Fragments of Sorrow
By Sull89 and shadows/of/flame
This is a joint fic, by us. Enjoy the first chappie!
As she walked past one of her hydraulic hoists, Keira ran the back of her fingers along the zoomer it held. Her nails clicked faintly against the hard metal of the vehicle as the sound echoed through her small garage.
Her footsteps slowed as she reached the end of the craft. With a sigh, she grabbed on to the edge of the hoist and boosted herself up. Slowly, she reclined against the tail of the zoomer and raised her eyes to the ceiling.
It was then that she fell into a world of memories. A world of real dreams filled with sorrow and pain, love and lust, joy and ecstasy. A world completely her own, yet at the same time belonging to others.
With her eyes closed, she ran through these memories. They were all important, each and every one was a part of her, but there were a certain few that resurfaced over and over to captivate and imprison her soul.
Her memories of him. They were the ones most vivid in her mind, the ones suffused with the most strength and power. The young boy was never far from her mind, but now, when she was alone and all was finally quiet, he was all she could think of.
The way they had managed to hold a conversation even though he never said a word. The way he looked at her as though there was no one else in the world. The way they grew up together, as comrades and friends along with the little annoying one. These memories were the ones Keira treasured more than anything.
Although she didn't know it, one solitary tear coursed its way down the mechanic's cheek.
It had been almost two years since she had last seen the boy of her memories, and she missed him with all her being.
There was a resonating pain deep within her chest every time she thought of him. It was as though someone had cut a deep and ragged hole in her heart, but the one and only person that could even begin to heal that wound wasn't around.
What had happened to him? That strange trip through the Precursor Gate was the last time she had seen him. What if that horrid creature had gotten to him? What if he was sick, or injured?
The huge question… What if he was dead…? Keira refused to even think about it. There was no way he could have died, he was too strong. He had saved the world once, compared to that nothing could harm him, right?
An involuntary shudder made its way down her spine. Trying to assert that thought to herself, Keira nodded her head before saying, "Right."
But Haven City was a freakish metropolis, full of dangerous places and even more dangerous people. Was there any guarantee he had survived two years in this hellish place?
Mentally, she hit herself. Of course there was a guarantee he would survive, he was Jak.
That was all she needed to know. He wouldn't let anything happen to him. One day, they would meet again and find a way back to Sandover, a way back to how things were.
Doubt though, gnawed on the edges of her mind.
She remembered how Jak took her out in secret some nights at Sandover, both sneaking out of bed to meet each other.
They usually lay each others arms by the beach for a few hours, not returning to Samos' hut much before sunrise, and trying desperately not to get caught.
And then the poor, heartbroken girl snapped back to the harsh reality of the Haven City citizens - they didn't love a woman for her personality, but her looks, and what she could give them.
Keira almost gagged as she remembered her first night in Haven City, when she was sobbing and almost crying out for Jak.
Men had openly stared at her, not caring for her feelings, or that she felt even more scared by the approaches they made.
Men dared each other to slap a passing girl on the butt, and only by thinking of Jak and the wonderful times they had spent together kept Keira strong when these things happened.
The thought of the one she cared most for somehow being kidnapped or taken away didn't help either, as the Krimzon Guard were the nastiest bunch of brutes she had ever laid eyes on.
When her friend Tess had introduced her to a Krimzon Guard, she slapped him and hid under a table until Tess repeated that he had quit the guard several days ago, making the blue haired girls cheeks flame red in embarrassment.
The city was full of whispers of the Barons newest experiments, the dark warrior program.
Rumours of this horrific experiment had reached the young mechanics ears, mostly via her boss. and she was beginning to hate Haven City even more for its terrible secrets.
Torturing innocent beings to be bred into war machines? How humane was that?
She feared Jak was somehow involved, her senses tingled as she thought about it.
Would he ever get involved with something like that?
Of course not. He was too strong, too tough to bend to the whim of anyone.
Each night, the city was plagued with the screams that could be heard echoing through the streets from the palace, obviously from the person being tortured with dark eco, and she shivered as she heard them.
Could it be Jak? There was a small chance that it was, but Keira refused to believe it.
He was stronger than that; but if he was up against the KG...
Keira shuddered, remembering the way the Baron ordered those repulsive guards to beat to death the next person to disobey him; heck, even innocent children were being attacked and killed for no apparent reason.
She missed him; the innocent smile that crept over his face whenever he saw her, the way he could beat up a Lurker without breaking a sweat, hell, she even missed that annoying rat that constantly plagued his shoulder.
Her father, too, was sucked through the Rift Ring with them, and she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him either.
Now, she had a new task in this hellish haven - mechanic of the Krimzon Guard commander, Erol.
Speaking of which, if she didn't get to work on his new zoomer, and he caught her goofing off...
The green haired mechanic reluctantly tore herself away from her own little world, the world with peace, and beautiful things.
A world where it was just her and Jak.
"Hey, hows my sweet heart going?"
Keira cringed at the name; that name meant that the red-head was back, and liable to hit on her as was his daily routine when he came in.
She quickly swept on the facade, the face that she used to be able to smile on default when Jak was around.
Jak...
"Erol, I'm perfectly fine! Your zoomer will definitely be ready for the races this Saturday!" Keira said this all rather cheerfully, hiding her shame and hate for this man.
Soon enough, she could feel his arm snake around her waist, and pull her closer, her senses screaming "This can't happen! Jak! Come back!"
"Jak should be the one holding me"
"Jak should be here with me. And Daxter. And Daddy..."
"Hehe, that boy we caught is having a lot of "fun" in our care." Erol drawled, an evil grin plastered on his face.
"He'll never know what hit him if the dark warrior program succeeds."
"Whenever you come here, all you do is speak about "that boy". Who is he? You haven't even told me his name yet." Keira muttered, as she got back to work on her latest invention, her mind only on Jak.
Erol smirked, slowly walking over to stand beside her as she worked.
She was interested in his job. That was one of the first steps to a good relationship.
"This blond, scrawny kid, who used to be accompanied by a rat thing before we scared it off. Haha, you should have seen the look on the rats face! Hes a mute, and a dumb one at that, but we'll get something out of him one day soon... before he dies."
It slowly dawned on Keira as Erol continued talking, and cackling inbetween.
He was talking about Jak.
