Friends till the end?

by NanoSparten

Cardin and Jaune have been the best of friends since they were ten and through their seven years of friendship, they have done nothing but strengthen their bond together. But the Winchesters and the Arcs has a lingering history that the both of them are not proud to follow, and when it catches up. Will their friendship hold against the trials, or will it shatter and fall apart?

2. Chapter 2: Scars of the past

Okay, I kinda lied when I said that the reason I made this story was because I see Cardin as a redeemable character and because of typical bad guy Cardin. Well they were the reasons why I made the idea, but this chapter is pretty much the reason why I REALLY wanted to make this story.

One thing to note is that most of the things that happens in this chapter is relevant to something that I planned and not just there for filler. But I hope I do convey that well with my writing. Also this chapter is the start to why this Fanfic is rated M and is under Angst. So if you happen to see that the rating is unneeded then please tell me. If it wouldn't hurt. I would like for some kind of review if I happen to be making consistent mistakes or maybe I could have done something better. Unless you tell me. I'm probably going to do those mistakes again. But without further adieu. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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It is a very dark and claustrophobic alley. The rain gently fell from above as the only illumination to the alley was the moon high in the sky. Except the moon wasn't normal, it didn't shine in its pure white radiance, no the moon was radiating red, as deep as blood itself and with the rain crawling down the tall walls, it was as if the walls were bleeding. But these were minor details to a ten year old Cardin running for his life down these long narrow alleyways, in his torn up jacket and pants. His bare feet were crying out in pain as they splashed on the wet ground, begging him to stop running and take a break. But he couldn't stop, he did not have the luxury, or else "they" would get him. It was very dark and that played with his sight, he could barely see where he was going, but he knew that didn't matter, because "they" could still see him bright as day.

He was blinded by the tears running from his eyes, but he kept running. His lungs were on fire with his constant breathing, but he kept running. His legs were sore and bleeding, but he kept running. Nothing was going to stop him from running from "them" until he was safe, but then he felt sharp pains on his back and that caused him to fall onto the cold wet ground. He cried out in pain from the cuts and the impact to the ground, the falling rain stung the wounds that were inflicted onto him, and with that alone he could feel that he has three large diagonal cuts parallel to each other, running from the top of his right shoulder to his lower back. He had no time to look back so he pushed himself up from all the pain and kept running again.

His heart was racing ferociously as he heard "their" footsteps getting louder. He could clearly tell from their sound alone that there are three of them. One of them made loud splashes in the puddle and occasional squeaks; this one was wearing sneakers of some sorts. Another one made a very heavy clanking sound, the way it echoed he could guess that these shoes were made of metal. The last one was a set of clicking and clacking sound. Those were definitely high heels.

He kept running, but the noises were only getting louder and louder. He then came up on a three way intersection in the alleyway, he had to make a decision quick, go left, or go right. It was so dark he could not see pass four meters from where he was at, so no matter where he chooses, it's a shot in the dark. But anywhere was better than waiting for "them" to catch up. So making his decision he chose to go right and ran for it. About five meters in, he ran right into a wall. Cardin's heart skipped a beat as he found himself in a dead end. He turned around to make a run for it but then he saw that "they" were already there and Cardin's heart was racing so fast, he thought we was going to die of a heart attack. He backed himself back onto the wall and the sizzling pain from the cuts earlier didn't even bother him, because now, he has something far worst in front of him.

The rain stopped falling and the moon illuminated figures from behind, casting only their silhouettes. They were, just three faunuses that looked to be in their teenage years. The one on his right was a monkey faunus who looked very average, he was also juggling a knife with blood dripping from it, using only his tail. The middle one was a wolf faunus who has only her right wolf ear and a slender body, her amber eyes shone through the darkness, like little pits of fire. And the last one on the left, was a very built and big guy that stood there with his arms crossed, he had no physical resemblance of being a faunus but Cardin could just tell he was one. Cardin was standing back against the wall, just staring at them. The silence enveloped the area, as the wind ceased to flow through the alleyways.

