Chapter 1: Germany

As clocks in both worlds ticked away, a year had come to pass to a now familiar scene on a German road…

"Are you certain this is the right way, brother? We've been driving for hours now and there hasn't been a sign of a single town." Alphonse asked worriedly as he sat in the back of the car with Noah.

"Of course I'm sure, Al! The map we checked after we left that last town said if we take this road, we'd run into the next town!" Edward turned to look back at his brother.

"Brother!" "Ed!" Al and Noah yelled as a herd of cows made their way onto the road, forcing Ed to turn the wheel quickly and send the car into a ditch.

"Ed…"

"Don't start, Al." Ed grumbled as he wiped blood from his forehead before getting out of the car to inspect it. "Well, the damage isn't too bad, but it's still not repairable with what we have with us… Come on, we're going to have to walk the rest of the way."

Al and Noah sniggered as they grabbed their bags and joined Ed on the side of the road, waiting for the cows to move.

"The third accident since we disposed of the Uranium bomb… who would have thought my brother was such a bad driver?" Al muttered to himself.

"I wonder if the farmer would be kind enough to give us some milk…" Noah wondered idly, jumping in surprise as Ed's irritated muffled yells could be heard from behind her. Turning, she couldn't help but laugh as Al had Ed's mouth covered as he tried to yell something.

"Sorry Noah, I guess you didn't know that Ed hates milk. Maybe we can ask for a ride instead." Al said as Ed calmed down.

He had been trying to get his anger in check, but three topics burned deep into his subconscious still triggered his anger, and milk was one of them.

A half an hour passed before the farmer appeared, finally realizing his cows were missing. "I'm so sorry about that… They must have broken the fence again. Are any of you injured?" The farmer asked worriedly when he saw their car in the ditch as the cows mingled around casually.

"That's fine. We're not hurt. We were just wondering if you could give us a ride to the nearest town." Ed said dismissively. He ignored the strange look the farmer gave him as he said they weren't hurt while wiping blood from his forehead again.

The farmer shrugged. "Well, I do need to get new fencing material. Those damn cows keep breaking the fence and I don't know how. However, the place where I get it is still a ways away from the nearest town. I can take you to there, but you'll have to walk the rest of the way."

Al nodded. "That's fine; we're used to walking long distances."

Noah and Ed nodded in agreement as the farmer looked at them worriedly.

"All right then, can you please help me round up my cows so we can be on our way faster?"

They agreed and began rounding up the cows. Upon finishing with the cows, the farmer kept his promise and allowed them to ride in the back of his truck to the store where his fencing supplies were.

With the sun beginning to set, Noah sighed in relief as they entered the town. Even though she had learned to travel long distances on foot with the boys, it was still exhausting for her, especially with nightfall so close at hand. "Well, what should we do now that we're here?" She asked, looking at the brothers as they examined their new surroundings.

"Well first, we should see about finding some food. We haven't eaten all day and I know you two are hungry because I could hear your stomachs growling ever since we left the farmer." Ed said. He grinned as Al and Noah blushed, knowing what he said was true.

"We'll also need to look into picking up some odd jobs around this town, starting tomorrow. What we have may not last beyond this town if prices keep going up." Al said as he looked at the wallet he was carrying with concern.

Ed and Noah nodded as they too checked their own finances.

"We can at least get two rooms at an inn for the night and very small meals for tonight and tomorrow morning." Noah said sadly as she looked at the brothers' wallets.

"It looks like we'll be camping out again." Ed said, shaking his head.

"It's a good thing Teacher sent us to that island before training. Who would have thought we'd end up needing those skills?" Al asked as Ed nodded distractedly.

"What is it, Ed?" Noah asked, noticing his inattentiveness.

Ed blinked, looking at them. "I smell food. Come on, let's go eat and then turn in for the night. We'll figure out what we're doing tomorrow."

Noah and Al nodded as they followed Ed in search of where the smell was coming from.

Ed sighed in exhaustion as he allowed himself to fall onto the bed. He immediately regretted that decision.

The inn they had chosen was the cheapest one they could find, and the beds were as hard as rocks.

He winced as he sat up, looking out the window. "Damnit, these beds remind me of those carriages back home."

"Well, with what we paid for two rooms, I'm surprised we're not sleeping on a floor in somebody's basement."

"True. This actually isn't half bad considering the state of things…" Ed said, looking around the room.

Suddenly, a strange sensation came over him and he became really dizzy, forcing him to grab the nightstand beside his bed and hold his head trying to keep himself steady.

"Brother!" Al yelled worriedly as he grabbed Ed to help.

"I'm all right now, thanks Al." Ed said, shaking his head to try and clear it.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, but it felt like something was messing around in my head." He frowned. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. Come on, Al. We've got a long day ahead of us and we should get as much rest as these beds will allow."

Al watched his brother worriedly as he lay down and closed his eyes. Once he felt Ed really was all right, he lay down and went to sleep himself.