Hot Water
Summary: If half of America wasn't sure of Seem's true gender, how could Jak and Daxter be any more knowledgeable?
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I had no idea if Seem was a girl or a boy during my sister's first run through of Jak 3, and we finally discovered the Monk was a girl, thanks to Nee-chan's resourcefulness as well as the commentaries to the cinematics she was able to buy.
With Seem's androgyny in mind, I had to wonder if Jak and Daxter knew she was female; after all, when they first met, Dax calls her 'Monk boy,' and it is never declared in game what she is.
Thus I wrote this. Enjoy.
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A small, furry orange head peeked over the edge of the roof to watch the group of painted monks pass below, each mounted on a Leaper Lizard. Easily locating the leader who rode at the head of the line, completely covered in black, Daxter dashed back across the roof to the ladder, grabbed onto one of the ends and slid down, completely avoiding the steps.
He came to a halt a couple meters from the ground, reaching eyelevel with his green-blond-haired keeper and lifelong friend who stood with his arms folded across his chest leaning against the wall.
"He's here!" The Ottsel said as he hopped onto Jak's right shoulder and moved around his neck to settle on his plated left.
"Good." The youth straightened once Daxter had taken his place and turned down the alley. "Now let's go get some answers."
Picking up speed, Jak dashed out of the alley, leaping from the rocks that protruded from the ground. Landing at the base of the hill, sliding on some gravel, he ran around the corner of the building and stopped just in front of the line of monks.
His abrupt appearance startled the Leaper in front and it drew back with an exclamation of surprise. Its rider, the Monk Leader, was quick to pull the reins to halt it and stroked its neck to soothe it.
Seem then turned his red glare upon the green-blond youth before him. "Was there a point you were trying to make by that scare, Hero?"
"I wanna talk to you, Seem," Jak said, folding his arms across his chest as if he was ready to wait all night without moving. "Now."
Some of the other monks moved forward, intending to teach the youth a lesson about speaking with such disrespect to the head of their order. But Seem raised a white hand, halting their advance, and calmly dismounted from his Leaper's saddle so that he and Jak were at equal standing.
"Yes?"
Both Jak and Daxter glanced past the armored monk to his followers.
"Privately, thank you?" The Ottsel urged.
None of the monks moved, instead looking to Seem for direction. He nodded for them to leave. Following their Leader's drift, one taking his Leaper by the reins, they all rode past the youth and his friend, each sending their own warning glare at him.
"Creepy…" Daxter whispered to his friend and they both watched them until they rounded a corner.
"I am alone, as you requested," Seem declared, motioning to his lack of a train and calling Jak's blue eyes back to him. "What is it you want, Hero?"
Turning so that he faced the monk, Jak crossed his arms. "Dax and I paid a small visit up to the volcano," he said.
"And we saw you," Daxter pointed, "and one Count Vulkin—"
"Veger," his carrier corrected without missing a beat.
"—talkin' all secret-like!"
Seem's red eyes narrowed into a glare.
"What are you up to working with Veger, Seem?" Jak asked.
The monk folded his arms across his armored chest. "I do not feel I have need to explain myself to you."
"Why?" Jak's voice dropped. "'Cause you have something to hide?"
Ruby orbs narrowed further beneath long eyelashes and Seem moved to walk around the Hero without responding.
Jak clenched his teeth as the monk brushed past him and he spun around, catching a black-clad arm, and he felt Seem freeze at his touch. "We're not done—"
He broke off as a white fist connected with the side of his head, and he released the monk's captured arm. The blow caused him to bite the inside of his cheek, and tasting blood, he felt the Dark Eco in his system flare.
Jak growled at the armored monk who stood meeting his glare with one of his own. Spitting out a bit of blood, he wiped his lip. "Fine." He took Daxter from his shoulder and set him on the ground. "If that's how it's gonna be…" He took his gun from the holster on his back and placed it in his friend's arms, "…that's fine by me!"
Seem slid one foot along the ground, making a half circle in the sand as he raised his right hand palm open, while his left remained behind his armored back, and took a deep breath of the salty air.
