Just a Flesh Wound

by Elillierose

When the Regalia breaks down for what seems like the millionth time. The group splits up, One in search of a place to camp for the night unto morning, and the other to stay behind in case anyone passes by. When no one shows, Prompto and Gladio have to make the trek to find the other half of their group. Prompto sustains a bit wound along the way though, and claims it's nothing.

I feel like there isn't enough of the hurt/comfort in this fandom yet, so decided to try and add to it. I know I'm not good at finishing what I started, so decided not to post this until I could upload as a one-shot. lol

A slight nudge to his side was enough to bring him back to his senses, but it wasn't until that soft nudge transformed into a rough grind that he was truly aware of his surroundings. Prompto opened his eyes enough to gaze up at an annoyed looking Gladio. "Get up" was all he said as he crossed his arms and waited for the younger man to get to his feet. He obeyed as he pulled himself up, and held up a hand trying to block the intrusive rays of sunlight from his eyes.

"Ok, ok I'm up, but couldn't you have been a bit more gentle?" He asked, feigning hurt as he rubbed at the side that was acquainted with the others foot.

"I could have, but it wouldn't have been as effective." He replied with a smirk. "We need to get moving before it gets dark out."

Prompto looked around and noticed the other two weren't around. Even glancing into the Regalia showed no signs of them. "Where are Noct and Iggy?"

"They went on ahead. We decided to just camp out until morning and then head out to get repairs while you took your little nap there."

"What?! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" Prompto asked as he half stumbled, and half jogged down the road.

"Prompto" The younger stopped and turned to face Gladio. "You're going the wrong way." As he said this he began walking in the opposite direction. Prompto was quickly by his side. "Also, I didn't wake you since I was staying behind for a bit longer anyway in case anyone came by. Needless to say, no one di-" He was interrupted by a sudden flash. "Really?"

Prompto just smiled at him while he put his camera away. "Gotta capture every memory ya know. It's not every day you take walks on an empty road in the middle of nowhere. Well, it has been here lately, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, but give a warning next time."

"Not sure I can do that, the best moments are those caught off guard after all." Prompto replied with a wink.

A couple hours had passed before the sun had started to set, and they still haven't seen sight of Noctis and Ignis. But, they were both glad it had at least cooled down a bit which made the going a little easier. Most of the trip had been in silence, aside from the occasional complaint from Prompto, and the rare appearance of a saphyrtail or two, which were easily disposed of.

"Man, how far did they go? At this rate they may as well have just walked to get help."

"I imagine they would have found a place as to not be in the open, and I haven't seen any yet, so safe to assume to kept going."

"How do we know they didn't just go off the road to look for a place?" Prompto inquired while scanning the area around them. "I mean, it is a possibility."

Gladio shook his head, "Not likely, they would have chosen the path easiest for us to follow." He slightly picked up his pace, getting tired of searching for them himself and wanting to hurry up and find them as soon as possible. At this point he was becoming worried of the prince's well being. He trusted Ignis to protect him, but he still preferred to be by his side himself. "Where ever they are we need to get there before the sun goes all the way down."

"No argument here" Prompto replied as he sped up to match Gladio's speed. "I don't plan on meeting any unwanted guests out here."

As if to make his point, they were both frozen in place as a low growling came from behind them. That one sound was then accompanied by a few more. They both recognized the sound, but neither were too happy about it, especially if there were more than one of these things.

They turned around and instantly got their weapons ready as they came face to face with three coequals. They weren't particularly large ones, but large enough, and they looked desperate for their next meal. "Don't suppose we'll be getting out of this one easily." Prompto nervously laughed as he took a small step backwards, aiming his pistol a little higher.

"Hate to say it, but I don't think we will. Have no choice but to take them out."

"I was afraid you would say that."

As soon as the last word escaped his lips, the middle coequal lunged forward, headed straight for Prompto's throat. To his relief, the beast was abruptly stopped mid pounce, teeth biting down on Gladio's own weapon. "Thanks" he breathed out as he leapt to the side and fired his gun at the creatures head, managing to hit his mark with both bullets and successfully taking down the first of the pack.

"Nice job, Prom." Gladio praised as he shoved the carcass off his sword and pushed it to the side."

