An Older Sibling Thing [Uncharted 4, Sam - 3/3 Complete]

[Red Ring of Death]

And it was then that Red Ring realised that he was really terrible at writing. Everyone else on here is so friggin' good and I'm over here like the local idiot like "redundancy! small words! How do sentence structures make go?" Anyway. I know that an Uncharted 4 fiction just sprung up so I can add "slow" to my beaming list of traits.

This contains spoilers for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End [[ but nothing about the actual end of the game ]]. Also it's worth noting that the first conversation in this fic is directly taken from a conversation in the game between the two brothers and the story diverts from there. Maybe one day I'll actually write a good piece of literature. 'Til then, have fun with my disjointed attempts at writing -rubs temples-

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“Ah, you gotta be kiddin’ me,” Nathan sighed with a grunt as he could see the top ridge of the cliff he was scaling RIGHT there in front of him – it would be his luck that the particular rock he was clinging to would break away… seemed to be a running trend for him, even after a two year respite. Yet here he was, in the middle of a jungle, clothes still wet from the downpour the night prior, covered in dirt and rock dust from mountain climbing and parkour, searching for his idiot brother who might not even still be alive chasing after some mystical pirate treasure that he was starting to have second thoughts about searching for. “Ah! Oh no…” He hurriedly hopped up the face of the crumbling rock, scrambled onto it and made a running dash. “No, no, no!” He made the leap of faith and barely caught the edge of the cliff, almost losing his grip but managing to keep a hold of it.

He hung there for a brief moment contemplating his luck and catching part of his breath. “Holy shit.” He exhaled with a hint of relief. He put his other hand on the ledge and pulled himself up with a few select grunts – he was getting too old for this. Or maybe it had something to do with the raging storm last night and getting knocked out a few times after the boat got capsized on account of a BIGGER boat ramming into them none-too-gracefully. However, he had barely even gotten to his feet when he heard footsteps and rustling. Instinctively, he pulled his pistol out of its holder and swiveled to point at whatever tried to come up behind him – he just got there, how had Shoreline found him already? Were they scouring every inch of the island?

Oh, false alarm. As he turned, his blue eyes fell on a more welcoming sight – his brother Sam with HIS pistol out and pointed right at Nathan’s face. A brief pause and the two exchanged nervous exhales, lowering their respective weapons and breaking eye contact.

“I almost shot your head off,” Sam admitted, tucking his pistol into the back of his jeans.

“Sam…” Nathan replied, also holstering his weapon and looking around briefly for a place to sit. “You’re okay.” His tone was a mix of relief and tiredness but for what it was worth, he WAS glad to see his brother still in one piece though he could’ve sworn something looked… just a little bit off about Sam. He didn’t think much of it; regardless of the past few weeks they’d spent bonding, there was still a 15-year gap since they last saw each other.

“Yeah. Nothing I can’t walk away from,” Sam replied, approaching Nathan casually as he absently scratched at his nose with his middle finger. Nathan was swearing again; something was definitely off. He couldn’t put his finger on what, though. He pushed the thought out of his mind again and gave a half-hearted chuckle instead. Sam gave Nathan a gentle pat on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you’re alive, little brother.” He took a few steps back. “C’mon. We got a treasure to find.” The more he talked, the more Nathan was able to start pinpointing the problem – his voice. Not… HIS voice, Sam’s voice. There was something different, something a little cloudy like when you slide your foot into your shoe and feel a rock at the bottom. A sort of blockage, maybe? It was too early for him to tell – maybe this was all a fever dream and he was sitting at home, head in Elena’s lap after losing at that Crash fox-thing whatever game.

Regardless, Nate sighed and held up a hand. “Hold up, man. I mean—“ He shook his head faintly and gave a noncommittal shrug. “What are we doing?”

“What do you mean?”

Nate motioned towards the direction he came, towards the vast sea. “I mean our supplies are at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.” Sam’s reply was fluid, as Sam’s replies tended to be.

“Okay so we go steal some from Nadine’s army.” Stubborn.

“Yeah, and there’s that…” Nathan continued. “We’re going up against an army.”

It was Sam’s turn to shrug. “We’ve been holding our own so far.”

“While being marooned in the middle of nowhere,” Nate almost didn’t let his brother finish. Sam turned partially.

“We were TRYING to get here, remember?”

“When we had an escape plan.” He did interrupt this time, looking Sam in the eye as he spoke. There was a pause in the conversation and Nate took this opportunity to go on. “Okay. Just hear me out—crazy suggestion…” He wasn’t sure how well this would work but he thought it was worth mentioning; he couldn’t speak for Sam but Nathan himself wasn’t fond of being stranded on an unfamiliar island with an army looking for the same thing they were, especially considering that he himself hadn’t gotten any good sleep in the past 24 hours and he was tired and hungry and his brother looked worse for wear than he did. And that was saying something; he could see it clearer now, between the faint rings below Sam’s brown eyes so the slightly pale complexion. He still wasn’t gonna say anything but this was just further fuel for his idea. “let’s go down there and at least secure one of Rafe’s boats?” He suggested.

Sam was adamant. “The boats can wait.” Nathan scoffed. “You wanna know what we’re doing here?” Sam repeated, approaching his younger brother. “We’re buying my life back.” Nate looked up at Sam briefly before lowering his head again. “Okay? And we’re gonna do that by stepping into that jungle and finding Libertalia.”

“Have you… even seen any signs of a massive pirate colony?” Frustration was starting to tinge Nathan's words. “’Cuz I sure the hell haven’t.” He didn’t even have to finish his sentence when Sam started to lift his pointer finger.

“You’re a little late to start developing doubts, don’tcha think?” Nathan stood up and put a hand on Sam’s shoulder and turned his brother to face him. They were closer now and the weariness on Sam’s face was becoming more evident. It felt almost as if searching two pictures side by side and seeing what was different about the second one because the changes were so subtle. Nathan had no doubt that Sam was probably just as tired though he was always better about masking whatever perceived weakness the guy felt. It didn’t change the fact that the gears were turning in Nathan’s head. This wasn’t about treasure anymore; this was about making sure the two of them left alive. He was a fan of being alive.

“Look—can we at least acknowledge the chance that maybe Avery’s idea for a secret pirate utopia didn’t pan out?” Sam didn’t reply but shook his head with another scoff. Nathan took this opportunity to continue. “And maybe we’re just swept up in this fantasy, when instead we should be looking for a real way to save you?” Sam furrowed his brow for a moment and Nathan thought he got through to his brother.

“I’m gonna scour this island inch by inch if I have to until I find that treasure.” Evidently it didn’t work and Nathan groaned, rolling his eyes and having to turn his head for a second with exasperation. “Now, if you’re… confused about what you’re doing here…” He paused. Nate stared at him, waiting for the rest of the sentence as he put his hands on his hips. “then you can go home, Nathan.” Sam pushed on Nathan’s chest gently and turned to face the jungle, leaving Nathan with the faintest look of hurt on his face. However, the hurt was replaced with that dormant frustration reserved for siblings. He frowned and reached to turn Sam around again though it was less of a turn and more of a shove.

“Wait, wait, wait. I can ‘go home’?” He asked incredulously. “Are you KIDDING me?” Sam turned slowly and looked down at Nathan, narrowing his gaze. The more Nathan thought about it, the more it riled him up. “Do you have any idea what I put on the line to get you here?” His wife, his best friend, the two of them were stranded with no supplies and here Sam was saying that everything could wait and that he could just ‘go home’ after all of this? He swore that Sam didn’t think sometimes. Tunnel vision.

“How ‘bout what I put on the line?” Sam rebutted, pointing to himself and using that slow method of speaking that Nathan was familiar with – the “no, YOU don’t understand” counterargument that Sam always pulled when he was either short on excuses or unable to find a foothold explaining himself – Nate was always the better arguer. “’kay? The last fifteen years of my life—“ Nathan had to cut him off there.

“Oh c’mon. This has nothing to do with that!” He exclaimed. He had already apologized and made amends for that; there was only a handful of times that that could be used as an excuse or argument and this was not one of those times. Typical Sam, falling back on the past as an argument for the present. Was that an older sibling thing?

“It is EVERYTHING to do with that!” Sam retorted heatedly, his tone reminding Nathan that they were indeed brothers. They broke eye contact again and Nathan looked just past Sam when something caught his eye, something concealed beneath the jungle overgrowth. “…what?” Sam asked, turning to look at what Nathan was fixated on as the latter approached his focal point. He went to the thick curtain made of vines and pushed them apart.

“…Holy crap.” He exhaled, taking a small step back as he brushed off the recently-hidden sigil of one captain Henry Avery, the skull that faced sideways with crossed bones beneath it. Curiosity immediately started bubbling in Nathan’s gut as he followed the direction the skull was pointing as Sam chuckled quietly, staring at the carved symbol. Nathan hadn’t forgotten their conversation but at this point, he almost knew better than to continue what he figured was a fruitless endeavour.

