Author's Note: Again I do not own anything from the Jak and Daxter series that is included in this story. Like Keane, I'm not very knowledgeable with guns, so I apologize for any mistakes I may have made dealing with them. Also Italics indicate a flashback.


Chapter 2


The crisp swish of sharpened metal was all that was heard as the dagger soared with precision through the air. The dagger landed directly in the center of a small target with a dull thud and a flash of light reflecting off the polished metal. From a distance of some yards away a young man smiled at his marksmanship, and slowly walked towards the target to remove his dagger. The harsh click of his boots against the concrete floor echoed throughout the room, as he sauntered forward.

The man stood around 6 foot 3 in height, his body lean, yet somewhat muscled. He had surprisingly broad shoulders, and an angular face. Beneath his green eyes, three dots had been tattooed, each dot increasing in size, the smallest located under his tear duct, and the largest by the base of his ear. Starting at his jaw line on either side, two spikes, with their sharp ends pointing to his eyes had also been tattooed. There was also another spike tattooed upon his forehead, the tip pointing to his nose, but his shaggy light brown hair completely concealed it. Adorning his lengthy ears were four tattooed rings, and a square covering each tip. These facial and ear tattoos distinguished the man as a member of the Baron's Krimzon Guard.

As he reached forward to retrieve his dagger, a voice rang out, abruptly breaking the silence that had fallen.

"Practicing again, Keane?"

The sneer present in the voice was familiar to the boy, Keane, and he threw a look over his shoulder to find Erol standing in the doorway. He nodded silently in response, and turned back, pulling his dagger out of the target. Flipping it deftly in his left hand, he caught it by the hilt and returned it to its sheath.

"One can only benefit from repetition."

Keane's reply was smooth, and he shook his head at Erol's blank stare. It was obvious that Erol had no idea what Keane was talking about, but it didn't matter much.

"Of course. But that's not what I came here to ask you. Some of the other men and I decided to head out for a night on the town to celebrate, care to join us? Or are you too caught up in 'benefiting?'"

Erol chuckled at the last part, and placed his hands on his hips, awaiting the answer he was sure he would receive.

"Actually I'd rather stay here. I'm afraid my gun-wielding skills could use a touchup. Besides I have no time for such petty things." Keane replied coolly. He chose to ignore Erol's last comment, and turned back to target before him.

"I figured you would have some excuse ready. But it's not like I can force you to leave your precious practice sessions. The rest of us will be out enjoying our, as you so eloquently put it, 'petty things'. Have fun."

Erol smirked and left the room abruptly, and Keane was genuinely pleased to be alone again. He had never really welcomed anyone's company for as long as he had been here, and especially not Erol's. The man was a real ass, and he lived for taunting and berating Keane, and everything the young man stood for.

Keane smiled as he stared at the concrete floor thoughtfully. While Erol and the others were off getting drunk and such, he would be enjoying the solitude and honing in on his skills. It was easy for Keane to see who had made the better choice, but unfortunately not so easy for the other KG members.

To them Keane was the outcast, the silent freak who would rather fling his knives by himself all day instead of hang out and race zoomers with the others. They ostracized him on a daily basis, and tried their hardest to make him look bad in front of their superiors. These actions were normally led by Erol, who had feuded with the young man since the day they met.

But today all of Keane's hard work had finally paid off. He had impressed his superiors, and even the Baron himself, with how rigorously he trained, and what he had to show for it. Keane was extremely talented in hand to hand combat, able to knock out some of the best of the Baron's fighters. He was also a near perfect marksman when it came to knives.

But Keane did not only work on his combat skills, he was also a very studious man. When not locked away training, he was often found in the library researching matters dealing with the law and other general interests of his.

Because of his excellence in combat and his intellect, Keane was promoted to the position of the Lieutenant of the Krimzon Guard. This was a great honor to Keane, and he was thoroughly pleased to see that his hard work did indeed pay off. Unfortunately for Keane his Commander was Erol.

