Wow, nearly seven months since the last update sorry guys...
...
Björn screamed and struggled as two pairs of hands hauled him into a carriage and bound his arms with ropes.
His kidnappers were not gentle, leaving him in an uncomfortable position on the floor after binding him, their shoes digging into his back. By now, Björn was too scared to move or make a sound, in case they decided to silence him, and just lay there slumped and trembling.
He knew help would not come. Unless one of his brothers had witnessed him being dragged away, no one would care enough to rescue him. If no one had stepped forward to aid him on the street, then they certainly wouldn't now he was being driven away.
The carriage sped over a bump, and he smacked his forehead on the floor. The sack was still over his head and he had no idea who had taken him or where he was going. His kidnappers spoke in hushed voices in an unknown language, but Björn couldn't hear them through his panic.
For one horrifying moment, he thought the pirates had found him before telling himself to stop being so silly; the pirates had no idea he existed and were probably far away doing horrible things to Papa. Not that that last thought was any more reassuring.
Maybe Yrjan's boss had discovered him and Peter, and had hired help to dispatch of the pair. He hoped Peter, at least, would be able to escape.
Or maybe Peter himself had cheesed off the wrong people and they'd stolen his little brother in revenge. He'd been pretty tight-lipped on what he'd been getting up to these past years...
The carriage ride was long and absolutely terrifying, a million horrifying scenarios running through Björn's head so that by the time he was finally dragged out of the vehicle, he was a mumbling, gibbering wreck. They were going to murder him, he just knew it. He didn't want to die! He was only a child! He wanted Papa and his brothers! Why weren't they coming to save him? Papa!
He was dragged into a building- still blindfolded- and down a series of corridors. Björn heard a door swing open and he was dragged forward, forced into a creaky chair and tied to it. He was still too scared to speak.
"Shall we get the boss?" a voice asked, in a language Björn could understand this time.
"Seems best," replied another, ordering a third person- someone by the name of Raivis- to fetch said boss.
There was silence, and Björn could hear the two captors circling him. He didn't know where they were exactly, what they looked like or what weapons they had, and that terrified him. The short while it took for the boss to be fetched seemed like hours to him, agonisingly slow hours.
Eventually, he heard footsteps outside growing nearer, and the door was thrown open.
"Okay, what little whelk was asking after me?" growled a surprisingly high-pitched voice. A high-pitched voice Björn recognised, and he couldn't believe his ears. It couldn't be! Of all people…
The little bastard!
"He's here, sir," replied the person who'd been sent to fetch him, Raivis, "we caught him for you."
"Well that was nice of you," their boss took a few steps forward, which echoed across the room. "Who is this fellow anyway?"
"We don't know," replied one of the voices, "he was standing on the corner with a drawing of you asking if anyone had seen ya."
"I see. Well he's not army or someone from the law. A bit on the small side really."
Björn didn't speak. He couldn't. That voice…
"Anyhow, let's see who dared try to track me down." The boss grabbed the sack and pulled it off, discarding it on the floor as Björn's suspicions were confirmed.
"Eemeli you son of a madman!"
Eemeli looked as flabbergasted as he did. Or at least, Björn guessed he was; all that he could see of Eemeli's face was his eyes, wide and accompanied by a gasp.
"Björn?" he spluttered.
Eemeli hadn't changed all that much in a year, though Björn had to admit his outfit was fancier, with his long violet coat and matching top hat. Knives hung from his belt and the bottom half of his face was covered by a leather mask. He'd filled out a bit, but wasn't much taller.
"Yes, Björn," he snapped, "your dear big brother you thought it necessary to kidnap." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the trio who had brought him here frown, and exchange confused glances.
"Oh shit," Eemeli gasped, taking off his hat. His hair had gotten longer too, black, greasy waves framing his face and resting heavily on his shoulders.
"'Oh shit' indeed;" Björn glared at him.
"But you never swear!"
"Well it seems you've given me reason to."
Eemeli stared back for a long moment as panic rose in the boy's chest. Then he snapped his head back to bark at his subordinates.
"Why did you kidnap my brother?!"
