Jet: Well here's the next story and really I love the way this came out so I won't waste any time and jest let you all read it.
Story 2: The Thief
It was late and Jak's uncle was asleep. The five year old Jak tiptoed across the floor of the small hut, being careful not to make a sound. He reached the doorway and looked outside; he thought that he saw something climbing the cliff behind the farmer's house but it was so dark that he couldn't make it out. He thought that it must have been just a big animal from the nearby jungle. Jak didn't pay it much mind. It was the first clear night in a long time and every star could be seen in the sky. He ran for the sage's hut because he and Keira had agreed that tonight the two of them were going to go to the beach and spend the night there looking at the stars.
He ran across the bridges and ran into the base hut. Samos was sleeping on the small bed in the main room; Jak quietly went over to the room on the other side from where Samos was sleeping. He saw the four year old Keira sleeping in her bed, her teddy bear held close to her. Jak shook her awake, she looked at him as she rubbed her green eyes, "Jak, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night." She asked, drowsiness in her voice. Jak walked over to the window and pointed up at the sky. Keira got out of bed and looked up, a smile spread across her face as she looked at Jak, "Let's go." She said, any thought of sleep gone from her mind. She grabbed Jak's hand and ran out of the hut dragging him along.
The two young kids ran to the beach, they scarcely made a sound as they ran. They reached the beach; as they ran across the cold sand Keira began to giggle and Jak just smiled. Jak was way faster than Keira by a long shot, he had always been- but he slowed down and let her run ahead of him a bit. "What are you doing?" She asked happily running in front of him, "I know you're faster than that." she said, laughing again. Jak let her get a head of him a little ways and then he started to pick up speed again and he tackled her. They both rolled on the sand a little and then they landed next to each other and laughed for a moment. They calmed down and looked up at the star-filled sky. Jak put his hands behind his head as Keira stared to point out constellations that Samos had taught her; he had taught Jak about them too, but Jak liked hearing Keira tell him what they were and he was mute anyways- he wouldn't be able to tell her any of ones he knew. Keira liked to look at the stars but she would never go to the beach or anywhere at night by herself, so that's why Jak had gone with her. Not because he wanted to looked at the stars, but because Keira wanted to. Keira and Jak were the only kids in the whole village; so they were always together and nothing was ever going to change that… or so Jak thought as he began to fall asleep, comfortably lying there on the sand.
The next day Jak woke to find that he was still sleeping on the beach. He could hear Samos calling from the village for him and Keira; he looked over to see her still asleep next to him. He smiled as he stretched and then shook her shoulder to wake her up. She looked at him, "Jak…" she yawned as she rubbed one of her green eyes, "It's morning already?" and then hearing her father's voice calling them she looked back to the village. She got up and wiped the sand off of her, "I'll race you back to the village." She said. Jak just nodded to show that he liked that idea, he got up and Keira took off. Jak waited a few seconds and then he went after her. It didn't take him long to pass her and reach the end of the beach first. He stopped to catch his breath as Keira caught up, once she reached him she sat down on one of the low ledges that acted like stairs to get them from the beach back up to the village, the two looked at each other and laughed.
The sculptor looked out his window and saw the two, "Hey little dudes," he said, smiling at them, "the sage has been looking for you."
The two looked up at him, "Thank you." Keira said as she and Jak started to climb up. When they reached the top Keira saw her father, "Daddy." She called, getting his attention.
Samos looked at them and smiled as he walked over to them, "There you two are, where have you been?"
"We slept on the beach." Keira said happily.
Samos shook his head, "Now why did you do that?"
"We wanted to look at the stars."
Samos smiled and patted his daughter's head, "Well alright, next time tell me where you going."
"We will." Keira said.
Jak heard someone behind him and looked to see the sculptor coming up to them, "Hey, sage dude," he said, Samos looked at him, "Someone's stole one of my tools."
Samos just looked at him as did Keira, "Are you sure did just lose it?" Keira asked.
The sculptor looked down at her, "I know I didn't lose it, someone stole it."
"You think that's bad?" Another man asked. They all looked to see the fisherman, "Losing a tool, that's not a big deal, is it? Someone stole the fish I caught yesterday."
"Well," Another new voice that belonged to the farmer said, "someone has stolen some of my yakcow milk."
"And my binoculars are missing too." The Bird lady added.
