For quite some time I've wanted to explore a father-son relationship between Cyan and Gau the same way I explored Shadow and Relm's relationship in Of Sketchpads and Shadows. This story is canon with Sketchpads but can also be read on its own.

I want to thank author Auron Belmont, whose story Youth, Man and Father inspired so many parts of my own interpretation of Gau and his rages. That story was the first one I'd seen that I felt portrayed Gau in believable and tragically wonderful way. To this day it remains one of my favorite stories in general and my all time favorite that features Gau as a main character.

I do not own Final Fantasy VI and never will.

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The sun was warm on Gau's back and the dirt soft between his toes. All days were good days to be outside unless it was dark when it should be light and the sky broke into pieces and sent down forks of white fire that killed faster than a blink but this day was a special day. This was a good day to hunt. Those were the best days. Not just because they were nice, nice, nice but also because he might have a full belly by nightfall. He could always catch fish. Fish were fast, but he was faster and they were stupid but they didn't fill his belly like real meat did and the bones hurt when they got stuck between his teeth. If he got something big he could eat for days and maybe share some and play with the ones he shared the meat with. Play was fun. He liked to play!

Noises on the wind caught his attention and he crouched low in the grass. His sun darkened skin, monster hide clothing, and dirt matted hair blended in perfectly with the dull greenish yellow late summer grass. Those noises were voices, people voices, and they were coming closer. The thought of running crossed his mind, talking people didn't attract anything good to hunt, only things big enough and mean enough to hunt him, but he was curious. He liked to watch people and liked it even better when he could take some of their food. It was meat, but different and very very very very very tasty. He would never share that meat, never never!

Two tall people crested one of the low hills and he remembered them. Gau cocked his head and made a curious sound in his throat. These were the river people who should have been dead but weren't. He was glad. He didn't like finding people bodies in the river, because he was a people too, even if he didn't act like other people. The wind changed direction and their scent washed over him. His mouth began to water. They had meat! Enough to share?

Just as the people were about to pass by his hiding place he leapt into their path.

"Uwaoo!"

They both jumped high and shouted loud. The big one with light hair even fell down when he landed! It was always so fun to make people jump! While the people recovered from the fright he crouched, cocked his head, and put on his most "I'm a hungry puppy please feed me" face.

"Ohh . . ." what was the word he wanted again? "Hungry!"

The darker haired people slowly reached into his pocket and drew out a strip of meat. Gau watched it with intense focus and snatched it quickly out of the air when it was thrown to him. It was a big piece and tough but very good, so good he didn't even notice when the people who threw it came closer till he was just over an arm's length away. A little jolt of fear ran down his spine when Gau looked up at the too-close-for-comfort people, but it was too late to run. In any case, this people didn't look threatening, even if he did have one of those long shiny single claws at his side. Gau stood up and felt a little better: the people was still bigger than him but it wasn't by quite as much as it seemed while crouching on the ground. He was the older of the two people and therefore should be the leader, but the lighter haired people who was only just picking himself off the ground was the bigger one and looked like the stronger one so therefore he should be the leader. Why were people so confusing?

The dark haired people put a hand on his chest. "I am Cyan, and this is Sabin."

It took Gau a moment to realize the people was talking to him. People never tried to talk to him, they only tried to run away . . . But these were new people, these Cyan and Sabin, and they weren't afraid! The thought was so delightful that Gau began to bounce in place.

"You Sabin . . ." He pointed to the lighter haired people. "You Cyan . . ." He pointed to the darker haired people. Cyan and Sabin nodded and Gau let out a series of happy yips. These were nice people! They gave him food and talked to him and told him their names!

"Me want more food!"

Sabin shrugged and held out his open arms. "Sorry, all gone!"

Gau stopped his bouncing and frowned. They were adult people and he was a young people, if they were nice and gave him food once then maybe- "You go . . . get more for me."

He cringed and prepared to run or roll over in submission. But Sabin and Cyan didn't make any threatening gestures. If he suggested such a thing to the adults in his old pack they would thrash him because he was no puppy and could get his own food or starve.

Sabin snorted. "You're a regular little munchkin, huh?"

Gau didn't know what a munchkin was but he wasn't it and he didn't like being called it. He turned to face Sabin full on, squared his shoulders, expanded his chest, and barred his teeth in a threatening display. And immediately regretted it. These people were nice, he shouldn't be trying to scare away nice people! But . . . they weren't running away? Gau cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"And you . . . afraid of me?"

They weren't even looking nervous: Sabin was standing as tall as he could, very tall, and throwing out his chest so he looked big, very big! The very big, very tall people clenched his hands into fists and waved them in front of his face.

"You want some of this?"

Sabin . . . wanted to fight? But if he wanted to fight then why wasn't he showing one of the many different shiny claws that people carried? As far as Gau knew he was the only people who fought with his body alone.

"Me not want hurt you . . ." he whined. In a flash the solution came to him: Sabin didn't want to fight, Sabin wanted to play! That was why he wasn't showing one of the shiny people claws, just like when he played with the others on the plains. Claws and teeth were for threats and hurting, bare paws waving meant play! Gau's eyes lit up as they stared Sabin down, waiting for the big people to start his game.

The sides of Sabin's mouth turned down. "Stop looking at me like that!" He lunged towards Gau, fists leading the way. With a happy yelp Gau jumped into the attack and met Sabin with his own flurry of punches and strikes. No blows were hard enough to really hurt and it was easy to leap out of the way or grab the big people's fist to throw it off course. Gau gleefully capered in circles around the larger people: this was fun! When Sabin finally backed down, huffing and wheezing, Gau halted as well but continued to bounce in place.

Between gasps Sabin managed to croak out, "You're pretty tough . . . for a little guy!"

