Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 4

Noctis looked around as Prompto parked the truck, the scent of chocobos filling his senses. It was stronger than he was used to but then he caught the grin on Prompto's face and couldn't help grinning back. He was excited but also nervous. Would his presence upset the birds? If it did then someone may at least realise he was a vampire even if they didn't recognise him. They were still technically in occupied territory, but the Glaive operated in these parts, even some of the Crownsguard occasionally came out this far. He could ask to use the phone and try to get a call through to the Citadel, arrange a pickup. If he did that, Prompto would leave and he didn't want that.

Despite knowing where Prompto was from…that he could be related to a high ranking Imperial…he liked him. He had done nothing but help him, he never got mad when Noctis didn't know or understand something due to growing up in Insomnia. He had amazing stories to tell, and now that Noct knew he would even tell him about Altissia since he'd come through there during his escape. It sounded like an amazing and beautiful city, he wished he could see it for himself. There was so much of the world beyond the Wall and he was coming to hate the fact he would likely never leave it again, not after all of this.

If Prompto got him back to the city, then it would be easier to get him inside. He would make sure he had a place to live, money, anything he wanted or needed. He remembered the tiny, skinny boy he'd been, and he never wanted Prompto to have to live like that again. If other Hunters found out he was helping Noct, he'd be out of a job and unsafe, they may even hunt him down. He wasn't trying to buy his friendship or something, he just wanted to make up for putting him through all this. He wanted…hoped, that Prompto wanted to be his friend. He didn't have friends outside of Iggy and Gladio (who had to be out of their minds with fear by now), he just wasn't good at connecting with people, and they had been chosen for him, his Retainers before they became friends.

He followed Prompto into the outpost, looking around at the stables, and then an older human male approached with a wave of greeting.

"Hello boys," the man greeted them.

"Hi," Prompto grinned at him. "We'd like to see the chocobos please."

"The chocobos, huh? I hate to break this to y'all, but we can't permit our birds to leave the post. Not while Deadeye's still about. He's an uncommonly ferocious behemoth that's taken to prowlin' these parts of late. His scent makes our birds nervous, an' to prevent accidents an' tragedies, we have no choice but to suspend rentals. But hold on, now—ain't you lads hunters?" he looked at their clothing and the gun on Prompto's hip. "You reckon you could handle the likes of Deadeye? If you could bring the beast down, there'd be a reward in it for ya. But knowin' the danger, I wouldn't blame ya for sayin' no," he explained and Prompto frowned, glancing at Noctis.

Noctis blinked and realised that Prompto was leaving it up to him. This sounded more dangerous than any of the jobs they'd taken on so far for funds but…how many people relied on the birds for transport? They worked well together, Prompto instinctively shooting around him even when he warped which was beyond impressive. He'd never been so in sync with anyone but his Dad and the guys. "I'm in."

Prompto grinned and nodded. "Any other info?" he asked, and they were soon given a hunt flyer and area where it had been seen. They went back to the truck to grab their gear and rent the caravan, heading in to clean up and eat before going to bed. Prompto flopped on the double rather than a bunk and patted the mattress in offering. Noctis couldn't help grinning as he got in beside him. He loved the body heat Prompto radiated. He knew his own body was cooler than a humans but Prompto never complained about him leaching his body heat. He curled on his side and felt Prompto wrap around him, an arm around his waist and Noctis relaxed, feeling safe.

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They moved silently through the Nebulawood in search of Deadeye, only to freeze as they heard a vicious growl from somewhere amid the rocks. Noctis closed his eyes, focusing his senses and then he began to move, Prompto following him without hesitation. They moved through the misty rocks, weapons ready, and then they saw it in the distance. It was….big, definitely very large. They followed it into some ruins and Noctis grinned as he saw the oil drums scattered around, pulling out some elemental flasks from the Armiger and passing half to Prompto who nodded, understanding the plan.

