Corad: Ah yes...another update...again...(sweatdrops) How many more of these are there gonna be!
Sharok: Don't ask me Corad...you're the stupid author writing the darn thing...
Corad: Prrrpppp, yeah Sharok, whatever you say...well, we are getting close to the finish. I think 6 chapters after this one to go. The remaining chapters after this one are a bit full-on, so just a warning. Now, thanks to Silver Horror, JakLover and Millenium Ring for reviewing the last chappie! I'm glad you guys are still enjoying it :D Also thanks to Rebel Shadowknight for your nice review on chappie 40! Well, on with the fic I guess...please enjoy!
I don't own, and never will own...Jak and Daxter. But a certain black haired idiot belongs to me...I think you all know who he is by now...
Sharok: Grrrr...Corad...(eye starts twitching)
Chapter 69 – Gun Rivalry
"Skytha, calm down…it's me, Erol. Can you hear me?" Erol shouted as the wolf stalked in, spiked tail flicking dangerously behind her. She lifted her bared fangs to Erol, a deep growl escaping her throat. "Sky, you can control it! The girl I know can control her wolf mind! Prove it to me!"
'Huh…E…Erol?' Skytha whispered in the shadows of her mind, his voice muffled and barely heard against the growling of her wolf ego. Erol still kept shouting, approaching the snarling beast slowly and cautiously, arms outstretched in front of him. Jak wondered just how this was going to work, when his eyes fell on Skytha's front leg. Where stitches had previously been was absolute nothing, and the gash had reopened, spilling blood into her fur. His eyes then travelled to her hind leg, seeing the same in her other wound. Why had that happened? It's as if the stitches were torn from the flesh when she morphed, and the wound had opened up again after the skin was stretched to fit her new structure. Just staring at the red liquid trailing down her legs brought back something Sharok had claimed. He had stated quite forcefully to Torn a while ago that stitches for his shoulder were out of the question. Could this be why?
"Skytha, calm down girl. Come on, I'm here for you," Erol said softly, taking a step towards Sky who held her head low, ears pinned back. She still had her fangs bared, and deep growls kept emitting from her throat but Erol seemed unfazed. With a few more cautious steps he reached her, and knelt slowly on the ground, reaching a hand to gently stroke her head. The brown fur felt soft against his hand as he calmed down Skytha, and the wolf began to ease up.
"That's a girl…just calm down. We won't hurt you," Erol murmured, leaning forward and kissing the wolf on the nose softly. That simple gesture forced Sky's wolfish mind to retreat back to the shadows, thus creating a chance for the real Sky to come forth. When she regained control, the first thing she saw was Erol inches from her, his hand stroking her furry cheek softly. The sight relieved her, and she bound forward, forcing him to the ground pinning him with her two front paws.
"Erol!" Jak cried, dashing forward to ward her away, but realised Sky wasn't attacking, but rather licking him. She seemed happy now, acting like a young puppy getting over excited with the way she kept licking Erol's face. The ex commander was struggling to get up as her weight kept him pinned to the wooden floor, but he gave up after a while and just accepted it.
"I think we have our old Sky back," he groaned, patting the wolf's head just below her ears. Jak smiled at the sight, before his leg gave a pang of pain again and he hissed out. Skytha stopped playing with Erol to look at him, and her eyes softened at the sight. Jak slid to the floor, his back pressed against the wall while his leg lay outstretched before him. Feeling it was her own fault; Skytha wandered up to him cautiously, and began licking away the blood just trying to help. The blonde elf flinched as she cleaned his wound, fearing that her other ego may suddenly spring back at the taste of blood, but when she finally stopped she took a step back. Her green eyes were looking into Jak's, and he could tell she was sorry. Before he could say anything however, Erol had stood and was now approaching him.
He held his hand out to Jak, before helping him up to his feet. Brushing himself off, Jak began to limp towards the stairs, taking care not to infuse more bleeding to his wounded leg. He soon disappeared upstairs, and found Daxter to help clean his injuryand dress it. Back inside the main bar however, Erol was enticing Skytha over to his booth. He'd laid his own blanket on the ground, creating a form of bed for her wolfish state before clicking his fingers to get her attention.
The brown wolf wandered over to him, and circled over the blanket a few times before lying down. She held her head up high, looking directly up at Erol who towered over her. "Just stay here for tonight Sky. You'll be fine by morning ok," Erol instructed, kneeling down beside her and wrapping his arms around her warmneck. She gave him a goodnight…lick…before he made his way to the light switch and turned off the dim lights. Settling down in his now blanketless booth, Erol fell into a light, relaxing sleep, only to be awoken a few hours later by something heavy resting on his legs. His eyes flew open, heart racing and breathing shallow when he saw two green eyes looking at him from the dark.
"ARGH!" he shouted in fright, trying to scramble back against the wall, only to be stopped by the weight pinning his legs down. When his eyes had readjusted to his dark surroundings, he noticed the brown wolf sitting on the seat, her head cocked to the side looking at him. "Oh Sky…it's only you…don't scare me like that," he whispered, reaching out and scratching behind her ears. She began to wag her spiked tail in appreciation, closing her eyes happily at Erol's touch. When he finally stopped, she looked back at him as if expecting something.
