It was dark and the smell of waste was strong when Daxter opened his eyes. Within the small confines of the cage he was in Daxter shifted his body into a stretching position holding it until his body popped releasing the stress that his body had stored overnight. Sitting up he released a heavy yawn while rubbing sand out of his eyes. Blinking languidly he looked around the room that was cluttered with trash, machine parts and cans.
This had become a familiar routine to him since he had been picked off by the Marauder over a month ago. The idea of having to sleep, eat, and release his waste in the same place had never crossed his mind at any point in his life, until now. Daxter had been born human and had been treated as human his friends even after having been turned into an ottsel. He never realized for the state he was in it had been a blessing that he had not been treated like an actual pet and animal up to this point.
The first few days had been absolute hell for him. On arriving to the city the marauders had he had been thrown unceremoniously into a cage and locked in there. When the cage had been opened the first time he tried escaping, but there had been another guy that had grabbed him by the throat and kept him still. He had to watch as the small cage was set up to become his new home. He knew that there was going to be no way that he would shit in the same place he would eat and sleep in.
It just wasn't something that was realistic or had any possibility of happening to him. Of course, he had been shoved back into the cage and was left in there for the rest of the day. A couple of times the marauder that picked him up tried selling him off to other people as he walked around the city, but nobody wanted to buy him.
On arriving back to where the man lived he had been placed on the table in the living room. Daxter already knew that he could not talk to him as Jak had already warned him in other occasions that people could hurt him or he might end up in a worse situation and that it was best if he pretended that he was a regular ottsel.
At the moment Daxter had really needed to take a piss and he was in no way going to pee in the cage where he was going to be resting in, so sucking up his pride he gave a wine and clawed at the cage as the man walked away. The man had paused in his steps and gave him a look of realization and scoffed out.
"You are just an animal, and while that green haired bastard might have trained you to live freely and do your business elsewhere, we are not the same person. I have given you a home and I expect you to live as a regular animal. There is no special treatment for a trained pet and I do not trust you to not run away. Where you rest and eat will be the same place you will shit in. You had better get used to it because your situation is not bound to change anytime soon. "
The man had just retreated into his room and left Daxter absolutely distressed. This was the first time, in a long time, that he wanted to burst into tears and cry out for Jak to save him, but Jak wasn't there to save him from this nightmare. Daxter sat there for fifteen minutes desperately holding in his urine even if he was uncomfortable and in pain, but he could only hold out for so long.
This was the third time in that day that he had been humiliated. First, with being shoved into a cage, secondly, he had been treated as merchandise,and thirdly, he was being forced to sleep with his own waste. Moving off into a corner Daxter positioned himself so he wouldn't end up soiling himself and looked to the door where the man had disappeared into with absolute hatred.
Having finished with his business Daxter had retreated to the farthest corner from where the act had been committed. Curling up into a tight ball, Daxter tried to sleep, but his heightened sense of smell being unforgiving, reminded him of what he was going to be forced into doing any time he needed to relieve himself.
Daxter felt the fur on his cheeks become damp as he allowed himself to let a couple of tears fall. A couple of tears turned into a constant fall and soon enough his small frame shook with the silent sobs that wracked through him as he felt the remaining dignity that he held onto slip away from him.
Now Daxter had become used to all the smells and treatment he received so nothing came to him as a surprise now. His fur didn't have the same glossy look it had when he first came and he was smaller in size since he wasn't feed the correct food, but it did beat being dead to him. He still hasn't given up on the idea of getting out and back to Spargus, but it sure would take him a lot of hard work to get there.
He knew Jak would still be looking for him, but Daxter also knew that Jak was stretched thin between having to help at Spargus and helping those in Haven city as well. Either way, it was him that helped Jak save the world from Gol and Maia, and he had also found Jak and gotten him out of the Baron's hands, so he should be able to get himself out of this scrape. The sound of a door creaking open helped bring Daxter back to where he was as his head snapped in its direction. A blonde woman quietly stepped out and moved to exit the house.
