Authors Note: Fourth chapter time! And guess what people; next chapter is the last of Book One! Because of the way I've been doing the chapters, encompassing a whole world into each chapter, there are five chapters because there were five 'worlds' in the game. And I'm having a lot of fun writing this, because Tera is just so freaking fun to write for XD Book Two will come out in roughly two weeks, since next Saturday will be the last chapter update for Book One. So look forward to that! It'll be longer due to the fact that the game is set up quite differently from the original Jak and Daxter, and also because I have a TON of ideas to stick in there.
A note of warning about Book Two; it'll be in 3rd person, rather then 1st person, because, although I've enjoyed writing from Tera's perspective in Book One, it'd be way to hard to do for Book Two and so on. Ok, so, moving on. I've got four reviews and… thirty six views for this chapter. Am I the only one who doesn't think those numbers match? Oh well, I'm thankful to those four who did review, and also to my wonderful friend Trisha who is reading this but is unable to review. (Damn those popup blockers!). She's a part of my inspiration I think, since she likes Tera's little quirks almost as much as me XD Anyways, to my lovely reviewers:
Pyro Madz: Tis ok, as long as you're reviewing now it's all good. And nope, Tera be eco intolerant… which is pretty much the worst thing you can be in the Jak series XD. She CAN absorb like a single clump of blue eco and use it and be fine, but give her a full charge and she's out for a week. XD Yuppers, four stories if people want me to write them! And about the Flut Flut… well you'll see in this chapter XD And I won't ask about the friend-flutflut thing. And its fine, everyone likes reviews XD Hope you liked the one I gave you! Thanks for the review!
Empty Tranquility:Glomps you for being such a loyal reviewer Yes I know, I would have loved to steal her place as well XD And I'm glad you liked it! And yes! Yay for Saturday's because that's when Amaria updates! I apologize ahead of time if I'm not able to update SIHD tonight because I kinda need to study for exams at SOME point ;o; Wah. But, anyways, thank you for the review! X3
Jenny: Lol, thank yah Jenny-fer! I am sad to say Kya will not be making an appearance in this fic, though she will be in my contest one shot. Anywho, thanks for the review!
Light-Eco-Freak: I'm glad you like it, and I'm making it as interesting as I can while sticking to the original storyline. Lmao! I still have to write Book Two before I get to Book Three! XD Thanks for the review!
Okie, that's all from me now! Enjoy the chapter and see you next Saturday!
Through Another's Eyes: Book One
Chapter Four: A Twisted Plot
"Great! You have the cells for the machine! They outta provide enough power to lift that boulder!"
I flinch away from the machine as it begins to spark with blue eco, powering up to lift the boulder blocking our way to the monster roaring above us in the cliffs. Jak glances at me from his place on the platform beside Keira, but he knows better then to drag me up there with them. Even standing as far away from the machine as I am, blue flecks of eco are drawn to me and my body absorbs them immediately, sending small shocks of electricity through my system.
Know how I said I'm eco intolerant? Well, there's a bit of a loop hole to that. I can safely absorb and use small, single clumps of green or blue eco. Give me any more then a single clump and out goes Tera. It's annoying, but there's not too much I can do about it. It's like Jak's voice; a problem that can never be cured. A sudden hiss comes from the machine as a beam of blue eco shoots from the front of it, locking onto the boulder and slowly lifting it up and off the platform it had been blocking.
Locking the machine into place so that the boulder won't fall back down, Keira turns to Jak and Daxter, her 'serious face' once more in place.
"There we go! Now, be careful facing that monster lurker at the top!"
"Wait!" Daxter interrupts, bouncing nervously on Jak's shoulder before hopping onto the machine to get a better view of the three of us, "Uh, I'll stay here and protect Keira. Jak, I think you're ready to handle that monster without me."
"Oh, really heroic," Keira replies, and I roll my eyes at her sarcasm. Daxter catches on however, and, sighing, hops back onto Jak's shoulder. Jak in turn rolls his own eyes, and after casting a reassuring look to Keira, heads towards the grassy platforms leading up to the monsters location. I move to follow, not really liking the idea of facing a huge monster but not about to let my best friends go without me, but stop and blink when Jak holds a hand out in front of me, shaking his head.
I frown, "You don't want me to come?"
Jak nods, then pauses and shakes his head, looking to Daxter to voice what he's trying to say.
