(no subject)

[fieryknowledge]

It was a well known fact that Ignis Scientia hated boats. While he admired the proud naval traditions of the Empire he served, he simply hated boats. To him, they were slow and cumbersome and no, it hadn't nothing to do with seasickness. That had passed three days into their trip. Now, two weeks later, he was bored. Oh, he'd seen many beautiful vistas while on the open seas but there were only so many beautiful sunrises and sunsets that a man could take before they became commonplace and therefore boring.

Nights were no better. He'd grown used to the swaying by now, and while his cramped but well appointed quarters helped to ease that constant motion a bit, he still felt it keenly while trying to go to sleep. In the back of his mind, he idly wondered if his young royal charge was as chipper about the whole thing as he let on, or was it simply a matter of being polite and kind.

The days passed slowly with little to change them until the skies started to grow dark one day. Storms were uncommon this time of year so the threatening skies heralded a bad blow and sure enough, the winds cut around just as the sun started to go down. Once Ignis was sure that Prompto was safe in his own cabin, he retreated to his own, secure in the fact that the ship was manned by the best sailors the Empire had to offer and that they would be safe once everything blew over.

The storm was a fierce one, knocking the ship about as if it were a child's toy and Ignis found himself on the floor instead of tucked up in his bed and after the third time, he decided it would be best to just settle there once he checked in on Prompto and advised him to do the same.

He never made it to the prince's room. Not with the seas conspiring against him. A jerk of the ship sent him reeling into a wall and before he realized that he wasn't upright, a sickening crack split the air, followed by the scent of something burning. He knew then that he didn't have much time. He had to get Prompto to safety.

Everything happened too quickly to think after that. The last thing he remembered was running to find his charge when the ship pitched heavily to one side and then, darkness. There were snatches of consciousness then, flickers of vision and memories of images that he never imagined he'd see in his life. A burning ship splintering to pieces, the sounds of people screaming as they jumped for their lives and the glaring lack of his prince anywhere in those sights.

He never even realized he'd washed ashore on a beach. He'd barely been conscious enough to keep his grip on the debris that had carried him far enough... but hadn't he slipped off?

Comments

[thenightisyoung]

Humans fascinated him. He understood little of their speech, and only that from having listened in secret to them many, many times, but it was everything about them. Sometimes it was difficult to ignore the feeling of hunger, knowing that they were meant for feasting, but instead he only watched with keen interest whenever he could. The villages by the sea where he could come up under the docks and watch them as they captured bounty from the sea and refused, strangely, to eat it while it was still wiggling. The boats that came across the water where he could hide in the spray and listen to them above deck. The strange things they wore on their forms and the metals they used... all of it fascinated him.

That didn't stop his guard from attempting to sway him from his study of them, given that humans would kill them on sight, but Noct never gave up and eventually, Gladio had just sighed and kept going with him to protect him from his own curiosity. Then, one night, everything changed.

Thankfully, he'd managed to sneak away from Gladio before he found the large, sleek ship moving through the water. His guard had to be going mad looking for him for he'd stuck with the boat all day, his body hidden in spray and by the reflection of the sun. The people on the boat had gone to sleep, that much he could figure out from the lack of voices, the far few lights, and what little he understood of their speech. He didn't want to lose the boat, given that there had been a fascinating pair of humans on it, leaning over the edge and watching the sea - one with blond hair and blue eyes like the sky and the other with shining massive eyes and darker hair. So he had lazily swam along side of it until he had been able to pull himself up, then settled in the smooth, cool metal along the side that seemed strange but decorative, where he could still stay wet from the spray of the water.

When the storm came, it had been so violent that he'd, at first, clung to the boat in surprise, then finally gave up and threw himself into the waves, sinking down under the water deep to avoid the danger above. Something quickly started to prove itself wrong with the ship when he saw a flash... then the crimson spark of fire. He had learned about fire from the docks, where they were able to create it in their hands and light strange sticks that produced smoke. The ship was on fire! Then came the horrible, terrible cracking sound and the screaming.

