Chapter 5

The baba lunged forward, striking out with it's large, carnivorous teeth. Link, surprised, lost his footing and fell backwards over the railing, plunging into the water below. He heard a shout, muffled by the water as he tried to swim to the surface.

Ed was looking at him with incredulity. "What was that for?!" He shouted angrily.

Link swam over to a more shallow area before answering, "I fell backwards. Relax would you?"

He turned around to face Ed. He was hugging his chest tightly, and... Blushing? What the...? Link's eyes grew wide as he took in what he was seeing.

Ed sank deeper into the water. "What?"

Link pointed a shaky finger towards Ed. "Y-You're... A..."

"Yeah. I'm a girl. So what?" Ed's face contorted into a scowl.

Link sat down on the grassy hillside, his face in his hands. "What do you mean 'so what'? You... You're a GIRL!"

"Yes, you mentioned that." By now, Ed's entire face was red. She got out of the pool to go sit down beside Link, and waited for him to calm down enough to speak.

"Why did you pretend to be..." He trailed off, a light blush covering the tips of his long ears - the only part of his face that was currently visible to Ed.

Ed shrugged, though she knew Link couldn't see her. "I have my reasons."

A cold laugh issued from Link's lips, "Well, I don't care what your reasons are."

Ed hugged her knees in to her chest, attempting to cover herself. "I wasn't about to tell you anyways."
He waited until the sound of Link's breathing slowed, and he seemed to relax a bit. "Who are you?" His intense blue eyes shone through his wet hair, curious and confused.
"I'm Edward Elric." Ed answered simply.

"Are you sure about that?" Link closed his eyes and repositioned himself so that he was lying on his back.
Ed, on the other hand, switched to lying on her bare stomach, her arms still crossed over her chest. "Not entirely." She murmured.

"What's your real name?" He asked with a sigh.
She gave in. "Fable. Fable Elric."

Link rolled the name around on his tongue. "Fable... Fable... Fable Elric? Does that mean that you're really related to the Elrics?"

"Yes," Fable admitted, "I have two brothers; Edward and Alphonse. I am only a year younger than Al, and Edward was my oldest brother; two years older than myself. After our mother died, Edward started looking into human transmutation - the act of using alchemy to create an artificial human to harbour a soul. In the midst of his and Alphonse's attempt at the human transmutation nearly eight years ago, he became lost in the Truth, and never returned. Alphonse has never been the same since that day."

Link rubbed his temples. "So, you mean your brother is dead? And why did you decide to take on his role anyways?"

Fable let out a hollow laugh. "If I didn't, who would have supported us? Al was useless for two years. I had to force-feed him, or else he would have faded away. Hell, I even had to carry him to Mrs. Pinako's house after he nearly bled to death from the transmutation! He wanted nothing more but to see Ed again; and he would have allowed himself to die to accomplish that. Besides, I still think there is hope for my brother. If I can just get my hands on a philosopher's stone, then I'm sure that I can restore Al's leg, and get Edward back from the Truth."

"So then why did you become a state alchemist?" He asked slowly, opening one eye cautiously.

"We needed access to military information, as well as money to further support ourselves. If I hadn't taken the job, we would have no purpose in life, and having a purpose keeps me sane. I can't say the same for Aphonse though."

Link nodded, a smile pulling at his lips. "I'm impressed Fable. It takes serious determination to do something so grown up at such a young age. But, why take on your brother's name? Why not just try for state alchemist as yourself?"

"I would be a female military officer and an underaged state alchemist. It would never be allowed. So there was no choice. I had to create an alias and pretend that I was a boy."

"I can't believe you would go to such lengths for your brothers..." Link finally opened his other eye, though kept them fixed on the other side of the room. He really wished that Fable would put a shirt on...

"When I wasn't there in time to stop it... Well, I constantly feel like it's my fault. I should have been there for them. I could have stopped them from being so reckless in the first place..." She ran the back of her hand over her face, gathering the tears that had fallen so silently.

It was a futile attempt however, as Link had noticed them immediately. He said nothing, as he knew it would only embarrass her. He sat up, and pulled his green tunic over his head, dropping it and his light chain mail on the grass beside him. Finally, he removed his white undershirt.

"Here." He said, handing the shirt to Fable. "This might fit you better than my tunic, and your other clothes are beyond repair."

Fable gladly accepted.

"Thanks." She said with a smile, pulling on the tight shirt. "I think my pants are still wearable. I can use scraps of my shirt to patch up any holes."

Link lay back down, enjoying the sun on his bare back. This was the only place in the entire forest where the sun shone strongly through the trees.

He shut his eyes and mulled over all of the information he had just received. Edward Elric was not the person with whom he was traveling. The Elric he had been traveling with was Fable; Ed's sister. Edward was only her alias. Her two brothers were practically useless, and she had been supporting her brother Alphonse for a very long time. Her goal before she came to Hyrule had been to gather information on this, 'philosopher's stone', in order to correct her brothers' mistake.
Link yawned. He was too tired to process all of that information. Maybe, he thought, he would be able to understand it after a nap.