Welcome back everyone to another chapter of 'The Darkling Thrush'!
Before I thank everyone for the review, I'd like to specially thank noone297 and jin0uga for wishing me well. I don't like making a big deal about my personal life when I do these, but when I fell ill last week I had to trudge to write that last chapter. So thanks guys, I mean it.
And as always I'd like to thank everyone who left a review, winddemon199, Baoh joestar, noone297, EternalKing, Bagration, Metal Vile, Drake D Zero, jin0uga, Ussop and Vostok2142. I'm very much pleased to see you all were pretty much onboard with the liberties I took with the main cast of RWBY.
Something worth mentioning! If you look at the character tags for this story, you'll notice I've added Team NDGO. That is important moving forward because one of those four girls is getting paired with Russel. But I won't reveal that until...next interlude.
WARNING: Um...so you know how this story is rated 'M'?
XXIX
Downtime: Part 4
"Of the years of my tenure presiding over Beacon, you are by far the last one I expected to find down here." Beneath Beacon Tower, in a secret dimly lit vault, Ozipn stood beside a vast life support machine, flanked by Ms. Goodwitch and the Atlesian General Ironwood. Ozipn glanced at his signature coffee mug in hand and took a sip before turning his attention back to a young first year student whom they'd bound to a chair.
Sky Lark found himself smiling proudly as he faced the three authority figures. "I'll take that as a compliment, sir."
"Just how did you figure it out?" General Ironwood inquired as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"It wasn't an easy task, you've gone to great lengths to hide such a secret from the world of man." Sky laughed as he monologued. "But I am not an ordinary man. I grew up on archeological expeditions with my mother and father. I've seen ancient societies and learned dead languages. I've transcribed the mythological Scrolls of Evermore and stolen away secrets of dead kings. It was only a matter of time before I pieced the truth together. The Maidens are real."
"Quite." Ozpin took another sip out of his mug. "Alright, huddle up team meeting." He said before turning his back to Sky. Goodwitch and Ironwood followed Ozpin's example and formed a small circle. With his person bound to the chair, all Sky really could do was
"Thoughts?" Ozpin asked quietly.
"We can't just let him go. He could divulge his findings to everyone. You know how things are these days. Especially with the invention of the internet, information can be attained with a simple click of a mouse."
"Careful, James, your age is showing." Ms. Goodwitch quipped.
"…I can hear you guys. All you did was turn around." Sky said aloud as he watched the trio of authority figures conduct their 'secret' meeting.
"I don't like it, and I hate what I'm about to suggest, but maybe it'd just be easier if no one saw him again." Ironwood sighed.
"You aren't talking about killing him, are you? That's terrible, James." Goodwitch frowned at her companions willingness to send the young man seated before them to an early grave.
"…I'm still in the room…" Sky chuckled worriedly.
"Well what choice do we have? He's a liability."
"There's always a choice." Ozpin said seriously. "Relax James, I'll handle this." The Beacon Headmaster said before turning around to face the absolutely scared shitless Sky. "I'm forced to make a difficult decision, Mr. Lark. One I haven't made in quite a long time. You're an obvious risk, and letting you continue to socialize with the outside world will cause the risk you represent to double by the day. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but one day you may talk to someone, and then they'll talk and so on."
"You're one of my students, Mr. Lark. I allowed you to attend Beacon because I saw something in you, a potential to be a great huntsman like all the other students." Ozpin spoke quietly, but the weight of his words hit Sky like a wave washing over him. It was the way Ozpin looked down at him that betrayed the years and wars he'd fought. "I very much want you to realize that potential, but you can't do that from a cell or in a grave. Which leaves only one solution."
"Can I trust you, Mr. Lark? Can I trust you to meet my demanding expectations and remain silent? That you work for me instead of against me?"
Sky remained silent. The way Ozpin had said it, he wasn't asking him to stay quiet about what he'd found out, but he was asking him to actively prove his loyalty, to prove he could be trusted with such information. Sky looked up and smiled lightly. "I hope to make you proud, sir."
"Splendid." Ozpin smiled before tapping his cane on the floor and causing Sky's restraints to fall off. "Welcome to the team."
"Qrow's not going to like this."
"Really?" Ironwood couldn't help but smile. "Well in that case I change my mind. I'm full support of this decision now." The Atleasian General took a step forward and extended his prosthetic hand to Sky. "Welcome to the cabal, Mr. Lark. We expect good things from you."
