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hetalia2010-12-06 04:58 pm
blackrabbit9.livejournal.com) wrote in hetalia2010-12-06 04:58 pm
Entry tags:
[Fanfic] A Christmas Story: Catastrophe in 24 Acts (6/24)
Authors: Treyen and Blackrabbit
Beta: CrescentLilly
Characters: Ensemble. In this chapter: Finland, General Winter, America, Russia, Prussia, England, Austria, Poland, France, Germany, Greece, Turkey
Pairings: mistletoe/world
Rating: T
Genre: adventure, comedy
Warnings: Mistletoe, ridiculously cute critters, blatant disregard for foreign holiday traditions, abuse of classical ballet, some cursing and a few OCs.
Summary: With only a few days to Christmas the Nations should be busy preparing for the party. Only no one is really feeling like it, and that kinda-crucially-important little Finn is nowhere to be found.
Previous parts | On ff.net
~~~
The questioning of General Winter was something rather amusing and exciting to watch. The moment he had appeared in Finland's garden, snow had started falling softly from the gray clouds in the sky. Not many of the nations ever so much as exchanged a word with this freezing cold old man who floated over the earth at his own will and who had been around longer than most of them. Russia seemed quite adapted to it though.
"I took him to see Grandfather Frost," the General said indifferently when Russia asked where Finland was.
"Eh?" Russia tilted his head. So did many others behind him and frowning was a popular expression.
"He didn't tell me the details, but kept talking about saving Christmas."
"I don't really get it," Poland said, shaking his head.
"So... When did you part from him?" England asked, taking half a step forward.
"Yesterday. He went inside the castle alone. I waited around for a while but he didn't come back out," the General shrugged, and a small cloud of ice flew around him. "So I decided to detour home through Cyprus for fun and profit."
"WHAT?!" Greece and Turkey bellowed, then immediately shuddered for accidentally agreeing on something.
"Excuse me, but," Germany interrupted, sounding just as strict and painfully polite speaking to the personification of winter as he would to just another civil servant. "Would you mind telling some details?"
General Winter sighed and the tip of Russia's nose slightly froze in front of him.
Friday, December 17, afternoon
"Sorry, but I'm in a pretty bad mood right now. I hope you understand," Finland started when Russia's door closed behind him.
"What's this about?" General Winter asked as he was dragged out of Russia's house to the comfortably cold afternoon.
"You'll be my guide," Finland answered and finally let go of the other. "I'm going to see Grandfather Frost and I don't have the tiniest clue where to go, so you're going to show me the way."
"What do you want from the old man?"
"I'm going to take Christmas back," Finland muttered with a low voice, as if he was angry. After a little thinking, the General decided that he actually was.
"You could have asked Russia," he noted (coldly, which was saying something.)
"As if." Finland tossed his head. "Even I know that we've to go into the wild. That guy would immediately start going on about sharing body heat and at least I won't have that problem with you. You two are difficult at different extremes of the word and I deal with this end better."
"Thanks."
Finland sighed. "That wasn't a compliment."
General Winter coughed a few very stylish snow crystals sophisticatedly to the air. "Okay, if you give me something other than a scarf for a present this year, I don't mind taking a little trip. But you're not going to walk, are you?"
"Yes of course."
"...Really?"
"No, imbecile."
~
When Finland introduced the General to his "vehicle", there was a very long silence. Both Finland and the "vehicle" tilted their heads, waiting for some kind of response, which continued not to come.
Finland sighed again. "Just say something, okay?" he asked, shaking his head.
For a good while yet, the General remained silent. "A reindeer," he finally blurted.
"A remarkable observation," Finland noted with a dry smile.
"No sleigh?"
"Do you see one? I'm going to ride her of course. Here, you see the reins, right?" Finland held up the end of a peculiar leather contraption that the General, being as he was uninterested in the finer points of human craftsmanship, was only vaguely able to identify as reins. Then again, this was Finland and it was a reindeer.
General Winter frowned. "You can't ride a reindeer."
"Of course I can!" Finland said, looking offended. The reindeer looked almost as offended. "She's Father Christmas's reindeer, even though she might still be in training. Oh, her name is Rascal because, well, she is one. Or was, when she was younger since that's when they named her of course but nowadays I've heard that she behaves quite well. Of course she's still young and some of the official Christmas sleigh reindeer would have been more trustworthy, but they're busy with their special training. That's to keep the sleigh as steady as possible if they hit some hideous air currents, of course. Besides, they've gone fat during the autumn, especially Rudolph. Quite unexpected don't you think? The old man nagged about it all the time in October when I first went to see him this year. Though he can't really complain about someone else being fat, now can he? But anyway, recently– where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going home. I just remembered why I usually hang out with Russia."
"Oh no you're not! Drag your icy ass back here!"
