Disclaimer: I don't the characters from Hetalia
Below the cloudless blue sky, a cool breeze swept through a field of tall grass. The peaceful morning was disturbed only by the occasional rustle of passing rodents. A muddy-blond-haired boy pushed his way through the green maze. He lifted his head to peer over the tall grass, narrowing his bright blue eyes against the sun's glare. Seeing that the coast was clear, he let out a sigh of relief.
He'll never find me here! he thought with a smirk.
"Alfred! Get back here this instant!" shouted a man, startling the boy. "You better not be near the borders again!"
Shoot! He'll find me at this rate! He continued to push through the grass, now a little faster. Artie is always so uptight about playing near the borders. I can fight off the bad guys myself!
The man's voice became more distant as Alfred continued towards the wooden structure ahead. He often came to the field with Arthur, his adoptive parent, and had even made a few animal friends.
Once, he tried to retrieve a ball that had rolled near the fence. But Arthur had stopped him, saying that it was dangerous beyond the boundary because the bad guys lived there. Ever since he had been trying to sneak out of his tent on a spy mission. All attempts failed though, thanks to Arthur and his friends.
Today's the day! Alfred thought determinedly. The fence soon came into Alfred's view. His eyes shone with excitement and pride as he reached for one of its posts. Yes! Finally! The boy thought as he touched the wood, panting heavily.
The fence was as tall as him so he only had to duck under it. Looking up, he could only stare in fascination. It was like his home, a dusty clearing with huge white tents scattered across it. Alfred shook his head in confusion. How could such a familiar place be dangerous?
The boy took a deep breath, shaking away his fears. You can't let Artie stop you now! You've made it this far already! He made a cautious step toward the campsite. When he didn't see any danger, he jumped with glee and ran, kicking up dust and dirt.
Alfred caught movement from the corner of his eyes and slid to a halt in front of a tent. He sighed in relief, realizing that it was just his own shadow. Alfred narrowed his eyes in suspicion when he saw the shadow move. Taking careful steps towards the tent, he could hear a soft voice from the other side.
When he got close enough, Alfred lifted the tent's flap, peering inside to see a girl sitting on a stool, staring at him with unusual violet-coloured eyes. She looked very similar to Alfred, save for her hair length and eye colour. The two stared at each other in silence.
"Hey..." said Alfred dumbly. "I'm Alfred."
The girl stared at him analytically before replying with a cautious "Mathieu". Alfred blinked in surprise.
"You're a boy...?" Alfred asked, dumbfounded. An awkward silence fell between them as both blushed with embarrassment.
"Sorry..." said Alfred, looking down at his feet. "I didn't know."
"It's okay," said the other boy with a foreign accent. "I get that a lot."
"You are really pretty..."
"Thanks..."
Another pause.
Suddenly, Alfred perked up with excitement. "We look pretty similar, don't we?" Alfred said. After recovering from the shock, Mathieu studied him curiously.
"That's true..."
"We should be friends, Mattie!" said Alfred, holding his hand out. Mathieu started at Alfred's outstretched hand in surprise before hesitantly saying, "Sure...Alfred."
Suddenly, chattering approached from outside and shadows grew more distinct with each passing second. Looking at each other fearfully, the boys sprang into action, with Alfred scrambling to get out of the tent and Mathieu struggling to push Alfred out.
"I'll come see you again!" Alfred whispered before running home, causing Mathieu to blink in surprise.
"What would I have done if the French caught him?!" said a blond man with bushy eyebrows, rubbing his short scruffy hair anxiously as he sat at his desk.
"Don't worry, General, you warned him, didn't you?" said a brunet in a red uniform. "He'll stay away, won't he?"
"The lad's been too eager to cross the border," said the general worriedly. "He probably went there..."
"You worry too much."
Suddenly, there was a faint shout from the distance. The pair looked at each other before rushing out to see Alfred waving and excitedly shouting, "Collins! Artie!" as he ran towards them.
"Alfred! There you are!" cried Arthur, running to hug Alfred. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Guess what! Guess what!" Alfred said excitedly. "I made a new friend today!"
"Ohyeah?" asked Arthur, raising a brow. Seeing how excited Alfred was, he smiled fondly, ruffling his hair. "That's good!"
As the boy continued chattering about his new friend, Arthur thought to himself, Could I ever give you the safe home that you need? A life without war? You deserve a better life than that of a general's son.
Alfred snuck out early in the morning again and ran across the field to the fence. He ducked under and quickly made his way to Mathieu's tent. When he ran into the tent, Alfred's toothy grin was replaced with concern when he noticed that he had startled Mathieu, causing a pile of books to tumble to the ground. He scrambled to help his friend collect the fallen books. "Sorry... about the books..."
"It's okay," Mathieu said, softly as ever, as he piled the books back up.
"So... what are you reading?" asked Alfred, picking up a book and looking at the cover. "I can't read this."
"How to be friends with animals," said Mathieu, blushing with embarrassment.
