DISEMBODIED NARRATIVE:
"I have spent my life searching for the answers that my father, and my father's fathers, failed to find. Who were the Precursors? Why did they create the vast monoliths that litter our planet? How did they harness eco, the life energy of the world? What was their purpose, and why did they vanish? I have asked the plants, but they do not remember. The plants have asked the rocks, but the rocks do not recall—even the rocks do not recall.
Every bone in my body tells me that the answers rest on the shoulders of two young ones. Oblivious to his destiny, uninterested in the search for truth, and rejecting of my guidance! And why would he want to listen to old Samos the Sage, anyway? I'm only the master of green eco, one of the wisest men on the planet! (sighs)
So it seems the answer begins not with careful research, or sensible thinking; nay! As with many of fate's mysteries, it begins with but a small act of disobedience."
TWO YEARS AGO:
The green sage, Samos, felt a shift in the air as he left his hut that morning. He looked around a moment before noticing a young girl beside the building. He curiously checked over the unconscious figure as two forms came running up to him. Two young boys skid to a halt as Samos picked up the girl. "Jak. Daxter. Follow me." He commanded the boys to follow without even a glance at them as he carried the figure inside.
The green sage laid her on some pillows before floating around, seeming to gather some items. The two boys observed the girl in the mean time. They had never seen her around before and couldn't help their curiosity. What remained of her clothes were tattered and barely covering light-tan skin that seemed covered in cuts and bruises. Some long strands of hair covered her left eye while the rest was only about an inch long and a rich mulberry color. The last thing they noticed was how her physique differed from their friend Keira. Where the sages daughter was slim with sharp facial features, this girls figure was, as Daxter would later put it, "Pleasantly full" with a cherubic face.
Samos broke their focus after only moments of bustling around the hut. "I'm busy with other matters right now. So, to help you both learn some responsibility… you will watch her."
"WHAT!?"
Daxter's sudden scream roused the girl with a fright. The caught the attention of the others who watched carefully as she sat up. The moment she noticed eyes on her, she recoiled into herself while her bright-green eyes flitted around the hut. Samos gave her a gentle look.
"Are you alright, young one?"
Her response was a small nod, but he didn't miss the stiffness that came with it. Samos turned to fetch a multi-use salve for her right as she released a squeak-like sneeze, causing the boys to laugh. The green sage handed the salve to Jak, advising how much to apply and such while Daxter saddled next to the girl.
"So! What's your name, sweet cheeks?"
His attempt to be smooth clearly didn't work as she slightly leaned away from him. She took a moment to look over each of the three before settling her gaze on the boy with the salve. He seemed to be barely older than girl, sporting ombre hair of green to blonde standing in tall spikes. It seemed to be held only by defied gravity and a pair of large goggles he was clearly still growing into. She got lost in pools of dark blue for a moment before answering.
"Scarlette."
PRESENT DAY:
(Scarlette's POV)
I was resting next to Jak in a boat, looking at the stars. I smiled at the peace until Daxter broke it by hurling over the side. I shook my head, practically hearing Jak's eyes roll right as our friend fell overboard. We took a moment before pulling him back into the boat which had them land on the floor and causing me to stumble back and bump the motor. The boat started up and moving toward Misty Island while the three of us laughed over what just happened.
When we landed, Jak helped me out of the boat while Daxter stumbled and fell into the sand. We walked around the beach, moving around old bones, large rocks and long-since-dead tree roots. Daxter moved ahead of us and spun around to view everything with wide brown eyes. I had to keep from chuckling at his yellow-to-red ombre hair that kept swishing around with his erratic movement. It was also a bit funny how he had his hair in a similar style to Jak's, goggles included.
That thought made me think of the pair hanging around my neck. The red tinted goggles were made with dark brown yakcow leather that the boys gifted me a year ago. Jak also gave me a beautiful vibrant red gem he had found. I was beyond grateful for such good friends. Daxter actually came up with the idea to attach it to a black ribbon so I could tie it around my neck. I keep it tied as a choker so it doesn't risk snagging on anything.
I never took it off, even if it stood out from my outfit. A bright red gem is a pretty stark contrast from a shirred, light-purple tube top and deep-purple leg warmers. Not to mention my hair. At least it works with the black shorts and dark-brown gloves… Right?
