Chapter 8: I'm The Definition Of, Half Man, Half Drugs...

"All right guys, ready, and heave- OOOOFFFFHHH! Hoooo... there we go." Russel sighed, having just tossed a slumbering, bare-chested, puke-stained Cardin Winchester onto his bed, with the help of Dove and Sky of course. "Oh thank, fucking, God he's alright. This was like the..." Russel stopped himself, trailing off and turning around to see Ruby, Yang, and Coco, all standing in front of the doorway, displaying fretting looks- except Coco, who just looked indifferent. Russel had almost forgotten they were following them to begin with. ".. Hey, thanks for helping us with finding Cardin guys, even if it was easier than we thought. You can all leave now."

"... So, you three are just... gonna leave Cardin here or are you going to get him some help?"

"Well," Russel started, in response to Adel's question, "... no, yeah, we're uh... Cardin doesn't need any doctors or stupid medical shit like that, his aura will take care of himself."

"-I'm sorry, did you not see all of that... fucking shit he threw up back at the statue?! Normal people don't throw up that much- let alone that black shit that he pukes out- and not go and see a doctor! Oh, and look at this," Coco unbundled Cardin's stained shirt to show his brothers, Yang, and Ruby all of the blood that had coated it, shocking and horrifying everyone in the room by the sight, "this is not his blood. I know that because it was like a ducking dozen feet away from where Ron was beating him up! So either Cardin threw up all this blood himself, or..."

Coco did not say it, but everyone knew what it was going to be: she was merely implying that Cardin had killed someone, or hopefully an animal while he was gone.

"... I don't know if this his blood or not, but whatever the case," She tossed the shirt to Sky, who jumped back a bit to let it hit the ground without touching him, "Cardin needs to get help. Whatever... has been happening to him isn't right at all." Coco soon left after expressing her opinion, leaving the six students alone in CRDL's room, remaining in gut-wrenching silence as Sky sat himself down at the end of Cardin's bed, Dove clenched his hands, and Russel shook his head, waving her comment off, all the while Yang and Ruby stood still, momentarily glancing at each other to determine whether or not they should leave.

"That bitch doesn't know a fucking thing," Lark began with an irate tone, scowling at the floor as he continued on, "she doesn't know Cardin like we do, he'll be fucking right as rain soon enough. I don't even know why she helped Cardin to begin with, or why she cares, but..." He brought his attention to the two sisters now, his gaze softening while doing so, "you two... I don't know... but like Russ said, thanks..."

"..."

"..."

"... But she's right though," Ruby spoke up, grabbing the three boy's attention, "I mean... it's not normal for a person to... throw up stuff like that. And all that blood on Cardin's shirt," she brought her vision over to Cardin, who still slept like a big, terrifying baby, "... it's not good, whether if it's his or not..."

No one uttered a word for the next few seconds that followed, except for Dove, who spoke with persuasiveness surpassing every time he tried to convince someone otherwise. "... Yeah... she's right, it's not normal. But... it is for Cardin. Why? We can't tell you two why, nut that doesn't mean both of you should worry about Cardin's health. And as for that," Dove pointed down at the bloodied shirt, while maintaining visual contact with Ruby and Yang, "... Cardin wouldn't kill a human being, or a faunus, he's not a...monster."

"So what? You think he just killed an animal? Why would he do that?"

"... I dunno," Dove answered Yang, shrugging his shoulders as he did so, "but I do know that's probably where the blood came from. But just like I said: don't worry about it..."

"..."

"..."

"... You two should leave now." The two girls of RWBY remained where they stood for a brief instance after hearing Russel's statement, Ruby visibly looking more saddened by all of that has happened. Until Yang gently tugged on her little sister's shoulder.

"Come on, let's go." Her little sister complied, turning around and following her big sister through the doorway, and gently shut the door on her way out. Ruby followed the footsteps of Yang until they reached their dorm room, just staring at the back of her head while Yang unlocked the door to their room, opening it to reveal JNPR to be gone, Weiss, sitting on her bed, studying something on her scroll, and Blake, who lied beneath the blankets of her bed, not reading any of her favorite novels, rather just giving a blank stare at the ceiling. "Hey you two, we're back."

