Chapter 2 - Rising Storm
16-7-1581
Portuguese Nagasaki
Countess Lara Croft had been stuck in Portuguese Nagasaki for a week now. Her facial scars, arms scratches and body burn wounds were all completely healed, somehow leaving very light and barely visible scars. The healing process of her broken ribs, left kidney and calf were also magnificent as Lara was now able to walk and run normally. Unfortunately, she was unable to leave the minka and explore the trade city because she was still under house arrest. It turned out the minka was actually Padre Sebastião Alvito's residence. It was by far the best "imprisonment" condition that Lara could ever imagine. The minka had a clean and functional furo (bathroom) which allowed Lara to take a nice warm bath every night. She had exotic but fresh and delicious food for every meal. In contrast, English cuisine was so oily and boring. There were reasons why people call English as "Island Monkey" because their food was just as bland as monkeys having bananas for all day long. The maid also provided Lara with different types of clothing, ranging from typical European fashion to native Japanese clothing. For the latter, Lara always preferred male kimono as it provided greater mobility compared to its female counterpart. The simple singular colour pattern of black or deep blue also better reflects her straightforward and bold personality. The young Japanese housemaid cringed so hard and was on the verge of mental collapse whenever she saw Lara in male kimono. It did not need to take a wild guess that Lara completely butchered their traditional dress code and had no respect for the complex local etiquette.
Padre Sebastião visited Lara every day to conduct his interrogation. He brought along a new Portuguese Jesuit Deacon to help him record their conversation. They were mostly about Lara's adventures and her role on the Endurance in the past 3 years. Padre Sebastião also invited Lara to theological debate after every interrogation section. As a strong independent woman, Lara never backed down to defend her Anglican faith… and got absolutely obliterated by the genius Jesuit Priest EVERY SINGLE TIME. All the slanderous Black Legend propaganda and false Anglican doctrines were debunked. Padre Sebastião's passion and magnificent intellects just shocked Lara's entire belief and worldview. The Jesuit Priest had spiritually infiltrated Lara's subconsciousness and planted the seed of Roman Catholic enlightenment within the depths.
19-7-1581
Portuguese Nagasaki
3 days later, Lara was summoned to the City Council of Portuguese Nagasaki and was judged for her crimes against the Iberian Union. In the final verdict, she was found guilty of "assisting piracy". However, considering that she was a young noblewoman and was only a secretary-historian of the Endurance, Lara was pardoned under the condition of joining the crew of the Portuguese Galleon "São Nicolau de Mira" (Saint Nicholas of Myra) on an exorcist-expedition to the mysterious island of Yamatai as a "penitent crusade". According to local fisherman and sailors from Yakushima and Tanegashima, there was a region called the "Dragon's Triangle" near Japan where paranormal incidents were rampant. Ships and sailors entered, all never returned. It was rumoured that deep within the region was the cursed ancient domain of Yamatai, controlled by the Priest-Queen Himiko. His Holiness, Pope Gregory XIII and the Roman Curia decided that exorcising the island would overwhelmingly boost Catholic authority in Japan. It was crucial for its future evangelisation and complete Christianisation. King Philip II of the Iberian Union also fully authorised the operation since Yamatai had no connections to any Japanese factions and was likely to be uninhabited. It would guarantee easy colonisation and further expand Spanish-Portuguese influence in Japan. With Papal blessing and Iberian monarchical executive order to enlighten Yamatai with faith and steel, the exorcist-expedition was already planned for 2 months before Lara's arrival and would now be launched on 25-7-1581.
