Red Mage 04- Orcarina of time was awesome. Thank you for the review, but I am sorry to say that you have been out voted so far temple-wise. If you did not recieve my email, please let me know and I will resend it. Keep up the good work yourself.
Eight-and-a-halph-tails- thank you for your review.
Keeroshu- I see you have changed your name. I was never a huge fan of Gundam Wing, but it was a good show. I just never got real into it. I'm happy to say that another perso agreed with you, and so far the red eco temple is next.
I own nothing, so don't sue me. I have nothing desireable anyway :P.
Fire Canyon and a New Village
"Damn it," Jak thought as he did a sharp one-eighty. "I can't believe I forgot to bring the Hookshot." He ignored Daxter, who was accusing him of being too busy trying to get with Keira, whatever that meant. He shook his head; Daxter, for all his idiotic antics, seemed to know a lot more about girls then he did.
"Ah, well, knowing him, it probably concerns them being naked," he thought at he accelerated even more, bringing himself up to fifty miles an hour. All of a sudden, a piercing scream tore through the air, loud enough to make itself heard over the Zoomer. Jak raised his head from the controls; he had been making sure the heat shield was working properly. "That sounded like Keira," he thought. Pausing for only an instant, he slammed on the accelerator and weaved his way through stalagmites sticking out of the ground. He saw the clearing and slowed down so the Zoomer wouldn't get wrecked. As he landed on the Trans-Pad, he vaulted out of the Zoomer, brushing Daxter off of his shoulder so he wouldn't get hurt on the land. Jak flew off the mountain and landed after a fifty-foot drop. As he landed, he rolled to minimize the impact and damage taken.
He looked up and saw a horrifying sight. The man from Misty Island was hovering over him once again, his mad, merciless eyes bulging and his pointed teeth bared as he held out his hands and showed Jak his new acquisition. Jak's eyes widened as he saw the old man caress Keira's flat stomach, the other hand firmly placed around her neck. The psycho leered at Jak as Keira struggled, her threats and curses only coming halfway from her throat, since it is rather difficult to talk when your throat is being constricted.
"So, Jak, this is the girl who has helped you on so many occasions. I'd like to let you play a little game, with something more than a simple artifact on the line. I have found an apprentice, and she would like to challenge you," he said, as he dropped Keira on the ground. Jak darted towards her, but was thrown back by an invisible blast. The old man weaved his hands in an intricate pattern and a cage of what appeared to be solidified Dark Eco appeared around her. He smirked as she shrank back, trying not to touch the edges. "Smart idea. To one so inexperienced with Dark Eco such as you, contact with it would kill you. If you can defeat my apprentice, this cage will dissolve, and your," he smirked at his next word, "sweetheart will be freed. If you are killed, she will die, her soul will be freed, and I assure you, I will capture it, and my next apprentice will be... her." The necromancer grinned evilly as he started to dissolve before Jak's eyes. "Have fun," were his last words, before he vanished in a puff of smoke.
Jak took a combat stance, ready for battle. He, apparently, was not expecting to be punched in the back of the head, as he went flying forward, landing less than gracefully as his body hit the ground. He raised his head, only to have it seized roughly and smashed back into the ground. Dazed, his brain dimly recognized that his body was being lifted up off the ground. Seconds later, he hit the ground, a stone wall behind him showing a lovely imprint of his body's silhouette. As he hit the ground, he saw a gray mass heading for him. Assuming this was his adversary, he got to his feet and hunched over, pretending to be exhausted but really keeping an eyes on his opponents progress towards him. When it was two feet away, Jak stood up straight, leaned back, and smashed his fist into the gray creatures face, activating his Red Eco Box as well for good measure. Whatever it the creature was, it was sent flying backwards. Jak took a good look at it and received a shock: it seemed to be a demon version of the girl he had seen at the bottom of the Forbidden Jungle Ravine. It was just as he had seen in his dreams; gray skin, black eyes, horns on top f the head, fangs, and five-inch long claws. Jak eyed these apprehensively, those claws looked like they could do a lot of damage. Jak quickly engaged the monster; even if this thing looked like the girl from the Ravine, it couldn't possibly have emotions or feelings. Something this destructive couldn't possibly be elfish. And what was more, it was working for that man, so it must be evil. Jak nodded to himself, whatever this thing was, he would have to kill it.
