1Chapter 1: it begins Laughter echoes through the prisons corridors from a table where 2 Krimson Guards stand on guard, or at least are supposed to be on guard. the more slender of the 2 guards is laughing while trying to hold the other's left hand still on the table, while she has a large and freshly sharpened knife in her right hand. "hold still! i wont stab you i promise! besides, my hand will be on top, so even if i Do miss you wont get hurt!" She tries to assure the other guard.
"Jaina! Stop, Please! I don't need to got to the medics again because you cut my finger open, again!" The other guard cries out as he struggles to free himself from Jaina's struggling stops when she slams the knife down between his middle and index finger, causing her to sigh in relief.
"Finally, now, are you ready, or you going to squirm more?" Jaina asks with a growl, not waiting for her fellow guard to answer. "Besides, Kevin, you got to keep an eye out for Erol or Praxis, don't wanna get caught goofing around!"
She starts stabbing the knife between his fingers with her own hand above his, holding it in place, humming as she does so, adjusting their hands until she is happy with the positioning.
"There~ is an old tradition, a game we all can play. You start by getting liquored up and sharpening your blade. you take a shot of whiskey, you grab your knife and prey! and you spread apart your fingers,
and this is what you say. Oh, i have all my fingers! the knife goes chop chop chop! if i miss the spaces in-between my fingers will come off! and if i hit my fingers, blood will soon come out." The knife stabs into the table around his hand slowly at first, but getting steadily faster.
but all the same i play this game because that's what it's all abou-... t" Jaina comes to a stop with the knife stabbing slightly into her own middle finger, as Erol marches round the corner of these grey concrete corridors with a prisoner secured by a guard on either side of them.
The prisoner is a young boy, blond hair, bright blue eyes, blue shirt and all, but, his eyes are full of fear and confusion. When they approach, Jaina lets go of Kevin and puts her knife away before Erol tells her off for it, she is on a short leash as it is.
"Jaina, stop injuring my men and start doing your job, or you can join this one in his cell!" Erol growls at her as he turns the corner past them, as Jaina salutes and stands straight, putting her Taser at the ready.
"Yes sir!" as soon as he has passed, she slumps a little and relaxes again, glanding in the direction they are headed.
"Actually, Jaina, I want you to guard this one's cell in particular. Keep a close eye on him and if ANYTHING happens in there, you will inform me of it immediately!" Erol shouts at her, a glint in his eye that Jaina doesn't like the look of in his eye as she nods and rushes over. At the end of the hallway is a secure steel door with a single barred window only large enough to see someone's face if they were stood on the other side of it. As they enter, it opens up to reveal a large room with the walls lined with cells. vents with green gas rising slowly from them. the cells descent lower than the floor as a single path is raised leading to what can only be described as a metal bed with a large needle machine above it. The sight of it makes Jaina shiver, she's heard screaming coming from in here before, and now she can guess why.
Erol has Jak thrown into a cell near said table and Jaina moves to guard the front of it as they shut the thick door, very similar to the one to get into the room. Saluting Erol, she gets into a comfortable position and waits for the other guards and her commander to leave.
As soon as the door booms shut, signaling that she is now alone in the room with the prisoners, Jaina turns and looks through the barred window. "Hey kid, what are you in for? theft? speaking out against the baron? or, were you just one of the unlucky ones?" Lifting her helmet off to reveal her pale skin, dark brown hair tucked into what appears to be a collar or some sort. Her green eyes look to him, intrigued.
Shrugging, Jak walks up to the door, trying to push it open but the door doesn't budge. "Sorry bud, I couldn't let you out if I wanted to, just behave and hopefully Erol wont take a special liking to you" Jaina turns back away from Jak, not wanting to be caught unawares by a superior.
