Author's Notes: I know, I've been away for an unforgivably long amount of time. I've got some good news on that though. I had a story which I hated writing (which I wasted months on due to writer's block after writer's block on it) and I finally decided to terminate it, so it won't be a roadblock anymore. Secondly, I've got at least four more chapters to write for this story before I move on to the others to give it some love and so you know that this has not been forgotten. Again, I'm sorry for taking so long, but I hope you enjoy!
Of Rats and Men
The sounds of faint, electronic beeping woke him up. It took him a few seconds to wake up fully, his eyes encrusted in sleep. When he did, all he saw was white. For a second he assumed he had died and made it into heaven, or at least a bright afterlife. When his focus regained its confidence, he was able to make out a very pristine stark room. It was simple, but a simple that was way more elegant than the ugly simple the Orphanage had. But then maybe it was simply because it looked very clean. When he finally found the source of the titillating noise, he finally came to understand he was in a hospital.
Shifting the covers a bit off him so he could sit up, he found a huge bandage that reached one end of his neck and made it all the way under the opposite side of his chest. He took a shaky hand, from the arm that wasn't connected to the blood bag through the injection-tube, and grazed his finger over the soft white material. There was no pain, but he flinched nonetheless. Flashes and images came to his mind immediately. The dark alleyway. The heavy downpour. The man in the suit. The rabbit skull with the big grey eyes. He almost wet himself again from fear.
That seemed to have steered something up because the monitor was beeping faster now. It took him a few seconds to connect the dots and realize that it was for his heart. He blinked several times before a nurse walked in, rushing to his side. She said some words, something about him 'settling back down' and 'relaxing'. When she grabbed his shoulder though, he started thrashing, remembering the gloved hand that nearly got his throat slit. He spasmed, trying as best he could to get out of her grip, a hard objective considering half his body was still asleep. The nurse called out a doctor. The beeping hastened. The doctors came. The syringe pierced his arm. Darkness consumed him again.
His second awakening was much more peaceful by comparison. His body wasn't as limp and numb as it used to be, so he felt more freedom to use both hands. Having an elegant, medical band-aid to replace the tube sucking his blood also eased his nerves greatly. The greatest comfort and painkiller was the tall redhead, sleeping in a chair by his side. He was so relieved, for once, he didn't mind young, eleven-year-old Aury napping on a chair beside his sister, sucking her thumb as she slumbered. He was alive, and he was with Lucy again. That was all that mattered.
He must have made some noise, because even though his heartbeat was even, the older girl stirred up rather quickly. She was by his side immediately after, and it took all of her willpower to not hug him then and there. He almost did it for her, but the pain from his newly closed wound had him sprawling back on the bed. They settled for having her caress the bangs that fell on his forehead, sweeping them gently to the sides so they could look into each other's eyes. She smiled at him, though her eyes were of a pinkish taint, a telltale sign that she had been weeping not long before.
"Hello Cardin." Her voice was soft. Any louder and she might have broken into sobs, at least as far as the boy could imagine. Tears still managed to escape from her twin indigo orbs, betraying the feel the beaming expression was meant to give. He tried to smile back at her too, but his face was too lazy, as was most of his body. It was probably so he couldn't feel the pain from the cut. Still, the two stared at each other for a while, sad, but at peace. Lucy held out her hand to grab his. "Cardin, do you know what today is?"
"The day I get out?" He wondered aloud, curiosity now filling the dulled void of his mind. Lucy shook her head.
"I'm afraid that's next week. Today's something much, much better. You should know." He raised an eyebrow at that, trying to think about what she was getting at. Her smile lost its edge of sadness, if only for a little while. "It's your birthday, Cardin. Your thirteenth birthday."
"Oooh, yeah, I forgot about that." Thirteen years old. He shrugged internally. It was the same as every other year, he didn't find anything particularly special about it. Lucy's next birthday, though, her eighteenth birthday… that day would become a personal holiday for him. The day they'd finally be free from the Orphanage. That'd be the day they could finally be happy. "That's good, I guess. Wait. I'm in the hospital. The Orphanage doesn't like to spend a lot of money on any of us. Does this cost a lot of money? I'm sure I can go out fine now."