"Eh, it was nothing." He replied while taking aim at the one on the left. Gladio decided to focus his attention on the other one. As he charged forward, Prompto fired at his target to make sure its attention was on him and not Gladio. The moment the sound from his weapon went off the coequal was practically a foot away; closing the gap between them in a matter of seconds. He didn't have time to dodge and instinctively blocked his face with his let arm instead.

Gladio was able to finish off his enemy in time in hear the younger man cry out. He turned to the side to see him pinned on the ground by the much larger animal; it's jaws securely clamped down on his arm. "Prompto!" He shouted as he took off towards him to help.

Prompto clenched his fist and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the beast's teeth dig into his arm. He attempted to pull his arm away, which only resulted in it increasing it's hold on him. He cried out in pain as he could feel the teeth sink in deeper until he felt teeth scrape against bone. Just as he thought his arm might snap in half, he felt something wet and warm rain down onto his face and neck.

"Hey, Prompto, you ok?" He opened his eyes to see that the coeurl's body was no longer on top of him, but beside him, the head however was still attached to his limb. "Let me get this off." Gladio gripped both jaws of the head and carefully pried them open, until the teeth were out far enough for Prompto to retract his arm. He immediately tossed the head to the side.

"Th-thanks again." Prompto shuddered out as he pulled his arm to his chest protectively.

"Don't worry about it." He glanced down at the blood that was steadily flowing down the others arm. "How bad is it?"

"It-it's nothing, just a flesh wound." Prompto brushed him off and went to sit up, but was stopped by Gladio's strong hand.

"If it's 'nothing' then you won't mind me taking a look." He didn't wait for him to reply before grabbing his wrist and pulling the mangled arm close enough to have a look for himself. Prompto winced and let out a soft whimper as the appendage was roughly pulled away from the safety of his chest.

Gladio cringed at the sight. "Nothing my ass." He said as he turned it to see the other side. The wounds seemed pretty deep, and the flesh had been ripped away at parts, most likely form him trying to free it from the beast's clutches. "We have to stop the bleeding if nothing else." He untied the bandana from his other arm and tied it tightly above the bite, effectively cutting off some of the blood flow.

"I promise, it's not as bad as it looks." Prompto said, making another attempt to calm his friend's nerves. Despite the fact that it felt like his arm was on fire, he was trying to comfort the other.

"Just stop." Gladio quickly shut him down. "Dammit, I have nothing to wrap this up with."

"It'll be fine until we get to the others. It's not bleeding as much now, and it's still attached, which is a good sign. And it's not broken, which is another good thing. And I can still feel all my fingers. I think. And I don't feel like I'm going to pass out. Well, I feel a little off, but nothing too bad." He had began rambling in his pain induced panic. "Come on, it's fin-"

"Prompto." He shut his mouth as he stared up at Gladio. "You're ranting. Are you sure you're good to walk. He opened his mouth to reply, but thought against it and instead nodded his head. "Alright, give me your hand. He reached out his right hand and grabbed the older man's hand as his pulled him to his feet. Without thinking, his arm went automatically back to his chest. "Tell me, how bad is the pain, and be honest."

He hesitated before responding, and decided that telling the truth was probably the best course of action at this point. "I would probably prefer if you cut it off right now." He quietly laughed to himself, not out of humor, but out of nervousness.

"That bad huh, well come one and let's go, the sooner we get to the other two the better. Ignis should have something to help with that."

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"What is taking them so long?" Noctis asked as he leaned back in his chair next to the fire. "It's been close to three hours and the sun is almost down. You don't think they got lost do you?"

Ignis thought on it for a moment, "I doubt it, it's a straight shot, as long as they didn't stray off the road, they should have no problem in finding us."

Noctis was about to reply when he spotted two figures in the distance. "Speak of the devil." He smiled as he got up to meet them half way, but his smile quickly fell when he noticed how slow they were moving, and the fact that one was leaning heavily on the other. "Um, Ignis, you may want to meet them with me, I think something might be wrong."

Ignis was about to question what he meant when he took a look for himself. "What kinda of trouble could they have possibly gotten into." He moved swiftly to reach them, and was taken aback when he was close enough to see the blood soaking the left side of Prompto, as well as his chest.

Noctis was by his side in an instant, "What the hell happened?" He asked, his voice laced with anger and fear.

"Just a little mishap with the local wildlife." Prompto joked weakly as he shivered from the blood loss.

"A 'little' mishap?" Ignis questioned, clearly not putting up with the down play of it all. "It looks as if half of your blood is on your clothes."

