Welcome ladies and gents! We're back back back alright with Kida and the others! Err..well…it might just be Kida for a while! But you do remember our precious Ki and her troubles and tough times in the last book! Well she's been banished to the Wastelands(: Fun.
Believe me if you thought she changed in the last story…you won't believe what happened to her attitude and personality now.
I do not own Jak & Daxter the game or series and/or its characters. Only my own characters and some plot of the story line is mine and mine only!
Begin!
Folding my arms I shifted my weight, and raised a black brow while staring at Kleiver, "No."
"Come on, deary. Someone's gotta do it sometime," he said smiling with a chuckle. I shut my green eyes annoyed, rubbing my forehead some.
"Kleiver, I thought Damas told us to simply get the artifacts and come back." I turned and headed back to the doors, "I'm not doin' anything extra if it wasn't asked. There's a bad storm out there anyways."
I entered Spargus and shook my head, all the while grumbling about how annoying the fifty year old Wastelander could be. I headed up to the King's Palace and noticed it was darker outside then before. Middle of the night actually. Kleiver and I had spent all day collecting artifacts in the desert and the last run was the shortest timed and strongest storm.
Six months outside of Haven's city walls and six months since I started living in Spargus. I had to admit it wasn't the same…but it fit more like home then Haven every had. I was found by Damas and the others sometime after I passed out in the desert. It seemed the golden bracelet Ashelin gave me was actually a beacon, giving off a signal to tell Damas where I was.
I figured out how Ashelin even knew there was a city out here, but I didn't have any contact with them since I was thrown out. Something about her father over throwing Damas. Wasn't much importance to me considering he was the leader of Spargus now anyways.
Haven wasn't even on my radar anymore. I didn't know, no, didn't care what happened to the city anymore. My "friends" were strong. If they lived they lived. If they didn't…well then.
As heartless as that sounds..
Living six months here wasn't really enough for me to change as much physically as I did mentally. I cared for the people that lived in Spargus. Children and all they were all strong. It amazed me that they fought for themselves and the people they cared for.
I stayed close to the King's Palace with Damas. He saw value in me just as did Kleiver. I told them who or rather…what I was…and Damas considered it an honor to be in the presence of a "legendary princess". Yet he respected my wishes and treated me normally.
I wanted to be a warrior not a damn princess, although I did sense the waves a worry he tried to cover up when I did something reckless. And since I earned my right fair and square to be a Wastelander, I was really reckless a lot of the time.
"Kida, did you get the artifacts?" I looked at Damas as I entered the throne room and nodded, holding up the bag with a smile.
"Tada! Got all ten this time. In a matter of minutes." I tossed the bag on the red chair easily and shrugged, "Stupid storm couldn't slow us down. Although Kleiver was trying to convince me to go for another race."
Damas nodded walking over to me and set a hand on my shoulder, smiling down at me.
"Once again, you've done well. It seems even the marauders could not stop you. Very good. Go home and rest. You deserve it," he said proudly. I couldn't help the smile that played on my face and nodded up at him. I turned to take my leave and blinked when his voice came across again.
"Also..you shouldn't always look with such sadness." I slowed to a stop, turning back and Damas nodded, not saying anything else.
Damas was the king of Spargus and to my surprise the previous leader to Haven City. He was also the man that saved my life. With white hair and much armor, he fit the criteria to being a Wastelander. Bandages were on his arms and legs, the boots covering most of it and the forearm guards hiding those too. He and Kleiver inevitably held the same look in clothing with blue bottoms and a brown sleeveless. He might have looked older, but he could fight like he was twenty.
Within the time span I had been here I looked up to Damas and felt he was the only one I could actually trust, before I met Kleiver that is. And in that amount of time they were able to read me so easily.
I shifted uneased at Damas's words and looked down with a small frown.
"I can't help but worry about the others…back in Haven. It's been so long and I can only imagine it's gotten worse. What if it spreads to Spar-?"
"I don't believe such things will come of us." I looked up at Damas and he stood in front of me though he looked at the elegant room. The palace itself was not all that fancy. It consisted of a few houses and then the Palace Tower.
Now, the Palace Tower was beautifully decorated with tiny waterfalls, plants, ancient Precursor technology and, of course, the king's throne. It was my favorite place to be when I wasn't working. The tall tower was very important because it served as a symbol of hope in the Wasteland. Anywhere in the desert its visible since, on top of the palace tower, there's a huge fire light that acts as a guide for anyone to find the city.
