Disclaimer: I do not own any Klonoa characters… The others are mine, though.

Chapter 3: Struggle

"All right… I'll be back at around 6:00 o'clock. Just stay here, okay?"

"Okay…"

Nikki was just getting ready to leave for work. The thought of taking the day off crossed her mind, but then she remembered how close she was to losing her job. This was her last day to make sure she stayed employed.

What was the point, though? Nikki knew Klonoa would be on her mind all day. Anything could go wrong. Still, she had to trust him. "Promise me you won't leave," she insisted. "I promise," Klonoa replied. He was currently wearing hang-out clothes Nikki had given him. They were too big, for Klonoa's height only went up to her elbow, but it was better than wearing those wet, bloody clothes he came in with.

"Good… Well, you can watched TV and eat while I'm gone, okay? And go easy on that wound… See you." With that, Nikki reluctantly walked out and locked the door shut behind her.

Outside was no better than yesterday. It wasn't raining currently, though the gray clouds promised it would be later. Nikki groaned. She had told Klonoa they'd look for his friend today. If it was raining again, it'd be quite hard.

Nikki left her thoughts behind and hurried to her job.

---

Inside, Klonoa looked around awkwardly. This certainly wasn't like any home he'd ever been in before. The homes on his world were usually small and simply built, for they were only used to sleep in most of the time. Staying here all day didn't sound like any fun, but he had to obey Nikki.

Nikki… she certainly was different; especially compared to all the other people around here. She was alarmed when she saw him, Klonoa should've expected that, but she still helped him. And now she was going to help him even more.

With only a slight shift, Klonoa had to press a hand on his aching wound. He winced for a moment and caught his breath quickly. Walking around wasn't a good idea, anyway. Maybe resting was best for his body, as well.

Klonoa sat down in front of the couch. The couch itself was too comfortable for him. He was used to sleeping on hard mattresses and sometimes the ground. Now… what did Nikki say he could do? Watch TV… what was a 'TV?' And eat… he wasn't hungry.

Instead, Klonoa let his thoughts keep him busy. He was certain that the howling the night before was Guntz'. Whose else could it be? Guntz was here… But why? If Klonoa was really on this planet by how he thought he was, Guntz shouldn't be here.

Was anyone else here, too? Pango? Lolo? Popka…? Klonoa closed his eyes. Part of him hoped they were. When he first came to this planet, he feared he'd never see them again. It was strange. This hadn't happened for such a long time. He had been beginning to hope it'd never happen again. But he was wrong…

Klonoa looked at the large ring in his hand. A faint yell caught his attention. With effort, he stood up and limped to the window. It was locked closed and he currently didn't know how to open it. Looking down into the alleyway, he could see what looked like four young kids. Three were slowly walking toward one, who was backing up.

This looked familiar. Klonoa looked at the window up and down. Below, the one kid couldn't back up anymore, for he had reached the wall. The three other boys, larger and with hostile expressions, semi-circled him. "Well, well, well. Looks like somebody doesn't know how to take a hint," said the boy in the middle. "Please, Bill, I-I didn't have a choice—My mom made me—"

"Yeah right! I'll bet you blame your mom for all of your problems."

"No, I—"

"And I'll bet you cry to her, too!"

The three boys laughed cruelly. Klonoa's large, sensitive ears could hear every word they said. The center boy grinned. "I clearly remember telling you not to come to school today, unless, of course, you wanted some of this." He clenched a fist and held it up. "Not only that, but you didn't even have the common sense to bring any money to please me. I'm very disappointed," he said in mock-seriousness.

"Now we're gonna have to teach you another lesson," another boy said. "Yep. Not that it'll stick this time," the other boy laughed. They started walking closer, fists raised, their large shadows lumbering over the helpless boy. He cowered against the wall, looking down and covering his face.

Klonoa finally found a latch above the windowsill and undid the lock. With amazing speed, considering his wound, he jumped out of the window and leapt down between the boys. The three bullies recoiled in surprise. Klonoa's ears didn't even have time to fall back down before he spun his body around and stuck out his ring ahead.

A gust of strong wind was suddenly blasted at the three boys, sending them stumbling back and falling on their bottoms. The boys stared at the odd creature before them fearfully. Klonoa took one step forward and the boys jumped to their feet and ran off. The boy behind Klonoa simply stared, awe-stricken. He looked like he was about to say something, but he was given no time.

Klonoa jumped up at the metallic stairs hanging on the side of the apartment building and climbed back to the window from whence he came. The boy watched him as he disappeared and closed the window behind him. Inside, Klonoa immediately collapsed right where he was.

