Chapter 25: Fieldtrip

{Citadel: May 4th 2005, 5:04pm}

Prompto looked around the room he was in while Noctis sat on the floor by the window of his room working on their last bit of homework before the next four days of their first field session. Prompto was staying the night at the Citadel because of the session starting the following day; however, he found himself remarkably anxious as he glanced towards his friend who was going through his homework as if it was nothing as he slowly started forward and sat his backpack down at the foot of the bed as he once more looked around the large room while Noctis finished up his homework and put it to the side before stretching a bit as he sighed.

"Done already?" he asked.

"Yea, just was finishing up a few things…" Noctis closed his book and started stacking the items away before he got up off the floor and went to his desk to put the assignments on it.

"Are you looking forward to heading out of the gate?" Prompto questioned him on this and the boy paused.

"I guess…."

It had taken several days to convince Noctis that they would be fine outside of the walls; however, there was still some hesitation despite the fact that the boy now seemed to be looking forward to seeing some of the places out in the day. Ignis and Gladio had told Prompto stories of how Noctis used to love going outside the walls to explore the forests and look at the stars – which could be hard to see sometimes within the city limits – but that after his accident, he had become taciturn towards the notion of leaving the safety of Insomnia. Recently though, Prompto had been able to rekindle some of the fourteen-year-old's excitement in making an excursion out of the walls of the city. The blonde only hoped that his friend and future King didn't have any sort of relapses while they were there, even though he knew that Noctis would be on high alert the entire time when night fell. Sighing, the blonde sat down on the bed as Noctis neatly stacked the papers onto the desk as he remained silent.

"Hey, did you hear about the outside towns?" midnight-blue eyes looked to the blonde.

"His eyes are always so intense, I wonder why? Must be the color."

"No, what about them?" Prompto grinned at the statement.

"They're like thirty-years behind Insomnia's advancements. You know that this city is like a futuristic paradise compared to the outer areas, right?" the boy looked down, pondering the statement a bit.

"I had no idea actually….I haven't been outside of Insomnia since Tenebrae…" Prompto nodded.

"Yea, I heard about that…you okay though? With getting into the outside world again?" he asked as the boy walked over towards the window as the crystals caught the light again.

"There's not much of a choice….is there?" he glanced to Prompto, the sunlight causing his eyes to glow a strangely bright blue.

"Not really, but hey….it'll be exciting to see what's out there, right?" he stated.

"Guess so…" Prompto sighed.

"Do you know that when the sunsets your eyes glow a really weird blue?" he inquired, causing the fourteen-year-old to glance his way.

"Yea, my mom's eyes did the same thing….her eyes weren't as dark as mine, but there was still the lighter shade of blue around the pupil and at sunset her eyes would grow lighter….like they were glowing…" Prompto smiled.

"That's kinda neat…you're a lot like your mom, huh?" he probed.

"I guess I am…sometimes I feel like I'm not like either of my parents…but regardless…are you looking forward to the field session?" Prompto looked to him, surprised that he had returned to the prior subject.

"Yea, I am. I've never been out of the city before so I think it'd be pretty freaking cool to see the outside of the wall," he stated.

"I wondered something: why were you so eager to join the Crownsguard?" those sharp blue eyes looked to him and Prompto sighed, taking in a deep breath as he looked towards the other boy.

"Because I wanted to do something worth-while. Lady Lunafreya was the one who encouraged me to change myself and become your friend even though I had wanted to for a long time…..and once I got to meet you, and we became friends I just…wanted to help you too…." He answered.

"You didn't want to join so you could become some war hero?" Prompto shook his head.

"Hell no! I'll leave that to the Kingsglaive; I just wanted to be by my friends side," he stated as Noctis smiled.

"Well, you got your wish and now you're officially stuck with me. What are you gonna do now?" the black-haired, midnight-eyed boy smirked as he looked to him and Prompto returned his smile.

"Stay by your side until the end of the road; no matter what comes our way I've got your back, promise Noct," he said as the future Lucian King smiled to himself as Prompto came towards him.

