"So, what do you want Hadok for anyways?" Anatarope queried as she released Mako from her clutches. "You saw him a few days ago didn't you?"

"I wanted him to see Jak," The Rookie responded, gesturing to the silent youth beside him. "He only recently got back to Intok as of yesterday. Hadok has been bugging me for months about it. Mailing me and all the crystal calls regarding this bonehead, I've been going insane. This would be the best way to shut him up completely."

The tall Amazon crossed her arms, one of her fingers reaching up to touch her chin. "Well, if we're being fair, everyone thought Jakky was dead. Only reason he kept asking was because he believed otherwise."

"Unfortunately for you though, Hadok already left on a personal outing to Iroas Kingdom." Anatarope turned around and started walking towards Isle Shimura, her tail flicking every which way.

"Iroas?" Jak followed closely after her, sticking close to her heels. "You mean his father's realm?"

"Precisely."

"What does he need to do there?" Mako piped up, also following along. "I thought he and grandpa had a strained relationship."

"You sure are curious today aren't you," Anatarope mused. "Asking loads of questions."

"Is there a situation in Iroas?" Jak followed up, ignoring the cat woman's snarky jabs.

Anatarope paused mid step, her eyes staring ahead yet at the same time seeing nothing, golden orbs lost in their own little world. Moments passed before she eventually drifted back into reality. Turning around she locked eyes onto Mako, of whom had also stopped in his tracks.

"Where's your shirt?" Anatarope finally asked after seconds of staring.

"That's what you're worried about???" Mako questioned.

"Your base element is water," Anatarope shot back. "Why'd you take off your shirt? You couldn't have been worried about it getting wet since you could simply dry yourself off afterwards. Unless you're saying that your external control has gone to total shit which is damn near impossible. So..... where's your shirt?"

Mako opened his mouth to protest, to argue with the mature woman but quickly closed his mouth after finding little room to actually form a solid comeback. Looking to his left, he once again glanced to Jak for some assistance, but just as before he was met with the same response, a return of the deadpan stare. For Jak, it was the equivalent of saying "Don't look at me, I'm just here to watch", without actually saying it. Instead of trying to fight a losing battle, Mako spun around on his heels and began the long run back towards the starting line where the dual Rookie's race had started. When it came to Anatarope, it was much easier to just go along with her than to argue, since even if she was wrong or right, she was far too stubborn to actually reason with.

"Shall we continue our walk then?" Anatarope proposed as she resumed her pace from earlier, walking over the rushing Auntro Waters.

"Are you gonna tell me about Hadok?" Jak pushed, clearly unwilling to let the conversation stray away from what he wanted. "The situation in Iroas. What is it."

This time around, it came out as a demand rather than a question and Anatarope took careful note in that as she moved forward faster, almost into a nice steady jog. With her long legs, Jak had to move twice as fast for every one step of hers, causing him to break into an actual jog in order to keep up.

"Not willing to let up huh?" Anatarope asked rhetorically. "Well, as a token of thanks for that hug back there, I'll fill you in on what I know. If you let me kiss your fore-"

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Not happening."

"It was worth a shot." Anatarope shrugged. "We'll just stick with the basics then. What do you know about the Kingdom Of Iroas."

Jak frowned slightly as he rummaged through his head for all the information regarding the place widely referred to as the Kingdom Of Golems.

Iroas Kingdom was a nation born from the power of one man, or at least that's what the stories regarding him said. Established around a century prior, only slightly newer than the Kingdom of Intok, Iroas built itself up seemingly overnight, grasping a firm foothold in the powers that governed the entirety of the Eastern Continent. Strength, wealth, stability, influence, all of it seemed to appear out of nowhere. All thanks to the man known as the Golem God, Kenma Iroas, a former adventurer who was said to be able to rival the strength of the Eight Kings and in some regards was even compared to the Rift King himself.

"Huh, so you actually know a bit more than I was expecting," Anatarope admitted after Jak was done. "I didn't think Hadok would teach you much about it. Though you seem to know more about Kenma than the actual Kingdom."

"He didn't. I learned it on my travels."

"Your travels huh?" Anatarope's sleek black ears twitched upon hearing those words. "Tell me. What abou-"

"On topic."

"Oh, right." Anatarope sounded quite dejected but Jak said nothing as the woman carried on. "Well, everything you heard was pretty much correct, but let me fill you in on some things that you may have missed. I'll keep it summarized so I don't overwhelm you."

