Corad: Ah yes, the return of the Idiot...glad to see everyone made it out alive who reviewed. See, my bear hugs don't kill
Sharok: You didn't give any bear hugs...only to me you moron...
Corad: Sharok, that's no way to speak to your creator. Anywho, thanks to everyone who reviewed, and also read the last chapter. I know it takes massive effort to hit the review button and type something in lol. Just glad you're all reading this:) Happy Yaoi Lover, you make me happy too lol. Your reviews are really encouraging, so thankyou! Hehehe, yeah...I'm getting around to finding a pic to send you JakLover. The only decent one I got is from my graduation...also the only one I got scanned into my comp...but I am working on it ok. Eventually I'll send one. I've drawn a fanart pic though of myself giving one of my famous bear hugs to Hartinae. He's my samurai manga character dude...or was...I kinda killed him in that pic. But point is, if and when I put that up, that might give ya an idea of what I look like until I find a photo. Thanks also to Salena99, Erol Lover andCrazy Ottsel for your wonderfulreviews. Now, on with the fic...I think...

I don't and never will own Jak and Daxter, but somehow I own Sharok and the plot. Lenna belongs to Salena99 and Skytha belongs to JakLover. Please enjoy!


Chapter 54 – Lesson of Flight

"Lenna? Is that really you!" Jak managed to shout out, stepping forward into moonlight out of her casting shadow. Lenna bowed her head down, her eyes narrowed at him.

"Who are you! I've never seen you before!" she barked, taking a seat on the ledge. Jak glanced in Skytha's direction for some aid, and found it when the brown wolf shouted back.

"He's a friend of mine. Jak!" Jak saw Lenna's eyes widen in shock at the mention of his name. "He is the one I told you about, remember? I saved his friend," Skytha shouted, motioning for Jak to step forth out of the shadow.

"So, we meet again Jak. Been holding up, have you?" Lenna asked, leaping from the brick podium and landing with a dull thud on the earthy surface below. She advanced over to Jak, sniffing the air around him as a precaution. "Yep, you're him alright."

"Lenna, what brings you here? Something about my brother?" Sky questioned monotonously. Lenna nodded her furry white head in reply, and let out a small quick exhale of breath. "Where is he? I need to find him!"

"Please, Sky…I have not seen him personally. I myself have stayed out in the wasteland with the remainder of the pack. But from what I've heard, the wolves who have managed to return home after their missions claim that he is indeed getting off track. His mission…he's lashing out too far. We must find him before it's too late," Lenna said in a panicky tone, her eyes flashing in the moonlight.

Jak looked between the two, and raised his voice to be heard. "Who is your brother?"

Skytha and Lenna stopped talking, and Sky shuffled her paws uneasily against the moist dirt, redundant to answer that question. "Jak, I can't reveal his identity to you. You may have met him already, but…let me sort this out ok. We do share the same blood after all. It's my responsibility to stop him."

Jak growled deeply in his throat, and accepted Skytha's view on the situation. He didn't want to pry into her family affairs, but felt that this current problem was linked somehow to the disappearances. "Fine Sky. You have my entire trust however, if you shall ever need it."

"Thanks Jak. Lenna, I need you to take care of the pack until I return. I won't return unless my brother is with me, understand? However long it may take, he will be by my side. Watch over the young pups in particular. They tend to wander off regardless of what they're told by their own parents. And the warriors, lately they're becoming restless. They need battle," Skytha instructed, her eyes locked onto Lenna's. The white wolf bowed her head, before stretching out her large wings.

"Count on me Sky. We need to spread our hunting grounds, so when you finally come home, we may have moved slightly west. I'll leave a trail for you," Lenna yelled, before flapping her wings and leaping off the ground. Jak watched as she gained height and flew off over the security wall into the dark.

"I'm sorry about that Jak. Lenna is an old friend of mine. I met her a few years ago in Spargus. She was a Mercenary, living in the city and venturing out to complete tasks given to her by her leader, Aires. She took me in when I searched for my brother. Enough of that though, back to training. Can you still feel your wolfish side fighting back?"

"Part of it still wants to take over, but I think it's subsided for now. It's weak, I can feel it," Jak replied, his soul burning withthe recent battle that had stagedinside it. Skytha flicked her head in a nod, and commanded Jak to follow her to the edge of the water.

"I think you have enough control over your mind to learn the basics of survival. You've noticed the wings on you shoulder blades, yes? Our ancestors relied on those wings for hunting, and for any war waged between other packs. They usually fought in the air, the loser falling to his or her death when they could no longer muster the strength to fly. But the wings we have, we generally use to scout the area or make a quick and clean escape. Our hunters in the pack band together and stalk their prey by foot. Only the larger beasts they hunt, the wings are used. With that all said, you must learn the basics of flight," she said casually, what looked like a smile forming on her muzzle.

