Edward had left with Alphonse and a party of soldiers. They headed into Baschool, which was apparently where Scar was seen last. It was a large desolate town that nobody lived in, so an easy place to hide in. Edward grimaced as the voice of the watchdogs who were placed with Edward and his brother as he looked away,
"We've got orders to keep the two of you company." One of the goons spoke,
"Yeah, yeah," Edward sighed and waved his hand,
"You think they're Kimblee's men?" Al whispered to him,
"No doubt about it," Edward replied and looked at the two soldiers.
As they looked around the town, the brothers knew they'd have to lose the soldiers somehow, but how? Edward smirked as the two brothers exchanged a small glance.
"Ah! There was someone right over there!" Edward and Alphonse yelled pointing at the same door,
"There was?!" A guard looked at the same entrance,
"He went this way!" Al called as they both ran in as fast as they could, Edward skidded on the floor as they turned the corner, clapped his hands, and used the materials around him to create a wall, blocking the party of soldiers behind them.
The brothers quickly made their way to a roof of a building to try and get a better view of the town. To Edward's annoyance, he could finally see how large the town was.
"And that's that. I'm pretty sure, we lost them!" Edward yelled as they ran across roof tops. The brothers ran through buildings and walked through hallways, "but you know what?" Edward was groaning as the brothers walked around some of the buildings as well, "This place is… too damn big!" Edward yelled while standing in the middle of a Baschool. Alphonse chuckled and looked at his brother,
"Let's talk downstairs and see what we can come up with?" Alphonse suggested as his brother folded his arms,
"Fine." Edward grumbled and the two walked down a few floors.
Standing in the room, Edward frowned as he looked out the window,
"It's going to take weeks to search every one of these buildings." Alphonse asked as Edward looked back at his brother,
"It would make things a hell of a lot easier if Scar and that girl just came to us." Edward glared and moved to the window.
"Alphonse!" the little girls voice called, "Alphonse!" she called again,
"It can't be…" Al was shocked as she jumped out of nowhere pushing him to the ground.
"No way…" Edward growled,
"I can't believe it's you!" May yelled and the little girl jumped towards Alphonse,
"She did come to us." Edward spoke in the corner,
"What in the world are you doing here, Alphonse?" May smiled as she looked over the armour,
"May! I didn't think we'd ever find you!" Al was happy, and so was Edward.
"Ah, you came this whole way… just so you could fine me?" May smiled,
"Yeah! I really needed to see you!" Al replied, "I need you to tell me all you can about alkahestry. Can you-?" Alphonse explained but the brat was in a daydream.
"He followed me for hundreds of miles! He said he needs me!" May squealed as Alphonse was unsure as to what to say next.
"Al's not the only one! I need to see you too, little girl!" Edward spoke also, but the brat screamed,
"Tell us everything you know! You're not leaving until we've got what we want!" Edward yelled,
"Oh, no! Both brothers have fallen desperately in love with me! I'm sorry, Edward, but you're just not my type!" May smiled,
"Don't play games with us! I already have someone waiting for me!" Edward snapped glaring at the annoying brat as she kept fantasising.
"Let me out, Al!" Winry knocked on the inside of Al's armour,
"Oh, sorry! Sorry!" Al spoke letting Winry out if his armour.
"Mmm, I kept bumping my head." Winry spoke,
"Excuse me?! Who is this woman, Al?! How could you do this to me?!" May started crying,
"No! It's not like that, she's just a friend!" Al was shocked.
"Hey, May, you shouldn't go running off like that—Ah! The Elric Brothers are here?!" a man walked around the corner,
"Who's that?" Edward asked, not recognising the man at the doorway,
"Right, my face. I'm Doctor Marcoh." Marcoh spoke,
"What? Doctor Marcoh?!" Al was shocked, so was Edward.
"But you look… What happened?" Edward quickly asked,
"Why don't you tell me what you're doing here first?" Marcoh asked.
Another man with a weird moustache walked to the door,
"The Elric Brothers are here?!" he yelled,
"And who are you?" Edward snapped, getting a bit annoyed with the new group coming into the room.
"Don't act like you don't know me! How could you have forgotten Yoki, the great proprietor of Youswell!" the man snapped glaring at him,
"Rather easily. Are you sure we've actually met?" Edward put his hand behind his head not really caring about this man.
