I forgot to add a disclaimer in the last chapter: The crazy successful Tomb Raider and Uncharted Series do not belong to me. Only the story ideas are mine.
Chapter 2
Adrenaline surged through her body, thrumming with an almost pleasant sensation through her veins whispering, 'Choke him out, bash his face in.'
'Enemy.'
'Enemy.'
'You won't take me alive.'
'Shut up!' She shut out that part of her subconscious and willed her heartbeat to slow down. She did not notice the man below her notice the pause in her behavior, regardless of how brief.
"Uncle Vic?" Lara addressed the man below her a moment later.
"Goddamn, mini Croft! Looks like someone finally got some steel in them." The older man grinned up at her in spite of the dull throbbing in his gut.
"Jesus, Uncle." Lara sighed before easing off her old friend, "You know most normal people just walk up to people and say hi! Not stalk them through a college campus." She offered a hand to haul him up.
The middle aged man dusted himself off and shrugged at the comment, "Had to make sure."
"Of?"
"Well word on the street is that a certain crew made it back from an ancient kingdom." Victor "Sully" Sullivan shrugged as the two walked over to an available table,
"Heard most of the crew didn't make it." He watched as Lara flinched ever so slightly before picking up a book and flipping through the pages.
"Well the rumors are true." She managed a shrug, eyes never leaving the page, "The 'Lost Island of Yamatai'.Trust me when I say that it is NOTHING like what our texts depicted. Honestly Uncle, if you were still the treasure hunter I remember back in the day I think you'd have a-"
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." He interrupted.
"Wait, you're STILL treasure hunting." Lara commented with a slight tilt of the head.
"In a sense. Nothin' like what old Conrad got himself into, but you know." He shrugged easily, "Been mentoring somebody. Remember that boy I took in?"
Lara thought for a moment. Brief flashes of a dirty, proud young man being pushed through Croft manor by a younger Sully.
"He tried to steal my father's dagger!" Lara recalled with a smirk.
"Yeah, TRIED." Sully grimaced, remembering the mild beating the younger man went through at the hands of Lara's father.
"But yeah, what was his name again?" Lara mused aloud, "Some explorer I think, Cavendish? Cook?"
"Drake, Lara." Sully corrected, not at all surprised that she had forgotten about the little punk, "Nathan Drake."
"Oh yeah." She snapped her fingers, "Kept claiming he was the heir to Sir Francis Drake." She let out an inelegant snort, "What about him?"
"Well... see he's in trouble."
"The yakuza."
"Yep."
"And not just any gang in Japan, he had to pick a fight with the Yamaguchi-gumi."
"Could you be any louder, girl?" Sully grumbled as he was trying to cut up his steak. "But yeah. One of the most notorious." They were sitting in a restaurant a few blocks away from the library, just on the outskirts of the university. Lara glanced out the window, frowning at how late into the day it was getting. Sully dug into his steak while she casually stirred her Jasmine tea, idly watching how the tea bag dipped in and out of the hot water. 'Not as good as an Earl Grey, but it'll have to do.' She waited until he finished chewing before she asked,
"So what exactly did he steal from them?"
"Volume." He growled in between chews, "The... group has a huge number of followers. You never know who's listening." That comment sent Lara's sensing blaring, suddenly shifting her eyes to every patron in the admittedly small restaurant, scanning the walls for potential exits.
"Easy, easy." She gripped her spoon- with five different ways to use it already thought up- with more force than necessary when she felt his foot gently nudge hers, "That wasn't meant to scare you."
"I'm not scared." This time it was Lara's turn to growl, "I'm just...cautious. I shouldn't have let my guard down for so long." She said apologetically. Sully in response stared at her, eyebrows furrowed.
"Damn..." He mumbled, and Lara suddenly felt uncomfortable under his gaze.
"Just," Lara sighed as she let her utensil clatter against the table, "What can I do for Nathan?"
"I'll contact you when I need you. I need to find out just where they're hiding him."
Lara nodded and sipped her tea, eyes still scanning their environment.
"And," Sully interrupted the silence, "I wanted to check on you." He gingerly placed his hand over hers,
"Conrad was like a brother to me, and by that logic you're as much my blood as he was." His eyes softened by a fraction. "You don't have to tell me what the hell happened on that island, but I'll listen to whatever you want to say."
Lara offered a forced smile, "Thanks Uncle." He grinned before he leaned back in his chair,
"Huh." The older man glanced at his watch, " Didn't you say you have to be somewhere?"
With wide eyes, she checked her phone. Just then her phone was lit up with a number of texts,
Sweetie, are you on your way?
I know you like to keep your head in books, but you gotta start heading back to the flat gurl!
Lara? Laaarrrraaaa?
Damn are you not getting these? Text back hoe!
Seriously reyes is about to flip her shit, get over here soon!
Lara, I swear if you're the reason I won't be seeing Alisha on time, I WILL beat the hell out of you. You have five minutes
That last one was from Reyes. Apparently received a five minutes ago.
"Shit." Lara cursed, "Sorry Uncle, I gotta go. This place must have bad reception or something. You got the bill?" She did not leave with much room to answer as she was already out the door.
He chuckled as she barreled out the door, "Later, mini Croft." As he stuffed the cell phone jammer back into his pocket and continued on with his meal.
Lara darted her head back and forth across the busy street. Not a single cab in sight.
"Dammit." She growled as she took off down the street in the direction of the shared flat. With a natural ease, Lara navigated through the masses of people; ducking, sidestepping, even jumping over obstacles as she kept up her brisk pace. Even as her phone rang, she managed to riffle her phone out of her pocket and press it to her shoulder blade all without breaking stride,
"On my way."
