It was late afternoon and already growing dark in the forest, the tree canopy overhead partially obscuring the sunlight. After Gladio had told him to shut up and suck it up, Prompto had stopped complaining out loud about the gnats and mosquitoes that were eating him alive, but they were all a little miserable because of the nasty little bloodsuckers. So when the crooked shingles of a dilapidated roof came into view, the four men were hopeful that this was the place they were looking for.
"At last," Noct sighed, "a house. Think this is the one?"
"Do we know the address so we can check?" Prompto asked.
"There's no address, you idiot," Noct snapped. "We're in the middle of the woods!"
"…Oh, yeah."
"That can't be the right place," Gladio said, stopping just behind the treeline, before the forest gave way to a little clearing. "That house is falling apart! I seriously doubt anybody lives there now."
"Look," said Ignis, pointing to the cloud drifting above the house's smokestack. "The chimney's active; someone must be home."
"Well, come on!" Noct urged his friends. "Let's get this over with so we can get out of here."
With grunts of agreement, the other three followed after Noct. The group breached the clearing and headed down the path that led over the hillside and around the front of a sorry little shack. The yard, if it could be called that, was fenced in by a crumbling brick wall. A tiny side table and chair were planted next to what looked like a barn door leading into the home, both covered in mold from disuse. As they approached, a shadowy figure came creeping from around the side of the house.
The group came to a collective halt. In the lead, Gladio flung out one of his arms to ward the others back, reaching for the hilt of his greatsword with his other hand. But he relaxed his stance a little when it became obvious they were being greeted by a frail old woman, a black shawl cloaking her head and shoulders. Something felt a bit off about her, they could all sense. But her appearance, at least, was harmless.
Noct was the first to recover and speak up. "H-hello."
"Greetings to you, child," the old woman croaked in response. With a sudden shriek, the wooden gate bolted to the stone wall surrounding the yard creaked open.
Gladio swallowed and, against his better judgment, stepped forward.
The four of them entered the yard where the old woman waited, her hands hidden behind her back.
"Welcome, dearies." The hag grinned, baring yellow teeth at them. "It is I, Kimya, you seek?"
"Just…searching for a dogtag," Noct explained, trying not to inhale her rotting breath.
The woman nodded with understanding, her head moving in shaky movements that couldn't seem to stop once they got going. "Belonged to a fallen Hunter, it did, yes? Deep inside the woods, found it, I did. Sent here by their leader, you were? Come to collect this tag, you have?"
Noct was getting a little impatient with the woman's strange speech. He grunted, "More or less."
Gladio looked the woman over with suspicion and morbid curiosity. "How come the Hunters aren't allowed here, anyway?" he asked suddenly. "Apparently this place is off-limits to the whole organization."
"Because a strong emnity toward me, they bear. Cast me out into the forest, they did. A 'witch,' they called me!"
"Wha—?!" Prompto cried, taking a step behind Gladio.
"What the hell?" Noct muttered.
The woman took his oath to be a request for further explanation. "Brew potions, I do; so," she cackled, "a witch, I must be!"
"A-Are you s-s-serious?" Prompto stammered, now holding onto the back of Gladio's jacket as he peeked over his shoulder.
"Believe so, you do?" the witch demanded. Her eyes flashed with anger.
Ignis had not yet been noticed by the strange woman. He took the opportunity to do some investigating, quietly slipping around the corner of the house to have a look around.
"Look, lady—miss witch—whatever," Noct interrupted. "We're only here for the tag, so…just give it to us, and we'll be on our way."
"Onto my land, you trespass! Demands you dare make!" The woman spit at Noct. "Insolent boy!"
"Not the first time I've been called that," Noctis admitted with a shrug.
