Chapter Five: The Fifth

"You shall call him Iceland, or by his human name . . . Emil."

Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland were accompanying their father to a newly acquired land that was now apart of the "Viking Kingdom". It was a small island, much more west than any place that they had lived before. Their father had said that they would only be living there for a few months in the summer, until the fall came. This suited all four boys just fine; the island, which Scandinavia and his men had dubbed "Iceland", was very beautiful in the part that their house had been built. It was lush and green in the spring, and the lake and ocean nearby were both stunning. However, they also knew from stories that as one traveled northwards or to a higher elevation, the landscape became rough with tundra and glaciers and volcanoes. The island was a mystery still to everyone, even Scandinavia himself. Despite the fact that he was a nation, and to his boys, all-knowing, Scandinavia was scared of this land. He was scared because he did not yet know the extensions of the wonders of this new island, and he normally knew everything about the places that he traveled to. With the reason, out of his own fright and unknowing, he had told his boys to never wander too far from the house, even going as far as telling them the boundaries, which were about half a mile in each direction.

Denmark, of course, had been the one to break Scandinavia's warning and rule, and go past the boundaries which he and his brothers were assigned. Somehow, he had managed to convince the normally calm-tempered Sweden and Norway to go with him, as well as young, sweet, and innocent Finland. None of the boys had necessarily wanted to go, as they were all fairly obedient and did not want to break their father's rules, but after nearly a month of exploring the area that they were allowed to explore outside of the house, all of the boys had gotten curiouser and curiouser, and had finally agreed to follow Denmark a little bit past their set boundaries. They had, to the dismay of Sweden and Norway when they found out, gone much farther than Denmark had said they would.

"Denny . . . shouldn't we go home now?" Finland asked quietly as they continued to walk along, using his pet name for Denmark.

"Yes, we probably should," Sweden murmured. Even at such a young age his voice was starting to mature and was becoming more gruff. It irked Denmark, since his voice was still the same loud and childish pitch that it had always been.

"Aww, no, my brothers!" Denmark protested, frowning slightly. He raised the stick that he had picked up and been carrying like a staff, then waved it in the air. "We must venture forth with our quest!"

Norway sighed. It was a quiet sigh, but slightly prolonged; annoyed.

"No, Denmark, they're right, we should go home," the younger nation commented, glancing over at his older brother. Denmark frowned as he turned to face the Norwegian.

"Awww, come on, but Norwayyy!" Denmark whined, putting on his best "pouty" face, which Norway only rolled his eyes at. He turned and pointed to something in the distance, several yards away from them. "You see that cave right there? That's the last place I wanted to explore. Then we can go home, I promise!"

Norway did not look convinced. "No. We go home now." He turned on his feet and began to walk the opposite way that they had been previously.

"No, I say we explore that cave!" Denmark shouted, stomping his foot down stubbornly. "And I'm the oldest, so what I say goes."

"Just because you're older doesn't mean you're smarter," Norway responded quietly, turning back around, though he didn't move forward towards Denmark or the others (who had not yet moved) again. "We're going home because it's getting dark outside and father's going to get worried."

Sweden nodded in agreement. "It is already past dinnertime."

"I think he might already be looking for us . . ." Finland piped up softly. He was the youngest out of the group, and it was extremely obvious, since he was at least a head shorter and somewhat softer-looking than the rest of them. His voice was smaller, too, and he all around just seemed younger and more naive.

"But it'll only take a few minutes!" Denmark argued. "Only a few. And he isn't looking for us, Finland." The Dane glanced around at his brothers, and once he realized that he was most likely not going to get his way, he turned and began to run for the cave. Denmark heard one of his brothers give an exasperated sigh and then other pairs of feet began to run after him, which made him grin. He knew that they'd follow.

"I swear it'll just take a few minutes!" Denmark shouted back to them as he reached the cave. He stopped at the entrance and began glancing around in fascination. There was just enough light to see quite far into the cave, but the sun was quickly descending in the west.

