AN: So my way of saying sorry for these Chapters being so short is to publish two of them :P Like I said, I have other things that need attention. I would love to sit here all day and write and daydream but.. that's just not feasible :) I'll be busy in my head thinking of where next to go.. play the game and see if anything strikes me as a possibility for a path to an idea. This is Part 2 of these Chapters. Sorry the other one is so short. I think I make up for it here :P I write without proof-reading or re-writing so I type it all up without checking anything.. forgive my missed comma's or grammar mistakes.
-Page Breaker-
He nearly jumped sky high at her unexpected intrusion.
'L-Lara!' He bolted upright in an instant. He tried to shove the book into his bag and shuffle around as if he were previously doing something uninteresting. Merely taking in a moment to observe the nature around him 'Well, I was – you see, I found -'
'Alex's notebook.' Lara stated flatly. Clearly unamused as she motioned to the object in question just poking out of the top of his backpack.
'Ye-yes, well, I thought he might be looking for it, .. I found it -'
'In his bag on the beach.'
His eyes connected with hers as he took a moment to study her.
It wouldn't be easy getting out of this one.
'No, it was up here in the forest. I'd seen him come up here the other day and I thought he was acting suspicious.' he announced proudly as if he'd discovered something important.
Lara scoffed.
'The only one acting suspicious out here is you.' she stated and began to make careful, calculated movements toward the man.
'Now come on, Lara.' he began backing up a little. Unsure of what she intended by her coming closer to him. He felt a bit like a prey animal being hunted by a predator. It normally didn't end too well for the prey animals in these cases.
'Every-ones been a little off since we've got here. It hasn't exactly been the easiest time you see.' he made an elaborate gesture with his hand and slapped it back on his bag.
Effectively bringing attention back to the item in question.
'Yes, ..' she let her eyes drift lower to scan the ground beneath his feet.
She was looking for something in specific. Something there were usually an abundance of on the Island.
Her eyes rose to meet his worried ones again.
'I agree, not every one has had an easy time of it.'
He stopped at her next words.
'None of it has been made any easier by you.'
It was his turn to scoff. 'Oh, and what's that supposed to mean, Miss Croft?'
Lara advanced on him as she spoke 'It means you've been nothing but trouble since we've been stranded here. You never listen to what anyone says, you do what you want! You leave without telling us where you're going or what you're up to.. if anybody here is up to something I'd say it'd be you.'
She stopped only a mere 2 feet away from him.
'You haven't had a success in years. Nothing new. No amazing finds to credit to your name. You are desperate to find something here and you're willing to put us in bloody danger to accomplish it! It's unacceptable, Whitman.' She took a breath and looked down to the side.
There it was sitting plain as day!
Found one..
She didn't let her eyes linger on it too long for fear his interest might drift to it as well. She looked back at him.
'Now you're willing to even invade our bloody personal space too! That's private, Whitman. You have no business reading anything of Alex's.'
As she spoke she resumed her journey toward him again in a successful attempt at herding him toward the object.
'You're a washed up, pathetic excuse for a human. If you keep going on like this it won't be the Solarii you have to watch out for anymore, it'll be me.'she stated the last word firmly as she took her last step forward, hoping to scare him into a sudden movement.
It worked.
'Lara – AHH!'
His body was suddenly snapped to the side and pulled to suspend upside down as he thrashed about helplessly like a fish on a line.
'WHAT the –?! LARA!'
She held up her hands in mock surrender. 'I didn't do anything, that was all you and your discovery.'
'You KNEW this would happen!' he accused.
She let a smirk grace her features. 'So? I didn't push you into it. You wandered right in on your own. Serves you right. A true Explorer would have had a more keen eye for details.'
He continued his vain attempts to free himself.
'Would you just – Please help me down? I can't reach the pulley.'
She shook her head 'No, I think this serves as an effective time out. At least we'll all know where to find you now.' she quipped as she walked closer.
She maneuvered her hand across his book-bag fighting off his flailing hands a few times before she reached her goal. Unloosening the flap she jumped back as the contents of the bag spilled onto the ground below him. A few items unceremoniously dropping onto his head as they fell from the confines.
'Serves you right you bastard..' she mumbled as he made some unappreciative noises about the whole situation.
She retrieved Alex's book from the pile.
Something else caught her eye.
It was a relic. An Artifact of some sort that looked fairly innocent. A Mask? Perhaps it would prove beneficial.
'You're hiding valuable information and tools from the group too, Doctor? You record is getting darker by the minute..' she picked up a pack of matches.
Maybe she'd teach Alex to shoot flaming arrows.. at Whitman..
That was a nice thought. She didn't allow herself to dwell on it too long and made herself focus on the task at hand still to be dealt with.
'Now, Whitman..' she squatted down so she was eye level with him.
His attention focused back on her.
'If I ever find you doing something detrimental to the groups well being.. I'll leave you here in one of these traps for those damn Scavengers to gut and salvage. Am I understood at all?'
He nodded his head vigorously 'Y-Yes, I understand.'
She didn't buy it.
She briefly considered leaving him here. It wouldn't be too hard to explain to the others back at Camp why she'd left him strung up by his boots.
She sighed and closed her eyes as she shook her head before lifting herself back up into a stand. She looked at the pulley and then drew her Pistol.
One shot and he was falling.
He landed with a loud thunk, tumbling across all his possessions as he scrambled upright and backward, putting as much distance as he could between him and Lara.
They watched each-other for a few moments before she made the first move.
'Don't think I'm going to forget about this and everything will be fine from now on. Rest assured that I'll be noticing every time you think you'll sneak off unnoticed.'
