Another chapter? So soon? Is this madness?! Nah, I just feel really bad for not updating in so long. Rest assured most of (if not all) my spare time is going into Fanfics in one way or another. I don't know when the updates will be done and I refuse to commit to a schedule, for fear of not being able to stick to it. Now then, let's do some questions:

Now then, questions!:

LazyLegionSpark: Wondering what parts will he play in this arc? Will he have a impact on things like Pyrrha match (Will it still happen) and the dance among other things. Is Cardin ever going to eventually become buddies with Jaune and sacrifice (Or approach death/near-death) himself for him? *Answer first half please if not terribly spoilerific*

Firstly, story-wise, the dance and match with Pyrrha have already happened, though they will be referenced in story. You know how the rest of team CRDL were working together while Cardin was all 'hurr durr, HULK SMASH' about it? Yeah, now you know why ;)

As for the second half? Yeah, pretty spoilerific. Honestly, this Arc is going to go one of two ways, I'm still undecided on which way, but you'll find out eventually.

Not that the questions are done, it's chapter time!


Russel, Sky and Dove stayed up late, waiting for their leader to return to their dorm. They'd tried to mend bridges, but Cardin was hard to find nowadays and not particularly receptive to forgiving those who had abandoned him when he most needed for the second time. He'd always had anger issues, but they couldn't just write this off as an overreaction; they had nobody to blame but themselves and they knew it. But nevertheless, they used the time that their leader was away to do quite a bit of self-reflection.

Russel came from a rather wealthy background, but, as most teenagers do, he started to rebel against his parents. He shaved his head into a Mohawk, started dressing like a punk and started hanging out with rough crowds to cover up his perceived shame of coming from a privileged home. Naturally, because his 'friends' acted bad, that expected him to act bad and bullying Faunus was something that all the bad kids did. He didn't hate them, but by the time he realised that what he was doing was wrong, he was already in too deep. He didn't hate the Faunus; he just didn't want people to know his 'shameful' secret.

Sky was, no matter how much he hated to admit it, a nerd. He'd been given the standard IQ tests in Combat School and got a result in the upper 130's, he read books at school instead of participating in spot and played D&D with his cousins. Of course, when the other kids found out, the bullying started. They'd steal his stuff, call him names, exclude him last from activities and a few went as far as to beat him up behind the cafeteria. But, sadly, Sky realised that the only way to get rid of the bullies was to give them an easier target, and what target was easier than the Faunus. He hated himself for it, but better them than him…right?

And Dove? Dove just wanted to fit in. Since his family moved to Vale from Atlas, he had completely failed to make any friends at school, not even as little as one acquaintance. The customs in Vale were completely different from Atlas', so it was completely impossible for him to bond with anyone unless they found some common ground. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, Faunus were a near universally accepted target. No matter where you went, you'd find someone who hated the Faunus. He always hated the way he treated Faunus, but what else could he do? He'd rather make a few Faunus miserable for five minutes at a time then go back to feeling lonely.

The day had been very long, however, and the boys were tired. Despite their determination to stay up, they couldn't help but drift off into uneasy, guilt-induced dreams.


The trio aimlessly wandered around the halls the next day. Classes weren't on for the weekend and they had nothing to do. If Cardin were still with them, they'd probably be harassing some Faunus; no matter how uncomfortable or just plain wrong it was, they had an image to maintain.

So of course, they just had to run into Velvet in the halls. Everybody froze, Velvet out of fear of the incoming torment and the other three because none of them were in the mood to be bullies today and, without Cardin to initiate, it would fall to one of them.

The three of the looked at one another uneasily, waiting for someone to do something that would justify them saying 'at least I didn't start it'. Each of them had hidden behind that excuse more times than they could count and now, one of them would have to bite the bullet.

"So…" Sky began, causing his teammates hearts to flutter in relief and Velvet's in fear.

"Would you like to do the honours Russ?" he queried, unable to withstand the stares.

Russel cursed under his breath and hesitantly reached out with his hand as Velvet backed up against the wall, trying to something, anything that would vindicate him. Meanwhile, Sky had turned to Dove and began trying to provoke him as well.

"You wanna hold her down? I'll keep a lookout for teachers."

"No thanks!" He said a little too quickly.

