Disclaimer: The Hetalia characters and their personifications belong to Hidekaz Himaruya. 日丸屋 秀和

What Not to do if You are a Knight by Gilbert Beilschmidt:

7.) Do not send your comrades on pointless missions and then forget about them.

8.) Do not attempt to build a flying contraption powered by small woodland birds.

9.) WHATEVER YOU DO, don't mess with that Eli kid.

(FLASHBACK) - New Recruits

"Hey!"

The ten-year-old, alabaster-haired boy called up to the tree. He received no answer.

"HEY!"

No answer.

"HEYYYY-"

"OH, WOULD YOU BE QUIET?!" exclaimed a scruffy-looking brunette with his hair pulled back. He skillfully swung down from his position in the branches. "How am I supposed to catch one of those little finches with your half-strangled vulture cries scaring every bird in the forest away?"

"What the hell are you trying to catch a stupid bird for?" he queried.

Eli gaped at the question. "BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME TO! You said, you had a brilliant new battle strategy to try out, and wanted me to-"

"Oh yeahyeahyeahyeah- I wanted to see if I could fly over mein enemies by catching a ton of those tiny pigeon things, but I have since decided it may be a tad difficult."

"...I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT!"

"But I have something new to share with you, Eli! And it's-"

"Awesome?" he half-smiled, finishing his albino friend's sentence. The duo high-fived.

"YES! In fact, it is DOUBLE AWESOME!" He stepped to the side, revealing a pair of children behind him. "Two. New. Recruits." He smirked.

The green-eyed child smirked with Gilbert. "Newbies huh? Alright, what're your names, cadets?"

One of the little boys wore a purple, feathered cap, a red cape and laced blue clothing. He had soft, shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes. Eli didn't think he'd last a week.

The other child looked more soldierly: a uniform of reds, golds and greens decorated his person. He had browned hair and eyes a similar hue to hers.

Yet, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it, he seemed to her to be a little... well, simple.

As if to prove Eli's internal musings correct, the boy with the darker complexion seemed to become utterly transfixed on a fly buzzing around his head. He stared with mesmerized eyes and parted lips at the circling insect, and when the creature landed on his forehead, the boy crossed his eyes, stuck out his tongue and slapped his palm directly into his face... leaving a nasty handprint and one unscathed fly.

Eli silently bid his farewells to these misfits who clearly didn't belong anywhere near this part of Europe.

"Ehhh, is this the 'brave warrior' you were telling us about, Gilbert? This pee-wee?" the blond began.

"Pee-wee?" Eli exclaimed. He stomped forward. "Listen here, bub. I. Am not. A Pee. Wee."

"Ohohohon, monsieur, your legs are so tiny and your features so feminine that if you were not a man, I would have charmed you to the point of fainting right now through pure masculine allure."

Eli leaned back slightly. "A real ladies man, huh? Alright, well, do you think your stronger, manlier, legs," (which he noted were covered by striped tights) "can beat me in a foot-race to that split tree and back?" He pointed to an old, hollowed-out beech tree about 50 meters away in the surrounding woods.

"I'll take that bet!" the other boy, Antonio, chirped cheerfully from the side.

So, Eli drew a line with his foot across the leaf-covered ground with and the command of "RUN!" provided by Gilbert, the two children dashed off, stirring up leaves and stones as they ran.

But about 25 meters out, Eli intentionally slowed down, dropping back significantly behind the French child.

The golden-haired boy looked back with a triumphant gleam, "Au revoir, little- aaaAAAHHHAA!"

Suddenly, his foot caught on a tension line, and the blond was whisked off his feet and suspended upside-down from an adjacent tree, while Eli trotted happily over to the split trunk. A superior smirk graced the smaller boy's features as a petite hand rested on the withered beech-tree bark victoriously.

"Listen up, cadets!" Eli began lazily, "Let's get something clear right now. You have no right to call me little, or weak, or feminine. You have no right to assume you know anything about me at the moment." He unstrapped his bow and pulled an arrow from the quiver behind his back. Then, aiming at the knot which ensnared the French boy's ankle, Eli continued, "The only thing you DO have the right to assume about me, is that I'm..." he took aim and let loose the arrow. The projectile shot forth and sliced directly through the twine knot, effectively cutting the boy down, "...better than you."

Gilbert crossed his arms and smiled on proudly.

Eli extended an arm to help the liberated newcomer up.

And, with a newfound respect for the ponytailed trickster, Francis took the hand and pulled himself to his feet.

Eli soon came to learn that these new recruits, naive as they were, were not apt to quit so easily. They were good kids, and she learned quickly that they had strong spirits.

Antonio Fernández Carriedo was a Spaniard from a wealthy line of nobles occupying the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula. His father had sent him to the region so he would receive the best religious military training in Europe from the fearsome Teutonic Order of Knights.

Francis Bonnefoy was also of military decent. His family was purely French but had strong connections to a few German nobles, and, after several private meetings and some elbow-rubbing, arrangements had been made so that the young Francis found himself here, ready to be trained as a prestigious knight.

That was the first time the four children met. From that day forward, they came to be an inseparable quartet.

They found it funny that they were all from different corners of Europe, and sometimes just referred to each other by birthplace rather than name.

But close as they all were, Gilbert and Eli remained the closest. And he never told her secret.

Historical Notes

Let's review just how expansive the Teutonic Knights' influence truly was:

*During the rule of Grand Master Hermann von Salza (1209-1239) the Order shifted from being mainly a hospice brotherhood for pilgrims to a military order; it was during this period that the Teutonic Knights' activities extended across the Mediterranean region and from Spain all the way to Livonia.

*There are multiple instances of French knights fighting alongside the Teutonic Knights during the 13th century, such as in the Battle of Legnica (James Chambers. The Devil's Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe. Atheneum. New York. 1979.) and in parts of Greece where a number of French and Italian crusader states were established.

*So, with this cross-continental domain, it becomes possible to have Spanish and French noblemen entering into the Order of the Teutonic Knights.