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The day had started out foggy, a layer of heavy humidity hanging over their campground when Prompto and Noctis had managed to slide out of their poorly-propped tent. It was hard to set up camp without Gladio, but they’d been too far out to make it to a camper or hotel before nightfall. They’d stumbled across a haven by pure luck, and clumsily put up the tent. It made them realize how much Gladio was there to help them with it, and how little they knew how to do on their own without his guidance.
Their morning was a kind of silent they’d become used to without Gladio to make the usual morning jokes or chide their late-rising; muted, but bearable. After the stunted breakfast Ignis had whipped up with their dwindling supplies, they’d packed up the Regalia and headed towards their next objective. It wasn’t too far a drive, about halfway between Galdin Quay and the outpost near Hammerhead. Something easy, as they were down on both numbers and supplies.
Prompto leaned his arm on the open window, resting his head in his hand as he watched the scenery pass by. The fog had cleared as they put distance between themselves and the sea, leaving an expanse of hard brown and dusty yellow under a beating sun.
“Not going to take any pictures of our sleeping friend?” Ignis’s voice startled Prompto out of his staring, making the blond lift his head as he turned to look at him. Ignis cocked a brow without looking at him, jutting his chin at the rearview mirror. Prompto furrowed his brow and turned back to see Noctis stretched out in the now spacious backseat, eyes hidden under his arm as the other rested on his stomach, one leg hanging off the seats while the other was bent at 90 degrees and tucked under it. A position that Prompto couldn’t understand would be comfortable, but then again, he’d personally witnessed Noctis sleep through a car wreck, so he wasn’t surprised. “Usually, you would be quite ecstatic to find such an embarrassing photo op of the prince,” Ignis continued.
Prompto turned back in his seat, smiling dryly, “Yeah, I bet Gladdy would get mad when I showed him.” There was something off in his voice, though.
Something Ignis easily caught, ever the observant one, “Something on your mind?”
“Ah, no- I mean, yeah, but like... it’s not a big deal.” Prompto stumbled over his words trying to cover himself, but he’d always been the most open-faced of all of them. He sighed when Ignis gave him an unconvinced glance when he slowed down to turn. “It just looks so empty back there. Even with Noct stretched out like that, it’s like he’s trying to fill the void rather than taking advantage of the free space.”
“You miss him,” Ignis summarized, to which Prompto nodded. “I understand. We’ve been together through so much, that now that he’s gone, it’s like a piece of us has been stripped away.” He managed to reach over with one hand and give Prom’s leg a couple of reassuring pats before returning it to the wheel. “Not to worry, though. He’ll be back before Noct gets used to all that free space.”
Prompto chuckled a bit, a little lighter, “Heh, you’re right. Then he’ll be whining about the lack of leg room even more.”
“I heard that.” Prompto turned back again to see Noct had moved his hand from his eyes enough to glare at him, which made Prompto grin.
“Aw, you’re just mad ‘cause you know I’m right.”
Noctis scoffed, returning his arm to where it was, “As if.”
When they finally made it to as far as the road would take them, Ignis pulled over and set the car in park. Their mark was about half a mile off road, past a small thicket of shrubbery and boulders. The area had been marked on their map, and they made their way there quickly. It was midday, the sun high in the sky and raining harsh sunlight over the dry ground spotted with grass. They could see the thicket up ahead, and when they heard growling, they slowed their pace and quieted their footsteps with practiced ease.
There was a behemoth that had found its way east and taken over some of the voretooth hunting grounds, disrupting the food chain of the nearby fauna as it devoured Spiracorn foals and Anak calves. It was wreaking havoc on the environment in its quest to fulfill its appetite, and it was the target of their hunt.
“We’re nearing our query, and from what I can see from here, it’s far smaller than any behemoth we’ve encountered yet,” Ignis briefed them, curling around a short tree to get a better look at the beast. “Though I don’t understand why it would rank so high on the request- Ah, I see.”
