Chapter Text
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Chapter 1
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Maybe it wasn't a great idea to rush into this. Perhaps over the past few days of win after win, very few injuries beyond a scrape or bruise, the group had gotten too confident. It felt like failure wasn't even a possibility at this point. At least, to Prompto it did...
These wolf-like creatures - though somewhat unfamiliar to Prompto - didn't seem like much of a threat. They weren't huge - they were bigger than a human, but not by that much... barely bigger than Gladio, really. Nothing obviously dangerous and terrifying like a behemoth or catoblepas. As far as monsters and daemons were concerned, they were small, seemingly not a big deal. There were about a dozen of them, but they weren't that big. For a group of four, it seemed like a minor inconvenience more than anything else. They could each take care of three... Quick and easy. It wouldn't be a big deal... Every single one of them had been up against something similar before and got through it without a problem.
It didn't take long though for Prompto's confidence to waver. After taking down only one himself, he was left breathless, sweaty, a bit scratched up... and he was even trying to fight from a distance with his gun! He didn't even intend on getting close... but the monsters had other ideas - and his friends didn't seem to be faring well either. For once, Prompto seemed to have taken down one of the enemy before any of his friends had. But he didn't have time to feel proud over that fact. They were still very much outnumbered, and it was beginning to look like they might indeed be outmatched as well.
These fiends were quick. They were able to dodge a lot of attacks and lunge back at their opponents with sharp, potentially deadly movements. Their teeth and claws were huge, very pointy, and the speed, ferocity, and strength behind their snapping jaws and viciously swatting limbs was honestly terrifying.
With a sharp gasp, Prompto stumbled back as one of the creatures lunged toward him. He fired his weapon, either missed or hit it where it didn't matter, then fell back onto the ground beneath him. He felt sharp stones digging into his hands as he landed. Dust had been kicked up by both his companions and the monsters they were battling, making visibility and breathing a bit more difficult. The whole area was a chaotic mess.
As he scrambled up onto his hands and knees, looking out over the scene with a breathless wince, Prompto contemplated yelling out, suggesting that they flee. He didn't want to be the one to say it, but they were clearly in over their heads
Gritting his teeth together and stumbling forward as he climbed to his feet, Prompto couldn't help but to scream at what he saw before his eyes, across the field. "Noct, get down!" He called out, raising his gun up to aim at a creature presently charging right for his best friend.
Noctis stared back with wide, shocked yes, clearly unaware of what Prompto saw, but shrinking down aimlessly anyway as Prompto fired his shot, hitting the creature where it counted right as it leaped into the air toward the prince.
With a sharp hiss, Noctis raised his arm up to block the creature from hitting him as it fell. It seemed Prompto noticed just in time, and took it down not a second too soon. He hardly had time to feel relieved though. There were still eight or nine of the creatures still up and moving.
"Prompto!" Noctis suddenly screamed back.
Before the younger man had a chance to even wonder what his friend was yelling at him for, he felt a sharp pain in his arm, as jaws clamped down over the limb, viciously tugging him backward, off his feet.
Prompto let out a startled scream and accidentally dropped his gun as he was dragged rather harshly down against the ground, for a moment hardly even feeling the pain as his attacker dragged him backward, its teeth tearing viciously into the flesh of his arm.
Gritting his teeth as he twisted his body in and effort to reclaim his gun, Prompto realized the monster had dragged him too far away from it. He had no weapon... He breathed in a shaky breath as he saw the gun lying several yards away, but really had no way to get to it. Not with his arm so securely trapped in his aggressor's jaws.
"Get off of me!" Prompto screamed, balling his free hand into a fist and punching out at the creature's face. That seemed to only anger it more, as it clamped its jaws closed even tighter, making Prompto's arm throb in pain as a pained cry tore through his throat.
"Help Prompto!" Ignis's voice shouted to perhaps no one in particular as he was having a bit of trouble dealing with his own corner of this fight. "Someone go help Prompto! Now!"
"I can't get to him!" Noctis called out, fighting back against another of the creatures who had lunged toward him on his way over. "Gladio, can you reach him!?"
Letting out another pained, frightened cry, Prompto grabbed at the monster's jaw, trying to just pry it off of himself with his hand. He no longer had the tools to really fight the monster off - to kill or hurt it... but he could at least try to free his arm and flee. That seemed to be just about his only option at this point - to run... but only if he could get his arm free.
"Hold on, Prompto! I'm coming!" Gladiolus called out from somewhere that sounded painfully far away. "Hang tight, kid. I'm on my way!"
Still grimacing painfully, Prompto put all of his strength into trying to pry the monster's jaws open with only one hand, whimpering and squeezing his eyes shut when it just bit down harder, grazing his fingers with its teeth as blood dripped down out of its mouth. It was so horribly painful, but even more terrifying. What if it bit his arm off? What if he bled to death?
"Help me!" Prompto sobbed as he felt the creature drag him back even further, shaking its head, then pulling him down under it, raising up a clawed limb and swatting viciously down across Prompto's chest.
