Well this is my first time writing something like this so bear with me.

Also, I don't own anything…..and I am stealing a line from Pulp Fiction.


Cardin Winchester was laying on his back gazing up at the stars. This was not the best idea in the world. It wasn't a bad idea because of temperature (though it did get quite chilly this time of year in Vale) and he wasn't especially concerned with dirtying his school uniform. No, the reason that made lying on his back on the roof, wearing his school uniform a bad idea was a slender paper tube filled with tobacco. Cardin Winchester was lying down and smoking. He had watched his cousin burn himself many times doing the same thing.

He took a long drag before snuffing the butt out on the roof. "Mother was right Jacob…we could've been brothers," he confessed to the darkness.

From somewhere behind him he heard a door open and footsteps approach him. There was only one person who would be out here at this time of night and only one person that would just so casually walk up to the most feared bully in all of Beacon.

"Fuck you Jaune. You can't bum a smoke tonight. I'm down to my last two."

The blonde leader of team JNPR stood several paces behind the ginger leader of team CRDL. The blonde had a smirk on his face as he complained, "Didn't I give you money for this week's pack?"

Cardin closed his eyes and stretched, "Last week? Yes. This week? No."

Jaune sat down next to Cardin. "When did I first find you up here?"

Cardin scratched at his chin, "Whatever day Ms. Perfect sprained your wrist."

Cardin had smoked since he was twelve. The bad habit was picked up from his cousin Jacob, his father, and basically every other male member of the clan Winchester. One could not imagine the joy he felt when he discovered the perfect smoke spot. His little patch of roof was secluded with no windows parallel or higher. The path to the stairwell that ascended to his nirvana wound its way through the old maintenance hall ways of the dorms.

So when Jauney Boy the toothpick stumbled out in the middle of a long needed smoke break, Cardin was at loss for words. After some stuttering Jaune confessed to having hurt his wrist while sparing with Pyra and was unable to sleep. Cardin got a good laugh out of that. The boy who took down an Ursa, the Ursa that would have ended the Winchester line, was whining about a booboo. When Cardin asked if Jaune would rat him out, the blonde surprised him by saying, "I'll keep quite if you let me try one."

Thus an arrangement was made: as long as Jaune chipped in, he could bum a few cigarettes every now and then. The first few times had been awkward but as days rolled into weeks, the two team leaders found their smoke breaks to be…pleasant. Jaune wasn't as much of a spineless bitch that Cardin had believed him to be and Cardin, to Jaune's relief, was more bark than bite.

Cardin was still lying on his back gazing up at the heaven's when Jaune finally spoke again. "You know, if you were this chill with everybody you would the most popular kid at Beacon."

The gingers only response was the one finger salute.

"And there's the Winchester we all know and love." Jaune checked the time on his scroll and after noticing how late it had become decided to turn in for the night. "I'll see you around asshole." Another development between the two was a friendly banter of name calling and swearing.

"Wait."

Jaune looked over to see that Cardin had moved to a sitting position.

"You read the bible Jaune?"

Jaune was taken aback by the seemingly random question, "Not really…"

"Me neither…but I have this passage memorized." He closed his eyes and recited the line he mentally rehearsed before every fight, "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

Cardin turned his head to face Jaune, "That's why I became a hunter Jaune…that's why I became a hunter." He aimlessly flicked his Schnee Windproof lighter, "At first I thought that the Grimm, the Faunas, and the Criminals were the evil, I was the righteous, and my mace…he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. When I came here to Beacon that was my exact mindset... and after all that shit went down in Forever Fall I changed my mind. Maybe, you're the righteous man, I'm the shepherd, and it's the world that's evil and selfish. But as we've been up here smoking and talking shit…I realized something Jaune. I've been lying to myself this whole time. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men."

Cardin hung his head in shame. He had been rehearsing this little speech in his head for a while now and he finally had found the confidence to voice it. He spoke barely above a whisper, "Jaune…I want to try to be the shepherd. I want to try so bad it hurts."

Jaune put his hand on Cardin's shoulder and in the most serious tone the ginger had ever heard him use said, "Don't try. If you 'try' people will just shut you down and step all over you. You have to do it. You have to say 'fuck it all' and make it happen."

Color Cardin impressed. He looked over and the blonde and just smirked, "What makes you think that'll work."

The leader of JNPR stood up and offered his had to Cardin, "Because you are the one who taught me that."

The redhead scoffed and got up on his own power. "You're still a bitch," he said with a grin.

Jaune turned toward the door and return Cardin's earlier one-finger salute, "I can't wait for that shirt I ordered for you to get here. It says, 'World's Biggest Douche.' It comes with a certificate and everything."

Cardin slowly stood up and watched as the blonde toothpick disappeared through the door. Cardin looked down at the lighter that Jacob had entrusted to him and grinned, "I don't know many things Jacob but I do know this…my life is gonna suck cock for the next few weeks."


I plan to continue but let me know what y'all think.