"Cardin, nothing in the world right now is more important than your wellbeing, so don't even think that. Even if any problems come up, I'd handle them. I almost lost my little brother, and I'm not about to lose him because he was antsy to get out of the bed. Besides, the second Hei heard about the whole thing, he put up some of his men to look into the bastard responsible, and he was so kind he's paying this whole thing for us. You don't need to worry about anything now." Cardin smiled. He wished Junior could be here right now, but he knew the hospital was pretty far away from his club, and the giant was already paying for his doctors and bed and everything at the hospital.
"Cardin." Lucy was serious now, and it made Cardin tense up slightly. He knew he'd done nothing wrong, or at least he thought he'd done nothing wrong, and that Lucy was even gentler than usual. Still, he learned that people suddenly turning very serious was never usually a good sign. When he attentively looked at her, she averted her gaze just to look at her hand holding his before bringing the other one, taking his left hand and wrapping it entirely with both her own. She looked back in his eyes, still serene and composed, but with a loving shade to her features.
"I can't give you a present this year, and I really wish I could. It's been tough, and these last few days have been agonizing to get through, and that's just from my end. I even can't imagine how you feel, how you've been after all this… but I'm not going to let you go empty-handed from all of this. You're not just a boy anymore, you're on your way to becoming a man in a few years, and I can see just how great you'll be by the end of this. And now you're finally old enough for me to give this to you, and I couldn't think of anyone else I trust enough to do this with."
Her body started glowing, something that surprised Cardin. Her hand was very warm now, a comforting kind of warm, but far more imposing than what the body can offer. He felt it stretching out, coming through his hand and into his body. Suddenly, his body was just as embraced in the warmth as his left hand was in her own fingers. And with that, she readily recited. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
He was walking back again to the cafeteria, stomach aching from being deprived of any kind of meal throughout his hours of sleep. He was in armor already, and back in their dorm room, his bag full of clothes was ready for his departure. Getting to the serving place, he served himself the usual amount of a monstrously huge amount of food, probably enough for a starving bear. If bears were ever interested in eggs or pancakes or any of the sweets provided by Beacon as morning cuisine for their students. Once he was done loading up the two plates on his tray, he walked back to their usual place to find the same rabbit girl who had sat there a while ago. When he got behind her, he just stared tiredly and derisively. It didn't take long for her to realize she was being watched.
"Oh, Cardin, I-I'm sorry, the other spots were taken earlier and I took longer than usual to eat and-and…" She stopped stammering when she saw him standing up, still as a statue, with only furrowed brows to denote his frustrated state. She stopped talking, getting up and going to an empty table on the other side, looking back half paranoid that he might do something to her while she wasn't looking. She was surprised when he simply sat down and started chowing down, as were the few students in the hall that were there to witness the surprisingly non-aggressive event. Cardin scowled at that. If she's gonna be too fucking scared to stand up for herself in a Hunter academy, then that's her own grave that she's digging. I'm not about to teach her any better, she's got her own damn team to do that.
Cardin looked up from his meal to the table across from his. Teams RWBY and JNPR had been looking at him curiously, nervously. The second he met their gazes though, they immediately redirected their attention elsewhere. Jaune in particular shrank away from it, looking shamefully at his own breakfast before taking a bite from it. Pyrrha placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. For the most part, his underlings remained loyal and RWBY remained friendly, but some of the gazes that turned on the blonde had hints of doubtfulness of him. He supposed that's what would happen after he'd screamed his lungs out on the pathetic Arc. The rest of CRDL had told him the full story after he had calmed down on his way back.
He could tell they were going every single one of the words he'd roared that day, trying to look at him under a different light, but that just made Cardin angrier. He'd stopped 'bullying' Jaune, and by extension Velvet, though her humiliation had only been that one other time in the cafeteria, but not out of some false kindness in his heart. He simply didn't have any more tolerance for the two. If he engaged in anything directly related to someone with their kind of weakness, it'd be directly with his Mace, and he wasn't particularly enthusiastic with the idea of going to prison over a pair of idiots. Still, he saw most members of the two teams observing him with the same fucking pity people would give to stray dogs. "What the fuck are you lot looking at?"
