It was so cold out on the tundra. Despite this, it hadn't started the first snowfall of the winter, although it seemed today just might be the day. On the frozen tundra, a small, lone figure shuffled through, and although it seemed out of place, the child just felt like he fit at the same time.
His fair blond hair wisped in the sharp wind as he trudged on, his filthy coat and almost eternal scarf billowed behind him. With all this force in pulling him back, the small child continued, strong and steadfast. He seemed so frail almost at first glance, but looks are deceiving. His steps were strong, his breath was steady, it should be, since he's been living in this harsh condition ever since his birth.
He wanted to head to the West. There were forests, there was a possibility of food, and even better, there were people and shelter from the harsh, cold wind. As he continued, the wind started dying down, he could feel he was getting closer, when suddenly he stopped dead. Frozen in place as he saw what approached him.
As a familiar figure came closer, his breathing grew shallow, as he clutched his precious object from the safety of cover underneath his coat. Purple eyes soon met cheery green ones as the young Hungarian finally made it over to the boy.
"Hey, there, Ivan!" He piped up briskly, waving to the little boy whom had buried most of his face in his scarf now, "It sure is cold, eh? Even your face is pink! How it gets so cold so early here I'll never know!" the brunette continued, pulling his arms together and rubbing them vigorously, mist pouring out his mouth at every word.
"Hello, Eli..." Was all Ivan could muster with a small smile, made mostly up of his eyes, shyly closing as his rosy cheeks plushed from his smile hiding just under his scarf. It had been like this for a while now. Either Ivan or Eli would meet each other and Eli would do his best to keep Ivan company. A kindness that he had never been given outside his sisters, especially after the Golden Horde and taken over. However, Ivan didn't care if he came original because of pity or sympathy, because the way Eli would play and (lightly) tease him, and smile at him, he knew that Eli cared for him deeply and for that Ivan would always be greatful.
With that in mind, Ivan's cheeks deeped a prominent pink hue. His words always got caught in his throat whenever Eli came to see him, and it wasn't until some time into the visit he would get more comfortable and loosen up and 'show off his cute little smile' as Eli always teased him for, but with genuine wanting.
Eyes at the sky now, Eli piped up once more, "Hey, Ivan, check it out," to which the little Russian froze, having just drawn out his guarded possesion from under his coat; a short stemmed sunflower, the last around, in fact. With all the kindness and friendship his only friend gave him, he wished so badly to return the favor, and maybe, confess his feelings. But that would have to wait, as his deep purple eyes trailed up the Hungarian's stature, his bangs and the loose hair in his ponytail drifting slightly in the breeze, and finally up to see a brilliant white speck, slowly floating to earth, just above his companion's head. "The first flake of winter..." Eli muttered, apparently fascinated by the snow flake's delicate and graceful fall to earth. Ivan also watched in fascination, but not at the snow flake. The beautiful, perfect color brunette hair gently dancing in the wind. The small, but strong hands, that began to reach up to meet the flake that ever so slowly floated down to him. The cute mouth, that could give the harshest and loudest of commands to an army of thousands, curling into a perfect "o" in respect, a slow and steady exhale of mist leaving it into the cold winter air. And the most perfect, beautiful, courageous, and wonderfilled green eyes. Eyes where he couldn't begin to describe the lively shades and hues that danced in and out with the light.
Finally, as Eli's eyes came back to Earth, Ivan's darted up into the sky, averting his gaze. As he stared up at the grey sky with tiny, but falling flakes, he could feel green eyes staring into him. Mustering the will to look back down, he met his purple eyes with Eli's green ones. His feeling was right, Eli's eyes had been glued to him. The little Russian blushed, almost ashamed at the fact he didn't have the courage to look his friend in the eye, when Eli was able to look him in the eye with no fear.
Eli's small mouth curved into a smile, "Hey, Ivan, I was wonderin'..." he started, having the Russian's full attention, "We can't really do much out here with it being so cold and you know... Why don't we head over to my place and hang?" He asked, pulling his arms to the back of his head, fingers interlocking to keep them in place. The wide eyed blond nodded vigorously, grinning wide.
"Da! Please!" He replied, and with that, his brunette friend grinned back, spinning on his heel.