"It'll be fun," Denmark added, in a normal tone this time (which was still quite loud for him). He started to walk into the cave, looking around with curious eyes, but a hand grabbing his lower arm stopped him. He looked around and frowned at the person who was holding him back, who happened to be Sweden.

"We should go back home," Sweden mumbled, looking at Denmark with his fierce, piercing eyes. "It is getting dark. It is not safe."

Denmark rolled his eyes and wrestled his arm out of Sweden's hand.

"Come on, Berwald!" He said, using the young nation's human name. The expression on the Swede's face did not change. "We've gotta go explore this cage a little bit. There is probably something -" He stopped mid-sentence as a cry was heard. A cry, not all too different from that of a very young human child. A toddler, or even a baby. Denmark's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Um . . . did you hear that?" He asked, glancing up at Sweden. The boy's had finally had a slight emotion change, going from stoic (as stoic as a boy as young as him could be, anyway) to slightly surprised. His eyes had widened slightly, and now did not look so fierce.

"Yes, of course," Sweden replied, his voice hushed like it usually was. "But be quiet and listen."

Everyone, including Norway and Finland, who had had no input in the conversation thus far, froze and listened. A few seconds later, the crying started again; it was louder this time and all four of them could hear it better, and they all determined silently, though simultaneously, that the cry was most likely from a baby. There were no words, just sobbing and wailing sounds, gibberish.

"A baby . . ." Denmark muttered, his eyes suddenly going wide. "Gods, a baby!" He glanced at Sweden once more, and the boy opened his mouth to say something, but before Denmark could hear what it was he had already ran off, deeper into the cave, towards the sounds of the yammering child.

The other boys followed him, and soon enough, they had reached the farthest part of the cave where light reached, and even that light was going to be gone soon. The sun had receded even further since they had reached the cave. Denmark's eyes searched for a baby, and his eyes finally locked on something not too far away from him. He rushed over to it, his brothers following closely behind.

"My gods, it isa baby . . ." Denmark announced, his voice now filled with awe. "But why . . . how . . ."

Suddenly, Norway was standing next to him, examining the child. His eyes searched the baby's face and the rest of his small body, noticing everything. The infant was dressed in tattered, thin clothes that look like were directly from the coat of an animal. The baby had silverish-white hair, and although it was not an old man or woman, the hair seemed to suit it just fine. It's cheeks were rosy and its skin was pale, though almost toopale, Norway noted; like it was sick or something. Almost as soon as Norway had finished examining these traits, the babe's eyes popped open. Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland found themselves staring at two brilliant violet orbs, that were not too far in color from the latter's own hue.

Norway started to reach out for the baby, but Denmark stopped him briefly by saying, "Norway, don't pick him up! What if he's . . . diseased or something?"

The younger nation simply rolled his eyes and continued to reach for the infant. He picked the baby up in his arms and brought him close to his chest, like he had seen parents and older siblings of babies do back in their old villages. The baby stared up at him with big, curious violet eyes, and cocked his head to the side in slight wonderment.

"Don't be stupid, Denmark," Norway said, a light feeling in his chest. "This baby is not dangerous; it is just like us."

Denmark frowned at the Norwegian, entirely unconvinced. "And how would you know that? Only father knows stuff like that." He rolled his eyes, believing this was obvious.

"I can just feel it," Norway muttered. The baby had closed its eyes and was probably falling back to sleep, so Norway carefully lifted the lower part of its clothes, which consisted of pants, to check its gender.

Like them, and mostother nations, it was a boy.

"Maybe we should take him to Faðir," Finland suggested. "I mean, Faðir would definitely know, right?"

"I agree with Finland," Sweden added with a nod. "Faðir would definitely know if he is like us, and what to do with him. Yes, Denmark, Norway?" He looked to each of his brothers as he said their names.