“Still wanna go home?” Sam mused aloud, turning slowly to face his younger brother. Nate hesitated; on the one hand, yes, he still wanted to go home. On the other, the pull of adventure was rearing its ugly head again and…

“Let’s just see what else we can find,” He relinquished. Sam gave an affirmative half-nod and motioned for Nathan to lead the way.  He obliged though he still thought of smart jabs he could make for every excuse Sam could come up with, or at least smart-ass comebacks. Boyyyy he had some choice words if this ended up being a bust. Okay okay okay he had to stop thinking about it or it would sour his mood even further; he was already feeling low after the rain and the climb and the argument so he pushed the thoughts out of his head to get more into the ‘adventuring’ mood.

It didn’t take long for the duo to start finding numerous paths through the jungle and he half-waved for Sam to follow him. “C’mon, we can take that path,” He pointed as Sam sluggishly clambered up the rock behind him.

“Yeah… yeah, okay, just… gimme a second,” Sam said slowly, turning so that his back was facing Nathan, who was understandably confused.

“Give you a second? Wh-- this was your idea!” Nathan replied. Yeah, he was tired too but he already had that fire in his stomach and it was WAY too soon for it to be extinguished because of Sam’s newfound need for everything to be on his schedule. Sam ignored Nathan for a moment, making a grinding noise between a cough and a lawnmower running over twigs and spitting into the bushes nearby. Nate winced ever-so-slightly but covered it up with some witty banter. “Smoking finally catching up to ya?” He playfully jabbed. “I get it buddy, being a treasure hunter’s tough when you kill your lungs like that.”

Sam turned to face him and his smile almost slid right off his face; was it possible to age ten years in one motion like that? What, did he spit ten years of his life away just now? The inward playfulness was replaced with a level of concern because now that they weren’t arguing or stuck on a boat being chased by goons or separated, Sam… REALLY didn’t look that good, which was saying something because Nate already knew he was the “handsome one”; dark circles under his eyes, nose faintly tinted with pink hues, pale face. “I was in prison for fifteen years,” Sam replied, voice cracking though he gave Nate a sarcastic smile. “Sue me. I’m good to go now, just had to clear up the windpipes.” Nathan paused then just decided to risk it since they were alone in the jungle.

“You sure you don’t wanna take a little longer than a second? ‘Cuz if we’re being honest, you look pretty crappy.” Sam furrowed his brow slightly.

“…YOU look pretty crappy.” Sam deflected none-too-subtly with a scoff. “I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Oh hey speaking of… you saw my signal, right?” He asked. “How’d you find me? Where’d you come from?” Nate sighed; of course Sam would turn it around – the guy was always the worst when it came to admitting any form of weakness. Okay, it was fine. Nathan could take a hint – time could outlast Sam on the stubbornness level.

Nathan pointed in the direction they came, then made a motion down, then another direction, and pretty soon it turned into a dance of maneuvers. Finally, he stopped at a crouch and pointed at the ground. “Down here.” He replied. “I climbed all the way up here. I saw your signal from God knows how far away but thanks for that.” He added. Sam, smiling faintly at Nathan’s entertaining explanation, shrugged.

“I knew you’d find it, little brother,” He said with that usual air of confidence though Nathan could tell it was masking soreness, tiredness and pain. “You’re too smart for your own good, I ever tell you that?” He winked. Nathan was a little less amused. “C’mon, keep leadin’. I’m good, now.” He shook his arms as if warming up for a sport. Nate paused and narrowed his eyes. Sam shrugged. “I’m good.” He affirmed with a small nod.

Nathan slowly turned and resumed the lead further into the jungle. “I’m not carrying you back to a boat on one shoulder with a haul of treasure on the other,” He called as he started to ascend the rocks and trees. He could hear a sarcastic, dry laugh from behind him.

“You’re still worried,” Sam chuckled. “I told you not to be. Just have something in my throat is all, though... I could really go for a cigarette right about now.”

“Yeah, and a dose of Dayquil,” Nathan muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“I said ‘don’t worry, you will’,” Nate lied fluidly, pulling himself onto another ledge and glancing up at the other one that was too far out of reach. “Damn. Too high. Hey, think you can gimme a lift?” He asked as Sam slowly crawled onto the ledge behind him, panting slightly. He watched as his older brother rubbed his nose with his wrist absently, nodding.

“Yeah. Yeah, sure, I can.” He exhaled and plodded over to the base of the wall, getting into position. Nathan was starting to have some serious doubts about this; they had only been on their way for an hour but it seemed like Sam was running lower on energy than his phone, and that thing always seemed to be plugged in for recharge. Nathan looked down and put his hands on his hips as he kicked a small rock off the ground and it landed in the undergrowth with a shwiff. Sam looked up at his brother, still crouched and with his fingers interlocked. “…What are you waiting for?” He asked.

“I changed my mind.” Nathan said. Sam scoffed.

“Again? What happened this time?” Unlike their previous argument, this question lacked any serious undertones.

“Say ‘amazon’.”

“…What?”

“Say ‘amazon’.” Nathan repeated. Sam shrugged loosely.

“Amazon.”

“Ah-ah. See, there it was,” Nate pointed matter-of-factly. “Your voice is stuffed up, there was a hint of a "b" when you said "ama" and a little bit of a "d" when you said "zon". You know, you can tell me that you aren’t feeling that great. I won’t think less of you and it won’t stop our search,” He assured. Sam shook his head and turned away from his brother briefly before getting back into a lifting position.

“I’m feeling fine,” He insisted. Nathan crossed his arms. Sam straightened up again. “What, you don’t believe me?”

“Yeah NO, I don’t believe you.” Nathan confirmed, frowning. “I mean… hell, Sam. You look like you just survived an attempted drowning from a river in the Himalayas. Did you get any sleep last night?”

“You’re the younger brother, ‘kay?” Sam poked Nathan in the chest lightly. “You don’t worry about me.” Nathan sighed.

“I know we just had an argument about whether or not we should leave—“ He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Sam held up a hand to stop him. Initial frustration was replaced with a knitted brow and a lower lip bite as he watched his brother close his eyes and turn his head down sharply.

“H’eckhzch!” It was a harsh sound that seemed like it got caught in the nose and tried to escape through Sam’s mouth instead. “Sorry, bad timing,” He sniffed. “Continue?” Nathan blinked.

“I don’t need to. That was good timing.”

“That was bad ti—“

“Great timing. I rest my case.” Nathan took a step back from his brother. “Neither of us can go on without the other so we can hang out here ‘til you’re ready to cave.” He said and with that, he promptly sat on the ledge of the rock, legs dangling over the ledge.

“You're kidding, right?” Sam sputtered, starting to pace along the base of the wall, glancing around for an alternate route. “...You’re serious, aren’t you.”

“Yeah, I’m serious.” Nathan nodded, crossing his arms adamantly. Sam grunted.

“Can we… GET there and THEN we can take a break?” Sam suggested. “I mean, I’ve rested in worse places but c’mon. On a rock between the ground and an unreachable ledge?”

“No way, man.” Nathan scoffed, craning his neck to peer up at Sam, who had the poutiest frown on his face. It was kind of unintentionally hilarious. “If I give an inch, you’re gonna take a damn mile like you always do.” Sam opened his mouth as if to say something but whatever it was got stuck in his mouth and was replaced with another sneeze which he hastily turned and dipped into his elbow to cover.

“Hh’zksh!” One… “Heh’zchsh!” Two. “H’nnck!” Two… and a half? Did stifles count? “Hh’hszichh!”  Nathan mouthed ‘wow’ to himself; he couldn’t remember the last time his brother had a sneezing fit if ever – he listed that under “Things He’d Never Hear” below ‘Sorry for stepping on your Game Boy, Nate’ and ‘man, you’re so much more attractive than Tom Cruise.’

“You're a real piece of work, Sam. You know that?” He said aloud, looking down at his dirt-stained pants.

“Me?” Sam retorted once his paroxysm was done, sniffing heavily. “You’re the one that said ‘oh, we should turn back’ then you’re like ‘no wait let’s go’ and now you’re all ‘I changed my mind’.” Sam made sure to attempt to raise his voice a pitch while mocking Nathan, still pacing like a trapped tiger in the zoo. “It’s gotta be… I dunno, spores or something.” Nate quirked an eyebrow.

“Spores? Yeah, okay. Are spores also making you sound like you have cotton wedged in your nose?” He continued before Sam could reply. “Or why you could barely get your ass up here to begin with?” He could almost hear Sam grinding his teeth behind him and he smiled to himself. Is this what being the older sibling felt like? He couldn’t remember the last time Sam got sick and he didn’t. It was a weird role reversal only… it was handled much better when they were younger.

“I’m sensing some… sarcasm coming from your general direction and I can't say I appreciate it.” Sam replied slowly, equally as dry in his strained delivery.

