Here, have some angsty stuff between two awesome friends, why don't you?
I do not own Hetalia or its characters. This is entirely for the sake of the fandom and for my entertainment.
And another big thanks to 'DancingOnRainbow' for beta-reading! :D
"Why the hell isn't he responding?" Prussia grumbled when he sat the walkie-talkie back on the heavy wooden table. He crossed his arms over his chest and sent the Swede a sour look. If anyone was to know about anything related to Denmark, it had to be Sweden. They were archenemies and detested each other. Yet it was a well-known fact that they, at some minor point, cared for each other. At least enough to not want the other dead unless it was by their hands.
Sweden looked at him over his glasses, the blue eyes hard and indifferent. The big and gloved hands held a Swedish newspaper and he didn't even seem worried.
"Dun'o. Cou'd b' he's fall'n int' an ice chasm," he answered without any kind of emotion.
"Swe!" Finland gasped and looked up from the book he was reading. Unlike the Swede, he looked concerned. "That's not a nice thing to say!" Sweden turned to look at him and the Finn seemed to shrink under the hard glare. "I-I mean, I know you hate Denmark and such b-but it's still not nice to say such things."
"Why not? I cou'd be right, y'know". He turned a page in the newspaper with frustrating ease for the Prussian who stood from his chair and began walking around in circles, occasionally going to the windows to look outside.
How he ended up caught with four Nordics in a deserted cottage in the middle of fucking nowhere?
Thanks to Denmark. That stupid Dane had convinced him to join him on a vacation of some sort in the mountains. 'It will be awesome!' the Dane had exclaimed before explaining what exactly they would be doing. Prussia had lifted an eyebrow in disbelief when Denmark was done talking.
'Seriously,' he had said and sighed deeply, taking a long swig of his beer, 'just walk around in the mountains and take pictures of stuff? Sounds extremely lame.' It hadn't been able to dampen Denmark's excitement, though. He had instead tried a different angle to convince Prussia to join him.
'We'll be skiing, man! Skiing is awesome! And the parties at night - there are always plenty of chicks we can hook up with! Come on, man, you have to do this, pleeeease!'
A few hours later, the discussion was over and Denmark was the victor. Prussia had finally agreed to go with him after the winning argument 'I can get us free beer.' which had gotten Prussia's attention.
About two months later, Denmark had gotten everything together and had maps over the mountains they would visit, he had gotten the correct currency - they would go to Norway - and he had packed the stuff he believed they would need. Prussia had demanded to see it and make sure the Dane had remembered everything. He was surprised to see he couldn't find a single thing missing.
Denmark rolled his eyes. 'You know, I know what you need when you want to stroll around in the mountains, I've done it plenty of times,' whereupon he had handed Prussia a wallet and a small bag to put his stuff in.
"Fin is right, still not nice," he growled and walked away from the window and back to the table. Gloved fingers grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed on the button to speak. "Den? The hell are you doing, man? If you call me in a minute and say you've fallen into an ice chasm or some shit, I'm not coming to save your ass." He let go of the button, waited.
It, of course, wasn't true. If Denmark was in trouble like that, Prussia wouldn't hesitate to try and help him. They were best bros and part of the 'Awesome Trio' along with America. Of course Prussia would help Denmark if he ended up doing something stupid.
Several minutes passed and nothing happened. The device didn't begin talking to him and there was no rattling sound that might give away where Denmark was or that he even pressed the button.
By the couches, Norway checked his wristwatch. It had been four hours since the idiot left. He had said he would be back in three. And as Norway knew exactly how dangerous his nature could be, he couldn't cast off a feeling that Denmark maybe was in trouble. Not that he planned on helping. The idiot had probably brought it upon himself and should therefore be able to solve it himself.
"Have you tried calling his cell phone?" Finland asked and sent a nervous look out the window. Snow was falling, fine and slowly. His brows were furrowed lightly and his fingers werefumbling with the binding of the book he was holding. It was clear he was also beginning to be anxious about the Dane's absence.
