A few things before I begin:
1) I don't own nothin', except Demon, Raleigh and the use of Shadow Eco. If you want to use them, by all means go ahead because I really don't mind.
2) This story WILL NOT follow the games, or the characters… it wasn't really written with Fanfic in mind. I wrote this for my own amusement. If you don't like it, that's your problem because quite frankly I'm having fun writing this…(messing with characters is always amusing.)
3) If you flame me, I will only laugh at you. As I stated before, in this story I really don't care what all you peoples think. (Mwuahaha…) Well, in actuality I care, but like I said, for me, not really for Fanfic…
Chapter One
Once Betrayed, Always Vengeful
"Raleigh… I think I'm wounded," The elven youth mumbled, holding a hand to her chest. The fluffy shadow panther cub she addressed came forward, nose twitching slightly as if expecting blood. "No… there's no cut. But it hurts inside…"
The rangy she-elf dubbed Demon came out of sleep in an instant, wrenching a glinting dagger from somewhere underneath her thin blanket. Her eyes were wide, disoriented and half-panicked, as if expecting some enemy to be holding a gun-barrel to her scarred throat.
"Demon, no one's there," The shadow panther Raleigh growled from his animal hide near the entrance to the shallow cave he shared with Demon. These nightmares were a frequent occurrence for the semi-deranged she-elf, and typically ended with her attacking someone or something in her confusion. Raleigh's steel-grey coat was riddled with white scar-traces from these nightmares.
"Thanks Raleigh," Demon mumbled, reluctantly sheathing her dagger and curling once again onto her side on the flat chunk of red-orange sandstone that served as her bed. Puzzlement, anger and fear glinted in her eyes, hinting to the furious internal battle raging within Demon's soul.
Demon's eyes were pure crimson, her hair deepest ebon streaked with red at the temples. Her strongly muscled and tanned arms were crisscrossed with white scars, matching the four claw-marks over Demon's right eye. Blades adorned her wrists and shoulders, as well as the tip of her prehensile tail. Dressed in a high-collared sleeveless shirt, loose pants tucked into boots and a tattered sand-colored cloak, Demon looked for all the world like the desert Marauders she tried so desperately to emulate.
But those bloody ruby eyes set her apart. They always had, they always would. Demon knew this and fought it desperately, if vainly.
Demon fell again into a restless, fitful sleep. Raleigh watched his friend, settling his heavy head against his large paws. The desert nights were eerily quiet this far from Spargus, especially when there were no Marauders around to shatter the stillness.
As he lay awake Raleigh reflected on all the hard times he had endured at Demon's side. Given an opportunity to go back and undo everything that he'd undergone, Raleigh would do it all over again if it meant spending one more day walking the shadowed trails beside Demon. Despite the pain, the loneliness and the mind-shattering changes, there was no place the shadow panther would rather be than right where he was.
The slightest hint of dawn was finally lightening the sky when Demon stepped into the wan half-light with Raleigh at her side. The she-elf raised her head to the sky and loosed a feral screech that was her greeting to the new day. It served a double purpose as a warning to any and all listening Marauders: clear out NOW, if you value your pathetic life. Raleigh added his own rumbling cry to the eerie scream, bouncing his gravelly voice off the sandstone cliffs.
First business of the day: food. Neither the elf nor the panther had eaten anything for four days now, and while this wasn't anything unusual or unpleasant for the pair, most creatures get hungry after four days of brutal physical work without a meal. Now… what to eat?
Demon pulled her crude crossbow from its comfortable place behind her bed, outfitting herself with a round three dozen bolts and her skinning knife. One of the advantages of this little cave, other than its close proximity to a permanent and very precious water source, was that it was near a Metal Head nest. And, when properly skinned and roasted, Metal Heads made rather appetizing meals.
Twenty minutes later Raleigh came to a skidding halt outside the Metal Head nest. Demon slipped blithely off his narrow back, casually loading her crossbow and aiming towards the nest. She didn't have long to wait. Two gorilla-like, dark blue-and-silver Metal Heads came loping from the nest oblivious to the danger just over the next sand dune.
"Heh. Easy target," Demon hissed, aiming briefly and pulling the crossbow's trigger. One off the Metal Heads staggered and fell to the sand with a bolt sticking out of its skull gem like some obscene parody of a unicorn's horn. The next second the other one was down too, another through-the-gem shot that Demon prided herself on. Raleigh growled eagerly, leaping a good forty feet in one jump and latching his mammoth jaws around the neck of 'his' Metal Head. Mere moments later the Metal Head was gone.
