'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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( stuff dreams

"stuff" talking out loud

'stuff' thinking/talking mentaly)

Every thing was quiet in the bunks of the hideout. Everyone but the guards were sleeping. Even Torn had eventually decided to call it a night. The only sounds to be heard were the occasional snores of the various occupants, and the creak of the old beds as the sleepers moved. Kaida, however, was not sleeping peacefully, though she seemed to sense the quiet and kept as such. Her face was set in a deep frown and she was curled up under her blanket. She had hoped that once she escaped her nightmares would stop, but things just didn't turn out like she wanted them to

Kaida walked down the sunny street. There was no one else there, but she hardly seemed to notice. The warm sun was all she cared about. It had seemed like forever since she had walked in the sun. Gradually, as the sun lost her attention she began looking around. It was a street she had been down many times, but never actually stepped on. She looked around, her pace quickened. Everything seemed to familiar...to familiar.

'This place shouldn't be this real' she thought. 'This should be a place I visit only when I am daydreaming, or playing.' she sounded almost frantic in her mind now. She picked up the pace to a run, her head whipping from side to side as she runs.

'No, this cant be right!' She yelled mentally. She ran and ran, but no matter how far she ran it was the same. The streets from a place that should not exist. She ran though the sunshine into a more open area. In the shadow of a pillar she tripped and was sent in a skid across the ground. She pushed her achy body onto her hands and knees. A few drops of blood fell to the ground, staining it red.

"Kaida..." came a whisper. Kaida jumped to her feet, looking frantically around for the voice.

"Kaida..." that voice.... it sounded so familiar.

"W-who are you?" she demanded in a cracking voice.

"You know me." responded the voice. Kaida backed up to the pillar, and continued searching for the voice.

"N-no. No I don't know you.... I have never heard you before." The voice gave a bone chilling chuckle.

"Don't kid yourself. You know me. I talk to you every night. I am with you all the time." Kaida tried to swallow but found her throat blocked.

"N-no! I s-swear I don't know you! I have never spoken to you before!" she yelled out. Her frantic searching showed her nothing. She was alone in the city, it seemed. The voice spoke softly in her ear.

"Oh, but we have spoken many times, every night for a long time. I know that you are lying to yourself. I..."

"NO!" Kaida interrupted the voice and bolted. She ran until she had run into the dead end of a dirty, uneven street, and was forced to grind to a halt. She listened hard, but only picked up the sound of her ragged panting.. She heard nothing, but her whole body continued to prickle in fear. Suddenly, she felt a hand land on her shoulder.

She opened her mouth, but she could make no sound. The touch of the hand was cold as death and hot as fire at the same time. Kaida felt her breath trap in her lungs and time seemed to slow for a moment.

"Want to try and run again? You cant escape me." the voice whispered in her ear. Horse and sinister. Kaida whipped around and saw no one. She spun on her heel looking around. She saw no one.

'There is no one here...' she though, 'no body.... but....me...' It seemed almost like a realization. There was the touch of that hand again. On both of her shoulders. Heavy this time, and breath, sharp on the back of her neck.

"So, you realize it now, don't you?" came the soft evil voice in her ear. The hands crept around, down her arms, until her arms were pinned at her sides.

"N-no...please no..." Kaida begged in a quiet voice before ripping out of the hot-cold grasp and turning around. There was everything she feared would be there. It was Kaida over again, only not. It couldn't be Kaida, it couldn't even be human or whatever. The 'creature' had the skin the color of a long dead corpse, white and grey and haunting. Black eyes of void darkness, eating up the light. Silver hair tipped with black and nails. - no claws, that seemed like knives. The creature smirked as Kaida took it all in. It was taller then Kaida, and used that to its advantage. It stepped forward, as if about to kill it's prey.

"Oh yes." it hissed. The voice was so like Kaida's, but laced with poison. "I am you. I am everything you kept locked up. I am every bit of darkness in your soul that you collected over your life. And it was in prison that the darkness was able to take shape." Kaida's knees gave out and she began to drop to the ground, but the creature reached out and wrapped its fingers around Kaida's throat, holding her body up.

