Lara watched as his body fell, a thin line of smoke wafted up from her
Uzi's as she put them back in their holsters, "Goodbye Pierre" she said
sadly, and turned to leave
"You didn't have a choice Lara" a voice comforted from behind
"No, I didn't" Lara replied, looking back at the voice's owner, a creature about six feet in length, the body of an elongated human and it's fur color that of bloody designs on sun-bleached bones, the creature's usual grimace was set down into a close mouthed frown, it's flat snout snarled up in worry
The creature made it's way to Lara's side, "We are not alone Lara, we have eachother"
Lara set a hand on the creature's flat topped skull, "That we do, Catalinria, but I need someone to help me solve this puzzle, and you cannot"
Catalinria looked down, "Only human hands can work the buttons, aye, but where are we to find another to help?"
Lara smirked, "I have an idea"...
Tad lay on his couch, eating a bowl of Cheerios and watching Judge Judy when all of a sudden, a bright light appeared before him, a silky voice called, "Oh Taddy boy, I've got work for you"
All of a sudden, Tad was standing on the edge of a huge drop, "AH!" he squeaked
"Welcome back old friend" Lara said
Tad glared at her, "I told you to call first" he said in an indignant voice, he was wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else, "These aren't exactly Raider clothes thank you"
"Feh, I have your old uniform" she smirked, throwing Tad a pair of baggy jeans, combat boots, a gun holster, and a bright orange tech vest, "Your guns are in the holster"
"Uzi's?"
"Like always" Lara grinned
"Good" Tad said sorely, taking the clothes and walking back into a dark cave, coming out dressed and examining one of his guns
"Just as you left them" Lara said
Tad shot her an unhappy look, "So what's goin on EEK!" he aimed at something behind Lara, "GET DOWN! IT'S A CRAWLER!"
"NO!" Lara stepped in front of Catalinria, "She's a Raider"
"But...." Tad put his Uzi in the holster, "I thought Atlanteans were bad news"
"Only when controlled by Jackline Natla, I've had no problems out of them, nor the mummies from Egypt, since she was destroyed, they can even talk"
"Well then what do you need me for?" Tad asked
"Hey! Stop acting like you don't enjoy doing this" Lara spat at him
"Well...I was eating breakfast" Tad muttered
Lara snorted, "Well let's finish this puzzle cowboy and you can get back to your Lucky Charms" she walked off
"It was Cheerios" Tad argued, following her and keeping a weary eye on Catalinria as she turned to follow them
Catalinria smiled up at Tad, "I'm daughter of my people's Captain of the Gaurd you know" she said
"Lara! It's talking to me" Tad whined
"Of course, she is helping us complete this quest, so shut up and treat her like a person" Lara called back
Tad pulled himself up onto a ledge, Catalinria croutched down and leaped up over Tad's head, catching a crack in the wall and climbing up past Lara. "Hmph" Tad said thoughtfully, "They couldn't even get up on three feet rises just a year ago"
"I was a baby when that age happened, father made the women and children stay inside that day, he knew something was wrong"
"Is he still alive?" Tad asked
"Aye, barely, that is what we are doing"
"What are we doing exactly?" Tad asked
"You're helping us get a cure for my father's condition" Catalinria snorted, "From the black atlanteans, Keepers Of The Dark"
"Well if they live here then I see why they call them that" Tad said, looking around
"Yes well, it is very dark, but the point is, we need another human to help with this puzzle, and you'll be staying after as well, Blacks don't accept humans quite as readily, nor do they like Reds much"
"So why are we going to see them?" Tad asked annoyed
"To cure my father! He may not be important to you but he's important to an entire colony of peace loving atlanteans, and more important still to me!" Catalinria said, her song like voice turning over in a sob
Lara glared at Tad, "What?!" he demanded, "She's just an animal, and so is he, let me go home!"
Lara shot into the ground next to Tad a peice of rock flew up and imbeded itself in his leg, "AH! LARA YOU'RE CRAZY!"