Not waiting for anymore of an invitation, Jak ran at the monk and took a swing, but Seem moved to the side and effectively avoided the blow. He looked to deliver his own punch, but the blond blocked the hit with his protected forearm.
Turning his arm, Jak caught Seem by the wrist and pulled him around to throw him against the side of a nearby building; the monk stopped the advance by raising his foot and letting it connect with the wall. Having effectively halted the impact, Seem set both feet against the wall and kicked off, succeeding in hitting Jak in the face with his knee.
The blow to his face caused the green-blond to release his hold on the monk's arm, and Seem kicked him in the chest to send him further back. Managing to regain some clarity with blinking away the pain, Jak glared at his opponent as his pupils dilated and he felt his teeth sharpen in his mouth.
He charged the monk, throwing a punch, but again Seem dodged the blow, and Jak's fist instead connected with the wall behind him and punched a hole in the stone that trapped his wrist.
Seeing an opportunity, Seem swung up his leg to land another blow to the side of the blond's head. But Jak retracted his fist from the wall in time to catch the monk's leg; but rather than throwing him away, Jak swung Seem around and against the ground, cutting his white face open against the rocks.
Not about to have another meeting with the ground, Seem grabbed hold of a rock for balance and caught Jak's head with his free leg. He then flipped over onto his back, throwing the blond at the ground, and quickly jumped back to his feet, putting some more space between them before breathlessly looking back to the Hero.
Jak slowly pushed himself to one knee, blood trailing from a cut just above his left eyebrow down his face to his lips. Tasting more blood, sparks of Dark Eco flew off him and connected with the ground and any nearby plants, as well as an unfortunate Chihuarat that was fried from the intensity.
As he rose to his feet, Jak's green-blond hair faded to white with black ends, his skin lost its color as black claws extended from his fingers, and pitch black orbs settled on the monk a few meters from him.
With speed like lightning he charged, and while Seem was able to avoid Jak's first strike, his second caught the monk by surprise and he grimaced as he felt black claws tear through the white skin hidden beneath the black sleeve. Seem jumped back from the transformed youth and held his arm as blood worked its way down to drip from his pale fingers.
The scent of blood drove Jak into another charge, but this time Seem made a dash for the ocean shore on his left. The excitement and thrill of a chase shot through the once-blond youth and he bolted after the monk.
Making it to the edge, waves breaking against the rocks, Seem breathlessly turned back to the fast approaching Dark Warrior.
When suddenly, as if out of no where, an orange blur shot across the sand and up the monk to rest on his black-clad shoulders.
"JAK, STOP!"
At the sight of his friend, Jak skidded to a halt just centimeters from connecting with the monk. However, Seem grabbed him by his tunic and fell backwards, pulling Jak down into the water with him.
Jak quickly resurfaced, hacking and coughing water out of his lungs as his hair and skin regained their true colors. "Dax?" He turned all the way around in the water, looking for a sign of orange fur. "Daxter!"
Seem broke through the water with a gasp, his ceremonial paint washing from his face, and Daxter clinging to his shoulder as he noisily cleared his lungs of water.
"Dax!" Jak swam over to the monk and Ottsel. "Dax, you okay?"
"Yeah…" his friend sputtered to clear the taste of salt water from his mouth. "Peachy…!"
Jak sighed, his relief making him weak and almost fall beneath the water again.
"What is going on here?!" A familiar and powerful voice exclaimed.
The three looked up to see the rocks completely covered by the people of Spargus, all having come to see what the fuss was about, as well as a certain white-haired, violet-eyed King Damas and his large, somewhat fat right hand man, Kleiver.
"Explain yourselves!" The ruler of Spargus demanded, but received only a weak cough from a waterlogged Daxter as a reply. Sighing, he turned to his people. "Pull them out of there!"
At their King's order, Jak and Seem—who carried Daxter—were helped out of the water and back onto the rocks, where the Ottsel reclaimed his rightful place on his friend's shoulder.
As Kleiver took Seem's arm to pull him back up to city level, the monk winced; catching the look of pain, the King's guard removed his hand and his light blue eyes widened when found blood trailing down his fingers.
"Sweet Orbs! What 'appened t' you?!"