As they fought, Keira watched with a mix of awe and horror. On the one hand, if Jak lost, not only would he die at the hands of this monster, but according to the old man, her life would be taken as well. But on the other hand, she had always been interested in hand-to-hand combat, and they were fighting each other so quickly that their limbs appeared to be blurs, each attacking viciously with no intent of letting up. Both Jak and the demon aimed a punch at the other's face. The fists met each other, and both were pushed back from the impact. Jak turned on his Yellow Eco Box and his hands glowed golden. He did the same thing he had done to the Dark Eco Plant; he fired several miniature blasts, knowing they wouldn't kill the demon but hoping they would damage it. What he saw amazed him, rather than dodge the blasts, the demon moved its hand, blocking the blasts and deflecting one right back at Jak, who dodged to the left to avoid it. Jak turned his Yellow Eco Box off and instead activated his Red Eco Box. He caught a punch aimed at his face and held onto the hand. He then aimed a punch at the demon, who caught his fist. Each of them started to try to out-muscle the other. Jak bared his teeth at the demon, who roared with frustration. It was wondering how this elf was so powerful. As each pushed their bodies to the limit, the ground beneath them started to crack from the pressure they were exerting on it.
Jak pushed with all his strength, only to find he was not strong enough to outmuscle this monster, who was starting to overbear him. Thinking quickly, he pulled on the demon's arms, landing on his back. As the devil started falling on him, he kicked out and broke a few ribs. He continued rolling, sending the dark being into the mountain, and leaving an imprint of its body right next to Jak's. The demon picked up a boulder and threw it at Jak, who stopped it with his newly found Blue Eco powers. He hurled it back at the demon, who threw a punch at it and shattered it. Letting out a bellow of rage, it again began to melee with Jak, but this time it was becoming sloppy in its anger. As it threw a wild swing, Jak caught it and pivoted, smashing it into the ground. He slammed his foot into its chest. As a nasty snapping sound filled the air, Jak shot a blast of Yellow Eco at its arm, disintegrating it completely. The Legatee-spawned being let out a howl of pain and wrenched out from under Jak's foot. Clutching its shoulder, it snarled at Jak before vanishing in a puff of smoke like its master had.
Jak glared at it, but then quickly ran over to Keira. As he neared her, her cage vanished, and she fell to the ground, unconscious. Jak put his head above her breast then checked her pulse on her wrist. She appeared to have fainted from either exhaustion or worry, Jak wasn't sure which. Jak looked at her body, taking her shirt off as he checked her body for injuries. Other than two burn marks on her neck and where the man had put his hands on her, she seemed perfectly fine. Jak's insides burned with rage at the thought of that man alone with Keira, putting his hands on his body, probably feeling and groping those parts of her body she did not show. Jak rubbed her stomach gently, to see if she had any internal bruising. As he moved his hand back and forth, Keira let out a low moan. Jak quickly took his hand off, afraid he had hurt her. As he moved his hand away, she grabbed it and placed it back on her stomach, moving it back and forth. Jak's eyes went wide, the skin beneath his fingers being soft, and yet firm with muscle. He flexed his fingers slightly, gently pressing them harder into Keira's stomach. She moaned softly again, smiling gently. Her grip slackened and her eyes fluttered open. Jak quickly removed his hand, not because he wanted to, but because he was pretty sure she would slap him like she did to Daxter whenever he felt her stomach. Keira's eyes opened fully, and she saw Jak, with his face redder than a tomato. She looked at him, but he didn't look her back in the face. Feeling a draft, she put her arms around her body, and was surprised to feel only a bra and bare skin. She quickly covered her chest, not wanting to give Daxter or any peeping Tom's a free look at her cleavage.
She looked down at her stomach, feeling a gritty substance on it. She eyed Jak's hand, which was covered in dirt. She put two and two together; judging from the dream she had just had, she had grabbed Jak's hand and made him grope her. And since Jak was so innocent, he was ashamed and embarrassed, not to mention sorry. Keira tried to think of something to say to break the ice, but she couldn't think of anything; all she could think about was Jak kissing her with only a pair of underwear on, like in her dream. Looking around, she spied a golden, twinkling rat poke its head out of the nearby bushes, only to dart back in when it was that Keira had spotted it.
"Umm, Jak," Jak looked at her, but not at her eyes. "Did Daxter paint his fur golden or something?" She asked as she pointed to the bush, where the mysterious rat had once again poked its head out. Jak looked and recognized the rat as a Muse, but didn't know of it was the same Muse the Sculptor had lost. It sniffed the air, and then darted out with a speed that caught both Jak and Keira by surprise. It sprinted towards Jak, ran up his leg and went into his backpack. It emerged a second later, with an apple and sat contently on Jak's shoulder, munching away. Jak and Keira shared a baffled look.
"You traitor!" A high pitched voice said from behind them. "Jak, I can't believe that you would go and put another rat on your... your ah..." Daxter's rant ended and Jak and Keira looked at him, it wasn't like him to be silent. Daxter's eyes seemed slightly glazed, and he was staring raptly at something. Keira followed his gaze and realized that he was staring at her uncovered chest. She grabbed Jak and put his body in front of her, shielding her body from Daxter's gaze. She whispered to Jak that she was going to get dressed and would meet him back here in thirty minutes. Jak nodded and walked back towards the village, wincing slightly as he did so; that fight hadn't been painless. He grabbed Daxter as he passed him and set him on his shoulder that was not being occupied.
