A/N: I rise from the dead! hooray! I am alive again! Yay! (does little dance)....ahem, please forgive my absence. Writer's block is a terrible thing. I hope chu enjoy this chapter!
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Chapter 3: The Krimzon Redhead
Each step taken felt like three steps back. The sand was endless, giving our hero the feeling of being overwhelmed. Jak continued trudging towards the large rock that he had seen before, as the sun scorched and burned his face. The leather he wore felt twice as heavy under the heat, with all the metal clasps and shoulder plate. His clothes felt heavy too, owing to the fact that it was drenched in his sweat. His strength seemed to escape him as he was barely able to pick up his own feet, which he had been dragging through the sand.
Trying to distract himself from his own misery, he turned his attention to his two companions, who were pulling up the rear. Pecker had recently decided to walk seeing as how flying robbed him of all the abundant energy he had started with. Daxter walked at Pecker's right, with his back slouched, taking in deep breathes as his exhaustion was evident. Daxter's panting had seemed to grow louder, but maybe it was his imagination, thought Jak, seeing as how there were no other noises to compare it to. Getting closer to the rock, which turned out to be more of the size of a large boulder, Jak's eyes were starting to blur. The heat from the ground was creating waves in the air, obscuring Jak's view. Trying to correct the imperfection, Jak almost missed his name being called, as his mind started to wander.
"Hey, Jak?"
Couple more blinks should set my vision straight. But what if I can't open my eyes afterwards? The sun melds them together, what would happen then?
"Jak?"
What's that sound? Sounds close but nothing's here....were my ears always this big? You'd think for such large ears that I'd hear better, but...
"JAK!!"
Snapping out of his daze, he turned to see Daxter and Pecker gazing up at him; Pecker out of annoyance and Daxter out of concern.
"Ye-yes?" Jak replied, stuttering as he felt his tongue dry up almost immediately upon opening his mouth.
"I was callin ya," Daxter began, eyeing Jak as though he could fall over any minute. "I was gonna ask you if ya had any plans on how ta get us outta tis mess....you do, don't cha?"
"Well," Jak mumbled, trying to think of what to say that would put his friend's mind at ease. Truth be told, he had no clue what to do. The only thing he planned on was first getting to that boulder, then thinking up a plan. At least at the boulder there was the possibility of shade, which would be greatly appreciated by all. It was at times like these that he wished he was still a mute. Letting Daxter do all the talking was so much easier.
"Well," Jak began again, hoping to sound more convincing. "I thought that the first thing we should do is to find shade. And that," he said, pointing half-heartedly at the boulder, "looks like a good place as any."
"...oh...ok" Daxter said, looking at the rock as though it nothing special. But if it had shade that was good enough for him. The pads of his feet had hardened somewhat from the heat, but it was still very uncomfortable.
With that being said, the three continued their march towards salvation from the sun.
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Having reached their destination, the three sunk to the ground, exhausted, dazed, and thirsty. Jak sat with his back leaning against the uneven wall, closing his eyes as he thanked Mar for the small comfort of shade. Granted, it was still hot, but just the fact of being in the shade seemed to put his mind at ease. His breathing slowed to a gentle pace, marking his descent into slumber, as his head tilted to the side a bit.
Using the moment of rest to his advantage, Pecker began to preen his feathers; taking them one by one in his mouth, cleaning them the best he could by ridding them of sand, then spitting out the dirt. Having cleaned only fours feathers, he realized the stupidity in his act. By cleaning his feathers, he only made his mouth drier. Plus it was inevitable to try and keep them clean, seeing as how the sand was everywhere, whether it be on the ground or airborne. Stopping his habit, cursing himself slightly, he closed his eyes. 'Perhaps taking a short siesta will liven my spirits,' he yawned only having to cough a bit for inhaling the stale, hot air.