"How cruel! And after you destroyed my life?!" Yoki cringed.
Yoki explained to the group who he was and what the brothers apparently did to him, but nobody was not really caring, or listening,
"I'll never let a thieving hussy like you take him from me!" May cried,
"Did you, uh… just call me a hussy?" Winry spoke,
"I already told you! She's just a childhood friend!" Al explained,
"You should think about something else, like alkahestry." Edward snapped.
"You better listen to me, dammit!" Yoki yelled,
"Yeah, how sad. Life is hard. Trust me, I know just how you feel." Edward looked away,
"Are you patronizing me?" Yoki yelled at Edward.
"I've learned a lot since we met. Like what it takes to create a Philosopher's Stone. I know there's something wrong with this country. And there's something rotten with its alchemy. We've decided to look into the possibilities of Xingese alkahestry and we figured that she could help." Edward explained as the group had finally settled to talk about the journey, they had all been on,
"You're on the right path." Marcoh spoke as he pulled out a book, "But you aren't the first person to put all of these pieces together…" Marcoh looked at a book in his gloved hand, "This book is a collection of his research and theories. It's written in code, but we believe this book contains all of the answers that we need." Marcoh explained,
"If we can decipher what's in there, then Al and I can…" Edward spoke, thinking they could find a way to stop their plans.
"Perhaps… I believe so… But they'll be impossible to translate without the assistance of Scar." Marcoh explained,
"What do we need him for?!" Edward snapped hating the idea, Scar killed Winry's parents! Edward didn't want to work with that bastard ever again.
Suddenly, they heard an explosion outside the building.
"What do you think that was?" May stood up, Marcoh looked out the window,
"That's the building Scar was in! You think it's the military?!" he spoke,
"Look, all of you just need to stay put and hide out in here. Al and I will find out what's going on." Edward spoke as Alphonse followed him out the door.
"Well, look at this." Edward spoke, as he walked in with Alphonse to see two chimera's attacking Scar who was stuck to the ground by some weird substance, "I guess we got here just in the nick of time, huh?" Edward smirked,
"Ah? Didn't they just run off somewhere?" one of the freaks spoke,
"His voice… Brother, I think these are Kimblee's goons. The ones he brought from Central." Al whispered to Edward, Edward remembered hearing the names Zampano and Gerso
"They are? Yeah, I think you're right…" Edward replied,
"We've already got this under control. You just sit tight while we take care of Scar-" the brothers both punched Zampano in the face,
"Ah! Talking monster!" They both put on an act to pretend they didn't know them.
"W-What's wrong with the two of you?! We're all on the same side-!" Zampano held his cheek,
"I've never teamed up with any freaky looking monsters!" Al yelled, punching Zampano again.
"Help us! They're pretending to be our friends so they can eat us!" Edward spoke,
"The chubby one has an enormous mouth! He could eat you in a single bite!" Al joined in on the fun,
"You obnoxious brats! Settle down!" Gerso snapped and water started flying out of his mouth as Edward ran towards him dodging the water getting close enough for some quick combat and kicked him back.
Edward started laughing evilly to himself, loving the new speed he had.
"Uh… Brother?" Al was confused about his laughing,
"What are you laughing at?!" Gerso snapped and started shooting water again as Edward ran back towards him very quickly punching him in the face.
"Haha! It's so light! It's incredible! Amazing! It's like they're not even there! This cold weather automail is magnificent!" Edward cheered,
"If Rea could see you now," Al spoke,
"You're gonna regret messin' with me, kid." Gerso stood up,
"Huh? So, my punches are lighter, too?" Edward spoke suddenly there was goo on his arm.
"Let's see how fast you move covered in my spit!" Gerso pointed,
"Your special power is saliva?!" Edward cringed as he started to spit at me some more, "Well, if that's the case…" Edward jumped under him and transmuted the slob into cold water making it stick to his back. "Let's break it down… and revert it to water!" Edward explained and jumped back towards Al,
"It's f-freezing!" Gerso jumped about,
"And now!" Edward kicked Al forward into Gerso's back.
"What do you think you're doing, brother?!" Al yelled at Edward,
"Don't move, don't move, my skin is peeling!" Gerso cried,
"I think from now on I'm gonna call that one the Wet Tongue on a Freezing Flagpole Attack!" Edward smirked then dodged some spikes quickly.
