Disclaimers: I don't own Jak, Daxter, Krew, Keira, Krimson Guards, Torn, Ashelin, The Shadow/Samos, Brutter, Sig, Praxis, Errol, Kor, Kid, Crocadog, older Samos, Tess, Onin and Pecker, Metal Heads, wildlife, citizens, Precursors, zoomer's, or Haven City. *deep breath* you know what, it's just safer to say I don't own anything in Jak II
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/adventure
Game: Jak II
Pairing: JakxKiera, light TornxAshelin, and minor OCxOC
Author's Note: yep I'm back and I'm here to take back another story plot ruined by the horrible Sue authors! Last time I re-claimed the "Girl falls into FFVII" *on hold, sorry guys* Now I'm after "Mute girl", mutes where always fun and challenging to write, but not after the Sue authors got a hold of them. Now any time some one that has half a brain tries to write about some mute kid they get shrugged off as being Sues. Well I'm here again to write a well-rounded mute girl to prove that it's not the plot, but the Sue that ruins a story.
Summary: A/U-ish, As Daxter is trying to break Jak out of the Baron's prison; he takes a wrong turn landing himself in the cell of a mute girl. Locked up and forgotten, the girl begs Daxter to take her with him.
Chapter One: Charades
Daxter crawled through the rusted pipe; the fit tight even for him and the blue bag he carried. "A body as sexy as mine should not be put through his abuse!" He whispered heatedly pulling himself forward inches at a time. His voice, in a whisper, had echoed far louder than he expected it to. He bit his furry lip nervously glancing side to side. He couldn't be caught now. Not when he was so close to finding Jak. He continued, silently, push himself forward another inch and then another.
He was close.
So close that he could almost smell Jak's sea salt scent.
Moving through a sharp turn he almost got stuck in; he spotted a large drop off in front of him. Excitement and joy surged through every fiber of his small body like lighting.
This was it.
This was Jak's cell.
He was going to find his best friend and break him out of this hell hole. Daxter willed himself forward faster than before as he crawled toward the drop off. The good thing was that Daxter had managed to force his way down the small pipe by wriggling through. The bad news was that he fell face first into the stone floor.
"Ow!" Daxter cried holding his nose, "My gorgeous face! You better be grateful, Big Guy!" As he looked up to taking his surroundings he wasn't face with Jak, but a small cell no more than five feet by four. A rickety cot with its isolation gone covered in brown rag-like sheets was the only trace of atheistic in the room. Daxter heard ragged breathing from behind him. He whirled around, expecting to see Jak, but once again found himself disappointed and shocked. It was the tall blonde with large blue eyes, but a young girl barely ten years old. In the muted light of the cell Daxter could see a shocked expression on her dirty face that he didn't doubt he mirrored.
"Um... Hello?" He started awkwardly attempting to sound friendly in fear she would scream and bring the guards down on his tail. He had to fight to smile at the girl. Daxter had thought he had finally done it, finally found Jak. His heart ached painfully with disappointment at the fact he had crawled into the wrong cell.
The girl merely stared at him with large brown eyes. Her hair, a fuzzy red, looked as if it hadn't been brushed or washed in weeks. Her clothes were at least two sizes too big for her and were ragged and stained. She blinked a few times before seeming to understand what had just happened.
"Say, um, you wouldn't happen to have see a tall-ish blonde haired guy with blue eyes around here, have you?" Daxter muttered, his fur bristling slightly out large her eyes seemed to be.
Slowly a small smile twitched to life on her face. She got down on her hands and knees, nodded, and pointed to the roof of the cell.
Must be a mute like Jak... Daxter thought with a stab of sadness at the thought of the mute blonde. "He's on a upper level?" Daxter guessed. He could easily tell what Jak had wanted when they were together, but the girl was slightly harder to read.
She nodded, her hair falling over her shoulders into her eyes. With an annoyed huff she pushed the red fuzz out of her eyes. She reaches forward suddenly picking him and carried him across her small cell.
"Hey, hey! Watch the goods there!" The ottsel cried out while holding onto her arm for dear life. Even when his claws dug into her skin, she acted as if she didn't notice.
The girl held him up to the barred window and pointed at a tall tower like pillar that stretched up into the darkness. She pointed to him again, then to the tower, and then up again. Her eyes pleaded him to understand what she was trying to convey.
"He's up there?" Daxter tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He hated heights.
She put him down, flattened her palm, and pointed at it.