They flinched at that, immediately going back to their meals. Through careful hearing and the fact that she had accidentally spoken too loud, he heard Schnee mutter to the others 'I told you he hadn't changed'. He had a small grin on his face at that. Good. You better get that through your goddamn heads. Not long after came his team. Cardin had showered first and hadn't bothered waiting for them, though they didn't mind. It'd taken a whole week for the squad's leader to cool down, and fortunately, today was the start of their long weekend. It meant they finally got to return to Vale City. Much as the redhead wanted to pay a visit to the Orphanage, there was business he had to settle. They'll just have to survive without me for a bit longer.
Silence placated their group on the table, the giant more than the rest. They were done soon enough, immediately getting up to go to their room and grab their bags. He was surprised that, in spite of their early departure, for some godforsaken reason the other two renowned teams of their year had caught up to them. They would have gladly separated ways if the route wasn't so specific, but alas, they had to endure each others' presence for a while longer. Cardin did raise a brow, however, when Russel waved to some of them. Most gave neutral reactions, with maybe one being negative, but Ruby did seem to beam and wave back. Dove was the one who, smiling 'innocently' towards them, got mostly frowns in return, making the blue-eyed sword wielder chuckle. Lionel didn't even bother looking in their direction.
When they made it to the airship, then they made sure to truly get away from each other. Surprisingly, RWBY and JNPR also went to different spots on the ship. Cardin had half expected an alliance between the eight to stand against them. He shrugged at the false notion. It'd have been more of a challenge, anyways. The ship finally took off, and the man was incredibly relieved that there was no impromptu or practiced speech from Goodwitch reminding them to be good people. Silence was much more prominent this time around, and this time, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were doing teamwork to keep their leader calm throughout the flight. Good. He pukes on me again, I'll make him lick my armor clean.
Cardin stretched his limbs when he got off the great, metal beast that carried him and several other Beacon students that were taking the long weekend to return to Vale. Lionel, Dove and Russel flanked him, taking a detour from most students when they turned to the richer side of the city by the port. Theirs was a different destination, the routes parents didn't ever want their kids walking through, where scoundrels and fiends flourished. When they made it far enough in to smell the shit in the air, the strongest of them smiled. Home, sweet home. It was a bitter thought, and the joy he could find mainly consisted in those he'd meet nearby, namely those he could and would hurt.
"Gentlemen, welcome back to Old Vale City, where the shit comes from the drains and the restaurants, unless you've got a whole cartel sucking you off." Dove drawled, smiling a nostalgic grin with a good amount of satirical bitterness in his voice. Lionel simply raised a brow, looking around at the buildings, going from nice and clean and elegant to dirty and industrialized and packed to the brim. His tone was indifferent, apathetic, as per usual. "Nothing's changed, then. Our welcome party ought to be around here, somewhere. I'm sure I saw a pack of rats running through the streets somewhere. At least they smell better than the people."
"Yeah, and where I'm heading, the rats are made of shit too, and there's not much of a distinction between them and the people. I want to see if The Club reopened, and I need to meet up with some people here and there. I'd say I'm going to the heart of this half of the city, but it's closer to the asshole, so if you wanna join, that's where I'll be going." Cardin said that, looking at the three to get a better read on their expressions. Russel nodded lightly. He didn't look all too excited at the prospect, but he wasn't denying the idea. The team had long since learned the redhead's policy on ugly truths before pretty lies since the start of their semester.
"Sorry to disappoint, boss, but I need to get home and say hi to my aunt, make sure she's doing alright. I think it's a safe bet to say that Lionel's coming with." To that statement, the brunette raised a brow at the azure-haired specter, who merely looked at him before giving a single affirmative nod. Cardin looked at Russel again for confirmation, to which he received a simple 'I'm in'. With that, he gave his final orders before the start of the long weekend. "Alright then. Split up, do what you gotta do and go where you need to go and meet back at the airport by Monday evening. Also, keep your scrolls active in case any shit goes down. We're Hunters now, and there's nothing that the crooks around here hate more than when some of their own suddenly get better living standards. Until then, I'll see you around."
