DAY THIRTY-TWO, WORD THIRTY-TWO: FAITH

"Lieutenant."

"Yes, Cadet?"

"…Were you on my computer?"

Garuru blinked up at me, the set of cards splayed out in front of him.

"No," he said, tilting his head slightly. "Why do you ask?"

I clicked on the bottom tab and opened it, showing him what was displayed on my screen. He examined it curiously, and then flashed an irritated glance at me.

"Are you implying something, Cadet?"

Someone was on this website I had seriously never been on before. It was a baby duck game, apparently one of those little flash things that let you raise and train your own baby ducks.

Though in all honesty they actually looked like fat little chicks to me…

"No, it just makes more sense that-"

"So you are implying something," Garuru said chillingly.

"Lieutenant," I said gently, "I'm only saying that it makes sense."

Garuru closed his eyes patiently, took a deep breath, and then folded his arms. "No, I haven't been on your computer, Cadet."

"….Oh." I blinked at it curiously. "…Huh. Then who was-?"

Suddenly my brother popped out of the closet and dashed out my door.

Garuru and I just… just kind of stared.

"Well that was weird."

Garuru cleared his throat. "…So."

"Right." I pulled up the plastic bag I had left off to the side and set it on my bed. "I got this from Target."

"… 'Target'?"

"It's a store."

"Another one of those 'Dollar Stores'?"

"No," I said with a small chuckle. "Target… it's more expensive." I pulled out an object from the bag and handed it to him. "Here. I got you something."

Garuru blinked at it quizzically. "What is it?"

"It's a sketchbook." I smiled. "I bought you some pencils too, although they may seem a little cheap…"

Garuru hesitantly reached for it and took it. "…Thank you."

"No problem." I felt bad for him. Waiting several hours in a room that smells like apples while doing nothing must be torture for the poor guy.

The purple Keronian stared at the notebook for a moment before tucking it in his sleeping bag.

"I'm going to do some homework now, okay?"

He shrugged.

Ten minutes into my assignment, and I glanced at him again. "…Hey, Lieutenant?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you have homework, too?"

He folded his arms and leaned against the closet-post. "I haven't been contacted by Headquarters yet concerning that matter, so no."

"…Wait." I blinked at him. "…Headquarters… can't they help you with this dilemma?"

Garuru sighed. "No."

"…Why not?"

"We can't reach them."

I gazed at him confusedly.

He chuckled dryly. "This was one of the first things I had talked to New Recruit Tororo about. He mentioned how his computer was merely for leisure activity only, and how the connection isn't nearly as strong enough to contact Headquarters." He rolled one of hands into the other. "We are able to contact others in this planet, hence our ability to talk to Sergeant Major Kururu. And I believe it would be easier just to rebuild our ship rather than ask him to deliver a message to Headquarters for help."

"…How?"

"Messages pending. We are not the only ones in need of assistance; there are…" his voice drifted off somewhat, and he cleared his throat. "The point is, we're comfortable here. In a way. We are in no danger, whereas many Keronians in different places all around the galaxy… all around the galaxies are." He looked down and closed his eyes. "I am only being considerate."

"So it has nothing to do with pride and more with the matter of being considerate."

"…Pride is playing a small role, too."

I smirked.

"Did anything happen at school today?"

I glanced up from my essay and blinked at Garuru, who was playing with the dominoes.

I couldn't help but be slightly insulted that although I had gotten him a sketchbook he didn't get into it right away.

And then I remembered his question.

THUMP!

"Cadet? … Are you alright?"

I felt my face, which was the thing that had landed first when I had tumbled from off my bed onto the floor. I groaned in response.

"Cadet?"

"I think gravity likes me, Lieutenant."

"You're alright."

I laughed weakly and sat up, sliding myself toward the wall that was nearby the bed. "Ow." I then crawled over and peeked over at him. "I'm sorry, but… did you just ask me how was school today?"

"If it's none of my personal business, then I apologize."

"N-no, no! It's just, um…" I rubbed the back of my neck. "You've never really seemed to care about…"
Garuru was silent.

"…We had a new kid today," I said slowly. "Two of them, actually. I… can't remember their names, but they were both guys." I crawled back onto the bed and slid my laptop over so that I could see Garuru. "And seeing how my life is pretty much surrounded by girls, and they were actually kind of shy, come to think of it… I decided to introduce myself to them."

"And how did that go?"

"Well," I shrugged. "It was okay. One of them just kept giving me these weird looks, and I got the impression that he would rather be alone."

"…Did you?"

"I'm annoying, Lieutenant. You know that."

"Indeed."

I gave him a playful grin, and typed a few things on my laptop. "The other one is… interesting, to say the least…. Actually, let's just say that I thought I knew the internet well enough until I met him." I rested my cheek on the palm of my hand, erasing an entire paragraph. "They're both nice enough. Remind me of my old friends."

Garuru nodded, visibly losing interest.

I suddenly felt self-conscious. I cleared my throat. "So. Seeing as this chapter is incredibly dry and dull-"

"Fourth wall."

"I murdered it several chapters ago, Lieutenant."

Again, the purple frog was silent.

"…Unless it came back to life and was now searching for my soul."

"If that is the case, then you are on your own."

"You're cold."

"No, I am being strategic. If you now feel threatened for your life, then it would perhaps motivate you draw a gun and learn how to correctly aim."

"…I was joking, Lieutenant."

Garuru simply shrugged.

"As I was saying, seeing as there really isn't a lot of things going on right now…"

"-…You would like to begin the story telling."

"Yeah." I paused. "…Please."

"Very well then," he replied coolly. "You mentioned that you would like to hear about the situation that was resulted in last story's mishap?"

"…Something wrong with that?"

"No. It's just that I had already something in mind for today."

I perked a brow. "…So…?"

"So I have a proposition- and it won't happen often, so I'm only assuming you'll agree."

"…Yeah?"

"Let's both exchange two experiences for today."

"Whoa. Four stories in one day, Lieutenant?"

"Please don't make me regret making this offer."

"I'll try," I grinned, laughing embarrassedly when I noticed he saw my excitement.

"However."

My face fell slightly. Here we go.

"I expect you to come along with me tomorrow morning for target practice."

"Aha… I should've known there would be some strings attached…"

Garuru stacked the dominoes back in the box. "Well?"

I took a deep breath. "…Okay."

"Good."

"And I'll try not to complain."

"I was expecting you wouldn't anyway."

I rolled my eyes and smirked a little. "I'm glad you have such faith in me, Lieutenant."

"I suppose you start as usual, Cadet."

"Um… okay, let's see…" I leaned against the wall. "…I had these two friends… Jaren and Paulo… and once they came to my door while I was having a little get together with my family. They rang the doorbell, and I answered, surprised that they came by… thinking about it now, how the heck did they know where I lived…? …I guess I should've thought about that a while ago. Anyway! I said I was busy and that they needed to go now. Paulo head butted the door when I tried closing it, and kept ramming it and wouldn't let me close it or lock it. I don't know why; I think they must've thought it was funny. When I finally locked the door, I heard something smash against it. Of course they made noise, and hearing that noise, my dad came into ask what was wrong. When he opened the door, he saw that Jaren and Paulo had left a Target shopping cart right in front of our door. He was seething, and he ran off to have a word with them. That was just… this is why we don't have nice things, Lieutenant."

Garuru blinked blankly at me.

"…Sorry. I'm quoting my friend Penelope." I cleared my throat. "Right. This is why I don't make a lot of friends, Lieutenant. I either make friends with jerks or people who eventually get bored of me and leave me alone. I don't know. Insanity is doing something over and over and over again despite knowing the outcome will be the exact same thing. I guess I'm a little insane in the head." I laughed weakly and gently hit my head. "Yeah." I coughed politely. "Your turn."
Garuru had been giving me a long look, somewhat, almost… barely sympathetic. But just as quickly it had come, it left. He nodded. "Very well."

"Can it be funny? Because I think I just made our readers feel a little bad."

"….Yes, and no comment on the latter suggestion." Garuru relaxed. "I believe I've told enough about my platoon; if you would like, I can begin the two with my family."