"Wait! I know this game! You have a... sweaty hand?!" The girl shook her head and pointed at her flat hand again. Her face was intense as she tried to get him to understand. "No... You want a foot rub? A tub of pudding?"
The girl shook her head furiously and pointed again to the tower and repeated the previous hand motions.
A light bulb went of in his head. "Oh! He is on top of the thing?! Is that it?"
The smile came back to her face and she nodded happily.
"Hey, thanks. Don't worry, buddy, I'm coming!" Daxter promised as he scurried up to the steel door. Before he could squeeze out through the bars, the girl gently held him back.
He almost snapped at her to let him go; he had to get to Jak. He needed to save his friend. However, when he turned to tell her off, the look on her face killed his protest. It was so sad. Her big eyes held a desperate longing and pleading.
Daxter knew this look.
She wanted him to take her with him.
"Look, I would bust you outta here, but I need to move fast and..." Her eyes grew wide and tears started to leak out of the corners of her eyes, bottom lip quivering. "Oh don't give me that look!" Daxter groaned shaking his head. He had always been a sucker for puppy eyes. "Alright! I'll bust you out too! Just stop giving me those eyes! Jeez!"
A large smile crossed her face as she hugged Daxter tightly to her chest.
"Ack! Crushing... Orange Lighting!" He gasped between breaths. The girl let go and smiled apologetically.
"I know, bask in my glory! I'll be right back!" With that Daxter wiggled between the bars of the small window. Unlocking the door by pressing a clearly marked green button he let out a triumphant shout. "Oh, yeah baby! I rule! Doors bow down in fear to Orange Lighting!" He struck a dramatic pose.
The girl clapped a hand over her mouth as her shoulders shook with silent laughter.
In the bright light of the cell block Daxter was able to see her face clearly. She had dark freckles splashed across her cheeks; they were even on her ears. There was something that sent shivers down his furry body. A long jagged scar that ran along her neck. It was as if some had tried to slit her throat.
Turning around Daxter noticed that they were on the bottom floor. It was quiet, almost too quiet, and it made Daxter uncomfortable. He looked up the pillar, but stretched far beyond his sight of vision.
Before Daxter was able to say anything more to the girl a sharp cry broke the silence of the prison. Both Daxter and the red headed girl flinched at the harsh noise. "That's Jak! I just know it!" Daxter said frantically. He adjusted the blue duffel bag straps over his shoulders muttering. "I have to get to him... Who else is going to save that big lug?"
"Let's see... I can't climb up there and there are no hallways leading out of this place. I can't go back to way I cam. Arg! Come on... There has to be something in this brilliant brain of mine!" Daxter mumbled to himself, his back toward the girl.
Suddenly the girl stomped her foot loudly to get Daxter's attention. She pointed to a near by hover cart and pointed up.
"Yeah! Great idea! I'm so smart!" Daxter cried cheerfully as they leapt onto the cart. The ottsel pressed the 'up' switched marked on the control panel. After almost crashing into the side and falling to their deaths a few times he was able to get the thing working right. "By the way, my name is Daxter? What's yours?"
The girl gave him a slightly annoyed look. "Oh, right..."
She smiled as if to say that she forgave him.
Up and up they went, cell doors flashing by as they gained speed. It was farther up than Daxter had thought. He started to wonder just how the mute girl knew where Jak was, but his thoughts were interrupted. The sound of clearer screams cut through the air much louder than the last. They had come close enough to hear two men talking. Daxter slowed the hover cart to stop a few feet below the platform. Few of the words drifted down loud and clear while the others were muffled by anger or the distant shouts from another chamber. The words 'dark,' 'dead,' and 'black' were all they could hear. Daxter noticed that the girl flinched in fear with every word that deeper voice spoke.
Daxter's ears were high and alert as he listened for any sound of the two men leaving. When he heard fading footsteps he smiled and pressed the up button again.
"Ding, ding! Third floor: body chains, roach food, and torture devices!" Daxter called out as the two hovered above the platform. The girl's eyes swept the room fearing that the other man hadn't truly left yet. Getting off the hover cart, they stood on the large platform that was connected to the rest of the room by a long, narrow walkway. The room was brighter than anything that the girl had seen in a long time. It took a few moments for her eyes to stop stinging.
Daxter didn't seem to be too worried about being alone. He headed toward the unconscious young man strapped to the chair. There was a larger red lighted machine over the chair, sharp blades rotating making the girl's stomach flip.
