Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Beacon was a proud prestigious Academy with a reputation for training not only some of the most skilled huntsmen and huntresses in all of Remnant but also some of the most noble, courageous and virtuous combatants to ever take the field of battle. Alongside the strict training regimens imposed by the staff and students alike, the heavy course load of strategy, history, theory and Grimm biology there was also a rigid code of ethics at the Academy. Every student at Beacon was preparing to become a defender of the people, a paragon of virtue and a light shining against the ever present onslaught of darkness their world faced. This meant they were held to a higher standard than nearly anyone else on the face of Remnant, expectations of these young men and women were high and they rarely failed to live up to them. There were a few however who had reached Beacon for all the wrong reasons and posed a constant reminder of what the others had to rise above.

"C'mon sweety, bunnies are supposed to breed a lot right? I'm as good as it gets around here honey." Cardin Winchester put a hand over the young Faunus girl's shoulder, resting on the wall behind her and effectively pinning her between him and the building. He had not touched her yet but she could feel his presence bearing down on her, smell his breath and his bodily stench falling off him in waves.

"Stop it," she pleaded with him, "please stop. Just leave me alone." The girl cowered down beneath his hungry gaze, clutching her lunch tray with white knuckled fingers. Her large bunny ears fell flat against the back of her head in fear and let out a small whimper when he refused to move.

"I'm better than any faunus garbage you might find around here that's for sure." He gave her a cocky grin, "I'm giving you the chance of a lifeteam here, to be with a real human boy. And a Winchester at that." He straightened his back in pride, taking his weight off of the wall but not giving her any more room to breathe. When she didn't respond he moved forward to put his large meaty hands on her shoulders.

"Pffff.. Cause anyone would want to be with a Winchester." A voice called out from behind Cardin, mocking him and laughing at the thought of him being irresistible, or even attractive in the least. Cardin turned, anger on his face and saw a diminutive brunette standing there, holding her lunch tray covered in sweets with a large cup of milk.

"Get out of here, no one wants you here." Cardin waved a dismissive hand at her and and went to turn back to his victim who had been unable to move.

Ruby completely ignored him, shifting her tray over to hold with one hand she reached out towards the two, "Velvet, it's alright. Come with me." Velvet looked around Cardin and saw Ruby's outstretched hand, her eyes shown and a glimmer of hope streaked across her face but flashed away as quickly as it had come when Cardin pounded his fist on the wall behind her and turned back to Ruby.

"I said leave it you little bitch. Go back to kindergarden where you belong." Cardin took a step towards Ruby. Velvet took her chance and dipped out from behind him, circling wide around him to make her way behind Ruby. She stood there, cowering slightly still, back and knees bent in an attempt to hide behind the much smaller girl, but she did not run.

"You need to stop right now." Ruby turned away from him and put her hand on Velvet's shoulder, "Are you okay Velvet?"

"Yeah," She nodded her head and looked up to meet Ruby's steely silver gaze still locked on her, "Yes, I'm okay now." Velvet stood a little taller and Ruby turned back to Cardin.

"Oh no, I'm not done with her." Cardin strode forward and Ruby stood tall, ready to meet his advance. He came toe to toe with her and stared down at the little girl. Cardin wasn't just tall, he was large, broad in the shoulders with a square head and hard chin. He stood over Ruby and the top of her head barely reached the base of his sternum. Cardin clenched his fists and his eyes filled with rage at her defiance, no one shamed Cardin Winchester, especially not some little brat who belonged back home with her parents.

"Leave us alone Cardin." Ruby turned on her heel, completely ignoring the boy, took Velvet's hand in her own and pulled her away. Cardin's hard expression broke into one of anger and he lunged out to grasp Ruby by the shoulder.

Another hand stopped him by grabbing his wrist. Cardin's eyes swung up to lock with none other than Jaune Arc. Ruby stopped and turned at the sound, she and Velvet both let out a little gasp when they saw what was happening.

"Don't even think about it Cardin. Yang will kick your ass if you touch her sister." Cardin jerked his hand out of Jaune's grip.

"Don't even start with me Arc. Screw off."

"You walk away and I'll walk away." Juane lowered his hand but did not step down even slightly. He stood tall and stared the larger boy down.

"I said screw off!" Cardin raised a clenched fist behind himself, preparing to swing on the boy but stopped himself short. Over Jaune's shoulder he could see Professor Goodwitch, riding crop in hand and tapping her foot impatiently.

"Fine. You know what. It's not worth it. Take your little girlfriend and get out of here. Who wants to bang a faunus anyway, I might get a weird bunny disease or something." Cardin dropped his fist and stormed off, casting a single derisive glance at Ruby and Velvet as he turned. After the boy was far enough gone Jaune let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"That was pretty tense there for a minute huh?" he turned back to Velvet and Ruby who were smiling from ear to ear now, well Ruby was, Velvet looked more relieved than anything and her ears were no longer flattened against her skull.

"Jaune that was great. You stood up to him again." Ruby bounced up on her toes in excitement.