"Noct! Iggy!" Prompto screamed, moving his free arm up over his face and head in an attempt to protect himself, or at the very least, cover his eyes so he didn't have to watch as this thing gutted him. "Gladio, help me!"
He felt like such a failure - like a liability... Everyone else was still on their feet, fighting, defending themselves and each other, taking out the enemy one by one... He couldn't. He needed them to stop fighting for themselves and waste their time on him. He didn't want to steal all the focus from the battle and put everyone at risk for his own sake, but he didn't want to die either. He needed help. He'd gotten in over his head. He screwed up, he was hurt, and he couldn't get out of this on his own. Everyone could be mad at him later. He deserved it. He could be embarrassed and ashamed later... but for now, he just needed to get out of this, and he couldn't swing it on his own. He needed someone to do it for him.
Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and shrunk down, trying to make himself as small as possible as he felt the vicious animal attacking him bite down on his one arm again and swipe its claws across his body again, this time hitting his arm more than his chest, and seemingly at least shallowly so. A pained, frightened whimper choked him up as the creature clamped its jaws down even harder, raising its clawed limb up again, ready to slash down. It was only a matter of time before it hit something important and killed its prey...
Just when he was pretty sure he was about to have his heart clawed out of his chest, Prompto felt the weight lifted off of him. He opened his eyes with a small shaky breath in time to see Noctis swinging his weapon, knocking the monster back off of his younger friend.
Within seconds, Ignis had rushed up as well, grabbing at the boy's arms, dragging him up onto shaking legs and pulling him back. Gladio rushed up next, knocking back another of the creatures while raising his arm up as though to shield the other members of their group while he kept their enemies at bay.
"There's too many!" Ignis commented, his voice calm, yet serious as usual. "Prompto's already hurt. We need to get out of here. Let's not risk life and limb any more than we already have. Not for such an inconsequential battle."
Prompto couldn't even bring himself to speak, to thank his friends for saving him... to ask if they thought he was going to be alright, to ask them if they were alright. He didn't feel safe yet. He was still so out of breath, shaky, panicked, in so much pain.
He made the mistake of briefly glancing down at his arm for a second as Ignis dragged him back away from the scene. All he saw was red before he quickly looked away, closing his eyes with a frightened wince and swallowing a nervous gulp. He felt like he was going to throw up. What if his arm was too damaged to even function at this point? What if they had to amputate it?!
"Let's go! Fight off the ones you need to fight off. Otherwise, it's time to run." Ignis ordered, shrugging out of his jacket and hastily wrapping it around Prompto's heavily bleeding arm. "Hold this tight, Prompto." He whispered in a low voice, seemingly trying to remain calm, but his tone also indicated the seriousness of the situation.
Prompto reached up with shaky fingers, trying to put pressure on his injury as he struggled to even remain aware of the situation. His breaths were so short. He felt lightheaded. He wasn't even sure if he was walking on his own anymore. Everything was dark, almost numb, yet still painful. His heart pounded so loudly in his ears it was the only thing he could hear for a moment.
He felt Ignis's arm around his back as the man dragged him along quicker than he was capable of keeping up with at the moment. He couldn't even see where they were going... He was breathing so hard, but still felt like he wasn't getting any oxygen. He felt breathless, panicked, like he was somehow drowning without even being near water.
Voices around him were still going. It sounded like Gladio and Noctis were still fighting off the enemy... but he wasn't sure. Everything was so muddled. Ignis was speaking to him too. He could make out that much, maybe if only because the man was so close.
"You'll be fine, Prompto. Stay calm." Ignis spoke, his voice even and low. He always knew how to remain stoic under pressure. Prompto did not. In the younger man's mind, he might literally be dying right now. If Prompto was in Ignis's place, with Ignis injured, bleeding, maybe close to death, Prompto didn't think he'd be able to be calm.
"Ig-" Prompto whimpered, cutting himself off with a shaky breath and squeezing his eyes closed. He felt tears dripping down his cheeks. He wasn't sure if they were because he was scared or hurt. He wasn't even sure he could separate the pain from fear at this point. He just knew his emotions were so piqued at the moment that he could barely breathe, barely get his legs to function. He was stumbling after Ignis was the chef dragged him along. He couldn't see a damn thing and wasn't even sure if he'd open his eyes back up or not.
"Just keep moving. Use your legs. They're not hurt. You can still run. Use them, Prompto. We'll get you out of here safe, but you've got to keep moving." Ignis advised.
Letting out a shaky, breathless sob as he tripped over his own feet, Prompto tried to keep up, tried to help them help him. They'd saved him and he was still slowing them down - incapable of even running on his own. His legs weren't hurt... Why was he having so much trouble? Was he that panicked? That he forgot how to even use his damn legs? Why was he stumbling so much? Why was he moving so slowly? Was he going to get his friends killed while they tried to save him? He was so fucking useless.
