Ignis leapt from the portal, landing on his feet. He watched as the opening shrank and disappeared before his eyes. He straightened his jacket and looked around. He was in a lightly forested area. The trees scattered about had leaves ranging in color from green to reddish orange, and there was a shallow stream flowing from a small, cascading waterfall. The Misty Peaks certainly had beautiful scenery, but they weren't lacking in danger either.

"Well, this is problematic," Ignis said to himself. "Not only are we split up, but I don't recognize this place at all."

The splashing of water caught his ear. He was quick to dart behind some rocks, keeping quiet and stealthily watching. From out of a cave behind the waterfall a large lizard-like creature emerged. It was a pale green color with a spongy, yellow mane around its neck. The Royal Ludroth is a Leviathan class monster, and an alpha male normally followed by a harem of female Ludroths.

The Royal Ludroth appeared to be injured, covered in scratches and teeth marks. He whimpered and whined, limping as he dragged his tired body along. Ignis observed the creature from his hiding spot. What in the world is that? As outlandish as it sounds, I don't think I'm on Eos anymore. A load roar resonating from the cave interrupted his thoughts. To his horror, an even larger monster emerged, passing under the rushing water in pursuit of the Royal Ludroth.

"My word..." Ignis muttered under his breath, his eyes wide.

The larger monster was bipedal with a dark green hide. It had a long tail, and spiky protrusions covered its maw. The beast was known as a Deviljho, a highly aggressive Brute Wyvern. Because of their constant need to feed, Deviljho were capable of causing devastation to entire ecosystems.

"That creature...looks like a pickle."

The Deviljho swiftly caught up to its fleeing prey, clamping its powerful jaws on the Royal Ludroth's spongy neck. The smaller beast could only thrash and whine as he was captured by the Brute Wyvern and swung about like a chew toy until he could no longer fight. Once the Royal Ludroth was dead, the Deviljho began feeding on its kill, drooling the entire time. That's my cue to go, Ignis thought. Hopefully the others haven't run into any beasts like these.

~~~~~

Prompto shrieked as he fell face-first into burning hot sand. He sat up, coughing up sand and sticking his tongue out with disgust. Looking up, the portal that dropped him there was already gone. The gunman rose to his feet, dusting off his clothes and scanning his surroundings. All around him was nothing but sandy dunes and rocks. Plants and water were scarce, and the heat of the sun beat down on him. He was already wiping away sweat that was forming on his forehead. The Dunes were extremely hot during the day, but when night came around, the temperature would drastically drop.

"Aw, man!" he whined. "How did I get here? What is this place? Where is everyone?"

He hardly had time to think when he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, seeing several fish-like fins darting through the sand straight toward him. He had no idea what they were, and just barely scrambled out of the way as one of them shot right by him.

"What are these, some kinda sand fish?!"

He counted three of the creatures in total. To his dismay, the beasts didn't pass on through like he hoped, but instead, they circled around and swam toward him again. He summoned his gun and shot at them, managing to shoot a hole through one of their fins. The monster popped up out of the sand in response to the hit, flopping about like a fish out of water. The creature was a Cephalos, a type of Piscine Wyvern that thrives in hot, sandy environments. It was about the size of a person with a sandy-colored hide. Its wings and tail were built like the fins on a fish, giving them the ability to swim through sand.

While Prompto was gawking at the strange monster, the other two moved in to strike. One of the Cephalos leapt out of the sand, its teeth grazing the blond's arm, causing him to yelp. The one that he'd shot took the opportunity to burrow back into the sand. The third Cephalos moved in, rising up enough to clamp its jaws around Prompto's foot, making him fall on his butt. He was quick to shoot the monster in the face, causing it to release him with a whine of pain. Fortunately, the monster's teeth didn't pierce all the way through his boot, leaving him unharmed.

Prompto immediately jumped back onto his feet and took off running. "This place is insane! I wanna go home! Noct! Guys! Where are you?!"

The Cephalos gave chase, swimming after the boy. But with Prompto's frantic footsteps and screams of terror, another beast under the sand began to stir. The ground rumbled, forcing the Cephalos to scatter and flee. Prompto stopped, breathing heavily from the intense heat and the effort of running. A much larger creature burst forth from the sand in front of the gunman. He shielded his face from the sand flying in the air, hearing a low growl.

Once the dust settled, Prompto came face-to-face with a sand-colored beast with massive tusks and horns pointed right at him. The Diablos is a bipedal Flying Wyvern, but despite having a pair of wings, it rarely flies. With a clubbed tail and large horns used for charging, the Diablos was often the apex of any desert climate. Its sensitivity to sound allows it to easily track foes from underground. The Diablos is an herbivore, feeding on cacti that grow in dry, arid regions, but it has a very aggressive, territorial temperament befitting its appearance. The monster standing over Prompto raised its head, letting out a shrill, ear-splitting screech that forced the blond to cover his ears.

"Oh, crap! You've gotta be kidding me!"

~~~~~

Gladio immediately landed in cold snow. The portal behind him closed up, leaving him alone amidst a frozen, mountainous area. The light snowfall made him shiver and hug his arms. The Arctic Ridge was a frigid, barren place covered in snow. The base of the mountains only received light snow, which gave the flora a place to thrive for herbivores to feed. But in Gladio's location higher up on the mountains, there was nothing but rock, snow, and various caves covered in ice.

"What the hell is this place?" he questioned, his breath turning to fog in front of his face. "Why's it so damn cold?" He scanned his surroundings, sighing. "No sign of the others. Guess I better start by finding somewhere warm."

Right as he was about to get moving, a creature came tumbling down from the cliffside behind him. It was covered in white fur and had the body shape of an ape. It was a Blangonga, a Fanged Beast native to the Arctic Ridge. Known as the alpha male of a Blango pack, the Blangonga is distinguished by his larger size and his long fangs and whiskers. While normally very agile and aggressive toward hunters, this monster appeared to be injured as it dragged itself through the snow, bloody and beaten, pitiful whimpers erupting from his throat.

Gladio was preparing to fight if need be. But a loud, echoing roar reverberated across the mountains, halting him and the Blangonga. From the cliffside, an even larger monster came hurtling down, landing on top of the wounded beast below. The large monster was scaly and quite colorful considering the environment it was in. Although its front legs were wings, it moved on all fours. It was a Tigrex, a type of Flying Wyvern characterized by its large head and powerful jaws and limbs. A very adaptable creature, it can hunt in a variety of terrain for prey. It relies on brute strength to overpower enemies, and it boasts a powerful set of lungs that allow it to give loud, damaging roars.

The Tigrex locked its jaws onto the Blangonga's abdomen. The mammal monster whined, thrashing and trying to pry his attacker's jaws open to free himself. But the Tigrex was too strong to even budge, and easily lifted the Blangonga up, slamming him down into the snow and rock, finally killing him and digging into the fresh meal.

Gladio didn't hesitant in fleeing the scene. "Now I know I'm not on Eos. This place is a deathzone."

He'd lost sight of the Tigrex for the time being, but he certainly wasn't going to stick around in case it came looking for a snack. He needed to find shelter---somewhere safe from both the frigid cold and predators. He trudged through the snow until he finally caught sight of a cave opening. It wasn't the best place, but it would at least get him out of the weather. He gave a rough sigh, hoping his friends were safe at least.