I do not own Jak and Daxter. Think anyone would give a fuck if I forgot this disclaimer on every fucking chapter? Meh, whatever.

Vacation or War-Endgame
Chapter Thirty Five-Odds and Ends

Strapping into the driver's seat was something that actually made Loor a little nervous; Kleiver was just in front of them, leading the trouble trio across the desert to the ruins and the transport that Damas had talked about. Granted, it was her turn, and Jak had all but insisted she take the handlebars this time, even when she tried to back out. "You can't always sit in the passenger seat." He had told her with a chuckle that carried a stern undertone. Buckling up and finding the controls similar to the smaller vehicle she'd driven before, she only gave a mildly miffed huff back. As much as her residual memories were helping her, she was still nervous about screwing up where people could see her. Jak and Dax were one case; they'd rib her about it for a while if she made a dumb mistake, but she could return a punch in the arm or a tug to the tail, respectively, in response. Kleiver, on the other hand, was both out of her league and weight-class to mess with if he decided to get on her case for a mistake, dumb or otherwise.

That awareness made her concentrate on what she was doing, pulling her new goggles over her eyes for the first time and tugging up the scarf pooled around her neck to cover her face as they left the city. Both covers were a god-send while driving, keeping the sand out of her face and shielding her eyes from the sun, since the lenses of the goggles were tinted dark green.

It was early morning, the sun rising on the wasteland and banishing the relative cool of the night. The air rushing by as they hit top end was refreshing and brisk, clearing Loor's sleepy senses and actually causing her to smile under her scarf. Following Kleiver in his vehicle was the first thought on her mind, but it was quickly followed by a particular serenity garnered from running up and down sand dunes at top speed on such a quiet morning.

Her shoulders came out of their tense state, her hands adhering to a more natural and relaxed grip on the wheel and shift. She could do this. Jak seemed to have some faith in her, or else he wouldn't be pushing her to try. Still, she wasn't sure how one would herd lizards in a car. She felt like they'd be too easy to run over and too hard to predict.

Considering these things on this calm and quiet morning, she felt almost sandbagged by the feeling that tugged on her body and mind. It was how noises seemed louder in a silent room; the absence of major pondering or introspective sensations had left her particularly attentive to this; the sense that a creature that carried eco was somewhere out there. Her head lifted, eyes drifting from her path as she reacted the same way she had the last time she'd been struck by such a sense; she was desperate to find the source. Where was she feeling this from? She remembered from when she'd come out to the wasteland alone; this same feeling had tickled her just as gently, and the curiosity of where or what it was coming from was going to drive her insane.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jak's head lifting as well. Did he feel it too?

"Whoa, toots, eyes on the road!" Daxter cried as Loor's path started to drift towards one of the pillars of rocks that stood up out of the sand.

Cursing, Loor looked back to the rear wheels of Kleiver's vehicle in front of them, getting back on track and away from the possible collision. "Ack-!" She puffed after the fact, all of the tension she'd felt before about possible mistakes rushing back. "Damnit, there is no road!"

"And yet, you still manage to nearly run into something." Daxter pointed out with a smirk on his fuzzy mug. "That takes skill, sweets!"

Loor growled but did her best not to let Daxter get to her, instead stealing a glance back at Jak; he was still scanning around like she had been before a moment before. "... Jak, you alright?" She asked, not exactly sure of how to phrase the question she actually wanted to ask.

He didn't answer right away; he must have still felt it. Loor, on the other hand, had lost the sense when she'd been startled back into her worrisome state. She was just feeling too many other things to be open to such a weak trace.

After several sweeps of his head as he tried to zero in on the sense, Jak leaned back into his seat with a sigh. "Yeah, I think so... I just..." He paused. He was having the same problem.

"What's up with you two?" Daxter asked, clearly oblivious but still curious. Something was really wrong when Loor wasn't up to bickering with him, apparently.

"Desert playing tricks on us." Jak answered with a half-hearted snicker. "Place is gonna drive me insane at this rate..."

"Awe, don't let it get to ya." Daxter encouraged. "It's just a really big sandbox with guns and monsters, that's all."

Loor snorted, rolling her eyes. Daxter was right, but that was the issue; it was a big sandbox with guns and monsters. How many shapes of monsters, Loor was both curious and mortified to find out. She had to wonder...

Was there another monster living out here wearing a human's shape?

She had to shake that thought; she couldn't fight something she couldn't see.

It wasn't much longer before they arrived at the ruins. As Damas said, there were young leapers all around, running about and munching on bunches of cacti that grew up out of the ground. Like any feral animal they fled from the sound of engines, though they immediately ran back to chomp away at the cacti that was crushed under the wheels of the vehicles. The ruins appeared to have been a small village once upon a time, but it was clear it was abandoned and slowly crumbling. On top of that, the sand was burying it. Some was kept back by the plant life, but the broken walls had plenty of sand drifted onto them. Loor had no doubt that in a few years this little ruin would vanish under the wasteland's ever changing topography.

