Exhausted. Injured. Only his forcet to defend himself with. Russia found himself running through the night.
He wasn't the sadistic asshole everyone assumed him to be. Beating Prussia with only a forcet against a sword and guns had been a total fluke. Like hell he was going to go up against the maniac's brother and the entire fucking German army with just a stupid metal pipe. Even the strongest or most stupid nation would not even consider doing that. Though Russia didn't want to know just how stupid America was.
And so, he ran.
He'd almost lost Germany completely when a pain worse than being burnt alive coursed through his body. His lapse of concentration on the night ground in front of him caused him to trip.
"Dammit… Stupid civil war." Recovering slightly, Russia looked over his shoulder and felt his pupils dilate in fear when he dimly saw his pursuer gaining ground. Though the blonde hadn't seen the Russian yet as of the dark.
The forcet had slipped out of Russia's fingers when he had fallen and now had nothing to defend himself with. And he didn't want to risk searching for it, so he got up and ran again.
Soon dawn began to approach and Russia knew he would be caught if Germany could see clearly. Stuff being caught, the blonde would just order his soldiers to shoot him down on sight for his cause.
Now if Russia had a gun and his own army, well that might have been another matter. Instead, the silver haired man had been caught off guard and sent running for his life. That was pretty shameful for one who had seen so much war and history before written records.
But all he cared about at that moment was to survive. So, and I'm gonna say it, he continued to run.
That is until the pain shot back but doubly worse. He clutched at his heart and cried out as he slammed down onto his knees, sliding a little and tearing his pants at the knees. He felt the skin graze and gasped at the fresh pain. But it was a good pain. A pain that brought him back to his senses so he didn't have to feel more and more parts of Russia tearing away and making themselves their own countries.
But he couldn't find the energy to keep running… He knew that Germany would catch up to him and he would most likely die in… in… in whatever godforsaken country he was in.
He heard the footsteps getting louder and then…
"Pst… Russia, come in here." Russia looked to his left at a small country house. He knew the style which clarified where he was. Ireland.
Russia dragged himself to his feet and stumbled through the door of the house, closing it behind him.
"Hide in the closet." The Irish voice commanded him and he all too gladly followed the instruction.
No sooner had he closed the door behind himself and he hid behind clothes did he hear a knock at the door and his Irish host went to answer the door.
"Hey there Germany. What can I do ya for?" The Irish accent was light an airy.
"I'm looking for Russia. Have you seen him?" The German accent was heavy and thick.
"No. Nobody but me here tonight."
"Ok. Sorry for disturbing you tonight."
"That's alright. Come round for a beer one day."
From within the closet, Russia heard the farewells. The front door closed and eventually the German footsteps receded and vanished altogether.
The closet door opened and he saw his rescuer clearly. Ireland. The thing with the Irish and the Scottish though the Irish are more open, is that they love the Russians because of the vodka exports and their temperaments are very similar. But they love the German's too because of their beer and the strawberries that they export, so they will hide them from each other.
Germany had known that Russia had been hiding behind Ireland. And Russia always knew when the circumstances were different. But both were allied with Ireland and wouldn't risk harming him to get to the other.
"Why's he been after you so much lately?" Ireland asked as he cleaned Russia's grazed knees with alcohol. Russia winced.
"He's been relentlessly attacking me to get me to let Prussia go." The Russian said.
"Then why don't you just let him go and save your self the trouble?" The red head asked. Russia didn't answer for awhile. Not until his knees had been fully cleaned with the strong stingy Irish alcohol.
"Thank you for helping me but I must go. We have a UN meeting later today and for repayment I shall export double the amount of my strongest vodka for you." Pulling his coat tighter around himself, Russia reached for the handle of the front door, preparing to leave.
"See you later Ivan." Ireland said and he paused at the door.
"Da." The Russian said and then he left.
- - -
"Germany again?" Lithuania asked when Russia walked inside the door and passed him.
"Da. We are now exporting double the vodka to Ireland now if you could handle that please without making him pay for the extra."
