Hey there! Silent Celica here! Big thanks to everyone who has read the story and enjoyed it so far, this chapter (included with the trailers) makes it the one year anniversary of uploading NITE! There's way more to come and I hope you all like it as much as the first year!

"Cobalt, just how much money do your parents have?" Tawney asked in disbelief as he unlocked the door and opened it slowly, peeking inside at the old musky living room. His parents had bought a cabin back several years ago in the northern region of Vale but had only stayed in it once. The rest of Team CBLT entered in behind him as he jumped over the back of the couch and flopped onto it. The springs jabbed him in the back and the action kicked up dust, sending him into a coughing fit as he removed himself from the furniture. He pointed back towards the door, Lykos looking at him before looking where he pointed. A light switch, half of the cover was broken and the other half had the paint chipping off of it, revealing it to be a pale blue before it had been painted white.

Lykos flipped the switch but nothing happened and they all stared at Lykos. He shrugged, flipping the switch up and down repeatedly to no avail and Cobalt groaned as he made his way through the cabin.

"Cobalt!" Lykos called out.

"Relax! I'm just stepping out back to turn the power on. I forgot that dad told me we'd need to," Cobalt replied as a screen door slammed in the next room. Bái smiled as she looked around the barren room, the walls were authentic wood logs, and there was even a fireplace that appeared safe enough to use. She set down her bag and peered into the grate, opening it and stirring up the ash, causing the room to become even foggier. She grabbed one of the prods beside the hearth and poked around in the soot, feeling for any wood that might have been left behind, but unable to find any.

"Looks like we'll need wood," Bái told Lykos. He nodded and the power flickered on, something roaring to life in the cellar as the back door crashed close on its own again and Cobalt rejoined them giving them a thumbs up.

"We need a tour or not?" Cobalt asked.

"Where's the bathroom?" Tawney asked. Cobalt pointed towards the room he'd come out of.

"Outback behind the cabin," he told her. "Anyone else?" Bái raised her hand. "Yes?"

"Is there wood for the fireplace?" She asked him.

"It's at the bottom of the hill in the back here as well. Lykos and I will have to bring it in, but this fireplace is purely aesthetic. The noise that you all heard when I flipped the breaker was the furnace. Not a wood furnace mind you, just a standard heater." Cobalt smiled and rubbed his hands together. "Nobody wants the password for the Wi-Fi?" Lykos raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" He asked Cobalt.

"No, not really," Cobalt replied. "Rooms are upstairs. The shower is also upstairs."

"Wait, there's plumbing for the shower, but not the toilet?" Tawney asked.

"I try not to question things. You can always bathe in the lake if you'd prefer, I brought binoculars so we can make sure you're not attacked by any Grimm while you're over there," Cobalt informed her. She punched him in the gut and he groaned as he hit the floor. "The shower it is then."

"Anything else we should know pervert?" Tawney asked.

"I brought alcohol," Cobalt gasped. She grinned and pulled him to his feet.

"None of us are old enough to drink, the age limit is eighteen in Remnant, we're all only seventeen," Bái responded. Tawney laughed.

"It's just a little of the good stuff. No one needs to know. I might forgive him after all," Tawney replied.

"It's actually a lot of the…" Tawney socked him in the gut again, holding him up by the neck of his shirt. He nodded as he wheezed. "Yep… just a little." Tawney let go of him and he adjusted his clothes as he moved to the next room and Lykos followed. It was a small kitchen with a wood stove and some old rusted cast iron pots and skillets. "We could go get the firewood now." Lykos nodded.

"Fine by me," he replied.

"You ladies can get set up, Lykos and I will get the wood!" Cobalt called out.

"Is that a euphemism?" Tawney asked. Cobalt frowned and grumbled.

"No! We're getting logs for the fire!" He shouted back. He left the cabin through the back door with Lykos and they moved down the steep hill, Cobalt leading him to a pile of firewood and creating his clone to help with carrying it back up. "I have a question and I want you to hear me out before you get all pissed off like you normally do." Lykos shook his head and moved quickly up the hill.

"Cobalt…" He warned.

"Why won't you let you and Bái be a thing? It's clear that Bái wants it, what's holding you back?" Cobalt asked. Lykos stopped and the clone continued up the hill as Cobalt stopped behind his teammate.

"My father was an awful man who drank until he forgot his name on a regular basis. He'd come home plastered out of his mind, he'd spent every last dime he'd made that week on cheap booze and threw it back like water, it was a wonder that the man didn't die of alcohol poisoning, but I'm guessing his aura was his saving grace. When he'd come home he would demand that my mother make love to him. Sometimes she complied, but other times she wasn't in the mood or he was manhandling her. He'd rape her whenever she said no," Lykos spoke softly. He glared back at Cobalt. "I'm genetically predisposed to be an asshole, aren't I?"

