Chapter 10: I'm a Problem That'll Never be Solved

Dove, Sky, and Russel sat there, in the amphitheater, among dozens of students, leaderless, as they have been for the previous week. Out, down on the stage, they watched with boredom what they hoped was the last spar for the day, that of which was between Neptune and Reese. The of struggle in combat was what dominated the amphitheater, as for everyone else was rather interest in the spar, so all they spoke in was whispers.

Unfortunately though, Sky, out of nowhere, would disturb the students with a supreme belch, echoing throughout the amphitheater, creating a strong aftertaste of sausage in his mouth while everyone around him grimaced in disgust and annoyance. Except for Dove, who shook his head in embarrassment, sketched with a frown, and Thrush snickered, astonished by the volume Sky deliver that foul sound with.

"Oh, Sky, you're absolutely disgusting."

Dove would be met with a "Sorry" from Sky, smiling with slight discomfort while his eyes wandered about the many faces of students who scowled towards him, soon to look back at the sparring exchange students below, leaving Lark to suck the air through his teeth. He would turn his attention back down there as well, along with his brothers, to watch the spar progress, with the halberdier paying particular attention Reese's hoverboard. "... She kind of has an... inconvenient weapon, doesn't she?"

Russel, in response, focused a tad bit on Reese's weapon, watching as she nearly took Neptune's head off, flying over him as he ducked to only have a few hairs be sliced off. "Eh, I wouldn't call it inconvenient. I'd call it... unique."

"Well, yeah, it's original: flying around on some board that can cut flesh, while being able to transform into a gun. But you can get almost all of that with a blade of some sort that can change into a gun."

"Uh-huh, I hear you." Russel puckered his lips, staring on for a few more seconds. "But... it gives her unpredictability. Like, how many people is she gonna face off in her life who've fought against someone else that uses a hoverboard as a weapon?"

Sky nodded his head, understanding his teammate. "I see, I see. It won't do her any good though if she goes up against a machine gun, or someone that can match her in speed." Just as he finished, Neptune would fire a well-led shot of energy, directly hitting Reese in her side and knocking her off the hoverboard, earning a collection cringes from the students sitting in their seats. "Oof, or someone that can aim, like that water-boy."

"Heh." Was all that came out of Dove when hearing "water-boy," as the buzzard blasted and the lights came on, prompting the brunette to shield his eyes while Goodwitch came down to give her criticism on the two exchange students. Sky would mumble about to hurry up, for this being their last class of today in particular and the three brothers finding themselves wanting to return to their room as soon as possible.

And eventually, they would granted their wish, with the professor announcing the end of this session and dismissing them to enjoy the rest of their day. "Ah, God yes," came out of Sky's mouth, standing up, stretching his shoulders, soon following alongside his brothers into the sea of huntsmen-in-training to exit the amphitheater, bumping and rubbing up against one another until they broke apart outside, in the broad sunlight of a cloudless day.

It was also scorching.

"O-oh fuck, Goddamn. I hope we left the window open for Cardin."

Dove replied to Sky, "He's not a dog, he can open it for himself."

"Yeah, well, he hasn't been very respondent at all lately, in-case you had forgotten. He-"

"-Hey guys!" The bluenette bit his bottom lip, as Russel turned around to see Ruby, lightly jogging towards them, stopping to ask, "where's Cardin been lately?"

His brother, having grown use to the occasional interaction with Ruby, or even Yang, stared at one another, hesitant with how they should answer. Russel would take the charge. "Cardin's been sick lately. But he's been getting better." Thrush would then turn around to start trotting, being caught up by his brothers as Ruby stood back for a few seconds, before running towards them once more.

"W-Wait! What's wrong with him?"

They would not stop walking in the blasting, golden rays, but Russel would shoot back again. "Don't worry, don't worry, Cardin is fine; he's been getting better. Why are you so worried for him? You got feelings for him or somethin'?"

Her cheeks lightly reddened among her answer, as Sky and Dove lowly chuckled at the sight of her face. "N-no. I just wanted to know, that's all. And so did Yang, too."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about her. Has she been falling back lately?"

"No, she's actually been doing good so far. But she say it'd be nice to have Cardin back." That earn a raised brow from Thrush, looking over at the diminutive leader of RWBY. "She didn't say exactly that, but she does think she'll need him back."

"Ke-heh, need him for what, exactly?"

Ruby, with a huff of air from flaring nostrils, and face becoming barely more crimson, said, "You know what I mean, Russel, tutoring. Stop playing with me like this!"