"Right, it's settled!" He stated in a sharp but playful tone, "Let's go!!" he cried, almost marching off, arms still raised to his head in a more relaxed, cool pose. Ivan ran after him with tiny feet to catch up. Feeling something brushing against his coat and a familiar crunch like sound, he suddenly remembered the sunflower he failed to give in his frozen fist. Pausing, he gently covered it up once more under his coat, only to continue his run to catch up to Eli, who was waving for him, calling him a slow-poke. Having his hand grabbed once he caught up to the boy made all the heat rush to his fingers, as the two hastened to the Hungarian's horse not too far in the distance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although it was still the winter season in the European land, Ivan felt considerably less cold as they approached the Hungarian plains. The air was much more mild then the tundra, and it was no where near as close to snowing as it was back in the Russian land. Eyes wide, he absorbed the sight of the plains and wood as he was being helped down from the horse. His color had long since reverted back to its original creamy, almost white complexion. Eli, however, still rubbed his arms. It didn't matter if the change in temperature was slight or drastic to Ivan, cold was still cold to the Hungarian.
The two headed to a simple village, unlike the fortified castles the young brunette usually resided in. He knew Ivan would prefer a smaller, more simple place to stay. As the two strolled through the village, the citizens would smile at the boys, many striking up conversation with their fellow Hungarian, while older women would smother the small blonde Russian with bread and pinch his cheeks (making the excuse "to get some color on the poor boy's face!"), which he took the pinching relucently and the bread graciously.
Heading to some of the shops and such, Eli would make stops to collect thing for the two: heavier furs to wear, hats, gloves, and dropping off his sword to a blacksmith for usual repairs. When both had agreed they were much toastier, they headed out the other end of the village into the edge of the forest it settled infront of, to begin their adventure.
"C'mon, man! You can make it!" a cheer chanted as tiny fingers dug into the bark of a thick tree. Struggling, blonde hair getting caught in his eyes as his brows furrowed together, he managed to make a foothold into the tree and quickly reached up to clutch the branch that was previously just out of his reach. "Igen, Igen!!" the chant cried, leaning down, Eli extended his arm as far as he could to Ivan. "Here, ngh, grab my hand, I'll hoist you," he said, as the climber took the hand with gratitude. With a few grunts on both sides, they managed to get onto the high branch. Peeking down, Ivan saw just how high they were. Several feet off the ground, he felt rather proud of himself for making it. He noticed Eli looking down as well, his feet swinging under the branch, grinning with the same proud thought as his own. Turning to him, he grinned wide at their accomplishment, Ivan smiling sweetly back at him, wiping his brow with the back of his hand carelessly.
They rested on the branch for a little longer, catching their breaths, laughing and grinning at each other, until Eli looked up at the sky, which was mostly shrouded in the complex interlocking of branches from the other forest trees, and got to his feet, explaining they still had some ways to go for a "special surprise" he had. Wondering in amusement what the surprise could be, and why it was all the way up at the top of the trees, Ivan also got to his feet, holding the base of the tree for support. Tightening his ponytail and grinning in determination, Eli shoved his boot in a foothold and continued leading their trek up the giant tree, Ivan soon to follow.
It felt like ages when the two finally made it to the final layers of the tree. The pair were now quite high from the ground now, Ivan held to the base of the tree as he observed just how far they were, his pride now beginning to turn to worry. His climbing companion had left him on his own for a few minutes now, surveying the now much weaker top branches of the tree to make sure what was safe or not. Ivan's nerves were on edge, every creak and snap on a branch not only made his heart jump for his safety, but his concern for his courageous friend would also give tension to his little heart. Occasionally, he would even feel the desperate need to call for his friend, only relaxing when he heard his call answered or saw the face of his dear friend when his calls became too unnerving in tone, and would need to be checked on. Finally after quite some time, Eli emerged through the bushes of leaves and rejoined his companion. Carefully taking his hand, Eli instructed Ivan to keep his eyes focused on his feet and the branches, and that he would lead him. Doing as instructed (and quite glad he had assistance in navigation) he kept his eyes on his boots, tiptoeing overing low branches that mazed the ground at their feet.
After a few tedious moments of slow manuvering and moving branches out of the way, a hand covered Ivan's eyes and he was told to sit where he was. Slowly, and carefully sitting, he felt that the leaves, which were mostly dead on the tree, felt strangely soft. The branch he sat upon forked, so with his legs, he wedged them into the fork rather comfortably, to keep him steady.
