#Gutsco Comrades

[lillenshivari]

Some photos of my bro, Gutsco. He was one of King Regis' Kingsglaive before the fall of Insomnia. I met him at Lestallum. I got separated from Prompto and suffered amnesia after we encountered a group of particularly strong Red Giants. Gutsco found me wandering and introduced me to Libertus. He looked out for me and always had my back as I helped the Kingsglaive restore power. When Prompto first found me in Lestallum I couldn't remember who he was, but Gutsco could tell by the way Prompto acted that we must have known each other before, and helped ensure Prompto didn't leave town again until I started getting my memories back. He stayed one of my best bros all through the Long Night after that.

[andywinter16]

WIP Wednesday! (or more of Thursday)

Hi everyone! (I am kinda back? Well, my medications are kicking right sooooo) Anyway thank you @blossom-adventures for tagging me, it was very kind of her and i truly appreciate it🌺🌺 Okay, this wip ...or part of it was prepared for NyxWeek, but .... well, thing turned out differently with me. Nevermind :/

I have also commissioned something special for all of you (and obviously for me too XD) And it´s also little treat for my birthday which would be actually soon 😅😅 (ehmmm, I kinda forgot about it 😅😅)

Okay, I am ending my rambling! Enjoy everyone and whoever wants to participate in WIP!

--

 The city was an iron jungle, quite different from their home back in Galahd. It was Bahamut´s claimed city, his “blessed” line of Lucis Caelum who ruled it. More likely cursed line with betrayal and misfortune, when the dragon snatched them off hands of lady Etro. But that happened  such long time ago, that only sparse knew about the real story of royal family.

--

He stalked near the them, his body crounched lower to ground. If the feline could smile, it would have a shit eating grin plastered on his face. A small detour for mischief never hurted anybody.

--

“But I am telling you,” blond with small scar across his nose, pointed at the drink”, this is the best one, you can get!”  The man with braids just nonchalantly waved his hand. “ Yura, you know really shit about drinks. I won´t drink it even if I was on my dead bed and this piss was supposed to heal me.” “Oh fuck off, Gutsco!”  both men started heatedly to argue about the drinks. Their other companios either laughed or rolled their eyes at their antics too used to the bickering. 

--

[hiddeneosbymrsflowerpot]

Gutsco in Hammerhead

Inside the garage at Hammerhead there is a a set of steps that bear the name "Gutsco". Comrades players may recognise this name as one of the AI characters who help you out on missions. It's also a throwback to a boss called Gutsco in Final Fantasy III. Video clip copyright Square Enix Co. Ltd.

[sideblog32-xv]

Gutsco is the actual best boi in Comrades, he deserves all love and appreciation, and no one can change my mind

[leorugiet]

Here’s Yura being the awesome top tier A.I. in all of FFXV: Comrades, distracting the daemon to keep us safe, while also attacking and doing the objective of keeping the truck safe.

And then there’s Gutsco.

Attacking a wall.

[roses-and-oceans]

Worst time.

A/N: Inspired by this prompt right here. I missed writing for the waitress au with @gladiolus-mamacitia 

Also, fuck that hunt in Comrades with the phantom, fuck dat ho. also i made someone else to take out our anger bc i love all the npcs in Comrades, i love them all

Also a bit of back story bc we tend to not cover these things in chronological order: Jiion and Val are helping with cause of bringing back light for the outposts. Theyre separated from Ignis and Gladio. Also Gutsco, from Comrades is best boy ok that is all i think lol

TW:Blood

**

Jiion gave Val a look and moved from the upturned box that she was sitting on. Val looked up at her distressed friend, puzzled at what got her so upset. But as soon as she glanced past her friend, next to a supply table, she pulled the same face but recovered into a stoic mask.

They liked to call him “Sour Milk”. It was going to be a long night… How unlucky to have him be in the same haven!

Val steadied herself and tried ignoring him as best as she could when he sat down next to her, “Aren’t you supposed to be setting a table? Get afternoon tea ready?”

