Wow…I've finally run out of prewritten story o.o; Looks like I'm working strictly from my mind for a while.

Ed: Good luck with that.

Me: Oh shut it XP Sorry this is so late guys. I've had a lot going on lately.

Episode 19: Fright in Darkness

Sara slowly opened her eyes, only seeing darkness in front of her. She blinked and backed up a bit; she'd still had her head buried in Ed's chest. She glanced to one side, seeing dust settling on the debris surrounding them. She turned her head and met Edward's cheek. Worry overcame embarrassment as she shook his shoulder. "Ed…Ed, you alright?"

Edward groaned slightly and opened his eyes, lifting his head so he could look around. "Geez…she sure knows how to make an impression…" he muttered.

Sara nodded. "Yeah, um…Ed?"

"Hm?" He looked to her.

She smiled nervously. "Could you get off me please? I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable." Sara was really starting to wonder how many times she was going to end up on the ground with Ed laying on top of her.

Ed blushed slightly, "Uh yeah, sorry…" He stood up and helped her up off the ground. Even before leaving the alley, they could tell the entire block was a mess. Some buildings no longer existed, and others remained only partially intact. Ed brushed the dust off of his coat as he looked around. "We should move on. If she's still around here, I'd rather not run into her again-h-hey!" Ed guarded his eyes as Sara shook the dust out of her hair.

"Sorry…ah..aah…achoo!" She sneezed and shook her head. "Stupid dust…"

Ed glanced around, trying to figure out which way to go. As far as he could see, each direction seemed to go on forever without end. He was starting to get tired of roaming around with no idea of where they were going. With a sigh, he walked over to where the girl had stood, trying to get a better view. Sara followed him, "Well, now what do we do?"

"We'll have to go inside." Ed kept looking around, there had to be at least one building taller than the rest in this creepy place.

"Inside…you mean in one of the buildings? Are you crazy?" Sara exclaimed, flinging her arms in the air, "Did you see what she just did? If she was waiting out here, I don't wanna know what's hiding in these buildings!"

"We don't exactly have a lot of options," Edward said, not even looking at her, "Only thing we can do now, that we haven't done, is check out one of the buildings in depth and find our way to one of the rooftops. If we get up high, we can see if there's a way out of here."

"Yeah or get pushed off…" Sara muttered.

"What's with you today?" Ed asked, picking a random direction and walking.

"I don't like this place," Sara stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I figured that out earlier. I want to know why." Ed stopped and turned to her; she hadn't moved. She looked away, hugging her arms where she stood. "…This place…" she looked around at the buildings surrounding them, "It gives me the creeps…" She looked back to Ed, "For me to have the creeps in any place is rare. Which means something isn't right here, and I want away from it."

Ed smirked. "So you're basically saying you're scared."

Sara growled and stomped past him, "Scared? Who's scared? Not me, that's for sure!"

Ed chuckled and caught up with her. "Well then let's head in one of these buildings and find our way to the roof."

Sara huffed, "Fine. Pick one."

Ed turned to the next building they came to; there were no doors or windows left to fill the gaps where they'd once been. "We'll go in here then. Stay close." Sara didn't say another word and followed him in. As they leaned through the door, all they could see was a large room and two dark halls on either side. Against the back wall was a counter. "I guess this was a hotel once…" Ed muttered to himself. Slowly, they stepped inside. There wasn't much to see; a little debris here and there, but nothing major.

Sara glanced from one hallway to the other. Neither one looked very inviting.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…"

Sara glanced at Ed who was looking from one hall to the other, "Huh?" He glanced at her and smiled. "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Its part of a poem by a man named Robert Frost (1). He'd become quite a popular poet on the other side of the Gate before we came back." Sara just stared at him and he chuckled slightly. "What? I guy can read poetry if he wants; it's not a crime y'know." Sara looked away, "I'm just surprised you would."