"Probably . . ." Denmark said, glancing at the baby again. Norway simply nodded, still holding the baby close to him. To other eyes, it might have looked cute, since Norway looked only a mere eight or nine years old himself.

"Let's go, then!" Finland said, eager to get out of the dark that was now overtaking the cave. He bounded outside, and his brothers followed at a slower pace.

The four brothers began their trek back home with a baby, and once they were fairly close, back in what were supposed to be their boundaries for playing, they heard someone shouting for them. Quite a few people, actually. Probably a few men and a couple women. The brothers exchanged glances and continued on towards home at a faster pace. They had gotten only twenty feet from their house when Scandinavia ran out the back door.

"Oh, thank the gods you all are alright," he said as he rushed up to them. Denmark had to wonder 'why wouldn't we be', because they were nations, after all.

After he spoke his first sentence, Scandinavia's voice became infinitely more stern. "Where did you go off to? I had several of my good men and women that could have been home with their own families out looking for you. Did you -" Suddenly, just when the four boys had thought that Scandinavia would never see the bundle that Norway was holding in his arms, he stopped during his scolding and let his mouth hang open for a few moments. When he closed it again, he appeared to be thinking hard, before he finally asked what the bundle in Norway's arms was.

"Oh, that's just a baby," Denmark replied, brushing the fact away as if it was nothing. Scandinavia blinked and stared at him for a moment, before he finally held his arms out.

"Let me see," he commanded to Norway, and the boy complied. Scandinavia studied the infant for a long time, before he turned and began walking toward the house.

"I have to tell the men and women to go home," he said shortly as the four confused boys followed him inside. "Go to the front room and wait for me."

All of the brothers, even Denmark, followed his orders and walked into the front room. They sat down on the assorted chairs, and waited in quiet agitation for twenty minutes until their father returned. He still had the baby in his arms, and was cradling him close to his chest like Norway had, though in a more knowing and fatherly way, as if he had already taken to him.

The first thing out of his mouth was, "Where did you find this baby?"

After no one answered him, Scandinavia asked again, and Norway was the one to answer.

"In a cave beyond the house."

"Beyond the boundaries I set up for you?"

Norway was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Yes."

Scandinavia sighed heavily. "In which direction?"

"North, I believe, Faðir."

No one spoke a word for the next several minutes, until Scandinavia decided to scold his boys more.

"Sons, you cannot keep doing this," he stated sternly, glancing from one boy to the other. All of them, even Denmark, had known it would come to this if they got caught, and so they all lowered their eyes when Scandinavia's came too close to making contact with them.

"You cannot keep disobeying me," Scandinavia continued. He sighed slightly, and if it was not for the baby in his arms, he probably would have reached a hand up to his head to massage his temple. "I've told you this so many times and I don't know when it's going to get through to your heads. You have to start acting mature, and stop disobeying me. I don't know why you cannot just do that for me." The viking nation paused for a moment. "This is the only instance in which I'm glad that you disobeyed me, but onlybecause I'm afraid I might never have found this child. That, however, gives you no excuse for your disobedience. You are all going to remain in the house for a week as punishment, you cannot explore outside, and when that punishment is lifted in a weeks' time, you are always going to be watched by somebody, whether it is me or a sailor that I trust. I am not going to stand for this disobedience any longer. You are all going to learn how to obey me." The baby started to cry a little bit, and Scandinavia comforted him until he had calmed down. "This baby is the representation of this island, Iceland. You shall call him Iceland, or by his human name . . . Emil." The boys all nodded slowly. "Now off to bed, no dinner tonight."

The four boys had started to slump off to their rooms when Scandinavia had ordered for Denmark to stay back. Denmark's eyes widened slightly and he looked to his brothers in slight panic, though Finland was the only one to give him anything near to an encouraging look as they continued to their rooms.

Denmark turned around and walked back to Scandinavia, saying, "Yes, Faðir?"

