AN: QUESTION: SHOULD I CHANGE THE RATING DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF SWEARING I HAVE IN THIS? (*worried*)
Thank you again luthinuvielle and Tsuki the Ryuujin no Miko, for the corrections. To all my readers, I am doing my best to research all the different countries creatures but as I am (mostly) sticking to English websites, I could get a slanted or misunderstood interpretation of these characters and so, write them wrong. I will try and fix it when I learn about it or re-mention it later with the correct description and abilities. So if you notice that I have done this, please correct me.
The conversation later between HK and China is in Mandarin, I was just very hesitant to trust Google Translate for anything but one word or so, so please just use your imagination.
Besides that, no one actually seems to read these so I have nothing else to add but:
I do not own Hetalia or anything else I reference.
Trying to determine where the others had ended up was extraordinarily difficult for, one, they had been the first group to be separated so they had no idea how divided everyone was and, two, out of all three of them, one had no memories really at all of the fight, one was...vertically challenged (I heard that! Who are you calling so small he could ride on the back of a grasshopper?) and so couldn't really see above the tall Wendigo and the other had been slightly over protective of said person.
All they had been able to put together was that at one point, Ukraine had been able to see who they believed to be Hong Kong going up the mountain so it was that way that they went. Up the mountain. To their dismay, just as they turned along the path away from a precipice (which lead to a great chasm), it began to snow, erasing the potential tracks farther up ahead in the snowy peaks. This meant that they had absolutely no way of determining where the others had gone through physical signs, and Australia had nearly used up all of his ceremonial clay the day before the attack, so that option was also out. They decided to simply carry on and hope that they could find some other signs of their companions .
In under an hour they reached the area where the snow began and within another thirty, they were about knee deep in it. Sadly, they had no snowshoes and simply had to wade through it, the two who were less used to the weather developed a crawling technique, using their arms to help pull them through while Ukraine just walked along as if it were barely there at all. The worse thing was that the snow continued to fall, just harder, creating a very disorienting effect. This in turn, made it extremely difficult to see and to stay warm as the winds at the roof of the world whipped around them. Seeing this, Ukraine pulled a rope from her bag and tied them together so they would not lose each other in the storm or if one of them fell into some unseen drop, the others could rescue them.
After two hours of walking, Katyusha looked behind her and startled by the sight before her. The other two nations had dragged all of the furs and extra clothing they had in their packs and had put them on and it looked like they were unable to completely put their arms down. Despite having done a similar thing, she could see that they were nearly hypothermic whereas she was merely uncomfortable. Dragging out her remaining articles of clothing, she pulled to a halt and proceeded to wrap them around the two boys. Then, taking some maps and other bits of paper that were in the three bags, she proceeded to shove it into their coats, providing some more insulation against the biting cold. The she rearranged all of all their external layers so that several scarves covered nearly their entire face and the hats they wore covered their ears and shielded their eyes from the snow (pity they didn't have goggles), then fixed the way their pants went into their shoes so that no more snow could go in. She was pleased to see that some colour returned to their cheeks, though they still looked cold.
Then she took one of their empty water bottles, she filled it with snow and stuck into her own coat so that her body heat would melt the snow. This would provide them with water to prevent dehydration, a true danger in this setting despite being surrounded by snow (because just eating snow will cause you to lose heat, burn needed calories and get sores in your mouth with very little water actually going in your system.). The snow at this point had become a curtain of white and by squinting her eyes, she could barely make out heavier clouds heading their way, a sure sign that weather they did NOT want to be caught in was well on it's way. Especially with her companions looking like they did - one being accustomed to a Mediterranean climate and the other to Southern warmth, (either way they did not see snow often). She might feel safe continuing on a bit farther with her brother or Matvey until the storm did arrive but not these two.
A full blown blizzard was going to hit and they were already dangerously cold. She needed them out of the open. NOW.
