He hates them. He hates them all.
They're freaks of nature who look more like animals than humans, so he treats them how he thinks they should be treated. He insults them (stay away from me), he trips them (don't come any closer) and it's all he can do to hold back the righteous fury bubbling in his chest from spewing out (I am the monster; we are the monsters).
Walking through Beacon, Cardin sees a thin, lanky dog Faunus scurrying towards him with his eyes to the ground, ears flattened back, and he trips the nervous boy, sending him tumbling onto the stone cold pavement. Students around them turn to look but they stay far far away from the hulking boy and his latest victim. Cardin is bad news, he puts the T in terrible and everyone knows it. There's little to be gained and more to be lost when dealing with him. The leader of CRDL laughs breathlessly and kicks the boy in the ribs; the whimpers that escape his mouth sound like music to his ears (You see? You are nothing) and he is further emboldened by the fact that no one dares to stop them.
"Watch where you're going, freak." He snarls. (Never let your guard down)
"I-I'm so s-sorry..." The dog Faunus mumbles and pushes himself up, flinching when Cardin glares at him with so much malice that it makes his skin prickle. He laughs when the animal cowers under his gaze and stomps on his tail, the following yelp drawing pitiful stares and smirking glances. People watch them under the guise of wariness but the telltale curve of their upturned lips give away their thoughts.
As the Faunus scrambles away with his tail between his legs (run as far as you can) his partner, Russel Thrush, cackles at the sight of the fleeing back. The Mohawked boy nudges his side in glee. "They never learn, do they?" He tells Cardin with an amused glint in his (cruel) eyes and Cardin responds back with small grin of satisfaction. "Heh, damn straight." He says coolly, staring back at the students who watch him from the corner of their eyes.
"Disgusting animals, they really don't understand their place in this world, do they?"
(I'll make you see that you don't stand a chance against us, so know your place)
"Nicely said dude." Russel says, pumping his fist into the air. The conversation is cut short when the school bell chimes and then everyone is hurrying past them, the human wave scattered in places where the un-human walk alone. Cardin and his partner blend in perfectly with the crowd and none can tell the people from the monsters.
Or maybe it was because the people themselves were monsters?
He sees the girl with large rabbit ears during lunch.
People don't meet her gaze, walking past her like one walks past a potted plant or a dead carcass, and the look on her face tells Cardin that she is wholly used to being undermined and ignored. He steps towards her and yanks her from the flood of people, everyone giving them a wide berth when they see him stalking towards her like a predator after his prey.
The grip of his hands are enough to make her flinch in pain, and Velvet meets his eyes with fear written all over her face (eyes on me, eyes on me) and winces when he grabs her furry brown ear and pulls with all his strength. The resounding yelp quietens the lunchroom and everyone is looking at her and then him, and then their eyes stay on him because (I am the monster and you are the victim) they know what he does, what he can do, and they know he can (will) harm this not-human.
"What did I say about you being in the line of my sight, trash?" He growls and grip her ears even harder. He knows that the ears will bruise (I am (we are) the darkness which suffocates you) but no one is stopping him so he grips them anyway.
"P-Please..." Velvet lets out a small sob that makes him cringe in disgust. He towers over her, his hulking form casting a menacing shadow over the lunch room. The students whisper among themselves, saying that if one looked hard enough, they would see twisted horns sprouting from Cardin's temples. "Cheh. Pathetic." He spits and shoves her into the nearest chair. Hard. The boy turns away from her, fists clenched and mouth thinned, stalking away swiftly as he pretended not to hear the small sobs escaping from the shivering form of the rabbit Faunus.
As he speeds out of the lunchroom, Cardin throws one last look at her.
And he wishes.
(I wish you all would just stay away)
((Why do you torture yourselves?))
At night, he dreams the dreams of his past. Sinking into the days gone by, Cardin re-lives those moments.
The laughter of adults, echoing around him.
Five hulking men stand around one child and one beast.
(No please! Don't hurt him!)
Loud snickering, a child's voice screaming for help.
Knuckles bleeding, throat raw. There's something in his eyes. What is it?
The smell of dirt and metal and blood. The taste of fear dances on his tongue.
((A human protecting a Faunus? Come see this boys! Ain't the kid a riot?))
Spinning. His world is spinning. Spinning and crumbling. Crumbling and spinning.
The world stops moving.
The laughter dims and footsteps fade away.
(Hey…wake up. Why won't you wake up?)
((It's all my fault.))
A child is found next to a carcass.
No one helps him bring it to the graveyard.
The body is burned.
He never goes near another one again.
And he wakes up in cold sweat. Body shaking. Jaw quivering.
Yes. Cardin re-lives those moments. They never seem to leave him alone.
It's not surprising that they want to kill him.
Cardin stares at the group of masked teenagers standing before him. The white mask glints eerily under the moonlight but for some reason, it soothes him. At least he gets to see the fruits of his labor before he join the mass of dark in oblivion. He grins at the thought.
((Yes….humans cannot be trusted))
(The only way to escape from us is to exterminate us)
He recognizes some of them from their animal traits. They're the ones he goes after in beacon. What he sees is not a group of would-be murders, but instead, a mishmash of different Fauni who've learned. As their savior, he can't be any prouder as he already is.
The moon above them waxes and wanes. Now it's only him and them. The field they stand in is vast, stretching from one end to another; just a carpet of green and brown going on for miles and miles. Cardin can't think of a more perfect place to die.
He smiles at them. A genuine one.
A tall figure steps forward. Rabbit ears cast shadows on his face.
Cardin regards her coolly, eyes twinkling under the iridescent beams of silver.
He blinks.
Spinning. His world is spinning. Spinning and crumbling. Crumbling and spinning.
And then he dreams.
And in the world he dreams of, there are no people.
Just beasts.