The stars shined brightly over Sandover Village, lighting it up with life. The shores glittered as the waves gently curled over the sandy beaches, and the clouds in the night sky were few and far between. An all over perfect night, but then, when was it not a perfect night here in Sandover?
But Jak and Daxter, of course, had to find a way to fix that.
"Jak! What are you doing?!" Daxter squawked. He scurried over to the edge of the dock where Jak was un-hooking the old fisherman's boat.
"Jak?!" Daxter yelled again. When he reached the edge of the dock, Jak had already hopped in the boat.
"Shush!" Jak whispered. Daxter noticed the devious look on Jak's face as he went over to the boat's controls. He knew that look all too well.
"Jak, just what are y ou planning on doing? If old fish-breath catches us out here, we're fish food!" Daxter said, now in a loud whisper. Jak continued to ignore him and began fiddling with the controls. Daxter should have known better than to expect a response right away. The dude hardly ever says anything.
Hoping to get an answer, he tried to wobble himself into the boat, only to slip and fall on his face in the process. Would it kill that old man to put in a door? His fall made a loud thud that caught Jak's attention. Jak laughed quietly at the all too familiar sight of Daxter fallen on the ground, and went over to help up his friend. Poor Daxter was so uncoordinated, it was a miracle the boy could walk on his own.
"Calm down Dax, I was just gonna take it out for a little joy rid e." Jak said with a smile.
"Oh, he speaks!" Daxter yelled sarcastically. He was obviously a little mad about falling, but you'd think the boy would be used to it by now.
"Shhhh!" Jak hushed him again. Daxter gave an aggravated "humph" but obeyed. Jak could tell that even though Daxter was afraid of getting caught, he wanted to do this as much as he did. He would have put up a bigger fight than that if he didn't. Daxter isn't one to fall into peer pressure.
After making sure his friend was alright, he went back over to the controls and began fiddling with them again. This was a little unfamiliar to him. Jak has used ancient precursor technology, tested Keira's crazy zoomer prototypes, and has gone through dozens of teleporters, but he has never driven a boat before. Without thinking, he reached out for a big lever that stuck out in front of the rest of them and pulled it. Big mistake.
The boat jutted forward, throwingthem both back onto the wooden floor of the boat. Jak's head crashed hard onto the floor with a loud crack. He hoped that was the wooden floor making that noise and not his head. When he tried to sit up, a strong wave of dizziness hit him, knocking him back down onto the floor. He lay on the ground for a moment waiting for the dizziness to pass before he tried to pull himself back up again. His head throbbed in unison with the waves of dizziness. He couldn't see very well, due to the dizziness, but he was able to see the boat's railing next to him. Using it, he pulled himself upright. He was surprised by the onslaught of strong wind that hit him as soon as he was up, almost pushing him back over. He managed to get a good hold on the railing and tried to see what was happening. He could see the water over the side of the railing rushing past him at an extremely fast pace, sprinkling his face with water. To the left of him was the stern of the boat where its fan was spinning wildly. Behind that he saw the beach of Sandover getting farther and farther away.
"-ak!" He barely heard Daxter's voice from behind him. Jak turned to the other side of him to see Daxter . He was sitting, almost lying, on the floor of the boat, ducking down to keep from getting blown back from the wind. He looked as though he was trying to yell because his mouth was moving and he had a scowl on his face, but it was impossible to make out anything he was saying. The wind was thrashing past them at an alarming rate, and all they could hear was the muffled sound of the wind, and the boat's large fan spinning in their ears. Just how fast was this thing going?
He was then able to realize what had happened. The sudden jolt of the boat starting had thrown Jak back to the end of the boat, separating him from the controls. He needed to stop this boat before they got too far out to sea; they were already so far out from what he had just seen. Jak looked back at where he was, and, still clinging to the side of the boat, started to drag himself over, inch by inch to the controls. The wind was brutal, it made it impossible for him to stand upright, and it impaired his vision to the point where he was practically blind. He had to dig his nails into the wooden railing, using every ounce of strength he could to move forward. He was making it there, slowly but surely, but it had drained his energy to almost zero. He could feel his muscles burn in protest.
