EDWARD
Scarlett was more than met the eye. He had to give her that.
"It's true. She's both sides of one coin.
"But she's never acted so deeply before. I wonder if maybe having to fight Scar is taking it's toll on her? It could be. She seems to love him..."
Sighing, he settled himself into a more comfortable position and fell asleep.
SCARLETT
"Look, it's snow!" Ed cried excitedly.
She followed the brothers more cautiously. She'd never seen snow before, having come from a desert people. It was new to her. "Wow, it's bright..." she murmured, pushing her glasses farther up.
"The sunlight reflects off the snow, making it seem very bright. This is your first time ever seeing snow isn't it?" Al asked, helping Edward up from where he'd slipped on some ice.
"Yeah... I'm not sure what to make of it..." she admitted.
"Aw, quit the chatter and let's go!" Ed yelled ecstatically.
"Why the hell are you acting like a five-year-old?" she asked, hugging herself as she moved slowly down the stairs.
"We got snow, true, but never this much!"
"Jeez, you're more active now than I've ever seen you. Al, I think we need to cut back on his sugar-intake."
"Scarlett, why are you hugging yourself? I thought you had a high resistance to extremes?" Al asked.
"Yeah, but didn't you see the sky this morning?" she asked grimly.
"No, why?"
"It was red. 'Red sky at night, shepherd's delight, red sky at morning, shepherd's warning.' It means if a shepherd sees a red sky in the morning, he needs to move his sheep indoors or to where the storm can't get them. At night, there won't be a storm for a while, it's safe to have the sheep out." she explained.
"Oh..."
But Al seemed to quickly forget her warning.
They were quickly on their way to Fort Briggs. She was scanning the sky the whole time, observing the clouds gathering, the wind building up and the dark angry sky beyond the furious clouds.
"Hey, miss! Don't you think you should be wearing more than that skinny little sweat-shirt?" the wagon-driver asked.
"No. This is all I need." she answered simply, hopping off the cart. "I know it'll get extreme, but I can survive."
"Suit yourself. Hya!" The man drove away.
"From this point on, we're in military territory. Don't stray from the path. That could result in some violence." she warned, walking confidently forward. The brothers had to jog a little to keep up with her at first.
Soon enough, the storm she'd predicted arrived.
"D-d-damnit... I knew the weather at B-Briggs was e-extreme, b-but th-this is insane!" Ed chattered, holding his hood close to his face, trying to preserve the warmth.
"Baby. You're always bragging about how Izumi made it for one month up here, even killing a bear. But you're whining like a toddler with a chill." she told him.
"F-fi-fine! Say that a-all you w-want, I-I'm st-still fr-freezing!" Ed snapped.
"C'mere."
"Huh?"
The brothers were both shocked at her move. She'd wrapped her arms around Edward. "That should warm you up a bit, you big baby." she told him, sighing.
Freaking embarrassing... Hope no soldiers come along and see this...
They stood there for about a minute before moving on again.
"Brother, did Teacher really kill a bear?" Al asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah." came the simple answer.
Suddenly she got a warning...
Danger!
"Incoming!" she yelled, running to the side as something large landed inches from where she'd been standing.
"Ahh! A bear!" the brothers yelled.
"Wrong on that count!" she yelled, whipping off her glasses. Her tattoos flared, and her blades came out. the tattoos on those flared, and they melted into the silver liquid titanium, which encased her arms and hardened.
The man was large, and had a strong auto-mail arm. Stronger than Edward's. He wore a military uniform.
"So, a Briggs's soldier. Great. And finally, a bit of action!" she said under her breath.
Al was pinned, and Edward was in trouble. She took a running leap, and bent her arm just right...
The man dropped Edward as her elbow smashed into the back of his head. "What the hell was that?" he snarled, whipping around.
His large auto-mail arm crashed into the side of her head. An ordinary human would be missing theirs after a blow like that, but she wasn't ordinary!
"Nice try... But that's just gonna leave a bruise..." she informed him, pushing her glasses back on before he could see her eye color.
Now every blade she had ripped out of her skin. The blood from the rips stained the snow bright red. She saw the shock in the man's eyes. "So, are we still going?" she grinned, showing the titanium fangs she'd recently learned how to create.
"Heh..."
Now the shock was in her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she saw what he was grinning about. Gun-men.
She couldn't engage! The ricochette would hit Edward!
Sighing, she retracted all of her blades, the rips in her skin healing up like always. She put her hands up.
Edward and Alphonse gasped at something behind her. She twisted her head slightly to see the fort.
It's not that big... Why are they so awed?
There was a woman up there. She must've been the major's sister, because she certainly looked like him. But that man next to her...
Her eyes narrowed. "No fuckin' way..." she murmured.
That man was Ishvalan!
They were searched... Well, they tried to search her, but there wasn't much to her. Jeans, sweat-shirt, t-shirt beneath, and boots. They were confused at how lightly she was dressed.
EDWARD
He was amazed at how advanced the North had made their auto-mail. Sighing, he looked over at Scarlett, huddled in the corner. "Scarlett, why are you doing that?" he asked.
"Mm?"
"You'd normally be hanging over my shoulder. But you're just sitting in the corner."
"Mm." she shrugged. Then, without warning, she punched the wall.
"What's wrong with your friend?"
"Nothing's wrong with me!" Scarlett snapped.
"You should calm down, girlie. And Doc, do you plan on telling this kid all our secrets?"
Buccaneer had come into the room.
"He deserves to know. After all, he's got the silver pocket-watch."
SCARLETT
Silently, she watched them talk about Ed and Al. Finally, conversation turned to her.
"Don't talk about me." she said icily.
"Who do you think you are to give us orders?"
"I think I'm Scarlett, once Yuuki of the Ishvalans. But I'm now Scarlett, Lab Five Experiment Titanium." she answered, letting her glasses slip down as she laid down on the floor.
There was silence.
"Scarlett, why do you try to keep your race a secret, but you wind up telling everyone?" Alphonse asked.
"You do it too." she told him quietly, closing her eyes.
Scar...
Her eyes shot back open. She was trembling. But she didn't know why...
"Scarlett? What's wrong?" Ed asked, looking worried.
"I don't know..." she admitted, sitting up, hands on her head. "But my head feels..."
She gasped, and she herself could tell her eyes were glowing blue.
He was close! Very close! As were May and... Marcoh?
Those were her last thoughts before passing out.