-Jan. 28, 2004 -Shinobi of Darkness
Amara Kaplan becomes a Tomb Raider. Lara Croft is up against the feisty Kaplan in a race to track down Louis Bouchard who fled to the Temple of Horus. Trapped in the ruins of the temple, an unexpected visitor enters with means of terminating the tomb raiders' lives. It's a race against time, Bouchard, and the menace to get the seven ancient items. Only one person will leave alive. The question is: which tomb raider?
[A/N: First attempt at a Tomb Raider Fic. First chapter is usually the worst. But chapters become better…with time.]
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"Hullo, Kap."
"Who is this?" Gray optics turned from the receiver to glance around the living room. She waited on a response from the other end as she draped the damp towel over her right shoulder. Clad by her workout attire, droplets of sweat fell from lengthy sable tresses and spotted the already dampened gray tank top. She reached over a stack of books and claimed the cordless' base only to read Unknown as the caller's name and address.
"Nice work you've done meddling in my affairs. You: a Tomb Raid'r. I couldn't imagine." Answered a British woman. Amara replaced the base near the stack of books on the wooden table.
"What do you want, Croft?" Amara braced the phone to her ear and supported it with her shoulder as she reached over to claim the notebook from the drawer of the small table near the copper-toned bookshelf. She picked up a pen, turned a few pages and began to jot down a bit of information about her caller.
"Ah, so you know who this is." The voice paused as if collecting some thoughts. "Then I'll give you fair warning. Appear at the next rendezvous and you won't leave. …If it weren't for Trent you wouldn't have made it out the last time."
"Ah, Kurtis. For that, I must personally thank him. We'll see about my demise late'r, Croft." She said, mocking the tomb raider's accent. She listened to the grunt and sigh on the other end. Amara switched the phone to her other ear. "Tell me, what's the deal with Bouchard and his boys?"
Croft hesitated. Amara could hear her draw in a breath.
"Bouchard?" Laura repeated stiffly.
"Yeah, Louis Bouchard. You know who I'm talking about." She frowned, writing down Bouchard's name under Croft's. "What's his dealings? Is he still in France?"
"Hmph. Bouchard left after the heist in the Louvre. I never did catch up with that bastard." She paused, bringing in a bitter tone. "And he'd better hope we don't meet up late'r, either."
Amara raised a brow at Lara's tone. "Seems like he double-crossed you."
"More like slit my throat and threw me in the gutt'r. He's double-crossed me for the last time."
"Hm."
"What about you? Why are you looking for him? I thought you two didn't do too well together. I read about how you lost the art pieces after the break in." Amara slammed her pen down on her notebook.
"Lost? Bouchard stole them! And right around the time you were letting Kurtis frisk you."
Lara grunted. "I was… distracted. A minor set back. Trent's gone now, anyway."
"Hm. But not forgotten, I see."
"Don't start, Kap."
"I never intended to. Anyway, Louis and his boys took the paintings and bailed."
"And the Monstrum?"
"Caught."
"Sounds like a double-dealing with the both of us. I bet you don't have a clue to where Bouchard went."
"But I know you do." Amara answered back. Lara didn't reply. The silence between them thickened and Amara huffed. "I see. Not going to allude me, are you?"
"Of course not, Kap. I have my own scores to set'le with Bouchard and his working rejects."
"Don't we all?" Amara feigned a sigh.
"Kaplan." Lara paused, switching the phone to her other ear. She glanced over to the foyer's entrance, seeing Winston slowly advance to her sitting room. "I don't want you going after my painting. You aren't cut out for this."
"Never said I was. And why? Afraid of a challenge, Croft?" Amara smirked. "… Explains why you let Bouchard take off with my paintings."
"What do you mean?"
"You and Bouchard, Croft. The Louvre: the break in, the gas. Kurtis. Letting yourself get distracted caused Bouchard to escape with the paintings I entrusted you with. And Kurtis—"
"You're bringing Trent back into this?"
"He's the cause of it, love." Amara scowled. "You're always falling for some man that jumps at your prize. The man has foresight, Croft. I believe he'd know if he were to die or not. I blame you for my failure."
Lara laughed in disbelief. "You blame me?"
"Yes."
"Where were you when Bouchard was leaving with the paintings?"
"Handling what was supposed to be your work." Kaplan moved across the room to leave it. She found herself in the kitchen, reaching for the fridge.