He was no stranger to shipwrecks. Plenty of them littered the depths in his homeland below, and it was often a favorite to find the remaining bodies if they were fresh. So he watched a ship destroy itself upon the waves from below, not sure what he was meant to do against it... but he knew that humans rarely survived.

But when he'd been ready to leave them to their fate, for the ship to sink and to return later to study what had been upon it, he saw one. A human floating away from the sinking ship, holding onto a piece of wood. His curiosity got the better of him and he came up under the human, prepared to do easily what had been done by many merman and grab the human by the ankle to pull it down, when suddenly it did that on its own.

The human started to fall down into the waters. Dead? Noct studied it, but its eyes were closed and bubbles were slowly leaving its mouth. He followed with slow flicks of his tail, invisible against the inky night except for the outline of him against the fire above. No! The human wasn't dead... but it would be soon. It'd be easy to just grab it and have his fill here.

Instead, after several long moments of decision, he'd grabbed the human and pulled it up to the surface where it could breathe.

---

When the human woke, Noct was laying nearby in the tide as it pulled in and out, braced on one arm as he watched with intense eyes. Ignis, without his glasses, wouldn't immediately be able to make out the long black elegant tail, the spiked fins along his back along with the long slits of his gills, the darkness and claws upon his hands, the points of his teeth, the fins in front of his ears, the silver crown set against black hair or the pendant against his chest, but someone was there, watching him.

[fieryknowledge]

At first, he didn't notice anything. He was worn out. His chest ached and his head hurt and he felt like he'd been stepped on by Bahamut. Waking up was slow and something he really didn't want to do, but sunlight and the odd feeling that something was close by kept nagging at him until he finally cracked open his eyes and shifted to try and lean himself up on his elbows.

[thenightisyoung]

From his side there was a sound - something like a rolling trill, almost musical. For Noct, he was telling Ignis that he shouldn't move without words, as he would have another of his kind, but he knew that humans didn't understand them... or at least didn't try, much like most of his kind didn't understand humans because they didn't bother. He understood some of them, some of it, and he wanted to know more.

He leaned in closer, deeply curious.

[fieryknowledge]

The sound wasn't something he'd heard before and it pulled at his attention enough to make him shift closer. Biting back a cough, he managed to get himself almost upright only to freeze when he saw that he was being watched. The lack of glasses didn't let him see many details but he knew a person when he saw one.

... at least, he thought he did.

"... where am I?"

[thenightisyoung]

The 'where' caught his attention and Noct could easily guess what the human was asking. He leaned in closer, within touching distance, his claws digging into the sand. He worked his mouth before answering, carefully, in the human's own tongue.

"Beach." Because it was true, if nothing else. He had managed to drag up the human just beyond the edge of the tide so he wouldn't drown in it as it rolled in and out, but it left him able to stay wet and pull himself back out quickly if he needed to.

[fieryknowledge]

Beach?

Confusion clouded Ignis' usually sharp mind. Right then, all he knew was that damn near every part of him ached and he was on a... beach. Shaking his head, he reached to probe a tender spot on his forehead, then down along his cheek to check and see if he had been hurt. That would explain the confusion, right?

"A beach. But... the ship. Where's the ship?"

[thenightisyoung]

Another one he knew. It took him several moments to answer, leaning in even closer, forgetting his eye completely to stay out of harm's reach. This was the first time he'd ever been able to look closely at a living human (or ever really felt the need to pay attention to their bodies) but he wanted to reach out and grasp the hand that was so different from his.

Only about that point, his hand lifted and reaching out with his claws, did he realize a question had been asked. Ship? "Gone." He didn't know the exact words for 'sunk', but he tried instead, "broken." Gone, broken? Could only mean one of two things and only one of them made sense. Either the ship had somehow been damaged and it left him and him alone before it went to get repaired or... it had been damaged and sunk.

[fieryknowledge]

"Gone?"

