Hey everybody!
This story is something I have never done. Not even when I wrote in Finnish. This is really angsty story, though my stories tend to be always more happy and full of fluffy things. It's also quite long for a one-shot and that's why I want to point out few things before we start:
- Headcanon: Nations can, and will, die. However if nothing is wrong with their land and people they will come back. They also heal much faster and better than humans, but if the wound is too much, they die until the body is okay again. Rest of this headcanon you can figure out from the text.
- This story includes six parts. They are not directly related to each other though they share the same theme.
- Every part focus on different time period. It doesn't matter much for the plot, but we start from somewhere around 500 or so (during the first two the nations are kids, you will probably figure it out anyway) and each part takes us closer to modern days, the last part taking a place during 1960 -70.
- Warnings! This story includes (temporary) character deaths, slight (under-age) self-harm and "suicide", violence and killing, descripting dying and dead, and cursing in Finnish. This is not a grotesque story, most of this things are only mentioned and the idea is not to enjoy about them, but be aware of these if any of them makes you feel uncomfortable.
- The ending will be happy. Don't worry.
Originally I was planning to write short story about Norway saving Iceland for The Northern Stories, but then it kept getting longer and I wanted to add more and more things. Finally I felt like it would be better to post this as one-shot. Also because The Northern Stories are supposed to be sweet ones and this is not really like that. I wasn't sure which raiting will be best but I ended up to mark it as M just in case. I honestly think that somebody who reads M rated horror as a hobby will not be really impressed about this.
I think that was all. I hope you will enjoy! Remember to leave your feedback because that was a quite huge project for me and I would really appreciate that!
"What is happening?" Denmark asked and pushed himself between Norway and Sweden who were sitting on the ground, "woah, so many people here!"
"They are preparing for some kind of ceremony", Norway said with a thoughtful voice and carefully observed the gathering. They were sitting on hillside, a bit higher than others, and it gave them a perfect view over the village. Nobody cared about them, humans rarely gave attention to the nations, and so they were allow to be there quite peacefully.
"With treats?" Denmark asked, "I like treats!"
"I think no", Sweden mumbled.
"Damn."
"It's for dead", Norway told them, "I heard somebody speaking about it. The old woman died and now they will have a party for her." Sweden and Denmark both looked a bit confused.
"What is dead?" Denmark finally asked, "I have never heard about that."
"It's the same thing that happens when you kill a deer", Norway said, "idiot."
"So the old woman got a deer?"
"No! The thing that happens to deer!"
"What?" Sweden asked and Denmark was just as surprised, though he showed it more clearly by gasping and jumping up, almost knocking the Swede at same.
"They are going to eat her?" he asked so loud that few people stopped to look at them, but quickly returned to their works when they saw it was only the three strange kids that were around sometime.
"No, idiot!" Norway yelled back, "she is like the deer."
"Oh." Sweden and Denmark nodded slowly like they understood. Norway snorted but didn't bother to tell them that he also had found out about this only like couple of days earlier and he had been just as shocked and surprised.
"So she is… Gone?" Sweden asked.
"Yeah."
"I didn't know people do that", Denmark said, sounding unsure about the situation.
"Well, they do", Norway said, "they grow old and funny looking and then they are gone."
"Where they go?" Sweden asked with worried voice.
"Nobody knows. Somewhere." Three nations glanced at each other, thinking about the same question. Finally it was Denmark who said it out loud.
"So", he started slowly, "does that happen to us too?"
"I'm not sure", Norway said.
"We don't grow to be funny looking", Sweden noted.
"But maybe it just takes us longer to become funny looking", Denmark suggested.
"That might be", Norway admit, "we don't grow like them."
"Yeah, like do you remember that one boy? He was really small two winters ago and now he is like this high!" Denmark said and waved his hand over his head, "but we are still like this." Sweden and Norway both nodded.
"How long will it take?" Sweden asked, stroking his hairs while wondering about it.
"I dunno, but I'm gonna be here at least thousand years!" Denmark said.
"Idiot, you will be very funny looking by that!" Norway yelled back.
"Maybe it's funny to be funny looking?"
"It can't be", Norway said, "they said that old woman was sick and miserable before she died. So if you are funny looking maybe you are sick too?"
"Oh. That doesn't sound nice", Denmark said with a frown, "hey, I want to see how dead person look like! You coming too?"
"Not interesting", Norway said straight away and Sweden shook his head. Denmark gave them a smile and took a run down to the village. They watched him to slip between houses and then come back few minutes later. He waved happily for his two friends who both only simply raised their hand for greeting.
"It looked weird!" he said when he got up the hill, "like she was only sleeping but she didn't move at all, the skin had weird colour and she was cold."
"I told you. Like a deer", Norway told him.
"Yeah, so it was", Denmark said, shaking his head like he couldn't believe it, "strange things, right?"
"Ja", Sweden mumbled and Norway nodded for agreement. For a moment they sat there, just watching the people doing whatever they were doing. For them all that hurry and busy feeling felt weird and strange but then again, if it was really so that the people died so soon they could understand why they hurried up a little. There were after all a lot of things to do in the world.
"Hey, now I remember!" Denmark suddenly said, "I found something interesting from the river. Come!"
"It's really interesting?" Norway asked, "last time it was just a shiny rock."
"Well, this isn't a shiny rock!"
"You sure?" Swede asked but looking slightly interested since he was already getting bored.
"I'm!" Denmark said, "and you will feel so sorry if you miss this!"
"Okay", Norway said and got up from the grass, "let's take a look then."
"Yeah!" Denmark yelled, raising his arms up and running a few small circles around before leading the small group to the river. For them it was just one normal summer day at the begin of their long lives.
"So if I drink this I will see the future?" Finland asked, looking at the old man who was offering the drink to him.
"Yes", the man said.
"How can it do that?" the nation asked, sounding more curious than scared. His blue eyes were full of wonder and he was tapping the ground with his foot like he just couldn't stay completely still.
"It makes your mind wider and let you to visit Tuonela", the man answered.
"But how can one come back from there?" Finland asked, "I thought it is a place to go after dying."
"That is true", the man admit, "but some people are strong enough to go to only visit sometime and when they do that they bring visions from future and old knowledge back with them."
"Can you do that?"
"No."
"But I can?"
"Yes."
"Why?" The man seemed to have an endless patience for nation's curiosity because he didn't even sigh, only smiled and nodded after every question.
"Because you are different than us", he told the nation, "you don't grow old or fall ill. Therefore the spirits of Tuonela have no power over you."
"I have been in this age already for while", Finland admit with a nod, "maybe I should try that then and see if I find out something."
"Here you go", the man said with a gentle voice and gave the small cup to him, "have a safe travel."
"Thank you", Finland said and with a one gulp he swallowed it all. It tasted sour and he pushed his tongue out, making a face to show what he thought about the taste. Bad taste wasn't even the worse anyway, because soon he felt weird warm inside that quickly turned to the pain that made his heart beat way too much. It all took only five minutes, and there was only an old man in the tent sitting next to dead child.
Finland waked up with a shock, his lungs drawing breath like he had been underwater and his eyes went around the tent, trying to find something familiar.
"Welcome back", the old man said calmly, "how was the trip?"
"It was…" Finland said, trying to calm his breath and swipe sweat of his forehead, "interesting. How long was I away?"
"Not long", the man replied, "did you learn anything."
"Oh yeah", Finland said and smiled, "not much, but I know now that somebody is coming."
"Who?"
"That I don't know", nation said, "but it's somebody strong with gold and blue and he wants something from me."
"Hmm."
"And then they told me another thing too."
"So?"
"I should never drink poison again", Finland said with a weirdly cheerful tone, "they don't like it when my kin comes there without reason. It annoys them. Oh, I have to go now. Hei hei." The man gave him a weird look, but Finland just smiled and got up, walking out to the sweet summer night like everything was like always.