"This is ridiculous…" Lara scoffed, bringing her braid about her left shoulder. "You know I can always catch up with Bouchard if I wanted. That bastard can't run forever. And there aren't a lot of places he can hide in France. For a bit o'money, anyone will talk."
"Lara." Kaplan groaned, closing the fridge's door after removing a bottle of orange juice. She reached for a glass and began to pour.
Lara sat forward in her leather chair. "Lara, nothing. I can always get that painting back."
"Paintings, Croft. The five I worked for."
"While I was attending to Kurtis, right?" Lara mocked.
"You know it." Kaplan sipped at her juice then turned to replace the bottle in the fridge.
"You want those paintings back from Bouchard, Kap?"
"You're damn right I do." Kaplan answered as she sat on a kitchen stool.
"Good. Because you'll have to get them from me once I take them."
"I think I'll have to flag you on that one, because your hands will never touch those paintings. I'll get to Bouchard before you."
"How? You don't even know where he is!"
"But I know someone who does."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"And who would that be?"
"You."
"Me?"
"You are going to tell me where he is—or should I say, where he's going."
"So you heard about my travel plans…"
"And the objective too. All I need to know is where and I'm out of here in the morning. " She took another sip of her orange juice.
"Who sold me out?—Just a sec." Lara paused. Kaplan listened as Lara's voice became muffled, probably due to her hand covering the end of the phone. She could hear Lara order her butler, Winston, to retrieve her twin magnums, magnum clips, shotgun and shells, flares and medipaks, and bandages from the secret wall unit in her master bedroom. Lara returned to the phone. "Who talked?"
"Your good friend, Luddick, of course."
"Damn. You can never trust a Frenchman."
"Nor an Englishwoman in business." Amara replied. Lara hmphed. "Don't worry. He won't be printing it in the papers. We came to an…. agreement of sorts."
"You aren't going to him, are you?"
"No. I'd never kill a struggling journalist. A politician, maybe."
"I shouldn't be giving you anything."
"But you owe me, so it's only right." Amara said, leaning her back against the kitchen counter. She tapped her foot against the rod of the stool and looked over to the backyard that graced her kitchen's sliding doors. Her backyard stretched as far as her eyes could see and what she saw was the moon's reflection against the beach. A nice night, she thought. She could hear the sound of a zipper on the other end, followed by the rummaging of a bag. Lara's gasp of excitement brought back her attention.
"Kap, I have Von Croy's notebook. The one about Nephilium."
"uh huh…"
"Although it talked about the shards that were needed to defeat Eckhardt, it mentions a staff and an amulet that belonged to a bedouin shaman." Lara paused in thought, contemplating whether or not she should give the next bit of information. "It's supposedly at the Temple of Horus."
"Your last tomb?" Amara mumbled. "You were supposedly buried alive."
"Supposedly." Lara stiffened.
"Von Croy left you there to die, Croft." Lara detected a bit of hostility in her tone.
"I forgave him, but it was too late of a forgiveness."
"I know. How did you escape the temple—"
"Don't worry about that. Bouchard is on his way to find the Amulet, if not the staff."
"Hm. …back to Edfu, Egypt, I suppose."
"Yes."
"Bring back memories, Croft?"
"It always does, Kaplan. And I don't even want to think about what happened the last time."
"Was it the Shaman who saved you or another one of your love interests? Mason, I presume?"
"This again...?" Lara groaned, rolling her eyes. She whispered a "thanks." to Winston as he set the tray of requested items beside her.
"C'mon, this is girl talk." Amara almost gave in to whining.
"It could have been the Shaman… or Kevin."
" Not a clear answer, Croft."
"Well that's all I will say."
Kaplan grunted. "Fine. First thing tomorrow morning, Edfu, Egypt."
"I'll be there. Remember what I told you, Kap."
"…I remember. I'm looking forward to watching you chase me to my death."
"Get in my way and it'd be more than a chase."
"Whatever."
"Night, luv."
"Ja mata ne."
"What?"
"Nevermind. Bye."
"Hm."
Disengaged from the telephone and the other, Amara tossed the cordless onto its base in the living room then retreated upstairs to her bedroom. She pushed open her bedroom door and followed inside. The first thing removed from her body was her tank top. Over her head, she tossed it into the dirty clothes hamper then followed into the bathroom with an attempt at her bra's clips. That was tossed into the hamper as well. She shimmied out of her trousers and laced panties and stepped into the already running, steamy shower.
[Only the first chapter. The others are coming. x.x]