LightEcoDragonRider: I do not own any of the characters or species (Metal Heads, Precursors etc.) in this story.

This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic, though I've been reading for quite a time. I really like the Jak fanfics 'Rain From a Drunken Sky' and 'Next Generation' both of which are located convenienty on this site.

Rated for T for some of the best reasons; language, action, and romance.

Warning, Jak2 & 3 spoilers! You're not going to understand much unless you've played all three Jak games.

LightEcoKing: Yeah it's still me. I changed my name. And it's still the same story, I'm just adding more and more to it. The first few are almost the same, but the chapters later on will start altering the story. It's something good for both the old fans and the new! And, just a side note; to anyone who was following the story Daeronth, it's been deleted. My ideas were really very out of place and confusing, and I wasn't really sure where I was going. In short, it was a whim that I followed and I got five or six good chapters, but, well, you don't really write a story like that, unless you're Tolkien. Expect it to be back up within a month or two.

(LINE BREAK)

It was late morning and Jak Mar rose almost reluctantly out of bed. He'd gotten virtually no sleep the night before. After the hero's welcome he'd gotten when he'd returned to Haven City, and the overall rush one feels after they save the planet from total annihilation, Jak felt lonely. Not only lonely, but extremely sad and depressed. Damas had been his father, and the former king of Spargus had never found out. He had died without knowing where his son was, and for that, Jak felt more hatred towards Count Veger than he had towards Errol, the Dark Makers, or any one of the numerous enemies he'd made in the last three years.

His sleep had been filled with dreams, but there was one which more vivid than all the others. He was climbing up a mountain, somewhere that reminded him of the hills in Sandover. He had known he was supposed to meet someone important, someone vital to his life, but when he got to the mountain's peak, he saw Damas.

"You're alive!" Jak cried.

Damas said nothing, but smiled and held out his arms for an embrace. As Jak ran to hug his newfound father, the muscled forearms of Damas turned into the dark blue sleeves of Count Veger's jacket. The Count held him fast and he found himself unable to fight the deadly embrace. Veger siezed Jak by the shoulders and pushed him off the mountain.

Jak couldn't help wonder about the dream as he rose from his cot-like matress in the back of the Naughty Ottsel, splashed water on his face, and put on one of the numerous blue tunics that lined across his closet. "I might need to go shopping," Jak muttered to no one in particular.

He made his way slowly, grogily to the bar of pub. Daxter sat idly atop a stool, sipping a glass of milk. The last time Jak had seen Daxter drink milk, they had been in Sandover, and Daxter was an elf. The ottsel grinned up at his friend.

"How'd you sleep buddy?" Without waiting for an answer, Daxter plowed on. "Listen Jak, you can never really appreciate women until you've had one in the sack, you know what I'm saying? Oh boy if the boys back in Sandover found out that I lost my virginity before you... Hey, what are you doing?"

Jak had reached behind the bar to pull out a bottle of Wasteland's Brew. Jeysen, a Wastelander, had created the heavy alcoholic brew about fifteen years ago by boiling the roots of a flower from the vast desert and blending it with large amounts of alchohol. As Jak proceeded to chug the bottle down, Daxter leapt up and siezed it from him.

"Are off your Yakow?" The orange ottsel cried as he stowed the half-empty bottle behind the bar. "We serve that stuff in shot glasses!"

He softened as he took another look at his best friend. Their last adventure had been rough on Jak. Not only had Jak lost his father just as he learned the truth, but he'd somehow come to terms with his differences. He wasn't a normal elf, by anyone's standards. Even Daxter, who was a completly different species (albeit a revered one) fit in more than Jak.

He looked up at Jak, who had been proven on several occasions to be an elf who could hold his liquor. "Are you alright Jak?"

Jak pounded his fist on the table, upsetting numerous bottles, including Daxter's milk. Daxter ignored it, reaching up on the tips of his paws to pat Jak on the shoulder.

"Of course I'm not alright!" Jak's toned softened slightly as he looked at Daxter. "Dax, I know I should be happy. I just saved the world right?"

On any other occasion, Daxter would have added a sharp reminder that it was "they" who had saved the world. . . . No, however, he just nodded though, allowing Jak vent.

"But Dax, now that we've destroyed Errol, destroyed the Metal Heads, I need to realize, that I've got nothing."

"Oh sure you do Jak. You can help run the bar with me and Tess. You can race for Kiera's team or work at her garage. Didn't Torn promise you a spot on the Freedom League? And then there's Kiera. I think she likes you Jak, and you've always liked her."

"It's not like she wants anything to do with me. I'm either a demon or an angel. But bottomline, I'm a freak. I mean, what would the sex be like?"

Daxter forced himself to keep a straight face, despite the stenuous temptation to laugh. "Remember what Seem said though. The Light and Dark Eco balance each other out-"

"Seem is an idiot Dax." Jak didn't yell. He wasn't being irrational. He was just stating a fact. Daxter nodded in agreement. Who could argue?

