Darkness. Out of nowhere a great horned beast on the road, such a massive creature as she had never seen. The car swerves out of Erik's control. Suddenly the world is spinning violently, then a deafening roar. Somewhere a fire burns. As her senses return, she groggily glances over at her unconscious brother. She has to get them out. Crawling from the passenger door, she coughs from the swirling dust and smoke. The daemon hears, claws at the hood of the car. It spins like a toy, upside down, forcefully knocking her away. Everything is lit by orange flames. Everything aches but she tries to lift herself up, able to see Erik from the ground where she lies. The monster steps through the wall of fire coming for her, one of its thick, hulking legs crushing the car with Erik still inside. She tries to scream but there is no sound…

"Astrid?" Prompto asked, tightening his arm around her and gently shaking her awake. She looked around, confused and tense. She was back in the Regalia among her new friends. "It's okay," he said soothingly. She met his gaze, a little surprised by his apparent concern. "It was just a dream."

She exhaled and relaxed. "...Yeah," she said hesitantly, resting her head back on his shoulder and nestling closer.

"Hey Iggy, isn't it about time we find somewhere to make camp for the night?" Gladiolus asked.

"That sounds like a splendid idea. I could certainly do with a rest," Ignis agreed.

"I could do with some grub," Prompto quipped cheerfully.

"You're always hungry," Noctis teased. Astrid giggled and looked up at Prompto.

"Fighting monsters and Imperials really works up my appetite, Noct!"

"We haven't seen any all day," Gladio said, throwing a wrench in his logic.

"Well, I didn't eat much yesterday, and we ran into a lot of them then. It's just balancing out."

She smiled and shook her head, looking at him sideways. She hadn't had a lot of contact with boys her age, save for her brothers, all of them having been privately tutored from home. She was a little unsure of what the rules of interaction were in this situation. But she couldn't deny the connection she felt towards Prompto. He was sweet, and had been doing his best to make her feel comfortable amongst her new traveling companions.

He made her wish she had met him under different circumstances.


"Prompto, could you be so kind as to collect some firewood so I could start dinner?" Ignis asked as they all unpacked their camping gear.

"Anything to get food in my mouth faster, Iggy. Back in a flash!" Prompto said, before grabbing Astrid's wrist and dashing off into the twilight forest, seizing the opportunity to get her alone. "Wanna come? It's safer to venture in pairs around here." She grinned and followed him closely.

"Prompto! Slow down, you're missing all kinds of stuff."

"That's too small. Gladio will give me an earful if that's all I bring back."

"Heh. Why's he always so grumpy?" she asked, picking up some bigger broken logs.

"Gladio? He's not as badass as he thinks he is. He's actually a pretty nice guy most of the time."

"You're nice all of the time," she said, her eyes locked on the ground.

"Heh, thanks," he replied shyly.

"You're different than the rest of them," she said, finally glancing at him. He could tell that her face was flushed even in the dim lighting, and suddenly felt very out of place.

"I...I am?" he asked bashfully, rubbing his spiky hair.

She smiled at him. "Yeah. They're all pretty serious, and you're… fun and enthusiastic."

"Heh heh, it's probably just the way they were brought up at the palace," he said, deflecting the compliment. "You know, all 'duty first!' and stuff like that. Must just be how nobility is, I guess."

"You didn't grow up there too?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"Nah, I met Noct in school. I'm just a tagalong nobody who's lucky enough to get to hang out with these guys."

She stopped walking and looked at him with a furrowed brow. "You're not a nobody, Prompto. A person's true measure isn't in who their parents are, but in how they act and treat others." She spoke almost harshly, as if he had offended her, and his surprise showed on his face. She continued more calmly, touching his arm as he met her eyes. "You're not nobody. They're lucky to have you."

She was sweet, he thought, but she barely knew him. He smiled anyway and said, "Thanks."

"Anyway, I'm sure nobility isn't all it's cracked up to be," she said, looking away.

"Yeah, that's why I try to keep everyone happy. They're kind of all I've got for friends, so I don't want to lose them."

"That's not true, Prompto. You've just made one more," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. He stopped and smiled at her, realizing this was the first time a girl had ever considered him a friend. He liked the way it felt.


"Can I help?" Astrid asked Ignis as he cut up vegetables. Prompto had busied himself with building the fire and she wanted to make herself useful.

"Certainly. I'll never turn away good help. Do you cook?" he replied pleasantly.

"Well, bake mostly. I've got a bit of a weak spot for cookies and cakes and the like. But I can follow a recipe," she said in defense of her abilities.

"Ohh," he said, interested, "Noct has a penchant for sweets as well. I'll have to make something for you to try."

"That'd be awesome. I love anything chocolate."

"Hm, I've got a few recipes for you, then. Would you care to chop these for me while I get the pan ready?"

"You got it," she said happily, taking the knife from him.


"Iggy, you've outdone yourself tonight, my friend," Gladiolus said, leaning back in his Coleman chair after tossing his paper plate in the fire.