A million things ran through his head. Something had happened and he'd been left behind... or even worse. Everything might be hurting but gone wasn't good and when he heard 'broken', it was worse. Teeth gritted, he tried to push himself upright, clearly intent on getting to his feet. He had to try and find them. If something had happened to Prompto...

"No. No. That can't be..."

[thenightisyoung]

The sudden attempt to get to his feet caught Noct unawares and he pulled back, tail slapping hard against the wet sand in his surprise as his back fins flared out wide and settled again. His head tilted, then he shook it and reached out, catching the human's arm. His claws didn't bite in and the texture of his palm was similar but ever so faintly rubbery in comparison; it didn't absorb water like human skin, didn't wrinkle.

"Hurt." He was certain this human had to be harmed, given how long he had been unconscious. "Stay." There, he thought he was doing pretty damn well in his communication, though that might not be true. He was trying to urge Ignis to stay down, though if the human was truthfully hurt he wasn't sure how to help. He smelled no blood, which he would have picked up when they were in the water, but why would a human stay unconscious for so long otherwise?

[fieryknowledge]

Between the sharp slap of something hitting the water and the faintly odd feeling of cool skin against his own, he knew something else was wrong. Green eyes flicked back down from where they'd been frantically scanning anything nearby only to go wide when he saw his companion a bit more clearly.

The tail...

Ignis drew in a sharp breath and inched back, feet digging into wet sand as he slowly shook his head. There was no way this could be real. He'd hit his head or died or-

"What... who are you?"

[thenightisyoung]

When the human started to pull away, Noctis kept a grip on the pale arm. The surprise, confusion, or fear on the human's face was no surprise, but he didn't want this one to get away. If the human panicked and ran further inland, there was no way he could follow, and he wanted to- what? Keep this one? Learn from it? A little of both, maybe. His tail flipped again.

'Who'. Noctis brought up his other hand and touched his chest, looking proud. "Noct." He wasn't about to go into his full name and titles and all of that because it just annoyed him when things had to go formal like that. His head tilted, hand still tight around Ignis' forearm. "Who?" he asked in return, wanting a name for this human.

[fieryknowledge]

A creature of myth had a hand on him. As a child, Ignis had read stories about the sea folk and knew them by half a dozen names. All of the tales were just that, but they all painted the merfolk in a dangerous light. All of them hungry for human flesh and quick to take bites when able. As he grew older, Ignis had scoffed at the idea but the tales still fascinated him. In time, he passed them off as an old fancy of a much younger man.

He couldn't deny his fear now that it seemed a creature of legend wasn't much of a legend after all. How had he survived? Why wasn't he dead? Was Prompto... In the middle of his increasingly panicked thoughts, he noticed that his companion had said something. A quick thought back and he realized what was going on.

A name. He wanted his name. Would something that wanted to eat him be wanting his name?

"... Ignis. My name is Ignis."

Oh, he'd lost his mind. He really had.

[thenightisyoung]

"Ignis." Curiosity came to eyes like the sea at midnight, Ignis' name taking on a faint accent as the merman, there was little denying what sat beside him in the tide, spoke it. He touched his own chest, repeating the word from before. "Noct."

Ignis's chest. "Ignis." His own. "Noct." Determined to communicate this fact to the human he had saved. The fins along his ears fanned open, his chin coming up. The motion caught the sunlight on the metal set in Noct's hair, some sort of decoration it seemed.

He released the human's arm, now that it didn't seem ready to flee.

[fieryknowledge]

He might still be wary, but once he realized that his newly introduced companion had no intention of snacking on him, he was intrigued. There were reports of people that claimed to have made contact with the merfolk, but they were summarily dismissed as drunken ramblings or hallucinations. He... didn't feel like this was either. Logic told him that as he ticked off the other options, whatever was left, however improbable, had to be the truth.

He really seemed to be sprawled out there on a beach, staring at a merman. Shaking his head at the sheer notion of it, he found himself nodding, then after a moment, he returned the gesture. First, a finger toward himself and repeating his name with a nod, then indicating the other.