"Perhaps" Lara smirked, "Come along Catalinria" and she crawled through a small crack in the wall
Tad limped after her, blood pouring from his knee, "I'll get you Lara Croft" he muttered aimlessly, "I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!" he realized what he had said was wrong, and therefore decided to redeem himself with alittle charming humor
Lara giggled, "Shut up, I'm not supposed to be happy with you, I'm angry, angry!"
Tad whined loudly, "Lara! Come back and kiss my knee!" and crawled up into the crack after her, "It huuuurts!"
"It's supposed to!" Lara called back
Suddenly, Tad stopped, a loud shreik sounded behind him, a shove from his side sent him out of the hole and over the large cliff, "LARA!"
"TAD!" she screamed
He plunged into freezing cold water, his head hit a rock making a loud cracking noise, he fell unconsciouss and was swept away by the current. Lara's cries fell on deaf ears, Catalinria dove into the water and found Tad, dragging him up by the collar of his vest, Blue, White and Green Atlanteans are excellent swimmers but Reds, Blacks, and Yellows have trouble with the water, Catalinria was struggling just to keep her head up, soon, she was able to get into shallow water and drag Tad to shore, sputtering and coughing. Catalinria went to reviving Tad while Lara wrestled with the creature that had shoved Tad, it moved and looked like a Shadow, but Lara knew perfectly well what it was, "Black filth" she spat
"What do you want here?"
"A cure for an illness, nothing more, nothing less, council with a healer about Captain Bard"
"Bard" the creature echoed, "He did this to me" she said, turning her face and revealing a deep healing scar
"Wow, during the war?" Lara enquired
"Aye, I deserved it, I shall take you to the Queen, the King is currently in the snow lands, conversing with the White King" she turned, "I'll send another healer to your friends, now come with me"
Lara nodded and followed, soon the small cavern opened up into a huge chamber, dimly lit and full of moving shadows, Lara smiled with geniune warmth as two horsemen "children" ran by giggling and chasing eachother, "I'm so glad to see the community getting back on its feet" she said
"Aye" the creature agreed, "Oh, this is my daughter, Shadowfang" she said as a small creature crawled up Lara's leg
"Ah, hello little one" she said, picking up the creature that had tiny fur covered wings, "Your mate is a flyer?" Lara asked
"Aye, a red flyer" she replied
"Red? Odd" Lara said
"I know, we don't usually mix colors it' just....well I love him, you understand"
"What's his name?"
"How rude of me, his name is Drab, my name is Darklight" she said
"Aye, Bard's flying brother" Lara smiled, "The colony shall rejoice to know him not dead"
"Well I hope they shall welcome his wife and daughter back with him, I am not staying here" Darklight said, "This place is cold to me now, they don't want me to stay, that's why I have sentry duty, and as soon as Drab's wounds are healed, I will go with him to Atlantis"
"Well, perhaps he can go with us, we have an extra human for carrying" Lara smiled
"I thank you Miss Croft" Darklight said, "Now, for that healer, AIDON!"
Suddenly, a jet black Horseman galloped up, "Aye?"
"There are two on the West bank that need healing, go to it"
"Aye" Aidon said, galloping off
"Now, for your cure" she said, leading Lara down a dark passage way that gave way to an even larger chamber,
"Your majesty, Lara Croft has come for a cure to Bard the Red's illness"
"What is his illness" an almost scarily beautiful voice replied
"We think it's an Atlantean form of Human Cancer"
"The Red sickness, by definition, is cancer" the voice said, "I have the cure, it comes at a price"
"What price?"
"A bit of help with one of my sons" she replied, "He's a flyer but he doesn't know much about fighting, may he return with you on your quest? Then I have a quest for you to complete with him as well"
"Yes your majesty" Lara confirmed, "I too am sort of training a young Atlantean"
"Ah, good, well, I have written down the quest, it is in the satchel with your cure, I will call my son" the Queen said, tossing Lara a leather pouch
The Queen's loud sharp shout made Lara jump, another less sharp answered, and soon a young flying black male landed near Lara, "Yes mother?"
"I want you to go with this woman and help her with our quests, can you handle it?"
"Aye" he replied
"This is my son, Deepcave, I hope he serves you well, now, you are dismissed" the Queen said
"Yes" Lara said, "And thank you"
It only took an hour to gather Drab, Darklight, Shadowfang, Catalinria, Tad, and Deepcave and then they were off, to complete the Red King's Quest.