"Aye-aye, sir." At Lionel's lazy drawl, the group chuckled before they parted ways. At Cardin's side was the green mohawked man, getting closer inland whereas the other two got closer to the coast. The bad side of the coast, at least. It was a rather strange experience, the more the giant thought about it. He had met Russel after coming to the Valeport with an extremely poor impression of the man, and now they were coming back as teammates, partners more specifically. And it was near the end of the trimester too, so that had given him plenty of time to change his perspective on the other. He supposed he changed somewhat himself in that time as well, but not too much. Maybe he learned the less 'uncouth' way of getting his point across on certain matters. Problem was, he never cared to use it.
"So Russel, in which sewer did you grow up in?" When Cardin asked the question, for once he meant it without a hint of mockery. Months of working together had helped the smaller of the two learn to detect that, and he just shrugged. "Well, you know, here and there, there and here. It's not all that easy finding a stable position to live in, not around these parts."
"I hear that, but if that was the case, then you must have had some sort of family member alive, didn't you? The hounds at the Orphanage are good on sniffing up orphans with no adult siblings, and I don't remember you being there with the rest of us miserable shits." His grunts were met with evasive stares into the horizon or onto different broken neon signs for dirty shops. Russel scratched the back of his neck, goosepimples on the shaved parts of his head becoming notable, even with clothes that encased him more snugly instead of the shirt with the torn-off sleeves. Even his mohawk seemed taller, straighter. "It's… it's complicated, man. I'd rather not get into it."
"Is that right? I get it. No questions asked." Russel seemed relieved by Cardin's nonchalant dismissal of the subject, and he was right to be. The ginger knew better than anyone else that there were subjects you didn't touch, regardless of how badly he might have wanted to know the story behind it. So, they kept walking in, ironically, a comfortable silence. A definite far cry from the first time they had met. A few beggars asked for change, a few sketchy punks offered 'deals' on barely known underground clubs, but most people kept away from the pair. The Mace at his back and Russel's twin Daggers fortunately deterred too many people from coming near them.
His attention came to a man who happened to be walking their direction, well, not walking, but not limping either. He had a pair of crutches under his arms, one good leg setting the pace while the other one seemed to be bent the wrong way. There weren't any bruises on it and it wasn't bleeding either, meaning that the injury happened a long while back. He had a faint goatee, mostly short, ragged beard growing in certain spots of his cheeks while others remained barren. His brown hair was long, dirty and greasy, like all of his clothes, marking him as one of the more pitiable bums. When his eyes looked up to him, however, he recognized the golden orbs immediately. Looking to confirm, he took a closer note of the sides of his head and found that his hair had been indeed hiding his sagging, houndlike Faunus ears.
"LYLE! It's been so long since I've last seen you my friend! How the hell are you?! Where have you been all this time?!" Cardin was grinning ear to ear, and if one had to choose on whether it was sincere or not, then it both was and wasn't. Cardin was happy, ecstatic to see Lyle again, but for an entirely different reason than an old friend's welcome. Russel seemed like a fish out of the water, not sure on what to do, but Lyle's eyes widened in realization and fear. Mostly fear. "C-Cardin? Is that actually you? I-I'm sorry, I know I was a dumb little shit back then, but I swear that if I could take it all back, I–"
"Nonsense, Lyle, you were just a little rough then! A little bit of horseplay, a little bit of wrestling, a little bit of knocking me out and taking my money, it's the same thing, really." At that, he walked over to Lyle and wrapped a strong arm around the half-crippled man, bringing him to a crushing side hug. He yelped when the movement caused him to step too hard on his wrong leg, wincing in pain, which made Cardin joyously grin more cruelly. Somehow, the other man managed to escape from his grasp, getting into a position where his crutches sustained him so he could raise his hands up in defeat. "Cardin, I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do about what I did back then, and from just how good it looks like you're doing, there's probably no way I can make it up to you for all shit I… I broke my leg three years ago. I can't even get a job at a fucking fast food restaurant if they don't have a special handicap spot open for me. Nineteen years and this is all I could make of myself. Please, I'll go my way and you go yours, deal?"