"I have been kept locked up inside you for years. I have been strained off your soul, and given a body..." the creature lifted her up by her throat, and Kaida felt the lack of air. "Your body has the power to harbor me..." Everything seemed to be swimming before Kaida's eyes as she gasped for air.

"NOW LET ME OUT!" Everything flashed and went blank

Kaida bolted upright, hands at her throat. She gaped for air and barely managed to swallow a scream that had threatened to escape. Her wide eyes stared at nothing in the dark, and sweat trickled down her face. She blinked and ran her fingers through her hair, which stuck up from sweat. Kaida looked down at her hands, which shook no matter how hard she tried to calm them.

Over her whole body, her skin prickled and she felt as if electricity were dancing across her surface. She slowly lied back down, trying to calm herself and fall asleep. But all she could do was subdue her shaking and stare at the bunk above her. After a few minutes of lying and staring at nothing, she couldn't take it any longer.

"Damn it. I cant sleep now." Kaida muttered to herself. She rolled over and climbed out of bed, carful not to make any noise. She didn't bother to put on her shoes, and just stood up and walked quietly out of the room. She wandered aimlessly around the hide-out. Not really searching for anything, not really looking at anything. With her quietest foot steps, Kaida made her way to the front, to Torn's desk. As usual, it was plastered with maps, pictures of places, pictures of Errol and the baron with notes and mustaches drawn on them.

She looked them over, but not really taking in the information on them. It was all so real, but her mind, she supposed, was still stuck in shock, and refused to accept that she was actually here in person. She looked down and spotted a small map of the city, apparently un-written on. She looked around. She knew it wouldn't be right for her to steal from the desk of Torn, but she had a vague feeling that this map would come in handy at some point.

She made sure no one was there, though everyone was asleep, and shoved the paper into her pocket for later. She continued to wander for sometime. Every time she felt a little tired and walked back towards the bunks, she would suddenly become awake again. When she walked closer to the front room, she could almost hear the hum of the zoomers outside.

By a certain point, Kaida was almost begging to sleep, but she still continued to wander around and around. Jak groaned in his sleep, and rolled over, barely disturbing the orange ottsel sleeping on his stomach. It seemed that tonight was just not the night for pleasant sleep.

Jak was back. Back in his old town of Sandover. Everything was quiet and simple. He was back the way he used to be. His blonde hair was short and spiked up the way it used to be. He wasn't wearing any heavy boots, or carrying some lethal gun. It was just him in his blue clothes and half bare feet. It was him clean. He was pure and innocent.

It was before Haven City, before Baron Praxis, before anything could hurt him. He smiled and looked up into the sunshine. He was standing on a cliff, overlooking the sea. He shut his eyes and breathed in the calm air. As he stood, he felt a presence move next to him. He turned to greet his friend Daxter, but as he opened his eyes he was filled with shock and fear.

Next to him, wasn't a person, in fact he wasn't sure if it was a thing either. It was a mass of darkness. Energies circulated around it, and caught everything in its space. Even the grass wilted beneath it. Strangely enough, at the same time as he feared it, he wanted to find out about it. Something about the strange mass of dark was simply... interesting. He dared to step closer but before he could do anything, a scream came from behind him.

He whirled around, and his blue eyes widened. In the space of those few moments, the calm village behind him, had be set fire, and destroyed. He looked furiously for the culprit, and found a large hideous creature. Its many legs carried it over the ground while its red eyes surveyed hungrily for something new to destroy. Jak lunged forward, in a rage, and attacked the beast, but he was easily thrown back to where he had been standing. He panted, and tried to push himself up, but a sharp pain in his torso prevented him from succeeding. He glared at the monster, then took notice that the dark mass had never moved.

He stared up at it, wonderingly. Then, he perceived it turn, and saw that it did have eyes. Two bright, cold eyes of steel stared back at him. The mass seemed to take a shape. It looked like the shadow of a person standing upright. There was a long moment as Jak and the thing stared at one-another. But they were brought out of their trance by the scream of another voice, as the monster continued to destroy the village.