"Twice. He said it was unlikely they would be able to get signal out here," Prussia answered and pulled out his cell phone again, found the Dane's number and took the device to his ear after having started the call.
Some heart beats and many rings later, a female voice announced that the number attempted to be called was out of reach or turned off.
"Shit." The phone was sent through the room along with an annoyed growl. Norway and Iceland dodged it with such indifference that it was clear this happened often when they were with Denmark.
It annoyed the shit out of Prussia that Sweden continued to turn the pages in the newspaper. He just sat there, staring at the words and pictures, looking like it didn't matter at all to him that Denmark might be in trouble.
Finally, it became too much for the Prussian and he forced the paper out of the Swede's hands with such a power he ripped it in two.
"What the hell, don't you even care? He's your family, he's been saving your ass quite a few times!"
"'N' kickin' it ev'n more," Sweden simply answered and slowly stood from his chair. He was completely calm but the hard glare was enough to get even Prussia to back down. He threw the ruined newspaper to the floor and paced back and forth on the floor again, sending a look at the walkie-talkie every time he passed by it.
Sweden went into the kitchen and they could hear him rummage through cupboards and push things around before a loud clattering sound was heard.
"Swe?" the Finn said anxiously, raising his voice just a bit so he could be heard in the kitchen.
"'s nothin', got it under contr'l," Sweden mumbled before he returned. In his arms were some crumbled and dusty papers, a small black box with childish drawings on it, and a plate with cookies.
He handed Prussia the papers and went to the couch where Norway, Finland and Iceland sat. "Look at 'em. Might be usef'l," the Swede said as he seated himself between the Norwegian and the Finn, immediately causing the smaller to try and crawl away just a bit.
Prussia looked at the papers before spreading them onto the table where he had placed the communication device. They were very old and filled with yellow blots. Black lines and circles were drawn all over them and small words were scribbled in a tight handwriting by every circle. Squinting a bit, Prussia recognized the language as either Swedish or Danish, meaning he was unable to read it.
It couldn't be missed, though, that these were maps. They were very detailed maps of the mountain they were in. At first, this got Prussia's heart to beat a tad faster. Awesome, this was perfect! Then the muscle seemed to stop and fall into his stomach.
If the maps were here... then what about Denmark?
"Sweden," the Prussian said and got a "Hm?" in return. "If we have these maps here, then has De-"
"Den has newer maps. Thes' ar' many, many years ol' 'n' not good enough to guide ya 'round. See th' backside."
Prussia did as told and turned the maps around, finding translations of the words he couldn't understand. Things like 'Watch out - risk of avalanches' and 'Nearly fell into ice chasm' and 'Stunning view!'. He memorized the words and turned the crisp paper around once more, finding the places where the sayings fit.
Having stared at the map for a few minutes, he went to his bag and rummaged through it to find the small book he had brought with him on Denmark's command. 'It's important to write down your trail in case something happens,' the Dane had said before handing the book to Prussia.
Prussia couldn't remember having been this happy for Denmark's idiotic and slightly overprotective mind. He bounded back to the chair and flipped through the papers until he reached the correct page, studied the route before finding it on the map.
The Prussian didn't know if he should be calm again or if he should worry even more. Their trail went past the 'Watch out - risk for avalanches' but too close to 'Nearly fell into ice chasm' for comfort. Few kilometres east of that, they had made a stop by a small valley before turning a little north-west.
He found that Denmark could be pretty much anywhere. They had been travelling far in the mountains today. In frustration, he grabbed the walkie-talkie again to shout into it.
"Denmark, if you don't answer in five minutes, I swear, I'm going to make Germany take your country again!"
"Is he really worth the trouble?" Norway asked in a flat tone after half a minute where nothing had sounded from the device. Prussia looked over at him to make an evil comeback but was too shocked by what he saw.
Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland were playing some kind of card game. Finland and Sweden sat together at one side of the table, Norway and Iceland on the other. The Finn looked terrified by Sweden's cold and hard expression while Norway didn't seem to even notice it, much like Iceland.
