Time Skip

“Eheheh! Lookie here, I’ve got a sword and a medal, just like papa does.”

Said medal, which was taped onto the child’s blue shirt, was a cutout piece of cardboard with scribbles on it, and the sword was just a toy. His sister was still very impressed either way. They were playing in the boy’s bedroom, which had several toys and other knick-knacks on the floor.

The two four-year-old cabbits were trying to figure out what would be next for this game of theirs. The older twin, who had brown-and-white fur and blue eyes, and messy orange hair, was standing on his bed and trying to look all heroic (to the best of his ability). His younger twin sister, a yellow-and-gold furred cabbit with brown eyes and golden hair in twintails, was watching in awe as she sat on the floor, her sketchbook and crayons in hand.

“We can go on ‘ventures and stop the bad guys… Oh! Topaz should come, too! Let’s go find them!” the boy suggested. Topaz was a few years older than them, and he was certain that they were the one who’d have good exploration tips.

The younger twin squealed in joy, instantly approving of this idea.

The girl put the sketchbook, crayons, and her favorite bunny plush into a little pastel pink backpack she had nearby as the boy grabbed his puppy plush and jumped off the bed, landing next to his sister. He helped his sister get the backpack on and put on her noise cancelers just in case.

“ Now we can go!” he said as he led her out the door.

But the twins both noticed something very new and mysterious as they went downstairs. A small blinking device resembling a button seen on game shows and a couple small communication devices, walkie talkies to be specific, were present on the living room floor.

“Whooooa, it’s another invention thingy… I wanna play with it.”

“Nii…” the younger twin finally spoke. She seemed a bit hesitant, but she followed him and had picked up one of the walkie talkies.

The boy was about to hit the button, but waited a moment. “Wait… Let’s press it together, Sun-sun.”

They readied their positions on the button.

He started to count… “One, two…”

…but had to remember what came next.

 “Three.”

The twins pressed the button, and instantly found themselves getting sucked into a portal that had appeared.

But it seems that someone had noticed once the portal had closed, and had instantly panicked.

“Skip?! Sunny?!!” They had called out.

They picked up the remaining walkie talkie with their clawed paws.

“…they’re gonna be so pissed at me for lettin’ this happen… Wait, what’s gonna happen if they meet past us?!”

~*~

Grassy plains and a nearby temple and other small buildings were what Skip had woken up to see. It was certainly something a bit different than before, almost like in photo albums his parents had shown him. The sky was a pinkish-red, meaning it’d be dark soon and Skip had to find somewhere to go.

He noticed his puppy plush was next to him, and he scooped it up in an instant and hugged it, glad that something familiar was around.

…only he had realized moments later that Sunny was not with him. And she had the walkie talkie.

“She can’t even talk right yet!!” he yelled up to the sky.

Skip was very unsure of what to do. Maybe someone at the temple could help? He’d been to service with his parents and sister many times, and most of the people there were very kind.

He started to walk toward the temple, looking around to see that other townsfolk were either preoccupied with their conversations or were concerned to see a four-year-old out on their own. The cabbit kept going until he entered the temple.

It felt a bit too empty. Aside from some distant noises from priestesses working on chores, there was nothing he could hear.

“H’llooooo?” he called out to the empty entrance.

A priestess had noticed Skip and rushed over to him, bending down to get to his eye level.

“Hey there, are you lost?” she gently asked.

Skip had to think for a moment. Was he the lost one? “I dunno. I know my sister is,” he truthfully answered.

“Your sister?”

“Uh-huh. She doesn’t talk much.”

“I see… Let’s see if we can find someone to help, alright?”

“Okaaay!”

The priestess took Skip’s hand and they walked past the entrance and a few halls that lead into the main room covered with stained glass windows and many rows of wooden benches. They saw someone who Skip could have sworn looked familiar.

 

“Hey, Lolo, there’s a kid here who looks kind of like your friend… You think you could help out with him?”

 

The orange haired girl turned to the priestess and the four year old. “I don’t mind helping! I’ll get Popka here too-”

Lolo was shocked to see that this little boy did look like her friend. Same ears, same face, same cat-like grin… only he was much tinier, had a different fur color, and some orange hair.

Skip was in disbelief. She looks a lot like mama, he thought. So maybe she’s nice like mama is?

“Hi, I’m Skip. You look pretty,” he said bluntly.

Lolo giggled a bit. “My name’s Lolo. It’s nice to meet you, Skip,” she replied. “And what’s your little friend’s name?” she was referring to the little blue dog plush in Skip’s grasp.

“This is Sir Fluff! Oh, Lolo’s a pretty name!!”

The priestess blushed a bit, trying not to giggle again. “Th-Thank you..!” She was not used to getting kind comments like this from others.

“Lo! I’m here! What’s this about some lost kid!” another voice piped up.

The owner of the voice, a little emerald-eyed yellow-and-brown dog-like creature wearing a red bandana tied around his neck, was bolting down the temple to where Lolo and Skip stood.

“Oh, Popka!”

As he reached the two and skidded to a stop, Popka took one look at Skip, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Who’s this, Klonoa 2?” he bluntly questioned.

“Popka, he’s not-”

“Well, he looks an awful lot like Klonoa! Ya sure he ain’t his baby brother or something!”

“No, I’m the big brother!!” Skip huffed as he crossed his arms. “My sister’s the lost one, not me!”

Lolo was alarmed by this new piece of information. “Your sister?” she asked.

“Uh-huh. She can’t even talk much yet,” he said. “She cries a lot too.”

“Sooo she’s a baby, then?” Popka interrupted.

“No!! We’re twins!” he sounded angry hearing the word ‘baby’ being used to refer to his sister. “Sunny doesn’t talk much, but she’s not a baby!!”

“Oh. Well, it might be too late to look for her. It’s practically sundown.”

That realization hit Skip like a ton of blocks. He turned to one of the stained glass windows to see that the sky was indeed filled with warmer colors now. It was definitely too late for today.

“We need to find her, miss Lolo!!” he exclaimed. “She’s afraid of the dark!!”

“Tomorrow we will, for sure,” the priestess sighed. “It’s a bit late to be looking for her today. Are you alright staying with me and Popka tonight?”

Skip thought it over for a brief moment. “Yes,” he answered. “I hope Sunny’s okay.”

“I’m sure she will be. We’ll search tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, ma- Miss Lolo.”