"We didn't know who he was!" cried one, a young man with long brown hair.
"Now don't go blaming them for your mess," growled Björn. "Take responsibility for your own shit, Eemeli."
"But I didn't know it was you either!" Eemeli backed away, playing with his hat and nearly succeeding in crumpling the thing. "I'm sorry, Björn. You have to know I'd never hurt you intentionally!"
"So you were planning to hurt whomever you thought you'd kidnapped then?" Björn raised an eyebrow, and his brother's panic worsened.
"Well- n-no, of course not!" He laughed nervously, "I mean…"
"Eemeli, what happened to you?"
"I grew up," came the curt reply, "I became powerful, dear brother. I have people working for me, I have installed fear across this city! And day now I will usurp the government and create my own nation-"
"Shut up Eemeli you're nine years old!"
"So?" Eemeli shrugged, "I am the most feared man in Stockholm!"
"And you're also not too old to get a clap round the ear! Just you wait til your brothers find you!"
"I've managed to avoid them so far. And what can they do, really? When I'm dictator, I'll have them outlawed!"
"No you won't."
"Yeah I won't." Eemeli sighed, "I'll just employ them as servants or something, to keep them from getting in my way."
"Are you really the most feared man in Stockholm?" Björn scoffed, "I'd never heard anything about you all the time I've been here."
Eemeli scowled, "well you can't have been here very long then!"
"But certainly our brothers would have mentioned it, right? If a member of the family became as feared and powerful as you claim to be, that would be pretty big news. But they didn't even know you were in the city!"
Eemeli didn't reply immediately. "Fine, I'm not. Yet, anyway. But I will be one day! Just you wait."
"It did seem a bit far fetched that so many people would be afraid of a child," Björn commented dryly.
"I'm not a child!" Eemeli waved his hat in Björn's face, "I'm a criminal!"
Björn wrinkled his nose. "A little child criminal."
"A cold-blooded criminal!"
"Right," if Björn had felt any fear towards his brother in the beginning, it was fast evaporating now, "and have you actually killed anyone?"
There was a pause before Eemeli spoke again, "well, not exactly. Though I have dueled fools who thought they could best me, and they did not walk away uninjured."
"Did they strain their necks looking down at you?" he asked in mock-innocence. He noticed the three behind Eemeli grin at that.
"No! I defeated them!"
"By kicking their ankles until they got annoyed?"
"Well aren't you mean today, brother," Eemeli huffed, "and to what do I owe this pleasure? Any reason you're asking after me like I'm a wanted criminal?"
"So you're so bad at crime you're not even wanted yet? But yes, I had to fetch all my brothers, and you were the last left to find," Björn sighed, "I need you for something."
Eemeli scowled, "well I'm not coming, and you can't make me! I will not have them all lecturing me on my morals."
"Please Eem! This is important!"
"Don't you 'Eem' me," Eemeli almost spat his childhood nickname, "I don't want to see them and you can't manipulate me into doing what you want. I am Eemeli Oxenstjärna-Väinämöinen and I-"
"Papa's been captured by pirates and we have to save him," Björn interrupted, "I think it's the same people who killed Isi."
Well that caught his attention, at least. Eemeli was silent for a full minute before he ripped his mask off and gasped. Björn was thankful to see the thing wasn't masking any injuries; he still cared for his brother, deep- very deep- down.
"Papa's hurt? How? Pirates?! Really?" he paused, lips slowly twisting into a snarl, "is this some ploy to get me to come back?"
"No you brat!" Björn accidentally sprayed his little brother with spit as he said that, but didn't care, even feeling a stab of pleasure as the child winced and wiped his face. "Papa's in danger! He could be dead or badly hurt, more hurt than he was when you left!"
Now Eemeli looked like he'd been slapped; the trio behind him, however, were loving every minute of it.
"Don't say that," he hissed, "he wouldn't let me go to the big city so I went on my own, like an adult does!"
"Eemeli you're still nine, eight when you left!" Björn rolled his eyes, "don't you see the problem here? You're a child! We thought you were dead or being used as cheap labour and couldn't escape! Papa thought he'd failed Isi and failed you! He considered going to find you, in case you were in danger, but was too miserable to, in case you really were dead."
