Time Skip

Dawn had finally… well, dawned. Klonoa instantly realized that when he groggily woke up as he felt Sunny lightly tugging on one of his ears.

“Okay, okay, I’m getting up, Sunny,” he mumbled. “Give me a bit, alright?”

“Hiiii,” the four-year-old quietly responded.

And with that, the two had done all they could to get ready for the day. They had gotten dressed and made sure that they wouldn’t leave anything behind in the room they had stayed in.

“Alright, are you ready to get going?”

“Dupa dupa."

Klonoa’s eyes widened in surprise. He had never heard anyone else other than himself say that before, making him all the more curious about this child. “Wh…Where did you hear that from..?”

Sunny didn’t respond or even make any noises. She just ran to the room’s exit, lightly bouncing up and down in anticipation. The older cabbit took that as a sign she wouldn’t be answering, and he knew not to argue with her about it. However, it did worry him a bit that she wouldn’t answer.

Shortly after they had left the room, the two of them heard someone literally scream Sunny’s name.

For Sunny, it was a familiar sound that made her turn her head around, only to see the red-furred wolf run toward her and literally tackle-hug her. Both of the kids were now practically sobbing. Both due to the bittersweet reunion, and that Sunny did not expect this to happen.

“Okay, who are you, and how do you both-”

“That’s your cousin, Topaz?” Klonoa heard Guntz ask.

“Wait… Cousin? But she’s a wolf like y-”

“I go by they . Not she ,” Topaz responded firmly. “But yeah. We’re cousins.”

He immediately understood. “Sorry, they’re a wolf like you, and Sunny’s a cabbit like I am. How are they both-”

“My pops and her pops aren’t related by blood , silly! Why do people always think that?”

They let go of Sunny, who had run back to Klonoa, quietly sobbing.

“They both are really close friends, and they kinda see each other like brothers.”

“Quite the interestin’ story, squirt. Sounds… familiar,” Guntz admitted.

“But… that’s what they told me. I’m sorry.”

“I mean, we’ll take your word for it. But we really need to get going.”

“I get to come with you, right? I have to help find Skip, too. Parents’ orders.”

Guntz did not want to answer. But Klonoa had decided to speak up:

“Of course! I’m sure you’d be a big help.”

“Not just with finding Skip. I know how to get her to stop crying quicker if that’s what you mean. I’ve got fruit snacks in one of my coat’s pockets.”

Guntz suddenly realized what this had meant and could only think of one thing to say: “You’re hired, kid.”

~*~

“Heeey!! There’s the Sky Temple!” Topaz had pointed at a very tall white-colored structure in the distance, “My auntie and my older cousin are there a lot.”

“I see,” Guntz replied. “So they’re the religious type of people, huh.”

“Yeah, but they aren’t too forceful about it!”

They were on their way to the Sky Temple, the area still green and grassy as ever, surrounded by trees and a river on the sidelines. Quite nice weather for what seemed to be the end of this strange event. Soon they’d be able to see Lolo and Skip.

But… Klonoa still couldn’t get his mind off of earlier. He desperately wanted to know where Sunny could have come from. The fact that she often wouldn’t respond when asked about her parents or where she learned about certain things concerned him quite a bit.

“…Hey, do you mind we rest for a bit?” he had suddenly asked as he stopped walking.

“Hm? What’s up?” Guntz questioned. “We’re literally so close to the Sky Temple, though.”

“I’m sorry, I just…” the cabbit huffed, putting down Sunny, “I really need a break.”

“Ah. It’s fine. You… need to talk about it at all?”

Klonoa nodded his head, trying not to tear up.

Topaz had quickly noticed this, gently taking Sunny’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go play,” they whispered to her. “Klo’a just needs space for a bit.”

After running around the area for a bit (while also making sure they didn’t stray too far from Klonoa and Guntz), the kids had hidden behind a tree, with Topaz carefully taking the backpack off of Sunny’s back. They opened the little pink bag, pulling out the walkie talkie from in there.

“Okay, this is it. I hope this works…”

They pressed and held onto one of the buttons and spoke into the device, “Hello? Is anyone there? It’s Topaz, I found Sunny! And I think we know where Skip is, too! Please, just, someone answer us, please..!”

Sunny stared at her cousin with worry, flapping her hands a bit. Was this going to work? Would they finally be getting home soon?

A few moments had passed before they had gotten a response at all.

“Topaz? Sunny?! Oh goodness, thank the goddess Claire that you’re both okay!!”

“Mama?!” Sunny suddenly cried out, staring directly at the walkie talkie in Topaz’s hand.

“Listen, you two. I don’t think finding Skip will be the end of this. I have a feeling there may be something more, but I’m not sure what that is.”

Topaz pressed the button again. “Is there?! Wait, we get to help out after all?!”

“Mamaaa!!” Sunny cried out again shortly before Topaz let go of the button.

“Sunny, listen, you’re being a very brave girl dealing with all of this. I promise this will all be over soon, okay?”

The child whined a bit, hugging Topaz.

“You’re both doing a wonderful job so far. We’ll have to leave it here with how the circumstances are, but it’ll all be over before you know it. I’ll see you both soon.”

“We’ll see you soon. We’ll make you proud, Auntie Lolo. ” They made sure to keep their voice as quiet as they could before letting go one last time, quickly stuffing the walkie talkie into their empty coat pocket, and helping the little one get her backpack back on after she had taken out her rabbit plush.

“We gotta keep quiet about this to everyone else, okay? We’ll get to see auntie soon. I absolutely promise you that.”

Sunny nodded her head.

“Let’s go back to Mr. Guntz and Klo’a for now, okay? Maybe they’re done talking.”

The kids had returned to see Guntz and Klonoa were sitting by the river, and their conversation was still going.

“...I get why you feel that way, kid. I’m sure they’re out there somewhere.”

The four year old couldn’t help but walk over to them.

Topaz tried to stop her as they saw that Guntz had noticed her walking over to them.

“Wait!!! Sunny, don’t-”The little cabbit gently patted Klonoa’s arm a few times while Guntz and Topaz watched in bewilderment. They were expecting at least one of the cabbits to break down crying somehow, but for now, nobody had said a word.

“...Sorry,” she quietly mumbled. “My fault?”

Aside from the running river, things were completely silent for a few moments. That was, until Klonoa finally had turned his head to the younger child and responded.

“...It’s fine, Sunny. You didn’t know, it's not exactly your fault. I know you’re still learning a lot. I just…”

Klonoa looked back at the river, sighing.

“You don’t have to answer, but I wonder if you’re a distant relative of mine or something. They’re out there somewhere, I’m sure. I just don’t know where .”

The little girl genuinely didn’t know how exactly to respond to this. She couldn't. All she could do for now is offer her rabbit plush to Klonoa in hopes that maybe it’d help him like it helped her ever since she was a baby.

That was the first time Klonoa had really smiled that morning. He gently took the plush from her and hugged it for a brief moment. “Thank you, Sunny. I see why you bring this everywhere with you. It’s comforting.”

Sunny brightly smiled, giggling a tiny bit. She felt really proud of herself for being able to cheer someone up.

“Oi, shouldn’t we get going?” Guntz suddenly asked as he stood up. “We’re literally almost there, and I’m sure that the squirts are tired of waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah! Give me a moment.” Klonoa handed the yellow rabbit plush back to Sunny before he also got up from where he was sitting. “Thanks again, Sunny.”

"Dupa!"

And with that, they had finally set off to finish their journey to the Sky Temple, but Klonoa and Guntz did not know that this whole adventure wouldn’t exactly end there.