Notes: This chapter has been updated on the 11/09/15 to add more detail and fix grammar and spelling errors.
Time to Talk
Cardin Winchester has always been a little more nosy then he would like to emit but it has often worked in his advantage, after all it's better to know your enemy then to be ignorant of them but. For the first time he has been cot in the act. He has just been discovered while listening in on Cail's and Pyrrha's conversation about Cail's past when Cail through open the door he was leaning against. Cardin froze as Cail glanced down at him with a smile. She then grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the center of the room. His eyes were now locked with Cail's and he finally understands what it means to be a deer in the headlights.
Cail then leaned down to speak with Cardin. "Well Cardin? Don't you have anything you want to say?" She inquired.
"I… I don't know what you mean." Cardin replied rubbing his neck in uncertainty.
"You and I both know that's not true Cardin." Cail retorted before placing a hand on his cheek causing Cardin to instinctively jerk away. Cail looked down at her hand and back at Cardin's fearful expression. Cail's expression hardened as she turned towards Pyrrha. "Now then Pyrrha, at the risk of sounding a bit rude, I feel that I have told you what you wanted to know and so I think it's time you leave."
Pyrrha nodded as she sat up from the bed and made her way to the door. She said no words as she stepped out and closed the door behind her. She didn't feel the need to, because she understood that nothing she could have said would have helped in that situation. Once out of ear shot of team CRUS's room Pyrrha let out a audible sigh. "I hope everything will be alright between those two. They really do seem to care about each other but I don't think ether of them is ready to emit that." As she exited the second year dorms she nearly bumped into Glynda Goodwitch as she made her way inside.
Glynda noticed Pyrrha and turned to address her. "Hello Miss Nikos, what brings you to the second year dorm?" She inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh just visiting a friend. How about yourself, if I recall your classes should be starting soon?" Pyrrha responded.
"Official school business, I just need to collect a certain student and bring them to see the Headmaster. It shouldn't take longer then a few minutes but. In case I run long could you inform my class of the delay?" Glynda requested.
"I see, of course Miss Goodwitch. Now I should probably be on my way." Pyrrha said while giving her instructor a quick bow. She then made haste back towards the first year dorms.
"Such a promising student she is. Almost reminds me of myself when I was her age. She is nothing at all like the troublemaker I have been sent to gather. Honestly I still don't understand why Ozpin lets her stay. I do wonder who this friend of hers is though. I do hope Miss Nikos is not getting involved with the wrong crowd." She thought to herself before entering the building.
Cail stud silently watching the door to her dorm room until she was sure Pyrrha was long gone. Satisfied Cail then turned back towards her dumbstruck companion Cardin and began to give him an intense glare causing him to flinch. "Well what are you so afraid of Cardin?"
Cardin straitened himself and returned the glare. "What do you think Cail? This whole time you have been in my head haven't you? You have been manipulating me right?!"
"Oh please, I have been doing no such thing Cardin! I mean why you would even think that is beyond me!" Cail retorted while waving her arms dismissively.
Seeming to ignore Cail's statement Cardin began to think out loud. "It all makes since now that I think about it. How you always seem to know everything. How you knew I would read your message when we first met. How you knew about all my personal information despite it being our first meeting."
Cail rolled her eyes and groaned. "Alright, that may be true but I didn't do anything to harm you did I!? And it's not like I am lying to you now. So why are you acting like I tricked you some how!?"
"How do I know I am not being tricked? How am I to know how much of you, how much of us has been a lie!?" Cardin questioned.
"What, what are you on about!?" Cail shouted in response. "His mind is all over the place now, I have no idea what he's thinking. Could he be doing it on purpose?" Cail thought to herself.
Cardin grabbed Cail by the arm pulling her out of her own world and looked stared directly into her tired dark green eyes. "You know don't you? You know about my family? You know why I hate the faunus so much and you knew that from the very beginning right?"
Cail could feel the waves of mixed emotions flooding into her from physical contact causing her to lose focus. "Ya, yes so what? You're not the only person with problems Cardin."
Cardin released his grip on Cail's arm and pulled himself to his feet. "I want to know what you want from me?! Why are making me feel this way!?" He shouted before he reached out and grabbed a hold of Cail's shoulders. "You want the truth Cail!? Yes, I am afraid! I am very afraid, and I always have been. I know I can't trust you but I can't stop myself anymore! I know what I want and to hell with everything else!"