"I'll be fine," Jak shot back.

"Well, let's start with positioning. It should start to make things a bit more clear to you about the situation."

At this time, the duo had finally reached the edge of Isle Shimura, their feet finally touching solid ground and leaving the vicinity of the rushing Auntro Waters. Just up ahead, near the very top of the stretch upwards, far off from tightly knit array of houses and various buildings sat a gorgeous looking castle, second within Intok only to the castle belonging to the king. It was hard to describe with words how magnificent it looked. Jak, after all his time away, had to stop and stare for a bit, memory after memory flooding to mind as he gazed at the castles unique beauty. The spires seemed to graze the stars and the walls seemed impregnable, as if it could stop the very forces of nature in it's tracks. Even in the three years he spent travelling from world to world, he was hard pressed to find a building that was more magnificent than the structure at the top of the cliff. A good portion of it was definitely due to nostalgia but it was an clear work of art nonetheless no matter how you looked at it.

"Ahem."

Jak tore his gaze away from Castle Shimura and onto Anatarope, crimson hues locking onto the demihuman's golden ones. "What?"

"Are you not gonna pay attention?" Anatarope asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone. "My knowledge is worth it's weight in gold Yanda."

"Alright. Go ahead."

Both heads turned simultaneously, locking onto Mako as he walked up to the two of them, now fully clothed, his battle staff attached to the back of his dark cloak.

"Let's get moving. It's already pretty late." Mako moved to take a position next to Jak. "We can save the world review for tomorrow bonehead."

"There you go," Anatarope said the moment she got the chance. "You look so much better with some clothes on. Less like a stripper and more like an actually decent human being....well a semblance of one "

"And you still look like an annoyance," Mako rebuttalled.

"Mad because Jak rocked your shit?"

"Mad because Hadok rocked yours?"

"Big talk coming from a bi-pedaled blue haired slug."

"Big talk coming from a bi-pedal black haired bit-"

BAM!!!

The rupturing of the concrete between them immediately brought the area into a moment of silence, their back and forth coming to an abrupt end. Tentatively, with utmost caution, the woman and Rookie looked towards Jak, of whom was now glaring at them with a pair of crimson hues filled with an irritated look. His red blade was buried in the ground betwixt them but he quickly pulled it out and slipped it back into it sheath.

"Argue again and someone's getting stabbed in their sleep," Jak said bluntly before walking away, heading towards the castle.

The two of them glanced at each other, nodded quickly and shook each other's hands. Without a single word being spoken, they quickly slipped up behind Jak and grabbed him by the arms and legs, careful to avoid the swinging arms and legs. Mako quickly grabbed the katana strapped to the youths hips with his cloak and placed it on the ground.

"What the heck are you two-"

"Let see how well you can fly," Anatarope mused, easily holding the flailing boy in her arms with little to no effort. She could feel the amount of strength he possessed but even though it was freakish in nature, he was still just a child.

Jak seemed to settle for a second as he looked around in confusion. "Fly? You don't mean-"

Looking to the immediate right of them, Jaks eyes landed on the glowing waterfall in the far distance, the same one that had hundreds of tons of water pouring down it into Auntro far, FAR below. His eyes, which had been near emotionless a second ago widened ever so slowly, a look of incredulity on his face.

"You wouldn't dare." Jak claimed, his struggling getting more and more frantic.

"Have fun swimming with the fishes." Mako let out a laugh as he placed his hand against Jaks clothes chest. "I'll make us some hot cocoa for when you get back."

"Maybe next time you won't threaten us," Anatarope mused as she now held the redhead at arms length.

"Water Manifest- Water Propulsion."

Just like before, a strong blast of water erupted into being, this time emitted from the palm of Mako's hand. The fiery redhead was flung from the cat woman's hands and high into the air, the sheer strength of the water forcing him into the distance.

"He's definitelyyyyy cutting us when he gets back." Mako remarked as he watched his friends body arc downwards.

"Oh, most definitely." Anatarope confirmed.

There was a moments of silence between them as they watched Jaks body tumble out of sight, down into the depths of the Ocean situated some ways down. There wasn't a shout nor a splash, just the sounds of the waterfall and chirping crickets.

"How long do you think it'll take him to get back up?"

Anatarope shrugged. "Maybe two hours?"

"Wanna get something to eat?"

"Of course. I'm starving."

Mako shook his head. "You're always starving."