The shadow reached out a hand to Jak, and Jak paused, uncertainly. Another scream from the village removed all doubt from Jak's mind. He reached out and touched the shadow. It was amazing: suddenly Jak felt power and energy fill him. He felt as if he could do anything, and the pains in his body quickly disappeared. He jumped to his feet and ran after the monster. It was over shortly. The monster was gone, defeated at Jak's hands. He looked down at the village, pride at his victory filling him.

But as quickly as it came, it drained from his body. His few friends, his small family... they were all gone. And as it sunk in, his entire body filled with pain. Not just emotional pain, but his entire body felt as if it was on fire. He collapsed to the ground and hugged himself. As he remained there in pain, no one came to him. No one helped him. And at first he was filled with anger. No one cared, after what he had done for them. His anger soon turned on himself. It was his fault, if he had been faster it wouldn't have happened. If he had noticed, if he hadn't been daydreaming... they wouldn't be gone.

And he hated the monster for destroying everything, and he hated who, or whatever sent the monster here. Jak remained still, allowing the hate, and anger, and all those negative emotions to build up inside of himself, until he was his very aura was filled with pain and emotion.

Again, he felt a presence next to him, and he had barely lifted his head, before he found himself being roughly yanked to his feet. It was the dark creature. When Jak was on his feet the creature still did not let go, instead it seemed to be absorbing something from Jak. His angry aura seemed to be inhaled by the thing. The longer it absorbed, the more it took shape, until it was no longer black, but pale grey. Jak gasped as her recognized it. It was him. It was all his darkness and anger, given form by the dark eco. His Dark Jak.

It continued to feed off his aura, and its darkness spread. The grass under its feet wilted, and it spread outward, like a disease, killing all the plants in its wake. But the aura continued to spread, it made its way into the ruined town and to Jak's horror it began to seek out those who were wounded in the rubble. He watched helplessly as the aura slowly sucked the people dry of their energy and then left them dead.

"Stop!" Jak yelled(remember, this is Jak back in 'Jak and Daxter' so his voice is higher), "Stop or I'll make you stop!" The creature snickered evilly.

"You cant stop me any more then you can stop yourself." it hissed in its grated voice.

"Yes, I can and I will!" Jak yelled again. And again the creature snickered.

"Go ahead then, stop it. You're the one doing it after all." Jak froze.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"Just what I said. You are the one who is causing this. What do you think I am? Where do you think I came from. I am you. All you." Jak shook his head violently.

"No, I would never do something like this!"

"Yes, but I am all of your darkness. Every dark part of your soul, every angry thought or intention you have ever had. That is me. So you see, it is all your fault." Jak remained silent for a moment, before anger built up in his eyes.

"Then I'll get rid of you!" Jak forced himself out of the grip of the creature and backed away.

"You cant." the creature told him. The ground shook and the cliffs above cracked, sending a large rock down upon the two. Jak knew he couldn't run, and braced himself for the rock, he put his hands up, as if he could catch the rock. To his amazement he did. His body was strained under the rock, and he looked around for the creature that was here a moment ago.

"You need me." Jak felt his knees shaking under the weight. "I am your strength." the thing whispered. The voice was all around him, and inside of him at the same time. "I make you what you are." Jak collapsed to his knees, still trying to hold up the rock. "You cannot escape me." It was the last thing he heard before everything went black.

Jak sat up in bed, blinking his blue eyes in the dark. He looked over at Daxter, who was sleeping well enough, drooling and muttering every now and then. He sighed and shook his head at his friend. Quietly and carefully, he leaned over the edge of his bunk to see if he had woken up Kaida, but she was gone. He leaned back, and sat up on his bed again, looking up at the ceiling. He wanted to just go back to bed, he figured she went for water or something.

He sighed and laid back down to sleep. He tried to go back to sleep, but for some reason, part of him didn't want to go back to sleep, and he had a feeling it had to do with his dream.

'Is that really true?' he wondered. 'Am I really nothing without that dark eco?' he shook his head. 'No, that cant be right. I did great things back in my world, why wouldn't I be able to do things here?' He nodded, assuring himself. 'Still...' he shook his head again, 'no. I would never hurt anyone. Why would that dark eco make it different? Why am I taking all this so seriously? It was just a dream.' Huffed, and frowned at the ceiling.

