Why did beasts always attack them in mobs? One minute they were fighting off a pack of voretooths, and the next it was like a whole hive of killer bees had decided the four of them, specifically, had to die. Noctis called a great sword to him, swinging it two-handed to separate a voretooth's head from the rest of it. Then he banished the giant weapon and called his lance, warp-striking a bee right out of the air.

"Noct, get down!" He ducked just as one of Ignis' daggers whizzed overhead, taking a voretooth almost straight in the mouth that had been open to bite him. The beast was driven to the ground in pain, and Noctis drove his lance through its heart.

"Thanks!" He called to his spectacled friend, and caught a thin smile from the man in response.

Gladiolus was a short distance to his left, the giant of a man cleaving a voretooth in half with one swing. Prompto was somewhere behind him, but Noctis couldn't turn to look at his friend, instead forced to switch to his sword so he could swipe the wings off a bee that was dive-bombing him.

And that was when Prompto screamed.

Noctis whirled. The gunman was on his knees, weapon dropped as he clutched his right arm, blood oozing from the hole torn by a bee's stinger that stuck grotesquely out of the limb. The offending insect lay dead, but two voretooths were rushing for the injured fighter.

"Prompto!" The name left Noctis in a terrified cry. Before conscious thought could even form, he was moving. The first voretooth went down via warp strike, the engine blade stabbed through its skull before disappearing and returning to its master's hand to cut a bloody gash through the second creature's side, driving it away from his fallen friend.

"Ignis, Gladio!" The other two were already rushing to Prompto's defense even as the prince called. The three formed a protective ring, fending off the enemies.

Noctis spared a glance behind him to see Prompto collapse, overcome by the venom. "Prompto, hang on! Prompto!"

—

"The antidote's working." Ignis' words, and the relief in his voice, didn't turn Noctis' head from the gunman lying prone before him. They'd removed the stinger and bandaged the wound, but even after administering the antidote it had been a tense few minutes before Prompto had begun to stir.

"Oh... man, I don't feel good..." were the young man's first words, his face twisting into a grimace even as his eyes opened.

"Take it slow. It was a while before we could get some medicine in you." Gladiolus' rough baritone was unusually gentle, and he knelt next to Prompto to help him sit up.

Noctis let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, offering his friend a smile. "Gladio's right. Don't push yourself."

"Hey, don't worry about me, guys. I'm as tough as they come." The attempt at levity fell flat as, making an attempt to rise, Prompto instead swayed and almost toppled. Noctis snapped a hand out to help Gladiolus steady him.

Ignis sighed even as he got to his feet. "No one doubts you are, but you still got a large dose of poison."

Prompto stared at the grass for a few seconds, and then his gaze shifted to his bandaged arm. "Sorry. I got sloppy."

"Don't be ridiculous." Noctis forced a laugh that he hoped sounded more convincing to his friends than it did to him. "It was just a lucky shot."

Gladiolus nodded agreement before gripping the blonde's shoulder. "Can you walk? There's a haven not far from here."

A moment's pause, and then a murmur, Prompto still not looking at them. "Yeah, I'll manage."

—

They spent the rest of the evening in camp, Ignis cooking one of Prompto's favourites (though the blonde made no comment of the obvious preferential treatment). After dinner, Ignis set about cleaning up with Gladiolus helping, and Noctis had a chance to approach his best friend, who'd wandered to the edge of the haven.

"How're you feeling?" He sat on the rock next to Prompto, letting his legs hang off the edge of the stone.

"Fine." The answer came as if on autopilot, though a moment later, Prompto offered him a weak smile. "Thanks for bailing me out, Noct."

He waved off the gratitude. "Don't sweat it. You've saved me plenty of times."

A small laugh. "If you say so."

"I do say so." Noctis smiled, reaching out to nudge Prompto's shoulder.

The gunman shrugged. "I know the facts, man. And the fact is I'm just not as strong as any of you guys."

"Now don't be absurd." They both turned to find Ignis just behind them, arms uncrossing to adjust his glasses so he could watch Prompto properly. "Considering you have no formal training, you're a terrific fighter."

"Iggy's right." Gladiolus stepped right up to Prompto and reached down to ruffle his hair. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be stronger, but putting yourself down like that doesn't help anyone."

Noctis grinned, nodding along with the other two. "Exactly. So don't talk like that, okay?"

Now Prompto's smile was more genuine, more like himself. "Is that a command, oh prince?"

"You're damned right it is."