Noctis watched as his surroundings shifted and changed around him. He could no longer see his friends anywhere and continued tumbling through the portal. The royal retinue had been on a simple daemon hunt when they stumbled upon a strange wormhole. Ignis hypothesized that it was some kind of "tear" in space-time, but how it got there, even he didn't know. Even though they had decided not to touch it and leave it be, the portal seemingly sucked them in and split them up. That left Noctis in quite the dilemma, scanning over the plethora of colors swirling around him.

"Ignis!" he called out. "Gladio! Prompto!"

He was suddenly dumped out into a lush forest. Looking back, the portal closed up behind him. He scanned his surroundings, not recognizing a single piece of the environment.

"What the-?" Noctis was starting to panic. "What is this place? Guys! Where are you?!"

He quieted and twisted around upon hearing vicious, beastly noises nearby. He cautiously moved around the trees, inching closer toward the sounds. He hid among some bushes when he caught sight of the source. There was a large, reptilian creature around the size of a garula. It looked to be an herbivore commonly known as an Aptonoth, although Noctis had certainly never seen anything like it before.

The Aptonoth appeared to be in quite a bind, grumbling and swinging its spiked tail around in defense. Several blue, bipedal carnivores surrounded it, along with one that was twice the size of the others. The Velociprey were pack hunters common in that area. The leader of the pack, the Velocidrome, was easily distinguished by his size and more prominent crest.

"What the hell are those things?" the prince mumbled under his breath, watching with fascination. "Am I even on Eos anymore?"

The Velocidrome made several bark-like calls to his pack, and at his command, two Velociprey leapt onto the Aptonoth, sinking their teeth into its back. With the opening they made, the leader moved in, clamping his jaws around the herbivore's neck and pushing it to the ground. Suffocating and bleeding out, the Aptonoth went still. The Velocidrome called over the rest of his pack to eat the freshly-caught meal. But before they had a chance to enjoy their catch, they all jerked their heads up toward the sky.

Noctis shifted a bit to follow their gazes. He immediately saw a large figure swooping down out of the sky. The Velocidrome and his pack scattered out of the way as a green-scaled monster landed over the dead Aptonoth, claiming it as its own. The Rathian, also known as the "Queen of the Land", was not a beast to be taken lightly. With her fiery breath and poison-coated tail spines, she was quite a formidable foe.

Noctis stared wide-eyed at all the never-before-seen creatures. The Rathian growled at the persistent Bird Wyverns that now surrounded her, refusing to give up their kill without a fight. The Velocidrome hissed and roared at the larger beast, and several Velociprey moved in closer behind their opponent, attempting to steal back their kill. But the Rathian took notice and swung her tail around, knocking away the small predators. She then gave a threatening roar at the leader, flames spurting from her throat. The Velocidrome fearfully called back his pack and fled the area.

The Rathian scanned her surroundings for anymore threats before digging into her prize. She placed one of her talons on the corpse as she tore off chunks of meat, hungrily devouring as much as she could. Noctis could no longer sit there and watch. He knew he needed to get away from there. This thing's no joke. I need to get outta here while it's distracted. I have to find the others. He carefully moved out from behind the bush and took slow, quiet steps as he proceeded to leave that area.

Unfortunately, all the foliage meant the grass-covered ground was littered with leaves and twigs. The prince ended up stepping on leaves that were far more crunchy than they appeared. He froze and snapped his head around only to see the Rathian staring straight back, her golden gaze locked onto him.

"Oh, crap!"

Noctis took off running, hoping the monster would leave him be. But an angry roar and thundering footsteps followed behind him. He didn't know where he was going, and he didn't know what to do. When he realized his attempt at fleeing wasn't an option, he skidded to a stop and summoned his sword, ready to stand and fight. The Rathian also stopped, growling, fire erupting from her jaws.

"Fine, you wanna go?! Bring it on!"