“Yup. I learned from the best.” Nathan nodded. “C’mon. Sit down for… just a few minutes. For me?” He craned his neck again to see that Sam had stopped pacing and was pinching the bridge of his nose but stopped hastily as Nathan turned. He wasn’t fast enough for Nate to miss it but the latter decided not to mention it this time. However, he did chuckle. “Man, you look beat. I didn’t see it before but it’s really obvious now.”

Sam’s nostrils flared slightly. “How ‘bout we try something else. If I can get you up onto that ledge, then we keep going. If I can’t, THEN we’ll stop. I’ll give up for the day, we can stop and you can be right for once.” Nathan gave him a pointed stare. “…We got a deal?”

“No way. You’ll drop me.” Nathan stood up, brushing off his pants. Sam was silent for a moment, save his ragged breathing.

“…I’ve never dropped you.” That was a much more solemn answer than Nathan was expecting and the younger was taken aback. How was he supposed to react to that?

“Well… no, you haven’t, but…” Sam had a point; in their years of exploration and sneaking out and doing everything in a buddy-buddy system, not once had Sam ever let him go, and that was something Nathan couldn’t ever admit himself. He inhaled through his nose and nodded shortly. “Fine. Fine, I’ll take that bet. You better make room to hear me gloat about this tonight.” He added as Sam patted him on the shoulder before taking the familiar stance.

“It can wait ‘til we’re at Libertalia and you’ll hear me chanting that I was right in your ear,” Sam quipped back as Nathan took a tentative step forward before clambering onto Sam’s cupped hand as gently as he could to make it easier though he considered bombing the entire spectacle on purpose just to end this fiasco. As he put his hands on Sam’s shoulders, he could feel his brother burning up under his layers. “Okay, ready?” Sam grunted, his arms quivering with Nathan’s weight. “Up we go!” He said, using every ounce of his strength to launch his brother into the air. Nathan grappled for the ledge of the rock and got a steady grip, starting to pull himself up; well, Sam was right this time. Again. Nathan partially hated it when Sam was right.

Nathan shuffled on his knees until he was leaning over the edge, peering down at Sam who was doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Sam shook his head and wiped a thin film of sweat from his forehead before glancing up. “…Well?” Sam grinned at Nathan, who rolled his eyes as he extended an arm for his brother to reach for.

“Yeah yeah, shut up and take my hand.” Nate replied impatiently; for a moment, he truly thought he could out-stubborn his brother but quickly realized that that was a nigh-impossible feat. Sam held up a finger again and leaned against the wall face, coughing his breath out, procuring phlegm that he spit out periodically. Each rattling cough made Nathan’s heart sink just a little more out of concern for his older brother and he wished that Sam wasn’t so hard-headed and could just admit when he was at his limit and needed to rest for just a day. Sam had always been like this; always at the front, always trucking on and pulling Nate along behind him eagerly. For all his foolishness, Sam had a certain ‘joie de vivre’ that Nathan always envied though he was the one with a surrogate dad, wife and a stable life… well, stable until recently. Seeing Sam felled by the elements was somewhat hard to witness, especially when Sam felt like they were so close. “Sam… c’mon.” Nathan attempted again, stretching as far down as he could go to make it easier on Sam.

“Okay, okay, sheesh.” Sam panted with a sniff, wiping his forehead again with the back of his wrist. He crouched and made a rather impressive leap, stepping on the wall for an extra boost before grasping at Nathan’s forearm firmly. Nathan grunted as he helped hoist Sam over the ledge, impressed by Sam’s determination and hidden strength. Sam rolled from the ledge onto his side.

“I hope we never have to do that again.” He half-smiled as he caught his breath. Nathan chuckled in agreement, stood up slowly, and glanced around at their new surroundings. Looked to be more lush jungle – he would have to put his foot down at rock-climbing, no matter how mad Sam would be at him.

“The way ahead looks pretty easy, we can go that way if we—“ He cut himself off and turned to look down at Sam only to find that he had closed his eyes lazily, slow, scratchy breaths exhaling at an even tempo. “If we… pick this up after you get some sleep.” He muttered the addendum to his plan with a small smile to himself and sat down next to his big brother.

Edited May 28, 2016 by Red Ring of Death
title change

[SweaterWeather]

Ohhh sniffly, wheezy, congested Sam.. All the things I didn't know I needed in life. Also Nate being the still brat but also caring younger brother that he is UGH. I WAS JUST thinking of all the wonderful sickly things we could have once I watched this portion of gameplay today. Sigh, if only they could re-write it with this part in.. Seriously, all of this Uncharted smorgasbord is gonna spoil me rotten. So wonderful Red Ring!

[Red Ring of Death]

1. I'm so glad you liked it and 2. Ohhh yes. So many options and outcomes, so many choices!

[ICan'tThinkOfAnything]

How dare you call your writing terrible- honestly the second I saw this topic I was grinning like an idiot, and continued to do so throughout the whole fic. Except for, y'know, the "I've never dropped you" part. That kind of punched me right in the heart.

But goddamn was this amazing to read. Seriously, I love your style. The banter was on point (the "say Amazon" thing?? fucking loved it), characterization down, and Sam. Oh, Sam. Seriously, this is a gem, and I'm so happy you wrote it- and very curious to see where it'll go. EDIT: Forgot to mention this but your sneeze spellings killed me. I loved them so much.

Edited May 23, 2016 by ICan'tThinkOfAnything

[Red Ring of Death]

Ohhhh my god thank you so much. I saw your own story and I was working on mine like "well, time to throw in the towel. Ain't no way I can do this compared to anyone else" but I'm really honestly from the bottom on my heart so glad that you guys like it. Seriously. I have butterflies right now. On my honour, I'll never call my writing terrible again... at least not on here

[Red Ring of Death]

Someone tell me if my chapters are too long - I'm usually bad about that.

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It was well into the evening before Nathan heard Sam stir, shaken from his slumber by a wracking cough and Nathan could tell by now that it was decidedly less smoker-y and more cold-y, as if it wasn’t already apparent from the way Sam was snoring like a freight train, painful gulps of oxygen that accompanied a sickness-related apnea.

Fortunately, the weather was much nicer this time around and Nathan managed to make a small fire, hoping not to attract the attention of any unwanted Shoreliners. He astutely watched his brother start to groan into consciousness, peering over his small notebook and through the fire. Sam knitted his brow and squinted in the firelight, exhaling through his mouth with a grunt.

“Where’d you get the fire?” He croaked in his threadbare voice, still half-asleep as he slowly attempted to sit up though Nathan could tell that he was sore.

“I looted your pockets and found your lighter.” Nathan replied casually. “Managed to find some dry stuff despite all the rain last night.” Sam reached for the pocket his lighter was in as Nathan answered, feeling the edges; Nathan must’ve put it back where he found it when he was done.

“That’s, uh… pretty smart thinkin’.” Sam admitted, scooting a little closer to the flames as a shiver shook his lithe frame. “Aren’t you worried about Shoreline finding the smoke, though?” He asked with a sniff, crossing one of his legs up to his crotch while the other one was angled upright as he rested his arm on it. Nathan tapped his temple with the eraser of his pencil.

“I thought about that. I’m taking a guess that two things are happening. Either they aren’t here yet or they’re too busy searching to pay much attention to us.” He suggested in a similar vein as the Scotland expedition where most of it was a clear shot. Most of it. Sam nodded in understanding and grimaced as he attempted to get to his feet.

“C’mon, let’s get going.” Nathan couldn’t do anything but just blink at Sam for a moment.

“Are you kidding? You can barely stand up.” He pointed out with his pencil, motioning in Sam’s general area as the latter got as far as onto his knees before he stopped.

“And once… I GET standing… I’ll be fine.” Sam insisted between strained grunts. “It’s like getting outta bed in the morning.”

“This isn’t like getting outta bed in the morning.” No. Stop. No it isn’t.

“Sure it is. You wake up, don’t wanna get outta bed and you have to so you do. And once you’re up, you go about your day.” Nathan rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Yeah, okay. You get out of bed when your body hurts and you can’t even stand up in one go without having to pause to gather your strength and what happens when you need to scale a cliff face or slide down a slope and have to grapple to a tree?” Nathan was quick to pull out the armor-piercing line of questioning but he was engaged in a struggle for Sam’s safety right now so he was willing to make a few direct blows, at least to his brother’s ego. Sam paused and lifted his pointer finger again. That damned pointer finger, the ‘tsk’ motion.

“You said… earlier today—It’s still today, right?”

“Yes, it’s still today—“

“’kay, you said earlier today that if I could lift you over that ledge, then we could keep going ‘til we reached Libertalia and THEN we could take a break.” Nathan sighed through his teeth, puffing out his cheeks as he almost ended the exaggerated motion in a whistle.

“Are we still going by that logic?” He asked with a scoff. “We already took a break. About an eight hour one.” Sam groaned softly.

“I was out for eight hours?” Nathan shrugged.

