Lara heads into town

There really wasn't much of a choice as far as Lara was concerned. While she could follow the road in either direction in the hopes of encountering another town, there was no telling how far she'd have to travel to get there, and her supply of food consisted of a couple of energy bars tucked into her backpack. The best solution then, it appeared to her, was to head into the village and try to discern where it was that she'd ended up. How she got there and how she'd get back were most probably questions that would have to wait.

First things first, Lara removed her backpack again and pulled out the black rain poncho that she carried with her. Not only would it hopefully stand out less than her top and shorts, but it would also conceal her guns.

Satisfied that she'd made herself as inconspicuous as she could with what she had to work with, Lara set off for the road. There weren't anyone else moving on it, she noticed as she moved across the open ground that eventually turned into fields of crops through, which Lara threaded carefully. The last thing she needed was some farmer angry at her for damaging his crops. Judging from the slowly fading light, it was evening, although Lara knew enough to know that that depended on things like latitude and longitude: if she was either far north or far south, then summer meant that it could be getting close to midnight and still be light outside.

Once Lara got into town, she noted that what few people were moving about out in the streets did look at her quite a bit, but no one challenged her and no guards appeared to accost her. Nor was everyone walking around armed.

After everything she'd experienced since picking up tomb raiding as a profession, Lara was savvy enough to know that there was one obvious type of place in which to start if she wanted information about where she was, not to mention get a glimpse of what it was like as a society, and that was the nearest bar. Soon spotting a two-storey building with a simple sign reading 'Tavern' and deciding that that was close enough to a bar to fit the bill, Lara headed over to it and stepped inside.
Well, she'd certainly seen a lot worse than this, Lara thought as she gave the inside of the tavern a quick look-over. It was a little bit too rowdy to be considered cosy, but with the possible exception of one small group seated by one of the dozen or so tables booths, the customers didn't appear to be either blind drunk or spoiling for a fight. Instead, most of them looked content to enjoy their drinks in the relative peace and quiet of the crowded bar. As for the décor, there was a lot of naked wood and sturdy-looking furniture, most of which looked too heavy to be of any use as improvised weapons in a bar brawl. Generally, the place had the air of a good but unpretentious English pub, only less high-tech, what with the light being provided by a few oil lamps here and there and the window shutters being left open.

Turning her attention towards the counter, Lara was greeted by a friendly smile from the man standing behind it, who had the open and relaxed expression of a prototypical good barman even as he turned his attention back towards the group responsible for most of the noise. As for the rest of him, the first thing Lara noticed was that there seemed to be an awful lot of it, as not only was he tall, but also equipped with a fairly massive frame, the most prominent features of which were his broad shoulders and protruding barrel chest. All in all, he looked like it would take one of those mammoths to knock him over.

Doubting that she had any currency on her that would be viable in this place, and deeply unwilling to trade any of the possessions she was carrying for a pint and some information, Lara made her mind up as she moved towards the only unoccupied table – which of course was the one closest to the three drunken, loud-mouthed idiots – that she'd tried to soak in as much as possible before trying to pump whoever came to take her order for whatever information she could get, and then leave.

“Come on, faggot!” The first idiot said to the second, who was busy downing a big tankard of ale.

“Yeah, faggot,” the third chimed in, apparently also playing the role of a moronic cheerleader for the second, “Don't be a faggot, faggot!”

Trying not to laugh or do anything else to get their attention, Lara scrutinized the trio. Apart from being drunk, stupid and homophobic, they were also young and clad in garish clothing, so wherever she was, there were still people around with more money than brains.

“Go on, Jememy! Finish it!” The first moron urged the second one on as a few drops of beer went running down his cheek and throat to stain the puffy purple shirt – with gold thread details – that he had on.

Rolling her eyes and trying to shut her left ear to block the three youngsters out, Lara took another look-round at the tavern's main room, and did so just in time to spot a figure appear through the doorway on one end of the counter. Tall, statuesque, dark-skinned and utterly gorgeous, the woman that now stepped into the room prompted Lara to make a sharp intake of air. While Lara's physique was toned, the woman's was downright muscular, with the hard thickness of her arms accentuated slightly by the tray loaded down with tankards of ale and plates of food that she was carrying and her shoulders looking strong and powerful as her curly, black hair fell upon them before continuing down her back. Her belly too looked like it was firm and hard and powerful, although only the lower half of it was showing, the upper one instead concealed by the low-cut, gold and white corset that the woman was wearing, and which pushed her huge, round tits together to form a deep, extremely narrow valley between them as the pair of orbs looked set to explode out over the plunging neckline of the corset.

With the muscles of her long legs flexing as she strode gracefully out from behind the counter, the black beauty's thick thighs weren't covered in the slightest by the extremely short and very tight-looking white shorts that she had on, and due to the noise-level in the room dropping off sharply in the immediate wake of her appearance, Lara could hear the clicking of her heels against the floor, at least until the muppet gulping down ale slammed the now empty tankard table and let out a slurred “Yeah!” before drawing chuckles from his mate by belching loudly.

While the general talking started up again, the relatively short period that the patrons awed reaction to the woman had lasted suggesting that most of them were accustomed to seeing her, Lara kept her gaze on the woman, and so noticed the warm smile that she shot the barman, and which was returned in full. It was the sort of silent exchange common amongst lovers, and left Lara hoping for their sake that their bed was as sturdily built as everything else in there. Although truth be told, if those two got it on, odds were they'd be able to destroy less well-constructed buildings.