"That's not who you are," Cobalt told Lykos. "You protect Bái better than anyone else in the school, you look at her the same way that she looks at you." Lykos exhaled loudly and headed back up the hill.

"Better safe than sorry," Lykos muttered. They placed the wood by the back door and headed back down, Lykos 'eager' to change the subject. "You and Tawney going to be a thing?"

"No. She's not interested in the least and if nothing else it just feeds into my fantasies. She knows that I'm just a horny SOB. Although if she ever agreed to it, I feel like I'd be hard pressed to say no," Cobalt explained. "At the same time, I don't want things to be awkward between us. I like when we egg each other on and don't get along, I feel like that's the way that things should be between us." Lykos smirked and nodded.

"If you say so," Lykos replied. He grabbed another pile and resumed his course as the gears slowly shifted in Cobalt's head.

"Wait, you normally don't care? Did she say something?! Did she say that she was interested?!" Cobalt pried. Lykos shrugged and grinned.

"I can't say really…" Lykos was cut off.

"So she did! I won't say that you said anything! Maybe I can get my happy ending, after all, no pun intended. I'll just act like a real gentleman and I should have no issue getting the Tawney ending," Cobalt rambled.

"Did you just compare her to a dating sim?" Lykos asked.

"I am a very lonely guy, okay?" Cobalt shouted.

"Stop yelling!" Tawney called from upstairs. Cobalt gritted his teeth and glanced up at her in the window.

"Sorry!" He answered. She looked at him for a long moment before closing the window and going back inside. He looked at Lykos. "How was that?"

"I think you noticed her, senpai," Lykos offered sarcastically. Cobalt furrowed his brow.

"Okay, okay! But listen, okay?!" Tawney exclaimed as she clutched her beer and swung it around in an animated manner. The fire crackled and they all laughed as Lykos sat beside Bái on the floor, as Cobalt and Tawney shared the couch. Tawney shushed them and looked at Cobalt hard for a moment. "And I know what you're going to say and trust me pal, it would take way more than one beer from the Vale distillery to make me feel even the slightest bit drunk, okay? But anyways, I was at the height of my career in Mistral, every underground fight club knew that I was The Maniac and that I was at the top of the food chain, despite the fact that I was only sixteen. It was amazing!

No one could beat me in a one on one and that's why I decided to come to Beacon when things took a turn for the worse. They placed bets on us constantly, gambling was just as important as fighting, but I took pride in being number one more than anything else. A man came to me and said that they wanted to me throw my next fight but I refused. A friend gave me advice about leaving the city after my match that night, but I didn't get the chance. Four men attacked me in an alleyway afterward and left me for dead. That's where Sterling Stratford found me as he was walking the city with the police the next day as they were going over a crime report for the last month. He rushed me to the hospital and upon being discharged I was escorted to Beacon by the Mistrali Military and told that Stratford had recommended me to the school. I don't think I can thank him enough to be honest."

"Who is this Stratford guy?" Lykos asked.

"Runs the military and is the Remnant Peace Council representative for Mistral," Tawney explained. There was a pause before Tawney smirked and took another swig of her brew. "Alright, who is next? Someone has to have a great story, right?" She pointed at Cobalt. "What about you captain? There has to be more to you than meets the eye, right?"

"Not really," Cobalt explained. "Sometimes I wish that I had a cool backstory like all of you do, but my family was really pretty normal."

"Nothing wrong with normal," Bái told him. He chuckled.

"Yeah, I know, but superheroes don't have normal backstories, they have a tragedy like all of you," Cobalt said. Tawney shook her head.

"You must want to be a hero pretty bad that you'd rather have tragedy than normalcy," she declared. "You're our leader, aren't you? You top us in brains, and you helped Bái with her outbursts. I'd say you're pretty heroic the way you are Thenard." He smirked.

"Thanks," he replied. Lykos shifted and reached around the hearth, grappling a log and placing it into the fire, Bái pulling a blanket up over her shoulders.

"It's getting late," Lykos said.

"So, it's not like we have to be anywhere for the next week," Bái teased yawning. Lykos shook his head.

"You're getting tired," Lykos told her.

"I'm not sleepy," Bái answered. She leaned her head against Lykos' shoulder and made herself comfortable as her eyes tried to stay open. "Not sleepy at all."

