Crimson Angel
Chapter 5 Ð Close Encounters
Winry was the first to notice the danger. Al was scrambling to make sure Winry was unhurt and that all the supplies were undamaged. Rae was concentrating on not screaming from the pain in her left shoulder, her automail had ceased to function and every move created a sensation of long needles being shoved into her shoulder and the left side of her chest. Winry, having landed on her bottom looking up at the sky had seen it as her eyes recovered from being temporarily blinded. It flew out of the sun, a giant metal bird bearing down on them, and instinctively, Winry let out an ear-piercing screech. Al and Rae jerked around as best they could to let their gazes follow Winry's pointed finger. "Shit," Rae cursed under her breath, "duck!" Al complied almost immediately, but Winry seemed to be paralyzed, though a look of awe had replaced her original terror. The bird-thing was coming straight at them and without an unnaturally large portion of luck they would all be smushed under it in seconds. Rae pushed herself to her knees, trying to ignore the immediate painful response from her automail, and threw herself at Winry, flattening them both into the earth as the metal contraption passed inches above them. They watched it touchdown and skid to a stop before Winry pushed Rae away and raced to inspect the giant machine. Al followed her quickly with most of the bags. Rae was much slower to get up, she would have to get Winry to look at her automail soon, preferably before she passed out from the pain.
Very cautiously, Rae pulled her bag over her right shoulder and stood, letting her heavy left arm hang limply by her side. With her teeth clenched to ward off the pain, Rae headed to join Al and Winry by the strange machine. Winry was running her hands all over the metal plates, tracing the seams lovingly, as Al watched her with a similar look of awe and love in his eyes. As she walked, Rae inspected the bird, and was surprised to see a man emerging from a hole in the top. There were strange goggles affixed to the man's face, which he tugged off as he jumped down to the earth. "My God! Are you people insane? I could have killed you!" He glared at Rae, who was the only one paying attention to him, then turned his gaze to Winry. "Have you never seen an airplane before?" He was eyeing Winry as though she had three heads. Winry paused and turned to look at him, her hands never leaving the sides of the airplane. "Airplane? That's what you call this? Tell me how it works!" Winry practically exploded in a flurry of excitement. Rae could see the man preparing for what she guessed would likely be a very long explanation, and decided to cut in. The Gate had deposited them there, which meant Mr. Elric had to be somewhere close by, and there was a chance this stranger might know where to find him. "We're looking for Edward Elric, do you know where we can find him?" Rae's voice was all business, and it snapped the man's attention back to her. Winry and Al turned to look at her too. "It's urgent we find him, we have a message from his family." Rae cast Winry and Al a quick glance warning them to stay silent.
"You're looking for Elric? You just missed him. He took off about ten minutes before I landed, he was headed to another field on the other side of the town, but he'll be staying at the inn another night, while he finishes fixing that bird of his." When he was done, he headed around to the front of the airplane, Winry trailing close behind.
Rae was stunned. She had completely expected to spend days at the very least, or months searching for the missing Elric. Never had she imagined finding the other alchemist so soon, it was an amazing stroke of luck. Now all she had to do was drag Winry away from the airplane, get to the inn intact, and get them all back home. Easy. If she was lucky, they would all be home in Amestris before nightfall, where she would return the Elrics to their happy lives, and pay her due to the Gate. But first, she needed to find Edward, which meant she needed directions.
Two hours later, the three travelers finally found themselves at the entrance to the inn. It had taken almost forty minutes to tear Winry away from the airplane, and shortly afterwards Winry realized she had forgotten her tools in the field. By the time they finally reached the inn all three were exhausted, but brightened at the thought of finding Edward. They slipped into the inn, surprised to find it was refreshingly dark and cool inside. Within seconds a very stout woman had approached them, and they were seated with drinks in hand faster than any of the three could blink. The woman, who they quickly discovered owned the inn, seated herself at their table and began to talk. After a few minutes of the woman's continuous chatter, Winry and Rae interrupted at the same time. "Ma'am, we're looking for-" "Please, we need to find-" Winry and Rae shared a glance, finishing together, "Edward Elric."
"Oh, dearies, why are you looking for him? He's such a sourpuss! He hardly talks, he eats in his room, when he eats at all!" The innkeeper eyed them all as she spoke.
"Brother is not a... a... sourpuss!" Al seemed at first indignant, but finished rather lamely. He scratched the back of his head. "I guess Brother can be kind of cranky sometimes."
"His brother, eh? Yes, you two look just the same! Well, if it's family business, he should be back in time for dinner, that boy is never late when we're having stew! I imagine you'll be staying? Of course, how silly of me! But he won't be back yet for at least a few hours, and by the look of you, I'll bet you'd like to freshen up. I'll set up some rooms upstairs for you, you'll be needing three?Ó She was up and away even before she finished, halfway up the stairs.
They let her pass out of sight before speaking. Rae leaned towards Winry, and whispered, "If it's not too much trouble, I need your help with something upstairs as soon as possible, and please bring your tools." The pain from her automail had faded to a endurable aching pressure as they walked, but now it was back full force and Rae was getting desperate to have her arm back in working order. Al gave the two girls a strange look, and to Rae's relief Winry nodded. With her good hand she took Winry's, and lead the other girl up into one of the rooms the innkeeper had prepared. Rae locked the door behind them, and sagged against it. "What do you need my help with?" Winry asked. Rae sighed, steeling herself against the coming pain. "It'll be easier to just show you."
Gently, she used her right hand to pull her glove off. She had to pause twice, once when the glove got stuck, and after it slid off her fingertips. Rae knew that getting her coat off would be more painful, but after a few excruciating minutes Rae stood in front of Winry, her battered, non-functional automail dangling useless and exposed at her side. Winry was shocked. Rae's entire left arm was automail, and Winry could make out the outline of more automail under the other girl's tank top. "It's useless right now, a side effect of going through the Gate," Rae said, "will you fix it?"
Winry continued to study the metallic limb, ignoring Rae. Finally, the blonde girl responded. "What did you do to this poor thing? When was the last time you cleaned it, or had it repaired? Honestly, you're just like Ed! Neither of you care how much work it is to fix automail!" Slightly shocked by the outburst, Rae found herself apologizing. "It's been years, three or four; I've been so busy, there's so much paperwork!"
And suddenly, Rae noticed Winry was crying. Not great big gulping sobs, which Rae was accustomed to seeing, but small, soft tears. "It's been so long since I've seen him, what if he doesn't remember me? What if he wont come home? What if he hates us for not coming sooner?" Despite herself, Rae put her arm around the other girl, tracing slow circles on her back. At first Winry pushed her away but ceased her struggle after a few seconds. Rae let Winry cry until the tears had dried and they were both seated on the edge of the bed. Finally, Winry shook off Rae's arm, rubbed her face, and then with brisk hands set to work.