Fullmetal Alchemist: Lost and Bound

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. Hiromu Arakawa does. I only own the OC characters.

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The next morning, everything was a bit more rushed than usual. Breakfast was hastily scarfed down, the charred firewood thrown much farther than it needed to be. In a surprisingly short amount of time, the merry band started on their journey once again, their quarry in tow. Edward noticed that they had woken and left in the wee hours of the morning.

"If we hurry, we'll be able to make it by late afternoon," Salazar called out. Edward perked up at this. They were almost to their destination? It had only been two days.

"Oh, Chung can't wait to get home. Chung misses the library and tomato soup," the tailed young man said excitedly.

"It'll be nice to finally relax. This job wasn't almost worth the trouble," Roxy said, casting a glare at the bound alchemist on the bronze giant's shoulder.

"It'll all be worth it, don't worry. We'll be able to live among society again," Salazar responded. "We're very close."

The sun couldn't rise fast enough for Edward. It crept slowly across the sky, moving the shadows as it did. He willed with all his might for the day to go by faster. As soon as he was free from his bonds, he would try to find a way to escape. As long as they didn't take away his automail arm, it would be easy to get away with a little alchemy.

The sun reached its highest point in the sky, and still they walked. The forest slowly began to trickle away, opening up to a landscape similar to the one they camped in the first night. This one was more desert-like, the terrain more bumpy than smooth. The slight breeze kicked up particles from the sandy dunes. There was no vegetation in sight.

The sun began to sink, their shadows growing in length on the ground. Soon enough, the sun was touching the horizon. "We should blindfold him now, so he won't see the entrance. We're almost there," Roxy spoke up.

"Right, of course," Salazar agreed. The party stopped momentarily so that the thin, weedy man could move behind Bimbo, right in front of Edward's face. He reached up, and wrapped a white cloth around the blonds' eyes, tying it tight enough that so he couldn't open them underneath the blindfold. "No hard feelings, Edward. We just can't risk it," Salazar said apologetically. The young alchemist only gave him a muffled grunt in answer. He wasn't too worried, however. It would be easy to find a way out.

After a little while, the sun disappeared below the horizon. However, its light could still be seen from below the land. It was at that point that they stopped. Out of Edward's sight, Roxy bent down and placed her palm in the sand. A flash of alchemical light leaked through her fingers as an array sprang to life on the ground. All around them, the ground began to shake. For the blindfolded alchemist, he could only feel the tremor. For the life of him, he couldn't guess what it might be.

A hole slowly began to form, spreading out towards the group. It stopped right at their feet, revealing a dark pit. It was very deep, and from the center of it, a tower-like structure loomed blow them. Near the edge at their feet, a staircase spiraling downwards lead to the bottom. The group started to make their way down these steps. It would be awhile before they reached the bottom.

Once they finally did, the stars had begun to wink into existence from the hole above them. They stood next to a large doorway leading into the tower. As they entered the structure, the hole began to close up. Soon, the ground was smooth again, having given no trace that there ever was a pit in the first place. The opening that they had entered was blocked by a stone wall.