Waltesing Wolf, a hetalia - axis powers fanfic

(Axis Powers Hetalia is still not mine, nor are any of the games described, though I did edit the last game slightly from how I was told it was played)

It was a bright, warm spring day, one of the first of the season. Canada and America were bored out of their minds, wanting nothing more than to go outside, but England, fearing the 'perverted French menace' who was on the loose, refused to let them out by themselves, but claimed to have too much work to do inside. Dismayed, Canada and America decided to search through the house, meaning America decided to snoop in Canada's room.

"America, what are you looking for?" Canada asked warily, watching as his brother disappeared into his closet.

"I don't know. Something. Don't you have anything interesting hidden in here?" A muffled voice came back, followed by a yelp as something landed on his head. "Ow. What was-Hey! Canada! Why didn't you tell me you had a Waltes bowl? And look! Here are the sticks!" America came out of the closet, feeling strangely triumphant as he held the materials in his hands.

Canada wasn't sure what surprised him more; The fact that he had kept the Waltes materials despite being unable to play the game by himself, or the fact that America knew what it was. "How did you know what that was? The Mi'kmaq gave it to me some time ago. They're my people?"

America laughed as he waved Canada over to the spot on the floor where he had set the game up. "I guess the Mi'kmaq stretch into my area, too. They gave me a set ages ago, but I have no idea where it is, though, knowing how England keeps cleaning my room since it's 'Not organized,'" Canada laughed at America's imitation of their brother's accent, "He probably threw it out. No matter. You remember how to play, right?"

Canada nodded as he grabbed the bowl, double checking that all of the dice had the plain side facing up. Carefully, he brought the bowl up about an inch before bringing it down to the floor, being mindful of his strength. All but one of the dice flipped over and he smiled. "Ne'wt," one. He kept going, but finally at "Si'st," three, half of the stones were left unturned, and his turn was over. Carefully taking three sticks, he gestured for America to take his turn.

England sighed and pushed himself away from the table as he heard yet another thump. "What in the world are those kids up to?" He grumbled, standing and stretching before making his way towards Canada's room. He stood outside the door, listening for a moment to the two inside. It was odd how quiet they were. Yes, there was that thumping that had originally pulled him away from his work, but there was no laughing, no endless chatter. Just a thump and then a word or two in a language England didn't understand. Furrowing his prominent brows, England opened the door, carefully taking in the sight of America and Canada sitting cross-legged on the floor. There was a bowl with flat dice in between them, each of the boys had a small pile of sticks, and there was a rather large pile of sticks off to the side, a few looking different from the others. The two boys kept playing, not noticing the intruder, and England watched as America carefully raised the bowl and brought it down on the floor, causing the thump that England had been hearing. The dice in the bowl all had a marked face showing up and America let out a yell of triumph. "Asukom!"

England watched with a growing feeling of dread in his stomach as Canada frowned and told his brother, "Asukom means six. You got five points. That's Na'n." They were playing a Native game and speaking a Native language, and not just any game…they were gambling!

Taking in a deep breath, England leaned against the doorway, arms crossed as he finally made his presence known. "What are you doing?" He asked coldly, holding back a smirk as he saw the timid Canada tense up.

"We were just playing a game, England," America said brightly, oblivious to the brewing anger of his older brother. "It turns out that Canada and I have some of the same people and we both knew this game! It's kind of boring, but it beats sitting around doing nothing! Do you want to play?"

The cheerful obliviousness of the American caused England to relax slightly. They didn't know that what they were doing was wrong, after all, though they should have at least realized that they should have been speaking English. "No," He said finally, striding into the room and picking up the materials quickly, ignoring the sounds of protest from the two boys. "You two should know that gambling is wrong. Don't ever let me catch you two gambling again." Canada was nodding, and though America had started fuming, he finally gave a reluctant nod.

"England, since you took our game, can we please please please go outside?" America whined, nudging Canada who seemed to get an unspoken hint and joined America in giving England puppy dog eyes.

England thought seriously about it for a moment. On one hand, if he said no, that would leave America and Canada free to roam the house, and who knew how long it would be before they decided that his study would be a fun place to play? On the other hand, France was on the loose still. However, surely if that wino had been in the area, he'd have already popped in by now, right? And if he told America and Canada to stay in the yard, he would be able to see them through the window of his study. Distracting, yes, but it could save his sanity. "Fine," He grumbled as he turned towards the door. "Just stay in the yard where I can see you by the window. There are perverts out there." He left the room, letting himself smile at the shouts of joy he heard behind him. The smile left quickly, though, when he felt America tackle him in his rush to get outside, poor Canada being dragged along behind him. England watched the two blonds make their way down the hall and out of the house before sighing and returning to his study.

