Everything the Light touches is our Kingdom... Noctis couldn't have rolled his eyes harder at the tease. Sometimes his friends were funny and sometimes they were just a bit too much. Their trip to Galdin Quay gave his friends plenty of opportunity to be too damn much. Although, the earlier banter between the boys and him really got him thinking about the dark island out of reach. No one was allowed to go there, it was strictly prohibited. By Lucian Law. Hell, even for a prince he was not meant to trespass over yonder to the elephant graveyard as described by Gladio.
The lot of them went to see the remake of the Lion King and they weren't over it, at least his friends weren't over it. There were references throughout their day and well into the night. Yet. Noctis was over it, he felt over it anyway. He didn't laugh at their puns, jokes, teases, or canter, he just told them to shut it up. Not that they would listen to him.
In any case, Noct found himself staring out at Angelgard for a good part of the night. Well after the others had gone to bed. He felt the darkness beckoning him, as any entitled brat would when told they are not to have something. Usually Noct was quite like the young prince he once was and would scurry off into the wilderness like a creature who knew no bounds. He was older now, but the feeling was still there. Here and there he would feel drawn to disobey, to go against protocol, to disappoint. Part of his nature, he supposed, to disappoint.
It was about two in the morning before he finally got up enough courage to make the trip out to the island.
Despite how close it really looked, it was actually quite some distance and it took a lot of muscle to row his boat out there. It was dark, real dark, and the prince was careful to watch for daemons -- yet there didn't seem to be any on the island. Not as far as he could see back on Galdin Quay nor the closer he got to the island on the water. He pulled his boat ashore and with careful steps made his way deeper into the land. There wasn't any sound, at all, it really did feel like a graveyard. No birds, no animals, no daemons. He couldn't help but think the daemons are all on the mainland because that's where all the prey was. Nobody was on Angelgard, except for Noct.
His flashlight led his way across the island and to higher terrain. Galdin Quay, from this point of view, looked gorgeous against the darkness that surrounded the light of the resort. Noctis got himself caught up looking back to the resort, probably motivated by some guilt for leaving his friends behind and not telling them where he'd gotten off to. They wouldn't be pleased with him, but maybe he can get his curiosity out of his system and return before anyone realized he was gone. Right.
With this new goal in mind Noct set out to trek quicker over the island to cover as much as it as he could before he'd go back. With moving quicker and with only the limited light to guide his way he had a few trips here and there but mostly could keep himself upright. It was when he was on a steep incline did he feel the ground crumble beneath him and he fell through without time enough to gasp.
He must've been out for a while, by the time he woke up his arm was sore from him lying on it. He sat up and touched at his head, his throat, then moved his hand down to his flashlight where he angled it in different directions to get his bearings. It was cool, quiet, and there was light coming down into the cave from where he fell. It was only after he stood did he see he had landed on some stairs. "What?" His heart skipped a beat, this suddenly became more evident of being "forbidden". There sure as hell weren't any stairs or doors up top, or at least that he could see.
Through the centuries of silence, darkness and oppressive nothingness, something finally existed other than the man who was hanging from chains and hooks that dug into his skin. A sound could mean a variety of things: the structure's integrity was growing weak, animals had somehow found their way inside, or people had come for him.
People. Human contact.
Ardyn blinked slowly, feeling himself awaken from a stupor that must have lasted decades. When was the last time he bothered to open his eyes? His muscles felt so weak that lifting his head was a chore, but after a few seconds he forced himself to do so anyway. Ahead he thought he saw the faintest light, though he could have been imagining it. Gods knew it wouldn't have been the first time he became delirious and started imagining things. Rescues, whether to free or kill him, visits by the gods, anything. Anything at all.
Silence returned after that initial noise, however, crushing his hopes for awhile.
