Shangri-la Part 2

Jonah: "Lara, take this ramen; it will warm you up." he said while giving me a warm cup of ramen. I looked outside the cave and saw the massive blizzard that is happening tonight. I then looked at the professor who was trying to read the map.

Lara: "is this British ramen.." I looked at Jonah, who shook his head.

Jonah: "You know that I hate the British cup ramen they tasted bland, this ramen I bought when we were still in Chengdu." he said while eating his noodles. I just nodded and mindlessly eating the ramen Jonah noticed that I was distracted. He was about to cheer me up when suddenly the Professor yelled out in excitement.

Williams: "if I am right, we should be near an old temple used by the Divine Doctor to heal people that stumble to his doors." he said while walking towards us with his map. He then plotted away towards the direction we needed to go.

Lara: "then we need to get ready, then.." I said while walking towards my luggage and bringing out a wooden bow. I then grabbed one handgun and holstered it onto my hip. But before I could leave the cave, Jonah grabbed my arm.

Jonah: "Lara, there is a massive storm outside the cave; we need to wait it out before we leave." he said worriedly towards me, but I didn't listen to his warning and pulled my arm off his hands.

Lara: "Jonah, you can stay here with the professor while I go ahead and see what I could find there." Jonah saw my stern look on my face and sighed in defeat. He then went towards his backpack and put it on his back and walked towards me.

Jonah: "what are we waiting for, let's go then.." he said while nodding at me. I looked at him and gratefully smiled at him for supporting my decision. The professor packed his stuff and hurriedly ran towards us.

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---Hana pov---

Hana: "hay wolf, why do you not talk.." I asked towards the silent ace pilot who was eating his ration near the plane.

Dugg: "don't worry about him; he doesn't talk to people. But when Wolf is above the skies, he flies like there is no tomorrow." he said while looking at the Wolf sitting by himself near the plane.

Grant: "Hana, leave the man alone; he is an ace for a reason," he said while eating his ration. I looked at him and pouted.

Viper: "just stop playing around and look after the princess. You know how the boss will be angry when you bring her here." when I heard this I looked around to find Haru but noticed that she wasn't here. I began to panic as I tried to look around for any signs of her.

Hana: "Guys, where is the little princess.." When I asked my question, everybody near the camp suddenly looked around, including Wolf for the little princess.

Grant: "shit... We need to find the princess before anything bad happens to her." but before we could search for Haru. We heard someone walking towards our location. We saw a four giant white beast that towers above us. "What the... Is that an abominable snowman" he said while pointing his gun at it.

Hana: "I am sure that they called it Yeti in these parts of the world." I said while pointing my gun at it. But before we could shoot it down, we saw someone riding on top of those white creatures.

Haru: "hi, guys, look at my new pets... There fluffy and warm to hug," she said while petting the head of the creature she is riding on right now. I looked at Grant and asked him what to do now.

Hana: "what should we do now, captain..."

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---Lara pov---

I looked at the mural that was painted on the inside walls of the temple. The painting was almost faded, but we could still comprehend what the images are telling us.

Williams: "yes, if I remembered correctly, your father stumbled into this temple by accident, thinking that there is a map in this temple to bad we didn't find anything here." I then touched the image and asked the Professor another question.

Lara: "what does this mural tell it looks like it's a story about this man." I said while pointing at the man who was healing someone's injuries.

Williams: "yes, this is the entire story of the Divine Doctor in this one mural," he said while looking at the image. "Your father said that the Divine Doctor hid a map towards Shangri-la here, but we didn't find it; luckily, we just happened to walk into the entrance of Shangri-la by accident."

I slide my hands on to the mural while walking along. I then felt a slight bump when I ran my hands down the long painting. I then walked back and noticed that the block was not secured correctly to the wall. I could quickly break the barrier. I grabbed my climbing ax and was ready to break it open. But Professor Williams grabbed my hands to stop me mid-swing.

Williams: "what are you doing, Lara, you should not destroy history." he then went through his bags and gave me a small hammer and chisel. "We are archeologists. You should never destroy history, we preserve and restore history to its former glory..."

I didn't listen to the Professor's words and just used my climbing ax. When I broke open the wall, I saw a small box inside the wall. I was surprised and happy when I saw the map that leads towards the entrance of Shangri-la.

Williams: "okay, I didn't think that there was something hidden behind the mural" he then saw an odd-looking dagger and grabbed it. "This is one odd-looking dagger... It looked more like a key than a weapon."

