The Life of Erin Tribal
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A/N 1/25/07: Surprise! I've finally done what's needed to be done, for a long, long time… I'm combining chapters. Rereading this after all these year, they seem well… Way too short. So enjoy this chapter (Contains the old Ch.5 and 6)
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At about noon, Erin woke up. She looked over and noticed Terra sleeping there. She didn't bother waking her and walked over to the door. It was slightly open, so Erin peeked her head out. A woman, Celes, was coming towards the room carrying a plate of food. Erin closed the door again, went over to her bed, and pretended to sleep again.
A slight knock on the door and it opened. Celes walked in, saw the two girls sleeping and sighed. She went over to a table, set down the plate, and walked over to Terra. She bent down, whispered something in her ear, then stood up again. She then walked over to Erin and did the same thing. A minute later, Erin woke up again, looked at Celes standing over by the table, then over at a still sleeping Terra.
Erin stood up, stretched out, and walked over to Celes. She looked at her, then at the food, and then back at Celes.
"What's up with her?" asked Erin in a whisper, looking at Celes.
"She's wiped out. She hasn't had much sleep for a few days so I'm giving her a break," explained Celes, looking at her daughter.
Erin looked back at Terra, then heard her stomach rumbling. Celes understood and pointed to the plate of food. Erin sat down and slowly started eating.
When she had finished, and Terra was still asleep, Erin stood back up, and went to go talk with her mom again.
"Umm, mom? I got this package earlier, addressed to my formal name. I have no idea what it is." stated Erin, looking hopefully at Celes
"Yes, that just arrived in the morning post. I figured it was for you, so before Kefka got word of it, I handed it to a soldier and had it delivered to you," explained Celes, looking back at Erin.
"Do you think it safe to open it?" asked Erin.
"Yes, I do," replied Celes.
They both walked over to the table and sat down. Terra stirred in her sleep. Erin looked at her, then back at the package. She started to open it. There was a closed box inside the other box. Erin opened that to find a single note.
"This will not be tolerated. Either you start training, or Kuja kills you. Take your choice. Kuja and I will be inspecting tomorrow, and I hope to see some muscle working on you.
And do not worry about Garnet. She is perfectly safe with Beatrix and Steiner while I take this trip. Mother"
"Mom, I.. I think you should read this," stated Erin, handing Celes the note. Taking the note from the girl, she glanced at it and then lurched up.
"Ok, either your mother will not be allowed or we will be in trouble. How does she know that I haven't started your training yet? I was going to start tomorrow, but I guess we better do it today. Could you wake Terra for me?" explained Celes. She was mad.
"Sure," replied Erin. Erin walked over, bent down, and shook Terra awake. Terra slowly looked up at Erin, then at Celes, and then sat up.
"What's going on?" asked Terra sleepily.
"I'm truly sorry Terra. But we need to start Erin's training today, and I'm going to need to train you some more as well. Come on girls, this way," beckoned Celes.
Terra got up, and the two girl followed Celes out of the room. Erin looked at both of them and had a million thoughts running through her head but said nothing as they entered another room. Celes went to the back of the room, grabbed something, then walked back to them.
"Erin, this is yours," explained Celes, handing Erin a sword. The only way Erin had actually known what it was is because she had seen soldiers at the castle with them.
"Mom... Why? Why are you giving me this?" asked Erin, seriously confused.
"Well, you need to train now, don't you?" sarcastically said Celes.
"Erin, from what I've been told, you know what this is. You just might not know how to use it," explained Terra.
"You got that right on. I've seen soldiers at the castle with them, but I myself have never been allowed to see them in action," explained Erin, starting to feel a little worried.
Celes looked into Erin's eyes, and smiled softly. She looked straight into Erin's eyes, and Erin could tell what she was saying. "Don't worry."
Erin gave a small sigh, then smiled slightly. She had figured it was no use to argue with anyone. She had to keep herself alive, even if she was only five years old.
So the day went on, the two women, along with the small girl, trained non-stop. Erin was growing tired, but didn't complain. She felt she was still too young to do this kind of work. She didn't even know what was going on anymore. Would her sister be safe? She trusted Beatrix as a dear, dear friend. Erin didn't know if she could trust her Mothers words anymore.
That evening, far past the evening bell to order everyone to their rooms, Celes, Terra, and Erin finally headed back. Once they got into the room, Erin just collapsed on her bed. No knowledge of what was to happen when she woke up.
During the night, however, soldiers from Erin's home had gotten into the room, and under Brahne's, Kefka's, and Kuja's order's, Erin was chained too the wall. They knew how to do it without waking her, as Erin was a very sound sleeper. Almost nothing could wake her.
That morning, by the time the morning bell had rung out, Erin had awoken to find herself unable to move. Terra was missing, and next to the girl on her knees, was Celes. She could tell Celes had been crying for awhile, and she still was. She tried to get up, but it failed.
"Mom? Mom!" cried Erin.
"Erin, your awake? Oh my goodness, I do not know what happened! Terra is nowhere to be found, and your mother has come here. Please say she accepts what we've done!" cried Celes, hugging Erin, "I had seriously though were dead."
