Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia
Australia and New Zealand arrived in Egypt on the first transport boat from their home. They were each dressed in their own respective uniforms with excited grins lighting up their faces, they blended perfectly amongst their people who had also dawned a similar outlook to the announcement of war. The training camp was bustling with English and Canadian soldiers setting up the camp or attending training sessions.
The two personifications ignored the stares they were given from their people, their teenaged appearance stuck out compared to some of the older looking crowd. This would be their first time in a war of this capacity…well the first time in general. But that wouldn't dampen their spirits, after all the whole point of training was to learn to use the skills they would be taught onto the battlefield.
"Aren't you hot?" New Zealand asked his brother. The younger of the two had already begun to sweat, as he wasn't used to such hot climates, and he thought Australia's home was bad. Whereas, Australia just shrugged it off.
"Nah not really, it's a bit warm but it's similar to my home"
New Zealand was about to answer, but his voice stopped silent when they felt the presence of a familiar nation approach. They glanced through the crowds of their people and caught a glimpse of familiar blonde hair and stern green eyes. Their dad.
"Alright men, stand to attention!" England had ordered Australia and New Zealand's people. They didn't move and instead opted for continuing their conversations in favour of listening to the Englishman.
England rolled his eyes, it was as if he was still talking to Australia when the young nation wouldn't listen.
"If you lot don't start listening to orders you will be placed up on a charge" England warned. As if like magic, the soldiers started to stand in a line formation.
Australia couldn't help but smile slightly. It would be the first time he and New Zealand would have seen their father in over ten years, so it was oddly comforting to know that England still hadn't changed. He was still just as authoritative as before. He looked just as he did when he left, instead of his more fancier clothing he now wore a dark green military uniform.
He stood next to his younger brother near the end of the line. They watched as England began to walk in front of their people inspecting to see what he had to work with, his own two officers trailing after him. The closer England got to where he and New Zealand were the more nervous he got, they just so happened to neglect to tell England that they had enlisted to fight, as far as their dad knew they were still back home. He glanced over to his brother and he could tell that the kiwi was just as nervous as he was. New Zealand was always the good child that remained responsible and followed the rules, so he wasn't too keen on the idea about omitting the fact that they were enlisting.
England eventually paused and stood right in front of two people that looked startling familiar. He swore he had a mini heart attack when he recognised the two nations in front of him. Australia and New Zealand, oblivious to England's internal thoughts, smiled up at him.
"G'day dad!" Australia smiled. However, his smile soon turned nervous once England's shocked expression turned into a glare through narrowed eyes that he sent both of the young nations.
England then turned around to speak to the two British officers standing behind him.
"Show the rest of the men to where they will be setting up, then send them to start their training," England instructed with authority. Then he turned back to face his two sons, "You two will accompany me in my tent. Now!"
With the tone that England had used Australia knew there was little room for argument. Australia mentally groaned, maybe not telling their father about their enlistment wasn't such a good idea. After all, the older nation looked pretty ticked off and he used the same tone he would always use whenever Australia was about to be scolded or lectured about something when he was little. Australia and New Zealand followed their dad into his designated tent.
It was larger than any of the soldiers or even the officer's tents. Inside the tent sat a glossy wooden table with a large map spread out on top of it, along with several smaller maps of Europe and the Middle East that were scattered on the desk.
"What in the queen's name are you two bloody doing here?!" England demanded with his arms folded, he was clearly not impressed by their sudden appearance.
Australia and New Zealand stood on the opposite of the table to face their father.
"We enlisted," Australia explained with a casual grin. He swore he could see England's eye twitch, he had to bite back a snicker at seeing the older nation get so easily irritated.
"I can see that, I'm not blind," England said, "I meant what are you two doing here, why did you enlist?"
"Your letter said you needed help with the war," New Zealand clarified, "And you always told us that an army performs best with their personification"
He did not want to make their father anymore irritated like Australia tried to do, no matter how amusing it was even though he would never admit it.