"Why are you telling me this?" Samos asked, "This is something you take to the mayor."
"Because the Mayor's job is to make sure we have power in the village." the bird lady said, "And also, it's more likely that one of these two-" she pointed the Jak and Keira, "-are the ones who took our things."
Jak and Keira looked at her, unbelieving that anyone would think that they would steal anything. Samos clearly didn't like this either, "Now wait one moment; why would Jak or Keira take any of the things that are missing?"
"I'm not saying they had a reason, I'm just saying that young children do things to see what they can get away with, it's normal."
"But we didn't take anything." Keira said, "Jak and I were at the beach all night."
Samos looked at them, "Well, did you see anything or anyone last night?"
"No." Keira said. Jak looked at the cliff behind the farmer's house.
Samos looked at him, "Jak, did you see anything out of the ordinary last night?" Jak looked at the adults… and then he shook his head. "Alright then," Samos said, looking back at the adults, "Let's be reasonable, couldn't it had just been a stray animal from the jungle that took all your things?" Jak looked back at the cliff; he really wanted to know what that thing was that he had seen the night before. The sculptor and the farmer just nodded and turned to head back to their homes.
"Well," The fisher man said, "It wouldn't be the first time an animal stole my fish," he looked at the bird lady, "would it?"
The bird lady crossed her arms and look away from him, "It's not my fault that some of my birds eat only fish. And really, them eating those smelly things is doing the village a favor." She said as she began to walk into her own hut. The fisherman waved her off disapprovingly and walked back to his hut.
Samos shook his head and then he took his daughter's hand, "Come on Keira, let's go home and get some breakfast." He looked at Jak, "You should go check in with your uncle before you do anything else." Jak just nodded and then he walked to his uncle's hut.
Jak's uncle wasn't his real uncle; Jak didn't have any biological family, at least not any that he could remember. No one knew what had happened to Jak's parents; not even Samos, who had brought Jak and Keira to Sandover just three years ago. Jak's so-called uncle had taken a liking to the boy when they had first met and he had taken him in. It didn't matter to Jak that they weren't really related, he still saw the man as his uncle and one thing he loved about his uncle was he was an explorer. He would tell Jak about trips he had made to unknown places and the things he had seen there. Jak hoped that one day he could go on an adventure too and discover someplace new just like his uncle.
Jak walked into the hut and saw his uncle looking under the bed as he mumbled to himself. Jak walked over to him and tapped the older elf's shoulder. The man jumped and looked at him with a smile, "Well there you are Jak, where have been?" Jak pointed in the direction of the beach. His uncle looked where he was pointing and smiled, "Out for a night of star-watching with Keira were you?" Jak nodded. His uncle went back to looking under the bed, "Well I seemed to have misplaced one of my big maps," he looked back at Jak, "you haven't seen it anywhere have you?" Jak shook his head. His uncle sighed, "Oh well, it will turn up, things aways do." He walked over to the fire place/stove, "How about some breakfast?" Jak just smiled and nodded.
After he ate Jak ran back to Samos' hut, thinking that he and Keira could play together or that Samos had a story to tell them, he usually did. But when he got to the hut he heard Keira crying, "It's okay Keira," Jak heard Samos say as he walked into the base hut, "we'll find it."
Jak came in and saw Keira sitting on her bed looking very sad, Samos next to her, "No we won't, someone stole it."
"Now Keira, you might have misplaced it."
"No I did not, daddy," She cried. "I left it on the bed." Jak came over and stood in front of her. She looked at him, "Jak, someone stole my teddy." She still cried. Jak just looked at her, he didn't care when everyone else in the village said that they had something stolen, but Keira was different, she was his friend and he knew how much she loved that teddy bear. Jak turned and ran out of the hut. "Jak!" Keira called, jumping off her bed and following him, "Where are you going? Do you know where my teddy is?" Samos just let them go and kept looking around the room for Keira's toy.
"Jak," Keira called, "wait for me." they ran to the cliff behind the farmer's house. Jak started to climb up it. "What are you doing?" Keira asked, grabbing the back of his shirt, he looked at her, "We're not supposed go up there. We're going to get in trouble." Jak just shook his head and started to climb. Keira sighed and started to climb with him. For two young kids this was a bit hard; Keira, being that she wasn't as strong as Jak was needed his help. But they did get to the top and they started to walk down the path that led to the fire canyon. The closer they got to it the warmer the air became.
