Here comes another one-shot, this time a more dramatic story. It also includes some slight cursing, but not much~ I suppose genres could be friendship and drama or adventure, but you'll just have to read and see for yourself. Hope you'll like it ^^
Oh, btw. In this story, you'll also see little Iceland, whom I chose to call Henrik ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia – Axis Powers or any of its characters.
oOo
The sound of cheerful giggles was carried with the wind, along with the scarce white flakes that was making their way from the sky. Just during the last few days, a rather thick layer of snow had collected on the ground, to the children's great joy. Arthur glanced at the children laughing and throwing snow balls, barely able to contain his excitement. Dressed in thick winter clothes that were a bit too big – he'd inherited them from his older brother – and with a scarf tucked safely around his neck and the lower part of his face, he felt ready to explore the white wonderland.
It seemed to take ages before he finally reached the small house where his friend lived. He could hardly wait to go ask Johannes if he wanted to come out and play. The house was at the further north side of the small town, where the road travelled out among large fields surrounded by forests, lakes, and scattered farms. It was a beautiful place, and made for a really cool playing field for the two children, unlike the streets and playgrounds further into town where Arthur lived.
He'd come here quite often lately, as it wasn't all that far to walk on his own – although, admittedly, his mother had accompanied him the first few times.
Practically skipping up the small pathway through the garden and up to the porch, he had troubles hiding his smile as he knocked eagerly. At first there wasn't any answer, and he started worrying that they might not be home, but then he heard some shuffling and eventually the door opened slowly.
In the door way stood Johannes' four year old brother, blinking with those big eyes of his as he shuffled shyly. Arthur smiled at him, always finding little Henrik to be very cute, and thinking he wanted a little brother of his own. All he had was some very annoying and mean older brothers...
"Is Johannes home?" he asked eagerly, shifting his weight from one leg to the other impatiently. Henrik didn't answer, but looked behind him, shifting away from the door as Johannes came to sight and opened the door a little more.
Arthur's smile changed into a slight frown as he looked at his friend. He looked... sick. His skin was pale, and he looked tired, although his eyes brightened when he saw Arthur.
"Hei," he said, in Norwegian. Arthur had long since learnt the basic Norwegian greetings, such as hello and goodbye - as well as a few bad words he knew neither of their parents would approve of. He still found some pleasure in recalling the time he had called his older brother an "jævla drittsekk", to which his brother had been really confused – blissfully unaware of the fact that he'd called him a "fucking bag of dirt".
"Are... are you sick?" he asked, just as Johannes turned away and coughed into his hand.
"Just a little cold," his friend replied, before letting his blue eyes drift over Arthur. "I'll just ask-"
"Johannes, what are you doing by the door in those clothes, you'll get worse!" His mother appeared behind him, and her concerned frown turned to a smile as she saw Arthur. "Oh, hello Arthur, please come in for a little while?" She ushered him inside and shut the door behind him, while Johannes looked a little exasperated.
"Mamma, can I..."
"I know you want to go outside and play, darling, but... You have a fever, and I don't want you getting any sicker than you already are," she said. Johannes visibly deflated, eyes downcast. His mother sighed softly, glancing out the window, and then at Arthur, who looked just as disappointed as her son.
"Oh, all right... But not for long, you hear me? And I won't have any of you taking of your scarf while you are out! And if you could take Henrik with you, just for a while, that would be great!"
At this, both Arthur and Johannes lit up, smiling at each other, while Henrik giggled with delight, understanding the bit about him getting to join them in their fun.
Merely fifteen minutes later, Johannes was dressed in several layers of clothing, satisfying his mother, and holding Henrik's hand as they headed outside to play in the nearby field. It had stopped snowing now, but the sky promised more before long.
The three headed across the white lands towards the forest edge nearby, where Johannes' father had put up a pair of swings. It seemed time passed far too quickly, and it was getting a little late, when Arthur suddenly noticed something, halting his current mission of building a big snow unicorn. Johannes was looking around anxiously, biting his lower lip.
"Johannes, what's wr-"
"H-Henrik's gone!" Johannes cut him off, his voice a bit more high-pitched than usual as he looked towards the forest. His little brother had just been playing over there, making small snow angels... Arthur suddenly felt very cold and a bit scared as he too looked around, seeing no sign of the little boy.
"Henrik?" Johannes walked a bit further towards the forest, gasping as he noticed the tiny tracks leading in between the trees. "Oh no... Oh, I promised mamma to look after him...!" he cried, and Arthur ran over to him, peering into the forest before swallowing heavily and forcing a smile onto his lips.
