Authors Note: Sorry for the slightly late update you guys; I was at my friend's birthday party all yesterday and last night, so I couldn't get at the computer to write and post an update. Hopefully, you will not maul me for doing so! And now, to my lovely reviewers:
Empty Tranquility: Lmao, yes, finally! Hopefully your ff problems are over now XD. Well, wouldn't you be protective over your best friend since like ever? I would be XD. I'm glad you liked it, and enjoy the update!
-.Mysterious-Authoress.-: I'm glad you liked it! Yesh he is overprotective, and I'm not sayin nothin' about the second part of that comment XD. Thanks for the review!
Light-Eco-Freak: XD LMAO! I'm glad you liked it, but how is he different…? \ I thought I was doing a fairly good job of keeping him in Jak2 character. Thanks for the review!
Nostalgic Beauty: Lmao, yes I agree. Sorry it took so long to update, thanks for the review!
Kyogue: KYOGUE! glomps OMG long time no see! XD Lol! I'm glad you like it, and I still ain't saying nothing regarding the pairing thing so hah. Thanks for the review!
And now, on with the chapter! Enjoy!
Through Another's Eyes: Book Two
Chapter Six: Tasks from Onin
The next morning found Jak, Tera and Daxter once more heading down to the Underground's command centre, Torn waiting to give them yet another mission. Both blonde's grumbled the entire way from the apartment to the headquarters, but quieted when they moved down the steps, not wanting the commander to give them more missions then he already was.
"One of my old Guard comrades was sent to the Pumping Station," Torn grunted, not looking up as the three approached the table. Daxter took the chance to hop on the wood and start pulling faces in the light.
"There's been no word from her patrol, and after what you guys ran into out there, I'm afraid she may need some help."
Both Jak and Tera's eyebrows went up, "Did you say 'she'?"
"Don't even think about it," Torn growled, his hand snapping out to grab the swinging light and lean close to Daxter, "Stop that! This is serious, you moron!"
Daxter growled in Torn's direction, pulling a karate pose when Jak went to whap him on the head, "Whaa! That's right! Don't mess with the sugar!" he grinned, Tera rolling her eyes at her friend's behavior.
"This friend of mine has helped the underground many times before," Torn continued, ignoring the ottsel, "Go back to the Pumping Station and take a look around. Render assistance if needed," he turned to Daxter, poking him hard in the chest, "Now get your squirrelly ass outta here!"
Daxter stuck his tongue out at the commander when he turned his back, Jak sighing and grabbing the ottsel by his neck, tossing him onto his shoulder and following Tera up and out of the headquarters. The girl drove this time, having hopped into the two seater sitting just outside before Jak could protest, Tera grinning the entire time while Jak had a fake scowl sitting across his lips.
They drove out over the water slums, hopping out of the zoomer when they reached the drainage pipe that would take them to the Pumping Station, Tera and Jak already pulling their guns out as they waited for the second security door to open. Looking further up the beach, Tera paused and motioned to Jak.
"Crab Heads," she spoke quietly, "They shoot lasers; we need to hit them fast but watch out for their retaliation."
Jak nodded, loading the blaster mod as they crept forwards, diving behind a large piece of metal in the beach when the Crab Head began firing at them, he and Tera waiting until it stopped shooting to jump up and launch their own volley of shots, the creature falling and leaving blobs of dark eco in it's wake. The eco flew into Jak's body as he walked by, the three simply ignoring this as they had become used to it.
Walking along the right of the beach, they trudged through the water under the nearby pipe, pausing when they spotted three more Crab Heads on the beach ahead of them. The Metal Head's not noticing them, Jak and Tera shared a grin before shooting off quick rounds, easily taking down the three beasts. Moving forward, they hopped up three rotating platforms and then made their way up another three pistons. Jumping to the ledge, they moved into the next area and broke all the KG crates that were scattered there, both teens able to fully restore their ammo stocks and Jak feeling Dark wake up in the back of his mind as his eco stores filled.
Moving forwards again up the small ledges ahead of them to the grassy beyond that, they took down the three Crab Head's and single Juice Goon that were waiting. Once they were gone, the trio walked further into the area, looking around for the patrol Torn had sent them after.
Daxter frowned as they approached the seemingly abandoned KG hover craft, jumping down from Jak's shoulder and motioning wildly, "Ehhh, what the heck are we doing risking our likes to rescue some old Krimzon Guard hag anyway?! She's probably got more facial hair then me!"
The two blonde's rolled their eyes, looking around for the missing KG. Suddenly, a red headed woman dropped from no where, catching Jak in a headlock and pinning her pistol on Tera.
"Who the hell are you three?!" the woman growled, keeping her gun aimed at the startled teen, Jak raising his arms as though in surrender.
Daxter's trademarked leer appeared across his face at the sight of the busty red head, "Mmm, I do love a woman in uniform!" he saluted, "Wanna bark some orders at me? Woof woof!" he jumped up onto her arm, "I'm your soldier on the front lines of looove!" he hopped down again, "Waiter! Fox hole for two!"
