Everyone in the village had been woken up to see what was going on. Two men carried Roderick to the front, while five more held Matthew down and in place. Matthew didn't struggle against them, but still they were making sure that the blond stayed in place. Ludwig was at the front, Kiku and Feliciano at his sides. He glared down at Roderick, shock mixing in with the anger that turned his cheeks red.
"Who is responsible for this!?" he roared, looking at everyone. Matthew was brought forward and forced onto his knees before Ludwig.
"I knew nothing good would happen from these strangers being here," Ludwig announced.
"Please it wasn't my fault! He attacked me fir-"
Someone jabbed a spear into Matthew's neck, bringing out a couple drops of blood. Matthew winced, but didn't say anything more.
"Gilbert was out in the woods, and Roderick went to find him. Roderick found Matthew attacking Gilbert," Kiku relayed what he had heard from the others.
"You strangers think that you're so tough, but now we have enough warriors to destroy you," Ludwig growled. He took the spear from the man, pricking Matthew's neck even more in the process.
"Ludwig!" Gilbert yelled, bringing attention to himself. If possible, Ludwig's glare even worsened.
"I told you to behave and you never listen. You put not only yourself but everyone else in danger! Now Roderick is dead because you couldn't listen to me!" Gilbert flinched at the harsh tone his brother had.
"I was just trying to help."
"For the future, don't," he snarled, "Everyone else, tomorrow at dawn we'll attack. This one will be the first to die."
Everyone cheered and clapped, certain that this would be a battle that they could win. Matthew stared in shock at Ludwig, not believing his ears. He had expected something, torture even, but not to be publicly executed. Gilbert watched as Matthew was dragged off somewhere, he himself not moving. Elizabeta came up to him, tears already staining her face.
"I'm so sorry Gilbert," she cried, hugging him. Gilbert awkwardly hugged her back.
"I'm never going to see him again am I?" When Elizabeta didn't reply, Gilbert hugged her tighter.
"I have an idea, come with me," Elizabeta said suddenly, wiping away her own tears and pulling him along.
"Gilbert wishes to see the man who killed his friend," Elizabeta said in a calm and commanding tone. It would have been hard for anyone to believe that not five minutes ago she had been crying. She had asked around, and had found out quickly enough where Matthew was being held.
Three of teh best warriors stood outside the tent weapons ready. They glanced at each other for a moment, before glancing around to make sure that no one else was looking. When they saw that no one was, the guards nodded.
"Be quick," one of them said. Gilbert felt his heart leap into his throat. He was going to be able to see Matthew again, even if it was only for a few moments.
The flap to the tent was pushed aside, and Gilbert walked tentatively in. Matthew was tied unceremoniously to a pole in the room, head hanging as if he had given up. Gilbert didn't make a sound as he took a couple more steps forward, wanting to take in what might be the last sight that he would ever get of Matthew.
Matthew's clothes were torn, his wrists looked bruised and bloodied from struggling against his bonds. Gilbert just wanted to go over and untie his Birdie, to take him away and make sure that no one else heard him. As if sensing that someone was behind him, Matthew's head snapped up, head turning in an effort to see who was watching him. Matthew visibly relaxed when he saw that it was Gilbert watching him. Gilbert on the other hand tensed even more at seeing Matthew's face. Blooming right dead center of his cheek was a purple bruise. Someone obviously took it upon themselves to roughen Matthew up a bit.
"Gil..." Matthew whispered, even lower than normal as if he was afraid that someone was going to hear him.
"Birdie," Gilbert said, almost as quietly. He gently untied Matthew's bonds, being wary of the cuts and rope burns that Matthew had given himself. Matthew slumped forward onto the ground with a groan the moment he was free, too tired to do anything else.
"I'm so sorry," Gilbert apologized, picking up Matthew and cradling him in his arms. Matthew smiled.
"It's not your fault. You should have seen the stuff me and Alfred would get into while back," Matthew with a chuckle.
"None of this should have happened..." Gilbert whispered, only half hoping that Matthew would hear him. With all his strength Matthew leaned himself out of Gilbert's grip to look the other in the eyes.
"I would go through a night like this for a thousand years if it meant that I could spend an hour with you," Matthew proclaimed. Gilbert smiled, he should have expected as much.
"Gilbert, it's time to go," Elizabeta said from the entryway. Gilbert frowned at her, turning to his lover who looked ready to pass out.
"I can't leave him. He need's me right now," Gilbert said. Matthew on the other hand pushed him away, though with his strength there was almost no pressure. Gilbert looked down at Matthew, and recognizing that look sat Matthew back up, ignoring the grunts of pain and retying him to the post as he had been before. Though this time he made sure that the bonds were looser and that Matthew was sitting more comfortably with his legs extended out in front of him.
Gilbert gently kissed Matthew's forehead before he left Matthew to get some sleep.
"Help! Hey! Wake the bloody hell up you wankers!" Arthur shouted as he ran into his camp. Not ten seconds later everyone was out of their tents and lanterns were lit.
"They have Matthew! At least a dozen of them, I think that they're going to kill him!" Arthur panted out.
"Where are they?" Yao asked. Matthew was actually nice, he didn't want to see the poor innocent boy dead.
"They headed North, what are we going to do?" Arthur asked. He wanted to do something as bad as the next person, but he didn't know what he should do.
"We are going to attack at dawn. No one is going to kill my brother. It's about time that someone took care of these savages," Alfred proclaimed. It was as if he had set a law down, no one dared to argue with the man in charge.
At Gilbert's camp, they were preparing the warriors. Kiku said prayers over the fire, decorating the warriors with symbols and marks of strength and protection. Those who weren't with him were getting weapons ready, and talking strategy with Ludwig.
"It's just as we feared, these strangers are no good. The only thing that they can feel is greed," Ludwig said to his soldiers.
"I wonder if they even bleed," mused one of them aloud. No one bothered to say that they probably do.
"They're simply killers at the core!"
Women danced around the fire, making meals and praying that they would be victorious and that everyone would come back home.
"First, we'll deal with this one," Ludwig said, gesturing to where Matthew had been kept. There wasn't a soul there that wanted to see the stranger.
"Then we'll sound the drums of war."
Alfred handed out all the guns that they had, bringing everything that had been stored on the ship to land. Even the cannons were brought and readied for the morning. Everyone who could had a gun at his side, even more had knives and other makeshift weapons. Arthur looked around, not sure if a war zone was what he really wanted.
"We should have done something from the start, but now we'll have to drive them from our shores!" Alfred shouted. Men shouted back in agreement, already thirsting for blood.
"They're savages! Barely even human!" Alfred screamed, his eyes burning with rage. Arthur, not even the recipient of the glare, still cowered a bit. He was so used to the bright and cheerful Alfred who always smiled, not this blood hungry man before him.
"Now we sound the drums of war!"
The sounds of drums was heavy in the air that night.
Okay so about a chapter or two left! Gosh how exciting!
After this I'm going to write The Hunger Games with Hetalia character. Lovino will be Katniss, and Antonio will be Peeta. Doesn't it just fit them? XD.