"You're family," I smiled. "Giroro and your dad?"

"Yes."

"Cool."

"This was when I was an adolescent," he began. "My father wanted to take Giroro and I out on a road trip. I remember I didn't enjoy it much in the beginning, however. I seemed to have forgotten wh… oh. That's right… It was right after…" his voice shook slightly at the end, and his eyes dilated somewhat, as if he had remembered something.

"…Lieutenant-?"

"…Nothing. I apologize for the inconvenience." He folded his arms and gave me a look- end of discussion. "Moving on."

Yes, they had cars in Keron, though they didn't really use or need it all that often, unless they were going far away or something.

Garuru's home was very convenient in the fact that everything was so close by; his school, his house, the diners, the library, the park. Vehicles honestly weren't that necessary.

However, on this particular trip, their father had rented a car.

Garuru had protested that they didn't have the money, but his father reassured him that he had saved just enough especially for this trip.

Their father was a robust, dulled crimson colored Keronian, with wide, slanted and slightly boxed eyes, his pupils small and red. He had a large, dark mouth, a thick mustache trailing along the top of his lips, matching the black out-of-control eyebrows that hung over his eyes. He had a dark skull for an insignia, it resting on, not the typical hats that were usually worn, but a dark-colored bandana and a blank white spot on his belly.
He actually looked like an older version of Garuru, come to think of it; though he was red, and his eyes were exposed, and he had a friendlier, more inviting, loud personality that sometimes tended to overwhelm people.

His father had said with a smirk that this road/camping trip was going to be the best Father-Sons bonding thing ever.

Giroro was ecstatic, never having been to a campsite before. He brought a blanket and a teddy bear, and was strapped carefully against the musty-scented gray seats in the back of the car.

Garuru was far from ecstatic.

"Dad, I don't want to go," he said, irritated. "I think we'd have just a good time at home."

"Oh, it won't be the same. You haven't talked me out of it yesterday, or the day before, or the day before, and you won't talk me out of now."
Garuru rolled his eyes.

"Besides," his father said, "you'll have your music with you, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And you have your sketchbook?"

Garuru didn't answer.

"…You do have your sketchbook, don't you-?"

"I'm not going to need it."

His father frowned and folded his arms. "Garuru. Remember what your therapist said-"

"I hate drawing. I don't want to do it."

"Get your sketchbook. Now. It's an order, Garuru."

Garuru licked his lips and lowered his eyes to the ground, muttering about how lame this thing was going to be as he stomped past his dad to get the stupid book.

("…How old were you?" "I was entering the adolescent stage. Unless I remember incorrectly, I believe I wasn't even in high school yet." "…Seriously?" "Yes. Why did you ask?" "Because you sound so much like a teenager. It's different from the other times you told stories of when you were younger." …. "Yes, Cadet… it's different." I only gazed at him quizzically, but like before, he brushed the subject off. "Giroro was very young, keep that in mind. He was maybe a year or two into his schooling." "So you guys really have a large gap in your age, then." I paused. "…What did your dad mean by 'therapist'-?" "Moving on, Cadet.")

"Lame, says the city boy," his father said with a grin, leaning over to rub his son's head. Garuru irritably pushed it away and walked inside the car, slamming the door. The older Keronian ambled over to the front, buckled up, and turned on the vehicle. "You're going to have fun, kiddo. Trust me. We'll build a fire, roast marshmallows, tell ghost stories until it's late at night, I'll bring out the Ukulele…"

"Not the Ukulele," Garuru said, horrified. "Please. I absolutely beg you."

"You liked the Ukulele before. Put you to sleep."

"That was, what. When I was a kid?"

"You're still a kid."

Garuru glowered at his father through the rearview mirrors, and fumed when he saw his dad give him a good-natured grin.

"I like the Ukulele," Giroro squeaked from beside him.

Garuru's look softened when he turned to see his brother, all bundled up in the blanket with that ragged teddy bear in his arms, and shut up, instead choosing to plug in his earphones and turn up the volume. "Whatever."

Several hours into the trip later, listening to his music, Garuru turned and leaned his back toward the window, propping his legs against the middle of the seat. He pulled out the worn brown book, opened to a fresh page, and began to draw Giroro sleeping.

"Draw whatever makes you happy, when you're happy. Do this everyday. Look at it occasionally- it will help."

The small tadpole had the blanket drooped over his head loosely, with his head against the seatbelt, his shoulders sagging slightly. His arms were tight around the teddy bear that was held upside down, the legs hanging limply over his own legs. The middle of the younger brother's face would wrinkle as he wiggled his nose, or an occasional yawn would break his serene features.

No matter.

Every facial expression was captured in a quick, amateur sketch- rough, thin, faded lines and circles is what it was.

Garuru put the book away, assignment done for now, and sat more appropriately, his elbow against the window pane as he stared out at the scenery.

The bright, cared-for green grass of his home had, along the way, degraded into something dark and wild. Garuru found his eyes were straining to keep up with the landscapes as the car mercilessly drove past it.

The colors sloppily meshed together, running like a watercolor painting, blending together.

Garuru closed his eyes, unable to look at it anymore. He flipped off his visor and rubbed them. Oh, it hurt.

"You alright back there?"

The elder brother blinked irritably to the older Keronian.

"Are we going home now?"

"Nope."

"Then I'm not alright."

"You teenagers…" His father glanced at the rearview mirror to see Giroro sleeping peacefully at the side before flickering them to the elder brother. He cleared his throat. "…Garuru."

His son was quiet.

"…I realize this is hard on you, but try to lighten up a little, okay? Look. Giroro's excited… it's his first time coming out here. It wouldn't hurt to try to smile a little. I think your attitude is scaring him a little."

Garuru refused to say anything to this.

"…Garuru…"

"I don't want to talk to you right now. Stop."

His father sighed. "Alrighty then. But if you do, then…. I'm right here… okay?"

He could feel his father's disappointment when he again decided not to respond.

Garuru woke up with a start. He looked around wearily, a bit surprised to see that the sky had melted into a black color, when it was orange an hour or so ago. He yawned. "We there yet, dad?"

His father said nothing.

"…Dad?"

"I, uh…" he had laughed nervously, "I think we're lost."

It took a moment for that to sink in.

"….WHAT?!"

Giroro sat straight up, his eyes dilated and gray at the sudden noise.

Garuru glanced at him briefly, blushed slightly at this, and muttered an apology, encouraging the small tadpole to go to sleep.

Giroro didn't.

"Did something happen?"

The purple Keronian shot a glare to their dad.

"…Daddy?"

"Everything's going to be okay, kiddo," their father said with a weak grin. "Everything's going to be okay. Try and go back to sleep."

Giroro unclipped the seatbelt.

"Giroro-" Garuru protested, before falling silent when his younger brother crawled over him, falling softly against his belly. Giroro poked a thumb in his mouth and nuzzled his face against Garuru's chest.

Garuru shook his head and gently stroked Giroro's back. So small.

When he felt his brother's chest heave gently in and out, Garuru gave an irritated glare to his father.

"What do you mean you think we're lost?" Garuru said in a vengeful, heated whisper.

Garuru's dad shrugged, as if this was a normal occurrence for him. "I said what I said. We're lost."

"Y… you're an idiot, dad." Garuru said it in the most scathingly, most annoyed and most scolding way possible without having to raise his voice. He shook his head and sighed. "Alright, then. Ask for directions."

"No."

"Why not?"

"If there's one thing a man doesn't do, it's ask for directions."

Garuru couldn't believe this. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm not. I'm your average stereotypical man, Garuru. You'll have to understand that."

Garuru could feel his cheeks growing cold, and then hot all at once in broiling anger. He looked out the window into the raven night, the stars beginning to twinkle.
The car had stopped in a parking lot, in some little town that was more than likely far away from his own.

Carefully, he held Giroro's blanket against his little brother, unbuckled himself, threw open the door, and walked out with Giroro in arms.

His father made a stumbling noise as he struggled to unlatch the door, opening it to look out. "W…Where do you think you're going?!"
Garuru covered Giroro's ears. "To ask for directions, stupid!" His patience was oh-so thin. To his aggravation, he heard the rumble of the car go off behind him, and the lights beaming on his back as his father followed him.