"For the last time, quit attacking us! We're s'posed to be on the same damn side!" Zampano spoke,
"You shut your snout, pig! I've never seen you before in my whole life! And you must be the enemy if I don't know you! I bet you can't even prove to me that you're on our side." Edward taunted,
"Fine! I'll transform back to prove it to you!" Zampano fell for Edward's trick, as soon as his spikes vanished Edward jumped up and knocked him out.
"Thanks for the opportunity, sucker!" Edward smirked,
"Zampano!" Gerso called,
"Heh. It's kinda stupid to drop your defence during combat." Edward smirked.
"Dammit! Let me go!" Gerso yelled.
"Alright, big guy. Why don't you take a little nap?" Al spoke and knocked him out and pulled Gerso off himself.
Just then Scar released himself from Gerso's spit. "He just had to go and free himself. Do you really think you're gonna get away?" Edward snapped,
"Give up, Scar! It's time to pay for what you've done." Al spoke,
"I will kill you if you try to stop me." Scar spoke.
Edward knew that Scar wouldn't be aware of the change to his arm, which gave Edward an advantage for a short time, along with his speed, he was going to get a better fighting chance against the scar faced Ishvalan. As Edward's fist met Scar's hand the teen smirked and looked at his opponent,
"I hate to tell you… but my arm isn't steel anymore!" Edward spoke as Scar was taken back, Edward pulled Scar towards him and tripped the fighter over for a moment, "Don't make this difficult!" Edward and Alphonse clapped their hands together just as Scar put his hand to the ground to break the floor. Scar used the motion to life him in the air and started moving towards Edward.
"Don't hurt them!" A familiar female voice yelled as Edward gasped in shock and saw Winry standing there, her hand on the archway of the door. Even Scar was shock and the brothers took it as an opportunity to knock him down. Scar fell back against some of the broken rubble and Alphonse pinned his arm to the wall with the rock.
"What are you doing here, you idiot?!" Edward yelled; Major Miles appeared behind Winry.
"That's close enough." He spoke,
"You brought her here, Major?" Edward spoke,
"What are these creatures?" a guard who ran in asked looking at Gerso and Zampano,
"I'd guess they're the result of some ungodly experiment by our superiors. Tie them both to that column." Miles spoke,
"Right away, sir!" the man saluted,
"And as for you, Scar. I regret having to treat one of my own people so harshly, but I can't just let you walk away. Not after what you've done." Miles walked over pointing a gun at Scar's face.
"Your own people, huh?" Scar asked,
"You two can leave… We've got it from here." Miles spoke but Winry started to walk towards Scar.
"Winry!" Al called,
"Stop, Winry! Stay Back!" The brothers both put their hands on her shoulders.
"Let me go… it's alright." Winry spoke,
"It couldn't be any less alright!" Edward snapped,
"Miss, you need to stay back." Miles spoke,
"Just let me… Please understand. You have to let me talk to him… I need to, Ed." Winry spoke, the brothers reluctantly let go as she stepped forward.
"Why… Why did you kill my mother and father?" Winry asked,
"There's nothing I can say that won't sound like an excuse… And nothing can change the fact that I am responsible for their deaths. I killed them. Young girl, you have every right to pass judgement on me." Scar spoke.
Winry walked off and grabbed a piece of cloth from a box by the side,
"Your arm… you'll die if we don't bandage it." Winry started to bandage Scar's arm up,
"Winry?!" Edward was shocked,
"Quiet, Ed. I think… I think this Is what my parents would have wanted. Mom and Dad saved his life before, after all… There has to be a reason for that." Winry explained,
"Does that… mean you're forgiving me?" Scar asked,
"Oh, don't get me wrong! I don't forgive your wanton murdering!" Winry snapped as she finished the bandage.
"Winry…" Edward spoke,
"It's all right. I won't cry. Didn't I promise that next time I cried… they would be tears of joy?" Winry smiled at Edward, Edward hugged her for a moment to comfort her then turned to Scar,
"Listen, Scar. No matter what Winry says… I still want to beat you bloody… and drag you down to the Rockbell family grave to pay your respects." Edward snapped and Scar bowed his head down.
