This chapter brought to you by: my friends! Thank you for all the reviews, and keep 'em coming! -Edited chapter 10/14/16

It was all too much to take in. A lot happened in the past few hours, and Al was still frightened and jumpy. The people who rescued him were kind, and he felt like he could trust them. He didn't know if his brother would be okay; there had been a lot of blood.

The sky was now clear blue, the last remnants of the smoke from the massive attack vanished with the breeze. Once the wind began to pick up, the ocean became dotted with white-crested waves. A flock of seabirds flew overhead, making a much needed break in the silence.

Near the ship, Al could see three small boats making their way to the shore. They moved swiftly through the tumbling waves, and swarms of birds continued to fly above. "There's a storm approaching." The youngest person in the crew, Fuery, explained to Al. "We'll try making it to our base before it hits, don't worry." This was the man who would be taking care of Al for now. He seemed friendly enough, so Al was okay with it. Right now, the only thing he cared about was the well-being of his brother. "Okay, in you go." Fuery lifted Al carefully by looping his arms under the boy's armpits, then set him down gently in the small dinghy.

Al played in the ocean all the time, as there wasn't much else to do in their small seaside village. Despite being right next to the water for his whole life, he had never ridden in a boat before, and neither had his brother. Being in the dinghy was not bad, but upon seeing the size of the ship, the thought of boarding it was rather intimidating.

The ship's wood was stained a deep red color, with the word 'Peacemaker' painted in black letters across her side and several cannon slots were lined across the hull. Several ropes were tossed down from above when the lifeboat went into the correct position, and Fuery looped the metal hooks on the ends of the rope through the metal bars on the side of the dinghy.

They were pulled onto the deck, and Alphonse let out an awed gasp; the deck was even more impressive than he imagined. The masts were enormous, and it most likely looked even more magnificent when the sails were opened. Amazingly, Al saw something he thought he would never see on a ship; a tall, coal-black smoke stack in the center of the deck. It was a steam-powered sail ship, the best money could buy.

The only time he had seen a ship like it before was when Granny Pinako took him, Ed, and Winry to Central for a weekend trip, where they visited the Royal port. These kinds of ships belonged to the Navy, but he didn't think these people were from the military. They wore plain clothes that were typical of the higher middle class, which bore no military pins.

Al didn't know much about boats and the Royals, but he did know having a ship equipped with such heavy artillery and the design itself was illegal to own unless you were military personnel. There was no flag with a military crest flying overhead, or any flag at all.

"How are you feeling?" Al still had a hand pressed firmly over his eye, and he could still feel a slight trickle of blood flowing through his fingers.

"It hurts."

"I'm sorry." Fuery lowered his voice when they stepped down the metal stairs into the bowels of the ship. "We only have one doctor, and he's really busy now I'm afraid." Al knew the doctor was working with his brother, who needed more help than he did. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"Yes, sir." Al responded with a dull voice. He wanted to see his brother, or better yet, travel back through time so he could have found a way to prevent the barn from falling down in the first place.

"You can call me by my first name when the captain isn't around, if you like. He's just a pushover." Fuery knelt and held out his hand. "My name is Kain." Al held up his small hand, but retreated it when he saw it was covered in blood.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"It's okay." Kain kept his hand out, so Al grabbed it.

"I'm Al."

"Here," Kain was searching through his pockets and pulled out a bandana. "Use this so you can have both of your hands free." For the first time, Al let both of his hands go so Kain could wrap the cloth around his head, which did a sufficient job covering his injured eye.

Kain pushed a door open, which had a worn out painting of a sailfish nailed in the center of it. The strong scent of cooked fish filled the air, which nearly caused Al to salivate. "What have we here?" The new, deeper voice caused Al to jump, and he spun his head so his good eye could see where the voice came from. The new person was a large young man, and he was flipping fish on the stovetop.

"This is Al, and he will be staying with us for a while. Al, this is Heymans Breda, the finest cook on the sea." As Kain introduced him, Heymans stuffed a piece of shrimp in his mouth.

"Hello." Heymans managed to say while he gulped down the steaming food. Al meagerly waved a hand while eyeing the freshly cooked food. "Oh, Fuery, we ran out of water. Tell the captain we need to acquire more, unless he plans on drinking wine for the next month."

