Author's Note: I was blown away by the reception of this fic, really glad so many are enjoying it.
Co-Authored by doenerkint, check out his work, it's really good.

Lara's experience will be very close to the game for this chapter and a bit of the third, where Harry's presence will begin to really make a difference, and things will diverge. So, if parts of this chapter feel very familiar, I know, they are different and they focus more on her thought processes throughout. But please, bear with me.

'Thoughts'

(Radio when in conversation)

TWO - Storms

Lara couldn't move, she was being dragged along the ground, wrapped in something coarse and thick. Her head throbbed, everything was a blur as things moved in and out of focus. She could make out shafts of light through cracks of stone. Was she in a cave?

"Ha—Harry… Jo—na-h—" she mumbled, trying to call out for help, but the only sound to answer was the stretching of a rope as she felt herself being lifted off the ground before she managed to focus. She was strung up by her feet, the world upside-down and covered in a hue of orange light.

'A fire?'

She tried and focused on it.

'Candles? An altar?'

A painful throb began to push against her skull from the inside, making her headache worse. She looked down at herself as she struggled to breathe from the weight against her lungs. She was wrapped up in some kind of canvas-like bag, her feet fastened to a strut by a coarse rope. She looked around in a panic but luckily it seemed as though whoever had hung her up there wasn't around.

Giving the world around her another observant glance, she noted nothing but stone walls and old wooden supports, some of which looked worn and broken.

She shook back and forth trying to get loose. "Help! Harry! Jonah! Reyes! HELP!"

The unanswered calls filled her with fear and the world quickly seemed to close in on her, crushing her spirit. She felt claustrophobic, her mind racing, trying to find a way out of wherever it was she was being held at.

The throbbing in her head was worsening with every second. She needed it to stop. There was only so long you could hang upside down before it became dangerous. She began hyperventilating. "Got to get down," she wheezed.

She tried to wiggle an arm loose, but it was no use. She was wrapped too tightly to move her limbs.

'Shit, okay—maybe.'

Lara heaved as she tried to curl herself up, bending herself a quarter of the way before she grunted and lost her breath.

'No, that won't work.'

She closed her eyes as she tried to get her breathing under control. She felt sick. The building pressure in her head had left her seeing stars. The pain was mounting and there was no chance to rest.

Her desperation grew even further when she took note of another sack hanging between herself and the candlelit altar when an idea formed.

'I must be fucking crazy.'

She bent her body in the opposite direction of the sack and allowed gravity to bring her back. She repeated this process until she finally began to swing back and forth. She knocked against the sack strung up beside her, sending it against the altar and into contact with the many lit candles there. It caught fire before it bobbed and rubbed against the wooden support, the incredibly dry and old wood burned easily and was alight with fire within moments.

All the while, the throbbing in her head was getting worse every second and if this didn't work, it was over. Worse, she might just end up burning herself alive… She steeled herself as fear almost took over.

There was no backing out, even if there was another alternative, she didn't have the time to find it. So, she swung again and again and again, back and forth, back and forth, in sync with every pulse of pain passing through her skull. She kept going until she heard it, the crackle of fire catching on.

'This is going to hurt…' and watched the canvas wrapped around her catch fire.

Mere moments later, she felt it. The heat pushed through the material and palmed her legs. She gasped and cried as it began to burn, but as if by an act of divine intervention, the bag gave and tore with a satisfying rip, saving her from a fiery death.

Lara yelped as she felt the queasy sense of falling. Mere moments later, she slammed into the ground and howled as a pain she had never felt before slashed through her back and into her side.

After a few more moments of wheezing and grunting, trying to replace the air which had been knocked out of her. The unfamiliar pain subsided; she motioned her hands toward where it pained.

Her finger touched a rough surface, cold but also wet. She pushed against it without looking and felt a terrifying sting shoot through her left side.

'Breathe, Lara, breathe.'

Her hands shook as she tried to touch it again and gasped in pain before her voice was reduced to a whimper.

