Necralis: Our new arrangement is that I write the start things and
Kyren writes the finish things (with our respective muses)
Vader: Remember, I belong to Necralis (she used to be Gleam, for those who haven't figured it out yet) She thought Gleam was stupid. Actually, everyone thought it was stupid.
Necralis: Okay dokey, here is our 3rd chapter. This officially makes it my longest fic ever! (most of them don't get past the second page of my science notebook). Thanks to those EIGHT WHOLE PEOPLE who gave us voos (voo is my shorthand for review)
Vader: (whispering) she's crazy. Just don't say anything to her about pancakes.
Necralis: what was that?
Vader: uh.nothing.nothing at all about pancakes.
Necralis: PANCAKES!!! The memories.so many horrible memories.AAAAARRRGH.
**forgot to mention. we own almost squat. Most of the locations belong to Naughty Dog.and the characters Jak and Daxter.but Versca belongs to Necralis, as does Nithana. Kyren owns almost everyone and everything else.but we BOTH own the Amarathine Shadow. DON'T NICK 'EM!!!! Oh. Amaranthine (note the extra N) is another word for purple, so we spelt it wrong and made it coooooool. ^_^**
Jak II: The Darkened Path
Chapter 3: The Illuminar
Jak rolled aside and came up, ready to fight. He wouldn't be running away this time!
As he looked for the attacker, he caught a brief glimpse of Mir, who was still standing. She was shaking her head in annoyance and shouting something, but it took a while for his rattled brain to make sense of it.
Eventually, he realized she was swearing.
"Versca! I told you not to try and come after me! You could have killed this guy, and he was going to find us a base! Get down here so that I can strangle you with the rat thing! You think I'm f*****g defenseless just because I was an-"
Daxter interjected angrily. "Hey, no one uses me as a weapon! It could ruin my-"
"Ruin your what? Your fur? Your goggles? Face it, skunk boy, you have nothing worth ruining, except maybe your vocal cords, and if you don't shut up, that's exactly what I'm going to have to-"
"May I say something?"
Daxter and Mir both turned around and yelled "What?"
"Who are we yelling at?"
Mir looked baffled for a second, as though she had forgotten all about Jak and the attacker. Then she turned around and yelled into the darkness, "VERSCA! Get down here so this guy can see who tried to kill him!"
A female voice, presumably Versca, shouted back, "But I don't want to be strangled!"
Mir rolled her eyes. "I won't kill you if you come down right now."
The voice came again. "Promise?"
Mir crossed her fingers behind her back. "Promise."
"Okay." A brightly coloured figure sprang out of the purple mist, bounding quickly over and over.
At first, Jak couldn't figure out exactly what the newcomer was like, except she was fairly tall and agile. Then he realised she was actually doing handsprings. Clearly she was a performer of some sort.
"Show-off." Mir muttered. "I don't think of it as showing off. I prefer to think of it as.asserting my abilities." The girl named Versca was dressed in a sea green, wide sleeved shirt that offset her brilliant green eyes and a pair of loose, blue pants with a yellow band around the left cuff. Her hair was silver at the top, but deepened to bright red at the tips.
"Well, anyway, Versca, this is Jak. I rescued him from a Diya."
"Rescued him, you say? Sounds romantic."
Mir scowled. "I'm beginning to regret letting you join us."
Versca grinned evilly, displaying teeth. "Oh, but you can't do without me. I'm the only one who can throw a dagger without cutting my hand open."
"Versca, just shut up. Jak, this is Versca. She used to be a circus performer."
Jak nodded as though he knew what she was talking about, even though he had never been to a circus due to a highly amusing practical joke played by Daxter that involved the plant in Samos' lab, the shark's teeth belonging to the Fisherman and some sticky tape. He had been grounded for a very long time, despite the fact that he'd had nothing to do with it.
"I'll give one piece of information to prevent you from killing her and anyone nearby: her nickname is Vercky."
Versca pulled a very ornate dagger from her sleeve, tossing it up into the air before catching it expertly. "And I assure you; if you ever call me that name, I shall remove your limbs and strangle you with them."
"What, what's that? If someone is strangling someone else, I must be informed in case I can join in."
Someone else had joined the conversation, jogging out of the mist. This guy (he was clearly male) was short and stocky, wearing a blue shirt and faded brown pants. He looked Jak up and down with startlingly blue eyes that were half hidden beneath a dirty bandana and matted russet hair. "Who's this?"
Mir looked incredulous. "Did you all follow me out here?"
"No, no, just me and Vercky. Oh yeah, and Trax."
"Of course. Of course you took Trax with you."
