Rated PG-13 - Violence, language & adult situations
Action/Adventure • Drama
This story takes place before Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness and after Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation.
CHAPTER TWO: THE ISLAND OF GAVDOS
"Two days later"
The seawater was a crisp, clear blue that matched Serena's eyes. She had little choice but to swim from the boat to the shore since there were no places to dock. The warm ocean water felt wonderful to her and the ocean color was simply breathtaking but it was not time for sight seeing. Tuna and sea turtles were swimming in the deeper part of the sea and as she swam towards the shore saw fewer and fewer fauna. She could see some jellyfish, they were translucent in color and seemed to be move in the water like ghosts.
As she swam towards shore she could hear the boat that brought her to the island, leave. She was glad to be left alone, the unwanted and unwelcome gazes from the men on the boat had made her uncomfortable but she didn't let them know that it did. She was very beautiful, tall and slender with an athletic build due to the amount of "exercise" she was constantly getting from her adventures.
She tossed her gear onto the beach and took a deep breath. The wild thyme that grew on the island hung in the air like perfume, which she breathed in deeply. Several ketro trees grew on the edge of the beach to her left while on her right pinus trees grew. Numerous bushes also lined the sandy, white beach.
Serena unpacked her gear and began going over them to make sure she had everything. She was on her own now, which was fine for her, but she had to make sure nothing was left behind or worse stolen by any one of the men that was on the boat.
"Flares... rope... pick ax... binoculars with night vision... .32 caliber guns with two boxes of ammo... a crowbar... compass... a medi-kit.... tent... sleeping bag... but where's the maps? Looks like I was right, someone has been going through my gear," she said aloud to herself as she noticed half of her gear including her food was missing. The good thing was that who ever had gone through her stuff didn't take her guns. "Lara would be displeased with me," she sighed.
'At no time should you leave your gear unattended. You'll never know when someone will decide what's yours is theirs.' Lara Croft's advice rang in her ears. 'Serena, what we do is dangerous and we need to remember that our gear is our lifeline.' Her worded rung more true to her then right then.
"Lara, I do miss you," Serena said as she remembered her mentor and dearest friend. "I do hope Von Croy is right and you're alive." Lara had been rumored to have been killed in Egypt while chasing Werner Von Croy and now the 'good' doctor was leading an expedition in trying to find Lara or at least recover her body from the tomb that had collapsed on the woman. Serena had doubts of the man, Lara had told her of her own adventure with Von Croy as a teenage girl and knowing what she did of him left Serena to wonder if he was truly sincere in finding Lara Croft or if there was something else going on.
Serena looked around her environment, just as she expected the area was deserted. She pulled out a pair of gold-rimmed sunglasses and placed it on her face. The dark shades matched her slender round face. She then picked up her gun holster from her gear bag and strapped them on. She pulled out a small towel from the gear bag and dried out her long, wet hair that she promptly re-braided. When that was done she picked up her gear bag and reloaded her remaining equipment and began her trek inland.
Her journey wouldn't take long since the island was small and she was close to the location where the cave entrance was located. Her clothes were still wet from the swim but since it was such a hot day she didn't bother changing them. The wet tank shirt clung to her body as did the short khaki shorts she wore. As she hiked to the cave entrance she recalled her conversation with Jed Knight's personal secretary, Raye Hino.
"Here are the maps you need Ms. Tsukino," the tall and slender woman said to Serena as she placed several large detailed maps on a metal table.
"Thank-you Miss Hino," she replied and she began to go over the maps. "What can you tell me about the island?"
"Mr. Knight has told you pretty much everything it is you need to know. As he said, pirates once inhabited the island. No doubt there will be left over traps set by them. Exactly where the traps are located, we don't know. We do know that they are deadly as several of our men were killed by various means."
"Like?"
"Rolling boulders trigged by ropes, stakes popping out of the ground, various trip wires setting off various traps. Pits filled with venomous snakes, pits filled with more stakes. The men who died did so quickly but painfully."
Serena nodded as she continued to go over the maps. There was something unsettling about Jed Knight and his secretary but she just couldn't place it.
She walked through a dry riverbed, lined with more wild thyme plants. She continued to walk along the dry riverbed until she came to edge of a cliff. She recalled from the map that there was a slope and at the bottom of the slope was the cave entrance. Serena looked around and spotted the slope where she promptly slid down.
At the bottom of the slope was a cave opening hidden by overgrown vines. Serena reached into her pocket and fished out a Swiss Army knife that she used to cut down some of the vines. The cave was dark and dank. She reached back into her backpack and pulled out a flashlight and a flare. She pressed the button on the flashlight and found that it didn't illuminate the cave as much as she wanted so she snapped the flare in the middle and it came to life. Tossing it as far into the cave as she could she saw that the cave had many stalagmites. She carefully looked for any booby-traps but saw none. Cautiously she entered the cave, wary of her movements.
