Chapter Text
"You hear the latest from Bobby yet?"
"Can't say I have. Something to worry about?"
"That damn coeurl was spotted again. Couple o' hunters saw it lurkin' around Secullam Pass late last night when they was passin' through. Said they chased it, but it up an' disappeared in the darkness. Reckon it's got itself a nice place to hole up in around there, ya think?"
"Seems so. Probably take a skilled hunter to smoke it out."
The man seated at the counter shakes his head, his scraggly grey hair flying every which way. Iris pays it little mind as she watches the movement absently, more interested in the conversation he's having with the diner's owner, who's standing behind the counter. "Suppose you ain't got no takers yet?" he asks.
The owner shakes his own head, wiping down the counter around the customer's plate with a grungy looking rag that makes Iris glad the guys had chosen a booth to eat at, even if she knows that same rag has probably wiped their table down too. "Nope. Bill's been posted, but not many hunters willing or experienced enough to take on a coeurl. Even a single one can be deadly, with them whiskers on 'em."
"Shame," the customer says, taking a final dreg of his coffee before slamming the mug down on the counter, loudly enough that the noise hurts Iris' ears, making her wince. "The Pass ain't too far from Old Lestallum. It shows its face aroun' here, we gonna have trouble."
"Someone will come along soon. They always do."
Tuning them out then, Iris turns her attention back to the guys. Noct is making faces at the lettuce and tomato Ignis has returned to his plate, poking a finger at it to push it away from the rest of his fries while Ignis sighs at him. Prompto is babbling away to her brother about fixing up some kind of machine thing they'd found recently, who's nodding as he listens—and real listening, she notes with a bit of amusement. Not the polite kind he'd often give back in Insomnia when Prompto got started on one of his overexcited spiels about something or other, but with genuine interest that's obvious. At least to her, because she knows her brother well and she's seen the signs before. When had that happened?
Well, it's not really her business. It's between Gladdy and Prompto, and right now they all have more important things to worry about. Like this coeurl the men were talking about—it could attack the town! They've been out of Insomnia long enough for her to understand it probably happens a lot in the smaller towns around Lucis, and these people have been coping for years without royal help, but that doesn't mean she and the guys can't still offer it when they're around.
Right? Never mind Noct being the Crown Prince, she doesn't think she could live with herself as an Amicitia if she doesn't try to help. They're sworn to protect—and like her dad always taught her, the royal family comes first, but that doesn't mean they're the only ones to protect. If she can help someone else in need, then she should always do her best to give that help.
"Gladdy," she says, and then leans around Prompto and pokes her brother in the shoulder when neither of them notice her.
He frowns at her, pulling away from the jab as Prompto falls silent. "What was that for?"
"You need money, right?" she asks, and both Noct and Ignis stop their silent squabble over the vegetables to look at her.
Her brother shakes his head, that dismissive gesture she hates because it always means he's about to treat her like a child. "It's nothing for you to worry about."
She folds her arms across her chest, lowering her chin and raising her eyebrows at him. "I'm fifteen, not five," she says, unable to keep the irritation out of her tone. "I heard you guys talking about it yesterday. You don't have to hide it from me, I can help!"
"Oh yeah?" Gladio raises his own eyebrows in return. "And how are you gonna do that?"
She tips her head, gesturing towards the diner owner who's still chatting with the customer. "They were talking. There's a coeurl prowling around nearby that's getting closer to the town. They said a bill's been posted. That means money, right? You guys can easily take that thing on! And I can help with support!"
"No way," he says immediately. "We're escorting you to the safe house. No detours. No putting you in danger. We've got enough funds to make it that far at least."
Iris frowns. She'd expected the protest, but that doesn't mean she likes it. It's sweet that her brother worries about her safety, but most of the time he's way too overprotective. She's survived as much as the rest of them—she deserves to be treated like an adult. "I'm in danger no matter what," she points out, lowering her voice to a hush. "We all are. I'll keep out of the way of the coeurl. I can provide curatives. And it won't take long. An extra hour or two won't hurt!"
"She does have a point," Ignis murmurs, and Iris shoots him a quick grin as thanks for the support. "We're done for today—a couple hours delay won't make much difference tomorrow. And if the people here are in danger, we'd be remiss in our duties if we didn't at least make an attempt to assist them."
