Note: Jak Price has an entire year off school to train for the Tournament Games.
Jak was walking through the streets with his dad. After walking for more than 15 minutes at a steady pace, Jak was starting to get bored.
"Dad." Jak called out.
There was no response. Jonny was either ignoring him or daydreaming.
"DAD!!!" Jak shouted loudly to get his father's attention.
"What? Don't tell me you're tired already. The place we're going will be far far away." Jonny responded
"Can't you carry me dad? Please. My feet hurt." Jak whined
"Ok, fine. At least we'll get there early. At this rate, we'd be walking for 2 days' straight with your snail level speed. There. Now hold me as tightly as you can. We'll be running there. I don't want you falling off." Jonny replied
He picked up Jak and carried him on his back.
Jak did as he was told.
His dad did a small countdown then started running at full speed. After a few seconds, Jak was very dizzy and the wind blew impossibly stronger. The shops, houses and trees all merged together in a colorful mix of colors and shapes as Jonny continued to run. Jak was struggling to hold on to his dad as he felt his hands losing their grip.
"Hold on to me properly or else you'll fall off and die."
"Slow down then. Let's take small breaks-"
"I should've bought a basket for you to sit in. I could carry you easier that way maybe."
"No. That won't work. Isn't there any sort of transport? A snail taxi or something-" Jak asked
"Of course not you idiot. You can't take a snail taxi to the woods. And it's an isolated location in the middle of nowhere. The air is thick and heavy. It gets very hot at times and freezing at other times. There are beasts, trees and small lakes too. It's the ideal place for training." Jonny responded
"Oh wow, that sounds great, dad. I can't wait for my training!" Jak said
Jak's POV:
We finally went to the woods. Dad unpacked his rucksack, unfolded some folded thing and made a large tent as he was catching his breath from running so much.
"Right son. I hope you're ready for phase 1 of training." Dad said
"Yes! Finally. Dad, what are we doing?" I asked
"The first phase is to survive! There'll be no other training for 5 days. We'll stay in these woods and try to survive. If you master this, you can move onto the next level-" He responded
There were little stars in his eyes meaning that he seemed really happy and excited to train me!
"What? No training?! That's so unfair! Thanks for nothing, dad!" I said, starting to get upset
He trained Lucy so why won't he train me?
She even told me how my dad threw her off mountains for her training and got her to defeat fearsome beasts! That's the training I want! That's the type of training I need to survive the Tournament Games and beat up that smug and annoying kid. He's called Jeff and I don't like him! He's the son of Silver II and Silver II is dad's Boss.
"Stop shouting at me. Goddammit, you're so annoying! Have some fun will you? No training in secret whatsoever. I'll find out and refuse to train you and I'll leave you here for a year alone. Is that clear? No doing push ups in secret ok? Your first task is to help me catch dinner."
Food! Yum! I wonder what dad'll catch? I'm hungry already.
I watched as my dad crouched down to the ground with both palms on the ground. He seemed to be focusing on something.
I got this strange feeling in my eyes. It seemed like I could see things very clearly for a short time.
"Do the same thing I am doing and stay as still and silent as possible. Can you hear its gentle footsteps? Can you see the deer we're about to catch?" He asked
"Dad! Your back. There's-"
"What is it, son? Is there something on my shirt?" He asked
"No dad. It's some kind of tattoo. Did you get one recently? Mum probably won't like it. Did she see it yet?" I asked
"W-WHAT?!!" Dad shouted
He wasn't angry. I think, he was feeling scared. I could sense it. He was very sad and scared for a moment.
"It's some kind of fancy looking eye. Don't worry, dad. It looks really cool!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH." Dad shouted back, pointing his handgun at me still kneeling on the floor.
His brown eyes turned red and he was shaking which was weird since he never did that even when facing more than 20 enemies at once!
"Dad. Please. I'm sorry. Please put the gun down!" I pleaded
Dad was still shaking but he put the gun away.
"Your eyes, son. Why is this happening? You can't be-" Dad replied
"What about my eyes?" I asked
"I sensed something dangerous from them for a second. Maybe I am too tired but I think your eyes turned red too." Dad told me
"But I'm human. Aren't I dad? L-Let's forget about this. Let's catch food."
Dad seemed to come back to his senses and now he felt really sad for scaring me like that.
"Are you alright? I'm sorry for scaring you like that. I don't know what came over me." Dad explained
I felt bad because he was hurting.
