@aph-germania liked for a Joseph starter!
Many would believe Alaska a desolate wasteland of snow and ice. And for its long and dark winter months, yes, that is what it was. But it was no longer the winter months. The lovely summer, however short, had arrived and it was fully being taken advantage of by the occupants of the land.
High, snow-capped mountains and impressive forests that rolled for miles. Fields upon fields of grass and wildflowers, running astride clear and lovely rivers that carved through the land easily. From the wild, animals great and small carried on with their lives while birds danced and darted overhead.
In the water of a lake, an otter leaves its baby briefly floating to hunt for shellfish to devour.
It is this place that he knows as home. It is this place in which he was born. And it is this place that he very much loves.
The little state utters a soft and content sigh as he sits in the grass, looking out upon the land that was his. It was peaceful in the summer months and he much preferred that, comforted by the warmth of the sun and its warmth. Though the boy’s enjoyment and contemplation is disturbed when he hears movement, causing him to twitch and turn to look at the woods just behind him.
Was it something he would need his knife for?
Staying cooped up was something Germania had come to appreciate in his older age. When he had been young and full of vigor back in classical times then maybe the idea would have interested him. That had been pleasurable times, heading off to far off lands to protect the roman empire. Now he was content with his small farm and his own land in Osnabrück where no one ever bothered him unless he wished. That was unless you were his children, concerned that he had been cooped up for centuries.
But a little sweet talking and some gentle threats can go a long way. His dogs would be cared for, the farm watched over, and he would be sent to destinations in which he had no say (for if he had it would be a weekend in Berlin for a Bundesliga match). His first would be a place across the globe: Alaska.
It had been a rather successful time, as he had quite enjoyed the forests, the rivers, and the hunting. How he felt alive here. The cold he could get used to but the silence was far better than anything he had at home. No faint sound of cars, no thrum of planes overhead, just the forest. The temptation to stay and pretend to be lost just to spite his children never strayed too far from his mind. He had spent the day fishing, enjoying the finer things and resting his body after a long week of hunting deer. His blond braided hair was pulled back to keep it out of his face as he walked with a handful of salmon, fresh caught and cleaned for eating. He didn’t bother to keep quite or to hide himself as he was not planning on hunting, just returning to his cabin for a light supper when he walked into a meadow where a young child had been resting. The tall, imposing German slowed his pace as to not appear too threatening, his hands up to show that all he carried was fishing gear and his catch of the day.
“Forgive my intrusion. I did not see you there. I’m just passing through back to my lodgings.”
How was he so damn good at running into kids?