Finally he was almost close enough to reach the controls. By that time desperation was hitting him. It had taken so long just to get there! They must already be out so far to sea. He tried to pull himself closer, but he couldn't muster enough strength to move himself. He could feel his grip on the boat giving out; his hands were starting to slip. In a last attempt to keep himself from falling back from the wind, he reached out toward the controls in the hopes of20grabbing the lever he had pulled earlier. He reached out as far as he could against the brutal wind, but his strength had failed him.
Just before he the wind threw his arm back, he felt something grab his hand. When he looked to see what it was, he felt a searing pain of something in his hand creeping down his arm and into his body. He screamed in horror at it, although the sound was muffled by the wind.
It was unlike anything he had felt before; it felt as though every cell of his being was being filled with unwanted energy. The suffocating pain coiled itself inside of him, creeping down through his hand and down through his body. The more that entered and filled his body, the more agonizing it became. He thought his body20would be ripped apart at any moment. Out of desperation, he struggled to control his screams and tried to see what was causing him this pain. He saw a shaded figure standing upright as though the wind was not there. His face was not visible, and his body was a haze. About the only thing that was visible was his hand. It was holding on to Jak's, and it had sickly streams of purple electricity emitting out of it that seemed to be connecting itself with Jak's body. Jak desperately tried to release himself, but it was useless. The person had an iron grip.
He could feel this strange energy taking over his body. It was unbearable. Jak couldn't hold it back any more. He screamed at the waves of electricity coursing themselves inside of him, overwhelming everything. He could feel his body fill to the brink with this strange energy, his hand the man held now numb, until he was sure he was being ripped apart. He continued to scream in agony as everything around him began fading into the same purple haze, until nothing was left except him and this strange being torturing him with this horrid purple energy.
--
Jak woke up screaming. He jerked himself upright and covered his mouth with his hands to muffle his screaming that escaped his mouth until it finally stopped. He was panting heavily and he could feel sweat rolling down the side of his face. His throat was sore, and he felt as though he had just been beaten. The horrible image of that pain covering, taking over him, suffocating him with the purple energy, was all he could see. He tried desperately to pull himself away from the image in his head; tried concentrating on his breathing, on calming down, but it was difficult. Adrenaline was racing throughout his body.
Eventually, as he managed to make his breathing slow a little, he was able to pull himself away from the image by observing his surroundings. Everything was dark except for a dim orange glow a few feet away from him. As his eyes adjusted, he found himself on a shallow cliff top covered in grass. He was sitting next to a giant bolder at the edge of the cliff that gave him and his now dead fire shelter from the wind. Off the edge cliff, about 100 feet down was the ocean, and to the opposite side was a distant city. In between him and the city were a few grassy fields and a bit of rough terrain.
His realization brought him relief and sorrow. Relief because the man and the torture he just experienced was not real. Sorrow because he was not in Sandover with his friend; He was on the outskirts of Haven city.
But that wasn't only this that made him feel sorrow, it was that pain. Jak knew what that pain was, and it was something he has experienced for two long years.
Dark Eco.
He put his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands. This was the fourth time this week he has had this dream. Every time he would wake up at the same point in the dream, from his screaming. What's worse was the eco seemed to feel more real each time. This time it really felt like he was under the baron's probe again. He shuddered. That time of his life was the only point where dark eco really hurt that bad, those two Godforsaken years in prison. After his body turned into Dark Jak for the first time, channeling it wasn't really that painful anymore. It still felt awful, but it wasn't the same pain as before. It was mostly just hard to take, and at times it could often be unbearable.
But in a way that horrified Jak. Dark eco was the last thing he wanted to get used to.
When his breathing was back to normal, and the adrenaline subsided, he lied back down, and stared up at the sky. The sky was brightly lit with stars that faded toward the east. His intention was to sleep, but as usual, after having that nightmare, sleep was not possible.
He lay there for a while letting his mind wander away from the dream. He'd guessed the nightmares were because he had gotten in the habit of not sleeping for several days, weeks even, and now that he had found time to get a decent amount of sleep, it was throwing him off.
His mind wandered back to how this happened; how he got so much time to sleep. The memories were ones he wouldn't mind forgetting. Doing a bunch of stupid missions for Wastelanders that should be able to take care of themselves was just frustrating to think about.