'I have to see.'

Slowly and with great effort, she craned her head down as much as she could. At first it was hazy, like when one first wakes up and the eyes won't focus. After a few blinks, her sight cleared until she could finally make out the foreign object protruding from her side.

'A fucking metal rod.'

At first, the shock was overwhelming, but with each further glance her panic lessened until she could finally gather coherent facts. The metal had gone straight through, and thankfully it was merely a flesh wound. She felt sick at the thought that had it been an inch or two to the right, she'd have bled to death.

Taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth, she closed her hand around the rod and grabbed a hold of it.

Before she attempted to pull, she realised that she couldn't do it while still laying on the ground. So, while ensuring that she didn't agitate the area of her wound any further, Lara slowly rolled on her side and got her feet under her. Using her free hand that wasn't holding on to the metal piece, she slowly pushed herself up into a kneeling position.

Each action could have made her faint on the spot, but she tried to bite through it and succeeded in settling down on her heels.

'Okay…okay…now!'

Taking another two quick breaths, she pulled it out in one violent jerk and screamed as she felt every ridge of the old rebar rub against her wound on the way out.

The metal clanked onto the stone floor as she fell to a foetal position and lay there while she put pressure on her wound. Her breathing was laboured as she fought down the urge to throw up.

'I have to move.'

She shakily got to her feet and with one hand on her side, began to make her way towards the lit passageway. Once through, she saw a large cavern, before her heart leapt to her throat.

A dead woman was strung up by her arms over another altar in some kind of grotesque display.

"What happened to you…What kind of monster does something like this..." whispered Lara fearfully, she searched the surrounding shadows, afraid that whoever had strung up the woman and dragged her to this place would jump out at her. When it didn't happen, she allowed herself to observe the altar.

Lara found it to be very similar to the one in the space she'd just come from. It was filled with red wax candles and had the same depiction of a sun drawn behind it, adding to the horror of her situation were dozens of human skulls scattered throughout. She needed to get out of this place, and fast, with one last glance spared for the hanging woman.

Was that what was to be of her fate, had she not gotten loose. She needed to get out of here before whoever did this came back.

Lara found another passage beside the altar and made her way towards it, she found herself moving from space to space, none seemed to fill any real purpose other than to store misceallaneous bits of scrap. The final cavern at the far end looked darker than the one she'd come from. She grabbed one of the torches which lit the path, the heat from the small flame a welcome comfort in the terrifying situation. Everywhere she looked there were skulls and other bones littering the floor, and in some spots stacked onto stones as decorations. She hated the crunch sound of the small bones snapping under her steps.

The path narrowed, with water falling on the end. She squeezed through, and found herself in area which seemed to be used for storage, there were cans and wooden crates all over the place, and even a drum, likely filled with fuel of some sort. Opening the lid, Lara confirmed her suspicion. It was petrol, or more likely diesel. She found a path that was partially blocked, using a metal pole salvaged from one of the shelves, she wedged it behind the rock and was able to lever it out of the way. Unfortunately, it took down one of the shelves and created a loud crash, which echoed throughout the caverns and sent a worrying trebble through the walls of the room.

The loud noise had her wincing, she looked around frantically, afraid that whoever had brought her there had heard it. She waited, listening for any sounds which would signal somebody's approach. Once she was sure that nobody would come, she got moving again.

She began to crawl through the narrow passageway which was beginning to crumble when she heard commotion behind her, fearing the worst, she tried to move faster.

Her fears were made true when she heard someone behind her.

"Stop!" a gruff sounding man's voice called. Lara desperate to get away, threw all of her weight forward in an an attempt to lunge the rest of the way through the narrow passage.

Her heart stopped as she felt a firm grip take hold of her ankle and try to pull her back. The stink of someone who hadn't bathed in ages hit her nose. "Get off me!" she yelled at him before kicking out and feeling the sole of her boot connect with something. He cursed in pain and let go of her foot allowing her to move again.

