Disclaimer: All Klonoa characters belong to Namco. Yada, yada. You know the drill. OCs belong to me.
Chapter 27: Ambivalence
The next day had begun similar to the last. Riki and Guntz went off together in the forest while Leorina wandered off wordlessly again. Klonoa had still wanted to help Lolo train, though she herself didn't after what had happened the day before. But Riki strictly prohibited, without making much effort to show good reason, them from doing so until he got back. This left the remaining three with little to do.
---
"So now you do want my help? That's quite a change of mind."
"I'm not going to let you compare me to my father like that."
"Compared to your father, you're a pathetic excuse for a wolf."
Guntz made a low growl, but Riki kept his straight face. The two stood in the forest, near where they had been the other day. "So what is it exactly that you want from me?" the old white wolf asked. "I want you to make me stronger," Guntz demanded, as if he didn't have a choice.
"You can't even climb a cliff. Strength is not something you need right now as a wolf," Riki replied steadily. "I don't want to be a wolf. I want to be strong enough to fight a wolf," Guntz snapped quickly. Riki paused, before nodding slowly. "Fine, then. Suit yourself," he murmured.
Guntz' ears twitched as Riki took a few steps away, his muscles tense to move quickly if he had to. After yesterday, he'd learned that he had to expect anything from this old-timer. But nothing prepared him for the next thing the white wolf said. "Take your shirt off." Guntz had to pause before he could reply.
"What?"
Riki was already taking his own shirt off. "Just do it," he said simply. "What, are you turning into a pedophile on me now?" Guntz inquired suspiciously. Riki frowned, looking at him over his shoulder as he hung his shirt over a low tree branch. "You'll lack freedom of movement with your shirt on. It's easier to maneuver without it," he explained.
Guntz hesitated for a moment, his ears pinned uncomfortably against his head. "Fine... but don't get any ideas," he warned, taking his jacket off. Riki made a light chuckle. "Oh, don't worry. I'm only here to beat you up." Guntz only grunted in displeasure at the joke. The white wolf scrutinized him after he had finally removed his shirt.
"What about those?" he asked, regarding the suspicious bandages wrapped around Guntz' arms and chest. "Don't push it. I took my shirt off for you," Guntz' replied simply. Apparently realizing it was no use, Riki didn't push it. "If you want to fight a wolf, you have to fight like a wolf," he said instead.
"I know that. Quit wasting time with your lectures. We can't stay here for very long, you know," Guntz prompted. Riki blinked, before lowering his head slightly. "All right, then. I'll just have to be extra strict," he said half in a snarl as he bared his sharp, white fangs. "Fine by me," Guntz replied, making his own snarl.
In a flash the two collided in a fury of barks and snarls.
---
At the outskirts of a vast forest stood a lone, bulky, dark figure. His golden eyes glistened menacingly, one unwillingly squinted by three long scars. Twilight was starting in. The orange hue tinted his black pelt like fire. Three similar figures approached him from behind.
"What now, Muzan?" asked a wolf, licking its red-stained licks. "We wait," the black wolf's deep voice replied. "Why? We're almost there," inquired another wolf. "I am going to replenish my pride from those weaklings. This battle must be done at the perfect time," Muzan answered vaguely. The three wolves exchanged confused glances.
Their black leader turned to look at them, his penetrating gaze resting on a multi-colored gray and brown wolf. "Seijou, you said you fought a wolf back then, right?" The wolf lackey twitched, not really wanting to recall the event. Their leader had strictly prohibited them from fighting anything, especially other wolves, without his permission. Seijou had gotten quite a beating for his betrayal, which was exceptionally bad since Muzan was in a bitter mood at that time.
"W-Well, that wolf was hardly any strong. I almost beat it. If I only—" Seijou's stammering was sharply cut off. "I don't care!" Muzan snapped irritably. All three of the wolves flinched. "I'm going to tear every one of them apart. And another wolf to kill will at least make it fun. They don't taste bad, either." He added the last part with a menacing grin.
"Speakin' of tasty, that village back there had some good pickin', didn't it?" asked the bulkiest if the wolf lackeys gleefully. "Yeah, yeah! Those stupid humans were practically hoping in our jaws," agreed a rather scrawny looking wolf enthusiastically, licking his chops.
