An entire week has past since the fall of Insomnia. The group made it to the Duscae region after destroying the Norduscaean Blockade alongside Cor. After leaving the Leide region, Gladio desperately wanted to rendezvous with his younger sister, Iris, but they were quickly diverted away from Lestallum when Prompto begged Noctis to head to Wiz Chocobo Post to see the chocobos. The prince was eager to see the chocobos, but not as much as his best friend.

A few minutes passed and the Regalia pulled up to Wiz Chocobo Post. Prompto, who was jittery with excitement, scrambled out of the car. "Now this is what I'm talkin' about!"

"The kid's got it bad," Gladio commented as he stepped out of the car.

"There are worse vices, I suppose," Ignis said, shutting the door behind him.

Prompto bounded over to the pens with his camera in hand. While taking pictures of the yellow birds, he realized how frightened they were and had no idea why. He pushed aside the birds' strange behavior and walked over to an older gentleman as Noctis joined him. "'Scuse me. We'd like to ride the chocobos."

"The chocobos, huh?" Wiz hummed, glancing at the blonde. "I hate to break this to y'all, but we can't permit our birds to leave the post. Not while Deadeye's still about. He's an uncommonly ferocious behemoth that's taken to prowlin' these parts of late. His scent makes our birds nervous, an' to prevent accidents an' tragedies, we have no choice but to suspend rentals. But hold on, now-ain't you lads the hunters that've been makin' a mark? You reckon you could handle the likes of Deadeye? If you could bring the beast down, there'd be a reward in it for ya. But knowin' the danger, I wouldn't blame ya for sayin' no."

Noctis glances at the hunting poster and noticed the large sum of gil being offered to whoever slew the behemoth. He turned back to Wiz and crossed his arms with a confident smirk. "We'll do it."

Prompto blinked rapidly in shock. "We will?!"

"Yeah," Noctis replied. "We need the money, anyway."

The blonde jabbed his finger at the image of Deadeye. "That thing is huge! Do you really think we can kill it?"

"Only one way to find out."

Wiz nodded, respecting their decision. "I appreciate it, boys. Be careful out there. Deadeye ain't no joke."

Noctis and Prompto reconvened with Gladio and Ignis. The prince told them how he accepted the hunt for the behemoth and they didn't waste any time. They departed from the chocobo outpost on foot and headed to the Nebulawood in search of Deadeye.

As they crept closer to their destination, the sound of trees snapping in half and slamming into the ground caught their attention. The ground shook with each tree that was destroyed, but everything soon became quiet. A few seconds ticked by and the group was startled by a vicious growl coming from the Nebulawood. The group froze at the threatening sound.

"The hell?" Gladio murmured, brows furrowed together in confusion. Looking up, they witnessed more trees snap and collapse against the ground.

"Something's amiss," Ignis stated calmly.

The shield gestures for them to keep moving forward. "C'mon."

The royal retinue cautiously enters the Nebulawood, their eyes scanning over the numerous of trees lying on the ground. They step over the snapped trees and head deeper into the den in search of the behemoth. Eventually, they enter a clearing where they're met by a pack of voretooth fleeing from the other direction. Prompto gasped in shock at the sight. "Whoa! Look at 'em go!"

Continuing to make their way deeper into the Nebulawood, the area becomes blanketed with mist. They soon make their way to an abandoned stone structure with an opening large enough for them to pass through if they crouched. Noctis begins to lead the way in when they heard another menacing growl.

"Noct!" Gladio grabs the prince and gently pulls him back before stepping forward, turning back and holding out his hand to indicate he would be taking the lead. Crouching down, he entered the small space. The brute slowly and quietly makes his way forward a few feet, then turns back to motion for the others to follow. Halfway through the crawl space, Gladio heard a growl from close by and stopped. "Hold up!" Noctis, Prompto, and Ignis halt as they listened to the sinister sound.

The snarling continued as Deadeye comes into view through the holes in the structure. Prompto shudders at the sight of the behemoth and clamped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from whimpering. This was the first time he'd seen a behemoth and abhorred the close proximity. His cerulean eyes watched the creature closely as its nose wiggled, signifying it detected their presence. Due to its missing right eye, it was unable to see them.

Gladio looks at his friends, holds up a finger, closes his right eye, and taps it. ""Deadeye"-the name says it all." After a few more seconds of observing the massive animal, the shield motions for the others to follow him. "Let's move."

Prompto calmed his racing heart and evened out his breathing as he followed his friends further into the crawl space. Morosely, his calm demeanor shattered when the behemoth snapped its head in their direction.