"I asked for your men to fight, not you two," England defended himself, "You two are barely even one hundred years old yet, you are still children that look barely over sixteen"
Australia and New Zealand both winced as England's words rang out, echoing in their mind. Children. That seemed to be what everyone thought of them, that's why they needed to join, they needed to prove that their names, that they aren't children.
"You always told us that you used to fight, and you were younger than us. So we wanna help you" Australia reasoned.
He and his younger brother were already set in stone about their decision, they wanted to fight and they weren't going to change their mind on their reasons for doing so. Australia never told New Zealand, but he also had another reason for wanting to join the war, he wanted to keep his promise he had made years ago to be there for his people. He wasn't just going to sit at home while they faced everything by themselves, he wasn't going to sit by like he had done before.
England sighed and rubbed his face. While he was touched by their eagerness to help him, he pushed those feelings aside. He knew he would regret telling his two children those stories about his battles and wars that he had won. They were still very young at the time, so he had left out the graphic descriptions of the death and pain. At the time the stories seemed harmless enough to tell them, they enjoyed listening to them during their history lessons. But never did he think that they would be so eager to join in this war, it was if their innocence led them to believe this was a game, something to take lightly. If he had known that they would have this outlook and enthusiasm, he never would have told those stories. They were still so young, so innocent. He wanted to keep them that way, he didn't want them to have to experience death and war like he had.
"This isn't some game, this is war something you two lack experience in. Do you even know what this war is even over?" England sighed once more, the exhaustion of the past few late nights preparing already showing, "Go back home, you'll be safe there and I'll contact you once the war is over."
Australia and New Zealand frowned. There was no way they were going back home, they had already come so far.
"But dad, you're letting Canada fight," New Zealand stated unfairly, "Besides, we want to stand by our people"
"I know Canada is a strong fighter and he has experience in warfare. You have no experience, and you barely even know the nations that you would be fighting, you have no idea what you would be up against. You will be killed"
England remembered the time when Canada was younger and had wanted to fight alongside England during America's revolutionary war. He was hesitant to let the Canadian personification fight then too. He didn't want to fight against his little brother so he couldn't imagine how Canada would feel fighting his twin But Canada had learnt quickly, followed the rules and performed with remarkable skill. Yet he somehow doubted that his young sons would follow and carry out his orders so obediently, New Zealand would, he was always the better behaved, but Australia was another story.
"Then you could train us," Australia reasoned.
"When I left you two, it was to grant you a little bit of independence and I prayed that it would teach you some responsibility," England sighed, "Clearly, you two needed to be taught common sense, because you are not ready to fight in a battle let alone a full war"
However, no matter how much the two Oceanic brother seemed to argue their case, their dad seemed to stubbornly stand his ground. Australia glanced over to New Zealand who seemed to give his older brother a subtle nod of the head. An innocent grin lit up Australia's face. It was time to bring out their secret weapon.
"You know, we were expecting you to think this way. Which is why we have to agree with ya" Australia said.
"Well I'm glad you two are finally seeing sense. I can arrange for your transport back home and-"
"Which is why, we decided that we could always enlist in France if you tried to send us home" Australia finished with a smile to match New Zealand's. England stopped his rambling mid-sentence, so his mind could actually process what he heard, at least he hoped he thought he had heard.
Of course, Australia and his brother weren't actually going to enlist in France. As one of the main reasons for them wanting to fight was to stand by their people.
But they had lived with England for a very long time and France himself had a habit of annoying their father to no end so they had quietly observed to two nation's interactions. The two European nations seemed to have a major rivalry between them. Even back in Australia's younger years when his dad had gotten word that that France intended to sail to the Western and unoccupied area of Australia he had sent some of his people down there just before France could arrive.
So Australia and New Zealand had thought that if they're dad said no, then what better way than to appeal to that part of England that could barely stand France.
"You don't even know French!"