Muzan turned away from his incompetent slaves to stare back at the forest ahead. Tomorrow night. That was the day. The black wolf stared up at the barely visible gibbous moon in the twilight sky. He may not have been a real wolf, or even a human, for that matter, but that didn't mean he couldn't pretend he was. He'd do this his way, the wolf way.
---
It was dark now. Riki had returned alone from who knew where about an hour before sunset. He used this time to train Lolo a bit more. She couldn't help but notice his white fur, which was usually always smooth and clean, was now stuck up in a few places and a bit dirty. But she didn't ask, feeling the he didn't want it questioned.
This time they practiced on real monsters, starting with the common moo and going up from there. Lolo was slowly getting used to targeting and striking moving objects. But when one tried to strike back at her, she flinched, needing Riki to back her up before it could hurt her.
After that she'd felt quite discouraged with herself. But Riki, as usually, simply told her to try again. Lolo was again seeing her teacher as the patient, kind old man she'd always seen him, contrary to her thoughts of him regarding Klonoa. Before she had been seeing him as unreasonable and just plain mean. But that all seemed like a far off memory now.
At least, until it was time for dinner later that night. Riki was just bringing out a meal he had been preparing. When he placed it on the table, Lolo could see that it was just a bunch of vegetables set up in a fancy style. Sure, it all looked very appetizing, but the first thing Riki said drove her mind away from that altogether.
"I decided to make a vegetarian style meal tonight. I hope you don't mind." Lolo saw Riki's gaze go straight to Klonoa, who looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. She knew how much he hated fruits and vegetables alike, and somehow Riki seemed to, as well. Actually, Lolo had never seen Klonoa eat any sort of greenery, he always ate meat. She could already guess what would happen next.
Klonoa stood up. "I'm… not really hungry," he stammered, looking sheepish. Riki seemed to be expecting this, too. "Of course you aren't," he muttered under his breath. Klonoa hesitated under everyone's gaze, before making a quiet "excuse me" and leaving the room rather quickly.
"What was that all about?" Leorina asked after a moment. It had been the first complete sentence Lolo heard her say all day. "Klonoa doesn't eat vegetables, or fruits," Guntz replied simply, not bothering to look at her. "Then he can just eat something—" Riki cut Leorina off.
"If he's too picky to eat what's made for him, then he'll just have to wait until tomorrow to eat." Leorina's gaze hardened and for a moment Lolo was afraid she would leave the table, too. But she seemed to brush it off and simply looked away. As harsh as it sounded, Riki was right. Klonoa's resistance to vegetables wasn't only unhealthy, but rude, too. Couldn't he at least pretend to like them?
---
It was a few hours he had been standing outside, and he figured they were all probably done eating by now. But he still didn't feel comfortable going back inside yet. Klonoa stared up at the moon. Only about less than a quarter of it was full. Did that mean it'd be a full moon tomorrow? Well, it didn't matter to him anyway.
Riki… he knew too much. Though Klonoa didn't know what of "too much" he knew, something inside him just kept saying it was bad. Riki did have a good reason for hating him, but what was it? The first answer that came to his mind was immediate. But he brushed it off quickly.
I'm not a monster...
A noise behind him made him looked around sharply. He flinched, alarmed and reluctant to see Riki making his way over to him across the clearing. Why didn't he go contemplate his thoughts in the forest, or at least somewhere less obvious to find him? He looked around quickly. Lolo wasn't outside. She wouldn't be saving him this time.
Klonoa first expected Riki to start off with his tauntingly soft voice, which only made it the more startling when he spoke in a harsh tone. "You'd better not go off and kill any of my animals," the white wolf growled. Klonoa couldn't look at him. "Why would I do that?" He felt so small and inferior next to this man. He felt his legs tensing to run, but forced himself to stay in place.
"Why not? You're hungry, aren't you? Vegetables and fruits—anything that's not meat, for that matter—makes you sick, doesn't it?" Riki asked. Klonoa reluctantly looked up to meet his glowering golden wolf eyes. His kind attitude was completely gone right now. All he felt at the moment was malevolence; toward him. He didn't give Klonoa time to reply.