Again, Daxter didn't seem to notice or care. His eyes locked onto the unconscious man. He hoped onto the man's chest and said with good humor. "Hey, buddy, you seen any heroes around here?" When Daxter got a better look at his face, the tone dramatically changed. "Whoa! What'd they do to you?!"
The girl stopped listening to Daxter at this point, to intent on just wanting out of this dark horrible place. She wanted away from the dark damp rooms, away from the screams, and away from the loneliness. She shook her head. She wasn't alone now that she had Daxter.
Cautiously she moved closer to the blonde man to get a better look. He was pale, like he hadn't seen the sun in years. His ragged clothes were covered in blood and what little skin she could see was covered in scars. His blonde and green hair was matted and greasy. His face covered in coarse green facial hair. Daxter shook him, begging him to say something, anything. Suddenly the man's eyes flew open. They were blue and as wild as a crazed animal.
"I'm gonna kill Praxis!" He roared with such hatred and fury the girl took a step back in fear, almost falling over the edge of the platform.
Daxter tried to calm him down telling him he was going to find a way to break him out. He said something about the locks on the chair when the blonde man, who Daxter called Jak, changed before his eyes. His skin turned a pale bluish gray, his eyes went black, his nails grew into long claws, and horns grew out of his now pale white hair. With a grunt of furry he ripped through the metal restraints stumbling to his feet. The air crackled with Dark Eco as Jak stood chest heaving with rage.
The girl opened her mouth in a soundless scream of terror as Jak stumbled closer to Daxter. She was so scared all she could hear was the roar of blood in her ears and her heart pounding in her chest. Daxter's pleas fell deaf on her ears, even the dark chirping sound seemed to stop.
He was going to attack the person that saved her. She wanted to do something, anything, but the horror of what was happening was over powering. She fell onto the cold metal floor, cowering in fear, and covered her eyes. She was certain that once the monster was done with Daxter he could come after her.
A small hand touched her shoulder. She opened her mouth to scream again as she batted the hand away from her, eyes still tightly clamped shit.
"Look what you did, you big brute! You scared the poor kid! You've always had a certain way with the ladies, Jak."
She almost cried tears of joy as she realized that it was Daxter. He was alright. She opened her eyes and squeezed the poor ottsel to her chest. She hadn't known him for more than fifteen minutes, but she couldn't bare the thought of losing him.
"Yeah, yeah. I know the thought of losing someone as cool as me is heartbreaking, but don't worry! I'm fine." Daxter said reassuringly as he patted the girl's shoulder.
"Who is she, Dax?" Asked a deep rough voice. It was Jak, but his voice not as full of rage as it had been before. The girl picked herself up off the ground and turned to him. He still looked pale, but better somehow. His face was hard from trauma. The girl thought she would have liked that face a lot more before it had known so much agony.
Daxter wiggled free from her grasp and stood next to her. "She's a mute girl I found. Being the caring soul that I am... I couldn't just leave her so I busted her out, too."
She watched as Jak's face soften just a little. "She's a mute?" His voice carried a sudden softness, but it left just as quickly as it came. "Don't slow me down." He growled. With that he took the blue bag that Daxter had strapped to his back. He disappeared behind some crates, suddenly obscured from her view.
The girl's face fell. She didn't know why, but she wanted him to like her. She was still scared of him, but he was strong and that ment he could keep her face from those men in the red suits.
"Don't worry. He's a bit rough around the edges now, but under all that, he's as soft and cuddly as a baby Muse." Daxter said sound as if he was trying to convince himself.
This didn't help her feel any better. She didn't see anything in the man but hatred. What little emotion he showed before was still covered in anger. After a few minutes Jak came out wearing a blue shirt with wide cuffs and leather straps that were held together by a silver ring in the middle of his chest. His pants were white and his bots were a thick brown. On his head he wore a pair of worn goggles holding back his wild green blonde hair. The girl noted that the that the red scarf was still around his neck and tucked underneath the goggles. She watched as Daxter ran up to him and onto his left shoulder where Jak wore a metal plate.
Jak looked her up and down eyes lingering on the scar along her neck longer than she would have liked. The girl got the feeling that he was thinking about how much of a liability she would be. She attempted to stand straighter and make herself look taller, maybe not so much of a burden. This seemed to make him smile, though the smile was bitter and humorless, it made her smile back. He gave her a brief nod and turned around. With the smile still on her face, the girl followed closely behind.