There's something he's not telling me.
He has a habit of faking his smiles.
Something is making him sad and I don't know what.
"Jak. Hunt down that deer. I know you can do it. I'll only help you if it's an emergency ok? This'll be fun!" Dad said
***
Jak struggled to be speedy enough to tackle the deer into the ground with his bare hands and shoot it like his father had instructed but he managed to do so after his dad started chasing after the deer, overwhelming it with his speed and making it tired. It was only then that Jak was able to tackle the deer into the ground!
His dad started cooking the meat, even getting some useful gadgets out of his bag and trying to properly prepare it. When he was finished with the cooking, he put the meat into containers which could be kept cool with the press of a button and got two plastic plates to serve the food in and gave one to Jak.
"It's nice but it's nowhere near as good as mum's cooking!" Jak said
"Well, your mum gets more practice so it's unfair to compare her cooking to mine." Jonny replied
"Your food's barely edible dad. I'm sorry but someone has to tell you the truth."
"You spoiled little brat. If you were starving for a week, you'd gladly eat this without complaining."
"Yeah, but I'd gladly eat someone else's food-"
"How about you try and cook some food? We'll see how that goes." Jonny said
"I'd still cook better than you! And I don't even know why mum cooks food for a rude person like you all day." Jak replied
"She likes cooking for us!" Jonny explained
"Are you sure, dad? I think you should cook sometimes too. It's more fair that way. She could even give you some cooking tips-"
"I'd rather die." Jonny scoffed
"..Than have mum give you cooking advice?"
"Listen son. We have a deal that works for us. I go to work and try to rid Lakedaemon of traitors and criminals. I train you to become a patriotic, strong and manly warrior for our wonderful Lakedaemon. Your mum looks after you, teaches you values and morals and whatnot. She does all the housework and cooking and she loves us and we love her in return. I appreciate all the kind work your mother does which is exactly why I put my life on the life to protect her and our family. That's what a real marriage is. Two people working together, supporting and uplifting each other. The reason I haven't shot myself in the head yet is because you and your mum care a lot about me and I wouldn't do that to them."
Jak started laughing which made Jonny confused because nothing he had said was supposed to be funny.
"Dad. You can't shoot yourself in the head. You're so strong it wouldn't kill you so there's no point in attempting it. And I still think your deal is unfair." Jak replied
"Unfair? How is it unfair?" Jonny asked
"I think mum has the easier job. Wanna know why I think that?" Jak asked
"Why?" Jonny asked, feeling genuinely interested in what his kid had to say.
For a second he thought that Jak would say that he had the easier task but he didn't.
"You're working too hard and you put your life on the line. You do all that to bring money in and support us. You also said that you protect us. All that sounds a lot tougher than sitting at home and doing housework all day. Should the two even be compared?" Jak replied
"That's the way it should be. Your mum is much better than me in every way. I would gladly put my life on the line for her because I love her-" Jonny said
"Eww. What even is love? Sounds like something that people just say to get the things they want. I don't think people actually love each other."
"You'll understand it one day-"
"Hey dad! Do you love my mum?" Jak asked out of the blue
"Y-Yes." Jonny replied not sure where this conversation was going
"Do you love buying new weapons?" Jak asked
"Yes. What's your point?"
"I'm confused dad. How can you love weapons and my mum at the same time? Do you love them equally or-"
"I love your mum more. Anyway, loving things and loving a person are two different things but I don't expect an 8 year old to understand-"
"Dad. Tell me what makes people fall in love with someone. What is this thing called love?"
"Your food's getting cold." Jonny replied, not wanting to answer his question
"I don't care about the stupid food! Tell me what love is!" Jak replied stubbornly
"All right fine! Love is within nature and is neither completely good or completely bad. There is a powerful emotion associated with Love which is called desire. And you feel this desire whenever you think about or are in the presence of the person you love. There are many types of love and not all types of love are good in the same way that not all types of love are bad. When your eyes and soul see 'someone' truly beautiful from your own perspective who brings forth other feelings like the need to better yourself, courage to protect that 'someone', the feeling of shame of acting disgracefully in front of that 'someone' and feeling proud of doing good things for that 'someone' and you notice this desire flowing through your blood, you can conclude that you are attracted to and have fallen in love with that 'beautiful person'. N-Now I've said enough. Let's go to the lake for a swim. It's important to have fun as well as train hard!" Jonny explained
"Yay! That's more like it. That lake looks weirdly deep. I think even you can swim in it properly. Let's have a swimming race! Last one there is a fat cow!" Jak cheered
"I'm faster than you. Remember that?" Jonny replied
"Oh yeah. I remember." Jak replied, pointing his face down
***
Jonny removed all his clothing except his boxer shorts. He had previously covered up the mysterious symbol on his back with waterproof bandages so Jak wouldn't bring it up again. Jak noticed this but chose not to say anything about it.