She crawled quickly through the passage when she heard him call out. She turned for a moment and caught sight of a filthy half naked man, covered in dirt and what was likely dried blood. She couldn't make out a face through the hair. Before she could get a better look, the passage collapsed, separating her from her assailant.

"Shit that was close." Lara breathed out as she laid back and covered her face in exhaustion.

"Come back!" she heard through the blocked passage.

She ignored the man's calls and kept her mind focused on moving forward. The passage up ahead was flooded, with barely enough space to keep her head above water and her torch dry. Lara found herself alongside an underground river, a wooden structure alongside it, it was built shabbily as if put together with whatever salvaged scraps of wood or metals had been available.

Lara noticed a blockade of scraps at the mouth of the river, perhaps the river would lead outside, in the end she didn't have much of a choice. She got in the water and squeezed herself through a narrow gap in the debris. Once on the other side on the shore, she felt a rumble pass through the ground and panicked. Worried that the cave was going to come down on her, she ran as fast as she could with her injured side and waterlogged clothes. Each rumble would throw off her already shaky balance, but she kept upright and moved in the hopes that she really was heading towards an exit.

An extra strong tremor had a narrow pathway up ahead on the verge of collapse. She rushed and ducked as she tried to get through in time, halfway to the other side, she felt a rough hand grab hold of her from behind. The madman had caught up and was trying to pull her back.

She screamed at him and kicked with all the strength she could muster, hitting him in the face with a satisfying crunch and forcing him to finally let go of her. With not even a second to spare she scurried the rest of the way and got out right as the narrow path collapsed on her crazed pursuer.

Lara had glanced back and watched in horror as his skull was crushed by a boulder falling into place. As much as she felt bile rise up, she couldn't stop. She had to keep moving or the same grim fate would await her.

With her lungs burning, she ran in search of an exit, when hope surged.

'Light. Daylight!'

There was a hole near the ceiling, a steep slant to climb to the surface. She began climbing, every movement sending a stab of pain through her side, as her wound continued to bleed. She burst threw the small opening into the fresh air of the outside world. Her heart nearly stopped at the sound the hole collapsing a fraction of a second after she'd made it through.

Lara lay on the ground as she tried to catch her breath. She savoured the smell and feel of the clean fresh ocean air. The storm had stopped for now it seemed, but as Lara slowly made her way to her feet, she managed to take in her surroundings, she found herself on a ledge. Golden rays of light broke through dark clouds. It was early morning, and while she loved the way the bits of sun felt on her skin, the dark clouds were a bad sign. The storm likely wasn't over. She needed to move now while she still could.

The only way available was a path along the cliffside. Lara followed it, keeping close to the mountain wall.

A stab of pain from her wound had her gasp as she leaned against a tree which jutted out from the ledge. She glanced down, and her eyes widened in shock.

One of the Endurance's lifeboats was beached further up the coastline. She scanned the area desperately, hoping to find one of the others.

'They must have gone inland,' reasoned Lara. 'Have to find them'

Harry hadn't found a single soul when he arrived at the wreck of the Endurance. If anybody besides him had survived, then they'd either washed up somewhere or managed to take the lifeboats. If they were able to move, then inland in search of shelter is where they must have gone. With the storm still going, there was no way he'd be able to find anybody. He couldn't even attempt a scrying, there was far too much raw magic in the air. The storm wasn't natural, and that amount of interference would ruin any attempt to locate the others with magic.

No, as much as it pained him to do so. He needed to wait, searching blindly would get him nowhere. For now, he'd check the wreck for anything of use, if he was lucky, he'd even find something of value to the others. It would make scrying for them much easier when he'd gotten around to it.

Every second he spent aboard the remains of the Endurance filled him with dread. He took a bit of solace in the fact that not a single room had a body in it. It kept hope alive.

