Chapter 5: Calm Before The Storm
15 Days after The Breach, Team CRDL dorm, Beacon
Cardin opened his eyes, squinting at the morning sun peeking through the dorm window. He raised an arm to block the light and stayed still in his bed for a minute, gathering his will to wake up. Groggily, he raised his arm to block the light, sitting up on his bed and taking a look around the room. The rest of his team weren't there, and he guessed that they had gone to the cafeteria with the other students and simply left him be.
After last night, I don't blame them trying to act normally, he thought. Checking the time at 7:50, he moved over to the closet and grabbed a clean uniform. He paused as he saw his clothes from the other night were folded and tucked neatly on the floor. He pushed it out of his mind and instead got dressed and left his room.
The hall was empty as Cardin made his way towards the cafeteria. Most of the students left him be, mostly out of indifference, and Cardin returned the favor and instead looked around the room for his team. He made his way through the spaces in between the tables, ignoring the stares and glares he received from some of the other students.
I get the feeling you're not well like master, Archer said. Cardin just pressed on around the room.
It wasn't too long ago that I was bully here. I've been trying to make amends, but it's slow going. Archer hummed in thought.
I see. What kind of bullying are we talking about? Cardin stopped moving at the words, a strong sense of shame overcoming him. He stood there for a few seconds without answering, trying to find a way to voice his thoughts.
Small stuff, I guess. Annoying people in class, acting arrogant and being too aggressive in sparring in combat. Though it got a little physical sometimes, but never anything serious thankfully, he finished.
Such as?
Pulled a few ears, shoved some others. No beatings or anything, he finished. He waited for the eventual admonishment that he had received from his first few apologies, steeling himself.
Well… I don't like bullies, but the important part is that you're trying to better, right? That's what should matter, not what you've done in the past, which isn't that bad compared to what I've seen. Cardin blinked at his servant's words, not expecting such a positive sentiment from someone he hadn't known for even a day.
Thanks, I guess. It's nice to know someone believes in me.
It's nothing, master. His servant's voice then filled with a bit of mirth.
Though you should keep moving. You're starting to get stares.
That shook Cardin from his thoughts and he felt heat in his cheeks as he realized that indeed he was starting to get noticed by some of the students. Keeping his gaze on the ground he left the area and renewed his search, eventually spotting them at a lone end of a table. He walked over and waved his hand.
"Morning," he greeted. Sky nodded silently, Russel responded with a sleepily raised hand, his head resting on the table, and Dove gave him a polite welcome from his studying. All three had breakfast, and he happily saw that they got him his own plate, which he started digging into as he sat down with them.
"You guys wake up early?" He asked, trying to break the silence between them. Sky paused his fork in midair.
"You were out cold and I decided to let you sleep. Probably should've left you a message on your scroll, but we had to get Rus moving and out of bed. Ain't that right Rus?" He said, clapping Russel on his shoulder. Russel jerked back and shook his head in surprise, but his stayed mostly shut and he flicked off Sky as he put his head back down. Continuing with his meal, he pointed a hand at Dove.
"Dove here's been studying who we might be up against. So far we've guessed that Lancer is probably a schnee based on what you told us last night."
"And an old too. Not many Schnees have combat training on par with huntsmen, or at least the recent generations of Schnees don't. And we obviously can't guess what the others are without meeting them," Dove interjected. Cardin nodded, glad that his team was taking some initiative.
Just hope they stay this serious. Lancer was fast enough for me to not even see her, let alone fight.
"Any ideas on who might be a master?" He asked. Dove shrugged and Sky said nothing, chewing on his food. Cardin decided to question Archer on the topic instead, raising a finger to his team.
Archer, you have any ideas?
Perhaps some could be from the other kingdoms? Look for the command seals on them, some might get careless and flaunt it or decide to not hide it if they're pride is large enough. Either way, every master will come here to fight, so we'll meet them all sooner or later. Cardin relayed the information back to his team.
"So we might get enemies from the other kingdoms then. Great," Sky muttered. Dove merely took it in stride and kept up his research.
"Well at least we don't have to go around the world looking for them, at least. That's one good thing about the tournament," Cardin responded. He was going to continue when a voice from behind interrupted him.
"There you are! You've got a lot to explain about you know, showing up in the middle of the night bleeding, acting really strange and just leaving as soon as you got there!" Velvet Scarlatina's angry form walked up to the table, a tray in her hands. Cardin gaped slightly at the interruption, caught off guard by her forwardness. The rest of CRDL mirrored his reaction save Russel, who kept his head down.