As Jak walked out of his house, feeling fresh and reborn ten minutes later, he decided he would go and return the Muse. He walked through the village until he arrived at the Sculptor's house. As he walked in, the Muse on his shoulder let out a squeak of delight and landed on the boulder the Sculptor was supposed to be carving. He saw his Muse and his face transformed; going from unhappy to gleeful. He looked in his doorway and saw Jak and Daxter leaning on the door, both with smiles. "Oh, my Muse! You saved her! Oh, you really are the best! Here, take this Power Cell. I won't need it now that I got my inspiration back!" He pronounced as he tossed a Power Cell to Jak, who caught it. He and Daxter shared a high five and then walked out, hearing a chisel hit the rock repeatedly, which meant the Sculptor had already began his next project.
Jak walked back towards Fire Canyon, but was distracted by the sound of Farmer Zeb's wheezing. Walking a few feet off course, he went to see the old man slumped on a log, breathing heavily and clutching his chest. Jak walked up to him and stood there, waiting for the farmer to notice him. The old man seemed oblivious to Jak's presence however, and continued trying to catch his breath. Jak cleared his throat and tapped the farmer on his shoulder. Zeb's jumped in the air; the contact had taken him by surprise.
"Go on, get," he yammered as he grabbed a nearby rake and waved it threateningly. Jak quickly stepped back, as he didn't really want to have to fight an old man.
"Relax old-timer, its just us," Daxter said.
Farmer Zeb looked up and saw Jak properly for the first time. "Oh! It's you! Sorry, I thought you might be those pesky werewolves, tryin' to get at my sheep again. I'm just restin' my tired bones. I been tryin' to get those ornery Yakows back into the pen all day! Some strange creatures tried to steal 'em earlier. You think you can help an old man and try and get 'em back into the corral?" He asked, hope lacing his words. Jak thought and decided Keira wouldn't mind him being late of he was helping the man out. Seeing Jak not answer right away, Zeb quickly added, "It's worth a Power Cell if you can get them into the pen." Jak smiled and nodded. "Oh thank you my boy, they should be nearby."
Jak looked around and eventually spotted all fie Yakows in one place, grazing. He put his fingers in his mouth and gave a shrill whistle, expecting them to come to him. They didn't; on the contrary, they turned their backs to him and continued eating. Ignoring Daxter comment about being burned by a Yakow, he walked up to one and pushed, trying to move it, but to no avail. Deciding he had no other choice, Jak flipped his Blue Eco Box on and levitated each of the cows into the pen, one at a time. Giving Daxter a look that plainly told him to go eat his words, he marched back to Zeb and gestured towards the pen, showing the cultivator that his job was done. The old man looked surprised that Jak had finished so quickly.
"Oh, well done my boy! You actually got those fleabags back into the pen! Now I can sleep in peace. Take this Power Cell for your trouble." The grower said as he went back into his house. Jak stood there, for all his words, the farmer never gave him a Power Cell. Jak went into the old farmer's house and nearly walked into him. "Oh come on now, you really thought I would let you leave without your reward. As an added bonus, I'm gonna give you a free gallon of my famous Yakow Milk. I guarantee that it will make you feel rejuvenated after one sip." Jak nodded his thanks and went back to the Fire Canyon, walking a bit faster then he usually did to make it there on time.
"Oh good, you're hear. Listen Jak, I don't want to sound like a coward, but I was wondering if maybe I could sort of, you know... ride with you across Fire Canyon. I don't want to be alone," Keira added, seeing Jak's confused face. Jak gave her a warm smile and nodded. After reaching the Zoomer, Jak put his hands on either side of Keira's waist and lifted her into the Zoomer. Keira blushed again, this time mostly from the heat, as she noticed again how strong Jak was, and how well his figure hid it. From what she had seen that morning, his body was not particularly bulky; rather, he was small, lean, and hard. Jak got on in front of her and she wrapped her arms around his stomach, getting a shiver from him. In front of her, Jak struggled to ignore Keira's touch and started up the Zoomer.
He took off, going well over Keira's speed limit. Her grip tightened slightly as Jak accelerated well beyond anything she was capable of handling. She had told Jak she could only control the Zoomer up to forty miles an hour, anything faster than that and she couldn't get her body to react fast enough. Jak smirked as she let out a squeal of delight at going so fast. He started trying to impress her, doing flips and spins in the air. A couple of times he tried doing a back flip with a half twist in it, trying to, and succeeding in, get a reaction from her. After about twenty minutes or so, Jak saw the end approaching on his radar. All of a sudden, he heard an alarm going off that could only mean one thing, his heat shield was reaching its breaking point. Ignoring Keira, who was grabbing him very tightly around his stomach in fear, and Daxter, who was moaning about everything that he had wanted to do and wouldn't because he was about to end up deep-fried, Jak slammed down on the accelerator and saw a cooling vent about ten feet away. He started to sweat, mostly from the malfunctioning shield, as he saw the shield reach its critical point. Time seemed to slow down, but resumed normal speed as he landed in the vent, relief flooding his body as he watched the temperature go down.
