Remember When I Hit You With My Car?

[threevirtues]

it's a few years into the Longest Night, but Prompto still isn't entirely used to just how difficult it is to see when he's out hunting. With how rare it is to see any manner of vehicles driving along the roads anymore (far too dangerous, except for the occasional hunter), the blonde is far less careful around the roads than he should, technically, be.

As the saying goes: fuck around, and find out.

He's a ways outside Hammerhead, his own vehicle pulled over a bit off the asphalt, locked in combat with a pack of rather angry-looking daemons. He dispatches them with relative ease, and very little grace. A flashy, clumsy, powerful mess- didn't Ignis call his style of fighting that once? Told him to hold still more.

And hold still he never did, and does not now. After landing a decisive shot on the last of the pack, the adrenaline rush he always gets hits- and he takes to sprinting across the road to ride it out....

....it all happens too fast. The blinding headlights, the screech of tires. Prompto is slammed into by a car, and sent flying with a pained shout, only to land mercifully in grass next to the tarmac.

Traveling anywhere these days is dangerous, especially alone. But Ravus had insisted he had no need for an entourage, much to his court's horror. They'd merely slow him down. While plenty of the knights of Tenebrae are capable fighters, they'd serve better on the homestead.

So he'd gone alone, Highwind's airship willing to take him as far as the Lucian continent itself before she'd had to take her leave back to the Empire's former territory.

All things considered, it'd been a quiet drive. The halogen headlights that mimic some semblance of daylight are enough to deter the smaller, more frequent monsters, and the few larger daemons that have attempted to impede his way have been easy to cut down.

What Ravus isn't prepared for, somehow, is not daemons but a person darting in front of the car like a suicidal deer from the side of the road. No amount of sharp reflexes is enough to stop the car in time, even when he slams the brakes and attempts to swerve out of the way.

When the vehicle screeches to a halt, Ravus is quickly jumping from the driver's side to come around and see just who he's sent flying.

"By the Six, really?" He grouses, because it's unreasonably stupid - how the hell does someone not see the only gleaming headlights for miles, and still somehow time it perfectly to take a car to the ribs?

"Are you alright? What could you possibly be thinking to-" Ravus feels his complaining die away as he spots exactly who he hit. That scrappy frame and bright blond hair are impossible to forget, really.

Well, now Ravus actually feels terrible.

Ravus will likely feel Prompto's pulse upon feeling his throat. He's alive, definitely. Just seeing stars. Everything hurts like an absolute bitch.

"Ow... holy shit," he gasps out, barely able to move his head and look. That voice... that voice is very familiar. In fact, there's just about no other person with a voice or way of speaking quite like that.

It can't be. Could it? He died!

"Do I...Know you?"

Damn, maybe he really had hit him that hard. Ravus feels his lip curl in a grimace. There's no way he's knocked the memories right out of the blond, right?

"I should be full offended if you have forgotten me, boy." Ravus draws his hand back, settling it on his knee as he looks over Prompto for any outward damage besides what will surely be a nasty set of bruises. "Ravus Nox Fleuret, Lunafreya's elder brother."

"R-Ravus?! No way? I- you're alive?" His eyes go wide as saucers. So it is. By some absolute wonder or miracle, Ravus is alive. "Didn't we- Didn't you-?"

Didn't we kill you?

So Ravus is alive. Ravus also just hit him with his car. What a world. It just about checks, with how Prompto's life has been going as of late. He tries to sit up and fails miserably, collapsing back down prone with a groan.

"Alive as I can be," Ravus says, arching a brow. He suppose news no longer travels quickly in the broken world.

"I'd been recovering in Tenebrae with Ignis. But communications across the sea are not so easy to access any longer." He sets a hand on Prompto's chest, keeping him down while also quietly checking for broken ribs.

"Be still. You'll injure yourself further. What precisely were you so enthralled into chasing after that you missed an entire car coming your way?"

"With Iggy? How... how is he?" Prompto is quite quick to ask after him. It's been far too long since the blond heard from him, and he can't help but wonder, and worry.

He winces when Ravus checks his ribs. Tender, but not broken hopefully.

"I'm fine!" No, he sure isn't. "I um, just finished taking a pack of daemons down. I tend to sprint to ride out the adrenaline of fighting, especially alone like I do most of the time." He gives Ravus a sheepish half-smile. "Cars don't usually come through here enough for me to worry."

