Welcome back, dearest reader, to the 10th chapter of 'The Darkling Thrush'!

This chapter pretty much was sparked out of the phrase 'So Team CRDL walks into a bar...' and then this happened. Funny huh?

As always, I'd like to thank everyone who left a review! Boah joestar, noone297, jin0uga and Majestic Sappling, thanks for the reviews lasses and lads.

I'm glad you guys are liking the characterizations, and in regards to the end of last chapter. C'mon, that had to have happened at some point in the show. I've seen the fanart. We've all thought about it. It had to have happened at some point.

But I digress... Anyways, onto the chapter!

X

Welcome to Beacon: Conclusion

In the aftermath of the blackmailing Jaune incident, Cardin had seemingly fallen into a slump. He wasn't eating regularly, he wasn't paying attention in class and his head just wasn't in the game during sparring sessions in combat class.

So Sky of all people had the great idea of taking Cardin out on a night in Vale. With nothing major on any of Team CRDL's agendas, they set out on the next airship to the city. The city lights were loud and the people were quiet. All eyes were averted looking elsewhere. No authority figures around to tell them what to do.

But the truth is you can't do much when under the age. You couldn't enjoy the city for what it truly was or what it had to offer. So Russel made a detour, meeting up with the hobo Kevin and bought four fake IDs off of him. It took the man only a couple minutes to get them ready, well worth the money the young Thrush spent.

"Where'd you get that kind of cash?" Dove asked curiously.

Russel just shrugged. "Don't worry about it." He said, not showing his cards too early. The night was young, as was the rest of the year. No reason to go around telling his life story, even to those he'll be trusting his life with.

And now after an abysmal romp through the town, the four Beacon students found themselves in The Crowbar.

"I don't believe you guys are old enough to be drinking." The bartender said as he eyed their IDs skeptically.

"Look, Bartender. Don't let the whiskerless chin fool you. I shave regularly." Dove said, quickly speaking for the rest of Team CRDL. "Four beers please."

"Look kid, serving alcohol to minors is a punishable offense. I could lose my license, my business." The bartender folded his arms over his chest.

"We'll pay cash." Cardin placed a twenty lien note on the table.

"Four beers coming right up." The bartender said, his tone shifting on the spot. He reached back behind the counter and retrieved four cold glass bottles out of the cooler. He then popped the caps and handed them to the boys along with four coasters. "Piece of advice, never let that guy talk for yous ever again." The bartender pointed to Dove, who frowned.

Team CRDL took their drinks and sat down at a booth in a secluded part of the bar. It was a quiet night, more people in the club than at the local water hole. But that suited them just fine, no chance of running into anyone they actually knew.

"I could pass for a twenty one year old, right?" Dove looked around to his teammates. The trio just exchanged glances and then, in unison shook their heads. "Aw man I'm going to have a baby face forever."

"To your health gents." Sky raised his drink into the air, ushering in a toast. The rest of CRDL followed in suit, raising their drinks and tapping them against each other. The four huntsmen in training then took mighty swigs out of their drinks, with only Dove having a difficult time with the liquor.

"Ugh why's it taste like that?" Dove asked as he held his drink close to his face so he could properly read the ingredients.

"First time eh?" Russel laughed.

"My dad gave me my first beer." Sky said before taking another sip of his drink. "He gave it to me when I came out."

"I take it you've had a supportive upbringing then?" Cardin commented as he just sat in his seat spinning his drink on the coaster.

"Yeah, something like that." Sky shrugged. "How about you guys, first time drinkers live Dove here?"

Cardin and Russel exchanged a glance, silently discussing who would go first. With a nod, Cardin began to speak. "My first drink was during a party. This guy, Tommy Braverman, his parents were going out for the weekend. Executive meeting I guess. So he threw a party, alcohol all around."

"Seems straightforward enough." Dove said before downing the last of his drink. "I don't so much as get why people drink these. It doesn't taste good and a sure don't feel any better."

"Give it thirty minutes." Russel assured Dove with a smirk. The Thrush then handed his light brown haired teammate a twenty. Dove accepted the lien, then got up from his seat to buy another round.

"No offense Russel, but what's a guy like you doing with all that cash?" Cardin said, referring to eyebrow raising amount of money that Russel had on hand.

