5683/The Legendary Secret of the Bronze Bowl

The Legendary Secret of the Bronze Bowl
Date of Scene:	22 March 2021
Location:	Afterlife Settlement - Nepal
Synopsis:	Daisy and Lara head back to Nepal, starting in Afterlife, to seek out the strange disturbance in the force Daisy was feeling. An adventure is had up through the mountain with a mysterious adversary, a cuddy leopard, and eventually an ancient temple to be published in journals. Treasure was found and an uneasy alliance was forged.. temporarily.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Daisy Johnson, Lara Croft

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Agent Casey lands the quinjet down in to the snow covered plane that used to be SHIELDs camp outside of Afterlife. Afterlife itself is now blanketed with snow. Weather has reclaimed this place. The crops have withered underneath the snow cover and the buildings exposed to the weather from missile attack have been quickly turned in to wintery ruins. The outlines of pathways leave their impressions in the ground covering still though.

    Not long ago this was a vibrant little village filled with homes and families and kids running around as adults tended to their gardens and studied their mysterious Inhuman gifts. Not long ago Daisy finally got to meet her mother properly and sit and have dinner with her in a building not far from here. The memory of the HYDRA quinjets raining missiles down upon the village and their heavily metal armoured shock troopers dropping down to kidnap as many Inhumans as possible seems like an eon ago; the only foot prints in the snow are now their own.

    Agent Casey turns from the pilot seat and says, "I'll set up camp here. Try and stay in radio contact with me. It's lonely up here and I don't want to scare myself with spooky ghost stories while you two are away." He smiles and starts unloading gear for the base camp.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
As the quinjet flies over the place that once was Afterlife there is a somber look that abates on Daisy's expression, the woman tightening her jaw at the conflicted feelings inside her. For while Afterlife had been destroyed the dream still lived, the seeds starting to be watered in both the creation of the Secret Warriors and the finding of the Inhuman's purpose here.

And this mission was a continuation of that.

The briefing had been sparse. An exploration done on the mountains of Nepal near where Afterlife once was. Daisy had spoke of a calling, of something in the mountain that had awakened. And while she couldn't exactly explain what it could be there were tales and folklore on the area of ancient temples. Perhaps it was one of those? But whatever it could be it would be up in the mountain. How up? She wasn't sure. And that meant they were going loaded with supplies.

She had left most of the choice on both equipment and supplies to Lara. She was *the* expert in SHIELD where it came to these kind of missions so Daisy was pretty much deferring to her judgement where it came to this adventure. "You should had seen this a few weeks back, Lara. It was beautiful." she takes in a breath, getting up and fastening up her warm gear, woolen cap on and goggles as well. A nod to Casey, "At least you will be warm Casey, unlike us." she moves to help with the unloading, setting up the radio for communication as needed.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara had been studying this particula region of Nepal the second she'd heard about this mission, and throughout their journey to get here. She'd been engrossed i nher research, addicted to it, as she gets. Of course she'd been friendly and responded to questions posed to her, but otherwise had just had her nose in some form of book or website, or otherwise.

Up until arriving. She'd started to pack her things up the second they'd started their approach so that it was all stowed by the time they landed. A smile was given to their pilot and a light nod before she too was adjusting the gear on her form, her hat on her head and her goggles on her forehead, wearing a red winter jacket with a big furry collar, her goggles black rimmed with reflective red lenses. "I wish I'd gotten to see it then..." Lara says in response to Daisy before she moves to gather up her pack She felt a lot of remorse over what she'd heard happened here, and imagines it's far worse if you were directly involved.

Once they're ready to go, Lara starts toward the exit of the jet and pauses at the foot of the ramp to let her eyes scan over their wintery horizon. "As inviting as they come." Lara says in a bit of dry British humor. She looks to Daisy then. "Shall we?" She says with a slight smile.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Casey hands Daisy a flare gun, "You know, in case Superman isn't available to rescue you you." And one to Lara. He stares out at the majestic snow capped mountains that surround the valley and shakes his head, "Heck a place to hike. Good luck Agents. I'll keep the lights on here."

    The guest house where Daisy, Matt, and Bobbi stayed is still there. It managed to survive most of the battle that day. Which also means the jade sword is there too. That feeling Daisy felt is but a memory.. vaguely ~that~ way is what she felt.

    Thankfully, the fallen had been cleared away from the village. No doubt by Gordon. Their own fallen and HYDRAs fallen. It's peaceful now, as if the village had been laid to rest. The pathways weave toward the caves that Afterlife had been using for their secretive training. The caves themselves, it seems, stretch deeper in to the mountain vaguely in the direction Daisy felt the anomaly.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
A look is given to the flare gun, then to Casey, then to the flare gun. "Our knight in shining .., quinjet?" a bit of levity to keep her mind out of what this blanket of snow used to be in the past. A longing look is given to the plateau of snow for a few moments but then she slaps her goggles on, mask covering the mouth up, gloves prepared. A backpack over her shoulders with a few supplies and climbing tools. "I most likely won't be able to use most of my powers up there." she tells Lara. "We don't want an avalanche falling on our heads." which meant quaking and FLYING were off the menu. Unfair!

She nods at the 'shall we' and grins. "Lets. I will follow your lead on this Lara." She starts to walk along with the other woman, leaving Casey in the warmth of the quinjet, eyes on the mountain. She points to where the caves were, "Let's follow alongside and closer to those caves." she explains, "I feel..., a pulling from there."

"Also, did you find anything about the mountain? Everytime I went to WAND I was seeing you with your nose up on those books!" She says with a chuckle.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara too accepts her flare gun from their pilot and he gets another soft smile from the archaeologist. "Our GPS signals are on as well, so you should be able to follow us on the Jet's readouts." Their vital signs should be included in the sensors they're wearing in their gear, a safety measure to keep the Agents safe on this possibly perilous trip.

With the gun stwed in her bag behind her back where it dangles within grasping range, Lara nods once to Daisy and puts her hands on her bag straps to prepare to start their trek. "Yes, lets hope we run in to no situations that would even dare require your abilities, Daisy." She says as she starts onward to the great white beyond.

A few steps in and Lara looks back to Daisy coming up on her side. "There was a Russian funded mining operation here in the 1980s, but it seems to have been abandoned some time ago. By all accounts they were looking for diamonds, but... pardon the pun, but it didn't pan out." Lara smirks, before looking up ahead. "There's a gold rush in Nepal now, in fact, but that is mainly handled by much smaller operations than what I think we might find here, and is done through actual river panning to the south of here."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Casey checks his tablet and sees their signals. He gives them a thumbs up as they start wandering off in to the snow covered paths. That's when 'Country Roads... Take Me Home...' starts playing very softly in their ears from the quinjet. Poor taste, but then no one has ever accused Casey of actually being a people person.

    The ore deposits in the mountain begin to crack up the radio signal not too far away from the quinjet and by the time they've reached the cave entrances, it's gone completely. So much for staying in contact with their base camp.

    The caves are acting as a collector for melting snow. The rock faces are wet and a stream is snaking its way in to the tunnel. It wasn't like this before. Kids have drawn images of animals and trees with crayon on the walls giving it an almost neolithic yet modern feel.

    The cave leads down in to a larger cavern where what can best be described as a gym is set up. A training area for the Inhumans to practice their powers away from the village. It's been long enough that food is rotting on the tables. There are practice weapons left laying about and a now dampened and slightly moss covered rug sits in the center of the area. There are other tunnels that lead off further in to the mountain, though they don't appear to have worn pathways.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"A russian operation? Mmmm.." That perks Daisy's interest, brows furrowing as she considers what may await them out here. "So these caves were most likely used by them in the mining. Had no idea Nepal was going through a gold fever right now." the more you know! She does grin at the pun, "I never, ever pardon puns, Lara." unforgivable!

She tests the comms to reach Casey, sighing as there is only static. "At least we won't listen to Country roads anymore." small blessings. "Good that we have the flares." she points. "Lets go into the caves."

She starts moving forward, looking at the gym that was set up. "This was where some of the Inhumans trained." she explains. "I never really came here before." she casts a brief look about, then to the tunnels. "I did not see a clear way up through the mountain so .., shall we go through one of these tunnels?" she focuses, as if seeking for a sign of that calling but then approaches one of the tunnels to look at it, lighting a flashlight down one, then another. "See anything that calls your attention?"

She looks back to Lara.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara smirks at the sound of that American classic song playing in their ears. She doesn't mind it though, as it's not exactly the worst song in the world at the end of the day either. But when Casey's music is disrupted by the comms bouncing back off of the mountains, she just ignores it and feels the atmosphere shift change when the two of the pass through the portal of the mine entrance and in to the mine tunnel.

