•••  

Ed awoke to the afternoon sun shining down on him. It was all together too bright and hot for anyone, in his opinion.

He sat up. Why in the world was he in a forest?

Edward climbed to his feet and stretched. He was slightly sore and felt really stiff, but that could've just been from sleeping outside.

He yawned and froze. The events of the day before replayed in his hands, and he was tempted to go back to sleep. It was way too much to expect anybody to be able to cope with something like this.

But then again.....

It wasn't everyday that he was given the opportunity to visit another world.

He should take advantage of that before he was forced to look for something so difficult to find.

In Amestres, the most powerful thing would probably be a philosophers stone. He had spent a year trying to find one before realizing the truth about them and being unable to use one even if he did find one.

If that was what he was supposed to find here...

He might as well try and recuperate before trying anything like that.

•••

The X-wires were finally at the campsite.

Yukio had finally taken off his coat.

Bon and Rin had finally set up the tent - oh, nevermind, there it went.

After the girls had been shooed out of the cooking area by Rin, the smell of curry had filled the air.

Now, they sat around the campfire, watching Yukio as he explained the rules of the test.

He held up a bottle rocket, explaining what to do if they got in trouble, the rest of the packs contents spread neatly around his feet.

Kamaki held up the almost empty book of matches. "Why do we only have one?"

Yukio explained. "You can either light the lantern or call for help."

He gave a few more instructions, and then the X-wires headed out.

•••

Ed was alerted to the fact that he was not alone by a loud, shrill scream.

Being who he was, Ed began running in the direction of the noise. When he was almost there, a bright light filled his vision, so sudden and blinding that he couldn't tell what had made it.

Ed ducked behind a tree and rubbed the spots out of his eyes. Before he could go closer, he heard the sound of conversation.

He slowly crept closer, keeping out of sight until he could eavesdrop. Ed only caught a few words about helping and screams, and then he was alerted to another's presence with the rustling of foliage.

A moment later, a teenager with pink hair and wild eyes leaped right over him into the clearing.

Ed ducked down further, but it had been like the kid hadn't even seen him.

The girl was waking up.

She moaned and shook her head softly as she sat up, the black haired boy fussing over her as she rubbed her forehead.

She locked eyes with him from across the clearing, an expression of utmost confusion on her face.

Ed decided to go out on a limb. He held his finger up to his mouth and faded away into the background.

He shook his head. These teenagers were into something, and he owed that girl.

He was going to follow them.... but he was going to be discrete about it.

•••

Ed skewered the weird moth thing with his alchemy and wondered how far the small group had gotten.

He transmuted a small stone path over the top of the bug swamp and ran across it, hoping to catch up with the group before anything too bad happened.

Of course, the moment he thought this, a huge beam of light shot up in the direction they had gone in.

Ed groaned and began jogging after them.

This was a lot more then he'd bargained for!!

•••

Ed arrived at a camp five or so minutes later, staying behind the tree line and simply watching. From the looks of the situation, things weren't going very well for Shiemis' group.

A woman who had apparently forgotten her shirt was dousing the kids in water, all of them except one.

Ed was about to pack up and go home when Shiemi began to walk out of the circle. Judging by the cries and shouts, this was bad.

Well, Ed thought, wryly. I was getting bored....

He began to go after her, but he froze when he saw a figure land neatly besides her. It patted her on the head and picked her up setting her in his (Ed was assuming it was a he) shoulder. The kid with black hair instantly charged after her, clutching the long bag in his hand.

One by one, the other students followed.

Ed sighed.

He followed.

•••

Apparently the demons name was Amimon, and he was a male. Ed patted himself on the back for guessing correctly.

The black haired teenager was chasing after him, no adults anywhere to be seen. Ed was honestly just tagging along for the ride.

That was, until Amimon threw the kid through a few trees, boulders and the like.

Ed saw the demon float slowly to the ground, say something, and then threaten Shiemi.

That was it.

He stepped into view, cool as a cucumber, and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"I suggest you put her down," Ed said, false brightness permeating his voice.

There was a pause. The kid looked at him. The demon looked at him. The three young men armed with bottle rockets looked at him.

"Who are you supposed to be?" One of them asked.

The demon stepped towards him.

Ed clapped hard, ducking to the ground as Amimon approached him. The demon was repelled by a huge dirt pillar.

He growled and lunged around at Edward, catching the end of his coat ad the alchemist summersaulted away. The red fabric ripped loudly and messily.

He let out a sound of rage. Shiemi had given him that! Albeit indirectly, but...

With his mind made up, Ed transmuted his arm into its usual blade and charged the demon, leaping over its outstretched arm and kicking it hard in the face with his left leg.

Amimon actually felt that blow. It hit his jaw with more force then any human could possibly muster up, and it forced his head sideways.

Ed lunged from behind. Amimon ducked, wary this time, but Ed wasn't aiming for him. He leaped over the demon and grabbed Shiemi around her waist, pulling her to the ground with him.

In a second, Ed transmuted a thick earth wall between himself and his opponent, but a few seconds later, Amimon burst straight through it!

Ed kept throwing rock pillars and throwing up walls as he went on the defensive, protecting the blonde schoolgirl lying on the ground besides him, but he could tell this was a loosing battle.

Shiemi moaned. Eds eyes moved from the fight to her for a fatal second-

Amimon was before him before he could blink. He slammed his fist into Edwards jaw and sent him flying backwards into a tree- no, two trees. 

Ed lay still, his clothing ripped and exposing his automail.

Konohamaru yelped.

