Good lord, this took so long. . Sorry for that but I'm finally introducing the lion! I think by now, it's kinda obvious. But no matter! I hope you all enjoy! Please review!

Chapter 6

Lion

"It got dark fast…" America frowned as they walked deeper into the forest. "I haven't seen this part of the country before…"

"This is wild territory," Germany stated, keeping a tight grip on his ax. "For as long as I've been alive, wild beasts have been roaming these forests. No one has dared to go this way in fear of being torn to pieces."

"Wh-what kind of animals…?" Arthur gulped as he glanced around. "Do you mean things like lions?"

"And tigers?" America asked, his frame of cloth shaking in fear.

"And bears," Germany said with a sharp nod.

"Oh my…" Arthur whispered, holding Hanatamago close to his chest.

"Regardless, we have to keep moving," Germany sighed. "We won't get to the Wizard by just standing here."

The tin man beckoned the others forward and the trio went deeper into the dark forest. Arthur jumped when something clasped onto his hand but he turned to see that it was only America, clinging onto his hand as if it was his last tie to life in the world. He flashed a grin at Arthur, trying to mask how much he was shaking.

"I… I'm holding your hand just to make sure you're not scared," America smiled as his shaking body betrayed him. "You know, cause I'm the hero."

Arthur sighed. The poor guy was shaking. There was no mistake that he was terrified of the place. Nevertheless, Arthur let him hold his hand because he felt some pity for the lad and not because America looked so much like Alfred and Arthur needed to closer to him, not at all.

"So… Lions…" Arthur gulped.

"A-and tigers…" America whimpered, grabbing Germany's hand.

"And bears," Germany grunted, glaring at America but letting the scarecrow hang on.

"Oh my…"

"Lions."

"Tigers."

"And bears."

"Oh my…"

"Lions…"

"Tigers…"

"And bears,"

"Oh my."

Hanatamago punctuated their near-frantic ranting with a bark.

"Lions!"

"And tigers!"

"And bears!"

"Oh my!"

They continued their panicked rant, moving faster and faster through the forest. They went on and on, not really paying attention to where they were going until something jumped out onto the path in front of them. The trio slid to a stop and the thing on the path roared, causing them to jump back.

Arthur panted as he tried to catch his breath. The creature on the road watched them with cat-like eyes colored a molten gold, its tail flicking about behind it. There was no mistake that the animal was a lion but it had human features, primarily on its face. It had the face of a man or at least a boy, due his soft features. His nose curved out in a graceful slope and his cheekbones were high and soft. His chin was small and round, making him look youthful. If Arthur had to guess, the lion was probably in his late teens or early twenties.

The young lion watched them intently, curving his soft lips up into a snarl as he paced back a forth. As he paced, a strange curl bobbed up and down from his nest of hazel hair that cascaded down his shoulders in a mane. A pair of cat-like ears were perched atop his head, twitching in every direction. He wore a human vest, his arms and chest pale and bare. His legs were covered in golden fur, his feet covered with human boots. His tail waved about more, his eyes focusing on each person in the group. He hissed again, this time getting closer to America.

America squeaked and jumped away, only encouraging the lion to move towards him even more. The scarecrow panicked and ran from the cat-man, the lion chasing him around a tree with a growl. Germany ran over to the somewhat amusing game of chase and jumped in-between the lion and America. The lion snarled at him until he laid his eyes on the tin man's ax. The creature turned tail, fearful of the tin man's blade.

The lion turned its attention to Arthur, snarling and snapping at the young man. Arthur backed away slowly, trying not to show his fear. Hanatamago barked at the cat creature in front of them, causing the lion to adopt a surprised look. The lion snarled again and the dog responded with a bark, this time with more of a bite to it. Hanatamago then leapt from Arthur's arms and the lion chased after her, snarling all the while.

"Wait!" Arthur gasped, chasing after the animals. "Stop!"

The lion chased after the dog, the two circling around a tree before Arthur caught up to them. He scooped Hanatamago up and swung a fist at the lion, popping him in the nose. The lion fell to the ground with a tiny squeak, covering his throbbing nose.

