Klonoa: Crusaders of Pugiland

Vision 1-1: The beginning of combats

...Noa…! Wake up, quickly!

"Ugh… Wha… What…?"

LOOK OUT!

Klonoa's eyes snapped open, his long ears moving around as he turned his face right and left, fully awake. He had risen up just in time to witness the giant speeding wheels about to crush him in his sleep.

"Nyaaaaa!" screaming at the top of his lungs, Klonoa managed to roll aside, barely avoiding the deadly danger. "Whew!" he exclaimed as the wheels stopped their infernal noise. "That was close..."

"Klonoa!"

Klonoa gazed up. Above him was a blue sphere-like floating being with a star above its head and a ring below. It smiled cheerfully and waved its chubby hands in a saluting gesture.

"Hewpoe!" Klonoa exclaimed, overjoyed to see his friend again. "I'm so happy that you're here! How did you–"

"Hey, kiddo!"

Klonoa and Hewpoe turned around, realizing that the wheels had completely stopped and belonged to a red carriage. The man who had talked was placed at the front, holding the reins of two horse-sized canine creatures meant to push the carriage. He was a tall, covered in reddish fur and had a pointy nose, a typical features of canines. He looked down at the strange duo below him, especially staring at Klonoa's blue attire. "What the heck were ya doin', sleeping in the middle of the plains like that?" he continued, his fox-like tail lazily moving behind his back, contrasting with the frustration of his voice. "I could've killed ya, y'know!"

"Sorry mister!" Klonoa exclaimed. "I'm Klonoa, and..."

"I called him here!" Hewpoe intervened, apologizing as well. "My name is Hewpoe. I told him to meet me in the plains, but I kept him waiting for too long, so I guess he fell asleep. We're really sorry to have troubled you, sir, but we need to go to the nearest city." Hewpoe gazed at Klonoa, winking. "This is somewhere new." he declared. "And I think we need to gather some info about the place."

Klonoa smiled as well, understanding the message. Once again, he was to explore a new place, with Hewpoe as his companion. All they needed to do was meet people and ask some questions about the current situation.

"Hmm. 'Prolly true." the fox man said, shrugging. "I sure as heck 'ave never seen chaps like you two before, and I traveled a lot around Pugiland. C'mon, you can get in. Careful though, I have some important packages to give to some folks. Don't cause any ruckus, or I'll toss ya overboard, savvy?"

"Wahoo!" Klonoa exclaimed, opening the door leading inside the carriage, Hewpoe by his side. "By the way, what's your name, Mister?"

"Call me Vyss!" The driver shouted as the carriage kept on rolling. "S'nice to meet you kids. Hang on tight now. Hoyo!" Following his exclamation, the two caninnes began running and the carriage rolled away. Klonoa couldn't help but pass his head through the window, his ears flowing like majestic black and white ropes behind his head. He closed his eyes, fully appreciating the speedy breeze.
A new adventure had begun. And he could not wait to see what it had in store for him.

"...And then my father retired, so I was kinda forced to take over the job." Vyss concluded in a nostalgic tone. "I mean I didn't really mind, 'cause Pugiland's a neat place to explore, and all. It was kinda hard at first, but eh, I got the hang of it. Now, enough about me! What's your story, kids? It's kinda obvious that you're not from here." Vyss gazed at Klonoa, who had decided to sit on the front row to keep him company. Hewpoe was floating next to his head, listening as well.

"Yeah, I'm not from Pugiland." Klonoa admitted. "I'm a traveler, too. I've been to a lot different places, but I like to think of Breezegale as my home. That's also where I met Hewpoe! But… Well it's kind of a long story."

"I told ya mine, so it's only fair if I listen to yours now. 'Sides, I've got time! We've got about an hour before reachin' the Emerlight Forest, so… Oh." Vyss interrupted himself, staring in the distance. Klonoa and Hewpoe followed his gaze, noticing the three silhouettes yonder, waiting confidently on the road.

