Neko Kurai: "Here's Chapter 4! I will have chapters 5 and 6 done very soon! I hope you will be waiting eagerly (I know I will…what? I'm aware that I'm the writer…yes I know the plots and what's going to happen…what?)
Disclaimer: I don't own…blah blah blah…
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Tracing the Past: Chapter 4
The Precursor Temple was so huge; he had never seen anything like it. The doors alone were 12 ft high and were of mahogany, the strongest type of wood. He did not know how he ended up there, but he was there. As he stood before them his curiosity rising, he stretched out one hand; as his fingers brushed them, they opened slowly. As soon as they opened completely, bright sun light blinded him; he raised his hands to block out the light. Once adjusted, he began to look around; the inside of the Precursor Temple was as lush as Central Parkway, yet even more so; flowers bloomed in clumps of all colors: reds, blues, purples, whites, yellows; Samos could not grow them any better.
A bell began to ring from somewhere and at once Precursor Monks began existing the Temple; there were men and women of all ages; some as young as seven, and some as old as 60. Yet they all had the same colored face of the Precursors, though their attire was entirely different from the ones used now. They wore orangerobes that billowed behind them as they walked They were all talking brightly, laughing; the children ran about the adults, playing a game of tag. As one of them approached him, he found that he did not need to move; the child ran right through him, as if he wasn't even there.
"Valere!" a voice called from behind him. Quickly he turned and saw the same Precursor Monk, except she looked younger, about 13 years old. She was waving and walking towards someone behind him. He followed her and saw that it was her: Valere. It was impossible to miss her; she was the only one wearing a baby blue robe in a sea of orange.
She was standing besides a fountain with her back turned; Valere looked towards the monk girl and smiled warmly at her; her green hair was pulled up into a loose bun save for her bangs, which fell across her face, making her look almost majestic as well as kind. She turned completely and he could see that she was pregnant, the contour of her belly shown through the robe that she wore. The monk girl stood before her now and was smiling happily up at the woman.
"How are you! Are you okay? Do you need to sit down!" she asked hurriedly.
The woman laughed.
"No, I'm fine… I'm a bit tired, but I can make it to my room without any trouble." she responded.
"Oh! I can't wait! When will it be born! I can't wait!" the young monk giggled.
"Soon I think," Valere replied, rubbing her belly fondly. "The baby has been kicking more and more these past few days; must be getting restless..."
"Oh! Can I feel?" the monk girl asked eagerly. Valere smiled and nodded. The monk girl placed her hands on Valere's belly and quickly jumped in surprise. "I felt it! How adorable!" she giggled. The bell rang again and monk girl looked away at something. "Ah, time to go; mediation time. My sister will be waiting for me." she smiled happily at Valere. "I'll see you at dinner tonight okay," she glanced down at Valere's belly and exclaimed again. "Oh… I can't wait!" and with that she hurriedly left. He and Valere were standing alone in the court yard now and he watched as she stared down at her belly, rubbing it affectionately.
"I can't wait either…" she saidas a tear trickled down her cheek slowly.
'Don't cry…' he thought, stretching a hand out to her; his hand passed through her shoulder. 'Please… don't cry…'
"It's okay…" she said; he wasn't sure if it was to him or to herself. "even if the tears are filled with sadness…tears of joy can fall with them too…"
'So…it's okay…'
Jak awoke slowly, blinking in the darkness. At first, he wondered where he was, but when he heard a rustle of the sheets next to him and saw Keira, fast asleep in his arms, her bare arms shown over the white sheet; he remembered. After they left the park, he and Keira went back to her room; it was their first time making love. At first he was scared of hurting her, but she reassured him that it was okay; they held close to one another afterwards, Keira cradling his head in her arms until they both fell off to sleep.
He smiled warmly at the sleeping mechanic and brushed a stray hair from her face, lightly kissing her exposed forehead; she stirred slightly but did not wake. He felt a light tickle on the side of his face and made to brush it off when he found… that it was a tear.
Had he been crying in his sleep? He looked at his pillow but saw that it was dry; so then it was just one stray tear?
He sighed and rubbed his face sleepily; carefully sliding off the bed so as not to wake Keira. He trudged his way to the bathroom, shutting the door, turning on the lights quickly; he blinked quickly so as to adjust to the light. He turned on the water and splashed it on his face when he caught his reflection on the mirror.
Those eyes…
That Precursor Monk was right; judging from those strange images, and from his dream… his eyes were just like hers…
But they were cold…
And somehow… not as cold as before, he was sure of that.