Damas gave me one of the stone houses that resided in the palace district and I lived there alone. It was about as big as my house in Haven City. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small living room, a dining area, and then the kitchen.
I loved it. I loved everything about Spargus no matter how weird it sounded. The desert, the Coast Area, the garage, the arena, the plants! Spargus was my home. They accepted me and I would protect it with my life. I guess that's what happens when you become a Wastelander…
I found myself smiling and Damas set a hand on my head. I blinked looking over at him and he stared down at me with violet eyes.
"You do not have to take it upon yourself to worry about everyone and everything, Kida. Sometimes, you must worry about yourself first. That's why there are others here. Let your fellow Wastelanders help. Continue to have hope in your friends just as I'm sure they have hope in you," he explained nodding.
I shifted my eyes sighing but nodded none the less.
'I'm sure my friends believe I'm dead,' I thought sadly. Turning I moved easily, waving a little.
"I'm going home. I'll report back tomorrow with Kleiver to work on the buggies," I called. I saw Damas nod slowly, but not convinced, as I went down the shaft and out of the tower.
It wasn't long until I got to my house. It was late, I was tired, and it wasn't as hot anymore. My clothes, I suppose you could call them, didn't amount to much. I got rid of my hot old clothes almost the instant I got here and replaced them.
My old jean pants? Yeah, I tore the sides off and put cuffs around my thighs so they weren't all bare. I got the idea from Ashelin's pants back in Haven, but hey it was hot. My boots wrapped up my legs to my knees and armor was strapped to the front tightly, brown cloth on the sole part so they wouldn't wear out.
As for the top I just bandaged my chest and put on a loose piece of brown cloth though it covered nothing. It showed my mid-drift quite a lot actually, and my arms and shoulders were bare but I had a glove on my left hand and my mechanic sleeve on my right, going up to about my elbow.
In a place where the desert was your worst enemy, you're skin was very valuable and could be torn off in an instant.
My hair was put up in its high ponytail, and I took it down, feeling it fall in my face and down my back. I removed the gun holster on my right leg and pulled the gloves off, slipping my goggles off from around my neck and threw the brown cloth to the side.
After getting stripped down I took a long cold shower and then laid on my bed, staring at the wall as I always did curled on my side. It was hard being all alone. Although I liked to think I wasn't…in the end of the day I was. Not with anyone else and left to be with my thoughts. The thoughts that only I could hear.
Doesn't it suck when you're forced to think of everything you tried so hard to force away…right before you go to sleep..?
My dull green eyes stared, my damp hair sticking to me as I remembered this was the same position I was in when I was left out to die in the middle of the desert. I shut my eyes pained, shaking my head and buried my face in my pillow.
I missed everyone. I couldn't deny it. No matter how much I covered it up and just distracted myself with the other things that went on in Spargus, I still thought of them. I couldn't hate them. I didn't hate them. I was a little angry…really angry. I strongly disliked my friends..the city.
My eyes grew hard as I thought, looking through my dark hair at the bright green star.
I hated the city. Haven City. I despised it. I hated everyone in it that I fought to protect. Fighting to save their lives and they just threw me out like trash…I would never go back. My friends didn't do anything to stop it either, furthering my pain.
Jak didn't do anything to stop it. He didn't even say goodbye.
The only person that did…was Adriel.
"No!" I snapped my attention to Adriel as he ran up to the KG car and he shoved a council member out of the way. My green eyes widened at my protector and I shook my head turning to him instantly.
"Adriel, stop it! You're going to get arrested!" The male simply moved passed people until he was standing in front of me, the blue KG grabbing him before he got to me. Backing up, my back met the KG vehicle as he growled annoyed.
Ashelin narrowed her eyes, pushing them off of Adriel, "Lay off! She didn't get a goodbye."
I watched as he quickly came over to me, his teal-green eyes looking at my form, before pain filled them. My hands were already bound in front of me, my clothes torn to shreds and my green eyes were beginning to dull by the minute. When I found no chance of getting out of the sentence, I simply lost all hope.
"Kida." I looked up at Adriel, focusing on his face as he shook his head, choking out works, "I can't…I'm your protector…I can't just let you go to die." I smiled up at him softly, my black hair falling in my face while his own dirty blonde hair brushed across his forehead, hiding his binding tattoo.
"Adriel, you have to let me leave," I breathed in a small laugh. Adriel shook his head and suddenly grasped the sides of my face in his hands, his fingers tangling in my hair. I stared up at him and he stepped close to me, looking me in my eyes.