The windows rolled open. Garuru walked on.

"Garuru, get in the car."

"No. We're lost. I'm going to ask for directions."

His father rose a brow. "…With Giroro?"

"Yes."

"…What if you two get mugged?"

Garuru sucked in a breath. "It's better than being with you."

"Pfft. Stop being overdramatic, Garuru. Get in the car."

"No."

His father tapped his fingers impatiently against the wheel. After a while of slowly driving next to his son, he sighed. "I know where we are."

"…Do you."
"Yes, yes I do."

Garuru could see his father squeeze the steering wheel, the knuckles bulging slightly.

"Get in. It's cold; Giroro could get sick."

It wasn't until he had pointed that out when Garuru realized it was true. He suddenly was aware of his small brother shivering under the blanket, nuzzling his chest for warmth.

The purple Keronian sighed and consented, waiting for the car to stop before he opened the door and softly closed it beside him.

"You aren't going to get us lost again-?"

"Garuru. I know where we are. Go to sleep; we'll be there in about half an hour."

Garuru perked a brow, but said nothing to this, shifting around so that his back was against the door and his feet were against the seats in front of him, Giroro lying quietly on his belly.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"…Psst… Garuru."

"Mmm…" Garuru rubbed his eye. "W… what…?"

He heard his father sigh. "I tried doing this without you, but I can't. Can you help me out?"

"Uh… sure…"

"Wrap Giroro up, please, and leave him there. And then follow me." His father turned around and walked off.

The purple Keronian did as he was told and curiously ran after his dad, wondering what this was about.

"Do you know how to set up a tent?"

Garuru blinked at him sleepily. "Hunh…?"

"Do you know how to set up a tent?"

"…I can learn…"

"Well, then," the crimson Keronian shook his head slightly. "Can you make a fire?"

"That I can do."

"Good. Then do that, and I'll set up the tent."

Garuru looked around the area wearily. "What time is it?"

"Around midnight," his father replied somewhat embarrassedly. "I tried to do this without waking you up, but then… you're right. It's late. Go back to-"

Garuru waved his hand dismissively. "I got it, dad. Don't worry about it."

It took them about twenty minutes to pitch the tent and create a little fire. When they were done, his father only too happily set the sleeping bags inside the tent while Garuru ran off to get his little brother. He opened the door and blinked, unable to resist a smile for the small tadpole. He leaned down and gently picked him up, resting Giroro's head against his shoulder.

"Ready to go to bed?" his father asked softly, moving to the side as Garuru slipped inside the tent.

"Oh, yes," his son mumbled, carefully plopping Giroro next to him.

Garuru really didn't give a frog that the ground was hard, or that it was chillier than he would've been comfortable to, or that his father had a snore that couldn't compare to a raging train about to slam against a random brick wall.

He dropped dead the second his head hit the pillow.

It was around seven in the morning when Garuru woke up.

He yawned loudly and stretched, rolling his shoulders.

"Hi, big bro!" Giroro pounced on him from behind and hugged him. "Sleepy head!"

Garuru grinned and gently gave a noogie to his brother, who giggled and ran out. The older Keronian followed him out and shivered slightly, the cool air tingling his skin.

It was a nice smell that drifted about; the warm smoke mingling with the natural scent of the trees around them. The ground was covered with tiny twigs. Garuru hastily brushed them away from the fire, knowing that the floating embers could spark a series of fires around their campsite. Giroro was playing with something, poking a stick at it.

"What are you…" Garuru blinked blankly, and then frowned. "…Giroro."

"Yeah?"

"…What are you doing?"

"Playing with a bug."

Garuru took a deep breath, muttered something unintelligible under his breath, and walked off, deciding that he wasn't even going to bother. He straddled over to his father, who was making something over the fire.

"That smell good, Garuru?"

The purple Keronian huffed slightly and folded his arms. "I'm still mad at you over last night."

"Hey, I was playing around with you. I just wanted to see how you were going to react."

"Well, I- wait.…it was a joke?"

His dad shrugged. "Pretty much."

"IT WAS A JOKE?!"

His father gave him a side look. "To be honest with you, I was hoping you were going to cry, but apparently now you're a little too old for that-"

"You've got to be frogging kidding me!"

"Hey." His dad pointed a piece of smoked ham at him. "Mind your language. At least in front of your brother."

Garuru was fuming. "I-…! I'm done with you, dad!"

"I'm done, too." His father turned around and served his meal on a plastic plate. "Here you go. ….Now look what you've done, throwing meals into a fire and causing a small explosion. That was a waste of food right there, Garuru-"

"Done! Done, done, done!" Garuru spun around and irritably went inside the tent, zipping it up.

He then realized to his annoyance that he had left all of his stuff in dad's car. That, and it was getting warm inside.

When he stepped out again, Giroro waved a fork at him.

"Big broooo! Come and eat this yummy stuff!"

Garuru's lips twitched slightly.

"Come sit next to me!"

Garuru rolled his eyes up to the sky and cursed whoever decided to give him such a cute little tadpole for a brother. He consented, but sat as far away from his father as possible while still sitting next to Giroro.

They ate breakfast in silence.

After they were done and cleaning up their spot, their dad proposed a hike. While Garuru wasn't to enthusiastic about the idea, Giroro wanted to go. They ended up putting out the fire and heading off, coming back briefly for Garuru's sketchbook, much to the adolescent's annoyance.

"What am I going to do with this up there?" he protested.

His dad grinned. "You'd be surprised."

After about half an hour's worth of just ambling around, they stopped at a small, spacey area, the place completely filled with bright colored flowers. Their father pronounced himself an old man and sat down on a fallen log, resting his hands on his knees as he breathed in and out.

Giroro played "The Train Game", in which he was a conductor in an imaginary train filled with imaginary Keronians, and played in the meadow, running and making paths with his tiny body, sending pollen to the sky.

Garuru sat down against a tree and reluctantly brought out his book again, turning it to a random page, not particularly caring about going in order. He just flipped and flipped until he came upon a white one, subtly surprised at how much of the sketchbook he had already gotten through.

Now where's Giroro?

…Where's Giroro?

Garuru stood up, startled, his face taking on a worried expression as he gazed about the open field.

"Gi-!"

"BOO!"

"GAH!" Garuru spun around, his cheeks turning pink as he saw Giroro giggling, covering his mouth to stiffle the laughter. He then said, probably more in aggravated humiliation than anger, "Don't do that again."

"I won't," Giroro said, biting his lip.

"You scared me," the older brother muttered, sitting back down. "I thought you had gotten lost or kidnapped."

"I won't do that," Giroro said sincerely. He plopped beside him. "Hey! Are you drawing something again? What are you drawing? Can you draw me?"

"Uh… sure." Garuru decided it would be best not to mention that he was already going to draw him anyway. He cleared his throat. "So. What are you up to?"

"Nothing much. Jiroro jumped out of the train again."

"Mmhm," Garuru smirked. "Did he die again?"

"Uh-huh. But then he got back on the train and married Miss Furbottom."

"I thought Miss Furbottom was married to Agugu?"

"Yeah, but she killed him before he died."

"Why?"

"Because he ate the last banana."

"Ah. That makes sense. How was the wedding?"

"It was good. The cake was yummy."

"What flavor was it?"

"Bro, will you marry me?"

"Eh?" Garuru put down his book and stared at his brother, who was gazing back at him with utmost seriousness. Well that didn't come out of nowhere. "…What?"

"I said, 'will you marry me'?"

"…Uh…" Garuru tapped the pen against his cheek. "…How would that work, Giroro?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, usually there's a bride, and a groom…"

"What are those?"

"Uh, the bride is usually the girl in the white dress, and the groom is the one standing at the other end."

"Ooohhh," Giroro nodded. "Okay. I can be the one at the end."

"I'm not going to be the one wearing the dress, Giro- wait. Why are we even talking about this?" Garuru shook his head. "You do know what getting married means, don't you?"

Giroro looked up at the sky. "Uh…"

"Exactly," Garuru grinned slightly and looked back down at his sketchbook. "I'm going to hold this against you when you're older. You know that, don't you?"
His little brother blinked at him. "…So is that a yes?"

