Dark Waters

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Canada hummed as they rode. They were still following the shore line. It had gotten slightly warmer, just enough to start snowing again. The Storm Hawks and Gilbert had their hoods up, but he didn't. He never minded the snow in his hair. He missed the cold living down south for years.

The albino kept looking over at him every few minutes. He was still expecting him to throw a snowball. The Canadian just smiled knowing what he was thinking. He let him wait and anticipate it for a couple hours. Later, Matthew reached into a tree and grabbed a handful of snow. He expertly shaped it into a ball and lightly threw it at Gilbert.

"Birdie!" Prussia laughed brushing the snow off his shoulders. He grabbed his own handful of snow and threw it at him. Canada and Kumajirou both leaned out of the way of the ball. It ended up hitting Finn.

"Hey!" The young blond yelled.

Finn jumped off his horse and made a snowball throwing it at the Prussian. Gilbert ducked and it hit a tree behind him. He quickly got off of Mondi and made another snowball. He threw it at Canada, but he easily moved out of the way. The Canadian hopped off of Glacies and threw another one at Prussia.

By now all of the other Storm Hawks were off their horses and throwing snowballs. Stork had made himself a fort and was just hiding. Finn and Junko had banded together trying to hit Gilbert. He was hiding behind Matthew who was throwing snowballs from behind a tree. Aerrow and Radarr had climbed into a tree and were throwing from up there. Piper was hiding underneath him throwing at Junko and Finn.

"No fair!" Finn whined after Aerrow dropped snow on him from above. They laughed as he shook the snow from his hair. Prussia took the opportunity while Canada was distracted to shove snow down the back of his shirt. He yelped in surprised shaking the snow from his shirt.

"Payback!" Gilbert laughed as he got the snow out from his back. He hadn't realized the Canadian still had snow in his hand. He smushed it into the albino's hair. He just sighed exasperatedly. "I really should have seen that coming."

"Yep." Matthew laughed kissing his cheek. He shook his shirt getting the rest of the snow out while Prussia shook it from his hair. The Storm Hawks were cleaning themselves off as well. They kept looking at each other expecting someone to throw more snow. "Well, let's keep moving."

"Yeah." Aerrow smiled. Their horses hadn't gone far and were ready to go. They mounted and started on their way again. "How much longer?"

"We can start cutting inland soon. We'll be there by nightfall." Canada said with a smile. They rode quietly for a whole before the blond turned them inland. They only rode a few kilometres before he stopped them. He could see a bit of concrete sticking out of the snow. "We're here."

"Really?" Piper asked and Matthew nodded. He got off of Glacies and drew a x in the snow. Everyone else got off their horses as well.

"Right here. About a foot or two under." The blond said. "The ground is frozen though. It'll be best if we set the campfire there for a while. It'll help it thaw."

The Storm Hawks nodded and they started to set up camp. Matthew got the fire ready making sure it would burn for a while. They made supper and talked for a while. They decided to leave digging until the morning. The Canadian put more wood on the fire to keep them warm and thaw the ground further. All of them pulled their sleeping bags closer to the fire for the night. They didn't bother with watches. They hadn't seen a titan since the first day out of the walls.

"It's so cold." Prussia murmured once they were under the covers. He had his back to the fire. He immediately hid his head under the covers. Matthew hummed and pulled him close as he buried his face in the crook of his neck. "But jou're so varm."

"It's not that cold." Canada said through a yawn. He still really wasn't feeling the cold. He had a foot sticking out of the blankets. "It's only like minus fifteen."

"Only." Gilbert grumbled. The blond could hear the eye roll in his voice. He laughed lightly nuzzling into the albino's hair. They both signed contently in unison and laughed quietly. "Gute nacht, liebling."

"Bonne nuit, mon nounours." Matthew hummed pressing a kiss into his hair and closing his eyes.

-❄️" Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."❄️-

The next morning, the Storm Hawks were up before the nations. They were up and cooking before even Gilbert woke up. He just grumbled looking at the fire. He wanted to move, but he didn't want to leave the warmth from Canada. Junko was sitting up still in his sleeping bag while cooking. The others were doing the same.

Prussia sat up trying to take the blankets with him, but the Canadian grumbled and turned over pulling them with him. The albino shivered and stole Matthew's winter jacket from their bag. He sat by the fire warming his hands. He had his shirt, Matthew's hoodie, his winter jacket, Matthew's winter jacket and cape on. He could still feel the cold. Kumajirou came over and crawled into his lap after a while.

Canada didn't wake up until breakfast was finished. He was still half asleep leaning into the Prussian's side as they ate. The cub kept stealing food from his plate, but he didn't really care too much. He was more awake after breakfast when they put the fire out.

They carefully moved the logs and embers out of the way as Finn grabbed the shovels. The Canadian broke the ground where he knew the crystal was. They got down a little way before they hit frozen soil again. It took both his weight and Junko's weight on the shovel to even get it into the ground. It took them a while to make it down far. They finally hit something solid and Piper crouched down to brush some of the dirt out of the way.

"That's it!" She said excitedly. The woman looked up at him and smiled brightly. He crouched down next to her and started to carefully chip away at the frozen soil around it. It was a slow process to excavate the crystal. Canada really wished he had left it in the prairies or something. It was such a pain, but they finally got it out. "It looks the exact same."

"Do crystals even age or, ah, deteriorate?" Aerrow asked raising an eyebrow as Piper handed Matthew the crystal.

"I know they do if all their power is used, but otherwise I don't know. There haven't been studies." The woman shrugged.

"What are we doing with the horses?" Stork asked petting his.

"Ve'll take all of their equipment off and let them go." Prussia said as Mondi stomped towards him. "Horses didn't used to be domesticated, they'll be fine out here."

"I'll miss them, can we take them with us?" Finn asked petting his horse.

"I don't think the crystal will work for that many bodies." Matthew said shaking his head. "Besides, they wouldn't like the Condor. There's no grass or enough space to run around." He sighed. "It will be better for them to stay here."

Finn sighed and nodded. They whistled for their horses and they came right away. Canada pet Glacies taking his saddle and bags off. The horse seemed to be confused when his bridal was removed. He nudged the blond's side and he pet him again.

"You can go bud." Matthew sighed as the horse nudged him again and he pushed his nose away. He showed his empty palms. The horse snorted and turned away from him and started to walk away. He kept pausing and looking back at him waiting for the Canadian to go after him. Glacies looked a bit sad that he didn't and stomped off into the forest.