Disclaimer: All Klonoa characters belong to Namco. Yada, yada. You know the drill. OCs belong to me.

Chapter 24: I'm Sorry

The calm winds brushed across the vast field. It brown, dead grass and withered flowers made the whole place seem lifeless. The field sloped upward slightly and soon became rocky, cliffs towering over here and there. The whole place would've seemed quite peaceful, hadn't there been a giant monster crashing rabidly through it all.

In front of the dark silver, insect-like beast ran a much smaller person as fast as he could. The two were about to reach the side of a cliff. The person made a sharp turn to the right, hiding in the shadows of the rocky ledge. The monster, not noticing, kept on running right past him.

Guntz stayed there for a long moment, catching his breath. What does that stupid thing want from me? There are plenty of other people to pick off around here... Dammit... I can't keep this up much longer. At this rate, I'll... He clenched his jacket near his chest tightly, feeling his rapid, unsteady heartbeat.

"Guntz!"

Guntz twitched an ear at the call. It was Klonoa and the others, excluding Leorina, with the elder. He couldn't sense the monster anywhere nearby and let himself be seen. Klonoa quickly ran over when he saw him, the others behind him. The rabbit-like elder was standing on some hover-disk object, but Guntz hardly took the time to notice.

"Are you okay?" Klonoa asked. "I'm fine." Guntz had to force his voice to be straight. "But that thing has been chasing me halfway around the village all morning!" He pointed a finger toward the beast that had become visible a comfortable distance away. It didn't seem to notice them. It was too busy having some kind of fit as it shook its head around and roared randomly.

"That's not a thing. That's Leorina!" Lolo quickly corrected. Guntz blinked in confusion. He suddenly smirked. "So that witch finally showed her true colors, huh?" He sneered. "Guntz!" Klonoa scowled. "She got like this once before!" Popka barked. "But that was because the power of sorrow was too much fir her," Lolo added quietly.

Guntz didn't even bother to try and understand. "I've seen this before." The sound of the elder's raspy voice made everyone look one way. "People turning into monsters?" Lolo asked. "Yes. It's called 'Darkness.' It is a terrible disease that awakens one's inner beast. It is usually caused by consumption of a contaminated fruit…"

"Told her not to eat that apple," Guntz couldn't help but mutter. "The last time 'Darkness' came around was 10,000 years ago," the elder added. "So it's related to the Legend of Rebirth," Lolo remarked with surprise. The elder nodded slowly. "Darkness is especially attracted to those who carry a deep emotion within them at the time, like sorrow or hate." The group couldn't help but exchange uneasy glances.

"It is usually overcome by that feeling being relieved. But sometimes it is not… and we are forced to destroy them," the elder explained. "But how can we relieve Leorina's emotions? It's not like… we can bring Tat back," Klonoa hesitated. "From seeing your friend before, I'd already guessed she was very mournful. But hatred was also mingled in that sorrow." The elder suddenly looked at Guntz. "If she was chasing only you around, I'd guess this hatred is for you," she paused as Guntz blinked.

"So, I'd say the only way to relief her hatred is by… killing you," the elder concluded. "What? Why me?" Guntz asked quickly. "Not surprising." Klonoa's mutter wasn't quiet enough as Guntz gave him a sharp glare. "I-I mean—It's not like you've been very supportive to her lately," Klonoa said quickly. "That's right. You've been very heartless to her despite the situation. Can't you tell she's already in enough pain?" Lolo added scornfully.

Guntz gritted his teeth. They don't understand... They think everything I do is without reason.

Leorina suddenly stopped from her roaring fit, looking toward the group. Her glowing blue eyes narrowed as she emitted a low growl. "You think you're the only one that's misunderstood?!"

Her echoing roared caught the group's attention just soon enough to see her stomping toward them at full speed. "You know what you have to do!" Klonoa said quickly, getting ready to run for it. "What?!" Guntz snapped. "It's that or get eatin'!" Popka replied as he flew into the air.

The group spread apart as Leorina was only a few long steps from them. As expected, she only had eyes for Guntz as he ran off. He could sense her gaining on him quickly. Guess I have no choice... Clenching his teeth, Guntz speed suddenly increased. Leorina made a huff of impatience as he was now running faster than her.

"He's fast," Lolo muttered. The group was watching safely from the sidelines. "He is a wolf, right?" the elder asked. Klonoa looked at her, nodding slowly. "Speed is what wolves are known for, amongst other things… They have a natural ability to use the 'fright-flight' reflex whenever they wish. They use all the energy in their bodies to run as fast as they can. Of course, such stress can't be good for the body," she explained.

Leorina was on Guntz' tail at every turn he made. Losing her this time certainly wasn't going to be as easy. It wasn't long before he felt a familiar, painful throb in his chest. D-Dammit... not now. He suddenly tripped over himself and collapsed on the ground, tumbling slightly from such speed.