He continued to stare at his reflection, even long after the sun began to rise, because he was not just staring at himself…
He was staring at her…
At Valere…
And it was this that helped him make up his mind completely…
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"I'm gonna stay here…"
"You're gonna what?" Torn asked, looking at Jak over his cup of coffee. Keira looked over to Jak calmly, yet her eyes betrayed her feelings of surprise.
"I'm gonna stay here." Jak repeated, taking a bite from his toast.
"What for? The Championship is over; there's nothin' here for us now." Sig added.
"Maybe not for you…" Jak replied.
"What's this all about Jak? I mean really?" Ashlin asked, setting her fork down. "Is it revenge? Don't tell me you want to go after Rayn?"
"It's not that; her business is her business; I… just have some business of my own here…"
"So what's this so called 'business'?" Torn asked skeptically.
Jak sighed and set his toast down.
"It's… kinda hard to explain…"
"Jak--" Ashlin began but was stopped when Daxter came trudging into the room, his eyes blood shot and his tail drooped.
"Dax… you don't look so hot…" Jak said, hoping to change the subject.
"Shhhhh! Don't talk so loud! Sheesh!" Daxter responded, holding his hands over his ears. "I swear I could hear you guys clear across the hall; where's the coffee, my head's killin me…and I can't get this strange taste of peanuts outta my mouth…"
Torn and Sig looked to each other, grinning evilly. With the help of Keira, Daxter was on the table, pouring coffee into his mug. He sat back and gulped hurridly (despite the fact that the coffee was boiling hot). "Ahh! Good stuff…good stuff…" he sighed and set his cup down; oddly enough, he looked a little better. "By the way, where were you Jak? When I woke up this mornin', you weren't there. Do you know how hard it was for me to open that door! Every time I reached for the knob, I felt like my head was gonna split!" Daxter ranted, oblivious to the fact that Jak and Keira were blushing furiously, yet both had a secret smile across their face. Ashelin, Torn and Sig smirked, yet neither expressed their surprise.
"Jak says he's gonna stay here." Sig said quickly, tossing the hung-over Ottsel a muffin.
"Say what?" Daxter exclaimed, looking to Jak. "What for? Is this about Rayn? Buddy, you gotta let that go--"
"It's not that!" Jak said exasperatedly. "Look… it's has nothing to do with Rayn or any of the shit that went down here; I just need to… look for something. All I'm saying is, I won't be going back until I find out a few things…"
Torn sighed and set his mug down.
"Does it involve danger of any sorts?" he asked.
"Why? You worried about me, Torn?" Jak smirked.
"No. I just don't want to be the shoulder that Daxter will be perching his lazy ass on if you happen to get yourself killed while you're 'finding things out'." he stated matter-of-factly.
"'ey! Wha' 'hat hosed 'o mea! (Hey, what's that supposed to mean!)" Daxter exclaimed, his mouth full of muffin.
"Nothing." Torn replied sarcastically.
"You got somethin' to say to me, Tattooed-Wonder.(obviously downed the muffin)"
"Only that you're a lazy son-of-a-bitch who's ideals of a threat happen to fall upon the range of, 'Itty-bitty whisker-puss'…"
"Oh! You wanna go that way huh! Then bring it Tattooed-Boy!" Daxter threw his half eaten muffin at Torn, who dodged it and with a snarl, and brought out his knife.
"Why you piece of--"
Jak sighed again and got up from the table, heading out the door as Daxter jumped off the table; even though he was going to miss his friends, he definitely wasn't going to miss that…
"Jak…"
Keira had followed behind him (leaving Ashlin and Sig to deal with Torn and Daxter). "Are you…really going to stay?" she asked.
"Yeah…this is something I gotta do."
"Oh…"
"If you like, you could--"
"No. I wasn't going to ask if I could stay with you; this is obviously something you need to find out on your own…" she went up to him shyly and wrapped her arms about his waist. "But promise that you'll come back, okay…no more gaps between us, huh?"
"Of course, Keira." he hugged her back, resting his chin upon her head. "I swear I won't be long; I just need to find out who she is. The moment I do, I'll take the next boat home, okay."
"Okay…"
"Now, for a different matter…" He swung Keira around as she giggled happily, pulling her in close for a kiss…
"GET BACK HERE YOU ANNOYING FUR-BALL!"
