Disclaimer: All Klonoa characters belong to Namco. Yada, yada. You know the drill. OCs belong to me.
Chapter 42: A Second Chance?
The village they arrived in was quite small. It had been a few hours drive from their home to this large, isolated clearing in a wide forest. Guntz still had no idea what they were doing there. But something in his gut kept telling him to simply play on with it. Despite his father being with him right now; despite all the things he could say after years of growing up all alone.
But from the casual way he was acting now, as if nothing was amiss, Guntz was quite sure the reaction would be of no understanding.
Maybe this really is all just a dream.
The more he thought that the less likely it sounded. No, this was more than just a dream. It was too vivid, too mysterious. Something else was going on here, and Guntz felt an impulsive urge to get to the bottom of it. But first he had to find the others. So lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear his father until probably the third call.
"Huh?" Guntz blinked, startled out of his thoughts. "You sure you're feeling all right?" the man beside him asked. Guntz didn't like the look on his face, it made him feel guilty, as if he were doing something wrong by not acting the way he was expected to. But how was he supposed to know what was the right way to act?
His parents were acting like everything was how it always was. They were happy and loving, as if they were a perfect little family. If, in whatever reality this was, Guntz had actually grown up with them, then he would've turned out to be a completely different person. He would've stayed the way he was when he was just a child, before his father had died.
Naïvely noble, compassionate, innocent…
How had be become the monster he was now?
"I feel fine," Guntz finally replied. His father didn't push it as he began unloading the jeep. He took out the large, long gun he'd always use to use. Guntz was in possession of it now in the reality he knew. "Here." His father handed him a rather small gun. Smaller than the ones he usually used.
Such a puny thing can only hold five rounds at most, Guntz thought, examining it. Five bullets wasn't much to count on. Though it really depended on just what they were doing here. His father left the jeep and led him to a hill just above the village. "According to our sources, he should make a move at this place next."
He? Guntz looked down at the shop his father was regarding. An antique shop. Not a popular place to steal from unless there was a real eye-catcher in stock. So this was bounty hunting. Guntz felt a familiar rush he hadn't had in a while. He hadn't been able to do any bounty hunting since starting this stupid quest. In fact, he hadn't been able to use his guns much at all lately.
"You remember the plan, right?" his father was asking. "Um," Guntz hesitated. "Wanna come it by me again?" It was almost as if his father was expecting this. "We'll make our move as he's leaving. You stay here and aim for his legs, I'll take him down," he explained simply.
Take him down? Why? He could take the guy out by himself from up here. But Guntz dared not speak his thoughts aloud. Besides, what kind of idiot criminal robbed a shop in the middle of the day? And in such a clear village. He could be spotted miles away. This wouldn't be hard.
It was then that a darkly dressed figure slowly slunk into the shop. Guntz almost felt disappointed. He'd dealt with guys like this before. Desperate to steal anything at anytime to get a quick buck. Their plans were usually poorly thought out. His father moved away to get into his position. Guntz waited, his small gun in one hand, for the robber to reappear.
It didn't take long. With a yell of despair from the shopkeeper, the figure dashed out of the store. Guntz immediately took aim. Using the tip of the barrel as a scope, he targeted the man's head. He felt a sadistic grin subconsciously creep its way across his muzzle... No! He shook his head quickly. Stupid habits. He didn't have to kill this man. Though that'd never stopped him before…
Despite his hesitation, Guntz' target was in place within a few seconds. He fired. Missed. Damn! But the man still fell over as the bullet pierced right through his kneecap. He didn't even make an effort to get up. As expected. He was just a desperate man with little to no experience at stealing or dealing with pain.
"Lucky shot, huh?"
Guntz looked over as his father reappeared on the hill. So caught up in the moment, he'd almost forgotten what was really going on. But a reluctant sense of indignation stopped Guntz' heart from lurching. Lucky shot? He missed! He'd been aiming for the man's spine; to permanently paralyze him from the waist down. A suitable punishment for someone who liked to escape on foot.
But now all the man needed was a few weeks with a cast and he'd be up and running again. "The police should be here soon. He's not going anywhere," his father then said, looking down at the man sprawled below the hill. Police? Since when did bounty hunters work with the police? They were their worse enemies, next to sky pirates.
