Hello, once again! Sorry there wasn't an upload earlier. You see, I'm having some technical difficulties here. Also, parent-teacher conferences just occurred, and that by itself is more than enough to deal with. The whole house sounded like a zoo, basically. Also, I was binge-reading a bunch of books to get some ideas for this story. And I've got quite the variety to choose from! Ok, no smut in this chapter, sorry! But there's a hell lot of suspense in it. Enough of me rambling on about this. Enjoy.

Instincts Chapter 5:

Too late

The cave was pitch black. If it wasn't for the excess chattering on the outside the walls, nobody would've known it was daytime. Noctis peeked his good eye out, and stared blindly in the darkness. Even with his night vision, at least some light had to be present for it to really work effectively. Groaning, the werewolf shifted positions onto his stomach, and rested his head against a pillow. He could make out shuffling beside him, but didn't care enough to really pay attention to it.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," a voice called out beside him. Noctis just mumbled something under his breath, and turned his head away from the sound.

"Shut up..." he grumbled.

Suddenly, a pair of hands went down on his body, and shook him gently. "Dude, it's noon already."

"Five more minutes," Noctis yawned, shrugging the hands off. A pout sounded through the room, and Noctis soon felt feet kicking at the bed.

"C'mon, Noct," it whined, shaking the mattress like it was a controller. "How can you sleep so long?"

"Something called tiredness, Prom..." Noctis growled. "Don't you get it too...?"

The blonde smirked. "Nope. Kitsunes are just naturally energetic."

The werewolf just sighed into the pillow. "Well, I don't know what crazy alien you are, but I'm choosing to be human."

"I don't get over-sleeping," Prompto grumbled, crossing his arms. "Why would you rather be in a coma for half a day when you could be doing literally anything else?"

"Like doing last night over and over again...?" Noctis teased.

Prompto just blushed weirdly. "Well, I mean, maybe, but not all the time!"

"Pervert..." Noctis grumbled. Perching his head on one arm, he waved one hand in the air lazily. "But I gotta admit... you did get the flow pretty well last night."

The blonde whipped around to stare at the werewolf, his face flushing a bright pink.

I what?!

"Uh... y-yeah."

Noctis smiled. "Calm down, dude. I was just kidding. Yesterday was confusing. Couldn't even figure out what was even happening half the time." He gave Prompto a sly smirk.

The blonde reddened like a tomato, and ripped the covers off the sleeping figure. Noct's eye snapped open in an instant, and he immediately sat up in bed, shivering like a rabbit.

"Dude...! What the hell!" Noctis growled in surprise.

Prompto pouted. "Suits you right. Now get dressed. We've got a big plan ahead of us."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ok, if we track the scent of Noctis, we can follow it to where the enemies are." Gladio pointed to a hunter dog, and glanced at the glaives. They nodded back like robots. Completely expressionless.

"Shouldn't we just go to Niflheim?" Aranea asked. "Who else would take him, anyway?"

Ignis just shushed her quietly. "For now, anyone could've taken him. We should just settle with the clues we have right now." The woman huffed and crossed her arms. They both turned back to Gladio.

"Take the dogs from their cages. Since it's winter, the scent would be very faint after being showered in blizzards, so our noses wouldn't be able to smell it." He watched as the glaives all dispersed, each putting on their uniforms. Gladio just sighed, and walked over to Ignis and Aranea. "God, I hope this works..." he whispered.

Ignis put a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder, eyeing him with a warning glance. "Calm down, Gladio. You mustn't forget that lady Lunafreya is still sleeping." He sighed gently, and adjusted his glasses slightly. "Besides... Noct's not incapable of self defense. He'll be fine. I'd be more worried about the capturers."

The soldier stifled out a scratchy laugh, and relaxed his shoulders. "Yeah... you're right, Iggy." He stood up, and nodded to both Ignis and Aranea. "Let's go retrieve our little monster."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Fuck...!" Prompto cursed, and slammed his fist against the counter.

Noctis gave the blonde an annoyed look, and lowered his head slowly. "It's nothing too important, anyway." He waved his hand lazily through the air, and sighed softly.

Prompto snatched Noct's hand in an instant, and made Noctis stare straight into his eyes. "What do you mean it's not important...?!" He snarled. "Don't you realize it?? After Ardyn's done with you, Niflheim is gonna take you away and do god knows what with you!" He bellowed. The werewolf broke his gaze from Prompto, and closed his eye.