"Ivan, are you ready for this?" Eli's voice asked eagerly. With his spare hand clamped to Eli's, Ivan nodded firmly, his curiosity overflowing. Feeling the pressure of chilled hands be removed from his eyelids, he hesitantly opened it eyes. His eyes slowly grew wider until it was impossible for them to look any bigger. It was beautiful.
Thing branches framing the bottom of the scene, the very seat he was in gave him the perfect view to the most beautifully moving sunset he had ever seen, and probably ever would. The perch was just high enough to be out of the way of the other trees in the forest infront of them, making the horizon the sun was settling under perfectly visible. The sky ranged from practically every color. From a smouldering, vividly rich red, surrounding the orangey-gold circle low in the sky, to a deep blue, just overhead, leading the path for the stars to take their places in the vast dusk sky. The clouds above the Sun were all the shades of red, pink, and yellow, all the shades blending perfectly together, fitting into the sky, but also standing out with all its' lovely colors and shapes.
There was no doubt in Russia's mind, that nothing could replicate such a thing, as he sat, absorbing the veiw. His scene was disturbed for a moment though, as he felt a nudge on his arm. Glancing, he saw Eli sat down next to him, and in his hand was a red apple, which he had nudged him with. Gold outlined the Hungarian's brunette hair and paled face, and the colors of the sky had melted into his eyes, which made a small glint as he smiled at his friend. Graciously taking what was probably the last fresh apple until next season, Ivan held the bright apple in his tiny hands, the lights and colors from the sky reflecting golds and pinks on the shiny skin. Eating and watching in silence for a multitude of minutes, The colors slowly melted away, and the sunset had parted way to dusk. And with it, so were they, as Eli wordlessly rose from his perch and brushes dead leaves off his clothes. He held out his hand for Ivan to take, but as Ivan looked at the open palm, he turned his gaze back to the sky wistfully. He wanted to watch it set until the end, but Eli had to explain to him, once the sun was completely gone, it would become too dark for them to safetly decend the tree.
Coaxing him to go, Eli lead Ivan carefully by the hand through the branches back to the base of the tree to begin their decent. He realized what Eli had meant by how quickly the darkness came upon them. No sooner then five minutes or so into their descent, it became rapidly more difficult to see.
Despite this difficulty, however, they were able to scale down the tree much faster than up, and they were both able to make it safely to the ground. By this point, night had fallen, and to Ivan, the forest seemed much more vast then when they first came.
"Hold on, I'll get some light," Eli said, assembling the materials for a torch. Once lighting it, he held it high above his head. "Perfect," he stated, glancing around to find his direction. Ivan watched the flickering light of the torch with big eyes.
Once Eli knew which way to go, and was about to head off in the direction, he felt a tug at his shirt. Glancing back behind him, Ivan made a small smile, before glancing up and pointing at the torch. "Can I hold it, please?" he asked in his tiny childish voice, as Eli glanced at the torch then back at Ivan before handing it over to him, reminding the smaller boy to be careful with it, and being satisfied with the boy's assurance. So onward the tramped, side by side, back to the village.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the two boys returned to the village, few were out. Mostly, the men remained in the streets, audibly chatting in taverns or drunk in the street. "You hungry?" Eli asked Ivan, as they stopped near a tavern, the warm glow emitting from the door. He nodded slightly in reply, but with a wary look about the tavern occupants. With such a reply, the brave Hungarian placed his companion against the wall of the outside of the tavern. "Wait here, I'll be quick," he half-orders to the little boy, who nods firmly, and then smiles greatfully for his brave friend's consideration.
Strutting into the tavern, his ponytail the last thing Ivan sees, Eli disappears from view. In the dark night streets, a lone little boy holds his hands together, clasped around a small torch. A wind suddenly blows by, taking away the warmth he had felt for what felt like such a short time. He wished for Eli to come back soon. Preoccupying himself to keep from dwelling on wishing for his friend to come back, he held his torch down low, keeping the flame at eye level. It was starting to get very low, he noted, as it moved with the new winter winds, flickering gently. It gently warmed his face from the wind. Slowly, he closed his eyes, just wanting to feel the warmth he had felt in his hands at the tundra, his body in the tree with the sunset, and his heart being kept warm from freezing over when he was with his friend. His only friend, Eli. His Eli. Unfortunately, the feeling wouldn't return, as a harsh night wind blew, striking the minimal warmth from the torch light, biting at his nose and cheeks. He squeezed his eyes shut in cold.
