iwillshieldhim | What Stalks in the Night [for fieryknowledge]

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What Stalks in the Night [for fieryknowledge]

The day had started out like any other. The pinging of Ignis' phone alarm. The snuggle of Prompto because that kid turned out to be a snuggler at night and always tried to hide it in the morning. The grumbling from Noct. Breakfast. Clean up. Deciding what to do.

Today turned out to be a day for a hunt. Good. Gladio itched for a fight today and a hunt mean a fight and gil, even if the latter was the more necessary right now. Those damn energy drinks for Noct to turn into potions were annoyingly expensive; thank the Six they were popular enough to be absolutely everywhere even if the blasted things were pricey.

The hunt itself proved to be surprisingly elusive, though. Most of the afternoon was spent in just trying to track down the beast, perched on the backs of their chocobos with maps pulled out and a lot of cursing because this place proved to be a bit of a maze of canyons cut into the rock. Eventually, they found it, though, and Gladio had to admit... this wasn't going to be easy.

It was almost like a giant scorpion, except it had paws and a sort-of-face like a lion and it was furred. The tipster had called it a Chimera; Gladio called it ugly. By the end of the long, damn difficult fight, he had called it several far less appropriate names. It had managed to put the hurt on all of them, but only Gladio had taken a blow from its glowing tail, stabbing right into the muscle of his left arm. One of those expensive potions had taken care of that, or so they thought, and they had gone back to camp stinking, exhausted, and ready to just get some food in their stomachs and pass out.

But as they finally saw camp in the distance, Gladio was surprised at how the heat of the day was clinging to him because he felt even more sticky-sweaty under the leather. Fuck. Last thing he needed right now was to have to air-dry his fatigues, but he probably wasn't going to have a choice.

Little did he know.

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Ignis barely registered the hand hauling him up. Hells, he barely even realized that Gladio was upright at first, thinking that he'd just lurched over again. Once he realized that he was up, that the glow was close enough to touch, he bit back a muffled curse and clambered up and onto the flat of the haven proper, his hand absently reaching down for Gladio.

Gladio took it but it was mostly his own scramble up that saved him from the voretooth that got closest and tried to bite his ankle. He sat there on the edge of the haven, breathing far harder than he should have, but it was obvious how wrong his body was because he could barely get oxygen into his lungs and his head was going in massive fast circles. He could vaguely taste blood (with no idea he'd swallowed it or what was going on) but worst of all was the heat.

"Ig-" he croaked, looking over at Ignis but his vision blurred so he closed his eyes. Where were Prompto and Noct?

By the time that Gladio had righted himself on the edge of the haven, Ignis had rolled over onto his side and done his best to curl up on himself. Now that he had a moment to breathe, he allowed himself to feel the pain racking his body and oh, he wished he hadn't. Everything ached at best and at worst... he couldn't even put a name to how it felt.

He hadn't even realized that his pants were ruined, unable to stay up on their own, or the torn and missing skin that heralded a hell of a struggle to get them down. All he knew was that he was in pain and it wouldn't stop. Each breath was a struggle when all he wanted to do was close his eyes and let it wash him away.

What the hell happened? He hit his knees when the world spun again but he worked his way over to Ignis, trying to get his eyes to focus on whatever had happened to his friend. He could hear Ignis struggling to breathe and that scared him even more than his own condition, because when he put his hand to Ignis' arm he realized how cold the other felt (without realizing it was him who was burning up). There was a terrible dark something on his neck that didn't come off when his fingers wiped across it, squinting through his blurred vision and the faint light of the haven's center fire. Bruising...?

What the fuck happened? Had something attacked them both? Why couldn't he remember anything of the last- he wasn't even sure how long. For now, all he could do was slowly work Ignis closer to the magical blue fire and collapse behind him, breathing hard himself as he nearly passed back out. "Iggy, I got ya," he whispered, but he knew there was nothing in him to fight right now.

