Author's Note- Hey everyone, I have been lucky to live in a number of states at different places in my life. During my travels one of the things that I have found particularly entertaining is how people who do not live the subsistence lifestyle freak out when they bump into people in the US who do. This piece is based off of some of the reactions I have witnessed in the past. But before we get to that thank you to Spaustria, IndianaFerbDragon, Saoirsewolf, Melza-chan, and BloodLily16 for being wonderful reviewers.

Disclaimer- I do not own Hetalia, Apple, but I am a member of the World Wildlife Federation. I also don't suggest hunting Polar Bears, they are really, really scary in the wild.

WWF Together

As long as Kentucky could remember he had always had a fondness for animals. He loved the deer for their grace, the horse for their speed, and the squirrel for the comical personality. From the birds in the sky to the fish his mountain streams, creeping bugs and slithering snakes, Kentucky loved to watch all of the creatures which lived within his borders, but his interest didn't end there. He also held a fascination for creatures that lived in environments far different than his own.

A few years ago he had taken a vacation to see the elephants that crossed the deserts of the Sahara. Another year he had when to the savanna to look at herds of hundreds of zebras and wildebeest. Then there was trip to Australia to see kangaroo, koalas, and the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef. Kentucky had taken every opportunity he could to see something new, experience something exotic, but there were still a few creatures and places on his bucket list that he had yet to cross off.

One of them was Ursus maritimus, the great Polar Bear, a massive predator that made its home on the ice north of the Arctic Circle. Kentucky was saving up for a trip to the ice north to see these creatures in their natural habitat and now whenever he had a spare moment he couldn't help but pull out his iPad and do some additional research. Now between meetings at a conference he found himself once again opening is World Wildlife Federation Together app and tracing the pictures of the beautify white bears with the tip of his finger.

"Interesting."

The voice caused Kentucky to glanced up from the digital photographs and up into two black pools. The state nearly screamed, and then he recognized the face that the dark eyes belonged to.

"Alaska, don't sneak up on people

"It is your fault for not paying attention to your surroundings." She countered flatly. "So are you doing research on Nanuk."

"What?"

"Nanuk, Tornassuk, isbjörn, belyy medved." The Northern rattled off a string of incomprehensible words.

"You mean Polar Bears?" Alaska nodded the affirmative and so Kentucky continued. "Yes, I wanted to learn more about their behavior."

"So are you going to hunt one?"

"On my goodness no." Kentucky replied in shock. "How could you even insulate that I would do such a terrible thing?"

"I have." The arctic state said, clearly not understanding her southern brother's distress.

"You have what?"

"I have hunted Polar Bear before. The hunt is not only of great spiritual importance, but provides the village with an important hid and much needed food."

"That…that is terrible." Kentucky stammered. "How could you hunt polar bears when they are practically an endangered species?"

"And?"

"Don't you have issues with eating a species that could go extinct?"

"It depends." The northern state said with a shrug.

"This is a black and white question." Kentucky countered.

"Not if polar bears are involved. It is not like I am stupid enough to go out and hunt the things, but if one decides to hunt me I fully intend on winning the fight. If the bear gets killed in the process then why let the carcass go to waste."

"I can't believe we are having this conversation." Kentucky said in disgust. "I mean Polar Bears are adorable. You see them on National Geographic or you watch zoo and you instantly want to love those playful creatures."

"Believe me, they are far less 'cute' when they aren't behind glass." Alaska rolled her eyes.

"And how would you know?"

"Really, you have to ask that." Alaska scoffed. "I have had more run in with bears then I can count. Black Bears you can scare, Brown Bears you can generally play dead and they will eventually leave you alone, but Polar Bears you either generally have to either escape or kill them if you don't want to be lunch."

"Can't you scare them off? I mean they don't actually want to eat you right?" The state could keep horror out of his voice.

"As I said before, Polar Bears view humans and nations as food. It is true that under certain situations you might be able to use a flash bang to frighten the creature off for at time, but that rarely works on a hungry bear." A wolfish grin graced the northern state's lips. "When you are trapped in the open with a hungry polar bear who has decided that you are its next meal, the only realistic solution is to reverse roles and become the hunter instead of the hunted."

Kentucky wasn't exactly sure if he were correctly hearing what their younger sibling was saying. On some level he was praying that this entire situation was a dream, on the other hand he had gained a new respect for the harsh life his sibling had apparently lived. In addition, as he allowed Alaska's words roll around in his head Canada's polar bear's fear of Alaska suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

End Note- Just so you know the hunting of Polar Bears is very heavily regulated, with the vast majority of kills being made for subsistence. A small number of bears are also hunted for use in scientific research, for commercial hunts, or in self defense. Sows and cubs are only killed as a last resort for self defense. Well, I hope that you enjoyed this story, even though it did take about eating animals that people generally don't. If you didn't enjoy the story that is okay, the next chapter will involve Italy, a number of twinned states, and getting lost in the nation's capital building. Stay tuned.