Chapter 5 – The Mining Town Part I

A train whistle blew at is sped past the land at a past pace. The train was empty other than the two who sat together at one booth.

"Looks like we're the only ones on board," Ludwig noted.

Gilbert looked up from the map he was looking at. "I've heard the rumors, but I didn't know it was this bad. Guess this isn't exactly tourist country. 'The town on the Eastern border' The Youswell Coal Mines."

XXX

"So this is where we get coal …" the albino muttered after getting off the train. "The Wild frontier, eh?" I thought a place like this would be a little more lively."

Everyone in the town moved slowly as if they needed more sleep.

"Everyone seems a little tired," Ludwig added.

A young boy maybe 12 walked past Gilbert and hit him on the back of the head with the piece of wood he was carrying.

"Oops! Sorry 'bout that," the boy said.

"Why you little …"

"Hey!" The boy seemed to realize something. "You're from out of town, right? On a trip?"

"Uh …"

"Where you from?"

"Well …"

"Need a meal?"

"Hold on …"

"A place to stay? Dad! We got customers!" The boy turned to yell at a tall man standing away a ways.

"Listen when people talk to you!" Gilbert yelled, annoyed at the kid for cutting him off.

"Huh?" The man asked. "What's that Khayal?"

"Customers! A piggy bank!" Khayal responded.

"What do you mean, 'Piggy Bank'!"

"You don't say," Khayal's father said with a grin.

XXX

Gilbert and Ludwig soon found themselves seated in an inn with other miners sitting around them.

"Sorry about the dust. The mines don't pay very much, so we run this inn to get by."

"What're talking' 'bout, Chief! Your problem is, you're a soft touch! Always giving what you make to the poor!"

"That's why your old lady's always crying!"

"Keep it down, you!" Chief yelled, holding two beers. "If you got a problem with how I spend my money, than hurry up and pay me what you owe me for the booze!"

"So, there's two of you … you want one night's stay and two meals each?" Chief's wife asked the brothers.

"How much?" Gilbert asked.

"What … afraid you can't afford it?" Chief asked.

"Don't worry, I brought enough."

"200 thousand!"

Gilbert then fell to the ground in shock.

"200 thousand? What a rip off!"

"I said you might not be able to afford it," Chief said. "We don't get too many tourists, so when they come we try to make sure that they leave us all their money."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Gilbert said, starting to leave. "We'll go somewhere else."

Chief grabbed the teenager. "There's no escape, Piggy Bank!"

"Forget it," Khayal added. "The prices are the same everywhere else."

XXX

"We really don't have enough," Gilbert muttered, looking at the amount of money that he and his brother had brought. The two were sitting on the floor without any miners near by. "I guess the only thing we can do us use alchemy to turn pebbles into gold!" he whispered.

"You know it's forbidden by the State Alchemy Laws to make gold!" his brother whispered back.

"If we don't get caught … we don't get caught," Gilbert reasoned.

"You're evil!" Ludwig responded.

They froze when they saw Khayal sitting next to them.

"Dad! This guy's an alchemist!" He yelled.

XXX

A broken ax sat on the table. Gilbert clapped his hands and placed them on the ax. Moments later the ax was fixed.

"This is great! Our first customer in ages, and he's an alchemist!

"I used to dabble a little bit myself," Chief said, holding a plate of food for Gilbert. "But I didn't really have the talent, so I gave up. I'll give you a special alchemist friendship discount."

"Sounds good!"

"All together, that's a 50% discount. 100 thousand!"

"That's still a lot!" Gilbert said, as he got ready to eat his meal.

"By the way, I didn't catch you name," Chief said.

"Oh yeah …? Gilbert Beilschmidt."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the plate was taken away. Gilbert looked up, surprised.

"So you're Beilschmidt the Alchemist … the State Alchemist?"

"We sort of …" Gilbert reached for his drink but it had been taken away as well.

"Hey what's the big deal?" He asked, annoyed.

"Get lost!" Yelled the miners as they kicked the brother's out.

"Hey! We're paying customers!" Gilbert yelled.

"Bleach! We don't have food or lodgings for dogs of the military!"

"Um, I'm a civilian," Ludwig said. "I'm not a 'state' anything."

"Oh, that's fine then! Come on in!"

"You traitor!" Gilbert yelled as his brother left him to go into the inn.

"Man, just when I thought we had a paying guest," a man said.

"What a let down …" another added.

"State Alchemists aren't too popular around here, are they?" Ludwig asked Khayal, from where he was sitting.

"Of course. Everyone here hates soldiers. This town's under the authority of Lieutenant Yoki, but all he cares about is making money."

"I heard he spends it all on brides to his superiors back in Central City," a miner said.

"He even bought he way to being a lieutenant," another added.

"Used to be, he just owned the coal mines, but he got greedy about movin' up," a third added.

"So this place is …" Ludwig started.

"Yup, this is Yoki's private property," the second man who had spoken said.

"That rat owns everything in this town! We don't get paid enough to get by!"

"Even if we complain to someone higher up on the chain, Yoki brides them all, so they won't help!"

"See? It sucks, huh?" Khayal said.