This isn't right. But Guntz resisted the urge to say anything. He almost kept forgetting this was his father speaking to him. Something was wrong. Nothing felt right. At first he'd been shocked to see his father, the one man he'd cared about during his childhood, alive again. He'd wanted nothing more than to burst into tears and turned back into the innocent child he once was.
But now it seemed the more his father spoke the more that feeling went away. His own father felt more like a simple acquaintance than a family member. He no longer felt the comforting warmth he'd always gotten so long ago when his father was around. Only his face and voice were familiar, but it was no longer enough to assure Guntz that this person was the father he remembered from ten years ago.
A flutter of beating wings and a quiet caw made Guntz look over his shoulder. A jet black crow was perched on the branch of a tree nearest him. Guntz stared at it. It was the same one. That same crow he'd seen constantly throughout his childhood. Those mysterious blue eyes were unmistakable. Why did he feel like this bird shouldn't be here? In this reality, for some reason, it just didn't belong…
The sound of sirens averted Guntz' attention. The police had arrived. They all quickly swarmed around the fallen criminal like flies around feces. At least, that's what it looked like to him. His father had gone down the hill to talk to them. Guntz stayed where he was. Even in this strange reality where nothing was the same, he still wasn't about to go casually walking up to a bunch of cops.
Villagers had gathered around, too. The officers tried to push them back, probably in case this man had a gun, briefly explaining to them the situation. They all looked like simple, peaceful people. Of course a robbery in their quaint little village would set off as something quite unusual to them.
One figure in the crowd caught Guntz' eye. Black fur, long ears, an oversized ring clutched in one hand…
Klonoa!
It was Klonoa. It had to be. He was wearing different clothes, but he was always an easy character to point out in crowds. Guntz immediately forgot all about the cops and sprinted down the hill. He didn't even notice the unusual strength in his limps or the steadiness of his heart.
He was coming in too fast and he had to skid to a stop to avoid running into Klonoa. Klonoa hadn't noticed him until then. Guntz had expected to be out of breath by the time the short run was over. But, to his inattentive surprise, he still had a lot of air left in him. Enough to talk quite quickly.
"Klonoa! Finally! I thought I'd never find someone. Have weird things been happening to you? You won't believe what's going on with me. What happened back at that weird building? Where's everyone else? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"
Now Guntz was somewhat out of breath. He hadn't expected a long silence to follow his outburst of questions. Klonoa was usually bustling with questions himself. If he didn't know any answers, he'd just ask more. But now he was just staring at Guntz wide-eyed, as if he'd seen a ghost.
Guntz exhaled reluctantly. "Jeez, please tell me you recognize me," he begged. He heard his name and didn't look back until the second call. "Come on, son, let's go get something to eat!" his father yelled to him over the crowd of people. Guntz looked ahead again only to find Klonoa gone now. He wanted to curse out loud, but refrained. He had to find Klonoa again and get to the bottom of this.
During lunch, in which the two simply attended the only diner in the village, some villagers had come up to his father to ask him questions and look for assurance regarding the recent robbery. Guntz took this chance to sneak off. It wasn't hard finding out where Klonoa was. People were walking all over this village and the first person he asked was glad to answer.
"Oh, that Klonoa boy. He lives up the hill with Aya."
The man pointed in a certain direction. This part of the village was quite isolated from the rest. From atop the hill you could look down on everything that was happening. A small batch of churned soil surrounded by a tiny fence lay on the hill. It looked at if it were used for growing fruits and vegetables.
The house nearby was small. It looked more like a little cottage. Guntz saw Klonoa almost immediately. He was slowly walking around the small garden, almost looking like a farmer searching for good crops to pick. He was wearing nothing but red shorts, other than his shoes, gloves, and an oversized red collar around his neck.
Guntz decided to make his approached slow and get as close as possible before he was spotted. He felt like a predator hunting its prey. But something was definitely wrong. He was sure Klonoa recognized him. Unless he stared like that at everyone. But why wasn't he as happy to see Guntz as Guntz was to see him?
Guntz wasn't able to get very close before he was noticed. Klonoa looked quite alarmed and immediately sprinted for the cottage. "Not this time," Guntz growled under his breath. He was a lot quickly than Klonoa, especially with his newly energized body. He was able to tackle him down before he could even run a few feet from the garden.
"Why do you keep running away from me?!" Guntz snapped after regaining himself from the fall. Klonoa wasn't so quick to move again. He slowly sat up on his knees, dull eyes down at the ground. His back was facing Guntz. "I knew it was too good to be true," he mumbled. Guntz blinked. "What?"
