AN: Hmmm....I may have lied....a small bit....when I said I would update every Monday, huh? Because I'm epically (an epic word, remember, Alice? Haha) failing at it. So since I seem to be marvelling on other things instead of getting my head down and writing, I promise not to do it again. I've been doing other important things *cough* playing video games and being lazy *cough*. So, since I seem to be updating on Wednesdays instead of Mondays....see where I'm goin' with this? I'll update on Wednesdays!!! :-) So keep that in your head, kay? WEDNESDAYS!!!
**DISCLAIMER: I do not, whatsoever, own any of the content in this chapter. Lara and Kurtis don't belong to me, and neither does Tomb Raider itself. They all belong to their respectful owners: Eidos/Square Enix, Core (FTW) and Crystal Dynamics. **
So without further ado, here you go!!!
Lara gripped the overhead bar as the chopper landed in Portugal, swaying as she let go. She made her way over to the pilot, giving him her thanks before she grabbed her backpack, following Kurtis off the helicopter. She looked around at the scenery that surrounded her; she had instructed the pilot to land in a jungle atmosphere, near enough to the temple so that it was in walking distance, but far enough away so that no tourists were suspicious of Lara and Kurtis' meanings of being there. She looked up as the chopper took off the ground, waving a goodbye to the pilot. She marvelled at the beauty of her surroundings: green leaves covered trees, dry dirt on the ground, flowers hanging on bushes here and there; it was truly breathtaking. She turned towards Kurtis, who was gazing around the view, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "It isn't everyday you see something as beautiful as this," Lara sighed, taking in their peaceful surroundings. "And if Karel gets his way, nobody will get to see something like this," he sighed. "Well lets not let that happen," Lara said simply, trying to hide the fear in her voice. But Kurtis was right; if Karel got his way, there wouldn't be any humans left, never mind certain scenery. The man was deluded – and there was no doubt about it.
She turned away from him, brushing off some dirt that had covered the toe of her boot. She trekked forwards, pushing some bushes to the side. A shuffle behind her told her that Kurtis was following. She glared up at the sun, shielding her face with her hand as sweat dripped from her forehead, the temperature rising suddenly. She glanced backwards as Kurtis caught up with her, rolling his white elbow length undershirt's sleeves up farther. "It's bloody roasting," he muttered, now walking at her side. "For autumn, anyway"
"Welcome to Portugal." Lara smiled. A few minuets later, they exited the jungle, and found themselves in an extremely busy area. Buses were parked outside of a large, stone pyramid-like building, tourists flooding in and out of the structure, both racing to get to their buses and running to get into the temple in time for the next tour. A fountain was in the middle of the car park, a shallow circle pool surrounding it. The scene was a perfect holiday one, and Lara supposed that it wasn't just for the temple that people came here. Not that far away was a hotel, and the owners were obviously no idiots, seen as it was located right next to a grand tourist location.
She took her backpack off her shoulders, removing her pistols from their holsters. She placed them in her bag – along with her holsters – and then strapped her backpack back on, Kurtis taking the hint and doing the same. They didn't want to frighten anyone...yet.
They both started forward, weaving their ways in and out of the parked cars, until they came to the bottom of the stairs that made their way up to the temple. Kurtis stopped again, lifting his navy blue t-shirt over his head, leaving his undershirt where it was. "This is a family place, Kurtis, is it really relevant to take your top off?" she smiled. He dusted off his undershirt, rolling his sleeves up farther. "When it's this hot, yes. I'm not making any promises that the other one will stay on." he said. His tone was serious, but his expression wasn't doing him any favours.
Lara rolled her eyes as she continued, also taking her fingerless gloves off, putting them in her bag. God, it's roasting, she thought as she began to walk up the stairs, refusing certain leaflets from tour guides that were standing in certain spots on the stairs. Kurtis absent mindedly accepted each one he was offered, and soon enough he had a bundle of papers in his hands. They must have looked like any other couple. Lara in front, sweating from the heat of the sun as she stopped every so often and waited for Kurtis, smiling like she had been blessed with riches each time he looked up at her. Kurtis lagging behind her, scanning through leaflets that he accepted; not even knowing that he was doing it. His white undershirt clung to his chest, outlining his toned body. Every time he looked up to see Lara, she was always there to greet him with a smile, and he returned one back immediately, and any on-lookers could see how much they cared for each other greatly in the way their eyes met. It was obvious to anyone that they were in love. Just another couple that were in love touring; on holiday. But they weren't 'just another couple'. And they weren't touring. They weren't here for the sights.
Lara waited for Kurtis to catch up, and then they walked up the rest of the stairs. Kurtis had taken Lara's hand about halfway up the stairs, and Lara had gripped it tightly, like she would never get to have him close again. An elderly couple had come up behind them, and it wasn't hard to tell that they were both tourists and had admiration for Lara and Kurtis. The lady of the two hadn't made a big deal to lower her voice when she spoke, saying, "What a lovely couple they made" and then how "They looked so happy together".