"What the hell are you doing?" he nearly shouted. How could they- what?! Didn't they even care about Denmark who could be hurt out there somewhere, injured and unable to call for help?
"Playing Uno. Want to join?" Finland answered, looking nearly begging for the Prussian to sit between him and Sweden.
"Nein! Denmark is out there and could be seriously hurt and you're playing cards and eating cookies?! Aren't you worried about him?"
"Prussia," Norway said and put down a card that got Finland to whine and pull two cards from the stack, "you need to learn some things about Den. He's an annoying asshole, first of all. After that, he knows how to take care of himself, even if he's hurt. Also, he's too proud to ask for help, even on the brink of death. He would never ask you for help. And he's an asshole."
"Oh, but I suppose he would ask you, being in love with you and all that shit," Prussia snarled and put down the device a bit too hard. Norway's face was blank and unreadable as always when he answered.
"Definitely not. Imagine the humiliation he would feel by asking a man he saw as his partner and who, according to him, is much weaker. He wouldn't ask me, either. Just as little as he would ask Swe or Icey. Best guess would be Fin and Swe would never allow it." Sweden nodded to that and pulled Finland a bit closer, causing the Finn to nearly cry in fear.
"Den's a strong guy. He can surviv' a bit of ev'rythin'," he said and put down his cards before leaning back to watch the others continue playing. His arm was around Finland's waist and he occasionally whispered things to him to help.
"Not cool, Swe," Norway said and sent him a warning look, taking a card from the stack. Sweden simply shrugged.
Prussia was stunned to see the complete indifference about Denmark. Finland was the only who seemed to care and he would sometimes turn his head to look out the windows, an expression of worry on his face. He might not like Denmark, either, but it still wouldn't be good to have him gone for too long.
"Fine," he then said and went to the entrance after having put the maps, book and walkie-talkie into the small bag. "If you don't want to find him, then I will. Have fun with your idiotic game and idiotic cookies."
"Woah, wait a minute!" Finland instantly said and jumped out of the couch after having put down his cards as the second winner. Sweden looked after him before getting up as well. Norway and Iceland remained sitting though their movements got faster in order to finish the game.
"You can't go out there alone!"
"Oh yeah? Watch me," Prussia growled and got on his overtrousers before he fiddled with the boots. Finland watched him for a few seconds, clearly surprised by this behaviour before he got a hard shine in his eyes and moved over to him, beginning to find his own clothes. Sweden was instantly by him which made it hard to move around in the relatively small entrance.
"Ya stay her'," he said and got a firm grip of the Finn's upper arm. Finland looked terrified for a moment, then gently tried to push the hand away.
"Ei. Prussia is right, for once. Denmark's absence is becoming suspicious. He should have been back an hour and a half ago and he doesn't answer his walkie-talkie. We have to find him." He didn't even look at Sweden when he got his jacket and his gloves, put them in the pocket of aforementioned jacket and got on his overtrousers and ski boots.
Norway and Iceland appeared in the door frame and looked at them.
"You serious, Fin? You hate him, too," the Norwegian commented flatly but not even he could deny the worry that was lined around his eyes.
"So what? Even so, it's not right to wish someone dead."
"We're not wishinghim dead-"
"Speak for yaself."
"Shut up, Swe, this is serious. But Fin, what help would it be if we all disappeared?"
"Nobody's askingyou to go," the Finn snapped and put on his goggles before pulling the tight gloves over his hands. He looked absolutely serious. "Stay here if you like. I don't plan on rushing into death anytime soon so I'll return."
There was complete silence in the entrance while the Nordics seemed to eye each other and Prussia pushed himself into the corner, away from them. He had always seen Finland as that one little guy everyone could push around. His appearance made him look like a cry baby, a weakling and he surely didn't seem like a guy who would stand up against someone like Norway or Sweden. Even so, this was what he was doing now.