Raleigh yawned, licked purple-blue gore off his whiskers and growled softly to Demon. The she-elf retrieved her own kill and slid astride Raleigh's back, rolling easily with the panther's gait.
Half an hour passed in silence as Raleigh sprinted easily back to the cavern he called home. Demon sat on his back, mind blank, thoughts absent. How different she was now from the innocent youth that had found herself looking at the gates of Spargus from the outside. How different she was, how changed. Now, her only reason for survival was survival. There was no thought behind her actions, only defense of her home, offence against invading Marauders and the continual hunt for food. There was no room for philosophical thoughts or charitable emotions in Demon's existence. No room for anything other than the untamed beast she had become.
Demon had been cast out of Spargus seven years ago. She had been only nine, a child still- unable to care for herself and doomed to death.
Raleigh skidded to an abrupt halt, nearly knocking Demon off his back. The panther had scented a very odd creature just over the next dune.
Demon vaulted neatly off Demon's back as the panther stopped, drawing her crossbow like many would unsheathe a dagger. She threw herself down onto a sand dune, leveling the crossbow towards her cave. Three bolts were ready to tear off the string of that thing, and Demon was well-known for having a twitchy trigger finger.
Raleigh's nose hadn't lied. A male elf accompanied by a bright orange ottsel stood at the mouth of her cave, and Demon could sense that the short one, the ottsel, was simply reeking of fear. The elf seemed completely unconcerned, but oh, the rat was petrified. Demon nearly gagged as the stiff desert wind blew a gust of fear-laden air directly in her face. Raleigh covered his ultra-sensitive nose with a paw, struggling with the same scent.
"J-Jak? This desert gives me the creeps! Can we GO HOME ALREADY!" The ottsel shrieked. His elf companion merely chuckled softly, the sound carrying to Demon's pointy ears on the desert wind.
"Not until we find that thing that's been attacking the Wastelanders, Dax. What are you afraid or something?"
"N-No. No, of course not," Daxter replied, just a little bit too quickly. Demon nearly grinned, able to see the ottsel's knees shaking from her perch sixty feet away.
"Oh admit it. You're scared half out of your mind," Jak chided, crouching to examine the sandy, print-laden ground. Demon mentally cursed herself for forgetting to wipe her prints this morning- she had been hungry enough to not notice the marks all around her camp.
"Someone was here recently… someone either very tall, or very fat, most likely the former. Said someone also has a very large cat for a pet."
The ottsel's ears drooped comically. "A cat? Oh Lord, I hate cats." Raleigh snarled softly at Demon's side, metallic claws digging into the ground mercilessly. The panther was getting angry, and when Raleigh got angry things were known to die painfully.
"Hey, a cave," The ottsel suddenly remarked, pointing at Demon's well-disguised shelter. The elf immediately drew a yellow-marked gun and aimed it with the ease of long experience. A moment later he lowered the weapon slightly and progressed slowly towards the cave, cautiously ducking into the darkness.
Demon rose from the sand, survivalist mind shifting into overdrive. This elf couldn't be allowed to live, not after all he had seen and concluded. Easily scaling a wall and coming to rest on the very top of the cave's arching entrance, Demon readied her crossbow and nodded nearly imperceptibly to Raleigh. Only a moment later Jak reemerged, gun safely holstered over his back.
Demon's sharp teeth glinted wickedly in the harsh desert sunlight as she rapid-fired seven bolts towards the elf and his ottsel. The elf was thrown flat onto the ground before Demon dropped gracefully from her perch to land in a nearly feline crouch with wrist blades and drawn dagger at the ready. Still grinning evilly, the she-elf crossed to Jak's side, rolling him onto his back.
It was only then that Demon noticed that none of her bolts had made contact, and that Jak's eyes, previously such a pleasant shade of ocean-blue, had shifted to an unholy black.
Demon felt herself thrown bodily a good thirty feet through the air only to crash into a rather unforgiving sandstone wall. Her left shoulder promptly sent bolts of pain searing into her brain, bolts that were quickly ignored as Demon felt hands at her throat.