She set their packs down and told them that they would be camping here. The others immediately went and began to get the tent out, but she stopped them and got them to sit down on the ground instead and proceed to wrap them in her coat and furs (she had been in colder situations before) in addition to the blankets and the tent fabric before beginning to dig. Soon she had a nice respectable snow cave which she gently pushed the two into before calling on her totem and allowed it to fully posses her, leaving a full grown Grizzly (or Kodiak if you prefer) bear to wiggle into the cave. Curling around the two, she let her nice warm fur further insulate them and was happy when they finally stopped shivering. They talked well into the night, exchanging stories and experiences (anything to keep them awake), while every now and then, one of them would make sure that the entrance was still clear of snow and ate little bits of jerky and drank the now-melted water as the storm screamed around them and the temperature plummeted.
How long they were stuck in that cocoon of blackness was hard to say, though it felt like several days as the storm raged. Once the screams of the wind had died down, Romano had ventured outside through the (now-tunnel due to snow build up) entrance and was stunned to see the world outside as the sun shone down on him and made the pristine white snow around him almost sparkle. Calling an all clear down below he wriggled his way out, stepped out into the snow...and promptly sunk up into his neck in the snow much to Australia's delight as he exited after him, standing on the snowy entrance.
"Cazzo fa freddo!"
This however, as funny as it looked, posed a new problem to the trio, they would not be able to wade/crawl through the snow as they had before and they definitely could not walk on it (In fact they were lucky it wasn't deeper as they yanked the poor stuck Italian out). There was no way they could just stay here and wait but there was no other way out except by walking. The solution they devised was both creative and tricky, Australia, by sitting on Ukraine's bear form's back, would work some water magic, getting the snow to clump and harden in front of her as they made their way along. This would make it possible for her to walk especially once she made her feet bigger, distributing both her and Australia's weight more effectively like a bear wearing snowshoes. Romano then changed into a rabbit, leaving his furs and clothes to a grateful (and now warm) Australia and slept in the Aussie's shirt under all of those layers. It was through this method that they made it to the other side of the mountain range in under a week.
Once on the other side and past the snow, Romano and Katyusha quickly reverted back to their normal forms, thoroughly exhausted from the amount of magic they had used in keeping those shapes. Katyusha in particular was having problems separating from her totem if her brown hair, sharp teeth and long nose were anything to go by; as, unlike Romano, she had been unable to change back during that week or the other two would likely have frozen to death at night when the temperature dropped further. It took awhile and the clothes and other items were redistributed and they set out walking towards a nearby forest.
The rain just continued to fall on the hapless trio as they wandered before meeting a rather large, fast moving river, they decided to camp there and wait for the rain to stop before attempting, what would otherwise be, a hazardous crossing.
Australia, knowing that the fish are more likely to bite during a downpour such as this, went and sat on the bank, near the lake the river flowed into (so the current wasn't so bad as to keep the fish away) while Katyusha and Romano went and set up camp. Once this was done, the two decided, already being soaking wet, to join him and cast their own lines in an attempt to catch dinner (that wasn't dried jerky. Hooray!)
Drip.
Drop.
They sat there in amiable silence for about twenty minutes and both Steven and Romano caught a fish, though Ukraine's line remained sadly limp.
Drip.
Drop.
Once a third fish was reeled in (Eat that bastardo! VENI VEDI VECI! Hahaha!), they began to pack up and the two boys, hurried back towards the embankment.
Drip.
Splash.
Wait. Splash?
Katyusha saw an odd shape in the water and stepped forward to the edge and leaned over, to get a better look. And in doing so, she inadvertently did exactly what the creature wanted as it lunged forward with a dreadful roar before she had time to react. *It was a thing of many kinds that could not be truly seen, but its red eyes were like death and its bellow was like fear. It was like a calf, like a seal, like a man; it was white, it was black … It was all these things, together and separate, in one fearful beast … It was feathered, furred, and scaly. You could not tell what it was except that it was dreadful …*
Her scream alerted the other two and turning around they then saw a now limp Ukraine hanging from a terrible mouth and the fish hit the ground and the two were charging forward before their brains even had time to catch up. Their own saviour, who had saved them in the mountains was now in horrible danger in the form a creature whose name was been whispered in fear Down-Under, for a millenia.