"Well, how else were we supposed to follow you?" He flapped irritably at the violet mist that covered everything. "This stuff makes it impossible to see anything unless it's right in front of your face. Oh, that reminds me." He turned around and whistled piercingly. "Trax! Here, girl!"
Jak half expected a third person to come striding out of the mist, but instead he was almost knocked off his feet by a small shape that proceeded to lick him all over the face. Sputtering, he tried to push what ever it was away, but only ended up with hands covered in slobber.
"Jak, this is Ptek. And the mutt is Trax."
Jak would have responded, but the 'mutt' was trying to steal his backpack, so it was up to Daxter, as usual, to introduce himself. "I'm Daxter. The brains of the outfit. And this is Jak-aagh! Get it off me! Get it off meeeeeeeee!" Trax had lost interest in the backpack and attempted to make off with Daxter instead. She had pulled off quite a spectacular leap (for her size - she was even smaller than Daxter) and her teeth had closed on the ottsel's tail. Daxter screamed bloody murder and toppled off Jak's shoulder, wriggling about like a snake, trying to dislodge her. He managed to get up and kicked Trax square on the wet, snuffling nose. She yelped and let go.
"Trax! Traxxie! Are you all right, girl?" Ptek had rushed over and gently picked up the mutt and was now stroking her tenderly between her over large ears. He glared at Daxter, then at Jak. "You watch your pet, blondy, or I might have to incorporate him into my next project."
Daxter bristled at this insult. "I am not a pet, I am a man-"
"Boy," Jak pointed out.
Daxter glared at him. "A boy who has been turned into a fuzzy thing, not a fuzzy thing who has gained the power of speech!"
Versca turned to Jak, impressed. "That's some great ventriloquism, blondy. Can you do any other voices?"
Daxter began to jump up and down, clearly incensed. "I AM A HUMAN! JAK IS NOT DOING THE TALKING FOR ME, HE CAN'T EVEN TALK FOR HIMSELF!"
"I can so!"
"That's beside the point! The point is, I'm a human! Not a muse, not a weasel, not a rat. A human."
"Oookay.now that Daxter's gotten over his little rant, I want to know something."
Ptek eyed him cynically "And that would be."
Jak pointed at Trax. "What is she?"
"Ummm.we don't know. She just.turned up and decided she liked me best." Ptek placed the little animal back on the ground, where she made a strange yapping noise and promptly went off, tearing around like a firecracker, the sky-blue strip that ran from her nose to her tail standing out amidst her orangey-brown fur.
"Don't go too far, Trax!" Versca yelled. The hound didn't take the slightest bit of notice.
Mir glanced up at the sky, then cursed as she realized she couldn't tell the time, as the sun wasn't visible. "Damn it, we have to get back to the others. Come on, Ptek, Jak, Trax.Vercky."
Versca sighed. "Now I have to think of a suitably painful revenge."
"You can do it on the way," said Ptek. "Let's go."
*
"So, uh, Jak, where's this hiding place? Is it far? More importantly, is there food there?" said Ptek as they strode north along a tiny stream, Mir in front followed by Ptek and Jak, Versca bringing up the rear.
"It's quite a long way down south, though not as far as my village. I've been all through it, and it's pretty hard to get to."
"Why's that?"
"For a start, the whole thing's underwater, and I don't think lurkers can swim. As well as that, the place is crammed full of traps."
"Like what?"
Jak waved his hand vaguely. "Dark Eco.pipes, platforms.there's water everywhere, and the Precursors made this weird system where it goes all yellow and anything in the water at the time is fried."
Ptek nodded. "Sounds good, if we can avoid the traps. But you forgot the most important thing."
Jak stared at him for a second before he remembered. "What? Oh, you mean food!"
Daxter sighed, looking depressed. And hungry. "That's something it's sadly lacking in. Unless you're keen to try eating Precursor metal, there is absolutely nothing to eat."
"That's a big problem, then," said Versca from behind them. "I don't know if you've noticed, but there is currently a slump in agriculture."
"Eh?" "All the plants and animals are basically stuffed. And that's putting it lightly."
As if to underline this point, Daxter's stomach growled loudly. Just at that moment, when they were all staring at Daxter (who was staring steadfastly back) Mir stopped moving and yelled "Halt!"
Ptek mock-glowered at her. "I bet you've always wanted to say that."
"This is the spot," she said, ignoring him. ""What's the code again?"
"Eh." Versca clicked her fingers. "Something like. 'upside down' or 'visa versa', wasn't it?"
