Where Winter Meets Summer (Rusame Countryhumans)

Forsakened: ONE

(RUSSIA POV)

The burning was unbearable as my lungs heaved for a breath of fresh air. Intoxicating vanilla overwhelmed my senses while my body slowly burned in a blaze of ornate gold.

Immediately, my eyelids snapped open and I bolted upright, ripping the covers off to check if I was alright. To my relief, I was not on fire but I was certainly shaking and sweating. My arms still stung uncomfortably too, which was odd, leading me to believe that there was more to what I saw.

Everytime he closed his eyes, he would expect to open them and be met by the same empty, gray plane of winter. It was something that he had come to expect so it would always startle him whenever something else awaited in his subconscious. And frankly, he would dread it.

This time, he found himself standing in the eternally frigid land but the sky was no longer gray. It was blood red and looming walls of crimson smoke surrounded him on all sides. There was nowhere to run.

"Stand back!" a deep, growling voice commanded as a hand yanked him back, just before the ground beneath him shifted. A massive tide of ice, far bigger than anything he had manipulated before, surged out of the earth and rammed into the incoming thunderhead. Flashes of lightning tumbled through the recoiling, red smog as it tried to force past it.

"Damnit, boy, are you insane? Didn't I tell you not to come here?!"

Russia glanced up to see a familiar figure, though his demeanor was very different.

The USSR was a wreck. His heavy coat was torn to rags and messy, blood soaked bandages wrapped around his bare chest and forearms. His ushanka was also missing, letting the wind ruffle his dark red hair. His eyepatch was also gone, replaced by more bandages that the howling gusts threatened to rip away.

"This is so pointless," he growled as three more walls of ice burst forth, towering higher and higher to keep the crimson smog in check. A shudder ran through the Soviet's body and he collapsed, blood pouring out of his mouth. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

Russia didn't know what to do as he stared at his predecessor. The distant laughter of thunder boomed overhead.

"Reich, I'm going to make you regret the day you were born," Soviet snarled under his breath as he shuffled back to his feet before pointing at Russia.

"Run."

For some reason, a surge of energy flowed back into him and he couldn't help but obey. He began to run, unable to stop but he also couldn't help looking back.

Russia watched as the air around the USSR began to shimmer, condensing like a cloud of diamonds. An ear splitting crack sounded as the walls of ice finally collapsed under the immense pressure of the surging, crimson tide that had been building up. USSR continued to walk forward to meet the tide, head on. Slowly, the condensed ice was dyed a brilliant, golden hue before Soviet unleashed it against the ravaging red smog. Russia's eyes widened in shock as a strong scent of vanilla was carried by the wind. This was Sunfire!

It smashed into the fog like a starburst, completely halting its momentum and streaking through the clouds like twisting vines before blooming into fine, feathery hoarfrost patterns.

"Destroy!"

Time itself seemed to have stopped as the initial impact point suddenly began to glow with a ferocious, golden light before earth shattering chain explosions rippled through the air, bursting with the might of a thousand cannons swallowing everything in a world of scalding light.