Yes! I'm uploading something again 8D And I can assure you, this WILL be finished =w=
Anyway, this story is based off the cartoon movie called Swan Lake from 1981. (http:()/www(.)youtube(.)com/watch?v=()8XOqC9KZnz8 Copy-paste the link and remove bracket-thingies to watch it in English. I will however base mine on the Swedish dub I have at home.)
Pairings will be ThaixViet, HongxTaiwan, one-sided ChuxViet, one-sided JapxThai, etc. You will notice them all.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own the concept or story to the Swan Lake. I do not own Tchaikovsky's beautiful music 3 (Which I listened to while writing this.) Nor do I own Hetalia or any of the countries (except for maybe the concept of Laos.) Himaruya owns them. I did come up with some of the names, but not entirely by myself.
Now, without further ado, enjoy the chapter!~
Swan Lake
Chapter 1: The Swan.
Once upon a time there was a rich kingdom called Thailand. It wasn't very different from other kingdoms or neighboring countries. Although of course it did have its beauties and charms.
One of them was a lake, a pretty and special lake by nature. You could say it had its own story to tell.
The lake shimmered softly, reflecting and blending the forest and the sky together. The riverbank was chirping with the life of small ducklings and other animals. The forest behind and around the lake was green, rich and very much full of life and energy. The trees stood tall with their green crowns of leaves and flowers, the bushes frothy with berries and the flowers growing larger and more beautiful each day.
In the midst of the lake, swam a group of white swans. They were in a perfect line and held their feathery heads straight, their beaks pointing a bit down however. They swam until they reached a spot where they stopped. Instead they now formed a half circle. They seemed to be looking in the direction of a misty and kind of dark lake way, leading to and from the lake.
Waiting for someone perhaps?
It appeared as if they did, because a moment later, another swan swam out from the misty pathway. Though this one was different from the others. This one had a golden crown perched on its small head. It's a wonder it didn't fall off..
The peculiar swan joined the others and they closed around her slowly. This made a big circle whereas the special one was in the middle of them all.
The lake was indeed very special, but there were other special places as well.
Further away from the lake, in a great castle of stone and wealth, lived the energetic prince of Thailand. He was the heir to the throne, his mother Elizaveta the queen was currently ruling. His father, Roderich had died when he was very young and so he had grown up with much love and support from his mother.
The prince's name was Jutharad (1). He was petting his white very tame stallion while waiting for his two companions; Kapono (2) and Temudjin (3). They were going on a hunting trip to the forest. It was one of his favorite hobbies after all.
"There there~" He softly cooed and stroke the mule of his horse. Gaining a nibble in the process, but he knew it was from the fondness the horse felt for him.
"Now we can get some real grub!" A dark brown haired man spoke cheerfully as he and another one ran out from the castle and towards their own black and brown horses. His long hair was braided together and it swung in the cool breeze, nothing more was known about his hair since he wore a peculiar hat over his head.
"Oh please Temudjin, we always get nice food." The other male scoffed. He had a tad bit lighter tone of brown in his hair, short and kind of chopped though. His eyes were tender however.
"Yeah, just saying." The one named Temudjin replied and playfully nudged the other boy.
Jutharad himself was quite a handsome young man. He had dark Asian eyes, glasses and brown hair. Darker than Kapono, but lighter than Temudjin. The style was very spiky and ruffled however (People told him, he had gotten it from his father.) Though the ladies loved it apparently, or so he said himself. He was a cheerful person and always looked on things with a smile.
"Come on you two, I'm getting restless here, ana." He commented and laughed to himself before mounting his horse swiftly. He was wearing his tight hunting outfit.
The other two mounted their horses as well and urged them to start moving. The three boys galloped in the general direction of the forest by the lake. Hoping that their hunting trip would turn out in their favor.
"Hong! What are you doing?" A high pitched squeaky voice called out. It belonged to a softly brown squirrel-female, wearing a pink small flower by her ear. Her eyes looked out towards the other squirrel, a darker brown one, collecting nuts by a tree-trunk.