Edward shrugged, "Well, when you've read all the available alchemy, chemistry, and general science books, you start turning to the ones you usually overlook. Now," Ed looked to the two halls again, "Which road shall we take?"

"Well we can't split up, or I'd suggest you take one and I take the other," Sara mused aloud.

"That's true," Ed nodded, "Better we stay together at this point."

"Can't really take the least used one if we go by the poem, neither one has been used at all."

Ed looked to her. "How do you know for sure?"

She didn't look at him, "Just trust me, I know. I have sharp vision even in the dark, so I can tell just by looking at the dust coating the floor and walls in both halls. No one's been in this building in a long time."

Ed blinked. "Well you're an oddity."

Sara slapped him in the back of the head, causing him to double over as he held his head. "Ouch!"

"Come on, let's pick one already." Sara took a coin from her pocket and showed it to him. "Heads we go left, tails we go right." He nodded and watched as she flipped the coin and caught it in her hand. "Tails. Looks like we're going right."

Ed nodded and headed for the hallway to their right while Sara followed. The hall was long and dark; no windows had ever existed there and all lights above them had been smashed at one point. Ed kept his right hand against the wall as he walked slowly. He didn't want to end up falling down a flight of stairs; that would take them to the wrong part of the building. Sara stayed close behind him, inching closer and closer as they began to run out of light from the front.

"E-Ed..?" Sara whispered to him, practically against his back as they finally took a left turn at the back of the building and ran out of light.

"Yeah?" Ed answered calmly, focused on following the wall to try and find some stairs that lead up. Sara clung to his back and he stopped. "You ok?"

"Y-You know how I said I wasn't scared earlier?" she muttered. When she felt him nod his head and turn toward her a bit, she continued. "Well…I-I am now…"

Ed frowned slightly in the dark. Instantly, he thought back to the ball in Central. He'd realized then – when she'd passed out in the car ride back to the hotel – that she wasn't as tough and fearless as she made herself out to be. It was easy to forget that when she hopped trains, fought with him, and owned a pack of wolves that she considered family. He turned around, keeping one hand on the wall, and wrapped the other around her to hug her. She froze up as he held her close for a moment.

"We'll get out of this soon, I promise. Just hang in there for a bit, ok?"

Sara managed to relax slightly and nodded. She would've pushed him off of her in different circumstances, but considering where they were, she couldn't. If they got separated, they'd never get out of there.

Ed smiled slightly. "Want to hold my hand?" he teased, chuckling slightly. Sara growled and tried to glare at him in the dark. "You're lucky I can't hit you right now." Edward just chuckled and turned back around, "Put your hands on my shoulders, then." Sara grumbled but did what he suggested.

They walked a few more feet until they came to another left turn and continued further into the dark halls. The further in they ventured, the more uneasy they both became. Eventually, after what seemed like an hour of shuffling around in the dark, they came to a flight of stairs.

"Finally," Edward sighed with relief. "Ok, keep hold of me and watch your step."

Sara nodded and reluctantly held his free hand. Ed felt around for a railing and held onto it tightly, making his way slowly up the stairs. Once they reached the next floor, they moved away from the stairs and stopped for a rest.

"I'm starting to hate the dark," Ed complained, "but at least we found the stairs." Sara nodded and closed her eyes as they sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. "This would be a whole lot easier if I had materials to make a torch or something," he continued, trying to keep distracted, "But I can't see to find anyth-"

"Edward."

Edward stopped and turned his head towards her voice. "What?"

"Close your eyes…and please change the subject," she suggested as calmly as she could manage. He was silent for a moment before closing his eyes.

"Ok, what to?"

"Anything that has nothing to do with right now would be great…"

Ed thought for a moment, trying to think of something that could help distract her. He could hear her breathing speed up the longer he took to think, and he imagined her heart rate was doing the same. "Tell me something." Sara turned her head in his direction a bit. "Back in Hyda, when we were in the market, you changed your hair and eye color before removing your hood. Why?"