"Ya-know my bruder might leave you alone if you let me out of this fucking house." Prussia said leaning against the door frame, not bothering to move aside for the larger man.
"Tell me Prussia, why do you think I fought against you and brought you here?" Russia asked, loosening his scarf and handing his bloodied coat to Lithuania.
"Whose blood is that?!" Prussia asked, alert at once and worried.
"My own. Answer my question." Russia asked. Prussia grinned and relaxed again when he heard that his brother's blood had not been shed.
"… You brought me here, defeated, because your greedy and wanted more land." The albino smirked. Russia sighed and looked at him with tired violet eyes.
"I brought you here because you failed to see that if you continued to be a nation, that you would not only destroy yourself, but those around you like your little brother, your allies… even my little Baltics." The larger man ran a hand through Lithuania's hair. "And I would be very upset if you hurt any of my Baltics Prussia. You will be released when you learn to control the blood lust."
"There's a hot bath for you upstairs Mr. Ivan." Lithuania said with a smile and received a smile back from the weary Russian.
Prussia stared dumbstruck as Russia thanked the Lithuanian warmly and left them so he could go and rest before the UN meeting that would commence in the next few hours.
"What is his problem?!' Prussia exclaimed, moving away from the door so the younger man could close it.
"But don't you know?" Lithuania asked with a sad smile. Prussia looked at him, puzzled. "…He's dieing. The civil war, new countries being made or joining onto other nations everyday by tearing away from him."
"…Oh… is there any way that he can live?"
"Firstly, he'd have to stop letting other countries like us Baltics rely on him, which wouldn't be good for us. We need him. Secondly he'd have to rely on a number of countries to strengthen the economy, which he refuses to do. And thirdly, he'd have to start an all out war to claim the parts of land he has lost. But that will cause lives to be lost. Unnecessary losses are not affordable for even the most wealthy or strong nations."
Lithuania smiled once more and walked off, taking the bloodied coat to wash it, and he left Prussia standing alone. The albino didn't pity Russia. Hell, he wished for the man's death every day. But to find out that his own country was killing him was a huge shock.
But at least Germany wasn't hurt. At least his brother was still alive to bring Russia down to set him free. That was a good thing… Right?
- - -
The bathwater was boiling hot and the minute he set his foot in it he could feel his skin blister. But he didn't shy away from it because it was the way he liked it.
As he sat in the clear water, it began to turn red with the blood running from his most recent and some old wounds that had reopened. He sighed and arched his back, feeling some of his scars pull taut across his skin and he sucked cold air back into his lungs. Taking a deep breath of the painfully chilling air, Russia completely submerged himself and stared up at the ceiling from under the surface of the reddening water. It was peaceful under water but all too soon did his lungs bring him too the surface.
His ankle hurt particularly and he knew he had sprained it in his flight. Ignoring the pain, he closed his eyes to the world, allowing his other senses to broaden.
Somewhere in the large house he could here Estonia drumming his fingers along a keyboard as he explored the internet, possibly teaching Latvia a thing or two.
He could smell fresh bread baking, filling every corner of his house with the warm doughy smell. He could also smell the fresh sunflowers just outside the bathroom door in his own room.
And he could feel the hot water eating away the cold in his body. Or adding to the cold. He couldn't tell. How long had he been sitting in the water? Awhile at least for the water was cold.
Russia sighed once again, stepping out of the bath and pulling a towel around his waist. Lithuania would empty the water out later. He walked to the closet and pulled on some pants, a shirt and managed to pull on a clean coat but didn't get to doing it up because he walked straight to his fresh made bed and fell on the sheets in exhaustion, hair still dripping, and towel still in his hand. And the day hadn't even begun yet…
- - -
As per usual the UN was buzzing with activity before most of the nations had even arrived.
The first thing Russia heard as he limped into the large room with the Baltics by his side was the ever present sound of America, England and France fighting.
"You stupid stuck up frog!" England exclaimed. "You're so pushy all the time and never side with anybody!"