He didn't know why, but the feel of that burning hot skin touching his made him shrink back, curling up a bit tighter as if to ward himself away from it. There was no reason why in his brain, but his instincts were wary and hardwired not to trust anything right then... even Gladio, for some reason.

The hand along his neck made it worse, made him shiver and tense up only to groan at the tug of sore, abused muscles. When Ignis turned his eyes toward Gladio, they were glassy and there was fear in them.

"... need to let them know we're out here."

Gladio had to close his eyes after he tried to focus on Ignis, because seeing his friend looking that afraid threatened to frighten him in ways he couldn't explain. He nodded, reaching down and slowly finding the cell phone thankfully still in his pocket.

In the end, he had to use the voice command on his phone to dial Prompto - not Noct. Prompto might get more upset but Noct was rash, strong headed, and more likely to panic in this situation. Prompto would listen to reason even if he didn't like it.

"Gladio?! Where are you guys?! We've been worried-"

"Shut up and listen. Got Ignis. We're both hurt." A rasp of his voice, trying to stay focused but it was so damn hard. "At a haven. Don't know where. Keep Noct there until morning! Don't risk him. Go out... after first light."

"O-Okay. I'll try to keep him here. Just- there's potions in the armiger! Use them!"

Which was surprisingly smart of the kid. "Yeah. You gotta protect him-" his words were slurring. "Promise me you'll protect him."

"P-Promise. You've got my word."

And gladio believed it. He barely managed to hang up but the cell phone fell from his head as he found himself dry heaving.

As Gladio spoke, Ignis let himself go, his brain drifting off into that half-conscious state that spoke of shock and worse things. Each passing second made him aware of more and more things that hurt. His throat was raw and bruised almost as badly as the back of his neck was. His back and sides stung where skin had been sloughed off in bloody strips and between his legs, he was still sluggishly bleeding with each shift or bunch of his body.

The sound of retching tugged at his hazy mind and for a moment, he cracked open his eyes and peered over at his companion. It was in his nature to try to help, but he couldn't get his rebellious body to respond and honestly, he was almost too worn to try again.

"What-"

"Dunno." Muttered, his eyes closed as he laid there confused, realizing idly that the inside of his mouth was fairly torn up and his cheek really smarted, but mostly it was the terrible heat throughout his body and the dizziness that kept him from getting upright again. Was he bleeding anywhere? Had he been stabbed? No, bloodloss made you cold. Infection?

Maybe. It was past his ability to know, but Prompto had a good point. With every bit of effort he could manage, he tugged a potion free of the armiger where their stash was hidden away, then pressed it to Ignis' arm. "Heal."

And again, Ignis shrunk back when Gladio came near. He wasn't even aware he was doing it. All he knew was that he hurt and wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and pass out again. His reasoning mind knew that the potion would help but the base animal in him was petrified and wanted to get away...

Sighing roughly, he wrapped shaking fingers around the potion and did his best to break it open, moaning under his breath when he finally managed it. It eased the pain to something resembling more of an ache than anything and allowed the sluggish bleeding to finally seal up and stop, but Ignis was still pale and shaky thanks to blood loss and the bruises, while not quite as livid as before, were still very evident along his skin.

"You need one too. Too hot."

Had... Ignis pulled away from him? Was Ignis afraid of him? Never in their lives had Ignis been afraid of him, always calm and collected and giving him some hard looks before they became friends but never afraid. What in the hells was going on?

Still, he pulled out a second potion and just let it crash to his chest in his hands, groaning as the coolness started to spread but it only took the edge off the terrible heat. He wouldn't know it stopped his brain from cooking inside of his own skull given his temperature.

It was taking everything in him not to pass back out. If he did... he was certain they could die before the morning came, potions or not. "...You- you know what happened?" Because clearly something attacked them but... what? Why couldn't he remember anything? Had he taken a blow to the head?

As the pain had eased, so had some of the tension in Ignis' muscles. He was limp now, sprawled on his side as he ever so slowly started to uncurl. Right then, he was on the edge of unconsciousness but Gladio's voice tugged him back. Groaning in protest, his opened his eyes again and tried to focus on his friend but weariness wouldn't allow it...