Until he heard a voice. It was faint and only one spoken word, but that was more than enough to cause Ardyn's emotions to run wild. A voice meant a person! If he wasn't imagining things this time, then it was possible someone had come here after all. He didn't know how or why, nor did he care. Just the mere prospect of something other than darkness and silence gave him more hope than he'd felt in literal ages.
"Hello?" He tried, testing out a voice soft and hoarse from disuse. No, that wouldn't do. He would have to keep trying.
"Here. Here. Here!" Even the loudest sound he could manage was weak and unimpressive. Still he tried repeatedly, calling out to the sound he heard near that faint light. That person. If no one was truly there he might lose his mind! They had to come find him! So he tried again, "Here!"
And continued to hope that someone would find their way to him.
He felt disoriented, as if the fall may have something to do with his seeing stairs. It was a narrow enough path which he focused on, it ascended the small patch of even land he had fallen on. To the other side of this flat earth was another pair of stairs that led deeper into the abyss.
It looked old, it was old. There wasn't any light and there wasn't much noise save for the echo of his breath, the beat of his heart, and something like a rough wind breathing through the air. Noctis decided to travel downward. He took his time, taking each step carefully, and he aimed his flashlight to the ground below him. What he needed was to protect himself from yet another fall.
Another harsh whisper in the wind and Noct froze in his steps. He lowered his hand from his flashlight and brought both hands before him to ring gently. His arm still felt a bit sore but that was secondary to the intensity of this find. It was like he was enveloped in a hallow egg, descended from the narrow top to the plump-rounded bottom. Was it his own breath he heard in the air?
Here!
It almost sounded like a voice and Noctis pulled his hand up to the flashlight that clung to his chest. He angled it around him and he looked with narrowed eyes, through the darkness, to find the source of the noise. The shadow was thick and his light was barely cutting through the dense darkness. Noctis pressed onward. Each step he took, once again, carefully until he was at a landing. The immediate circumference that he could see from the step looked wider than the previous landings before and he looked around the flat land for as much as he could see.
He continued forward, his flashlight still angled on the ground for his safety until he came to a pile of stones collected together. He moved his flashlight from the center of his front to the left, chains, then to the right, more chains. They were angled upward and appeared to be bolted to the ground. The chains were deep enough in the earth that he couldn't even see the connectors that kept the chains steadfast in their pull. Noctis manipulated his light, following the chains until he found a leg in his immediate sight, then a warn, thin, material, and further up until he recognized what he wouldn't dream to find. Not in this abandoned place, not hidden away, and most definitely not alive.
His mouth gaped open, his eyes widened, and his heart sunk to the pit of his stomach. Noct's color drains from his face and his breath catches in his throat.
The footsteps continued to grow closer. Although the light was still very dim and Ardyn couldn't see anything, he knew someone had to be approaching. The hope was growing in his heart the louder the sounds echoing from upstairs and the more light he could see moving closer and closer until-
Ardyn let out a soft gasp as something illuminated the outline of a human form. And this time he was certain it wasn't his head playing around with him. There really was someone here, and if only he could make them hear his plea and help him!
"Please..." He rasped, hearing the other person's breathing even if he wasn't able to see him very well. The darkness around them was oppressive, though he supposed the stranger could see him well enough.
"Help me." It was the most he could manage that would get the point across. More words weren't needed right now. Either this person would help or they wouldn't. If they would, they could stand to wait to hear his story until he'd been freed.
Somewhere, in the back of Noct's awareness, he was sure his heart would never recover from its dive into the pit of his stomach. His hand trembled on his chest and his fingers shook the flashlight buckled there, making the light vibrate across the pale, thin, flesh of the man hooked and chained. The voice was barely audible. Noct's breath shook and he lowered his hand from his chest and swallowed. "I'm here, I'll help.. it'll be... alright." He had no idea what to say and the words he did manage were rehearsed - the very same words he's heard in his own time of need.