20-7-1581
Portuguese Nagasaki
Once the trial and mission debriefing were over, Padre Sebastião took Lara to Nagasaki city ordnance depot to check on her personal equipment. Apparently, the young Countess's dual wheellock pistols, rapier and parrying dagger were still sheathed in her holster and scabbards when she was rescued on the beach. Due to the weapons' superior quality and masterful craftsmanship, sea water only did very little alkaline corrosion and local Portuguese weaponsmiths quickly repaired them to their original glory. Unfortunately, they were still confiscated due to the City Council's general distrust of Lara's loyality and the weapons would only be returned when the exorcist-expedition began. The city ordnance depot's quartermaster also compensated Lara with 400 mon (Japanese copper coin currency) for salvaging metal scraps and wooden planks from the Endurance's barely existing remains. This little amount of currency was only able to cover Lara's daily expenditure for a short period of time but at least she was no longer a penniless peasant in a completely foreign land. Furthermore, Padre Sebastião generously let Lara continue living in his minka for the time being until she could gain enough money. Lara was forever grateful for the Priest's kindness and compassion. She asked how she could repay the debt but Padre Sebastião sternly refused because "a good Samaritan never asked for rewards".
21-7-1581
Portuguese Nagasaki
Early in the morning, Lara changed into a full set of pitch black English male mourning costumes due to lack of suitable female European dress within the city. It consisted of a capotain, thigh-length overcoat, a linen shirt, breeches and boots. She visited the Nagasaki city cemetery to pay respect and bid farewell to the deceased crew of Endurance. Since all corpses were fully soaked in with alkaline sea water when they were discovered, they quickly decomposed and local gravediggers had to bury them in a mass cemetery to prevent an infectious outbreak. It all happened within Lara's 2 weeks-long coma, leaving her with an extremely sour taste as she could not identify any bodies and correctly mourn for them. All hands of the Endurance were brothers and sisters in arms, facing them as nameless and simplistic tombstones only intensified the agonising grief. There were 21 lionhearts who forever laid down peacefully here. Would there be more tomorrow? Was Uncle Roth still safe? Maybe he arrived at some remote island and was saved by the locals? Many thoughts appeared in Lara's mind as she stood sadly alone at the huge mass public cemetery from noon to night. Under the gaze of the glowing moon, the young Countess sobbed lightly and sang the song of sorrow in her fallen brethren's honour,
"Oh, I bid farewell to the port and the land
And I paddle away from brave England's white sands
To search for my long ago forgotten friends
To search for the place I hear all sailors end
As the souls of the dead fill the space of my mind
I'll search without sleeping 'til peace I can find
I fear not the weather, I fear not the sea
I remember the fallen, do they think of me?
When their bones in the ocean forever will be
Plot a course to the night to a place I once knew
To a place where my hope died along with my crew
So I swallow my grief and face life's final test
To find promise of peace and the solace of rest
As the songs of the dead fill the space of my ears
Their laughter like children, their beckoning cheers
My heart longs to join them, sing songs of the sea
I remember the fallen, do they think of me?
When their bones in the ocean forever will be
When at last before my ghostly shipmates I stand
I shed a small tear for my home upon land
Though their eyes speak of depths filled with struggle and strife
Their smiles below say I don't owe them my life
As the souls of the dead fill the space of my eyes
And my boat listed over and tried to capsize
I'm this far from drowning, this far from the sea
I remember the living, do they think of me?
When my bones in the ocean forever will be
Now that I'm staring down at the darkest abyss
I'm not sure what I want, but I don't think it's this
As my comrades call to stand fast and forge on
I make sail for the dawn 'til the darkness has gone
As the souls of the dead live for'er in my mind
As I live all the years that they left me behind
I'll stay on the shore but still gaze at the sea
I remember the fallen and they think of me
For our souls in the ocean together will be
I remember the fallen and they think of me
For our souls in the ocean together will be"
22-7-1581
Portuguese Nagasaki
Lara spent the entire day exploring and wandering in the city of Nagasaki… with her favourite deep blue male kimono on. Every Japanese on the street looked at Lara like she was an alien-freak from another universe with no regard for local dressing codes. Kids literally cried and ran away from her. Mothers would cover children's eyes with their hands or loose kimono sleeves and scold them to behave. Lara was truly the nightmarish bedroom monster made manifest. However, she paid them no mind because she was too busy absorbing the exotic street view, architecture and local products. By the evening, the sorrow regarding the loss of Endurance and its crew suddenly erupted again. Lara was in dire need of strong but cheap exotic alcohol to suppress the pain. With the guidance of moonlight and street chochin (lantern), Lara eventually ventured into a slum where the poor, social outcast, criminals and prostitutes were concentrated. Due to the cramped environment, the inhabitants no longer ran away but quietly and carefully observed her every movement. The tension was so thick that the butcher could cut it with a cleaver. What a strange déjà vu to the East End of London where everyone wanted to stab passers-by for money. They were the exact same shithole except for the language difference. Lara set her target on a shabby but very lively izakaya. When she entered, everyone suddenly stopped their activity and stared at her. Time felt so slow that each water drop could be heard. While most gazes were out of genuine curiosity due to cultural shock, some were obviously having malicious thoughts. Lara made a mental note that she may have the chance to warm up her combat skills today before finding an empty spot at the corner and sitting down.