Jak of course, didn't know what they were talking about. It just looked like a perfectly ordinary mysteriously neat curtain of leaves to him. Daxter had already figured it out and he smirked: leaves weren't much protection against Lurkers.
"Topsy turvy," Ptek was saying, "Weren't you the one who thought it up, Vercky?"
"Shuddup," was the reply. At that moment, the curtain of leaves parted and a grinning face peeked out from under.
"What's the password?"
"Let us in, Vester, or we'll break down the door." Mir said mildly.
"Awww! You never let me have any fun."
Just let us in, Vester," said Mir, and pushed past him, into the cave beyond. Ptek and Jak followed, then Versca, who carefully rearranged the leaves to look like they'd never been moved. "All the comforts of home," said Daxter as he looked around the cave (note sarcasm). In truth it was the most miserable little hole you could possibly imagine, with a floor composed mainly of worms and mud, and unidentifiable gunk dripping down the walls. A few meager supplies had been arranged around the walls, blankets and clothes mainly, and they completely failed to give the cave a warm homely look.
"Honey! I'm home!" bellowed Ptek, causing Mir to stomp heavily on his foot.
"Shut up," said Versca - this seemed to be the most often repeated phrase in this group. Mir shouted something about new arrivals and two more people appeared from nowhere, as well as Vester (when he'd finished brushing mud from his pants).
"Okay, crew, blondey here is Jak and this is Daxter. Jak, this is Lethra," Mir said as she pointed to a short blonde girl with bright blue eyes. She was wearing tight fitting tan coloured pants with a belt that had a ring (like the one that Jak has on his backpack, only smaller) and a blue shirt. The girl smiled shyly and gave him a little wave as she said "Hi,"
"And this is Karok." Mir waved vaguely at a well-built man with brown eyes, who grinned evilly and said, "Picked up a couple of strays, eh, Mirly?" "And you've already seen Vester."
A man with a frame so wiry it looked as if he would blow away in strong winds gave a sweeping bow and said, "At your service,"
"Don't make fun of him, you git," said Ptek, as he looked up from brushing Trax off with a very ragged shirt. "This kid - " Jak scowled - "is going to show us a brand new HQ, hopefully not as bad as this - dare I say it? - hell hole."
"I dunno about hell hole," Vester said seriously. "When you think of hell, you get fire and brimstone and lots of nasty monsters."
"Yeah, well, anyway, are we gonna get going already?"
"We have to get all our stuff together, you impatient cretin," said Mir.
Vester sighed theatrically. "Can't you go five minutes without insulting someone?"
Mir gave him a look of fake horror. "And take away my one true calling in life? Are you insane? Don't answer that," she added, as Vester opened his mouth, probably to prove the insanity theory, "Come on, let's pack up. With luck, we might be able to find some food on the way."
*
Everything moved quickly after that. Within half an hour, Jak was leading the others back along the stream, past trees and bushes and rocks. Each sight was more depressing than the last, with everything looking like it had been doused with acid, then dropped into a bucket of navy blue paint (which was not very far from the truth). Daxter, Versca and Ptek were all testing the boundaries of each other's sanity, trying to drive the others insane before they got to the City.
It would go like this. Versca would start off by saying, "Are we there yet?"
Ptek would then moan, "I'm hungry,"
Daxter would then add something along the lines of, "My feet hurt," even though he was riding on his usual place on Jak's shoulder and had the least to complain about of all of them.
Mir would tell them to shut up. They would, for about five minutes, say nothing, just walk (or ride) along, staring at the horizon. Then Versca would start it off again. And again. And again.
By the time they had crossed the threshold of what remained of Rock Village, Mir's eye was twitching dangerously, Vester was mindlessly and constantly adjusting the collar of his shirt and Jak kept raising his hand, then lowering it again, trying to prevent himself from grabbing the ottsel's ears and giving them a good twist.
They were repeating the cycle for what Mir counted as the forty-seventh time when Jak suddenly came to a halt and swore.
"What's the matter?" Ptek asked, then, without waiting for an answer, pushed him aside, and saw what he was looking at.
He swore too, though for a different reason.
The village was wrecked. Jak didn't know how the Lurkers had done it, but the Blue Sage's hut had been reduced to a pile of rubble and the machine he and Keira had used to levitate a huge boulder was lying in sparking pieces scattered clear across the village. Worse yet, the floating logs that had been used as a bridge were either missing entirely or lying at the bottom of the pool. Dammit, thought Jak. How were they going to get across now? The main plaza was still somehow intact, though several of the houses that had been piled precariously on top had been destroyed.