Val rolled her eyes as she examined her machete by the firelight and said, “What do you want, Seor? Go away before I sic Behemoth on you.”

Seor chortled, “Like that fat mutt can chew through a bone,” and went to reach for her machete. She yanked it away, held it at an arms distance, and spat out, “Do you want to die before the sun comes back? I can make that happen.”

“Oh, I don’t your boyfriend’ll like that, you’re supposed to be a proper lady,” he mimicked, Ignis’ lilt and Val turned the blade onto him, her anger besting him.

“Screw him and fuck you, you-”

“Oi!”

Just then, the final member of the hunt, Gutsco strode up to the haven, “What’s this?”

Seor pushed the machete away from him as if he was swatting a fly away, “Just words amongst comrades in arms. Just fun.”

Jiion scoffed and shook her head, readying her crossbow, “Time to get on with the hunt, guys. The darkness’ll come over any minute.”

Gutsco nodded and said, “Alrighty, that’s more like it! Seor, you ready? Take up the front-.”

Gutsco waited for Val and Jiion to trail next to him, then he threw his arms up over their shoulders and brought the three of their heads together, “I know you both hate him, but we need him alive for this hunt. We need the man power.”

Jiion gave a long, suffering sigh, “No promises. My dog is twice the man he’ll ever be.”

“What’s your issue with him?”

“Cost us many hunts before,” Val said as Gutsco let them go. Jiion scoffed and fixed her jacket, “Also, he’s a shit shot, we’d almost gotten our heads blown off because of him.”

“Ah. Well, clear your heads, this one’s going to be tough, we’re fighting a phantom.”

“A WHAT?!” Both girls screeched. Val shuddered and said, “I knew I should have brought my cleansing kit.”

This, of course, was a huge mistake to send only four hunters, only two of them adept with magic.

As soon as they stepped onto the roof top of the abandoned fortress, the phantom loomed over them, huge and daunting. Jiion and Val froze to the spot; they both reached an arm out to Gutsco, who whispered, “We’re going to need to retreat, fall back and do not engage. Seor, repeat, do not engage.”

Val began to back track, hand on Seor’s jacket. He shrugged her off, “All we need is magic to beat this ghost down. Follow my lead, Witch and Glaive.”

Before Val could latch onto him, he brought out his guns, enchanted with Lighting magic. She lunged for him as the first shot rang out.

“I’ll distract it, you use your magic to-.”

A bright white cloud erupted around Seor and Val. She reached for him again but his coat disintegrated in her hands. She couldn’t see him anymore, she stuck her hands out in front of her to disperse the thick mist, to see if she could reach him before she could see him. A loud thunder clap roared next to her and she screamed and dove away. Flecks of lighting could be seen in the clouds and she tried to anticipate the next strike. Another thunderclap startled her and she scrambled out of the way. Another thunderclap threw her to the ground, and she felt a heaviness pierce her stomach he shoulder screamed at the contact of concrete. This was never going to stop, clouds and thunder were going to chase her, Ramuh’s judgment was upon her-.

A pair of nice dress shoes came into her line of vision, Black, red soles, a reptile print texture. A silver gloved hand appeared and as she looked farther up to look at her savior, she was greeted with a grisly, marred face. Ignis’ glasses were shattered and flecked with gore, his left eye shut by clotted blood. As she was pulled up, Val’s breathing became erratic. She began sobbing out apologizes, her breath quickened and stuck in her throat. Ignis pulled her forward and the cloud disappeared. Ignis was gone and he was replaced be Jiion. She was pulling at Val’s hand, dragging her, “Val, lets go! We have to go!”

Val’s ears were ringing and no matter how much she wiped, she couldn’t get the burning smell of ammonia out of her nose. She followed Jiion down the stairs, and focused on Gutsco’s back. Or at least, she tried to; Gutsco was having a really hard time trying to wrestle a still screaming Seor under a smelling salt. Jiion let go of Val really quickly to grapple Seor and help poor Gutsco. Val tried wiping her sticky tears from her cheeks but as soon as she even moved a finger, her left shoulder burned immensely. Her stomach felt warm and then the wound began to bloom with the intensity of a forest fire. Val stopped her breathing to still herself, to keep herself from swaying.