He entered his study, giving his desk a glare as if it was its fault that he was stuck inside on a beautiful spring day. "Bloody government members giving me this much work. Don't they know how rare it is for it to be so nice so early in New England?" He grumbled, glancing out the window where he saw one blond head. One? Quickly striding over to the window, England made eye contact with America-no, wait, there was a curl coming out of the blond's head, not sticking straight up-England made eye contact with Canada, one eyebrow raised, silently asking where the other boy was. Canada gave a timid smile and gestured towards the side of the house just as America came into view, a bunch of toys in his hand. "That's right. He hid his toys during the cleaning last fall because 'They were too awesome' for me to touch," He said with a sigh, giving the boys a small wave before returning to his work.

When England looked outside a few minutes later, he saw that the boys seemed to be arguing together, presumably about what to play next. He watched as Canada finally seemed to stand up for himself if the boy's hand movements were anything to go by, and say something definitively, only to have America stare at him in confusion. England watched in slight amusement as Canada repeated whatever it was he had said, causing America to look even more confused. When Canada opened his mouth again, the look of comprehension on America's face seemed to confirm to England that Canada had been speaking in that pervert's language. "Not again," England muttered, making a mental note to remind the boys that as English colonies, they should be speaking English, but that was a battle for another day.

Meanwhile, outside, the boys had been trying to decide what to play when America suddenly remembered where he had hidden his toys, pushed Canada in front of the window and said "Pretend I'm here for a minute," and ran off. Canada huffed and turned towards the window to see if England had come back to the study and sure enough, their brother was standing in the window, silently asking where the other one was. Canada gave him a smile, fervently hoping that the older Nation wouldn't get upset, and gestured towards the side of the house where America was just coming back into view, a whole bundle of toys in his arms.

"Where did you get those?" Canada asked as he turned away from the window, nearly tripping over Kumajirou who had chosen that moment to join the boys outside. He gave the polar bear an absent-minded pat on the head, ignoring him as he asked who the boy was.

"I hid them from England when he decided to clean in the fall, remember? He seemed to determine to get rid of any toys that he didn't give me personally so I took the liberty of hiding some of the more awesome toys so he couldn't get them," America said, grinning brightly as he dumped his 'awesome' toys on the ground.

"Oh, well, that's great, but I was kind of hoping we could play saute-mouton?" Canada muttered, feeling guilty for asking.

America had been rambling about what games they could play, and Canada's request only made it through to his mind because there was a word in there that he didn't understand. "Eh? But I have a jumping rope, hoops, a ball, and I don't even know what else." America was bewildered. He had all of these awesome toys and Canada wanted to do, well, America wasn't sure what it was he had said, but he had the feeling it didn't have anything to do with any of his toys.

"We can play with those, too, but I was really hoping we could play saute-mouton first. Kuma and I used to play it all the time when it was just the two of us and it's one of my favorites." America's blank look honestly confused Canada for a moment. "Saute-mouton?" No recognition. That's right. France named it saute-mouton, if America knew the game at all, it would be its English name. What was that again? Oh yes. "Leapfrog."

America laughed, moving to clap Canada on his back. "Leapfrog? Why didn't you just say so? You, me…and that bear? He can play leapfrog?" At Canada's nod, America's grin grew even wider. "Great! The more the merrier!"

When England looked out the window again, he saw Canada and America on their hands and knees, with that polar bear leisurely clambering over them. After the polar bear got over America, it sat in front of the boy a decent distance away, and Canada stood. He took a running start, jumped just before he reached America, moved his hands to push himself off America's shoulders, and landed on the ground in front of his brother. He looked at the polar bear—what was its name? Kuma-something?—before placing his hands on the bear's shoulders and jumping over with less finesse than he had used when jumping over his brother. Canada looked back at America for a moment, and in that brief instant, England saw a smile on the boy's face that he couldn't remember having ever seen before. The Canadian looked truly happy, and America, from the looks of it was having just as good of a time, laughing right along with his brother. England turned away from the window, giving the papers a withering glare. "Just a little while longer and then I can go out and join the boys," He told himself, nodding in agreement with himself.

America and Canada had quickly grown tired of leapfrog, and when England finally joined them outside later, he found that they were running around the yard. He watched as Canada ran after America, but instead of gaining ground on his brother, he kept falling further and further behind. America turned around to laugh at his brother, exclaiming "You'll never catch me, wolf!", all the while still running and not paying attention to where he was going. England saw that the boy's path was leading towards a direct collision and tried to move out of the way, but he was too slow and the boy plowed into him.

Canada watched as America ran smack into England and quickly realized that he, too, was about to run into his brothers and tried to alter his path. Unfortunately, England's leg kicked out at just the wrong moment, causing Canada to trip and land on his brothers. "Sorry," He said quickly, wincing when America elbowed him in the ribs.