Cardin's grin finally fell then, astounded by the sheer cowardice and stupid boldness of the man. His scowl came into form again, but the viciousness that fueled it was far more akin to the wrath he felt against the Ursa Major than he did at RWBY and JNPR that morning. It took every ounce of practiced restraint to keep himself from using his Semblance, a feat that he could activate it even when he was not even close to dying, but from pure anger alone. "Deal? DEAL?! Alright, Lyle, we're going to make a deal, and here's how it's going to work out."
Before beginning, he gave the strongest jab he could to the Faunus's chest, just under his ribs, leaving him gasping for breath without being able to inhale. He had fallen back from the strength of his punch, making him fall flat-out on his back, crutches just out of his reach. His bad leg would have made him scream, but having no air in his lungs to spare, he could only yelp and whimper in pain. People around the street gasped at the spectacle, astounded by the cruelty inflicted on a defenseless man, but he didn't care at all. Instead, Cardin reached for his Mace, the great beast, swinging it around without a care in the world, a testament to his strength. He stood before the fallen, twitching body of Lyle, grabbing the Mace by the hilt in one hand and slapping the end of the pole against the other, the way one would menacingly do with a bat.
"Here's the deal, Lyle. I'm going to bash your skull in like a rotted pumpkin, the people here are gonna scream 'murder', the police department from this area will get caught up with the bureaucracy of it all and cover the news footage and how to make it look like an accident instead of actually investigating it on me, and by the week, everyone will forget your dumbass even existed in the first place. Deal?" Lyle had tears in his eyes, from fear or pain, Cardin wasn't sure, but it was evident that he understood that Cardin was the one in power now. It was almost an orgasmic experience for the giant. He held up shaky, weak hands, begging for the mercy he'd never find. A random man came in his way, arms outstretched, standing between Cardin and the fallen Faunus.
"I don't care who you are or what he's done to you, but the Lyle you're threatening is not the same Lyle who tormented you. Take a look at this poor man and have some pity for God's sake! Are you really gonna tell me you're gonna kill him for some childhood squabbles?!" Cardin's right eye twitched vehemently at that. Without any hesitation, he freed a hand to grab the bald, middle-aged man by the front of his shirt and threw him as far away from the two as he could. He yelled, though he didn't have a bad landing, bystanders helping him up. A scratch on his head made him bleed from the right of his forehead, looking at the giant in fear now. He was the center of their attention now. He'd make good use of it. He raised the Mace with a lone hand, the shadow of death looming over the weeping Faunus. He swung down. "CARDIN, PLEASE."
CLANG.
His arm shook from the Mace's vibrations, the interruption of his swing causing it to shake greatly. On one knee, just above Lyle's quivering body, Russel was using every bit of his strength to stop the Mace, both Daggers struggling to keep it from going down further. His partner's face was going from red to purple, an obvious amount of energy being exhausted at stopping the attack. When Cardin's surprise finally kicked in, he loosened up, no longer pressing down. Russel gasped a deep breath, regaining his strength and using it to push the Mace to the side without disarming his leader. Cardin remained a few more seconds looking at him in shock before the surprise dissolved into anger. He opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to formulate the right words in his head to express the burning heat he could feel in his veins at that very moment. "Russel… what the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"Stopping you." His reply was simple, and as scared as he looked, he managed to not let his voice break and betray him. Cardin clenched his jaw tightly. "And why are you stopping me?"
"Because you're my partner, and whatever this guy might have done to you before, it's not worth throwing the rest of your life away for. Yeah, I know the cops here are useless, but you're a Hunter now, and I don't think there's anything Ozpin can't catch if it's about students and illegal activities." He stood his ground, something that, very grudgingly at that moment, the man found himself respecting. Still, it wasn't anywhere near enough to quell his fury. "Russel… you don't know what I've fucking been through, you really don't, so don't ever dare to pretend to again, you hear me? Now move out of the fucking way before I really get mad."
"Cardin, for Christ's sake, look at him! He's poor as a street rat and has a shitty leg which he doesn't have the money to fix. You on the other hand survived this place and now get to go to Beacon, one of the best Hunter academies in the entire world, and you get to eat as much as me, Dove and Lionel put together every day! Don't throw it all away on him, he's not worth it. And I do know because in the time I've met you, I know that if he had done something really fucked up to you before, you would have hunted him down before you even stepped a foot on Beacon." Cardin was fuming by the end of it, not just because he was being kept from the crippled Faunus, but because Russel wasn't wrong in any of the assumptions he made. He took a deep breath and came to a decision. With a finger poking his partner's chest accusingly, he growled, "Fine. But if you ever get in the way of my revenge again, you and I are done being partners, understand."