"You didn't have a choice Lara" a voice comforted from behind
"No, I didn't" Lara replied, looking back at the voice's owner, a creature about six feet in length, the body of an elongated human and it's fur color that of bloody designs on sun-bleached bones, the creature's usual grimace was set down into a close mouthed frown, it's flat snout snarled up in worry
The creature made it's way to Lara's side, "We are not alone Lara, we have eachother"
Lara set a hand on the creature's flat topped skull, "That we do, Catalinria, but I need someone to help me solve this puzzle, and you cannot"
Catalinria looked down, "Only human hands can work the buttons, aye, but where are we to find another to help?"
Lara smirked, "I have an idea"...
Tad lay on his couch, eating a bowl of Cheerios and watching Judge Judy when all of a sudden, a bright light appeared before him, a silky voice called, "Oh Taddy boy, I've got work for you"
All of a sudden, Tad was standing on the edge of a huge drop, "AH!" he squeaked
"Welcome back old friend" Lara said
Tad glared at her, "I told you to call first" he said in an indignant voice, he was wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else, "These aren't exactly Raider clothes thank you"
"Feh, I have your old uniform" she smirked, throwing Tad a pair of baggy jeans, combat boots, a gun holster, and a bright orange tech vest, "Your guns are in the holster"
"Uzi's?"
"Like always" Lara grinned
"Good" Tad said sorely, taking the clothes and walking back into a dark cave, coming out dressed and examining one of his guns
"Just as you left them" Lara said
Tad shot her an unhappy look, "So what's goin on EEK!" he aimed at something behind Lara, "GET DOWN! IT'S A CRAWLER!"
"NO!" Lara stepped in front of Catalinria, "She's a Raider"
"But...." Tad put his Uzi in the holster, "I thought Atlanteans were bad news"
"Only when controlled by Jackline Natla, I've had no problems out of them, nor the mummies from Egypt, since she was destroyed, they can even talk"
"Well then what do you need me for?" Tad asked
"Hey! Stop acting like you don't enjoy doing this" Lara spat at him
"Well...I was eating breakfast" Tad muttered
Lara snorted, "Well let's finish this puzzle cowboy and you can get back to your Lucky Charms" she walked off
"It was Cheerios" Tad argued, following her and keeping a weary eye on Catalinria as she turned to follow them
Catalinria smiled up at Tad, "I'm daughter of my people's Captain of the Gaurd you know" she said
"Lara! It's talking to me" Tad whined
"Of course, she is helping us complete this quest, so shut up and treat her like a person" Lara called back
Tad pulled himself up onto a ledge, Catalinria croutched down and leaped up over Tad's head, catching a crack in the wall and climbing up past Lara. "Hmph" Tad said thoughtfully, "They couldn't even get up on three feet rises just a year ago"
"I was a baby when that age happened, father made the women and children stay inside that day, he knew something was wrong"
"Is he still alive?" Tad asked
"Aye, barely, that is what we are doing"
"What are we doing exactly?" Tad asked
"You're helping us get a cure for my father's condition" Catalinria snorted, "From the black atlanteans, Keepers Of The Dark"
"Well if they live here then I see why they call them that" Tad said, looking around
"Yes well, it is very dark, but the point is, we need another human to help with this puzzle, and you'll be staying after as well, Blacks don't accept humans quite as readily, nor do they like Reds much"
"So why are we going to see them?" Tad asked annoyed
"To cure my father! He may not be important to you but he's important to an entire colony of peace loving atlanteans, and more important still to me!" Catalinria said, her song like voice turning over in a sob
Lara glared at Tad, "What?!" he demanded, "She's just an animal, and so is he, let me go home!"
Lara shot into the ground next to Tad a peice of rock flew up and imbeded itself in his leg, "AH! LARA YOU'RE CRAZY!"
"Perhaps" Lara smirked, "Come along Catalinria" and she crawled through a small crack in the wall
Tad limped after her, blood pouring from his knee, "I'll get you Lara Croft" he muttered aimlessly, "I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!" he realized what he had said was wrong, and therefore decided to redeem himself with alittle charming humor
Lara giggled, "Shut up, I'm not supposed to be happy with you, I'm angry, angry!"