"Thanks, I'll always have your back too, Prompto."

"Good, I wouldn't have it any other way," he told the boy this as he held his fist out.

"Fist bump?" the black-haired boy tapped his knuckles to the blonde's.

"Why not?"

{Citadel Front Gates: May 5th 2005, 4:45am}

Noctis stretched, looking towards the others as he watched them drag themselves towards the exit of the Citadel with a less than enthusiastic pace. Prompto yawned, doing his best to wake himself up while Gladiolus rubbed his eyes a bit, stretching as he got himself ready for the day and Ignis started sipping away at something he had in a carry-mug that Noctis supposed was his favorite brand of coffee: ebony. The blonde tended to enjoy the drink while Noctis personally only liked the scent of it but couldn't stand the bitter flavor. However, at current, Noctis was the one who was the most awake out of the four of them on the first day of their field session as they left the city.

"We're supposed to be out of the city before five forty-three in the morning, you're taking too long," he said as he looked at them.

"Considering I am the one driving us, I find it best that I am adequately awake so that we do not crash…" midnight-blue met half-awake green as Noctis sighed.

"Specks, you're always so chipper: how come you're so tired now?" he inquired.

"It could be that I am tired because I am enduring the lack of my second cup of coffee…" Prompto yawned again.

"I think mines because I couldn't settle down last night," he stated.

"You slept just fine!" Gladio looked at Noctis as he folded his arms over his chest, eyeing the attire that he was wearing.

Noctis, like the rest of them was dressed in black attire that had been designed for them by the Crownsguard tailor. The young Prince wore a simple dark gray shirt with a skull and crossbones on the front in dark garnet red, a short-sleeve jacket with a hood that fell at mid-leg on him that bore white trim, black pants with several pockets on the sides in addition to a series of zippers present here and there that acted as additional pockets, and finally a pair of boots that hit just at his knees, showing a bit of skin between the bottom of his pants legs and the tops of the boots. The boy also had on a pair of fingerless gloves with straps at the tops of them while on his left wrist was a cuff of some kind with silver moons and stars upon it. Gladio sighed, fixing the backpack he carried like the rest of them as he took note of the Prince's unusually hyper behavior.

"The clothes suit him….as odd as it is for me to think that, this suits him…" Gladio thought as he finally caught up to the boy, looking to him as he rose a fine eyebrow at him.

"How much sugar did you take in this morning? You're to hyper," he asked. Noctis shrugged.

"I had an apple this morning…." Ignis looked at the boy aghast before glancing up to the sky.

"You need to eat more….but the stars are out, that may have something to do with your energy levels," he stated as Prompto and Gladio looked at him in questioning.

"What do you mean by that?" the blonde cleared his throat as Noctis started walking towards the gates again.

"When the stars are out our young Prince tends to become a great deal more active. He also will sleep better in the late hours of the night," he explained.

"That's….kinda weird…" Noctis whistled to them.

"Hurry up slow-pokes! We don't have all morning!" Gladio frowned.

"Stars or not, I think I like the narcoleptic version of him better," he told them.

"How come? He's normally really subdued and everything…" Gladio looked to Prompto.

"He doesn't talk that much either way, but when he's energetic he's exhausting!" he informed him.

"Oh…."

After what felt like an eternity, the four of them were in a car and heading out of Insomnia to the area designated for the field session. The car that they had been given was a jeep that seemed more military issue than the normal vehicles inside Insomnia; nonetheless, Noctis was lost in everything around him as he looked at the buildings that passed by, the sights and sounds while the wind ruffled his hair and the sunlight started to rise while he watched everything with rapt attention. Ignis glanced in the rear-view mirror, seeing the boy's fascination with the gleaming jewel that was the Crown City as Prompto looked around as well while Gladio kept to himself and watched the road ahead.

