Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, nor do I own the plot of this story. I did however change parts of it to fit into the direction that I wanted to take it.
- First Kiss -
Miles away from where Amelia and Madeline were laying rest, their leader and fellow knights men lay sprawled atop the damp blood absorbed earth. The noble head knight breathed slowly and stared up at the heavy branches, wishing they were pushed aside so he'd be able to see the stars once more in the sky. Blood started to pool around his ears and he wondered if he was stabbed in the head as well. He lost count how many blows were inflicted into his chest and legs, causing him to collapse from utter impotence. Not even his arms would obey him while his sword laid heavy still in his weakening grasp.
Something cold pressed up against the knight's neck, causing the dying man to turn his gaze from the sealed sky to the beast before him. The one who had slain him was standing over the fretting man sturdily. He had the appearance of a knight glorified in black armor with a concealed helmet that took the shape of something never seen before with long horns poking out from the sides like a bull.
The black-coated knight spoke, its voice unsympathetic and demanding. "Where is the relic that you have stolen?" he pressed the tip of its sword harder against the poor knights neck whose adam-apple wobbled.
"It is far out of your reach by now." He coughed bitterly and blood spotted around his lips. "W-Where the dark will never reach it."
The dark knight growled and withdrew his sword.
The knight on the ground didn't see the action as a hint for mercy like most would assume when a weapon is drew away. He let out a shaky breath and turned his blood stained head to the side to take in the sight of his once strong and noble knights. They were sprawled on the floor with there swords scattered around them. It almost brought a smile to the poor knights quivering lips from how hard they fought.
They did their part in their quest and now it was time to lay down their swords and be pardoned for their hard work. He just wished he knew how their quest would end, but he had hope that the two young women would succeed and he and his men would rest in peace.
"You fought and guarded for the light," the black-armored knight pronounced then swung his heavy sword to grip it with both hands and raised it high above the dying knights chest. "that is why you shall now perish in darkness."
The sword plunged towards the earth and all remaining light in that portion of the forest abruptly went out.
{~.~}
Birds flew in front of the moon that was visible with the break in the arcane forest. A breeze pushed through the barrios of trees and bushes until it reached an opening and flowed into the cheerful camp of men freely.
Amelia let her eyelashes flutter closed as she felt the frosty breeze blew through her hair and nip at her skin. When she opened her eyes again, it was clear that there was distract in her pools of blue.
She turned her head in the direction where the chilly air came from and just stared into the darkness, half expecting something else to happen.
"Amy…" Madeline whispered to her sister softly after seeing the pain on her sister's features and grew worried that something was suddenly wrong. "What is troubling you?"
The younger blonde stared for a moment more into the dark forest before closing her eyes and letting her head gently fall back against her sisters. Together they sat on the ground of their camp with their wrist and ankles bound to together. After Gilbert and his fellow witty thefts forcefully took them, they were bond and left to sit on the outside of the ring they had around the campfire.
Madeline turned her head so that they had the sides of their faces up against each other comfortably.
"That breeze just now," Amelia started, her voice questioning as though still pondering the thought. "I cannot help but shake the stricken sensation that something has gone terribly wrong."
Her sister darted her eyes towards her for a moment then to the dirt. Now that she mentioned something was troublesome in the air, Madeline was able to feel it too and it put a heavy weight in her gut. Her lips suddenly felt very dry so she licked them over several times before responding. "W-What do you suppose it is?" she felt her little sister shake her head at her question.
Amelia's thoughts went back to the knights that they were with only hours ago. She tried to feel any sort of connection to them now, but she couldn't. Somewhere in the woods it had gotten colder and darker. Once strong flames were smothered into smoke where dark warriors triumphed. She would've told Madeline the truth about her assumption about the knights, but she didn't want to frighten her. They had enough to worry about at the moment.
"My clever thieves!" The albino man emerged from his large tent with tools raised high above his head in both hands. He strolled out into the center of the ring and stood next to the threating blaze of fire. "It is time that we find out what is inside that box that the lovely ladies have graciously given to us!" he grinned at the tied up women on the outside of the ring as his men cheered and threw their mugs of rum into the air in celebration.
"Open thy chest! Let us see what em' girlies were hullin!" one cheered and others backed him up excitedly with other shouts of anticipation.
Amelia and Madeline looked at each other worriedly then back to the white-haired man who took a long gulp of some rum before stalking over to the chest that sat atop a tree trunk. The men sitting around it moved out of their leaders way and formed a circle around it, kneeling down when their leader did so.
Gilbert raised his hammer high in the air, ready to swing it down against the metal lock that secured the chest and its keepsakes.
"NO!" Amelia screamed in panic and all the men turned to her agitatedly, especially Gilbert.