Sara hesitated. She hadn't told him yet, and she'd hoped he would forget. She sighed and squeezed his hand lightly. "I'm not exactly welcome in my hometown…"

"What do you mean?"

"The entire city hates me; everyone, excluding Charis, Kayla, and my uncle. I can't walk around the city without having death threats thrown at me all the time. So, I use my alchemy to change my appearance," she explained.

"But that's human transmutation. I can understand changing hair color; I've done it myself once. But I had to incorporate water. How can you change your appearance without altering yourself on a genetic level?" Edward asked, confused. Theoretically, it could be possible to increase or decrease the amount of melanin present, he thought, in order to change the color that was visible. But that would require having the protein available in order to do so, and if she did so as often as he thought, then there was no way she could do so without causing some sort of damage to herself. So how was it possible?

"I don't know," Sara shrugged, "I've been able to do it since after I lost my sister. I guess its part of what I gained for the price I paid…"

He nodded; it made sense. The Gate had shown him a great deal of information before, but there were still bits and pieces he didn't know. "Well then, how is it the city hates the real you and yet loves who you are when you change appearances?"

"I alter the way I act and speak when I change looks. For instance, the one you saw. Though I'm your age, I act older – more mature – and I'm quieter. I make sure each movement is slightly slower and gentler, and I soften my voice. If I disguised myself like Riza, all I'd have to do is act like her and no one would know unless they'd met her before."

Edward chuckled slightly.

Sara growled, "And it's not because I'm short..."

"I never said that," Ed chuckled. "I just can't see you acting like Hawkeye."

Sara was silent a moment before squeezing his hand lightly. "If I wanted, I could make myself look like you. We're about the same height, and if I bound my chest, I could pass off as you easily."

"I doubt that."

"Why?"

"Well, unless you can change your voice, it wouldn't be convincing once you started talking," Ed pointed out.

Sara smirked, "When we get out of here, I'll prove you wro-" she stopped mid-sentence and opened her eyes. By now they had adjusted enough that she could see down the hall.

Ed frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

"I heard something…" Sara was starting to get uneasy again.

Ed opened his eyes and looked to her. He could see the fear on her face now that his eyes had adjusted. "What did you hear?"

"Movement…" she looked towards the stairs they'd climbed earlier. "Back the way we came…"

Ed stayed silent, listening closely as he sat motionless against the wall. When he heard a strange shuffling, he jumped up and pulled her up with him, looking toward the stairs. He started backing up, slowly making his way down the hall. When the shuffling became louder and rushed sounding, he jolted and started running the other way, never letting go of Sara's hand. Whatever the noises were coming from, it wasn't far behind them, and neither of them wanted to stick around to find out what it was.

They followed the hall as they ran, looking for another flight of stairs so they could start seeing light again. Neither of them dared look back at what was chasing after them, for fear was causing instincts to kick in and they were running for their lives.

Sara managed to keep up with Ed as they ran; she didn't want to fall behind and she did NOT want to be anywhere near the thing behind them. Their hearts pounded in their chests as they raced up the stairs, the sound filling their ears. It was gaining fast and they needed to hide. When they finally came to a new flight of stairs, they sprinted up the steps two at a time, holding on tight to each other's hands.

"I see light!" Ed exclaimed as they reached the top of the stairs. "Finally!" Sara exclaimed. They ran for the source – an open room – and dodged inside, shutting the door and locking it. In a panic they both clapped their hands and touched them to the wall, filling the doorway with the surrounding wall. Within seconds, it looked like the door had never existed. They both backed up to the middle of the room and waited. Through the wall, they could hear the faint shuffling of whatever was following them. It sounded large and lingered in that hallway for some time. After several minutes of silence, whatever was in the hall moved on to search the rest of the building. Once they were sure it was gone, both Ed and Sara relaxed and started breathing again. Sara got on her knees and hung her head, panting slightly. "What the flip was that?"

