Not much to say here but enjoy :D
A low hiss carried through the outskirts of a town. He stretched out his neck to adjust to the girl who had her arms wrapped around. Sweden walked in the middle of the wendigo and Bernardo. Not many words were shared between them as they walked. The afternoon sun was high in the sky by this time now warming each of them from the outside in.
Although, something was silently stirring. Deep within, Swiftrunner could feel his hunger tormenting him, tearing at the very fibers of his mind. He tried ever so hard to not even glance at the body in Sweden's hands. The wavering smell of death kept teasing his nostrils, begging him, testing him. There had been plenty of times where he felt the gnawing urge to steal away the kid's body and devour it.
He had remained strong thus far, but he wasn't sure how long this strength would last. This brought the rare feeling of fear creeping through his bones.
This continued on and on into the next few days they traveled up to the northern part of Europe. Over the course, the hunger grew stronger, louder within his mind. Several times he would steal himself away to hunt for fresh flesh and gain control of himself before catching up with the trio once again. However, the hunting could only do so much. After all, no matter the amount ingested, the hunger never ceased. It only grew.
Swiftrunner currently focused on the fire that danced and flittered. He kept to his mind trying hard not to think about his unceasing hunger. He swallowed dryly. He felt himself slowly growing in control of this maddening itch in his gut. He felt himself finally begin to relax slightly.
"Hey, I've gotten food from the nearby town," Bernardo said, pacing back to the camp just outside said town. "My brother hasn't gotten this far yet. It's-a still somewhat civilized here. Somewhat." He accounted his trip to the shop meeting up with some assholes. He passed out the rations to everyone. Bread, cheese, meat.
Oh, God, Swiftrunner could smell how tantalizing that chunk of meat was. His mouth began to water as his orbs watched Bernardo slowly, almost like he was stalking his prey. Swiftrunner let out a low growl as Bernardo came towards him.
"You all right, Swift?" He had noticed the wendigo acting rather odd lately. He hadn't said a word, not even to Elisabeth. A nervous twinge grew inside of him as Swiftrunner held his gaze, unmoving and ravenous. He cleared his throat and held out the deli wrapped chunk of lamb meat. "I got this for you. Don't know if you'll—AH!"
As soon as Swiftrunner smelt the lamb under the paper, he rushed forward and opened his maw wide, giving them a chance to glimpse the lower part of his jaw from under the skull. Snapping his jaws around the meat, his teeth also sunk into living flesh.
He tasted the sweet, metallic liquid on his tongue but forced himself not to bite any farther.
Bernardo was stunned, frozen at the sudden flash of movement. Pain pulsated at his arm. The hand between the two jaws twitched nervously. His skin started crawling as his felt the slimy, half-rotten tongue slide across, no, taste his flesh, his blood. Slowly, the sense in his hand came back, and his fingers let go of the lamb.
Forcing himself to let go, Swiftrunner hesitantly opened his jaw wide enough for Bernardo to retrieve his hand away. No sooner after that, he bolted away from the scene. Bernardo reacted immediately and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.
"Let m'help." Sweden hurried over and tied the kerchief around the wound tight. "Jag är ledsen," he muttered as Bernardo flinched.
"I hope this-a won't get infected. Who knows what kind of bacteria are in those teeth of his." Blood still continued to flow out of the bite. The pain made him think that cutting his own hand off would've hurt less than the pain that spread through his entire arm like poison.
"We should get it clean b'fore that."
"Damn right we should. Elisa…beth…" The girl was not in sight. Bernardo cursed. "She must've gone after him."
"She will b'all right," Sweden figured. He was hesitant to leave Sealand's body out in the open like this. Yet he knew he had no other choice. Grabbing Bernardo's unharmed wrist, he took long, rushed strides to the town. Bernardo had to jog just to keep up with the taller man.
Swiftrunner's teeth tore into the meat and devoured the chunk. His ravenous hunger eased gently as the last bit went down his gullet. Head hanging low, he set a hand to the skull. His long claws dug into the bone as the hunger still crept on. A surge of hopelessness washed over him. How long would he have to continue living with this never-ending hunger? After all that he could feed himself, till his stomach pained and threatened to split open, his hunger still refused to settle.
It was enough to bring him to tears.
How much longer would he have to suffer this curse?