Bunyip.
Man-Eater.
It was at that same dreadful, heart-stopping moment that they both realized that that they had a fishing rod and fishing spear between them as weapons, only one of which was any use and was really only a one time thing. But they did not have time to run back as the monster was already slinking back under the water from whence it came, dragging Ukraine with it. Eye contact was made and Romano threw the spear to the other and ran ahead before turning quickly, cupping his hands together. Steven, without slowing down, ran and jumped onto those hands and was tossed in the air and forward, flying at the monster that has haunted his lands for as long as the Almudj has bestowed (or not as was his wont) the earth with life-giving rain. As he fell he angled the spear so that, upon his "landing", he pierced the creatures neck. Giving a roar of pain and thrashing his head, it fought back, Katyusha falling out of it's mouth in the process. As Australia grappled with the creature in it's death throes, Romano ran ahead to where the river flowed in the lake, a set of dangerous rapids now. Dashing across the surfaced rocks and sliding across the submerged ones, he was just able to lean forward and grab Katyusha before she was swept into the rapids and drag her on shore.
Once there, he sat and this time, he would not let someone bleed out in front of him again and proceed to use his (highly depleted) magic to close her serious wounds and fix the internal bleeding caused by the creatures teeth and the pressure of his jaws. There were the large punctures caused by canine teeth at the top of her rib near her liver, where her stomach (organ) was, middle of her stomach (area) and on her side in line with her belly-button, with tinier ones caused by smaller teeth dotting between the four spots. Lifting her shirt to properly have access to her wounds, blushing when he felt her...great tracks of land push against his hand.
OH god, this was awkward. Yes he was healing her, and no there wasn't anything remotely attractive about using your hands to keep someone's blood in their body but he was still a man dammit and Ukraine had some very nice...tracks of land. He wouldn't be distracted if only where the wounds were didn't require him to brush past them every now and again...Try not to think of anything. No! Think of anything else. Spain! Spain was a good, safe topic!
This method stopped working once he had to shift his hand higher to get the puncture wound by the liver ... He was going to hell and he was pretty sure that Russia was going to be the one to send him there. Once this was done, he gently picked her up as best as he was able in a piggy back and carried her back upriver. Passing the demonic corpse, he saw Steven yank the spear out of the corpse before turning to him with a slightly vindictive smile.
"Screw fish, we're having bunyip tonight!"
Sharing that dark smile, Romano ducked into the tent and gently wrapped Katyusha in their sleeping wraps and furs before grabbing his knife to go help Australia. It would be nice to have some dried other meat to go with their dried fish and dried jerky.
If the others could see him now, they would wonder where on Earth the Italian's gourmet tastes had gone.
That night, when the other two were sleeping, Romano was up on guard duty after relieving Australia early because after his recent nightmare, there was no way he was going back to sleep. He had dreamed that it was Feliciano in Katyusha's place and that when the bunyip dropped him that he had been unable to get to him before the dangerous rapids which then tore his precious fratello's body to pieces, the water turning red around him. He shivered slightly at the recollection.
Making sure he didn't walk to far away from their campsite (as that would just be stupid), he walked up river and filled up his canteen before sitting on a boulder to drink it and looked up at the stars.
It was too bad that they shared none of the same constellations as seeing Scorpio, Hercules, Cygnus or Vela looking back at him would be comforting. These just made him even more aware that this world was not theirs, of the sheer alienness of it and just made him more uneasy.
Suddenly in the corner of his eye he saw a light in the forest bobbing trough the trees on its way towards the river. Slipping down and ducking behind the boulder - because you could never be too careful was a philosophy he had adopted long ago - , he watched as it approached. Soon enough a giant house stepped onto the banks. It was a simple old wood hut with a thatch but there was no doorknob on the door and there was a fence too...made of human bones, each crowned with a skull with glowing eyes which generated the light. And the house itself! It moved around of grotesque looking chicken legs and as it moved, the hut itself spun around, every now and then letting out a small screech. making its movements all the stranger. Romano felt his hair stand on end at the sight of it.