"A coeurl's was trying to make a snack out of him" Gladio answered for the other, knowing he would do his best to make it seem like it truly wasn't that bad. "I managed to stop the bleeding a little bit, but no where near enough. He's been bleeding out for about an hour now."

Prompto was about to respond when he got hit with a particularly strong dizzy spell. Gladio felt the drastic shift in his weight and quickly adjusted to where he was fully holding the younger up. "Hey?" he called out to him. "Prompto, you there?" He was greeted with silence. Without a second thought, he scooped him up bridal style and made his way towards the campsite without another word.

Ignis was there immediately afterwards grabbing what few supplies they had, which wasn't many, they were running pretty low on quite a few things. He grabbed a bottle of water, as well as an antiseptic and some fresh bandages.

Gladio placed Prompto by the fire, and the other two got to see the full extent of the injury for the first time. Ignis gasped softly before quickly composing himself and set to work on cleaning the wounds. Pouring the water over the bite he was able to wash away most of the blood, although it was still bleeding pretty badly.

"Gladio, I made need your help with this part, he's not going to like it. I need to clean the wounds, and I don't need him making it worse by writhing around." Gladio nodded as he crouched next to the blonde and firmly placed his hands on his shoulders and nodded to Ignis. With that signal, he quickly made to work with cleaning the bite marks the best he could. All the while Prompto struggle feeble in his pain-filled slumber, letting out soft whimpers in between.

Noctis had looked away, not wanting to see his friend in agony like this. He took a few steps away trying to get out of range of his whines.

Ignis wrapped the bandages around his arm as tightly as he dared. Tight enough to try and stop the blood loss, but not tight enough to cause unneeded discomfort. "That's the best I can do for now with no potions." He sat back a little as a few drops of sweat dripped down his brow. "The rest is up to him." Neither of the others wanted to hear that, but they both knew Prompto was strong.

Gladio brushed some of the hair out of the blonde's face, fully aware of how cold his skin felt to the touch. "Do we have any blankets we can lay over him, he's practically frozen." Ignis could have face-palmed at forgetting something so basic. But, before he could move to get one, Noctis was already draping one of the sleeping beauty. Gladio couldn't help but smile at the sight. "Why don't you two get some sleep, I'll stay up to keep an eye on him." He gave them a look that told them there would be no changing his mind.

Ignis nodded, "Just wake me up if anything changes." Gladio grunted in agreement as he dragged a chair closer to the youngest of the group and sat down, watching over him. It wasn't long before the light snoring of the others could be heard. They were only able to fall asleep because of the comfort of them knowing that Gladio wouldn't let anything happen.

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Gladio sat in utter silence for probably about four hours or so before he heard a soft noise. Glancing down at Prompto, he appeared to still be sleeping somewhat soundly, though pain was still etched into his features. He leaned back into his chair when he heard the sound again, this time louder than before. Looking back down, he saw slivers of blue looking back up at him. It kind of took him by surprise and he had a delayed reaction, but Prompto's pained groan pulled him back. "Hey, welcome back, Prom." He gently whispered, trying not to wake the others.

Prompto opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out except for a hoarse moan. He tried once more, but this time only managed to gasp instead. "Don't speak, nod if you can hear me" Gladio left the chair in order to sit on the ground next to the other.

Prompto took a moment to register the request and slowly nodded when he finally comprehended it. Gladio reached out and placed a hand on his face, checking to see if he was as cold as he was earlier. Instead what he felt definitely was not a good sign. He felt warm to the touch, but a little too warm. It was then he noticed the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Shit" he breathed out in both worry and frustration. "Iggy!" He shouted over to his sleeping comrade, "Iggy, wake up now!"

He was up in an instant, wasting no time in getting to the other two after hearing the panic in the larger man's voice. Noctis too was awoken from his slumber and joined the others. "What is it, what's wrong?" Ignis asked as he looked over the patient. The first thing he noticed was that Prompto was looking right at him. "Glad to see you awake." He responded by tightly closing his eyes and gasping as another wave of pain radiated from his arm.

"Something's wrong" Gladio spoke up. "I think he has a fever, but I'm not sure. He feels too warm to me."

Ignis went back into caretaker mode as he placed a hand on his forehead, feeling it for himself. Prompto lightly leaned into the touch, savoring what little relief he could from the coolness. "This isn't good." He quietly breathed out as he placed two fingers against Prompto's neck, checking his pulse. It was strong at least, but it was too fast and erratic.

