Walking into Beacon's main hall and listening to another generic speech, this time from Headmaster Ozpin himself, Cardin and Sky made their way into the school's Ballroom, where they'd be spending the night.
"This is stupid," Sky complained as he grabbed two of the mattresses lying around and dragged them to a corner of the open room, "Why have us sleep the night here and then do initiation in the morning? What's the point of having us come here in the afternoon if we're just going to do everything in the morning anyway?" He dropped the mattresses, flopping down on one of them as Cardin placed his bag on the other.
"Why not already come in the morning, do the initiation at like ten or something while it's still early? Why do we need to waste an extra day on this stuff?" Sky took a look out of one of the large windows of the ballroom, seeing that the sun had yet to set.
"There's like three more hours before any of us can sleep!" He cried as he slapped Cardin on the shoulder while pointing at the sun with his other arm, "What the fuck!?"
"Don't yell in closed spaces," Cardin chastised his friend before he grabbed his scroll, this world's version of a smartphone, and checked for any missed messages.
A good luck message from his Grandfather, A Spam message that he quickly blocked, and-
"Adel's asking where we are," Cardin said calmly as he showed his screen to Sky, pointing at the text message.
"Really?" Sky leaned in to read, taking a look at the still slowly setting sun outside before he came to a conclusion.
"Tell her where we'll be next to that fountain near the entrance, Let's skedaddle," And with renewed vigor, Sky made his way outside, slipping between students and jumping over mattresses, excited to be anywhere that wasn't currently the Beacon Academy Ballroom.
Cardin sighed and shook his head before he stood up from the mattress he was sitting on, set a timer on his scroll to remind him to return to the ballroom before it gets too dark outside, and then followed after Sky.
As the duo made their way outside, they found more first years with the same plans, seeing them sitting on the benches or getting in some last-minute preparations before tomorrow's Initiation. Some were swinging their swords, others were counting their bullets, one student even seemed to try using what must have been his semblance to encase a small pebble in a bubble, while many more were simply doing pushups or jogging around.
"You have your dust, right?" Sky asked Cardin as the duo made their way to the fountain, the shorter boy bouncing on his toes as he looked all around him, eyes gleaming with excitement at all the unfamiliar places that he would surely get used to during the next four years.
"Who do you take me for?" Cardin scoffed at the question, of course he has his dust, his weapons needed them to be more than just a simple mace and revolver. He couldn't in good conscious call himself a Huntsman, even if simply in training, if he didn't carry elemental dust everywhere with him.
"Right, right~" Sky waved his grumpy friend's reply away, "Do you recognize anybody else from Pharos?" Sky changed the question as he looked at the surrounding first years, hoping to find a recognizable face from their prep school.
"How should I know, I didn't pay any attention to them," Cardin shook his head, his eyes also searching over the heads of the students for two specific upperclassmen they had back in Pharos Academy.
But it seemed those same upperclassmen found the duo before he could find them.
"Card, Sky, Look at you two!" A young woman called out as she marched towards the two boys, a pair of sunglasses over her eyes and a black beret on top of her head.
"Adel," Cardin nodded at the older teen, before nodding to another woman behind her, "Scarlatina,"
"Coco, Velvet!" Unlike his stoic friend, Sky ran to the older girl and gave her a hug, "Do you have any tips for initiation? Do you? Do you?" He asked as he jumped in his spot, looking like a human-sized grey puppy wagging his invisible tail.
"Nope~" The Woman with the Beret, Coco Adel, placed her hands on her hips and smirked at the younger teen, watching as he groaned in disappointment, all of his excitement momentarily leaving his body before quickly turned to her friend.
"Velvet, you have tips for us, right? You wouldn't allow your cute little underclassmen to reach a low score on the first test of the yea-ACK!" Sky coughed as Cardin grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled his best friend away from the Rabbit Faunus.
"Stop pestering them," Cardin told Sky before he turned to the two older students, "What did you want?"
"What? Can't a girl be worried for her two little brothers?" Coco asked as she grabbed Sky and Cardin by the cheeks, The taller boy slapping her hand away while the shorter boy leaned into it.
"We both know that's not how you show worry, Adel." Cardin crossed his arms and stared at the older teen.
Coco Adel merely met his gaze under her Sunglasses as she let go of Sky's cheek, before taking off her aviators and beginning to stare Cardin in the eyes without obstruction.
Meeting her Brown eyes with his own Blue, Cardin kept his gaze before he soon scoffed and looked away.
"Heh," Coco laughed to herself for her little win before she patted the older teen on the shoulder and pulled him over to sit on the lip of the fountain.
"Okay now serious, Here's the sitch on Initiation," Coco started speaking, her eyes barely leaving the taller teen's own as he tried to look away, "There's these Chess Pieces at the end-"
"Are you sure we're allowed to tell them?" Velvet asked as she interrupted her friend, her brown rabbit ears bristling uncomfortably as a shiver passed down them.