Ptek swore because he had caught a glimpse of a Lurker Shark. Or what had been a Lurker Shark. The Shark had swelled so that it was now even larger than the Fisherman's boat that it had once taken a bite out of. They clearly couldn't swim out to the City - they would have to find another way to do it.
"We're buggered," said Ptek gloomily. Karok looked at him strangely, then addressed Lethra, who had somehow remained completely silent during the whole trek.
"Any ropes, Lethra?"
The blonde girl shook her head wordlessly.
Daxter squinted towards the opposite shore, then saw something that made him brighten up considerably.
"There's some rope in the plaza! See? There- no, there, you fool."
"How're we going to get to it?" said Karok, then looked at Jak. "Unless blondy here can fly."
Vester grinned at Daxter. "This.thing looks like he might have hidden powers."
Daxter glared at him. "I do. Just not the kind you're thinkin' of." He leered at Mir, earning a whack across the back of his head.
"I have an idea," said Versca. "We could toss weasely boy here across, and he could retrieve the rope for us."
"Brilliant except for one slight flaw; Daxter can't throw to save his life." Jak knew, having tried to goad Daxter into playing catch with a couple of his uncle's ink bottles.his shirt hadn't always been blue. "I could swim across."
"Listen, Jak, you've had experience with these shark things, right? You dive in there, you'll have to be filtered out." Jak stared at Ptek. His previous attitude had been one of indifference, as if he didn't care what happened to anyone. Now he actually sounded concerned. Maybe it was the Dark Eco.
Mir had been silent through this whole exchange, then her eyes went wide and she grinned and snapped her fingers. "Lethra, hand me your belt. Your pants won't fall down, you idiot. Jak, I'll need your backpack. I swear I'll put it back together when I'm done. The rest of you, get out the spare clothes and blankets. I think I've got an idea."
*
"Think this'll work?" Versca said to Mir, as she tied the last knot.
"You'd better hope so, or you're toast. Or maybe fishsticks." Mir grinned wickedly. Versca glared at her.
"I hate you," she turned to Ptek. "Why am I helping you losers out again?"
Ptek rolled his eyes, as though he'd recited this many times before. "Because we saved your life, and we also need you and if you nick off, me 'n Trax will hunt you down and destroy you."
"Ah."
Karok tested the knot, making sure it would secure, before handing it to Mir. "There ya go, Mirly. I reckon it'll be able to hold one of us at a time, no more."
Versca stared dubiously at the rope that had been constructed out of their spare blankets and clothes knotted tightly together. Jak and Lethra's rings had been tied at either end to lend weight so that it could be thrown. The plan was that Daxter would be thrown across (the weasel had protested viciously, but a little persuasion, a little blackmail, and a little violence had changed his mind) while the other end of the rope was kept on the cliff. Daxter would climb up and tie the rope onto a convenient part of the plaza and, one by one, they would swing across and throw it back.
"I would just like to say, that if I die, it was entirely your fault and I'll haunt you for the rest of my afterlife," Daxter said to Jak as Vester picked him up and made ready to throw him. Jak smirked.
"Don't wriggle," Vester advised "Or I might drop you to the fishies and then where would we be?"
Daxter glared at him. "I don't know you very well and I don't trust you and I don't know if your aiming's up to scratch. I just want to say - heeeeeeeeelp!"
Vester, tired of the ottsel's whining, had heaved him towards the plaza. He flew in a not-very-graceful arc, before landing with a painful sounding 'whumph!' right on the spot he'd been aiming for. Muttering swearwords, he picked himself up and clambered up the outside of the plaza. Spying a convenient looking hook, he tied the rope around it, trying to recall everything Jak's uncle had told him about knots. When he was fairly sure it was secure, he turned around and gave the group on a cliff a thumbs-up.
"Me first!" Ptek said eagerly, and without waiting for the others reply, he swung straight out over the purple-looking water.
Belatedly, he realized the rope might not be entirely secure.
"I hope it is. I really hope it is.'
Kyren: There, Chapter 3, finally. Shalashaska: Necralis is a bit slow at writing. Kyren: A bit? Yeah, and like Necralis said me and her have decided that when we write the updates I write the end bit and she writes the beginning cause these things can get really long when all four of us ( Me, Necralis and our muses) write them. Shalashaska: VOO! Kyren: Yes, voo. If you do then.er.expect a.giant cookie! Um. actually just expect a lot of thankyou's. I don't care what your review says, just VOO! (no flames unless you think its really constructive)
((this fic was written after listening to "I think my dad's gone crazy" by Eminem. No, really! We were also hearing the music from Peregrine's castle in Medievil. That's a game by the way.it's really good, if a little (alright, very) dated.))