"Then shut it for a while. Take your deer and let's go."
"Reindeer!"
~
The snow was soft and piled in thigh-high drifts, changing in depth as the forest changed in thickness. Where usually a reindeer with its cloven hooves would have had a hard time making any progress, Rascal stepped contentedly on the surface of the freshly fallen snow, leaving only slight traces behind her. Had she been an adult and fully educated, nothing would have been left behind. After all, why did people think no one ever found trails on their roofs or gardens or whatever route Father Christmas (or Finland) chose to use? Rascal couldn't fly yet, but she was already very good at defying gravity to a certain extent.
Finland was pleased with his helper: the reindeer's fur was soft and her steps smooth, so he had no problem balancing on her back (of course, there wasn't a saddle. "You don't put one on a reindeer," Father Christmas had said when introducing Finland to the doe. "At least not on one of mine.") And since this young one had been chosen from all the young reindeer especially because of her cleverness, she knew perfectly well how important a load she carried, on how important a mission. Finland was indeed very pleased. He wondered if he could ask Father Christmas if he could keep Rascal for a while after the mission or maybe borrow her some other time. A ride in a snowy forest like this, in fresh air and sunshine, was just too perfect, even when Finland constantly had a reminder of his task in the back of his head. Just one thing was truly bothering him.
"There isn't any easier way?" he asked when yet another load of snow fell on him from a low branch. This time he managed to dodge just enough that it didn't reach his neck again.
"This is comfortable," the General answered simply. Because he was the only one who knew where they were going, Finland couldn't really complain.
"Oh, I see," the nation said dryly and rolled his eyes. "As long as it's fast..."
"There isn't such a thing as a fast and easy road to the old man's ice castle," General Winter glanced over his shoulder. "We'll be trekking quite a while yet."
Finland sighed. "Then I'd better send a message to someone so they don't have to worry if I'm away for a while. I doubt the reception is much good though..." He started searching his phone from the little bag of essentials he had with him. "I'm actually surprised no one has called me yet. Usually it's about this time of year that a couple of them start calling about what they want for a present. I wonder– uh!"
"Hm?" General Winter stopped, looking over his shoulder. "What?"
"Eh, it's shut off. No wonder no one has called..." Finland muttered, quickly turning the thing on. A light flashed on screen and then it went black again. Finland's eyebrow twisted. "General?"
"What?"
"Aren't you..." Finland smiled cheerfully to the man standing beside him. "...A bit close?"
"You think so?" General Winter didn't seem to get his point.
Finland raised his fist but didn't let his smile falter. "You're freezing my phone."
"Really?" The General raised an eyebrow. "Lemme see." His fingers barely managed to touch the phone before Finland nudged Rascal to sidestep and his phone was saved from a complete disaster.
"Oh no I won't. If your presence is bad enough then what would happen if you touch it?" the nation questioned and then turned his attention back to the phone. "But it seems it has died a while ago already, so it's not really your fault. Though I'm sure you've something to do with it." He glared.
"Prove it."
"I'll see you in court…"
"Make it an outdoor trial. I can concentrate better," General Winter answered, completely calm.
"I'll take you to a damn sauna just out of spite," Finland laughed once and then turned his attention back to his dead phone. After trying to revive it for a while without success, Finland cursed. "Fucking. Useless− um.. wait a sec…" He took off the back cover and checked the battery to see whom he had to blame. "Chinese thing!"
"Shall we?" General was starting to get bored. He didn't like new technology so much or technology in general, actually (it froze if he tried to use it).
Finland stuffed the phone back to his bag, sighing deeply while giving Rascal an order to continue. "And it was brand new..."
Monday, December 20, afternoon
"So it had nothing to do with aliens." America sounded very disappointed.
"And after that?" England asked the General, paying no heed to the sulking American.
"We went on," the general explained simply, shrugging. "Arrived at the castle on Sunday afternoon, and since I had no deal to actually help him after that I just watched him and that deer go in. Then I got bored of counting snow flakes after twelve hours so I left."
"Twelve hours?!" Prussia asked. "Jeez..."
"Really, what could have taken Finland so long–" Austria began.
"How could you count snowflakes for that long? Man, you must have really been bored..."
"Prussia..." Austria growled, but before the other could grant him his awesome attention, America raised his voice again.
"I decided!" he shouted, making them jump.
England shivered visibly. "W... what?"
"It doesn't matter if it has nothing to do with aliens!" America exclaimed and failed to notice how many people either rolled their eyes or face palmed. "This is not a time to worry about that!"
"Then what?" France asked, mildly interested.
"We'll go save Finland!"
"...Huh?"