"You're totally ruining the moment, doll." He groaned at her and his men laughed.
Amelia got onto her knees and tried to hop up on her feet but was held at sword point in a second by a man to her right. Madeline hissed for her sister to sit back down but Amelia wasn't going to let those bastards open and steal the object that had the blood of her fellow knights spilled for.
"You have no idea what kind of trouble you'd be getting yourself in if you open what's in the crate! You may think of it to be gold or some other item to be marketed off, but I can promise you that it will hold no interest to thieves such as the lot of you!" her eyes were fierce as she glared up at the men who were kneeling before the chest, more sternly so at the white-haired man who scowled at her daringly right back.
He watched her while she took another hop forward and one of his men move his sword closer to her neck warningly. This girl had spunk and apparently didn't hold her tongue, even with a sharp weapon pressed harshly up against her flesh. Gilbert found her determination amusing to say in the least.
"Do you think that little speech is going to stop me? It only furthers our interest in this little chest of yours!" he declared shamelessly and chuckled at the severe expression on the woman's face he got in return.
"May the Father of Light watch your actions." She hissed and Gilbert scuffed while rolling his eyes.
"I'm sure he's just as damn curious." He grumbled then swung his heavy hammer down upon the lock. Nothing happened so he lifted his hammer and swung it down a second time and repeated the action as attentiveness grew.
There was a loud shattering noise and red eyes lit up at the sight of the lock broken and falling off the chest and onto the ground. His men grew silent as they watched, as did the two blonde sisters were peered around the large mass of men to get a glimpse of what was being hidden inside the crate.
Gilberts lifted the lid open and scanned the insides back and forth several times, expecting for something much more than what he was facing. The light in his red eyes dimmed as he grasped the object and withdrew it from it confines.
"It's a handle…" he muttered in confusion and turned it over in his hands several times, trying to figure out what he just discovered.
The excited look on all the men's faces fell as anger and confusion filled them. "It don't even have no blade!" one of them declared and reached for it but Gilbert sneered at him and pulled away from the sudden grab. He shot up and turned to face his two prisoners.
"What the fuck is this?" he waved the sword-less handle in the air and raised his bleached eyebrows.
"It is a weapon made by the God of Light and all things pure."
Gilbert and his men turned to their other blonde hostage who remained sitting upon the ground, glaring up at them earnestly. Amelia shot her head in her sister's direction and gave her a warning look that insisted that she kept her mouth shut and not tell the men, afraid that they might sell it off once they knew of its true meaning.
"I think she knock 'er head a little too hard, aye?" a man chuckled and others snickered about the camp. Gilbert eyed her for a moment before he started waltzing over to her as she watched timidly because of the look he was giving her. He stopped just a foot from her then leant down to be at her eye level. She blushed and darted her eyes away from the close distance. Amelia growled protectively and tried hoping her way over to them but was once again held at sword point for trying to move.
"What is it you said about this worthless handle again?" he asked and tilted his head slightly to the side, watching her face intently.
Madeline swallowed nervously, regretting that she spoke up in the first place. It was usually her sister to speak out and get them in trouble, not her. "L-Like I said, it was crafted by God. It is the only weapon he gave man that could send the Darkness and its disciples back to Hell through from a burning death." She spoke low and looked at the man before her over her half closed eyelids.
The longer he just stared at her, the more nervous the older sister began to feel. Her heart was beating rather rapidly in her chest in a way that she only ever felt when scared or in a dangerous predicament. She could say that she was in a dangerous situation at the moment, but something told her that this feeling wasn't out of fear. It was something entirely new to her that made her head spin every time her eyes meet his crimson. The color was oddly fascinating to stare in while at the same time nerve-racking.
"A weapon crafted by God…" the man rubbed his chin as he flipped the handle around in his hand and suspected it. Madeline nodded slowly and watched as he stood back up and turned to face his men and the girls angered younger sister. He held the handle high above his head for all to see. "This weapon is said to be made from God!" he laughed amusingly while the others were silent and watched. "Was God such a fool that he forget to blade this oh so mighty weapon? Sounds to me like our God isn't all wise and powerful after all!" some men were silent because they were hesitant of his words while others erupted in glorious laughed and applause.
Amelia held her tongue and looked back at her sister who looked thoroughly disappointed by the man's harsh words towards the God that they risked their lives for everyday and gave thanks to. She turned to the albino man who was waving the weapon around like in combat and faked stabbed its invisible blade into some men who were playing along with him.
"Such children…" she muttered to herself, but Gilbert heard and immediately stopped his fun and turned to her.
"What is it that you just said, doll?" he amusingly asked and raised an interested eyebrow at her. Amelia couldn't help but to grin and faced him while holding her head high, still having a sword pointed at her tanned exposed neck.
