I learned two things yesterday. One, there is nothing sadder than under-seasoned Cajun food. Two, handling raw liver gives me the heebie-jeebies. Just thinking about it right now is making my skin crawl. But hey, at least the Cajun dirty rice I made turned out pretty well, lack of seasoning and objectionable ingredients aside.

I haven't had anyone offer to make art, so off to I go. Coming up with cover art ideas for this story has been tricky, but I've got a couple. Hopefully I'll have something before this story is done.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Regrouping

A small crowd gathered to greet him at the Bullhead docks. Headmaster Ozpin led the procession, flanked by his professors, while a throng of students cheered and waved from behind them. Cardin gave them his biggest smile and waved back as Penny pushed him down the Bullhead ramp. He hunted for any signs of news reporters, but he saw neither camera nor microphone in the crowd.

Ozpin shook hands with him and said, "Welcome back. I'm glad to see you are alright."

"Eh, I've been better. What's happening with the tournament?"

"The Council has decided to postpone the tournament until you have recovered. Of course, if you think your injuries are too severe, you may drop out of the tournament. No one here would blame you."

The Headmaster's expression said nothing, but his words had a hidden warning. Participate in the tournament, and it was likely that another attempt on his life would be made.

"No sense sitting in bed hoping I won't get injured again," Cardin said, pitching his voice so the students could hear. "I'm in."

Ozpin nodded and turned to leave, making way for a wave of students rushing towards him. Penny swiftly stepped in front of Cardin and held her arms out, holding them back.

"Please give him space," she said. "One at a time."

He could hardly deal with the crowd student by student. He'd be there all day. Instead, he let the students slip past him in a stream, giving him handshakes, fistbumps, well-wishes, and high-fives.

His teammates led the pack. Russell went first, giving him a fistbump and asking him how the airline food tasted. Cardin told him he'd rather have had what Jaune threw up. Sky followed with a shaky handshake and fifty questions on what the airship was like and how severe his injuries were. Dove trailed last, giving him a nod and welcoming him back before leaving with his other teammates.

Most of the other students were from Vale, but he saw a fair number of transfer students in the mix. He watched the crowd, trying to spot one of Cinder's pawns lurking among them, but the whole crowd had passed him by without seeing any of them.

Last of all the students was Ruby Rose. She lingered behind the others like a crimson shadow, watching with hesitant glances as the barrier of students dwindled between them. Once the two of them were alone, she slowly came up to him.

"Hey Cardin," she said softly. "Are you doing alright?"

"I'm fine. How's Yang?"

Ruby winced. "Not great. I – I'm sorry she hurt you. It was wrong of her to do that, and, and you didn't deserve that, no matter what happened between the two of you." She bowed low, her cloak flapping over her head. "I'm sorry."

"Really Ruby, bowing? Do I look like a king to you?"

Blushing, Ruby straightened. "Well, you're a Duke or something, right?"

Cardin waved it off. "What about Weiss? I heard she's leaving."

Ruby's face fell. "She's sick of putting up with us. Apparently, she had been considering it for a while, but what Yang did made up her mind."

Cardin thought that over. Nothing in Weiss' attitude towards her father even suggested she would be willing to return to Atlas. He needed to talk to her, but he had a different stop first.

"Where is Yang?"

"Oh, no, you don't have to worry! They're keeping her locked up in her room. She's not going to come after you, and I don't think she would anyways, even if she was allowed out of her room, but she's not, so you're doubly safe, so you don't have to worry."

Cardin cut off Ruby's rambling with a level stare. As Ruby fidgeted under his gaze, Cardin said calmly, "I would like to talk to her."

Ruby froze, like a deer caught in the middle of a busy intersection. "You, what?"

"She's in your room, right?" Looking back at Penny, he said, "Let's go."

"Affirmative, Cardin. To Yang's room we go."

Ruby stared as the wheelchair went past her. Then she ran after them, shouting, "Wait! What do you want with her?"

"We're just going to talk. No need to worry."

