Sasukec: Welcome to a new story based off of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune! This takes place about a day or two after the end of Drake's Fortune and continues onto about a week or so after. I thought it was kind of strange how they didn't say anything about how Nate, Elena, and Sully went their own ways. I always wondered how it was when they parted. So, here's that parting, along with an adventure with a French explorer, Jacques Cartier, and the "Kingdom Of Saguenay". I won't bore you, but long story short, this "Kingdom" is thought of as being mythical and fake. I hope you enjoy! :)
BTW, I do not own any of these characters, except for a few characters! Naughty Dog owns it all! xD
Another thing, this is told in Nate's POV :) He's smexy xD
I guess I'm never good at getting out of things. Sure as hell was good getting into things that I'd rather not. Can't say much rather than, what was I thinking? Or, why the hell did I say yes? Either way, it doesn't help complaining about it. Let's go down the list... Elena's most likely going to be dead within the next, oh, 5 minutes, Sully's disappeared, and Joven's going to be trigger happy when he sees even a hair on my head in his sight. Check, check, and check! I told her, told her, TOLD HER! But did she listen? No!
It's hard to think, just a week ago, everything was, more or less, normal...
"Yo, Sully! See that?! Land!"
I pointed in the direction of the happily sighted land.
"About Goddamned time!" Sully replied after a chuckle.
Sully started the engine up again, which startled me more than it really should have. I'm one hundred and fifty percent sure Elena saw my jump at the engine.
"Don't worry Nate, I won't let the big bad engine get you. You're safe with me!"
I rested my back on the rails of the boat and crossed my arms across my chest as we sped toward land, Elena's small mocking laugh still residing in me, although it'd already stopped.
"Oh no, help me Elena! I'm as frightened as you were when you first saw those pirates!"
I rolled my eyes as she crossed her arms on the railing and laid her head on top of them, watching the water speed by us. We both shared a gentle laugh over our childish jokes.
After a moment of silence – silence being defined as the engine rumbling and Sully talking to himself (at least we thought and hoped it was himself) about all the things he's going to do with his share of the gold – Elena spoke.
"So Nate, I guess we won't see each other much after we get home..."
Elena just had to bring up the truth we hated to accept. I didn't know what to say, so I just looked over to her, hoping maybe she'd continue onto something else, or tell me to disregard it. From last I saw, she now had her head lifted up from where it had rested before, but her arms remained crossed. Her blonde hair was still up in a messy ponytail and her face was still slightly dirty from a couple days ago.
There were times when I still felt bad about her getting dragged into the whole El Dorado mess. I mean, she was just a reporter doing her job. But, when she agreed to coming along, I shouldn't have let her come anyway. But, in any event, she was alive, and she helped us out a lot more than some could have or even would have.
As I continued to look at her, she seemed caught in her own words. I tried to lighten the sudden dim atmosphere around us.
"Why do you say that Elena? I mean, it's not like we'll never see each other again! We'll keep in touch... Promise." I let a reassuring smile delve its way onto my face. She looked back at me with a small smile across her face and nodded as her reply. After a moment of smiling at each other, she turned her attention back to the waters below us, still speeding by. I turned around and held my weight on my hands as I rested both of them on the railing, watching the water pass by as well.
Both Elena and I knew the cruel workings of life on relationships. Life tended to always get in the way of friendships such as ours. I wanted Elena more than a friend, but I knew it would be ridiculous. She didn't feel that way, so why should I? I gave it up after much thought, a day's worth, at least. She was just another girl who'd someday belong to someone else. It didn't feel like we were supposed to be together. Hell, I'm amazed we became friends throughout this.
"Goddammit! Nate! We're not making it to land just yet! The engine's dead!"
Sully's barking took me out of my train of thought. I then realized, as Sully had said, the engine cut out. I looked over at Sully who looked like he was going to blow a fuse any second. I couldn't believe what he was saying, I thought it was a joke.
"Oh, come on, Sully! Don't scare us like that! Joke's over!"
I chuckled for a moment only to realize, he was not kidding. I sighed as Elena, taking this completely seriously from the start, half ran, half walked, over to Sully. "It's alright though... Isn't it? We can just let the tide carry us in! Right?"
"I wouldn't be jumpin' and hollerin' if that was the case! Look down at the water... And which way is the tide going?"
Both Elena and I looked over the side of the boat only to realize the waters were carrying us the complete opposite way. Away from land.
"Yeah, great boat you picked, Sully! Real great!"