Sharing a collected sigh, the three of them continued through Fire Canyon. Jak searched the horizon and saw what he was looking for: the end of the path. He accelerated to well over eighty miles an hour, seeing a gap in the path in front of him. As they shot out, Daxter let out a whoop of joy at going so fast. Jak beamed, thinking he would make it across the fissure. After about five seconds, he realized that he would not make it, and he and his friends would sink to a fiery grave. Thinking quickly, he took out the Hookshot that Pete had left him in his will, now thankful that he had remembered it after going back home and fighting that demon. He quickly took aim and fired the Hookshot, quickly taking Keira's hands off his stomach, putting Daxter on his lap, putting her hands back on his stomach so Daxter wouldn't go flying off, and putting his hand on top of hers. Praying to whichever Precursors were listening, he closed his eyes and was suddenly jerked forward, instinct making him tighten his grip on his comrades. He wrapped his legs around the Zoomer to ensure that it would stay with them and the three of them went flying through the air. Jak felt that he would land before the Zoomer and prepared to have his face burned off. He was pleasantly surprised, therefore, to only land on his ace, hurting his nose, on grass. He looked around and saw that the Hookshot had made them go so far, they had landed safely on some grass after the end. He turned around and saw Keira and Daxter jumping for joy. Or rather, he saw Keira jump for joy while Daxter started break-dancing. Jak smiled, and with good reason, he had survived another adventure.
"So Jak, shall we start on our way to Rock Village?" Daxter inquired.
"No. I don't think that that's a good idea. Its nearly dark, and I don't think trying to climb down a mountain at night would be a very good idea. What do you think Jak?"
Jak thought for a minute and then pointed to Keira. Daxter groaned at having to wait longer than he wanted to become human again. "Oh alright. But where are we gonna sleep? I don't see any bed and breakfasts around here."
"Well, I thought we might have to make camp, so I rolled up a tent and two sleeping bags and put them on the back of the Zoomer," Keira piped up happily. She went to the Zoomer, which, Jak now noticed, did indeed have a tent and a couple of sleeping bags attached to it. Jak smiled and started helping Keira set them up; one for her and one for him and Daxter.
"Well, goodnight Jak," Daxter said, giving a huge yawn. "You know what, I think I might have spotted a few Lurkers around here before. I know you can take care of yourself Jak, but I think I'd better stay with Keira, so she doesn't get hurt," Daxter said with a smile. Two stares met this pronouncement and he thought quickly. "But then again, even though I'm not technically elfish anymore, that wouldn't be proper, would it. I guess your on your own Keira. But I hope nothing happens."
Keira rolled her eyes and went into her tent. Jak picked Daxter up and placed him inside the tent made up for the two of them. He then tapped on Keira's tent's opening. "Daxter, your not staying with me, go with Jak." Jak unzipped the "door" and stuck his head inside, not wanting to look at her in case she wasn't decent. "Oh, its you Jak. Hang on a sec." Jak waited until she told him it was safe to come in and then opened the door fully and went inside. He took a step forward and tripped over an article of clothing. Turning to look at Keira, he saw she was combing her hair, but wasn't facing him. She had changed into a big tee shirt that came down about three inches past her waist, but it was still high enough to show off her smooth legs. Jak stared at her legs, wondering how they would feel under his fingers.
"They probably feel just like her stomach, smooth and muscular..." Jak thought, but before anything else could pass through his mind, she turned around and looked at him. He quickly looked up, not wanting her to think he was staring at her chest like Daxter did all the time.
"Did you want to give me something Jak?" she asked, hoping he had come in to give her a kiss goodnight. Her heart soared when he nodded, but then withered with disappointment when he handed her that piece of metal that had somehow saved them from dying before. "What's this?" He handed her Pete's note, which she wasted no time in reading. "Your giving this to me?" she asked in disbelief. Jak nodded and took her outside. He pointed to the moon and traced its future pattern with his finger. He then pointed to the Hookshot and then to himself.
"I can have it until morning, and then you want it back?" she asked, to make sure she had understood what he was trying to say. Jak nodded and turned to go into his tent. Keira thought quickly. "Jak wait. I want to give you something too." He walked back to her, a puzzled expression etched on his face. Keira bit her lip, and then gave Jak a quick kiss on the cheek, blushing furiously as she did so. He stood there, a stunned look on his face. She squeaked out a goodnight and went back in her tent, trying not to shout with joy at finally kissing Jak.
"Well, he didn't kiss me back, but its a start," she decided. Outside, Jak rubbed the spot where Keira had kissed him softly and smiled. He staggered back into the hut, ignoring Daxter, and laid down on his bed. He wondered why Keira had kissed him, but not in the way that he was displeased. He went to bed, thoughts of her kissing him more preventing him from his usual nightmares.
