Yes, yes, I suck at updating, my excuse is that I'm currently studying abroad in Germany and it's hard to think about writing…

,.,..,.,,,..,,

"What is it you wished to talk about?" Aragorn asked as soon as he was sure Edward was asleep. He spoke in Sindarin, though, just in case.

"I was curious to see how your search was going," Gandalf replied, following Aragorn's example. "Though I can see you're occupied with something just as challenging," he joked, gesturing toward the sleeping alchemist.

"I spent about an hour speaking with his brother," Aragorn said. "He gave me more warnings about Edward than I care to count, but even that is not enough to deal with him at times. It is a wonder he hasn't been expelled from the military of his country."

"If he is as talented as you say, then I would say it is a wonder they're allowing him to wander," Gandalf said.

"I have often wondered about that myself," Aragorn remarked. "But he doesn't speak about it. I don't blame him, either; not with his country the way it is."

Edward shifted in his sleep, rolling onto his side and inadvertently revealing his metal arm. They watched the boy for a moment before Gandalf stood.

"I should continue on my way. If things go well, I will see you soon."

Aragorn nodded, and once they had said their farewells, he shifted his gaze to the fire. The day after tomorrow they would arrive at the High Pass, and from there on, they would have to be much more careful. He would have to speak seriously with Edward tomorrow.

,..,.,,.,.,.,,.,.,,

It was late in the morning when Ed woke up. He sat up with an effort; his leg was still pretty sore. It looked like they'd be going slowly today. He stayed where he was, not wanting to move just yet. He had a feeling today would be a long day.

"We'll have to stay here for a while," Strider said, startling Ed out of his reverie. "I doubt you'll make it far in that condition."

Ed looked down at his hands. Next would be a lecture, he just knew it…

"You knew about your leg beforehand, didn't you?" Strider asked.

Ed nodded. "Winry checked just before I left. There wasn't any time to do anything about it."

"And yet you still didn't say anything about it."

"I forgot," Ed admitted, keeping his eyes down. Man, he'd really screwed up this time…

"It's careless mistakes like this that will get you killed."

Ed cringed. He didn't know what to say to that one, and it was true. He always brought these things on himself, and even on other people…

"You might as well just give up on me," he said, gripping his right arm as he spoke. "I think I've made it pretty obvious that I can't learn from my mistakes."

It was quiet in the camp for a moment before Ed stood and walked away. He went around to the other side of the nearby boulders and sat against one, pulling his knees to his chest and staring out at the mountains to the east. They were pretty close now; he had the feeling they'd be there a few hours after they started up again.

It was a while before he noticed Strider standing nearby. Ed looked up at him for a moment before he turned back to staring at the mountains.

"What is it?"

Strider took a few steps forward and sat down a few feet away from Ed. Ed let out a resigned sigh. This was definitely going to be a long day…

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Ed blinked. "Doing what?"

"You could have told me this was too much for you. There was no need for you to punish yourself like this."

Now Ed was confused. "I wasn't punishing myself."

"Then why did you push yourself to exhaustion?"

Ed sighed and rested his chin on his arms. "I thought I could handle it."

"And yet you couldn't," Strider said. "It seems clear to me that you don't know your own limits."

"There's a lot I don't know," Ed replied. "But I guess that's why I'm here in the first place, right?"

"It is," Strider said before standing. "Come. There are a few things you must know before we leave tonight."

"Tonight?" Ed asked, standing and following Strider back to the camp.

"We'll travel by night from now on. Orcs rarely come out during the day. It will be safer to rest then."

"Right…"

It was at that moment that Ed felt a strong sense of unease. He ignored it, but it refused to go away. He wasn't all that sure he wanted to cross the mountains after all…

,.,..,,..,,,.

It was late that afternoon when Aragorn woke Edward for their journey. The alchemist sat up without a word, rubbing sleep from his eyes and reaching for his shoes. Aragorn watched as Edward placed them side-by-side, and after bringing his hands together, he touched them, causing a bright light to emit from beneath his hands. A moment later, Edward picked them up, looked carefully at both of them, and put them on, all without a word.

"Let me see," Aragorn said, walking over to where Edward sat. Edward nodded and straightened his legs. To Aragorn's relief, both legs appeared to be the same length now. His knees were uneven, but as long as his footing was even, Edward would likely be fine.

They left an hour later, walking quietly towards the mountains as the sun began to set. Edward was doing much better this time, and though he was still slower than before, he managed to keep up a steady pace.

