A/N: This is a mash up of Final Fantasy 8 and Monster Hunter World. I'll try to explain bits of the Monster Hunter references as I go because I'm aware that I'm posting this in a Final Fantasy 8 domain, but if there are bits I miss and you feel require an explanation to make things make sense, please let me know and I will re-write that particular piece of the story.

On that note, I haven't explained what grimelkine or palicos are because I will do this later on, but if you want to know what they are right now I encourage you to google them, they're super cute :3

THIS IS A SEIFTIS!

Part 1.

Quistis cursed herself for being too optimistic and letting her guard down. She should have known that something like this would happen. Her whole life had been full of moments like this, elated triumph mixed with the cold slap of burgeoning responsibility, the crushing announcement from her betters that she wasn't quite done yet and hadn't really finished and that triumph she felt early was fated to be very short lived as they threatened to rip the rug out from underneath her with some other horrific task or chore. This time proved to be no different, although the sting seemed worse for the simple fact that her triumph on this occasion had been her escape from her old life of bowing and scraping and dancing to someone else's tune. She glowered across the desk at her one-time commander and the towering figure who smirked over his shoulder. For fuck sake.

"I expect to hear you both hailed as heroes." Her commander continued with his ineffectual pep-talk, "The new world is tough and we only send the best. You'll need your wits about you and all the skills you've picked up in the academy to survive, but most of all you'll need each other. I'm confident you will both thrive out there, so try hard, fight hard, and good hunting." She threw a salute, but the hunter at the commander's back only smirked. Fucking A. "Dismissed."

"So," The hunter spoke as they exited the commander's office, "You're this year's prodigy."

"And you're the prodigal son." She sniped back. His grin widened and he shrugged, the iron gunlance and shield on his back clunking together. He clearly wasn't bothered by his poor reputation. Again she cursed her bad fortune for being lumped together with someone so… insensitive. A couple of female cadets giggled and whispered to each other as they passed, glancing back at the hunter, who grinned roguishly at them. They went pink and bumped into each other as they tried to walk away, hips swinging excessively as they did.

Quistis snorted at them, tossed her head and began stalking off in the other direction, towards her quarters to gather her things. The hunter called out behind her as she left "See you on the boat then!"

She shook her head with a little growl of frustration and stomped a little quicker. Of all the shitty fucking luck - she had to be landed with him… Seifer Almasy; arsehole, womanizer, thrice-failed fleet candidate and the highest scoring hunter in this year's intake.

When she saw him again it was on the ship, pulling out of the harbour and her optimistic hope that they might have been able to leave without him were dashed. But, even worse than the fact that he had indeed made it aboard the ship, they were apparently supposed to share a cabin. The level of her disappointment grew to new heights when she let herself into her cabin, only to find him stretched out, topless on the other bunk, his gunlance and a pack propped up against the wall behind what ought to have been her bed. He looked up at her noise of disgust and smirked at her.

"Well hello beautiful, welcome to my kingdom."

"Fuck off, Almasy," She spat, kicking his pack out of the way and throwing hers down in its place. "This was my cabin first before you managed to shoehorn your way onto this expedition."

"Careful there, Trepe," He said, laying back on the bed with his hands behind his head, his anterior muscles rippling with the motion. "You're beginning to sound a little bitter."

"Oh ho, about what I wonder?" She snapped, throwing herself down on her own bunk. Then snarled at him when he chuckled. "Isn't there anywhere else you could be? Bullying some underclassmen? Flirting with the other handlers? Convincing the first mate not to throw you over board?"

"Oh, I was under the impression you wanted that honour for yourself." He said, grinning, eyes shut.

"Don't even tempt me." She grumbled back, rolling to face the wall and try to get some shut eye. It was going to be a very very long journey.

A month and a half later they coasted into port at Astera, the towering collection of ships, forges and grimelkine architecture clinging to the rocky face of a secluded cove on the shores of the new world and Quistis was first off the boat and onto dry land. Thank god. She was about to pull her hair out from frustration. They had, thankfully, managed to avoid each other for the majority of the trip. Seifer spend most of his free time on deck, either sparring with a couple of the other hunters, or helping the crew with whatever odd tasks they had to help him pass the time. He was quite good at climbing the rigging and was a dab hand with a mop and bucket. It was uncharacteristic, but gave Quistis some hope that he wasn't just a lazy layabout with a big cannonry sword apparently loaded with pure ego. For her part, Quistis spent most of her time in the cartographer's cabin, pouring over old maps drawn up by the previous fleets to visit the new world, familiarising herself with their layout as much as possible and flipping through some recorded reports of particularly grand hunts or memorable battles. There weren't many, but the more information she soaked up about their potential quarry the better. It was her job as a handler, after all, to know as much as possible about the situation she would be sending her hunter into… Though the idea that he might accidentally not come back one day and she could at last get a night's sleep without being pestered into the small hours of the morning about her rumoured crush on one of the underclassmen send a shiver of dark pleasure up her spine. Not that she would ever act on that impulse.

