Night Light {FFXV/OT4}

Prompto

Chapter Three: Prompto

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Things really begun to get dangerous when the forest floor in front of Noctis and Gladio turned to a black pool of putrid sludge.

Several imps pulled themselves out of the decay, roused by the movement above them. The Chocobos were startled by the sudden appearance of the daemons so Gladiolus veered away, distancing himself and his steed from the imps. He knew it was essential they found this Magitek Trooper before it hurt anyone. Actually having a Chocobo would speed things up, so he grappled with his bird's tendency to run away in the face of danger.

Noctis however wasn't as quick in the uptake; he didn't react nearly as fast as his Shield had managed to. As the imps begun throwing balls of magic every which way his fluffy yellow Chocobo bucked him off with a squawk and ran deeper into the forest.

Gladio considered pursuing it on his own ride but quickly abandoned the idea. That would result in his charge having to fend off a hoard of imps on his own. What kind of Shield would he be if he abandoned Noctis to the wrath of bloodthirsty daemons over one Chocobo? Instead Gladiolus brought his Chocobo to a halt a fair distance from the imps, before he returned to Noctis's side. After a shared nod the two begun to beat down the imps.

Once it was over and the mangled daemon corpses were melting into sludge on the floor, the two made their way over to Gladiolus' Chocobo, who'd thankfully stayed put. They continued in the direction they'd left off, this time travelling by foot. Gladio knew that Noctis wouldn't be able to keep up with him if he travelled ahead on the Chocobo, even with his warping abilities.

"Hey Noct, can't you call your Chocobo back with that whistle?"

Gladio piped up with the suggestion after a few minutes of silent walking. He was referring to the Chocobo whistle they'd received from Wiz several weeks ago when the trio had taken down Deadeye, a behemoth who'd been terrorising the outpost. The Prince nodded eagerly at the suggestion, not wanting to walk. He reached into his pocket to procure the whistle, only to groan in disappointment.

"I don't have it. I gave it to Ignis when he went off on his own to get those potatoes, remember?"

Gladiolus merely grunted in confirmation that he recalled the moment. Just great. He'd said they should have stored that whistle in the ether, but nobody had listened.
He looked down at the Chocobo trotting along next to them, surprised as the bird started squawking and flapping its wings about. Gladio only just managed to avoid getting a face-full of feathers. He placed a hand on the Chocobo's soft neck to soothe it, looking over at the Prince. "Hey Noct, I bet it can sense the other Chocobo nearby. We must be close."

Noctis nodded at that and both men found themselves increasing their pace, Gladio silently thanking the Astrals that the runaway bird had sprinted off in the same direction their rogue MT had gone. They really needed to hurry this up he decided, eager to apprehend the soldier. They could put it down, return to camp and get on with their lives without further ado.

That was the plan, at least.

When Noctis and Gladiolus broke through the trees into a small clearing, they were surprised to find both the Chocobo and the Magitek Trooper all at once. They summoned their weapons from the ether, Gladio ready to slice the mechanical body in half at the first move the MT made. Just like he should have done the first time they'd encountered it.

Instead of jumping into a fight Noctis instead assessed the situation, trying to make sure he was fully aware of everything in this little clearing before he made any decisions. The Trooper was on the floor sitting against a tree, looking at them both. It didn't move an inch, seemingly frozen in place. The soldier's rifle was propped up against the same tree, although far enough away that the duo would have time to attack if the machine reached for it. They were on opposite sides of the clearing so the long ranged Magitek fighter would have the advantage for a few moments, but those precious seconds would have to be spent grabbing its gun.