Tad whined loudly, "Lara! Come back and kiss my knee!" and crawled up into the crack after her, "It huuuurts!"
"It's supposed to!" Lara called back
Suddenly, Tad stopped, a loud shreik sounded behind him, a shove from his side sent him out of the hole and over the large cliff, "LARA!"
"TAD!" she screamed
He plunged into freezing cold water, his head hit a rock making a loud cracking noise, he fell unconsciouss and was swept away by the current. Lara's cries fell on deaf ears, Catalinria dove into the water and found Tad, dragging him up by the collar of his vest, Blue, White and Green Atlanteans are excellent swimmers but Reds, Blacks, and Yellows have trouble with the water, Catalinria was struggling just to keep her head up, soon, she was able to get into shallow water and drag Tad to shore, sputtering and coughing. Catalinria went to reviving Tad while Lara wrestled with the creature that had shoved Tad, it moved and looked like a Shadow, but Lara knew perfectly well what it was, "Black filth" she spat
"What do you want here?"
"A cure for an illness, nothing more, nothing less, council with a healer about Captain Bard"
"Bard" the creature echoed, "He did this to me" she said, turning her face and revealing a deep healing scar
"Wow, during the war?" Lara enquired
"Aye, I deserved it, I shall take you to the Queen, the King is currently in the snow lands, conversing with the White King" she turned, "I'll send another healer to your friends, now come with me"
Lara nodded and followed, soon the small cavern opened up into a huge chamber, dimly lit and full of moving shadows, Lara smiled with geniune warmth as two horsemen "children" ran by giggling and chasing eachother, "I'm so glad to see the community getting back on its feet" she said
"Aye" the creature agreed, "Oh, this is my daughter, Shadowfang" she said as a small creature crawled up Lara's leg
"Ah, hello little one" she said, picking up the creature that had tiny fur covered wings, "Your mate is a flyer?" Lara asked
"Aye, a red flyer" she replied
"Red? Odd" Lara said
"I know, we don't usually mix colors it' just....well I love him, you understand"
"What's his name?"
"How rude of me, his name is Drab, my name is Darklight" she said
"Aye, Bard's flying brother" Lara smiled, "The colony shall rejoice to know him not dead"
"Well I hope they shall welcome his wife and daughter back with him, I am not staying here" Darklight said, "This place is cold to me now, they don't want me to stay, that's why I have sentry duty, and as soon as Drab's wounds are healed, I will go with him to Atlantis"
"Well, perhaps he can go with us, we have an extra human for carrying" Lara smiled
"I thank you Miss Croft" Darklight said, "Now, for that healer, AIDON!"
Suddenly, a jet black Horseman galloped up, "Aye?"
"There are two on the West bank that need healing, go to it"
"Aye" Aidon said, galloping off
"Now, for your cure" she said, leading Lara down a dark passage way that gave way to an even larger chamber,
"Your majesty, Lara Croft has come for a cure to Bard the Red's illness"
"What is his illness" an almost scarily beautiful voice replied
"We think it's an Atlantean form of Human Cancer"
"The Red sickness, by definition, is cancer" the voice said, "I have the cure, it comes at a price"
"What price?"
"A bit of help with one of my sons" she replied, "He's a flyer but he doesn't know much about fighting, may he return with you on your quest? Then I have a quest for you to complete with him as well"
"Yes your majesty" Lara confirmed, "I too am sort of training a young Atlantean"
"Ah, good, well, I have written down the quest, it is in the satchel with your cure, I will call my son" the Queen said, tossing Lara a leather pouch
The Queen's loud sharp shout made Lara jump, another less sharp answered, and soon a young flying black male landed near Lara, "Yes mother?"
"I want you to go with this woman and help her with our quests, can you handle it?"
"Aye" he replied
"This is my son, Deepcave, I hope he serves you well, now, you are dismissed" the Queen said
"Yes" Lara said, "And thank you"
It only took an hour to gather Drab, Darklight, Shadowfang, Catalinria, Tad, and Deepcave and then they were off, to complete the Red King's Quest.