Author's note: New chapter babyyyy les gow!
Welcome to Beacon
While Cardin was riding on the bullhead chatting with Russel let's change our focus to Jaune Arc, Beacon's soon to be loveable lanky, blonde goofball.
Jaune was nervous, in addition to throwing up on a blonde girl's boots he tripped and fell on his way down the bullhead. 'Come on Cardin where are you man?'
Jaune was waiting on the platform until he heard an explosion. Being the good person that he was he quickly moved toward the sound where he saw a pretty little girl laying down in a crater.
"Hey there, need any help?" Jaune helped the girl stand up "Thanks" she told him.
"Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" she asked
Jaune nodded a little embarassed "Yeah, it's unfortunate but motion sickness is quite a widespread problem, and I'm an unfortunate victim"
"So, what should I call you? Vomit boy?" she joked
"Hey! That's mean, would you like it if I called you craterface?"
The girl gasped "It wasn't even my fault!"
"Well that's what it looked like to me!" Jaune shot back with a laugh. Ruby pouted but smiled afterward "What's your name anyway Vomit Boy?"
"Please don't let that be a nickname that sticks"
The girl smirked "Only if you don't introduce yourself"
"Jaune Arc, short sweet rolls off the tongue, ladies love it" Jaune pointed finger guns.
Ruby laughed "Do they?"
"At least one girl did" Jaune boasted "And this time it's not my mom"
Ruby raised her eyebrow with a smirk "I like it"
"Thanks, miss?"
"Ruby Rose, nice to meet you Jaune"
"Likewise" They started walking again.
"So, that your weapon?" Jaune pointed at the girl's back and she nodded "Yep, Crescent Rose" she expanded the scythe/sniper rifle.
"Wow that is cool, here I am with this sword and shield" Jaune said expanding Crocea Mor's shield as he drew it.
"Well, they do get the job done, that's the classics for ya" Ruby said comforting Jaune who agreed "Yeah, that's true"
"Is that a giant scythe?" the titular character of this story asked, Cardin had gotten off the bullhead and was chatting with Russel while they headed to the auditorium.
"And a high-caliber sniper rifle" Ruby added
Russel whistled inspected the weapon "This looks like a heavy ass weapon here girly. Wouldn't want to get on your bad side"
"True that man" Cardin agreed.
Ruby puffed her chest in pride.
"Cardin, you're here. Dude you have no clue how nervous I was when I got here" Jaune said fist bumping Cardin.
"Yeah, he kinda threw up on the ship" Ruby said, retracting her weapon.
"Oh did he now?" Cardin raised his eyebrow. "I guess I have a new nickname for you"
Jaune facepalmed "Please don't say Vomit Boy"
Cardin shrugged "Wow, I was going to say Vomit Man but Vomit Boy is good"
Of course Cardin knew of the nickname, he knew how Jaune got it but he wanted to mess with the guy.
Jaune groaned, they happily chatted until they got to the auditorium.
"Wow Russel, even when we chatted on the ship I didn't think you'd know much about weapons" Cardin was impressed, Russel was gushing about weapons to Ruby who completely agreed on his insights.
"Well, you grow up being forced to learn about being a huntsman and their weaponry you'll pick up a thing or two" Russel was surprisingly nice unlike how he looked like in the show. Cardin thought that at first he would be racist and mean but he was personable, perhaps the only reason he seemed like that in the show was because the original Cardin influenced him to be like that.
Cardin scanned the auditorium and spotted Pyrrha, "Jaune, go over there and talk to her"
"Hm? Who?"
"Pyrrha, she's standing over there see? She looks pretty lonely"
"You're not gonna stop about this are you"
Cardin shook his head, "No sir, wingman duties"
Jaune sighed and left for Pyrrha.
"Sis!" Yang ran toward Ruby.
"Yang!-" Ruby shouted until she gave her an angry look "You left me!"
"Hey, you needed to go out there and make friends, I mean I saw you talking with Vomit Boy over there" Yang pointed to Jaune who was tapping Pyrrha's shoulder who then looked back and talked happily with Jaune.
"Yeah but still" Ruby relented.
Yang waved it off "Don't worry sis you're already on your way to becoming a popular kid"
"No thanks, it's a good thing Cardin, Russel and Jaune over there were able to help me" Ruby was still pouting "Otherwise I would've gotten lost"
"Cardin?" Yang asked and Ruby nodded "Yeah, Cardin"
Cardin waved, "Hello, it was like you guys weren't noticing I was here. Which was weird considering I'm large"
Yang went over to Cardin "Thanks for taking care of my sister, well Ruby, let's go to the seats I got us!"
"Y-Yang wait!" Ruby shouted and Yang pulled her away.
Cardin looked at Russel "You have any clue what that was?"
Russel shrugged "You and me both"
Cardin looked over to Jaune and Pyrrha who were talking, Jaune said something that made Pyrrha laugh. Jaune looked like he was finally having fun and getting rid of his nerves.
