The characters are products of Naughty Dog, SONY. Blaah blaah.
Afeenaninganing, I have nothing against killing characters, but it's only if they are then brought alive! Otherwise killing sucks…
Amathist Fwirrel, thanks for the-evil-swell-up-and-die-nut!
LunarSquirrel, it's always a good thing when people like although the don't understand. –smile- And a lot better if squirrel does so!
Tank, I'd have no problemos to have all cashew nuts possible to have. –blink blink-
Meowen (and Muse), I understand your fear! And I actually laughed at that over-characterized Pecker… I'm surprised that I update this fast! –smile-
extreme super nova, thanks for shoving the nut down my throat!
jaklover123, great that you liked! I believe that your confusion will be answered later… -blink blink-
Thank you all for this review tidal wave! Means a lot for me. (does somebody want to invent me a synonym for this same sentence?...)
Lucius: "I am rich! I am rich!"
Sipuli: "If I was chipmunk, nananananana-nananananananana-naa, see I had the almonds in the world, if I was chipmunk boy…"
Lucius: "I'm rich! Look at this! I can lay on my cashews! I can swim in them!"
Da: "Eeh, you have three cashew nuts."
maestro: "Has anyone told you that your 'swimming' in three cashew nuts looks pretty odd and sad?"
Lucius: "Spoilsports! You're just envious when I have something you do not! Love and kisses for everyone who donated me a nut! Thank you!"
8. Spots & Lines
The darkness.
The darkness.
Little green and red lines flying across his view.
Little blue and purple spots being chased by the lines, almost screaming.
A sheer line of light blinded his eyes.
Not yet.
The darkness.
Little blue and purple spots flying across his view.
Little green and red lines playing with the spots, almost giggling.
A sheer line of light blinded his eyes.
Not yet.
The darkness.
The spots and lines dancing together.
A floodlight placed inside his eyeball.
A needle in his head.
Disturbing noises. Ache
Not yet.
The darkness.
The spots and lines making love to each other, filling his head with light.
Light dim enough to be seen.
A floodlight inches from his nose.
Disturbing noises.
Almost.
The voice. Dragging him from the darkness.
A voice he was able to rely to.
A voice that could betray him.
A voice that slowly turned the dim light into an ocean of stars.
A voice that could let him down.
A voice that could be confided.
A voice he could trust in.
A voice he could trust not.
Not yet.
The darkness.
The blue and purple spots being chased by the red and green lines, singing happy songs.
Disturbing noise.
The ocean of stars.
The voice he could and could not trust.
He decides to let go.
Now.
"Jak!" the voice yelled, making his ears screech. The voice came closer, "Jak, are you there?"
I am. Am I?
"Jak? Mar?"
Stop it. It hurts. My ears. My head.
The voice sighed. Sounding like a storm hitting one's eardrum.
"I so hoped you'd be there now…" the voice whispered and quivered a bit.
I am! "…"
"JAK! Did you try to say something?"
Don't shout! Hurts! Stop! "…"
"You are there! Please say that you are!"
I am here. Don't speak so loudly. My ears, my head. Hurts.
"You went away?"
No, I'm here!
"Well… It's great that you have recovered a little, at least… Or then it's just my wishful thinking", again the voice sighed, "please come back."
I'm here already! "…"
"You moved. You surely moved your eyelids, a little! You did! Didn't you?"
I don't know. Did I? I'm here! Believe me and Metal Head in hell be quiet!
The voice came closer and he could feel the breathing of the voice on the side of his face. Then something took his hand and held it.
"If you are there now… I need to say that I'm sorry for all the pain I've ever put you through, both mentally and physically. I was never there to watch your back and the missions I gave you never were from a fair caliber", the voice whispered, "maybe this is selfish, maybe I do this only to relieve myself. But I'd really like you to know that you mean a lot for me, Jak, you are my friend."
"…"
"You are there. Aren't you", the voice rose up a kind glow in it, "do not hurry. You have time as much as you want to have, but… Please try to stay there now. Don't drift away anymore."
"Ihmhim." I'm here!
"Jak! Oh my Mar!"
"Hds."
"Oh my Mar, you can speak again!"
"Ihhds!" It hurts!
"Can you open your eyes, Jak? Can you?"
"Ohah! Mmihs!" Stop that! My ears!
"Okay, take it slow. Don't hurry!" the voice whispered again, "don't let me push you. I'm just too excited. Don't hurry."
Don't hurry? He wanted the spots and needles and stars out of his head now!