“Yeah, just about. I mean… maybe a little less because you sounded like you were having trouble breathing but that’s about the span of time you were unconscious.” He pressed on before Sam had a chance to insert his part of the conversation. “Even if we were gonna go on right this instant, how would we see what we’re looking for?” He mused. Sam half-shrugged with a small head twitch.

“I have a lighter—“

“—That you can’t use while you’re climbing. And I just so happen to not have a torch handy.” He added before Sam could even suggest it. “Look, Sam—“

“No-- You SAID… we could keep going.” Sam interrupted with an exasperated chuckle, finally making it to his feet and resuming his pacing from earlier, clearing phlegm from his throat periodically and reaching up to knuckle his reddened nose. Nathan forgot how grouchy Sam could get when he was sick and pressed, no doubt made worse by his anxious nature and the weight of his life being at stake but this could be a learning experience for both of them. “We’ve already had this discussion. ‘Let’s see what we can find’, remember?”

“It won’t matter if you lose your footing while climbing up a wall because you were coughing too hard to see where your hand was supposed to go.” Nathan at LEAST wanted Sam to be remotely aware of his limits at this particular juncture. He stared intently at his older brother, eyes following his pacing. He could almost see Sam’s gears trying to turn in his mind, churning out SOME sort of excuse he could use.

“Can we at least… walk forward?” Sam asked, motioning to the jungle ahead. Nathan followed the motion and looked over. The younger brother stood up slowly and tucked his notebook away but crossed his arms defensively.

“We can walk.” He agreed and tilted his head as Sam opened his mouth to reply as if daring him to interject. A pause and Sam closed his mouth again so Nathan continued. “We’ll walk and follow your gut BUT if we get to anywhere that requires strenuous activity then we’ll take another time out. Sound good? We’re still headed that direction but we can’t keep going at the pace you’re hoping or you’ll get yourself killed.” He stated what he hoped was the obvious.

“We’ll see when we get to that point.” Sam kicked some rock dust over the fire with his foot absently in an attempt to put it out. Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose out of frustration but threw up his arms and adjusted his weight to one of his feet in a vaguely sassy way.

“Fine. Lead the way.” He sighed with evident annoyance. Sam made a slight open-armed bow and started off rather enthusiastically though the feeling from Nathan’s perspective was almost instantly ruined by Sam’s sniffing and coughing that sounded not unlike granules of sand being chewed up. It was dry and harsh, each hit seeming to want to take a piece of his throat with it. And if Nathan was guessing right, Sam wouldn’t mention or complain about it once.

Fortunately for both brothers, as Sam led the way and Nathan begrudgingly followed while watching closely, the hour and a half that followed their conversation was a fairly easy path; somewhat winding and on a steady incline but no overly arduous tasks. Of course, Nathan had the inward feeling that he wouldn’t hear the end of this a la “I told you so” from Sam… but maybe that could wait until after Nathan’s turn to say “I told you so” – the reason why the journey was an hour and a half-ish was because of Sam’s consistent stopping to double over as if someone just punched him in the gut; a grunt of barely-concealed pain here, a coughing fit there… mysteriously missing any sneezes, though. Nathan was worried; maybe he skipped the “cold” stage and took a dive bomb right into “flu” territory. Maybe Sam was right and it was just ‘spores’, though Nathan really wasn’t getting that vibe.

The younger Drake surpassed his train-wreck of an older sibling and took a few strides ahead to see where they were going next though that feat was much harder to do in the dark…. Uuuuntil the moment that he brilliantly remembered that he had a flashlight. Scoffing to himself, he pulled the flashlight from his pocket and pressed the button. The light staggered on, then flickered off. On, off, like an SOS. Hoping it didn’t get too waterlogged, he tapped the end of it on his palm until the light stabilized.

“And God said ‘let there be light’.” He announced. He heard Sam snort somewhere behind him.

“Never heard that used in a cliché way before.” Even with a voice coated in illness, he still sounded ever the smart-ass.

“Yeah, well… first time for everything.” Nathan fluidly replied.

“Nice of you to conveniently forget that you had a flashlight,” Sam cleared his throat as the older brother stood next to Nathan and the latter thought for a second that Sam would fall over if a gentle breeze passed them by.

“I have one now so why are you complaining?” Nathan teased. Sam licked his lips and patted Nathan on the shoulder.

“I ain’t. C’mon.” He started forward again as if he wasn’t the one stopping them before. Nathan sighed and scratched his head, picking up the rear again though that didn’t last for long because of Sam’s stopping and starting like a car with a dead battery.

Another slow, painful hour into the dark jungle and Nathan finally had to say something. “So… you think we’re any closer?” He asked.

“We gotta be, right? We’ve been heading in the same direction the whole time.” Sam pointed ahead briefly with a nod, wiping his nose on the back of his wrist again.

“I guess but we’ve been going more this way and less that way,” Nathan put his hand horizontally then faced it vertically.

“What if it isn’t ‘this way’?” Sam inquired, mimicking Nathan’s hand gesture. “Methinks you’re just trying to create excuses for why we should stop.”

“…Ya think?” Nathan said dryly, noting that his brother somehow managed to outdo himself in the “looking like crap” department; his eyes were gaunt shadows that hollowed his cheeks, a flush settled nicely on his face that darkened to a rich ruby red on his nostrils. A film of sweat covered his forehead, which wasn’t strange on its own but coupled with the other features, it made his skin look clammy. “Sam, I’m not… trying to dissuade you anymore.” He explained. “I’m just asking that we maybe take another little break so you don’t look like you’re gonna keel over and die at any given moment.”

“I feel like we’ve already had this conversation.”

“Then it bears worth repeating because you aren’t very good at listening sometimes.” Nathan was adamant as his eyes danced earnestly on Sam’s face. Sam deflected the concern with a sound that was a cross between a chuckle and a cough.

“I think you’re still worryin’ just a little too much, little brother.” Sam gave Nathan another pat on the shoulder before easing his way forward again, turning and walking backwards as he faced his brother. “It’s been easy so far, why would it suddenly get harder now—“ He was cut mid-sentence as Nathan watched his brother disappear into the underbrush followed by a startled, ragged “Oh shit!” and a series of raw yelling. Then… silence.

“Sam!” Nathan shouted the instant it happened, running to where he last saw his brother and almost tumbled over a ledge that was hidden by thick green plants. “Sam, answer me!” His mind automatically went to the darkest, worst places possible and he held his breath, begging for a response. Thankfully (at least he thought), he was answered by choking coughing.

“I’m okay!” Sam replied, sounding distant with an adrenaline-tinged edge to his tone but at least he was completely awake now. Nathan’s heart skipped a beat and he exhaled in a shudder. Nathan dropped to his knees and waved his flashlight around, trying to see if he could pinpoint where Sam had ended up.

“Where are you?” He called; he would’ve gone over the edge to find him but it was too dark to see and if there was only one thing worse than Sam being stuck wherever it was, it would be for Nathan to go down with him and kill them both.

“I’m, uh… at the corner of Hollywood and Sunset.”

“This is SERIOUS, Sam!” His older brother laughed nervously.

“Okay, okay. I’m hanging on a ledge about thirty feet below where you are. I think. I can see a path from here though to my right, I’mma see where it goes.” He called. Nathan waved his hands quickly as if his brother could see.

“No no no no—DON’T move!” Nathan insisted. “I’ll come down there and we can figure it out.” There was a moment of silence and Nathan frowned, furrowing his brow. “…Sam?” Silence usually meant he was being ignored though he couldn’t help but think that something worse happened in that period. He might be a little paranoid but that was understandable after last time.

“Hz’ESchk! Jesus Nate, I’m still right here.” That explained the pause. Nathan could hear irritation in his brother’s voice accompanying the gravely tone and tired hints but he was thankful nonetheless. “Also that’s a really bad idea. Just lemme get to that path, then I swear on my pirate honour that I’ll wait for you.” Sam suggested. Nathan thought on it briefly, thinking that this must be killing Sam’s body right now, hanging onto a cliff face. He sighed.

“Okay, fine. I swear to God, if you aren’t on that path when I get down there—“

“You’ll what, yell at me? It’s a little late to throw that threat around.”

“I’m trying to care for you, dammit. You don’t have to be an ass about it.”

“Yes, ma’am. See you on the flip side, brother.” Sam grunted and Nathan could hear scuffling and his brother was on his way. “It’s narrow down here; I’ll let you know when I’m on the ground.” He shouted to Nathan.

“Okay. Smart-ass.” He muttered under his breath, crossing his arms as he started playing the waiting game, sitting back on his rear with his feet on the slope. He never thought yesterday that this is where they’d be right here and now and he couldn’t say he approved; it was one thing being his brother’s keeper and it was another being his caretaker when the latter was too stubborn to just sit back and take a breather. He got Sam’s urgency; he really did (well, maybe not to its fullest extent) but to say what he wished at this point made him sound like a broken record.