"It's fine, Prom. I'm not completely defenseless, y'know?"

The blonde growled, and tightened his grip on Noct's wrist. "Yeah, until your left eye's gone as well, so you can't see shit!" Noctis grunted, and his gaze sharpened.

"I told you, I'll be ok...!"

"And how are you so sure about that Noct?!" Prompto yelled. "Hell, what if you never come back? What if you can't escape? What if you..." his voice trailed off.

"...died...?" Noctis answered softly.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut, and shook his head reluctantly. "If you leave me all alone... I..." he cut off when a pair of pale arms wrapped around him, and gripped his shirt gently. The blonde wiped a few tears out of his eyes, and sniffled quietly. "If you stopped saying goodnight to me... I'll stop sleeping."

The other teen just stifled out a chuckle, and whispered gently in the blonde's ear. "Stop worrying so much about me. I'll come back. Definitely." Prompto nodded gleefully, and buried his face in Noct's shirt, wanting to just dissolve into it.

"Crybaby."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are we almost there?" A glaive asked as the team ran through the seemingly endless forest.

"Yeah, I can smell it by now..." Gladio muttered, and continued leading them through the trees.

Aranea trailed behind them, keeping an eye out for enemies. After all, in a forest this dense, it won't be that hard to get a surprise attack. "Hey Ignis, keep an eye out on my left. I can't keep covering for all of you." Ignis nodded, and moved beside the mercenary, covering up tracks and occasionally glancing behind him.

They ran through the forest for what seemed like an hour before Gladio halted abruptly, and raised an open palm, signaling to stop. All the glaives shuffled in their gear, squiggly making their way to the soldier. "Take a look at this." Ignis and Aranea pushed through the group to stand beside Gladio, and gasped.

"The hell happened here...?" Aranea whispered frantically. The ground was totally bare, like someone... no. Something had ripped every strand of grass right out of the ground. Claw marks littered the trees, and dried blood splattered all over the battleground. "Something had one hell of a fight here..."

Ignis kneeled down, and inspected the scrabbled dirt. Running his hand through the soil, he motioned Gladio over in an instant. "Gladio... you might want to see this..."

The soldier appeared immediately by Ignis, and crouched, peering at the small, metal object in his hand. "This is..."

Ignis nodded. "Yeah. Noct's phone." It was in pretty bad condition, for the glass was cracked in multiple places, and the case had completely broken off. "He was here."

Aranea glanced at the trees, and inspected the claw marks closely. "Yeah. Definitely here." Both Ignis and Gladio turned to face the mercenary to see a tuft of long white fur in her hand.

"Whatever happened here, it must have been a group attack or a powerful individual for Noctis to willingly transform like this." Ignis muttered as he slipped the cracked phone in his pocket.

"It's definitely not human, though." Aranea replied as she pointed to the piles of multicolored fur littering the ground. "Yellow, brown, gray, and black. There's more than one enemy."

"But what is it?" Gladio asked. "MTs don't have fur."

Aranea smirked. "I think I have a pretty good idea of who it is."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ardyn sighed as he stepped into a cold cave. Inside were a few kitsunes that were completely loyal to him, and he trusted them completely. You'd expect them to have names like 'Bronco' or 'Andy,' right? But no. These were a special batch, for Ardyn had raised them himself in total isolation. As well as some hunters may know this cavern, Ardyn was the one who founded it in the first place. He had a secret undervalley below the prisoner's chamber that he used to create a loyal, unbreakable spy crew. Of course, they were all real kitsunes, but weren't offspring of any kind. Yes, Ardyn did use actual members of the clan to create them, but these spies were clones of those, after they had passed away. They had no names, for they don't get one, and they don't need one. Sitting on the head chair of the table, Ardyn cleared his throat, and ordered for the door to be closed and locked.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid we have a slight delay in our plans right now." A few grunts were heard around the table. "And I know exactly who is responsible for this."

"Prompto, right?" A certain blonde kitsune in a chair called out. He was dressed in a full black tuxedo, well, all of them were. His hair was blonde and spikey, and he had bright blue eyes. Unlike his friendly appearance, this man's gaze was ice cold. Emotionless. No want, no desire. For all he knew was that he were to obey Ardyn.