They split up and silently moved closer, each counting to twenty before Noct launched the first flask since the behemoth was closer to him at the moment. The drum went up in a flash of fire, sending Deadeye back, howling in pain and anger. Prompto threw his first one, causing another bellow. They herded it using the flasks until they were out and Prompto began shooting while Noctis began warp striking from every angle. He heard Prompto yelp as he was hit by the tail and snarled, fangs extended as he launched a blast of lightning at the behemoth, warping to Prompto's side, breaking a potion over him.

Prompto shot him a grin and then opened fire again and Noctis warped away. They fought hard and finally, Deadeye fell, lying still. Prompto leant against some rubble, breathing hard. "You okay?" he called and Noctis warped to his side, a little paler than he had been the last few days and then he hissed as some sunlight fell on his exposed skin. Prompto grabbed him, pulling him into the shade of the trees around the ruin. "Easy," he soothed, hands running over Noctis' body, searching for wounds that would explain his sudden light sensitivity.

"It's the magic use," Noctis offered quietly. "The more I use the more quickly I burn through blood."

"Well, I wouldn't suggest drinking from that," Prompto looked at the very messy corpse. Since they'd poisoned the thing it probably wasn't safe. "Come on," he moved Noctis deeper into the tree cover. "Stay here, I'll find you something to eat."

Noctis nodded, feeling the hunger burn through him. He wished he could store blood in the armiger, but the magic killed off any nutrition in it. He sat down beneath a tree, keeping his sword in hand just to be safe. He let his eyes close, relying on his other senses to alert him to any danger, resting his eyes from the bright light. After a while he heard a branch snap but didn't tense as the scent of Prompto, blood and…voretooth. Yuk…but it'd do. He opened his eyes as Prompto dropped the barely alive animal at his feet, moving so that he could sink fangs through tough hide, drinking hungrily. It took a second before he felt up to heading back to the outpost.

Noctis headed straight for the caravan to clean up and get out of the sun for a while, Prompto going to turn in the proof of a successful hunt, coming back with just over three thousand gil and an amethyst bracelet which he gave to Noctis since he had one already.

Prompto grinned when he found Noctis had made him a sandwich, despite how bad food smelt to the vampire. "Thanks."

"Only fair," Noctis shrugged.

Once Prompto had eaten he had a shower and they settled in to rest for a while, hearing the happy sounds of the birds as they were released from the stables. Towards evening they left the caravan to see if the birds would let Noctis approach, there were less people as they began seeking shelter for the night so a bad reaction to him was less likely to be keenly observed.

Noctis approached the pen slowly, waiting for one of the birds to look up at him. It called out nervously and he stopped moving, watching it. When it did nothing else he moved a bit closer, bit by bit making his way over, Prompto at his back, a hand in his jacket, and he knew the hunter was ready to haul him out of the way should the bird attack. To Noct's shock he soon had a hand buried in soft feathers, the bird butting up into his petting.

Prompto hung back, happy to watch Noctis relax with the chocobos. He was glad the birds had accepted him; they were smart enough to work out who was a threat and who wasn't. he loved the birds as well; they were fascinating and not something he'd really seen as a little kid. He'd run into a wild one once, before Dave found him, it had actually defended him from a lone voretooth when he was about nine. He hadn't really known what it was though, had been scared of the massive (to his nine year old self anyway) bird. Trained chocobos came in handy and he tended to rent one for local hunts around Meldacio to save on fuel.

Eventually more birds came over and the tow had fun feeding and petting them until they were called back into the stable for the evening.

In the end, they stayed two nights at the outpost. It was risky but Noctis could use the rest before they had to head for Leide. Why a vampire kingdom was set up so close to an arid, hot, area Prompto honestly didn't know. Seemed to be asking for trouble as far as he could see. Noctis would need to feed more frequently or stay very covered up, though Prompto had made sure to buy himself light weight long sleeved shirts and pants for that part. He may not burn like a vampire would, but he was still more vulnerable to sunburn than the locals. Stupid light colouring. They still had to get past the Slough, then the Niff base and finally the outpost before he would consider them even semi-safe, but they were getting close and still with no signs of pursuit.

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They camped at the Haven by the Slough, watching the Catoblepas graze as the sun began to set.

"They're incredible," Noctis whispered, he'd never realised just how big they were from the books.

