**REVISED CHAPTER**
Jak and Daxter (c) Naughty Dog
Cry Of The Wolf
Chapter 2 – Hunting In The Forest
The zoomer's ignition was switched off when the duo arrived outside the metal access door leading into the forest. Jak still had trouble understanding why Ashelin had elected them to do this, but decided that the sooner the job was finished the better. "Ok Dax, this is it," Jak commented, removing his gun from its sling and gripping it tightly. He switched the mod to blaster and rested it at his side, ready for action if need be. The heavy door opened automatically when he approached it, granting them both entrance.
Stepping over the low-lying metal doorframe, they waited patiently for the other door to open. It took a few seconds, but once open Jak walked out, gazing around their surroundings intently. "This is weird, Jak. We haven't been here in years," Daxter murmured, cautiously leaning close to Jak's ear. Jak rolled his eyes at the Ottsel, shaking his head slightly in disbelief.
"Daxter, we were here last week. Remember? We had to take some precursor item to that tower," Jak said, pointing to a high rising precursor tower in the near distance.
"Oh… yes…" Daxter replied, an agitated expression spread across his furry face, while his left eye twitched. "How could I forget that?"
Jak sniggered at his best friend. Yes, another one of those "mishaps" had unfortunately happened whilst doing that small errand for Onin. Daxter had been chased for a couple minutes by a large, rolling orb, after accidentally setting it loose from the structure that held it. Although the small Ottsel had almost been squashed to death at the time, Jak still found light out of the situation. "Don't laugh, Jak!" Daxter growled in a threatening manner, grinding a finger into the blonde's cheek.
"Ok Dax, I'll stop!" he said, swatting the furry digit away from his face. His laughing gradually died down as he headed towards the portal situated a few feet from the cliff's edge. The gateway shimmered as they approached, and Jak let out a soft sigh, "Let's get this over with then." He took the initiative and made one swift leap through the glowing, transparent surface, resurfacing on the other side an instant later. Taking a quick surveillance around him once again, Jak walked vigilantly to the hovering platform awaiting him at the cliff's edge. The ride through the air and the cave tunnel was a fast one, and it took the elf's entire concentration to remain on the circular platform. The breath of relief the duo shared when they reached the other side of the tunnel was short-lived, however.
"You know, Jak, you need better friends!" Daxter cursed loudly, immediately spotting over twenty metal heads lurking in the vegetation before them. Jak cringed at the sight as he stepped from the platform, his boots meeting the grassy ground beneath them silently. He had a horrible sense of dread looming on him, and he cursed quietly. Ensuring his pal would remain silent, Jak's eyes darted around the forest, mentally noting the location of each metal head. It would be hard work to destroy every one of the pests, but where there's a will, there's a way.
"Dax, I need you to take this, and create a diversion when I give you the signal. I'm going to sneak around to the far side, and get a better position. Hopefully it won't take too long to pick each of these bastards off," Jak explained in a hushed voice, loosening the red bandana around his neck to give Daxter. The Ottsel's attention snapped at this statement, and he stared at the elf, panic clearly on his face.
"Oh nnnnooooo! There's no way I'm going in there… ALONE!" he screeched, momentarily forgetting their current predicament and catching the attention of every living metal head in the area. "Oops," he said, realizing what he'd done after Jak raised his gun, swearing. "That was bad, right?"
"Oh, Daxter," Jak growled, switching the gun to the Vulcan mod instead. The metal heads began to creep towards them, snarling and baring their fangs, ready to attack. Jak held his ground, estimating the distance between themselves and the beasts.
"DO SOMETHING JAK!" Daxter yelled in fear, shaking against his friend's face. Jak gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes; aiming the gun down at their enemies, he began shooting hysterically around the trees. The bullets rebounded off trunks and rocks, and if he were lucky, struck a metal head dead. The ear-deafening roars from the metal heads began to die down, as one by one they fell, leaving a bloody mess everywhere. The stench of dark eco and blood was unbearable.
"I think that was the last one, Jak," Daxter noted shakily, glancing at a dead beast just feet away from them. Jak gazed through the trees, unsatisfied. Something didn't feel quite right.
"I'm not so sure, Daxter. Better check just to be sure," he cautioned, carelessly stepping over the metal head and sneaking quietly through the eerily silent forest. He crossed the narrow stream and followed the rough path upwards to the cave. Peering through the cave's narrow tunnel, he could just make out a small, scorpion-like metal head at the other end in the open patch of grass. Jak gripped his gun more tightly as he entered the slim tunnel, hoping to sneak up to the creature unnoticed. Once they were close enough, the blonde aimed carefully while his finger rested lightly on the trigger, ready to pull. As his finger tightened to shoot, something fell down from the sky, landing with a dull thud beside his prey. The duo could only stare in horror as the metal head was torn apart mercilessly, its flesh disappearing into large, fanged jowls.