"Jak thinks it's too dangerous for ya, Tera. You stay here with Keira till the big bad beastie's been fried, ok?" I nod quietly, Jak giving me a small smile before rushing up the steps, leaving me to turn around and head back to Keira, still staying a good distance away from the machine.
"How come you didn't go with them Tera?" Keira asks, walking over to sit beside me on the ground. I shrug half heartedly, still not liking being left behind.
"Jak thought it was too dangerous for me to go, so I had to stay behind," I reply, both of us jumping when a louder roar rings out above our heads, anxious butterflies forming in my stomach. Scrambling to my feet, I take off as fast as I can towards the grassy steps, ignoring Keira calling out to me. I don't care how dangerous it is; not at least being able to see that my friends are alright makes me feel horrible.
Climbing to the plateau at the top, I round a corner of rock and immediately flinch back from the heat, staring with wide eyes at the area before me. The monster, a large, fiery Lurker, is standing at the edge of a long precursor platform filled with holes, lobbing boulders down onto the metal surface. Seeing a flicker of blonde my eyes drop down to the platform, and I'm alarmed to see Jak and Daxter dodging around the boulders in an attempt to get closer to the lurker.
"Ja-!" I clap my hands over my mouth to cut off my own shout, not wanting to distract him and cause him to slip up. I flop down on my stomach and peer over the edge of the plateau, watching as the monster stops lobbing boulders and begins to form one over his head, no longer paying attention to Jak. Said blonde reaches the end of the platform and absorbs the two clumps of yellow eco that are waiting there, firing away at Klaww (I'm going to call it that because it has huge claws). Finally, the barrage of yellow eco causes Klaww to drop the boulder down onto his own head, a powercell flying from his mouth and landing on the edge of the precursor platform just before he falls down into the lava.
Seeing that there's nothing to distract Jak from anymore, I scramble to my feet and hurry to the edge, wondering if I can manage to jump down to the platforms below. Deciding to attempt, I take a few steps back then run forward, launching myself off the tableau and down onto the black rock, moving forwards to hop up onto the precursor platform.
"Jak!" I call out, jumping to land on the platform. Unfortunately, I seem to have misjudged the distance and instead of landing on the platform I slip off the edge, yelping and grabbing onto the edge. Oh shiiiiiiit. Smart move, Tera, you're gonna be fried in lava now!
My fingers slipping, I scream when my grasp finally gives completely, my eyes slamming shut in preparation for contact with the lava. Seconds later a hand grabs onto my wrist, hoisting me up and safely onto the platform, my face turning red when I open my eyes to see Jak checking me over worriedly, looking for any burns and or scratches on my exposed skin.
"T-Thanks," I stammer, "Sorry I'm such a klutz… but I'm fine! Honestly!" Jak doesn't look convinced, but he shrugs anyways and leads me back towards the other edge of the platform, careful to avoid the gaps in the precursor metal. I've probably just made him paranoid for the rest of the year. Oh well, it's nice knowing that someone's worried about me. Hopping over the small rock platforms that have appeared with Jak's help (he has yet to let go of my hand, and this fact is staining my face bright red), we cross to the grassy area at the beginning of the mountain pass. I jump as a whizzing noise rises in front of us, and as we come into view of the pass four purple lurkers riding helicopter like machines appear before us.
One spots us and signals to the others, all four taking off into the pass.
"Jak, you have to hurry!" Samos' voice comes through the communicator that has just popped up, and I'm weary of his tone, "Those lurkers have set detonators all along the mountain pass! If you don't beat them to the end and disable the detonator, they'll blow up the whole mountain! GO!" Oh great.
Jak runs to the edge and hops down onto the zoomer, and I jump on behind him, immediately clutching onto his waist as we shoot off into the pass after the lurkers. I may not be keen on flying on a zoomer, but I'd rather be dizzy then get BLOWN UP any day. My eyes are open this time, because Mountain Pass is a grassy area rather then a lava pit like the Fire Canyon, and thus is not as scary. Until we hit the big long JUMPS that is. Jak swerves the zoomer around tight corners and through blue eco vents, getting in front of the four lurkers just as we enter a cavern lit by eco crystals.
Heading into a narrow cavern we drive through four blue eco vents in a row, speeding ahead of the lurkers towards the end.
"There's the detonator!" I shout, pointing over Jak's shoulder at the purple frog-like lurker waiting at the end. Jak accelerates the zoomer, and we crash through the lurker and detonator just as it looks up at us, efficiently disabling it. The four helicopter lurkers fly past us through the opening ahead, shaking their fists back at us. I stick my tongue out at them in triumph. Stupid lurkers.
