Grains of Sand
Turtle
There once was a turtle that got lost. He was going, slowly mind you, to a nice stream along the mountain side. But, somehow, he got turned around, and ended up in the desert. The sand blew into his eyes. The wind made him wince. And soon, no matter which way he turned his head, he only saw sand dunes in all directions.
The turtle was confused, of course. He was resolved to keep walking on, though, feeling that something was waiting for him. So he kept on, moving at a turtle's pace, climbing up and down the dunes, his ill-equipped feet slipping and sliding on the sands.
At one point, he fell to the side, and got stuck in a dune. Feeling distraught, the turtle pulled his arms and legs back into his shell, and finally his head. He fell asleep inside, dreaming of water and cattails in the spring.
"Hey! Lookit that, Matron!" Sabin shouted, pointing a finger out of their carriage.
"Hmm, you don't see that sort of thing every day, do you, dear?" the woman responded, following Sabin's finger to the turtle shell halfway buried in the sand. She motioned for the carriage driver to stop, and once settled, the boy jumped out of the window and landed on his new shoes.
The young prince scooped up the turtle and peered inside, but saw that the animal was hiding.
"Do you think he's dead, Matron?" Sabin asked with a worried look.
"Probably not, dear, bring him here so I can see."
Matron looked carefully for a moment at the turtle that Sabin held up for her.
"Bring him inside the carriage with you, Sabin honey. Looks like you have a new pet!" the governess smiled, ruffling Sabin's blond hair when he hopped back inside their compartment.
The prince talked his governess's ear off all the way home about how he was going to make a nice bed for his turtle, and how he was going to make a little pond for him to swim in, and everything that a turtle would need.
Once home, Sabin did just as he said he was going to. He rushed into his bedroom with his turtle, and sat the creature down on his sofa as he searched around for a suitable bed. Sabin knocked over his card house, a stack of school books, Edgar's domino fort, and several more of their toys in his excited search.
The noise drew his twin brother from his studies, and annoyed him to no end.
"Gosh, what's that loser up to now?" Edgar scowled, marking his place in his textbook as he got up from his armchair. The older brother left his room, and found his brother sticking his behind in the air as he had his head in a toy box. His hands tossed playthings out of the box behind him, and made a clatter as they landed in random places around the room.
"Excuse me, Sabin. I think you're playing with your toys wrong," Edgar snorted, picking his way towards the younger prince.
Disregarding the comment entirely, Sabin poked his head out of the toy box, "Hey! Edgar, can you help me build a nice little bed?"
"But you already have a bed. And it's quite nice, by the way. Why do you need a new one?" the elder brother asked, suspicious now.
Sabin pointed to the sofa, where the turtle had finally woken up due to the noise, and was looking around rather confused.
"…" Edgar stared at the turtle, who stared back curiously. It began to pop its legs out of the shell and started walking towards him.
"I thought you and Matron went into South Figaro for our pastries and new shoes. Not a turtle…"
"Oh, Matron brought those in. They're in her room now."
"You know Mother and Father will not approve of it."
"How would you know? They let pigeons in the castle!"
"Pigeons are completely different! Father uses them for his messages with that group he doesn't want us knowing about!"
"Well, maybe I can use the turtle for messages."
"Oh yeah, after we get him to walk across the room in under thirty minutes," Edgar laughed.
Edgar felt something whack against his shin, which hurt a little. He looked down to see the turtle pulling his head back to hit Edgar's leg again.
"What the hell is it doing?!"
Thud.
"Looks like he doesn't like you too much," Sabin giggled, coming over to pat the turtle's shell like he would a dog's head.
The turtle gave Sabin what seemed to have been an appraising look before winding his head back to whack Edgar's leg once more. The elder brother jumped away and climbed up on Sabin's canopy bed out of the turtle's reach. Edgar's eyes met the turtles, and could have sworn he saw ill intent gleaming in those shiny black dots.
"Are you actually afraid of my turtle?" Sabin's eyebrows went up.
"No, I just don't think he's too keen on me," Edgar spat, pulling one of Sabin's pillows in front of him like a little shield.
"No matter, you gotta help me make Mister Turtle a bed. You're good with building stuff!" Sabin returned to his search in the toy box, jutting his butt in the air as his front went down into the depths.
Building blocks soared out of the box, and once or twice a block smacked Edgar's head, causing the older prince to yelp when struck.
The turtle was enjoying the flying objects from what Edgar could see, and was trying to chase the airborne stuffed animals, bouncy balls, slingshots, dominoes, and dice. But Mister Turtle only got to where one particularly interesting toy landed a few moments after it fell before many more toys were on their way to who knows where.
Mister Turtle finally settled on a blue rubber ball that was about the right size for him to hold it in his mouth. The turtle would nudge the ball around the floor with his nose, pick it up in his mouth and carry it a few paces away, and even kick at it with his front legs.