The kitsune smiled evilly, and nodded. "Very well, K-0611. Yes, Prompto, the young hunter, has taken my precious experiment away from me, and is currently hiding him in this cavern." More disgruntled noises followed. "And I assume you all know what I'm about to assign you, right?" Nods occurred all throughout the table. Ardyn grinned. "Good. Capture Noctis. Bring him back to me, and don't let anyone catch you in the process. But also, feel free to do whatever you like with the blonde. It's his punishment, anyway." Many 'yes sirs" echoed in the room.

"Alright. Dismissed."

Immediately, all the kitsunes seated at the table disappeared without a trace. Ardyn just leaned back in his chair, and sighed pleasantly to himself.

"Noctis, you better watch out..." he smirked, and lifted his hat slightly.

"Oh, and you too... Prompto."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been a few hours since Gladio and the troops had dispatched. Dusk was coming soon, and Gladio knew that they had to stop somewhere soon. Aranea and Ignis can't keep watching behind their backs the entire time, and he was losing himself to tiredness as well.

No.

The soldier shook his head roughly, shaking his body's screams out of his brain. By now, everyone was probably running mostly on adrenaline.

I can wait.

Gladio halted abruptly, surprising the glaives behind him. Stumbling on their feet, the troops knelt down tiredly, trying to regain breath. Gladio just looked at them silently.

"Glaives..." he started. "Rest here for a while. Tell Ignis and Aranea when they catch up, that I'm scouting ahead."

One of the soldiers opened his mouth to protest, but Gladio cut him off with a flick of his wrist.

"No complaints. I can wait. You can't. Just gather up some more energy, ok? I'll be back shortly."

The glaives all sighed, and slumped down on the ground. Wheezing and panting, they nodded at the leader. Gladio drank a few gulps of water from a canteen, feeling the cool liquid rush through his aching body. Setting the empty bottle down on the dirt floor, the soldier nodded a 'goodbye,' and took off once again through the forest.

I hope you're ok...

He ran. He flew like an eagle through the dim trees under the setting sun. He remembered the feeling of thrush he would usually get on missions like this, and he liked it. Even when he had no energy whatsoever, just the pure excitement kept him going. Gladio soared through the woods until the sun had set completely. He ran until the gasps and wheezes of the glaives were unheard. Not even Aranea's shouting could reach him this time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The blonde kitsune dashed through the cavern system silently. His spikey hair flew in all directions, and his tail was cut at the middle, making it dangle awkwardly as he ran through the corridors. This wasn't unusual, though. All of Ardyn's secret spies were raised in isolation. Their ears were chipped when they were born, and their tails got cut halfway to prevent them from blending in with the others. Sure, they didn't have real names, but they were still living organisms, so Ardyn numbered them like packages.

This one was K-0611. He was the last-born, but a loyal soldier no doubt. Ardyn would aways ramble on on how he looked a lot like a certain kitsune called Prompto. Of course, K-0611 knew that this man was blonde just like him, but he was nothing like him. He's seen other kitsunes during various other secret missions. They all had design in their system. They laughed. They cried. They yelled. They smiled. Of course, K-0611 knows what emotions are, but Ardyn told them that those are for the weak, so he never paid any attention to them. But he couldn't help but notice how different he was compared to everyone else. Sometimes... he felt like an... outcast.

The spy shook his head roughly. No. He's on an important mission. He can't let bothersome thoughts cloud his mind at this time. As K-0611 sprinted through the underground tunnels, he soon emerged out in the open. Glancing around, he could make out some blonde's, but none were his target. Pressing a button near his ear, the spy whispered into the device lodged inside.

"Nothing in the main court." He waited for a reply.

"Same here. No trace of the target in the plaza."

"No trace of him in the prisoner chamber either."

The blonde waited for the other submissions to render, and continued his way down the hall. Lowering his head, K-0611 avoided making eye contact with the other kitsunes.

"0611, check in the dorms."

The kitsune nodded a 'roger,' and sprinted down the corridor in a flash. Pushing past a brown kitsune, his eyes locked onto the entrance to the dorms.

