❝i want to hate you, because you don't give me no conviction❞
Title: Vrede
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: -600
Characters: Denmark ; Sweden (allusions to Norway ; one-sided Denmark/Norway)
Rating: PG
Warnings: language
Summary: When Norway and Denmark's association under the Kalmar Union dissolves, Denmark finds he isn't the best at expressing any emotion except anger.
Vrede
One by one, the beech trees fell. The ground quaked as they toppled, and the entire forest held its breath, waiting for the storm to pass.
He was the eye of the storm. His gloved hands were clenched tightly around the handle of the ax, and, as the trees fell, he hacked them to pieces-pieces too small and uneven to be of any use to anyone, even as firewood.
His anger and pride were as suffocating and consuming as a fire, but, unlike a flame’s destruction, his emotions weren’t pure; they didn’t leave room for anything to grow, where they had been.
And yet, he would allow nothing to stop his self-destructive path; he cut down the trees of his own forests and destroyed them, hoping that if he tore enough down, he’d be able to forget.
“Den.” Sweden caught the ax just as it was about to come down again, eyeing Denmark with a mixture of contempt and pity. “St’p it.”
Instead of responding, Denmark let out a horrible cry-the sound of a wounded animal, the wail of a defeated soldier, the dirge of a thwarted lover.
“Den,” Sweden said, more firmly. Denmark tried to swing the ax, despite Sweden’s interference, but the taller man’s grip held firm, so that the two were caught in a stalemate. Denmark’s body was braced forward, all of his weight focused into weapon, while Sweden stood straight and solid as a wall, unrelenting. “C’lm d’wn.”
“Make me,” Denmark hissed, and suddenly there was enough anger backing his words and his stroke to break Sweden’s grip on the ax; it came down against the bark of the tree with a deafening thud.
Sweden might have rolled his eyes; it was hard to tell behind his glasses. “Y’ c’n’t stay m’d f’rever, y’know.”
“Can’t I?” Denmark demanded. “Can’t I? Who are you tell me I can’t be angry? Who are you to tell me anything?”
“I’m try’n t’ help,” Sweden muttered, the temper rising in his own voice.
“Well, you’re not!” The ax swung round again, and Sweden ducked protectively, thinking Denmark was aiming for him. The blade found its home in the tree next to him, however, burying itself into the bark inches from Sweden’s face. Panting, Denmark turned on Sweden, his face livid. “I’m sure you’re very happy, coming to gloat, right? Everyone’s going to live with good ‘ole Sweden, now! How happy for you all. Well, count me out of your damned happiness!”
“ ’e d’dn’t leave y’ t’ be w’ me,” Sweden reminded him.
“Don’t you think I know that? He was just waiting for an excuse,” Denmark scoffed. “He would have done anything, to leave.”
“If y’ know, th’n why’re y’ angry?”
“Because it hurts, dammit! It fucking hurts!”
“Den...”
“Go,” Denmark ordered softly. “Go back to your new family and your happiness. I don’t mind being here; I like being angry.”
“Why’s tha’?”
“Because it reminds me that I can feel something.” Denmark yanked his ax out of the beech tree, then wandered away, his hands clenched around the handle. A few minutes later, Sweden heard another tree fall, and another.
“H’rting y’rself won’t br’ng ‘im b’ck,” he murmured.
Denmark couldn’t have hear the sentiment, but the next few trees that fell, and the cries that accompanied them, which sounded more like dirges, were enough of an answer.
---
Footnotes:
* Vrede means "anger" in Danish.
* The beech is Denmark's national tree.
* Info on the Kalmar Union…
In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus Eriksson. In 1349, the Black Death killed between 50% and 60% of the population,[22] resulting in a period of decline, both socially and economically. Ostensibly, royal politics at the time resulted in several personal unions between the Nordic countries, eventually bringing the thrones of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden under the control of Queen Margrethe I of Denmark when the country entered into the Kalmar Union. Although Sweden broke out of the union in 1521, Norway remained with Denmark until 1814, a total of 436 years. During the national romanticism of the 19th century, this period was by some referred to as the "400-Year Night", since all of the kingdom's royal, intellectual, and administrative power was centered in Copenhagen in Denmark.
With the introduction of Protestantism in 1536, the archbishopric in Trondheim was dissolved, and the church's incomes were distributed to the court in Copenhagen in Denmark instead. Norway lost the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of St. Olav at the Nidaros shrine, and with them, much of the contact with cultural and economic life in the rest of Europe. Additionally, Norway saw its land area decrease in the 17th century with the loss of the provinces Båhuslen, Jemtland, and Herjedalen to Sweden, as a result of wars between Denmark-Norway and Sweden.