Swiftrunner gasped as a branch snapped nearby him. He was about to look but stopped himself and quickly turned his back towards the person. "Go away," he commanded. Despite the threat, the person still moved towards him. His patient running thin, he shouted, "Get out of here you inssssolent…" He cut himself off as he gazed down at the young lady before him. He breathed out the last part of his sentence, "…brat…" before turning the rest of his body to face her. Shamefully, he growled in an apologetic manner.
Elisabeth stood there before the towering beast. She could hear his breath raspier and shakier than she had ever heard it before. In the fading light of the trees, their entire forms were lit up an orange and red hue. A gently gust of wind sung through the leaves. It twisted and wound its way through the grove and around them. The single curling, blonde strand bobbed gracefully as the wind tried to whisk it away. This amused Elisabeth, making her giggle.
Without hesitation, Elisabeth lifted up her hand to hold out towards Swiftrunner. She could feel his hot breath on the palm of her hand as it exhaled through the holes in the skull. He leant down and pressed the snout of the skull into her hand. Calmly, her thumb edged itself under. This caused Swiftrunner to jerk his head back. He let out a threatening hiss, "Leave it."
His action confused the girl. She didn't understand the importance of the mask. "Why is it so important?"
Swiftrunner was hesitant at first, unsure of whether or not to say. Truthfully, he wasn't even sure how she could understand, or how he could explain it. Still, he tried to. "The sssskull. It isss…" He silenced, collecting his thoughts together for another few moments. "Where asss my heart ssstill beatsss and keepsss me alive and the blood flowing through my veinssss, the sssskull holdsss the curssse together. It isss what keepssss me truly thriving. If it were to ssshatter… I am unsssure of how thissss proccessss worksss myssssself. I can live without my heart asss long asssss the ssskull remainssss in one pieccce."
"I want to see what's underneath that mask," she plainly said. Elisabeth adorned her kind words with a kind smile.
Swiftrunner couldn't help but chuckle at her words. "What liesss beneath isss unimportant."
"It's important to me. All I see is your harsh-set skull and those glowing eyes behind dark sockets. I don't see the real you. I just see the curse that you carry. Please, let me see the real you, behind the mask."
Swiftrunner had never been stunned by words before. He was more used to his words doing the same to others. Perhaps this girl meant more to him that he thought before. Steadily, he held out his head to Elisabeth with a calm purr. His heart thumped forcefully within his chest.
Once again, Elisabeth put her fingers underneath the skull. Gradually, she pulled at the weight of the skull. The piece wouldn't budge as if it were stuck. Elisabeth showed disappointment but felt her stomach flutter as Swiftrunner rested his large hands over hers. Holding the skull in place, he shifted his head around. He had had the thing on for so many hundreds of years that he wasn't sure if it would come off.
Suddenly, it slid out of its place.
A gasp escaped Elisabeth as she peered at his face. Swiftrunner set the skull aside but just stared into Elisabeth's face. He dare not say anything for fear of losing his voice to his nerves. Instead, a low growl came out, the chords in his throat shuddering visibly under the skin.
Most of Swiftrunner's real skull was visible, only having skin and a small layer of brown fuzz covering a few areas, mostly on the bottom half of his head. His upper jaw, snout, and the top of his head were all bare bone that shown. Yet, there was still a small patch of skin around his eyes, giving him the chance to open and close his eyes but not really needing to. Two holes behind the eyes showed where ears once where, moving and shifting to the sounds around. The top row of teeth stuck out without having any lips or skin to cover them. A small patch of blonde hair still grew from where it could, mostly on the back of the neck. Aside from that curl that was shared with his other.
Even so, his eyes stuck out most out of all his features. They glowed lightly in the evening hush, a beautiful, radiant violet hue. The irises themselves were a pristine lavender streaked with darker violets and lined ever so slightly with a bluish shade. They were, yet, so dry. Understanding his unnecessary blinking. Did it hurt when he blinked? She wondered.
As those large eyes stared at her, she managed to get herself lost within their beauty.
Elisabeth gently glided her fingers across the rough, grayish-tan bone that showed. She could feel how dry his exterior was, never really noticing it before. Swiftrunner felt the kindness emitting from his fingertips as they embraced his face. He blinked his eyes once, the eyelids seeming to quiver over the orbs.
"You are beautiful to me."
Swiftrunner's breath shuddered at the words. An odd feeling pulsed through him. Never had he been called this word or anything similar, he was unsure of how to respond. He looked away to collect the thoughts buzzing around in his skull. He cleared his throat and simply said, "Thank you."
