Once her hunger had been satisfied she laced up her boot, grabbed up her pack of gems and exited the hideout before Torn caught sight of her and could give her a mission. In a short time she ended up in the water slums and stood before the door to the Oracle. She touched the pack on her waist and stepped through the door into the House of the Oracle.
As it had been before, the room was full of burning candles that seemed to never get lower. In fact, for a moment or two she wondered if they were even hot.
"Greetings Traveler." The deep voice, that caused Kaida shudders, sounded around the room. "I see you have brought skull gems as I requested. You do well in your quest." A force seemed to pull the gems from her pouch and into the mouth of the oracle. "25 Skull gems, and as promised I will help you to control that darkness which you fear."
With that, a surge of power arched from the statue of the Oracle to her body. She felt herself lifted from the ground and the energy slipped into her body. She felt the darkness ebb and shrink into a contained space within her body. She felt the pain and the madness slip out of her limbs. But even as it came under control, Kaida still felt the staggering weight of the darkness on her soul. The last surge of power from the Oracle set loose the dark energy into the rest of her body and she felt the sudden strength and acute awareness overtake her.
She stood on the clean floor and knew without looking that she had changed. She knew before she looked at her hands, that they would be pale and clawed. She took a step forward, not sure why, but she did so none the less. Slowly it crept into her mind that there was no haunting voice laughing in her head as her body was hijacked. She had control of her body. She was so engrossed in this revelation that she almost missed the Oracle speaking.
"You now have control of your raging shadow. I have also gifted you with your new power." The deep voice commanded her attention. "Use it to continue your quest, and I shall summon you when I have news of your world." The ringing tones went silent and Kaida was left with a strange welling of power. She concentrated on forcing the power to recede back into its containment and to her greatest surprise, it did.
She left the water slums with a lighter pack and a bit better look on her situation. As she walked through the slums she noted a group of people gathering and she headed over to see what the commotion was. A shot rang out and Kaida broke into a run over to the group as some people screamed and moved away. The sound of more shots being fired came over the sounds of the crowd. Kaida shoved her way through the crowd to see what was going on and to her surprise there was a group of Krimson Guards surrounding and a severely aggravated Torn. Had Kaida still been moving she would have tripped.
What in the hell was he doing here? True, she didn't expect him to never leave the underground, but why the hell was he here? And in a fight, of all things. He was doing well considering he was up against a fairly large group of guards with just his small handguns as projectile weapons. However, 'well' was subject to relativity, and in this case, that meant it was a strong possibility that Torn was going to have his ass kicked. Still, she didn't really feel she would be a whole lot of help to him so she just watched to see how things would progress.
Torn was soon backed into the wall and random gunshots were fired from mostly Torn, but the guards too had decided that this had gone on long enough and were making their move for Torn. Even if Kaida wasn't needed, she couldn't help the feeling that it was in Torn's best interest that she do something. She quickly shoved through the last few of the people in front of her and drew her gun. However, to avoid any further attention she merely used it to slam into the side of a KG's head. He slumped to the ground and she instantly had the attention of the rest of the guards. Torn only looked at her for a moment before taking his chance and firing on the rest of the guards.
The KG now had their attention spit, though there was still more of them, and thus had the upper hand. Though Kaida now possessed more strength and muscle then she had in her own world, she still felt the same, and wasn't brash enough to attempt anything fancy or all out in a fight. However, she had done some martial arts, and used her new abilities to send the KG to the ground one at a time. Unfortunately the guards were not in the mood to be taken down by a girl and the much sought after leader of the Underground. Torn fired at every Krimson Guard until they were down for good.
The Guards became less aware of the crowd and their ricocheting shots struck a few bystanders in the crowd, causing them to disperse in a mass of running bodies. At last Kaida's system of taking down her opponents one at a time was lost. A guard came from behind and grabbed her and that was it. She shot the guard in front and elbowed the guy behind her in the face. Luckily, that was the last of the KG. Only 2 remained and, seeing their chances dropping by the second, decided to make a run for it. Once assured that the guards were gone, Torn put away his guns and glanced at Kaida. She was carefully placing her gun safely into its holster.
