Klonoa: Steps from Dreaming

Act 2

     The bright light began to fade. Slowly the sound of birds grew louder and the smell of flowers and trees greeted Klonoa's senses. Color began to reemerge and tall cylinder objects materialized into existence. Klonoa found himself at the edge of a dense green forest. Ferns, flowers and trees were flourishing and brandishing the most vibrant of color. Birds were chirping merrily and a cool wind flowed through the brush.

     “Wha...Where am I?” Klonoa asked in confusion.

     Ranno, relinquishing his grip, “I have transported us to the first O-di of our journey. There is something here that we need.”

     Klonoa looking around curiously at his new surroundings winced at the comprehension of the term 'we'. “We?”

     “Yes, you are the dream traveler aren't you? This world needs the help of a dream traveler.”

     “Okay but this place seems pretty peaceful.” said Klonoa taking in the scenery with amazement. Noticing Ranno's posture of moderate disbelief Klonoa took a deep breath and stood up strait, “Okay so what are we doing here?”

     “Simply put, the O-di are focal points or outlets of my phantomile.”

     “I have to gather some artifacts to save the phantomile from an ancient evil again.”

     “Precisely. It is good to hear that you have saved other phantomiles before.”

     Klonoa confidently replied, “Yes I have been to a few other places but they have been a bit more helpful and accommodating.”

     “Don't worry about that, it will all make sense soon enough. Now we've already lingered plenty, let's get going.”

     “Is what we are looking for in this forest?”

     “It resides in the forest, yes. The area ahead has a kind of protection that prevents people from teleporting closer. What we are here for is at the bottom of a waterfall. My magic also does not work within the O-di but I can help you wield that ring in the meantime.” Ranno quickly became engulfed in a blue glow and disappeared into the green gem faceted in Klonoa's ring. “Please walk to the clearing to the left.”

     Klonoa gave the surroundings another look in awe then began walking towards the clearing. As he approached the clearing he had a sense something was amiss. The wind seemed to be slowing down and the sound of birds was becoming fewer in frequency. Entering the clearing Klonoa saw a large flow of water coming from the adjacent tree line and then dropping as a waterfall into a large naturally circular pit which was as deep as the trees surrounding him were tall. The walls of the hole were lined with foliage, moss and flowers. At the bottom there was a pebbled floor with a large pond at the center full of fish and a cave in which the water continued to flow into an underground cavern.

     Klonoa stood at the edge of the pit absorbing the natural spectacle. His eyes trailed from the top of the waterfall down to the fish at the bottom. Suddenly he realized nothing was moving.

     “Manya! What is going on! Nothing is moving.”

     “Oh they are moving; just very slowly. The power that resides here controls time. We must gather the source of power quickly. The things living here were not always slowed in time. Eventually we too will be slowed unless we remove the power from its resting place; we must act quickly.”

     Hastily Klonoa responded, “Then we haven't much time,” as he began making his descent into the pit.

     The air was cool and humid and the smells were fresh and strong. Roots from the forest above provided many strong hand and footholds. Halfway into the pit the roots were fewer and the rocks and small bushes were the only objects available for support.

     Nearing the bottom Klonoa could hear waterfall was becoming louder. Klonoa turned to see the flow of water was slightly faster than he remembered.

     [...]

     Placing his feet on the bottom floor Klonoa glanced around looking for signs pointing towards the location of the artifact. Not seeing any obvious markings he asked, “So where is it?”

     “There it is, in the water.” said Ranno.

     A glimmer from the water caught Klonoa's eye. Stepping closer Klonoa peered into the water in dismay. “How about I wait at the water's edge.”

     “I can not touch the artifact.”

     Klonoa looked down at his ring in apprehension.

     “My studies have stated only Dream Travelers can properly handle the artifact. Any other handling could cause the power to become even more unstable.”

     Klonoa, slouching his head and shoulders, “Of course...” Unable to see another way to reach the artifact he slowly approached the water's edge. He reached out with his shoe to test the water but the water felt as hard as the forest floor. “Wha-? What is going on?” He took a few steps onto the surface of the pond. “How do we get through the water?”

     “Hmm, very interesting. You're the Dream Traveler, think of something before we are stuck here longer than we can afford.”

     Klonoa in a panic looked around for anything that could penetrate the water's surface. He ran out to the center of the pond, directly above the artifact. He looked around again but could not see any sticks long enough to reach the bottom or any clues as to how to enter the water. In dismay he looked down at the water again and noticed his shoe prints were still in the water. Curiously he jumped and with a thud the water beneath moved but the splash quickly slowed to a near stop.

     “I got it!” Klonoa ran to the edge of the water and turned to face the artifact. Pointing and using his ring he let out a wind-bullet and chunk of water was pushed away. The water like last time quickly halted to a crawl. Klonoa unleashed more wind-bullets creating a tunnel leading to the artifact at the bottom of the pond.

     Klonoa entered the tunnel of water and continued firing wind-bullets. As he walked through the tunnel he admired the sunlight that drifted through the water and the pebbles that were as soft as sand to his step. Klonoa looked up to see a kaleidoscope of color refracting the flowers above along with some surprised fish recently exposed by the excavation.

     Reaching the bottom center of the pond Klonoa was standing within arm’s reach of the artifact. The artifact, a dark blue sphere, was atop a mantle of rocks covered in algae. Klonoa pressed his hand into the remaining wall of water. The water was cold and felt like sludge. He reached up to his shoulder and grabbed the artifact. Upon touching the artifact it vanished and a swirl of blue traveled up Klonoa's arm and faded away.

     Klonoa, believing he had acquire the artifact, struggled to pull his arm out of the wall of sludge-like water. “Okay, I got the artifact.”

     “Excellent. Now let's get back to the forest so we can transport home.”

     Finally prying his hand from the wall of water Klonoa felt a cold draft. Peering back down the tunnel it was clear the tunnel was collapsing at an increasing rate. “Manya! Time is speeding back up!” Klonoa frantically sprinted towards the tunnel entrance, pushing fish and globs of water out of the way. Dropping to a crawl he squeezed his way out of the small hole that remained.

     Splash!

     Standing at the gurgling water's edge Klonoa could hear the waterfall come to full speed and the sound of water pouring into the chasm nearby.

     In a determined voice Ranno said, “We must make our assent. Who knows how much time we've spent here.”

     “Wahoo.” Klonoa climbed out of the pit with relative ease and walked back into the forest.

     Ranno reemerged from Klonoa's ring with a bit of a smile. “Looks like we can do this after all.”

     Klonoa replied with a smile.

     “Now let us go back to town, I need to gather some things to continue our journey and I'm sure some food, rest and an explanation are in order.” Ranno began to glow the bright yellow again. Putting out his hand Klonoa took hold then the colors from the forest, smells and all the sounds faded into nothing.