"I'm too...ah…tired! Yeah, didn't get much sleep last night." The blonde sputtered, putting on his most convincing fake yawn in the process.

Meanwhile, Russel had grabbed one of Velvet's ears and was trying to fight the fact that what he was doing was wrong, but he could never dispel it out of his mind enough to actually pull. He didn't want to hurt her, but he couldn't let people see who he really was, it would ruin him. However, one look at Velvet's fearful face pushed him over the edge.

"What are we doing?" he asked to no one in particular.

Russel let go of Velvet's ear and waved her away, an offer the Rabbit Faunus didn't hesitate to take. She walked away as fast as she could; glancing hesitantly over her back to make sure it wasn't a trick the whole way down.

"Dude! What the hell!" Dove asked, secretly glad that it hadn't been him who had to break first.

"Yeah man what the hell?"

Russel slumped up against the wall and slid down onto the floor, realising that he'd thrown away years of maintaining his image and living up to his reputation. However, he was equally shocked to realise that he didn't care as much as he thought he would; doing something kind for once and the weight of expectation being lifted off his shoulders made him feel…liberated.

"Guys…I don't want to do this anymore."

"Really?!" Dove asked hopefully.

"Oh thank GOD!" Sky all but yelled, their positive reactions surprising and relieving him. The trio spend the next ten minutes exchanging stories, explaining their motives, and planning how to make it up to everyone they'd wronged.

"I think we need to be careful about our timing." Sky said thoughtfully.

"Come again?"

"I mean, look what happened to Cardin. He tried to change and they rejected him. Although, I suppose that has more to do with luck than timing."

It was true; Cardin's anger had gotten the better of him. Perhaps if he weren't too stubborn to seek help for his problems, he would've been more successful.

"Okay, so how do we go about it?" Dove asked, stroking an imaginary beard.

"We wait until something happens. It won't be long until some charity thing happens or some guy starts going on a racist rant or something. We wait until something like that happens and then we try to look like good people."

"Eh, fair enough."

The RDL of team CRDL stood there silently for a few moments; they'd resolved to be better people and to wait for an opportune moment, all they had to do now was find something to do for the rest of the day.

"So…you played D&D?" Russel queried, causing Sky to shrink fearfully.

"Yeah…so?"

"Do you have it here?"

"Yep…"

"Well…I've always been curious about that."

"Yeah, me too."

Sky swelled up with happiness, his eyes filled with barely contained joy.

"Gentlemen, don your robes and wizard hats and meet me at the dorm in one hour!"

Russel and Dove barely had enough time to register his change in attitude he sprinted away, mumbling about 'setting ideas' and 'Big Bad Evil Guy's".


Velvet looked over her shoulder for the hundredth time since she'd been allowed to go without trouble. No matter how much she assured herself that they obviously weren't following, she still couldn't shake the feeling that it was a trick. After confirming that they still weren't following her, she breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking down the halls of Beacon Academy.

Her peaceful walk was interrupted by the sound of grunting and metal hitting flesh not too far from her current location.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing down the empty halls. Most people used the weekend to go outside or visit the city. No matter how prestigious Beacon Academy was, most people ended up desensitized to it after living there for awhile.

The sound of heavy footsteps reverberated down the hall to the right; the hurried nature suggested that they were sprinting away. Fearing the worst, Velvet tiptoed around the corner.

Only to find a Cardin slumped up against the wall, bruised and bleeding.


Oh snap! How will Velvet react? I dunno, for all my planning, I still kinda make things up as I go along.

Just in advance, for people who think that Sky, Russel and Dove's reasons for bullying Faunus barely qualify as excuses, think about this: why do children bully each other? When I was in primary school, there were three main reasons bullies bullied; to maintain an image, to fit in and so that they wouldn't be bullied themselves. Their (RDL's) behavior started in childhood and carried through to their teen years because they thought that they HAD to, rather than because it's ingrained in them like Cardin.

Secondly, yep other characters are getting screen time! Cardin will still be the focus but hey, it would be kinda dumb of me to have Cardin go on this big self-discovery thing and have his teammates remain assholes, wouldn't it? And some of you commented that RWBY/JNPR/ETC were too harsh, so we're fixing that too.

Alright, see ya next time!