"STOOOP!" Rin yelled. He held his sword in his hands, ready to draw the blade.

"No, Rin!" Yukio shouted. "It's a trap!"

Where had he been this whole time? Ed wondered groggily. It had been a long time since he had been hurt like this.

"Sorry, Yukio," Rin replied, softly. "But I just don't got it in me to keep lying to everyone. I've decided; I'm going to use my power! To do something good for once!"

The son of Satan unsheathed the sword, shrouding himself in blue flames. The heat washed over the X-wires on the ground; they stared in shock and confusion as the demon charged Rin and the two of them leaped into the sky.

Yukio dumped his medical pouch onto the ground besides Shiemi. He withdrew a small fishing hook encased in plastic to keep it sterile, and began preparing for the extraction of the achuuchi.

Shura ran up out of the woods. "We need to get out of here, now."

"Where have you been?" Yukio shot back. He pulled the last of the caterpillar like demon out of Shiemi's neck and stood up, picking her up in a fireman carry.

"We'll, I wasn't farting around, that's for sure!" Shura exclaimed. "I was fighting Amimons pet!"

"What about..." Bon could hardly say anything, but he managed to gesture vaguely towards where Edward lay.

Shura groaned, then jogged towards the unconscious teenager. In the half-light, she didn't really see his automail, instead, she simply tried to lift him up.

But she couldn't. Despite his size, Edward was actually very heavy, what with his metal limbs and muscle mass.

"Bon!" She hissed. "I need your help! Get over here!"

The monk in training hurried over, and they both grabbed an arm and slung him in between him, crossing their arms over his back.

This was why carrying holds were an essential part of exorsist training.

•••

Bon gripped Eds wrist and looked up at the sky. The mountain was painted blue with Satanic fire. The heat was intense, and Bon squeezed harder.

His flesh didn't give.

As the lopsided trio hustled towards the rest of the group, the two demons fought above them in the air.

Amimon was being overwhelmed. He caught Rins sword blade in his hands and forced him back. But his half brother was back again in an instant, forcing him back.

"Who would have thought that he could overwhelm Amimon so completely?" Mephistopheles remarked from his armchair.

Amimon collapsed onto a tree's foliage, gasping.

"Time for you to take a nice, long rest," Mephistopheles remarked. He stood up on his chair and chanted a spell. A giant cuckoo clock was summoned. The bird popped out and snatched up the demon.

Seconds later, Rin sliced right through the clock and it went up in blue flames.

Mephistopheles' eyes widened.

But the power of the flames was too much for the teenager, and as he fell, his last shreds of thought and sanity gave way. Rin deteriorated into nothing more then a common demon.

Ed slowly opened his eyes. His head was pounding and multiple cuts all over his body throbbed. He was hanging between two others, his boots dragging on the ground as whoever was carrying him hurried away. He moaned.

Bon looked down at him. The Xwire was out of breath, and a livid bruise was already forming around his throat. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

His voice was raspy and hoarse. Ed searched through his foggy brain for the reason why.

He remembered why and started backwards, freeing himself from Shura and Bon. The two stopped as Ed shook his head violently, blood dripping everywhere.

"Ha ha!" He laughed slightly delusionally. "This is what I'm supposed to gather together? This is impossible!"

Shura grabbed his left hand and pulled his face close to hers. "We're all in danger right now. Either you walk or we carry you but get a move on or so help me I will-"

"You don't understand," Ed closed his right hand over her wrist. She gasped at the unyielding metal as he set his forehead against hers. "I'm supposed to collect that monstrous power."

She stilled as he looked crazily into her eyes with a madness she had only seen before a few select times. It was not an expression that belonged on a kid.

She drew back a little and slammed her forehead against his.

He released her and toppled backwards. Ed stared up at her with an incredulous expression.

Shura squatted down next to him and gave him an equally crazy look. "Either you shut up and start walking or I'll leave you here to die."

Ed quieted. Bon leaned back down and slung his arm back over his shoulders. He helped him to his feet and they continued after the rest of the group in silence.

"After we get out of this mess," Bon hissed. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

They made it out of the forest. Ed was still and quiet, stumbling along with other boy and Shura bringing up the rear. Behind them, the whole mountainside was glowing with blue flames, a traumatic sight for a few of the group.

But there was no time for trauma.

They were almost to the road when Rin fell out of the sky. Ed could feel the crazy coming out of him from almost 30 feet away.

Shiemi got down from Yukios' back and ran towards him, calling his name. Somehow, she seemed to calm him down, because he collapsed in her arms.

They both sank to the ground. Crisis averted.

Until three seconds later when an annoying, condescending blonde with hair as long as Winrys' began talking down at them.

Ed pushed off Bon and stood on his own two feet. He didn't really understand what was going on, but he decided to pretend he did.

The blond continued monologing.

He wobbled a little. This was taking way too long.

The blond was threatening Rin.

Ed decided to intervene. "That's enough!"

He clapped and slammed his hands onto the road. A few square pillars burst out of the ground, forcing the dude away from the teenager.

Everyone looked at him.

Ed gritted his teeth. "You shouldn't just go around threatening people. It's rude."

The guy pulled around a giant two-handed sword and faced him down.

Usually, Ed would never back down from a fight, even if he was outmatched by an opponent. However, he was bruised, bloody, and probably had some broken ribs. He wouldn't win this one.

The blond man paused and set his hand to his ear. "Yes. Yes. I understand.

"New orders. I'll be taking the spawn of Satan with me."

Sorry if it's scattered. It was really hard to write. Ps, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Blue Exorcist.