The night was ominous, and the stars gave off an eerie glow. Across the sky lightning flashed and a terrified squeal sounded from the cottage nestled snugly on a hill. A young boy, about 6 years of age, bolted out from under his bed sheets and ran to his parent's room. Jumping onto the bed, he roughly latched unto the sleeping form of a petite blonde male, whimpering until the blonde woke up.

"Mutsi, I'm scareedd!" the boy wailed.

"Hiljetä Hiljetä..." the blonde yawned quietly, "What frightens you Peter?"

Peter sniffled, "The lightning Mutsi... the lightning." He gave out another wail as another bolt lit up the sky and burrowed into the protection of his mothers arms.

Tino smiled, and rubbed small circles into his son's lower back to calm the terrified boy, "It's ok Peter, Fader will be home soon, and you know the lightning wouldn't dream of scaring you when he's home."

Peter nodded and slowly found himself drifting off to a comfortable sleep, feeling safe now that he was with his mother. Toni gave another tired yawn and was about to lay down when a flash of lightning lit up the beach below, and its harbor. Nestled snugly in the tiny cove, a pure white ship bobbed lazily in the wharf, its deep purple sails waving in the wind. Tino stiffened, his eyes widening in fear.

"N-No... it... it can't be!" he squeaked out terrified, shaking Peter awake. "Peter! Peter! Wake up!" Toni yelped frantically, "We have to go!"

Peter groggily opened his eyes, "M-Mutsi... what's wrong?"

"We have to go! Quickly!" Toni pulled him out of bed and threw a coat on him, hastily reaching for some breeches.

"Mutsi! What's wrong! You're scaring me!"

Tino did his best to act normal, but it was clear that he was terrified. Taking the smaller boy's hand in his, he pulled him into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks as another bolt of lightning lit up the room. Peter looked and saw nothing but darkness, "Mutsi... what's-" A deep chuckle cut off the boy and he squeaked in surprise.

A rustling sound came from a seat directly in the middle of the room and the floorboards creaked. A candle was lit bringing light into the room and revealing a tall man with starlight colored hair.

"Privet Tino," the man's heavily accented voice boomed, "it's been a while da?"

Tino was visibly shaking, he brought Peter close and held onto him protectively. "W-What do you w-want Ivan…?"

The man called Ivan smiled. He took a step forward and his smile grew when Tino took a step back.

"No need to be frightened Tino," he said tilting his head a bit. Tino did not look convinced and asked again, "What do you want Ivan?"

Ivan placed the candle he was holding down and walked to Tino looking down on the smaller man. Tino looked absolutely terrified and his grip on Peter tightened. Ivan placed a hand under Tino's chin and brought the blonde's face up to his, "I came to see my little sunflower Tino. I wanted to make sure he wasn't lonely, but it looks like he is. All alone in this house, with our poor little boy."

Tino pulled away from Ivan, "Peter's not yours… He's Berwald's!"

Ivan stared, a strange aura surrounding him. He grabbed Tino by his nightshirt and pulled him up so they were nose to nose. His breath came out a mixture of vodka and blood, "And where is your precious Berwald now Tino?" Letting go of Tino, Ivan directed his gaze to Peter who was trembling while clutching desperately unto Tino's hand.

Ivan bent down and got on one knee, "Hello little one. I am Ivan Braginski, you don't remember me because you were very small when your Mutsi decided to leave me. But it's ok da? I forgive him now, and you and your Mutsi can come back and live with me."

Peter stared, at a loss of what to say. Ivan smiled and put one of his massive hands on the boy's head, causing Peter to wince.

Ivan stood and looked to Tino once more, "We should go da? Before the sun rises."

Tino pulled Peter away from Ivan, "No! I'm not going with you Ivan! I already told you! Leave me alone…." He pleaded, "You're drunk…. You promised…."

The aura surrounding Ivan intensified, "If you will not come with me willingly, I will use force."

The front door opened, and the candlelight revealed the figures standing in the doorway to be pirates. Each had blood spattered on their clothing. Tino stiffened, and he took a step back. Ivan saw this, his eyes narrowing.

It was probably the stupidest decision Tino would ever make in his life, but he would remember it later and kick himself for being such a coward. So he took a deep breath, and ran pulling Peter behind him. They re-entered the bedroom and Tino locked the door behind them. Running to the window he flung it open and put Peter on the sill.

"Peter, you have to run and hide! Go to your cousin's!"

Peter was crying now, "B-but Mutsi!"

Tino ignored him and pushed Peter out the window, "Run!"