Jak awoke several hours later and stretched. He went outside and saw it was just about sunrise. He gathered some wood and piled it up. He then peeked into Keira's tent to see of she was sleeping. To his relief she was. He walked in and immediately had to turn around; the shirt Keira had been wearing last night had been taken off and she was lying on her bed in just her undergarments. Without looking at her, he took her blankets and covered her body. When he had done this, he put a hand on her cheek and smiled at her. In his opinion, she looked gorgeous in this light. With the sun hitting her face from her chin, her face was a perfect mix and match of light and shadow. Shaking his head to clear it of memories of the kiss she had given him last night, Jak looked around for the Hookshot. He saw it in a corner, close enough for Keira to grab in a heartbeat of she needed to. He took it, left her a note telling her he took it back, and left the tent.
Looking down on the ground, Jak spied some animal tracks. From what he gathered, it appeared to be two or three Kanga-Rats. He followed the tracks and found two sleeping behind a bush. Taking aim with the Hookshot, Jak centered the aiming light right between the eyes of the fatter one. He knew that a hit directly in the front of the head would give the Kanga-Rat an instantaneous and, hopefully, painless death. Even though Jak loved meat, he did not enjoy inflicting pain on others, so whenever he killed animals he tried to make it as clean ads he could. Jak fired the Hookshot, but hadn't counted on the noise it made; a faint clanking sound. Unfortunately, the Kanga-Rats heard the sound and woke up. Fortunately, they didn't know what to do, and the fatter of the two was killed instantly and its body was dragged back to Jak. Jak took another shot and took the head of the Kanga-Rat off in one clean stroke. He held the Kanga-Rat by its shoulders so the blood wouldn't leak everywhere and walked back to camp. He shot a small blast of Yellow Eco at the kindling he had gathered, stripped the fur off of the Kanga-Rat by using a side of the Hookshot, and tossed it onto the fire to cook. As he saw the innards pouring out of the hole in its neck, he Channeled Red Eco into his pointer and middle fingers. Sliding them across the open wound, the heat from the Eco cauterized the wound and closed it. He tossed it back in and woke up Daxter.
"Morning, ol' buddy," Daxter said with a smile. "How ya doin'?" Jak shrugged and picked him up. He went into Keira's tent and shook her lightly to wake her up. Opening her eyes with a slight moan, she stretched her arms, showing them off.
"So Jak, any thoughts about breakfast? I thought we might go hunting. Or we could just hike on an empty stomach and eat when we get there." Jak smiled and pointed outside the tent. Keira sniffed the air and licked her lips, knowing how good roasted Kanga-Rat tasted. "I'll be out in a couple of minutes Jak; I just gotta get dressed." Jak nodded and went outside. He stuck his hand back in and pulled Daxter outside of the tent; he had been tucked away in a corner after Keira sad she needed to get dressed.
After a delicious breakfast, the three of them hiked down Fire Mountain. Other than DAxter falling off the cliff while trying to steal them some eggs, the trip had been uneventful. He was still shaking; Jak had stopped him from hitting the ground using his new powers, but Jak supposed that falling through the air only to stop and go up again would scare anyone. After four and a half hours or so, they reached a gap with a tree on the other side. Jak got his Hookshot and took aim, trying to land the arrowhead part of it in the center of the trunk. He took Keira and hoisted her onto his shoulder, grabbing her hands to make sure she had a firm grip. He didn't worry about Daxter's grip, as his left arm was already losing feeling from cut off circulation. He had Daxter's hold on his arm to thank for this. He fired the Hookshot and was jerked across the canyon. Landing off balance, the three of the rolled down the grass covered hill, stopping at them bottom a little out of breath, but relatively unscathed. Looking up, Jak saw a sight he had been dying to see; Rock Village. Now he saw why it was called so, the top of a boulder seemed to have been hacked off, leaving a small civilization on it. The entire village was surrounded by water, with a bridge leading off into what looked like a forest or woodland. There were grass spots here and there, but the thing that caught his eye most of all was a large basin in the distance. Jak wondered if that was the Precursor Basin Samos had told him about. It was supposed to be full of a variety of plant life, which was probably why Samos had spoken so fondly of it. There was a mountain in the distance, and balls of light seemed to be falling from it down to the village. Seeing a hut a bit away from the rest of the village, which seemed to glow with a faint reddish glow, Jak assumed that this was the home of Zeorro, the Blue Sage.
They made their way around the village, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. When they reached the Sage's lab, they knocked on the door. Hearing no answer, Jak shrugged and opened the door. A mess met his eyes; the Sage was even messier than Daxter, whose room needed a "Caution, Enter At Your Own Risk" sign. There was torn books pulled off of the bookshelves, inventions had been smashed, and there was a stale smell, as if no one had been here for a few days. Jak stepped on the button that activated the teleporter, and Samos came through after about thirty seconds. He landed ungraciously on his backside, and got up, rubbing himself. As he did this, Keira looked out of the telescope out of the Sage's window to get a better look at the village.
