Chapter Text
We do not remember days, Shemei, we remember moments, and the richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten.
~Terri Herman-Poncé, In This Life
Loop
Samos never really did get any answers from his future-self, whom he had finally become. When it was his turn to meet his younger self, he definitely wasn’t going to make it easy on his younger self. Sure, he could provide a timeline, but why bother? His own current timeline was proof that not even a time loop could be set in stone.
Daxter should be male, but his Daxter was a female.
Samos wasn’t sure what he did to have the misfortune of an unexpected gender switch of an important figure (not that he’ll ever admit such aloud, even under pain of torture), but he was stuck with it.
He just hoped that whatever childish romance was growing between the two teenagers didn’t completely shatter the timeline. Daxter was female, yes, but Jak was still the correct gender, still on course for his destiny.
…Wasn’t he?
Samos never got answers from his future-self, so he’s not sure how they all ended up in the future. There was the rift rider and the gate, but as for the exact events…
Well, he wouldn’t panic unless Jak turned sixteen without them ever finding those two items. This was the fated year when they would go to the future, because Jak was of the right age. When it did happen, he had to be sure to tell Jak one thing.
‘Find yourself.’
Swamp
Jak found yellow eco after breaking some boxes and because the mad lad could channel eco like no one else you knew, he picked it up.
And immediately threw a fireball.
“Wow! You can throw fireballs when you’re powered up with yellow eco!”
You were so jealous! You’ve seen it before during his training, but you’re still envious of what he can do with different colored eco.
The yellow eco was a lucky thing, because apparently there were flying monsters in this stupid swamp. There were actual rats, big ugly red things, but the flying monsters, probably mutated bats—oh, they’ve got Lurker-like faces—made your fur crawl.
“Get ‘em, Jak!”
He had to jump before firing the yellow eco, but he cleared the way, landing back on the dock built over the swamp water. The two of you took a moment to look down at it and you saw that it wasn’t black water but tar.
“That’s hazardous to our health. Don’t touch it and definitely don’t fall in it.”
Jak nodded seriously. Then he brightened and pointed at an open blue eco vent that you’d been hoping he wouldn’t want to investigate. But that hope clearly was in vain, given that there was a mysterious blue circle near it.
You laughed weakly. “What are we waiting for?”
You probably would have screamed after the two of you were launched into the air and over the swamp, but your voice got caught in your throat. Not even in the terrifying descent could you manage a single peep. It was only after Jak killed a rat and took a moment to stop that you slightly released your death-cling on him.
“Ahaha… ha… I hate precursor technology.”
Jak patted your head.
Of course, the only way back was the same way you had arrived. Still couldn’t scream during the jump, though.
Fear
A Lurker frog almost ate Daxter.
A Lurker frog almost ate Daxter.
If he had been just a little slower in spinning, its tongue would have snatched her from his shoulder. Maybe her grip on him would have been enough to keep her there, but maybe it wouldn’t have been. If that Lurker frog had actually eaten Daxter…
He would have torn it apart with his bare hands.
Jak could handle danger to himself just fine. Jumping over the large thorn vines and the sharpened wood posts was one thing; if he failed, Daxter could make the jump from his shoulder and she would be fine. If he got hurt, green eco could heal him up. If he died, well, that was one thing.
But if Daxter died?
He wasn’t sure if he could go on living. Maybe he could, but it definitely wouldn’t be the same without her. He can’t picture his days being as happy if they were without her.
So it takes a while for his heart to crawl back down from his throat, but he keeps moving in order to hide just how badly he’d been upset by the near scare. Daxter would sometimes chatter from his shoulder, pointing out the obvious and sometimes things he’d actually missed, but she didn’t seem to realize how he felt at the moment. That was good; he didn’t want her to know that he’d been scared badly just a while back.
This nest of rats bore the brunt of his anger and fear. The yellow eco flew from his hands as he killed them and destroyed their homes. When the last of them was gone, Daxter pointed at a raised wooden platform.
“Shoot the boulder holding the tether!”
He did, and the tether broke. Counting the ones left, he had three more to find.
Daxter patted the back of his head. “Good job, Jak.”