"Yes. Noct."

[thenightisyoung]

That pleased him when he'd properly communicated it to the human, who by the second looked less like he would run. So he attempted to explain what happened, thinking over the words he had heard and learned from so many sailors. "Storm." He mimicked the waves growing. "Lightning. ...Fire." The last word was said with a strange tone, but given that fire wasn't something mermen would exactly have had in the ocean, was that such a surprise? He mimicked again, this time a surprisingly accurate sound of wood snapping, then spread his hands apart rapidly like an explosion.

The fire must have gotten to the engines.

"Found you. Floating." His head turned out towards the distant ocean as his tail skimmed across the top of the tide pushing in.

[fieryknowledge]

Green eyes were thoughtful as Ignis listened. He remembered the storm all too vividly, even down to the sound of wood splintering apart. The rest was just gone save for the sensation of his breath being cut off as darkness swallowed him up.

He let his gaze wander off where Noct looked out to, his brain trying to dredge up anything else that he could remember.

"Did you find anyone else? A young man with gold hair? I have to find him."

[thenightisyoung]

On that, Noctis shook his head. No, he had seen no other. However, after several moments, he took a breath, one that flared the gills along his sides, and gestured out towards the ocean. "Find." He seemed to know who Ignis was talking about, and he did. The golden one that stood on the side of the desk often, leaning over. Who laughed and smiled and often acted very differently than the other humans.

He shifted back into the water, deep enough that he would be able to swim instead of use his hands. Where Ignis was, exactly? Given how far they had been from land, it had to be an island. It wasn't without shade, and it seemed a bit of a jungle back there, but it also looked utterly untouched by man.

[fieryknowledge]

If Noct knew who he was talking about, then it meant that he'd been watching the ship for some time. While that thought was a bit sobering to Ignis, it was also a bit of a relief. At the moment, how long they'd been under scrutiny didn't matter as much as finding his charge.

A quick glance back out over the water and then Ignis nodded to Noct, quietly thanking him.

[thenightisyoung]

With that, the merman was gone, barely even a ripple to suggest he was there.

And as the day went on, it almost started to seem like a dream. The island held thick jungle and, if explored, there were coconuts, crabs, even some pools of fresh water to be found. A little paradise, as some might have called it, if it wasn't for the fact that there was not another intelligent soul there and his prince was possibly dead.

It wouldn't be until nearly sunset that Ignis would hear a strange sound from the harmony of the island, a musical sort of sound, out by the beach. There he would find the 'dream', the merman named Noctis. Beside him was a lump (which in fact was a bag) but no person.

There had been no survivors, as far as he could find.

[fieryknowledge]

At first, Ignis had waited at the beach. He told himself that it would let him dry off but he was already mostly dry by then. Then he told himself that if he left, he had no idea when Noct would come back. What if he had news? What if something happened?

So many what ifs and not enough answers and for Ignis, that wasn't a good thing. He liked answers. He liked order and control in his life and with this, both had been taken from him. Still, for his dismay, he knew he couldn't just lounge there on the beach. First things first, he needed to find fresh water and think about shelter and fire. Sure, he'd been trained in survival skills, but he'd never really though that he would ever have to use that knowledge!

The sun was starting to sink and Ignis was worn. He was dirty and sweaty and clearly out of sorts from his usual self, but he'd accomplished a bit and that pleased him to no end. Shelter wasn't so easy since he didn't have a knife but he'd found several sources of drinkable water and fire was easy enough once the sun truly went down. He'd just started to gather enough wood to keep a cheery fire going for a while when he heard that sound.

It was so out of place with the sounds of the jungle that he'd already started to grow accustomed to. After a moment of thought, he realized that he'd heard something similar before, from the merman. He took a moment to settle the pile of wood carefully to the side before he made his way back to the beach.

"You came back."

