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

Chapter 13: Dream Traveler

Klonoa couldn't tell whether he was unconscious or not. It was a strange yet oddly familiar place. But everything was dark and blurred. Perhaps he was in his own mind. A voice was speaking. It was murmured at first and incomprehensible. But Klonoa recognized it immediately.

It was the same strange, light voice that had spoken to him so many times before. It had led him through hard times and helped him with certain decisions. It wasn't speaking a normal language. It didn't even sound like a language at all. It came as murmured whispers. But somehow Klonoa could understand it.

He had to wake up. Something bad was going to happen soon and this world would fall under peril. It was his job to stop that from happening. The whispering soon faded out, replaced with the harsh in comparison voices from several people around him. He was still in that strongly scented room on a cold, metal table.

Klonoa couldn't feel his ring in his hand. He opened his eyes, his visions blurred for a few moments. He shifted, finally catching the people's attention. They backed away in surprise. "It's awake!" someone yelled in alarm. "Is that anesthesia even working at all?!" a man asked harshly.

Klonoa could see fine by now. He quickly sat up, coughing out a strange tube that had been blowing air in his mouth. He didn't even mind the startled people dressed in white around him. He had to find his ring. He jumped off the table, finding his legs much stronger than they had been before.

No one dared to stop him as he ran toward the door. They seemed surprised to see him so easily open it before he disappeared. Klonoa ran across the shiny, clean, and somewhat slippery floor through a hall. He past several doors, but didn't bother checking them. He knew where his ring was, he could feel it.

He then slid to a stop in front of a door. He quickly opened it to find several shelves of strange objects inside. Some were slimy and some were mechanic. It was only until he noticed an emerald light shining in the dim room did he find what he was looking for. Klonoa snatched up his oversized ring, which had been carelessly placed on a shelf.

He could hear yelling outside. Clearly word was getting out of his escape. Klonoa ran out of the room only to be immediately noticed by a group of people. He ran in the opposite direction and into a random room. The people were right behind him and stopped at the doorway. Klonoa looked around quickly.

This room was just like the one he had first been in. This one had a window, though. The people, though hesitant, slowly crept in the room. Klonoa, with no other choice, suddenly turned from them and jumped into the window. The glass shattered, cutting him slightly. He hadn't predicted the room to be three floors high. But sudden energy was bursting through his body. Even the long fall down didn't stop him.

The scientists watched helplessly as their experiment ran away, soon to be out of sight.

---

"Is everyone okay?"

Nikki was just rubbing her head, recovering from the sudden shock of being in a car accident. Chris was too busy looking at the mess to reply. "Oh no. My van! I don't have the insurance for this!" he wailed. The opposing car, though small, had left quite a dent to the front-most part of their van.

"We're fine," Pango said from the back, though Guntz was holding his head for the third time that night. Nikki turned to Chris. "Come on! We still gotta go," she prompted. "B-But, I can't just leave," Chris objected. "Look. He's fine. Let's go," Nikki replied quickly, pointing at a man who was now walking out of his wrecked car.

Reluctantly, Chris managed to pull his ruined van away from the car, leaving the man to stare dumbfounded after them as they drove off. It wasn't long before smoke started coming from the hood. "Nikki, this is dangerous. The van'll break down any minute," Chris warned.

They managed to get down a few more blocks before the next tremor began. They escaped any accidents this time, though, luckily. But the cars around them weren't moving again. "What's the hold up?" Nikki asked impatiently. Something was jumping across the cars ahead of them, causing them to stop short in surprise. The hopping figure was dark and hard to see, but a familiar emerald glow was with it.

"W-Wait! That's Klonoa!" Nikki suddenly yelled. "What—ow! Dammit!" Guntz was just looking out the small opening between the two front seats before Chris slammed on the brakes, jerking him forward. "I'm gonna have a big-ass bump there tomorrow," he grumbled, rubbing his head.

Nikki jumped out of the van. "Klonoa!" she called, causing the leaping figure to stop.

Before anyone could cause any trouble, they quickly had Klonoa pulled in the van and began driving again. "We thought you were a goner!" Nikki was hugging Klonoa tightly, as if he were a doll.

"You thought he was a goner. We know Klonoa doesn't die that easily," Guntz corrected, suddenly brighter than he had been moments before. "But… what if they disemboweled him, laid his organs on a table, and cut them up?" Nikki asked quickly. Guntz could only blink incredulously at such an idea. "Were they really going to do that?"

