Piercing Through the Darkness

A/N: Fair warning. Read now before proceeding if you have not finished the game. This fic contains a huge spoiler that gets revealed in Chapter 13. This fic is meant to examine that particular spoiler. I will not be held accountable if you learn something you were not prepared for otherwise proceed on and enjoy the fic. Given there are a lot of things that do not get fully explored in FF15 I am using this fic as a highly speculative story of how things might have been like. For help with perspective, this takes place during Noctis's early high school years. Happy reading!

"Damn," Noctis swore under his breath. What started off as a systematic attempt to pick off his targets one by one turned in to a desperate barrage of random gunshots. No matter how much he tried to aim (or how close the target was) he kept missing. His pulse pound hard in his ear as the frightful beings kept inching closer. The horde came at him seemingly from every angle and consumed him in an all-out blood-splattering feast.

"Game over!" the arcade machine taunted him. In a fit of childish tantrum, Noctis slammed the plastic pistol back into its holder.

Stupid machine, he thought as he eyed it suspiciously. Probably not calibrated properly.

That theory flew out the window as he spied Prompto unleashing on his own set of zombies. The blonde boy smiled ear to ear as he downed one zombie after another all the while taunting cockily at each one of them, daring them to come and get him. Adding insult to Noctis's injured pride, Prompto didn't just shoot straight at his targets. No, he spun around and posed as if doing trick shots but nonetheless he hit every single zombie. Noctis narrowed his eyes in disbelief as he studied his friend, whom was having the time of his life. With his school uniform on Prompto performed with suave elegance, like a movie spy character, which was usually not seen from the clumsy blonde.

"Hell yeah! High score!" Prompto declared as he arrogantly thumbed his nose at the machine. "Take that, zombie bitches. Prompto never misses his mark."

"How did you do it?"

"Huh?"

Prompto halted his victory dance and stared as Noctis crossed his arms against his chest.

"How were able to hit every single one of them? You claim to never miss a mark but how were you actually able to shoot all those. These toy guns can't aim for shit but no way you're that lucky to actually hit every single zombie. What's your secret?"

Prompto shrugged his shoulders. "Just gotta know how to compensate for crappy equipment. It's like going hunting during bad weather and having to account for wind strength and direction. Things like that."

"Hunting?" Noctis quirked a questioning eyebrow. "What do you know about hunting? You're one of the biggest animal lovers I know to the point I'm actually surprised you're not a vegetarian. I can't see you pointing a gun to another living being."

Prompto sighed and stared remorsefully at the ground, biting his lip in hesitation. After a brief pause of trying to find the right words, Prompto finally mumbled out, "Not like father gave me any options."

- 10 years prior –

Cold rain streamed down his face. Thin lips trembled incessantly as he fought the urge to shiver. His helmet did very little to block out the deluge while the rain persisted on pushing the water into his face. It would have been far worse if the wind actually whipped hard so he hunkered down and suffered through the storm. Besides, Drill Sergeant did not tolerate weakness. He already viewed the boy as a little runt with not much to offer; he had to prove Drill Sergeant wrong…after all, his life depended on it.

The barracks were sectioned off by age groups. Their training built up over the years. The weaklings were plucked off little by little so that only the most elite left standing were deemed worthy enough to become full-fledged soldiers. It has been this way since the day he was born, when his destiny was branded into his wrist, and was raised to be a super soldier. "It is an honorable destiny," Drill Sergeant would remind them. To serve Niflheim against the greedy Lucian Empire. One time Drill Sergeant reminded him with a hard backhand to the face when he dared ask why the Lucians were so bad when they never attempted to attack. Drill Sergeant then informed him that the mind of a five-year-old simpleton could not comprehend the politics but had to trust that the Lucians were only lying in wait for the perfect moment to strike. The history between the two empires were vaguely taught and Prompto understood that it played out a bit like a volleyball match with each side taking turns in serving the ball. However for the last few decades Niflheim had been engaged in persistent spiking of the ball with Lucis playing defense but never switching to offense. This confused Prompto as he came to view Lucis as fish in a barrel waiting for a stick of dynamite to finally obliterate them and to him that just seemed unfair.

But war is not fair and Niflheim could not risk letting their guard down. A single moment of weakness always costed lives, which was why he now stood in the middle of the forest, in ice cold rain, for sniping practice. Prompto was not exactly sure how this would work when he could no longer feel his fingers.

"Cadets," Drill Sergeant barked out. "Mother Nature will not give a damn about what your mission is or how hard it may be. She works on her schedule and if she decides to screw you with a storm or heat wave or whatever else she may throw at you then you must be ready to take it on and compensate for those inconveniences. Your survival will rest on your ability to be flexible, to adjust to her temperament. Aurium!"

A taller boy in the front row stepped forward. His back was perfectly straight in attention. Prompto never talked to him, not that Aurium (funny how he didn't even know the boy's first name) would have spoken to him. The brunette was older and served as an example to Prompto's squadron, kind of like Drill Sergeant's right hand man. He had no business socializing with the lower ranked lad.

"Take aim," came the command.

Aurium dropped to his belly, squishing into the mud. After hoisting the rifle up and securing the butt against the shoulder, Aurium peered down the scope and waited. Prompto tilted his head to the side, attempting to get a better view (he was determined to one day actually be tall). Not seeing anything, Prompto squinted as if he would get a better view of the target. There! A flash of yellow darted through the bushes. A moving target! This was new. They had always used stationary points for practice. This exercise would surely separate the platoon based on skill level. Prompto's heart pounded in his chest as he knew this was a true test for skill. Pressing his lips together, Prompto fought the urge to smirk as he had been craving this kind of challenge after mastering conventional target practice.