Backing away slowly, he tried to sneak away but with a howling sound, a flying pedestal mortar dropped down in front of him with an old lady on top of it.
"You look lost little one" she said in the other world's tongue.
"I am just fine, thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I left the stov...fire! The fire burning!" said Romano, internally panicking. He was pretty sure he knew who she was and did not want to get involved with such a legendary witch.
"I did not mean lost in the physical sense. Come, I am not always the monster portrayed in little Ivan's tales, I can give advice when I so choose and it looks like you could use some."
"Wh...You know Ivan?"
"But of course. I am untameable, despite the "rules" put in place by the stupid fae, every now and then I cross the barrier to give his children a bit of a fright then he and I usually have some водка together."
"I don't mean to sound rude (for even he knew when to hold his tongue), but don't you eat people and scare them? I don't understand why you would help me."
Annoyed, she snorted "If you didn't want my help you could have said so!"
"Wait, I didn't mean it like that, it's just the stories that I've heard you tend to be the villain!" Romano quickly said, throwing up his hands in a placating gesture.
"I am neutral, boy. Yes I do enjoy the odd naughty child every now and then but I can be just as helpful as destructive for I can see a person's heart. If that heart is clouded by greed, hate and self-interest, I will most likely eat them, if not trap them and make them my servant if there is a chance of redemption. However, if that heart is clear, I might give advice or gifts but I cannot hurt them. For those types of people are the pure of heart, are deeply loved or heroic and are magically protected from me. You, child, are all three. Under your swearing, you are actually very sensitive and innocent. You are loved deeply by the person you are presently dating, despite your faults and by your brother who never wants to see you unhappy. Your friends' love also protects you somewhat from anything I might try. You are also heroic, for is it not a feat of bravery and heroism to cross dimensions to find someone despite all the potential dangers? No, boy you are safe from me; so let us sit. I believe that we have much to discuss."
Climbing of her mortar, Baba Yaga (for that was what she is best known as to the Slavics) produced two cups of сбитень from nowhere, she sat on the boulder and gestured for Romano to join her. He warily did and, sensing no evil intent from her (yay rabbit instincts!) took the other cup and took a sip...
"It's good!"
Chuckling she said "Of course it is dearie. Now tell me what you are here for."
Straightening, he told the story from beginning to end, watching as her face darkened at the mention of Morgan La Fay at the end. "Silly wench, upsetting the natural balance of things. The nasty creatures are breeding and it makes it a lot harder to travel. She is almost asking for some hero to go stick a blade up her ass...Don't look so startled boy! In any story, it is only once the villain makes a big nuisance of themselves are they slain. She is upsetting the status quo and all of us here are from the imaginations of the people of the world, meaning that we tend to follow a pattern and that is the path she is on right now."
Seeing that he was on the dregs of the drink, she then said "Alright, in exchange for the information you have given me, I owe you five questions. My knowledge is vast and am able view snippets of the past and future so consider wisely."
Romano made sure he didn't open his mouth to ask something like "Are you kidding me?", because that was a really dumb way to lose a question. He thought for a moment or two about what he was going to ask before setting up the wording.
Well, perhaps not the wisest question but with her gift of foresight, the child/naive side of him couldn't resist asking, "Alright then. My first question is will we all survive this and win?
"That is impossible to truly answer, but yes, if the correct decisions are made then you should all live."
Now for the questions they really needed to know the answers to if she had them. "How do we get home when the border is closed?"
"You simply need reactivate the markers. Each are covered in runes and a simple amount of human blood on each as a "sacrifice" and once all five are reactivated on both sides, then the portals should function again. That is why the witch searches so desperately for you, as you are the key to her getting to the other side."
"...That explains more then it doesn't. Thirdly, are the companions that came across with me on December the 21st, all alright in mind and in body and safe?"
Baba Yaga made a gesture with her hand over her forehead where the third eye was said to reside before she answered, "Yes for now they are all alive and safe."
