Cardinal Sin

The week had gone pretty well, once the Weiss-Blake conflict had been solved. Sure, they weren't the bestest of friends, but they were both making an effort to act friendly toward each other. A good example of that was the current situation in the cafeteria: on the first day, Weiss and Blake were sitting as far apart from each other as possible. Now, they were sitting right next to each other, with Atrament sitting next to Blake and Yang next to Atrament. On the other side of the table was Team RNRP: Ruby was facing Yang, Pyrrha was facing Weiss and Nora and Ren were in the middle, facing Atrament and Blake.

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..."

"It was day."

Nora was currently telling a story, punctuated by Ren's dry interjections. Yang was hanging on Nora's every word, while on the other end of the spectrum, Weiss was filing her nails and Blake was reading a book. The rest were listening, but in a much more subdued way. "We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!" Nora suddenly stood.

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match, and in the end, 蓮and I took them down, and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Ren sighed. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

"Well, if that Huntress career of yours doesn't pan out, you have a backup job available," Atrament deadpanned.

"Yeah, that's a great idea! 蓮, why didn't we do that?"

"Because Grimms don't leave pelts behind when they die," the Mistrali girl pointed out as she took a sip from her coffee.

"Yeah, good point. Okay, let's table that idea for now. I'm feeling full of energy today!"

She was full of energy every day, Atrament thought, though he didn't point it out. "Is it because you'll finally be allowed to inflict violence on your unsuspecting classmates?"

"Hell yeah! I feel like Combat Practice will be my favorite class ever! I'm gonna break so many legs..." Atrament couldn't help but shudder at Nora's slightly psychotic grin.

Ren sighed. "Please don't break any leg, Nora. You'll end up with extra homework."

The threat was quite effective on Nora, who shrank on herself dejectedly. "Ugh, homework." Her feeling was echoed by everyone on the table, even Atrament. He might be academically-minded, but homework had a gift for making the most interesting subject a drag. Except for Grimm Studies, but that was mainly because Port was so boring he made homework interesting by comparison.

Ruby moaned and flopped on the table. "Don't remind me. I got sooo much extra homework."

Pyrrha sympathetically tapped her partner on the back. "Well, you did skip two years of school. Beacon has to make sure you have the education needed to follow the lessons."

The conversation was interrupted by an unpleasant laughter coming from a table over. Atrament looked to see Team CRDL, surrounding a rabbit Faunus. The way Sky was gesturing his hands, mimicking the girl's second set of ears, left no doubt as to what was making them laugh so much. "Well, it didn't take him long," Atrament muttered. That kind of bullying was typical of Cardin Winchester, and any hope that being at Beacon or having a new Team would make him grow up was dashed by the scene he was witnessing.

"Atrocious," Pyrrha sneered. "I can't stand people like him."

"He's not the only one," Blake muttered with a venomous glare. Although she did reveal her true nature to her Team (admittedly not on purpose), she still wasn't out as a Faunus to the rest of the school and was still wearing her bow over her cat ears in public. It was a shame, but judging by Team CRDL's behavior, Atrament couldn't blame her.

"Unfortunately, it's not Cardin's first offense," Atrament explained. "He was Pharos' resident bully, especially toward Faunus students."

"And no one did anything!?" Ruby was clearly incensed at what she was learning.

"His family is rich and powerful, and his victims'... are not," Atrament elaborated. "The rare times he got caught doing something particularly outrageous, he got barely more than a slap on the wrist and the school pressured the victims to keep them quiet. And when other students tried to step in, they were the ones punished for bullying." This was a mistake he did once. After that, he learned to use a little more subtlety to sabotage the Winchester heir's efforts.

"Well, I certainly hope that Beacon will be better," Weiss sniffed.

"Ow, that hurts!" Turning his head, Atrament saw that Cardin had graduated from laughing to pulling one of the Faunus girl's ears.

"We can't wait to see how they will handle the situation, he needs to be stopped now." On these words, Atrament got on his feet, quickly imitated by the rest of his Team, with Team RNRP following suit.

