Keira lightly climbed the stairs. She approached Jak's apartment door. She didn't know why she was doing this or why she was scared to face him again, but she had to do it. The guilt and sadness was eating away at her and she constantly sought forgiveness. Unfortunately she was constantly going into the lion's den to try and get the thorn out out of the lion's paw. Except the lion kept trying to bite her head off and keeps scratching her in the process.
She stopped outside and in fiddled with her dirty tank top and her greased purple pants. Then she realized Jak wont even see what she would be wearing. Even if she wore a clown suit it wont even deter him because he obviously couldn't see it. On this thought she stopped fiddling and channeled her nervousness to the keycard in her hand.
She rotated the keycard in her hands not knowing what to do. She received it from Daxter when she went to the Naughty Ottsel and asked for it. Daxter handed it over reluctantly constantly warning her but she was too stubborn to listen. Now that she was out here, she wondered if this was a good idea at all.
Maybe she should knock instead of using the card.
She knew Jak wouldn't answer her, or even let her in. She breathed in deeply to calm her sadness of rejection at that thought. It was stupid accident and Jak wanted someone to blame and unfortunately she was the one to blame. She was on site and it happened at her shop, she didn't blame Jak for putting two and two together. She closed her eyes.
Keira finished her latest creation on her latest prototype PJ-801; she couldn't stay away from her hobby and her passion. Building and inventing machines was her way and her life, so when she finished her latest creation she invited the one person who would be happy to test drive it.
"Hey Keira" Jak approached her
"Hey Jak" she smiled, "Glad you're here, this baby is eager to be driven"
Jak approached the smooth and sleek vehicle and touched the surface, "Sweet ride"
"Yeah, I put in some turbo engines and some safety gear. This baby runs on Light Eco"
"What?" she saw Jak's surprised expression
Keira found her smile spreading wider, "I gathered the Eco from the wasteland vents. I found that Light Eco is ten times as powerful as the regular Eco. I don't know how fast it can go but I guess that's what you're here for"
Jak jumped in, "Great when do I start?"
"Now if you like" Keira walked around the vehicle to the other side, "I'll have to unplug it first"
Connected to the vehicle was a large cable power plug that charged the Tetenic batteries within the engines. Once the batteries were charged they will keep charge by the neutrino hydraulic engines. Keira bent down to detach the large charger plug. Suddenly a power surge from an outside source came in and overloaded the power cord. Keira was thrown back by the enormous electrical energy, scorching her hands.
The surge entered the vehicle overloading the systems. Jak saw something was wrong but before he could do anything the control panel in front of him exploded in a shower of Light Eco charged sparks. He hollered in pain and covered his eyes as the explosion burned his retinas.
Keira managed to get up and shouted to Jak to get out but Jak was too distracted to even hear her. With her bleeding hands she grabbed Jak and pulled him, with all her might, out of the vehicle before the machine whirred into a high pitched whine.
There she realized that the Light Eco had charged with the current of electricity and was now storing power until...
She saw all her employees were out of the shop, she just had to do was to get Jak out.
"Jak! We have to get out of here! It's going to blow!" she shouted over the whirring noise
Jak seemed to have heard her since he struggled to his feet and she grabbed him to drag him out but their escape came too late. As they reached the door the vehicle exploded and the force knocked her to the ground along with Jak on top of her. The explosion smashed the windows and blasted everything within a certain radius.
Her ears rang as she realized what had happened. She pushed Jak off from her and found him limp to her force. She panicked as the fear of him being dead came to her shocked mind. She didn't notice a piece of metal shrapnel was lodged into her side so she winced in pain as she moved to get up. Her fear was stronger and so managed to turn over and face Jak to check his pulse.
She let out a breath when she felt an erratic and weak pulse on his neck. With that she collapsed next to him from exhaustion.
She was out for the count for a few days after that. During that time they operated on her and they took the piece of metal from her side with a scar to prove it. Her hands were bandaged until a week ago. She had put plenty of cream on them but the wrinkled scars remained, at least the creams made her skin soft.
She found out later that the power surge came from a transformer within a small Eco-electrical power plant on the outskirts of the city. There was a storm around the area and lightning had struck the transformer causing the extra bolt of power to travel down the cable lines and happen to divert to her electricity line. To add to things the storm was a freak storm that wasn't meant to happen around this time of year.
Even with all these outside elements she felt it was her fault that she put Jak in danger. Jak had suffered the grunt of the explosion and so it was a surprise that he was even together and alive. The healing process to heal shattered bones and damaged tissue was accelerated, thanks to her father's Green Eco, but still Jak was out for a long time.
