Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, Pokémon, or any of the characters present. Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya. Pokémon belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri.
Soft murmuring roused Canada from his slumber. Something was pressed underneath his head and, being still half-asleep, he jerked in surprise. Looking down, Canada realized it was the thick tail of France, having been placed under him like a pillow. When did that get there? The Serperior glanced down once he noticed Canada awake.
"Wha…what happened?"
"You dozed off for a bit," answered France, smiling gently. "I thought you might have wanted something soft to lay your head upon, mon cher." France's tail was far from soft, but it was at least supportive since Canada didn't even notice it was under him. He gave a small smile. It was the thought that counted. "We were just asking how the five of them met when you woke. I was thinking they couldn't be the only ones here."
"'Met' wouldn't quite be the right word," the Altaria clarified, "We've known each other since we were hatchlings, all except Raivis; he was born after the rest of us."
"So, wait– you five are brothers and sisters?" France looked at Toris, Raivis, and Eduard. "Then how did it be that those three aren't—?"
"They're siblings by familial status, not by blood," said Natalya.
"Wait…quoi?"
"Our conjoining ancestors go back several generations, and their offspring have branched to have their own families. And all those families lived together under this one roof. But what made us strong was also what made us weak."
"The house began to die," Raivis whispered; Toris expanded on what he said.
"Our ancestors were too proud to marry the ones not of dragon lineage, and there were hardly any to begin with."
"Slowly, the branches of the household diverged less, some lines even stopping completely," Eduard spoke up.
"We are all that's left of the Drakon Family," Katyusha finished sadly. She took a small sip from her cup of tea. The three guests looked around to see mirroring looks of melancholy from the five family members.
"You mean to say there are no other dragons here?" questioned Russia skeptically. "In all this frozen tundra?"
"There are only two other known dragons here, besides us five," Natalya answered with a blush and averted eyes. "But to convince one of them to join our family will be impossible." Canada couldn't help noticing the small sound of nails scraping against the floor as she said this. He glanced around to see who did it, but nobody appeared to be moving.
A crackle from the fireplace caused everyone to look up. Toris shuffled over to it, carefully using his claws to move the charred sticks around. "The fire will be going out soon; nearly everything's charcoal."
"Then you three should head to bed before it becomes too dark," Natalya raised herself off the couch; her older sister followed suit.
"I'll lead you," Raivis volunteered. Canada was beginning to wonder just how useless he was as Russia carried him for the third time that day. Maybe he should ask Toris or one of the ladies to teach him how to fly.
It was a good thing Raivis was leading the way– the house had gotten quite dark, with the brightest source of light in the hallway being the Charmander's tail. They walked upstairs, and the Togekiss was surprised by the design of the upper level: The floor was divided in two by a stream of water going all the way to and past the back wall, its entirety comprised of the mountain's side. There was a small crosswalk by the banister to get across without needing to jump and another halfway down the hall. A multitude of doors lined both sides of the corridor. Raivis opened the first and second doors on the right side of the hallway.
"I'm afraid I could only prepare you two rooms; the others are of off-limits to guests."
"It's fine," the Dragonite answered.
"I guess now we should decide who sleeps with whom," stated France. Canada personally didn't see what there was to discuss. It was fairly obvious to him that he and France would share a room, for historically obvious reasons.
"You can have your own room France," Russia said, surprising the other two, "Canada and I will be sharing one."
"Uh! And why did you come up with that?"
"Mostly because I know you," Russia smiled a little dangerously. "Besides, Canada won't be able to go anywhere until someone helps him. He'd be utterly stranded."
That doesn't exactly make staying with you that much better, Canada whimpered in his head. But Russia did have a point. And besides, he didn't see anything wrong with staying with Russia. He hadn't known Russia to be 'scary' outside of wars as the others claimed; to him, Russia was no more than a creepy but gentle giant.
"Here's your room, Mr. France," Raivis gestured toward the second door.
"Well then, gentlemen, bonne nuit," the Serperior bade his comrades a good evening. The other two waved goodnight and Russia carried Canada into the remaining room. The room was similar to the downstairs living room but with a few noticeable differences: there was a bed across from the miniature fireplace instead of a couch, which was pushed up against the wall facing the only window in the room. The pond of water was located in the furthest corner of the room rather than right next to the bed. And there was a grate over the pond.
"We usually keep it closed," Raivis said when he caught what Canada was staring at, "We've had a few guests who've sleepwalked before. Eduard's relatives were none the pleased when they found that out."
Canada's eyes reached the window and he realized this room had one of the two turrets: the wall jut out right before the window, where a large nest of straw lay.
"I-I didn't know if you'd feel more comfortable on the bed or in a nest," the Charmander seemed abashed.
"That's okay. Since Russia and I are too large to sleep on the couch and there's not enough room to share the bed, I guess I could sleep there."
"Are you sure?" the Russian asked him.