It was times like this that Nathan regretted not ever wearing a watch and he looked out over the ledge again with his flashlight as if he might’ve missed something before. Then again, if his amazing time estimating skills were as good as he believed they were, it had only been a few minutes but in the dark, it seemed like hours, especially with the knowledge that his brother could fall at any given moment and not have time to scream before—

“Okay, I’m here!” Sam’s cracked voice broke through Nathan’s negative train of thought and Nathan could feel his heart pounding in his chest, a sort of tentative relief washing over him.

“10-4, I’m on my—“

“IZCHuh! Sorry, say that again?” Another harsh, ragged sneeze interrupted Nathan but the latter had already slid down the slope and found the ledge where his brother had been hanging out. At least Sam was wiping his germs on the BACK of his hands instead of the palms – he’d have a few more bones to pick if he caught Sam’s cold after all this.

“I said I’m on my way,” Nathan repeated as he started his down-and-over, attempting conversation so he could listen to when he was getting closer to Sam, indicating that he was going in the right direction. “That’s the second time you’ve interrupted me with a sneeze,” Nathan mentioned with a hint of sarcasm. “Are you doing that on purpose?” He could hear Sam scoff.

“No? Why would I do that on purpose?” On his right. Nathan started slowly working his way – the holds were small and he was glad that he didn’t try to intervene with a half-baked brother rescue.

“Just curious; they seemed conveniently-placed, is all.” Nathan replied; maybe he could wheedle out some form of admittance while they were playing catch-up.

“I got a face full of dirt when I slipped.”

“Spores and dirt? What, did Panama turn you into a sissy?”

“Why don’t you spend a little less time name-calling and a little more time rock-climbing, huh?” Nathan was being deflected again. Didn’t matter anymore; he pinpointed Sam’s location and he was almost there.

“I could ask you the same thing about “treasure hunting” and “taking a break”.” Nathan quipped as he made the last jump to the ledge where his brother was waiting and as he clung to the edge, he could feel Sam’s strong, firm hands on his arms, helping pull him up. “Thanks,” He said as he now stood on the ledge. He turned and looked at the drop below them and whistled as Sam staggered back and almost crashed to the ground, drawing shallow breaths.

“That’s quite the drop.” Nathan said obviously. Sam didn’t reply but Nathan could almost tell he was slowly nodding in agreement. “Okay, we found your ledge, time to take another breather.” He turned and sat with his back against a wall of the mouth of the small path Sam found. Sam also sat bodily across from Nathan and leaned back with a wispy exhale, wiping his forehead again as he coughed out his breaths. Nathan kept his blue eyes on his brother’s weary frame.

“Soooo how do you feel?” Nathan decided to poke some more. Sam tilted his head slightly.

“Like you’ve been underestimating me.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Like I’m only stopping because I told you I’d stop. I’m ready to go.” Nathan’s mouth hung open for a second; the sheer stubbornness of half of this conversation was astounding, truly.

“You’re ‘ready to go’? I’M tired and I’m pretty sure we aren’t on the same ‘wellness’ meter.” He knew what it was like to run on fumes and he had the suspicion that Sam was certainly scraping the bottom of the barrel; we’re talking the low fuel light coming on about ten miles ago. Sam lolled his head to look at Nathan.

“I can go ahead and you can catch up,” He suggested. Nathan quirked an eyebrow.

“That defeats the multiple times you’ve said that we were meant to find this thing together.” He yawned just after his sentence, clutching his stomach; he hadn’t eaten in a day now.

“You hungry?” Sam seemed to read his brother’s mind; his big brother radar was still strong despite being sick himself and beneath the excitement for treasure and bullheaded insistence that they could keep going, he was still looking out for his brother. Nathan shrugged dismissively.

“Nah, I’m good,” He lied; he was actually starving. Despite what he said though, he saw Sam’s position shift slightly as he pulled a small, unopened bag of peanuts out of his pants pocket and tossed it to Nathan gently. Nate must’ve missed those as he was looking for Sam’s lighter but he picked up the bag with hesitation.

“I’d rather you have these,” The younger Drake admitted. Sam shook his head slowly, rocking it against the wall.

“I’m not hungry.” His voice was gradually starting to soften and Nathan knew he was staving off his impending drowsiness though he also knew that Sam’s voice often reflected what was going through his mind so at this rate, it wouldn’t be much longer before he’d drift off again. Then maybe Nathan could get some sleep too and they could pick this up when it was daylight again.

“You’re a really bad liar. Always have been,” A small, tired grin crossed Sam’s creased face as Nathan struggled to open the bag without flinging peanuts everywhere as he usually did.

“Are they salted?”

“…No.”

“You hate me.” Nathan hoped that being light-hearted would convince Sam to ease into a sense of security so he could relax. Sam snorted.

“Yep. You caught me. I actually plan your demise on a bi-weekly basis.”

“Only bi-weekly? Didn’t know I was so low on your list of priorities.” Nathan said through his teeth as he tried to open the package, cupping his hands around it so in case the bag ripped, peanuts wouldn’t shower the ledge.

“I don’t need to plan more than bi-weekly; you’re pretty proficient at almost killing yourself regularly.” Sam sniffed and Nathan saw him itch at his nose again in a subtle motion; all things considered, he was still handling himself better than Nathan himself probably would be – then again, the younger brother sometimes had a habit of being a drama queen. It was an interesting foil to Sam’s firm denial and constant sucking it up though it had its vices.

“…Okay, you have a point. I haven’t yet so I consider that a win. If anything, YOU'RE the one who almost got killed today.” Nathan replied, finally having pried the bag open though his teeth hurt now. He popped a peanut into his mouth and discovered that it was indeed salted. “You’re a dirty liar.” Sam couldn’t help but smile, chuckling dryly.

“Who eats unsalted peanuts by themselves?” He asked. Nathan racked his brain to see if he had a name he could drop but his search came up empty. “That’s what I thought.”

“Shut up.”

“YOU shut up.” What a pointless back-and-forth though it was nice to not have something pressing to argue about at the moment.

“Whatever. At least lie down, will you?” Nathan changed the subject poorly but since they were there…

“You aren’t being subtle about it anymore, are ya?”

“I think I was being too nuanced before so I’d make it easier for you to get the message.”

“Oho, don’t I feel foolish.” Sam leaned forward from the wall and rubbed his eyes followed by the bridge of his nose. He groaned softly. “Thanks for sharing with me your blatant wisdom.” Nathan continued snacking on the peanuts, watching his brother closely. Getting there, getting there…

“Don’t mention it.” Nathan replied smugly. He observed Sam’s movements and much to his inner satisfaction, Sam eventually slid onto his back, putting his hands behind his head in a casual pose, crossing his legs at the ankle; he looked like he would perfectly fit into a beach setting, lounging on a hammock in the ocean breeze. …Or a hospital bed. Was that too extreme?

“One of the things about that prison was that if you could see outside at night, there were so many stars.” Nathan glanced at the sky as Sam spoke, seeing the display of white lights against the black canvas and instantly being able to pick out constellations here and there as he was sure Sam had a habit of doing.

“I guess even a hellhole like that has a ray of light.” Sam’s eyes fluttered shut and his mouth opened a little wider and Nathan could hear his raspy breath again. Nathan looked back over at his brother and rolled up the bag of peanuts, pocketing them; he was still hungry but at least Sam was smart in what snack to hang onto. He’d just save them for tomorrow. He quietly scooted over to where his brother was and laid on his back next to him, feeling his brother’s fever radiating off his skin like the glow from a bulb.

As if to make a point, Sam shivered lightly and Nathan scooted just a little closer; they didn’t have a fire so shared body heat would have to do. Nathan was still worried though part of him thought that maybe he WASN’T giving Sam enough credit, especially after what he managed to do today. He kept forgetting that the two primary things Sam did in prison was work out and read books… He’d try to lighten up just a little tomorrow.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Red Ring of Death

[ICan'tThinkOfAnything]

I swear I followed this topic. I swear.

Alas, I did not, the glory of this fic must've blinded me and I somehow forgot to follow. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I saw this update. This chapter certainly matched the first, if not surpassing it. Normally I'm not a fan of low sneeze-to-story ratio fics, but the amount of sneezing in here works perfectly. And the spellings. I like that this isn't all happening at once, and that time is being taken to build the illness up. And in the meantime, there's plenty of action, banter, and a hint of angst. A perfect blend, if you ask me. Something else I really love is how you describe Sam's coughing. And this entire fic. I love that too. 

And the speed at which you managed to upload this is impressive as hell, I must say. I shall eagerly await the next installment! (And, yes, I remembered to follow this time!)

