He did get in though, and thanks to his mind, he was made team leader of Team DFDL along with his partner Flora and his two teammates Dalia and Loquat. The team quickly bonded over their initiation with each of them being very open to Durian’s plans and suggestions but he was especially taken by Flora. There was something about her pearlescent skin, her blonde hair, her seafoam-green eyes, her voice, her her that made him feel something he hadn’t before. It wasn’t something he understood or knew, in the village there wasn’t anything like dating, there weren’t couples, there were only those who were life partners and those who weren’t. He didn’t know how to talk about that, especially not to her! So he didn’t.
Durian kept quiet about his feelings for his partner and admired from just outside of the frame, watching as she grew and won her fights and survived the school. He was… content like that. He wanted more but he was happy as he was just getting to watch someone who would become his best friend succeed over and over again.
Death is more than common in the world of hunters and huntresses and that seemed especially true for Durian. It was their first solo mission, no hunter shadowing them and no hunter to shadow. The task was simple, go and defend a village for a night, there wasn’t even a promised threat there had only been sightings of a grimm horde in the distance. Flora and Loquat were both close range fighters while Dalia was a long range fighter so the plan was simple. Durian, Flora, and Loquat would patrol the perimeter while Dalia took up position on top of one of the buildings to provide a bird’s eye view, Durian would travel with Loquat on one end while Flora would Trac one on the other as she was a far more accomplished fighter than either of them.
There wasn’t any cry of help or assistance that brought Durian and Loquat running to the opposite side of the village, only a single shot that rang out in the quiet desert night. As Durian ran, he looked up and saw Dalia’s rifle trained toward where Flora was supposed to be patrolling and as he rounded the corner with his breath in his throat, he saw her. Alive. At her feet was the body of a larger man with a single bullet hole in his skull. Durian let out the sigh he’d been holding but before he could even thank the gods another shot rang out, this time from the darkness of the night and eliciting a scream of pain from Dalia. As all three of the students whipped their heads up and around toward their teammate, there was another sound. A shorter one.
A gasp of breath cut short as if hitting a wall followed by a wet cough and groan. Durian whipped his head around and saw a spear jutting out of Flora’s stomach, piercing her aura. The next few moments were a blur and even if durian wanted to recall the events, he would be hard pressed to do so. There was fighting, screams, gunshots, yells for help. In the end, they somehow fought off the bandits. They left several dead or dying at their feet but by the time they were safe…
Durian looked down at the lifeless body of his teammate, his partner, the person he loved and something inside of him snapped. He didn't cry out, he didn't sob, he only collapsed down to the ground and began to lose his breath. He tried to take in air but nothing came, he gripped his chest as he felt an anchor of weight appear in his chest and he dug his hands into the sand. In the midst of his frantic breathing, he could feel it, feel them. Inside of him. He clenched his palms as a forced racked through his body and as he looked up to the sound of Loquat gasping, he saw her. He could see through her to the dark sand dunes beyond and she looked down at him, expressionless, with bright blue eyes that stood out against the light tan of the rest of her visage but he could tell it was her.
His grandmother stood there, not moving, not speaking, only looking at him with those unblinking eyes. Her form whisped and wavered in the desert wind but didn't disappear. He was a speechless as he stood up and collapsed into her, wrapping his arms around her and finally starting to let out his tears. She only stood there, unmoving. In that moment, something else clicked inside Durian and he could see them, each and every one of them.
Dozens of them, his fellow villagers, the bandits that laid dead at his feet, Flora. He could see part of them all inside of himself. In a moment of panic and confusion he laid down his hands onto Flora-- maybe if he could return it to her, maybe if he could could bring her back then this would all--
The form of his grandmother faded away and began to grow into place around Flora's body. The shimmering form of his grandmother, now fully in her own color, looked up to him and smiled. She wrapped her arms around him and let him scream into her, letting everything that had built since her final night out into the night air.
Eventually, morning came and the sandcrawler came to pick up the team. Durian was silent the entire way back even in the face of attempted comfort from Dalia and Loquat. He was silent as it dropped them off at Shade and he was silent as they all went to bed. In the morning, he told then he was staying in from classes today and to go without him. Once they were gone, he packed his things, collected his money, and he booked the first airship ticket to Vale.