"Approaching destination."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Prompto nuzzled against the werewolf as they chilled on the couch, watching TV. Well, actually, Noctis wasn't paying attention to the show at all. His eyes were locked onto a book. The blonde sighed, and closed his eyes softly.

"You know that Ardyn's probably searching for you, right?" He mumbled tiredly.

"Mhm..." Noct replied lazily.

'Mhm?!' The fuck!

Prompto pushed off of the werewolf, and slapped a hand down on the page he was reading. Noctis glanced annoyingly at the blonde.

"Oi, I'm reading here."

"How can you be so damn chill about this?!" Prompto cursed. "We have to hide somewhere so Ardyn can't find us! He can't find you!"

Noctis sighed. "Tch. Don't worry. I can defend myself just fine."

"No, no no no, you can't. You couldn't even beat three kitsunes! He's most likely gonna come at you with ten this time!" Prompto bellowed.

Closing the book, the werewolf rubbed his eye with one hand tiredly. "Well, you were his strongest soldier, right?" Prompto didn't answer. Noctis continued. "Whoever else he sends, they're probably weaker than half of you. Stop worrying so much, Prom."

The blonde slammed his hand on Noct's lap, surprising the werewolf with a jolt. "How do you know that?! You've never known Ardyn as long as I have!"

Noctis just grunted, and pushed the blonde's hand off his legs. "He's a creepy old man who experiments on creatures. Not only is he a dick, but he's a retarded dick. Anything I miss?"

"He's not retarded, Noct!"

Noctis scoffed. "Oh yeah? If he really wanted to keep me in one place, he'd have chained me in that room for as long as he wanted."

"Ardyn's not what you expect! He has various tricks up his sleeve!" Prompto wailed. Grabbing the werewolf's wrist, the blonde tugged Noctis onto his feet, and dragged his towards the door.

"We're leaving."

Noctis glanced at the kitsune confusingly. "What do you mean leaving?"

Prompto glared at the werewolf, making Noct jolt back slightly. "I mean, we're leaving the cave. Forever."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Gladio, the glaives can't go on much longer!" Ignis shouted from the end. "We've been running for hours!"

"Iggy, shut it! I see an opening right up ahead!" Gladio yelled.

"Is it Niflheim?" Aranea shouted.

Bursting out of the never ending forest, Gladio peered out in the distance. He glanced at where the scent radiated from the most, and gasped. "Iggy... Aranea... you might wanna take a look at this."

Running out of the woods, the glaives panted and wheezed, trying to regain their breath. Aranea and Ignis followed behind them.

"What...?" Ignis started.

Gladio nodded. "Yeah. A cave."

Aranea narrowed her eyes. "Kitsunes."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sprinting towards the dorm rooms, K-0611 glanced at each individual cave, sniffing for the blonde's scent.

It's getting stronger.

He notified the others on the earpiece. "Target located. Approaching this instant."

"Excellent. Locate the target, but do not engage until further instruction."

"Roger that."

The blonde ran silently through the corridors, passing cave be cave.

Found you...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"C'mon! We're going inside to give these furries a piece of our minds!" Gladio bellowed, summoning his greatsword. Aranea and Ignis both followed behind, and the glaives just nodded in approval.

As they ran closer to the cavern, Ignis could sense that something wasn't right. "Gladio, I"-

"I know, Iggy!" The soldier interrupted. "I'm getting hard headed, but in situations like this, I have to!"

Ignis shook his head abruptly. "No, it's not that, it's just..."

Aranea turned to glance at the man. "What?"

Ignis is pushed his glasses up, and pointed to a piece of metal sticking out from behind the cavern.

"The hell...?" Gladio lifted a hand up, motioning for them to halt. He ran over to the back of the cave to investigate. Pushing his way through the plants, the soldier peered over the edge of the cliff. His eyes widened. "Aranea... Ignis... you might want to come look at this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Prompto led the werewolf through the maze of tunnels, searching for an exit.

Noctis closed his good eye, and held a hand up to his aching head. "God, Prom, how many twists and turns are in this damn cave? I feel like throwing up."

The blonde just scoffed, and continued dragging the pile of fur around. "There's gotta be an exit somewhere at the back of this cave!"

"Dude, why are we even running away from this place anyway...? I'd much rather be sleeping." Noctis grumbled.