"Whoa! I don't think I'll ever get used to that teleporter tingling sensation. Hey! It looks like the Blue Sage threw a party!" Samos exclaimed, getting to his feet and looking around.
"Oh my! Rock Village is on fire!" Keira said, pointing out the window.
"One HECK of a party!"
"No, no! I mean Rock Village is being bombarded with flaming boulders!" Keira said as she started looking through the papers of the Sage. As she did this, she found some sheets of paper that appeared to be blueprints of some kind. "Oh! But it looks like the Blue Sage is working on a levitation machine to move them! Assuming it's operational, we're gonna need Power Cells to fuel it! I guess you two will have to find some more." Keira backed up right into Jak, his hard chest pressing into her back. She turned around and they both blushed. Samos, more to stop Jak and Keira from flirting with each other than anything else, spoke up.
"We'd better take a look at his notes. Jak, go check on the villagers, then come back and give us an update. And take the fur ball with you!" he said, pointing at Daxter with his staff. Jak nodded and walked out of the lab and through the village. Most of the villagers were inside, but as he passed the Precursor Basin, he saw a woman with a strange helmet in her head; it looked like it had a flashlight in it. She spotted Jak and looked him up and down, apparently thinking hard. Finally she spoke.
"You two look like a couple of capable fellows. I've got a research project going and maybe you could help me out." she said.
"Hey, we're the ones on a big quest here! We ask YOU for help! " Daxter retorted.
"Well, perhaps we can help each other. I've been studying the burrowing habits of Lightning Moles in the Precursor Basin next to our village for years. But now those awful Lurkers have scared the moles to the surface! And since they're blind as bats, they can't find their way back underground! If you could herd them back into their burrowing tunnels, we might just save their lives. I've got a Power Cell that says you can do it! I'm Seddy Mentary, by the way, who are you?" She said, holding it out as she finished.
Daxter accurately translated Jak's thought in words. "Yeah. Lightning Moles. We care. Maybe for TWO Power Cells! I'm Daxter and this is Jak."
"Nice try," she said with a laugh, "but I would be willing to part with another Power Cell if you two find me fifty Precursor Orbs for my research equipment. Fair enough?"
Jak and Daxter nodded at each other and gave the Seddy fifty of the two hundred Precursor Orbs they had found in the Blue Eco Temple. Her eyes went wide; she had not been expecting them to come up with that much money this soon.
"Oh, you have the orbs! Here's the Power Cell we agreed upon," she said as she took the Orbs and gave them the Power Cell. Jak high-fived Daxter and pointed to a large wooden dome in the center of town. Daxter nodded and they started walking again. As they made their way there, they passed a large man covered in armor. He was clutching his head and moaning. Jak looked closer, this man was the same warrior who had helped him and Samos defend the village two years ago.
"What's up tough guy?" Daxter asked.
"Oh, my aching head..." the man moaned in retaliation.
"I doubt that's one of your vital organs! Walk it off, Tough Guy!" Daxter said with a grin. Jak laughed inside, Daxter certainly had a rather unorthodox way of trying to cheer someone up.
"Oh sure, I was tough once. Maybe even the toughest of them all! I single-handedly defended this village against those horrid creatures for almost a year! Then that horrible monster arrived and commenced the boulder bombardment. So... full of valor... armor shining in the sun... I climbed the hill to take him on...! But he pounded me like one tenderizes a Yakow steak." He said, lowering his head in what Jak assumed was shame.
"Have you tried attacking him with your melodrama? 'Cause it's killing me!" Jak inwardly laughed again at his friend's comment.
"After my last stunning failure, he sealed the passageway to his roost with a thirty-ton boulder, leaving no way for anyone to challenge him again. So, our sage, a master of Blue Eco and a mechanical genius, devised a plan to lift the boulder out of the way...! But alas. He disappeared before we had a chance to turn it on. And he took all his Power Cells with him. At least I was able to pull enough pontoons out of our bridge to prevent that monster from coming down here to do me harm!"
"Yeah, good. Good job there, Tough Guy. But um, we're gonna need you to uh... put 'em back and stuff."
"Oh, sure... and seal my doom? All right, fine. Bring me fifty Precursor Orbs and I'll let the pontoons loose. But I'm NOT going to fight that monster again!" He said with whimper. Jak pulled fifty more Orbs out of his pocket and put them in front of the Warrior, who looked less than happy to see them.
"Oh... wonderful. Ya brought me the Precursor Orbs. All right. I'll fix the bridge. But don't ask me to get involved with that creature again!" The Warrior shuffled off to the river surrounding the village and started putting the pontoons back. Jak and Daxter continued on their way to the dome. When they finally reached it, they saw a short man with big sideburns and a blue top hat standing against the wall. This wasn't what caught their attention about him, however. It was the fact that he was wearing a barrel around his body. He took one look at Jak's armor and groaned.