It took a few minutes for a young waiter to come. He nervously gave Lara a Japanese menu. She of course could not understand a single word. The Countess awkwardly looked around and saw some kind of grilled chicken skewers and strong looking liquor in clay pots. She pointed at those products and clumsily placed a string of mon on the table, gesturing that she would like to try them and had sufficient money to pay but had no idea about the price. It took a few seconds for the confused waiter to understand. He nodded, untied the string to pick up a certain amount of mon and quickly left to deliver her order.
Lara mumbled quietly, "Shite, I really should learn some basic Japanese before going out alone. I am now like the biggest dumbarse in town."
After 15 minutes of waiting, the waiter returned with a tray of yakitori, saké and a small bowl of rice. Lara instinctively said, "Oh, lovely! Thank you!"
The Surrey accent English sentence was unintelligible to the waiter but he seemed to understand Lara's happy and sincere gesture. He smiled with a nod and then turned to serve other customers. Lara clumsily used the chopstick like a fork and pulled rice into her mouth. The waiter and other customers all cringed and cry-laughed at the hilarious display. Lara sighed because she felt that she failed Padre Sebastião's housemaid. No matter how hard she tried to teach Lara using chopsticks correctly, the young Countess still butchered it. She was a master of combat, orienteering and survival but was completely obliterated by a pair of thin wooden sticks. Lara proceeded to grab a chicken skewer and bit it while still having rice in her mouth. Her sorrowful eyes turned bright again. The chemistry of mixing rice and grilled chicken was insane. The saltiness from the sauce maximised the chicken pieces' freshness. Together with the natural sweetness of rice, they were an invincible combo. Lara had to admit that she preferred them way more than cold slimy sushi. Lara then guzzled down a quarter of saké in a single motion. Such alcohol tolerance shocked the customers and waiter as they still peeped at Lara like an exotic animal on foot from another dimension. Lara was oblivious to any of this because she was too busy making mental comparisons of saké and other alcohol that she had tried before. Saké's alcohol level was underwhelming compared to Scottish whisky and Chinese baijiu. The taste was light and liquid was clear as water with a unique sense of freshness in its aroma, overall felt similar to baijiu. While definitely not Lara's top choice of alcohol, she still liked it nonetheless.
As Lara was about to finish her meal and saké, 4 rōnin armed with uchigatana and wakizashi entered the izakaya. Their dishevelled clothes, rowdy and intoxicated demeanour showed that they were nothing but thugs. The waiter and chef both greeted them with fear and paid them protection money. As the gang was about to leave, their leader, a man with a jingasa straw hat spotted Lara and pointed his finger at her. He spoke loudly in unintelligible Japanese. The staff tried to escort him out of the izakaya but the 4-men gang just forcefully shoved them away and knocked down multiple wooden furniture. Some customers tried to sneakily leave the izakaya after putting sufficient coins on the table. However, a rōnin drew his uchigatana to block the way out while another started collecting those money. The leader walked towards Lara and loomed over her while continuing shouting in Japanese.
Lara antagonised him in annoyance while guzzling down the last volume of saké, "Haven't you figured it out that I don't speak your fucking language?"