A hand clasping his shoulder, jolts his eyes open as he yelps in surprise, almost dropping the fire from his hands. The hand that held onto his shoulder quickly released itself, and instead snatched the torch from falling out of Ivan's hands. "Whoa, jeez, you almost dropped it!" a familiar voice complains in Ivan's ear. He looked up to green eyes, with fire reflecting, infront of him, and in his hand was a heaping plate of food. "Here, take it, I can't hold it like this anyway. Use two hands it'll fall like that! We can stop by the place I dropped my stuff off and camp out nearby," The Hungarian instructed, as he watched the tiny Russian nodding in aknowledgement, staring down at the hot plate of food in his hands. He was practically drooling over himself, Eli couldn't help snickering at how mesmerized he was, although he knew things like this were hard to come by for Ivan. Even if it seemed cruel to laugh, it wasn't for any bad intention, he simply found his expression cute. Slapping his cheek with his spare hand, the other clutching the torch, he led Ivan by the arm gently, to keep the plate steady, as the continued to head down the road to pick up Eli's things.
With all of his belongings with him, they continued on just a bit further. Only a couple houses down and around the corner, the final house has a small patch of field, just before the edge of the forest. In the window, an elderly woman sat pleasantly, sipping tea in the windowsill. Once she saw the approaching boys, Ivan recognized it was one of the women that welcomed them into the village. The woman seemed to be jovial at the two's arrival, and pinched Ivan's cheeks once more, before speaking to the other in relaxed, but quick Hungarian. The old woman waved her hand to her small clearing at the back of her house and spoke something quick to the boy, to which he thanked her, and ushered the blond back as she closed her window panes, and the interior of the house going dark not too soon after.
In the field clearing, was a circular dirt ground with a small fire pit in the center. Putting all his things down, besides the torch, Eli whisked off, coming back with an arm load of wood and small sticks under his free arm. He did this quite a few times, and declined Ivan's assistance more then that, telling him to sit with the food. Eventually Eli was able to assemble enough wood, and he placed some of the pieces in the pit, before tossing the almost dead torch into the center of the pit. Crouching over it, he blew over the small fire gently, his back against the wind direction, until the fire had grown considerably. To which, he thudded down next to Ivan, and snatched a piece of meat from the plate (which was already half eaten) and devoured it in almost no time at all.
For a while, they sat, warming themselves by the fire, laughing and talking, stuffing themselves, and eventually began slumping against each other when the hour got later. Ivan's eyes were heavy. They stung from staring into the fire, but he didn't want to look away from it. He watched the entrancing flames flick off the flames and fly into the night sky, which were littered with small white dots. He felt so warm again, especially on the side that leaned heavily on Eli's sturdy arm. He buried his wide grin into his scarf pleasantly. However, he soon made a big yawn, despite trying very hard to hold it in. and a finger poked at his head, wiggling a bit, ruffling his hair slightly.
"C'mon, I'll make the camp, let me up," Eli says, with a tone of grogginess in his voice. Reluctently, the blonde's heavy head pried itself off of it's comfortable shoulder, and hung forward into his scarf. Despite his sleepiness, however, the Hungarian wasted no time laying out the blankets on the ground. "C'mon, c'mon, you sleepy little baby," he grunted as he pulled the exhausted little Russian to his feet more or less, and trudged them both to the makeshift bed.
Placing the boy on the ground bedding, and then burying him in the thick blankets that precceded, Eli then tucked himself under the blankets next to him. Although it was still cold for laying out in the open at night, the blankets kept the heat of the two boys inside, making it warm within minutes. Ivan tiredly turned his heavy head towards Eli, and was surprised to see he was already sleeping, breathing slowly. Slowly inching towards him, the little Russian's eyes began to droop as well, and inevitably, he too was fast asleep, after having such an exhilarating day with his Hungarian. feeling warmer than he's ever been in a long, long time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A small jolt wakes Eli in the middle of the night. Sitting up, blinking tired eyes, and noticing the fire had reduced to smouldering ashes, leaving the surrounding area in darkness. By observation of the darkness, it still wasn't close to sunrise yet. Rubbing his eyes, and laying back down, wondering what brought him to wake up in the middle of the night, he heard a slight rustling and whimpers beside him. Turning to his side, he saw quivering blond hair. His eyes were more adjusted to the night, so as he turned to the small child beside him, Eli saw the boy shivering in his sleep. Ivan's eyes were shut tight, but his brows came together in an expression of what seemed to be fear.