She also realized he had suffered amnesia and only remembered bits of it... all the bits that pointed the blame to her. Still she felt she had to put an end to this, she wanted at least Jak's acceptance if not forgiveness. She couldn't stand the rejection any longer. She raised the keycard and she noticed her wrinkled hand was shaking.
Get a grip she scolded at herself before she slid the card through.
The door slid away and she stepped in.
"Who's there?" a voice demanded
Keira was startled by the command but turned to the general direction to see Jak sitting on the couch.
"Sorry Jak" she apologized, "I didn't mean to intrude. How was your Braille lesson today?"
"Word travels fast around here?" Jak said sarcastically "Is there a 'Jak update' network that I should know about?"
"No there's nothing of the sort. We're all just worried" Keira replied drawing closer to the man
"Well tell everyone not to worry. I'm just fine" Jak replied, "What are you doing here Keira?"
"Oh just picking up some stuff" Keira lied
"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" Jak chuckled
"Well can't blame a girl for trying" Keira gave a small smile that was unseen by Jak
"What are you doing here? And why do you have the keycard to my apartment?" Jak demanded
"I asked Daxter if I could borrow it" she replied as she stood directly across from his seated position, "I actually wanted to see you"
"Keira-"
"Jak please hear me out" Keira pleaded, "I got the keycard because I knew you wouldn't let me in. I understand why you're angry at me and I'm really sorry"
"Sorry doesn't make everything right," he said bitterly
"But I-"
"Yeah you're sorry and you tricked me into seeing a shrink but it doesn't bring my sight back" Jak growled, "I'm still bind, I'm still dependant and I'm still useless! Why do you even bother coming and seeing me? You think one trip to a shrink would change me?"
Keira sniffed as she blinked out the tears.
"Just go away!" he snapped
Keira wiped her face, "Jak just listen to me-"
"Why do you do this?" Jak asked, "You know what I'm going to say but you keep coming here"
"Please just listen!" she begged
Jak stood up and growled, "I don't want to listen to you or your stupid excuses!"
Keira looked at him wide-eyed before they went glassy. Suddenly a surge of rage built up in her as all her patience and persistence was spent.
She gritted her teeth and growled, "Jak! You're the most selfish bastard I've ever met!"
Jak wasn't prepared for that outburst, "What?"
"You heard me! For weeks I've been putting up with your crap! I tried to beg for your forgiveness but you wouldn't even give me the time of the day!" her voice was braking into angry sobs, "All for what Jak? A stupid freak accident? I know you were there because of me and you got injured because of me but I never intended for it to happen!"
"It was an accident but it did happen and now I'm useless because of that!" Jak snapped back, "Don't you realize that there is no point for me to live? I can't do a thing and I'm in everyone's way! I can't defend anything, help anyone or do what I always wanted to do! Without my sight I'm nothing!"
"That's not true" Keira defended fiercely
"It is and everyone knows it is! Everyone is just avoiding the elephant in the room" Jak turned away, "Just leave me alone!"
"If you really think that Jak, then go ahead and go to a dark corner and cry and curse the world for your problems! I've tried my hardest to be forgiven, at least be accepted, by you but apparently I was wrong. The Jak I knew wouldn't be like this moping around and being bitter"
"Well the Jak you knew is gone!" Jak snapped, "So just piss off with your guilt trips!"
Keira shook her head, unseen by Jak's eyes, and let out a sob.
"It's you own fault. You shouldn't have come here if you didn't want to cry" he muttered before moving off to his room
Keira let out a growl in rage as tears trickled down her pristine face, "I know you're worth it Jak" she cried, "I saved your life just to prove that point! I didn't risk my life for you to mope around!"
"What?" Jak turned back to her blinking his blind eyes
"You may not remember but I took you away from the vehicle! It was overloading, it was going to explode and I couldn't just let you just die. If I never cared about you Jak then I would have left you there and saved myself but I didn't. I sorry you had to loose your sight because of my new Light Eco fuel and I'm sorry for the power surge that came along but I can't take it anymore!" her voice quivered in sobs, "If you wont forgive me or except me then know that you're life is worth it. If this happened again, I would do the same thing again because... because I care about you and you mean the world to me"
Silence came after her outburst. Jak stood there staring at her, lost for words. Suddenly feeling embarrassed Keira backed away.
