Chapter 26

After a long week of storms, the sky finally cleared, and the earth was bathed in a dull orange light. Belarus and Finland stood at the top of a hill and watched as the waters receded back to the ocean.

"I wonder if Ludwig and Lovino made it," Belarus turned to Finland.

Finland shook his head. "I doubt it. The waters took them away, and we felt what they did to us. The effects will be stronger when they are submerged in it. No ex-nation would survive that."

"Are you sure they just didn't go a separate direction?"

"I am positive," FInland stared out at the ocean.

Belarus sighed, "Then should we leave?"

"Yes. We need to be careful when travelling through Sweden," FInland said. Then he hurriedly added, "The wildlife is very dangerous in that territory."

Belarus nodded, and without another word, they stepped into Swedish land.

Many of the trees were uprooted, and the mud beneath their feet pulled at their shoes. Puddles dotted the landscape. Finland made a comment about how the sun would soon dry the puddles up and how the heat would soon reach them. The air still felt charged from the lightning, and occasionally they saw a strike hit a tree or other object.

For the days they travelled through, Finland barely said a word. Every question Belarus asked him received a grunt or short answer, and every evening, Finland sat away from her as he watched the wilderness. Belarus, however, did not mind. She simply kept to herself and sharpened sticks into knives and arrows. Some nights she hunted hog and other creatures that still struggled to survive. She would cook it over a small fire, but most of the food went uneaten, as Finland refused to eat in this time. He would simply look at what Belarus cooked and shake his head.

"We are leaving a trail with this food," Belarus said one day. "Someone could follow us."

"Then bury it," Finland said after a long moment.

Belarus shrugged, "Then again, who would follow us through this?"

Finland did not reply.

Forests pressed around them with browned leaves and blackened branches, and the ground beneath them squelched. No matter how far inland they went, the stench of dying ocean water surrounded them. Belarus found two dead fish in a tree one afternoon, and the odor haunted the pair for miles.

What Finland and Belarus did not know was that they were actually being followed. The trail of dead hog led a figure right to them, one Belarus would not have wanted to see, one that would have scared her if she knew he was following. But he was smart. He would stay far behind. Belarus would not see him.

Belarus began to bury her leftovers, but the graves her shallow so animals could dig them up to survive off of. Finland opposed it, but he did not say much about the matter, so Belarus did what she wanted. FInland stayed quiet about it.

That evening, they slept on the edge of a cliff. Finland sat with his legs hanging over the edge as he watched the water and partially submerged trees below him. Belarus watched him, wanting to know what he was thinking, but the normally cheerful nation showed no emotion. When the moon shone directly above them, Finland stood and stretched. He picked up a pebble and threw it off the edge of the cliff, screaming as he did so. Belarus, who had been sleeping, woke with a start and ran over to him.

"What is going on? Is someone attacking?" She held a spear in one hand and a stake in the other. Finland glared at her.

"I only needed to let something out. You don't need to worry," Finland replied.

Belarus huffed, "We are in a very open place. You could have attracted animals or angry people who do not appreciate our presence. I suggest we leave now. Take one of my weapons." Belarus pulled out another spear from a satchel she had weaved from thinner tree branches. "I have plenty of these."

Finland begrudgingly took it, but he pulled out his gun with his other hand and nodded for Belarus to follow. They trekked south, watching constantly for tribesmen that could be hiding, but neither of them saw so much as a mouse.

Night fell, and the two paused to make a camp between a pair of trees. FInland promised they would not sleep for long, and by the time midnight approached, they would be on their way again. While the Finn set up the tent, Belarus peered at the darkening horizon, in search of Lovino or Ludwig. She found no sign of life and turned back to Finland. When the sky grew dark, they sat down in front of their makeshift tent.

"We each get an hour to sleep. Then we will leave," Finland instructed.

Belarus nodded. "And I will take first watch."

Finland nodded and clambered under the tent. Within minutes, Belarus heard him snoring. After days of walking, the nations were exhausted. Within the next day or two they would be out of Sweden and in Norway, but for the time being they still had to watch out as they trekked through the wilderness.

Belarus was about to nod off on her watch, when something glinted in her blurring vision. Her eyes snapped open and she stared up at the sky. A wisp of color streaked through the stars and danced for a minute before disappearing. Then a second and a third strand of light mimicked the same movements. A moment later, the sky lit up with a brilliant light. Greens and blues tangoed amongst the milky white bands of the galaxy, and purples flitted in and out of the dancefloor. Belarus leapt to her feet and ran to the tent.

"Finland, you have to see this!" She whispered urgently. When Finland groaned, she pulled at his arm. "Get up now."

Finland, sensing danger, stood up, but when he ran out of the tent, he stopped abruptly in his tracks. His face lit up when it met the color, and Belarus saw a smile creep across his lips as the Aurora Borealis sang to him in the warm silence. Slowly, he lifted a hand and raised it to the sky. His fingertips brushed the velvet blanket, and the sky went black. Suddenly, it burst into color once more, this time with lights of all hues. Pink danced with green, and orange with purple. Waves of northern lights spread to the four corners of the earth that night, and they hugged the pale moon as the stars giggled with sweet joy. For the rest of the night, the two stood like that, with Belarus watching Finland out of the corner of her eye, and Finland staring up at the sky in awe. It wasn't until dawn approached, that the show died down, and the two nations came to their senses. The new day brought new color, and Finland felt a new peace in him as he headed south towards Oslo.