A/N: Now that things have officially started in the plot (took long enough, huh?) we can mebbe start to make it interesting. Even though I'm not too trhilled about this chapter. But then again, when AM I satisfied with something that I write? Anyway, I'm only warning you not to flame too hard if you DO flame. And I usually don't do this, but I'm gonnaask youthat if you read the story, do be kind enough to leavea review. Thanks.
AND
::PLEASE
READ
THIS!!!::
I beat Jak 3 and in two or three sittings, and since that is the case, I need to mention that THIS STORY TAKES PLACE AFTER THE EVENT OF JAK II!! AS A MATTER OF FACT, PRETEND JAK 3 NEVER TOOK PLACE!! Thank chu!! Heh, Oh, and for the record.... (Don't read if you want to find out on your own) Collecting enough eggies to unlock the secret model viewer on the main screen..?? And going to Jak?? And hearing Jak...LAUGH!!?? OHMAHGAWWWDD!!! It is the most ADORABE THING EBBA!!! -dais- And and...OH there are SO many things I want to ramble ON about from JAK 3!!! But I don't wanna spoil anything for the people who haven't gotten there yet.
Anyhue..!!!
OK now that that's all out of the way, I wanna give a shout out to all my reviewers...
Crazy-Psycho-Chic: I've got two things to say to you... One, I want to thank you. Its people that rant about hating yaoi that keep me fueled and motivated to write it even more. Think of it as an evil little streak I have that likes to show that no matter what flamers or yaoi-haters say, I'm a yaoi girl and proud of it! Two, I'm not going to yell or freak out on you, coz I'm not like that. S'not my style. But I WILL say that there are TWO types of people in this world: people who like yaoi and yuri, and people who don't. There should be a neutral understanding between the two groups, you know? CLEARLY there is a warning in the FIRST CHAPTER as well as the SUMMARY of Loud Silence stating that yaoi is WITHIN THIS FIC. Therefore, you should know that there is yaoi WITHIN THIS FIC! And if you do not LIKE that kind of thing, I figured you would know not to read it. There's nothing more irritating than a flamer that complains about you having yaoi in your story when you gave a clear warning, and I am not forcing you to read something you don't want to. So you go write your fics, and I'll write mine, and we won't have a problem. You should at least be thankful I'm not the type to lash out at you like others will. But try not to frustrate me or I won't hesitate to unleash these other yaoi authors and authoresses behind me. (steps aside and shows caged writers foaming at the mouth) Kay? Trust me, you don't want to push the wrong buttons on these guys. (sweatdrops) Whew! I've also noticed that I'm not the only one you have ranted to in a review. There's gotta be something else out there to fill your day besides buggin' us poor obsessed writers!!
Shark: Flame or not, I love to get reviews and criticism. It's good for the soul. Mebbe even better than coffee or Hallmark cards. As for Snake and them doors, ya gotta just see what happens, I guess, 'coz I don't wanna spoil the surprise. For such a weak and boring start, it's finally getting to the point where it gets interesting and worth the read. So thank you in every way for whatever you send and slash or say. I appreciate it lots and lots! It's reviews from you and others that have made me a better writer, or at least I hope, during the process of this fic. –Hands you popcorn– Enjoy, my friend.
jess: I was always very fond of cliffhangers. Reading them, writing them, being tortured by them and staying up at night thinking about them. For a while it was what kept people from reading my story, I think. You know, just to fill that curiosity and find out what happens next. But I think I'm finally to a point where I don't NEED cliffhangers to make people read Loud Silence. Or at least... I'm gonna keep telling myself that! Yes, lets go with that! Oh, that all means thanks bunches!
Midnyte Wolf: -smiles because you are smiling- Let the smiles spread, my dear readers! Let them spread like they never have before!! Or...or ya know, at least grin just a little bit. I mean the next chapter IS here. Trust me, I TOTALLY know where you're coming from with the whole 'hurt' thing. I think there are A LOT of readers out there that are like that. We can't help it. It's like 'oh I feel so bad but I also feel so happy that you are in pain becoz people around you love you!!!' Ya know? I know you know!! KNOW! And don't go dying on me just yet, otherwise you won't get to read this one! Silly!
Demyrie: You... are QUITE the review writer, aren't you? Then again, I know about that little urge you get when it comes to typing... I know, cuz I get it too? -shakes you out of your joygasm- Hey!! -Face faults as you slump to the side with a silly grin- Ehhhh, fine. You can read from down there, I 'spose. Happeh to hear you likied the rooftop scene, I was worried it was a bit too loose on Daxter's character, but you made me feel better about it. Also,I'm usually not too great at writing action myself, but I try 'coz sometimes it's necessary to make a good story. And yesh..yesssssh, little Daxter was injured. I know how to tug at your guys' heartstrings, hahaha!