His eyes were hard but face lined with anxiety when he watched the others, waiting for them to either shrug and go back to their game or to get their clothes and follow. He bent down to tighten his boot a bit and to get his trousers to cover them better so snow was less likely to get under them.
Finally, after a long and very tense minute, Norway gave in. "Brother, get our stuff."
"Stop calling me that." But Iceland agreed and disappeared into the living room to grab the things needed, including Prussia's big bag. He threw it to the albino who grabbed it just before Finland straightened.
He grabbed the bag thrown at him as well before opening the door to go outside. Prussia followed, letting Sweden, Norway and Iceland to argue alone in their weird languages.
There was a small bench just outside and he found Finland sitting on it, expertly clicking his boots into his skis. Prussia sat beside him, feeling his legs begin to tremble lightly. He was actually nervous about his stupid, idiotic, thick-headed friend. For once, he was nervous about something that didn't involve running out of beer or videogames he couldn't beat.
"Not going to use your skis?" Finland asked when his were on and he grabbed his ski poles, watching the albino stare into his bags to make sure he had everything.
"No way. I nearly broke my neck yesterday."
"Are you kidding? You spent the entire day on the green track!"
"My speciality is warfare and beer-drinking, not skiing," the Prussian snarled and noticed how Finland smiled at him though he still looked too serious.
"You can fight in a war and ski at the same time," he pointed out and turned his head to look at Sweden, Norway and Iceland as they exited the house, clad in thick clothes with the colours of their flags.
"If you're Finnish, yeah," Norway said and rolled his eyes before clicking on his skis as well, followed by the other two. "Do you still compete with Russia?"
"Occasionally," Finland answered with a small shrug, pretending not to notice the way Sweden stared at him. "Alright, we're ready. All have walkie-talkies and cell phones?"
They nodded.
"And we all have each other's numbers?"
They nodded.
"Sweet. No, not you, Swe. You know, good, right? Anyway, it seems Prussia doesn't know how to ski so he will need to go together with one of us."
They all looked at the Prussian who rolled his eyes and tried to hide his embarrassment.
"You can't be serious. We spent over five hours skiing yesterday."
"Hey hey! We all have things we're better at than others," Prussia snapped at the Icelander and got up from the bench. "I could out-drink any of you," Finland raised an eyebrow, "okay, maybe not you, but everyone else here, anytime. And you will never be as good to fight as me. Besides, you live with snow like this, you can ski whenever the hell you like. I can't."
"But Austria has plenty of tracks you could practice on," Norway pointed out, looking absolutely indifferent.
"Like that prissy aristocrat would allow me to do that."
"Anyway," Finland interrupted before the discussion could go out of hand, "we need to find one Prussia can go with."
"Not me," Norway and Iceland said at the exact same time.
"You're too kind," the Prussian snarled and looked at the Finn and the Swede.
"So, me or Swe?"
"I'm scared of skiing with you. I bet you go too fast and do insane stunts just to show off."
"Do not! But are you cool with that, Swe?"
The Swede looked incredibly cold and hard when his eyes found Prussia and seemed to measure him. He didn't answer. Feeling a slightly bit courageous, Prussia beckoned the Swede over with a finger and jumped onto the bench. At first, Sweden looked reluctant but still went over to the Prussian.
"I'll pair you up with Fin if you don't do anything crazy." Sweden seemed more willing to let Prussia go with him but still not entirely convinced.
"I'll make sure no one interrupts and that you can have him for as long as you want." They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, cold and hard royal-blue meeting determined and harsh crimson. Then the Swede nodded and allowed Prussia to go with him, standing right behind him and on his skis, arms tightly swung around the giant body.
Finland didn't look relaxed when he let his eyes graze over the two but seemingly decided it wasn't important when he began instructing where they would go.
Then they were off, all of them with a bag over their shoulders, except for Sweden who instead had a terrified Prussian clinging to him.