The boys press themselves against the ground to avoid Deadeye's snout as it shoved it through one of the holes in the metal structure and into the narrow passageway. The boys remained silent as they froze. The behemoth's nose twitched again before releasing a thunderous roar. A few seconds pass and Deadeye gives up. It raises its head and roars again before retreating.

The four friends continue making their way through the passage and soon come to the exit. Gladio spotted it and quickly made his way out of the crawl space. "Here we go."

Proceeding forth, the royal retinue kept their focus on their target as they trekked through the Nebulawood. "It's weak on the right-no eye, no horn," Gladio stated.

"We'll stay in range until we can exploit its blind spot," Ignis replied.

Unconsciously, Prompto gripped at the bracelet wrapped around his right wrist. His fingers grazed the golden gemstone, wondering how (Y/n) would handle this situation. He was unaware of her true strength and wondered if she could handle the beast on her lonesome. Gradually, his mind was put at ease and his nervousness dissipated when all his thoughts were filled with the guardian.

While he knew she was always close by, he wanted her to walk by his side and not rest within the gold gemstone upon his bracelet. He wanted to talk to her like they did in Insomnia. Now, he was only able to see and talk to her whenever he could be alone and not fear one of his friends interrupting them.

Prompto unclasped the bracelet and gazed at his companions' backs. The past few days, he'd been pondering ways how to introduce them to (Y/n). Alas, he hated all his plans since he feared they would either react the opposite way he'd hope. In all honesty, the real reason he didn't tell them about (Y/n) is because he's selfish when it comes to her. His greatest fear was someone would take her away from him and he'd lose his one chance to confess his true feelings for her.

Due to his occupied mind, Prompto tripped over one of the snapped tree branches. Fortunately, Gladio caught the boy by the arm before he could kiss the ground. "Get your head out of the clouds or you're gonna lose it," the shield growled.

"Right..." The blonde muttered.

Continuing on, the boys crouch under a fallen tree blocking their path and proceeded forth. Before going much further, they come to a fence and jump over it. The four landed in a mist-filled clearing of the Nebulawood where Deadeye was prowling.

"We've got the beast in our sights," Gladio whispered, staring at the behemoth.

"But no plan of attack," Ignis added. "The behemoth should be headed back to its lair, where we can catch it fully off guard."

"Yeah, as long as we stay on guard ourselves," Noctis said.

Using their surroundings, the boys stalked after the large beast without being detected. Due to the mist, it was difficult for them to locate Deadeye at a distance and they had no choice but to follow on its heels.

Eventually, the royal retinue followed the behemoth to the ruins of a building. They stared at the remaining frame of the building as they hopped down a cliff side and land in Deadeye's den.

As they round the corner of the destroyed building, the behemoth is visible through the mist on a small cliff across the way. Ignis promptly grabs Noctis' hand and pulls him to the ground before he could be spotted by the beast. Gladio and Prompto join their huddle and discussed their strategy. Once they were all informed of the plan, they emerged from their hiding spot and faced off against Deadeye.

Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis summoned their weapons and attacked the beast, acting as a distraction and luring it towards a single oil drum. Once it was close enough, Noctis tossed a magic flask filled with fire at the oil drum, hitting it successfully. The drum exploded and the oil splashed on Deadeye as it ignited with flames. The beast howled in pain as it rampantly ran around and tried to extinguish the fire. When it neared another oil drum, Noctis didn't hesitate to throw another magic flask.

The process continued until there were no oil drums left. Deadeye managed to survive the flames and extinguish the fire from its body. The behemoth snarled, slobber dropping from its sharp fangs. Due to the previous attacks, the beast was consumed by anger and roared.

Noctis clicked his tongue in annoyance when seeing the behemoth was still standing. "Dammit..."

"This thing's still alive?!" Prompto shrieked. He aimed his pistol at Deadeye and pulled the trigger. The bullet left the chamber and pierced the beast's leg. Once the behemoth was no longer in pain, it set its sight on the blonde.

Ignis noticed where its attention was and shouted, "Prompto!"

The marksman glanced at the advisor for a split second before looking back at Deadeye. He stared into its one good eye and immediately regretted his decision to meet the beast's gaze. He took a few steps back while the others charged forward to attack it.

Deadeye leapt over Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis and charged at Prompto. The blonde stumbled backwards in a desperate attempt to run away, but he tripped over his own feet and fell on his back. His eyes widened in fear as Deadeye swiped its claws at him. Closing his eyes, he waited for the claws to pierce his flesh as he heard his friends shouting his name.

