Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 08

The next morning everybody woke up either softly grumbling or openly complaining about their backaches. Even though Alfred laughed and said that heroes don't get backaches, he rubbed his own back tenderly before stretching. A quick breakfast from Yao, everybody reluctantly got back into the car and sped off. They stopped near the edge of a small forest after picking up sounds of crashing water, deciding to walk in and through the trees that circled the area. Walking next to the clear waters glittering from the warm morning light, a trail of white fluffy creatures trailed behind them. However when Kiku turned around to observe them, they shrank to the ground and didn't move, their red eyes blinking occasionally. Yao picked up the palmed sized creature, the small short legs hanging in the air.

"They're harmless, very shy as well." Yao started introducing these creatures known as Parbys to the party. After a whole minute of no movement other than red eyes blinking, they decided to move on. Antonio led the way into the clearing. A dejected Feli looked down at the Parbys in his arms before stepping out of the forest when Yao explained further the Parbys was found in this area as well, earning a bright smile that made everyone smile as well.

They settled down under the shade of the biggest tree, small dots scattered around them, Yao still holding onto the Parbys from before, stroking its soft fur while Feli patted and played with his, giggling joyfully as Ludwig watched from the side. A small group followed Antonio and Kiku as they headed for those other trees with their sweet smelling fruits. Ivan on the other hand went around the trees alone. That was until a small Parbys turned its small head towards the large man, trailing after him. It was then when a horned creature appeared, its nostrils flaring as steam raised out from it, seemly charging towards Ivan. Only after the fact that Ivan was just about to dive in for the kill did a whole bunch of Parbys rushed in between them as Yao manage to frantically stop him, stating that it was a Paracote, an herbivore guarding its territory and possibly, the Parbys around.

With that, they went off their way again. Night fell soon after, with Yao finally grumbling softly to himself about how they had only covered half of what was expected while Ludwig fussed over the scheduled plan that had now gone down the drain as Feli skipped around humming cheerfully while preparing dinner once again.

Pasta two days in a row while camping outside wasn't something any of them expected or was looking forward to. But Feli's perfectly cooked pasta coupled with some of Antonio's home grown tomatoes which nobody knew how he brought along was just too heavenly to resist. Even Alfred who would rather eat burgers all day had to admit that it was a miracle, and was about to gulp down everything on his plate when he noticed something strange about Ivan. Ivan was happily eating his pasta as well, but there was something soft and white peeking out from his scarf.

"What's that white thing you got there?" He asked, stuffing his mouth full of pasta at the same time while swinging his fork to point at Ivan much to Arthur's who was just sitting beside him disgust.

"It's one to the Parbys." Ivan placed down his plate on his lap before pulling his scarf a little, urging the small white Parbys to jump out onto his shoulder, snuggling on his cheek as Ivan laughed. "It followed me when I was picking fruits. I picked it up for a while, but it head-butted me when I tried to put it back."

Everybody turned to look at the violet eyed man not knowing what to do as he took a small strain of spaghetti and gave it to the Parbys which enthusiastically nibbled on it, its soft white long ears twitching and swaying in delight. "That would explain why the Paracote was trying to attack you just now. They are very defensive when it comes to the Parbys around their territory. I'm surprised it allowed you to go off with one in the end aru. But I guess if it did then there's nothing else we can say about it. Just take care of it properly." With that, Yao continued eating with the rest continuing suite as Ivan too picked up his plate while feeling his new small companion bits and pieces as well.

With dinner out of the way, Ludwig and Feli took on the cleaning of dishes. Ludwig eyed Antonio, as the later handed Feli the other plates he collected, both smiling and talking about how well the tomatoes went with the pasta. His eyes narrowed slightly as Antonio patted Feli on the back, but none the less a small rare smile showed on Ludwig's normally serious looking face as the both laughed and chatted beside him.

"The stars are really pretty tonight." Yao smiled at Kiku as his seemly blank face quickly changed to one of surprise, before changing back to his usual blank expression as Yao sat beside him on the soft grass a good distance away from the now joyfully laughing Feli and Antonio.

