(A/N: A fair warning before you read. This story, as well as the rest of this AU of mine, contains characters, including Klonoa himself, that are constantly taking their clothes off in detail. In case you fear it might lead into something NSFW, trust me, it won't. They are anthropomorphic animals with fur after all, and as such, they take their clothes off to relax, to bathe themselves in the cool wind, or, in Klonoa's case, change into a super form as you will read below.
Thus, if the mere act of taking one's clothes off bothers you despite the innocent context, then I suggest you do not read further. Thanks.
~Lux)
Earth... A small planet in a universe of billions. It is our home. The home of humans and anthropomorphic animals, who altogether number in the billions as well.
It wasn't always that way, though. Thousands of years ago, humans alone ruled the planet. Back then, we were just like our regular non-anthro cousins today: primitive, acting and surviving only on instincts, hunting each other to satisfy our hunger... That is, if you weren't one of the domesticated ones back then. If you were, then you could easily co-exist with humans. Through the way known as selective breeding, humans took away their aggression and taught them how to behave, to ignore their instincts, and to love. These changed animals that became humans' pets looked the same and were still very limited compared to their owners, but they were no longer the aggressive instinctual beasts that they were before.
The rest of the animal population back then, though, were left unchanged and were left in the wild... until that one fateful day where everything changed.
In the human year of 2180, now known to us as -1 BD, a great blue comet arrived from space and had struck the planet, bringing about a great wave of devastation across the planet. Almost 70% of total life, including humanity, was annihilated, and it reset humanity back to the medieval ages, retreating back to their castles of old, but with scraps of their once modern technology retained with them. Monarchies rose back into power, and old political rivalries with one another were reignited, sparking tension and war.
With their advanced satellites, humanity back then somehow did not see this comet coming. It came as a sudden surprise, and by the time they detected it, it was too late. Yet, as it brought widespread destruction, little did they know that it also brought something else. Something that would prove to be a bigger change. A change that would affect all of the surviving life on the planet.
When it rode through space on the way to here, the comet was carrying this core of energy within its rocky shell. Some current scientists say it was a substance or chemical, though. But regardless, when it impacted our world, it released this energy to every corner of the planet. Surviving witnesses back then saw it as a blue wave that went across and touched everything, down to the tiniest rock. Everything that wasn't destroyed had this eerie tint of blue on them. And then, it faded as the destruction winded down.
At first, they thought this blue wave was nothing. Then, over the preceding years as kings and queens rose back into power, everything slowly changed in what was coined by historians as, "The Era of Awakening."
In a nutshell, humanity began to notice that some of them were spiritually awakening. People suddenly began to manifest abilities within them, some of them being outright superpowers and magic. It was the stuff that humanity only dreamed up back in their old years of technology. And with the second coming of the medieval ages, not only there were kings and queens, there were also wizards, too, which were once the stuff of fiction back before the comet hit. Not only this, but those who were spiritually awakened began to have a connection to the other side where all of life's souls came from, and through the cosmos of the universe, the truth behind the creation of the planet was revealed: that a pantheon of 12 gods were behind its creation. And by sending that comet, they decided it was time for the planet to awaken.
Then, there came us. Slowly, humanity began to notice that a large number of animals across the world were starting to rapidly evolve. We were becoming bipeds instead of quadrupeds, learning to speak the languages of humanity instead of the mere roars, barks, and mews humans were used to. We began to form hands of our own and grow intellects past our instincts. Soon, we became just as sapient as them. Now they had a large group of life that was rivaling them in every way.
Of course, as usual according to their history, humanity began to fear us for many reasons. And so started a long conflict of war between us and them. They pushed us and we pushed them back. Soon, both sides noticed that neither was gaining on the other, and so the conflict ended in a stalemate. It was at this point that we finally began to live in peace with them, despite humanity continuing to war with itself. But that, too, was gone after a while.
Millennia have passed. Over time, with our help, the world had built itself back to where it was before the comet struck. Technology now rules our world today just as it did back then. But at some point, though, humanity had decided to abandon the same magic that helped them recover. They no longer needed it, it seems, instead choosing to rely on tech. Now only us, and smaller cults within humanity, have this access to the great spiritual energy that binds the universe.
And just as there will always be light, there will always be darkness to contend with as well. Should there be another disaster, should some decide that the world must burn for one reason or another, we will always need something or someone that can stand up to it. And fortunately, we now have that someone. Someone with the potential to go down as one of the most powerful beings in all of history.
Let me tell you the story of the god of dreams, Somnium, and his need of a savior to combat the nightmares that were threatening to pollute his Dream Dimension. A savior that he calls the Dream Traveler, and of the Traveler's true power as the Dreamer of Light...