Vader: Remember, I belong to Necralis (she used to be Gleam, for those who haven't figured it out yet) She thought Gleam was stupid. Actually, everyone thought it was stupid.
Necralis: Okay dokey, here is our 3rd chapter. This officially makes it my longest fic ever! (most of them don't get past the second page of my science notebook). Thanks to those EIGHT WHOLE PEOPLE who gave us voos (voo is my shorthand for review)
Vader: (whispering) she's crazy. Just don't say anything to her about pancakes.
Necralis: what was that?
Vader: uh.nothing.nothing at all about pancakes.
Necralis: PANCAKES!!! The memories.so many horrible memories.AAAAARRRGH.
**forgot to mention. we own almost squat. Most of the locations belong to Naughty Dog.and the characters Jak and Daxter.but Versca belongs to Necralis, as does Nithana. Kyren owns almost everyone and everything else.but we BOTH own the Amarathine Shadow. DON'T NICK 'EM!!!! Oh. Amaranthine (note the extra N) is another word for purple, so we spelt it wrong and made it coooooool. ^_^**
Jak II: The Darkened Path
Chapter 3: The Illuminar
Jak rolled aside and came up, ready to fight. He wouldn't be running away this time!
As he looked for the attacker, he caught a brief glimpse of Mir, who was still standing. She was shaking her head in annoyance and shouting something, but it took a while for his rattled brain to make sense of it.
Eventually, he realized she was swearing.
"Versca! I told you not to try and come after me! You could have killed this guy, and he was going to find us a base! Get down here so that I can strangle you with the rat thing! You think I'm f*****g defenseless just because I was an-"
Daxter interjected angrily. "Hey, no one uses me as a weapon! It could ruin my-"
"Ruin your what? Your fur? Your goggles? Face it, skunk boy, you have nothing worth ruining, except maybe your vocal cords, and if you don't shut up, that's exactly what I'm going to have to-"
"May I say something?"
Daxter and Mir both turned around and yelled "What?"
"Who are we yelling at?"
Mir looked baffled for a second, as though she had forgotten all about Jak and the attacker. Then she turned around and yelled into the darkness, "VERSCA! Get down here so this guy can see who tried to kill him!"
A female voice, presumably Versca, shouted back, "But I don't want to be strangled!"
Mir rolled her eyes. "I won't kill you if you come down right now."
The voice came again. "Promise?"
Mir crossed her fingers behind her back. "Promise."
"Okay." A brightly coloured figure sprang out of the purple mist, bounding quickly over and over.
At first, Jak couldn't figure out exactly what the newcomer was like, except she was fairly tall and agile. Then he realised she was actually doing handsprings. Clearly she was a performer of some sort.
"Show-off." Mir muttered. "I don't think of it as showing off. I prefer to think of it as.asserting my abilities." The girl named Versca was dressed in a sea green, wide sleeved shirt that offset her brilliant green eyes and a pair of loose, blue pants with a yellow band around the left cuff. Her hair was silver at the top, but deepened to bright red at the tips.
"Well, anyway, Versca, this is Jak. I rescued him from a Diya."
"Rescued him, you say? Sounds romantic."
Mir scowled. "I'm beginning to regret letting you join us."
Versca grinned evilly, displaying teeth. "Oh, but you can't do without me. I'm the only one who can throw a dagger without cutting my hand open."
"Versca, just shut up. Jak, this is Versca. She used to be a circus performer."
Jak nodded as though he knew what she was talking about, even though he had never been to a circus due to a highly amusing practical joke played by Daxter that involved the plant in Samos' lab, the shark's teeth belonging to the Fisherman and some sticky tape. He had been grounded for a very long time, despite the fact that he'd had nothing to do with it.
"I'll give one piece of information to prevent you from killing her and anyone nearby: her nickname is Vercky."
Versca pulled a very ornate dagger from her sleeve, tossing it up into the air before catching it expertly. "And I assure you; if you ever call me that name, I shall remove your limbs and strangle you with them."
"What, what's that? If someone is strangling someone else, I must be informed in case I can join in."
Someone else had joined the conversation, jogging out of the mist. This guy (he was clearly male) was short and stocky, wearing a blue shirt and faded brown pants. He looked Jak up and down with startlingly blue eyes that were half hidden beneath a dirty bandana and matted russet hair. "Who's this?"
Mir looked incredulous. "Did you all follow me out here?"
"No, no, just me and Vercky. Oh yeah, and Trax."
"Of course. Of course you took Trax with you."
