FINALLY finished this chapter! I'm so sorry for taking forever and a day to update. I'll make it up to you over summer, I promise!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia
"So, now what?" Alfred asked.
The men all looked at each other with unsure expressions. Nobody knew what to make out of the bizarre message.
"I suppose we should start scouting the island and figuring out our resources," Ludwig half-suggested half-commanded. "Let's gather back here with our findings when the sun is at its highest point."
With that, the group split apart to venture on their own. Kiku walked leisurely down the shore, taking in the smallest details of the land. He could see the edge of island, but it was by no means a small patch of sand. There was a forest and a few rocks jutting out here and there. He had not seen many animals besides an occasional bird gliding past him. The sand was littered with shell fragments, which meant that there was at least some form of accessible meat, even if it was very little. Still, he knew raw clams and such were dangerous and getting sick was the last thing he would want while on a deserted island.
Feliciano, on the other hand, was eager to explore. His previous tears had long since dried and he was bounding down the sand. Stuck on an island or not, it was a chance for a vacation! The sight and smell of the ocean excited him and reminded him a bit of home. With the message forgotten, Feliciano decided to venture into the forest and discover what it held inside. He pushed past some plants and skipped over the bulging roots. Penetrating deeper and deeper into the forest, Feliciano plunged into the darkening world. The treetops were dense and the Italian navigated by following the patches of light escaping through the canopy. He learned that more things hid in the dark than in the brighter outskirts of the forest. Oddly colored bugs and reptiles scuttled past the intruder. When he decided that he had enough exploring, the young man turned around to return to the group. He walked toward the lighter area, but was always detoured by occupied spider webs and rows of carnivorous plants. After attempting to navigate past the obstructions, he only found himself deeper in the forest.
Ivan poked at the sand with a little stick he found. He hadn't visited a beach for a while. He had never imagined that their next encounter would be like this. It was okay, though. He couldn't really do much about the situation. Still, the overall experience would be a tad better with vodka. The sun bit at his pale skin. He looked up at it and saw that it was time to gather back at the meeting point again. Walking with a bounce in his step, Ivan made his way back to the group. They all stood around, Ivan being one of the last to arrive.
"Is this everyone?" Arthur asked.
Ludwig did a mental count of the crew. "Nein. One is missing."
"Nine? Wouldn't that mean we're all here?" Alfred asked.
"No, you twit. He meant 'nein' as in 'no'. And there are eight of us, not nine," Arthur rolled his eyes. Alfred stuck his tongue out at him.
"He is probably on his way," Yao suggested with nonchalance.
The group chatted the time away until a good half hour had passed. A few members were getting antsy.
"Say, who was missing again?" Francis inquired.
"The Italian. Feliciano," Kiku said.
Alfed looked up from his absent-minded writing on the ground. "Maybe we should look for him," he suggested.
Everyone agreed and split into two separate search parties. Ludwig, Yao, and Francis would take the southern half. Ivan, Alfred, Kiku, and Arthur would search the northern half. If one of the groups found Feliciano, someone would holler. If their search was fruitless by sunset, they would gather back at the meeting point.
Deducing that Feliciano would have returned if he remained on the shore, the southern search party entered the forest. After twenty minutes of searching, the men were losing hope. The forest was hopelessly large and harder to navigate as they advanced toward the center. Even with the members spread out to maximize their view, Feliciano was nowhere to be found. Still, they pressed on knowing that they couldn't abandon the Italian.
The northern party was having just as much luck. They did, however, identify several harmful and helpful species thanks to Alfred's Eagle Scout skills. There was no trace of Feliciano, though. The forest was too vast and dense for the men to search quickly. Even shouts were smothered by the thickness of the forest.
Calling it quits for the time being, each group followed their markings back toward the shore. The southern group, though, was being led around in circles.
"These are our markings, non?" Francis asked.
Ludwig nodded. His brows were furrowed due to his confusion and aggravation.
"I do not think animals go around smashing berries into trees," Yao said.