As he pulled his hand away, the others breath hitched as he tried to ride though the pain.

Ignis pulled the blanket back and retrieved Prompto's injured arm, not at all liking the sight of fresh blood spotting the surface of the bandages. Reluctantly he peeled the material back, inwardly cringing the the angry red that outlined the multiple puncture wounds. Upon seeing this he wasted no time in ripping away the rest of the bandages and instructed Noctis and Gladio to fetch the supplies again.

Prompto was still somewhat lucid as Ignis prepared the antiseptic once again. "Sorry about this, it's going to hurt a lot, but I have to do it." Ignis informed him sympathetically. The younger weakly nodded as Gladio once again placed himself in a way to keep him from fighting back. Even though he was technically awake, he would not have been able to stop his body from doing what was natural.

The moment the liquid touched the wound, he couldn't stop himself from roughly trying to pull his arm away from the offending substance. By the time Ignis had finished Prompto had passed out from the pain and his breaths were coming out in quick gasps and sweat was now dripping down the sides of his face. "I know, Prom, I'm sure this will all be over soon." Ignis whispered soothingly, hoping he was able to at least hear him.

Noctis slowly crept up behind the others. "Is he going to be alright?" He gazed down, taking in his overly pale complexion and his matted hair, almost soaked through with sweat.

Ignis sighed before he responded. "I believe he will be, with enough rest he should be able to fight off the infection himself."

Noctis took it upon himself to take one of the scarps of bandages and soak it in cool water in order to wipe the sweat off his face as well as try and cool him down somewhat. He groaned softly at the sensation. "Shhh" Noctis tried to calm him the best he could. With him looking after the blonde, the other two went to go to sleep, allowing Noct to take this watch, seeing as he most likely wouldn't be able to sleep at this point. He promised to get them as soon as Prompto woke up.

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The first rays of daylight drifted over the campsite, effectively pulling Gladio out of his sleep. He was greeted by silence, other then the breathing from the other three. Two of those were soft and consistent, but the third sounded a bit more labored and uneven. He turned his head towards the sound, seeing that Noct and Prom were basically in the exact same positions they were when he fell asleep.

Noctis noticed the other man's gaze on him and met it with his own. Tearing his eyes away and looking back down at the blond he spoke, "He hasn't woke up since last night. And if anything his fever is only slightly worse." His voice sounded tired, a clear indication of how worried he really was for the other.

Gladdy pushed himself up and sat next to the other two. He brushed Prompto's hair back, feeling the heat radiating off. Noct was right, it did feel slightly worse. Not enough to be alarming, but any increase in temperature was enough for some concern. "Come on Prom, you gotta wake up some time. We can't wait forever." He moved his hand to his shoulder and squeezed in a supportive manner.

Noctis once again soaked the rag with water and started to wipe down Prompto, cleaning off all of the fresh sweat. "You are really starting to worry us now, so if you could wake up now and let us know everything is alright, that would be great." He placed the rag back to its original resting spot on the younger's forehead.

"We should wake up Ignis and discuss what out next move will be. We can't move while he's still in that condition, so we need to figure something out."

Ignis woke up in his usual graceful way, getting up with ease at the slightest touch of Gladio's hand on his shoulder. He stretched out his aches and pains that came with sleeping on a hard surface. He wasted no time, knowing the situation at hand. Gladio reached down and helped the other man to his feet. He nodded his thanks before asking the question that was on his mind the moment he woke up. "Any changes?" He asked, nodding towards the other two.

Gladio grimly shook his head, before turning to look over himself, "He feels slightly warmer than last night, but other than that, nothing. Hasn't woken up again."

Ignis started to walk past him, but stopped part way, "As long as he isn't drastically worse, then I have hope he will be just fine." He said with a reassuring smile and continued going forward. Gladio followed close behind

"We need to figure out what we're going to do from this point forward." Gladio spoke up. He stopped once the were both standing behind Noctis, "We need to move, but I don't think that would be the best for him. Then again, staying here doesn't seem like the safest option for any of us with all of the roaming dangers that lurk in this area."