"I can't…lose you." I felt myself tear up for the first time since the sentence, feeling Adriel's unimaginable pain. The object in his chest ached to let me leave, the connection we had letting me read his mind.
He loved me.
Setting his forehead on mine he shut his eyes and I watched with lidded green eyes as tears slipped down his cheeks. I shook my head, begging him while shutting my eyes.
'Don't cry.'
'Don't leave…'
I looked at my guardian and saw him giving me a weak smile. I smiled at him, letting the tears fall. He would be the last person I saw here at Haven City. The only person I got to say goodbye to because he forced his way through.
I shook my head and leaned up kissing him softly. He deserved that much. No matter how much I denied it I loved him too, it was the reality of the situation and yet…
I was going to die.
Breathing out, I opened my eyes, the remembrance of Adriel and the other's paining me.
"Spargus is my home now," I said lowly. I turned to my other side, letting the moon hit my back and shut my eyes, fading to sleep.
XXXX
I arrived at the garage gates to Spargus the next afternoon and grunted when Kleiver shoved me backwards. Catching my footing and I glared up at him instantly.
"Watch it, big boy," I snapped lowly. The blonde bearded male just chuckled, his hand holding his staff up easily. He just loooved getting a rise from me.
"Other way, Ki. You ain't got no business here," he stated bluntly. I shifted my weight, my gloved hand on my waist, rolling my eyes dramatically.
"You're kidding me?" My green eyes looked behind him and I blinked, "Damas?" Said male turned and looked at me, raising his hand as he shook his head, watching me walk over.
"This one you cannot come with us on. You must stay here until we get back, Kida," he instructed clearly.
I stared up at him confused, looking at the others, "What's going on?" It wasn't like everyone to just get up and leave. And without me! I was one of the strongest female Wastelanders here!
Damas shook his head and Kleiver stood next to me, shifting his weight some, "Seems somethin' popped up on our scanners. Artifacts and somethin' else. We're goin' to check it out. Could be somethin' dangerous."
I frowned up at him and Damas spoke before I could causing me to turn my attention back to him.
"As I said, you are not going. Don't try to talk your way into this one, Kida," he said firmly. I glared at him but bit my tongue. He was about as defiant as a rhino when it came to someone's safety. I crossed my arms, shutting my eyes, and looked away. Pieces of my hair fell in my face but the rest stayed up in its ponytail.
Fine. But it wasn't like I was doing anything else. Going out in the desert for artifacts was my job.
Damas sighed audibly and looked over at Kleiver who just tugged on my hair. I hissed annoyed at his habit and Kleiver chuckled, walking over and getting in the Dune Hopper. I shook my head, a hand on my hip and looked at him smirking.
"The least you can do is not ruin my damn creation this time!" I called. Kleiver scoffed from the inside, pulling on his goggles.
"Your creation!? Yeah right! You wish, darlin'," he muttered shaking his head. I walked over to the Slam Dozer Damas was in and shifted.
"If it is something weird it could be a Metalhead." I shook my head, folding my arms, "Mar knows how powerful those Wastelander Metalheads can be. Not to mention there's a storm coming in fast." Hesitating I nodded up at him, "Be careful."
Damas nodded and handed me the communicator.
"Be sure to keep your eyes peeled and watch out for anything suspicious. Go back to the Palace Tower and keep things under control there until I return," he ordered. I nodded and turned opening the gates.
As soon as the doors opened to the desert they both zoomed out, leaving a trail behind them as I shut the doors. Shaking my head I decided the only thing I had to do now was simply wait this one out. I turned shutting my eyes and headed for the Palace Tower just as instructed.
XXXX
I had my hair down as I washed it, sitting on one of the stepping stones in the throne room with my feet in the water. I had taken my weapons and my boots off, leaving me in my cut up pants and bandages seeing as my brown cloth was off to the side.
I ran my fingers through the wet black locks again and noticed it had actually gotten very long, reaching to my belly button. I sighed, pulling all of it over my bare shoulder and sat on my legs, leaning over and washing my hands off, seeing dry blood from who knows what.
A sound went through the room and I lifted my head when the shaft came up watching Damas step off from the wooden board and into the large candle lit room. There was a bright smile on my face when I stood and he nodded his head to me, his staff being set against the wall but there was clear amusement in his eyes.
