8: I thought we were friends!

220 8 1
                                        

Jaklyn’s P.O.V

Jak’s leg looked really bad. It was mauled and bloody, and sand had probably gotten into it, infected it. Green Eco could probably heal it, which was why we needed to get over to that other ledge. Jak could stand in the vent and all of the infection and possible blood poisoning could be eradicated, plus it would give his body a slight reserve, meaning that if he got hurt again, extra Green Eco would kick in and heal him instantly. But only once.
We reached the edge of the ledge and I was about to jump-roll, when I realised Jak couldn’t. We’d have to climb down and walk.
Boom! The lurker-manned cannon tower in the middle of the water shot something. A smoking bomb landed next to us. “Scram!” I screamed, rolling away from the bomb. Daxterette, I noticed, helped Daxter over to where I was.
Jak was crawling towards us best he could, but the bomb was close to blowing up.
Only one thing left to do, I thought as I lunged forward and tugged Jak back to the bushes we were crouched in. But I couldn’t avoid it totally. The bomb exploded, scorching my right foot which still lay next to the bomb.
I squeezed my eyes shut tight at the pain that exploded over my foot, keeping the tears shut in.
Now Jak and I both had an injury. Great.
Daxterette immediately rushed to my face. “Oh, it’s… Are you okay?”
“I hate it when people ask that. I am so obviously not okay, Daxterette.”
I stole a peek at my foot and nearly fainted.
It was a brilliant red, with blisters everywhere. I had no clue how it had blistered so fast. My toes were blackened.
But that wasn’t the worst bit.
The worst part was…
My foot was fifteen metres away from my body.

Jak’s face was pale; Daxter’s eyes wide. Blood was gushing out of my leg’s stump; already it had pooled into a large puddle. I couldn’t get to the Green Eco Vents now! I couldn’t even walk!
Jak stood with difficulty and began to walk away, although he didn’t take his eyes off me for a second.
He stepped back onto the platform, leaving me speechless and immobilised on the ground.
“Hey! Come back!” I screamed, regaining my voice once Jak had disappeared off the cliff.
Daxter scampered back to me and Daxterette. Daxter shrugged. “Normally I know what he’s doing, but this time…”
I nodded. “Well, he’s never abandoned anyone, has he?”
Daxter gasped. “Forget that! Jak would never… ever… abandon his friends!”
I heard sounds of rock being smashed. “That’s probably him unblocking the harvesters…”
Daxterette nodded. “Well, Samos’d be pretty happy now, I guess. And now that Jak’s all healed, he can continue on the adventure by himself.” She picked my foot up and gazed toward the Eco Harvesters. “He just got a Power Cell from the last harvester he unblocked. He’ll be fine.”
Daxter sighed and sat down. “I don’t understand. Why would he…”
“He’s coming! He’s coming back!” Daxterette shrieked excitedly, pointing and jumping up and down.
Daxter got as excited as Daxterette. “I knew it! I knew it!”
Jak came over the hill, smiling. His leg was fully healed, and he appeared to have a healthy glow around him.
He smirked at me, like, Hi. What’s up?
I mimed strangling someone, but I was laughing with relief.
He pretended to wince, but he too was laughing. He started shaking his head, coming over to the three of us. He knelt next to me and lifted me up.
I blushed slightly, but I was still laughing, so it must’ve just looked like my face was red from laughing. He carried me down to the beach, dodging the bombs. Daxter and Daxterette were perched on my belly, curled up slightly. They seemed extra-close. I couldn’t properly see, but I could’ve sworn Daxter brushed his hand over Daxterette’s stomach multiple times. And I was sure they were holding hands.
Jak didn’t seem to notice, but he was too busy carrying me up the grassy steps.
Daxter stood. “Hey! I just remembered! Keira gave us these quest thingies. Apparently they tell us our progress.” He handed a small one to Daxterette and put a slightly larger one in Jak’s backpack. He slipped one the same size as Jak’s into my hand, and kept one the same size as Daxterette’s for himself.
“Wait…” I said. “Keira? When did you see her?” My head was pounding from blood loss and I was super woozy. But I could still manage small thoughts. “I thought she was working on that Zoomer project?”
“Whoa…” Daxterette said, changing the subject abruptly. “This thing really works! It shows Orb count, Power Cell count, and the number of Scout Flies we have for the area! And it shows how many Power Cells in the area we have to collect!”
Daxter whistled appreciatively. “I think that’s cool. Technology is amazing.”
Jak dumped me in a Green Eco Vent. It mingled in my bloodstream and flowed out through my wound. But instead of pooling, like my normal blood had, it created more bones for my foot. Then muscle and flesh and, finally, skin covered my foot.
I stood, feeling stronger than ever. “Oh my god! That Eco is absolutely amazing!”
Jak shrugged, like, I wouldn’t say amazing. It’s pretty ordinary.
I shook my head in disbelief. Then I glanced at the tablet in my hand.
“Hey Jak, how many Power Cells have you already gotten?”
He put up two fingers. He pointed at the Green Eco Harvesters, then walked over to the edge of the cliff and pointed down to the beach in between the two cliffs. I looked towards Daxter, who seemed to understand Jak most of the time.
“He said...” Daxter’s ears twitched. “He said there was a Power Cell there.”
I nodded. “Was there one embedded in the clogs of the Harvesters?”
Jak nodded.
He came back to our group. We stood up and kept moving.