"You... run." Ravus blinks in utter bewilderment. This is something he expects of an excited dog, not a man hunting daemons. He shakes his head. It's not the weirdest thing he's seen, but that sure doesn't make it normal either. "That quirk aside, Ignis is well. Or, as well as any of us can be with the darkness."

Ravus slides his real hand from Prompto's chest to beneath his back, and then his magitek arm behind his knees.

"Don't struggle," he instructs before effortlessly lifting Prompto into his arms, and heading back towards his car. "It's too much of a liability to continue travelling while you're injured, and I won't simply leave you out here. If you've a base camp nearby, speak up, otherwise I'm finding us somewhere safe to get a better handle on the damage."

Yeah. He runs. He runs a whole lot. He smiles weakly, happy to hear Ignis is at least holding up okay. It puts his mind at ease.

His body, however, is certainly not at any kind of ease. He grunts as Ravus effortlessly scoops him up. Like this, the blond gets a nice, close peek at him in the light of his flashlight. All sharp angles, fierce looking, yet here he is taking care of him. His words of don't struggle make his stomach flutter for an instant.

"There's Hammerhead- but it's a good ways away, and may draw undue attention on you? Otherwise there's a few small outposts north and south of here."

"My presence will draw attention near anywhere civilized. I have kept mostly to the outskirts since arriving in Lucis." Ravus doesn't ultimately seem bothered by what he says, like he's accepted it and moved on. People knew him as the High Commander of Niflheim first and foremost. He's not about to begrudge them for the unease his presence brings despite long renouncing the empire.

"South then," he says as he carefully helps Prompto into the car before getting back in the driver's seat. Luckily, hitting a twink hasn't cause any damage to the vehicle, and hopefully nothing else decides it wants to be roadkill.

Thankfully, it really isn't far to the nearest haven, the soft glow of the protective runes a beacon in the dark. It's the best they're going to get at this point, and he pulls the car over to be within the shelter of the rock formation.

"This will have to do for now," he mutters, climbing out of the car again. He kneels beside one of the glowing marks, brushing his hand over it. It begins to glow a touch brighter, as do the rest of the runes all around them. It should be enough to bay the daemons.

"Right... Bad attention," Prompto wheezes out, grunting a little as he's lowered into the car seat. He settles in as best he can with his limited mobility, blue eyes watching as the sharp-featured man gets in and starts the ignition.

His brows are up when he sees the way he activates a Haven. It's been a long, long time since Prompto saw that familiar, comforting glow this brightly. He blinks at Ravus. "Huh. You can just do that?"

Then it fully sinks in what the man expects for them to do. "Soooo you're tellin' me we are going to sleep in this car. Together."

Ravus doesn't look back as he surveys the area, making sure nothing else aside from daemons is lurking about. He waves his real hand dismissively.

"Blood of the Oracle," he explains. "Lunafreya's powers far outweighed my own, as the men of the line are typically left with only the inert magic it carries. Magic itself responds to me, though I cannot truly wield it."

Once Ravus seems satisfied that they'll be left well alone, he returns to the car. Arching a brow, Ravus gestures towards their wild surroundings.

"Unless you'd prefer to sleep on the ground with the rocks? I did not bring much in the way of camping gear, given it is only myself, and the vehicle is spacious enough."

"I...see. Huh." They definitely didn't teach that one in school. "Were you ever upset about that? Your little sister having it all?" Seems like something easy to get jealous of. Either way, they're safe. Safe enough.

"Big man, rocks sound like the actual worst idea for my broken rib right now. Fine. But can we reeeeaaally trust the ward with the world like this, or- are we gonna be woken up to our faces being eaten off?"

Ravus furrows his brows at the question. Upset?

"No," he says slowly, parsing through old memories. He'd only been a small child when Lunafreya was born, and while of course the world celebrated the next oracle's arrival, Ravus was never neglected for it. His mother still adored him, he was always her prince. He never felt as though he needed the same kind of attention given to Lunafreya. And as they aged, his quiet, socially avoidant personality solidified. No, he never much felt jealous. If anything, he worried for Lunafreya. Her powers made her a subject of the public far more than him.