He let out a growl, only loud enough to be heard if you were listening for it. He wasn't sure if he wanted to thank her or not. He was sure that he should, but this was Torn we are talking about. Leader of the Underground with a whole operation under his command, yeah, real hot shit. Kaida spoke first and Torn lost his train of thought.
"That mess...How?" Kaida spoke up quiet enough that people didn't feel the need to start eavesdropping, but loud enough to demand a response.
"How did I get into that?" Torn elaborated on her question, before he fell silent, thinking of how best to respond to that without sounding pathetic. He decided that the truth was about as good as anything he was going to come up with.
"There was a device jamming the radio frequencies to the hideout. No one was at the hideout and I obviously couldn't call for someone to take out the radio disrupter, so I had to go out and do it myself." Torn sounded as disgruntled and raw as always. Both Kaida and Torn looked up and suddenly noticed that they were walking at a rather brisk pace in the direction of the hideout. Neither was exactly sure when they had begun to move.
Torn said nothing more but picked up his pace, eager to get back to the hideout and see if there was any important information that he had missed while the radio had been out. Kaida fell slightly behind but quickly kept pace with him (though still a step behind). She took these few moments to get a good look at Torn. (A/n: not like that you pervs! I know what you are thinking!)
As with almost everything here, Kaida was eager to get a good look in real life. For as wonderful and descriptive the game had been, it did no justice to the real thing. Torn was tall and lanky, Kaida's chin only coming to Torn's shoulder. His tattoos seemed almost a natural part of skin as they were perfectly symmetrical and followed the curves of his face and ears. She noted they also disappeared into the scarf on his neck and she wondered how many he had, then shuddered when she thought of how painful getting that many tattoos must have been. If one gave him a good look it was obvious that he was not a very old individual. War worn and tired yes, but not particularly old.
His eyes, especially, held a look only a person still kicking with youth could. Torn was jaded, sure, but not old. His red dreadlocked hair wasn't cemented down, as it seemed in the game but actually moved around and every now and then Torn would have to push a piece back behind his long ears. His clothes were well worn and obviously had a lived-in comfort, and yet were also obviously well washed. She hadn't been free of prison for more then a month or two, yet she had never seen Torn dressed in anything other then what he currently had on. This sent her mind onto a road for possibly dirty thoughts but she shook her head, deciding that his was not the time, nor the place.
She had to concentrate. Even if she want on a mission now, she had to keep her mind on what she was doing. Torn kept his stride long. He knew he had several important people out on important missions and they might need help or they might have new infromation and he knew he needed to get back to the hideout as soon as he could. There was a nagging voice in the back of his mind, telling him to take a zoomer, but something was also telling that he couldn't just leave Kaida like that, since she had just gave him a good deal of assistance.
He noticed she didn't say anything when he had quickened his pace; she had merely sped and matched it. In fact, when he thought about it, she didn't say a whole lot ever. He briefly wondered if she talked to Jak more then she did with everyone else, but then figured probably not since that orange rat probably did enough talking for both of them. Torn had seen people of every type in this city, but he had never seen anyone like her. She had come from the prison, yet she wasn't stark raving mad, and she didn't have and physical scars so far as he could see. However, Jak really didn't have many either, but that was beside the point, he was different too.
Kaida's hair color was extremely odd, and he would have thought it unnatural if it wasn't for the fact that it was growing out that way. He couldn't help frowning as he thought about her. She was part of the Underground and therefore worked for him, and yet he didn't know a whole lot about her. Normally this would have made him uneasy about giving her missions, yet the few that he had sent her on, she had come back in good time and without fail. The fact that she didn't talk a lot really didn't help, and the other simple fact that Torn himself was not much of a person to start conversations wasn't exactly helping it all along. Even for all the time Kaida spent in the hideout he still didn't know a whole lot. He knew that for the last week she had been laid up, sick. But he hadn't known until he saw her walk out of the hideout that she had gotten better. He had no idea what she had gotten sick with and how it had been treated. He really knew very little.
