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enigmatist17 · 4 years

Text

Pen to Paper (Uncharted)

I need to stress how much a good big brother Sam is.

Pls NaughtyDog

More Sam and Nate pls

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Nathan had started drawing young. Even as a young child the art fascinated him, clumsy fingers wrapping around crayons and pencils. Various books throughout the Morgan household, as well as walls and curtains within reach. Sure, being yelled at by a father that was hardly around wasn’t fun, but Nathan just wanted to share his art with everyone. The child was beyond ecstatic when his brother came home with a notebook one day, happily handing it to Nathan.

“You practice in that, ‘kay? This way, you can keep ‘em forever.” Nathan had nodded, giving Sam a tight hug before going to cover the blank and waiting pages. The notebook had been the first of a small set before their world came crashing to a halt. The loss of Cassandra had been hard on the household, a stoic father ordering the boys to prepare to be taken to an orphanage. Nathan had protested, Sam quietly gathering up keepsakes as child yelled at father. Sam wasn’t sure where the idea came from, but after locking up their keepsakes in a forgotten chest, he spent the better part of an hour burying them in a deep section of the garden. It was a sturdy chest, remaining hidden for dozens of years in its hiding spot. Family after family moved in and out of the house the Drake brothers had called home over the years, and still the chest remained.

The current family received a visit one day, a man answering the door with twin girls peeking from behind his legs. A man was standing on the porch, in his late-forties and quickly stubbing out a cigarette with an apologetic smile. He introduced himself as the brother to Nathan Drake, being invited inside after explaining it had once been his home. Sam spent the day reminiscing, the little girls warming up to him as their parents asked him curious questions. The mother and father helped Sam, later that evening after insisting he stayed for dinner, dig up the chest he sought. It had weathered in the soil, the lock falling off with a simple strike of Sam’s shovel. Doing a minimal cleaning of the outside, they helped load the chest into the back of Sam’s truck.

“Thanks for this, I’ve been meaning ta come an’ visit.” Sam glanced back at the house, a pensive look on his face.

“Well, you and your brother are always welcomed back.” The mother gave him a small hug, nearly throwing Sam off. She hugged him as Cassandra did, Sam certainly not wiping away a tear as he drove off. For a good week, the trunk sat in his car, carefully covered by a tarp as Sam kept wavering back and forth. Sometimes he would grip the handle, ready to pull it up and open, but every time something would stop him. He awoke one night, mind made up as he grabbed his phone with a slight curse. Sully to his credit didn’t ask much, just cursing the dirt that stained his newest shirt, Sam just grinning when he offered a bill. The flight to Hawaii was surprisingly calm, the two chuckling when little Cassie saw them from the beach. The little girl jumped up and down, Elena keeping up behind her as the girl ran for Sully’s dock.

“Hey, there sweetheart!” Seeing the bright-eyed blonde always lifted his and Sully’s mood, the pilot scooping her up as Sam watched from afar.

“I didn’t know you were coming!” Cassie gave them a bright smile, hugging onto Sully tight.

“Yep, this is a surprise visit.” Sam grinned, finally walking over and ruffling her hair. The girl laughed, swatting away his hand as Elena finally joined them. “Hey Elena, how’ve ya been?”

“Pretty good, all things considering. I thought you were taking it easy for a while?” Sam shrugged, watching as Sully wandered off with his niece.

“Hey, is Nate around?” Elena nodded, pointing towards the secondary building that doubled as her and Nathan’s office. “Warning, he’s deep in research...again.”

“Then I taught him right.” Sam chuckled, looking back at the plane. “Can I borrow ya for a second?”

“Sure.” It didn’t take much effort for the two to lift a trunk from the back of Sully’s plane, carrying it up to the office as they chatted amicably. Nathan was startled from his work when something was placed on his desk with a loud thud.

“Hey, what gives! I was...Sam?” The way Nathan would brighten at seeing his older brother never got tiring for Sam.

“That’s my name.” He laughed, leaning against the desk as Nathan moved to hug his brother. The smile vanished when he saw the object on his desk, looking at Sam with slightly wide eyes.

“Is that…?” Sam nodded, resting a hand on top. “I finally got around to getting it.” Nathan gave out a shocked laugh, circling the chest before looking up at Sam.

“I...have you opened it?” Sam shook his head, stepping back.