"How weird kid", the old man muttered but never would he find out more than that.
"Finland!" Sweden yelled and ran where he had seen the man last time. They were supposed to stay together but something had happened and Finland had strayed away during the fight. There were too many horses and people that Sweden could have found him. It was purely chaos and only after the main fight had died down, simply because there was nobody alive anymore, Sweden was able to start his search. He had felt the pain inside and he knew something had happened to the Finn. That's why he ran, yelled and searched harder than he had never done.
"Finland!" Nobody answered. There were only bodies of humans and horses here, some of them still moving in pain and pleading for death. Sweden didn't know who had won today and for sure he didn't care. Was it him? Was it Denmark? It didn't really matter at the moment.
Finally he felt the Finnish nation near and he turned sharply, almost falling down on to body of horse that had its front legs broken and few arrows on the side. He jumped over it and climbed over a small hill. From there he had a better view over the battlefield and he saw a man standing near. It felt so weird to suddenly see somebody living that it took a moment for Sweden to recognize who it was. When he did, he stumbled down the hill that had turned muddy and ran closer.
"Danmark", he said with a grunt and the Dane quickly raised his hands to show that he was without weapon.
"Hej, Sve", Denmark said, taking a few quick steps back when the Swede marched closer, "calm down. No fight now. I'll only take Norge with me and you take Finland." When the man mentioned two nations, Sweden saw the pain on his face and he looked at the way the Dane had been looking at, only to find Norway and Finland laying there.
They were clearly dead, like everything around them, blood all over them and their weapons dropped down. Norway had arrow through his side and from his experience Sweden knew it had flew right to his heart. Finland wasn't pierced but he had few deep cuts on his face and his head was turned in unnatural way. Somebody or something had hit him hard enough to break his neck. Maybe he had fought against of somebody and then another soldier had sneaked on him behind.
"Finland", Sweden sobbed, "käraste." A hand touched his shoulder and he almost slapped it away before remembering it was only Denmark. The nation he was supposed to be in war with but who also was his brother.
"They will come around", Denmark said with voice full of sorrow but still also with hope, "I know. They will." They walked closer to the nations that were laying so close each other that their backs touched. Their skin looked pale under all the deep red blood but their eyes were closed. Swedish nation kneeled down next to fallen Finn and tried to clean the blood from his face with his hand. It didn't help much, only smeared the red over pale skin.
"Dan, do you think they…", Sweden said but Denmark stopped him before he had a chance to say the last word.
"No, I don't think so", the Dane said, "look how they are positioned and there are soldiers from both side all around them."
"So they were protecting each other", Sweden said, ending up to same conclusion.
"Yeah", Denmark said, "I think they ended up facing each other during the fight but they didn't want to go against other so they kind of turned around. They two fighting against everybody else. Norge got hit first, I think, and Finland felt it and turned to look at him at wrong moment. Got hit right to the head."
"You are probably right", Sweden mumbled. His vision was becoming blurry and he noticed he was crying. The Dane was crying too, not even bothering with hiding the tremble of his shoulders and sobs.
"Let's take them home", he whispered and went to pick up the Norwegian. Sweden followed the lead, taking the dead Finn in his arms. They didn't say anything else to each other, nothing about their war or questions on who had won this time, but Sweden turned to look at the Dane only one time more. He saw the Danish nation walking away with blood all over him and limping from the wound he had got on the leg but still holding Norway carefully and taking care that he didn't touch the arrow on his side. Sweden looked how he stopped for a moment and, with shoulders shaking from crying, pressed his face in the Norwegian's hair. Maybe he was trying to pretend that Norway wasn't dead. Sweden didn't know but he knew how the Dane felt and with a heavy heart he turned again.
"I promise", he whispered to the Finn he was carrying, though he couldn't hear the Swede, "I'll never again let you to die because of my wars."
"Island?" Norway whispered from the door, almost too scared to say anything. Not because he was afraid of the Icelander, more because he was afraid that someday he would not get an answer.
"Nore?" A weak voice whispered back. Norway let relieved sigh, this wasn't the last day yet, though the worry didn't fade from his face.
"I brought you something to eat", he said, stepping inside and trying to force a smile on his face so the young nation wouldn't see his pain. Denmark was much better with this pretending. He could waltz in the room smiling and joking, sometimes even playing with the Icelander like nothing was wrong. Then he would turn to Norway later when they were alone and cry until there were no tears left in him. Norway didn't have that gift but he did his best to look like everything was alright.
"Thanks, Nore", the Icelander whispered and tried to move to sit. He was getting even weaker, Norway noted and hurried to help him. Only few months ago Iceland had been happy and normal himself, listening Norway's stories and playing with Denmark, often coming back to Norway with small cuts and tears in his clothes after Dane's great ideas of games. Then Norway would fix the Icelander and scowl at the Dane who was trying to point out that he was also hurt from falling down from the tree or something like that.
But now Iceland didn't play. He had barely enough energy to be awake during the days and Norway had never felt greater pain that the one he was feeling now. It was suffocating him, making him feel powerless because there was nothing he could do and every try ended up to be useless.
"Carefully, little brother", he muttered, trying to not think about how thin the boy was now, "let me help you."
"I can…", Iceland tried to say but his lungs refused to work, causing a coughing fit. Norway massaged his back and held a cloth in front of his mouth so he wouldn't mess his bed with blood.
"It's okay. It's okay", he kept whispering, hoping that he could believe in that. After few long minutes Iceland was able to calm down again and Norway managed to feed him few spoonful of the soup he had brought. Then Iceland felt too tired to eat and Norway let him settle down on the bed again.
"Can you tell a story?" Iceland asked with a tired voice and Norway nodded. The stories were one of the few things that seemed to somehow help. He didn't need to read from a book, his memory was enough when he started to tell a story from the old times, mixing his own history in it. His voice was perfect for storytelling, as always. It raised and lowered in right places, staying clear and soft. Iceland loved to listen his brother's voice.
Norway kept talking until the end of story. Even if Iceland had fallen asleep almost right at the begin. It just felt better to keep the story going on and maybe the Icelander would hear it to the dream and be without nightmares. But when story was over, Norway sighed and stroked his brother's hairs that had lost their normal silvery shine. He let the worry back on his face and with heavy steps he walked out.
"Nor, is he…?" Denmark asked right when Norway closed the door after himself. Like Norway, Denmark didn't want to say it out loud but they both knew what he meant. He had been waiting, listening Norway's comforting voice but feeling the same pain.
"Still living", Norway mumbled and avoided the other nation's gaze. He started to walk away to his room where he would be free to cry. The soup bowl on his hands was almost full, but the food had become cold.
"Nor…" Denmark said, following him. Norway only shook his head and it wasn't until they were in his room that he turned around. He felt sad, he felt angry and before he managed to stop himself, he had thrown the soup on Denmark.
"Do something!" he yelled to the Dane who stood in front of him, cold soup tripping from his hairs. He wasn't angry because he understood and so he only stayed and waited. Norway felt the tears running down from his eyes and making his vision unclear, and then the arms crushed him to a hug. Denmark's familiar warmth surrounded him and he sobbed, hiding his face on the Dane's chest.
"Just cry, Nor", Denmark said, holding him tightly, "I'm sorry."
"Just… Fix this", the Norwegian said with voice full of pain, "I have tried everything but nothing works." Denmark felt lost too. Norway was stronger of them two but the last weeks had brought him down, made him desperate and feeling his weakness. How could Denmark be strong?
But he had to.
"I'll do all I can", he promised, "and if that doesn't work… Well, I'll sooner give up my own land than let him go."
"Ja", Norway replied after a moment, his voice barely audible, "but I don't want to give up you too so take care it's you both that will survive."
"Of course", Denmark promised, kissing his hair and stroking his back in comforting way, "it will all be soon good again."