"Yeah, I guess beating him in that match the other day really helped," John chuckled and rubbed the back of his head shyly.

It was then that Coco, the leader of team CVFY, and Yatsuhashi, their silent hulking sword wielder, approached the group.

"Hey Velv, you doing okay?" Coco was dressed as fashionably as ever, light colored beret slightly off center on her head, sunglasses over her eyes even indoors.

"Yeah, I'm good." Velvet smiled and walked over to stand defensively between her teammates. Yatsuhashi gave her a serious look and she sighed a little and looked at the ground, ears drooping. He gently reached down and patted her shoulder and then relieved her of her tray, carrying now both of theirs in his massive grip. She lightened slightly and looked back to Jaune and Ruby, "Thank you, for helping me with him."

They both returned her smile quite genuinely.

"Of course, you can't let him mess with you like that." Ruby said gently but with an

underlying firmness she had learned to adopt as part of her 'leader voice'.

"Yeah anytime Velvet, we were happy to help." Jaune gave her and her team an exaggerated thumbs up. Coco let her lips slide into an easy smile, the firmness and worry for her teammate now relaxed.

"Thanks guys, she's getting better but Velv still needs a hand now and then. I'm glad you were here." Coco gave them a polite nod and led the trio away.

Ruby turned to Jaune and wrapped her free arm around his middle for a quick side hug and pulled away. "Oh Jaune thank you. Cardin was being so thick." Jaune shied away from the contact at first but stopped as she grabbed him in her embrace. He held both hands up away from her and looked away, embarrassed by the touch.

"Oh.. uhh… yeah," he laughed a little to try and relax himself, "Isn't he always though?" Jaune put his arms down as she stepped away. Ruby laughed and turned to head to their usual lunch table where the rest of their two teams were already sitting. Jaune skipped over to a nearby empty table where he had left his food, a plate stacked high with veggies and red meat, and grabbed it before jogging to catch back up with Ruby's slower pace.

They reached the table and waved their hellos to the group assembled there. Yang cast them a sidelong glance down the length of the table as they sat next to one another near the end of the group.

"And what were you two up to? Hmmm? More planning for training?" Yang threw the comment down at them like a curveball meant to fluster Ruby and catch Jaune off guard. Unfortunately for Yang, the implications sailed right over her sister's innocent little head without effect.

"No, we stopped to help Velvet. Cardin was bullying her again, being really mean." Ruby smiled and dug into her pile of sweet pastries.

Yang sat up at the unexpected answer, her joking smile exchanged for a worried frown, "Are you alright Rubes? He didn't do anything did he?"

"Wuh? Mmh-hmm." Ruby shook her head in denial as she swallowed a mouthful of cinnamon bun. "I think he was going to but then Jaune got there and he backed off." Pyrrha smiled warmly at Jaune and he barreled right on through with the conversation.

"It wasn't that big of a deal. I just reminded him he'd have to answer to you if he did anything." Jaune laughed as Yang's face returned to a broad smile.

"You're damn right he would. I'm just glad it worked out." the hulking blonde relaxed back down and returned to her food.

"Well it was very brave of you two," Blake nodded at both of them, "Thank you." Jaune seemed confused at Blake's compassion but Ruby gave her a knowing smile and a not so subtle wink. There was a loud thump and they all looked over to see Ren holding Nora by the back of her collar, the fiery redhead's butt planted firmly on the ground.

"You heard them Ren. He was being mean to Velvet!" she whined like a child at the grocery store being denied a candy, "That means I get to break his legs right?"

"No Nora. That is not what that means." Ren used only one hand to restrain her and allowed the other to rest calmly in his lap. She crossed her arms in indignation and he released her, knowing that she would not leap away once he had spoken on the matter.

Ruby stepped out into the hallway, it was late and she just wanted a little walk around the dorms before heading to bed. Pacing the quiet hallways gave her a sense of peace, the happy noises of teams chatting and laughing mumbling under doors, the gentle knock of the breeze against the high glass windows at the ends of the hallways, the occasional encounter with a fellow classmate making their way to or from some last minute activity of their own. Ruby used the time to decompress and work out any stress she might have built up during the day, plus it didn't hurt to not be in the room while Yang and Weiss bickered over bathroom time and how long Weiss took to wash her face and waste all the hot water or how many hairs Yang got clogged in every drain she could find. Ruby breathed a small sigh of relief, as she came to the end of the hallway and stared out the window at the rising moon, huge shards of rock floating in space seemed so tranquil from here, casting their easy white light down on the peaceful campus.

A steady, quiet thumping grew closer next to her and Ruby slowly turned to find Jaune ascending the stairs to their floor. He looked haggard, sweat clearly sheening on his forehead, matting down his hair and darkening his hoody under his armour.

"More training with Pyrrha?" Ruby greeted Jaune as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Oh hey Ruby," he looked up from watching his feet to meet her, "I don't know how she does it. Guess where she is now?"

"Headed to the showers?" Ruby plugged her nose and waved her hand in mock disgust at Jaune's post-workout smell.