... when did he lose his glasses? Is that why his face was scraped up? Had they ended up broken?

"... I don't remember a lot. I left the haven to look for herbs to use for dinner. Something... it chased me. Big and strong. It... held me down-"

Ignis' voice faded at that, the hand near his waist slowly reaching up to tug the remains of his pants a little closer to his body.

It took longer than Gladio would ever care to admit to realize what Ignis was saying. His eyes followed the movement of that hand, staring with barely half-opened eyes, before it registered. Something... something had hunted Ignis down and- Gladio felt a sick churn in his stomach, almost violently, before he breathed out hard. "Iggy..." Quiet, sympathetic, but with no idea what to do. What was out there that would do something like that? What kind of sick monster?

He laid there, feeling more helpless than he'd felt in his life, and it was an even more sickening feeling. "...get some sleep," he murmured. "I'll keep watch." Because one of them had to. If they both passed out again... even in a haven, there were people who could find them who they wouldn't want to.

The tone of Gladio's voice left him feeling even colder than before, a shiver sliding through him as he tried to nod in agreement. Right. Sleep. Sleep would help. He was already so tired and sleep would be a good thing to help his body start to get itself back to normal.

Sighing, he curled up again, his eyes closing after a moment, though he was still oddly aware of Gladio's presence. It was... uncomfortable but he was glad he wasn't alone. Gladio would keep him safe. He could trust Gladio-

The depths of their injuries and sickness showed when they woke not within the haven, but on soft beds. Both Gladio and Ignis were tucked up into beds, but as it turned out, not in the same room. Ignis' wounds had been tended to and he had been washed, but only time would fully take away all of the damage done. The faint, familiar taste of potions would linger on his tongue, potions used to handle the internal damage.

But he wasn't alone in his room. On a chair near the door sat, of all people, Cor Leonis, carefully working a whetstone over the length of the katana in his lap, the quiet ringing repetitive as he worked to correct a nick in the blade.

It was a familiar sound. Familiar enough that when he came to enough to actually register hearing it, he almost drifted back to sleep. The pain he remembered was gone now, replaced by a faint, lingering ache that was nothing more than stiff muscles. He'd felt worse when he had first started training and still felt worse after a long hunt and the like. His throat was still scratchy feeling, but it didn't hurt. It felt more like disuse than anything else.

It took him longer than he realized to properly wake up and even then, it was just barely. He was still tired since his sleep had been anything but restful, but he felt... better, considering what had happened. Still, he couldn't let it linger. There were things that needed doing. He could handle what had happened in his own way, and later.

Huffing under his breath, he reached up and scrubbed a hand through his hair as he got himself sitting upright only to freeze when he saw who was with him... and that he wasn't where he last remembered.

".... Marshal."

"Ignis." Calm and measured as the Marshal always was, not even looking up from the methodical work on his blade. "Glass of water, right next to you." He was very well aware of what had happened to Ignis, far more than either of the two injured parties knew. Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time he had seen something of this sort, and their bodies had been puzzles that fit far too well together in the story.

"It's a little after nine in the morning. We found you not long after dawn yesterday morning." Ignis was the sort of man who needed facts, who needed to know what was going on to be able to settle in his mind, but Cor was well aware it had to be done in pieces, in this case, to keep from overwhelming the younger man.

He'd been out for that long?

Facts were good. Concrete knowledge was good. What wasn't was the lingering confusion still swirling in his head. That vague confusion was probably clear as he absently reached for the mentioned glass, draining it rather robotically as he tried to start piecing things together.

"... Noctis? He's safe? Was he with you when you found me?"

His first concern. Not for himself.

A safe topic to keep on, so Cor chose to answer. "The King is safe." His emotions remained absent as he put down the whetstone and tested the feel of the place the nick had been carefully with the edge of his thumb. "It wasn't me who found you. I kept him under my eye, here, until you were located. For that you can thank Auburnbrie when you see him next." Dave, the hunter.