He looked up at the sky. Dusk had fallen and the stars were already appearing in the sky. "We sssshould held back." Picking up the skull, he set it over his face once more, retaining the look of a fearsome creature once more. He adjusted it patiently to make it comfortable once more.
She nodded, still holding that wide smile. That beautiful smile. Only Elisabeth would know the true being within. Carefully, he picked her up and set the girl upon his shoulder. Thus he began the long stride back to the camp. Through these fleeting moments he got to spend with Elisabeth, he felt calm and at peace.
Never once did his horrendous hunger bother him when she was with him to occupy his mind.
Bernardo swore several more times as he readjusted the bandage that was wrapped around his wrist. The bites still throbbed dully, unable to be stitched shut. Without the proper medical tools, he could've either waited for them to heal on their own and stop bleeding or they could cauterize the bites.
So Sweden took a knife, stuck it into the fire to heat up, and then proceeded to close the wounds up. Five times this had to be done. It was one of the most painful experiences of Bernardo's life. Luckily, they were able to apply some soothing gel a store had in town. Run down and ghetto as all fuck, as Bernardo put it, but a store nonetheless.
"Nah, you stay away from-a me," he said harshly as the wendigo and girl rejoined them.
Swiftrunner narrowed his gaze. "I cannot help that my hunger isss overpowering. I ssstill apologize for harming you."
"Bah." Swiftrunner knew the man well enough. Even though he seemed harsh and threatening, he still accepted the apology. Or else he'd have bullets riddling his skeleton.
"How far until we get to where you are heading, Mr. Sweden?" Elisabeth wondered.
"Not far now." He looked to the body lying next to him. "Not long now…"
A soft hand rested itself on a blonde man's back. The younger man glanced at the older with brown irises. He acknowledged and accepted the comfort he was given, surely needing it. "Don't you worry, Finny," the man assured with a wide smile. The smiled itself was forced, but he knew someone had to be the one to pool them together when they lost hope. "Sweden will be back. Come on, it's Sweden we are talking about here!"
"He does have good point," Iceland piped up. He pulled his legs closer to his chest in the cold air. Light snow littered the ground around the house as it had slowly drained to the end of February. His puffin was nestled comfortably under his arms.
Norway nodded in agreement but said nothing.
"I guess you are right," Finland admitted. A stir from under his jacket forced him to adjust his posture. His eyes stared off into the southern distance. His heart ached ever since Sweden and Sealand were captured. Deep within he knew they would return, but he couldn't shoo away the lingering feeling that something was wrong. He yearned to be held by Sweden's strong arms again. For him to hug Sealand and keep him close and protected. He smiled lightly at the thought. He wanted nothing more than for his little family to be together again.
As the hours passed, they stayed under the roof they had called home for the time being. Furniture still adorned the small home and it was big enough to accommodate for everyone. They were all thankful that the house had a fireplace. Germany was really cold this time of year.
Iceland lifted his head to the window once again. They hadn't stopped looking, waiting, and watching since. Squinting, he spotted a large dot in the distance. His eyes went wide. "Sweden." He stood up nearly knocking over his chair in the process. "It's Sweden!"
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed to the window.
"Is it really him?"
"How can you be so sure?"
"I just know, ok?"
"What do we wait for? Let's greet him!"
They each couldn't get out the door fast enough. Finland was the fastest of them all, racing with his arms outstretched wide. The smile on his face was wider than ever. His heart skipped with joy into his throat. Sure enough, Sweden's figure came into view, adorned by that dark blue overcoat over his. It was Sweden with someone else walking next to him.
He stopped, his breath catching hard in his throat. Sealand, he knew, wasn't that tall. He had seen it, and his eyes grew wide. "It… Can't be…"
"Hey, Finland, why'd you stop?" Denmark asked as the rest of them caught up to him. "Got yer feet frozen to the…"
Five feet from the group, Sweden stopped before them, eyes glistening with tears that refused to fall. "Tino… I… I couldn'…"
Finland's eyes overflowed with tears in an instant. He clenched a hand over his face. He refused to believe what he had seen. "No… No! Please tell me this isn't true!"
Bernardo walked over to the other three. "Perhaps we should give them their time," he whispered.
Denmark whispered back, "Yeah. Then you can tell us who you are."
Bernardo nodded and left the two to their mourning. He figured he'd get Elisabeth and Swiftrunner later. He didn't want to frighten them with his intimidating appearance.
