The forest was utterly, blissfully silent, a rare blessing in such days of darkness. There seemed a temporary reprieve from the daemons that normally scoured at night. The moon above shone a hazy beam that leaked its way through the branches, giving a dim light for the only being that dared to move.

Adelia Canicus moved through the brush, a dark blur bathed in moonlight. She took care that the hood of her cloak was carefully secured over the stark lightness of her hair. While she normally coveted her silky blond tresses, they served as more of a boon at times like these. Times when she needed to be certain she was not seen.

She finally caught sight of the glowing runes of the haven, and let out an involuntary sigh of relief. She had been tracking the group of men for a few days, but tonightwas the first time she had felt the rush of panic of losing them. Her targets were not exactly unpredictable, but she still loathed the idea of tracking them from scratch.

She examined the group from afar as she settled herself in a bush noiselessly. They had lit a fire on the rocks, and were lounging around it, blissfully unaware of the pair of sharp azure irises that were studying their every move.

The largest of the four hunched in his seat, polishing an oversized greatsword, his chair threatening to give way under his hulking form. He smirked and nodded at something a blond man said next to him.

The smaller man was practically bouncing in his seat with some unspoken, bursting excitement as he clung to a contraption in his hands. He was grinning and joking constantly, his spiky blond head whipping in several directions as he pulled the other men near him into conversation.

The dark haired man next to him seemed to be trying very hard to appear interested, though he was failing, based on his slouched body language. Adelia realized with a start that she was staring at the future king of Lucis, Prince Noctis, her primary target. She tried to imagine this brooding slip of a man in power and scrunched her nose in distaste.

The last man in the party she found to be much harder to read. His posture was impeccable, almost laughably so when paired with the dingy camping equipment, his spectacles glinting in the firelight when he moved. His long, thin frame oozed grace and poise, and she suddenly found herself marveling at his languid gesturing. This man was more put together than the rest of them combined.

She blinked once and the admiration faded, replaced with a furious determination. She had a job to do.

As the top spy to the Empire, her task was to follow the Prince and his comrades, as well as report their location and activities back to Niflheim. It had been a high honor, requested directly from Chancellor Izunia.

She still remembered the rush of pride at being specially selected to serve the Empire that had raised her, trained her, made her into the finely tuned being she was, to her full potential. On her own for the very first time.

And the Chancellor's eyes when he had bid her good luck... she couldn't shake what she saw in them. While a bit unsettling, it had sent a rush of excitement coursing through her. Finally, she had earned a chance to prove herself.

Lost in her thoughts, she took a step back - and heard the crack of a twig beneath her foot. She cursed inwardly and immediately lowered herself closer to the ground, scarcely daring to breathe. Her eyes darted to the group of men, trying to gauge how safe she was.

They seemed relatively unchanged, except for the oddly composed one - who, though he had been chatting amicably with his companions moments before, now had his cool gaze fixed toward the forest. There was a split second where she swore he made eye contact with her, blazing emeralds meeting sapphires through the dense brush, but soon enough the blond had called out to him and his head twisted away.

Adelia let out the breath she had been holding and scolded herself for her stupidity. One more careless mistake like that and her whole career was over. No more distractions.

She lowered her head to the ground, making sure she stayed completely hidden, and waited for morning.

"Gladio, check this one out!"

Prompto extended his camera for the warrior to inspect the digital display. Gladiolus' eyes flicked from his weapon to the camera, and he grinned at the image. He was mid-jump, arms gripping his sword in preparation to counterattack.

"Not bad, Prompto,"

The blond man smiled toothily back at Gladio's praise, and brought the contraption back to his chest to examine the rest. "I did get some sweet pics today, if I do say so myself."

Noctis picked a stick up off of the ground and through it in the fire, throwing a sideways glance at his excitable friend. "If you'd put the camera down once and a while maybe you'd be able to rack up some tallies like Gladio and I," he teased, referring to their competition as to who could take out the most enemies every battle.

Prompto was about to issue a retort, but stopped short as Gladio butted in.

"Last I checked, Noct, I was three for three. What tallies are you counting?"

Ignis looked up from his book and shot a look their way. "Perhaps number of naps taken?"

This earned a whoop from Prompto.

"Iggy, coming in for the clutch!"

Noctis threw a stick at him.

The exchange was typical for a night of camping from the group, light teasing, but mostly enjoying the warm fire and one another's company. They all did their best to keep morale high, despite the severity of their task and the situation itself. Already they were noticing more of an Imperial presence, with more and more showing up in drop ships by the day. It was more of a nuisance than anything else, but still a cause for worry.

Ignis had gone back to reading his book after their exchange when a peculiar noise made him look up toward the trees.

"Did you hear that?"

Noctis looked to him leisurely, obviously minutes away from sleep. "Hear what, Specs?"

"A twig snapped. There, in the trees."

Prompto waved him off, his eyes still trained on the screen of the camera before him. "You worry too much, Iggy. Probably just an animal or something,"

Ignis reluctantly tore his sights away from the bushes and turned toward the gunslinger. "Yes. Perhaps you're right."

He tried to relax with the others, but he found he couldn't shake the sudden feeling that they were being watched.

Gauging interest in this. If you all are persuasive, the next chapter should be up soon! Happy reading, all! -AC