Ruby held the door open while Penny rolled him into the dorm. A blonde-haired Huntsman stood outside Team RWBY's door, arms folded over his chest, blue eyes staring blankly at the wall ahead. A sword hung from his belt, and he had a shield strapped to his back. Plate armor covered his chest and legs, and metal gauntlets covered his forearms. When Cardin approached him, the Huntsman glanced at him and gave a start.

"Cardin," he said gruffly. "Yang is being confined to her room for the time being."

"I know. I would like to speak with her."

The man looked him over and frowned. "I'd hate for you to wind up in the hospital again after the trouble my son went through to put you back together."

"Oh, you're Jaune's dad?" Ruby asked. She zipped around Cardin and looked up at the Huntsman, holding out a hand. "I'm Ruby, one of Jaune's friends, and I'm the leader of Team RWBY, I know, it's confusing, and, uh, I'm really sorry about all the trouble my sister caused, I should have kept her in line more, Weiss kept telling me that, and, uh…"

The Huntsman chuckled and shook Ruby's hand. "It's nice to meet you Ruby. You look just like your mom when she was your age."

Ruby gazed in starry-eyed wonder at the Huntsman. "Wow, you knew my mom! What was she like? Did you go on any missions together?"

Cardin cleared his throat. Ruby blushed and cut off, retreating behind him.

"As touching as that was, can I talk to Yang now? I've got a busy schedule."

The man hummed to himself and put a hand on the sword at his hip. "I suppose it's fine, as long as I'm in there with you."

"No need for that," Cardin said. "You can stand outside the door."

The Huntsman's eyes narrowed. "I don't think that's safe."

"I'm safer in that room than anywhere else in Beacon," Cardin retorted. "Stay outside, please."

Jaune's father considered him for a moment and nodded. "Fine. But if I hear so much as a shout, I'm breaking down that door."

The Huntsman stepped aside, and Penny brought him up to the door. Cardin said to her, "You wait outside as well."

"My orders are to remain with you at all times."

"It will be just for a minute."

"But my orders–"

"I have to talk to her alone," Cardin said. "She won't know that I trust her otherwise."

Penny processed his request for a moment. Then she nodded. "I will be right next to the door. I will not let any harm come to you."

"Thanks." He knocked on the door, firm and loud. A few seconds later, Yang's flat and ragged "Come in" came from the other side. The Huntsman swiped his Scroll over the door's lock, and it clicked open.

Cardin turned the wheels of his chair, pulling himself through the door. The creaking of his chair made Yang look up, and her eyes widened.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Nice to see you too." He pulled himself closer, and Yang drew further away on her bed. "I need to find out what happened."

Her eyes fell. "No one believes me. They think I'm lying or crazy. Even Ruby." She wiped her eyes with her blanket. "Ruby won't talk to me."

"You're a terrible liar, and I've always thought you were crazy." He tried to give her a kind, sincere smile, but he felt his face twisting away from it. "Try me."

Yang looked down at him and took a deep breath. "One moment, I saw you holding out your hand, and when I blinked, you were attacking me. It was like the world lurched out of place, when it happened."

Cardin thought back to the moment Yang suddenly appeared in front of him. "And then a bit later, it's gone."

"Yeah, exactly!" A sudden hopeful gleam came in her eye. "Did it happen to you too?"

"When I had you on the chain, there was a moment when I saw you about to hit me. I panicked and drew the chain back."

"That was when you dropped me." Yang shrunk in on herself as she pieced it together. "Someone rigged the fight."

"They wanted you to win. That way, my Aura wouldn't save me from a lethal blow."

Yang looked as though she was about to be sick. "Whoever it was, they knew exactly what I'd do."

"Just about anyone would've reacted as you did."

"No," Yang cut in, face stern. "Anyone sensible would've blocked the hit. I chose to hit you back instead. All of this," she said gesturing at the locked room and at his wheelchair, "Is all my fault."

"If not you, they would've found someone else," Cardin said. "And if they couldn't find someone else, they would've staged it with their own pawn." He debated telling her more, but he couldn't trust Ruby, Yang, or the Huntsman to stay quiet. "A certain someone's trying to kill me one way or another. You were just convenient for them."

"The Headmaster was right," Yang said. "Ozpin thought it was a setup."