"Goodbye Jak" she whispered before she turned and ran out of the apartment
"Wait... wait a second" Jak called after her suddenly feeling regretful
It was too late; Jak heard the door close after her. He stood there for a moment in a stunned silence, taking all the information in, not knowing what to think or feel. Feeling numb he turned and head for his room, to his sanctuary, to his isolation.
"What was that all about? Why didn't she tell me before..." Jak asked suddenly confused and putting his hand to his forehead, "What in Haven City am I doing?"
Dark Eco, as you have experienced, turns you bitter and angry, with the turning of madness...
Feeling confused, lost and strangely alone he went to his wardrobe and opened it. From within he felt and pulled out the Precursor metal battle armour that he'd found during his adventures in the Wasteland. In his hand was the breastplate that he had received from his father. He felt the grooves and the smoothness of the craftsmanship beneath his fingers. He knew he would never again wear it but it was his. His only physical connection to a true blood biological family he never known and a father he never knew he had until it was too late.
You have to be aware of your own darkness. You have let it consume you to the point of turning you bitter and angry and drive everyone away by making you do things you are not aware of until the last moment...
He walked over and sat on his bed. For the longest time he sat there admiring the breastplate with his fingers, memorizing every texture, every groove and every memory.
"I wish you were here father" Jak whispered to the emptiness of the room, "Then you can tell me what to do"
There was knocking at the door that reached Jak's long pointy ears. It woke him from his slumber. He stirred, opening his eyes before the grey swirl of darkness. He was going to go back to sleep, thinking Daxter was going to answer it.
The knocking came again.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Jak said groggily, "What time is it?"
Unanswered by silence, Jak climbed to his feet and shuffled to the front door, forgetting his cane. He couldn't be bothered getting it, he couldn't be bothered putting a shirt on and he couldn't be bothered in wondering who would be up and knocking around this time in the morning.
His skin on this face felt strangely stiff, especially around his eyes, as a headache was coming on. The knocking continued impatiently.
"Yeah, yeah, hold your Yakows" Jak muttered grumpily as he reached out to touch the button to open the door. He found the target and he heard the door swished open.
"Hey man, you look like shit"
"Torn?" Jak was almost shocked to find the ex-Krimzon soldier here at his front door
"Is there another? Hey you gonna let me in or do I have to stand out here all day?"
Jak let his muscles hang from his frame as tiredness came over him, "Aren't you a little early to be here?"
"By my watch it is noon so I don't know what time you're running on"
"Oh" Jak shook his head, "I must've slept in. What are you doing here?"
"I don't know how to break this to you..." Torn trailed
"What?" Jak urged suddenly feeling dread washing over him. Torn wouldn't see him unless something was seriously wrong.
"Daxter is missing" Torn replied
"What?" Jak repeated but in surprise
"Your pet rat's missing Jak" Torn repeated more strongly, "He's gone"
"How?"
"Tess told us. He was in this morning and now he's gone"
"Are you sure he didn't go out for a break or something?" Jak asked
"Believe me I checked, I wouldn't go on a wild goose chase just because the orange weasel went out for five minutes. He's been gone for hours. We should continue inside"
Jak forgot about that so he stood back and Torn entered before he pressed the button again to close the door. To be honest, after Keira came last night, he wasn't feeling too well. He went to bed then he found himself shedding tears before falling into a dreamless and shallow sleep, which he seemed to have woken up every hour on the hour. This news didn't help things either.
Torn stood in the adjoining living room as Jak stood a few feet away.
"Did you see him last night?" Torn asked
Jak smirked, "I can't see"
"You know what I mean"
"No, I was sleeping I guess" Jak replied
"Did he mention anything wrong at work?"
"No, why?"
"I don't know but Tess said there were some suspicious men that came around from time to time and hassled them about the ownership of the bar. They were around this morning when she last saw Daxter. I wouldn't usually bother in finding your pet rat but I suspect the men that are involved are gang related and I've been trying for months to weed out the new gangs that are popping up everywhere. This gang hangs around the port, they are extremely dangerous and they hold a large influence over other gangs in the area"
"So if you can find Daxter, you can find them"
"Exactly"
"I go back to my original question, what are you doing here?"
"Telling you the news. I have to get back to HQ" Jak felt Torn moved past him to get to the door
"Wait, uh, let me help you" Jak insisted
"Jak you can't"
Jak stopped, he almost forgotten that he couldn't help out.