"I planned ahead." Russel shrugged. The sole remaining Thrush hadn't quite figured out how to tell his teammates that he used to own a farm.

"So, what's your first time story, Russel?" Cardin asked as Dove returned with four more drinks.

Russel rubbed the back of his neck, unsure how to tackle the question. Back way then when Russel was twelve, while his Father was out, he'd decided to dig into their fridge to try one of those drinks that his dad was always having. His reaction was similar to Dove's he found the taste funny. He was halfway finished by the time his dad came home from selling the harvest.

What happened next was a typical Thursday. The Thrush Patriarch hit Russel on the back of his head, repeatedly. He recalled his Father shouting at him, more angrily than usual. Maybe it was because a twelve year old shouldn't be drinking, then again maybe it was because Russel was drinking his beer. It didn't matter.

"Snuck a taste when my old man wasn't looking." Russel said half truthfully, making sure to leave out

"A troublemaker from a young age, I see." Dove said as he began to work on his second drink.

Russel calmly sipped from his drink for only the second time. He cracked that troublesome grin of his and gave a nod. "Why of course."

"So, you feeling a bit better, got your heads out of the clouds yet?" Sky addressed Cardin.

All eyes fell on the burnt orange haired leader of the team. Cardin shrugged, not knowing what to say. He found Sky's choice of wording to be interesting, however. Cardin wasn't so much in the clouds, it was as if he wasn't there.

"To tell you guys the truth, when you mentioned this idea to me, I didn't exactly think it would be so…one note." Cardin said, referring to their choice of scenery.

"If we went to the local club, I'm pretty sure Yang would've been running around beating up the owner." Russel muttered, causing everyone to look at him in surprise. "What?"

"What do you mean Yang would've been beating up a club owner?" Cardin asked skeptically.

"When I first got here, I hooked up that connection with that hobo Kevin, then I hit the club." Russel recalled. "It was me trying to just soak in Vale for the first time. Next thing I know in walks Yang Xio Long. The blond bombshell just started pounding on everyone. It was a bloody riot."

"Yeesh." Dove slurred. "What a woman."

"Hush." Sky frowned. "What would your Mother think with you using such language?"

"Oh no, don't tell mah mom." Dove said as the alcohol began to take effect. "You can tell your dad but please don't tell mah mom." Dove slurred once more before downing the rest of his second beer and reaching over for a third.

"Jeez what a light weight." Russel murmured.

"So yous mentioned Sky, your dad is real supportive? That's nice. That's nice like ice. Real nice. Nicer than a headful of lice."

"I take back what I said. This is awesome." Cardin whispered to Russel, who nodded in agreement.

"How about you guys?" Dove looked away from his partner to Russel and Cardin. "We never talk about where we're from. I gots a mom. Everyone has moms. I have a dad too. Everyone has those too. I don't gots a sibling."

"Only child myself I'm afraid." Sky contributed to the topic. "We never do talk about home don't we?" He looked to Cardin and Russel. "So how about you guys? What did you both leave behind?"

Cardin and Russel exchanged glances once more, this time with the duo deciding Russel would go first. It was only fair. "Grew up in Oakwood." Russel said simply. "Nothing compared to Beacon though."

"Oakwood? That's farm country out there." Sky scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You grew up on a farm didn't you?"

"Guilty as charged."

"That's cool." Sky took one final swig of his drink, finishing it. "Anything interesting ever happen there?"

Russel froze for a moment, reflecting on his childhood. It wasn't always gloomy back then or was it? It was getting harder to tell with every passing day. What was interesting about Oakwood? Nothing, which was just it. There was nothing interesting about Oakwood. Only once, Russel though. Only once did something happen and it resulted with homes being burnt down and his dad dying of a heart attack.

"Just miles of farm land to get lost in." Russel put on that smile he always wore. He took another sip of his beer only to notice Dove was now on his fourth. "Dove, mate you need to cool it."

"Sure…sure…" Dove slurred.

"That's it, after that one you're done." Sky said, acting rather fatherly.

"Okay…" Dove moped.

"So, you and your family ever do anything together?" Cardin asked, bringing the discussion back to family rather than setting.

