Zu den Enden der Erde

I don't want nothing more,

The sun rose over the horizon, greeting those who it shined at with its warm rays. Even those who didn't want to wake up at all and carry on with anything. Who wouldn't want to carry in this beautiful book we call life? Well, it was the soldiers. It's currently September 11, 1939, exactly ten days after the Second World War had started and it already was so unbearable.

Ludwig fluttered his cold blue eyes open just a tad, you know, to the point where he was squinting because of the bright light hitting against his face. He automatically knew that it was late, it was so late in the morning. He and his group would normally wake up at two or three in the morning. It had to be around eight. Waking up late should've made him happy, right? Nope. It made him think the absolute worst, could it be that everybody but him and his partner died during an enemy ambush? Of course not, after all, the soldiers keeping watch and protecting the sleeping men would've surely warned them to get up and ready their guns. Right. So Ludwig had nothing to worry about.

The German sighed in relief as he threw off his thin blanket and put on his boots and jacket. After he did so, he rustled and crawled out the tent instantly being greeted by a chilly morning breeze hitting against his face. He hopped onto his feet and made way for the tent that stored the guns and other firearms, it was also a little huddle meet for the other soldiers to laugh about stories about home while they eat the bitter or flavorless soup. He went up to the small hotspot to retrieve his gun and to probably get a little bit of that soup even if he was sick of it.
As he was stirring the ladle around in the pale looking liquid and scooping some into it to get ready to put it in the bowl, he started to eavesdrop on the conversation some soldiers were having;

'Unsere nächste Mission ist es, eine kleine Gruppe italienischer Soldaten in diesem Dorf in der Nähe aufzunehmen,'

'Italienische Soldaten? Sie sind Feiglinge, warum eine ganze Gruppe von ihnen?'

'Ist doch nicht so schlimm. Zumindest haben wir einen Überschuss an Männern, die wahrscheinlich gute Scharfschützen und Krankenschwestern sind. Anywho, lass uns sie fertig machen und losziehen.'

Italian soldiers? Italian soldiers that were stationed at a nearby village. He didn't know what angered him more, more weight to carry or the fact that they slept in the woods instead of the village that was supposedly not too far from the campsite. But it's the past now, what're you going to do?
—
The boots hitting against the dusty trail was like a stampede. The trail led straight to a lively village that was filled with music and smiling men, and women, and children left and right. It was odd for them to be so happy during a time like this, it really was. When they entered the village they were instantly greeted by piercing eyes of the civilians. Why were strangers there in their village, who are they? Ludwig met eyes with a few of them, and probably gave the kids a smile or two even if they didn't really ask for it but they were just happy that they got it by the men in the weird uniforms.

Their group came to a screeching halt. Confused, Ludwig look out from behind the man in front of him. It was a group of others who were also dressed in military uniforms which was clearly different from theirs. The sergeant of the Ludwig's group stepped out to introduce the others. But before he did, he had the supposed leader of the other to step or with him to greet and tell theirs that the both were going to work together.

'Men! These are the soldiers I told all of you about before we made our merry way to them, we are going to be working together. I want you to treat them as if they were your brothers.'

He smiled, before he opened his mouth to speak again,

'Now you can fall out and go greet them or whatever you'd like to do. We're going to stay until sunset, that's when we march with them to the train station.'
He would then walk away from them only to go to a fruit stand. All the other soldiers would spread out to also go to a couple of stands or to say hello to the others, Ludwig however stood there whilst fiddling at his fingers. He was an awkward individual who couldn't even really pick up a conversation with others who wasn't his brother, grandfather, or his brothers friends. It was good though seeing how he didn't want to spark up an unbearable conversation. That was until two Italian soldiers was making their way towards him. The German instantly started to back away slowly to give them a signal that he wasn't interested, but they didn't listen. The two stopped in front of him. Ludwig took a good look of the two,

One was cheerful looking, his eyes were a wondrous amber color that went perfectly with his auburn hair. His smile was a complement to his happy personality. He was so energetic!

The other was a moody looking one, the one who clearly didn't want to be there and instead wanted to be at home under their warm covers not caring about a thing in the world. Everyone wanted that, it was a dream. His eyes were the opposite of the others, it was a green or hazel color. His hair was a darker color brown too. He was also darker skinned.
The cheerful one started to speak,

"Ciao! I'm Feliciano, but people call me Feli because it's easier for them. It's easier for me too. Anywho, this is my brother Lovino! Say hi, Lovino-"
The aggravated looking one just snatched his arm away from Feliciano's grasp to just give Ludwig a wave and a sigh,
"Hello I suppose. Feliciano, I really don't want to do this right now, alright? I'm just going to go get some snacks for us, talk to him or someone else I don't care."

And with that, Lovino walked away. Feliciano only waves at him and gave him an 'Alright' as he did before turning back to Ludwig,

"So what's your name, hm?"
"Oh - I'm Ludwig B- "

Before he could even finish his introduction of himself, Feliciano just pointed at him and spoke,

"Such a wonderful name! You look like a Ludwig. You have very pretty eyes, it makes me shiver oh! You must have people all on you because of them, huh?"

"Actually no. I think they look average. I think my older brothers eyes are way better than mine,"
"Is he here? I would be the judge of that -"

"Nope. He stayed with my grandfather at my home, I wish he were here though."

And with that it got quiet. Feliciano just placed a hand on his shoulder, patting it and squeezing it softly as an 'I'm sorry your brother isn't here so he can look out for your awkward self' thing. Feliciano pointed at one of the stands that was filled with traditional Italian sweets,
"Would you like to get some? They're really good, trust me."
Ludwig only smiled and nodded. The Italian then took the other by the hand and led him to the cart and picked out some for the both of them. They went to go sit on the ground too to laugh about silly things. It was wonderful.
—
The sun had begun to set over the tree sprinkled hills indicating that it was time for the soldiers to leave and make their way into battle. Some of the Italian soldiers went to go kiss their wife and kids goodbye making promises that they will return even if they knew they probably weren't. Feliciano and Lovino said farewell to their brother and grandfather as well. And with that, they were off. All of them.
Feliciano and Lovino walked along with Ludwig to talk with him. Lovino would even make smart remarks under his breath in his native tongue only for Feliciano to gasp and tell him to not say that or to behave because 'Nonno' wouldn't like such. It amused Ludwig however. It also made him wish his brother or friends were there with him.
Oh how he missed them.
—•••—
End of chapter one! Thank you for pulling through!
Sorry if it wasn't as good as you were expecting, i was rushing to get the first chapter of this thing out as soon as possible! Chapter two will be coming soon!