"I'm always up for kicking some ass," Noct offers, sliding his lettuce to Ignis' plate one last time.
"Yeah!" Prompto agrees, bouncing in his seat a little. It's contagious, and Iris finds herself bouncing with him as they both shoot her brother a pleading look. "Come on dude, your sister's right. We gotta help! And who doesn't love the feel of cold, hard cash in their hands? Just look at it as another chance to let off steam!"
Gladio groans, giving in as Iris knew he would. "Okay, okay. Seems I ain't got much choice, if the four of you are gonna gang up on me."
"Thanks, Gladdy!"
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles, finishing the last couple fries on his plate as Ignis slides from the booth.
"I'll go inquire about the bill," he murmurs.
"Food or hunting?" Prompto asks.
Ignis smiles, picking up the lettuce and dropping it on Noct's plate. "Both."
* * *
The next day dawns sunny and clear, which brightens Iris' spirits. She's done her best to put on a cheerful face around the guys since joining them, but it's hard. Everything has changed so much since Insomnia fell, and her future feels so uncertain. It's scary. She tries not to dwell on it, but sometimes she misses her old life—her school, her friends, her big house where she was always taken care of. Her dad.
There's been no real confirmation, but she knows he's gone. Was probably gone before Dustin and Monica even managed to get her out of Insomnia with Jared and Talcott. King Regis is dead, after all, and her dad would never let that happen as long as he was alive. That's what being a Shield is.
Knowing it, though, and understanding it... those are two different things. It doesn't feel like he's gone. It feels more like this is gonna end one day and they'll all go back home and she'll walk in the manor to find her dad standing there, and she'll run to him with a big smile on her face and throw her arms around his neck and say "Hi Daddy! Miss me?" as he laughs and picks her up in a hug.
That she'll never be able to do that again feels impossible.
"I'll drive today," Noct says, breaking her out of her thoughts, and she sees Ignis raise his eyebrows, but he hands over the keys without a word. She guesses Noct doesn't drive very often.
They don't have far to go from the motel in Old Lestallum to the area in Secullam Pass where the coeurl was said to be spotted, and her brother spends the short drive reminding her that she's not to engage in combat with the beast, and to keep her distance as much as possible. She rolls her eyes, but agrees just to keep the peace. No reason to get Gladdy even more riled up.
"We're here," Noct announces as he pulls off the side of the road, and Iris climbs eagerly out of the car after Ignis. She hasn't had many chances to see the guys in action, or to fight alongside them, and she's looking forward to it. Despite Gladdy's worries, it doesn't feel like life or death today—it's gonna be fun!
At least, she's doing her best to convince herself of that. Fun's been hard to come by these past weeks.
She jogs with the guys as they cross the street to the wooded area beyond, keeping close for now until they find their mark, letting them surround her in a protective circle. Even if she's not too worried, she doesn't want to get caught off-guard and mauled before the battle can begin. Noct might be able to put healing magic into energy drinks for curatives, but he can't fix death.
"Keep a sharp eye out for any sudden movements," Ignis murmurs as they begin to search. "Right now it has the upper advantage—it knows the terrain well, and will likely spot us before we spot it. Don't get careless. Or reckless." The last two words are said with a pointed look back at Noct, and Iris grins a little, wondering what the particular story behind that is.
"One time, Specs, it was one time," Noct says with irritation in his tone, but when Iris glances back at him, she can see the red in his cheeks.
"Didn't that one time almost get us killed?" Prompto asks from his right.
"Hey! Betrayal," Noct complains. "As my best friend, you're supposed to have my back. Rude."
"I think almost getting swallowed by a million flans is an exception to the best friend code."
"Yeah, well, what about the time you got kidnapped by a naga and we all had to rush off to save you?"
"Hey, that wasn't my fault!" Prompto protests, and then lets out a small cry, making Iris look back to find the two of them shoving at each other.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Gladio snaps, looking back as well. "Or I'll knock both your heads together. Didn't Iggy just tell you to focus? Pay attention to your surroundings."
