The smoke rose from the town, citizens desperately trying to put out the flames. None of their own homes were et aflame, but the public buildings were lit. Soldiers from both sides fought around them, the one's not in the military set to the task of quenching the fires. The sky was grey, weather by rain coming, or the black smoke rising.
Atop a hill overlooking the town in a general's tent, two blonds sat on a brass table, teacups in both of their hands. The purple-eyed teenager looked down in distress, while the other watched the spectacle with prideful eyes. England watched, enthralled as his troops gained ground on America's forces, forcing the soldiers into submission. More houses were set ablaze by his troops, led by Robert Ross as official building were doused with alcohol, an attempt to get the fire to become widespread. England knew that the administration had long since fled, but burning America's pride, his capitol, was enough of a point.
America had gotten cocky, trying to create a fleet that could stand on par with England's. He snorted, sipping tea slowly as the troops raided the White House, America's flag taken down, and the Union flag put up. Canada fidgeted with his tea, unwilling to look at the destruction his and England's forces had brought. Screams voiced throughout the town, and Canada didn't have to see at all to picture what was happening.
"You'd think he'd at least be here to see his own capital fall. Not that'd it matter much, since he's such a young boy. I knew this would happen to him eventually, he's just much too naïve and weak to ever survive on his own. I thought he'd be grateful, I being gracious enough to raise him as one of my own, but no. America isn't so smart as to follow any of that logic."
Canada felt sick to his stomach, shifting his posture up to stare uncertainly at England.
"He'd always come up to me when he was a colony, yelling about how he'd be stronger than me someday. I never believed him, and when he left, I knew for certain he'd never even reach my level, let alone surpassing me." England laughed, green eyes twinkling in something that Canada couldn't fully recognize. It bordered somewhere between sorrow and pride, leaving the green hues deeper shade than usual.
England set his glass down, shifting so that he faced his colony. "There are something's some nations cannot do. In America's case, he was simply too unorganized to survive on his own. It's a pity." English too another sip of his tea, smirking lightly. "But it was inevitable."
Canada made no move to point out that England had been stealing America's sailors, stopping his sea trade to Europe, and disregarding all of America's laws. He didn't give any words to say that many of the skirmishes had been started by England himself, and America had retaliated accordingly. It wasn't Canada's place to say any of that, even if America was his younger brother.
"But you're different. I know that if push came to shove, you'd be able to become independent, Canada. You're the exact opposite of America, and you'd do great if you applied yourself. You wouldn't be alone, and I'd do my best to help my new Province."
There had been the beginnings of talk that England would allow him to become a Province, to reward him of his commitment to the war. Canada hadn't thought any of it to be serious, but now that England himself was bringing it up, Canada perked in interest.
"Of course, It'd all be determined after the war. After all, none of this would be able to progress as far as it has without your help."
The sick feeling returned in Canada's stomach.
"I guess we should finish this up. I know he's on his way."
"Oh his way...?"
"Do you really think America will let us keep control of his White House for very long? He won't, and he'll probably bring some rag-tag troup to help, and he'll be blinded by rage and pain, a easy win for us."
Canada frowned, quickly looking to the floor as his bile threatened to crawl up his throat.
"He'll be an easy target to get rid of, right Canada?"
Right Canada?
"Right Canada?" America squealed, rushing along a Virginia prairie, his white-rabbit Liberty hopping quickly behind him. Canada nodded excitedly, leaving Kumajiko to gnaw on a apple he'd taken from a tree on the way. The two laughed, jumping on one another as then played in the tall grasses. Liberty dove towards them to dance around their feet, playing with them as well.
Finally, the boys exhausted themselves, falling on the grass, pressing on it as it cushioned their fall. Liberty made a soft crooning sound, making herself comfortable as she nibbled at America's hair. Canada smiled, running his fingers in her fur as she groomed his brother, America smiling in contentment.
"It was ok to come here without telling Arthur, right? I mean, he never lets us go out anymore! I don't know about you and Kumajiro, but me and Liberty miss it outside! Don't you wish England'd give us some more freedom to do whatever?"
"Y-yeah, I guess."
"You guess? It's not a guess question Mattie! It's a yes or no one!"
"But I mean, Arthur takes care of us, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, but you were taken care of by that weird guy a while ago right? Didn't he let you go out and stuff? I mean, we still saw each other sometimes when you visited!"
"I did, didn't I..."
"Yup! Hey, maybe if we tell Arthur that you were ok by yourself, then the two of us would be super ok together!"
"You think so? Arthur says we're too young..."
"No we're not! I'm turning 160 this year!(1) I'm sure plenty of others got to be more independent by now!"
America got up swiftly, Liberty growling in excitement besides him. Canada looked up surprised at his brother, wondering where his sudden energy came from. He patted down his long white shirt, the action doing nothing to wipe the grass stains off. Alfred darted through the trail they made, back towards the house the three of them stayed at. Canada sputtered as he got up, chasing after him.
"W-wait America! Think this through! You can't just go up to him and ask to be independent! He'll definitely say no, and he'll just be even stricter!"
Alfred ignored him, entering the forest they'd gone through, the last hurdle before reaching Jamestown. Liberty hopped eagerly, keeping up easily with her master's pace. Canada huffed after them, calling out for Kumajiro to follow them as he passed, the polar bear trotting lazily after them.
Canada was slowing down fast, not having the nearly limitless stamina his brother possessed. Alfred soon ran out of sight, Liberty stopped, glancing briefly at Canada, before she too ran out of eyesight. Matthew inhaled deeply, kneeling as he regained his breath. Kumajiro had caught up to him, patting his back none too gently to help him out.