The first one to break the silence was the monkey faunus who was laughing manically but yet his tone of voice was not one of a malicious entity. "Oh that was a fun game, wasn't it bird brain? Too bad you had to be a real bird brain and run into a wall." The faunus tilted his head and looked at Cardin and grinned at what he saw. "Wait. Are you crying? Are you actually crying right now?" he asked follow by his maniacal laugher again. "Oh shit, you really are crying! AH HA! The bird brain is crying, oh this is precious." He wiped his tear from laughing too hard. "Oh do you want to go run back to your mommy, so she can comfort you and make the crying stop?" He just kept laughing until he stopped and caught his breath. "Oh, that's right."

He tossed his knife with his tail and caught it with his finger and thumb. His voice dropped low and menacing. "Mommy is not here right now is she. Nah, you kind of just abandon her back there and ran for it. How can you possibly go back to her?" he took a pause and thought of something. "You know what; here I have something for you." He reached for his back pocket and threw what looked like a locket at Cardin's chest. Cardin reacted and caught the locket after hitting his chest. He looked at it and his eyes went wide. This was his mom's locket with a picture of her, his dad, and him in it. He looked back up at the faunus, eyes welling up again in tears. The monkey faunus leaned his back up against the side wall still playing with his knife. "God, bird brain, you should have been there to see it. She was just sitting there burning alive, all the while she was clutching onto that locket close to her heart. You humans are surprisingly flammable you know that? I'll admit though, prying that locket out her dead hands was a big pain in the ass. I mean, I would have brought a better souvenir like her hand or her head for you, if Fang over here didn't go and break that old hag." He shook his head and placed his fingers on his forehead. "Man, she crumbled like dust, you should have seen it. It was so weird, but this locket was the only thing we could salvage, in memories of your mommy burning to death." His grin grew as wide as his face. "Well, at least she won't be alone." He said as he pushed himself off the wall and faced Cardin. "Because you're next bird brain, and we'll make sure you enjoy every second of it." He spoke in a maniacal voice.

Cardin's heart broke after seeing and hearing about everything, so much so that his legs gave out and he was now sitting up against the wall. The tears wouldn't stop running down his face, he couldn't catch his breath, and he was sobbing so much. "W-why did you have to do that? Why are you doing this to me, to us? What did we do to deserve this?!" he asked as he sniffled and choked with each word.

The wolf faunus gave off a light chuckle. Her voice was alluring and mesmerizing, but spine chilling at the same time. "Oh little birdie, you don't understand do you? You guys didn't do anything to us, but your father and your grandfather on the other hand; they did so many bad things to poor little faunuses like us. And you see little birdie, it's hard to get your revenge on a dead man." She smoothly stated

The monkey faunus followed up her statement. "Man, Cardinal was such a coward. He just went and offed himself right then and there, it wasn't fun at all, well, at least not as fun as the mom. You know, I guess instead of being birds you Winchesters are more like chickens huh?" He remarked.

"That's enough Monkey." She commanded.

"Alright whatever you say Boss Wolf Lady." He replied as he backed off.

Wolf turned and glared at Monkey. "I said enough, don't make me repeat myself." She hissed.

Monkey raised his hands up in defense. "Alright geez calm down will you, someone here needs a sense of humor, and that's definitely not going to be Fang." He said as he pointed to the big faunus. "Women, am I right bird brain?" She said to Cardin who was still shivering in fear.

Wolf let out a sigh as she turned her attention back to Cardin. "Now where were we little birdie?" she asked.

Cardin still hasn't been able to calm down and he feared of saying anything, but he just had to know. "Why are you after me?" he fearfully requested.

Wolf sighed. "I already told you. Cardinal is dead so we have to take our wrath out on someone, and you're the only Winchester left, Cardin." She slowly made her way towards him. "That means you're the last one alive that needs to burn."

Cardin's heart was racing faster and faster as he saw and heard her inching closer and closer to him. He then he felt something under his hand, it was a rock. With every echo of her heels he panicked to the point there he gripped the rock and threw it at her. It struck her on the right side of her face and a diagonal scar was visible.