As Seor stilled and stopped from lashing, Jiion came back to Val and began leading her again. Val followed her for a few more steps, determined to push through ‘til they reached the camp. But she had to stop; her legs had started shaking.

Jiion gave her a tug, “Why are you stopping? We have to keep going! We’re almost at camp.”

“I, uh,” Val said, her voice shaking, “I’ve just realized I’ve been shot.”

Gutsco stopped; he winced when he saw her shoulder. Jiion pried Val’s jacket open. She gasped and began digging in her med pack, “Really?! Now? You have the worst timing!”

Val fell to her knees and held her hand over the pouring wound. She felt a strong pair of hands pull her up and as all the movement paused for a bit, she closed her eyes and lay her head on Gutsco’s shoulder. Despite his protests, Val was able to sleep quite easily.

**

“Darling, would you like some more tea?”

His voice was sweet and musical. It was the best sound Val heard in ages. “You should rest, Kitten. You had a long shift today.”

His warmth seeped through his crisp, clean clothing and his arms wrapped around her felt like absolute heaven.

“Val, stay with me, please-”

“Mm, my darling, you’re so soft. I’d hate to leave you like this but-.”

“Please don’t leave me, Ignis, not right now. Stay.”

“-don’t die on me-”

He settled back down and Val nestled herself into his sweet smelling chest. He smelled a little bit like roses but his clean clothes permeated through.

“Of course, nothing but the best for you, my lo-”

“Val, can you hear me-?”

But then he started getting up. Val started feeling cold and shivered.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“Val-”

Ignis was no longer in her arms. She felt empty.

“I’m… I don’t feel the same anymore. I am truly sorry-”

“Val, wake up-”

Val could see, through the small slits of her eyelids, a figure approaching from the light. He was smiling, looking down on her. He was no longer bloodied or scarred. His green eyes were pristine and it reminded her of the mint she used to grow on her balcony.

When her eyes fully opened the figure was gone, the light hit her full on. The pain came back again and she groaned.

Jiion’s worried face appeared and cast a shadow over Val, “Sweet Astrals, you’re alive.”

Val sighed. Jiion brought her forehead against her friends and she murmured, “Never scare me like that again. You barely made it.”

When Val didn’t respond, Jiion said playfully, “C'mon, I need you alive. Who else’ll help me if I need to sneak away from the boys.”

Val couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Her eyes were filled with tears and she rasped out, “I keep seeing him, Jii. I want him out of my head. I saw him while I was stuck in the mist, he pulled me out, I heard his voice. And, gods, it hurts so much.”

Jiion wiped Val’s tears away with a tissue and she reached over to hold her hand, “I pulled you out of the mist, Val, it was me. It Confused the hell out of you, and now, you’re safe. He’s not here, he won’t show up, I promise. You’re safe here with me and I won’t let go of you.”

“Thank you, Jii.”

Jiion kissed Val’s hand and wiped away more of her tears, “Get some rest. Are you hurting?”

Val nodded.

“I’ll ask to see if they can do something about it, hold on.”

Jiion got up and began walking away. A few seconds later, there was a large crash, with screams from Jiion, “YOU MOTHERFUCKER! YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT, I WILL FUCKING SLAUGHTER YOU AND YOUR ANCESTORS-”

Val almost bolted upright but was stopped by the wounds. She grit her teeth and slowly began to sit up to watch her best friend rip someone a new one.

Seor was pressed against the wall by Jiion and her machete. She was seething, “I swear by the Gods, you will not live to see tomorrow, I will kill you slowly, you shit-face, shit-shot-!”

“Enough!”

Cor Leonis came bounding and grabbed Jiion and pulled him offf, “That’s quite enough.”

He turned to look at Seor, who was positively shaking, “You’re prohibited from taking up hunts indefinitely, and you are demoted. If you cannot listen to instructions and limit liabilities on the field, then you are not fit for duty. You’re dismissed.”