"I was raised to serve her. My promised happiness was to kneel to her, and deliver her mercy as her champion. I was content with that. With her powers, she was a public figure, something I always detested. I was happy in her shadow. It was where I belonged." Ravus explains, fiddling with something in the trunk before he comes back around to the backseat.

"Rest assured, nothing will 'eat your face off' as you've phrased it. The wards are still strong, and with myself so near, they are able to pull from my power." What he's returned with is extra blankets, and he tosses one to Prompto. The other he glances down at, considers a moment, and then toss it too.

"I will keep watch if it eases your worry." That said, he climbs back into the front seat, and sits back enough to stretch out his long legs. If he doesn't sleep, so be it, it's not as though he hasn't gone dozens of long stretches without it. One more won't kill him.

Prompto listens attentively to Ravus as he explains his connection to Luna and what it meant to him growing up. There's not a hint of jealousy there, just deeply honest appreciation. It is almost heart-achingly clear just how much Ravus cared for Luna- enough to serve the Empire, at any cost.

"Hey wait, don't you need to sleep too? You just said the wards are fine! Wait- oof!"

Prompto, as best he can in pain like this, plays up being hit by not one but two blankets. They're cozy enough- the warmth they immediately provide makes his eyes go lidded.

He doesn't even realize he's nodded off- not until a terrible roaring sound nearby jolts him fully awake. The baleful sound of a nearby daemon- and close. It shakes the earth like thunder, and the injured Prompto can only watch on in fear as the form of a Behemoth King crests a nearby hill.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!"

Should he sleep? Probably. But he doesn't bother answering Prompto about it before the boy is already fading. Ravus simply climbs into the front seat, leans it back to be somewhat reclined, and watches. At some point, he does allow himself something akin to a micro-nap, barely closing his eyes and breathing a tiny bit deeper.

It's when he's jolted awake from it that Ravus swears low under his breath. The roar is familiar, and Ravus is already drawing his sword as he gets out of the car.

"Cease that. It's nothing I cannot handle. Stay here." As if Prompto can really go anywhere, but still. He doesn't want him trying and getting himself injured even more.

The hulking behemoth comes crashing forward in a run, undeterred by the wards. Of course, prepping for daemons means little against the local and desperate wildlife trying to survive the Night just as well. He's sure it's been attracted to the scent of potential prey, but that's too damn bad. He's no one's meal, and he's not about to let Prompto be either.

Fighting a behemoth alone is already a task, but this one flies. Or glides, Ravus can't really decide how much lift those wings can properly achieve, but that's not important. What is, unfortunately, is the fact that after first cut he lands slices away a chunk of the beast's horns, it roars in fury, and leaps over him.

The massive beast clears the gap between himself and the car with ease, faster than Ravus can stop it. The bolts of lightning he attempts to bring it down with barely scorch its tough hide.

If it were only fleeing, Ravus wouldn't bother, but the thing can obviously smell prey wrapped up in a metal container, just waiting for its slabbering jaws.

What happens next is a blur, even to Ravus. All he really knows is the desire to protect, and for a second, that wins against everything else inside him.

It's as the behemoth is bringing its paws down on the hood of the car that something dark and massive lands on its back. Giant, gouging claws rake through even its thick skin, and gnarled fangs dig into the powerful bulk of its shoulders. The behemoth roars in pain, rearing up to try to shake Ravus off its back.

The two beasts roll into a fierce and deadly lock of horns and claws and snapping fangs. The noise and rattling of the ground is near deafening with how what appears to be two giants fighting to the death shakes the area.

The two beasts roll into a fierce and deadly lock of horns and claws and snapping fangs. The noise and rattling of the ground is near deafening with how what appears to be two giants fighting to the death shakes the area.

"That's a whole Behemoth all messed up by the daemon crap flying around!" Prompto protests, sitting up despite the pain that lances though him, starting at his ribs. This is bad. Really, really bad. He wrestles Lion Heart and Quicksilver from their holsters, taking aim at the beast barreling towards him with a panicked scream.

This is it, he thinks, as it shrugs off Ravus' every attempt to keep it busy with his powerful lightning. What a way to go. Sorry, Noct...

Just as his eyes squeeze shut and he looses a final round of bullets, it- it doesn't end. Instead, there's a second roar, a sound unlike any beast or daemon Prompto ever heard before. Blue eyes fly open to see a massive daemon, howling and fighting as though to fend the behemoth off.