Hong, the darker animal of the two, turned around and met the gaze of his partner. "I'm collecting nuts Meimei. We'll need it for the winter you know." He spoke, in a rather monotone manner.
"Oh.. Of course I knew that." Meimei replied in a huffed way and her furry cheeks heated up. She crossed her arms and looked to the side, towards her lake. Her large brown and somehow slanted eyes picked up the sight of the swans as she squealed loudly. "Oh look Hong! It's the swan with the crown on her head!" She extended her paw out towards the lake.
The male squirrel dropped the nuts by the trunk of the tree, to go and see what Meimei was gushing about. He inwardly sighed, oh the swan again.. "Yes, she's beautiful I suppose." He nodded and turned to walk back to his nuts, but then he got a wonderful idea!
"Wait here Meimei, I'll be right back." He smiled and raced off into the forest.
The female blinked and tilted her head with a confused expression. "All right.."
Hong stopped by a mushroom field and picked out a yellow one in a small size, he took a gulp and chewed a small hole through it. "I think this will do." He commented and made a small smile as he ran back towards the bank of the lake.
"Hong, what's with this secretive aura?" Meimei asked and looked at her partner.
"Close your eyes and you'll see."
"Okay." The small squirrel closed her eyes.
Hong moved closer and took out the mushroom from behind his back. He slowly and carefully placed it on her head, noticing that it was slightly bigger than he had planned. He muttered and admired it for a second. Well, it didn't fall off her head or something.. "You can open your eyes now."
Meimei opened them and instantly felt at her head, and the mushroom crown. She giggled softly and took it off, looking at it fully before placing it back on her head. "Thank you Hong~ It is a bit big, but the thought is so lovely." She beamed and hugged Hong tightly. Making the other squirrel blush heavily. He returned the embrace though.
But their cute little scene was interrupted when a loud neighing was heard.
Meimei's eyes flew up and she dragged Hong to the trunk of the tree. "Someone's coming.." She murmured and then her eyes sparkled. "What if it's prince Jutharad? Let's have a look!" She squealed and climbed up the tree, not waiting for Hong or the nuts.
Hong glared at the road. That stupid prince.. He gathered the nuts and moved them into a hole in the trunk, hiding them, before running up the tree. Just in time for the prince and his companions to arrive.
"He's so handsome!" Meimei gushed and looked down on the human. "Not in the same way as Hong, but still very handsome."
"Don't compare me to a human." Hong commented and moved closer to his partner. "By the way, when are we supposed to get married?" He then asked and tilted his brown head.
"M-Married?" She flushed greatly and bit her lower lip. "Well.. Maybe we sho-" Meimei was so occupied thinking and letting her emotions get the best of her, that she almost slipped on the edge of the branch. "AAH!" She flailed with her arms to regain her balance.
Fortunately Hong caught her in his arms before she could fall off the tree. He placed a small kiss to her cheek. "You have to be more careful."
Meimei blushed furiously and nodded softly. "I'll try.. Thank you." She nuzzled into his embrace and ignored the horses running under them.
Hong smiled and burrowed his face in her fur. "No problem. Now, should we perhaps finish collecting the nuts?"
Jutharad twinkled his eyes at his companions in the background, as he dismounted his horse. "You guys are too slow. Just wait until our annual water festival; you'll be blasted to the end of our borders, ana. (4)" He snickered and patted his horse as it drank from the refreshing lake.
The Thai prince gazed out over the lake and walked towards a small clearing where he could see the beauty of the lake in all its glory. He sat down on a dry large log and admired the water and its inhabitants.
But wait.. Something was sparkling out there!
Jutharad squinted his eyes to see what it was. When he finally saw it, his eyes widened. He even took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes gingerly to make sure he hadn't just seen a hallucination. But no, he had not!
The prince was mesmerized. It was a white beautiful swan with a golden crown on its head. A golden crown!
Kapono must have seen his focused but dawdled expression, because he placed his hand on the Prince's shoulder. "Hey.. Jutharad, are you okay?"