"I know I've known you for all of like an hour but are you wingmanning for tall blondie over there?" Russel asked
"Yeah, I think he can land it" Cardin affirmed.
"Isn't she waaay out of blondie's league?"
"Want to bet?"
"Three hundred lien" Russel brought out lien cards.
"Make it five and we have a deal" Cardin raised the stakes knowing he would win.
"You sir have just lost five hundred lien" Russel joked
"We'll see about that"
Beacon had to make the new students sleep together in one big auditorium for the first night due to the dorm rooms being arranged.
Cardin set his bag down and placed his Beacon issued sleeping bag in the middle of the room. He took a towel from his bag and a change of clothes, Jaune walked with him "Hey man, are you going for a shower?"
Cardin looked at what Jaune had in hand, a blue onesie and black shorts and grey tank top. "Yeah, you going too?"
Jaune nodded, "Can't sleep without bathing now can I?"
Cardin agreed and they went to the bathroom. The spray of water hitting the ground and the guys coming in and entering were only parts of the chorus of sounds that came from the shower room. There were only a few boys left in anyway considering it was getting late. Cardin chose a stall and Jaune took one next to it.
"Hey man, so what are your thoughts on Pyrrha?" Cardin asked
"Well, she's a really good person and I feel like we could be really good friends"
"Nothing more than that?" asked Cardin "You know, I think you could do it"
Jaune laughed "Yeah, like I said before no way. But I do enjoy her company"
"That's a start" Cardin laughed
Jaune and Cardin exited the bath fully clothed. Cardin wore your typical black tanktop which accentuated his large and muscular upper body physique and grey shorts which showed off his toned leg muscles.
Cardin knew he trained hard for his body and he owned it, he was muscular without giving away any mobility in his muscles.
"Jaune are you really going to wear that?" Cardin asked Jaune who wore his blue onesie. "You know, you'd be able to strut your stuff more if you just wore the grey shirt and shorts right?"
Jaune shook his head "But it's comfortable"
Cardin shrugged "Whatever floats your boat my man"
Cardin entered the room with Jaune, the boyd were flexing, some shirtless from across the room to appeal to the female populace. Some girls liked what they saw and others just rolled their eyes.
"Look at that Cardin, some girls are checking you out" Jaune pointed out.
"Well, it's all about confidence right?" Cardin said with a smile. Internally however he felt quite unnerved, yes he was confident in his size and muscle but being ogled at by women he didn't quite know was uncomfortable.
Jaune agreed "That's what my dad used to tell me! But it never worked out for me"
Jaune deflated and Cardin pat his back "Hey man, I at least know one girl looking at you"
"Yeah? Are you going to say my mom?" Jaune asked
"Nah, you'll figure it out"
Cardin scanned the room and saw Pyrrha looking at Jaune with a little blush. 'I bet she finds the onesie cute' Cardin thought, to be fair though Jaune cut a good 'Awkward Boy Next Door' vibe, the slightly damp and messy hair with the onesie that didn't quite hug his features but was loose enough to show his collarbone. If Cardin was a lady he would've thought Jaune was kind of cute.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't worry about it, let's go find a place to sleep" Cardin led Jaune to the spot he saved in case Jaune needed an area to sleep.
"You saved the spot for me? Thanks man" Jaune thanked tearfully.
"No need to thank me, you should set up we have to get going for tomorrow's initiation"
"Initiation?" Jaune asked
Cardin covered his mouth, he didn't know if he should know about that. "Well I just thought... Well anyway, go to sleep you need the energy for tomorrow."
"Alright" Jaune replied and slept. Cardin stood up and went over to Pyrrha, "Pyrrha, can I talk with you for a second?"
Pyrrha who was minding her own business reading something on her scroll. "Yes Cardin? Was there anything you needed my help with?"
"Yeah actually, it's about Jaune"
Pyrrha perked up "What about Jaune? Is he in trouble?"
Cardin scratched the back of his head "Well, kind of. See, Jauney boy doesn't have a landing strategy"
"He doesn't? Isn't that one of the first things we learn as huntsmen?" Pyrrha asked puzzled.
"Well, Jaune has his circumstances. So I was wondering if you could either land with him or help him out in some way" Cardin dodged the reason why.
Pyrrha nodded "Understood, thank you Cardin. I know that you've been sending Jaune my way and I appreciate that" Pyrrha thanked Cardin.
"Hey, if you didn't want to hang with him you'll just politely decline him anyway"
"That is true" Pyrrha agreed "But he is wonderful company"
"And good boyfriend material" Cardin added
"W-what? W-well..." Pyrrha blushed and Cardin left her to her own devices.
Tomorrow was the day, the official start of his life in Beacon as Cardin.
He got in the sleeping bag and drifted off into dreamland.
The boy sat by himself in the emptiness of his mind, thoughts echoing.
"You look lonely there boy"
"You can call me K, you know?"
