Chapter Two: When Denmark Met Sweden

Denmark scarcely remembered the day Faðir brought Sverige home. He was still young, young enough not to be separated by too many years from Sweden as they grew older; many people might have even guessed that they were the same age, possibly giving or taking a year. Still, though. Denmark was older, and it was something that he often rubbed into the other nation's face, if only to be bothersome. And he did remember when their faðir (or Far, as Denmark had started to call him) arrived home with Sweden - though the Swede remembered it faintly, too.

It had been a cold day, a day in the middle of January. Snow had started to fall gently outside by mid-morning, but that hadn't stopped Faðir from slipping on his snow shoes and going for a hunt.

Denmark, or Mathias, as Faðir called him by his "human name", was told to stay at their house, and that suited him just fine. It was a nice house, one that they had moved into just as the winter months began. The house was located on the outskirts of a small fishing village that bordered the sea. It was a quaint village, full of people that were generally cheerful and friendly. When newcomers came along, it was quite an occasion, especially when the newcomers happened to be wealthy, like the townspeople assumed Mathias and his father were. They were, after all, living in a large house that was previously owned by a man of noble stature.

Mathias had been attempting to read some texts in his father's study when he heard his father's loud, deep voice call him downstairs. The language of the texts was in runic, the written form of Old Norse, and thought his father was teaching him to read the runes, Denmark wasn't terribly good with them yet. Oh well. It was still fun to try and decipher what exactly the scripts said.

The boy, only around the age of five or six, raced down to the entry hall to greet his father. He almost threw himself at his father for a hug, but stopped when he realized what - or more like who - was standing next to him.

"Faðir . . ." Mathias started, but his father held up a hand for him to be quiet. Normally Mathias could talk in his loud and cheerful voice until someone's ear fell off, but he knew better than to talk out of turn around his own father.

"This is Sweden," the older nation announced, a smile appearing on his face. "You may also call him Berwald. He's just like us, Mathias. Isn't that great?"

Mathias couldn't help but frown slightly, even as he uttered the words, "Oh yes, Faðir, of course."

The older nation, Scandinavia, raised his eyebrows at his son's own frown, then asked, "Is there something wrong, Mathias?"

"Oh, no, Faðir, of course not!" Mathias replied quickly, though he couldn't help but feel something . . . strange boil up inside him. "Where did you find him?"

"In the forest while I was on my hunt," Scandinavia responded with a nod. He glanced down at the little boy that was standing by his side and gave him an encouraging smile. The boy shifted his weight from one foot to another, looking awkward and nervous. He sent a quick glance to Mathias before looking to Scandinavia, then finally down to his shoes.

"Well how do you know he's like us, then?" Mathias asked curiously, tilting his head as he glanced up at his father.

Scandinavia smiled at him. "Just like I could tell with you, Mathias. I just knew."

"How did you just know?" Mathias asked, frowning slightly despite Scandinavia's jovial smile, a smile so much like his own. He knew his father was something like intelligent, but he didn't know how the older nation just knew that this little boy was anything like them.

Scandinavia shrugged and put a hand on the other boy's - Sweden's - back, then began to lead him over to where Denmark stood. "I just know, Son. You'll understand when you're as old as I am."

Mathias's eyebrows furrowed and he tilted his head slightly to the side again, but straightened out and gazed at Sweden with curiosity when he stepped in front of him, still led by Scandinavia. The boy was smaller than him, short and slight, but probably a bit younger as well. His messy blond hair was several shades lighter than Mathias's, whose hair was more of a golden color. The boys eyes were small and reminded Mathias of the sea, or maybe some jewels that his father would bring home on occasion; a sort of cloudy, light greenish-blue color.

Finally, Mathias asked, "So . . . he is going to be living with us now?"

His faðir nodded, smiling. "Yes, of course. Where else would he go?"

Mathias shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with his question. "I dunno. I was just asking." He glanced at Sweden again, and after a few seconds of thinking to himself, finally smiled his usual cheerful smile at the boy. "Well, Faðir did not tell you my name; I'm Mathias!"

Sweden's eyebrows scrunched together. "Mathias? That doesn't sound like the name of a country . . ." He had a very quiet way of speaking, an almost incomprehensible way of speaking, but Mathias was just able to make out his words - barely. "I have known commoners with the name Mathias."

Mathias shook his head, immediately taking on a grin. He swung one of his arms around the other boy's shoulders. "No, silly! Mathias is my human name. You know, like . . ." He frowned ever so slightly and looked up to his father.

"Berwald," the man supplied, and Mathias nodded vigorously, grinning again.

"Yes, Berwald! Just like Berwald is for you. My real name is Denmark."

"Denmark?" Berwald asked quietly, glancing at his new brother with a small frown. "That is a strange name."

Denmark frowned right back at him. "Why?"

Berwald shrugged. "It just is."

Mathias swung his arm off of Berwald's shoulder and crossed both of his arms across his chest. "Well, what is so great about Sweden?"

The other young nation shrugged again. "I like Sweden better."

"But Denmark is so much better!" Mathias exclaimed, almost seeming in shock. "I mean, it is me, after all. And I'm the best."

Scandinavia sighed and began to lead the boys into the dining room for supper. They were already arguing. Great. Little did he know just how bad that feud would get.

A note - Sweden only looks smaller than Matthias because he's younger. He grows to be bigger than him eventually. XD

Anyway, as always, leave reviews or constructive criticism, and suggestions if you want to!

PS - I like the next chapter better than this one . . . I hope it's better, anyway. XD