The Ride Back (Guntz)

At Pops' direction, I pressed a small, red button near the control panel's bottom left corner, the label above it reading "PATIENT RETRIEVAL". Almost immediately, the ceiling rig lifted Klonoa out of his tank – he blinked rapidly to try and get the blue-ish substance out of his eyes – and carried him over his exam table. Some of the substance trickled off his fur, dripping down onto the table and floor.

He was then turned on his back, his head pointing towards the tanks, before being lowered once again. Once he was back on the table, he struggled to try and sit himself up – did the vacuum weaken his muscles, too? Or do they not have enough oxygen yet? Regardless, I went over and helped him up, detaching the wires from his harness in the process.

"T-thanks…" he said – since his mask was still on, his voice once again came out of the control panel's speaker.

"Of course." I got to work pulling off his harness, bracelets, sandals, and vitals armband, setting the former three off to the side.

"Alright," I continued, holding a few fingers in front of Klonoa's face, "how many fingers am I holding up?"

He counted them silently. "Four."

"Good. Now, I'll need to squeeze your ears through the mask's strap again before I can take it off. You ready?"

"Ready."

With that confirmation, I carefully pulled the mask off Klonoa's face and the strap over his head, squeezing his ears through it while doing so. Though I wasn't sure how hard I was pulling, he didn't show any signs of discomfort – probably makes sense, as he had to constantly pull his ears through his shirt's neck hole each time he got dressed.

Once his mask was off, I disconnected its mic cable and oxygen hose, before handing it, his harness, his bracelets, and his sandals to Pops for re-stowage.

"You okay, Klonoa?" I asked. "Can you still breathe alright?"

He took a few deep breaths. "Yeah, I… I think I'm good."

I sighed in relief, embracing him tightly. "Thank Claire…"

Now, I couldn't tell if I startled him, like he startled me back at Jugkettle… though his reaction was similar to mine: instead of pulling away, he too wrapped his arms around my back, resting his head on my suit's chest piece.

"Just…" I went on, a few tears trickling down my cheeks, "just, please… don't ever try to scare us like that again…"

"Of course…" he sighed…


Since Klonoa's muscles were still weak, I had to help him walk over to the defrosting center's showers before he could clean himself up. Once he finished and dried himself off, he changed back into his regular clothes before grabbing his wind ring from one of the control panel's pegs.

The three of us – Klonoa, Pops, and myself – then headed back to the base's landing bay, stopping to pick up my helmet from the entrance, along with Pops' jacket, tactical vest, and mask from the training area. I decided to bring Janga's body as well – like Klonoa said, he wanted to ensure Lolo's death truly wasn't in vain, so making sure her captor can't come back might help. Besides, I imagine his scarf would make a nice battle trophy.

As soon as we boarded our rocket and strapped ourselves in, Pops used the onboard computer to depressurize the landing bay and open the ceiling hatch once again. After I set our course, the rocket's autopilot fired up our engines, and we took off once more.


Pops, Klonoa and I haven't said a word to each other in the half-hour since we left. Honestly, I don't know what we could say right now – I'd ask Klonoa how he's holding up, but… given his attempt to join Lolo wasn't permanent, I can only assume he'd wanna keep quiet about it.

Then again, he said Lolo's working on visiting him in his dreams, like how Mari's visiting Pango… and with Janga's body strapped down in the cargo area, he now has proof that those responsible for Lolo's death are truly dead. So, I don't know, maybe he's willing to discuss his mood now that he can rest easy, but… no, probably best not to risk it.

What else could I say… I could probably ask Pops how he's been holding up, see if he could elaborate on what he's been up to since Janga poisoned him. Although, Klonoa was concerned I don't need him around anymore, so focusing the conversation on Pops probably won't help matters… no; I'll save that for when he and I leave Breezegale.


A while later, our orbit was adjusted yet again – if our last trip was any indication, we should be in Earth's orbit in another six hours…

We just finished off the last of our food supply – couldn't help it; we haven't eaten anything since my fight with Pops. Plus, I'm sure Klonoa needed something to re-energize himself; after all, he's been unconscious without oxygen for quite a long time.

Right now, though, we remained silent – I still haven't figured out what we should discuss yet.

Eventually, Pops broke the silence.

"So, uh, Klonoa…" he began, trying to keep his voice controlled, "you've been travelin' with my son for… how long, now?"