"Let's go look for him, if we follow his tracks, we'll find him, you'll see! He can't have gotten that far, right?"
Johannes nodded hesitantly. Henrik was pretty small, and could impossibly have gone far. Still, they both pictures the little boy getting lost and crying out for them in fear. With a final glance at each other, the boys headed into the forest, which their parents had told them quite strictly to stay out of.
It was exciting in a way to do things they knew they weren't allowed to, and in any other situation, both boys would be thrilled. As it was, Arthur could see Johannes struggling, being tired and cold, and also coughing a lot more than he was when they went outside. His cheeks were red, either from the cold or the fever, or possibly a combination of both. Still, his eyes were determined and he kept calling for his brother, despite the fact that his voice was hoarse and weak.
"Henrik! Where are you?" Arthur called too, over and over, as they stumbled after the foot tracks in the snow, which seemed almost grey and threatening as they got further into the forest, where the sun hardly reached down through the trees.
Suddenly, they came to a steep slope and stopped, staring at the markings in the snow – Henrik had fallen down there, no doubt... Swallowing heavily, the two boys sat down and slid down the slope as well, standing and listening as they heard quiet sniffles.
"Henrik!" Johannes called, running forward, while Arthur followed. They got through the tree line and into a small clearing. There, under a fairly big tree, Henrik sat curled up and sobbing into his knees. Johannes was at his brother's side in a matter of seconds, pulling him into a tight embrace, which Henrik responded to by wrapping his little arms around his waist, sobbing into his chest.
"It's okay, we're here now," Johannes murmured softly, thumbs gently wiping away the tears on Henrik's chubby, red cheeks. "You can't just run off like that, I was really scared!" Henrik looked guilty, but also a little curious.
"Butterfly!" he chirped, pointing a bit to the side. Then his face fell into sad lines. "I think it's cold, it isn't moving..." Arthur blinked. Butterflies in December? That was impossible! He walked over to the spot Henrik pointed to and gasped, staring with sadness at the tiny creatures lying in the snow.
"What is it...?" Johannes asked.
"It's... it's a fairy," Arthur said and tried to keep back his tears when he noticed how pale and cold she was, not glowing at all anymore. He crouched down, picking her up as gently as he could. She was very cold, and he realized that she was probably dead... "Poor fairy..." he murmured sadly, as Johannes came over to him, looking just as stricken.
"Is butterfly ok?" Henrik asked, standing next to his brother and holding his hand tightly.
"Y-yes... butterfly is just sleeping, Henrik," Johannes whispered, trying his best not to cry as they watched the small magical creature disappear, only some of her silver dust remaining. Leah had said something about this before, and they were convinced that the small creature was living happily along with her ancestors now, in the land of the fairies.
The three stood silently for a while, before Johannes coughed violently. Arthur looked at him with worry, noting how tired his friend looked. He looked very sick...
"Are you ok?" he asked anxiously. "Let's head back, they're probably worried about us..." Johannes only nodded, and they headed back. A new problem made itself known, however, as they reached the slope, which seemed to tower over them. It had been no problem getting down, but getting up was a different matter entirely...
"Heh, this is no problem..." Arthurs aid, puffing out his chest and trying his best to seem braver than he felt as he approached the tall wall of snow. He started climbing up, struggling a little as the snow constantly slipped away under his feet. Finally managing to get onto a somewhat safe ledge, he looked down.
"Come on, you can do it! I'll help you!" he said, taking of his scarf and holding it down. Johannes ushered Henrik up first, and the little boy made small sounds of complaint as he struggled up through the snow. His fist grabbed hold of the scarf, and Arthur could feel the fabric complaining, but thankfully it didn't break, and he managed to pull the small child up with him. They were almost half way up, he noticed, and it suddenly seemed very far down.
"Come on, Johannes!" he called, and the other nodded slightly before starting to climb. Arthur almost thought he'd manage to get up, but then he coughed, losing his grip on the scarf and hill side. Arthur felt something twist inside as he watched his friend tumble back down, landing in the snow beneath the slope.
The Norwegian boy slowly managed to get up and started climbing again, this time almost reaching Arthur's out-stretched hand. But suddenly, his eyes seemed to lose focus and then he yet again rolled down, ending up on his side in the snow.
Arthur waited for his friend to get up and try again, but as moments ticked by and his friend didn't move, he suddenly grew very scared.
"Johannes?"