Suddenly, Prompto heard a low growl that didn't belong to Deadeye. Opening his eyes, the boy looked up and saw another creature looming over him.

Stunned, the blonde only could watch as the fox-like creature leapt onto Deadeye's back. It dug its sharp claws into the behemoth's back before sinking its fangs into the back of its neck. The larger beast tried to shake the fox off its back, but it only resulted in the fox to plunge its claws deeper into its flesh.

Deadeye jumped toward the ruins and slammed its back against the stony skeletal remains. The fox's body slammed into the stone with a cry of pain, but it quickly recovered before the behemoth could attack it. Leaping atop the cliff that overlooked the ruins, the black and white creature lowered its body to the ground as its multiple tails lashed outward in every direction. The white tips were consumed in bright flames as the fox bore its fangs at the behemoth. Using its tails, it created a large fireball and threw it at Deadeye.

The flaming projectile nailed the behemoth in the side, burning its flesh and knocking it to the ground. Seeing it was incapacitated, the fox leapt from its perch and landed on the beast's side. Like before, it bit into Deadeye's neck and ripped out its throat. Dismounting the beast, the golden-eyed fox tossed the flesh trapped between its teeth aside. Blood seeped from its mouth, but it slowly evaporated as Deadeye's body disintegrated into nothingness.

Once the behemoth was gone and left no trace behind, the fox set its sight on the boys. Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis gripped their weapons tightly and readied themselves to attack the creature. On the other hand, Prompto lowered his pistol as it vanished from his grasp. He stared into the fox's gold-slitted eyes and felt an all-too-familiar connection to it. He took a few steps toward it but froze when he noticed a shift in Noctis' position.

The blonde turned his gaze toward his best friend and his eyes widened when he saw the prince was about to perform a warp-strike. Running toward the raven-haired boy, the sharpshooter bellowed, "Noct, stop!" He reached Noctis before he could toss his engine blade and grabbed his arm.

The prince looked at Prompto in confusion. He was perplexed as to why he was stopping him. "What're you doing, Prompto?"

"It's okay, Noct," he replied, unwinding his fingers from around the prince's arm. Turning back to the fox, he took a few steps toward it. He slowly approached the beast, ignoring the protests from his companions. When the creature lowered its head and took a single step toward him, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

Prompto reached the fox and stood in front of it. He continued to gaze into its golden eyes as he lifted his hand up. The fox lowered its head further and allowed the boy to place his hand on top of its head. He stroked its fur, admiring the softness.

After a prolonged silence, Prompto spoke up. "So this is your true form, huh? Gotta admit, I'm really diggin' it!"

Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis dispelled their weapons when seeing how docile the beast became after slaughtering Deadeye. They were baffled as to why Prompto was talking to the fox in such a familiar manner.

"The hell's goin' on here?" Noctis grumbled as he approached his best friend and the creature.

The blonde continued to pet the top of the fox's head, his smile widening when it closed its eyes with what sounded almost like a purr of content. "Guess the cat's out of the bag," Prompto sighed. "Right, (Y/n)?"

"(Y/n)?" Gladio parroted the name, more confused than before.

"Well, you see... Um..." The sharpshooter was trying to explain who the fox was, but he wasn't sure how or where to begin. "This is harder than I thought it was gonna be..."

The creature opened its eyes, revealing its slitted pupils. It moves its head and nuzzled its wet, cold nose against the boy's chest to gain his attention. When it did, a nonthreatening growl emitted from its throat.

While Prompto heard the noise, he could already tell what the fox was trying to convey by looking into its eyes. He didn't need words to understand what the creature was trying to say due to the deep bond he'd developed with (Y/n) ever since they were toddlers. "Yeah, it'd definitely be easier if you explain."

The fox nodded its head before its body was consumed in a bright light. Once the blinding light vanished, a girl with (h/c) locks and golden eyes stood in the creature's spot. She smiled gently at Prompto, who smiled back. When turning her gaze toward Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis, she couldn't help but smirk faintly when realizing how tense and on-guard they were.

With Prompto by her side, she approached the boys and came to a halt a few feet away from them. Her eyes bounced between the trio, but they stopped on Ignis when she saw the shocked expression on his face. Noticing his emerald eyes weren't focused on her face, she followed his line of sight and saw he was staring at the golden gemstone embedded in her upper right arm. By his befuddled expression, she knew he had already connected the puzzle pieces. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. "This isn't how I imagined our first meeting, but it seems the explanation will be easier than I thought."