A look of confusion came over Cail's face. "Wait what are you trying to say? Are you saying that that you li…" Cail's words died in her throat as their escape route was completely cut off. Cardin pulled Cail in and all but forced their lips together. Cail's instincts told her to push him away, to punch him in the kidney or deck him in the jaw but she couldn't. Her arms had no strength and mind for once was blank. So instead she rapped her arms around his waist and tried to resist the rush of desire building within her. She could finally feel Cardin's wind storm of emotions pouring into her through their connection. It was a twisted mix of emotion with both passion and loathing fueling his actions and in turn Cail's. It was at times like this that Cail was glad for her semblance.
After what seemed lie the longest minute of their lives they finally broke their vigorous lip lock. Cail could tell they both wanted more but she was about at her limit. So she pulled her head away from Cardin. "Cardin, look I'm sorry about not being up front with you, really I am but. Surely you understand why I did it, don't you?"
Cardin looked slightly disappointed that they had broken contact but he didn't protest. "I'm sorry too. I know how much trouble your powers have given you. From now on I swear I will trust you more but. In return I expect you to stop hiding things from me, you got that?"
"Are you sure your ok with that Cardin. You may end up dragged into some serious trouble if I tell you everything? When my past comes back to haunt me, it won't be a little rain. It will be a down pour." Cail warned.
"I don't care! I can handle myself and I am not letting you dive into trouble alone!" Cardin said as he moved his hands to ether side of Cail's face.
The edges of Cail's mouth began to curl upward until they took the form of her trademarked wicked grin. "Cardin I… Need you to hide!"
"Wait, what!?" Cardin responded before being pushed backward into a nearby closet and being shut in. "Cail what's up!?" He asked while he banged on the closet door.
"Shhhhh! I will explain later just meet me at your dorm room after your classes today." Cail said in a whispered voice and a finger pressed to her lips.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The knocking on Cail's door was followed by the familiar voice of Glynda Goodwitch. "Cail it's me Professor Goodwitch, Headmaster Ozpin wishes to see you again."
Cail makes her way over to the door and opens it to let her in. "Hello Glynda how have you been?"
"Cail I have told you its Professor Goodwitch not Glynda." Glynda takes a moment to look around the room. "Was there anyone else here? I thought I heard voices."
"What? No just me. You probably just heard me talking to myself. I do that some times." Cail said jokingly.
Glynda gave Cail a strange look before exiting the room and beckoning Cail to come along. "Lets go I have classes to teach and Ozpin can't be left waiting ether."
"I'm coming!" Cail shouted as she exited the room closing the door behind her.
Watching the door shut Cardin began to talk to himself. "Man what was that all about? I guess she didn't want to get a lecture for being alone with a boy in her dorm room." Cardin thought about it for a moment before turning red. "I guess we would be deserving of such a lecture wouldn't we? I guess I shouldn't talk then." Cardin realized he was still stuffed into the cramped space of the closet and figured now was a good a time as any to step out. As he pushed the door open he felt a snag, not thinking much of it he continued to press the door open with a pop. The sound of a heavy metal object striking the ground could be heard from behind him causing him to spin around to see the source of the sound.
Cardin stepped back in to the closet to retrieve the fallen object and he found it rapped up in a piece of fine silk cloth. He pulled the silk away to reveal a large sheathed double edge sword. It was even longer than his weapon and just as heavy. It was also very ornate but it was clearly made for combat. Cardin could make out a dragon design etched along the edge of the blade. "Wow could this be Cail's sword? How does she even handle a blade like this? Hmm looks pricy, Cail probably wouldn't want anyone messing around with this thing." Cardin thought to himself before rewrapping the blade and returning it to its resting spot.
Finally for the first time Cardin was in Cail's room and alone with his thoughts. So his eyes instinctively began to glance around the room. Four beds lined the corners of the room each belonging to a different member of team CRUS. One bed was covered in parts and tools, another was draped in black and green sheets and several band posters hung from the wall above it. Then there were the last two beds. Both of them looked fairly normal. He had to guess that the one that Cail and Pyrrha were sitting on before must be Cail's. "Come to think of it all the members of team CRUS were girls right? I would have thought a girl's dorm room would have been cleaner." He thought to himself before shaking his head. "As much as I want to look around I should really get out of here before any of Cail's teammates catch me here." Cardin quickly made his way to the door and left the dorm room behind.
Cail was quickly rushed from her dorm to headmaster Ozpin's tower office and left there with one parting message from Goodwitch. "I have classes to attend to so it will just be the two of you today but. I warn you Cail, if you do anything funny I will find out and you will pay the price. Do I make myself clear?" After receiving a nod from Cail Glynda went on her way without another word.
With that Cail moved her focus toward the coffee junky of a Headmaster in front of her. "So what did you call me up here for Ozpin?" Ozpin seemed to pay her question little mind as he skimmed through a few files at his desk stopping only to take a sip from his signature coffee mug. Annoyance begins to set in as Cail raises her voice. "Ozpin are you listening!?"
