A/N: Sorry for the lateness! Damn schoolwork… but it's a lame overused excuse XD. Thank you for bringing this story up to 38 favorites and 61 follows! Unbelievable! I love it guys ;3. I do not own RWBY; that is the property of Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.

*Chapter 7*

Cardin woke up, and he saw that he was the first member of his team to actually rise. "Wow, this is another first."

He stood up for a stretch, feeling his bones crack a bit. 'I'm not that old, yet.'

Grabbing his uniform and robe, he hurriedly claimed the shower, flipping the 'Occupied' sign (courtesy of Adam) to let the rest of his team know where he was. If they got up anytime soon.

As the cold water poured over his body, Cardin was so caught up in mentally listening to some music (recommended from Velvet) that he didn't hear the door creak open, followed by several hushed voices.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Trust me bro, he likes this kind of stuff."

Cardin turned off the water, grabbed his towel to dry off, and looked to see his clothes were gone. "What the…" He was sure he put them down on the counter five minutes ago.

He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Sky! If you don't give me my clothes back in three seconds, there may or may not be something living in your pants." There were several snickers heard outside the door, along with a hurried, "Here!" and Cardin's clothes coming in the bathroom.

Cardin put them on, combing his hair into its normal peak. "I swear, he hasn't changed a bit."

He exited the bathroom, and he saw Adam with an apologetic smile. "Blame Sky. It was his idea."

Cardin narrowed his eyes playfully, ready to get the blue-haired teen back when Velvet pointed to a corner in the room. "Go to your corner!"

Sky let out a small sigh but went to the Corner of Shame nevertheless. "How long am I staying in here?"

"Until I can think about a good way to get you back," Cardin replied, smirking evilly with Adam. Cardin then remembered one of Sky's weak points. 'He can't stand anything with tentacles. Hmmm, that's going to be very handy indeed.'

With a Cheshire Cat grin on his face, he whispered to Adam. "Hey partner, do you think you can get us a few things for a movie night tonight?"

Adam listened as Cardin whispered something into his ear, smirking behind his mask. "Oh, I can have a little friend of mine get that easily."

"What are guys talking about?" Sky asked from his Corner of Shame. Cardin straightened up innocently. "Oh, nothing. Well, just some ideas for us to use on our next outing. If we ever go on one."

Sky eyed them a little suspiciously, but he didn't move from his corner. "Can I come out now? I already feel my brain cells committing suicide."

Cardin let out a chuckle. "That bored, are we?"

Sky gave him an exasperated look. "Yeah, you don't say."

"Okay, you can come out of your corner." The blue haired teen let out a sigh of relief. He scratched his head. "I don't want to be in there anytime soon. Again."

Cardin gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, it could be worse. Imagine if you had Russell and Dove with us. They really wouldn't have let you live it down."

"Good point."

Velvet inserted a pair of headphones into her scroll, and began playing a slow beautiful mixture of beats. Cardin raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, are you listening to Blue Sky Black Death?"

Velvet took out one ear bud and nodded. "Yep. My favorite album by them too. Noir."

Cardin let out a sigh. "That was a brilliant album. Every song on that was good. Especially 'Our Hearts of Ruin' and 'And Stars, Ringed.'"

Adam let out a small cough. "We should probably get downstairs for some breakfast. If you look at our schedules, we have combat training with Goodwitch first."

Cardin raised an eyebrow. "That'll be interesting, to say the least."

Together, they headed down to the cafeteria for some food, and saw they were not the only ones there. Teams RWBY, JNPR, ARKD, and the fourth year Team FLME (A/N: Thank you Little Dragon-kun!) were also there, eating already. Cardin let out a sigh of relief. "At least the annoying bastards that are POWR aren't here yet."

Of course, since he just said those words, POWR did come. And that nearly ruined Cardin's good mood. Nearly.

Jaune picked at his food, as if something was bothering him. Cardin put an arm on his shoulder. "Hey man. Is something wrong?"

Jaune jerked up, relaxing when he saw who it was. "No, I'm alright."

