Chapter 8

Giggling, down that hall, then the next, round the corner, there she is! So familiar, why? Run harder, must catch up. Just a little girl, have I seen her before? Through a door, into darkness, a stairway up. Don't trip, she calls down, giggling more, pleasure from her chase. A light at the top, another door, the stairs end, into a room. A large window, books flutter in a breeze, wind chimes sing their song in tune to the wind, so warm, across skin...

Jak's head felt like it had been shoved down a toilet. The smell of burnt skin wasn't pleasant either but much more ignorable. He opened one eye, only to be blinded, bad idea. He tried to move, that also resulted in pain. So he decided to lay still and ponder what to do next. His mind wondered back to the dream he had just woken from. He didn't get time to really think on it when another thought struck him.

He fought off the pain when he moved and reached for his communicator. He pressed a few buttons and waited for Daxter to pick up.

"Hello" Jak felt relief at hearing his friend's voice, at least Daxter was alright. His joy was short lived when a metal head popped out of nowhere and snatched the device out of his hand, crushing it instantly. It started chattering in a language he recognized but hadn't learned yet.

He realized then his mistake. He hadn't even taken a look at his surroundings. He lay in a cave, wrapped in cloth, a metal head stood over him. He looked almost elfish, a sign he was from the Desert Clan, but had bright blue feathers on his arms, legs, and torso, as well as a beak-like nose and and a skull gem on his head.

He didn't need to know the language to know he was being chewed out by the creature for trying to use his comm. "I was just trying to call my friend." he yelled over it's chattering, hoping it could speak English.

"Vell I 'ope you are 'appy! Zat could 'ave given ze location away! Are you zat stupid?" it switched to English without so much as batting a big black eye at him. Her, as Jak could figure out know that she spoke English, voice was thick with anger and her accent made it difficult to tell what she was saying she was talking so fast. "Ze Dragon 'eads 'ave ze frequencies all blocked. Zey are most likely on zeir way 'ere as ve speak!"

She then transformers, turning herself into a very large bird. It never stopped amazing Jak at the way they shifted and rearranged body parts like that. He could only begin to imagine what it must feel like.

"You are pretty much immobile so just relax, I von't drop you." She gently picked him up in one of her talons, holding him to her soft chest. He took the opportunity to climb onto her back. He sighed when he was able to stop moving and held onto her large feathers. "Just don't pull anysing out."

She hopped to the entrance, spreading her wings and and taking off into the sky. It was a rough assent but once she got above the smoke clouds she leveled out to fly smoothly. The sun was setting and cast orange hues over the clouds, the air was clear up here, and the wind cold as it caressed his burnt and stinging skin. In between the the relaxing lull of the flight, the soft feathers beneath him, and the pure exhaustion of the past who knows how long, Jak had fallen asleep before the sun had set behind the fallen city.

She giggled again as she grabbed his hands and started dancing to a beat that wasn't there.

HA! I'm alive! I took along time to ponder on this one, and decided to let this one end on a happier note. The last few chapter have been kinda sad and cliffhanger-ish. The final motive for this was a short review that meant people where still reading this one. So next chappie, you get to learn more about the metal head that saved him and why, or we're back with Dax... one or the other, I ain't sure yet...

songs:Aquarius by Within Temptation and Through the Monsoon by Tokio Hotel