Too tired to comment on anything this time. Enjoy.

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Ed's head was throbbing mercilessly as he slowly came to senses. He blinked a few times, trying to figure out what he was doing in such a strange position when he remembered. He'd been placed here after Simba had disappeared. Of course, when he'd drifted off into sleep, he hadn't been pinned between a rock and a lion…

"You're awake?" the lioness asked after a moment. Ed looked down. To his surprise, she didn't seem very angry with him. Had Simba been found?

"Whusgoinon?" Ed mumbled, then frowned. He really needed to stop talking while half awake and in pain…

The lioness let out a laugh. Ed cringed and gripped his head. This was incredibly painful. "Some of us are still looking for Simba. The rest are hunting. The king wants to speak with you when you've recovered some. You'll get some food later."

"Okay," Ed mumbled before burying his head in his arms and leaning back on the rock. It felt nice and cool against his skin, and Ed wondered momentarily if he had a fever. He took a minute to relax before he reached up with his hand to check. He was rather disappointed to realize it was his automail hand.

"Are you feeling okay?" the lioness asked after a while.

Ed shook his head and closed his eyes. He checked his forehead with his left hand, and to his relief, it wasn't burning. He was just a little out of it from everything that had happened yesterday.

He dozed off after a while; it wasn't until he felt a paw poking at his back that he managed to snap out of it and look outside. Mufasa was sitting in front of him; other than that, the cave was empty.

"We need to talk," the lion said.

"I already said it, I don't know what happened," Ed muttered before going back to his previous position.

"Then tell me what you do know."

"I…" Ed sighed and turned so that he was lying on his back, his knees bent due to the lack of space. "Simba wanted to show me something outside. When we got out there, something hit me and I hit my head on the stone."

"Then why didn't I find you there?" Mufasa asked.

"I don't know. I just woke up and Scar was accusing me of doing something with Simba…" Ed shut his eyes. He was aggravated. Why did everyone he cared about have to be hurt? He cared about… He did. He actually cared about the cub. Not as much as he cared about Al, but over the past few days, Simba really had become a good friend. Same with almost everyone else here, now that he thought about it. Well, except for Zazu…

"So you didn't see who attacked you?"

Ed shook his head wearily. "No. They caught me off guard."

"I see." Mufasa leaned down close to Ed's face. "Get some rest. I get the feeling that you weren't supposed to live through all this."

Ed blinked. Was Mufasa taking his side? But why? He'd been the one to force Ed into this space, and he'd seemed so angry the day before. Why had he changed his mind?

"If my son isn't found by the time you heal, I expect you to search for him. Do you have any problems with that?"

Ed looked up at Mufasa after a moment. The lion wasn't smiling, but his gaze was friendly somehow. He slowly nodded, determined to prove himself to these creatures. He would bring Simba back.

"Good. I'll be watching you for the rest of the day. I wouldn't want my brother to lose his temper on you again."

Scar. So that was it. Mufasa probably didn't believe his brother either, but he didn't want to show it just yet. Besides, now that Ed thought about it, forcing him to stay in a confined space as a prisoner was probably the only to prevent him from going after Simba while he was so badly injured.

Or at least, that's what Ed hoped was the case. He decided to play along, just in case he was wrong and Mufasa decided to bite his head off. It was best to play it safe for a while.

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Simba was completely dumbfounded when Alphonse picked him up and looked him straight in the eye. Not only did he think that Simba was Ed, but he was just picking him up and staring at him now? What next?

"Brother, is that really you?" Alphonse asked.

"No! My name is Simba!" Simba shouted, shaking his head so hard it hurt, but Alphonse simply continued to look at him.

"I can't understand you if you're like that," Alphonse said. "Did Scar do this to you?"

"No," Simba answered, forgetting that Alphonse couldn't understand him.

"Just nod or shake your head."

Simba shook his head. He wasn't sure what Alphonse was talking about, but neither Scar he knew was responsible for the current situation.

"Okay, let's go back to East City. Maybe the Colonel will have an idea."

Simba panicked. He didn't want to go anywhere other than home right now, and he fought his hardest to break out of Alphonse's grip.

"Oh, come on, brother. It's not like we have much of a choice."

Simba gave up. It was clear that he wasn't going to win this argument. He let himself go limp and allowed Alphonse to carry him. They stopped just before coming into a big opening, and Alphonse turned around and walked a little ways back before kneeling, letting go of Simba, and opening the thing that covered his chest.

"Come on, brother, I don't think it'll be good if anyone sees you like this. You're a little too big to pass for a normal cat, you know."