"You're back!" I cheered. I jumped from stone to stone until I was on the main floor, stopping right in front of him. He nodded and put his hand on my head, chuckling when he found it wet.
"Washing your hair again I see."
Shrugging I watched as he walked passed me and towards the red throne, "It's habit." Moving, I went back to where I was and I put my feet in the water again. I leaned back on my hands and rubbed my neck some.
I had been sore and it wasn't until I was basically forced to sit out for a day that I noticed. I looked at Damas who was thinking while looking out of the window and I sat up normally.
"What is it?" He averted his violet eyes to me and stopped, leaning on his knuckles.
"It is nothing. I am just thinking about what we found in the desert before the storm hit," he explained shaking his head. My interest perked instantly and I stood up, rolling my pants down while speaking easily.
"Well what was it exactly?" I looked at him again, a hand on my waist and he shut his eyes, crossing his arms.
"The reading was a beacon. It seemed we found survivors. Barely." Looking at me he just nodded at the facts, "A lot like what we found on you. The monks were ready to pray for them but it seemed they came back from the dead," he explained chuckling. I shifted, shaking my head.
"The monks didn't like me very much when I came back to life," I mumbled folding my arms.
Damas looked at me blankly, "It was different considering they dislike the fact you're a part of the Twin Sun decedents."
I shook my head shrugging. Damas merely looked at me as I grumbled and I turned back to my items. I put my boots on and turned as I pulled the cloth on limply. I looked over at Damas as he spoke and strapped my gun on my leg.
"Head down to the arena in wait of their match. There, we'll test to see how worthy they really are to take place in this city," Damas ordered lightly.
I nodded and turned, going towards the shaft while pulling the gloved back on, "Will do."
It started to go down and I pulled all of my hair up in a ponytail like usual, some pieces falling in my face but I ignored it. It was likely the survivors would already be at the arena. I had a lot of things on my mind so I didn't know if I really wanted to see this match.
The fact someone new was found outside of the city walls putting me uneased. It was bad enough the Wasteland Metalheads were multiplying, but the marauders were taking out at least two Wastelanders a day, not to mention the storms.
Arriving at the arena it seemed the matches had already started. I wasn't surprise, I did take the long way around. Sighing I walked through the doors and went down the hall. Eventually I found myself in an upper landing looking down at the lava filled arena. It seemed the new arrivals were at the battle part of the challenge. Sitting down I realized this was always really the best part for me.
Violence was the answer for everything.
I smirked leaning forwards, an arm on my knee while I shook my head, my hand on the other.
"There's no way they'll make it through this. This is where everyone always dies off," I drawled chuckling. Kleiver was beside me just as I suspected and he crossed his arms, sitting back some.
"My thoughts exactly, Girly." I blinked when that named echoed and I remembered Jinx. I flinched at the memory, grasping my head quickly and Kleiver looked over at me.
"You alright?" he grumbled in question. I nodded, opening my green eyes easily and let go of my head.
"Y-Yeah. Small headache," I mumbled not looking at him. I had no idea what that was, but it hurt. Small memories that came up like that always hurt my head.
From where we were located it was difficult to really see the battle, but you could tell the Wastelanders from the newbie. I crossed my arms raising a brow as the battle began and saw how well he actually was doing.
"Well…this is a surprise," I muttered annoyed. Kleiver tsked from beside me and sat up, grabbing his staff.
"Only a matter of time before we have that newbie on our hands. Don't matter. Guess we'll just have to put 'em in his place eh?" I smirked at the sound of that and looked over at him as the battle went on.
"Is there any time you are nice?" I asked. He raised a brow looking over at me and pointed at me, his finger jamming into my arm.
"I'm nice to you aren't I?"
I rubbed my arm, glancing to the side annoyed, "If you wanna call it that."
Kleiver stood up and headed back up the steps and I blinked sitting up.
"Hey, where are you going?" I asked quickly. The big blonde chuckled at me, motioning down the the battle.
"To see if this little runt is just gettin' lucky like you did." I glared at that and he laughed walking off. I crossed my arms grumbling some and looked out at the arena again as the guy stood on the podium in front of Damas.
Shaking my head I decided to actually check this guy out. Whether it was trust issues or just the fact new people made me nervous I didn't know. But me and this guy were gonna have a little chat.
You know the drill babes(: Please review and tell me what ya liked, didn't like, expect to happen and damn right just WANT to happen.
Oh yes;) And the little heat up between Adriel and Kida before she left…will come around for conversation once more for our AdriKi Fans out there3
