Ivan woke up to a sudden bump in the road and sent his head slamming into the floor. Ivan groaned in pain and attempted to rub the sore spot on his head, but was stopped when he realized his arms were bound with rope behind his back. Blinking harshly he took a look around, but saw little due to the lack of light, but could tell that he was in the back of a van. Taking a seat up straight, Ivan focus on untying himself, and was able to loosen the rope enough to allow his arms to slip out of their bindings. He tried to stand on his feet, but was immediately knocked down and thrown forwards by the van coming to a sudden stop. The sound of car doors opening and closing to him that they had pulled over and preparing for whatever it was his father had planned for him.

Ivan looked around desperately searching for Yue, but found her nowhere insight, he was the only one in the back of the van. Abruptly, the back van doors were unlocked and pulled open. Without thinking, Ivan dove out, kicking a man in the face as he jumped out, knocking him to the ground unconscious. Quickly the other man who opened the doors to the left whipped out a gun, but had it ripped out of his hands as Ivan roughly snatched it from his grasp, and continued to knock him out with a fierce slam to the temple. The sound of more car doors opening and closing brought his attention behind him where more gang members pulled up, packing guns as well.

Ivan jumped behind the van as fire began to rain down on him, but was swiftly stopped as a loud voice interrupted them.

"Stand down!" Commanded Natalia in a booming voice. "Ivan is not to be killed!" After all the men under her command had lowered their guns and backed off, Ivan carefully poked his head around the corner of the van and peered out at them, his grip still tight around the nine millimeter in his hands. He could see his younger sister, dressed in her usual attire of a dark blue, long dress, scolding her underlings. Looking to the side at one of the cars parked on the opposite side of the road, Ivan saw his older sister, Katyusha, sitting in the passenger seat, looking down and avoiding his gaze. Natalia, seeing him, began to make her way over to his hiding place with a calm and confident walk.

"Brother, put down the gun. You don't want things to get too bloody, do you?" She told him collectively.

"D-don't come any closer, Natalia! I'll shoot!" He threatened, his voice shaking.

"No you won't." She said confidently. "You don't have the spine."

At hearing her say that, Ivan left the safety of his hiding spot and went out into the opening and pulling the gun out on his sister, firing a shot that traveled just a hair's length away from the side of her head, cutting off part of her locks. He gave her a look of determination as she stared back in slight shock. Ivan in no way wanted to hurt her, but he had to find Yue and get out of here.

"That was a warning shot, sister. The next one goes right between your eyes." He said in a voice so cold that made the biting air around them feel like a hot summer's day. Natalia glared back at him in anger, snapping her fingers at her men as a smirk made its way onto her face.

"I wouldn't get too haughty yet, big brother. Not when we have someone you want."

At that moment, two men in the background pulled the door open to one of their black cars, and harshly ripped out Yue from the back seat. Now awake, with her arms tied back like his were, She stumbled along as she was pulled along and pushed down next to Natalia. She looked around in a panic until she saw Ivan across from her, her face instantaneously becoming calmer as she called for him and tried to run over, but was held down by the two men. Ivan lowered his gun once she came into view, not wanting her to be hurt or caught in crossfire.

"Yue!" Ivan gasped out when he saw how rudely they treated her. "Let her go!" He demanded, but went ignored. His sister's face went dark with obvious hatred as she turned her attention away from him and onto the other woman before her.

"Chinese, really brother?" She mocked coldly and arduously grabbed Yue's chin and forced her head around as she observed her features. "You really got distracted by a girl like this? I thought you knew better."

"Natalia." Ivan suddenly spoke up, making said girl stop and look up at the controlled rage in her brother's eyes. "Hands. Off."

"For now, after all father said he'd like to meet the infamous Moonlight Lotus himself." Said she.

"Moonlight Lotus?" Both Ivan and Yue echoed curiously at the same time, not understanding what she was talking about.

"Oh didn't you know dear brother? Who it is you've been living with? Well why don't you tell him who you are yourself, and what you are destined to become." Natalia stated, turning to Yue, expecting an answer. Yue looked between Ivan and his sister, not knowing what it was she was supposed to be saying or why it was directed at her."

"Yue, what is she talking about?" Ivan asked her worryingly.

"I do not know. Yuèguāng liánhuā, Moonlight Lotus, is a nickname I was given as a child, but that's it." Yue responded honestly, looking to Ivan in a panic. Ivan could tell that she was speaking the truth, but Natalia didn't, he could tell that she was becoming irritated with Yue. Raising a gun to the temple of the Chinese woman's head, she shoved her down again, making her intentions clear.

"Don't shit with me! You know exactly what that means, how could you not?" His younger sister hissed threateningly at her.

"I don't know!" Yue shouted back and tried to shuffle away in terror at the sight of the weapon.

