"You sure this is it?" She nodded and started to walk down the street. Jak shrugged at Dax and followed her around the corner.
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The trio walked around the corner, and sure enough, there was Tess and Torn. Though of course Jak knew neither of their names. Kaida paused and waited for Jak to become level with her, but before either could say anything, the blonde Tess stepped forward giving a glare and a snarl at Jak like an attack dog would. Not to say Torn was any less dog-like in his next actions either, glaring and sizing the trio up like a pit bull...
"Were looking for a guy named Torn. Kor sent us." Jak began, looking first at Tess, then to Torn who came way too close for personal space, looking down on and glaring at Jak.
"Uh... are you...Torn?" Torn's 'guard dog' glare and closeness caused Jak to put large spaces in his sentence, not that Kaida blamed him. She had though he was bad watching on the game, but up close in real life... he was very intimidating. There was a tense pause and Daxter leaned over Jak's shoulder.
"Maybe he's a mute... like you used to be." Torn chose that next moment to finally speak up.
"New faces make me nervous." he backed off Jak, giving him back his space. "The word is your out to join the fight for the city. You know, picking the wrong side could be... unhealthy." Torn took a pause, as if to search for the right word, but they all knew it was just meant to be intimidating. Plus Kaida knew what Jak's next statement would be without a doubt.
"We want to see the shadow." Jak stated, his rough gusto back. Torn laughed at his statement and gave Jak a cynical smirk.
"Not likely. If you want to join something, why don't you two and your pet go join the circus." he turned slightly as if he was going to turn them away, again Kaida knew he wasn't done.
"Unless you've got the fur to take on a really tough task." he pulled out his dagger, again for intimidation purposes. "Steal the baron's banner from the top of the ruined tower and bring it back to me. Then maybe we'll talk." he tossed his dagger in the air and caught it. Kaida looked at Jak, who nodded and they turned and walked away.
As they walked away Kaida heard Torn and Tess let out quiet snickers. Obviously they didn't think that they would get the banner, and if Kaida didn't know what would happen later in the game, she would have been very pissed, but at the moment she knew that Torn would be a bastard for a while. They walked out of the alley and headed for the way to dead town, Kaida giving subtle hints to make their trek shorter.
"Man, that guy is a jerk." said Daxter once they were out of earshot.
"Seems like most everyone here is." Jak hissed in response. Kaida remained impassive. Again, she knew that eventually these people would turn out to be good allies. They rounded a corner and suddenly Kaida let out a small yelp and hissed in pain.
"What's the matter?" asked Jak, stopping. Kaida lifted up her right foot and hopped over to lean against a building, she then proceed to lift her foot up higher in her hands, revealing a bloody mess on her sole. Kaida carefully picked out of her food a large piece of sharp glass, hissing as the pain increased. "Ouch, bet that feels good." Daxter commented from Jak's shoulder. Kaida ripped off a strip from the bottom her shirt and used it to bandage her foot.
"Sorry, I forgot you didn't have shoes." Jak apologized and reached into his pocket and pulled out some of the strips of cloth he had kept off his old outfit. He had meant them to be used as a bandage if need be, but it would do for this as well.
"Here, until we can get you shoes, this will have to do." he handed her the material. She smiled in thanks and took the cloth, wrapping it around her foot and tying it tightly. She did the same with the other foot and carefully put weight on her right foot then stepped forward to show that she was ready to go again. Jak nodded with a small smile and they continued. They walked through the lock door to dead town and stood outside. Jak looked around the area, taking it in, and when he spotted the flag he began to look for a way up.
Kaida noticed the weird green frog type creatures and tapped Jak on the shoulder, pointing to them. Jak quickly knocked them senseless and began to look for a way to get over to the ruined tower. The shortest way would be to wade though the water, he decided and took a step, he was about to walk into the water, when Kaida hastily grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. He looked at her with a surprised and questioning look.
"Don't touch." she said.
"What?" said Daxter. "That water looks fine. A little murky and disgusting, but fine." Kaida gave him a sharp look.
"Wanna test it?" Daxter swallowed and shook his head.
"I don't know. But if you're sure..." he turned, seeing some planks of wood floating in the water. He quickly hopped from one to the next, noting that they sank if he stood on them for too long. On the second he stayed just a moment too long and as the water touched his boot, he felt a slight sharp burn.
'Hey, she was right!' he thought as he landed on the land. 'Glad I listened to her.' Kaida easily hopped across the debris on her toes and landed waiting for Jak to continue. They headed on to the larger plot of land, that contained the larger frog/lizard creatures, these being harder to destroy with their dangerous tongues. Kaida figured that she may as well start getting used to fighting here and took on one of the monsters as Jak took on the other, and soon the animals were gone.