"Sorry," they both mumble, dropping their hands to their sides, looking properly chastised, and Iris has to bite at her lip to keep from laughing.
They all fall quiet after that, scanning their surroundings for any sign of the coeurl, and she does her best to look and listen too, but there seems to be no sign of the beast. It might have been in the area a few days ago, but by now it's probably left, hopefully not in the direction of town.
"I don't think it's here, Specs," Noct says then as he comes to a stop, unaware he's echoing her thoughts. "There's too many other animals around for there to be a coeurl in the area. They'd all be hiding if one were stalking about."
"It does seem unlikely," Ignis agrees, halting his own footsteps. "Perhaps it's moved on. We can call it if you'd like."
"No, let's look, Noct! The people in town are counting on us."
"Yeah," Iris chimes in after Prompto. "I think the coeurl is really a problem for them! We should go a little further."
"Gladio?" Noct asks, looking to him.
Her brother shrugs. "I never wanted this hunt in the first place. It's up to you."
Noct bites his lip, glancing around at each of them briefly. "Let's keep looking," he finally decides. "Just a little more."
They continue on, going deeper into the woods. The trees start getting more dense, their bright green leaves blocking out much of the sunlight above and giving the area a dark, gloomy feel that Iris doesn't like. It reminds her of the scary movies Gladio likes to watch. She always says she hates them because the characters act so dumb in them, but secretly she hates feeling creeped out.
Thankfully, it's only a few minutes before the trees begin to thin out again, rays of sunlight filtering back through the leaves, and then they're coming upon a clearing with several large boulders scattered about it. As they reach the edge of it, leaving the trees behind, Iris realises she can hear something coming from the direction of one of the rocks further in the distance—a faint, high-pitched yowling of an animal in pain.
She starts to open her mouth, to ask if any of the guys hear it, but it only takes one look at them to know they do. They're all alert, looking in the direction of the noise, and Prompto in particular looks nervous.
"It may be an animal getting attacked," Ignis murmurs. "Stay on your guard."
They do, approaching slowly and carefully, but when they reach the boulder Iris thought the noise came from, there's nothing there. The yowling hasn't stopped though, and it's louder and closer sounding, so they continue to follow it to the other edge of the clearing until they reach a river. The cries have stopped now, but the bank of the river is covered in footprints.
"Coeurl tracks," Noct says quietly. "It's probably close."
Iris swallows, looking at the size of the prints. They're bigger than she'd expected. She's never actually seen a coeurl before. The zoo in Insomnia had two, when the guys had been little, but by the time she was old enough to go, they were gone—released back into the wild after someone snuck into the enclosure and was killed. She's been picturing something like an overgrown housecat, but now she realises a coeurl is way bigger—and more dangerous—than that. Gladdy was right to be worried about her.
They follow the river, and the tracks, the flat land gradually sloping upwards, and it's only a few more minutes until they reach a large overhang of rocks on a small cliff, creating a shallow looking cave beneath it. And there in the mouth of the cave is the coeurl they've been searching for, curled up on the ground.
Immediately weapons are pulled out, materialising into existence amidst the sound of shattering crystal, sparks of blue lighting up the area, and her brother pushes her back, away from the group and, more importantly, the coeurl. She wants to be annoyed by his protective instinct, but finds she can't. Even curled up, the coeurl looks huge.
Iris stays back as the guys all ready themselves to be attacked, weapons raised and aimed as they assume battle stances, obviously expecting the coeurl to rush them, but even though it clearly hears them, its ears pricking up, it stays where it's at, lying curled in the dirt.
"It's not attacking?" Prompto says, confusion in his voice as he lowers his gun.
No one else lowers their weapons, but they make no move to attack, watching the coeurl warily. "Weird," Noct remarks.
"I believe it may be injured," Ignis finally says, after they've watched longer. "Look at the way it's breathing. It's quite heavy. Pained, most likely."
"We should finish it off then," Gladio says. "An easy mark. My favourite kind."
Prompto vanishes his gun back into Noct's Armiger, taking a step towards the coeurl. "We should help it."
Her brother gives Prompto an incredulous look, eyes raised practically to his hairline. "Are you outta your mind?"