“What is it?” Noct asked, sliding a knee forward to come beside him and lean around his shoulder.
“There’s two of them,” the taller male replied, and sure enough, a second behemoth made itself visible.
“Two? But I thought there was only one!” Prompto gasped softly, blanching. “That’s it - we’re dead. We’re going to die.”
“Now is not the time for dramatics,” Ignis hushed quietly.
Noctis rolled his eyes at his friend and gave him a light shove, “Yeah, c’mon, quit bein such a whiner. We’ve faced worse before.”
Prompto threw his head back with a sigh, “Ugh, you’re right, but I still got a bad feeling about this.”
“You always have a bad feeling, Prom.”
The blond huffed, “And it’s usually right, you know! Remember the naga?” He shuddered as he remembered, and Noctis couldn’t blame him.
“Yes, well, for now, focus on trying not to get killed while taking out our targets,” Ignis said, and his words seem to put a stop sign up for argument. He then turned to Noctis, “Prompto and I will stay here and create a diversion from a distance. Noct, you circle around the other side. While the creatures are distracted by us, take out their limbs before they have a chance to counterattack.”
“Gotcha,” the dark-haired male replied, nodding once.
“Alright, good plan. We got this,” Prompto said, grinning.
Noct scoffed, “What happened to ‘we’re going to die’?”
“That statement still stands, but at least we’ll go down swinging.” He made finger guns at the other and winked, to which Noctis only rolled his eyes and quietly crawled off, making his way to the opposing side.
They waited until they saw Noctis’s shadow slip into position, and then Ignis motioned for Prompto to begin their assault. He stood and threw a Thunder spell Noctis had given him earlier, causing the area the two beasts were in to light up with electricity. Their roaring drowned out the sounds of Prompto’s shooting, but all his shots found their marks, and the larger of the two behemoths stumbled as a succession of bullets found their way into its shoulder.
Something was off, though.
Only one of the behemoths seemed affected by the spell and Prompto’s attack, snarling as it reared on them. The other one, however, had apparently been out of range of the spell and while it was angry at the surprise attack, its focus was not on them. It was on Noctis, who had been snuffed out of his hiding spot too soon. The prince clicked his tongue in frustration as he shuffled backwards, rolling low to the left to avoid the swipe of a massive paw.
“Noct!” Prompto shouted, moving to turn one of his guns towards the other behemoth. But the one he’d been firing at didn’t seem to want them to interfere with its partner’s new prey, and put itself between them, growling fiercely.
“Damn!” Ignis bit under his breath, before turning to Prompto. “Keep it busy while I ready another spell. We’ll have to take it down before we can help Noctis.”
“Ugh, this bombs!” Prompto huffed before resuming fire on the other behemoth. It roared in pain before turning itself fully towards them and charging. “Shit!” Prompto said, eyes widening in fear. Ignis wrapped an arm around his waist as he rolled to side, pulling them both out of the way before the beast barrelled past them.
“Stay focused!” Ignis shouted before turning around, standing as he did so and pulling out another spell. “Jump after I throw it or we’ll be within range!”
“Aye aye, cap’n!” Prompto yelped, scrambling to get up as Ignis threw the spell directly under the beast’s feet. It exploded, releasing another surge of intense, electrical energy that Prompto made it away from, but a bolt caught one of Ignis’s legs. It ripped through his pants and seared a burn over skin, making him hiss under his breath, though it wasn’t too bad.
“Now, Prompto! It’s weakened! Finish it off!”
“You got it, chef!” The blond resummoned his guns and quickly aimed a flurry of shots at the screaming beast’s head. The roar it gave out became something of a gargle as its legs buckled under it, and it toppled over.
“Whoo-hoo!” Prompto cheered, spinning his guns by the trigger guards. “Nailed it!”
“Not quite yet,” Ignis reminded him, turning to where Noctis was still on the defensive with the other behemoth. It had pushed him back further, away from his friends, and he continuously rolled out of the way in the open field with nowhere to warp to or take cover behind.