Leorina ran right over him before skidding to her own stop. She slowly turned around. "Aw, is the wittle wolfy tired?" she sneered, her usual voice mixed with a monstrous grumble. Guntz struggled to his feet, a hand clenching his jacket near his chest. He gasped heavily as Leorina lowered her head.

"Now die!" With a roar, she parted her jaws and lunged for Guntz. As much as his body protested, the wolf/dog forced himself to dash out of the way and continue running. Leorina was immediately on his tail again. It was only until he was nearing a cliff side did his heart again make a painful throb, making Guntz lurch.

He skidded to a stop on shaky legs, wincing. A roar behind him made him turn around just too late. Leorina slammed right into him. Her large nose against his body, they crashed into the cliff. Guntz was trapped, Leorina shoving his rib cage tightly against the rocky wall.

He coughed in pain and lack of breath. "Not fun, is it? Being the weak one," Leorina growled, keeping her tight position. Guntz took a moment to gasp, all attempts to escape her clutches fruitless. He made a weak grin, despite the pain. "Who's the weak one here? Overcome by a fruit… That's weak," he breathed.

Leorina suddenly pressed against him tighter, narrowing her glowering eyes. Guntz grunted in pain. "I was given power! Enough power to finally get rid of you. Now you're just a mere ant to squash." Leorina made a grin with her large mouth. "But I want to make you suffer, like you did to me."

"I had nothing… to do with those wolves," Guntz panted. "Lies!" Leorina pressed even tighter. Guntz forgot to breathe for a moment. "You wolves care for nothing but to torture and make others suffer. You're worse than monsters!" Leorina snarled. "And what are you now?" Guntz took a moment to grit his teeth in pain. "You've become a monster. Is that was you want?"

"If it's to kill you, than it's fine by me," the silver monster replied. "You deserve this. You never cared for anyone but yourself. You kicked me when I was down for your own cruel amusement." Guntz was too out of breath to reply right away. It was true. His actions were blunt and seemed thoughtless, but they were certainly misunderstood.

Guntz never was good at expressing a point. This wasn't the first time it had led to further complications. "You know what you have to do." The words echoed in his mind like an annoying fly in his ear. He fought for his voice, his body so tightly pressed against that his breaths came in short. When he finally spoke his voice was calm and quiet.

"I'm sorry."

Leorina said nothing, her eyes widened in surprise. It was such a simple word, yet it had the biggest effect on her. It was unbelievable, how such a simple thing could sometimes fix even the most critical situations. How she had never really known what she wanted until now. She just wanted to know he cared.

Guntz went on slowly. "I'm sorry for what I did. And I'm sorry about your cat… Tat… I guess, watching you mourn like that day in and day out… It annoyed me… You were reminding me… of myself. If you can't learn how to get over the past and move on… you'll start to change… Before you know it there's no going back." He drew a painful breath at every pause. Too weak to keep his head up any longer, he let it drop on Leorina's muzzle, which had yet to loosen its grip on him.

"I can't... I'm nothing without Tat." Leorina's voice faltered despite her monstrous tone. "It's hard, but you can do it… You're not alone, you know… All this time you've been acting like you're the only one that cares… but there are others who've been worried about you... They care, too, you know." I'm not gonna last much longer like this. Guntz struggled to keep consciousness.

Leorina's eyes softened, becoming a little watery with emotion. "Guntz…" Despite the pain, Guntz made a small grin. "And here I was beginning to think you didn't even know my name." That's it... I'm done. Leorina was taken aback when she felt Guntz' body sag in her grip. She finally pulled away and immediately the unconscious wolf/dog tumbled to the ground.

Guntz stayed still as Leorina backed up, shaking her large head slightly. With her never-ending headache from the morning slowly dissipated the furious hatred that had swelled her mind and blocked her from sanity. Her huge body darkened to a glowing black as a strange cloud seemed to escape from her. With it went her monstrous form and before long she was back to her old self. The black cloud ominously disappeared in the blue sky.

Leorina had to take a moment to make sure everything about her was really back to normal before she remembered Guntz. He hadn't moved and she slowly got closer to kneel beside him. But before she could do anything, a memory suddenly flashed in her mind.

It was dark. Someone was lying in front of her—she couldn't remember who—unconscious, it seemed. This person had saved her from something, but she couldn't remember that, either. It was only when Leorina had brushed her hand across the person's furry head did they…

Guntz suddenly opened his eyes. Leorina had subconsciously started to pinch his ear as she was lost in her fuzzy memories. She let go as his ear twitched in protest.

"Guntz! Leorina!"

Klonoa, Lolo, and Popka hurried over. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Leorina was taken aback by Lolo's sudden embrace, and couldn't bring herself to return it. "Guntz!" Klonoa kneeled next to Guntz, looking down at him worriedly. He seemed to be dazed, his breathing irregular, as he needed to breathe hard but it hurt to much to do so.

The rabbit-like elder departed her hovering disk to get a better look at the wolf/dog. "Pick him up," she suddenly instructed. Though surprised, Klonoa was quick to obey. Though he hesitated when Guntz made a painful whine when he was moved. "Pick him up!" the elder repeated more urgently. She spun around and returned to her hover disk. "Follow me," she said, before flying it away.