"I need to take a walk." he muttered quietly to himself. Jak hopped off the bunk to the floor, careful not to wake up Daxter, and walks out into the rest of the hideout, without shoes. As he looked around the bunk area he was surprised at how many people were actually here. Granted, that it was only about 12 or 13, that was still a lot to have one place. Not to mention that Torn was here, and he was the leader of it all. Jak wandered aimlessly through the place, not looking for anything in particular.

Unconsciously he made his way towards the only sound he could here, besides snoring, the hum of zoomers outside. The sound lead him to the front room, full of maps. Jak glanced nonchalantly around the room, noting the papers on the desk, and the few people sleeping in the outer bunks. He headed up the stairs to the door and stepped out into the cool night air. The air was cool, and soft as it had been back in his world, but instead of being fresh and earthy, it was filled with the harsh scent of the dirty slums and she acrid touch of exhaust smoke.

It wasn't as nice as back home, but it was better then the air that sat stagnant in the prison. He looked up at the moon and that one bright star in the smoggy sky. He sighed and headed back into the hide-out. He walked distractedly back through the hideout, rather directionless as he traveled. He turned a corner and THUD. In his lack of concentration he had walked into someone. He tried to focus through the darkness, and saw the faint silhouette of someone, now leaning against the wall.

"Sorry." he muttered, "I wasn't paying attention." He was about to continue walking when the figure spoke.

"Jak?" came a groggy and hoarse voice. He stopped and stepped closer to the figure to try and see then better.

"Kaida? That you?" he questioned quietly. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was. Her face was empty and her eyes were rather unfocused, she looked as if she hadnt slept all night. She nodded at his question.

"Cant sleep." she said, slightly slurred in her exhaustion.

"Yeah, me neither." Jak muttered. "I noticed you were gone, but I thought you had just gone to get a drink or something." Kaida shook her head, and ran her fingers through her hair, unfocused like. "What were you doing?" Jak asked.

"Walking, looking at maps." she responded, pointing at the stack of maps around the corner on Torn's desk. Jak turned, looking at the maps.

"Some of these don't look like the city, I wonder what they show." he muttered, mostly to himself. He heard a sliding noise and looked back around to find that Kaida had finally passed out, and slid down the wall onto the floor. He sighed.

"Well, she looked about to pass out." he said to himself. He walked over, and picked her up and carried her, trying to remember in his sleepy mind, where their bunks were. Once there, he put her on her bed, and silently climbed back up into his own. For the most part, the rest of the night was spent as it should, a sleep.

The sky above the city began to lighten as the sun prepared to rise. Few were awake at this time, and none who were paid any attention to the change. To them, it was all just another day. But one underground, in the hideout, was happy to awaken early just for a shot to see what she hadn't in such a long time

Kaida shifted and swung herself out of her bed. She looked around the hideout bunk area. A few of the bodies that had been asleep last night were absent, probably back to their jobs. Kaida thought for a moment about putting on her boots, but decided against it and got up. She threw a quick glance up at the bunk above her were Jak was asleep, then hurried out and up the stairs to the door of the hideout. In her haste she didn't even notice the tired looking Torn looking disinterestedly at the papers on his desk in the front room.

Jak shifted, letting out a small grunt as a faint noise pulled him out of his sleep. He cracked one blue eye, noting that Daxter was sleeping curled up that the foot of his bed like an orange cat. Daxter was muttering weird things in his sleep, but Jak didn't think that was what had woken him up, since Dax had been doing that all night. He glanced over the edge of the bunk and saw Kaida's boots still sitting there, so he figured she couldn't have be up, so he rolled over and was going to try to go back to sleep.

He sighed and rolled back over to look at the bed under his, he had remembered the last time she went out, she had left her shoes too. Upon seeing the empty sheet, he rolled off the bed, landing on his feet, and headed off to look around the hideout. When he came to the front room he found the only other awake creature in the place, besides himself and Kaida.

"Hey, Torn, have you seen Kaida?" he asked quietly. Torn didn't bother looking up, he just pointed up the stairs at the exit of the hideout. Jak turned and hurried up the stairs. Once he go out into the open air, he saw Kaida standing at the joint in the alley, leaning up against the wall, looking out into the open slums.