~~~
A/N: Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz) might be familiar to some. He's a similar character to Father Christmas in Slavic countries. Note: Those who know Grandfather Frost, we have to warn you that we actually don't. The Grandpa Frost in this story is based on Wikipedia and a few fairy tales, and is by no means the official one.
Beta: CrescentLilly
Characters: Ensemble. In this chapter: Finland, General Winter, America, Russia, Prussia, England, Austria, Poland, France, Germany, Greece, Turkey
Pairings: mistletoe/world
Rating: T
Genre: adventure, comedy
Warnings: Mistletoe, ridiculously cute critters, blatant disregard for foreign holiday traditions, abuse of classical ballet, some cursing and a few OCs.
Summary: With only a few days to Christmas the Nations should be busy preparing for the party. Only no one is really feeling like it, and that kinda-crucially-important little Finn is nowhere to be found.
Previous parts | On ff.net
~~~
The questioning of General Winter was something rather amusing and exciting to watch. The moment he had appeared in Finland's garden, snow had started falling softly from the gray clouds in the sky. Not many of the nations ever so much as exchanged a word with this freezing cold old man who floated over the earth at his own will and who had been around longer than most of them. Russia seemed quite adapted to it though.
"I took him to see Grandfather Frost," the General said indifferently when Russia asked where Finland was.
"Eh?" Russia tilted his head. So did many others behind him and frowning was a popular expression.
"He didn't tell me the details, but kept talking about saving Christmas."
"I don't really get it," Poland said, shaking his head.
"So... When did you part from him?" England asked, taking half a step forward.
"Yesterday. He went inside the castle alone. I waited around for a while but he didn't come back out," the General shrugged, and a small cloud of ice flew around him. "So I decided to detour home through Cyprus for fun and profit."
"WHAT?!" Greece and Turkey bellowed, then immediately shuddered for accidentally agreeing on something.
"Excuse me, but," Germany interrupted, sounding just as strict and painfully polite speaking to the personification of winter as he would to just another civil servant. "Would you mind telling some details?"
General Winter sighed and the tip of Russia's nose slightly froze in front of him.
Friday, December 17, afternoon
"Sorry, but I'm in a pretty bad mood right now. I hope you understand," Finland started when Russia's door closed behind him.
"What's this about?" General Winter asked as he was dragged out of Russia's house to the comfortably cold afternoon.
"You'll be my guide," Finland answered and finally let go of the other. "I'm going to see Grandfather Frost and I don't have the tiniest clue where to go, so you're going to show me the way."
"What do you want from the old man?"
"I'm going to take Christmas back," Finland muttered with a low voice, as if he was angry. After a little thinking, the General decided that he actually was.
"You could have asked Russia," he noted (coldly, which was saying something.)
"As if." Finland tossed his head. "Even I know that we've to go into the wild. That guy would immediately start going on about sharing body heat and at least I won't have that problem with you. You two are difficult at different extremes of the word and I deal with this end better."
"Thanks."
Finland sighed. "That wasn't a compliment."
General Winter coughed a few very stylish snow crystals sophisticatedly to the air. "Okay, if you give me something other than a scarf for a present this year, I don't mind taking a little trip. But you're not going to walk, are you?"
"Yes of course."
"...Really?"
"No, imbecile."
~
When Finland introduced the General to his "vehicle", there was a very long silence. Both Finland and the "vehicle" tilted their heads, waiting for some kind of response, which continued not to come.
Finland sighed again. "Just say something, okay?" he asked, shaking his head.
For a good while yet, the General remained silent. "A reindeer," he finally blurted.
"A remarkable observation," Finland noted with a dry smile.
"No sleigh?"
"Do you see one? I'm going to ride her of course. Here, you see the reins, right?" Finland held up the end of a peculiar leather contraption that the General, being as he was uninterested in the finer points of human craftsmanship, was only vaguely able to identify as reins. Then again, this was Finland and it was a reindeer.
General Winter frowned. "You can't ride a reindeer."
"Of course I can!" Finland said, looking offended. The reindeer looked almost as offended. "She's Father Christmas's reindeer, even though she might still be in training. Oh, her name is Rascal because, well, she is one. Or was, when she was younger since that's when they named her of course but nowadays I've heard that she behaves quite well. Of course she's still young and some of the official Christmas sleigh reindeer would have been more trustworthy, but they're busy with their special training. That's to keep the sleigh as steady as possible if they hit some hideous air currents, of course. Besides, they've gone fat during the autumn, especially Rudolph. Quite unexpected don't you think? The old man nagged about it all the time in October when I first went to see him this year. Though he can't really complain about someone else being fat, now can he? But anyway, recently– where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going home. I just remembered why I usually hang out with Russia."
"Oh no you're not! Drag your icy ass back here!"
"Then shut it for a while. Take your deer and let's go."
"Reindeer!"