She made firm eye contact. She pulled the book in closer to her side. 'This stays in Alex's bag.'
He nodded.
'This goes to Roth, he'll know what to do with it.' She was of course referring to the Carved Mask.
'B—But, ..'
'Whitman, this isn't a negotiation. When Roth asks me how I got it, I'm going to tell him the complete truth. I let you down, but you don't deserve any more than that. You're going to have to explain yourself.'
He shut his mouth and nodded again.
'Fine. Be back at Camp soon.' she ordered.
She didn't look back once at the Doctor's form bunched up on the ground as he silently watched her retreating form.
It felt like ages before she made it back to the camp.
'Where you been, girl?' Roth's eyes met hers, worry evident in his features.
'Just out and about looking for this and that.' she unhooked the Mask from under her elbow and handed it to he and Grim to examine. 'Whitman found that, he wants to talk to you about it.'
'Really?' Roth questioned looking it over 'Don't buy it for a second that the almighty explorer would share resources on anything.' he handed it to Grimm for his chance to see it.
'Don't buy it at all either. There's a more interesting story regarding that.' They both looked up at her.
'Whitman will be along to explain it shortly.' she assured them with a small nod and a smile.
'Aye, I'll get a fire goin' then, seems like a proper occasion.' he nudged Roth in the ribs, the two shared a good natured laugh before Grimm returned his gaze to Lara's 'Good job, Lass. We need all the eyes we can get on th' good ole' Doctor.'
Lara brightened a bit at Grim's Scottish accent. It always made things sound more fierce than they should. She knew Grim was joking about the fire. Although she had no doubt he'd love nothing more than to incinerate Whitman.
Her flaming arrow idea had accomplished the same thought. They couldn't do anything that severe just yet. First, they needed answers.
She looked up to some noise at the edge of the camp. Whitman had decided to return promptly after all.
Most likely in a rush to see if he could convince them to give the Mask back. If he wanted it that bad, she trusted Roth to know to keep a firm hold on it. If he was going to be this desperate to get it back, it had to be of value.
'Doctor, ..' Roth nodded to the seat in front of him 'Sit down, we need to have a good long talk.'
'Aye, you'll not be goin' any where for a while now.' Grim chimed in as he took a seat next to Roth.
Lara watched the scene beginning to unfold before her before she remembered Alex.
'I'm going to go get Alex. I left him out in the woods a few minutes ago.'
'Find him, Lara. Bring him back, its almost lunch and the day is young, we need to get a move on.' Roth instructed.
She nodded before making her way back to the clearing she was teaching Alex to shoot in. Carefully tucking the notebook in the back waistline of her pants in attempt to hide it. She only needed it out of view for a short time.
'Alex? Alex I'm sorry I left for so lo – what have you done?' She asked as a smile spread across her features while she appraised what he'd managed to do in her absence.
He shot her back a beaming smile 'I set up a target I don't mind shooting.' he announced proudly.
He had been determined.
He managed to set up a make-shift log tilted on its end and used some paper from his backpack to draw a primitive set of circles to represent a target.
'That's incredible, Alex.' she praised his creativity.
'Thanks! Look, I even think I'm getting better..'
She waited patiently while he fumbled around with an arrow before finally getting it seated against the string. He pulled it back a bit awkwardly, taking his time and trying to line up the arrow to the Target.
She'd give him points for that. He was getting a bit better.
He released the arrow and it connected with the intended target. Not quite on match, but it was an improvement. He was on his way to getting much, much better.
'Nice! Good job, Alex! That's impressive.' she applauded his efforts as he took a small bow.
He retrieved the arrows from the board and looked back at her.
'Where'd you go off to?' He questioned.
'I had a feeling something might be wrong.' She quickly finished the rest of her statement when she saw the panicked look cross his face 'But, Roth and Grimm are dealing with it now.'
He nodded. Still not looking entirely convinced, but thankfully he let it go.
She suddenly remembered her other purpose here. 'Roth says lunch is almost ready, you feel up to it?'
'I think I could eat..' he looked hopeful.
'Let's head back to Camp then.' she agreed and fell into step beside him as they carried the remnants of their Archery Session back to the Base. She'd have to find a way to slip the Journal back into his bag unnoticed when they returned. She was sure an opportunity would present itself.
They fell into some small talk along the way.
'So I think we'll try fire arrows next. That way you won't even have to gut the poor creature. Just cook and serve right there!'
'Oh, Lara -'
-Forgive My Absolute SUCK Page Breaker Until I Figure This Out-
AN: Hehe :) Never cross Lara.. she knows where the Scavengers lay their traps in hopes to catch themselves something good :) I played the game a bit last night and I kept getting caught up by the traps.. then it hit me 'WAIT! An idea! o.O' I kept scribbling notes while playing. It gets a little bothersome but it ends out alright :) I just have ideas that flood my head and if I don't stop and write them I never remember them and then I drive myself crazy trying to recreate the scenario in which I thought about them. I'm sure you can tell my home is full of bits of paper :) Hope you guys find these entertaining. I thought it was a nice touch that in the game Alex never finds out Lara reads his Diary.. Alex never knows Lara saved his notes :) Of course I'll still have her read it at a later Chapter. Maybe I'll even change the outcome :O I thought it was about time to mention some of the other characters and bring them into play too. I know it didn't have much Lara/ Alex but since it kinda needed to be about Dumb-ass. I still managed to work him in there :P Rest assured. I intend fluff to come soon. Thank you GuardEzio for inspiring me to write this! :) You've been the only steady reviewer I have! :P That was all for you! :) Any more characters you don't really care for? I'm sure we could work something out, a hah :)