They were swimming around and splashing each other with water.
"Jak. Let me show you how to make a huge wave! Learn this technique and you'll be invincible! You still won't beat me obviously."
As soon as Jonny showed him the technique, Jak decided to copy it and have a go.
He ended up making a huge wave but it landed on him instead of his dad!
Jonny grabbed his hand and lifted him up before he could get swept away.
"Control your power, son." Jonny said to Jak who was coughing and spitting water out
"This water tastes gross! Dad. Why are you wearing shorts? You'll swim much faster if you wear nothing like me-"
"The thing is. I can't risk it. There could be creatures lurking in the lake and they could see my 'thingy' and bite it off. I don't want that."
Jak started laughing, not taking his words seriously.
"If there are creatures in the lake, they've seen mine and they haven't bitten it off." Jak stated
"Who cares? Even if I'm wearing shorts, I'll easily beat you at swimming. I have much longer legs than you." Jonny replied
They had another swimming contest and Jonny still ended up winning.
***
"Dad. I like it when you teach me cool things. I'm having so much fun!" Jak said, making Jonny smile at him.
"That's nice of you to say but this isn't a holiday. We've come here for a reason. You need to be much stronger to survive the Tournament Games."
"Yeah, I know dad. You know, someone I know told me that to make someone fall in love they need a winged magical being to poke them with a magic golden blunt arrow. It only works when it pokes them from behind-"
"Who on earth told you that, son?"
"A boy I know called Jeff told me. He's older than me so we're not in the same class. He goes around the playground and speaks about lots of things. Love, war, cooking, human behaviour, music, art, money and more. He's annoying sometimes but he's super clever. The teachers say he's a prodigy. That means super ultra smart! Is what he said about love not true? He does have a girlfriend-"
"A girlfriend? A weirdo little kid like him? Who'd even- Never mind. He's my Boss' son. He's very odd. Try to avoid spending too much time with him."
"Why not? He's not that bad. He's just weird but that's not his fault dad."
"All right then. I don't really mind you two being friends. I've been worried about that kid for a while now. What else has he said?"
"He did say that a beautiful fairy with a golden bow and arrow visits him every night. And that he floated up into the sky until he saw the gates of heaven but it was locked so he couldn't get inside."
"What? He's even weirder than I thought." Jonny responded
"That's not even the weirdest part. Jeff was sent to our class for misbehaving. Jeff had his sketchbook confiscated in the middle of our class. The teacher got nosy and started to open the sketchbook to have a look at some of the stuff he'd been drawing. Her whole face turned red. I tried peaking at the book but all I saw were drawings of a bunch of naked people floating about in the sky with brown or purple wings with flutes, shields and bow and arrows. It looked so professional like he spent more than 6 hours on it or something! I don't even know why she shrieked and put the book away. It looked good enough to be put in an art gallery." Jak told him
"I have no words left to say. He's so eccentric. I feel sorry for him though. I saw my boss beat him up and nearly chuck him out of a window until I deliberately interrupted him to stop that from happening. I've seen other things too. The boy's definitely being mistreated. Maybe that's why he lies, hallucinates and acts like this. He needs a proper friend. Maybe someone like you."
"Ok dad. Do you think Jeff really saw this magic blunt arrow? He told me that a magical being poked him with it and that's why he's in love-"
"No no no. No, he doesn't! I hope for his sake that he's just saying things. It's not natural for someone who isn't a grown up to fall in love with someone. Even if they think they are, that's not really the love that they think it is. It's all an act. It's the act of pretending to have all the emotions of a grown up. Anyway it's starting to get colder. Let's get ourselves dry before we get sick." Jonny replied
***
By the end, Jonny was exhausted especially because he was questioned about a very complex and mature topic that he didn't want to discuss in detail.
Jonny and Jak decided to share the same tent in case any animals attacked them or something.