Hey there faithful readers, welcome back to the 8th chapter of 'The Darkling Thrush'!

As always, I'd like to thank those who left a review: Boah joestar, Blu3 Fir3, Noone297, Gamewizard2008(sup homie) and SanShine!

I'd also like to thank those who favorite and are now following this story, but its gotten a bit difficult to pinpoint everyone of you guys. So I hope just saying thank you is enough.

For this chapter I actually sat down and debated making this a straight up AU. I don't like how in the show Team CRDL is just a gang of bullies. I don't enjoy it. While we're not in AU territory, wait til we get to Volume 3 territory, oh god.

"To save Pyrrha or not to save Pyrrha? That is the question."

Well, anyways, onto the main event!

VIII

Welcome to Beacon: Part 3

It had been weeks since initiation, and adjusting to life at Beacon was difficult for Russel. The farm boy would always wake up before dawn back in Oakwood. Here, his classes started at 10 Monday through Thursday and usually ended around 6. But if that was the least of his worries, then Russel nothing to worry about at all.

The first class of the day was with Professor Port, that big gentleman he'd met on his first day. He'd go on and on about his exploits as a huntsman, and that was really much up to Russel's speed. Russel was here at Beacon for a reason, to become a Huntsman and he wanted to succeed at that.

So every time Professor Port veered off the reservation, Russel would skillfully bring back round to the subject matter. This wasn't Oakwood Academy, every moment was precious. He wouldn't take a passive role in the classroom anymore.

"Ursa are large Grimm. Would anyone like to state a few of their potential weak spots?" Professor Port asked. Russel hand went up and the portly man pointed at him to answer.

"Their backs are too well protected. Getting them to attack you is the only sure fire way to combat an Ursa. While standing on two legs, an Ursa's stomach is the most exposed part of their body as well as their neck." Russel answered simply.

"Very good Mr. Thrush." Professor Port smiled. "Fighting an Ursa is very hands on. One time I was surrounded by five of the beasts and they all wanted a piece of me…"

Russel, along with the rest of Team CRDL had combat training with Professor Goodwitch. Aside from usually beating the ever loving crap out of one another in Oakwood, which wasn't fun for someone like Russel who only recently unlocked his aura, Beacon took safety precautions to the extreme. It was a whole other experience to Russel. Everyone was outfitted with an aura monitor and their Professor could literally separate two combatants too caught up in the moment with the wave of a finger.

Training with his daggers was a top priority. With each swing, Russel hoped to break physics over his knee. Perhaps the daggers turned wind into a weapon? Or maybe they could enable Russel to fly. But it didn't matter. All of Russel's efforts appeared fruitless. Perhaps they were just simply daggers.

"The hell are you doing Russel?" Cardin inquired from a ways behind the Thrush.

Russel glanced over his shoulder, recognizing Cardin and then turned to face his dully appointed team leader. "What's it look like? I'm practicing."

"Yeah, I can tell." Cardin pointed a finger at the daggers in Russel's hands. "But you seem so unfamiliar with your own weapons. So what gives?"

"They're new." Russel answered simply. He wasn't lying. They were new to him. "Anyways this is combat training Cardin. Relax, I'm getting the hang of them." Russel just waved off his leader's concerns.

"Well, take however you like, Russel. But I can't exactly trust some guy who swings his crap around like an idiot." Cardin said, not really caring how Russel felt on the matter. "If you need help better using them, we could always ask Professor Goodwitch to put in the next sparring match."

"And watch me get creamed by the likes of say, Pyrrha Nikos?" Russel deadpanned.

Cardin shrugged. "At least we'd be able to better gage your abilities." Cardin then pointed to the training dummy Russel had been mercilessly cutting into for the last past hour. "That poor dummy's just about had it."

Not too far away, one Jaune Arc, the leader of Team JNPR, was approaching one Weiss Schnee from behind. Ever since arriving to Beacon, that Jaune fellow had been hitting on the Schnee heiress to comical failure. Today, he was hoping his sword skills might just be able to catch her attention.

While Cardin and Russel were busy discussing the latter's skills as a liability to the team, Jaune whipped out his sword Corcea Mors. "Hey Snow Angel." He said, catching Weiss by surprise.

What Jaune didn't know was that Weiss was at the moment concentrating on her glyphs, focusing them into one tiny area for combat applications. Being caught unawares had the unlikely effect of releasing the energy held within the glyph outward, causing Corcea Mors to fly out of Jaune's hand and fly backwards at Cardin.

