Chapter 1
Alberta Bound
He grunted as they hit a bump in the road; his head clashing with the glass window. A "sorry" was mumbled even though it wasn't the other man's fault that there was a pothole in the road. The personification of the dead country of Prussia glared in reply, his patience already long past it's end with this "vacation."
He knew that was their way of sugar-coating it, the other countries just simply didn't want him around. They'd had grown tired and wiry of his childish antics, quickly thinking of a way to shove him to the side; to leave him out of World meetings and such. He wasn't a country, so why did he even need to be there? They decided to send him on an extended vacation. He'd spend time with each country, to learned and be enlightened about their cultures and people and the world in general. Really they just wanted a way where someone else would have to play babysitter; someone coming up with the diplomatic idea of taking turns.
His ass had been dragged across the world for the last six months now, and it wasn't going to be heading back home anytime soon. Time had been spent in desserts and on rainy islands; the sun had viciously beat down on him and then had hidden its face. Down under he'd almost been attacked by a crocodile. Then he was forced to listen to the endless flow of music from the piano-pansy, right after heading over to where he was repeatedly beat over the head with a frying pan. He'd had only last about a month in each destination, soon being shipped out to end the constant migraines of his hosts.
Unbelievably enough the latest leg of his journey had been the worst. He'd thought that time would be spent playing video games and getting drunk, but he was just simply ignored. America just left him in his house, completely forgetting about his guest. He spent his time being alone only with misery as company. Some thanks for the training he gave the boy during the Revolutionary War.
One thing Gilbert hated was being left alone. It gave his mind a chance to bring up past failures and loses, reminding him of how far he'd fallen. But the worst was the memories of victory and accomplishment; of happiness and joy. They left him feeling hollow and useless as he spent time wishing for yesterday.
He groaned as once again his head collided with the window, knocking him out of depressing thoughts. He shifted in his seat, giving up on the prospect of sleep as they drove through the country side, heading north.
The personification of Canada sat beside him, one arm lazily resting on his open window, the other easily controlling the steering wheel. A red iPod was plugged in, a line about "rocky mountains and black fertile ground" drifting through the speakers. The blond was quietly singing along; eyes intend on the road in front of him.
Prussia turned toward the man, "Where are we?"
"Making our way through Montana. We should hit the border soon. Get your passport out," came the curt yet polite reply. It slightly surprised Prussia, he always thought of Canada as a spineless little whelp that didn't deserve his amount of land, not someone who could order around a peeved him without yelling or flinching.
"Montana is on the western part of this continent isn't it?"
"Oui."
"And isn't your capital on the eastern half?"
"Oui."
"Then what the hell are we doing out here?"
The blond sighed, he eyes not once leaving the road. "We're staying at my house in Alberta. I didn't think you'd want to deal with my Provinces and Alberta's going to be out of country for a while, then she's planning on visiting her sister. Also I'm supposed to show you the Canadian culture, and with hockey season and winter coming up this is probably one of the best places to start."
The Prussian merely turned to the window in response. "Is it as un-awesomely flat as this place?"
A smirk formed on the Canadian's face. "Yes. It's not known as a Prairie Province for nothing." He laughed at the albino's resounding groan. "Don't worry. It's not complete Prairie like Saskatchewan. It also has large forests and the Rocky Mountains."
"Great, I have twigs and pebbles to play with." Canada simply continued to look at the road.
Minutes passed until Matthew spoke up. "We're at the border. Can you get your passport out please?"
They quickly made their way across, not many people were at the border this early on a Saturday more. Prussia cursed the man for getting him up at this un-awesome hour. To be this amazing you needed sleep! He didn't want to end up some psychotic zombie like that Russian bastard. He already looked dead enough thank you very much! Pale skin like his was only really usefully around Halloween.
The continued down the highway. They stopped for gas and the Prussian couldn't help notice the change in the wind. "God damn it is it always this frickin' windy? It's horrible who the hell would want to live here?"
The Canadian out right laughed this time. "Well if that's your opinion I'll apologize to you right now 'cause the weather's only gonna get worse once winter starts to set in."
"…You're psychotic to live here you know that right?"
The Canadian blushed this time, mumbling what sounded like a "fuck off, eh".
They left the gas station. Canada had bought a large slurpee and a regular sized bag of chips. Prussia had merely grabbed a pop, not caring about what he got as he thrust his hand in the refrigerator and grabbed a random bottle.
Matthew set the bag of chips on the console/seat between them and started looking through his iPod. "You can have some if you want." As Prussia opened the bag Canada switched over to a playlist that he thought would be more attuned to Prussia's tastes. The man had spent the whole time after waking up glaring at the red device blaring country music.
Drums bursted through the air, soon joined by guitar and the screams of one of the band members. Gilbert was happier with the new music selection, though he made sure not to show it. He was surprised when another set of vocals joined the other, this time the complete opposite. This voice was practiced and precise, at times reaching into higher notes. "The streets are in distress. The sun suffocates beyond darkened skys…"
"What's the name of this band?"
"Alexisonfire. It's all one word. They're from Ontario." Prussia nodded, storing away the band name for later.
The Prairies continued to stretch on before them, a sea of rolling gold. The wind made the fields of wheat and barley sway backing and forth in a continuous movement. "Where are we staying here?"