"I hope so", Norway said, "maybe we should go away, somewhere countryside. I think the air of Copenhagen is not suitable for Is right now."
"It sound like a good idea", Denmark agreed, "you will have some rest too. I'll take care of your land so you don't need to worry about anything."
"That's exactly the only thing I worry about. Don't mess up my land", Norway said, trying to joke though he rarely found anything fun in his life nowadays. Denmark grinned but that also died off soon.
"Do you think Is would like that castle we have in Jutland?"
"One in south with apple trees in the garden?" Norway asked and the Dane nodded, "I think it would be nice. The air is good there if I remember correctly."
"I think so. It has been while when I had been there last time either", the Dane said, "but of course if you prefer to take him to your land?"
"No", Norway said, "I don't dare to take him to a long sail and my land tends to be much colder. Jutland is good."
"Ja", Denmark agreed, "I'll order a carriage for you and Is for tomorrow. Get some sleep, Nor, I'll watch over Island this night."
"Sure", Norway mumbled, feeling too exhausted to disagree, "and… Sorry about throwing the soup on you. It's maybe good idea to wash your hairs before you go anywhere."
"Oh, yeah. I already forgot about that", the Dane said with a light smirk that didn't really reached his eyes, and the Norwegian gave him a last kiss before he left.
On the next morning Norway and Iceland left after giving brief goodbyes to the Dane who was staying behind. Iceland slept all way to the castle and Norway held him, trying to make the carriages sharp movements a bit more bearable for the sick nation. When they arrived, he first took the Icelander to the room that was received for them and not until making sure his brother was alright, did he focus on anything else.
The castle wasn't really big, not when compared to the castle in Copenhagen at least, but it had homely feeling and the apple garden was still there, trees just begin their blooming. There were no nobles or royalties living in at the moment, it served only as a reservation for military, and so Norway was automatically most high ranked person. He had more titles than he could remember and the old man leading the troops assigned there was in far lower position than the Norwegian. First he seemed to be sour about it but after few meetings with Norway he believed that this strange Norwegian man had no interest on taking his position. Norway actually laughed when he found out about that idea. Why he would like to rule over one pity military station in Southern Denmark? He was Norway.
Maybe it was the good air or whatever Denmark was doing was actually helping because Iceland started to slowly get better. First two weeks were like before, he sleeping and being in constant pain, but then Norway started to see the signs of his little brother getting healthy again. First he started to eat, only a little pieces at once, and then talk more and finally he was ready to go out under the Norwegian's carefully watch. Norway almost cried when he was able to take his brother out to eat apples that had become ready to pick while Iceland was recovering.
Norway and Denmark wrote letters to each other regularly. Actually no day went by without one of them receiving a letter or message from another. Norway mostly wrote about Iceland, first just short remarks how everything was still staying like it had been in Copenhagen, but when the Icelander started to get better Norway's letter also got more detailed. He told the Dane everything and few times he had to pay extra for the courier because the letter was too heavy. Denmark replied with encouragement during the bad times and over-flowing happiness when it all turned better. He also send copies of all document about Norway's land and asked few times advice on difficult topics but never he revealed what he had done to make Iceland to start recover. Norway didn't ask.
All was fine. Norway's heart wasn't breaking to pieces anymore and Iceland was playing around and listening his stories during the evenings. It was perfect, though the only thing missing was the Dane who had been forced to stay in his capital. But when Iceland was clearly better, Norway started to plan their return. It had been nice to have some holiday too, but it was high time for him to pick up his work again.
There was only one thing Norway didn't expect. Probably it was surprise for Denmark too because he never mentioned it in the letters and he wouldn't let his family to go if he knew the castle would come under the attack. However, that was what happened. Only few days before Norway was supposed to leave with Iceland, a frantic servant waked him up in middle of night and with shaking voice told that the castle was under an attack. Norway, who had seen and fought more wars than anybody else, offered his help but he was turned down. He was only a noble, the old leader said, he should stay away with his brother.
"That idiot", Norway hissed angrily and followed the chaos on the field from window, "we have more men but he is sending them all to an easy death with that tactic!"
"What's happening, Nore?" Iceland asked, sitting in the chair far from window like Norway had told him to do.
"Something horrible", Norway answered honestly. He paced around a bit, his shoes tapping against the cold stone floor, and he tried to decide what the best solution was for now. He hated to leave the people to die, thought they were not really his people, but his first loyalty went to his brother and so he should first take care that the Icelander would survive. That brought up another problem since he wasn't sure if it would be better to escape the castle or quietly wait and see what would happen. Escaping sounded better but he didn't have a horse and he couldn't be sure how much enemies there were still hiding in the forest. Waiting didn't sound like good idea either because the leader on the castle had turned out to be completely moron.
"Island, I want you to stay here", Norway ordered sharply after making up his mind, "I have to go for a moment but stay here and wait for me, alright?" Iceland gave him a nod and with a last glance Norway left the room, locking the room behind of him. He didn't have a clear plan but if he only could collect few soldiers to follow him he might be able to safe the chaotic situation on the field.
He killed the first enemy by his bare hands. The man had wandered closer to the castle than others and made a mistake by letting his guard down in seemly empty castle yard. He didn't have chance to even yell before his life was over and the Norwegian picked up the sword the dead man didn't need anymore.
Somehow he managed to collect a small group of soldiers to follow him from the remnants of the castle's troops. Maybe they didn't really want to follow the Norwegian but one look on his face made them believe that it was the only way to stay alive. They did what he told them to do and followed his plan so well than they could.
For Norway it was all easy. The sword in his hand felt familiar and he slipped back to what he had been, feeling nothing even when his skin was covered with blood. Life or death, why it should bother him? It was just a routine, his body knew what to do and he let it. He didn't stop until the sword was hit off from his hand. He turned around, not caring about sharp pain on his arm, and looked at the man whose face was just as bloody as his. He also had scars, proofs from the fights he had barely won.
"So you must to be one of the nobles we heard hiding in there", the man said with sharp tone, "no normal soldier looks like you." Norway didn't step back, only stand there keeping himself collected even without the sword in his hand. He heard one of his last opponents groaning in pain and for a moment he felt sorry. He didn't leave them to suffer, quick death was the only thing he had to give, but apparently he had made a mistake with that one.
"Yes, I'm", Norway replied, "and you seem to more skilful than the ones I have killed today since you managed to knock the sword off my hand." The man grinned, looking sure about his win. There was nobody else close by because Norway's fighting fury had taken him away from them.
"I sent men to catch the another one so I guess it's okay to kill you off", the man said, "we need only one anyway." Norway felt the fear when he heard that but he kept it down. It wasn't time for that and he needed to focus, get in to the fight again. The enemy was coming closer, the sword raised for a strike but Norway hadn't lived his immortal life for nothing. He moved quickly and at the end it was the arrogant man falling down his own sword running through him. The surprise would stay on his face until his bones were only thing left of him, but Norway didn't care. He had to go back to his brother.
Later he would remember nothing about the fight. His mind was completely blank from the moment he killed the last man in the field to the moment when he found himself standing back in the room he had left Iceland. He was breathing heavily and he could feel his heart beating rapidly as the haze from the fight waded slowly. All his enemies were dead, lying around on the bloody stone floor, but he was still holding a sword tightly, ready to strike at any moment.
"Nore?" quiet voice asked, making the Norwegian remember where he was. The Icelandic nation was covering in the corner, far from the dead soldiers, and it looked like Norway had come just in time. They hadn't got the Icelander.
"Are you okay, Island?" he asked, voice harsh from all yelling but still full of worry. Iceland nodded but he was staring at the Norwegian and he looked scared.
