a sigh, Ed looked out toward the west horizon. Maybe an hour and it would be dark enough for them to have no clue where they were headed. The hair on the back of his neck rose when he heard a wolf howl. There was something just a little too coordinated about that.
As night settled over the quiet land, the earth beneath Ed's feet began to break apart, and up rose a skeleton. Ed hit the ground with his automail leg heavily, turning up almost immediately with his fists up and ready.
No one had warned the alchemist about the stalchildren that wandered the plain at night.
Throwing a punch, the creature fell to pieces, only to reassemble and attack him again. "Agh!" Clapping his hands, the bones turned to dust on his contact. "Hehe, no problem."
"Brother…there's more of them…" Al informed him.
"Good, they seem easy enough to kill." He smirked. "Let's take 'em all out!" Between Al's solid iron punch, and Ed's quick alchemy, they managed to take out…three. The stalfos were surrounding them faster than they could kill, even with the earth-based alchemy Ed was using. Panting, Ed glanced around. Were they just attracted to the brothers? Were there no other travelers to pick on?
"What are we going to do, Brother?" Al asked, although not tired in the least. Frustrated a little, but there was no way he could become fatigued anymore.
"MAKE A RUN FOR IT!"
"Brother!" Al got in one more heavy-fisted punch before following Ed's trail of dust. He found him stopped in a quieter area of the field, looking out toward a fire's light. He made a motion for Al to follow him and approached the single man sitting there. He had a slightly yellowish skin tone and a large smile on his face.
"Come sit by my fire, young friends!" he offered before Ed could ask. Shrugging carelessly, Ed sat across the fire.
"I'm Ed, this is Al," he introduced blandly.
The man nodded. "I am the owner of the Happy Mask Shop. I travel in search of new and exotic masks." He looked at Al. "I'd like to ask the origin of your armor…but the original owner, you never knew long enough to ask correct?"
Ed's eyes narrowed the slightest. This man didn't know their father, did he?
Laughing, the man sat back. "Now, now, I was merely assuming. You two are in search of something to restore something important?" He didn't wait for a response and continued, "But alas! Nothing you've turned up has helped, has it?" He shook his head, holding his chin in thought. "But maybe you haven't been looking in all the right places."
Ed held out his hand to silence Al. He wanted this guy to continue. If he had some sort of key to the Philosopher's stone, Ed needed it. "Say what?"
"Impatient aren't we?" With a chuckle, he waited for Ed's glower to simmer down. "Long ago, Hyrule was infected with an evil source. With no one else to turn to, they relied on the old legend. A boy was to raise his sword against the evil, who sought out the Triforce to make the world his."
Waiting for dramatic effect, the man outstretched his hands to the starry sky. "The Triforce, when complete, grants the true desire of one's heart. It does not belong in the hands of evil. By passing the barriers of time, the Hero managed to seal the evil and return Hyrule to peace." The Happy Mask Salesman nodded. "The Triforce is no longer in one piece. The Hero, the Princess, and the evil lord himself each hold a piece….or so the legend says."
He was quite mysterious for someone with information. Ed didn't like deciphering mysteries from truths, and this man was making it really hard to tell the difference.
"Tell me more," Ed implored calmly. "About this legend stuff, Al and I are big on proving theories and stuff. We've seen crazier."
"Maybe you could explain the three people a little more?" Al offered, understanding what Ed was getting at.
"Perhaps." He nodded several times. "Let us start with the Hero of Time…."
Link didn't make it to Lon Lon Ranch until the sun had set, and felt a slight bit guilty about it. He doubted Malon or her father would appreciate his late entrance, but he didn't feel quite right with Hyrule right then. In order to get around efficiently, he needed Epona.
With Navi sleeping in his long green hat, Link put his sword to rest in it's sheathe. He walked the dark grass quietly, until of course, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his left ankle. With a slight yelp, one no one would ever hear the great Link utter again, he looked back in irritation.
"He was born in the Kokiri forest, and has been guided by a fairy –a fairy child some would call him. Dressed in a green tunic and hat, he braved great perils to deal away the great evil…" With a chuckle, the man nodded again. "Oh yes, and he wielded a sword like no other…none can match such skill. It is said that only the Hero of Time can use the legendary Master Sword, needed to return peace to Hyrule…."
It was a large, old cucco, with what Link had come to believe was a truly satanic look in it's small beady eyes. When he was a child, he'd upset one too many cucco's, and this one seemed to bear the deepest grudge for it. Named Kujo, it was probably the oldest on the ranch and never hesitated to make visiting a great hell for the swordsman.