As the sun grew higher in the sky more people started coming out while the stragglers of the night crawled away into their homes for sleep. Insomnia was named aptly for the city never truly slept and people always were present in the streets somewhere. However, Ignis was certain that Noctis knew that better than most seeing as he to rarely slept at night except for the high hours between midnight to roughly four in the morning. Perhaps the habits he took to when it came to sleeping contributed to the narcoleptic behaviors that he had, but one could never be certain.

However, as they reached the exit of the city, the three other teenagers kept their eyes upon the Prince who remained where he was, leaning against the side of the car to watch the scenery go by. They all had high hopes that this would cure the boy of any fears he had of exiting Insomnia and would show him that there was little to fear there beyond the walls of the Crown City. Ignis returned his gaze to the road as the pavement began to grow older and pale-gray while following the directions written down upon a piece of paper that showed him directly where they would be going.

"Let us hope that the Prince does not endure anything that could be detrimental to his healing…"

"So, Noct? What do you think?" asked Prompto as they turned off the main road to a dirt one and a series of trees and ponds started to appear.

"It's kind of quiet…." Gladio laughed.

"Typical of a city-boy. You're used to all the noise of the Crown City that once you get out in nature you don't know what to make of it!" he said with humor in his tone.

"Aren't you also a city-boy Gladio?" the black-haired boy jabbed in return and the older teenager frowned.

"Not as much as you. Look at you, scrawny little thing, white as a ghost and a shut in too," Gladio pointed out.

"I'm not a shut in! Where do you get that from?" the boy sent him a seething glare, causing the oldest of the four teenagers to smirk.

"You talk to yourself a lot, and you have barely no friends, that might have something to do with it," he stated. Noctis glanced down and rested his head on his arms as the wind continued to rustle his hair.

"If their good friends….I don't need a lot of them. Just the three of you and Luna is enough…" the answer somewhat startled the Amicitia as he glanced to the boy.

"Son of a bitch, that kid just trounced me…"

"Iggy, you did bring sunblock right? I don't want his Majesty getting a sunburn," Gladio mentioned as the blonde laughed a bit while Noctis made a faintly annoyed growl at the statement while Prompto shot the boy a startled look at the sound.

"I don't believe we have to worry about that too much. Noctis won't burn that easily." Gladio looked the boy over, the sun causing him to look paler than he should have.

"Really? He glows in the sunlight, are you sure he…" a sharp smack met the back of his head.

"I can't help that I'm pale but I don't burn like I did when I was younger! Would you drop it already?!" and then Gladio laughed.

"Whatever you say marshmallow," he stated as another sharp smack came to his head.

"When we get to the campsite, I'm kicking your ass, got it?" he kicked the back of the seat as Gladio shot him a glare while Prompto laughed a bit.

"Alright, you're on," he said.

"Might we set up camp first?" interjected Ignis.

{Campsite: 7:40am}

After arriving at the campsite, Ignis had dictated the events that followed. The group had located a flat, slightly shaded area near a lake to set up their tents and gathered firewood for the night before building a pit for the fire and preparing it for the evening while he set up their cooking supplies, and sometime later, they were finished and ready for the remainder of the day. The first field session was always the easiest, it merely tested your basic survival skills, setting up a base camp, hunting, gathering, and if the need called for it: medical skills. Ignis now looked at the other three as Noctis sat on the ground under the shade, looking around as a slightly cool breeze flooded the area, causing a faint chill to come by as he sighed and tried to get used to the surroundings.

It wasn't as if he was completely new to the area, he had played in these forests as a child alongside his mother and father. He'd charted stars here after his mother had died, and they were only two miles out from where he had been attacked true; however, he felt no anxiety from being surrounded by the wilds outside of Insomnia's walls. Midnight-blue eyes scanned the area, preparing for a potentially dangerous evening and locating the areas that they could be ambushed by daemons and wildlife. A cough caught his attention as he looked to Ignis who called for their attention.

"Now that we're all set up, I shall be delivering the tasks of each person for the evening hours. We still have to eat for the next few days and while I did bring a few basic ingredients, we will need more things than what I have brought," he stated.

