Wow, quick update. I surprise myself sometimes.

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After about ten minutes, Simba was about ready to give up on his search. How the heck was he supposed to prove Ed was innocent if he couldn't find the proof that Scar had promised would be here? Plus, he didn't know how much he liked being here. Something seemed… different.

He paced around for a while, trying to think. No, he had to find proof to save Ed. Ed was his friend. He would have done the same for him.

After a while, he heard footsteps. They sounded kinda like Ed's, but not like that metal leg that Ed had. Maybe it was a normal human. He turned to look for it, but it found him first.

Simba let out a surprised yell when he felt something grab him by the neck and pull him up off the ground. He swiped his paws at whatever it was, trying to hit the hand that was holding him. Then the hand turned, turning Simba along with it, and he found himself face-to-face with a red-eyed human with a scar on his face.

Immediately, what Ed had said to Scar a few days ago came rushing back to him, and he tried even harder to scratch this other Scar. However, his paws couldn't quite reach, and after the human looked at him for a moment, Simba found himself staring back out at the rocks. Scar was taking him somewhere.

Soon they came to a cave, and Scar continued to hold Simba by the neck while he grabbed something from a bag. Scar tied one end tightly around Simba's neck and tied the other around a rock that stood straight up off the ground. Simba tried pawing at the thing, but Scar grabbed him and began tying his paws together. Simba tried biting the man, but even that was too hard. He was stuck.

They sat in that cave for a long time in silence before Scar spoke. "I don't know what you did, Fullmetal, but I never expected to see you like that."

Simba was surprised to learn that he could understand it. He decided to try talking to him.

"Let me go!" he shouted. It got Scar's attention, but the human just gave him a weird look. Simba decided to try again. "Why do you hate Ed so much?" he asked, but Scar still didn't look like he understood. Simba decided to try one more test, just to be sure. "Look! My dad's standing right outside this cave and he wants to kill you!" he shouted. Still no reaction.

"I suppose it's impossible for you to speak in that form," Scar said. "I doubt you can perform alchemy, either. Looks like I have no need for revenge against you."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Simba asked, forgetting that Scar wouldn't be able to understand him.

"Although, I must say it's rather fitting," Scar said after a while. "Edward Elric did seem to have the spirit of a lion."

Simba was stunned. This guy thought he was Ed? Was that why he was all tied up? "Hey! I'm not Ed!" Simba tried shouting, but Scar simply laughed.

"You should be grateful. I'm leaving you alive."

So Scar wanted to kill him? Simba got scared and began struggling again. After a while, though, Scar put a hand on him and stopped his movements. Simba gave up after a while. He couldn't see any way out of this.

A while later, Scar pulled something out of a bag and held it in front of Simba's nose. The cub sniffed curiously at it for a while. It smelled like food, but nothing he'd ever eaten before.

He ate it anyway. He was really hungry.

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Mufasa stared into the small alcove in which Edward sat. The human had fallen asleep a while ago, but he was still curled up into a fetal position. Of course, it wasn't as if there was much more room available for him, but there was nothing to be done about that.

As soon as Edward had been placed under surveillance, Mufasa had gone out with several lionesses and his brother to look for Simba. They had scoured the rock for hours, but there was no sign of him. It seemed he had been transported to Edward's home, and there was no way to follow him that Mufasa knew of. It seemed there was something more to opening the way.

When he had returned, he got the report that Edward hadn't moved after bandaging his various new injuries, and that he'd been crying in the beginning. Mufasa was certain that Ed hadn't been involved, but something had told him to treat him with suspicion at first, at least until he had a chance to hold a private conversation with the human.

Edward shivered as he slept on, and he instinctively pulled his red coat closer around him. Mufasa watched as the human curled up into an even tighter ball, resting his head against the far wall. He turned to the lioness that was going to guard him that night.

"It's going to be a long night. You might want to make sure you can feel it if he wakes up."

She caught on immediately and gave Mufasa a knowing smile. "Too bad he doesn't have fur, huh?"

Mufasa merely nodded. "It's no wonder humans wear clothes."

And with that, he left. There was nothing more that could be done tonight. He would speak with Edward in the morning.

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It was weird to wake up and not be able to move. Simba tried for another minute before he remembered what had happened the day before. With Ed, and Uncle Scar, and… Scar…

The human was gathering his things and stuffing them into a bag. Simba watched curiously for a while, all the while wondering how he would get out of this. First he needed to convince this Scar that he wasn't Ed, but how could he do that if he couldn't talk to them?

Eventually, Scar turned to him and untied his legs. Simba immediately tried to run, but his legs gave out on him before he could take one step. He couldn't really feel them, either.

"Where do you think you're going?" Scar asked, his voice stern but not as scary as Simba had thought it would be. "Just because I'm leaving you alive doesn't mean you can go where you wish."

Simba stayed in place for a while before trying again. He managed to sit up, but he didn't feel like trying to do more than that. Scar looked at him again and held out some more food. Simba sniffed at it suspiciously for a minute. Last time he'd eaten Scar's food he'd fallen asleep right after. He was determined not to do that this time.

"This isn't drugged," Scar said after a while. "Just eat it."

Simba finally decided to take a bite. He waited for a while, but he didn't feel himself get sleepy, so he ate the rest willingly. By this point in time, he could support himself, and he walked as far as the thing on his neck would let him. Once he was satisfied that his legs were fine again, Simba sat and stared expectantly at Scar.

"What should I do with you?" Scar asked after a while. "It's obvious you can't take care of yourself like that."

Simba growled at this comment. He could too take care of himself! Of course, maybe Ed wouldn't be able to, but he wasn't Ed.

"Perhaps I should take you to your brother," Scar said after a while. Then he got up and untied Simba before sticking him inside his bag. Simba tried to protest, but as he had recently figured out, it was a pointless attempt. At least Scar let him stick his head out.

He watched curiously as Scar walked towards a place with strangely colored big things. He had no idea what they were, but as they came closer, he saw more humans entering and exiting from a big plank that they could push. Maybe they were big caves or something. At any rate, Simba continued to watch from his position as Scar turned off his path and ran down a darker opening between two lines of the cave things.

All of a sudden, something jumped down and landed in front of them. It looked kinda like a human, but it was made entirely out of metal and it had lots of spikes sticking out of it. It stood in a funny stance, as if it was waiting for something.

"Alphonse Elric," Scar growled. Simba blinked. That was Ed's brother's name. "What are you doing here?"

"That's my line," Alphonse replied. "What did you do to my brother?"

"Strange, that's exactly why I came to find you," Scar said. "I haven't done anything to your brother. Someone else got to him first."

"Yeah, my dad!" Simba shouted. He was hoping that Alphonse would understand him.

"What's that in your bag?" Alphonse asked.

"As far as I can tell, it's a chimera. I thought I'd return it to you."

"What? Is this some kind of trick?"

"As I promised, I will not harm you. You aren't one of them." With that, Scar swung the bag off of his shoulder, causing Simba to feel momentarily sick, pulled him out, and placed him on the ground. "And I did not kill your brother because this seems to be a more fitting punishment. Take him."

Simba was very confused now. What did he mean by punishment? And why did everyone think he was Ed? And… where did Scar go? When he turned back to see the red-eyed human, he saw nothing.

"Brother…?" Alphonse asked tentatively. Simba turned and looked up at the big metal thing. Now what?

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Is it just me or does this chapter seem to be going rather quickly? Oh well, nothing I can do about that… (meaning I'm too lazy to do anything…)

I often forget that my stories have names.