Author's note (29/08/2020): The revisions of this story have been completed, or at least are now at a stage where I think they are publishable. My apologies to those who have been waiting patiently for this. Once again it took much longer than I anticipated, and I have been trying to finish a rather complicated and challenging PhD alongside this, and I have been having difficulty finding satisfaction with my work. There's still something indescribable about this story that feels missing or could be improved, and I'm sure I'll return to it again one day, but a break from it will do me some good. As it stands now it is greatly improved since its previous version. Feedback and reviews from readers will be very helpful in helping me achieve my goals. Please enjoy this refreshed version of Separated.
As before, this is intended as a parallel, a 'sister story' of sorts, to my other story 'Marooned'. Readers are encouraged to visit that one first, and then hopefully this story and its background will make a lot more sense.
As the last units of the bomber squadron disappeared over the mountains, and the mighty hum of their engines faded into silence, the tense life of Haven City resumed, but now imbued with a more positive outlook on the future. For months, the city had been gripped by a terrible and destructive war, the target of a mysterious and belligerent people discovered far beyond the city's explored surroundings. The citizens were fatigued, pained by the losses and damages they had suffered, and longed for peace, something which had barely been known in Haven's turbulent history.
But now, Ashelin Praxis, the city's virtuous leader, had promised them that peace. On this one special occasion, everyone had gathered before the headquarters of the Freedom League, the city's governing body and defending force, to hear her rousing speech and to behold the great fleet that she had prepared. The sight of it extinguished the fears and doubts of all those who had wavered. With such an immense force, their brave and heroic pilots would fly over to the homeland of their enemy and raze it to the ground, ending their threat for good. This was the final stroke to lay to rest all conflict, and the victorious pilots would return to a heroes' welcome. And then, finally, the city would be free.
But the spectacle was over now, the fleet had departed on its fateful mission, and the packed courtyard before the HQ building started to empty. Some remaining Freedom League soldiers were there to usher people along and make sure that the area was cleared. Throughout the war, a protective curfew had been installed, and though now relaxed somewhat, that curfew still stood until the end of the war was confirmed with certainty, and it was still a danger to have so many people all gathered together like this. Ashelin and her second-in-command, the competent Commander Torn, both of whom had flown out with the fleet, had left behind just garrison enough under the charge of a few chosen officers to ensure that order and safety were maintained. They had little trouble controlling the crowds, for the speech had put everyone in a good and cooperative mood. Many had already started making their own ways home to prepare themselves for the inevitable celebrations that would dominate tomorrow, upon the return of their victorious fighters.
After the crowds dispersed, however, one solitary, green-haired figure remained by the rim of the tall fountain at the heart of the square, looking up at the now empty sky. It was Keira Hagai, and she let out a tired, wistful sigh. There was a lot going through her mind right now, even now at the apparent end of it all.
But her contemplations were interrupted as a soldier politely approached her. "Miss, it's time to move on."
"Coming," she said offhandedly with her eyes still pointing skywards, and then she moved away from the fountain, escorted out of the courtyard by the armoured man behind her.
She kept apart from all the others, slipping through the cracks in the dissolved crowds like a shadow, and soon had a decent stretch of the street to herself. Without looking back, she just walked on through the quietening streets alone, disappearing around the corner with no destination in mind. She just wanted to walk and clear her convoluted thoughts on this significant day, this day that would mark yet another new start. The long war had been tough and lonely for her, and she wondered if the future would really be as auspicious as Ashelin promised.
She was in a strange and ambivalent mood, feeling hopefulness and relief, but also boredom and restlessness. She felt the desire to do something, but could not think what. It made her reflective and considerate, and as she walked, memories of the past were re-emerging in her mind. They mingled together with present and future concerns, and she allowed herself to become lost in the web they formed, mapping together all that had happened over the past couple of years, and what had led her to the present day.