Noticing that his friend and.....the rat with wings had taken it upon themselves to doze off, Daxter took the opportunity to glance around his surroundings. Desert as far as the eye could see with only a few bumps on the horizons. 'Probably rocks, rocks, and more rocks' Daxter thought as he slumped further against the side of the boulder. He couldn't help it as a yawn escaped his mouth. His eyes began to droop, slowly closing only to open seconds later. 'A nap couldn't hurt, could it?' he thought as he scratched his side, 'Then we'll be on our way again.' Another yawn answered his question for him as he began to submit to the call of sleep. The last thing he recalled before completely going under was the sight of a large cloud of dust on the horizon, which seemed to be growing bigger but was probably his sleep-induced imagination.
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......Hey.....
Out of the darkness he swore he could hear a voice. It sounded distant but there none the less. All around him was dark and it beckoned him. Here, he felt safe and comfortable. He felt strangely at home and he had no feeling of leaving any time soon.
....Hey!
The voice grew louder and even sounded a bit impatient. He knew there was no escaping it so he might as well face it head on. Slowly, he cracked open his eyes a tad, the warm rush of light entering him. Immediately he closed one, unprepared for the brightness. The feel of sleep slowly faded and was being replaced by curiosity. The ground underneath him no longer felt that of the harsh, grittiness of sand. It felt soft and comfortable to the touch. Nor was it as hot as it had been before. Now the presence of a gentle breeze had arrived to take its place.
As his eyes began to focus, he knew one thing already; he was no longer in the desert. The fact of being alive or not, or if this was a dream, he was unsure of at the moment. Gazing in the direction of where the voice had come from, his vision a bit blurred, he was met with the shape of a person. By the tone of the voice, it sounded to be female.
"Ke-keira?" He choked out, his throat felt as through it would crack from lack of moisture.
"Who?" The voice sounded confused, "Oh dear.....you must be hallucinating. It was a good thing I found you in time or the heat would've gotten to you first. Though....it might have, I'm not sure. Here, you're probably thirsty."
At that, Jak felt an object press against his chapped lips. Having felt a drop liquid spill a bit on his face, he realized it was water being giving to him. After greedily taking all that was given to him, his vision began to align itself to form a sharper image.
Above him holding an empty glass was a woman. The first thing he noticed about her was the stark contrast of her bright, red hair to the brown tone of the surroundings. Her hair went to her shoulders, along with her long bangs that stopped at her chin. She seemed young, probably around the age of 22 or so. Her eyes were brown but had a very kind look to them. Now looking more closely at her face, he was taken aback by what he saw: Tattoos. And not just any tattoos, ones that belonged to the Krimzon Guard. Alarmed at the thought, he tried to inch back, but realized he was too weak.
"Don't try to move. You're probably still very weak from having no food or water. Here, lemme help you." She began to say, moving closer to him.
"......Krimzon..." Was all he could voice out, feeling helpless and at the mercy of his former rescuer, now turned captor.
She stopped her advancement to him and leaned back. Realization dawned on her faced as Jak watched her. 'Great' he thought 'Not only do they banish me from the city, but they capture me right back to torture me. Probably some trick to fool Ashelin and the Underground into not looking for me while they do more tests. Just my luck.'
"You think........" she stared at him as though he were crazy. Quickly her face split into a smile, only to be followed by the amused sound of laughter. Jak had only time to quirk an eyebrow before she began to compose herself and explain.
"You think...you think I'm in the Krimzon Guard? Lemme guess. Right now, you think you've been captured and are now gonna be tortured to within an inch of your life, correct?"
Jak nodded, which was followed by another short burst of laughter from the girl.
"The heat must've done worst than I thought. Lemme give you an update since you decided to take that nap of yours. Which was not such a good idea, might I add! Mar knows what could've eatin you before I got there. Consider yourself very, very lucky. You, sir, are currently a guest in the grand city of Spargus, which is under the rule of Damus, the King of Spargus. Speakin of which," she glanced outside of a nearby window. "He has asked for you to make your presence known before the court upon your awakening, preferably before sunset. That means we haven't much time, as the sun will set in about half an hour or so. Now come on," she said, now gently pulling his arm in attempts to sit him up straight. "A small meal and water'll do the trick, then off to see the King."
Regaining his balance enough to sit up, he looked around to find himself in what looked like someone's house. Haven City's metal world, his former home, had now been replaced by these new, strange surroundings. The wall, floor, ceiling....everything was made out of different types of rock, mud, and the earth itself. Here and there, there was bone encased in the mix but not much else. Metal was still visible in some places, but was seemed to pale in comparison to the abundance of natural material.
