The letter stood erect on her desk, rested against her empty coffee mug, almost laughing at her in its nondescript envelope. It had been addressed to no one in particular, and seemed innocent enough at first glance.

Riza wasn’t such a fool.

A few days still had passed since they had taken stock of the site of the blast, and no word from anyone to claim ownership. Riza knew that this must be it, the claim. Her instincts all shouted at her that it was so.

Just in time for Edward’s train to arrive, she thought. They were to meet him at the station later that day. 

The Lieutenant Colonel uncrossed her arms and finally took the last few steps to her desk, standing at ease before it. She looked over her shoulder at the others who had gathered for the work day, leaning on her crutch slightly as she turned to address the room.

“Did anyone see who left this letter here?”

Confused faces met her question. “I’ll take it that’s a no.”

Riza turned back to it, pursing her lips. It could very well be booby trapped with alchemy, she thought. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary other than being on her desk and unmarked, however. 

She reached forward decisively, plucking it up between her fingers and turning it over a few times, feeling around the edges. It didn’t seem to contain anything other than paper. Riza flicked the edge of the envelope open, peering inside.

At her shoulder, she could feel the heat of Havoc’s arm, and behind him no doubt some other members of the staff who had been working with her just as long as Jean. She glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow. He raised his own in turn, mirroring her expression before Riza let out an exasperated sigh and finally drew the letter within from its protective paper shell.

Riza discarded the envelope back on her desk, flipping the page open. Her eyes flickered over the paper at break neck speed, and then her face jerked up and she turned abruptly, limping at a now expertly quick pace to the door leading to Roy’s personal office.

Where the hell was Alphonse? Edward had been in Central around three days now, and he was supposed to go to HQ the day before...but then his vision was suddenly lost. He had just been sitting in the inn when out of no where everything went dark. 

So he had missed his appointment with Mustang to hand in his report and pick up his new mission since he had isolated himself in his and Al’s room. Ed was currently seated by the open window, listening for the tell tale clinking of armor that signaled Al’s return from getting them food.

There was no such noise though. He heard the chatter of passing people and cars, but no sign of Alphonse. The young alchemist sighed and closed his eyes, resting his head against the windowsill; taking in a deep breath to try and calm down some of the fear that was running rampant through his entire body.

His brother had done everything he could think of to help, he even transmuted the floor to create almost like tiny guidelines to help the blonde find his way to the bathroom, the bed, ect on his own so he could at least walk around their room without getting hopelessly frustrated in his current state. But other than that...there wasn’t much Al could do to help, besides trying to make sure Ed had everything he needed. 

@flammenaufstieg

It was a hot summer day in Amestris, and Himeka was supposed to be assisting the Flame Alchemist, Colonel Mustang, with an important and dangerous mission. She sat on one of the couched in the middle of his office, deciding to be just a bit early in her own anticipation. This was going to be her first official mission outside of her hometown, and she didn’t want to miss this opportunity for anything else.

“I also wonder what you possibly could have done to be on the naughty list.” *unimpressed*

Ringing, and a haze.

Riza’s ears registered only a high pitched buzz as her vision slowly cleared from black and she sluggishly took in her surroundings. What the hell had just happened, what was -- ?

The world rushed back to her in an instant, rubble and the cries of nearby people. Dust so thick in the air that she could barely breathe. The blonde coughed heavily, her lungs heaving as she tried to drag herself upward. Something sharp tugged at her leg, and the soldier looked back, mahogany gaze focusing on the bloodied mess of her ankle pinned beneath a heavy, jagged, chunk of concrete. A tubular piece of metal stuck out of the rock, twisted from the force of the blast.

Riza let her breath leave her lungs once again, another cough, another ragged inhale, and then slowly she looked around her. 

It was difficult to remember what she’d been doing before just now. Her head smarted as much as her ankle did, her civs possibly ruined with drops of drying crimson and torn from shards of glass and rock. She lifted a shaking hand to her head and drew it back to see her blood bright on the ends of her fingers. 

Roy...

She snapped her attention back to her surroundings, peering through the heavy dust clouds. She’d been talking to Roy; escorting him home. He’d insisted on walking, they -- 

“General?” Her voice croaked in her throat and the Lieutenant Colonel coughed again, wiping her mouth on the back of a grubby hand. 

“General?!” Riza turned sharply, gathering her faculties and grunting as she pushed the piece of rubble pinning her in place off of her foot and ankle. They weren’t so badly mangled as she’d imagined with them stuck stuck beneath it, and Riza stumbled to her feet, limping forward through the debris. 

Ed had only been part of the military for a short amount of time, he hadn't exactly settled into any sort of routine yet. It hadn’t...really been easy getting used to being around so many people, especially when they constantly stared at him and his brother like they were freaks because Al had armor for a body and Ed was missing one of his wings. They lived around a lot less people in Risembool, but it wasn’t all bad. Though moments like this drove the young alchemist absolutely up the wall!

The pair of brothers had been waiting to hand in Ed’s report for at least an hour....where the hell was Mustang!? Before the only sounds had been of Ed’s boots as he paced but he was finally fed up with waiting. The blonde’s feathers ruffled as he scowled, his wing partially opening in his frustration for a moment.

“Ugh! I cant stand around here waiting for the bastard colonel anymore! He has to have our next mission here somewhere!” Edward left his own handwritten report on the table while he started searching through the papers on Mustang’s desk. His younger brother, noticing what he was doing, trying to calm him down.

“Brother we should really wait, dont you think? What if he comes back and sees you going through his desk like that?”

“Come on why the hell should we wait around anymore!? You know hes just going to make some stupid comment about us not finding the stone yet! We might as well just grab our next assignment and get out of here before he gets back!”