We rest only when proven safe | Rusame

14 ✦ Tree

The walk to nowhere was horrible.

None of them talked, or made any contact. He doesn't think any of them know where they were even going.

He doesn't hear anything except the quiet breathing and footsteps of his friends that were in front of him, and the faintest ringing that hasn't left his ears quite yet.

He doesn't know how long they've been walking , but he feels so incredibly tired. America's eyes were fighting to stay awake, and he isn't sure where they were since he was just following without looking around properly.

By the time they all decided to take a break, the sky was dark and they were all out of breath. None of them have an inkling of what the time was anymore.

"Maybe we should just go into someone's house." Ukraine starts, dangling her shoe upside down to get rid of whatever was in it- like a rock.

"That's called breaking and entering." Canada deadpans, an amused look on his face.

Germany looks thoughtful, turning around to whisper to China. Ame doesn't pay attention to either of them, instead he tiptoes over to his brother.

Latching himself onto a nearby tree for support, he drags Canada over to it with him, the taller man also plopping himself down next to the tree in attempts to rest.

"Man my feet ache."

America just nods. He doesn't know to converse anymore, finding almost all conversations awkward. Which was weird, because used to always be so full of energy and never closed his mouth.

Canada leans over and rests his head on his older brother's shoulder. Ame stares at him from the corner of his eyes, unblinking and unmoving. He sees the trembling of his lip and the sharp jittering of his fingers.

"I'm scared." His brother whispers softly.

He finds himself nodding.

"Me too," He says, the words hesitant and sounding wrong on his tongue. He should be comforting Canada, but he can't find anything to placate his own fears so how could he help Canada?

He figures he should say something else other than agreement, so he wracks his brain into thinking of something eventually.

"It'll be alright," He says dumbly, because what else is he supposed to say? "We'll be okay."

"I don't want to ever lose you." His brother responded bluntly. He could see that his eyes were wide with what he assumes is fear, or perhaps anxiety.

America turns to face him.

"You aren't going to lose me, because we're going to stay together."

Canada gives him a weak smile, and the shaking of his hands don't reside, but it does lessen to some extent so he mentally sighs in relief because he thinks he must have helped a bit, even if just a tiny bit.

At some point all seven of them end up crowding the same tree, but on the other side. Why? because it was dark out and the other side had a light from a lamppost hitting it.

"We're gonna go break into a house and see if its empty." Russia announced with zero hesitation, a hand resting on the bark of the tree.

"Don't say it like that." China sighs exasperatingly, "If the house is empty we'll stay there for a bit, and if there's someone there we can ask them for help or resources or something."

Germany nods, his eyes closed and head sunken like he was going to fall over and pass out, and America kind of feels bad for him. So he speaks up from next to the tree, Canada's head on his shoulder.

"Are we all going to go together to look?"  He says quietly, voice hushed but with no sense of urgency. He doesn't exactly want to get up from his short rest after walking for so long.

China nudges Germany a little, and he startles and nods absentmindedly. The asian frowns, placing his hands on his shoulders and applying pressure to make him sit on the floor.

"Some of you will say, some will come with me to look." He says without hesitation, eyeing the group hunched around the stree like baby birds hesitant to leave their nest.

"I'll come," Russia walks forward instantly, arms crossed and resolute. "You too." He glares at Ukraine who was scowling at him from where she was sitting on the grass.

The girl scrunched her nose up in annoyance but other than that, made no further objections. She did get up quite quickly after that, huffing her way over to her brother and flicking her hair in his face when loose strands covered her eyes.

Ame doesn't know when they began to leave, but he does watch their silhouettes disappear as they further leave the spot.

It was pretty quiet again, save for the soft snores of Germany who had fallen asleep in a criss-crossed position with his head tilting downwards and his glasses dangerously teetering over his nose. Canada leans over and takes them off, tucking them closed onto the neck of his jumper.

Japan too, was awfully quiet despite usually being so full of life. And it reminds him oddly of himself, confused as to why it was so difficult to stay bright. He uses his knees as a substitute for his legs, and makes his way over to a limp Japan lying on the grass where Ukraine was originally.

He would think she looks peaceful, if she wasn't sporting bruises on her arm. She was wide awake too, which was surprising to him since she had looked on the brink of unconsciousness when they had stopped to rest.

"Japan," He starts softly, cringing whilst thinking of what to say next. "Are you alright?"

The girl tilts her head up at him, her pale hair getting caught beneath the ground and her face so it clouds over one of her eyes. However she does brighten considerably upon seeing him, her mouth twitching upwards.

She gets up quickly, her hair a mess with grass stuck in it. "Im doing good."

He looks back for a moment to check what Canada's up to, but relaxes when he sees him sleeping too.

And then he shuffles over to Japan's grass bed and smiles. "I'm glad you're alright."

And he means it too, and he feels the urge to state that he wishes her well because the feeling of almost losing her again makes him want to jump out of the tree and sleep on the grass forever.

The girl smiles at him toothily, and for a moment he's reminded of his first nightmare where his sister took on Japan's figure and he winces.

Just slightly, but it doesn't go unnoticed.

Japan frowns, her smile vanishing quickly and her eyebrows furrowing.

He sweats, feeling incredibly horrible and sick at the same time.

"Sorry, I got something in my eye!" He lies quickly, desperately wanting to salvage her happiness and keep concern far away from him.

Japan blinks, slowly nodding as if saying "It's okay."

In attempt to change the topic, he blurts out; "What happened to your arm?"

_

hi sorry for not posting in a while i would like to say im busy with my exams but i actually didn't study for those at all

I'll try and be more consistent from jow on i swear..