Turning his attention back to the girl, who was now fixing something to eat as it seemed, he noticed her attire. Devoid of any Krimzon Guard affiliation, she wore a simple cloth-like blue shirt, leather shorts, and leather boots. Though let it not be said without the proper armor, seeing as how it covered her forearms, shoulders, and boots. Noticing the condition it was in, he guessed she saw her share of combat. So aside from her tattoos, nothing seemed to fit in place with that of Haven city. 'She must be telling the truth', Jak deduced. 'Was she banished as well?' he thought.
With that thought, he was quickly reminded of his own predicament. He still couldn't believe what had happened. He was never going to see Keira ever again. Ever hear her voice or see her face. Just thinking about her made him feel worse, as he sank back to the comfort of the pillows. Never to see Keira ever again, or Samos, Keira's father. Even he had to admit, he would miss the old sage. Surely Samos should've seen what was bound to happen. He had hinted at it about a year ago after Jak had defeated Kor. He remembered as if it were yesterday that they were all watching the celebration and festivities after the Metal Head leader's defeat and Samos hinted towards something about meeting Mar. Followed by the short brawl between Dax and...........
"DAX!!" he yelled as he bolted upright from where he lay. The sound of metal indicated to him that he must've startled the girl, for she had dropped a pan and turned to look at him.
How could he be so stupid! Here he was, lying in a comfortable bed, whining over his misfortune, when he had no clue where Daxter or Pecker where. Last he remembered, they had fallen asleep right beside him. What if the girl was right about some animal eating him and had instead eaten them? Jak would never forgive himself if anything had happened to his best friend. After all, it was his fault that Daxter was out here in the first place!
He glanced quickly around the room and was about to rise when the girl called his attention.
"Dax?..... Oh! You mean your pets!" she smiled, as he looked at her.
'Pets?' he thought, confusion gracing his features.
"Don't worry, they're still asleep. They're over in the corner." She added, pointing over in their direction.
Sure enough, Jak saw them in the corner on a pillow-like bed, a devilish grin forming on his lips. Apparently the girl did not know that his 'pets', as she put it, were actually talking individuals who would probably take great offense to being labeled as pets. Nor had she known their great distaste for one another, seeing as how she had placed them together on the pillow rather than separating them. 'Which probably wasn't the best of ideas', Jak thought as he noticed that during their slumber they must've moved around a bit. His grin grew wider as he noticed Daxter's body was, for the most part, draped over Pecker's body. One of Pecker's wings had somehow wrapped itself around Daxter, kind of like a child with a teddy-bear. Plus their tails had intertwined, making it all the harder for Jak not to burst out in laughter. If he had, it would have ruined the moment of silence he was enjoying that would have surely been broken by their yells of disgust and arguments upon their awakening.
Intrigued by the young man's smiling, the girl interrupted his thoughts. "Do you want me to wake them?" she asked, figuring he'd want to make sure they were alright.
"Most definitely no." he chuckled. Seeing the confused look on her face, he tried to think up something that would make sense. "Um, they rarely get much rest and it wouldn't be right to wake them up. I'm sure they'll come to on their own."
"Oh, ok." she said, turning back to preparing his meal.
"By the way," Jak asked, "you never did give me your name? Mine's Jak."
Stopping and turning to face him, she smiled, "Xantha, my name's Xantha. Nice to meet you, Jak. Your meal will be ready in a minute, and then we'll be off to see Damus."
Jak smiled as a way to show appreciation to his rescuer, as she continued once again to prepare his meal. With the smell of cooked meat in the air, Jak had the feeling that for once in a long while, things might just turn out alright.
Yay! End of chappie 3!!! yay! Finally! Thankies for reading and I hoped chu enjoyed it! Things to point out while I re-read this chapter: birds do preen their feathers w/their mouths/beaks, so naturally I thought 'so would Pecker'. yay for bird habits! Next chapter Jak meets the king, but all is not right in Denmark.......too much Shakespeare. sorry thanx again!