I was broken from my thoughts by Daxter who kept wandering back and forth in front of us.
"Hey! Uh, guys? Old green stuff told us not to come here."
We kept going until I noticed some light up ahead. I quietly pulled the boys to crouch down and moved behind a large boulder to get a closer look.
We saw a bunch of monsters stood before two floating creepies who were explaining something about the local villagers and Eco. We hurried away after they seemed to finish. Better not to get caught. Plus, Jak and I figured we may as well explore more while we are here, though it took a good deal of energy to ignore Daxter's complaining. We eventually came to a large pit of Dark Eco, where Daxter saw fit to trip over something that looked like a small drum. Jak and I turned at the sudden grunt only to chuckle at our friend while he stood, holding the offending object.
"Huh? Oh, stupid Precursor junk!"
He joined us at the edge of the pit, staring down with a clear look of revulsion.
"Eek! What is that dark ooze? It sure don't look friendly!" He turns to the side and blows on the artifact, "The Sage yaps on about the Precursors that built this place all the time: "Where did they go?", "Why did they build this crap?"
He dramatically impersonates Samos before throwing the artifact at Jak as he started walking around.
"Now I like Precursor orbs and power cells as much as the next guy, but if you ask me, they must have been real losers."
He was so busy talking, he didn't notice the object in Jak's hands start glowing. Jak smiled with intrigue while I glanced between him and the item in confusion. Daxter finally decided to tune in and hopped excitedly in front of Jak.
"Whoa! How did you do that?"
Daxter and I looked at Jak as he shook his head in uncertainty until there was a huge thump from behind him. One of those monsters wearing a bone helmet dropped down before us. Jak backed up into us as it stood to it's full height. Daxter pointed at it in fright over his left shoulder and proceeded to blow out my ear drums.
"Jak, I think we're in TROUBLE!"
Jak quickly glanced at the glowing object in his hands before running forward and hurling the artifact at the creature. The resulting explosion, which was quite a surprise, threw Jak backwards into me and caused me to knock Daxter into the pit. Jak and I hurried to the edge and tried to find our friend, but we couldn't see him anywhere in the pool of Dark Eco.
We glanced at each other in both shock and sadness before a small orange projectile shot out of the pit and right past our heads. We turned just in time to see an orange ottsel wearing familiar goggles sit up and rub it's backside.
"MAN, That stung!"
It turned to us and stomped in front of Jak and I covered my mouth in shock. This was not happening.
"I told you we shouldn't have come here, and if you'd listened!..."
He noticed Jak and I staring at him, "...What?"
He looked at his hand and curled his fingers. His eyes blew wide from shock before he started screaming. It was so loud, Jak and I had to cover our ears while Daxter threw himself on the ground to have a mini-tantrum. He stood after a moment holding his chest.
"Okay, okay. I'm fine, I'm fine."
He then made the mistake of looking down where he noticed his feet and, even more so, the tail. He leapt at Jak, grabbed his collar and screamed so loud I'm sure it reverberated the heavens. I picked him up when he finally stopped and held him close. Guilt was starting to eat at me since I was the one who knocked him into the pit, even if it was unintentional. I rubbed Daxter's small back as we made our was back to Sandover Village to see Samos, hoping he could help.
Any other day, I'm sure Daxter would be greatly enjoying his position right now. The little perv greatly enjoyed annoying Keira with the fact that I had 'better endowments'... I cannot with him sometimes. It's funny though because she has hated my very existence since day one for no reason I'm aware of. I'm fairly sure Daxter is at least aware of this which is why he bugs her while Jak is an obliviously crush-struck teenager… Not that I care... Didn't stop Daxter from shamelessly flirting with her, though.
However, every time Daxter did that, in the corner of my eye, I'd catch a glance of Jak staring at me. The last time, I fully caught him staring from over Keira's shoulder which caused me to blush. He can be hard to read, but for a mere moment, I could have sworn that time I saw something flash in his eyes. I'm not sure what though, so I let it go.
It began to grow light out as we ascended to Samos' hut on the seaside cliff. We tried sneaking in but Daxter ended up sneaking on an old, squeaky floorboard. Samos was real quick to turn on us.