"Which is probably why you're still here," Cardin said. "I'm betting you'd be in a prison right now if it weren't for him." He looked out the window, checking for anyone listening in. "Did he come speak with you?"

"No, my uncle did. He's Ozpin's best Huntsman, or he likes to say that. Hard to say if it's the booze talking. Do you think Ozpin can help?"

Cardin shook his head. "Ozpin will be lucky to stay Headmaster once this is all over. The Dukes have been out for his blood ever since he pushed for providing Menagerie with financial aid, and Ozpin's influence is weaker than ever."

Yang's head sank. "So, what? What do we do?"

"All I can do for now is gather evidence. Telling me what you did is a start for that."

"You have an idea who it is?"

Emerald's pained expression as she nursed a headache the moment he was taken away on the stretcher stuck out in his mind.

"I have a lead," Cardin said, "But it'll be tricky proving anything. I wish I could do more."

Yang's expression soured, and she crossed her arms. "Be honest, you don't care what happens to me, do you?"

Cardin shrugged. "Not really. I'd rather that you were free so you could help me catch the person that set you up, but it wouldn't set me too far back if you were sent to jail."

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

He knew there was no convincing her otherwise. He spent too many years using her as a lightning rod for the teachers' ire, tormented too many students in front of her, ensnared her in too many of his plots.

"Of course I am. A nice person, in my shoes, would be dead a hundred times over by now." He glanced at the door, but he kept going. "Because I'm such an asshole, I used Weiss to wring favors out of her father. I was spying on her, and in return, Jacques Schnee sent me some Gravity Dust through General Ironwood. Because he set up that meeting, I got to speak with Ironwood and discuss concerns regarding the individual out to kill me." He leaned as far forward as his chair let him. "That conversation is the reason Ironwood stepped in and had me treated aboard his flagship, instead of letting me get taken to Vale General, where I would have undoubtedly died due to my injures."

Yang went silent, and she didn't meet his eyes as he wheeled himself towards the door. It opened at the first knock.

"That was a very interesting conversation," Penny said as she whisked him out the door before she closed it.

"You probably shouldn't tell people you're eavesdropping on them."

"Oh! That was not eavesdropping. That would be impolite. I was listening in on your conversation to make sure she would not try to kill you again."

"I think that's still eavesdropping," Ruby muttered.

"It is eavesdropping if the people being listened to do not know you are there. Cardin knew I was listening. Right Cardin?"

"Sounds about right."

The Huntsman looked back at the closed door. "Someone planned that whole thing?"

Cardin held a finger over his lips. "Best not to say anything. There's no telling what might happen if rumors got out of hand. If I'm going to clear her name, it must be with decisive evidence, when they won't see it coming."

With a sigh, the Huntsman pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "What a mess. Just do me a favor and keep Jaune out of it, alright?"

"He might already be involved. He saved my life, after all."

His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. "If that's so, let me know what I can do to help you. The name's Nicholas, by the way."

Cardin held out his hand. "Cardin Winchester. I'll be in touch if I need you."

At a signal from Cardin, Penny wheeled him down the dorm hall. "Where to next?" she asked.

"My room. I have some investigating to do."

Ruby trailed after them. "Uh, do you want me to leave?"

Cardin looked back at her. Her eyes kept darting away from his, but as she saw him watching her, she returned his stare. "If it helps Yang, then I want to help," she added.

"No promises," Cardin said, "But I will try to expose the one behind this."

As they approached the stairs, the door to Jaune's room opened. Blake stalked out, eyes blazing, ears flattened against her head beneath the bow. She nimbly darted around Penny and Ruby, stopping in front of Cardin's wheelchair.

"I finally found out why you had me dating Jaune," she snarled. "I can't believe you had me do that to Pyrrha."

Cardin glanced back at Ruby. She seemed to shrink into her boots, watching the scene unfold with wide eyes.

"So what?" Cardin asked. "That's done and over with. You can do whatever you want, tell Jaune the truth, or keep leaving him in the dark."

Blake slammed her hand against the wall. "That's not the point!"

"Then what is? What do you want me to do? Break the two of you apart and push him towards Pyrrha?"