"Okay, okay, jeez, calm down. Cardin has been getting better," a lie, for Cardin was not sick, "so maybe he'll be back by tomorrow. Or the next day, don't worry about it." None of them knew why Cardin had grown so despondent over the past several days. When they discovered their brother, he had rested himself in the muddy forest floor, with the hood of his poncho torn off, and ripped to pieces.

Whether it was himself that did as such, or something else, the rest of CRDL had been unable to find out. Ever since their return from Emerald forest that one particular night, Cardin had huddled himself in his bed, and grown quite quiet for the week, not answering any of his brother's question. He would not go to his classes either, no matter how hard his brother tried to coax him out, eventually leading to their dismissal of him for the day, only to come back to find him still in his bad. He hasn't even been going out to Emerald ever since.

He would bathe himself, and ask for his brothers to bring him food, so they know he was not troubled to the point of being hesitant to make requests of them, or clean himself. Ruby, sensing that was all she was going to get out of Cardin's brothers, thanked them for their time and separated, proceeding to use her semblance, heading wherever it was she desired to be.

Effectively leaving the three members of CRDL alone to their own silence, remaining as such as they traveled in the heat of day, the beads running down their head slowly, becoming cool when the Disown brothers entered into their dorm building. The air conditioning cooling their bodies as they wandered up the stairs, wandered the halls, reaching their room, and unlocking the door.

Cardin, showing signs of having recently cleaned himself, had himself sat in a chair, in front of their opened window, the back of his head exposed for his brothers to see his burnt-orange hair; he still wore his black, red-lined poncho.

"Hey, Cardin, you've been good."

"..."

"Cardin?" Russel went up to examine his leader, finding the Winchester to have fallen asleep, his mouth agape to expose his sword-sharp teeth and allow saliva to drool down his chin. "Oh, okay." Thrush rudely flicked his sleeping leader upside his head. Cardin would in turn grunt softly, his eyes fluttering open to look up and see Thrush, staring down upon him, visibly, yet slightly, disappointed. Yet Cardin did not know why. "You got your beauty sleep?"

"Grr- I don't know, can you come up with an original insult?"

"Insult? I was just asking a question." Cardin, in response, would flip off Russel. "Gah, why are you such a dick?" Not answering, Carding got up to only go and fall onto his bed, as Dove and Sky sat themselves on their own, leaving Russel to stand there, still eyeing Cardin up. "... Ruby asked about you today."

"Yeah? What did she say?"

"She just asked if there was something wrong with you, and that Yang is going to need you soon."

"Ah, okay. What the hell does Yang need me for?"

"For fucking tutoring, dumbass!"

"Ohhh f- I forgot about that. Shieeeet, did she say Yang was miffed?"

"Ruby said Yang has been able to keep up with the lectures herself, but that she'll likely need your help soon."

"Oh, good, good."

"... Does that mean you'll start leaving the room now?"

"..."

Russel threw his hands up in the air, "Fucking- come on Cardin!", sitting himself down in the chair. "You can't stay in this room forever, just because... I don't fucking know, you tore up your own goddamn hood. If you're fucking scared to go out just because of how you look, then you shouldn't have done that."

For a second, Cardin's arms twinged in ire, as he to spit into Russel's face about what happened to him in Emerald, what it was that had made him for the past week stop going into the forest. But that would prove to be difficult; what is Cardin to say? That an abomination of mystery, that mimicked Coco, attacked him and ripped his hood apart? They would never believe him, and quite frankly, Cardin was not sure if he could believe it himself. For was it really a monster, nothing of grim, that made an attempt at him for his life that night? Or was it actually an hallucination, and did he just do everything to himself that night in a fit of insanity?

It all felt so real, but yet if it were, then what was it that attacked Cardin then? It was again, not a grimm, but yet they are all that humanity knows. Could it be possible that there are more threats out there that they do not know of? Yet, once more, Cardin knew it could have been him that hurt himself, and his mind had just created an illusion that made him believe otherwise. He did not know, and he may never know. And for that, Cardin has found it to be fruitless to tell his brothers of what happened, as he does not truly know himself.

But, he would address what Russel stated nonetheless, with a lie. "I'm not scared of how people are gonna react to my face when I go out there, Russel." He was, somewhat. After his little encounter with Coco, Cardin felt a small flicker of flaming confidence in himself, that however faded a bit as the days followed. As of today, Cardin had found himself, yet again, in the same state of worrying about how people might react to his face.

But yet again, there has always been that part of him that told him to never care about what people think of him, and that has seemingly dictated most of his actions throughout his time as a teen up to this point. It would only collide heads with his fretting of his looks, and continually battle in his head as Cardin fucked about in reality, always wearing his hood over his head.

