A/N: Sorry for not updating in a long time. You guys were bugging me to do so, but I've been really busy with school. I'm one of those people who always wants honor role and will not settle for anything below a B. I know, annoying to everyone else, but that is just me. I was given the gift of knowledge. I'm smart, don't hate me for it. At least I don't shove it into people's faces. So here is the chapter that you people have been waiting for. It is really boring, but I have to have boring chapters to lead up to the good ones. Please R&R. I don't own anything from Jak2. Sorry for not answering reviews!

Chapter 27

"What time is it?" Merlander asked Sig as they walked toward Dead Town. "I have to be at Roxie's home by six."

"You now have a curfew?" Sig asked Merlander with a chuckle.

"Hey, I'm just trying to take care of my team," Merlander said like it was no big deal. But Sig knew him too well. "There still is a Black Water even if Simon is gone."

"You never liked Simon," Sig stated to the teen.

"So he was a bit creepy sometimes," Merlander said with a shrug. "He was still the leader. But it does not make sense. The Baron would have killed him along with the others." Merlander rubbed his forehead as unwanted memories of that day flooded back into his head. He had to force them away. He knew he would forget them just like all the others.

"You need a break," Sig finally said after a long silence. Merlander looked over to him with wide eyes. He was about to say something, but Sig cut him off. "You work too hard, Mer. You need to rest and learn to relax. One your age should not be into all this stuff."

"Relax?" Merlander said with a tinge of anger to his voice. "How can I relax when we have my uncle ruling over us? I have things to do. I have to take care of Black Water, work for Torn and Krew, and spy for the Wasteland! I don't know about you, but taking a break is not on my-to-do list."

Sig looked over to Merlander with concern. The teen always kept everything in. He never had out bursts of any kind. Right now Sig saw that Merlander was breaking apart. His whole life was crashing down on him. He had no parents or loved ones to say that everything was going to be okay. No one to love.

"Look, Merlander," Sig started but Merlander cut him off.

"I'm okay," he said while giving Sig a cocky smile that hid the true pain he was feeling inside. "You don't have to worry. Now give me some slack. This box is a bit heavy." Merlander was back to himself again, and Sig smiled. One thing Merlander hated was pity. He did not want Sig to pity him.

"When do you get sleep, kid?" Sig asked him while lifting up more on his end of the box Krew gave them.

"I already told you," Merlander said. "I have some disease that makes me not sleep. I can try, but sleep will never come. Might as well work late nights."

"You need to go see a doctor about that," Sig said. "Don't you ever sleep?"

"When I get too worn out," Merlander said with a nod. "I'll sleep for around a day. Lock myself into a room and don't wake up till my body is recharged. No big deal. We're here!" Merlander was glad to get off the subject. He knew he had to see a doctor, but he kind of liked staying up for the whole day and night.

The two went through the big door and out to Dead Town. It was early in the morning and they could see a little light coming up on the horizon. They could hear the bugs all around them that only came out for the night. A thick fog quickly covered them, and the cool feeling gave Merlander a chill. He hated coming out here in the dark.

"Hello," Sig called out. "Krew sent us. We are here to give you the guns."

No answer. Sig looked over to Merlander, and the teen gave a shrug. Maybe they were early. They started to walk more into the fog, and the soggy ground under their boots made a squishing sound. They then stopped and waited in creepy silence.

"Drop the box," someone said from behind Merlander. The teen felt cold metal behind his neck and knew he was being held at gunpoint. He nodded to Sig, and they both dropped the box. Now Sig saw the faint outline of the person behind Merlander.

"Open it," the person behind Merlander said to Sig. He grabbed Merlander's arm and pushed him forward to show Sig what was going on. Merlander looked away from Sig and was thankful the fog covered his embarrassed face.

The new guy had short brown hair and tattoos over his face to show he was Krimson Guard. Merlander had never gotten tattoos on his face, because he had not been working that long. With one look at the guy, the two right away did not like the exchange. Krew had been playing them both.

"Open it!" he guy demanded sharply. "I'm not kidding. Krew is known to play tricks on us."

Sig tried opening the box, but it was nailed shut. "I need a crowbar," Sig said while giving up and looking up at Merlander and the other guy. "He always likes playing it the hard way. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind when we get back."

"How do I know you won't just try to knock me out with one?" the Krimson Guard asked Sig.

"Just give him one!" Merlander shouted to him.

"Shut up, kid!" the guy said while digging the pistol more into Merlander's neck. "You're just my insurance. You have no need to talk." Merlander rolled his eyes while shifting around in the grip the guy had on his arm. He was useless.