Noct moved forward and began to climb the small ascent up to the man's body. His hands were weak but they reached the first hook and with shaken confidence he pulled on the hook, like he had done a thousand times on the hooks he's caught on the gills of fish. He tugged on the chain, forward, then pulled it out of the flesh before he released it, backward, and the chain fell away into the darkness beside them.
His hand moved to the damaged flesh, quickly, as if his hand could repair the damage done on the flesh beneath it. "I'll get you out.. just.. j-just a second." This was the most horrifying thing he's ever witnessed, that he's ever been a part of. Noctis' hand moved across the man's skin and his other hand joined when he claimed the next hook. This one was tight, it didn't have enough slack to pull from the man, so he went to the next hook. There seemed to be an order to free this guy.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2019-08-04 02:41 am (UTC)The lot of them went to see the remake of the Lion King and they weren't over it, at least his friends weren't over it. There were references throughout their day and well into the night. Yet. Noctis was over it, he felt over it anyway. He didn't laugh at their puns, jokes, teases, or canter, he just told them to shut it up. Not that they would listen to him.
In any case, Noct found himself staring out at Angelgard for a good part of the night. Well after the others had gone to bed. He felt the darkness beckoning him, as any entitled brat would when told they are not to have something. Usually Noct was quite like the young prince he once was and would scurry off into the wilderness like a creature who knew no bounds. He was older now, but the feeling was still there. Here and there he would feel drawn to disobey, to go against protocol, to disappoint. Part of his nature, he supposed, to disappoint.
It was about two in the morning before he finally got up enough courage to make the trip out to the island.
Despite how close it really looked, it was actually quite some distance and it took a lot of muscle to row his boat out there. It was dark, real dark, and the prince was careful to watch for daemons -- yet there didn't seem to be any on the island. Not as far as he could see back on Galdin Quay nor the closer he got to the island on the water. He pulled his boat ashore and with careful steps made his way deeper into the land. There wasn't any sound, at all, it really did feel like a graveyard. No birds, no animals, no daemons. He couldn't help but think the daemons are all on the mainland because that's where all the prey was. Nobody was on Angelgard, except for Noct.
His flashlight led his way across the island and to higher terrain. Galdin Quay, from this point of view, looked gorgeous against the darkness that surrounded the light of the resort. Noctis got himself caught up looking back to the resort, probably motivated by some guilt for leaving his friends behind and not telling them where he'd gotten off to. They wouldn't be pleased with him, but maybe he can get his curiosity out of his system and return before anyone realized he was gone. Right.
With this new goal in mind Noct set out to trek quicker over the island to cover as much as it as he could before he'd go back. With moving quicker and with only the limited light to guide his way he had a few trips here and there but mostly could keep himself upright. It was when he was on a steep incline did he feel the ground crumble beneath him and he fell through without time enough to gasp.
He must've been out for a while, by the time he woke up his arm was sore from him lying on it. He sat up and touched at his head, his throat, then moved his hand down to his flashlight where he angled it in different directions to get his bearings. It was cool, quiet, and there was light coming down into the cave from where he fell. It was only after he stood did he see he had landed on some stairs. "What?" His heart skipped a beat, this suddenly became more evident of being "forbidden". There sure as hell weren't any stairs or doors up top, or at least that he could see.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-07 08:36 pm (UTC)A sound.
Through the centuries of silence, darkness and oppressive nothingness, something finally existed other than the man who was hanging from chains and hooks that dug into his skin. A sound could mean a variety of things: the structure's integrity was growing weak, animals had somehow found their way inside, or people had come for him.
People. Human contact.
Ardyn blinked slowly, feeling himself awaken from a stupor that must have lasted decades. When was the last time he bothered to open his eyes? His muscles felt so weak that lifting his head was a chore, but after a few seconds he forced himself to do so anyway. Ahead he thought he saw the faintest light, though he could have been imagining it. Gods knew it wouldn't have been the first time he became delirious and started imagining things. Rescues, whether to free or kill him, visits by the gods, anything. Anything at all.
