Thank you toLenipez sideshow, firecat1991, and Eco Child for your reviews. This one gets ugly at the end so reviews would be nice to know how I did...
Caden was furious. Why? How? Too many questions with no answers. Everything that had happened, they really weren't her family. What was at the Temple that they had wanted? She was staring into the pools of Damas' palace. Kleiver had said that Raghnall and Vaja had returned empty handed. Leaving Pecker to try and cheer Caden up. Caden had been so lost in her thoughts, that she really hadn't noticed the bird.
"There's something at that Temple that they wanted. Why take me along? I have nothing nor do I know anything." Caden talked out-loud. Pecker decided to fly to her lap from his small perch on a near-by rock.
"The eco within this world can and have done amazing, both good and bad, things. Maybe, somewhere in that Temple, lies something for you to find, a mysterious artifact for you alone?" Pecker told her, gesturing greatly with his feathers. Caden nodded and went back to her thoughts, which Pecker sighed in defeat. Caden could tell he was trying and felt bad so she started to pet his back.
"That is nice…" Pecker said, growing relaxed. Soon, Peckers was nearly asleep in Caden's lap. She kept petting him until she was sure he was asleep. Carefully, she moved the bird from her lap to a nearby flat rock. Caden got up and raced to the elevator and waited for the lift to go to the top floor.
Pecker immediately awoke to the elevator moving and ended up in the water. Flapping widely around, he was able to remove himself from the water quickly to see Caden going down the lift.
"Caden! Wait!" Pecker yelled, flying towards the elevator, but missing her completely. He flew to where Damas had left a communicator for them, "Damas! Caden is running away!"
Caden had walked down into the garage and waited for Raghnall and Vaja to enter. Kleiver stood next to his leader.
"So what's going on?" Kleiver asked in his heavy accent, "These blokes do somethin' really bad besides comin' back empty handed?"
"Spies most likely. They are stealing for our enemies in Haven City." Damas answered, "We need to get anything from them."
Kleiver nodded and watched as the huge doors opened and the touch puppy roared in. As Raghnall and Vaja jumped out, Damas immediately interrogated them.
"Where are the artifacts? The storm should have uncovered quite a bit." Damas said. Vaja shrugged while Raghnall just shook his head.
"We looked, nothing was out there." Vaja said, defiantly.
"Where did you go? The desert is filled with artifacts." Kleiver asked, noticing something off about the pair. He was right, for they hesitated on their answer. Damas knew then, that they were with Kix and probably were spying.
"Raghnall, Vaja. You are under arrest and will be removed from this city. We know you are spies, help Kix." Damas said. Raghnall and Vaja looked at each other in surprise. Kleiver quickly went behind the two to block their escape.
"How did you find out?" Raghnall asked.
"Reports from Haven City." Damas answered, "They reported Kix entering and the rest of your kind running from the Underground's help. We just put two and two together."
"Damas! Caden's running away!" Pecker yelled over Damas' comm-unit.
"Don't worry. Will find her." Damas reported back. He looked to their captives, "She's after you. She fells betrayed."
"That is her purpose. It's none of our fault that she ended up like that. We all volunteered. Caden just ended up there, serving time." Vaja sneered.
She and Raghnall quickly started fighting against Kleiver and Damas. Raghnall took on Kleiver, trying to take the big guy down. Vaja went after Damas, kicking at the leader as fast and hard as she could.
Damas and Kleiver tried their best to block most of the attacks, but were being pushed back into the walls. Damas was growing tired of the fighting and backhanded Vaja across her face. She reeled back a little. She was about to go on another attack before she suddenly was standing limply before Damas. Vaja soon fell after the loud noise that preceded her fall.
Damas saw Caden standing there with a Spargus weapon. To his surprise, Caden turned and immediately shot at Raghnall. Raghnall was in a power match against Kleiver when Caden shot at Raghnall and sending the man a few feet away from the Spargus guard.
"Caden?" Damas asked still surprised, "Caden relax." Damas walked slowly towards the girl. She simply ignored Damas and walked to her bike. Starting it quickly, with the weapon still in hand, Caden raced from the safety of the city.