"And then there's the State Alchemists," Chief said. "'Alchemists work for the people.' That's the slogan of the Alchemists … the source of their pride," the man sighed. "I know they get a lot in exchange … but I can't forgive people who sell their souls to the military state."

XXX

Gilbert's stomach growled. He lay on a large work bench on his suitcase, mock sobbing.

"I'm hungry," he moaned. "Damn you, West … have you lost your humanity so soon?" He asked to no one.

A plate of food appeared in front of his face. He looked up to see his brother holding it.

"I snuck out with the food they gave me," Ludwig said.

"Dear bruder!" Gilbert said, hugging his brother, sobbing tears of joy.

"Gott, you're so predictable."

After calming Gilbert down and the albino had started eating, Ludwig told him about what he had learned about the miners and Yoki.

"Hmm … these corrupt official types are everywhere, huh?"

"I guess," the armor responded. "Thanks to this guy, they don't even get enough food supplies."

Gilbert stopped with a sandwich wrap half way to his mouth.

"… I see.

"That Lieutenant Yoki's causing a lot of trouble. I mean, military personnel like us aren't very popular to begin with. When I became a State Alchemist I knew I'd get a certain amount of flack, but I never knew they would hate me this much."

"Maybe I should get certified as a State Alchemist too," Ludwig asked after a small silence.

"It's not worth it!" Gilbert said with a pained grin. "One person sitting on this bed of needles is enough. 'Dogs of the Military', huh?" He asked glancing at his drink. "I don't know how to respond to that."

"Not only that, but we broke the Laws of Alchemy and now we're stuck with these bodies …" Ludwig said. "I wonder what our Teacher would say if she ever found out …"

There was a silence as they thought about what she would say and do to them if she ever did find out about what they had done.

"She …" Ludwig started.

"She'd kill us …!" Gilbert said in complete horror, shuddering.

"Out of the way! We're coming in!" A voice yelled, catching the brother's attention.

XXX

A thin medium sized man with black hair in a military uniform and two other men walked into the inn.

"Place looks filthy as usual, Halling," the man said.

"… Well, well, Lieutenant. What brings you to a shabby place like this?" Chief/Halling asked.

"Enough small talk," Yoki said. "I hear you're late on your taxes. I know you're not the only deadbeat in this town, but don't expect me just to ignore you."

"I'm very sorry, but we're barely getting by as it is …"

"Hmph … I see you can still afford to sell alcohol," Yoki said, looking around. "I guess that means I can lower your salary a bit more?"

"Wha-!"

"Why you …!" Khayal yelled, throwing a cloth in Yoki's face. "You better be joking!"

"You little brat!" One of the guards said. "Sir, allow me …!"

With a regretful look on his face, Yoki slapped Khayal in the face, knocking the boy off balance.

"Khayal!" His father yelled, seeing his son hit the ground, hard.

"I won't hold back just because he's a child," Yoki said as a guard pulled out a sword.

"Let this be a warning," the guard said, as he brought down the sword aiming at Khayal. He was stopped however by Gilbert's right arm blocking the sword.

"What? It broke …?"

"Wh … where did this kid come from!" Yoki asked.

"Just a kid passing through," Gilbert said.

"This is none of your business! Stay out!"

"Well, I heard that the Lieutenant was gonna be here …" the albino said as he was reaching into his pocket. "… So I decided to say hello." He pulled out a watch and showed it to Yoki.

"Eh? What's this?" He asked, rubbing his chin in thought. 'A silver watch with the president's crest and the hexagram!' His eyes widened as he remembered what that meant.

"Lieutenant, who is this brat …?"

"You idiot!" Yoki said. "Don't you know what a State Alchemist is? They work directly for the President!" He whispered to the guard.

"You're not serious? Not that little runt!"

'I thought I heard "runt" …'

"This my chance …"

"Huh?"

"If I make an impression here, I might be able to make some connection at Central!"

"Wow, you're really on top of things, Lieutenant!"

"I'm sorry if my subordinates were impolite," Yoki said to Gilbert. "My name is Yoki, and I'm in charge of this town. It must be fate that we met here! There's no need for you to stay in this pig-pen!"

"What do you mean 'Pig-Pen'!" Khayal asked, angrily.

"Even though we're far from the city, we have some lovely rooms back at my house."

"Well, I guess that would be all right …" Gilbert grinned. "… Because the owner here is too cheap to let the awesome me stay."

As Yoki and Gilbert left, the former turned to the people. "Listen, here, you lowlifes. I'm going to make you pay every penny of the taxes that you owe me. I'll be back!"

"Aaggh! That makes me so, mad!" Khayal yelled.

"Mad at who?" Ludwig asked. The younger brother had been quietly watching the entire thing while his brother had been talking to Yoki.

"Both of them!" The other miners yelled.

To be continued …

I would like to say thank you to all of you who have reviewed my story. Also I might be using some ideas for APH characters as FMA characters, but if I did I'll remember to give you the credit! Just a small question from last chapter; do you guys think I over did it on Fem!France's accent? I just want to know for the next time I write him/her.

Well I got another chapter done in less then a day so I'm happy right now.

I'll try to get the next one up soon!

R&R please and thank you!