"Oh? Did you not hear me the first time? Shall I repeat myself for you?" she watched the pale man sluggishly approach her and stop just a foot from her face, peering down at her intriguingly.
"I'd love to hear it as I watch those sweet lips of yours move with your words." He said lowly and Madeline blushed for her sister when she caught ear of his words. Amelia just stood there and held her head higher and took a small leap forward to get closer. The other man lowered his sword and took a step back, knowing what his leader intended to do in the situation.
Amelia stared into the man's blood-red eyes before lowering her eyes onto his pale cherry tinted lips. She licked her own pink ones and kept her eyes on them for a moment more before looking back up into his eyes that were watching her actions almost hungrily.
"You and your little band of mishits act like children." She growled teasingly and the man's eyes lit up with excitement as he watched her lips move with her words like he said he was going to. The women before him was the most erratic, infuriating, magnificent, and loveliest woman he had ever met or had the pleasure to lay eyes on. Compared to other women that he'd met and slept with through out the towns, this bold young woman before him was something entirely new and stimulating. His hands twitched at his sides as his crave to reach out and touch her ate him away with every second they stood so closely.
There was a loud gasp from his men that made Gilbert snap out of his trance and focus on the current setting that had unfolded while he was lost in his thoughts about the blonde. He looked down and grinned when he saw that she had a knife held up to his neck like she was ready to cut his throat. Yes, she was something entirely new to him in deed, and he fuckin' loved it.
He moved his weight to his other leg and chuckled softly at her, more amused than disturbed by her actions. He looked at the handle of the knife that she was holding and noticed that it was one of his own. She must have snagged it from his waist belt when they were so close and she was distracting him.
"You plan on killing me with my own weapon? Totally un-awesome of you, doll." He grinned and she just bared her teeth, clearly agitated with the pet name that he had been calling her ever since they first met.
She put his knife closer to his neck and he lifted his head higher while she did so. "I will if you don't hand over that artifact you have in your hand." She responded back trying to sound threating but Gilbert didn't buy the tough act and continued to push her even though he knew the woman could inflict harm if she wanted to. If she truly wanted to kill him then she would have done it long ago when she first had the chance back by the crossroads or even now.
"How about we make a trade." He suggested and held the artifact up and waved it a bit as she watched curiously.
"What kind of trade?" she asked, raising a blonde eyebrow.
Gilbert grinned wider at the interested tone in her voice as he stared down at her and past his own sharpened blade. "I will give this un-awesome Holy weapon in exchange for a kiss upon those sweet lips of yours." She gaped at him and withdrew her weapon from his neck.
"So is that a yes?" he asked, trying to mask that fact that he was eager to touch her skin and taste her lips.
Amelia glared at him past her blonde bangs, trying to decide if this man was such a fool for wanting something so ludicrous in exchange for a holy artifact, or if he were just a pervert. After thinking about it for a moment more, she lowered her weapon and held onto it strictly at her side. She looked up to him and the sudden urge to break his nose overwhelmed her by the lustful expression he was evidently showing her.
She sighed and held herself back from rolling her eyes. "Do you swear to hand over the artifact and release us after doing so?" If she was giving this man a kiss then she wanted his word of her and her sister's release and then getting themselves as far away as possible from the pervert and his band of witty thieves.
Not paying much attention to her words and more focused on her lips and the growing blush on her delicate cheeks, Gilbert nodded and took a small step forward.
"Amelia! What do you think you're doing!?" Madeline hissed from her spot just a few feet away from her sister that seemed totally dazed. The closer she watched Gilbert and her younger sister get towards one another's face, Madeline couldn't help but to bit her lips and suppress the urge to yell at them to stop. The worst and most confusing part about it was that she didn't know whom she was trying to protect. It was either keeping her sister from kissing the albino thief, or Gilbert from kissing her own younger sister.
Amelia ignored her sister and stared into Gilbert's crimson eyes and watched the reflection of the fire dance in them along with his desire. They appeared so severe yet aspiring that Amelia wondered if this meant something more to him than what he appeared it to be while in front of his men.
Her eyes flickered to his left hand when he softly rested it against her check so tenderly it made her wonder how many times he had done the act to who knows how many other women. He clearly had all the tricks down and a part of her was peeved about him having so much experience while she literally had none. In truth, this was about to be her first kiss, but she wasn't going to admit that to him. There was no way in hell.
She let her eyes close when his lips started to flutter right over hers and she tried her best to not move away or crack from under the nerves. His breath was so warm over lips that she opened her mouth to taste more of him unconsciously.