They hopped up on the wall, walking along the narrow path. Kaida glanced down, seeing the glint of the precursor orb she knew was hidden down there, and hopped quickly down and snatched up the item. She jumped back up to Jak and gave him the orb. Once he put it into his pack, they continued to run along the wall. When they came to the broader platform, Jak quickly knocked all the little green creatures off, and continued on, jumping onto the various broken steps, up the tower. Kaida swallowed and hopped up after him.
"Careful!" she yelled out.
"What?" Jak paused for a second. A second too long, the block of cement under him crumbled and collapsed out under him. His face was full of surprise for a second, before he could react.
"Jump!" she yelled at him before he fell too far. He jumped up and onto the next landing, Kaida quickly stepped on a small fragment still attached to the wall and hopped up next to him. Jak was panting slightly from the sheer surprise.
"Thanks." he said sincerely as he caught his breath and continued to the next set of steps. "Will these collapse too, you think?" he asked Kaida, and she nodded. He looked back at them, then turned to her again.
"You go first, you're lighter then me, you probably wont make the blocks fall." Kaida wasn't sure, but she consented and looked for the spot that would be least likely to collapse. She jumped up the stair, landing as close to the wall as she could, running on her toes. Jak quickly followed, the stairs collapsing behind him.
They jumped another few steps, and found a bar sticking out of the wall. Kaida sighed, this was another part that she had been dreading. She was anxious to find out about her new abilities but she wasn't exactly confident about doing everything. Jak swung on the bar and landed on the other side. Well, this was a bridge she would have to cross. She jumped up and swung around on the bar and landed with ease on the other side. Kaida hid her surprise and delight in being able to pretty much keep up with Jak.
Finally, they were at the top. Jak stepped forward and pulled the flag from its place, with a satisfied look on his face. Kaida was about to step forward too when she remembered something. There was a cracking noise heard and the ground gave way beneath Jak and Daxter. They fell, landing on various things, like chains and ropes, and landed in front of Torn with the flag. Kaida quickly found a way down that didn't involve dropping straight down.
"Yeah, I guess you guys are in." Torn said, with clear amazement in his voice, and a slight smirk/smile on his face. Kaida smiled at Jak, and he grinned back. Once they had made it back to the alley, they stepped up to the large wall, which slid aside revealing a small door. They walked down the narrow passage way and into the room at the end.
"Woah." said Daxter loudly. " being a BIG hero, sure makes ya thirsty." Torn looks at Daxter with a half snarl and a look of pure contempt as he opens the leaver for water. Instead a large amount of mud pours out and into Daxter's waiting mouth. He quickly tries to spit out the nasty mess and wipes it off himself.
"The baron turned off all the water to the slums. He is willing to sacrifice innocent lives just to destroy the underground." said Torn, looking rather tired. "I have seen his evil before, while serving in the Krimson guard. That's why I quit."
"You were a Krimson guard?" Jak said with much surprise. "Well, that explains your charming sense of humor." he added with much rude sarcasm. Torn continued as if he hadn't heard the last comment.
"My friend in the guard tells me that the valve to turn the water back on is located outside the city at the pumping station."
"Out side the city? What about the security walls?" Jak questioned seriously
"What about the metal. heads?" exclaimed Daxter. "It aint no petting zoo out there. Peeps be getting deep sixed!." Again, Torn continued as if he hadn't heard the comment.
"Find the large drain pipe in the north wall, it'll take you to the pumping station. Get to the main valve and open it. If you survive, the slums will be indebted to you. If not," added Torn "maybe we will have a touching moment of silence in your honor."
"I'd like to give him a 'touching moment.'" growled Daxter. Kaida couldn't help but roll her eyes at the insults the trio were giving.
"Oh yeah, and you might want to get princes here, some new clothes. If you want there are some in the back." Commented Torn. He stuck his thumb out, motioning to the back room. Kaida glared at the name, but went into the back anyway.
There was a closet and a few broken drawers with clothes in them. She pulled a pair of leather pants out of the drawers and pulled them on. Like all the girls clothes in this place seemed to be, they were nearly low-rise pants. She sneered at the style but continued picking out clothes. She found a short blue tank top, but as she pulled it out she found that it had sleeves barely attached, as part of the style. She pulled it over her head, finding that it also showed off a good part of her stomach. The tank top straps came over her shoulders like normal, and the long sleeves covered most of her arms, though the shirt still left most of her shoulders and collar open. She pulled on a belt with a holster and a small pouch on it.
Out of the closet she pulled a pair of boots and laced them up on her feet, leaving the material that Jak had given her on. She found a small bowl of water and wet her hand and slicked her hair with it, then pulled it back into a high ponytail, and tied it up. She quickly walked back out into the room where Jak was waiting. She smiled at Jak and gave a look to Daxter, daring him to make a comment, and wisely, he didn't. She didn't even bother to thank Torn because she knew that he didn't care.