After spending more time trying to find their way back than they had getting their way in, the group decided to rest at a cluster of rocks. Ludwig sighed and ran his fingers through his slicked back hair. How on earth did they manage to get lost? They followed all the markings back, but were being misdirected every time. It was not only annoying, but also alarming. It was as if the forest was playing a trick on the men. The group gathered all the will they had left and tried again.
"Dude, where the hell are they?"
Alfred collapsed on the ground and rested his head on his hands. The sun had long since set and they were patiently waiting by a fire that the American had made.
"Perhaps they got lost as well," Ivan said while scooting closer to the flames.
Alfred groaned. "Can't these kids do any better?" He rolled on his side and traced patterns into the sand.
"To be fair, the forest does seem like a maze," Arthur added.
Kiku hugged his knees to his chest. "I wonder if they marked their path."
"That Ludwig fellow seemed like he knew what he was doing." Arthur looked toward the forest in hopes of seeing the group emerge.
Growing impatient, Ivan started to toss shells into the fire. "As the message said, we must figure out how to survive on this island. It is what you call 'natural selection'."
Alfred jumped to his feet at the sound of those words. "Ain't no way someone's gonna die on my watch!" He ran toward the forest but stopped when Arthur yelled at him.
"Don't go back in, you bloody git! You'll just end up getting lost!"
Disappointed, the American walked back toward the fire with his head hanging.
"We should wait until sunlight," Kiku said.
Alfred flopped back down on the sand and buried his face in it. "I guess you're right," he mumbled into the ground.
And that's what they did. They waited until sunrise.
"I miss M-mama and-d Pap-pa and L-Lovi," Feliciano hiccupped. Wiping his tears for the umpteenth time, he added, "And G-grandp-pa."
Huddled up and leaning on a rock, his crying was only heard by the bugs. Judging by the amount of time he had spent being lost, it was probably night time. He didn't really know. The forest canopy was too thick and his vision was too blurred by his tears for him to tell.
"T-they're c-c-coming," he reassured himself. "P-papa is g-going t-to come here and-d find m-me and Lo-Lovi is going t-to call me a c-culo for getting l-lost, but we'll g-go home and h-have p-pasta and s-smile."
Before long, he exhausted himself and was drifting into a miserable sleep. In the intermittent moments of consciousness and dreams, he heard twigs snap and jerked awake. He hadn't heard an extrinsic noise the entire time he was there.
"Papa?" he croaked.
Matthew was running. His mind was going just as fast as he was. What had he done? Who was the boy on the ground and who were the people around him? Where even was he?
He leapt over roots and rocks, but slipped on a pile of dead leaves.
"Fuck," he cursed, pushing himself up and continuing forward. He looked behind him to see if anyone was following. The forest seemed to have swallowed them up just as it did to him. Why was he still here? This wasn't his problem. He wasn't supposed to be here.
"Hallo?" Ludwig shouted.
"There's no use in that," Francis sighed. "Shout until your throat hurts, but nobody's going to hear except for us."
Ludwig didn't respond. He observed his surroundings and tried to make something of it. It was futile. The whole forest looked the same everywhere.
"Ai-yah, we have been walking for hours and my feet are hurting," Yao complained. "Just how big is this forest?"
Francis opened his mouth to answer, but was hushed by the sound of frantic footsteps. The three men stood still and allowed the sound to intensify.
"Hallo?" Ludwig said again, this time with growing anxiety.
The sound of leaves crunching stopped. Silence answered his call. Ludwig felt the source's eyes on him, but didn't know where they were. As abruptly as it stopped, the crunching started again, but faster and in a different direction than it was originally headed. Ludwig took off toward the sound, Yao and Francis not too far behind. They never caught up, though. The runner was too fast and turned erratically. Whoever it was didn't respond to the men's calls to stop.
Kiku was the first to wake up. He had always been an early riser. The sun was just peeking across the low ocean waves.
