AN:This's the first time ever I'm actually writing Ignis in action! Woot?! Yeah. He's been, well, on the background in all my other XV stories.
Beta read by Elillierose.
Despite leaving reasonably early, it still took quite some time to reach the Ravatogh outpost. The trail was in bad shape and the crushed lava stone beneath tires forced Ignis to drop down their speed. The sun was way past its peak when they finally got a good look of the volcano, the stone slabs looking like fingers reaching out in graceful arcs, ribbons of smoke rising from it until evaporating into the sky. "Check that out, Noct!" Prompto punched his friend's shoulder lightly and pointed at the mountain.
"Yeah," he grinned appreciatively to humor him.
"Rather impressive," Ignis nodded as he sipped his coffee. He drove them up to the outpost, where he pulled in to park. "We should perhaps seek a local informant about these beasts and their location. Chances are, we might be better off on foot from now on." Without waiting for the others to get out, the adviser turned to head for the store.
"Sounds about right," the shield added as he went to go after him. "You two coming or not?"
Prompto shook his head, "Nuh-uh. Imma stay out here and let it roll," he raised his camera for emphasis.
"You guys go," Noctis ushered him with a flick of his wrist, turning to chat with the blond. Shrugging, the older man let them be as he strolled after the other. As he did, though, suddenly Gladio felt a shudder of anticipation run along his spine. On instinct he glanced around, not caring if someone was watching. He cursed under his breath as he noted the Imperial dropship floating in the distance. It wasn't coming towards them, but it was enough to make him alert. It looked like it was headed over the volcano, and the man let out a held breath as it glided monotonously out of the view behind the mountains. Sighing a muttered curse, he went after the strategist.
He found him caught into an apparently intense conversation with the local eatery keeper, the guy almost babbling. "–and it's only a matter of time before them creatures take one of the kids! If the word of those devils gets out, we'll lose the tourists, sir, so we'd greatly appreciate discretion with this matter, you see." Gladio glanced at the adviser, who was listening keenly with a hand at his chin in thought. However, as the man went on, he noted the tiniest of twitches as the strategist's patience ran thinner.
"If you would please," Ignis interrupted sternly, his tone cutting the other off, "–be so kind as to point us to the right direction, we'd be happy to take care of that problem for you… for a reasonable compensation, of course." There was a cunning glint in the strategist's eyes and he didn't bother covering up his intentions. The kiosk keeper looked baffled for being interrupted but was quickly brought around at the promise of a solution.
"Yes. Yes, of course. There has indeed been a bounty announced… Should you really help us out with this one, boyo, that bounty's going to be yours!"
Looking very pleased, the strategist prompted, "Now then, about that location…" The man described him the route to the nesting area, and with a promise to get back to him, Ignis took his leave. He met Gladio's amused face, knew instantly that the other had heard everything, and gave him a cheeky wink. "Ask, and you shall receive."
"Isn't being after money like that a bit beneath you?" the brute chuckled.
"With those two wanting to spend every other night in a hotel, no, it isn't. We're not exactly rolling in the riches anymore," he huffed. Truly, a significant amount of their budget had been well spent on hotel nights lately, mainly due to Noctis' recent reluctance to spend a night camping if it wasn't necessary, and Prompto's self-indulgence was doing little to help. They hadn't had too many hunts for a while, either. Gil-wise, they had enough, but not even nearly as much as Ignis would have liked.
The other gave a small laugh. "You got that right. So, you got the location?"
"They're nesting north of here, on a cliffside in the root of the mountain."
"Nice." As they walked back, Gladio brought up the matter. "Saw another Imperial dropship just now." The strategist's face got tighter. "It looked like it was on patrol. It wasn't going anywhere near travel speed." The other hummed in understanding.
"There has been an increase in their activity, have you noticed that? Every so often one passes us nowadays."
"Yeah. Not like we couldn't take care of them, but would be nice to avoid confrontation if possible," Gladio said, scratching the back of his neck.
"I'm with you. Any needless engagement is a foolish gamble. We should remain under their radar the best we can."
The younger men were debating lightly as they got back. "Dude, that's totally not what I said!"
"You said 'you've got this'. Your words, not mine, Prom," Noctis' retort was amused. "She wiped the floor with you, deal with it."
"I–"
"What's going on?" Gladio interrupted, looking a bit perplexed. Prompto grunted in irritation and turned his face, whereas the prince smirked openly at his friend's behavior.
"Prom's just a bit touchy about Iris winning that chocobo race by so much."
"Is that so?" the shield grinned, glancing over the blond. He had his arms crossed and was clearly annoyed about it.
"I want a rematch!" Prompto declared.
"Well, I'm sure she'll be happy to kick your ass again any day," Gladio chuckled as he pushed by him, ruffling his hair as he did. He jerked his head away.
"Hey!"
"So, what's the situation?" the raven-hair asked. Ignis pushed his glasses up and took a deep breath,
"It seems the townsfolk are indeed in need of extermination of these beasts. It seems they are getting rather desperate."
"So, where're we headed?" Prompto's voice perked up in excitement.