At first pass, Prompto readily assumes this weird daemon is just fighting for the right to kill and eat him. That's the only thing that possibly makes sense to him in his panicked state until he realizes Ravus is gone. The daemon carries a glow much like the lightning he summons.

Prompto thinks he must be going insane from the adrenaline- that isn't Ravus, it can't be. But every second that he watches the beasts fight, it becomes clearer and clearer that the newcomer is indeed protecting the car, and Prompto.

"Get out!!!!" Prompto shouts, unleashing another volley at the behemoth, aiming for the eyes in an attempt to stun it.

The behemoth has its jaws clamped down around Ravus' shoulder trying to drag the smaller beast to the ground. It's only when a bullet pierces an eye that the monster let's go with a pained scream. It scrambles back, shaking it's head, blood splattering around it. Ravus takes the opening to roll back to all fours, and lunge for the other eye with outstretched claws. The satisfying dig of flesh yielding to his attack, and another echoing scream of pain send a thrilling jolt down his spine. The behemoth howls in pain, giving ground as Ravus presses it with strike after strike. Sparks of lightning color the plumes of blood the beasts paint the dirt with on every blow. Until the behemoth decides no prey could ever be worth this, and makes to flee. When it vanishes back into the brush, the thunder of its galloping paws growing distant, Ravus breathes out a low growl.

Turning back to the car, he pensively stares at the panicked blond through the window. This... Wasn't exactly what he wanted to have to show Prompto. Ever. Or anyone, for that matter.

"I won't harm you." Ravus says, his voice more or less his own, if only blurred by a bit of an underlying, beastial growl. "I am still myself."

Oh shit. Oh, shit. Prompto's doubts grow by the second as this strange daemon continues to clash with the behemoth for his sake. More and more he questions his fate, until the larger beast flees and leaves the pair of them alone. Prompto's body shakes with a combination of adrenaline and fear- is this it? This one's turn now?

But then, it speaks. He speaks, with that all too familiar voice. It is Ravus.

"You- you're a- a...." he reaches a hand out the window weakly. "No way..."

Ravus looks at the outstretched hand with uncertainty. Even in this shape, he retains the odd-colored eyes, though now they smolder like fire, and all the readability he's ever shown. That is to say, none.

"It is as you see," he says after a moment, drawing closer, but still not quite touching Prompto's hand. The miasma drips off his body, thick and potentially an unpleasant texture. He's not really sure himself. It's hard to describe the feeling of a daemon's skin.

"While I had no desire to deceive you, or anyone for that matter, you must understand why I needed to keep this a secret. A monster has no place among men."

Sure, he looks like a monster. He's scary as all hell, in fact- but Prompto keeps his hand extended, shaking his head. Those eyes are Ravus'. Pretty hard to forget them.

"Look, you look pretty terrifying. If I could run, I would totally be runnin' for the hills right now. But monsters don't protect people."

He offers the tiniest ghost of a smile, still trembling from the adrenaline of the previous battle. "You're not about to leave me here after running me over, right?"

Ravus snorts, stirring up the dust with the puff of his breath. Ridiculous.

"No, even if I did not run you over. You darted in front of a moving vehicle, and I happened to hit you. There is a difference." Ravus regards him with what can only be a flat, unimpressed look, even with his current daemonified expression.

"Regardless," he says, but hesitates a moment longer. The answer feels like it should be simple, and in the short term it is. He can't leave Prompto out here alone. But now there's... "You mustn't tell anyone of this. I wished for this secret to die with me, but..."

Ravus shakes his head. It's a new issue to keep track of, but he's tired now, and doesn't want to deal with it. So he cautiously leans his muzzle forward to bump Promoto's outstretched hand.

"For now, it's better that you get back to resting. My presence like this will likely deter anything else from arriving. Or so I hope."

"There you go!" Prompto chirps cheerfully despite his terrible physical state. The muzzle-bump has him lighting right up. Ravus definitely feels strange. Gooey, like the ichor Prompto's felt here and there when taking down larger daemons. Like their blood, he guesses. "I'm not about to go tell anyone about this. It could spell trouble for you, and that sure isn't what I want." Prompto can't see this going over well with a good amount of the Hunters. Everyone is exhausted, paranoid, and pushed to their limits. Who would ever believe a sentient daemon exists? Tenebraean prince or not, someone would try to take Ravus out. At best, people would think it some kind of trickery anyway. Ravus was dead, to the general population.