[Red Ring of Death]

A few things before I post the (presumably) final installment of this particular fanfiction. 1. Yay, I actually finished something! 2. Boo, Red Ring forgot that it's not that long of a trek between the cutscene where the Drakes reunite and them finding Libertalia so I apologise for making that up. 3. I'm soooo so so sorry if I've, uh, ruined any perceptions or headcanons or inadvertently stolen someone's idea - that wasn't my intention at all. 4. Thanks for the positive feedback, it reeeeally means a ton to me. If anyone has constructive criticism, get back to me because the last thing I want to do is misrepresent these characters too grossly, especially since I really don't think this will be the only Uncharted 4 stuff I write.

I might come back and edit this - it seems a little more disjointed or too busy compared to the last two "chapters" but until then, I hope it's not too bad or jarring.

___________________________________________________

 

Nathan furrowed his brow as he grunted awake, an unfamiliar sound puncturing his sleep; it sounded like a balloon deflating into a brick wall. That was… specific. He shook his head and blinked slowly, yawning into the back of his fist as he started to sit up.

He didn’t get very good sleep; he remembered absently waking up now and then throughout the night to make sure Sam was still asleep and even then, his brother was snoring like hail hitting a tin roof… it wasn’t anything Nathan couldn’t handle on its own normally but coupled with his own lack of sleep, it felt like sleeping next to a tree contemplating whether it wanted to fall or stay connected, all the while crackling.

He blinked again, rubbing the sleep out of one of his eyes. As his ears popped from the yawn added to the altitude they were at, he heard that sound again – muffled and strained, unsatisfying and almost desperate. Shrugging it off, he rubbed the back of his head, smoothing down his hair that became tousled in the night. He must’ve ended up on his side and he turned to lean on one of his elbows to check on his brother… who wasn’t there. He jerked into sitting up quickly, glancing around like a mother who lost sight of her child. “Sam?” There was panic in his voice as he got to his feet in a matter of seconds, taking care not to accidentally fall off the ledge they were perched on.

There was no response and Nathan rubbed his temple, biting his lower lip with worry; did Sam get impatient and leave without him? Did he… fall off? Nathan dropped to his knees and instantly looked over the ledge into the drop, scanning the environment for a body, nauseating as that was to even think about. “Sam??” He called again and he only realized after he had called that he heard that same sound a third time, coming from behind him. He turned quickly as if expecting to see Sam standing there shoveling pebbles into a metal box (he was getting more inventive with the imagery that came with such a sound) but of COURSE he wasn’t there. Almost certainly convinced that the sound was indeed coming from his brother, he scooted away from the ledge and stood up, checking to make sure he had his journal, flashlight, and bag of peanuts before venturing onto the path in hopes of finding Sam.

“Sam?” He tried a third time as he walked, glancing around at his surroundings. This time, he got a response.

“What?” The reply made Nathan cringe; it was a terrible, scraping sound that couldn’t even say four letters without splintering like a burning piece of wood. Nathan walked forward and found his brother sitting on a vine-covered rock, cradling his head in one of his hands, eyes closed and drawing shallow breaths similar to yesterday. Nathan decided to approach this carefully and he briefly bit his lower lip.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked slowly, tilting his head. Sam’s glazed eyes avoided Nathan’s as he stared emptily at nothing in particular.

“…Nothin’.” Yeah, sure. Nathan wasn’t buying that. He had to remind himself that he was gonna go a little easier on Sam buuuuut…

“Buddy, ‘duthig’ isn’t a word.” He couldn’t help but reply. Sam’s gaze flickered to his brother.

“Don’t be that asshole.” Nathan dropped the quips.

“Jesus, Sam… you sound TERRIBLE.” Each word Sam said felt like a needle in Nathan’s heart; he couldn’t remember the last time Sam sounded SO congested and raw and, well, miserable.

“I feel fi—“

“Sam, I swear to God if you say ‘I feel fine’ then I’m gonna push you off the nearest cliff.” Sam shut his mouth at the threat and lifted his hands as if in surrender. Nathan’s gaze softened slightly from the intense blue-eyed stare it was moments before. “Lemme guess…. You didn’t wanna wake me up.” He figured that was really why Sam was out here. Sam gave a noncommittal nod.

“You looked so peaceful, like a little… angel…” Sam’s witty reply trailed off as his sentence faltered and Nathan saw him lean back slightly in an almost anticipatory fashion. There was a brief moment of silence before Sam sharply pitched forward into his hands and Nathan stupidly realized that he was staring at the source of those weird noises from earlier.

“Hn’GXNnght!” The force of the sneeze coupled with the desperation of the stifle sent a convulsion through the older Drake’s body and Nathan winced sympathetically; how long had this been going on? Was he stifling them the entire time so he wouldn’t wake Nathan up? He felt like asking but he didn’t want to risk making his brother feel even more awkward and vulnerable.

“Well…” He decided not to address the sneeze and attempted to plow through the conversation. How could he mitigate this without seeming preachy…? “Thanks for that. It was nice of you.” He mentioned, rubbing one of his arms, avoiding Sam’s pathetic gaze, though he was sure Sam didn’t mean to look like a kicked puppy. Sam attempted to sniff though it didn’t work and it turned into a brief, scraping coughing fit and for a moment, Nathan was surprised that his brother still had a voice, however empty and clawing it might be.

Sam stood up, wiping… whatever was on his hands on the back of his jeans; the motion grossed Nathan out juuuust a little though he was willing to forgive Sam’s lack of manners seeing as how there wasn’t really a better way to take care of it. “Anytime, little brother.” He was still casual despite looking and sounding like death though Nathan might’ve been a little thankful of his ability to at least TRY to give the impression that he was okay, especially if Nathan’s obvious worry made Sam feel uncomfortable. “Ready to go?” He asked, making a small, natural motion as if to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder but stopped and his hand gently glided back down to his side. Nathan knew that Sam could only be in so much denial and this was proof that Sam was aware that he was sick to the point that he didn’t want to touch his brother for even a moment if he could avoid it.

Nathan paused, contemplating whether he should play ‘hard-ass’ again and tell Sam that they weren’t going anywhere but Sam… wouldn’t react well to that so he reminded himself that he was going to try to be more agreeing and cordial and he nodded slowly though not without doubt. “Yeah. Want me to lead?” He asked less out of wanting to actually lead and more to say ‘you are covered in germs so I wanna touch everything first’. “Can you climb?” Sam gave him a look.

“I’ve been climbing this whole time.”

“I’m just askin’.” Nathan took a few steps back before turning to start to lead the way further into the jungle, keeping an eye out for any places for them to gain more altitude. He looked over his shoulder periodically to make sure Sam was still following as if his loud mouth-breathing weren’t enough of an indicator and to his dwindling surprise, Sam was doing better in keeping up than yesterday despite looking worse than previously. Nathan tried not to immediate dismiss the problem though and went a little slower than he would’ve usually.

Libertalia had to be around here SOMEWHERE.

It didn’t take long before they reached their first cliff face and Nathan stood there, looking up at it as he put his hands on his hips absently. Sam, breathing heavily and nose twitching constantly but otherwise still conscious, also regarded the cliff face with a watery gaze. Nathan turned to his brother and pointed at the cliff.

“Think you can do this?” He asked earnestly though he tried to hide his concern. Sam cracked his knuckles and exhaled through his teeth.

“Yeah, no problem.” He replied, coughing out some more phlegm.

“That’s real comforting.” Nathan quipped though he had the ghost of a frown on his face. Sam quirked an eyebrow.

“I was clearing my passages so I can breathe better.” Thankfully, he sounded… REMOTELY less threadbare as the two talked though it wasn’t much better considering he was still pale, clammy-looking and his voice was rheumy and thick. Well… it didn’t seem untrue; Nathan would rather him try to clear his system than just hold it all in – he’d have to mention that if it came to it.

“…’Kay then. I’ll go first if it’s okay with you,” Nathan said. Sam motioned with his hand, his body language saying ‘by all means’ and Nathan turned and jumped, grappling onto the first ledge of many that seemed to precariously protrude from the wall as if asking for someone to please climb it. As he ascended the cliff like a gibbon, slowly working his way around the edge in hopes of finding somewhere else to go, he kept managing to glance over where he had been to see his brother clambering onto the ledge, coughing onto the rock face none-too-subtly as his lungs were starting to revolt for all those years of smoking with a nice heap of cold stacked on for good measure.

“You holdin’ up okay?” Nathan called as he climbed further ahead and heard Sam choke out a strained chuckle.

“Less talking, more breathing,” was his response and Nate nodded.

“Fair enough.” He was still worried but the two of them seemed to be a little closer when Nathan wasn’t busy being the temporary older brother and trying to tell Sam what to do, which he realized was incredibly hard. “We’re almost there,” He said with a grunt as he finally found a ledge for them to get to – and a bit higher than where they were when they started so that was good. As he finally reached the ledge they were getting to, his eyes widened. “And you’re gonna wanna see this.”

He climbed onto solid ground, in front of him was the shambles of a lonely house, small and overrun with plant life. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught one of the pirate sigils similar to the one they started with on the rock. He caught his breath and just stared at the remains of the building as Sam heaved himself up to where Nathan was, facing the ground for a moment as he gasped for air.