Mid bickering, Russel caught sight of the speeding object. Quickly, Russel grabbed ahold of Cardin and tackled him to the floor, taking him out of the sword's path. Corcea Mors then promptly exploded the training dummy's head and found itself lodged in a wall.

Cardin and Russel sat up from where they lay on the floor. They both looked over to the sword stabbed into the wall and then traced it back to the other side of the room. Both members of Team CRDL found Jaune standing there in dismay as Weiss scolded him about proper weapon conduct.

"That guy just took a shot at us." Cardin glared. His expression then softened as he found Russel standing over him with a hand extended downward.

"You going to lay there all day fearless leader?" Russel commented. Cardin graciously accepted Russel's hand. Together, Cardin found himself standing again.

"Thanks for the save there Russel." Cardin said as he busied dusting himself off.

"Don't mention it." Russel shrugged before walking off to return his equipment to his locker. Wouldn't you know it? Class ended two minutes ago.

After that day in combat class, there was bad blood between Jaune and Cardin. There wasn't telling how long the CRDL leader would keep this up. He was tripping Jaune in the halls, stuffing him into his rocket locker and blasting him out into the yard. The operative word is 'into'. The rocket locker literally imbeds itself into the surface and bores downward. Professor Goodwitch had to step in and pull Jaune out last time.

The whole Jaune thing was an uncomfortable topic within the CRDL dorm room. Though none of them would say it, Russel could tell Sky and Dove had been in the blonde's shoes before. Russel picked up on it early on. Dove would always call his mom, at least once a day to check in with her. And that must've been nice, being able to hear your mother's voice every so often.

And Sky's sexual preference, given where he grew up at, opened him up to all manner of harassment. How exactly do you tell the three guys you're bunking with your gay? On the second day, Sky made a point to clear the air, to let them all know in order to face whatever argument there would be head on. But none of them could actually give a shit if the other was man, woman, transgender, faunus, straight or queer.

At the end of the day all that mattered was they all had each other's back. They were a Team after all. And that was Team CRDL's only rule.

So they all turned a blind eye to Cardin's actions. Russel argued that the guy had it coming. Being as reckless as he was almost could've sent Cardin packing.

Now in the present, Russel just sat on the bleachers in combat class. The current sparing match, that Cardin absolutely volunteered for was under way. Jaune vs. Cardin. The knight in jeans vs. the mountain. It was the reasonably stoppable object vs. the tank-like force. And Cardin was winning.

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin said cockily.

Jaune brought himself to face his adversary. This was his chance to stomp out any further altercations with Cardin. If he managed to defeat Cardin, in front of everyone, any hold the Team CRDL leader had over him would dissipate.

"Over my dea-" Jaune began to say defiantely, only to be cut short by Cardin and smacked with his mace. Jaune was sent flying, landing on his rear.

Cardin moved in for the kill, Russel along with the rest of the class unsure of whether this was just a figure of speech or fact, only to be stopped short by Professor Goodwitch. After that Goodwitch went on about the aura tracker, indicating Jaune's aura had fallen into the red. Cardin walked off the combat floor and took his seat on the bleachers beside Russel.

"Hey you alright man?" Russel asked.

Cardin shrugged dismissively. Russel took a good look at his team leader, there was something off about him. The way he was acting, he was most certainly was an aggressive person, but this was pushing it.

Professor Goodwitch called the class over and then they hit the lockers. They stashed their weapons and then set off to the dining hall.

"Gosh I'm starving." Dove said as he pressed his hands against his growling stomach.

"That's what you get for skipping breakfast." Sky said in a scolding manner. "How is it you sleep in when all four of us live in the same room with the same alarm?"

Dove just shrugged then resumed clenching his gut in anguish. Team CRDL passed through the dining hall doorway and quickly got themselves a spot in line.

"You guys go ahead, I'll grab us a table." Cardin said before losing himself into the sea of students.

Cardin found a secluded table and sat down. He just sat there staring out into nothing. His jaw fell open slightly and then he doubled over forward, his elbows on the table and his head arched downward as if he was trying to hide himself from the world.

Not too far away, some girl with long brown hair and bunny ears came strolling down the aisle with a plate of food in hand. Her name was Velvet Scarlatina, she was a second year student at Beacon. She's a kind gentle soul with a secret perverse side, but above all, she was one to lend a helping hand.

Spotting Cardin sitting there, seemingly in pain, Velvet couldn't help but come to the larger boy's aid. "Oi! Mate, you alright?" Velvet asked, quickly taking a seat beside Cardin. She then placed a comforting hand on his armored shoulder. She could hear a feint sobbing.

