The following morning was a stir of grumbling, yelling, and arguments. Most of the yelling, of course, was on Inu Yasha's part.
"He's NOT coming with us and that's that!" the hanyou growled.
"Inu Yasha," said Miroku, his tone as cool as always. "He's clearly here because of you. It's probably not a good idea to leave him behind!"
"It's bad enough when I have to be on the lookout for all of you wimps when we go shard hunting." Inu Yasha bellowed. "The last thing I need is this lop-eared weirdo tagging along for the ride! This is dangerous shit here, not a fucking walk in the woods!"
"I'm sure that Klonoa can make himself useful somehow or other." Kagome pleaded.
"Like how?"
"Well,… um…" she fumbled for a reply, and when none came, the familiar, cocky smirk materialized on Inu Yasha's face.
"My thoughts exactly!" he scoffed. "Looks like I win and he stays!"
"Not so fast, Inu Yasha." Sango interjected. "Why not at least give Klonoa a chance to prove himself before passing judgement?"
"What's he gonna do?" Inu Yasha made a gesture like he was strangling himself. "Choke Naraku with that oversized ring of his?"
"Speaking of that ring…" Sango shifted her attention to the Dream Traveler sitting on the porch. "What IS that ring all about?"
"It fell from the sky." Klonoa explained. "and when I pulled it out of the ground, Huepow came out."
"Does it do anything useful?" Inu Yasha said gruffly.
Klonoa stood up and moved over to a large boulder at the side of the house. He aimed the jewel at the rock, praying a little dream prayer.
"By the goddess Claire, please, let this work!"
*CHWIT!*
A collection of startled gasps escaped the group, and Klonoa opened his eyes, unaware that he had even closed them in the first place. There, in front of him, the boulder was surrounded in bluish-green light and firmly anchored to the ring. It would have been a normal thing for Klonoa to see if only the rock had not remained in place on the ground.
"Wa… hoo?" he blinked, confused. "That was… different!"
"I don't get it." Shippo scratched his head. "What'd he do?"
"Can't you lift if up?" Huepow floated over to his friend to have a better look at the situation. Klonoa gave a hard tug on the ring, but despite all his efforts, the rock did not budge.
"That's odd." Huepow scratched his head. "It should have levitated by itself. Things always used to do that back home."
"Maybe that's another change between this world and ours…" Klonoa heaved again, but proved unsuccessful. "This world's probably got different gravity laws than ours does."
"You mean you meant to pick that thing completely up by yourself?" Inu Yasha raised an eyebrow.
"That's the way it works back home!" the Dream Traveler gave one more haul before finally relenting.
"I wonder…" Miroku mused as he watched the scene before him. "Klonoa, would it be alright if I helped you try and lift it?"
"Um… sure, I guess so…" The monk was weary at first to touch the glowing stone, but when he finally rested his palm on it and suffered no injury, he positioned himself to lift the rock up.
"Ready?" he nodded to Klonoa.
"Wahoo." came the reply.
The monk and the Dream Traveler heaved together, and the rock came off the ground as though it was only as heavy as Kagome's backpack. Klonoa and Miroku just stood there in awe of their accomplishment.
"Whoa!" Shippo's jaw hit the ground.
"Amazing!" Sango remarked.
"Even I've got to say that's weird!" Inu Yasha added.
Satisfied with his success, Klonoa got another idea.
"Miroku," he nodded. "Get ready to let it go."
Eyeing an empty area, Klonoa heaved the ring around towards it and released the ring's hold on the rock. The boulder shook the ground as it slammed down hard and skid to a stop. The Dream Traveler took a moment to wipe some sweat off of his forehead.
"You did it!" cried Huepow.
"Yeah, but it's a lot different from the way it's done back home." Klonoa replied. "It's going to be a lot harder to using this ring outside of the dream worlds."
"But anything that could lighten a load that much is bound to have a great variety of uses." said Miroku.
"Do you really think so?"
The monk nodded. "I'm sure of it."
********************************************************************************************
A little more grumbling and an OSUWARI later, the group of shard hunters was ready to head out of the village. Uncomfortable with the stares he had been receiving, Klonoa had asked if he could have some clothing from this land to better fit in. Kaede and Kagome asked around at several houses and came back with a gray hakama and sky blue haori.
The dream traveler was charmed to wear such a strange new style of clothing. With a little help from Shippo and Huepow, a small hole was made into the back of the hakama so that his black and white tuft of a tail could poke through. It took some practice, but eventually he was able to walk in the wooden geta sandals he had been given. Where a katana would ordinarily be strapped, Klonoa had fastened his giant ring. Kagome tucked all of the Dream Traveler's clothes into her already very stuffed sack.