"Yeah, never mind." Vyss whispered, slowly pulling on the rails so that the two canine mounts slowed down. "Maybe I don't have much time after all."

"What? What's wrong?" Klonoa inquired, seeing as Vyss' expression sharpened.

"Bandits." he muttered between his teeth.

"Heeeeey, what do we have here?" one of the three characters exclaimed, coming out of the sun's blinding light. "A random freakin' carriage with only one guy and a darn kid to protect it! See? I told you idiots this was my lucky road!"

The three began laughing, slowly marching towards Vyss' carriage. Although they sounded like adults, they were only about five feet tall. They were all barefoot, wearing dark blue pants and a long scarf as their only clothes, thus exposing their anthropomorphic feline features. One of them began licking his paws as giant claws grew at the tip of it. "Now you better fork your goods over if you know what's good for ya, pal!"

"Uhh, Klonoa, was it?" Vyss whispered. "Can you please do as they said? Don't worry, I'm used to these situations. You just have to-"

"Rupurudu, Hewpoe." Klonoa said as Hewpoe furiously nodded. In a flash of light, he turned into a sphere of energy and entered in the Wind Ring. A determined expression on the face, Klonoa jumped down from the carriage. "I don't know who you bandits think you are." he exclaimed, "But I'm not letting you have it your way!"

All three bandits raised their hands: giant claws appeared on them as they smiled, walking towards Klonoa. "And what makes you think you can actually do something, kid? Think that cute ring of yours is gonna buy your freedom?"

"No! But I can use it to buy you this!" Klonoa pointed his Wind Ring at the cat bandit and a ball-shaped blast of wind came out of its jewel, instantly inflating the unsuspecting foe.

"WHAT THE…! Hey, I'm stuck!"

The magic jewel at the end of Klonoa's ring began shining, and Klonoa lifted his arm, lifting the inflated body of the bandit at the same time.
"That's what you get for attacking the wrong carriage!" with that said, Klonoa flung his arm forward, and the inflated enemy flew to his comrades' side. They both avoided the assault and rushed towards Klonoa, claws ready to tear him to shreds. A first bandit attempted to slash Klonoa, but the latter slid below him and used his Wind Bullet again, inflating him too. The third bandit appeared behind Klonoa's back and performed a lateral slash. Klonoa jumped over it and pointed his Wind Ring downwards, using the inflated enemy as a jumping platform. The enemy was brought back on the ground, squashing his ally in the process.

"Get out, you moron!" the bandit shouted. "I can't move!"

Ignoring their dispute, Klonoa landed behind the last enemy and pointed his Wind Ring at him, inflating him like the rest of his comrades. He proceeded to kick the two of them and they flew away in the distance, unleashing horrified screams as they disappeared in the distance.
"And don't come back!" Klonoa shouted after them. He turned back, realizing that Vyss had been staring at him the entire time, agape.
"Are you okay?" Klonoa inquired, approaching the carriage.

"If I'm okay?!" Vyss exclaimed. "Kid, that was awesome, of course I'm okay! You just took down three bandits of the Beast Combat Clan like they were some dusty pebbles stuck under your shoe! How d'you do that?!"

Klonoa giggled awkwardly, feeling embarrassed. "I think Grandpa had a saying for that." he said. "'They didn't know the task was impossible. So, they did it anyway.' You could say that it's exactly what happened there!"

"Heh! Your grandpa taught you well, kid." Vyss said, nodding solemnly. "I guess we should go before more of them arrive, though. And you better tell me everything about that Breezegale place of yours, 'cause I need to know how you can do stuff like that!"

"Jadoo! C'mon Hewpoe, let's keep going."

In a flash of light, Hewpoe separated himself from the Wind Ring and glanced at Vyss. "Can you tell us everything you know about that Beast Combat Clan you mentioned in exchange?"

"You've got yourself a deal." Vyss declared. "Hop in!"