"Yeah we do," New Zealand stated, "Aunty Ireland taught us that one time you made her babysit us"
It seemed like their plan was working. England's eye twitched and he suddenly felt the need to hit his head against the desk next to him. Australia grinned, a smug look flashed in his eyes, he knew his dad was going to cave.
"of course she bloody did," England muttered darkly. It seemed he would need to have a chat to his dear older sister. It seemed that she was going out of her way to annoy him these days.
England let out an defeated sigh and sank down to one of the chairs near the desk, he rubbed his eyes, relishing the relief that it brought from the tiredness they had felt.
"Fine," England reluctantly agreed. He still saw Australia and New Zealand as his little nations, he still felt the need to protect them. Scratch that, they are still little nations, too young to know about death and chaos that would surely follow in the wake of war.
Australia mentally cheered in his head, while New Zealand's smile grew wider.
"But your training will be conducted by Canada and myself," England stated firmly as he gestured to Canada standing next to the two brothers. Australia and New Zealand both jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of the Canadian, they felt a bit guilty for not noticing him enter the tent.
"You are dismissed, Canada will join you outside shortly." England said.
Australia followed his younger brother out of their father's tent to leave the two older nations to talk in peace about the battle strategies on the front line.
XxxxXxxx
Australia groaned as he was thrown to the ground after a swift knee to the stomach, and it wasn't long before New Zealand landed next to him who had held his side in pain. They had been training with Canada for hand-to-hand combat for the past week, needless to say it hadn't been going well.
"You're getting better eh," Canada commented while holding a hand out them as he helped them stand, "You lasted longer than last time."
Australia rolled his shoulders, hearing the joints pop and crack as they set back into place. This was their fifth failure out of six attempts, although he was sure that Canada had let them win that one time because he felt bad. As quiet as he was Canada had some pretty good moves, and he barely even seemed to be working up a sweat.
Whereas, Australia and New Zealand were both panting and sweaty from the strenuous training session.
"I thought you said you wrestled crocodiles all the time?" New Zealand panted. He tried stretching out the muscles in his side, the bruising on his skin would soon fade, but the one on his and his brother's ego wouldn't for a while.
"Well the crocs don't normally punch back" Australia defended himself as he bickered with his brother.
"I think that will be all for today, since England's not around you can have the rest of the afternoon off" Canada smiled kindly. While he did like spending time with his family he had to attend a meeting with his boss about the latest advancements towards the western front in Europe.
Australia and New Zealand seemed to moan in relief at the prospect of an early finish. Canada had been less hardcore on their training that England had been, that was something that Australia was ever grateful for. It was so embarrassing when he and New Zealand had to train hand-to-hand combat with their dad. It seemed luck was not on their side during that training session because a group of their soldiers were walking past at that exact moment to see the English nation easily defeat the other two nations. Australia's face was as crimson from embarrassment that it put the red soil in the outback to shame.
Speaking of England, they had rarely seen him except for the occasional training session and relay of orders. Canada had explained before that England was under a lot of stress and fighting in multiple war fronts. The war had already commenced yet Australia and New Zealand were still buzzing with anticipation until it was their turn to join in.
While Canada had already left to attend his meeting New Zealand had soon left Australia to go and do his own thing, leaving Australia to entertain himself. Don't get him wrong, the two brothers were extremely close, as they normally spent most of their time together because of their homes being so close together, but they always did enjoy their own time once in a while. Besides, Australia would go crazy if he had to listen to his younger brother lecture him one more time about following the orders. Seriously, it was like his little brother was another England when their dad was away.
Australia sat down on the ground leaning his back against a rock, his muscles seemed to relax in relief at no longer training.
He held his hand out, outstretched to the patch of dried grass in front of him. He grinned when he felt the familiar texture of smooth scales slither up his arm. He pulled his arm back closer to himself so he could see the snake coil itself around his hand, it flicked it's tongue to familiarise itself with the person holding him. The poor little fella had stowed away on one of the transport ships, and it wasn't the only that had been found amongst the cargo, apparently a kangaroo had also been found as well. England had been ready to lecture him for hours about bringing such animals, even though Australia had insisted that he knew nothing about it. England had explained that this was not some sort of adventure, they needed to take their training more seriously before they headed out into battle.