Ozpin glances over to the reddening snail girl before setting the files down on his desk between the two of them. "So Cail, do you have anything new to report?" He asks in a calm almost soothing voice.
Cail raises an eyebrow at this question. "I'm not sure what you're expecting me to tell you Oz. I just gave you a report this morning didn't I? What could have chanced since then?"
Ozpin's expression and tone become more serious when he response. "Well you could start by being more open about what you have found out so far. Why are you withholding information from me Cail?"
"I don't know what you're on about Oz." Cail says dismissively while leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.
"Oh, then tell me Cail. Why is it that you have so how managed to discover White Fang agents inside Beacon but, for some reason have failed to give me any details pertaining to their identity? Care to explain this Cail?" Ozpin inquires.
Cail lets out a sigh before presenting her wrists to Ozpin. "Fine you got me, go ahead take me away."
Ozpin griped the bridge of his nose. "Cail I didn't bring you here to play games. Now, why are you hiding this from me?"
"Because I know how you are. And that means I know if you knew who they were, you could fly off the handle and end up scaring them away. I need them here for my plan to work. You choose be for this job because you thought I was the best suited for doing it right? So why don't you just trust my judgment?" Cail retorted.
"And this plan of yours involves endangering the lives of your fellow students? I understand that sacrifices are some times needed to win a war but. For the time being we are at peace and must do all we can to protect that peace and the lives of our people."
"Ozpin your students can handle themselves, that's why they are here. Besides didn't you once say that you would believe in me?" Cail asked while giving him a smirk.
"I am not a perfect man Cail, I have made many mistakes. And perhaps trusting this task to you was one of them but. If you truly believe this is the best course of action then I will allow it." Then Ozpin's expression softened. "This is not quite what I had in mind when I recruited you but. I will believe in you Cail. I know you have a good and righteous heart even if you don't believe it yourself."
"There you go again. Good and righteous heart? It still sounds so strange to hear somebody to use those words to describe me. And it's also hard to believe that I have been here over a year now." Cail said with a slight melancholy in her voice.
Ozpin chuckled slightly before speaking. "Indeed I still remember the day you first walked into my office like it was yesterday. What a mess you were."
One Year Earlier
Ozpin the Headmaster of Beacon Academy was sat at his desk intently looking over a student record in his hands. His attention moved towards the door of his office when the ding of his elevator told him that his next interview had arrived. Ozpin ran a large school that received thousands of applicants each year, so of course it was not common practice for him to interview each new student individually before accepting them into the academy but he would in very special cases. The form of Glynda Goodwitch soon filled the frames of his classes as she stepped out of the elevator and into the office. And she led a young snail faunus girl behind her. And for lack of a better term the girl looked like a total train wreck. Her cloths and hair were in disarray. Her skin was pale and he hadn't seen somebody look so tired since Dr. Oobleck one of his professors ran out of his special coffee brew.
Glynda motioned for the girl to sit down and she made her way to the chair directly in front of Ozpin. After making herself comfortable she opened her mouth to speak. Her voice was scratchy and reeked of nervousness but was nothing if not polite. "Hello Headmaster Ozpin. I am Cail Xiong, you wanted to meet me?"
"Indeed Miss Cail Xiong I wanted to ask you a few quick questions about your calcifications." Cail nodded giving Ozpin the go ahead to begin. "Alright, first of all why did you want to attend Beacon?"
The snail girl shifted around in her seat. "Umm, I hear you train the best huntsmen in the world here. I want to be a huntress sir."
Ozpin smiles slightly before continuing. "I am sure you do but, what makes you think you have what it takes to be a huntress?"
"To be honest with you I don't really think I do sir. What I mean is that to most a huntsman is a hero of justice. Somebody you can always count on to do the right thing and help those in need. I'm not much of a hero and I can be a bit selfish at times but I know I can fight. Fighting is all I am good at, all I have ever been good at and I need to make a living some how. I can't always be a burden to others and a huntress is my best bet sir." Cail responded.
The smile on Ozpin's face dropped and was replaced with a more serious expression. "That is a very realistic answer and though I wouldn't say its wrong it is a little bit sad." Ozpin takes a moment to clear his throat before asking his next question. "So tell me Cail Pendragon what makes somebody like you think that way?"
Cail jumps up from her seat in shock and her aura reflexively begins to run wild. "What did you just say, how do you know that name?!"
