revivalproject | [Open] Storms Rage For Us All

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[Open] Storms Rage For Us All

WHO: Gladio, Noctis, Anyone in Temba
WHERE: Temba
WHAT: The Energy Storm
WHEN: March 11th to 20th (I'm not picky)
WARNINGS: Apparitions, near injury

I. The Visions Come Upon The Unwary

There had been words about it, in the far back reaches of the messaging system, and in the orbs, and in the things people spoke of briefly in worried tones. A storm, one that made things bad. The one that kept their 'captors' away. The one that was supposed to make things difficult. Warnings. And yet all the ominous foretelling doesn't really make Gladio think this was weather to be worried with.

Clearly Gladio was wrong.

The fog rolls in and things feel... still. Quiet. Heavy. Like the deepest embrace of the Long Night back home. He felt alone, so very alone.

And then there was motion. A shadowy figure in the fog. Not alone in the moment then. So Gladio approaches, rushing after the person. Of course the road is broken and shattered, uneven and with plants growing, and that made his steps a bit less confident, a lot more stumbling. But still he chased. Chased not knowing the danger. Not the first time, not even the second time, not even the third.

The first time he finds himself shouting out when the form resolved into a young woman, his sister, and Gladio was chasing her, shouting Iris, please wait! When he chases her, he doesn't know she's leading him into a more precarious building, ready to tumble down.

The second he starts out running the moment he sees the figure. Because how could he not. His father, alive, walking right there. Gladio had to get there. Problem was that he was running full tilt over an impossibly retreating back, and... Well, there was a wall rapidly being approached that he was going to run right into.

The final time he had learned better, and stood back, clearly struggling to not chase not one, but two retreating forms.

"Please," he begged of the apparitions of two men clad just as he was in a black and silver uniform. "Please can't you just be real?"

There was desperate pain in his voice, longing and lonely, and there was fear to reach out. Which in this case was the best thing, given he stood on the edge of the lake, the water lapping at his boots.

II. Always Saving Your Ass [Closed to Noctis]
The storm is a danger. That much Gladio has become certain of, even if he's leery still over calling it a storm. Sure there's lightning flashing through the sky, sure the air felt almost charged in the fog. This whole thing was a lie, and Gladio was fucking tired of it. When the fuck was this storm system going to pass over?

It seemed impossibly long, but that's all he can do.

But some things could be real out here. He knew that. There was no way he was alone in the storm. And when he caught sight of movement, once more, he was certain it would just be another one of the lies.

No, though. This time it was different. This time...

"Noct!" he shouts, running toward the other. And of course since getting closer to Noctis would be a good thing, Gladio stripped over a tumbled rock in the street. Dammit.

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Noctis had gone exploring, all the while not being really sure what the hell was going on. Everything felt different and looked different, and then the storm started. And all the while he was trying to figure this out, he saw the ghostly outline of his father.

"Dad?" Noct asked in his soft tone. But the ghost he'd seen shortly before his own death wasn't wearing his armor. The king could clearly see his father's face even if it was in a ghostly sort of outline. He reached a hand out and the apparition simply vanished.

Next, he thought he heard a voice and saw Luna walking towards him just as she had when the boys were close to the Citadel but vastly outnumbered in Insomnia. She still carried her trident with her, the same as she had then. But as she got closer and they were about to touch hands, she too disappeared, leaving him alone in the dark.

"What the hell is going on?" Noctis asked no one in particular and he felt like he was losing his mind.

But then he thought he heard Gladio's voice and wondered if the shield was real or not. Still, Noctis knew the man was here and was real so he headed towards that voice, the one that was going to temporarily save his mind from this insanity.

Edited 2022-03-16 23:23 (UTC)

Well at least one of them was vaguely composed. Gladio slowly pushed himself to his knees and then to his feet. The fog had started to close in around him again, and Gladio hated it, thanks.

"Noct!" He bellowed again, hoping to hear the other's voice in response. "You out there‽ "

"Gladio?" Noctis asked, thinking the Shield's voice didn't sound too far away as he stopped for a moment. The fog didn't seem to be lifting and the king was reminded of heading out on the boat that night as he steered himself from Angelgard to Galdin Quay.

The fog had been pretty heavy that night too.

"I'm here..where the hell are you?"

His blue eyes turned as he thought he saw the fog taking the form of Gentiana who he knew was Shiva, but then turned back around as he continued in what he hoped was a forward direction.

I'm here Noctis called back, and Gladio tried to turn himself toward it. He had to get moving, and he was already pushing to his feet and walking toward the voice.

"Come on! Keep talking. Going to find you!"

"Gladio?" Noctis called again, seeming to be surrounded by wispy thin strands of white that were going in circles around his body as he moved towards the sound of the shield's voice.

It was almost as if ghosts or something were coming to get him and drag him away. And while the grave was where Noct felt he should rightly be, he at least wanted to make sure Gladio was okay. Then they could take him. Somehow he managed to move past the creeping white wisps, batting them away with his hands. "Not right now damn it."

"Can you hear me?" he asked, trying to raise his voice so that the two men could find each other.

"I can," Gladio says, starting to run faster. He's got to find the guy. He has to fins his prince.

"You need to keep talking. I'll be there, Noctis. Gonna find you. On my honor."

"Great." Noct replied in a low tone, feeling like his dark blue eyes were useless. And where he'd come from it had been nothing but dark. He didn't fear the dark but this particular dark was creepy, complete with a screaming moon and a loss of powers.