Rustle! The bushes moved slightly but the target was well hidden this time. Aurium stood his ground and patiently watched for the right moment. Finally the large feathery object popped out and a split-second later the bullet silently slipped through the barrel, piercing through the animal's skull.

Prompto wanted to gasp but the lump in his throat blocked it. Feeling his eyes starting to widen, he quickly blinked to regain his composure despite his heart beating a million miles per minute.

A chocobo?

Having fallen into thick foliage, Prompto could no longer see the corpse and he thanked the gods for that. He recalled seeing a picture of one in a book he had smuggled into the dorms one night. He flipped through the pages while under his thick covers with only the aid of a small flashlight. Having never been off the military compounds, Prompto craved knowledge about the world beyond the barbed wire fence. While on cleaning rotation, Prompto caught sight of a book about the many fantastic creatures that prowled Eos. Naturally his curiosity was piqued and after chancing upon the page with the majestic large yellow bird, Prompto instantly fell in love. Oh how many dreams included riding on the back of a chocobo. He surely would rather shoot pictures than bullets at one.

"Alright, Boys." Drill Sergeant's voice snapped Prompto back to reality. "Now you see what you're up against. You have grown too accustomed at shooting motionless objects. Lucian soldiers will be anything but motionless. Ready!"

The entire row in front of Prompto stepped forward and dropped to the ground.

"Aim!"

Rifles were positioned followed by sudden movements in the forest as bushes shook as several chocobos, one for each boy on the ground, darted in and out of the trees. Panic punched him in the stomach as he realized there would be enough chocobo for each troop to hunt down.

Every boy used his scope to follow a bird. Once a cadet had a clear shot, the chocobos began crashing down to the ground as the bullets silently glided through the air. All save for one chocobo who kept running around frantically as if trying to search for an escape, as if knowing he was being hunted. Prompto eyed the boy in front of him as his body began to quiver. His gun frantically followed the creature though having difficulty keeping up with the erratic behavior. The trigger was pulled but the bird kept running. The boy set the next bullet into the chamber, pulled the trigger, yet the chocobo still stood. Reset, pull, reset, pull. Bang!

Prompto jumped not anticipating the loud gunshot as the pistol went off. The boy's head jerked sideways before landing into the soft mud. Red streams flowed through the rivets in the rain-eroded mud toward Prompto's feet. The chocobo still stood…the cadet did not.

"Let this be a lesson to you all!" Drill Sergeant's voice rose above the sudden gust of wind. "Remember that the Lucian royalty have the ability to warp to a target. This ability have bestowed upon the Kingsglaive. If you miss your target, then you have revealed your location. You're an easy target to get picked off by a warp attack. That means you're dead. You must take out your target first. Ready your mark!" he commanded once again.

Prompto immediately hit the mud right next to his dead comrade. Through his scope, he slowly searched out his target. Several yellow blurs passed by signaling that the next batch had been released. One caught his attention but immediately fell to someone else's bullet. Then another. Then another. Prompto watched as each fell to their death, each fall slowly adding to the salty pool gathering in his eyes and obscuring his vision. Finally only one stood. The one now meant for him. The small chocobo nudged at a bigger chocobo, crying out to it only to be answered with silence. Prompto watched the juvenile refusing to leave the body of perhaps its mother. The defined shape of its head suddenly turned into a large fuzzy ball. Feeling a surge of mud press against the side of his leg, Prompto finally pulled the trigger and watched as the bullet flew though a black speck in the yellow and out the back of the chocobos head. The chocobo plopped beside the bigger chocobo, neither of them moving again. After blinking his tears into the rain cascading down his face, Prompto turned to find himself face to face with the barrel of Drill Sergeant's pistol but the gun instantly disappeared as a look of approval flashed across his face.

"Through the eye. Perfect shot, Argentum."

"Yes, Sir," Prompto responded like a preprogrammed robot though he dared not say anything that might be misconstrued as insubordination. As he stood to fall back into formation, Prompto took one last look at his kill.

I'm sorry but my survival depended on it.

- Present-

"Before I moved into the city, we had to be able to protect ourselves. Have you ever seen the types of beasts that roam the vast wilderness?! Some are quite dangerous, ya know. Had to learn how to shoot them down. It's all about survival really. Every now and then though some of those kills did come with tasty rewards. I may be an animal lover but I still like a good behemoth steak too," Prompto winked playfully though his eyes looked somber. "I'll be honest though. I am a bit rusty."

Noctis's face fell at Prompto's modesty, not quite sure if the boy honestly meant it or just showing off. "I'm pretty sure our definition of rusty is quite different. Perhaps one day you can teach me how to shoot. Ignis is always pushing me to learn a new skill."

Prompto mulled the idea over in his head before turning to Noctis with a smirk. "I'll teach ya but only if you beat me at Zombie Quest."

A chuckle escaped Prompto's lips as Noctis's face fell, knowing full well that was never happening. He watched as the prince marched out of the arcade sporting a mild tantrum over not getting his way. His face softened, feeling slightly guilty over denying his best friend over a learning opportunity.

Sorry buddy, but I swore an oath that I would never pick up a gun ever again so long as my survival doesn't depend on it.

A/N: I have a few ideas to further explore Prompto's background and character that I may end up exploring but definitely had to get this first part out of my head. Hope you enjoyed it!