"I want you to leave. If you don't leave Beacon, I'll tell everyone what you did to get Pyrrha to drop out of the Vytal Festival."

"Go ahead. I don't care."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "Nice try, but I'm not falling for that."

"No really. It'd go a lot worse for you than for me. Considering you're one of Yang's teammates, it'll seem like you're standing up for her. Besides, do you even have any evidence?"

The hallway grew disturbingly quiet as Blake ground her teeth. "It's not right," she said. "You hurt everyone around you, you lied and cheated your way through school and the Festival, and now, Yang's going to jail because of you."

"Oh, that's rich!" Cardin said with a forced laugh. "What, I'm the bad guy because Yang shot me in the stomach and got in trouble for it?"

"You did something," Blake said. "I don't know what, but she saw something different. You were behind it, weren't you? You lost, but you had a backup plan. You made her punch you so you could advance to the next round, didn't you?"

"Yang wasn't the only one seeing things!" Ruby said. "Cardin saw something that made him drop Yang! Someone else was after them both!"

"Lies!" Blake shouted. "He's just trying to make you think he's innocent! He tricked me into thinking he was just messing with me when he was really putting Pyrrha through hell! This whole time, he's been trying to win the Vytal Festival, and now, he's closer than ever!"

Cardin swallowed and kept his face calm. Both Ruby and the Huntsman were looking at him with growing skepticism. While others might not buy her wild claims, his new allies might desert him if they thought he was lying. He waved Penny over to him.

"Help me up," he said.

"Doctor Tann said you are not supposed to be out of that until your session with Jaune this evening," Penny said.

"I need to show Blake something. It won't be long."

Penny nodded and put her arm under his shoulder. As Cardin grunted and rose out of his chair, Ruby rushed over and took his other shoulder. She had to reach up to keep him upright, but the extra support eased some of the sudden tension from his chest muscles. Everything in his chest felt tight, as though he had metal bands squeezing his ribs. His breaths came in short gasps, and his head swam from the sudden rush of blood away from his brain.

With a trembling hand, he lifted his shirt. Blake glanced furtively at the lumps of scarred flesh across his stomach with a squeamish curl of her mouth.

"You're right about one thing," he said, his voice strained and weak. "I'm willing to do just about anything to win. The only thing I'm not willing to do is die for it." His legs gave out from under him, and he slipped back into the chair. Penny's firm grip kept him from crashing down, but Ruby yelped and ducked out from under him.

"You knew Jaune would save you," Blake said bitterly. "He already saved you once, in the forest, and again when Pyrrha broke your nose. And both times, you were gambling with your life."

"That first time, I was counting on you to warn me." Blake sheepishly looked away. "And for that second, a broken nose would hardly kill me. Not the first time someone cracked that implant." It was Ruby's turn to look down at her shoes, no doubt recalling a certain parent-teacher conference. "As for Jaune, he was out of Aura. He passed out right after they got me to a doctor. It was only because Ironwood stepped in that I'm alive at all."

Blake wouldn't meet his eyes, but the cold, bitter anger hadn't left her voice. "Do you expect me to believe you?"

"Nope, and honestly, I don't care. Believe it or not, I have powerful people trying to kill me, and it'll take a miracle to stop them. I don't have time to waste trying to convince you I'm innocent when you'll never trust me."

He waved his hand, and Penny pushed him onward. When he pointed towards the stairs, Penny lifted the entire chair and carried him like a stack of books. Once they were at his room, Cardin unlocked the door and rolled inside.

"You lucky dog," Russell said with a grin. "Maybe I should get a wheelchair."

Dove snorted. "You could be wrapped head to toe in bandages and girls still wouldn't come anywhere near you."

Sky and Russell chuckled at the joke. Ruby nervously joined in, but Penny just asked, "Is Russell a dog? I don't see a tail or a second set of ears."

Russell's expression darkened, but before he could say anything, Ruby poked her head around the door and said, "It's just a figure of speech, Penny."

"Sky," Cardin said, "There's something I need you to do."

Sky put his Scroll away and walked over, leaning down towards Cardin. "What is it?"

"I need you to gather side by side footage of Emerald Sustrai and two events as they happened."