He continued to frown and attempted to get his thoughts off things that did not concern the problem/task at hand. Kaida was still following him and Torn noticed out of the corner of his eye a blue hologram standing innocently against a wall, unnoticed by the citizens. He suddenly diverted from his path and Kaida, startled, followed. He stepped up to it and touched the blue hologram. He put in a code and the hologram turned green and the symbol of the Underground appeared. Torn turned to Kaida.
"I don't have a real mission at the moment for you, so I want you to do a few of these. They are tests I use to keep Underground people sharp. I've unlocked this one for you, if you complete it, you will get a reward and other will be opened for you. If you fail, well, then you should polish up your skills before coming back to the Underground." He turned and strode away from her. In his strange little way, this was how he was thanking Kaida for saving him.
Kaida looked after Torn for a moment before she looked back at the screen he had unlocked for her. She carefully reached out and touched the symbol of the Underground and Torn's voice suddenly came over the speakers.
"Get to this place before the time runs out and maybe you have what it takes to be in the Underground." Though the voice was recorded it was obviously Torn being sincere. A picture of a special precursor orb and a small snap shot of a place flashed onto the screen for a long moment before it disappeared and a timer displaying a clock of 15 seconds appeared. It began to count down and Kaida racked her brain for the location. The orb had been in a corner, and a poster had been next to it on the wall. The poster was of a Krimson Guard. Suddenly she had it and ran off in search of the place. Kaida counted down in her head as she raced for the orb. She turned the corner and she could see the suns glint off of it. She dove for it and heard the mechanisms click. The false orb clicked and sent a message to her communicator.
"Nice job, maybe you do have some skill." Again, Kaida could tell that it was Torn's pre-recorded voice, but the praise was felt just the same. The false orb fell away and 3 real orbs sat, cold, in her hands. Kaida slipped them into her pack. They were money here, though she wasn't sure exactly where to spend them, and she knew they would most likely come in handy later. She wasn't in any sort of hurry and she wandered the streets slowly in search of another test. She found a few more, and some of them were harder then others, but in the end she had a nice pack of precursor orbs. She began to head back to the hideout, her good mood still hanging around her like an aura. She came around a tight corner and staggered back after running into someone. She blinked and looked up to see Jak catching his balance as well.
"Jak! Watch where you are going buddy! Look, I know you are a bit upset at the moment but that is no reason to run people over!" Daxter reprimanded.
"Jak?" Kaida spoke up in a tone wondering if he was ok.
"I am fine." he spoke gruffly, seeming to ignore Daxter, but still taking in what he had said. Jak had a distracted and agitated look on his face, similar in part to the look Torn had right after Kaida had helped him with the KG. Kaida began to walk with Jak as they all headed back to the hideout.
"Jak, why...?" Kaida used her skill of few words and a tone to ask what had happened. Jak gave her a look, still smothered in distracted agitation.
"Krew wants me to race to the stadium and try and join up with some racing team." His voice carried the same thing his face displayed.
"And?" Kaida prompted. She knew well about this. Keira was at the stadium. Neither party would recognize each other, but it would still be an interesting.
"And... I couldn't make it. The distance is to far. The slums and the industrial district are way to twisting. There is no way to make it." Again, Kaida knew about this. The best, and as far as she could tell, the only way to win that challenge was to get the pass into another part of the city first, that would cut the distance substantially. She put a hand on his shoulder for just a moment, meant as a comforting gesture.
"This is just so frustrating, Kai." Jak fell back into a brooding quiet. Kaida blinked at the nickname but shook it off and they walked back to the hideout in silence. Even Daxter had remained quiet. The entered and walked down the stairs. Torn was, as usual, at his desk again, with a set of maps placed out in front of him. The lamp overhead was swinging gently and he looked a bit anxious, but mostly irritated.