The Krimson Guard did give Sig a crowbar, though. Sig had the box open in a few minutes. They looked in and saw ten guns in there with straw to protect them from damaging. Three other Krimson Guards came out of nowhere and looked in it too.

"We asked for twenty guns," one guy said. "There is only ten."

"Ten?" Merlander asked with shock. They were stuck in a big mess. "Remind me to knock the living crap out of Krew when we get back."

"If we get back," Sig muttered to himself while slowly standing up. Sig gripped his peacemaker tightly as the men surrounded him. They were all Krimson Guards, and they all did not look too happy at the moment.

"I say we kill the kid and send the other to give a message to Krew that we are not happy," one guy said.

"Krew would not care about the kid, though," another one said. "Let's kill the big one."

"How 'bout both!" some other guy shouted above the rest.

"I've always liked you," Merlander said to the guy holding him with a nervousness smile. In a situation like this it was worth trying everything. If sucking up to someone let you live then Merlander would do it.

"I want to kill the kid!" the Krimson Guard holding Merlander said in a whinny voice. Merlander's smile faded, and he glanced to Sig with a bit of panic.

"Don't kill the teen," came a calm voice from somewhere in the fog. Merlander shuttered when he realized whom the voice belonged to. It was Simon. He walked into the circle so everyone could see him. He had his hands behind his back and a confident smile was planted on his face.

"Why?" one guy asked.

"He has too much information that I need," Simon said while looking over to Merlander. The teen felt like his mind was trying to be opened up, but he quickly blocked the guy's Mind Speaking by concentrating on a thick brick wall. It always worked, but he had to be focused on it.

"So what do we do?" the guy that held Merlander asked Simon. It was clear that Simon was the leader of everyone. Merlander could not understand it. This whole time Simon was working for the Baron, and he had never seen it before.

"Take the box and boy," Simon demanded in a steady voice. "The Baron will not be so mad once I present him with this one of a kind prize. Leave the other guy. We don't need him."

"What could you want with me?" Merlander asked in disgust.

"You under estimate yourself," Simon said to the teen. "You have information about the Underground, Krew, and where Roxie and the rest of the eco freaks are. All I have to do is just take a look inside your head."

"You can't do that with Mind Speaking," Merlander said while shaking his head in disbelieve. He was having trouble keeping Simon out of his head. Too many emotions swam inside him.

Simon gave a cold laugh and said, "There is so much you don't know." He then tapped Merlander on the chin, and Merlander's wall came crashing down. He gave a wince as Simon somehow brought up a flash of memory to Merlander's head about the day Black Water was found. He had seen everyone he ever cared for get shot in front of him. Merlander thought he would never bring up that image.

"That's it!" Sig yelled as he saw Merlander wince. "Say goodbye." He then started to shoot the Krimson Guards around him. There was some yelling and more gunfire, but Merlander's thoughts were only on trying to block Simon out again no mater what it took.

"You're coming with me," Simon said to Merlander while grabbing the teen's arm.

"Don't think so," Sig yelled while throwing a punch at him. Simon ducked and yanked Merlander in front of him. Sig had to stop right away to not hit Merlander in the face. Sig then grabbed Merlander's other arm and tried to pull him free from Simon.

Right before Simon let go of the teen he tried to find something in Merlander's head. He found it and was satisfied with it. He let go of Merlander and stumbled back into the fog to disappear. "Fall back!" he yelled to his men and they quickly vanished into the fog.

"Let's get out of here," Merlander whispered to Sig. They both then ran out of Dead Town and for the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon. Simon and his Krimson Guards did not follow and let the two go. Merlander was just thankful he was not in Simon's hands anymore. It had been too close.

"Give your report, Simon," the Baron ordered the man standing in front of him. He was seated in the throne room with Erol by his side. Erol had his hands folded in front of him, and his usual frown planted on is face. He had just reported that Roxie and Daxter had stolen some of their money and got away. The Baron was just hoping that Simon would bring good news.

Simon was one of his best spies. He stood up straight and tall in front of the Baron with his hands behind his back in a confident matter that he always seemed to have. His eyes were locked on the Baron.

"Krew only sent ten guns," Simon said with little emotion at all. "But that is not important anymore."

"What do you mean?" the Baron asked with anger in his booming voice.

"One of the men Krew sent is someone with a lot of importance," Simon said. "You might know him. His name is Merlander."