Sky drew in a breath. "That'll be tough, considering how packed the stadium was. The cameras have blind spots."

"Not the security cameras, but that shouldn't be a problem anyways. Emerald had front-row seats on the north side, and there were empty seats around her. Clip them with the moment I let the chain go and when Yang punched me."

"You think she did something," Russell said grimly.

"Make sure you keep this to yourselves," Cardin said. "Things might get ugly if rumors spread." He turned to Ruby and asked, "Can you think of any other weird moments in the Festival? You know, someone whiffing an attack for no reason, or dodging something that isn't there?"

Ruby swayed back and forth on her feet. "Well, there was that one guy in the doubles that completely missed Yang."

"Right when she was about to lose, right?" Cardin asked.

Ruby nodded nervously.

"I'll look into that one too," Sky said. "How about I pull out all her other matches as well?"

"If you have time. Start with the other three."

Sky pulled out his Scroll and said, "On it." He expanded the screen and started typing with both hands, digging into the Vytal Festival recordings in the school's records.

Penny wheeled him out of the room. Blake was with them, lurking in the shadows of the hallways.

"Are you going to follow me everywhere?" Cardin asked.

"Someone has to keep an eye on you. So, you plan on pinning the whole thing on Emerald?"

Cardin gestured towards the roof, and Penny took him up there. Blake scowled at the familiar scenery of the dorm's rooftop, while Ruby looked out in wonder over Beacon's campus.

"Wow, I can see everything up here! Hey, there's Nora! Hi Nora! Who's that girl she's with? She looks familiar."

Cardin looked where she was pointing. No amount of makeup and eye liner could disguise Ren's apathetic, deadpan expression. His hand reached for his Scroll, ready for a few pictures, but he doubted Ren would care. Instead, he brought up Weiss' contact and dialed it.

"Hello Cardin." Weiss didn't sound happy to hear from him, more bored than anything else. The disinterest in her voice put Cardin on edge.

"Hello Weiss. I heard you're leaving for Atlas."

"Yes, I am. I should have never left."

"Then why did you?"

"I was being childish," Weiss scoffed. "I didn't want to accept the responsibility that came with being the heiress to a large company. I see now that Atlas is my place."

"How about we grab some lunch before you go? I could get us a couple seats at that ramen place."

Weiss' response was quick and blunt. "I appreciate the offer, but I am too busy at the moment. Not to mention, I'd rather not be out in public during a media frenzy around one of my former teammates. It might ruin my public image."

"Since when did you care about your image?" Cardin asked, pushing as hard as he dared. "You're just going to run back to Atlas with your tail between your legs because of a little trouble with your teammates?"

Weiss' voice grew cold enough to freeze blood. "Who said I'm running? I'm hardly obligated to put up with those irresponsible dolts, and I have responsibilities back in Atlas. I'm not running, I've stopped running." After a short pause, she said, "Get well, Cardin, and goodbye."

Cardin was left listening to silence. He set the Scroll down.

"Good riddance," Blake said. "She's been unbearable since she was proven right."

Ruby looked ready to cry. Penny, noticing this, wrapped her arms around her and asked where she was hurting.

"Why won't she just give me a chance?" Ruby asked. "Why is she leaving?"

The Scroll sprang to life in his hands. An unknown number was calling him. Cardin answered and brought the device to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Is this Cardin?" a familiar voice asked. "I just heard your call with Weiss."

The day before his match with Yang felt an eternity ago, but after a moment, he dredged up the name tied to the voice.

"Klein. How is everything?"

"I don't know," the butler said in a worried voice. "Weiss is behaving oddly, and I don't think it's because of this mess in the news."

"I agree. Something is wrong."

Klein gave a relieved sigh and asked, "Do you have some idea what that might be?"

"Nope, but I'll try to find out. Call me if there's anything I can do."

"Thank you, Cardin. Call me if you require my assistance with anything. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to Weiss before she misses me. Good luck."

Ruby dabbed her eyes with her cloak and sniffled. "What was that about Weiss?"

"I don't know," Cardin said. "Something strange is happening, but I don't have any ideas."

"Where would you like to go now?" Penny asked.

"Back to my room. All we can do now is wait."