He warped straight to the beast's head, slashing his sword at her face only to find her thick hide nearly impenetrable for his blade. The Rathian snapped her jaws at him, but he was quick to phase out of the way. The monster then slung her tail around, but again, he phased out of the way. The Rathian switched things up by hovering in the air and doing a backflip, swiping her tail vertically at him. This time, Noctis didn't escape in time, and the Wyvern's tail spines slashed through his shirt and across his stomach.

Noctis fell back onto his butt, a familiar ailment taking over him. "P-poison?"

He could hardly move, the toxins spreading through his body, both weakening and seemingly choking him from the inside. Looking down at the light but bleeding gashes in his stomach, he definitely saw a thick, purple substance mixed in with the blood. He had no idea a monster could be so intelligent and unpredictable in its movements. He'd completely underestimated the creature. He sat there helplessly as the Rathian approached him, glaring down at him as if waiting for her poison to kill him.

Determined to not give up, Noctis was trying hard to think of a solution. But his thoughts were interrupted by a small, round object whizzing past his face. He squeezed his eyes shut as a blinding light erupted from the object. The Rathian whimpered and reeled back, in a daze from the bright light. Hearing the cry of a person, Noctis opened his eyes and turned his gaze up, seeing a figure jumping from a tree and toward the Rathian. It was a young woman clad in strange-looking armor and wielding two large blades in her hands. She had long, silver hair, and her eyes were a silvery-blue color to match.

The woman landed on the back of the Wyvern, driving both of her swords through the Rathian's tough scales, piercing her hide. A pained and alarmed roar erupted from the beast, and she frantically twisted and turned, trying to shake off the attacker. The hunter seemed to know what she was doing though. As soon as the Rathian paused to catch her breath, the woman yanked her blades free and leapt down, slicing her swords along the side of the monster's head, chipping scales and severing a chunk of horn. The Rathian whined in pain, watching the hunter that skillfully landed on her feet in front of Noctis.

The Rathian stepped back, growling. The hunter stood firmly, staring down the monster. The Wyvern flapped her wings, lifting off and retreating into the sky, no longer wanting to tussle with such a skilled opponent. With the monster gone, the hunter turned, sheathing her weapons on her back, and huffed in annoyance at the prince. She reached into her pouch, pulling out a bottle of purple liquid.

"That was reckless," she said, kneeling beside the black-haired male. "Don't you know to avoid the poisonous barbs on a Rathian's tail?" She practically shoved the bottle of mysterious liquid against his lips, forcing him to drink a little bit.

Noctis nearly choked on the strange-tasting substance, swiftly shoving it back. "Ugh, what the hell is that stuff?"

"An antidote. It'll cure the poison." The woman tucked the antidote back into her pouch, watching as the toxins within the gashes on his abdomen melted away. She then slipped out a bottle with a green liquid inside. "And this is a potion. Drink some and it'll heal your wounds."

Noctis was familiar with potions and antidotes, but certainly not any like those. Nevertheless, he took several gulps of the potion. His injuries mended on their own, and the rips in his shirt were the only evidence that he'd gotten hurt at all.

"Thanks," he breathed out, relieved as he rose to his feet. "Who are you? Where are we? What was that thing?"

The young woman stood proudly with her hands on her hips. "You can call me Aria, I'm a hunter." She glanced around her surroundings. "This place is known as the Verdant Hills. And that monster back there was a Rathian, a Flying Wyvern we see commonly in places like this." She looked over his appearance. "If you'd been wearing proper armor, her tail spines might not have pierced your clothing so easily. You're not from around here, are you?"

"Is it that obvious?" the prince joked, knowing his apparel probably looked out of place. "I'm Noctis, prince of Lucis."

"Lucis?" Aria echoed. "Never heard of it. And I've only ever heard of prince's in fairytales."

Noctis suddenly remembered the predicament he was in. "Hey, you haven't seen three other guys around here, have you? They'd be dressed kinda like me."

Aria shook her head. "I'd definitely remember if I had." She turned her head, looking over her shoulder upon hearing the rustling of bushes. "Come with me. It's not safe to talk here. There are monsters everywhere." She gestured for him to follow. "Let's go back to my camp, then we can discuss what's going on."