"It's an honor for you to take me into your confidence." Sky said as he shook Ironwood's robotic hand. Sky took a step back, taking a moment to soak in the fact he was now one of few to be a part of something more. But then his scroll began to ring. "Is it alright if I answer that?" Sky asked, visibly embarrassed with his scroll.
"Oh no, please. I don't mind." Ozpin shrugged.
"Hello? Oh hey Russel." Sky answered before looking to Ozpin and mouthing 'It's Russel'. "Mhm. Mhm. Angry mob? Really? Again? Ok." The Lark said, not sounding exactly surprised.
"Angry mob?" General Ironwood raised a brow.
"Uh-huh. Yeah, you're actually in luck, I got him right here." Sky said before taking his scroll and presenting it to Ozpin. "It's for you."
"Ms. Goodwitch, would you kindly hold my mug?" Ozpin asked before handing his mug off to Goodwitch. Ozpin then reached over and claimed Sky's scroll and held it up against his face. "Good evening Mr. Thrush, how may I help you?"
"And Bingo!" The blue haired, goggle wearing Mistral native Neptune Vasilias exclaimed. Seated behind a desk in his transfer student accommodation dorm room, Neptune spun around in his seat presenting Cardin's recently hacked Scroll to the nine people standing behind him.
"Impressive work, Neptune." Weiss complimented the young man as he handed the scroll off to a waiting Jaune. "Where'd you pick up such a skill?"
"I've always been good at electronics." Neptune made a passing gesture to his electricity based weapon resting on the desk. "I'm like a Science Wizard. But cooler."
"I know you guys came here for help finding this Cardin guy, but how's his scroll supposed to, well, help with that?" The blonde faunus and partner of Neptune, Sun Wukong, asked as he peered over Jaune's shoulder and at the scroll in his hand. Sun couldn't help but raise a brow at the scroll's chosen screen saver, a picture of who he assumed to be Cardin and a young woman no older than fifteen standing beside him, both of whom were smiling as they posed for the photo.
"Cardin's the guy, right?" Neptune aske as he approached the group.
"Yes." Jaune rolled his eyes. Sure, he knew the two of them, Sun and Neptune, had never met Cardin before, but what kind of question was that? "Cardin's the guy."
"Cool, at least it's the most physically imposing of the two." Neptune said coolly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jaune questioned before he opened Cardin's messages.
"I'd never let you live down being bullied by a little girl." Neptune deadpanned. Off to the side, Ruby couldn't help but chuckle lightly. Maybe she'd start teasing Jaune more often.
"The girl's his sister." Velvet spoke up.
"Cardin has a sister?" Yang said in an amused tone. "Yeesh and I thought one was bad enough. Imagine what having two of them around must be like."
"'Had', he had a sister. She committed suicide." Velvet said sadly. And just like that everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked to Velvet with slack jaws and mortified expressions.
"Well you could've said that before I made the insensitive comment, Velvet!" Yang shouted, feeling horrible for what she'd said just moments earlier. "Ugh…"
"I don't feel comfortable going through Cardin's messages. This is a violation of his privacy." Velvet said, not hiding her disdain for their actions. In fact, she disapproved of their actions so much, that if one were to actually look behind the second year student's back, they'd see her messaging a certain green haired Thrush about their whereabouts.
"Yeah, we already did that. Remember?" Nora shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Whoa boy, I would not wish cleaning that up even on my worst enemy."
"You don't have a worst enemy." Ren said neutrally as he crossed his arms.
"Shhh! They don't need to know that!" Nora 'whispered' rather loudly.
"…Well that aside, I think we've got something." Jaune said aloud as he opened the most recent correspondence. "It's with a man named Kevin. He's talking about how he's got what Cardin 'asked for'."
"That sounds rather ominous." Weiss muttered.
"Is it by messenger by chance or is there a number we can call?" Yang spoke up, her interested piqued at the mention of the name 'Kevin'. "I think I know the guy Cardin's been talking to."
"What?!" Ruby shouted in alarm. "Yang, don't you tell me this is that guy you see for your fake I.D.s!"
"You got a guy that sells you fake I.D.s?" Sun asked in surprise.
"That's so cool! You've gotta hook us up, Yang!" Neptune said, excited at the prospects of the possibility of sneaking into one of the many clubs in Vale.
"Hey, relax, I don't even know if it's the same guy." Yang said as she pulled out her scroll to compare the numbers. After doing so, she frowned. "Ok, it's the same guy."
