Chapter 8:

"She did what?"

Night gave coco a dumfounded look. "Yep, you heard me right."

"Did you even know she liked you?" she said placing her elbows on the cafeteria table.

He thought for a second. "Not really. I mean she's always liked flirting with me, but I thought that was just for show." She was still for a second then pushed forward her plate of stew bringing her head down hard a second later on the point it had be sitting.

"What?" He said poking her beret.

She looked up, an exasperated look on her face. "You really are useless with girls aren't you?"

"Hey you didn't realise either." He replied defensively.

She face palmed. "I'm a girl. I don't need to know when they like me. But you're a popular guy. You should know." He threw her a puzzled look. Her eyes widened. "All this time I thought you just weren't that interested in relationships. You actually didn't realise how many girls here like you did you."

"Wait you're telling me I'm actually desirable?" He said leaning in closer and brining his voice down to a whisper.

She stared at him her eyes wide. "Oh my god, of course you are. You're good looking, you have good dress sense, you're confident, you're strong, and you're intelligent. How could girls not like you?"

His confusion turned to disbelief. "Really?"

"Ok, you know what. I take back that last one. You are a total moron." She looked at her watch. "Wait weren't you supposed to be leaving for your mission at three?"

"Oh crap." He said seeing the clock behind her. He scrambled to his feet and grabbed a roll, dashing towards the doors. Coco watched him run out, chuckling to herself as she did.

Search and destroy.

Those words had always been strange to Night. He knew what they meant and what the mission class involved. But he had always believed that destroy was an unsuitable word.

But now... he could see now why it was used. This wasn't simply killing, it was pure destruction. All that surrounded him was fallen trees, kicked up dirt and dead Grimm.

The smell of blood filled his nostrils and all he felt was the contempt for himself, having caused it. And what made it worse was the fact that he was counting the dead he had slain. Why were he and Light competing? It was sick.

This was their first mission without the supervision of a qualified huntsman, and here they were acting like immature children.

They were in a forest on the outskirts of vale. It had become their job to eliminate all the Grimm in the area, and while it wasn't nice work it was going well. They had been out here for almost a day and the pressure was far less than they had been expecting.

A Beawolf threw itself at Silvia and she used one of her large hammers to smash the creature away. It transformed into a large assault rifle and she fired a burst into the chest of an ursa a short distance away. "I think that's all of the ones in this area."

"Seems to be." Said light, stepping on the chest of a fallen Ursa, and firing a revolver into its head. "That's 68. What you got Night?" Night looked over at him.

"72, which I think makes us even after adding last missions kills." Light smiled. He was enjoying this competition. Night was sure that he had something wrong with him. He always seemed to enjoy causing as much harm as possible to these creatures.

"Alright, How about we move on then?" He began walking. The others exchanged some glances and then followed him. They walked for almost an hour before finding anything else. During this time Amber and Silvia had been chatting. It was amazing how close they had become over the past two months. Night couldn't help but smile as he saw the two of them walking close to each other's sides, talking about the lessons they'd had the day before at the academy.

"Hey guys" the others turned to face him. ", it's getting late so we should probably set up camp." The girls agreed, and unsurprisingly Light argued this decision for neatly ten minutes before giving up and laying down against a nearby tree.

"Night san you get me some fire wood?" Said Amber, sitting on a large log. He gave her a smile and then zipped around the area, collecting an armful of small branches. He placed them a little in front of her. "Thanks." She said, touching a Sigel on her jacket and snapped her arm forward. The branches caught fire and she sat back enjoying the warmth they produced.

Silvia and Night sat down next to the fire. "Do we have any food or were you guys just as unprepared as me?" Night commented, warming his hands.

Silvia lay back and stretched. "Food supplies were supposed to be Lights job." She said, unzipping the front of her top. It was impressive how little she ever cared about showing skin in from of them.

"Well you guys know how unorganized I am." Light said from his tree trunk. "When was I ever going to get anything done?"

"well..." Amber cut in rummaging in her backpack. "I have something that will take out mind off it a little." She took a bottle of clear liquid out of it and threw it to Night. He looked at it.

Where others would have brought water, Amber had brought white rum. He started laughing. She laughed with him taking three similar bottles from her bag, then threw them to the other two and unscrewed the cap on her own. Silvia and Light cheered and started swigging from the bottles.

They spent a few hours laughing and joking. After a little while Night and Silvia picked up two branches from the fire and began fighting with them, sparks flying of them each time they collided.

Four hours later they eventually calmed down. By this point the sky was pitch black, and the woods around them were silent but for the chirping of crickets.

The fire had grown and the area was bathed in a warm orange light, and when a small dark creature crept out of the shadows towards it, it was even more noticeable. At first they didn't react to it and simply watched as this two foot tall, black furred bear cub ambled over and looked at the fire, the light reflecting off its white armoured head.

But then, as it sat down Night spoke. "Um... guys... what do we do?" He looked around at the three other still tipsy teenagers, to see nothing but confused faces. After a moment of staring Light collected himself.

He stood up and walked over to the Ursa cup. It took no notice of this action and continued to sit there looking at the flames. "We were given a mission." He said calmly, taking out one of his revolvers. "Whether it's a cub or not, we have to kill it."

Amber got up and stepped over to him taking his arm. "But it's not harming anyone. It's not even taking notice that we're here. Can't we just leave it alone?"

He looked at her coldly."Amber, give it a couple of years and this thing would tear your head off without a second thought." He said an edge to his voice. "We can't give it that chance."

He raised his weapon and she looked away screwing her eyes closed.

Suddenly there was a flash of red in front of him, across the clearing there was a thud as a shining jagged toothed katana embedded itself in a tree.

Light continued to stand there, looking down at the Ursa cub wearing a look of stunned surprise. The world had gone completely still, each of them not sure what to say, and then the Ursa picked itself up quickly and began backing away from the white clad boy standing above him.

At this moment the stillness was broken and Light fell back, a large red stain spreading across his chest, and across the clearing, a figure stepped forwards from the shadows. The Ursa ran to the side of the clearing and hid behind her, peeking its head out to observe the now standing trio of armed teenagers.

They watched the figure.

She was beautiful. Her slender body was bound in a dress of purple and black. Her arms covered by a set of white and black striped gloves that came to just above her elbows. Her legs were concealed by a matching pair of thigh length tights, and her face, as draped in shadows as it was, was pale skinned and pretty. But it was her eyes that Night most took notice of.

Most people wouldn't have seen them as anything more than an interesting mutation. Night wasn't most people, and he feared the emotion he saw in those eyes. The anger and sadness she held there. The hatred she displayed. But just as strongly, the kindness and the softness, and love.

And it was this love that scared him the most, because it wasn't love for himself, or his team, or any other humanoid being. It was for the Ursa she now stood in defence of. The Ursa Night knew she would readily give her life for.

Night had never been afraid of the people around him, but this woman, this small pretty girl. This girl scared him, because in those eyes of brown and purple, he saw her soul.