"Hey, If we weren't allowed to tell them somebody would have told us already~" Coco told her partner, waving her hand dismissively as if to tell her they'll be fine, "Now listen you two," She turned back to Cardin and Sky.
"The teams here in Beacon are split into two duos, You don't get to choose who's your partner, but you do have some choice in who's your teammates," Coco looked at the two boys, making sure she was understood.
"Two teams of two, making the classic team of four, everyone knows that," Cardin nodded his head in understanding as Sky despaired beside him.
"We don't get to be partners?!" He cried dramatically, "What's the point of living anymore?" He flopped onto his back, his arm dangling over the fountain's water as he looked at the darkening sky.
"Yeah Yeah, Don't interrupt your betters when I'm speaking," Coco chided the two, ignoring another scoff from the taller teen before she continued explaining, "At the end of Initiation you need to pick a chess piece, Each duo can only take one, but just like any chess board, there's two of each piece,"
"No there isn't," Velvet helpfully added, cutting off Coco once again.
"Wha- I know there's more but-" Coco tried to explain to her friend but Velvet kept talking.
"There's Eight Pawns and only One King and Queen, The only pieces there are two of are the Rook, Knight, and Bishop, and that's per side of the board. Both sides have an equal amount of pieces so technically-" Velvet explained before she noticed the face her friend was making at her, causing the timid Faunus to cough into her fist and look away, "Sorry,"
Coco sighed before she pulled Velvet into her arms, the taller girl tumbling onto her knees by the force of the pull as Coco held her head on her lap, "Ignore what Velvet just told you, Chess is for nerds anyway," Coco pointed at the two boys, "At the end of Initiation there are two Knights, Bishops, and Rooks of each color, Ignore the talk about Pawns and Queens and whatever, It's not important, Understood?"
"Yep, Understood!" Sky yelled happily from his spot on the other side of Cardin, still lying on his back, so he threw his arm into the air and gave the older girl a thumbs-up.
"Good, Each team is formed by two duos that have the same Chess Piece, So even if you can't pick your partner, you can somewhat pick your team, You get where I'm going here, Yeah?" Coco asked the two boys, her eyes focusing on Cardin as she knew Sky would probably forget all of this in the morning.
"Yes, You're saying that even if we don't end up as partners, we have a way to still end up as teammates," Cardin nodded his head, "All we have to do is make it to this chessboard before all the twin pieces are taken, It's a test of speed."
"Bingo!" Coco said with a snap as she gave the taller boy finger guns, pausing suddenly as her scroll beeped.
"It's Yatsu and Fox, They're asking where we are," Velvet said as she pulled Coco's scroll out of her pocket, reading the message on the lock screen.
"Ughh," Coco groaned and rolled her eyes, snapping her Sunglasses back onto her face, "Tell 'em we'll be back in the dorms soon," She told Velvet before returning to the boys, "You two- Good luck tomorrow, your super cool big sis will be cheering you on," She gave a playful punch to Cardin's shoulder before looking behind him and giving Sky another set of finger guns, which the shorter boy gladly returned.
"Also Card, Stop calling me by my Last name already," Coco gave him one last pat on the shoulder before she and Velvet stood up from the Fountain's bench.
"No can do Coco, Being called by your first name is one of the most sacred of the Cardin Winchester Friend Bonuses, and last I checked, I'm the only person who's liable to receive it," Sky pointed up from his spot on the fountain's edge.
Cardin merely shook his head, failing to hide the small smile on his face, "Thank you for the information, Adel, and Good Night." He nodded to the two older girls, "You too, Scarlatina."
"I'll get you one day!" Coco jokingly shook her fist at them before she turned away, joining her partner in heading back to the dorms.
Cardin merely shook his head once more before he turned to Sky, "Let's go back to the ballroom," Cardin said, briefly looking at the sky to see the sun had set almost completely, the time now being well into the evening.
"Fine..." Sky groaned as he rolled his body off the fountain and onto the floor before standing up, the duo making their way back to the Ballroom where the future First-Years would be sleeping for the night.
As the duo made their way in silence, Cardin spoke up in a serious tone, "If you get to the chess pieces before I do, Pick two of the same piece and keep them with you before waiting for me, that way nobody can take the twin piece to whatever we picked." He nodded to his friend, "I'll do the same if I get there before you."
"Good," Sky smirked to himself, "It's a plan!" He raised his hand to Cardin, showing his open palm, looking at his friend expectantly.
Cardin stared at the open hand before scoffing and shaking his head, slapping the palm with his own and ignoring the cheer from his friend.
They had a shower and some sleep to get to, and besides, It was just a simple High Five.
"Don't yell next to my ear."
"Sorry!"