Alex, leader of ARKD, pushed a strand of his blonde hair out of his green eyes. "You sure bro? You've seemed…well, not okay." Jaune pushed it off by putting on a fake smile and thumbs up. "Yes, I'm fine. Heh-heh…"

Nothing about him seemed right. Jaune kept glancing over to POWR, and he seemed afraid. Very, very afraid.

Cardin knew that Jaune was not confident in himself as a leader, often thinking JNPR should be led by Pyrrha. But Cardin had seen how Jaune performed.

"Hey Jaune. Mind if I talk to you for a bit?" Cardin asked, glaring daggers at POWR, who sneered in response.

Jaune nervously got up. "Sure…"

They walked out of the cafeteria, and Cardin put both hands on his shoulders. "Jaune, as a friend, I want you to tell me what's going on."

Jaune sighed in defeat. "I can't lead a team. I'm a lousy fighter, Aaron's got me on a leash; it's just so much. Do you think I'm a failure?"

Cardin shook his head. "Jaune, listen to me. I saw the replay of how you and your team took out that Deathstalker. You know what I saw in you? A brilliant commander. I saw a future General in you. Okay, so you might not be the strongest fighter. Does that mean you're a failure? No! A leader strives to improve themselves, and sometimes they need a little help from others."

Jaune looked up with a glimmer of hope in his blue eyes. "You really mean that?"

Cardin nodded. "Jaune, I honestly believe you could shape yourself to be a great leader. And that's not for flattery. And now, time for the other problem: POWR. What are they doing to you?"

Jaune looked down again. "They…found something out when I was talking with Pyrrha awhile ago, and they are pretty much blackmailing me."

From his past life, Cardin knew what it was, but he decided to play ignorant. "And what dirt could they have on you? You don't seem to be a criminal."

Jaune nervously looked around. When he was confident that no one was around, he whispered to Cardin. "Can you keep a secret?"

Cardin nodded. "I swear it. No one will hear about it. Not even my partner."

Jaune nodded, looked around again, and said, "I didn't get accepted to this school. I never went to combat training, or anything. I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied."

Cardin pretended to be surprised. "What!?"

Jaune looked around nervously. "Shh!" Cardin shook his head apologetically. "Sorry." After a deep breath, Jaune continued. "It's just; this is what I wanted to always be. My father, and his father before him, they were all heroes. I just was never good enough. I'm a liar, a fake, and a failure to my family."

Cardin shook his head. "Listen Jaune. You can be the hero. You just need a little guidance. Hell, all of us do. You think Ruby, Alex, or even me don't question ourselves every now and then? This is just a bump in the road, as my mother would say. Don't let it jerk you off course."

Jaune sighed. "I know, but I'm not that good of a fighter either. I almost feel like a liability." He really seemed to only dwell on the bad things, instead of looking at the bright side.

Cardin shook his head. "How about this? Adam and I are thinking about doing a little training every day, starting this afternoon after Professor Goodwitch's class. We can both help you in becoming a better fighter."

Jaune pondered it before giving in. "Alright. I'm not letting POWR push me around anymore. I'm through with this." Before he left he actually gave the orange-haired teen a smile. "Oh, and Cardin? Thanks for this. You've really helped."

Cardin watched him go with a small smile. 'Well, this is one thing I wish I did in my past life. But, I should probably head back. They'll be wondering where I ran off to.'

Cardin jogged back to the cafeteria to join his teammates, where he could see Jaune's spirits had improved somewhat. "Guys, I'm really fine now. I just had to talk some things out."

Ren nodded silently, only to sigh when he noticed his pancakes were missing. "Really Nora?"

Nora slurped the pancakes down and smiled. 'But they were so tasty Ren!" The quiet male just shook his head and looked at the schedule. "So, Professor Goodwitch is first today. This ought to be interesting."

"Yeah, from what I heard, it's going to be a one-on-one match, both people from different teams," Alex added, his dark green eyes glittering with interest. Cardin stroked his mustache (metaphorically of course) and cracked his knuckles. "Well, today is going to fun, but very draining. I'm not looking forward to the aches and pains I'm gonna have before the day is finished."