He grinned at her.
Strong
“Give me a minute,” you groaned, having endured a whole lot of spinning.
Currently you were limp on Jak’s shoulder, just in view of another boulder and tether on a raised wooden platform. Jak had reached there by having to jump and spin over the dangerous tar of the swamp and because you were hanging from Jak’s shoulder, you had to endure said jumping and spinning. Jumping you can handle, even when your heart is in your throat and your stomach was in your feet, but the spinning was a special torture.
“Okay,” you said after a minute, moving back into a proper position. “I’m ready.”
Jak gave you a glance and you huffed. “Yes, I’m sure.” You grinned. “Shoot that thing.”
He obliged, picking up some yellow eco to throw another fireball.
“Two more and we can leave this dumb swamp behind.”
Jak was doing a thorough look around, for that exact reason. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with the swamp between his toes and on his bare feet, so he was checking every nook and cranny while moving through the area. That was how he unblocked a couple blue eco vents so far.
Buuut that was also how he jumped into an ambush.
Midair, seeing what was down below, you finally found your voice.
“Look out, Jak! It’s an ambush!”
His hand came up to the back of your neck—perhaps now too thin, given the twitch of his fingers—and you took that to mean ‘hold on’. He landed in a disperse of blue eco, and the Lurkers and rats you’d seen jumped down into the small area to surround and attack.
Small mercies for the yellow eco on the ground, because Jak was able to use it to fight off the ambush. There was a panic-worthy moment when the two of you had your backs to the wall as the Lurkers and rats closed in, but again, the yellow eco proved highly useful. When no more enemies arrived to jump into the area, you gave a happy shout and small jump.
“Way to go!”
Jak smiled at you, but then he blinked and pointed at something. Turning to look, you saw some kind of metal arm attached to a rope. The metal arm was… being pulled from the swamp? At least, the Lurkers were trying to pull it from the swamp. Well, them or freaking Gol and Maia. The latter was probably more likely, with the Lurkers maybe serving as minions.
“Well, see that, Jak? Definitely can’t let them have their way.”
Your friend nodded and then used blue eco to leap out of the ambush site. Not much farther he found the third tether and cut it loose.
“That thing’s barely holding on now,” you said, looking up at the dirigible/blimp thing in the air.
Jak gave an energetic nod and started moving again. Within minutes he turned a corner and you brightened.
“Sunny!”
The baby bird was wearing a saddle and gave a happy squawk at the sound of your voice. She was a good girl and didn’t get off the trans-pad (and holy yakow those things are amazing because they got Sunny all the way here from Sandover).
“It’s gotta be Keira who got Sunny here, don’t you think?”
Jak gently stroked Sunny’s beak as he nodded. She did seem the likely candidate.
“Well, she’s here for a reason. Get on, but be careful with her. She’s just a baby.”
Less than a minute later, you looked at the remains of a metal box and the now loose Precursor orbs in the swampy water. You whistled appreciatively.
“A strong baby.”
Help
Jak felt bad about riding Sunny because Daxter was right; the bird was still just a baby. On the other hand, she was an amazing bird, baby or not, because with her they could reach places they never would have been able to without her. The raised platforms were higher and further apart, but Sunny was able to reach them. With her, they were able to move about this area of the swamp with almost no trouble. They found another one of Keira’s scout flies and another Power Cell.
“Is… is that a… house? No, you can’t call that a house…”
Jak looked in the direction Daxter was pointing and he did see a roof of some kind. She was right, you couldn’t really call that a house; perhaps ‘shack’ was the word they were looking for.
Before anything else could happen, the flying communication device came out and Keira’s voice came through it, saying it was a good thing the two of you had saved the flut flut. Daxter didn’t argue and Jak certainly didn’t feel like what she said was wrong, so he just nodded. Keira suggested returning her to the trans-pad so that’s what he did.
After returning Sunny to the trans-pad, Jak headed back in the direction they’d spotted the roof. When they arrived, they found a man lounging on the stairs. It was terrible, but the first thing he wondered was if this man might be related to Daxter somehow. He had orange hair and buck teeth, but Jak immediately shoved that thought out of his head as the man spoke.