"Nore!" he yelled and moved to get up. Norway jumped forward, ready to catch his brother, but sharp pain in his chest stopped him. A bit surprised look on his face he turned to look if he had been hurt because he hadn't notice it during the fight. His side felt a bit too warm and he felt ill when he saw a hilt of knife poking out from his ribs. So, one of the bastard had actually got him, Norway thought and frowned.
"It's okay, Is", he said, trying to make his voice so calm than possible, though their environment was anything but calm, "you know we can't die from this." Icelander looked still worried but he seemed to understand what the Norwegian meant, because he stood still and let him come closer. Norway was happy to see that there was no blood on the younger nation and he looked like nothing was wrong, if he didn't count in his expression.
"I'll just… take this off", Norway mumbled, sitting down against of the wall, "and it will heal soon. Okay, Is. Don't be scared." The Icelander nodded, biting his lip and taking a hold on the Norwegian's sleeve. Norway braced himself, put his hand on the hilt and tried to pull the knife out. But instead of getting it out from his body, he only felt a sharp pain that made him whimper and tug when the knife stuck between his bones. It was too much and Norway knew it. Thin line of blood was running out from his mouth and he had to cough few times to not drown in his own blood. He could feel his body healing, some of the cuts on his arms had already disappeared, leaving only thin scars, but with a knife stuck on his ribs he couldn't fully heal.
"Don't be scared", Norway whispered to the Icelander again, "I only need to rest a bit." He needed help to get the knife out but Iceland wasn't strong enough and he was also shaking from the fear so Norway couldn't really put him through it. Norway needed somebody who knew what to do but sadly there wasn't such a person available at the moment.
"But Nore", Iceland whimpered, "you are hurt!"
"Only for a while", Norway said, holding his hand, "you know. Danmark is coming. He will fix this all."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure", Norway assured, "he always makes everything to be good again. He will be here very soon, but I have to rest a bit now." Healing was taking all his energy, trying to fix his body even if it wasn't possible right now. Norway felt himself tired but he wasn't scared. The fight was over already and this wasn't the feeling of dying. He pushed himself better against of the wall and placed his sword on his laps, ready in case he had to pick it up again.
"Listen, Is", he said with a calm voice, "if anybody else than Dan comes from that door, wake me up. There is nothing you need to be afraid off. I'm right here." Iceland nodded and held his hand tighter. Norway looked over the room once again before he let his mind to slip to the dark. Iceland sat down to him, pressing his fingers over the spot Denmark was once told that he could feel the heart. With a quiet voice he counted the Norwegian's heartbeats.
Denmark was running. He didn't even stop to look where he was going and he was pushing everything and everybody on his way away. He felt Norway and Iceland ahead but his mind was full of fear. Too late had he received a message about the coming attack and he hadn't had a chance to warn Norway. He didn't want to let Norway to fight alone, they never knew what would happen on battlefield, but he had been too far away and he was afraid that Norway couldn't escape with Iceland before the attack started.
He had jumped up on his horse right away after hearing the news, urging the strong stallion to run faster than he had never run. The horse had been trained for war, great in size and with an angry temperament but after the long and hard ride he was exhausted and pinned his ears back when the rider jumped down. The fight was almost over so Denmark didn't waste the time with joining in. He ran inside to the castle and the stairs up, barely glancing at the dead bodies around. It wasn't until he reached the room that he stopped, looking around and searching for the other nations he felt nearby.
"Danmörk!" he heard small voice to yell and his eyes quickly found the Icelander and the Norwegian lying next to him, "help!" He saw the knife on Norway and his heart stopped its beating for a moment.
"What happened?" he asked, rushing to their side. Norway was unconscious but Denmark let relieved sigh when he saw the man breathing. Too many times he had found Norway dead or almost dead. Never would he get used for that.
"There were bad men", Iceland sobbed, "but Nore killed them and then one stick him with that!"
"You aren't hurt, right?" Denmark asked, glancing at the younger nation.
"No. But you have to safe big brother!"
"Of course", Denmark said, trying to stay calm despite of the fact that he felt horrible and scared. He felt a bit better when he saw the Norwegian stir and open his eyes. Loud voices of the two nations had woken him.
"Hei, Dan", he whispered.
"Hej, Nor", Denmark said, "I thought you promised I'll never again found you like that."
"I'm very sorry", Norway replied, "I didn't exactly plan to end up like this." Denmark's lips turned to a weak smile when he heard the man joking.
"Okay, don't move. I'll take it off first", he said, "need something to bite on?"
"Yes", Norway said, "and be careful. It's stuck between my rib bones and has pierced my lung." Denmark nodded solemnly and took off one of the leather bands from his wrist.
"Here", he said, "I'll start when you are ready."
"Ja. Iceland, please look away", Norway said and thrusted the leather band between his teeth. He bit on it and nodded for the Dane who started slowly to pull the knife out. He didn't dare to work on it too fast put he had to turn the knife few times to get it easily out. Norway whimpered but the leather in his mouth muted most of it. Iceland held his brother's hand the entire time and kept his eyes away.
"I got it", Denmark said when the knife was finally out from the flesh. He threw it across the room, not caring where it would land, and he opened the Norwegians jacket to see if the cut started to heal. He felt relieved when he noticed the blood stream stopping and the skin moving around the cut as the nation's body sped up the healing process.
"Thank you", Norway said with weak and tired voice.
"Any time", Denmark whispered and kissed his forehead, "Is, can you walk? I think it's better if I carry Nor. He has lot of healing to do." The Icelander nodded and let go of the Norwegian's hand so the Dane could lift him up. Norway had fallen asleep again, feeling safe enough in the Dane's arms so he could rest without being ready to defend again. Iceland picked up his brother's sword, struggling a bit under the heavy weight of iron, and hurried after them. He was carefully with not stepping in any blood on the way and to not stop looking at the dead for too long. This wasn't exactly first time when he had ended up in middle of bloody conflicts, though had he never needed to fight himself.
While they walked, or in Norway's case were carried, Denmark wondered what would be best plan. He wanted to take Norway and Iceland far away back to the safety of his capital, but they didn't have any carriages and it would be even hard to find pair of horses after this fight. He had his own horse and tough he knew the heavy built war horse of his could easily carry two adults and one small boy if they kept slow pace, he also knew it wouldn't be comfortable for the Norwegian. No, he needed to rest now.
So Denmark decided that they would stay until Norway was healed. The fight was already over, his people gathering to check the situation, and the fight had never reached the most inner parts of castle so Denmark took them to the calmer living area and picked the first good looking room.
"Leave the sword next to bed", he told the Icelander, lowering the Norwegian on the bed. Norway was deep in sleep, but his breath was calm and he had already got some colour on his cheeks. His clothes and hairs were covered in blood so Denmark decided it would be best to wash him as soon as possible. But first there were other things he had to take care. It would have been most comfortable for Norwegian to get cleaned first, but Denmark knew that Norway too would want him to attend to Iceland first.
"Is, come here", he said, reaching his arms to the Icelander who complied happily, "so you all okay?"
"Yeah", Iceland murmured, hugging him while Denmark quickly checked that there weren't any visible wounds on young nation's slender body. Iceland was a lot like his brother and he sometime he claimed to be not hurt even if he was.
"Want to tell me exactly what happened?" Denmark asked with a gently voice. He wanted to make sure the nation's mind was okay too. Iceland hesitated first, but here in the clean and quiet room and the trustworthy older nation holding him, he felt much better. Denmark waited patiently and soon Iceland started to speak. He told about the attack and how Norway had first stayed with him but been forced to join the fight after their leader turned out to be coward. Norway had made sure that Iceland would be in safe but apparently the attacker had heard about somebody from nobles and with a high position in Danish court being in castle so they had targeted it. Unfortunately they had noticed Iceland and assumed that finely dressed boy was somebody important. Iceland didn't know why they had wanted to take him. They hadn't say it and Norway had come before they had managed to do anything.
