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The wind howled savagely, echoing through the caves and high mountains, through the thick boreal forests of spruce and pine, their branches shakily holding large clumps of titanium white snow. The ground was littered with pine needles, pinecones and snow.

The mountain region always seemed to be stuck in a form of eternal winter, the air cold, frost kissing new emerging plants and shrubs. And even though it was near freezing, wild cloudberries still flourished in their small clumps beside the roots of the trees, fallen trunks and large stones that jutted out of the ground like the horns of some dead beast. The berries almost beamed with their beautiful gold and sunset red colours, contrasting the blank yet beautiful white of snowdrops which also grew.
Rivers and small streams ran through the forest, ice still being dragged across the surface as the water rushed downstream, salmon swimming about in the deeper pools, fins rippling against the current.

The mountains stood, apex over the small world that lay before them.

Claws scraped against stone and footsteps soon followed after it, snow crunching under boots.
A sigh, fabric shuffling, charms clinking.

A male stared out towards the sprawling forest and beyond it, his icy blue eyes piercing the sky as he squinted, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.
"I sense danger."He muttered lowly and he moved his head up to his right, hat swaying as he gazed up at his large beast of a companion who did nothing but seemingly growl in response.
A small yet cold smile formed on his face as he looked back towards the forest.


And the smoke that rose from the edge of it all, with the light glow of fire and embers.

"Come on, Armo." His strong accent rang out, almost drowning out the clarity from his words.
The beast beside him looked towards the smoke, the fires before lowering his head and throwing it up to the sky. Roaring.
A sound that shook the mountains, the birds which shot out of the trees and swiftly flew towards the chaos.

The man smiled and pulled out his sword, turning and gripping the saddle on the beast's back, hauling himself up.

"Ride on Armo."
And the beast almost grinned in delight before leaping off the ledge they had perched on. 

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America had been reading all night, attempting to refresh his mind with other ideas and thoughts from the books he had been given. He had decided upon the books about fantasy and history, ignoring the largest book which sat on his writing desk, abandoned. A love story.

He trailed his fingertips down the page before turning it, humming quietly to himself as he read.
The room was nice and quiet and he slowly lowered his book, sliding in the bookmark he had found stuffed in the front page. Resting it in his lap, he turned to gaze out the window, curtains drawn as they had been all night. Reading under the stars which had flickered gently in the night prior.
The sun was now starting to rise, rays of light beaming and flashing through the gaps in the trees and their leaves, clouds dragging themselves across the sky, birds beginning to awaken from their roosting.
Even the grass, still wet with the early morning dew, gave off their own glimmers of sunlight as America stared out of the window, squinting at the light.
Quietly, he moved and placed his book atop the bedside table. Although he was tired due to the lack of sleep he gazed towards the door, debating going out and exploring this...place, to clear his growing boredom.
Despite that... King lurking about, he still wanted to go out.

And as if summoned, there was an answering knock at the door, causing America to flinch a little in surprise as he gawked towards it, fear starting to cascade into his mind. But he quickly dismissed it, hesitantly pushing himself off of his bed and strolling over to the door.
He wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to open it, scared of who it may be on the otherside. A stranger, a beast-

"I know you're there, America! I can hear you..-"Ukraine blurted before perking up as the door opened, a grin appearing on his face until he took in the light purple bags under America's eyes.
"Did you-?" The werewolf paused as he slowly looked over to see the books on the bedside table, the bookmark that stuck out of one of them.
A sigh left him, "You need to get more sleep America... It's not good to stay up all night."

America shook his head, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."He smiled softly, rubbing at his eyes carefully and stretching his arms over his head.
Ukraine hummed and his ears flicked. He wore baggy pants, knee-high boots and a white tunic, flowers embroidered with golden thread into the cuffs, matching Ukraine's common crown of freshly picked flowers. 

"I know it's early- but..."The werewolf shrugged, his cheeks flushing a little as he looked down and fidgeted. "I'm just excited..."

America rose a brow, "excited? Why?"

A tiny giggle left Ukraine, blush deepening, eyes gleaming. "I... I've never really had a proper friend... I've only really just had my family... And it's not the same. Sometimes we get some usual visitors, but it's hard for me to get close to them."

Frowning, America looked down. "I think... I used to have friends. I had an older brother who I was close to, but that's all I really remember."
Ukraine tilted his head, ears flicking. "Where's your brother?"He asked curiously, nothing more than a subtle question.
And yet it made America visibly flinch and he glanced over to meet Ukraine's golden eyes with his own icy blue. He sighed and turned, walking over to the window in his room and staring out, maybe even a little bit solemnly as he watched the forest, the birds in the sky, the clouds, the mountains in the distance.
"He... He is living his own life. That's all I know," America stated, face rigid with a pain Ukraine couldn't describe nor understand, the werewolf lingering in the doorway not exactly knowing what to say or do.

