The Slums, Haven City, Saturday Night into Sunday Morning
It was snowing. Little particles drifted down onto the slums, landing on Jak's hair as he pushed himself up and onto the streets, away from the desolation of Dead Town.
It had never snowed in Sandover.
"Whoa," Dax said, hopping off of Jak's shoulderplate to stretch his legs. "Talk about an unexpected turn of events, huh, Jak? You know, I bet you couldn't even find a seagull to chase around here if you tried, now. Did I ever tell you about the time I got, like, eleven of them to take off in every which way, never to look back again? It was crazythe way they had me outnumbered, but I prevailed through a mixture of tenacity and pure ingenuity the like of which the world will never see again, and... You know, this is kind of a fixer-upper, but with a little bit of a spitshine and some elbow grease..."
Daxter's eyes were getting a little desperate. "Did you know I know kung-fu? Jak? Jak, buddy, you in there?"
Jak closed his eyes, rubbing his fingers over his eyelids. It had never snowed in Sandover, but it snowed in Haven. It didn't feel very cold, not really, and maybe if he hadn't been so overwhelmed he might have tried and examined it.
But it was snowing. It never snowed in Sandover.
"--Jak?"
He stared blindly through the snow to the cracked pavement in front of him, the dark slum houses practically shadows in the darkness. It never snowed in Sandover, but it snowed here, even though Samos's hut was right out there, the dirty pearl of Dead Town. The pavement underneath his feet, that used to be Sentinel Beach, this grain here once the sand under his feet.
There would have been sand snakes, and Lurker crabs here. A dip in the sand the only warning of death below. Except it didn't snow. It never, ever snowed.
A crackle of dark eco escaped his grip, curving up through the sky through his shoulder, but he kept walking, his thoughts speeding up.
There, a cliff. There, a mill. And there-- in that dank, dead-looking slum house--
"Jak?!"
He ripped open the door, pushing inside. Abandoned. Either the inhabitants had left, or the KG had run a random 'inspection' and left nothing behind. It didn't matter. Jak hurtled himself up the stairs.
It never never snowed in Sandover.
But up these stairs, and take a turn-- "JAK! Come on! This place is creepy!" --and he burst into an empty room.
And there it was. Dead to the world. Dulled. But still: a portal.
Jak took a step, and it sparked, calling to some blue eco reserves he'd thought depleted and dead except for the Vulcan ammo in his pack.
"This place is home, Dax," Jak said, urgently. "Lock the door."
It never snowed in Sandover, but right now, Jak could believe anything.
[[ nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, and finally not taken from Jak 2: Renegade. We're coming hoooome. with some magnificent help from raspberryturk ♥ ]]