Damas pushed his way over to where his head monk rested and inspected his injured arm, as well as the cuts and abrasions on Seem's face. "What happened?"
"A slight disagreement, Highness," the monk replied, loosening his cap.
The man looked from the monk to the newest warrior of his city. "Really, now?"
Seem removed his cap, and for the first time Jak and Daxter saw that the monk's hair was pure white, with the exception of the blood red that remained at his roots—much like Jak's green—cut so that it just barely went down to his earlobes. "Yes."
Damas clearly didn't buy into it, but chose to let it go with a sigh. "We will discuss this again at another time," he said looking from the monk to Jak and Daxter. "For now, go tend to your injuries and then turn in for the night."
"Are you giving us a curfew?" Daxter asked indignantly.
Damas leaned forward to look the Ottsel in the face. "Feel grateful that is all I will do to you for this," he replied venomously before turning back to Seem and urging him to walk with him.
Jak looked to his previous opponent; his once regal appearance soaked, his face paint running down in trails of red and yellow that mingled together to make orange.
"Seem…"
The monk didn't so much as look at him as he trudged off towards the palace. And Jak, feeling ashamed for letting his temper rage so far, could only follow with Daxter on his shoulder.
- - - -
It was late into the night, the full moon was high in the starry sky and shone silver rays down through the open windows of the halls of Damas' palace. And two shadows—one tall, one short—dashed through the beams as they made their way down the torch lit hall.
"Jak!"
"Shh!" Jak hissed as he looked around the corner. "Quiet, Dax. People are sleeping."
"Why aren't we?" The Ottsel asked quietly as he stood at Jak's feet.
"I gotta talk to Seem," the elf replied rubbing between his tired blue eyes. "I gotta say I'm sorry…"
"What the hell for?!" Daxter followed his friend down the hall. "He punched you first!"
"But I went Dark and…I coulda killed him…"
His friend sighed. "You're too nice sometimes, Jak."
Smiling back at his friend, Jak quickly held onto the wall when the room spun slightly, and didn't watch where he was going as he turned another corner, walking into a rather large man and was knocked onto his back. Straightening up again, shaking his head to clear it of the dizzy spell the fall had given him, the green-blond met the familiar scarred face of Kleiver.
"What a' you blokes doin' up?"
"We were thirsty," Daxter replied sarcastically.
"Kleiver, I'm looking for Seem," Jak said as he got back to his feet, blinking a few times before the hall stopped moving in odd ways. "Have you seen him anywhere?"
The racer stopped, raising a scarred eyebrow. "Hold a tick. You're lookin'…for Seem, right?"
"Yeah, do you know where I can find him?"
A moment of silence hung over them before Kleiver broke out laughing, startling the two newcomers to Spargus and making them jump back.
"Oh! That is just rich! Absolutely…!" He broke out laughing again, holding his belly as he went on.
"Look, jelly bean! You seen monk boy or not?" Daxter folded his arms.
Kleiver managed to halt his hysterics and wiped a stray tear from his eye. "Yeah… yeah I seen 'im. You'll find 'im in the bath house jus' outside when y' take the elevator down t' th' city level."
"Thanks," Jak nodded and moved his shoulder as he looked down at his friend. "Come on, Dax. Let's go."
Daxter hopped up onto the shoulder indicated by his partner and they headed off down the hall, but as they headed for the elevator, the Ottsel couldn't ignore the almost traitorous laugh from the large guardsman. 'The hell…?'
Making it outside, it was pretty easy to find the bath house and as they reached the front door, a lightbulb turned on in Daxter's brain.
"Jak! Jak!"
"What is it?" The hero asked, keeping his voice low.
"This would be the perfect time to ask our questions about Veger!"
Jak glanced away. "I dunno…"
"Look, a person is most vulnerable in the shower," the Ottsel said. "He'd feel so awkward, he'd have to answer our questions!"
"Fine," the green-blond sighed. "We'll give it a shot."
Quietly, the two entered the small building, but it was as the two made their way toward the baths that they quickly jumped back behind the corner to avoid being seen by the two monks guarding one of the curtained doorways.
"Well that sucks," Daxter said.