"Merlander?" the Baron asked with a chuckle. A smile crossed his face and he laughed again at the odd idea in his head. He did not notice that Erol looked to the floor when he said this. "Merlander is dead, Simon. I think you saw someone else. Erol told me he shot him. I've heard nothing else about my nephew after that day."

"You can believe me," Simon said with a wicked smile. "Or the guy with the big ego problem standing next to you." Erol shot Simon a dirty glare and knew he was doomed. Simon stepped back and waited for the wrath of the Baron.

Baron Praxis looked over to Erol and saw that he was looking away. "Erol," the Baron said slowly. "What happened to Merlander? And tell me the truth."

Erol sighed and said, "I shot him. I thought he would die, but I guess he didn't."

"You told me he died!" the Baron yelled.

"It does not matter anymore," Simon said with a wave of his hand. The Baron glared at Erol before looking back at Simon. He would deal with him latter.

"Go on," the Baron told Simon. His nephew had always been on his mind. He had secretly watched him at different times.

"You see, your nephew is someone with almost no weaknesses," Simon said. "But everyone has to have at least one." The Baron was liking this. He gave Simon a smile to keep going. "Before he got away I kind of took a peak into his head. I found out he likes the green eco girl, Roxie, I had told him to protect. If we kill or capture her, we could hold the teen in the palm of our hands. Just think of all the information I could get out of him about this city! And he is a great fighter. Maybe would could force him to do a few things for us. He is very important. Be thankful that Erol did not kill him."

The Baron looked to Erol to see if he liked the idea. Erol was smiling. "I like it," Erol said with a nod. "And if the Baron does not mind, I would like to lead this mission. Time to give them a little bit of payback."

"Go ahead," the Baron demanded with an evil smile playing at the corner of his mouth as he leaned back in his chair and thought about how much power he had on the city. He was king. Merlander would be his.

"Just…just throw it like I showed you, Tuya," Merlander said with frustration flowing in his voice. Tuya looked over to him with a guilty smile coming to her lips. She had never thrown a boomerang before. Merlander was trying to teach her how to use the weapon. She would not use a gun, so he had to come up with something else she might use to protect herself.

Torn had been too busy with the Underground to teach anything to Tuya. He told Merlander to teach her Elfish and how to fight, but Merlander was failing with his mission to do so. Merlander did not know much of Human and was having a hard time teaching her Elfish. And the girl was no fight machine. She did not want to get dirty or work. She was too weak and girly.

Merlander realized that the girl had an eating disorder after only two training sessions with her. She ate little and was very weak. It was kind of obvious. She was so thin and tiny. Merlander knew he had to talk about it to her sooner or later.

As always, Tuya was a fast learner. She understood most of what everyone said now. She could speak little Elfish from what she learned from Merlander and from what she heard around her. Merlander just wished she was as fast with a weapon. She could never protect herself with no training, and in Haven City it was smart to know at least some self-defense.

The two were now in Haven Forest in another training session. Tuya liked coming there with Merlander. She did not like the city. She was a big animal lover too, and she seemed to attract them. She knew so much about them. It baffled Merlander when she walked up to a big group of butterflies one day, and they all landed on her. She had just giggled while Merlander stood there shocked. No one could do that. She had a gift with animals.

"I think I have it," Tuya said with a nod to Merlander. She tilted her hand with the boomerang back then threw it with good form. The boomerang was different than normal ones. Once it was in the air, a sharp edge came out to cut down anything in its path. It was made out of thin metal, and it was one of Bo's creations. Just for Tuya, she had painted a red dragon on it and made a holster for it, so it could hang on her leg for a quick reach.

The boomerang came back, and Tuya caught it by jumping into the air. She gave Merlander a proud smile and, he nodded. She was good with the thing now, but she had already practiced each day with it. She had a hard time getting used to it.

"Boom bam, baby!" came Daxter's annoying voice from far away. "One part of Haven Forest mapped out!" Merlander looked up on the cliff behind him and saw Roxie and Daxter there with smiles on their faces. They were so goofy together. They were trouble.

Just seeing Roxie there made Merlander tense up. She saw him, and their eyes met each other. Merlander's heart skipped a beat. After a month of the crush it was still there. He had tried so many times to put her out of her head, but it was not working.

Tuya looked over to Merlander, and a small smile crept to her face. She knew he loved Roxie. She could see it in his eyes whenever he saw her. Roxie was lucky. She had someone with so much passion watching over her with patience for the right time.

Tuya knew they would get together sometime. She just wished someone liked her that way. She wanted someone like Merlander waiting for her, but that would never happen for her. The only time a guy liked her was because of her looks. At first she liked it, but it was never filling. Now she just wished she could go back again. After going anorexic she could never eat much. She hated being always hungry, but her stomach could not take much. She was stuck with that curse. She was slowly recovering, though.