A whistle came from Monkey. "Wow looks like the bird brain still has some fight in him." The he remarked.

Wolf stood back and put her hand on her face and felt a scar. Bright red blood was running down her silhouette face, her amber eyes came back to meet Cardin's sapphire eyes. "That wasn't very nice little birdie." She grinned and snapped her fingers.

On cue with the snap, Fang, who's been silent the entire time, rushed up Cardin and kicked him in the face. He could feel the force of the metal boot connecting with his face with tremendous force, which afterwards he felt a rush of pain from the back of his head, from hitting the wall behind him. He held his face with both hands; he was screaming and crying from the immense pain he has just gone through. His ears were ringing from the blow, but he could still hear Monkey laughing this off, as if this is all just a practical joke for him. "HOLY SHIT DUDE, I THINK YOU BROKE SOMETHING!" He just kept on laughing, as Cardin was trying to recover from the pain. "Man that felt so good. I wonder if he looks any better with a broken face?" Monkey took a moment to look at Cardin's face which was still in his hands. "Nah he's still recognizable." He tossed his knife around with his hands and tail. "Maybe we should fix that, maybe then he'll look better." He said as he caught the knife in his hand, after which Wolf takes it into her possession. She stared at Cardin and her amber eyes pierced right through little him.

Cardin feared for the worse, he was exhausted and in pain, there were three faunuses in front of him who were bloodthirsty, he had no escape, and worst of all, he was going through this all alone, but then Cardin could see it. Looking through between Wolf's legs he could see a bright yellow light, shining. The Yellow illumination overpowered the red glow from the moon, and Cardin could see him, it was Jaune. Though from the looks of it Jaune was a full grown adult, but it didn't matter, he knew it was him. Seeing Jaune there lifted Cardin's spirit through the pain. Cardin reached out his hand in Jaune's direction and opened his mouth to call out his friend, but nothing came out. He kept trying to call out to Jaune for help, for anything, but he made no noise. It was as if his voice was being taken right out of his throat so that he may never speak. He knew Jaune was looking at him and he tried to plead for Jaune to come and help him, to come and save him.

Jaune, just shook his head and walked away in the other direction. "No, Jaune, don't go, please, come back." He finally muttered, but little by little, Jaune's bright yellow aura was dimming and dimming, until it was completely out and was replaced with the red moonlight. Cardin's heart sank deep down in his chest and shattered into a million pieces. He was absolutely heart broken. The only person he could ever count on left, he felt betrayed by his one and only friend, and now Cardin is all alone again with these faunuses who seemed to have just stood there through the whole ordeal that occurred.

Once again Monkey was the one to break the silence. "What was that bird brain, I couldn't quite hear you. Are you waiting for someone to come and save you?" He laughed. "News flash bird brain, nobody in their right mind would want to help you, especially not a Winchester. Face it, you're alone and you always will be, because you bring nothing but misfortune to everyone around you. And your so called friend, would be better off if you didn't exist in this world, and you know it bird brain." Those words hit hard to an already broken Cardin.

Wolf walked up to Cardin and looked into his dead blue eyes. "Now that all of that is resolved." She reached out with her right hand, and grabbed onto Cardin's neck and pushed him back against the wall. He couldn't even fight back; he was paralyzed with fear and sorrow. Tears were silently flowing down his bloody face, and Wolf held the blade of the knife up to it. In one last spine shivering chuckle she followed with. "Now it's time for you to suffer what we suffered. It's time for you to pay, for all of Cardinal's sins." She tightened her grip on his neck, and the last thing Cardin saw were her amber eyes, getting brighter and brighter until he his whole world burn down to the ground.

Cardin shot straight up from his sleeping bag drenched in sweat and choking on his breath. He quickly put his hand on his throat as he was catching his breath. His heart was pounding so quickly he thought his heart was going to explode. He could feel that his eyes were dry from tears. "What the hell was that?" he asked himself as he looked around to see that everyone was still asleep, especially Jaune, who was mumbling in his sleep.