But all of that time locked up in an office full of old scrolls and maps and books did nothing to prepare her for the majesty of the real thing, the way the cold sea breeze turned to fresh, earthy tones and a vaguely feral hum that made her blood sing. Wow. That was quite the effect. It was like… an excited clawing feeling in the back of her head, making her feel restless, giving her a wanderlust she didn't have in the old world. She grinned. This felt good. Powerful.

An infernal clanking at her back announced the arrival of her partner and she turned to look at him. He was having the same kind of reaction as her apparently, sniffing the air and cracking his knuckles. He frowned and looked about, pupils constricted, green eyes looking sharp and waspish. She only hoped his restlessness didn't turn him into even more of an intolerable prick than the monotony of the voyage had.

A little ginger and white Palico bounded up to the disembarking hunt pairs and beckoned them to follow. It lead them through what could only be described as a marketplace, past the forward command centre - a long table surrounded by chairs and a group of bickered armoured monoliths - up a small flight of stairs and into the sawn off prow of a longboat. This was the entrance to their new quarters apparently, the 'doorway' being covered with an old discoloured sail. The space opened up after a few meters to be about 12 foot wide by some 30 foot long and was lined on both sides with hammocks and some trunks. The 6th fleet poured into the space and began eagerly selecting their bunks, handlers and hunters generally choosing beds alongside each other. Palicos padded around under the hammocks, testing out what was intended as their bedding, and then settling themselves down in the soft blankets and wicker baskets that lay beneath the hunter's hammocks.

Seifer didn't have a palico, oddly, so his cat-bed was picked up and tossed aside to make room for his shield and gunlance, which were dropped unceremoniously on the floor. She commented on it before she could stop herself.

"Bit careless, don't you think?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her, busily emptying his pack into the chest that was evidently put aside specifically for him. Spare clothes and extra lance ammunition as well as a few health potions tumbled out to lie in disarray in the chest.

"Nah, it won't be there for long, just need to empty this." He gave the pack one last shake, before slamming the lid of the chest shut and shouldering the empty, sagging pack. He regarded her, "you taking that lot with you?" He indicated her pack, which was still over her shoulder.

"Taking it with me?" She echoed, looking at the shoulder straps and then back at him. "Where?"

"Outside?"

"I don't think that's wise." She said, realising what he meant and folding her arms over her chest. "We're only just got here and we need to report to the commander first before heading off on our own."

He blew a raspberry at her and waved a hand dismissively at her apprehension. "Oh come on, Trepe, you can't tell me you aren't itching to get out there and explore."

"No, I am itching to get out there and explore," She said, growing annoyed as he gave her a sceptical look, "But equally I'm in no great hurry to get ourselves killed, or send home again for not following proper procedure and reporting for duty!"

He rolled his eyes and scoffed at her, but folded his arms nevertheless and stood still. Accepting her rule as law. She took the opportunity to empty her pack into her own trunk next to his and picked up her log book. By the time she had finished unpacking he was tapping his toe impatiently on the wooden floor and huffed a 'finally' when she at last turned around and indicated that she was ready. He picked his gunlance off the floor and shouldered it and his shield before leading the way moodily out of the room and out into the blazing sunshine.

The knawing feeling started back up in her veins as Quistis dragged Seifer over to the command centre and stopped in front of the table. They conversation they had arrived at sounded agitated - "That there is our forward position! We can't just abandon it!"

"I'm not saying we should 'abandon' it, but we have to think rationally on how to divide our resources while we're searching for-"

"What is there to think about?! Without that camp we won't have anywhere to even put our resources, so you can kiss goodbye to any ideas of looking for your mega-tronic whojimawhatsit altogether!"

"Friends, friends! We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves, we should be focussing on what is really important and that is the search for the Mitronexica Honoumetorius."

"Yes, I understand that, thank you, Professor, but what I'm saying is that it will be impossible to track the damn thing down if we don't have a forward base of operations and the forest camp was in the perfect position to serve as just that before it was destroyed! It is in our best interests - for our continued survival here in the New World, and for your search for your confounded rat-fish - to go out there and re-secure that position!"

"Thank you, General, we all understand how important the forest camp is - but we simply don't have the manpower to go out there and take it back. The last report was that it had been razed to the ground after the initial attack. We need to tread carefully and at the very least find out what attacked it and whether this is something that we can take down easily, or if it's something that will need more time."

"Then I'll rally a team and-"

"We don't have any available man power."

"What do you mean we don't have any man power?! A whole fresh fleet just weighed anchor less than half an hour ago! Astera is practically crawling with fresh recruits begging to get their feet wet!"

"Untried and untested recruits who need to be properly assessed before they're sent out on what could be hell's own mission. Like I said, we need to tread carefully."

"We'll be 'treading carefully' until we're all grey in the beard at the rate we're going!" The speaker thumped a weathered fist on the table. "We need to act now!"

"We'll go."

All heads turned to look at Seifer, including Quistis, who just stared at him and swallowed thickly. We.. will?

