I've recently become hooked on the 'Tomb Raider' remake from 2013. So, I decided to have some fun and make this. This is just a one-shot prequel (kinda like the one I did for my 'Pokemon' crossover). I can't say when I'll get to the main story itself, but I will be doing it and the 'Pokemon' crossover at the same time, posting new chapters together.
I'll be working on them after I finish my current crossover, 'VicTORious On Fleet Street' and the sequel to 'Head to Head'.
Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'VicTORious', the 'Tomb Raider' franchise, or any characters. (In this, Lara Croft is an actual person, not a video game/movie/book character.)
Jade POV
"So far, so good." My mentor, the 'Tomb Raider' Lara Croft, says as we decipher an ancient message on a wall in a cave somewhere in South America. "How are you coming along?" She asks, walking over to me, her notes in hand.
"It either says 'A curse will befall all who enter this tomb without the necessary blessings', or 'Bathroom this way'." I joke, handing her what I've managed to translate. "This isn't the usual language you see in this part of South America. Have you seen it before?" I ask her, stretching.
"Yes. It's from an old book I found before I searched for Yamatai." Lara says, sighing. "I'll never forget that." She says, remembering those she lost on that expedition years ago. "Anyway, it's a rough form of the language at the time, modified to suit the religious community." She says, shaking her head free of the thoughts of the expedition that made her who she is.
"It doesn't seem familiar to me. What community?" I ask, following her to our nearby campsite, taking a drink of the coffee I had brewing since we set up camp.
"I don't know much about it, other than the language they use. Nothing I've researched made any sense though." Lara says, amused by my quick swig of coffee. "Something about a Goddess being born in a newborn girl, treating her like a queen, and the entire community seemingly killing themselves when she died before she was twenty." She tells me, relaxing against her rolled up sleeping bag.
"So what? This was a den, or something, of theirs?" I ask, looking around the medium cave, seeing the language along the walls. "Why do I keep seeing the word 'Star'?" I ask aloud, seeing that word at least twenty times.
"I believe this was a church, of sorts, for them. Where they came to praise their Goddess, based on the items I've found along that wall." Lara tells me, her brunette hair in a rare position, out of its usual ponytail and resting over her shoulders. "And, I'm guessing 'Star' was either their Goddess's name, or her human name, with how often it's written and used during prayer." She says, tossing me her notebook and the translated prayers she found along the wall she was searching for.
"She was a really important person, wasn't she?" I ask as I read some of the prayers. "So, when's the rest of the team meeting us here?" I ask, tossing her notebook back.
"About an hour. You know Cat and mountain areas." Lara says, a small smile on her face.
"Goddess, I am never climbing a mountain with her again." I say, sighing as I lean back, stretching my back.
"'Goddess', huh?" Lara asks, an amused tone in her voice. "Since when do you say 'Goddess' when annoyed?" She asks as I straighten up.
"Shut it, Croft." I tell her, rolling my eyes. "So, who's all supposed to be meeting us here? I'm hoping Cat's not alone?" I ask, grabbing one of the sandwiches we made for the trip.
"No, I wouldn't send Cat up here alone. Andre, Beck, and Robbie are coming with her. Hopefully keeping her from getting distracted by everything like usual." Lara explains, laughing at the end.
"Good." I says, standing up. "I'm going to check out these paintings. Maybe see what I can figure out." I tell her, heading for the wall behind me, where some form of ritual, by the looks of it, is painted along the walls.
"Please don't be another power transfer ritual." I hear Lara mumble as I head for the wall.
A little over an hour later, I hear a commotion near the entrance of the cave. Looking over, I see a young woman, a bit shorter than me, with dyed red hair run into the cave, three men around our age behind her. "Ooh, coffee." The redhead, our friend and companion Cat, says as she heads for my coffee.
"Cat. Do not touch my coffee. Understood?" I ask, not looking at her.
"Jade!" I hear. Looking behind me, I stumble as Cat tackle/hugs me, failing to pry her off. "Ooh, pretty paintings." She says, releasing me and admiring the wall.
"Who the hell gave her sugar?" I ask, leaving Cat by the wall and heading to the campsite.
"Robbie." Andre, a dark-skinned man a bit taller than me, and Beck, a lightly tanned man taller than all of us, say at the same time, pointing to a slightly scrawny man with a small afro and glasses, around Andre's height, behind them.
"I didn't know there was sugar in that." Robbie says in defense, sitting beside Lara for help.
"You didn't know this has sugar in it?" Andre asks, tossing me a candy bar, no sign of it being sugar free or anything.
"From now on, Andre's in charge of food." I say, glaring at Robbie. "Cat! Get over here." I say, making her jump.
"Kay kay." Cat says, running over to me.
We're in the cave for a few days, getting whatever we can documented, before we leave. It's a simple expedition, we've done them a few times before, but this was different. Every day, between three and four P.M., Cat would stare at the paintings, an awed look on her face.
"Cat, collect your things. We're heading out." I say, walking over to Cat. "What is with you and these paintings?" I ask her when she continues to stare at them, a serious look on her usually hyper face.
"The rebirth will be revealed soon." Cat says, her voice deeper, more serious, than I've ever thought possible from her. "You will witness the rise of the Star, and bask in her beauty." She says, turning around and heading for our cleaned up camp.
"What did you just say?" I ask, following her.
"When?" Cat asks, sounding like herself.
"Just now." I say, pointing back to the paintings.
"I said 'when'." Cat answers, confused as she collects her bag.
"Before that. When we were by the wall." I clarify, growling a bit.
"Nothing." Cat says, staring at me. "Last thing I said to you was 'What does this mean', about the quote over there." She says, pointing to the wall Lara was investigating when she and the others arrived days ago, genuinely confused.
"What the hell is going on here?" I ask, following Cat out of the cave to where Andre and the others have our gear set up to climb down the mountain, a forty to forty-five decline.
"She has been chosen." We hear behind me. Looking back, we see a brunette with skin as tanned as Beck's, her hair straight and down to her waist, with markings similar to some of the designs we saw in the cave on her arms and face, standing in the mouth of the cave.
"Chosen? For what?" Beck asks, staring at the woman.
"How did you get there without any of us seeing you?" I ask, staring at her.
"She has been chosen to bear witness to the future." The brunette says, staring at me. "And you will prove vital to my sister's rise." She says before turning and heading into the cave.
"What?" I say, staring at her.
"She looked familiar." I hear Lara say. Looking over, I see Lara going through her bag, pulling out a notebook that she draws in. "Jade, does this look like the woman we just saw?" She asks, showing me a picture she drew of a painting she found and copied.
"Exactly. Face, hair, body, markings. Everything matches perfectly." I say, looking at the drawing. "How is that possible?" I ask, looking back at the cave.
"I've learned a lot since my first expedition, and something like that isn't as hard to believe as I once thought." Lara says, putting the notebook away.
"What do you mean?" I ask, the others staring at us.
"You'll find out soon enough, I'm afraid." Lara says, getting her stuff ready to climb down the mountain.
And this is where I'm ending this. Any guesses as to who the woman at the end was? And who 'Star' was/is? Hints on both: they're sisters, and 'Star' is a hint of their last name. Easy to figure out, I'm guessing.
So, what does everyone think of this, and what do you think of the direction I went? I was originally going to have Tori be the Tomb Raider with Lara, not Jade, but I felt Jade would be a better match as a Tomb Raider and Lara's apprentice.
Thank you for reading, hope you review.
Blessed Be.