England extricated himself from the pile of limbs, standing up with a bemused smile as he helped the boys to their feet. "What in the world are you two playing?"

"Wolf," America told him, flashing one of his bright smiles. "One person is chosen as the wolf and he has to catch his prey. When the wolf catches his prey, the prey becomes the wolf and the wolf becomes the prey. It's a lot of fun. Canada is a really bad wolf!"

England listened to the explanation of the game, nodding in understanding after he listened to the explanation. "Oh, so you guys are playing tag?"

America pulled away from his older brother in annoyance, yanking Canada along with him. "England! Weren't you listening? I said we were playing wolf!"

The Nation raised an eyebrow, as he calmly told the boys, "But, the point of the game is to tag the other person, is it not? Therefore, you are playing tag."

America looked ready to say something else, but all the came out was a small squeak as Canada elbowed him. "You're right, England. I guess it is tag, isn't it? Do you want to play?" The quieter brother gave England a tentative smile, ignoring America's whispered tirade about being a traitor.

After thinking it over for a moment, England nodded before giving Canada a small wink and saying "Not it!"

Laughing, Canada quickly ran from America, also shouting "Not it," leaving the other boy staring at his two brothers in shock.

"Not fair!" America called as his two brothers ran away before giving chase.

The pair of eyes watching from a nearby bush went unnoticed by the laughing trio.

"Tag!" England shouted an hour later, tagging both Canada and America at the same time. Laughing, the younger brothers stopped running, America placing his hand on his hips.

"You can't tag us at the same time! How do we know who's it then?" He asked, laughing breathlessly.

England smiled and shrugged, placing his hands on his knees while he tried to catch his breath. "That's between you and Canada to decide. I think I have had enough of tag," He told them, straightening up after a minute.

"Oh." That one little word expressed more disappointment than England thought could be placed in one syllable. Thinking fast, he offered up a solution. "What about hide and seek?"

Canada and America looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them before they nodded in unison and ran off screaming "Not it!"

"Fine!" England shouted after them, trying and failing to sound angry. "One!" Pause. "Two!" He counted to ten, opened his eyes, and turned around. Almost immediately he saw America who had chosen to hide behind a tree that was skinnier than he was. "Hm…" He said loudly. "I wonder where you could have hidden?" He asked aloud, moving towards the tree. America seemed to want to laugh, obviously thinking that his hiding spot was more creative than it really was. Quietly, England moved so that he was heading towards the tree on America's right, smiling to himself when he saw the boy peek out, but quickly tried to pretend that he hadn't seen the look. He reached the tree on the right and looked behind it, not expecting to find Canada huddled at the base. "Oh," He said in surprise before touching the boy on the shoulder. "Found you." Quickly, before the other boy could run off, England spun around and touched America's shoulder. "Found you, too," He told him, laughing when the boy looked confused. "Canada's turn to seek."

Canada frowned but moved away from the tree, going back to the front of the house to count. "Un!" "Deux!" He heard a faint "In English!" and, smiling, continued. "Three!" Finally, he reached ten and turned around, not seeing any sign of his brothers at first. As quietly as he could so as to not alert England and America should they be around, Canada started off towards the edge of the woods. His head tilted slightly as he noticed a bush moving. Upon reaching the bush, he found a blond looking back at him, but not the blond he expected. "France? What are you doing here?"

"France! That bastard! What does he want?" England shouted, jumping out from behind a bush a few feet away and running to where he saw a confused Canada looking at a suddenly-materialized France.

Canada looked up at the angry Englishman behind him, giving a shrug. "Je ne—er, I don't know. I was looking for you and America and he was just the—ACK." The boy was cut off when England pushed him behind his back, causing him to nearly collide with the no-longer-hiding America. The colonies gave each other a bewildered look before deciding to watch England and France, something which was always amusing.

"What are you doing here you wine bastard pervert?" England yelled at France who just smiled.

"Ah, c'est simple. Je me sentir — "

"In English, bastard!"

"Fine, mon petit chou," The sound of the slap wiping France's smirk off his face echoed throughout the area. "Touchy, touchy," He muttered, rubbing his sore cheek. "Calm down, would you? What would poor America and Canada do if you just collapsed from your stress levels? They would be completely in my care then, non?"

England's face was growing redder by the minute, fueling France's grin. "Why. Are. You. Here?" He growled out before shaking his head and saying, "No. I don't care why you're here. I just want you to not be here. Go away, France." His point was emphasized by a push, causing France to laugh before switching to his 'I'm just an innocent victim' face.

"Mais, England, I was lonely~" He whined. "And the day! She was so beautiful, I thought I'd come visit our favorite colonies and play some fun outdoor games with them."