“Howdy friends. You like my beautiful swamp? I own these here parts. Anything that doesn’t sink into the mud, that is!”
He burst out laughing. Daxter, sniffed the air and winced.
“Judging by the smell, I wager your bathtub sank in the mud long ago!”
“What’s a bathtub?”
Yeah, definitely no relation to Daxter whatsoever and nothing will change Jak’s mind ever.
The hillbilly had monster problems and he wanted his pet hip hog Farley back. He asked for help, and well, Jak wasn’t really in the habit of turning his back on people. He exchanged a look with Daxter and she nodded. She hopped down from his shoulders to the hillbilly’s porch while he readied himself to fight off the swamp rats to keep them away from the treats laid out for Farley.
The rats came in a wave, and as Jak shot them with yellow eco, he wondered how the hillbilly survived with this many around. Perhaps they didn’t like human flesh? …Or maybe he just stank too much for even swamp rats to want to bite.
“Get some, get some!”
He grinned at the sound of Daxter cheering for him, which was preferable to the hillbilly’s loud yelling and cheering.
He dealt with three waves of the rats before an unknown animal came out of the swamp.
“Farley!”
Okay, don’t shoot the pet hip hog. So that’s what they look like, huh?
“Thank you so much,” the man said with his pet back at his side. He pulled out a Power Cell and tossed it over. “Here, you can have this.”
“Woohoo!” Daxter leapt back onto his shoulder as he put the Power Cell away.
The swamp was gross, but at least they were getting good stuff out of it. Once they finished breaking the tethers, they could leave this place to the hillbilly.
Thoughts
“Why would anyone want to live here?”
You couldn’t help but ponder the question aloud as Jak mucked through yet more swampy water. Jak, who didn’t speak, listened as you went on.
“I mean, there’s pretty much no one else around. Is Farley really enough for him?”
You could definitely understand the concept of a best friend, but it was hard to picture being best friends with… an… animal.
Oh no. Is Jak the Sandover version of the hillbilly? Are you his Farley?
Making a face at that thought, you shuddered slightly and told yourself that it wasn’t the same thing. You could think, write, speak human words, and you knew that you were a human. Or, at least, you used to be. But still, that was good enough, right? You look like an ottsel (with small boobs), but that doesn’t mean you were an actual animal.
Frowning, you mentally punched aside your current thoughts. No, no time for being a drag! This swamp was bad enough without added angst to it, thank you.
Impending
Sometime later in the swamp, you laughed once as Jak shot another tether. You’d miscounted earlier and there was still another tether—oh! It just snapped! Now the dirigible/blimp thing was floating away in the wind!
The communication device came out and this time it was Samos who spoke through it.
“Good job, Jak. Your uncle would be proud. That was a giant arm from a Precursor robot. I’ve never seen one in such good condition.”
Uh, the mystery was how he saw it in the first place. Maybe Keira’s scout flies sent back the information before they were caught? ‘Scout’ was probably part of their name for a reason.
“I can’t imagine what the Lurkers wanted with it, but we sure didn’t want them to get it.”
He then said something about Jak keeping ‘this success up’ but you weren’t listening anymore as you did a mental run through of the map you now had in your head. It was a rough thing, but you were pretty sure that Jak had covered most if not all of the swamp.
“I think that’s pretty much it,” you said. “Let’s get out of this swamp. If I never see it again, it’ll be too soon!”
Jak grinned at you before he nodded and started making his way out of the swamp. About half an hour later or so, you finally emerged back at the entrance. You inhaled deeply.
“Ah, smell that salty ocean air! Much better.”
After making it across the pontoons, you reminded Jak about that stupid cryptic Oracle.
“For your sacrifice, I offer you a Power Cell.”
A quick trip back to the Blue Sage’s hut later—where Samos yelled at you both for missing Keira at the machine—Jak made his way to the machine. Keira smiled at his arrival.
“Great, you have the Power Cells needed for the machine. They ought to provide enough power to lift that boulder.”