Prompto whipped to glare at the werewolf, sending Noctis stumbling back in surprise. "Is your brain even working?? Ardyn! A-r-d-y-n! He's a damn hunter, and you've got a target painted all over!"

Noctis slumped his head forward tiredly. "Ok... I'll just... I dunno, hide from him, then..."

"That's exactly what we're doing, idiot." The kitsune rolled his eyes.

The werewolf yawned, and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Prom, what's today's date...?"

"Eh?" Prompto asked confusingly.

Two tired blinks. "Like, the date, dude. Month, day, year?"

The blonde looked at Noct strangely, but replied nonetheless. "November 16, 2018. Happy?"

Noctis shook his head miserably. "That explains it."

Prompto shifted his tail in frustration. "Explains what? What does it mean?!"

Another yawn.

"Hibernating season, Prom."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This is it. I can taste his scent.

K-0611 swung the cave door open, sprinting inside the room, searching the place for any trace of life. "The hell...?" The room was empty. Nobody. All the furniture and belongings were still inside, but the owner must have left right before he had found him. The spy clenched his fist in frustration, and slammed it against the wall. "Dammit...!"

Speaking into the earpiece, K-0611 replied that the suspect has supposedly fled along with the test subject. He glanced around the room as more replies came on the speaker.

"Are you positive, K-0611?"

The kitsune sighed, and replied with a 'yes.'

"Very well. Continue searching, then. From the time the target had left, he's most likely not outside the cave yet. He knows that at the front entrance, he'd get caught, so he's probably looming somewhere around the back of the cavern. Go check."

"Roger."

"But before you do that, come to the man entrance real quick, K-0611."

The kitsune twitched an ear in confusion, and asked why.

"Insomnia finally came to retrieve their little weapon."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Prompto froze. "Eh, you hibernate?"

Noctis rolled his eyes. "Duh, of course I do. Don't you too?"

The blonde shook his head. "Nope. Normal foxes hibernate, but kitsunes are different."

"Huh." The werewolf yawned, and stretched his limbs tiredly. "Well, let's get out of this place quickly. Can't stand running right now."

Prompto nodded, and continued leading the way through the cramped tunnels. "Hey Noct..."

"...yeah...?"

"What do you usually do during these times?"

Noctis looked down to the ground. "Well, back in Insomnia, Ignis would make all sorts of meals for me, and I'd just sleep in bed until spring."

Prompto glanced at the werewolf. "Who's Ignis?"

"Eh? Oh. He's just... a close friend of mine..." Noctis replied slowly.

Prompto sighed. "Ah, ok." The blonde softened his gaze. "Am I... a close friend... to you?"

Noctis immediately put his mask back on, and laughed. "What? Don't be stupid, Prom. Isn't it obvious?"

The blonde stared at Noctis intently.

"Of course you are."

Prompto couldn't help but smile. Those words seemed to have traveled from his ears all the way down to his beating heart.

"Now, about the whole escaping plan?" Noctis grinned, tightening his grip lightly on Prompto's hand.

"O-oh, yeah." Prompto shuffled, whipping back around, trying to hide his blush.

Friend-zoned.

Noctis thought playfully. Leaning closer until his body leaned up against the kitsune's back, and curled his tail around his leg. "Insomnia?"

Prompto reddened like a tomato, and brushed Noctis off immediately, smirking.

"Insomnia it is."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Running through the crowded tunnels, K-0611 could swear the target was somewhere in this maze. Not only did his scent linger around each corner, but a trail of white fur was laid out right before him. Smiling to himself, the kitsune grabbed a few strands and followed the trail.

"This is K-0611. Target and subject are almost certainly at the back exit area. Requesting permission for all to come immediately."

"K-0897 here. Are you absolutely positive?"

"If I wasn't, why would I be messaging you?"

"Very well. Calling all spies to the back exit system immediately."

K-0611 kept sprinting towards the trail, following the scent like a cat to a mouse. After a few minutes of running, he could hear distant footsteps behind him.

Good. They've arrived.

He signaled them to follow behind him with a raised fist.

After a while, K-0611 could feel the werewolf's present, he was this close. With a twitch of an ear, he notified the others, although they probably noticed too.

Turning a corner, he could see a flash of blonde and black run before him. Smiling to himself, the kitsune motioned for the others to follow him.

"Get the targets."