"You found Cardin that fast?"

"Yeah, turned out he was... I think... passed out in front of that statue at the end of the main avenue, covered in that black goo he always pukes out, topless, with a bloodied shirt, and that Mahogany guy beating him up. Or at least that's how Coco made it out to be when she found him." Weiss stayed quiet after hearing Yang's answer, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the reply she got, while Ruby and her big sisters rested on their respective beds.

Soon however, Weiss let out another question. "... So, is he...?"

"His... brothers told us to take him back to their room. They said his aura will take care of... whatever is wrong with him."

"... Do you think it will."

"Pfft, no," Yang shot back, sitting her back down onto her bed, resting her cranium on her pillow, "if it did, then you'd think it would have stopped whatever is causing it. Or maybe it has something to do with what he's eating."

"Maybe he should stop pigging down on all that jerky. Maybe then he'll have a healthier lifestyle." The cat faunus of RWBY brought us, turning over so she could now see Weiss and Ruby in their beds.

Everyone sat still, quiet as a mouse for a few seconds until Yang said, "... I don't think it's the jerky, Blake."

Her partner sighed, "I know, Yang. But still, whatever it is, that bastard should stop eating it."

Yang silently nodded in agreement, if it was that case of course. But she knew nothing about Cardin's lifestyle, save for all the jerky eating. Still though, Yang knew she they had no idea of whatever was wrong with CRDL's leader, and by looking at her little sister, who sat in her bed, with everything that had happened to them over the past few days having clearly taken a toll on her, and the rest of the team.

"... Well, whatever is happening, I think we should just... let CRDL handle their own problems, and we'll handle our own for now..."


"Mommy?"

"What is it, Cardin?"

"Where to people go when they die?"

"How should I fucking know?"

"Wha?"

"I mean... there is no afterlife..."

"... Wha?"

"I MEAN... fuck- I... okay, here's the deal, Cardin... some people, like me, believe that when you fuck-ing choke, your soul... goes to an afterlife. While others- like Richard- think you're retarded if you believe there's an afterlife."

"I've never said such a thing, Ziz."

"You fucking think it though and I, FUCKING, KNOOOOOOOW IT!"

"..."

"... Got it, Cardin?"

"... What... what's an afterlife?"

"Motherfucker- an afterlife, Cardin, is... well, like this. How we live right, what we eat, what we do, it's all gonna be in afterlife, except it'll all be much more enjoyable."

"..."

"OR, if... you've been a bad, baaad person, then you're soul will instead go, to, Hell. Where you will fucking burn for all of eternity."

"... Am I gonna go to Hell?"

"What? No, no you stupid... well, that depends on how you behave as you grow up. Like, the... people, who've been sent here before the war, they have a good chance of going to Hell."

"... But, but I was sent here too."

"... No you weren't."

"B-But... you said I was still in you wh-"

"-Okay, okay, Cardin, let me... I don't know- here, listen, you're not gonna go to hell just because you... fucking came here with me while you were still in my tummy. And, people who were sent here before the war... some of them won't go to hell either, because they were... accused for crimes they didn't commit, or... they made themselves better people after they were sent. But, again, Cardin, as long as you don't act like an asshole, then you'll be fine."

"..."

"... Cardin?"

"... Are... are you gonna go to hell?"

"... Probably... yeah..."

"But... but I don't want you to go to hell."

"What?"

"I-I don't want you to go to hell while I go t-to the good place, I don't want y-you t... to be gone! E-Either you're coming with me or... or I-I'll go with you!"

"..."

"... Mommy?"

"... I'm... I'm sorry, Cardin, I just... I need to go fucking do something... hold on..."


At nightfall, with the small specks of whites taking up a clear sky, was Cardin, alone in CRDL's dorm room, now only lit dimly by a lamp on a nightstand, battling off the darkness with a yellow-orange glow, reflecting off of everything touched by the light, including a peacefully snoring Cardin, alone among the empty beds. The giant though, gently woke up.