"I don't know, but let's hope it doesn't come back." Ed looked to her, his own breathing a bit heavy from the earlier run. He sat on the floor with his legs crossed and hesitantly pulled her backwards by her hips, making her plop onto his lap.

"What are you doing?" she squeaked quietly, embarrassed.

"I'm just giving you somewhere more comfortable to sit, geez," he answered, the smallest amount of annoyance in his voice. "Relax would you? I'm not like Mustang who looks for excuses to touch a woman."

She looked away from him, blushing furiously. On one hand, she was in an embarrassing situation and wanted to shove him away. On the other hand, he was comfier than the floor and she felt safer where she was. Sara sighed and leaned back against him. He chuckled slightly and glanced around at the room around them. Most of the floor was covered in wood splinters that had grayed with age. It had probably been a dresser of some sort was his only guess. There was a lot of rubble behind them that had fallen inward from the hole in the far wall, the only source of light in the room. He could see outside and it seemed like nothing had changed while they were lost in the halls. A brass-frame bed, folded in on itself, sat in the corner to his right and a few empty picture frames lay shattered on the floor throughout the room.

"Well, it's not luxurious," Ed joked slightly, trying to lighten the mood, "but at least we're safe here for the moment."

"We're not safe till we're out of this place…" Sara muttered. She was looking up at the ceiling, listening for any movement.

Ed glanced up at the ceiling and turned his head back to her, watching her carefully. Her eyes seemed to be following something he couldn't see, and when he kept still he heard nothing. Every now and again, she tilted her head in on direction or the other, listening. Her senses seemed unusually sharp. She was obviously hearing something he wasn't or she would've settled within a few minutes. Sara never let her guard down though. She sat rigid on his lap; legs taught and ready to run at a moment's notice.

They sat there for several minutes, just letting their hearts settle again. Once they were both calm again, Sara stood and stretched, glancing around the room. "Well, now what?" she asked.

Ed stood, "I don't know. I can't really go back into the hallway."

"You couldn't get me back out there, that's for sure," Sara commented.

"Problem is, we need to keep heading up," he turned to hole in the wall, "and the only way up other than stairs is through this and up the side of the building."

Sara treaded lightly across the rubble in front of the hole and looked out. They were higher up than they'd thought, and the sudden drop was not very welcoming. "We don't have any other choice I guess. Too bad I don't have my gauntlets with me, though. I could've made the finger tips into hooked claws and we could've climbed up no problem," she glanced up at the height they would have to climb. It was a long way up.

Ed glanced around the room. They didn't really have a lot to work with. Dried wood wouldn't do them much good, especially in small amounts, and making stairs up the outer wall could make the building even more unstable than it already was. The bed seemed to be the only thing they had. "Well, we can always, try using the metal from this bed frame," he suggested, walking over to the sagging bed to inspect its bent frame, "Problem is, I don't know how much of it can be used."

Sara trotted over to take a look and rested and hand on the brass frame. "Hmm…I might be able to do something with it." With a couple swift tugs, she managed to pry the mattress out and set it on top of the rubble nearby. They glanced over it, calculating in their heads about how much metal they had to work with. "I think this'll work," she nodded to him.

"It should," Ed agreed, "If it doesn't though, we'll have to come up with something else." Sara nodded. They only had so much to work with and it wasn't going to be easy coming up with a better idea at this point.

Sara sighed, "Alright, here goes nothing." She clapped her hands and rested them on the bed frame, light leaping forth at her touch. It shone brightly for a few seconds before the light dissipated and revealed a pair of grass gauntlets, a lot like the ones sitting is Sara's suitcase back at the hotel. "These should do, but we can't waste time. I don't know how long they'll last."