Daxter jumped down onto the table and looked down at the maps. At the sight of the trio, Torn stood up and began to talk.
"One of my old guard comrades was sent to the pumping station. There's been no word from the patrol, and after what you guys ran into out there, I'm afraid she may need some help." As Torn spoke Daxter insisted on making faces as the light swung. Jak, who had listened to what Torn was saying without giving any attention to Daxter, spoke up with a slight surprise.
"Did you say 'She'?"
Torn's tone instantly harshed into an ice. "Don't even think about it!" Finally Torn had it with Daxter and grasped the swinging light and rounded on him, looking ready to hit him. "Stop that! This is important you MORON !" Daxter had the strangest mix of fear and an irritatingly mischievous grin on his face.
"That's right! Don't mess with the sugar!" Torn snarled at Daxter, before turning back to Jak.
"This 'friend' of mine has helped the underground many times before. Go back to the pumping station and take a look around. Render assistance if needed." His voice was serious and he turned on Daxter again, with a look that clearly said I'll-kill-you-if-you-make-another-stupid-comment. Jak's frowned at Torn. He really wanted to beat that race into the stadium and he nearly opened his mouth to say so but Kaida nudged him. He blinked at her in inner surprise. She hadn't said anything.
"Now, get your squirrelly ass outta here!" Torn sent a dark look around the room to all three of them, and Kaida, who had been wondering if he had meant her too, was instantly reassured. The trio turned and stepped out into the streets once more. Jak looked to Kaida who was looking out at the wide street like area for a free zoomer.
"Why did you nudge me in there?" He spoke up. Jak new that this was going to be a bit of a roundabout way of getting the answer he wanted, and that was weather or not she had known what he was going to say. Kaida turned her attention back onto Jak.
"You would have argued" was her simple answer.
"So what if I would have? I want to pass that race. I can't take not winning. There is no room for failing. Besides, I agreed to help, not be his dog to jump whenever he wants me to." Jak still sounded so full of agitation and irritation at failing the time challenge.
"Its faster this way" was all the raven-blonde said. Jak would have spoken up, but he had a feeling that she had just answered his question.
"Well, at least this way I wont be completely wind-blown. Too much of that and this handsome face might start to age." Daxter stated a bit melodramatically. Kaida felt an urge to roll her eyes but fought it off and settled for a small grin. Kaida watched as an Underground soldier landed near the hideout and dismounted his small, single person zoomer. She watched him walk past her and out of site. Once out of the way, she stepped forward and mounted the zoomer.
Jak gave her a quick look and watched the stream of traffic over his head. Once he picked out the zoomer that would match the speed of Kaida's he jumped easily into the air and knocked the rider off. He revved the engine and set off towards the pipe that would lead out to the pumping station. Kaida was careful to stay close behind Jak and follow him as he made a path through the streams of traffic.
Once they arrived at the pipe in the outer wall they dismounted and walked through into the outskirts. No one spoke, not even Daxter, as they started their walk across the sand. Kaida was worried about saying anything that might cause any more suspicion or confusion than there already was. Jak was silent in thought. He hated not knowing something that seemed as important as this, and it was bothering him. And Daxter simply knew when his comments would not be met with enthusiasm. The party kept their sensitive ears tuned to the sounds of approaching metal heads, and ran into a few non-metal head creatures along the way.
They followed the path they had originally taken to the water valve for the slums. The sound of the water splashing the rocks was almost peaceful in the, otherwise, silence of the trip. Kaida paused for just a moment and looked out at the bright ocean where the green moon/sun was casting its hazy color through the smog cloud that hung over the city. She took a step to the edge of the cliff to look out at the scene, feeling strangely drawn to do so. Jak turned when he heard her footsteps go quiet momentarily. He turned just in time to see the ground at the edge of the cliff collapse, taking Kaida with it. Kaida let out a short yelp as she fell in a heap to the beach.