Must be one terrible nightmare, Eli thought to himself. Slipping back under the covers, he faced Ivan, who was curled in a ball towards him. Suddenly, out of pure impulse, he took a small hand and placed it gently on the side of Ivan's forehead, slowly petting him, ruffling his hair. To his immediate surprise, Eli found as soon as he had done so, Ivan's trembling stopped. As he pet the blond's head, he could see, through the darkness, the boy relaxed. His brows came apart and relaxed, his eyes no longer were forced shut, but had gone back to being closed lightly in the deepness of his sleep.
Within a moment, Ivan was sound asleep once more, breathing softly, with a peaceful look on his face. It really surprised Eli, but made him happy nonetheless. His mouth curved into a soft smile as his eyelids grew heavy. His Russian friend was so strange, but he deserved at least to be happy in his dreams. A chill brought Eli closer to they boy sleepily, his eyes barely even open, and he pressed his forehead against Ivan's as he quickly drifted back off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Waking had to be the hardest thing for Ivan to do today. He certainly was concious, but moving or exposing he was awake would ruin what he had. That morning when he opened his eyes he was taken aback to find his friend's face right infront of him. Even now his friend slept, just inches from his face, breathing quietly, softly. He could hear his pulse thudding in his ears and chest, which he had his tiny hands over under the covers. He wouldn't move, he couldn't move. His eyes were studying his friend's every facial feature. His tossed light brown hair, long and messy from being undone, his relaxed composure, and the ever so slight gap in his lips that he could hear air being softly inhaled and exhaled from. If he moved now, Eli would wake up, which meant he would have to wake up as well.
Sadly for him, he wouldn't even be able to control that. His hopes got caught in his throat as he could clearly hear the woman Hungarian from the small house calling, outside to do her own daily chores. Almost immediately, the smaller Hungarian, stirred and his eyes fluttered open. Not any farther from each other, the two boys stared into each other for, in Ivan's case, hours, until Eli finally got over his sleepy feelings and piped in a casual, "Good morning, Ivan! Sleep well?" with his usual grin as he sat up from their make shift bed, stretching his arms, and saying hello to his fellow.
Quietly, Ivan sat up as well, watching Eli talk to his fellow Hungarian, fixing his hair back into it's ponytail cheerfully. The older woman went on her way, and so was the boy, cleaning and packing everything back up. Ivan got up much slower, he didn't want to leave this camping ground, or his Hungarian. He knew he had to, his sisters must be in a frenzy right now, he'd have to apologize later. He completely forgotten about those two, it was strange, but not when he knew what he forgot them for. Maybe he could ask Eli if his sisters could come with them next time...
Just about packed up, Eli looks up for his friend, to find him kicking the dirt with his tattered boot. His excitement faded a bit, yeah, he had to go home. He had to take him home. Getting up, Eli goes over to him and takes his hands. "Hey, I know it's no fun to go, but I'll see you later, okay? Don't be all sad! I'm not that far away!" He told Ivan in a firm, but kind voice, making a confident grin when he did not get the intial reaction he wanted until Ivan couldn't help but make a small smile back. Intertwining his tiny fingers with Eli's, his smile growing wider, eyes squinted shut. His fingers still felt so warm. He knew deep down Eli was right, he had to return home, and it wouldn't be too long until he was saved again. So, nodding and smiling sweetly, the small Russian helped his Hungarian with the last of packing up.
As the two boys headed out of the village, Eli leading his horse by the bridle, all their things on its back, various people waved them off. Ivan endured a few more pinching fingers, and strong hands patting his light blonde hair, all while smiling and waving back to the villagers. The pair stopped back in the local market area of the village and purchased breakfast, to which Ivan sheepishly attempted to resist extra food with no success. The surplus was added to the horse's load, and the two were finally ready to go back.