Cardin shot up, his face red, tears swelling in his eyes and a pissed off look on his face. "Leave me alone you bunny eared freak!" Cardin lashed out.

That got the attention of students seated nearby. With The White Fang running around and anti-faunus sentiment at an all time high, this altercation was the last thing anyone wanted. Velvet recoiled away, shocked.

Down the aisle, Russel and the others came, along with their plates of food and one for Cardin. They took their seats across and beside Cardin at the table. What ensued next was a combination of mob mentality and backing up their leader.

"Those even real?" Cardin asked pointing at Velvet's ears. He then reached out as Velvet shot out of her seat to get away, quickly snatching one of her ears and yanking on it. "Oh, it is real."

"Stop it that hurts!" Velvet cried out, only for Cardin to release his hold.

Maybe it was the pent up anger he felt from watching his neighbor's homes get burned down. Or maybe it was the fact they'd tried to kill him. But Russel's first encounter with a faunus was not a pleasant one. When Russel joined in on harassing the bunny eared girl, it was really coming from a dark place.

"What a freak." Russel sneered.

And then Velvet ran away crying, ashamed that she'd been treated in such a disrespectful manner. All because she'd just wanted to do something nice.

Team CRDL then dug into their lunch, but Russel couldn't help but overhear the conversation occurring at one of the neighboring tables. There across from them sat Teams RWBY and JNPR, they all sat there condemning their actions.

"Well if you didn't like what we were doing. Then why didn't you step in?" Russel muttered to himself.

Team CRDL then finished their meals and were off to complete the rest of their scheduled courses for the day. But call him curious, Russel pulled Cardin aside just to figure out what exactly he and the others had gotten involved with.

"You alright?" Russel asked in a sterner manner than before. Dove and Sky had already gone their separate ways. So it was Russel walking beside Cardin and the much taller boy was on the defensive.

"I told you, I'm fine." Cardin muttered, not feeling up to talking. "Shouldn't you be heading to class? Professor Peach might freak if you don't."

Russel could see what Cardin was doing, hoping to throw him off whatever trail he'd stumbled onto his reason and logic. Well tough beans Cardin, Russel could afford to skip a day of class, he was a good enough learner and put in more than enough time into the work. "Peach's too nice of a person. So why did we go all ham on some second year? I thought we didn't care about none of that race business?"

Cardin stopped in his tracks and just glared at his partner. "Watch it Russel."

"Cardin." Russel met his partner's stare. "We're a team. If there's something going on with you, just say it. I'm not going to tug at your ears and call you a freak." He said, casting shade on today's events. "Just food for thought I guess." Russel shrugged.

"Maybe there's nothing wrong with me Russel. And it's all in your head." Cardin waved him off. They reached Dr. Oobleck's class and they said their goodbyes. "Catch you later."

Russel just watched as Cardin slinked off into the class, taking a seat upfront. The sole remaining Thrush just shook his head and began to head back to the dorms. He should be heading to class, there was still time to make it before roll. But Russel just couldn't find it in himself to backtrack. Back to the dorm building Russel went. Up the elevator he went, reaching the top floor. Out the elevator and down the hall, Russel's destination was almost insight.

"I saw what you did in the dining hall." Russel stopped in his tracks, recognizing that voice. He slowly turned around, finding Marie-Anne standing there in the hallway, looking at him with judging eyes. "You're a terrible person."

Russel just stood there silently, watching as Marie-Anne approached him. "You come here to Beacon, poised to be a Huntsman. And yet you keep acting like that pain back in Oakwood. What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked coldly, bitterly, angrily.

He didn't answer. Russel just stared back at her, neither submitting to her judgement nor admitting his guilt. Because he didn't feel any. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked once more, this time lower, coarser, with a cold air engulfing the space between them.

Still, Russel didn't flinch. So Marie-Anne brought her hand back and struck forward. There was an audible 'smack' in the hallway. Russel's cheek burned red from the contact. It was late in the day, he was tired and his aura was too low. But he had grown accustomed to the pain. Aura was for the fortunate. He was never fortunate.

"Say something." Marie-Anne's eyes narrowed. Her features twisted, betraying the anger she felt. "Say something, you coward." She demanded. She reeled her hand back once more and hit him again.

This time, Russel rolled with the slap, spinning fully around. Russel then walked away. "Get back here!" Marie-Anne shouted, losing whatever cold calculating composure she had.