"Are you sure? Look at Sky," Russel started, as he gestured towards the scarred halberdier, "just fucking look at him. He walks around all day with those scars on him. Or-or look at Dove, he goes out every day, not caring if there's a fucking bullet wound in the middle of his forehead. And me, ME! I don't give a shit about how people react when they see by burnt-ass face! All three of us are disfigured, Cardin! And all three of us don't give a shit about how people think about it! But you, you. You think you got it bad, you think your just an ugly ass punk. Yet you're really bitching over nothing. You think you're hideous? WE'RE the hideous ones! We're repulsive-looking! Why all you got are just some sharp teeth, and pure-gold eyes! You fucking think that makes you hideous?! 'Cause it FUCKING, DOESN'T! You're probably the most attractive out of the four of us, yet here you are, acting like a little pussy about it! Like a fucking victim! I you're not scared of how people are gonna react to your fucking FACE, then go out there, and PROVE, ME, WRONG!"

Cardin, chest swelling, found the energy to sit up in his bed, slowly huffing air out of his nose before standing up. Still as a statue, Cardin incredulously stared down at the punk in the chair, who could only return the same glance up to him, waiting for a fist, or a kick, or his teeth clamping down onto his neck.

But all that came was just, "I'm hungry."

And Russel, maintaining eye-contact, responded. "...What? Okay, do you fucking want us to get you food or-"

"-I'm getting it myself." Cardin growled out, clenching his teeth as he turned and headed for the door, opening and closing it without look at his brothers.

"... Shit, I'm going with." Dove would nod in agreement with Sky, both wanting to be there to hold Cardin back if anyone were to taunt him of his looks. They would leave, and in the same fashion of Cardin to not look back at what would just be Russel now, whom sat alone in the room for a few seconds to himself.

"Great, just great." Of course, not wanting to be left alone, Russel took his own leave as well. Closing the door behind him and catching up to his team, led a now-sulking leader, treading with closed fists as they left the building, moving out with the blazing sun over their heads. It proved to be a bad time for Cardin, what with him still wearing his poncho. But the agitation residing within simply overcome his care for being too hot. What mattered now was just proving to Russel that he can remain calm out in public without hiding his face.

And so far, with almost every student that CRDL passed by, eyes were drawn to them, like always. Cardin knew they could just be looking at them because of their image at Beacon. But then again, he knew they could just as well be thinking in their head, 'hey, look at Cardin, that piece of shit isn't wearing his hood. He looks like such a freak.'

But again, the Winchester's attitude of caring for other people blocked that kind of thinking away. Effectively done so, now that he had a newfound fuel of rage to keep him going. As for when CRDL arrived and entered into Beacon's dining hall, that was when Cardin could feel himself nearing the edge. There, he found more students staring at him, but only for a moment before going back to minding their own business, fearing for being victimized by the foul leader for staring at him too long. At least that's how Cardin saw it.

Getting in line, they accepted and took the burgers being served that day, leaving the line with no trouble to sit themselves. Cardin took his first bite out of the burger, finding it to be rather dry.

"Mmph, thith tathe like shit." He would state, chewing up the meat, buns and topping within his mouth as he said so.

"Really," Sky would start after swallowing his first bite, "I think it's pretty good. Also, don't talk with your mouth full, it makes you look piggish. You already got the body of one, don't make people think you are one now."

Ignoring the comment, while looking at the area he bit out of, Cardin shook his head and took another one, coming to peace with this burger of a mediocre-quality. Thrush would keep visual contact on Cardin, impressed, but barely, but his willingness to ignore the stares he had gotten up to this point. He'd then proceed to eat his own burger, joining his brothers to feast in peace, feast in peace, feast in peace.

That was until, Cardin noticed someone walk up to the back of Sky and Russel, looking up to only sigh quietly at the sight of Coco; an expression of disappointment, mixed with anger, etched on her face.

"Hey Coco, is something wrong?"

"Yeah, you fucking knocked out Velvet and left her out in the storm a week ago." Hearing her voice, Cardin's brothers brought their attention to CFVY's leader, having been unaware of her presence, and already sensing the most like outcome of this encounter.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. She was just following us and... I didn't want her to see where we were going." His tongue brushed his teeth, as his golden orbs wandered down to see Coco hands, limp by her side, waiting for them to curl up.

"And why would you be scared about her finding that out?"

Looking back up at her sunglasses, Cardin quickly replied, "Cause it's a secret."

Asking while seething, Coco inquired, "Why is it a secret?" Her own teeth snaring a bit. It was at this point that Russel and Sky stood up to try their hand at driving the second-year student off.

