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:
32.) Do not blackmail your love interest.
33.) Always be aware of the weather when planning missions.
Flood
Tears ran down Kitty's pained face as she slept that night in the old, abandoned castle, dreaming of memories she thought she had silenced.
From the doorway in the early dawn hours, Gilbert stood and watched Elizaveta intently, wondering what could possibly hurt her so.
"Ah, gazing upon your lover as she sleeps, mon ami?" came a voice from behind him.
Gilbert jumped. "What?!"
"Ah, tsk tsk tsk, it really is forbidden love! The two of you defending different causes - just like the forbidden love of the lowly Antonio and the beautiful princess!" Francis elbowed Antonio as he walked up the hall.
Antonio laughed. "Actually I-"
"SSSHHHH! Will you two nimrods put a sock in it? You're gonna wake 'em up!"
Francis gave an offhanded chuckle. "Hmhmn yes, well, commander, I was just going to ride out along the forest path to make sure there are no downed trees before we depart on our journey back to the kingdom."
"Good. You do that. Toni, I want you here with me to handle the girls if they try anything."
The other men nodded in agreement and went off.
Gilbert shut the door and remained on guard, listening attentively outside.
Kitty and Lovina awoke soon after, but did not move from their huddle on the floor.
"What are we going to do about the kraut, the perv, and the dunce?" the younger whispered.
"I... don't know."
"Don't you have anymore ingenious escape plans to pull out of your sleeve?" the princess inquired hopefully.
Suddenly, the door was thrown open and their white and brown-haired captors waltzed in.
"Wakey wakey!"
"You could knock first!" Elizaveta scolded darkly, sitting up.
"Sorry," Antonio apologized.
For a moment, Lovina looked at him quizzically. Since when do captors take orders from - and apologize to - their hostages like little boys with their mothers? However, she quickly brushed it off.
"What's for breakfast? I'm hungry!" the princess demanded.
"Oh!~ I'll get you-"
"You'll EAT when we TELL you to EAT, kid."
Elizaveta stretched and got up. "Well, I'll get us something to eat then." She promptly marched toward the door in confident strides.
Antonio made no move to stop her... in fact, he moved aside.
Kitty marched out of the room and around the corner of the doorway.
Gilbert and Antonio stared blankly at her blatant disregard for their authority. They looked at each other. Gilbert then held up a finger, signaling the two southerners to wait a moment. Then, he hastily darted out the door after her.
Gilbert caught Elizaveta by the arm a little way down the hall. "Heh. Liz, what do you think you're doing?" he smiled sweetly.
"Well," she said in the same overly-sweet and somewhat condescending tone, "I'm hungry, so I had this crazy idea that I'd eat something."
"I did not give you permission!" he reminded her.
"Cute. I had forgotten that you guys are playing the 'big scawy kidnappers' now. Pfff. What are you going to do if I disobey? Beat me?" She leaned in with a challenging glare. "I dare you."
Gilbert feigned a surprised expression, "Beat you? Why, dear Lizzie, how unchivalrous! No, violence is never the answer. We use our words here..."
"Good," she said spinning on her heel.
"...Words to tell the little princess all about your acts of treason, cross-dressing, impersonation of a knight, prostitution-"
Her smug smile shattered and she gasped out loud as she realized the threat. "No! Stop it! She'll never believe you! ...And WHAT was that last one you said?"
"Au conrtaire, my dear. After your little display of fighting skills on the carriage, woodsman skills in the forest, and clever use of traps as defense weapons, I do believe you may have put just enough suspicion in her mind to spark doubt."
Her eyes grew wide and her face drained of color. In all honesty, she looked like she was going to be sick.
"You can't!" she blurted. "You can't tell her about my past, or that you know me or... or... She trusts me. I promised I would never lie to her and do you know what this would make me? The biggest freaking liar on this side of Europe!"
His catlike grin faded into something more serious. "Then quit acting like this is a joke, and do as we say. You're kidnapped."
She glared at him for a long while. He held her stare evenly, until she dropped her eyes in defeat.
*Meanwhile back in the room*
"...Did you have a nice sleep?"
"Who gave you permission to talk to me?"
"No one."
"Then don't."
"Oh, okay but I'm a very good listener! Did you have any dreams? Did you ever have a dream that you died before? One time, I had a dream that I was stabbed in battle but it turns out that I just rolled over a fork in my sleep and that is the last time I ever eat cake in bed come to think of it I don't even know how it got there-"
"My God, do you EVER stop talking?"
"Lo siento... I get nervous around beautiful girls."
She stared at him, a little caught off guard by his last remark, but kept her arms crossed and turned her head away indignantly.
"Idiot," she mumbled.
Two figures re-entered the room, one looking distraught and the other a tad more confident than when he had left.
Gilbert prodded Elizaveta in front of him - like a sheep being sent to slaughter. "So, there'll be no more of that disrespect."
Lovina ran to Elizaveta to make sure she was alright, glaring at the red-eyed man as she did so.
Gilbert clapped his hands together. "Well! Now I'm hungry, so NOW we shall go get something to eat."
Earlier that morning, Francis had mounted one of the horses which the girls had brought to the rear of the fortress and retraced the forest path from whence they'd come.
.
By mid-morning he had nearly made it out of the black, luring woods. The path had been extremely muddy and semi-flooded. Tree branches were down here and there, but there was nothing unavoidable. By the end of the trail, Francis was actually getting excited to tell his friends the pleasing news when...
"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!"
"Hm? Oh! Bonjour, Pierre!"
The little white pigeon fluttered around its master in a flourish of affection.
"Honhon, I have not seen you in a few days. Where have you been you naughty little pigeon?"
The white little avian landed on his master's extended finger.
"Pierre, why don't you go scout out ahead for me, hm?"
The little bird obeyed and flitted off. They were nearly at the edge of the forest now. It really was a peaceful morning, albeit cool and cloudy.
He began to think of their plan. Would this ransom thing really work? Especially now with Elizaveta in the picture. No doubt she would be fighting them every step of the way. Perhaps it was her they needed to work on... to convince her to join them...
There was a distinct sloshing sound under the horse's hooves and the beast stopped, refusing to continue forward.
Francis cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward. Looking at the ground, he saw nearly a foot of standing water!
"What the hell?"
Suddenly, Pierre came back, circling his master's head frantically with loud, urgent chirps.
He tugged at Francis' hair and pecked him once on the top of his head.
"Ow!" he swatted. "Pierre, what is wrong with you? What are you trying to- oooooohhhhh myyyyy..."
Peering out into the field that contained the bridge that connected the kingdom and the forest... he saw...
an ocean.
The river had broken its banks.
There was no more bridge. There were not even any remnants of a bridge. The broken trees and raging rapids had literally swept it all away. They were separated from practically all of civilization by more than half a mile of rapid, deadly, steaming torrential rain overflow. A flood.
They were blocked by the swollen river all along the east - the way back to the kingdom - and surrounded also at the north and the south where the river curved. Between the giant, swollen Duna and the depths of the Black Forest to their west, their little fortress was like an island in the middle of the Mediterranean.
And it looked like they were going to be there for a while.