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: -600
Characters: Denmark ; Sweden (allusions to Norway ; one-sided Denmark/Norway)
Rating: PG
Warnings: language
Summary: When Norway and Denmark's association under the Kalmar Union dissolves, Denmark finds he isn't the best at expressing any emotion except anger.
Vrede
One by one, the beech trees fell. The ground quaked as they toppled, and the entire forest held its breath, waiting for the storm to pass.
He was the eye of the storm. His gloved hands were clenched tightly around the handle of the ax, and, as the trees fell, he hacked them to pieces-pieces too small and uneven to be of any use to anyone, even as firewood.
His anger and pride were as suffocating and consuming as a fire, but, unlike a flame’s destruction, his emotions weren’t pure; they didn’t leave room for anything to grow, where they had been.
And yet, he would allow nothing to stop his self-destructive path; he cut down the trees of his own forests and destroyed them, hoping that if he tore enough down, he’d be able to forget.
“Den.” Sweden caught the ax just as it was about to come down again, eyeing Denmark with a mixture of contempt and pity. “St’p it.”
Instead of responding, Denmark let out a horrible cry-the sound of a wounded animal, the wail of a defeated soldier, the dirge of a thwarted lover.
“Den,” Sweden said, more firmly. Denmark tried to swing the ax, despite Sweden’s interference, but the taller man’s grip held firm, so that the two were caught in a stalemate. Denmark’s body was braced forward, all of his weight focused into weapon, while Sweden stood straight and solid as a wall, unrelenting. “C’lm d’wn.”
“Make me,” Denmark hissed, and suddenly there was enough anger backing his words and his stroke to break Sweden’s grip on the ax; it came down against the bark of the tree with a deafening thud.
Sweden might have rolled his eyes; it was hard to tell behind his glasses. “Y’ c’n’t stay m’d f’rever, y’know.”
“Can’t I?” Denmark demanded. “Can’t I? Who are you tell me I can’t be angry? Who are you to tell me anything?”
“I’m try’n t’ help,” Sweden muttered, the temper rising in his own voice.
“Well, you’re not!” The ax swung round again, and Sweden ducked protectively, thinking Denmark was aiming for him. The blade found its home in the tree next to him, however, burying itself into the bark inches from Sweden’s face. Panting, Denmark turned on Sweden, his face livid. “I’m sure you’re very happy, coming to gloat, right? Everyone’s going to live with good ‘ole Sweden, now! How happy for you all. Well, count me out of your damned happiness!”
“ ’e d’dn’t leave y’ t’ be w’ me,” Sweden reminded him.
“Don’t you think I know that? He was just waiting for an excuse,” Denmark scoffed. “He would have done anything, to leave.”
“If y’ know, th’n why’re y’ angry?”
“Because it hurts, dammit! It fucking hurts!”
“Den...”
“Go,” Denmark ordered softly. “Go back to your new family and your happiness. I don’t mind being here; I like being angry.”
“Why’s tha’?”
“Because it reminds me that I can feel something.” Denmark yanked his ax out of the beech tree, then wandered away, his hands clenched around the handle. A few minutes later, Sweden heard another tree fall, and another.
“H’rting y’rself won’t br’ng ‘im b’ck,” he murmured.
Denmark couldn’t have hear the sentiment, but the next few trees that fell, and the cries that accompanied them, which sounded more like dirges, were enough of an answer.
---
Footnotes:
* Vrede means "anger" in Danish.
* The beech is Denmark's national tree.
* Info on the Kalmar Union…
In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus Eriksson. In 1349, the Black Death killed between 50% and 60% of the population,[22] resulting in a period of decline, both socially and economically. Ostensibly, royal politics at the time resulted in several personal unions between the Nordic countries, eventually bringing the thrones of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden under the control of Queen Margrethe I of Denmark when the country entered into the Kalmar Union. Although Sweden broke out of the union in 1521, Norway remained with Denmark until 1814, a total of 436 years. During the national romanticism of the 19th century, this period was by some referred to as the "400-Year Night", since all of the kingdom's royal, intellectual, and administrative power was centered in Copenhagen in Denmark.
With the introduction of Protestantism in 1536, the archbishopric in Trondheim was dissolved, and the church's incomes were distributed to the court in Copenhagen in Denmark instead. Norway lost the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of St. Olav at the Nidaros shrine, and with them, much of the contact with cultural and economic life in the rest of Europe. Additionally, Norway saw its land area decrease in the 17th century with the loss of the provinces Båhuslen, Jemtland, and Herjedalen to Sweden, as a result of wars between Denmark-Norway and Sweden.