Link moved away from it quickly, then looked up into Malon's teasing eyes. "Nice to see you, Fairy Boy, though it's a bit late to be wanderin' the ranch."
Link smiled slightly. "You too, Malon. I've been getting a wary feeling about things lately…is Epona locked up?"
Malon smiled, circling around him once. "She shouldn't be, I was about to close everything up. Should I call her?"
Link shook his head, pulling out the ocarina. "No, it's fine, I can do it." He put his lips to the instrument softly and played the melody Malon had taught him a decade ago softly. Within a moment the full grown horse made her way to him, neighing softly. As Link brushed his hand against her neck gently, Malon made a small giggle before shooing Kujo off to the cucco coup.
Link made a thankful sigh of relief.
"How long ago did this happen?" Ed demanded, wondering if maybe they were just wasting their time. Although this Triforce thing sounded valid, he wouldn't put his hopes up too high.
The salesman didn't look like he wanted to answer at first. He rocked back and forth a little, before looking back at them. "Hmm…maybe ten years ago now. Could be more, could be less…the Princess keeps to the palace, and so does the king, although Hyrule is well taken care of."
"Ten years ago, huh?" Ed folded his arms, staring into the fire thoughtfully. "Meaning this Hero guy's still around right? Obviously the princess is alive."
"They would be almost Mustang's age then," Al pointed out, wanting to hear more of the story. He knew what Ed had on his mind, but couldn't possibly predict how his older brother intended to act on it. Considering they'd been kicked out of the Marketplace.
"Indeed the Hero of Time still wanders Hyrule, but I could not possibly tell you where." The mask salesman shook his head. "With no reason to stay in one place, he wanders Hyrule freely."
"You're not going to stay?" Malon teased as Link pulled himself up into the now adult Epona. "Don't see you all that much anymore."
Shaking his head, Link looked out toward the field. "No…I don't have enough time." Well wasn't that a bit of irony?
Malon put her hands on her hips, red hair swaying softly in the wind. Shaking her head, she looked up at him. "You're at least going to take a pint of our milk with you. If something's wrong, there's no reason not to have a bit extra energy." Nodding quietly, he tugged the reins, following her to the barn. He waited outside until she came out with a bottle of the famed milk. Link put it away with care.
"Don't be doing anything stupid, Fairy Boy," she warned lightly.
"I won't promise anything," he replied, before pressing his heels to Epona and exiting the ranch.
Ed rested his head on one hand and thought for a moment. If they wanted this Triforce, they'd have to get the pieces. Getting back into the Marketplace would be challenging. So would defeating the Hero, and finding the evil. No solution came easy, did it? Not that Ed was doubting his or his brother's skills...he was just really lazy.
"Assuming the Princess is guarded…that leaves just the Hero and this evil guy out and running right?"
The mask salesman laughed at him. "No one can get into the castle if they're unwanted!"
"Great, okay, well that's not my point." Stupid castles. There was something wrong with this country, they were not advanced at all. "My point is, no one's been able to complete this thing right?"
"I think that's enough for one night." Making it evident he would answer no more questions, the man set himself out to sleep.
Ed waited quietly, although a slight bit of steam was escaping out his ears. "Al, let's see if we can look into this on our way back to H.Q.," he murmured. "For all we know, this is really just another name about the Stone."
"I knew you were thinking that," Al whispered back, voice echoing nonetheless through the armor. "And until we find out which way to go, I don't think there's anything else we can do…"
"Yeah…we'll go look into this Princess last. I'm not in the mood to deal with pointed-eared guards anytime soon." Yawning, Ed folded his arms behind his head and laid down against the grass. "See you in the morning, Al."
"Eh, Lieutenant Colonel, do you have any idea what direction you're going?" Havoc asked, lighting up another cigarette. He was running low on smokes, there was only so much rationing the soldier could take.
Hughes grinned, folding his arms as he looked up to the sky. "Nope. We're searching."
"Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary here," Roy pointed out, hands in his pockets. He slid down a rocky hill, and then stopped suddenly. After looking around, he motioned for the five behind him to proceed. He raised his right hand, ready to illuminate the rocky, volcanic area.
Hughes was next to him, eyes sharp as he held the tiny knife between his fingers. "See something?"