Arthur's glare intensified. "First, they're mine, not ours," He ignored the 'humph'-ing from France—and did Canada give a 'humph,' too?—"Second, you perv, what made you think I'd let them play with you?"

"Well, angleterre, I was no expecting to find you here, though that was a pleasant surprise. And besides, if you're only objection is that I'm a 'perverted wine bastard,' I'll have you know that Spain is the pedo, pas moi. Kids are safe with big brother France."

"And yet, you make that sound just as dirty," England grumbled, still glowering at France. "Now, leave."

Suddenly, England knew just where the boys had learned their puppy dog eyes from, as he was looking at a slightly-less-effective-due-to-the-facial-hair version on France. "England~, please don't make me go. Just ask les enfants. I'm sure they wouldn't mind us all playing together."

"No! No way! No way in he—" He was cut off when he felt twin pulls on his sleeve. Looking down, he saw America and Canada giving him matching puppy dog eyes.

"Please don't make him leave. It's always a lot of fun," England swore their unison was broken for a second as someone (probably Canada) muttered 'and loud' "when we're all around. And if you stay with us, he can't do anything since you'll be watching."

They were using that tone again. That tone that England was finding hard to say no to. Closing his eyes, he counted to ten before saying in a resigned voice "Fine." Ignoring the cheers, he leaned down so only America and Canada could hear him. "But no games like leapfrog. Pick a game with very little physical contact." The boys nodded before America grabbed England's hand and Canada grabbed France's, dragging their older brothers to the forgotten pile of toys, chattering with each other about what to play next.

"Hoops!" America exclaimed, holding up two hoops. "Let's have a race! Me and England verse Canada and France!"

The older Nations looked at each other and then down at America and Canada. "How do you propose we do that?" France asked, flashing a smile that made England scowl.

"That's easy! Canada and I will start here," America pointed to where he and his brother were standing in front of the house, "And you and England will stand there." He pointed vaguely towards a spot halfway between the house and the line of woods. "We'll run the hoops to you guys, and you guys will run the hoops to the tree. The first one there wins." He smiled at the older Nations who were now glaring openly, challenging each other. America and Canada saw this and gave a small laugh before giving their older brothers a gentle push. Their glares faltered, and they got the hint that they should move to the right spot.

Canada and America stood side by side, a hoop resting under their right hands. "Are you ready?" They call to England and France who nod, ready. The younger Nations took off in a run, rolling the hoops along with them. Canada fell behind for a brief moment, but a brief surge of speed allows him to reach France at the same time America reached England. The older Nations took the hoops from their younger siblings and also start running, yelling names at each other all the while. Suddenly, England accidentally-on-purpose went off track, bumping into France, causing the French Nation to lose his grip on the hoop. Laughing at his assured victory, England didn't notice when France picked up his hoop and threw it at him, missing the Nation, but hitting the other's hoop and causing it to fall in front of England, tripping him. France gave a laugh, quickly retrieving his hoop and attempting to take off at a run, but England grabbed his ankle, causing him to fall. The two Nations keep attempting to stand, only to be pulled back down to the ground each time, until finally America and Canada come over and take the hoops from their brothers before they were used as weapons again.

"England, I thought you said no physical games? Why are you and France trying to kill each other?" America asked, genuinely confused.

America's question brought England and France back to their senses and they quickly stood up and brushed themselves off, trying to pretend as if they hadn't just spent the last few minutes in the dirt. "We weren't trying to kill each other (this time), just, uh, we were just trying to win," England told America, cringing at the bad example he knew they had just set. "And we were trying to show you what not to do. Don't cheat, you'll never win that way." France gave a small 'humph' but thankfully stayed quiet. "Anyway, that's enough for now. It's time for dinner, let's go inside."

America, Canada, and France gave each other a look behind England's back. "Are-are you cooking, England?" Canada asked quietly, silently praying that he said no, it would be France. But England only laughed as the group entered the house, three of them with a feeling of dread in the pit of their stomachs. To the dismay of the colonies, a fun day was destined to end in stomachaches…again. At least this time they had a small hope of France interfering enough in the kitchen that something somewhat edible came out. And, if not, there was the promise that the whole 'family' would be together for the night, and, perhaps, they could squeeze another game or two in before bedtime.

Notes and links to websites with information about various Native American tribes and the games played in this fic can be found at the Livejournal version.

Translations:

"Je ne-" - Canada was going to say "Je ne sais pas" or "I don't know."
"C'est simple. Je me sentir --" - "That's simple. I was feeling—"
"Mon petit chou" - Literally "My little cabbage." It's just a term of endearment (usually among couples and close family members if I recall correctly).

"Mais" - But
"angleterre" - England.
"Pas moi" - Not me

"Les enfants" – The kids