Ignis bent down and began to check Prompto, first checking his temperature and pulse, and then moving to his arm. Carefully pulling it out, he was glad to see that at least there wasn't any fresh blood seeping through this time, but that relief didn't last long when he peeled back the material again. Those red linings were still there, and it looked a bit swollen around the edges of the wounds. He prodded at one of the punctures and was startled when he heard a pained gasp as Prompto feebly tried to pull his arm away.

"Prompto?" Ignis asked, placing a hand on his cheek and tapping lightly. "Are you there." He was rewarded with a quiet groan and the fluttering of eyelids. "There you go, just open your eyes and let us know you are with us."

His eyes opened into slits, quickly closing them again when the unexpected light nearly blinded him. He tried once again after a few seconds, even slower this time. He saw three blurry figures hovering above him, even though he couldn't make out their faces, he thought it safe to assume who they were. "I-Iggy?" He barely managed to croak out in between uneven breaths.

Ignis gazed down into unfocused and glassy half-lidded eyes, but at least he could see some lucidity in them. "That's right I'm here." He reached to the side and grabbed a bottle of water, "Think you can drink some of this?" Prompto looked at it for a few seconds and thought on it before slowly shaking his head. Ignis sighed heavily, "Come on, can you at least try? We need to keep you hydrated."

At this the blonde gave in and subtly nodded, agreeing to at least try. Gladio took that as a queue to help the younger sit up. Sitting behind him, he pulled Prompto up so that he was leaning against him. The action caused a few grunts of discomfort to make their out from between his lips.

Ignis unscrewed the cap and gently placed it against Prompto's lips, tilting it slightly. At first he choked on the liquid the moment it made contact with his throat. He hadn't realized how dry it was until then. After that it went down much easier and he was able to drink at least a little bit of it before turning his head to the side. Ignis pulled that bottle away and scowled at it. "Not as much as I would have liked, but better than nothing I suppose. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I have to clean your wounds again."

At this Prompto visibly shuddered, anticipating the agony that was about to come with that notion. "Do-do you...have to?" He asked weakly, wincing at the sound of how pitiful his voice sounded t him.

"I'm afraid so." Ignis replied as he began removing the bandages.

Gladio lightly gripped his shoulders, "Don't worry, I got you" Prompto leaned further into him, already bracing himself for what was to come. Noctis just stood nearby, wanting no part in causing his friend more pain. He knew it had to be done though, he just didn't think he would have the heart to be the one to do it.

Ignis repeated the routine he did twice already, trying to be extra careful this time around considering his patient was fully aware this time. He cleaned the wounds the best he could, hating every whimper he heard and every involuntary twitch he felt. He wrapped the injury once again and placed it next to Prompto, keeping his hand on the blondes until his breathing was a bit steadier. "I'm done, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Prompto only glared at him, sweat running down his face. "Oh yeah..easy peasy" He brought his arm up to his chest protectively He closed his eyes as the remnants of the burning sensation slowly ebbed away. He opened them back up when he felt something cool and wet run down the side of his face. Half opening his eyes he saw Noct crouching next to him, wiping his face off.

"I'm glad to see you awake Prom." He said as he continued wiping, he didn't know what else to say. "You were really starting to scare me there."

Prompto averted his eyes, "I'm sorry...I-I didn't mean to worry you guys." His voice was still a bit low, but it did sound a bit more clear. He ironically chuckled to himself, "I guess it's not just a flesh wound after all." He flashed a smile up at Gladio.

"Always one to play off how hurt you really are." He patted him on the shoulder. "I'm going to lay you down now." He lowered him as slowly and gently as he could. "Just take it easy."

"Right" The blonde replied as he was laid back down. "How long...are we gonna be stuck here."

Ignis sat for a second, "It all depends on how up you are to traveling. We will stay right here until you feel well enough to go a long distance." He looked between Noctis and Gladio, letting them both know that was the final decision. He was refusing to push Prompto further than his body could handle at the moment. He was showing a little sign of improving, but it wasn't enough to convince him that moving was the best option.

"Guys..I-I think I can handle it. With a little...help of course, but I don't-I don't want to hold you guys back." His voice was giving out by the second. "Please." He stared up through the fog that clouded his eyes, begging for them to take his word for it.

"No way." Gladio didn't hesitate before giving his answer. "We can't have you passing out on us after a few minutes." He placed his hand against his cheek, "Not to mention you still feel way to warm for comfort."

At this Prompto looked a bit confused. "Are you sure?" He turned his head to look at Gladio, "Seems kinda cold to me."