Before Kiku could respond to Yao's sudden appearance, Yao taking Kiku's short moment of silence as consent, started pointing out the various constellations that painted the bright night sky, ignoring Arthur who was awkwardly sipping tea a stone throw away from Kiku. Kiku however, did not stop him, merely silently listening as Yao went on and on, his eyes actually following the other man's hand as Yao pointed out towards the stars above.

Just as Yao was about to explain another constellation, a head wearing a huge grin suddenly popped in from between Arthur and Kiku, causing Arthur to almost spit out his tea.

"What are you doing appearing like that?!" Arthur yelled as he tried to regain his lost gentlemanly composure.

"Ahahaha! A hero appears whenever and wherever he wishes!" With that, Alfred sat down on the grass as well, right beside a grumpy looking Arthur who just continued sipping whatever tea he had left in his teacup, as Yao seeing that it was nothing to be concerned about, continued on with his explanation of the constellation while Kiku continued to listen.

After a few seconds of stargazing, Alfred started glancing towards the emerald-eyed man. And as Arthur's thick eyebrows started to rise in question at the other's actions, Alfred blurt out, "When did you brew the tea? I've never seen you do it. And can you pull out anything from your magic circle? It's like some kind of eternity pocket."

"Just now and no."

"How?"

"I brewed it."

"What are you guys doing?" Ivan chipped in suddenly, his face carrying his usual smile as he hovered above the four with the small Parbys which he had affectionately named Krolik blinking its small red eyes on his shoulders, making Yao jump with a small yelp.

Alfred turned to the larger figure behind them, his face still holding a grin but seemly deadly serious at the same time. "Can't you see, we're looking for Alien Aircrafts."

"Alien Aircrafts?" Feli repeated dumbfounded.

"Also known as Unidentified Flying Objects, UFO." Arthur scowled, as he turned his head towards Alfred. "You bloody fool. There isn't something like that."

"How do you know it doesn't exist! And you sure know quite a lot about something that doesn't exist." Alfred accused.

"S-Shut up! It is exactly because it does not exist that I know about it, it's not like it's interesting or anything! You hear me?!"

"What are you still doing out here. Didn't I tell you to rest aru?" Yao cut in just before the two could start fighting again, standing up with a sigh.

"Ehh, but I don't want to…" Ivan pouted, violet eyes watching as Yao turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Stop being such a child, I know you strained yourself with the Monmoth."

"Yao yao…"

With that, Yao with another long sigh grabbed onto Ivan's hand and started pulling him along to the tent as Ivan merely pouted, allowing himself to be dragged along by the smaller man.

As Yao fussed over Ivan and tucked him in, Ludwig, Feli and Antonio finished up and joined the others stargazing. By the time Yao finally shrugged back, everybody was getting ready to leave.

"Everybody's going to sleep already? It's not that late yet aru. If we stay up for about an hour more we might be able to see some shooting stars, or even the constellations shifting." Yao persuaded, looking around him as everybody walked pass him towards the tents yawning.

"If that's the case you can take first lookout duty Yao." Alfred announced with a grin as he yawned out loud. "Thanks a lot dude!"

Yao's shoulders fell as the rest crawled into their tents for the night, leaving him standing alone in the dark with only the light of the campfire to brighten the place. "Suit yourselves." He huffed, walking back to the spot they were sitting a moment ago. "Watching the constellations shift on my own is so much better anyway. There won't be anyone to bother me when I take down notes aru." What he didn't know was that Kiku had been peeking out of his tent, watching the older man as he walked up the hill with a dejected look, before quietly retreating back in, softly closing the tent back up.

But throughout his whole two hours of sitting there keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble while admiring the stars, the constellations did not shift like he had expected them nto at all. Nor was there any shooting stars passing through the atmosphere. "Strange…" Yao muttered as he dejectedly went back to the tents and tried to wake Feli who instead continued to sleep as Ludwig woke up instead, taking over his fiancé's lookout duty, before Yao finally crawled into his tent and went to sleep.

