Chapter Text

"And then he screamed: That's a big Ursa! " Finished Cardin while Eve laughed.

He was at the Crow Bar with her... friend Eve. This was the second time they met. They were acquainted after his first fight at the Vytal festival. She asked him for an autograph and coffee and he was pleased to go with her, even though he knew his team would be making fun of him later. She was dark haired and almost 2 heads shorter than him even though she was 2 years older. She was a reporter and was doing interviews at the team leaders from the Vytal Festival first round. Cardin was disappointed when he found out she just wanted an interview, but at the end of their first meeting she asked to meet him again... to hang out.

All in all Cardin considered this their first date. Eve was telling him about her role model, Lisa Lavender. Cardin was lost looking into her green eyes that were shining brightly as she talked about the best reporter in Vale.

"They are selecting the fighters now" Cardin was confused until he realized she was talking about the singles round. He looked at the monitor and saw the first combatant... Penny Polendina. "Yes, I love how she fights" said Eve before quickly looking back at Cardin. "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No, it's fine" Cardin replied. "She is a good fighter, Russel and Sky never had a chance"

Cardin was smiling but inside he felt hurt. They hadn't trained enough, he knew it was his fault. As team leader he should have force his team to practice, make strategies and plans, pay attention in class and research their opponents. Sky and Russel lost interest when they saw the pictures of Penny's team. "They look weak" is what they said.

"Pyrrha Nikos oh my god, this is going to be such a great fight" Eve was watching the screen intently oblivious to Cardin's internal monologue

"Of fuc... course" muttered Cardin swallowing his curse

Pyrrha the girl that obliterated all members of CRDL at the same time... by herself, without getting hit once or breaking a sweat. The prodigy, the genius. Always looking after Jaune for some reason. Images of team JNPR fighting team RWBY in the cafeteria flashed trough his mind. How could they be so strong. Even when playing they were a in a different level.

The fight was starting but Cardin was looking at Eve. Why did she go out with him? He was good looking yes but he didn't feel much like a winner. They barely won their first match and got obliterated in the doubles round. At first he thought that after Russel and Sky lost she would call him to cancel but here she was. Laughing at his lame stories and having a good time. Cardin downed what was left of his beer and asked the bartender for another.

clash "oh gee darn it"

Glass breaking. Cardin looked at the bartender but he was staring at the screen wide-eyed

"What was that?!" Eve shouted while others at the bar gasped and shouted as well

Cardin looked at the screen and saw a mess of body parts scattered on the arena, it was odd, he instantly thought there would be blood. Then he saw the sparks from Penny's body while the audio changed to a female voice

"This is not a tragedy" the voice said "This was not an accident..."

"...Who do you think you can trust?"

After the woman stopped talking static was left on the screen. Eve was still staring but he quickly got his scroll out and called his team one by one but none answered. They were out in Vale probably at the basement bar they usually were at. It had crappy scroll reception. He turned to Eve.

"What's going on?" Cardin asked

But Eve was already on her scroll. "Yes... I'll be there in 5 minutes" She hung up "Grimm are attacking the city" Eve told him

"But that's impossible, we have the military, and the academy and..." Cardin was looking for reasons why this had to be nightmare

"I'm going to the CCT tower. They want me to make a broadcast." Eve continued with a scared look on her face

At this point Cardin stopped and took his scroll out again he typed something and said "I'll escort you there" boom

A huge metal locker crashed just outside the bar. Cardin got there and opened it. He retrieved his mace while thinking how lucky he was to have come with his armor. He just wanted to make a joke on Eve and act like it was another interview so he wore his combat outfit. Of course Eve had laughed it of before he even explained the joke, they liked the same kind of humor.

Eve had paid the bartender and followed him. Damn, he wanted to pay for the drinks but with the Grimm attacking Vale and the gruesome fight he completely forgot. They started walking quickly toward the CCT center. After a while Cardin took out his scroll to call Russel again. As he finished typing he heard a nearby growl.

