I want to ride my chocobo all day!

Twilight fell over the city of Altissia, and it was one of the most beautiful things Prompto thought he had ever seen…and also one of the most lonely. The last two few days hadn't been easy, though, of course, he did all he could to make sure it didn't show. But all that idle time waiting for the boat, and then the long journey across the ocean to Altissia itself…a communicator that didn't work…a phone that still wouldn't connect…the only known portals off this world either under Niflheim control or just simply destroyed…all that was left for him to do was just…think.

And his thoughts, right now, were anything but comforting, as he leaned against the railing of the balcony of the Altissian branch of the Leville, looking out over the Walls of Water, the star-streaked night sky, the canals and the incredible architecture, the bursts of flowers and colors everywhere, and the music still filling the streets.

( It's a photographer's dream.... )

And Prompto pulled out his phone, and began to type:

So we finally made it to Altissia! It's even more beautiful than I could have even imagined. You'd absolutely love it. Gods, I wish you were here….

Several minutes and probably hundreds of words later, he drew in a breath as his thumb hovered over the send button and finally pressed it. Was met with the same blinking dots that still sat tauntingly after every other message he'd tried to send so far. He breathed out a sigh and looked up to the sky again, before finally turning to join the others in the room, the laugh bubbling out of him almost as soon as he crossed the threshold.

"Oh, man." Bright, bubbly, never-let-'em-get-you down Prompto Argentum, back in full force, firing off positivity like he fired off bullets. "You guys have got to see this shot of Gladio in the gondola….instant classic!"



[[ OH BOY, Altissia hits a little different these days, let me tell ya!! NFB, NFI, OOC is love because this is almost all original content, baybeeeee, save for various snippets of events and dialogue from Final Fantasy XV Chapter 9 "Callings." ]]

It seemed wise to depart from Old Lestallum as quickly as possible after the infiltration of Fort Vaullerey; night had fallen, and it was dangerous to travel at night, but it might be far more dangerous to stick around so close to the scene of the crime. It didn't take long to find a Haven out of the way, though, and, once again, they were back to it in the morning, their sights set on Cape Caem once more.

Until, of course, they passed by Malmalam Thicket.

"Is it just me?" asked Prompto, with an almost wistful sigh as he glanced out at the thick forest passing them by, the Rock of Ragatough looming and smoking far in the distance. "Or is that place just begging to be explored?"

And, to his surprise, the Regalia actually started to slow down. "You know," said Ignis, thoughtfully, as they neared the turn off ot the scenic parking spot, "if what they say about the Malmalam Thicket is true..."

"Then we might just find what we're looking for here," Gladio realized, picking up what Ignis was putting down immediately.

"Another tomb?" Prompto wondered.

"Another tomb," Ignis confirmed, turning onto the dirt road sweeping into the thickening forest.

( On second thought, I don't like the woods. Too many monsters. )

"Let's have it!" agreed Ignis, and the battle was on, the battle was fierce, but between the four of them and Iris at their side, as well, the bandersnatch was no match for them, and they fought well and hard to finally enter that old, quiet tomb and claim another ancestral weapon for Noctis' slowly building arsenal, each one making him feel stronger and more confident in his abilities.

Still not strong enough, but stronger. aAs they trudged their way back to the Regalia and the Haven that would serve as their resting spot that evening, with Cape Caem firmly in their sights for tomorrow, finally, he was feeling a little good, actually. He might even be feeling something akin to hope.

Prompto, though, probably put it best: "Almost makes up for the soaked socks and bug bites!"

Almost.


[[ all the usual massive plot alphabet soup applies! Taken and/or elaborated from Final Fantasy XV Chapter 6 - A Way Forward ]]

The news crackled over the radio, as visitors, farmhands, and people stranded by the blockades alike milled around their morning tasks around the chocobo farm.

"High Commander Ravus Nox Fleuret issued the following statement regarding the Imperial blockades across the region: "We believe the insurgents behind the Citadel attack have taken refuge in Duscae. The blockades shall help us root out the criminals.I realize the inconvenience imposed upon the citizenry, but we must each do our part for the good of all." The high commander also stressed the imperial army would continue its recovery efforts in the Crown City.

"The frequent quakes which rocked the Duscae and Cleigne regions in recent day have finally quieted. In response, the Empire provided the following comment: "The cause of the tremors was the Archaean, who had awakened in a fit of rage. The Imperial army took swift action and laid the unruly god to rest, thus averting disaster." Eyewitness reports confirm Titan has disappeared from the Disc of Cauthess."

This was, unfortunately, the biggest news that they were to receive that day, giving the four of them serious doubts about the adage that no news was good news. But they did have Cindy on the task of asking around; Dave and Monica would also keep an eye out, although they had their hands full with all the blockades being set up around the area. Those blockades, and the increased number of Magitek troops patrolling the areas around them, made it difficult for them to move about too much themselves. Their hands were tied, they had no communication back to Fandom, and they had no car.