"What time is it?" He asked himself as he took out his scroll and check that it was 5:10 AM. "Damn, four hours till initiation." He felt something run down his nose and was shocked when he saw drops of blood hitting the screen of his scroll. He quickly covered his nose with his free hand and quietly rushed to the bathroom to clean himself up.

After a few minutes of washing his face and stopping the bleeding, he stared into the mirror. "What the hell was that? What the hell kind of a nightmare was that?" he asked himself as he placed his elbows on the sink with his head rested in his palms. He started to think about what he saw, what he experienced in that dream. Everything, the alleyway, the faunus, the pain, his mother…. his father. There were so much on his mind about this dream, but thinking about his father was the one that was flooding his mind. "Pay for your father's sins, huh?" He looked at the mirror, but he didn't see his reflection. No, he saw his father. Cardinal Winchester. Who has orange hair and blue eyes, just like Cardin. Wearing black armor with a gold bird on the chest, he had his mace swung over his shoulders. The same mace Cardin uses.

"So what, we're supposed to suffer for you now? Are we supposed to suffer for everything you did?!" he asked the reflection. He raised his fist, getting ready to punch the mirror, but he stopped himself and put his hand down on the sink. "Wow, am I really talking to a mirror right now?" he chuckled. "I must be going crazy." He took a deep breath as he recalled a lot of what the faunus said, he shivered at the thought of his mom dying by their hands. The way the faunus described it was so, real. But it gave him peace at mind that she's safe back at home. But something did echo in his mind "Your so called friend, would be better off if you didn't exist in this world, and you know it bird brain." That, with the image of Jaune leaving him alone just ate at his mind, but he threw those thoughts away because in the back of his mind, he knew Jaune would have his back. Jaune had his back when they were little, and he would have his back now. He needed to clear his mind so he left the bathroom and went out onto the balcony where he looked up at the moon. "Thank god you're not bleeding." He joked.

He bathed in the pearl moonlight as he went back to his thoughts about the dream. There were so many questions as to why these certain events happened and their meaning behind them. "There was no coincidence that these specific events occurred." He rested his head in his hands. "But what do they mean?! Arg!" He screamed in frustration. He then calmed himself down and took a deep breath. "Why am I thinking so much about this? It's just a stupid dream." He stares up to the broken moon, and then he gazed down over the balcony and took in a deep breath. "If only it was all just a dream, wouldn't that be a gift?"

Cardin took his left hand and reached around to his back to find three large scars that were parallel to each other. He trailed his scars, from his right shoulder to his lower back. "If only it was just a dream." He repeated. Cardin returned his gaze to the moon as he clenched his left fist in the air. "I'll show them, I'll show all of them that I'm more than just a Winchester. That I'm more than my father." He declared.

He released his grip and stared at palm of his hand. "Yeah, that's right, I'll show them." He turned his hand over and looked at the back of his hand and balled it into a fist. "And I won't be alone either." He said as he imagined Jaune returning their special fist bump.

He took in the cool air and headed back in. He returned to find his good o friend Jaune happily sleeping away while mumbling something in his sleep, something about showing off his mad skills. Cardin couldn't help his chuckle. "To think would I miss this dumb dork."

Jaune chuckled in his sleep. "You see Cardin; I told you I'd have your back." Jaune happily mumbled in his sleep.

He couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah, I got your back too, you loser." He lies back down onto his sleeping bag. Cardin wasn't afraid anymore. No matter what kind of nightmares he would have, no matter what they tell him in his nightmares. He knew that Jaune would always have his back, and he would do the same for Jaune. "Now let's ride into the sunset and back to the castle!" Jaune slurred in his dreamland.

Cardin couldn't help chuckle at that one. "I wonder what pleasant dream you're having Jaune? Sounds like one hell of a ride." With that peace of mind he went back to sleep, with no fear of whatever may come before him.

The next morning the orange brute was rudely awaken by the sound of cheering "it's morning." He sat up with tiredness in his eyes and began looking for the source of the noise. He saw an energetic girl wearing pink and white, and has orange hair. She was circling an oriental looking boy in green. He looked just as tired as Cardin was, and he felt bad, that the green boy had to endure this, in such close of proximity.