Klonoa pulled himself out of Nikki's arms before the conversation could continue. "I need to get someplace high," he suddenly said. "What? Why?" Nikki asked. "I just do," he prompted vaguely.

Before long Chris pulled the van up beside a sidewalk near a tall building. Klonoa was quick to jumping out and run inside. "Wait! You don't have anything to hide yourself under!" Nikki called, but he was gone. Guntz and Pango hopped out of the back of the van and followed him.

"Nikki, I really have to go back to that accident. I could go to jail, you know," Chris said. "Oh, but," Nikki muttered. Chris suddenly grabbed her hands. "Don't worry. I'm sure you're safe with these guys. And I'll be right back," he said dramatically. Nikki blinked. "Oh… That's good. 'cause we still need your van," she replied. Chris let his head drop in disappointment. "Of course…"

Chris soon left and the group began running up the building, Klonoa far in front of them. There weren't that many people inside, probably all left from the random earthquakes. Klonoa past by them so fast that they barely even noticed him, let along tried to stop him. By the time they reached the roof everyone but Klonoa was gasping from breath. "Damn… tall buildings," Guntz wheezed.

Klonoa was scampering about the roof, holding out his ring as if it were a metal-detector. In some directions the emerald jewel would dim out, and in others it would shine brighter. "What are you doing?" Pango asked. "It's Joka. He's the one causing this, and it's going to get a lot worse," Klonoa replied without looking at them.

Guntz looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh yeah. Should've guessed him… Wait. How do you know?" he suddenly asked accusingly. "Unless it's just an assumption." The ring had gotten its brightest in a certain direction. Klonoa turned to look at him. He hesitated. "Actually… there was something I've been meaning to tell you guys…"

He paused. "It's my fault you're here. Actually, I was supposed to come here alone." The three looked baffled and Klonoa continued. "You see… I'm called a 'Dream Traveler'. I travel across worlds and save them from certain peril. But… When I came to Lunatea I didn't leave again right away to go to another world… I thought maybe I was done being a Dream Traveler.

"But then the problem with Nahatomb happened and I was supposed to leave again. I guess you guys accidentally came with me because you touched my ring just as I was leaving… Maybe Joka did, too, somehow… Though Lunatea wasn't the first place I met him…"

"Wait a minute," Guntz suddenly interrupted. "So you're telling us you're seriously some kind of hero that goes around saving random worlds that have some random problem?" It sounded so outrageous when he said it, but Klonoa nodded anyway. "That's stupid. I don't believe you," Guntz said decisively.

Klonoa looked slightly hurt with a mix of disappointment. He let out a light sigh. "I didn't think you would," he murmured quietly, holding out his ring to the side. The emerald jewel shone brightly and a string of light suddenly beamed out of it. It went as far as the eye could see. "That's where Joka is," Klonoa said, suddenly taking on a melancholy tone.

---

It was way past midnight by now. Who knew when dawn would come? The long walk to where Joka was apparently hiding was ominously quiet. Despite not seeing the line of light anymore, Klonoa seemed to know exactly where he was going. They trekked through dark alleyways to avoid being seen.

Currently, Pango and Guntz were bickering in the back. They spoke in whispers, but it was still clearly heard. "I just think maybe you should reconsider," Pango said thoughtfully. "Reconsider what? That all this time he's been some kind of legendary hero who goes around saving worlds?" Guntz snapped.

"Maybe he's really telling the truth," Pango suggested, though he sounded uncertain. "Do you really think he could possibly do something like that?" Guntz asked, pointing in Klonoa's direction. Pango could only sigh helplessly in reply. Nikki let out a wide yawn, making Klonoa turned around.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to come with us if you don't want to," he said. Nikki twitched. "Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. I'm just tired," she assured. "You've been helping us a lot. I'm really grateful. The last thing I want to do is cause you trouble," Klonoa said. Nikki smiled. "Well, if you're really here to save my world, then the least I can do is help, right?" she asked.

Klonoa paused, before smiling back. He looked like he was about to say more, probably "thanks," but the sound of quick, heavy footsteps cut him off. Before they could react several heavily armored men had surrounded them in the alleyway on both sides. They were all too familiar.

The group back together, looking on both sides cautiously. "Dammit. How to these guys keep finding us?" Guntz muttered in a low growl. A certain man stood out from the crowd, taking a step toward Nikki and Klonoa. He was also familiar. "Step aside, girl. We have a right to take these things down," the man ordered.