Klonoa, Guntz hanging over his back, quickly ran after her. Lolo was about to follow before looking back at Leorina. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. Leorina hesitated for a moment. "Yes… I'm fine," she murmured. Lolo smiled. "That's good. Let's go." With that, she ran after the others. Leorina hesitated for a moment longer before finally following.

"You're not alone."

---

It was afternoon as the group waited outside a rather large building in the village. It was their main infirmary and where Guntz had been taken to see to his injuries. There hadn't been any obvious wounds on his body, but the elder's urgency hinted that there were probably internal injuries.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Leorina apologized in a low voice, looking down. "It's not your fault. It was the fruit," Klonoa replied. "We're just happy you're okay," Lolo smiled. Leorina couldn't understand. She had caused them so much trouble lately, yet they showed no grudge against her. They only cared that she was okay, and that everything was back to normal—for the most part.

It was then that the elder appeared from behind an opening door in the infirmary. She took her time shuffling her short legs outside, ignoring the anxious stares of the others round her. She finally stopped and turned to them. She wasted no time relieving their worries. "He'll be fine."

Klonoa and Lolo exchanged relieved smiles. Leorina couldn't bring herself to smile, but she was certainly glad she hadn't caused even more problems. "He has a few broken ribs. But it's nothing that won't heal on its own… But that's not the real problem." The group looked at the elder in surprise.

"Myocardial infarction."

As the group made little reaction to this, the old woman simplified the term. "A heart attack." Klonoa was to first to react. "What?!" he blurted. "It's strange, for someone his age. But it's not from a natural cause… It would seem that his heart is weakened by a physical, puncture wound." The elder's voice had a hint of questioning as she looked at Klonoa.

Klonoa looked down, as if he were at some fault. "I didn't know." The elder continued. "The wound is causing the blood supply in his heart to run abnormally, thus making it prone to such heart attacks. A rise in his blood pressure is most likely to set it off… But it would seem he has already trained himself to fight against this, for example, not letting himself get too excited."

It was impossible to tell whether or not Guntz had actually told the elder this. She just seemed to know. "But running makes your heart beat faster no matter what, especially how he had been," she remarked. "That explains why Guntz never seems to want to run," Klonoa murmured, silently recalling previous events of such.

"Don't worry yourselves over it. As I said, he'll be fine. Now, you should go and get some rest. He needs it, too," the elder concluded. "All right. Thank you," Lolo replied. Without any further ado, she, Klonoa, and Popka headed off for the elder's home. Leorina stayed, though, lost in her thoughts.

"It'll get worse." The elder's voice brought her back to reality. "The more attacks he has, the worse it'll get. Eventually his heart will fail him completely and he'll drop dead." Leorina stared at her. "Have a nice night," the rabbit-like woman bade, before turning and walking off.

---

No one had expected to be setting off again that morning. With Guntz' injuries, they'd figured at least a few mores days. But the stubborn wolf/dog wouldn't succumb to anything, it seemed. By sunrise he had managed to escape the infirmary, despite the doctors' protests, and declared to he was fine to keep traveling.

He was certainly acting like he was fine, and no one dared object. The group was keeping ominously reserved at the moment. Leorina recalled a conversation they had had the night before.

Apparently Guntz had no idea anyone knew about his "problem" and they intended to keep it that way. Guntz could be sensitive at times and would get pissed if he thought they were being easy on him in fear for his health. He had obviously not told anyone for a reason, and that was probably it.

Guntz was getting suspicious and Klonoa quickly prompted. "All right! Let's get going, then," he said quickly. "Though I still think you should rest, I will not interrupt your quest. The sooner the prophecy is fulfilled, the better," the elder spoke. "But I do suggest you take off those bandages around your chest. They'll come to hurt after a while if they're too tight around your ribs." Guntz snorted in disagreement to that, doing nothing of the sort.

"You could be a little obedient. She did help you without a charge," Lolo remarked. "She helped us all without a charge," Klonoa added gratefully. "It was the least I could do. Do be careful on your journey. The fate of Phantomile rests of your shoulders," the elder replied. They were powerful words and created a momentary silence.

"'ey! Let's get goin' aw'ready!" Popka's impatient yelled brought everyone back to reality. "All right, all right. Thank you again. Good-bye," Lolo said as everyone began walking toward the outline of the village. Leorina turned around to look at Guntz, who had stopped for a moment to rub his sore side. She made a small smile.

"Let's go, Guntz."

Guntz looked at her, blinking.

Gah! Leorina went totally OOC in her monster form. But... she's a monster... so that okay... right...? Err... Anyway, Guntz' little "issue" will be explained eventually... like everything else I've mentioned... but it does explain why he was so prone to fainting in the desert area. :D;;

...Whatever. Go away. I'm tired... Need sleep. -.-

So, stay tuned for Chapter 25: Training...!