A/N: Hello, all. Short chapter today, but I just updated this yesterday. My updates will probably be rather inconsistent. It just depends on when I find the time and motivation to write. Also, this chapter is where Stray Dog really comes up. It's on mangafox if anyone is curious.

On the chapter title: This is another of Aesop's fables. It is about an ant who, stumbling upon a chrysalis, begins to speak about how pitiful a creature the chrysalis is because it cannot run and climb as he can, only to have a butterfly emerge from the chrysalis with the ability to fly. The moral is that appearances can be deceptive.

Thank you to terracannon876, anele1996, and ducky for reviewing the last chapter. : )

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist and Stray Dog both belong to Hiromu Arakawa.

The following days and weeks passed in much the same way. Ed was confined to the tiny, white room while, he supposed, the master's trial was underway. The only time he left that room was when they removed the bullet from his shoulder. Mustang had been present for that and, as much as he wished to seize the opportunity to escape, he found himself feeling compelled to obey the dark haired man. After all, this man had spared him, even after Ed had tried to kill him.

The worst part of being confined was the solitude. Ed thought he would lose his sanity to the boredom that came from spending all of his time alone. To stave off the madness, Ed had taken to drawing circles on the floor and walls under the bed. As he had nothing else with which to write, he had taken to using his own blood. The nurse who looked after his healing bullet wounds seemed worried by the deep cuts on his side. Roy had said something to that effect as well the last time he had visited.

Roy was the only one who ever visited him. He would come by every few days to check on Ed's wounds. Or at least that was why he claimed he was there. Usually he just stood against the wall next to the door and talked to Ed. He was still trying to find out if Ed had any family. The boy remembered him mentioning that he had someone named Hughes looking into it. The last Ed had heard, Hughes had hit several dead ends but thought he might have a lead.

Ed had no way of knowing that several stories above his future was looking less than certain.

"That is unacceptable!" Roy growled, slamming his open palms against his desk.

"They believe him to be dangerous, sir," the blonde woman said calmly from where she stood at attention in the center of the room.

"He's only a child," the colonel replied fiercely. He sighed and sank back into his chair. "At ease, Lieutenant," he said wearily, rubbing his temples.

Hawkeye nodded and moved to lean on the arm of the couch, watching Roy with a soft frown. "In fairness, sir, he did attack you with the intent to kill."

The man looked up at her, expression grim. "I'm looking into why."

"Sir?" Hawkeye pressed. She had known Roy since they were children. She could tell from his expression and tone that there were things he wasn't telling her. And they weren't good.

Roy sighed deeply before beginning to speak again in a deadened tone. It was one Riza had become painfully familiar with during the war. She pushed the thought from her mind and listened to what Roy had to say.

"I know you're familiar with alchemy," the colonel began. "So I won't waste time going into great detail. I've been doing some research and discovered something… interesting. You're aware that Drachma was once a great alchemic power?"

She nodded.

"Shortly after Drachma was founded, they created what they claimed were the perfect soldiers. They were called Military Dogs. They weren't alchemists like Ametris' dogs of the military. They were chimeras. Human-dog hybrids created using a form of alchemy that was lost centuries ago. They had the intelligence of a human and the undying loyalty of a dog. But they were without free will. They were bound to a master and compelled to obey any command their master gave them, no matter what it was they were ordered to do. I believe that is what Heig was after. He was attempting to create a Military Dog."

Riza stared at him for a moment, eyes wide, trying to process the information Roy had given her. "Have you told anyone?"

Roy shook his head. "You're the only one who knows. I plan to discuss the idea with Maes, since research is his area of expertise. But right now he doesn't even know that Ed is a chimera. All Maes knows is that Ed was kidnapped and doesn't remember where he's from."

Riza nodded in response. Maes would be a good person to discuss this with. Maes was level headed and able to keep a secret. But there was something else bothering her.

"There are some branches of alchemy the world is better off without," she whispered, staring down at her hands.

Roy didn't like the look on his lieutenant's face. "Riza…"

She looked back up at him, trying to smooth out her expression. "I'm sorry."

The two sat in silence for a long while before there was a knock on the door. Without even giving Roy time to answer, a bespectacled man in his late twenties poked his head into the room. He didn't comment on the grim expressions on his friends' faces. He knew those looks. They would tell him when they were ready.

His announcement immediately earned him the colonel and the lieutenant's full attention. "I think I have something on the boy."