Hello all my loyal readers! I'm back! I know it hasn't been that long but...yeah.

Disclaimer: Not mine. I only own the five OC's that I've so far written into this fic, the plot of this story and volumes 3 and 5 of the Manga.

In regard to the OC's, thus far only 4 of them have made an appearance but the fifth will be making her debut in chapter 10. So stay with me.

Updates are going to slow down from this point on because I haven't got any more chapters typed up after this one. I had to speed type this one so don't blame me if their are any mistakes. I don't have a beta for this story.

Thanks to my reviewers: Simply Crisis, Steff7, Fullmetalfan, Anicka, bohemianwriterredroses, loyalsoul, Dailenna, Chachamaru15, FruitsBasketFreak44, dingi, kenzigirl, theslayerslayer, horsehearted15, words without andJessia.

Simply Crisis: Sorry about misspelling your name last chappy. I was sort of out of it and misread it. Sorry.

Attention all reviewers: I know I usually give out cookies and muffins here but, uh, you guys kinda ate them all and I'm currently waiting on the new order to arrive. Cupcakes will be coming with this batch, as well as mini Royai signs (instead of mini flags) that I will happily give out to any reviewer who requests one. They should be here by next chapter. They are for Royai fans so that the Royai sign can be worshipped from home instead of having to travel many miles to visit it. XP

Please enjoy!

Chapter 8

The Discouraging Clue

"Why weren't we told!" Ed ground out as he stepped around the corner and into the hall. His fists were clenched at his sides.

Tari whirled around and looked at Ed. Mustang looked over at him. As did Havoc who was with Mustang.

"Brother!" Al exclaimed as he came around the corner behind Ed.

Ed stalked towards Mustang. He hated being left in the dark. He stopped in front of the Lieutenant Colonel and glared at him viciously. "Why weren't we told that Lieutenant Hawkeye is missing!"

"Brother!" Al called out as he moved after Ed and stopped behind him. He stood next to Tari who had stepped out of Ed's way.

"Fullmetal," Mustang addressed the fuming boy "You weren't told yet" he stressed the word 'yet' "because we only found out two hours ago. Besides," he spoke in an almost sing-song voice "Trying to find such a small person in this large base is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. A very small needle."

"WHO'RE YOU CALLIN' SO SMALL THAT IF HE WAS ONE OF THOSE THINGS YOU HAVE TO THROW A BALL AT TO KNOCK OVER AT THE CARNIVAL HE'D BE THE REALLY SMALL ONE THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO HIT!" Ed fumed, throwing a fit and only being restrained by his brother, Al.

Dwut dwut – everyone blinked.

"That was…" Mustang muttered.

"Unusual?" Tari continued, stunned.

"I was gonna say 'long'," Mustang informed her.

"Oh, that's right!" Al said to Tari as he continued to restrain a furious, kicking Ed. "You've never seen one of Brother's rants before have you?"

"Uh uh," she said as she shook her head.

Suddenly, Ed calmed and returned to normal. Al let him go, cautiously.

"Aren't these yours?" Ed asked, turning to Tari and extending his right hand, Tari's chopsticks resting intact in his palm.

"Ah!" she reached up and touched her loose hair "I completely forgot that they'd fallen out. Thank you." She took the proffered chopsticks. She inspected them.

"What're they made of? They're longer and thicker than normal hair chopsticks," Ed stated.

"Mmm, they have to be. They're concealed daggers," she twisted the top of one slightly and pulled on it. A dagger slid out. The hilt was the top of the chopstick and the rest of the chopstick was the sheath. "See."

The silver blade was about 25cm long and 2cm wide. It was shiny and obviously well cared for, despite the small dark stain about midway along the blade.

Everyone in the hall flinched back a bit at the sight of the blade.

"Wow," Ed said as he walked forward to look at the dagger.

Tari shoved the blade quickly into its sheath with a small 'snap', causing Ed to jump back in surprise. She didn't want Ed to get a proper look at the stain. Ed backed up a few steps.

Tari placed the chopsticks between her teeth, reached her hands back and grasped her hair. With practiced ease she twisted her hair back into a bun and held it against the back of her head. Her hair wasn't thick but it wasn't thin. It wasn't straight but it wasn't curly. Her hair had a medium thickness and several kinks in it.

She pulled one chopstick from her teeth and pushed it through her bun, which covered most of the back of her head. Then she grabbed the other one and put it through too. Cautiously, she took her hands away and was pleased when her bun stayed put.

"Uh…Corporal?" Mustang said, clearing his throat. Everyone turned to him "About the information?"

"Oh right," she turned to Mustang and saluted. Mustang saluted back and they dropped the salutes "I have been instructed by General Hakuro to deliver important, confidential information to you. I am only to tell you this in your office, so if we could please proceed…?"