Weeks pass by, Jak gets taken out of his cell as Jaina gets dismissed, she returns after Jak has been put back in his cell every time, and she watches him deteriorate and the light in his eyes darken. She tries to cheer him up with jokes and trying to look on the bright side. it seems to work for a while, but, after the 6th time she was sent away while they do their experiment, he starts ignoring her, not even reacting to her attempts. It wasn't long after that she was reassigned to patrol the city, but due to her habit of, playing, with knives she is to be watched at all times to ensure she doesn't cause a scene.
It has been 2 years since Jaina first saw Jak, the guards still don't trust her, watching her wearily whenever they see her. Nearing the end of her patrol, and looking forwards to heading to her home so she can relax, at least that was her plan. Approaching the edge of the slums, rubbing her wrists and neck, revealing precursor steel bands lined with runes around both her wrists and neck, the radio in her helmet beeps to life and call for reinforcements comes through, not even waiting for it to finish, Jaina rushes towards the sector near the prison. Arriving at the scene of bloodshed, Jaina is shocked to find the boy she had tried to cheer up in his cell 2 years ago, but he was different. his skin grey, eyes like a void, horns growing from his head and nails like claws, sparking with dark eco. Jaina pauses in shock at the drastic change in jack, but that pause proves to be, problematic as Jak has rushed up to and slashed her rifle out of her hands before she can focus on the task at hand. Lifting her arms to try and defend herself, as Jak bring down a heavy fist, smashing into her right arm. The dark eco seems to be conducted by the band on her wrist just before she gets hit, followed by a shockwave that sends Jaina flying back into the wall of a slums home.
Jak looks down at the unconscious guard before picking her up and carrying her on his shoulder. "Jak, wh-what are you doing there, buddy? pal? we cant just kidnap a guard!" Daxter exclaims. "she was in the prison, if she has a way to Praxis, Then i want to know the most direct route" Jak glares at the unconscious guard on his shoulder. 'that and you tried to show me kindness while you were there, that deserves some mercy, this time' he thinks as they stop outside the underground hq.
A blond lady wearing a green jacket steps out in front of the pair and glares at them as Torn steps out of the underground as Jak and Daxter arrive, the unconscious form of Jaina on Jak's shoulder. "what do you think you're doing bringing one of THEM here?!" Torn growls, furious and pointing at the girl.
"i thought she might have some interesting information" Jak snarled "We're looking for a guy named Torn, kor sent us. um... Are you... Torn?"
"new faces make me nervous, word is you're out to join the fight for the city" Torn scowls, poking Jak in the chest. "Picking the wrong side could be... Unhealthy"
"we want to see the shadow" Jak glares at Torn, making Him smile slightly.
"huh. huh. huh. not likely. if you wanna join something, why don't you and your little pet go join the circus?" Torn turns away and looks at them over his shoulder. "unless you've got the furr, for a really tough task" Turning back to face them, he brandishes his curved knife as though to emphasize his point. "Steal the Baron's flag from the top of the ruined tower and bring it back to me. Then, maybe we'll talk. and leave her here" Torn points to Jaina before putting his knife back into the sheath on his chest.
Jak unceremoniously drops Jaina onto the floor before he leaves to fetch this flag. Meanwhile, Torn and Tess drag Jaina into the underground HQ, taking weapons and armor off her once she is inside, leaving her in her basic civilian clothes and the precursor bands that are on the left wrist, ankles and neck. Restraining her to a bed in a side room, they close the door to leave her in the dark as they go over the map of Haven in their main room.
Jaina wakes suddenly. her head swimming as nausea grips her, causing her to moan in discomfort, trying to move, only to find her hands and legs restrained to something by chains. "Where the... Damn, nonononono!" she mutters and tries to slip her hands free of the chains, in turn causing a lot of rattling. Stopping her movements, she listens and hears footsteps approaching what she assumes to be a door as there is light coming from below it. that light is quickly blocked as the door clanks, them opens. the silhouette of someone holding a cured dagger captures her attention as she starts to struggle once again.
"It's been a long time, Jaina"
End of chapter 1 i know there are probably several problems with grammar and pacing. if you have any tips on ways to manage these please let me know.
