Congratulations to the one who got the Warehouse 13 reference from the last chapter!

Everyone managed to find their way to the canyon entrance in the dark. One could practically see the relief painted on England's face when they got there. He didn't know how much longer he could take being alone with Russia, especially at night.

Germany stood at the head of the group, facing everyone, "Now! Since we have all had enough time to search this area thoroughly, we will share what we have found." He gestured to France and Prussia, "What have you two discovered?"

Prussia stepped forward proudly, "We have found...this!" He held up the poster they had found. There was a collective gasp.

Japan peered at the print, "What does it mean?"

France looked smug, "Isn't it obvious? It's a wanted poster of one of the Anasazi dating back to 1950! This man was wanted on charges of kidnapping and murder."

Germany was ready to dismiss the poster, "But America and Canada have been kidnapped now. Not 1950."

Prussia looked at his brother and shook his head, "Oh my naive little bruder, you do not understand!" he addressed everyone now, "But what if this has all happened before? According to this poster, it has. If you see here, the victims are two young boys that look alot like Canada and America."

England looked at the kidnapped victim's pictures, "It's not them. America's missing his nantucket and the time frame isn't right.

France looked at England scathingly,"Anglettere, must you always rain on everyone's parade? Please keep in mind zat while we are in the desert, you should save your water for something more useful." he turned back to Germany, "It iz possible."

Germany finally consented, "I suppose you have a point. But England, what have you and Russia found?"

England pointed to a certain spot on the canyon wall, "It's really feint, but you can make out writing on the wall."

Russia continued, "Da, But we cannot read it. England said that he had something that could help." Russia added privately to England, "I hope you were telling the truth for your sake, or else I will make it hurt, Da?"

England almost lost his composure, he whispered back to Russia, "Why would I be lying about something like that?" England spoke aloud now, "Yes. I can translate this passage, just give me a moment."

Everyone watched in fascination as England whipped out his wand and waved it over the wall, whispering the word 'Vetere' over and over.

England stopped and put his wand away, "It's done, you have one minute before it disappears for good."

The nations crowded around to make sense of the message. Where there were previously unknown symbols, were now familiar english letters reading, 'Beware, you are now entering The Canyon of Endless Noises.'

France read it, and cocked his head in wonder, "Why was ze canyon named zat way?"

Japan also stopped to ponder, "And why use the word 'Beware?'

The message suddenly scrambled, and became unreadable again. Germany sighed, "I suppose we will have to go in and find out."

Prussia fist pumped in the air, "Yes, Rock Climbing! I've been wanting to do that for a while!"

Germany looked at his brother, "You could have done that at home in the Bavarian Alps. The passage here looks pretty straight forward anyway."

Prussia stopped doing his little 'I'm Awesome' Dance, "But I've seen those things enough for them to be boring. Also, if you had awesome night vision like me, you'd see that the ground suddenly drops away, but the cliffs continue onward. That does not imply an easy and straight forward walk."

England looked toward the canyon, "I do not see the joy in the prospect of climbing down a canyon."

Russia, for some reason, looked happy, "I think it will be fun, Da?"

Nations started to speak amongst themselves. France was about to get into a fight with England again. Japan was sensing the mood and refraining from speaking, while Prussia chatted to him happily in a one sided conversation. While Russia regarded the whole situation with that creepy innocent smile as usual. Germany watched them do this for a bit, "How do we ever get anything done?" he thought to himself.

Germany was about to scold them when he heard a noise in the distance. He shushed everyone urgently, "Shut up! I hear something."

Everyone strained their ears. There was nothing for a tense moment, then they all heard it. It was the sound of a big "BOOM!" in the distance, like a huge drum. There was more silence, and then another "BOOM!", this one closer than the last. This happened two more times when the nations started to see where it was hitting. With every boom, a giant crater imprinted it self in the sand, like a big and heavy boulder was hitting the ground. Russia was the first to realize what was happening. He waved at everyone, "It is going to smash us like puny ants!"

France shook himself out of his stupor, "We must go! Hurry to the canyon!" and made a break for the canyon, closely followed by Russia.

The rest of the nations also started to run for it. The noises getting closer and more frequent. No one dared to look back, for fear of slowing down. They didn't pause until they got well into the canyon. Then France, who was ahead, suddenly stopped. He pinwheeled his arms for a moment, and stepped back managing to get his balance. The rest caught up to him. England was wheezing, trying to catch his breath, "Why did you stop? It's still coming!"

France wordlessly pointed down. England followed his finger which pointed down the cliff, "Oh. How did I not see that?"

Germany surveyed the deep abyss, "There is what looks like a small goat pass. We'll make our way down that way."

Nobody had time to argue, the thing that was chasing them was getting closer again. They started to pick their way down in turn. Germany was leading, followed by Prussia, England, Russia, Japan, in order. France was trailing along behind, being careful to step only where another has stepped before.

Another chapter done. Took longer than I expected because I wasn't sure about what to put on the poster. But I managed.

Thank you for all the reviews and such. All this support shows that I'm doing an okay job.

Thanks for reading! ^J^