"Where are Gilbert Beilschmidt (Prussia), Ludwig Beilschmidt (Germany), Feliciano Vargas (North Italy), Lars Oranda (Netherlands), Kaoru Wang (Hong Kong), Gupta Hassan (Egypt), Yong Soo (Korea) and Mathia Køhler (Denmark)?"
"I hope you realize that that might have been a bit overdone in specificity, right? I'm not a djinn looking for a loophole. Alright so Gilbert and Lars are presently lost in the Caves of Dream and of Nightmares. Ludwig, Feliciano and Mathias are presently somewhere by the sea, though are somewhat scattered from each other. Gupta, Kaoru and Yong Soo are in a cave in the Bottomless chasm."
"CAN'T YOU..." realizing he could lose his final question that way, he swallowed his anger at her vagueness. "Fine. My last question is that I want you too specifically tell me what has happened to Matthew Williams of Canada since he arrived on Hallowe'en to the present day."
The witch raised an eyebrow before making the gesture again and slumped, looking tired."...Very well. From what I could see he arrived here four hundred and sixty-five years ago and was met by a Katerz named Chesh. They travelled together for many years until Chesh was summoned back to help to defend the royal fae court about one hundred years later. He wandered alone from elven city, to centaur ones to undersea metropolises to those of the trolls and then up to the dwarfs, spending different amount of time at each. Upon the sacking and kidnapping of the great City and dwarfs with whom he had been staying, your friend tracked them down. Upon catching up to them, he defeated their guards and set all two hundred thousand of them free and then delayed the enormous army sent after them for about an hour on his own. After this he was captured by the little upstart's minions and is now one of her mindless slaves, forced to fight."
"WHAT?!"
"Nice try. I already answered five questions." She then got up, the cups disappearing without a trace and began to walk away.
"...This is too big for me to handle. FUCK! This was just supposed to be a simple search and rescue mission!" Curling up with his head in his hands, he began to curse quietly in Italian and rock in an attempt to comfort himself.
Baba Yaga was already sitting in her mortar and about to fly off again but noticed his actions and decided to tell him one last thing. "Remember boy. This world is a land of Dreams, anything, everything and anyone mystical ever dreamed up exists here."
And with that she flew off into the night, her house following just as Steven and Katyusha ran up to him wide eyed.
"Was that...?" asked Ukraine
Romano just nodded.
"How are you still in one piece?" she asked shocked.
Steven leaned over and shook him "Why didn't you run, have you gone starkers?"
Romano just groaned out "You...cannot...judge...about...going...crazy."
"And why not?" he asked, though he stopped shaking him.
"Because you are the one who gifted the Wiggles to the world. And if that is not the sign of insanity I don't know what is. Have you ever watched that crack?"
"Awww, come off it. Did you have to mention that? I'll start singing the fruit Salad song if you don't leave off!"
They continued to banter back and forth before Katyusha got sick of them and made them stop. Afterwards, she got them to sit down and have Romano explain. They were done just as the sun began to rise and so decided that they would camp here and wait for the others.
No matter how long it took.
As Hong Kong jumped off the precipice and took Korea and Egypt with him, in that moment, he was momentarily blinded by a memory.
~Flashback~
It was 20th, the night before they crossed the barrier, and Kaoru was back at China's house and packing his small bag.
"Xiānggǎng? What are you doing, aru?"
He jumped about a foot in the air and turned "Yao! I did not know that you were home."
"You are dodging the question little brother. What is troubling you? Why are you packing?"
Knowing that he had been caught, Kaoru gulped before answering.
"I am going on a...trip. I am not sure how long I will be gone."
Looking somewhat confused by the vagueness, China chuckled "Going on pilgrimage to find enlightenment? Do you know at least where you are going?"
"Yes, but I cannot tell you, the life of someone I care about very deeply could hang in the balance. But I can tell you that it is necessary that I go."
"You are not being blackmailed or anything? You know you can tell me anything, right? Aru?" said Yao, concerned and kind of angry.