"They're definitely something else," Prompto agreed, looking at them before going back to scanning the distance, something Noct had noticed him doing more often lately.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Huh?" Prompto glanced at him in confusion.

"You've been watching everything, more and more. What is it?"

Prompto hesitated and then sighed. "Paranoid maybe? I don't know…it's just, the group that had you, how'd they get you so far from Caem? They weren't exactly the sharpest of wolves. Then…the collar. Those things are crazy expensive and rare. I guess, I keep expecting someone to be following us. It wouldn't take a lot to put things together and realise you got away with help and there's only so many routes back to Insomnia from Meldacio."

Noctis listened to his rambling, feeling sick. He should have thought of all this himself. He'd just…he'd been so relieved to be rescued, to have someone who treated him normally, showed him about life outside the city…he let himself become complacent, which was how he'd gotten into the mess in the first place. Prompto was right, there were way too many questions about what had happened in the time he didn't remember, likely because he'd been unconscious or drugged. And while the most likely culprit was the Empire, they weren't the only ones to want the line of Lucis dead. Maybe he should have tried to contact the Citadel back at Wiz's.

Without his own phone, he couldn't just call his Dad, Cor, the guys…he'd have to try and get through on one of the public lines and while they were monitored to keep them secure, there were occasionally leaks. It was why they used secure phones. Prompto had ditched his phone back in Meldacio to keep from being tracked and while they could buy some, why waste the funds?

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"Iggy stop," Gladio grabbed his hands, pinning the younger male to the wall as he snarled. He used his greater size and strength to hold him still until slowly the fight drained out of him.

"He's not dead, I know he's not," the Adviser whispered and Gladio nodded.

"I believe you," he promised. Everyone else may have lost hope, but as long as Ignis said Noctis was alive, he would believe him. Ignis had been bonded to the Prince when they were young children, he always had a sense of Noct's health. The silvery shimmer faded from green eyes as Ignis slumped and Gladio simply picked him up, carrying him over to the couch where he sat him down and then buried him under a pile of blankets, not like he had the body heat to share. Sometimes it was easy to forget Ignis wasn't a vampire, to treat him like one of them, but he wasn't. His body had very different needs and that had caused a stir among the Council and nobility, but the King had stood by his decision, even once Ignis hit puberty.

He had the feeling a few members of the Council would not be having pleasant dreams for a while, not after todays announcement. They were organising a funeral for Noct. A funeral! It had barely been a month since he had vanished, with only a patch of blood to be found. He was a vampire and a Lucis Caelum, he was not easy to kill. The King had sent out the Glaive and much of the Crownsguard, but they had yet to find anything. They all suspected the Empire, but they had no proof. Surely, if they had Noct, they would have either sent an envoy to negotiate terms for his return….or publicly executed him by now. In that case, no news from the Empire seemed the best option.

Noctis was a smart kid, but very sheltered. Outside of Insomnia, the rest of Lucis was not a kind place, especially to their kind. Could he survive out there on his own? Had the Hunters found him? There was nothing worse than not knowing.

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Noctis woke slowly to find it was still dark, able to hear and feel Prompto's deep, even breathing as he continued to sleep. They'd moved around in their sleep so that he was half on top of the human, his head on his chest, warm breath moving his hair. He could feel Prompto's chest rise and fall with each breath, hear the steady beat of his heart and…what was that? he frowned and closed his eyes, focusing on the sound. It was very faint, not something he'd hear even curled up against Prompto normally but…it was vaguely familiar. Kinda like a staticky humming at a low pitch. It was coming from Prompto…his sternum. He pressed closer and then lifted a hand to press carefully against the skin, freezing as Prompto shifted in his sleep, an arm curling around his waist. He swallowed and pressed again. No…No….he shuddered as he realised that beneath his hand was not bone or muscle…it was a solid mass….metal…

"Mmm….Noct?" Prompto slurred sleepily. "Too early." He shifted to hold him closer and Noctis lay still in his hold, his own heart racing as slowly it all clicked into place and he realised how all the clues about Prompto fit together.

TBC….

Figured it was time to give a glimpse of the guys back in Insomnia