Title: Fighting the Shadows

Author: Myself; Kat-invasion!

Rating: T, for violence and possible language in future chapters?

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own hetalia ): The concept for this story you are about to read, I do happen to own though!

Chapter 1: Teamwork

The air was uneasy, the autumn wind stirring the leaves around on the road. The clouds churned dark and brooding. The atmosphere as that of indecision, as if there was a storm choosing whether or not to pass.

Something was coming.

The boy stood in the middle of the road, leaves dancing around his ankles. He emanated coldness. He was curious about what could cause such a sinister mood, but had to be patient. His sisters were going to arrive soon.

He stood still, strong and silent. He kept his eyes closed. He felt the leaves skittering over his boots, the wind tugging playfully at his scarf, and the three beings approaching. The first two were closest, and they smelled familiar – his sisters. The third was faster, but stunk of darkness and blood. The boy licked his lips hungrily. A demon, finally.

The first two came up behind the boy. He turned to greet them with soft violet eyes and a wide grin. His older sister, Katya's gentle eyes returned his welcome silently, but his younger sister voiced her greeting in a hastened tone.

"Big brother, a strong one has smelled you." She told him. "The wind carried your scent."

The boy smiled devilishly. "Would it surprise you, Natalia, if I had been trying to attract a demon?"

"No, big brother." She answered in cold voice.

"Ivan," hissed Katya urgently. "You have five seconds until the demon will be upon us."

The younger sister, Natalia, looked at her brother expectantly, a smirk plastered on her face. "Would you like some assistance with this one, big brother?"

Ivan turned to face the end of the street, his long overcoat flying out behind him. He reached inside his coat, and pulled out his weapon; a water pipe.

"No, thank you, Natalia." Ivan replied calmly. "I think I will handle him myself this time."

Natalia sighed, rolling her eyes. "Very well."

"Close your eyes." Katya commanded her younger siblings.

Ivan gripped the pipe tightly and closed his eyes. "What is it, Katya?"

"It's called an Orse; a bear demon. If you look it in the eyes you will be paralyzed, completely unable to move. And it has poisonous saliva, so don't get bitten."

Ivan opened his eyes and gazed lazily at the demon standing at the end of the street, avoiding its eyes. It was a huge demon, he noticed, as he assessed his opponent. Its smoky black flesh seemed to ripple as it pawed the ground with its huge knife-like claws.

"Well then," Ivan chuckled, stepping forward, "this will be interesting."

Arthur glared at the small group sitting before him in the conference room. The hunters were of two parties, Ludwig's party, and Arthur's. Monthly the two groups would meet to discuss the quota, what Demons were most prominent lately, and hunting partnerships. Which was the topic everyone lost interest in after seconds.

With a sigh, Arthur plucked one of his many papers from the worn wooden table, looking to avoid the topic of partners for as long as possible.

"Attention everyone, please!" the Englishman called over the din the present group was causing. "This is the notice from Ivan."

He skimmed over the hand-written letter quickly as the group hushed.

"Basically, he's announcing that he has officially left the group to work with his sisters and their party, blah, blah, blah… oh, and he also says that if he or either of his sisters is ever in the area when anyone has trouble, he'll gladly help out."

Alfred and Gilbert both grunted in unison to voice their 'thanks, but no thanks' to Ivan's offer. Neither was a big fan of the Russian's.

"There's another note from Wang Yao, but we can skip that."

The group sighed collectively. They heard plenty from the Demon Collector-slash-Merchant, about his new products, which rarely ever worked.

Alfred yawned, and threw his arm up into the air, as if to ask a question, but proceeded to talking anyways. "Can we just hear the partnerships and get going? Mattie and I have a huge demon to bag."

Matthew, his brother ducked his head, face flushing red. His brother was always bragging about what demon's he had or was going to decapitate next. His familiar, a polar bear named Kumajirou, gently pawed his hand.

"Alright, fine then, the Partnerships." Arthur sorted through his papers to find the list he had composed for the meeting.

"For my group; Alfred, you're with Matthew," Arthur pointed to the two blondes, and Alfred raised his hand for a high-five, which Matthew blatantly ignored. Matthew was a talented Demonologist, but he was, sadly, usually partnered with either Alfred or Gilbert, because he seemed to keep them earth-bound. Sort of; it was pretty difficult to keep Alfred or Gilbert calm.