The ride back was much slower then the ride to the tundra Ivan called home. Eli let the horse take a steady trot, and even letting it stop to graze. The ride was quiet as well, Ivan silently clung to Eli's back, his small arms wrapped around the rider's stomach. His head was pressed against his back as well, he felt more stable that way as the horse's trot made him bounce much more then it did to Eli, who was a professional when it came to horse riding, it was in his blood. Pressing the side of his head against the dull green fabric, Ivan could hear the small thudding of the brunette's heart. The heat from the brunette's back and heart warmed Ivan's chilled cheek as they trekked into harsher land. He wished he could say the feeling of unyeilding cold was unfamiliar, but it would be too much of a lie.
The two stopped a bit before their original pick up destination under Ivan's request, he had to go and find his elder and little sister and let them know he was alright. Insisting he could get down from the tall horse himself, the blond carefully slid down the smooth hide of the horse, dropping to his feet as close to the ground as he could get, while Eli dropped off at the opposite side. As Ivan landed, he could hear a soft sound, almost liked the leaves he was immersed in when the two scaled the tree back in Eli's forest. Looking down, his eyes grew wide as he suddenly remembered the important possession he had forgotten all this time. A single sunflower lay on the hard, solid ground. The dainty, terribly fragile flower had already started to wrinkle up, surely helped when it had been tucked away in Ivan's tarnished coat for so long. Its small, numerous petals were just beginning to wilt and curl, just picking the flower up caused several of the petals to drop, to which Ivan desperately attempted to pick up, although he knew it was no use. His face fully expressed his distress, he frantically tried to think of what to do, he couldn't possibly give this to his precious friend, he looked down pitifully at the dying sunflower.
"Whatcha got there, Ivan?" a voice suddenly erupted next to him.
"U-uwaa!" He yelped in surprise, almost falling on his butt in surprise. He looked over to his side- his friend crouching beside him- sheepishly, trying to hide the poor thing, "No-nothing! It's nothing I promise you,"
A raised eyebrow silenced the poor, stammering boy, until he gave up, exposing his dying flower in shame, unwilling to look his friend in the eye.
"Wow, is that a sunflower? I can't believe one's still around in this season! Is it yours??" he asked eagerly.
The tone surprised Ivan. He looked up at Eli and then softly replied, his eyes still glossy, "A...actually, I got it... for you, if you want it," He offered the delicate flower up to him carefully. Once more, to Ivan's surprise, Eli was speechless. He oggled at the flower with wide eyes, before ever so carefully taking the flower in both hands, without a single petal falling. Looking back up at Ivan, a wide grin slowly spread across Eli's face. Ivan never thought he would be so excited by something he would do for him, and the reaction made him blush madly.
"Ivan it's the coolest thing ever, I love it! I'll do my best to keep it safe, man's honor!" The Hungarian finally blurted, spinning around and, very gently, packing the flower into his satchel attached to his things ontop of his horse. Once finished, he bounced back around and lunged himself at Ivan, grabbing him into a strong-armed embrace. The small Russian was completely stiff in shock, such a warm and tight feeling spread from where thin, but strong arms held him. Slowly raising his arms, he too, wrapped them around Eli, soon to almost the same degree of intensity. It felt so nice to hug him, to be hugged. His whole face felt warm.
Breaking off the hug, Eli stood tall and thumped his clenched fist to his chest as a sort of salute. "I hope I can repay you for this incredible gift! Maybe taking you out to play again will be a good equivalent exchange?" He said loudly with confidence, and his usual playful tone, making a not-so-subtle wink at Ivan, grinning. Ivan, whose face was still pink, nodded feverishly, smiling big. A nod made their goodbye, as the brunette climbed aboard his horse, and patted his pack, a glimpse of the sunflower could be seen from the opening of the pocket. The horse immediately reared up and turned back towards the Hungarian village in a canter. Ivan waved furiously after it, watching the figure on the horse wave back until both the horse and rider were out of sight.
A cold wind suddenly blew by, Ivan's coat and scarf flew up into it's breeze, but he didn't even notice. He continued to stare into the space in which his friend had left him. He had no doubt in his mind he was going to come back for him soon. He would always trust his great Hungarian savior to come for him.