Cor turned around and Val shrunk back. He walked over, “What are you doing? Lay back down.”

Cor and Jiion set Val back down on the table. Val was sweating from the exertion and she said, “I’m fine.”

Jiion glared at her, “I swear, you say that shit again, I’m going to kill you.”

“You’re tempting me.”

Jiion yanked at Val’s hair. Cor shook his head and crossed his arms, “Val, you’re toeing a thin line. Don’t make me bench you, too.”

“Alright, Alright… Can someone get me a painkiller?”

Before Cor walked away to grab a syringe, he set his hand on Val’s forehead. He gave the same almost-affectionate pat to Jiion, “You girls are going to be the cause of my early death.”

As Val felt the drugs hit her system, she inhaled the clean smell of the sheets. So close to the smell of him, but not quite.

[chocobostrinket]

I got some pretty bad ass pictures of Diaval while playing. Like, holy shit. Definitely might be writing something with her. PLUS LOOK AT HER IN HER UNIFORM. 

[tenebraetrash17]

I’m playing XV Comrades, and trying my best to beat Ardyn and Ravus, but I have made a few observations about their move sets that I think are interesting??

Ardyn:

He doesn’t use weapons unless he’s using his armiger.

He seems to be in a “Mage” role.

Still has that blasty move from his fight with Noctis.

Fire spells are everywhere

 but maybe that’s Gutsco.

His kicks are deadly and he got legs for days.

Ok, but here’s where I get all “LET’S THINK ABOUT THIS” for a second. 

The fact Ardyn seems to rely heavily on spells here is rather interesting to me. Especially considering that this patch came out before his dlc. Now, consider, in the past, Ardyn was said to be a kind and benevolent king, right? And a “sage” at that.

Well, on the Final Fantasy wiki, the job description goes as such:

The Sage (賢者, Kenja?) is a job class that has appeared in a number of games in the Final Fantasy series. The sage could be considered the ultimate Red Mage, being able to cast both Black and White Magic. However, the Sage is physically very weak with virtually no prowess with weapons. They also have low HP and speed and weak physical defenses as most mage-type classes do. Sometimes they have a lower MP total than a regular mage, but this is compensated by their ability to use any kind of magic from both schools unlike the regular Red Mage that has a limited pool.

Now, granted that Ardyn certainly doesn’t have low hp, and certainly couldn’t be considered weak, the fact remains that if you take his healer past, which would be categorized as White Magic, and his normal spells, which would seem to be Black Magic, if this holds to form, it’s quite possible that Ardyn is heavily reliant on spells and didn’t quite master the sword until later.

Another thing to note is that Ardyn doesn’t have a sword of his own, perhaps in the past he never needed one or simply couldn’t wield it?? Because if the above information is applied to the XV universe, than it’s quite possible little Ardyn was a dork who couldn’t use weapons. 

Meanwhile, his brother exists, wielding that big ass sword...all the more reason to add to the grudge because that smug ass bitch wouldn’t stop rubbing it in.

Perhaps Ardyn is why the shield of the king existed to begin with, because if their king couldn’t wield a thing...? How scary would that be?

Ravus:

I’ve only activated it once, but he has a strange move where he throws out his arms and light or something shoots out and damages you.

HE LEAPS UP HIGH BOIIIII

Still has that power of the storm surging through his blade.

Zantetsuken is one of his moves and it is terrifying.

I believe he has called down lightning once?? That or it was one of his annoying movesets that has it shoot out of the ground.

And time for me to talk about this too!! 

Ok, now, I have no idea what Ravus’ class would be, a part of me nearly classed him as a “Ravager” because lol Ravus the Ravager” because of the description being;

They specialize in elemental abilities, including physical attacks and magic spells.

Which seems to fit, given how he can’t go ten seconds without electrocuting me and his physical attacks are well versed. 

And it’s meaning has a French orgin as well, so it would be poetic to cast ‘Fleuret’ as such.

A ravager is a person who causes severe and extensive damage to, or is the destructive effects of something. From French ravage ("ravage, havoc, spoil").