"Fine, what you got for us?" Ignis fixed his glasses.

"Gladio, you will be heading to the forest, gather plants, berries, and the like, if you find any animals I suggest you bring them back if they aren't too big," he said.

"Got'cha, I'll be looking forward to that match when I get back, okay Prince Noctis?" the boy hummed, rolling his eyes.

"Yea, sure…." The oldest of the four frowned before starting towards the forest.

"Prompto, protective wards that will warn us of invading monsters or daemons would be useful if you would do them at the four corners of the campsite," he advised.

"On it!" the blond leapt up and started towards the eastern corner of the campsite while Noctis remained leaning back upon his hands on the ground.

"What do you got for me Specks?" Ignis smirked.

"Care to try your hand at the fish in the lake?" the boy smiled back as he jumped to his feet – quite literally – and summoned the fishing rod to his hands, surprising Ignis and Prompto who had been watching.

"No problem, I can do that," he stated as he fixed up a lure onto the hook and then casted the line into the water.

"Did I really just see him do that?" Prompto came to stand next to Ignis, the chalk in his hand still present from the boundary circles.

"Indeed you did Prompto. Well, shall we resume our prior obligations?" Ignis questioned.

"I guess so…"

Noctis sighed as he waited for the fish to bite while a gentle, cool breeze came through the area as the trees rustled a bit as he continued to wait. A moment later, the line tugged, and Noctis began to reel it in, feeling the weight of the fish as he did so before he took a step back and pulled, forcing the fish from the water as it struggled against him until finally, it surrendered and he reeled it in. As he did, a faint clack came from behind him, causing him to momentarily glance towards Ignis as he laid a bucket down before he moved back towards the camping area.

"This is a little too peaceful…." He muttered as he dropped the fish into the bucket before recasting the line.

"Careful, we wouldn't want to jinx the adventure at hand," called Ignis while he chopped a few vegetables.

"Yea, I guess you gotta point…" the black-haired boy sighed as he felt another tug on the line and managed to reel in the fish in no time as he looked at the bucket and felt yet another breeze roll in from the north.

"Isn't it a little breezy today?" Noctis asked as he looked at the other two near him.

"There may be a storm on the way. It would be wise to prepare for a potentially harsh deluge…" the black-haired boy nodded slowly.

"Do we have tarps?" he questioned while Prompto reached into a bag and pulled out two black tarps.

"Got it! I'll start putting them down and we'll go from there." Noctis looked to the blonde who worked away on tying down the tarps for safety as he went back to focusing on his task.

Noctis sighed, taking in the sounds around him as he waited for another tug on the line as he began reeling it in, tugging against the fish on the other end of the line until he was able to pull it from the water and put it into the bucket. Noctis repeated this until finally, the bucket had a total of four fish each, at that point he sent his rod away and started towards the campsite to deliver the freshly caught seafood – or, lake-food, in this case – to Ignis.

"Ah, job well Noct. That'll be enough for the four of us, now, care to help me gut them?" he inquired as Noctis nodded.

"Yea, I can do that…" Ignis nodded towards a small metal bucket where he could cut the heads off the fish and begin working on them.

"Are you really gonna do that?" Prompto asked as he swallowed around the lump in his throat.

"We gotta eat Prompto…"

Noctis sat down on the ground and pulled out a knife from his boot – causing both Ignis and Prompto to wonder where he got the weapon from – before he laid the fish out on the metal sheet Ignis had prepared before he snapped the knife down through the first fish's head, severing it from the body before dumping it into the bucket. Noctis them proceeded to gut the fish while Prompto watched him work, blood coating his hands as he removed the organs and then began to descale it. The blonde felt his breakfast threaten to come up while the other finished with the first fish and went to the next one, repeating the process while Prompto watched in abject horror.