Cardin approached K and they sat, "Cardin, I've don't know your story"
Cardin chuckled "Never thought you'd want to learn my story, but I ended up being a terrible person and a mean bully"
K shook his head "From my experiences, it's all about your circumstances. So maybe I could understand you and you could redeem yourself in some way."
Cardin sighed "Well, truth be told I was very into painting when I was a child. My parents didn't approve of it"
His eyes darkened "I... I started to lash out at my parents, creating a rift between us. Of course I had no choice but to be a huntsman so I begrudgingly trained."
K nodded along with the story "Along those lines I started to become physically powerful. My body became larger with training and the amount of people I could hurt increased."
"I knew it was stupid but I hung out with those people you saw before and did...things with that deer faunus. I was stupid and angry. Slowly it started to increase in intensity, soon I found myself doing drugs and bullying those I could"
Cardin let a tear flow down his cheek"I... I was a terrible person, but I know with this second chance you could redeem me. So far you've already done better than I did"
K pat his back "Don't worry Cardin, everyone is afraid of something. Even now, I who is controlling your body am afraid of taking this step. " K opened up
"I- I'm afraid to go out there and face real monsters"
Cardin listened, K continued "All my life from before this, I was just a normal teenager no superpowers, semblances, training. Nothing and now I'm here in your body doing the best I can, and its all just overwhelming."
Cardin smiled "Don't worry man, if it's anything from me who found out how to be good too late... That fear you feel, is a sign of your humanity. I used to be afraid of fighting, afraid of being apologizing for my wrongs, however it was a sign that I had at least a little bit of good in me and that fear brought it out of me here and now"
"Have faith in yourself K, because I already know you are the better me"
K took his hand "Don't worry Cardin, through this you've earned your redemption"
Cardin was vanishing from the dreamscape with a smile "Thank you, K"
"This won't be the last I'll hear of you right?"
"I don't know..." Cardin answered wavering.
K woke up in Cardin's body once again, opening his eyes wide. "God I hate doing that."
Cardin stood up and looked at his scroll, Four in the morning. He thought he might as well go on a run before his morning shower. So from his case he took a towel and earphones with him, he wore running shoes and a jacket he had.
Cardin stretched outside the hall and was choosing a tune on his scroll.
"You can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man-" Cardin sang along as he ran aroung the vast school grounds.
The sun was low and the skies were dark still, the chirping of the birds were all the sounds you could hear, the smell of morning dew was prevalent in the morning's early sunrise.
Cardin's feet thumped on the cold concrete and the calm winds blew any of his loose clothes around. Cardin was humming to himself, with his eyes closed. It was a cathartic feeling, having a run, it acted as the calm before the storm which was Beacon.
His run was interrupted when he bumped into someone, one of his earphones fell and he heard a feminine yelp as the girl in front of him hit the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry are you okay?" Cardin apologized and took the girl's arm to raise her up.
The sun was just coming up, her face which was obscured by the shadows. Slowly the sunlight uncovered her face, beautiful skin, rosy cheeks and long eyelashes. She had beautiful bright brown eyes, she had healthy proportions and was fit. She was rubbing her backside after falling while one her face was in a wince, her brown hair was illuminated by the rising sun giving it a bright and ethereal look. One of her brown rabbit ears war flopped in half while the other was straight.
Cardin swallowed his saliva, "Wow, uhm... Yeah sorry are you alright?"
The girl, he recognized as Velvet Scarlatina nodded "Yes, I am. I'm sorry I was kind of tired and just came back from a mission and-" she trailed on.
Cardin looked to the ground where he saw a camera "Hey, uh miss you dropped this"
Velvet tilted her head but her eyes instantly widened as Cardin presented her with the item "Oh my! Thank you, sorry for bumping into you again by the way."
Cardin scratched his head, "No it's my fault I was running with my eyes closed"
"I can't blame you, it's relaxing right?" Velvet asked shyly.
Cardin nodded "Yeah, but still, I should've been watching where I was going"
"Apology accepted, sorry could I get your name?" asked Velvet
Cardin gulped again at the sight of the beautiful rabbit faunus "I... Cardin Winchester, I think you might've heard of me"
Velvet affirmed "Yes, I have actually. The illusive heir of the Winchester business"
"Well... Yeah basically, what about you miss?" Cardin asked fully knowing who Velvet is 'It would be weird if I said her name right now since she's never seen my face in her life perhaps except television'
"Velvet Scarlatina, of team CFVY"
"Team?" Cardin asked
"Oh, are you a new student" she asked
"Yeah... I came in just yesterday"
Velvet relaxed and with a smile wished him good fortune. "Thank god, I thought you were a senior. Anyway, good luck on your initiation today"
Cardin waved breathlessly "Y-yeah..."
'Wow, she's a lot cuter than I thought she would be... But too bad she must think of me as a creep' Cardin cringed at the encounter and continued his run.