[thenightisyoung]

Noctis gave Ignis a long look as if to say 'what did you expect?' He said he would return. The bag was pushed forward and he gestured for Ignis to come closer, tugging open the bag and putting the items he'd found out. The first, irony of ironies, was a short, sheathed blade. It was, unfortunately, probably one of the now deceased guard's, given the marking of the empire upon it. The next was actually several items of canned food. He'd be able to puncture them with the knife, at least.

The last might have been the most ironic of all. It was his spare set of glasses, tucked up in their hard protective case.

Noctis didn't know what they were, but he remembered Ignis wearing the strange things on his face and he didn't have them now, so when he found them in their shell, he'd brought them with him.

"All dead. No sunshine found." He tugged on his hair, meaning Prompto.

[fieryknowledge]

Hey, he was still wondering if Noct had been a figment of his imagination! Of course he was surprised that he came back!

The contents of the bag were quickly and silently cataloged in his mind while the knife was given a quick once over. It was clear that Ignis wasn't a stranger to the bladed weapon, even if it was smaller than what he was used to working with. The food would be helpful until he could work on getting some shelter for himself and then, his stores.

It was the glasses that pulled a small, but surprised smile to his face. He'd already started to suffer from a headache and while that could be the lingering effects of his near drowning, he knew it was just as likely from not having his glasses. A quick glance in the case told them they were intact and mostly clean, so he didn't hesitate to slip them into place where they belonged, sighing with relief when he could see properly again.

The news about his felling Imperial soldiers wasn't what he was hoping, but.. perhaps there was hope. Noct hadn't said that he'd found Prompto, but he also didn't mention finding his body.

"Prompto. His name is Prompto. He's important to me. I... take care of him."

[thenightisyoung]

Ignis would be able to see the scaling, the length of that tail, make out the silver set against blue-black hair. Noctis tilted his head, nodding. Prompto. However, hearing that Ignis had taken care of the other made him immediately think of Gladio, so his brows came together as he tried to find the right word. "Guard?" He thought that was right, in particular when he wouldn't know the human term 'advisor'. The fact he had ditched Gladio for the day meant he was already in trouble, but this was much more interesting. Besides, Gladio probably would have just eaten him.

"Sorry." That he couldn't find Prompto, but he hadn't seen a corpse, either. Maybe he did manage to float away somehow.

Or... eaten by one of his kind.

[fieryknowledge]

Now that he could see clearly again, he took the time to look his companion over. Part of him was critical, the years of his own studies lending him that critical eye but in the end, he was... impressed. Noct was downright pretty, the differences between them making the merman look ethereal. He wouldn't dare call him dainty or soft in any way, though. He'd noticed those claws and he knew that the mer of legend had a taste for humans, so that meant teeth to match those claws.

What caught his eye the most was the silver shining in that midnight hair.

"... I suppose so. Guard. Teacher. I help him."

[thenightisyoung]

The upper half, the human half, of Noct was muscled, but slim. His tail was longer by far than human legs, but it looked powerful in all of its black sleek scales. He settled back on that tail, letting it curl up so the broad tail fin came up and settled on the wet sand. Ignis' guess on the matched teeth to claws was very accurate indeed. The bit of silver in his hair looked like... a horn? A branch?

Help him? That didn't sound unlike Gladio, though he'd grumble at the idea of thinking Gladio helped him. Guard, teacher, yes. "Prompto..." Brows furrow, thinking. "Important?" He had Gladio specially, after all, but he wasn't certain how it worked with humans.

[fieryknowledge]

Ignis had an eye for detail and Noct's ornamentation hadn't gone unnoticed. He wanted to ask about it, but the other's questions kept distracting him.

"He's very important. Not just to me, but to his people. He's going to lead them one day as their king."

[thenightisyoung]

That got a visible reaction from Noctis, one of surprise. The sun-child... he was their prince? He knew those words, and his tail slapped the water hard as he shifted his weight. Several times he tapped his chest, even more curious about all of this now. He repeated a sound to Ignis, his word for prince, then scowled as he realized he wasn't certain of the word for humans. So, he pointed to the small crown set behind his ear. His father's was larger, though not by much, and he often hated anyone knowing what he was, but this was... different.