Sabin finally emerged from the toy box empty handed, having drained the box of all of its contents, and looked around.
Edgar had been watching the turtle play, and smiled when Sabin saw it too.
"Oh my gosh, he's a smart turtle, isn't he?" Sabin exclaimed, rushing forwards to give his new pet a great big hug. The turtle took the hug well, made a weird raspy noise, and resumed playing when Matron and their mother knocked on the door.
"My darlings, it is time for the midday meal! Come, come, I understand that we shall be having pumpkin pie!" Queen Fleta announced, beaming in such a way that her sons could not help smiling back.
"Oh! What is this?" the queen bent down next to Mister Turtle curiously.
"I have not seen a turtle in ages…" she murmured, petting the turtle's head softly.
Before Sabin could even ask, or before Edgar could request that the turtle be put back where he came from, the queen said, "Yes, you may keep him as a pet!"
"Really?" Sabin asked excitedly, running up to his mother and hugging her around the middle.
"Really?" Edgar said in disbelief. He was sure that his mother would be repulsed by the creature! Matron went over the Edgar and took his pillow, smiling down at him.
"Isn't there anything that you can do, Matron?" Edgar pleaded, keeping his voice down so Sabin would not punch the back of his head or anything.
"Are you jealous, Prince Edgar?" she asked, returning the pillow to its place next to its friend, the blue pillow.
"No, just, gods, look at it! Wouldn't a cat be better, or something?"
"Look how taken your brother is by the turtle. And it seems that the reptile is happy with Sabin. He did save the poor thing from dying in the middle of the desert after all."
Matron bent down to Edgar's ear, and whispered, "Anyways, turtles are notorious for finding ways to escape. He won't be around for long."
The elder prince felt better after learning this, and dutifully followed his mother and twin down to the dining room for the royal family. Sabin carried his turtle along with him, and the turtle seemed to enjoy the ride.
Their father was a little taken aback when Sabin presented Mister Turtle to him, but was soon thrilled that his sons now had a pet. He was especially pleased when Mister Turtle turned out to be the perfect guest at a meal. He did not speak garishly about his country's matters in a voice that drowned out everybody else's; he did not talk with his mouth full, or chew with his mouth open.
Mister Turtle listened to everything carefully, ate everything on his plate with gusto, and best of all, he did not walk on the table. (The king had received a guest from Vector who got very drunk once and walked on the table in his stocking feet to reach a bit of custard.)
Edgar kept repeating in his head what Matron told him, and continued the rest of his day avoiding that blasted turtle.
Sabin however, brought his turtle everywhere with him, including Edgar's room, and spent all of his time playing with Mister Turtle. He tried getting Edgar to play with them, but to no avail. Edgar was oddly more interested in his steam engine textbook than playing fetch with their new pet.
"Come on, look! He's almost there!" Sabin exclaimed, pointing excitedly when Mister Turtle was a few inches away from the ball. A few more thrilling seconds and-got it!
"Now he's gotta bring it back to me," Sabin said, grinning up at his brother from his spot in the floor.
Edgar smirked into his notes, despite himself, as his twin went on with his commentary about how smart and "fast" his turtle was. If only the dolt knew that Mister Turtle would disappear in the night.
But the days went on in this fashion, with Sabin playing with his pet, ignoring his studies, and Edgar became increasingly annoyed by the constant company and how Matron's prediction hadn't come true yet. He wouldn't tell his brother to leave him be however, because that wasn't very brotherly, and their parents would take away his sketchbooks and bits of metal he nicked from the engine rooms.
At least, that's what Edgar told himself.
Truth be told, the boy was enjoying watching Sabin toss rubber balls for the reptile, making building block mazes for it to go through, and reading it fairy stories. Sabin hadn't looked so happy in ages, especially since they were dragged down so much by their studies of world history and machines. And sometimes, when Sabin left the room to grab snacks from the kitchens, Edgar would venture to pet Mister Turtle on the head. And Mister Turtle stopped whacking him in the leg after that first day.
About two weeks had passed, and Edgar had given in to helping Sabin create a little pond for Mister Turtle in Sabin's bedroom, much to the dismay of the maid staff.
One morning, though, Sabin rushed into Edgar's room with tears running down his cheeks.
"EDGAR! IT'S HORRIBLE! GEDDUP YOU LARD." The younger twin yanked the covers off of his brother and pushed him out of bed with a heavy thump.
From his tangle of sheets and pillows that fell with him, Edgar popped his head up over the side of the bed, "What the bloody hell is your problem? Buttons caught you again?" Edgar was never a morning person, and being pushed out of his bed made his mood much worse.
Sabin landed on his bed, "Mister Turtle's left me! How did he get out of the room?! The door was closed, I swear!"