The way Keira looked and moved, you knew it would appeal to a boy. And yet, despite keeping an eye on Jak, he didn’t seem to look at Keira any differently. In fact, before she even finished speaking, he was already looking at the boulder.
Keira cleared her throat, making him look back at her. She pointed. “Just open that hatch and put them in.”
Jak did so, then he stepped back as Keira activated the machine. You watched in awe as the blue energy lifted the boulder… but she just left it hanging there.
“There we go. Now, be careful facing that Lurker monster at the top.”
“Are you just going to leave it hanging in the air?”
Keira looked down at you, as you had gotten off Jak’s shoulder. She explained, “The machine doesn’t turn. The Blue Sage likely prioritized being able to lift the boulder out of the way and didn’t get a chance to make it so the machine could turn and therefore drop the boulder into the water.”
“I see,” you said. “Well!” You hopped up to Jak’s shoulder. “Time to face the music, I guess.”
“Be careful,” Keira repeated. She hesitated as if she wanted to say something more, but she just shook her head slightly and gave you both a smile.
Jak nodded and left, hopping down from the machine’s platform. He ascended to high ground, having to jump and climb on the way. You were used to it, but you wished is wasn’t deep water below. If Jak fell, it was bye-bye Jak and Daxter! No way would he be able to climb back up or swim fast enough to escape the Lurker sharks in the water…
Battle
Jak turned a corner and immediately the monster spotted you two. It roared, actually standing in the lava.
“Precursors,” you whimpered, shaken by both the size and the impossibility of where it was standing.
Jak spared a moment to pat your head, then he was leaping down onto the hardened lava platform below. That thing used technology to throw boulders at him! And to somehow completely sink into the lava! Precursor technology was complete and utter bullshit!
Of course, Jak kept his cool throughout the whole fight. He was amazing! All those boulders flying at him and he didn’t panic like you were quietly doing on his shoulder. When blue eco appeared, he grabbed it, summoning a Precursor platform from the lava, and he just took it in stride and used it to get closer to the giant Lurker.
(Thank god for Precursor technology too, though, because if it had been normal metal, Jak’s feet would be complete wrecks by now.)
Jak then grabbed the yellow eco and used it to fight the giant Lurker. And the damn thing tried to summon a huge boulder! And it succeeded! But thank god that Jak’s attacks made it drop it on its head. You didn’t get time to cheer though, because even as the Lurker sank into the lava, the giant boulder came rolling in your direction!
“Go, go, go!”
Jak was already moving before you even spoke, running back down the Precursor platform to the original hardened lava platforms. There was a moment of terror when you clung to Jak’s head because there was nowhere else to run. Jak reached up and pulled you down into a fierce hug, his arms trembling as he did so.
But somehow, luck favored you both. The giant boulder sank into the lava, sparing your lives. You didn’t get time to think about it, because the giant Lurker appeared again. Jak half-shoved you back onto his shoulder and then the fight repeated. In the second round, when the monster was pushed back, the Precursor platform was missing pieces, and the monster itself moved while summoning the giant boulder. In the third round, which turned out to be the final round, it fired boulders faster, and more pieces were missing from the Precursor platform. But with the third giant boulder dropped on its head, the giant Lurker didn’t emerge!
More hardened lava platforms came up and a Power Cell conveniently appeared. The victory was truly dance worthy! After your little dance celebration, you leapt back to Jak’s shoulder and the communication device appeared.
“Good work,” Keira’s voice said. “The people of Rock Village are collectively breathing a sigh of relief.”
Huh. You wondered how the battle looked from down there. Surely Jak was too small to be seen, but yeah, you could picture people seeing the giant Lurker dropping giant boulders on its head.
“There’s no time to celebrate,” Keira went on. She told Jak to use his zoomer to navigate the mountain pass up ahead and warned him that it looked like the Lurkers have rigged the place with explosives. She reminded Jak to activate the gate at the Red Sage’s lab so that she and her father could join him.
When the communication device returned, you commented, “Those gates are really useful, then. We just never knew until we had to cover the distance ourselves, huh?”