"Ahwn!" The ocean was huge. He had never thought he'd see so much of light ever in his life. Light. Light. Light. Who replaced his eyeballs with flashlights? Who stuck a match into his pupil? Hurts. Keep the eyes open, keep the eyes open…
"Jak!" the voice materialized. A soothing shadow in the flood of white, "you see me?"
"Ohn!"
"Jak, thank Krew you're alive!"
"Ohn?"
"Was that a question?"
"Huhhahhend."
"I'm sorry, Jak, I can't understand you, yet", the shadow apologised, "just take it in peace, right! …And you should blink."
The shadow started moving away. Jak gathered all his energy and uttered a sharp voice: "no!"
"What?" the shadow stopped and came back.
"Eyh."
"Eh?" although the patient didn't see it, the shadow was thinking desperately, "eyh? Ehm…"
"Sheyh!"
"Say?"
"Sh-d-ey."
"Stay?"
"Ys!"
"You want me to stay here?"
"Ys!"
"Okay, I'll stay in the room."
"Nn!"
"No?"
"Sheyh!"
"Stay… here?"
"Eesh."
"Hmm…" the shadow wanted to ask why. Why the patient wanted him to stay there, bend over him, on his bed? That was kind of hilarious. He should go and get Daxter, here! His buddy was alive! Or, alive he had been all the time, but only now he showed that he had still senses…
"Eesh?"
"Yes?"
"Hl-l-l-eesh?"
"Please?"
"Ys. Sheyh."
The desperate tone almost made the shadow twitch. How fragile did the younger faery look now? He had terribly lost weight, but what else could you expect when you were fed via hoses?
"Ohn", he knew his stubborn lips and cold tongue could not say it, but he couldn't help but try, "hbhoehmeeh." Protect me.
The shadow didn't have slightest idea of what the patient was saying. He just frowned and said,
"yes". Whatever it would be.
"Hanh yhuu."
"You're welcome", the shadow rose his other hand and closed the patient's eyelids.
It wasn't bright anymore. His eyes didn't hurt. He knew he had them open, but there was nothing he could see. A slight white shadow on something told him he wasn't blind. He heard breathing. Was it from this room?
"Ohn?"
The breathing had a break in it, but then it continued.
"Ohn?"
The voice muttered something and continued breathing.
"Ohn?"
"What? Jak?" the voice bounced to his side, again grabbing his hand.
"Ohn?"
"I'm here. It's night."
"Hhudh – hahbbhend?"
"Hmm… What happened?", the voice, Torn, said, "you collided with a wall."
The silence of the patient begged him to continue.
"You hit the paving. You lost your conscience."
"…"
"You fell in coma."
"Omuh?"
"Yes. You were in coma. You are now in Tess and Daxter's house, the one built behind the Ottsel, remember?"
"Uhm."
"You're there. This is your room, but it's not been decorated, yet. As you… were in coma."
"Ahm – aih – ou – heyh?"
"Are you okay?"
"Uhm."
Torn stayed silent. "We don't know. You hit the road badly. You broke your sacrum, among the others. We don't know are you okay."
Jak uttered a whimper.
"Aihm shoohhee!"
"That's fine, that's fine", the hand stroke his face, "in peace now."
His tongue had literally warmed up. Jak could even move his lips a little. So, talking wasn't as hard as it was before. He could even form some solid consonants.
"Whad dime id is?"
Torn yawned sitting on the chair, "four o'clock in the morning."
"How nuh-ees."
Torn cracked up: "Nuh-ees? Sorry… That was just so funny."
Jak didn't mind. Whatever made Torn began his dark laugh was worth it.
"Whad day is id?"
"The third of Tonara. No, that was yesterday. The fourth of Tonara."
Tonara was the seventh month in Haven's calendar, the first of summer. The year started with the first winter month Mar, then moved to Raphael until it was time for Orr. The spring months were Xjyang, Nockir and Mossa. Then Tonara, Lisha and Flutus. The year ended with the fall months, Lo, Teshuana and Havenikum. The months were said to be named after the old rulers of the city, and no-one cared that there never had been any Flutus, Nockir, Teshuana nor Havenikum in the whole city! Havenikam and Fooduz were quite common male names, which caused the authorities to explain the name lack by the varying through the years. The months system was build around female faerys' season cycle: in the first month of the season a new womb began to grow. The middle months of the season was the time of fertility, when the womb was fully grown and ready to take in the seed. Thus, all the middle months were given female rulers' names – or at least Nockir and Teshuana were believed to be female names. Xjyang was actually a rare female given name, which didn't make sense in the calendar. The authorities again had an answer: the places of Nockir and Xjyang just had changed. Well well… In the last month of season, the womb slowly or swiftly, it was all personal, started disengaging itself, and then it came out via varying amounts of blood. During this disengaging time female faeries usually suffered from wild hormone changes which caused them to be either sad, outrageous, hysterical or then totally varying.