"You saved my life, dude. Even if you kinda also put it in danger in the first place."

With that, he settles back into the car seat, clicking his tongue.

"Coulda told people you survived a bit sooner. Me, Gladio and Iggy are still kickin'."

Ravus sighs, and lays prone on the ground. He lifts his head high enough to rest his chin on the hood of the car, and so he's at least eye level with Prompto from within the car.

"I appreciate that notion. This has been a dark secret to keep, but I do what I must. It has been an invaluable weapon against the darkness. I can sense when the beasts draw near, can fight them freely in the dark. But it is of no comfort to anyone besides myself."

He tips his head, doing the daemonic beast equivalent of arching a brow. So news hasn't spread between the continents. It's not surprising, really, but it is good to know.

"You've not heard then. Tenebrae still stands. The floating isles are the only defensible places left on the western continent. I... I am, by all accounts, her king now."

So Ravus has been taking this curse of his and basically silently protecting others with no need for recognition? That tracks with how Noct always described him to be. It's impressive, really. Prompto can't help but admire it, that tendency to throw himself away for people he might not even know without hesitation. Or worse- people who still find him vile as the ex High Commander of the Empire.

"What?! That's- well that's incredible! That's news to me, but man am I glad to hear it. O-oh crap, you're a whole entire king now?! S-sorry! Here I am bein' me...wait. why are you all the way out here, then?"

He hardly thinks of it as anything so noble. Tenebrae had need of leadership from someone that could manage the burdens of a nation. There were scant few candidates, and Ravus had a claim to the throne. So he'd taken it. Just as well, monsters needed killing, and Ravus is nothing if not good at that. Every tool to bay the darkness should be used, even at his steep, personal cost. But that's always how his mind has worked. The end goal more important than the toll on himself.

"Hmph, given the circumstances, I shall pardon you of such blatant disrespect towards the King of Tenebrae to not address me proper." Ravus is... Teasing him? Trying? It's always a little hard to tell with him. "In truth, I care little for the title, and my home has rarely ever been forced to accept a king in place of a proper oracle queen. But my court insists. They were also none to pleased about my leaving to parley with an old order of imperial soldiers still held out in Lucis. That is why I am here. We've need of some airships they still maintain, but they will not hear any of it from tenebraen royalty. So I will be forcing them to listen as their former High Commander."

Prompto straightens his back (and winces, his bruised rib protesting at the motion) when Ravus mentions giving him pardon, only for the boy to then make a "pffft" sound as the massive daemon-king backtracks. Holy crap, was that a tease attempt? Wow!

His nose wrinkles at the mention of Imperial soldiers. "Oh. Them." Prompto wants very badly to leave that particular subject. He thus steers the conversation to some questions instead.

"Are you um. Stuck like that for a bit, big man?"

Really polite thing to ask.

There's a lapse into introspective quiet. Despite the fierce sheen of his eyes in this form, it's clear Ravus is studying the blond for a long moment. What he gleans, he doesn't say just yet.

"I could change back, but my presence in this shape should deter more monsters from approaching. Not to mention I did not bring spare clothes, as I did not foresee being interrupted to my original destination." With the implication he'd be stark naked, Ravus clears his throat awkwardly, gaze darting off in the daemonic equivalent of sheepishness.

"Oh, well that makes sen- waiiiiit...." He squints at Ravus with a small, sly smile starting to light up his features. "You're stayin' all monster mode for lil ol me? Meeeee?" He laughs, before his eyes go wide at the mental image the next part of what the King says hits him.

"Oh, uh-" Prompto coughs, "Well ok. That too. But I don't think you'll really make any friends with those nifs looking like that."

He shrugs. Probably an issue for Later Ravus. For now? Prompto wants to chatter. He's not had a lot of in-person interaction as of late.

"What's it like? Being like that? Most Daemons aren't chatting or saving lives last I checked. Last few wanted to eat me."