"Okay, okay- Coco? Listen, now is not the time for any of this, okay? We just want to eat our food in peace, so p-"

"-Fuck you Sky!" Said-man would step back while Coco shouted into his face, flinching momentarily. Noticing from his peripheral, Dove would look to see Cardin starting to grow visibly anxious, shakily breathing, tightening his grip on his pants as students around went silent to gaze on at the scene. AT this point of the year, they expected to see a fight break out, as the usual situations tend to end before them. "Cardin, where the fuck is it you're going to e-"

Dove, wanting to stop her, did as so, hastily getting up from his seat to interrupt her. "Coco! Shut the fuck up! Okay? We just want to eat here for once, without any bullshit being thrown at us, okay? So why don't you leave us be, or I'll absolutely rip you apart." Students waited for Coco to lunge over the table at Dove. They waited, but just saw her head tilt down to look at Cardin, who had manage to tune everything out, staring down at his meal with unfocused eyes, his stuttering breathing being audible for Coco, as pity started to rend against her anger for the secret, staring at him silently, leaving Russel to speak up without falter.

"Coco, just leave us, that's all we're asking. Cardin said he was sorry, so just leave." Her eyes would remain on Cardin, only for the seconds to come, as she decided what to do next.

"... Screw you Cardin, you'll always be a piece of shit." Leaving after that, Cardin's brothers only watched her tensed-up figure, as the students around them slowly returned to their business, staring on until she left the dining hall. They moved on, looking back at Cardin, then to their trays, sitting down with gratefulness for the deescalation of the situation, before Coco could go on any further.

"..." Cardin, as glum as one can possibly be, brought his head to just stare at nothing in particular, staying as such until he went back to eating his mildly-pleasing burger, still dry as expected. "... This burger really just absorbs all of the moisture in your mouth, goddamn."

"... Okay Cardin," Russel shook his head, "okay. I'm glad you're capable of moving on from situations that could result in us being fucked over."

"Oh no, Rus, my distraught is actually immeasurable, and my day is ruined. All I have to look forward to now is finishing this incredibly... dry burger."

"... At least she didn't make fun of how you look."

"... Actually, Sky, she has seen my face before."

Lark's brow raised, with the curiosity of the rest of CRDL spiking. "What? When?"

"... During that sparring match, between Coco and I, we made a bet. If I lost, I would have to leave Beacon. But if I won," his lips sneered, chuckling, still looking down at his burger, "I would get to fuck her."

"..."

"..."

"... Nice."

"What?" Dove looked at Cardin, befuddled, "Are you saying she saw your face before you stuck it in her?!"

"... Yup." Russel started to snicker, completely baffled with enjoyment.

"I can't fucking believe you, I-I... just why? Why would you ever have sex with her?"

"What? You don't think she's good looking?"

"No no, she's... heh heh- pretty, I guess. It's just... just... she was your first then?"

"Yeh." Sky groaned, and that groan transitioned into laughter. Dove would only rub his face, absolutely smiling in bewilderment.

Russel kept on pressing. "Did... did you fucking tell her that she was your first?"

"Nah."

"Oh... oh, okaaaay... how did it go, then?"

"Fine, I just did to her what felt natural."

"... Did you use protection?"

"No." Sky guffawed, Dove's fist slammed onto the table, and Russel's neck jerked back, as his eyes bulged. "Well, it's not like we brought any condoms with us to Beacon.-"

"-It's not that, Cardin! You could have gotten an STD from her! Or- hell, you could've gotten her pregnant!"

"Well, first I didn't get any disease or whatever... because, you know, I don't feel anything burning. And second, I came in her ass, so don't worry." Dove now laughed alongside Sky, tears of disbelief and happiness falling down, as Thrush rested his face on his hands, blankly staring down at the table. "But, don't tell anyone about this. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone about it, and she promised not to tell anyone how I look."

"... Oh," Russel went back to Cardin, "oh, okay? You made that promise, huh? And now you're breaking it?"

"Well... yeah. But I know you guys won't tell anyone."

"Fuck, yeah, we won't but... just, jeeeez, Cardin. You're just so fucking careless sometimes."

"Hey, I made she enjoyed it-"

"-Shut up," Russel brought a finger to Cardin's mouth, which closed as one would expect, while Dove and Sky kept on booming in humorous joy, "just shut up. Don't talk about it anymore here, okay? Just go back to eating your burger, okay?" The two stayed silent. Russel would pull away to let Cardin resume eating, yet the Winchester did not break eye contact with Russel.

"...She was pretty tight, like a tiger-"

"-STOP! Fucking stop!" Sky and Dove were going to die, they knew it. Only if Cardin kept on going.

"... She made some cute sounds too." Russel threw his glass into Cardin's face, who managed to remain still and stable as it struck him, while his aura protected him. It could not protect his feelings however, as he proceeded to mockingly whimper...