“Damn!” Prompto said, his face twisting in horrified realization. “He’s so far away!”
“I know, but we have to help him,” Ignis assured, forcing himself to stand, even as hot pain shot up his leg and down into his foot.
Prompto noticed when Ignis staggered, moving to brace him with a hand on both his front and back, “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine, it was my own fault. Noct needs-” His reply was cut off as they heard a scream from where their friend was fighting, and both turned just in time to see the massive behemoth dig its long claws into Noctis’s back and toss him across the open field. The dark-haired male bounced and rolled for an impressive distance before sagging to a stop. He lay unmoving, which was more concerning than anything, and had the other two screaming his name as they rushed over, Ignis’s injury forgotten.
Prompto immediately started shooting at the beast, trying desperately to draw its attention as Ignis ducked under his stream of bullets and threw his last Thunder spell at the creature. It wailed as lightning coursed through its body and blackened its flesh, legs collapsing under it. Noctis had apparently weakened it considerably before it had caught him, so it was dead before the spell had fully dissipated. Ignis sprinted over to the fallen prince, Prompto hot on his heels. He knelt beside him as Prompto slid to his knees on the other side, hand hesitating just a fraction when he saw the blood staining a huge swath of his jacket, the thick leather and thin fabric of his shirt shredded to reveal a series of gouges in his back.
“No… No, he… he c-can’t be dead,” Prompto whispered, as if afraid that speaking too loudly would make his words true.
“Nonsense,” Ignis spat softly, leaning over to get a look at Noctis’s dirtied face. He gave his cheek a few paps, first soft, then a little harder to try and waken him. “Noct. Noct, wake up. Open your eyes.” They both sighed in relief when the other moaned, eyelids fluttering a bit but not opening.
“He’s alive…” Prompto sighed, falling back to sit on his legs.
“Yes, but not for long in this condition,” Ignis said, already shrugging off his jacket. “We need to stop the bleeding before we can move him to the car, or he won’t make it.”
“Can’t we just use a potion or something on him?” Prompto asked with wide eyes.
Ignis pulled in the corner of his lips marginally, “Unfortunately not. We’re running low on curatives, since we’re also low on money. We need to save all we have.” He began folding his jacket to use it as gauze, rolling Noctis fully onto his stomach to press it to his back. “If we can make it to town and claim the hunt’s reward, I can buy the proper healing supplies.”
Prompto nodded silently and watched with worried eyes as Ignis worked to stop the bleeding. Noctis whimpered and cried out as the fabric was pressed against his wounds, but still his eyes did not open. After ten minutes and one incredibly soaked jacket later, the bleeding seemed to have tapered off, and Ignis started to gently remove his jacket. “Prompto, I need you to help me carry him. We have to be as gentle as possible so as not to restart the bleeding.”
“Right…” The blond said softly, struggling to keep his voice steady as he helped Ignis pick up the injured male. “So where do we go? Galdin Guay?”
“Can’t afford it, especially if we want to buy curatives for Noct. No, we’ll make for the outpost outside of Hammerhead.”
“That’s just as far away, though!” Prompto replied, voice tinged with panic.
“I know, but it’s our best shot. And we haven’t long before the daemons start to make their appearances.”
The walk back to the car was long and slow, but eventually, they made it. The sun was already well into its descent by that point, the bright blue sky fading to a pale orange-yellow as it stretched for the distant mountains. Prompto was situated in the back with Noctis, while Ignis drove faster than Prom had ever seen him go. They managed to make it to the outpost before night truly fell, pulling up by the pumps.
Ignis was already out of the car as soon as he’d put it in park, waving a hand for Prompto to stay where he was. He briskly walked over to the innkeeper to expend the last of their funds on a hotel room. A pained groan from his side immediately stole Prompto’s attention, and he looked down to see Noctis stirring.
“Hey, buddy,” Prompto said softly, relief flooding his voice as his free hand come up to brush some of Noctis’s hair out of his dirt-covered face.