Finland had slowly stepped closer. He lifted a shaky hand to remove the wrapping around the head little by little. Each inch he moved, he was praying he would wake up from this nightmare. Sealand's face was in full view. A sob escaped his throat and his knees went weak. He clung onto Sweden's coat and started crying into it.
The snow drifted down from the cloudy sky. It began to blanket the area around them. Why did it have to be Sealand? He was just a kid.
"They been out there a while," Norway muttered, gazing out the window for a quick moment.
"You really can't blame them," said Iceland, his arm crossed.
"No," the puffin resting atop his head started, "but ya can blame that bozo over there." He pointed a wing at Bernardo.
He growled at the rudeness of the feather-brain. "Shut your beak, you oversized pigeon."
This irked the bird, getting him to shout threateningly. "What did you call me?"
"Shut up, both o' you," Denmark asserted. He leant back in his chair again, crossing a leg over the other. "Now, what's a wendigo?"
"Idiot," Norway shot at him. "Ignore him. How can we trust you after what you just said?"
Even with the persistence, Bernardo answered anyway. "A wendigo is thought of variously as a malevolent cannibalistic spirit that-a could possess humans or a monster that humans could physically transform into. Anyone who has indulged in the act of cannibalism is in particular risk of this psychosis. It is a creature of Canadian and Native American legend.
"As for-a trusting me, I want nothing more than to watch my damn brother and his allies fall in flames. The three of us are already considered traitors. There would-a be no use returning to them unless we want to be killed." Bernardo held the rifle in front of him, the butt of the gun sitting against the hardwood floor. "I can offer this as a gift. It's Russian, and I have-a no use for it."
Denmark took the rifle from Bernardo and looked it over. He took out the magazine and it held six distinct bullets. "It won't be easy, but I can get more ammunition for it." He held it to his shoulder and peered through the scope. "An SVD. It looks real old."
"Should be," Bernardo plainly stated. "It is in well condition. We all see it to take care of our weapons."
A clearing of the throat caught their attentions. Finland had his head poked into the house. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot. "Um… Would you all like to say a few words?"
The eight of them gathered around the little grave that had been dug out in the snow-covered field. Sealand lay peacefully in the earth as his closed eyes looked up at the sky.
"Kid," Denmark said first. He sighed and down at his hands for a moment before back at Sealand. "You were… something else. You were pain in ass, but you were good kid."
Norway took over next. His usual expressionless face hinted sorrow as he kept his eyes on the kid. "You were a real nice nation to have been added to our family. You will be missed."
"I hated you telling me what to do," Iceland spoke slowly, forming his words carefully. His voice quivered and he couldn't stop a few tears from falling. "I even hated more how you thought you could be the boss over me. Even so, you were like a brother to me. I won't ever forget you."
Bernardo eyed the corpse sorrowfully. He nor Elisabeth said a single word. All they did was watch as the others started to fill the hole with cold dirt.
Swiftrunner cooed in his fierce tone as he began to speak, "We will assssure that your death wasss not in vain."
It took several moments for everyone to find their voices again through the sniffling, sobs, and tears. Finland was still crying, clinging to Sweden as tight as he could to where his knuckles started turning white. Sweden was silently mourning the loss as the hot tears burning his eyes rolled down his cheeks. None of them ever thought they'd lose the kid. It was so unfair how nature and evil had taken its course to steal this innocent soul away.
Out of irritating habit, Bernardo tugged at the wrap around his wrist to adjust it more comfortably. A heavy sigh escaped his lips before he asked, "What do you want to do?"
"Got any plans of your own?" Iceland asked, brushing a lock of snow white hair out of his face.
Bernardo shrugged, stuffing his freezing hands into his thin pockets. He really needed to find a warmer pair of gloves for this time of year. "As I said before, my only plans include doing our part to get-a them to fall. I will not rest until he and the others are dead."
The five Nordics exchanged glances between each other. Silently, they all decided on what they were going to do. "We will aid you 'n doin' this," said Sweden.
"That is good to hear." Bernardo smiled. He withdrew his hands from his packets and began to sign as he spoke. "Ok, here are the ideas I have for a resistance…"
Many miles away, Reinhard went for a walk to stretch his legs. The strong smell of smoke filled the air as it came up from the chimneys of the crematory. Tools struck the hard earth around him as some of the prisoners dug graves while others dug just to keep busy and tire them.
He smiled to himself at the progress they had made.
"Reinhard!"