"That's a no, Giroro."

"Aww…"

The little red Keronian forgot all about the fact he was being drawn and ran back over to the fields, resuming his play of conductorship. Garuru proceeded to sketch him all the way, fumbling irritably over the eraser and removing circles and squares that didn't come out the way he liked it.

Ugh. If only he wasn't such a perfectionist…

"You're pretty good at that."

Garuru started slightly and turned his head upward to his father, who was leaning against the tree he was sitting against, smirking. The adolescent huffed and slammed the book closed, looking away.

"Seriously, Garuru. You're not that bad. Sure you have a few rough spots, but I think you can be a pretty good artist if you-"

"I'm not going to be an artist, dad."

Garuru's father held up his hands defensively. "Alright, alright. I was just saying." He folded his arms, resting his shoulder on the tree. "So. What have you been drawing?"

The stupid therapist just told me to draw something that made me happy. Even for a little bit."

"Wow. You happy?"

Garuru glowered at him, his parent chuckling.

"If that look don't kill anybody, your friendly smile will."

The smaller frog rolled his eyes.

"So you draw whatever makes you happy?"

"That's pretty much what I just said, dad."

"So Giroro makes you happy?"

Garuru clicked his tongue. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, by the way you look at him, I could tell that it's been mainly him you've been drawing." His father became quiet for a moment, before going on, "…Hey. I… I know this is a long shot, and it may sound kind of… I can't think of the word. But have you drawn me at all?"

"Blunt. Blunt is the word, dad." Just like his father. Loud, obnoxious, and annoyingly, tactlessly blunt.

"…Well?"

Garuru shrugged. "I may have sketched you once or twice in here."

His father beamed. "Really? Can I see?"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon!"

"No, dad. This is not for prying eyes." When the older Keronian tried getting to it, Garuru had to sit down on it to keep his hands off. His father sat down next to him, exhausted from that short-lived struggle.

"What else do you draw in there?"

Garuru shrugged. "Just you and Giroro."

"Really?"

"A teacher, too. Just one."

"You drew your teacher?"

"He's a good teacher. Funny." Garuru bit the end of his pencil, his mind lost in thought. "…He makes me think about a lot of things."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like what I want to do when I grow up."

Garuru's father blinked at him pleasantly. "And what's that?"

"I think I want to be a sniper."

"You'd do a good job at it."

"…You think so?"

"Definitely."

Garuru nodded. "…I have to improve my aim, though. I'm not that good yet."

"You will be. Practice makes perfect."

"…Thanks, dad."

"No problemo, kiddo." His father gently ruffled his head, this time Garuru letting him do so. When he was done, he sat back down and relaxed. "…So. Me, Giroro, and your teacher."

"Pretty much."

"…What about that girl?"

"…Girl?" Garuru repeated slowly. "…What girl?"

"The one that used to come over a lot. I can't remember her name, though. …Come to think of it… she stopped coming, didn't she?"

"…Oh, her." Garuru shrugged dismissively. "I don't know what happened."

"You never drew her in your book?"

"Um… not really," the purple Keronian said, somewhat forgetting his father was beside him as he opened up his sketchbook to another blank page.

"She was a nice girl, though."

"She was."

His father playfully nudged him. "…Did you like her?"

"…Huh?" Garuru gazed back up at him, blinking. "Did I… like her?"

He grinned. "Yeah."

"I guess so? Like you said, she was nice enough."

His dad tilted his head slightly. "What happened exactly?"

"I told you, I don't know," Garuru shrugged. "When I first met her, she told me she liked me, and wanted to know if she could hang out with me. I said, sure. Why not? I needed a study partner anyway. So she just sort of started following me around, asking me to go to the café with her, to the movies, asked me if I could carry her books, to the park together..."

"You did go out with her, didn't you?"

"Of course. She asked politely. Anyway, one day she said something… I can't remember what… and I guess I said something that made her mad, because suddenly she told me that I would never understand her feelings and she struck me across the face. And then she ran away crying. I thought she was having a bad day so I left her alone. Her friends were mad at me. It was weird. And then after that incident, I never really saw her again."

"…Wow."

"I know. It was a very odd experience-"

"I was talking about you."

Garuru didn't see that coming. He turned to his father again. "Excuse me?"

"I just… wow." His parent face palmed. "I can't… wow, Garuru. It… nothing. It was nothing."

Garuru gave him a quizzical look, but he gave up. "Alright, whatever you say…"

After hiking around for a little more, they returned to their campsite and sat down, Garuru starting back the fireplace as Giroro excitedly sat nearby, watching with curious, child-like wonder. Their father pulled out the Ukulele.

"No… anything but that!"

Their dad ignored him and played it anyway.

("I like your dad." "Quiet, Cadet.")

It was a torturous afternoon.

Well, at least it put Giroro to sleep.

"…Hey," their father gently prodded Garuru on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Garuru turned his attention to him, grateful for whatever distraction ceased that horrible instrumental playing.

"…Let's play a prank on Giroro."

Garuru wrinkled his nose. "Huh?"

"You heard me."

The purple Keronian blinked at him and then gazed at the tiny tadpole that was bundled in his blanket, on the floor. How could he do such a thing to his sweet little brother…?

Garuru looked back at his father. "What's the plan?"

They parked the car far off and hid in the trees just a little ways from the campsite. Giroro's dad made a loud, bird-like noise that startled Giroro awake, the small red Keronian looking around sleepily.

Garuru smirked as Giroro began to realize that he was all alone, the latter jerking his head fearfully side to side.

"Daddy? Garuru? … Th-this isn't funny! Where are you?!" Held back by some sort of parental barrier, Giroro didn't dare go too far away from the site. He hastily ran toward the tent and peeked inside, immediately hopping back out when it was clear that his family wasn't there.

"Daddy…? G-…Garuru…?" Giroro's eyes began to shimmer with tears. Finally, he sat down and began to cry, his small fists on his face.

"Aw, dad…"

"Yeah, I know. He's adorable."

Garuru grinned. "We're going to have to reveal ourselves sooner or later. We should do it now before Giroro does something that we regret."

"Can't it be later?"

Garuru rolled his eyes gently and came out of his hiding spot, walking up to his little brother and placing a hand on his hat. When Giroro glanced up and saw who it was, he attached himself to his leg and refused to let go.

Giroro wasn't pleased when he heard that those two schemed to trick him, and played the silent treatment, folding his arms and sitting at a corner.

It didn't last very long, though, because all Garuru had to do was ask if he could draw Giroro's teddy bear.

Giroro was only too happy to oblige.

When night spilled across the sky, and the only light provided was the soft rays of the milky moon above them and the flickering flame before them, their parent proposed a scary story.

Garuru and Giroro exchanged a glance, unsure of how to think of this.

"I'll start it," their father said, "and then Garuru will continue on from there, and then Giroro, and then me. We'll just keep going until we reach a dead end."

"Okay…" Garuru said slowly, unsurely. "Go ahead, then, dad."

He cleared his throat.

"Once upon a time… there was a Keronian woman who was walking in the woods, all by herself, when suddenly… you go, Garuru."

Garuru licked his lips. "Um. Okay. When suddenly she heard a noise… 'snap!' Who was there, who was there? Is that good enough?"

"That's really good. Your turn, Giroro."

Little Giroro thought hard. "… It was a bunny. I'm done."

Garuru coughed into his hand, stifling the laugh that struggled to come out. His father simply grinned.

"Okie-doke! It was a bunny. Alright. Going on: …But there was just something… was not right. 'Snap!' came the noise again. It wasn't just a rabbit; it was something larger, something bigger… Garuru."

"She turned around. 'Who's there?' she finally demanded. 'Who's following me?' And then he came out… Giroro."

"He was… uh…" Giroro thought hard about this, his eyes trailing up to the sky. "…He was a sea cucumber!"

"Sea cucumbers aren't scary!" Garuru said, folding his arms.

Giroro nodded solemnly. "They are." He shivered. "I don't like them."