"I have a story if you can stay awake for it," Cobalt told her. Bái sat up and her eyes became wide.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It's the legend of the Migoi," Cobalt told her. Her eyes filled with wonder. Tawney took another drink and watched him, wondering what he was up to. "Legend has it that the Migoi Grimm can be found in this very area of Vale, though he's much harder to spot in the winter and extremely dangerous. He's as large as a Beringel, but with more fur and it's adapted to the snow. His fur is white, with black bone plating on his shoulders, knees, chest, and face. It has large sharp fangs and screeches when it sees something that it wants to attack."

"Wow…" Bái gasped stupefied.

"There's no such thing as a white Grimm," Tawney replied.

"Why not? Older Grimm evolve as they see the need," Cobalt offered.

"I'm with Tawney on this one," Lykos said. Cobalt shrugged.

"Alright, don't say that I didn't warn you. Let's get to bed though, Lykos is right, it's getting late," Cobalt told them. Bái stood, stretching and yawning, climbing up the stairs with Lykos behind her.

"Goodnight!" Bái yawned.

"Goodnight!" Tawney called back smiling. Cobalt took her bottle from her and took it to the kitchen before returning and sitting on the couch.

"You need anything else?" He asked her. She smiled and chuckled, shaking her head.

"No." She answered softly. "You just seem different." They sat in silence for a moment before Tawney stood.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No. You seem more personable," she told him. "I kind of like it." He smirked and nodded at her.

"Goodnight, Maniac," he told her. She smiled before heading up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Cobalt."

Cobalt drifted to sleep on the couch slowly, all of the rooms and beds had been taken upstairs and he was more than happy to accommodate the others. He spent at least half an hour on his scroll after Tawney had left, reading a message from his mom reminding him where the towels were in the cabin, and a message from Neela asking how they were doing. Neela was what a leader should look like. Cobalt had been struggling with that recently. He needed to be more of a leader. He checked social media once, nothing of interest to speak of, and checked his anime hub for any updates. He closed his eyes and his mind swept itself into slumber until the sound of someone coming down the stairs woke him up.

He hesitated, contemplating opening his eyes but deciding against it, more than likely one of the girls on their way through to the outhouse. His breathing remained steady, though it felt like the person was coming closer, he could hear them breathing until it seemed they were right on top of him… and then they were. They had straddled his lap and moved to his neck, kissing him gently and forcing him to wake up. This was a dream. It had to be, there was no other logical explanation and he decided to play along. He opened his eyes and found Tawney suckling gently at his neck. He chuckled.

"My being a gentleman turned you on, huh?" He asked. She nodded.

"Yes. I didn't want to admit it to myself at first, but after lying in bed restlessly for an hour, I knew I had to come back down," she replied breathily kissing him softly, but fervently. Her breath was hot on his skin, her breathing heavy as she climbed up him even further and kissed his lips full of passion and hunger. He returned the favor, their mouths exploring each others' as their tongues danced around, savoring the moment. Tawney pushed herself up off of him and removed her hoodie, revealing a decent rack that was held up by a lace push up bra. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?" He nodded. Normally his dreams never went this far.

"What made you want this so badly?" He asked as she slipped his shirt off of him and cast it away. She traced the middle of his chest with her finger until she reached his waistline.

"You've been different. You've been acting like a man, Cobalt. You bought me that CD I wanted, you've been treating me better, you and Lykos even went and got firewood for us. Plus you told Bái that story earlier when she didn't want to sleep yet," she told him. "There's a true leader in you yet…" She leaned down and moved to his ear. "Let me help draw it out of you."

"How do propose we do that?" He asked. She chuckled and blew lightly in his ear as she sat back up and reached back for her bra strap, Cobalt's self-awareness rushed to his body and his eyes became wide. What was happening? This wasn't a dream, Tawney was actually on his lap and she was stripping for him. He shifted as she slipped the straps off of her arms and held the bra in place with her left arm. "Tawney… Tawney wait!" She laughed.

"Soaking it all in?" She asked. Cobalt tried to slide back but she refused to move as she dropped her bra. Cobalt's heart pounded against his chest as he took in the sight of her breasts, his body still desperate to be frantic. "Like what you see? Don't just stare, they need to be handled."

"Shit… shit… shit…" He muttered under his breath. She leaned over him again, her breasts squished against his chest as she kissed him.

"Nervous?" She asked. He pushed her off and leapt up off of the couch. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"This isn't right!" He exclaimed. She picked up her bra off of the floor and put it back on, adjusting her boobs and looking around for her hoodie.

"We're kids Cobalt, it's what we do. We fuck each other like crazy and then act like it didn't happen the next day," she told him.

"Don't get me wrong, I want to, it's just…" He tried to explain but she cut him off.

"What?" She asked. "Just what?!"

"It feels wrong!" He exclaimed. She shook her head and laughed incredulously.