No reply, and no movement from the other boy.
"H-hey, can you try again? We h-have to get back!" Arthur called anxiously, and his heart thumped violently when he realized that something was very wrong. Beside him, Henrik whimpered and promptly began crying again.
"Henrik, wait here, ok?" he said and slipped down, running over to Johannes and turning him around so he could see his face. His hat had fallen of, his hair falling into his face, curling slightly as it had grown damp from the snow. His face startled Arthur, as it was almost as white as the snow surrounding them, his cheeks contrasting greatly with their deep red colour, while his lips looked almost bluish.
"J-Johannes!" he cried fearfully, shaking his friend a little. "Please, you can't sleep here, w-we have to get back!" he forced back the tears when he heard Henrik sobbing more loudly on the small ledge, reacting to the older boy's fear and his brother's unmoving state.
"Mm..." Arthur gasped when he heard the small sound, looking down and meeting Johannes' blue eyes. They were distant and didn't seem to really see him.
"Johannes! Please say s-something!" Arthur whimpered. This wasn't at all as fun as he had imagined when he headed out that morning. Surely, Johannes' parents must be looking for them by now...?
"W-warm..." Johannes murmured hoarsely, reaching up to pull off some of his clothing.
"N-no, your mother said not to take your scarf of, so you can't do it! It's better for you to be warm than cold!" Arthur ordered worriedly, recalling the woman's conditions for letting them out to play. Johannes didn't reply, simply lay there, breathing in shallow, strained gasps. "H-Henrik..." he suddenly murmured, hearing his brother's cries.
"Henrik, can you... can you come down here?" Arthur called up to the little boy, who blinked through his tears, shaking his head. "Please, Johannes wants you here!" Arthur pleaded, and this seemed to get through to the little boy. The next moment, he'd slipped down the snow, stumbling over to them.
Arthur realized that there was no way they were getting up the way they came ... They would just have to find another way, around the slope... Too bad this was a pretty hard task to do; Johannes clearly wasn't in any state to be walking very far. To make matters even worse, the sun was beginning to set, making dark shadows spread across the scenery.
"Johannes, can you get up? I'm going to c-carry you!" he said, shaking his friend slightly. The other blinked, looking at him with surprise and also slight fear, but he somehow managed to get up, standing on unsteady feet. Arthur bent down, and nearly fell under the extra weight as Johannes got up on his back. Finding his balance, Arthur swallowed, looking back at Henrik who eyed them with wonder.
"Let's go, Henrik, we're going home now!" he said, doing his best to sound like a big, brave boy, even if he didn't really feel like a big, brave boy at the moment. The youngest of the three nodded and then they were on their way, walking alongside the slope at a slow pace. Arthur grew frustrated when it felt like they'd been walking for hours, and he could still look back and see the spot they had just been to. No use thinking about it, though, and he soon enough got more preoccupied by listening to Johannes harsh coughs, and his ragged breathing.
"Are you awake?" he asked in a small voice after a while, between his own tired breathing.
"Mhm..." came the small reply. "Sleepy..."
"You shouldn't sleep!" Arthur said. He'd heard about this from his mother last winter, and remembered that sleeping when one was out in the cold was dangerous. "I got it! I'll sing a song!" He halted for a second, trying to think of a song, and then began singing, in an unsteady and wavering tone, humming the tune at the places where he didn't know the words.
Arthur sung every song he could remember, and Henrik joined in on a few of them, even if his humming didn't really match the song at all. At one point, even Johannes hummed quietly to the tune of an old children's song, before coughing so much he had to stop.
Arthur's feet were aching, and Johannes felt heavy on his back, as he stumbled through the forest. At some point, the slope had evened out, but the bushes were so thick that they couldn't get through, and Arthur could hardly see where they were going, as it had grown very dark. Fear seemed to pull at his thoughts, but he forced it back. He couldn't give in to the panic, Henrik would start crying again, and none of them would get home.
That's right, they were getting home! He was going to get them all safely back to Johannes' house! This was just an adventure, and it would have a happy ending! All adventures had happy endings, right...?
A muffled cry from Henrik broke him out of his thoughts and he looked back to see that the little boy had fallen, sitting in the soft snow and whimpering from both fear and exhaustion.
"I want mamma...!" he cried, tears starting to make their way down his face again.
"Please, Henrik, we'll be there soon," Arthur pleaded, but the boy only bawled harder, sniffling and hiccupping. "You have to get up! We can't stay here, don't you understand?"