"Water isn't a great sign for stability." Lara warns in a quiet tone of her calming voice. "But it can lead you through to off shoot tunnels and passages. Of course it's going somewhere... so it's possible it's taking routes away from us too if they've filled up." Not that she hasn't gone through fully submerged cavern tunnels before, but she'd prefer not to put Daisy through that.

Once they get inside the gym area, Lara spies the various things left behind and just absorbs what she can of it before she gets her focus back on their task at hand. She lights up a chem-light and sweeps it ahead of her as she moves toward a far corner of the chamber. "I was hoping to avoid scaling the mountain outside, by finding access ladders left behind within the mines. Or even an chute for ore that we could climb up. It'd be far better to climb up that than out there... in the blasting cold."

Even inside though, Lara's breath is visible in front of her face as she tries to sweep the orange-yellow glowstick around in front of her moving further in to the darkness, almost like she's following the sounds of the water, because she is.

"How much climbing experience do you have again?" Lara asks of Daisy, being one of the more active wall climbing instructors back in the Triskelion's ample training center.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    It's there, still energised by the last time she blasted the mountains with her quake. The faintest of hums. If Daisy had to pick a tunnel to go down, lit'd be the one that the water is going down. There's enough of a ledge next to the water to avoid getting their feet wet - for now.

    There are creaks and groans in the mountain - it's been a long time since this part of it has been wet and cold. Whatever the Inhumans were doing to stabalise the weather in to a perfect paradise, that is now long gone. The tunnel turned small river eventually leads to a flooded section. The bouncing of light suggests not only is their air on the other side, but also that it is exposed to the outside air.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Not a lot." Daisy replies, pursing her lips together, "I have gone through some previous training in the past. And I did try to train more in this last week before we came but I know I am no pro. But I should be able to handle myself." at least she has the physique. But she's certainly no Lara! Not even close.

She looks at the shadows produced by Lara's chemlight, then towards the darkness Lara is moving, ahead to that sound of water. She nods to Lara after a moment of concentration. "I feel we are getting closer as we move." she says. And she is certainly trying to not get her boots wet! Is there a worse feeling than wet socks? No!

"Something changed in the mountain." Daisy says, "It's as if .., it was collapsing. There might had been one of the Inhumans keeping this place.., balanced." she stops when they reach the flooded section, then towards the other side.

"Are we going to need to go underwater and swim?" She asks Lara, looking at her.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara isn't afraid of getting her boots wet, they're environmentally sealed and she's wearing socks made of a specific type of animal wool that doesn't absorb the water, or her sweat, thusly leaving her feet cozy warm up to most temperature drops. She looks back to Daisy though as she does keep to the side of the stream to help Daisy know where to walk.

"I hope we don't have to." Lara quietly replies about having to go in to the water, glancing down to it. "It'll be... cold." She's not sure about Daisy's gear, what she'd brought for herself, and regrets not having better helped her companion on this outting get supplied with the best stuff possible.

The stability of the mine is something on Lara's mind quite readily, and as they progress onward they move under some old wooden cross-beams that seem mostly stable still, though one is bowing downward with what looks like a bunch of broken rocks on top of it.

"If we do, I'll scout ahead before you, and come back to tell you if it's worth pursuing or not." She tells the other, getting a sense that Daisy is a bit new to this kind of thing in general. "If we have to go up outside, I think I saw an area that would work, but we'll certainly want to dry off before we do that." She says in a grim tone.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Lara may be quite right about Daisy being knew out here in the great outdoors. Or in this case, the great indoor caves. Bit of a city girl herself, orphanage raised, barely leaving the city until she was over 18. It shows in the way Daisy doesn't particularly know where to step, needing Lara's aid with it, or how she mostly defers to Lara's judgement on what to do here. Still, she isn't too happy about Lara going on her own, even if she understands the need.

"Hypothermia, right. I saw a few videos on youtube.." Internet is a lifesaver. But with Lara wanting to go first she nods. "But alright, I will stay on this side. I can .., sort of follow your progress with my powers so if anything happens I can try to help." even if by her tone she dearly hopes it won't be needed.

Lara Croft has posed:
When they descend down the slight incline to find the water pooled up and reflecting the light of her glowstick, Lara exhales at seeing that is looks clear and... cold. She starts to adjust her equipment then, pulling hte backpack off and setting it down on the ground beside the cavern wall. "Our bags are sealed from water, but since I'm coming back I'd rather not get some of this wet if I don't have to." She tells Daisy as she pulls off her winter jacket also and sets it down on top of the bag. A second later and her sweater and scarf are coming up and off of her as she rolsl them up and sets them down on top of the gear as well. Now in the blue and grey water proofed top, sleeveless, Lara turns back to offer Daisy a her chemlight as she motions to a part of the wall.

"There." She indicates while pointing at the large boulder. "I'm not precisely sure how your powers work, but that stone there... if... something happens. You can try to roll it out and redirect the water. It's possible that this corridor may drain a little if it isn't being further fed."

Lara pulls a new chem-light from her pants side pocket and lights it up then, this one a bright green. She offers Daisy a soft smile. "I'll be back." She states then as she turns to start to enter the water, taking careful steps as she gets ever further submerged until she's up to her shoulders. "Oh, god, it's cold." She says with a laugh following her words. "Only on my arms though." She reassures Daisy, even though that's not exactly true. "Wish me luck." The Briton says before she prepares her breath and goes under.

Soon she's just a shadow figure surrounded by a green glow in the water that grows darker, leaving Daisy in a creepy mine tunnel by herself...

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Someones long lost and forgotten doll lays at rest at the bottom of this pathway. Soaked in the water. The tunnel remains submerged for several metres until the pool enters in to a frozen cavern. Its roof is iced over and the pool itself is slowly leaking out one end of a frozen waterfall. Part of the mountain collapsed but left the ice structure behind creating an almost sky-light like affect.

    It's here that the first signs of the Russian mining operation can be seen -- a crevass drops down deeply where the frozen waterfall ends and on the other side of this deathly gap is a steel railing and a door embedded into the far rock wall. It too looks to be iced over.

    This is the place that Lara finds on the other side of that cold cold swim. There is plenty of space to set up a camp to warm back up. The light through ice sheets shines rainbow patterns across the pool of water in a most enchanting way. One of those rare gems when exploring, a hidden oasis of visual delights.

    Crossing the crevass will be dangerous and there's no guarantee of structural integrity with the 40 year old Russian steel. But it is.. still.. sort of the right way to be headed.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy takes the chemlight when it's given. And she sure as heck isn't wishing to get into that water. But sacrifices will have to be made! Not that Lara's mention of it being cold doesn't make her teeth involuntarily clack together. Brrrr. "Good luck, Lara. See you soon!" she took note of the boulder nearby. A risky proposition even if she needed to. What if the caves just fell on them? But she will think about that IF NEEDED.

What she does is to follow her advance by focusing on the woman's heartbeat, eyes closing as she focuses and even if it does get more vague and hard to discern the more Lara swims she still keeps that connection. She shifts her feet from one foot to the other.

"Come on, Lara..." and she is surprisingly patient for now, waiting until Lara comes back. No heroics!

Lara Croft has posed:
Once she sees the light above, she breaks the top of the water and gasps for breath. Two quick breaths are taken before she makes herselg go quiet, so as not to give herself away should anyone BE in here ahead of them...

Her eyes take in the sight of the room and she starts to swim her way to a metal structure along the wall. It looks like something the Russian Mining Company would've brought in. She clips her glowstick to her belt and wraps her hands around the metal staircase railings that are leading down in the water where she is. Soon her feet find stairs and Lara is walking up out of the water, shedding it from her body in excess.

On a plateform now, Lara puts her back to the impressive sight of the camber and starts to stand the metal wheels she finds attached to old piping... Lara's fingers raise up to touch writing, in Russian. "Drainage system." Lara quietly says...

Within moments, the metal wheels are being turned and the results of which... Lara is eager to find out, hoping that the water level will lower so Daisy doesn't have to do that swim she just did!

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The old pipes groan angrily as they are forced to open 40 year old valves at Lara's insistence. The water starts to drain out of the area that it has pooled in and the tunnel that was flooded becomes merely wet with puddles. A soaked teddy bear along the path for Daisy to join Lara.