"Hey, what are you doing up here this early?" Jak asked as he walked up to her. Kaida jumped slightly as he spoke, but when she saw who it was she smiled and pointed out to the spot in the sky where she was watching. Jak turned and looked out noting how the sky was lightest there.

"Your waiting for the sunrise?" he asked, standing next to her looking out at the sky as well. Kaida nodded turning back to the sky scene.

"Never used to care." she started, "But not seeing the sun for a year, makes me miss the sun rise I never used to see." She fell silent and they both looked out at the sky as the bright sun sent shocks of light though the sky as it rose. Finally the dawn broke and the light spread across the area. After a few moments of peace, Jak tapped Kaida on the shoulder

"C'mon, we gotta get ready to go on that mission for that guy Torn." Jak spoke up. Kaida nodded and followed him back in, careful not to step on anything that would re-open the wound on her foot. They passed Torn, still at his desk, who didn't seem to notice them until they were almost to the door.

"Hey, you two! You had better get your ass' out here for your 'job'!" Torn shouted when he finally looked up at them. Neither Jak nor Kaida said anything, and Jak just waved his hand over his shoulder in acknowledgment.

Kaida suddenly remembered that she had meant to take a shower last night, and when they got into the back rooms she tapped Jak

"Show me where the shower is please?" she asked. He nodded and smiled,

"Sure. Follow me." Jak turned and walked to the back of the room and pointed to an empty door way. She grinned at him in thanks and went in. She quickly realized that it was a short walk just around the corner to the showers, and it was just a large room with shower heads..(think, public shower at a pool) Kaida swallowed and headed back out.

"Jak," she started timidly, "would you mind, uh...." she couldn't help feeling foolish, but this was just something she couldn't help. "Would you mind waiting outside the door way? Please? Just to make sure that no guys come in?" She finished in a quiet voice. Jak blinked at her for a second then gave a small smile.

"Sure." Kaida grinned like a child, and grabbed a few towels and, after making sure that Jak was waiting at the door, went in to take a quick shower. She quickly undressed, and turned on the water, getting it to the right temperature. She wanted very much to be done soon. Not that she didn't trust Jak, she just didn't want anyone to come in.

Still on the bunk Daxter soon woke, realizing there was no other body keeping him warm. He looked around, confused.

"Jak?" Not seeing him, Daxter jumped off the bed and hurried off to find his buddy.

Jak heard the sound of water pouring on the tile in the shower and leaned up against the wall. He didn't particularly mind standing here. It wasn't like he could go anywhere anyway. He looked down as he heard Daxter jogging up to him.

"Hey Dax. Finally awake now?" Daxter give him a slight glare before responding.

"Yeah yeah. So wha chya doin'? We gotta get out to see that guy Torn, right? Where is that chick., Kaida?" he asked.

"Kaida is taking a shower, and I said that I would watch the door for her so that no one would walk in on her." Jak responded, and crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall.

"I guess I'll watch with you." Daxter says and leans up against the wall as well. After a few minutes Daxter casts a few shifty glances at Jak, and when he is sure Jak isn't paying attention to him, he seeks into the doorway, and down the short hall to the shower area. He carefully peeks his head around the corner to see what he can see. Suddenly a hand reaches down lifting Daxter up by his throat. He was brought to eye level with a wet Kaida, however she was wrapped in a towel.

"You dirty little rat." she hissed at him. She shoves his head under the running shower tap until he is soaked and then threw him out into the hideout room. Dax slid across the floor and into a bunk post. Jak cant help but snicker at Daxter who looks like a drowned rat.

"You should know better." Jak said. Shortly after Kaida walked out, her hair damp, but put up in a pony tail and fully dressed, minus her boots.

"Ready to go see Torn about that ammo dump thing?" Jak asked. Kaida nods and they head out into the front room. After getting their boots, of course.

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Hey! Finaly I have the new chapter! I have been kinda preoccupied with playing Jak 3! Its fun fun fun! I am already close to the end, and I just bought the guide for the game so that when I replay it I can do it in a shorter time. If this story goes well I might do one for Jak 3 . For taking such a long time, I am making it a long chapter. Hope you like! Read and review please!