Snippets: Free Day Thursday- Viper
Following the prompt from the poll: Haven finds out Jak isn't there for them. We pick up right after the boys fight Veger's robot in the mines and come up at the edge of New Haven.
"This place looks as bad as my old bedroom back home," Daxter scoffed. His keen eyes darted this way and that, looking for any sign of their fugitive.
"Jak! Over here!"
Jak tensed at Samos’s voice. He didn't sound surprised to see them. Onin might have warned him he was coming. Onin...she would be a problem if not dealt with. He'd have to consult with Damas about her.
When Samos called him again, sounding less sure of himself, Jak realized he hadn't reacted at all. Samos doubtless expected him to leap to attend him, as he had been thoroughly trained to do.
Did he want to blow his cover?
Hm. No. Not yet.
Jak turned on his heel and for a moment his heart leaped.
"Keira!"
Samos was forgotten as he rushed towards a shimmering wall that divided the waterfront from New Haven. A force field? Since when did Haven have force fields?! Jak made a note of it. Damas wanted reports; he was a captain now. He had power. That meant he needed to do things right.
"Jak!" Keira's entire face lit up. "I told you, Daddy. I told you I could feel his energy!"
She slapped her hand against the force field, ignoring the sting.
"You're alive-! Jak, I'm so sorry! I- I tried to get into the trial, they wouldn't let me in the building-! Or, or Tess, or Sig! They arrested us when we tried, didn't let us go until they'd taken you away!"
A warm glow spread through Jak's chest. Someone had fought for him. Keira had fought for him! And Tess, and Sig! In a city of vipers, he still had true friends.
Jak placed his own hand on the energy field, feeling the dull burn of its eco as he spread out his fingers over Keira's.
"Thank you," he whispered. "I don't blame you three. Not for any of it. Not for anything. I...I missed you."
Keira sniffled. "I missed you, too," she croaked, "What's it like out there? They say it's...it's nothing! That there's no way to survive! But you look-"
She cut herself off and blushed.
"What's really out there?"
Jak looked up at Daxter and smiled. Daxter nodded back. He didn't know what Jak was going to say, exactly. He'd never been a talker -- he'd really really never been a talker -- but Daxter had seen how proud of their new home Jak got. He couldn't help wanting to know what the big lug would say. Would he talk about the beach he loved so much? About Damas?
To his surprise, Jak only stared earnestly at Keira and whispered back, "Freedom."
Keira closed her eyes. "Freedom," she sighed. "I...thought I had that. Not so sure, now."
"That's why I came back."
Jak took a more guarded posture, casting his eyes about.
"I can help you. But I need your help, too."
Daxter opened the little communicator they'd stolen from the dead metalheads and retrofitted into a small holoprojector. The face of Thrax rotated above the plate, tattooed and scowling.
"You seen this guy?" he asked, waving the holo, "Name's Thrax. Real disreputable character."
Samos blinked at them in shock. "Jak, please, there isn't time! The passages under the palace, they must be terribly important!"
Jak spoke over him, raising his voice slightly. "He's a fugitive from justice. Wanted for treason. I'm under orders to bring him back, dead or alive."
"Under orders?"
Keira's face twisted with concern.
"Whose orders? Ashelin's?"
Daxter scoffed and slid down to sit more comfortably on Jak’s shoulder.
"As if! We have new friends. And they respect us! Heck, they actually like us!"
"And we respect them," Jak added, "So people trying to murder the man who saved my life don't get to walk away. Not from me."
Keira's jaw was tight. They both knew how she felt about him killing hu'men. One day, maybe she would let herself understand that it was no different from the enthralled Lurkers her father had sent Jak to kill when he was far, far too young to have blood on his hands. One day she would have to turn around and face that truth head-on. But Jak was beginning to understand at last that as long as Samos kept her within reach, it would be hard for her to slip the blinders off. It had taken exile for him to be free of his.
"I'll...I'll keep an eye out, and let you know if I see anyone like that." Keira swallowed hard. "It's been...I've been trying to get Veger's shield walls down. He cut Torn off from the city council hall, trapped him down on the waterfront. I think it's-"
Her voice trailed off, then, almost too quietly to hear,
"It's like...divide and conquer."
