A.N. Hey guys I'm back! On a personal note, I went to my brother's dance thingy last week and had a blast! One of my friends dressed up really nicely and looked kinda like Sebastian from Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji and when I saw him and that registered I said, "Oh Bassy!"

So, I figured out my goal for this story and I intend on finishing it before the end of September at the latest. If I can get more chapters written up and ready I might upload more often during the summer. Yao's group is back in the forest. I think I got a bit evil in this chapter, as there is blood. You have your warning. And now, ONWARDS!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Lovino racked his brain trying to think of a way to contribute to the group. The four had entered the town Vash had mentioned and were welcomed in by the people living there. The townspeople didn't question anything about them and gave them shelter for the night. It was strange to Lovino that they weren't being questioned. They were four teenagers traveling through the country without anything other than each other and their weapons.

The brunette boy turned his attention back to the forest in which they had been walking. After another headache in the southern Hearts path, Matthew said that they should head towards Runorow, a large town of which Lovino knew, and find the voice. Vash had been wary of doing what the voice in Matthew's head told them to do, but he chose to keep his opinions to himself.

A few curses slipped from Lovino's mouth as he tripped over a rock and stumbled into Vash, who toppled over.

"Watch it!" Lovino snapped. Vash shoved the brunette off him and stood up saying, "You were the one to bump into me. You watch it."

Feeling his cheeks redden in embarrassment, Lovino picked himself up, and the two jogged to catch up to Yao and Matthew. The four traveled in silence for the most part unless someone needed to say something. Lovino had dropped to the back of the group and was fiddling with the hilt of his dagger, but tensed up when he heard a sound that stood out in the forest.

Everyone else kept walking, but Lovino froze in place and wrapped his hand around the hilt of his blade before catching up to the others. As he neared Vash, Lovino whispered quietly, "Am I hearing things or—"

"I heard it too." Vash stated simply. Looking at Matthew and Yao, Lovino could tell they were on guard as well. The sound was that of weapons and metal clinking together, which could only mean that there where hunters following the four.

Lovino kept his guard up but started thinking. There was no reason for hunters to be this deep in the forest, and even then only Diamonds was giving out rewards for turning in Jacks and Aces.

Without warning, an arrow flew past Lovino and embedded itself in the tree next to him. "Run!" Yao snapped, having started running with Matthew behind him. Lovino forced himself to move forward through the trees when a round of arrows shot at them. Weaving through the trees, Lovino tried to keep Vash and Yao in his sight. Matthew was the fastest as he already passed the others and was out of sight in the trees.

Lovino glanced over his shoulder and felt something drop in his gut. There were five of them. Five hunters and four unskilled kids with no idea of what to do. Pushing himself forward, Lovino hissed to Vash, "We can't run forever"

Between gasps for breath Vash said, "We need to fight back. Yao!"

The smaller brunette turned to look at the two behind him and yelled, "Look out!"

Spinning, Lovino saw that two of the hunters were right behind them and were about to drive their blades into Vash's back. Lovino forced himself forward and shoved Vash out of the way, confusing the hunters and directing their attention to him. Hands shaking, Lovino drew his dagger and took his fighting stance.

No sparring with Yao could prepare him for this. The first hunter shot forward and slammed a fist in Lovino's gut, making him double over. The next hunter, a dark skinned man, lunged forward with his blade and aimed it at Lovino. The brunette Ace felt his heart beat in his chest as he jumped out of the way, only to be attacked by the first hunter.

Lovino had dropped his dagger when he was punched and his hazel eyes scanned the forest floor for it while he clumsily dodged attacks that were directed at him. A glint on the ground caught Lovino's attention and he saw his dagger. Lunging for it, Lovino rolled on the ground and grabbed the knife. Just as the two hunters started to close in on Lovino, one arrow followed by another flew over his head and penetrated the chest of the dark skinned hunter, causing him to fall over. The other hunter glanced around, and Lovino took the chance to lunge at him and drive his dagger into the hunter's side.

Blood spurted from the wound as Lovino fell back onto the ground, and the man screamed in pain. Looking behind him, Lovino saw Vash kneeling on the ground where he had been pushed away from the fight.

"Thanks," Lovino said. Vash nodded and looked around, and then to the bleeding hunter he asked, "Where are the other three of you?"