"You crave it, don't you? Meat? Raw flesh? You want to taste the blood of a living thing, don't you? You want to sink your fangs into something and hear it squeal." Klonoa backed up, eyes wide, but Riki only advanced on him more. Anyone would've thought the wolf mad, but somehow Klonoa couldn't. Why not? He was wrong. There was no way he was right! Right…?
"And what about them?" Riki motioned toward his cottage, where everyone was inside. "Are they just your toys? Are you playing with them until you feel it's finally a good time to kill them all?" Klonoa shook his head quickly, horrified. "I don't—"
"I'll bet you're just using them. You're waiting for the right time, aren't you? The day when the shadow will return from its seal. You'd like to see your master again, wouldn't you?" Klonoa kept backing up as Riki just kept getting closer. The wolf's fangs flashed as he spoke.
"You won't be able to fool them for long! Sooner or later your instincts will interfere with your plan. A thing like you can't live with humans, like a human. That's why you're all killed on sight. That's why you're all hated by every living creature on this planet. You monsters aren't wanted here!"
"Sensei! Are you out here?"
Lolo's call from the cottage entrance cut Riki off. Her soft voice burned a whole through his harsh tone. "Oh," she murmured, catching sight of the bulky white figure in the distance. "Sensei, there you—" She cut herself off. What was that next to Riki? She twitched.
Oh no...
Without warning Klonoa suddenly spun around and sprinted off. Within seconds he was long gone, his black shape invisible in the dark forest. "Klonoa!" Lolo yelled, running over. She turned on Riki immediately. "What'd you do to him?!" She snapped, startling herself. "I did nothing," Riki replied simply, not looking at her.
Lolo was finding that very had to believe. She turned from him and got ready to run in the direction Klonoa had gone, but a strong grip at her arm stopped her. "Leave him," Riki ordered. Anger and concern gave Lolo courage as she ripped her arm away. "No!" she retorted sharply.
"You won't find him, anyway. It's too dark. You'll only get lost… Besides, stronger monster come out a night. It's too dangerous," Riki insisted. That only made Lolo more anxious. But somehow she managed to calm herself down. Riki was right, as much as she didn't want to admit it. She'd probably just get lost in that vast forest and they'd all have to go and search for her.
At the moment, reasonable sense kept her back. But she wasn't sure how well that would fair if Klonoa didn't come back soon.
---
Klonoa's sprint had slowed to a brisk walk, then practically a stagger as he caught his breath. He eventually stopped altogether when he felt a comfortable distance away from the cottage. No one had followed him, he could tell. But still, for now, he wanted to be far away. He surely didn't plan on returning that night, though the thought of staying outside all night didn't please him.
It was nearly pitch-dark in the thick, shadowed forest. The moonlight only managed to break through certain patches of leaves in the trees. The darkness never had been a problem for Klonoa, though. His pupils dilated, taking in as much light as they could. Eventually the outlines of the trees and shrubs around him were easily visible.
Klonoa kept a sharp eye out for any nearby monsters or animals as he contemplated his thoughts. It wasn't Riki himself that scared him, but his accusations. They were so outrageous, he wanted to deny them straight away with ensured confidence. But somehow he felt he'd be lying I he did so.
But why?
There was no way Riki was right about any of the things he said about him. So why did he feel so uncertain about it?
"Well, now. Looks who's come to pay us a visit."
Klonoa spun around at the deep voice. He could barely make out the dark, bulky figure, but its glowing golden eyes were more than easy to see. For a second Klonoa thought Riki had somehow suddenly gotten a black pelt. Three other figures were standing behind the black wolf.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Maleneki?"
I don't care what his reason is, Riki's just plain mad. X3
And I hope it doesn't seem like I'm stealing Mobian Hero's "Klonoa hates all vegetables and fruits and the like" idea. I've had that idea since I started this story and it's rather canon with the plot.
Oh yeah, and about that new story I wouldn't shut up about… It seems that I can barely keep up with this one by itself. Plus, I haven't really put too much thought into my new fic. I fear it'll end up as unorganized as New, Interesting, and Unusual. So it'll probably be a while until I put it up...