Jak and Keira got to canyon and found all the things that the villagers had lost; Jak saw his uncle's map and next to it was Keira's teddy bear. The two went over to get their things but it seemed that someone, who couldn't have been any older than they were, was using the map like a blanket and that same kid was holding Keira's teddy as he slept. He was a scrawny little kid and he looked a bit like a mess, his clothes were ripped and stained badly, and he laid his head on his arm for a pillow. Jak grabbed his uncle's map off the sleeping kid and Keira tried to grab her teddy but the boy had good grip on it. She pulled it and when she got her toy free the boy's arm moved and his head hit the ground waking him up. He looked at Keira, who was hugging her toy, "HEY!" He yelled getting to his feet, "That's mine!"
Keira looked at him, "No, it's not."
"Yes it is, I found it!"
"In my room!"
The boy grabbed the arm of the toy, "Don't matter where I found it, it's MINE!" he ripped the toy out of Keira's hands and pushed her down. Keira hit the ground and the four year old started to cry. Jak glared at the boy; taking a toy was one thing but pushing Keira around like that was another. Jak clenched his fist and punched the boy right in the face, knocking out his two front teeth. The boy didn't start crying but he spat out the blood that was now spilling into his mouth from his missing teeth, "What was that for?!" He asked.
Jak took the toy and gave it back to Keira, she took it and stood back up as she sniffled a little, "Thanks Jak." She said, hugging the toy tightly.
"HEY!" The boy yelled, also standing back up, he spat out more blood and wiped his lip, "Give that back!"
"No!" Keira said.
The boy started to walk up to her to take the toy back but Jak stood in front of her and the boy backed off a bit. "Whatever… take it, if it means that much to you." He crossed his arms and turned his back on them, "Only babies need a toy to sleep with and I'm not a baby."
"Then why did you want it?" Keira asked, in a nicer tone now.
"I don't want it." The boy picked up the map and laid down on in the dirt again using the map as a blanket. Jak took the map from him and the boy looked at him, "Whatever… I don't need that either," the boy curled up on the ground, "It's warm enough here that I don't need it."
Keira looked at the stuff that laid in the dirt near them as Jak folded the map up and put it in one of his pockets, and Keira looked back at the boy, "Do you live here?" She asked.
"So what if I do?"
"Where is your mom and dad?" The boy didn't answer. Keira and Jak looked at each other a moment, then she whispered to Jak, "Maybe he doesn't have a mom and dad." Jak saw the boy curl up a little tighter, overhearing her. Keira looked back at him, "do you not have a mom or dad?"
"NO, OKAY!" The boy yelled, glaring at them, "I don't have a dad and I don't have mom! I don't even have a home. Now leave me alone!" He laid back down with his back to them.
Keira and Jak looked at him a moment and started to sadly walk away feeling helpless, but then Keira stopped. She looked at her teddy, she loved it so much but still… she turned around and walked back over to the boy. She stood in front of him and held out the toy, "Here," she said. The boy just looked at her confused, "you need it more than I do."
Jak walked over to them and stood next to Keira. The boy just looked at them, "No I don't."
"Yes you do, everyone needs a friend." The boy looked at her then took the toy and held it close. Keira smiled and sat down, "I'll be your friend."
The boy looked at her, shock on his face, "Really?" Keira smiled. The boy looked at Jak, who also sat down, "Do you just follow her around?" Jak just looked at the boy confused. "…Ah hello, ya gonna answer?" Jak just smiled and crossed his arms, "HEY," the boy yelled, "YOU DEAF OR SOMETHING?!"
Jak and Keira started to laugh, "Jak doesn't talk." Keira said.
"Oh…" the boy said, "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" The boy looked at Jak, who raised a brow at him. "Well, I guess you couldn't." The three kids started to laugh, "So your name's Jak?" Jak nodded, "I'm Daxter." He looked at Keira, "Who are you?"
"I'm Keira."
"Nice to meet you. Hey, you guys hungry?"
"A little." Keira said. Jak shook his head, he was still full from breakfast. The boy opened a beat up looking bag and pulled out two fish. "You took those from Mr. Fisherman." Keira said.
Daxter looked at her, "I gotta eat too you know."