Roy nodded. "Just a moment ago, yes." He glanced to the side to a shuffling sound. It was all gravel and volcanic soil…there wasn't too much to hide around. Roy lowered his arm and continued forward. Between a step forward he turned sharply and managed to grab a hold of a piece of clothing in the darkness.
Almost immediately a fireball the size of a child's head illuminated between him and the stranger, before it exploded in his face. Roy flew back and slid messily down the hill, barely catching himself before rolling into a spire. Wiping soot away from his face, Roy bounded back up, snapping once. The sparse minute of light was enough to identify the figure as cloaked and dangerous.
"I suggest you stand down, you're facing a state alchemist here," Roy called as the other pulled out their own weapons and surrounded him. "Reveal yourself quietly, and maybe I'll skip the harsh treatment when I arrest you." He wasn't aware that he was far from Amestris boundaries. Hell, he hadn't even noticed the abnormal ring of smoke surrounding the volcano in the distance.
"Arrest me?" The him sounded like a her, but Roy had dealt with crazies before. It looked around a couple of times and saw no evident way out. Roy's men were at least good at formation.
"Yes, arrest you."
She chuckled softly, and Roy narrowed his eyes.
A narrow, white gloved arm protruded from the cloak to pull back the hood. Staring back at him were a pair of indigo eyes, belonging to the face of a pretty young woman. "You're not of Hyrulian decent."
"Hyrulian…hey Roy, where are we?" Hughes called out. "I thought we were on the borders of Creata…"
"Obviously we aren't," Roy said back, before returning his attention to the woman. "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang of the Amestris militia."
She stared at him coolly a moment. "Princess Zelda of Hyrule," she established. Roy's eyes widened, a princess, of an unlabeled country near Creata! "You're from a country titled Amestris? To the far east I would assume?"
"From here, yes."
Her expression became grave. "I implore you, then, Colonel Mustang, to escort me away from Hyrule until Link has become aware of the present circumstances."
Roy looked dumbfounded for just a moment. "Link? What's going on?"
She shook her head, strawberry blonde hair falling over her shoulder. "That isn't important. Once the castle becomes aware of my absence, Link will know what is going on and seek me out. Until then, I must remain in hiding."
Havoc lit up another cigarette. "Come on, Mustang, it's not like the military can't protect her for a little while. Who knows, the Fuhrer might even consider the political boost this gives Amestris." Truth be told, this Princess Zelda was gorgeous and he figured he could at least try his luck with her.
"And what about the search for the Elric brothers?" Roy asked him in return, not wanting to leave the entirety of it to Riza. "Knowing Fullmetal, as soon as he's able to move, he's going to keep looking in on the Stone, no matter what trouble that puts him in."
"Well we can't just leave a princess out here by herself. Whether she's usin' alchemy or not, there's a reason she's not back home right?" Havoc continued, holding the cigarette in his teeth.
"Alchemy?" Zelda repeated.
"Look, we're not discussing this in front of a volcano! Lieutenant! You take Breda up ahead and get rid of anything in the way." Roy looked to Hughes. "There's no sign of anything being disturbed? Then Fullmetal wasn't here. He's got a habit of loud entrances."
"Seems you've made the decision, so uh we're heading back now? Boy, you better see to it that Lieutenant Hawkeye doesn't have her holster with her when she finds out you got out of the mission early." Hughes chuckled. "Don't give me that look Roy, I heard all about the dog incident."
Up ahead Havoc and Breda shuddered. They'd certified Riza as crazy and unapproachable after becoming quite assured of her friendliness with gun triggers.
"Alright men," Roy called out after one more uncertain glance back. "…initiate Operation: Protect The Princess!"
END/CHAPTER
Lor: YAY CHAPTER TWO! Now I got a bunch of shout outs to go through in a minute.
Enaru: did anyone notice the Cujo (Kujo) pun? You're certain he's never seen the movie?
Lor: Dustin said he never saw the movie (he's the one that named the cucco)…and that minor explosion Roy had to face…I hate to say it…but…that's about the extent of planned Roy-abuse. sigh sorry Ed, you know I'm madly in love with you…
Enaru: total understatement
Shoutouts
Lunatic Pandora1: heh…heh… didn't I say I was joking? P I wonder too. No one's really witnessed it so far.
Quandtuniverse: glad you like it!
Meneil: yes, Dustin and I are geniuses when we put our minds together.
Crevan7: you know people told me the same thing about a different crossover idea. Glad you like it.
Flametongue: We like reviews. nod so this will keep going to the end!