The woman shoved Jak back over towards Tera, her pistol now pointed at the ottsel, "Keep talking and I'll raise your voice a couple of octaves."
"Easy," Jak cut in, scowling, "Torn asked us to help you."
"I don't need help," the girl moved to slide her gun back into its holster, her gaze drawn forwards by something, "but you might. We've got company."
"Ah fuck," Tera muttered, spotting the wave of Crab Heads and Juice Goon's that had jumped down from the above cliff and were now advancing towards them. Both Underground operatives and the KG woman began firing like mad, trying to keep the Metal Head's back.
They managed to take down the first, second and third waves, bullets ripping through the monsters flesh and their skull gems falling to the ground around them. When the fourth wave came, however, the four found themselves surrounded by the creatures.
"Jak," Tera whispered, backed up in the centre with him and the red head, "Now would be a good time to go Dark on these guys don't you think?!"
"Right," the male holstered his gun, concentrating and calling forward the demon. Skin and hair faded to white, horns and claws growing and eyes blackening before Dark stood in Jak's place. The demon snarled, launching himself into the air and then slamming down on the ground, sending out a shockwave of Dark eco that wiped out the remaining Metal Head's.
Quickly reverting to himself once his eco stores were full, both Jak and Tera followed the red head back towards her vehicle, glad that she wasn't asking any questions about the demon.
Daxter jumped down to the ground beside the zoomer, smirking, "Watching me take care of those Metal Heads was, ahh… pretty… exciting… wasn't it, sugar?"
The woman ignored him, climbing into the kraft and starting up the engine, the resulting gust of wind sending the ottsel flying back. Daxter strained to get back, shouting over the noise of the engine, "Hey! Sweet stripes! Gimme them digits so I can look you up sometime! We'll party hard, big city style!"
"Tell Torn Baron Praxis is planning something big," the woman ignored Daxter again, her words directed to Jak and Tera, "I think it has to do with that symbol," she pointed to a nearby stump, a glowing metal symbol with two eyes and a pair of curses embedded in it.
"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," the woman slid down into her seat, "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," the woman reached into one of her pockets, tossing a pass to Jak as her craft began to lift, "Here's my bazaar access security pass."
Jak flipped it open, "Your name's Ashelin huh?"
"We're even now," Ashelin snapped before taking off, leaving the three Underground operatives to themselves.
"Wow!" Daxter exclaimed, "What a woman. Rawr."
"Pervert," Tera rolled her eyes at the ottsel, standing on her toes to look over Jak's shoulder at the security pass, "Shall we go find this Onin woman?"
"Sounds like a plan," Jak agreed, the three retracing their steps to the water slums after picking up all the skull gems that had been dropped during the ambush. Jak grabbed a zoomer once they were back in the city (a single seater, much to Tera's further disdain), taking off towards the icon on his com that pinpointed the bazaar. They drove through the water slums and South Town, eventually reaching the 'highway' that lead through the bazaar.
Following it about halfway, they jumped off right in the middle of the platform and headed down a small ramp that lead down into the centre of the bazaar, heading around the corner and pausing at the sight of the large tent in front of them. Glancing at each other, the two teens moved forwards, Jak entering first. They gazed around the tent in surprise, the old soothsayer herself sitting just in front of them.
"Cooool!" Daxter exclaimed, looking at the monkaw that hung motionless nearby, "Check out all the dead stuff!" he poked the creatures face, jumping back with an 'ouch!' when it bit his finger, snapping awake.
"Touch the goods again, rat boy, and you'll be," the creature paused to squawk, "counting with your toes!"
The monkaw flew over to the old woman, landing in her hat and striking a pose, "I, am Pecker!" he sighed when the three muffled laughter, "Yes, yes, I know, my mother, she was… very vindictive," he gave a bow, "I am Onin's interpreter."
Onin clapped her hands together, moving them about in various motions, blue streams that Tera recognized as eco flowing after her fingers.
"Onin welcomes you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… the usual boring salutations," Pecker paused, looking to Jak, "She says it is good to see you again, Jak."
Jak frowned, crossing his arms, "But we've never met before."
"Before… after… it is all the same," Pecker replied, going to continue but slumping in irritation when Daxter cut him off.
"Oh! Oh! Let me try! Aaah…" Tera and Jak rolled their eyes, hiding grins at their friends oddity, "she wants a... she wants a yakow bone! A yakow bladder! No… no… I got it! For many moons… she has… waited for… a juice pop?" at this point, Tera gave up and let herself burst out laughing, the little ottsel continuing on as Pecker rolled his eyes, flying over closer to them, "A jewel shop? Oh… oh… I know, she's got a hairball! A hair lip? A hairy chest?"
"Close," Pecker nodded, then snapped "but NO!" the old woman began to make motions again, the symbol from before forming in the air, "Onin says you seek answers, arrrrrkk, about the Tomb of Mar."
"So what do we need to know?" Jak asked impatiently, sending Tera a weary glance.