He picked up a long sharp tool and stuck the fish on it, "And that's from the sculptor!"
Daxter sat down next to the lava and held the fish over it, "Yeah well, how was I going to cook this grub?" Jak looked around and found the bird lady's binoculars and he shook them a little. Daxter looked at them, "I needed those so I could see what was going in the village from up here."
Jak and Keira sat next to Daxter, Keira pulled her knees to her chest, "So if you're all alone, why don't you come to the village?"
"People don't really like me. They say I'm annoying. Besides, why would I go there? I don't have any family there, I don't belong."
Jak and Keira just looked at Daxter and then Keira smiled, "…Jak's an orphan too." Jak gave her an annoyed glare for bringing that fact up. She grinned and chucked a little, embarrassed.
"You don't have a family?" Daxter asked. Jak just sadly looked at the dirt; he didn't really like it when his lack of family was bought up. He didn't know why it bothered him; he didn't have a single memory of them. "But then who's that guy you live with?" Daxter asked.
"That's Jak's uncle." Keira said.
"Well at least you have an uncle, I don't have any family."
"He's not Jak's real uncle." Keira explained, "He just kinda took Jak in, that's all."
"Oh…" Daxter said, taking of the now cooked fish and handing to Keira on a leaf. "Well what about you? I've seen you walk around with a weird-looking green guy."
Jak covered his mouth as he snickered at Daxter description of Samos. Keira glared at both boys, "That's my daddy." She stated.
Daxter took a bit of his fish and looked at her, "Were you adopted too?" He asked with his mouth full of fish.
"No." Keira said, annoyed.
"I was just asking." Daxter said, "Why is he green anyways?"
"He's the sage."
The three kids sat quietly as Daxter and Keira ate. "He still looks weird." Daxter said after a moment.
Jak fell on-to his back laughing. Keira glared at Daxter, "You look a bit weird too."
Daxter looked at her, "Do not."
"Do too." Keira said.
"Do not."
"Do too."
"I do not look weird." Daxter said. Jak was rolling, this was one of the funniest things he had seen, he and Keira never argued but that was due to the fact that Jak didn't talk.
Keira smiled at him, "yes you do, especially with your teeth missing."
"Well… Well you can blame your boy-friend for that, he punched me."
Jak stopped laughing, did he hear Daxter right? Keira's face went red, "J-Jak's not my boy-friend!"
Daxter smiled, "He's a boy and he's your friend, so he's your boy-friend."
Keira went even redder, "Well… well you're my friend too Daxter, and you're a boy so what does that make you?"
"Um… well… you just met me, you've know him longer so he's your boy-friend."
"JAK IS NOT MY BOY-FRIEND!" Keira yelled.
"Is too." Daxter said, smiling now.
"Is not."
"Is too."
"Is not."
"Is too. OW!" Jak had smacked Daxter on the back of the head to get him to shut up. Daxter looked at him, "Why do you keep hitting me?"
Keira smiled, "Because you deserve it." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Daxter looked at the two of them and then he started to laugh, "I guess I kinda do." Jak and Keira started to laugh as well, enjoying the company of their new friend.
After a while, Jak and Keira figured they should go back to the village. Daxter didn't want them to go, "You guys could stay here." He said hopefully.
Keira smiled, "Or you could come with us."
Daxter crossed his arms, "No thanks."
"Come on Daxter."
"No."
Keira grabbed his arm and tried to drag him, grunting, "I… said… come on."
Daxter pulled back not wanting to go, "I said no."
"Jak, a little help?"
Jak rolled his eyes and also grabbed Daxter; with both Jak and Keira pulling him, Daxter didn't have a chance and was dragged away from the fire canyon. "I said I didn't want to go!" Daxter got out of their grip and started to run back to canyon but Jak tackled him. Keira grabbed one of Daxter's legs and Jak grabbed the other and the two of them continued to drag him. "No no no no!" Daxter said, grabbing any tuffs of grass that he could get his hands on.
"You can't just stay here." Keira said. "You need a home."
"No, I don't. I can take care of myself."
"By stealing other people's things?"
"So what?"
"So you're going to have to tell everyone that you took everything."
"That's just another reason not to go. They'll all be mad at me."