Simba scowled. He wasn't a normal cat! He was the future king of lions! To his surprise and dismay, however, Alphonse took a look at his face and began laughing.

"What's so funny?" Simba asked, once again forgetting that Alphonse couldn't understand him.

"Sorry, brother, it's just that I've never seen you get upset about being called too big. Anyway, you'd better get in here. It's gonna be a few hours before we get to East City."

Simba hesitated for a minute before entering the small space. Then, with a few clunks, he was trapped inside the space, and he found himself trying to find a comfortable place as Alphonse stood and began walking.

He was let out some time later, and Simba found himself in a small space. He jumped up onto what seemed to a bed and looked curiously up at Alphonse.

"Careful of your claws, brother. They'll be mad if you tear the blankets."

Simba looked down and retracted his claws as Alphonse busied himself with packing. A few minutes later, Simba found himself inside that space again.

"You should be quiet during the train ride, brother. I could really get in trouble if someone finds out about you."

Simba let out a resigned sigh. Not being able to communicate was really getting on his nerves.

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A few hours later, Simba found himself listening to a strange dialogue that obviously involved him. He placed his paws on the outer metal, trying to see if he could get a good look at whoever was outside. It seemed it was someone that knew Ed and Alphonse, or Al, as some people around here called him, pretty well.

"I'm surprised you came here alone," a deep voice remarked as Al sat down. "Where's Fullmetal?"

"That's… kind of what I came to talk to you about, Colonel," Al replied. "I think he got involved in a pretty big mess this time."

The Colonel groaned, and Simba tried not to laugh. It was obvious that Ed was as big a troublemaker as he was. "What did he destroy this time?"

"N-nothing! It's not like that, sir," Al stammered. "It's something he did to himself."

"What did he do?" the Colonel asked, his voice filled with concern.

"Um, well… I think someone's doing experiments with chimeras," Al said. Simba heard a clunk, and a little bit of light entered the space.

Another groan. "Don't tell me he's inside your armor, Alphonse."

"Sorry…" And with that, the metal was removed and Simba blinked before taking a step out of the armor. He took a few more steps before sitting on Al's knee and looking at the human in front of him. This one had black hair, and he looked rather startled to see Simba. The guy was staring at him, for crying out loud!

"Are you sure it isn't just some stray lion?" the Colonel asked.

"How many lions can answer questions?" Al asked in response.

The colonel blinked. "Mind if I try it out?"

"Go ahead."

His current seat was getting rather uncomfortable, and Simba jumped lightly to the table in between him and the Colonel. He stepped forward and sat facing the older human.

"Fullmetal, is that you?"

Simba scowled, and he shook his head out of sheer stubbornness.

"Well, what do you know, he says he isn't," the Colonel remarked, though his voice sounded pretty tense.

"He did that with me, too," Al said. "But I guess he won't be able to tell us why, unless…"

The Colonel looked curiously at Al. "Unless what?"

"Do you have some paper and a pen?" Al asked.

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To Ed's relief, Mufasa allowed him to exit the space for a while that night. He didn't go very far, just far enough to be able to spread out his limbs, but it was still sheer bliss. It was starting to get uncomfortable in his little 'prison.'

He lay on the ground nearby, staring at the ceiling and wondering about various things. Had Simba been found yet? How long would it be before his body healed? What was Al doing at the moment? What about Scar…?

He let out a resigned sigh and curled up on his side, ignoring the jolt of pain in his knee as he did so. He needed to stop thinking. It wasn't doing him a lot of good.

"Your leg's bleeding," Mufasa remarked from nearby. Ed blinked, sat up, and inspected the wound. Sure enough, it had opened again. He sighed, leaned against the stone, and began applying pressure to his wound. Mufasa walked up and sat next to him.

"There is still no sign of my son," he said. "It looks like he found his way into your world."

Ed let out another sigh and shut his eyes. "I was afraid of that."

"What would happen if someone were to find him?"

Ed opened his eyes for a while to bandage his knee once again. "It really depends on who finds him. If my brother does, then he'll be in good hands."

"And if it's someone else?"

Ed finished up with his leg and rested his head against the stone again. "I don't know, but to be honest, some people might try to kill him."

It was silent in the cave for a while before Mufasa spoke again. "What are the odds of your brother finding him?"

Ed shrugged. "He's probably looking for me, so there's a pretty good chance they'll run into each other. And if I know Al, he'll probably be more than willing to look after Simba for a while."

"Then let's hope they find each other," Mufasa said.