Garuru at this point noticed his father's eyes mist slightly, and he looked a little… uncomfortable. Garuru perked a brow. "…Dad-?"

"Um. I'm… kind of tired now… do you guys mind if we turn in early? We have to get everything packed up so that we could head back home, you know, and I want you guys to have a good night's sleep."

Giroro protested for a little bit, but after making Garuru and their dad promise he wouldn't leave him again, he consented and disappeared into the little tent, Garuru following after him.

"Giroro?" Garuru whispered, letting his brother sink against the blankets and cuddle up next to him. "What's so scary about sea cucumbers?"

"I don't like them."

"…Why not?"

"Because when I was being bad, mom would lock me up in a scary box with sea cucumbers. I don't like them. They bite you when they get mad, sometimes."

Garuru had never heard of sea cucumbers biting people. "…Wait. Mom would… lock you up?"

Giroro nodded. "I didn't like it, but mom said I wasn't good. She kept saying I wasn't good and she would put me in there. Daddy threw away the box, though."

Garuru remained silent, his hand weakly stroking against the back of Giroro's head. He felt pale all of a sudden, when he remembered. When Giroro fell asleep, his heart hardened, and his eyes would not stop staring at the tent flaps where his father would slink in any second now.

He would have a discussion with him concerning this troubling phobia…. And where it came from…

("…Garuru?" "…Yes, Cadet?" "…Nothing. I'm sorry. Go on.")

Garuru woke up in a lake, shivering.

"…What?!"

Water droplets fell down his face, dripping into the mass of liquid below.

"Quack!"

Garuru stared blankly at a duck that had floated toward him, its dumb black eyes gazing unintelligently back at him.

"Quack!"

Garuru stood up, splashing water around him. The duck quacked loudly and flapped his wings away, his orange feet smacking against the water as it struggled to make its escape.

"DAD!"

"Have a nice swim?" their father asked smoothly, making the eggs over the fire again.

Garuru was fuming. "SO IT WAS YOU!"

Giroro was giggling. "Me too, me too! It was my idea!"

"What?!"

"Yeah," Giroro said eagerly. "It was me! Daddy was the one that picked you up and put you there, though. But it was my idea!"

"You little traitor!" Garuru said, scooping Giroro into his arms and attacking him with a flurry of tickles.

"S-stop it!" the tadpole giggled when his older brother proceeded to run his fingers down his belly. "Th-that's my funny spot!"

"You shouldn't have told me that, you know."

Their father only laughed.

"And that was it of the trip?" I asked, tilting my head to the right.

"Yes. Giroro and I spent the last bit of it trying to get our father back."

"Did you?"

"Unfortunately, no," Garuru's lips twitched slightly. "At least… not at that time."

"…So-"

"That is a story for another time, Cadet."

I gazed up at the ceiling in musing thought and then looked at him. "Hey, Lieutenant? I noticed you brought up animals that even I recognized…"

"…Your point?"

"Ducks, bunnies, wolves… I guess my point is… aren't they earth animals? I mean, how do you know about them? Do you guys like, study them in school or something…?"

"No. They're imported from different planets."

I stared at him. "…What?"

Garuru nodded. "You are aware that… what are they called again… horses. Horses, correct? Yes… horses aren't native to this continent. They were brought from else where, am I right?"

"…Right," I said slowly. "…Wait. How did you-"

"Similarly," Garuru continued smoothly, "There are some animals that are native from Keron and other planets as well; theses animals were brought along with the pioneers that wanted to explore Pekopon. Some of the animals, understandably, managed to escape and breed either amongst themselves or with different animals of somewhat similar species to create the animals you know now. Ducks, rabbits, and wolves are just some of the animals that we as Keronians know."

"Oh… that actually makes sense."

"Indeed." Garuru sat down and gazed up at me. "I also have a question for you, actually, if you don't mind."

"Sure. Shoot."

"You never told me about your siblings… if you can share an experience from that, I would be grateful."

"From my sibs?"

Garuru nodded.

"Oh. Okay." I smiled. Not too personal, which is nice. "Um… let's see… There's this one time I…"

"And that's the story."

Garuru blinked, and then gazed around wearily. "…I have a feeling that our conversation was cut short somehow. Literally."

"Ah, well," I shrugged. "That's how it goes. I know that I'm ripping off from Ruby's chapter but this chapter is already too long on it's own."

"…Fourth wall-"

"Murdered," I reminded him, "Brutally. And they're not going to catch me."

"….Very well. But in all, that was an interesting experience."

"The world will never know."

"…I beg your pardon-?"

"Your turn, Lieutenant."

"…Very well."

There was a sound resembling thunder and there was a violent shake.

Exhausted from the last mission, for a moment Garuru didn't even seem to care. He simply turned to the side and tried to go back to sleep, his mind reeling about how annoying the ship was being at the moment.

"Lieutenant…"

Something shook his shoulder.

"Mm… please leave me alone…" Garuru muttered, furrowing his brow.

"Lieutenan- whoa!" SMASH!

Garuru sat up (and noticed that it was somehow difficult to do so) and saw Taruru's entire body slammed flat against his wall.

The purple Keronian grunted irritably. "What are you doing?"

Taruru unstuck himself and held his arm against the wall, trying desperately to keep his balance.

"We're- we're falling, Lieutenant!"

"…What?"

Suddenly, an unrecognizable force tumbled him out of bed.

Garuru groaned, feeling his head.

"What's falling, private?!" he asked loudly, trying to process his brain to what was going on.

"The ship, sir! We're falling!"

Garuru's eyes dilated. He stood up immediately, his arm erect as he pointed down the door. "Go wake up the others. Now."

Taruru nodded, relieved that the leader was finally taking some reasonable action. He struggled to the door and grabbed onto whatever was available as he traveled down the rooms.

Garuru's hands were sliding, his hands clutching at whatever surface that could keep him stable and on his feet as he walked down to the control room.

He was mildly surprised to see Zoruru there, grabbing the steering wheel and pulling it, trying to make the ship go back to a more natural position.

And he was currently failing at that particular aspect.

"Lance Corporal!"

Zoruru jumped slightly and shot his head over his shoulder, his features softening just very slightly as Garuru now attempted to aright the ship with steering wheel. He pulled hard, and received an eerie shudder from the ship itself. He gazed at the screen and stared at it, realizing to his surprise that the "A.P." wasn't flashing at the corner, and when his eyes flickered down to the panel, he saw that the lever hadn't even been pulled. At all. He hit his forehead several times with his palm, coming to the conclusion that this was all his fault.

"Lieutenant!"

Garuru didn't need to turn around to know that was Tororo coming in. A few more breaths made him realize that Pururu and Taruru were behind him, but he didn't dare remove his eyes from the screen.

Another vicious shake brought all the Keronians who weren't clutching onto something down, Pururu falling over Zoruru, Taruru falling over Tororo.

An intermix of voices of concern and annoyance were uttered as the four tried to pick themselves up again:

"I'm sorry, Lance Corporal!"

"OW! GET YOUR BLUE BUTT OFF OF MY FACE!"

"Oops. Okay."

"Are you alright, Chief Medic?"

"I'm fine, but-"

Garuru held his breath as the clouds that had spread around him began to disperse, landing quickly rushing against the screen.

"Hold on tight!" he yelled, turning his face to the side as he prepared for the ship to take a giant leap.

It crashed into red vegetation, the metal screaming as it skidded against the red dirt, Garuru wincing and half-mentally telling himself he was going to need about ten gallons of paint in order to fix the mess he could feel the ship was in.

Half-mentally, because he was half-asleep and wasn't thinking as logically as he felt he should have.

The force threw everyone in different directions, even Garuru, who had let the brief shock loosen his fingers around the wheel.

He had been hurled against the wall, one of the books under the bookshelf wobbling and eventually landing on his head.

Four books, to be precise, and they were all very, very heavy.

…Why is there a bookshelf in the control room?!

Garuru rubbed his head, beginning to breathe regularly when the ship sighed to a stop. There were moans and groans as they picked themselves up, rubbing whatever part of their body that had gotten sore from the ship's crash.

"Is everyone alright?" Pururu asked, gazing around her.