They reached the edge of the cliff and let Daxter go. As soon as he was free he tried to run back to hide but Jak grabbed him by the back of the shirt and kept him from running. Daxter crossed his arms, giving up on the thought of running off, "Fine, you win. I'll go to the village, happy now?" Jak and Keira smiled and let go of his shirt.
"Jak, Keira, what are you two doing up there?"
Jak and Keira looked down to see Samos glaring up at them. "Hi Daddy." Keira said, knowing that she was in trouble.
"Get down here, right now."
Daxter smiled, "Well looks like you two gotta go." He started to walk away, "Bye." Jak grabbed him again, "Alright, alright I'm coming too."
The three kids started to climb down and when they had reached the bottom Samos glared at them, "Jak, I think your uncle would like a word with you and Keira, you are to go home, right now. We will discuss this later young lady." Both of them looked at each other with sad looks, they were in trouble and they knew it. Slowly and sadly they began to walk to their homes. Samos looked back at Daxter who was standing there watching his friends leave. In his mind Samos was being a bit mean; Jak and Keira hadn't done anything wrong. "And where are you from young man?" Samos asked.
Daxter crossed his arms, "That's none of your business, old man."
Samos just looked at the boy that seemed a bit rude to him. He looked back up the cliff face and then back at the boy, "Tell me something, are you the one that's been stealing everyone's things?"
Daxter looked away from him, "So what if I am? What are you going do about it?"
Samos glared at the boy, "You are a rude little boy, I think I need to have a word with your parents."
"Ha, jokes on you, that's not gonna happen."
"And why not?" Samos asked, this boy was beginning to bother him.
"Cause I don't got any." He started to climb back up the cliff. He got up on a higher ledge and looked down at Samos, "You might be able to tell Jak and Keira what to do, but you can't order me around Greeny."
Samos just looked at the boy a moment; he had only ever met one person- or rodent for that matter- that had ever called him 'greeny'. Samos watched the strange kid climb, "What is your name young man?" Samos asked.
Daxter stopped and looked back at him and smiled, "I'm Daxter and don't you forget it." Daxter climbed to the top of the cliff and ran back to the canyon.
Samos just let him go, that was one of the rudest kids he had ever met, and he had lived in Haven City. But still, Samos knew what Jak was going to become; he knew what Jak was going to have to live through when the time came, he knew about the pain and suffering Jak was going to go through. And yet through it all, every mission, every fight, every trial, Jak had a friend right there with him every step of the way. Who; even when things looked their worst, was able to crack a joke. And at times, even though Jak seemed cold and hard, with his best friend by his side he seemed… happy, all because of Daxter.
Samos began to walk back to his hut, he walked past Jak's and heard him and his uncle laughing. Samos smiled, he had known that Jak wasn't going to be in too much trouble; as far as his uncle was concerned, as long as no one got hurt Jak's uncle would encourage him to go on his own little adventures, which meant that Keira went along for the ride. And now another kid was going to join them, and the small trio of friends was now complete. Samos was going to have to get used to Daxter because he wasn't going anywhere.
Later that night, Jak and Keira climbed back up to cliff with a few things for Daxter. Daxter smiled when he saw his friends again, "Hey guys, you didn't get in too much trouble did ya?"
Jak shook his head and Keira smiled, "My daddy just said I needed to tell him before I came up. And Jak never gets in trouble, at least not with his uncle." Jak just smiled.
Daxter looked at the things Jak and Keira were holding, Keira had a pillow and Jak had a blanket, "You two going to sleep here?" He asked.
"Well," Keira said, "I just thought that you might like to have a real pillow." Jak held out the blanket.
Daxter just looked at them, "You're just giving them to me?" Both Jak and Keira nodded. Daxter smiled and took the things, "Thanks guys." He picked up Keira's teddy bear and held it out to her, "Keira you should have your teddy back."
"But Daxter-"
"I don't need it… I have friends now. And I shouldn't have taken it. I'm sorry."
Keira took the bear and smiled, "It's okay."
Daxter smiled, "You guys sure that you don't want to spend the night here?"
Jak and Keira looked at each other and shrugged, "Why not." Keira said, "We spent last night at the beach. We can sleep here. The three kids laid down and fell asleep, all happy about the new friendship they had started.
Penny: Awww that was so cute.
Daxter (Looking at Jak): you punched me.
Jak: You were picking on Keira.
Jet: Not much else to say here. I don't know when I'll have the next story up just keep an eye out for it.