"Down?" Nikki couldn't help but echo. Were they actually going to try and kill them now? "These things are obviously the cause of all these earthquakes. And they're too wild to be kept in captivity," the man replied. He made his pistol visible. Klonoa twitched and Nikki immediately took a step in front of him, not sure herself exactly what she was doing.

"You can't just kill them! They're here to help us," she protested. "To help us what? Destroy the world?" the man mocked. Nikki gritted her teeth, honestly not sure how to explain this to them. She didn't even completely understand it herself. The man held up his gun, pointing it at Nikki. "I have a right to shoot you if you get in our way."

Nikki wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not, but she found herself completely frozen staring at a gun pointed at her face. "Move!" the man ordered loudly. As if on cue, a second later another tremor started up. The man lost his balance, losing proper grip of the pistol and accidentally firing it.

"Nikki!"

Whether Nikki had tripped from the earthquake or not didn't matter. She never received the bullet. When she finally opened her eyes after flinching, she saw that something had gotten in the way, acting as a shield between her and the man. It was Klonoa, his arms spread out wide protectively. He staggered slightly for a second, before suddenly falling back in Nikki's arms.

He had thrown himself in front of her just in time to take the blow instead of her. Nikki's ears seemed to stop working as she held Klonoa's limp body in her arms. She didn't hear Guntz yelling his name or Pango ordering everyone to move back. All she heard was the light hissing sound of some kind of gas being emitted, as pink colored smoke filled the area. Something grabbed her and pulled her away, Klonoa still tightly in her arms.

Somehow, Nikki was too preoccupied to think how, they had managed to make it to a roof of a building while the armored men were confused by the sudden smokescreen. Nikki was on her knees, looking down helplessly at the wounded Klonoa. Guntz was pacing around in aggravation.

"It's just one thing after another with you!" he suddenly snapped. Klonoa looked at him weakly. "I'm sorry," he murmured softly. Guntz twitched, looking away. Klonoa's breathing was labored and came in short gasps. Nikki could tell he was struggling to keep conscious.

She didn't know what to do. Her thoughts whirled in her head. She should know what to do, though. Nikki had wanted to become a doctor once upon a time. But this was typical. She always lost sight of her objective and panicked at the sight of blood. But her test way back when hadn't nearly been as severe as this. This time someone really was dying.

"I don't… want to be a burden to you… Nikki," Klonoa gasped, looking up at her. Nikki flinched at his once bright but now exhausted expression. "Shut up! Save your energy," Guntz snapped. He was flustered, but obviously very concerned. "But what can we do?" Pango asked helplessly. This world was unknown to them. They didn't even know if this place had hospitals, let alone if they'd be taken care of.

Nikki's eyes were growing watery with frustration. This was just like last time!

"Madison, these are lives you will be dealing with. You have to be able to stay focused and calm," spoke a steady, professional voice.

"I can do it! Just give me another chance!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't be willing to put lives at risk while you get used to treating them properly." There was a pause. "Maybe next year."

Nikki had failed at becoming a doctor miserably. After that she'd convinced herself that it was no use to keep trying. Perhaps that was a good idea, for her knack to panic in such tight situations clearly hadn't gone away. She trembled, trying desperately to recall the procedures that should be carried out in severe circumstances. She closed her eye tightly, concentrating as best she could.

This wasn't a test. This was real!

"First, you apply pressure to the wound. Try to stop the bleeding as best you can."

Her teacher's words flashed in her mind. She snapped her eyes opened and immediately pressed her palms against Klonoa's abdominal area, where the bullet had struck. He winced sharply.

"Keep the patient awake. They have a better chance of surviving if they're conscious. Keep this up until help arrives."

Nikki blinked. There was no point is waiting for help that was never going to come. Guntz and Pango looked at her in surprise when she suddenly stood up. It was a risk, but there was only one place they could go to save him.

I ish teh uber Klonoa abuser! …Yeah… honestly I had planned this scene before the whole fire issue and whatnot… I have a bad habit of beating on Klonoa. Hopefully this will be the end of his torture. -.-;;

…Jeez… I have no idea where I'm going with this anymore. Hopefully it'll be finished soon. But I'm still unmotivated and suffering from writer's block… -sigh- Hopefully I'll get over it sooner or later.