Of Mountains, Valleys, and Rhododendrons
Chapter One: Past and Present
January 14, 2011
"Atithi Devo Bhava!" was the cry echoed everywhere.
"It's going over well, huh Wang?"
He looked at his sister, who was happy for the first time in months. "Seems like. Congratulations, aru."
"Maybe this will mark the beginning of a new era for my country."
"Maybe. Xìngyùn Nepal."[Good luck, Nepal]
"Thanks, China. Huh?"
Someone came over, asking her something in an undertone.
"Oh right! Pardon me, China. I promised I'd do a demonstration!"
She left before her older brother could even tell her, "Have fun aru."
She followed the attendant to a small stage, taking her book from a bag. She bowed, flipping the pages to elemental spells. "Ignis, terra, spiritus, aqua! Iam non dico vos, ut creaturas!" [ Fire, earth, wind, water! I call you now, to become creatures!]Four thin tendrils of fire, earth, air, and water appeared, twining themselves around each other to become dragons, serpents, birds.
The crowd was suitably impressed, applauding. She smiled, twirling so her traditional dress of what appeared to be many scarves flared out. The creatures of elements spun around her, the air serpent flying through her hair and making it flare.
The earth dragon flew down and Nepal jumped onto it, flying higher up. She murmured, "Frusta resolvi." [Dissolve into pieces] The dragon began to crumble, littering the stage with small pebbles. The other three: the air serpent, water bird, and fire cat all disappeared as well. She bowed, as applause overtook the audience.
"That was bloody brilliant!"
"Oh! England! Namaste!" Nepal smiled at her old friend.
"Brilliant. How did you pull that off?"
She grinned and twirled, "Magic, of course!"
"Yeah, right Nepal dude," another voice spoke up.
"Namaste, America. You don't think it's real?"
"Psh, no way."
"Well, that's a shame. I was going to see if you'd like to come flying with me…"
"What! You can fly!"
"Well, I can't… But I mean," she flipped her book open. "Raj can."
"What's Raj?"
"Not what." Nepal quietly summoned a large white and black dragon. "Who."
"It's a dragon?" America asked.
"No you bloody git. It's a parrot."
"Wow… That's a big parrot. Why are you laughing Nepal?"
"Oh, you two…"she laughed, hopping onto the dragon. "I have to go supervise. Try not to kill each other alright? I would offer to let you come, England, but I know you hate heights. Up, Raj!"
They flew up, just far enough to be able to see the whole of Kathmandu, the capital city. "The festivities are really getting into gear, aren't they?" she asked her dragon, softly resting her head on his neck.
"Quite. It's interesting how many others came out to see it," Raj replied, his voice a deep roar.
"Isn't it? All just for a small up-and-coming Asian nation…" she trailed off, watching the cloud pass by as they circled.
"Iggy? You look all funny."
"S-Shut up git. I do not."
Present day.
Ring…ring…ring…
Nepal sleepily answered the phone, "Hello…?"
"Veh! Hi Nepal! Doitsu wanted me to call and tell you there's a meeting in two hours!"
"Oh… Alright, thanks Italia."
"Veh! Ciao!"
Nepal sighed, flipping her phone shut. She sighed softly, kicking the heavy blanket off her feet and standing up. The former warmth in her feet faded quickly, replaced by cold. Her house was always cold, even with a fire lit. She changed out of her nightclothes, into the light blue sweater she always wore, along with a pair of white pants. She wrapped her pale yellow scarf around her neck, loosely, and decided to read for a bit before the meeting.
After an hour and a half passed, Nepal tucked her book into her bag and called, "Ojasvi! Come on! We have to go!" A miniature dragon poked her head from under a pillow.
"But I dun wanna go. I'm warm. And comfy."
"Too bad. Let's go," Nepal replied, picking Ojasvi up and placing her in her bag. They left the house and walked to the meeting hall. She opened the large doors to the hall about twenty minutes later, quietly walking in. She was unnoticed by most everyone, since they were watching a loud shouting match.
It seemed Germany was yelling at France for something or other again. Nepal sat down near England, quietly asking, "What happened?
"Huh? Oh, the bloody frog's just being an idiot. Nothing new."
"Oh. Right. How've you been faring, Arthur?"
"Fine. And you?"
"Alright, I guess. As alright as one can be during a war…"
"It'll get better, Nepal. It should."
"One can only hope," Nepal sighed, unzipping the top of her bag.
"I told you I can't breathe when the bag's zipped!" Ojasvi immediately yelled.
"I'm sorry, alright? I didn't want you falling out, is all…"
"Right… Who's the person with the funny eyebrows?"
"Ojasvi. Be nice. England, this is Ojasvi. Ojasvi, England."
"Hi eyebrow-man!" Ojasvi jumped out of the bag, landing on Nepal's shoulder.
"Erm…right. Hello, little dragon."
"She's a bit rude. Sorry."
"Hey! I am not!"