"Should we contact Headquarters, sir?" a guard asked,
"Yes," Miles replied,
"Major Miles, wasn't it? Can I ask something?" Scar spoke,
"What?" Miles asked,
"Earlier you said I was on of your people." Scar asked,
"That's right. I'm part Ishvalan, on my grandfather's side. I wish we didn't have to meet like this… red-eyed brother of mine." Miles took his glasses off,
"How can you bring yourself to be part of the Amestrian military?" Scar asked,
"My Objective is to work from the inside to change how the people of this country view the people of Ishval." Miles explained,
"I don't think that great a task will be easy to accomplish." Scar glared,
"Who knows how long it will take. But still… my mixed blood gives me a slight advantage as least. I'm an Ishvalan pebble tossed into the ocean of the Amestrian military… Maybe in time, the ripples I create will become great waves." Miles put his glasses back on, "And do you want to know what the most ironic part about it is? It was an Amestrian who set me on this path in the first place." Miles finished, Scar bowed his head down,
"Look at me… I am a festering wound of hatred born of the great Ishvalan War. I'm thankful that there's someone like you out there." Scar lifted his head to meet Miles' face again.
"Major." The guard walked to Miles with a phone,
"Copy? Major Miles here. We captured Scar. We're holding him in area D. Inform Kimblee." Miles spoke for a few moments and then hung up the phone.
"Whatever the circumstances may be between us, I cannot let you go. You must accept judgement." Miles explained as he looked at Scar,
"Hold on!" Marcoh called,
"Who's there?!" Miles asked. May appeared behind Marcoh,
"May!" Al called,
"Doctor Marcoh!" Edward was shocked.
"Please don't take Scar as your prisoner. We need him!" Marcoh came in and explained everything.
"Deciphering notes, huh?" Miles spoke,
"Yes! It's ground-breaking research that tries to fuse Amestrian alcehemy and Xingense alkahestry!" May explained,
"But all of the important parts are unreadable and written in ancient Ishvalan. Scar's the only one who can make sense of it.. Don't you see?" Marcoh explained.
Miles looked at Scar, then back at May.
"So, you're the alkahestry girl, huh? I have orders to bring you back to the fort." Miles explained,
"Me? But what do they want with me?!" May jumped behind Marcoh,
"Don't worry. You'll receive a warm welcome, I'm sure. Well, let me think here. Scar needs to be kept free and it would be just as bad if they found out that Doctor Marcoh was here as well. All right… I think it might be best if we took you back to Fort Briggs to hide you from senior military staff." Miles suggested,
"Hold on… what are you saying?! You mean we're bringing that monster with us?!" Edward stepped forward,
"We need to decipher those notes, right, Elric?" Miles asked,
"There's not a damn thing I want that guy's help with. Just hand him over to Kimblee-!" Edward started,
"The transmutation circle. The one this country was formed to make. I heard all about it from General Armstrong and Reaka. We know somethings about to happen that will affect all of Amestris and its people. We need to know what the notes say. That's more important than anything else. I heard they're using the Rockbell girl and Reaka as a hostage against you. If we act now, we can disgrace Kimblee and find some place to hide her where they can't touch her, and I can get the soldiers back at Fort Briggs to help Reaka escape." Miles explained, Edward hate the idea and looked away, he took a few steps to the side and thought about Reaka, he hoped she was okay.
"Listen up, Scar… If you're willing to work with us, I'll postpone your judgement day. Well?" Miles held his gun up.
"It doesn't look like you're going to give me any other choice. Yes, I'll help you decode the notes." Scar spoke,
"I have your word on that?" Miles asked,
"You do. I swear on my Ishvalan blood. You can trust me, my red-eyed brother." Scar spoke,
"We have a deal then… My apologies, Miss Rockbell. You'll have to wait awhile before we can punish your parents' killer." Miles looked at Winry,
"Fine." Winry nodded.
Gerso and Zampano just woke up,
"Right, I almost forgot about these two freaks of nature. Dispose of them." Miles spoke,
"Yes, sir!" a guard held his gun up,
"Hold on a second!" Edward spoke,
"Wait! You don't have to kill them!" Al spoke too,
"I see no reason to let them live. Kill them." Miles spoke,
"No! A life is a life! What better reason do you need than that?!" Al spoke.