In the centre of the web, the prominent nucleus around which all else was connected, was Jak, her most treasured lifelong friend. Everything seemed to concern him somehow. He had become intimately entangled in the very fate of Haven City, and he was always rushing around, always busy doing work for the Freedom League, with little time to spare for her. He had flown out with the fleet today as well, and she remembered their goodbye earlier in the morning. How sterile and perfunctory it had felt. The two of them had barely had the chance to speak or even see each other much throughout this war, and Keira no longer felt as close to him as she had once done, in spite of her desires to be so. So much had come between them in these last few years, and for reasons largely beyond their own control, their relationship had become frayed and complicated, like an old rope that tethered the boat to the dock when the waters were stormy.
She sighed again, for it had not always been this way. The rope had been closer and stronger. She and Jak had grown up together, an idyllic childhood far away from Haven and its constant dangers. Her memories searched back far, back to the peaceful village by the sea where they had once lived. Another place, another time. There she had shared a home on the rocks with her father, the wise sage of green eco, and spent most of her time tinkering with inventions or old artefacts that Jak and his inseparable friend Daxter would find in the surrounding areas. Those were happier times, innocent and insular. Jak was a much different person back then too, brave and strong, but gentle, serene and carefree, and as they both slowly evolved into teenagers, they began to notice new feelings and interests in one another.
But whatever was developing between them was cruelly interrupted. One day, they discovered a time rift, and she, her father, Daxter and Jak had all been sucked through suddenly and unexpectedly, ripped from their home and flung into the far future, here to Haven City. She remembered her terrifying arrival all that time ago, but wished she could forget the trauma. Lost in an unexplained future and separated from her friends and loved ones when she fell out of the sky over Haven, it was a difficult and frightening time for her, and it took her many weeks to adjust to life here and find her way around. Everything was so different: the buildings, the atmosphere, the laws, even the people. Life on such a large scale was overwhelming for someone from such a small and sheltered background, and it forced her to adapt and rapidly mature, to become strong and independent so she could survive on her own.
She quickly discovered just how much fear and hostility existed in this new place. Apparently there was a never-ending war going on, against dark and ferocious monsters called the Metal Heads, and people were afraid to ever leave the safety of the city's walls. The insides, however, were far from the haven that the city's name implied. The buildings were high and dominating, the air was thick and unhealthy from the effluence of hundreds of smokestacks and factories, and the streets, rife with crime, violence and filth, were constantly patrolled by the city's military police force known as the Krimzon Guard. Brutal and corrupt, the red-armoured soldiers were always looking for any excuse to make arrests in the name of Baron Praxis, the man who ruled over Haven with ruthless oppression. Keira very quickly learned to give them a wide berth whenever she saw them marching down the same street, not to make eye contact or give them any reason to approach her.
Fortunately, however, after many difficult tribulations, she found work at the Mar Memorial Stadium in the north of the city, studying, building and repairing zoomers and other vehicles. This was a true blessing, because mechanical engineering was her single most passionate and skilful craft, and she clung to it tightly as the only familiar respite she could retreat to in this unwelcoming place. It really helped her to keep it together, to stay sane and motivated during those dark and lonely days. She was scraping enough money to survive, and she improved her own mechanical skills tenfold, even becoming part of a successful race team.
Keira remembered those races fondly. They were an extravaganza, insanely popular, and the entire city would turn out to watch every one, whatever the time or weather. But despite the success and security she had found for herself at the stadium, she would be prepared to leave it all behind if it meant being with her friends and father again. She never forgot them; finding them and getting back home, away from this hostile and intimidating place, was her one greatest objective. Even though she had no way of knowing if they had all fallen from the rift into the same place, let alone the same time, she felt in her gut that they had to be here somewhere, and she devoted whatever spare time she could to continue her search for them and find a way to get back to their village. This unfriendly labyrinth of metal and concrete just wasn't home, and she wasn't planning to stick around here any longer than it took to get back.
When she wasn't working, she researched the city's history for clues of the fate of their old village, and where the rift ring now was, but she always ended up at a demoralising blank. There were no traces of it anywhere in any records. In the meantime, she had slightly better success using the spare parts and resources that her mechanical job offered her to ambitiously reconstruct the rift rider vehicle that brought them here, entirely from memory, for the eventual journey back through the portal, if she ever found it. The work was slow, lonely and secretive, and she often hit dead ends, but it kept her going, giving her a meaningful goal to work towards whenever she wasn't focussed on the races.
