Chapter One
Matthew squinted his eyes against the cold wind that roared angrily through the mountains. He was climbing Mount Logan. With a summit of 19,551 feet above sea level, it was the tallest mountain in the country that would be called Canada, as well as the second tallest in the soon to be discovered North America. Matthew had embarked on a spirit quest 15 days before and was finally near his destination.
The sky was clear and was flooded by the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. Vibrant pinks and greens and purples glided through the starry sky creating a beautiful light show. Matthew would stop occasionally to gaze at its magnificence, but only for a short time. He had to reach the summit before the moon reached the its apex. As of that moment he had about 15 minutes to reach it.
He looked down at his polar bear, Kumajirou, who was asleep in his arms. His white form rose and fell peacefully, as if they were back home, not at death's door. They were on a ridge with only six inches of foot-room, and below was nothing but a long drop to jagged rocks. Matthew placed his feet carefully on the icy surface; one wrong move would send both him and the bear to a bitter and bloody end. Matthew hugged Kumajirou closer to his chest. The bear had been with him since before he could remember, since before any of the Native Families. He could not lose him to the mountain.
The bitter wind cut mercilessly through his buckskin clothes, freezing him to the bone. It hurt a lot, but Matthew knew that he could not let his people down. He was past the ridge and was trudging through the snow, his boots sinking in with every step. It seeped through the shoes, sending a sharp pain into his toes. It felt like thousands of tiny daggers were jabbing at his skin. He grimaced and grabbed hold of a rock that protruded out of the glimmering snow. The Aurora Borealis reflected off the ice, almost as if it was painting a picture. Matthew gripped the rock in his hand and looked up, seeing the peek only minutes away. He smiled, or at least tried to, and pushed on. "Just one foot in front of the other," he whispered to himself.
Soon he had reached the final part of his challenge, which was to scale the almost 90 degree peak. Grasping the hand holes, he pulled himself down. He continued to climb and was almost there when-
"Hey, Mattie!" a voice shook the mountain. Matthew struggled to hang on. "Bro, its time to get up! You're my ride back to the hotel, remember?" Matthew's hand slipped. He screamed as he plummeted off the rock. "Whoa Mattie! Hey!"
Matthew's eyes shot open. His brother, Alfred was crouching over him with a concerned look in his eyes. "Dude, are you okay? You were, like, doing a weird whisper-screaming-thing and flailing around," he smiled, "It was actually kinda cool."
"Uh, yeah. Just a…bad dream, I guess. Sorry," Matthew said shaking his head. He must have fallen asleep during the World Conference and dreamt of his spirit quest back when he wasn't a country yet. Back when he was with his Native Family. He had been so close to knowing the answer. So damn close. Why did Alfred have to ruin it? Why did Alfred have to ruin everything?
"Don't worry about it. So, you think you can take me to the hotel now?" Alfred asked, smiling.
Any feeling of anger disintegrated. Though America was a total pain in the neck, you could never stay mad at him. Well, at least Matthew couldn't. "Uh, yeah." Matthew pulled himself up. He straightened his shirt and fixed his glasses when he realized something was missing.
"Have you seen Kumakitchi, by any chance?" he asked.
"Uh, who?" Alfred asked.
"You know… my bear?" he said. In his mind he thought, the only one that actually needs me.
"You mean the polar bear digging through the trash?" America pointed to the trashcan that had mysteriously grown legs.
Canada sighed in relief and ran to his friend. He pulled the metal basket off of the bear's head and asked, "Hey, what were you doing in there?"
The bear looked up at him with his black eyes and replied, "Yummy fish," he licked his chops and eyed the Canadian, "Who are you?"
Matthew sighed, "Canada. Now let's go, we have to get Alfred home."
The bear nodded and jumped into his arms. Matthew walked over to his brother who was chatting with a little boy in a sailor outfit.
"Yeah, so I'm the hero around here. I've saved Britain's ass plenty of times, he just doesn't like to admit it," the taller country announced.
"Really? I hope someday I'll be big just like you!" the kid yelled. Matthew recognized him. He was Sealand, a tiny naval fort near Britain that had declared its independence. It was really small, so nobody had recognized him as a country yet.
"Don't worry kid, you'll turn out great!" America placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"You really think so? Thank you very much! I have to go now but I'll never forget you, America!" the boy shouted as he bounded off through the door and out into the streets of London, where the conference was being held. Matthew tapped his brother on the shoulder.
Alfred spun around and looked at him. He cocked his head to the side and said, "Who are you?"
Matthew rolled his eyes. This happened every time he tried to talk to his brother. "Your brother. Matthew." America furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "You know, Canada? Maple syrup, hockey, polar bears?" he held out Kumajirou.
"Um..." America thought for a few seconds and then smiled. "Yeah, Canada! Mattie!" he punched his brother on the arm, "Yeah dude, I was just kidding about that," he laughed awkwardly.
Canada laughed too. "Yeah…" Although he rarely showed it, it really hurt when people forgot his name. He was the second biggest country, which had to count for something, right?
After a moment of uncomfortableness, Alfred finally said, "Yeah, so can you take me home now?"
~A.N.~ Hi! Roots of the Maple Tree is my first real fan fiction ever :D Hopefully it was decent... I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism, so if you happen to see anything that that doesn't really flow right or make sense please tell me! Hope you liked it and chapter two will be here soon :3