Sorry sorry sorry…..I got so caught up in schoolwork, and then this head cold….I haven't felt like writing…..

Dax sat up to wipe sweat off his brow just as the sun came up with blinding force. He fell backwards with a shout, causing the elder guardsman to snap awake with his gun in his hand. Torn frowned as the early morning sun lit the entire city in an overpowering orange haze.

"When I said wake me, I didn't mean with bells and dance."

Behind him the little muse stretched out from its night of sleep, ignoring the silently cursing boy with red-orange hair next to it. Torn shook his head at him and sat down hard to pull on his boots and over shirt. With a quick motion of his wrist he pulled his reddish-brown dreadlocks into a loose ponytail to keep it out of the way. Daxter snickered at this as he pushed his hair back with his goggles.

"Something funny rat?"

"No ma'am."

Torn whipped around to face the grinning teen. It took all his willpower not to smack him with the butt of his gun, but he restrained himself. Turning, instead, to the window, he was glad to see that the sunlight no longer filled the city and they would be able to walk around. Without another word he stood up to go. Much to his surprise, the little green burr leapt for his shoulder and, upon landing, curled itself around his neck.

"Daxter?"

"Yes Torn?"

"I hate you."

Daxter smiled as he started down the stairs that would lead them out of their hiding place and into the city proper. Following close behind, gun drawn, the guard captain kept his eyes wide open, looking for trouble.

The doors to the power station slid open with a hiss for the young, green-haired man that stood before them. Stepping inside, he quickly shouldered his board and trotted up to the main computer.

"Hey Vin! How are things going with finding information on that city?"

Vin shook his head and popped up several windows to show what he found. Most were covered in strange precursor writing, but some were actual legible. Jak overlooked these waiting, rather, to hear it all from Vin.

"It's complicated Jak. I can't read most of this! I could use Samos's help, he knows how to translate some of the language."

Jak grimaced and turned toward the door. Getting Samos meant going to where Keira was. He wanted to see her, but wasn't sure he could. He wasn't sure if he could pull Samos, or himself, away. Sighing, he bolted out the door and onto his jet board to get the needed sage.

Ashlen sighed as she settled down next to the young monk. She had just been about to eat her breakfast when he appeared with news from Spargus. He had been traveling all night and refused to rest until he spoke with her. He took a few more seconds to catch his breath then pulled something from his shirt.

"I-I was told only you and Jak were to see this. It's…it's a precursor artifact."

The boy extended his upturned hands out to her, the small seal balanced on them. The circular clasp held four stones on the outside, each a different color. The inside held a light eco crystal and a dark eco crystal. At the very center it appeared to be broken apart. Slowly she reached out towards it and plucked it from the boy's hands.

"I will be sure that Jak gets this. It looks like the symbol we found for the other city."

The boy nodded slowly and she realized he was still tired from his long excursion. She patted him on the head and told him to rest promising to have a message for him to deliver back by the next morning. With a sigh she left the room, postponing her breakfast a little longer to get the artifact to Jak.

"I'm tired! And hungry! Can we stop for a bit?"

Torn stared incredulously at the orange haired man that insisted on whining so much.

"You just ate. Besides, we have to cover as much ground as we can in this city before nightfall. The sooner we finish our search, the sooner we can leave."

The younger crossed his arms in front of his chest and muttered to himself about evil guardsmen that don't feed their prisoners. Deliberately ignoring him, Torn continued forward only to stop after he rounded the corner.

"Ow! Why did you stop?"

Torn glanced back to see the young man holding his nose and glaring at him, but quickly refocused his attention to the hole that stood open in front of them. They had made their way back to the town square again. He stared in shock, positive he had been heading the other way.

"It's like a maze. All roads seem to lead back here."

"Maybe you should keep your hand on one wall, you know, to make sure you keep going forward."

He turned to glare at the young man before it sank in what he had said. With a grin, Torn gestured toward the wall, offering for the young man to do it himself since it was his bright idea. Smugly Dax set his hand against the wall, only to pull it back in surprise from the cold. Glaring defiantly at the now laughing Torn, he returned his hand to the wall with a shudder and started forward, listening to the sound of snow crunching under their boots.

He whispered with a laugh, "I wish we had though to ask Vin for a copy of the blueprints."

Sorry this isn't longer, I'm still not feeling like myself. I hope I can find time to do more, but with classes starting back up soon, I don't know. Hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it is short and odd, it is mostly filler, but necessary for the next part.