Jak had never before been so surprised in his twenty-one years of life. Oh sure, he was used to unpleasant surprises, but the last thing he had expected way the hell out here was another elf. He had figured the 'critter' attacking the Wastelanders had been a Metal Head, but… well, this was clearly no Metal Head.
"Who are you?" Jak rasped in a voice somewhere between his normal, slightly harsh voice and his cold, growling Dark voice.
"Yeah!" Daxter seconded, brandishing a small fist in the she-elf's direction. "Who are ya, and why'd ya attack us!"
"Answer me!" Jak roared, letting more of his Dark voice show through. The she-elf just stared back, unafraid, as if daring him to yell again.
"I am Demon." She finally replied, cold and unforgiving as a mountain in winter. It was only then that Jak noticed that this 'Demon' had a tail, claws and vivid crimson eyes. "Now unhand me."
Somehow this voice is familiar, Jak realized as he scrutinized the elf all the more closely. She was tall, very tall, well over seven feet and slender, though her arm-baring shirt showed off some very powerful appendages. Scars crisscrossed those muscular arms, evidence of a hard life indeed.
"Are you the one attacking the Wastelanders?" Jak spat, glaring up at her.
"I only kill Metal Heads and Marauders," Demon replied just as crossly. "And foolish little elves who invade my home," She added maliciously.
Jak felt the anger draining out of him. He couldn't condemn an elf for defending her home and sanctuary, could he? Demon had thought he was a Marauder looking for a new home and had reacted accordingly. With a final growl he shifted out of his Dark form and returned to usual, loosening his stranglehold on Demon's shirt collar.
"Why are you out here?" He growled, honestly curious.
"Spargus kicked me out. Where else could I go? Haven? I doubt it. Those bastards would shoot me on sight." Venom was clear in Demon's voice, and betrayal, and Jak found himself wondering what the she-elf had gone through to make her so cold and distant. Abruptly Demon grinned, a vicious smile that sent a cold chill of fear down Jak's back. "You must know your way around the desert well if you could find me this far from Spargus."
"Like the back of my hand. I've lived in Spargus for a long time." Demon found herself relaxing. Clearly this elf had more than his share of honor, and wouldn't try anything.
An awkward silence fell. Demon locked eyes with Jak, trying to place where she had seen him before. Jak, discomfited by the intensity of those vermilion eyes, squirmed uncomfortably and dropped his gaze to the sand.
"If you're looking for the one that attacked your Wastelanders, I'd go back and get some backup. The Metal Heads are the guilty ones. I'd gladly go with you to the nest if you could get me into Spargus."
"Hold it. You said you were kicked out of Spargus. Doesn't that mean you were banished?"
"On pain of death. I was exiled for stealing from the royal treasury, which I never did. I want to get back into Spargus because I have a score to settle," Demon replied in a growl.
"With… who?" Jak queried cautiously. Anger was practically radiating from Demon and the elven man had every intention of finding out why.
"The King." Demon spat.
Jak staggered visibly. The King of Spargus was-no, had been- his father, King Damas. Damas had died three years ago, all without knowing that his best Wastelander was actually his own son. Unbidden Jak's hand went to the Seal of Mar pendant hanging around his neck.
"You're out to get even with Damas?" He breathed, horrified.
"Hell yes! That bastard's the reason I spent the last seven years out here fighting for my life! I never stole anything!" Demon thundered, blade-tipped tail lashing behind her like that of an angry cat. Her eyes narrowed to points of ruby flame and those fires pierced Jak right through the heart. He had seen many terrible, awful things in his life, but he had at the very least always had a home of some sort. He's always had a place to retreat to if the world got too dangerous. There had been no such shelter for Demon, no barrier between the desert's cruelties and her.
"Excuse Demon's… ferocity," Raleigh growled as he tackled his friend before pinning her to the ground. "She's had seven years to stew over every wrong in her past, so… she's got some serious anger-management issues." The panther grinned wearily, thereby exposing all of his many sharp teeth. Daxter yelped and jumped onto Jak's shoulder.
"Where'd you come from!" The ottsel screeched in terror.
"Who knows?" Raleigh replied, unperturbed. The panther glowered down at Demon for a moment before finally jumping off her chest and landing gracefully on the point of a boulder.
"Can you get me into Spargus or can't you?" Demon demanded curtly.
"I can… if you'll help me flame those Metal Heads."