"W-well…" Klonoa answered, his voice low. "We left Breezegale the day after Lolo's funeral, so… just over two days."

"And before that?"

"Hrmm…" he muttered. "…I first went with him the morning after Lolo left for the Sky Temple, so… between that and when we stopped Nahatomb, I… I think it was roughly a week."

"Gotcha. And, erm… how was he? Did he treat you well?"

Shit… I tensed up, remembering how much of a jerkass I'd been to him.

"F-for the most part, yeah. Though…" He glanced at me. "…He's made some, erm… questionable decisions during our journey… and when I first met him…"

Pops shot me a stern look. "Such as?"

"That's…" Klonoa glanced at me again. "I think that's up to Guntz if he wants to say. Even then, I… I never felt like he was a bad person… I mean, he had a bronze hero medal, so he must've been doing something right…"

Pops chuckled a bit, his stern look fading. My tension dissipated likewise.

"So," he said to me, "nice to see you've gotten some use out of my medal…"

Klonoa turned back to Butz, a confused look on his face… "Wait… your medal?"

Pops' face adopted a similar confused look. "He didn't tell you?"

"N-no…" Klonoa stammered, "I-I just assumed it was his to begin with… though that does explain why he never took me to get my own medal…"

"He's right." I told Pops. "Y-you never told me where you got your medal, so I… I didn't know where to take him…"

"I see…" Pops muttered, before turning back to Klonoa. "For future reference, I got mine at the Sky Temple, a few miles east of-"

"I know." Klonoa cut in. "Pango took me after Guntz and I, erm… 'got separated' at the Moon's Ruins."

"Is that so?"

"Yep – I even ranked gold right before we faced Nahatomb, too… all three of us did…"

"Well," Pops continued, "congratulations, both of you."

"T-thanks…" I stammered. "Though, I imagine you'd want mine back? And your weapons?"

"Oh, n-no…" Pops assured me. "At least, not right now… we'll discuss it once we drop off Klonoa."

"A-alright, then…"

"Speaking of whom…" He turned back to Klonoa, looking him over. "I, um… I see you don't have your medal on you… did you leave it at home or something?"

"S-sorta…" Klonoa muttered, his voice turning pensive. "I… I gave it to Lolo before we… before we buried her…"

"Oh…" Pops muttered back, his voice pensive likewise. "May I ask why…?"

"O-of course…" Klonoa answered, his voice wavering. "I-it was mainly so she could… could be recognized for saving us all, even at… at the cost of her own life, but… at the time, I thought that… that with how she's helped Breezegale before she left, that... that she was more heroic than I ever could be… that she deserved it more than I did…"

"I don't know about that…"

"I-I'm serious…" Klonoa insisted. "M-my medal seemed to think so, too – as soon as I pinned it to her hat and let go, it…" He hesitated. "…It shone as bright as the stars themselves…"

Pops chuckled again. "So, she earned herself the legendary Star Medal, did she?"

"Pretty much…" Klonoa said, his expression falling slightly.

Pops, noticing, added: "B-but still, gold ain't half bad, especially with what you've done for my son."

Klonoa's ears perked up. "Y-you mean…?"

"Yep. Guntz told me how you saved his life by… by stopping Janga from poisoning him – thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem…" Klonoa said, scratching his chest. "Ironically, I… I didn't know his claws were poisonous at the time – I just saw the cat lunging at Guntz from behind and…"

"And you just saved me on instinct?" I cut in.

Klonoa nodded. I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Sounds about right; you have been a bit reckless during our last journey…"

Klonoa chuckled likewise. "You know, Lolo said something similar while I…"

His expression fell once more. "…W-while I got to see her again…"

I sighed, my expression falling likewise. "S-sorry I brought it up…"

"I-it's fine…"

We both fell silent once again, unsure of how to continue on that front.

I decided to change the subject. "So, erm… you think we should get some rest before we land? I'm pretty sure it's the middle of the night back in Breezegale and… well, we aren't gonna be there until early in the morning…"

"F-fine by me…" Klonoa muttered.

"Agreed." Pops added. "Besides, you two've been through a lot today, so it probably wouldn't hurt to try and relax a bit."

He looked at Klonoa. "At least, before we have to explain ourselves to your friends…"

"Fair enough…" With that remark, Klonoa tilted his head back and closed his eyes. I did so likewise, trying to fall asleep… desperately hoping Pops'll stop Klonoa from going anywhere before morning…