Silence returned after that initial noise, however, crushing his hopes for awhile.
Until he heard a voice. It was faint and only one spoken word, but that was more than enough to cause Ardyn's emotions to run wild. A voice meant a person! If he wasn't imagining things this time, then it was possible someone had come here after all. He didn't know how or why, nor did he care. Just the mere prospect of something other than darkness and silence gave him more hope than he'd felt in literal ages.
"Hello?" He tried, testing out a voice soft and hoarse from disuse. No, that wouldn't do. He would have to keep trying.
"Here. Here. Here!" Even the loudest sound he could manage was weak and unimpressive. Still he tried repeatedly, calling out to the sound he heard near that faint light. That person. If no one was truly there he might lose his mind! They had to come find him! So he tried again, "Here!"
And continued to hope that someone would find their way to him.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-11 03:42 am (UTC)It looked old, it was old. There wasn't any light and there wasn't much noise save for the echo of his breath, the beat of his heart, and something like a rough wind breathing through the air. Noctis decided to travel downward. He took his time, taking each step carefully, and he aimed his flashlight to the ground below him. What he needed was to protect himself from yet another fall.
Another harsh whisper in the wind and Noct froze in his steps. He lowered his hand from his flashlight and brought both hands before him to ring gently. His arm still felt a bit sore but that was secondary to the intensity of this find. It was like he was enveloped in a hallow egg, descended from the narrow top to the plump-rounded bottom. Was it his own breath he heard in the air?
Here!
It almost sounded like a voice and Noctis pulled his hand up to the flashlight that clung to his chest. He angled it around him and he looked with narrowed eyes, through the darkness, to find the source of the noise. The shadow was thick and his light was barely cutting through the dense darkness. Noctis pressed onward. Each step he took, once again, carefully until he was at a landing. The immediate circumference that he could see from the step looked wider than the previous landings before and he looked around the flat land for as much as he could see.
He continued forward, his flashlight still angled on the ground for his safety until he came to a pile of stones collected together. He moved his flashlight from the center of his front to the left, chains, then to the right, more chains. They were angled upward and appeared to be bolted to the ground. The chains were deep enough in the earth that he couldn't even see the connectors that kept the chains steadfast in their pull. Noctis manipulated his light, following the chains until he found a leg in his immediate sight, then a warn, thin, material, and further up until he recognized what he wouldn't dream to find. Not in this abandoned place, not hidden away, and most definitely not alive.
His mouth gaped open, his eyes widened, and his heart sunk to the pit of his stomach. Noct's color drains from his face and his breath catches in his throat.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-11 11:40 pm (UTC)Ardyn let out a soft gasp as something illuminated the outline of a human form. And this time he was certain it wasn't his head playing around with him. There really was someone here, and if only he could make them hear his plea and help him!
"Please..." He rasped, hearing the other person's breathing even if he wasn't able to see him very well. The darkness around them was oppressive, though he supposed the stranger could see him well enough.
"Help me." It was the most he could manage that would get the point across. More words weren't needed right now. Either this person would help or they wouldn't. If they would, they could stand to wait to hear his story until he'd been freed.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-14 01:48 am (UTC)Noct moved forward and began to climb the small ascent up to the man's body. His hands were weak but they reached the first hook and with shaken confidence he pulled on the hook, like he had done a thousand times on the hooks he's caught on the gills of fish. He tugged on the chain, forward, then pulled it out of the flesh before he released it, backward, and the chain fell away into the darkness beside them.
His hand moved to the damaged flesh, quickly, as if his hand could repair the damage done on the flesh beneath it. "I'll get you out.. just.. j-just a second." This was the most horrifying thing he's ever witnessed, that he's ever been a part of. Noctis' hand moved across the man's skin and his other hand joined when he claimed the next hook. This one was tight, it didn't have enough slack to pull from the man, so he went to the next hook. There seemed to be an order to free this guy.