"You were very brave. I'm proud of you, Is", Denmark said when Iceland told him how he had tried to defend himself before Norway arrived. He was small and young but he had yelled and kicked the men who had come close, even threated to attack on them with the small knife he carried with him.
"Really?"
"Of course!" Denmark said, "as Norge's brother, you're one of us. A Viking."
"Yeah", Iceland mumbled, looking a bit embarrassed about the compliment. Denmark hugged him a while longer but let him then go when he started to struggle.
"Will big brother wake up soon?" Iceland asked, giving a worried look to the sleeping nation.
"Yeah", Denmark said, "you see, Nor is very strong."
"Stronger than you?"
"Way stronger", Denmark admit, "I'll have to go to check on things now. You stay here and keep company to Norge. I'll lock the door and be back very soon." Iceland nodded and climbed up on the bed, cuddling up to the older nation.
After two days Norway was still sleeping but Denmark wasn't too worried. He had seen the Norwegian surviving from worse and he knew everything was okay in his land so it was only question of time when he would wake up. While he slept, Denmark and Iceland stayed with him all the time and the Dane taught the Icelander how to take care of a nation in that situation. It was most important to make sure they are comfortable, he explained while moving the Norwegian's limbs in different position, we don't need food or water but the body heals faster if everything is nice and sweet. Iceland listened carefully.
"Is he awaking soon?" he asked on second morning like he had asked almost every hour since the attack. Unlike Denmark, this was first time when Iceland saw nation healing from almost deadly wound. He didn't know what to expect.
"Yeah", Denmark replied with a smile, "you see. He will be awake soon, be pissed off because I let you eat desserts for dinners and then throw a pillow at me."
"Really?" Iceland asked.
"I know this. Don't worry", Denmark said, "but you have to swear you don't tell him about our dinner habits while he was sleeping. For some reason he doesn't like it when…" Denmark never had a chance to finish because a large pillow hit him on the head.
"Nore!" Iceland yelled happily and run to his brother who was now sitting on the bed and looking a bit confused after a long sleep, "big brother! You are back!"
"Yes", Norway said, gathering him to his arms and stroking his hairs, "sorry about making you worried." His voice was hoarse from not being used but he didn't sound tired or hurt anymore.
"Welcome back, kære", Denmark said warmly and placed a kiss on his forehead.
"Thank you", Norway whispered, but raised his finger on the Dane's lips when the man made a move to come even closer, "not when Island is here." Denmark smirked but settled with kissing his forehead second time. They sat on the bed together for a while, Iceland babbling about their days while Norway slept, and making sure that his brother was really okay. Norway of course was checking too and was very happy to see that there was no damage on the younger nation.
"Hej Is", Denmark said after a while, "I think Nor needs something to eat. Can you fetch some food from the kitchen?" Iceland nodded quickly, happy to be able to do something for is recovering brother. He ran out from the room, almost slamming the door in his hurry and making Denmark chuckle.
"So Dan", Norway said, "did I heard something about Is eating only dessert for dinner?"
"What? I have never heard about that", Denmark said, pretending to be surprised, "we only eat good and healthy dinners that you would fully approve."
"Well then", Norway said, deciding to let it slip this time, "I believe you had some intentions earlier?"
"Hell yeah", Denmark replied happily and kissed him. He knew Norway was still stiff from the healing and fighting so he kept it gentle, though the Norwegian was only eager to answer for him. They got fast carried away, the Dane holding him and the Norwegian stroking his hairs.
"Danmörk, don't crush brother!" Iceland's yell made them jump and Denmark moved away from Norway.
"Sorry, sorry", he said quickly, "I was only… You know, helping him to breath." Norway and Iceland both gave him an unbelieving glance. Iceland carried a plate full of best food he could find to the Norwegian. He was a bit disappointed in the fact that he couldn't find all Norway's favourites but he was still pretty happy with the results and at least there was some apple pie and herrings that he knew Norway liked a lot.
"You need help with breathing?" Iceland asked worried.
"No", Norway answered, "I'm fully capable of breathing by my own."
"But Dan…"
"Just a stupid Danish custom", the Norwegian said, "you know how much they have these weird habits. Oh, how nice food you have brought to me." Iceland smiled happily.
"It is all for you!" he said and looked at the Dane, "not for Dan!"
"For some reason I feel slightly hurt", Denmark commented, "what if I'm hungry too!"
"You can go to kitchen!" Iceland said, climbing up to the bed to sit between Denmark and his brother, "you need anything, brother?"
"Not right now, Is", Norway said, nipping his food quickly. The long sleep had made him very hungry but he tried to be carefully to not upset his stomach with suddenly eating a lot.
"Okay, but say if you need help", the Icelander said, "I can help."
"I know, thank you", Norway said warmly and stroked his silver hairs.
"I'll help too!" Denmark said.
"Danmörk can't do stuff!" Iceland said.
"Hej!"
"You are right, Is", Norway said, laughing sweetly, "I'll make sure to ask you first when I need anything." Denmark pouted but he had smile on his eyes and he was holding his laugh.
"But I can help", he whined giving a sad look to the two nations, trying to win their hearts.
"Well", Norway said slowly and giving the Dane a sly look, "maybe I'll need help with breathing again." Denmark gave him a smirk and focused on trying to snatch food from the plate that was now on Norway's lap. Iceland kept yelling every time he saw Dane's hand getting closer and soon it became a funny game between the Danish and Icelandic nations. Norway was leaning on the bed's post and shook his head with a smile on his lips.
"You fucking stupid…", Finland cursed and threw the small box on the table before went to get another, slightly bigger box, "vitun perkeleen ruotsalainen. Helvetin loistavaa."
"Sorry", Sweden mumbled.
"Shut up!"
"Sorry", he said again with a bit quieter voice. Finland gave him a sharp look and placed another box next to him.
"Vittu perkele", he muttered angrily and went to the cupboard once again to get a big bottle of some clear liquid, "what the hell you were thinking?"
"Have to save you", Sweden said and hissed in pain when the Finn poured the liquid in the cut on his side without warning. The strong smell of alcohol drowned the blood's metallic smell for a while.
"I was doing completely okay", Finland said.
"But…"
"Yeah, yeah, you don't want to see me hurt", the Finn said, "do you know how I feel now when you are hurt? This is a pretty bad wound. You got all the glass and metal pieces inside."
"Sorry."
"Stop that already", Finland ordered and took a closer look in the wound. It was still open, the blood dripping out though the main veins had closed up already, and reached from the Swede's second last rib bone down to hipbone. He had been lucky that the explosion had been too weak to tear him all open because then he would have been definitely gone.
"Fin?"
"What part of 'shut up' you didn't understand?" Finland asked, but despite of his angry voice he was still being very gentle with cleaning the cut. He knew it would hurt a lot later because the main problem was all the pieces inside and had to get every single one of them out and some of them were really small. The skin around the cut was burned and jagged but Finland was glad that it didn't smell anymore. The smell of burned meat wasn't very enjoyable, though blood wasn't really any better.
"Sorry", Sweden said again and Finland let a loud sigh. He opened the boxes, revealing set of needles and thin yarn from other and a collection of slim blades from another. He also had a candle that he lighted and placed on the table to give him a bit more light. The place was far from perfect for any kind of medical operation. It was small, dark and probably so dirty that any human would have got infections right away, but it was only option. Finland had to clean and fix the cut now because the Swede's body was already trying to fix it by itself and if it managed to do that before all the metal and class had removed… Well, Sweden would be in pain for long time and Finland didn't want to see that.
"Drink", he ordered, offering the bottle for the Swede laying on the table, "you will need it." Sweden nodded and too a long sip, not even wincing when he swallowed the strong alcohol. When he had had enough, Finland took the bottle back and took a sip too before placing it on the side.
"I'm ready", he said, focusing on the task, "you okay, Sve?"