"It's hurt." Prompto takes another step closer, pausing as the coeurl growls a warning, watching him warily. It makes no move to get up and attack, though, so he goes for a third step. "I can't kill something that's already injured. It's unfair to the poor thing."
Gladio shakes his head. "The poor thing? Prompto, that thing will kill you the second it gets a chance."
"Gladio is correct," Ignis agrees, but when Iris looks over at him, she notices he's vanished his weapon too. "We should put the beast out of its misery." He sounds uncertain though, and seems to be unaware that he's also taken a step closer to the coeurl. It surprises her, until she remembers that Ignis has a huge fondness for the creatures—obsessive, to hear her brother and Noct tell it.
Her brother groans. "Not you too." Ignis furrows his brows, opening his mouth to respond, but Gladio cuts him off. "You're moving towards it, Iggy."
Ignis snaps his mouth shut, some colour coming into his cheeks. "Well," he says, shoving his glasses up his nose, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to at least check on it. Perhaps its wounds will be enough for it to soon die on its own, without any assistance from us. In which case it won't hurt to make it more comfortable."
"It would be kinder to kill it," Gladio argues. "Noct? You're the leader here. And the deciding vote."
"Nuh-uh," Noct says, holding up his hands as he shakes his head. "I'm staying out of this one. I learned long ago to not cross Specs. You're on your own. You'll have to battle it out solo with him and your boyfriend."
"Boyfriend!" Prompto screeches, making the coeurl growl louder, but he doesn't notice as he starts flailing his hands around, flapping them in Noct's direction. "I'm not—we're not—Noct! How did you know!" he wails, his entire face turning red. "We weren't telling anyone yet!"
Noct scoffs. "Not telling anyone? Prompto, you said there was a rock in your shoe and you had to go in the tent to get it out. After Gladio said he was gonna check for ticks and asked you to help. Please. That was so obvious. Next time just say you're gonna go make out. Me an' Specs both heard you anyway."
"I—No—I really did—Noct!"
"Took him way too long to figure that out," Gladio mutters, and Iris can't help it, she bursts into laughter even though poor Prompto is flushing all over in embarrassment at this point. She feels bad for being amused at his expense, but it feels good to laugh this way, especially after the somber thoughts she'd woken with.
"Gentlemen," Ignis cuts in, his tone quiet but sharp. "As enlightening as this is, you're putting the coeurl on edge. And I for one would prefer not to find out if it has any bite left in it."
"Right!" Prompto says, his blush fading as he focuses back on the coeurl. Iris and the coeurl both watch him warily as he approaches, talking to it in a low, soothing voice. It's still growling out warnings, but seems incapable of attacking, even when he's only a few steps away. "It's hurt bad," he tells them. "There's these big gashes all across its back and side, going down towards its stomach. Something clawed it. It's been bleeding out. I don't think it'll live much longer."
At that, Iris feels a pang of sadness run through her, the good mood she'd mustered up during the hike through the forest disappearing. Yeah they were gonna kill it, but she's kinda on Prompto's side—doesn't feel right to kill it when it's already down, and now to see it looking so pitiful and weak and dying just makes her feel sorry for the poor creature.
"Guys," Prompto says then, his voice going surprised and worried and excited all at once. "Guys, she has a cub with her! She's protecting the little guy. Oh man, he's gonna lose his only parent. We gotta help."
Another pang runs through Iris at those words, something deep inside her twisting unpleasantly. Noct and Ignis are already heading for the mama coeurl, and Iris goes too, driven by a sudden need to help that she's not ready to think about. Gladdy tries to hold her back, but she slips out of his grip with an ease born of years of practice, and approaches carefully.
She spots the wounds before she spots the cub—they're deep, and wide, and rake all the way across the coeurl's flank. There's a large pool of blood beneath her that says she's been bleeding out for awhile, and her laboured breathing along with the glazed look in her eyes suggests she's been in pain for just as long, and doesn't have much time left.
That unpleasant feeling in her stomach grows, tangling up into a hard knot. Niflheim had attacked during the signing of the treaty. Her dad would have been right in the thick of things from the start. Is this how he'd gone out? Alone, bleeding, in pain? Thinking of her and Gladdy and hoping they were safe? Or had someone put him out of his misery before he could suffer?