Edgar expected to feel relief wash over him because what he had been wishing for had finally happened. But instead, his jaw went slack and tears threatened to fall from his eyes.
Upon seeing his watery expression, Sabin exclaimed, "I know! It's horrible! We've got to find him!" Sabin pulled his brother from the floor and they ran to Matron's apartment in their bare feet.
Sabin woke Matron in a kinder fashion than when he woke Edgar, and quickly explained what had happened.
"Come on! We need a carriage! We're going to look for him, now!" he cried, to which Matron merely nodded while rubbing at her eyes.
"Give me a moment to dress, boys, and I'll call a carriage for us." She yawned big, and gave Edgar a questioning look when she saw how he was as distressed as his twin. Matron pulled the rope for breakfast, and let the twins eat her toast as they waited. She ordered the maid who brought their breakfast to call a carriage for them.
Soon, Matron was dressed properly in her robes, the carriage was ready out at the front gates, and the boys pulled their governess along. Many guardsmen eyed the trio curiously as they hurried by, but allowed them to pass without inquiry.
The sun was just rising above the horizon when they made it to the carriage and clambered inside. Matron beckoned a pair of guards to them before they set off and asked if they had seen Mister Turtle.
"Hmm, well yes, I did see a turtle crawling away. I think it went southeast, ma'am."
"Thank you very much." Matron nodded to the guards, "Set off southeast, please!"
The driver complied, and the vehicle lurched forward as the chocobos took off across the dunes.
The twins sat at either window, scanning the endless sea of sand for a small dark figure moving slowly, but found none. The turtle didn't leave any noticeable tracks, and if it had, they would have been blow away with the ever shifting sands.
Edgar and Sabin refused to turn back to the castle for hours, when at last they reached a patch of grass near the base of the mountain range. When they got closer, they all saw a cave looming ahead.
"Hmm, maybe the turtle went in there. I bet there's a spring in there." Matron observed quietly.
"Yeah! Let's check it out!" Sabin agreed excitedly, his hopes never faltering.
Once the carriage pulled the group close enough to the cave opening, the twins climbed out and waited for the driver to help Matron out before they scrambled into the cave.
It was the cave that they often passed during their trips to South Figaro, but neither Sabin nor Edgar had entered it before. Usually, they went into the mountain passes to reach the city so they could remain in the safety of their carriage.
Within the first room of the cave, they heard dripping close by. The driver lit a torch hanging from the wall, and led them to the source of the dripping.
And Sabin was the first to see Mister Turtle bobbing up and down in the clear waters.
"Mister Turtle!" he cried, rushing to the edge of the spring, nearly flopping in head first in the process. Edgar held on to his collar as Sabin reached as far as he could to pet the turtle.
Mister Turtle swam closer and leaned into Sabin's caresses, seemingly happy.
"I was so afraid that you'd be lost in the desert again, Mister Turtle." He hoisted the turtle out of the water for a hug, not caring if his clothes got wet.
Matron went to the prince's side then, "You know, Sabin, Mister Turtle's a wild animal."
He looked up at her, "Yeah, so?"
"He will be much happier to stay here, where he belongs. Turtles don't belong in the middle of the desert, dear." She said gravely.
Sabin's face fell. After a few moments, he slowly lowered Mister Turtle into the water.
"You're right, Matron…" he sighed, and looked to Edgar searchingly. He knew that Matron wanted them to leave Mister Turtle behind.
"Can we at least come visit him sometimes?"
Edgar spoke up then, "We're going to visit Mister Turtle at least once a week. I don't care how much studying we have." He looked defiantly at Matron and the carriage driver. Matron merely nodded with a smile at the twins. Sabin hugged Edgar's legs from where he sat.
"I think that lunch should be in order now. Come, boys! Your parents will be wondering where you've escaped to." Matron and the driver started to go, leaving Edgar and Sabin behind with Mister Turtle.
Sabin turned back to Mister Turtle with a smile, "Okay, you be a good turtle now. Don't go and get yourself lost again, okay? Just stay here where it's safe, and I'll be back soon!" Edgar listened quietly as his brother continued on with his instructions to his pet.
Edgar sat down at the edge of the spring next to Sabin and submerged his leg in the water near the turtle.
Sabin looked over at him puzzled. "Go on, you know you want to." Edgar said to the turtle.
Mister Turtle swam over to his leg and gave his shin a big whack.
"I knew you loved Mister Turtle, too! You big faker." Sabin grinned.
"Oh shut it." Edgar grinned back, giving Mister Turtle a pat on the head.
A/N: I've always wondered about that line from the SNES version of FFVI where Gerad/Edgar mentions having a pet turtle. And then this kinda came out. I thought it would be neat to have a bit of back story for that turtle you have to jump on to get to Figaro castle underground. Anyways, I hope that this was fun to read. Thanks for reading!
-Moogle