"Yang, what would Dad say if he knew you were in cahoots with some drug dealer!" Ruby shouted in a scolding tone.
"Chill Rubes. I don't even think the guys a dealer. Although I don't doubt the possibility that he's a user. He dresses like he might." Yang shrugged.
"That's not helping your case!"
"Is there a chance this Kevin guy would know where Cardin went?" Jaune looked to Yang for an answer.
"Maybe. He's actually a really knowledgeable guy." Yang said as she recalled the many times she'd visited Kevin and he'd astounded her with his knowledge of the goings on at Vale. "Alright then, let's go ask him."
And so then the ten huntsmen in training set off to the tarmac outside campus and caught a ride to Vale. It didn't take too long to reach their destination, but with the setting sun, there was no telling how long they'd be at this. Until they found Cardin at least.
These past few weeks hadn't exactly been going well for the Invincible Girl. To say the least it was an understatement of the facts. Pyrrha remained in the booth at the coffee shop where, sitting in her seat for what must've been hours. She was mindful of the fact it was getting late and that her friends were probably worried about her, but the last thing she wanted to do was go back to Beacon. So she remained in her seat sipping tea and waiting for the world to send her message about what to do with her life.
Just last week she'd tried to woo the object of her affection, one goofy young man, not a boy, but a man who'd yet to realize her potential. But she hadn't the courage to make a move. And then, in her despair at seeing him with the object of his affection, she'd turned to an outside source to remedy the pain she felt. But then that ultimately led to her sharing a night in bed with Cardin.
And then, after seeking refuge from that loveable leader of hers, she'd unintentionally revealed that secret to a room full of people. And then she learned that those people were there only to bet on her love life. But when she'd thought it couldn't get any worse, Russel had implied that maybe her leader, her partner wasn't so blind to her feelings as she'd thought. The whole idea of it was so stressful and troubling.
It was odd now, being called The Invincible Girl. Because it seemed as if she was anything but. Pyrrha shook her head at the thought. She could fight the whole world but at the end of the day it was her heart that was her Achilles heel of sorts. Damn life sucked.
"You alright hon?" The elder waitress addressed Pyrrha as she passed by to deliver a platter to the table across from her. "You've been here a rather long time."
"Oh, yes, thank you for asking." Pyrrha gave the waitress a friendly smile, well, the best she could at the moment.
"Do us both a favor. Quit lying to yourself." The waitress said harshly. "You look devastated. Especially after that guy you were with walked out. Ugh. You could do better than that, kid."
"W-What?" Pyrrha's eyes widened behind her nonprescription glasses at the implication. "No, no he was just my…friend? I don't know. He's a colleague from combat school."
To be honest, Pyrrha didn't actually know what to call Russel. It wouldn't be much trouble to just call him a friend, lob him in with the rest of her so called friends. But she just couldn't for some reason, she just couldn't say the words. They weren't just simply colleagues, he was too involved with her personal life to be something as simple as that. Were they enemies? The whole question just confused Pyrrha the more she thought about it.
"Riiight." The waitress said in a disbelieving tone. "You want more tea?"
"No, no, I'm fine ma'am. I'd best be going, I guess. It's late." Pyrrha said before grabbing the check and making her way up to the cash register and paid with the twenty lien note Russel had left her.
"Hello?" Pyrrha answered. But upon recognizing the voice on the other end, the Invincible Girl's brilliant smile turned to a sour frown. "I don't want to talk to you right now. I'm mad at you, Russel."
But Russel pressed on at the other end of the call, causing Pyrrha to raise a brow in confusion. "What do you mean Jaune's on the warpath?" Pyrrha's look of confusion turned to one of shock as Russel began to describe in great detail what had occurred earlier at his dorm. "No, that doesn't sound like him. Jaune wouldn't do that unless…you hurt his friends."
Pyrrha froze at the realization. But then, oddly enough, Pyrrha broke out laughing. "Cardin hurt me? That's hilarious!" She continued to laugh before settling down. "Alright, where's Jaune now?"
"Really?" Pyrrha raised a surprised brow. "That close? I just have to make a walk down? Alright. Thanks for the heads up Russel, I'll straighten him out." Before they said their proper goodbyes, it dawned on Pyrrha that this was her chance to answer her earlier conundrum.
'Hey, Russel, are we friends?' That was all she had to say. But before Pyrrha could ask the boy, he hung up. And then the four time Mistral champ found herself frowning once more. She let out a defeated sigh before resigning herself to the task of tracking down her partner and the rest of her friends at the law district.