"This is gonna be fun," Demon replied, finally showing some enthusiasm. She cast Raleigh a final annoyed glare before entering her cave and quickly outfitting herself with more bolts, minimal armor, a haversack and a longer, wickedly pointed dirk. Then she reclaimed her crossbow and slipped onto Raleigh's shoulders, waiting patiently to show Jak the way.
The elf was waiting in an odd contraption that looked like a metal coffin to Demon. Jak called it a Sand Shark and said it was his main way of getting around out in the desert. He also offered to give Demon a ride, an offer immediately met by a snarl from Raleigh.
"I don't trust cars," Demon replied, casting a dubious glance at the machine. "Raleigh will get me there faster than your vehicle ever could." With that the panther half-reared and bolted into the desert. Jak quickly threw the Sand Shark into gear and chased after the sprinting panther.
Four hours later Demon finally sheathed her dirk and wiped the gore off her face, grinning tiredly but triumphantly. The Metal Head nest was no more, and while that did eliminate a food source it wasn't a major thing. Besides, if Jak kept up his end of the bargain, Demon would never again have to hunt down her own food.
"Heh heh. That's one fried Metal Head nest," Jak grinned, leaning on his Blaster. Feral amusement glinted in the elf's cerulean eyes, mirrored by the half-cocky stance he assumed. Demon shook her head slightly, though she was grinning weakly as well.
"Now… can we PLEASE get back to Spargus!" Daxter demanded.
"Yeah. But how are we gonna get Demon in?" Jak asked aloud, casting an eye over the she-elf he had promised to assist. Abruptly Demon nodded, as if comprehending something that had eluded her for some time.
"I know. It's not easy and I can't keep it up for long, but I can become invisible. Well, not completely, but enough to fool anyone who isn't specifically looking for me."
"Well you're full of surprises," Jak said in exasperation, smiling none the less. "But people are gonna notice if a huge panther just walks into town."
Raleigh cocked his head, grinning in that special way of his. "You said Demon was full of surprises. I am as well. I am, you see, Shadow Eco embodied." With that cryptic remark the panther threw his head towards the skies and shrieked a metal-bending cry that made Daxter dive for cover. Almost immediately steel-grey began pulsing around the panther, quickly concealing his form behind a cloud of mist. When the mist cleared away a tall, slender, strikingly handsome-and naked, unfortunately- elf stood before Jak and Demon, shaking his storm-grey hair out of feral purple eyes.
"Shadow Eco?" Jak said warily. He had heard of and encountered both Light and Dark Eco, but Shadow Eco? What the crap was that?
"Yes, Shadow Eco. It is neither Light nor Dark, can neither heal nor harm. It's also thought of as the most useless of Ecos, because of those properties." Raleigh replied lightly. The elf uncoiled from his feline crouch and stood. More steel-colored mist was coalescing around him, gradually forming into storm-grey clothing and armor.
Ten minutes later Demon was crouched on the back of the Sand Shark, inch-long talons digging into the vehicle's protective roll cage. Her powerful arms corded and bulged as Jak piloted the vehicle into gravity-defying leaps that typically ended with a jarring, semi-controlled skidding crash. The daredevil elf grinned maniacally as the twin machineguns mounted on the front of the vehicle auto-targeted a group of approaching Marauders, blowing them into infinitesimal bits of charred metal and bone.
Finally the gates of Spargus loomed before them, hard and uncompromising as the deserts surrounding them. The gates slowly shuddered open and the Sand Shark skidded past them before fishtailed to a halt. Demon gratefully jumped off her perch, landing in a crouch with her wrist blades out to the sides and ready for action.
"Fire up your invisibility or whatever it is," Jak commanded dubiously. Demon's vermillion eyes snapped shut as the she-elf slipped into a light trance. A haze of dark purple clouded over the elf, and then- she was gone.
"Point the way," Demon's harsh voice ordered. Jak walked to another gate, which opened for him, before leading the way into Spargus' deserted streets. It was early evening, a time most people spent cloistered away from the burning sun, and no one else was stupid enough to be outside.
Demon's heart rate was alarmingly fast, pounding at over three hundred beats a minute. It wasn't fear or nerves that fueled this metabolism boost, simply the invisibility, but it took a lot out of the she-elf. Demon was stumbling with weariness before she had gone more than a quarter of a mile.
