Takeoff (Klonoa)

"Unngh…" I woke up groaning… though I didn't bolt upright this time. Instead, I sat myself up in bed and looked around – I was still in our room at Volk's inn, the red, dawn sun peeking through the window's blinds. Sweat lined my fur again – though not as much as last time – and I was panting slightly.

Guntz and Pango weren't here – the former's bag was missing, and the latter's nightclothes were discarded in one corner. Instead, I noticed Boris staring at me, still in his own nightclothes.

"Slept well?" he asked.

"Urmm…" I responded, still disoriented, "better than the previous night, I guess… how come?"

"N-nothing much…" he answered, taking a seat next to me, "…Guntz told me you kept seeing that Lolo girl in your sleep, that's all…"

I hesitated. "…I mean, that's… kinda right… he thinks it's because I loved her so much…"

Boris started grinning. "…A-as a friend, though…" I clarified.

"…And you don't wanna be without her?"

"Right."

"Thought so… I don't really remember what my mommy was like…" He looked up, crossing his heart. "…but Daddy says she'd often visit him in his sleep, consoling him…"

"Hrmm, that's… kinda sweet, actually… did she ever visit you, too?"

He shook his head slightly. "Daddy says she can't – he said that each night, she can only visit one person who was… who was close to her in life, and… like I said, I… don't really remember her…"

I sighed pensively. "Sorry to hear that, I… I'd imagine you have a lot you wanna tell her…"

"Yeah… though Daddy says he'd tell her about… about how I was holding up, and… he'd even bring up any questions I'd have for her… and anything she wanted to say to me, he'd relay it each morning…"

He sighed back. "So, um… how about you? Did Lolo pay you a visit last night? Or the night before?"

"N-not exactly…" After thinking it over, I told Boris about my last two nightmares… though I left out the parts with the taunting villains and shooting myself in the first one, and switching roles with Lolo in the second one…

"Yikes…" he responded, a bit of dejection in his voice. "Sorta like my nightmare, huh…"

"…I'm sorry?"

As Boris explained what happened, I thought I could feel my bed vibrate, a low rumble off in the distance underscoring his monologue:

"Er… back in Nahato's Darkness… before I realized what was going on… I dreamt that I finally woke up… my sleeping sickness was no more, but…" A few tears crept from his eyes... "I found that Daddy and I were… were much older than we are now, and… we had one last conversation b-before he…"

He didn't finish his sentence himself, for the look on his face did it for him:

Like Guntz, he had to watch his own father die…

"Oh…" I responded, resting my hand on his shoulder. "I'm… sorry you had to go through that…"

"It-it's fine…" He seemed to lighten up a bit. "I knew it couldn't've been real, as Daddy would never have given up that easily… but still, seeing it all play out… I… don't think I was able to control myself…"

"Christ…"

We sat in silence for a few moments… unsure of what else to say on that front.

I decided to change the subject: "Say, speaking of your dad… do you know where he and Guntz went?"

"Yeah, they're looking around town right now… seeing if they can find out any more about that 'shadow' you saw. Guntz asked me to stay with you in… well, in case you woke up screaming again."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "…His words, not mine." he added.

"I see…"

"Yep. He and Daddy said they'd radio us once they get a lead. Wait…"

He grabbed something from his nightstand – Guntz's radio – and checked the power switch.

"Oh, it's off…" he remarked. "Did I hit it last night…?"

He turned the radio back on – almost immediately, an urgent voice crackled out of the speaker.

"–oa!? Boris!?" It was Guntz's voice. "For God's sake, please say you read me!"

"Y-yes, I read you." Boris spoke into the microphone.

"Finally! Is Klonoa awake?"

"Yeah, he's up. Have you found anything out?"

"Sorta… the townsfolk were just as unhelpful as yesterday, but… did either of you hear a low rumble, by any chance?"

"I think so… It sorta underscored our conversation, so I thought it was in my head…"

"Well, it ain't! Another rocket just took off… and we think we saw that yellow cross painted on the side!"

My ears perked up. Boris, noticing, continued: "Th-that's great! So, how do you want to handle this?"

"We're already heading towards the Volk space force base now; how quickly can you two meet us there?"

We looked down at our nightclothes, still stained with sweat. "…I mean, we'd… have to shower and get changed first…"

"Alright, then – once you're ready, head over. And Boris…" His voice adopted a pensive tone. "Please… don't let Klonoa out of your sight."

"Understood."


After showering and changing into our regular clothes, we ran through the labyrinth-like streets once again, eventually stopping right in front of the base's gates… right next to Guntz, Pango, and the Red Clan II.

"About time!" Guntz said. He took a brief look at me, and tried to adopt a more encouraging tone: "Another space trip… isn't this exciting!?"

"…A-a little…" I replied. "Though… where would we go? If I'm right, and that figure really is Janga… do you really think he'd lead us back to…?"

Almost as in response to my thought, I noticed a small card taped to the gate's bottom. It bore the same yellow cross as the last card.

I quickly picked it up and turned it over – on the back was a crude drawing of a dome encompassing a military base. The ground seemed to be lined with craters.

"…the Lunar Base!" I finished my thought. "Here's hoping we can actually land near it this time!"

"Agreed." Guntz said. "Pango, Boris, you wanna come with? We could use the extra company, and Boris… wouldn't it be exciting to float among the stars?"

Pango shot a bit of a stern look at his son.

"W-well, it would be, but…" Boris began, "Daddy and I still have to prepare for the festival – we didn't get to buy any gunpowder yesterday, after all. Maybe he'll take me some other time?"

"Err," his father responded, "we'll probably have to wait and see. It's not like they'd just give out rides to the public; in fact, we had to, erm, 'quietly borrow' one of their rockets last time."

"I see… I guess we'll leave you two to it. Good luck!"

"You bet." I said back, as the two pangolins started to walk back towards the plaza.

A few paces in, Boris turned back to me, his face now pensive. "And Klonoa… we hope you feel better soon."

I grinned slightly. "Thanks, Boris."

They headed off.


Like last time, Guntz and I snuck into the base and boarded one of their rockets, making sure the fuel tank was full and the cargo bay stocked with food and… well, I wanted to say dive suits, but… we ended up bringing on proper, form-fitting spacesuits this time… though we decided to launch in our regular clothes.

Conveniently enough, the suits were already designed to fit our body types; the helmet on mine even had sleeves for my ears.

We strapped ourselves to the pilot and copilot seats, and the announcer outside began to count down the launch. My heart began to race once more…

Takeoff in T-10… 9… 8…

Don't worry, Lolo… I thought to myself.

7… 6… 5… 4…

I'll make sure Janga pays for your fate…

3… 2… 1…

I promise!

0…

The rocket's engines roared to life, propelling us upward into the sky. My ears flapped wildly behind me, the force of the launch pushing me back into my seat.

Janga… prepare yourself!