Hai! I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I update one chapter of "Ed the Cat," then one of "Al the Cat," and the cycle has been like that since I started these fics. It's something that I like that I am doing, for some reason. I guess the fact that there is still a routine even though I don't post on certain days of the week or whatever. And tomorrow my brotha-from-anotha-motha is gonna go to the MTC! Today was the last time we got to see him (and hug him) before he went on his mission. Tomorrow I'm gonna wear a tie that he gave me in honor of him, I guess you could say. He taught me how to tie ties and everything! :') Can't wait to see him in two years!

On with the story!

Stray Kitten's POV:

The cat I had led to this place was just staring at the paper on the desk. And his human too. I guessed it was something important for them, but I obviously didn't know what it meant. After a minute or two, the human said something to the cat, who seemed to understand him, and his head turned to me.

"How did you find this?"

"It's as I said before. I was on the street down there when I heard a bunch of noise come from up here, and then I saw that metal man you were asking about earlier being clanked around inside. I think it saw me, which was why I ran away. I saw you while running away, and knew you would want to know this, and that if something were to happen here you would be okay, with that weird ability of yours. But I guess it escaped before we got here."

"Weird that he would've left these notes, even if he was in a hurry..." The human said something again, and the cat nodded his head in response. "Did you find out anything else about the human?"

"Sorry, no. In the hurry to get away, I didn't get to catch anything different about it."

The cat's face drooped a little in sadness, but it quickly seemed to accept it and started to go away. I wanted to at least know his name, considering we have met more than once.

"Wait! What is your name?" The cat seemed surprised by me, but smiled with a small amount of pride.

"Al! Yours?" I never had a name. I usually just tell others to call me whatever, the few that ever asked. The silence seemed to give it away. I saw Al's head tilt a little in curiosity.

"What's that on your belly?" I looked down, and sat down in a way that he could see. He suddenly seemed to mentally laugh at some ironic joke at seeing the black mark.

"If you want, I can call you Star." I cheered up a little inside, as the name seemed to have a nice ring to it. The two of us, plus the human, walked out of the building, and both of us exchanged our farewells before walking in different directions.

Ed's POV:

It was kinda awkward for me to just stand there while watching what I supposed was two cats communicating, having started the conversation by asking Al to get info out of the other, then later interrupting to ask if it's the guy we are looking for, in which I received a nod. As we were about to leave, I grabbed the notes, knowing the culprit would know it was us, but oh well. Maybe he'll come to US to get them back, and this whole search would be over much sooner.

We arrived at the inn and walked into our room after I unlocked it, and immediately we went over to the table to get right to work at figuring out the notes. I couldn't tell if it was in code, his handwriting was horrible, or both, but it was pretty illegible.

We both sat there focusing on the 'words' until I ultimately decided that it would not be possible.

"Al, I don't think we can read this, no matter how hard we try. But there is something out of it- this guy seems to really know his stuff. It seems like there's a formula here and here." I pointed at the sections of the notes I was referring to. "I guess we can use the fact that it looks like he's an expert at this. There's gotta be someone here that is known for doing research of the kind, right?"

Al understood immediately what I was saying, and nodded in agreement. I hoped we could find someone with that kind of history, because this would soon all be over. Not many people know about blood seals, after all. Glancing outside, I realized that there would still be plenty of time to get this information to Colonel Mustang. We both then looked at the notes, then to each other, having once again a silent understanding. I grabbed the papers once again as we flung ourselves out of the door, and after locking the room again, took the quickest route to the Headquarters.

At this point, everyone has seen us coming in at least daily, so I didn't get stopped as we guided ourselves through the halls to the Colonel's office, barely even thinking about the turns taken. It was also expected that when I was to come into the building, I would open the door with no invite and just say some random insult to Mustang. However, I think I surprised his team by coming back so soon after the first time today.

"Oh, did you already get something, Fullmetal?"

"Yeah, I did." I got a look from my brother. "Okay, Al did." Another look. "Okay, a friend of his did. Happy, now?" A nod from the cat. I just sighed with an irritated air as I walked up to the desk at the back of the room and dropped the notes onto it.

"These are from the guy we are looking for. It's impossible to read, but I can tell there's some expert research written down on there." The Colonel skimmed them and did an understanding grunt.

"But why do you have his notes, and not the guy himself?"

I was about to answer, but then remembered that only Al knew for sure. I gave him a little nudge with my foot until he complied, walking over to an empty typewriter, knowing that this was gonna be the fastest way to say anything. The nearest officer put a blank paper into the typewriter, and Alphonse once again started to type the information that only he knows. He reread everything he had written before jumping down, signaling we can all look now. I was the first to get the report, and after reading, I scowled a little without thinking and passed the paper on to the next person. It was until Mustang put it back down onto his desk that I said something.

"I guess if he really did somehow get away before we had arrived at the scene, then he's quick, too."

"This friend of yours doesn't lie, right, Alphonse?" My brother seemed almost offended by the Colonel's question. I know that Al is able to judge character pretty well, but there had still been times in the past where he was perhaps too quick to trust. He shook his head in denial, and I just agreed with him. That dinky little kitten didn't look like it wasted its days giving fake information to other cats in situations it didn't have anything to do with, much less understand. Colonel Mustang seemed to accept the answer, and continued to look at the notes. I guessed he expected me to just leave him alone with the papers, so I turned around, and saw Al come over to walk out too.

"Bye, Colonel Mus-turd."

He seemed to have been too focused on the papers to even realize I had just tried to insult him. ...Until he shouted his reply after the door was closed behind me.

"Goodbye, fish."

"HOW DOES THAT EVEN MAKE SENSE?!" I knew he was just trying to annoy me, but I hate to admit that it worked. Was he expecting me to try to figure out some meaning to it throughout the rest of the day? No way was I gonna let that happen! ...Too late.

Al's POV:

Brother seemed kind of tense and focused on something else until he fell asleep a few hours later, when it had become night. I knew it was because of the strange insult(?) Colonel Mustang had yelled at him earlier. Who WOULDN'T be confused to no end if they were called a fish?

Well, Scaehime, you got your wish for Star to be in this story! XD (Refer to my first fanfic.) I always suspected that little kitten to be him, but didn't decide to make it official until now. I don't think that this story is connected to "Al Meets a Star," because then that would mean that he actually met the cat more than once before he got his human body again, thus throwing the second half of the two-shot out of whack.

I hope you guys are starting to get what I'm hinting at about the culprit of this act... But I still don't know what his motive would be! It wouldn't be just some random criminal that they had come across while Ed was a State Alchemist. No, it has to be someone that has a better reason than petty revenge. It has to be TRUE revenge, if ya get what I mean. ...Maybe send a suggestion? Your suggestions probably help me more than you think, guyz.

Oh, and who wants to call someone a fish now?! :D I sure do! It has to be timed perfectly, but when done right, can have a lasting effect on the insultee, that effect mainly being confused to death.

Happy New Semester! (Mine starts tomorrow!) K bai!