    The water, it seems, was evacuated out in to the deep deep crevasse that stands between them and the door that leads onwards on to the other side of the mountain. Sunlight trickles through in to the chamber but not warm enough to dry Lara off. The now drained tunnel lets Daisy see some signage in Russian. It's too bad she hasn't embraced one of the core skills of an agent - languages.

    The signage for Lara is straight forward 'West Mine' - but if it was meant to be part of the mining complex, they never got that far with it. To get over the crevasse they will need to break the ice structures separating this little space from the outside air. The walk way once connected to the door, long ago broke away. There doesn't seem to be any other way forward.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"That's .., rather convenient.." Daisy picks up her pack, along with Lara's, because the least she can do is carry the other woman's bag after she went for a swim on that cold water. She is quick to make the way through, spotting that teddy and picking it up. "Uh .., look at that.." curious. "There's something written over here.." she tells Lara, in case she wants to come back to read it. "In Russian." she can at least recognize the alphabet!

She does reach the other woman though, "You need to get warmed up. Should we build a fire?" she isn't even sure if they can but ...

Her eyes then trail to the light hitting from the outside through the crevasses, "I can start working on the ice structures while you warm up." she suggests, reaching to get her ice pick out. Never go out into a climbing adventure without one!

As for the teddy, it's snuck into her pack.

Lara Croft has posed:
With the valves turned, some easier than others, Lara takes a step back and watches the pipes come to life again. "Brilliant." She says softly as the water starts to drain to a level that Daisy can get through.

When Daisy DOES get through, Lara is off of that metal platform and back down to where she had been submerged i nthe water before. Her eyes are on their obstacle ahead of them and the impressive chamber they've found themselves in now.

She accepts her gear back and shows a light smile. "I can setup something to burn and take a few minutes." She states as she starts to put her winter jacket back on, happy to have it over her bare arms again. though her sweater is held in hand while her backpack is slung over one shoulder.

Lara points out the obstacle ahead of them. "Your abilities might come in handy here. If you can keep them relatively... low key?" She asks, taking a moment to crouch down on a dry spot of rock to gather some items out of her bag to get a flame going in a small controlled fire which casts orange glow over her form as she's kneeled beside it.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
The suggestion to use her powers to break through is met with a very light grimace. Daisy had a finger control now but ..., she would have to be careful. "We will see." she finally says. "If I can't break through with the pick I can try. I got a bit of time anyway while you warm up." a faint smile on her lips. "And great job by the way."

And then off she goes, approaching that crevass where the ice structures are. Sure, quaking them just sounds so .., tempting. But what if this connects to something holding the whole structure intact? Which does give her an idea ... She starts hitting the pick on the ice to break it, the sound of it rhythmically hitting the ice surface heard as more light starts to get into the place. At the same time she focuses, trying to have an idea of the structure around them, on how far she can push with her powers so as not have it fall on her. Granted, it's a method that may take some time, but they seem good with it for now!

"So, this is mostly a normal day out spelunking for you, isn't it?" she asks over her shoulder at the other woman, grinning at her.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The ice is... dangerous. It's quite clear that parts of the 'roof' here will cave in - the ice is sharp, the snow above it is heavy. It'll break on its own eventually, but with that careful planning Daisy can make it crumble now. The collapse isn't of stone at least and the sudden exposure to the outside sun gives a better look at the crevasse - it drops sheer and deep like an abyss.

    Snow starts to waft in to their area of respite and the radio breaks through to them, having bounced off enough surfaces to make it back to them somehow. ~~ Almost heaven, west virginia ~~ .. seems he has it on repeat. "Come in Dr Jones, Calling Dr. Jones, do you read me Dr. Jones, wake up now," Casey is calling over the radio to Lara and Daisy. Yes he really did just quote an Aqua song. Because, you know, Indiana Jones is a famous explorer.

    The sound of a helicopter passing over head makes more snow tumble down in to their clearing. "I say again, there's another bogey in the air, a black helicopter. They've been circling the mountains - looking for something I think," Casey's voice can be heard through static.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's crouched in front of the small fire she's had put together, taking a moment to sort out her clothing now that she has the chance to feel the wramth soak in to her again. She's getting her sweater back on and her scarf around her neck when she looks up to see the pick-hammering that Daisy is doing. She smiles at the question. "Somewhat." She says to the other. "Sights like this." She nods past them both. "Are rare, generally speaking, but... it's remarkable what you find if you just dig a little bit past the surface, and step off of the beaten tracks."

Lara's pullin gher pony tail out of her voluminous sweater when the voice and music come over the comms. Her expression of calmness changes when she hears what Casey is reporting. She reaches for her comm and raises it up to reply. "This is Croft." She says. "Copy on your update. Is there anything you can do to get the chopper to bug out? Over." She says back to their pilot.

Lara grabs her jacket and backpack then, leaving the small fire to burn itself out eventually as she slings the bag over her shoulders and gets it back on, her jacket sorted out beneath it as she moves to Daisy, pulling out her own ice-axe to help if needs be!


"The last thing we need is company..." Lara grimly says to the other.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Now they have a nice view of the rest of the mountain - they can see the black helicopter hovering high up in the sky. The door to the helicopter opens and somebody jumps out. They are wearing a flight suit, their arms and legs spread apart to reveal the black membrane as they do an aerial dive from the sky and to the mountain itself.

    The skill they demonstrate shows that they are well trained and - this is exactly the kind of thing SHIELD would do if they were trying to drop someone in to a tricky situation where the mountain is too unstable to land or get near. The person in black gear disappears from their view as they land.. somewhere.. on their mountain.

    The helicopter door closes and it rises up in to the sky again. "Copy that Croft, bogey is departing all on its own. I don't think they spotted me, cloak is holding nicely on the quinjet and I haven't lit the fire yet. Over," Casey says over the comms.

    It seems, the last thing they needed, is what they now have...

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"An helicopter? Alright, keep us posted. See if you can scan the chopper and get any info about it." A long shot, but all knowledge is welcome where it comes to this. When someone jumps and lands on the mountain out of sight Daisy's brows furrow. "Great, someone didn't get the memo that three is a crowd." this about the new occupant on the mountain. She gets the ice pick from the ground to break a little more of the ice but then it's time to start readying the climbing gear to go up.

A look is given to Lara, "The timing is .., either a coincidence or someone knows we are here. I really hope it's the former, but lets go ready for the latter." and that means getting all that training to work, besides cheating with her powers and tuning them up to be aware of any living beings about her.

"We will resume our climb when you are dry again." And she does move a bit close to the fire too to warm up, extending her hands to it.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's eyes are up on the sound of the chopper up above, worried that the damn thing itself will cause a avalanche with the sound it puts off from its rotor blades. But that thought is lost as the sight of someone descending out of the vehicle catches her. Lara tenses up. She's seen things like this before. Her response is to look to Daisy, then back up to trace the figure as far as she can visually track them.

She hears the comms talk between Daisy and Casey back in the quinjet and Lara sets her backpack down again to start to work quickly unzipping, unboxing and sorting out climbing gear, along with a handgun holster that she moves to her side and connect to a spot on her winter trousers that was designed for the weapon holster. "This is an aggressive approach on their part, whomever 'they' are." Lara tells Daisy as she's joined at the fire.

"I'm mostly dry now though, the clothes were designed for this." She idly comments while she gets her climbing gear ready. "We'll go up there." Lara indicates with a hand gesture. "I'll go first to chart the pathway for you and make sure that you have the easiest route possible to ascend after me."

Lara gets her gear ready and looks up to Daisy, exhaling with the fire light on their faces. One more glance is sent up to the cavern ceiling that the natural light is coming in through and then Lara looks back to Daisy. "I'm ready when you are." She says softly.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    This climb, it turns out, is not for the feint of heart. With the crevasse dropping sheerly off to one side and ice sheets above, it's a good thing Daisy brought Lara along. The higher they climb the narrower the gap gets until eventually they're back out in the sunshine. Light snow covering the area hides well the deathly drop they just ascended from. A lazy pathway dotted by small brush and large rocks winds its way further up the mountain.

    An excavator of some sort with Russian lettering faded on its side sits mostly rusted in a clearing, along with its driver inside - frozen and dead and aged since probably the 90s. What's unique about his death is the spear that has smashed through the wind screen and then through his chest. Murdered by a spear.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy's dark gaze is on Lara as they talk about the approach. She isn't too happy with Lara going first but .., she knows it's the best way to do this. Yet it also means Lara may be in the line of fire without her being able to help. Yet the nod that comes is one of reassurance. "Alright, lets do this." she says, "I will try to detect our intruder in advance if I can. But I am still figuring out how to use my powers fully again." which meant it may not be a safe bet.

