Born in war, born again in fire.

Diary One

Grabbing the a book from a pile the woman read the first page.

"Orla's Diary, Do Not Read!"
"My Mother gave me this, told me to record the date and my thoughts, said it would calm me down and be a nice memory for the future."

chéad samhradh, seacht
"Father forbids me from partaking in Archery practice.. he claims I shouldn't be around the older boys, something about changes or something like that. Caic Tarbh. Father also says I should be more like my mother.. a woman of science and a leader devoted to peace, he says she's talking to a Romonus board about discussing a peace treaty.. meanwhile him and his men battle everyday against the imperialist pigs who invade our homes. I overheard Mother and Father arguing, mother intends to take me to Romonus, to teach me the ways of... negotiating. I do not intend to sit idly whilst mother makes a fool of our clan."

trí thimthriall gealaí anuas
"We finally reached Romonus, we traveled for three moons before we reached the city, mother dressed pretty, she wore traditional robes from her homeland.. she still won't tell me where she's from. She wears red which seems in our favor as Romonus basically worships the color red."
"Mother made me wait outside, many adults passed by me, calling me paint-skin, Aelic animal. Why does mother wish to treaty with these... witless cowards."
"Many hours passed and a boy would run out of the capital, as mother called it, he wore a red tunic and had short black spiky hair. The boy was older than me, he said he was twelve.. he was 5 winters older than me, he seemed to be studying me as he would comment on my clothes, he said only nice things which made me consider scratching out what I had said earlier,"
"Me and the boy talked for a bit before a soldier, I think they called him Legate Scullious, would grab the boy by the wrist dragging him away something about "My son will never show kindness to those savages" or something like that, shame.. the boy was nice.. I suppose"

Meitheamh fiche haonú, seacht
"Mother has asked me to use Romonus time, I don't know why, Mother has begun acting strange, her and Fathers fight have gotten louder, more frequent.. I don't like this"
"Mother woke me up in the middle of the night last night.. she said something about how she had to go. That she wanted to take me but couldn't, she said she would be back and would rescue me, I don't know what she means, I'm not in any danger I don't think so at least.."

meitheamh an dara fiche, seatch
"Fathers become angrier then normal, he hides his face behind that Turquoise mask, I don't know where he got it.. or why he has it but he says it's supposed to make him scary on the battlefield.. but it's scary no matter where he is. Fathers also locked himself in his room, no one's been able to talk to him."
"Father finally came out of his room his finger his finger that he wore his ring on was inked black, I asked him about it and he said that you ink you're fingers when a loved one passed, ring was reserved for your wife or husband.. did that mean mother died.. how.. when?"
"Father helped me ink my middle finger, it hurt but it's good to honor mother.. I just wished I had gotten to say goodbye one last time."

Lúnasa an tríú lá déag, a hocht
"Father took me hunting with him, he made me a bow, I wonder where he got the materials from, the wood is black.. and it feels like rock, it's so rough.. the string didn't feel like string.. it was an odd bow and I struggled to pull the string back. Father offered to trade bows, but I think he was joking as his bow was bigger than me and probably weighed more than me."
"Father took me to hunt elk, I had never seen one so close before, father taught me to shoot a bow, he told me to raise the bow and pull the string back, to breathe and release, my arrow flew through the air with a loud whistle before a thunderous crack rang out through the forest, it would have been cooler had I hit the Elk, I've never heard Father laugh so loudly before. I watched as the elk started to run away, that was until Father took his own bow and pulled the string, which sounded like ripping cloth, when he let go, the sound of the string returning to its original position, it sounded like thunder, and it hurt my ears."
"Father carried the Elk back, I wonder when he got so strong, it doesn't matter now, when we got back Father had rung the feast bell, he only ever did that on special occasions, I wonder what he's announcing."
"After we ate, Father got everyone's attention, he called me next to his side he picked me up, I sat on his shoulder, he announced that I would be considered a soldier, I would train with them, and I would learn the same way the boys would. I had always wanted to use a sword"

Lúnasa tríochad, a hocht
"Father has trained me hard and I find little time to write anymore, we frequent hunting and he makes me fight goats with my sword, something he had to do as a child, my sword stuck its self in the goats horn and it dragged me around the snow, when we came in I was freezing, Father also said to build my tolerance to the cold to ditch my shoes and coat, I'm not eager to try it."
"Father woke me up early into the night, he said that he would be going, he seemed worried, he also seemed nervous, he carried his sword and bow, he attempted to kiss me but his mask prevented it, I don't think he's ever going to take that thing off."
"Father thankfully came back, I was so worried about him, when I heard the gates open I dropped my guard to look and Sean, an older boy, hit me in the face with the training sword, I was fine but it did cut me, just right above my ear, it was fairly unnoticeable, but Father was unhappy anyways, he took Sean into the woods to hunt, they're not back yet."
"Father came back, Sean was in his hands, covered with blood, I was sent to my room, Father says Sean went off on his own and a bear attacked him, poor Sean, he was only 6 years older than me."
The woman closed the Diary, a smirk forming with her thin pale lips, she ignored the rest of the pages as it was nothing but training updates and stories of imaginary adventures.
"I wish you could've grown up, to ignore the war happening around you, to love.. to live, but you poor girl Orla."
Tossing the Diary into the fire she sat by, watching the leather and paper roast,