"I am French. Wi wi." France grinned and dodged a punch aimed by England but failed to miss the axe kick by America and his head connected with the heel of his boot.
And then, basically, all hell broke loose. Russia didn't want to know what France had done for America and England to be so pissed at him. He just limped over to his seat and sat down. Relieved to finally take the weight off of his ankle.
"Do you want me to get you some water?" Lithuania asked.
"No thank you." Russia smiled for an instant and closed his eyes to the all out fight between England, France and America. That is until he heard the click of metal on the wooden table in front of him and he opened his eyes to see his forcet. "Good morning Germany."
"Don't lose your only defense next time." He said in an unfriendly way.
"Oh don't worry. Next time I will be more prepared and you will be the one taking refuge or you will simply join your brother." It was when he said things like this that Russia didn't have wonder why people assumed him to be a sadistic ass hole.
With a glare, Germany turned and left to rejoin an anxious Italy, who wanted Prussia to be free as well but not through war, and a sullen Japan, who didn't give a rats ass as to what happened to Russia.
Soon every nation required at the UN was present and the meeting commenced. It was the usual bull shit. Global warming, ice caps melting, hole in the ozone causing more heat, building stupid giant power rangers to stop it all.
Yes, it was bull shit. If everything was melting and getting warmer, why wasn't the fucking heat getting to Russia. And like hell a giant super mega power ranger would make everything better. It would just give America a new toy.
But at last, when the meeting had finished in the late afternoon and all the nations had come to an agreement to regroup two months later and discus a more logical prevention of global warming, Russia collected his forcet and held it close while most the nations tried to get out without getting stuck in the door way.
The Baltics had left early and were waiting in the car for him. But he would just sit and wait until most the nations had gone.
"You look like you've seen better days." Russia looked up to see America sitting in the seat next to him. "What happened?"
Russia sighed. "Germany."
"… Ya know, if he's giving you trouble you could just ask for some help. Why's he so pissed at you any way?"
"Prussia."
"Oh… I'll help you out if you want. Money, weapons… anything."
"Why are you so concerned with my affairs?"
"I dunno." The American shrugged. "Ever since the cold war you've been a bit out of it. Did I do something to hurt you?"
"Niet… It has been like this long before that…"
"… What's happening to you?"
"… Oh you know, the usual. Civil war, large areas of Russia tearing away to form new countries, I get attacked by Germany nearly everyday and then have to put up with his stupid moronic brother every second of every fucking day. But this is my life, Da?"
"… Ivan… are… are you dieing…?"
"…Da… I am." Russia smiled. "And you don't look too well either Alfred. What has been going on?"
"… Huh… you can't just change the topic. You're dieing. You need help…"
"… I can change the topic for I have accepted that I will die and my will is already written out. By the time I have left I won't make it to our next meeting without a wheelchair and that would be if I am horribly lucky. Now… What's been troubling you?"
"… uh… um… England."
"And what's he done to upset you so much?"
"I'm not… How did you know?"
"You were less flamboyant today and attacked France with an axe kick that could cave an ordinary man's skull in. You are very upset today."
"… Well, I uh sort of caught… It doesn't matter anyway. I mean, England was letttin France have it earlier as well which means he's angry at France to and he's sorry right?"
"… Believe what you want to Alfred, but my personal opinion is that he won't stay with you for long… Just look out for yourself, Ok."
Russia stood up with his returned forcet and smiled at America before leaving. The blonde just stared after the large man.
How could he have less than six months to live; only two more of which that he would be able to walk? As he looked after the Russian, he noticed the prominent limp and bit his lower lip.
"Hey Alfred…" England called out. "We better get moving now or we're going to miss that movie you wanted to see."
"… Ah… Coming Arthur." Pulling his bomber jacket tighter around himself, America got up and walked over to the Englishman.
"What was all that about?" England asked when he approached him.
"Nothing at all… but allot as well…" America said with a weak smile.
"Whatever… What was the name of the movie you wanted to see this afternoon?"
"… Um… Day Breakers. It's meant to be an action gore fest slash horror."