Jak nodded in agreement, then gestured to the hardened lava platforms.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
As he made his way across, a terrible realization came over you: if that monster had directly approached and attacked, it could have easily killed you both. Take away the hardened lava platforms and you two would have had nowhere to run. You both could have died today, and the only reason you didn’t was because that monster was either too dumb or too wary to get close.
Thinking about this, despite the heat of the lava around you and your own fur, you shivered.
Reveal
The wind blew through his hair as he raced the flying Lurkers across the mountain pass. Keira’s warning was still in his ears, so he had to beat them to the end, otherwise they’d blow up the pass and they’d never get any further than this!
And Daxter might die.
Luckily the blue eco along the pass helped him put distance between them and the Lurkers. There were sharp cliff drops that had Daxter shifting just a little closer, and while there was a close call, they made it into a cave system. There were more explosives set up here that made Keira’s warning valid, but the dumb Lurker waiting by the detonator had frozen at the sight of him zooming towards him. A ram of the zoomer was all it took to kill it and destroy the detonator.
A look over his shoulder let him see the flying Lurkers turn around and flee.
“We did it!” Daxter cheered. “We stopped them from blowing up the pass!”
He smiled widely, still thrumming with adrenaline.
(of course it’s “we”, he never thought otherwise)
The communication device came out and Keira congratulated them. She reminded them to turn on the teleport gate, and he headed into the Volcanic Crater to do just that.
“Whoa,” Daxter breathed as they saw the crater. “It’s huge. And the Red Sage’s place is bigger than old Greenie’s by far. Glad I don’t have to clean the place up.”
And that was a good thing, because the place was a mess.
Upon turning the teleport gate, it wasn’t long before Samos and Keira came flying out. Somehow, Samos landed on his head, and both he and Daxter winced as Keira stared in concern.
Samos complained. “I always wonder if I’m losing body parts in there.”
He floated upright and took one look at the place. “Holy yakow! The Red Sage’s lab looks worse than the Blue’s.”
Keira looked around. “Well, it definitely looks like there’s been a struggle here.”
A sudden and unexpected burst of hoarse laughter made you all look up. It was that mysterious man from Misty Island! The woman was there too, floating down from further up.
“I’d hardly call it ‘struggle’.” The old man looked at the woman. “Would you, dear sister?”
“Certainly not,” she replied. “The Red Sage gave up with so little effort. No fun at all.”
Samos spoke up, surprised. “Gol? Is that you? You’ve finally gone off the deep end, eh? And Maia, I told you the Dark eco would affect you both!”
Gol reached out for Maia’s hand, which she briefly took.
Samos sighed. “Nobody ever listens to old Samos.”
Jak guiltily rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. He felt Daxter hiding behind his legs and glanced down at her as she stared up at the now named duo.
“What have you two done with the Blue and Red Sages?”
“Don’t worry about your colorful friends, you old fool,” Gol said, his voice rattling from what sounded like a long term illness. “They’re perfectly safe in our citadel. Our special guests.”
Maia spoke. “They have graciously agreed to help us with a little… project.”
“You were wrong, Samos,” Gol rasped. “Dark eco can be controlled. We’ve learned its secrets and now we can reshape the world to our liking.”
Jak didn’t think much of this Gol person, but if he had to give him respect for anything, it would be the way he seemed to be keeping his sister in mind. The last part of his sentence there had him gesturing to her, making it clear that she was part of his plan and his equal in it. Doesn’t mean he gave the man anything other than a skeptical look, though.
Samos exploded. “You can’t control Dark eco by itself! Even the Precursors—“
Maia cut in. “’Til now, we’ve had to scrape by with what little Dark eco we could find near the surface. But soon we will have access to the vast stores of Dark eco hidden deep underground.”
Samos was horrified. “Not the silos.”
“Yes, the silos.” Gol breathed in a rattling breath. “They will be opened and all the Dark eco of the world will be ours!”
“But that’s impossible. Only a Precursor robot—“
“Oh, don’t look so upset, Samos,” Maia said. “We’ve got big plans for you.”
Jak didn’t like the sound of that. They were probably planning to kidnap him since he was the Green Sage.
Maia laughed loudly, and the two of them flew away. There was a moment of silence before Daxter shouted from the ground.
