Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia
Warning: This chapter will contain war themes, description of death, violence and blood.
Part 2 of this chapter will be posted shortly after this one, be warned the next one is heavy on the angst and feels.
It was the early hours of the morning and the sun had yet to rise, it was a moonless sky making the area covered by the dark shadow of night. Australia found himself on the boat's deck, leaning against the railings whilst cleaning the bayonet from his rifle. The gentle waves of the ocean rocked the boat side to side gently, making standing still just a little difficult. His hands were shaking slightly, but not from fear, even though he was slightly tense as he was about to enter his battle, he was excited beyond the point of describing. This was it, the day he and his brother had been waiting for ever since the news broadcast announced the beginning of the war.
Soon he was greeted by the feeling of a nation's presence beside him. A smiling New Zealand joined him leaning against the railings.
"There you are," Australia announced and patted his brother on the shoulder fondly, "I've been wondering when you'd show up. Thought you'd sleep straight through it"
"Like I would miss this," New Zealand smiled, "What are you doing over here? We should be arriving soon"
"Just wanted to get some air before we land," Australia said.
New Zealand seemed to understand the hidden words that his brother didn't express, he felt it too.
"I know, it's our first battle and all. It's only natural to be a bit nervous. Besides, everyone back home will be watching us."
"Thanks Zea, that makes me feel so much better" Australia said sarcastically, but he smiled nonetheless. "We'll show 'em what we're made of. They'll know not to mess with us."
New Zealand laughed good-heartedly, it was the outcome they were hoping for. To carve out their names so they meant something, they didn't want to just be known as the small nations at the bottom of the world.
"Hey bro, I've been thinking of a name for us and-"
"Please don't tell me it has anything to do with bloody sheep" Australia interrupted.
He rolled his eyes at the thought of the other nations associating them with the woolly animal. His brother seriously has a dangerous obsession with sheep, ever since he was a little kid.
"No! And don't interrupt me. Trust you to think that the only thing on my mind is sheep, I do like other animals you know"
"Yeah the kiwi bird you carry around with you all the time,"
"Would you just let me finish?!" New Zealand glared in annoyance while his brother just laughed. He waited until his brother had finished making fun of him, so he could speak again.
"As I was saying, I have been thinking of a name for us to be known as. I was thinking of the name 'Anzac' what do you think?"
Australia watched as his brother turned to him with a hopeful smile as he patiently waited to hear his opinion on the name. While it did have a good ring to it, Australia had no idea what it stood for, for all he knew it could have been a code word for sheep.
New Zealand must have understood what his blank expression translated to. So he sighed before explaining in detail.
"It stands for 'Australian and New Zealand Army Corp'. I figured that it would be easier to say then the full version"
"Anzac," Australia tested out the word. He gave his nod of approval and his brother beamed at the acceptance of his idea.
"I like it. Just think, everyone will be talking about how great the Anzac's performed at Gallipoli. The other nations have to recognise us after this" Australia smiled.
New Zealand laughed along with Australia as they embraced the new name. The shadowed outline of land began to make itself known in the distance.
"Look, we're here," announced New Zealand. The glimmer of sunlight had just started to break through the night sky, it made it easier to see the beach they would be landing at.
"This is it Zea," Australia stated, "You ready?"
"Let's give them hell," New Zealand nodded, "Together, as the Anzacs"
The two brothers shook hands, a silent promise to one another, to have each other's backs.
Australia and New Zealand made their way over to the end of the boat and joined some of their men in the tiny life boats. It was a tight fit, it was thirty men to one life boat but it wasn't a far journey to shore. As soon as the boats were loaded they set course for the beach.
It was eerily quiet, the only sound that could be heard was the water, as it carried the boats to shore. There wasn't even a breeze in the air, everything was still. Something about that made Australia feel a little unsettled. He tightened his grip on his rifle.
'Don't freeze,' Was the thought that Australia had repeated to himself in his head since he picked up his rifle. He never had the best of experiences with using guns, and it often led to him freezing up in fear and letting down the people that needed him. It happened at the gold rush rebellion and it happened with Ned Kelly. He couldn't do that now, he couldn't afford it.
