Another chapter, it's kinda short but I hope you enjoy it anyway... and remember: Reviews are a writers lifeblood!
enjoy.
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Samos was not happy when Daxter returned triumphant. With a shadow of his usual cocky grin on his face, Daxter had told him of his success.
"Well, don't go doing it again! It was obviously a fluke, all of the lurker animals are bound to be asleep at this hour."
"ey! What kind of thank you is that? You've been moaning about those eco collectors for days old man! If it was so easy, why hadn't you done something about it yourself!"
" Because SOME of us have better things to do then run around playing hero!"
" Oh right, I pulled a couple of rocks outta holes in the ground. how heroic" Daxter folded his arms and glared at the green menace. He hadn't bothered to tell Samos about the croca-dogs and lurker snake, though his pride was screaming at him to. Being the stiff old fart he was, Samos was bound to check for bodies or something, and would raise questions when non were found. Answers would be nice, but not fromhim.
"Well if you think that you're up to a 'real challenge', go find a way to turn on the blue Eco vents that have been capped off. Keira has mentioned that she traced the pipelines as far as the Forbidden Jungle, so start there. Now, get out of here!" Samos watched him go with am angry look. He didn't know what had gotten into that boy's head lately. A trip to the Blue eco temple should get rid of all those ridiculous ideas though. He knew for a fact that only a channeler could even get through the front doors…and Daxter was not a channeler.
Keira met Daxter on the boardwalk and pulled him into her garage. She had heard her father shouting at Daxter from in there and wanted to congratulate him.
" Daxter…I hate to say this but I didn't think that you could do it. I see now that it was foolish of me to say that, after all you had to have some sort of skill to follow Jak around like that constantly!"
"Er…thanks?" Daxter wasn't sure if that was a complement or not.
"oh, that sounded weird didn't it…I mean…it's just…" Daxter shook his head.
"It's okay, I know what you mean. To tell you the truth I didn't think I could do it either…say being the sage's daughter you should know things about eco right?"
" I have picked a few things up from being around Daddy so much, why?" Daxter bit his lip, unsure if he should continue.
"When I was on my way to them Eco collectors I encountered some trouble. Nothing I couldn't handle of course. Just a Lurker snake and some Croca-dogs but…Instead of well[Idying[/I, they became Green eco blobs. Like when Jak would kill things…" Daxter lowered his eye to the floor. The fact that Jak wasn't there anymore still hurt, even though it had been a week. Keria's eyes widened.
" But daddy said that only happened to channelers!"
"I know, but I'm not, right? Can you think of another reason?"
"no…but I could ask daddy later." Daxter's frown deepened.
"In that case I'll just pass it off as one of those things I'm not supposed to know." He turned to leave but Keira caught his arm.
"I understand that you and daddy are not on the best of terms, but he could help!" he was about to snap at her, but the pleading look in her eyes made him sigh instead.
"I'll go to him myself if something else pops up ok? Now leggo of my arm, I've got some blue eco vents to turn on."
" I wont tell daddy if you go home and get some sleep before going into the jungle. If you can't sleep at least wait until daylight." Daxter agreed, seeing no other way out of it. He was kind of tired now that he thought about it. Some rest might do him some good.
The short trip back to his house was uneventful. Not caring enough to do anything else Daxter flopped down on his bed and pulled the covers up. He dreamed of giant orange rats in clothing of all things that night.
The next morning saw Daxter rummaging around in his closet. He didn't have much, but what he did have was jealously hiding what he was searching for. Most of it was odds and ends that he and Jak had found on their "adventures". Jak's uncle had pretty much forbid Jak from bringing junk into the house, so Daxter ended up with all of it.
A triumphant yelp followed him as he tumbled out of the small closet, prize in hand. Said prize was one of two strange precursor items he and Jak had found. It was a flimsy pouch of some kind on a belt. Keira had had a field day when they brought the items to her for inspection. Though cloth like, the item was made of precursor metal. Jak had fashioned his into a backpack, but Daxter had tossed his into storage, as there was really no need for it.
Strapping the belt to his waist Daxter paused to admire himself in the mirror he kept in his bedroom for just that purpose. The dark circles under his eyes gave him a start. Wincing, Daxter suddenly understood why Keira seemed to be worrying about him so much. To make it all worse his hair was a mess and his cloths were dirty and torn. He hadn't changed them since…then. He honestly hadn't thought of it, to many other things on his mind.
Moving back over to his closet he dug out his spare set of cloths and 'freshened up'. There was virtually no difference between this set of cloths and the other ones; save the tunic was a darker shade of red. Fully groomed and felling slightly better in cleaner cloths, Daxter stepped into the morning sunlight.
Keira was waiting for him on the small fountain near the mayor's house.
" I'm glad you took my advice and got some rest Daxter." She told him before handing him a precursor orange tube of some sort. " I call this the Extendable Eco Spear, EES for short. When you press that button on the side there, it extends into a full size Bo staff. Exposing it to eco will fill the special cells I made with that eco type, to create an eco blade on the end. You can switch eco types at anytime by pressing the button again. A full charge of Eco should last for about ten minutes when in use." Daxter pressed the button, causing the EES to extend to its full length. He swung it experimentally a few times to test it.
" I also want to give you this, it's a communicator. This way daddy and I can keep in touch with you, even when you're far away." Keira sighed. " I wish I had given these to you and Jak before…you know. They just weren't finished yet. Oh yeah, to retract the EES, hold the button down for five seconds." Daxter nodded and pressed the button. Once the EES was back to its compact size he shoved it into the pouch at his side.
"Thanks for the stuff sweetheart, but I hope you know it ain't my birthday yet." The joke sounded pathetic even to his ears, but Keira smiled anyway.
"Just be careful Daxter. I don't know what I would do if I lost you too, annoying as you are." Hard as he tried Daxter couldn't force a smile to his face.
"I'll be fine, I taught Jak everything he knew yanno." With a wave he turned and began the trek to the Forbidden jungle. Keira being so nice to him all of a sudden was kind of creepy. Nice, but creepy. Daxter pulled out the EES and extended it again, admiring it. He knew how to use a staff, the basics anyway. When they were younger, he and Jak had bugged Samos until he finally taught them to use one. Rather, he taught Jak and later Jak taught him when Samos wasn't watching. The old Sage always seemed to have it in for him.
A flash of electric blue caught his eye as he approached the unofficial entrance to the Jungle. Three sparking balls of blue eco lay on the ground in front of him. Blinking Daxter wondered if they had always been there, and he had just missed them before somehow. Deciding not to question such things as eco oddities, Daxter pointed the EES at them eager to see it in 'spear mode'. The balls quivered before flying into the staff, much like the green eco had into Daxter earlier. The ends of the EES seemed to catch with blue fire as the eco settled, glowing ferociously.
"Okay, that's officially cool." Daxter declared staring in awe at his new weapon. Deciding to test it further he retracted the staff into its compact size, and then extended it again. The ends flared to life brilliantly, like a controlled explosion of blue lightning. For the first time since then,Daxter smiled. The grin was manic and didn't last long, but for anyone who cared to notice, it was progress. Not that there was someone to notice at the mouth of the forbidden jungle.
Stalking forward into the jungle, Daxter didn't have to wait long before a lurker snake lunged from the trees at him. With a whoosh, the EES cut it cleanly in two. After the resulting green eco had had enough time to fly at him, Daxter continued deeper into the jungle. Anything that tried to attack him got a nasty taste of concentrated blue eco sliced through it.