I hope that this action-packed chapter makes up for it being a day late!

Thank you to terracannon876, FangirlSpotted, Rainskye, and VirtualCookies4everyone for faving! You're the best!

I do not own Hetalia. Hetalia belongs to Himaruya Hidakaz.

"I don't see them. I don't!"
"You better not have been lying to me about such easy prey."

Natalya's feathers ruffled in frustration at the two others.

"Will come. Patience."

"But hungry! So hungry!"

"Raivis! I swear if you keep repeating part of what you've already said at the end of your sentences, I will cut out your tongue with this knife. And that goes for you too, Eduard. You're some sort of genius, but when you don't speak properly you sound like an idiot. The least you could do while living with humans is pick up proper grammar. You don't have any excuses now."

Raivis and Eduard tried to hide the fear in their eyes as they had witnessed Natalya's knife skills up close on another hunt like this, driven by hungry desperation. Night was just settling when there came a rustling down below.

"I hear them! I...think they're coming," Raivis said, oh so subtly recovering from his verbal tic.

"We go, I-I mean, we will go down first and get in position. You will stay here and distract them while we make our move."

The two boys flew across the way and concealed themselves behind some evergreen branches. Natalya would have to distract the prey just enough for them to take their eyes off what was in front of them and Raivis and Eduard would attack. Simple enough. Much less energy than when she had to do the distracting and the attacking when she would hunt alone. Although she hated working with them, they could catch more prey this way.

The crunching through the snow crescendoed until the targets Eduard and Raivis told her about were in sight. As they reported, it was a small Centaur and a human she didn't recognize from the town, however, what they failed to mention was that they were accompanied by that ridiculous Peacock from town and a Bird Chick. Still, something caught her eye on the smallest member of their entourage. She couldn't believe her eyes, but the ribbon on the little Bird's collar looked just like the ribbon she used to have -the one she gave to….

Her heart stopped. It had to be the same Eaglet! And that Centaur Calf was the good big brother protecting him! And that the "human" must be the Werecat in disguise -the one with claws that could rip all of them to shreds. Not to mention that if they attacked any member of the town, even if it was that Peacock, they would lose their walking-around-town-in-public privileges and be reduced to sneaking and hiding like the other criminal Birds. All in all, this was a disaster waiting to happen.

By the time she had connected all the dots, they had already walked into the trap and Raivis and Eduard were preparing to attack. She was torn. She knew that no matter how hungry she was, she couldn't eat these creatures, but she knew that Eduard and Raivis probably wouldn't understand. However, she could try to call it off now and then make up some explanation later.

She waved from her place high in the tree, trying to get the attention of her two partners in crime. They just stared at her with confused expressions that bordered on angry. Birds were famous for their uncontrolled tempers. They wanted her to fulfill her part of the plan, and she could feel a little of that temper rise up in herself from the frustration of the situation. So she tried bigger motions, maybe even convince them that the prey was more dangerous than they thought, but, while doing a more exaggerated motion, her hand hit the trunk of the tree and sent some snow falling to the ground. The group bellow heard it and turned around by instinct to see what made the noise when Eduard and Raivis saw the opening they had been waiting for and leapt.

"Watch out!" Natalya screamed, as she flung herself off the branch.

In the confusion, the "human" was pinned to the ground by Raivis, but only for a moment. He revealed his true feline form and kicked Raivis off him who hit the ground hard. Eduard went for the Centaur, but Natalya kamikaze-style rammed into him from above and sent him sprawling. Recovering herself to a stand, she knew she only had a matter of time before Raivis and Eduard could turn on her for betraying them or just blind fury from the pain.

"You're lucky that's my favorite ribbon! I'll hold them off!"

She shot the Centaur a smile before turning back to the other Birds who had just picked themselves up. Natalya bristled with anticipation and realized she would enjoy putting these two back in their places.

"Follow moi!" the Peacock shouted, leading the rest of the group in a sprint away from danger.

"Ugf!" Arthur cried out as he had shifted back to his human form in mid-stride.

The group turned to look at him on his knees, brushing his scraped-up hands that only moments ago had protective padding.

"Are you okay?"

"I was going to say I think we lost them, but I was ...distracted."

Francis noticed how he dodged the question completely but decided not to press the matter.

"Come. We still need to get to Michelle."

Francis walked in front, keeping a steady pace, with his tail feathers occasionally carving patterns in the powdering of snow while Arthur and Matthew followed behind.

"Can you believe Natalya saved us?"

"I'm not sure why she likes Alfred so much, but I'm just thankful we have her on our side. Although, I'm sure I could have taken those two Birds by myself. They were a bit young and looked scrawny."

"I 'ave seen those three around town. The boys always gave me the impression that they would be the ones to get the last pickings of any meal, like they are low on the pecking order, but the girl always scared me."

Francis chuckled nervously as if he were remembering a rather specific time. Arthur rolled his eyes. Please. Once Natalya saw his claws, she crumbled like any other prey did. Although she did almost kill Alfred afterward. Natalya wasn't fearsome in his mind, just a slight mystery.

"How is Alfred?" the Werecat asked, turning his thoughts to things that mattered.