"Ja", Sweden said, "do it."
"Yes, sir", Finland mumbled and started to dig the meat. His tools were far from good ones too, he didn't even have a pinch so he had to dig every piece out with a knife and needle. Sometime he cut a vein by accident and the blood on his hands made it harder to hold the knife. They didn't talk much but once a while Finland asked if Sweden was still okay and Sweden answered with short grunt or nod.
"Voi perkele!" Finland suddenly yelled, "vittu."
"Fin?" Sweden asked, trying to turn to look at him but Finn pushed him back down.
"It's healing too fast", he said and bit his lip, looking at the small pile of class and metal he had got out from the man, "I only got one third out. I'm sorry, Sve. I'll have to open it again."
"It's okay. Do it", Sweden replied without hesitation, but Finland wasn't so sure. He grabbed the knife, slightly bigger than the one he had used for digging the pieces out, and he brought it to the Swede's skin but then he stopped.
"Fin?"
"I'm trying, Sve", Finland said but it felt hard. It was easy to fix wounds but it was completely different thing to make them on somebody you cared about a lot. Sweden moved his arm carefully and let his fingers to stroke the Finns hand, giving a brief comfort.
"I trust you", he said. It was simple thing to say but it was enough for the Finn. He was only one here and for sure he would save the Swede. With nod he took a better hold on the knife and pushed the blade inside, slowly cutting the healing wound open again so he could remove the rest of pieces. More blood came out, dripping to the table and down to the floor. The smell and gross sound of blood dropping down made Finland feel sick but still he kept going.
He had to open the cut three times more, every time asking Sweden if he wanted him to stop. Every single time Sweden asked him to continue and Finland did so. When it was all done and Finland washed the blood from the skin that already had only red scars left, they were both exhausted. Sweden because of the pain in his side and Finland because of the pain inside of himself. Finland hugged him and gave him a tired kiss.
"Thank you for saving me", he whispered much calmer voice than earlier, "but never do this again."
"Can't promise that", Sweden replied, "I love you."
"In that case, I don't give any promises either", Finland said with a stubborn voice, "I love you too."
Many years later, after Iceland had grown up to be an independent nation, he found himself standing next to unconscious Dane and trying to keep himself calm. His heart was beating rapidly because both, the running and fear, and his mind was in chaos. This wasn't possible, he told himself, just not possible. This can't happen. His hands were shaking and he couldn't feel anything, not even the pain inside of him though it had been so strong only a moment ago. The pain was the reason he had run out to the winter evening, without jacket and barely remembering to put shoes on.
"Listen, Island", Norway said and asked him to sit down on the chair front of him and Denmark, "we are going to teach you something very important in case you have to save life of another nation someday."
"Yeah, because we tend to go away sometime", Denmark noted.
"And Denmark happens to be one of most easiest to kill off", Norway muttered, giving the Dane a look, "since that happens surprising often. Anyway, Is, listen carefully now. This is what you have to do if our bodies ever get too damaged."
"Okay, Is, you know what to do", he told himself, "stay calm and focus. They told you about this." The problem was that despite of Norway and Denmark teaching him carefully what he should do in case any fellow nations faced an incident too great to survive, this was first time when Iceland was alone in this situation. It didn't help at all that the nation lying on his feet was Denmark.
"It's important that the humans doesn't find out about this", Norway said, "they tend to… panic when somebody dies and comes back again."
"Believe me, you don't want to get involved in that mess", Denmark noted, "also, it's not nice to be buried alive. So whatever happens, make sure no humans get to the body first!"
"First check that there are no humans near", Iceland mumbled out loud because speaking made him feel calmer and kept the panic away, "okay. No humans. Then check if he is…" It felt too difficult to say the last word so he simply crouched down and pressed his fingers on the Dane's wrist. The skin felt warm but he couldn't find the normal pulse.
"Nore always said to check the eyes", he said, remembering the Norwegian's calm voice lecturing about the most common signs of death. For Norway it seemed like an easy topic to talk about and Iceland guessed he had saw enough death during his Viking days to not care anymore, but the Icelander had been growing up in much calmer environment, being saved from the fights by his brother and Denmark.
But he knew what he had to do, so carefully he lifted the Dane's head to see his face. There was blood everywhere, staining the man's blond hairs, but Iceland was able to see him without cleaning the blood away. Empty, blue eyes stared back without any life.
"Shit, shit, shit", Iceland muttered, falling back because of the shock. Sure Norway had tried to explain him how it would feel and look to see a dead but never would he have been prepared for this. It felt horrible and painful, to see Denmark's eyes like this. Panic started to rise again and few tears came up but Iceland forced himself to work. It was a late night during winter and gentle snow rain hided them but still it was only a question of time until somebody would walk by. Iceland had to get the Dane to home.
That turned out to be quite difficult task already simply because Denmark happened to be a tall adult man who still worked out despite of not being warrior anymore. And Iceland, well, Iceland still had body of a teenager and he didn't work out. It was a struggle to drag Denmark back to home and he thanked the luck and all gods he had ever believed in for the fact that they were not far from home. It also helped a lot that with snow raining and scarf and hood covering Denmark's head it looked like Iceland was simply helping is drunk brother to home or something like that.
"Why is not Nore here when he is needed", Iceland mumbled, trying to get the door open without letting the Dane's body fall down. The same thought had crossed Icelanders mind already when he had first found Denmark but unfortunately Norway wasn't available. He had meeting in another side of the globe, so even if he left right away he wouldn't be back until next day.
Iceland let the Dane fall to the couch, only remembering too late that the blood would stain the brightly yellow cushions. Iceland was still too much in panic to care about blood stains. It would be the Dane's problem when he waked up.
"Okay, what then?" the asked from himself, "check the wound? Right." Iceland looked the wound on side of the Dane's head. The blood had stopped pouring and apparently the body was already healing because the wound looked much smaller than it should be.
"Sometime you have to help the body a bit", Norway said, "it is not always necessary but makes the healing faster."
"Yeah, I remember once when Sve got his belly cut open!" Denmark said, "good thing we got everything stuffed back in. No idea how long it would have taken to grow new set of digestive system. Fin was terrified though, cursed the whole time and said that he didn't want to see that side of Sve."
"Dan", Norway said calmly, "we made a deal about not going to details."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry."
Iceland wasn't so familiar with things related to the health care but because the wound on the head was the only one he could see, he guessed it had to be the reason the Dane was temporary dead now.
"It's easy to set bones back in right places", Norway told him, "or sew big wounds so the skin will grow back together faster. Some things are a bit trickier. Like damages in the brain or water in the lungs."
"Norge drowned once", Denmark noted, "took him a week to come around again."
"And I would have come back way faster if somebody here would have emptied my lungs", Norway said, giving a sharp glance to the Dane, "a body is not exactly made for getting water out of lungs so it took a long time before I was ready to breathe again."
"Sorry", Denmark said with a quiet voice, "it was the first time when you were gone away. I panicked."
"It's okay, Dan."
"Damage in the brain is a difficult one", Iceland muttered. He could maybe try to move the skull but he didn't really dare. What if he would only make it worse? Iceland didn't want to hurt the Dane.
"When you had got the body in to safe place and done whatever you can, contact me or Denmark", Norway said, "it's better if we help you."
"Well, I guess Nore is only option now", Iceland mumbled. He would have called Sweden too, but in situation like this he only wanted his brother. Also, Norway had probably already felt that something was wrong with Denmark, so with quick steps Iceland walked to the kitchen where Denmark kept his phone. He thanked the gods for the fact that Dane always kept in contact with the Norwegian nation even when he was traveling to meetings because his hotel's phone number was written on small paper tucked under the phone.