Kurtis had listened into their little conversation, Lara just smiling – embarrassed. In fact, Kurtis wondered if it could be called a 'conversation'. The lady was the only one who had been talking, low grunts from her husband as a reply. Soon enough, the couple overtook them, the lady turning back and smiling before they walked off. Kurtis rolled his eyes as they both came to the top, Lara taking a map of the halls of the temple to help them through. Their link at their hands dropped as they entered the first room, noting that all it was was a food court and a gift shop – nothing of any interest.
Kurtis took the map from Lara's hands, taking his backpack off and placing it at his feet. "Any idea where it may be?" Lara asked, gazing around the room. "Not a clue," he sighed, folding the map and placing it in the back pocket of those awful khaki trousers that he always wore, "This doesn't say anything," he looked over as a woman in a blue skirt and matching blazer passed, holding a clipboard. A head of ginger hair was tied up into a bun, held together by a number of curbie grips, and a hair band on the top of her head sat there, plainly decorating her stunning hair colour. A group of people followed her, noisily passing through the room . Kurtis nodded towards the group, picking his back up again, "Looks like we're going on a tour," he walked forwards, slumping his back over one shoulder as he joined the back of the group. Lara sighed, following after him. She hated tour guides. Always perky and happy. Acting like nothing in the world was never wrong. And when they became angry, they would plaster their faces in a fake smile, speaking through gritted teeth. Ugh.
They had passed through what seemed like endless amounts of halls, listening to the perky tour guide go on about the history of the Mayans – both in Portuguese and English. Lara could have told the group all the information in a varied number of languages, and still have done it all quicker than her. She groaned as the guide stopped them all again. She just wanted to get everything over and done with. It was like they were waiting – waiting for Karel to find the rest of the artefacts before them. Like sitting ducks, even. Lara wasn't one to sit and wait, she made things happen – not wait for things to happen. She heard a laugh and then remembered she was wearing her headset. A few seconds later, Zip spoke through, "Getting a little impatient, Lara?" it didn't sound like he was asking her a question.
Lara sighed as the group began to move on, and smiled as she set her eyes on something she thought would help them find what they needed. She broke away from the group – Kurtis soon following – making her way over to the west wall, scanning over a brief display case and poster. It wasn't what they were looking for, but it was some information on it. In fact, when they found what they were trying to find here, it still wasn't what they were looking for; it was only a replica of the sword fragment. She glanced out of the corner of her eye as Kurtis joined her by her side.
Lara scanned over the poster above her, briefly reading the small amount of information it held. It showed a small sketch of a sword, and then lines showing it split into four. An arrow led out to a paragraph of text on one of the pieces of the sword. Moving her eyes down to the display case, she saw a foam replica of the sword. Looking at the poster again, it told her that the sword wasn't in the main touring route of the temple. It was higher up, at the top of the temple, and they only toured that area once every so often. They were going to have to get near without anyone knowing. She turned away, "Only one of us can go get it," Kurtis pointed out, "I'll stop anyone from going up there if you go and get it."
"It sounds fair to me." she turned back to the group, seemingly deep in thought. With a sigh, she walked over to the group, taking part in the tour again. "Well, well, well. Who would've thought? Lara Croft does have some sociable instincts!" Zip joked on the other end. Him, Alister, Mason and Morgan were still in Edinburgh, and Lara and Kurtis were going to get what they needed in Europe. Lara tried to hold her impatience in as she waited for the tour guide to move onto the next room. It happened no time soon.
As she felt she was going to die of boredom, the tour guide was challenged by someone near the front of the group. It was nothing she wanted to get into – and she couldn't be bothered paying attention to what they were talking about. She sighed again, rolling her eyes as she waited for their squabble to finish. "So how are you planning on making sure nobody sees me going up there?" Lara turned to Kurtis, trying to pass the time. "Something simple – I can just sit there and stop people going up the stairs. Flash my gun when someone gets tricky; I'll be fine." he said simply, looking over the room. Lara replied with a smile, and she placed a hand over her chest, where she had been shot the other day, feeling the rough patch of skin where the puncture wound was. She pressed down on it slightly, feeling the pain roar throughout her body as her unhealed wound threatened to bleed. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. She could hardly remember anything from that night. Her only conscious memories was of finding something – she had no idea what; her memory was that bad – and then Gunderson coming behind her. Then all she felt was pain. But they were talking; Gunderson was talking with one of the mercenaries. And then Lara; like they were interrogating her in her final moments. After her first black out, she had came round again; just barely conscious. And then she thought she was dead.
She breathed in quickly as she felt a hand cover hers, and she opened her eyes to see Kurtis looking down at her. Slowly, she removed her hand, leaving her memories of the moment alone. "How badly was it bleeding when you found me?" she asked, looking down at the ground.
She could tell by Kurtis' tone that he wasn't comfortable, "You weren't bleeding. It had flowed out of you. You weren't breathing. You weren't moving." he tried to disguise how much it hurt him to say it, and to anyone else he would have done a good job. But Lara just knew him better than everyone else. There was a short pause before he spoke again, "You only had a faint pulse, and I was working on getting you breathing. Then someone came and knocked me out. When I woke up; you didn't have a pulse. It took a lot of energy to get you back."