“Wait a minute! That was Gol? The same guy who was supposed to change me back?” She leapt up, grabbing the collar of his shirt as she shook him. “Gol is the guy trying to kill us?!”
He could only stare as she dropped back to the ground, head and shoulders drooping.
“I’m doomed.”
He winced at the despondent sound of her voice.
“We may all be doomed,” Samos said gravely. “If they open the silos, the Dark eco will twist and destroy everything it touches. We simply must get to their citadel to stop them!”
Keira looked thoughtful. “The fastest way there is through the lava tube at the bottom of this crater. A few more Power Cells and your zoomer’s heat shields should get you across the lava safely.”
Samos turned to him. “All right, my boy. You know what to do. Take—Daxter and go round up more Power Cells.”
Well, at least he was making a genuine effort not to insult Daxter anymore.
Obvious
Before you and Jak could actually leave the Red Sage’s place, Samos yelled from where he was floating in front of a bookshelf.
“Great balls of eco!”
You and Jak exchanged a glance at that. Great balls of…?
“There seems to be a large Lurker presence at the Spider Cave!”
You made a face. “Let me guess: there’s spiders at the Spider Cave?”
Samos gave you an exasperated look as he landed on the floor. “That’s the least of your problems. The Lurkers are after crystals of concentrated Dark eco.” He looked at Jak. “You must destroy those crystals before the monsters get their hands on them. Hop to it!”
He went back to looking at the book while both you and Jak sidled over to Keira on the other side of the room. She greeted you both and said to keep collecting Power Cells because they were the key to continuing the journey north. Jak nodded and you jumped back onto his shoulder.
“You got it, Keira.”
Jak nodded at your words and he left, stepping back out into the crater.
Sparkle
Daxter exclaimed breathlessly from his shoulder. “Whoa… that’s a big gem.”
She was right; the thing was huge.
At the base of the giant gem were two men who looked like they were trying to mine it out of the rock. The stouter of the two was meaner and the taller and thinner of the two was… not the sharpest tool in the box. They were Gordie and Willard, respectively. Gordie was obviously worried they wanted the gem but Daxter made it clear they were looking for Power Cells. Gordie said they would trade the Power Cells they had for Orbs.
As they left the area, Jak glanced at Daxter then gestured over to the two men. She shook her head.
“As a human, I’d like to wear a necklace made with one of the smaller gems, but it would just get in the way as I am now.”
Or so she said, be he had seen the gleam in her eyes before they started talking to those two back there. Girls liked pretty things, right? Well, Keira preferred machines, and he thought Daxter preferred food or clothing, but maybe a pretty necklace would still be appreciated.
Tucking that thought away for later, Jak looked around and wondered where Spider Cave was. Picking a direction, he headed off.
Shock
Keira spoke through the communication device and said she had reactivated the gondola. It would be able to take them to Snowy Mountain, but Jak shook his head when you met his gaze. Alright, explore down here first, then.
Oh, and she also said the heat shield would need seventy-two Power Cells to withstand the heat on the way to the citadel. Finding a place to sit down for a moment, you watched as Jak pulled out the Power Cells he had already.
“Almost,” you said, finishing the count. “We already traded some with the miners, but Gordie hasn’t said they’ve run out of them, so we could probably trade for more once we have enough Orbs.”
Jak nodded and put them away again. He stood and you jumped back on to his shoulder.
“We got this,” you said confidently.
Well, Jak had it, but you were along for the ride, so it was totally ‘we’. Jak didn’t dispute your words either.
Both of you had seen an Oracle and Jak made his way down to it. The lava made the entire area very warm, and if you had been in your human form, there’s no way you would have risked jumping across it. Over gorges and deep ocean water, sure, but over lava, fire, and Dark eco? No way. Just look at what falling into Dark eco did to you!
Pushing that thought away, you focused on the present just as Jak arrived at the Oracle. It took a second, but it spoke, just as all the others had.
“Seek the pure light, for within its flame the answers reside. You can gain my Power Cells by bringing one-hundred-and-twenty Precursor Orbs for each.”