"Hello there Ms. Velvet," Dove replied first, returning his attention back to his scroll.
"...Hey," Sky said hesitantly, unsure of what to say. Russel was the last to respond, meekly raising a hand.
"Yo," he said quietly. For a moment Velvet tore her attention from Cardin to give a curious look to Russel's tired form, before returning it back to Cardin. He leaned away slightly, but never broke eye contact.
"Hey there, Velvet. Good morning to you too," he snarked. She huffed and glared at him in annoyance.
"Very funny, now answer my questions. What happened last night? You came to our dorm bleeding and then acted all weird and strange."
"Didn't know cared that much," he replied honestly. That seemed to annoy her even more.
"Of course I care! We're friends, remember?"
'Friend' might be a bit strong for us, he thought.
More like… acquaintances, or people-trying-to-work-past-the-past, he thought dryly.
"I asked your team earlier, but they didn't say anything and you weren't here, so I've been waiting for the past half-hour waiting to ask you," she said. He looked behind her to find her team sitting across the room. Coco was watching the table carefully, Yatsuhashi was eating his breakfast, and Fox was… doing something. He looked back at his teammates.
"And you decided not to tell me this…?"
"You would've found out soon enough anyway," Russel replied, finally lifting his head from the table, and Cardin returned his attention to Velvet.
"Well, uh, I'm sorry for making you worry," he replied dumbly, to which she huffed annoyedly.
"That's it? Fine, can you at least explain the bleeding part?" Her face became more serious as her voice lowered so only the four at the table could hear.
"Did you get in a fight? Was that the reason?" Cardin gave a look to the pair of his team still paying attention. They both looked away at something else, leaving him alone to deal with the problem.
"Yeah, something like that," he said, hoping his false guilty tone was convincing. He felt a twinge of regret as Velvet's shoulders fell with disappointment.
"But it's not like I started it or anything," he added hastily. Her dourness lessened somewhat, before she examined his shoulder.
"What about your wound? Is it patched up?"
"Yeah, we used the first aid kit in our dorm. Look, I'm fine alright? All that happened was a small fight, I'll keep clear of the other person, ok?"
"Did your fight have anything to do with the destruction outside?" At that all the members of CRDL, sans Russel, stiffened.
Archer, why did we forget about that?
If I recall, you ran off to talk to this girl. I only had time to repair the library and the wall. Sky sent a concerned look to Cardin, and Dove attempted to pay attention to his scroll, nervously tapping at the screen.
"That's the first I've heard about this," he said after a short pause. Velvet continued, seemingly not having caught the tension in the air.
"Well… if you say so." At that she looked over Dove's shoulder and frowned slightly.
"Did you get into a fight with Weiss? Because Dove seems to have a keen interest in the Schnee family history," she said with an accusatory tone. Cardin tensed up even more, but fortunately Dove came to the rescue.
"Oh this? I was just studying for the tournament, you know, know your enemy and all that?" He sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his head. Sky sighed in relief, visibly relaxing and Cardin sent Dove a grateful smile.
Nice work Bronzewing. Velvet took a seat at the table and dug into her food. At this point Russel was slowly waking up more and more, and sent Cardin a questioning gaze at the sight of Velvet. He shrugged in response as Velvet spoke once more.
"So, what's your team doing today? It's the last day before the tournament."
"We were going to train, have some last minute practice before the first round of matches," Sky replied evenly. Cardin's stomach grumbled, and he began to eat as well.
"Mhm. Well my team is doing their own thing for the day. I can help you train if you want," Velvet offered. Cardin spoke up before his teammates could reply.
"Sure, we can meet you in half an hour at the training rooms. Now I think your team wants to speak with you," he said quickly, pointing over his shoulder at where CFVY was sitting. Velvet looked a little miffed at his quick dismissal, but nodded and went back to her team. Russel gave a him a dead look.
"You sure that was smart? She might think something's up."
"And she'll think something even stranger is going on if we keep to ourselves and keep dodging questions. This way she'll stay off our backs later on. We can't afford to drag in other people," Cardin argued.
"And if she doesn't? You've been seeing a lot more of her these past few weeks. What if we can't keep her involved?" Sky shot back. Cardin mulled over the words silently.
"Well, what if we introduce her to Archer?" He quickly held up his hands to placate the immediate surprise from his teammates.