Jak tried to remember: "Wash nod id Mosshuh when I –"
"Yes. The tenth of Mossa", Torn said, "when you decided to be surprisingly stupid."
Now Jak did mind about it! Fine, he had been stupid. But Torn didn't need to say it to his face.
"But I had been too harsh for you", Torn continued, "and so was Keira. Maybe you didn't handle the situations in the best way you could have, but that's not an excuse for hurting someone as neither did she."
"Pleash forhiv me."
"Of course, I forgive you! And you should not beg my forgiveness… It wasn't really any of my business in a sorta way..." Torn rose and came at the bunk, "but never think of doing that again, understood?"
"I won't do dat again", Jak promised, "even if I could!" he felt the tears in his eyes, and this time he couldn't blame the oncoming air, "nod ahain!"
"What?" asked Torn and stroke the patient's cheek with his finger.
"I don'd wanna cry all de dime."
"Let's make sure you don't have lots of reasons for it in the future."
"Id's nod de fuduoosh proplem, id's my proplem!"
"Yeah, and for sure we'll gonna make something for your problem", Torn said, "you've saved us all. You built Haven. And you have friends. Think about Daxter, you've got a brother. You've got me and Tess. You've got Sig – and Rayn, too! You've got Jinx, Onin and Pecker – and Ashelin! And you've got Keira."
"She hades me!"
"True, but believe it or not, even she was worried when you had crashed. She even came to see you twice and made you potions."
"Dad's nod drue!"
"It is", the redhead said smiling, "she lives one storey up from here. And what are we friends for? We are to keep your back even if you didn't keep ours. And I must say that you were the one who watched my six so I owe you."
"My doe jusd moved!"
"What?"
"I can move my doe! Not only one! Look, my does are movin'! Look, I can feel my does!"
"I guess that's a good thing", Torn said and smiled at the faery who moved his toes on cloud nine, "I guess you will be okay in time. It's toes were it starts."
"And fingers, doo! Look!"
"Ha ha! Great! Wait til Daxter sees that. He has been so worried about you, but as he needs to keep the business rolling he took my oath for this."
"Oh my Medal Head, have I missed Sig's wedding?" Jak asked suddenly.
"No, in the next month."
"Fine. Well… When do you dink I could sdelardle… Sdard… Drying to walk?"
"Let's say that when you can move both your knees and your tongue properly, not today."
"Bud I want do!"
"Soldier, rest, now!"
"Bud…"
"Sleep."
"You can'd dell me do sleep!"
"For sure I can!"
"We'll see dat!"
"Yes we'll do!"
"I slepd for a month, you can'd exhect me do feel snoozy!
"And I haven't slept well for a month so now the eyes – closed. Period!"
"I won'd!" suddenly a wave of pain stroke his head and he closed his eyes with a whimper.
"What?"
"De voisesh came pack", Jak muttered, "Lite has clelee made a condhact wid you."
"Sleep your migraine away."
"Hehee, how nuh-ees."
"Do I still need to stay?"
"Yesh."
"Fine", Torn sat back to the chair, "well, so… We're now in Casa de Ottsel, this is the second floor. Your room as I said. Keira lives above you, she has promised to give you press and media teaching without outrageous fits. Well well… And Tess has ordered us suits for the wedding. And… What else? Daxter and Tess live on that floor, too, as does Onin when she gets back. I live in this floor with Jinx… Oh well, as you can guess the press has been crazy about you, and Alorah has sent her condolences and what else, well Daxess and Tester are still doing fine and Jinx and Onin are still on the ruins and..."
Jak floated away, to a nice, comfortable sleep. A sleep with dreams. A sleep he knew wouldn't last forever.
maestro: "I apologise for the long month-explanation in the middle of all the way too emotional trash."
Da: "Nuh-ees."
Sipuli: "What should we say here?"
Lucius: "I know, I know!"
maestro: "Not again…"
Lucius: "Everyone who wants to read the next chapter needs to give me two – that's right folks – two cashew nuts!"
Da: "I didn't know cashew nuts can rose that swiftly into one's head."
maestro: "It is not the nuts, it is urane."
Sipuli: "Am I the only one who thinks that the word 'urane' would be kinda classy ending for a chapter?"
maestro: "Some of you might have noticed a small change in the name of the story…"
Da: "We're open to hear whatever you want to say about it, thanks!"