"Would you please just stop for a moment? You're clearly hurt judging from the way you're limping." Ignis didn't bother hiding his tone of voice, he was not impressed with the way that his Prince continued to brush him off. He knew Noctis better than that after all.

"It's fine, seriously. Let's keep going. It stinks down here." They'd been walking for some time and Noctis was beginning to grow annoyed. They needed to get back topside as quick as they could. He needed to know what happened.

Ignis sighed, bringing himself to a halt as if in protest. "Gladio?" He added quietly as if sending a silent order to his taller friend.

Although Noctis didn't bother to glance back, he sensed that Gladious clearly knew of Ignis' intent. This was due to the fact that he swiftly reached out for Noctis' arms without hesitation, pulling him back abruptly.

Ignis watched as Noctis swung back, a clunk in his demeanor as he winced at the forceful movement. It was clear he was injured, even if it wasn't obvious to the eye.

"What the hell!" The Prince cursed, his arms swinging out like a child readying for a tantrum.

"Iggy is talking to you. Slow down, will ya." Gladiolus growled, he too anchoring himself down into the ground. He had clearly taken his side.

"Geez, alright, I'll sit down for a bit." Noctis huffed, folding his arms and sinking into the patchy grass below him. Though he couldn't help but frown gently at the damp floor, the sudden movement did send a quiver up his leg that he had been avoiding. Perhaps Ignis was right, he did need a moment. It's not like he knew which way to go anyway. A moment to stop may let them find their sense of direction.

As if satisfied by his choice, Ignis nodded and lowered himself beside Noctis.

"You've been limping since we got here. You should take your boot off so we can take a look and see how bad the damage is."

"It's fine, I can walk on it, what's the big deal?"

"You have been powering through with adrenaline, we all have."

Though Gladious butted in, for he had also sat down on the other side of the Prince. "Noct, you may be able to walk on it, but that doesn't mean you should."

"It can't hurt to take a look at what you've done." Ignis added gently.

"Ugh, fine." The younger rolled his eyes. Although he appreciated their concern, he despised the time it took. They had places to be, friends to find. They didn't have time for such trivial matters. Yanking off his boot and sock begrudgingly, Noctis revealed what had been trying to push through. Though it was not his usual ankle he was greeted with. His ankle was now twice its usual size like it had been filled with air, a warm but unsettling bruise was beginning to darken around his bone. He knew what it was, he'd had it before after all, a sprain to his ankle. But like he'd said, he could walk on it and that was enough. He'd sprained it before where he couldn't put weight on it, so clearly he was okay.

"Alright, we happy now? Can we move on?"

"That looks like hell, Noct. Does it hurt?" Gladious asked, peeking over curiously; as if tempted to poke at it with one of his ungodly strong fingers.

"Well yeah, I guess. More like annoying." Noctis scoffed, plucking his tattered sock out from his boot so as to cover his swollen ankle.

"Now just wait a minute-" Ignis was quick to slap at Noctis' fingers, "you're not moving anywhere yet."

"Can't we just crack a potion on it and be done?" Noctis replied, retracting his hand back defensively.

"Your injury is internal. A potion wouldn't do a thing. Torn ligaments can't exactly patch themselves up like that." It was as if Ignis tutted through his sentences, and Noctis couldn't help but tense up a little like he was being chided for not knowing such a thing.

"But we don't have time for this-"

"Yes, we do." Ignis pulled out a small box from his jacket, which Noctis quickly realised was a medical kit.

"It's a sprain. I didn't break it. I'll be fine."

Clear and concise. He wanted to get his message across. He wanted to go and look for Prompto. Who cared about his stupid ankle when his best friend could be dead?! This time he let his hand move quicker than Ignis', plucking up his sock as he stayed lost in thought.

If only they'd scoped out the land a little better, they wouldn't have fallen into this stupid place and Prompto wouldn't have been left up there with that monster. Last he'd seen his friend, he'd been on his knees calling out to them as they had been practically whipped off the edge of a cliff.

Suddenly a searing pain strung through Noctis like electricity. Not only did it yank him from his thoughts, it also physically jolted him alongside a yelp. He turned toward it, his hand dropping his sock so that he could attend to whatever it was that was stabbing at his ankle. Thought irritation struck him when his eyes rested on Gladious who had pressed down on the darkest part of his ankle.

"Hey! What gives!" He barked, pushing at Gladious a little more pathetically intended.

Gladious however laughed gently at the Prince's reaction, as if mocking him. "What, I thought it didn't hurt that much?"

"Well it does when you squeeze it like that!"

"Sorry, you looked like you were zoning out. Just checking you were still with us."

"We can't help Prompto if you hurt yourself further and we end up having to carry you the rest of the way because you're too stubborn to sit for five minutes. At least let us take a few moments so we can bandage your ankle to help."

Noctis wasn't sure when his mouth had dropped into a pout, perhaps it was his heart realising that Ignis was right. Ignis was always right. Even now as he sat, he felt his adrenaline from the fight earlier melting away and fatigue settling in its place. His ankle would surely make itself more known if they kept up with the walking. I'd did look pretty gross after all.

"Alright… I guess then we could… figure out which way to go next too."

"Definitely," Ignis responded, his hands now holding compression tape. "I think Gladious can do that while we get this done."

Noctis pressed his lips together and nodded.

Don't worry Prompto. We'll be on our way again.

Authors Note.

Thank you for reading. It's been a while since I wrote fanfiction of any kind. It was nice to do again. I just wanted to get it out of my system. I hurt my ankle and it was frustrating. Hopefully, i wrote the boys okay. I wanted to have Prompto in it but I wanted a reason for Noctis feeling so stubborn so if you're curious what happened let me know I guess.