Confused, he turned on his heels and quickly made an audible noise of shock at what he saw. Third-degree burns covered any exposed skin that Cesare possessed. These burns combined with the anger on Cesare's face gave off a frightening look. "Holy shit! Vat-"
With a gloved hand, Cesare grabbed the collar of Reinhard's uniform and pulled him down to his height. "Find my traitorous brother and kill him! No. Bring him to me. I'll deal with him myself. Take however many men you desire, just get him to me!"
Cesare stormed off without another word. Puzzled, Reinhard went to look for someone who knew what was going on.
"Bernardo blew up the entire base," Edward explained. Each of them around Reinhard was covered in soot, burns, or both. Their usual attire was charred and now sported tears and holes. Hair was singed down to the skin were patches showed up missing on several of them.
Julia's scowl deepened, arms crossed over her chest in fury. "That coward deserves to die for what he did to my dress!"
Reinhard mentally rolled his eyes at the comment. A feeling in the back of his mind bothered him. Finally, he took notice at something he had overlooked and wondered how he could have. "Vadim," he said with a light tone.
Heinrich cleared his throat for a moment. The Austrian counterpart glanced quickly at him before looking back out the window. He watched as a small flock of sparrows flew swiftly by, beating their small wings to stay aloft. He played the memories over again through his head for a third time, reviewing all that he had seen in a moment's glance. Slowly, he opened his mouth and spoke. "I witnessed him dispose of the younger Italian, but the last I saw was the wendigo running at him. Even if we tried to help, there would've been nothing we could've done. Bullets don't seem to affect the thing and we have no idea how to kill it otherwise." As the silence settled around the ground, Heinrich added a slow, "I'm sorry, Reinhard," before walking out of the room and back to the duties around Auschwitz.
A pain struck Reinhard in his chest, stopping his heart momentarily.
Octave rubbed the back of his neck at the uneasy tension that had settled. Gathering his voice, he said, "Reinha—"
Reinhard snapped fiercely at the sound of the letters. "Shut up!" Drawing his gun, he pointed it at the Frenchman who jumped back in surprise and fear. Reinhard gripped the trigger but caught himself a second before pulling it. Feeling his anger flare up inside of him like a thousand raging hornets, he stormed out, the tail of his coat the last they saw of him for the day.
Octave's muscles tightened up at the sound of several shots firing off not long after followed by a short scream before it was cut off as sudden as it sounded.
Sporting a look of confusion, Nathan eyed all the others' faces, taking in their individual expressions. They seemed just as confused as him. "I had no idea they were together." He realized the small tone of spite in his voice as he spoke, but if anyone had noticed, they showed no sign of it.
"Heinrich, Adolf, and I were the only ones who knew, ahru," said Ying as he straightened out his new robes. These were more comfortable than the ones that got scorched, but they wrinkled rather easily. He was glad these were only temporary. He hated to get them filthier than they already were. "Even Cesare was clueless about it."
"Speaking of the little noodle," Edward said in a contemplative tone. He rubbed the pad of his thumb against his chin as he stared up at the ceiling. "Methinks that he has no idea what he be doing. To me he seems as vulnerable as a fish out of water." He was cautious with his words, unsure of what the others thought of this new subject.
Shinobu eyed the pirate suspiciously. His yellow eyes narrowed as Edward locked eyes with him, a little smirk pulled at his lips. "What are you getting at?"
Ignoring the Japanese, he broke eye contact to focus on the others. "No one has anything to say?"
Julia was the first to speak. "He doesn't at all. So we got the camps up and running. That's the biggest achievement he's made."
"He doesn't know how to run anything this big," Nathan growled. "Maybe he had his time in the mafia, but he's never handled anything bigger than that. Even with us, he's making no sense of this. Cesare doesn't even have a single idea on what to do next. All he's doing is rampaging the streets and collecting or killing people. He has no clue what to do after that's done. I haven't even gotten the chance to go back to my country because I can't trust any of the pilots. Besides that, we don't have the fuel for a jet."
Even with his earlier suspicion, Shinobu nodded in silent agreement but refrained from speaking.
"I think," Ying began, "that it is time to take the matter into our own hand."
"He's no stronger than each of us individually," Hernan observed with thought. "Our combined strength will be able to take him over quite easily."
"However," Edward spoke again, "do we kill him now and leave him for the vultures or do we wait?"
As they thought of their own opinions, a sly smirk came across Julia's thin lips. "I know exactly what we should do."