Alright people, Problems have finally been solved and I have my editor Back so in honor of My last day of School I'm posting two new chapters!!

Love me all of you.

Read, Review and tell me if you enjoyed it

I woke up due to the extreme empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling too drained to move or roll over. I lay there on my stomach for a moment trying to recall how I'd ended up in my bunk. Finally I decided someone had found me in the practice area and got Lam and Ami to take me back to my bed. For a moment I wished they hadn't. I moved my arm so that my hand was under my chin, and shifted my other arm so that it wasn't twisted backward. My eyes widened as I felt rather then just heard someone roll over. The person rolled so their shoulder pressed me to my cot, I realized the warm thing around my waist was said person's arm.

I panicked a little, before I heard the person stir, groaning as he woke up. It was Genz, I'd know that growl like voice anywhere. Genz arm tightened around me until his hand rested under my stomach. It tightened feeling my stomach; I felt my ears go hot. Genz stiffed, I realized that he'd finished waking up, and recalled who was in his arms. He changed how he was holding me, it felt more protective then it had a minute ago.

"Genz?" I said in a low, hopefully calm voice.

He stiffened again, "How long have you been awake?"

"Longer than you…" I bit my lower lip, but didn't move since Genz still had me pressed face down. I waited for him to get off, before I made a comment, "Um… Genz, could you get off me?"

I imagined Genz blushing, but it was hard. "Sorry," He shifted slowly. It seemed odd the way he was moving. Normally he would have used both of his arms to lift himself up and then just step out. Instead he removed his arm from under me then used it to help him roll, a little. Then he pulled the blanket of him, before making a final clumsy roll out of the bed. I turned my head and looked at him, not moving the rest of my body if I could help it. I hurt all over, and some how I didn't care. My eyes met the metal socket where his arm should have been. I went still as my eyes widened. Genz turned to me, "What?"

"Your arm…" I sounded very small

"I took it off," He said reaching to the head of my cot and lugged the arm over to his lap. I still stared, so he continued to explain, "Once in battle, my arm got broken and turned into flailing hunk of metal. After that I had my mechanic fix it so I could cut off the nerve endings and remove it with minimal pain on my part." He shoved the arm into its socket and reached behind his back flicking something on. His metal arm moved and flexed as he checked the movement. "I removed it last night because I figured we'd both sleep better if there wasn't a cold piece of metal in the bed with us." Genz folded his hands in front of him and leaned his elbows on his crossed legs. He looked at me thoughtfully, "How do you feel?"

I was caught off guard by that question, "I'm fine… And you?"

He frowned, and a pang of homesickness hit me as I saw how much like my older brother that reminded me of. "That's not what I meant," He said, "And you know it."

I sighed, "I'm tired, a bit stiff. My shoulders hurt and my legs ache." My stomach protested being ignored, I laughed quietly trying to reassure him, "And I'm hungry." I had lied. I hadn't told him what now seemed like the important part, I wanted to die.

A slow smile spread across Genz's face, "That's better than yesterday. At least you have some appetite." He stroked my hair, "Why don't you get up and get dressed, just laying there isn't going to get your stomach to stop growling."

I blushed, "I'd love to but it hurts to move."

Genz chuckled, "I think that's the price for flying all day and then taking out over a dozen stone figures." He paused watching me slowly and tenderly roll over and sit up, "After breakfast you can take a hot shower, or you could wait an hour or two for me and some of the others to heat up enough water for a bath. Which do you prefer?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Is there any way I can just have you pull together a barrel of water? I can heat it…"

"I don't want you having to do too much today," Genz stood, stretching. My body protested the thought of doing that, "Get dressed, I'll take you to eat, and then we'll talk." He patted my head and walked out of the tent.

Slowly I shifted and sat up, my feet hanging off the side of the cot. I blinked several times. The tent was lit brightly, the light from out side nearly blinding me. I knew Genz and I were both light sleepers, and I wondered why I hadn't woken up earlier. Looking around I noticed, Lam and Ami had left, their cots made so that you could bounce a quarter on them (I hadn't perfected this even before I started having problems).

I was wearing a tank top and boxer style shorts, and blushed at the first thought that came to me as I tried to figure out how I'd gotten into them. I opened my foot locker and pulled out the necessary pieces of clothing. My fingers lingered on my sketch book and pencils, I wanted to draw what I'd seen. Images of the quickly approaching landscapes, the many faces, and one image in particular flew threw my mind. I pulled out the book, it was becoming as worn as my grandfather's journal. I was glad I'd changed the quick bindings to that of book style so it would hold together longer. I remembered the many loose pieces of scrap paper I'd found and transmuted together to further extend the use of the book. It all seemed pointless now, I wondered what they'd do with the book after I'd died. I considered taking it with me, but that would tell Genz and the others I was up to something.

