Well, this is my first FFXV fan fiction. I have written other things not yet posted here, but the other characters were a bit easier to write for because writing out of character was a bit more acceptable. Look, I understand they may appear to be out of character, or hell, they may be wonderful, but that all depends on how you view them as a character.

I'd love for you all to tell me how you like it and maybe give me some suggestions. I may have already written a good portion of the story, but I always like suggestions and may even do my best to incorporate that in here.

There is a fair warning that in the later chapters, there may be some smut. It isn't concrete, and I may just glaze over the fact that it happened in one or two sentences. The character I am going to introduce is a little odd and weird in the beginning, but I promise that they get better and find an easier inclusion in the story.

Lastly, I do not own any characters other then my own. Some characters have been named and are present in the game, and I do not own them. I would like some entitlement to call anything not canon and original that I have included in here as my own, including a small point in the reason for Gladio's disappearance while they have the whole Vesperpool chapter.

~Enjoy~

Chapter 1 ~ Xenova

Often times, there are legends that float about the world by way of mouth. Many of these legends are well known and sought after by adventurers, hunters, ambitious commoners and other such riffraff of humanity. Legends come in all shapes and sizes; whether it is a story passed down from centuries of storytelling, the local legends of which creatures in the area are the biggest and baddest, or the latest story of vagrants that peruse the lands.

However a legend presents itself, whether it is great or miniscule, there is always a story behind it. Always people to tell the legend first hand or a collection of people piecing a story together through fragments they know of. Many people in the land of Lucis could tell a legend or two they have heard, even fewer can claim they have known someone that was part of the legend.

Even fewer people could say they were part of the making of a legend. Some were legends by birth, simply due to heritage. Others worked hard all their lives and only became known after their death. Some of the lucky ones worked hard to be known, yet whenever going somewhere new, were not noticed. One could often appreciate hearing the valiant stories while sitting in a diner, as the other people had not a clue they were in the presence of something great.

The hot desert air of Leide soon gave way to the sweet smelling forest area of Duscae. The group of four, the fisher, the survivalist, the chef and the photographer set off to explore the region of Duscae. Having just destroyed the roadblock imposed by the Empire, they are eager to rest up.

The terrain between the two regions was quite different. The green lush grass pairs with the full shrubs and the colorful flowers that span the sides of the road. Prince Noctis looks up from his seat to the horizon. A large volcano can easily be seen, as well as large arcs spanning from one side of the land to the other.

Noctis looks to the right side of the road to see an approaching fueling location he hopes will have a diner and a place to rest. He looks to the left to see a large yellow sign. Wiz Chocobo Post.

"Chocobos!" Noctis looks towards the front seat at his blonde friend. "Can we please go see them? Please?" Prompto all but begs.

His other two companions, Ignis and Gladio sigh. Ignis gives him his answer, "Let's stop at this place first and get a meal. If it gets late, then we can stay there and go to the Chocobo Post tomorrow."

Prompto sighs but nods his head. Ignis pulls the black car to the gas pumps and turns off the engine. Noctis hops out quickly and stretches his legs while complaining about the long trip between the two regions. He leans on the car while Ignis fills the tanks before walking into the Crow's Nest Diner.

The diner looked much like the other ones he had been to. There were two umbrella tables outside and a bench with a large mascot crow for novelty pictures. He wandered in to see the cozy little atmosphere the diner kept. A couple kids played the arcade machines in the front part of the diner while people who looked to be locals occupied a few tables.

The group of four decided it was best to take seats at the bar. The manager walks over to them with a friendly smile, "You all look to be new. I haven't seen you around before. What can I get you?" They all place their orders and wait for food. There food arrives shortly afterwards.

Noctis leans forward and rests his chin on his fist as he listens to the conversations around him. The children are quite loud as they squeal with excitement or give mock curses whenever they lose. The people at the table nearest the door seem to be their parents or guardians, since they seem to be speaking of the children's behavior at their homes.

