A/N: This particular chapter is a prologue of sorts; it focuses mostly on Germany's early history and the period just before WWII.

Disclaimer: Not mine, too bad; not mine, so sad.

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Krieger

Part One: Mein Schatten

As far back as Ludwig could remember, Gilbert had always had that eagle.

His memory wasn't perfect, he would be the first to admit; past a certain point there was just a vast black emptiness. But in all the other parts bright and clear, that bird was always present.

He finally worked up the courage to ask his older brother about it. "Gilbert," he said quietly, tugging on the cuff of his jacket, "was ist das?"

"Hmm?" The Prussian glanced down and saw the little blond pointing at his eagle. "Oh, that's Helden. Means 'valiant'. Good name, eh?"

"But... what is he? He's been around for so long, and he's too big to be a normal eagle."

Gilbert scratched his head. "Ah... how do I explain this? Y'know how you and I aren't human, how we represent our people?" When Ludwig nodded, he continued, "Well, he's kinda like that. Only he's our pride, our nationalism, our..." His voice trailed off. "I'm explaining this poorly, aren't I."

"A little," Ludwig admitted, petting the bird's wing carefully. Helden regarded him with baleful golden eyes but permitted the touch. "Will I ever have one?"

"Dunno," Gilbert shrugged. "He just showed up one day. Maybe if you keep growing and become a strong nation, you'll get your own."

Ludwig set his young jaw firmly. "I will. I'll work my hardest, Preußen. You'll see."

***

Years later - many long years later - Ludwig woke in the morning with disconcerting feeling that something had shifted. He unfolded his long, gangly-awkward teenaged self out of bed, blearily rubbing at his eyes -

- and almost tripped over the bundle of fur curled beside his bed.

Said bundle of fur revealed itself to be a shepherd pup that, once it noticed Ludwig, was wagging its tail so hard its whole body was shaking. Ludwig scooped it against his chest despite its wriggling and went off to find his brother. "Gilbert," he asked, "not that I'm not grateful, but what on earth prompted you you to get me a dog?"

The albino arched one silvery eyebrow. "I didn't." Then he saw the pup, and the second eyebrow jumped next to the first. "Oh."

Ludwig flopped into a chair, setting the dog on his lap. "So how did you get into the house?" he murmured, scratching behind one floppy ear. "And why?"

Mine.

His blue eyes shot over to Gilbert. "What did - "

Mine.

Ludwig glanced down at the dog, meeting eyes a little too intelligent for even a shepherd. "...Oh," he said quietly, understanding. Now he could comprehend that feeling - the sense of belonging, of being more than just himself... of being a nation.

The dog's ears perked up. Mine. Happy?

"Yeah," he murmured, and the dog's tail started wagging again. "Yeah, I am."

Happy. Mine. Happy.

Then it peed on his leg.

*****

"Heel," Ludwig ordered, and his shepherd came trotting back to his side.

Krieger, he'd named the dog - warrior. It was a strong name, a good name, one that suited such an animal. And they'd both been warriors, born and bred, with a proud heritage and a noble bearing.

Until twenty years ago, that is, when the whole world had gotten dragged into war, with the blame falling squarely on Ludwig's shoulders. Versailles had shamed his people, leaving Krieger creeping around with his tail between his legs; the depression had weakened Ludwig to a pale shadow of his soldierly form.

But now... Now he had a new boss, hard at work stitching up the tattered German pride. Krieger's ears were perked and his eyes bright, and Ludwig no longer hunched his shoulders as though expecting a blow. The economy was starting to recover as well, which certainly helped things.

Krieger, taller at the shoulder than a normal canine, brushed against Ludwig's leg. Happy?

"Getting there," the German murmured. He'd ceased to be amazed by his ability to pick up on the dog's emotions, or try to explain it, long ago, and had learned to ignore the odd looks he got from people when he talked back. "I'm... happier than I have been in a while. The alliance with Japan is going well, and Italy - "

"Doitsu!"

"- is also happy," he finished as he pried himself out of the Italian's hug. "Feliciano, what have I told you about that kind of behavior?"

"Ve~ I'm happy to see Doitsu! Oh, and Krieger too!" He dropped to his knees to pet Krieger, despite Ludwig's twitching eyebrow. The fool dog's tail was going so fast it was a deadly weapon in its own right. Dumkopf.

"Doitsu, Doitsu, do you and Krieger want to get lunch with me?" Krieger's ears pricked at lunch and Ludwig thought traitor.

"We can't, Feliciano," Ludwig shook his head. "I have a meeting with my new boss in just a little bit. Maybe tomorrow."

"Okay~! Ve, I'll be sure to bring Felicità with me!" With a final pat, the Italian floated off down the street.

Krieger watched him go, tail still wagging. Happy. Beautiful.

"Stop that nonsense," Ludwig growled, cheeks pinkening.

Beautiful. Krieger glanced up at Ludwig. Happy. Joy. Love.

The pale tint deepened to a full blush. "D-don't be ridiculous," he sputtered. "I only put up with him for your sake, and you just like him because he gives you meatballs and lets you play with his wolf."

Love, the dog insisted, nudging at his hand.

Ludwig gave up and scratched behind velvet ears. "Whatever. I don't have time for such nonsense. Let's go, or we'll be late."

~Fin~

***

NOTES

~Prussia and Germany's official symbol is the black eagle.

~This was inspired partly by a fantastic fill on the kink meme labeled "On Learning How to Fly", as well as a novel I recently read. The main character, a woman on a K-9 search and rescue team, had a pseudo-psychic connection with her dog; she could pick up emotions and general feelings, but they didn't have full conversations (like, say, the dragonriders from the Pern series). That's what I was going for in this one.

~"Mein Schatten" = "my shadow".

~My mom grew up with big dogs (shepherd mixes, purebred Husky), and my dog is a German Shepherd/Akita mix. A lot of my observations on dogs come from her stories and my own experiences.

~Anyone who's ever been in range of the tail of a very happy medium-to-large dog knows those things qualify as a WMD in their own right.

~Thanks to my beta CJBlackwing for all her help and advice.

~Reviews and concrit make a happy authoress! Next part will be up in a few days. Thanks for reading!