Chapter V: The Desert Wasteland
LES: The start of Jak 3, or my adaptation of it. It's funny, it took me 12 chapters to get through all the extra stuff in 'Back To You', but it's only taken four chapters in this one. I guess I got more inspired for the end of this story than the beginning. Don't worry, the action will heat up soon enough, and I'm not just talking about the Wasteland!
A single Krimzon Guard prison transport, recently painted blue, zoomed over a barren and lifeless desert. It turned left and right as it avoided colliding with rocks, which was a pleasant change from the almost endless stretches of sand.
It slowed to a stop and landed on the burning sands. The back door opened and several guards forced a young elf out of the back of the transport. Jak let out a gasp as the heat hit him full-force like a brick wall. The transport had been air-conditioned, so the heat of the desert was almost unbearable.
Closely following the handcuffed elf was Ashelin Praxis, and shortly after her, Count Vegar. Vegar opened a book and began the customary lines for someone's banishment. "By order of the Grand Council of Haven City, for heinous acts and crimes against the People, you are hereby banished to the Wasteland for life." He closed the book with a sense of finality. It was now done.
Put Ashelin wasn't done yet. "This is a death sentence, Vegar. There must be another way."
The ugly Count rounded on her. "Your protest was overruled. This Dark Eco Freak is dangerous!" Ashelin frowned angrily and Vegar sighed. "Fine, so it seems fair… there was a river about a mile back. He might be able to make it… if it was freshwater… that is… Now drop the cargo!"
Suddenly, a new voice joined the group, and it was coming from the transport. "This is an outrage!" It was Pecker. Jak blinked in surprise. He hadn't noticed Pecker coming into the transport, and it must've been murder for him to keep quiet for an hour. "I am outraged beyond words... although I do have something to say." Suddenly, a new small animal appeared behind Pecker. It was Daxter. This made Jak even more shocked. Daxter could never keep quiet enough to hide properly. Even as children, playing 'Hide And Seek' was extremely easy. But Daxter could never ever keep quiet when Pecker was nearby. "Not everyone agrees with this ridiculous ARK decree!"
"Yeah, we wanna recount!" Daxter said.
"Oh, I see you wish to join him after all." Vegar said.
"Actually…" Pecker said, suddenly losing all of his steam. "We are no that outraged." He started waving Jak good-bye. "Farewell, Jak! Stay out of the sun! Drink lots of water… if you can find it."
"Jak?" Daxter asked sadly.
"Go back to the City, Dax." Jak said. "At least one of us has to live to make sure they don't blow themselves up or something."
Ashelin walked up to Jak and took off the handcuffs. Jak rubbed his wrists, trying to get blood to flow back into his hands. He had those cuffs on for over twenty-four hours, which was extremely uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about this." She said. "There was nothing I could…"
"I know." Jak interrupted.
"You just stay alive, you hear me." Ashelin took Jak's hand, placed something in it, and closed his fingers around it. "That's an order. Someone will find you, I promise." Ashelin turned and walked away.
Vegar stood in the transport, ready to go. The Guards went back in, as did Ashelin. "May the Precursors have mercy on your soul." Vegar said, but his evil grin told Jak he didn't mean it. He hoped that the Precursors damned his soul and sent it straight to hell. The door closed and the zoomer and its passengers zoomed away, leaving a large cloud of dust in its wake. Now, Jak was alone.
Jak looked down at the thing in his hand. It was a homing beacon of some sort. Jak had no idea who would be out here to pick up the signal. There was no one living outside of Haven's walls except for the Metal-Heads… everyone knew that. But, all the same, he didn't see the harm in keeping it with him.
Suddenly, the sound of someone coughing brought Jak out of his thoughts. He looked up. Two figures were appearing out of the dust cloud, two small figures. "Daxter? Pecker?" Jak asked, hardly daring to believe.
It was indeed the annoying Ottsel, and the equally annoying moncaw. "Don't thank me for staying behind!" Daxter said. "I'm only here because you wouldn't last a second without me! Okay, tough guy, you got us into this mess, now you've got to get us out!"
"What a team we'll be!" Pecker said.
"Well, I'm not going to carry both of you." Jak growled. "Let's get moving. But… which way?" He looked left and right. All he saw were endless stretches of sand.
"That way!" Both Daxter and Pecker said, pointing in exact opposite directions.
"Oh, and I suppose you know where you're going, huh?" Pecker demanded.
"Better than you do, bent-beak!" Daxter shot back.
"AUGH!" Jak growled. "Let's just move." He said, heading off in a random direction. Daxter ran after him and Pecker took to the air.
The sun was directly overhead, so Jak couldn't even tell where the hell they were going. Not that he really cared much. He was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. His mouth and throat felt like a cotton ball. "So thirsty…" He gasped, in a zombie-like way. Fantasies played before his eyes, and not his usual fantasies about Keira, but water fantasies. Fantasies of swimming in ice-cold water, drinking water until he exploded…
"This… was all your stupid idea!" Pecker gasped at Daxter.