Anger hissed between Jak's teeth. "Of course it was Veger. He's had his hand in everything, hasn't he?"
He slammed his fist into the force field.
"He's the one who blew up the palace! Five hundred people dead, and for what?! So he could get to some catacombs underneath?!"
"And," Daxter said grimly, "so he could get the guy descended from the last ruler out of here. That guy is high on delusions of grandeur. Real heroes throw him off his groove."
"Catacombs?" Samos broke in, finally seeing a gap in the conversation that he could wedge himself into, "There must be something important down there for him to go to such lengths! Well, you're just going to have to find whatever it is before he does!"
"Oh I am, am I?" Jak asked.
Somehow Samos failed to hear the edge of danger in the boy's voice. He prattled on, patronizing as ever.
"Now, first you'll need to find another way into this section of the city. Take the sewers into the Port, then find a way north to reach us."
When the boys stayed still, looking at him through half-lidded eyes, it finally seemed to occur to the old man that he couldn't just give orders and expect them to be followed blindly anymore. With a touch of chagrin, he added, "And Jak...we're...sorry, for what happened. We should have stopped Veger."
"Yes." Jak turned his back. "You should have. Maybe you wouldn't have war on your doorstep if you'd acted."
"War?" Samos questioned, "With the metalheads?"
Daxter rolled his eyes. "Stumpy-boy, metalheads are about to be the least of your worries."
Jak took a few steps back, eyeing the buildings around him. Then he nodded to himself, got a running start, and launched up the side of the nearest row house.
Winds bless the guy in the youth barracks who'd taken the time to teach him free-running.
In no time at all he was on the roof with only a slight straining in his muscles to show for it. The shield wall only extended about a storey above them. Fair enough, they'd just have to follow the roofs to a higher building and cross from there.
Daxter flipped his goggles down over his eyes and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he scanned New Haven.
Pah. "New Haven". More like New Main Town. All he saw were the rich elite who had survived Veger dropping the palace on their high class district. Where were all the former inhabitants of the North Slum and Water Slum? Shoved into the ruined Main Town or crowded into the waterfront, he had no doubt.
"By the forges, I really hate this place," Jak whispered beside him.
"I don't blame ya, pal," said Daxter grimly. "Not even a little bit. C'mon, let's find Tess. If anyone knows how to find our guy, it's her."
Thrax could run. But there were only so many places he could hide.
Part Two planned for tomorrow
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Okay! So, January charitable giving round-up.
I wrote about this a fair amount in December, but one of my NYRs for this year was to be more open about the donations I make to charity. I laid out my reasoning in the post I linked, but the long and short of it is that talking about charitable giving publicly is difficult for me, but I want to get over that mental hurdle because I learned that talking about charitable giving publicly leads to more charitable support.
So this January my donations were:
My regular monthly donations:
Philabundance (food aid in Philadelphia)
Immigration Equality (provides legal aid to queer and/or HIV+ immigrants seeking asylum)
my local community fridge (google to find one near you)
My monthly donation to a charity that seems timely:
Palestine Children's Relief Fund (medical aid for children in Palestine)
Women for Women International (currently focused on supplies for women in Palestine)
And then the third kind, new this year and kind of fun, is in honor of this poll, which inspired me to make a donation each month to a charity that one of my favorite characters would support.
For my first character, I chose my very beloved Guillermo de la Cruz, everyone’s favorite vampire-loving vampire slayer from What We Do In The Shadows. There were a lot of directions to go with this (I seriously considered a blood drive, lmao) but I think in the end I’m going to go with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America for my January donation.
In s4 of WWDITS, we found out that Guillermo had been raised by a single mom who had to work a lot throughout his childhood, making him feel really lonely and forcing him to grow up far too fast. (And arguably making him more than a little weird and codependent.) He was really focused on making sure that Baby Colin never had to raise himself the way he had, and he wanted to make sure that Colin had good support, a safe and loving home, and proper socialization with other kids his own age.
So I think choosing an organization designed to support kids coming from home lives that are less than ideal would be something he’d like. They create safe spaces for kids to learn, grow, and socialize, and they provide mentorship opportunities to kids who need adult support that they’re not getting at home.
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