As for *who* it might be she had her ideas. "Hydra." her tone hardening. "They have the training, they know of this place. Perhaps they know of what may be up here too." even if she still wasn't fully sure on what it was. But there *was* a calling, she was certain of it.

But then it's climbing time! Daisy went through training of course, climbing was part of it. But this is another level. She remains somewhat behind, letting Lara chart the path ahead while she follows on her tracks. She really isn't *that* fast in following but she is getting the hang of it more and more.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is attentive of Daisy's climbing prowess and she even helps her with her gear, assures that they're securely tied together incase Daisy slipped while climbing, Lara would be tied to her and table to (hopefully) keep the woman from falling. Because of this, Lara used both of her climbing axes to ascend the cavern walls, making sure aht every place she sunk the sharp blades would ensure that they were locked in and ready to hold both of their weight if needs be.

The climb was perilous, to say the least, but Lara kept a watch over her shoulde ron her partner and asked her a few times if she was okay and needed a break, but Daisy was a trooper... diligent, to say the least!

When they reached the top of the climb, Lara helped Daisy over the edge and then exhaled the relief ob eing there. She deatched their connected line and bundled the rope up on her belt as she started forward down the pathway.

It didn't take long to find that sight with the spear and the driver of the vehicle long lost upon it's pointed end. Lara adjusts her goggles to glance at the Russian lettering, but it wasn't of much value she didn't think. "Attacked by locals." Croft quietly says as she starts further onward, moving past the speared man's less than ceremonial rusty mechanical tomb.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    A little too late, both the Agents of SHIELD are, in noticing the foot steps in the snow and the tripwire hooked up to the claymore. The explosion is fast and furious, mostly shockwave, followed by a bunch of heat, fire, shrapnel. The explosion is loud and echos off the mountains. The rumble of an avalanche starts from above.

    Ailas hears the boom further down the trail. So soon? She's surprised. She quickly hammers a peg in to a rock and clips her safety line to it as she hears the approaching avalanche, then hides behind the rock. Figuring out who is following her will have to wait.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Death by spear ..., poor guy." Daisy comments quietly while they move up the trail now. She is panting heavily, the air up here making it harder to breath, specially after that previous exertion, she not as trained in those climbing muscles as Lara. She is taking a moment to calm down, to recover while they walk when she hears that.

*click*

Well, ain't that just great? Booby-traps! The impact of the explosion throws Daisy back, but at least she doesn't get cut to shreds. "Lara!" she exclaims. But there's little time to figure out if Lara is okay or not. They will both be dead beneath this avalanche if she doesn't do something.. She focuses, eyes closing briefly, hands opening wide. Her powers expand, reaching towards the avalanche that's coming their way. She doesn't try to stop it, instead channeling it to the side so it doesn't continue it's path towards them.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is stepping onward with her eyes up on the horizon to scan for the directio nthat they best want to go, to go after their target. She's actually turning her head to ask Daisy which way she feels that 'pull' when her shin impacts with something.

It takes a second. Lara knows what she did. She hit a trip wire. There's really no time for anything, the explosion comes and Lara is sent backward in to the snow drift piled up near to the old machine that the man was speared inside of! She's very nearly piked on the opposite end of that spear, but narrowly avoids it and is left with ringing in her ears as she rolls side to side to recover, needing a few moments at least!

But she knows what's coming, she can feel it even through the aftershocks of that blast. She wasn't dead though, not yet, so Lara's desire to keep moving, fuels her to push herself up.

"Daisy." Lara answers her, still barely able to hear anything, Lara's eyes go to the oncoming wall of snow from the peaks above.

Daisy changes Lara's natural reaction... she normally would've run back toward the ledge that they ascended from and either jumped down it to let the snow rush over her, while hanging from said ledge, or outright dive down toward the deeper pools of water that remained after the draining.

But with Daisy, and her powers... Lara just stands near to the woman and hopes for the best! Nervously. Very nervously.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The avalanche is like thunder, rolling down the mountain. At first it doesn't have any kind of pattern to it, making it nigh impossible for Daisy to grasp on to with her ability. But as more and more snow adds in, it becomes a harmony synchronised together and Daisy does the impossible - she splits the avalanche around them.

    For several thunderous seconds she holds the line until the snow slowly stops moving. The entire side of the mountain is blanketed with snow, while the upper peaks shine in the sunlight, sparkling icy surfaces freshly exposed to the air. It'll melt as the sun rises higher. The way is clear though stepping is now more difficult with the lightly packed snow forcing each foot to sink to the knee.

    Ailas curls up tightly underneath the large rocok she's anchored herself to as the snow starts to rain down around and on her. It's over in a few seconds and she slowly works her limbs to uncoil herself, takes out her shovel, and begins to dig up.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Hearing the other woman's voice is the fuel Daisy needs to push through, sweat on her brow as she parts the snow in half, almost as if cleaving through it. But instead of using a plow she is using her vibrations. Thankfully it only lasts a few seconds for once it's done she drops to her knees for a few long moments, panting. The corridor had been made, "Lets not .., do that again.." she rasps.

Reaching up she takes Lara's hand if she offers, getting herself back up to her feet. "Think it was placed by whoever is ahead of us?" she turns her nose. Whoever it was, regardless if they were the culprit, would be aware of their presence.

"We need to continue. Lets keep our eyes out for any more of these." Which meant moving more carefully. "No secret trick to spotting these on the snow, is there?" she had to ask. Survivalists often pulled out quite a few miracle-like solutions that she'd never had thought of! "On hindsight, if there were more of these traps they were probably buried under the snow just now..."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is right there a foot or so behind Daisy as the woman with the sonic powers puts on a literal show to be hold. Lara's eyes are going left, to right, to over their shoulders and then back to Daisy throughout it all, her hair poking out from under her wool hat flowing wildly around the cold skin of her cheeks and jawline.

It's an amazing sight, to say the least.

And when it's done, Lara watches Daisy drops down in front of her. She crouches behind the other Agent and puts her left gloved hand on Daisy's right shoulder. "Amazing." Lara announces in a breathy voice. "Well done."

She'll help her stand up, to be sure, and then nod softly. "IF there were more, that likely would've set them off. I didn't think one person would take the time to do such a thing. That's usually what large groups of people do when covering their tracks. This person..." Lara lets that thought trail off.

"We should be fine to move now. As fine as we can be now that it's gotten this deep." Lara starts moving onward though, shoving her legs through the powdery obstacle and carving a pathway behind her legs. "Keep your eyes peeled, I can't imagine that this person was that far ahead of us. This may have gotten them as much as it very nearly got us..."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    They have access to the frozen over door. With a bit of effort they get it open and can enter in to what appears to be a machine room of some kind for the Russian mining operation. The power is out, so no lights and no heaters. But it's a lot more comfortable in here out of the cold elements already.

    It would be a peaceful place of respite if it weren't for the decades old bodies. It's evident that they were put to death by gunshots. Helmets have gunshot holes in them, as does clothing. They're spread throughout the machine room, and a barracks. Whatever happened to them, whoever did this clearly won the battle.

    A long tunnel extends darkly deep in to the mountain. There's rail too, and mining carts rusted in place. The radio cuts off immediately once they're indoors. Strange sounds seem to be coming from deep down the tunnel.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
With no power inside Daisy takes her flashlight out, lighting it up to point it here and there to check on what's inside. The grim aspect of it all has Daisy shake her head to herself. "This was a massacre." she comments to Lara. She looks between the bodies, most likely frozen with all the snow and cold before she finally faces the tunnel. No doubt from where the calling is coming from.

"Could this had been the Inhumans when they got here?" She wonders quietly to Lara. "Doesn't sound like them to use guns though." though spears is fair game!

The strange sounds from further down the tunnel has her quiet down and she gestures from them to move quietly now, Daisy starting to pad forward carefully, hand atop her holstered ICER as they move like a team up the tunnel.

Lara Croft has posed:
When they make their way in to the machinery shed and the sight of the deceased men catch her eyes, Lara is brought back to the traumatic moments of her first adventure... similar, in so many ways. Her therapist would not be pleased about her being in this place, but, to be fair, she didn't care what he thought, she was forced in to those sessions by legal aftermath of Yamatai anyway!

"Grim." Lara says quietly at the sight, not really elaborating on it further than that. "I don't think this was a failed diamond mine company, Daisy. But I also don't think they found diamonds here, I think they found something else."

