A train ride to that city from Central only took a few hours but on foot it took two days. The group traveled under the cloak of nightfall and slept in the sun's warm glow. No one said much except someone constantly asking who they were and what's with the armor. Chanticleer and Al didn't really get too familiar with names either, they heard the other group members talking with each other now and then but rarely did they mention names. Al always found himself thinking of Nina whenever he looked at the youngest girl in the party. She had to be about six and constantly stayed by the side of the kid with the now single antenna, either way she was really cute. But not only that the only thing he heard her say was, Kun. (pronounced 'coon' but really squeaky like)
The Dawn's shoulder devil made his eyes frequently dart back to two teens that usually walked in the back of the group. He'd never seen the one with the dark hair hold his head up and the redhead was always holding his hand. The shoulder devil tried with all its might to lasso a part of his mind and drag it in the gutter but ended up failing anyway. The shoulder angel on the other hand tried its best and succeeded in making him look at the only young woman in the group.
Come on you know you want to get to know her! You can't hide nothin' from me!
Not like he could argue with it she was really pretty.
Back at Central
"YOU DID WHAT!"
Chanticleer and Al told Edward everything they'd found out and they'd taken the six strangers back with them.
"Where are they now!"
"With Brody and the others."
"Why'd you leave them there!"
"Better than sneaking them in here."
"So, Brother. What'd you say about this trip being a dead end?"
"Well, I, Um, I just…Oh fine you win I was wrong. So what do you plan on doing with these people now that you've brought them from the alley way of death?"
"That's easy." Chanticleer said. "Get to know them and see what we can find out about the guy they were working for then bring it up with Mustang to see if Mr. Freakazoid is a wanted man."
"Sounds good now get movin'!" Ed pushed the two of them out the door. "I want to see these people."
At the "mansion""Kun?"
"Is that all she says?"
"She used to be quite the chatter box before It happened and now she wont speak actually words to anyone but me."
"So what'd we miss?"
Ed, Al and the Dawn came silently into the living room where Brody, Mark the twins and their guests were sitting. Everyone except the dark haired kid looked at them as they entered.
Edward also felt a slight sense of da ja voo when he saw the group. Every one of them, like Chanticleer was some kind of chimera.
How the heck did that happen to them? He thought. I wonder if the author has a one-track mind.
Me- I do NOT have a one-track mind. Peter Benchely had a one-track mind! And you can't say that! It messes up the scene!
Edward – Ok, Ok I'm sorry!
"Who's that?" asked the young woman, looking at Ed.
"This is my brother, Ed." Al introduced. "He's a state alchemist too."
"They're getting younger and younger all the time I suppose."
"HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM!" The Fullmetal snapped.
"Well you look…"
"Word to the wise, don't answer that." The Dawn interrupted.
"Hey uh, I don't want to seem rude but I'm sure you'd like to get to know the people you saved a bit more or at least know our names." The teen with the antenna said. "I'm sure the author is sick of using, teen, kid, the one, and youth to describe us."
Me – Ren now you can't say that!
Ren- What? Aren't you?
Me - Yes I am but you can't say that so try it again.
"Hey, I don't want to seem rude but I'm sure you'd like to get to know the people you saved a bit more or at least know our names." The teen with the antenna said. "To start off, I'm Ren. No that isn't my full name but I'd prefer it if you didn't know."
"It's Rentaraca." The woman said.
"Sounds a bit like maraca." Al said.
"That is exactly why I don't like people knowing my name!" He spazzed. "Anyway. The man we were working for called himself Caradon. our goal was to recreate the abilities of animals for better uses of people and he was the only one who thought our work might actually come to a point of success so he funded our project. I knew at the beginning he wasn't a man to be taken lightly but I figured we could quickly make a break through so we wouldn't have to be under his thumb for very long. But as you already figured something went wrong somehow and bonded us with the animal we worked with."
Al looked at the little girl.
"She's a bit young to be working on this kind of stuff isn't she?"
"She wasn't working on anything. She's my little sister Dexia but she's more likely to answer to Dixie. As you can see she's now part fox. Don't you just love the cute ears and fluffy tail?"
"Kun!"
"A shared project was to see what gave foxes and similar animals rabies and how it could be prevented."
"That's easy." Edward said. "They get bitten by another animal that's got it."
"True," Ren confirmed. "But say dog1 has rabies and bites dog2. Dog2 now has it and passes it on to dog3. But dog1 was never bitten by anything so where'd it get the disease?"
"Ah…" Ed started. "Um, point taken."
"Well I personally consider you lot lucky." Chanticleer said.
"What makes you say that?" asked the woman.
"You guys became what you are because something slipped off the table, I ended up a rooster 'cause some wing nut thought it would be fun to see what would happen. And I haven't told anyone this yet but I always do a double-take whenever I see a grasshopper and in the back of my mind wonder how it would taste."
"You think you've got it bad?" Ren blurted. He took off his shirt and turned around. From the base of his neck to his tailbone the skin around his spine was an odd greenish yellow color. "I was trying to figure out how the chemicals in a firefly's abdomen could be used as an efficient light source and now…"
"So what does it do?" Luke asked.
"I'll show you." Ren looked as though in deep concentration and then…it blinked. A quick flash of yellow blinked from that area on his spine. "You may think it's cool but I can't control that stupid blinking whenever I'm nervous or excited."
"REN!" a blonde teen scolded. "You've had your turn in the spot light and they don't even know who the rest of us are yet."
"Sorry, sorry. I admit it; I was getting a little carried away. So who's next?"
"I'll go." Said the blonde. "I'm…"
Chibi me – Sorry to interrupt but we're running out of chapter space so you'll have to put that on hold for a little bit.
Everyone – OH COME ON!
Me – Sorry people. And the readers don't need a preview cause we just said what's coming up next.