The table furthest from the exit catches his interest and he looks over his shoulder to get a better look at them. Two men sit there across from each other. The one with his back to the wall seems to be about thirty with a gruff nature about him and dirty clothes. The second seemed to be much older, perhaps fifty. He had on clothes similar to the first but he was much cleaner. If Noctis had to guess, he would think these two men were hunters.

He looks to see Gladio leaning back a bit trying to listen better to their conversation as well. He raises an eyebrow in question and gets a nod from his friend. Ignis picks up on what the two are doing and gently elbows Prompto to get his attention. They all try their best to listen without alerting the two hunters of their actions.

"They keep giving all the good hunts to Xenova. I swear if I see him again, I'll give him a piece of my mind," The younger hunter declares with a clenched jaw.

The older hunter gives a chuckle and tries to calm his friend, "Now, now. They must have a reason they are giving him all the good ones. Maybe he got a request for a big mission but he does not have the proper ranking or experience."

"Miller, if that was the case, why would they even request him in the first place?" The young hunter questions.

"It was just an idea, Manes. No need to get worked up," Miller chuckles at the easily irritated Manes, "I'll tell you what, maybe we can wait here until Xenova comes back. When he comes back I can ask him for you. We don't want to have a repeat of last time…"

Manes slams his fist on the table and stands. The group of four, as well as the other patrons in the diner turn to look at the two hunters with wide eyes. "I don't need your help. You retired a long time ago, so you wouldn't even get to talk to Xenova. The man thinks he is above everyone else anyways!" Miller holds his hands up defensively and tries to motion for Manes to settle down.

"I swear," Manes begins, "As soon as I see that Bastard, I'll—" He stops mid-sentence to look to the door. He walks towards the door with his fists at his sides, fuming with anger. Everyone looks over at the door to see a cloaked figure. The black cloak is dusty and has a few rips in the bottom where it is closer to the ground. The person wears knee-high combat boots and what seem to be black jeans tucked in. The cloak covers all other features, doing its job to keep the person hidden from identifying views.

"Xenova you bastard!" Manes grabs the front of the cloak and lifts—whom everyone assumes to be Xenova—off the ground and pins him to the wall. He pulls back his fist, ready to give a strong punch. Xenova holds his left arm out to the side, moving the cloak to show a black shirt. A blue swirl of light shines around his hand and wrist then slowly dims to show a weapon Noctis had never seen.

Black leather shows where bare skin was before, from a little away from his elbow up to his fingers, where five long claws of some sort came out. If Noctis had to think of the mechanics, the claws were hollow curved cones in which his fingers were, resembling the long claws of a behemoth. They attached to the thick black leather around Xenova's hand to look like a large creature's paw. The claws were sharp and shiny, likely made from an uncommon metal.

Xenova slowly move his claw gauntlet to Manes' chest and let the tips of the claws touch the spot his heart resides. Manes lets go of Xenova and backs away slowly. He returns to his spot in the diner, blatantly ignoring the old hunter's laughter. Noctis lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Xenova pulls out a yellowed paper from somewhere on his person and sets it down on the table. He places his hand that is still in the weapon next to it and taps the pointer finger claw on it. The manager walks over and takes the paper, "Oh, you brought this back quite fast. Is there anything I can get you?"

Xenova points to behind the counter at the other hanging fliers. The manager walks back and pulls a flier from the wall. He hands it over to the mysterious hunter with a smile. "Please don't mind Manes. He has had a rough day." Xenova nods and turns to leave. "Wait," the manager calls after him. The cloaked figure stops and turns around to see what the man wants.

"It's already dusk. It would be dangerous to go out venturing into the night. I know you are a good hunter, but can you really deal with all of those daemons?" Xenova nods at the man and leaves as quietly as he had come.

The manager sighs and shakes his head a bit disapprovingly before returning in front of the group of four. "Please pardon Manes' outburst… He has a hot temper, and as you can see, this isn't the first time."

Noctis looks back to the table where Manes sulks then back at the manager and questions, "Who is this Xenova guy anyways?" The manager sighs and takes out a small stack of yellowed papers. He sets them down in front of the group.