Luckily, they went slow as they needed to search wherever they went. At one point, though, Sweden apparently decided to test Prussia and how tight he could cling to him so he broke the trail and skied in between some trees where the ground wasn't smooth. Needless to say, Prussia was not amused and Sweden learned that even if the albino no longer represented a strong kingdom, he was still a very strong person. When they once more were with the others, Sweden got a serious scolding from them while Prussia just clung to him, shivering and trembling all over.
"Deal is over," he whispered to the Swede who just turned to send him a 'You sure?'-look, clearly signalizing that if he meant that, then Sweden wouldn't hold back.
"On second thought, maybe not."
They continued without more scolding or insane stunts for about two hours before they made a stop to talk tactics once more. Prussia tried to reach Denmark on the walkie-talkie, once more without luck. Trying the cell phone gave them the same result. Finland looked seriously worried by now and he chewed on his bottom lip when he looked over their map and Prussia's book with details about his and Denmark's trail.
"And you are sure you went north-west and not just north or west?"
"Pretty damn much. I got Denny to say it three times."
"Hmm." The Finn frowned and drew lines with his finger on the map, looking in the book. "His clothes are pretty flashy, aren't they?"
"So flashy France would envy him."
"That makes it even worse. Means that we're either not even close or he really has fallen into an ice chasm."
They all looked over at Sweden who didn't move a muscle or raise an eyebrow.
"'s possible, y'know," he simply mumbled and took a look at the map himself.
After a while of arguing back and forth where they didn't come closer to a solution, Prussia stood up and grabbed his bag, swinging it over his shoulders.
"We're not getting anything done by arguing. Let's just go, okay? I'm seriously worried about him and I don't like standing still here. I feel watched."
"Probably just wolves," Finland said nonchalantly like being watched by wolves was the most normal and safe thing in the world. Prussia stepped a bit closer to them. "Fine, we'll continue."
And so they did. They continued for some hours, Prussia still behind Sweden and clinging onto him for dear life as they went through forests and over uneven ground. Finland was humming and occasionally actually singing as he led the others, sometimes making a - to Prussia - insane jump whenever it was possible. Norway and Iceland were completely silent and so was Sweden. They simply followed the Finn without questions but were sane enough to avoid the jumps.
The longer they continued, the darker it got, even if the darkness only slowly settled around them. It was not even close to twilight when a thin, very thin sheet of fog seemed to dawn upon them.
At one point, Prussia saw something move between the trees. He instantly felt his heart speed up and asked the others to slow down, asked them if they could also see it. They could but said it was probably just a deer. Prussia jumped off of Sweden's skis, though, and nearly fell face-first into the snow when it showed to be much deeper than he had expected. Finland couldn't keep from chuckling. The albino quickly got up again and was more careful when he moved over the deep snow to get closer to whatever it was they had seen.
"Don't go that far!" Finland shouted anxiously when Prussia for a moment disappeared out of their range of sight.
"It's cool, I've got this!" Prussia answered and looked over his shoulder. He could easily see them. He turned back around, squinting a bit to try and find the mysterious thing. Moving forward and a bit to the left, he found a shadow move and his heart raced again.
"Den?" he shouted and jumped a bit forward, feet sliding over a hidden log and made him fall as long as he was. "Den, is that you?" The Prussian got no answer, not even when he got up from the deep snow that was now everywhere on him. Desperate to find his friend, he looked over the surrounding area.
Or, he tried to.
It couldn't be more than five minutes he had been away from the others but it was enough for the fog to settle completely. Well, wasn't this just his lucky day.
"Fucking shit," he grumbled and found the walkie-talkie in the small bag, pushing the button to call after having changed the channel. "You just stand completely still, okay? I will find back to you now."
"Sure thing," the voice of Finland said and the device went quiet as Prussia put it back, then turned around to go back from where he came. He occasionally tried to yell for the others but the fog seemed to completely absorb his voice.
When he checked his cell phone, he had been wandering forjust about ten minutes. Way longer than it should have taken to find the others.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He found the cell phone and called the other Nordics again. "Where the hell are you?" Finland instantly asked him and sounded really nervous. "You should be here now!"