"Of course," Mustang nodded, turned around and continued to his office with Ed, Al, Havoc and Tari following close behind.

Eventually they were in Mustang's office with Mustang seated behind his desk and the others standing around the room in front of his desk. Tari was directly in front.

"Well, we're here. So what's the information?" Mustang requested.

She stiffened. "I'm sorry, sir. I was instructed to tell you and only you."

"These are my most trusted. Anything you tell me you can tell them," he said.

She shook her head. "I cannot."

"Ugh, fine. Fullmetal, Alphonse, Second Lieutenant Havoc? Go wait outside."

"Okay," came three reluctant replies as they left the room.

Havoc went and sat at his desk and kicked his feet up onto the desk. Ed sat down at Lieutenant Hawkeye's desk and Al leaned against one of the other, empty, desks. Apparently it was lunch time.

"Wonder what information they've got," Havoc spoke around his ever present cigarette "Maybe they know where she's at. Maybe they found her." He said hopefully.

"I--," Ed began only to be cut off by a loud exclamation.

"What!"

Loud footsteps echoed out to them from Mustang's office.

"Aah!" came a female shriek.

"Show me!" Mustang's voice demanded.

A few seconds passed with seemingly complete and utter silence. Then footsteps thumped across the floor and the doors to Mustang's office flew open and startled Ed, Al and Havoc.

Mustang came flying out of the doors dragging Tari along by the arm.

The two were out into the hall before any of them could blink.

"Let's go!" Havoc called.

The three guys ran out of the office and chased after the Colonel and the Corporal. They could hear the young woman trying to calm Roy.

A few minutes later the three guys caught up to Roy and Tari in the courtyard. They walked over to them.

"Are you two okay?" Havoc asked, trying hard not to laugh at their position.

Ed was trying hard not to laugh and in the process made himself look deranged. More so. Al was trying hard to suppress his laughter.

"Sort of," they mumbled into the ground.

It was obvious that Tari had tripped and taken Roy down with her.

Tari pulled herself off of the ground and sat up.

"I'm okay. I do this several times a day," she said with a smile. Then she looked at Mustang "I don't know about him though."

Tari grasped the back of Mustang's collar and peeled him off of the ground. He coughed out dirt and rocks.

"Colonel, we need to… Colonel?" she snapped her fingers in front of his face.

He snapped out of it. "Oh, right! Let's go!"

They climbed to their feet and all five of them took off running with Tari in the lead and Al clanking along at the rear.

When they got to the parade grounds, Tari slowed slightly and was looking around for someone.

"Ah! There they are!" Tari shouted "Wait here!" With that she took off towards a group of people on the grounds.

Mustang, Havoc, Ed and Al stopped and watched her. They saw her salute the group and speak to them. She bowed, said something and then grabbed the hands of two men. She started pulling them back to the group.

"Tari," the red-haired one whined "Where are we going?"

"Just follow," she instructed "Come on, let's go." She said to everyone and then took off running again.

They all followed.

"Hi," the red-haired one said "I'm Sergeant Martin Green. Nice to meet ya!"

"I'm Sergeant Major Mark Halaway," the brown-haired one introduced himself.

By the time they were past the warehouses, everyone knew who everyone was and what divisions they worked in. It turned out that Tari, Martin and Mark all worked in a branch of the Investigation's department that specialised in kidnappings and disappearances.

The group of seven slowed to a stop in front a waiting General Hakuro. The five officers in the group saluted.

"What took you so long, Corporal Tarot?" Hakuro asked. He waved off the salutes and they dropped them.

"Sorry, sir. I ran into some…delays," she replied.

"Ugh, spare me," Hakuro sighed "Mustang, follow me."

Mustang walked alongside Hakuro, everyone else following behind. They walked over to something shiny on the ground.

Mustang's eyes widened when he saw what the object was.

He pulled on a pair of gloves and bent down. He grasped the handle and supported it with his other hand.

In his hands he held a meat cleaver. On the side he was looking at, it had his name written in blood. It said 'MUSTANG'.

He flipped it over. Another name was written on the other side. It, however, was crossed out. It too was written and crossed out in blood.

His eyes widened. 'No,' he thought 'It can't be…'

Hakuro saw it too. Everyone saw it. Everyone was shocked and worried.

The blood writing that was crossed out read 'HAWKEYE'.

Roy thought for a moment and then…

"General! Contact the prison! Tell them to see if…"

Oooo, what's gonna happen? Sorry for all the cliffhangers. I didn't originally intend for there to be so many but they just sorta wrote themselves into my story.

Anyway, next chapter will be the one with the big revelation in it. I finally reveal who the mysterious man is.

Preview of next chapter:

Man: I'm gonna make him watch as I kill you. I'm gonna make him watch as your blood spills all over the floor. I'm gonna make him watch as I destroy your life like the two of you destroyed mine.

R&R!

Yours truly,

E.T.