Last night the marauder he was a captive of had held a "small" party at his house and he was positive that him and the blonde had slept together. It wasn't unusual for the man to hold parties, but Daxter was uncomfortable with it since one of the guys that always came made a big deal of mentioning that he probably tasted good and that they should cook him.
It always bothered him but he couldn't do anything or voice his discomfort. The blonde seemed to notice he was awake and made her way over to him. He couldn't really understand why she came over. To anyone that looked on him he was just a sick and dirty looking ottsel so he didn't hold any appeal. She looked into his cage and gave a very displeased sound. Daxter couldn't believe her, sooo sorry my neglected cage is a fucking mess. She walked away and picked something off the ground and soon his cage was covered by a cloth.
He thought it was really stupid of her to cover his cage since she was leaving. Daxter started as he felt his cage being lifted and he realized that this girl planned on stealing him from the scary marauder. He had no idea what she had in store for him or why she wanted him but right now this moment could be the one he had been looking for, so Daxter made sure to keep quiet so the guy wouldn't wake up.
When the cloth had been finally removed Daxter had been greeted by a cleaner looking home and the seemingly nice blonde. She was looking him over and Daxter looked back. He was nervous what she would do, but glad that he was in a cleaner place. Leaning back she looked away and opened her mouth.
"I can't believe he would keep you in such terrible conditions. Whoever that guy was. He had no right to stuff you into such a small space, and one that is sooo dirty. My name is Clara and I'll take care of you far better than that guy has. Don't worry little guy, I'll release you back into the wild as soon as you're healthy again. I like too help the animal that get brought down here and get mistreated. For now, I think a bath would be for the best and getting rid of this cage as well."
To say he was surprised was an understatement. He was completely blown back by this girl. He could tell she was sincere in what she said but it was difficult to believe what she said after a whole month of that treatment. She walked back with a towel in hand after having g gone into a different room and picked up his cage once again and head outside.
This was an entirely different part of the city that he didn't know existed. He was used to seeing the place dirty and filled with people, but this part was beautiful. There were almost nobody walking outside and the area looked clean with nice little houses spaced out and not cramped. The stone ceiling arched smoothly above and merged with an equally smooth wall.
Where he had earlier lived the ceiling was jagged and fell low creating this caged in feeling that you couldn't go far. Looking back down Daxter was pleased to see a large cave spring come into view. The surrounding bank was smooth and only a couple of rocks were littered about. The water looked clear and reflected the ceiling and surrounding rock creating a perfect mirror.
The way the water reflecting the ceiling made it look as if a galaxy existed right there and anyone could reach out and touch it. Daxter pressed his face against the cage already shaking with anticipation of feeling the clean water against his skin. He felt like it was a dream that he was so far away from that nasty house and in fantasy like place. Clara seemed to notice his impatience and she let a small chuckle out as she set him down next to a metal basin.
It did make sense that she would bathe him in there since he guessed that the cave spring was where everyone got their water. It would be very rude to contaminate the water since people might get sick and die. Not that Daxter was fantasizing about that at all. Soon enough the metal basin was filled with enough water after a couple of trips back and forth that Clara knelt down by him and opened his cage door.
Daxter almost flew past the basin with how desperate he was with getting into the water and being clean after what felt like an eternity. Crawling over the rim Daxter fell in with a small splash and reveled in the feeling of the soothing water caress his worn out body. A pleasant laugh rang out into the air as he resurfaced out of the water and he turned to look at Clara who smiled down at him sweetly.
"I knew you would be delighted to get clean! I bet your fur used to be really beautiful. Here let me help you get clean."
With her comment all Daxter could do was smugly think, of course it was until that brute basically ruined me. She leaned over and he flinched. Pulling back her hands a bit she tried beckoning him towards her. She wasn't being forceful about so he cautiously made his way towards her. Reaching out she ran a hand through his fur and began scrubbing. Daxter was amazed and disgusted with how quickly the clear water was turning dirty. Even though he still felt iffy about her, Daxter still appreciated the help she was giving him.