However, the ravager role is meant to build chain gauges, and Ravus is not a team player.

I also nearly typed him as a Templar, given the combination of physical attack and magicks, and the weaker magick part would hold up, since Ravus probably has less of the Oracle powers in him. Also, the description would be well in describing Ravy.

Templars are knights who work close to their church, using a combination of physical weapons and magick. They tend to be stronger than other magic-using jobs, since they can equip heavy armor, but they also have weaker magick stats compared to other magic jobs.

However, that doesn’t seem to fit for me either, so I‘m on the fence with this one!

OK! Ramble is over, onto my “Let’s think about this!” thing!

The light move. 

THE LIGHT MOVE IS MAKING ME STRANGELY HYPED?? 

Ok, so hear me out, none of Ravus’ attacks are light colored, unless they’re his sword swipes, granted, this could just be lightning again, but a lighter purple, but what if it’s not??

Ravus is the blood of the Oracle, right? If he had a light based move in his arsenal which happened to be for offensive, would it be all that surprising? The animation I saw, (or at least, what I tried to see, I was dying) looked an awful lot like the healing animation used for “Healing Light” 

I have nothing to add to that, I just thought it was interesting.

Also, I do have a little thing with his Zantetsuken, I don’t know why but I find it interesting that Ravus is one, if not the only, character to have a physical attack from the other ff’s. 

I don’t know, this is just my rambling, take from it what you will! I was dying a lot to these two, still haven’t beaten them rip.

[noctswife]

I FINALLY GOT THE PIOUS'S SIGIL NOW I CAN GET GUTSCO TO FUCK OFF MY MISSIONS

[thatonedaydream]

Impression

A/N: Here it is, a FFXV Comrades themed reader-insert with my OC Ryden. Read it or don’t it’s whatever. This was fun to write though! Thanks in advanced for letting me indulge.

Summary: You meet a foul-mouthed glaive who seems to have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. You wonder if there’s more to her or if she’s as awful as everyone says.

It was meant to be a routine hunt. Just clearing out some monsters which had come a little too close to Old Lestallum. Some of the kids had spotted a lone saberclaw prowling around the outskirts, likely trying to scout for easy targets. Not long after they had reported the sighting, you and some other glaives had been called to take care of the problem.

You and two others had shown up at the meeting point one time. The last glaive was late. It wasn’t unheard of, but it was rare. The remaining glaives, including yourself, all took your duties to protect civilians seriously. People relied on you more than ever with a sunlight disappearing and an accelerated rate of daemons spawning.

“We should just go. It’s just a pack of saberclaws. It’ll be fine with just three of us.” Yura shrugged before tightening her gloves. Gutsco agreed and so you were outvoted before you could say anything. As Yura passed you she muttered under her breath something that sounded like, ‘knew that drunk wouldn’t show’.

You had worked with Yura and Gutsco a few times before, so you trusted their judgement to continue without your last teammate. Saberclaws were nothing to fear anyway.

Or so you thought.

While the three of you fought against the pack of saberclaws, a mix of sabertusks and goblins had snuck up on you and your team, converging quickly in a coordinated attack. It wasn’t long before Yura was out of energy, having warped around too much with her shuriken and was left trapped in a sticky situation. Gustco left you alone for a second to warp to her and send out a blast of magic to throw some sabertusks back, but it only took a second for the intelligent monsters to pick out who was alone and therefore easier prey.

Yura screamed out for you to turn around, though when you did you saw a saberclaw about to leap at you.

Suddenly there was a streak of light that crossed your vision. Someone had warped past and it had distracted the saberclaw enough to not attack you. Instead, it turned to investigate what had just appeared. You heard a grunt as someone slammed into the ground near you.

“Oh shit—fuck, I mistimed.” The mystery person—a woman—hissed in pain a little before stumbling to get up. “S’all good, let’s try that again.” You quickly noticed that her words were slurred and it seemed as though she was speaking mostly to herself while swaying slightly. Her clothes were dishevelled, the Kingsglaive coat she wore was fraying and torn at the end. Her pants and boots were scuffed. Even her dark shoulder-length hair looked a little tangled. A large shield on her arm finished her unkempt look.