But then one day, more than two years after falling through the time rift and being separated from each other, Jak and Daxter just walked back into her life, turning up at her workshop completely out of the blue. After all of her searching and hard work, they just came to her by chance, and she was so happy to see them again. However, while Daxter was his same old wacky self, Jak was no longer the sweet young boy she had once known. Had it not been for Daxter at his side, she would probably have never even recognised him. Haven City had changed him, and in ways she could have never imagined; he looked so different and transformed in his industrial-style clothing, his face was grievous and tired, and she sensed a dark and foreboding energy that seemed to emanate from him, which made her shy out of the pent-up hug she had saved just for him.
Still, the hardest two years of her life had ended on that day, and not long after that, they found her father too. At last, she had been reunited with those who she knew and trusted and loved, and no longer did she feel isolated in this hostile new world. That day, she came one step closer to being home, and now she found the motivation and the extra help she needed to finalise and execute her efforts to return to the past. It took a few more struggles, but with Jak's invaluable help, at last her reconstructed vehicle had all its necessary components, the rift ring was located, and she was ready to leave everything in Haven behind and get back to their village where they all belonged.
But then, of course, things got complicated, what with all that time-travel business at the end of the Metal Head Wars. Even after all this time, she still didn't fully understand exactly how it all worked out. Maybe nobody ever would. Her father said it was something to do with a loop in time that needed to be maintained, but that was as far as she'd ever got. To cut a long story short, in the end they all had to remain here in Haven City, and the rediscovered time rift, perhaps the last one in existence, closed forever. She would never see her village again now, but that was alright; as long as she was with Jak, Daxter and her father Samos, she was home, wherever that may be. They were her family.
The reunion did not last for long, however, as fighting soon rent the city apart again. Worse, for some reason Jak was ultimately blamed for it and exiled to the desert wastes far from the city walls. Keira shivered at the memory. Even today, she still wished she could have done something to prevent it, for it looked as though she had lost him again. Was that why they had not spoken properly for so long? Did he still blame her as well?
After this, all the way up to the present day, life seemed to devolve into a constant struggle to survive as the very streets of Haven became battlefields. She had spent the best part of it all confined to her home or the fortified headquarters of the Freedom League at the behest of her father, where he insisted she would be safe. Safe she was, but she wasn't having much fun, shut away indoors with little to do and few people to talk with. She was aggrieved and wanted to help, to be a part of something that mattered, but to be honest she was not sure how much of a help she could really be in all this. She was no leader or fighter, and she was still very young, not yet twenty, and consequently she was often looked upon as little more than a child, always left feeling unwanted and unimportant while older, more experienced others did all the important work.
Though Jak did eventually make his way back from exile and saved the city from itself, he and she had still not found the time to fully repair their damaged friendship. She missed him, and really wished they could spend more time together, but his heroic status among the citizens and his constantly required aid for the city often tore them apart at the most inopportune moments. Even in the few rare times when the two of them had been in the same room, she rarely got the chance to speak with him, and in return he barely even acknowledged that she was there. And so it went on, growing worse as the lonely months ticked by, while she suffered in silence.
Presently, she puffed out a breath of indignation. This was unfair. Why was there always something driving them apart? Just war after war after war, always getting between them. She missed her village and her old life more than ever now, where these things had never been a problem. She wished that everything could all go back to how it used to be, or that none of this had ever happened to them. Jak had not been the same ever since that life-changing day when they fell through that time rift, nor she, to be fair. There were awkward and uncomfortable gaps in their relationship that needed to be mended, but how could she make them right? How would she even start?
Her wandering thoughts had come full circle, but at that point she was forced to a halt as she ran out of road. Looking up, she was surprised to find herself in the port. Her aimless walk had brought her clear across to the other side of the city without realising, and she stood now along the dirty and shattered waterfront. The water was the same dull shade as the grey buildings, which each stood unremarkable and drab, some scrawled with aging graffiti and many bearing the scars of battle. On the far side, however, the only sparkle of vibrancy in this ugly area, was a familiar and inviting sight: the enormous mechanical figure of Daxter that stood watch over the front door of his pub, The Naughty Ottsel.
