Thank you again for the reviews! You make me so happy! Here's the next bit.
Winry and Ed had been walking for hours down the Yellow Brick Road and yet the terrain was all the same. Nothing but farmland and yellow brick as far as the eye could see. Winry's feet were aching from the tight shoes and her stockings were getting extremely sweaty from all the walking. She wished she could take off the shoes so she could at least air out her feet. After pulling at her stockings for the fiftieth time Ed finally said, "Why don't you just take them off?"
Winry sighed and said, "I can't. Something is keeping them on."
Ed looked skeptical and said, "Let me try."
He grabbed the shoes and nearly pulled his hands back at the warm pulsing feeling the shoes gave off, almost like a heartbeat. He ran his fingers over the smooth shoes and looked surprised. "Someone used Alchemy on this…"
Winry looked surprised. How did this Edward know that? "But I thought you couldn't do Alchemy." Winry said.
"I can't." Ed replied, standing up. "But there's just something about those shoes that I feel like I've seen before."
"I'll take your word for it. I don't suppose you have a way to take them off do you?"
Ed laughed and said, "Are you kidding? I couldn't do Alchemy to save my life. Come on, let's get going."
As Winry and Ed continued down the Yellow Brick Road, they had no idea they were being watched by an evil force far in the West. Inside a huge mansion in the mountains Dante was watching the pair through an Alchemy enhanced crystal ball. She smirked as she clapped her hands and placed them on the crystal, moving them over it and causing red lightning to spark across the surface. Thunder rumbled ominously as she did this.
"So that little girl thinks she can escape with my shoes? The lightning from this storm will fry her pretty little head and those shoes will be mine!"
She looked up from the crystal ball and called out, "Wrath! Lust! Envy! Gluttony! Get in here now!"
The door burst open and four of the Seven Winged Sins flew in. Each sin, in addition to their unique powers, had a pair of strong black wings. Their hands and feet were like paws and their nails were ragged and dirty. They each landed and looked sullenly on at Dante. She smiled at them and said, "That was prompt of you for once, my lazy creations. Now, I have a job for one of you. I don't care which of you actually does it, it just has to get done. Once that girl," She pointed at Winry in the crystal. "is dead, you must take the Blood Red Slippers from her. If her companion tries to interfere, kill him. I won't have Wrath go, since he's so young." She patted Wrath on the head, who grinned maliciously at his partners. He was in good with Dante, meaning all the hard work would fall on them. Envy seethed, wanting to give Wrath a swift kick in his ass, but he didn't dare to it with Dante watching. He didn't want to end up like Greed…Gluttony just sucked absently on his finger. Dante arched her eyebrow at him then at Lust. It was obvious what that look meant. Lust sighed and said, "Fine, I'll go." She spread her wings and flew out the open window to the Yellow Brick Road. Thunder crashed and lightning flashed as she flew away.
"What happens if she gets struck by lightning?" Envy asked.
"She's expendable as you all know." Dante smiled slightly and clapped her hands adjusting the crystal ball again. The remaining Sins looked at each other. Gluttony sniffled a little and wandered out of the room while Envy crossed his arms and gave Wrath the kick he deserved. Before Dante could look up and see why Wrath had cried out, Envy was gone out of the room.
Back on the Yellow Brick Road, Winry looked nervously at the storm clouds gathering.
"We should find a shelter and fast!" she said to Ed.
Ed smiled calmly and said, "Why? It's just a rain storm."
"Well, I just don't trust storms anymore, that's all." She replied.
Before Ed could answer, lightning struck very close to them! They both jumped and Ed said, "Maybe we should find shelter…"
They started running down the Yellow Brick Road, lightning striking the ground all around them. Winry came close to getting fried five or six times before they finally saw a log cabin in the distance. Winry pointed it out to Ed and they both ran for it. As though sensing its prey was escaping, the lightning crashed down more and more frequently until a straight line of strikes was following close behind them. Ed reached the cabin first and wrenched it open, Den, howling loudly, ran past him and into the cabin. Winry nearly tripped as a bolt of lightning nicked her shoes. Ed grabbed her before she could fall and helped her into the cabin. He quickly shut the door bolted it for safety's sake. The storm clouds obscured the sky, casting shadows all around. The cabin was dark and slightly foreboding, as axes were hanging all over the room. Ed searched for a lamp as Winry looked around the cabin for whoever owned it.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Winry called out.
"Hello?" a voice called back. "Who's there? Why are you here?"
Winry glanced around the room, but couldn't see who the voice was coming from. Yet is sounded oddly familiar…
"I'm Winry Rockbell and this is Edward Elric. We just came here to get out of the rain."
"Did you say Edward Elric?" the voice asked excitedly.
Before Winry could answer, she heard a strange rhythmic metal clanging. A lamp flared into life and Winry briefly saw Ed smiling in triumph before he was gathered up into a tight hug by a walking suit of armor.
"Oh Brother, it's so good to see you again!"
"Can't breathe!" was all Ed managed to gasp out.
"Oh! Sorry Brother." Al said, letting his brother down.
Winry made her way over to the brothers and looked Al over. He looked exactly as he did in her world. This came as a kind of relief for her. Ed saw her walking over and said, "Hey Winry! This is the brother I was telling you about!"
"I'm very pleased to meet you." Al said, shaking Winry's hand. "Have you been keeping my brother out of trouble?"
Winry laughed as Ed yelled out, "What do you mean, 'keeping me out of trouble'?!?!?!?"
It felt good to laugh with the Elrics again. Yet the more time she spent in this strange world, the more she longed to be with the Elrics she knew and grew up with. It just wasn't the same…
She stared longingly out the window and noticed the storm had stopped raging, the clouds clearing and revealing the sun once more.
"Hey guys!" She said. "The storm's over!"
They all stepped outside and Ed said, "So Al, what've you been up to this whole time?"
"I used to live here with a woodcutter, but he left to go into the woods near the West and never came back. So I've just been living here by myself for the last few years."
"How lonely you must've been!" Winry said sympathetically.
"Hey, how come you weren't so sympathetic when you met me?" Ed asked.
"Because living alone for years and years is hardly comparable to being forced to milk cows!" Winry said.
Al laughed as he heard this and Ed fumed.
"So where are you two headed anyway?" Al asked.
"We're going to see the Fuhrer." Winry said. "I need a way to get back home, and Ed needs something he wouldn't tell me about."
Al looked questioningly at Ed before saying, "Are you going to ask about your dreams?"
Ed nodded but wouldn't say anything else on the matter. Winry could only wonder what Ed's dreams were…
"I'm coming with you." Al announced. "The Fuhrer should be able to undo the curse Etnad put on me right?"
"Of course!" Winry said, not knowing what the Fuhrer was capable of.
And so Winry, Ed, and Al continued on the journey down the Yellow Brick Road. But their path would be fraught with danger, for Dante has not yet given up on getting the Blood Red Slippers…
Ending Note: Boy, is this late! If anyone is still reading, enjoy! And review please!