"Wh-what was that for?" the lion whimpered, looking up at Arthur. His eyes had changed. They looked more human now and were filled with tears. "That hurt…"

"Well, you should think twice before scaring others!" Arthur scolded, holding Hanatamago close to his chest. "You were asking for it!"

"I-I'm sorry…" the lion sniffed, wiping his eyes. "I didn't want to hurt any of you…"

"Then why did you do that?" Germany asked, his face drawn into a scowl.

"I… I just want to be brave…" the lion sniffled, hanging his head. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me!"

Arthur sighed. The poor creature was scared out of his skin; he had to take pity on him. "What's your name?"

"Eh? My name?" the lion said, snapping out of his sob-fest. "My name is Italy." He flashed them a bright smile, the grin replacing his tears. "May I ask what your names are?"

"I'm Arthur," the blonde replied. "These are my companions, Germany and America. We're trying to get to the Emerald City to see the Wizard."

"The Wizard?" Italy gasped, his hazel eyes widening. "Why do you want to go see him?"

"It's a long story but basically, I came here under unfortunate circumstance," Arthur sighed. "I was told that he could help me get home. We're all going to him to get something we need. America here thinks that the Wizard will grant him a brain and Germany wishes for a heart."

"He can do all that?" Italy asked, his eyes amazed and sparkling. "Please, may I go?"

"Why?" America asked.

"A-as you can see, I'm not very brave…" Italy muttered, his ears pressing down against his head as his face adopted an embarrassed expression. "I-I'm a lion, the king of all beasts, and yet I'm not brave at all. I need courage in order to live up to my title. I was hoping that maybe the Wizard would help me with that."

"I don't see why not…" Arthur said, turning to his companions. "What do you think?"

"It's fine with me," America shrugged. "He can come along if he wants."

"We could use the extra hands…" Germany said thoughtfully. "Or paws… He can come along."

Italy's face brightened and his tail swished around happily. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" He jumped up and tackled each of them in a hug, lingering when he reached Germany. "Grazie! You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"You're welcome," Arthur nodded. "We should keep moving though. We need to use up as much time as we can and with Russia following us, we can't risk stopping."

"Good plan," Germany nodded. "With any luck, we'll be at the city before the sun sets."

"Then what are we waiting for?" America exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air. "Let's go!"

"Fine, just calm down…" Arthur sighed and flushed as the scarecrow grabbed his hand. He then grabbed Germany's hand in order to make it look like he and America didn't have a "thing" and in turn, this caused Italy to grab Germany's other hand. Even though the man lacked a heart, Arthur could guess he at least had a blood system due to the red that colored his cheeks.

The group of four proceeded along the road, hands linked with Hanatamago following behind. Italy began to hum, his tail swishing through the air and a smile on his face.

"What are you humming?" Arthur asked, looking over at the lion.

"A song I just made up!" Italy smiled. "Would you like to hear it?"

"No," Arthur answered flatly but America had answered "Yes" loudly, so the Brit was over-ruled.

"It goes a bit like this," Italy smiled with a small wink. "We're off to the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. You'll find his is a wiz of a wiz if ever a wiz there was. If ever, oh, ever a wiz there was, the Wizard of Oz is one because, because, because, because, because…"

"Because of the wonderful things he does!" America joined in, making Italy smile.

Arthur frowned at the two. "We're not going to sing, are we…?"

"All together now!" America exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air and taking Arthur's arm with him.

"Bollocks…" Arthur frowned, looking desperately at Germany. "Looks like we don't have a choice…"

Germany shrugged as they proceeded, a song echoing from their throats.

"We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"

So I was asked by a reader, yaoiest23, that I incorporate some of the songs from the movie. And I did so with the little "Wizard of Oz" song they sing every time they change a scene. I couldn't help but think that Ita-chan would make up a cute little song as they traveled. Leave it to Ita. =) And I am very proud of myself because I can sing that entire thing without tripping over my words cause, damn, it's sung pretty fast... o.o Anyways, thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

Next up...

Poppies... D