After exiting the hideout they headed to the north end, which Kaida also knew as the water slums.
'I wonder what Rika would think about my outfit.' Kaida mused as she ran. 'She would probably think that I had gone crazy... that or she would think that it was cool.'
"Hey," she was brought out of her thoughts as Jak stopped and spoke. "How about we take one of these zoomers?" Before waiting for a real reply he jumped up and knocked the rider off a fast looking zoomer. He brought it down a level and let Kaida hop on. He raised it back up to the usual level and shot off, causing Kaida to hang on for her life. She knew that Jak was a good driver, heck he drove the first zoomer ever, but she couldn't help feeling scared. In her world, she had only just learned how to ride a motorcycle properly!
As they neared their destination they slowed down and jumped off, while the zoomer was still floating along. After passing though the pipe, they made it out into the open area.
"Well, this looks pleasant." commented Jak.
'Well,' thought Kaida as they walked, 'now is as good a time as any to get in some fight practice. Or to learn period!' (A.N. I am too lazy to write out this whole escapade) They managed with ease to make it to the valve. Kaida quickly over came her fear of fighting the metal heads and helped Jak collect the skull gems left behind. Daxter hopped off Jaks shoulder and went up to the pipe.
"Ah, the valve. Allow me." Dax desperately tries to turn the valve to no avail, until Jak, watching with amusement, bangs the pipe and the valve swings open. Unfortunately Daxter is sucked up into the pipe.
"Jak, help… Jak…help. Jak… please … help…" his voice is carried by the pipe. Jak turns another valve and Daxter is spit out of another pipe.
"Don't say it." he stands up indignantly. "Don't even chuckle! Next time, YOU turn the valve." Kaida covered her face with an arm to keep her snickering to a minimum. She had laughed allowed when she had played the game, but up close it was just so much better. As they walked back to the hideout, Kaida had a smile firmly placed on her face, at Daxter's expense. Jak had to constantly check himself, to keep from smiling at Daxters little 'ride', and eventually he too cracked a smile. Daxter on the other hand had a frown all the way back.
By the time they made it to the ally, a quick glance at they sky told them that night was coming on. They entered the small hallway and went down to the room, where they found Torn waiting.
"The slums water is back on." Torn said with relish, "I'd love to see the heads roll when the Baron finds out!" he had a grin of satisfaction.
"Yeah, I am sure he is losing lots of sleep of this 'arm pit' of the city. We've done what you asked. Now when do we see the shadow?" Jak demanded. Kaida had the urge to shake her head in exhaustion of the frivolous demands. She knew it would take a while for them to get around to seeing 'The Shadow'.
"When I say so, IF I say so. But before I even think about it, I want you to take care of an ammo dump we've ID'd in the fortress." Torn explained.
"Yeah yeah, I'll get to that tomorrow. Until then, how about you give us a place to sleep, then we'll help." Jak said, brushing off Torn. Torn gave him a slight sneer at his disregard for Torn's authority.
"Fine. You've earned your keep for the night, and I gotta get my rest too." Torn mumbled. "The bunks out here are meant for walk in's who need them. The ones for more, permanent members are in the back. There is also a shower there, but don't take too long."
"Right." muttered Jak and walked past Torn to the back. Kaida followed after, looking around at the dim place. As they headed farther back, the lighting suddenly got dimmer over the bunks, obviously for those sleeping. They noted that there were a few bodies sleeping in the bunks.
"I'm gonna take a shower before bed." Jak spoke up, and snatched up a few towels, ditching Daxter on a bunk. Kaida nodded and he turned and went off to find the showers. Shortly after Kaida heard the distinct sound of water running. She sat down the bed under Daxter's bunk. She heard the squeak as Daxter flopped down.
'I should wait for Jak to be done and take a shower...' she thought, 'but I am kinda tired... I need to stay awake. It'll be my first real shower in a while.' She leaned over, deciding to rest for a bit but before she knew it, she was asleep, and out like a light. Jak came back into the room a little later, his hair slicked back with water, and he was still slightly damp, carrying his shirt, pack, and boots under one arm. He found Daxter laying with his feet hanging off the bed, and glanced down to see Kaida asleep as well. He smiled slightly, and went over and pushed Kaida's feet onto the bed.
'Geez she must be tired.' he thought. 'Don't really blame her though. Come to think of it, I am pretty tired to. All things considered it was a really full day.' He yawned and shoved Daxter over as he climbed up onto the bunk.
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Yo, hey. Finaly another chapter done!! And it is all thanks to criticfanatic for helping me to get this chapter up! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! Please Reaview!