"Fine, but only for tonight," Erol groaned, creating enough space on his seat to let the wolf lie down. She spread out her front legs, and rested her head down onto her paws, still watching him intently. Erol let out a quiet laugh, nestling himself back down against the wolf with his arm resting on her back. The two fell asleep again soon after, readying themselves for another hard day ahead.
When morning came, Jak awoke feeling refreshed and ready for anything. He scrambled out of bed and dressed into his usual casual clothes, checking up on Daxter and Simron before he departed from the room. Upon entering the bar, his eyes fell onto a blanket lying strewn on the floor, and finally to Erol's booth. From what he could see, Erol wasn't alone. In fact, Skytha had changed back to elfish and had her head resting on his shoulder in a deep sleep. Regardless of what Erol denied, Jak knew they considered themselves more the mere comrades. More than mere friends for that matter by the looks of things. Deciding to ignore the sight before him, Jak shuffled behind the counter and grabbed some breakfast, eating it silently with his back turned to Erol.
A while passed in silence as Jak read the paper sitting on the counter, and when he heard silent groaning he peeked around. Erol had begun to stir, stretching out his arms and back while recollecting his thoughts. It took a few seconds for him to acknowledge Skytha curled up beside him, and sat up panicking. Jak shook his head trying to clear the mischievous thoughts invading his mind, and turned back to the paper.
"Had a nice sleep?" Jak muttered quietly, and he heard Erol growl in return, attempting to get out of his booth without disturbing Skytha. When he finally reached Jak's side, the blonde could see a very faint blush across his cheeks. Geez, who ever knew Erol could blush? "I take that as a yes then."
"Uh, don't even say it Jak. I set up a bed for her last night, but still she came looking for comfort. I couldn't refuse. Besides, she was like a big, warm, furry pillow…" Erol replied, looking back at Sky still fast asleep. Jak quirked an eyebrow up at him, mouth hanging open.
"A big, warm, furry pillow, hey? Thanks for sharing," he muttered, turning back to the paper. Erol growled again and slumped down in a stool, resting his arms and head on the counter top. "I'm thinking of taking the day off today. I'm sick of running around, so I thought I may as well go to the gun course for some target practice with Daxter. You feel like coming?"
Erol grunted in response, lifting his hand from the table and waving it a few times (kinda like the royal wave O.o) at Jak. The younger elf took that as a yes, and went back reading an article about the stadium attack. They spent a while in silence, and it had sounded like Erol had dozed off again with his head buried in his arms. When Daxter and Simron reappeared and began talking loudly, Skytha too awoke. Sitting straight up, eyes wide, she looked around.
"Dammit!" she cried, getting up in a hurry and brushing back her hair. She winced when she felt pain fly up her raised upper arm, and looked down to see the gash reopened, splattered in dry blood. "What the hell? Didn't I get these stitched up!" her voice shouted, her eye twitching as pain swelled up again. Jak turned around, and pointed to the first aid.
"By morphing last night, you must have torn them out. I recommend just bandaging them for now, unless you don't change into a wolf for a while," Jak suggested, as Sky stumbled around finding these bandages he spoke of. When she'd found them, Jak helped dress her arm and leg again before she stood up.
"I have urgent business to attend to Jak. Um…thank Erol for me when he wakes up again," Skytha said quietly, looking past Jak to Erol's hunched back at the counter. Jak nodded to her, and saw her off out the door. From behind him Daxter began complaining loudly, and the blonde noticed why. Erol had subconsciously grabbed him in his sleep, and was using the ottsel as a teddy bear.
"Jak, a little help!" he cried in exasperation, struggling to pull himself out of the firm grip. Jak rolled his eyes, heading back over to Erol and whacking him hard across the head. The split second later Erol's head flew up.
"What? What was that for!" he shouted, before looking down and realising Daxter was gripped tightlyin his arms. "Oh…"
"Well guys, why don't we head off to the gun course? Tess should be there by now, and you never know when Torn or Ashelin may require our help," Jak pointed out, making sure his morph gun was slung across his back before waiting for Dax to take a seat on his shoulder. Erol groaned and stood up, brushing back his messy red hair as Simron leapt off the table, landing on the ex commander's shoulder before the older elf could argue.
And so the four of them left the bar, walking at a steady pace around the corner to the gun course. It was quiet when they arrived, and Jak even called out to make sure the blonde ottsel was there. When they heard her cheery voice call back, Daxter leapt to the ground and scurried away to find her. Simron felt the need to follow Daxter, leaving Erol and Jak alone.
"Well, how about a little competition?" Jak asked slyly, pulling his gun out and setting it to blaster mod. Erol gave Jak a cunning grin, taking his own pistol from its holster and loading it full of bullets.