But Russel didn't stop, he just kept walking. He didn't owe Marie-Anne anything and she felt entitled to being his handler, the one who chewed him out for whatever mistakes he made. But she wasn't, she was just some girl he knew from Oakwood.

Russel got to his dorm and opened the door. The first thing he did was kick of his usual outfit and throw on his night wear. Then the young man climbed into bed. He stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought about today. You know it didn't really bother him. What they did to that faunus girl, it didn't really affect Russel. What made him uncomfortable was how Cardin reacted. It was almost like an involuntary reaction or something.

From noon to night, Russel remained in the dorm, completing previously assigned work for Goodwtich and Port. Peach had taken the liberty of just putting everything on the syllabus. As long as Russel had the textbook he was in good shape and would never be behind.

Night fell and the rest of Team CRDL trickled back into the room. Dove went on about something called 'Red vs. Blue', how they released a new episode or something online. And Sky was getting ready to head to the washrooms. Cardin on the other hand was busy standing by the room's window, almost as if he could hear something out there.

"Hey, no. Don't jump, you got too much to live for." Russel deadpanned as he eyed Cardin's actions.

"Shh." Cardin held an index finger against his lips and then resumed sticking his head out the window.

Russel got up from where he was seated and walked up to the window and so did Dove. The three boys stood there listening to familiar voices.

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" A feminine voice belonging to one Pyrrha Nikos exclaimed.

"You think I need help?" They could hear the distinct crack in Jaune Arc's voice.

"N-no! No, that's not what I meant." Pyrrha back peddled.

"But you just said it."

"Does it suddenly feel like 'Days of our Lives' to anyone? Huh?" Dove asked, earning confused looks from Cardin and Russel. "'Days of our Lives'? The soap opera? My mom and I used to watch it all the time." Russel and Cardin exchanged another glance and proceeded to roll their eyes before they returned to eavesdropping.

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!"

"You're wrong. I-I don't belong here."

"That's a terrible thing to say! Of course you do!"

"No, I don't! I wasn't really accepted into Beacon..."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy! I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"

"…Holy crap." Dove muttered as he and the others continued to listen in. "This is so a soap opera"

"Dude shut up its getting good." Cardin punched Dove in the arm.

"What? But... why?" Pyrrha asked, confused.

"'Cause this is always what I've wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough." Jaune said, almost breaking into tears as he admitted his darkest secret to his partner.

"Then let me help you!" Pyrrha exclaimed.

"I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!" Jaune shouted.

"Jaune, I-"

"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own... then what good am I?" Jaune sobbed. "Just... leave me alone. Okay?"

"If that's what you think is best..."

"And here I thought they were gonna fuck." The three CRDL boys turned to find Sky standing behind them, having stealthily returned to the room. "What? We all were thinking it."

"Hold on." Cardin smirked to himself. "I got a great Idea." He said before climbing out the window.

"Cardin what the hell are you doing?" Russel asked, trying his best to keep his voice down.

"Oh, Jaune..."

Jaune quikly spun around, shock overtaking him. "Cardin!" He yelped.

"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!" Cardin said, sounding almost impressed.

"Please, Cardin, please, don't tell anyone!" Jaune begged.

"Jaune, come on! I'd never rat on a friend like that!" Cardin exclaimed as he approached him.

"A... a friend?" Jaune stammered.

"Of course!" Cardin exclaimed before snaking an arm around Jaune, trapping him in a headlock. "We're friends now, Jauney boy! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time."

"That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" Cardin released Jaune from his hold, letting the blonde knight fall to his knees. "That's what I thought."

Cardin then walked back to the ledge, leaving the way he came. "Don't worry, Jaune; your secret's safe with me."

And in the aftermath of it all, Jaune remained there on the roof, unsure how to feel. And within the CRDL dorm, a similar look now found itself on Russel's face.

Well, that's that.

I actually really enjoy writing this type of character for Russel. It's fun. The only way I could rationalize Cardin's anti-faunus behavior without making him an unremorseful scumbag was to just say 'there's something going on with him', and I hope you all will accept that explanation for the time being. I promise its worth putting up with awkward 'Cardin Smash Hopes and Dreams'.I knew ahead of time that doing this arc was going to be time consuming, because I'm not straying from continuity as much as I'd prefer. For the time being Team RWBY is benched. The next arc after this, we'll see a lot more of them, specifically Blake. Spoiler, but an entire chapter is just Russel and Blake talking in a room. It's going to be great.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this. Good night.