Edward Elric stared up at the sky, flexing his metal right arm and trying to relax. Alphonse was wandering around, no doubt collecting all the local cats and hiding them in his armor.
They were visiting Resembool again, just for the sake of being there, something rare for Edward to want to do. However, he'd grown a bit taller, and his walk was becoming uneven, so he ended up using the impromptu visit for a quick adjustment to his leg. But Resembool was quiet and dull, and the young alchemist was ready to resume his search for the Philosopher's Stone. But Alphonse seemed happy, and Pinako and Winry didn't seem to be in any hurry this time around, so it seemed the trick would last much longer than he expected.
Rolling onto his stomach, Edward looked over at Den. The dog's own prosthetic leg was stretched out before him and he wore a doleful look on his face.
"You bored too?" asked Edward. Den whimpered. Smiling, he alchemist stood, followed by the large dog. Wandering down the hill, past dozing sheep and familiar faces, he made his way back to the small village. He saw Alphonse sitting outside the Rockbell's house, petting several cats that mewled and crawled in and out of a small crack in his armor.
Edward strode over and sat beside his younger brother. Den growled at the cats, who responded with unconcerned meows.
"If you aren't careful, one of those cats is gonna rub out your seal," he cautioned. Alphonse laughed, startling the cats inside of him out.
"I don't thing they can reach that high," he said, rubbing the back of his neck at about the spot his blood seal was. It was pretty high up, but Edward still worried. However, Alphonse didn't seem concerned, and that made him relax a bit. Standing up again, he looked out over the driveway, then up to the house. No doubt Winry was up in her room, calculating all sorts of new things to add to his leg. He didn't see why she went through all that work when all he needed was a height adjustment. But he wasn't going to mess with her. He didn't want to get hit again.
"I'm gonna go practice some alchemy, see if I can come up with something for this year's assessment," Edward said. Alphonse nodded, lost in the swarm of strays and pets alike that had come to receive his attention. Den, unsettled by all of this, continued to follow Edward.
Following a small, little known path, Edward made his way to a large clearing. A small grouping of boulders was on one side and a rambling stream coursed through the center. Looking around with satisfaction, Edward began to picture what it was he was after, going over the calculations of how to create it in mere seconds. He clapped his hands together, drawing an imaginary transmutation circle with them at the bottom in his mind. He placed his hands on one of the boulders and pulled an elaborately designed statue of Den from it, posed dramatically with his metal leg raised. Den wuffed at it, and Edward smiled.
Suddenly, Den began to growl. Edward glanced at him, but then turned back to scrutinize his work.
"You don't like it?" Edward asked. Den barked and leaped to his paws, but his gaze wasn't on Edward or the statue.
A hole, dark and menacing, had opened in the air. Edward gave a cry of surprise, leaping back. The hole didn't seem to be getting bigger or to be moving at all, just hanging there, like an empty eye, staring at the young alchemist and the dog. Edward approached it carefully, walking around it, sticking his hand in it. A tingling sensation crawled over his shoulder where the metal met his flesh. Pulling his hand back, he once again circled it. It didn't seem to go anywhere, or seem to be doing anything. Just floating.
Watching it carefully, Edward backed away, then turned around.
"C'mon, Den," he muttered, beginning to walk back down the path. Suddenly, a cry sounded behind him. Edward whipped around just in time to see the hole pulse, spitting out a bundle of cloth and hair. Edward ducked behind a tree, shushing Den's growls and watching carefully.
The bundle struggled to its feet, and Edward peered closely. From what he could see, it was an average boy. His white shirt had a grass stain on it, he peered around with wide blue eyes, his blonde hair was a mess. He was wearing what looked like the head pieces used by the military. Another alchemist, testing out a new formula? A test subject, perhaps, going through a hole formed by a cowardly master?
The boy then turned his whole body. One of his sleeves had torn, exposing a glowing blue panel meshed flawlessly with his skin, and, much to Edward's fascination, the boy tapped it, and it popped up, forming a translucent blue square in the air. He couldn't see what was written on the screen from his hiding spot, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. What sort of technology was this? Or was it alchemy.
The boy seemed surprised by whatever he was reading, but the surprise quickly turned to fear. He began to look around, probably searching for the hole he'd come through. Panic filled his eyes and he turned back to the square as though looking for some kind of trick. Finally he dispelled the square and crouched down in the middle of the clearing. Soon his shoulders began to shake, and a faint sob drifted over to Edward's ears.
After spending several moments of watching the boy crying and trying to figure out if he was a threat or not, Edward stood. Approaching the boy slowly, he crouched down next to him.
"Something wrong..?" he asked awkwardly, not used to being comforting and still uncertain of the boy's origins.
The boy jolted, looked up, and saw Edward. He quickly swiped the tears from his eyes.
"N-no," he stammered. Edward grinned.