And then he heard the part about the honour which made him smile. "I'm counting on you!" he called, still trying to navigate to wherever his shield was.

Gladio kept running, and then... Then the fog was just gone. Mostly because he was tripping over Noctis. Shit.

"Fuck," he cursed as he almost barrelled into his King.

Noctis felt the hit from Gladio and was knocked back a few steps. It took him a minute to make sure he didn't fall on his face but he had to shake his head with a smile on his face.

"Looks like you found me, just like you promised."

Yeah, that sucked. Gladio groaned as he pulled himself to his own feet and then moved to get to Noctis.

"Shit, sorry. Didn't mean to do that."

The king chuckled as he straightened himself, and let himself be aided by his shield. "I'm alright." But then he looked up at the much taller and more well built man.

"Are you alright?"

"Better now that I've found you," Gladio said. Which was probably flirtatious in another situation. "Weirdest fucking storm I've ever seen."

There'd be no way that he'd ever think Gladio flirting with him in this world or any other for that matter, so he had a small laugh, and touched the shield on the arm. "Coming from you considering all the weird things we saw back home, that's saying a lot."

Yeah, Gladio never would get recognized for flirting he supposed.

"Yeah, crystal-boy," he sighed. "This is still strange. It's got some of the feel like the dark. Something about this is wrong."

"Crystal boy?" Noctis asked with a half laugh. He was trying to lighten Gladio's mood just a little because to see his shield bothered, well that bothered him. And he shook his head. "Whatever it is, we'll be alright."

All he could do was try to be strong for Gladio like the man had done for him so many countless times back home. "I've got you by my side."

"What, you think that you're not a crystal boy?" Gladio laughed. He could laugh now because he had Noctis in sight. But that could change.

So he held out his hand.

"Come on, give me your hand. Not going to lose you in this."

Noctis looked at the shield's hand, ignoring the whole crystal conversation. He likened himself to a butterfly, even if his wings had already been cut off. So he supposed that made him a little black worm again.

Deciding to take Gladio's hand, he didn't let himself think anything of it. "Right, we didn't come all this way just to get separated again."

Those words were for himself as much as for the shield as they navigated this new darkness.

Not a worm, not a butterfly. A King Behemoth, down the wings. Didn't make him less deadly or amazing.

Noctis's hand in his own, Gladio squeezes it and then pulls them aside.

"We should find shelter. Stay out of the way until the fog passes. Only way to be safe in this mess."

"Shelter..right. Just like we used to do in Insomnia."

Going down those steps back home brought the memories back even if they weren't as crisp and clear as they would've been. Still, he had noticed the squeeze in his shield's hand but it must've just been some sort of reassuring one, now that they'd found each other in this mess.

"Sounds like a plan, we don't need any unwanted company right now."

"Exactly. Better to have a wall at our backs so we're sure of one direction. Get some rest and all that."

Gladio would of course take first watch. ANd all the watches after that. Clearly he was underestimating how long the fog would last.

"You need rest too." Noctis pointed out quietly. Of all the things he was going to do, taking care of his shield would definitely be one of them. Gladio would continue being himself and for that the king was grateful, but he'd have to keep the man from wearing out.

"Yeah, I know. I'll do it when you're rested," Gladio said. "I'll wake you up."

It's less Shield in this moment, and more guy that cares for his friend.

"You'd better get me up." Noctis replied, checking around to see where he could rest. He then made out an outline of a tree, and that looked as good a place as any.

"Stay safe."

And with a pat on the shoulder, the king walked over to go sit down at least.

"Uh huh, I will," Gladio agreed. Eventually.

The tree was something, even if it wasn't what Gladio would have wanted. But he moved to the side of it and sat down. Just for a moment.

"Like I don't know how to keep us safe."

Noct's blue eyes slid over to Gladio as he sat down and spoke softly. "I know you do."

Then he turned away, not wanting to get into things that he didn't want to get into. So he tried to take a simple comfort of his shield's presence. The king still wondered what happened to the girl Gladio was engaged to, but he'd already asked and got nowhere with it.

But timelines were a thing here.

Timelines were a thing, and in his world, he wasn't engaged. He wasn't seeing anyone. He was alone, because knowing what would happen to Noctis if they didn't save him from the fate of Bahamut had meant he'd thrown himself at safeguarding the world and finding an answer.

Had there been lovers, yes. But romance? No. He'd become almost as notorious for his dedication to the missing King as Ignis was.

With the panic over Ignis being taken by Ardyn to prevent their getting more bad blood between them, it had been easier to retain the power of the feelings he'd developed over time.

"Glad you get that."

He kept his eyes trained on his shield and smiled at the other's words with a nod. Gladio's presence was definitely comforting and he wanted to ask more questions about what went on in his world or time or whatever. But then that would leave him in the position of having to do the same thing.

And he didn't want the shield to think he'd failed because he hadn't. None of them had failed, they just followed the path that fate had set for them.

Especially himself.

So Noct just kept quiet, trying to make sure Gladio didn't worry about him too much. And he fought to rest though he knew himself, that wasn't going to happen. Still, he tried for the other's sake.

"Trust me, we'll get through this. I'm going to make sure you're safe."

And it is a good thing, right? Protecting Noctis was what he wanted to do, what he wanted to be.

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[Open] Storms Rage For Us All

II of course

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