"You want an animal friend?" asked Alfred with a questioning frown, causing Mathieu to wince.
"I have a few that I can introduce to you!" exclaimed Alfred, puffing his chest out with pride.
Mathieu just stared at Alfred, eyes wide with innocent surprise. To the boy's astonishment, Alfred grabbed his hand and dragged him outside.
"Come on, Mattie!" said Alfred as he ran.
Mathieu stared at his energetic friend before giggling to himself. "Yes, let's go!"
"Whoa..." Alfred exclaimed, eyes wide with fascination. "This will be your self-defence gun," Arthur explained, presenting Alfred with a small gun. "Use it only to protect, alright?"
"I understand, Artie," said Alfred, taking the gun carefully. Arthur smiled down at his son as he ruffled the boy's hair. "Good!"
Alfred ran out of the tent, holding the gun firmly in his hand. His breath was ragged and heavy. His tired legs were giving way as he fought through the tall grass. His eyes were wide with fear and panic. He slipped on the wet grass but he fought it to get up and continued on. You can't stop now! You need to warn Mattie!
Earlier, while Alfred returned to the tent after playing with Mathieu in the field, he noticed that Arthur was in a meeting with his friends. He about left when he overheard Arthur.
"The French are on the other side of the fence!"
Isn't that where Mattie lives? thought Alfred, stopping to listen in.
"What are we waiting for! We have nothing to lose! We need to attack now!" Arthur shouted.
The group started to move, chanting, "DOWN WITH THE FRENCH! DOWN WITH THE FRENCH!"
Alfred didn't think as he ran with his gun held tightly in his hand.
Mathieu was heading home when he heard Alfred's voice shouting from behind. He turned to see Alfred struggling to get to him. He seemed so scared and panicked, unlike the usual proud and fearless Alfred he knew. Mathieu rushed to his friend's side.
"What's wrong, Al?" said Mathieu worriedly.
"You need to run, Mattie!" said Alfred, clutching his friend's shoulder.
A cloud of dust arrived at the camp's entrance: Arthur's troops.
"Charge!" A desperate cry from the front lines. Men rushed from their tents past Alfred and Mathieu, preparing themselves for battle.
The two boys looked at each other fearfully.
"That's my dad!" Alfred exclaimed.
"What do we do!"
Arthur smirked proudly as he watched his soldiers charged into the campsite, leaving the french scrambling for defence. That'll show them who they're messing with!
The smirk soon disappeared as he spotted Alfred together with another child. Furrowing his brows worriedly, Arthur was about to approach the boy when he spots the opposing general a few distances away. Two pairs of eyes met.
Arthur didn't think as he broke into a run. He called his son's name in panic, clutching his gun tightly.
He's going kill Alfred!
To his surprise, the French general tackled him, sending his weapon flying to the ground.
"HOW DARE YOU TARGET MY SON!" shouted the Frenchman, as he wrestled the Brit to the ground.
"YOUR SON?! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MINE!" Arthur kicked the man in the stomach, sending him flying.
"STOP! DON'T TOUCH MY DAD!" shouted a child's voice. Looking up, Arthur saw that Alfred has stood between him and the Frenchman, holding his gun. He has never seen Alfred this stern before. In front of him, another boy stood before the Frenchman, also holding out a gun. The only difference was the other boy's reluctance.
"Don't do it, Al! Please! I don't want to do it!"
Arthur was almost in tears when he heard, "I DON'T CARE! NO ONE TOUCH ARTIE!"
That was when the pieces fall together. Arthur rushed to put his arms around Alfred. With tears in his eyes, he cried, "Didn't I tell you before?! The gun is used only to protect!"
Alfred's eyes welled up in tears. "I was protecting you, Arthur !" He began to cry in Arthur's arms. All Arthur could do was hold his son in a tight embrace and cry with him.
Suddenly, long shadows fell over the two. Arthur looked up to see the Frenchman glaring down at him, causing Arthur to hold his son more firmly against his chest.
In the most vicious voice he could muster, the general spat, "Leave us be!"
To his surprise, the Frenchman turned away, pulling a teary-eyed child swiftly behind him. Arthur continued to glare at them as the two disappeared into the distance until he felt Alfred stir in his arms.
"Is he going hurt you?" Alfred asked, causing a small smile to form on Arthur's face.
"No... not anymore," said Arthur as he led the boy away from the battle-filled clearing.
Author's note: Thanks for reading "A Child's loyalty" hoped you enjoyed reading it! This story has been on my to write a list for a while. I've finally taken the opportunity to write this story as my writer's craft summative and had a lot of fun writing it. Let me know what you think of it!
I want to give my thanks to all my amazing classmates and editors. One of them has given me very helpful feedback that I can safely say that without her help, this story wouldn't be as good as it is now. I also want to thanks and Mr. Carson for reading over and editing my story.
If you find any mistakes in the story that I've missed and anything you find unclear, please let me know because I'm looking to improve my writing skills. So please take care of me!