WHEW!
I know Jak was trying to be careful and hold me close enough to keep me feeling safe. And trust me, he has no idea how much I appreciate that. But this whole... running and bouncing thing? It was really starting to make my stomach churn. And my head hurt. I did my best to hold it inside and keep myself from spilling chunks all over my best friend as well as myself, and at the same time preventing embarrassment, but it's a really hard thing to do when your trying to keep yourself awake at the same time. The things I do to keep a lasting impression, huh?
Running for what I estimated to be about a fifteen minutes straight, which even if you are a good and daily runner, by now you start to lose at least a LITTLE a bit of stamina, Jak started to lose speed and run out of breath. Ah, so he IS human after all. The city, needless to say, is huge. Walking was not something you wanted to do for transportation unless you planned to be out there all day long. Zoomers or a jet board made by a smart but troublesome, squeaky voiced girl was the only way to get from point A to B within a decent time. Now that I think about it... I... don't see the jet board on Jak's back anymore. Was it lost in the flames? Well I wouldn't be surprised. Remember? Bad luck? Me? Yeah.
Not to mention... I'm sure that even Jak was having at least a LITTLE trouble keeping air in his system. 'Specially after running through all that smoke and flame and debris looking for me. Then there's the interesting little fact that he doesn't even cover his nose or mouth when he's carrying me. If this makes any sense, he was smart, but he was stupid.
Your typical blonde.
I could hear him muttering and whispering desperate words that I can only assume were aimed at me, on the count of no one else being around, but I never understood a single word clearly or fully enough.
After a little while, wheezing emitted from Jak's mouth, and his chest moved rapidly as he stopped and bent over to catch his breath.
"Take your time, Big Guy," I said, and he held me closer. "I'm not... in any hurry."
"Shut up, Dax!" He grumbled somewhat compulsively and forcibly as he took off again. I would've been offended if I didn't know that Jak was merely concerned. See lemme explain something to you... Jak, when worried or defensively vexed, is harsh with his words and cold with his actions. But it is just the way he expresses himself. So if your looking for a translation: 'Shut up' equals 'I'm gonna get you back as soon as I possibly can, no matter what you say to me.'
Yep, that's Jak.
And I'm not going to fight with him, 'specially when he's like that. I wasn't busting your chops when I said I don't want Jak to worry for my sake, but truth be told, I was inwardly hoping Jak could maybe make his feet go just a little bit faster.
I didn't want to fall asleep either, 'coz I was afraid of not waking up again, or even worse, never seeing a certain face again. But my lids were becoming dead weight and my body was getting kind of chilly. And I know it was me that was cold, 'coz usually a person (or animal) is sweating when they just exit a wall of flames.
My stomach did a random flip as Jak made a quick motion, explicitly jumping, and wracking up another number of zoomers that he's taken over in his lifetime. Although halfheartedly in effort, I tried to get a tighter grip on the fabric of Jak's tunic, Jak made sure to keep me from falling out of his grasp. And soon the wind was blowing at my fur as the zoomer went forward, Jak repeating his technique of driving with one hand.
And this brought me to wonder: Why didn't he jump on one before?
"How long," I asked, forcing myself to be louder. "have you been running?"
It was just plain curiosity, and I freely asked, expecting an answer.
"Doesn't matter," He kept his eyes forward.
"Why are you just... getting on one now?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Why just now?"
"I said... don't worry about it."
I don't know why I'm so eager to know.
"Jak."
He gave a vigorous sigh and narrowed his eyes angrily as he spoke.
"There's no..."
"No..?"
"No fucking zoomers when you need them."
"Relax," It was more of a plea than a command.
"Don't tell ME to relax, Dax."
"Heh... You know that rhymed."
Jak looked down at me, his face showing nothing but concern and worry. His armed raised slightly to raise me up higher and tighter. As soon as my mouth opened to speak, his face returned to angry and he cut me off.
"I said don't."
That one statement was the official closure of our conversation as he turned a corner and leaned forward as if it could make him go faster. It was about that time I started to shiver. Or at least I think I was.
Whether I was or not, Jak decided to carefully stick me inside of his tunic, which was a very nice place, by the way, and brought both hands to the control of the zoomer. With one more hand to help him turn and switch zoomer levels easier, his speed and agility increased and we went flying through the city.
The speed, the wind, the buzzing and the ringing in my ears soon became white noise and I started to drift off to sleep, ignoring my former promise to myself not to. I was too tired to care. Sadly, though, I was jolted awake with a swift curse from Jak's lips.
"FUCK!"
My eyes now wide open with wonder, and my heart picking up its tempo, I raised my heavy head with much effort, trying to see what the hell was going on. Jak must have felt me stir, for he gently pushed me back inside his tunic and ignored my efforts to poke my head outside. My unasked question answered itself when the sound of guns sliced the crisp air.