More flashes of fur flew past him, making his own spiked blonde curls fly through the air.

"Shut them down."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey!" Gladio bellowed as he invaded the cave, causing ruckus throughout the area. Barging through the multiple kitsunes, he flung them in al directions. Grabbing their tails, the soldier picked them up like mere cats and eyed them furiously, threatening to kill. "Which one of you have Noctis?" He pointed a a brown furred kitsune boldly. "You?" The kitsune backed up uncertainly, stuttering a 'no sir.' Gladio scoffed, and wallowed over to her, and grabbed the collar of her shirt. Lifting the kitsune up, he glared at her intensely. "I don't believe you. Not any of you mutts."

"She doesn't know, so let her go!" A voice rang through the crowd, and a black kitsune emerged, pushing Gladio away from the young woman. She stumbled back, and he caught her by the arm. "You ok, Cindy?"

Gasping for air, the woman nodded lightly. Turning to face the soldier, the black kitsune growled deep in his throat.

"You bastard."

Gladio snarled back, and stomped over to the man, but Ignis stopped him from going any further. Pushing his glasses up, he spoke in a gentle and serious tone. Not as intense as Gladio's voice, but just as scary.

"Why are you mad at us? You're the ones that stole something from us. We're just taking back what's ours."

The kitsune glared at the man, and stood up, his tail bristling behind him. "I'll show you something to gawk about..." he sprinted towards the soldiers, anger flashing in his eyes. Gladio scoffed, and caught the kitsune by the head, and slammed it into the ground. The kitsune yelped in pain, and struggled under the former glaive's grasp. The soldier let go, and kicked the body into a wall.

The kitsune struggled to stand up, a trickle of blood slid from his forehead down to his chin. Panting, he brushed the grime off his face, and advanced towards the soldiers again, only to be stopped by a hand grasping his arm. Turning back, he saw Cindy. "Cindy... stay out of this."

"No!" The brown kitsune pleaded. "Drautos, you can't beat these guys alone! You'll just get yourself killed!"

Drautos sighed, and brushed her hand off. "Well, at least I'll die with one of their severed heads in my jaws." And with that, the kitsune morphed into a fox, and pounced forward, charging for Gladio.

"Stop!" Cindy shouted, but the kitsune ignored her.

Gladio smirked, and summoned his greatsword. As Drautos pounced, he swung the sword up, aiming to slice the fox in two. The kitsune dodged it, but barely. It still sliced through a thin layer of skin on his left shoulder. Sliding on the stone floor, the kitsune bunched up his muscles, and lunged for the soldier again. Gladio swung the sword back around, but Drautos went underneath the blade, and latched onto one of the soldier's ankles. Sinking his teeth into the soft flesh, he could taste the warm blood flooding in his mouth.

"Damn pest!" Gladio roared, and grabbed the fox's tail, flinging the kitsune off. Drautos slammed in a wall, and crumpled to the ground. The soldier smirked, and threw his sword at the kitsune, aiming for the heart.

"Drautos! Look out!" Cindy shouted. The kitsune hurriedly scrambled out of the way, just in time to avoid the blade. It lodged into the cave wall, and dissipated into blue flashes of light before vanishing in the air. Drautos lunged for the man again, only to be caught by the throat. As Gladio tightened his grip on the kitsune's throat, Drautos let out a yelp. The soldier smirked, and slammed the body into the ground. A thump sounded through the halls, and the crowd winced in fear. The kitsune struggled to his feet, and growled at the man.

"Tired already?" Gladio sneered. "But I'm just starting to have some fun!" The kitsune snarled, and jumped onto a ledge, scratching the stone. As Drautos scraped his claws on the cave floor, a sickening sound echoed all throughout the area. The soldier growled and held his hands to his ears, squeezing his eyes shut. The kitsune took this moment to jump up and close his jaws around Gladio's neck, causing the man to fall onto his back. "Argh! Get off!" He landed blows to the kitsune, but couldn't get free. Struggling against the grip, the soldier cursed loudly.

Cindy and the crowd cheered Drautos on, some even jumping in to help. Aranea ran in to help, but was overwhelmed by more kitsunes. "Gladio!" She shouted.