"Well, how else were we supposed to follow you?" He flapped irritably at the violet mist that covered everything. "This stuff makes it impossible to see anything unless it's right in front of your face. Oh, that reminds me." He turned around and whistled piercingly. "Trax! Here, girl!"
Jak half expected a third person to come striding out of the mist, but instead he was almost knocked off his feet by a small shape that proceeded to lick him all over the face. Sputtering, he tried to push what ever it was away, but only ended up with hands covered in slobber.
"Jak, this is Ptek. And the mutt is Trax."
Jak would have responded, but the 'mutt' was trying to steal his backpack, so it was up to Daxter, as usual, to introduce himself. "I'm Daxter. The brains of the outfit. And this is Jak-aagh! Get it off me! Get it off meeeeeeeee!" Trax had lost interest in the backpack and attempted to make off with Daxter instead. She had pulled off quite a spectacular leap (for her size - she was even smaller than Daxter) and her teeth had closed on the ottsel's tail. Daxter screamed bloody murder and toppled off Jak's shoulder, wriggling about like a snake, trying to dislodge her. He managed to get up and kicked Trax square on the wet, snuffling nose. She yelped and let go.
"Trax! Traxxie! Are you all right, girl?" Ptek had rushed over and gently picked up the mutt and was now stroking her tenderly between her over large ears. He glared at Daxter, then at Jak. "You watch your pet, blondy, or I might have to incorporate him into my next project."
Daxter bristled at this insult. "I am not a pet, I am a man-"
"Boy," Jak pointed out.
Daxter glared at him. "A boy who has been turned into a fuzzy thing, not a fuzzy thing who has gained the power of speech!"
Versca turned to Jak, impressed. "That's some great ventriloquism, blondy. Can you do any other voices?"
Daxter began to jump up and down, clearly incensed. "I AM A HUMAN! JAK IS NOT DOING THE TALKING FOR ME, HE CAN'T EVEN TALK FOR HIMSELF!"
"I can so!"
"That's beside the point! The point is, I'm a human! Not a muse, not a weasel, not a rat. A human."
"Oookay.now that Daxter's gotten over his little rant, I want to know something."
Ptek eyed him cynically "And that would be."
Jak pointed at Trax. "What is she?"
"Ummm.we don't know. She just.turned up and decided she liked me best." Ptek placed the little animal back on the ground, where she made a strange yapping noise and promptly went off, tearing around like a firecracker, the sky-blue strip that ran from her nose to her tail standing out amidst her orangey-brown fur.
"Don't go too far, Trax!" Versca yelled. The hound didn't take the slightest bit of notice.
Mir glanced up at the sky, then cursed as she realized she couldn't tell the time, as the sun wasn't visible. "Damn it, we have to get back to the others. Come on, Ptek, Jak, Trax.Vercky."
Versca sighed. "Now I have to think of a suitably painful revenge."
"You can do it on the way," said Ptek. "Let's go."
*
"So, uh, Jak, where's this hiding place? Is it far? More importantly, is there food there?" said Ptek as they strode north along a tiny stream, Mir in front followed by Ptek and Jak, Versca bringing up the rear.
"It's quite a long way down south, though not as far as my village. I've been all through it, and it's pretty hard to get to."
"Why's that?"
"For a start, the whole thing's underwater, and I don't think lurkers can swim. As well as that, the place is crammed full of traps."
"Like what?"
Jak waved his hand vaguely. "Dark Eco.pipes, platforms.there's water everywhere, and the Precursors made this weird system where it goes all yellow and anything in the water at the time is fried."
Ptek nodded. "Sounds good, if we can avoid the traps. But you forgot the most important thing."
Jak stared at him for a second before he remembered. "What? Oh, you mean food!"
Daxter sighed, looking depressed. And hungry. "That's something it's sadly lacking in. Unless you're keen to try eating Precursor metal, there is absolutely nothing to eat."
"That's a big problem, then," said Versca from behind them. "I don't know if you've noticed, but there is currently a slump in agriculture."
"Eh?" "All the plants and animals are basically stuffed. And that's putting it lightly."
As if to underline this point, Daxter's stomach growled loudly. Just at that moment, when they were all staring at Daxter (who was staring steadfastly back) Mir stopped moving and yelled "Halt!"
Ptek mock-glowered at her. "I bet you've always wanted to say that."
"This is the spot," she said, ignoring him. ""What's the code again?"
"Eh." Versca clicked her fingers. "Something like. 'upside down' or 'visa versa', wasn't it?"
Jak of course, didn't know what they were talking about. It just looked like a perfectly ordinary mysteriously neat curtain of leaves to him. Daxter had already figured it out and he smirked: leaves weren't much protection against Lurkers.