The closets were fixed to the walls, so they hadn't been swept away. They weren't watertight though, which meant their contents were soaked. He was able to find a few items that would work for his scrying, even if they were soaked with water. He had food in his bag, but it never hurt to get more. The pantry was ruined, but some cans were able to be salvaged at least.

Once he was satisfied with his scavenger hunt, Harry climbed down from the ship and began his trek inland to find a decent place to pitch his tent. Wizard tent or not, they weren't indestructible, and placing it out in the open on a beach in such close proximity to a raging sea would not be a clever move.

Thankfully, the forest wasn't overly dense, moving through it was therefore simple enough. He walked with his wand lit. If there's one thing people often didn't realise in modern societies, it was how dark nature was at night.

He came across a relatively shielded area, enough tree cover to protect from the worst of the storm with enough ground to pitch his tent. Harry retrieved his wizarding tent from his mokeskin bag and set it up, along with some basic proximity wards. Once inside and out of the elements he was finally able to dry himself properly.

It pained him to sit there in comfort, but there was nothing he could do yet. The others, if they were alive out there, would have to fend for themselves for now. He just hoped they were in a position to do so. He listened to the raging storm outside and prayed that it would subside soon.

That's when he felt it.

'This island is fucking with me!'

The wards on the island were pushing down on the tent, almost probing it. Whatever the hell these wards were, they felt sentient.

He spread his senses and tapped into the enchantments which held up the space he was in. They'd hold for now, but it was too risky to remain inside. There were too many unknowns, and to keep using the tent would be dangerous. If the magic on the tent collapsed, it wouldn't kill him, but he could get seriously injured.

He'd grab everything he might need and stuff them in his pouch, any extra food, or items as well as what he needed for the scrying before eating and resting. You have to take your chances to recuperate where you could, out in the field, you never knew how long you might be forced to go without rest.

He ate a simple meal of some rations, even though he had better food.

Once he'd finished, he exited the tent and packed it away. He wasn't going to use that again. He sighed despondently as the rain hit him again, he could ward against it, but that really wasn't the same as the comfort of being indoors.

He walked a small circle around his clearing while whispering, once he'd gone three times around, a dome of light flashed into place before vanishing. The rain and wind didn't reach him anymore, but it was still cold. He summoned some wood from the surrounding forest and hit them with a drying charm before setting them alight.

Warming charms on clothes still didn't offer the same comfort as a nice campfire. There was something about it that just bolstered the spirits. He fished out some food from his bag, simple rations. He had better more tasteful foods, but it didn't feel right, not while everyone was likely freezing out there in the cold.

Four hours.

That's how long it took before the storm subsided. He grabbed his materials and stepped outside his wards, the less interference, the better. He needed to be quick, there was no guarantee the storm wouldn't return.

Harry cleared a spot on the ground and placed a stone bowl, with intricate runes etched into it, which he filled with water from a bottle. He could use conjured water, but it was best to limit any sources of interference.

Next, he emptied three vials into the water, before he took out one last vial, the reason true scrying was so incredibly rare. Essence of Moonflower. He tipped the milky luminescent liquid into the bowl and prayed for results. He didn't have any more of the rare ingredient, only enough for one scrying at most…

He removed the few items he'd managed to scrounge from the Endurance. A leather wristband from Jonah's room, a hairclip from Jenna's, a camera lens of Sam's, but for Harry, the piece that most filled him with dread and hope was a silver pen he'd seen Lara favour.

Harry was tempted to use the scrying on Sam or Jonah, since he knew the odds of Lara's survival were miniscule, and logically it made sense to search for the others instead. But his desire to learn of her fate won out. He dropped the silver pen in the water and with his best use of occlumency, cleared his mind of everything before filling it with thoughts of the stunning woman he'd had the fortune of meeting. Once satisfied, he touched his wand to the rim of the bowl and incanted.

"Invenire Locum"

Immediately the water swirled, and his heart leapt with joy, nearly throwing off his focus. Had she been dead, the water would have remained still.

He watched with bated breath while his heart thumped in his chest. He nearly lost control of the spell when the water finally shifted to show Lara trying to cross a log spanning two cliffs.

