Chapter 10: Walking Across Darkness

Daxter felt his feet being pulled towards the dark essence that was dark eco. He could hear Amunet calling out to him, could feel Jak pulling on his long ears; but the call was too much and suddenly darkness hit him.

Jak, Tess and Jinx jumped off of Daxter's shoulders just as his feet touched the dark eco. His body didn't move when suddenly dark purple lightning began shooting around his body. Healthy skin turned ash white, his red and orange hair turned pure white and as he turned his head Jak's eyes widened as he found himself starring into obsidian black eyes. Long black talons lengthened on his hands and two horns sprouted from his head and swept backwards over his head.

"D-Dax?" Jak questioned the being in front of him. The creature cocked his head to the side as of trying to process something.

It made a gruntled noise at him before a long drawn out "Jaaaak." came out of his lips in a growl. Daxter straightened himself up and grabbed his friend before he heard a yell.

Turning he found himself smacked in the face by a log that Amunet had hit him with. "DEMON!" She screamed as she hit him repeatedly.

Daxter grabbed the log she was using as a bat between his talons with one hand and squeezed causing it to splinter and break. Next he gave her a glare. "Sssstop!" He snarled as he placed Jak on his white haired head. The green/blonde grabbed onto the two horns to hold himself in place. Daxter then turned to the dark pooled lake and began to walk on it's surface, crossing it easily.

After a moment of silence Jak noticed that his friend seemed to be looking for something. It didn't take long before they came across some rocks sticking out of the water. Next to the rocks was a small row boat. Seeing Daxter's hand reaching up towards him, Jak was prepared when he saw the talons and felt them grab him and set him into the boat with the oars. Daxter grabbed the snagged rope and pulled the boat back to the shore. As soon as his feet touched the sandy beach he felt himself waver. Shaking his head causing his hair to whip about he tried to get rid of the dizziness when suddenly his knees buckled and he fell backwards into the boat. His black eyes closing as his body reverted back to it's normal color and once again sleep claimed him.

Ashelin looked at the now unconscious young man and couldn't help but feel a twinge of worry hit her. Sure she had never been close to the smart mouthed youth before but that didn't mean she didn't care for him. The boy had always been with her dear cousin Jak and because of that she'd always felt a small sense of responsibility towards him. Watching him transform into that creature had been a shock. Even bigger shock was when she'd witnessed him walking across the dark eco as of it were made of solid material.

"He's a demon." Amunet once again stated. "Like what those monsters want to make."

"What monsters?" Ashelin inquired as she turned her pint sized body towards the elf woman.

Emerald eyes looked towards Ashelin. "They are like you but look different. He is evil. She is..." She shivered at her own memory. "sadistic. They are monsters creating devils in order to accomplish a unknown goal." She slowly stepped towards the unconscious man that had become her friend in such a short time. "He is not like those they've created though. He is kind and gentle." Her eyes softened before hardening. "I will take you across the lake but I will not travel with you any further."

"That's understandable." Torn stated as he jumped into the boat next to Tess and Jinx. Jak was watching his best friend with worried eyes as he felt the boat begin it's journey across the lake.

Meanwhile Keira Hagai was still sitting at the edge of the landmass that the drop ship had landed on a month ago. She'd begin taking readings of the area. Samples of plantlife, bugs and other miscellaneous objects. She'd found that this section of the planet was more fruitful than that of which her species occupied. She'd built and sent out probes and gotten readings back. Compared to where their cities were and the landmass of which they lived on to this Northern Territory left little doubt in her mind that her people lived on a very small portion of this plant. The Northern Territory had a thick jungle that stretched for miles until it ended at a mountain that led into a valley gorge and then opened up with huge erupting volcanic craters and one large snowy mountain that went so far into the air that it's peak was covered by clouds. Further into the territory beyond the volcanoes and snow mountain was an excruciatingly large wasteland dessert that took her probe thirteen days to cross. Once it had she found that the sands turned into rocky foothills, which turned into beautiful green valley's and grasslands. All across these lands were animals and wildlife she'd never seen before. It made her heart ache to be stuck there because of a promise to Daxter. Then her eco counter picked up a huge blast of eco exploding near the dark eco pools she'd discovered near the edges of the volcanic craters. She quickly sent out one of her speeding drones and found herself starring in shock as she watched a large creature that looked disconcertingly like Daxter. As she watched it she saw a green/blonde ottsel on the creature's head and gasped.

"Oh Daxter." She said softly as she felt tears well up in her eyes. Just then alarms began to go off. Searching the control panels she watched as a ship came in from slipspace and begin hovering above. Activating the cloaking and the sensors that cooled the dropship she waited patiently as the ship cooled down and became completely invisible once again just as sensors began scanning to area around her. The ship above crossed overhead. Keira held her breath and watched it pass. As it left the area she saw the words Deathstar N590 on it's underbelly before it jumped into hyperspace within the planet's atmosphere, something that was quite dangerous to do.

She turned to a panel and typed in the name of the ship and found her eyes widening and heart speed up. "Oh gods." She said as the information she was reading began to sink in and looked back up into the direction her friends had left in and knew trouble was about to hit the fans.

Angie-Eyes: I'm not going to make an excuse, just that life has gotten in the way of my fan writing but just so that you guys know I will try to continue updating this story. I would like to thank a friend of mine for beta reading this for me. It means a lot.