"Oh no, not another hero! I lost my shorts on another so-called hero's big fight against the monster up there! Trust me, the smart money's on the monster. That wager pretty much tapped me out! So's I got a proposal. Bring me one hundred Orbs to get me back on my feet and out of this barrel and I'll give you a Power Cell in return! And, if you're game, I do have one more bet on mind. My big comeback! Beat the record time down Dead Man's Gorge in the Precursor Basin and I'll get a pretty payoff! For that, I'll give you another Power Cell!" The man said, before Daxter could make a comment. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to get two more Power Cells, Jak quickly gave the man the rest of his Precursor Orbs, keeping a firm hand over Daxter's mouth the entire time.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh! Oh yeah! These Orbs'll help me win my way back outta this barrel! Here's the Power Cell I promised." Jak took it, nodding his thanks to the peculiar man. He then decided to go back to the hut, he had seen enough of the village to know everyone here had some problem or another, and all of them seemed to revolve around the "giant monster" that was terrorizing the village.
As they entered, Keira looked at Daxter expectantly. "Ok, the reality of this village is... it sucks. Everyone's complaining about some 'giant monster' that's up on the mountain terrorizing the town, and that 'giant monster' has been causing everyone one type of problem or another. I bet that he'll stop after I go up there and teach him a lesson." Jak and Keira rolled their eyes at him. Samos stepped out of Zeorro's private study.
"Well, the situation here stinks worse than a Lurker's armpit! Before Zeorro's disappearance, he documented trouble in all the surrounding areas. Of particular interest to me is the Dark Eco infection of some innocent plants in the Precursor Basin. Keira will transport your A-Grav Zoomer to the nearest Trans-Pad. Ride the Zoomer to the corrupted plants. Don't miss a single plant, or the infested ones will slowly re-infect the healthy ones. And Daxter... Start cleaning up in here! And don't forget the corners!" He said, rapping Daxter once again on his favorite spot on Daxter's skull.
Jak started towards the door, but stopped when he heard Keira talking. "I know where you can find another Power Cell! According to his notes, a couple days ago Flying Lurkers stole one of Zeorro's Power Cells and flew off into the Precursor Basin! I'll bet you could get them until you find the one with the Power Cell if they're still there!"
"Geez, don't bother giving us a beak. We've been bustin' our asses trying to get all this stuff for you."
"Jak's been doing and probably will do all the work, so I really don't see what you're complaining about."
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to balance myself on Jak's shoulder? And how are we supposed to catch those flying Lurker's anyway, those they're fast as Legatee."
"There's a Precursor Trans-Pad right at the entrance of the Precursor Basin. And with the Hookshot and the Yellow Eco guns I installed, it should be like catching fish in a barrel finding the Lurker, that is, assuming that he's still in the Basin." Daxter grumbled something about discrimination and bullying, turned around, and saw that Jak instead of walking off was waiting for him with his hand outstretched, like a true friend. Daxter smiled and shimmied up his body and onto his shoulder. Five minutes later, Jak and Daxter were to be found on the Zoomer looking for the Lurker Flyers. After shooting down seven, and still not finding the Power Cell, he was starting to lose hope.
"Screw it Jak. I think the one with the Power Cell saw me coming and flew away." Seconds after Daxter had spoken; the Power Cell Scanner went off, showing a Power Cell in the possession of a Lurker Flyer. "Don't even point." Daxter said as Jak moved his hand to point at the screen. Jak grinned to himself and took off after the Lurker Flyer. It seemed to be smarter than its siblings, however, and did not hover still when it saw Jak. It took off and Jak fired six shots at it, missing every time. Finally, Jak decided to do a triple shot. He launched his final blast and shot his Hookshot. The Lurker Fly barely dodged the second blow, but then its torso blasted in half by a Yellow Eco blast from Jak. As Jak drove by the limp body, Daxter scooped the Power Cell from its hands connected to arms that were no longer attached to its body.
"Sweet. Now we got twenty-four right?" Jak nodded, grinning. Daxter grinned back. "Awesome. At this rate, I'll be elfish and swingin' again in no time."
Jak smiled again and nodded. He put his goggles over his eyes and flipped them onto Eco Search. He selected Dark and a huge signal came over from behind him and around a small hill. As Jak approached the forest, he slowed down and looked in horror at the new forest. Thick trees had been twisted around, spikes sticking out everywhere. Everywhere Jak looked in the small field, there ware twisted and deformed plants. The once beautiful forest had been turned into a putrid, distorted, and evil version. Jak got off the Zoomer and tried to levitate the trees out of the ground. No matter how hard he focused, they didn't come out. He blasted a tree with Yellow Eco, disintegrating it. He watched with horror as it grew back to its normal size within seconds. Jak took his communicator out of his backpack and called Keira.
"Hey guys. Is something wrong?"
"As a matter of fact, yes there is. Put old, green and wrinkly on."