"No one is, mate," Adam chuckled. He put down his fork and sighed. "Blake, I can tell there's something you want to talk about. But remember this. I am a changed person since I met you."

Blake narrowed her eyes. "Really now? Because if I'm right, you were the one who needed some convincing to leave those monsters."

Adam bristled. "Not here, and not now! You know how uncomfortable I am with that subject." He stood up and left the table, several stares following him, including an infuriated Yang's. The brawler's eyes were beginning to turn red, and Blake put an arm to stop her. "Yang, don't. I'll tell you later, I promise."

After Yang calmed down, Cardin threw his trash away and headed off after his partner. He found him, on one of the many balconies in Beacon. Adam must have heard him coming, because he put his head in his hands. "Let me guess: you don't want to be near me now."

Cardin shook his head. "No, that's not it. You are my partner, second in command of CASL as well. I don't want there to be secrets amongst partners. Otherwise, I feel like a leader who doesn't care about his members, and I do not want that."

Adam lifted his head and faced Cardin. "Promise that this conversation will not be told to anyone outside of CASL. Especially Blake."

Cardin gave the bull Faunas a nod. "You have my word on it."

Adam took a deep breath and began. "Blake and I… we were both in the White Fang."

"Wait, the Faunas group?" Cardin asked. Adam nodded. "Blake was my partner. We were used in Dust robberies, hijacking Schnee trains containing the shipment and taking innocent lives. But one day, Blake came to me and said she was leaving. She couldn't stand what the Fang had become. She wanted to become a huntress, and I came with her. Here, I could start again. but, Blake doesn't believe I've changed."

Cardin put his arm around the troubled Faunas. "Adam, your past doesn't matter. I'm not gonna judge you for it, and I doubt Velvet and Sky are going to. Okay, so you've done horrible things in your past with the White Fang. But you came here to start over, right? Make the best of this chance."

Adam brightened up, tossing a grin. "Thanks. You are a better person than I originally thought. And that's saying something, coming from me."

Cardin chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I'm pretty much a rebel. So, how about we go back since we have to go to Professor Goodwitch's class in five minutes?"

Adam looked at his scroll, and his eyes behind the mask widened slightly. "Shit, you're right!"

The two ran to the blonde disciplinarian's class, as being late was probably the worst thing anyone could do. Other than calling her the 'Wicked Witch of the West'.

Goodwitch looked up with narrowed eyes as the two entered her class, panting. "I do hope this is not to be a habit of yours, Mr. Winchester, Mr. Taurus."

"Of course not, ma'am," Cardin panted. They both sat down, and Professor Goodwitch began teaching. "Welcome to Advanced Combat Training. I am your teacher, Professor Goodwitch. Now, I imagine all of you have at least some sort of weapon?"

She looked around, seeing everyone nod. "Good. Now, for demonstration purposes only, I will need two of you to stand up. Who would like to volunteer?"

Alex raised his hand. "I'll give it a shot." Aaron of POWR did the same, sending a glare in the blonde's direction. "So will I."

Goodwitch nodded. "Very well. please, the both of you come on the stage." The two walked onto the stage, drawing their weapons.

Alex seemed to have a black longsword, a small shadow surrounding the blade. Adam leaned over to Cardin. "That guy has a really high aura, probably the highest in here."

Cardin raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Adam nodded. "I doubt that moron from POWR knows what he's up against. This will be interesting, to say the least."

Aaron hefted his axe over his shoulder, smirking. "Scared, Blondie?" He was trying to taunt the blonde into doing something reckless.

Alex merely smiled. "Yeah, I'm scared of hurting you too badly."

Cardin chuckled as he saw Aaron's face redden. "He did not expect that one."

Goodwitch looked both males up and down. "Begin."

Aaron swung first, his axe easily the heavier weapon. Alex didn't move, and Cardin gripped the edge of his seat. "What is he doing!?"

