North || Nathan Drake

13

"This almost brings a tear to my eye", Jo smiled as Dante stopped pleading for a miracle. His father was limp in his hands and the blood was spreading around his legs in a dark red puddle. It sunk into his legs where he knelt and it splattered across his face like paint. His father was dead and the sobs shaking his frame were silent. He had never imagined his father blind before but it had happened anyway. Both of his parent's lost to pursuits of treasure and if Dante didn't do something, then he might be dead soon too. 

He glanced up through red rimmed eyes, tears making tracks through the blood on his face, to stare blankly up at Jo as if in shock. He was in shock, but the sudden fear and realisation that he was trapped on a plane with his father's murderer and her men kept it from overwhelming him. Jo smiled sweetly at him and reached down to title his face up, one finger under his chin. "You know what North? I like you like this. I should just put you out of your misery. Then I shall", she trailed off as she glanced to where Chloe had been. "Where's Frazer? Find her!" The men in the room hurriedly got up and ran out the doors. "You stay there", she cooed at him as she turned to leave. "I'll be back for you soon North". 

As soon as she was out of the door, Dante was getting to his feet. The blood was drying and it was sticky on his face, the liquid heavy where it created the bottom hall of his trousers. It was slippery under his boots as he stepped over his father's body. "I'm sorry dad", he muttered as he bent down to gently close his father's eyes. If he could he would have made his father comfortable, he wouldn't have left him there like that. But he couldn't and Jo could return any minute. He grabbed the map and slid it back into it's container, twisting the cap shut as he inspected it. Chloe hadn't skimped when it came to storage tubes, this one was waterproof. He slid it over his shoulder just as the door opened. 

Dante whirled around, breath in his mouth as two people entered. He relaxed at the sight of them. "Nate", he croaked as he and Sully entered the room. 

"Good job Jo", Sully muttered at the sight of the murder scene. Tone full of disapproval and scorn. 

"Oh shit", Nate jumped as he caught sight of the body. Then he was looking up and eyes widening at the sight of Dante covered in blood. "Dante. Oh god. I am so sorry". 

Dante rubbed the tears from his eyes, smearing blood across his cheeks in the process. "It's hard to find a good partner in this game", he tried for a smile but the shock and grief in his eyes made it crack. He didn't know quite what to do with himself. 

"North, hey", Sully's tone was uncharacteristically soft. "Let's get out of here". He reached over the body and took Dante's arm, pulling him closer. The curly haired man stepped shakily down the steps and Nate was there to grab his shoulders when he stumbled. The younger man took the map and slid it over his own shoulders. 

"Dante, come on. Let's go", he murmured gently as the three men headed for the doors back into the cargo hold. Dante blinked and tried to pay attention but his brain felt slightly too slow, off kilter and sluggish. It was shock, he knew. His body and mind trying to process the trauma of watching his father be murdered in front of him. 

"This way", Nate hissed as he pulled Dante around a crate. Ahead of them, by the open ramp stood Jo and her men. They were just turning back around and would have caught sight of them if Nate hadn't pulled him out of the way. 

Dante mentally shook himself, listening to the footsteps on the metal and the whistling wind from the ramp open to the sky. He glanced up as Sully reached the wall with the parachutes, catching sight of Jo as she paced by the ramp. The sight filled him with incredible anger. She had robbed him of the last person in his family. She had made him officially an orphan and was pleased about it. He didn't know what was on his face but Sully had caught sight of it. "Hey", he whispered to them. "North, Nate, Don't even think about it". 

"She killed my father", Dante shot back. 

"This is not the time or place to be picking a fight". 

"You have the map. Why do you care?" Dante snarled at him. 

"I'm trying to protect you. Nate, grab him! Let's go". Sully grabbed a parachute and began to strap it on. Nate grabbed Dante around the waist and pulled him closer towards where Sully was standing. Just as the brown haired boy reached for pack, Dante ripped free and stepped out between the crates. 

"Hey!" He called as the wind whipped around him. Jo turned. "You killed my father". Immediately the men all turned and raised their guns. 

"Nate! North! Come on!" Sully shouted as he pulled his parachute. Dante glanced over to see the man disappear just as Nate ran out and grabbed him, throwing them down as gunshots blasted. 

"The cargo release!" Nate called as Dante sat up. He didn't think, reaching out and grabbing the top to release the parachute for the cargo. He yanked hard as Nate pressed him to the floor again, narrowly avoiding more bullets. The parachute bloomed and the first crate was yanked into the air. Dante gasped as Nate rolled them under the second crate as it bounced up, pulled by the connecting straps, and out off the plane. 

"Up up up". Dante blinked as Nate pulled him to his feet and out of the way of the third crate. 

The boy turning them and moving with surprising reflexes. A man fired at them and Dante pulled Nate to the side only for him to stop. They looked down. A strap had caught on Nate's ankle. The boy only had time to gasp as it went tight. "Dante!" Then he was being ripped from Dante's hold as the crate was yanked out into the air. 

"Shit!" Dante yelped as he avoided another bullet. He ducked behind a crate and grimaced. His head was clearer now and he didn't want to die. A crate hit the emergency doors as it went out and the air pressure doubled. The wind whistling in their ears as Dante was forced to grab the nearest thing to anchor himself against the wind. It happened to be the straps of the crate he was hiding behind. He only got a brief second before he was being tugged into the air. The crates all dangling from the plane like the tail of a kite. Below him, the islands seemed small and the sea was blue. The wind whipping at his hair and his clothes.

"I fucking hate cargo planes!" He screamed he hung on for dear life. 

"Dante!" He glanced back over his shoulder just in time to see Nate leaping at his crate. Dante let one hand go and held it out, latching on just in time. The other boy's hand gripping his wrist as he pulled himself closer and latched onto the crate. 

"Do you think we can make it to the plane?" Nate screamed at him over the wind. 

Dante shook his head and gaped as Nate tried it anyway. The man vaulting up and just landing on the ramp. Then the strap snapped and the crates were free falling, taking Dante along with them. He screamed as for a few seconds he was spinning dizzyingly head over heels in the air. The wind tugging at him as he hung on. He cursed, shuddering as he tried to reach for the dangling cord of the parachute strapped to the crate. 

A red Ferrari sailed past and it made him blink for a second. "Dante!" He heard the shout and reached out just as Nate collided heavily with the side of the box, hands scrabbling at the straps. He would have bounced off if Dante hadn't grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. Nate yanked the cord for the parachute and the two of them groaned as it slowed their fall. "Dante", Nate gasped as he pulled the darker haired boy onto the top of the box. "Hold on!" They wrapped their hands in the straps, lying their bodies flat against the top of the box as the water rapidly approached. 

Dante got a view of sky, a second crate in the distance with it's parachute deployed, and the plane disappearing into the distance. Then the sea was swallowing them up in a cold wave of bubbles and he blacked out. 

unedited

As welcoming to the Philippines go, that's not the best. 

My mum's family is filipino. I can't wait to go there. Hi to any other filipinos.