"...Um, one of the most powerful beings in all of history? Heh, really, Ensis?"
"Why not? I mean, you did manage to take down an enemy that was stronger and faster than you at first, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but only because I was desperate enough to save Lunatea from him... which did push me to a level of power I didn't know I... had... Hmm..."
"Well, you know what they say. When there's a will, there's a way. With enough willpower in someone, pretty much any goal of theirs is achievable, really. And I'm pretty sure that includes saving the world, Klonoa."
"...Mm, yeah, I guess you're right on that."
In a room on the second floor of this two-story house, there lay a black-and-white, short-tailed, long-eared cat on his side, lying on a blanket-covered bed that sat against the left wall of a room underneath a large curtained window. The long-eared cat wore a blue hat adorned with a large Pac-Man symbol on it, a blue shirt with a large zipper on it, blue shorts with yellow buttons on it, yellow gloves, and red and white shoes. He wore the hat backwards, with two large hair bangs sticking out from his forehead. His oval eyes were yellow, with a white patch in-between his riceball-shaped eyes and above his three-fluffed muzzle with a small brown cat nose. The bases of his long ears were white and shaped like maple leaves.
The black cat laid there with a TV remote in his gloved hand. Directly in front of him was another cat, sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. This cat was green, had normal cat ears from the top of his head with white in them, and had a long green tail with a white tip at the end of it. He had silver eyes with the shape of his eyes being more vertical than the black cat's. His cat nose was black, and the shape of his muzzle looked different from the black cat's with the same three fluffs as him. He wore a grey t-shirt and black shorts, though unlike the black cat, he lacked gloves and shoes with his hands and feet being white.
The green cat had a silver-colored laptop computer on his legs, typing on it with his white hands.
"So you think writing a blog entry on the Internet will help spread the word about me and my new powers?" asked Klonoa, the long-eared cat, sporting a kid-like cat voice, looking down at his roommate and friend below. "I think it'd just be easier for me if I went to the media for this, instead."
"But then, you'd be overwhelmed by them, Klonoa," said the green cat Ensis, sporting a teen voice. "I mean, there's a reason why they're called the mass media. Every one of them will want a piece of you, even an exclusive by some of them just to get hits on their own show or site. You'll literally have no time for anything else if you go to them... No, my way is better for us. And let's not forget that I'm a blog author with decent popularity, Klonoa. If people want answers and other stuff, then they'll have to go through me first."
Ensis looked back at Klonoa and smiled.
"Trust me, it's better to have a huge crowd on the Net than a huge crowd with flashing cameras all over the place on our doorstep and elsewhere."
"Hmm, yeah, you're right. We'll do it your way, then."
Nodding, Ensis looked back down at his laptop. Remote in hand, Klonoa flicked through the channels on the TV, searching for something to watch.
"...Eh, nothing to watch as usual on Friday afternoons," said Klonoa.
Turning the TV off and tossing the remote onto the floor, the black cat then laid on his back and put his hands behind the back of his head, proceeding to stare at the ceiling above with half-closed eyes and letting out a sigh.
The green cat continued to type on his laptop. Noticing Klonoa behind him, he looked back.
"Relaxing with your clothes on?" he asked, smiling.
"Well, we are going to go somewhere with your brother soon, right? A friend's wedding or something?"
"...Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot to tell you. The wedding's been postponed to next week. Koec said a storm was unexpectedly coming today, so..."
"Oh... Huh. Some crazy weather's been going on lately, huh?"
"Yep... But, you know, it's not like it matters anyway whether you're clothed or unclothed at an important public event, Klonoa. Heh," said Ensis.
Klonoa smiled. "I know. I just prefer to look good when I'm at an event like that. I mean, I don't think I need to repeat that these clothes are my favorite to wear, do I?"
"Heh... Well, hey, I like to look good, too... But, only half of the time, really."
Looking down at his laptop again, Ensis moved it to his left and placed it on the floor. Then, he looked down at his grey shirt and grabbed the bottom of it with both hands. He slid it upwards from both of the back and front of it.
"Let's not forget..."
Pulling it upwards and crossing his arms as he did so, he slid it up his head and pulled it over, taking the shirt off of him and his arms. He tossed it over to his right. With his shirt off, the green cat's upper body was entirely green-furred.
"...that we're not like humans with anything immediately revealing. Unlike them, we have this," he said, touching his green furry chest. "And because of this..."
Looking at his black shorts, lifting himself up, he grabbed them and pulled them down, revealing the rest of his green fur. He slid them down his legs and tossed them to where his shirt was.
"...we can be free like this without annoying or disgusting anyone. That's what makes us different."
With him wearing nothing now, picking up his laptop, Ensis resumed his typing.