I pulled on my clothes leaving my sketch book on the half made cot. After several minutes of half aware movements I found my self sitting on the cot again, only my weapons and shoes left to pull on. I didn't do so however, instead I picked up the book, opening it to the first page. A close up of my grandfather looked back at me. His merry eyes dancing under heavily arched eyebrows, a gentle smile on his lips (the one he'd have on his face when he talked to me), the short grayed goatee he'd been growing the last time I'd visited him curved around his face, making him look under fifty. His once pepper grey hair had been strangely light gray last I'd seen him, and it pulled into a low tail and then braided. The very bottom of the tail showed the signs of his once black mane, but you couldn't see it in the picture.

I focused on my grandfather's face, his eyes, even in black and white, a person could see the distinct difference between the black of his pupils and deep royal blue of his irises. For the first time since I'd drawn the picture, I not only saw, but noticed the deep and dark bags under his eyes, and the slightly tired look that lay there, as though he'd not been sleeping well. His face and the lines of a man who laughed a lot and one that worried. I remembered the passages from his journal, when he'd begun to have dreams like mine.

I dreamed of an attack for this day, and it came. Thanks to a few mere words I made to my fellows, we survived. But not without costs. The men say I have Fore-sight, and I'm a gift from god. I don't know how much of that is true. I've had another dream, of myself I was the same age I am now, but it felt different. I saw none of my comrades, but many men and women I did not know. I stood at a crossroads, behind me many lay lost, to my right my own defeat, to my left a jagged road with much pain, more loss, but friends. There was one last path that was blackened, death defiled it, far too much death. I could not move, could not choose a path, for some reason the path was not mine to choose. I would not wish those paths on any child, for I myself could barely choose, but the blackened path is one of madness.

I snapped out of my day dream harshly, my grandfather's dream sounded so much like what I was faced with. Yes, I was standing at a crossroad, and I didn't know which path to take. I considered the path to the right, it sounded easiest, the path to the left sounded to hard, and the last one, the blackened one, and I didn't think I could loose myself enough to take that path. I thought carefully, I knew what the only other paths left open to me were. I could choose to continue this painful existence, or I could end it.

Sighing deeply I put down the sketch book, and pulled on my boots. They were tight. I would need new ones soon, if I needed them at all. I decided to continue, letting the others believe I was alright, then I would use my alchemy to end it, end my pain. I stepped out of my tent staring numbly at the horizon, my pain was gone and that was left was an empty feeling.

Genz noticed me standing half asleep in front of my tent, "Dalka?" I didn't hear him my mind going a mile a minute trying to remember how many of my grandfather's dreams he'd written about. Genz touched my shoulder making me jump, "Dalka, what is it?"

I smiled at him, "Nothing, really, I just remembered I don't have any of my weapons." Somewhere in the last few months I'd forgotten how good a liar I once was. I turned around going back into my tent, "Where did I put my blades?

"You won't find them," Genz said, he pulled the flap back and stood half in and half out of the tent.

I turned a sharp glare at him, "And why would that be?" I asked, jutting my jaw at him.

Genz avoided looking me in they eye, "Ami has them…"

I turned to him, "Same question," I continued to glare at him.

Genz cleared his throat, "Because… Sou ordered it…"

"Really?" I raised and lowered my eyebrows, "Is there, ah, anything else he ordered that I should know about?"

Genz nervously cleared his throat, again, "Well… ah…." He hated lying to me.

"Genz Bresslau…" I warned the tall, muscle-bound Lieutenant. Having never used his whole name, he knew I was close to being very upset with him.

Genz rubbed the back of his neck, "You're not allowed to have so much as a butter knife, I'm to keep you from using your alchemy until further notice, and the only time your allowed privacy is when you're getting dress, using the latrines, or bathing." He avoided looking me in the eye, knowing I was glaring at him, as my eyebrow twitched.

"Peachy," I said through gritted teeth. I took several deep breaths, before speaking again, "Alright, let's go get breakfast." My mind was doing the three hundred mile dash. I'd find some way to do what was necessary.

At the mess tent I was welcomed warmly, and did my best to return those warm greetings. The cook offered to make me some more oatmeal, saying he had some left over, but I turned him down. I never did like oatmeal. For some reason the food was better than normal. The scrambled eggs, while as tasteless as ever, were actually yellow, the toast was un-burnt, and the bacon… well let's just say the bacon looked editable…

I ate slowly not wanting to make my self sick, and eventually went back for seconds, a rare occurrence in the mess tent. After eating Genz escorted me to the near by showering tent. He checked inside first to make sure there weren't any men taking showers, before he took up guard at the front door.

The hot shower was blissful (No one can know this feeling unless you've gone without a bath for a week and hurt yourself or something), although as the water hit my back, I found it very uncomfortable. After I was clean, I looked at my form in the full length mirror that I had made for all of us. My arms and legs had nasty and dark bruises, from the attack I'd made on the stone figures early that morning. When I turned my back I saw two large bruises on my shoulder blades, it took me only a few minutes to figure out how I'd gotten them. The pain from my transmutations had finally shown up on my body. I did wonder if the visibility of the bruises were due to my long flights.

Okay, so we've dived in head first!! I hope none of you belly flopped… Now then press that little button below and review. Then forge on ahead!!

HI HO SIVER!! (Yes, I'm that weird)