"No, this was your idea!" Daxter said. "Only a bird-brain could have thought this one up!" Daxter put on a fake Spanish accent as he imitated Pecker. "Let's go with him! We'll help together!' You mean we'll die together!" Daxter paused. "I can't believe the City hates us. We saved those low-lives!"
It seemed the heat had the same effect on Jak as alcohol had on Daxter… it loosened his tongue and made him more inclined to blurt things out. "That's the way the fucking world is." Jak said simply. "You nearly die to save the world and they thank you by banishing you to a fucking oven!" Jak looked up at the sky. "Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"
"Okay… Jak's lost it." Daxter gasped nonchalantly.
"I mean, a traitor, I can understand! At least they had evidence against me." Jak growled. "But me? The Metal-Head Leader? Yeah right! If I could control those evil monsters, I would make them all kill themselves!"
"Amen!" Daxter said sarcastically. (The heat was getting to him too.)
"And Keira! How could she believe the stuff they said about me?" Jak asked, more sorrow in his voice then anger. "Does she still not trust me? Even after all these months?"
"Don't worry, buddy." Daxter said. "Keira will come around eventually."
"I might be dead by then…" Jak gasped again. He couldn't even spit anymore.
Jak wasn't sure how much longer he walked before the first of his companions collapsed.
Pecker's wing-flaps faltered and Jak looked back to find him lying on the desert sands. "This bird is overcooked." Pecker groaned before passing out.
Jak and Daxter stared at him a second, then Jak walked back to pick him up. "No, just leave him." Daxter said. "It'll be less to carry."
"Do you take me for some kind of monster?" Jak demanded. "I'm not leaving a friend behind. Or would you prefer me to leave you behind, as well?"
"Uh…" Daxter started, shocked by Jak's threat. "No."
"Good." Jak bent down and picked the moncaw up. "Now… let's keep going." They continued walking.
It wasn't much longer until Daxter began to act strangely. He began to lag further and further behind, causing Jak to have to wait for him to catch up on several occasions.
Finally, however, when Daxter had caught up yet again, he spoke in a 'not-so-there' way. "You know… Pecker had the right idea. A nap would be nice… just a teensy little rest." And with that, Daxter fell down to the burning sands, out cold.
"Oh no!" Jak walked over and picked him up in his other arm, the one that wasn't occupied by Pecker. "Not you too, Dax!" But Daxter didn't answer. The heat had finally gotten to him. Jak looked at the sun. He could tell now that he was moving west. But he didn't know if west would take him anywhere. Still, he had to try. He continued to move…
Jak wasn't sure how much longer he walked under the sun, but it seemed like hours. He had been carrying the unconscious animals the whole time. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Can't… go on…" Jak's eyes rolled up as he collapsed to the burning sands, physically unable to go on.
However, the elf was still semi-conscious. He rolled over on to his back. The sun beat down cruelly from above while the sands burned him from beneath. Jak saw darkness gathering at the corners of his eyes. "Keira…" He gasped. "Keira…" Then he passed out and he knew no more.
Sometime later, a strange group of large elves moved towards the unconscious group. The leader was an extremely tough-looking elf who wore a strange spiked crown and carried a large staff-like a weapon. He was clearly a man who knew how to survive in the desert environment.
The leader looked down at the rabble. "Looks like we've found some live ones… heh… barely." He tapped Jak with the staff. He moved slightly, but didn't come too. He bent down and took the homing beacon out of Jak's hand. "Here's the beacon we were picking up, Krimzon Guard make, I'd say. Who gave you this?" He demanded of the elf, but he made no answer. "We'll take them with us. Let's move. I smell a storm coming."
The men first picked up the animals and moved them to a nearby armored transport. But one man stopped before picking up Jak. "Sire… isn't that…?"
"My God… it is!" Another of the men said. "I've heard the stories coming out of Haven City! And Sig himself…!"
"Hmm… you're right." The leader said thoughtfully. "The one who supposedly destroyed the Metal-Head Leader. We might be able to find out how he did it… if he lives."
"Severe dehydration." One of the men said, studying the elf. "It'll be a miracle if he pulls through."
"Still, we'll take him." The leader said. They picked up the prone Jak and carried him to the transport.
The next few days mainly consisted of Jak lying in some sort of hospital, being treated for dehydration and heat stroke by several doctors. He would come to for a few seconds at a time and listen to the conversation around him.
"I don't know, my King." One of the doctors said. "He must've been out there, wandering around, for hours."
"Hours?" The man Jak assumed was the King said. "But… that's unheard of! Not even Mar… this one must be made of tough stuff!"
"There is little or no chance of survival." The man said. "Perhaps I should call the Monks…"
"No!" The King said sharply. "We do not give up anyone for dead until they stop breathing and their heart has stopped. Is he still breathing?"
"Yes, sire."
"Is his heart beating?"
"Yes, sire."
"Then he is not dead, and we will not treat him like he is." Then, Jak would pass out again.
LES: The desert scenes used to be really different, especially the parts when they collapsed. Originally, it was just like the game when the order goes Jak, Daxter, and then Pecker. But I switched it around because I keep going on about how much stronger Jak is than ordinary elves, so I doubt that Daxter or Pecker could last longer then him.