"Did we get all the scout fly's and orbs?" I ask Jak, sighing when he shakes his head, "Then let's go back."
Jak smirks and turns the zoomer around, and once again we're off at high speeds, though this time it is more enjoyable due to the fact that there is no possibility of getting blown up. Once we have all the scoutflies (plus a powercell) and precursor orbs, we head back to the end of the mountain pass and hop off the zoomer. Walking up the steps that lead to the Red Sages home world, I stop and stare, shoulders slumping. Volcanic Crater… wonderful, more lava.
Crossing to the balcony surrounding the Red Sage's lab with Jak's help, we walk around to the door and enter, the mess surprising me. It's twice as bad as the Blue Sages lab was! Jak steps onto the portal switch, and Samos and Keira come through again, my adoptive father once more landing with difficulty.
"Oh, I always wonder if I'm loosing body parts in those things!" he pauses to look around the lab, his face contorting in shock, "Holy Yakow! The Red Sages lab looks worse then the Blue Sage's!"
"Well, it definitely looks as though there's been a struggle here…" Keira states worriedly, sticking close to her father. All of us jump when a sudden maniacal laugh filters through the room, and I automatically inch closer to Jak, ears drooping at the sound. Two figures suddenly appear above us in the air, looking as though they had once been human. Now, their skin was blue-grey, and their hair and features had been changed drastically.
"Hahahahaha!" the male rasps, then struggles for a breath, I'd hardly call it a 'struggle', would you, dear sister?"
The woman laughs back, her voice clear, "Certainly not. The Red Sage gave up with so little effort," she pauses, grinning sadistically, forcing a chill up my spine, "No fun at all."
Samos pauses, then looks at them in disbelief, "…Gol?! Is that you?! You've finally gone off the deep end, eh?" he turns to the woman, his frown deepening, "And Maia, I told you the Dark Eco would affect you both! Nobody ever listens to old Samos…" he pauses, his head bowing, before his gaze snap back to the two, "What have you done with the Blue and Red Sages?!"
"Don't worry about your colourful friends," Gol pauses to once more draw in a deep breath, "you old fool! They're perfectly safe at our Citadel," another rasping breath, "our special guests!"
"They have graciously agreed to help us on a little… project," Maia adds, still grinning like a maniac. Despite my fear, I can't help noticing small details about the two. Like the fact that Gol is wearing weights around his ankles… can he not even keep himself from flying off without them?!
"You were wrong, Samos!" Gol rasps excitedly, "Dark Eco CAN be controlled! We've learned its secrets, and now we can re-shape the world to our liking!"
"You can't control Dark Eco by itself!" Samos shouts, "Even the Precursor's-"
"Until now," Gol interrupts him again, "we've had to scrape by with what little Dark Eco can be found near the surface. But soon, we will have access to the vast stores of Dark Eco hidden deep underground!"
"Not the silos?!" Samos cries in horror, his face turning pale. I grasp onto Jak's arm to support myself, suddenly feeling like my legs can't support me. Jak puts an arm around my waist to help me stand, his ears dropping equally to mine.
"Yes, the silos!" Gol cries, rasping for another breath, "They WILL be opened! And all the Dark Eco of the world will be OURS!"
"But that's impossible! Only a Precursor robot-"
"Oh, don't look so upset, Samos," Maia taunts him, "We've got BIG plans for you…" the siblings share a twisted laugh, once more vanishing to wherever they had come from in the first place. Silence reigns in the room, until a connection forms in my mind. Wait… that was Gol…?
"Wait a minute! THAT was Gol?!" seems Daxter's made the same connection as me, and he jumps down onto the floor in front of Samos, motioning wildly, "The same Gol who's supposed to turn me back?!? GOL is the guy trying to kill us?!" he slumps then, ears dropping, and I feel horrible for him, "I'm doomed."
"We may ALL be doomed!" Samos snaps, floating up to his usual place near the roof, "If they open the silos, the Dark Eco will twist and destroy everything it touches! We simply MUST get to their Citadel to top them!"
"The fastest way there is through the Lava Tube at the bottom of this crater," Keira speaks for the first time since the twisted siblings had appeared, eyeing Jak's arm which is still around my waist briefly before looking us in the eyes again, "a few more powercell's and your zoomer's heat shield should get you across the lava safely."
