Matthias - Denmark

Govert - Netherlands

Emil - Iceland

Lukas - Norway

Tino - Finland

Berwald - Sweden

Five little tin soldiers stood in tightly packed rows, unique faces painted on each. One soldier, who stood at the very end of the row, had only one leg. The reason for this being that the man who made him had run out of tin. Simple enough, he was without a leg. The others—his brothers—treated him the same, so it never did bother him. With their shiny red coats and dark blue pants, they stood out above the rest.

This being given, the other toys never minded the tin soldiers. Them being locked within their wooden box at night kept them from joining the other toys in their nightly activities. But during the day, when all were stiff and some were played with, the tin soldiers were pulled out of their box and set in neat little rows. The very last one being rested against the tallest one, which helped keep it standing.

Not being known by the owner of the soldiers, they did in fact have separate names. The first one—the shortest—whom had a straight mouth and furrowed brows, hair painted silver and eyes a dark blue, was named Emil. Next to him was Lukas, who had the same eyes and expression, only with blonde hair and being taller than Emil. In the middle was Tino, with a big grin on his face, light yellow hair and brighter blue eyes than the two before him. Berwald had a frown on his mouth and shorter hair than the three previous.

The last tin soldier being Matthias, whom had a missing leg. His hair was painted wild and a grin larger than Tino's spread across his face. This was to accommodate for the leg, which the owner—a young boy around nine—never minded in the first place. He leaned against Berwald, often teasing at the soldier for his position.

Now, for all toys that are broken, it may seem a bit hopeless. And for a toy built broken, the loss may be a bit more. But Matthias seemed to be the exact opposite. In fact, he kept his smile even when he could choose not to. And this was especially true each time he caught sight of the paper ballerino just within his sight.

He heard from another toy that his name was Govert, which seemed to fit him perfectly. And while the little boy played with the yoyo and the train, Matthias' eyes would drift to that of the ballerino, and he would stand and watch. Govert stood in the same position every day: arms spread out and leg lifted high, toes pointed. From Matthias' position, it seemed as if he didn't have a leg—being that the castle Govert was inside of had lace bordering, which did cut away the view. This is quite possibly where his affections began, but surely it was not only that.

It was the way he teased him, that was what kept his feelings from fading. The paper ballerino could easily see that the tin soldier was staring, so he made it a sport of sorts to lock gazes at random—Matthias would immediately look away, causing Govert to smirk. These sorts of games continued from time to time, until a certain incident.

The little black goblin who was placed closely in between the two would watch these certain activities day by day, and was annoyed more than jealous. He took it upon himself to rid himself of the legless fool. One morning, the young boy placed the tin soldiers in the window. He hadn't a reason to do it other than wanting them to see the pretty blue sky.

In sync with an incoming draft, the goblin pushed the tin soldier out, knocking down the one he had rested on only moments before. The fall was a large one for that of a toy his size, and so when he did fall, he fell hard and was planted firmly in the mud. His little hat had disappeared, as did his bayonet.

"Arthur! One of my toys fell out of the window!" Called the boy. He was worried for the thing, which he knew was fragile as it was and more so being slightly broken alone, but a fall out the window worried him a great deal.

His brother threw off his smock and unlocked the door, stepping outside in search of the thing. "I'm not seeing it, where was it?"

"In the window!" He smacked the place where it was, finally noticing the one that had been knocked to the floor. He bent down, picking it up and placing it neatly in their box, soon after grabbing the others and placing them in the box as well, which made him feel a bit better, knowing they would not be harmed. As he did this, he muttered on about the toy. "No, Arthur! It can't just be missing, I love that toy! It was one of my favorites! And it was right next to the others, here! See? This one was on the ground, there must have been some wind or maybe the cat knocked them over!"

Arthur sighed and walked inside, shutting the door once more. "I'm sorry Alfred, it's gone."

"But my soldier!"

He shrugged. "I really can't do anything about it. Want me to buy you another set?"

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. "No, that won't do!" And with that he stomped off to his room, a pout forming with the first thump.