"Funny, 'cause I thought I saw you crying a second ago," The boy froze, looking at Edward with a mix of suspicion and fear. However, it didn't take long for another moan to escape his mouth, and he hid his face and began to cry again.
"I shouldn've left! I knew it!" he wailed, "I… I…" his words became choked out. Edward began to feel uncomfortable. Alphonse was better at these things. Maybe he and Winry could get the boy's story out.
Standing, Edward looked back at Den, who was still growling softly.
"Ya wanna come back to the village with me? I'm sure me n' my brother can help you out…" he asked. The boy nodded mutely and took Edward's proffered hand. Standing up he turned out to be a few inches shorter than Edward, which nearly made him laugh. How old was this kid anyways? He decided not to ask right now.
"C'mon, this way," he said, starting back down the path. Den barked at the boy as they passed, causing him to suck in a sharp breath. Edward offered another grin, "Don't worry, he's friendly." The boy nodded and followed along, though he still looked uneasily over his shoulder every so often.
It had begun to grow dark, and the lights in the Rockbell house were on. Reading the sign as they passed, the boy looked up at Edward.
"What's 'automail?'" he asked. Edward laughed.
"Ask again when we get inside, you'll see!" he said, already imagining how the boy would react to Winry, running on and on about it. Pushing open the door, Edward called into the kitchen, "Alphonse! Granny! Winry! I'm back!" he said, "And I brought someone with me!"
Everyone turned to stare at the odd, frightened looking boy with the blue panel in his arm. The boy blushed and mumbled a hello.
"Who is this?" asked Pinako, reaching for another plate to put on the table. Edward looked at the boy. It occurred to him that he hadn't asked his name.
"Kagamine Len," said the boy, "You can just call me Len, though."
"Well, Len, are you hungry?" Pinako gestured to one of the empty seats. Edward had already plopped down beside Alphonse, and, realizing this, the boy, Len, scurried over to sit in the empty seat.
"So, Len, where are you from?" asked Winry cheerily. Len stared at his plate for a moment. He seemed to be considering something.
"Japan," he said at last. There was a blank silence for a moment. Everyone began staring again. Len blushed, "It's a really small country, not very many people know about it…"
"Oh…" said Winry, "How'd you end up here?" Now Len looked puzzled. Edward thought back to the hole he'd fallen through. Maybe it wasn't an experiment after all..?
"I dunno," admitted Len, "I just remember falling… and then I was in the clearing…" Everyone but Edward pondered this, wondering what could have happened.
"Where are your parents?" asked Alphonse. Len went stiff. He seemed to have trouble answering this question.
"I… don't know," he said. Edward could tell he was lying this time. He wondered who- or what- his parents were, or what had happened to them that he wanted to hide. However, he wouldn't pester the boy until later.
The table fell silent. Edward noticed that Len wasn't eating anything.
"Not hungry?" he asked. Again, Len went stiff.
"No," he said, "Not really…" Edward wondered what was wrong with Len. He seemed so… different, and the panel in his arm. Was it automail, or something else..? He noticed that everyone stole glances at it, bright and unavoidable, but no one asked. Finally, Edward's curiosity got the better of him.
"What's that panel on your arm?" he asked, pointing with his fork. Len turned his arm to look at it with surprise, as though he hadn't noticed it was visible. This seemed to be another hard question for him to answer.
"It's… it's, uh… it's… it's something… but… you wouldn't get what…" he said at last, "Don't worry about it…" He put his arm back under the table, hiding the glow, "Umn… thanks for letting me stay here for a bit… but I should probably get going-"
Pinako shot a glare at Len, who fell quiet.
"I won't let a little boy like you go wandering out in the dark," she said sharply, "You're more than welcome to stay here until you figure out how you ended up in that forest," Len began to argue, but was hushed, "I'll have a room ready for you in a minute, just stay here, ya got that?" Len nodded, waiting at the table as the short old lady scurried upstairs. Her footsteps could be heard above, hurrying from room to room.
Soon Pinako came back down.
"You're all set up," she said, "You'll be sharing a room with Ed and Al, second room on the right. Is that okay?" again, Len nodded. He stood up, his chair scraping against the wooden floor.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed now…" he said quietly, eyes downcast. There was the soft sound of his feet on the steps, then silence.
"How did you find him again?" asked Alphonse. Edward explained the whole story as it had happened, starting with the hole. When he finished, there was silence.
"Now I'm really curious…" said Winry, looking at the stairs.
"Likewise," said Edward.
A few hours later he and Alphonse were headed up to bed. Entering the darkness of the room, the blue glow was painfully obvious. Len appeared to be sleeping. Ed crawled into bed, and Alphonse sat by the window, staring out into the dark night. A few hours into the night, Edward was awakened by Alphonse tapping his shoulder silently. Staying quiet, Edward could hear a noise from the other side of the room. Len was crying again.