In his head, Canada was saying Not really, but aloud he smiled with, "Yes, I am." Russia walked over and placed him in the straw nest. Maybe it was because of his new body structure but the nest actually felt quite cozy to the speckled bird. Raivis quickly got a fire going to warm the room, using dried leaves and straw as fuel.
Russia was already lying in the bed. There were no sheets other than the one covering it, but the dragon didn't seem to mind. He curled up a little, wrapping himself around the pillows and his scarf, almost like a child. He was asleep before Raivis was out of the room.
Canada chuckled softly. "Good night then, Russia."
The first thing Canada noticed when he woke up was how bright it was outside. He squinted his eyes as he peered out the window to see the vast whiteness. The storm had passed, and as far as the eye could see was a fresh sheet of untouched snow. The sun was already hanging over the mountaintops in the distance.
"Labrït. It's good to be seeing you up. I was just about to wake you and Mr. Russia." Canada turned over to see Raivis by the doorway. "It seems Mr. Russia is still asleep, though." He walked over nervously to the large dragon and poked at his tail. Russia growled loudly in response.
"Waaaah!" screamed Raivis, and he ducked behind the bed. Even Canada jumped, unaware of Russia not being a morning person. Russia stirred, looking around the room sleepily.
"Oh, dobroye utro, Canada. Hm? Raivis? What are you doing—?" But what really woke him up was his growling again– or rather, his stomach's. Canada laughed before his stomach started to grumble as well. The terrified Charmander peeked up.
"I-I-I'll go see w-what we can do about breakfast." Then he scampered out of the room.
"I didn't realize I'd be this hungry," Russia said as he slid off the bed and stretched.
As Russia stretched, Canada flexed his wings. That's it, I'm going to do it. No more being carried around. He was determined not to be babied any more. Using the muscles in his wings and what little in his legs, Canada hopped out of the nest, landing on his rear as he hit the floor.
"Canada?"
"I-I'm fine," the avian said as he used his wings to stand up. He was able to balance himself on the tips of his toes now. Using all his strength, he hopped forward. He looked back to see how far he jumped– it was no more than a foot. Still, he repeated this process toward the door, disregarding how silly he must be looking. Russia opened the door for him and Canada hopped out. I made it this far; maybe I can glide across the stream, he thought with some confidence. He made two bounding jumps toward the edge, leaped over, flapped his wings, and—
"Ouch!" Canada began falling halfway across and hit poor Eduard in the head, causing both pokémon to plummet into the water.
"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, Eduard!" Canada apologized when he resurfaced.
"I-it's okay," sobbed the Kingdra. A door opened and France came out of his room.
"What's going on? I heard splashing."
"Flying lessons," Russia answered as he helped pull Canada out of the current, "And now we will be going downstairs for the breakfast."
They took the stairs down and watched as Eduard swam down the waterfall after them.
"Incroyable," breathed France at the sight, "But how are you going to come into the kitchen?"
"Don't forget this house is part of the mountain. There are underground rivers connecting this stream to the other rooms in the mansion," replied Eduard. He dove underwater, presumably heading to the kitchen to meet them there.
Inside the kitchen, the trio found the rest of the family. Toris was at the counter slicing fruit with his claws, and Katyusha was by the fireplace oven, spitting flames over what looked like meat. Natalya and Raivis were seated on small perches around a large wooden table; Eduard poked his head out from a small well that resembled a seat. Cups and plates lacking silverware lined the table.
"Good morning," Katyusha turned and greeted the men, "Have a seat. Breakfast will be done in a second." Russia walked over and sat on one of the pedestals before placing Canada on another; France opted to curl around his seat like Natalya.
After another minute, Toris brought over the tray of cut fruit and placed it in the middle. "How did you find fruit in this place?" Canada wondered as he eyed the various produce.
Toris smiled. "We grew them. Our ancestors brought the seeds of some from their old home, and since then, our family has been cultivating the fruit in the greenhouse out back. It's our main source of food here." Katyusha brought over another tray with the cooked meat. Delicately, she tore off pieces of meat and placed them on the plates.
"I hope you enjoy. We were saving this for something special, but we thought you might like it instead."
"What kind of meat is it?" asked the Serperior as Toris placed some fruit on his dish.
"Seel meat," Natalya answered bluntly.
"Oh, I didn't know you had seals here," replied Canada. France suddenly didn't look particularly thrilled about his breakfast.
"Eduard, why do you have a bump on your head?" Toris asked, eyeing his friend curiously.
"That was my fault– I accidentally fell on him," the Togekiss spoke up. "I was, uh, trying to fly."
"You mean you don't know how?" gasped Katyusha, looking quite shocked, as were the servants. "Well that certainly won't do. Would you like to learn how?"
"Yes ma'am. I'd really like that."
"Oh, me too," added Russia. Katyusha smiled.
"Tell you what– if you help us with our chores we'll teach you to fly. Deal?"
"I'd be happy to teach Ru—them for free," Natalya argued.
"No, we'll work. It's only fair," said the Dragonite.
"What about me," asked France, "I can't fly, so what do I get in return?"