"Now before you jump to conclusions, hear me out. We were going to train today anyway for the tournament, and since Archer is a famous hero, I thought why not have him critique our style? And to make Velvet get off our backs for a bit, she'll come too," he reasoned. Seeing no resistance to what he had said so far, he continued.
"So, why not just introduce Archer as a hunter trying to help us? That way she already knows about him in case we change plans later, we don't have to mention the war and we get the help of both our peer and a famous warrior." His team looked at one another for a few seconds, not saying a word between them. Russel broke the silence and put his face in his hands.
"This is a shit idea, you know that? She got pissed for what she thought was a fight, what do you think she'll do if she knows we could all die?" He sighed once more.
"But it's probably better to get it out of the way now. I'm in."
"I concur. We can benefit from having someone who knows about our situation later on," chimed Dove. Sky shrugged his shoulders.
"You could just tell her behind our backs anyway, so better this way," he reasoned.
What do you think Archer?
Hmm… not ideal, and I don't relish potentially bringing in those that aren't involved...But it does make logical sense. I'll agree to it if you promise not to intentionally drag her into it.
Agreed. The rest of breakfast went by silently, CRDL finishing their meals and heading to the sparring rings.
15 Days after the Breach, Beacon sparring facilities
"Hyah!" Shirou silently observed Cardin's mace as it connected with the training bot. The overhead swing connected with the bots head, which to its credit didn't budge much from the impact. From what he gathered from the boys, these were new to the school, based off of the Atlas mechs and meant for repeated sparring use and so was built out of a sturdier material and with better craftsmanship.
Cardin turned his body around to face a new bot, bringing his mace up for a backhanded swing, but instead caught the bots parry, his mace flying away. Following the change in direction, he turned a full 360 degrees and used the momentum to carry his to his opponents chest, denting the metal and causing the bot to fly backwards.
"Your technique is good, and you adapt well, but you're too slow. A good opponent can strike you before your hit connects," Shirou commentated. Cardin brought his mace to his side and nodded, panting slightly. The team had gone to the ring earlier than expected and they had been training for the past ten minutes nonstop. Shirou turned his attention to the Sky and Dove, who were teaming up against multiple bots and they seemed to be handling themselves well.
"Dove, Sky, your teamwork is good, but it seems that you're emphasizing Dove's offense too much. Try using Sky's spear to keep them at a distance and trap them at a distance." The two boys grunted in affirmation, trying out the new style. He at last looked towards Russel, who was going against a bot outfitted with a warhammer, using his speed and agility to dodge its attacks and striking at its limbs.
"And Russel, keep using your agility. Try attacking harder though, it'll save you more energy in the long run."
"Got it!" Shirou took a sweeping view of the four boys, studying how they handled the advice. Cardin's attacks grew faster and came in shorter intervals, but it seemed that they were less powerful, if the large overhead status screen was anything to go by. He took some time to review the team's weapons once more and devise new strategies for them to work on.
Cardin's mace was a relatively simple weapon, having a smooth shaft with a good grip, a flanged head and a dust crystal at the center. The length wasn't a concern for Cardin, as although his strikes were slow, his handling wasn't. What really irked Shirou was the amount of unknown materials that made up the weapon. Unknown metals and dust were the main components of the mace, making tracing the weapon rather difficult for him, though he wagered with some time he could come up with a substitute for the metal.
Sky's halberd was next, being slightly more complex. Fortunately, it was made up of something Shirou could analyze. Steel for the shaft and axe head, and a hollow tip at the front that allowed for large rifle rounds to be fired from. A trigger and magazine slot was near the end of the spear for easy access, along with a button to manage the length of the halberd,and Shirou knew that with some more training Sky could effectively manage the flow of battle in most situations.
Dove's rifle was much the same as the other weapons, being a simple steel sword combined with a revolver system at the hilt and a compactable blade system as well. Based on the tiny marks on the bots, his bullets did little damage, but he was by far the most skilled fighter of the team, using the shots to halt or stumble the bots and using it as an opening to attack. A good weapon for a good fighter.
And finally, Russel's daggers. Made of an unknown metal, they had a cylinder for dust at the hilt, though he didn't seem to be using it. The design was unremarkable for the other weapons in this world, and having no experience with dust, Shirou decided to refrain from suggesting strategies involving it.
The overall impression from the team was a sense of simplicity and practicality, something he could understand and envy slightly from his years using noble phantasms and prana-generated arrows.
His musings were interrupted by the door opening. He spotted the girl from earlier enter the room casually, startling when she spotted him.