"Mom. I'm ok, I hope. I just can't move and am getting very stiff and weary. I had a journal on the table, could check to see if it's still there for me?" cried Erin, wrestling with the chains. Celes looked up at the table, noticing everything was gone. She had been ordered to not bring any food.
"Mom, I'm getting hungry," said Erin, looking down at her stomach.
"I was ordered not to bring any food this morning. That had gotten me worried. And look, your bleeding here on your arm, and leg," said Celes, pointing to the two spots.
That's when Erin noticed the first pain, causing her to jolt. It felt like the one on her leg was deep, plus it felt like there was many, many more on her legs.
"Mom… is my journal there?" asked Erin, tears falling down her cheeks from the pain.
"I am terribly sorry, they took everything. Was it special?" asked Celes.
"It was very special. My sister had given it to me just before I had left," explained Erin, still crying.
Nothing more was said, because just then, the door opened, and her Mother, two guards, and Kuja, carrying an unconscious Terra, walked in. He threw Terra onto her bed, and then looked over at Erin.
"Why, our little princess has finally awoken," said Kuja sarcastically.
"What have you done to her!" yelled Celes at them.
"M... I mean, Celes. Don't... Don't fight them," said Erin weakly.
"That's a good girl. Listen to her, go to the table, or get killed," Brahne said evilly.
"Erin..." said Celes, walking over to the table and sitting down. She looked over at Terra, and then breathed a small sigh of relied, noting that nothing seemed physically wrong.
"Now for my little princess. Let's take a look, shall we?" said Kuja, bending down, and grabbing Erin's arm. Erin cried out in pain because she still was shackled down.
Erin looked at him, straight into his eyes, and could see only pure evil. He began running his finger down her arm, avoiding what had become a deep cut on her arm. Her wrist was starting to bleed from the shackle pressing so tightly against it. Erin cried, but said nothing.
"Blood, but there is very little muscle. Of course, what should I expect from a five year old," laughed Kuja. Celes looked over at him, but said nothing. She then looked back at Erin, who was still crying but couldn't turn away to hide it.
"We will be back in exactly one week, and I expect to see more progress. We shall make our leave for now," said Brahne, leading everyone out.
Celes got up, and opened the door to assure that they had left. She bent down to check on Terra and put her into a comfortable position. Getting back up, the general walked over to Erin. Making a silent vow, Celes left the room leaving the door open. Erin looked over at Terra, and then painfully looked over herself. She was almost completely covered in blood.
The door opened wider. Erin moved her eyes up towards it to see who it was; Celes, a guard, and the doctor. Celes whispered something to the guard, and then stepped back. The guard walked over to Erin and unlocked the shackles. Erin still didn't move, just stared at him.
As fast as the shackles were off, the doctor was buzzing over Erin. He was shaking his head, and writing stuff in a notebook. Another guard came in, but Erin didn't notice as she had slipped unconscious. The other guard handed Celes something small, then walked out with the other guard.
When the doctor had finished, he ripped something from his notebook and handed it to Celes. He walked out, closing the door. She looked at what the guard had given her. It was a garnet-shaded journal, and when she opened it she read,
To my dear Sister, Erin.
From Garnet.
"This must be the journal Erin was talking about," she whispered to herself. She walked over to the table, sat down, and opened the journal again.
Nothing had been written in it except one thing,
January 16, 1994
Celes stared blankly. She had started an entry, but never finished it. She grabbed a pen, thought very hard, then wrote,
January 26,
1994 Erin: I do not know if you will remember any of the
events of today. I will explain to you though. The doctor has given
me a copy of what he found out. The cuts in both your arms have
penetrated a blood vessel and will be coming back this evening to try
and stop the bleeding, even if it's just temporary. He also found a
slight cut at the base of your neck on the right side. Also, it
mentions that there is a patch of blood showing through your hair. I
don't know what this means. I must go for now as I need to
go complete some business. Sincerely, Celes Chere, Mom
Celes closed the journal, pushed it into a hidden place, and then looked back at Erin. Some bleeding had started again and Erin was still unconscious. She got back up, and walked out of the room. She first went to the doctor, to tell him that Erin was bleeding again. Then, she went to her room and grabbed her small bed and very little belongings.
Celes beat the doctor to the room and stuck the bed in an unused corner, right next to Erin's bed. She sat down on it and was at the same level as Erin. As she looked at Erin, she started to cry. She lay down, grabbed her own journal, silently tore a page from it, and wrote a quick note for the doctor:
Please, take care of Erin.
-Celes.
Celes fell asleep shortly after. Later that night, the doctor woke her up.
"Yes, what it is?" Celes asked sleepily.
"I have taken care of Erin best I could. Let us both pray that she doesn't start bleeding again," explained the doctor, then left.
Little did anyone know that it was just past midnight of the 27th. Erin's birthday, her sixth birthday.
A/N 1/25/07: Wow… Ok, didn't mean to add in chapter 6, but the old cut offs seemed so oddly placed, and this seemed like such a better place to start.
Hope your enjoy the revamped chapter, and expect more of it! Now to edit the file names for everything else...