"But here I am! Alive and well!"
"And a criminal," Björn glared at him, "what the hell have you done to yourself? Seriously, I know what you did to Papa: you broke his heart into tiny pieces, but what for? What have you done this past year that couldn't have waited until you were old enough to go out on your own?"
"I, well…" Eemeli scowled, "oh like Papa would've let me go out on my own when I was older!"
"He would've indeed," Björn replied, "he let everyone else go. You were just too young. You're still too young."
"I'm not! Yes, physically I'm nine, but mentally-"
"You're a whiny five-year old who threw a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way," Björn growled. "Eem, you were my best friend! I missed you. I used to cry at night thinking about what might have happened to you!"
"So?"
Björn saw red.
He'd only ever seen red once before, when Lars told him about their 'father' and what he'd done, and he'd gone into a blind rage, managing to snap his fishing rod in half before Lars and Papa Berwald could calm him down. He wasn't proud of that, of the damage he caused, no matter how small. He'd been ashamed and oh so scared. 'Father' used to lose his temper like that all the time, and what if Björn was no better?
But now he couldn't control himself, and it was a good thing Eemeli hadn't untied him yet, for both their sakes.
"You're a bastard, Eemeli!" he screamed, struggling against his ropes, "a selfish bastard! You don't care about any of us and now Papa's gone and you hurt him and he's never been the same since! I wish you could see past your fat nose for once and realise what you did! And I wish you'd never been born!"
Now that was too far.
Björn was the only person who knew Eemeli's biggest fear: that Tino regretted having him, that his existence was a mistake and the reason Tino had suffered those disfigurements. He'd always told everyone his biggest fear was falling through ice- which was his second biggest fear- but he'd told Björn the truth a few years ago.
The child reeled back, looking like he'd been punched in the gut and Björn felt so small. The red left as quickly as it came, soon replaced by guilt.
He sighed. "Look, wait, Eemeli… I didn't mean it like that…"
"Well what did you mean?" the boy was crying now, something he hadn't done in years.
"I was angry at you. Well, I'm still angry at you- really angry- but I don't… I'm glad you were born."
"Then why did you say-"
"Because you're being horrible and I snapped! Got it? I'm so sorry though, and I wish I could take it back. I shouldn't have said I wish you were never born, but you should try being more sensitive. I've missed you so much this past year."
"But I was fine," Eemeli mumbled, replacing his mask and fiddling with the straps.
"I didn't know. I thought you were dead."
Eemeli's face crumpled, and for once in his life he tried to imagine how someone else could have felt, and how his actions could have affected them. It was a slow, alien process for him, but eventually he swallowed and looked up, mouth pinched into a frown.
"Was Papa really upset that I left? I didn't think he'd mind so much, because I'm a bit of a brat and no one likes me."
"He never recovered," Björn admitted, "he sorta… closed himself off, just withdrew his affection. You're his son, Eemeli, as much as the rest of us, and he cares for you. We all care for you, kid, that's why we're so upset."
Eemeli nodded, staring at his feet.
"You're a brat but that doesn't mean we don't like you," Björn added, "or that we stopped loving you. But come on, this isn't important right now, getting Papa back is!"
"So you've said," Eemeli sighed, "you really think we have a chance of rescuing him?"
"Maybe not one or even two of us, but six?" Björn gave a shrug, "we could manage somehow. And if not, I'm sure we'd all like a chance to avenge him."
"Of course," Eemeli's eyes gleamed.
…
What exactly could a nine-year-old need for an adventure?
Björn pondered that as he paced the room where until ten minutes ago he was being held captive. Eemeli had only untied him once he promised not to hit him, so Björn slapped him instead. Now, after gathering his wounded pride together, Eemeli had skulked off to pack, and seemed to be taking his time.
No one had said a word since he'd left, the three men who had kidnapped him were busying themselves with avoiding eye contact with each other and polishing their rather sinister collection of weapons, produced from the folds of their clothes. Björn stared at them, and a hand shot up, covering his neck protectively. The knife Raivis was holding made him feel ill.