Jak was interrupted in his ranting as the door to the bar was pushed roughly in. Torn, strode in, followed by Ashelin and a flushed Kiera. Jak hoped that his breath, combined with the alcohol and the fact that he'd just woken up, wouldn't throw anyone off. Daxter hadn't seemed fazed, but he was set firmly in the good friend mode.

"Jak, I need you to check out a disturbance in Main Town."

"No!" Kiera yelled at the top of her lungs. Torn looked back at her with annoyance etched in his face. "Are you still here?"

"What's going on?" Jak asked, confused.

"Torn wants you down in Main Town, but Kiera and I think you need a rest."

Jak grinned in spite of himself and folded his arms behind his head, relishing the look on Torn's face. "Thanks for the concern guys. I actually am feeling kind of tired. Maybe I'll take the day off. . . ."

Torn glared around at the entire bar, and then stalked off, coming to sit in the Hellcat he had parked outside.

"Um, Jak, could I talk to you?" Ashelin said. Her voice sounded urgent as she pulled Jak quickly to the corner.

"Jak I just wanted to- Did you just wake up?" She stopped mid-sentence, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah." Jak ran a hand through his hair sheepishly.

"Nevermind that." Ashelin said, though she took a step away from Jak. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday when we came to meet you in the desert. When we-"

"Kissed?" Jak finished off her sentence. "Yeah I've been meaning to talk to you about that. We both had a lot of adrenaline that day, and, well, I mean-"

"You didn't mean to kiss me?" Ashelin asked, getting into the 'let's finish each others sentances!' game. "The same goes for me."

"Yeah that's, that's great to know," Jak said with relief. The day had suddenley brightened. "I actually kind of like Kiera."

Ashelin stole a glance at the green-haired mechanic. "Kiera? That's great! Maybe you guys could double date with me and Torn, we've been looking for a couple to be friends with."

"Yeah, that would be great," said Jak, who could not imagine anything worse, and would gladly face the vengeful offspring of Cyber Errol and Metal Kor rather than attend such an event.

"Okay, I'll see you." And she ran outside to meet Torn who had been reduced to honking the Hellcat's horn obnoxiously.

Jak turned to Kiera, who was enjoying toast with Daxter and Tess (who had woken by this time). "So what's up Jak?" Kiera asked between a mouthful of toast spread with Wumpbee honey.

"Nothing," he said, grabbing a slice of bread from the platter before Daxter's greedy paws had finished to whole thing off. "But listen, do you know if Onin does dream interpretation?"

Kiera shrugged. "I dunno," she replied. "Maybe she does. Why, you had a dream?"

Jak nodded. "It's kind of confusing. I think I'll go see her. I just need to brush my teeth."

When Jak was out of earshot, Daxter muttered, "Hell yeah."

(LINE BREAK)

Kiera, who was morally opposed to hijacking zoomers, (it takes so much work just to build one, and you've crashed about seventy since you first arrived in Haven!) had forced Jak to walk with her to Onin's. Jak wasn't complaining though. He had a chance to talk to Kiera for the first time, really ever. They talked about everything from whether Ashelin would make a good leader to where Jak should finally buy a house. Jak missed the weight on his shoulder, but Kiera made up for it. He was almost surprised when they reached Onin's hut.

Upon their entry, Pecker groaned. He was sitting in his usual perche which overlooked the entrance of the tent. "I knew you were coming." Pecker said. "I just hoped there would be a zoomer accident. Where is the rat?"

"Home." Jak said. "Listen I-"

"Is this his replacement? Onin did not mention her." Pecker ran a wing slowly through Kiera's hair, squaking as Jak pushed him back roughly.

"Listen Pecker, does Onin do a dream intrepretation?" Jak asked placing himself slightly in front of Kiera.

"Yeah yeah, go ahead tell me, ah her, the dream."

And Jak recounted his dream. It was hard for him to do so, and he was astonished when stinging tears found themselves in his eyes. Kiera put her hand in his as he plowed on. Finally he looked up. Pecker was stroking his beak thoughtfully.

"Onin says the mountain represents your journey, which led up to the demise of your father. She says that, althouh you were victorious, your one great triumph, finding your father, was taken from you at the last moment. Veger appeared in your dream, because it was he who had separated the Mar's."

"So what's next? For me I mean? There obviously aren't anymore adventures . . . everyone's taken care of. And the Jak trilogy's over, the fans know about the Precursors and Daxter and I are supposed to get our gaming royalties in the mail any day now."

"There is someone who will enter your life, someone who will throw you off your course, and though you will eventually triumph over them, another great journey looms in the distance. A great journey, and an even greater threat."

Jak glanced at Kiera. "Thank you." He held rose, held out his hand, and pulled Kiera up.

"Goodbye." And they left together.

LightEcoKing: That was the first chapter. I know it was a bit corny with Jak and Ashelin, but I wanted to clear that up fast as I could. I loathe JakxAshelin romances, almost as much as I do JakxDaxter. A few chapters on I'll be introducing an OC. I'll have time to get at least one more chapter up, seeing as I can't post any stories until March 26th . . . what an annoying rule.