There were nods and mumbled replies, much to the Chief Medic's release. "Good."

Garuru's fingers were working at his scalp as he examined the controls and the screen. Or cracked screen, he noted. He felt Goosebumps travel up his arm, and he cringed. It was going to need repair, and fast… "The ship is damaged and there is no fuel," Garuru acknowledged blankly. "We have to go and look for anyone who could help us." He turned to his platoon. "Now, please."

They nodded apprehensively and walked out, Zoruru in the lead, Taruru in the back, Tororo with Pururu.

"Oh, what happened to your face?" Pururu asked sympathetically, gently running her fingers down his cheek.

"Taruru sat on my face, that's what happened!" Tororo shuddered. "His butt is a scary place, Chief Medic. A scary place."

Pururu giggled nervously. "I bet it is…" She looked at Garuru with a tired smile, and he made a simple, one-movement nod as he walked past her, the two tadpole-like aliens following close behind him.

Zoruru had been the first to step out, observing the place where their ship had shakily landed. Garuru was the second, cringing slightly at the shock of the sudden redness that surrounded them. He turned back to the ship and examine the craft carefully, his eyes trailing to the hairline fractures and the dented metal, and the crimson stains and the chipped paint…

"This is going to take forever to fix!" Tororo said, putting his hand against the cool metal. Garuru agreed, annoyed.

"It's so eerie here…" Pururu said softly beside Garuru, who glanced at her briefly before looking back at his ship. "It looks like a desolate planet, Lieutenant… it feels so… so empty… There's not even any wind-"

"What happened?" Taruru piped up from next to Zoruru, who was blinking and taking in the red planet. "Why did we crash?"

"Well…" A sudden thought flashed against Garuru's mind, and he turned his attention to the floor. "…I suppose we fell asleep and…" He closed his eyes. "…I didn't turn on autopilot…" He ran his hands against a crack that had opened up, the ugly gash sharp at the sides. "We slept to the point where the ship ran out of fuel…" He couldn't even look at his teammates, his fist curling in. How could anyone dare, especially him, make such a stupid, drastic mistake? He knew someone could have died due to this horrible failure.

His platoon respectably stared at him, the notion of saying something irate to him nonexistent in their minds.

"Well."

Or so he thought.

"That's certainly great," Zoruru quipped, folding his arms. Garuru had turned and glared at him, the cyborg hastily apologizing in response and taking a step back in response.

"Wow, this is pretty creepy," Tororo said, biting his lower lip. He inched toward the entrance to their spacecraft. "We should leave."

"What's wrong? Scared?" Taruru teased, poking Tororo's belly. The younger platoon member slapped his hand away and scowled.

"We can't leave," Garuru said pointedly. "Not without fuel and a damaged ship. Come."

He took the lead as they hesitantly walked around, their eyes barely adjusting to the rubicund vegetation. They used smoke signals and S.O.S. fireworks, shooting them toward the sky and lingering to see if they could hear or at least acknowledge some part of life, some sort of sign that they weren't the only life forms there.

As Taruru climbed a tree and yelled something at the top of his lungs, Garuru couldn't help but feel that this planet looked… familiar. He never recalled having been to this place; he was sure he would have at the very least remembered landing here before. Maybe it had come across his planet studies when he was in high school…? When he was training in military school…? A hobby…?

He couldn't remember, but red foliage… it still felt familiar. Like he had at least heard of it…

"We should go back to the ship now, Lieutenant," Taruru said, his coarse voice barely above a whisper. "Nobody's coming."

Garuru's shoulders dropped just very slightly. "…Very well."

He ushered the team together and they made their way back, feeling exhausted more than before and utterly defeated.

The leader knew that he wasn't the only one beginning to feel hopeless, either.

"What should we do now?" Tororo asked, plopping down on the ground. He gazed tiredly up at the sky, his arms behind him holding him up.

Garuru noticed Zoruru's eye spark a bit as he moved his range of sight from the ship to another place in the forest.

"Someone should stand on top of something tall and look around," Zoruru said. "…Taller," he emphasized when Taruru began to the protest that he just was somewhere tall a moment ago.

"Like what, though?" Pururu asked, looking at him. "Like the ship?"

"No," Zoruru shook his head. "Something that overlooks at least part of the area. Maybe we could see some sort of civilization or… I don't know, something. Maybe we could find something that could be our ship's place of fuel, and we could at least get it to the nearest, more well-known planet to get it properly repaired."

"…Good thinking, Lance Corporal," Garuru said with a nod. "Yes. Let's do that."

In maybe a mile within radius of the ship, they came across a cliff that hung over the lower part of the incredibly dense forest.

More red.

Ugh. Even through his yellow visor.

He would never look at his father or his brother the same way again.

"Hey, look!" Taruru cried out, his voice back, his finger outstretched to a specific area. "Smoke! Do you think there's a village there?"

Garuru strained his eyes to see. Amidst the thick undergrowth was a small, bald clearing, wisps of (thankfully) gray smoke softly wavering up to the air. "Good eye, Private. Let's go check it out." He turned around and walked back to the ship, his platoon curiously going after him.

"Uh… Lieutenant?" Tororo spoke up, "…The, uh, the village is that way, right?"

"We need to go back and pack some supplies," Garuru said patiently. "I doubt we'll be there in a span of a few hours. Might as well bring some food with us, correct?"

His team nodded agreeably.

Tororo insisted on packing loads of snacks but Garuru turned the suggestion down. He was too tired to be carrying pounds of extra weight around; he honestly just wanted to bring a light sack with the essentials only and just go on with finding the village. He hoped their destination had, at the very least, some sort of fuel to get their ship going.

They went on their way.

The group was oddly quiet for a while, with only an occasional comment on the unusual foliage around them ("Do you think the food here is edible?" "I wonder why there's so many of only one plant…" "Let's all hope that Taruru's butt doesn't become a thinking organism, because I'm sure that it'll one day rule the earth if we're not careful." [these last words were spoken by Tororo in the most serious tone the Lieutenant had heard all day; the small New Recruit wasn't pleased at all when the other members stifled a laugh from this outrageous thought.])

An hour had past when Taruru, his voice fully healed, said, "I think we're lost. We already saw that plant. It's red," he explained to their benefit.

"I'm sure every other plant is red here, smart one," Zoruru retorted irritably.

"Oh. Well, it's such a weird color for a plant." Taruru walked off to the side and curiously poked the red flower.

Suddenly, the plant shivered, opening up its clamped buds and revealing startling teeth that grew and sharpened, the disheveled vines that were scattered around it coming to life, thorns poking out viciously.

All of the red plants around the platoon took this monster's queue, repeating its actions and coming to life, spiky vines whipping around them.

Garuru drew his weapon, Pururu materialized her needle, Zoruru prepared his arm and Taruru took on a defensive stance.

"Get be behind me, New Recruit," Garuru cried out, shooting the attacking vines.

Some of the monsters snapped at them, their petals nothing more than mouths that moved their lips around hungrily.

The vines were what they had to be careful of; it was as if they had eyes of their own, following their every movement and attempting a jab at every opportune moment.

Garuru slid to the side, pushing Tororo out of the way with his arm outstretched.

"Don't touch them," he instructed. He had a bad feeling about this deadly vegetation.

One of the vines, the largest one, rammed itself onto the ground, shaking the earth under them, rippling the ground and scattering the platoon members in different areas. "Private! Watch over the New Recruit!"

"Roger dodger!" Taruru's eyes glowed as they fired from their sockets a beam of energy, the plant that was heading toward Tororo turning to dust once it was within contact.

(I winced. "What? He can shoot laser beams? From his eyeballs? How does that not hurt?" "You forget that Keronians have a much stronger body, Cadet, then you fragile Pekoponians. And he has eye drops. Moving on.")

"What kind of planet has deadly red plants that come to life and kill you?" Zoruru demanded, cutting the end of a vine that had rushed toward the Chief Nurse. He stood protectively over her, his hands furiously slashing against the foliage.