Gladio slapped the prince's chest with the back of his hand, pushing him out of the way and nearly knocking the breath out of him while he was at it. "Listen," he said, dragging Prompto on his coattails as he stepped closer, "we're real sorry for the intrusion, ma'am, but we were asked to retrieve that tag as a favor to a good friend. Is there anything we can offer you in exchange for it, our way of saying thanks for finding it for us and keeping it safe?"
The woman cocked her head at him, her eyes glittering with suspicion.
"It doesn't belong to you, so hand it over," Noct ordered when it didn't seem as though she was going to take the bribe.
Her eyes became slits. "A lesson, you should learn," the old woman snarled, "in manners."
"We've been trying to teach him for years, believe me," Gladio sighed. "Please, can I offer you payment for the tag? Does three-thousand gil seem a fair price?"
Noct's jaw dropped. That was an awful lot of money to trade for someone else's property. They weren't even getting anything out of this. "Gladio!" he growled through gritted teeth, "what are you doing?"
"A use for your money, you think I have?" The woman laughed bitterly.
"Well…" Gladio glanced at the rundown shack dismally. "Yeah, I do."
"I do not!" she countered furiously. "But the tag, I have, and a use for it, I have not." She reached into the folds of her shawl and drew the tag out from the blouse of her black dress. She held it up to the light of the setting sun so they could verify its authenticity. "Take it!" she screamed, ripping it from her neck with a strength that belied her fragile frame. "And vex me no more!" She threw it to the ground, cast one last hateful stare at Noct, then went back into her house. They didn't see her touch them with her hands, but the barn doors suddenly slammed shut behind her.
"Do you guys really think that old lady was a-a witch?" Prompto asked, his voice a little shaky.
It was twilight now and they were hurrying to make it to a safe place to set up camp before it got too dark to see.
"Yeah," Gladio said, "and tonight she just might be coming back for her payment." He leered at Prompto.
Prompto's eyes widened. "P-P-Payment?"
"Have you not heard?" Ignis chimed in. "Witches always require adequate compensation for their services. Usually in the form of innocent children—for snacks."
"Better watch out, Prompto," Gladio warned. "You're the youngest one here."
Prompto cried out, running ahead to catch up to Noct, who was leading the way. "They-they're joking, right?"
"Grow up, Prompto," Noctis sighed. "They're just fucking with you. There's no such thing as witches; that old bat was just fruity. The Hunters probably banned their people from the forest because it's inhabited by a lunatic."
Suddenly something rustled in the brush off to the right, causing both boys to stop in their tracks. Then from out of nowhere a large, black crow flew directly across their path, cawing loudly in an angry voice. Its cries nearly sounded like human speech…and it almost seemed like the bird was calling, "Pay! Pay! Pay!"
Prompto let out a scream and covered his head with both arms. Although the sudden flurry had startled Noct, too, he wasn't actually afraid, and he was annoyed that Prompto had been so easily duped by a headcase and their friends' lame jokes.
"Great going, guys," Noct complained over his shoulder. "So which one of you is babysitting tonight? 'Cause I'm not."
"Aw, the little squirt can sleep in my tent," Gladio offered, catching up to the younger men. He threw an arm around Prompto's neck and gave him a noogie.
While Prompto's arms were flailing, trying to beat Gladio off of him, Ignis caught up to Noct. Their hands brushed intentionally as they started walking again. "And I'll sleep in your tent…" the older man murmured quietly, "if you feel inclined to some company…?"
Noct nodded slowly, trying not to grin. "Sounds good, Specs," he replied under his breath so that the other two wouldn't hear. He and Ignis had become intimately close as of late, but hadn't announced it to anyone else. After all, they were on a mission, and things like that could be a distraction. There was no way Gladio would approve, and Prompto would probably just be confused. So they were keeping their relationship status on the down-low for the time being.
They weren't quite out of the forest yet, but at least they'd finally found a safe place to pitch their tents. Gladio got a fire going while Ignis planned out their evening meal. Trail mix and beef jerky didn't cut it with the culinary master—at least not while Noctis was around. The tactician was more concerned with the boy's diet than his own, always making certain he cooked him a well-balanced meal that was both healthy and satisfying.