"Topsy turvy," Ptek was saying, "Weren't you the one who thought it up, Vercky?"
"Shuddup," was the reply. At that moment, the curtain of leaves parted and a grinning face peeked out from under.
"What's the password?"
"Let us in, Vester, or we'll break down the door." Mir said mildly.
"Awww! You never let me have any fun."
Just let us in, Vester," said Mir, and pushed past him, into the cave beyond. Ptek and Jak followed, then Versca, who carefully rearranged the leaves to look like they'd never been moved. "All the comforts of home," said Daxter as he looked around the cave (note sarcasm). In truth it was the most miserable little hole you could possibly imagine, with a floor composed mainly of worms and mud, and unidentifiable gunk dripping down the walls. A few meager supplies had been arranged around the walls, blankets and clothes mainly, and they completely failed to give the cave a warm homely look.
"Honey! I'm home!" bellowed Ptek, causing Mir to stomp heavily on his foot.
"Shut up," said Versca - this seemed to be the most often repeated phrase in this group. Mir shouted something about new arrivals and two more people appeared from nowhere, as well as Vester (when he'd finished brushing mud from his pants).
"Okay, crew, blondey here is Jak and this is Daxter. Jak, this is Lethra," Mir said as she pointed to a short blonde girl with bright blue eyes. She was wearing tight fitting tan coloured pants with a belt that had a ring (like the one that Jak has on his backpack, only smaller) and a blue shirt. The girl smiled shyly and gave him a little wave as she said "Hi,"
"And this is Karok." Mir waved vaguely at a well-built man with brown eyes, who grinned evilly and said, "Picked up a couple of strays, eh, Mirly?" "And you've already seen Vester."
A man with a frame so wiry it looked as if he would blow away in strong winds gave a sweeping bow and said, "At your service,"
"Don't make fun of him, you git," said Ptek, as he looked up from brushing Trax off with a very ragged shirt. "This kid - " Jak scowled - "is going to show us a brand new HQ, hopefully not as bad as this - dare I say it? - hell hole."
"I dunno about hell hole," Vester said seriously. "When you think of hell, you get fire and brimstone and lots of nasty monsters."
"Yeah, well, anyway, are we gonna get going already?"
"We have to get all our stuff together, you impatient cretin," said Mir.
Vester sighed theatrically. "Can't you go five minutes without insulting someone?"
Mir gave him a look of fake horror. "And take away my one true calling in life? Are you insane? Don't answer that," she added, as Vester opened his mouth, probably to prove the insanity theory, "Come on, let's pack up. With luck, we might be able to find some food on the way."
*
Everything moved quickly after that. Within half an hour, Jak was leading the others back along the stream, past trees and bushes and rocks. Each sight was more depressing than the last, with everything looking like it had been doused with acid, then dropped into a bucket of navy blue paint (which was not very far from the truth). Daxter, Versca and Ptek were all testing the boundaries of each other's sanity, trying to drive the others insane before they got to the City.
It would go like this. Versca would start off by saying, "Are we there yet?"
Ptek would then moan, "I'm hungry,"
Daxter would then add something along the lines of, "My feet hurt," even though he was riding on his usual place on Jak's shoulder and had the least to complain about of all of them.
Mir would tell them to shut up. They would, for about five minutes, say nothing, just walk (or ride) along, staring at the horizon. Then Versca would start it off again. And again. And again.
By the time they had crossed the threshold of what remained of Rock Village, Mir's eye was twitching dangerously, Vester was mindlessly and constantly adjusting the collar of his shirt and Jak kept raising his hand, then lowering it again, trying to prevent himself from grabbing the ottsel's ears and giving them a good twist.
They were repeating the cycle for what Mir counted as the forty-seventh time when Jak suddenly came to a halt and swore.
"What's the matter?" Ptek asked, then, without waiting for an answer, pushed him aside, and saw what he was looking at.
He swore too, though for a different reason.
The village was wrecked. Jak didn't know how the Lurkers had done it, but the Blue Sage's hut had been reduced to a pile of rubble and the machine he and Keira had used to levitate a huge boulder was lying in sparking pieces scattered clear across the village. Worse yet, the floating logs that had been used as a bridge were either missing entirely or lying at the bottom of the pool. Dammit, thought Jak. How were they going to get across now? The main plaza was still somehow intact, though several of the houses that had been piled precariously on top had been destroyed.