Brushing the sand off of himself, he stood up to go look for something to eat. He hadn't eaten anything since he arrived on the island and his stomach seemed as if it was trying to consume itself. His throat was pretty dry, too. They had come across a freshwater pool and a waterfall when he and the rest of his search party were out, but they had no means to carry it back to the shore. It was too dark to effectively search for a container at the time.
Walking along the edge of the forest, he gathered some rocks and made a simple fish trap. He scolded himself for not doing in the day before, but there was still a chance for him to catch fish given the current time and the temperature. He wondered if the other search party was okay and if Feliciano had been found, but he knew that he couldn't do anything while his own party was still asleep. The man sat on the sand, idly watching his fish trap and thinking about home when he thought heard very faint scream from within the forest.
"Hello? Who is there?" he yelled back. He was answered, but it wasn't from whoever was screaming. Kiku heard someone sobbing nearby. He looked toward the forest edge and saw Arthur curled up.
"Mister Arthur?" he said softly. The Briton whipped his head back at the sound of his name. His eyes were swollen and red. Kiku jumped back at how miserable and terrified the man looked. It was almost as if he was a completely different person.
"Are you feeling okay?" Kiku asked.
Arthur sniffed and turned back around to bury his face back into his knees. He continued to cry softly.
Kiku knelt down and attempted to extend his arm around the man, but pulled back in hesitation before awkwardly embracing the crying Briton in an effort to comfort him.
"We are all tired and scared, Mister Arthur. We will be okay soon."
Arthur continued to cry. "I-I can't do this," he sobbed. He moved to cry onto Kiku's shoulder, and the other man remained silent.
Arthur's voice was muffled by Kiku's clothing. "D-did I do th-that?" he asked, extending a pointed finger toward the burned out fire. Kiku couldn't see anything out of the norm that Arthur was pointing at, but he did notice a line of dried blood on the other man's shirt cuff. He traced it with his eyes and followed it all the way up to its ending point, which was on his shoulder.
"Do what?" Kiku asked with growing anxiety.
"I did, didn't I? I did it, Kiku. I don't remember, but I must've done it. I-I'm horrible. Awful," Arthur continued to sob. Another faint scream rang through the air, but Kiku ignored it for the time being.
Did what? Kiku wanted to see what exactly the man was going on about, but he really didn't know how to handle the situation.
"I'm sorry," Arthur apologized, "I-I'm getting your shirt all w-wet and wrinkly."
"It's okay."
Arthur let go of Kiku and turned back around to face the forest. He huddled back up and was silent.
Kiku took the chance to go look at what Arthur was pointing at. When he got closer, he saw that Alfred's arms looked like an animal had clawed them. He drew in a sharp breath and darted his eyes toward Arthur, who was still in the position he had left him in.
What the hell?
"Did you hear that?" Ludwig asked. The scream was so clear and sounded close.
Yao perked up. "Yes. Was that Feliciano?"
The search party moved quickly to find the source. When they got closer, they could hear rapid, ragged breathing behind a group of large leaves. Ludwig put a finger to his pursed lips and motioned for the other two men to be quiet as he slowly made his way next to the leaves. He carefully pulled them back far enough for him to peek through. He gasped and completely pulled the leaves away.
There was Feliciano, stripped naked and tied to a tree. He screamed again because he couldn't see behind him.
"Feliciano, it's us!" Francis said. Feliciano just continued to cry. Ludwig went in to untie him from the tree, but the Italian hissed and pulled back. He yelped when the rope put pressure on a sensitive spot on his back. Ludwig shot his hand back and looked at the young man. He looked so tired and distressed. He was nothing like the bubbly Italian they were initially searching for.
Ludwig heard Yao and Francis gasp. When he turned to see what they were alarmed by, Ludwig felt as if his stomach fell.
Carved into Feliciano's back was a large, inexplicable symbol.
A/N: I feel really bad for putting Feli in such a bad spot, but I had to. Poor bby doesn't deserve that kind of treatment
culo- ass