"Showing us mercy. How adorable." Gerso spoke,
"You're just a sentimental fool… We didn't ask for your help, did we?" Zampano added,
"Look at these bodies. What kind of future can we have? If you're going to kill us, do it!" Gerso spoke. Al stood in front of them,
"I don't understand. Don't you have families… loved ones?" Al asked,
"Sure, we do." Gerso spoke,
"But as soon as we got these bodies, they were all told that we were dead… and to them, we are." Zampano explained,
"Don't you want to see them again?" Al asked,
"Even if we did, how could we go back to them like this?" Zampano replied,
"So you don't want to return to your original bodies back then? You're content the way you are now? Is that it?!" Al asked,
"No, how could we be?!" Zampano yelled,
"Of course, we want our true bodies back!" Gerso yelled and Al pointed at him,
"There's your answer. I don't want to hear a bunch of fatalistic nonsense! Why not live, and learn whether there's a chance of getting your bodies back?" Al explained,
"How could you possibly know what we're going through?!" Gerso snapped,
"And what chance do we have of going back?" Zampano spoke, they both looked shocked as Al took his helmet off,
"Well, I'm going back… no matter how long it takes. I'm not giving up!" Al explained, the two chimeras just looked at Alphonse in wonder, a new admiration for the young alchemist growing within them.
"Major!" a guard called who was stood by the window.
"What is it?" Miles asked,
"It's not good. A snowstorm." The guard replied, Miles looked back at the group, a new obstacle in their way,
"We can't complete a snowbound march with this equipment. We have no chance of reaching the fort." Miles explained, the others were frustrated, and Edward was frowning in thought,
"What do we do now?" Winry asked and looked at Edward,
"This is a mining town, isn't it? Why don't we just go into the underground tunnels." Yoki spoke out of nowhere as everyone looked at him.
"Wh-What's wrong? I mean, this is a pretty large mine, right? So surely there's a tunnel that can take us beyond the mountains. Uh… I think" Yoki explained as he was suddenly under pressure,
"That's it!" Edward and Al spoke,
"Yoki!" May smiled,
"Hey, give me some credit. This is what I did for a living!" Yoki smiled.
"He's right… The tunnels come out past the mountains." A guard spoke,
"Right. Once you run into Briggs soldiers, just hand them this. I've explained our arrangement, so you shouldn't have trouble with them." Miles spoke,
"Thank you. But there's still the matter of the young Miss Rockbell. She can accompany us to the fort, of course, but when word gets out that she's missing… won't the Elric brothers be the first people they suspect?" Marcoh spoke, Winry looked down for a moment,
"We can handle ourselves." Al spoke,
"Yeah, I hate to brag but I've got a pretty smooth tongue, you know." Edward smirked.
"No, this is Kimblee we're dealing with. He's very sceptical… He's automatically going to be suspicious of whatever you tell him." Miles explained, Edward looked at the Major and frowned slightly… he wasn't wrong about Kimblee.
"Where is that other girl too… Reaka?" Marcoh asked,
"She's… in jail at Briggs," Edward growled, he looked out the window as Miles nodded,
"I'll help Rea escape from Briggs, don't worry about that Edward," Miles spoke.
There was a long pause amongst the group, Edward hated this, he was stuck, no idea of what to do and with Reaka not being with him to help, it was difficult to decide on the best path forward.
"Umm… I hate to be the one to suggest this… But… What do you think Kimblee would do if I was suddenly taken hostage by Scar?" Winry spoke up,
"You want him to kidnap you?" Al spoke,
"Hold on, Winry… you're saying… You want us to let him go?" Edward pointed back at Scar,
"Right. Scar runs away, carrying me. Then Ed, you and the others try desperately to stop him. Or at least, that's what you pretend to do… You understand?" Winry explained,
"You can't do that! You're crazy!" Edward yelled,
"Well, I don't have a choice, do I?! I'm a hostage either way, so I might as well get to choose my captor!" Winry explained, Edward froze for a second,
"But he's a mass murderer!" Al spoke,
"Al's right! There's no reason for you to be risking your life!" Edward snapped,
"Don't you get it?! It's time for you two to learn you don't have to do everything alone!" Winry snapped at Edward, the brothers gasped as they looked at Winry, she looked at Scar and Edward clenched his fists,
"Make up your minds… The storm is coming in. If we don't hurry we won't be able to get out of here." Miles explained as Edward just stared at Winry, it was bad enough that Reaka was already being held hostage at Briggs, and now Winry was being split away from the group as well?! Edward just stared at his long time childhood friend in anger at the situation, and she stared back just as hard.