The dark-haired male gritted his teeth before his eyes blinked open slowly, “Where…?” His voice was soft, and cracked on the single-worded question.
“The outpost a few miles past Hammerhead,” the blond supplied. Noctis blinked slowly, clearly still disoriented with his surroundings before he made to push himself up. A bad move, as his face immediately split in pain and he slumped back against Prompto’s side, his chest now heaving with pained gasps. Prompto immediately put a hand over Noctis’s chest to keep him down, “Woah there! Don’t move! You’re in pretty bad shape, Noct. We need to get you fixed up before you can be up and moving around again. Noctis merely nodded, sagging into Prompto’s arm that was wrapped around his shoulders. Ignis came back just then, and his face lit up marginally when he noticed Noctis was conscious.
“Back with us, then?” Noctis moved his hooded gaze slowly over to him, and Ignis gave him a soft smile. “Come, let’s get you inside and patch you up.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Noctis gritted out. They managed to maneuver Noctis out of the car, supporting most of his weight from both sides as they made their way to their assigned room. It was a slow process, since both of them stopped whenever Noctis so much as winced or let slip a whimper of pain, but they eventually made it inside. They sat Noctis down on one of the two beds that occupied the main room, and helped him shed his torn, blood-stained jacket and shirt.
The wounds were covered in a mixture of dirt and drying blood, jagged and practically glowing a fierce red: a clear sign of infection. Ignis frowned but silently got to work nonetheless, moving to the bathroom to retrieve the bowl usually reserved for rinsing, and retrieving the rest of their supplies out of the car. Noctis seemed more awake now, and that was both a blessing and a curse, as he struggled to hold his composure through what was no doubt a monstrous amount of pain.
“Prompto,” the tallest male said softly, gaining the blond’s attention. “I need to clean his wounds before I can treat them, and I want you to just be there for him while I do it.” The youngest nodded hesitantly, turning back to look at Noctis. “The best we’ve got is the last of Gladio’s vodka he left behind. It’s… going to hurt quite a bit.” He added the last bit to Noctis, who pulled his lips to a fine line and nodded. “If you’re sure, then…”
Ignis filled the bowl with warm water, pulling out the few hand towels and draping them next to himself. He gently washed away the blood first, and could hear Noct give a shaky sigh at the more pleasant feeling. When Ignis was finished and started cleaning the open wounds with the vodka however, Noctis gasped sharply, choking on a cry as he hunched forwards. His eyes and mouth opened wide in pain, and Prompto did the only thing he could think of and grabbed one of Noctis’s hands with both his own.
“Fuuuck…” Noctis groaned, squeezing Prompto’s hand in a fierce grip as Ignis dabbed at his wound with the alcohol. Noctis actually bit his lip and choked on a sob. Hot tears rose to his eyes, spilling over and trailing down the curve of his nose.
“I know, man, I know,” Prompto hushed softly, squeezing back. He glanced over Noctis’s shoulder at Ignis, and found the eldest had a pained frown on his face, eyebrows pinched together as he worked.
“How ya doin’, Noct?” Prompto asked softly, as Ignis started applying the bandages soaked in a diluted solution of their last potion and antidote.
“Hnghh, it h-hurts...” Prompto tried to put a reassuring smile on his face, even though the other was scrunching his eyes shut and gasping through his teeth from the pain. A couple of tears fell from his skin and splashed thickly over Prompto's hands, still holding on to Noct and rubbing his thumbs over the other's knuckles.
“We got you, buddy. Just a little longer.” He tried to swallow the hard lump in his throat and take his own advice, giving Noctis’s hands another reassuring squeeze. He’d always been a sympathetic crier, so seeing the other like this made his own throat tight and his eyes bead with the beginnings of tears, and he has to blink rapidly to push them away. It’s hard to see his best friend in so much pain, but he can only imagine how hard it must be to be the one partially causing it. The blond looked over at Ignis again, but his expression had only shifted to something closer to resigned concern.
