State Chimera

Winry reappeared awhile later. By this point, Jiang had finished drying himself off, and Alphonse had opted to sitting on the couch, waiting for any news. As soon as the automail mechanic had emerged, the two looked to her questioningly. There was some blood on the apron she was wearing, but it didn't seem too serious.

"Edward should be fine, but he'll need a proper doctor when you get back to Central just to make sure."

"You're not coming with, Winry?" Alphonse was kind of disappointed. It wasn't very often they saw their childhood friend anymore, and Edward had told Winry more about what had happened than he had told anyone else. Or maybe it was just that Winry pushed him a bit more than the others did. She knew what to say to get him to open up. Al did too, of course, he just didn't want to force his brother to talk about painful memories. He didn't want to force Edward to go through that hell again.

"No, I'm going to stay here. You can take care of Ed, can't you?"

"Of course, he's my brother!"

Winry smiled. "I know, Al. I was just making sure." She paused. "Right now, we're just trying to keep him warm. Could you get him a change of clothes?"

"O-of course!" Alphonse headed upstairs to the bedroom Edward slept in when they stayed here. He pulled the suitcase out from under the bed, quickly finding a change of clothes for his older brother. The younger brother bolted back down, giving the clothes to Winry, who thanked him.

"You know… it's kind of odd… his wounds, they weren't bleeding as much as a gunshot would should…" She mused. "I suppose that's probably a good thing, though. It probably means that there wasn't as much tissue damage." And with that, she disappeared again.

"She really cares about you boys." Jiang observed. "Perhaps I should move on. I won't find my family hanging around."

"Oh… are you sure?" Alphonse wanted to offer to allow the Chim… no, Qilin, to come with them, but he wanted to make sure it was alright with his brother first. "Wait at least until morning? I'm sure Brother will want to thank you for saving him." Jiang sighed.

"Well, I suppose it would probably be best if I did get a proper night's sleep tonight. I won't be intruding, will I?"

"I don't think anyone will mind."

"I guess that's it, then." It had been a long time since Jiang had seen such hospitality. Then again… he tried to avoid people he didn't recognize. But that boy… he couldn't leave him to drown. He imagined his son, falling into a river and drowning. He'd want someone to do something. My son… where are you, anyway? Are you and your mother well?

Alphonse noticed that Jiang had gone quiet, but didn't really want to intrude on his thoughts, so he remained quiet, too. Waiting once again.

Jiang was later shown to a spare room. Alphonse was told to monitor Edward through the night. The blond had been wrapped in blankets, folded up cloths, damp with warm water, were resting behind his neck and on his forehead. Another, Al knew, had been placed over Edward's chest. He was asleep right now, his breathing fairly even – except the occasional shivers that would wrack his body.

"You should really be more careful, Brother…" Alphonse sighed. "You know we worry about you. Yet… why do you keep pushing us away? We want to help you… but… we can't…" Another sigh. Edward couldn't hear him anyway.

They left mid-day the next day. Jiang came with them after Edward told him about the Chimeras in Central. Unfortunately, for the Fullmetal Alchemist, he wasn't allowed to put weight on his injured leg. This resulted in Alphonse having to carry him to the train. He pretended to be asleep, so that people wouldn't be suspicious. After all, it was one of the townspeople who had shot him. He couldn't blame him, though. The way he was running and the fact that he wasn't hiding his ears or tail, anyone could've mistaken him for some sort of monster.

The trip to Central was rather uneventful. Colonel Mustang was waiting for them at the station, curious as to why Alphonse was carrying his brother. The older brother appeared to be asleep, but Roy knew better than that. His breathing was a bit off for someone who was sleeping, after all.

"What happened?"

"Brother was shot at. Winry says that he'll need a doctor to look at his wounds."

"It couldn't have hit his automail, could it?" Roy pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "That would be too easy! But no, instead, we have to find someone to treat a Chimera. You love getting yourself into these situations, don't you, Fullmetal?"

"Shut up, Colonel Shit." Edward hissed, cracking open an eye to glare at Mustang. "Do you think I asked to be shot at?" He shuddered, before coughing harshly, blood escaping past his lips. Jiang's eyes widened, startled.

"Is he alright?"

"Lemme be." Edward groaned, trying to shift positions. Alphonse looked down at him concernedly.

"We need to get you some help…"

"Drop it." The Chimera shook his head. "There's an abandoned warehouse… I can show you…" he stopped to cough up blood, "how to get there. Just… leave me there."

"Brother, I'm not leaving you anywhere!"

"Fullmetal, why would you want to be left in some empty building in this state?" Roy questioned.

"It's… not empty. Masaru… and the others stay there." Edward coughed harshly, more of the crimson liquid leaving his lips. He looked over at Jiang. "We'll be right at home there."

"Alphonse," The Flame Alchemist spoke up, "you take your brother to the Chimera. They're the only ones who know anything about his condition."

"What about his wounds?"

"We'll deal with those later."

Alphonse didn't want to leave Edward's injuries as they were, but he knew that there was no way they could take him to a doctor. He had no choice but to speak with Masaru to see if there was anything he could do.

"Where are you from?"

"Central."

"Oh," the girl seemed surprised. "There's no road out here, not since the uprising. Why did you come all the way to Lior?"

"Because," Masaru chuckled, pulling his hood up again to make sure his ears were hidden. "There's no road here." It was the perfect place for a Chimera to hide. He wasn't hiding, no. He was looking for anyone who was hiding. "I like to go out on adventures every once in awhile."

