The next thing Keira was aware of, she was lying on her side in damp grass, and the warmth of sunlight was on her face. Opening her eyes slowly, she found she was looking at the grey trunk of a mighty tree right before her, its roots covered in dark moss. Behind her, the waterfall still poured into the stream, and as she got herself up onto one elbow, she could see it still flowing past her not too far away, cool and clear. Looking around, she found the rock behind her. Tess was curled up on top, and Azyma was sitting against it with her knees tucked up to provide support under her head. Both were sleeping undisturbed.

Her thoughts then turned back to the previous night. She remembered sitting by the rock, but after that it was mostly a haze. Quite clearly she'd fallen asleep suddenly and unexpectedly, and had laid here in the grass all night. Now it was morning, but she had no way of knowing how early.

Keira slowly stood up. Looking down at her clothes, she could see they were pretty damp from lying beneath the all-night spray of the waterfall, and embedded with a slight layer of dust from the crawl through the tunnel before that. She sighed to herself quietly, and then noticed her torch lying on the ground next to her, which she picked up and placed into her bag still strapped to her back.

Then she beheld the full glory of the forest in the daylight. It was a deep green hue all over, and the trees were alive with birds that sang in many varied and beautiful tunes. Giant leaves and plants littered the ground, creating a dancing movement throughout the forest as they swayed in the breeze. Ahead, the archway still glowed in the distance, and seemed to merge in with the natural scenery all around it. Over on the left was the big grey wall of the city, which Keira thought really spoiled the place; a hostile barrier to keep nature out.

"Daddy would love it here," she said to herself.

Behind her, she heard a yawn. Tess had just awakened, and was stretching out on the rock. Then she saw Keira through one eye.

"Hiya," she said softly as she raised her head. "What happened to us last night?"

"I have no idea," said Keira. "All of a sudden I just felt really tired and couldn't stay awake any longer. Strange effect this place has on people..."

Tess nodded in agreement, and then suddenly leapt up with eyes wide. "Oh my god! What time is it?"

Neither of them knew.

"I've got to open the bar!" Tess said, and scrambled off the rock. She unwittingly fell right on top of Azyma, who was startled out of her sleep to find an orange furry blur right in her face. She screamed and shoved Tess away from her onto the grass. Tess looked up at her with an annoyed face.

"Sorry Tess!" said Azyma upon grasping the situation, but then her attention was drawn to the state of her own clothes. "Oh no! Look at us! We're filthy!"

"Never mind that, sweetie!" said Tess frantically. "We've got to get back and open The Naughty Ottsel!"

Azyma swept up her bag, clambered to her feet, and followed Tess back towards the tunnel behind the rock. But just before they disappeared from sight, they remembered that Keira was still standing by the waterfall. She had a contented smile on her face, and didn't show any signs that she was going to follow them. She didn't feel like leaving the forest just yet, and looked back towards the archway in the distance, indicating that she intended to explore that dark passage that they had come to last night, now that it was day time. Then she shrugged her shoulders and gave a playful wave goodbye to her friends before they disappeared for good back up the small tunnel, leaving herself standing perfectly alone among the trees.

She turned around to face the stream, and deeply inhaled the pure forest air. The scent was fresh and made her feel somehow lighter, like a buoyant cloud had materialised inside her. Even as she took her first step back into the flourishing verdure, walking felt much easier than usual. It was a curious feeling, but she was enjoying every second of it.

Following the night path they had trodden along the water's edge, Keira made her way back to the arch in the near distance. The forest seemed like a whole new place now it was bathed in radiant morning light, and much of the detail that had been obscured in the black was now fully visible, and Keira felt almost as if she were back in the environment of her old village, where she was always surrounded by nature's kind embrace. This was the one area of the world that had remained untouched and unspoilt by the corrupting hand of industry and development.

Upon reaching the archway, she looked around the corner again to see what lay beyond. Sure enough, it was another pathway leading to another open area of woodland. Ahead, the stream trickled out from the rock wall and continued on its slow course, and Keira headed straight towards it. She followed it around into the next area of forest, where it picked up a little speed, and found herself staring at a great open lake which was fed by the stream. It bubbled and rippled its way into the shallows, turning a deep blue colour.