The phone rang long time before it was finally picked. A tired sounding woman answered, speaking a language that wasn't familiar for Iceland. The Icelander glanced at the clock and after brief counting realized that it was barely a morning there. He quickly apologized the late call, keeping his voice in normal and calm level, and then asked if he would talk with his brother. The women checked the room number few times, apparently their accents didn't match so well, but finally the line went quiet again for connecting to Norway's room. The Norwegian picked up after one ring.
"Danmark, what happened?" he asked with voice full of worry and slight anger, "I tried to call you three times after…"
"It's me", Iceland said, "Island." Norway stopped talking. Only noise was the line crackling and the quiet breathing of the Norwegian. When he spoke again, there was no anger in his voice. Only fear.
"So, Dan…?" he whispered.
"He is…"
"I don't like to call it dying", Denmark said, stroking his hair, "dying is a bad word. Lot of sad feelings and it's like something you can't turn back. No, I prefer to say we just 'go off'. It sounds much better because we always come around again."
"…gone off", Iceland managed to get the words out.
"What happened?" Norway asked.
"I came to visit him", Iceland started at the begin, "because he called and said he is bored. I was going to meet up with some nations next week so I thought I could come and stay with him. And it was okay or few days but then he forgot to get something from the shop and he left to make a second trip and I stayed here and then I felt it and…"
"Breathe", Norway's calm voice said and Iceland took a deep breath. He hadn't even noticed he had held his breath and his knuckles were hurting for holding the phone to tight.
"When nation dies, others can feel it", Norway said with a voice full of sadness, "usually only the ones close by, but sometime it can even be felt far away if the nations are relatives or very close to each other."
"How it feels?"
"Like a pain", Denmark said, his normally happy and cheerful voice sounding dull, "greatest pain you will ever feel."
"It felt horrible", Iceland said, almost sobbing.
"I know, I felt it too", Norway said, "did you got him?"
"Yes", Iceland said, "he wasn't far from home. I think he maybe slipped on ice or something and hit his head on the road stone. There was lot of blood and I think he cracked his skull."
"All is okay, Is", Norway said, trying to calm him, "there is nothing wrong with his land so he will be back soon."
"How soon?"
"Sometime it takes a long time to come back", Denmark said, "once I waited two weeks in dark room for Norway to come around again. Sve was also off during that but his wounds were much smaller so he came back like only after two days. I still remember how horrible it felt. To be alone there and only thing I could do was to wait. And that was actually nothing. Finland was off for years once. Sve thought he had really died."
"If it's only a cracked skull, he should wake up in couple of days", Norway said, "maybe he will come back only after few hours."
"Okay."
"Is, I'll come back now", Norway said, "the flight will take long but if anything happens, call Sverige."
"Okay."
"I'll call him before leaving so he knows."
"Okay."
"Do you want me to ask him to come there anyway? I think Finland is staying with him today so they can both come to help you."
"No, it's okay", Iceland said, glancing to the living room where the Dane was lying on the couch, "I'll manage." Norway didn't reply right away, but when he spoke again his voice was soft and comforting.
"You are doing well", he said, "see you soon."
"See you", Iceland mumbled and the line unconnected. He spent few minutes there, just standing a phone in his hand and staring at the wall, that Denmark had decorated with small flags and souvenir stickers from places he had visited. Iceland had never understood his fascination of using the flags as decorations but it felt a bit warm to see them all there.
He didn't really know what to do and he didn't want to sleep or leave the Dane alone so he ended up sitting in the living room, covered with a thick blanket and few pillows tucked under his arms and back. It was so quiet now, way too quiet when Denmark wasn't making any noise. He was a noisy person, it was true, so his house was always full either his voice talking to somebody, singing the song coming out of the radio or just babbling about nonsense. So many times Iceland had been in his house and just listened him, replying only with few words because he didn't really had anything to say. Some memories were really happy with Denmark laughing and joking, some more sad with quick orders and last words said with a hopeless voice. Iceland also remembered the Dane teaching him, keeping lessons about things he thought were very important for every nation to know. The difference between Denmark's and Norway's lessons was that the Dane's rarely made any sense. So far Iceland hadn't figure out why exactly he had to learn to how to dance Danish folk dances or build a Viking ship from the scratch or ten ways to pick up a fight with a Swede. But still he had followed the Dane to the lessons because it had made the man happy.
That's why Iceland was there now, sitting in too quiet room with a dead. He cared about Denmark and he knew the Dane would do this to him. It was really cold in the room and Iceland hadn't bothered with switching lights on so only light came from the street lamps outside. They made the shadows look longer, a bit more lively, and illuminated the Dane's body lying on the couch. It was easy to image that he was only sleeping, he sometime fell asleep there when he was waiting for Norway to come home. The only thing being wrong was the chest that didn't move up and down with breath and the eyes that stared up without seeing anything.
It was hard to be alone but slowly the Icelander fell in restless sleep, silent tears falling down his cheeks.
It was a noise that startled him awake some hours later. He hadn't sleep very well, seeing nightmares about Denmark not coming back and he being alone for the rest of his long life, so it took him a moment to locate the noise and understand what it meant. When he did, he jumped up and panicked.
"After the wait comes another things", Norway said, "and that's why you should never leave the dead nation alone. A human body is not made for coming back from death and even if our healing skills stop dying quite early, it still takes a toll to make body work again."
"Yeah, because we still breathe, need food and stuff like that", Denmark continued, "so it's like… A shock, right?"
"I think that is a best word for that", Norway agreed, "body has to start everything again. It should be impossible but somehow we still are able to do it."
"But it's not fun", Denmark noted, "it hurts like a hell! It's actually much less painful to get killed than to come around again."
"Does it hurt every time?" Iceland asked.
"No", Norway said, "if we are gone only, let's say an hour, the reaction is much weaker. The longer we are away and the more severe the wound is, more it hurts to come back."
Denmark's body was shaking, his lungs trying to draft breath even if his blood wasn't yet flowing in veins and the muscles didn't follow the orders correctly. Because that his breath came out with weird whimpers and it looked like he was crying and choking. For a moment Iceland hovered around, not knowing what to do but still feeling that he should do something. He had to do something!
He hurried back to kitchen and had already punched first numbers before he remembered that Norway was still in the plane. He tapped the button on the side to erase the number and started with another again. Usually he would have remembered it but he was too much in panic so he checked the number from a small note that Denmark had taped on the wall. Sweden's number was the third one on the list.
"Svíþjóð!" he said before Sweden had even chance to ask who was calling him, "help me!"
"Danmark?" the man asked and Iceland nodded before he remembered that the Swede couldn't see him.
"He is coming back", he said, "but… he… I… what…"
"It's okay", Sweden's always calm voice said, he understood what the Icelander meant, "stay calm."
"I'm calm."
"Good", Sweden said and Iceland heard Finland's voice asking from the background but apparently Sweden gave him some kind of sign because Iceland didn't hear to answer anything to the Finn, "is he in safe place? Somewhere he can't fall down." Barely had Sweden said the last word when Iceland heard a thump from the living room. He walked so far than the phone cord let him and peeked over the corner, finding out that the Dane had fallen from the couch.
"He is now", Iceland said, feeling sorry.
"You can only wait", Sweden said, "it looks bad but will pass. Don't try to hold him during the seizures. He can't control his body and might break your bones or hurt you by accident. Take care that there is nothing near that he can hurt himself with. Give him blankets and pillows just in case."
"Okay", Iceland said and wondered if he had never heard the Swede to speak so much at once, "what after that?"
"When the worse is over, just hold him", Sweden said, "it makes it better. He will be very exhausted so don't be scared if he falls asleep right away."
"Hold on like you will never let go", Denmark said, almost whispering, "we are so vulnerable after that. We need all love we can have so make sure you don't let go."
"I'll do that", Iceland said, swallowing his tears, "thank you, Sví."