“Come’n geddit, you fucks!” The woman clapped her hands and roared. An aura surrounded her, a glimmering and irresistible light to the monsters who quickly turned away from you, Yura and Gutsco.

With someone drawing the monsters’ attention, it didn’t take long for the three of you to finish the monsters off. You had never seen the shield-bearing Glaive before. Her fighting style was as reckless as it was ruthless—despite having a shield it didn’t seem like she cared much for being defensive.

When it was over, you noticed that Yura and Gutsco were quick to turn and head back to camp, not even offering the late-coming glaive a greeting. They didn’t seem to mind much, brushing it off with a shrug. “Whaaat? No thank you?” She made a rude gesture in their direction. “Not even a ‘fuck you very much’.”

You weren’t sure what to do, so you just quietly followed them. You also weren’t sure if they had noticed you or if they had decided to ignore you the same as your teammates had done to them. When you were close enough, you could smell the faint scent of alcohol—were they drunk? Was that why they fought so strangely? It was probably why their speech was slurred.

At camp, you could see your teammates already speaking with Monica and they were doing so animatedly. When they gestured in your direction you were surprised, but then you realised they were gesturing to the mystery glaive that had shown up. Monica’s expression was a cross between stern and concerned, but it quickly shifted to smile once everyone was together.  “I’m sure you’re all hungry. Why don’t I fix something for you to eat?”

The team dispersed to set up camp for the night while Monica prepared the meal. With the help of Yura and Gutsco, the three of your set up the tents fairly quickly, though you noticed the last one which was furthest away from camp was set up hastily. You hadn’t worked on it, so you went to double-check it wouldn’t collapse while someone was sleeping in it. While you were inside checking the setup, you heard sets of footsteps approaching. You stayed quiet but realised the conversation was probably one you weren’t meant to listen to.

“—We’ve talked about this, Ryden. You can’t keep doing this.” It was Monica. “I thought you had it under control.”

“I fuckin’ do, okay mum?” It was the foul-mouth mystery glaive. “I just—today.” The woman struggled with her words. There was pause like she had more to say, but couldn’t. “I—there was—Six, it’s just once.”

“Once?” Monica sighed and her shadow over the tent shifted. “You’ve done this before. You were late in meeting your team. They left without you!” The woman was doing her best not to raise her voice. “Ryden, you cannot—”

“I know what I can and cannot do.” Ryden hissed. “I fucking know. Would you have wanted me not to show up at all? They were in a pretty shit situation when I showed up. Did that stuck up little glaive tell you that?” She began to pace back and forth, clearly filled with a frustrated energy with nowhere for it to go.

The was a heavy silence before Monica responded. “No—no, she did not,” She was upset as well. It sounded like this was a conversation that they’ve had many times before. “But she did tell me that you showed up drunk. Again.” There was another pause. “If this happens once more, I will take you off the missions permanently. No one will trust you at this rate. You’re a liability, Ryden.”

Monica’s shadow quickly disappeared. After a quiet, angry yell from Ryden and a kick in the dirt, she disappeared as well. You waited a few minutes before sneakily exiting the tent. The tension made you anxious. You had never met Ryden before, but it definitely seemed like she was a problem for others in the past.

At dinner, you sat picking at your stew while your teammates quietly conversed. They seemed happier dismissing Ryden entirely. The woman sat at the far edge of the camp with her dinner, eating alone in the dim light instead of in the light of the main tent. Monica watched you as she cleaned the makeshift kitchen, seeing you glance over at the lone glaive more than once.

When you entered the kitchen area to clean up your dish, Monica intercepted you. “Can you give this to Ryden?” She held out a can of Ebony. “If she complains, ignore her. She knows how hard it’s been to get real coffee lately.”