"Of course." Before Kain could make his way to the door, Mustang walked in the cafeteria.

"Speak of the devil." Heymans muttered under his breath.

"Fuery, I need you for a moment." Mustang crossed his arms and looked at their newest inhabitant of the ship.

"Yes, sir. Alright, Al, you stay here with Breda. I'll be back soon." Al nodded his head, then started to eat up the food the cook offered him. Once he was settled, Kain slipped out of the kitchen area and into the hallway with Mustang.

"How is the boy doing?"

"Fine, I suppose. He seems fairly shy and scared. I think he is worried about his brother, and I think everything that happened today is starting to sink into him."

"Yes, that is expected. His brother isn't faring as well, I'm afraid." Mustang scratched his chin, like he was thinking, but unsure of what to do. "It needs to come off."

"Uh, sir?"

"The boy's leg needs to be amputated, or he will die from infection."

"But we're all out of medical supplies." Kain pointed out; the entire ship was running low on everything. As soon as they reached base, they could restock enough supplies in order to pillage a Royal ship.

"Yes, I am aware. Come with me, I think it will help the boy if there are more people around." Kain obediently followed his superior into the makeshift doctor's room and braced himself. The place smelled like metal, sweat, and blood, which was normal, since this particular room had not been scrubbed down in several weeks.

Suddenly, Kain realized no one knew what the child's name was. He was simply referred to as "Al's brother', or, 'the boy'. It would be nice to know his name before they started the procedure, but he was unconscious, so they couldn't ask him anyway.

Kain noticed Al had a tanned skin tone, which was not uncommon for Southern Amestris. His brother, however, had much darker skin, as if they were not natives of Amestris at all. They both seemed to be from somewhere closer to the desert.

The boy was laying down on a small, wooden bench, which had a thick blanket thrown on it for padding. His left leg was mangled, twisted at odd angles, and it was covered with dark blood. The kid's breathing was rapid, and he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Should we wake him up?"

"No need, he'll be awake in a few seconds whether he wants to be or not." Doctor Knox sardonically replied while getting his few tools ready. "Captain, grab me my bonesaw. Fuery, fetch me some towels." Both men hurried to grab the designated supplies; here, the doctor was in charge and he gave all of the orders, trumping even the captain.

They didn't have drugs to help ease the pain. Sure, they had alcohol, but it would most likely end up being lethal giving the boy enough whiskey to make him feel nothing. Since they were left with nothing at all to dumb down the upcoming excruciating pain, they could only hope the boy wouldn't die from shock.

Kain grabbed a thick piece of leather from a counter, along with several unused dark towels. He hurried over to the boy's side so they could quickly get the operation over with. Using one of the smaller towels as a tourniquet, Kain tied it directly under the boy's knee, and right above where Knox would be performing the amputation. "Does this look good?" He asked to make sure it was tight enough.

"That'll do. I am going to start now." The doctor stated when Mustang gathered the few necessary tools onto a small table next to the bench. Kain knelt down in order to be eye level with the child, and he grabbed his small hand. The boy's eyes flickered open, which were just as golden as his brother's.

"Here you go, bite on this." Kain moved the leather towards the boy's mouth, but he didn't bite down. Instead, he seemed to realize what was happening and turned his head away with a shriek. "Come on, you have to do this. Your brother is waiting across the hall." That seemed to peek the boy's interest and he moved his head to look at Kain.

"My brother? Is he all right?"

"He will be fine, but you can't see him until you're all better."

"No, you have to help him now! This is all my fault, please, help him first."

"Sorry, little guy," Mustang spoke up, eyeing the saw on the table. The boy twitched his eyes when the captain spoke, but before he could say anything, Mustang interrupted. "but you have far more severe injuries than your brother. Understand?" The boy blankly stared while twiddling his fingers together. After a few seconds of silence, Mustang lost his patience and grew tired of waiting for a response. "Alright, then, time to take it off."

"What?!" The child squeaked, then held up his hands defensively. "No, stay away from me!" He tried to drag himself away, but only succeeded in nearly falling off the bench, which would have further injured him.

"The captain is an idiot." Knox mumbled so only Kain could hear him.