Matthew shrugged. Alfred looked like he was close to dozing right then and there on Matthew's back so Matthew tried to keep quiet.

"He's not shivering as badly. Those thicker clothes are just what he needed."

Arthur was secretly enjoying his new sweater as well. It was surely doing its job of keeping him warm. ...Although nothing that disgustingly human could replace his fur.

"Well, he still needs to get somewhere warm."

"Oh, when we get there, it will be plenty warm for 'im," Francis said. "Trust me."

'That is what I am trying to decide,' Arthur thought.

He still was trying to come to terms with the fact that he was willingly going somewhere with this questionably-sane Bird. Not to mention he wasn't sure what sort of girls this Francis would be friends with.

"Just where does Michelle live anyway? I don't normally come this far east."

"She lives...near the 'ot springs."

"Hot springs? Hot springs are dangerous. Something about the water being toxic?"

"Non! The water from 'ot springs is very clean and drinkable. The water itself is not why 'ot springs are dangerous."

"Then why?"

"Look! We are 'ere!"

Sure enough, the trees disappeared to reveal in the distance a few huge pools of water indenting the flat plain, steam rising in lazy trails from the surface of the deep ebony water. Francis stopped walking toward the springs for a moment to address the rest of the party.

"I am going to get Michelle. Stay 'ere or you might scare 'er, oui?"

Arthur's mind was reeling as he was trying to figure out what sort of Bird would live near a somehow-dangerous hot spring and would be spooked easily. All he could do was sit in anticipation as Francis neared the water slowly, calling out Michelle's name repeatedly.

"Michelle? It is Francis. I 'ave come back to hear your lovely voice once again!"

He about reached the water's edge when something launched out of the spring and rocketed into Francis, knocking him to the ground. Arthur had never seen the creature before, but the long, fish-like tail and humanoid torso was hard to confuse. Arthur was about to leap into action when he heard laughing coming from both Francis and the mermaid.

"Francis, you came back to see us!"

"Yes, I did! I guess I could not stay away from your beautiful faces any longer. Oh! I would like you to meet my friends."

"May we eat them?"

"You are funny, Michelle, but I do not think you would want to eat them anyway."

Francis picked himself up with the mermaid held bridal-style in his arms. Then he rejoined the group.

Of course! That was why hot springs were dangerous. Mermaids lived in them. Arthur was always reluctant to admit he didn't know something because his knowledge of the forest and its inhabitants was usually quite vast. However, he was considerably lacking when it came to anything about merfolk. It was rather ingenious, their choice of hiding spot. The springs of fresh water were drinkable and warm enough for them to survive the winters as well as tempting enough for prey to wander close for the same reasons. It was the perfect home and perfect trap. The mermaid was even able to launch herself to Francis while he was still about ten feet away from the pool's boundary. Arthur felt sorry for anyone foolish enough to get that close who wasn't apparently already friends with them.

Arthur was incredibly uneasy with Francis holding such a dangerous creature so close to them, but he tried to be brave and stand his ground. If it came down to it, he doubted they were still in range for other mermaids to leap at them and also doubted this one could wiggle back to the safety of the hot spring from this distance. Come to think of it, Michelle was in a rather vulnerable position for a mermaid. She was putting a lot of trust in Francis so Arthur hoped that his leap of faith would also prove worthwhile.

"Michelle, this is Arthur. 'e is a Werecat and a friend of mine who needs to ask you a favor."

"Oh?"

Her big eyes roamed him over with an undertone of sizing him up to eat, but she made no move to do anything about it.

The mermaid was about five feet long from head to tail. Arthur had no idea how old she was and, combined with his lack of knowledge about mermaids anyway, had little guess as to if she was big or small for a mermaid. She had no hair on her head, but had some sort of head adornment in the form of a long fin that collapsed and then fanned open. It likely opened when she was swimming and assisted her in underwater locomotion. Her gills were imbedded in her cheeks, but she must have also had some way to breathe out of water. Arthur suspected she took in air through her nose then processed it through some form of small lungs from how often she was taking breaths. Her tail was scaled but the scales were smaller and less defined than he pictured, making them seem more like sharks' skin or dolphins' skin. The tail was also not as beautifully colored as his imagination would have liked, but maybe the scales shimmered a little more when there was more than the moon shining on them.

"Hello, Michelle," Arthur managed, as he took in the sight of a mermaid.

She sort of rolled her eyes as if she were bored with the prospect of meeting food she couldn't eat, but then her gaze was drawn to what was standing behind boring Arthur.

"Hi! It's nice to meet you, ma'am. My name is Matthew!"

"I'm Awfred!"

The mermaid's eyes got big and a huge smile drew her lips back to reveal pointed teeth. Arthur was about to dive into action when she clapped her webbed hands together and awed.

"They're so adorable! Omigosh!"

"I knew you would like them, Michelle."

"The little one is so cute! Oh! He has cute, little fluffy wings!"

"Yes, yes. Arthur is in charge of them, but 'e needs someone to watch them for a little while."

Michelle gasped dramatically and practically shook with delight.