"Can I drop the invisibility yet?" Demon snapped at Jak, bracing herself against an adobe building. Flip she hated this damn weakness…
"Yeah. You're safe now or safer anyway," Jak replied tightly. He sensed Demon re-materialize at his back and slowed the pace slightly. He could hear her ragged breathing and puzzled for a moment over her fitness if just a measly quarter mile at a brisk walk wore her out this much.
"Safer? That's not what you'd call reassuring," Demon grinned wearily. Her heart rate had dropped back to its normal, steady thirty beats a minute, but her breath still rasped through her stone-dry throat.
"There's no such thing as completely safe in Spargus," Jak replied.
"There's no such thing as complete safety anywhere!" Daxter corrected from his perch on Jak's shoulder.
Raleigh's eyes were blazing, unnoticed by anyone. The Shadow Eco spirit had been around for millennia uncounted and had in fact helped shape the very planet with his own hands. He had also helped build Spargus from the ground up: he knew exactly where Jak was taking Demon, and wasn't pleased that he would betray her trust so.
One of Spargus' laws was that all outlanders had to prove their mettle within the Arena. Within the walls of the stadium many true elves had lost their lives for nothing more than amusement of a crowd, and Raleigh really didn't want Demon dead. Not now, not ever. Okay, so maybe the 'heartless' spirit of Shadow Eco had a crush… that was his problem! And he still didn't want Demon to die!
Jak nearly smacked himself. He couldn't believe he had snuck an outlaw into Spargus. Come on, he was the Prince for Mar's sake! He had no business breaking the laws of his own city!
But he couldn't go back on his promise. He had said he'd get Demon into Spargus if she helped him kill the Metal Heads, and if nothing else Jak was an elf of honor.
Besides, whether he'd admit it or not, Jak was afraid of Demon… and her claws. He had had no small amount of trouble holding her still even while he was Dark, and that was simply impossible. His Dark form and alter were both insanely strong, it just didn't add up… and Jak hated it when things didn't add up.
I don't remember Spargus being this big… Demon thought hesitantly. Her warrior's instincts were buzzing like a nest of riled hornets at the base of her skull, screaming out that someone was out there waiting for her blood. Irritably the she-elf punched herself lightly in the jaw. Well, at least she thought it was lightly, until she felt and heard her jaw pop out of place.
Jak, Daxter, Raleigh and Demon finally made it to the monstrous staircase leading up into the Arena. Demon's long pointed ears suddenly twitched back until they were flat along her skull, rather like that of a cat's. She could smell fear, blood, pain, blood, anger, blood and also blood in copious amounts just beyond the imposing coppery doors in front of her.
"Is there something you'd like to tell me, boyo!" Demon hissed, turning to glare venomously at the elf she had trusted. How could she have been so flipping stupid!
"Every newcomer to Spargus has to prove their skills in the Arena. It's one of the old laws. Just get in their, kill everything in sight and you'll be a citizen of Spargus again." Jak stared down at his booted feet, cheeks burning in humiliation. He had never told half-truths to someone before, and his conscience was needling him ferociously.
"Gee, thanks for the warning, boyo," Demon breathed, shaking with barely restrained rage. Her clawed fingers balled into fists compulsively until blood ran freely down her fingers to stain the already-red carpet yet more crimson. Then that wonderfully lethal tail shot forward, wrapping tightly around Jak's neck with the blade hovering only centimeters in front of the elf-man's eyes.
"Hey, you monster! Let him go!" Demon found it odd that such a threatening voice could come from such a fluffy orange rat. She turned her dangerously narrowed eyes towards the ottsel, baring elongating fangs in a feral, murderous grin.
"Let me warn you thus, rat… you are insulting my mother. If by some miracle you live to insult my mother again, your life will be… unfortunately cut short." Demon turned back to Jak and lifted him slightly in the air. She heard his neck pop at least six times as she did this, and found herself taking no small amount of pleasure at the agonizing pain Jak must be in right now.
"I don't like liars. Especially not ones who I trust." With that she just dropped him and went through the doors alone.
A/N: Oh, and also… REVIEW! I put the first chapter of this online just to see if people would like it. If you don't tell me, I won't post anymore, which may or may not be a good thing. So give me feedback people!
And I reiterate myself: flames will be laughed at. This is for my own amusement. If you don't like what I'm doing or how I've reshaped the characters, well I'm sorry. (You don't have to read this ya know…)