“What…?” He panted, glancing up in a motion that was supposed to be brief but turned into staring as the older brother stood up shakily, a grin escaping his cracked lips and he stumbled forward, pointing at the building and looking back to Nathan.

“I TOLD you we were nearby,” He said matter-of-factly. Nathan would’ve replied to this with sarcasm but seeing a sign that they were headed in the right direction put a spark in his mind; he was starting to become slightly discouraged but that seemed to be gone. Sam looked back at his brother expectantly and Nathan sighed in a tired smile.

“You were right.”

“Damn STRAIGHT I was right.” The air of victory was prevalent over his previous tones, even the part where he was still sick as a dog but for a moment, even that seemed to dissipate. “And we would’ve found this sooner if YOU didn’t wanna stop.” Them’s fightin’ words.

“We also would’ve been here faster if you hadn’t slipped down that slope.” Nathan objected.

“The slope was, ah… a shortcut,” Sam defended with a sniff. Nathan nodded sarcastically.

“Uh-huh. Okay. In any case, think we gotta go through there to find ourselves Libertalia?” He mused, starting to walk toward the wreckage, looking around the foliage to see if there was another way. Sam searched the other side, tilting his head and craning his neck to get a better view.

“I don’t see anything,” He remarked loudly enough for Nathan to hear, the cracking in his voice especially pronounced.

“Yeah, me neither. Guess we gotta go through,” Nathan rubbed the back of his neck, going back over to the doorway where he paused. “Ladies first?” He asked dryly. Sam scratched his cheek absently and put weight on one leg.

“Yeah, go ahead.” He replied. Nathan gave a deadpan laugh, but didn’t reply with snark and instead decided to venture in first. Sam picked up on this as he followed his younger brother into the musty half-broken shack.

“Oh, c’mon. You DIDN’T expect me to say that?” He asked.

“Of course I did,” Nathan rolled it off gently, not at all taken as he looked around the establishment curiously. The shack was bigger on the inside, caved-in roof and overgrowth notwithstanding; the furniture and rug had been reclaimed by nature as insects fluttered in and out of the sunlight that streamed in, reflecting off particles that hung in the air and for a brief moment, Nathan felt like he were in a particularly old library.

Behind him, Sam had barely gotten through the door when he started smothering a set of coughs. “Jesus, think it’s dusty enough in here?” He sputtered. Nathan scoffed.

“I didn’t think something like that would bother you.” He replied casually; he knew his brother was sensitive to dust, at least to the point of complaining about it more than once during their recent rekindling but he honestly hadn’t considered it with Sam being sick and all... Not to mention it was something that was never discussed because of Sam’s pride so it was an assumption based on years of observation. “Besides, I’m more worried about the rug. I don’t think it’s been stain-treated in a few hundred years.” He glanced down at the deteriorated thing as he spoke before deciding to explore some more. Still trying to get control of his coughing fit, Sam managed to force out a… strangely-emphasized half-choke, half-laugh.

“Yeah, that’s… true…” He trailed off again and Nathan was starting to see a pattern if it was because of what he thought it was. “hh’ekzsch!” Yep, he thought right. At least he wasn’t trying to kill them like he was that morning.

“At least you didn’t interrupt ME this—“

“Hz’ISHhchu!”

“… time. More spores or dirt?” He teased as he crouched near a hole in the floor where there appeared to be a lead into a cellar. He knew Sam would’ve replied had the latter not been preoccupied and Nathan could hear his breath hitching again, rearing for another sneeze.

“Huh’zkschh! Ugh… Shut it.” Sam sounded muffled at this point and Nathan’s curiosity turned to see what his brother was up to only to find the latter had since lifted the collar of his shirt over the lower half of his face unabashedly.

“Keeping out the spores?” He asked with faint amusement.

“I’m gonna punch you in the neck.” Sam glared back at his brother.

“No, you won’t.”

“…No, I won’t.” Nathan clicked his tongue with a wink.

“C’mon, I found the way forward.” He jumped down into the hole as he spoke, seeing a glimmer out of his peripheral vision and finding a little memento just… sitting there on one of the rickety tables. Kind of obvious but he wasn’t gonna argue as he picked up the trinket. As he searched the area, Sam also fell bodily into the cellar, still holding the shirt over the lower half of his face, sniffling with sparse coughs here and there. Nathan couldn’t help but feel a little for his brother; they were finally getting close to their destination for Sam’s benefit and he couldn’t even enjoy himself properly. However, Sam made this particular bed so Nathan was guiltily content letting Sam try to sleep in it.

He saw small rays of light streaming in through a collapsed part of the cellar and he figured that must’ve been their way through… too bad there was a thick beam in the way. How come there were always beams in the way? “Hey, Sam. We can go through here.” He said, waiting for his brother to show up next to him. Sam gurgled an exhale.

“Great. Crawling. I’d rather climb,” He complained.

“Crawling’s good for you.” Nathan stated, starting to lift the beam with several strained grunts, feeling the heat in his legs as he pulled it up from where it had been resting for who knows how long. “Okay! I got it, go on through.” Sam was fluid enough, scurrying under the opening before Nathan heard him exhale loudly and his hands moved from his shirt and to the beam, holding his breath.

“Hurry up!” He groaned and Nathan was just as quick, following his brother before Sam let the beam drop with a splintering ‘thud’, kicking up more dust and particles into the air like a can of air freshener. “Christ—Hhh’ECHZshu!” And with that, Sam was set off again. Nathan contemplated on whether they should wait so he could get it out of his system or if it would be more prudent to remove his brother from the source. Deciding on the latter, Nathan doubled back and put a firm hand on the small of Sam’s hot back as the latter convulsed though the younger Drake wasn’t sure if it was more because of the sneezing or because his brother was no doubt sporting a fever.

“C’mon, pal. Multitask,” He instructed gently, leading his brother out of the musky cellar through another opening in the wall of the building, overlooking another brief section of jungle with another building on the far side. This… might be a problem.

Once they were out of the claustrophobic half-collapsed building, Sam’s nose calmed down a little bit and the steady stream of sneezes was turned into a sparse gunshot now and then. Nathan waited patiently, having since removed his hand and gave Sam some space. “…You gonna be okay?” Nathan asked, glancing back briefly. Sam nodded shakily, getting a hold of himself and sniffling near constantly.

“Yeah.” He gasped for breath, eyes watering and nose a fine shade of pomegranate. He slid out of his prison shirt and used one of the bottom hems to start wiping… every sort of body fluid off his face. “Just… ‘CKSHhnuh! Gimme a second.” Nathan licked his teeth under his lips and wiped his forehead, turning and looking back at their destination contemplatively.

Nathan wasn’t sure how much time passed before Sam finally got everything under control, or at least as under control as he could all things considering. It didn’t really matter anyway since Nathan felt like they could almost see Libertalia. “Ready to go, Sam?” He asked as his brother wearily staggered next to him, holding his crumpled outer prison shirt in one clenched fist to his side. Nathan raised his eyebrows; the shred of vivacity Sam had prior was a shadow on his creased face now. “You wanna… take a breather?” Nathan offered, suddenly a little worried that Sam would crumple at any moment; he figured Sam could deal with any one of his three obstacles easily but having a cold threatening to turn flu on him, whatever semblance of an allergy he had, AND all the physical labour seemed crushing when piled on at once. That’s how it felt to Nathan at least, and he wasn’t even the one having to deal with it.

Sam shook his head slowly, coughing out some more phlegm. “No… No, I’m good.”

“You good?” Nathan repeated just for clarification.

“I’m good.”

“Good. I’d hate to have to carry you to Libertalia.” Nathan decided to lighten the mood a little as he gave Sam a supportive pat on the shoulder before starting forward. Behind him, he heard Sam cough out another tired laugh.

“Yeah. Like… a wife across the threshold,” He added dryly.

“Exactly. No, you can walk your own ass to Libertalia.” Nathan quipped as the duo approached the next building, a bit bigger than the last one but thankfully with more room to look around and breathe… and hopefully they didn’t have to crawl around any more half-dead beams of wood.

“I’d have it… no other way,” Sam breathed though he understandably paused at the entrance of the old wooden structure. Nathan stopped as well and exchanged a glance with his brother.

“I’ll go in first then let you know if the coast is clear, yeah?” He suggested. Sam paused as if actually contemplating the offer but refused.

“Nah, might as well just… get it over with. Like a bandaid.” He breathed though he motioned for Nathan to go first anyhow. The younger brother nodded and led the way into the ruins. It was considerably roomier than the last one with ample ramps made out of collapsed flooring; thick tree roots wormed around the foundation and the area was green with undergrowth and plants. The giant hole in the roof also helped to circulate air flow, that was always a nice touch. The two walked around the space, Nathan being the more adventurous of the two and testing out the planks of wood to see how sturdy they were. Sam suggested the route, however. “Hey Nate?” He called. “There’s a ledge up there but it’s too high for a boost.”