For what seemed like quite a long time to her, Keira stood and just looked. When she returned to her senses, she noticed to her immediate right, a peculiar formation in the rock wall. It almost looked like a natural staircase which led up onto a grass bank a little higher, but was worn and as old as the ancient trees all around, smoothed by time into something nearly unrecognisable. Keira instinctively tried climbing it, and did so with no significant ease, but scrambled onto the top and was able to get a fuller view of what lay beyond the lake. From up on the high bank, she could see that the lake was not as big as it had first appeared, and it did indeed end not too far away. Beyond that of course lay more trees, ones which seemed older than the rest, grew in thicker clusters, and looked much darker in the bark.

Keira sat down, and without withdrawing her gaze, reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of fruit, which she bit into and began munching. She wondered whether any fruits grew here in the forest, and if they did, whether they were edible. Quietly thinking and eating, she looked once again into the depths of the trees over the lake, trying to make out what was on the other side of them. But it was no good. The only way to find out would be to get over there and explore, but Keira could see no way of actually doing that without crossing the lake and getting wet, as the grass bank she was on ended just a few feet away, and the rest of the rock wall that extended around to the side was too smooth to get a hold on, so climbing around was out of the question. She didn't mind swimming of course; the water did look very inviting. But she could not make it over there with her bag full of provisions, and even though there was nobody else around here, she didn't feel comfortable about leaving it unattended. It could wait, she thought. She was sure she would come back here another time, and then she could investigate further once she was properly prepared for lake traversal.

She lay down on her back, and looked up at the leaves in the branches above her. This time she took greater care to pay more attention to her consciousness while resting, lest she suddenly and unexpectedly fall asleep again. The atmosphere of the forest was so calm and relaxing, it was possible to fall asleep at any time of day, even if you weren't tired. But all she did was keep her eyes open, her mind clear, and just took in the sound of the wind in the trees and the water in the stream. Shadows swayed around her and the sun crawled across the blue sky behind the canopies, as she just lay there and did nothing.

[Picture]

She also thought about Tess and Azyma. They'd be back at the pub by now and serving drinks as usual. She must bring them back here another evening, she thought. They've just got to see this place. She was already planning ideas for the next trip out here, whenever that would end up being. She also thought about her father. Being in this forest conjured an image of his face in her mind, but she had no knowledge of exactly what he was doing right now. She hadn't seen him for a few days. Likely he was caught up in some 'pressing business' over at the Freedom HQ building. She never really cared about the politics of the city or the goings-on in the offices upstairs, even though Jak himself held a rather influential position there.

Jak...

His face suddenly swam into Keira's mind, looking at her with a bright and longing gleam in his eyes, and it was all she could think of now. Unfortunately, Daxter's corny features would often pop up around Jak's head as well, but she dismissed them and kept focussed on Jak.

But then a feeling of cold came over her, enough to cause her to shiver. The breeze in the forest now seemed much sharper on her skin, and the light around her seemed less radiant. No matter how hard she tried to resist it, Jak's face began to fade from her mind's eye, and soon he was gone. Not even Daxter remained. She was alone again, a desperate and melancholic mood that filled her up and left her to suffer. Her face broke and she let out a frustrated moan, much louder than she had intended.

"Where are you?" she sighed to herself, and rolled over to bury her face under her arms. There she stayed, no longer caring about falling asleep anymore. She hardly moved and kept her mind blank, trying to keep those sad thoughts from returning. As she lay there, lost in internal despair, a gap in the canopy created a beam of light onto the ground close by, and as it moved with the sun, it eventually found its way to her head, and this was what roused her. The warmth tempted her to lift her arm a little and peep out with one eye, and she saw the brightness again. Uncovering herself, she sat up again. Everything around her looked the same, and she didn't feel like much time had passed.

She shook her head and rubbed her eyes to rid herself of the tension in her mind, and then puffed out a heavy breath. The experiences she was having in this forest were just getting stranger by the second. Time to leave now, she thought. There was only enough relaxation and day dreaming you could take before getting a little tired with it all.

Retracing her steps, she returned to the hidden tunnel and retrieved her torch from her bag. Before leaving, she took a last silent look at the forest and then crawled back into the tunnel, pulling the rock behind her as far as she could to block up the passage again. She felt as if this was something to be kept secret; as far as she knew, nobody else had been down there apart from herself, Azyma and Tess.

Back up through the tunnel she went and emerged through the entrance at the top of the valley. She found some amply sized rocks to block it up again, just in case anyone came up here and found it. Afterwards she took the opportunity to inspect herself and see just how dirty she had actually got crawling through that passage. She would definitely need a shower that evening, though the interesting thing was that she'd now have to walk through the city looking like this. But she didn't care if she got a few strange looks from passers-by; she was content right now with the discovery of her special place in the forest, and that was all she needed to feel right. When she was ready, she leapt back through the warp gate and rematerialised back at the bottom of the gorge.

