5/24/2006
Station City - 400 Freedom Way
It's impossible to escape bureaucracy, and at times, like a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter, you've even got to tangle with the red tape willingly. Welcome to Freedom Way, Station City's resident governmental district.
A strong sense of patriotism pervades this quarter of the city, from the UMA member-state seals engraved into the sidewalk slabs, to the monolithic ministry and embassy compounds that line both sides of the broad dual-lane streets. The crowd here is distinctly formal, neatly pressed suits mixed with military uniforms. The traffic is brisk, but not heavy; vehicles are always more than willing to make way for the patrolling forms of UMM light Ride Mecha, as the machines make their rounds of the district. Superior firepower always has right-of-way.
You can't fight City Hall. Especially not when the front steps leading up to the building are guarded by mecha in full formal regalia. The structures here are all Acorn-era, old government buildings of white stone columns and proud copper domes, restored to their pre-war grandeur. Beside City Hall is the sprawling complex of the Supreme Court, the avian form of the Goddess of Order carved in bas-relief against the court's facade, the scales of justice held in her talons. The city centre and commercial districts lie to the southeast, and Freedom Way continues to the northwest.
[Exits : Station Square , and 300 Freedom Way ]
"Uwaaah!" *CRASH*
"What're you doing?! Got something against the guard?"
Well, from the immediate scene, things could get ugly fast. Right now, Klonoa's not sure what to do, seeing as how he was in the middle of taking a na--her, delivering an important message immediately prior to .. uhm.. well, kind of /falling/ on a passing patrol.
Two drawn swords later, the long-eared cat kind of is in a spot.
"No no, I didn't mean it! Don't get me wrong! I like tin cans!"
( Klonoa backs up a bit on the sidewalk. The two knights look well.. appropriately cautious. "Don't we know you from somewhere?" "Yeah, somewhere?" )
And that's when the cavalry steps in, in the form of one Bunnie Rabbot. She may not be a complete newbie to the area but she decided to go for a walk on her own anyway. The beach was nice but now she wants to go see the amusement park again. It still amazes her that they have one here. She hadn't seen one in... well, the longest time! But this is all before she notices the scuffle going on not too far away. She strides over like the Belle of the Ball and smiles politely at the knights and the strange cat, "Hah there... what's goin' on?"
"Hhmmph!" the taller knight, a fellow with a rather long tail, scoffs. "You'd better not be working for the Empire. There'll be no mercy for traitors!" "Yeah!"
This, uhm, well. Klonoa hasn't stopped long enough to think about just who he's working for just yet, so the question gives him pause. He scratches the back of his head nervously. "I .. wow, uhm, no! I'm working for the GUN!"
"A likely story!!"
( Klonoa ... sweatbeads. )
So does the guy standing behind the main interrogator, because he's spotted Bunnie. "M.. Miss Rabbot!" Withiout looking he kicks the knight behind him, which draws a suprised grunt and almost prompts the taller to fall into Klonoa blade first. Klonoa, for one, is thankful that he refrains.
Both knights snap to face Bunnie and toss off their most illustrious salutes. Sparkster said to be polite, after all. "We were on patrol when this ruffian threw himself on us, ma'am!" The first, the talkative one, says.
Klonoa? In the background? His sweatbead is getting bigger. "What?" That's not true!
Bunnie blinks at all of this and looks at Klonoa. He looks nice enough but looks can be deceiving. Still, she's always one to give somebody the benifit of the doubt.
"Now are you two really sayin' this li'l fella here is a threat to ya'll big, strong fellas? He looks like he just came from the game center ta me."
The knights look at each other, a little confused.
"Uhm.. but he knocked Ren over with his attack, ma'am!"
Ren, the taller one, isn't so sure he wants to admit that a kid who just walked in off the game center is exactly a threat to him. "I .. I may have tripped," he admits, coarsely, glaring at the shorter of their number. Shut up man, don't embarass me.
In the background, Klonoa straightens his signature cap, "That's right!" He pauses. "Uhm.. I think." He isn't so sure it's entirely a good idea to agree with being called harmless.
Bunnie smiles and claps her furry hand into her large, metalic one gently. She nods to the guards, to show her general respect for their authority here.
"Ah don't wanna keep y'all longer than needed. You two got big work to do so just leave this kid ta li'l ol' me. Ah'll make sure he don't 'cause no trouble."
The shorter fur nods. "Mm. Are you sure you'll be fine Miss Rabbot?"
Ren, at this point is kind of sulking. He's going to hear about this later, he knows it. "Yeah. What happens if this guy bothers you?"
At this point, Klonoa is starting to feel a little bit like a terrorist, to be perfectly honest. He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah.. I won't be any trouble!"
Bunnie quirks an eyebrow at this vein of questioning. They're asking HER what'll happen if Klonoa turns out to actually be troublesome? She grins as she considers playing up that angle, the possible damsel in distress, but it just isn't her style. Instead, she flexes her metal arm and points it out to all three.
Bunnie exclaims, "Ah think this is a pretty good answer ta that, don't you? It don't tire out and it sher packs a wallop!"