"The creatures appear to be nesting at the root of the volcano. I suggest we drive as close to it as we can and continue on foot," Ignis stated as he motioned them to get back into the car.
The trail didn't go on much further than the outpost, though. It looped less than five miles after the residential areas were passed, but it got them a little closer at least. Leaving the Regalia at the parking area at the starting point of a recreational path to the volcano, they started the hike.
The terrain really did leave a lot to be desired. The gravel slipped under their feet constantly, making walking rather demanding, and the rising heat had them sweating with but a little exercise. No-one voiced it, though, but the place was draining their strength more than usual.
It took a couple of hours to get to the root. There, Ignis had them stop. "I suggest we take a breather," he called out from his place at the lead as he peered behind them. Noctis was at his heels, but Prompto and Gladio had fallen a bit behind. The blond was further down the path, hands on his knees and bent over, panting. The older man had stopped to wait for him to catch up.
"How you holding up?" he asked the blond, concern audible in his voice. The younger man pushed himself up and waved a hand in dismissal.
"Just a little out of breath, is all. No big deal." As if to demonstrate his words he sprinted into jog to catch up. Gladio eyed him a bit warily but seeing as the blond didn't falter any more, he let it go.
"Everything alright?" Ignis offered solicitously as they reached them. He and Noctis had already sat down, both gulping from their water bottles.
"Smeshy," Prompto grinned, panting a little. "Won't say 'no' to a break time, though." He slumped down close to Noct and leaned against the rock, only to decide immediately it was a terrible idea as the sun-bathed rock felt uncomfortably warm against his back. Bolting to sit straight again, he wiped his face, "Man, it's smoldering!"
"No kidding. It is a volcano," the survivalist noted, arching a brow. "You'd do good not to take that lightly. A heatstroke can occur easily."
"You guys're constantly on my back, you know," the gunslinger sighed, shaking his head a little.
"Now you understand why I wanted you to tag along? See what I'd have to deal with if you weren't here," Noctis joked as he elbowed him in the side playfully. The blond laughed,
"And here I thought I was special to you! Geez, thanks a lot, man!" He smacked him back lightly.
Ignis grinned at the exchange a little, then got serious again. "We should be over halfway there. The man at the food cart described the path to get steeper rather quickly, then a branch of it leading into a collapsed-in canyon in which the creatures supposedly reside."
"Has anyone ever actually seen these things?" the gunner asked. "How do we know they're actually there?"
"We just have to go with what we have, I guess," Noctis shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"We should mosey. It'll take all night to get back at this rate," Gladio urged them. He had never sat down.
"Right," the prince nodded and pushed himself up. "Let's do this."
They found what they were looking for sooner than they thought. Or rather, their prey found them. As they made their slow way along the boulders, Ignis halted them again as he noted movement above. Then,
"Everyone, look out!" He called out his spear; the action more than his shout alerted them all to the danger, and as the lone beast dove down, the others called their weapons as well.
It dove to attempt to cleave at Noctis. He had called out his spear, too, and waited, holding his weapon down and doing his best to appear helpless to the beast, making himself the prey it perceived him to be. "Ignis!" At a calculated moment, he thrust the weapon upwards, but it only scraped the surprised animal's wing as it struggled to correct its interrupted dive. Not that it mattered.
With practiced ease, Ignis leaped to bring his polearm heavily across the beast's turned back; the force of the hit smacked it off balance. It fell, flapping its wings to desperately regain control. As it did, Noctis aimed again. This time the steel found its mark; the wyvern screeched in agony as the spear impaled the wing muscles, succumbing into the ground, where its suffering was quickly ended.
Wiping his forehead, Ignis called out, "Remain cautious. I bet the herd heard those cries. There might be more coming."
"About damn time," Gladio smirked as he rolled his shoulder. He had his greatsword out. He didn't need to wait for long. The approaching long howls and the hum of flapping wings reminded them of a huge jet turbine running on maximum power. It intensified as the beasts got closer.
The herd emerged from behind the cliffs above them, circling above, howling little yips and screeches at each other. There were six of them, two a little smaller than the rest. They could smell the blood and the flesh, and it was making them anxious. They floated above them like vultures, assessing them. And when they attacked, they attacked together.
Prompto released a bullet salvo in the general direction of the beasts. He hit something, if the screeches were anything to go by, but as one collided heavily with Gladio's greatsword in an attempt to claw at his chest, or taking a note how Ignis threw himself to roll out of the way of a similar dive, he wasn't so sure this was going to be just a simple hunt. Frankly, he begun to understand why the townsfolk were restless about these things. An ordinary person would probably be torn to shreds!
"Urragh!" With a swish, the heavy weight of the greatsword smashed against leathery skin. There was a wet, rasping roar, and with an unsettling squelch, the bodyguard pulled his blade free from the carcass.
"Gladio, behind you!" Ignis' tone was urgent. Behind him, a creature was diving at him. As he brought the blade up to shield himself, a new round of fire blasted, the creature jerking like it was having a seizure as each bullet hit it. Severely wounded, it fell gracelessly from the sky. The shield waved the gunslinger his thanks, a single jerk of his head his response, and turned his attention back to the creatures.