"Where have you been?!" She heard Sam complain on the other end, "You don't have to be the one to handle Reyes after she's all pumped from shooting the shit out of stuff." Lara heard a rustle of fabric and raised voices on the other end before,
"Lara." She rolled her eyes at the hard edge of the voice on the other end,
"Reyes." Lara mimicked as she gently pushed people aside, "Sorry I'm running late but I-"
"Are you safe?" Lara huffed in response,
"I'm fine Reyes, just lost track of time." She heard Reyes sigh on the other side and could practically see the older woman rubbing the bridge of her nose, counting down to ten like her therapist had told her to do,
"Did you run into anyone? You're normally not late."
"I ran into Uncle Vic." Lara responded as she crossed a street, managing to leap over the hood of a car just as the owner slammed their brakes upon seeing her.
"Uncle Vic?" Reyes drawled, " Uncle- Shit. It's goddamn Sully."
"Yeah?" Lara waved in apology as the driver honked in irritation. 'Almost there.'
"Listen, just. Get your ass over here! Jonah's changing the flight now; never understood the damn railways here so I'm not making the 6 o' clock flight. But you not being here is another minute we're not on the road!"
"Here." Lara called just as she hung up and entered the flat.
"And not a minute too soon." Jonah sighed in relief, "I just changed the flight, but we still have to move if we plan on making it to the Kensei-line on time." Jonah handed Lara a heavy briefcase and a duffel bag. Lara stumbled slightly not expecting the weight.
"Got some souvenirs for Alisha." Reyes smirked, "You're late, you carry the bags."
"Barmy old woman." Lara mumbled as she lugged the bags to the car waiting outside. 'Even if I was on time we'd still be running late.'
"What was that, sweetie?" Reyes called with a smug smile.
"Nothing." Lara smirked, "Mum."
"Shotgun!" Lara chimed, jumping into the passenger seat before a shocked Reyes could say a word.
"Why are you doing this, Mathias?!" Lara pleaded as the madman held Sam hostage, arrow at the ready.
"Do you think that you're the hero, Lara?" Mathias questioned instead, a mad glint in his eyes. He tightened his grip on the struggling woman, "Everything I've done I did to survive!" He spat.
Lara was only half paying attention, 'Shit, I can't get a clear shot with this wind.' The last of her ammunition was wasted on the army of undead Samurai she had faced previously. Her jerry-rigged shotgun and rifle having finally fell apart to exploding arrows and razor sharp blades.
"How many lives have you taken to do the same?!" Suddenly, the ghostly figures of the men she had slain appeared behind the cultist. The three Russians, the nameless men who cried out for their brothers right before they fell,the scavengers on board the Endurance... Grimm...Alex 'Wait, what?' Lara gasped. The former members of the S.S Endurance looked back at her with impassive expressions; Steph, Reyes, Jonah. 'Wait, that's not right.' Lara dropped from her stance, 'Reyes and Jonah are alive. I heard them on the radio just a few minutes ago!'
NO ONE ESCAPES
"There are no heroes here." A gentle hand was placed on her bow. Lara glanced back in horror, "Roth!"
But the specter paid her no heed, positioning her body back into position. Lara struggled, but the figure remained strong.
"There are no heroes here." Roth whispered into her ear. He took aim for Mathias.
"Roth, please!" Lara begged, unable to move her body.
Roth made her let loose the arrow, making a beeline straight towards a terrified Sam,
"Only survivors."
Lara jolted awake, a light sweat visible on her skin. She quickly took in her surroundings. She was in a cabin on the train. 'It was just a dream.' Lara sighed, not realizing the white-knuckled grip she had on the arm rests, 'Just a dream.'
"Lara?" The Brit's head snapped to the seat next to her. Sam was looking at her, earphones that were once in her ears hastily removed. She placed a tentative hand on her friend's shaking ones, slowly uncurling the digits so that blood could circulate back into them.
Sam did not say a word, merely massaging feeling back into her friend's hand while she waited for Lara to stop shaking.
"They haven't been that graphic in a while." Lara finally managed once she had calmed down, "And it wasn't a memory this time. It was twisted." She frowned, the dream already fading away into her subconscious, leaving only a feeling of fear and anxiety in it's wake.
"God, it felt so real." She glanced out the window. It was silent in the cabin for a while, with both girls trying to hide their distress from the other. Trying to keep the other from worrying.
"Let's get you out of this cabin, ok?" Sam finally offered once the train slowed, signaling an end to their ride.
After a moment, Lara agreed. The walk was undisturbed, a rarity in the normally hectic rail system. Quiet, too...
Sensing something was wrong, Sam and Lara shared a glance before moving quickly exiting the train. The station itself was a mess of people running back and forth, some crying, and even more angrily talking to someone over their phone. Forcing down the rising panic, Lara surged forward, now trying to find her two friends. With some heavy pushing, Lara and Sam managed to creep up the steps and make it to the surface.
Searching, Sam pointed out a familiar broad back from the top of the crowd.
"Jonah!" Lara breathed in relief, but that relief was short lived.
In the distance, where dozens of other terrified citizens were looking to, they saw a plane drop down from the sky in a heap of burning metal.
So that just happened. Anyways, it seems like it's unanimous! *throws out ideas for the three-shot* Time to make this a full blown story! Alright, due to scheduling I think I should be able to update this story once a week! Here's hoping I keep up with it! *crosses fingers* I've got great ideas for this, so stay tuned!
~G-R