'Merlin's beard! She's insane!'

He ignored the worrying image of Lara and focused on her surroundings.

'Mountainside to her left, ocean to her right, sun position ahead to her right, it's morning, so that means east.'

With her general location in mind, Harry held his wand flat in his hand.

"Point me."

The smooth stick of Holly spun in his hand before it faced north. Armed with enough information to begin his search. He emptied the scrying bowl, packed away his things and got moving.

With a step in Lara's direction, his body shifted, shrinking as he went onto all fours. His skin and clothes disappeared, replaced by dark fur. The now large black dog began moving towards Lara with his nose to the wind and his ears perked. How badly he wished he could apparate right now.

He moved as fast as he could while keeping up a semblance of stealth. He had no clue what dangers lurked on the island. His nose was keen, but the rain had muddled the surrounding scents. For now, all he could do was get closer to the area of the island where Lara currently was, and he stressed currently because if what he'd come to learn of her was right. She wouldn't just stay in one place.

Dogs were actually quite sensitive to ambient magics; it's partly why Sirius had been able to sneak out of Azkaban undetected. Now, as he moved around in his animagus form, something about the island was making the fur on his back stand on end. It was the feeling of moving around in another's territory.

Nearing the north-eastern corner of the island, he figured he had to be close when he caught the smell of sea water. He needed to find the area he'd seen Lara in. It took him a while, but he was close to where she ought to be.

He worried for her safety when he caught a very specific scent - Wolves. If they moved through after Lara, there would be no way they wouldn't have caught onto her. The only saving grace was that he could follow their trail, even in the rain. The scents of an entire pack moving through such a tight bush would be easy to follow.

Lara's stomach growled as she neared the small fire she'd made had mostly died. She took the meat from her hunt and skewered it with an arrow. She'd definitely had a surprising upturn in luck since escaping the cave. First, she'd found some leftover bits and pieces from whoever used the lifeboat, including matches, a radio and Sam's camera, along with an empy container which she could repurpose to hold a bit of water as a makeshift cup. There was a torn shirt too, not in a state to be worn, but while wet, it wasn't filthy, so she fashioned it into a bandage.

Then she'd even managed to find an old, abandoned camping site, and now while out to find food, she found a crude bow with arrows!

'Though it was on an old corpse…'

It was almost enough to make her feel positive.

The smell of the meat roasting over the fire had her stomach aching in anticipation. Every sizzle of fat which bubbled out had her mouth watering. She was so hungry. As soon as she deemed it ready, she grabbed the stick, and scalded her tongue as she bit into it. Her mind drifted to her childhood, of Winston - the butler - giving her disapproving glances. If he could see her now, he'd have an aneurism from her lacking table manners.

Lara took a moment to relax, savouring the feeling of a full stomach along with the comfort the fire brought her. While she waited, she checked her poorly bandaged wound, she'd cleaned it and covered it the best she could, but she needed to do something better with it. Other than using a heated arrow head, she had nothing to use though. She knew basic first aid, along with the bits she'd learnt from Ross over the years, it wasn't much, but it was enough to know she shouldn't attempt to cauterize a wound like this.

(Kchh—kh—kchhh This is Conrad Roth, Captain of the Endurance. We are shipwrecked—kchh—on an island in the Dragon's Triangle.)

Lara gasped and grabbed the radio, relief and joy filled her, she hit the button to transmit her voice.

"Roth! You're alive!"

(La—ra! You're alive. Thank goodness. What happened?)

"I remember the beach, but then it all went black and there was a mad man, and a cave and—" she choked, "—someone was dead, a woman, strung up over a fucking altar, and the man was after me! I. I—oh my God—I killed him… I killed someone!"

(Dear God... Where are you now? Are you hurt? Are you safe?)

Lara felt the events of the past day catch up to her as her eyes welled up with tears. She wanted to go home, or just away from here, with her friends, with Sam, with Harry.