"I see…" The girl paused, looking towards a collapsed building. The walls and what else had all caved in and were eroding, a small gap visible from where they stood. She put her hand on the bandages wrapped around her forearm, almost sub-consciously.

"Something the matter?"

"There's a cat, I think, there. I hear it crying all the time. When I tried to approach it, it lashed out at me. It must've been a very big cat…"

"I see…" Masaru had a suspicion that it wasn't just a cat hiding under that rubble. "Thank you for your time, ma'am, but I must be going."

"Oh… of course. It was no trouble at all."

Masaru later returned to the collapsed building with some milk and a plate with two steaks on it, both cooked rare. He slowly approached the building, able to hear soft mewls that were halfway between cat and human. 'Help me'.

"Hello?" He called gently. He was answered with a threatening hiss. 'Stay the hell away!' "I only want to help. You must be hungry." Slowly, Masaru set the plate down. "You're not a cat, are you?" He glanced around, before lowering his hood slowly to reveal his ears. He heard someone shifting around, before a boy emerged from the opening, covered in dirt, grime and scratches. His golden hair was filthy, and his matching eyes looked exhausted. His clothes were in a similar state. In his arms was a child with brown hair and blue eyes. Both had the ears and tails of cats.

"Who are you?" The golden-haired one questioned, his tired voice still having a venomous tone to it.

"My name is Masaru. I am a Chimera from Central. I came looking for others of our kind." He pushed the plate towards them. "Please, eat." He could tell that the two hadn't eaten for awhile.

"I…" A pause as the blond looked down at his young companion. "Thank you." Gently, he shook the brunette's shoulder. "Kazuya, are you feeling alright? Can you eat?" The child stirred, nodding weakly. He pushed himself away from his companion, shakily grabbing the smaller of the two steaks. He chewed on it hesitantly as the blond began to bite into the other one.

"There are other Chimera in Central. If you come with me, I can take you some place safe." Masaru left the offer up in the air. "What are your names?"

"This is Kazuya." The older of the duo answered. "I'm Edward Elric."

"The Fullmetal Alchemist?" Masaru was startled. A State Alchemist would not be a Chimera! "I heard you were dead."

"I guess I've been gone long enough…" Edward paused. "We'll come with you. If nothing else…" he looked down at Kazuya, "for his sake. He can't live like this."

"I'll be fine." The young boy insisted. "Whatever you want to do, I'll follow. We've lost everything we had, so we should stay together. We're all we've got." The look on Edward's face was so full of sorrow. Masaru had the feeling that wasn't the first time he had heard that line.

"That's right, Kaz…"

"Masaru!"

"What is it, Kaz?"

The boy looked exhausted, concern evident in his blue cat's-eyes. "Edo's back, but he's coughing blood and he was shot! He's also brought his brother and another person."

Masaru sighed. Why was Edward bringing others here again? He saw how violently a certain someone had reacted last time. The raven-haired cat Chimera didn't want that to happen again. He jumped off the crate he had been lying on, heading over to the warehouse doors. Kazuya was already speaking with the tallest of the group. That must've been Alphonse, he supposed. Edward's front was stained with the blood he was coughing up.

"Again?" He sighed. "Kazuya, take those two to the back to get Edward cleaned up."

"Okay!" Kazuya turned to Alphonse. "Come with me!" He headed off towards the back of the warehouse. The younger Elric brother followed, his older brother in his arms. Masaru turned to Jiang.

"And who are you?"

"I'm a Qilin. I believe you call yourself Chimeras." He held his arm up. Masaru watched as his arm, up to his elbow, became that of a white tiger's, striped with a tiger-like paw for a hand.

"…I see. Then, we welcome you."

"Thank you."

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure Edward's alright."

"That's quite alright."

Edward, of course, insisted that he was fine. Alphonse was knelt on the ground out behind the back of the warehouse, his brother in his arms as Kazuya soaked a cloth at the warehouse's outdoor water tap.

"Brother," Alphonse sighed, "this isn't good! For you to be coughing up blood like this means that there was some serious damage done to your internal organs!"

"Al… really," The Chimera-Alchemist paused to cough up blood, "it's nothing new for me… I'll be fine in a few hours."

Alphonse wanted so badly to ask 'but what if you're not?' What if Edward just kept coughing up blood until there was nothing left to cough up and he died of blood loss? What if his internal organs shut down and he died from that? There was so much that could go wrong. Did his brother not realize that? Kazuya wiped the blood away from Edward's mouth with the cloth.

"Just hang on, Edo. I'm sure there's a way to make everything better!"

"I wonder…" Jiang mused as he stepped outside through the back door, causing the group to look up. Well, except Edward, who was too busy coughing up blood to notice. "If Alkahestry could be used to help him…"

"But…" Alphonse frowned mentally. The only Alkahestrist he knew was that girl with the cat… "we can't use Alkahestry. And we don't even know what's wrong…"

"Let me see…" Jiang crouched down beside Edward, taking a finger and jabbing it into his middle back. Edward yowled, his tail tensing as his ears flicked back.

"What… was that for?" He hissed.

"I'm trying to figure out how the Chi flows through your body…"

"Why?" Kazuya tilted his head.

"Because," Jiang explained, "I can't use Alkahestry if I don't know that."