Ignis spoke up this time, "You only feel that way because of the fever."

"Right" Prompto flatly stated. That short time of lucidity was enough to quickly drain what little strength he had.

"Get some more sleep, and when you wake up again we'll talk about leaving, how about that?" Gladio asked, noticing how quickly Prompto was going out.

He nodded in response as the darkness once again pulled him under.

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About an hour passed before Ignis took it upon himself to begin preparing breakfast for the three of them. He thought against making anything for Prompto, knowing for a fact that he wouldn't be awake anytime soon. Even if he was, there was no way he would be up for trying to eat anything; although it definitely wouldn't hurt him.

The three of them ate in silence, not feeling too much in the mood to make casual conversation. It was Noctis who finally broke that silence. "Are we really going to consider moving so soon?"

"I mainly said that so he would go to sleep. I knew he would try and fight to stay awake just to prove a point. Stubborn brat." He smiled to himself despite what he said. He was a fighter for sure.

Ignis looked over to their sleeping companion, joyous to see that his slumber was a lot more peaceful this time around. Knowing that he was actually sleeping this time and not merely unconscious. "I don't know, we are running low on what little supplies we had, if things get any worse then we will have no choice. I say we give him a chance, and if he can't do it then we simply carry him back." He turned his attention back to the others. "At any rate, staying here doesn't sound like a good idea and we should get out of here as soon as we are able."

"You can't be serious, he can barely stay awake and you think he'll be fine enough to travel?" Gladio spoke up, not at all liking the idea of it all. "What if he gets worse while we're on the road? We can't exactly stop then and wait for him to get better."

"We won't be stopping. We make it to the Regalia and we leave Prompto there with one other while the other two get help." He breathed out, clearly not satisfied with that plan. "It's not the best option, but it may be his best chance."

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Iggy on this one." Noctis butt in. "I don't like the idea of him being out here when he can't fend for himself. If worse comes to worse and he's unable to protect himself, what then? I'd rather take the chance of moving him."

Gladio huffed out a breath of air, aware that their minds were made up. None of them liked it, but he trusted Ignis to make the right call. "Alright, fine, but the moment I feel like he's pushing too hard I'm dragging his ass there." He folded his arms across his chest, showing that he was completely serious about his promise.

"I'm going to go check on him real quick." Noctis said as he stood up and left the other two behind to themselves.

"You sure he'll be ok?" Gladio asked quietly when he was sure Noctis was out of earshot.

Ignis smiled at him, "Most certainly. It's already a good sign that he woke up to be that lucid, despite the fever, that plus the fact that is is restfully sleeping now. I have no doubt that he should be fine making it back to the Regalia, with our support of course. I do agree that he shouldn't be his stubborn self trying to prove a point. So, if it does come to that, I'll leave it to you." Gladio nodded as he got up to begin packing the few belongings they had set up.

Ignis looked over to Noctis who was once again cleaning Prompto's face. It was comforting to know that he had friends that cared to deeply for him, they all knew he needed that. From where he sat he could see the hitch in his breathing and reflexively made his way over, knowing that he was waking back up.

By the time he reached them, Noctis had already helped him to sit up. At least he was sitting up mostly by himself. "How are you feeling?" He asked as soon as he was next to them.

"To be honest, I still feel like crap." He answered matter-of-factly. "But a lot better than I did."

"Glad to hear, but I still need you to drink some more water. Try to drink at least half of it this time if you can." He opened the water bottle, and handed it over, letting him hold it for himself this time around, so as not to hurt his pride anymore. Once he was done he handed it back to Ignis, who looked satisfied this time. Placing the bottle to the said, he asked with little hope, "Think you could try to eat something now?"

Prompto quickly shook his head, paling slightly at the thought of it. "Sorry, but I'm not sure I would be able to keep it down. The water alone is pushing it."

Ignis scowled at that, but let it go, "Gladio is getting things ready to leave, are you ready to try and stand up?" Prompto gave a curt nod and allowed Ignis to wrap an arm around his shoulders. He could feel the heat coming off him, thankfully it wasn't as bad as it was earlier, but it was still there nonetheless.

It was a struggle, but together him and Noctis got Prompto on his feet. He was severely unsteady, but he was able to stay up by leaning into Ignis. He was sweating profusely by this point, just from the exertion it took to change positions. "Ok, I think I'm good." He shakily said as his vision stopped swimming. He cautiously released his hold on Ignis until he was standing on his own without aid.