"That's very kind, but I share in the credit with my lovely assistant," he replied proudly.

"Aww...Thanks Ignis, but you're the brains here. I just did the grunt work," she said with a grin, flattered at the compliment.

"Careful girl, you're gonna make Blondie here jealous…" Gladio teased, causing Noctis to stifle a giggle.

"Hey, shut up, man," Prompto said, his cheeks reddening. He wished he was invisible.

"Gladio…" she scolded him softly, not seeming too upset about it.

Ignis came to the rescue with a deflection. "Well I don't know about all of you, but I could do with a good night's rest."

"Prompto says she can stay with him," Gladio said flatly, eliciting a snicker from Noctis. Ignis narrowed his eyes at him.

"She can use my tent," Prompto piped up, trying to turn his words around, "if I can sleep in yours, Noct." His best friend nodded in agreement. "Cool. Then let me get you set up, Asti." He stood and gestured to the tent, until she rose and followed him. She completely caught him off-guard when, as she passed by, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. His eyes widened for a second before he remembered them all watching.

"Thanks, Prompto," she said sweetly before kneeling to unzip the tent. He shot a self-satisfied smirk at each of his gawking friends before turning on his heel to follow her.


Astrid laid awake late that night, listening to the sounds of the forest mingling with the crackling fire outside her borrowed tent. How different the woods felt now compared to how they did yesterday, when her only companions were the cold night air and the waning moon. She heard one of the other tents unzip, and one of them walk off into the woods. Her thoughts strayed for just a moment, wondering which of them it was. She held her brother's dagger in her hand, pensively lost in the glow of the firelight dancing across the side of the orange tent. It reminded her of the night she lost Erik, and the daemon's silhouette against the wall of fire. She cursed herself for not being fast enough, for not being able to save the only surviving member of her family whom she truly loved. His pale face still lingered in her thoughts from when she laid him to rest beneath the tallest oak she could find the next morning. She hadn't allowed herself to properly grieve for him, with more pressing matters of survival on the docket. But now with that image of him in her mind, the tears began to fall. She tried to sob quietly, so as to not bother the others, but as he was returning to his tent, Prompto's voice cut through her den of sorrow.

"Astrid? Are you okay? Are you...crying?" he whispered.

She quickly wiped her face and sniffled. "No, I'm alright, Prompto," she whispered back. "You can go back to sleep."

"Alright...good night," he replied, obviously not buying into it, but slowly shuffling back towards his tent. She immediately regretted her previous answer, and realized she could use someone to talk to.

"Wait, Prompto?" she said, reaching up to unzip the tent so she could see him. He stopped and crouched down to the half-opened door wearing only his usual pair of black patterned pants. Flustered, her eyes quickly darted over his body.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

"Actually...no. I would really love it if you could come and talk to me for a bit," she said, looking up at him with a furrowed brow.

He glanced around the campsite briefly, but ultimately said, "Of course," before as silently as possible climbing into the tent with her. He reclined on his arm, lying down on the ground next to her. She watched him intently as he got comfortable, her eyes drinking in the sight of each muscle flexing as he moved. He was nothing but sinew, as thin as he was, she realized. "You were crying," he said, snapping her out of it, noticing her wet face and eyelashes. "What's wrong?"

"I was just… thinking about my brother, Erik," she said, turning his knife in her hand.

"Oh. I'm sorry." He motioned to it and asked softly, "Was that his?"

"Yeah. I took it from his… from him before I buried him in the woods. He loved this dagger. I gave it to him for his eighteenth birthday. It never left his side after that. Except for now…" she said sadly.

"I'm sure he would've wanted you to have it. It sounds like you two were close," he said reassuringly.

"Yeah. He was the only one of my brothers who was nice to me. He helped me practice with my bow, and kept the secret from our father who had forbidden it. Erik even found me a teacher, and told him they were art lessons."

"He sounds pretty great. Wish I had a brother like him."

"Do you have siblings?"

"No...no I was adopted, actually. No brothers or sisters," he said regretfully. "Just me, and my parents, if they were around. They were pretty busy most of the time," he said uneasily, shifting his weight on his arm. She watched, mesmerized by every twitch of his chest dimly illuminated by the firelight filtering through the tent. He looked up at her, catching her wandering eyes in the act. She smiled foolishly, blushing profusely and hoping he didn't notice. But she could see in the smirk he gave her that he had.

Trying to get her mind back on track, she said, "Yeah, I didn't see my parents much either. My mother died when I was twelve, and after that my father didn't really make himself seen much. I think I reminded him of her."

"She must've been pretty awesome then," he said, grinning.

She giggled in response, and they heard Gladio in the next tent over moan, half awake, "Come on man, shut up and go to sleep." The two of them looked at each other and quietly snickered.

"Heh, guess I should go…" he agreed.

"Oh okay," she said reluctantly as he began to crawl out of the tent. He paused before he zipped it up when she put her hand on his arm. "Prompto…"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for talking to me. You're really good at cheering people up."