“Nope, all yours little brother.” Nathan stared at him, the two sharing a conversation in a glance before looking at the chest. Placing both hands on the lid, the younger Drake pulled the lid up with surprising ease. A trash bag was the first thing he saw, covered in dirt and some leftover moisture. It all but fell apart with a simple tug, the bits of weathered plastic gathering on the ground around the desk.

The top of a white box met his eyes, the lid carefully removed to reveal its contents. The first thing he saw was a small wooden carving, a figure from one of their mothers’ past digs. Slightly trembling hands lifted the figure, remembering how Cassandra had treasured it and how she had taught the tale to her sons late at night. Nathan stood staring at it, Sam reaching forward to grasp the next piece he had scuttled away years ago. It was a heavy disk, inset with numerous runes of some forgotten people. Nathan had found it on the last dig their mother was able to go on, Sam smuggling it out of the sight.

“You found your first treasure Nate!” Nathan had often wondered if the small act had been the reason he sought out small and forgotten treasures over the years. Currently locked away from Cassie, many of those lay in its cabinet, awaiting the day he and Elena would explain all. The disk, made of steel, sat heavy in Sam’s hands, the elder brother smiling as he gave it a close inspection.

“I remember when you found this...man that seems like a lifetime ago.” Sam chuckled, setting it down as Nathan lay the figure beside it.

“I just remember how mom almost caught you.” Sam rolled his eyes as Nathan snickered, pulling up a small cloth bag. “Holy crap...I thought I had lost these…”

“Go on, see if they still move.” Nathan carefully opened the bag, five small stone-like objects falling into the palm of his hand. At first, they just glittered in the sunlight from outside, making Nathan pout a little. About to set them down, Nathan grinned when the stones began to rattle, a glow emanating from the center of each one. In front of their eyes, each stone took the form of some variant of ancient dragons, their bodies rattling as they stretched and took in the room. Elena watched with wide eyes as the creatures seemed to recognize the brothers, Sam laughing as two jumped onto his outstretched hand. For a few minutes, the brothers let them do as they pleased, Sam eventually reaching into the chest again. He re-emerged with some sort of helmet, Nathan looking surprised as he reached out to touch it.

“You stole that from his collection?” Sam nodded, setting it right on Nathan’s head.

“Reminds me of that lady’s house, when you kept that samurai helmet on.” Nathan gave a shrug, reaching up to rub the side of the helmet. His mood seemed to be shifting, taking on a slightly sorrowful look as Sam dug around some more. A shawl was handled like it was made of glass, two of the little dragons nesting on top. The elder paused at the sight of neatly stacked books, the faint stench of mildew rising up when one by one they were pulled out. Some were white journals, the two silent as they were carefully stacked aside. Others were leather-bound books, sixteen-century Spanish inscribed on the sides among varying other old languages. Whatever Sam seemed to be looking for appeared to be on the very bottom, six books pulled out and sat beside the white journals.

“Oh my god...you saved them?” Nathan sounded touched, eyeing the stack as Elena slowly entered the room.

“What are they?”

“These are the sketchbooks of Nathan Drake, circa ages four to about ten.” Sam announced proudly, holding one out to his sister-in-law. Elena took it with a bit of a smile, opening it halfway through. A drawing of some sort of church met her, looking surprisingly detailed despite the smudge here and there. Notes were scrawled in the corner and ledger, something that Nathan still did to this day.

“This is amazing for someone that young.” She flashed her husband, who looked fairly uncomfortable, a smile.

“Nate’s always been good at drawin’, ever since I can remember.” Sam boasted, clearly proud of his brother. Elena chuckled as she flipped through the pages, the brothers beginning to talk about past experiences.

Elena had never pried into Nathan’s, then later Sam’s, past life. Sure, she had been skeptical of his claim as the unknown heir to Sir Francis Drake, who wouldn’t be? Whatever they did to start over had been top-notch, Elena’s contacts coming up only that they had begun their lives at the age of 13 and 18 respectively. To see Property of Nathan Morgan scrawled on the cover was fairly jarring to say the least, Elena taking a closer look.

Fisher-Drake suited her just fine if she was honest. Looking up, Elena smiled at the sight of her boys animatedly chatting about some theft, one stone dragon nestled up in Nathan’s hair while another rested upon Sam’s cigarette case.

Questions could come another time, for now two brothers laughed over artifacts spilled before them.

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