Jak sighed. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't just let me in to see him if I asked, after what happened today…"
"Then we knock 'em all out and storm the place!"
"Dax…"
"Okay, okay. Fine. We need a distraction," Daxter tapped his furry cheek thoughtfully. "Something for them to chase… Something fast…"
The Ottsel stopped and met the knowing smile on his partner's face. "Go get 'em, Orange Lightning."
Sighing, Daxter straightened his fur out and casually made his way toward the door guards. Jak quickly jumped up into the rafters and climbed up to wait out of immediate sight, almost losing his balance as another dizzy spell clouded his mind and he quickly shook it away. In a few minutes, Daxter shot back around the corner, passing below Jak's feet, with two monks in hot pursuit. Neither of them saw Jak up in the rafters.
As curious as he was to learn what exactly his friend had said to anger the monks so badly, he nonetheless chose to put the time Daxter had given to good use. Hopping back down to the floor, Jak entered the hallway to the various baths, approaching the closed curtain that concealed the leader of the Precursor Monks.
Taking a steady breath, Jak grasped the edge of the curtain and drew it aside. "Yo, Seem, you—"
When Jak had decided to confront Seem, he was willing to go some of the way with Daxter idea to catch the young man off guard to get some answers; at the least, he had expected to get into another fight with him.
But who stood in the steaming, knee-deep water was not the young man Jak had been expecting…if the two small lumps pushing against the person's white top was any indication.
No, what stood in the bath was a young woman in what seemed to be a bathing suit. Her unpainted skin was the color of alabaster, almost flawless with the exception of the bandages wrapped all the way up her right arm, and her hair was the color of the cleanest snow, with only a blood red staining her roots. And her eyes, wide with surprise, were the color of burning rubies.
Jak stared.
The girl blinked.
Jak stared.
The girl wrung out her washcloth and dropped it into the pail of bath oils.
Jak stared.
The girl folded her arms across her chest.
Jak stared.
"Hero."
Hearing this title, spoken by a familiar voice, Jak jerked.
"Are you going to finish that sentence, or stare at me?"
The green-blond youth's blue eyes widened further upon studying the girl's regal face as she watched him, waiting for an answer. And all at once he realized…
This was Seem. Head of the order of Precursor Monks Seem. Seem was a girl.
And Jak was standing in a bath, with an almost naked girl Seem in front of him.
The heat of the steam in the air rushed to the hero's face and ears, turning a warm shade of pink. Holding his breath, Jak closed the curtain.
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Daxter dove back into the bathhouse, shutting and bolting the door behind him, leaving the monks to pound away at the thick wood surface. Seeming as he was safe, the Ottsel let out a sigh of relief.
"Man!" He wiped his fuzzy brow. "I didn't think anyone could like their mom so much!"
Suddenly, the small building shook as someone screamed, "OH MY GOD!"
And Daxter recognized the voice, although he couldn't recall a time it had ever sounded so panicked.
"Jak?" The Ottsel dashed around the corner. "Jak, you alright?"
He found his friend beating his face against the wall, pulling at his hair as he almost chanted through grit teeth, "Oh god! Oh god! Oh god!"
Daxter leapt and grabbed onto the back of Jak's head, startling the elven youth enough to give a slight scream. "Calm down, buddy!" The ottsel moved onto his residential shoulder, jerking when he found his friend as red as he had been when he had been badly sunburned as they traveled through the Wasteland. "What happened to you?"
"Seem! Seem is a—Seem is a—"
Daxter waited as Jak struggled to form words past those three, but when it obviously wasn't coming, the orange Ottsel smacked his friend over the side of his head. "Hey! Spit it out already!"
Jak took a steadying breath. "Seem…Seem…is—"
"Somewhat confused what you are still doing up at this hour," came the familiar, calm voice from the occupied bath.
Turning, Daxter found Seem standing in the doorway of the bath, holding aside the curtain, clad in a black robe. Tied securely, her feminine attributes were somewhat noticeable.
"You're a…" The Ottsel raised his hand, pointing at the monk.
Jak held his head as the room began spinning again.
Daxter's hand dropped. "Wow. And here I thought you were a eunuch or something, what with the quiet voice and everything…but you're actually a…girl?"
