Ek Eleska Ykkr

*2*

"Old Norse in English."
"Old Norse translations."

Bjørn opened his eyes. The green forest greeted him, but the air smelled different. Dirty. He scoffed, then turned to his brother who was looked around.

Hauk's eyes were wide with wonder. In his hand was a shard of green glass. "Hey, Bjørn, how'd you think this got out here?" The older shrugged carelessly. Hauk frowned. "Do you think anyone's out here with us?" Again, Bjørn shrugged. This time stiffly.

The personification sighed and looked back at his southern counterpart. Hauk looked crestfallen. Bjørn sighed at his brother's discontentment. "But," again, he sighed,"I could always look." Hauk's gloomy demeanor instantly cleared. He let out a whoop. Together they walked through the forest. Twigs cracked as they continued.

Wait, Bjørn stopped suddenly. Voices! They were dull, but there. The speakers spoke oddly. In a different language. The older persona furrowed his brow. He was about to turn away when the voice changed dialect.

"Bjørn! Hauk! Líka koma af!"
"Bjørn! Hauk! Please come out!"

Bjørn felt Hauk tense next to him at the voice. Half of his body felt like running away from the person who abandoned them, the other half wanted to launch at his mother and be wrapped in a warm embrace. Unsure of what to do, he stood there trembling. Hauk's mind seemed to be made up, but even he was untrusting.

"M-Móðir?" The forest went quiet for a moment. Before they heard it again, this time a lot closer.

"Bjørn! Hauk! Ek em hœgri hí!"
"Bjørn! Hauk! I am right here!"

Hauk raced forward, towards the voice of their mother. But Bjørn stayed there. He wanted to move but he felt as if his feet had grown roots. His hands started to tremble, so the boy clenched his fists, trying not to show weakness. He gulped. What if his mother was disappointed in him? What if they had left them for a reason? What if his father favored Hauk?

With so many questions circling in his mind, Bjørn concluded that he would stay there.

//*//*//*//

     Finland sat on the bed he shared with Sweden. The lights were off and the curtains closed. His hands tightened around his arms as the thought came to him. The thought he so desperately wanted- no, needed to push away.

America and Canada were dead.

He had heard of the car crash. A small truck had hit the taxi cab both nations were in. The police said it was instant death, but Finland had some nagging feeling that it wasn't. Like an itch you couldn't scratch. His eyes watered with tears, this time he did nothing to wipe them away. The fact changed in his mind.

His sons, his twins, his baby boys were dead.

The Finn couldn't suppress a sob at that point and let his tears run freely, his body trembling and hiccuping as he cried. He just barely heard the knock on the bedroom door, but was so far lost in his tears, he didn't answer. The door opened anyway and a large shadow came into the room. Finland let out a whimper, no, not in fear, but in a calling of sorts. The figure, who ended up being the tall nation of Sweden, sat next to him on the bed.

Finland let out another sob and the Swede wrapped his arms around his wife, hugging him close. Through a hiccup, Finland managed to speak. His voice still cracked at varies points. "Su-san," Sweden grunted in response. "Are-are our sons really dead?" The nation was silent. Finland seemed to wilt in his grip. "So its true..."

Again, he started sobbing. It was no longer pretty crying, it now involved snot and mucus. Sweden didn't care, though. He had his own silent tears rolling down his face. He could remember Bjørn and Hauk clear as day.

//*//*//*//

"Papa! Papa!" Sweden turned to face the little voices behind him. Upon seeing the boys, he kneeled in front of them.

"Yes," he replied," is there something you need?" The boys shook their heads, both looked very excited. "Well then, what did you come here for?"

"Bjørn learned magic!" Hauk exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Sweden raised an eyebrow, and looked to Bjørn. When he spoke, he still addressed Hauk.

"Oh, did he now?" Bjørn shuffled his feet, before smiling and laughing nervously. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Sweden walked over to the boy and rested a hand on his hair. Bjørn blinked in surprise. It took him a second to connect the dots, but his eyes widened as he did.

"Nonono," he started to say but was too slow to get away. Sweden grabbed Bjørn by the shoulder and spun him around. The Swede pinned him against his stomach and moved his knuckles over the top of the boy's head. Effectively giving him a noogie. Although the boy protested, a smile was on his face. Hauk jumped to his feet.

"Don't worry, Big Brother," the small boy said confidently," I'll save you!" He ran up to Sweden and jumped onto his broad back, trying to take him down. Sweden growled playfully as he pretended to be the bad guy. Hauk pretended to scream as he fell off the tall nation's back. Sweden whipped around and rose his hands in claw like gestures, acting scary.

Both boys ran away. Convently in a straight line like all kids do. Sweden smiled and chased after them.

//*//*//*//

He let more tears flow down his cheeks as the memory resurfaced. All he wanted was his sons back. More than anything.

"Su-san," Finland said, clinging on to his shirt. "Can nations really die?" Sweden didn't say anything. Finland choked back another sob. "I mean, the bodies were to mangled to identify. Do you think they could still be out there?"

Sweden pulled away and looked the Finn in the eyes. "No one ever said they weren't." Finland cracked a small smile and nodded.

"Yeah."

//*//*//*//

"Bjørn! Hauk!" The Finn called, his hands somewhat cupped around his mouth. Sweden was right behind him as both walked through the forest. They had tried going back to where they remembered to have set up camp in North America. Maybe the boys were there.

Unfortunately, Finland had been calling for a little over two hours and has heard no response. Sweden put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not so sure they're here." Finland shook his head.

"Just another hour," he said, the confidence in his voice wavered. "I'm sure they're here!"

The Finn cupped his hands around his mouth again and shouted.

"Bjørn! Hauk! Líka koma af!"

The forest was silent. Not even a bird chirped. Suddenly, a small voice shouted back. It was not much, but it brought Finland to tears.

"M-Móðir?"

Hope surged through his veins and he called back.

"Bjørn! Hauk! Ek em hœgri hí!"
"Bjørn! Hauk! I am right here!"

There was silence for a moment before the faint sound of twigs snapping was heard. A small figure burst through the trees in a blur of tan, brown, and black.

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(Look I know it sucked, but I tried hard on it. School's well under way and its really stessin' me out so this one is a little late

-Random Introvert)