"Mamma..." Henrik cried, and, as if faith had decided that they wouldn't get any further than this dark clearing, Arthur's legs collapsed under him and he landed in the snow, Johannes on top of him. Somehow, he managed to get into a sitting position, but his body was complaining from exhaustion.
Arthur couldn't hold back the tears anymore. He couldn't move, Johannes seemed to be sleeping, Henrik was bawling, everything was dark around them, and he had a feeling they would never get back.
"Oh, please... somebody... HELP!" he cried out, his voice echoing slightly in the emptiness. His cry only made Henrik cry more loudly, and Johannes still made no sign of waking up. "H-help us! Please, I'm scared..." A heavy sensation of helplessness filled his entire being. Were they all going to die out here...?
"Help!" he sobbed, and Henrik joined in, calling "'elp" in a tiny, trembling voice.
A sudden sound made Arthur gasp, whirling around before his face lit up with utter relief. The unicorn! The beautiful creature stood in the clearing, eying them with concern. Finding new strength, he leapt up and ran forward, hugging the creature's neck as it bent down, its soft muzzle caressing him questioningly and its warm breath tickling his face.
"C-can you help us? P-please, Johannes... he's really sick! We c-can't find the way back..." he cried, and the creature eyed him warmly before walking over to the two other children on the ground. Henrik was wide-eyed, and Arthur supposed that he could only see a very magnificent horse, just like he saw a butterfly where he and Johannes could see a fairy.
He ran over as the unicorn lay down in the snow, giving a soft sound. With strength he didn't even know he had, Arthur managed to get Johannes onto its strong back, with the help of a few fairies that had come to see what was going on. Next to go was Henrik, who squealed with wonder as he sat behind Johannes, who lay forward, arms on each side of the unicorn's strong neck. Arthur climbed up next, a feeling of awe replacing some of the fear as the creature rose to its feet again. The young Englishman held his arms around Henrik, trying his best to be at least of some support to both him and Johannes.
Chilly air rushed against them as the bright creature leapt easily through the snow, it's gallop as soft as if it was merely walking, making it easy to keep their balance, even as it crossed fallen tree trunks and slopes easily.
Arthur allowed himself to enjoy it ever so slightly, even as he constantly worried about Johannes, who wasn't responding to the ride at all. Henrik giggled with joy in front of him, and he couldn't help but feel like some sort of brave knight on a shiny white horse – except for the unicorn's many colours.
Suddenly, they were on a small clearing near the forest edge, one Arthur recognized. He could hear calls of their names somewhere nearby and felt new tears spring to his eyes, this time out of relief. The unicorn bent down, and they got off. Arthur hugged it tightly, and it rubbed its head against him affectionately before standing, breathing warmly on Johannes one last time before running of back in between the trees, disappearing from view, no traces left to show it had ever been there.
"Johannes! Arthur! Henrik!" he heard, and leapt up.
"We're here!" he cried. "Help!"
"'ere, 'ere!" Henrik joined in, where he sat next to Johannes, still staring wonderingly into the forest where the unicorn had disappeared.
They heard rushed steps through the snow, and saw lights, and then Johannes' mother and father, as well as Arthur's own mom and a few neighbour farmers, appeared, running towards them with cries of relief and also worry, as they noticed Johannes on the ground. Arthur hugged his mom tightly and finally allowed himself to give in to the exhaustion and cold, passing out in her safe arms.
oOo
As it turned out, Johannes had caught a pneumonia, and had to stay at the hospital for a week, and then stay in bed for several weeks before he got well. Arthur never once suggested that they should go out and play, but instead stayed inside, sitting by his friend's bed and reading stories for him, or practicing his Norwegian.
He'd told him all about how the unicorn had saved them from freezing to death, and Johannes insisted that they would have to come up with a way to thank it next time they met. They tried telling the adults, but they of course pushed it aside as 'seeing fantasies due to exhaustion and extreme cold'. Somehow, it didn't really matter, because they both knew the reason why they could sit here and talk together at all, each of them holding a cup of warm chocolate.
"No, Henrik, I don't think farmer Eric owns a blue and pink horse..." Arthur heard Johannes' mother say confusedly somewhere in the distance, and he and Johannes shared a smile. It would be their secret, they knew, a secret that they would never forget.
oOo
If you could leave a review telling me what you thought of it, that would make me very happy ~
Hei – hi/hello
Mamma – Mama, mom etc.
Jævla drittsekk – Well, like he said; fucking bag of dirt... Do not use these words lightly, people! ^_^''