Twisted Wonderland.

[matthew williams]

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For those who seek, those who not
And the ever forward, or the regretful
Welcome thee to forests for haven
Come and let us bond in knots
Thus company may be ever bountiful
And heaven shall forever be laden

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Dear Beloved Guest:

You have been Cordially Invited to Attend a Luxurious Camp Outing Along with Your 

Fellow Classmates and Teachers to Promote Companionship and Respect between Your 

Superiors and Peers. Traveling Expenses and Emergency Lodging has been Reserved and 

Paid. As this Invitation is a Mandatory Meeting, We have taken the Courtesy of Providing 

the Basics of Equipment.

Fear Not, This Outing shall Count as Your Attendance to School.
Your Parents have been Notified Ahead of Time.

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Location: Morfe Forest, England

Time: March 23, 2014 at 11:00 A.M.

                                     Please Bring the Following:
                         Hygiene Equipment; Flashlight w/ Extra Batteries; Preferred Blankets; Pillows;
                         Large Backpacks; A Week Worth of Clothes; Rain Gear; and a Compass

                                     Items Provided:
                          Tents, Tent Gear, and Tent Repair Kit; Sleeping Bags and Repair Kit; Cots and Hammocks;
                          Mallet or Hammer; Lanterns; Water Treatment [Iodine]; Tarps; Matches and Lighter;
                          Water and Large Water Containers; Food; Hand Sanitizer; Umbrellas; Duct Tape

                                      Optional:
                          Recreational Items; Knives and Multi-tools; Notebooks w/ Pencils; Cell Phones;
                          Alarm Clock; Sunglasses; Earplugs; First-Aid Kits; Mirror; Insect Repellent; Sunscreen;
                          Toilet Paper; Towels; Pans; Personal Items and Weapons

We Are Not Held Responsible for Lost Items.

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Please meet at the Visitor Center of Morfe Forest at the Designated Location and Time.
At the Location, We will Proceed in Dividing You into Groups of Six. And We Sincerely
Hope You Enjoy Your Time With Your Camping Mates. 

- Sincerely,
The Staff of Hetalia World Gakuen 

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     Matthew looked incredulously at the invitation in his hand. To think his school would force a mandatory camping trip just so that the students and teachers would stop fighting. It wasn't like they could help it; Everyone had such clashing personalities that it was inevitable for things not to become a conflict. Matthew sighed, defeated and helpless against the decisions of the upper hierarchy of his school. He looked behind him to see Kristopher giving a small glare at the paper; He was obviously angered by the sudden turn of events as well.

     Matthew began to take out a large daypack for the trip, discreetly watching Kristopher do the same after a few moments. Kristopher went out on camping trips all the time, and had much more experience than Matthew did. Though with the items provided by the school, the camping trip didn't seem to be all that bad. He reviewed the invitation once more, frowning at the section were their parents had already been informed. When had they been informed, Matthew had no clue and he assumed Kristopher didn't either. Why had their parents agreed to this? 

     Shaking his head, he continued to pack. In a small bag, he stuffed a toothbrush, a hairbrush, sunscreen, a mirror, spare glasses, alcohol, and insect repellent. He stuffed the small duffel bag inside the large daypack before grabbing a small and large flashlight and plenty of batteries. He took his alarm clock as well as his iPhone 4S and placed it in the pocket outside for easy access. A pack of cards also went into the same pocket. He brought a Towel and some toilet paper from the bathroom as well. Then he proceeded to get a small luggage, squeezing in clothes, a blanket, a pillow, and some rain gear. Checking over the invitation, he added a large first-aid kit and various knives into his daypack. 

     Sadly, he didn't have a compass. He had never needed one. He grabbed a notepad and some pencils and stuffed them into the side pocket of the daypack. He turned to look at the sleeping Kumajikakou(?) and decided to bring extra preserved fish for his bear. Kumalamishi(?) never left his side, no matter how he tried to coax the bear. They had been stopped at airports many times because of it. He grabbed his favorite steel plated hockey stick and finally huffed in relief that he was finished. He sat down on his bed, wondering how everything lead up to this predicament. A loud rustle snapped him out of his thoughts. 

     Kristopher was still on the other side of the hallway packing things in his room. Matthew got up slowly, careful not to wake the sleeping polar bear, before walking across the hall to see how his brother was doing. Though Kristopher looked neutral on the entire matter, occasionally Matthew catch a look at his eyes and see a concerned glint. He looked toward the end of the bed, noting Hancokan sitting more silent than usual. It seemed that even Kristopher's pet wolf pup felt uncomfortable about the situation. 

     "What do you think of this, eh? How could the school force us to go to this?" Matthew began. 

     Kristopher momentarily stopped packing to look at Matthew. His eyes held a suspicious look that meant that he did not particularly agree with the school's methods either. He resumed packing, but his mouth opened and closed a few times as Kristopher tried to voice his thoughts. Watching his brother take a few deep breaths, Matthew prepared himself for the usual booming voice of his brother. 

     "I don't know," Kristopher replied in a surprisingly normal volume, "But I don't lahke how our parents just accepted this without a word. Ya know how protective they can be. I think there's somethin' more ta this than meets the eye, but we can't necessarily do anythin' about it." 

     Matthew relaxed a little, glad that he wouldn't get bombarded by his brother's voice. He gave a concerned look towards Kristopher, knowing that his brother hated his voice with a passion. If only they could switch voice boxes, then maybe Matthew would finally get noticed and Kristopher can enjoy being the loner he always had been. But life was a bitch that liked to beat down your ass, and thus Matthew was stuck with his infernally quiet voice and Kristopher refused to talk unless he was sure his voice was under control. 