"I'll go see if Gladio is ready, don't move from this spot until we are ready to go." He looked to Noctis, quietly telling him not to let Prompto faint on them.

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The first two hours went by rather smoothly. Prompto had a few stumbles and near falls, but Gladio stayed close to his side for that very reason and was able to steady him every time his step faltered. Each time giving him a couple minutes to find his bearings once again before continuing forward.

Around the third hour or so the blonde's pace had slowed tremendously. Even with Gladio supporting him at this point he was still having a hard time keeping up. "Come on Prom, not too much further." He encouraged the young man as he slowed down even more after stumbling once again.

Ignis took a glance back, noticing the quickly deteriorating speed of the other two. "Is everything ok back there? Do we need to stop for a moment?"

Prompto looked forward and feebly shook his head, refusing to be any more of a burden than he already was. "N-no. I got this." He breathed out, picking up his pace by the smallest amount.

Keeping his word, Gladio sternly stopped him in his place. "I told you not to push yourself." Without warning he scooped Prompto up like before and quickly joined the others who were a few yards ahead.

"H-hey! What are you doing?!" Prompto asked while trying to free himself, being very unsuccessful in his attempt.

"At the rate you were going we would never make it back. And I guarantee that going at it like you were, you would have passed out in a matter of minutes."

With Gladio setting the new pace, they manged to make it back to the Regalia by the middle of the day. Prompto had finally accepted his fate of being the damsel in distress and let Gladio carry him the rest of the way without complaint.

Ignis opened the back door for Gladio while he laid Prompto down across the backseat. "I think you should be the one to stay here, while Noct and I fetch someone."

"Aren't you better suited to stay behind with him though. If anything happens, you are most qualified." Gladio countered the suggestion.

"Reminder that I'm not dying anytime soon." Prompto chirped up from the back seat, but made no move to get up, honestly starting to feel tired once again.

"He's right." Ignis stated seriously. "He's out of the worst of it, and at this point there is nothing I can provide that others can't. Besides, you did get him to the campsite in relatively one piece, so I'm sure you will be more than enough."

Gladio hummed in appreciation, leaning against the door of the car. "Just make it fast, I want to get out of this mess as soon as possible."

"We'll go as fast as we can, so just hold tight and keep an eye out for anything. We should be back within the next few hours, hopefully with a tow truck." Ignis waved his hand as him and Noctis continued at the same pace down the road.

"Looks like it's just you and me until they get back Prom." He waited for a response, but got none. Throwing a glance his way he saw that the younger had once again fallen asleep as he snored softly from his place in the car. "You go ahead and rest up, you could use it."

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

The next thing he felt was soft sheets beneath him as well as the weight of someones hand upon his. He heard muffled voices that gradually grew louder, he couldn't make out what they were saying, but they sounded familiar. He tried to break through the fog and tried to open his eyes. His efforts were rewarded when the hand on his shifted and moved to the side of his face.

"-to" He could make out a little bit no, a few syllables here and there. "Hey...you...ake?" That sounded like Gladio. Not wanting to make him wait any longer he was finally able to force his eyes open a sliver. He blearily stared up at Gladio. "Can you hear me?"

Prompto nodded his head and glanced around his surroundings, noticing that he was in a room of sorts. "Where are we?" His voice was hoarse from lack of usage.

"We're staying at an Inn until you get better. The others are out at the moment, but should be back shortly." He leaned back in his chair. "For a while there we thought you would never wake up."

"How long?" He asked trying to sit up, but finding he was too weak to do it by himself.

"You've been out for about two days. Your fever spiked a day ago, scared the shit outta us. Luckily it broke sometime last night, so it shouldn't be long before you're back on your feet like your old self."

Prompto smiled at that, it felt like it's been forever since he's had the strength to do anything. "To think, all this because of some oversized cat."

"You mean all this because of 'just a flesh wound'." Gladio laughed to himself, mainly out of relief. He could see sleep already pulling his friend back towards it. "Why don't you go ahead back to sleep? I promise I'll wake you when the other two get back."

Prompto nodded before letting his eyes slide closed once again. But before he let the darkness encompass him once again he grabbed Gladio hand once again, "Thanks again." And with that he gave in to sleep once more.