"You're going to have to calm down while we do this, or you'll die." Instead of calming down the child, he seemed to go in hysterics with tears rolling down his face.

"Captain." Knox said with a heavy tone, then he raised a hand and thumped Mustang on the back of his head. "Stop being an utter moron." A bit hurt, the captain stepped aside and wisely stopped talking. The doctor turned all of his attention to his patient, and he ignored his sulking superior.

"It's okay, boy, you'll be fine. Your leg is too smashed up to save, and we have to get rid of it, understand?" The child nodded his head measly, but he still tried to inch away from the medical table. "I'm not going to lie, this will hurt a lot, but once it's over, you'll get better."

"I'm going to be sick." It wasn't all that shocking, especially for someone who had never been on a ship before, plus the fact his leg was a mangled mess. So when he gagged and puked on the bench, no one was surprised and they worked around it. Kain was holding the boy's hand yet to help keep him still; he couldn't believe such a small child could squeeze so tight.

"How does your leg feel now?" Knox questioned while grabbing the saw.

"I-I don't feel it." The boy stammered, the pitch of his voice increased with every word.

"Good, this won't be so bad. You're going to need that." Knox pointed to the strip of leather the boy had knocked down earlier. "We don't want you to bite your tongue off, now do we?" Eagerly, the boy grabbed the strip and stuck it between his teeth, then bit down.

"Are you ready?" The boy nodded again and stared at the ceiling, this time, without fidgeting. Mustang moved to the other side of the bench, so he'd be out of the way, but close enough in case he was needed.

Kain squinted his eyes, not really wanting to look at the leg, but his curiosity got the best of him. The boy's foot was bent at a ninety degree angle, just above his ankle. He could see bits of bone through the flesh and blood closer to the knee, which made him feel queasy, so he averted his eyes back on the poor boy's face. The hand squeezed tighter when the faint sawing sound began.

Immediately, the boy swung his other hand around and clutched onto Mustang's arm, making him grunt in surprise. With every little sound of the blade sawing through the leg, both Kain and Roy cringed, and they could feel the boy's strong grip increasing. The child groaned, but his screams of agony were muffled by the leather stuffed in his mouth.

After several minutes, which seemed more like hours, the boy lost consciousness as Knox finished cutting off the destroyed limb. The boy's grip went slack and his hands fell to his sides, so Kain seized his opportunity by helping Knox tie the towels and bandages around the gushing wound.

"Do you need me to-" Mustang started to ask, but he was stopped by Knox.

"No. Wouldn't want to burn the ship on accident. Now we wait and see how he copes; if he's strong enough, he'll pull through this with no problems. I need to check on his brother, if you two don't mind."

Quickly, the two men left the room and made their way to the cafeteria. "Al?" Kain asked since the boy wasn't sitting at a table in sight.

"We're in here." Heymans' muffled voice called from inside the kitchen. Mustang sat down at a table and ate a heavily bruised apple while Kain pulled the kitchen door open. Heymans and Alphonse were peeling the last of the ship's potatoes, which wasn't a large amount, for their supper a few hours later.

"The doctor wants to see you now, Al."

"My brother; is he okay?" Al's head peeked up and he lowered his paring knife, nearly dropping the potato.

"He should recover normally, but it is going to take some time. You should be worried about yourself right now."

"Can I see him?"

"Maybe later, after you are checked, alright?"

"Okay." Kain gave Al a gentle pat on the back and escorted him back to the doctor's room. Knox was waiting, and he opened the door as soon as Kain knocked, ushering Alphonse inside. There was a large sheet sectioning of part of the room, no doubt that's where Al's brother was.

"Before I check you, would you mind answering a few questions?"

"Sure." The boy responded passively, and Kain decided to stay with him so he wouldn't feel as lonely.

"How old are you?"

"I'm eight, and Edward is nine." Al's gaze moved to the blanket that divided the room, and he balled up a bit of his shirt into his hands.

"Edward is your brother?" Al nodded his head slightly and he looked back at the doctor. "Don't worry, he should get better in a few weeks. When he's conscious, we'll let you see him, okay?

"Okay." He sported a small smile, which made both men feel better. Hopefully, things would be going their way in the strenuous weeks to come.