"Well I guess I'm awake now." He regretfully stated. He looked over to see his blonde friend was still asleep, even though all of this noise. Jaune was still mumbling something in his sleep, something about Weiss. "Hey Jaune wake up." He said as he shook his friend who returned with more silent mumbling. "Hey Jauney Boy wake up." He shook his friend even more "Baby no not yet, this is the best part." Jaune giggles in his sleep.

Cardin raised his eyebrow. "That's it." He said as he grabbed his pillow. "WAKE UP YOU LOSER!" He yelled as he slammed his pillow onto Jaune's sleeping face. "SWEET WAFFLES!" Jaune yelled as he quickly sat up and started patting his face.

This made Cardin raise his eyebrow again. "Um, alright, rise and shine Jauney Boy."

Jaune looked around with sleepy eyes and spotted his best friend. "Oh good morning Cardin. What time is it?" he tiredly asked.

"It's, morning o'clock buttercup, now get up, we have to start our day." He replied as he stood up and stretched.

Jaune groaned in annoyance. "Can we just like, not do this, and go back to sleep?" he asked as he closed his eyes sitting up.

Cardin reached down to grab his pillow and smacked Jaune in the face, which knocked him down. "Does that answer your question Jauney Boy?" he rhetorically asked as he threw his pillow on Jaune.

Jaune groaned in pain before rising back up like an undead zombie.

The two boys got cleaned up and dressed, before heading to the cafeteria to get some pancakes for breakfast. They decided to sit near the wall due to still being new to Beacon, just a way to get used to everything. In the middle of eating his pancakes, Cardin came out with a curious question. "Okay, so what were you dreaming about that got you so excited?" he asked his blonde friend.

Jaune put his silverware down and his elbows on the table, getting ready to start his story. "Well, I had this crazy dream, that you were in it, and I was in it."

"Okay that seems obvious enough." Cardin interrupted.

"Hey hey hey, let me finish first. So in my dream you and I were partners." Jaune started again.

"Kind of like how we are now, nothing new." The brute replied.

"Shush be quiet! I'm getting to the good part." Jaune took in a deep breath. "We were knights!" He exclaimed with his hands in the air while his elbows were still on the table.

This actually left Cardin speechless. He didn't know what to comment. "Okay? Go on." Cardin leaned in on the table as he was now interested in Jaune's dream.

"So we're knights, in this past time without all the fancy technology, we had these awesome armor and we have like these cool titles." Jaune explains while gesturing with his hands to add effect.

Cardin put his hand to his chin. "Titles huh, like what?" He questioned his blonde friend.

"You were the Bronze knight!" Jaune exclaimed as he pointed at Cardin.

Cardin looked at Jaune as if he was just insulted. "Bronze knight, Okay I'm going to ask, what was your title?" He asked as he leaned in on his elbows.

"I was the Shining Knight." He spoke confidently as he splayed his hands outward as if he just opened a banner with his title on it.

The bronze knight just sat back and sighed with his fingers on his face. "Shining Knight." He stated. "Yeah okay, Jaune you're more like the Blonde Knight, let's be honest here. Nothing grand, like the Shining Knight" he gestured back.

"Hey, blonde knight doesn't sound as cool though." The blonde friend replied.

Cardin seemed to have had enough of this. "Alright Jaune, was that really all that was special about this dream of yours? This was really, underwhelming." He said.

"Well if you stop talking, I will get to the best part of the story." Jaune said as he pointed his index finger to the sky.

"Well then, go on. I'm all ears." He said as he started eating his pancakes again.

Jaune inhaled. "We were Dragon riders!" exclaimed the blonde knight, extending both arms outward.

Cardin was surprised by Jaune's excitement and started choking on his pancakes. He looked around and noticed that they were getting some stares from the other students, so he gestured Jaune to calm down. "We were what?" He quietly asked while recovering from his pancake attack.