"As far as I know, Xenova is a hunter. He comes by to pick up new hunts every once in a while. He seems to come from other places because some of these fliers are not from this diner. This one here," He holds up 'The Varmints of the Wasteland', "is from Hammerhead. So the fellow must have had some way to bypass the roadblock."

"Some way to bypass the roadblock? If only we had knowledge of this before," Ignis sighs.

"We had no way of knowing," Gladio suggests, "If it was a well known passage, then it would have been blocked as well."

The manager waves over Miller, "Miller, can you please fill these guys in on Xenova? I only know so much. Since you guys are part of the association too, you might know a bit more." The manager takes the yellow flier back and puts them in a file.

Miller sits at the bar beside Noctis, "Is there something I can help you four with?"

"Ah, yes," Ignis answers, "We wish to know more about that fellow that just left here."

Prompto leans back so he can look at Miller, "Yeah, and that guy is crazy! He walked out of here and the daemons will be coming out any minute!"

Miller gives a chuckle, "I have no doubt that Xenova has a camp nearby. You boys don't plan to go out at this hour as well, do you?"

"That is hardly an option," Ignis points out. "We will just have to stay somewhere nearby." Miller stands and begins walking out the diner. The four friends follow him out.

He points to a run down trailer of sorts, "That place is available. Xenova had stayed there a few times. You could try to poke around and see if you find anything about the guy."

Prompto walks towards the door with a large smile on his face, "Like a treasure hunt!" Noctis sighs, "If you want to treat it that way. I don't think he would leave anything behind though."

"You talk like you've known the man for years," Ignis mutters. "I just feel like a hunter wouldn't leave things behind. Especially something important," Noctis opens the door and looks around inside. The place, despite being a bit old looking and run down with usual wear and tear, seems to be clean. It's as empty. There are a few dishes in the sink that look clean, the blankets on the bed in the back look clean, and the fridge has a few bottles of water inside.

"The place looks pretty unused," Gladio points out as he looks around. "What about these?" Prompto holds up a chain with dog tags, "I found them beside the bed."

Ignis holds out his hand to receive the tags, "That Dave fellow said dog tags are the identity for a hunter, yes? We best try to get these back to that fellow; or at least get them to the manager."

Noctis takes the tags and has a closer look, "They are a bit dirty, but the name says, 'Quinn Xenova'. It has four stars etched under it."

"A rank four hunter?" Gladio questions. "From what I understand, that is a pretty good rank. This guy could be a formidable foe."

Noctis looks at the second tag that was partially behind the first one. There is a thicker tag with a picture on the front under clear plastic. It was a small picture of a young man and a younger woman.

The two looked to be siblings with the boy a couple years older than the young girl. They both had silver hair and pale blue eyes. He had his arms around the girl and gave a flashy smile while she gave a sweet smile and held her arms out, making it look like she took the photo.

"Do you think this is him?" Noctis shows the photo to the others.

"The boy looks really young in that photo," Prompto points out, "Those could be his kids if he had any."

Gladio takes the tags to look them over, "Either the photo has been taken care of, or it's not that old."

Ignis takes the tags next and inspects it. "This must be Xenova. He has a dog tag on in this photo," He points to the tag around the young man's neck. "He is relatively recognizable with silver hair like that, so we should not have too much trouble getting information on the fellow. We should return these soon."

"Then are we giving the tags back to the diner? I don't think we need to get too close to whatever that guy is up to, he seems dangerous," Prompto suggests with a nervous smile.

"I am certain we can handle whatever comes up," Ignis crosses his arms. "Right now, we should get some rest. We can ask about the flier he took and get a lead on where he is headed."

"What do you mean he didn't grab a flier from you?" Prompto questions the manager.

"It's just as I said, son. He came in here as soon as I opened up and brought in the flier. He left with a nod. Just hang on to them. If he notices they are missing, then I am sure that a great hunter like him will be able to find you. You could also send them to the Meldacio HQ. I have no doubt that young fellow will be heading back there soon."

Noctis gives a long drawn out sigh. "What's the matter?" Ignis questions, "Not feeling up to holding onto those for a while?" Noctis holds the tags in his hand gently and looks at them. Xenova looks so happy holding his younger sister. Noctis only has to wonder what made such a young guy turn to being a hunter and destroying the various beasts around the land for gil.