"I don't know what I was thinking. You're right Cobalt, let's just go back to being assholes to each other!" She yelled.

"Isn't it better that way?" He asked.

"I suppose it is, but you at least could have railed me good before we went back to being a couple of jackasses!" She shouted back.

"I don't want to ruin what we have!" He yelled. The light in the upstairs hallway was flipped on and Lykos appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Could you two quiet it…" Lykos stopped mid-sentence when he realized that Tawney was topless and left without a word. Tawney sighed and found her sweater, pulling it on and heading back up the stairs.

"You're kind of different, aren't you?" Tawney groaned as she made her way back up the stairs. Cobalt watched as she disappeared. He was okay with this result, right? With the exception of the lingering pain in his crotch… Cobalt sighed as he stepped out the back door.

"Goddammit!" He shouted. "No, yeah, she's right, there must be something wrong with me! I saw her tits! They were right there, they brushed against my skin, completely bare!" He flopped into the snow, the cold, white fluff cooling him off. "Grrrrrrrraw!" He seethed before leaping to his feet. "Okay! Cold, cold!" He was about to re-enter the cabin when he spotted something out in the woods and gingerly made his way towards it, his bare feet padding softly in the snow as he swiftly moved in. Something large was moving around, causing a stir in the forest and rustling around. Cobalt had a hard time making it out.

He strafed slowly to his right, never taking his eyes off of the mass as he moved in closer, hoping to get a better look. It turned towards him and he could make out the black bone plates and red eyes. A Migoi?! Cobalt had heard the story from his parents, but he didn't think that it was an actual Grimm! Cobalt slowly stepped back towards the cabin, stepping on a branch that broke and drew the attention of the beast. It let out a blood-curdling screech and Cobalt took off for the cabin, slipping and tumbling across the snow, Maybe he was dreaming! Maybe he was wrong about being awake earlier!

"Help!" Cobalt shouted out. "For the love of Oum!" Tawney threw open the window and spotted the Migoi, grabbing her weapons from her bag and rushing into the hall.

"Guys! We've got a problem!" She yelled as she leapt down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Bái asked. Lykos shrugged and leaned across her, turning the lamp on and sitting up.

"Well, either there's something going on outside, or Cobalt forgot condoms," Lykos told her. He slid out of bed and pulled on a shirt, grabbing up his whip and heading down the stairs with Bái behind him in her nightgown. "I swear if it's the latter, I'm going to beat someone to a pulp."

"Guys!" Cobalt yelled. Lykos heard Tawney open fire and he quickly moved out to the yard, spotting the Migoi and freezing.

"I thought that story was a myth!" Lykos yelled.

"So did I!" Cobalt replied rolling out of the way. Cobalt formed his clone and distracted the monster as snow and ice twisted around Bái, she covered herself in a partial ice armor, wielding a sword. "Bái, wall! Now!" Bái throw up an ice barrier between Cobalt and the monster as it swung down, denting the ice slightly. "Lykos, a distraction!" Lykos ran out towards Cobalt's clone, appearing to the Migoi as a Beowulf and staying just ahead of its attacks.

"I got it!" Tawney called out. Bái formed an ice slick which Tawney slid across, blasting the Grimm in both ankles as she glided between its legs. Lykos followed suit, persuading the Grimm to reach down for him and snagging a leg with his whip, meeting with Cobalt's clone as the two of them pulled the Migoi off of its feet.

"Bái!" Called out the clone.

"She's got this," Lykos reassured him. A large ice pike formed above the beast and slammed down into its chest, but only pierced the skin. "It's not dead yet!"

"I think we can remedy that," Tawney told them. She joined her weapons together and blasted apart Bái's ice wall, revealing the real Cobalt on the other side with his sword trained on the beast's head.

*PROBABILITY OF FATALITY… 100%*

Cobalt fired, the laser cleanly removing its head and the creature fading into smoke and being carried off into the night sky. They all looked at each other as Cobalt collapsed into the snow again.

"Well, that was fun," Cobalt groaned as his clone disappeared. "Let's try to avoid anymore Grimm the rest of our vacation, okay?"

"Sure," Lykos chuckled as he left with Bái. Tawney swatted him on the ass with her shotgun and he jumped slightly as he pushed himself up.

"Wanna try starting over from the couch?" Cobalt asked.

"Nope," she replied. He chuckled.

"Good."

It looks like Cobalt knows where his priorities lie (kind of). Next week, more of the Winter Break arc in Chapter 49: The Gift!

Another artist to add to the list! Nliast made us some chibi icons just in time for the one year anniversary of our first upload! Check them out over in my NITE folder on DeviantArt!

A big thank you to Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.

Until next week, stay classy!