"Aus," New Zealand's hushed voice broke Australia out of his thoughts. "Something isn't right"
"What do you mean?" Australia asked.
He turned to face the sudden paled and ghost white face of his little brother, whose eyes never left the cliff face and beach.
"You alright mate?"
New Zealand almost looked like he was going to be sick. This had Australia concerned. He doesn't remember a time when the Kiwi looked this apprehensive.
"The beach" New Zealand stated. His green eyes continued to scan every inch of the cliff face. "It's different from the ones on the maps and photos that dad showed us"
After hearing his brother's explanation Australia tore his identical green eyes away from his brother's face to search the cliffs for himself. A spark of anxiety seemed to only fuel the unsettlement he had felt earlier, and his heart felt like it had dropped into his stomach.
New Zealand was right.
This beach looked nothing like England had showed them. But he glanced back at his brother, New Zealand's worried eyes turned to him asking if Australia had seen it too. Australia tried to reassure his younger brother with a tight smile, they were probably just so nervous that they were second guessing themselves.
Yeah that was it. Nothing more than their minds playing tricks on them just because they were nervous.
"The maps are probably outdated anyway," Australia reasoned, "Previous fighting could have shifted the rocks and stuff"
The life boats had stopped, they went as far as they could go, they would just have to walk through the ankle-deep water until they reached the shore.
"You're probably right" New Zealand agreed, although he still looked just as unsettled as Australia.
Once they had climbed out of the life boat they watched as it turned around to go a collect the other troops still on the transport ships. Australia and New Zealand trudged through the shallow salty sea, side by side as they approached the beach
"But if the rocks had been shifted than it would be small changes," New Zealand observed, "the whole height and shape of the cliffs are different."
Australia never got the chance to reply, because as soon as he and New Zealand's feet left the water and stepped onto the beach of Turkey's home the silence was shattered. The deafening sounds of rifle cracks sounded in the air as bullets and gun fire started to rain down on them.
That's when Australia froze. This scene was different from every other time he did freez, but at the same time, it was all too familiar. Blood was mixed with the ocean's water and it painted the sand. The scent of death and gun power hung heavy over the area. Never in his life had Australia ever seen death on a level like this before, this was a massacre.
He could hear the sounds of his and New Zealand's people scream and cry out as they were shot down on the beach, while some were shot while they were still in the life boats. The pain that he felt of his people dying was agonising, the pain had exploded in his chest. The familiar feeling of constant stabbing had flared, yet this time around it was so much more intense. It was like he was reliving a nightmare, it was like he was back in that barricade as a child watching as his people died in the rebellion.
He was ripped back into reality when he was pushed to the ground and felt a weight on top of him. He saw the pained and panic-stricken face of his brother. New Zealand had pushed him out of the way of the bullets shooting at them.
"What the hell are you doing?! We need to move!" New Zealand had to shout to be heard over the gun shots.
Australia didn't respond, he was still trying to get those memories out of his head, instead he opted in nodding to show he acknowledged what his brother said. He pushed those thoughts away, he had more pressing matters to worry about. His eyes scanned over the area, he spotted the cliffs that overhung the area. They couldn't stay on the beach, they would only just be slaughtered. They needed to get on level playing field with Turkey and his soldiers, they needed to somehow tip the scales evenly again.
"We can't stay here, we're sitting ducks," Australia told New Zealand. Australia then raised his voice to shout to his people, "Get off the beach! Get up to the top of the hill!"
New Zealand shouted the exact same order to his people, it was the best chance they would get for surviving any longer, their only chance.
Australia and New Zealand picked themselves up off the ground and began to run like hell to the cover of the cliffs. They were able to provide some cover for a short while. They had to jump over the fallen and bloody bodies of their people, dodge the bullets and as well as deal with the crippling pain that would resurface every couple of minutes.
The sands on the beach were no longer a golden colour, but now stained with a dark crimson red. An image that would forever be burnt in the back of their minds. It was the blood of the Anzacs, the blood of their people.
Australia and New Zealand pressed their backs firmly and as closely to the cliffs as they could get, just to escape the constant bombardment of enemy fire.
"Pass me the map for a moment would ya?" Australia asked through his heavy panting.