Despite first and foremost being interested in men, Lara found herself observing the other woman as she made the rounds, smiling at whomever she was serving at the moment and no doubt making sure to exchange a few quick pleasantries before moving on, until the tray was empty and fixed between the index and middle fingers of her left hand as she made her way towards Lara.

“What can I get you, miss?” The woman asked Lara, with a voice that was husky and smooth, as she stood towering over her, although far enough away that Lara didn't have to lean back in her chair in order to look up at her face.

“Bring me a beer, bitch!” One of the idiots shouted out, and smacked the woman on the ass. At once, her friendly smile was replaced by an angry snarl.

“Kid, it's probably best if you got out of here as quickly as possible,” In the sudden silence that had descended, the loud, resonant voice of the barman, whose friendly expression remained even as Lara saw that his hands were now underneath the counter, boomed across the room, “I suggest you run.”

“Stay out of this, faggot!” The idiot shouted back, and rose to his feet. Most of the patrons weren't armed, but of course he had to have a big sword slung to his belt, along with a dagger.

“What did you call him?” The woman's voice was now cold enough that it should have been carried forth on a cloud of frost.

“I called him a faggot, bitch,” the idiot replied, and looked quite smug at the incredible level of wittiness that he'd managed to reach.

“Drunk and stupid or not, you don't talk to him like that,” Suddenly, the woman seemed even bigger, “Walk out of here, now. Or I'm going to kick your ass.”

“Lady, it's your lucky day,” the first idiot smirked as his two friends tried getting up on their feet as well. A few more tries, and they might even succeed, Lara thought. “'Cus I'm a gentleman, and I don't fight women. Even if they're as freakish as...”

There was a loud, metallic “CLANG!” akin to someone striking a church bell with a sledgehammer, and suddenly the tray had a several inches deep indenture in it that matched perfectly the right side of the idiot's face, while he was thrown sideways by the impact to crash onto the floor with all the grace of a sack of potatoes.

“Bitch!” The second idiot shot up to his feet and lunged after the woman, while the barman rushed out from behind the counter. Just as gracefully as she'd carried herself earlier, the woman slipped out of his way, spun round when he was past her, and grabbed hold of his collar, making his expensive and showy jacket tear at the seams as she yanked him back towards him before smacking her hands into his ears.

While the second man was stumbling forwards and clutching his ears in the pain, the third had gotten up and grabbed the empty tankard of ale. Seeing that he was intending to hit the woman with it, and estimating that he was at least a little more sober than his mates, Lara stepped in by getting to her feet and delivering a roundhouse kick to his back. However, the woman had sensed him coming up behind her, and so at the same time as Lara's foot struck the small of his back, she drove her elbow into his nose. For a second, the man was caught like that, his head pushed back by the woman's elbow blow and his lower abdomen pressed forwards by the **** of Lara's kick, and then he too slumped to the floor.

“You bitch!” Idiot number two had managed to turn round to face the right way, and the air of incompetence that he projected was somewhat neutralized by the sword that he was now holding.

“You really need to stop calling her that,” A voice boomed out from directly behind him, loud enough to be heard over the ringing in his ears.

“Huh?” The idiot turned his head to look over his shoulder, and got punched in the jaw so hard that it sent him spinning sideways through the air before he ended up on the floor. At least he was still alive, as evidenced by the faint “Glurg...” that he groaned out.

“You okay, honey?” The barman asked the woman as their foes laid vanquished between them. At the same time, he dropped the heavy-looking cudgel that he'd picked up along the way onto the nearest table, while the a polite round of applause broke out amongst the remaining patrons.

“Sure thing, baby,” the woman smiled back at him, then aimed her smile at Lara, who had adjusted her rain poncho again.
“Good,” Slinging idiot number two over his shoulder, the barman then grabbed idiots one and three by their necks, “I'll go down to the through and wash these boys mouths out with soap.”

“I'll make sure that the place is still here when you get back,” the woman replied, and watched her man walk off with the trio in tow.

“Fa-fa-fag...” Lara heard the first idiot try to say as he was carried off.

“Son, you'd better shut up if you don't want me to drag you by the ankle instead,” The barman sounded almost jovial as he cut him off cold.

“Thanks for helping out,” the woman said to Lara after they'd finished watching the barman leave.

“It was nothing.” Lara replied, and felt that it was a pretty accurate statement. Even without her interference, the fight would still have been just as one-sided.

“Nah, it was something alright,” the woman insisted, and didn't appear willing to debate the matter, “You're drinking on the house tonight.”

“Thanks.”

“It's the least we can do,” the woman's smile returned in full ****, and her white teeth contrasted beautifully with her dark brown skin, “I'm Andrea, by the way.”

“Lara,” Lara too was smiling.

“Alright Lara, have a seat and I'll bring you a beer.” Offering Lara another friendly smile and a soft nod of her head, Andrea bent down to retrieve the badly battered tray from the floor, and consequently made Lara stop dead halfway down into her seat again to marvel at the other woman's big, firm, heart-shaped ass flaring out from underneath her waist.

Getting up and smiling at Lara as if to say that she knew what she'd been looking at just then, Andrea headed back to the counter.