"Oh! I didn't know anyone else would be here," she said.
"I'm Velvet, a second year. You are?"
"Shirou Emiya, hunter," he replied. He decided that telling her his name would be harmless, and he doubted students would spend time looking up random huntsmen in their spare time. She walked next to him and studied the boys as they fought, taking notes on her scroll.
"Your friend's here Cardin," he called out. Cardin blocked a strike with his mace and looked towards the pair. He nodded to Velvet before turning his attention back to the fight. Velvet looked up from her notes and tapped him lightly.
"How's the training going?"
"Good, I've been critiquing their styles. I assume you know how they fight?" She nodded and looked to her notes.
"I brainstormed some ideas from memory. Cardin needs to work on speed, Sky on aura strength and Russel and Dove on endurance."
"And they all need to work on teamwork," she finished. Shirou made a noise of agreement, crossing his arms and watched the team. Velvet silently took notes beside him, and they watched the team continue fighting for half a minute before she spoke up.
"Cardin seems to be more aggressive than usual," Velvet noted.
"That's because I encouraged him to be," Shirou replied. Velvet pursed her lips, looking visibly unpleased with the decision.
"Professors Goodwitch and Port have emphasised caution in a fight. I think it would make his training more difficult trying to learn a different way of fighting." Shirou shrugged lightly.
"In my experience taking risks has usually benefitted me, helped me win fights I wouldn't have won being cautious. Besides, it shouldn't be that difficult to learn with the help of an expert." The faunus shook her head slightly and looked up from her scroll.
"Taking risks in a fight is one thing, but with huntsmen and younger students, these risks eventually turn into reckless decisions. And those can be fatal against the Grimm."
"I'm not telling him to be reckless, though. Only suggesting that he take advantage of his size and strength in a more aggressive manner. Wouldn't you advise the same?"
"I would. It just seems to be unnecessarily dangerous to me," she said after a while. Shirou nodded in understanding.
"I can understand your concern for a friend, but don't be afraid to be more direct. It's the entire team's strength, given their average defense." The pair continued to observe the team and give out advice and suggestions for the next few minutes, and CRDL steadily began improving against each round of fighting, eventually being able to beat the bots at their current fighting skill. Cardin called for a break, resting with his team and Shirou took a minute to study the faunus next to him.
Admittedly, the idea of a faunus had perplexed him at first. He had known many strange and weird things from the Association, but this puzzled him for quite a while. His knowledge of Remnant history from the grail was bare bones at best, but he knew that faunus and humans had been in conflict for decades, if not centuries, and had been both the victim and propagator of violence.
So, given that information Shirou would assume that the cause of his masters bullying was related to her being faunus. He didn't really care much about that though, as he said he was just glad his master was mending his past ways.
Though it did bring up an interesting question..
"Say Velvet, what's the story between you and Cardin? He doesn't have a great reputation around here." The girl looked at him in confusion.
"What story?" She asked perplexedly.
"How you became friends. I know he was something of a bully," he admitted.
"Oh, that. Well, it started off kinda weirdly."
9 Hours after The Breach, Vale General Hospital
Velvet quickly walked through the crowded hospital halls, making room for the nurses and doctors hurriedly running past with the wounded. She made her way to the front desk, which was currently occupied by frantic nurses. She stepped up to the desk and cleared her throat, which attracted the attention of a nurse moving to and fro between computers.. Taking a look at her attire, he stopped and went over to her.
"Yeah, what do you need? And make it quick please, I've got a lot to do," he said irritably.
"I'm a student from Beacon, I'm looking for another student, last name Winchester, has stab wounds in his stomach," she replied politely. She forgave the man's tone, they were all under a lot of pressure at the moment. He nodded and sat at a computer, typing fast. It was less than a minute before he came back.
"Room 209, 2nd floor. Is that all?"
"Yes, thank you." She turned around and headed for the nearest set of stairs and traveling up to the second floor. Once on the second floor she made her to the room, knocking lightly and entering the room without waiting for a reply. Cardin was still unconscious, but his breathing was steady and normal. What she didn't expect was the other members of CRDL to be present.
"Hello Ms. Scarlatina," Dove called, twisting in his chair to face her. He raised a hand in greeting, which she hesitantly raised in kind. Sky was sitting in another chair and had his feet propped on another, nodding when he saw her but otherwise stayed silent. Russel held an ice pack to his face, claw marks and scratches covering his arms. A dark bruise covered one of his eyes.
