Chapter Text
Oh the six she hates being out here alone. She absolutely hates the idea that her closest friend who might as well be her sister is lost somewhere out here. They got separated after the attack on Crown City and she hasn’t been able to find her since. She felt grateful for the fact that as a kid she was always changing her hobby. One year it had been art, another it had been martial arts, and another had been camping. She was more than prepared for being out here, she had weapons and supplies, but that didn’t make it any easier on her. Nor did that mean she would be able to find Raina.
She rubbed her eyes softly, “Calm down. You’ll find her. It’s just a matter of time.”
She set up camp in one of the rune filled haven’s and watched the desert for a bit. Knowing the daemons were so close made her uneasy, despite the knowledge that they wouldn’t come near the camp. With a sigh she checked her equipment. She only had enough food for two maybe three more days, she would have to fix that. She had plenty of water for now, as well as a good amount of medical equipment. Despite not being fully trained, she had enough knowledge and know-how to be of assistance to any she came across. Though she preferred using potions, she also knew that those were best left for in the middle of battle. She had passed too many people who had ran out of potions and left with no help. She would try to bring those she found still alive back to the nearest town or heal them up at a nearby camp.
After seeing the clear night sky, she decided to not put up the tent and set to making some food. It wasn’t long before she finished and got ready for bed. She left her daggers in their sheaths and put her gun under her pillow, not exactly fond of the idea of completely letting her guard down. She fell into a soft slumber, her dreams filled with fantasies of a home undestroyed.
“Come on, we need to get him to a camp!”
“We’re trying Noct.”
“Is he-Do you think he’ll be okay?”
She opened her eyes, her hand tightening around her gun.
“There’s a camp over there, let’s go.”
She sat up, pointing the gun in the direction the voices were coming from, but unable to see anything more than blurs in the distance. They came closer and she able to make out some figures in the distance, but unable to see if they were dangerous.
She stood up and waited until they got closer before calling out in as much of a hostile voice as she could muster, “Who are you?”
There were three of them and they seemed to be carrying a fourth, she looked on curiously.
“We’re just trying to help our friend.” Said one of them, slightly small with hair that looked like a tornado blew on it and couldn’t decide which way to go.
“Is he hurt?” She asked, upon looking at the man being carried again, she could see that was a silly question, his side seemed to have gotten slashed open, the edges of his skin burnt slightly, “…set him down here.”
She pointed to an area around the fire, before getting it going again and rushing to her bag, “Is it safe to assume you boy’s don’t have potions?”
“I thought we had enough, we’d just got some.” The same man as before spoke.
“It’s fine. I’m not gonna chew you out right now.” She looked over to where they were standing, still holding the hurt man, “Well are you gonna let me fix him up or no?”
There was a slight hesitation before they set him down and backed up slightly, “You know what you’re doing?”
Obviously this man was considered the leader of the group, “I assure you I know more than you do and that if you were to wait until reaching a town that has doctors, your friend
will either be dead or severely infected that could also lead to his death. So in simple terms. I’m helping your friend not die.”
Was she being slightly over dramatic? Possibly. Was she being snippy? Absolutely. But she was still extremely tired and it was the middle of the night.
With quiet and quick work that came from years of practice she fixed up the man before her. He didn’t respond much, apart from a groan or two, which although slightly worrying, was helpful. Now if only she could get the other three to stop hovering over her.
“Look, I’m sure you’re worried for your friend, I don’t blame you. But…it looks worse than it is, he’ll be fine. Please get some rest. You guys look like you travel a lot and you’re probably exhausted. If his condition changes I will tell you. There’s no point in you staying up.” If she were lucky she would be able to work in peace.
“Come on Noct. She’s right. We need to be fully rested.” This voice was deep and sounded sure.
She refused to look away from her work, but could practically feel the tension coming from the trio. There was a sigh, presumably from the leader and they shuffled away. An hour or so passed and she finished fixing that man lying on the ground. She took some time to observe him, he had glasses and brown hair that looked like wind was constantly blowing it up. She wondered if all the boys looked like they came out of a tornado. With a quiet sigh she grabbed her pillow and blanket, covering him and place the pillow beneath his head.
“I doubt I could move you without reopening the wound…so you’re going to have to stay here. Sorry about that. But hopefully you’ll be able to sleep peacefully.” She felt silly almost, he wouldn’t even hear what she was saying but perhaps it was just nice seeing more people. Even if she wasn’t having an actual conversation.
