Jak sat up and rubbed his forehead. Dang, what happened? Where am I? He glanced around, but could see nothing in the extreme darkness. He reached for his blaster, intending to use its laser as a light, but found that it was not strapped onto his back. Crap. What the heck happened? "Dax!" He called upon realizing that his furry friend was not attached to him as usual. "Dax! C'mon, man!" He slowly stood up. The blood rushed from his head and he hastily slumped back into the dirt.
He began to crawl, hoping to find a wall to follow. He figured he was in some sort of cave. He found nothing as he shuffled in a large circle. Suddenly a noise was heard, a slow metallic scraping. With the noise came a bit of light from above, illuminating the immediate area around Jak. He blinked, shielding his eyes form the light that made his sore head throb. Once his eyes adjusted to the beam, Jak found that he still could not see anything of his surroundings. The light was positioned in such a way that it obscured everything outside of its radius. Only fine white sand could be seen.
Jak tried standing again, and this time was able to remain on his feet. He slowly walked toward the edge of the light, only to find that the beam followed him.
"Hullo? Anyone there? Get me outta here!" He shouted up at the light source. He lowered his head and slumped back onto the ground. As he lay there, he tried to recall all that had gone on before.
He and Daxter had been walking through Haven Forest. It was beautiful this time of year, reminding Jak of Sandover Village in autumn. They had gone out there for a bit of peace and quiet after all the adventures and saving the world. Jak had leaned up against a tree with Dax curled up on his chest. What then? That was all Jak could remember. Perhaps if I thought back further…
"Jak! C'mon lad, half the day's gone, you need to do your chores yet." Jak's uncle shook him from a deep sleep. Jak rolled from his bed and rubbed his eyes. The midday brilliance streamed through his open window. Birds could be heard, happily chirping in the trees nearby. As he pulled on his blue tunic, he heard a commotion outside his window.
"Psst! Jak." Spiky red hair framed by two pointy ears showed above the window ledge. Jak reached out and helped his friend into the room.
"What are you doing here Dax? Won't your mum be angry that you skipped out?" He grinned. Dax had been grounded earlier for digging in his mother's garden.
Daxter shook his head and showed his large front teeth in a roguish smile. "Ah, she don't know I'm gone. Let's go down to the fisherman's dock and find some cool crap." He moved back to the window and began to climb back out.
"Dax, I have to do my chores real quick, besides, if the fisherman comes back, we're screwed."
"Screwed? Well, yeah, if we get caught. You don't haveta do chores. I don't." Jak glared at him and exited the room via door. Daxter was left hanging from the window ledge.
Jak shook his head. No use thinking of the long forgotten past. The light still shone straight down on him. Silence invaded his head. "Help me! Anyone?" Jak called. He walked for a few minutes, the light staying just above him. Again, he sat and remembered the past.
"Uh, Jak… I don't think this is such a good idea. I mean, that creepy, oozy purple stuff…" Daxer glanced nervously at the pool of dark eco.
"Don't worry Dax. I've got it under control." Jak patted his armored shoulder, and as Dax leapt on, he pulled his jetboard off of his back. It really was a piece of cake to glide over the bubbling evil. Jak balanced the board and they made it safely to the other side.
Jak sighed. Those adventures would not really help him much. He began to search for something useful in this situation. He started with looking for his weapons. He found that his original observation was correct, no gun or mod remained to him. His jetboard was not attached to his back, and his ancient precursor armor was striped from him. Even his heavy boots were gone. He was left with only his blue tunic and red bandanna. He rubbed his banged-up head, feeling his once-again spiky hair. He felt very alone without Daxter's snide remarks from his customary spot on his right shoulder. Once more he slumped to the ground, too weak to try to escape the light and the remote darkness.
"Whooeee!" Daxter shouted. They were bouncing along on the back of the little flut flut. It clucked happily as it trotted along the narrow ledge. Daxter hung onto Jak's pauldron, running his hand along the smooth wall. The brilliant colors of the bird were reflected off the icy walls and ceiling.
A similar memory came to Jak. He was racing along on the back of a leaper in the desert. The hot wind whipped his hair, but his goggles and bandanna protected his face. Daxter clung to his shoulder and shouted into his ear.
"Can't you get a windshield and air conditioning with this thing?"
Jak chuckled. What fun things the two of them had done. Sure, many dangerous missions and harrowing escapes, but they had always made it through those things together. He lowered his head sadly and fell into a fitful sleep.