Lara smiled gratefully at Kurtis explaining this to her. He was obviously hurting doing so, but she wanted to know. It was her body that had been harmed, after all. She began to walk again as the group made their way forward again, trying to forget the scar that was on her chest. Kurtis hadn't faltered at following by her side, ready to tell her anything that she asked. Lara sighed, "I won't ask any more."
In fact, for all she knew; getting shot could have been a good thing. It had brought them back together, and that was something that she could only smile at. Being with Kurtis again – it was like she had died and gone to heaven. It was that blissful to her.
A few minuets later; and they hadn't gotten any further. Lara gave up, raising her hand in the air. The tour guide smiled as she waited for Lara to speak, "I was wondering. The fragment of the Bamburugh Sword, where might one find it?"
"That's the Lara we all know and love," Zip chuckled. The tour guide chuckled slightly, and Lara had no idea what was so funny. "I'm afraid that you can only see the sword on certain tours, Miss, sorry to disappoint." she said, still holding a cheery voice, leading the group forward into a larger room.
"I wasn't asking to see it; I was asking where it was." Lara said.
"At the top of the temple," her tone had changed flat, less patronising than her previous one, "It's our main tourist attraction, and the prize of many eyes. Semi-legal freelance archaeologists have had their many tries at taking it, so you can see why we're so cautious."
"I don't know why they go to so much trouble for something that's fake," She whispered to Kurtis. He just shrugged in return.
As they walked into a different room, Lara nudged Kurtis in the gut, nodding her head towards a stone stairwell. "Think that's how we get up?" he asked. "It's my best guess." she said. They both moved away from the group, pretending to take interest in other artefacts on display. Once the tour group had gone, they both walked over to the stairs, and Kurtis sat himself down on the third step, throwing his backpack against the ground. Lara sighed as she stepped over him, gripping the railing as she walked up the stairs. "I'll be five minuets tops." she promised. Kurtis looked up as she made her way up the steep staircase. "Don't worry; my ass needs a rest, anyway." he joked.
Lara looked down at him, shaking her head in amusement as a smile tugged at the corners of her lips before she continued upwards.
The room was incredibly plain and simple for something that was supposed to be 'the prize of many eyes'. As she stepped into the room, it was clear that it was nothing special. If anything – it was less eye-catching than the rest of the temple. The walls were plain cream concrete, the floor nothing but loosely placed grey tiles. If this was the main attraction of tourists every year, they could at least make an effort to make the place decent. The replica of the sword wasn't in a hiding place, it was right there up against the north wall. If there was so many people trying to take it all the time, then what was with the lack of security?
Lara walked over to the case, lifting the glass covering and reaching in, wrapping her hand around the sword. She pulled it out, carefully placing the glass down. The HUGE lack of security, more like, she thought, turning her back on it. She threw it up in the air, easily catching it in the palm of her hand before throwing it up again. She stopped, however, as she heard a small buzzing noise, and her ears strained to recognise it. Her eyes widening, she turned around, her eyes darting to the bottom of the case. A small red laser beam flickered before it depleted, and soon a deafening alarm screeched throughout the building. She looked up into the corner of the room, seeing a CCTV camera zoom in on her image. She quickly turned around, sprinting down the stairs.
She put the sword in her backpack, skimming her hands over the railing and walls of the steps as she raced down them. She faltered, quickly catching her footing as she continued down them. She grunted quietly as she saw Kurtis at the bottom of the stairs, turning around and standing up as he heard her coming. He grabbed his bag as Lara got closer, jumping off the rest of the stairs, "We need to get out of here." she said, pushing him in front of her. He quickly took the hint and ran forwards, Lara hot on his heels. "They have better security than I thought," Lara said, overtaking Kurtis, who also sped up, now running at her side. They quickly raced through the other rooms, Lara smirking as she passed the quirky tour guide, who was staring at them with utter hatred.
She risked a glance backwards and then pressured her legs to carry her further as two security guards made their way from the services desk, first looking as if they weren't sure what to do, then realising Lara and Kurtis were a threat. She laughed lightly as they made it out of the building, passing the elderly couple who were behind them before. Kurtis looked back as the male of the two just turned to his wife, who in turn, shrugged.
He could see the bouncers catching up on them, so he sped up, and soon enough, they had reached the bottom of the stairs. Lara laughed as she saw two Norton Streetfighers parked in a 'reserved' space in the car park, and she quickly tapped into her headset, "Thank you, Zip."
Without hesitation, Lara and Kurtis jumped onto their bikes, revving them up and speeding away as they headed in the direction of the motorway with a direct route to Spain, sighing in relief as no body was pursuing them.
AN: So, guess what? Next chapter, I'll be fulfilling the whole, "TOMB Raider" concept :-D If you get what I mean. There's a tomb!!! Yay!
Catch you then. Happy-Getting-Closer-To-Christmas-Time XD