New Zealand fumbled, his hands shaking as he searched his pockets. When he had found the crinkled map, he gave it to Australia. The older nation unfolded it and began to quickly study it.
"This is the wrong beach," Australia confirmed, "We're a mile up north then where we're supposed to be."
New Zealand swore loudly. "We walked straight into an ambush"
"C'mon we need to get up there. We need to help them hold it" Australia said wearily. He watched as some of the life boats retreated back filled to the brim with the injured and dead as they sought out medical attention.
It was a difficult process trying to scale the hill. It was unlevel and incredibly steep. It was hard to get a good hold to pull oneself up. Australia was just thankful for all of the years he spent climbing rocks when he was younger, for it really helped. And not that he would ever admit, but all of those push ups in training they were forced to do, actually really did help with the core strength required to climb the cliffs.
They had just reached the top when they heard a strange noise, it sounded like it was growing louder, almost like it was approaching them. Australia looked up, he squinted through the sun's light.
"Get down!"
Australia and New Zealand, along with several others who just climbed up the hillside, dived to the ground as an explosion sounded only a few metres from where they were. Several blood curdling screams pierced the air as soldiers went hurtling back from the force of the impact. Australia and New Zealand's arms reached up to cover their heads from the rocks and shrapnel that went flying from the impact.
"What the hell was that?" Australia looked up and removed his arms from his head.
"They are starting to shell us" New Zealand said through gritted teeth as he hissed in pain. The group that had been climbing near them that had perished in the impact, had belonged to him.
"Great," Australia muttered sarcastically, "Because the guns weren't enough already"
They heard gun shots further down the hill where their people were still trying to climb. There were two Turkish dug outs with snipers inside firing down the cliffs, aiming to hit the unsuspecting targets.
"There's no way that they'd be able to get around them," New Zealand observed, "And we won't be able to warn them in time"
"I'll take the one on the right, if you take the one on the left?" Australia suggested. They were the only ones who could help, the others that had made it onto the hill were already fighting into hand-to-hand combat trying to push the Turks back as they got started on digging out a trench.
"Alright, just don't freeze up again," New Zealand agreed and he started to head over to the left sided Turkish dug out, "I won't be able to pull you out of it if you do. And remember to disable the machine gun"
Australia knew he didn't have time to waste, his people were almost up the hill and about to face their demise if Australia didn't do something about it.
He remained low as he tried to keep his footsteps silent. He gripped his rifle tightly in his hands, it was ready and loaded. He kept his breathing even as his heart raced, adrenaline and determination was the only thing keeping him standing upright. Otherwise he would have given in and succumbed to the pain earlier.
He jumped down into the small dug out where two Turkish soldiers were. Australia knocked the one closest to the ground, the man had crashed into the sand bags that concealed their placement. Australia aimed his rifle at the soldier that was manning the gun, he was about to pull the trigger, but he paused.
The soldier he was about to kill looked so young, only a couple of years older than Australia looked. He never killed anyone before, not directly anyway. His hesitance was a mistake however, the soldier that he had knocked to the ground had managed to retrieve his own rifle and he managed to pull the trigger, shakily aiming for the Australian nation.
The bullet, somehow miraculously, only grazed Australia's shoulder. This time Australia wasted no time in pulling the trigger. All he seemed to be able to hear was the single shot that he had fired from his gun, he watched as it made impact with the man. The other soldier tried to advance on Australia with his bayonet drawn. Australia pulled the trigger once more, a fatal hit.
Australia stood rooted to the ground, the grip he had on his rifle had loosened. His eyes never left the fallen and bleeding bodies before him.
A feeling of remorse filled him, he didn't want to kill them, they were still so young. But they were going to kill his people, the ones a personification was always sworn to protect. England's stories he'd listen to as a child never mentioned anything like this.
"What'd we get ourselves into?" Australia whispered. His pained eyes never left the bodies. The first people he had ever killed.
Ahh yes the 25th of April 1915, the day that the Anzacs had landed on the shores of Gallipoli. The Anzacs left the transport boats at around 4 am so it was still quite dark when they landed. As soon as they did they came under enemy fire. The Australian and New Zealand soldiers had to get to the top of the hill so they could get started on digging trenches and try to gain some ground.
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