Expedition Log 1

[lara_the_explorer]

Who: Lara Croft and YOU
What: Lara's arrival to Paradisa
When: June 12.
Where: Woods near the Castle Grounds/Infirmary
Rating: PG-R for language


In the middle of the woods, one could hear rustling bushes and some branches snapping as a female figure in the dark is running with a torch in hand.

"Sam! Reyes! Jonah!" the woman called out. "Shit... What is this place? I could have sworn we got out of that island..."

She looks battered, bruised, and armed with two mismatched handguns on her thigh holsters. She looks like she's been through hell and back, with dried blood, torn clothes and a thousand-yard stare. She doesn't even care about possible wolves, with what she's been through, wolves don't scare her anymore. She just wants to find her friends.

And after a minute of walking, she could see already the exterior of the castle from a distance. Not sure about what's in there, so she grabbed her gun and headed towards the castle grounds...

Comments

[lara_the_explorer]

"Oh. Thanks..." Lara said to Kate, with her head lowered. "Am I... in Paradisa?"

[not_nikkiheat]

Kate was a little stunned at the thanks, since Kate had pistol-whipped the kid not two hours ago, but she just nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"Yes, you're in Paradisa. You're in the castle clinic right now, but I'm sure they'll let you move to your room as soon as you're feeling up to it.

[lara_the_explorer]

"I have a room? I haven't been here long enough, but this place is already nothing but madness"

[not_nikkiheat]

"You don't know the half of it. There's always a room waiting for every new arrival."

Kate knew how crazy it all sounded. She'd been in Lara's shoes a few months earlier. She still wasn't used to all of it yet.

[lara_the_explorer]

"I see" Lara sighs "What's the catch about this place?"

[not_nikkiheat]

Kate sighed in response.

"The catch is that we can't leave. Pretty much everything else we can imagine is provided for us."

[lara_the_explorer]

Lara sighed. At least there was a way out in Yamatai. But then she realized, she was looking for her friends, the ones she was with before.

"Oh god, I have to look for the others...!"

[not_nikkiheat]

Kate took a risk, reaching out to touch Lara's arm gently.

"I doubt any of the others came here with you. If they had, they would have been with you."

[lara_the_explorer]

Lara twitched for a second out of instinct, but she didn't do anything else after.

"I need to be sure they're not here. I need to be sure they're safe..."

[not_nikkiheat]

Kate didn't have the heart to tell her that just because they weren't here, didn't necessarily mean they were safe. That could be dealt with later. She noticed the twitch and moved her hand away slowly.

"We can check the journal, see if anyone's seen them. If they're here, someone will have noticed."

[lara_the_explorer]

"The journal?"

[not_nikkiheat]

"Yes, you should have a journal somewhere near you. We use them to communicate with each other here."

Kate pulled out her journal and showed it to Lara.

"It's our only communication device here."

[lara_the_explorer]

"I did not see that when I got here" Lara's eyes squinted. It looks like an ordinary book. So it must be magic? She's definitely curious. "May I?" she asked, wanting to get a closer look at this journal.

[not_nikkiheat]

"Of course," said Kate, handing her the journal. "You can write your own private entries, or speak to others here as well. It comes in handy here."

[lara_the_explorer]

Lara opens the journal and flips through the pages. She gasps in awe upon seeing writings form out of thin air. What Kate just said are etched in ink on the last pages too.

"Amazing..." Lara noticed her words appear on the blank part of the page. "So it's like some kind of online chat room..."

[not_nikkiheat]

Kate nodded.

"That's the best way I can find to describe it, yes."

[lara_the_explorer]

Lara gently closed the journal and hands it back to Kate with a nod.

"How long should I stay in bed? Did the doctor tell you?" Lara lets out a frustrated sigh. She doesn't really like being bedridden like this.

[not_nikkiheat]

Kate shrugs, looking around for a doctor.

"If you're feeling okay, I guess it's fine for you to go. Just be sure to get some rest. I uh, I think I gave you a concussion."

[lara_the_explorer]

"Heh. You got a mean swing, I give you that" Lara cracked a smile. She understands, she probably would have done the same.

[not_nikkiheat]

Kate laughed, relieved she didn't seem to hold a grudge.

"You have to, in my line of work. You didn't make it easy, believe me."

[lara_the_explorer]

"Police, right? Somewhere in America?

[not_nikkiheat]

"Yeah, I'm a homicide detective in New York. What do you do?"

[lara_the_explorer]

Despite her wounds, she casually replied "Archaeologist"

[not_nikkiheat]

Kate gave her injuries a significant look.

"Apparently Archaeology is more dangerous than I was lead to believe on career day in high school."

[lara_the_explorer]

"It really isn't dangerous. A lot would call it boring, actually"