Long time no see. (Ducks random objects being thrown) Heh, I'm so sorry about the wait, I can't beleive that I made you wait that long. I'm suprised you people haven't tried to hunt me down and flay me alive, uh, yet. This chapter isn't my best, I've had writer's block and was unable to work on it really. I hope that getting this chapter done will have cured me of that, I don't know though.
Jak and co. are copyright to NaughtyDog, though Karn and Ripp belong to me.
Jak stood in Kleiver's garage with Keira and Karn, the boy kept fidgeting nervously. Keira was cooing over the cars, Jak could tell she was longing to take a look at the engine of one of them. Karn was sticking close to Keira, it was only to be expected; he still didn't trust Jak after their incident.
"So where is he taking us?" Karn asked Keira, shooting a sidelong glance at Jak.
"I don't know, he said it would be someplace out in the wasteland that he'd found," she replied.
Karn looked skeptical, "Are you sure we can trust him?" he asked.
Keira stopped dead, she slowly looked at Karn, her eyes narrowing, "I trust Jak with my life, you used to too." She resumed walking around the Dune Hopper, running her hand over the exposed chassis of the car. "So, which car are we taking Jak?" she asked, flicking her aqua hair as she looked back over her shoulder.
He shrugged in reply, "I thought I'd let you decide, you're the expert." The he added as an afterthought, "I'm only allowed to drive from this one to that one," Jak indicated from the Tough Puppy to the Slam Dozer. Out of the selected vehicles only three could hold more than one person, the Sand Shark, Gilla Stomper, and Slam Dozer. Keira did a quick check of all of them before pointing to the Slam Dozer.
"This one," she said, and Karn nodded vigorously in agreement.
Jak managed a weak smile at the selection, the car Damas had died in, before fishing his set of keys out of the pouch on his leg. As he walked to the vehicle, Kleiver entered the garage.
"Hey Ankle-biter!" he called, "Jus' bring it back in ONE piece this time, or it won't be the only thing needing fixin'!"
Jak attempted to feign innocence and ignore the shocked looks he was getting from his companions.
"Jak what did," but Keira's question was cut off as Jak hurriedly got in the car, shoved the key into the ignition and fired up the engine.
Once they had left the garage and the walls of Spargus behind and they were out in the open sands of the wasteland, Karn brought up the topic of Mar.
"Jak told me that you know a lot of stories of Mar, is it true that last year he rose from the dead to kill the Darkmakers?" he asked.
"I don't know about rising from the dead, reincarnated perhaps, I know more about the old Mar stories." She replied, "Like the story of how he vanquished the dark sages. I think what happened last year was that someone other than Mar destroyed the Darkmakers, but people aren't ready to accept a new hero yet, so they just claim that Mar was the one."
Karn looked thoughtfully out at the passing desert scenery, "I guess that could've happened, but I don't know, I'm confused now," he said.
Keira and Karn continued this topic of conversation until they reached their destination. They were on a high outcrop of rock overlooking the marauder stronghold; the sun had started to set, painting the sky in a rainbow array of colors. They were far enough away from the encampment that they shouldn't have had to worry about any trouble form the wasteland barbarians, Jak wasn't sure why he'd brought the other two here, but Jak found that he was unsure of a lot of things now.
Keira gasped in wonder, "Oh Jak, it's beautiful up here. I love it!" she cried. "How did you know about this place?"
Jak just shrugged, "I come here a lot on my own to think, I don't really remember when I found it." This wasn't exactly true, Jak could remember somewhat when he'd found the secluded area. It had been shortly after Damas had died and the Darkmakers had been destroyed, Jak had found that he'd needed some time on his own to sort out his conflicting feelings; this spot had been the perfect place.
Jak walked slowly out to the far edge of the rock, 'Why did I bring you here? Do I really need just to be alone right now?'
Keira gasped as she looked at Jak, the way he was standing in front of the setting sun made him look like a god, a golden aura seemed to surround him. She would have followed him to the edge if she hadn't been afraid of heights; she smiled remembering back in Sandover how much Jak had enjoyed climbing around the cliffs close to the village.
Karn followed Jak, clearly unafraid of the sheer drop if he slipped. Somehow the effect of the setting sun on him didn't carry the same gravity as it did on Jak. The boy sat down with his feet hanging over the edge.