"Well, sorry for not knowing of your shitty nature when it's foggy!"
"I can hear you, you know," Norway said and though his voice was as flat as ever, it had a slightly annoyed tone.
"I'm peeing my pants in fear. Seriously. Anyway, aren't you where we parted?"
"Yes, yes, we are! Where are you?"
"By some... tree. And a rock." You have got to be kidding me, I can't be lost, the Prussian thought and continued to walk forward, trying to find his way back to the path they had been following. But he could barely see five meters in front of him which made it impossible to determine whether or not he was even close.
"I have never seen trees and rocks in a forest. Tell me more."
"Norway, shut up or I might make Den force you to when I find him and we find our way out of this shitty forest."
"May I remind you-"
"No, you can't, Nor, give me that thing!" A smaller war seemed to be fought between the others. When his cell phone once more talked to him, it was with Finland's voice. "Prussia, wherever you are, do not move until the fog is gone and it's become day again! We'll camp where we are and we suggest you do the same. We'll find each other when we can see more than a hand in front of us."
"Great. Fucking awesome. What do I do if encounter a bear or something?"
"Play dead."
"Iceland, fuck off. I'm pretty serious right now, believe it or not."
"Bears are hibernating now, you idiot. It's winter. It's more likely you're attacked by a wolf, even if that is still extremely unlikely," the Norwegian said, voice as flat as pancake.
"Cool, I've always liked wolves better than bears," Prussia snarled and could nearly hearhow Norway rolled his eyes.
"Any more info? You know, just in case it's hungry and such and want a piece of awesome Prussian ass."
"No, Nor, let go of me!" Fighting was again heard from the other end until Norway seemed to finally shut up and let Finland have the phone to himself.
"If it charges you, don't run. Whatever you do, do not run. It willchase you."
Prussia rolled his eyes a bit as he continued to move, wondering if it would help to pull out his flashlight.
"Let's say it then attacks you," the Finn continued.
"Hooray."
"Shut it. If it does, you must either attack back or make yourself seem innocent and passive. Only withdraw if you can see any young animals with it, and then do so with slow movements. You could also go into foetal position. However, if there are no young animals with it, you have to attack. Look big, maintain eye contact, make noise, and hit it with anything in your reach. You do have some kind of weapon, right?"
"'Course I do."
"Great. That should keep you alive," Finland informed and seemed to discuss with Sweden for a moment before the phone was passed on.
"Remember, tho'gh, wolves ar' pack animals. If there's one, there's probably mor'."
Prussia felt his heart sink.
"Perfect. Just perfect."
"Now ya're informed."
"Yeah, I know. Thanks, I guess."
"Mh." The phone was handed back to Finland and it sounded like Norway started fighting again. "We'll cut it here, Prussia. Take care, please." He sounded genuinely worried.
"Sure thing. You, too. And watch out for Berwald," Prussia said and stressed the 'Ber' to make it sound like 'bear'. Finland giggled lightly and hung up, leaving Prussia alone with the eerie and dark silence.
Camp. Should he really do that? It was true he probably wouldn't get more out of searching in this weather but he couldn't go to sleep when he didn't know where or how Denmark was. He pulled out the walkie-talkie again and talked into it after having pushed the button and tuned back to the correct channel.
"Matthias, this is a serious plea. If you're pulling some kind of prank, I will cut our friendship once I find you. If you can hear me but are unable to answer for some reason, please hang in there. We're all looking for you. Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland, all of us." He let go of the button to give the Dane time to answer. The silence seemed to roar at him. Prussia gripped the device tighter.
"We're not giving up. Matthias, hang in there, pal. If you die somewhere in Norwegian nature, I will never forgive you, alright? Over and out." He let the walkie-talkie slide back into the small bag and moved forward again, ignoring the advice about camping for the night. He needed to continue searching, he couldn't sleep with the knowledge that Denmark might be seriously hurt somewhere and unable to call for help.