The man tried to answer but coughed, and blood sprayed from his mouth, splattering Lovino. After another attempt, the man stopped moving, and his body relaxed. Vash pointed to the other hunter, who was struggling to get Vash's arrow out of his chest. Lovino approached him but stood far enough back that he couldn't be attacked and asked, "What was your plan of attack you snot faced piece of—"

Lovino was cut off by Vash, who had stepped forward and asked the same thing only without the swearing. The hunter looked up at the two boys and said roughly, "Why should I tell you?"

Vash glanced at Lovino and the brunette held his blood covered dagger up and said emotionlessly, "We can control whether you live or die. Either you answer and we'll leave you alive, or you don't and we'll kill you slowly."

Fear plastered itself on the man's face when he saw that Lovino wasn't joking.

"We were gonna surround ya but then you started runnin' an' we split. Me an' Rolv were gonna get you two and the others were gonna get the other two."

Lovino nodded, and Vash knelt down next to the man and placed one hand on his chest and the other on the arrow.

"Hold still," Vash said, and pulled the arrow from the hunter's chest. More blood came from the wound, but the hunter didn't seem to care. He only looked confused as Lovino and Vash started to walk in the direction that Matthew and Yao went when the hunter said, "You're not like they said you were."

Lovino glanced back and snapped, "What the hell does that mean?"

The man coughed and said, "You had the chance to kill me but you didn't. The soldiers of each kingdom are going and telling everyone that your kind kills whenever they feel like it."

Lovino felt a flash of anger surge through him and was going to say something when Vash pushed him forward and whispered, "It's just another lie. Leave it be."

Turning to the hunter, Vash said, "Try and think for yourself."

The two boys turned and left the injured hunter and the dead body to find Yao and Matthew. Lovino was covered in blood, some of which was his and some that was the hunter's. But what scared him was that he'd killed that man. Swallowing, Lovino looked at Vash whose bow was still in his hands.

"I killed him." Lovino said more to himself than to Vash. The sound of the words exiting his mouth caused a feeling of numbness to fall over Lovino as Vash nodded. "I killed him." Lovino said again. A feeling of panic set itself upon Lovino, but a warm hand on his shoulder caused the brunette to look up from the ground to see Vash saying something to try and comfort the blood covered Ace.

"You had no choice. It was either you do that and live, or do nothing and die. You chose to live."

Lovino nodded, that was true but it still weighed on the brunette's chest. Shaking his head, Lovino grit his teeth and said, "Let's go find Yao and Matt."

I killed someone, Lovino thought, but if I didn't, I wouldn't be alive, and I wouldn't be able to find Feli. I'm not letting this hold me down.

-LINEBREAK-

Roderich glanced around, trying to figure a way out of this mess. The group had come across a checkpoint where people were being told to show their country's mark. This was where Feli had started mumbling about surrender again, and Antonio had just plastered a smile on his face and said that they should just go up and do it.

"Are you crazy?" Roderich asked, trying to figure out what the happy go lucky Ace was trying to do. Antonio laughed, and then with a serious tone of voice told Roderich, "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Roderich looked at Feli and held his head high before replying, "Fine, but if anything goes wrong, it's your fault."

Antonio nodded and gently pulled Feli along to the line for the chekpoint where they stood with Roderich in the front. When they finally reached the front Roderich was in a complete panic. What was he thinking, trusting that idiot? They were going to get caught and—

"Show me your mark." The soldier in front of Roderich said. With a shaking hand Roderich pulled the sleeve of his jacket up and looked away.

"Okay, you're clear. Next!"

Roderich blinked and was pushed forward by Antonio, who had Feli go next. Just like Roderich, Feli was allowed through with no problems–the same with Antonio. Smiling, Antonio grabbed Feliciano's hand and started walking with Roderich. After the trio was far enough away from the checkpoint Roderich asked, "What happened there?"

Antonio gave a questioning look and smiled saying, "What do you mean? We were allowed through."

Roderich shook his head and adjusted his glasses before asking, "How were we allowed through? They saw our marks and knew we were Jacks and an Ace, so why didn't they arrest us?"

Antonio bit his lip slightly and said, "Magic."

Roderich narrowed his eyes at the Ace. "I'm being serious, Antonio."

"So am I," Antonio said, and not missing a beat he continued, "I can use some magic, but only a little bit at a time. I made the soldiers think that we were a group of fours and fives from Diamonds."

Roderich nodded stiffly and walked ahead of the other two boys. Although Roderich had grown up on a wealthy manor, his talent for magic was nonexistent. He was extremely jealous of the people who could use magic, and it enraged him when someone did it in front of him. It was one thing he couldn't do, no matter how hard he tried.