     "I thought so too. But at least some of the equipment was already prepared, eh? At least we also don't have to pay for traveling and lodging expenses," Matthew remarked optimistically. He still didn't feel like going though, be he didn't want to ruin his perfect attendance record. 

      Matthew watched as Kristopher chose not to reply to what he just said. Instead, a dark look flashed across his face briefly, so fast that Matthew almost thought he imagined it. He was just about to question his brother when Kristopher cut him off. Matthew blinked a little, not quite catching what he said. He had been too focused on the expression Kristopher had. His brother was not usually one to express emotion on his face; Usually Alfred did enough expressions for the both of them and Kristopher always lacked the social contact Alfred and Matthew always had when they were young. 
    
     "I'm sorry. I wasn't listening just now. Could you repeat that?" Matthew asked sheepishly.

     "I said, did ya bring yer hockey stick and some knives?" Kristopher asked. When Matthew nodded, he replied, "Good."

     As Kristopher continued to pack, rearranging items and moving them around, Matthew awkwardly shifted in the following silence. His brother was not one of many words if he could help it, and he often gave had an apathetic air around him. Matthew knew he cared about people though. Kristopher always kept his friends close and his family closer, and despite disliking a few people, the American never truly considered anyone his enemy after... the incident with Alfred. Matthew had been so worried, watching as Kristopher walked out of the house with bleeding wounds and dark purple bruises. Alfred was yelling and yelling and he remember crying so hard. Their parents had been shocked and Matthew couldn't bring himself to do anything, and he had just felt so helpless as Kristo-

     "Yer thinkin' about that again, aren't ya?" Kristopher's remark broke Matthew out of his trance. 

     Matthew looked with wide eyes at Kristopher who had momentarily stopped packing. His brother was staring intently at his desk, never looking the Canadian in the eye. Matthew's face crumpled, but suddenly looked up in surprised when he felt a comforting pat on his shoulder. Kristopher had managed to move so fast that Matthew didn't even realize that he had gotten up. Kristopher briefly hugged him before quickly letting go and taking a few steps back. Matthew blushed while Kristopher coughed awkwardly, both unused to the emotional display. 

     "I told ya it's not yer fault. It was mine, and Alfred was just defendin' himself," Kristopher asserted. Matthew nodded hesitantly, still very unconvinced. Flashes of that day still played in his head, but Matthew shoved them aside for the moment. A sigh escaped from his brother's mouth. "Why don't ya go see what the others are up ta? I'm goin' ta be packin' for a while." 

     Matthew gave a concerned look toward Kristopher, but his brother waved it off with a look that said 'Go. I've been fine before and I'll be fine again.' Reluctantly, Matthew exited the room before wandering the halls, wondering who else was still packing and if they felt that this entire situation was strange. 
     

[itzel maria sanchez]

Her brother often joked that, perhaps, Itzel was too prepared for something awful to happen. The brunette, despite them being outlawed, always managed to carry a gun on her. If people tried to argue with her for it, she always pointed them in the direction of others who did. She never thought that there would be a school event in which she would be allowed to bring any weapons, but the school did have a nasty habit of surprising her. This time, luckily, it had been for the best. Yes, the invitation had been shady. She might have disregarded it completely and refused to go had her brother not raised an eyebrow. Mandatory – as if this little trip was going to stop them from fighting one another.

The Mexican didn’t even have that much of a problem with the majority of the students anymore. She kept to herself more often than not. And, when she didn’t, it was usually because food or futball was involved and she had to defend her country’s pride on those matters. In her “class” of North Americans, both she and Juan were lucky that the majority of the people paid attention to the blondes than they did the brunettes. Otherwise, she might have had a lot more to answer from. Sliding her backpack on, she glanced at herself in the mirror and nodded. Perhaps it wasn’t the most ideal of clothing, but she was comfortable. And, back in Mexico, she had gone hiking a time or two.

Her dark brown hair had been braided backwards so that it went out of her face. It made her look a little older and probably more mature than she actually was. The bag on her back contained about three .38 Super pistols that she definitely wasn’t going to leave behind. She had a couple of fixed blade knives in the pockets of her cargo pants, but it was likely that those weren’t going to be taken from her, either. It was skill rather than luck that Itzel had managed to fit everything that she had into her pack. It should have been overflowing, but, for some odd reason, it wasn’t. She didn’t care much to add things that weren’t absolutely necessary. And, on the off chance that she needed something, she’d probably just steal it from Alfred when he wasn’t paying attention. Or Juan; her brother was a smidgeon more responsible than she was, after all.

When she finally decided that she needed to get out of her room before she drove herself mad, she picked up the small duffel bag that had a couple of toiletries and extra clothes that she thought she might need on the trip. She slipped out and locked the door behind her, pocketing her room key before scanning down the hall. It seemed that her fellow Latin Americans hadn’t finished packing up yet, but that was to be expected. Itzel probably showed up to things, on average, a couple of minutes late. She was sure that they probably would be, too. However, when she turned in the other direction, she was slightly surprised to see Matthew standing outside Kristopher’s room. Or, at least, she thought that that was his room. She wasn’t entirely sure (nor did she really care, in the grand scheme of things.) If there was something that she wanted, she usually picketed it from someone else.

She might have been trigger happy – really, it might be a problem – but she had no qualms about the eldest triplet being somewhat the same. Juan had always been the one to be on good terms with the brothers. She normally trailed along behind him with a smile and a polite nod, but why should she? She was perfectly capable of talking to them on her own. So, with a nod to herself, Itzel made her way towards him and stopped just a little, that way she wouldn’t scare him if she surprised him. “Hey, Mateo. All packed up?” She grinned easily, raising an eyebrow. “I’m excited about the camping trip, but it’s a little weird, verdad?”