"Who are you?" Asked the most agitated of all the commanders. He was dressed in thick leather, faded from the sun and criss-crossed in old battle scars. A couple of medals hung from his breast and marked him as the General. General Caraway to be precise. He had a reputation in the old world for being bad tempered and unforgiving, an old goat with a vast and illustrious history for killing the biggest and baddest monsters there was to offer. At least, that was before he got old and an ill-advised foray into the wastes to vanquish an elder dragon saw him with a broken hip and an 8 month road to recovery. Still, he had been successful, and added another monster tooth to the gory trophy necklace that bristled on his collar. He narrowed his eyes at Seifer as his eyes travelled the length of his body, sniffing in distaste at the bulk of untested muscle and the angry red line that traced between the young hunter's eyes.

"Seifer Almasy," He introduced himself, having the good sense enough to bow his head respectfully to the General as he did. "Hunter, 6th Fleet."

Hiding her nerves behind a confident bow of her head Quistis followed suit. "Quistis Trepe, Handler, 6th Fleet."

"Ah, Quistis Trepe." The Professor, a short, withered little thing with long grey hair pulled into a tight bun and big owlish glasses on sat up straighter at the table, regarding Quistis with interest. "We've heard a lot about you from the academy. Top of your class they say, a veritable genius and gifted in alchemy I'm given to understand."

Quistis nodded. She knew she was good and was used to having a reputation for excellence, but to think that it had even reached the new world ahead of her… Daunting.

The Professor looked like she was thinking and the rest of the table copied her, rubbing their chins and exchanging calculating glances. Even General Caraway was looking at them both in a slightly less disapproving manner. She shuffled her feet out of nervous habit, but Seifer was confident beside her and met the heavy gazes of the commanders head on. He was clearly used to Quistis' reputation as well. After some time of chin scratching and beard stroking the Professor spoke up.

"I say we should let them go."

"But they're children!" General Caraway growled. "They can't go on their own. Someone with experience should go with them!"

"But you were saying yourself a moment ago that we should be sending out the new recruits," The Professor countered, fixing the General with a stoney glare that shelved whatever retorts he had on the tip of his tongue. "We have two able-bodied volunteers right here under our noses, why not let them test their mettle? And anyway, it's not like we're asking them to restore the forest camp to its former glory, we only need them to attend the site, look around, gather evidence to bring back to Astera and let the research commission determine the nature of the perpetrator. And," She cast an eye over the two young recruits who were listening with baited breath, "If they manage to pull it off without bungling the whole thing, maybe they can sink their teeth into something a little bigger next time."

Seifer smirked. Something a little bigger sounded quite a lot like something a little more dangerous and he liked the sound of that. Worried that he might get carried away with the glory vision, Quistis stepped forward to try and keep things on the straight and narrow.

"So, our assignment would be to attend the ruined forest camp, scout around the immediate vicinity for signs of disturbance or tracks, collect biological evidence for assessment by the research commission and return to base camp with our findings and await further orders."

"Correct."

"May we ask about the completion reward for this assignment?"

"How does 'you keep whatever supplies you find in the field' sound?"

"Thank you, we would also like access to the forge if that's acceptable."

"It can be arranged."

"And better living quarters."

"...We will consider it."

"And permission to take on individual monster contracts in the ancient forest."

"If you survive your first expedition… Then we can discuss monster contracts."

Quistis made a show of considering the conditions, although almost all of what she had suggested had been accepted and only the less convenient demands had been stymied. But they had not been rejected outright and all it would take was a little scouting mission to prove their worth… She turned back to the Professor and nodded. "Then we would like to accept the assignment."

The Professor smiled, her ancient face wrinkling into something more akin to an overripe peach than a face. Her eyes almost disappeared completely. She turned to the rest of the table. "Any objections?"

There was a hum around the table as all present shook their heads, including General Caraway, who was leaning over the table with both hands splayed out. When the note of approval had finished its path, he beckoned the two young recruits over to the table proper. A large map was laid out and was adorned with a number of small wooden figurines, some denoting research camps, others points of interest, ore mines and known monster nests and the like. A round red pebble sat over a dense collection of trees.

"This is the forest camp." The General said. Seifer and Quistis nodded. "You've got monster nests here and here and there's a Rathalos nesting on the peak over here. Normally it isn't any trouble for the forest camp because of the dense foliage, but be on your guard. We don't know what's been destroying our camps, so you need to keep a look out, especially on the climb up there." He looked at Quistis, "I don't care how good a record you have in the academy, this is the real world, not a scientifically controlled test environment. You," he pointed a finger at her, "Are not to go into that camp. Leave that to your hunter. I want you on the safe side of that line," He stabbed a finger at the map, where a contour line indicated the brow of a hill. "Find somewhere safe and hunker down." Then he fixed them both with equally steely looks. "This isn't a death or glory mission, understand? Under no circumstances are you to engage whatever you find out there. If you find something aggressive, you pack your bags and high tail it out of there. Your reports are no good to me if you're dead. Understand?"

"Yessir." They chorused.

"Good," He grumbled, then waved a massive hand at them, "Then get out there and stop wasting time." Seifer and Quistis nodded, eyes focused, and turned to leave, but the General's gruff voice called them back a moment, "Oh, and Hunters?" They looked at him. "Welcome to Astera."

A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this, I hope it shows.

As per usual, please leave a review and tell me what you thought!

-Lapin