Seem stepped out into the hall, allowing the curtain to fall behind her. "Did you come here just to verify this?"
"No!" Jak exclaimed, but immediately regretted it as the room spun faster and out of control.
Daxter felt his friend wobble and he began struggling to stay on Jak's shoulder. "Jak? You okay?"
The youth was unable to respond as the world blurred and then went black.
- - -
Jak awoke with a pounding headache, and reaching up to hold his head he felt a cool cloth covering his face and he pulled it away, immediately regretting it when the lamplight of the room hurt his eyes more.
"Jak?" A familiar, friendly voice spoke his name and some of the painful light was blocked from view as a small figure stood over him. "You awake?"
It took him a moment to gather himself as he returned the wet cloth to his brow. "Dax…?"
"No," the voice said sarcastically. "It's the ghost that time forgot. Stupid."
Jak groaned at the raise in volume. "Not so loud… My head is killing me…!"
"Understandable," replied another voice. "Sudden Eco depletion can do that to someone."
Turning his head, Jak found Seem sitting in a chair beside him, still in a bathrobe, and yes, still a girl. "Damn…"
"Would you mind telling me why you are taking up your spare time with harassing my monks, Jak?"
Looking toward the other voice, the youth found Damas standing on Seem's right. But before he could even open his mouth to attempt to respond, hurried footsteps called everyone's attention to the curtained doorway at the end of the room, and Kleiver cast aside the fabric—revealing more than one furious monk standing out in the hall.
"I told you to leave," Seem said.
Kleiver blinked. "What?" But then he looked behind him and nodded. "Oh. Them."
The monks all dissipated and the large Wastelander closed the curtain.
But Seem turned to face the door again. "Cree!"
There was the sound of more movement outside the door and eventually silence before the leader of the monks was at last satisfied and turned to Damas.
"Your Highness, if I may speak…?"
Once Kleiver was behind him, the King of Spargus nodded.
"According to what Orange Lightning has told me, he and his companion came in search of me, apparently to apologize for our dispute earlier," the young woman said.
Jak was still somewhat uncomfortable knowing Seem was female, but more so that she was going to tell Damas about his lack of control over Dark. He would be thrown out of Spargus and into the desert because he would be too dangerous to keep around.
But to his surprise, the monk made no actual mention of it.
"They encountered Kleiver…" Seem went on, both she and Damas directing their gazes to the Wastelander, the King somewhat surprised, "…who then directed them here."
"Did he now?" The King inquired.
Kleiver chuckled nervously.
"And given what Orange Lightning has told me, while Kleiver gave them directions and knowledge to where I was and what I was doing, he failed to mention during their encounter that I am not of the same gender as they are."
Damas' violet gaze narrowed into a glare.
"It was just a spot of fun, Your Lordship," Kleiver said. "I wouldn't a sent 'em ovah if it wasn't Seem's cleansing night. I knew she had clothes on."
Jak's eyes widened as he slowly sat up. "What?"
"Those of my order take a night to cleanse our body and soul should a severe damage to either occur," Seem explained. "Unlike our regular bathing, we wear our under garments."
Jak drew back slightly as his eyes widened.
"I suppose seeing you naked would've been more of a brain breaker for Jak," Daxter said thoughtfully.
"I still don't appreciate it!" The Ottsel's friend exclaimed, quickly regretting it as his head began to pound.
"Hey, you passed out after finding out Seem had jugs," Daxter went on to his friend. "Seeing her in her birthday suit would've given you a heart attack."
Jak couldn't really counter, as he wasn't really sure why he had passed out.
Surprisingly, Seem did. "His loss of consciousness was due to a sudden Eco depletion."
The two newcomers to Spargus looked at her curiously.
She, however, looked back to Damas. "Your Majesty, I do not believe these two require any further reprimanding," she said. "Though I wish to talk with them further, I feel Kleiver is in more need of your attentions."
The desert King looked from his head monk to Jak. "Very well," he nodded. "But I want to see you first thing tomorrow morning," he said to Jak.
The youth nodded.
Directing a glare at Kleiver, Damas left the room with the larger man in tow but only after their footsteps had died away did Seem's ruby gaze return to Jak.