"We have to help her," she says, blinking back tears that come out of nowhere. This isn't the time to cry. "We can't let the baby grow up alone." She looks for the cub, finally spotting a small face peeking out from behind the mama's back, up near her shoulders. When he sees her looking, he opens his mouth and lets out a mournful yowl—the same noise they'd followed here.
It tugs at her heartstrings. He sounds so lost and sad and hurting. It's stupid, probably, and she won't ever admit it to the guys, but she feels like she can relate to the little guy. She's felt lost and sad ever since news of the attack first reached her. She swallows. "We have to try and heal her," she says, looking around at the guys. None of them are moving, or even paying attention to the coeurl—they're all looking at her. "Come on, she needs some help!"
"Iris," Ignis says gently, as Gladdy starts approaching her. "Iris, these wounds are too severe. She's beyond the help of what Noct's healing magic can do for her."
"I know that!" she snaps out, but the words are all choked up and something wet is running down her face—she's crying anyway. Why is she getting so worked up over a dying coeurl they were already going to kill? Why does she keep thinking of her dad every time she looks at it? Thinking of him dying alone and in pain, leaving her to finish growing up without him, the way the cub will grow up without his mom? It's not the same, it's not, she knows that, but—
"Hey. C'mere," Gladdy says, pulling her into a hug, but she squirms out of his arms again and gets closer to the coeurl.
"We could at least give her a potion to help with the pain," she tells them, wiping at her tears. She's determined to be grown up about this. They'll never take her on a hunt again if they think she's gonna fall apart every time over the animals dying.
They all glance around at each other, quiet, and then Noct pulls a glowing green potion from his Armiger, approaching the coeurl. He unstoppers the flask, activating the healing magic within. She can't drink it, of course, but with visible trepidation he's able to apply the potion directly to her wounds, which also works to heal them, though much less effectively.
Not that drinking the potion would have really helped her either, Iris knows. It's as Ignis said—she's beyond magical help. She's been growling at them this whole time, and at Noct's approach she'd tried to lift her head and snap at them, but had been too weak to manage it. She probably doesn't have the energy to lash out with her whiskers either, or gather the charge from the air that makes them so dangerous. It's good for them, of course, but it makes Iris sad to see her so obviously dying.
"I think the potion helped," she says a couple minutes later. "She looks like she's breathing easier." She's not really sure, but it's comforting to think so. She wants to believe they're making the poor thing's last moments a little better.
Carefully, she steps up next to the coeurl, and settles down on the ground beside her, ignoring the low growling that's still ongoing. "Iris," Gladdy warns her, but she ignores him, and very slowly reaches her hand out, ready to yank it back at a moment's notice if the coeurl manages to find any energy for an attack.
She doesn't, and Iris gently rests her hand atop the coeurl's head, petting her softly when she doesn't make any move to pull away. After a moment, Ignis joins her, though he's much more hesitant about petting the beast, but eventually he's scratching behind her ear.
"She's pushing her head into my hand," he remarks with some surprise a moment later. "I believe she wants me to keep petting her."
Iris smiles, though she doesn't feel it. "She's just a big overgrown cat."
Between the two of them, they keep the coeurl distracted while Prompto and Noct creep around her backside towards the cub. Iris doesn't know if she's truly unaware of them, or no longer has the energy to care—or maybe she knows from the potion that they're only trying to help. Either way, she doesn't react when Prompto quietly says, "The little dude's injured too. It's not as bad though."
"Great, I suppose we're gonna heal it too? Let it grow up to terrorise the town so we can come back and kill it in a couple years?"
Iris shoots her brother a dirty look. "Better than letting him die before he even gets a fighting chance! Have a heart, Gladdy."
Throwing his hands in the air, Gladio shakes his head, stalking away towards the river. "You guys are all nuts."
Ignoring him, she continues to soothe the coeurl. Her breathing has slowed down, her eyes closing, and Iris knows it won't be much longer.
"Uh, the cub got clawed across the hind legs," Prompto says after a silent, awkward pause, shooting Gladio an uncertain look as he speaks. "Think he can't walk well because of it, but they're not too deep. He's not bleeding out. We could heal him, if you want. How's the mom?"
