Warning: Blood/gore in this one, read with caution. Also this will be the last time I'll put up the warning, from this point on you read at your own risk. I feel it spoils the chapter otherwise. If you really want a warning beforehand you can pm/review with the request and I'll send you a pm when I update if there's any gore. Enjoy the chapter! ~15

Chapter 4 : Trouble is a friend

Three days after the hellcat incident (as Ed had privately began to call it) the Elric brothers were walking down a beaten pathway towards the small city of Meiore. Why you ask? Because that bastard colonel had said so of course.

Apparently some of the inhabitants had complained about unusual things occurring around the city and now one of them had finally gone missing. No longer able to ignore the complaints as superstitious nonsense now that a human life was at stake, the brass had ordered for someone to go and investigate.

When he'd heard of his new assignment the eldest Elric had not been pleased, after all paranoid citizens didn't really contribute to his search for the philosophers stone and he really didn't like wasting time. He needed to get their bodies back.

As a dog of the military Ed couldn't refuse the order though, so now he and his younger brother were trudging through the summer heat in a vain attempt to reach the city before nightfall.

It was not to be though, as a fair distance from the city still an odd sound suddenly reached their ears. It was Alphonse who first brought it to his brother's attention,

"Brother?" He questioned hesitatingly, "did you hear that?"

"What, Al?" Ed grumbled back, still unhappy about this new job.

"I don't know," Al paused and tilted his head, listening intently, " it's kinda like, like crying?"

Now curious Ed also stopped and focused on the sounds coming from the surroundings. Straining his ear he finally heard what Al was talking about. It, indeed, sounded like someone crying, or more like bawling their lungs out, he thought.

Seeing his brother looking at him hopefully Ed sighed before relenting, nothing could stop Al when he was like that anyway.

The crying sound was coming from a small patch of forest up ahead so the brothers slowly started making their way over. When they were about to enter the undergrowth Ed suddenly stopped as a sickly sweet, yet metallic smell assaulted his nose. It kind of smelt like…

"Blood." The word came out as a horrified whisper and a panicked feeling took over the small alchemist.

Al not having noticed his brother's sudden unease continued on, blissfully ignorant thanks to the somewhat lessened sense of smell being stuck in an armor gave him.

"Al, wait."

Alphonse however, did not hear his brother and continued on unawares to the danger lurking behind the trees,

"WAIT!" Ed's warning came just too late though, because Al had just wrestled himself through the thick foliage and taken a good look around himself, promptly wishing he hadn't.

Ed came to stand besides his brother and had to suppress a gag. The ground, the trees…the bodies, all were covered in a thick, crusty layer of blood. Ed felt something drip down on his head and shakily brought a hand up to his hair.

It came back red.

A deep feeling of revulsion came over the alchemist as he looked around the body littered clearing, yet he forced himself to take it all in. They had come here for a reason after all, somewhere in the bloody mess, someone still lived.

His eyes moved from the broken and wrecked wagon's to the ripped remains of the people on the ground and the innards dangling from broken tree branches. There was no sign of struggle anywhere and Ed shuddered to think of the kind of monster that could have possibly done this.

Finally his eyes focused on an upturned cart a ways away from the rest of the wreckage, he could've sworn he saw someone move in the shadows under the cart.

"Al, go back to the road." He said, emotionlessly. This was not the time for a breakdown.

"But brother, I, I can't just…leave you here." Alphonse protested weakly, his voice coming out a broken whisper.

Ed forced himself to look at his brother with a small, reassuring smile on his face, "I'll be fine, just go."

From the look on his brother's face his smile had turned out more like a grimace, but it served its purpose and with a jerky nod his little brother left.

Heaving a deep sigh and trying to calm his beating heart, Ed checked to make sure Al had really left and then took a careful step into the clearing. Hearing a sopping sound he looked down only to wince when he saw a puddle of muddy blood under his feet and decided not to do so anymore.

Slowly but surely he made his way to the other side of the clearing still wincing every time he stepped on a particularly wet piece of ground or heard a suspiciously loud snap that just couldn't belong to a branch.

Finally he had reached the upturned cart and slowly he crouched down, trying not to think of what covered the ground and thanking the gods his coat was red already.

"Hello?" He called out hesitatingly, "is someone there? We heard you crying and came to help…We won't hurt you."

A sniffle came out of the shadows and Ed knew he'd found the right place now.

"Promise?" A relatively young voice came from the darkness, but Ed could hear the wariness in it. Not that he could blame the boy, for a boy it was, he wouldn't be so trusting either if he'd just witnessed a massacre like this kid had.

"I promise." He affirmed and watched as a boy about Al's age came crawling from under the cart.

"Who are you?" he asked, distrust evident in his voice and clear for all to see in his startlingly golden-yellow eyes.

"My name is Edward Elric, I'm a state alchemist and like I said, I want to help you."

The boy seemed to think this over for a bit, trying very hard to keep his eyes on Edward and Edward alone, so as not to let them stray to the bodies haphazardly strewn about the clearing.

Finally it seemed like he had come to a decision because he gave a jerky nod of his head, before speaking,

"I'll go with you," He started hastily before hesitating and then continuing, "My name is Ivy."

Ed took in the boy's amber eyes and tear streaked face, noting the cuts and bruises that were slowly forming on his pale skin and taking in the blood matting his surprisingly light green colored hair. Honestly there was very little of the boy that was not covered in blood and as he moved his hand through his own hair he was soon reminded that the boy before him was not the only one with that particular problem.

Ivy just kept looking at Ed expectantly, golden orbs bright with hope and a desire to finally move away from his dead companions. All the alchemist could do though, was nod back silently and gesture for the boy to follow him through the foliage back to the road were Al was waiting at.

He didn't notice the way Ivy's eyes flashed a deep violet as soon as he turned his back, nor did he notice how the boy cast one last crazed look around the clearing, before his possessive gaze turned back to the unsuspecting alchemist in front of him. He also didn't see the way Ivy slowly brought one bloodstained digit to his mouth and lapped of the life-giving crimson substance with a satisfied smile. No, his Edo-chan didn't see a thing.

Just the way Envy liked it.

AN/: OMG! you guys actually basically doubled the amount of reviews this story had :) ~happy~
Anyway I'm happy you all liked last chapter, and specifically the gore in it, because as you may have guessed already things will progressively go darker from here on out. Not that there will be gore in every chapter suddenly (though I do like the reviews it gets), but it will still be there every now and then and I'd hate for people to be bothered by this. Also sorry for the shortish chapter but this just felt like the right place to end it, at least it's a fast update right? anyway please tell me what you think, your reviews are what keeps me going! xXx~64