It brought a faint smile to Keira's face as she remembered the day he had opened it, at the end of the Metal Head Wars when everything had seemed so on track. Though she had seldom visited since then, she was aware that it had become quite a popular establishment. Miraculously, it had survived the wars with only minor damages, and despite Daxter's current absence, accompanying Jak as he always did on all of his adventures, the place seemed to be alive and well, and she could hear happy voices drifting to her across the water. Evidently some people were already celebrating the end of the war early.
She cocked a thoughtful eyebrow. Maybe she should head over there too and see what was happening. She wasn't really one for parties or drinking, but she definitely felt a closer connection to her friends there. Maybe she would also get the chance to also talk to Tess, another ally who helped Daxter run the place, and as she understood, the two of them had apparently become quite close recently. This might be interesting. Deciding on the spot, she took the road that led her towards the colourful building.
When she stepped inside, she was greeted by the warm and pleasant atmosphere within. Indeed, the building was quite busy, and many of the present patrons were so engrossed in their activities that they did not even notice her walk in. The high walls met at a vaulted ceiling, and their every space bore either a mounted skull of a Metal Head or a cheesy painting of Daxter, which couldn't help but make her smile. All the miserable self-reflection that had filled her up on the way here seemed discarded on the doorstep outside like muddy footprints.
She approached the counter, squeezing past groups of drinkers carefully, but Tess was not behind it like she expected. Instead the drinks were being served by a girl who she did not recognise. When it was Keira's turn to be served, she turned her full attention to her.
"Hiya," she said cheerfully, with a welcoming smile. "Can I get you anything?"
"Just a glass of water please," answered Keira, perching herself on one of the barstools.
"Sure thing," said the girl. "Water's free. Coming right up!"
She fetched a glass from under the counter and proceeded to fill it from the tap as Keira looked over her with interest. This girl was about the same height as she was, and looked about the same age too. She had long, straight black hair, a light complexion, and a sweet and friendly face with very pretty purple eyes.
"Who are you anyway?" asked Keira, innocently curious. "I was expecting to see Tess here."
"Oh yeah, sorry, I'm Azyma," said the girl. "Tess and I were in the Underground together, and she's offered me a job here. I've only just started, but it's quite fun. Here you go," she added, handing over the glass.
"Ah right, thank you," said Keira, pulling the glass to herself across the table top. "I'm Keira. I'm a close friend of Jak and Daxter."
Azyma looked immediately very interested. "Really? Ooh, wow. What's it like being friends with the heroes of Haven City?"
"Is that what people are calling them now?" said Keira, chuckling quietly and then taking a sip. "Well, they're just friends to me," she said with a shrug. "I've known them since I was a child."
"Oh!" said Azyma, her intrigue growing with the widening of her eyes. "You must know them really well then."
"Yeah..." Keira began, but she faded off as her unresolved thoughts from the journey here started to catch up with her again. Perhaps she didn't know Jak as well as she should anymore. She took another sip of water to fill the lengthening gap of silence, but Azyma continued to express her fascination, taking advantage of the fact that there was nobody else in line for a drink right now.
"Is Jak really from the past?" she asked, leaning her elbows on the table top, evidently settling herself in for some avid listening.
"Yeah, he is," Keira answered, setting down the glass. "We both are, actually."
Azyma looked even more impressed. "Wow! That's amazing. I've heard so much about him but I thought it couldn't be true. So what was it like there?"
Keira smiled nostalgically. "It was nice. We lived near the seaside, and we used to go fishing, exploring, playing. No such thing as Metal Heads..."
Keira went on a little more, describing the life that she would never have again. It felt quite therapeutic to share these treasured memories with someone, and Azyma was a good listener and pleasantly easy to talk to.
"It does sound nice," she said when Keira was done. "Better than my childhood at least. I've lived in the slums my whole life. But it feels good to be out of there now though, working a proper job here. And Tess is my best friend. I couldn't have got here without her."
"Where is she anyway?" Keira then asked.
"Oh, she's just in the back room, should be out shortly."
Not long after she said that, Tess did indeed appear and jumped onto a stool behind the counter, bearing an extra bottle of drink. Keira took in the sight of her, now in ottsel form. It was like looking at a female version of Daxter, and she was reminded of him instantly.