She carefully listened to the sounds from the caves. She could make out the sounds of dripping water. Gingerly she entered the cave looking for any hidden traps. She flashed her flashlight against the cave walls looking for openings. The cave was large and dank. Monkey pee, moss, and wet dirt mixed together and the air was stagnant. Coughing she continued to walk deeper into the cave, one hand on the flashlight, the other on her gun's holster.
Several minutes passed and she stopped to look back at the cave opening. It was small with a pin drop of light. If she didn't have her flashlight or the flares, there would be no way for her to explore the cave since it was pitch black. The sound of dripping water grew louder with each step she took. The slippery rocks were treacherous, one false step and it could mean the end of her life for she had come to an area where the cave's floor sharply dropped at least one hundred feet. Serena fished out another flare and snapped causing it to come to life. She promptly tossed into the pit and as it fell she saw what she was looking for. Twenty feet down and on the opposite side of the pit was an opening covered with moss.
"Damn," she said aloud to hear her own voice echo in the darkness. "Why can't tomb raiding be easier?"
She slung off her backpack and pulled out a rope with a hook attached at one end. She next took out the night vision goggles and slipped them over her face. The cave came to life in a field of green and she could clearly see the cave opening below. Taking the rope she swung the hook across the cavern, hooking to a stalagmite. She pulled on the rope making sure it was secure, after all if it broke while she was in midswing, well her life would be over in a painful manner and no one would be going after her unlike Lara.
Testing the rope she nodded to herself. "No time like the present," she said to herself as she put her backpack back on and then swung on the rope to get across the cavern's pit. As she swung across the rope she heard the stone cracking, hoping her momentum was enough to get her across, she felt herself fall as the stalagmite broke from its place.
She flew across the cavern, her momentum carrying her across the few remaining feet and she landed on the cavern floor with a thud. She rolled to a stop and laid still for a few moments, catching her breath.
"Well that was fun. NOT!" She said to herself. She slowly stood making sure she was uninjured. The stalagmite had crashed to the cave floor a few feet from her. She walked over and untangled the rope and hook knowing that she would need it next to repel down to the cave opening below her.
She fished out a rabbit runner from her backpack and unhooked the hook that was attached to the rope. She next attached a croll ascender. She then took out a rock drill and attached a bit in order to place a steel hanger and bolt into the cave floor so that she could repel to the cave below. Once she was done attaching all the necessary equipment and had done several safety checks she attached the rope to the harness she had slipped on.
She looked over the edge of cavern to the cave opening below. She still wore the night vision goggles and saw exactly where she wanted to get to. Holding the rope in both her hands she turned her back to the cavern and slowly began her decent into the pitch-black cavern. As she approached the hidden cave opening she could hear water far below her on the floor of the cave.
A few minutes later she had landed on the lip of the cave opening. She cautiously entered the second cave and removed her harness. She fished several flares from her backpack and tossed one into the cave once she had snapped the center. She noticed the ancient writing on the cave walls, "probably warnings," she mumbled to herself as she began to examine them.
The smooth worn stones were written in a dead language yet Serena continued to examine them for a clue as to where the Tora necklace was at. An hour had passed and Serena was still examining the ancient writing before she noticed a small handle sticking from the cave wall. It was hidden among the moss-covered walls.
"Well, well. A clue," she said as she examined it. She wasn't about to pull the handle not knowing what would happen, least not until she was sure it wasn't a trap.
After continuing to examine the handle she figured it was safe to trigger it. Holding her breath she pulled on the handle and slowly a hidden door opened, scrapping open like fingernails on a chaulkboard.
The sound stopped and Serena looked at the newly opened door. Cautiously she entered the door after gathering her things. A light burst into flame as she snapped another of her flares. She had few left but knew between the flares, the flashlight and her nightvision googles she would be fine. Looking around Serena saw magnificent paintings on the walls that looked as if they had been painted only a short time ago not the thousands of years that had passed.
Pulling out the flashlight she investigated the wall paintings hoping for a clue that would lead her closer to the missing artifact. She gasped in surprise at what she saw... her own face painted on the wall.
To be continued....
DISCLAIMER: SAILOR V, SAILOR MOON & all related material are © 1992 - 2000 NAOKO TAKEUCHI, KODANSHA LTD, TOEI ANIMATION, DiC ENTERTAINMENT, PIONEER ANIMATION & CLOVERWAY. SAILOR MOON, the SAILOR MOON characters their respective names & likenesses are trademarks of TOEI ANIMATION. All rights reserved.
LARA CROFT and TOMB RAIDER are copyrights and trademarks of Core Design and EIDOS Interactive.
Author's Note:
When I began this story it was shortly after the release of Tomb Raider: Chronicles (the game after The Last Revelation and before Angel of Darkness). I stopped working on this story shortly after publishing Chapter Three: Outer Sanctum on Fanfiction.net. I'm currently rewriting this story and will be expanding the story incorporating some elements seen in AOD.
Story currently published at:
A Sailormoon Romance (www.moonromance.net)
Legends From The Moon (legends.cjb.net)