The morning sun beamed down on the resting duo. An odd scuttling sound reached Prompto's ears. Still half-asleep, he shifted a bit, dismissing the noise and huddling closer to the warm fur of the dragon. But then he heard it again, louder than before and with more scuttling sounds joining in. The blond finally forced his eyes open, being met with the beady, crimson eyes of a shieldshears. The boy yelped and jolted up, summoning his gun. There was a group of the large crabs surrounding the unconscious white beast.

"Uh, Mallow?" Prompto glanced back at the dragon, hoping she'd awaken. "We have a situation here."

Ryella remained unconscious, not even the sounds and presence of danger could bring her out of her sleep. The gunman quickly realized that he would need to protect her. After she had done so much to keep him safe, he would do his best to repay her. He took aim at the closest shieldshears, the one he came face-to-face with, and fired a few rounds at it. Unfortunately, the crab's hard shell made it nearly impervious to the bullets. The shots did little more than anger the creature. It snapped its pincers threateningly at the boy.

Prompto backed up, feeling the fur of the dragon behind him. "Oh, crap! Where are the guys when I need 'em?!"

The gunman wished that his friends would come swooping in at any moment to save the day. Though he wasn't the greatest fighter, Prompto could often handle small monsters and daemons on his own. But with enemies that were immune to his attacks, he was practically useless. Ryella's breathing suddenly picked up in her sleep. Her nose sniffed the air, picking up the scent of fresh meat. With her empty stomach begging for food, she was brought out of her deep slumber at last. Prompto watched her eyes snap open and her lips peel back in a snarl.

"Mallow," he uttered, smiling with relief that she had awoken.

Ryella slowly rose to her feet, her desire for food overriding the pain of her injuries. She flared her wings, letting out a roar that frightened the scavenging crustaceans. The shieldshears immediately began to flee in fear, but Ryella locked her gaze onto one and pounced on it before it could escape. She pinned it down under her claws, viciously biting into its outer shell and ripping it off, piece by piece. With her sharp teeth easily tearing off the crab's shell, it's soft insides were exposed. The dragon ravenously stripped the meat out, devouring it without hesitation.

Prompto's smile faded. He knew the beast was hungry and probably hadn't eaten in a day or two, but the creature he saw before him in that moment actually scared him. The way she didn't even acknowledge his presence, and tore into the shieldshears as if it were cooked to perfection by Ignis himself. It was like watching a pack of sabertusks slaughter a helpless anak calf. After picking off every bit of meat the crustacean had to offer, Ryella licked her lips, glancing around for any remaining shieldshears.

Prompto cautiously approached her from behind, wary of how she may react. He lightly placed a hand against her back leg. The dragon snapped her head around, growling. The boy swiftly backed up, holding his hands up defensively.

"Whoa, easy girl," he said. "I-it's just me."

Ryella ceased her growls and tilted her head at him, purring lightly. He could see the emotions return to her emerald eyes, the previous looks of a hostile monster completely erased. Ryella turned to face the blond, crouching down in front of him. She nudged him lightly with her nose, causing him to laugh and rub her snout.

"Glad you're back to normal. Thought you were turning feral on me." Ryella whined, feeling bad for scaring him. Her focus shifted down slightly, causing Prompto to follow her gaze down to the necklaces hanging around his neck. "Don't worry, I've still got 'em." The gunman took the opportunity to finally examine the trinkets. He read over the name on the tag. "Clement Risus. He a friend of yours?"

(By the way, the pronunciation of Risus is ree-zeus.)

Ryella hung her head down, sadly shifting her gaze to the ground. She grumbled lightly. Judging by her reaction, he assumed he was correct. But that raised the question---did she accompany a human before? The dog tag is a form of identification for a hunter, so clearly she had a connection to a human if she was presently carrying such an item. Prompto only assumed that he was no longer alive given the circumstances. He still had no idea about the pendant though. The dragon and fang symbol wasn't anything he'd ever seen before, and he assumed it held no meaning and was simply for show.

The boy's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He swiftly pulled it out of his pocket, seeing that it was Noctis again. Ryella stared in fascination at the device. She'd never had her own cellphone back in Tenebrae, there was never any need. It would only be another item to discard whenever she transformed.

"Hey, Noct," the blond cheerfully greeted over the phone.

"Prompto, we did our best to figure out where you are. Judging by your description, Iggy's been able to pinpoint your possible location. You said you're at a lake, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well then it sounds like you're at Loch Thriocess near Callatein's Plunge. We're at Burbost now, think you could meet us at the waterfall?"

"Sounds easy enough. We'll see ya there." He hung up, grinning happily. "Listen, Mallow, we gotta find a waterfall. That's where we can find the others." Prompto shielded his eyes from the sun and began scanning along the shoreline. "Now we just gotta find where that is."

Ryella looked in both directions as well. She couldn't see much. She carefully stood up on her hind legs, giving herself a better view. She could faintly pick up the sound of rushing water in the distance far off to her right. She gave a small bark at the blond, getting back down on all fours and nodding her head to the right.

"That way?" Prompto asked. "Okay, let's get going."

Ryella allowed the boy onto her back again and she began walking along the shore. She pushed past the pain in her side for the time being, knowing she'd be healed soon enough. Now that she had gotten some rest and a little something in her belly, she seemed to have more energy and could better tolerate the wounds. The sound of rushing water grew clearer the farther they went, even Prompto could clearly hear it at that point. With Ryella's brisk walking, they made it to the waterfall in no time. Standing at the edge, the two immediately spotted the other three males below.