Iris drops her hand. "Gone." She tries to ignore the hollow feeling in her chest at that, but it's hard. It's not the first time since fleeing Insomnia that she's had to confront death directly, but it's never felt so final before. And she can't get her dad out of her head.
But again, she doesn't have time to think about it. There's a coeurl cub they've gotta help, if they can. "Will a potion help him?"
"Don't have any left," Noct says before Prompto can answer. "Used our last one on the mom."
Ignis looks up at him. "You brought us to a dangerous hunt without first stocking up on curatives?" His tone is one of polite disbelief, but Iris can detect the slight edge in it.
"I thought we had more!" Noct crosses his arms over his chest, directing a challenging glare back at his advisor. "It's not like any of you guys thought to check either!"
"Noct." Ignis lets out a very put-upon sigh, closing his eyes as he shoves his glasses up to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "You agreed the last time we found ourselves short on curatives during a risky situation that you would keep up with our supply. You assured me that it would be 'no big deal' and you could handle it. That it would be easier to have one person in charge of keeping track."
"I am keeping track! I mean, I have been. I just... forgot to account for the ones we used in the base. I was gonna check when we got Iris to Cape Caem. I didn't think we were gonna go on another hunt!"
"Ignis, can you lecture Noct later?" Iris asks, cutting into their argument. "He's an idiot, but we don't have time right now. We gotta do something about this cub!"
"Hey!"
Letting out a laugh, Prompto shakes his head as he pats Noct on the shoulder. "She's got a point, buddy, and Ignis too."
"This is treason," Noct complains.
"Well, sulk about it later, Your Highness. Iris is right. We need to make a decision about this cub."
It takes a good long glare at Ignis before he'll answer. "It's up to Iris," he says. "This hunt was her idea."
Hesitating, she looks over to where her brother is kicking rocks into the river. "I... wanna take him with us," she says slowly, aware how ridiculous of an idea it is. She doesn't know the first thing about coeurls. But her heart aches at the thought of abandoning him to die. She already feels a bond with the little guy. They're both orphans now, their parents taken away too soon, and she at least has Gladdy and the other guys, but he's got no one. She can't leave him to suffer a similar fate as his mom.
And... he reminds her of the cat she'd had in Insomnia. The one she'd had no choice but to leave behind when they'd fled. The loss hurts too much to dwell on, but... if she can't help her cat any longer, maybe she can help this one. It feels like the right thing to do.
"I'm not certain that's a good idea," Ignis says, his words just as slow, his tone cautious. "We've no idea how to care for a coeurl. And we have other priorities at the moment. It isn't feasible to take a cub with us while we travel around Lucis."
The lack of agreement makes her stomach drop. She'd expected Ignis to be on her side. He's been sitting in the dirt beside her, after all, petting the mama coeurl in her last moments. She doesn't want to argue against him too.
"Not forever." She's aware how desperate she suddenly sounds. But she owes this cub. They didn't kill his mom, true, but they were going to, and he would have been alone, and she wouldn't have known. Maybe not even cared. Just like whoever killed her dad didn't care about her. "Just long enough until he's healed and can be released into the wild again. I can keep him with me at the safehouse. And we can ask around or look up how to care for him."
"He's feral. He may be injured, but he's still likely to attack, especially once we start handling him." Ignis is gentling his voice, and it feels as bad as when Gladdy treats her like a child. She doesn't want any of them to treat her like she's delicate and fragile, she's not! She just can't be cruel enough to leave a cub to starve to death or be killed and eaten by other animals. It's not like she wants to keep him as a pet—this isn't a cat she can rescue like the one she'd saved in Insomnia.
"He won't when he sees we're helping him," she says, more confident sounding than she feels. "Come on, Prompto told me how you guys helped a hurt chocobo last week, this isn't that different. Please? It'll only be a couple of weeks. I can't leave him here all alone, he's an orphan now."
"Maybe we should let her?" Prompto asks, scratching at his neck as he looks at Ignis. "He doesn't have anyone to take care of him now. He'll die if we leave him here."
Ignis sighs. "As distasteful as it sounds, that may be the better option. If we take him with us and heal him, we'll have to release him back into this area for him to have a chance at surviving. And then he will grow up and be the same problem to the nearby citizens as his mother was."