The sounds ahead have Lara once more lighting a chem-light that she puts on the side of her hip, making sure to be able to slip it in to a thigh pocket in a hasty moment should needs arise. She glances at the mining carts that are clearly trusted beyond value.

"We'll definitely want to keep a look out for traps in here now though." Lara states over to her partner before they start their descent toward those noises, Lara keeping her left hand close to the gun she has holstered on that thigh.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    As they head down the main mining tunnel, the long forgotten mine yields something unexpected and wholly distinct. An acid type smell, acrid, unpleasant - like cat piss but more intense. The marking scent of a male snow leopard. The sounds echo through the tunnels again.. closer now, the territorial call of a male snow leopard letting others know this is his territory and also calling all the ladies to come join him.

    There are side tunnels and it's hard to tell exactly where the call is coming from. It seems to be moving. The mine opens up in to a common area. Tables, chairs, some old cards laid out for solitaire. A cooking station, lanterns, some cots. The dirt floor hasn't seen peoples feet in a long time and true to Lara's prediction, another trap is found. An old 80s era Russian claymore with tripwire. Easily side stepped.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
What Lara says does make sense. Whatever they found here was probably what killed them. That snow leopard's call has Daisy pause, drawing her ICER instinctively but keeping it low. She simply ..., stays ready. Getting all the way up here to then serve as a meal to a leopard doesn't sound like a great end, nope.

A glance is given down a tunnel, then another. A pause as she takes a look behind them just to make sure they aren't being followed. She sends out her own vibrations to check, perhaps looking either for their 'friend' in the mountain or any leopards looking for ambush.

The second trap being found has Daisy give Lara a thumbs up, "Good eyes." She tells the other woman as they sidestep past.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara notes the claymore mine and grimaces at it, motioning to Daisy to see it so they can step easily around it. With the leopard laying claim to this cavenr, she worries about it tirpping that mine in fact.

"We should disable that on our way out, if possible. We don't want the animal setting off a collapse." She quietly tells the other. Lara's eyes then go to the condition of the common room area that they're finding themselves in. "This looks entirely abandoned for some time." She notes. "It's best to leave it as such too, nothing here looks like anything we need anyway, and if we're being followed it'll only give flags on where to find us." Daisy is likely familiar with this stuff, but Lara is mostly talking aloud now that she's on this mission with another person, rather than on her own like she's a bit more used to.

"Come on, lets see if we can get past the leopard and avoid him, otherwise... we'll want to use your ICER on him. I'm not a fan of killing the local wildlife." Lara shows Daisy a quick small smile then.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    It isn't too far continuing down the tunnel that they get a first glimpse of their new friend. Glowing eyes in the dark. The snow leopard is stalking them. Watching them, waiting to see what they will do. Daisy had first warning of it, feeling it in the dark - and far back up the tunnel, another - their other friend - has entered the tunnels too.

    The snow leopard darts across in to another of the side tunnels before a shot can be taken. It's big killer feet are very quiet, very stealthy. There is nothing to do but try and keep some distance from it as they head down the tunnel. There's signs of light ahead - a soft glowing cyan like light rather than the warm light of lanterns or a campfire.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Good idea." Daisy says in agreement about the claymore. No need to leave it lying around either in case someone else comes here in the future too. But no time just now. They need to continue on. Those eyes in the dark have Daisy tense up but she doesn't point her gun at the leopard. She simply watches in a slight crouch, prepared to act if needed but with it running off she nods at Lara, "Clearly he doesn't found us worthy of mating with him..." a bit of levity doesn't hurt anyone.

Yet something she detects has Daisy pause and gesture to Lara. She gestures to the entrance, then another sign. Of an enemy. It meant their 'friend' was in here too.

Light is ahead though so it's time to move on, approaching that light. She does seem curious on what could glow in such a way here.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara, obviously, lacks the ability to know that theres another entering the mine with them. But she does catch sight of the Big Cat and it draws her eyes. She watches him and draws her pistol out of its holster... though her finger doesn't grace the silver skeletal trigger on the 1911, not yet.

She hears Daiy's quip about the Leopard's desires and it just makes her smirk. "His loss." She comments back before pushing onward. "I hate to think, however, that it feels like he's toying with us. Herding us. Maybe I'm just being paranoid though."

She almost sighs that last sentence out before her eyes go to the light.

"It feels like we're missing something, like there's more life down here than what appearances would first suggest." Croft comments as they walk toward the light, her glowstick putting off a wealth of pure blue light against her hip and the cavern wall to her sides.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The tunnel ends abruptly as it joins a natural cavern. A stream flows down its middle gently and the walls are covered in a glowing blue algae. There's even small shrubs growing along the waters edge. The water itself is extremely cold still, steaming in the air which creates an almost mythical visage. In one direction the cavern gets too tight to continue, but in the other it narrows in to a tunnel that can be navigated.

    Not that they get to explore the cavern for too long before the leopard finally takes the opportunity to pounce Daisy from the shadows. Claws and fangs, it the big boy cat means business. These humans clearly didn't get the message, this is his turf - he marked it, he made the territorial calls and they kept coming anyway. That's not now things are done!

Daisy Johnson has posed:
What is it leopards and not respecting personal space? This would be a prime time for Daisy to crack a joke. Perhaps something like 'At least buy me dinner first?' But no, no time for *that* because she is trying to survive this leopard from ripping her through! And claws and fangs are usually a good way to do that. Thankfully she does have that rather heavy cloth for warmth which at least stops that first sneak attack onto her back.

She only has time to let out a, "Argh! Fudge!" before she is on the ground, struggling. She twists over herself so she isn't on her back, no time to breath while she fights against the horny kitty. A punch to the chest to show she isn't here just to be mauled at before she goes back on the defensive. One hand reaches down to her ICER to draw it out...

But it's being hard!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara was only a few paces ahead of Daisy when the lunge came. She saw it out of the corner of her peripheral vision but she wasn't as fast as a snow leopard! He was on Daisy in a flash, the sensation all around them changing to one of fear for her friend and partner's well being!

Lara is sent stumbling forward a few paces from the duo rolling on to the ground together. She spins around and draws her handgun out of its holster... aiming down sights at the pair on the ground, she... can't risk it.

"Daisy!" Lara shouts as she tries to step closer. "Get your ICER out of its holster!" Lara tries to urge the other woman as she runs at the leopard and tries to kick him hard with her steel toed boot that has climbing spikes in the toes!

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The tumbling wasn't unexpected when hunting big game like this. The leopard is down to tussle even though Daisy seems to be wearing inedible fur of some sort that tastes terrible. A chunk of clothing is ripped away and the leopard circles back around, tail counter balancing and ears flat as it regardless the incomprehensible shouts from the two tall walkers.

    As the second tall walker comes at him with foot claws? tall walkers have those? he dances back and circles around them with a low growl in his throat. A pounce to the left and then a spring from those powerful back legs it dives through the air at Lara's neck next - this is the best way to avoid her foot claws.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy could try using a little quake to put the thing against the wall. But considering where they are ..., she doesn't risk it. And so far it's only her in danger. So she continues the struggle and when the leopard jumps away she finally reaches for that ICER. At last! Yet she is in an awkward position.. And shooting it from there? Hard one to get...

Yet Lara is in a much better position, and there's a leopard ready to pounce at her. Just aim forward or something! Though she knows Lara is a pretty good shot.

So she rolls and throws it through the air towards the other Agent. "Catch!" she calls out, near breathless.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's kick doesn't connect as the beastly four legged muscle mass dives away from her in a sense of self preservation... he's a smart one!

She knows she doesn't have much time as she staggers backward watching the animal, and is about to draw her own gun now that it's left Daisy be... but when the ICER is tossed her way, Lara just reaches out to catch it just as the creature lunges at her!

They're both going to go down hard on to Lara's back, and as the beast goes for her throat, Lara discharges the weapon multiple times between her form and the lonely leopard's body atop her!

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The big heavy boi drops hard on top of Lara. It is mostly muscle and fur and very very much ICER'd. The poor thing, just trying to defend its heavily musked bachelor pad. But as an endangered species, Lara and Daisy can feel good about not having to kill the beast.

    The cavern's tunnel leads out in to a huge crevasse and built along its sides are numerous wooden pathways with rope bridges between them and homes carved in to the stone. This was once a vibrant home for a people but now seems abandoned. Rotting animal skins and furs have long since been discarded. The ropes look old, so does the wood and nothing about any of it looks 'sturdy'.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
With furry beast and Lara all tangled up Daisy gets up quickly, first on her knees and then springing up. "Lara! You okay?" she ambles over in those heavy clothes now made a bit lighter by the leopard, reaching to move the creature away from the other woman. "Uffff.." she mutters when she spots Lara apparently okay and the leopard taking a nap. "No dinner, no flowers, no ROMANCE...!" a bit of a sigh, "What is this world coming through?"