"Haa... I guess America really wants to be independent, huh Kumachiko?"
"Yup! But, it doesn't sound like you wanna be?"
Canada looked startled at the bears questioning tone, thoughts rushing in his head. He didn't have much of a problem with Arthur. The country was an okay person, and he was a powerful country. He'd take care of him, and Canada's life would be just fine. Of course, he did want freedom just like America, but he didn't really want to risk his security of breaking off with the strongest country in Europe.
A cry broke through the brush ahead, snapping Canada from his thoughts. Kumajiro growled in warning, shifting so that his claws shone. Canada's heart fell to his stomach, hearing another yell resound through the forest.
"N-No! Stop it! STOP IT!"
Canada rushed through the underbrush, unheeding of the thorns and burrs that scratched him, Kumajiro running behind him as he avoided the burr patches. He took longer to reach the clearing Canada had come to, and for once, Canada was grateful for Kumajiro's lack of speed.
The scene was brutal, and Canada screamed at the horror of it all.
Blood littered the ground and trees lining the outskirts of the forest. Furry bodies laid dead as their limbs lay unnatural mangled, the still warm bodies bleeding heavily. Most of the wolves lay motionless with gashes on their stomachs, intestines oozing out in broken off pieces. Bile quickly rose and ejaculated out of Canada as he realized, the wolves weren't just killed, but were mauled as their innards were scattered meters away, still bloodied as well.
Canada tightly closed his eyes, starting to dry-heave as he panicked. He broke out into a sweat as the sounds of fighting finally began to register, the ringing in his ears due to his own scream fading away. Yips and barks sounded, and then a sickly squishing sound occurred, followed by a gurgling that Canada knew from just listening that the victim was drowning in it's own blood.
Gathering as much courage as he could, Canada slowly opened his eyes, and immediately wished he'd kept them closed.
America stood alone, hand through the gut of the wolf he'd been fighting moments ago, grinning as he pulled out the creatures intestines. Blood spurt from the gaping wound splashing into America's hair. Alfred threw the mutilated wolf to the side, it's body flopping to the ground where the others lay. America blinked as he finally faced Canada, eyes hazy.
"...Mattie? What's wrong?"
Canada shook, not finding the energy to answer his brother. It apparently wasn't needed, as tear brimmed in the younger's eyes, comprehension swimming in his sky-blue eyes.
"L-LIBERTY!"
America ran to a bloody bundle, and Canada suddenly understood. Liberty was soaked in blood, missing a front paw and scratches riddling her small body. As America gently lifted the wheezing rabbit, Canada noted that most of the blood hadn't come from the rabbit itself. The blood of the wolves staining her white fur made the attack look worse than it was. Although the rabbit was wounded, enough time and medicine would have the rabbit to it's old self, minus a left paw.
America cried as he stroked the rabbit, trying to soothe the rabbit on the verge of convulsing. Canada yelled at America, jerking the sobbing boy into attention. "America! Hurry and get Liberty to England! He can help her!"
Alfred nodded,gently wrapping the rabbit in the folds of his white shirt, running across the clearing and disappearing into Jamestown. Canada's heart pounded as the adrenaline slowly left his body. The rustling from the bushes behind him told him Kumajiro had finally made it through the forest, and the crooning sound he made was disheartening.
Canada swung around to face Kumajiro, lifting the bear to cry in the crook of the animal's neck. The polar bear patted his back in reassurance, and although he hated himself in that moment for being selfish, he was infinitely glad that Liberty had been hurt, and not Kumajiro.
The America twins had a bond with their animals(2) that lasted even before they were colonized, even before the two were aware of one another. Their people had once called them spirit animals, but the boys knew that wasn't true. The rabbit and bear could still be harmed, get sick, and be hungry. It seemed the only thing that separated them from regular animals, were that they could talk, and apparently live for many years.
If their respective animal was hurt or sick, they'd feel it themselves, although at a lesser degree. It could be better explained as a type of empathic link, and was both a blessing and a curse. Kumajiro had been stabbed many years ago by hunters, and Canada had dropped to the floor in a fit, feeling the pain. While he cried and shook, America and Liberty had gone to Kumajiro's rescue, throwing spears and scratching ferociously. Both Kumajiro and Canada had recovered, but the experience had left him nervous, and he'd tended to carry Kumajiro wherever he went now.
Kumajiro stepped back, walking toward the pile of wolves, paws searching through the flesh. Canada was on the verge of throwing up yet again.
"K-Kumachiko! Get away from there!"
The bear ignored him, digging into the wolves stomach, going through each one. He finally stopped, pulling out a blood stained rabbit paw. Canada gulped as Kumajiro offered the limb to him, and he took it with quivering hands.
Canada didn't even want to imagine how America was feeling right now.
(1)I'm counting Jamestown from 1607, although the United States wasn't called the United States until 1776.
(2)A head-canon of mine. It sounds legit enough, so why not?
AHHHH. THIS ISN'T EVEN THE FULL PROLOGUE. The actual prologue ended up being like 6k+ words, but the actual chapters aren't that long. So this is Prologue, part I. Part II is already done, but I figure I should edit it and what not.
This was a story you readers picked for me to write! Wooooo~ I hope you guys like this, and note that this'll be a lot darker than the things I usually write. *COUGH*DisregardingupcommingIISchapters*COUGH*
Continue voting on the polls darlings~~~
-Happy Reading, Cecile.