Jak blanched at the horrid sight of a large, wolf-like creature, ripping flesh off the freshly killed metal head. It was devouring it at such a speed, that it made the elf tremble in fear. "Jak, w-what's that?" Daxter stuttered, seeing the gruesome sight right before his eyes too.
"I don't know, Dax. I don't think I want to know... we'd better get out of here while we've still got a chance. There's no way in hell we can beat that thing," Jak whispered, his voice shaking slightly. The wolfish creature's head suddenly snapped up and turned to face the duo, all traces of the metal head gone, save for a stain of blood and dark eco on its chin and neck.
Although they were hidden in shadows, the beast stared directly at them, and began to take confronting steps in their direction. "Get outta here now, Jak!" Daxter shouted in panic, pounding on Jak's head to get his friend moving. But Jak couldn't move. He was rooted to the spot, staring directly into the light blue eyes of the monster. It was like he was hypnotized to stay put, to meet his inevitable death head on and without a struggle. "JAK!" Daxter yelled again, tugging desperately on Jak's goggles. The blonde managed to snap out of his trance, and began to run back down the tunnel, his heart beating painfully fast. He knew if he reached the security door, they'd be safe.
Daxter was screaming the entire time, telling him to quicken the pace. "I can't move any faster!" Jak responded breathlessly, leaping over a fallen tree branch. He was panting hard now, just trying to focus on the ground in front of him so he wouldn't make a fatal error and trip. They were only meters from the platform, when suddenly the beast leapt down in front of him, halting his tracks. Jak noticed something he completely missed before due to his initial shock, and he mentally kicked himself. It had massive, feathery wings – another drawback, it could fly. 'How the hell did I miss that?!' he thought with a savage groan, his brain working overtime to process the situation. It wasn't looking good.
"Damn!" Jak hissed, stumbling back from the growling beast. It was baring its teeth at them as it placed a large, clawed paw towards Jak. He could feel Daxter quaking in fear on his shoulder, and he knew he felt exactly the same way. Whatever this thing was, it wanted them both dead. Jak took a few slow steps backwards to keep the distance, refusing to take his eyes away from those of the beast's. A wrong mistake on his behalf though; the wolfish creature snarled threateningly, and leapt at him, tackling him hard to the grassy ground.
"Daxter, take this and shoot!" Jak instructed, tossing the gun to his friend who ran off behind a nearby rock. He was hoping Daxter would shower it with bullets, but for some reason that wasn't happening. He began panicking as the wolf put its face close to his own, its hot, fetid breath caressing his cheek. 'Still no bullets? Where is he?!' Jak thought desperately, thinking of the last thing that could save him. Sliding Torn's dagger out of its sheath, he thrust it deep into the beast's shoulder.
It howled in pain as blood exploded from the wound, but the attack failed to stop it; it had only made the beast angrier. "DAXTER!" Jak screamed when he felt sharp fangs pierce the flesh of his right arm. He could feel its teeth sinking in lower and lower, and glimpsed at his spilling blood. Daxter must have heard his cry, for the next thing Jak knew, the beast had leapt off him and taken flight into the sky.
"Jak, Buddy! Speak to me!" Daxter called, tossing the gun aside and shaking Jak. Blinking his vision back into focus, Jak glanced down at the bite mark. He gasped at the size of the wound, and at the black oozing liquid covering it. "We should get you back to the city, Jak. That doesn't look too good," Daxter reported in concern, examining his buddy's arm closely. Jak didn't need telling twice, and stood up shakily to retrieve his gun. "Hopefully Torn will be at the Naughty Ottsel, like he usually is," Daxter murmured, leaping up on Jak's shoulder pad. Jak groaned as he placed his shaking hand over the wound to staunch the blood.
He still couldn't understand what that beast had been, or why it was feasting on a metal head so close to the city. "Quick Jak, you don't know if that black stuff is toxic," Daxter reminded the blonde, making him realize he'd stopped walking.
"Ok," Jak croaked, staggering as fast as he could towards the portal. He leapt through and waited in front of the metal door for it to open. Once back inside the city, he hijacked another parked zoomer, and instructed Daxter to fly it for him.
"Jak, I don't know anything about flying. Racing sure, flying, nu-uh," Jak gripped his arm tighter, the pain beginning to get to him.
"Dax, I can't drive. At least try!" he pleaded, shoving Daxter towards the handlebars.
"Fine," was all the Ottsel said, before taking hold of the controls. Luckily for Jak, Daxter must have been lying when he said he couldn't fly.