The transport was settled into the center of this place; an empty town square now occupied by a huge cage of metal bars and electrified gates to keep animals contained. Kleiver pulled around this thing, making a full circle to catch the trouble trio driver's side-to-driver's side, both of them stopping to talk. "Try not to crush too many of 'em nippers! I'll stay here and control the gates, you go and herd 'em in."

"And he says he ain't a babysitter..." Daxter grumbled, realizing that Kleiver was saddling them up with the work while he sat back and watched.

"Any tips?" Loor asked while pulling down her scarf; it was awkward to talk through it.

"Leapers are herd animals; they stick together in groups." For once, Kleiver was forthcoming. "Figure out which one is the tall poppy, and chase him. The others will follow wherever he runs off ta'."

"Beautiful." Loor muttered; not meaning to be ungrateful but she got the feeling that this job was going to be fiddly as fuck. "Let's get on with it, then." With that she shifted back into gear, aiming to drive back out of the ruins and circle around to find a group. "You two got any bright ideas?" She asked once they were well away from Kleiver and back in the open. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure chasing small animals with a big car is going to end up with a fair few pieces of roadkill before we successfully pen any of them."

"Probably." Jak didn't sound particularly impressed either. "Though Kleiver and the others are probably used to that; it sounds like he's done this before. Breaking a few eggs to make an omelet, so to speak."

Cruising in a long arc around the ruins, Daxter was the next to speak up as they started to approach a group of five lizards. "Hey, why not ride 'em?"

"What?" Loor asked, but the ottsel had moved from Jak's shoulder to the roll cage of the vehicle without bothering to explain his idea. Loor glanced to Jak, who had no hints to offer her, just a shrug. "Dax, the hell are you doing?"

"Get close!" The ottsel shouted back, wearing a dare-devil grin now. If Loor didn't know better, she would say Jak was rubbing off on him.

Still unsure, she put her foot to the floor anyway and concentrated on the young lizards they were quickly approaching. Keeping Kleiver's advice in mind, Loor saw one of the leapers raise it's head before the others did, looking at the oncoming vehicle and turning with a croaking squeal to warn the others. If she had to guess, that one was the leader for this group, and she was sure Daxter had seen it too. First pushing fast enough to catch up, she decided to keep the group on the outside of the ruins instead of shoving them into the maze of buildings right away. Cutting to the inside, then pulling even, she only saw out of the very edge of her vision that Daxter was climbing along the roll cage of the vehicle to be as close as possible to the group of lizards.

"Get me closer!" He demanded, since Loor was still keeping a semi-safe distance; she really didn't wanna run one of these little guys over by accident. Still, she did as he asked, veering over and hoping the leaper in front was smart and fast enough to make the turn to get around the vehicle.

As she made the turn, Daxter made a leap. Screaming with the sudden rush, the ottsel landed on the back of the lead leaper and, with surprising swiftness, took control of the little beast, though Loor hadn't a clue how Dax was steering it.

And, just as Kleiver said, the others followed the leader. Screeching to a halt as not to interfere with Daxter's plan by scaring the lizards further, she leaned forward in her seat to watch as Dax led the whole group into the maze of buildings.

"Well, that's a new way to do things." Jak chuckled with a grin.

"No shit." Loor laughed, getting back into gear and going the long way around to meet Daxter back at the transport. "Hopefully Kleiver finds it more impressive than silly."

"Hey, these guys are all about doing what you can with what you've got, right?" Jak pointed out. "This is just getting creative."

"Creative... Right." She pulled her scarf back up over her face. Well, that was certainly one word for it. Seriously, she had no idea where Dax came up with this stuff.

To say the look on Kleiver's face had been priceless when Daxter came riding in on a leaper lizard was a bit of an understatement. Using the same trick multiple times ruined the novelty, of course, but that was all well and fine. What started as mild shock and surprise morphed into a begrudging look of appreciation for what they were doing. In almost no time at all they had all the lizards they needed and not a single casualty; not bad for two newbies and a rat... though it was Dax who had gotten the idea and done all of the work. Loor was just the driver, and Jak very well could have been taking the nap in the passenger seat for all anyone cared. Coming around for the last time to pick the ottsel up as she scurried out of the leaper enclosure, Loor came to a stop when she saw that Kleiver had gotten out of his vehicle and waved for her to come and talk.

Killing the engine and pulling the hand brake, both she and Jak got out while pushing their goggles up and scarves down. Daxter stayed on ground level, a smug grin on his face at a job done well and quickly. No one needed to tell him he'd done good, though if someone did his ego would likely swell at an exponential rate past it's current inflation.