She leans over to offer Lara a hand for her to get up if she wishes to, breathing still heavy and puffing in the air, misting in the cold air.

"We shouldn't be too far... Let me just see if..." in all the scuffle she had lost track of where their pursuer was at. She again she focuses, trying to find them out. "If they heard this they might try to intercept us.." she whispers. But she knows they have to move forward.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is groaning at having the heavy unconscious big cat laying over her... but she's alive, ehr neck isn't ripped open and the beast's head is just laying against her own, but not... yeah, no teeth inside of her!

She shimmies herself out from under him and shoves the body of the beast over on to the ground to lay him on is side, then takes Daisy's offered hand and is hoisted up on to her booted feet again.

"Story of my life..." Lara quietly exhales that response to the lack of romance and courting. She gives one more glance to the beast, but assumes he'll wake up in a few hours...

"This is quite a place." Lara states then, offering Daisy her ICER back before starting toward one of the rope bridges... Lara's eyes are up on all the wall encased domiciles and looks around as she reaches one of the bridges. "Remarkable. A practical resort village, for a place like this." She adds.

Her eyes go to the rope bridge and she frowns softly. "If we cross it, make sure to stay to the sides, don't put your full weight in the center of the boards..."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    As they peek their heads out to look at the astonishing hidden home of the people who used to live here, they see far down the end of the crevasse a large multitiered temple built in to the stone. The colors on its exterior are faded but the temple itself looks fairly intact. This.. this is where Daisy is feeling the song of the bowl. It's fainter now, as if the burst she made at Afterlife were dwindling away. The only thing keeping it in her mind is their approach toward it.

    The person following them is still back there, walking down the tunnel just as they had done. They aren't far from the resting area where the Russian claymore trap was still armed and set.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Eyebrows quirk up when Daisy spots the houses, blinking once. "Clearly not for the russians.." she murmurs. No, this looks a *lot* older. She casts a look around, as if looking for something before she points at the end where that temple is. "There.." she calls out. "I am ..., there is something there.." a glance to Lara, "I can't explain it but .., that's just how it is." it was perhaps something the old Daisy would had discarded. The new one was pretty much getting a new outlook on what destiny meant.

And here they were trying to find one.

"Our other friend is approaching from the tunnel, close to the old claymore." She informs, letting out a breath, then moving closer to the rope bridge, dropping to a knee near them to test their strength. Just a little. Hopefully they just don't fall from a touch!

She continues along with Lara, and if the path makes them go down one of those bridges? So be it!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's eyes are on the temple in the distance of the hidden village. She glances back to Daisy as the other woman explains that their 'target' is in that direction. "Right." Lara says. "What could it be..." She mutters before she casts a glance back the way they'd come.

"We should set a trip wire for them. Pay them back." Lara states with a smirk, but knows they don't have the time nor the equipment for that.

"Come on, lets try to make ground and stay ahead of them." The explorer leads the way, testing the bridge that they need to take to get closer to their destination. Lara is as wise as she can be, using her perception and experience to try to guide their way over the unsettling infrastructure ... hoping for the best!

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The one following them is a little more bombastic than the careful Agents of SHIELD. She comes across the sleeping leopard and looks confused and curious, then continues out to look at the crevasse. It takes her all of a few moments to make her decision and then she is running.

    She's not far behind Lara and Daisy when she shoots out her arm and a gas powered grappling line fires up to a rope bridge several levels above, wraps around it. She jumps and the line yanks her up in to the air. Detaching, she does a showy backflip and drops an explosive on to a pathway up ahead of Lara and Daisy, then fires her grappling line again at the next bridge to keep on swinging her way down the crevasse toward the temple.

    She's dressed in black, black boots, black tight fitting body armor, a faceless mask about her head. This is expensive _custom_ gear and it's loaded up with gizmos and gadgets. This is not the typical HYDRA operative.

    The explosive goes off destroying the walkway ahead of them. The reverberation travels up and down the crevasse and the mountain groans in offence.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy may not be able to use her powers to blast her way through the place, but she can do *something* else. And that is to absorb vibrations. That reverberation that starts to set through she focuses on, eyes closing briefly and she closing her hand as if 'eating' it into her hand. No throwing the mountain all atop them! Naughty, naughty..

But with the figure now trying to get ahead of them, and apparently headed to their destination it's time to move. "Let's go!" she tells Lara. A bit impulsive, but that's how she rolls.

She takes a quicker step, then another, hands going behind her and she gives herself a little 'push' forward with her powers to quickly get to the other side of the walkway. Just a little juice, certainly a lot less than the vibrations of an explosion all around here. Then it's a race.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is put to pause by their enemy's appearance. She's looking up at the figure as they expertly navigate the terrain in a way that would make Agent Romanoff surprised...

"Who the hell..." Lara utters before the reverberations begin and the mountain starts to give sounds of protests at being moved like this. "Shit." Lara exhales that curse word before she looks to Daisy to watch her moving to counteract it.

"Legs go!" She tells her partner in this mission, and when she can get her going Lara is right there with her moving as fast as she can toward the walk way that has been sabotaged by the damn nuisance that has been plaguing them!

Loosened rocks from high above come tumbling down and smash against the ground near to where Lara and Daisy are, the fragments that they make as they burst on the rocky floor strike across Lara's body as she continues to run onward and now try to keep up with Daisy!

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The black clad figure swings along from bridge to bridge until she does a tumbling drop in to the temple's upper floor. She turns to look back at Daisy and Lara as they nearly get taken out by rocks. It's then that she brings up two fingers and gives them a salute from her forehead, a playful salute. It seems she just wanted to win the race. She turns and sprints inside the temple.

    The vibrations of the mountain are counteracted by Daisy, but the rickety bridges are still old. It's unfair, that Daisy could simply fly there - though Lara would be left behind and the mountain would protest. Whoever this mystery woman is, it's seems she's familiar with the archeologist adventure game of 'get there first to claim the prize'.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
With the rocks falling and slowing their pursuit it's not as if Daisy will be leaving Lara behind too. So she slows down to make sure none of them gets taken down the crevasse. SHIELD is all about teamwork, and not leaving other Agents behind..

"Hmph.." She mutters, "Thinks she's funny.." there was still that feeling from the temple though, which she hoped would be enough for them to gain an edge past the other one. She runs to the entrance, tuning herself and trying to get a glimpse of the direction they should go towards.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara could see the figure in the temple's peak saluting them, taunting them, before disappearing inside. Surely this person doesn't have the same level of connection to this place that Daisy has helping them find precisely where they need to go... right? They sure seem to though!

Lara leaps from a falling corner of the walkway she was running down and hop-skips her way up the rocks to where Daisy is. "They're inside!" Lara says over the sounds of the cavern rocks falling around them.

They're not too far now and she's making for another wooden bridge to brave her way across it to hopefully cut down on time and get to the temple far quicker than taking a perhaps safer route.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The inside of the temple is marble floors and large golden statues of leopards. It's an odd sight to see such opulence when the people who lived in the walls had next to nothing. Giant pillars and old stone carved staircases lead to the level above and there they find the black clad woman staring at three stone pillars covered in carvings and symbols.

    She was studying it, until she heard the SHIELD agents approaching. "You two don't just when to quit do you," she says in a received English accent. She turns to face them and a black metal staff jumps from her hand extending to full size. "I don't want to hurt you but you're pushing the issue. The grail is mine," she warns.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Taking that detour through another less-than-safer bridge is certainly welcome by Daisy. Live on the edge and all that! So she runs along with Lara, stepping aside to dodge a falling rock that makes their bridge sway dangerously. Yet following Lara's advice to not step in the middle of the damn boards nothing bad happens. Besides a glare down the abyss. Luckily the abyss doesn't stare back at them. For now!

But then they are past the little avalanche of rocks, Daisy blowing out in relief but not stopping, a look around statues. "Here are the leopards the boi outside was looking for..." yes, she can't help herself in making the comment, even if they just got past a life-threatening situation.