If Noctis had been able to control himself, instead of panicking, he could have gone out with Dave and two of his hunters to search for Ignis and Gladio with only the knowledge that they had found a haven, but Noctis' safety, even from himself, took priority.

Well, that was the first thing that'd gone right in days. Ignis' relief was visible, the tension lining his shoulders and back easing almost immediately. While that didn't ease a lot of Ignis' confusion, it helped ease his mind. Sighing, he absently scratched at his cheek before realizing that he was clean. That knowledge sent awareness screaming back into his mind. He couldn't help but shift a bit uncomfortably, quietly thankful that Cor was busy with his blade to be watching him.

"Yes. Well. I'll be certain to offer him my gratitude the next time I see him."

If Ignis truly thought Cor was occupied with his blade, he would be wrong. Cor was watching him closely but allow Ignis that certain privacy. He himself had taken care of Ignis once he had been brought back, not allowing Noctis or Prompto to see what had been done for all of their sakes. Gladio had been handled by Dave and his men (it had taken more than one to properly haul an unconscious Gladio around) but there was no doctor to be had. They were dealing with potions and antidotes to try and stop what had infected the Shield.

"Noctis and Prompto are waiting to see you, but I told them they'll have to wait until you give the okay. They're in the next room over, and Gladiolus is on the other side of this one."

For a moment, the urge to argue about the cost of three rooms was there, waiting on the tip of his tongue. Something else was closer to the forefront of his mind, though. Just the mention of Gladio's name made Ignis lick his lips, a nervous reaction and a telling one. He didn't really remember what had happened, but he knew that Gladio had been part of it.

"... Gladiolus. He was... ill. How is he?"

Very telling, and it prompted what he chose to say next.

"...He's alive," Cor said quietly as a start. He had handled the cost of the rooms which, in fact, were currently costing them nothing except a favor owed to Cor by the motel's owner. "However, there was some form of poison or venom that went untreated and infected all of him. ...Currently he is chained to his bed and has yet to regain complete consciousness due to the fever, we believe. His Majesty mentioned that earlier that day, you had taken on a particularly dangerous hunt?"

He was well aware how much information that was, but he wanted to start to find out how much Ignis knew of the attack and Gladiolus' behavior leading up to it.

Chained?

Brow furrowed, he kept himself from questioning that simple fact, though it wasn't easy. The only reason he didn't was that he trusted the Marshal. He respected him. If that was trying the best course of action, then he knew that it was something that Cor had agreed with.

That didn't make it any easier to think about, though.

His question pulled Ignis' mind back to the moment, an absent nod his answer at first.

"Yes. A rather nasty chimera that had been plaguing the locals. It was a hard fight, but we won. We were all hurt, but... we took care of it. Gladiolus as well. At least, I thought he was taken care of. I should've checked better-"

"I've seen chimeras before." This was where he had to be cautious because he knew it could rapidly progress. "Terrible beasts. Local legends say that it's from a daemon mating with one of the behemoths, and what was born could stay in the daylight but preferred to come out at night." Which might explain why they had been forced to fight it in a cave. "...supposedly," his voice staying calm but there was that brief, almost telling pause, "it's forced to find something to mate with it to create more of them, then it eats the mate like a praying mantis."

Ignis' face was expressionless as he listened to Cor. He'd heard the local legends about their prey and as usual, he hadn't taken much of it to heart. Sure, it could lead to some knowledge about the beast's habits and mannerisms and such, but little else. Each word from Cor made his stomach twist a little tighter. He had no clear memory of everything, but there were flickers of images if he thought about it hard enough, and what he saw there made him want to stop thinking about it.

He remembered seeing Gladio coming out of the underbrush. He remembered the unholy light in his usually warm amber eyes. He remembered crushing pressure at the back of his neck, begging words-

He hadn't realized that his hand was clenched up in the sheet still covering him and he hadn't realized that his skin had paled even more than before. No, his brain was locked in a loop of those images still lingering in the back of his mind.

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