Tormented Loner: Garr

Once again, I don't own any Breath of Fire characters.

Changed my mind about this story being one-shot, so I hope you enjoy the addition. There'll be a third chapter after this.

There's nothing sexual going on here, so go on to the next chapter (if it's in by the time you read this, that is =P) if you don't care about the events that leads to it.
This is also wayyyy longer than the first one ^_^

Feel free to review on spelling/grammar errors.

As a note, the soldiers that are mentioned in the story are those annoying Toy Soldier bastards in the game. They usually come in threes. (Fighter/Archer/Mage)
---------------


Garr awoke to the forceful shaking on his shoulders. His eyes were hesitant to open, dreading the light that was about to burn into his retinas.

"Jeez, wake up." Rei was kneeling in front of him, his hands shaking Garr back and forth from his shoulders.

Garr lifted his head, his eyes barely open.

"You're the only one still sleeping. Even that spoiled princess woke up before you." Rei brought his hands to Garr's face, and pried his eyes open with his fingers.

The veil of sleep had lifted from Garr as his entire body flinched. He thrust Rei away with his left arm, and reached for his spear with the right. After attaining hold of his weapon, he became aware of his surroundings and flushed in embarassment. Garr had pushed Rei onto the ground.

He couldn't think of anything to say. Even being in Rei's presence seemed somewhat awkward after the night before. He decided to keep it as short as possible.

"Forgive me."

Rei flashed a full-tooth smile, scratching the back of his head. "Nah, don't worry about it. Your reaction was well worth it."

As Rei headed out of the tent, Garr took the shirt portion of his gi from the spear and began to dress himself.

---------------------------

Nina had indeed woken up before Garr, which was a surprise for everyone. She sat next to the diminished fire with Peco held in her lap. Momo was busy helping Ryu take down the main tent, and Rei stood alone with his back to a tree. Garr started the tedious process of disassembling his smaller tent.

"Can I.. you know... help you with that?" It amazed Garr how silently Rei could sneak up on him.

"That's not necessary." Garr was having trouble making the tent compact enough to fit into it's container.

"It'd make me feel better if you let me help. You let me sleep with you when dragon-boy kicked me out." Rei kicked at a rock on the ground, his arms drooping at his sides."

"Fine then. I'll unfold the tent again. Get to the other side."

Rei smiled, and jogged his way to the other end of unfolded tent.

------------------------

Garr led the party on the worn, dirt road with his spear in hand. Lagging in the back was Momo and Nina, Peco wrapped in Nina's tight embrace. Ryu positioned himself behind the girls to counter any attempt to attack them from behind. Rei distanced himself within the middle, complaining how Garr and himself were burdened with most of the gear.

"So Garr, I didn't bother you much last night, did I?"

He turned his hand towards Rei, who was now beside him. Garr hated that silent aspect of him.

"No, I slept well." Garr looked upon the trail ahead. He started to suspect that Rei was awake when the events transpired.

"I slept great last night." Rei interlocked his fingers against the back of his head, his elbows in the air. "Surprised I didn't wake you up, with the snoring and all."

'He's so casual.' Garr thought to himself. "Ryu must have exaggerated about it, then."

"Guess so." Rei looked back and saw that the other three were falling far behind now. "We should let them catch up."

Garr merely nodded as he stopped.

"Hey Garr, there's something I wanted to ask you."

Something stirred in the bushes nearby, and Garr tightened his grip on the spear. "Something's near. Be on you-"

He felt a crack against his neck, and then all fell into darkness.

-------------------------------

Rei was stunned as he saw the small, uniformed soldier jump from the bushes. He heard a large thump next to him, and saw that another one of the soldiers had slammed a miniature pole onto Garr's neck.

"What the hell are these things?" In a flash, Rei produced two daggers and slashed at the soldier that had attacked Garr. For something so small, it could move a great distance quickly. After each attack, it would move completely around Rei, or it would jump ts sis side. More of the tiny soldiers appeared from the bushes, and Rei was totally outnumbered.

"Tch. I'll have to run." He looked over to the unconscious Garr. "Sorry big guy, I'll need the others to fight them."

Rei left Garr alone, and ran to seek the aid of his companions. The little soldiers swarmed around Garr, lifted him, and carried him away.

-------------------

Garr struggled against the ropes that bounded him from movement. His arms and legs disabled, only two toy soldiers were set to guard him in the small room.

"Where have you brought me!?" Garr bellowed at the soldiers, but they yielded no reaction. He couldn't think of a reason why he was targeted out of the entire group. Of a wyndian princess, a mechanical genius, and a fabled dragon hero, he was chosen to be kidnapped.

"So, you must be wondering why you have been brought here."

The voice appeared to come from nowhere.

"Release me." Garr was talking to the walls.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. That would defy the point of capturing you, would it not? I've never met a creature quite like you, see. You appear to be a monster, yet you have the ability to converse. I can't wait to see what you're composed of. I'll do my best to make sure you don't die though. However, I can't play with you just yet. I'm very tired from my previous experiments, and as all toys do, they must rest at the same time as their owners. So for now, good night."

Garr heard a sort of hissing coming from the walls. His body began to feel heavy, and his limbs stopped responding to his will. His eyes were forced to close. Soon, his thoughts went into nothingness.

----------

Rei followed the trail of swarming footsteps. With Garr's weight, and the number of soldiers, it would be easy to track the path even if a week had passed. He packed light, carrying with him a three days supply of food and water for two people and a tent. Ryu, Nina, and Momo had decided to move ahead to their original destination while Rei went to rescue Garr on his own.

The tracks had led to the desert, and after a few hours of traveling, he could see his destination. "Hopefully I can get there by nightfall..." Rei quickened his pace, and headed to the tower that stood at the edge of the desert.

----------

Garr could finally open his eyes, and to his disappointment, he was still restrained. Straps tied him down onto a slab from his wrists and ankles.

His vision was blurry, and he felt numb all across his body. Something was hovering above him.

"Ah, so you have awakened. You know, I can't quite figure out what you are. I've searched throughout your entire body and I can't identify you with any other known species. Maybe I can name you as a new species! What fun it would be to clone you, or even to breed you to another species. To be able to see the results would be wonderful!"

He felt some control return to his body. Garr struggled against the bonds, but to no avail. Another figure appeared. He could see the madman in a blur of white, and the other in a blur of orange... or yellow. He couldn't tell. Then, all he could see was red. He felt something trickling on his body. 'Is it my blood?' he thought to himself.

"Dont worry, Garr. We'll get you out of here soon enough." His bonds were cut, and he felt his arm being lifted and placed over a shoulder.

"Who is it?" Garr could barely get the words out, slurring each syllable. He was sitting up, legs hanging off the slab.

"It's Rei." Garr could here sounds of struggle coming from Rei. "I'm sorry Garr, but you're a little heavy."

"Just wait." Garr leaned heavier onto Rei.

"Okay, Garr. We'll wait. We can't take long though."

Garr felt something tugging against his legs. He attempting to talk again, but Rei cut him off.

"Don't worry, I'm just dressing you."

He was too weak, and too groggy to worry about being naked, or to even reject Rei's actions. He just waited for time to pass.

Rei set Garr down against the wall and sat next to him, and they waited.

"Thank you, Rei." Garr could talk better. "I think I can walk now, with a little help."

"Don't worry about it." Rei helped Garr up, and took his arm over his own shoulder. "Let's get out of here."