Dewdrops At Dawn (Prompto)

Chapter 1 - "There's The Signal!"

Note: Travelling in three trucks total to a distant outpost from Lestallum: Hunters are in the first truck with the captain, Glaives are in the second one which is carrying supplies, and the female OC "Alexus" is in the third vehicle with another group of Glaives.

Based on "FF15: Comrades" - Glaives equip sigils to use elemental magic, conjuring weapons, and using warp strikes.

Hunters cannot use spells, summon weapons, or warp strike.

Start:

Without warning, the driver slammed on the brakes to a screeching halt.

"What's going on?" I asked, moving up past the other Glaives towards the back open window of the truck to ask the driver what happened.

Some of the others who had fallen asleep had jerked awake at the harsh stop. The others who were in mid-conversation amongst themselves had cut short their discussion and became alert. They started to look towards the first truck stopped ahead of us to see what was happening.

"There seems to be a handful of daemons blocking the path." Miles answered from behind the wheel. "Looks like the captain is already out there with the rest of his group to fight them off. We can't move anywhere and by the looks of it, it might take some time to clear all of them. Might have to keep an eye out, in case they need some back up. But I'm sure those Hunters can handle themselves just fine."

"Okay, thanks for letting me know." I said with a nod.

Moving back towards the part of the truck where I was sitting before, several pairs of curious eyes were looking at me for some answers.

"Seems like the captain is busy with his team engaging the enemy. We'll be on standby until further notice. Until then, keep your eyes peeled if we're needed." I announced.

"Oh man!" Gutsco spoke up, stretching his hands over his head. "Just when I was starting to get comfortable too." He said through a yawn.

"What are you talking about? The rest of us had to listen to your obnoxious snoring for the past five miles. I'd say you were already comfortable enough." Tobul said with a quick shake of his head, earning a few laughs.

"What can I say? When beauty sleep calls, I'm picking up the phone." Gutsco said with a shrug. "But now it looks like it's time for some action soon, so I'm going to hop off and stretch my limbs for a bit."

"I'm sure you'll get back to your beauty sleep soon enough, they'll finish them off and we'll be back on the road in no time." I said with a wave of my hand.

Elea stood up and jumped off the back of the truck.

"Gutsco, you made a good point. Everyone! It's about time to get up and walk around for a bit." Elea said as she began to walk off.

"I agree." I said, getting up as well. "Move your limbs around. Take some time to stretch."

The others had started to get out of the truck. I made my way over to the side window to Miles and knocked on it a few times to get his attention. He rolled down the window.

"Everything okay?" He asked me, looking back and seeing how everyone else was out of the truck.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just letting you know we're all taking a few minutes to stretch. Thought you could use some fresh air too." I said.

Opening the door of the truck to step down, Miles had stretched his legs by pulling them each up by the ankle.

"It's nice to take a break like this every now and then." Miles said before he walked over to the other side of the truck and pull out a bottle of water from one of the boxes in the back.

"Feels good to get out of the truck every now and then. Wouldn't you agree?" Tobul asked me as he walked up to me.

"Yeah I can't say I expected the Nohm Outpost to have been this far. This one is probably going to be my longest mission yet. It's definitely the most lively by far."

"What mission was that?" He asked me.

"It was an escort mission. I was taking a group of civilians to reunite them with some family they got separated from after daemons attacked the outpost they were living at."

"I remember that. The news reached me pretty late because I was too far out on the time helping to clear out the daemons who were getting too close to another outpost."

"I'm glad that you were there preventing what happened to the place I was sent to. Some of the things I've seen on missions... I will never be able to forget it. Doesn't matter how hard I try."

"It'll all be worth it when the King returns..." He paused for a moment. "Wait. What's with that look?"

Hearing that had surprised me, and it showed on my face without me realizing it.

"S- sorry. I just didn't expect to hear that." I said with a quick shake of my head.

"Aren't you the one always encouraging the others to believe in his return?" He asked me in confusion.

"Yeah but... I've heard what the others have said. How he might not ever return, and about they think he's even dead. It's been so many years anyone has seen or heard anything from him. They have no hope and I get why. But I know he'll come back, he has to."

"You have enough faith for the rest of us. I think that's enough."

"If anything, actually working with one of the royal retainers helped strength that faith." I said.

"Things have been different since he's been around. Plus, I'm not used to the amount of people working with us either but in all honesty, I am a bit relieved."

"Relieved?" I asked.

"That we have so many people to watch each other's backs. I feel better knowing we can switch out with the other teams to protect each other. I feel like we can do anything." Tobul said with a big grin. "I've only worked with the Hunters a few times on some of my past missions in all my years as a Glaive, but seeing what they can do out there these days... It makes me feel like we really have a shot to taking back Nohm and even more if we keep this up. That whole 'Hunter vs Glaive' dispute, it doesn't need to hold us back anymore like it has in the past."

"I never understood it. Hunters are every bit as powerful as we Glaives are, all in their own special ways. So I'll be sure to do my best. I can't be caught slacking in front of the Hunters now." I said with a short laugh in agreement.

"It's not a competition anymore. We finally have a better working relationship with them and I'm feeling good about it. We should've been working with them for missions like these from the get go and- Wait. Is that what I think it is?" He said suddenly, pointing up to the dark sky behind me.

There it was, the signal I didn't want to see. It meant that the Hunters have run into trouble and the daemons were overpowering them. A line of red colored smoke rose in the sky.

"Get ready." I told Tobul when I walked past him in a rush to get to the other Glaives who were gathered around, standing behind the truck.

"There's the signal! Get ready, we're going in!" I called out when I reached them in my rush, pointing to the others the red smoke from the flare gun.

Immediately, everyone began to head towards it.

"Move out! GO!" I called out to the other Glaives.

One by one, they picked up on their speed and warped away with their weapons towards the distress signal. Waiting until everyone had made their way over to the site of battle, I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm my mind.

"Please... Please be okay..." I said to myself, wanting nothing more than to make it on time before anybody got hurt.