"Dragon riders." Jaune quietly exclaimed. "The Shining knight and the Bronze knight riding dragons and saving the day. You should have seen it, we were so cool, we're flying through the air, and I had my shield and sword while you had your mace. We even led an army, while flying dragons." The blonde knight joyfully explained the dream as if he was a child.

Cardin was happily listening to his friend's story about how they were chosen to be the Dragon Riders by their respected dragons. They led an army against the dark lord, who had kidnapped Princess Weiss, for their evil plan to rule the Kingdom of Vale. He explained how in the epic battle, the Knight Duo fought against the Dark Lord and her Dark Knights. He still used the CAB plan to win the fight, and at the end of it all, the two were revered as heroes in the Kingdom of Vale after their great victory. Right before Jaune was able to kiss Princess Weiss for his heroic deed, Cardin woke him up with that pillow to his face. It was quite a story, and something that Cardin wouldn't have minded living himself. "That's one hell of a story there Jauney Boy. You should write a book on that." The bronze knight suggested as he took a sip of his drink.

Jaune shrugged. "Hey who knows, maybe it'll be a book someday, or maybe it's already a thing. That would be cool though. So what should we do now?" he asked his bronze friend.

"Well I mean you should finish those pancakes before we get a move on." He said as he pointed towards Jaune's stack of pancakes. The blonde knight was so invested in his story that he didn't get to eat yet, unlike Cardin who was long done with his pancakes when Jaune was telling his story.

Jaune started to devour his pancakes. Telling his story took a lot out of him, while he was eating his pancakes, Cardin took the liberaty to look around the cafeteria. He was on the lookout for anyone that was a faunus. It may have been a paranoid mindset, but he's been taught it is better to be safe than sorry. If there's ever one thing his father taught him, it was how to spot a faunus. The reason for him learning this skill was in bad taste, but he later found that it's like playing a game without Jaune. Spot the faunus. It was simple but sometimes a challenge for the ones who don't inherently have anything physical traits of a faunus, such as a second set of ears and such. Most of the times they conceal themselves in clothing, but that made the game a lot more interesting. Of course he would never reveal who the faunus were, if they were hiding their traits, it was for a good reason, and he would rather not make any more enemies than he already has.

While he was on the lookout he overheard some of them talking, and the thing that peaked his interest was the possibility of forming teams in today's initiation. 'Hm, teams huh? That's very interesting; I didn't even think of that to be a possibility. I wonder how they're going to decide them? They mentioned teams so I wonder how many members per team?' He questioned to himself.

Jaune exhaled. "That was some good pancakes." He said as he broke Cardin's train of thought. Jaune stretched after his delicious meal. "Alright, are you ready to go now?" The blonde asked his friend.

Cardin looked back at Jaune. "Yeah took you long enough." Cardin started getting up from his seat. "Let's get a move on." He said.

With that, the two boys made their way to the locker rooms, Cardin's locker was on the far side of the wall. As Cardin was putting on his armor he noticed how Jaune was lost and couldn't help laugh a bit. "Well looks like he's already on an adventure to find this locker. Good luck out there." He said from afar with a salute to his friend.

He turned back and stared at his mace that was in the locker. He gripped handle and lifted it up. It required little strength for him to hold up his mace as he's been trained to use this mace to its full potential. This was the same mace his great great grandfather used in the Great War. It has been passed down to each generation of Winchesters, before, it was just an ordinary mace, nothing special about it, but then, when it was passed down to his father, Cardinal Winchester, he took the liberty to enhanced it drastically by incorporating a red dust crystal in the center of the mace, which allows for a more destructive weapon. As his father would put it, "If I'm going to kill something, I want to make sure they stay dead." Cardin started reminiscing on his dad's lessons, till his thoughts were interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see the blonde knight all dressed and ready. He strapped his mace onto his belt. "So how are you doing Jauney Boy? Had some luck on finding your locker I see." He stated as he looked at Jaune's armor and sword.

Jaune examined himself one last time. "Yeah I seemed to have everything now." He said as he scratched the back of his head on confusion on why his things were in a locker he didn't remember using.