Things had been really hectic in the Spargus ever since King Damas died, so Jak had been there for a while helping out. You'd think since King Damas was Jak's father, that he would inherit the throne. But it turns out, he, as usual, has been doing all the dirty work. He didn't mind, Sig was doing a bang-up-job as the king, but he would like it if he didn't have to take care of everything for them. Damn metal heads were going crazy over there. It's like they got tired of attacking Haven, so they went for Spargus. What made it all worse was that Daxter couldn't be there with him. Tess had convinced him to stay in Haven (God only knows how), so Jak was in it alone. He didn't hold it against Daxter though, he only intended to be gone a few weeks, but one situation lead to another, and it ended up taking several months.
But finally, Spargus seemed to have mellowed out, so Jak could go back to his friends in Haven. Unfortunately, communications between Spargus and Haven have been out for a while, so Jak couldn't take a transport back. He ended up having to use an old zoomer the wastelanders had stashed and drive back himself. It was a long and dull journey on a zoomer, but at least he had found time to sleep along the way.
Jak probably could have made it into Haven yesterday, but he decided he needed one more night on his own before he meet up with his friends again. All the missions he had been on in the wastelands have left him exhausted, and although he was looking forward to coming home, he knew they would probably have some mission waiting for him as soon as he got there. So he wanted to get just a little more rest in.
But seeing as how rest only left him more unsettled than when he was awake, Jak was kind of looking forward to not sleeping again.
He sat up once again and tried to think of something other than the stress waiting for him. He considered thinking about his friends, and how much he missed them. He missed Daxter's obnoxious voice that always managed to cheer Jak up, Keira's optimistic attitude, Ashlin's bad attitude, Torn's stupid never-ending frown, and even that old sage's ratings. He was really looking forward to seeing them all again...
Wait. Since when did Jak become so… so caring? Jak has always cared deeply for his friends, but ever sense he came to Haven three years ago, his attitude towards that sort of thing has hardened over a lot. The last time he was able to think so softly of someone was when20they were in Sandover, back before his mind was constantly cluttered with petty missions and the constant anger the dark eco inflicted on him.
Come to think of it, over the past few weeks, his anger had subsided immensely. Jak became used to having an unyielding rage burning inside of him ever since he had been exposed to dark eco, even after the Baron died. He expected to feel better once that horrible man was dead, but it actually made him angrier. Even after he was exposed to light eco, his rage persisted, even though the pain dissipated. Over time he managed to suppress it, and only let his anger out in battles when he went Dark Jak. But it has always been there, always making things more difficult. Jak eventually stopped getting close to anyone, even Keira, letting himself harden over, because it was a struggle to contain his anger around people. The only person he didn't re ally have to try really hard with was Daxter, and even then it wasn't always easy.
But recently, he noticed that he just wasn't that angry any more. He couldn't understand why, he hadn't absorbed any less dark eco than he had before, or any more light eco for that matter, and having to do a ton of stupid missions shouldn't put anybody in a good mood... perhaps he was just hanging on to resentment before, still angry about all20the misfortune that had plagued him, and now he was just now starting to finally get over it. Or perhaps it was because he has been thinking about Sandover a lot; remembering his old home, the adventures they went on, and the uncrushably optimistic attitude he once held. He hadn't given those old memories a second thought ever since he got here, simply dismissing the old joyful life as part of the past. But now that he began thinking about it again and how much he missed it, it almost made him feel like his old self again…..
It was then that he noticed it was beginning to get lighter outside. The sun was starting to peek over the snow-covered mountains toward the west, making the dark blue sky turn a dull orange color. Morning...
He decided he might as well head off for Haven now. He figured it would take another two hours or so to get there, so everyone should be awake by then. It beats sitting here doing nothing.
Jak slowly pulled himself off the ground and gave a big stretch over his head, causing a few joints to pop. He couldn't wait to sleep in a bed again, if he could actually get a good night's sleep. Before he got ready to leave, Jak looked to his right over to2 0the ocean. It was beautiful, just as he remembered. The fading stars in the sky made the water glitter, the strange green star shining the brightest. Back in Sandover, Jak would always sneak off and spend his nights on a cliff much like this one just watching the stars and the ocean. It gave him the strangest feeling of peace and security, one that he couldn't find anywhere else. Looking at it now almost made him feel the same happiness he once felt before. It almost made him feel like he was back home again.