Ed nodded and picked one up, slipping it onto his left hand and flexing his fingers a little in the brass finger plates. Sara took the last and did the same before transmuting the fingers of the gauntlet and her automail into long hooked claws. Ed blinked; they looked like they were meant for killing not climbing…and something about her clawed automail seemed familiar. Sara looked to him and noticed he was staring at her. "What?"

Ed shook his head, "Nothing…" He transmuted his own gauntlet and hand into something similar and looked to her. "Let's get out of here."

She nodded and walked over to the gaping hole in the wall looking up towards the roof. She glanced at the nearest wall and edged her way over to one side, Ed moving to the other side and watching her carefully. She held out her left hand and hooked the claws on the wall, practically stabbing them into the brick. When she tugged a few times and the held firm, she unhooked her claws from the wall and used her right hand to grip the edge so she could reach out further and hook them in again. Once she sure, she let go of the edge and quickly hooked her right hand in the wall and placing her feet under her.

Ed stared at her. She looked like an animal on the side of a tree. She turned her gaze to him and motioned for him to follow. He turned to the wall next to him and hooked his left hand on the edge and hooked the claws of his right on the wall. They held firm, to his surprise, and he let go of the edge to hook his left on the wall. His feet slipped a little against the wall, but he managed to get them under him and looked at her. She chuckled slightly, "Now just start climbing and don't look down." Without another word, she turned her attention to the wall in front of her and started climbing up, clawing her way up the wall slowly. Ed watched her for a few seconds before trying it himself. It wasn't as easy as she made it look. It took a lot of upper body strength to pull himself up and hook the claws a little higher on the wall. She was definitely stronger than she looked, of that he was sure.

They made their way up slowly, not wanting to slip and fall. It felt like thirty minutes passed as they climbed. Ed eventually caught up with her, and glanced at her every now and again. She was definitely strange, but if she hadn't hidden from the military she could've been a valuable soldier, probably one of the best. Yet here she was, just trying to get back home. He could understand not wanting to be used like a weapon by the higher-ups, but with the skills she possessed, she could easily move up in the ranks if she wanted to. So what was stopping her?

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, they both hooked the edge of the roof and pulled themselves over the edge. They laid there for a minute, panting slightly as they allowed their arms to rest while they stared at the sky.

They glanced at each other and chuckled. They'd made it to the top. The pair sat up and looked around. Almost all of the rooftops they could see were the same height as the one they were on, creating and endless field of rooftops that resembled dry, cracked earth. One building a couple blocks away stood a few stories higher than the rest. "Well, we know where we're going next," Ed grinned. Sara nodded, "Think we'll be able to see anything from up there?" Ed nodded, "Yeah, hopefully. If we don't, we'll just have to come up with a new plan."

Ed stood and transmuted his automail and gauntlet back to normal. He helped Sara up and she did the same. "Good thing we left our coats behind…" she mused, "It would've been even harder to climb with them on." Ed nodded in agreement and glanced around. "Well, I guess we're jumping roof tops for a bit." "But at least two of the roads on the way over are too wide to jump. How are we going to get over them?" Sara asked. Ed shook his head, "I don't know. I guess we'll see what we can come up with when get to them. If anything, we'll have to risk it and make path out of the wall from one roof to the other." Sara didn't like the sound of that, but they didn't have a lot of choices anymore. If it came down to it, they'd have to take some huge risks. There was no turning back at this point.

So, sorry about this taking longer than planned. I got distracted by school and such XP And I've been through a lot lately. But it's finished, and hopefully the next chapter won't take near as long to write. Still doing this all off the top of my head though.

Al: Where did I disappear to?

Me: Oh, you're around. Give me time to get the next chappie written ;3

Al: Ok! Don't forget to rate and review! :3 See ya next chapter!

(1) = The snippets of poetry here are taken from Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken", which was published with some of his other works in 1916 in his third collection of verse titled MOUNTAIN INTERVAL. Given the timeline of the beginning of my fanfic, I figured it fit quite nicely.