His golden eyes were released to blankly stare at the ceiling, his lips broadening into a flat expression as he did so. He continued to lie where he was for a few seconds before growling, sitting himself up and stretching out his body, cracking bones as he did so before moving on to scratching his bare chest. A rough fart that escaped from his cheeks prompted Cardin scurry over to the window, hastily pulling it open to let the cool, night wind take away the putrid stench.

As it flowed out of the open window, Cardin stuck his head out to gaze upon the campus, lit up by street lights and light from the buildings themselves, brightening the way for the few students that walked out to wherever it was that they were going- Cardin could care less for them. He could watch them all be exposed and weakened to be slaughtered by grimm and he'd still would not care, whether or not it would be easy for him to save them. He'd probably even laugh at their pain, just because why not. Though, there were a few students at Beacon- other than his brothers- whom he started to feel some form of care for.

Cardin brought his attention back to the empty room, now wondering where his brothers were to begin with. That was until he noticed a sticky note posted on their door, reading, "Cardin, we went to the dining hall, go fuck yourself. Sincerely, Sky." Cardin reminded himself to piss all over Sky's bed one day, but until then, he decided instead to dress himself down of his dirtied pajamas, boxers, and slippers, and head for their shower to cleanse himself of his filth. After doing so, he adorned just his black, red-trimmed shirt, black pants, and red belt, while also keeping his poncho and gloves.

The gargantuan student then went to push open the door, unintentionally slamming it into someone. Cardin walked out of the doorframe to see who it was he struck down, though he really did not care if they were fine or not. But when he looked down to see a somewhat wincing, female Haven-exchange student, with long, black, ashen hair, black-painted fingernails, and the most memorizing, amber eyes Cardin had ever seen. Everything about her memorized him; she was, without a doubt in his mind, the most gorgeous young woman he had ever seen.

Then he snapped out of it, scowling as he looked up to see two more Haven student who Cardin assumed where her teammates, one being a well-built, though far shorter than Cardin, young man, with scraggly gray hair, which was the same shade of his eyes. The other was another girl, her eyes bright red and hair cut with a fringe upfront, and two long locks on the sides, all the color of a light, minty-green shade. She actually stood back, staring at Cardin like a deer in headlights, while the young man went to help up the other who had fallen.

"Ugh, what a bunch of fucking freaks- watch where you're going, bitch." Was what came out of Cardin's mouth, walking pass the two Haven students in front of him, heading towards the girl with red eyes, purposefully shoving her aside to continue on his way, forcing her shoulder to collide with the wall. That, however, snapped Emerald out of her fear for the Winchester, turning around to see him grinning, ear to ear, chuckling before moving on with his own business.

"... Fucking asshole." Hearing footsteps behind him, Cardin stopped to look back again, growling as he spotted Emerald, right as she had her arm pulled back, her hand curled into a fist. Even when he saw her, she still proceeded to shoot her arm forward, only to have her wrist caught by the mammoth right hand of Cardin, engulfing it with his fingers and pulling her up to his hidden face, completely voiding out all of her anger, an filling the empty space with fear once more.

"Sweetie... you're lucky, lucky, that I'm tired right now. But don't you worry, next time I see you..." He tilted his head to the left to see the other two, the young man warily watching him while the other girl gave him a glare with anger that matched her beauty. Though, it only made him laugh, ringing his attention back to the still frightened Emerald. "... next time I see you, alone... I'm just gonna put your bitch-ass in its place." His lips were coated by his tongue in exclamation, getting a repulsed shudder out of Emerald, soon being released to just fall onto her bottom.

Cardin kept his eyes on her for one second before bring his gaze back to the girl with amber eyes, his perverted smile reverting back into a frown of irritation, suddenly feeling the air around him warm while keeping his eyes on her. He did not know why, but the air around them grew warm, but he soon assumed that it was anything but natural, rather believing it had something to do with her.

She didn't scare him though, and he wanted her to know. "... As for you, if I end up having anymore problems with your little bitch here, then I'll pay you a visit myself."

Cinder, matching his tone, responded, "Then I'll be waiting for you."