"She doesn't know!" Ivan said as well, trying to convince the blond woman that she wasn't being lied to, though he knew that wouldn't stop her. Natalia looked to him and seemed to catch on, yet was still not appeased and only angered further.

"No, of course she doesn't." She gritted her teeth and turned back to Yue with a face of loathing. "Of course a child like you doesn't even know the gang she's entitled to. To think a rival as great as the Triads is to be handed over to someone who can't even defend herself!" Natalia declared with a rage-filled voice, emphasizing her point by sending a powerful kick into the older, but smaller woman's gut. Yue fell to her side and curled into a ball as she clutched her stomach in agony.

Ivan tried to run for her, but froze when three guns were pulled on him by his sister and her two lackeys.

"Don't move." Natalia advised him.

Ivan didn't but allowed his gaze to fall to Yue, who was in turn staring back at him. Her gaze wasn't scared like it was before, now it had a glint of determination. She winked at him and gestured her eyes to the men and woman above her. Ivan knew she was cooking up something, but he wasn't sure what.

The sound of Natalia speaking again pulled his attention back to her, pointing her pistol directly at his chest.

"Of all women you could have fallen for, you chose the niece of the Triads' leader. If you thought father was angry with you for abandoning him, you can bet your ass you're gonna go through hell when we get back." She informed him maliciously, warning him in a derisive tone. Striding forward, aiming her gun straight for his head to keep him in his place. Alas she did not make it far before she found herself crashing to the ground.

While eyes were off her, Yue had managed to get her bound hands from behind her back and pushed her body up high enough to wrap her legs around Natalia's waist and knock her off her balance from the sudden addition of weight, bring her down to the pavement. The two men, quickly getting over their surprise, raised their guns, but were left unable to fire when Yue swung herself over, so that Natalia way on top and shielding her from any fire.

Realizing the opportunity, Ivan fired at the men, nailing one in the chest, missing his heart. The other dodge him and began to fire back. There was no nearby shelter, so the two of them were forced to dodge and fire at the same time. Bullets flew by him, scrapping parts of his body, but none hitting their mark. He was so enveloped by the open shoot out that he didn't take notice to the fight that had begun on the other side of the road.

Yue struggled to keep Natalia bound in her arms as she flailed around. The russian woman tried to reach for the gun that had fallen from her hands, but was forced away when Yue rolled them over again so she was on top. Yue felt the other woman start to break free, so she then instead searched for a weapon to defend herself with. Nothing near her but the gun which she didn't know how to use. However, feeling around, Yue managed to snag a knife off of the woman's belt just as she managed to escape. Yue quickly got to work on freeing her hands, but was simultaneously met with an array of attacks from Natalia, who pulled out another knife from her belt. Once Yue was free she stopped relying on the defensive and instead took the initiative and fought back. Although she had never fought with a knife, Yue was able to rely on her years of training in Tai Chi to fight effectively.

The two of them seemed to be evenly matched in skill and were coming to a draw when an unaccounted factor suddenly pierced Yue's body. A stray bullet from Ivan's face off shot through Yue's right shoulder, causing her to accidentally drop her knife. Natalia smirked as she saw her opponent's weapon fall, swiftly, with no wasted breaths, came for her in an underhand swing, stabbing Yue in the ribs. At the same moment the sound of gunfire ceased.

Ivan was finally able to land a head-shot on his opponent after minutes of not being able to make a killing shot. He was torn and battered, but nothing to serious had hit him. Turning away from his finished fight, Ivan looked for Yue and was soon gazing upon absolute terror.

Yue let out a rough shout of searing pain as the knife was ripped out of her. Falling to her knees, a pool of blood started to form around her as she bleed out and coughed up blood. Ivan looked on in horror, not being able to believe the sight before him was transpiring.

"Yue!" He screamed and ran for her. Natalia, taking notice of him sprinting over, quickly heaved Yue's fading body up and tossed her over the ledge of the bridge down into the river; her knife accidentally slicing the Chinese woman's back as she did so. Ivan reached out to try and catch her, but was just a millisecond too late and missed her. "Yue!"

Everything started to appear in slow motion, her falling, his screaming, and his sister running for her gun; everything was moving slowly around him.

Out of nowhere he was hit with a sense of familiarity as he watched this scene morph into another. Fire surrounded him as bamboo trees sparked in flames around him. He watched as a wall of burning tree branches separated him from a panda bear, trapped in the flames with nowhere to go. The burning branches continued to stack up, taking the panda completely away from his sight.

The image disappeared, but the memory didn't. Everything fell into place piece by piece until he was yelling-

"Chun-yan!"

He had remembered everything from his past, the polar bear was no longer a stranger, for he was Vlad, and after five hundred years of searching, he had found Chun-yan again.

Ivan- no, Vlad refused to lose her again. So he jumped.

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I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN MONTHS. I had writer's block. School and stress was also another factor, but I'm back (if anyone even reads this). Well, goodbye.

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