He was child of innocence, marred by nature. He was......

Gau

An Abandoned Child


Disclaimer:
All characters and items relating to Final Fantasy VI are trademarks of SquareCo.
Squaresoft and Final Fantasy 3 Copyright 1994 Square Co., Ltd.




Near one of the many tributaries to the Lete river, there lived a man and his wife in a solitary house. Their only connection to society was through the chocobo riding merchant that came by once a week. The man and his wife lived happily until one day, the woman had a child..... and died. Yet, there was more burden to come upon the man because the child that his wife bore was deformed. His son looked like a monster of the Veldt. Thus, all these oppressions caused the man to go into a state of insanity. For weeks he wandered around the house, blocking out the cries of his starving child. He would not even look upon the creature that was his son.

One night, the man could not bear it anymore. When the merchant came, the man knocked the merchant off his chocobo and rode it all the way to the Veldt. "Leave me, creature!" the man shouted as he set his son on the ground. "Haunt me with your cries no more!" And with that, the man left his son, feeling no concern at all as to what would happen to the poor child.

Later on, when most of the creatures of the Veldt were about, a small Beaker approached the child. It sniffed it first, then picked it up and took it to a nearby cave. The child did not cry, but actually liked the creature. Then some Peepers crawled around the boy until covered. It was as if they were acting as a blanket for him. The Beaker brought the child some Elixir it had found in a chest and slowly poured it down the child's throat. Then the child was no longer hungry. Thus, the child fell into a deep sleep, safe and protected.

The next day, the Beaker brought the child out onto the Veldt. Suddenly, monsters surrounded them, but the boy was not afraid. Some of the monsters brought pelts and skins from their departed and draped them over the boy. Others brought some food left over from the camps of the Imperial soldiers that continually passed through there. More approached to look into the child's eyes and remember it's scent. For some reason, the monsters felt a special bond with the child and decided to take care of it.

For many years the monsters of the Veldt took care of the child. Travelers from miles around often heard of the boy and came to look for him, but no one had ever tried to capture the boy. Many of the travelers made up stories about the boy. Some said that the Empire created him, others say he was created by magic. Some even said that the monsters had given it the name Gau. Thus, the boy was referred to by that name, even though it wasn't true. Eventually, the boy came to know that name, and even used it when travelers asked his name. Gau even learned some English from the travelers. He wasn't perfect, but at least he was understandable.

One day, the nearby town, known as Mobliz, was taken over by the Empire. Many of the travelers that visited Gau no longer came to the Veldt. Thus, Gau began to feel lonely, even among all the monsters that inhabited the Veldt. Eventually, Gau decided to go to Mobliz to look for the travelers. The entrance of the city was guarded by Magitek Riders and Guards, so Gau tried to sneak in through the side, but he tripped over a cord and fell into a net trap. The Guards quickly ran over and stared oddly at Gau. They had never actually seen Gau and were surprised to find that the stories had been true. They took down the net and decided to put him on display in a cage at the center of the town. Gau struggled to get away, but the guards were far stronger than him. All Gau could do was scream and call out to his monster friends on the Veldt, but no one came to his aid.

For weeks Gau remained in the cage, unable to escape and too tired to call out to his friends. The people in Mobliz continually watched Gau, laughing at him, calling him a freak. There were some in the town who felt sorry for him, but not enough to go against the Imperial Guards.

The Beaker who had first found Gau finally awoke from his hibernation in the cave. He searched the entire Veldt for Gau, but could not find him. As the Beaker happened to pass by Mobliz, it saw Gau locked up in a cage, cold and starving. The Beaker didn't know what to do. He was helpless against the strong power of the Magitek Riders..... Then the Beaker got an idea and returned to the center of the Veldt, calling and screaming out to the other monsters. The monsters gathered around the Beaker and followed him back to Mobliz.

Night fell upon Mobliz as the crowd of monsters reached the city. Only a few of the city's Guards were on watch. The monsters attacked. They rushed through the city, many of them taking out the Guards and Magitek Riders. The Beaker headed straight to where Gau was at. He called to a Nastidon. The huge monster came and rammed at the cage until it splintered into a thousand pieces. The Beaker reached out for Gau's hand and quickly led him out of the city. Before they could escape, a Magitek Rider shot the Beaker straight in the back. At the sight of this, Gau went into a sadistic rage. He leaped on to the Magitek Rider and choked him to death. One by one, Gau went after the Guards and Magitek Riders until they were all dead or wounded. Then he leapt to his Beaker's side and carried it back to its cave.

Gau set the Beaker down and nuzzled his head next to it. Then, slowly, the Beaker stood up and started limping towards a hidden chest that Gau had never seen before. The Beaker opened it and took from it a diver's mask. The Beaker handed it to Gau. "Shiny..." Gau whispered. "Shhhh.....Shiiiiiiiinnnniieee...." the Beaker repeated. Then the Beaker rolled its eyes and fell to the ground. Gau screamed and cried as he bent over the Beaker, but to no avail. The Beaker had been fatally wounded, beyond help.

The next day, travelers started to return to the Veldt, but when they found Gau, they saw that he had a grave look in his eyes. They tried to cheer him up by giving him some dried meat they had bought in Mobliz, but Gau just shouted at them and ran away. From then on, Gau no longer wanted to be human. He remained in the Veldt, only approaching those who offered food or threatened the monsters. Many of the travelers tried to help him, especially when he was hungry, but sometimes he just wouldn't accept help. The Beaker had meant a lot to Gau, and he would never let his memory of it leave his heart.