Keane sighed lightly shaking his head softly. He was all too aware of the real reason why Erol was promoted to Commander, but there wasn't really anything he could to about it. Sure, Erol had a decent head on his shoulders when it came to knowledge concerning things dealing with the military, but in the common sense area Keane wasn't too sure Erol could cut it. Plus he was so arrogant and pigheaded that he refused to listen to anyone's advice, and was extremely hard to get along with.

The only reason Erol held the rank of Commander was because he had family connections. Keane didn't know just which one of Erol's relatives was related to the Baron's Advisor, but it was someone important enough. But that was life, and Keane knew that what's done is done.

Turning back to look at the target before him again, Keane pulled out his Vulcan Fury and cocked it. He turned on his heel and walked slowly to the other side of the room, once more the click of his boots the only sound. Upon reaching his destination he whipped around quickly and shot off two rounds. He was only slightly surprised when he noticed that there weren't that many bullet holes in the bulls eye of the target. He had never been good with firearms.Keane exhaled lightly and found himself thinking about one of his first days of firearm training.

All the recruits had already been through many courses on gun handling and safety, but this was the first day of actual target practice. One by one they entered the course, followed by the instructor, and one by one the recruits each came out beaming, the instructor thoroughly pleased.

But then it was Keane's turn. He had already proved his lack of knowledge when it came to firearms during one of the gun handling classes. He had been unsuccessful in turning the safety feature of his gun on, and consequently when he dropped it while showing his instructor the proper way to carry his weapon, it fired. Luckily, no one was injured as the bullet flew past the instructor's ear and lodged itself into the wall behind him. Keane was punished severely for his ignorance and instantly became ridiculed by all the other recruits. They couldn't believe how stupid he was and they made sure to remind him of this fact daily.

Keane inched his way forward, clutching his blaster gun tightly. A hard shove from behind made him jump and he ran through the open doors. His instructor shook his head in disgust and explained what the boy was expected to do.

"Listen up you little bastard because I'm only going to say this once. Shoot only the metalhead targets. Do not shoot the civilian targets. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir." Keane nodded and made sure his gun was loaded. Cocking it, he fumbled with the gun slightly before finally holding it in the correct position. His instructor glared at Keane, cursing under his breath. He pulled the switch on the wall beside him, and prepared himself for what he knew was sure to be interesting.

A metalhead target shot up in front of Keane to his left. The boy's first reaction was to land a well placed punch to the general nose area of the beast, knowing that this particular area was a weakness and that it would render the beast temporarily disabled. But remembering just what he was here for, he pulled back the trigger to his gun, and awaited the shot. He was met by an empty click.

His instructor marked this down on his sheet of paper on his clipboard, and gave the boy a good smack on the head.

"The safety is still on! Didn't you learn anything boy!" The man's face was a deep red as he shouted at Keane, who quickly fumbled with the gun until the safety was off.

Sighing Keane pulled the trigger again, and watched with delight as it fired. Unfortunately the metalhead target had long since been replaced by a civilian one, which promptly shattered to pieces. The instructor was careful to mark this on his sheet of paper as well.

And so it went on, Keane awkwardly firing his gun at the targets, only successfully hitting a few out of the 50 there were in all. The moving targets proved to be the most difficult for him, and he missed almost every single one.

As he exited the course, his head was hung in shame as his instructor screamed obscenities at him at the top of his lungs. The other young men snickered and heckled him relentlessly, only silenced when the instructor called them to attention.

Present Day

Keane gritted his teeth as he thought back on that uneasy memory. He had been practicing since that day, firing round after round until he had decided that enough of the bullets had hit the target.

He fired off another round, shells littering the ground at his feet. A few more bullets sliced through the target, a few managing to embed themselves in the bull's eye. Keane smiled grimly and started over again. It wouldn't be long before his skills would be tested..


I'm really sorry that this chapter was short and rather uneventfull. It's just there to kind of show the relationship between Keane and Erol, as well as Keane and the other KG Officers. It also shows how he recieved his position, and how dedicated he is and such.Yay for flashbacks! I promise that there will be some action in the next chapter. Cross my heart and hope to...well you know the rest. XD

Any comments or suggestions? I'd love to hear them! And I should have chapter 3 up by tomorrow night.