Cardin shut his locker and leaned his back against it with his arms crossed. "So Jauney Boy, did you hear that we might make teams on today's initiation?" He asked.

Jaune shot his attention back at Cardin. "We're making teams?" Jaune questioned in surprise.

"Yeah, rumor has it that we're making teams for the next four years, kind of odd when you think about it. Today is the day that you're supposed to be paired up with complete strangers and become teams for the rest of your time here." Cardin started thinking deeper into the matter with the little information he has. "That doesn't make much sense." He stated.

Jaune brightened up as if he just came up with the best idea ever. "Hey wouldn't it be cool if you and I were on teams?" The blonde excitingly asked.

Carding smirked at what he said. "So what, you didn't plan to be on my team to begin with?" He held onto his chest and chuckled.

"No no, we are definitely going to be teammates, but now it'll be like that dream I had. Except you know, our dragons are replaced by other people, probably, and we don't go riding around on dragons through the sky. But we can still be the Knight Duo. "Jaune was starting to get that twinkle in his eyes at the thought of his dream semi coming true.

Cardin chuckled and shook his head. "Do you really have to include that ridiculous dream here Jauney Boy?" He asked as he patted Jaune's back, but then he noticed a peculiar scene involving a special person, and a smirk crawled across his face. "Speaking of crazy dreams looks like your Princess is over there." He pointed to Weiss who talking was with another girl that had a scarlet ponytail.

Jaune quickly turned to see what Cardin meant and smiled when he saw Weiss. "You know, I think I should go over there, and see if I can get her to join Team Jaune."

Cardin pinched the bridged of his nose. 'It's not worth it Cardin.' He thought to himself. "Well Jauney Boy good luck out there, but if I had to give you one piece of advice before you go, that would be, don't go playing that "I'm a natural blonde" card like you did yesterday don't be a dork. Just, do this one thing for me." He begged his friend.

"Cardin, please, I think I know what I'm doing." Jaune asserted.

Cardin crossed his arms again. "You'd be surprised." He muttered to himself.

Jaune walked towards Weiss and the red head, while Cardin stood back at his locker and just waited for this whole thing to play out. Surprisingly enough Cardin was close enough to hear what they were saying. And the first thing he heard Jaune say was. "You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you." Cardin was so surprised he had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Did, did Jauney Boy say something that didn't sound entirely stupid?" He asked himself. "Oh I must be dreaming now." He was curious now, and he had to see how this would end.

Jaune was replied with an irritated "You again?" from Weiss and an enthusiastic "Nice to meet you, Jaune!" from the scarlet girl.

Now this, had Cardin's attention. Weiss gave Jaune a cold and hard response while the other girl gave him a more warm and sincere greeting. Granted it might have been due to the fact that Jaune was an Arc, but, she at least seemed to have a better personality than Weiss. "Wow can we have her on the team?" he spoke to himself. 'Even if Jaune is dumb there's no way he'll….' Before he could finish his thoughts Jaune promptly pushed the red head away and spoke to Weiss. "So, Weiss, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me yesterday." He said to her.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." She retorted with her hand on her face.

"No need to be embarrassed." He reassured her.

"You're making it really hard not to feel embarrassed with you around Jauney Boy." Cardin mumbled.

Jaune clasp his hands together. "So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?" He suggested to Weiss.

"I say that I'm about to come over there, and give you a good sock to the face Jauney Boy." Cardin silently threatened.

"Actually" The scarlet girl said to attract Jaune's and Weiss's attention. "I think teams are comprised of four students each, so-."

"You don't say." Jaune interrupted as he took his attention towards her. "Well hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you can join up with the winning team." He offered.

Cardin sighed, "I am actually amazed on how good that sounded. I am impressed but yet I still want to sock him good." he muttered as he rubbed his temples.

Weiss jumped in between the two and held them apart with her arms. "Jaune is it?" she rhetorically asked. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" She spoke with pride as she stood back from Jaune and closer to Pyrrha.