Pururu yelped and jumped out of the way of another vine, only to have Zoruru quickly come back in front of her and tear it apart. They were slinking back, Zoruru and Pururu, into an area where a small cliff hung nearby. Garuru didn't think about it too much, however; he thought those two would be careful. Besides, as he slid to the right and fired off to the left, he couldn't help but let Zoruru's words sink in.

Deadly red plants…?

Ping.

There we go.

"Unless I remember incorrectly, Planton." He remembered now; it was a science project back in high school; a collection of the most dangerous plants in the universe. He remembered he had listed these in number two of twenty… He cringed. "The residents are the red plants. We refer to them as the Platonians."

("Plantonians?" "Yes." "…Plantonians." "Yes, Cadet." "…That's real creative, Lieutenant." "I didn't come up with the name…")

Garuru somersaulted out of the way of a n incoming vine, materialized a short-range pistol and shot it several times. It twisted and spun out of the way, stabbing him with one of its red thorns before Garuru managed to actually kill it with a single shot. He hastily wiped the thorn away, carefully rubbing the sore spot on his arm as he jumped out of harm's way of another stupid vine. He swayed slightly, feeling the aftereffects of the poison injected in him. "Careful with the thorns… they have… a sort of poison in them…."

Pururu gazed at him worriedly. "I'll look at it right-" A vine swung toward Pururu, but Zoruru quickly came to contact with it instead, using his cybernetic side as the shield. The utter force, however, left them at the cliff's edge, and in one second, the Chief Medic and the Lance Corporal were thrown off, screaming as they hurled below.

"Pururu! Zoruru!" Garuru cried out. His distraction, though brief, was a fatal one. Another thorn attached itself to his shoulder, a vine wrapping hungrily around his leg.

Garuru fired several more times, pulling out the thorn and managing to successfully destroy the wretched plant from off him.

Taruru seemed like he was on track, his face creased seriously, his beams hitting the mark every time.

Garuru held on to his shoulder and gently rubbed it, wincing at the pain.

Was it just him, or was the world spinning a little…?

"L-Lieutenant!"

Something- a plant, more than likely- blew the air out of him as a force equivalent to a punch hurled him into a tree.

He lost consciousness.

"…I think he's wa…"

"…touch him, you id…"

"…'s all pale…"

"…im alone…"

Light came back to his eyes, and he saw two fuzzy faces looking down worryingly to him.

Garuru bent his elbows back and supported his upper body on them, shaking his head to rid himself of the absurd dizziness.

"He's awake!" Taruru said cheerfully.

Garuru had to switch off his visor. "…This… may sound like a ridiculous question, but… wh… why are there two of each of you…?"

Tororo and Taruru exchanged anxious looks.

"What do you mean?" Tororo inquired softly.

"I mean… th… there are two of each of you… unless it's just me…" Garuru groaned and held his head. "Please stop moving around, you two… it's difficult enough to see…"

"But… we're not moving, Lieutenant…"

"Oohh… If only we knew where Pururu was…" Taruru said, biting his lip.

"He'll be alright… right, Lieutenant?" Tororo asked, blinking down at him.

In that instant, the world stilled, and the extra reflections of the youngest platoon members seeped back into two individual bodies. Garuru blinked rapidly, and then rubbed his eyes.

"I'm fine now."

Taruru and Tororo released heavy breaths of relief.

"I'm more concerned about the wellbeing of the Chief Medic and Lance Corporal, however," Garuru said slowly. He sat completely up, patting his elbows of the red dust. He then remembered, and gazed around warily. "…You… defeated them all?"

"Yeah!" Taruru nodded eagerly. "When I was fighting them, Tororo threw his box of Cheez-Bums at them and they all ran away."

Tororo folded his arms, triumphant. "Yup. And so we came to the conclusion-"

"-that the Plantonians are afraid of cheese," Taruru finished, planting (HA! …No pun intended) his hands on his hips.

"…Fascinating," Garuru said, perking a brow. He reached for his head again. "…How long had I been out…?"

"For about half an hour after the Plantonians ran away," Tororo confirmed, pointing at his watch.

Garuru's shoulders dropped slightly. "…I see." He stood up and wobbled for a moment, Taruru holding out his arms to secure his superior. "I'm fine, Private." He walked over to the cliff carefully and gazed below.

"…That's a long way down, Lieutenant," Tororo said quietly.

"They're fine," Garuru said, turning away. "I know they are. The Chief Medic and the Lance Corporal have proven to be resourceful in their own ways. Knowing them both, they had remembered the direction in which we had seen the smoke, and are more than likely heading on their way now. I have faith that we will join up with them again soon, if not later."

"…Alright," Tororo turned to the Lieutenant. "…So what do we do now? Wait?"

"Of course not," Garuru said with a frown. "We need to go find the village."

"Yeah, but…" Taruru examined him. "You look pale. Like, really pale, Lieutenant. I think you should sit down a little longer-"

"I'm fine," Garuru said, his voice hardening into a no-nonsense tone. "The sooner we move on, the sooner we'll see the Chief Medic and Lance Corporal again."

Garuru had felt it for the past hour, just that they were staring at him, but it didn't bug him until Taruru made it blatantly obvious. The boy's eyes had grown as large as dinner plates. Seriously. And unlike Tororo, who hastily and embarrassedly looked away, Taruru continued to stare even after Garuru had turned to glance at them.

Garuru had to know now. He spun sharply toward them. "What?"

"U-uh…" Tororo scratched his cheek nervously. "W-well-"

"There's something… uh… different about you…" Taruru managed.

"In what way? Am I still pale?" Garuru's lips thinned. "I told you I was fine-"

"No, no, no…. uhh…" Tororo rubbed the back of his neck. "How can I explain it…?"

"You're turning pink, Lieutenant." Tororo glared at Taruru, who grinned uneasily. "What? Someone had to say something."

"…I'm… what?"

"Look at your hand, Lieutenant."

Garuru blinked quizzically to him, and then slowly turned his attention to his hand. To his bewilderment, it was exactly what they said- he was turning pink.

It was in blotches and patterns, though, not all at once. Garuru couldn't help but wonder what the heck was going on.

Taruru pointed at his own shoulder, and then his arm. "They're really pink right in these areas."

Garuru stared at his skin, and then rolled his eyes to the sky. "The Platonians."

"…What?"

"Their poison… turns their victims into one of their own…"

Tororo furrowed his brow. "So, you mean… you're turning into them…?"

"Yes." Of course he remembered. He had shivered at the idea of turning into one of these creatures and had laughed to himself, telling himself that the chances of going to Planton and actually getting poisoned by them were slim to none.

He hated irony.

"Fortunately, the process takes a few years," Garuru said affirmatively, glad he had retained that piece of knowledge. "So it will be a while before I actually turn into one; Chief Medic should be able to cure me as soon as we meet back up with them."

"But in the meanwhile…" Taruru pointed at him. "You're turning pink."

"That is correct."

Taruru and Tororo, now realizing that the Lieutenant was in a lot less danger than they had assumed so before, burst into childish peals of laughter.

Garuru wasn't amused.

"I'm leaving you here." He walked off.

In the next hour, Garuru had turned completely pink. And not just a soft colored pink, either; it was a bright shade, one that Taruru and Tororo took pleasure in teasing.

When the Lieutenant finally felt that he had had enough, he felt something itch on his cheek.

"…Lieutenant…?"

"What is it now?"

Taruru poked at the little leaf that had grown on his face. "That."

Tororo and Taruru laughed again, and Garuru embarrassedly covered the little plant with his hand.

He tried pulling it off, but was surprised at the pain that it gave by doing so. It was connected to him. In the next hour, he had several more leaves popping out of his arms and chest. By this time, the younger boys had ceased their childish joking and were beginning to grow anxious.

"Is it normal for you to turn into one so fast?" Tororo inquired.

Garuru gave a side glance to the hacker. "Yes. The first stage is generally the quickest one. The second and third are the ones that take a certain amount of years."

"Oh."

They walked in silence.

"You have a really pretty flower on your shoulder, Lieutenant."

"Unfortunately my belt is making it uncomfortable," Garuru muttered. He shifted it to the other side, but then saw to his irritation that another leaf had grown there as well.