It was not quite midnight when they were in the midst of the mountains. The pass was rocky and treacherous at parts, but Edward did well, showing an agility that helped put Aragorn's mind at ease. If Edward was fast, he would fare better if something happened.

They stopped briefly to eat sometime later before continuing. By the time the sky began to lighten, they had covered almost half the distance of the pass, and they continued until the sun had risen.

They stopped in a small clearing, sheltered on two sides by sheer cliffs that were half as high as the nearby peaks, and on the third by several trees. Edward immediately collapsed under the shade of the trees, staring at the sky with a tired look in his eyes.

"You're not going to sleep already, are you?" Aragorn teased.

Edward scowled. "No."

"Good. There is something else to do today."

Edward looked curiously over at him. "Like what?"

"Get your knife."

Still looking curiously at Aragorn, Edward sat up and retrieved his small knife. "Okay, so… now what?"

"You spar with your brother whenever you get the chance, correct?"

Aragorn could pinpoint the exact moment when it dawned on Edward. "Yeah… but do I really have to use this?" he asked, pointing to the knife.

"If someone were to come at you with a sword, how would you defend yourself?" Aragorn asked.

Edward simply pointed at his right arm. "This works pretty well."

"It would not be enough."

"Enough for what? Aren't we just talking about me defending myself?"

"There is more to defense than simply blocking attacks," Aragorn said. "Some will attack relentlessly until either one of you falls."

There was a flash of terror in Edward's eyes before he nodded. Aragorn recognized the look on his face. Though his young age was a definite factor, Edward was incapable of seeing the reason behind taking a life.

"There's no need to be so concerned," Aragorn said kindly. "You may never have to use this knowledge at all."

This seemed to give Edward some semblance of relief, and he relaxed some. However, he still seemed ill at ease, and Aragorn soon found out why. "I still don't know anything about using a weapon, though…"

"You will learn," Aragorn said. "Now, if I were to attack you–"

"But you're not attacking me," Edward interrupted. "People think differently when they're fighting than when they're just standing around and talking about it."

"You should not be interrupting your teacher like that," Aragorn chastised, though he was pleased to see that Edward was aware of the difference between words and action itself.

"Sorry…" Edward muttered.

"You make a good point, however," Aragorn continued, pulling a knife from its sheath. "When an enemy attacks, you may not be warned at all." And with that, he ran at the alchemist, ready to strike with the flat of his blade.

To his surprise, however, Edward proved to be faster. He jumped to the side and kicked out at Aragorn, losing his balance in the process. He fell back and sat staring at Aragorn, surprise still evident on his face.

"That was good," Aragorn said as he helped Edward to his feet. "Next time, however, try to stay on your feet."

Edward nodded. "Got it."

"All right, let's start again."

Edward nodded again, and they resumed their former positions. Edward stood with his knife in his right hand, his stance low and even. Aragorn took note of this, as well as the way he held his weapon, before attacking.

He had expected Edward to be slowed by the weight of his arm, but he moved surprisingly quickly despite that. Aragorn moved out of the way just in time, realizing rather quickly that he had underestimated the alchemist. However, after a few more attacks on Edward's part, Aragorn disarmed him a second time.

"You're not watching me. You must always keep your eyes on your enemy," he said as he helped Edward to his feet.

"I thought I was," Edward replied.

"Not well enough. And why exactly are you jumping all over the place?" Aragorn asked.

"It's just the style I'm used to," Edward replied. "My teacher used it all the time, and she could beat us both in less than a minute."

"You fought with your teacher?" Aragorn asked.

"It was part of our training," Edward explained.

"I see. Let's start again."

,..,.,..,,…,.,

By the time they stopped, Ed was exhausted, and as soon as they finished, he collapsed beneath the trees, staring up at the sky as he caught his breath. Strider was looking through his bags on the other side of camp, and he didn't seem to care that Ed was lazing around at the moment.

"You should eat before you go to sleep," Strider said after a while. "I'll take the first watch."

"Right," Ed muttered. It was about five minutes later when he finally got up, and half an hour later, he flopped back down on the ground, and a minute later, he was asleep.

He woke up a few hours later for his watch, and he sat quietly against a tree and stretched out his legs. He'd managed to get quite a few bruises this morning…

His shift passed quietly in the beginning, but about halfway through, the wind began to pick up. Ed sighed and pulled his coat on. The day was warm enough, but the wind wasn't helping at all.