"Alright, my boy!" Samos speaks again, landing right in front of us, "You know what to do! Take the flea-bad and Tera and go round up more powercell's!" I'm surprised by his inclusion of me in the gathering of powercell's, but as we go to leave Samos starts talking again.
"There's Lurker movement in the mountains. Apparently, they've discovered, and are now trying to remove, some Dark Eco stores frozen in the glaciers. While you're up there poking around for powercell's, stop those Lurkers and keep a little more Dark Eco out of Gol's hands!"
"We're on it, Green stuff," Daxter replies, and the three of us head out of the lab. Walking across yet another gap filled bridge to the other side of the lava, I follow Jak towards a wooden Gondola, Keira's communicator popping up again as we walk up to it.
"This Gondola will take you guys up to the Mountains. Be careful and good luck!" Oh thanks a bunch Keira, what wonderful advice. Stepping onto the Gondola, it gives a jerk and heads up a series of pulley-activated ropes. Reaching the top, I shiver, rubbing my arms for warmth. Considering it's at the top of a lava pit, I didn't expect the mountains to be full of snow. Lurkers covered in white fur hop out of the snow below us, not noticing us since we're still on the Gondola.
Jak motions for me to stay where I am and hops down, punching through the four lurkers. He turns and signals that its say, but I freeze just as I'm about to step off as another lurker pops out of the snow behind Jak, sneaking up on him.
"Watch out!" my body moves before I can think and I jump and slam my foot into the lurkers chest, managing to push it back from Jak but doing it no true harm. I hate being such a weakling. Jak takes care of it and gives me a smile of thanks before dragging me up and helping me jump the chasm, a lurker of ice jumping up in front of us there.
Man I hate this place.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Did I say I hated Snowy Mountain earlier? Let me rephrase it; I DISPISE THIS PLACE!
"I HATE LURKERS!" I yell as Jak and I run away from a whole pack of the stupid things, desperately trying to get away from them. We were doing fine for a while, just going about our own business getting powercell's. We activated the yellow eco vents around the world, cleaned out a cave infested with rabbit lurkers (I couldn't help there; no red eco for Tera), took out the Viking carts that Samos told us about, deactivated all the barrel switches spread out through this annoying place, opened a box with a powercell in an ice cave, and have found the majority of the scout flies.
However, just as we exited said ice cave, we were swarmed by mass numbers of Snow Lurkers! We ran out onto the ice, but hey, who says lurkers can't go on ice?! So now we're running from an army of the stupid things. GAH!
Cutting a tight right onto an icy bridge (I don't remember that being there…) we slip and slide to the other side, and I crash into Jak's back when he stops on the other side.
"Jak, why'd you sto- oh shit," the Flut Flut is sitting in front of us, looking ready to go. We can't all ride the Flut Flut!
"What are we gonna do?!" I screech, the lurkers now crossing the bridge behind us at a rapid pace. Jak thinks for a brief second, then grabs my arm and lifts me onto the Flut Flut, hopping on behind me and grabbing the reigns. I squeak when, stepping onto the switch to activate the platforms ahead of us, Jak snaps the reigns to send the Flut Flut into motion, the bird taking off onto the platforms and running from the Lurkers.
Though I must say under normal circumstances I would have enjoyed this, I'm still terrified of the Lurkers and keep my eyes shut as the bird leaps and runs over the precursor platforms, only relaxing once we're through the third set and the lurkers have all fallen into the chasm below us or given up. Getting off, Jak hits the switch to open the gate to the Lurker fort, but I simply sit on the Flut Flut, still slightly dazed.
Eventually, Jak rolls his eyes and helps me off, leading me back up towards the Snowy Hills of the mountains.
"After we storm the fort," I pause, looking up at my taller friend, "Can we go back to the lab?"
Jak nods, and I sigh in relief, both my friends sharing a small laugh at my expense. I really hate lurkers and snow.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Great balls of eco!" Samos exclaimed as we re-enter the Red Sage's lab, spinning to look at us, "There seems to be a large lurker presence in the Spider Caves!"
The mention of the caves brings back my chills, and I rub my arms again.
"Great. Sounds like a real cheery place. Let me guess… there are SPIDERS in the Spider Caves, right?!" Daxter shrieks, once more bouncing on Jak's shoulder.
"Of course there are spiders in the Spider Caves!" Samos snaps, "But that's the least of your problems! The Lurkers are after crystals of concentrated Dark Eco! You've got to destroy the crystals before those monsters get their hands on them! Hop to it!"