"Wah-ha-ha," Gau threw back his head and brayed, "That fun! You strong!" With a playful growl he sprang at Sabin. The big people threw up his hands in surprise, but stubbornly met the charge head on. To his surprise Gau didn't try to strike him, only lead him on a merry chase till his head spun.

"You fall for it!" Gau howled gleefully at the panting Sabin, "You fall for trick!"

"Shut up!" Sabin snapped. Gau just laughed and laughed. This was fun fun fun!

Gau stopped his laughing when Sabin's eyes narrowed to a harsh glare. The big people's lips twitched, a precursor to drawing back and exposing teeth in an angry threat. But just before he was sure Sabin was going to snarl and snap and drive him away Cyan put a heavy hand on the bigger people's shoulder and firmly pushed him aside so as to come between him and Gau.

"Do simmer down, sirs!" he admonished. After a moment Sabin's frame lost its tense, angry aura and Gau allowed his own wariness to dissipate as well. Sabin was strong but Cyan was stronger, not in the way to lift or throw or hit things but in the way of telling others what to do. Gau liked that. The best leaders rarely had the strongest bodies, but they knew how to command those around them. He quivered in anticipation when Cyan's dark eyes focused on him. Leaders didn't play, but people were strange so maybe Cyan would play like Sabin? "And thou, o wild one . . . who might you be?"

Gau cocked his head to the side. "Thou?" He'd never heard that people sound before. People sounds were strange, most were nothing at all like any other sounds, but this one was. It rolled off the tongue like a bay or a howl or any number of other noises. It was a fun people sound!

"Thou! Thou!" Gau capered around Cyan while testing out this new sound. After so many bouncing circuits around Cyan, Gau looked up at the dark haired people- he wanted Cyan to be proud of him using this new sound! But Cyan wasn't looking at him. One last 'Thou' trailed off into silence from Gau's lips. Cyan's head hung low, turned away from him and Sabin. Every muscle in his body was tense, as if he were ready to spring, no, tenser than that, tight with pain. Bad pain. Or . . . Gau quailed, rage.

Shoulder's hunched so he looked as small as possible Gau crept towards the dark haired people. "You angry?" he whimpered.

There was no response, save for a slight jerk in both shoulders.

"Cyan!" he whined, "You angry . . . me?" He twisted his head to the side, barring his throat, and crouched lower to the ground.

"Cyan! You angry . . . me?" Cyan had to be angry. Gau did not smell blood that would mean a bad wound and Cyan had not been like this before so it could not be a bloodless injury that caused pain. This was anger, not pain, but if it was anger then why wasn't Cyan striking out or shouting or doing anything at all?

Gau's belly almost scrapped the dirt he crouched so low. "Cyan! You angry . . . me?"

One of Sabin's huge hands grasped Gau's shoulder and tugged him upright, then some distance away from his worryingly silent companion.

Sabin's gaze flickered from Cyan then back to the still cringing Gau. He lowered his voice to a whisper so only Gau could hear.

"Listen, his family just . . . his family was just murdered. Right in front of him and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Family, friends, kingdom, all gone, just like that," Sabin's throat clenched and his whole body shuddered, "Just then I think you reminded him of his son. So give him some space . . . Okay?"

Many of the people sounds Sabin used were only half familiar, but the tone of his voice conveyed the gravity of the situation perfectly. Pack was friends, that was easy. But family, family was a word Gau didn't know so well. He scrunched up his nose as he thought hard. Family was . . . family was like pack but more. It was the mother and the father and their babies. Gau let out a long low whine. It was pain, not anger that was making Cyan react so. Everything and everyone was gone and never coming back and Cyan was all alone. Gau knew what it was like to be alone.

"Me understand . . ." he told Sabin. Very quietly Gau crept over to Cyan and tapped him lightly on the elbow. Cyan jumped at the unexpected contact and swiped the back of his hand over his eyes before setting his dark eyes on the wild boy. Gau looked up at him with wide eyes set deep in his almost too thin face. The boy made a keening noise in his throat and averted his gaze. "... me sorry," he whimpered, "Gau not mean person . . ."

With that he looked away entirely. He didn't like to hurt things, but he made Cyan hurt, and he would do anything to take it back, because Cyan was a nice people and now he was alone and it already hurt so much sometimes to be alone . . .

Gau flinched when large callused hand patted him gently on the back. "Water under the bridge! Let us not dwell on such things." While many of the people sounds were familiar, Gau could not figure out just what the older people meant by them. But more important than the people sounds themselves was the way in which they were said. Cyan's voice was not happy, even though he tried to make it sound that way. But neither was it angry. Gau dared a glance up at the dark haired people and detected no malice in the deeply lined face. Were things okay now? Did Cyan forgive him for causing him hurt? Taking another risk Gau voiced these concerns with a questioning yip. The lines at the corner of Cyan's eyes wrinkled and his hand once again patted Gau's back. This time he didn't flinch.

"Sir Gau, I have a feeling we will get along quite well. Wilt thou join us?"

Join us? Gau quivered in excitement. No pack here would let him stay for very long because he was a people, but Cyan and Sabin were people like him! Nice people! Nice people who shared food, talked to him, told him their names, played, and didn't get mad even when he did something so so so bad that made Cyan hurt very very much.

Gau threw back his head in an ecstatic howl then bounded joyfully around the watching people. His people! His pack! He didn't have to be alone anymore.

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I love Final Fantasy VI dearly, but good grief sometimes it's difficult to write around the game dialogue! Good thing this is the only chapter I planned to use extensive amounts of it- pretty much because it's one of the only non optional scenes where Gau says more than a sentence or two. I'll try to update this story a touch quicker than I did Sketchpads. The chapters are going to be on the shorter side and I have just eight planned. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!