"So what are you doing with the girl?" Daxter asked Merlander as Roxie jumped down to them. He jumped off Roxie's shoulder and bounced up to Tuya's with a wide smile. "How 'bout you hang out with us, good looking?" he asked her while making his eyebrows go up and down.

Tuya giggled at his actions. She loved Daxter. He was so cute and funny. She made out most of what he said to her. Most of it was flirting that she thought was funny. He was always trying to get her to talk to him or make her smile. At first it was because he thought she was pretty, but now they were just friends. She had turned him down too many times.

"Yeah," Roxie said while narrowing her eyes at Tuya. "What is she doing here?" Venom dripped in her voice, and Merlander stumbled for words to calm her down.

"Do I detect a little bit of jealousy in your voice?" Daxter said while cupping a hand behind his fuzzy ears. "I bit of envy, perhaps?"

"Why would I be jealous?" Roxie said while glaring at Daxter to make him shut up. Daxter sighed while rolling his eyes at her. He knew the two had a thing for each other. He did not know why she liked to hide it. He always came right out with it when he liked a girl. Maybe that was why he had no girls yet.

"I'm teaching her," Merlander answered while ignoring Daxter. He then turned to Tuya and Daxter and said, "Can you leave us alone for two seconds?"

"Go for it!" Daxter whispered to Merlander. "You two love birds are for each other."

"Shut it!" Merlander snapped back at him in a loud whisper. Daxter had forced Merlander to tell him he liked Roxie. Now Daxter was trying hard to get the two together for some reason unknown. Merlander just ignored Daxter's useless attempts and just waited for the right time.

Tuya gave Merlander a sly smile and walked away with Daxter perched on her shoulder. She started to mess with her boomerang while giving a bored sigh. Daxter also gave a sigh of boredom, and they both looked to each other with smiles.

"How good are you with that do-hickey?" Daxter asked her while pointing to her boomerang.

"Okay," Tuya answered after a long pause to understand what he had just said. "I'll show you." She then threw it at a branch, and it sliced it in half then came back to her. She caught it with a smile on her face.

"Awesome!" Daxter said. He then saw something in the tree with the sliced branch and tilted his head to the side confusion. "What's that?" he asked while pointing to it.

Tuya walked to the tree and they both looked up into it. A tiny head popped up from above and looked at them with big, green eyes. It was so tiny and cute. It had big, long ears, and a long tail that was like a cat. It looked like a cat and lemur put together. But it was only a baby one with yellow fur with one black stripe going down its back. Its tiny pink nose sniffed the air, and it made a strange meow sound.

"Cute!" Tuya said with a big smile coming to her face. "What is it?" she asked Daxter.

"A baby muse," Daxter said while still looking up to it in the tree. "They love running away. My friend and I had to catch one once. It was not an easy job. Those things are tricky to catch."

Tuya nodded while translating what he said into her language. She then started to climb the tree. "Hey!" Daxter yelled to her. "Why are we trying to get it?" He clung onto her shoulder with worry that she might fall. She finally got up to the baby muse.

Daxter was surprised that the thing did not run away. Tuya sat on the same branch it was on and extended her hand out to it. She said a few soothing words in Human. The muse gave a little purr and jumped over to Tuya and into her arms. She then climbed carefully back down.

Tuya cradled the baby muse in her arms then put it in her backpack. "What are you doing?" Daxter yelled. Tuya wrapped her hand around his big mouth to make him be quiet so Merlander and Roxie could not hear him.

"Shh!" she told him. Daxter finally nodded to show her he would keep the secret to himself. She then gave him a smile. Merlander was finally done talking to Roxie and turned around to face the two. Roxie and Daxter went back to mapping out the forest for Mod while Merlander and Tuya headed back to the Underground.

Torn glanced up at the girl with worry in his hard, blue eyes. She was looking down at her pad and was drawing like crazy on it with her eyes only showing interest in her next picture. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth absentmindedly. She looked so cute that way. Almost little sisterish in Torn's eyes.

Torn wanted to say something to her. At first he did not want anything to do with her. Then after a while he watched her more and more. She was this thin weakling that would never make it in Haven City if he let her go on her own. She needed to be protected. Torn had been struggling to make up his mind. He wanted to help her, but he thought she would think he was stupid. She did trust him more than anyone. Maybe it was because he was the first to find her and take care of her.