"What in green tarnation do you three want?"
Daxter instantly became a stuttering mess between me and Jak, quickly being interrupted by the sage.
"Don't tell me! Instead of heeding my wisdom, the three of you went mucking around at the only place that I told you not to go: Misty Island!"
Daxter quickly nodded his head. "That's right! And then we–…"
"And Daxter, you finally took a much-needed bath, but in a bath tub filled with dark eco."
The boy turned ottsel started getting pissy at being interrupted. I was just fighting not to laugh at the interaction between the two. It's not that it was out of the ordinary, it just never quite gets old.
"Look old man, are you gonna keep yappin', or are you gonna help me out of this mess?!"
"I'm gonna keep yappin'! Because in my professional opinion, the change is an improvement."
I may never admit this out lout, but I kind of agree with Samos on that. He looks adorable as an ottsel. As a human, well… He's not attractive like Jak… That thought does not leave my mind. EVER!
" And besides, I couldn't help you if I wanted to."
" WHAT?!"
"There's only one person who has studied dark eco long enough to have a chance at returning you to your previous form: Gol Acheron, the sage. But he lives far to the north; far, far to the north! Nobody has spoken to him in ages. I would teleport you there, but I can't do that either: None of the three sages that maintain the other teleporter gates have seen fit to turn their ends on for quite a while! The only other way north is by foot through the Fire Canyon, but its volcanic soil is hot enough to melt Precursor metal; you can't just walk through it!"
"But you could fly over it!"
We turn to the entrance to see Keira leaning against the support with her hand on her hip. Her voice is honestly grating. I admit, I like Jak, deeply. I have for at least the past year. However… I'm well aware he likes her. All she does is play with him and flirt, clearly with no intention of it going further. She just wants to keep him under her thumb. I can't stand it, but in the end… Whatever makes him happy…
"If you had a zoomer equipped with a heat shield."
I watch the boys practically drool over her while I just step back away from everyone before turning my gaze to the ground.
"I just happen to be working on such a thing at this very moment. All I would need is twenty power cells to give it enough energy to withstand the canyon's heat. Isn't that right, Daddy?"
"Yes, Keira, that might work. But where are a girl, boy—and a HALF—going to get twenty power cells?"
I spoke up from the back while shuffling my foot, seemingly surprising the others like they forgot I was here. Real nice.
"The villagers likely have some. They're not likely to just give them to us without doing a favor or trading them for precursor orbs or something… Maybe even some out in the wilds…"
I shrunk back when they just stared at me for a moment, causing Keira to smirk before she turned back to Jak and go back to shamelessly flirting, in front of her father no less. Jak looked over at me a few times but I kept my gaze to the floor for the rest of their conversation. Samos told us to go through the warp gate to train out on Geyser Rock. Daxter asked if we would find more Dark Eco, because he didn't want to end up looking like the old sage.
"Get in there! Before I turn you boys into ferns!"
The boys glanced at each other before Jak walked over and grabbed my hand, which I'm sure irritated Keira to no end. We went through to warp gate as Samos demanded, followed close by Daxter.
GEYSER ROCK:
We got out to Geyser Rock only to be bothered by one of Keira's devices shortly upon arrival, saying it was a communicator she and Samos could use to help with. We managed to collect a surprising amount of orbs out here and even find a couple power cells. Training was difficult to put it lightly… for me. Jak was able to help me get the hang of some moves I was struggling with, though at one point he had pressed up against my back to make a correction which caused my face to turn almost as red as my gem. What's worse is I'm pretty sure he noticed because when he backed off, he had an amused look. Jerk.
Jak let me free the last scout fly for Keira, though I was tempted to 'accidently' break the thing while freeing it. At least we got a power cell for the trouble. We also got a chance to mess with blue eco which was great. I was so fast! The feeling was exhilarating.
We did everything we were supposed to here but decided to hang around for a while. It may be the last time we have a moment of peace for a while. The three of us laid on the beach as it turned evening. Daxter was snoring away while Jak and I silently listened to the waves. I couldn't help glance at him a couple times, admiring the way the fading sunlight made his skin lightly glow. I must have been pretty deep in admiration, because I got caught staring when I came back to reality. I blushed a deep red and faced the other way. I'd love for the sea to swallow me right now.