Which hopefully would be soon, Australia didn't think they could take any more training, or the humiliation of the hand-to-hand combat training. It was the one thing that they couldn't seem to master, but with their lack of experience in dealing with other nations they found it difficult to predict what the nation would do. While Canada had assured them that they were getting better and improving, their real test would be against the enemy and trying to predict their moves and get the upper hand. Australia just hoped that their time to actually enter the battlefields would be soon, even New Zealand was getting fed up with all of the training, even if he tried to remain polite and reserved.
But it wasn't just him and New Zealand that had enough of training, they could also tell their people were getting tired of it. While he and his brother never personally trained with the British officers, they have heard all of the stories from their men. The officers trained hard and they expected obedience and discipline, and they often looked down on Australia's people in particular for their lack of respect to their authority.
Turning his attention back to the snake in his hand, Australia's face lit up with a mischievous gleam as an idea dawned on him. A way to get back at the British officers for looking down on his people and going way too harshly on them. A bit of redemption if you will. It wasn't mush but it was all he could do with the things that he had with him. Australia stood up, not caring that dust and dirt was still all over his uniform, and gently carried the snake in his hand as he walked over to the British officer's tent.
He stuck his head to peer inside and sure enough there was no one inside, no doubt all out with their training duties. At least no one will be around to see Australia.
"Alright mate, make sure you give 'em a good scare" Australia grinned as he knelt down to the ground just outside of the tent.
He let they snake slither away into the folds of the tent flaps. It would surely frighten anyone that stumbled upon the little fella, and if they were anything like their personification they would be terrified. The snake wasn't venomous, it was only a harmless tree snake, not that any of England's officers knew that.
Australia straightened up and an amused smile made its way to his face as he could already hear the frightened yelps when the British found the snake.
"That'll teach them not to mess with us," Australia spoke to himself.
"Stand to attention soldier!" A voice had appeared from behind Australia.
Australia casually turned around to see a British officer dressed in a clean and pressed uniform, his posture was straight and poised, forever formal compared to Australia's laid back casual look. The man's grey eyes were stern and filled with slight suspicion as he looked down at the cheerful Australian.
"G'day mate, can I help ya with something?"
"I ordered you to stand to attention, that means to salute your superiors," The man corrected with a thick British accent, "Judging by your abysmal manners and appearance I suspect that you are Australian"
Australia grinned, his white teeth showing that he decided to not take offence to what the man had said about him. In fact, it only fuelled the playful gleam that lit up his green eyes, he always liked messing with England's military officers. Australia almost felt sorry for the man about to be the latest source of entertainment for the Australian personification, almost. If only the man knew what he was getting himself into.
"Dead set mate! You hit the nail right on the head," Australia smiled, "Judging by your appearance you must be British. Too scared to get your uniform dirty? Or too busy barking orders?"
While Australia's smile remained the picture-perfect image of innocence that he had mastered over the years, he was doubling over in laughter inside at the man's expressions. The officer's face turned bright red in rage as he stumbled and tripped over his words to try and comeback at Australia's remark. He looked like he wanted to scream and shout at the Australian right there and then, but he tried to maintain his composure. Australia wondered how hard he'd have to try to see if he could make the man break it.
"Just what is your name soldier?" The man asked through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw.
"Jett Kirkland," Australia replied. It still took a bit of getting used to saying his human name out loud, "What's yours?"
"You will address me as Sir and nothing else," The man firmly stated.
"Kinky," Australia commented with a smirk knowing that this comment will have to push the man to snapping, "But sorry mate, I don't swing that way. But I'm not one to judge of course, it doesn't bother me"
Back when he was living with England, Australia had actually spent the first year thinking that his dad and France were a thing. Every time they saw each other they would get into some lover's tiff. But when Australia had asked England about it…well let's just say that England didn't take that question so well, the tray of tea the man had been carrying was shattered on the ground as he dropped it from pure shock at the question.
