Wow, thanks to everyone for their reviews, greatly appreciate it. As some of you could probably guess, some of the prison dialogue was a combination of original lines and words from a transcript of the game. Extra points if you guess which is which. :) I took some liberties with the beginning of the first game but considering that this is an AU, I don't think that will matter too much.
For those who thought the kiss a little strange, I'm hoping that over the course of the story (if I can pull this off) the evolution to that point will make sense. If not, I apologize to everyone and will beat myself with a wet noodle.
Jak and Daxter and all related characters belong to Naughty Dog. This is a work of fiction and no infringement of copyright is implied or intended.
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Dax or Daxter?
By joeanne
Chapter One: The Curse
It was a beautiful sunny day in Sandover. The sand on the beaches was pure and white, the jungle was lush and green and the village itself was peaceful and humble. And one teenager wondered why he wasn't at any of those places.
"Jak," the teenager whined. "Why are we going to Misty Island? Look there isn't a cloud in the sky except over that one island. Doesn't that tell you something?"
Jak, the other teenager, just shrugged and went back to steering the boat.
Daxter, the boat's second occupant slumped in his seat. He stared out at the inviting blue water. He got an idea. "Hey, if we went back home we could go swimming," Daxter offered. One of Jak's ears perked up. Daxter pressed on. "The water'll be nice and cool. It'll feel real good, we'll just turn around—"
Jak shook his head.
"Oh come on, there's nothing there, Jak. Samos said so," Daxter said.
Jak gave Daxter a "Like you ever listen to him" look.
"And you're gonna stop now?" Daxter asked.
Jak turned away. Daxter went back to his new favorite activity, sulking.
Several minutes passed and the silence was starting to drive Daxter nuts. "So when are we getting to this. . . stupid island?"
The harsh barren landscape loomed before them. Grays and browns blurred together in an uninviting tableau. And, as Daxter had predicted, the lone cloud in the sky blocked out the sun, casting everything into monochromatic shadows. Unfamiliar chittering noises reached Daxter's ears as the boat landed on the dark shore.
"Jak, I don't like this place."
Jak ignored the comment and hopped from the boat. He held out his arms wide and flexed his hands in a "come here" gesture.
Daxter scowled and decided to get off the boat his way. Unfortunately, his way involved miscalculating the jump off the boat, catching his foot on the end of the bow and stumbling into the water. Daxter came sputtering to the surface. "Can this day get any worse?"
It did.
There were Lurkers on Misty Island, lots of them and they all seemed to be involved in some sort of meeting. Two strange people, one male and one female, were addressing the assembly. Jak and Daxter couldn't hear everything they said but the things they did hear were not reassuring. Wanting to learn more, Jak pressed on. And Daxter, never wanting to be left alone, followed.
"Why are we still here? Shouldn't we be heading back, you know, out of danger? Heading away from the creepy people and their world domination plans?" Daxter asked. He was lagging far behind his friend, not wanting to go on but not wanting the other out of his sight.
Jak didn't reply. He looked around. They seemed to be in an aboveground containment area. In the middle of a large circular deck was a deep pool of some vile substance. Jak wrinkled his nose at the smell.
"Smells like your foot wraps in here," Daxter commented. Jak stuck out his tongue at his bucktoothed companion. Daxter grinned and rushed forward.
WHAP! Daxter's foot rammed into something hard and he tripped, falling flat on his face. Jak failed to hide his laughter. Daxter scowled and got to his feet.
"Ha, ha, very funny. What'd I trip on anyway?" Daxter picked the offending object off the ground. It was rectangular and just as dull and gray as the rest of the island. There were symbols carved into its sides, but they were hard to see. Daxter snorted. "Looks like some stupid Precursor junk. Old Samos is always babbling on and on about this stuff." He lost interest and tossed it back over his head. "Who were the Precursors? Why did they disappear? Why did they leave all their crap lying around?"
Jak stumbled forward, catching it before it hit the ground. As soon as it touched Jak's fingers, the object began to glow.
"How'd you do that?" Daxter asked, face open with amazement.
Jak shrugged, he was just as surprised.
