Vienna Forever

I

They say the moment of your first memory determines you the most...

They say the people you'll met first will influence your whole life...

But what if you don't remember the people who you have met the first...?

~~

It was a stormy, dark night. The thunder followed by the heavy raindrops were the only things to be heard in miles.

But there was another sound. Far away you could hear a little kid's footsteps and heavy breathing. In the middle of a dark forest by a small and yet unimportant village, there was standing a little girl.

She appeared to be only about 7 years old. Despite a small child being alone in a forest and her soaked clothes, there was another thing noticeable about the girl- She was holding a small bundle in her arms which was moving as if it was breathing.

"We will be there, soon", the girl mumbled to the bundle, sounding as if she was on the edge of tears.

With these words, the girl took herself with heavy steps to the small village.

"We are here", she said, still forcing herself not to cry.

Despite being a village, the village the girl arrived in wasn't an average village. Apparently it was the beginning of a growing town. A town that might even become a city one day.

Still, the girl was trying to find a spot where the rain wouldn't come trough, without entering a building herself.

After a few minutes, as the girl found a dry spot behind the village's gate, a mixture of emotions was written in her face. She was feeling sadness, anger, panic, but most of all, she felt guilt and despair.

With shaking hands, she put down the bundle safely, revealing a baby sleeping peacefully inside of the blanket.

"I am so sorry. I know. I failed us. I have to- I have to leave you here because I have failed to care for us both- the food isn't even enough for one of us. Maybe you will have a better life here. I will miss you", the girl whispered, now allowing herself to cry.

"Odpust'mi...", she whispered as she disappeared, leaving the baby on itself.

—

The sun had already risen as a young, aristocratic austrian boy, around the age if 16, was woken up by the rather unpleasant report of one of his knights.

"It is so early, why do you had to wake me?", the aristocrat asked one of them. "Permission to state the case?", the knight asked. "Of course. You may speak", the boy replied.

"As we were controlling our gates this dawn, we have found something laying next to the gates, sire", the knight answered, holding a bundle in his arms.

"What's this?", Austria asked his guard, pointing at the bundle. "This, this bundle is a child. I could take it home to my family and raise it as my own, but we had to take it inside to keep it alive", the other male responded.

There was no reply from the young Austria, as he seemed to think about something.

"Actually, don't take the baby with you. You have found it on the 'doorsteps' of this village, so it is only logical to keep and raise them here. It will be my duty to raise and protect the kid", Austria spoke.

The knight looked a bit confused, but bowed at Austrias request, before he was giving him the baby.

Austria, who was already out of his bed, took the baby into his arms.

"That's strange...", he mumbled as he noticed something about the baby.

"What is strange?", the other knight asked.

"Well look. You two claimed that the baby spent at least this stormy night outside alone. I shall believe you two, since you have never lied to me before. And of course I understand your concern...but would a normal baby survive such a night? I don't know, but I don't believe it. Also, the baby doesn't look sick...", Austria tried to explain.

"It's almost as if the spirit of the village protected the kid-". he wanted to continue as the realisation hit him.

"Servants! Go get a crib somewhere!", Austria suddenly ordered. The knights were confused by their lord's sudden mysteriousness. "Also, you can leave", the young man spoke to the knights.

"I know it....It has to be...well, then I have another reason to protect this child", Austria thought, holding the child in his arms, already thinking about a name.

"Sir, I have brought this crib for you child", a servant interrupted his thinking. Austria thanked them and telling them where to put the bed, before the servant left again.

"I think it's clear", the aristocratic boy said while putting the child into the bed.

"I didn't know where you came from, but...Welcome home, Vienna"

——-

Word Count: 806

(A/N) This is the first chapter of Viennas backstory. As you can see, to make the timeline have more sense, I aged up Mr. Austria a bit. The chapter takes place in the 1000s, where Austrias canon age would be around 10. But I always thought that this doesn't make sense in the first place, so I changed Austrias age to 17.

Peace out