"We'll head north and go into Clubs," Roderich said to Antonio and Feli. "If we can get another ally then we should have an appropriate number of people in a group to fight and get what we want."

Feli asked in a chipper voice, "What do we want?"

Antonio shared the same look of curiosity as Feli and Roderich smirked knowing he was better than the other two at thinking ahead. "We are going make it so the Jacks and Aces aren't being persecuted anymore."

It sounded like a genius idea to Roderich, but he didn't notice the looks of uncertainty that Antonio and Feliciano were sharing behind him.

-LINEBREAK-

Matthew had run to the front of the group when the five hunters attacked the group of teens. The blond had outrun everyone in his group and was trying to figure out what to do when he grabbed a tree branch and started pulling himself up into the foliage. Getting an arrow ready to shoot, Matthew positioned himself in the tree so he wasn't easily seen or able to fall out.

A crashing sound alerted Matthew to the hunters coming, and he readied himself to shoot if necessary when Yao came into sight. The brunette Jack had blood dripping from his left upper arm and had turned to confront the hunters who had followed them. Where's Lovino and Vash? Matthew thought when only three of the hunters followed Yao and drew their weapons. Matthew didn't have time to think about the other two members of their party. He needed to give Yao backup from the trees.

The first hunter, a huge red haired man, lunged at Yao with a long sword. Yao jumped back and Matthew took aim at the man, waiting for the optimal time to shoot. The other two hunters grabbed their weapons, and Matthew realized he needed to change tactics. Moving his aim from the red haired hunter, the Ace took aim on the hunter who was using what appeared to be a whip. Matthew let the arrow fly and he saw it barely graze the whip user's shoulder.

I missed him, Matthew thought, pulling another arrow from his quiver and drawing it back. Yao jumped and dodged an attack from the whip user but was hit by attack from the red haired hunter. The brunette landed hard on the ground, and Matthew saw fear cross his face when the three hunters surrounded him. Matthew inhaled and exhaled as he let his next arrow fly at the third hunter. It hit the man in the leg, causing him to stumble forward, trip over a tree root, and hit his head on a rock, leaving him unconscious.

Matthew grinned as Yao jumped up and slammed his fist in the red haired hunter's face and delivered a combination of kicks and punches to the man until Yao hit him in the head with the hilt of his dagger and knocked him out. Matthew had been watching Yao fight, forgetting about the whip user. The hunter drew the whip back and with a crack, made it wrap around one of Yao's legs. The brunette cried out and fell to the ground, causing the hunter to laugh.

"I thought you freaks were strong! You're just little kids with toys!"

Matthew aimed his arrow and was about to release it but paused when he saw Yao stand up and glare at the hunter. The hunter didn't seem to notice Yao and just kept laughing and belittling him when Yao shot forward and slammed his fist in the face of the hunter, causing the bigger male to stumble back.

"Why you little freak!" The hunter yelled, drawing his whip back to use again. Yao took a simple breath and waited for the whip to hit him. Just as it came down on the Jack, Matthew released his arrow and it sailed into the hunter's shoulder. The hunter cursed and looked around for where Matthew was hiding. Matthew looked at Yao, who seemed uninjured by the whip. The brunette grabbed his knife from the forest floor and jumped on the back of the hunter and held the blade to his neck and said something Matthew couldn't hear.

The hunter dropped his whip, and Yao dropped off the hunter's back and kicked the weapon away. "Matthew, you can come down," Yao yelled, and Matthew started to dislodge himself from the branches.

Dropping down, Matthew kept an arrow at the ready just in case. The other two hunters were lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding slightly from Matthew's arrow and the hit to the head that Yao had delivered. The whip hunter raised his hands in defense, and Yao kept his dagger at the ready just in case something happened.

The sounds of people approaching diverted Matthew's attention to where Vash and a battered and bloodied Lovino were approaching them. Lovino had a look that Matthew couldn't describe on his face, and Vash was rubbing his bow handle again.

"What happened to the two that went after you?" Matthew asked, and Lovino looked down as Vash replied, "One is injured. We left him back there."

Matthew didn't ask about the other. Lovino's guilty expression told the blond Ace everything he needed to know. Yao directed the hunter with them to go take care of the hunter that Vash and Lovino had left behind. The whip user reluctantly went off to find his other companion. After he was far enough away, Yao looked the other three over and said, "I don't know about you guys, but I think we should get away from here."