The crowd grew louder as the soldier's struggles became weaker. Drautos smirked, and tightened his grip on the man's neck, planning to snap it in two.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out through the cave, rattling the walls. The crowd grew quiet in an instant, and saw as the black kitsune tumbled off the man, falling on the ground with a lifeless thump. Blood poured out of a bullet wound, and his desperate gasps for air grew short and stuffier before going completely still. The kitsunes stared at the lifeless body in shock. Turning to face the direction the bullet came from, their eyes landed on a tall, skinny man.

As Gladio pushed himself off the ground, he rubbed his neck sorely and gasped for breath. "Thanks, Iggy."

Pushing his glasses up, the man reloaded a shiny metal revolver, and spoke in a serious and calm tone. "No problem."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"C'mon, this way!" Prompto urged, dragging a half conscious body along. "I can see the exit!"

"Mmm..." Noctis groaned, struggling to keep his uninjured eye open. His head lolled to one side painfully, and he lazily pulled it back up. "Are we there yet...?"

"Almost, dude. Just... stay with me a little longer, ok?" Prompto reassured, patting the werewolf's ears gently. They responded with a slight twitch. Smiling, the blonde edged his way closer to the exit. "Almost... there..." reaching out, the blonde stumbled back in surprise when a force pushed him in the opposite direction. "The hell?!"

A black figure appeared in front of him, and a few more soon followed. "What is this...?" The blonde growled menacingly. "Who are you guys, and what do you want?"

A figure in the middle smirked, and walked forward, letting light shine on his features. His blonde spiky hair flowed like a porcupine, and his eyes were blue just like Prompto's. "We, are Ardyn's secret army, and we're here for the werewolf." Stepping forward threateningly, he held a hand forward. "Hand him over."

Prompto growled deep in his throat, and got into a defensive position. "And if I refuse?"

The other kitsune sighed, and pulled a huge sword from his back. "Then there will be consequences."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ardyn was in the experiment room, shuffling around, waiting for his faithful test subject to return. Suddenly, a kitsune was slammed against the metal door, making Ardyn jolt up in surprise. "What the...?" He pressed his ear to the door, trying to make out what was going on on the other side. Unfortunately, the door was so heavily packed with metal that barely any sound could get through.

Sighing, the kitsune turned the door knob, and opened the door. Staring at the bodies around the cave room, Ardyn cursed under his breath. "Fuck."

Turning the corner, he made out a group of men in the main area. Not just any men, though. These were glaives.

Insomnia.

Ardyn smirked.

So, they finally came to take their pet home.

One of the men noticed the kitsune, and stomped over, grabbing the man by his throat. "You..."

"Me."

The man growled. "What have you done with Noctis?" He tightened his grip on the kitsune's neck, and lifted him up in the air.

Ardyn just smiled grimly, and stared right back into the soldier's gleaming eyes.

"Answer me!" The former glaive bellowed.

"Gladio, is it?" The kitsune chuckled.

The soldier snarled, and threw the kitsune into a wall. "I said answer me!"

Coughing up a few droplets of blood, Ardyn smirked at the man. "I see you've finally decided to retrieve you pet."

Gladio's gaze hardened, and he landed a punch to the kitsune.

Wiping the grime off his face, the kitsune maintained his smile. "Too bad that you're just too late."

The soldier roared, and slammed Ardyn's head in the wall. "What are you hiding?? What are Niflheim ships doing parked by you cave??"

The kitsune laughed. "Ah, so you've finally noticed those, huh?"

No response.

Ardyn continued on. "You see, us kitsunes and Niflheim have a nice little alliance against Insomnia now."

Gladio snarled at the man. "What does Noctis have to do with this?"

"Oh, he actually is an essential part in our plan here! You won't believe it!" Ardyn chuckled.

"Give. Him. Back. Now."

The kitsune sighed, and rubbed his head. "Gosh, when will you humans listen?"

No response.

I already told you this, haven't I?

"You're just too late."

End of Chapter 5:

Hey, peeps! How was it? Sorry this chapter was published to late. I was busy with homework. Nothing middle school does can really prepare you for the monstrosities of high school, I'll say that. But anyway, leave how you think of this chapter in the comments below! I love seeing responses to these, really. It helps keep me going, y'know? Who needs food when you've got reviews, right? Ok ok, enough rambling from me. Have a good day, and good night. Peace out, rainbow trouts!