"…Yes, sir." He looked relieved and saddened by that. Cardin couldn't care less about that. Giving a final glare to the quivering form of Lyle on the floor, still afraid that the giant might go back on his word, he decided to part with a final goodbye. "If I catch you around these parts ever again, I'll finish the job."
And with that, he turned around and stomped away angrily. He could hear a pair of footsteps trailing him from a distance, but one glare at Russel and he made exceedingly clear that he had no plans on having his company for the rest of the day. Alone, he made his way to The Club. I need a drink– scratch that, I need a whole fucking bottle.
…
And a bottle he'd gotten. That was before he sparred with Junior. The exercise helped expel the booze in his system, and now he was taking another bottle. First one was sweet rum, now it was off with dry whiskey. On the rocks, they had certainly worked wonders. He found himself very thankful for said drinks when he finally found himself letting go of the day's… event. Now, he sat peacefully at the bar, sipping from his drink. Well, as peacefully as he could in a place with blaring music, drunkards dancing like maniacs and the general chaotic atmosphere that surrounded The Club. Finishing his second glass, he served himself a third glass from the bottle, a welcome-back present from one of the only people who remained bigger than him, but now not by much. The television above caught his attention.
"–and so, the threat of the White Fang in Vale City's docks has been averted thanks to the timely action of a few freshmen Hunters, half of them from Beacon. Though Roman Torchwood is still at large, at least the City can sleep a little safer knowing that several of the Faunus ultranationalists have been put behind bars." Cardin raised a brow at the sight of Ruby, Blake, a monkey Faunus, and a fourth ginger who looked more like a doll than a real person. The giant grunted. Goddammit. If I'd known the White Fang was gonna attack today, I'd have gone there too. Maybe there'd have been a hound Faunus I could have strangled there.
At some shuffling at his right he turned. Dressed in better clothes and trying to discreetly not meet his gaze, Russel put some lien on the table to order a drink. Cardin sighed. He stood up and outstretched his great arm to grab another glass and put some ice on it before serving some whiskey on it and handing it over to the other. A quiet 'thanks' let him know the young man was still timid around him. Instinctively, the two grabbed their glasses and took a good few gulps before putting them back down, though Russel made a face at the bitterness of the drink. It'd have made Cardin laugh if he wasn't in a grouchy mood at the time. "I'm sorry."
At that, Cardin truly did feel surprise, turning fully at his partner, who still looked at the drink he had in both hands. The giant was preparing to apologize himself. Before he could question the greenette, Russel continued. "I… I know what it's like, letting go of something like that. It feels impossible. No, that's not right. It's not impossible, but… you just don't want to. You feel like they don't deserve it, that they need to felt how you felt, that they need to suffer like you suffered. Letting them off the hook just feels like… like… like you're being a coward. Like you're not doing what needs to be done.
"You asked me if I had any family members, why I was never sent to the Orphanage? Well… let's just say I lived with my parents. They… they weren't bad people, not intentionally, but that was the problem. They were never conscious about what they did, what they fought about, the damage they had done. They were nicer when I was young, when it was just weed that they smoked. I think I was eight, maybe nine, when they started with crack. They were broke, they'd gotten laid off of work some months before that because they kept getting high at work, but their dealer offered them an in on the distribution business.
"When they did come home, they started getting paid less with money and more with hail. Coke was too expensive and they wanted to buy in large amounts to make it last through the week. I got beat at first, I just cried and didn't get why they did. They'd just tell me to 'shut up, or the cops will catch us'. I started hiding under the kitchen sink after that. I was small enough to fit. I got my break when I was… eleven and a half? They moved on to heroin, so when they got loaded, they were just lying on the floor, not punching each other or throwing things at me. I just tried to stay in school, Dove and Lionel helped me get through it, but I just didn't get why they didn't love me.