"May we watch them! Oh please, oh please!"

"I do not know. It is up to Arthur."

"Please, Mr. Arthur!"

"Uh…." the Werecat stammered.

"I do not know Michelle," Francis interjected. "These two will be a lot of work. The little Eaglet will need to be fed meat."

"He will get the first of anything we hunt!"

"And they are quite vulnerable being so small," he said, while scratching his beard in mock thought.

"They will be protected and monitored day and night. Please, Mr. Arthur! We'll play with them and sing them to sleep every night! It will be an honor!"

Michelle's face was contorted with pure sincerity, but Francis could see the strain of the decision was still evident on Arthur's face. Then Arthur noticed Michelle was playing peek-a-boo with Alfred. Peaking out from behind her hands with a silly face and ducking back. You would never know that she was a powerful predator. Alfred. It was always Alfred. He giggled and joined in too, hiding behind Matthew's back and then leaning around and sticking his tongue out at her. Matthew even played along, turning around and ridding Alfred of a place to hide which made Alfred only giggle more and cover his face with his wings in desperation.

"And I will stay with them too," Francis said softly, yanking Arthur's attention away.

The Peacock smiled and repeated that dreaded phrase, "Trust me."

Lately, for Arthur, it had been a question of whether it was smart for others to trust him blindly. Why would a Centaur Calf and a Bird Eaglet even consider wanting to be around him? That was odd enough, but it wasn't nearly as scary as putting his blind trust in someone else. And with things so precious. Alfred and Matthew were his world. If anything happened to them, he wasn't sure what he would do with himself. Yet, here he was having to hand over his purpose in life to a stranger. He couldn't breathe.

Francis sighed, balancing Michelle in one arm just long enough to work a necklace off and hand it to Arthur. The Werecat looked at it briefly, registering that it was a carved cross hanging on a piece of leather rope.

"Jeanne made it for me."

Arthur frowned. Where was this going?

"You can keep it as insurance that your children will not be 'armed in any way while you are gone. You will return it when you come back and see that I 'ave fulfilled my promise."

Arthur ran his finger over the wood as he knew how much this must have meant to Francis. Losing Jeanne in the fire nearly drove him insane. He knew that this simple wooden cross represented something important and treasured.

He took a deep breath before finally submitting.

"You may care for them."

His rough voice was evidence of his sore and clenched throat, but Michelle was overjoyed. Francis started walking to the hot spring, calling for Matthew to follow, but Matthew only took one step. He looked back to Arthur who nodded reluctantly and only then did Matthew nod back and continue following the Peacock.

Arthur stepped back one step, another. He watched his children grow smaller into the distance until he clenched the necklace in his hand and finally amputated himself away.

So you know how in the description of this story that I created in January said that there would be mermaids? Welp, six months later I am fulfilling that! We have met our first mermaid!

Species Bio: Merfolk
Just to get it out of the way, Mermaids live in freshwater such as rivers and hot springs while mermen live in salt water. (I doubt we will be meeting any mermen.) Mermen and mermaids come together only in the spring to mate. Merfolk typically only have two subspecies: more mammal-like and more fish-like, which are differentiated by whether their tails swim by pushing the water up and down (like dolphins) or side to side (like sharks and most other fish) respectively. They are carnivores but Mermen's and Mermaids' hunting strategies differ because of where they live. Mermen hunt in groups like some sharks which typically end in feeding frenzies as they follow the prey (typically fish and dolphins) wherever they go. Mermaids hunt independently typically having territories that take up certain sections of the rivers. During the winter when the rivers start to become too cold to live in, the mermaids migrate upriver and eventually cross a section of land until they can get to the hot springs where they stay and hunt together until the rivers thaw again. It's a dangerous journey and many creatures who would normally be prey to mermaids exploit the mermaids' vulnerable states during the crossing and hunt them. This migration will be explained more in detail later by Francis. The last bit of trivia is that Mermaids have what seem to be the only built-in morals of any creature in the form of their absolute refusal to harm/hunt any child of any species. (Although they aren't typically used as babysitters.)

So that was a lot.

Okay. I know that I gave Estonia and Latvia weird verbal quirks that they don't have normally, but it will be explained later why they are that way. It's mostly for a contrast of how they're going to be later on in the story. And another save by Belarus! Ten points to her!

I wish I had thought about the necklace thing earlier so I could have mentioned it in an earlier chapter. I hate it when I miss opportunities for foreshadowing. Oh well.

And I wasn't sure at all about Seychelle's character. I mean, she's only in, like, two episodes of the anime and she seems pretty "girly" so I hope that this was an acceptable version of her character from what little she said so far.

...And I want to go to a hot spring some time. It sounds super awesome!

Next chapter should have the introduction to the present-day Kirkland family. That's going to be a beast. And we'll have day one of the Mermaid Babysitting Club + Francis. Oh boy.

I'm going back to my normal update schedule of once every two weeks. So expect the next chapter (if I update on time) to be July 12th. So yeah. Thanks for hanging with me on this story, and thank you for all your encouragement! (Yay for world's longest author's note!)

Review and fav as you so desire!
Looking forward to it!