"Outside of Edmonton, the capital of Alberta. A warning, don't question the slogan when you see it on the city sign, you'll either get your ass kicked or a long rant on why that title belongs to Edmonton. Of course if you do get an Edmontonian pissed at ya just insult Calgary and that'll get you on your way back to their good side. Vice versa for a Calgarian."
Prussia stared, not quite sure what to say to that. "Okay then. How long 'til we get there?"
"Over three hours."
Prussia groaned, slumping in his seat.
They drove up onto the driveway, the red Ford truck coming to a stop. Prussia crumbled up the bag of chips, its contents already long gone. The Canadian hopped out of the trunk, helping his guest grab his bags and leading him to the door. Keys already in hand he quickly opened it and welcomed the Prussian inside.
After leading Gilbert to his room, Matthew gave him a tour of his house. It wasn't small, but at the same time not big. You couldn't say the same about the garage. It was huge, housing two quads, some dirt bikes, and ski-doos. There was also room for the truck. It was a good thing they were out on an acreage, you definitely wouldn't have had room for all of this stuff in the city.
"You can use anything in here. They should be all in good condition if my daughter's been maintaining them properly. I keep most of the beer in the old fridge in the corner." Prussia smirked at this comment. Finally, someone who'll tell me where the beer is instead of making me spend the freaking time searching the whole house for it.
It was noon now and they had sandwiches for lunch. Gilbird has re-asserted his spot on Prussia's head after being cooped up in a cage for the ride. The little bird tweeted whilst stealing bits from Gilbert's sandwich.
Silence stretched on between them. The Canadian didn't know what to say; the Prussian just didn't give a damn. Not even Gilbird made a sound. Instead the animal's beady eyes stared at Canada, as if sizing him up. It was making Matthew slightly uncomfortable.
A moment later a distraction came in the form of the pitter-patter of paw steps as a white beast entered the kitchen. The cub of a polar bear padded softly around the island, tugging at its master's pant leg. "Hungary," spoke Kumajirou, surprising Gilbert with the fact that it could actually speak.
Matthew took no notice of the wide-eyed albino as he chuckled, moving towards the fridge. He pulled out a filet of salmon, tossing it into the air at the bear. It caught the food in its maw while standing on its hind legs, the motion completely balanced.
"It spoke." Bewildered, Gilbert's eyes flickered back and forth between the bear and man.
"He tends to do that. You'll get used to it…maybe." The Canadian turned to his companion. "Kumajirou, this is the former Kingdom of Prussia, he'll be staying with us for a while."
Kumajirou practically inhaled the food, rapidly turning his attention to Prussia. The bear studied the man, sniffing him to remember his scent. He padded towards him and stood on two legs, resting his forepaws on Prussia's legs. It stared at his silver-white hair, and then looked down at its own fur.
"You my other human twin?"
"Uhhhh…yeah?"
He didn't know how to answer that, but the bear seemed to accept it. It seemed pleased as it walked out of the room, going off to do who knows what.
The Canadian soon followed his bear, apologizing about having some work he still had to attend to. Prussia shrugged it off, heading to the living and plopping down on the couch. He turned on the TV, highlights from some football game popping onto the screen. One shot even had a man with an actual hollowed out watermelon on his head. Gilbert didn't even want to know what that was about.
He flicked to some random channel. The whole afternoon he watched a marathon on some show, ridiculous lines like "The four kinds of cheeses, cheddar, mozza, swiss, and whiz." sticking in his head. The show honestly made him laugh, it was way better than some of the shows he'd watched down in the USA.
…It also left him with a craving for chili-cheese dogs.
Dinner was better. The restful afternoon had left Gilbert in a better mood and they made small talk. Gilbird was fearful of Kumajirou though, preferring to stay on his master's head to keep away from the white blot of fur. The bear took no notice; it simply ate its food then fell asleep right then and there.
Canada hadn't finished his work yet, so after he cleaned up supper Gilbert was left alone again. This time he didn't mind it though, he wasn't being blatantly ignored like Alfred had done to him. He went through his luggage, looking though for items that needed to go through the wash. He hadn't bothered to do it at America's place. The laundry room there had been a death trap with all of the junk in it.
Though the day had been better than the last couple of months, when he went to bed the albino was still displease with his predicament, a gloomy demeanor settling around him.
I'm Alberta Bound
This piece of heaven that I've found
Rocky Mountains and black fertile ground
Everything I need beneath that big blue sky
Doesn't matter where I go
This place will always be my home
Yeah I've been Alberta Bound for all my life
And I'll be Alberta Bound until I die
Alberta Bound by Paul Brandt
Author's note- I'm back with a new story~ First off, sorry if Mattie is OOC, this is just my mind automatically putting in what I view as the typical Canadian personality. Helpful but witty~ Honestly Canada's too…I don't even know how to describe it in the anime. They really just need an episode where he kicks some ass playing hockey.
This time I'm trying to do something more serious and angsty then my other stuff, so please review and tell me what you think! It'd really help me. Also, if there's a certain situation you want to see them in tell me and I might put it in this story. Even then if it doesn't make it in this story it might make it in my one-shot collection or even the sequel I'd like to do for this story (which would be an extremely humorous story). Also, each chapter is going to end with song lyrics that will be related to that chapter. And if you know what show I was referencing you're either Canadian or an extremely epic person.
So please review and tell me what you think!