"Kaida!" Jak let out a yell and ran to the edge of the cliff, though careful not to get taken in another landslide. Aside from the small amount of dirt that grew sparse plant life, there was only the sheer stone cliff face. The stone face was vertical or nearly so, and about 20 or 30 feet high.
"Kaida are you alright?" Jak called down to the body slumped on a sand pile. Luckily the earth that had fallen had been soft, like the sands below, so the fall had not been as severe. Kaida carefully lifted her head and blinked, waiting for her head to clear.
"Kaida!" She turned her head skyward as her name drifted to her ears. She let out a small moan and pulled herself to her feet.
"Are you alright?" Jak yelled down again. Kaida waved back up at him to signal that she was ok. "I am going to find a way down to help you." As he spoke he began to look along the edge of the cliff to find a way down.
"No!" She called up to him and shook her head. "Find the soldier!" Kaida nearly gave Ashelin's name but caught herself at the last moment. "I'll catch up!"
Jak paused for a moment, considering. He was still worried about the week of sickness she had just gotten over. The fact that metal heads lived on these beaches was rather obvious. He really couldn't help feeling nervous about leaving her down on the beach.
"Are you sure?" Jak called. Kaida gave him another wave and began to walk back along the cliff's base, looking for a way up. She looked back over her shoulder to see Jak walking out off sight from the cliff edge. Kaida looked up the sheer cliff face as she walked, and she could not see a way up. She knew that if she walked back far enough that she would come to the beach leading to the pipe in the city wall. From there she could start again and reach the place where Jak would meet Ashelin. She sighed and picked up her pace.
Jak walked quickly along the path that wound around the small piece of island that the pumping station was located on. The sooner he found this batty old woman the sooner he could make sure that Kaida was still ok, and the sooner he could get back to beating that timed race. His face hardened as a KG hellcat came into view. He looked around the small clearing for any signs of people.
"Ehh, what the heck are we doing risking our lives to rescue some old Crimson guard hag anyway?" Daxter commented as his boredom leaked out. "She's probably got more facial hair than me." A branch shook and suddenly a figure dropped down from the trees and grabbed Jak from behind. Daxter had jumped from Jak's shoulder the moment Jak had been grabbed and now had a cheeky expression on his face as he looked the KG up and down. The leather-clad female had Jak by the throat and, due to her lesser height, was forcing him to lean back.
"Who the hell are you?" She demanded, using her gun to enforce the point. Of course, in the face of this situation, Daxter did just what he was famous for: made unnecessary and potentially dangerous comments.
"Mmmm, I do love a woman in uniform. Wanna bark some orders at me? Woof… woof…I am your soldier on the front lies of loooove. Waiter, foxhole for two!" Ashelin had enough of the small rat, her temper with the ottsel seeming only half of Torn's matchstick of patience.
"Keep talking like that and I'll raise your voice a couple of octaves." The redhead released Jak and now had her gun pointed squarely at Daxter's lower half. Jak sucked in air and coughed quietly. He rubbed his throat momentarily then turned to the issue at hand.
"Easy…" he began, "Torn asked us to help you."
"I don't need help." She replied "but you might." She motioned with her head to something behind him. "We've got company." And sure enough, there was a mess of various metal heads coming out of the forest. Ashelin pulled out and loaded her pistol and charged the metal heads dead on. Jak watched her dodge the metal heads and fire on them at point blank. Unfortunately this strategy was only so good against a large group of metal heads that were easily double her size. So Jak loaded his gun and fired at the metal heads closest to Ashelin. Even still, she got knocked aside from behind and obviously had a few wounds from other swipes.
Jak grit his teeth when he ran out of long-range ammo and switched the mod on his gun and jumped into the thick. None of the weapons that the metal heads had were long-range, but they had a tendency to get up close in short amount of time. Jak and Ashelin kept shooting for what seemed like forever. Jak looked down at his gun and noted that his ammo was steadily getting low. The woman, too, he had noticed change the clip of ammo in her gun. Jak took a small step back and grit his teeth again.