Sully's reply was almost automatic.
"It was the only thing around and what did you expect me to do?! Stuff the gold into my pockets and swim all that goddamned way to get you two?!"
"No," I replied a little acid sarcasm making its way through. "I wanted you to get a BETTER BOAT!"
I hadn't noticed, but Elena was trying to get our attention all the while Sully and I were bickering.
"Shut up! Do you guys see that?"
She pointed out where we just looked and off in the distance, there was a boat. We all turned to spot the boat, which, oddly enough, seemed to be heading our way. It seemed as if the driver knew we were in this predicament.
I leaned toward Sully and said, "Should we get their attention?"
As I waited for a reply, Sully just seemed to turn to look behind him at the spoils from our El Dorado mess. The gold Sully had so kindly collected for us was under a big blue tarp, hiding it from any possible prying eyes. I understood Sully's struggle with his answer. I, too, had trouble deciding what to do. Elena spoke up as the boat became clearer and clearer in the distance.
"We need to get their help, no matter what guys... We should see if we can trust them, first of all."
"People can lie, Elena..." I mumbled. "How do we know we can trust them?"
"What other choice do we have?" I looked over to Elena and she kept her face stern and concerned.
I sighed, feeling this might be a bad decision, and ran my hand through my dark brown hair, finally landing my hand around the back of my neck. I removed my hand from the back of my neck, then looked to Sully, shrugging slightly.
"She's right Sullivan... What other choice do we have?"
The boat was almost within ten feet from us. Sully made a quick snort and said, "Alright, but if we lose our gold, it's your hide on my debt, kid."
With all three of us agreed, I waved to the boat, which was in clear hearing range of us.
"Heeeeyyyy! Help us out!" I yelled almost at the top of my lungs.
As if the boat was already on course for us, it stopped a few feet away from us, its engine cut. Somehow I felt Sully tense at my side, and Elena was still just the same as ever. Did Sully and Elena switch personalities just then?
"Hello?" My voice carried out to the medium-sized red speed boat, and I waited for a reply. The driver's station was completely hidden, except for in the front windshield, so we couldn't tell who the driver was. Before I spoke again, an average height man walked out onto the small main deck. His hair was almost like mine, except a more blond. His face was evenly defined, smooth, with eyes the color of sapphires. He had a strong, but not overbearing, jaw and he was slim, with a slight build. Perhaps a slightly bigger build than my own. His skin was slightly tan. He wore a dark brown long-sleeved shirt with black jeans and black loafer shoes. His voice reminded me of a deep echo in small cave and his voice had a small French accent to it. "Can I help you?"
His eyes wandered between the three of us as he made mental assumptions about each of us. His eyes finally landed on Elena but only lingered for a moment before returning to me as I spoke.
"Uh, yeah! Our engine's out and we just need to reach shore! Could we hitch a ride back with you?"
The man's face went into a state of thought then into a warm, welcoming smile.
"Sure thing, strangers! Here..." He bent down and grabbed a rope that was right below him, then motioned for me to catch it. "Catch this! Tie that end to some latch on your boat, and I'll pull you over!"
He threw the rope – still holding one end while throwing the other to me – and I easily caught it and tied it to a small latch on our boat. He pulled the rope, seemingly with ease, and within moments, our boats were mere inches from touching. Before the man could speak again, Sully spoke up.
"Just to let you know, we've got some cargo that we're bringing in to a trader on this land here. Real valuable, and not ours. We're not supposed to uncover it for anyone and we need to know if we can trust you on this..."
Elena and I were grateful that Sully was the one who came up with a cover-up story for our gold. It was a half truth, totally reasonable, and believable enough. A smile widened its way back onto his face as he nodded.
"I understand fully Monsieur... I don't believe we've introduced ourselves! I am Joe Cartier," he laid on the accent with his last name. "And whom might you three be?"
"I'm Nate – Nathan Drake, this is Sully – Victor Sullivan, and Elena Fisher." I indicated who was who as I said their names. Joe looked at all of us as if we were humble guests at his house then said, "Well, come now! Let us get that cargo to dry land along with yourselves!
Sasukec: I'm thinking of ending this chap here buuuutttt.... I'm not sure :) So, if you want this chap to be a little longer or to just end here, see that little button right below here? It's called the "Review" button and it changes lives xD
If you want this chap to be a little longer, put in your review, "Longer". If you want it to end right here and start on chap 2, put in your review, "End". Let me know before January 1st 2010! :) Till then, Au revoir mon amis!