"Doesn't look much like a killer in that photo, does he?" Noctis jumps slightly when he hears Gladio, wondering how he let himself get lost in thought.

"He looks so young and harmless here with his sister," Noctis responds with a sigh.

"He's just like me. He has a young sister he has to look after. He's a warrior in the streets and a brother in the homestead.

"He does sort of remind me of you, having a young sister to look after."

"Although," Gladio laughs, "I think I'm better looking." The large man puts a hand under his chin and gives the prince a smile.

Noctis and Gladio turn to hear a chuckle from behind them. Miller stands behind them with a smile. "May I see that please?" The old hunter points to the tags. Noctis hands them over and gives a questioning look when Miller gives a sad smile. "I have not seen him happy like this in so long. Come to think of it, I have not seen him without that hood on in a few years."

"So that's Xenova?" Prompto questions.

"Yes, but I would say that this picture was a good four years old. His sister looks so young."

"Well we want to get these back to him," Noctis mentions. "Do you think we could hand these off to you? You seem to know the guy enough."

Miller shakes his head slowly; "Xenova does not speak to people anymore. People are beginning to think something happened to him in such a way that he does not speak and keeps himself hidden. Manes thinks he got into a fight he did not easily win. You can hand these off to his sister though. I happen to know where she has been hanging around lately. We bumped into her a few days ago."

"That would be very helpful," Ignis thanks the old hunter.

Miller puts his hand to his chin to think for a brief moment, "We bumped into her on our way here. She showed us a letter about some sort of disturbance near the Chocobo post that had to be checked into. There is a haven or two near there that you could check out."

"Thank you very much, sir," Ignis tells him. The four friends walk out of the diner and to the car. Ignis starts her up but turns her off again once he sees Miller walking towards him.

Miller holds out a yellowed paper, "Can you please make sure that Xenova gets this? I heard a while ago that he had a score to settle with this thing." Ignis takes the paper and assures Miller that they will get it to him. Noctis takes the flier from Ignis as he pulls out of the parking lot and onto the road.

"Feathered Giant of the Firesmoke," Noctis reads the title. "There isn't a picture. There is a huge reward though." Noctis tucks the flier into his jacket pocket and takes out the dog tags again. Prompto turns around and holds out his hand. Noctis gives him the tags, "Just hang onto them for now on, ok?"

The blonde photographer nods and looks at the tags. He tries to clean the dust off of them and make the plastic keeping the photo safe a bit cleaner. "Do you think what Miller said is true? That he lost some fight and chooses to hide his face because he got hurt somehow?"

"A man wears his scars proudly," Gladio declares.

"I think the idea is a bit of a stretch, but with the limited details, we do not have much to go on," Ignis says with a sigh.

They stop on the side of the road once they reach the first Haven the manager had mentioned to them previously. Noctis walks to the flat rock with blue runes and has a look around. "It doesn't look like anyone was here recently. We can go to the post then check the second one."

"Finally!" Prompto chees, "We can finally go see the Chocobos!"

Noctis gives a laugh as the other two give a sigh. They pile into the car before finishing their trip to the Chocobo post, having stopped a few times for photo opportunities and a bit of sight seeing of the local fauna. They finally reach the Wiz Chocobo Post around four in the afternoon.

Prompto excitedly walks over to the man standing by the tables speaking to some customers. He waits rather patiently for the man to finish up with them and walk over to the new customers. "'Scuse me. We'd like to ride the Chocobos."

The older fellow introduces himself as Wiz and apologizes a few times to them before he gets to the actual reason he is apologizing. "I hate to break this to you all, but we can't permit our birds to leave the post." Prompto's smile falls and he gives a sigh. Wiz sighs as well, "We can't let them out while Deadeye is still running about."

"Deadeye?" Noctis questions.