Damas and Kleiver watched silently as the child raced away and turned their attention to their new enemies. Kleiver lightly kicked Raghnall to see the man curl into a ball.
"So what's the plan with these, blokes?" Kleiver asked.
"As if we never found them. Secure and bind them up. We do not want them knowing how to get back here." Damas said, leaving, "I will go and find out where Caden could have gone."
Damas left and slowly made his way back to his thrown. Pecker was on the comm.-unit with Torn explaining the situation. Listening in, Damas heard the bird talk about Caden being mad and betrayed and thinking there was something at the Temple.
"She's gone. Caden left the city…" Damas told Pecker, which Torn heard as well.
"Where could she have gone?" Torn wondered.
"She has to be going to the Temple. She was wondering a lot about what was there that they needed her for." Pecker said. Damas nodded at the point.
"Send Jak back this way. He will need to go and get her." Damas told Torn.
"Not a problem. He's heading this way now…" Torn explained and ended the transmission.
"Do not worry, Pecker. I am sure Caden can take care of herself." Damas added to his advisor.
Caden was on her way to the Temple as they thought. Dodging and shooting at the oncoming marauders all the while. She raced as fast as she could. Determined to find out what was so great there.
Jak and Daxter were making their way back to the Naught Ottsel. As they neared the port, Jak communicator went off. It was Torn…
"We're about there, Torn." Jak said.
"Get to the Temple fast. Caden's found out that everyone in that tribe was actually using her. She left Spargus and Damas believes she is headed to the Temple." Torn told them quickly.
"What? She just left with no word?" Daxter asked, looking at Jak.
"Damas and Kleiver were fighting those two 'elders' when Caden came up behind and took them out. Damas said they're still alive. Then she left with no word or any remorse." Torn said after a second.
"Let's go Jak." Daxter said, with Jak nodding. The two made a quick u-turn and headed to the transport.
On the way there, Jak and Daxter thought about what to do.
"So, say she is at the Temple, but what are we gonna do?" Daxter asked.
"Dax, she's obviously really upset and not all there…" Jak pointed to his head, "We gotta get her back to Spargus." Daxter nodded and was quiet for a moment.
"What if she isn't there?" Daxter finally asked.
"Let's hope that isn't the case…"
It took a few minutes, but they finally arrived at the Wastelands. Leaving the transport, Sig was there in the Dune Hopper.
"Come on you two. We need to get to the Temple and get back." Sig informed them.
"Damas have you come along?" Daxter asked.
"Yeah, just some added help in case you needed any help." Sig answered, holding his PeaceMaker, "In case I need to cover your hides."
"Alright then, let's go before she gets much farther away." Jak announced. The three nodded and headed towards the Temple, determined to find their lost friend.
Unknown to all of them, Caden had found her way to the main door of the Temple by the time Jak and Daxter had arrived in the Wastelands.
"What should I do? Should I go in and find what they seek or should I…" Caden was obviously lost. Something nagged at her… Maybe the whole, attacking people and leaving bit or the uncertainty of what she could possible know.
Caden sucked it up and headed into the Temple and was immediately greeted by Dark Precursor monsters. Tried as she could, she couldn't compete with the monsters. Believing that is why so many of the 'tribe' came along, Caden tried her best to fight them off.
The eco around her eyes made it hard for her to see the enemies, as black as they were. They would blend as one in her mind and make it hard to fight. She kept thinking about the betrayal of her 'friends' and the anger surged through her.
It wasn't good for her anyways. The enemies still overpowered her and got the upper hand with the fight, which her body couldn't take much more of. She was still weak from earlier and being their personal punching bag wasn't helping.
Screaming loudly, a dark eco ring formed around her and spun out. Taking anything it touched, the Dark Precursors were gone…for now. She collapsed soon after, letting her body have much needed rest.
Jak, Daxter, and Sig made their way to the Temple in silence, almost afraid to. They reached the beach on the island the Temple rested to hear a painful scream.
"Caden!" Daxter quickly realized, "Step on it!"
