Sorry for the late chapter. Long story short, I forgot about break, and I didn't bring the laptop, and once I got home, I ended up reading Kuroshitsuji instead of writing. Sorrysorrysorry.

I don't own FMA.

Charge stared at himself. This was beyond scientific explanation. Parallel worlds had been brought up rarely, though some recent books spoke about them in depth. First, cats turning into humans were highly illogical-their DNA structure was completely different when it came to their body and, to a much lesser extent, their minds. Granted, their brains were more like a human's than a dog's were, but still…

Cats were not humans. Humans were not cats. This should be scientifically impossible. And the scenery-changing from inside a massive building to a forest should also be impossible. It could be a parallel world, but even so, that still made next to no sense. Eckhart was insane, and her plan should've failed.

Magic didn't exist.

It was unscientific. Granted, he couldn't deny the massive dragon, but still…

He certainly couldn't deny the fact that he was a cat-human hybrid. Human base, cat ears, tail, and he was pretty sure-he flexed his hand experimentally-yep, claws. He was also covered in two-inch thick long fur, the colors of which mimicked his feline markings-grey with white-yellow fur on his arms and legs.

Perhaps this was an illusion? It would make sense; that might explain everything, but from what he knew, the current technology wasn't up to par enough to do that. And besides, who'd use it on a couple of cats?

He sighed. If he sat down thinking, he might miss out on figuring some things about this world out. He tried to pick himself up on all fours, but failed miserably, with the end result being him falling into the dirt. He tried again, this time trying to stand in the more appropriate "human" fashion, which worked.

He tried walking next-the idea of only using two legs, not four had always appealed to him-but he ended up losing his balance after the first three steps. After several tries, he though he figured it out, and he wasn't falling every other step, but he still held his hands out for balance.

The forest wasn't overpopulated with trees like some he'd been to, but there were enough leaves on the ground to mask foxholes and tree roots.

But even with all the leaves, it was pretty hard to mask a child with a red jacket.

~Line Break~

Eckhart knew something was wrong. She just knew it. She'd only spend ten minutes in Shamballa, but it was just too quiet. Maybe she was being watched?

"Show yourself," she shouted. To her, though, she heard nothing. Not even her scream.

Why? Why can't I hear myself? Am I…deaf?

Was this the so-called price?

She attempted to regain her composure, but was failing miserably. She slammed one of her hands onto the ground in frustration, forgetting that her transmutation circles would activate, creating another cannon, which blasted in the opposite direction of Eckhart. Even if she was deaf, she still had the bag of Stones, so she could still raise a miniature army of Homunculi, and take over the world. Though there were some kinks in her plan-who'd perform the transmutation? Eckhart certainly wouldn't. Though, according to her notes, alchemic ability was fairly common, so she could always force someone else to do it. That and the fact that she needed the materials necessary to transmute one. She could easily demand them, using the person's life as a bartering chip, but that could attract attention. But then again, the ingredients were household objects-she could easily obtain them without difficulty.

All she had to do was get out of this place, which was easier said than done due to its vastness. However, after wandering for several hours, she'd managed to find an elevator. She tapped the "above ground" button, and the elevator lurched and began to move up.

The elevator came to a halt, and Eckhart cautiously climbed out. There weren't any guards protecting the entrance, but it was hidden behind a bookcase, which Eckhart easily pushed aside.

There wasn't anyone present in the halls, either. Luckily, they were fairly easy to navigate, and within a minute Eckhart was outside, looking at the sprawling streets of Central.

Now, to find some Alchemists…

~Line Break~

Oliver looked over the feline sprawled on the floor. He seemed to have some unworldly luck, seeing as he managed to get to the Briggs fort, despite what she figured was a bullet wound and the freezing temperatures outside the fort. And even with the wound, the cat was limping around that base.

However, he had an odd habit of looking up at the night sky-which was redundant due to the fact that the almost constant snowstorms always obscured the night sky and its stars.

~Line Break~

"Mind staying here for a moment, Blaze? I need to contact my superior, which will take a minute." Blaze's ears pricked at this, but she stayed where she was while Riza got whoever her superior was. A few minutes later, she heard the definite clicking of two pairs of shoes approaching the door.

One of the humans that entered the Riza, but the other wasn't. He wore a military uniform like Riza and had short black hair, but what struck her was the eye patch over his left eye.

"Blaze, this is Roy. Roy, this is Blaze," she said, Roy glancing at her ears.

"Riza, you know I don't like cats. Why did you bring a cat chimera here?"

"Because she somehow managed to get here. I don't know how, but it involves that Gate." Roy paled at the mention of the Gate, but regained his composure after a second or two.

"Do you remember how you got here?"

"There was this lady and this massive circle," Blaze started, both of them staring at her like she was crazy until she finished.

"And that's how I got wherever this place is," Blaze finished. She was fairly surprised that they listened to her whole story.

Once again, sorry for the late chapter. On the plus side, I read a chapter in a manga that has somebody killing zombies with a lawnmower!

…I have an extremely sadistic mind, don't I?

Envy: Yep.

Blaze: Seconded.