KG's.
I think I groaned in annoyance at the sound, as well as the growing throb in my skull. My gloved paw came up to rub at the pressure, only to have my limb ache and be brought back down to rest at my side. I sighed and swayed my head to the right, letting the ring of gunfire and screaming become my lullaby.
At least... it served as one until we screeched to a stop and the extreme bounce I experienced enlightened me that we had just jumped off the zoomer and were running once again. The lovely little box we were towing along with us slid around and landed on top of me, and I wrapped my arms around it, holding it close. It might've been 'coz I didn't want it to crush me. Or maybe I justneeded something to hold and it was the only thing available at the time. Then again, maybe I wanted to cling to the fact that said box was containing Light Eco, a substance that I had long awaited to see. My eyes wandered, even though the only thing my vision would allow was a blurry sight of the inside of Jak's tunic.
"Jaaak?"
He kept on running, his feet smacking against the pavement at a fast and steady pace.
"Jak!"
Still no response. My head spun like crazy and my hands left the box and went flying to the side to cling on to Jak for dear life as I suddenly started to slide all over the place. A cold hand reached in and brushed against my own. I mustered up enough strength to drag myself up and see the outside world again. Jak assisted me and picked me up from under my pits, being as gentle as he always was with me, and cradled me again against his chest and the box. I was greatly disappointed to find us positioned at the entrance of Snake's hole in the ground.
He shook me just enough to gain my attention.
"Just hang on a little bit longer."
The distinctive staircase filled my vision as Jak dashed down, his hand cupping my head, as if knowing that it was pounding like a drum. He started throwing his words out of his mouth before his feet even reached the bottom step, where he held a defensive stance, and facing Snake, who somehow always knew when we would be back.
"It's my turn to tell you what to do," He snarled and growled under his breath, his chest vibrating with the exploit. I could see Snake lower her head in disapproval and lift her brows as if to question our little act. As if to say 'Excuuuuse me!?!?' Jak didn't wait for her consent.
"You heard me."
"Where's my package?"
Like she never heard a thing. But that's okay. Sometimes the best lessons learned are the one you learn the hard way.
"You listen to me first. You-"
"Your orders were to deliver it to me, boy." Instead of her teeth finding her bottom lip to gnaw at, her upper lip twitched, and she sneered before stiffening her hand and fingers. Suddenly, her nails seemed deadly to me, and I wondered if what we were doing was uh...healthy or not.
"Why is that package so important to you? What were you planning to do with it?"
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath through her nose, her body loosened and when she opened her eyes, she was her again. Heh, she... kinda reminds me of Torn sometimes.
"I'll do you a favor, Jak. You just hand over that little box of mine, and I'll forget this little incident ever happened. I may even forgi-"
"How about I do YOU a favor and leave you with all of your vital limbs intact, in exchange for you telling me why that 'little box' is so important to you. How's that?"
Wooo! Put down another tally mark for Jak, huh?
There was a hard moment between the two, sparks flying from each of them. I could feel Jak's flesh against me heating up, and I gently brushed his arm with my fingertips.
He was doing it all for my sake.
But would Light Eco even be what I needed to fulfill my desires? After all that's happened, I wasn't so sure anymore.
"Ooouuu!" Her eyes and fist clenched shut and she shook in pure antagonism. "I KNEW you were too good to be true. You have potential, Jak. Don't screw it up by doing something stupid. Just... hand over the box and we can carry on with our lives."
Her hand came forward, motioning for Jak to place the said object into her waiting grip. And Jak paused, taking another glance down at me at the words 'our lives', his eyes tracing over me and looking for something. I didn't give him anything back. I didn't know what he wanted.
"How about we strike a deal?"
Snake seemed engrossed at the statement from Jak, and frankly, so was I. She crossed her arms in waiting, regaining the coolness that she had carelessly tossed aside moments earlier.
"You tell me where I can find of more of this stuff," he brought the package out into view, keeping it just out of Snake's reach. "...and you can have your damn box."
She seemed to think about it, and it didn't take very long for her flutter her lashes in agreement and stick out her hand, nodding her verdict.
"Down in the sewers, there's an organization. A dirty bunch of morons, but if you can find them, you'll find what your looking for." She paused, contemplating. "You have a good eye, Jak. You know how to deal your cards."
With Jak still getting over his fur being rubbed the wrong way, I use that term because I know how irritating it can be, Jak tossed the box into the air for Snake to catch, no longer caring about its use, and ran back up the stairs before she had a chance to hound us about its condition.
Yeah, that's right. We'll get our own damn Light Eco!
"Jak?"