"Not in the slightest Snow Angel." He smoothly replied.

The three heard a loud slap and when they looked they saw Cardin standing against the far locker with his hand on his face. They soon ignored that and went back to what they were talking about.

"Snow Angel. I don't even know why you're trying Jaune." He mumbled in his hand.

"Anyways" Weiss returning on subject. "This is Pyrrha Nikos." She gestured.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha greeted.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum." Weiss stated.

"Never heard of it." The blonde replied with a blank face.

Weiss scoffed at that. "She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A New record!" Weiss declared.

"The what?" He blankly replied.

Cardin was confused as Jaune, for once. He's never heard of a Pyrrha Nikos, or Sanctum, or this whole tournament thing. But she sounded like a very incredible person to have achieved all of that.

Weiss had enough that she started flailing her arms in the air. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" she yelled in frustration.

And Jaune gasped at the news. "That's you?!" He finally realized how high she was on the recognition level. "But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" He stated.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." Pyrrha modestly said "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you." She sadly stated.

"Yeah no kidding, how does Jaune eat that stuff?" Cardin silently questioned.

Weiss crossed her arms. "So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss questioned the blonde.

Jaune thought about it and slump his shoulders. "No, I guess not… Sorry…" He hung his head in shame.

"Actually, Jaune." Pyrrha said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "I think you'd make a great leader." She reassured him.

"Heh at least we can both agree on that one, Red. I really like her, maybe she should be on the team." Cardin thought.

Pyrrha's words brightened Jaune up. "D'oh stop it." He said as he perked up his posture.

Weiss sighed "Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" she said to Pyrrha.

Jaune cleared his throat. "Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now, I'm not supposed to do this but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you." He confidently spoke. "What do you say?" He asked Weiss.

"All right. That's a bit close!" She said as Jaune was getting into her personal space. "Pyrrha, a little help, Please?!" she begged her scarlet friend.

Jaune then turned to face Pyrrha only to get his hood pierced by a spear. Cardin could hear Jaune scream followed with Pyrrha saying. "I'm sorry."

Cardin busted out laughing. "Oh god this is rich. I did not expect that to happen." He said to himself as he wiped a tear from his eye. 'Oh I'm sure he's fine.' He thought to himself.

The intercom came on to give an announcement for all first year students to head towards the cliff for their initiation. Both Weiss and Pyrrha made their way pass Jaune and on her way Pyrrha got back her spear. "It was nice meeting you Jaune." She said to the blonde knight.

"Likewise…." He wheezy responded leaning against the locker that he was pinned to.

Cardin had his fair share of laughs and decided to go and finally help his friend up, but no later than five seconds he saw Yang and Ruby walk up Jaune.

"Having trouble there, lady-killer?" Yang asked as Ruby reached her hand out to help Jaune up.

"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence. Where did I go wrong?" He questioned.

Yang chuckled as she made her way pass him. "Snow Angel probably wasn't the best start."

Jaune groaned as Ruby threw his arm over her shoulder. "Come on Jaune, let's go." Ruby started leading the way out, but Jaune stopped her for a moment and looked back at Cardin. He didn't want to leave him behind, but Cardin shook his head and motioned Jaune to go on without him. Jaune hesitated for a moment but complied with his friend's wishes. Once Jaune and Ruby were out, Cardin took a seat on a bench and took a deep breath.

He felt really warm in his chest. "Wow, would you look at that. Not even a week here and already you have made some friends." It may not have been that long ago, but Cardin was remembering how Ruby extended a hand for Jaune, kind of how he did the same for her yesterday. He chuckled at the memory, "Man, I can't remember a time where anyone has extended a hand for you Jaune." He went silent and looked down at the ground. "Especially not, since I've been around you." He mumbled to himself. He closed his eyes and took one last deep breath and exhaled. "Well, can't sulk in here all day." Cardin pushed himself up from the bench. "Time to go show them what I'm made of." He paused and cracked a smile. "What, we're made of." And with that Cardin made his way out to the cliff with everyone else for their initiation, unaware for the events that was going to unfold.