But all these developments also begged the question: even if they had their car, where would they go, at this point?

The goal was still Cape Caem, once used by King Regis as a hideout, where there was a good chance his old boat was still lying in disrepair underneath the lighthouse there. A boat to get them away from Lucis, to Accordo….to Altissia. Still the same goal as before, when this all started a little over a week ago, just with very different intent.

"If we don't hear anything about the Regalia soon, though," Ignis proposed, "we may have to simply abandon her and make the trek by chocobo. Significantly longer and vastly more dangerous, but it may be the only other option we have."

There was also the matter of the remaining tombs; if they were going to do this, they had best be as prepared and armed as possible, yet they'd only obtained a small handful of the Armiger Arsenal thus far.

And so it was a day of waiting. It was a day of handling a few Hunter jobs in the area, running some errands for Wiz and the chocobo farm. A day of keeping their ears open and their eyes peeled. A day of Prompto hunched over the parts of a communicator and unfamiliar technology, almost too afraid to break it down in case he couldn't put it back together again, but it was clearly not doing them any good at the moment, anyway.

In a way, it was almost a little…relaxing. An unexpected respite. A pregnant pause. A brief moment to regroup and refocus.

It was a shame they didn't think to just enjoy it more while they still could.

[[ and thus, a filler day~ NFB, NFI, pastoral feeding and petting of chocobos welcome ]]

Time was of the essence, so there was no wiggle room in the schedule for sleeping in that morning. Prompto did try, almost desperately, to see if he could get a call or a text or anything out to Liz, to Summer….even to Yang...which in retrospect would have been foolish, anyway, since he wouldn't have been able to talk if he'd gotten through, but he thought if maybe….if he just knew that it would….

But, of course, it didn't. He almost wanted to throw his phone against a wall in frustration, but there were other things to focus on now instead. Infiltrating an Imperial base, so that they couldn't establish a blockade to cut them off from everywhere else outside of Leide. Dismantling their Magitek soldiers, and the Nif in control of it all. It was rough going, but, in the end they managed to take it down and keep the road open…

( ....for now, at least. )

Reluctantly, Prompto agreed. Ignis was right; he usually was. Iris and the others were waiting, and what was a few more hours, anyway, when it had already been days? He just hoped Liz wasn't worrying too much or that she was starting to get mad at him, thinking he'd forgotten or that he was neglecting her, or abandoning her…

…or this was all about to end up like it had with Yang. Where they were desperately trying to reach other, but to no avail…

The shot he got of them all with the glowing Disc of Cauthess behind them was absolutely amazing. Breathtaking, really.

But it sure as hell didn't make Prompto feel even remotely better.

[[oh-so-establishy, nfb, all that good stuff, and actually not taken mostly from FF XV except in summary. I should have made more Regalia icons for this plot, O H W E L L ]]

The morning started out much like the morning before, with a hunt, although this time, it was for gemstones and not for some beast bent on killing them. It had required the chocobros to climb up into the mountains and sneak past an incredibly large bird that could have killed them, easily, if they had been spotted, but, thankfully, the massive thing took flight so they could get the gemstones that Dino had requested and return to him for their hopeful passage, finally, to Altissia.

But, unfortunately, either way you sliced it, the boat wouldn't be ready until tomorrow, meaning they had nothing but time to kill. It was a good time for some training, then, which meant a good portion of their time at this beautiful resort was spent....running in sand (thanks, Gladio!) and taking care of some monsters for the local Hunters, and plenty of great photo ops. They also ran an errand or two for Coctura, the chef at the resort's famed restaurant, the Mother of Pearl, which meant debating amongst each other whether or not Ignis was actually flirting with her or just showing a professional interest (it was sooooo hard to tell with that guy!). And then...

....this.

Fishing.

Of course they'd be fishing, but at least they (well, Noctis, while the others just sort of stood around and waited) were fishing with a purpose: they'd found a stray cat, and decided they would find him a nice tasty meal for the day. Which, you know, was adorable and sweet and Prompto was all for, except for the fact that...man, these fish? Were not biting. But Noctis was determined, especially since Galdin had more than a few good fishing spots available.

But Prompto was definitely going to take this as an opportunity to squeeze in a phone call.

Eventually, right as the sun was setting, Noctis got his fish, the cat got its dinner, and the boys were ready to settle in for the night. An amazing meal from Coctura (had Ignis actually just working his way up to a substantial discount? That was completely accurate, too!), some of the Quay's infamous massages, and, much to Prompto's complete delight, actual rooms that evening! So even though he'd called her earlier, as they were all getting settled in the room, with the fantastic view of the ocean right there outside the tall plate glass windows, Prompto was still sending his evening check-in text to Liz:

We've gone from roughing it to the lap of luxury tonight! 😁😁😁 We're actually staying here at the hotel at Galdin Quay, even ate some of the food here, Ignis was NOT kidding about it being amazing! You really can't beat that kind of fresh seafood! Also? MASSAGES. (Turns out Noct is ticklish, by the way lol). I am definitely taking you here one day and pampering you like crazy this place is great! 💕💕💕

we FINALLY set sail for altissia tomorrow!!! I can't wait to get there, I can't wait to see you. I hope everything is still going okay back there in Fandom. We're almost there!