"You especially need to stop disobeying me," Scandinavia said seriously. Denmark had expected as much, so he waited for his father to say more. "You are the eldest, which means you have the most responsibility." He paused for so long that Denmark finally looked up at him, noticing that his eyes seemed slightly far off, and he appeared to be in deep thought.

"Faðir . . . ?" Denmark inquired carefully, not wanting to get his father more upset with him than he already was. Scandinavia glanced up at his oldest son, then down at the baby who had just became his youngest.

"Denmark, I am not always going to be around to take care of all of you."

"What do you mean?" Denmark asked. Scandinavia simply looked at him silently, though the look was all that needed to be passed between them for Denmark to understand. His eyes widened.

"No, but father . . ." he said, quiet for once. "Nations cannot die."

Scandinavia sighed. He was still gazing down at the sleeping infant, Iceland.

"No, nations do not necessarily die like humans do, per say," Scandinavia replied, his voice also uncommonly soft. "But we can fade. Fade into nothing, just as worse as a human's fate of dying. And Denmark, I'm telling you this now because you need to realize that you have to mature; I'm fading."

Denmark stared at his father. His bright blue eyes were wide, and his heart thudded in his chest with dread. He tried to comprehend what his father was trying to tell him, but it just wasn't working. He could not understand how one of the most powerful nations in the world, at least to him, could possibly be "fading", which just seemed like a nicer term for "dying".

"Faðir, please, I don't understand," Denmark said, whimpering slightly. Tears began to form on the edges of his eyes. "You could not possibly die."

Scandinavia sighed, though not the usual, annoyed, prolonged one that he had when he was scolding the boys. It was softer and quiet, it was sad and wistful. He stood up and gently placed the little, sleeping Iceland on his chair, then stepped closer to Denmark and wrapped him in a hug. The young nation finally let a few tears fall from his eyes and gasped out a sob, emotional because he knew, somehow, that what Scandinavia was telling him was the truth.

"You have to be strong, and brave," Scandinavia said quietly into his ear. "When I'm gone, you have to look out for your brothers. You have to start being mature and grown-up for them. Your are the oldest, and you have to look after them when I'm gone, do you understand me?"

Denmark nodded slowly, still clutching onto Scandinavia with a tight hug. It seemed as though it would never be easy for him to accept that his father, the great Scandinavia, the great representation of the viking nations, of all of the viking countries, could be dying. His father. How could his father be dying? And how could he, Denmark, possibly take his place when he was gone, with now four brothers to look after?

"You promise you will take care of them?" Scandinavia asked, pulling away from Denmark so that he could hold the boy by the shoulders and look into his eyes. "You promise that you will mature, and be brave and strong, and watch out for your brothers, keep them safe, and keep them together?"

Denmark nodded, sniffling slightly. His eyes were watery, allowing the blue of his irises to shine brilliantly.

"I promise, Faðir."

So first off, I would like to say that I am very, very sorry for the long delay. I've been very busy with school lately and have been studying for finals. Therefore, I haven't had much time to write this, on top of schoolwork and the book that I'm trying to write. :( But anyway, I hope that everyone liked this update, and hopefully I'll have more time to write now since I'm off for summer break! :)

Anyway, I might continue this story with two or three other chapters, or maybe just one, detailing what happens when Scandinavia actually "fades/dies". I might go further than his death and lead up to my one-shot, "The Bloody Streets of Stockholm", to write about what happens to the Nordics later on, mainly just because I find them intriguing. Like this story is now, future chapters would be a little Denmark-centric, mainly so I can experiment with why I believe, in my heacanons, that he is clingy and hates losing people, among other things. Anyway, leave your thoughts on future chapters in reviews, and/or visit the poll that I have on my profile page. :)

Also, I was thinking about writing other one-shots dealing with other countries and their "brothers" and/or "sisters", so if you want any of these family-type stories, please leave countries that you want to see written about in reviews! :)

As always, I love reviews and help, so don't be afraid to give some constructive criticism!