Having watched his friend take his clothes off, Klonoa continued to smile, looking at the ceiling again.
"Hm, just as I learned three years ago... Hehe, if I didn't, I would've been like, 'Why did you take your clothes off just now?!' at you this moment. If only they weren't so restrictive back then..."
Looking down at his blue shirt, the long-eared cat moved one of his hands from the back of his head to the shirt's large zipper. He put his finger in the zipper's hole and pulled it down, unzipping it and revealing his own black fur as it went down and separated at the end.
He sat up and sighed, using his hands to pull both sides of his shirt off and down his arms, taking it off.
"...then maybe I wouldn't be wearing clothes at all by now. I would've been unclothed from the start," he said while taking his shirt off.
Klonoa tossed the shirt to where Ensis' clothes were.
"If only they weren't, alright," said Ensis, noticing the shirt toss.
The black cat looked down at his remaining shorts.
"Hm, besides, I think I now realize why Somnium called me the Dreamer of Light... Well, I've realized it before, but..."
Moving himself off the bed, with his shorts still on, Klonoa then stood up on the floor and walked to the center of the room. He turned around and faced Ensis.
"...Oh? Are you gonna do what I think you're going to do?" asked the green cat, grinning a bit.
"Yep," nodded Klonoa.
The long-eared cat closed his eyes. A second later, small energy winds began to emit from all around him, going into their surroundings and causing his long ears to move along. Seconds pass, and his hair bangs began to spike upward. The winds continued to increase in intensity, now reaching Ensis and his fur.
"Whew... good thing I took my clothes off before this," he said, feeling good as the winds swayed past his bare, but furry body.
A few more seconds pass. A quick flash of light occurred, and a great burst of white particle energy exploded around Klonoa, changing his black fur to pure white. A great aura of white particles now surrounded him, emitting from his body and going upwards, fading into the air above.
Klonoa opened his now slanted, determined eyes, smiling as well. The color of his eyes were no longer yellow. They were ruby red.
The green cat grinned gleefully at this.
"Hehe, man, seeing you transform never gets old, Klonoa," said Ensis.
"Yeah... I'm still awed at this myself, honestly," Klonoa said, looking all over himself and now sporting a teen voice like Ensis', but lighter. "To see myself changed into this... It's like seeing another side of yourself that you thought didn't exist, really."
"Mm-hmm. And to think that you doubted yourself about this in the beginning. Heh... Now, what were you saying earlier, again?"
Hearing him, Klonoa looked down at his shorts and then looked up at Ensis.
"Somnium calling me the Dreamer of Light... When I first heard about it that day and of his announcement to everyone in their dreams, I didn't know what he meant by that. I thought it was just a metaphorical title of me defending everyone's light from the darkness, that I'd be such a thing once I'm pushed. But now I know that he meant this transformation, instead. I mean, look at me. I'm all white, like light itself. And so, if I wore clothes in this form, wouldn't it downplay the aspect of me being this beacon of light?"
"It definitely would," replied the green cat, slowly nodding. "If you wore clothes, it'd be like someone bolted the door to the light, yet the light's trying to shine through the door's keyhole and small openings here and there. That's honestly what it reminded me of when you transformed with your clothes on at times: only your arms and legs and face and ears were white, the rest of it covered by blue. Yeah, you wouldn't be living up to that title if you wore clothes. And not even those shorts would be okay."
The white cat looked down at his shorts. "Yeah... That's exactly what I realized now and back then when I was exploring what this form could do."
With his hands, Klonoa grabbed and pulled the shorts down, kicking them off of his feet afterward.
"Guess I'm not wearing anything but these on when I'm like this, then."
"...Not even that collar you usually wear?" asked Ensis, smiling.
"With this big chest here? Nah... Think I look strong without it," Klonoa replied, touching his chest.
The green cat chuckled at this. "Yeah, admittedly, you do look stronger without it."
The white cat nodded. He sighed, closed his eyes, and calmed himself. The particle aura surrounding him faded away, and he opened his eyes, the shape of them back to their normal round state.
"...Aaaaaaaand... what's even more amazing that you can stay transformed like this as long as you want," said Ensis, seeing Klonoa still in his white state, but powered down. "And still having access to your powers... I wonder why you don't stay like this all the- oh, right..."
"Hehe... Well, now that I've already revealed myself to the world by stopping those bank robbers, I just might do that."
Klonoa began to walk back to the green cat and stopped to his right, sitting down next to him.
"So are we ready to do this, or...?"
"Yeah, we're ready. Got my word processor still open here... Ready when you are, Dreamer of Light," said Ensis, smiling at him.
"Alright."
Klonoa leaned back on the bed and put his hands behind his head again, looking up as he began to recall the past.
"It all began three years ago, in a village called Breezegale."