"We're gonna take him."
Iris blinks. "Gladdy?" She'd been so caught up in pleading her case to Ignis that she hadn't heard her brother approaching. "I thought you wanted to let him die."
Shrugging, Gladio puts a hand to his neck, rubbing at it as he tips his head. "Yeah, well... You guys are right. He deserves a fair, fighting chance. Ain't right for us to leave him here to die."
Springing up from the ground, Iris steps around Ignis and then flings herself at her brother, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you! We won't keep him forever Gladdy, I promise!"
"Definitely not. Iggy's right that we can't take him with us everywhere. We'll lay low at Cape Caem while he heals, but then we're releasing him and moving forward. We've gotta make it to Altissia soon. Lunafreya ain't gonna wait forever for us."
"So he's coming with us then?" Noct asks, looking up. He'd been crouching over the cub as they'd talked, inspecting the wounds while keeping his distance, but now he stands again, coming around the mama coeurl to them, leaving Prompto back there alone. "I don't mind, but he better not mess up the Regalia."
"I'm still not certain this will go well, but if we're to do this, we'll wrap him in the spare blanket that's in the trunk," Ignis says. "It will contain any mess, and keep him from attempting to attack us, as well, until he's more familiar with us. We're lucky that he's too young to have fully developed his whiskers yet. I'd say he's about six months, from the looks of his size. Old enough to leave his den but young enough to still need his mother's help in hunting. When we release him, we may need to find another pack around. They'll be likely to adopt him as one of them, and he'll be able to learn to hunt, which will give him a better chance to live. He—"
"Wow," Iris says, interrupting him. She can tell he's just getting warmed up, and though she's faintly amused, she's also tired and hungry and ready to leave. Not to mention still hurting from thinking about her dad and her cat, and she wants to get somewhere else where she can distance herself from her thoughts. "Noct and Gladdy were right. You do have an obsession with coeurls."
His face going red, Ignis falls silent as he finally gets to his feet. He brushes the inevitable dirt off his clothes, clearly needing the moment to compose himself before he responds. "Yes. Well," he says, somewhat stiffly, "be thankful my knowledge will allow us to undertake this farce of caring for the cub now. We'll certainly need it."
Oops. She's hurt his feelings. She didn't mean to do that. "Sorry, Ignis. I do appreciate it. But I think we gotta focus on taking care of the cub for now."
"I'll get the blanket!" Prompto says, coming around to them and preparing to break into a run.
"I'll join you," Gladio says. "Shouldn't go alone. Don't know what you might run into."
Prompto flashes him a grin. "Better keep up then."
Reaching out, Gladio shoves lightly at his shoulder. "You're not the only one good at running, kid."
Another quick grin is the only response he gets to that, and then Prompto's taking off, zooming over to the river bank before dashing along it, leaving Gladio sputtering for only a moment before he begins to give chase.
"No making out!" Noct calls after them, and Gladio waves a hand in acknowledgement.
"Provided they don't get distracted, they should be back within the half hour," Ignis says, looking down at the mama coeurl. "We'll need to decide what to do with the mother."
"Bury her," Iris says immediately. It's stupid, and morbid, but... she's still thinking of her dad. She hates to think of him still lying within the ruins of the destroyed Caelum Via Hotel, but she's not ignorant to the realities of war, even if it'd been distant from her for most of her life. Niflheim isn't going to take the time to bury the people they'd killed, or allow any Lucians to do so. Her dad's entombed in the rubble, at least until they can take the city back. The least she can do is give this poor coeurl a proper burial.
Thankfully, neither Noct nor Ignis try to argue with her. "Think there's a shovel in the Regalia," Noct says. "I'll text Gladio to bring it."
"Have him bring me some painkillers and an Ebony too, please. I've gotten quite the dreadful headache. The painkillers should be in the driver's side door, and the Ebony in the cooler in the trunk," Ignis adds, rubbing at his forehead.
"You have a headache because of the Ebony," Noct mutters, but he obediently begins to type another text. "Sent," he says a minute later, and the three of them settle down to wait for Gladio and Prompto's return.