You took the small can in hand and nodded, although you weren’t sure how to approach the stranger. You had never met her, would she be mad that you were encroaching on her when she might have wanted to be alone? Or maybe she was sitting aside as she knew she’d likely cause more trouble, so she removed herself from the social equation. Either way, you walked over to her and carefully called her name.

She sat at the edge of camp with her legs crossed over the cliff edge and arms bracing her body behind her. Ryden turned her head to see you standing nearby. “‘Sup?” You had expected her to turn away, but she kept you in her sight until you replied.

“Um, Monica asked me to bring you this.” You held out the can for her to see.

Ryden narrowed her eyes but accepted the drink. “Huh. Her way of saying we’re okay, I guess.” She waved a hand. “Thanks. I’m Ry, by the way—n’sorry you had to hear the argument earlier.” She had a smug grin on her face as you looked surprised and slightly guilty. “That was you in the tent, right? And not either of the other shit-stains?”

You tried not to flinch at the contempt Ryden seemed to hold for the other two. “It was me. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to listen in.”

The glaive scoffed and gestured for you to sit beside her by patting the ground. You did so, scooching forwards to have your legs dangling over the cliff, the same was Ryden. She gave you a lopsided smile. “Nah. You didn’t hear anything that was particularly secret.” She raised a hand, “If you’ve heard anything about a drunk glaive, rude glaive, foul-mouthed glaive, hobo glaive—” She counted the names on her fingers as she mentioned them. “Shit, I dunno—a glaive that’s generally a bad teammate—that’s this gal right here.”

You smiled nervously; mostly because you felt that maybe it was meant to be a joke, but one that was based on truth. “I’ve never heard of anyone mentioning someone like that, so I’m sure you’re not that bad.”

Ryden raised a brow. “You’re nice. Real nice. Or maybe you just hang with the right people.” She shrugged. “Or you’re lying to me.”

There was something in the way she said it that made you realise that you were looking at someone who was in very bad shape. Someone who was trying to do their best in their own personal bad circumstances, but their best wasn’t good enough for anyone around them. “I wouldn’t do that. I’ve only just met you.” You offered a smile. “Thanks for coming and helping us out earlier. Better late than never, right?”

An uncomfortable look crossed Ryden’s face and she turned away. “It’s fuckin’ weird being thanked. Stop.” A genuine smile appeared and she laughed. “N’don’t ever say to Monica ‘better late than never’—have you ever been told off by her for not being punctual? It’s the worst.”

You hadn’t ever been scolded by Monica, but you could believe it wouldn’t be very fun. You chatted with Ryden for awhile longer before you left to get some sleep; Ryden had opted to spend some more time alone before resting. While her first impressions weren’t great, you had enjoyed speaking with the glaive at length. She didn’t do a particularly good job earlier, but from what you could tell, she was passionate about protecting others. There just might have been some other problems that overshadowed that passion this time around.

In the morning as everyone was packing up to leave, you noticed that the camp was one tent down and Ryden was nowhere to be seen. Monica explained that she had likely gone ahead and left while everyone was still asleep. It was something she did a lot of the time—arriving alone and leaving alone.

“You should watch yourself around Ryden.” Yura had approached you with the offer of helping you pack up your tent, but it seemed like she also had an ulterior motive. “I mean—we’re adults and I’m not telling you to not be friends with her like some grade-schooler, but—just don’t get dragged down by her personal issues.”

“Is Ry really that bad? I didn’t feel like she was a particularly awful person.” And that was the truth. If she had problems, she was like everyone else. No one was perfect.

“You met her for like an hour.” Yura reasoned. “That is not enough for you to experience what Ryden is really like. I’ve been on a few missions with her and sometimes we waste more time looking after her sorry ass than anything else.” She zipped up the last of the bags and hauled them over her shoulder. “I’m just saying—you do not want that kind of burden in your life. Especially not while there are bigger things to worry about.” Yura left after saying her piece and you frowned as you watched her walk away. Her words were harsh, but they were reasonable enough not to be untruthful.