Jak looked down at the boy sitting next to where he stood, something didn't seem right to him, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, he suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. A flash of light from the marauder base caught his eye; a loud bang reached his ears, followed by a shrill whistle, it was a sound that Jak dreaded, the unmistakable noise of a missile. With no time to think, Jak grabbed Karn's arm and started to move the boy away from the ledge, that was when the projectile hit.
Keira watched in shock as the part of the ledge Jak and Karn were on crumbled away beneath them. "JAK!" she cried seeing the two of them drop beyond the broken cliff.
Jak just managed to snag the edge with his free hand, he still gripped Karn's arm with his other. He pulled the boy upwards until Karn was at his waist. "Karn, grab my waist," Jak said as calmly as was possible when they were barely clinging to a cliff and a certain death awaiting them at the bottom should his grip slip.
Karn's grey eyes were wide as he looked up at Jak; he reached out with his free arm and wrapped it around Jak's thin waist. It was challenging for him, he hadn't accumulated much muscle mass and this would make it even harder for him when Jak would be forced to let go of the boy to pull them both up.
"Got me?" Jak asked, and Karn nodded once, the arm he had around the warrior's waist tightening as though for emphasis. "Alright, I'm going to let go of you so I can pull us up, alright? Whatever you do Karn, DON'T LET GO!" The last words Jak spoke the most forcefully. "Ready?" Karn's arm tightened around his waist even more, and Jak let go of Karn's arm.
Karn tried to bring the arm Jak had just released around Jak's waist to join with his other arm, but he missed. His one arm was insufficient to support himself. "Jak! I'm slipping!" he cried before his arm slipped from Jak's midsection and Karn dropped with a terrified scream.
Keira had seen Jak's hand on the edge of the cliff, had heard everything, and she watched in horror as Jak let go of the cliff.
Jak surrendered himself to the power of light eco, managing to bring his hands up over his head he brought them together and immediately everything around him slowed to a near stop. Jak transformed as he tumbled further from the cliff; performing a flip Light Jak dove straight down for Karn, tentacle wings unfurling from his shoulder blades. The luminous being reached out to the falling boy and scooped him up into his arms. Resuming normal speed Light Jak pumped his wings in a slow deliberate rhythm while shifting Karn so the boy could hold on to him with greater ease.
It took Karn a few seconds to realize that he was no longer plummeting to his death, "Mar? Is that you?" Karn asked Light Jak in an awed tone.
Light Jak could not tell a lie and he found no need to deceive anyone, so, with an answer that had Jak mentally smacking his forehead, he replied honestly. "Yes Karn, I am Mar. Don't worry, you are safe with me." Light Jak's melodious voice had a soothing effect on the boy he carried.
Karn looked up at the cliff; they were not far from the ledge anymore, which was when he realized that something wasn't right. "What happened to Jak?!" Karn cried.
"Do not worry, Jak is safe within me, I am but a part of him, as you met my counterpart who gave you those cuts, I am his balancing force. Without me Jak would have gone mad long ago."
Karn suddenly went very rigid, "You mean you're like that other one? That demon that tried to kill me?"
"In essence, I suppose, though we are very different in personality." Light Jak landed on the broken cliff ledge, "You need not fear me Karn," and with that, Light Jak retreated back into the reaches of Jak's mind, allowing the warrior to take control again. With a puff of light eco sparks Jak reverted back to his normal form, he mentally swore he'd have to have a talk with his light side and lay down some ground rules about what he could tell people.
"You okay there Karn?" Jak asked, hoping he hadn't startled the boy with the sudden change.
Keira rushed forward to where Jak stood, "JAK! You're alright!" she cried as Jak set Karn down. As Jak straightened she slapped him in the face, "Don't you dare scare me like that again!"
Jak rubbed his cheek and smiled at her, "We're all okay aren't we?"
"Yeah, everyone's fine," Karn said immediately taking Jak's side in the argument, his trust and faith in Jak had returned, and he gave Keira a glare. "You weren't even in danger,"
Deciding that it wouldn't be smart to let an argument get going, Jak broke both of them off, before anything more could be said. "Come on, we should probably get back to Spargus, I need to tell Sig about this, whatever that was it can't be good in the hands of the marauders."
His companions agreed and they walked over to the Slam Dozer to begin the long drive back to Spargus.
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