Everything seemed all set except for one problem-his two wisps of long bangs came over his face and tickled his nose.
"And ya look funny without your hat!" Huepow added.
"Monyo…I don't know how else to keep them out of my face." Klonoa sighed. "Maybe I should just keep my hat on…"
"Why not tie it back in a ma-ge?" Miroku suggested, picking up Shippo and pointing to kit's tied mop of hair.
"I don't think that would work, houshi-sama." Sango shook her head. "His hair is in the front, not the back."
"Maybe he could tie those dumb-looking ears of his back in a ma-ge instead of his hair!" Inu Yasha snickered.
"I am NOT tying my ears back, Inu Yasha!" Klonoa made a face at the hanyou. "After all, how am I supposed to fly if they're tied back? I'd fall to my death!"
"YOU CAN FLY!?" the others all exclaimed at once.
"Well, not exactly…" Klonoa blushed. "I can kinda float for a bit if I flap my ears, but they have gotten me out of some sticky situations!"
"Weird…" Inu Yasha muttered.
"Wow! Cool!" Shippo grinned.
"Thought those ears might be good for something…" Miroku chuckled.
"So how do we solve the hair dilemma?" Huepow pestered.
"I think I might have something that'll help!" said Shippo, plunging his hand into his haori. Out came a white band of cloth, which the kit handed to the dream traveler. "Tie this around your head and see if it works!"
"Hope that's not your fundoshi you just gave him!" Inu Yasha teased.
"Eww!" Kagome cringed. "Inu Yasha! That's gross! Shippo, tell me that IS a real hachimaki!"
"I'm not a jerk like Inu Yasha is!" the fox growled at the older half demon. "And yeah, Kagome, it is a hachimaki."
Klonoa took the cloth and did as he was told. It worked. His bangs were cleared from his face and now he had the look of a native. He could easily have passed for a rabbit youkai if it weren't for the fact that his maple-leaf ear flaps were so large.
"I doubt anyone will find anything too odd about you." said Sango. "You are, after all, traveling with us and two other youkai, so you'll probably just be assumed to be another one. No big deal, really."
"Wahoo." Klonoa nodded.
"As for you, Huepow," Miroku scratched his chin. "I think it would be wiser if you remained hidden inside of the ring jewel. Your very appearance is not unlike a hitodama."
"A what?" the ring spirit landed on his head, confused.
"It's a lost, wandering soul in the form of tuft of blue fire." Kagome explained. "It's scary to see one, and since you do kinda look like one, it'd probably be best to stay out of sight."
Huepow groaned, but he returned to the sanctuary of the ring, causing the crystal to glow from within.
"Where shall we head first?" Sango asked now that they were on their way.
"There was a rumor of a demon with a shard beyond the mountains." Miroku recalled. "Of course, that'll mean we'd have to cross you-know-who's territory…"
Inu Yasha just gave an irritated growl.
"Who lives in the mountains," Klonoa asked Shippo discreetly. "And why do I get the feeling Inu Yasha doesn't like him?"
"The mountains are Kouga's territory." Shippo replied. "But that's a LONG story…"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for some translations of words you may or may not be familiar with:
hakama = long, pleated trousers with wide, billowing legs; it is often mistaken for a pleated dress.
haori = A jacket-like shirt worn over the kimono. Inu Yasha wears one of these made of fire-rat fur.(basically, the top part of his clothing)
geta sandals = wooden sandals with 2 lateral slats on the bottom that are attatched to the foot with a thong. Miroku and Sango wear these.
ma-ge = frequently called the top-knot here in the states. It is the traditional hairstyle for men and women in feudal period Japan.When worn by people with long hair, it is often mistaken for a simple ponytail. Shippo, Sango, and Kouga have their hair styled this way.
fundoshi = a long strip of white cloth wrapped around the waist and between the legs. The medieval style of Japanese underwear. Sometimes you'll see men walking around wearing only their fundoshi in the summertime.
hachimaki = sometimes called the ki-ai band; a headband made of white cloth worn as a symbol of great exertion. Some are just white, but others have images or encouraging slogans on them. The most commonly seen design is of the Japanese red 'sun'.
hitodama = Spirits in the form of balls of fire that hover not too far off the ground, usually no higher than rooftops. Seeing a hitodama means that one will die soon, though death can be prevented. Though not 'firey' like a true hitodama, Huepow does resemble one enough to be mistaken for one.
This is Chapter 3. Where would you like to go next?
