Guntz's Moonwalk (Guntz)
Following Pops' directions, I turned left out of the surveillance room and walked straight down the hallway.
A few paces in, Pops' voice crackled through a speaker on my wrist display.
"Alright, Guntz," he said, "I'm testing the surveillance room radio now. Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear." I responded into the display's microphone.
"Good. So… what were you gonna say earlier? When I asked about Janga stopping you?"
"Oh… I was gonna say it's thanks to Janga that I didn't shoot myself… joining you in the afterlife…
"And it was thanks in part to the grief Klonoa and I shared, that stopped him from doing the same…"
My mane started to rustle a bit more… I started jogging, realizing what I just said.
"Uh… Pops…" I began again, "is Klonoa… still sitting there?"
"Yeah, he's just… staring off…"
"Towards the base?"
"No… away from it, in fact… I think towards the dome's edge. The cameras don't go out that far, though…"
"Weird – I figured Garlen would wanna monitor the dome's airlock for intru-"
Upon hearing myself, my mane flared up once again… and my heart seemed to sink even further than on the day Janga poisoned Pops…
"Oh…" I muttered… "…oh, FUCK!"
I bolted down the hallway, mane on fire and heart pounding.
"Whoa!" Pops said. "What's 'oh fuck'!?"
"He said," I explained, "he was considering throwing himself out an airlock shortly after Lolo died… I think he's actually gonna do it now!"
"'Oh fuck' indeed!" Pops replied, a sense of urgency in his voice. "You think our reunion had to do with it?"
"Definitely!" I answered, grief lining my voice. "Since I'm not grieving for you anymore, he… he probably thinks I don't need him now…"
"Do you?"
"Of course!" I snapped, turning right at the end of the hallway. "Aside from you and Pango, he's the only real friend I ever had!
"Besides… last night, Pango made me promise I'd bring him home safe, and the day before, Popka made him promise he'd come back safe…"
"They're that worried for him, huh?" Pops asked.
"Not just them…" I went on, still grief-stricken. "His grandpa… his other friends… everyone back in Breezegale…
"He needs to remember they… they can't live without him…"
"Well, you'd better hurry," Pops continued, "he's heading toward the crevasse field now!"
"Crap!" I exclaimed, still running and mane still ablaze. "Can you shut off the airlock controls?"
"Son, this is a surveillance room, not a control room."
"Alright, where would that be!?"
"That'd be the Core Area, which last I checked, you and your pals decimated. The entrance is closer, anyways."
"Damn it all!" I shouted, my pace quickening.
Eventually, I reached the base's entrance. Since I was carrying my helmet under my arm, I couldn't use my suit's thrusters; I had to use the moon's gravity to leap over Janga's body, over the many crevasses between myself and the dome's edge…
A few leaps in, I spotted Klonoa inside the airlock. He seemed to face me, just as the… the interior door started to close!
"KLONOA! DON'T!" I desperately shouted, praying he could hear me.
As fast as I ran… as far as I leaped with each bound… the door still closed before I could reach him – I skidded to a stop just before I could run into it.
Tears started to run down my cheeks again, and the sensation in my mane seemed to spread throughout my body. As the airlock hissed – depressurizing itself – I slammed my head against the door, screaming.
"Guntz!" Pops' voice crackled again. "What happened!? Is he outside!?"
"I-I can't tell!" I answered, my voice breaking. "I can't see through the airlock… all I know is he went inside and depressurized it!"
"Shit! Is there a cycle button on your side!?"
"Let's see…" I scanned the doorway, noting a small, red button on its left edge. The label above it read "AIRLOCK CYCLE".
"Alright, I see it! Though I need to make sure Klonoa hasn't gone…"
Almost as in response to my remark, I saw something move outside… just past the button…
It was Klonoa! And he was looking right at me!
"He's out!" I exclaimed despairingly, rushing towards him.
"Okay, you work on bringing him back in; I'll be right over!"
I skidded to a stop right at the dome's edge, as close as I could get to Klonoa. His fur was lined with frost, and his skin now bulged out. He had a look of discomfort on his face – though it didn't look like he was holding his breath… more like he was trying not to inhale.
"PLEASE! GET BACK INSIDE!" I screamed, pointing at the airlock. Though I knew he couldn't hear me, I attempted to emphasize my mouth movements, hoping he'd be able to read my lips.
"BREEZEGALE NEEDS YOU!" I continued. "I NEED YOU!"
Was he… was he mouthing out an answer? From what I could make out, his lips read: "…a…so…gu...lo…brega…a…gon…".
And with that statement…
…he leapt off towards the horizon.
"KLONOA!" I rushed back to the airlock's interior door, pounding the cycle button.
The airlock hissed again. While I waited for it to repressurize, I snapped my helmet back on and took a few deep breaths – in part to try to calm myself down (it didn't work) and in part to make sure I still had some air left (I did).
After a few moments, the door started to open again. I quickly slipped through once it was about a quarter of the way open, and slammed the cycle button on the airlock's control console. Once again, the interior door closed, the airlock depressurized itself, and the exterior door started to open – again, I slipped through once it was open far enough.
Though Klonoa was no longer in my sight, he left a few footprints behind in the moon dust, pointing east. Using my thrusters – now that both my hands were free – I flew across the crevasse-lined ground in their direction.
A few moments later, I spotted Klonoa about a hundred yards away, still leaping across the landscape – I boosted my thrusters to try and close the distance faster.
Once I got closer, I noticed he was clearing shorter and shorter distances with each leap.
He's almost out of oxygen… I nervously thought to myself.
About three more leaps in, he stopped momentarily before jumping straight up, high off the ground… far past my current elevation.
And as he reached his apex…
Just as he started falling back to the lunar surface…
…his body went limp…
…and my mane simmered.
"KLONOA!" I screamed once again, my breath fogging up my visor a bit. Shutting off my thrusters, I skidded to a stop right below him, just barely catching him. The frost on his fur was more prominent now, and his face once again bore a chillingly vacant stare.
Just like my nightmare…
Need to get him back inside… before the vacuum does any more damage to him…
Without hesitation, I turned the opposite direction – since I was holding Klonoa in both arms, I had to resort to leaping across the crevasse field yet again. Several leaps in, I thought I could feel his body getting more rigid…
One minute later, I stepped back into the airlock and cycled it – with both my hands full, I had to use my elbow to press the button this time. Once the door opened far enough, I rushed back into the lunar dome, leaping back towards the base's entrance.
After skidding to a stop, I set Klonoa's now completely rigid body on the ground and tore off my helmet, throwing it towards the entryway.
"K-Klonoa…?" I whimpered, tears creeping down my cheeks again. I waved my hand over his eyes and snapped my fingers near his ears, trying to see if he'd respond. He didn't.
"Klonoa, please… don't leave me…" I pressed my ear to his chest, nearly burning it on his cold skin. He wasn't breathing, but…
His heart's still beating… Thank Claire…
I picked him back up, intending to take him to the medical ward like last time… but was almost startled to see someone in the doorway.
It was Pops, a stretcher in tow, an ice pack strapped to each of his knees, and the wind ring in his left hand.
"Is he…?" he asked pensively.
"Still alive…" I cut in, putting Klonoa's body on the stretcher, "…but barely."
"Good. We've not a moment to lose."
