Okay…this is my first attempt at writing a FanFic…I'll let you know right now, this one is filled to the brim with spoilers! I'm just so obsessed with sweet likkle Erky that I made up his whole childhood that has absolutely no basis in fact from the game! anyway, no one really knows where he came from, so everyone decides they need to know and question him about it…long story short, this is where Erk decides to 'fess up' and tell them everything…but not without a fight first :) this first chapter here is all about the dreams he's been having lately…it'll make more sense in later chapters, I promise! I've kind of assumed that you readers will know what you need to know about Fire Emblem so this makes sense, so sorry if it gets a little confusing….

As far as disclaimers go, I didn't make up the whole concept of Fire Emblem (ha! I wish), and I didn't make up any of the characters. Well, I did make up one from this story, but she's not from the game XD Oh, and I get my ideas from everything, so if you see some sort of quote in here that you made up, let me know and I'll give you some credit…that's just not fair to all of you!

So…without further ado….chapter one!

Chapter One: Exposition

"Erk…? Erk! Wake up, darling!" a familiar voice called from somewhere far away. A few seconds later, Erk was shaken back into consciousness and out of another dream. Faintly sensing that someone was holding him, Erk opened his eyes, trying to identify the person. A lantern had been lit in the tent, and he could see by its dim light that it was a woman with long blonde hair, looking down at him with a concerned look.

"L-Lady Louise?" Erk managed to say in a rather raspy voice. "Why are you in here? Is something wrong? It's still dark…"

"Oh, I know…you were having a nightmare again, Erk…are you all right?" Louise inquired gently, feeling his forehead apprehensively. "It must have been horrible…" Erk looked down at his simple little 'bed'. It did, indeed, look like he had had a rough night, as everything was in complete disarray. "I know I shouldn't have woken you up, but you were talking in your sleep this time…" Erk didn't say anything. Maybe it was a good thing…it had been the same dream he'd been having for several weeks now, a reliving of his family's death. Though the memories were faint, he could still see a man and a woman, side by side, fighting innumerable amounts of armed men in a room filled with flames as a faint lullaby echoed inside his mind. It was all so long ago, but the scene was so vivid, it almost seemed like he had remembered it from the previous day.

"Is everything okay?" another familiar voice inquired softly from the doorway, jerking Erk out of his thoughts.

"I hope so…" Louise replied, hugging Erk closer to her. "Poor thing…he's all hot."

"Having a tough week, aren't we?" Pent, the voice of the newcomer, said dryly, stepping into view and kneeling down beside Louise. "Was it the same one again?"

"Yes…" Erk said, officially mortified now. "You two don't have to—"

"What are you talking about? Of course we do," Pent said in reply. "Besides, it's fun. Are you feeling all right?" he added concernedly. "You're really pale."

"I-I'll be fine," Erk informed both of them. "Don't worry about me, I'm not a baby; I can take care of myself." Pent and Louise looked at each other with raised eyebrows. They'd heard that one before. "I'm fine…really! You can go back to your tent now."

"Well…I feel a lot better now that I have your permission," Pent rolled his eyes. "What, is it illegal to show concern for you now?"

"Aw, Erk…" Louise cooed, stroking his very messed-up hair. "We're just making sure you're all right…you're like the baby boy I've never had!"

"I'm not a baby!" Erk protested, feeling his cheeks turn pink with embarrassment.

"Oh, all right…we'll leave you alone, then," Louise sighed, giving him one last squeeze before letting go. "You've got about four more hours until dawn, by the way…sweet dreams, darling!" she pecked him briefly on the cheek before standing up and walking out.

"Don't treat him like a child, Louise," Pent teased, ruffling up Erk's hair even more so it looked like a purple rat's nest on top of his head before following her out. "You know he hates that!" Erk sighed heavily after they left, trying fruitlessly to comb out his already unruly hair with his fingers. He gave up after a few minutes and fixed his bed again before lying down. He knew that they meant well, but it was still a bit annoying, even though they were a lot like his parents had been before…well, before they died.

Erk knew that he would never be able to get back to sleep now, but it was worth a try. He found himself staring at the ceiling for quite a while before eventually drifting off again.

It didn't seem like too long after that when he was woken up again, this time by Priscilla.

"Rise and shine, Erk!" she said cheerfully, letting all the sunlight in. Erk groaned and pulled the covers over his head. "You're lucky; Lord Hector slept in, so no one else woke up. He's kind of mad about that now, though, so I suggest you get up before he finds you sleeping…"

"All right, all right…I'm up," Erk replied sleepily, managing to pull himself up into a sitting position.

"Are you feeling okay?" Priscilla asked him, stooping down to feel his forehead. "Hmm…" she mused. "You seem better now…"

"Don't tell me…" Erk sighed. "Lady Louise told you I was sick?"

"No, you just look a little ill," Priscilla remarked. "No matter…do I get a hug?"

"Of course," Erk laughed, wrapping his arms around her. "Seeing you makes me feel a lot better…"

"Aww…I love you, too, Erk," Priscilla giggled before giving him a kiss. They were obviously in love…except Priscilla hadn't informed Raven of it yet. But that problem would come a little later. "You've haven't been having nightmares lately, have you?" she asked him anxiously.

"Well…" Erk started with a small sigh. "If by 'lately' you mean within the last few hours…"

"Really?" Priscilla said sympathetically. "…What do you even dream about?"

"Wha—? Oh…nothing, really…" Priscilla, lately, had been trying to get into Erk's head, and he wasn't exactly comfortable with it. "Just…you know…about my parents…and how they died…"

"Oh…" Priscilla trailed off, feeling rather awkward. "You've never really told me about that."

"It's not very interesting," Erk said evasively, getting up. "Come on, Priscilla, we'd better go before Hector gets mad…I wonder what's for breakfast?"

"Aw, come on!" Priscilla pouted as he left the tent. "Men…" she sighed in frustration, scampering off after him.

Like I said, it's my first attempt…not bad, eh:) I'll get chaptertwo up when I feel like it…it might be a while XD