"I—it was so horrible," her voice hitched as she tried to hold herself from crying. "It's all my fault. It was my idea to head into the Triangle. We—We never should have come here!"

(Lara! Calm down, it's not your fault. We'll get through this, but one step at a time. I've managed to get in touch with some of the others, and right before the ship sank, I sent out an SOS. I don't know if anybody caught it, but for now we'll group at my location.)

"Others? Sam and Jonah? Harry?" She asked hurriedly.

(Jonah is with Reyes and some of the crew. I don't know about Sam and Harry, I'm sorry. Head to my location, in the meanwhile I'll keep trying to get in touch with them.)

"Your location." She swallowed and pulled herself together. "Where are you? How do I find you?"

(These radios aren't the best, so we're pretty close. Look for a mountain, from what I can see, it's the biggest one in the area. There are these stone lamps alongside a path, and some old buildings. But careful, the buildings were empty when I got here, but from what I can see, there are likely a lot of people on this island.)

"I'll leave now, and I'll be careful," said Lara with determination.

(Good, see you soon Lara.)

With a glance towards her campfire, Lara sighed and killed it. She climbed to a higher vantage point to get a clearer look at her surroundings.

'That must be the mountain Roth is on.'

He was right, it wasn't too far, just over a mile perhaps. The forest also wasn't dense enough that she'd find it hard to move through. There were even paths which helped speed up her movement on occasion.

Lara turned a corner along an outcropping of rocks and found herself in a clearing. She knew there were people on the island but didn't expect to stumble upon a small dwelling between the trees. It seemed to be a bunker of sorts. An orange glow flicked from the open doorway. She held up her bow and notched an arrow just in case whoever used it was hostile and still around.

"Hello?" she announced as she neared the door, she tightened her grip on her bow. "Is anybody in there?"

Her only response was silence. Steeling herself for a possible confrontation, she stepped inside with her bow raised. There was nobody inside, only garbage. The place was littered with empty cans and bottles. The room reminded Lara of a bunker, the walls were solid concrete, much too tough for a simple woodland lodging. Lara found a torch burning on the wall, and a bunch of rusted junk. Whoever used this place hadn't been here long.

She noticed something at the back of the shed.

'A hatch?'

Wondering where it led, she chose to investigate. It was dark down there, so she grabbed the torch and made her way down the old, rusted ladder, it was tough to do so while keeping the torch above her so as not to burn. If this was a bunker, then it's possible that it connected to another. 'It's deep,' she observed while climbing down.

The smell of dank water, mildew and rust wafted up to her. Once at the bottom, she found herself in a room with only one exit, the path was flooded and had a white sun painted above it.

'What could that mean?'

Peering down the path, it reminded her of a mining tunnel. She noticed hanging lanterns. Whoever used this must have done so pretty recently for it to still be lit. Lara held her torch up and began wading through the murky water, she felt a bit unsettled when she saw human and animal skulls decorating the tunnel. Nearing its end, she came to a room with hanging meat.

'It must have been a hunter's base.' She found a makeshift axe that looked more like a pry or climbing axe which she took.

Continuing onwards, Lara made her way through another flooded tunnel. She was really starting to get sick of wading through dirty water. It led to a ladder which she climbed to the surface and the forest when to her surprise, she heard a female voice.

"Hold on, let me find out."

'Sam?' thought Lara excitedly, 'that sounded like Sam.'

A male voice with a strange nasally tone to it followed.

"We're on the southwest side."

She didn't recognize that voice, and with her last encounter with an islander, it filled her with worry.

Lara killed her torch and followed their voices. She didn't know who the man was, so she kept her guard up. They were uphill, the smell of smoke and the crackle of a campfire blended in with their conversation.

A third voice, distorted by the static of a radio cut in.

"Hang tight, we aren't that far, we're on our way."

'Reyes?'

Lara snuck around the corner when Sam spotted her. Her friend looked well to Lara's relief. There were no outward visible injuries and she looked to be in good spirits.