"Tuya," he finally said while keeping his eyes on the girl sitting cross-legged on the bunk bed. Merlander had given her a great name. Amber was kind of strange, but Tuya was so her. Tuya looked up to Torn with confusion in her eyes. He did not talk to her much.

"How is the training with Merlander going?" he asked while leaning back and crossing his arms.

Tuya paused while trying to think of an elfish answer. He could see the wheels turn in her head. She finally looked back up at him and said, "Good."

"Are you learning anything?" he asked.

Tuya gave him a guilty smile and said, "Little."

"I'm thinking about maybe me training you," Torn said slowly. Here it was. For some reason he really wanted to train her on his own. He wanted to help her. He could if she said yes to his next question. "How do you feel about that?"

Tuya gave him an unexpected smile that just lit up the dim room. She thought Torn was cool. He was the only one who took her in and was nice to her. Merlander was nice, but he was just there to teach her. Daxter was a good friend, but she rarely saw him. She only saw Ashlen once after she ended up there. She had met Kor, Vin, and the cute little kid, but she was not really friends with them. Onin and Pecker were just strange. Torn was the only one she felt like he liked her.

"Wicked sweet," she said with a nod. She had learned that from Roxie saying it so many times. Torn lifted an eyebrow at what she said with surprise. She was an odd one.

"We start tomorrow then," Torn said with a small smile. Tuya nodded with happiness. She had no idea what he had just said. He just chuckled at her actions. He would have to teach her a few more words in Elfish.

Suddenly Tuya's backpack started to move. She gave a gasp, and Torn looked up from his maps. Tuya looked over to Torn while grabbing the backpack so it would stay still, but it was not working. Something was in there, and Tuya did not want him to know what it was.

"What is in there?" he demanded to know.

"Nothing!" Tuya said quickly while shaking her head. Something popped out of the flap of her pack and jumped to the ground in front of Tuya. Torn's eyes went wide with shock. It was a baby muse! He thought those had died out long ago.

Tuya said something in Human and dived for the cute fuzz ball on the ground. It gave a little frightful sound and jumped to Torn's table filled maps on it with graceful ease. Tuya tried to catch it again, but the little thing was too fast. It dashed around the table and knocked everything over.

"No!" Torn groaned in frustration as he tried to catch the thing too. After the muse made a mess of the table it jumped around the room with quick leaps to walls and anywhere he wished to go. It landed on Torn's shoulder, and it made him jump with a gasp of surprise. Tuya tried to grab the muse, but it quickly started to crawl around Torn's body with little squeak sounds.

"I got him!" Tuya yelled while grabbing Torn's shoulder where the muse used to be. Torn finally grabbed the muse by the tail and held him in the air up to Tuya with a frown planted on his face. The muse finally calmed down and sniffed the air with another little chirp of mischief.

Tuya lowered her eyes to the ground and shoved her hands behind her back as Torn glared down at her with stern eyes. "Sorry," she said softly while daring to glance up at Torn with her deep brown eyes.

"What am I going to do with you?" Torn said with a sigh. He dropped the baby muse into her hands while rolling his eyes. For some reason he could not stay mad at her. "Just keep the thing away from my table, okay?" Tuya gave a nod and petted the little thing in her arms tenderly, and it snuggled up to her chest.

"Eat?" she asked Torn while twisting the muse's tail between her frail fingers.

Torn looked up from where he was trying to fix his desk with eyebrows raised in question. She shifted in his gaze and gave him her sweet smile that made him just want to hug her. "Milk, I guess," he finally said with a shrug. What did a baby muse eat? He would have to ask someone that. "Kor might know for sure."

"Keep him?" she asked while pointing to the muse in her arms.

Torn was about to say no, but then he saw her face. She was giving him a wide smile, and she held up the little creature to his face with her eyes pleading. He did not answer, and she went into the puppy dog pout that she knew would break him down in two seconds.

"Don't do that to me," he muttered to her while looking back to the muse with disgust.

"PLEASE!" she pleaded with him and shoved the muse into his face. "Cute!"

Torn frowned. He knew he was going against everything with the answer he was about to give. He glanced back at her, and her eyes glowed red again like they always did randomly. She really wanted the thing. He gave a long sigh then said, "Yes. You can keep it."

"It has name!" she snapped back at him in pretend anger. He raised an eyebrow to tell her to keep going. "His name is…Mozart!" She had always been a classical music fan. Torn did not know what the name meant, but smiled anyway. The girl did have a way with animals.

A/N: Next chapter will be a Jak chapter! What you guys have been waiting for. Please give a review!