He was staring at a spot on the cliff opposite him when he heard something unusual. It sounded like the wind, but at the same time, Ed wasn't so sure…

He ignored it for the moment, figuring it was probably his imagination, but a minute later, Ed heard it again. It sounded incredibly familiar, like Winry's dog howling at something in the distance. Then he remembered the warning that Strider had given him about Wargs. "That had better by my imagination," he muttered to himself as he stood up.

He heard it a third time, and now he was worried. He walked a few feet away from camp and looked around, but he wasn't expecting to see anything. After all, it was still very faint, and Wargs could probably hide themselves from a thirteen-year-old kid…

That last thought made the decision for him. There was definitely something out there. He turned and went back to camp for the moment, debating with himself about what to do. Finally, he went and woke up Strider.

"Is it my turn?" Strider asked.

"Not quite. I think there's something out there," Ed answered before telling him what he'd heard.

Strider pricked up his ears for a few minutes before lying back down. "It's just the wind. Don't worry about it."

Ed frowned. So it had been his imagination. He sighed as he walked back to his spot and sat down. This was going to be a long day…

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

As his second turn on watch began, Ed came to a very obvious, and yet very important, realization. He hated wild animals.

As he waited for Strider to finish bandaging his shoulder, Ed found himself glaring in the direction of that damn hedgehog. The little bugger was still there, too, staring at him in a manner that seemed to say, "I may have been partially crushed, but it was so worth it."

"I've never seen someone fall on a hedgehog before," Strider remarked.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Glad to have been the first," he muttered under his breath.

Strider finished and patted Ed on his uninjured shoulder as he stood up. "And let's hope it's the last," he said as he walked back across camp and went back to bed. Ed sighed as he leaned back against the tree. This wasn't working out very well at all…

The next time he woke up, the sun was about to set, and Strider was packing up his things. Ed did the same after a moment, and they went on their way.

The sun set much more quickly than Ed had thought it would, and as the evening sky grew darker, Ed found himself wishing he had a torch. Last night hadn't been so bad, but after what had happened during the day, Ed found himself feeling less and less at ease. This place was too quiet for his tastes. Much too quiet.

It didn't take him long to figure out why it seemed much more quiet than yesterday. Strider hadn't said anything since they'd started. In fact, he seemed to be carefully studying their surroundings, as if he was tracking something, or…

"Is something wrong?" Ed whispered, realizing there was probably a reason for the silence.

"Look at the trees," Strider replied, his voice low as well.

Ed looked. They looked fairly normal, but when he took a closer look, he could see that someone, or something, had torn up the trunks. In fact, when he looked at the ground, he saw the same thing. It was as if someone had gone a little crazy with a hatchet. Of course, there probably weren't many people out here who would do this kind of thing, but then he remembered one of his lessons…

"Orcs?" he asked quietly.

"There are several of them, and they passed through here not so long ago," Strider said. "Have your knife ready."

Ed nodded and pulled his knife out of its sheath. "Will they find us if they're already ahead?"

"We're upwind of them. They'll likely catch our scent and come back here."

Ed let out a quiet groan and began looking at his surroundings. It wasn't ideal for a fight, but it wasn't horrible, either. Besides, he was sm– agile enough to get out of range if need be…

He was dragged out of his current train of thought when Strider walked over to a group of bushes and gestured for Ed to follow. Ed figured this one out pretty quickly. They were hiding.

"Is this okay?" he whispered, forgetting his pride for once and just thinking about how much he'd rather be back in Resembool.

"It's better than staying out in the open," Strider replied. "But be ready to fight nonetheless."

Ed looked mournfully down at the small knife in his hand and wished his brother was here. Al was better at fighting than he was…

He nearly dropped the knife when he heard footsteps, followed by muffled voices. He peered through the bushes, gripping the handle of the knife so hard he almost lost feeling in his fingers, as a group of orcs rounded a corner. They were as ugly as he remembered them being.

They were speaking in some harsh language, and Ed looked up at Strider. To his surprise, Strider wasn't looking at the group in front of them, but up above them, at the tops of the cliffs across from them. Ed risked a glance up there as well, shifting the knife in his hand as he did so.

To his dismay, Strider was looking at an orc up there, and said orc began shouting at his comrades as soon as Ed had looked up. Ed swore under his breath as the orcs on the ground turned to the bushes, and he followed Strider's lead and stood, his hand gripping the knife handle in determination.

"Well, well, two Men in the mountains," one of them, the biggest and ugliest of the group said. Ed winced at how awful it sounded. "It looks like we'll have some fun tonight, especially with the little one," he finished. The rest laughed.

