The sea has always been a strange place for me, and as such, I am drawn to it. The pounding waves, the dark waters, the never-ending pool of change thrown to and fro against the rocky shore. It is so different from my usual life.

And I guess that was my first mistake.

(...)

My day started off like any other of those days in that cold northern village. Wake up before dawn to cold frost on the windows; and to the hunting dogs yapping in the distance. The hunters provide food and furs for the people here, so the dogs were there whether you liked them or not because we all needed them to live. This morning I woke up to my sisters moving around in the other room.

Our house is not big, just three rooms and a door, but it's all we need. The stove in the kitchen provides heat to the entire house, so we are reasonably comfortable as we are.

Getting up, the ground is hard and cold beneath the rug. My younger sister, Natalya is looking out of the window towards the sea. We can hear the crashing of the waves down at the seashore, a good 20 minute walk away from where we are at. She looks concerned and similarily, Katyusha, my older sister, looks worried. As I shuffle towards them, Natalya looks over in worry, moving closer to where I am standing. As we all look through the window, the door slams with the wind behind us, we all whirl around and the wind continues to beat on the door. Storms like this are not uncommon and it waking us up was not a first time thing.

We stay at the window, watching the sea thrash around for another half hour before Natalya falls asleep standing up.

Katyusha and I carry her back to her bed and lay her down. One might call us too close to be normal siblings, but for us: Natalya is the only thing keeping Katyusha from taking off to the warmer hills of the southern lands. Once Natalya has been covered with the old blanket that she's had since she was little, Katyusha gives me the look.

Sighing, I look at my eldest sister with pleading eyes. She gestures to the other room and I comply, following her to the kitchen. The stove is on, still running from when we had dinner many hours before the storm. Sitting down, Katyusha begins her same speech, but quieter. It is Natalya who does not need to be part of this conversation, as she is still young.

"Ivan, please see reason. We cannot stay here for another winter," she begins. I know its foolish to stay in this village so far away from civilization, but we can't move now, not when I am so close.

"Katyusha, I know it is foolish. But I am so close! Another month and all our troubles would be fixed!" I say, desperate for her to not force me away. Katyusha shakes her head and crosses her arms.

"No Ivan. That is what you said last year before winter and the year before. 'Another month! That's all I need!' I gave you your month! We need to go home," she says, gesturing with her arms at the cabin we call home.

I lean back into the wall and rub my eyes wearily. Unlike all other people in this village, we are not accustomed to such weather. Well, I am. Katyusha and Natalya: not so much. A few years after we moved this far north there was a terrible storm, I lost my sisters in the snow and found them days later cooped up in a small cave a few kilometers east of the village. Natalya has no memory of the incident, as she was just barely 6 years old when it happened. We sit in silence for a few minutes as Katyusha pulls out a worn book from underneath a bench.

Balancing it on her leg, it falls open to a well-fingered page that is home to a map back to where we came from. Letting one of her fingers touch the page. She traces the path back to a kingdom in the woods. Home.

I know she misses it, you would have to be brain-dead to not. But I promised my father to complete this. To find the answer, and I've never been so close. The wind gives off an extra loud howl just then, drawing us both out of our thoughts with a jump. She closes the book and replaces it back under the bench with a sigh.

We spend hours like this until Natalya wakes up and walks out complaining about the cold. Katyusha raises her eyebrow in mock surprise and spares a moment to send a glare my way.

Oh, if only you knew sister.

A/N

I AM SO SORRY.

This story is probably going to be multi-chapter, and I apologize for not uploading anything in months. Life hits hard.

The characters are kinda OOC so apologies if that bothers you!

Also, just because I am horrible at writing, ages:

Natalya(Belarus) - 16

Ivan(Russia) - 21

Katyusha(Ukraine) - 27

Thx for reading! Please please please review!