"You're on Jak," he snarled back. The target range doors slid open, the sight of many wooden metal head and citizen targets coming into sight. Jak stepped forward, motioning Erol closer before explaining their little competition.
"I'll go first. When I'm done, it's up to you to beat my score," he muttered, pulling the gun up to eyelevel. The targets began moving, some faster than others, so Jak began shooting out yellow bullets. They flew from the gun, imbedding themselves into the wooden targets here and there and blowing them to bits. Erol stood back, watching carefully as Jak ran around, his aim almost perfect and his movements an agile speed. The boy had come a long way since he first arrived in Haven.
As Jak worked on getting every point target hit, he felt his heart rate increasing, while sweat beaded on his face and neck. It was hot in the gun course, and all the movement wasn't helping either. But after the last target was shot and blown to bits, he stood back, his gun radiating with heat, his brow dripping with sweat. Making a move to wipe the sweat away, Erol pushed past him, steadying himself to begin. The targets once again began to move, and it was the red head's turn.
He hadn't been a commander for nothing. His swift movement and delicate control of his gun sent almost every target disintegrating before Jak's eyes. Occasionally Erol would even do a flip orroll to hit untouched targets, and just as the blonde was picking up a few new techniques, the competition was over.
Erol wandered up to Jak, sweat sleeking his face and dampening his short hair and murmured "Nice competition Jak. Maybe next time." Jak didn't understand what he meant by that, and looked up at the score board. He felt his heart give way at the score.
"I lost by twenty-five points? What?" Jak snapped, mouth open in awe while Erol leaned against the closest wall to calm down his racing heart. "At least it was only 25. Up for another?"
Erol glanced up at the determined blonde, and shook his head. "I won Jak. I'm not going to risk losing my title. Besides, we need rest," Erol stated, looking away. From what Jak could see, his comrade was trying to get his breathing steady again. Figuring he'd be better off leaving him to it, Jak wandered back down the target range, and towards a side door. He opened it up, and saw Tess screwing a bolt into a new gun butt.
"He ya buddy!" Daxter said happily just as Jak walked in. Tess gazed up from her work, a small smile on her face.
"Had fun with your new weapon, Jak?" she asked, twirling the spanner she'd been holding around her fingers. Jak thought back for a moment, and remembered that gas bomb one.
"Yeah, it's great Tess. Really packs a punch," he replied casually, looking down at her newest creation yet. It only had the handle done, but from what it looked like, it was something good. "New weapon?"
"Well, you could say so. Been experimenting lately. I've been trying to invent something which will totally burn the enemies to crisps!" she said in sheer exhilaration, her eyes lighting up.
"Oh, sounds good. Kinda like a flame thrower?"
"No way Jak! This new one will shoot unsuspecting oil out, and as a final result, will drop a small flame of fire. Everything the oil covers will shoot up in flames!" Jak recoiled at the thought of having oil sprayed on him, followed by flames licking at his flesh. He decided that maybe Tess was getting to enthusiastic for her own good.
"Sounds um…good. Well, we'd better be off guys. I've gotta check if anyone's tried to contact my comm. I'll be seeing you later Tess," the young man stated blankly, motioning for Simron and Daxter to follow him. Daxter gave Tess one last hug before they left her to work. Once they had left the gun course completely, Jak found Erol pacing around outside, his head looking towards the ground in deep thought.
"Anything the matter?" Jak asked impassively, striding up to the ex commander. Erol's gaze followed up from Jak's feet to look him in the face, and shook his head wearily.
"No…I'm fine. We should be off," Erol responded quietly. As he made a move to head back to the bar, Jak felt something was wrong with him. Maybe it had something to do with their recent competition, or he was concerned about Sky. Whatever it was, he chose to follow in silence, knowing it best to leave him alone about it.
Corad: Aww, poor lil Erol...he's upset over something!
Erol: Corad, you're making me out to be weak...I am NOT weak...in fact, how about I blow your head off right now, hmm?
Corad: Haha (Nervously sweatdrops)...Erol...give me a hug! (tackles Erol to ground in bear hug. You all know the drill by now...nothing survives my bear hugs) O..kay...well, there's the Erol in denial problem dealt with...how was that for a boring chapter? Imagine if Tess' gun thing really did exist...it'd be scary O.O Now um...do any of you actually like Erol? If there are any fans of him around (room falls silent) the next chapter is kinda...err...yeah...I'd better not say. But point is, I miss Fullmetal Alchemist...they put Inital D back on, and although I love that show too, I miss Envy! (collapses on floor crying) and I miss Ed..and Al...and Hughes and Roy and Riza...and (three hours later) Greed, and Dante...and we can't forget Marcoh or Scar...or Hoenhine...if that's even how ya spell it...
Sharok: Uh, Corad is suffering from lack of FMA, even though she bought episodes 1 to 26 on DVD about three weeks ago on Ebay...so if anyone would like to review, it'll make her happy. Come on guys...I'll give you a bear hug?
Corad: Only I may give bear hugs! (tackles Sharok to ground and a lot of screaming and struggling can be heard) See ya guys!