When the elder was done, they shifted Noct as gently as they could to lay on his stomach, and with Prompto carving gentle waves into Noctis’s hair, the prince fell into a broken and fitful doze. His back lay covered in patches of gauze, some of which were already spotted in new blood, and Prompto could feel his chest tightening.
“We need Gladio,” he said softly, more to himself than anything.
Ignis looked up from where he was reorganizing supplies to take care of his own injury, pausing to take in Prompto’s expression before continuing, “...Indeed. It seems his absence has left a greater wound than we’ve realized. In our struggle to compensate for his leave, we’ve been left with many openings and blind spots that Gladio has always covered.” He collected the dirtied towels and his bloody jacket, piling them to wash later. “But now that we no longer have him, it seems we’ve become far too susceptible to things we could usually handle.”
“You can say that again,” Prompto replied softly. He crested waves in his sleeping friend’s hair for another moment before he stood up. He scoffed softly, almost bitter as he felt the lump in his throat press against the walls of his trachea, “Some ‘King’s Knights’ we are.”
Ignis watched him with sad eyes as the blond disappeared into the bathroom, the soft lock almost deafening in the silence. He sighed and began using whatever was left of the potion and antidote solution on the burn strike on his leg, rolling up the torn pant leg so he could clean and treat his own wound effectively.
He finished quickly enough, and after glancing at the still-sleeping prince, decides to leave Prompto to himself for a few more minutes. He could hear the muffled sobs and choked gasps from the bathroom; the loud but ineffective bathroom fan only marginally covered them. The chef pushed himself to his feet, only limping a bit now as he makes his way to the bathroom. He knocked lightly on the door twice, and heard the other stutter and go silent.
“Prompto?” Silence. His shoulders sagged a bit before he resolved himself, knocking again as he softens his voice. “Prom, come out.”
“What are we even doing, Ignis?” Was the hoarse reply; one that caught Ignis off guard, and he slowly lowered his hand.
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean this! This whole freaking ‘adventure’ we’re on right now!” Prompto’s voice cracked and he hiccuped softly. “We’re running around in circles day in and day out, hardly making any progress on finding Lady Luna or figuring out how to stop the Empire. Gladio up and just left us with no explanation or even when he was coming back. And neither of us could stop Noct from getting hurt today on a mission that was supposed to be easy!” He choked a bit on the last part, cutting off his rant, and he fell silent.
The older male waited a breath before responding, “I know. Things seem rather tough right now, but we’ll pull through.” Ignis lowered his gaze to the floor, shifting his weight off his injured leg. “We’ll make it on our own long enough for Gladio to come back and we’ll start making headway on taking down the Empire. Everything takes time.” He tried to smile just a bit at the locked door, “And while we may not always be well and running, we’ll always have each other.”
More silence broken by the occasional sniffle from the other side of the door, until Ignis heard some shifting and shuffling before the lock unclicked. He stepped back as Prompto pulled the door open, red-rimmed eyes downcast as he wiped the back of his hand over his eyes.
Ignis gently reached down and slid his fingers over Prompto’s limp wrist, “We’ll be alright, you’ll see. For now, though, you need just as much rest as the rest of us if we’re to keep going until Gladio comes back.” Prompto merely nodded stiffly and let himself be lead back to the bed Noctis was sleeping on. He pulled off his boots and shed his vest before he rolled onto the bed, sagging against it as he realized just how tired he was, and closed his eyes.
Ignis’s fingers threaded their way into his hair, and Prompto hummed softly, curling in a bit on himself as he turned towards Noctis. He was out within minutes, his breathing gentle and deep, and Ignis let himself finally breathe a sigh of relief. He limped over to the other bed and sat down, letting the tension drain from his body as he removed his own shoes. He gingerly placed his injured leg on the bed before scooting further onto it and let himself lay down. He barely remembered to take off his glasses and place them on the adjacent pillow, thinking of what meal he would make for Noctis when he woke, before sleep washed over him like the blackest night.