Cardin would be lying if he said he was not disturbed a bit by her, what with him feeling like he was gonna have a heatstroke while keeping his vision on her. With haste, he nodded head, feeling his sweaty neck rub against the leather of his poncho while turning around and leaving behind this little encounter. Though he still felt his body perspire, still feeling like that girl was shooting daggers at the back of his head.

But fortunately, tonight the cold came with blowing winds, relieving Cardin of his overheating body in exchange for the cool fresh air, filling his nostrils as he inhaled the too-crisp air. Though it did not matter, for Cardin was much more comfortable with breathing through with mouth rather than with his nose.

He looked back at the dorm building, brimming with ire, desiring to just go back in there and beat down that Haven student, to just find her and do God knows what to her. But Cardin said no, knowing that there will be another day where he'll come across her once again. Maybe during combat class he'll call her out to spar with him. That seemed to be the best choice, because that way he'll get to obliterate her and not get in trouble.

But until then, Cardin started to trot his way in the direction of the dining hall...


"Ah, hello Ziz."

"Yeah, hey Dion."

"How... has your day been?"

"... Fucking... fine. It was fine. Let's get on with this shit."

"Really? I believe it wasn't."

"... Yeah, well, I don't give a shit about what you believe. Just get the grim in here and-"

"- Where have you been today?"

"..."

"Ziz, tell me now, please."

"... Why, Dion? Why? It's nothing im-"

"-Ziz... please. Something followed you here."

"... What?"

"I... it is foul, but... maybe it is just its scent. But whatever it was, it..."

"..."

"... You found something. I know it. Just please... please, tell me what it is..."

"... We found a structure."

"A structure? Where? WHERE?!"

"Dion... fuck- it's in the underground, okay? But, BUT, Dion-"

"- Beneath Remnant? On this island?!"

"Yes, Dion, it's beneath the dirt on Disown. You fucking think I'm going somewhere else like Vale? Those fuckers and their own archaeological discover can go suck a chode."

"... Ziz, listen to me. What it is that lives beneath our feet should be left undisturbed.-"

"-Okay, first of all, Dion... shut up, okay? Secondly, secondly... I'll say it, I've noticed strange things going on when we found it, when I went into it today. But let me tell you this: I'm not fucking scared of... whatever it is you're warning me of, okay? You think I give a fuck about the unknown? You think I'm fucking scared of it, you fucking retarded abomination of nature? I am not a little bitch, a little pussy, a fucking coward. Whatever we find beneath our feet can, and will, kiss my ass. And... as for that lady you warned me about, the same will go for her if I ever catch her little bitch-ass in my line of sight. Do you you fucking understand?"

"..."

"Listen to what I have to say, Dion: I do not fear the unknown. I never have, and I never will. Now get those grim in here."

"... Okay..."

"Well look at this, the fat cunt came here tonight to pig down."

"... I'm gonna fucking murder you one day, Sky." Cardin informed his bluenette brother, taking a seat in front him, his tray stacked with nothing steaks and barbecue sauce.

"Fucking- do it. Do it now. I want to die."

And Cardin shot back with, "Yeah, me too."

So did Dove, "Ditto."

"Mmm-hm." With Russel being the last to agree with his team. Cardin took one of his steaks, the warm meat rubbing against his leather gloves as he sank his teeth into it, forcing the juices to pour down from his lips to his neck, staining his shirt in the end. "Fucking hell Cardin, you your fucking fork and knife man."

"Shut up." Cardin proceeded to take another bit, and then spat it out onto his burned-up brother. Just as the wet chunk of cooked bovine slapped against his cheek, Russel slapped the steak out of Cardin's hand, landing it on his lap, now ruing his pants. In response, Cardin took that steak and then simply, with overwhelming force, smack Thrush in the face with it, creating a loud slap hear throughout the dining hall.

Dove and Sky broke out in laughter as they, along with a few other students now, watched Cardin, steak still in hand, jump onto a Russel who had fallen out of his seat, stating with amused hatred, "You'll learn to respect your leader, trash!" Cardin started to rail on Russel with his steak, making the boy grunt and moan in discomfort as he was held down to take his unjust punishment.