Ignis protected the human prince, like Gladio protected him. What were the odds?

[fieryknowledge]

The reaction wasn't one he expected. Brow furrowed, he absently shifted back as he watched Noct's motions. One caught his eye in particular. When he let himself look where the other clearly wanted him to and while it took a moment, realization slowly dawned on Ignis.

"... you're like him. You're royalty, aren't you? A prince?"

[thenightisyoung]

Noctis nodded to that, looking pleased he had communicated it properly. See? It wasn't so hard. Humans weren't nearly as stupid as mermen made them out to be. Just... different. To him, fascinating.

But now it felt like he had to do something to find the other prince. If his corpse hadn't been found, and he's fairly sure no one knows about the wreck beside him, then where could he be?

He looked up to Ignis, then at the island, and said firmly, "safe here." Even if he was no where near proper land.

[fieryknowledge]

It seemed like the mer weren't quite as savage as legends made them out to be. They seemed to have a hierarchy all their own and while it might surprise some, Ignis wasn't as shocked as he should be. After all, they defied his belief just by existing, so it wouldn't do to continue on with preconceived notions.

There was a faint smile on his face when he realized that he'd actually gotten it right, but it faded quickly enough.

"Safe? Hardly. I need to contact my people. They need to know what's happened to Prompto. I can't stay here when he's out there..."

[thenightisyoung]

This merperson wasn't, but he was only one. They were still very much the mankillers, and eaters, that legends spoke of. Every time Noctis spoke, there was still a flash of pointed teeth. There were still claws at the ends of his fingers instead of normal flat nails.

Contact his people. How? Noctis tilted his head, thinking on it, tail slowly moving back and forth. "Far, land. Far far." He would have to swim for quite a long time to reach the land proper, and he wasn't sure which land Ignis was actually from. All he knew was the name of ships and ports, but he did have a notion of countries as well, purely thanks to his upbringing.

[fieryknowledge]

That was the last thing Ignis wanted to hear now that he knew that Prompto might've survived. While his prince wasn't exactly helpless, he needed to be with him. It wasn't even a matter of duty, which Ignis took very seriously. No, he loved his prince like he was family and would do anything to keep him safe and make him happy for as long as he could. If he was out there, he'd have to fond a way-

Sighing, he reached up to pinch at the bridge of his nose before shoving his hand through his hair in clear frustration. It'd been an eventful enough day and now, frustration piled on top of all that which left Ignis a bit worn around the edges.

"I'll figure something out. I have to. I have to make sure he's alright."

[thenightisyoung]

Noctis looked thoughtful as he turned over the problem. The human wouldn't do well in the open ocean, but humans needed boats to cross the water. So, somehow, they needed a boat. Cautiously he wondered if he could steal a boat, perhaps? A lot of effort... but this human seemed worth it.

"Boat." He turned his gaze on Ignis, studying him. How did humans make boats? Could Ignis make one? He could help bring it towards land, though, so he tapped his chest, chin up. "Help."

[fieryknowledge]

Another handful of seconds went by until Ignis realized what he meant. Communication might be slow between them, but it seemed to be working for now. The realization didn't make him very happy, but Noct's idea was a sound one...

"Help? Can you? I'm not sure I'd have the time to build one, much less the tools. A knife won't be good enough. At least, I don't think it will be and even then, it likely wouldn't be anything that would last long."

[thenightisyoung]

Noctis understood most of what Ignis was saying, but it was difficult to respond in kind. He knew little on how to put his thoughts to words in the human tongue, but he was trying. At least in this case, he got the idea that building a boat would not be possible. So, instead, he tried to think of the correct word. Instead, he touched his chest again. "Take boat." He meant 'steal' but didn't have the immediate word for it.

He could, in the back of his mind, practically hear an angry Gladio growling, because he kept slipping away, that Noctis was doing a lot of work for a human. A lot more work than he normally did for anyone.

If there was a way he could save the human, he wanted to.