She is breathing hard but seems ready to go, specially when she notices the woman. "Okay, while I normally would start shooting first and ask questions later..., specially after you just threw a bomb at *us*, I am willing to pass on hostilities. We are not here for a grail." a beat, "Also, are you talking about THE grail?" a glance to Lara as if to see if she knew anything about this, then back to the figure.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is moving up through the entrance of the temple and looking around as she does so. She notes the leopard statues and Daisy's response to them which get a soft exhale of a distracted 'laugh' out of the other Agent, but she's otherwise lost in her eyes searching for clues to enlighten her further on the origins of this place. As ever, Lara's interests are in the history that created this place, because it could yield more answers as to what to expect next...

Their target. A woman, British too?

Lara's hand is down on the handle of her 1911 on her thigh. She hears the woman state what they're all here for and it makes Lara's eyes narrow.

"What. Grail?" Lara asks, not one to jump to some fantastical conclusion about such a word being used in this context. All the same, she's got her gun ready to quickdraw if needs be...

"We're Agents of SHIELD, and we're here searching for answers." Reason will prevail?

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    She scoffs and says, "I didn't throw a bomb at you, I threw it ahead of you. There's a big difference." She seems quite self assure and tilts her head a little as Lara's hand moves to the gun handle. She tuts with her tongue, "Truly, your ineptitude astounds, how you've made it this far or even knew about this place perplexes me."

    She pulls off her face mask and shakes out her long black hair. She looks young and has a mischievous smile on her face, "The grail of universal knowledge. There's nothing else of value here so why else would you be here, do you take me for a fool?"

    She takes a few steps in her custom boots, the foot falls are very quiet, "Aventure, Bon Aventure. Pleasure to meet fellow treasure hunters but you should recognise when the game is up and you've lost. Turn around and trot home children this is no place for you. You won't find any cold war Russian spies in these caves SHIELD."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
If there's one thing that Daisy doesn't like are arrogant pricks. So she lifts an eyebrow, not really budging from her stance, continuing right on her spot and eyeing the other woman, watching posture and motions. It's all about studying the adversary sometimes. She is silent for a few moments, another glance to Lara and then back to the woman. "Look, you have a stick. We have guns. And no, we aren't here to fight you." she insists, giving perhaps just one last chance to the woman. One she often wouldn't give!

"She speaks the truth. There is something here that is .., calling to me." She explains. Not that she expects the woman to believe her but hey, nothing like trying. "And I am not leaving until I find it, it's important answers, related to my family." she saying it with the kind of tone that means she won't be walking away.

"So either calm down and perhaps find a truce between us or it's go time." With go time meaning fightin'! A foot a bit in front of the other, hands ready in a stance. She wouldn't be caught by surprise again, dark gaze determined as she stares at Bon Aventure!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara has dealt with the worst kind of arrogant madness deep rooted in her enemies psyche, so this woman's bravado has no real effect on her. She just smirks at her in response while Daisy audibly replies.

"Right." Lara adds. "Enough with the theatrics, its clear that you're skillful and talented, but we're not here for a fight. We're here, for answers. You can assist us, in peace, or we can find another way..."

Lara advances things though, but starts to walk forward like she's going to walk past Bon Aventure's position, if allowed, her hand still resting on the butt of her gun.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    One of the big differences between whoever Bonnie works for and HYDRA/AIM jerks is that they never agree to collaborate. She pauses for a moment as she considers what they're saying - especially that Daisy apparently has a connection to this place. That could be really useful in figuring out how to get the grail.

    She presses a button on her staff and it snaps back in to a small disc and she connects it back to her belt. "A truce then," she says and lifts her chin just a touch as Lara starts walking past her anyway. Either she knows her limits or she doesn't think they can take her. "And your names?," she asks as she walks back over to the three coded stone pillars.

    The song in Daisy's head is getting stronger here and out of the corner of her eye, around several pillars, the movement of fabric. Perhaps briefly even a long white beard. Yet, there's no one there - no echo, no heart beat, no sounds of feet.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
A brief look given to Lara, as if saying 'keep sharp', before she moves on following along with the famous archeologist. Hands aren't on her ICER, but she seems ready though does nod when the woman accepts the truce. "Daisy." eyes then turning to that rustle of fabric.

She blinks once, but it might just be the answers she was looking for. She starts to walk towards thos pillars, her senses always sharp, looking for any shift on Bon Aventure's, or any sharp gesture that will reveal her inevitable betrayal.

"Where did you find out about this place perhaps having the Grail?" She asks, "And really, I hope you aren't Hydra, got enough of those jerks trying to find old relics to pump their agenda. It's getting tiring."

Footsteps echo on the marble floor as she seeks another glimpse of that figure, curious.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's eyes are on the woman who seems to be going for the truce offer. So that's good...

"Lara. Croft." She replies with her name, and if Bon is good enough with her British Nobility she might even recognize it. Either way, Lara's eyes go forward and she removes her hand from her pistol to reach in to a pocket and pull her all weather camera out of a case within the pocket. She holds it up like a phone (because it's very similar) and starts to snap photos of the chamber.

"Daisy, where are we on what you're feeling?" Lara asks then as she didn't seem to notice the figure quite yet.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The figure seems to be leading Daisy away from the puzzle mechanism, which is strange. Down a side corridor that is a dead end. A man is standing there dressed in very old looking Chinese clothing. He has a smile on his face, a kind smile. One finger goes to his lips as if to say 'ssh', then he turns to the wall behind him and lifts out a hand. It briefly feels like he's about to quake.. then he walks through the wall and disappears.

    Bonnie calls after Daisy, "My father has been searching for this grail all his life and I am merely picking up where he left off.." she says and frowns as Daisy seems to be wandering away. From a jacket pocket she takes out an old piece of velum that depicts a combination code drawn on pillars. She offers to show it to Lara, "Since we're in the mood to work together, take a look at this. Written or perhaps stolen by an explorer in the 19th century. May be we can rotate these pillars and unlock a hidden mechanism."

    She suddenly looks at Lara with curiosity, "Croft.. as in Lady Croft?" She taps a finger to her lips, "Fascinating."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
While Aventure pokes about at the Croft name and shows what most likely are very elaborate combination codes for the pillars Daisy has other ideas. And those ideas include cheating, looking at that figure that only she can see. Hopefully she isn't hallucinating. That would be embarassing. But no, she is pretty sure about who this old man may be. And it's purpose.

A purpose that gets confirmed when the man appears to 'shake' the wall open, as if it was her. But from a few centuries ago. She takes in a breath of anticipation and reaches to the wall.

"Here." She calls out to Lara, placing one hand on the wall..

She closes her eyes, her hand starting to vibrate, feeling the rock and the .., emptiness behind it. She pushes forward, effortlessly almost, a focused vibration through the rock to reveal a new passage beyond. Opening her eyes she grins, taking out her flashlight to look inside this new chamber. "Come on, this way."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is walking over to Bon Aventure when the woman offers her something to look at. She gives the woman's face a brief inspection too when she mentiosn her father... it sounds similar, familiar even.

Lara takes the offered item and looks over the scribblings on it. She's unaware of what Daisy is doing because of the other Agent being behind Lara's back at the present moment.

"The engineers and craftsmen of this place were clearly some of the greatest the world has ever seen. It's places like this that... inspired me to do.. all of this." She quietly says to their would-be-enemy who has tried to kill them twice already!

But Daisy's words bring Lara's eyes up from the notes and she starts to walk toward the other Agent. "What have you found?" Lara asks softly.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bonnie stares at the back of Lara's neck as she walks toward the corridor Daisy went down. It'd be so.. so easy to kill her. The bounty would be nice - but she doesn't have it in her. She doesn't hold a grudge against the Croft's like some of the people she knows.

    She puts the velum away and follows too as Daisy begins to quake the wall and pushes open a block of stone that falls in to a pit filled with broken wood. Once upon a time there was likely a mechanism there. "What.. Well I never!," she says with surprise. "A secret way in and you must be the famous Quake," she says with admiration.

    The pathway leads beyond the puzzle mechanism that looks completely broken - even if they had solved it, in to a chamber set out more like a meditation room that hadn't been touched for centuries. In the middle, a table and on it, a small bronze bowl that is singing to Daisy.

    It's waves seem to bounce off and give form to the man she saw, who is now seated lotus style before it. He motions to the other side of the bowl and says, "Hello. Please, take a seat. We have so much to discuss." What's curious is Daisy is quite sure she's not hearing English and she's certainly not hearing middle-Chinese. Instead, it is a language of its own that she simply how implicitly knows.

