What Stalks in the Night [for fieryknowledge]

[iwillshieldhim]

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.

Comments

[leonisroars]

Cor, prepared, was damn quick. He ducked the foot and his blade was out in a split second to block the blade from catching him, the ringing of metal echoing in the room. He moved back, but not far. "Ignis! Where are you? Focus on where you are, not where your fear is telling you that you are!" The katana shifted to lay along the length of the sheathe but was not returned, watching very closely in case Ignis lashed out again.

[fieryknowledge]

And lash out he did, but it was an aimless strike, meant more to encourage the phantom in his mind's eye to back away. Once again, he leveled his blade toward Cor, his hand shaking as he stared up at him, eyes blown out and wild. His breathing was as unsteady as his hands were but after a moment, those fearful eyes flicked away from Cor, taking in the room around him.

The brush from his dream was fading, replaced by a dark room and the rough brush of old, worn carpet under his hand. When he glanced back, the demon plaguing his nightmares was gone, replaced by an obviously armed Cor. Panting out a humorless chuckle, Ignis shifted again, trying his best to absently press deeper into the corner. It took a few more long moment before the blade shimmered out of Ignis' hand and when he dropped it to rest limp at his side, it was still shaking.

[leonisroars]

A step in the right direction, even if it wasn't a fantastic step. It wasn't until that blade disappeared that Cor quietly sheathed his own in a fluid motion, then he let out a breath. "Ignis." Trying to get the other to show a true sign of being aware, by responding to the command in his voice, slowly kneeling down to put himself down at Ignis' level again. "Ignis, let me know you're actually with me again." Not taking no for an answer or allowing him to remain apart. Focus would help keep away the nightmares, let them dissolve into unconsciousness again.

[fieryknowledge]

Glassy eyes never moved away from Cor, that almost feverishly intense gaze following him as he moved. He wanted to look away. He tried to look away but years of listening to that voice among many others had left a deep trust in Ignis and now, on instinct, he found himself listening.

The next breath he took was shaky, the second even more so, but he nodded after another moment of hesitation. He would've said something, but he didn't trust his voice quite yet.

[leonisroars]

"Good." A quiet tone of acceptance and Cor let out a breath. How were they going to be able to get these boys past this? There was so much that still had to be done, a world to save as it was going to hell under the Empire's grasp.

There might be only one choice, but the idea of it felt utterly wrong. "...Ignis, I think you are going to need to remain here for a time while the others venture out on hunts. It isn't fair, it isn't right, but there's another tomb nearby. It's either you or Gladio. You two need to come to a decision."

[fieryknowledge]

"Absolutely not."

As shaky as he was, duty came first and that meant being by Noctis' side and he knew Gladio would feel the same way. To ask one of them to remain behind, even for a short time, was damn near a slap in the face as far as he was concerned.

"I won't and if I know Gladiolus, he won't either. This... I can handle this. It doesn't matter if I remember-"

Lips pursed in a thin line, he shook his head.

"I'll be fine."