Australia let an amused grin rest on his face as he saw the man's face go crimson red, almost purple in pure anger and the officer glared down at Australia. Australia had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud. Australia saw the vein in the man's head almost look like it was going to burst. He snickered as he knew that the man was seriously questioning why he had approached Australia in the first place.
"I'll have you know that I graduated from my officer training with the highest of recommendations. I was even offered a position in her royal majesty's personal guards. But I took this job offer to make sure that people like you are taught obedience and are representing the empire with pride, so you better start treating me with respect soldier" The officer glared.
"Seems like bit of an ego issue to me mate," Australia chuckled, like this man could teach him to be well behaved, England has tried doing that for over fifty years now and so far, no luck.
"What is your purpose outside the officer's tent?" The man took a deep breath as he tried to ignore Australia's previous comment.
"Wouldn't you like to know"
Australia smirked when he saw the man's eye twitch. It seems like he had achieved his mission at breaking the man's composure.
"Well, since you like getting your uniform dirty you can join the rest of your lot training by the other tents."
Australia opened his mouth to reply, but before he could the man spoke again in a low and threatening tone.
"If you so much as utter another one of your remarks you will be up on a charge. It's my job to make sure you hooligans are disciplined and in top physical condition"
Australia rolled his eyes and let the man lead him away to where some of his and his brother's people are training. He supposed that he should probably do what the man says, if he got threatened with another charge he would have to sit through another lecture of England's. And his father was really stressed these days, which translated to a very short patience and temper.
"Join them and I will be keeping my eyes on you," The man shoved Australia's shoulder in the direction of the rest of the men. They were in a perfectly straight line performing a number of push-ups.
"Well at least it isn't hand-to-hand training," Australia muttered to himself.
Some of the Australian soldiers had seen the exchange between Australia and the British officer and how Australia was forced to join them, they sent him a sympathetic. Australia smiled in greeting back over at them, he couldn't wait to tell them about his prank on the British officers. Australia walked over to the back of the lines and started his share of push-ups next to a familiar face.
"He got you to huh?" New Zealand asked, glancing over at his brother and nodding his head in the direction on the British officer that had forced Australia to join in the training. His arms held a slight tremble, a sign that he had been doing this for a while before Australia arrived.
"Yeah, apparently he didn't appreciate our friendly discussion," Australia answered with a laugh, "How were you roped into doing this?"
"I can only imagine how friendly that conversation actually went," New Zealand stated with a roll of his eyes, "He saw me not doing any training and decided that I needed more training. He said that I have the build of a lamb! Can you believe that?"
Australia chuckled in amusement as he watched his normally gentle tempered brother glare hatefully at the officer that compared him to a sheep.
"Well I mean he's not wrong. Germany might mistake you for a sheep on the field"
"Shut up Aus!" New Zealand hissed out as he narrowed daggers at his older brother, "If my arms weren't so sore right now I would hit you"
Australia just laughed off his brother's threat. Soon the only sound was the thundering voice of the English officer shouting out corrections of their forms and posture. He would sometimes even make them hold their positions mid- push up to test their core strength. A few soldiers faltered and stumbled but their mates had helped them by diverting the officer's attention away while they took a short breather and to straighten themselves up, lest any more push ups were added to their training.
Australia's arms soon started to shake from exhaustion. His back had practically gone numb from the tense shoulders and the sun bearing down on his back through the thick material of his uniform shirt. It was pure torture! While Australia and New Zealand were able to hold out a little longer than their people to their nation status, the perks of a personification. But even then, they were starting to reach their limits. They had already drained a significant amount of their energy from their training with Canada that morning.