“I’m already on it,” Nathan replied as he ascended the fallen floor, adaptive methodology automatically going for the one place to crawl – it was a habit by now. He turned and saw a large crate precariously perched on the edge of a broken hallway. “I got an idea,” He announced, putting his hands on the corners and giving the crate a shove and it toppled down solidly, rolling riiiiight to the ledge Sam pointed out. He backed up a few steps as the wooden boards below him started to give way.

“Got it.” He heard Sam call and Nathan eased himself off the ledge, landing with a ‘thud’. Sam was leaning on the crate, eyes closed and hands clenched as if in prayer and Nathan quirked an eyebrow. Sam’s eyes fluttered open and he waved Nathan’s concern off. “…Ladies first?” He mimicked lightly, looking to Nathan, who in turn gave him a look.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Nathan replied playfully with a small curtsy, climbing onto the box before jumping up onto the ledge and pulling himself over. Normally, he would’ve immediately scoured their next area to see where they should go next but in this scenario, he knelt over and offered an arm out to Sam. “C’mon, buddy. Up we go,” He encouraged. Sam paused for a moment and Nathan knew it would mean breaking his ‘no contact’ streak. “Don’t worry about it, man.” He added as if reading Sam’s mind. Sam looked up, regarding his brother with his faded brown eyes for a second and smiled faintly as he re-donned his prison shirt.

“If you say so,” Sam shrugged sheepishly and grunted as he got onto the crate, jumping for Nathan’s arm instead of the ledge. His hand firmly gripped around Nathan’s elbow joint, he put his other hand on the ledge and started to pull himself up with Nathan’s other hand under his arm.

“Theeere we go,” Nathan grinned, standing Sam up and giving him another pat on the back. “See? You can do it,” He said but Sam was looking forward, right past him. His watery eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape. “…What?” Nathan turned to see what Sam was looking at when he got pretty much the same look on his face. “Whoa.”

The brothers Drake were silent for a moment before Sam breathed “What do you see?”

Nathan was taking it all in; from the ruined buildings that stacked on each other to the ragged road that was the centerpiece of what appeared to be a downtown community. Plants blossomed from every crack but the buildings themselves were still a marvel, dotting the environment with shades of brown and roan and the seemed to be part of the mountain, continuing upward and onward as mist trickled down in the crevices.

Libertalia.

“No houses,” Nathan begun subtly. “Wide street. Clearly a commercial district of some kind.” Out of his side view, he saw Sam lower his head briefly with a scoff.

“Yes, thank you for that, Nathan.” He replied dryly, clearing his throat. “C’mon. What do you see.” He asked again with a small nod towards his brother. Nathan gave Sam a look.

“You just wanna hear me say it, don’t you.”

“REALLY wanna hear you say it.”

“All right.” Nathan put his hands on his hips. “Libertalia.”

“Libertalia!” Sam exclaimed with a chesty laugh, seemingly much more excited about this and temporarily forgetting about his problems leading up to this point; this was it, this was what they were looking for, what his life was on the line for. “The long-lost, legendary pirate utopia. Discovered, after three-hundred years, by one Samuel Drake.” He sighed and there was a pause as Nathan looked over at him.

“And--?”

“AND, and his younger, slightly less charming brother who happened to be tagging along for the ride.” He added with a few noncommittal nods as Nathan returned his gaze to the city. “Y’know, I always knew you’d make something of yourself one day,” He joked, tapping Nathan on the shoulder with the back of his hand. Turning this into a habit, Nathan looked over at Sam again; he knew Sam was excited, but still…

“Yeah, just so you know, this isn’t my first lost city,” He mentioned unhelpfully but Sam started to shush him, giving a dismissed hand-wave.

“Just… enjoy the moment.” Sam breathed. Nathan couldn’t argue with that and fell silent and the two brothers looked out over their find again for a few moments, waiting for Sam to start the conversation back up again once he was satiated.

“So where do you wanna start?” The older Drake mused, itching the side of his nose with his middle finger again.

“With us taking a break like you said.” Nathan replied fluidly, turning to look at Sam with a steady gaze. “We found Libertalia, time to take a break so you don’t pass out on me.” Sam scoffed.

“You’re STILL on board with that?” He asked. Nathan nodded.

“Yeah? You still need to ease up, just for a couple hours.” Nathan insisted. “We can make you a nice little bed of leaves and centuries-old hay,” He added jokingly. Sam curled his lip but didn’t reply immediately and Nathan knew he was probably mentally counting to ten at this point – they were there but Nathan had the feeling that Sam would hope he forgot their original deal. Sam sniffed and rubbed his eyes with a hand before sighing and throwing his arms up in defeat.

“Fine. ONE more pit stop, then we go on regardless.” Nathan could hear the frustration in his thick voice but this counted as a victory for him.

“Regardless of what? Whether or not you get caught up by more spores?” Sam pointed at his brother threateningly though Nathan knew better.

“You say anything about spores again and I'll  push YOU off a cliff.” Nathan laughed and took a step back.

“Okay, okay, easy. Won’t say anything else about that, cross my heart.” Sam sniffed.

“Good.” He snarled and jumped off the platform they were standing on. Nathan’s smile faltered as he followed suit.

“Sheesh, you’re grumpy.” He remarked though he realized he probably didn’t help with the sarcasm upon finding Libertalia; Sam could be vitriolic at the best of times and he knew it was a strain on his older brother flopping from emotion to emotion while fevered and running on empty.

“Hell yeah, I’m grumpy,” Sam retorted as he begrudgingly walked over to a broken-down cart and sitting down with a huff, crossing his arms. “We just found a long-lost civilization and you’re telling me to take a nap like a kid.”

“I didn’t say anything about ‘taking a nap’,” Nathan replied casually, going over and sitting next to his brother gently. “I JUST want you to take it easy for a few hours; get your strength back.” He felt like that’s the fourteenth time in the past 24 hours he’d said something along those lines. “C’mon. For me?” Sam coughed, glaring at his little brother briefly before rolling his eyes and leaning back on the cart, putting his hands behind his head again. Nathan knew his head was buzzing but this would be good for him.

“I’m not falling asleep,” Sam announced, closing his eyes with a frown. Nathan chuckled quietly.

“Right. Of course not. I’ll stay right here so I don’t discover anything without you,” He assured.

“Good.” Sam huffed. “You wouldn’t hear… the—“ Sam’s sentence fell apart again, taking in a sharp breath before lurching forward into his hands. “Hz’ESHKchz!” He sniffed and coughed as a finisher to whatever sentence he was about to say. “…Never mind.” He grunted, leaning back again in the position he was in.

“God bless you.”

“He already has; I get to relax in Libertalia.” He cracked a small smile, closing his eyes again as Nathan noted him turning this situation into a good one. “Lemme know when I can get up?”

“Can do.”

“Thanks, mom.” Nathan rolled his eyes at his brother’s sarcasm and he got out his journal, absently starting to draw what he saw. Before long, Sam started snoring like a freight train and an upward twitch tugged at the corner of Nathan’s mouth.

“Join me in Paradise.”

Edited May 28, 2016 by Red Ring of Death

[mariaib]

*endless screaming * I LITERALLY JUST FINISHED WATCHING THE GAME FOUND THIS!I'M SO HAPPY!ARE YOU SOME KIND OF MIND READER??what can i say about it! Its just so good in every way!

[Maja]

This was amazing!!!! I loved it could you please make one for Rafe? 

[ICan'tThinkOfAnything]

I will admit, Red, that since you've posted this last chapter, I've reread it many times, as I often do with stories that I love. And every time I do, I find something new to fall in love with about it, same with the other two chapters. This fic was truly a work of art, and I'm thankful that you shared it with us and put the time into writing it. Your style is utterly amazing, and the pace at which you write is incredible. Wonderful job, Red. I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future, should you choose to post more.

[Red Ring of Death]

@All - Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read this! I apologise that it's so short but I'm really glad that anyone else got enjoyment out of this piece - I had a blast writing it (and it's good to see a small but thriving Uncharted 4 community in the works! :D)

@mariaib - Yeahhh well what can I say. I'm a genius. Orrrr something like that. Let's just go with that for now. ICan'tThinkofAnything actually kick-started the passion for me since it was their idea to post Uncharted 4 stuff. Hooray!

@Maja - I'm really glad you liked it! I'm seeing an influx of Rafe coming soon from multiple ports - should be exciting~

@ICan'tThinkOfAnything - I wish I could emphasize how sincere and thankful I am for your replies to my story. I also wanted to extend my thanks for your original request thread - I was thinking of posting but I honestly wasn't sure if anyone else would read it so when you posted your original thread, my heart jumped into my throat: other fans! People to talk to! -gasp- Other Uncharted 4 stories! ANYWAY, all my mushy crap out of the way... Just... thanks a lot, man. It really means a lot to me