Russel paused for a brief moment, debating what to tell his team. You don't just go around bringing people down with your business. That's just messed up in his opinion. There was a slight falter in Russel's grin as he recalled all the times he'd been called a killer by his dad. A falter that did not go unnoticed by Cardin.

"Every once in a while, my dad and I would go and fish." Russel lied. "I never caught anything. But it's the thought that counts right?" He asked earning a nod from Sky and Dove. "Dad and I would got and catch fish."

"Your dad s-hic-sounds nice." Dove hiccupped.

"Yeah." Russel muttered. "Yeah."

Cardin just looked at Russel, not entirely buying everything he said but went along with it. "How about you fearless leader? How's life back where you come from?" Russel said, shifting the spotlight over to Cardin.

Cardin scratched the back of his neck, not knowing how to begin. There was a familiar pause and falter in Cardin's expression, something that Russel caught. "My family's very prideful. Us being Winchester's and all." Cardin said, referring to his family's roots back in The Great War.

"My parents just want what's best for me and my sister." Cardin paused, thinking of what to say next.

"You have a sister?!" Dove drunkenly exclaimed. "...how are you bad with women?"

Cardin frowned at Dove's comment, prompting Sky to elbow the youngest member of Team CRDL. "Inappropriate." Sky said, sternly waving a finger in front of Dove's face.

"So you have a sister, must be nice." Russel said, passing one of the drinks over to Cardin as he reached over.

"Yeah, it is." Russel looked to Cardin, spotting those imperfections in his expression. Cardin took a swig out of the fresh beer. "Our families, well, conservative at best." He said as nicely as possible. "My sister's younger than me by two years. She's just an awesome person. I wouldn't know what to do without her."

There was an air of sadness to Cardin's words. Dove was too buzzed to have picked up on it and Sky was too busy acting the parent for Dove, but Russel picked up on it. He glanced at Cardin, catching a twinkle of reflection in his eyes. Russel said nothing about it, he just finished his drink.

"Hehe…" Dove laughed. "This place is called the 'Crow' 'Bar', get it?" He laughed once more, this time spitting up some drool. "Cause it's a bar…hehe…"

"Alright, come on guys. Dove's knocking out. We'd better get him home." Sky said, being the adult of the group.

"I-I c-can stay up as long as I want." Dove folded his arms over his chest and pouted. "I drink milk."

"No you don't." Cardin deadpanned.

"Yea…" Dove sighed before being helped up out of his seat by Russel and Sky.

The quartet caught a ferry back to the school. The usual air ships had closed down for the night. The smaller, pay per passenger ferries were all that Vale had to offer, but that didn't matter. As long as they got back they were all okay with it.

As they touched down on Beacon's grounds, Sky went on ahead with Dove, leaving Cardin and Russel behind to pay the ferryman.

As they began to head on after Sky and Dove, Cardin stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Russel. "So." He spoke quietly. "The truth?"

And so Russel stopped in place and thought of what to say. The entire night they'd been lying, not only to their colleagues but to themselves. They both knew it.

Russel smiled, thinking about what he'd said. He and his dad went fishing? That was a nice fantasy. And then Russel frowned. That cocky expression falling over, making way to the tired one beneath. Russel then looked to Cardin and shrugged. "You first."

Cardin remained silent. His strong posture with his chest shot outward faltered, falling into a slouching position. He placed his hands into his pockets and then turned his attention forward. The pair of partners walked side by side all the way back to Beacon. The shadow of their upbringing to their backs in the face of Beacon. But they can't talk about it yet. Maybe they'll never be able to talk about it.

Give me your tired and your disenfranchised. The wind howls. Those yearning to breathe free.

Welcome to Beacon.

And so ends the 2nd arc. Throughout most of the Cardin related stuff, I wrote him as having something going on with him. Especially when he was in the dining hall two chapters ago. We'll get some more explanation with Cardin as he goes on a sort of redemption storyline.

I've also decided to go back and add chapter names to the actual chapters themselves. Because I feel like me just saying that these are a part of an arc aren't enough.

We'll check back in with Russel and the gang later. Russel, in particular, is going to be going against everyone's favorite catgirl. No, not Neon but she's totes cool too.

I'll get around to working on that probably next week. Until next time, later days dear reader!