"Do… you want me to hold it for you?" Taruru suggested

"I would appreciate it, Private. Thank you." Garuru stopped briefly to tug off the accessory that was looped over his chest and give to the light blue Keronian.

Taruru playfully put it over himself. "Wow! This is really cool!"

Garuru sighed, realizing he should have known better. "You may wear it, but please do be careful."

Taruru was only half listening, fingering the circular design. Garuru turned around to continue walking, but twitched to a stop when he heard a familiar 'click'. "Whoa, this thing opens! It's like a little containment thing! … Cool! You have a picture, Lieutenant?"

"Don't touch it."

"I won't. Awww."

"What, what?" Tororo craned his neck to see. His face softened. "Oh."

("What was it, Lieutenant?" Garuru quietly opened up the circle in his belt and handed me the similarly-shaped photo.)

It was a picture of his younger brother, back when he was still very little. His father was in it too, holding up Giroro on his shoulders. Someone was cut out of it, but from what the two youngest members could see, whoever it was, the Keronian was purple.

"Why did you cut yourself out of the picture, Lieutenant?" Tororo asked, raising his head to look at Garuru.

The Lieutenant simply clicked his tongue, reached over, and snapped his belt's container closed. "I didn't. That wasn't me."

"What? Then who was it?"

"I'm afraid you're being too personal, Private."

Taruru looked slightly hurt. "Uh. Okay."

"Let's go now."

"You want to be purple again, Lieutenant~?"

"Please don't make me hurt you, Private."

Garuru and Taruru prepared themselves; Taruru defensively, and Garuru with all his pinkly glory. Tororo was behind them.

The bushes ruffled intensely. Their hearts drummed, ready to attack.

When the life-form making the noise came out of the red foliage, they relaxed immensely.

It was only Zoruru.

"Good," the cyborg said, sighing with relief, leaning against a tree. "I found you."

"ZORURU I THOUGHT I WAS NEVER GONNA SEE YOU AGAAINNNN…!" Taruru ran toward him with his arms outstretched, his lips puckered out. All the cybernetic assassin had to do was side step out of the way.

Taruru tripped and landed on his face.

"Oh. Uh. Oh, wow." Zoruru cleared his throat when he saw Garuru and looked off to the side. "That… uh… it's a good color for you, Lieuten-"

"I'm not in the mood, Lance Corporal."

"Right." Zoruru snickered, his smirk disappearing the instant he saw his superior's face. He coughed and quietly apologized.

"Where is the Chief Medic?" Garuru asked, folding his arms.

"In the village," Zoruru assured him. He gazed at Tororo and Taruru. "These aren't the natives, by the way; they're fugitives."

"Fugitives?"

"Right. They have fuel, and medicine." Zoruru rubbed his metallic arm with his organic hand. "The Chief Medic… I think she might have broken her legs-"

"What?"

"Yes." Zoruru nodded. "I had to carry her all the way there." He looked up to the sky. "Speaking of which, we should probably go there now." He turned back to Garuru. "The Chief Medic should know what to do."

"I would like her to get some rest first," Garuru said quietly.

"Yeah, well…" Zoruru cleared his throat again, a lot heavier this time. "…I'm, err… I'm afraid I won't be able to take you too seriously like…"

"I'll manage," Garuru said under his breath.

When they had reached the village, the fugitives took them in immediately, giving them food and a place to go to sleep. Garuru wanted to see Pururu, but the leader of the fugitives assured him that she was alright and that it would be best not to disturb her.

Garuru had reluctantly consented.

Taruru and Tororo would make an occasional jibe at Garuru's color, but when they saw he had learned to accept the fact he bright pink, they found the fun over and went back to arguing with each other (all Garuru could remember was that they were having a deep and quite heated debate of whether or not a one-eyed llama would beat an alpaca with a goatee in a thumb-wrestling tournament. Tororo was winning).

Zoruru bid the pink Keronian good night and took refuge in the tree that hung over the hut where the fugitives gladly allowed the Platoon to rest. Garuru turned in early, too exhausted to take the treatment the villagers proposed earlier. He would find a way to turn back soon. Not at the moment, though.

Garuru felt something brush against his arm during his hour's worth of rest. He immediately sat up straight and materialized a knife; it was generally the choice of weapon he used when he felt like he was being attacked in his sleep. It was Pururu, ducking her head defensively behind outstretched arms, squeezing her eyes shut.

Garuru dispersed the matter of the blade. "…Chief Medic?"

"Hello to you too, Lieutenant," Pururu said softly, her eyes flickering over to him.

Garuru looked down at her legs, and then blinked back up at her.

"…I'm fine. Really." Pururu dragged herself closer to him. "I had one of the villagers take me here. Taruru told me of your…" She giggled. "…problem."

Garuru rolled his eyes slightly. "So you understand how to cure me?"

"Mmhm."

"Very well. Can we do it now?"

"Sure." Pururu reached out quickly and yanked the sprout right off of his cheek.

Garuru growled in pain, grabbing on to his face.

"It's going to hurt," Pururu said sympathetically. "So I apologize in advance for the discomfort."

The next twenty minutes involved a painful series of pulls of the weeds that had infested his body. The flower was the thickest, and thus, the last.

Pururu was looking up thoughtfully at the ceiling. Garuru perked a brow. "You aren't going to-?"

"No, no. I'm just thinking, Lieutenant. I can't remember how to remove a flower." She then shrugged. "I think I'm just going to pluck the petals off first. It'll probably be easier to yank off."

Garuru shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Very well."

Pururu pulled the first petal. "Loves me."

"…Excuse me?"

"It's a game," she explained with a giggle. She pulled the second one. "Loves me not."

Garuru continued to stare at her blankly, confused.

"Loves me."

"Loves me not."

There were seven petals.

Pururu seemed strangely happy when she plucked the last one off.

The flower's stem was surprisingly not as painful as the leaves that had clung on to his body. It didn't hurt at all, actually.

Garuru sighed, grateful that the unnatural sprouts were gone from his skin. "Thank you."

"I'm not done yet."

"Very well."

Pururu produced an enormous and horrifically sharp needle.

Garuru stared at it. "...Ah."

"I apologize again in advance, Lieutenant."

I winced. "Did it hurt?"

Garuru rubbed his arm, as if reliving the memory. "It did. She actually injected me nine times."

"Yikes."

"I've endured worse."

"And you're not pink anymore?"

Garuru perked a bored brow at me.

"…Oh. Right." I grinned sheepishly. "Okay."

Garuru stretched slightly and looked out the window. "The Sergeant Major said he had almost completed his next game."

"Really. So, like, tomorrow?"

Garuru shook his head. "No. In a matter of days."

"I don't care. I hate doing the simulations."

"The girls seem to enjoy it."

"Yeah. A little too much…" My phone buzzed.

Speak of the flipping devil.

"Who was it?" Garuru asked.

I tilted my head slightly, my cheek resting against my hand. "It's Stella."

"And what's wrong?"

"…She said she… uh."

"Yes?"

"…She invited me for a… a slumber party."

Garuru blinked at me. "…What is a slumber party."

"Something for girls!" I quickly typed 'No thank you' and sent it, flustered.

"A slumber party?"

"It's like a sleepover, Lieutenant."

Garuru still watched me blankly.

"It's like this… activity for… um…" I tried to explain it, but I wasn't too sure myself. I knew my sister had them a lot, and I honestly had never been to even an all-guys spending-the-night-thing before." My phone buzzed again, and I read it, then texted, again, 'No, seriously Stell, I'm fine'. "She really wants me to go to that thing."

"But it's a feminine activity."

"Yeah, it is." I sunk my chin against one of my pillows. "Apparently all the girls are going to go, too."

"…I'm guessing my platoon is going to be dragged into it whether they want to or not."

"Yeah, sounds about right." My phone buzzed again. 'No Stella'.

"She seems really insistent."

"She is."

My phone buzzed for the final time. And I stared at it. I pillow-faced right into my pillow, moaning.

"What's wrong now, Cadet?"

"She said she's bringing coffee."

No, I don't support GaruGiro. That whole "brother, will you marry me?" was inspired from an actual story of her baby brother my friend told me XD And I thought it was really cute, so I added it in.