He put a hand to his side and lifted the shirt slightly. His wound had started bleeding again, he could tell, as redness soaked through the white bandages. He didn't know how to take care of this and hadn't worried about it until now, for he'd promised Nikki he'd be careful.

Well, that was two promises broken now; probably more like three, in fact. He wasn't careful on his wound; he had left the apartment; and he attracted attention. Klonoa sighed, disappointed with himself. Nikki was helping him; the least he could do was obey her.

---

A few blocks away on an empty road strode a woman. She wasn't young or slim, but still seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. This road was cracked with countless amounts of potholes. It was bordered by abandoned buildings, their dirty walls representing their neglect.

Little to no people walked down roads like these. They made good shortcuts, but "evil" lurked down alleys like this; whether it be gangsters, rapists, or stray animals. But bold people like this woman had the nerve to cross them just to save a few minutes of their lives.

This road had never betrayed this woman before, but today wasn't her lucky day. She froze in place when she heard a menacing snarl. A dirty, skinny dog walked out from behind a dumpster. Its head was lowered; ears back, legs spread apart, teeth bared. The woman made no movement, trying to hide her fear.

She was no fool. This was a Doberman Pinscher. She knew dogs like that were ones to bite for no reason, especially around here. The stray showed no signs of backing off. It reared quickly and leapt at her, jaws parted and drool spraying from its lips. The woman screamed, lifting her purse as a hopeless defense.

The dog never bit her, though. Something had suddenly dashed out from the shadows of an alleyway that was between them and tackled the dog. The Doberman staggered in surprise and turned to its new opponent. From what the woman could see, it looked like a boy, considering his figure, wearing a red jacket and gray pants. The hood of the jacket was covering the person's face. He seemed to be holding what looked like a blue hat.

The Doberman bared its teeth again, this time with twitching ears. Another snarl accompanied it and the woman had to make sure she was hearing right. What that growl coming from the boy? The Doberman lunged forward and sank its teeth around the boy's neck. The woman looked away quickly as he was pushed and fell to his back.

Upon peaking through her fingers, which were covering her face, she saw the boy twist his body and… she couldn't believe it. A muzzle stuck out of the hood and fangs snapped around the Doberman's neck. With surprising power, the "boy" pushed up and threw the dog into the air. It flipped and landed on its back with a loud yelp.

The woman was surprised how pathetic the dog looked now as it staggered to its feet and fled. Panting, the boy slowly got back to his feet. He put a gloved hand to his neck, which seemed fine, and looked down at the hat in his other hand. Boldly, the woman got closer behind him. She slowly lifted a hand and grasped part of the boy's hood.

Suddenly realizing she was there, the boy spun around and leapt back. The hood flung off, revealing what made the woman gasp. The boy was certainly no ordinary "boy" at all. His face was covered in black and golden-yellow fur. Pointy, large, German Shepherd-like ears were on his head. A dog-like muzzle stuck out of his face. His blue eyes narrowed with unfriendliness.

His lips curled slightly as the woman back up, revealing rows of sharp teeth. "What are you?" Was what she felt like saying, but nothing came out. The woman had seen so much in her years and nothing had ever made her as speechless as this. Before she could do anything, not that she would've done much, the boy suddenly ran off down the road.

The woman didn't bother running after him as he soon disappeared from sight. "Oh… I forgot to thank him…" she said slowly, still in disbelief.

---

"Dad, that's going too far!"

"Nonsense, it'll be fine."

"What if you hurt them?"

"Who cares? They're monsters."

"'Monsters?!' They are not monsters!!"

People glanced in surprise and annoyance as Nikki screamed at her cellphone. How outrageous her father was being! How could he actually consider sending people out to roughly capture those creatures like Klonoa? He was the mayor! Certainly he could think of something smarter than that.

"Chill out, Nick. You're still young and all, you know? Believe me, this is the best for my city," her father insisted from the other side of the phone. "Please, dad, reconsider. These creatures could be here to… help us," Nikki suggested. Her father only laughed. "Help us? Nonsense! They're here to hurt us! Didn't you see that armadillo's claws?"

"You can't help what you're born with, dad," Nikki replied. "Whatever. I'm trying to help you and you just shun me away, like always," her father said, though he sounded far from hurt.

"There's no way I'm writing an article about your stupid ideas!" Nikki yelled. "Suit yourself. Don't come crying to me when you're unemployed." With that, the mayor hung up. Nikki sighed. Some father he was… She felt the sudden sensation to go check up on Klonoa, but her lunch break was almost over.

As long as he stays inside, she told herself reassuringly.

Not much happening in this chapter. Probably because I get the terrible urge to explain things in detail while writing this, instead of just letting one thing happen after another; like I did with The Wizard of Moo... But that was a parody, so... Yeah... Look forward to chapter 4!