I sigh and go to follow Jak out again, but Samos stops me with a hand on my shoulder.
"Not this time, Tera, I don't want you going into those caves," he grunts, floating back over to the Red Sages notes, "To dangerous."
I stare at my adoptive father in surprise, then look to Jak and Daxter who shrug. We can't argue with him. I sigh, shoulders slumping, and walk over to Jak.
"Give me all the precursor orbs we have and I'll see what I can do with them," Jak nods and hands them to me. I slip them into my pouch, and give the guys a small smile before they head off, slumping again.
"Tera, I'm going to go do some work on the zoomer at the entrance of the Lava Tube. There's a cave near the Gondola and an Oracle around here somewhere. Why don't you work on finding those?" Keira suggests, and I nod, straightening again.
"Will do," glancing at Samos again, I sigh and head out, not feeling as confident as I would have liked. I'm pretty sure that Samos will never be pleased with what I do, no matter how hard I try. Carefully crossing the bridge back over to the rocky area, I head to the left, following a trail of Precursor orbs towards the edge. Hopping down to the area below, I turn and spot the final Oracle, walking over and stepping in front of it. At first I don't think it's going to respond, but then I jump when once more the booming voice sounds.
"Seek the pure light, for within its flame the answers reside," the oracle pauses, as though debating something, "Beware the future, for yours shall be filled with many dangers. Stay close to the light, for you shall save him. Bring me one hundred and twenty precursor orbs for each powercell I contain."
Trading the orbs with the oracle and then quickly retreating, I don't stop to think about the second half of its message. I doubt I really want to know what it means anyways. Carefully climbing back up to the top rock platform, I head back towards the cave that Keira had mentioned, entering slowly. Blue gems shine from the walls, and I can hear chipping noises coming from deeper inside. Walking forwards, I pause when a giant diamond comes into view, spotting two miners working away at it.
Continuing forward, the taller of the two notices me and informs his coworker.
"Hey, Gordy! Duh, I think we gots a visitor!" the shorter man turns.
"Ya think, Willard?" he snaps, then turns to me with a fake smile, "Howdy stranger! Passin' through? Us too! Well, we gotta be movin' on! Nothin' to see here!"
My eyebrow goes up, but before I can question them Willard speaks again, "Uh, I thought you said this was a priceless gem worth-"
"WILLARD!"
"Actually, I'm just looking for powercell's, not gems," I say, Willard smiling brightly at me.
"We got four of 'em! You want 'em?" Gordy whacks his partner over the head, turning back to me.
"What bird-brain here is TRYING to say is, we MAY have a few powercell's laying around, and we MIGHT be willing to part with them for… ninety orbs each!"
Now, where have I hear this before? Out of curiosity, I ask "How do you two plan on getting that big gem outta here, anyway?"
"Well, smarty-pants, we got twelve more years of diggin' to figure that out!" Gordy snaps, and Willard looks to his partner in confusion.
"Uh, Gordy? Wouldn't it take less time if you duh too?"
This leads to an argument, and, just wanting the powercell's, I pull the orbs out of my pouch and hold them out, interrupting them.
"Look, I have all the orbs you asked for. Can I have the powercell's now?" Gordy huffs, but nods, taking the orbs.
"Ooh! Ooh! I got it! Here's a…" he pauses, holding the powercell out, not able to think of the word, "Here's a…!"
"A powercell!" Gordy snaps.
"Yeah, yeah… what he said!" Willard hands me the power cells, and I place the humming artifacts in my pouch, now out of precursor orbs.
"Thanks!" I call, running back out of the cave into the main area of the crater. I yelp when I'm suddenly grabbed around the waist and swung around in a circle, only realizing who it is when they laugh.
"Jak!" I hiss, slapping him playfully on the arm when he puts me down, "that's not funny!" he simply laughs again, smirking. Daxter grins down at me.
"We took care of all those lurkers in the Spider Caves, didn't we Jak?" the blonde nodded, and I grin back, holding out the six powercell's I had collected.
"I was doing some work myself," I say, Jak taking the powercell's with a thankful nod, sticking them into his own pouch.
"We have enough for Keira's thinga-majiggor, let's go!" Daxter exclaimed, and Jak and I nod, heading off towards the platform's that lead towards the Lava Tube. Despite the fear in my stomach, I also feel excited; we're going to save the world.