    But.. he isn't there at all for Lara and Bonnie. Bonnie smiles and says, "The grail..." though behind the table is a wall covered in bowls and cups and grails of various kinds. She strides past the bowl that sings to Daisy and starts to inspect the others along the wall.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"You are well informed.." Daisy notes when the woman recognizes her as Quake. But well, SHIELD agent, vibrational powers. Quake! Getting that reknown going... "So, Aventure. What would you do with that Grail if you found it?" she asks. Does she expect the woman to say she'd put it in a museum? Nah, doesn't seem the type! She takes a step into the corridor, wandering along slowly, flashlight out and lighting here and there. She coughs a few times at the air inside the chamber, and specially the dust lifted from all that moving rock.

"Oh, look at this Lara .." her eyes fix beyond the bowl, to the figure sitting across. The language goes in and she understand it for what it is.

The song of the universe.

Steps bring her over to the other side, some eagerness visible, not exactly for the bowl itself but for something else she is seeing in there.

"Might want to be careful in case there are traps.." she warns Bonnie. But then she sits down, cross-legged. To Lara she says. "I am seeing.., someone, my .., predecessor." she explains.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara had a lapse in judgement there by letting Bon get behind her like that... she wasn't a perfect person after all! She does keep Bon mostly at her side though as they advance down the corridor that Daisy had discovered, Lara's eyes going to where the mechanism was that operated all of this as she was curious about that but ultimately they end up in the room with the man that only Daisy can see.

Lara's eyes are on the relics located here-in, she watches Bon already salivating at the finds which has her just faintly smirking to herself, but her eyes go back to Daisy.

"You see.. something?" Lara asks, as she looks around again but doesn't see what Daisy is speaking of. "A person?" Lara asks further before looking back to Bon.

"Don't touch anything." Lara warns their adversary. "Not everything is as meets the eye..."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bonnie takes the velum out again and starts to compare the vessels with the one drawn, "What would I do.. get some questions answered about the people my father worked for, the people I work for." She's being candid because she doubts there's much these SHIELD agents could really do to help her anyway, hence the desire to find a supernatural answer.

    She scoffs though when Lara warns her, "Please, this isn't the first ancient forgotten temple I've made my way in to." She looks away though, because, that was totally a lie. This is the first ancient forgotten temple she's ever been in.

    "My name is Fu and I constructed this bronze bowl to link us between time. Channel yourself in to it and you can communicate back to me - across time," he says and then glances off to the side, "No Jiangshi please do not touch that." He looks back.. a phenomenon well understand by the modern society of zoom and skype users. He chuckles, "Sorry, I have responsibilities. Please.. speak.. tell me who you are."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Yes." Daisy answers Lara with a small nod. She smiles gently at the man, as if whatever the figure said confirmed what she suspected. "Fu, he .., knew my mother. A long story, which I can tell you about later." because she doesn't seem too keen on revealing too much close to this Aventure. She instead focuses on the bowl, on it's echo. She attunes herself to it, to the 'song' it plays out and finally speaks up.

"I am Daisy. Daisy Johnson. My mother knew. She spoke me about you.." a pause, "Jiaying." she was still somewhat perplexed at the surreality of it all. If anything she wasn't really expecting what her mother had told her to be fully true.

"She has told me about the song of the universe, about the power we share. But I am still seeking for it's true purpose." She says.

Lara Croft has posed:
The situation with Daisy is Lara's primary concern now, and because of this she takes a step back so that she can get Daisy and Bonnie in her vision at the same time. She nods softly to what Daisy says to her once but otherwise just falls silent and starts to meander around the background as she eyes the two women.

Bonnie... is arrogant and Lara fully expects her to face a trouble that she probably won't be able to overcome if she doesn't learn somehow, so she just leaves the woman to her own devices for the moment.

Croft does take her camera out again and starts to record and take photos of the room though... while listening to Daisy.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Fu nods his head, "A strange name, but I know time has no meaning between us. We share something unique. I met the previous one before me.. and now you meet me. A chain. You will learn how to attune to the bowl and meet your successor one day too. There is much to teach you about the song."

    There is a searching look in his eye when he considers the name Jaiying, then looks off to the side again and back to Daisy. "The true purpose? that is the least of which I can teach you." He tosses from hand to hand something black, pitch black. Like it blocks out the song entirely, "You must find this, it is important."

    Bonnie glances back to Daisy as she talks distractedly about her mother. Eventually Bonnie chooses a grail based on the drawing and picks it up. A string pulls from its base and snaps and part of the wall falls away. Sitting inside.. a most curious complex piece of metal work the skill of which to make seems impossible for the time period in which it must have been places in there. It's like a fractal in a fractal. But.. to Daisy.. it is like a black hole, absorbing the song. As if someone made a ball and painted it with the blackest of black colours.

    Bonnie stares at what has been found and then, disappointedly, says "What the heck is that meant to be?"

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Wait, what is that? I can't see it.." Daisy looks a touch confused at whatever the man is tossing from hand to hand. It's a strange feeling, that absence of the song. Almost as if it was .., an opposing force. It makes her turn her nose. But the man is moving it around his hands so .., probably harmless enough. A glance over to Bonnie opening that secret passage. "Seems like we just found it.." she says to Fu.

She slowly starts getting up to her feet, not too sure about the connection staying. But at least she tries to maintain the attument. A look goes to Lara, "If I had a place to set full of traps this would be it.." she murmurs.

Which probably meant it was time to get those senses sharp and start looking before anyone just barged in there.

"That is .., related to my people. The Inhumans." She explains to Bonnie, stepping closer to the entrance, but then glancing back to Lara and nodding, as if wanting her to take that first look inside. She *is* the legendary tomb raider!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's eyes are directly on Bonnie when she picks up a chalice with a line connected to it. It makes Lara's heart skip a beat as there comes a reaction, but it doesn't yield in the ceiling coming down... this time.

A glare is sent to the woman before the Briton regards Daisy again who is approaching the alcove. At Daisy's request, Lara moves in and spends a moment looking it all over.

"We're trap free here." Lara quietly says before stepping out of the way again and looking to Bonnie. "You have to respect these places, or you'll end up a permanent resident within them." Croft says in a cold, but stern tone.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    "Inhuman?," Bonnie says.. finally something Ms. Knowitall doesn't know about. Her eyes swivel around the room and then she sees it. A scroll with a cut section of velum out of it. She approaches and picks it up, then fits the piece of velum she has to it. "Ah!.. so it is real after all."

    Bonnie peers at the other two things - the geometric object and the bowl. They're likely worth money, but probably only to Inhumans like Quake. A prize, true, but not what she's looking for right now. "Huh. Well, at least I'd have company hm?" she says to Lara with a cheeky grin. "It seems.. that our need to work together has come to an end. I shall depart and I wish you both the very ...best." She places down a small metal card where she found the scroll and on it, embedded, are the letters CGT.

    Fu nods his head and places his black thing down out of sight. He says, "Very good. This _fhjkuwe_ is how you will learn to use your powers in ways you cannot conceive of yet." It takes a moment for the song of the universe to make sense to you.. but the closest thing that comes to mind is 'hypercube'. He continues, "Take the bowl and when you feel you are in a safe place, we can begin your instruction. When you touch the bowl - we will be lost to each other. It will be your first trial, to sing to the bowl and connect us once again."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy isn't exactly paying too much attention to Bonnie even if she does frown a touch at the woman going in and starting touching stuff. She lets out a breath but then moves in towards the metal piece. She does have an idea about it's origin. Alien! She reaches to pick the thing up, looking down at it momentarily in her hand and then retreats out of the room. "Alright, Fu. I got the metal, I will be talking to you later." she picks up the bowl as well, a quick look about to make sure things don't start shaking and the temple falling on them..

What? She has seen raiders of the lost ark! So far so good...

"And Bonns, you should ask Lara for help you know? She is the best in the business.." Before she adds, "Though take care of yourself. Might be that we'll meet again, mmm?" hopefully not!

Then to Lara, "Time to get out? Or would you like to explore more of the place?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara doesn't protest Bonnie's departure, she does look at that card and waits a moment before she reaches for it. It's slid in to a pocket on her jacket and she turns to look toward Daisy.

She shows a soft smile at her partner and nods once. "I'd enjoy a few minutes to look around a bit more, take some more footage of the place." She states before stepping past Daisya nd whispering lowly. "And giving 'her' time to get away from us."

Apparently Lara wants distance between them and Miss Aventure.

"This is a remarkable find, Daisy." Lara adds then in a more normal tone of voice. "If we go public with it, you'll have your name all over archaeological journals and websites for decades to come." She grins to the other. "Are you ready to live forever?"

She doesn't yet ask about Daisy's personal experience, as that would be rude, and can happen later...