Ptek swore because he had caught a glimpse of a Lurker Shark. Or what had been a Lurker Shark. The Shark had swelled so that it was now even larger than the Fisherman's boat that it had once taken a bite out of. They clearly couldn't swim out to the City - they would have to find another way to do it.
"We're buggered," said Ptek gloomily. Karok looked at him strangely, then addressed Lethra, who had somehow remained completely silent during the whole trek.
"Any ropes, Lethra?"
The blonde girl shook her head wordlessly.
Daxter squinted towards the opposite shore, then saw something that made him brighten up considerably.
"There's some rope in the plaza! See? There- no, there, you fool."
"How're we going to get to it?" said Karok, then looked at Jak. "Unless blondy here can fly."
Vester grinned at Daxter. "This.thing looks like he might have hidden powers."
Daxter glared at him. "I do. Just not the kind you're thinkin' of." He leered at Mir, earning a whack across the back of his head.
"I have an idea," said Versca. "We could toss weasely boy here across, and he could retrieve the rope for us."
"Brilliant except for one slight flaw; Daxter can't throw to save his life." Jak knew, having tried to goad Daxter into playing catch with a couple of his uncle's ink bottles.his shirt hadn't always been blue. "I could swim across."
"Listen, Jak, you've had experience with these shark things, right? You dive in there, you'll have to be filtered out." Jak stared at Ptek. His previous attitude had been one of indifference, as if he didn't care what happened to anyone. Now he actually sounded concerned. Maybe it was the Dark Eco.
Mir had been silent through this whole exchange, then her eyes went wide and she grinned and snapped her fingers. "Lethra, hand me your belt. Your pants won't fall down, you idiot. Jak, I'll need your backpack. I swear I'll put it back together when I'm done. The rest of you, get out the spare clothes and blankets. I think I've got an idea."
*
"Think this'll work?" Versca said to Mir, as she tied the last knot.
"You'd better hope so, or you're toast. Or maybe fishsticks." Mir grinned wickedly. Versca glared at her.
"I hate you," she turned to Ptek. "Why am I helping you losers out again?"
Ptek rolled his eyes, as though he'd recited this many times before. "Because we saved your life, and we also need you and if you nick off, me 'n Trax will hunt you down and destroy you."
"Ah."
Karok tested the knot, making sure it would secure, before handing it to Mir. "There ya go, Mirly. I reckon it'll be able to hold one of us at a time, no more."
Versca stared dubiously at the rope that had been constructed out of their spare blankets and clothes knotted tightly together. Jak and Lethra's rings had been tied at either end to lend weight so that it could be thrown. The plan was that Daxter would be thrown across (the weasel had protested viciously, but a little persuasion, a little blackmail, and a little violence had changed his mind) while the other end of the rope was kept on the cliff. Daxter would climb up and tie the rope onto a convenient part of the plaza and, one by one, they would swing across and throw it back.
"I would just like to say, that if I die, it was entirely your fault and I'll haunt you for the rest of my afterlife," Daxter said to Jak as Vester picked him up and made ready to throw him. Jak smirked.
"Don't wriggle," Vester advised "Or I might drop you to the fishies and then where would we be?"
Daxter glared at him. "I don't know you very well and I don't trust you and I don't know if your aiming's up to scratch. I just want to say - heeeeeeeeelp!"
Vester, tired of the ottsel's whining, had heaved him towards the plaza. He flew in a not-very-graceful arc, before landing with a painful sounding 'whumph!' right on the spot he'd been aiming for. Muttering swearwords, he picked himself up and clambered up the outside of the plaza. Spying a convenient looking hook, he tied the rope around it, trying to recall everything Jak's uncle had told him about knots. When he was fairly sure it was secure, he turned around and gave the group on a cliff a thumbs-up.
"Me first!" Ptek said eagerly, and without waiting for the others reply, he swung straight out over the purple-looking water.
Belatedly, he realized the rope might not be entirely secure.
"I hope it is. I really hope it is.'
Kyren: There, Chapter 3, finally. Shalashaska: Necralis is a bit slow at writing. Kyren: A bit? Yeah, and like Necralis said me and her have decided that when we write the updates I write the end bit and she writes the beginning cause these things can get really long when all four of us ( Me, Necralis and our muses) write them. Shalashaska: VOO! Kyren: Yes, voo. If you do then.er.expect a.giant cookie! Um. actually just expect a lot of thankyou's. I don't care what your review says, just VOO! (no flames unless you think its really constructive)
((this fic was written after listening to "I think my dad's gone crazy" by Eminem. No, really! We were also hearing the music from Peregrine's castle in Medievil. That's a game by the way.it's really good, if a little (alright, very) dated.))