Suddenly a third shot sounded and metal heads that had been weakened, dropped to the ground. He looked up and saw Kaida, with a serious face, taking out every metal head in the place. Ashelin too, noted the girl but did nothing about it. The girl was shooting the metal heads and obviously wasn't part of the KG so she was in no way a spy. Finally the last dropped dead. Kaida returned her gun to its holster and looked to Ashelin and Jak. Ashelin merely gave a nod of gratitude and walked over to her hellcat.
"Watching me take care of those metal heads was, ahh, pretty exciting… eh sweet cheeks?" She turned back as she started up her zoomer. Daxter pushed against the heavy warm draft coming from the engines of the vehicle. "Hey, sweet stripes, gimmie them digits so I can look you up some time. Well party hard, big city style." Ashelin however paid no attention to the small orange animal.
"Tell Torn Baron Praxis is planning something big. I think it has to do with that seal." She pointed to a small stone jutting from the ground with a large red symbol. Jak looked at it quickly before he turned back to guarding his face from the waves of sand that blocked Ashelin from his sight.
"What is it?"
"It's the seal of the house of Mar, the founder of Haven city. We're being sent out on "suicide missions" to locate artifacts from the time of his rule. If curiosity's worth dying for, you can ask the blind, old soothsayer in the bazaar named Onin. She might know something about all this. Here's my bazaar access security pass." She tossed Jak a small electronic pass that was about the size of a wallet. He opened the pass and saw a picture of the woman along with her name.
"Your name is Ashelin, huh?" Ashelin sat down in her hellcat and prepared to depart.
"We're even now." She gave one last look of the trio and headed back to the city.
"Wow, what a woman!" Daxter let out a purr and looked after the shrinking mark in the sky that was the hellcat. Kaida had only spent a few moments watching Ashelin and Jak talking, before she had turned to another more important task. Knowing everything that was going to happen was always a bonus with these sorts of situations. Kaida had spent the time carefully removing skull gems from the fallen metal heads. She had become much more efficient at it and no long left gory, headless messes behind.
Jak looked after Ashelin for a short time before he turned and went to collecting skull gems as well. He had noticed that Kaida had already done a thorough job with almost half the metal heads while he had been talking to Ashelin, but he didn't say anything. Daxter found little interest in watching them collect skull gems and curled up on a plant and hummed while he allowed thoughts of Ashelin that would have gotten him shot, to flood his mind. With nothing else to do once they had finished, the walk back to the city was as silent as the walk from the city had been. As they stepped through the large airlock doors that lead to the city, Kaida felt the need to speak.
"Jak, I'll go tell Torn. You go race. Use the bazaar pass." She spoke quietly and her few words held more a question then a command. Nonetheless, Jak said nothing and nodded. Kaida personally hated the silence that they were cultivating. She hated not talking more, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. She hated Jak not talking because he was a hard enough book to read with words, and she desperately wanted to feel like she was actually wanted around. Lastly, she hated when Daxter wasn't talking, because as much as he was obnoxious, he often eased the mood and made everything seem funnier.
Jak and Kaida both took zoomers and headed off in their own directions and Kaida was given a moment to think. So much had happened in one day, even if half of it was expected. About half way to the hideout she suddenly stopped her zoomer and got off. She couldn't stand the fact that she was thinking. Right now, at this particular moment, thinking was hurting. She walked off into the darker alleyways looking for an activated hologram from Torn so she could do something and have her mind taken off things for the moment. After a few hours spent running around the slums and few precursor orbs later, Kaida walked slowly back towards the hideout. She kicked at stones and rubble in the streets as she walked. She couldn't help losing herself in the strangest feeling she got from this place.