Jak winced at the price as you were more vocal as you screeched. “One-hundred-and-twenty? Each? That’s robbery!”
It’s just as well that you had Jak put off getting Power Cells off the miners. If he had, he wouldn’t be able to shell out for these ones.
Recap
Daxter was not a fan of Spider Cave. She came out and said she actually preferred the swamp to this place, and he could see why. Not only were there more Dark eco around, there were giant Lurker centipedes, giant spiders that spit out small energy attacks, and even Lurkers using drilling machines.
Luckily, there were open yellow eco vents that he was able to use to shoot the Lurker centipedes, as well as the first two Dark eco crystals
Given their distance, he was able to avoid the explosion when he did so.
There were two crystals beneath some water, so he had had to swim down to break them. Getting away before it exploded was a close thing, and he got out of the water as quickly as he could because he didn’t want to find out if the broken Dark eco crystal would do anything to the water.
If Daxter had a favorite part, Jak would guess it was the crystals that lit up when he hit them. As for her least favorite part… probably the spider’s nest. He had to give her credit for not screaming in his ear after yelling that part.
His least favorite part was the spider’s nest, too. As for his favorite part, it was probably the excavation site. Jak certainly didn’t want the Lurkers to activate the Precursor robot they were digging out of the stone, but he could admit that the thing was impressive.
When they finally emerged from Spider Cave, Daxter did an impressive stretch and let out a big yawn. She doesn’t do the walking, but hanging on through all his movements must be tiring. He was feeling a little tired himself. The light in what part of the sky he could see was definitely leaning towards sunset. Unless they were in Spider Cave for so long that it was now dawn again… but he’s pretty sure it’s just sunset.
Returning to the Red Sage’s hut, he saw that little to no cleaning was done. Samos and Keira were completely engrossed in whatever it was they were reading. They only noticed them when Daxter made an announcement.
“We’re done for the day. Time to eat and sleep!”
“Add brushing your teeth in there,” Samos said, treading the line of insulting Daxter.
Daxter rolled her eyes. “Of course. Now, we camping out in someone else’s house, or are we heading back home?”
“Home,” Samos answered.
“I like to sleep in my own bed,” Keira agreed.
The two of them preceded you and Jak. Once on the other side, you bid them goodnight and Jak left Samos’s hut. Outside and across the bridge, you hopped down from his shoulder.
“I’ll see you in the morning, buddy.”
With a wave, you headed home to Aunt, Sunny, and your own bed. Keira really did have a point.
Home
Jak always found a quiet hut to be just a little lonely. His uncle didn’t travel as much when he was younger, but there were still times when he’d been left alone. Yes, the other villagers would stop by and he never starved, but having no one to talk to him as the day’s activities wound down always made him keenly aware of Daxter’s absence.
His best friend since childhood, he could count on her to fill his days with chatter and her laughter. She made him laugh, and he pulled her along on his little adventures.
Well, this was their biggest adventure yet. Maybe Gol couldn’t help her anymore, but until hope really ran dry, Jak was going to hope for the best. Maybe Samos could talk sense into Gol, perhaps for Maia’s sake. The brother and sister duo clearly cared for each other despite the Dark eco affecting them. Not that he knew them before that, but he liked to think they were always that close.
Aside from his uncle, Jak couldn’t remember having any other family. Obviously he had a mother and father, but he knew nothing about them, nor did he remember anything about them. He…
Huh.
Between his uncle, Daxter, Keira, and the rest of their close knit village, Jak can’t remember ever really missing them. He can’t miss what he can’t remember, not really. And even in those rare moments when he wonders what it’s like to have family…
That’s when Daxter always comes to mind.
Sitting alone in his uncle’s hut, Jak looked around, taking in the way it was formed. Someday, he was going to build a hut of his own and move out. When that time came, Daxter wouldn’t have to go home to her aunt.
She could live with him and then they could always be together.
The thought of that makes him smile wide enough for him to notice it. Ah, why was it that thinking of her could make him so happy?