"So what's the deal with you three?" he asked, voice shaky. "I mean, why waste your time tailing my bratty little brother?"
The tallest- the one with long brown hair- shrugged, "we don't have nothing better to do, really. And he's not so bad if you just tune him out."
"He can be funny at times too," added the third man, a blond with thick, grimy glasses, who had introduced himself as Eduard.
"That's even possible? How did you even meet him?" Björn sat down in the chair he'd been tied to, ropes thankfully in a pool at his feet.
"Interesting story," replied Eduard, "the three of us were out by the docks one night, drinking in a tavern. To be honest, I'd never met these two before that night, but we got talking and we didn't have much in common but it was nice enough."
"We thought Eduard was a bit too drunk to go home on his own," Raivis added, much to the other's horror, "he was being really silly and giggly and-"
"I can assure you, it was only one time and I never-" Eduard's interruption was in turn interrupted by their companion, the tall man, Toris.
"Keep telling yourself that," he sighed.
"Look, I don't care about how much you had to drink," Björn rolled his eyes, "could you please finish your story before Eemeli comes back?"
"Right, well we all tumbled outside," Raivis smiled briefly at the memory, "and were walking along the docks, talking and looking at the ships, when this big guy sort of… appears. Not sure just where he'd appeared from."
"We were really drunk at this stage," Toris explained.
"He was a pirate, a big ugly fella who wanted to press-gang us into his Captain's crew!"
Björn's stomach dropped, and he thought he would throw up. "Pirate?" he asked weakly.
"Yes, I recognised him as being one of Captain Héderváry's men," Eduard replied, "a nasty pirate indeed."
"And what does Héderváry look like?" Björn leaned forward, playing with the sleeves of his coat agitatedly. "Are they a big blond man?"
The three threw him a sympathetic glance. "That the one that got your Papa? No, this one's a different gender from one day to the next," Toris answered, rubbing his chin, "and they're short, with long brown hair. Scary bastard, the only thing worse than being part of their crew is being their enemy."
"I see," Björn's chest deflated; so no new leads then… "I guess you weren't too keen on this guy trying to nab you then?"
"Of course," Toris sighed, "it's how one of my old friends disappeared, after all. But we were too intoxicated to run very far."
"Well it seems you escaped," Björn tilted his head, "how?"
"The pirate tripped over something and fell in the water," Raivis exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air, "was in a right bad mood for it, but couldn't climb out again."
"Mariner was too high," Toris added, "so it gave us a chance to get out of there."
"What did he trip over?" He didn't know why he was asking, really.
"Your brother," Eduard laughed, "he was having a kip by the boats and the pirate fell over him."
"It woke him up, the awful racket everyone was making," Toris sighed, "and he had a look around, realised what happened, and started shouting at our pirate friend, acting like he'd taken the bastard down single-handedly, which he had in a way. We had to drag him to safety before the sea-dog could climb out and cut out his spleen, and filled him in on what happened."
"So he was fine then?" Well, Björn needed to ask.
"Indeed, a little cold but uninjured."
Eduard shook his head before adding, "he started acting like he was our saviour, well, he was but there was no need to go on. He asked us- since we were 'in his debt'- if we wanted to be his henchmen."
Björn's eyebrows shot up. "Don't tell me you actually agreed."
"We were drunk," Eduard gave a shrug, "and besides, we had nowhere to go and he's not so bad, better than working for a pirate anyway."
"He's not a dangerous person," Toris added, "all bark, no bite."
"That's Eemeli alright," Björn exhaled, sending a tuft of fringe flying.
"You're really his brother then?" Raivis asked.
"Oh yes! One of them, at least. He has five older brothers."
Toris raised an eyebrow, "five older brothers? Well that explains a lot." Björn nodded in understanding.
"Where is this place anyway?" he glanced around at a rather large room, walls a mess of wood and brick, illuminated by a handful of candles resting on a large metal loom and the cracks in the black curtains, allowing tiny beams of light from outside to burst through. The place was covered in dust, with chains and broken machines filling it's vast expanse.