When she got home and walked into the front room, Samos was waiting there, which was a nice surprise for Keira. She smiled as she entered, and her father was completely indifferent about seeing her walk in through the door in a grubby state; she did after all work in the hangar at the Freedom HQ building, and often came home looking a little worse for wear. But this time was different, for he knew that all of the mechanics had been sent home the previous day, and the workshop still had not been re-opened yet, therefore he was curious to find out what she had actually been doing.

"Daddy!" said Keira as she came in, glad to finally see him again.

"My girl!" he answered, equally grateful.

Keira asked her question first. "What's been going on at HQ? Has something happened?"

Samos exhaled slowly. "Yes, something has happened," he said with an ambiguous tone. "But I'm afraid I can't reveal much at this time without great certainty, not even to you, Keira. This is strictly confidential."

"Alright," said Keira quietly as she put down her bag. She was actually a little disappointed; she thought she would get a more satisfying answer than that. All it did was make her think even more about what was really happening. She respected her father's wishes though, having learned to look up to him throughout her life, and he was the most important man in the city right now.

"What about you?" he asked. "Have you managed to keep yourself busy?"

"Yeah," answered Keira, "The hangar was shut so I couldn't go to work in there like normal..."

"Yes, it was meant to be closed," said Samos in understanding.

"...So instead I went out last night with Tess and Azyma to make the most of the day off."

"Weren't they busy running Daxter's bar?"

"No, they closed early yesterday, just for the occasion," Keira explained.

"Oh, where did you go then?" asked Samos.

"We went out to Haven Forest and had a look around. It was really nice there."

Samos's face turned blank and he immediately stopped smiling. This surprised Keira, and for a moment she didn't know what to say next. And then Samos blurted out, "What? Keira, it's not safe out there! You know we haven't fully checked the area for hostilities yet!"

Keira was a little shocked by the sudden mood whiplash in her father, and tried to respond as calmly as possible. "Daddy, I'm fine. Nothing happened to us out there. It's —"

"But that doesn't mean you can go waltzing on out there unprotected!" Samos interrupted. "What if you got lost or hurt and needed to be rescued?"

"Daddy, I can look after myself," Keira retorted. "Besides, there were three of us out there together, and I'm sure we could've —"

"That's not the point!" Samos interrupted again, thumping his walking stick on the floor. "It's outside the city walls and beyond our control! With all the trouble we've been having in this war, we can't have people wandering freely in and out of the city until we know it's safe, least of all MY DAUGHTER!"

Keira couldn't help now but express her frustration at her father's over-protectiveness. "Daddy, nothing happened to us! Look, I made it back here OK, didn't I? I think it's about time you stopped worrying about me so much and just let me enjoy myself once in a while! We were just exploring!"

"You can enjoy yourself without leaving the city next time!" said Samos sternly. "All last night I didn't know where you were!"

Keira scoffed. "I left you a note, didn't I? Didn't you read that?"

"You said nothing about leaving the city limits. I assumed you were out somewhere in the city where it's safe, and that's where you should be!"

"But you love the forest, Daddy!" protested Keira. "I thought you said you were sending a team out there to secure it for you!"

"There is a right time for everything, Keira," he argued. "Right now we're preoccupied with what's going on with the war, and there's no time to think about such matters right now. Now enough! I do not want to hear any more about it!"

"But Daddy —"

"I said ENOUGH! I have spoken!"

Keira looked at him with bitterness in her eyes, but Samos returned the cold look with one of his own, signifying the conversation was over. Never had she felt so angry with him before. Keira clenched her teeth and kicked the wall in anger, and then swore loudly from both rage and the pain. Though shocked by his daughter's behaviour, Samos remained as blank and unresponsive as a statue as Keira stomped past him and up the stairs.

He remained where he was until he heard the door slam, and then relaxed his muscles, releasing the tension. He opened his clenched hand and let Keira's screwed-up note fall to the floor, and then sighed heavily. He had to assert his authority, but he knew that part of what Keira had said was right; he did yearn to see the forest again, and perhaps Keira was old enough now to look after herself. But still it was hard for him to let her go. Without any more words, he shut himself away in his plant room to meditate on this experience.