Kleiver's eyes went between all three members of the trio, conflict on his face. There was no denying he was impressed, but there was still his general ick against them as newbies.

Finally, he smiled. "I have to admit, you got some talent, kids."

"Does that mean you'll cut it out with the condescending nick-names?" Loor quested.

"Asks the nipper who nearly crashed in the middle of the desert?" Kleiver returned in his usual manner. "I think not, Sheila."

"How about another job?" Jak asked while Loor turned crimson with both embarrassment and rage at her mistake being pointed out. "If you've got anything else for us, we'll take it."

"Two brawls down in the arena, and you're still eager." He gestured back at the vehicle he'd driven out with a chuckle in his voice. "I don't have anything right now, but I'd say you kids have earned the rights to another one of me vehicles. Spend a little time explorin' to get used to her; she can take a little gettin' used to at first, but she'd damn useful once you know how."

"Damn straight!" Daxter was grinning.

"How generous." Loor muttered, though not actually loud enough for anyone beside her to know she'd said anything. Then, spitting out the words in her tongue-tied condition; "Explore what?" Were the only words she managed out of the angry paragraph she'd mentally come up with of how they were in the middle of a desert and there was fuck all of interest to see.

Kleiver was as smug as she was flustered. "There's more out here than you'd think, nipper." He then moved to take the vehicle they'd driven out to this mission. "It's got a map like the Sand Shark does, even a few points of interest marked if you care for 'em."

Sand Shark? Apparently the vehicles had names. "The hell is that thing called?" She asked, pointing at the other vehicle. The more she looked at it, the more its construction bothered her. It looked like most of the vehicle's mas was focused on a strange suspension system that she was having trouble working out by just looking at it."

"Eh? That's the Dune Hopper." He was ducking into the driver's seat of the Sand Shark now. "Treat 'er nice, pups, and bring 'er back in one piece!"

With that, the big wastelander rolled over the Sand Shark's engine and was gone; off to return to the city and report to Damas that the lizards were ready to be picked up.

"Jeez, Loor." Daxter laughed, moving to climb up Jak's side and get back to his shoulder. "Enough questions? You grill Kleiver every time we talk to him."

"I Don't trust him." She said shortly, still effected by the embarrassed energy coursing through her. She doubted she'd remaster her way with words for another hour, and that was assuming no one else ribbed her about her abilities behind the wheel. Then, just as shortly, she made a sharp turn to climb up into the new vehicle. "C'mon, let's go. He said somethin' about a map..." She wouldn't be surprised it Kleiver's prodding for them to spend some time outside the walls was him encouraging them to find a particular place out in the sand.

That was, assuming, he wasn't trying to get them killed. According to her, that was still entirely possible. The more paranoid part of her mind argued that this whole thing of giving them yet another vehicle with a marker on the map could be an attempt to lead the three of them into a deadly situation. The more logical part of her mind rebutted that argument with the fact that if Kleiver wanted them dead he could just shoot them in the face and not put one of his vehicles at risk; the wastelanders were all about survival of the fittest. He wouldn't even have to pretend it was an accident.

About to saddle up, Jak caught her shoulder and brought her back to Earth. "Hey!" He snickered. "What are you doing?" He asked, tugging her away from the driver's side. "It's my turn to drive now; you had your go... jeez, I had to force you into the driver's seat earlier, and now you're trying to take my turn." He teased.

"Oh..." She was still red from the exchanged with Kleiver. "Uh.. Oops?" She laughed it off, backing out of Jak's way to go around the wide wheel base and get over to the passenger side.

"Get over it, sweets!" Daxter groaned as Jak climbed up into the driver's seat, eagerly looking over the controls. "Little back-and-forth never hurt nobody."

"Doesn't change the fact that I wanna hurt him... like a lot." She responded, almost having to jump a little to get up to her seat. This vehicle, thankfully, had proper seat belts. Actually, it had more than that; both a traditional lap belt was employed as well as straps that came down over the shoulders and hooked into a middle section of the lap belt; in other words, a full safety harness. Putting the buckles together was something her hands did easily, feeling as if she'd seen a similar design somewhere... "Wait... this is..." Over the shoulder meant... well it could mean a lot of things. All of the vehicles were rough-and-tumble, but this design made her think of something very particular. "This is like a racing harness."

"Eh?" Both Jak and Daxter looked at her as she fiddled with the straps. Jak recognized the look on her face as she was having a half-in half-out experience with her brain.

"I've sat in a car with these before." She said with conviction. "It wasn't mine; I was a little kid, I couldn't even reach the pedals... but someone showed me how the straps worked. It's so, no matter what happens, the driver stays in the vehicle, even if it goes over and rolls." She closed her eyes. "Black dials, the car was blue, it had this swooping body shape I really liked... number 86, painted in white, but we had to change it because someone else had that number, so we made the 6 into an 8 with colored tape... The seat was really hard."

