I do not own any characters of Jak and Daxter or any part of their series and franchise.

Chapter 5:

This place was amazing. It was so beautiful it was hard to believe it was a camp…Well that was looking at the small lake, the rest was just a wasteland of sand but no sandstorm. That explained the reason for that wall there and another that was suppose to be there a hundred acres out as told by Ashelin.

Ashelin landed the vehicle and we both hopped out. There were 4 other people around the camp just like Ashelin had said. 2 of them were girls and the other 2 were guys. I was suddenly having this shy feeling but Ashelin yelled to them to come up where we were. It was an interesting group we had here. "Introduce yourselves." Ashelin added. I'm going to take the time now to explain the appearances of each one of us.

"Hi…I'm Rico." Lets start out with me. I stand at 5'9 and weight 147 pounds. I am 15 years of age. My hair is Black and nappy but when light is shined directly on it you can see the brown. My skin is rather tanned everywhere on my body. I am currently wearing only my jeans which kind of adds to the shyness. I don't have a great body but I work out enough for myself not to be embarrassed about walking around shirtless.

"Hello. I'm Candice." Came from the first girl. She was 5'8 and weighted 122 pounds. She was 16 years old and had died black hair that reached the center of her back. Her skin was light with a slight trace of tan. She was wearing a light blue sleeveless shirt and a white skirt. She wasn't skinny but she wasn't fat either. Honestly in my opinion she was cute.

"I'm Cort." Said the first guy. He was 6'1 and weights 173 pounds. He was 18 years and blond hair that was cut very short. He was tanned also but not as tanned as I was. He was wearing a white short-sleeved undershirt but was holding onto a Camo shirt, His pants were Camo shorts. He also had a Camo sergeant hat on his head. He wasn't buffed out but he was very fit.

"Names John." Came from the second guy. He was 6-foot even and weighted 159 pounds. He was 17 with quite a bit of black hair that waved just past his neck. He was a light tanned color. He had worn a red short sleeved shirt and a normal pair of shorts. He looked pretty skinny for his age and height.

"And I'm Heather." Came from the final girl. She was 5'6 and weighted 118 pounds. She was 17 and her black hair was tied into a ponytail that like Candice reached the center of her back. Her tan was the same as Johns. She was wearing a lime green short sleeved shirt with skinny jeans. She was kind of short but she still seemed really confident about herself.

It was probably one of the strangest groups you'd ever find but we'd have to work together as Ashelin was saying. After everyone had introduced him or herself we all went silent. Ashelin finally broke the silence by saying, "Tomorrows the day when you will all begin your training and find out what Eco is flowing through you." Everyone had direct contact at Ashelin as she said that. Everyone here wanted to know what powers they had.

The one who seemed most curious about all this was probably Cort. There was a somewhat stuck-up look to him that I couldn't get off my mind. If everyone got one and in the end one of them got light or dark then I hope Cort doesn't obtain it. The tension was pretty high at that moment, Everyone seemed like they wanted to say something yet nobody could get the words out. Suddenly coming from Ashelin's direction was a ringing of some sort. She opened up her communicator and asked who it was. Whatever was said within that communicator must have been important because Ashelin's eyes went wide.

"I've got to go. You guys wait here till the monks come tomorrow morning." At that she had hopped into her vehicle and zoomed off. Something serious must be going on right now, Maybe it had to do with Jak. Everyone stood there rather uncomfortable. The other four probably already had time to get used to each other while I felt like I was stuck in the dark about everyone. After awhile Heather came out with the first question. "So why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

The question came out so randomly yet it seemed hilarious. Everyone else started laughing even me. If these people were gonna be the ones I'm working with then I would have to trust them sooner or later. I decided that sooner was a better choice then regretting it. I told them the whole story. How Jak picked me up at my house, How we went to the pump station to trade me off with Ashelin, How I got stuck in the sand cage. It was funny that by the end of my story that I didn't have many of my questions for Ashelin answered.

Either way we all went around and began telling our stories, our histories, our parents, and our friends, things like that. Candice came from a rich family who soon went bankrupt when she was 7, Heather used to work at her parents flower shop before being pulled here, Cort's father was a General in the war, And finally John used to live in the streets near the underground. If I had known that this would probably be the last calm moment for awhile I would have hung onto every word they'd say.

Strangely no matter how different of a group we were we still connected quickly. No one had any grudges or anything with anyone else. It seemed to be peace and harmony where we were even though we knew a giant war was taking place outside these walls. It was like we were a country of our own who didn't want to get caught up in everyone else's business while everyone else was suffering.

After a few hours of talking we finally fell asleep unknown of what was to come tomorrow. I had awoken before the sun had came up. Everyone else was asleep in different places. The girls were by the water, and John and Cort were under the tarp we had. I was also under the tarp but I left as soon as I got up. I started heading toward the mini water pond trying to keep a big enough distance from where the girls were sleeping and where I was standing. I looked into the water as things began rushing through my mind.