The line of looks go like this: First the knights look at Bunnie's arm. Then they look at Klonoa, whom looks as if he could be broken in half rather easily by it. Then they look at Bunnie. Then they look at eachother.
Ren ... nods, again.
"We'll leave him to you, Miss Rabbot. H--have a good day."
And they make their way on down the street, chattering to themselves.
The capped cat watches them go with a measure of relief and .. a general feeling that he's probably missed something he ought not to have. "Wow.. Uhm.. thanks. Rabbot, was it?" he questions.
Bunnie smiles at the long-eared kitty in question and nods as she unconsciously strokes one fluffy paw down her own drooping ear.
"Bunnie Rabbot," she says, "At yer service. But Ah gotta warn you ta be more careful. 'Course, Ah bet yer not absolutely he'pless. What're you doin' here anyway?"
5/30/2006
He's still watching the Knights leave out the corner of his eye warily. It's not everyday you get accosted by the vanguard of south island, after all. One could very easily get the impression that if his body language matched his attitude, Klonoa's ears would be sticking up straight like a dog's. Nevermind that in doing do he would almost double his height.
But hey, relaxing's what he does best, so turning back to Bunnie, he looks confused for a moment. "Eh?" He's having just the faintest bit of trouble with the accent. Ultimately, it reminds him of something: be polite! He points a thumb to himself, "Nice to meetcha! I'm Klo~oa!" he trumpets cheerfully. One notes that he either underaccentuates, or doesn't pronounce the n in his spelled name at all.
Bunnie is no stranger to odd accents. Not that she thinks hers is odd! But it does help her, sometimes, to work out what other people are saying. In this case, she has no idea.
"Why, it's a pleasure ta meet yah, Klo~oa! And Ah must say, ya got some darlin' ears there, sugah," Bunnie says, all smiles and still primping one of her own ears without thinking.
Then she stops all of a sudden as she notices something in the cat's hand.
"Yah also got yerself some interestin' taste in joolrey, tha likes a which Ah don't think Ah've really seen before," she adds, leaving out how that big old ring does remind her of the power rings just a bit.
Ever expressive, Klonoa's ears prickle out at the compliment, the reflex necessitating a meaningful and resounding *POOF* sound as his fur catches the air just right. "Uhm," he starts.
"Er," he continues,
"Ah," he concludes.
Oh man, he's not used to being complimented like that. But it's bravery in the face of both danger and women that lets him find something useful to say. "Thanks! And you've got-- uhm-- a very--" pause. He squints carefully. "uhm--" wow. "nice, um.."
He tactfully summarizes, "A very nice outfit." Toothy grin, aheheh. He's kind of eager to move on. Just a little. "This is my wind ring," he declares earnestly, holding the ring aloft in the 'HEAVENS give me strength' fashion. "I found it one day," he explains. Simple? Sorta.
More like not at all.
Bunnie exclaims, "Whah thank you!"
Such a nice young man! There really are some polite people still out there. Even though it took Klonoa awhile, she can tell he seemed rather nervous and a bit put-upon. She smiles her brightest and slides her normal hand into her jeans pocket as she indicates a general direction to go in.
"What exactleh does a wind ring do?" she asks as she starts walking, expecting Klonoa to keep up. Where to she's not really sure of.
( Klonoa finds himself following behind Bunnie as bidden without really knowing why. Haking off his cap long enough to scratch his head over the matter, Klonoa decides it's best this way. He wouldn't want to hurt her feelings or anything like that! )
"Oh, what's it do?" he verifies. "Well--" he kind of gives the girl a second look over before settling on the proper course of action.
He flicks his cap into the air and makes a gesture with that same ring.
The cap .. stops. In mid air. And twirls slowly, as if twirled in a little unseen syclone.
"This," Klonoa clarifies. He seems to be happy enough to show off his trick as long as Bunnie's willing to watch. Loo kat him walk and carry at the same time!
Bunnie nearly stops altogether when she sees the cap just floating above them in... the wind? No, no... not the wind, it's much too controlled for that. What he is doing she doesn't know. And so, in an effort to understand what, she sticks her robotic hand (the arm of which stretches out if necessary, should she have to reach that far) to swipe it just underneath the cap and 'feel' for for any... hidden wires or something! But it seems to be held up purely by the power of the ring.
"Wooow," is all she says, in a faint breath, "How's it doin' that?"
A few moments after Bunnie investigates the cyclone he generated, the hat drops out of the air and into Klonoa's waiting hand. The cat, with a bit of a self-satisfied grin, plops the hat on his head and turns it to a side til the gold insignia on the brim glints.
However, to the actual question, all the Klonoa has for Bunnie is a shrug that comes all too easily for him. Huepow would probably fret about it, but.. "It controls the wind!" THat's why they call him Klonoa of the Wind. Not that he'd bring it up. "It helps when I'm in really rough spots," he adds sheepishly.
( As for Bunnie's limb? Well, one might have noticed Klonoa watching it very closely as it poked into his little mini cyclone, but he doesn't seem to be worried about it enough to ask. Mysteriously enough. )
He does pause, thoughtfully. "Hey.. maybe you can help me find someone?"
