Characters:
Dylan 'Wales' Kirkland
Wellesley 'New Zealand/Maori' Cook (Welly) [physically about 5 years old]
Cymru the dragon
Arthur 'England' Kirkland (Father)
Smaug the sheep [physicallly about 3 months old]
Kumajiro the polar bear
A maid
Pairings; British Empire, British Siblings, Animaltalia
Summary; The character finds outside an animal too small to survive the winter and they decide to help.
AU; this is canonverse
Warnings; xenophobia, colonisation, behaviours now considered child abuse, animal abuse
Extra note; Wellesley uses the pronouns ia/ia/iaself/ia's
January, early 1700's, somewhere near Kent
Dylan stomps through the snow, lumps of ice clinging to his boots. Wellesley curls against his back, grumbling in Māori . Cymru has crammed himself up Wellesley's coat, the child much less used to the cold than ia's British carers, Arthur allowing ia to wear more layers to keep warm.
"You know your father doesn't like you speaking that," Dylan says gently, "You're already in trouble for running off."
"Don't care," Wellesley mumbles.
"You should care. You'll be getting the cane at least when we get home."
"Don't care."
Dylan sighs. He does his best to care for the young colonies, but being the softer carer of the group is a difficult task under Arthur's strict, almost controlling discipline. Tracking down children who have run off, tending to bruises from smacking and caning, and re-organise finances and taxes have become normal practice.
Wellesley isn't exactly a rebellious child, but ia's still difficult. Ia has never settled into the British mansion and is often terribly homesick. It's common for ia to run off, trying to find somewhere that feels like home, but England and Aotearoa are two very different landscapes. Dylan will sometimes spend hours trying to find Wellesley.
"When we get home," Dylan says shakily, "I'm confiscating your boots and outdoor clothes."
"Don't care," Wellesley mumbles, "Don't like them."
"I know you don't. But it'll be far too cold for you to be running off without them."
"Don't care. Do it anyway."
"And I won't come looking for you. You'll have to come back, all on your own, in the cold."
"Don't care. Won't come back."
"Then you'll be cold and lonely, won't you."
"Don't care."
Dylan holds back another sigh. Unfortunately, Wellesley is easily the most stubborn of Dylan's niblings, and holds grudges and promises the longest. If Wellesley says ia's going to run off and not come back, ia probably will.
The snow next to them shifts, and Dylan pauses. They're on a road by a forest, Arthur's Kent mansion and other city life an hour away. Whatever's under the snow, it's unlikely to be human.
"Why did you stop?" Wellesley whines into Dylan's back, "I'm cold!"
Dylan takes another step. The snow shifts again, a lamb's head popping out of the icy bank, bleating weakly.
"Uncle Dylan!" Wellesley cries in shock, "Uncle Dylan, Uncle Dylan!"
"It's a baby sheep," Dylan says soothingly, trying to calm Wellesley, "It looks like it wandered away from it's mummy, and look," he points to the branches above them, mostly bare, "The snow must have fallen off the tree, and it got trapped underneath."
"We gotta help it!"
"I don't think we can, sweetheart. It's so small and weak, I don't think it's going to make it."
"We gotta help it!" Wellesley repeats, kicking ia's legs to try and wriggle off Dylan's back, "We gotta try!"
Dylan sighs as Wellesley waddles determinedly through the snow. "Your father doesn't like pets in the house."
"He lets Kumajiro in."
"Kumajiro is a nation animal. This is a random sheep."
"We gotta help." Wellesley scoops the lamb out of the snow, the skinny little thing still bleating.
"Welly, sweetie, I think it's ill," Dylan says. How the lamb's managed to survive this long he isn't sure, but he doubts it'll even last the journey home.
To his surprise, Wellesley shrugs off ia's coat, wrapping it around the lamb. Ia bundles the weak thing up tightly, Cymru whining about the drop in temperature. Without ia's clothes, Wellesley is only in ia's breeches, boots and a jumper, ia finding most clothing uncomfortable for reasons ranging from 'heavy' to 'too many buttons' to 'too tight' to 'itchy'.
"Now you're going to be cold!"
"Don't care," Wellesley says plainly, stomping ia way across the road and through a gap in the fence.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to Father's house. This is a shortcut."
"This is someone's field."
"They're not using it."
Dylan groans in frustration. He hops the fence, running to catch up to Wellesley as the child marches stubbornly through the snow, the lamb snuggled into ia's chest.
"What the fuck is that?" Arthur demands.
"It's a baby sheep," Wellesley says plainly. Ia sits on a bench by the mansion's front door, a maid pulling ia's boots off.
"So you refuse to get properly dressed, refuse to do your schoolwork, run off, and return with an animal?"
"Yes."
Arthur glares at Dylan like the situation is somehow Dylan's fault. Wellesley kicks his indoor shoes off as soon as the maid has fastened them.
"Wellesley, don't be misbehaving," Arthur scolds, snatching the lamb from Wellesley's arms.
Wellesley cries out, clambering over the maid as ia reaches up to the lamb. "Give her back!"
Arthur tears the coat from the lamb, tossing it at the alarmed maid. The lamb bleats helplessly.
"I'm not keeping a farm animal in my house," Arthur says firmly, holding the lamb up out of Wellesley's reach, "The thing is small and helpless. The only humane thing to do is put it out of its misery."
"I'm small! Are you going to put me out of my misery?" Wellesley yells up at him.
"No, but you'll be in a lot of misery soon, child. You are in so much trouble."
"Artie, don't torment ia!" Dylan says.
"Stay out of this."
"Give her back!" Wellesley cries, trying to jump after the lamb, "Give me Smaug back!"
"Don't name it!"
Smaug bleats as Arthur swings it out of Wellesley's reach. "Welly!"
The entire hallway seems to stop in shock at the voice. High-pitched and a little raspy, the lamb repeats the word "Welly!" over and over again.
"Give me Smaug back," Wellesley repeats, stood on ia's tiptoes to reach for Smaug.
Begrudgingly, and a little confused, Arthur hands the lamb down to Wellesley, who snuggles her straight into ia's chest, Smaug bleating happily.
New Zealand was colonised by the British in 1942
Māori is the native language (and people) of New Zealand from before the British invaded [link to a website in the profile]
Ia is a Māori pronoun meaning both he and she
Aotearoa is the Māori term for New Zealand
Nibling is a gender neutral term for niece/nephew
Basically, Smaug became a nation animal after connecting with Wellesley over being small and feeling trapped/isolated/cold. The connections was legitimised by Wellesley naming her. That is totally how this stuff works.
And from that day on, the pair were inseperable :3
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-Laurel Silver