As for Noct, the prince offered to patrol the perimeter and make certain no daemons were lurking nearby. Ignis didn't like him going off on his own, but he and Gladio had other chores to perform and Prompto was refusing to leave Gladio's side, so there hadn't been any alternative.
Noctis did as Gladio had taught him and marched northward, counting out about a hundred paces from their campsite. Then he turned around and looked back at the firelight, gauging his distance, and began circling around it while looking for any signs of trouble.
But it was taking a long time, and it was boring as hell, so Noctis gave up before he'd finished even a quarter of the check. He figured he could pretend, and no one would know the difference. Instead, he plopped down behind the widest tree he could find, whipped out his cell phone, dimmed the screen as low as it would go, and loaded up his favorite game, King's Knight.
Music suddenly blared from the phone's speaker. Noctis panicked, quickly trying to turn the volume down before he got busted. By the time he had the game silenced, no one had yelled for him, so he thought he must be safe. He logged in, selected his character, then tried to remember what he'd been doing the last time he played so he could pick back up where he left off.
Noct opened his character's inventory and started checking out the loot he'd picked up from his last session, but he couldn't concentrate. Something didn't feel right. He pressed the phone to his chest, cloaking its faint light. He looked to the left and right and dead ahead…but didn't see anything. Or hear anything.
That was it. It was too quiet. He couldn't even hear the sounds of insects anymore.
Noct braced a hand against the tree and pushed himself to his feet. He pocketed his cell phone and began to slowly, quietly resume his original task.
There came a rustling in the trees above, and he froze, looking straight up. Then he saw it again—the black crow from before, perched on a tree limb, staring down at him with one eye, its head turned to the side.
"No way!" Noct said out loud. There was no way that was the same freaking bird. "Bah. You all look the same," he grunted. "Ugly."
The bird flapped its wings and hopped up into the air, turning itself around on the branch. Noctis watched, wondering what it was planning to do—fly away, build a nest? Then he got his answer.
"Oh—ew! Gross!" The prince swatted at his hair, coating his hand in a hot, thick, sticky white mess. "That's disgusting!" he screamed. "Filthy fucker!" He bent down to retrieve a stick, then flung it up at the tree branch, sending the bird scattering. "Serves you right, dirty bastard," he spat furiously.
After that, he gave up on the perimeter check altogether and headed back to camp to complain to Ignis.
"I've never felt so…violated." Noct shuddered.
"There, there," Ignis soothed, toweling the prince's hair dry. "It's gone. Your hair's fresh and clean and nearly dry."
Seated inside his tent, his elbows propped on his knees, Noctis buried his face in his hands with despair. "I feel like it'll never be clean again!"
"Come now, no need to be dramatic." Ignis laughed, tossing the towel aside. He was seated behind the prince, helping to dry his hair after he'd given it a thorough washing for the boy. He wrapped his arms around Noct's shoulders and drew him back against his bare chest, nuzzling his ebony strands and giving his head a kiss to show him what he said was true. "Are you certain you won't eat anything? I know you're upset, my darling Highness, but…"
Noct struggled to get out of Ignis's arms and flopped face-down onto his sleeping bag. "I just wanna die," he wailed, his voice muffled against his pillow.
"…I suppose lovemaking is off the menu?" Ignis asked, still sounding hopeful.
"If you don't mind, I'd rather not," Noct pouted.
"It's fine." Ignis drew a blanket up over the boy, gently tucking him in. "You'll feel better in the morning, and Gladio will forget all about this…eventually."
The other man's laughter was still ringing in Noct's ears. "I've never been so humiliated."
"Hush up." Ignis kissed the back of Noctis's neck affectionately, gently patted his upper back, then turned out the light and curled up against him, cuddling his smaller body close.
He was awakened early the next morning by the sounds of screams.