"Alright, that's enough!" The officer stated, "Now maybe some of you will think twice about being disobedient"
Once the order to stop their exercises had been spoken, collective groans of relief sounded out as the men collapsed to the ground to rest from their exhaustion. Australia and New Zealand both lay on the ground. Their arms stinging and screaming at the strenuous exercise. They must have done over one hundred push ups, it had felt like hours and hours of endless torture. Australia thought it was ridiculous, he doubted a push up would actually make much difference in battle, but right now all he wanted to do was sleep. His chest heaved as he struggled to regain his breath, he never did that much hardcore exercising in his life.
"Jett, Christian" Came the voice of their father as he approached, "There you two are, what are you laying about for? A meeting in my tent now!"
A quickly as England arrived he had left, already walking back to his tent. Australia and New Zealand groaned at the thought of movement.
"Ugh kill me now" Australia groaned as he pulled his heavy limps to stand himself up. He extended a hand to help pull his brother up.
"What do you think he wants?" New Zealand questioned.
"Dunno, but he sounds annoyed" Australia answered while cracking his back to allow feeling to return back to it, "as usual"
The both walked over to the tent to meet with their dad. Although, walked was a strong term. Their legs were not used to walking from being tensed in their position for many hours, they were sore and cramped from the training so they stumbled and had to place a hand on each other's shoulder to keep from falling.
They eventually limped over to England's tent and saw him sitting at the desk drinking a cup of tea. When he noticed their presence he stood up to join them at the table with the map still displayed on it. England looked exhausted, it seemed as if he had not slept in days, he no doubt just came back from the western front.
"I have conversed with Canada and while your training has gone satisfactory, my leader and myself think it's time that you will join officially in the war"
Despite their exhausted appearance, their eyes were a light with energy and smiles appeared on their faces. This was it! They are finally going to get the chances to prove themselves!
England, on the other hand didn't fail to notice their excitement either. He only wished they could've trained more. The war wasn't turning out how he originally expected and he already felt the never ending pain of his people's deaths. And he was about to let his two sons experience it without him to keep an eye on them. As a father he wished that they didn't have to, but as a nation he knew he had to let them go.
"Just remember that this is a war, not a game. You can't take this lightly. You have to use your training and work together, you can't afford to freeze in battle." England advised them, it was the last bit of advice he could give them. While he didn't doubt that Australia and New Zealand could handle themselves, but he still worried about them.
Australia had felt like the last part was directed at him, even if England didn't mean for it to. During their rifle training it had been hard for Australia, constant memories of times that a gun had been thrusted into his hands normally ended badly. But he was determined this time. He will stand by his people.
"No worries," Australia assured, pushing his insecurities aside, "She'll be right, so where are we going?"
England handed New Zealand a couple of photographs and flattened out a map on the table. Australia peered curiously over his brother's shoulder to look at the photos. England then spoke again.
"Tell me what you know about Gallipoli"
I am so sorry this is so long, but I figured since my last update was about 4 weeks overdue I figured that a long chapter will hopefully make up for it. I also didn't want to focus too much on the training chapter, but instead jump straight into Gallipoli.
So, an actual fact, the Australian soldiers were a nightmare for the British, they were undisciplined and always got into mischief. Which practically fits Australia perfectly. We didn't even salute the English officers very often, which you can imagine didn't go down so well.
I also like to think that England's older sister Ireland, would teach Australia and New Zealand French when they were children as she knows that it would annoy and irritate her younger brother to no end. And France actually did try to sail to a part of Western Australia to colonise (why they didn't try to do that in the first place I'll never know) but the British sent their people over there, even though they didn't want Western Australia because it was practically desert and had nothing seemingly of value, but they just didn't want France to be there. Although I did read in this book that France had a plan to try and invade Australia in his colonial years but their plan didn't work out (obvisiouly, but not sure why). But I won't ramble on about that right now.
So we all know what will happen in the next chapter. How will Australia and New Zealand fair in their baptism into fire. Will Australia freeze? And what other things do you think might happen to Australia when he is at Gallipoli? And before you ask, England doesn't know that they will end up at the wrong beach.