"Can we break his legs?"

Atrament certainly wouldn't mind, but it would cause more problems than it would solve. "Let's try and avoid getting that far."

"Please, stop," the Faunus begged Cardin. In vain, Atrament knew, because the Winchester scion would only end his tormenting once he had his fun.

Unless he was forced to stop.

Atrament grabbed the bully's wrist. "Perhaps you should do as the lady asks, Cardin."

Cardin glared at Atrament, but did release the rabbit Faunus' ear, who took several steps backwards, getting herself out of reach of any particularly obtuse member of Team CRDL. "Now now, Vellum, I wasn't doing anything untoward, just... making her acquaintance."

"Is that so?" Atrament let go of the bully's wrist, but did not back down. "You should be a little less enthusiastic with your attempts at acquainting yourself with people, the screams of pain really give people the wrong impression."

Cardin got up, looking down at Atrament. He was physically imposing, especially in that armor of his, and he certainly knew how to use it. Aura might reshuffle the deck when it came to combat effectiveness, but human brains were still wired to estimate threat levels based on size. Except that wasn't the only consideration at play; there was another factor, one that Cardin clearly hadn't noticed.

The Winchester scion put on a fake smile and placed his hand on Atrament's shoulder. "Well, now that this little misunderstanding has been cleared, why don't you go back to your friends before someone gets hurt? I'm sure they miss you very much."

Atrament chuckled. Cardin wasn't very observant, was he? "No, I don't think I will. But don't worry about my friends, I brought them with me."

The bully blinked and looked behind Atrament, noticing he wasn't facing one uppity nerd, but two whole Teams of Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training. And that was the other factor brains used to estimate threats: numbers. Atrament wasn't the one outmatched here.

Cardin was no longer smiling. "You seem to have forgotten the proper pecking order, Vellum. Sure, you might feel big now, but once we are one-on-one, it will be my pleasure to give you an in-depth reminder." And on these words, he and the rest of Team CRDL left the cafeteria.

"Yeah, run away, you big bully!" Nora yelled while Ruby whooped with joy. Atrament turned to the Faunus girl to reassure her, only to find out she had fled at some point during the confrontation.

Behind him, Blake sighed. "It's not gonna stop him for good, you know?"

"I know," Atrament replied. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't intervene when we see a situation like this. Besides, it wasn't just about stopping him, it was also about sending a message."

"What message?" Ruby asked.

"That if you try to be racist here, you won't just face one or two Faunus; you'll face an army of students. And the message is reinforced by who was in the group that stood up against racism."

"You mean me?" Pyrrha deduced, seeming unsure of how to feel about the situation.

"Your presence helped, but I was actually referring to Weiss. If even the daughter of Jacques Schnee, the princess of one of the most racist kingdoms, is fighting against Faunus discrimination, then bigots will see that, even among those who would traditionally support them, they won't find any friend."

"Hope Father won't hear about this," Weiss muttered.

"And you really think this'll stop Cardin?" Yang seemed doubtful. "'Cause I know his type, and they don't just back down when their ego is bruised."

"Oh no, this won't stop Cardin," Atrament explained. "But he won't harass Faunus in public, and he won't target them as long as he focuses on me." Yang frowned at that, seemingly not enthused at the idea of her partner being so self-sacrificial. Atrament wasn't ecstatic either, but he at least knew how to handle Cardin. "And the message wasn't meant for him, it was meant to dissuade the next two-bit bully who thinks he can assert himself by putting down Faunus students."

Yang sighed. "Please tell me you have a plan for Cardin."

"I have a plan for Cardin," Atrament assured his partner. It was even true, if a bit generous of an affirmation. He had the outlines of a plan, at least, and the first step down. Speaking of it... "Now let's go to Combat Practice. I don't think Professor Goodwitch would appreciate us being late."