"Prompto!" the prince shouted, waving his arm.

The gunman cheerfully waved and smiled to his friends, barely hearing Noctis over the waterfall. "Hey, guys!"

Ryella leaned over the edge, looking for a way down. Fortunately, there were numerous rocks that stuck out around the waterfall, forming platforms. Prompto held on tight as she jumped down onto a ledge. She swiftly hopped down to the base of the waterfall. On the opposite side as the boys, the dragon had to take one last leap across the river, landing on the other side in front of the group. Prompto quickly slid off the beast's back as his friends eagerly approached.

"Prompto," Noctis muttered with relief.

"Are you alright?" Ignis inquired.

The gunman nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's all thanks to Mallow here."

Ryella leaned down, nudging his arm with her nose. "Looks like you've made yourself a new friend," Gladio pointed out with a smile.

Prompto laughed, stroking the dragon's snout. "I guess you could say that, yeah."

"Let's return to the rest area," Ignis suggested. "We now have the necessary supplies to heal Mallow."

The group walked back along the dirt path. Prompto filled in his friends on everything that happened after he and the dragon fled from the angry zu, and soon enough, they made it to the stairs that led up to the road and the outpost. But upon reaching them, Ryella stopped. She looked up toward the road, knowing there would be people there. She couldn't just waltz into a rest area full of humans, she'd terrify them and possibly cause problems with her presence. The boys paused, realizing the beast wasn't following them. They stared at her questioningly.

"What's the matter, Mallow?" Prompto asked. "Don't you wanna get healed up?"

The dragon purred at him while refusing to budge. "Perhaps she's merely skittish around people," the advisor guessed.

The shield nodded in agreement. "Would make sense. She reacted coldly with us at first."

"She can wait for us here, then," the prince concluded. "We'll be right back with a potion."

"I'll stay with her," the gunman volunteered.

Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio left to fetch the medicine. Prompto suddenly remembered the necklaces he had held onto. He slipped them both off from around his neck and held them out to the beast.

"Here. Before I forget I have them."

Ryella held her hand out, palm up. Prompto placed the trinkets into her large hand. Her claws enclosed around them and she pressed them against her chest. Prompto smiled softly.

"Y'know, I've never been much of a people person either." Ryella gazed down at the blond. "Believe it or not, I can be pretty...awkward around others. When I was a kid, I didn't really have any friends either, not until those guys showed up anyway." He pointed his thumb back at the stairs where his friends had previously been. "And now I have you too. I never would've thought I'd befriend a dragon of all things. It's weird, I really feel like I'm talking to another person." Ryella's eyes widened ever so slightly. The boy lightly shook his head, still smiling. "Anyway, sorry for getting so real all of a sudden. I'm just really glad I met you and hope we'll continue being friends."

Ryella inwardly frowned. While she really was happy to have met Prompto and the other guys, the idea of hanging around them was out of the question. Every time she even considered it, Reynard and Clement flashed through her mind, and the heartache welled up from within her once more. She couldn't stand to stay with them for fear of reliving that same pain all over again. Not only that, Prompto reminded her too much of Clement, it was uncanny. She didn't want to form any sort of relationship with any of those four, she was too terrified to.

The other three came strolling back down the stairs. Noctis carried a potion in his hand, swiftly approaching the dragon. She watched him go to her left side, cracking the potion over her injury. The wound instantly mended itself and the healing effect traveled through the beast's body, healing her right wing as well.

"There we go," Noctis said. "Good as new."

Ryella circled around, examining her left side. It looked and felt as if the injury had never been there. She then paused, looking over her wing. She stretched it out, not feeling the slightest bit of pain. She could finally fly freely again. She gazed down at the four men who smiled up at her, relieved to see her so much better. Ryella knew that was her chance to leave. She had gotten the help she needed, and she no longer had any reason to remain there.

"Feels good, right?" Prompto said, taking a step toward the dragon. Ryella almost instantly backed away, causing the blond's joy to dissipate. "Mallow?"

With the tag and pendant in hand, Ryella twisted around, spread her wings, and took off into the sky. She was gone in an instant, leaving Prompto hurt at her sudden departure. He had hoped the dragon had felt the same connection he had, like they understood each other in a strange way. He had even opened up to her about himself in hopes of easing her nerves. But it seemed he was wrong in assuming she would consider him a friend.

Noctis noticed the look on his best friend's face and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't feel bad, she's back to living freely in the wild. We saved her life."

"Knowing we just rescued an endangered species is a reward in and of itself," Ignis chimed in.

"You can't expect her to just give up her independence for our sake," Gladio added. "She's a wild animal."

Prompto slowly nodded. "Yeah... I guess you're right... At least I have some pictures to remember her by."

Though he tried to convince himself and his friends that he was okay with that, there were so many questions he had that were left unanswered. Was she truly the last of her kind? How'd she become trapped on Ravatogh in the first place? What's the story behind lugging around a dog tag and a pendant? Why did she have fur instead of scales like other reptilian creatures? Dozens of questions were plaguing Prompto's mind. His curiosity to learn more about the beautiful white beast was overwhelming. But there was very little chance of him ever learning the truth behind the mysterious creature.