"Most of your abilities are fueled by the Dark Eco in your body," she said. "When you summoned the full extent of that power, then threw it away, your body became strained."
"But I was fine until just a while ago," Jak said. "How come I didn't feel messed up until then?"
"Psst!" Daxter motioned his friend to bring his ear down. "There was the whole 'Sparkie Jak'," he whispered. "Maybe using us the Dark and Light Eco so fast in a row messed you up."
Jak nodded, but looked back at Seem curiously. "But I didn't use that much Dark Eco in our fight," he said. "No Blasts or anything."
Wordlessly, Seem pulled her robe down her right shoulder.
"Whoa there, Tiger," Daxter said as Jak drew back, his face reddening further.
Seem glared at the Ottsel as she revealed the bandages marked with Precurian characters going all the way up her arm. She then proceeded to unravel the strips of cloth, and Jak and Daxter's eyes widened when the skin beneath was revealed.
Her alabaster skin was marred by a dark, purple-black stain that ran all the way down her arm like a burn. As they watched, right before their very eyes, the stain slid further across her skin to her hand, like a snake moving along the desert sand.
And this frightening mark originated from the claw marks in the middle of her arm, the wound Jak had delivered during their bout.
"It would appear that you used more force than you intended, Hero," the lady monk said at last. "Dark Eco can be exceptionally dangerous when mishandled."
Jak couldn't find any words to say at the sight of the injury and shut his eyes tightly as he beat his fist against his forehead.
"The satellites that continue to fall in the Wasteland have a similar effect as this when they take root," Seem went on as she bound up her arm again. "I trust that you will not allow this to happen again." And with that, she rose up to leave.
"Wait!"
Ruby met sapphire as the monk looked back at the hero.
"Why didn't you tell Damas that I transformed?" He asked. "You want me gone more than anyone, so why not have me thrown out?"
Seem's gaze moved past Jak, as if she were staring off into the horizon in thought before answering. "I believe that your powers are dangerous," she said. "And I do not especially like you, Hero, but you are not a monster."
Jak's eyes widened.
"You are Elf, just as I am," Seem went on. "And I am not afraid of you." She turned on her heel, pushing aside the curtain in the doorway.
"Hold it!" Daxter snapped, calling attention back to himself. "You still need to answer our questions about Count Venetian, coloring book!"
Seem turned back to face the Ottsel, allowing the curtain to fall, but remained by the doorway. "Veger has resources that I require," she replied. "If we are to protect our home, my Monks and I are working with him."
"So…Damas doesn't know about this?" Jak asked.
The young woman shook her head.
"Why Veger?"
Seem looked away, her red eyes growing angry. "He took something from me…from all of us…" she said. "I intend to get it back."
"If he stole something from you for blackmail, workin' with him won't help much," Daxter said.
"You misunderstand," Seem replied. "What Veger stole from me…is more precious than you could ever imagine. And for his sake, his future…I will protect this world."
Jak blinked. "He? As in Veger?"
The monk shook her head. "The one he stole." And with that, she left, and the curtain closed behind her.
Daxter sighed. "Okay, that didn't make a whole lotta sense, but whatever."
Jak continued to stare at the curtain in the doorway. "I guess I was wrong about two things…"
"Hm?"
"Why Seem was working with Veger…and Seem being a man."
Daxter laughed. "So, are ya gonna tell Damas about Seem and Count Vulgarian?"
Jak thought about it, but decided that he did owe her that for not telling Damas about his going berserk. Besides, he wasn't looking to get involved in a whole new 'save the world' incident; he didn't need it. "Nah," he said as he laid back down. "It's none of my business."
The Ottsel shrugged and sat down with a sigh.
For a short while silence fell over them.
"What sort of underwear does Seem have?" Daxter asked.
Jak sat upright. "WHAT?"
"Well, before I'd have asked Boxers or Briefs, but since I know she's a girl now, does she wear anything girly?" The Ottsel asked.
His friend covered his face with the cloth and lay back with a groan.
"Was it lacy? Did she look hot? Was she very sexyful?"
Jak just let Daxter carry on as he fell asleep.