"Your uncle." Jak said; he remembered her talking about it once in Haven. "He raced, you said you got to help work on the car sometimes."

"Yes..." She laughed now, her tension having left her in a moment of happy recollection, looking over to Jak and Daxter. "It's funny... I know I was a kid at some point, but remembering I was that small once is... weird."

"You're still kinda small, Loor." Dax pointed out. "I mean, the list of people shorter than Jak ain't that long, y'know?"

"Dax!" Jak snapped at the good-natured prod from his partner. "I'm not that short."

"Jak..." Loor hated to take Daxter's side, but she couldn't help it. "I can count the people shorter than us on one hand... The ratio kinda points to the conclusion that we're small people."

"Ha!" Daxter laughed. "Foiled by a girlfriend, a best friend, and science! You can't beat that!"

Jak growled slightly, settling back to strap in and get the new vehicle, the Dune Hopper, started up and ready to roll. "Not my fault..." He grumbled.

"Blame the manufacturer." Loor snickered, looking to the map display Kleiver had mentioned as the engine rolled over and all the gauges and indicator lights came to life, the map also flashing it's digital display a few times before clearing and figuring out where they were in the wasteland.

"Manufacturer?" Dax asked as Jak still pouted, trying to end the subject with silence. He was also looking at the map; it was similar to the previous one they'd seen in the Sand Shark. As Kleiver said, there was a red marker on the edge that pointed to a location somewhere to the south-west of them.

"Y'know." She laughed. "Parents. Who else you gonna blame for crappy genetics?"

Daxter made a face. "Oh jeez, twice in one day?" He asked, holding up his hand as if to quell the fact that Loor had even mentioned the idea of parents. The ottsel actually looked a little nervous as he glanced to Jak, who's pout had deepened to a full frown that cut into his face.

"I didn't know my parents; either of them." Jak said, his voice devoid of inflexion. "Now that I think about it... I didn't know anyone who was actually related to me by blood." He snorted, an old hurt showing on his face. Just how old, Loor didn't dare guess. The fact that even Daxter expressed fear about the subject said something to the age of this grievance, and the severity.

Which really sucked because Loor had a great joke about his parents being midgets for all he knew. Still, she knew when such humor would be out of place. Now was obviously one of those times. Her first thought after the joke was to apologize, but she had no idea what she'd be saying sorry for. 'Sorry Jak, you don't have any family that you know of. That sucks. Sorry you didn't have anyone who loved you simply for existing during your earliest years, when it mattered the most.' The very idea of saying sorry for such a thing struck her as nearly as offensive, if not more so, than the joke.

"You're still here." She said before her brain had even formed a full thought behind the words. "Someone had you, Jak... and whoever that someone is, they've got a lot to be proud of."

Daxter actually left Jak's shoulder to escape from the conversation, the look on his fuzzy mug expressing a total loss of hope for this going anywhere. Loor had no doubt Daxter had tried comforting Jak over this in the past as well; they were best friends. Still, she was too stubborn not to try. A particular focus came to her as she studied his face, searching for the smallest of reactions.

"Assuming they even remember I exist." He said glumly; the heart of the matter was exposed in such simple terms; the fear that he'd simple been forgotten about, lost, or, God forbid, rejected.

"You're not the type of guy someone forgets about." She batted back. "I'm sure that was just as true when you were little. Hell, I'd bet there's someone out there in the world, still looking for you."

"Your odds are shit." His voice was gruff. "You should pick your bets better."

"If I had a penny to my name, I'd lay all I had on it." She responded fiercely.

That seemed to give him pause; the mention of money, particularly pennies, made him tilt his head a little and then finally grace her with his gaze. With a strange stare, she noticed the fact that his expression had abandoned his frown for the moment, though it hadn't really morphed into anything else. The space of silence seemed oddly long, since she was pretty sure she hadn't said anything particularly meaningful besides expressing her confidence that he was far from forgotten. When he spoke, there was the smallest suggestion of humor; "Y'know, I still owe you thirteen cents..."

"Eh?" It was her turn to tilt her head, but for her it was in confusion. Daxter, who had been sitting behind Jak's head rest with this back turned on the conversation, twisted his head around to look. "Thirteen cents? For what?"

"The last bet I lost against you." Was his matter-of-fact answer.

So the number had been her idea? She snickered. "Alright then, let's put that IOU on the table; double or nothin'!"

The Author's Corner

Writing Jak's more emo moments is always interesting because I sometimes worry that I'm overdoing it... and other times I wonder if I'm not doing it hard enough. This time, I THINK I got it about right... meow.

I think.

Happy reading,

-Loor