Explore
The dangers of Snowy Mountain were many. In addition to the regular Lurkers, there were blue Lurkers dressed for the weather, tiny blue Lurkers, Lurkers who wielded shields and some kind of red magic, plus Lurkers made of ice who generated freaking ice spikes (Jak nearly skewered himself on one, but he didn’t make that mistake again). There were giant rolling snowballs that looked capable of knocking Jak flat, and he seemed to agree because he avoided them. The weather could be dangerous too, and you just prayed that a snowstorm wouldn’t suddenly roll over the mountain.
In truth, after Spider Cave, Jak had collected enough Power Cells for the heat shield, but by silent agreement, both of you had decided to check out Snowy Mountain today rather than make straight for the lava tube.
Jak found more Orbs and Power Cells on the mountain. Shutting down generators that had jumpable shields, clearing out forts, and riding Sunny across gorges to reach new places. He had to use red eco to stop the shield Lurkers from continuing to chip explosives out of the ice (and what was up with that anyway? Who just leaves explosives in ice?).
He did almost slide off an icy bridge that was missing sections, so that was… fun.
Your Sunny baby was present and Jak rode and flew her over Precursor platforms.
The most significant thing was likely the opening of the yellow vents. Jak found a massive machine hidden away and when he collected the Power Cell on top of it, he depressed it like a switch and then there was a bright flash of yellow light. You surmised he opened the yellow eco vents because he later came across one.
After coming down from the mountain—you never want to ride that rickety gondola again—Jak took a detour back to Spider Cave. You weren’t thrilled when you realized he was aiming to revisit the spider’s nest, but the open yellow eco vent was self-explanatory. Jak collected the Orbs from the metal boxes, and after a visit to the miners to clear them out of Power Cells, it was off to the lava tube.
Race
Before they went back down the mountain, Jak couldn’t help but stop by the frozen lake again. There’s nowhere else to slide like this back at Sandover, so he definitely had to try it out again.
“That looks fun.”
Daxter, instead of leaping off him, climbed down him to step onto the ice. He saw a shiver briefly make her tremble, but then she was off, sliding from one foot (paw?) to the other. She looked over her shoulder at him.
“Race you around the edge!”
He squawked silently, recognizing the head start she’d given herself. He gave chase and she shrieked, sliding faster. Being taller, he could have overtaken her with his longer legs, but instead he remained just slightly behind her. He didn’t know where the finish line was, and he had no intention of crossing it first.
Just a few seconds later, Daxter threw herself forward, landing on the ice and sliding forward on her front. She cheered as her body turned on the ice, a grin wide and bright on her small face.
“Victory!”
He grinned back at her.
Goal
Keira laughed when Jak arrived with Daxter. She said the Power Cells would power the heat shield to withstand the lava. However, she also warned them that there was still a limit to it. There were already cooling balloons that she’d released to help them out. Lastly, she reminded them to open the gate in the Yellow Sage’s lab so that she and Samos could join them.
With Daxter on his back, Jak rode the zoomer through the lava tube. It was hot, and the cooling balloons barely helped. Then again, they were vital to actually making it through to the end.
Opening the yellow eco vents was a lucky thing, because without it, Jak wasn’t sure they could have made it through the lava tube. Still, they had, so they did.
Things quickly went downhill when Keira arrived after he opened the gate. She was distraught at Daxter’s question over where Samos was.
“This is terrible! Father is missing!” She covered one hand over her face. “I think Gol and Maia may have kidnapped him as well.”
Jak didn’t like seeing Keira so distressed.
“We’ll save him,” Daxter said.
Keira snapped. “You’ll save him? Daxter, you’re two feet tall! Jak’s going to be doing the hard work!”
Yes, but that was no reason to snap at Dax.
Keira saw him frowning at her so she calmed herself and straightened from where she’d slightly bent to get closer to Daxter’s level. She clapped her hands together.
“Please save my father before it’s too late! And…” She glanced away before looking back to meet his eyes. She pleaded. “Jak, be safe.”
Was Daxter invisible or something?
Thankfully, his best friend leapt onto his shoulder and asserted herself. “Yeah, we will be.”
He nodded and Keira and turned to face the citadel.
Time to save the Sages.
Whatever our souls are made of, yours and mine are the same.
~Emily Brönte