"I'm going, I'm going." Sig yelled and quickly raced the distance to the entrance. As soon as the Dune Hopper slowed, Jak hopped out and ran to the huge doors with Daxter holding on tight. When they got through the first set of doors and as the second opened, Daxter gasped. There, on the floor, laid Caden.
"No…" Jak said, fearing the worst. Daxter hopped of his friend's shoulder and went to Caden's side. He could tell she had been in a fight, but what happened to her attackers? Daxter took a look around and saw a few places with burn marks. The ottsel looked back down to see dirt lightly being blown near the girl's face.
"Jak? I think she's alive." Daxter said, looking at Jak, "She is breathing."
Jak walked over to the form and carefully turned her over. To the hero's relief, Caden moaned in protest of being moved. Jak looked her over and saw nothing more then a few bruises and a red mark over her abdomen.
"Let's get her out of here." Jak said. Daxter nodded and watched Jak carefully pick Caden up.
By that time, Sig has gotten himself in the Temple, "Is she…" Sig carefully asked, not really wanted to know.
"No, just a little bruised up and sore." Daxter smiled, climbing back onto Jak's shoulder. Jak made his way towards Sig as Caden started to stir. Jak tried to hush and assured her that she was safe.
"No. I need to know." Caden whined. Jak was amazed. Caden voiced was no longer laced in a harsh and quiet tone, but he still didn't want her to stay.
"We need to go. We need to get you somewhere safe…" Jak tried to reason. Caden struggled against Jak's hold.
"Let me go, now." Her voice was getting more agitated. The eco was slowly surging again. She was here and wasn't leaving until she knew. Caden remembered the map that Kix had shown her and knew she had to get to a round alter room. Looking around, Caden saw the door she needed and freed herself from Jak's grip. Which surprised Jak as she pushed herself away.
"No, Caden. Come on. You can't stay here." Jak said, grabbing Caden's arm. That did it, Caden was angry and kicked Jak away. The three guys watched in horror as Caden changed. Her body racked with eco surges, which a light scream escaped her. Her nails grew out, fangs appeared, and her eyes grew dark. Caden's skin took on a purplish hue and her demeanor changed. Daxter cringed at the sight of Caden. She stared squarely at Jak before turning and jumping on the wall before entering the tunnel to her destination.
"Whoa, you see that? You can't do that, can you?" Daxter asked, which Jak just simply shook his head and followed Caden. Sig quickly followed behind, not sure of what to say or do.
The three of them walked slowly down the stairs knowing Caden was nearby and completely unstable. Jak put Daxter on Sig shoulder and motioned for them not to move. Daxter's fur stood on end and Sig could only ready his gun. Jak made the last bit of the decent slowly as he went towards the middle of the room. Jak was more worried about Caden for he knew what the dark eco could do, but nothing was really known about Caden's inheritance of the eco.
Jak turned back to his friends only to see Caden lunging at him and knocking him to the ground. The dark eco strikes radiated off her body as she sat over Jak's chest. Her eyes wandered over his form, smelling his fear and worry. Caden then crawled over Jak and onto the steps that sat in the middle of the room. Jak stood up and watched her. Sig, with Daxter, walked next to Jak. Caden started punching at the ground. Over and over, she pushed her fist into the small pillar until a sickening crack was heard.
The girl had broken her wrist and it hung limply on her arm. Caden looked over hand, trying to figure out why it quit working. Why she couldn't make a fist anymore, but seemingly shrugged it off and punched the ground again with her other hand until the ground began to crack. Jak quickly intervened and held her hand.
"No." Jak said sternly, pointing to her other hand, "Not working." He hoped this would help her understand. Caden tilted her head, as if figuring out what he said. She looked down, seeing a chuck concrete, she tried to pick it up. Jak pushed her away and picked up the block himself. Sig walked up next to the two and peered into the pillar's opening.
"It's hallow? Something in there?" Daxter asked. Caden's good arm filled the spot quickly, trying to find her prize. Bringing her arm back out within a few moments, she revealed a glass box. In it, was a pair of bracelets and a belt. They were silvery and decorated in symbols.
"All that for jewelry?" Sig asked.
At that, Caden started to sway, the eco leaving her body. Reality setting in for everybody, knowing the pain was about to truly hit Caden any second.