(no subject)
Wow, I wrote a lot this time....and in case you haven't read/noticed the warnings yet, I don't have a beta and don't plan on editing this until I have the whole thing written...
Also, uh, taking suggestion for a name if anyone has ideas. Do share, because I currently have none...
He weathers another winter, finds more volunteers, and returns to his newly established colony as soon as he can. He has worried all winter about the boys, about how the southern one will get along with his people, how the northern one will hide from the cold; Russia wonders if his sister worried about him in the same manner when he was young.
The minute he is off the boat and onto dry land at his populated colony, he sees the one running towards him, the ends of his scarf (which looks as though it has been trailed in the dirt for too long without being washed) flapping in the air behind him. Russia holds out his arms in greeting, and the boy launches into them, his own arms fastening around Russia’s neck. He murmurs a greeting, and it takes Russia a moment to realize that he has spoken in Russian instead of his mother language that Russia still cannot understand. Russia holds him tighter, then lets him free, tells him to run off and play with the other children while he speaks with the adults.
That night at dinner, they have their first conversation; it can barely be recognized as such, because it consists only of Russia asking the boy how the winter was, and the boy replying in broken and accented sentences that it was cold, the ladies were nice to him, and he missed Russia. Russia smiles widely and ruffles his hair, leaves the conversation at that.
The next day, he takes the boy and goes to speak with the natives, asking one of them to lead them north to the other colony; Russia wants to map the land better than what they’ve manage watching the coast from the boats and they’ve brought some livestock this time that would do better covering the land on foot instead of on a ship again. It takes a few days and better bartering skills than Russia possessed to get them to agree, but a week later they’re leaving on a journey that will take them the better part of three months.
The boy goes with them. Many people question Russia’s decision, and he does not answer it once, because it was not his choice to make; he had planned on leaving the boy behind, but two days into the journey he appeared, right as rain and refusing to leave Russia’s side.
Russia does worry when they reach the halfway point (at least, the mapmaker and the Russian guide claim this is about half the distance they’ve sailed between the colonies) when he disappears. Russia wastes nearly a day searching for him, and only at the demands of his people and their guides does he agree to move on. He hopes that the next time he returns to his other colony the boy will be waiting there once again. Lost in his thoughts, he barely notices the other boy peaking out at their party from the woods, his eyes wide and his scarf a beacon that none of them can miss. Russia welcomes him in the same manner he did the other; however, this boy just scampers over, hiding in the folds of Russia’s coat from the wondering eyes of all the other people. Once they have turned away, Russia leans down and offers him a greeting, to which the boy repeats the words with a blush.
When they complete their journey, the boy has at least become accustomed to Russia’s settlers; he is as shy with them as he first was with Russia, and Russia can tell that when it comes time to leave they will be doing their best to coax him out and into their company.
When the reach the groundwork that had been set the last year, their guides depart and Russia’s settlers get to work. They build what remains to be built, and again succeed in making contact with the natives of the land. By the time Russia leaves, the only doubt in his mind is what became of the southern boy.
When he returns the next year, the boy is waiting for him at his colony. He sees the other boy at the northern colony, and his mind is put to rest about their welfare.
He returns the next year, and the next, and as he comes more of his people come with him. What started as barely having enough volunteers to fill a single ship has expanded to bringing enough potential settlers to fill several. Many are lured away from their homeland by the stories of a new land filled with warmth and sunshine, where the snow doesn’t pile meters deep at the dead of winter and where they will never have to go hungry.
Russia just brings those who wish it, and builds colonies along the coast, slowly connecting his original settlements, and when a road of sorts has been established, he turns his attention inland and begins to expand in that direction. Whether he is north or south, there is always one of the boys with him, and despite his best attempts to introduce them, one or the other always manages to slip away when he isn’t looking.
By this time, Russia has begun to notice things about them. It started with how they would never and had never met, and slowly he began to deduce more and more. He would teach one boy a new word or phrase, and the other would know it; sometimes he would see one using a gesture more suited to the other. Russia knew that a nation did not truly start to exist before boundaries were drawn, and a land was in some sense established, so he wondered if these two were still connected to their land and thus to each other in deeper ways than he could really comprehend.
He comes to this conclusion, and decides that he really doesn’t wish to pursue it any further: one day they will either become two separate nations or one, and until then Russia will look after the two of them.
Russia loses count of the number of trips he makes from his land to the new one, and back again after that. He even begins to pass on the voyages some seasons (something which the boys never hesitate to berate him for doing) as the people are surviving well without his constant guidance.
There is one occasion where he hears tales of unrest among the native people, that they are angry about the settlers taking their land, and of attacks on his people. Russia rides the next ship, after filling its cargo bay with warriors and weapons, and beats them back mercilessly until they are begging for mercy and promising him their allegiance. He swears that, at each of the battles he sees one of the boys walking among Russia’s people and their own, watching both sadly and horrified, as if they should do something but haven’t the power.
They are always back at Russia’s side the same night, or at the latest the day after, prompting Russia to finally think of them as his.
It is after a summer filled with battles, filled with blood and dying that Russia looks into his southern boy’s eyes and realizes that they are no longer the brown he remembers, but a bright blue, the same blue of the sky after the snow has fallen and the clouds have cleared. He takes a long look at his northern one, and realizes that his hair has lightened from black to a brown so light it is nearly blond.