THUD! One of the Lurkers from before jumped at them from out of nowhere.
"Jak!" Daxter screamed and huddled behind his friend.
The Lurker was huge, purple and ugly. The white skull perched on top of its head seemed to stare down at the teenagers with its empty sockets. The Lurker stalked closer and closer to the pair, drooling with hunger.
Daxter continued to cower, unable to move. Jak knew he had to do something. He steeled his determination and hurled the strange Precursor object at the creature. The creature blinked and exploded into tiny unidentifiable pieces.
The recoil forced Jak backwards into Daxter. While the blond warrior managed to regain his balance, his friend did not. Daxter tumbled down, arms flailing into the vat of Dark Eco below.
Jak panicked. He scrambled to the edge of the vat and peered down, face anxious for any sign of movement.
The gelatinous pool was still. Jak's eyes widened with fear. Suddenly, the eco started to shift and move. It curled in on itself and spat Daxter out.
Daxter went flying, head over heels, until finally slamming into the ground. Jak rushed over to his friend and hauled the redhead to his feet. "My skin's on fire, what the heck was that?"
Jak paused. Daxter's voice sounded different. Jak took several steps back and examined his friend. His jaw dropped open.
The changes had extended to more than Daxter's voice. The redhead had always been shorter than Jak but now Daxter was even smaller. The lanky assembly of bones and muscle had become rounder, more curved. But the thing that Jak found his eyes locked onto was Daxter's chest. No matter how hard he tried, his brain could not wrap around the concept of what lay underneath his friend's tunic.
"Hey, what happened to my voice? I sound so squeaky." Daxter rubbed his throat in annoyance. Daxter looked over and noticed Jak's gawking.
"What?" Daxter asked. The redhead followed the blond's gaze downward and saw what was so troubling. Under his shirt were two bumps. Two round bumps. Daxter's eyes widened. He screamed. "I'm not supposed to have those! I'm not supposed to have those!" He, or rather she, crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Oh, this is all your fault, Jak! If we hadn't come to this stupid island on this stupid day I wouldn't have fallen into that stupid Dark Eco and gotten these stupid boobs!"
Jak just continued to stare.
"Stop looking at me!" Daxter yelled and turned away. Her face flushed bright red, matching her hair. She panted with embarrassment, curling into herself. Her face screwed up into a frown.
Jak looked down at his feet with a guilty expression. He grabbed Daxter's shoulders and flipped his friend around. Daxter was still frowning. Jak tilted his head to the side and produced his best "Please don't stay mad at me, you're my best friend" look.
Even at his angriest, Daxter could never hold a grudge against that face for long and neither could his female self. Daxter exhaled in the most dramatic fashion she could before tossing Jak's hands off.
"Yeah, yeah, let's get back to Old Moss-head's and you can stare at your girlfriend for awhile. Then I can get back to normal," Daxter muttered.
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The duo entered the Green Sage's hut, keeping as quiet as possible. The effort was completely futile.
"Let me guess," Samos began, not even deigning to turn around at look at the newcomers. "You two went to Misty Island, the one place I've told you never to go and Daxter got into some sort of trouble."
Daxter raised her fist to make a rude gesture but Jak smacked it down.
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing back there!" Samos yelled. He turned around. His reaction to Daxter's change was surprisingly low-key.
Samos shrugged. "Hmm, It could be worse."
"How could it be worse?!" Daxter screamed.
"You could be orange and fuzzy."
"Good point, old man."
The Green Sage swooped down from his high perch and hovered in front of Daxter. He tapped a finger against her buckteeth.
"I see that your Eco bath did nothing for that mouth of yours," Samos joked.
"Hey!"
Keira, the Sage's daughter, had been watching from the hut's entrance and decided that now would be a good time to step in.
"Can we fix Daxter?" Keira asked.
Samos scratched his whiskery chin. "I'm afraid not. But the Dark Eco Sage who lives to the North might have a solution. Gol and his sister have studied the secrets of Dark Eco for years."
Jak and Daxter grinned at each other. "Great, let's go!"
