Dragoncrest Cliffs Swept out of sight, rolling up on an ocean.

"Dacio," he responded carefully, but confidently. He was well-practiced with his own name now, and Portia often gushed over how clever he was! Scruffy tail swishing with pride between his darkened hocks, the ashen cub brightened considerably as Ephraim requested that he join in on his little adventure. "Ya!" Dacio chirped, excited to have a new buddy to accompany him rather than escort him back to his mother. "You come!"

Eager to get going, the boy was quick to resume following the trail. Eyes fixed to the slick path, he loped alongside it and soon closed the distance between himself and its creator. "Oooo," he wondered aloud, reaching out to boop the creature gently with his nose, "you shell-craw." He briefly blinked up at his companion for confirmation as their find retreated into the home it carried on its back, feeling it safe to assume that Ephraim had indeed been referring to this strange critter as a "shell-crawler".

They harassed the small creature for a time until Portia's call requested Dacio's returnand, with a fond farewell to Ephraim, he went padding back home to face his mother's frustration that he'd wandered too far.