"Hey," he said. He didn't turn to look at Velvet, who chalked it up to guilt at their earlier actions. Disregarding that thought, she turned to Dove.
"We were you guys? We haven't heard from you since the morning."
"We got separated at a junction a few hours after the attack began. We were getting people away from the Grimm into the shelters when another wave attacked. Must've lost sight of us in the chaos, cause Russel was gone when Sky and I got away," he explained. Sky took this as his moment to take over.
"We ran into another team after a while, went to another shelter. After the attack we ran into Russel and we asked around for Cardin. And here we are," he finished. Velvet took a chair and sat in it, ignoring the looks she received.
"Well, I have something to talk with him about, so I'm staying until he wakes up. Any problems?" The boys said nothing, Dove and Sky taking it in stride. Russel didn't acknowledge the statement, but kept his stare on Cardin. They stayed like that for the next couple of hours, Russel leaving an hour after she arrived.
She passed the time speaking to Dove and Sky, and she learned quite a bit about them. Dove's father is a wealthy merchant, moving products between the kingdoms. He was the third child of a family of five, and joined Beacon to put his skill to use without being a mercenary. Sky's father was a baker and his mother a waitress, scrapping their money together to send him to Beacon, where he always wanted to go as a child.
Eventually they had to leave, and the next day she returned. This time only Dove came by, Sky and Russel going around the city looking for any way to help out the returning huntsmen. Velvet and her team considered doing the same, but after seeing how the huntsmen and militia were handling the situation and the lack of other teams doing work, decided to just head to the hospital again.
The day played out much the same, and by halfway through the third day, this time alone, she went to the hospital cafeteria, grabbing a small snack. Walking through the halls, she was surprised to come upon the bandaged forms of team RWBY, all members being bed-ridden but otherwise conscious. She briefly said hello to the team and made her way back to the room.
Opening the door she noticed a man sitting at the bedside, wearing a priests' clothes. Velvet stood there awkwardly, the man not having noticed her. She cleared her throat and began speaking.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something," she apologised. The man turned around, standing up when he spotted her.
"Oh, I didn't realize someone else was visiting. If you're staying for a while, please take a seat." He grabbed one of the nearby chairs and offered it to her. She accepted, thanking him quietly and sat in it, with the man sitting down in his and held out his hand.
"James Winchester, pleasure to meet you. You are?" Velvet took his hand and shook.
"Velvet Scarlatina. I'm a student at Beacon. Is Cardin your…?" James looked bemused at her unspoken question.
"Son? No, I'm his uncle. It's nice to know he has some other friends to visit him, especially in these troubled times. I know he can be a bit difficult to handle at times."
"I wouldn't exactly call us friends," she muttered under her breath. James seemed to not hear her remark, or otherwise ignored it as he continued speaking.
"I would've visited sooner, but my work at the church has kept me busy these past few days. Many are without homes and many more gather to the church for shelter."
"How bad is it out there? I haven't checked on the damage for a while," she responded. He shrugged slightly leaning back in his chair.
"Could be worse, but it isn't good. The militia is sorting through the rubble and bodies, and I have at least 10 huntsmen patrolling the church at any given time." Velvet nodded, leaning back in her chair as well and sipped on her drink.
"My team was sent to guard one of the shelters near the riverfront. We must've fought off dozens of Grimm in the first hour," she said. James nodded as if he was expecting such an answer.
"I believe the recorded number of dead is in the thousands, and the hole they came through is still open and under guard." He sighed and leaned forward in his chair.
"But enough about that. I want to know why you came here to visit my nephew. You're a faunus, and although I love my brother, he can be a bit...judgemental with his views. And I know Cardin picked up on some of those views." Velvet took a minute to respond, instead turning to look at Cardin's unconscious form.
"We had a rough start, but he's stopped any bullying. And I came to talk to him about something I saw, is all." Cardin began to stir, drawing the two occupants attention. He opened his eyes, slowly at first, and then fully. Still dazed, he attempted to sit up, only to quickly put a hand on his stomach, laying back down. James chuckled at the sight.
"Still raring to go as soon you wake up. Just like your cousin and father, Cardin." Cardin turned his head to the source of the voice, his eyes widening as he figured out its source.
"Uncle James! It's good to see you're alright." He propped himself up a little against the pillows, giving a sigh of relief and dropped his hand from his stomach.
"Speaking about being alright, why am I here? And how's my team, and the city?"