They were, of course, definitely not almost there, not by a longshot, but, of course, as night settled in around them outside the little gem of a resort in the Cygillan Ocean, none of them could have had any idea what was in store for them in the morning.


[[ NFB, obvs, but totes open for any calls, texts, etc, with any of the boyos while you still can; things are going to get much more complicated for them from here on in.

And, yes, fishing for the cat is an actual FF XV side quest, thank you ]]

It had been a very long day.

They'd left Insomnia that morning, after an awkward blessing and some awkward and intense departing words from the King. "I ask not that you guide my wayward son," Regis had told them, as they stood on the steps of the Citadel on their way out, "merely that you remain at his side." Easy enough, right? That was, after all, the plan.

It had not, however, been the plan that the Regalia, the king's own royal vehicle that they were borrowing for this trip, would break down before they even got halfway to their destination of Galdin Quay, the quaint seaside port that would whisk them all away to the Altissia, capitol of Accordio, where the wedding would take place. Thankfully, the Hammerhead garage was not too far down the road...

At least, it wasn't supposed to have been that far down the road, but when you had to make the travel by pushing a big, heavy classic car down the scorching desert roads winding through the sun-blasted plains of Leide...it seemed like it had taken a lifetime. Even with muscle like Gladio's behind it, pushing the car into the Hammerhead had been slow going, already eating up a good chunk of their day.

The repairs wouldn't be quick, either, and, according to Ignis, they were also not cheap. The costs had quickly eaten into most of their funds, leaving very little allowance left over for any room, board, food and supplies they might need, which seems a bit more pressing now that they weren't making a straight shot to Altissia anymore. Luckily, Cindy, the quirky, plucky, and rather...noticeably dressed granddaughter of the Hammerhead's own and, apparently, according to Fandom, one of Prompto's potential future baby-mamas, which did not make the meeting awkward at all, no, not even a little, had some errands for them to run to kill some time and maybe put a little extra gil back into their pockets.

And that is what led them here, to the Merrioth Haven just west of the Hammerhead in the Three Valleys, setting up camp around the soft glow of one of the many spot throughout Eos magically enhanced to protect against the marauding daemons that would come out with the encroaching night, already beat and bruised from a day of pushing cars and hunting down reapertails--varmints, as Cindy liked to call them--and helping to find some lost hunter named Dave....who also wanted them to help take down a more dangerous beast that had been giving them some trouble. All of that had eaten most of the day, though, and it was dangerous to travel at night, so there they were, setting up camp to rest up for the big hunt, eat some amazingly delicious camp pizza from Ignis, and, hopefully, take down the beast and get back on the road nice and early in the morning.

But not...too early, Prompto hoped. And, as he let dinner settle and listened to Gladio and Noctis training behind him, Ignis cleaning up his camp kitchen, he looked out over the sunset, lifted his camera to get a good shot of it, and, smiling softly to himself, went to send it and a couple of texts over to Liz:

Just look at this view!

With that message she'd get a bunch of heart emoji and the dusky orange sky, the rough terrain of Leide giving way to mountains in the distance, where the shining, glowing twist of the Disc of Cauthess could be faintly seen far, far, far in the distance, and, much closer, to their left, the jagged tooth of Longwythe Peak.

Plans are a little delayed. We ran into some car trouble, but it should be fixed and back on the road to Altissia tomorrow! So it's camping out here in the Leidan wilds until then! My first night out of the city, but Igs insists the Havens are safe from the daemons. Definitely going to send you a shot of the night sky, even if it's only half as beautiful as people say it is. Hope everything's going well back at Fandom. Miss you! Love you! 😘😘😘

With that, he sighed, sitting back in his chair and looking out over the horizon, his first actual Eos sunset out in the wild, outside of the city, as things settled down for the evening and he felt Gladio's hand fall on his shoulder.

"Better wrap it up for the night," he said, "another long day ahead of us in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Prompto brushed it off, but with a grin, as Noctis pulled up a chair and flopped into it next to him. "We'll get there. What's the rush, big guy?"

"I just don't want to hear you whining about being tired when I kick you two out of the tent tomorrow to go take on that beast."

"Don't worry," Noctis offered, "we'll have plenty of other things to complain about, too."

That earned him a roll of Gladio's eyes and a chuckle from Prompto, before he sighed again and just thought that this was kind of nice, actually, like it was just the four of them against the world.


[[ and so it begins, the point of no return for the boyos, as we finally enter Final Fantasy XV proper! NFB for distance, but open for interaction if anyone, particularly texted girlfriends, would like to get in touch....while they still can (bum bum BUM!). May be slow, though, as I will actually be stomping around a convention center as one of these dudes all day today ]]