Heh, heh... I can't believe I've wandered into sequel territory. Slight Faith wasn't written with a second part in mind, you see, but I've been wanting to expand upon it ever since that fic was finished. So, really, this will be both a prequel AND a sequel. I've no idea how long it will be. If you haven't read Slight Faith, this one might be a bit confusing, so you've been warned. Enjoy!
So, here we are, standing before the one place I never wanted to return to. Haven City- my own personal Hell- lay slumbering under a quiet twilight snowfall. Shrouded by winter's mist and delicately lit, it seemed peaceful, serene... innocent, almost.
Damn it!
"Think they'll be happy to see us?" He was standing behind me, sharing the view. Jak's scarf muffled his voice and hid his face, but his tone was unmistakable. He'd been growing more and more excited over the past few weeks, eager to see all our friends again. We've gone a full year in the Wastelands with only each other and the transmissions of Keira's spy flies for company. Even the gadget-girl's inventions don't last forever, though... we'd lost the last of the flies a few months prior, and the zoomer some time before that. 'Bout the only thing still working is Jak's morph gun, and that's because he treats it like his only child.
The Wastelands aren't entirely empty, of course. Otherwise, we'dve run out of ammo for that thing in twelve hours flat, what with Jak's itchy trigger finger and all. There are cities out there... ghost cities, dead towns, collapsed houses abandoned to the hordes a year or a decade or a century before. We wandered from Haven for a full year, and only four times did we come across something that wasn't Metalhead or wild Lurker. Heck, we were lucky to get usable ammo when we DID come across real people! Half of it was too old or weathered to be of any use. Jak hadta resort to kung-fu most of the time, to conserve our supplies. I swear, there's gotta be claw marks in his shoulder plate from me tryin' to hang on!
It was spooky when we did come across people, though. They were scared of us, even terrified. Heh, heh... did I say "us"? I meant "Jak". After all, my soft, fuzzy Ottselness is truly horrifying... Anyway. I mean, back in Haven City Jak never got those looks right away... only afterward. After he'd regained his sanity, trembling from head to toe, covered in blood and ichor and God knows what else. At least those people had some excuse! The people of the Wasteland look at Jak like Erol did... as if he isn't even human. Nah, scratch that - even I get those types o' looks. It's as if they look into his eyes and see only Dark Jak-
"Dax?" His voice jerked me back to the present. I gave Haven a final sneer before turning around. I mean, jeez... I'd rather be in the Wastelands than come back here. What does THAT say for the place?!
Of course, in the Wastelands I get to keep Jak almost all to myself.
"Yeah, I guess we'd better get goin', huh?" I shot Jak a toothy grin, which he presumably returned. We returned to the path, and Jak took on his usual task of trailblazing. Luckily the snow wasn't even knee-high, so it didn't provide much of a challenge.
I squinted. "Hey, those are the Precursor Ruins to the west... Why don't we head towards 'em? Using the Warp Gate would be way easier than trudging all the way down to the city walls!"
Jak nodded in agreement. Since Kor's defeat he's grown more silent, more introverted... more like himself again, and I couldn't be happier about it.
Blonde-boy's so excited about seeing Keira again that he doesn't noticed I've been getting quieter, too.
S'okay, though. Can't exactly blame him. No one wanted us to go in the first place. They all told us that to wander into the Wastelands meant certain death. It took nearly an hour for Jak to convince Keira that his intentions to go out there weren't just a joke. When Samos heard, he exploded and vehemently forbade our leaving. Really, he should have learned after Misty Island that we don't listen...
Not to say that I WANTED to go. I thought the idea was insane, and I told Jak so- in great length, and with many graphic metaphors. All he did was smile at me, and I couldn't figure out why until I overheard one of his conversations with Keira.
"It's just not worth it, Jak!"
We'd come to her garage to pack the zoomer she'd so reluctantly parted with. She'd pulled him behind the curtain while I toiled uncomfortably on the other side, able to hear their every whispered word. Those Ottsel ears ain't just for decoration, you know.
"Of course it's worth it."
"He's perfectly happy the way he is. why take the risk?"
"Keira, you wouldn't understand..."
"Why wouldn't I understand?!"
"You... don't know what it's like, the Dark Eco." His voice was pained, and I froze. "It's not just his body, it's his mind..."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Exactly. He and I are more alike than you know." And with that he pushed aside the curtain, smiling that infectious smile again, pretending to have found some part or other. I grinned back, somewhat in shock, because he knows, holy hell he knows, I haven't said a thing and he KNOWS how the damned Eco is slowly splitting my mind in half, he knows and he doesn't give a damn, he knows and all he wants to do is help.
The day we left, there was no one to send us off. Some had said goodbye the night before, others were pissed off at Jak's loyalty to me and refused to say anything.
And now, a year and two weeks to the day, we've returned to Haven City- most definitely alive, and none the worse for wear.
I looked at the Precursor Warp Gate, which was humming quietly, and then to Jak. He grinned like the boy he used to be and leapt through.
I cursed the falling snow and followed.