She inhaled the warm air in an attempt to get a clean breath, but she knew she had a better chance of that if she stuck her head under water. She spat on the pavement, the taste of the dirty, mineral filled air filling her mouth. She ran her hands over her tied back hair and let them rest behind her head. Her wrists brushed her ears and she suddenly felt a strange feeling in her mind. But right now, she didn't want to think so she just continued walking. She came back to herself and realized that she was standing in front of the entrance to the hideout. She looked up at the ugly green symbol that had been painted on the door. She wrinkled her nose and sat down with her back to the wall, facing the door. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The sounds of the nonstop city floated around and she almost missed the grinding noise of the secret door opening. She looked up to see a most familiar blonde and unforgettable orange sidekick.
"Hey, we were just coming to look for you! What's the big idea; taking a nap out side the door?" Daxter demanded with his short arms crossed. Kaida couldn't help but feel a little surprised and Jak seemed to notice that.
"We already talked to Torn, so don't worry about that. I decided to wait until tomorrow to try and race again, so we came almost straight back here." Jak spoke up calmly. "Come on, let's go inside." He held out a hand and Kaida took it. Jak pulled her to her feet and they turned back into the hideout. She followed Jak down the stairs and into the hideout. Torn was pouring over some papers on his desk and didn't even seem to notice them as they walked past quietly. Once they had passed through the hall into the bunk area Jak spoke up.
"Krew wants a job done tomorrow. He needs some money collected and he needs a new…employee. He pays good for the most part."
"Even though he is big enough to need is own license plate." Added Daxter. Kaida looked up at Jak and nodded.
"I'll see him tomorrow." Kaida replied. Eventually the smell of food made its way to her and it only took her a moment to make up her mind before she began to follow the smell hungrily to its source. Who ever cooked for the hideout seemed to remain a secret because no one could say who actually did. There was one meal a day provided for the hideout. However, unlike the prison meals, the food here was meant to keep the agents in good health, rather then just alive. A single table was set out with food for all the regular residents of the hideout, including various fruits, meats, breads and water.
Jak and Daxter had gone to sit down on his bunk and continue to do what he had been doing. He lay on the top bunk and stared at the ceiling and began to think. He had attempted to interrupt himself by heading out to find Kaida but she had turned out to only be just outside the door so he was back where he had started. He closed his blue eyes and let a light frown cross his face. Daxter had curled up at the side of the bed and decided to get some 'beauty sleep'. He knew there was little that could be done about it but right at the moment life really sucked. He didn't really want to go into specifics because he knew that it would only make him angrier, and he really didn't feel like working himself up. He opened his eyes and blinked at the ceiling when he heard a tapping noise.
He turned and saw Kaida tapping carefully on the wood post of the bunk bed. When he looked fully at her, she smiled and held up a plate full of food. Jak sat up completely and took the plate carefully. Jak looked and at first felt he wasn't hungry, but as he placed a bite of fruit in his mouth he realized how hungry he actually was. He finished his fruit in record time, enjoying it thoroughly. Kaida kicked off her boots and swung her legs up onto the bed. She had only bothered to grab a few items and was finished fairly quickly and set her plate on the floor.
Kaida looked up at the bunk above her for a moment before she closed her eyes. A frown crossed her eyes and she sat up and removed the tie from her hair. Black and blonde hair fell loosely on her back and combed her fingers through her hair, smoothing it. She let her fingers run to the ends of her ears and felt the silver earrings she still had in her long ears. She fingered the small silver hoops for a moment before she removed on of them and inspected it. She still felt her surprise that after all that had happened to her, the sliver earrings were still intact. The sliver was inscribed in simple but attractive designs. She placed the earring back into her ear and reached for the tips. A year with her new ears, hair and abilities and she still couldn't believe that it was true. She closed her eyes and before she even had time to notice, she fell asleep.
Ok, yeah this is a bit of a blah blah blah chapter but I promise it will get better. A few important things happen here, but its a lot of talk. I am probably going to have a time skip after or during the next chapter. Some important information is coming up in the next chapter, so stay tuned!