"Oh sorry," Jaune smiled, "No, she headed back down to the gym, said she had some lifts to get in still tonight."

"Well she is a champion, that's what it takes." Ruby looked back out the window, staring up at the moon. Jaune sighed a little, leaning against the railing endcap and stared out the window as well. They shared a moment of silence before Ruby made a small noise, halfway between a cough and clearing her throat. Jaune looked down and saw her fidgeting with the hem of her sweatpants, slowly tracing her thumb over one of the small embroidered pink hearts.

"Is something wrong?" Jaune's voice startled Ruby, bringing her out of her trance like state.

"No… umm yeah? I just. I wanted to thank you Jaune, for today?" Ruby turned from the window and Jaune could read the sincerity in her deep silver eyes. He saw her nervousness, the expectancy in her stare and the reluctance in the way she kept her shoulders slumped slightly forward and her hips slightly back, retreating from him without moving. A lump caught in Jaune's throat, why was she so nervous with him? She continued on in his silence.

"It's just that I'm usually so confident. And I wanted to help Velvet because she's so nice. But, when I tried and Cardin started calling me names and yelling at me like that." She stopped and turned back to the window, staring out a moment to gather herself before she continued, "I tried to just leave before anything happened, I wouldn't have let him hurt me but I can't just fight him when we aren't in class."

"Hey Ruby," Jaune broke in, the compassion and care of a team leader and a friend in his voice, soothing Ruby's ruffled emotions, "It's okay. You did help Velvet and Cardin's dumb but he's not dumb enough to try anything with you. He knows he doesn't stand chance, not to mention what Yang or Nora would do to him."

Ruby sniffled a little as she laughed, relieving some of her tension, "Yeah I just… thank you Jaune. For helping me then- and now." She turned and gave him a half hearted smile, doing her best to look strong despite the redness under her eyes, "Here, let's head back." Ruby turned back down the hallway towards their rooms and slowly walked down the hall. Jaune followed after her, letting his longer legs even out the gap before matching pace by her side. They walked down the hall together in silence, listening to the soft padding of Jaune's shoes and Ruby's bare feet against the thick, plush carpet. They reached their opposing dorms and Jaune reached for the knob while Ruby turned and leaned against the wall. Jaune stopped and released the door knob.

"Do you always walk around the halls at night?" he looked over to her, she hadn't touched her knob yet.

"Yeah, it can get a little loud in there," she nodded her head over her shoulder at the door to her room, "and I need time to think and slow down before bed."

"You? Slow down? Who are you and what have you done with Ruby?" they both laughed a little awkwardly at Jaune's badly delivered joke, "So you gonna go in now then?" Ruby paused and listened at the door. They could both hear a rather irate heiress attempting to lecture Yang on proper brush cleaning and the need to keep one's hair out of a shared plumbing system.

"Not quite yet, I think I'll give it one more lap. Goodnight Jaune, but for Ren and Nora's sake, please shower," she laughed a little and started to head off.

"Goodnight Ruby," Jaune tapped his scroll near the lock and and turned the knob but didn't pull. He looked down the hallway to where Ruby was already a few paces away, "Hey Ruby." she turned, "Sleep well."

"Sweet dreams Jaune." Ruby gave him one last grin and then headed back on her journey. Jaune shook his head slowly and stepped into his room, a little smile on his lips.

A/N - Okay, first of all to address a concern I get a lot, in a lot of my stories. Yeah I made Cardin really really harsh in this. I made him much more racist and terrible than he is really shown as being in the canon. I know, but, I absolutely hate the guy and I feel like if RWBY was not in any way intended for younger audiences to be able to watch, and if they weren't dealing with much more serious threats like death and dismemberment that Cardin would be a lot worse. So, I made him a lot worse since the characters here aren't dealing with those threats and because I have rated this as a "T" story meaning I assume my audience can handle it. If you think through some f the things that Cardin does, even in the show, he is actually really, really bad.

Okay, so other than that. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter even if it was a little short. It's sort of an in between chapter, leading up to the two that will come out over the weekend. There will be two more over the weekend and they will be longer than this one, so you will have plenty of "Friends and Loved Ones" to read until Tuesday

Also, a note of kinda sadness here is that I will no be posting from June 30 to July 5 because I will be in LA for Anime Expo (I'll be cosplaying as Major'a Mask Skull Kid if you're there). Then again I will not post from July 19 to July 25 because I will be in San Diego for Comic Con (same cosplay again). So, my last post will be Tuesday June 28, then July 7 I'll start back up and stop again on July 17 and return on July 26. That said, I may post some little stuff in between those dates, maybe some one shots I have been kicking around in my head and that but there won't be updates to my major stories "Clubbin' " and "Friends and Loved Ones". I just won't have the time to give these stories that I feel they deserve or the time to respond to all your comments and reviews that I know you deserve.

Thanks so much for reading, sorry the note at the end here got kinda long, I guess I had a lot to say this time. Please tell me what you though (even if it's about Cardin).

-Zach