"I will admit your fake transcripts were really well made. Whoever put them together for you knew what they were doing. With that said I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and I am always on the look out for young talents such as yourself so there is no way I wouldn't recognize you. The question is why would you go to the trouble of hiding your true identity when the Pendragon name would be more then enough to give you credibility?" Ozpin inquired.
Cail remained silent and looked away from Ozpin. Ozpin then pulled out a set of documents. "Not feeling talkative? Well I suppose it's a good thing that I went ahead and had your real transcripts sent to me. And after looking through them a few times I can see why you felt the need to hide. Even though until more recently your records have been nothing but excellent, as of late they have become quite troubling to say the least." He then flipped through them to page labeled as health history. According to this you had been suffering from an extreme case of depression and had been exhibiting self destructive behavior. It also says here." He said while flipping a few more pages. "That you have been missing for the last two years and never finished your training. So with that in mind I will ask again, why do you want to attend my school Miss Pendragon?"
Cail leaned back in her chair and all illusion of manners seemed to disappear as her feet came up onto Ozpin's desk. "Guess the cats out of the bag huh. Truth be told I just want to be left alone you know. No more unwinnable battles to fight, no more heavy responsibilities, and no more titles holding me down. I wasn't cut out to be a hero so from now on I just want to be me."
Ozpin tossed aside the documents and took another long sip of his coffee before speaking. "And you think you will find that here?"
"Well I figured a place far away from home would be a good place to start. Maybe I was being naïve again. I guess I will just have to look elsewhere huh?" Cail questioned.
A smile came back to Ozpin's face. "What makes you think that? Rather Miss Pen… No Miss Cail, I welcome you to Beacon Academy."
Cail quickly pulled her feet off the table and they were followed by her hands slamming down in their place. "Are you for real!? Why would you?!"
"You have made many mistakes in the past but. I know better than anyone that only the person in question can decide who they are and no one has the right to judge you for who you use to be. I believe one day you will achieve great things Cail and I want to be the one to guide you."
Cail began to chuckle. "You're out of your mind man but thanks nobody has said anything like that to me in years."
"You're quite welcome child." Ozpin's face became serious once more as he took hold of his nearby cane and stud up. "Now with all that said. I do have one word of warning for you Cail. Don't make me regret this choice, are we clear?"
"Crystal Ozpin, crystal" Cail responded.
"Great now then why don't you have Glynda show you where you will be sleeping tonight. You look quite tired and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. You will be meeting your new teammates after all."
"Wait, did you say teammates!?"
The Present
Cail has just left Ozpin's office after they had finally finishing their chat. Cail was now heading towards the first year dorms in order to meet up with Cardin like she promised. On her way there she can't help but find herself lost in thought. "Sighhhhhhhhhhh. Ozpin always seems to know how to get under my skin. I honestly don't know what the man is thinking most of the time. I would just read his mind but I don't think Glynda was bluffing when she said she was watching me so that's out. But whatever I still have a job to do and don't have time to waste on this. I just have to find those guys that Junior tipped me off about and then…" Cail's train of thought was interrupted as she bumped into another person while turning the corner. Cail falls backwards and lands on her but causing her to roll around griping her rear end in pain. "Ouch!"
"Hey watch where you're going weirdo!" A female voice calls out to Cail. Cail stops rolling around and sits up to see a group of three people standing before her. The one she bumped into was a dark skinned girl with green hair, dark skin, and bright red eyes. To the right of her was a tall and stunningly beautiful raven haired girl with pale skin. And the last member of the group was a gray haired light skinned boy and they were all dressed in the classic black uniform of Haven Academy. "Hey are you paying attention!? You should at least say you're sorry when you run into somebody!" The green haired girl continued while crossing her arms.
Cail stud up and dusted herself off before retorting. "Normally I would but I would like to at least get the money back that you just stole before I go apologizing to you."
The green haired girl's eyes widened as she took a step back. "What how do you… I mean I don't know what you're talking about." The green haired girl stated before glancing back at her companions and being given a wicked glare from her taller raven haired friend. "Umm Cinder, I'm sorry I just couldn't help myself I…"
The girl was silenced as the Raven haired girl approached and reached out her hand. "Give it here, right now Emerald!" The green haired girl quickly complied by pulling out a small wallet with a snail like pattern stitched into the leather and presented it to her companion who in turned presented it back to it's rightful owner. "Forgive my friend here, she has had a hard childhood and old habits seem to die hard." She says while offering a kind smile.
Cail returns the smile as she takes hold of her wallet with one hand and grips the raven haired girls hand with the other. "Thank you Cinder Fall." She says as her aura flares up and her eyes begin to glow.
Cinder's eyes widen in shock as she yanks her hand away and gives Cail a cold glare. "What did you just do!?"