"WHAT'S THE MATTER! CAN'T CATCH THE 'ITTY-BITTY-WHISKER-PUSS'!" Daxter was in the lead, his fur covered with butter and cream; for an Ottsel with a hangover, he was pretty fast. Torn ran out behind him, his face smeared with jam and bits of muffin (Daxter had tired the muffin attack again). Ashlin and Sig were the next to run out, and by the looks of their faces (not to mention half of breakfast hanging off their clothes) they were now a part of the war.
"I SWEAR I'M GOING BLAST BOTH OF YOUR ASSES! NO EXCEPTIONS TORN!"
"YOU CHERRIES ARE GONNA WISH I'D LEFT MY PEACE MAKER AT HOME!" and they too were out. Jak shook his head in annoyance and turned back to Keira.
"Do me a favor and make sure Dax doesn't get into any trouble while I'm gone, huh?" he sighed.
"No promises," Keira giggled as she kissed the tip of his nose. "But I'll see what I can do."
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The ocean was quite a sight.
Jak had driven the others to the dock, where their boat would be waiting. It was a fair-sized boat, painted blue that bore the Freedome Leauge insignia on the port; threeFreedome League guards awaited on board.Ashelin had ensured that they would return to Haven as luxurious as possible; being Baroness had it's perks. Jak helped Keira out of the car as Torn went towards the boat; the three Freedome Leaguer's saluted and lowered the port so they could board.
"Well, Jak. I guess this is where we part ways for now..." Ashelin said. "Keep in touch if something goes wrong."
"I can handle it."
"I'll see ya back home, Jak. I'm sure I'll have lots to do; the new recruits may have been slacking off in my absence; no doubt Jinx's ego willhave to be knocked down a few pegs as well..." with a curt nod and a firm handshake, Torn began to board the boat.
"Ask Keira..."
Torn stopped in his tracks; Jak chuckled lightly. "I know it's killin' you about what this is all about. So ask her."
"Yeah," Torn chuckled as well. "I just might." and with a final wave he disappeared. Next came the Wastelander; Jak noticed that Sig's face fell slightly when he caught sight of the ship.
"Damn, another Mar-damned boat. My stomach's just not cut out for this...I'm a Wastelander, damnit!"
"At least you're not doing as bad as Daxter," Jak pointed behind him; Daxter was heaving most of breakfast over the dock as Keira held him over. "Not even on board and already he's sea sick."
"Yeah, guess you're right," Sig laughed, though barely. "Hey, if you get into any trouble, you just call ol' Sig. I'll come as fast as a blink of an eye..."
"Thanks Sig."
"And don't be doin' nothing foolish, Cherrie," he looked over at Keira. "That Chili-Pepper really cares for you; don't let her down by comin' home in a casket, you hear?"
"Yeah. I know…" Jak replied as Keira caught his eye; she smiled warmly at him and followed Ashelin to the boat. "Keep an eye on her for me, will ya?"
"Will do, Jak." Sig said, slamming a hand on Jak's back in reassurance as he loaded into the boat; Jak staggered forward a bit but got his composer when Daxter stumbled over to him.
"You sure you don't want me to stay with ya, Jak buddy." he hiccupped. "What's an adventure without your, dare I say it, sidekick?"
"It's cool, Dax. I need to do this on my own. Besides," he nudged him playfully. "Tess'll be waiting for you."
"Yeah. Guess you're right…" Daxter said, loading into the boat, looking back at Jak tentatively as the boat's stern closed with a snap. Jak watched as the boat began to depart slowly from the dock; Keira went to the stern and waved at Jak; he waved back with a reassuring smile. He stood there waving until the boat was not visible anymore; he turned towards his car, hopping into it, and drove off…
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Keira continued to wave at Jak until he was only a small spot on the dock; Torn went and stood besides her, his arms folded in his natural 'don't-try-and-fuck-with-me' manner.
"So, Keira. You gonna tell us what this is all about? Jak said you'd explain as soon as we left Kras…"
"He's been having these strange visions," she replied, her eyes still cast towards Kras City. "They are of someone very important to him; someone by the name of… Valere…"
Torn's eyes widened in shock; his arms fell loosely by his sides. Keira looked over at him, a puzzled look across her face.
"Torn…" she began.
"Holy shit…" Torn muttered. "did you just say…Valere?"
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Neko Kurai: "Finally! We begin the search for 'Valere' the mysterious woman in Jak's dreams, and it seems that our lovable Tattooed-Wonder, Torn, knows something! What could it possibly be! Weeeeee! Until then; see ya space cowboy X3 (I've been watching too much Cowboy Bebop…)