If she was going to help him get better and release him then maybe getting free wouldn't be that difficult. The only problem then would be how he would get back to Spargus or survive the desert. Small hands picked him out of the water and Daxter let out a protesting wine. He wasn't ready to leave his bath.
"Hold on, I'll put you back in but I have to get you clean water. I need to clean you thoroughly if you're going to stay inside."
Understanding Daxter sat patiently as she dumped the water out nearby and filed the tin basin with more water. He also didn't want to stay outside and was secretly hoping she would give him somewhere comfortable to sleep. The basin being filled once again, Daxter was placed in the water and fully cleaned within the next half hour.
After being taken out and carried back into the house, Daxter did feel that his skin was a bit raw but it was sooo much better than being filthy. He felt entirely ready to fall asleep in the towel but his stomach called out to remind him that he hasn't eaten anything in the entire day. Shifting around a bit and trying to ignore his hunger Clara's kind voice caught his attention.
"Oh, you must be hungry after not eating for a while. I don't want to give you anything heavy since that might hurt you more than help you so how does some star fruit sound? The trees that grow on this mountain are covered with trees that bear the fruit so it's not like I can't get you more. I think that would be a good meal before going to sleep, don't you think so?"
Daxter really wanted to cry out tears of gratitude with how kind this girl was being to him. She didn't have to be this nice to him, but here she was an absolute angel. Untangling himself from the towel Daxter moved closer to the girl as she began to cut the fruit and place into a small bowl. He couldn't wait to eat the fruit since he hadn't had anything good to eat within the past month.
He was sure that if he didn't die from the condition of the cage he would have certainly died from malnutrition. As soon as Clara presented him with the bowl he instantly moved to devour the fruit. Daxter almost choked on the sobs that threatened to spill out of him as he finally tasted the heavenly food. It had been so long since he had tasted something so good. Out of the corner of his eye Daxter could see that Clara had placed a bowl of water next to him and was looking at him sadly and he felt extremely bitter that she would pity him, but he knew she didn't mean any harm so he let it go and continued to eat.
He didn't want anyone to pity him since it wasn't necessary and he didn't need it. He had been through a lot of tough shit and this wasn't the worst of it. He couldn't be upset about it much longer since Clara had no knowledge of that and just thought he was a regular ottsel. Daxter quickly finished of the fruit and moved on to drink the water. Clara got up to remove the dirty bowl from the table and returned shortly.
He didn't know if he could trust her entirely, but he knew she wasn't a bad person so he didn't think any harm could come from what he planned on doing. Turning to face her after wiping his chin Daxter looked her in the face free of any fear he felt.
"Thank you for taking me away from that guy and helping me. I really am grateful. I thought I would be stuck there for a long time and before you panic I want to ask you to not scream or hurt me." His voice sounded a lot rougher than he expected it to sound but he knew that it would sound course after not talking for so long. However, he wasn't ready for how raw his throat felt after saying so little.
"Oh my precursors, you talk... How is that even possible? Animals don't talk. Especially not ottsels. What the heck. What the heck did I get myself into. Alright! Before anything else happens and you reveal anymore surprises, you have to tell me how you got down here and where you come from. I want to know everything and if I feel like you're lying to me... I don't know what I'll do yet but it isn't going to be pleasant so get talking!"
Clara didn't look like she was expecting this at all and even looked upset.
This was going to be tiring and Daxter would rather much sleep but his life might be on the line so he'll just have to tell her what she wants to know and hope for the best.
She didn't seem to be that important in this city so there really couldn't come any harm from telling her anything. Besides it would be nice to have someone that he could complain to. Sitting back down in the towel and making himself comfortable Daxter began.
"First of all I think you should know that my name is Daxter and I wasn't always like this. To tell you where I come from I'll have to go back to the beginning. So it all started with a small village called Sandover..."