Any trace of fear Ed had was gone in an instant. Everything was driven from his mind but the sheer audacity of this… even thinking of a good way to describe his feelings of rage was too much. All he could think of was destroying the ones who had thought to mock him. He clapped his hands and placed them on the ground.

Immediately, the ground beneath the orcs lit up, and rose so suddenly that the entire group of orcs was thrown over twenty meters into the air. When they landed, the few who weren't severely injured by the fall were dismayed to find Strider coming at them. The leader, who had managed to get to his feet and tried to run off, was immediately knocked over by a metal foot to the head, and he crumpled to the ground.

Once Ed was sure the orc was down for good, he turned to help Strider, but he soon found that he didn't need to do anything. Strider was fine, but he was currently giving Ed a strange look. Ed scowled and pointed at the one who had brought Ed's wrath upon him.

"He called me small."

.,.,.,,.,.,.,..,

To say that Aragorn was surprised wasn't quite an understatement, but it certainly was true. His first thought was the final warning Alphonse had given him, but up until now, he hadn't realized just how serious the younger of the Elrics had been.

However, there were more pressing matters at hand at the moment, and Aragorn was thinking about the best course of action to take as he surveyed Edward's handiwork.

"You realize that your actions will have alerted any others to our presence here, don't you?" he asked as Edward retrieved his pack from behind the bushes.

Edward spared a glance back at Aragorn before approaching one of the few survivors, who was attempting to grasp a nearby sword. Edward placed his foot on the sword, looked down at the orc, and asked, "Are there any more of you around here?"

The orc sneered at Ed before replying, "I'm not telling the likes of you."

"Really? Why not?" Edward asked, clenching his right hand into a fist and smiling a little too cheerfully.

Understandably, that simple gesture struck fear into the orc's heart, and they got a very hurried reply. "No there aren't!"

"Are you sure about that?" Edward asked, still looking much too cheerful.

"Yes! It was just us!"

And with that, Edward looked back at Aragorn, a look in his eyes that seemed to say, "That good enough for you?"

"Very well. We were lucky this time," Aragorn said finally. "However, you're not always going to be lucky enough to have your enemy insult your height," he continued.

Edward gave Aragorn a glare that would have made most men quiver in fear before turning and continuing down the road. "It worked out though, didn't it?"

"Yes," Aragorn agreed, catching up to him without any effort. "And you did very well. I just hope you'll be capable of fighting without resorting to alchemy so quickly."

Edward stopped and looked back at Aragorn curiously. "Why's that?"

"There will be times when you will have to do without," Aragorn explained. "Alchemy is your greatest weapon. You shouldn't reveal it unless you have to, otherwise you may be mistaken for a wizard."

Edward was quiet for a while before turning and continuing to walk. "I understand. I'll be more careful next time."

They continued on their way more quickly than before, neither wishing to stay in the mountains longer than was necessary. Because of this, it was well past dawn before they finally stopped, having made their way south along the eastern side of the mountains for a while. When they did stop, Edward looked at their surroundings and asked a question that Aragorn had been expecting.

"I thought we were heading east," he said. "Why are we going south?"

"To meet the sons of Elrond," Aragorn replied. "There are a few things I wish to discuss with them."

"Oh," Edward said. "Where are they?"

"They are returning from Lothlorien by way of the High Pass," Aragorn explained.

They ate quietly before Aragorn prepared himself for the first watch. However, after several minutes, it became clear that Edward had no intentions of sleeping just yet. Instead, he was staring moodily at Aragorn.

"Is there something wrong?" Aragorn asked.

"You don't think I can handle keeping watch as long as you."

"No. You're still a child."

Edward snorted. "That's the first time I've heard that in a while."

"That doesn't change the fact that you still are a child," Aragorn said calmly. "You may have been forced to become an adult in your country, but that doesn't make you one. However, if you think you're able to keep watch for longer, then go ahead and take the first shift. Wake me up in two hours."

Edward was momentarily taken aback, but he recovered wordlessly and sat against a tree. Aragorn lay down nearby, though he didn't go to sleep just yet. The minutes passed quietly in their little camp, and around half an hour later, Aragorn heard Edward stand and walk toward him. He sat up and gave the alchemist a curious look.

"You win," Edward muttered quietly before sitting down nearby.

Aragorn was not surprised in the least. He was just glad Edward had admitted he was wrong before he'd fallen asleep while on watch.

,.,.,.,.,..,,,.,

Yep, Ed going into a rage because of a comment on his height. Shocking, I know. Enjoy.