"Yeah?" He said quickly as he kept running, still holding me close enough to hear his heart race with new vigor.
"What are we doing?"
Jak smiled; probably because my voice sounded like that of a scared little kid. Actually, it did kind of remind me of my younger self, which is kind of weird. But I couldn't control the way it sounded, and I was asking a lot of questions lately. I think the reason for that was because I needed to hear some kind of noise, even if that noise was my own voice. The silence seemed too creepy to hear at a time like this. If I close my eyes and don't hear anything, I feel like it's the end. Sounds strange, I know, but what can I say? I'm a strange guy.
"I'm getting you to the den."
My eyes widened slightly in mild alarm.
"I am NOT sittin' in that place..." Breeeathe!! "All by myself!"
Translation: You're not gonna leave me there, are you..?
"Dax, we know where to find the Eco we need to change you back. My first priority to make sure you're alive to use it."
I just had to break into a grin. Was that a slice of humor... maybe even sarcasm I just heard? He was in a good mood, I could tell, if he was able to use the hardly noticeable playful tone in a situation like this. And I'm not going to lie to you. I really love all this attention he's giving to me! And when he told me where we were going, I couldn't wait to get there because all I could envision was him nursing me back to perfect health. Then we would ride off into the sunset... Or rather, I would be on his shoulder and we would dive into the sewers to find some mud men, but it's almost the same thing if you think about it. And just so we would get there faster, I was silently wishing for him to go faster, maybe even sprint, 'cause I know he's going slow so he can prevent my head from banging around.
In fact... I wanted that lovely little fantasy treatment so fast, that I was willing to do a little drama act to make him speed up.
See Jak.
I forced a cough out of my mouth, using the natural gurgle and wheezing from my throat (thanks to the smog in my system) to my advantage. When my little acted out coughing spasm ended, ('coz it was hurting my throat too much), I let out a sigh, making it as shaky and unsteady as I could.
See Jak run.
I'm such as ass, aren't I? What's the harm in making him run just a little bit faster anyway? The way I see it, I was doing it for him, too. I mean, he wants to see me healthy, right? And all I'm doing is giving him the opportunity to see it happen sooner. See? I'm a nice guy!
Sure enough, we got to the den and Jak wasted no time going down the stairs and heading on over to the bunk beds, placing me on the bottom one and making sure I was in a comfortable position. A little sore and really not wanting to move, I assured him I was fine with a wave of my paw, even though the bed itself seemed too firm for my liking. Satisfied, Jak turned around and started digging through all the dresser drawers, catching my attention, and my curiosity.
"Jak?"
He looked up at me, knowing what I was about to ask. He gave that playful grin and kept looking around as he spoke.
"I remember Torn mentioned something to me earlier about having kept jars of Eco down here. You know, for emergencies. Since he doesn't use this place anymore, I figure what he doesn't know won't hurt him."
Just as I cocked my head to the side in amusement and keenness, Jak let out a joy filled 'ah ha' and stuck a jar into the air.
Green Eco.
Who knew?
Suddenly finding that I was able to sit up, and at a very fast rate,I placed my paws firmly on my ottsel hips,and sneered.
"You mean to tell me that stuff was here the whole time!?"
He sat down next to me, chortling at my random burst of energy and ability to move on my own. Okay, so maybe I was in the drama of the moment. Seriously, I didn't know I was capable of that quick of movement yet! Regardless, I still felt like shit, and boy I've never been so happy to see the color Green. I couldn't help but feel butterflies swarm my stomach as that lid popped off and Jak stuck his hand inside. He scooped a tiny amount, making sure to leave some in there for the future, and held his hand out to me. Reaching out, I pressed my paw into his hand, and the Green Eco, outstretching my fingers and noticing for the first time just how smallmyhandwas to his... and compared to howmine used to be.
Little green swirls of tender warmth surrounded me and even tickled my skin in some places, snatching my headache from my head and the hurt from my arms and legs. And when the sensation stopped, Jak was closing the lid to the jar, the smuggest of all smug looks on his face. No matter what treatment he had been through, he'll always be the most expressionate person I know. He put the jar away, safely hidden where he had found it, and came back to me on the bed, leaning over to put his face close to my own.
And yeah, I was feeling a whole crap loads better from that stuff, even though I'm still utterly shocked to find that the stuff was even HERE in the FIRST place!!! But he used a small amount, so I wasn't a hundred percent. More like... 78.5 percent. But I'm not complaining.
I almost died in a complete joy when his hand landed on my head and ruffled my fur, sending a small static shock through my system, one that when from my ears, down to my heart. On instinct I scampered up to his waiting shoulder, leaning on his head in a casual manner as Jak stood straight and tall.
"Well Dax," He headed for the door. "I've got a promise to fulfill."