"Your team's fine for the moment, as is the city. As for why you're here, you should ask your friend here." Motioning over to Velvet, he stood up and made his way to the door.
"She mentioned talking to you about something, so I'll leave you two alone for the day. But I'll make sure to visit later, alright?" Waving over his shoulder, he left the room, leaving Cardin and Velvet alone. Cardin kept his gaze on anywhere except Velvet, shame evident in his face. An uncomfortable silence filled the air.
"So...how's your team?" He finally ventured at last.
"They're doing fine, nothing but a few scratches and bruises. We spent most of the day guarding the shelters until the other huntsmen and militia got a grip on the horde. I heard your team got split up." Cardin nodded, the awkwardness dissipating slightly.
"Yeah, we were helping citizens get into the shelters when a wave of Grimm got to us. We've been training for most of the last half of first semester, but we got lost in the fighting." A few more minutes of uneasy silence came between them, Cardin not knowing what to do, Velvet not knowing how to broach the subject she wanted to talk about. Cardin cleared his throat at last.
"This may, uh, sound crazy but, I think I heard when I was going on unconscious," he said, embarrassed.
"Do you, uh, have any clue why? I don't think it was a hallucination or anything." Velvet nodded, and quickly formulated what she was going to say.
"I was there at the fight. That explosion that hit the Grimm? That was me."
"Glad to see someone was watching my back."
"Mhm. Listen, I wanted to talk about something. From that fight actually." Cardin perked up a bit, looking confused. He leaned forward grimacing slightly, but motioned her to continue.
"I saw you when you fought that alpha. You saved that woman and child there, and I wanted to know why. I mean you haven't been that kind to many in the past, and you risked your life over a faunus…" she trailed off. He seemed to take a little offense at her words.
"Hey, I might be a bully, but I'm still a hunter first and foremost. A lot's changed since first semester, and I won't just abandon someone to die," he replied heatedly. She held up her hands in appeasement.
"I didn't mean to imply that, it just seemed...odd, is what I'm trying to say." He sighed, leaning back against his pillows and looked out the window on the opposite side of the room.
"Look...I admit, I thought about running when I first saw the alpha charging. But then, I saw the two of them afraid and expecting to die, and I knew that I could stop it, that I could save them." He sighed once more.
"I just, I don't know had an urge to save them. You get what I'm saying?" He turned back towards her, his eyes meeting hers. She nodded in agreement.
"By the way, how are they?"
"I managed to get them to the shelter, while carrying you. I have to say, you're really heavy with your armor." The two had a small chuckle.
"I know this is really late but, I really am sorry for what I've done. To you and others. I've been trying to mend bridges, but it's been hard work."
"I can bet. But it seems like you're trying to do better, that's gotta count for something right?" He snorted, resting his head on the pillows.
"Maybe, but it sure doesn't seem like it?"
"Well, I think that if you want to repair your image, then someone has to give you a chance." He snorted once more.
"And who would give me a chance? You?" She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
"Sure." At that Cardin gave her a credulous look and sat up in his bed. Leaning closer to her, he eyed her seriously.
"Are you pulling my chain? Cause it's a pretty low blow to pull on a guy." She easily met his stare.
"I meant what I said. I'm a forgiving sort, and if what you say is true, then this will be the best way to show the other first years you're serious about changing. The first years might have a hard time adjusting, but the upperclassmen will just brush it off. In my experience, fighting the Grimm takes precedent over bigotry." She thought it over for a second.
"Usually, at least." Cardin held his gaze for a few seconds, before nodding.
"Alright, what's your first piece of advice?" She held out her hand.
"Let's reintroduce ourselves, and learn about each other first. I'm Velvet." Cardin eyed her hand and slowly held his hand out. Though wounded, his grasp was firm and the two shook.
"I'm Cardin." The two spent the rest of the day talking and forging new bridges.
A/N: Hey there, sorry for the long update time, but I've been dealing with a busy schedule lately and I've been trying to balance that with other things. But I will put more time into this, so hopefully the next update will be in a couple of weeks instead of nearly a month. This chapter was supposed to be the last chapter not focusing on the Grail War for a while, so the next few chapters will be about the Grail War and include battles, as well introducing Assassin and interactions along with the masters. The tournament will be a part of the war, so be expecting that in the future, and again any feedback is welcome and appreciated.
I'm updating this late at night so I'm too tired to answer reviews at the moment.
Any ways, have a nice rest of Spring break and enjoy.
Pages: 13
Words: 5,948
