Winter was cold. That is a fact people are aware of. A season of ice and snow and freezing temperatures. To most, even a good portion of the nations, that is all winter is. But to some, namely the Nordics, Russia, and Canada, Winter is an entity, a fearsome General, and a force you should not anger, for if you do, the world would become one of eternal winter.

To keep Winter's wrath at bay, one of the aforementioned nations are chosen (Winter prefers the term "invited") to his house every year sometime during winter. There he has his way with them for however long he desires. It is a deal of sorts, one that has existed for as long as they can remember. The personification can be anything from a servant in the house to a slave; they can return home in a week's time with little to no injuries whatsoever, or being dropped off on the porch after Spring had already begun because they couldn't walk themselves and take weeks to recover from mental trauma and/or physical abuse. It all depends on Winter.

A single nation can also be chosen many years in a row.

Take Russia, for example. For three hundred years, Winter invited him over, a mere child, like he completely ignored the others he could have chosen. The Nordics believe that is the reason Russia became what he is today. They also believe that is why Canada is so quiet. He was also very young when he was chosen ten times over, and each time he seemed to become harder and harder to see-like he was turning invisible. They wondered what had happened, but didn't dare ask.

The "invitation" wasn't a letter, or an ominous message written in the snow on the car. No, it was actually a dream. The dream would take place in the coldest part of the country's land, and that was where they would converse with Winter. They would discuss when the nation would come over and where Winter's 'house' was, as he relocated every year. On rare occasions, Winter would just appear at their front door and steal the chosen nation away without any warning. This happened to Sweden about a century ago.(Before he was taken, Sweden used to have perfect eyesight.)

For some reason, Iceland had not been chosen yet. Finland had said that maybe it was because Iceland was full of volcanoes and that drove Winter away somehow. He wasn't as young as Matthew or as old as Denmark, so it puzzled the ones involved in the deal as to why everyone else received a turn, but not him. Not that Norway was complaining. He was unfortunate enough to endure one of Winter's more…unpleasant moods for an extended period of time. For five long weeks he was in the care of Winter, and not even half that time was he indoors. Denmark found him in the front yard of his house, half-frozen and near death, covered in abrasions and lacerations of all shapes and sizes. There were most likely internal injuries he didn't mention to anyone, and no one pried. If that ever happened to his little brother, he wasn't entirely sure he could just sit there and accept it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

This is just a little something I thought of. At first it was gonna be a whole story about how Iceland is taken and the others go to save him with some help from some of the other nations but it didn't work out. Feel free to review :)