Daxterette’s P.O.V

Oh, that was close. Oh, man, Jaklyn almost found out why we saw Keira! Thank god for these tablet things.
I wanted to slap Daxter across the face, but then Jaklyn would know something was up, so I made do with staring daggers at him.
We climbed up a hill, where we could see the whole of Sentinal Beach. Suddenly Daxter leapt off Jak’s shoulder. “Woo! Seagulls! Come on, Daxterette, let’s buzz ’em for kicks!”
I groaned and leapt off Jaklyn’s shoulder, getting down on all fours. “Okay, Daxter, but only because I hate seagulls!”
We raced down to the beach. Suddenly a cold breeze blew, signalling that Gol and Maya were about to appear.
“Hide!” I hissed, and pushed Daxter behind a huge rock.
“What? Why?” he whispered back.
A million reasons flashed in my mind, but I couldn’t very well tell him Gol! Maya! because he had no clue who they were. Eventually I settled on “Purple people!” which made him shut up and hide with me.
“Where is Jaklyn?” Gol rasped, and I bit my tongue to keep from answering. We were not on his team anymore. “She should have checked in an hour ago.”
“We must hope,” Maya said strongly in her British accent, “that she hasn’t touched any sort of Eco other than Dark Eco. She is our most reliable asset.”
The two strolled down the beach. I looked up to Jaklyn. She caught my eye and her eyes travelled upwards until she spotted her former masters on the beach. She turned to Jak and whispered in his ear. He understood immediately and they both jumped into the waterfall. Daxter and I paddled toward them, and we ended up behind the waterfall.
“What are they doing here?” Jaklyn asked. Then she sighed. “Look, Jak, Daxter, I haven’t been honest with you. Those two evil people… stole us from Sandover when we were young. They experimented on us with Dark Eco, hence Daxterette being an ottsel. But I was different. I was a freak. A Dark Eco freak. I was a lurker, basically, a very powerful one. And I had to help them, because they control the lurkers. They controlled me. But then you guys found me. I touched Blue Eco and that rid me of the darkness. Now… they’ll hurt me if they find out. I haven’t killed a lurker before, because it is physically impossible for a lurker to hurt one of its kind, except for lurker sharks. They’re completely different. That’s why I thought that puppy was cute.” Her bottom lip trembled. “I guess I’d better keep up the pretence. I’ll go. Jak, Daxter, you two stay here. Daxterette, get on my shoulder.”
I did as she told me and we came out of the waterfall.
“Jaklyn!” Gol rasped. “Where on Earth have you been?”
She grinned. “Sorry. Guess I didn’t get the memo.”
Maya shook her head. “Are you close to Samos?”
“Well, considering the two boys, our quest partners, are… good friends with Samos, I’d say so.”
Gol and Maya exchanged a look. I silently cursed her. A lurker is never this snarky to their master/mistress.
She quickly bobbed into a curtsy, realising her mistake. “Sorry, sir, ma’am, the influence of our quest partners is rubbing off onto me.”
They exchanged a thankful glance. “The boy,” Maya started, “has been destined to bring about our downfall. You must change him onto our side before you reach our citadel. He cannot be allowed to reach the citadel unless he is on our side. You got that?”
“Yes ma’am.”
The pair dissipated into mist.
Jaklyn groaned and flopped onto the sand. “Daxterette, I can’t keep this pretence up for much longer!”
I shrugged. “I’m sure you can!”
She smiled. “Wanna bet?”
“Yep. For every minute you talk to them without cracking, we get one minute of… umm…”
“No! You need to spill a secret when we get to their citadel, if I don’t crack. And I know you have one.”
I shuddered. “Okay. That secret will be…”
“Why you went and saw Keira.”
Oh crap! If I tell her, she’ll tell Jak! And then everyone will know!
“Okay.” We shook on it and went back to get the boys.

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Fan Fiction)Where stories live. Discover now