"Lara! You made it!" said Sam joyfully.

"Sam," said Lara, feeling her body relax. That's when she caught sight of the other voice, she'd forgotten about it momentarily on account of seeing her best friend. Lara's guard was back up in full force as she eyed the stranger. She backed away as her fingers twitched towards the pry axe she'd found. The man was older, passed the middle-aged mark, with hair trimmed short, close to his scalp. He wore a tattered old faded jacket and a strange necklace hung around his neck. It had random bits which seemed like scrap surrounding a pendant.

The man stood, and to Lara's surprise, leaned on a crudely fashioned crutch.

"Don't worry, relax, he's a friend," said Sam, noticing Lara's caution.

"It's alright," added the man. "We're all a bit jumpy, the island has that effect on people."

"It's okay Lara, see–" Sam gestured towards her foot, which was wrapped in some strips of fabric. "He's helped me, bandaged my ankle."

"Where are my manners, I'm Mathias," he stepped forward to shake Lara's hand, and she caught a whiff of dirt and sweat. Lara backed off reclaiming the distance between them, she didn't trust this stranger. Sam was always too nice, too trusting of others, but she's already seen one madman on the island, and this man did not seem very trustworthy to her.

The man, Mathias, didn't appear to be offended by her wariness, and kept his hand out. Hesitantly, Lara shook it but kept her other hand angled away, able to reach the axe on her waist.

"I'm a teacher," said Mathias, far too friendly, and clearly in an attempt to put her at ease. Lara's intuition though was screaming at her to watch him.

Once she'd let go of his hand, Lara walked to the opposite side of the fire, putting more distance between Mathias and herself.

"You look exhausted," said Sam gently. "Why don't you sit down and rest."

"Your friends will be here soon," added Mathias. "We got in touch with them just a moment ago."

"I spoke with Reyes," confirmed Sam with a nod.

Lara followed Sam's advice and sat nearby the fire, still on the opposite side to Mathias. She'd gotten soaked coming through the underground tunnel, so the fire's warmth was a welcome balm to her chilled body.

"We got in touch with the others," said Sam happily. "They'll be coming here to get us."

"Now, where were we?" questioned Mathias of Sam. "You were telling me about the Sun Queen, if I recall correctly."

Lara looked at Sam curiously. The pretty Asian girl perked up. "Yes, yes I was."

"Lara's the real expert here, she's read all the books, but I know enough," started Sam. "If all the stories are to be believed, a couple thousand years ago Queen Himiko, the first Sun Queen, presided over all of Japan."

"Sam loves this story," commented Lara fondly and with a hint of nostalgia in her voice as she watched her friend speak. The situation was beginning to feel very surreal to her.

"Himiko was a fierce ruler, her beauty and presence were only matched by her power, power that legend says was mystical, shamanistic." Sam's voice was reverent, while Lara was sceptical, Sam believed the stories.

"Now this part is where we agree to disagree," chimed Lara with a shake of her head.

"All myths have some semblance of truth to them," reasoned Mathias, and while she didn't agree with Sam, she couldn't argue against his words, since she'd used the same not that long ago.

Aleady used to Lara's scepticism and Sam didn't let it faze her, though she did glance at Mathias in surprise. "Himiko controlled the very wind and rain, and where she set her eye upon, her sworn warriors, her Stormguard, waged battle. Seizing territory and destroying any who opposed her rule."

Sam was always a wonderful storyteller; her voice had a way of drawing you in and captivated you. Lara was filled with a sense of contentment, after all the stresses and trials she'd faced since washing up on these cursed shores. Listening to Sam speak felt a bit like coming home, despite trying to keep her guard up against Mathias. An action which by itself was tiring and eventually it all became too much. The warm fire, the relaxing lull of Sam's voice, the exhaustion which had built up made her lids heavy. After a few more slow blinks, Lara couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and drifted to sleep.

END CHAPTER TWO