~
The snow was soft and piled in thigh-high drifts, changing in depth as the forest changed in thickness. Where usually a reindeer with its cloven hooves would have had a hard time making any progress, Rascal stepped contentedly on the surface of the freshly fallen snow, leaving only slight traces behind her. Had she been an adult and fully educated, nothing would have been left behind. After all, why did people think no one ever found trails on their roofs or gardens or whatever route Father Christmas (or Finland) chose to use? Rascal couldn't fly yet, but she was already very good at defying gravity to a certain extent.
Finland was pleased with his helper: the reindeer's fur was soft and her steps smooth, so he had no problem balancing on her back (of course, there wasn't a saddle. "You don't put one on a reindeer," Father Christmas had said when introducing Finland to the doe. "At least not on one of mine.") And since this young one had been chosen from all the young reindeer especially because of her cleverness, she knew perfectly well how important a load she carried, on how important a mission. Finland was indeed very pleased. He wondered if he could ask Father Christmas if he could keep Rascal for a while after the mission or maybe borrow her some other time. A ride in a snowy forest like this, in fresh air and sunshine, was just too perfect, even when Finland constantly had a reminder of his task in the back of his head. Just one thing was truly bothering him.
"There isn't any easier way?" he asked when yet another load of snow fell on him from a low branch. This time he managed to dodge just enough that it didn't reach his neck again.
"This is comfortable," the General answered simply. Because he was the only one who knew where they were going, Finland couldn't really complain.
"Oh, I see," the nation said dryly and rolled his eyes. "As long as it's fast..."
"There isn't such a thing as a fast and easy road to the old man's ice castle," General Winter glanced over his shoulder. "We'll be trekking quite a while yet."
Finland sighed. "Then I'd better send a message to someone so they don't have to worry if I'm away for a while. I doubt the reception is much good though..." He started searching his phone from the little bag of essentials he had with him. "I'm actually surprised no one has called me yet. Usually it's about this time of year that a couple of them start calling about what they want for a present. I wonder– uh!"
"Hm?" General Winter stopped, looking over his shoulder. "What?"
"Eh, it's shut off. No wonder no one has called..." Finland muttered, quickly turning the thing on. A light flashed on screen and then it went black again. Finland's eyebrow twisted. "General?"
"What?"
"Aren't you..." Finland smiled cheerfully to the man standing beside him. "...A bit close?"
"You think so?" General Winter didn't seem to get his point.
Finland raised his fist but didn't let his smile falter. "You're freezing my phone."
"Really?" The General raised an eyebrow. "Lemme see." His fingers barely managed to touch the phone before Finland nudged Rascal to sidestep and his phone was saved from a complete disaster.
"Oh no I won't. If your presence is bad enough then what would happen if you touch it?" the nation questioned and then turned his attention back to the phone. "But it seems it has died a while ago already, so it's not really your fault. Though I'm sure you've something to do with it." He glared.
"Prove it."
"I'll see you in court…"
"Make it an outdoor trial. I can concentrate better," General Winter answered, completely calm.
"I'll take you to a damn sauna just out of spite," Finland laughed once and then turned his attention back to his dead phone. After trying to revive it for a while without success, Finland cursed. "Fucking. Useless− um.. wait a sec…" He took off the back cover and checked the battery to see whom he had to blame. "Chinese thing!"
"Shall we?" General was starting to get bored. He didn't like new technology so much or technology in general, actually (it froze if he tried to use it).
Finland stuffed the phone back to his bag, sighing deeply while giving Rascal an order to continue. "And it was brand new..."
Monday, December 20, afternoon
"So it had nothing to do with aliens." America sounded very disappointed.
"And after that?" England asked the General, paying no heed to the sulking American.
"We went on," the general explained simply, shrugging. "Arrived at the castle on Sunday afternoon, and since I had no deal to actually help him after that I just watched him and that deer go in. Then I got bored of counting snow flakes after twelve hours so I left."
"Twelve hours?!" Prussia asked. "Jeez..."
"Really, what could have taken Finland so long–" Austria began.
"How could you count snowflakes for that long? Man, you must have really been bored..."
"Prussia..." Austria growled, but before the other could grant him his awesome attention, America raised his voice again.
"I decided!" he shouted, making them jump.
England shivered visibly. "W... what?"
"It doesn't matter if it has nothing to do with aliens!" America exclaimed and failed to notice how many people either rolled their eyes or face palmed. "This is not a time to worry about that!"
"Then what?" France asked, mildly interested.
"We'll go save Finland!"
"...Huh?"
~~~
A/N: Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz) might be familiar to some. He's a similar character to Father Christmas in Slavic countries. Note: Those who know Grandfather Frost, we have to warn you that we actually don't. The Grandpa Frost in this story is based on Wikipedia and a few fairy tales, and is by no means the official one.