Jak groaned out loud, and lowered his head to sniff the dank water at the edge of the dirt. It smelled musty and glinted murkily before him from the moonlight. "We fly over this to reach to ledge on theother side. It should come by instinct to a purebred wolf, but because you and I are somewhat werewolves in a way, we must learn how to use flight on our own. Lift your wings up and push them to the ground. Force and strength is a must, or you shall not have the power to lift yourself from the ground," Skytha instructed, her large brown wings flapping against her sides.

Jak began to stretch out his own wings, and felt the length of them surprise him. He'd managed to see from within the wolf's mind while it had flown, but it felt strange to have control like this. When his wings were at full length, he lifted them above his back, and forced them down to the ground. Cool air rushed up from beneath them, and caressed his face and neck.

"Ok Jak, we wolves usually are mobile when we take flight. It's easier to lift yourself up at a running pace, but as we lack certain space, this will have to do. When you've beaten your wings enough, you'll feel yourself rise gently, particularly in the chest and waist region. Keep your wings beating, and if you must, push yourself off the ground with your paws. Once in the air, your wings must be moved faster to gain height or you'll just fall backto the ground. Understand?" she shouted over therhythmic beating of her wings.

"I think so…" Jak replied, feeling his wings punching the air towards the ground as they rose and fell steadily. Skytha leapt up from the earth, and Jak watched intently as her own feathery wings gained speed and power. She lifted herself into the air, and landed on the ledge beside Daxter and Simron.

"Now you try!" her voice shouted, so Jak prepared himself for the worst. First time flying and he felt the odds were against him. Taking a deep breath, he began to move his wings faster, and leapt a foot or two into the air. He felt his body drop back to the ground, and beat his wings faster still. Eventually he lifted himself upfrom the ground, and landed on the ledge beside Skytha, panting.

"Wow Jak…that was ah…nice…" Daxter forced out, attempting to raise Jak's spirits with a simple "compliment". Simron gave him a strange look out the corner of his eyes, and silence fell around them.

"You need work, that's for sure. Until you can lift yourself into the air with ease, we can't do much more on flight. Practice Jak. I can't emphasize that enough. We should call it quits for tonight I guess. You've conquered your wolf mind by the looks of things, unless it recovers which I doubt it will. Once mine fell from lack of strength, it accepted my right to control," Skytha noted, wandering over to the back wall on the ledge, parts of the brick and cement eroded away over time.

The two ottsels and Jak followed her, and together sat on the cold floor, huddled close for warmth. "We stay here for the night. I can morph back to an elf, but I'm doubtful you can at this stage. It takes practice also to use this pendant," Skytha murmured in a low voice, resting her paw on the Yin and Yang pendant.

"Where can I get myself one of those?" Jak asked suddenly, his eyes wandering across the pendant shining eerily as it caught the moon's faint rays.

"We make them Jak. The elders in our pack forge the metal used, and they sacrifice a successful hunt to our Wolf God, Irigaj. He manifests the power from his own soul and plants them into the pendant, marking the symbols and enchanting them to work. We have only a few circulating around our pack though, one belonging to me, one to Lenna and the last to my brother. If I spoke to him though, we may be able to grant one of your own. You'd have to hunt and kill a chosen prey however, to sacrifice to our God. He works from sacrifices. If we reduce our chance of survival for him, he shall reward us," Skytha explained to him in detail. Jak laughed uncomfortably, finding the whole thing to be ridiculous. How could a "God", especially a Wolf God, create one of those pendants? It would be impossible. But still, Jak chose to believe her.

As the time flew by in silence, one by one the four began to drop off to sleep. Daxter was the first to sleep, followed by Simron then Jak. Finally Skytha felt a slumber calm her own senses, numbing her tired mind. The foursome spent the night at Dead Town, and awoke the following morning to the sun shining brightly over their heads. It was a warm glow, and spread a sense of enlightenment through each tired soul.

"We'd better be heading back inside the city soon. No doubt Erol will be up to no good," Jak yawned, his eyes fluttering to adjust to the brightness. Skytha groaned next to him, and lifted her head.

"Yes, you're probably right. Come on you two, time to get up," Skytha said gently, standing up on her two feet. Jak noticed she was elfish again, and looked down at himself to see he was too. It felt good to be an elf again. Daxter and Simron began complaining about the horrid bright light, before clambering to their feet.