Klonoa and Hewpoe happily obliged, and the carriage was off again. No other incidents happened during the rest of the trip, so Klonoa had plenty of time to tell the tales of his many adventures to an amazed Vyss, with Hewpow adding some details whenever something had been omitted. Klonoa found himself enjoying the occupation, as he didn't recall having much time to stop and talk about his experiences to people – either because the situation was too dire, or because he had to rescue someone from an imminent danger.
After minutes that felt like hours, it was Vyss' time to talk, and he explained to the duo how the Beast Clan was one of the five Combat Clans that ruled over Pugiland, protecting it with their combined might just as they put it in danger whenever an internal conflict between them occurred.

"The Beast Combat Clan was always known to be a group of thugs, but they used to have some standards." Vyss continued in a bitter tone. "But ever since the last conflict, every Combat Clan got new leaders, and when the Beast Clan got theirs, everything changed for the worst. I dunno who their leader is, but he must be a nasty one, bullying us like that."

"What are the other Combat Clans?" Klonoa asked. "They can do something about this, right?"

"Yeah, but they can't have their eyes everywhere, so we still get harassed by Beast Clan members from time to time. As for who the others are, well there's the Blade Clan, the Fist Clan, the Pistol Clan, and the Glyph Clan. You'll have to visit their personal isles if you want details about what they do, though. I've been with a few of them, but they don't like talking about their business with commoners like me. And to be fair, I don't blame 'em. Also, uh, we're here."

"What?!" Klonoa looked to the side. The carriage had stopped a long time ago, and Vyss was relaxing against his seat, nonchalantly glancing over Klonoa's head.

"Yup!" Vyss confirmed, grinning. "Emerlight Forest is right behind ya."

Klonoa turned back and found himself staring at a giant forest filled with building-sized trees, covering a good chunk of the vast plains.

"That place isn't the friendliest one around." Vyss continued, "But if you can beat three members from the Beast Clan without breaking a sweat, this place's going to be a cakewalk for ya. Mind the dark, though, but you've been through worse, right?"

Klonoa gazed at Vyss, winking. "I've told you all about it!" he replied with a cheerful grin. "Well, I guess it's a goodbye, then. Thanks a lot for the ride, Vyss! It was really fun."

"For me too!" Hewpoe added, bouncing around joyfully.

"The pleasure's all mine, kids!" Jyss exclaimed, grinning along. "Hadn't had such an interesting trip in a while. It's the kind of things that makes we wanna keep travelin'. And as long as I do, there's a chance that we might actually meet again. So! Go on. After the forest, you'll find yourself at the edge of a cliff. Look down and you'll find a neutral town in which you'll get the info you want. Now hurry up, or I'm tossin' ya overboard!"

"Wahoo! See you next time!"

With a final wave of his hand, Klonoa jumped from the carriage and ran without looking back towards the Emerlight Forest, only switching to a more relaxed gait once he heard the wheels of Vyss' ride rolled away.
Klonoa was used to goodbyes. And he knew full well that sticking around to elongate the moment was the best way to make it worse. "C'mon, Hewpoe!" he exclaimed, forcing himself to focus on the exploration at hand. "Let's see if this place is as scary as it looks!"

A sudden, loud concert of hisses and shrieks resounded from the forest. It continued for several minutes before finally dying down, only to be replaced by the discrete whisper of the wind.

"...or... As scary as it sounds, too..." Klonoa added quietly. "Let's be careful, Hewpoe."

Following his friend's advice, Hewpoe flew back inside of the Wind Ring. "Do we… Do we really have to go in there?" he whispered shakily. "It really doesn't sound welcoming at all..."

"Of course it doesn't!" Klonoa said. "It's a wild forest. We've been through a few of these before! We can make it, even if we're afraid!"

"O-Okay. I'm ready!"

Nodding to himself, Klonoa marched towards Emerlight Forest, disappearing between the shadows of the imposing trunks.

Vision 1-1 Clear!