Lara: "that might be the key to enter the gates to Shangri-la; we need to keep it safe…" but before I could finish my words, Jonah came running towards us with a worried look on his face.

Jonah: "Guys, we have a problem, armed men are coming towards our way.." but all of a sudden, there was a grenade on the floor. Jonah then grabbed Professor and me and dived behind cover from the expulsion. "Too late, we need to fight our way out."

I then grabbed my bow off my back while the professor hid behind cover with his handgun. Jonah looked at me and confirmed that he was ready. We both hid behind something and waited for the intruders to come in and ambush them.

When the armed men came inside the temple, I could not understand what they were talking about because they are using mandarin.

Lara: "fuck.. I should have brush up my mandarine." I whispered to myself. When the men passed by me, I then used my ax and hit his head. I then looked at Jonah, who already killed the other armed men. I then grabbed the assault rifle off the dead body and slung it on my back.

All of a sudden, Jonah dived towards me and hid me behind cover before I could get shot. I looked over the wall and saw a giant bullet hole that was shot outside. I then heard a helicopter outside. The aircraft, all of a sudden, opened fire at the temple.

Jonah: "shit, we're pinned down; we need to find a way out of this," he said while trying to hide." I peeked slightly over my head and saw more people slowly walking towards us. The armed men saw me peaked, so they started shooting at my current location.

I looked around for any way out of this temple when suddenly we heard an expulsion outside the temple. I looked outside and saw the helicopter was on fire and was ready to crash down.

Jonah: "Lara, another RPG is coming towards the men outside the temple." I then followed the smoke trails that were left behind by the missile and saw Joseph.

Joseph fired another missile towards the enemy and began climbing down towards us. I ran out of cover and ran towards him. I shot down every armed man that got in my way. Joseph saw me and also ran towards me. I then let go of my gun and jump straight to Joseph's arms.

Hide my head on his bread chest while he caresses my back. This nostalgic smell and touch made all my worries melted away. Joseph raised my head to look at him. I don't know what got over me, but my lips were overlapping his. The affection for each other lasted forever whenever I kissed him. I only pulled away when we heard Jonah coughing behind us.

Joseph: "I.. I what," but before he could finish his words, I sealed his lips again. I saw the confusion and surprised look on his face. I could only smile lovingly at him before we stopped embracing each other.

Lara: "we will talk later; first, we need to get out of here before more people come.." but before I finished my words, then storms suddenly erupted out of nowhere. Joseph and Jonah are suddenly lifted in the air. A man with golden ancient Chinese imperial clothing slowly walked toward us.

Joseph: "Lara, get away from him, he's dangerous." the man in front of me suddenly brought Joseph and Jonah towards him. He then unsheathed a black sword and started swinging it around.

???: "it's great to meet you, Lara Croft I heard from my spies that you had killed all my disciples when they tried to revive my new empress." he said while pointing his sword at Jonah's heart.

Lara: "what do you want from me to let them go!" I desperately said while he pointed his sword and Jonah's chest.

???: "Oh straight to the point, I wanted all the things you found inside the temple, and I would let them go." when I heard his words, I then quickly grabbed the map that I found inside the temple and showed it to the man.

Lara: "here is the map that would lead to Shangri-la. So let them go, and I will give this to you," I desperately said. The man in front of me smiled wickedly and started walking towards me with Jonah and Joseph still floating in front of him. He then let's go of Jonah while Joseph remains in the air.

???: "you think I am dumb enough to let go of two of my bargaining chips... You have to give me the map first; then, our deal is complete." I was going to hand over the map when suddenly Joseph started talking to me.

Lara: "Lara, don't do it. Just run away with Jonah…." but before he could finish his words, he suddenly started coughing and trying to breathe air in, but he just couldn't.

???: "silence, you have three seconds before I crush his lungs from the inside." but before he could count, I threw the map in his direction. The paper didn't hit the ground but started floating towards him instead.

???: "You have been a great pawn Lara Croft but unfortunately, our time together ends here." He then pointed the sword at Joseph's left chest where his heart is and skewered it. He then pulled the sword out from Joseph's chest and threw his body toward me.

Lara: "NOOOOO!!!" I then ran towards Joseph's body and kneeled beside him. I then cradled his head while Joseph tried to say something to me.

Joseph: "Lara *coughs out blood* before I go.." he then touches my cheeks and wipes my tears off my cheeks. " I love you, Lara." when I heard his words, more tears came out from my eyes.

Lara: "I love you too, Joseph…"