A shuffling of sheets woke Antonio up, he blinked slowly to let his eyes adjust and pick up anything in the dark. He was about to go back to sleep until he saw the tent open, moonlight casting onto Ivan's face. The man seemed alert, his other hand on his cane. Antonio pushed himself up when he heard the rustling of the bushes as well. Ivan looked back and met Antonio's eyes before they both left the tent, to meet Kiku near the entrance.

"What is it?" Antonio whispered as he looked around trying to locate exactly where the sound was coming from.

Kiku pointed to a bush shuffling a distance away near the dying ambers of their campfire as Ivan took slow silent steps towards it, a wide smile starting to form on his face. The other two watched on, holding their breaths, as if afraid that the slightest whisper of a sound would send whatever it was hiding in the bush running.

Just as Ivan was halfway to the now dead campfire, the rustling from the within the bushes stopped. The air hung dead silent, the atmosphere around them suddenly tensed as nobody moved an inch, waiting to see what was to come next. That short moment felt like an eternity as all three stared intensely at the now silent seemly normal bush. Ivan's eyes narrowed as he placed his raised foot that was barely touching the ground below him onto the soft grass. And in a blink of an eye, he sprint towards the bush that was once again rustling as a figure clambered out and started running as swift as the wind away from them.

Ivan raced towards the scampering figure, his cane raised as a chuckle escaped his lips. Kiku and Antonio gave chase as well, drawing their weapons as they went. That was when Antonio noticed with the aid of the soft moonlight that the figure was not of some creature, but that of a child frantically running away from his or her chasers while carrying a small bag in hand. Antonio cried out to the child to stop, promising that they would not do anything. Kiku too seemed to have noticed as well, sheathing his katana back into its scabbard.

Only Ivan seemed to not have noticed the identity of the figure running away from them as he sped towards the child at full speed. And suddenly just as he was about to grab the child, Ivan came to an abrupt stop, his face smiling calmly and breathe still slow and steady as if he was on a leisurely stroll instead of chasing a child for more than a kilometre. Letting the child race down the field away from them.

"What happened? Why did you let the kid go?" Antonio grumbled, jogging up behind Ivan as Ivan bent down to pick a small bag off the ground.

"He dropped it." Ivan replied, turning towards both Kiku and Antonio, a cheery smile on his face. "He tried to steal the herbs Yao picked earlier on in the forest. I remembered him saying that they are really great cures for many aliments when prepared correctly. If not, they're fatal and would kill a person in the most painful way ever."

"Though I would have liked to see that." Ivan added, the cheery warm smile still on his face as Antonio shuddered and took a few steps back while Kiku tried to maintain his calm although a look of shocked bewilderment was clear on his face.

With that, Ivan squeezed pass the two and started skipping back to camp while humming a soft cheerful tune. Krolik peeking its head out from under his scarf, its soft white fur glittering in the moonlight as it turned its small head back to look that the two as they slowly followed Ivan along a small distance away.

Kiku relayed what happened to the rest in the morning wtih Antonio adding in quick comments in between while Ivan merely smile at a corner. And after a quick check that nothing was missing, though Yao was completely furious that someone had tried to steal his herbs, they packed up and went on their way.

"So did you get a clear look of the kid?" Yao ask as they sped to the next detour location that Alfred had decided to go.

Ivan looked up from petting Krolik who was snuggling up against him on his lap, and nodded at the man beside him. "He is most probably only around eight or nine, no more than eleven. Pretty rugged, clothes were torn in multiple places and a few wounds on the body. Most likely running away from somewhere or something."

Yao's brows furrowed in thought "He's too young to be able to survive out in the plains alone and have so little injuries. There's most likely a person or two with him. But who and what is he running away from? We should keep an eye out aru. It feels like trouble is brewing."