"Then, two years ago, they finally came to me and congratulated me for being a man, and that they were really proud of me, and that I was really the best son they could ever have. I should have known better, but I was just happy that they weren't on dope when they said it, and I wanted to let myself believe it. Then they asked if they could trust me, that if I could help them with this 'super important task' that only I could do. I was as happy as I could be when I said yes. I didn't know that it was about going with them to one of the dealings since one of their partners had overdosed before the job." Russel took a break, cheeks red as he looked intensely at the whiskey in his hands. Shame was evident on his face, the most abashed he'd ever seen the man, in fact. For once, Cardin asked sympathetically, "What was the job?"
"The mule." Under the red lights of the club, most people wouldn't have noticed, but Cardin had never fit into the category of most people. He could see the pinkish tint to Russel's soft blue eyes, the pain and embarrassment of the memories resurfacing taking a toll on him. Taking a deep breath and wiping his face, he downed the rest of his whiskey, which Cardin immediately refilled. He got a nod as thanks and waited patiently for the man to continue. It took five minutes of recollecting himself before he did. "When I learned what my job was, I got that they had been sweettalking me the entire time, but I thought it was too late to backdown from the deal, and the knife training I was getting at Combat School should have been enough against the average junkie if anything went wrong.
"When the day came, and I did what I had to do… you know that feeling when you know that there's something wrong, but you know it's gonna get worse? Well, when the time came for the exchange, we got busted by a bunch of cops and a Hunter. I was trying to fend off against the dealers that thought that we were rats, which my parents took as the perfect opportunity to escape. By the time I found out, I tried running away, barely making it past the cops until the Hunter caught up to me. I think when he found me, he saw right through me, because he told me to leave the place and never ever get involved with any shit like that again, so I never did. I just… I don't know how or why'd they've leave me like that. Their own son… The worst part is that I'll never know. I can guess, but there's always a chance that I might be wrong, and I can look for them, but I don't want to. I've left them behind, and now I'm at Beacon with my two good friends and a great leader. I don't wanna throw that away."
Cardin's hand broke the glass he'd been holding whiskey and droplets of blood staining his white button-up shirt and deep brown leather jacket. He looked at his hand as his Aura healed the weeping wound on his palm, calming himself enough to not do anything rash again. He was offered another glass with ice in it without any charge, perks of being best friends with The Club's owner. He served himself the last of the whiskey in the bottle, taking a sip before sighing tiredly. "Russel, I'm sorry that I was a cunt to you today. I can count with my fingers the amount of people who've actually managed to stop me from doing something stupid, and you're one of them. You're better than most people I've met, and I've met plenty. As for my shitfest of a life story… I'm not telling yet. I will tell you, but when we get back to Beacon so Dove and Lionel can be there too. If there're any people who deserve to know the truth, it's my friends."
Russel grinned at that, that full stupid smile he got when he was genuinely happy over something. If anyone ever asked, he'd blame it on the whiskey, but he allowed himself a small smile too. With his dirty, healed hand, he raised his glass in a toast. "To survivors."
"To survivors." Russel mimicked, both gulping down their whole drinks in seconds, growling at the intense bitterness that they left in their mouths. When they were done, Cardin pondered over the day they'd met, and their second day at Beacon. The more he thought about it, the dumber he felt for thinking that Russel being his partner was a coincidence. They'd been a surprisingly good fit before, but after hearing the other's story, he was sure now that Ozpin had a hand in putting them together. After all, he could have been paired with anyone from RWBY or JNPR or any of the other first years that made it there, but instead he got stuck with the kindred spirit. A part of him could only wonder how two people so different could understand each other so well. In the end, he reached the conclusion that Russel and himself were two different breeds of the same kind.
Author's Notes: Well, there you have it. Russel's backstory, which explains why he is the way he is and why he may not seem as smart as some of the other characters. I love me some tragedy to spice a character's story. Besides that, this is officially the end of Volume 1 material, as the TV news meant to signal, and let's just say that the start of Volume 2 will be extremely important for the story to come. Either ways, I hope you've enjoyed, and I'll see you all next chapter (and if you could, do please review on what you liked or what you think could be improved).
The Almighty Afroduck,
All Hail