The stench of gore seemed to be driving them into frenzy. Their noise had grown into predatory howls and they were becoming bolder in their attacks. In the corner of his eye, he took a note how Noctis aimed his spear into the general direction of one of the smaller animals circling them high above the ground. In a flash of white and blue, the prince was slicing at it in the sky.
"Keep it together!" he grunted out loud, directing his words to the prince in particular. He took note of Ignis pushing one down as his spear buried itself into the creature's side, his added body weight enough to throw the animal off. The animal wasn't done fighting, though, and Gladio snorted as he saw it thrash itself free, knocking the adviser down as it rampaged. "Iggy!"
A wild roar of agony sounded just as he was dashing to the adviser's aid. The animal that had been closing in on him was now howling in pain as it trashed its head around blindly, backing away. A golden dagger stuck out of its eye, and Ignis was scampering up, his focused gaze never leaving the beast. He noted movement coming towards him, nodded his understanding at Gladio, and called back his spear. No words were needed, no other exchange but a single nod. In unison the two leaped in the air, landing their strikes in close succession; the beast's howls died down abruptly as the massive force of the greatsword crushed its respiratory organs.
"Nice job, Iggy," Gladio nodded as the men threw a quick fist-bump.
"Hmm. You weren't half-bad yourself," the other nodded with a smirk.
"Yeah. Comes with the package," the shield chuckled, a smirk tugging his lips, too. "How we holding up?"
Noctis had his daggers out, and he was back on the ground, dancing with the other small creature, aiming at its wings and vitals. The animal was obviously young; its attacks were far less precise and suave as the adults', and the constant movement of the human confused it. It struck hastily and carelessly, leaving itself open for the man to land crippling hits. The more injured it got, the sloppier and less frequent became its retaliations until its wounds became overwhelming and it slumped onto the ground, bleeding from over twenty cuts and lacerations, panting in pain and unmoving. It was put out of its misery as the engine blade was thrust into its throat.
The last creature flapping above them let out an enraged roar. All the smells – the blood, the death, the sweat, the adrenaline – were sending it into frenzy. The flapping got more and more intense as its wings packed wind under them, the air moving at incredible speeds as it flapped up a strong gale. The men had to cover their eyes as the winds assaulted them and flying ash and dust stung their vision. The animal shrieked a long cry as it beat the air.
"Can't see shit!" Prompto yelled out, only one watering eye cracked open against the gales.
"Hold on!" came Ignis' reply. He sounded urgent. "Sooner or later it will exhaust its stamina!"
"Is it gonna be 'sooner', though?!" the gunslinger bit back, trying to take aim but it was too much. A reflex pulled his eye closed under the assault.
"It is now!" Noctis' voice carried over. He was shielding his eyes with one hand, peering through slits. Along his other flickered a faint blue light. He would only need to see it for a second. Preparing himself, he closed his eyes to will out the moisture. Then, still shielding his eyes from the intensity of it, he snapped his eyes open against the wind, and saw it clearly for that one necessary second.
It took only a moment. The thunder spell didn't miss by much. The crackles of magic struck the tip of its wing, but it was enough to startle the animal. On instinct it flinched, disrupting the beat of its wings, leaving an opening. And Prompto took it.
Three, four carefully placed shots bore through the joints of its right wing. With an animalistic cry of surprise and agony, the animal was left flapping pathetically as it tried to carry its own weight. The injured wing moved precariously, and the animal stumbled as it fell. It was left prowling on the ground, peering at the men in alert. The injured wing hung limply at its side; it couldn't even pull it to itself. With a sad sigh and a shake of his head, Prompto reloaded his gun – and shot it through the heart thrice.
Near silence descended around them. In addition to wisps of wind and their panting, a few suffering cries of the severely wounded animals were heard. Noctis strolled over to inspect the creature Prompto had shot, although it was pretty pointless. From afar they could tell that one was dead. Its eyes had dimmed, and a sufficient pool of blood spread underneath it. "Nice job, Prompto!" his friend gave him a high-five.
"Nah. No big deal," the blond shrugged, dismissing his gun.
They inspected all the carcasses, and finished off the ones that were still alive. Noctis wiped sweat off his brow as he deemed the last animal dead. "And that takes care of it," he huffed. "Let's head back!"
"Dibs on the shower!" Prompto panted. The shield sneered a little,
"Who says we're gonna have a shower where we're headed for the night?"
"Any puddle will do, I don't care. I'm just calling dibs," the blond shook his head, his breathing labored.
Their way back down the slope was equally slow, although it wasn't nearly as demanding. But they had to be careful about their steps nonetheless. In addition, the heat and the aftermath of the battle were getting to them somewhat. Ignis had them stopping a few times to take a short break; there was no point risking a heatstroke.
They had reached the graveled ground when Ignis saw something, and he wished to the Six he were mistaken. There was no such blessing granted for him, though, and his breath was cut momentarily as he spared a hasty glance at the others, taking in their overall condition, and his dread increased double-fold. "Imperials! Two o'clock!"