There lived over five billion people in the world of Remnant, given in the latest census, and you could find a billion of them living here in the country of Vale. Distributed diversely across the land, the majority of humans and faunus living in those lands, however, dwelled in the capitol. The city of Vale was young, born out of blood and on the backs of great men like Roman Winchester. A shining beacon in the dark, a symbol of hope and peace, the city of Vale is truly the greatest achievement of mankind.
To Cardin, the city of Vale was his home. Growing up in the nearby suburbs was a treat. He saw the city from afar and up close every day. Ever since he was a little tike he'd look far off, past the high rise buildings of brick, stone and glass over to Beacon Tower as it shine bright by the coast. He grew up being told tales of the heroics of the elder Winchester and of their importance to the city. Cardin was meant to be a Huntsman, it was in his blood.
So was his sister, he thought somberly. Cardin stopped in place and looked around to the surrounding city. Night had fallen over Vale and it was only now that he'd realized it. Funny how things worked, you know. You look away for a second, just a second, and then everything changes. Day turns to night and night to dawn. But if it was so funny, why wasn't Cardin laughing?"
Pushing aside his dark thoughts, Cardin continued on his way. He still had an errand or two before he could set out to achieve his goal. The Merchant district was a melting pot, Cardin knew this from firsthand experience; he and his mother would come down to the local market often when he was a child. He'd see people of different shapes, sizes and color.
But there was always something off about it, something he could never put his finger on until recently. Roman Torchwick wasn't the only gangster in town, he was the biggest without a doubt, but there were the small fish, the ones who ran everything he was too busy to see to himself.
Rex Memoria was a well-respected member of the community. Cardin had met him once or twice back in the day through his father's construction projects. Rex was known to walk the streets of the merchant district, touch base with those of the community. Cardin remembered one such day when he and his mother were out getting groceries when he'd seen Rex from afar, flanked by two broad shouldered gentlemen. The shop keeps Rex spoke with seemed happy enough to entertain such a fine member of the community, at east on the surface.
Cardin was too young then to understand, too young to understand what kind of man Rex Memoria and his dirty world was. The merchant district was just the Memoria crime family's playground. They owned all of it through intimidation or force. The documents Cardin had bought from Kevin was proof of that fact.
But it wasn't Rex who brought Cardin back to this particular part of Vale, but rather, his seventeen year old son Carlo Memoria. Cardin had never known the guy personally, just that he was the son of a well-respected community member. They never crossed paths before, but they will tonight.
The documents he'd bought from Kevin were highly detailed, listing Carlo's schedule. Mondays he spends time at the club his family owns right at the heart of the merchant district. Tuesdays he's at the club. Wednesdays he's at the club. Thursdays he's at the club and so on and so on. This Sunday he's at the club. So that's where Cardin will be going. But not before making a quick stop at a local clothes shop.
Cardin had left his dorm quite some time before he could properly prepare for the occasion. Well, he'd been chased out, but still, he had to look the part of a club goer, not a student of Beacon. So Cardin walked into a suit shop. He wasn't in a rush, he still had some time to kill. The Memoria club won't be jumping at this hour.
So Cardin picked himself a three piece black suit, white dress shirt, black and orange tie. He grabbed himself a pair of loafers, something easy to slip on and he a pair of black leather gloves. The cost didn't bother him, he just put it on his card. It was about time his family's money was put towards something productive.
The next thing Cardin did was find a secluded back alley to change into his newly purchased outfit. He didn't have a mirror to aid in his endeavors to look his best, but after enough formal gatherings such as Beacon and a number of other school gatherings beforehand, Cardin had picked up enough to know how to actually wear a suit without looking like an idiot. And he had to say, he made it look good.
Stepping out of the alleyway, Cardin made his way to the Memoria club. Along the way he spared himself the time to take the scenic route to see all the notable landmarks. He passed by the famous ten meter wide wall with a colorful mural of faunus and humans putting aside their petty differences. It had been painted by a man whose name escaped Cardin at the moment. All the Winchester really recalled was that he'd died fairly recently, killed a few weeks before their first semester ended. He was killed in the streets of Vale by White Fang.
Along the way to the club Cardin walked passed the old playground where he used to play at. His mother would take him there usually before they'd go shopping. She just watched as he climbed up the slide and declared himself king of the playground. Cardin smiled at the memory, it was just an innocent day out in the town with his mother, nothing sketchy about it.