"… Oh goodie…" England said with a voice thick of sarcasm. America laughed.
"Don't worry Iggy… I won't spill my pop corn on you this time." England groaned as they continued to exit the building. But he didn't get covered in popcorn as America had promised but rather a jumbo cup of cola covered him from head to toe.
What fun!
- - -
Russia climbed the ladder to put his book back on the top shelf. He owned his very own library jam packed with books of every kind and the book he'd just finished hadn't been anything special. Just an old Russian Viking story. Similarly plotted to Beowulf except that the hero didn't die and he didn't have any children to any freaky looking Angelina Jolie demons. Honestly, that movie was a joke.
But just as he had put the book back and prepared to climb back down, his pain shot back and he slipped on the rungs of the ladder.
Prussia cried out. Why the hell had Russia just let go of the ladder? He'd hit the ground and crumpled without a sound.
Lithuania had heard the albino's cry and come running. When he saw the large nation immobile on the floor he gasped and ran over to him. He knelt down and pulled Russia into a sitting position and used his scarf to wipe away a thin trail of blood running from the corner of the silver haired man's mouth. He was unconscious.
"Prussia? Can you help me carry him to his room?"
The albino just nodded, still recovering from the initial shock, and ran over to them. It was slightly awkward carrying the large man between them but they managed to get him to his bed where Lithuania rolled him onto his back and took off his coat and shirt.
"What are you doing?" Prussia asked as the boy started to run his hands over Russia's old and new bruises.
"He won't let me look at his injuries when he's awake… I'm taking this opportunity to go over his wounds and find ways to take away the pain and make him heal faster." Lithuania smiled sadly. "He's got two broken ribs, probably from his fall, a twisted ankle from last night not to mention… he's still got a bullet lodged in his shoulder… Do you have a pen or something I could borrow?"
Prussia didn't so Lithuania settled for just using his fingers though it would just make the injury a bit more painful.
Using two of his fingers to widen the bloodied and drying bullet puncture, he used his index finger to dig for the bullet.
From where he was standing, Prussia could hear the noise of thick blood being moved around by flesh, he could see the blood covering Lithuania's hand and Russia's arm and he could see Russia waking up from his injury induced sleep.
"Got it!" Lithuania said and held up the bloodied bullet for Prussia to see. He knew the make. German.
Russia's violet eye's opened to see Lithuania sitting half on top of him with a tiny metal object in his blood covered hand.
"…Li… Lithuania…" He said. The boy noticed he was awake and got off of him gently but quickly.
"Sorry Mr. Ivan but you needed medical attention."
"… Thank you… Did you send…"
"The vodka export to Ireland was sent off an hour ago. You should already know that sir. You were there with me and Estonia."
Russia nodded and smiled. "We have to help… America now…"
"Sir… You can't afford to keep helping other nations… It's making you leave us faster…"
"Don't be greedy… America needs help… England and France have been giving him problems…"
"But Sir…"
"You will do as I say, Da?"
"… Yes sir…" Lithuania sighed. As he was closing the door behind him and Prussia he thought he heard Russia whisper something about America but he wasn't entirely sure.
- - -
Ummmm… What do I have to say? Well, firstly I strongly argue against myself as Beowolf was a good movie but still highly strange and not as good as I thought it to be.
Genetically unfair hormones provoked the creation of this monstrosity of a fan fiction. Do forgive me but this is not the end. The end itself is already in my mind but every time I think of it I end up crying sadistically.
Even though the end is already made up I would like to hear what you think will happen and who knows? Maybe I might take a particular liking to one of your suggestions and the story will warp to your liking.
Also, I would like a vote on whether or not I should collab a story. Hetalia crossed with The Road to Eldorado by Disney.
Hmmm… One last thing, this is my fourth story for Hetalia and I have discovered through it that I have a habit of killing or severely injuring the characters that the fiction is set on.
Please review and you get your own internet gilbird or mochi… your choice.
Prussian Mongrel loves you all!!!! ^ ^
PS When I read this out loud to myself I sound like a cheap advertisement. What a day…