"But the portal to the North is malfunctioning, since none of the other Sages have bothered to keep theirs open. There is a road through the volcanoes, but the ground is too hot to walk upon," Samos said.
"But you could ride over it. I'm working on a heat shield for the zoomer. It's going to take about twenty Power Cells to get it going," Keira said.
"Great, so let me guess, we go down to the village and get Power Cells from them? And if they won't give them to us by asking nicely we've gotta do something for them," Daxter said.
Keira nodded. "You got it."
"This stinks." The redhead grumbled under her breath and kicked at the carnivorous plant by the door. Keira watched the forlorn figure for a moment before switching to Jak.
The blond warrior stood there looking completely at a loss. She knew that someone had to do something to cheer up Daxter. Keira looked to her father who was fiddling through some of his Precursor texts. He was going to be no help. It was up to her.
Keira walked over to the smaller woman and laid a companionable hand on her shoulder. "You know, you guys should probably rest up, you can start searching tomorrow. Meanwhile, I can show you the ropes on how to be a girl," Keira said.
Daxter frowned. "I don't need to learn anything, sweetheart. I'm not staying like this. I am going to be one hundred percent Grade-A male again before you know it."
"Daxter, we don't know how long it'll take Gol to find a cure," Keira said. "It could be days, weeks, even years."
For the first time real worry crossed Daxter's face. Her ears drooped. "Years?"
Keira sighed. "I hope not, but I'd rather teach you what I know than have to learn from Daddy or Jak."
Daxter picked up Keira's hand and dropped it. "No offense, Keira but I know all there is to know about babes."
This was not going well, Daxter was being stubborn over something she had no right to be stubborn about. The mechanic was going to have to switch tactics. "Think of it as a chance for a sleepover."
The redhead perked up with interest. "Really? With pillow fights and skimpy sleep shirts and everything?"
Keira nodded. "You with me?"
Daxter rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Sign me up!"
"First lesson: underwear. 'Cause you are going to need a little support. Then we'll talk biology because we don't want that sneaking up on you--" Keira started to make her way out of the hut, counting things on her fingers as she went.
Daxter grinned. "Hey Jak, I'm about to get the inside guide to ladies' underwear. Sure you don't want to come?" She growled, making a clawing motion with her hand.
Jak just shook his head.
The redhead just shrugged. "It's your loss. Wait for me, babycakes!" She ran after Keira.
Samos glanced over at Jak. "Don't worry, the novelty should wear off in a few days."
The Next Morning
"Pillow fights are completely overrated. I'm gonna be coughing feathers for days and her shirt didn't come off once," Daxter complained.
Jak rolled his eyes.
The terrible twosome was currently herding the farmer's Yakcows into a large pen. Jak thought that perhaps the farmer was tired. Daxter thought the farmer was too lazy to do it himself.
Jak was pushing against the last Yakcow but it was refusing to move. He went around to the animal's front to see if it was eating or occupied with some other distraction. But the creature just stood there, staring into the Forbidden Forest. The other animals were making low mewling noises and stomping their hooves.
"Jak?"
Jak turned to look at his friend. Daxter was looking into the woods, her face worried. "I think there's something out there."
Jak shook his head. Nothing ever came into the village.
The screeching from the direction of the trees made that last thought seem very, very silly. The actual monster made it seem even sillier.
The Lurker, like all Lurkers, was big. It dragged itself along by its massive forearms. It shook its shaggy head, stringy hair flying in all directions. It opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth and a lolling tongue.
Jak whipped his head around looking for Daxter, but his sidekick had disappeared.
The Lurker fixed its gaze on Jak and rushed forward with alarming speed.
He couldn't find Daxter, the Yakcows were starting to panic and a Lurker was headed right for him. This was not going to be Jak's day.
Suddenly, a treenut smashed into the Lurker's head. "Over here, buttface!"
The Lurker and Jak turned toward the sound. Daxter had managed to climb a tree and was perched in its upper branches. She was holding a large treenut. She hurled it at the Lurker, striking it right above the eye.
The creature howled.