But then Cardin rounded a corner and he spotted a familiar sight. Resting by a telephone pole were a set of candles and a pair of roses. Cardin knew the reason of their placement well, after all, he was the one who put them there. Back some time before attending Beacon, he and his sister were walking home from picking up some odds and ends. Mostly it was because his sister had wanted to try her hand at the culinary arts and needed supplies. He humored her, as he always did and so they'd rounded this very corner on their way back home.
And out of the corner of his sister's eye, she caught sight of one of her friends. Cardin had met the girl once or twice before. Her name was Delilah. Sadly, Cardin hadn't picked up her last name. But his sister was calling out to her, it was something you did, you call out to your friend and say 'hi'. But something was off with her. Upon closer inspection, they saw she was sobbing. And the next thing they knew, Delilah had thrown herself into traffic.
That stuck with Cardin for a while. Mainly because he'd been looking into her eyes when she'd taken the step off the sidewalk. It was as if there were nothing there, just an emptiness. He shuddered at the thought and wondered what could have driven such a young individual with such a promising future ahead of her to do such a thing. Then word about the autopsy got out. So his sister left the candles and Cardin left a pair of roses, one for Delilah and the other for the kid.
Cardin reached the Memoria club right on time. It wasn't too jam packed to prevent him from ever getting in, but there were enough people to make a big enough crowd for him to get lost in when the time called for it.
But that wasn't the best part, Kevin's documents had been exceptionally precise. Right on cue, up beside the club a limo pulled out, no doubt with Carlo inside. But to Cardin's surprise, Carlo wasn't the only one to step out that limo, but also his father Rex himself. Cardin hadn't expected this, no doubt security would be twice as heavy on the inside. Maybe if he doubled back now he could try again another day. But no, he'd come too far and given how things were going down at Beacon, this would probably be his one chance. So Cardin strengthened his resolve and soldiered on.
The fake I.D. Cardin had purchased from Kevin was worth every cent. The bouncer couldn't tell the difference between it and the one he'd check just a second earlier. He waved Cardin forward and so on. The Memoria Club wasn't like Junior's. At least Junior had the charismatic DJ.
While the music raged and the clubbers took to the dance floor, Cardin sat back and watched from afar as Carlo and Rex made their way up the stairs to the second floor. Thankfully one of the many documents Kevin had provided Cardin was the plans for the building. Again, worth every cent.
As he planned, Cardin made his way to the restroom and barricaded it behind him. He then set out to enact the next phase of his plan, climbing up an air vent to the second floor. But before he could, he caught sight of a familiar green mohawk.
"Russel?!" Cardin jumped at the sight of his partner. At the back of the men's room stood Russel who'd apparently been waiting for some time. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Mind keeping it down? I got a fucking headache." In response to Cardin's question, Russel pulled out a familiar folder out of his duffel bag. And for show, he flipped through it and pointed out Kevin's detailed schedule of Carlo Memoria's whereabouts. "Would you believe that the most difficult part about piecing together your little revenge scheme was sneaking this duffel bag into the club?" Russel patted the bag.
Cardin rolled his eyes. "You can't stop me, Russel." He said firmly. He'd come too far to stop now.
"Stop you?" Russel just laughed. "You misunderstand Cardin, I'm here to help you." He said before reaching into the bag once more and pulling out Cardin's mace. "You forgot that."
"Thanks." Cardin accepted the weapon. "You sure about this, Russel? What I'm-what we're about to do, it could get us into a lot of trouble."
"What's the one rule about Team CRDL, partner?" Russel smiled. "No matter what, we've got each other's backs." Cardin returned the smile and thanked his partner once more. "So, when do we begin?"
"Right now."
So...that happened...
I think I mentioned the Sky subplot earlier in my last author's note. If you look back to Arc 3, you'd recall Sky was on the trail of unravelling the mysteries of The Maidens. And so from that point on, in the background of the story, he's been piecing everything together before winding up where he is now. So, if anyone of the characters was going to find out about the Maidens, it was going to be him.
Back in Arc 3, Russel name dropped Cardin's Sister's death to Velvet in the finale of that arc. Bu this is by far the most layers I've pulled away from this version of Cardin I've been developing. He's a good guy at heart but he's jus as misunderstood as The Hulk. And he's sort of turned into The Punisher at the moment. But he and Russel are going to reenact one of the better Red vs Blue Season 14 episodes next chapter, that'll be fun.
Next update should be soon. I really want to finish this arc soon so I could move on to the next one. I've got something fun in store.
'Til next time dear readers! Later Days!