Reality decided to smack me right then and squeeze my heart as I reminded myself that he likes Keira. The warmth of the blush faded, replaced with the warm build up of unshed tears as a deep forlorn feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. I fought back the tears as warmth encased my hand. I turned back to see Jak's hand encompass mine while he gave me a gentle smile. I felt a tear escape that I wasn't able to hold back.
He reached his other hand over, wiping away the lone tear before moving closer without breaking eye contact. This was a rare moment where I could read him. I could see gentle affection in his eyes. I gave a quiet sigh as I rolled onto my side, curling around his are and pressing my forehead against his shoulder.
MORNING:
The next morning, we went straight through the warp gate, figuring we waisted enough time yesterday. Jak and I landed on our feet, but had to duck when Daxter came flying out. Samos said we did well, but the danger out North was much harder. Daxter being Daxter, played it off like it wasn't a huge deal. Not like he's going to be the one FIGHTING or anything.
"Ah, they're no problem! We got the moves, eh Jak? We'd love to stay and chat, Big Green, but we're uh, itching to get on with our adventures."
I could only shake my head while Jak smiled at my reaction to our friends antics.
"Fine, fine. "Adventure" away then. And while you're out "adventuring", why don't you make yourself useful? My darn green eco collectors are clogged up again. Head out to the far side of the beach and clear them out, why don't you? Follow the lamps. They'll take you right there. Now, all of you... Get! Out Of Here!"
Needless to say, we took no time to high-tail it out of there. We went down a level to see Keira working on her zoomer. Daxter was quick to saunter over like hot yakcow shit.
"Hey baby! What do you say you and I go cruisin' on this A-Grav Zoomer?"
She looked down at him in disbelief and popped her hip.
"Rule number one: I don't date animals."
"Aw, you don't know what you're missin'. Heh heh."
Daxter smoothed back his ears just before getting smacked in the back of the head by Jak. The ottsel growled at the older boy over his shoulder while Keira shook her head before shifting all her focus on Jak.
"Listen, if you need something to keep you busy, my father always talked about an ancient Precursor pipeline hidden deep underground. Some of these pipes end in vents from which eco flows freely, and some have been capped off so that the eco is sealed back. There must be a way to turn the capped vents on. I traced part of the pipeline back to the Forbidden Temple. Maybe you should look there for some type of switch."
With that information tucked in our pocket, we wandered all over Sandover Village doing favors we're able to do right now for the Mayor, Jak's uncle; the Adventurer, the crazy bird lady and the sculptor guy. Some favors we've been asked to do will have to be done later, though.
It took a while and quite a bit of work, but we eventually got down to the beach and unclogged the Green Eco collectors. While we were at it, we also knocked a giant egg of a low cliff side. Turned out to be a baby flut flut bird which the bird lady took back with her. We did what we could for now and went back to Samos. When we got back, we found him staring out his window in the far distance.
"Oh, it's the conquering heroes. Good! I want to talk with you three about something serious! There appears to be quite a bit of lurker activity on Misty Island. I can see them bombarding the Precursor silo from my lookout tower! If the lurkers open it up and release the dark eco, we could all end up running around looking as ridiculous as this annoying little specimen!"
Aiming his staff at the irked ottsel, Samos continued on.
"Jak, it's time for you to prove your worth. Get the Fisherman to let you take his boat back to Misty Island, get to the top of the Precursor silo, and take out that cannon. And, Scarlette,"
I looked up at the sage from where I had been quietly leaning against the door frame.
"Seeing as you're so close to these two, and more responsible, I want you to go with them. But, please be careful, my dear."
He was quick to turn back to Jak and Daxter with a stern frown.
"Meaning, you two idiots better watch over her and keep her safe!"
The boys decided to stop by Keira's workshop again before we head off to see the fisherman. I decided it was best for me to just stay outside and lean against a support beam until they came back out. I was so lost in though, or lack there of, It took Daxter snapping his fingers in my face from his perch on my shoulder to get my attention. Jak had a concerned look. Seems I've been zoning out a lot more than usual as of late. He tilted his head like he was asking if I was okay. I simply shrugged before walking off. I felt Daxter turn around to face Jak as if to ask if he knew what was going on.