"Hi sweetie!" she said, beaming brightly at Keira when she recognised her. "Nice to see you here. How are you?"
"I'm alright, I think," said Keira honestly, for the talk with Azyma had cheered her up quite a bit. "Just been trying to get over all the stuff that's been going on with this war."
"Oh, I know how you feel," Tess said sympathetically, setting down the bottle. "We're all worn out after all this fighting, but it'll all be over tomorrow, huh? And I see Azyma's been keeping you company."
Azyma winked and smiled sweetly, and then started cleaning some of the used glasses left nearby.
"So how was the big speech up at Freedom HQ, Keira?" Tess continued. "Were you there?"
"Yeah, people really liked it," Keira explained, although she had not let herself become so wrapped up in the frenzy of it all. "It got a bit loud though, and there sure were a lot of aircraft."
"Wish I could have been there to see it," said Tess. "But you know, got to keep this place up and running for when Daxie gets back!"
Keira smiled, but the mention of Daxter reminded her of Jak again. "Has Jak ever been here much?" she asked.
"Oh, fairly often," Tess answered, "Especially recently leading up to this big mission."
Keira looked thoughtful and sad. So this was where he'd been hiding when he wasn't at Freedom HQ or fighting for the city. She should have guessed. She wished she could have been allowed to come out and be with him, at least once. Was that too much to ask? She gave out another sigh at what could have been.
"Aww, you miss him, huh?" Tess said caringly, and Keira was quite astounded that she could so easily tell. "Don't worry about it, Keira. Once this is all over, I'm sure he'll come running straight to you. And if he doesn't, I'll make sure he knows you're waiting."
This made Keira giggle slightly at the possibility. "Oh, thanks, Tess."
She remained in the bar until the afternoon wore into evening, chatting with Tess about anything and everything. Though the two of them had never really had much to talk about before, they bonded over the mutual connection they shared with Jak and Daxter, swapping tales and adventures. Keira could feel a closer friendship forming with her already, and with Azyma too, who often joined in the conversation whenever she could. For Keira, it felt lovely to finally have someone interesting to talk to, and despite her troubled thoughts and feelings earlier, she was in a generally positive mood throughout their chat.
As the evening settled outside, the bar started to fill up with a lot more customers and conversation became harder to sustain over the noise and the crowds. Tess and Azyma soon had their hands full with taking orders, and when she glanced at the clock hanging over the door, Keira decided that now was time to head home.
"Thanks, guys," she said at last, setting down the empty water glass, "I've had a nice time talking with you. But I'd better go now."
"Alright," said Azyma, smiling again, "It was nice meeting you. Hope you come back again soon."
"Remember, you're always welcome here, Keira," added Tess. "In fact, Daxter's got a big party planned for tomorrow when he gets back. You should come. Jak's sure to be here too." She winked.
Keira liked the sound of that. It would be the perfect excuse to unwind and spend more time with the people she cared about, and it could even be the opportunity to make her move with Jak. She accepted the invitation, then said goodnight, and left the building in a much more satisfied mood than when she had entered. Outside, she took in a deep, content breath of the cool air. The sun had now fallen behind the city walls but the sky was still light and turning pink; quite a pretty evening. She had enjoyed herself here at the pub, but there was only one more person who she needed to speak to today, and that was her father. He had protected and educated her all of her life, and the respect she held for his wisdom was unrivalled.
Her journey home felt a lot shorter than her wandering perambulation earlier. Soon she was standing before her home, a spacious, multi-storey house which she shared with her father in the New Haven district of the city, one of the newest and nicest residential neighbourhoods, and just a few corners away from Freedom HQ. As she went inside, she knew where she could probably find her father, and her eyes were drawn straight to the door at the foot of the stairs. She peeped her head in, into what had once been an ordinary sitting room, but had now been converted into a sort of indoor growing space for plants. The air was thick with flowery fragrances, ferns hung in baskets from the ceiling, and instead of furniture there were broad, metal pots and beds of soil from which small trees grew. She carefully brushed aside the large plant that always leaned in the way of the door, stepped over the vines that sprawled upon the ground, and then in the centre of the room, she found her father, sitting cross-legged on a mat with his eyes closed in deep concentration. A short, portly and aged man, he looked very much like a plant himself; he wore earthy colours, his skin was slightly greened, and there was a large log upon his head, tied in place by his long white hair, and upon which a tiny bird roosted. Keira knew that he hated having his meditations interrupted, but for her he held a special exception.