Klonoa looked back at him and his frown was starting to make Guntz quite irritated. Was he that disappointed to see him? "What happened to you?" he finally asked. Guntz didn't answer for a moment. What a lovely little reunion they were having. And here he'd thought finding Klonoa would be a good thing. Surely his positive attitude would see them through this mysterious situation.
Guntz evaded the question. "What about you?" he asked instead. "I'm home. This is where I belong," Klonoa replied in such a dull tone it gave Guntz a chill. "Home?" He looked over at the cottage. "You mean… before you got amnesia?" He asked. "No. This is where I lived after I forgot everything about me… Right after." Guntz still didn't understand and Klonoa went on.
"She found me, Aya, the one that lives here… She took me in and cared for me… But because of some… complications, I had to leave." Guntz could tell he was purposely avoiding getting into detail about these "complications." He decided not to push it. Klonoa was still talking.
"But now I don't have to worry about that. I can stay here." He seemed to brightened slightly at this, but it still wasn't enough to make Guntz feel any better. "Wait… Stay here? What about the others? What about everything we've been doing?" There was no way he would just give it all up, right?
Klonoa glanced around slowly. "I don't think that's a problem anymore. The weather is very nice here," he replied vaguely. Guntz was starting to get mad. "What about the others?" he asked again. Klonoa paused. "I'm sure their lives have improved, too." Guntz gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe this.
"Are you insane?! What's the matter with you? Are you honestly okay with all of this?!" he snapped. Klonoa looked at him. "What about you?" He'd asked that question before, and Guntz still didn't want to answer. He looked away. "My parents are still alive," he mumbled. Klonoa made a smile that only further uneased Guntz.
"Isn't that a good thing? You should be happy with what's happened," he said. "How can I be happy? This isn't right," Guntz replied. "Things like this don't just happen. Something, or someone, is responsible for it." Klonoa looked away. "Then we should be thankful to them. All I ever wanted was a second chance to make my life better."
"You?! I'm the one that's always making mistakes in my life. I want nothing more than to have a second chance. But here I am trying to stop it!" Guntz yelled. "We don't get second chances in life! You can only live once."
"But we were still given a second chance anyway. Your parents came back to life, Guntz. Why is that so wrong to you?" Klonoa asked. "Because people don't just come back from the dead! It's impossible… And I keep getting the feeling that they're not even really my parents." Guntz looked at Klonoa. "Am I'll bet you're getting the same feeling around this 'Aya' person."
Klonoa shook his head slowly. Guntz sighed quietly. Maybe this Aya person Klonoa mentioned wasn't dead. In that case maybe it was the real thing. But this whole situation just felt like a big, complicated illusion to Guntz. Nothing was the real thing here. "I can't just accept all of this. I'm going to try and make things back to normal."
"Why? What's wrong with the way things are now? Things have improved," Klonoa asked. Guntz clenched his feet. This was so wrong. He felt like he and Klonoa had swapped shoes. "Why am I the one telling you what's right and wrong?! Improvement isn't always what's best! You can't be sure that the others are happier now, or anyone else in this screwed up reality." He paused, looking away.
"I'd give anything to start over, trust me, but not like this… It's just not right. It's not the way things are supposed to be," Guntz said in a lower voice. "If you accept it it will feel more natural," Klonoa replied simply. Guntz frowned. He stood up. He was sick of arguing over this. Everything Klonoa said only made him feel worse.
As usual Klonoa was a very influential person, but for once it wasn't enough for Guntz to agree with him. What he was saying just wasn't right. Perhaps this Klonoa wasn't real either? Would the others act like him, too? He turned away. "I'm leaving tonight. I'm going to find a way to set things straight again… You should really come with me," he decided.
Guntz desperately hoped that Klonoa would agree, but he only looked away. Guntz sighed quietly and walked away, his assurance wavering at every step.
Guntz must've become some kind of dork if he grew up with his parents. His father doesn't expect much from him and he's given tiny guns. Guntz' only hope of becoming as cool as he is was growing up all alone. -.-;;
...I don't know why I haven't said Butz' name yet. I suppose it's because this guy possibly isn't even the real Butz. I guess when I started simply calling him "his father," I couldn't get myself to stop... Butz also has yet to say Guntz' name, but that's for a completely different reason. X3
Yay for DtP clothes!