First bits here and second bits here
Also, uh, taking suggestion for a name if anyone has ideas. Do share, because I currently have none...
He weathers another winter, finds more volunteers, and returns to his newly established colony as soon as he can. He has worried all winter about the boys, about how the southern one will get along with his people, how the northern one will hide from the cold; Russia wonders if his sister worried about him in the same manner when he was young.
The minute he is off the boat and onto dry land at his populated colony, he sees the one running towards him, the ends of his scarf (which looks as though it has been trailed in the dirt for too long without being washed) flapping in the air behind him. Russia holds out his arms in greeting, and the boy launches into them, his own arms fastening around Russia’s neck. He murmurs a greeting, and it takes Russia a moment to realize that he has spoken in Russian instead of his mother language that Russia still cannot understand. Russia holds him tighter, then lets him free, tells him to run off and play with the other children while he speaks with the adults.
That night at dinner, they have their first conversation; it can barely be recognized as such, because it consists only of Russia asking the boy how the winter was, and the boy replying in broken and accented sentences that it was cold, the ladies were nice to him, and he missed Russia. Russia smiles widely and ruffles his hair, leaves the conversation at that.
The next day, he takes the boy and goes to speak with the natives, asking one of them to lead them north to the other colony; Russia wants to map the land better than what they’ve manage watching the coast from the boats and they’ve brought some livestock this time that would do better covering the land on foot instead of on a ship again. It takes a few days and better bartering skills than Russia possessed to get them to agree, but a week later they’re leaving on a journey that will take them the better part of three months.
The boy goes with them. Many people question Russia’s decision, and he does not answer it once, because it was not his choice to make; he had planned on leaving the boy behind, but two days into the journey he appeared, right as rain and refusing to leave Russia’s side.
Russia does worry when they reach the halfway point (at least, the mapmaker and the Russian guide claim this is about half the distance they’ve sailed between the colonies) when he disappears. Russia wastes nearly a day searching for him, and only at the demands of his people and their guides does he agree to move on. He hopes that the next time he returns to his other colony the boy will be waiting there once again. Lost in his thoughts, he barely notices the other boy peaking out at their party from the woods, his eyes wide and his scarf a beacon that none of them can miss. Russia welcomes him in the same manner he did the other; however, this boy just scampers over, hiding in the folds of Russia’s coat from the wondering eyes of all the other people. Once they have turned away, Russia leans down and offers him a greeting, to which the boy repeats the words with a blush.
When they complete their journey, the boy has at least become accustomed to Russia’s settlers; he is as shy with them as he first was with Russia, and Russia can tell that when it comes time to leave they will be doing their best to coax him out and into their company.
When the reach the groundwork that had been set the last year, their guides depart and Russia’s settlers get to work. They build what remains to be built, and again succeed in making contact with the natives of the land. By the time Russia leaves, the only doubt in his mind is what became of the southern boy.
When he returns the next year, the boy is waiting for him at his colony. He sees the other boy at the northern colony, and his mind is put to rest about their welfare.
He returns the next year, and the next, and as he comes more of his people come with him. What started as barely having enough volunteers to fill a single ship has expanded to bringing enough potential settlers to fill several. Many are lured away from their homeland by the stories of a new land filled with warmth and sunshine, where the snow doesn’t pile meters deep at the dead of winter and where they will never have to go hungry.
Russia just brings those who wish it, and builds colonies along the coast, slowly connecting his original settlements, and when a road of sorts has been established, he turns his attention inland and begins to expand in that direction. Whether he is north or south, there is always one of the boys with him, and despite his best attempts to introduce them, one or the other always manages to slip away when he isn’t looking.
By this time, Russia has begun to notice things about them. It started with how they would never and had never met, and slowly he began to deduce more and more. He would teach one boy a new word or phrase, and the other would know it; sometimes he would see one using a gesture more suited to the other. Russia knew that a nation did not truly start to exist before boundaries were drawn, and a land was in some sense established, so he wondered if these two were still connected to their land and thus to each other in deeper ways than he could really comprehend.
He comes to this conclusion, and decides that he really doesn’t wish to pursue it any further: one day they will either become two separate nations or one, and until then Russia will look after the two of them.
Russia loses count of the number of trips he makes from his land to the new one, and back again after that. He even begins to pass on the voyages some seasons (something which the boys never hesitate to berate him for doing) as the people are surviving well without his constant guidance.
There is one occasion where he hears tales of unrest among the native people, that they are angry about the settlers taking their land, and of attacks on his people. Russia rides the next ship, after filling its cargo bay with warriors and weapons, and beats them back mercilessly until they are begging for mercy and promising him their allegiance. He swears that, at each of the battles he sees one of the boys walking among Russia’s people and their own, watching both sadly and horrified, as if they should do something but haven’t the power.
They are always back at Russia’s side the same night, or at the latest the day after, prompting Russia to finally think of them as his.
It is after a summer filled with battles, filled with blood and dying that Russia looks into his southern boy’s eyes and realizes that they are no longer the brown he remembers, but a bright blue, the same blue of the sky after the snow has fallen and the clouds have cleared. He takes a long look at his northern one, and realizes that his hair has lightened from black to a brown so light it is nearly blond.
First bits here and second bits here