Once Upon A Time | A Hetalia x Reader

Chapter 29: Protection, Caught

The village tour took the majority of the afternoon. After refilling our food supply, we waved goodbye to our friendly hosts and took out leave. Of course I would miss them, but will I forget?

Despite the heavy dread that weighed upon us, and the cold that seemed way to freeze us, we were otherwise completely okay throughout the trip. Arthur seemed more tired than usual.

"Arthur," I said to him gently. "We won't need the spell much longer. You can rest now."

This made him sigh deeply. "Thank you," was all he said before he suddenly collapsed upon a log. I quickly set my bags to the side and made sure he didn't fall any further. Alfred simply took watch over us, his sword equipped upon his waist.

I could tell that my disguise had worn off. How long had I kept this way? A few weeks? Hopefully just a week, much less a few days.

For a while, we had all stayed the same. The cold had started to worsen, and Arthur swore even more. Alfred still continued to stay vigilant. And me? I tried to calm Arthur down.

The bushes started to rustle quite loudly.

And so did the trees.

Everything grew louder and louder until it immediately settled down.

Quite scary, honestly.

Only did a single arrow that shot right past caused me to scream bloody murder. The user who did such a cruel thing still obscured itself from our views. I cursed under my breath and immediately shielded Arthur from which the direction of the arrow came from. And then I took out my knife. It may not be much help, but I'm rather mediocre when it comes to defense - honestly, I only try when I feel like it.

"Surrender now!" yelled a voice. Another arrow flew our way.

"Y-yeah! Surrender, you...you fiends!"

"Rude to call some innocent commoners a fiend..." Arthur weakly mumbled, growing limp again despite my tellings not to. You can tell, just from the tiniest bit, that I was panicking to no end - even under the lighthearted atmosphere.

Suddenly, three figures emerged from the nature, two dressed in leaves and twigs, and one that kept himself cleansed and organized. Otherwise, he wouldn't look as professional with his weapon that pointed straight towards Alfred, and possibly even threatening the things behind him.

My breath hitched in disappointed as we were merely cornered by the three enemies, and I continued to shield Arthur away from them.

I dunno, he's still tired. But he would be very useful if he got off his ass and helped.

"I-I don't think we should attack these people. They seem harmless," whispered the seemingly youngest of the three. He didn't even dare point his bow our way. He didn't even have it loaded.

"Nonsense," the supposed leader retorted immediately. "Every stranger is a culprit of any kind. Eduard, take care of the blond, Raivis, go and watch over the sleeping man by the log. I'll go and bring the girl along with me."

The two seemed very hesitant, but they obliged either way.

-

All three of us, as the captives, were walking in front of the other three who held us captive. They didn't seem too harmful, but would I seriously let myself underestimate them? No.

Despite the heavy, tense atmosphere, I managed to hum a tune. It was quiet at first, and the trio didn't seem to mind. But as it grew slightly louder, I assumed that one of them suspected something and instantly shushed me. I sighed in defeat, not knowing what else to do.

"I'm sorry," said the supposed leader of the trio. "For doing all this."

I looked over my shoulder to see that he was holding a sincere look.

"Oh? Really now?"

"I'm serious." he remarked, looking down in shame. "It's just....b-boss will be angry if we don't do our jobs, and..."

"You've said enough, Toris," replied one of the three, I'm guessing it was Eduard. "He won't be happy if you tell them."

"I'm sorry," he apologized again, his grip on the bow tightening. I decided not to look back any further, afraid that I might provoke the current situation and continued to walk.

"We're here," the last of the trio spoke up, assuming it was Raivis. He started to walk faster a bit, assisting Arthur as he walked. We ended up in a camp somewhere near the castle, hidden behind a large thicket.

I ended up stumbling upon a rock, but Toris ushered me forward in a gentle manner.

"Go along now," he whispered politely.

And so I did.

-

“Capture the good times. So in the future, you can look back at it and smile.”

-

The Baltic trio has arrived! :D Huzzah!

(   ~ — ~) I have a feeling that they're out of character. Especially Toris.

Get ready to meet the largest country in the world, though.

- Yukina