Daxter ripped another nut off a low-hanging branch. She waved a hand in front of her face. "Great Precursors, you're ugly. I hope you got your looks from your Dad 'cause I hate to think your Mother looked like that!"
The Lurker bellowed and raced toward her. Jak took the opportunity to give the Yakcow one last shove and locked it in the pen with the others. He ran as fast as he could after the monster.
Daxter threw her treenut at the approaching Lurker, but it dodged out of the way. She continued to pick nuts and throw them as the Lurker got closer and closer. "Hurry up, Jak!"
The Lurker leapt onto the tree, the wood groaned. As it climbed, the tree sagged backward under the weight. Daxter watched like a frightened animal and tried to move higher into the branches. The creature was fast approaching and she was running out of tree. Daxter heard a whistling sound and looked down. Jak stood underneath her with his arms wide open.
The Lurker swiped at her with one massive paw. Daxter dodged, lost her balance and fell through the air right into Jak's arms. They landed in a tangled pile of limbs on the soft sand.
The sudden absence of Daxter's weight caused the tree to snap back and launch the Lurker high into the air. It flew out over the beach and into the deep water. They could see it splashing around, heading back toward Misty Island.
The duo sprang to their feet, big grins on their faces.
"Did you see that, Jak? That was beautiful! I was holding it off, brave intrepid hero that I am, and you helped too, of course," Daxter babbled. It was around that time that Daxter noticed the warm presence of Jak's arm curled around her waist. She coughed into her hand. "Excitement's over, big guy. You can let go now."
Jak looked at his offending hand and jerked it away as if burned. Daxter thought that kind of reaction was a little unnecessary.
Jak pointed between the Jungle and village. "Yeah, nothing ever comes this close to the village? Should we tell Old Green Stuff?" Daxter asked.
Jak nodded.
Daxter vocalized the plan that was on both of their minds. "Right, we'll tell him about the Lurker and then get some more of those Power Cells."
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It was night. The twosome sat on a hilltop overlooking the entire village. The stars twinkled high above them, casting their village in a peaceful light. Daxter stretched her arms and yawned. "I'm exhausted, Jak. We've talked to every single villager and done all of the stupid things they've asked and we still don't have enough Power Cells," she complained.
Jak shrugged. He had figured it would be that way. The village was too small for their needs. Jak reached over and grasped the back of Daxter's neck. She tensed for a moment before his fingers began to rhythmically squeeze the muscles there. A moment of so later, Daxter began to relax. Her eyes slid shut. "Yeah, that's nice."
They sat there together letting the sound of the surf wash over them. After a while Jak's fingers stopped moving. Daxter opened her eyes. "What'd you stop for?" she asked.
Jak removed his fingers and flexed them.
"Ah, started hurting?"
Jak nodded. He flashed her an enigmatic smile. Now Daxter prided herself on knowing her friend better than anyone and on being able to translate his gestures and facial expressions, but this was a new one. It was one that she didn't understand and wasn't sure she liked. So she did what any teenage boy would do when feeling uncomfortable, she shoved him.
Jak looked puzzled and then he smirked at her. Without warning he pounced and knocked Daxter flat on the ground. This started a wrestling match for the ages. Legs kicked, arms whirled around and grass flattened beneath their twisting bodies.
Moments later, it was over, Daxter pinned under Jak's greater strength. Daxter scowled, even though she knew that their wrestling matches always ended like this. "Okay, get off before I really have to hurt you," Daxter said. Jak just smiled, he knew there was no way Daxter was going anywhere. Daxter flailed, but the older boy wouldn't budge. She pouted. "Please move?" she asked, trying another tactic. Jak shook his head. "Ah come on, Jak! My arm's going numb!"
At that Jak deigned to sit up. Daxter crawled out from under him and propped herself up. "Hey Jak? We'll get me back to normal, right? The Fates can't deny the women of the world my sexiness forever, right?"
Jak nodded.
Daxter smiled. "You're a good pal, but don't let that go to your head."
And Jak never did.
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That will be all of Sandover for a while. I'll flashback to it periodically, but the meat of the story is in Haven and I'm an impatient lass. The title is starting to annoy me. I may change it but I'm not sure yet.