"He's an uncommonly ferocious behemoth that's taken to prowlin' these parts as of late. His scent makes our birds nervous, an' to prevent accidents an' tragedies, we have no choice but to suspend rentals." Wiz sighs a long sigh, "A hunter came by earlier and took the flier for his bounty. If you four are up to the task, you could try to catch up to him. It worries me to think one man would try to take on that behemoth."

"What did this fellow look like?" Ignis questions.

"I wish I could tell you," Wiz gives a chuckle. "Man was wearing a black cloak and didn't say a word to me. I recommended he stay at the nearby haven and start on the hunt tomorrow. He just gave me a nod, so I have no idea if that is what he actually did."

"I think that would be our man," Gladio states.

Noctis gives a snicker, "He's not my man, but if you want to call him yours…" His statement earns him a punch in the arm.

"Well," Ignis tries to get the friends to settle down. "We will head out there to at least give the tags back. We can go after we have some food and look at the Chocobos.

Prompto excuses himself to go look at the large yellow birds while the other three sit down and order food. Wiz gives them the lay of the land and tells them about nearby spots they would find helpful.

The four hang around the post until the sun begins to set. They take the car a little ways back the way they came until they get to a dirt path. They all hop out and begin the short walk to the haven in the fading sunlight.

The four arrive to see a fire alight in the center of the rock and a young lady sitting with her legs hanging over the edge of the rock. She swings her legs gently and turns her head to look at them. She gives a large smile in greeting then turns back to look at the dying sunlight.

Gladio begins to set up camp while Prompto and Ignis gather things for them to have for dinner. Noctis sits by the fire and watches the girl. Her hair is long and silver, reaching the middle of her back. She is average build, perhaps a bit shorter than him. She hums softly as she plays some sort of game on her phone.

Ignis soon returns and prepares food for the four of them. He points to the girl on the edge of the haven with a questioning look. Each of the friends exchanges glances, as if drawing straws in their minds to see who will be forced to interact with the odd young woman. Noctis finally points to his blonde friend then to the girl.

Prompto shrugs his shoulders and walks over to the edge. The young woman pauses her game and looks up at him. She gives a smile. Prompto smiles back and points to her phone, "What game are you playing?"

She un-pauses it and hands it to him. It seems to be some sort of quest game. Her character looks a lot like her while she wanders around the virtual forest. She stands and shows him which button to push by pointing to it. He does as she shows and soon the little character begins to slay monsters left and right.

After a few moments of playing, Prompto hands the phone back to her. He points over to his friends, "We are going to have dinner. You are welcome to join us." The girl with silver hair slowly shakes her head. She waves her hands in front of her slowly to show she does not want to go over and gives a sheepish smile.

Prompto wanders back to the chairs by their part of the haven and sits down to enjoy his diner. "Did she not wish to join us?" Ignis sits beside him with a questioning look.

"She just shook her head no. I don't see why she wouldn't want to try some of your awesome cooking."

Noctis walks over beside Prompto and looks over at the girl, "I wonder which part of dining with four strange men is on an average woman's itinerary." Gladio gives a laugh from his seat by the tent.

Gladio looks at the woman and then at Prompto, "Can I see those tags again please?" Prompto takes them from his pocket and tosses them over to Gladio. "She looks a lot like the girl in this picture. Silver hair on someone this young is pretty unusual. You should go ask her if she knows Xenova."

"I think we have bothered the young lady enough," Ignis states. They finish up their meals and sit near the tent with a deck of cards in play. They occasionally look over at the girl. After a while, she moves from sitting on the edge to a bit closer to the fire to lie on her back with her arms behind her head and her knees bent so she looks as if she would do sit-ups. She still hums as she looks up into the night sky.

"She is quite odd, I'll give her that," Ignis adds. They play their card game before turning in for the night. They each wish each other goodnight and give the stargazing woman one last glance.

So? Who is the mysterious Xenova?

A rogue hunter? A hunter who hides behind his cloak out of shame from his previous battle scars? Will he single handedly take down Deadeye in front of the royal party?

Find out in Chapter 2: "From Four to Five"!

Did you like it? Do you think I could improve upon the story a bit more? Write a review or send me a private message! I love feedback from my audience whether it is all good or things I need to work on!