"Get off me you fat cunt- MMMPPHGHSMLKHHH!" Russel was silenced when Cardin started force feeding the steak to him, causing tears to soon start running down from his only eye as this abuse kept on going. Sky and Dove though just kept on howling their lungs out like madmen, as more and more students started to watch the scene unfolding before their eyes, baffled by what Cardin was doing.

"... Should... should we do something?"

"Like what?" Yang asked her little sister, not taking her gaze off of this form of assault.

"Like... stop him."

"Uh... nah- they're... they're just roughhousing, that's all."

"Roughhousing is a good reason to stop them, Yang." Pyrrha stated, she too not being able to look away as Cardin started to now spit on Russel.

"Okay okay, yeah- what I meant to say was... well, they're brothers, so maybe this is just... play fighting." Russel started to crawl, having just been released from his huge brother's grasp, cursing him for this humiliation. Said brother than took his tray and with all his might, threw it at Russel's back, getting more steak and now barbecue sauce all over his clothes.

"This isn't play fighting... it's humiliation-"

"-SHUT UP BLAKE!" Cardin shouted, stopping while standing over Russel to look the cat faunus straight in her amber eyes with his golden orbs, startling her, the rest of RWBY, and JNPR just from the fact Cardin could hear Blake from all the way from where they were sitting. Russel took this distraction as a kairos, bringing his knee up to strike Cardin in his groin.

The attack was super effective, with Cardin lips puckering and his eyes puckering as he fell down next to Russel. The sight of Cardin taking a blow to his testicles only encouraged Lark and Bronzewing to keep on going with their guffaw, now along other students who took joy in watching Cardin get what he deserved, even if it was just his teammate which he was abusing.

"Fucking... little cunt." Was what came out through gritting teeth, Cardin's eyes starting to water as Russel crawled back to his seat. The Winchester was able to recover fast though, yet he did not continue on with teaching Russel a lesson on disrespect. Instead he went for his seat like Russel, groaning as he sat down while Thrush finally having just used his arms to get himself onto his own seat, slamming his head down to rest, heaving while watching Cardin open and chug down his soda bottle of its liquid; the students, while this conflict took an end, soon went back to their own business, just as Dove and Sky's joyous hawking did down, leaving CRDL to sit in tranquility for a few seconds.

"... So, Coco helped me."

"Yeah, it's weird," Sky replied, "she was also getting on our case about getting you help, but... screw that noise."

Cardin gave a, "I agree," leaving a gap of silence between them until Dove chimed in.

"I also managed to persuade Ruby and Yang to help us with finding you."

"Cool..."

"..."

"..."

"... You don't care, do you?"

"Nah nah, I think it's good that they came..."

"..."

"..."

"... What happened, Cardin?"

He stayed quiet, letting Russel's faint question settle for a moment before answering, "I... ate too much, fell asleep in the forest again, and killed a doe on my way back here, got beat up by Ron Mahogany- that fucker saw my face, and... well, Coco helped me after he left me alone..."

"... Why'd you kill a doe?"

"I... was still hungry, apparently, and went... feral, again."

"Fucking shit." Sky replied, though not in disgust- he knew Cardin has eaten much worst. Rather, he just took pity on Cardin's day, feeling a sense of gratitude just by knowing he wasn't Cardin.

"Yeah... I'm still gonna have to go back there tonight though..."

"... Well, I'll go with you this time," Dove said, "that way, if this ever happens again, we'll at least know where it is you're going specifically. Okay?"

"... Okay."

Sky soon declared, "I'll come with you guys too, then I'll know too," getting a nod out of his leader before he brought his vision down to his side, seeing Russel more demoralized than he had ever seen him in his entire life, other than when he saw him after his parents burned down with his home.

"You coming, faggot?"

"... I wanna die..." Cardin took that as a yes.