"I would not leave you to such a fate," Ravus says as surely as anything. "So I will escort you back to Lestallum, and then attempt to remake the journey. Thankfully, I do believe hitting hunters on the road is a rare occurrence. The odds of doing so again should be nigh on zero."

It is an issue from Later Ravus, but at least Current Ravus has a plan in mind. As for the questions, he is quiet a bit before answering.

"Strange is perhaps the best way I can describe it. It's like there is another thing inside me, in my heart and mind, that wants only the most base urges. To hunt. To kill. To devour the light, and simultaneously hide from it. But with effort, I can ignore it. Sometimes it feels as if I am puppeting my body from far outside it. It... It isn't quite mine anymore."

Ravus sighs, not knowing if any of this is making sense. It's not exactly something he discusses often or at all.

"My bloodline may very well be the only thing that keeps my mind stronger than the scourge's will. But I sense the daemons out there, calling to me, like I am kin. It's... Disturbing."

Wow, Ravus says that with so little hesitation. It sort of amazes Prompto- they were on opposite sides before...Not truly, but still. Something about Ravus being ready to protect the boy without question makes him feel some kinda way.

Eh, probably nerves from the near death experience. No big deal. Prompto instead focuses on the beast-king's response, slowly nodding his head. It makes enough sense put that way despite the fact that he's talking to a daemon he thought dead. This daemon is practicing significantly less attempted face-eating to boot.

"Oh...Right. Oracle family," Prompto mumbles when the connection clicks. "You should tell those daemons they smell bad and to stop calling. I bet you do, right? Eventually they'll get the memo with you beating them up and stop callin'!" That...Isn't how it works, and Prompto's lopsided grin accentuates the fact that this is in fact a lighthearted little quip to try and raise the dour daemon's spirits. Poor guy probably doesn't get much of that being a king during crisis, let alone with the whole daemon curse.

That isn't even touching what Ravus lost along the way. Though Prompto doesn't speak on it much, it is with great frequency that he thinks about Luna. What could have been.

"Well I for one am pretty glad to have the giant goopy dude on my side."

Again, these things don't feel noble to Ravus. What good are his abilities if he doesn't use them to protect whoever he can? And to protect, especially, someone he knows. Granted, he hasn't spent as much time with Prompto as he has with people like Ignis or Aranea, but tangentially, Prompto is important too.

And really, the blond isn't such terrible company. At least until he's calling Ravus a 'goopy dude.'

Ravus stares at him for entirely too long to be comfortable. Then pushes a clawed hand through the open car window, and pushes Prompto flat to the backseat.

"You are delirious from your injuries. Go to sleep before you say anything else as ridiculous as 'goopy dude.'" Said, of course, as if the descriptor is a foreign word in his mouth.

"No I'm not!!!" Prompto squawks, writhing under the big claw with an indignant pout. "You ARE a goopy dude! Hey, what about-"

Prompto can and will chatter about every possible absurd thing he can think of for a good half hour. Coming up with nicknames (it circles back to Goopy Dude), mentioning crazy encounters and close calls, memories of being on the road...The boy has clearly been pretty lonely.

Given enough time, he will drift off to sleep mid-story. Peaceful, and soft looking even in the faint light of his clip-on flashlight.

What's less peaceful is the way Prompto startles awake. He's momentarily forgotten where he is, and jolts upright with a panicked yelp. "Huh? Wha?! Where-"

Ravus listens to his prattle with what seems like endless patience. The truth is, he really doesn't mind all the chatter. He can't follow half of it, but it doesn't rightly matter. It's sort of nice to be talked at, no need for his input, just to listen. It's something he'd always done for Lunafreya when they were little. Seems even like this, he still enjoys it.

Eventually, Prompto falls asleep, and Ravus thinks to close his eyes to doze in short bursts. One such nap is interrupted by Prompto startling awake again.

"Be at ease." Ravus doesn't move just yet, making sure he's as non-threatening as possible as the boy wakes. Opening your eyes to a giant daemon can't be anything but terrifying, he thinks. "We are still within the Haven's sanctuary."

Yeah. Waking up to a giant Daemon does briefly set off Prompto's fight-or-flight response, but the sound of Ravus' voice, even with the strange almost monstrous edge calms him down and brings him back to the present moment. Okay. That's Ravus. He hit me with a car. Right. Also he's a huge freakin' goop daemon.