She sat on the edge of the small cliff that the camp was on and looked out into the distance. His wound could only have come from a Red Giant which meant they had gotten caught out here after dark. Without potions. It’s a good thing they were close by otherwise Glasses might not have made it. She doubted any of them knew any kind of medical procedure, given that it was a dying practice with potions in competition. She watched the horizon faintly making out daemons off in the distance. Although it was probably her paranoia, it felt like every night there were more and more of them. She closed her eyes, praying to the six that Raina was okay, that she hadn’t gotten caught out here and...
“Hey! I just wanted to say-uh thanks. You really helped Iggy out and I know Noct won’t say much and I couldn’t sleep so.” He trailed off and she glanced at him.
It was the blonde one, and she decided that they all do look like they came out of tornados, “Uh…you’re welcome? You really should sleep though.”
Okay so maybe she did like being around people again, it’d been a month of just passing by people and helping quickly, but she had not gotten any better at talking to them.
“Ha, yeah you’re probably right, I mean it though, thanks. From all of us.” He got up and offered his hand, “Name’s Prompto by the way.”
“Oh…um.” She grabbed his hand and Prompto lifted her up, “My name’s…Leah…”
“Pretty name! Not easy to give a nickname to though…” He tapped his chin in thought before snapping his fingers, his face brightening, “It could be Doc!”
She smiled softly, “My friend calls me that all the time…I doubt we’ll see each other again though, so why the nickname?”
“Why not? Who knows, maybe we’ll come across each other again and friends need a nickname, right? I’m just being ahead of the curve.” He laughed, his entire demeanor having changed.
“Friends?” She tilted her head slightly, he was certainly bouncy.
“Yeah, saving my friend’s life feels like the beginning of a great friendship if you ask me!” And with that he waved and headed back to the side they had set up camp.
“…friends.” Huh. Strange, in her experience it usually took longer to make friends.
She went over to her supplies busying herself with a list of what she needed more of and before she knew it morning arrived. She checked on the man she helped the night before, Iggy if she remembered correctly.
“How is he?” It was the voice of the leader.
“He looks fine and his wound will be healed in a week, though he’ll be sore for a while after that. He got lucky.”
“Lucky?” There was a hint of anger in his voice.
She stood up and looked him straight in the eye, “Yes. Lucky. It could’ve been a lot worse. Now I suggest no more staying out here at night. Daemons are dangerous as I’m sure you’ve seen and if you do choose to be so reckless then at the very least check and make sure that you have plenty of curatives, I somehow doubt we’ll manage to be in the same place at the same time the next time something like this happens.”
She sighed and handed him a potion from her bag, “Here, give this to him when he wakes up. It’ll speed up the healing rate and numb most of the pain. Don’t think I’m giving this to you because you’re trying to throw a fit. It’s because I know your type of group, you guys keep going and going, not keeping track of what you have and don’t have. I know for fact that as soon as I leave this camp you’ll most likely start getting ready to head out yourselves. I will not have his wound reopening because of this. It will, however, be more effective once he is awake.”
She took a minute to calm herself, she might not be good at talking to people but when health was at stake she could ramble for ages. There was silence as he just stared at her.
“…thanks.” He seemed almost uncomfortable.
“It’s fine. Um…actually. If I…could ask something?” She started fiddling with her bag, refusing to look up, she hated asking for help but it’s been something she’s had to do a lot of lately.
“What is it you need?” This seemed like something he was used to, perhaps he was asked for help often.
“Well…I…I’m looking for someone and I haven’t found them yet…and I just…wanted to…to ask if maybe you boys could keep an eye out for her? Just in case, I mean, you never know who might come across her right?” She started digging in her bag, “It’s um…it’s okay if you say no, I won’t mind, just-“
“We’ll help. What does she look like?” He was much better at this than she was.
She found the picture she was looking for in the bottom of her bag and stared at it for a moment before quickly handing it to him, “My number is on the back and that’s a picture of Raina, please. If you find her, call me. Or have her call me? She probably lost my number like always…I just…she’s been missing for a few months now and I already went to all the towns here…and I haven’t heard from her yet. So…if you guys travel a lot, then maybe you’ll come across her before I do.”
She must’ve started crying at some point because when rubbed her eyes, they were wet, “Sorry. If you’re too busy or can’t help that’s fi-“
“It’s no problem.”
“Thank you…and please take good care of the picture. It’s…one of the last things I have of her. I just…if you find her you need to be able to recognize her…” She sighed and looked at him, “Thank you.”
He nodded in response and she headed off, waving goodbye as the others slowly started waking up. Perhaps, she would be as lucky as they were and find Raina soon or maybe they would find her.