What if I don't have powers? What if I'm useless compared to everyone else? Why did Ashelin leave so quickly? What ever happened to Jak? Seems like I never go a moment without questioning something…Seemed like a bad thing. I looked out into the distance as the sun began rising. I knew I only had a little more time left to remain who I was…Before I learned some hidden secrets about myself. I sat in the sand with my knees up in front of me while my arms rested against my knees. My hands connected as I closed my eyes.

That moment I made a promise to myself to never change who I am. It felt like I was over exaggerating things a bit but I could never be too cautious. Within the next few minutes the wall had opened with 5 monks on leaper lizards. Each one had a leash with another leaper attached. The monks had first saw the tarp and two of them on their leapers went over to wake the guys. Two more monks went to the girls with the leapers. Finally the middle monk went to me and began talking. "You are Rico, yes?" I nodded my head. "Then hop on." The monk had said. I hopped onto the leaper this monk has leashed.

I could tell by the voice that this monk was actually female. "My name is Seem." She had said. I wasn't sure how to ride a leaper but I tried my best. I was able to keep it steady while we began heading for the wall. Once we had reached the wall the other 8 people were working their way to us. I could tell Cort and Candice were pretty good at riding Leapers. Heather was moderate at it while John and I were beginners. The monks hadn't said any words to us as they got their leapers walking. "We will speed up now." Seem had said after a few minutes of riding. Suddenly her leaper shot off and two of the monks followed. Cort and Candice were also dashing along with them while Heather was a tad bit slower.

The two monks at the end were waiting for John and I. We gave small kicks to the side of the leapers hoping they'd take off but no luck. John was the first to recognize how to move faster by making a whipping motion with the leash. I copied John's movements and I was up beside him. The two monks remained behind us as we tried catching up with the group. We eventually lost sight of the group as one of the monks went ahead of us. He was leading the way to wherever we had to go to. Before we knew it we saw the rest of the group in the distance in front of a gap.

John and I stopped beside the group as Seem went towards this mountain nearby. She pushed a button of some sort and a pathway opened up. "We only have 5 minutes to get all of us across both gaps. You must remain on your lizards and have them run over the path without falling off. I'd like to tell you there's a way up after you fall but there isn't. You will die if you are to fall in. I want our slow movers to go ahead with two monks." At that the two monks that were escorting us ran across the small pathway while John followed.

I was stuck on stupid before realizing it was my turn. I did the whipping motion as the leaper started running across the path. Five minutes seemed like more then enough time the way we were moving. John and I had already passed the first pathway and began the second with minutes to spare. We were coming to the end of the second pathway when I had looked back to see how everyone else was doing. I think now would be a great time to tell you never look back when your going on a small path.

The leaper made one misplaced footstep and began falling down the path. I had a moment to react and grabbed a hold onto the path. The leaper went plummeting down to the bottom of the ditch…If there was a bottom. The moment came so quickly I nearly lost my handgrip. Heather, Candice and two of the monks had already passed the second path while I was hanging. The first ones to see were John, our two personal escort monks, Seem, and Cort. Cort and Seem were working there way to where I was as the time passed. I could feel I only had about a minute left as the path slowly began diminishing. It was still there but getting slowly weaker.

I wasn't sure what to do as I hung there. My body was feeling exhausted seeing as over the past two days I've only had water. My right hand was the first to go as I hung there, Seem had pushed Cort ahead to the end section and hopped off her leaper to try and assist me. She had grabbed my left hand from the spot and tried to lift me up. I could tell by the way that she was struggling that she wasn't going to be able to pull me up. Everyone stood in awe unsure of whether to help. I could see someone dashed out to Seem and helped her pull me up. I wanted to sit there and reregister myself to solid ground but I knew I had no time for that. The other person to save me was one of the monks.

Seem began pushing me to go and I reacted immediately. You'd be surprised how quick your body moves when you get this feeling your gonna die. I finally reached the section and turned back to look as Seem was arriving onto the section. Before the monk could reach land the pathway had fallen. I watched the last moment as the monk tried to grab onto the side of the section between the ditch. But I knew that it wasn't going to be that easy.

Everyone watched as the monk fell to his death. No one said anything as we all stood there. Seem said a small prayer before telling us to move. We walked the rest of the winding path to see and big open temple. "This is the place that Jak learned of his light abilities, this is the place Jak mastered his Light abilities, This is the place where Jak learned invisibility, This is also the place where you will learn your Eco abilities. Let's move inside." Seem has said to us.

I've got a week off and I decided the finish this chapter. I finally decided this story would only be 10 chapters. But you'll have to wait and see what else I have in store ;). This was partially a filler chapter while allowing you to be set up for the next few chapters. Hope you enjoy it.