Meanwhile, the tin soldier was stuck. What was he to do without his brothers, and what of his dear ballerino? While his mind raced on and on, pondering whether or not he would see the other toys again, a group of young children spotted him.

"Peter, look at that." A boy with brown hair, two pieces sticking out of the sides at odd, and—what seemed almost unreal—red eyes, said.

The shaggy blonde haired child caught sight of what he had mentioned before. "Oh, I see!" He quickly grabbed the toy and walked back to the other two children.

"Here," said the girl, "let's put it in a paper boat." She pushed the clump of hair from the side of her head and grabbed a piece of paper from her pocket. She neatly folded it and eventually pulled it into a nice looking paper boat. She smirked and pulled at her pink jacket. "Looks great, huh?"

Peter nodded, grabbing the boat from her and placing the tin soldier within it. He set it down in the gutter and placed a hand over his head. "I think it's raining."

The girl quickly pulled up her hood. "Come on, let's go home. I don't want to get wet."

The children scurried off without another thought of the toy. In the gutter, Matthias found his bayonet, which he pulled into the boat, holding on tightly to it. 'What am I to do?' he thought. The rain came, heavier and heavier by the minute. The thought hadn't come to him that the soggy paper boat could float, and that it would do so quickly, but it did, and he was sucked into the drain. The darkness kept him from seeing where he was heading, so he relied on his ears. All he could hear was the rushing of water and the occasional squeak, which he did not find satisfying.

"Sir! May I see your passport!" Called a voice. A light broke through a passing drain and he caught sight of the speaker, who turned out to be a big water rat that had been swimming upstream.

Knowing that he did not have the passport it was asking for, he closed his eyes and held onto the boat tightly, wishing he was back home with the ballerino. The rat thrashed towards him, asking again, "sir, your passport!"

Again, no reply. This angered the rat who followed him, nipping at a corner of the boat. "Stop him! He has no passport, he has not paid to pass!"

With a glimmer of daylight just ahead, Matthias did not give up hope. He used his bayonet to paddle faster, just out of reach of the rat, and straight into the light. With the light came a roaring sound, which was actually water falling down onto more water, what was thought to be a river. The boat began to swirl wildly until it was underwater, the soldier being separated from it, as well as being neck deep within the river.

And he sank, the poor thing. Soon after, he was swallowed by a fish and was once more in the dark. This being a great deal darker than the tunnel or the old box back home, as well as a tighter fit. The fish swam on, not a care in the world, especially not that of the tin soldier it had eaten. Its tail swished back and forth, scales shimmering in the light. Eventually the tail stopped, as did the fins. The fish was completely still.

Time had passed and the fish was in the kitchen, and the cook was sharpening a knife. She opened the fish's mouth and—before she could make the first slice—caught sight of the tin soldier and laughed. Grabbing it and quickly washing it off, she called for the young boy. "Alfred, I have something for you!"

His bare feet pittered and pattered at the ground as he raced his way to the kitchen, full of adrenaline. "What is it?"

She held out the toy and waited for his response.

He gasped, then smiled. "It's my tin soldier that went missing!" He snatched it from her hand and raced to the room where he kept all his toys.

The tin soldiers had been moved after the incident, farther from the window and closer to the ballerino, much to Matthias' surprise and delight. The boy placed him against the tallest soldier—as he had before—and ran upstairs to tell his brother about the good news.

All the while Matthias' brothers grinned at him, glad to see him return home. He turned to his side and smiled at Govert, who caught sight of him and waved, then smirking. "I've missed you." He said.

Matthias was overjoyed to hear the sound of his voice, which he had never had the pleasure of hearing before. He savored the moment. Bending slightly in his direction, he said, "and I've missed you too."

At last the tin soldier with a lack of one leg and the paper ballerino were together, and nothing could separate them again. Sometimes, on nights when the young boy had forgotten to lock the tin soldiers up, Matthias would slowly make his way to the castle and visit Govert, but that was rare, and being so made it all the more worthwhile.