They were probably all wondering whey they even brought him with them at this point. Maybe they'd give up if they had to, leave him here to save themselves... He wouldn't blame them. If the monsters kept attacking and they had to all either run and be safe, or stick behind and drag him along and risk everyone being killed, it would make sense to just leave him. He wouldn't be mad if they chose to do that. He'd understand...
"I'm sorry..." Prompto gasped between shaking, tearful breaths as he stumbled forward. His vision was grey at the edges. His ears felt hot and his lungs felt stuck shut.
"Don't be sorry." He heard Noct's voice and felt a hand on his arm. His friend must have been jogging along next to him and Ignis. Prompto didn't even notice the other man was there.
"Noct?" Prompto choked, looking toward the voice and seeing a hazy version of his friend through the grey veil currently covering his world. "I'm sorry... I screwed up... I c- I can't do this... I can't walk... I'm... I-I can't breathe..." He sobbed.
"You're okay... Just calm down..." Noct didn't sound so sure though. "I think we lost them... We're gonna be fine. Take a breath, man. Don't panic. Just breathe and keep moving. You're gonna be fine."
Prompto shook his head and let out another shaky cry as he tripped over a root, or his own foot, or something, and nearly fell forward.
Ignis's strong arms around his shoulders kept him from hitting the ground, but walking along with the man's quick stride was becoming increasingly difficult. Especially with his vision clouding over and his lungs feeling like they weren't expanding quite right. His breaths were so quick and shallow. He didn't feel like the air was going into him enough for it to even matter...
"Ignis, he can't keep up..." Gladio noted, his voice sounding far away. "He's hyperventilating..."
"We've got to go. We don't have time to entertain terror and panic." Ignis shot back. He sounded far away too, even though Prompto knew there was no way that was true. "The way I see it, we have two options: I drag him along with us or we wait here and let ourselves get killed."
"I'll carry him." Gladio offered, reaching out and grabbing Prompto, easily hefting him up in his arms, holding one arm around his shoulders and the other under his bent knees.
"You sure you can still run and carry him at the same time?" Ignis asked.
"It's no sweat." Gladio promised, hugging Prompto securely against his chest as he jogged onward. "Stay with me, kid." He grumbled.
Prompto felt a shiver flow through himself as he hugged his injured arm protectively against his chest, pressing the jacket Ignis had wrapped around it down as firmly as he could. He couldn't even bring himself to look at the injury again. When he saw it before, it was so brief, and he'd looked away as soon as he saw red... but of course there was red. He knew he was bleeding at the very least. He should have just looked better the first time. He couldn't do so again. Not now. Not while he was completely panicked. He didn't know for sure how bad it was, and he was scared to find out.
"Are we almost there?" Prompto whispered, swallowing a difficult, painful gulp. He still felt so lightheaded, so numb. His arm and chest where he'd been bitten and clawed stung so much at first. It didn't really even hurt that bad anymore. Maybe he was dying...
"We're close." Ignis responded.
Prompto let out a slower, shaky breath, feeling himself start to calm down just a little, just knowing they were almost back to camp, that his injuries would be mended and he'd hopefully be okay. Maybe it was because he didn't have to worry about keeping up anymore. He felt like his vision was becoming a bit less cloudy too, and the numbness was fading very slowly as well. That meant he was feeling more of the pain... but at least it didn't seem like he might literally be dying.
Now that he was a bit more aware of his surroundings, a bit more present in the moment, he looked up at Gladio's face as the man pulled him close to his chest and rushed forward. "Iggy, you got the right bandages and potions to deal with this? He's physically shaking... He seems really out of it... and he's bleeding a lot..." The man called out, seemingly not even caring if such a blunt question and comment would scare Prompto. Did Ignis NOT have the right stuff to fix him? Was he really bleeding a lot? Was he shaking? He didn't even notice... Was he going to lose his arm? His life?
Prompto felt his lip quiver as he continued staring silently up at Gladio. Did the man think he had passed out? Was he just being honest now that he thought Prompto wouldn't hear him? Everyone else had been reassuring... Leave it to Gladio to be blunt and honest, to let him know - even if unintentionally - just how bad off he was.
"He will be fine, Gladio. I can even stitch him up if need be. We'll survive this. We always survive everything else. We'll get through this too." Ignis answered.
Prompto breathed in shakily, feeling tears stinging his eyes. Ignis probably only said that because he knew Prompto would hear him. Gladio was being honest, realistic, blunt. Ignis was being hopeful... unrealistic. He was saying what he knew Prompto wanted to hear... So he'd die at peace instead of dying terrified. Ignis was sparing his feelings... but unfortunately, Prompto couldn't fall for it - not after what Gladio had said.
Maybe this was truly how he was going to die - from a bite on the arm - from a lower-level, weaker enemy they thought they could beat, not taking into account the number of foes present... Prompto was going to actually die because this stupid monster - not much bigger than himself - bit his arm while he wasn't paying attention.
At least it wasn't Noctis, or Iggy or Gladio... At least if someone had to die, it was him - the most useless member of their group - the one who wasn't really needed... the screw up. Maybe this was the end for him... Maybe that was okay. The others would be fine without him.
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