"I know you feel anxious but face it Jak, what are you going to do? You're blind as Onin and the last time I saw you, you're not yourself. I need a clear head on this one Jak and I need people who can see. Sorry"
With that Torn left the apartment. Jak stood there feeling completely useless again. He turned away and closed his eyes to try and contain the anger that was building within him. Daxter was out there in trouble and Jak was always the one to save his butt, but this time Jak wasn't there. His inability to see stopped Jak from doing anything to help him or save him. He would be stuck here, in these four walls, completely helpless and dependant on news when he could have sight. If only he could see again, if only the accident didn't happen, if only...
Jak's loyalty to his friend pushed past his little piddle party that he had been experiencing for the past few days. They were together, thick and thin and Jak wouldn't abandon him now in the thin. Jak couldn't sit around and do nothing and besides being in here would eventually drive him insane.
He wished he could do something; maybe learn to use his Light Eco powers to help him be able to see. Solrin maybe a blabbering weird guy but what Jak experienced was real and if it could eventually help him find Daxter then he would do it.
Suddenly there was another knock at the door. Jak sighed and approached it. He opened it with a touch of a button expecting it to be Torn.
"Ahh I see you're awake"
"Solrin?"
"Why are you surprised? I told you yesterday, I will be here today"
"Oh uh- never mind," Jak shrugged
Jak let Solrin in before closing the door behind him. Jak turned around and followed Solrin to the small table.
"I came around earlier but there was no reply, I assumed you were sleeping," Solrin continued conversationally
"You have to teach me," Jak demanded suddenly
"Isn't that what I am here for?" Solrin asked, "To teach you Braille?"
"Not Braille, erh, how to use my Light Eco powers," Jak insisted
Solrin's voice was in suspicion, "And why do you suddenly want to learn this Jak?"
"I- um, Daxter, one of my friends in trouble," Jak replied
"I cannot teach you overnight"
"But you got to..."
"It takes years to fully embrace the power," Solrin explained
"I just want to see with it for the moment," Jak corrected
Jak heard Solrin put something like a bag on the metal floor with a muffled clang.
"First we must commence learning Braille"
"Stuff Braille!" Jak snapped, "I got a friend out there in trouble and I'm not going to sit here and wait"
"Head strong just like your father, I should have expected this" Solrin replied as if warning himself
"What?" Jak blinked stunned, "You- you knew my father?"
"Patience is a warrior's greatest gif,t" Solrin replied instead
"That depends on how thick your skull is," Jak whispered the words that were added on by Damas later on
"You have to learn to trust your friends, you have to learn to believe in them as they have believed in you"
"But I have a way, a chance to help, to save him! I can't just do nothing!" Jak pointed out
"Correction, you don't have a chance. You have no practice in this new ability and so you will be running out blind. Also you don't have a drop of Light Eco energy left in your system"
"But I-"
Solrin said more forcefully, "If you do something too soon, the consequence of your actions will endanger your friends further than you can imagine"
"How would you know?" Jak snapped
"I have seen such things before"
"You must be crazy if you think I'm sitting back-"
"It is not yet your time and you know this. You let your emotions cloud your vision as you have been doing for the past few years. Use your head Jak, trust your friends and know that in time you will make a significant contribution. You don't have to carry the world on your shoulders and you alone cannot always be there. It is too much of a burden. You maybe appointed the task of saving this world, heroic beyond belief, but you are not a god. Let other people help you; you are not weak by doing so. They are not your childre;, you have to work with your friends as you have been doing before your accident. By forging alliances you will able to keep your task"
Jak couldn't believe what this guy was saying. It was blabbering but it was also dictating what he was feeling. As if Solrin took on the role as a guide for him.
"Who are you?" Jak asked shaking his head in disbelief
"What a silly question" Solrin almost laughed, "I'm Solrin, your Braille teacher, but I see that I say a few wise words and you think I am some one else"
"No, no you're more than a teacher"
"I am just a teacher, a teacher of most things"
"How do you know about the Precursors? How do you know about Eco?"
"We cannot understand others if we do not understand ourselves"
"Don't recite quotes to me!" Jak snapped, "I want some answers!"
"There are more questions than answers"
Jak made an audible growl.
"Even the corrupt judge can eventually deliver what a persistent person wants"
"Are you going to stop talking in quotes?"
"The wind may die or change direction but it will never cease to come"
Jak backed down with a growl, "Alright fine have it your way"
"Even a Yakow can get tired of chewing. Now, shall we continue the Braille lesson?"
To be continued...
Patience Jak, patience! Will Keira ever speak to Jak ever again or will they both never kiss and make up? Will Daxter ever be found safe and sound? Lets face it I already miss the poor little guy! Stay tuned to find out!
Reviews would be nice. Please review! (puppy dog eyes) I want to know what you think of my story!