"And Francis, you're with me." Both Arthur and the Frenchman expressed their displeasure with grimaces and cussing under their breath. It was becoming an issue that Arthur's party was so small he almost always ended up with Francis. He almost always goofed off if partnered with anyone else; their shared hate for each other, and demons kept them more on-task.

"For Ludwig's party; Feliciano, you're with Ludwig," the tiny Italian beamed and seemed to be restraining himself from jumping up; as per usual, he acted as if it was a big surprise he ended up with the German. Ludwig looked away, embarrassed by Feliciano's behavior.

"Elizaveta and Roderich," one of the two girls in the room turned to a serious-looking man with glasses and dark hair. She began whispering excitedly to Roderich, probably relieved that she hadn't ended up with Gilbert; a partnership which happened on occasions when there was an outbreak of huge demons, and a super-power was required. Otherwise, the two Hunters ended up bored and would start bickering.

"Vash and Lily," Arthur named off the quiet siblings. Lily, the younger sister, smiled sweetly at Vash, who attempted to smile back, while hiding said smile. Vash was one of the more powerful Hunters in the group, but didn't work well with anyone except his sister, due to his explosive temper.

Gilbert looked at Arthur questioningly. "What about me?"

"Ah, uh, Gilbert…" Arthur reread the list. Had he forgotten Gilbert?

"Me too, stupid jerk! You forgot me too!" a tiny voice piped up from behind Arthur.

"Gilbert, you can work with Peter." Arthur announced, trying to smile, more for his own sake then anyone else's. He couldn't help but wonder how big a mistake he had just made.

Ivan walked down the road, the giant carcass dragging behind him on the sidewalk. Katya and Natalia flanked him on either side.

"You never let me fight, big brother!" Natalia whined. "I was able to fight as much as I wanted when you were in that stupid Brit's group!"

"Only because Katya doesn't fight." Ivan said calmly. "Katya is a Demonologist. She doesn't have to fight if she doesn't want to. Her only necessary job is to identify the monstrosity so we can kill it in the most effective way."

"I don't care what Katya's job is!" Natalia yelled. "I want to fight too!"

"Quiet, Natalia, please!" Katya cried, grabbing her sister's wrist. "The passers are starting to stare."

"Let them stare!" Natalia snapped, reaching for on of the knives she had hidden in the folds of her skirt. "They're lucky enough to be brain-dead and not have to see Ivan hauling that hideous Demon!"

"Don't! Don't cause a scene!" Katya warned, her tone becoming more desperate.

"Can we please continue to the collection post? The carcass is smelly." Ivan asked innocently, as if unaware of his sisters' fighting.

Natalia dropped her hands to her sides, and followed Katya and Ivan obediently to the final store on the street.

They entered the tiny shop, the door sounding with tiny bells.

From behind the counter, a tiny Chinese man with a long ponytail popped up.

"Ivan! Welcome!" he said, bowing quickly. "What can I interest you in today, aru?"

Natalia rolled her eyes, but Ivan smiled. "I have a Carcass for you today, Yao. It's a big one."

Yao perked up. "What species?" he asked, turning to Katya.

"Orse, venomous." She replied quickly.

"Well, let's have a look, aru."

Ivan lifted the dead Orse onto the countertop, and for a moment could no longer see Yao, until the man pulled a stool out from under the counter.

"This is a large one, and you kept it in good condition." Yao complimented Ivan, while inspecting the Orse. "Yes, yes, this will fetch a very high price, aru."

"How much?" Natalia asked sharply.

"Around 13,000 pieces, aru." He concluded, and fetched the stack of silver coins, and put them into the coin pouch Ivan handed him. "Can I interest you in some good luck charms? No charge, aru."

"No thank you, Yao, we best be off now." Ivan replied cheerfully.

"How about a new set of knives? A new coin pouch? Or perhaps a trap? Weapon polish?"

"Here we go again." Natalia sighed, listening to Yao's offers and Ivan's polite declines. "I give it twenty minutes before he breaks down and buys something." She whispered to Katya, who giggled in reply.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed chapter one! I'm really happy with how it has turned out, and I hope I will continue with this story!

I'm hoping to have the next chapter out soon (wishful thinking hopes for later this week?), but incase life gets in my way yet again, I apologize!

Thanks so much for reading! And, as always, reveiws are loved!

xoxo

-Kat