They decided though not at all willingly by Yao and Ludwig to spend the rest of the day relaxing by the Clarion River after Alfred promised that he would not drag the party around for any detours for the rest of the journey. The cool clear water splashed around as they sank their legs into the winding snake like river that cut through the Stygian Forest. Alfred sighed in content as his bare feet stepped on the smooth cool pebbles in the sparkling water, grinning at sight of the fishes swimming around his legs, curious of the stranger in their home. Until a splosh sound started sounding from around his legs as blur stabbed at the water.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Alfred jumped back, falling hard into the water as he looked up furiously at an innocently smiling Ivan who was still stabbing at where his feet was. "Are you that anxious to kill me? Not that anybody can kill a hero!"

"Catching fishes for lunch." Ivan brought up his cane to show three still weakly wiggling fishes stabbed straight through their body. "They make great fish stew."

"If you got three that's more enough to make the stew for everyone." Antonio cut in, standing awkwardly by the bank, holding another two more fishes in his hands. "Kiku's already gutting the other two we caught."

Ivan hummed cheerfully as he got out of the water, walking beside a slowly edging away Antonio as Krolik stared at him, while Ivan spun his cane around with the fishes still impaled on it. Alfred glared at the larger man as he stood up, his clothes soaking wet. But his anger has short lived when he noticed where everybody else's attention was.

"-he Stygian Forest is said to be hunted. They say that the souls of the wrongfully departed is drawn to the place, and once you enter you never leave. At least not whole aru."

Yao continued to explain, pointing to the visible features of the dark ashen forest while everyone else listened intently, even Ludwig who was actually eyeing the forest while Feli grabbed onto his sleeve, shivering from behind his fiancé, making whimpering noises with a look of fear on his face.

Alfred gulped as Yao continued on. "They say that even in the day, if you listen closely, you can hear or even see the souls of the dammed trapped within." He walked a few steps towards the sinister forest. "But of course nobody knows for sure if the forest is really hunted. Though it is true that those who came out were never the same."

"It'll be interesting if it was true да? It would be fun to meet a spirit." Ivan smiled brightly as Alfred's head jerked towards the direction of the forest sharply. Did he hear something? No it must have been his imagination.

Slivery-blue eyes focused closer on the forest, peering within as Alfred perked his ears up, listening for any movement from the dead silent forest. It had to be his imagination right? There's no way things like ghosts actually exist. Then he saw it. A slight movement from within the trees, a silhouette like that of a figure slowly making its way to the edge of the forest, faster and faster.

"Guahhhhhh!" he cried, falling down on his butt into the cool water again as a gush of howling wind blew out from within the forest. Alfred could feel his heart pounding against his chest. But what was worst was when he turned to look at the direction where the rest were. His face started turning bright red as everybody stared at him.

"What's wrong Al? You scared of a little wind?" Antonio snickered, laughing so hard that his eyes started tearing.

Alfred could feel his ears getting hotter as his face turned a bright shade of red. "I-I wasn't scared! The hero isn't afraid of anything!"

"Just admit that you were scared of the forest." Arthur sighed before turning back to sipping his cup of tea, ignoring the other as Alfred continued to shout excuses.

They stayed by the river, enjoying the setting sun while eating leftover fish stew from the morning after Arthur volunteered to cook, but only whipped up some dark looking matter instead which everybody else rejected wholeheartedly.

They were about to turn in for the night, with Alfred setting up tent as far away from the forest as he could when a loud scream resounded a distance away from where they were. Everybody immediately stopped whatever they were doing and turned towards the direction of the sound. They knew what it was even without looking.

Someone was screaming for help.

Me: White fur/hair, red eyes sounds familiar? That's all the ruspru u're gonna get. Hh.

A/N: Sorry for the late update, i'll try to whip up the chaps faster nxt time (don't hold your breath though).

Thanks for following/&fav and thanks Anne for reviewing. Al is funny isn't he? As expected from an awesome writer like me #slapped. Gotta thank Einnyth as well, without her I doubt this chap would even be completed so soon/properly. Tyvm~