A/N: This is a new story that I've had floating around in my head and I finally decided to write it out. THIS WILL BE MULTIPLE CHAPTERS as it follows Austria as he grows up. Please enjoy and don't forget to review, please! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or its characters, plot, etc. I only own this idea for the story's plot. Everything else belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.

Deep within the thick, green, woods of central Europe sat a castle. Now, it's not like the fairytale castles you associate from story books. No, this was a large, intimidating structure. It was perfectly square, with high walls made of impenetrable stone. Large towers extended from each corner of the connecting walls. The inside of the castle was dark and cold, always creating a feeling of misplacement. It was designed this was, the owner of this castle did not like visitors to overstay their welcome. In fact, he forced his own children to remain outdoors, in exchange for solitude. He wasn't a bad father, he was just very strict. He raised his children on military strength and harsh training. They had to be strong, if they were to defend themselves from the merciless Roman Empire. This was the house of Germania, Rome's rival, and all of his children.

Outside of the castle, three young children stood clumped together. They were all very different in appearance. One had mousy brown hair, tied back in a low ponytail, and had sharp, green eyes that burned with a fierceness that bore holes through anyone who looked at them. They're entire demeanor shouted out one challenge "You think I'm weak? Try me." The other two boys were no different. A silver haired boy cackled wildly as his red eyes narrowed in mischievous thought. Standing next to him, a blonde looked on with tired green eyes, almost bored with the proceedings.

"Look at how weak he is." The brunette said in disgust, "How can he be one of us? He can't even speak, let alone swim. I bet he doesn't even know how to use a sword."

"Absolutely pathetic." The red eyed one agreed. "Where did Vati find him? Rome?" The two broke out in a fit of cruel laughter as they watched the small figure in the distance.

"Come on you guys, he's not that interesting to watch. Let's go practice sparring." The blonde chimed in, a very small pang of sympathy set itself in his stomach. But the other child would get no sympathy; he had to learn to be strong on his own. It was survival of the fittest; only the strong could become countries.

Sighing the brunette glanced once more at the trembling child and turned on his heal. "Yeah, he's really boring. He'll probably be dead in a few months anyways. Why waste our time on him? Come on Prussia, Swiss, let's go." With that, the three children walked back towards the castle, disappearing behind the iron drop gate.

Down by the river, a small child watched them disappear, before slowly standing up out of the freezing water. Those bullies had shoved him into the river when he wouldn't answer them. They had been yelling at him, screaming for him to respond and it scared the boy. With an exasperated huff, the brunette shoved the boy backwards, making him loose his balance. As he tried to regain his footing, the silver haired boy had tripped him, sending him tumbling into the river. He didn't know how to swim so he was left floundering and gasping for air, letting the current carry him downstream. Eventually it had gotten shallow enough to climb out, but by then, the three boys were gone. He shook at the shock of the water touching his body and crawled out onto a bank. Lying on his back, he felt a stinging sensation in the corners of his eyes. Determined not to let any tears fall, he thought over the past few days.

Earlier this week, he had been born. He didn't remember much other than the strong feeling of loneliness that overcame him once he opened his eyes. He had wandered through the mountains looking for something to cure his lonely heart. But now…now he wished he had stayed lonely. A strange man with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes had found him and smiled. 'Hello, Austria of the Mountains. I am your father, and you will come to live with me and your other siblings.' There was no negotiation, but the young one didn't feel the need to. He thought his prayers had been answered and so he silently followed the man who called him Austria. For some reason, that name felt right. It was like he was trying to find himself and that one word provided everything. Austria, yeah, he liked that.

Once the man had made it to his destination, he called forth three other boys, all about his age. As he introduced them, the smaller boy began to feel more and more uneasy. The brunette, called Hungary, seemed to be very tough. He sized up Austria with his eyes, frowning in disapproval. Alarmed, the newest family member averted his eyes to the pale boy next to him. His name was Prussia, and Austria immediately didn't like him. He was really loud and obnoxious and his first question was 'Which weapon do you use?' to which Austria only stared blankly at him. The final boy was named Switzerland, and he scared Austria the most. He just stared at the other boy, his green eyes dull and bored, as if he didn't even care that he would have another brother, another housemate, another….friend? Could the Austrian possibly be friends with these boys? The answer was soon clear, no. They all hated him; they hated how he was weak. They hated how he never said anything, always to paralyzed in fear to speak his mind. But most of all, they hated how unlike them the little brunette with purple eyes was. He hated battle, so what? He couldn't stand the sight of blood, or any harm coming to another creature, why was that bad? It confused the Austrian and frustrated him so much that he wanted to cry. But he never did, he knew better than to show these bullies how much they've affected him.

With a shaking sigh, the violet eyed boy pulled himself from his memories and sat up. Rubbing his eyes to remove any trace of tears, he began to wobble back towards the iron gate. As he went he wrung out his clothes so he wasn't so wet. Cautiously, he checked for any signs of the three boys before sprinting to his room, up a winding staircase to the top of one of the towers. Once he had reached the dark oak door, he shut it behind him and locked it. Supper would be ready in a couple of hours, but he was no longer hungry. Instead, he crawled into his stiff bed and pulled the covers up, slowly drifting into sleep. The only place he felt happy.