As you did one final check of the campsite, you noticed something lying in the area you had last seen Ryden. It was her dusty and frayed Kingsglaive coat, crumpled on the ground. Had she forgotten it or did she purposefully left it behind? Despite being crumpled and dirty, it was relatively in good shape. If it was re-hemmed and cleaned it would look as good as new.

You left the camp with the coat tucked in your pack.

★★★★★

It wasn’t until over a week later that you saw Ryden again. She looked different from when you had seen her last—sporting a pair of faded jeans, black crop top with a bomber jacket and the same scuffed and worn boots. Her hair was tied back into a loose bun instead of the unkempt mess you had seen it last time.

The woman seemed surprised to see you approach her. “‘Sup. It’s been awhile.” Still, it seemed like she was pleased. “What can I do for you?”

“Actually, I kind of have something to give to you.” You held out the bag in your hand.

Ryden was suspicious as she slowly took the bag and stuck her hand inside to pull the contents out. Her eyes widened as the garment unfurled. It was her Kingsglaive coat, looking almost brand new.

“I asked Iris to help me clean it up. It’s shorter because she had to cut the frayed parts off, but she promises it’ll still look good. If you don’t like the length, you can visit her and get it fixed to something you do like.” You had also wrestled with the scrub and steamer to get the stains out, but you didn’t want to tell Ryden how close you were to being defeated by some dirty piece of clothing.

Your smile faded as you saw Ryden’s melancholy expression. She held the coat tightly in her hands, so tightly you could see her knuckles turning white. 

You weren’t to know that she had left the coat behind on purpose, making the decision to quit being a glaive. After Monica’s reprimand, the other glaives had made harsh jokes about how she should have given up a long time ago.

She should have quit after it happened.

Ryden had been suspended from missions after the one where she had met you; a decision made by Monica after consulting with others. Suspended and closely observed by Monica and some others to make sure her behaviour didn’t spiral down into a place she couldn’t come back from. She was a talented glaive, but never the same after what had happened in the past.

Ryden had wanted to quit, so she had left her last piece of her Kingsglaive uniform behind. She had wanted to quit, but the week without missions was harder than fighting the temptation to drink her problems away. It was difficult to escape the conversations and whispers all around HQ of how things were getting tougher and glaives and hunters were needed more than ever. Ryden wanted to help—she had always wanted to help. She was willing to give her broken life for others, but she’d have to fix herself before she could properly serve again.

“Ry?” You quietly called out to her. Had you done the wrong thing by cleaning the coat and giving it back?

Suddenly the woman’s arms were around you in a tight, but brief hug. “Thank you.” You wouldn’t understand how much your considerate action meant, but maybe it was better that way for now. Ryden stepped back, shrugged off her bomber jacket and slipped into her Kingsglaive coat. While it was much shorter, it still looked official and the woman suddenly seemed—happier. “I’m gonna go see Mon.”

You could barely get out a goodbye before Ryden turned on her heel to look for the Crownsguard woman, but she turned back around, walking backwards. “Thanks again! I mean it.” The woman gave you a roguish grin before blowing you a kiss. “See ya ‘round sometime soon.”

Ryden disappeared around the corner before you could figure out an appropriate response. You smiled to yourself, feeling like you had helped her in some way. You weren’t sure why some other might have thought so badly of Ryden and you wouldn’t ever make light of whatever their experience of her was, but somehow you felt that giving the woman a chance wouldn’t be the wrong choice to make.

You would meet Ryden again in the future and somehow you felt excited at the prospect.

[a-pirate]

It's like all he ever does is get knocked down.

[sevenmothz]

comrades needs a manual camera like yesterday

this dumbass AI photographer ain’t getting any good pictues fffs

oh wait no they do

of fucKInG GUTSCO

[leorugiet]

my favorite part of ffxv: comrades that I totally forgot about: gutsco discourse.

[rottinguwu]

So far I’ve only used the AI’s and Yura is one of my favorites

[leorugiet]

nimblsouled replied to your post: my favorite part of ffxv: comrades that I totally...

GUTSCO WAS SO BAD,

NEVER FORGET

since we might jump back on the servers for march 6th update I just remembered.

I bet he’s still bad.