"What is it Daxter?" Samos' annoyed voice came over the speaker.
"Look, I'm not tryin' to be rude, but how do we kill these Dark Eco plants? Jak tried levitating and blasting them, but they don't come back and they grow back in seconds."
"Try putting Green Eco into them. It might cure the disease that the Dark Eco injected into the plants."
"Ok we'll try it." Jak knelt next to a miniature Dark Eco Plant and put Green Eco into it. After writhing for a few seconds, it turned back into a normal flower. Jak gathered every ounce of Green Eco he had and forced it into a small ball. He slammed it into the ground and its restorative powers washed over everything, casting out the Dark Eco originating impurities in the plants. After taking his hands away from his eyes to shield them from the light, Jak looked over the old field; a beautiful forest of which Samos would have been proud. He looked around and saw a sign to Dead Man's Gorge. It turned out that he wasn't the only one trying to beat the record. Although Eco powered the machines driven by the other people, unlike his, his was much faster. Jak checked the clock after forty seconds and saw that he was five seconds away from losing. He looked at the finish line and saw that it was at least that far away. He tried Channeling Blue Eco into his Zoomer and its speedometer broke as he hurled across the finish line, three and a half seconds under the limit.
After receiving fifty Precursor Orbs as a prize, Jak scanned the Basin for Lightning Moles. He saw six and decided to try a new trick. He levitated one, and then another and another. Soon, half a dozen Lightning Moles surrounded Jak. He walked around and saw a hole. He dropped them gently into the hole one by one. He got back on his Zoomer and drove out of the Basin. As he exited and got off his Zoomer, he saw Seddy waiting for him with a Power Cell in her outstretched hand. How she knew he had finished what she had asked him to do was beyond him, but he really didn't care.
"Thank you for saving those moles, that's awfully good of you! Here's a Power Cell to help you out. Now I can get back to my research." After saying this she turned around and went into a house; presumably her own.
Jak figured he might as well visit the Gambler, and when they got to him, he had a chest full of Precursor Orbs. From the look of it, there must have been at least one thousand. Jak shot a warning look at Daxter, who went from looking like Wile. E. Coyote to an angel. "Oh, great moves, kid! I knew that time record would fall! Now here's your Power Cell, and I can go enjoy my big pay-off!" Jak nodded his thanks and the Gambler bowed to him, a bit awkwardly due to his barrel.
Jak arrived back at Zeorro's house and flopped down on the bed without talking to anyone. When he woke up the next day, he saw that Keira had made him two eggs and some bacon. After eating, he went to see Samos, who was pacing in Zeorro's private study again. He looked up as the two of them entered.
"Good morning Jak. Sleep well?" Jak nodded and nodded towards the Blue Sage's notes. Samos sighed deeply. "According to the Blue Sage's notes, Lurkers have infested the swamp across the bay. Apparently, they're planning to use a dirigible to lift an important Precursor artifact from the muck! You're going to have to get over there and dislodge their tethers! Who knows what they might want with the artifact? But like Orange-Stuff here's breath, it just can't be good!" He said, pointing at Daxter, who couldn't stand anymore.
"Hey, my breath smells like perfume compared to you. Why do you think Jak passed out after taking one breath when he came back last afternoon?" Jak smiled and Samos narrowed his eyes at Daxter, who gulped and went back into Jak's backpack. Jak sighed and jumped slightly as he heard Keira's voice behind him. Apparently she had been listening to the conversation, because she offered help.
"With permission from our village birdwatcher, I've outfitted the village baby Flut-Flut with our riding saddle! It appears there's a Precursor trans-pad in the Boggy Swamp. If you can find it, I'll send the Flut-Flut to you in full riding regalia! Her long jump might come in handy when you're crossing the tar." Jak nodded his thanks and gave her a hug before exiting.
"Hey toots, how do we get to this Boggy Swamp?" Daxter inquired.
"You just swim over to that ledge over there, and from there there's an entrance."
"Uh, aren't there a lot of um, Lurker Sharks in that water?" Daxter said with a nervous look.
"Why? Are you scaaared?" Keira taunted.
"Me? Of course not! Just... lookin' out for Jak here. You uh, know what a chicken he can be." He said, pointing at Jak. Everyone but him rolled his or her eyes and Jak picked Daxter up gently and put him on his shoulder.
"If you swim out over the coral reef I doubt the Lurker Sharks will bother you. They don't like shallow water." Keira called after Jak, who turned around and nodded to show that he had heard her.
Five minutes later, Jak and Daxter were shaking themselves off. "Damn, that was close, wasn't it?" Jak nodded and turned around. The Lurker Shark growled and swam away, fuming that it had missed its meal. Jak turned around and entered the Boggy Swamp.
Please review. I'm still looking for votes for the temple, and the vote is currently two for red, one for yellow. If you haven't voted, please do. If you have ideas, comments, flames, etc, please send them in.