Alex grinned and simply vanished. Aaron looked around. "What the…"

He turned around, and he barely got his axe into play before Alex's sword struck him twice. The blonde smiled. "I thought I would avoid that attack. So predictable." Aaron grew angry and tried to hit him again. Alex was much too quick and easily avoided that attack too.

'Blondie ain't a slouch. He's trained, and at a high level,' Cardin thought as he watched the fight. It got more interesting when Alex parried a heavy strike from Aaron and spun him around, stunning him momentarily. When Aaron got back to his senses, Alex was already upon him, his sword a blur of motion before taking out the axe wielder. It was so fast, even Ruby looked amazed.

Yang leaned over to her adoptive sister. "That's our cousin for you." Cardin stopped. Ruby and Alex were related?

Ruby let out a sigh. "I know, and it isn't easy, knowing he's the fastest one out of all of us."

Aaron stared angrily at Alex as the blonde held his sword close to his throat. "You got me by luck," Aaron spat. Alex narrowed his green eyes. "No, I won by skill. You are the one who'll need luck to even think about messing with my little cousin again."

Professor Goodwitch gave both of the arguing males a hard stare. "Enough! Go back to your respective teams, please." Alex scoffed but went nonetheless; ignoring the angry glare Aaron was giving him.

Goodwitch sighed, rubbed her temples, and looked at the sheet again. "I'll need two more, I'm afraid."

Owen of POWR stood up. "I'll go." His red hair was longer than most males, but there was no mistaking him for a girl. He was huge, easily six-and-a-half feet tall and 200 pounds. It would be difficult to fight him.

Goodwitch started to look for another volunteer, and she found one in Kurtis of ARKD. "Kurtis? If you please."

Kurtis flexed his arm, and Cardin could see the still healing scars along his upper arm. 'Dear God, what happened to him?'

"Begin!"

Owen and Kurtis were both swordsmen, and highly skilled ones at that. Owen was much bigger than Kurtis, but the smaller male had the advantage in agility. Even wounded, Kurtis was a dangerously quick opponent.

"I'd hate to go against him. He's pretty damn good," Sky muttered. He was right, as even the powerful Owen was having a hard time keeping up with the speedy Kurtis. Cardin grew more impressed when he saw that Kurtis' brown eyes were closed, and he was still parrying and striking cleanly. "How is he doing that?"

Alex turned from where he was. "It's one of the basics of being a swordsman. A trained one will be able to react to attacks before they can see them, sensing their opponent's aura. It seems I taught my friend well."

Adam nodded. "I remember that kind of training, too. I had to walk home from a park blindfolded. I was able to take breaks and ask directions, but I could not take the blindfold off. I got the hang of it pretty quick."

Kurtis slammed his sword into Owen's with a grin. "Sorry about this mate, but I need to end this quick." His sword began to glow gold, and it separated into 7 pieces, all floating around Owen. The tall teen looked around in panic. "What is this!?"

Alex sighed and closed his eyes. "It's over. Nothing can block that attack. Not even my technique."

Kurtis was also shrouded in gold, and he began to grab one blade after another and struck seven times, putting Owen's aura into the red. Kurtis grabbed his sword, now back together, and looked at the wounded teen. "Still, nice fight."

Owen looked up, expecting the black-haired teen to gloat, but he was surprised when he offered a hand up. "Thank you. This was a thrill for me."

Professor Goodwitch looked at the time, and sighed in slight disappointment. "It's that time already? Ah well. Remember class: the experiences you have here will shape you into better fighters, and better defenders of our world. Dismissed."

Several students let out dejected sighs, while others either didn't care or just wanted to be away from the stern disciplinarian. Cardin caught up to Jaune. "So. Ready for the training? I was serious about that."

Jaune looked a bit nervous. "Are you sure that I won't be absolutely terrible?"

Cardin and Adam smirked. "Oh no, Jaune. You'll do just fine indeed."

A/N: There we go! Again, I'm sorry that this is taking so long! I hate my school right now… but, please leave any comments or questions that you may have, and I'll try to get back to you! Thanks for reading!

-RWBYxFluorite-