Author's Note-First off, the disclaimer. I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. Second, this is my first FullMetal Alchemist fanfic that's not a crossover. I actually got the inspiration for it from a roleplay… Anyways, it was gnawing at my brain, so I figured that I just had to write it down. This chapter was a bit hard to write, though, so don't mind its length and lack of activity. It'll pick up further into the plot. Oh, and I'd also like to thank Ash the Twisted for beta reading this for me.
A golden-eyed teen walked down the dirt road towards the graveyard. His younger brother was back at the Rockbells', helping out the residents that lived there. It was pretty quiet, despite it being noon. Hardly anything ever happened there. Hence the quiet life of the country town Risemboul.
Edward Elric wasn't sure why he had decided to go to the graveyard all of a sudden. He felt like going to his mother's grave, though the idea was impulsive, spur-of-the-moment. Which was why he was walking alone.
He reached the graveyard and walked over to a grave. The grave of his mother, Trisha Elric. The golden eyes blinked and he frowned, looking around. Strange. He felt as if someone was watching him, but he didn't see anyone around.
The boy glanced back at the grave, then sighed. Just in case... "…I should be getting back now. Al and Winry are going to be wondering where I am," he muttered.
His eyes widened as he suddenly felt a strong arm wrap around him and a clothed hand clamp over his mouth. Before he could put his hands together, a taste suddenly hit his mouth. Being an alchemist, he could easily identify the chemical with ease.
Chloroform.
His eyes met darkness, and his figure was limp within moments.
"Guys, it's time for supper!" Winry called. She walked outside, only to run into metal. "Ack!"
The suit of armor looked down. "Oh. Sorry, Winry. I wasn't watching where I was going," he apologized. Though he was sincere, his voice had a bit of a distracted note to it.
The blonde girl blinked. "Al? What's wrong?" she asked.
"Winry…have you seen Ed?" Al asked. Though it was impossible, Winry could swear that his eyes expressed worry. "He's been gone since this afternoon, and it's already getting dark…"
"No, I haven't. I actually was just looking for the both of you…" Winry admitted. "An ideas where he might be?"
"Maybe Mom's grave…" Al suggested. "Though he shouldn't have been gone for this long."
"May as well go look. There's not may places he could be," Winry said, frowning.
Al nodded. "Yeah…"
The two made their way to the graveyard. When they arrived there, they noticed small footprints. It had rained the day before, so the ground was still somewhat muddy.
"Those are Ed's footprints…" Al said, following them up to the grave of his mother. The tracks were suddenly joined with another, this one coming from a different angle. "What the…" Al followed the tracks, his pace quickening. Ed's smaller footprints had become blurred, as if he had been dragged. He stopped, and if he had his human body back, he would have gone pale.
"Al? Al, what did you find?" Winry called, running up to him. She stopped and her eyes widened.
Tire tracks leading down the road...
Ed had been kidnapped.
"C'mon, Sheska. Let's keep the ball rolling. Case Twenty-Seven…" Lieutenant Colonel Hughes ordered. Sheska sighed wearily as she began to copy the next case onto paper from memory. Hughes was about to show her yet another out of the hundreds of picture of Elicia, since his beautiful little daughter's smile could perk anyone's spirits and give them more than enough energy, when he was suddenly cut off by the phone.
"Hello?" he asked, picking it up. His look grew grim. "Another one?" he asked. Pause. Then, "Well, have they got any leads?" Another pause, then, "I see. I'll be over there to check it out soon." He hung up the phone and sighed. He turned, about to leave when the phone rang again. He turned back and picked up. "Hello?"
"Hughes! Something's happened…!" Al said on the other end, sounding really upset.
Hughes frowned. "Al…?" he asked. The poor kid sounded almost panicked. What could've happened? Did Scar follow them to Risemboul? "What happened?"
"Niisan's been kidnapped!"
Hughes' amber eyes widened, but then narrowed in seriousness. "Kidnapped? You're sure?"
"Yeah. He went off to the graveyard this afternoon. We went to the graveyard about twenty minutes ago and followed his tracks. There's signs of a struggle, then him getting dragged to a vehicle…" Al said.
Hughes' frown grew darker. It couldn't be… he thought. Not another kidnapping… To Al, he said, "I'll see what I can do. Just hang tight. Where are you?"
"At the Rockbells'."
"Alright. I'll see if I can get over there as soon as possible." With that, the lieutenant colonel sighed and hung up. Another kidnapping. And this one even less related to the last. What was going on…?
Ed groaned and slowly opened his eyes. His head hurt. He heard the sounds of being in a truck or something. What happened…?
He sat up and looked around. Not much to look around at. He did seem to be in the back of a truck, where all was sealed off. It was dark. Noticing he was by the wall, he leaned back so his head could rest against it. He felt slightly dizzy…
"I need to get out of here…" Ed muttered, bringing his arms up to… Wait! His arm! "What the?.!"
He looked over at his right arm, or where his right arm should have been. It was gone! As well as his left leg…
"What happened…?" he whispered. "Hey!" he shouted, hoping that the people up front could hear him. "What the hell's going on?.! Where are you taking me?.!"
A small window, a little rectangle of light suddenly appeared up front. "Pipe down, kid," a man said, peering in.
Ed growled. "I'm not a kid. What the hell is this?"
"You'll see, kid."
"I told you, I'm not a kid!" Ed said, twitching as he thought the man was referring to his height. "What did you do with my arm?.! And my leg?.!"
"Guinea pigs aren't in any position to ask questions…" the man said. He paused for a moment. "Kid."
The blonde boy was on the verge of snapping at being called a kid again, when he something in that statement caught him. "Guinea pig…?" He glared. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Like I said, you'll see, kid." Before Ed could respond, something clattered to the floor as the window snapped shut.
"Bastard…" Ed grumbled. He looked down at the object. "Now what…?" To answer his question, smoke began to spew out of the end of the small ball. No, not smoke… "Gas!" His eyes widened as he coughed. He slipped back into darkness as he fell unconscious…
Author's Note-Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon. I'm already working on it (as well as the next chapter to Dark Rain, for those who read that fanfic.) Please review and I'll get the next chapter out as quickly as I can. -nodnod- Ja ne!