"I can see Kimblee's force's now." A guard spoke,
"Damn it! Scar! If you do anything to hurt her I'll-!" Edward started,
"I won't harm the girl… I keep my promises." Scar spoke and Edward put his hands on the rock wall and broke the bindings around his right arm,
"This is something similar to what Reaka would suggest. I just know it." Winry smiled as Alphonse looked at her, Edward couldn't help but nod, she did come up with crazy plans sometimes, but maybe that was because she knew she wasn't able to get hurt like everyone else. Reaka was always the one to take the life-threatening risks.
"Us, too… Please, you have to take us with you. I know you don't trust us. So, I understand if you want to keep us tied up." Gerso spoke,
"Kimblee shows no mercy to troops who fail to accomplish their missions. One way or the other, we're dead… besides… We don't want to give up, either!" Zampano spoke,
"How do we know you mean that? You realise, if you do anything to obstruct us the whole country could be destroyed. Including your families and everyone you care about." Marcoh explained,
"Wait, hold on! Just what are you saying?! I don't understand. The Central forces weren't told about any of this!" Gerso was shocked,
"Please, we need to know more! What's going on?" Zampano asked.
Gerso and Zampano returned to their true form has a human.
"Are you sure about this?" Miles asked,
"I'm sure everyone will feel a whole lot better if we're tied up." Gerso spoke,
"All right, Scar. Give us a good performance." Miles looked at Scar,
"I know what I'm doing." Scar spoke,
"And you will keep your oath. Your solemn word as a true Ishvalan." Miles replied, Scar just nodded.
Everyone stared to split on the stairs, Edward looked at the guard as he spoke,
"Excuse me, Miss… your ears!" he spoke, Edward stopped at the same time as Winry as she looked back down the stairs, "Your earrings are made out of metal. If you don't take them out, you'll get frostbite." The guard explained as Winry nodded and started to remove them.
"Ed…" Winry came back down the stairs and took his hand, "You hang onto these for me. I'll see you back at the fort!" Winry spoke, Edward held the earrings in his hand as he watched her leave.
He knew they'd see each other again soon.
"Dammit!" Edward yelled as he ran out of the exploding building. "Kimblee, you bastard! Why the hell didn't you keep an eye on Winry?! We finally got Scar corner and now he's taken her hostage. Because of you!" Edward yelled running out of the exploding building.
As soon as people were gone Buccaneer walked in and glared at me,
"What you looking at pork chop?" I folded my arms,
"You're really pushing it…" Buccaneer glared, I burst out laughing,
"Oh, come off it you big buffoon… get me out of here now," I laughed,
"Sorry we can't," Buccaneer sighed,
"Did you find your friends?" I asked,
"We found two," Buccaneer sat on the chair opposite my cell.
"Buccaneer, I never ask favours from you, but I want you to keep Kimblee away from me as much you can, please," I held onto the bars,
"Why?" Buccaneer asked,
"I can't say why…" I hugged myself and bowed my head down,
"I understand." Buccaneer nodded as I smiled, he then put the mug in his hand through the cell bars and I took it from him,
"Thanks." I spoke quietly as he nodded and just sat opposite me while I sipped my drink.
Shooting up from my bed screaming with tears in my eyes, I wrapped my arms around my body, I dreamt about the Ishvalan War…
"Reaka?" I saw Buccaneer looking worriedly at me,
"I'm fine… just a nightmare." I sighed trying to catch my breath,
"Could… I have a shower please…" I asked.
"Sure… I'll tell you what's happened since your long sleep…" Buccaneer spoke.
"How long was I out?" I asked as I started to undress, Buccaneer had his back to me the whole time. Buccaneer was one of the few men I could trust like this,
"The General has been taken to Central and has replaced the seat of Raven," Buccaneer spoke as I turned the hot water on,
"That Automail Engineer, Miss Rockbell, has gone missing Edward and Alphonse are with Major Miles though Alphonse has gone to find Miss Rockbell and the group she's with tell them the change of their plans… though Major Miles said that when he comes back, he'll try and get you out of here and send to wherever you want to go." Buccaneer explained,
"Thanks for the update." I smiled and pushed my hair back, I smiled to myself, I seriously needed a shower and this was great. I washed my hair, my face and once done I put my leather trousers, and warm clothes back on again.