It was as Noctis continued about his task and Prompto fell in to help Ignis with a few minor details that Gladio returned carrying a few bushels of plants and wild berries before he walked in and set to placing the items in a basket that Ignis had set aside. As he did so, Gladio took note of what Noctis was doing and hummed, surprised that the boy knew what he was doing as he set to gutting the last fish, hands now drenched in the blood of the fish. As soon as the boy was done, he stood and walked over to Ignis with the cleaned fish and proceeded to return for the fish heads before walking over to the lake where he began to rinse the blood off his hands.

"Is he okay?" Gladio asked as Ignis nodded.

"Yes, he's fine; however, he did give myself and Prompto a bit of a shock earlier by summoning a fishing rod from thin air…and then there's that knife he has with him…" Gladio glanced in the direction of the lake shore where Noctis was finished with rinsing the blood from his hands and was now cleaning the knife, giving the oldest of the four teenagers a good look at it.

"It's a Glaive dagger. What's he doing with that?" he muttered as Prompto glanced towards it.

"No clue, we could ask him…" Ignis nodded slowly.

"That would be best instead of skirting about the inquiry. Now, fish with rice and diced vegetables will do well for tonight, correct?" he asked.

"Fine by me, but his Majesty won't eat the vegetables…" Ignis smirked.

"I have a means of making him eat them, no worries," he stated.

{Campsite: 6:03pm}

The sun was preparing to set for the day while the four teenagers settled around the campfire while Gladio sent glances towards Noctis who sat off to the side, watching the others as Ignis set up the plates for everyone. The boy was currently keeping tabs on Gladio who had convinced him for a match first thing in the morning, preparing the teenager for the event that would follow. Noctis was becoming a proficient fighter that much Ignis and Gladio could attest to; however, he was still the youngest out of their group and needed some training still. Despite that though, Noctis was also proving to be a very capable team member thus far; the boy had succeeded in catching them dinner – not to mention he had cleaned them perfectly – and now, they were present, settled around the campfire, prepared to settle down for the day as Ignis finally arrived with the plates and handed them to everyone before settling down himself.

Noctis looked around the area in all its silence before wrinkling his nose in the same manner that Lunafreya had always found cute as he saw the vegetables mixed into the rice in tiny bits. Sighing, he grabbed the spoon and took a bite, being thankful that Ignis had made them small and soft so he could ignore them while he ate in silence. Prompto set to work on the fish Ignis had cooked over the fire and smiled as he took another bite. Gladio and Ignis started on their plates, enjoying the silence as Noctis took slow bites of the fish before glancing up at the sky, seeing the hundreds of constellations everywhere.

"What cha' looking at Noct?" asked Prompto.

"The stars…we're north-west of Insomnia, see the star right there? That's Avior, it's a part of the Epsilon Carinae constellation and is the brightest star in the sky. However, it's not visible in the northern hemisphere, therefore we're in luck, its visible here." Noctis pointed to the brightly gleaming star, a smile apparent upon his face.

"You know a lot about the stars, huh?" he questioned Ignis hummed in thought.

"Kinda, Luna taught me a lot more about them…" Ignis looked to him.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Noct, but Avior is also your middle name," he stated as Prompto looked to him.

"Seriously? Dude! That's awesome!" Noctis felt warm cross his cheeks.

"Y-Yea….I think my family decided to go overboard with the names…so, I just never bother with it…" he mentioned off-handedly.

"But you were named after the brightest star in the sky! That's pretty amazing," Prompto stated as Noctis smiled, blushing just a fraction.

"I think my mom is the one who gave me that name, so…" Gladio smirked.

"You glow like a star so I guess that makes sense: seeing as your whiter than a ghost," he said teasingly. Deep-blue eyes that carried a strange glow to them narrowed.

"That's it! First thing tomorrow, I'm kicking your ass!" Gladio grinned.

"Now we're talking short-stack."

{….}

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding…

{…..}

Author's Notes: We will be seeing what four teenage boys can get up to in the wild for a few days, but there's more going on and I think you guys will enjoy some day in the life chapters before we catch up with the events of pre-game and main-game. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and am having a good day or night!

Sincerely,

ShadowDragon94.