Bunnie is still reasonably mystified by the whole thing. A ring that controls the wind? It sounds kind of like a fairy tale but then... there were a lot of things she used to think were fairy tales. Maybe this guy is onto something. She turns to Klonoa with bright, wide green eyes as she answers his question. "Ah'll do what Ah can. Who yah lookin' fer?"
The cat pulls the ring around his wrist so he doesn't need to make a conscious effort towards keeping ahold of it. This is also presumably so he can begin patting his pockets swiftly. Pat pat pat. Aw, what a time to lose this.
"Uhm, hold on--I've got her exact name here somewhere." Er-- "I'm supposed to talk to the Princess, uhm.. Samantha Applepear, I think!" It's almost embarassing, if you think about it, but the GUN Commander was pretty specific about who to contact--to the point where Klonoa could literally remember everything in the room but what he was told. Well, he did see a file photograph and could probably identify who he was looking for on sight. He just--can't quite remember her name. Acorn something?
No, Applepear! Klonoa's sure of it.
Bunnie begins rubbing her chin in thought. Luckily for him, she's a smart girl.
"Well now, Ah don't know of any Princess Samantha Applepears. Ah do know a honest ta goodness princess but what do yah need a princess fer?" Bunnie asks, not wanting to trust Klonoa -too- quickly.
"Huh... how many princesses are there on this continent?" Klonoa asks. He's a little troubled, because if he's lost that note (he's still patting his pockets) he might need to track them /all/ down. And while that sounds like a perfectly acceptable adventure, the commander might get upset. Or that Gantz might say something cool again. Hnf! -- oh wait. Well, yeah, it might help if he told her what he's here for.
Grin. Oh, he has the catfangs.
He raises a finger. Simple question? "Because I have a message to deliver to her from the head commander of the Guardian Unit of Nations!" Simple answer. He's remembered that much, at least.
Bunnie nods to this summation. Truth be told, she has no idea how to answer his first question. She doesn't know how many princesses there are... or were... and currently are still. She grins as well, though she has the... er bunny teeth. Not as impressive unfortunately. Lucky for Klonoa perhaps, less threatening that way. An unhappy thought dawns on her as she remembers Klonoa patting his pockets like crazy and she points at Klonoa's snazzy blue clothes.
"That sounds pretty important but uhh... the message wasn't with her name, was it? Cuz Ah sher hope it i'n't lost too!"
"Well, it kinda was," Klonoa did have to admit, still furiously patting. But there's only so much patting you can do without being regarded a fool. He knows he can find it, he just needs to -- well, he can't quite do that in front of a lady, but if you give him a second--!
"OH!" the cat declares, finally patting his gloves. Turns out he was keeping the note and the message just in the cuff of his left glove for sakekeeping. Unfolding the former, Klonoa reads triumphantly, "I'm looking for Princess Sally Acorn!" If you look, he wrote exactly that, 'I'm looking for Princess Sally Acorn.' there's even a little mock up drawing of her here.
Pause.
"Aaw, I coulda swore it was Applepear. My bad." sweat.
Bunnie tries not to chuckle at Klonoa too much and covers her mouth with her dainty little hand in an effort to hide it. When she looks over his shoulder at the note, she does indeed see his notation. He's such a cute kid. Then she sees the doodle of Sally. It's not the best art she's ever seen but it looks recognizable enough. She also notes the GUN insignia on the stationary he used. Not that someone couldn't just steal their stationary (but really, who would want to?) Overall, her doubts are fading though her worries haven't abated in the slightest. The fact that the GUN are looking for Sally is some cause for concern. Even if the message is one of peace between the two groups, it certainly involves something terrible all the same.
Slowly she stops smiling as she glances around her with worry. There aren't a lot of people wandering around at this time of day and it's highly unlikely that anyone might follow them. Even so, she decides to lean in close to one of his long, floppy ears.
Bunnie whispers, "Ah think we should get offa the street now. Ah can take yah to Sally but we gotta be kerful! There's some folks that don't wanna do us no good and they come outa nowhere when yah least expect it."
Tucking the note and the envelope into his pocket this time (he's gonna avoid that problem in the future, see--even he has to realize how bad it'd look if he couldn't find the message he needed to convey in front of the leader of South Island's free world, of course) then he looks back at Bunnie and notices.. she looks a little serious all of a sudden.
This actually causes him a brief stretch of trouble himself. "Hey, don't worry! I'm sure it's fine," he reassures. It's not clear whether he knows what's in the envelope or not, but at this point, it doesn't matter, not exactly anyway. He'd've responded the same regardless. Course, when she whispers to him, his ear props up a bit (at least he has strong ears) to listen, nodding slowly.
They need a less public place?
He snaps his fingers, "I know the perfect place!"
Already he's running off, back in the direction they came from. Hey, better keep up!
Bunnie eeks and begins chasing after him. Lucky for her, Klonoa's not nearly as fast as Sonic when he's running. Probably lucky for the rest of the world too as goodness only knows what Klonoa might do with that ability.
"Hey, wait up!" she calls but before long she's catching up. She doesn't ask anything else, she'll wait until they get where they're going to see for herself.
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