"How about how to walk…er, slither?" offered Raivis nervously, "You don't quite move with the grace of any serpent I know."
France shrugged before saying, "I guess that will do." With that settled, the pokémon began to eat their meager breakfast, the nations not quite with as much gusto as the other dragons.
When the plates were cleared off the table, everyone split into groups: Katyusha, Raivis, Eduard, and Canada would attend the crops in the greenhouse, Toris and Russia would take the first shift of patrol, and Natalya and France would gather the firewood needed for this week's heat. "Why should I gather wood with him?" Natalya glared at France, "Russia has arms; we could easily carry back more wood."
"Because France still needs to learn to slither, sister," the Altaria answered cheerily, "And since you have to teach him eventually, why not while you work. I will be teaching Canada, and Toris will be teaching Russia to fly." Toris visibly shuddered when she said that. The Dragonair growled but complained no further. She led France down a side hallway. "Now then, shall we go out now?" The remaining members walked to and out of the front doors. They could just make out the two serpents in between the bare trees.
"O-our area of patrol will be the western boundary," Toris informed Russia, pointing in said direction. "It's not far, only four kilometers away."
"That seems pretty far," Canada said quietly.
"Um, well I guess it is by foot. But hopefully we will be able to cover a lot of distance as we get there."
"Four kilometers is nothing," Russia waved off. He tightened his scarf and followed by foot after a hovering Toris.
"Shall we start?" Eduard asked his lady. She held up a wing to wait.
"We start when Canada flies." The Togekiss looked up.
"Now? But shouldn't it be the other way around? It's not right for me to learn before working."
"True, but how else are you to get to the greenhouse? You can't walk through the snow, and we're not going to carry you there." Canada almost faltered at the sheer bluntness of her statement. The mistress took his silence as acknowledgement. "Normally, birds learn to fly by jumping off trees, but this is a family of dragons. You will learn how to take off from the ground like the rest of us." She suddenly spread her wings out wide, bowed low, and threw herself into the sky. Canada marveled at how easy she made it look as well as how pretty her body was against the sunny sky.
"First, open your wings. Simple step. Make sure the tips of the wings are slightly bent." Canada did so, though he found tipping his wings slightly uncomfortable. "Next, bow. Shift the weight in the body forward toward the front. Right before you fall over, jump into the air, pushing on the wings with all your might. Grab the air beneath you but remember to let it guide you, don't force it to carry you up."
"Hold on, you're going too fast," wailed the Togekiss, trying to remember everything. He turned to the two spectators. "Did you catch what she said?"
"Open wings, bow, jump," Raivis simplified. He looked excited about seeing Canada about to fly.
"You know, Raivis, you should be keeping this lesson in mind too," said Eduard, "One day you'll be joining Toris in the sky patrol."
Canada took a deep breath. Wings opened wide, he bowed as low as he could. The moment he felt like he was about to fall over, he slapped his arms downward. The tips collided into the snow, but there was a small and undeniable sensation of lift. He pounded the air again, spraying snow everywhere but picking his body an inch off the ground. Before gravity could take its course, he flapped again, this time becoming fully airborne. The sudden feeling of no longer being affected by gravity almost made him lose control of his flight, but he stiffened his wings, allowing the updrafts to push him higher.
"Well done!" crowed Katyusha. Canada couldn't stop the spread of his smile. He looked down, Raivis and Eduard following the two's shadows from below.
"This is…wow!" Words simply couldn't describe it. Katyusha angled herself northward, circling back around toward the house. "Where are we—?" From this angle, high in the sky, he could make out a pavilion-sized encasement made of doubled-layered ice nestled in the corner between the house and mountain.
It was right beside us the whole time, thought Canada in surprise.
Katyusha started humming, a beautiful note carried by the wind. "As promised?"
Canada laughed, not only from the joy of what he just accomplished but also because now it seemed so ridiculous how he couldn't get off the ground sooner. Helping with the harvesting suddenly seemed an unfair trade-off. But it was better to have learned now than not at all.
"As promised."
Labrït / Dobroye utro – "Good morning" in Latvian and Russian, respectfully.
"Spotlight: Canada/Togekiss"– First thing before I start: I knew from the moment I was selecting pokémon, Canada was not going to be a Cubchoo/Beartic or a Bidoof/Bibarel. But even though I have my reasons, I don't mind when people pair Canada with any of these pokémon since most of the time I do like the pairing. It's just while planning this story I could never see him as one of them. Now then: since I'm almost confident he's biologically related to America, I wanted to make them something related, and since I already had America planned, that meant I needed another bird. After mulling over several limited choices, I finally chose Togekiss. I'll confess that I'm not too entirely pleased with the result, but it can work. Both are kind and tender, are weak looking at first glance, and just want to be friends with everyone. And considering the location he currently is in, it's very easy to overlook Togekiss Canada in all that snow and ice. But for the record, if legendary and mythical pokémon didn't play as much an important role in the story, Canada was originally supposed to be an Articuno as I feel Articuno fits him much better.