"Okay, cool, you guys ready to go now?" His team nodded their heads "yes," except for Russel, who sat still in depressing silence. "Good, go to the room and grab the sleeping bags, then meet me by the statue on the main avenue. But let me leave first and you guys wait here for a few minutes. After that, go to the room and grab the sleeping bags, then meet me at the statue on main avenue." His brothers nodded yet again, staying still in their seats while Cardin got up from his seat, and walked away, not paying attention to anyone as he left the dining hall.

Outside once more, under the black sky with itty-bity white specks, Cardin kept one walking, literally not seeing a single soul as he went on with his stroll, his solid footsteps emitting sound to burst and die off throughout Beacon's campus. When he reached the statue where he was beaten down in front of, Cardin sat himself down, yawning as he looking to stare at the stars like a Neanderthal, losing his sense of time from his fascination of star-gazing.

He broke out of the star's enchantment from the sound of approaching footsteps, getting up to look pass the statue to see his teammates having finally arrived, all wearing their battle gear, armed with their weapons, and carrying sleeping bags with them.

"You guys weren't follower, we you?"

"Nope, didn't notice any little rats following us." Dove answered. But Cardin payed little attention to his reply, instead searching their surroundings behind his brothers, his highly-developed eyes wandering about, seeking any unwanted rats.

"... Okay... yeah, it looks..." He trailed off as his vision stopped on a figure, peeking out from behind an archway's pillar, furthest away from him and his team. "No... there's someone watching us- but don't turn around. Don't turn around..."

"... What do we do then?" Sky inquired quietly, obeying his brother's order- along with Russel and Dove doing the same, not daring to move even a finger or toe. The halberdier didn't get answer though, Cardin was just too infatuated with not taking his sight off the blurry, blotchy figure, until whoever it was went back behind the pillar.

"... Okay, they're hiding behind it now. Here's what we're gonna do: I'm gonna run fast as shit over there, and try to chase them off..."

"... That's a crappy plan, Cardin."

"Yeah, well... fuck it, if it doesn't work, then we'll just go back to our room, okay?" Russel did not say a word, again forcing Cardin to assume his reluctance was a "yes."

"Okay... wait here while I..." The behemoth of a ruffian slowly walked around his teammates, who still did not turn around, that is until they heard Cardin break into a sprint. That was when they looked back to watch him cover a distance of about eighty feet in about five or six seconds, witnessing him stop right as he reached the pillar's backside, proceeding to do what his brothers thought was a tackle.

This prompted his brothers to drop the sleeping bags and run over to where they lost sight of their leader, catching the sound of someone shouting before being cut off as the rest of CRDL came closer and closer, eventually reaching their destination to see Cardin, standing over a knocked out Velvet Scarlatina.

"Shit- Cardin! What did you-"

"-No worries, Russel, no worries... I just knocked her rabbit-ass out, that's all."

"Well... hell, man. What are we suppose to with her then?"

"Leave her," was the simply reply Dove got from Cardin, "it's not like anyone will bother her if they find her like this. In fact they'd probably take her to the hospital here if they find her lying unconscious." No one said a word to retort Cardin's idea, making him think they needed a further explanation on why this was the best thing to do. "Listen fuckers, if we take her to her room and her team's there, we'll be asked questions up the ass, or we'll suspected of having done this. We take her to the medical building, same thing will happen. It's all unnecessary trouble, got it?"

"... Did she see you? Before you took her out, like the fucking animal you are?"

"... Yeah."

"Then what's the point? She's gonna know you did it when she wakes up a-"

"-Russel, Russel, I get it. I really do. But the thing is... well, she's not gonna know where we went. Understand?" Russel did in fact understand. But he still stood against the plan of leaving her here all by herself outside unconscious.

"... Let's at least take her inside amphitheater. Okay?"

"... Fuck no you stupid-idiot, we could get caught."

"But-"

"-Shut up, okay? Okay Russel? Shut up. She'll be fine out here. We're practically the shittiest students here, so you don't have to worry about anyone finding and violating her out here, and there'll be no grim out to get her because of... well, you know why..."

"... She'll tell her team about it."

"Yeah, well... let me handle them, okay? Now come-the-fuck-on, let's hurry up before anyone else sees us..."