After a bit of thinking, Ukraine walked over to stand by America, following his gaze towards the mountains, the world beyond.
And though what lay ahead wasn't clear.

Ukraine knew America was staring towards a place America knew well from some distant part of his past.
A place where he knew his brother was.
Waiting or unaware of where his sibling was.

Breakfast was... Awkward to say the least.
America stayed as quiet as possible, keeping to himself and avoiding any sort of eye contact with the others who sat there, eating and talking and laughing. Ukraine giggled, talking to whom America presumed was his sister. The winged male was also there, golden feathers gleaming as he chewed on some toast, listening in on the other's conversations, staying quiet too.
It seemed more like... a family.
Something like pain ached in America's heart and he swallowed, chugging down some sort of fruit tea, attempting to ease the ache. It had been so long since he had last seen one of his family members, and even when he did, it was hardly comforting and homelike. More just a formal breakfast or dinner everyday where he was expected to 'sit up straight', 'keep on his act of manners' or the usual 'be a good son like your brother'.
Glancing up, he gazed around the table, noting the amount of chairs and how there seemed to be no mother or father figure. And as well as that, Russia wasn't present.

He fidgeted a little, feeling slightly uncomfortable in his seat, now just praying that he could leave.

But of course, his wishes never came true. As Ukraine looked over and grinned, "America! Tell us about your life!" He chimed and America looked up to see everyone at the table gazing at him, besides from a female werewolf who sat furthest away, boredly eating an apple with a lack of interest on her face. Her... America spotted the scar and quickly forced himself to look to the others who were still waiting.
"Uhm...-"

Ukraine was still smiling, his tail curled over his lap.

"I..."America struggled and gripped his knees under the table. He was giving too much away already. Who struggles to speak about something so easy?
"I was born in a small village, town in the mortal Kingdom."He uttered carefully, making up a story in his head as fast as he could. "My mother and father were in the middle class with good enough titles. I had three other siblings, I was closest to my brother."He sighed, leaning back against his chair and watching the others.

The golden-winged country rose a brow, his eyes running up and down America's stiff body.
"Ukraine told me you were found in the forest. Why were you there?"He asked, almost a little suspicious, to which one of his siblings elbowed him in the ribs quickly. "Kaz!"They hissed quietly.

America frowned and glanced to his side.
"I... I was hunting."

That answer seemed to speak enough and the siblings started to talk about themselves, some talking about hunting, some about emboridering, growing fruits and flying around.
Although... Kazakhstan continued to watch America, even when the mortal nervously excused himself and speed-walked out of the room, closing the door behind him and letting out a sigh he had been forcing himself to keep in.

He stared down the hallway tiredly, listening to their chatter through the door. The shadows swayed slightly and America didn't seem to realize until they began to swirl around, shifting into deformed shapes and figures.
Fear began to engulf his body, his eyes widening as he gaped, he recoiled back in terror but his back only hit the door with a small thud. His breathing became almost frantic as the shadows moved towards him, claws and teeth poking out.

They got closer and closer and America was soon trembling, unable to contain his terror.
Until.

"You see them too?"
A male voice asked from behind him and America gasped when he realized he had held his breath, the shadows suddenly vanishing and going back to normal as he whipped around.

Kazakhstan was standing there, wings folding behind him with a ruffle of feathers as he beheld the shorter country. His eyes were glowing, blue and gold, a small smile on his face.
America stepped back and blinked, looking him up at down before glancing over his shoulder down the hallway. "I-
I don't know what you're talking about,"he breathed, trying not to give anything away- which he had already done.

The hybrid hummed and looked over America's shoulder to look at the hallway once again, tilting his head before making eye contact once again.
"I know you see them, America,"he said, his accent tripping over his name slightly. "You saw those shadows move and change didn't you?"There was some sort of hint of happiness or amusement in his voice and America hesitated, biting the inside of his cheek before looking away. Giving the answer Kazakhstan wanted before he chuckled and began to walk away, "come. Let's talk. I want to know what you see."

America watched him nervously, fidgeting and flexing his fingers uncomfortablly.
But there was only friendliness in his voice, and America found himself unwittingly turning and hurrying after the taller.

Leaving the shadows to watch after them as they once again began to lurk about, forming into nameless monsters and shapes until they grew bored.

Vanishing into nothing but mild memories.

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25/10 Edit:

Russia now has a new design :D
So I'll be rewriting his description in the first chapter and so on

It was made with the help of  __Ima_weirdo__

they're so awesome and I am so incredibly thankful for their help and the beautiful they sketches they made for my au!

And here's the sketch that they made :D

♥♥♥they're the best ♥♥♥