The gang leader was surprised and taken back by Lara's unimpressed demeanour for a few seconds. He then smirked maliciously, grabbed Lara's right forearm, pulled her closer and grasped her left boob hard. However, before the pervert could properly enjoy the soft sensation, Lara grabbed a sharp long wooden skewer and forcefully stabbed it into the creep's neck with her left hand. The leader immediately screamed in pain and released her. The young Countess further slammed the empty saké clay pot into the perv's face with all her might, instantly shattering the container and knocking the rōnin leader out instantly. As he fell hard onto the wooden ground, his heavy body weight further pushed the sharp wooden skewer deep into the neck, with the tip protruded out of his aorta. The man was dead. For a moment, there was absolute silence. Then all hell broke loose as the remaining 3 rōnin all drew their uchigatana and charged at Lara. Meanwhile, all customers and staff rushed outside to escape the violent scene in fear of collateral damage.
The young Countess threw the plate and bowl at the trio and flipped the small chabudai. Halt them for a second to retrieve the uchigatana and wakizashi from the fallen rōnin leader, dual wielding them like rapier and parrying dagger. Such a strange stance confused the trio but they still proceeded to corner Lara at the deep end of the shop. Due to the narrow environment and numerous furniture obstacles, the trio could not attack Lara all at once but at an uneven pace. The first rōnin hopped over a table but before he could reposition himself to foothold, Lara lunged forward and pierced through his stomach with her uchigatana; while flipping her wakizashi in the mid-air to handle it in reverse grip edge out, then slashed it across the target rōnin's neck aorta. Blood instantly spilled out like a fountain. Lara pulled the uchigatana out and let the corpse fall on the ground with little care. She turned around to face another opponent and flipped the wakizashi to forward grip with thumb pointing forward on the tsuba. This new rōnin made no mistake to speed crossing any furniture. He slowly approached with a jōdan-no-kamae stance, only for Lara to kick a small chabudai at him. He broke his guard to halt the chabudai before his knee but allowed Lara the opportunity to lunge forward. While he was able to parry the wakizashi slash, he was unable to evade the uchigatana stab from lower jaw upward through the skull. The uncanny tongue-ripping, bone-breaking and brain-tearing sound instantly rang across the chaotic izakaya. Lara pulled out the blade and let the corpse fall-kneeling on the chabudai corner with blood and cerebrospinal fluid splattered all over the tatami. The last rōnin tried to ambush Lara from behind with a charging ko gasumi stance. Fortunately, Lara saw him from the corner of her right eye. She rolled off just in time to barely dodge the decapitating blow and slashed her uchigatana deep into the last rōnin's right outer thigh before he could turn around. The man screamed in agony and fell on one knee instantly. Lara seized the opportunity by charging forward and impaling her uchigatana from his back through the chest, before power kicking his corpse down on the tatami floor in a single slick motion.
Exhausted, Lara sat on a nearby undamaged chabudai and calmly looked at the little carnage. Blood was splattered all over the place. The tatami floor was soaked in a deep red colour and the air was filled with a nauseous metallic smell. Lara grabbed a random towel to clean herself from the thugs' blood on her body and the newly acquired weapons. She then proceeded to collect all the remaining uchigatana and wakizashi, sheathed them in scabbards and tied them in a single bundle with corpses' bloody obi (fabric belt). She also looted their bodies for any valuables, eventually gathering 600 mon, a small jade pendant-necklace, a wooden beads bracelet and a piece of ryō (gold coin). As Lara left the izakaya with her spoils of victory, she saw some spectators gathered at the door outside and looked at her with a mix of shock and fear. Lara spotted the same young waiter who served her food earlier. She approached him, put all 600 mon in his right palm, patted him twice on the left shoulder with her still slightly bloody right hand, all the while without uttering a single word. The crowd was stunned by Lara's kind gesture and automatically made way for her to leave the slum. They kept watching her back with awe and silence until the feminine figure faded away into obscurity under the bright moonlight and chilly night wind.
Author's Note
- The beautiful and tragic song is "Bones in the Ocean" by "The Longest Johns".
- Lara's over the top "culture shock" portrayal is a parody for the "bad British tourists" memes.