Archer & The Dragon | Countryhumans

Sun, Moon, And Star

Russia silently watched the other children frolic around, he saw some kids glance at him once in a while. Some children were talking amongst themselves, they walked toward him once their brief discussion was finished.

Russia internally panicked, "Why are they coming here? Did I do something?" He shook and tried to keep his cool. One boy spoke up, "H-Hello, my name is Bei, why aren't you playing with us?" The boy was holding a stuffed animal in his arms, it resembled a panda with two buttons for eyes and a little circle for a nose. Russia was too nervous to speak. "H-Hello... I-I don't know how to... play," he sweated from awful excuse. The juvenile exchanged glances and smiled at him, "That's alright, we can show you how to have fun!"

Russia was surprised, he never frolicked with human children in his life. His father strictly taught him to keep away from mankind, young, old, etc. "R-Really? Well then, what can we do to play?" He stood up from the bench and fiddled with his fingers. "We can play a game of tag!" Russia smiled and tried to contain his ecstatic emotion. If it got too out of hand, then his identity would be revealed. 

"Okay! how do we play tag?" Some of the kids laughed at his playful ignorance. "The rules are simple, a player is chosen to be a monster, in other words, 'it' and that monster has to tag another player, and they will be it! Are you getting me?" Russia processed Bei's explanation, and despite not fully understanding the explanation he still nodded his head. "Here, try tagging me! Touch my hand."

He held out his hand and Russia slowly reached out and tapped him, "There! I am it! So now you have to avoid me so you won't be it! I'll count to 5!" Kids ran away screaming and Russia frantically looked around, he didn't know what to do. His legs began moving and he joined the other youngsters on the slide. Bei finally tagged one of his friends and a chain reaction kept going until it reached Russia. "I'm it now! What should I do!?"

"Tag somebody!" One of the kids yelled, Russia's eyes landed on Bei and he smiled, he sprinted toward him. His heart was beating fast and the adrenaline was coursing through his body, he never felt so alive! Russia was inches away from making contact with Bei, he jumped up and grabbed his shoulder causing both of them to roll on the ground. "Ha Ha, Okay, you caught me fair and square!"

Then kids gathered around them, "Woah, Bei is the fastest out of all of us! No one could catch him!" Russia stood up and pulled Bei from the ground. "Hey, you're a fast runner, we should play more often." Bei dusted himself and Russia rubbed his shoulder, "T-Thanks, I had a lot of experience with running."

The children scattered to play with something else, Russia and Bei were both swinging on the seesaw having a conversation.

"Come to think of it, you never told me your name. I'm Bei, as I already told you." He offered his hand to shake with a toothy grin. He was nervous at first, but then accepted his gesture, "My name is Russia."

Bei's eyebrows furrowed, "R-Russia? That's a strange name to pronounce, are you perhaps a foreigner?" Was it a mistake for him to say his name? It seemed like there was no turning back now. "I guess, you could say that." Bei's eyes glimmered, "Cool! Where are you from?! I always wanted to explore the world outside the kingdom!" 

"I rather not say, I'd prefer to keep it personal," he rubbed the back of his neck with an anxious smile. Bei's smile dropped, "Aww..." he whined, then his bright smile returned. "Well, that is okay, I won't pry into your personal information."

Russia sighed in relief, "Say... Is Bei your real name? Seems kind of short." Bei shook his head, "Nope, my real name is Beijing. My friends call me Bei for short, and soon all of my friends mention me by that name. And... it sort of grew on me. I don't hate it though."

"Your toy looks cute, how did you get it?" Russia asked pointing to the stuffed panda. "It's a close gift from a prince," He grasped the plushie close to his chest. "A prince you say?" Beijing nodded his head, "Yup, he is the son of the great ruler! Can you believe that?"