A Beowolf appeared in the center of the street, right in front of them. Cardin dropped his scroll and charged at the Grimm. His maced sent it flying towards a wall. "Behind you!" Eve shouted. He turned and saw 4 Beowolfs had sneaked between him and Eve. Luckily they seemed focused on him so Eve was safe. He charged his mace with dust and made a swinging motion towards the Beowolfs still a few paces away from him.

Suddenly a huge fireball shot from his mace and impacted the rightmost Grimm. It was dead before it hit the ground but the other three charged in. He was a bit flushed, he wasn't used to fighting Grimm. This was the third time he ever encountered one face to face but he was focused on saving Eve so he charged as well. He struck the first one right in the head with a downward motion which replaced the head with his heavy mace, while the others were almost on him. Then he activated the dust on his mace again and a sudden explosion throw him back. The fireball had made the headless Grimm explode while stunning briefly the two remaining so he quickly dispatched one of them. Unfortunately the other was not stunned as long as he had thought and Cardin got hit with tremendous force and impacted the ground loudly a good ten meters away from the monster.

"No!" Eve screamed. At this the last Beowolf turned to her and run. Cardin struggled to his feet and quickly tried to throw another fireball at the Grimm but realized he was out of dust. He sprinted towards Eve, shouting at the Beowolf to get its attention. The beast won the race and bit Eve's shoulder. When Cardin's mace impacted its body from right to left it was with such force that the Grimm was split in half. Eve was covered in blood.

"Eve! Are you okay?" Screamed Cardin as he examined her shoulder. She was losing a lot of blood. He tore a piece of his shirt under his armor and started bandaging her. Suddenly he heard a rushing motion and turned around to see an Ursa charging him, he stumbled getting up and fell to the floor while the Ursa closed in.

And suddenly the Ursa went flying up into the air until it was way above the street and then fell, splashing against the ground. He turned around and saw Glynda Goodwitch. She lost no time to start giving orders "Mr. Winchester, if she is alive finish patching her up, I'll cover you" He did exactly that.

"We need to get her to a hospital" He said, despair in his face

"No. We need to go to the evacuation zone. We are to close to Beacon, Grimm are going towards there." Glynda explained. "There are doctors there. You carry her, I'll go with you."

He silently obeyed, eager to save Eve.

After 15 minutes and Glynda dispatching a couple dozen Grimm, they arrived at the evacuation zone and Cardin took Eve to a medical tent that had been set up. The doctors asked how she got the wound and how long ago, then dismissed him. Might as well, the tent was filled with the smell of blood and sounds of people breathing their last in agony.

“Qrow were are you” Said Glynda talking to her scroll. “Ok, I'll meet you there”

Then he saw his team. Dove had an arm sling on his right arm and his right leg was bandaged while Russel had a rushed looking bandage covering most of his head. They told him Sky was on the medical tent but he would be okay. Russel told Cardin how they had called him but he didn't pick up and Cardin suddenly realized his scroll was lying were he found the first pack of Beowolfs and shuddered. Apparently they managed to get here alive but they were all out of aura and were lucky to have made it in time. He heard a commotion behind him and saw Glynda going back outside the evacuation zone. Cardin told his team to evacuate and that he would wait until the wounded got evacuated first to follow.

He walked away in thought, how many people like Eve there might be out there, scared, alone, hurt... He couldn't just wait to be evacuated. He hadn't been the most noble of Huntsmen in training but still, he had to do something, he could save those people lives. He thought back at what would have happened if Glynda hadn't showed up when she did and a chill ran through his spine. He looked up and ran after Glynda.

"I'm coming with you" Cardin said when he cached up right outside the safe zone

Glynda looked him up and down. "Mr. Winchester, are you sure you don't want to wait for evacuation with your team? If you come with me things could end up badly for you"

"I'm useless in there" He said pointing back at the makeshift refugee camp. "But I can still fight. You are going to save people right? I want to help" Cardin answered honestly

Glynda smiled "Very well Cardin, we are going towards Beacon but not to close." She had never called him by his first name before, her smile dropped as she added "Anyone within half a mile on the school is probably dead already"