"Did ya have to wake us so early? We were trying to sleep!" Daxter said in a tired tone, stretching out his arms and stifling a yawn. Simron glanced around at the ruins below them, and smiled widely.

"We survived Dax. Talk about freaks of nature," the black ottsel said, high fiving Daxter who had also just realized they were in fact, still alive. Skytha growled and swiped her gloved hand towards Simron, taking him by the neck and tossing him onto her shoulder.

"Sit there, and Shuddup," she demanded, indicating for Jak to do the same. Jak however, felt a little more compassion for his ottsel buddy, and let him clamber up to his shoulder pad by himself. Once they were ready to leave, Jak led the way down the ruins, occasionally placing a foot on some unstable ground. Crying out in alarm, he would stumble back into Skytha, and both would end up sprawled on the ground as the ledge crumbled to the water below.

"Jak, maybe I should lead the way?" Skytha suggested, getting to her feet, careful not to shove Simron off. Jak groaned in agitation, and continued to lead the way, departing down some old stairs which almost collapsed under his weight. The door was up ahead, and they only had a few puddles of brown water to pass over to reach it.

"Ja—arrrrggghhhhh!" Daxter screamed, feeling his furry feet slide off Jak's pad as the Elf leapt into the air. He fell towards the murky water, and prepared himself for the splash until a strong grip caught him by the arm. The orange ottsel looked up to see Skytha, grinning down at him. "Hey ya, sweet stuff."

"Can it," she muttered, landing on the earth across the puddle. Jak had stopped after realizing Daxter was no longer on his shoulder, and smiled sheepishly when Skytha dropped him back on. "Maybe you've got a lot on your mind Jak, but I don't think your…friend… would want to take an early morning bath," she said casually, as they waited for the doors to open up.

On their way back to the Naughty Ottsel, Jak heard his communicator in his waist bag. He reached down and pulled it out, flicking it on and speaking softly into it. "Hello Jak. Keira here. We're starting the second class race shortly, so be sure to come early this time," Keira's voice said loudly, and Jak thanked her before replacing the small black device into his bag. He turned to Skytha, and forced a smile.

"I have to go to the Stadium, so if you want to come," Jak proposed, motioning with a hand the direction of the stadium. Skytha shook her head in response.

"I have things that need doing today. I'll take Simron home if you like, but I can't come. Good luck though…with the race I mean," Skytha replied, but Simron leapt from her shoulder and onto Jak's, adding more extra weight to his back.

"I'll just stick around with Blondie for a bit longer," Simron answered, and Jak rolled his eyes at his desire to tag along.

"Whatever Sim. Sky, I'll see ya later," he muttered, turning on his heel and rushing towards the Stadium. He didn't notice the sad look on Skytha's face as he departed. He didn't see the anger flaring up in her eyes as she glanced up at the sky, or the irritated sigh that left her mouth as she walked away.

"So ah, Jak. Are we gonna kick butt today, or what!" Daxter shouted enthusiastically as the three of them climbed the stairs to Keira's garage. Jak laughed in reply, and stepped into the dimly lit garage. His eyes roamed over the mechanic tools, the dismantled zoomers and the large display of trophies and medallions, and fell on a smirking, tattooedface. Jak gasped out in alarm, and narrowed his eyes.

"Erol?"


Corad: Poor Skytha...I think she's missing her brother. Either that, or she hates him for some reason.
Sharok: What do you mean, "some reason"? Sky would never hate--
Corad: (throws hand over his mouth) Pipe down Sharok! We don't wanna hear your recounts for anything, let alone other..."things"...now, I did up a profile for Sharok coz like, some of you would probably wanna know more stuff than I've actually stated in the story. His profile is on our own profile page, right down the bottom before story's list. So, if you wanna check it out, it has his age, possible gender and like, his attire basically. Nothing too grand, but it's still there.
Sharok: (rips hand off mouth) I don't appreciate being silenced, Corad...I have a right to say that Sky's my--
Corad: I said shut it! (kicks Sharok's shins) Why won't you learn to shut up! Um, I think I wanted to say something else...come on ppl, you know!
Sharok: No they don't!
Corad: Uh, Shut UP! (throws computer monitor at him) Oh great, now I can't see what I'm doing...that's just fabulous that is...anyhow, review if you feel the need to. It'll only take like...a minute or two...it'll make Praxis happy...Praxis? Praxis? ASHELIN! Why did she have to die! ;.; Our poor, little Ashy Washy Hen...gone to the great chook pen in the sky...Torn, you did this! (shakes fist at Torn chicken) You and your, Daxter Praxis Rosie day! (shakes fist at all four hens now)
Sharok: -.-' Please review. Maybe it'll make Corad forget about her loss and move on...