"Daddy?" she announced herself quietly.
Samos opened an eye to see his daughter standing before him. "My girl!" he said fondly, snapping out of his trance.
At the same time, his bird woke up and cheeped happily in recognition, then flew to Keira and landed on her shoulder, affectionately brushing her neck with its long crest. Keira giggled and reached up a hand, and the bird hopped onto her finger.
"It is good to see you," her father said. "You seem well." He paused while Keira gently stroked the bird with her other hand, and it ruffled itself in contentment. "But I sense that there is something troubling you," Samos then ventured perspicaciously.
Keira looked up. "Oh, yeah," she replied, catching on, and the war's long stresses re-materialised in the forefront of her mind. "This war's been tough."
"Ah, I understand," Samos said wisely, stroking his long beard, "And I know how you must be feeling. We have all worked long and hard throughout this war, especially we in the Freedom League. We have all been touched by its cruel injuries."
Keira carefully sat down next to him, understanding as well what her father must have been through. Throughout the war he had taken up a position on the city council, and had been at Freedom HQ more often than here at home. There he had been present at many of the council's most important meetings, often acting as the voice of rationality, offering his valued advice, and quelling many disagreements with well-chosen words and wisdom. Though Keira had wished to be involved as well, she did not grudge him this mentally exhausting position. This close, she could see that the war seemed to have aged him significantly.
"But we must endure such misfortunes and difficulties in order to grow," Samos went on. "It is in human nature to seek indulgences and avoid hardship, but a life without hardship will only damage the soul. For if we lived a life wherein we experienced no ill fortune at all, our souls would become weak, and even those most trivial of tasks would become a mighty challenge."
Keira listened carefully to her father's lecture as the bird cooed and nestled in her hands. Though she understood what he meant, she felt as though he had missed the mark with her somewhat. This was perhaps the right time to fully voice some of her lingering feelings and concerns, and definitely the right person to confide in.
"You're right, Daddy," she began, and then tried to find the best words. "But... I've been really bored lately. It feels like I haven't had a purpose in anything, and... it's been difficult for me. And… I miss Jak. It just feels like so long since he's had any time for me..."
Samos was a little surprised to hear this, but was sympathetic. "I am sorry that you have been feeling this way, Keira, and I understand your frustration. You have always been eager to prove yourself in some way, ever since you were a child. But I've only ever wanted you to stay safe."
"I understand," said Keira with sad acceptance, though she didn't feel it solved anything.
"And as for Jak," Samos continued, "You should know that he is very fond of you, even if he does not always show it."
Keira looked up with hope, her heart making a little flutter that showed on her face. "Really?"
Samos nodded. "You should not worry yourself about him, Keira. It's just this war. You know how much the city needs him. But by this time tomorrow," he continued more optimistically, "The threats that have loomed over us will be no more, and once again, we will have Jak to thank for it. I know we will succeed."
Keira looked her father in the eyes, and knew at once that she could believe him. Already, all of the concerns and troubles that had bothered her seemed chased away by his words; he always seemed to know exactly what to say to help her feel better about things. She had no reason to brood over what had already happened, when the promising future lay right around the corner.
"You're right. Thanks, Daddy," she said, smiling again.
"That's my girl!" he said proudly. "Just rest up and take it easy. Tomorrow, we celebrate!"
That night, Keira went to bed in a content and optimistic mood. She left the curtains in her bedroom open so she could watch the night sky from her pillow, hoping to catch sight of the returning victorious fighters as they flew home, with Jak at their head. She stayed awake for as long as she could, but her conscience was against her, triggered by the advice of her father to stay restful, and she eventually fell asleep without seeing any returning cruisers. Maybe she would wake up the next morning to see a city in celebration, and then she could finally see Jak again. At last, her long wait would be over, and tomorrow, she would make sure that he noticed her.
She could only dream.