Combat Practice took place in the same amphitheater where Ozpin had given his introductory speech, almost a week ago. The difference was that this time, instead of standing up in the middle of the room, students were expected to sit in the bleachers on the sides. It probably had to do with the fact that there were much less people this time around. Some prospective students had chickened out before the Initiation, some had failed to find the Temple and return before the end, and a few had likely died during the attempt. It was sad, of course, but everyone knew what they were in for. Well, almost everyone, Atrament mentally corrected as he remembered Jaune.

Professor Goodwitch was standing on the stage, her large scroll in hand. She was tall and statuesque, although her heels might have a role to play in it. Her piercing green eyes were framed by thin-rimmed glasses that only enhanced her severe, commanding presence. Her pale blonde hair was meticulously gathered into a tight, practical bun at the nape of her neck, with a few curls left loose on the side of her face. The generous curves of her bust and hips were accentuated by the crisp white blouse with a keyhole showing her cleavage and black high-waisted skirt that formed the core of her attire, the fabric drawing clean lines down long, shapely legs covered in dark brown stockings, that ended in black high-heeled boots. Her outfit was completed by a short cape, black with a purple inner lining, that ended in flame-like points. "Good morning students, and welcome to your first session of Combat Practice. Although your main focus as Huntsmen and Huntresses will be to slay the Creatures of Grimm, you might sometimes be called upon to stop bandits, rogue Huntsmen or other manner of criminals. Therefore, it is imperative that you know how to fight and defeat Human or Faunus opponents and can subdue them non-lethally as much as possible."

Goodwitch tapped on her scroll and a holographic screen appeared in the air behind her, showing her portrait and a green bar below it, showing the state of her Aura reserves. "To do that, we will have a series of tournament-style one-on-one duels between students. For those of you who aren't familiar with the tournament circuit, the elimination threshold is either being incapacitated, being knocked out of the stage-which I would be very surprised to see happen here, or having your Aura dropped below 15% of its maximum capacity, which will be displayed as red on your Aura monitor." She pointed at the screen behind her. "I will be monitoring each and every duel, and announce when a match is over. Let me be perfectly clear: you will stop when I tell you to stop, or you will suffer the consequences. These rules are in place for your safety, and those who do not take the safety of others into account have no place as Hunters." Her glare could probably freeze an entire ocean. "Are there any questions?"

The class murmured a collective no, everyone too afraid to draw the stern professor's ire.

"Good. Now, are there any volunteers for the first match?"

There certainly were. The first duel was between Nora and Pyrrha, the latter effortlessly crushing the former. No big surprises there; Nora might be an accomplished fighter, but Pyrrha was the undefeated four-times champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament, and the two Huntresses-in-training were facing off in the format that the Invincible Girl was most familiar with. The second duel, between Yang and Ruby, ended up in the victory of the eldest sister, although it was a close match, the two being quite obviously familiar with each other's fighting style. Then came the third duel.

"Mister Vellum, it is your turn. Does anyone want to face Mister Vellum?"

Cardin raised his hand, a dangerous glint in his eye. "I do, Professor Goodwitch."

Goodwitch had clearly noticed that Cardin was not volunteering out of a desire to have a friendly sparring session. "Mister Winchester, I'm not sure..."

"It's fine, Professor," Atrament interrupted. "I have no issue with facing Cardin."

Goodwitch gave Atrament a steely look. "I hope I don't need to remind either of you that my class isn't an outlet for personal issues."

"It's not like that, Professor." It was absolutely like that, but Atrament felt that it would be wiser to omit that little tidbit. "I can assure you that it will be a clean match and that we will both follow the rules." And that was the truth; as much as Cardin getting expelled before the end of the first week would solve Atrament's problems, he knew that the Winchester scion wasn't an idiot, and wouldn't break the rules in front of the strictest teacher in Beacon.

Goodwitch frowned, but sharply nodded. "Very well. Now, you have five minutes to prepare and retrieve your weapons."

Atrament and Cardin nodded, and the two walked to the locker room, Cardin mouthing "You're toast" as he walked by. Atrament merely smiled. As he said to Yang, he had a plan for Cardin, and this was where it started.