Because Prussia knew that even Denmark would give in sooner or later and call for help, no matter how humiliating or embarrassing it might be. Denmark didn't have the same unbendable pride as Prussia and his brother who would never, everbe as weak as to reach out a hand for support.
Just then, his foot disappeared under him. His stomach did an agile back-flip and he howled loudly in shock when he lost footing and fell. Cold air passed by him so fast it nearly froze his face and he couldn't hear himself scream.
It seemed like an entire minute before he finally hit the massive ground with a loud thud, his body tensing and paralyzing in intense pain seemingly starting in his spine. White flashed before his eyes even as they were closed and he could only gasp for air, the agony too much for him to breathe deeply.
How long he lay there he had no idea. All he knew was that the pain slowly, very slowly dwindled.
As he dared open his eyes again, snow fell into them, just to mock him further. He tryingly lifted his arms and though it hurt like hell, he managed to rub the snow out of his eyes. Free of more annoying substances that might try to blind him, he stared up. Great. He had fallen directly down into an ice chasm. Fucking great.
His entire body hurt and his head was spinning when he got up. The bag over his shoulders hadn't cushioned the fall. Idiotic thing.
It was completely dark down here. What a surprise. Prussia fumbled with his bag for a moment before finding the opening. Then he used another good minute to fumble around in it to find the flashlight. When he finally held it in his hands, he closed the bag and swung it over his shoulder again.
He turned the flashlight on and was momentarily blinded by the sudden and very sharp light. Taking about half a minute to get used to the light, he grabbed his walkie-talkie and talked to it again. Wasn't it stupid, really? If Denmark hadn't answered his former calls, why should this one be different? But he tried, still.
"Matthias, believe it or not, I've just-"
A chatter got him to shut up instantly. And as he did, so did the chatter. He looked around, the flashlight's light falling over nothing but glistening ice and a long, narrow passage.
"Matthias?" The chatter was back but it died out when Prussia's voice did.
He started shivering. While he at one point knew what he could expect now, he wasn't sure if he wanted that.
Prussia talked into the device again and this time began to follow the chattering sound, flashlight held high and ready to swing if it should become necessary.
He followed the passage for a long time where the chattering only got louder and clearer. His steps were taken faster and his breathing quickened, his heart pulsating harder as snow and ice creaked under him.
Finally, he reached a giant cave by the end of the passage. He could only see ice wherever the light fell but his eyes quickly landed on another dim light not too far from him. He had been talking into the walkie-talkie the entire time and could now hear his own words be flung back at him, the echo so clear in here.
And he saw a shadow move by the light and let his own flashlight point at it, fearing the worst but seeing the... well, something also pretty bad but still better than a hungry Yeti.
Denmark was leaning against the wall and even with the distance and darkness between them, Prussia could see the relief that washed over his face by seeing a familiar person.
"Took you long enough," the Dane shouted but his voice was weak and shaking. Prussia ran over to him, uncaring about possible dangers in form of slippery or thin ice that could tackle him at any given moment.
"Maybe if you would use your fucking walkie-talkie we would have found you sooner," the Prussian grumbled when he was close enough to touch his friend. He grabbed the thick coat and put the flashlight down before embracing him tightly. Denmark whined loudly, an ear-piercing sound Prussia had never heard from him before.
He didn't need to ask what the reason was, though. Already now, when he was still holding the man, he could feel bones poke against his fingers where they shouldn't.
Prussia looked around, using the Dane's flashlight to find the bag. It was about two metres away from them.
"Scheiße," he cursed and went to get it before crawling back to Denmark. He could only see little in the dim light but it couldn't be clearer that Denmark was in some serious pain. His face was contorted but he tried to hide it, tried to call back the usual grin, though only with little success.
"I had just found a comfortable position," the Dane complained, pain lining every single feature in his face when he tried to find it again.
Translations:
Ei = No (Finnish)
Nein = No (German)
Scheiße = Shit (German)
Green track is for kids and people who barely knows the different ends of ski. Here you learn to at least stand straight on your skis.