Jutharad snapped out of his trance and looked at his companion. He pointed out towards the group of swans. "Look out there. It's a.." He couldn't find his word. How could he ever express how beautiful the animal was?
The Laotian man did as he was told and his jaws dropped. "It's a.. Swan with a crown on its head! What the in the name of khao niao (5) is that?"
Temudjin had caught up with the two and also gave the bird a look-over. "What a weird bird! It must have found that crown somewhere.."
"Or it might be a sorceress.." Kapono piped in and gulped.
Jutharad sighed and looked back at the bird. His eyes softened when he saw it swim around with its companions. But his dark eyes widened once again when it actually turned its white fluffy head and looked right back at him. The other swans followed her example, and so the Thai prince felt all of their eyes upon him. It made him shuffle and look away.
And what luck that must have been! His eyes widened for the third time when he saw Temudjin pulling out his bow and arrows, pointing the weapon at the pretty creatures.
"Wha- What are you doing!"
Temudjin smirked. "I'm going to get ya that bird with the crown, by using only one shot!"
Kapono gulped again and grasped his friends arm. "Don't! If it's a sorceress, she won't be happy!" He argued.
But as Jutharad's companions argued, himself he felt a sudden change wash through the lake. It noticeably became darker and somehow misty. He shuddered at the cold that it brought. The Thai prince was adapted to warm climate, not cold, and his eyes stung slightly when they traveled over the lake again. The winds had picked up.
The group of swans moved around as if scared and in panic. Everyone but the one with the crown fled to the other side of the lake. Crying their distressed calls. The one remaining swam around and flailed with its wings though.
"They're all scared of something, ana.." Jutharad mouthed and looked around the forest. It was then he noticed the dark brown owl. It was perched on top of a cliff not far away. But its golden demonic eyes were fastened on Temudjin and his bow. It showed off its great wings and gave off a sinister cry as it suddenly took flight and aimed its course towards his arguing friends..
The Thai prince gasped and pulled away the Laotian man from Temudjin who still held his bow aimed at the lake. "Look out Temudjin!" He cried and the owl passed the Mongolian man and flew off with a shriek.
It was then he started to glow, shine a reddish light so bright that Jutharad and Kapono had to shield their dark eyes to not go blind from it.
"NOO! TEMUDJIN!"
Jutharad opened his eyes and looked up, to see Kapono standing by Temudjin. But the Mongolian was not all right. He had been petrified! His expression was one of fury and fright placed together, and he had lowered his bow somewhat while turning his head. It was almost as if he'd seen something or someone who scared him. And it was not often Temudjin was scared by something!
Kapono kept on wailing about their best friend and felt at the totally solid stone-figure that their companion had become. Wishing he would just start moving again.
The Thai prince sighed and bit his lower lip, turning around to try and collect his raging thoughts. Well.. He didn't want to leave his friend out here, even if he was turned to stone.. But they could never bring a stone-statue home.. Maybe he should talk with the council. Yes he supposed that would work out the best.
His saddened gaze once again traveled over the lake. Well.. The swan with the crown was utterly gone. That was strange. Even though the air was warmer and the darkness had fled the area and given way for the sun once again.
He was interrupted by a slightly sniffling Kapono. "We.. We have to get out of here. It's dangerous to stay!" He murmured and walked back to the horses by the bank.
Jutharad nodded with a sigh and mouthed to Temudjin before he passed him, that he would find a way to get him back to normal. And with that said, he returned to his beautiful stallion.
Myes, that's the first chapter for ya! Poor Temudjin!.. Wonder what happened to him?
Well you'll have to wait and see ;D And please do review if you enjoyed this!~ Reviews make me happifaced 3
Glossary:
(1) Jutharad = The name I chose for Thailand.
(2) Kapono = The name I chose for Laos.
(3) Temudjin = The name I chose for Mongolia.
(4) Water festival = Of course I am talking about Songkran. The Thai's New Year festival.
(5) Khao niao = Sticky rice or glutinous rice in Laotian.