Nepal ignored this, pulling her book from her bag. "So, will anything get done today you think, England?"
"Ha! Yeah, right. Nothing ever gets bloody well done."
"Then why are we here?"
"Everyone please be quiet," Germany spoke up before England could answer. "Now that that problem is resolved, there are two new countries here and another two should be coming. Czech, Monaco, Nepal, and Vietnam. Now then. Returning to the topic of the global economy…"
He continued talking and countries began doing other things; sleeping, drawing, talking, reading, eating. Nepal tried to listen, but finally gave up and began to read her book. Germany kept talking, apparently oblivious or ignoring the other countries. About an hour into his monologue, he finally looked up.
"Oh Gott verdammt. Fine. Meeting adjourned."
Those countries that were asleep immediately awoke, as if Germany's words were an alarm clock. Everyone left and Nepal just followed the crowd out. She found herself next to another slight Asian girl.
"Vietnam?"
"Huh? Oh! Hi Nepal!"
"Hi! Anyway, that was pointless. How have you been?"
"Oh fine. There was a pretty great thunder storm the other day," Vietnam smiled, allowing a small amount off blue lightning to jump across the tips of her fingers.
"That's cool. There was a light snow storm yesterday up by me…"
"Ooh, really? Did it knock out your electricity?"
"Yeah, but it was fine. I had candles and I prefer them anyway. They give a nice…ambiance, you know?"
"Totally! But sometimes normal lights are nice too."
"Right! Like if I'm reading… Or drawing."
"Yup!" Vietnam nodded happily.
"Anything else cool?"
"Well… No, not really."
"Me either. Heh…"
They were quiet as they walked, unusually quiet. Both seemed absorbed in their own thoughts and someone who saw them would assume that they just didn't care to talk to each other. Needless to say, that wasn't the case. They were just lost in thought, thoughts of everything. Love, war, life, peace.
They reached a fork, with a path up the mountains and a path down to the coast.
"See you, Vietnam."
"See you!"
They parted ways there, leaving them to make their own walks home in solitude. Nepal sighed quietly, opening her bag slightly to check on Ojasvi.
"Ojasvi…?" she questioned quietly.
"Busy. Sleeping."
"Oh. Alright."
Nepal closed the bag slightly, leaving a space just large enough to allow fresh air in. The walk home passed without incident. A fresh snowfall lightly dusted the path, not enough to impede movement, just enough to cover the old falls. She opened her door, walked in, and quietly shut it behind her.
She set her bag down on the couch, gently so as to not wake Ojasvi. She sat down on the armchair, lighting a fire with a simple word, "Ignis." She sat like that, watching the fire, for a long time. Until…
"Ohhh Chandrika!"
She jumped slightly. "What is it Im Yong!"
"Guess what!"
"What now, Korea?"
"You're mine!" he cried and jumped at her.
"Korea! Get off me right now!"
"But Stairway to Heaven's off the air! I've got nothing better to do and Japan threatened to hurt me if I bothered him!"
"So you bother me! Get off!"
He pouted, childishly. "You're so mean!"
"For someone who's going on three thousand, you're pretty immature."
"Shut up! You're like twenty-five thousand!"
"And?" she retorted. "You're older and you act younger!"
"Well- OW!"
"That's why you don't sit on me…" she smiled, having lit a small fire on her finger and burning him.
"That's cheating!" he whined. "You know I can't do magic!"
"It's not cheating. It's called getting a brother off me."
"You're so meaaaan!"
She was quiet for a while, allowing him to have his tantrum/rant/angry Korean dramatics.
"And that's why you're the worst sister ever," he concluded.
"Mhm… Really, I was listening."
He looked at her for the first time in nearly an hour, taking in the fact that she was reading with her feet tucked up under her.
"You were not! You're so mean!"
She set her book down. "Korea. What is it you came here for?"
"…I wanted to talk to you…"
"About what?"
"Magic… But it's fine. Never mind, I guess."
"Well… Alright then, I guess."
He sat down on the edge of her armchair. "Whatcha reading?"
"Jane Eyre. England said it's a good novel."
"It looks boring and long," he said, curling up next to Nepal.
"It's not. Are you alright? You're acting…odder than normal."
"I'm just cold. You're cold."
"So you curl up next to me?"
"Mhm," Korea nodded drowsily, resting his head on Nepal's shoulder.
She was quiet, returning to the pages of her novel, as he fell asleep. She glanced at him once, letting him sleep on her. The only sounds that could have woken him were the crackles of the fire, the crinkle of the pages as they turned, and the soft squeaks Ojasvi made as she slept.
Eventually, she shut her book, softly rested her head on Korea, and slept too.
(A/N) Well, as you can most obviously I am rewriting my fic for Nepal. It will be a lot more crack, and possibly a lot longer, at least chapter wise. Please rate, review, and offer suggestions to improve! Constructive criticism is always welcome! Arigato! And Ja mata!