"She's going on and on about mystical energy channels, evil curses, stupid 'oooooo' crap," Pecker turned on the three again, "Forget all that, I'm gonna sum this up quickly, because now you're cutting into my siesta time."
Daxter made a crazy motion as the monkaw continued to talk, his companions grinning and nodding, "Onin wants you to recover three artifacts from the Precursor Mountain Temple. Not two, not four, three! Use the warp gate at the northwest side of the city, and bring back the three items you find!"
The monkaw flew back into Onin's hat, waving them off and closing his eyes. The three left the tent and headed back to the byway, snatching a zoomer and taking off for the farm section of the city. Reaching the area indicated on Jak's comm., they hopped off the vehicle and made their way up the ramp, exiting the city and approaching the warp gate that Pecker had specified. Pulling out their guns, they hopped through the gate and landed up at the top of the Precursor Mountain, the three gaping.
"Kind of reminds me of Sandover," Tera muttered, the males nodding in agreement. Snapping themselves out of it, the three moved forwards after breaking the nearby KG crates, shooting the platform ahead of them to flip it and jumping over into the Temple itself. As soon as they stepped on the elevator it lowered, the two shooting down the swipers up ahead of them. Moving ahead to grab the Skull Gems, Jak paused and motioned for Tera to stop, looking around the corner of the first passageway.
Spotting the Centurion waiting around the corner, he attacked quickly before it could raise its shield, effectively taking down the Metal Head. Smirking, he looked back at Tera, "Lets get moving."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"That's some peeper, huh?" Daxter commented, walking ahead of Tera and Jak into the temple area, a bright white light shining from up in the ceiling. The ottsel entered the spot light, Tera and Jak staying just outside of it.
Daxter sniffed at the air, "Something's cooking? Hmm, kinda smells like…" he froze, looking behind him to see his tail was on fire, "Burnt ottsel?! AGHHHHH!"
The ottsel began to run around crazily, spinning the platform that the two blonde's were still standing on. The lens floated slowly down, Jak catching it and carefully sticking it into his pack. Daxter eventually flopped down on the platform, the fire out.
Tera snickered at her friend, the ottsel hopping back onto Jak's shoulder as they headed over to the small Precursor platform that waited there, landing in the Temple Hub. Shooting down the hoppers that waited there, they considered the two paths still left.
"This'll take to long if we go after one at a time," Tera decided, looking to her friends, "You guys go left, I'll go right. We'll meet up back here when we get the artifacts."
Jak frowned, "I don't think that's a good idea, Ter."
The girl rolled her eyes, drawing her pistols, "It'll be fine, Jak. See you guys later," the blonde had no time to protest as the girl took off down her designated path, giving a sigh and heading to the left as she had said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tera cursed, diving out of the way of the Ram Head as it charged again, letting a volley of shots fly when it reared, revealing its underbelly. The beast gave a pained roar, falling onto its side and leaving behind blobs of dark eco and its skull gem. Giving a sigh of relief and noticing the new platform and opened door, Tera scrambled to her feet and grabbed the skull gem, hopping across the platform and into the Temple room. Inside, she climbed up the steps leading to the artifact, pausing when she reached it due to the vibration it was giving off.
Biting her lip, she grabbed it and stuffed it into her pack before it could do anything, jumping back down and heading for the platform that waited, heading back down to the Temple Hub. Reaching it, she walked back to the elevator to wait for Jak, grinning when her two friends finally appeared.
"Get the artifact?" when Jak simply nodded, Tera frowned, noticing the anxious look on his face, "What's wrong?"
"The oracles calling again," he replied, the girl giving an understanding nod before they stepped onto the elevator, hopping back through the warp gate once they reached it and grabbing a zoomer outside. The rid back to the water slums was silent, the three simply having nothing to say and hopping off as soon as they reached the correct hut.
As soon as he stepped in, Jak was once more grabbed by a bolt of Dark Eco and lifted into the air, Tera and Daxter standing back.
"Now that you carry the weight of darkness on your shoulders, you alone cannot save us," the oracle spoke, dropping a now Dark Jak onto the ground, "Our last hope rests with one still untouched by pain, and you must protect this young soul in our moment of truth. I grant you another Dark Power!"
The eco demon turned to look at Tera and Daxter, his eyebrows rising when the girl sat down and leaned back against the huts wall, calm as ever.
"We can't go anywhere till you change back, Jak," she shrugged, eyes never leaving his, "May as well relax."
The demon grunted, his way of agreeing with her, and he loped carefully to the wall, sitting awkwardly on the ground beside her, resisting the urge to go out on a killing spree. Tera fiddled with the straps on her sleeves, silently waiting for her friend to turn back.
Eventually, his stores emptied, Dark gave a pained howl as he reverted back into Jak, horns and nails retracting and skin and hair fading to normal colours, eyes finally returning to blue.
Standing, Tera held a hand out to help her friend up, raising an eyebrow at him with a grin, "Shall we go see Vin about turning on that elevator now?"
Jak nodded, returning her grin, "Sounds like a plan."