Vash nodded and said, "Running looks like the best way to get moving."

Yao winced but let Vash take the lead of the group as he ran in the back. As they darted through the trees Matthew thought about when Yao was fighting the whip user. He was sure that the whip had hit Yao from above, but he had no injuries. Dropping back, Matthew asked Yao, "How did you dodge that last attack from the guy with the whip? I saw it hit you."

Yao shook his head and replied, "I don't know. But it didn't miss me, I think something got in the way."

Nothing else needed to be said between the two. They both knew what Yao was implying. He had used magic.

Soon the four slowed to take care of their injuries from the fight. Matthew was uninjured, and Vash had a few scrapes from when Lovino pushed him on the ground. Lovino had a few cuts and a split lip. But Yao had it the worst. There was a cut on his arm from an arrow that grazed him. The skin on his leg was red and swollen due to the whip. And his left shoulder had a long shallow cut.

Grimacing, Matthew and Vash did their best to patch up the two brunettes. It was too obvious to Matthew that they weren't fighters. They nearly got killed.

"Hey Matthew, how far do you think Runorow is?" Matthew looked up at Lovino who had asked the question.

"I think it might take another day of walking. Why?"

Lovino cracked his knuckles and said, "I wanna see what that guy in your head knows about defense magic. I don't like being pushed around."

Yao nodded and Vash voiced his agreement. Matthew looked at each of the people with him. They trusted him and were willing to trust his judgment. Matthew wasn't going to betray that trust.

"When do you guys wanna start walking again?"

-LINEBREAK-

Antonio followed Roderich closely and held Feli's hand in his own. The Ace was tired from walking and was still drained from having used magic to create the checkpoint illusions, but Roderich didn't stop for breaks as often as he should have. Feliciano had been talking to try to motivate himself to keep going, but Antonio tuned him out and thought to himself about how things were going. Roderich's plan was one that needed preparation and planning. It wasn't something that they could just do at the drop of a hat.

The Ace rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and sighed. This was getting them nowhere, and the only one with any fighting skill in the trio was Roderich who wasn't very good at it, according to Feli. Antonio glanced at Feli and wondered how a kid this young could be dragged into this mess. The brunette kept an eye out for people while Feli talked about how he joined Roderich. Antonio suddenly found himself paying attention to Feliciano as he spoke of his older brother and how they ran from their home in Hearts together. Feli seemed to get quiet when he talked about how Lovino got angry at him and how he hated Feli.

"That's a lie, your brother can't hate you," Antonio stated, causing Feli to shake his head and go on about how it had to be true. The Ace looked at Roderich who hadn't said anything the entire time and asked, "Hey Roderich, when are we stopping? I think Feli needs a break."

"You have a point, it is getting late. We can take a small break before we find an adequate place to set up camp."

Antonio smiled at Feliciano and started telling the younger boy how he was able to use his magic to create illusions. "I just focus what I want people to see where I want it. It's kinda simple, but it's hard to explain!" He said with a laugh.

Feliciano smiled and went into a tale of how when he was younger he wanted to learn magic to help people and defeat monsters. While Feli talked, Roderich was sitting tall and drawing in the dirt with a stick. Antonio slid over to see what Roderich was doing and found a bunch of dots and lines.

"What are those?" Antonio asked, pointing to the markings.

"I'm writing music." Roderich said simply, adding another dot to a line. "I wouldn't expect you to know how to do it. However, I enjoy the arts, and I can play over five instruments."

Antonio whistled in amazement. "That's impressive my friend." Roderich stiffened at Antonio's use of the word 'friend' but kept drawing. Feli looked over and grinned before announcing, "I can draw too! I'm really good at it and it's fun!"

Roderich nodded and Antonio beamed at the little Jack. "Impressive! Can you draw something here?" The Ace asked, gesturing to the dirt, and Feli nodded and set to work.

Antonio started thinking to himself while the other two were busy with their work. Going up to Clubs did seem like a wise decision. They could get some training in fighting. Clubs did have some fierce warriors in their military and navy, maybe they could receive training from someone friendly up there.

A.N. I hope you guys liked it! Prussia will be coming back in the next chapter and things will only get more exciting from there! If there's anything you guys wanna see happen in this story, feel free to tell me! I'm open to ideas and suggestions! As always, I adore reviews; they motivate me to write more. Until next time! - Neko