"No thanks needed", Sweden said, "me and Fin will come over. It takes just few hours." This time Iceland didn't refuse. It would be probably best for Denmark to have everybody around when he was back again. When the call ended, Iceland placed the phone back to its place and returned to the living room. He tried to focus on his task and not think too much when he moved furniture away and gave the Dane few blankets and pillows more so he would be comfortable. When that was done, there was nothing else to do and that meant Iceland was alone with his thoughts again.
It was even horrible than waiting him to awake. Denmark was shaking, his limbs moving without control and the body trying to get everything working again. He screamed and whimpered like he was in pain and it was like a stab in Iceland's soul, but the worst was when he got his eyes working again. Because if it had been horrible to look into them when there was nothing, it was even more to see them filled up with a pain. He was pleading for a help that wouldn't come and Iceland cried with him.
After while the Icelander started to speak, telling just whatever plopped up in his mind. He babbled away like it was only way to stay alive and most of things he said didn't make any sense. But it seemed to calm the Dane and somehow help him to get over the most. Still it took hours before his body stopped seizing, his breath calmed down and he blinked the tears from his eyes. Then Iceland crawled closer and without saying anything lifted his head on his lap and held his hand, murmuring sweet things in three languages.
Another half hour later Denmark was finally ready to speak and Iceland felt his heart beating on its normal rhythm. His voice was hoarse from yelling and barely audible, but still the Icelander heard what he said.
"Tak." He gave the Icelander a grateful look and fell asleep. Iceland didn't move from his spot, only hold him and stroked his hairs that were still stained with now dried blood and flatted down because of the sweat.
Door bell ringing startled the Icelander and when it ringed second time, sounding like somebody really wanted to come in, he tugged a pillow under the Dane's head and got up. He walked slowly to the hall, wondering who was behind the doo. Because Sweden and Norway wouldn't ring the bell, it had to be somebody completely else. When he opened the door, he found couple of polices standing there with stern looks on their face.
"Hei", Iceland said, hoping that there was no blood on him", how can I help?"
"We are here to investigate something", the first police said, "can you let us in?"
"Um", Iceland said. It wasn't probably a good idea to show them a bloody Dane in the living room. Especially because Iceland had a feeling that the investigation might be somehow related to the large pool of blood that was left on street corner.
"My brother means of course", Norway's calm voice said behind the policemen, speaking perfect Danish and sounding a bit annoyed but still polite. Iceland peeked over the humans and saw his brother standing there like nothing was wrong. He only looked slightly stressed but he was clearly hiding his real feelings again. He waved his hand and Iceland stepped on side to let the humans in.
"Where is Dan?" Norway asked, sounding casually but there was a weird undertone in his voice, "is he back yet?"
"Yeah", Iceland said trying to imitate his brother's calm voice, "just sleeping it off in the living room." He could see the relief on Norway's eyes and then he understood how much he had been afraid. It had probably been awful to travel in a plane, knowing that the man he loved was literally between death and life and needed him.
"We can talk in the library, it's third door there", Norway said to humans.
"We would like to have every person there", one of them said, clearly he had heard them speaking about the Dane. Norway nodded.
"Of course, I'll go to get him", he said, "Eirikur, would you be nice and keep company for these gentlemen while I go to wake up our brother?"
"Sure", Iceland mumbled. He wasn't really feeling like ready to talk or have any kind of small talk but luckily it seemed the policemen were not feeling like that either because they weren't really pursuing him to speak. All three just stood there in library until Norway came back.
"I'm sorry it will take a moment", he said, "Matias works during nights and he had just got some sleep. However, he will be here shortly."
"And you three are only ones living here?" one of the humans asked, clearly wondering why so big mansion only had three men living in.
"Exactly", Norway told them, "we inherited this house and we all are quite founded of it. We also have fourth brother but he lives in Sweden with his spouse." It was a little lies he was saying but they couldn't really tell the truth to everybody. Mostly because people would never believe it.
"What was your name again, mr…?"
"Sigurd Andersen", Norway said, "do you want to see my id-papers? I have a double citizenship of Norway and Denmark." In truth, he was citizen of all five Nordic countries, like them all were, but it wasn't technically possible so he usually only said he had double citizenship, adding whatever country he was in to with his Norwegian citizenship.
"It's not necessary", they said.
"Morning, everybody", Denmark's familiar voice said with a happy tone when he stepped in the room. He had changed his clothes and his hairs were wet after a shower, showing only a slightly pink shade that was barely noticeable and easy to mistake for trick of light. He was even smiling and there was nothing on him saying that he came back from death that morning, "how can we help you?"
Iceland had been right and it was about the blood on the snow in the street. However, they were not blaming them and apparently nobody had seen what happened. They only wanted to ask few questions from everybody living nearby. Denmark took a lead of the conversation, he being most talkative of them all, and carefully he lied about everything. He was very skilful, so much than even Iceland believed him for a moment, telling the policemen that he hadn't hear anything. He had been all evening with his little brother who had even followed him to work because he hated to be left alone during the night. They had come home only few hours earlier and Norway had only just returned from a trip and he had his stamped passport and fly information to prove that. So they all had perfect alibis, thought of course there was no bodies found yet and the polices were clearly suspecting that it all had been a pity fight between drunkards and the ones to blame were only sleeping off their drunk somewhere.
They left quickly after the few questions, leaving the nations by themselves again. When Norway closed the door behind them, Denmark sighed and suddenly leaned on Iceland. The Icelander had to take step back to balance himself but somehow he managed to keep them both up until Norway came over to help.
"Man, that was hard", the Dane said with exhausted voice and they all knew he wasn't speaking about the brief meeting with a police a moment ago, "but thank you, Is. You were wonderful."
"Are you okay now?" Iceland asked.
"Yeah", Denmark replied and gave him a tired smile, "just feeling bit nausea and like something run over me."
"Let's help you to the bed", Norway said, sounding gentle and giving the Dane a quick peck on cheek.
"It's very early", Denmark mumbled, barely conscious, "can you stay with me?"
"Of course we will", Norway promised. Together he and Iceland managed to get him up to the second floor and to his bed. Norway stayed and made sure the Dane was comfortable while Iceland went to fetch few more pillows and blankets for them. Denmark was deep in dreams when they got ready and just laid down next to him to sleep.
Later Finland and Sweden arrived too. They didn't bother to knock or yell anything at the door because they already had an idea where they might find others. Leaving their jackets and shoes to the hall, they went up the stairs and right to the Dane's room. There they found the three nations, sleeping peacefully right next to each other. Norway was holding Denmark's hand and Iceland had his back against his. Finland smiled sweetly when he saw them and gave then a questioning look to the Swede. Sweden nodded and they went to fetch a mattress and pillows to themselves. They couldn't get in the same bed because it wasn't exactly strong enough for five, but when they slept in same room, Denmark would be able to sense them in his sleep and that would make him feel better.
They all five just wanted to stay close now because they knew the pain. No questions asked, only they making sure that the other knew they cared.
"Do you ever remember what happens when you are… gone away?" Iceland asked and this time it took a long time before Denmark or Norway answered. They looked at each other with a strange look on their faces, like they weren't completely sure.
"No, not really", Norway finally said, "sometimes there are… Some glimpses."
"But it might be only a dream", Denmark noted with a shrug, "though I think Finland once said he could see the future when he was away."
"He said it only happened once", Norway said, "so, we don't really know what happens and it will remain as a mystery."
"But whatever it is", Denmark said with a thoughtful voice, "I think it's not so bad. It's just… like being alone somewhere and waiting for others. I don't know." He leaned on Norway and hugged him with one arm, suddenly feeling like he needed to be close. Norway hummed and stroked his hair.
"Island", he said with a gentle voice, "we hope you will never need to experience what we had. Just remember what we teach you." Iceland nodded. He would do that.
If you really read till here it would be like really nice thing to review and tell me that! You know, brag a bit and so.