Feeling guilty because he knew what his previous comment had sounded like, Kaoru wished he could tell him everything but if it got out, several countries be trusted not to invade the ones on the rescue mission. Like North Korea and Russia. "No, sir. I will be back as soon as I am able."
Smiling slightly, Yao put his hand on Kaoru's shoulder "Alright then. Go do what you must, I will have some Dim Sum waiting for your return. Just remember, you are 孩子龙 (Lung Tik Chuan Ren) and that nothing can change that."
Letting a small smile grace his face, he replied "Thank you, gēgē" and left for Ireland.
~Flashback End~
Right. He was 孩子龙 (Lung Tik Chuan Ren), that was the reason he had jumped rather then face certain death. Reaching deep inside him, he reached for a different area then he normally would for his magic, an otherworldly power that stood out, this instead was a part of him as much as his skin and bones and hidden subtly. Feeling that warm light, he reached forward with his mind and embraced it and felt it pour over and cover him, like a second skin.
Yong Soo was terrified, they were falling from a great height – it had been five seconds and he still couldn't see any sort of ground. How high up were they? Why had Kaoru pushed him? I mean, sure they were losing up there but it was better then this certain death! The Wendigo he could at least fight, this death had no sort of claws or teeth he could defend against. And he was too tired to summon up enough magic to save himself or anyone else!
Realizing he was hyperventilating, he opened his eyes and saw Egypt unconscious and falling so by "swimming" through the air he reach over and grabbed him and then looked to his left and saw Kaoru slightly spaced before his eyes narrowed and his face...stretched. Why was he turning bluey-gray? SHIT! Was it something in the air? Some sort of volcanic toxic fumes? Gahhhhhhh. He then felt something brush past his foot and then he and Gupta were no longer falling .
No, they were flying.
He looked down and was astonished to see that he was seated on some weird blend of Eastern and Western dragons. "Wha?"
A deep, rumbling voice answered him "I am 孩子龙 (Lung Tik Chuan Ren)"
Back in Greece, Japan and Greece were having trouble sleeping. Since Turkey had come over on the way to drop of Spain's folder to visit Japan and had been...different in that he was more short tempered then usual, more violent and looked a mess as though he had not been sleeping. Since the two had an enormous fight within 5 minutes of the visit, the two were finding that they were also more on edge and had also developed a problem sleeping. This did not bode well, thought Japan, Greece not sleeping? It was a sign of the end of the world!
AN- On another note I think I've fallen in love with Romano, he's rather interesting to write and has a rather interesting perspective on life. At least the way I write him (hopefully not OOC). Anyway, if you guys liked this chapter :
PLEASE REVIEW
Tell me what you liked, what you didn't, if there's a typo somewhere (I'm still catching some in chapter 2 and onward). A sentence or more or just a word. It means the world to me to hear from you guys. *hugs* In return for you taking your time to write to me, I promise that I will take the time to answer you and answer any questions/comments you have.
*This is a description of the bunyip is found in Patricia Wrighton's novel The Ice is Coming. (Wrightson, Patricia. The Ice Is Coming. New York: Atheneum, 1977. Print.) I used it as there are far too many descriptions of a bunyip (shape-shifters maybe?) that I felt it would kind of be a sort of betrayal to stick to one, so yeah. Anyway, if you are from Australia and you feel this is wrong please correct me, I appreciate it.
Translations
Cazzo fa freddo! (Italian- Fuck it is cold)
Veni, Vedi, Veci (Latin- I came, I saw, I conquered. Supposedly said by Julius Caesar and associated with the Roman Empire)
Almudj (Gundjehmi/Mayali {Aus. Aboriginal languages}- Rainbow Serpent)
Xiānggǎng 香港 (Chinese- Hong Kong)
Lung Tik Chuan Ren 孩子龙: (Chinese- children/descendants of the dragon, Chinese apparently will call themselves this )
gēgē 哥哥 (Chinese- Big brother)
водка (Russian- Vodka)
сбитень (Russian- Sbiten, Russian tradition hot winter drink made of water, honey, spices and jam)
starkers (Australian slang- crazy)