"The torture chamber," Eduard filled in.
"What!?"
"Although, admittedly, you were it's first… victim," he added quickly, "we don't even have money for decent instruments, besides our knives."
"We have a sharpened hockey stick too, somewhere around here," Raivis shrugged.
"I don't believe Eemeli sometimes..."
"Children, huh?" Eduard shrugged.
"So where is your torture chamber located?" Björn raised an eyebrow.
"Disused cotton mill," Eduard plopped himself down on a stool in front of the loom, "no one's been in here for years, besides us."
"Exactly," boomed Eemeli from the doorway, "so it's the perfect secret lair!" He strode into the room, and by his gleaming eyes Björn could tell he was grinning under that mask. His attire was unchanged, but now there was a small bag hanging from his shoulder.
"Secret layer?" Björn almost scoffed.
Eemeli bristled. "Yes! Where I make all my evil plans!"
"Of course," Björn laughed, standing up and pulling his brother into a one-armed hug, "whatever you say." He ignored Eemeli's scowl.
"Right, well," Eemeli coughed, "I'm sure you three can manage without me."
"Manage?" Eduard raised an eyebrow, "I think the question is can you manage without us babysitting you?"
"Oh I never liked you all anyway," Eemeli growled, almost affectionately, "go do your own thing then, I fear I'll be gone for quite some time anyway."
…
"Do I really have to meet our brothers though?" Eemeli hissed as Björn checked the alley beside the theatre was clear. The boy leaned against the wall, hands shoved in his pockets as he scowled at the floor. Or at least, Björn guessed he was scowling.
"Why? Worried they'll give you an earful too?" the older brother shot back.
Eemeli didn't speak for a long moment, finally giving a curt nod. "Your anger was a surprise; you've never said such things to me before, no matter what I did. But them? I'm not stupid, they'll tell me if what I've done is bad. It's annoying, but I'm grateful they do."
"Because you have trouble knowing?"
"Exactly. But I know I did bad this time! And they'll be angrier than usual!"
Björn smiled to himself. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they go easy on you. And we have bigger things to worry about now."
Eemeli sniffed. "Do you think Papa is… he won't be hurt, will he?"
"I don't know," Björn sighed, "they beat him up bad, and attacked him with swords. He was alive when I last saw him though, and I feel he still is."
"They'll pay," the boy's eyes narrowed, "oh I'll make sure of it. I'll gut them and feed them to the sharks!"
"Indeed," Björn replied, voice a little too flat. He snuck up to the backstage door and gently pushed it open. No response.
"Oy," he hissed, "get over here and stop moping."
"I'm brooding," Eemeli whined, "there's a difference."
"Sure," Björn grabbed his arm and ushered him inside, "Lars and Hemming should be back by now. We can leave tomorrow if all goes to plan." He looked down at the dusty carpet and his lip quivered, "Yrjan isn't coming though. Peter explained why to me, and he made me promise not to tell anyone, but… I don't want them to stay here!"
Eemeli nodded. "Well, from what you've said of this place and their boss, I wish they'd leave too. We still have a whole evening though; think that's enough time?"
"I hope so."
"Maybe I could get rid of him."
"Even if you had it in you, I wouldn't want my little brother turning into a murderer, no matter how much that man deserves it."
"True," Eemeli sighed.
The pair turned another corner, and Björn glanced at his little brother, noting Eemeli's confident stride was back. He'd been meaning to ask about the outfit- it was a rather absurd affair- and, well, right now he also wanted a change of subject.
"What's with the mask?" he asked, "got a cold?"
Eemeli's eyes narrowed. "No, it's to protect my secret identity, of course!"
"Your secret identity of Eemeli Oxenstjärna-Väinämöinen that you so proudly shout about?"
"Well only to you! And keep the noise down! I can't have you giving my name to anyone you please."
"Like who?" Björn raised an eyebrow.
"Well, those two for instance?" Eemeli pointed ahead, at where the boss and another employee had just entered the corridor, and Björn almost screamed.