Peter landed on the soft sand and sunk a few feet, Hanatamago barked and ran up to him. He looked up to see Tino reaching down for him. Placing both hands on either side of the boys face he gave soft words of encouragement, "Oltava turvallisia Peter, rakastan sinua."

"Rakastan sinua sen Mutsi…."

"Please Peter… run," Tino pleaded.

Peter continued to cry, "W-what about you Mutsi?"

"I'll be ok," he reassured his crying son barely keeping from flinching as the door creaked in protest.

Peter sniffed and nodded, pulling away from Tino. He turned and ran up the hill and out of sight into the trees beyond. Tino pulled away and closed the window silently, drawing the curtains over it. The door gave a final creak and came off its hinges. An enraged Ivan stood in the doorway. Tino shrunk back in fear, backing up against the wall.

Ivan briskly walked up to Tino and grabbed the blonde harshly by his hair. Tino gave out a yelp and gripped the hand yanking his hair.

"Where is the boy?" Ivan demanded. When he received no answer he signaled to his men who began tearing up the room. After a few minutes the entire room was in disarray, Ivan stood silently. He pulled Tino up and good foot and a half so they were face to face.

"Where is the boy?" he repeated, his voice dangerously close to a growl. Tino refused to answer, instead glaring defiantly back. Ivan let out a frustrated growl and slammed the blonde's head into the wall, getting satisfaction from the scream he received.

Keeping Tino's head pressed to the wall, Ivan leaned over and spoke into his ear, "Tell me." Tino remained silent, screaming again as his head was slammed into the wall once more.

"Tell me, now."

Another scream and blood was now apparent on the wall. Tino's head was pounding and his eyes were barely focused. Ivan asked once more and before Tino could even take a breath he felt his head smash against the wall again. Ivan repeated the action three more times before he realized that Tino had stop screaming upon impact. Pulling the blonde away from the wall he saw the blood trickling down from the others forehead.

Disgusted with himself Ivan gathered Tino up in his arms, gently cradling him. Turning to the pirates, who were used to this kind of behavior, he said, "Go back to the ship." The pirates left without a complaint leaving Ivan alone in the room.

Looking around once more, Ivan checked all the places a boy could hide. When he could find nothing, he noticed the deep purple curtain over the window. Adjusting Tino's limp form in his arms, he strode over and drew the curtain aside. Looking down he saw the footprints in the sand leading all the way up to the cliff and disappearing into the trees.

"….You've gotten smarter Tino," Ivan said with a smile. Letting the curtain fall back into place Ivan left the room, tipping the candle over unto some papers, igniting a small fire. He watched the fire devour the paper and move unto the desk before exiting the cottage. A pirate held out a plumed hat for Ivan to take, which he did.

"Shall we light the roof Captain Braginski?" one of them asked. Ivan walked ahead, slinging the Tino easily over his shoulder, "Da. Ignite the roof."

Boarding the ship Ivan looked back to see Tino's small cottage ablaze. His violet eyes were cold as another fire found its way into his mind, recalling old memories he wished to forget. Alerting the helmsman to set sail, Captain Braginski went into his quarters as the ship lurched forward.

Placing Tino's limp form unto the bed, Ivan went to a cabinet and pulled out some bandages which he used to wrap around the others head. He was no doctor, but he knew how fatal head wounds could be. Ivan was beyond disgusted with himself, he was, after all, a pirate, and therefore this kind of behavior shouldn't bother, and yet it did.

"….. It's because of you… isn't it?" Ivan mumbled to himself, bringing out a blood spattered iron cross. "You make me feel guilty every time I do this…."

Tino gave no response that he heard and remained still, the only sign of life he gave was the faint rise and fall of his chest. Ivan stared at the cross a long while before he put it away, glancing at Tino he stood and exited the room. Walking to the helm, he took the wheel away from the helmsman and looked ahead at the water, violet eyes glittering in the moonlight. The ship glided silently on, the moonlight bouncing off it. A faint gold glitter could be seen at the stern of the ship, and the words zhidkoe zoloto glimmering in the darkness.

((A/N.

Finnish Translations! and 2 Russian translations!
Mutsi= Mom
Hiljetä= Hush
Fader= Father (In Swedish actually)
Privet- Hello
Oltava turvallisia= Be safe
Rakastan sinua (sen)= I love you (to)
zhidkoe zoloto= Liquid gold

This took a while... If you don't like it then my apologies for wasting your time.

Please don't kill me. I loves Finland and Russia!
buttt... Russia's the bad guy in this story. Sorry.))