"Not too late to back out, doll." He mumbled against her lips softly while rubbing his gloved thumb over her check.
"Just do it already before I change my mind." She growled and he chuckled before closing his own eyes and finally pressing his lips up against hers. A shiver went down his spin at the touch and he moaned softly and used the hand placed on her cheek to pull her face closer to his.
Amelia didn't know what to expect her first kiss to feel like, but she would have never imagined it to be like how it was at that moment. When he pulled her face closer to his, she gladly agreed and let herself be pulled closer to him. She even took a step closer to press her body up against his chest, causing him to growl against her lips and kiss her more aggressive all of a sudden.
She was too lost in the moment that she had totally forgotten about the crowd that was watching them. Gilbert let go of the artifact and let it roll away so he could wrap his arm around Amelia's waist and pull her roughly up against him, earning a few whistles from his men.
Once Amelia heard the noises that were being directed towards then, she immediately broke the kiss and pulled away. Gilbert opened his eyes in surprise at her sudden resistance but continued to hold her close against him as she tried to pull away.
"I am through putting on some petty show for your men." She said sternly but Gilbert couldn't get over how striking she looked with the blush still present on her check. He gripped her waist harder, causing her to yelp as he pulled her closer. He lowered his head until it was about an inch from her face, which she turned away from him in case he dared to try something stupid again.
"I can assure you that was not for their amusement…" he muttered lowly into her ear and she shivered and continued to listen. He grinned and dipped his head lower against the side of hers. "Though it was pretty damn awesome." He watched her ear turn red and he couldn't help but to kiss the tip of it before he let her escape his grasp.
She grabbed at the ear that he pecked and tried her best to look angry at him but was having a hard time since she was still flustered from the kiss that they just shared together. As much as she wanted to convince herself that it didn't mean anything to him, she couldn't help but feel that the words he had just spoken to her were truthful.
"Amelia…" she looked down to her right and saw her sister looking up at her regretfully. She frowned and knelt down to her and started cutting away at the rope that she had used to slice at her own bindings secretly with the knife.
"Sorry you had to see that, Maddie. I know it probably wasn't the right thing to do, but it was the only choice we had to get the artifact back from them." She apologized and Madeline just nodded and kept rubbing at her wrist, unable to look her sister in the eyes. How did her little sister get her first kiss before she did?
"But we still don't have it back, do we?" Amelia looked at her sister shocked by the callous tone in her voice. Was she seriously that upset over it? She could have just looked away if it disgusted her that much to watch.
Amelia stood back up and turned to Gilbert whose men were hurdled behind him, waiting for their next command from their leader. "I want my part of the agreement." She pronounced and Gilbert eyed her and her sister momentarily before turning around to the men.
"What do you say? Shall we give them their Holy weapon back?" he questioned. Amelia's mouth fell open at his words. She knew better than to trust a thief.
"It may sell for a high bid if we were to take it to a town!" the one with the thin orange beard declared and others around him nodded and hummed in agreement with him.
Amelia looked at them stricken with what they were conversing right before her. She gripped the knife in her hand and took a step forward towards the large group. Gilbert turned around and watched her steer the knife in his direction first, then around at each of the men.
"We had a deal!" she declared angrily.
Gilbert sighed and nodded his head in the direction where they were standing moments before. "I was just stirring you up some, doll." He grinned lightheartedly. "I dropped it to the ground when your lips melted me away."
Amelia blushed and darted her eyes in the direction he was motioning to and found his words to be true. The handle was lying next to the spot where they were last standing. She lowered her knife and took a few steps back and picked up the heavy handle. She looked back to her sister who was watching her then decided to hand it over to her to keep hold. Madeline was a faster runner then she were and much better at keeping ahold of things.
"Then we shall make our leave." Amelia nodded and turned to help her sister off the ground and brushed the dirt from her.
"You can't be serious?" she turned to see Gilbert walking towards them. "You have no clue where to go and no source of travel."
"We had a friend we were supposed to meet up with and we are more likely to run into him out there than here."
The albino shook his head and frowned deeply at the two sisters. His eyes met with the older ones but it wasn't for long since she quickly darted her eyes away and ducked her head. "I insist that you stay with us. It will be safer."
Amelia laughed at that and rolled her eyes. "With a band of thieves and drunks? I think we'll take our chances with the wolfs and other nightly creatures."
Gilbert opened his mouth to argue back to her but a new voice entered the camp area and cut him off.
"What in the bloody hell is going on here?" a man walked into the ring, shielded from head to toe in a murky green cloak. He removed the hood and darted his acid green eyes around the campfire and the faces that were lit up by it.
"Arthur…"
AN: Just want to inform you all that the dark knight IS NOT Ivan. He will be arriving shortly :)