Cuts of RWBY

A RWBY Fic Collection by AndrewJTalon

DISCLAIMER: This is a fan based work of prose. RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth and WB Animation. Please support the official release.

Just a collection of plot bunnies and ideas for RWBY fics. Free for you to take and make use of.

For instance:

More of Knightshade in Menagerie.

Breakfast was fairly quiet. Ghira wanted to take Jaune out to the Guard Barracks to test his combat skills. Jaune agreed. Blake had also wanted to go, but Kali held her back: She was nearly recovered from her injuries, but not quite to the point Kali wanted to let her resume her previous training routine. Kali wanted to work with Blake more on her Semblance anyway, and Blake reluctantly agreed.

They stood in the doorway to bid Ghira and Jaune goodbye. Kali kissed Ghira passionately, and he returned it-Much to the mortification of Blake and Jaune. They just stood there, awkwardly, as Kali and Ghira made out.

"Um... Have a... Good day?" Jaune managed. Blake nodded.

"You too, Jaune," she said softly. Her hands twitched, undecided on what to do. Jaune looked just as awkward, but managed a wave and smile when Ghira finished making out with his wife.

"We'll be back by dinner," Ghira said cheerfully, "I have to do some inspections anyway."

"Take care, darling," Kali said cheerfully. She beamed at Jaune. "You have a good day too, Jaune!"

"I-I will, Mrs. Belladonna-Er, Queen-Er-" Jaune stuttered. Kali giggled.

"Oh come now, Jaune. Call me Kali!"

"Er... Sure... Lady Kali," he managed. Kali hummed and smiled.

"Good enough for now! Off with you!"

Blake watched them go, the guards falling into line around them. She frowned deeply as she kept her eyes on Jaune, his fake bunny ears standing up out of his messy blond mane.

"He'll be fine," Kali said softly, "I made sure it was well secured. The cologne I gave him is better suited to rabbit faunus, too."

"Yes Mother," Blake said with a nod. She sighed softly. "I still can't believe he made it this far like that..."

Kali chuckled.

"In my own days in the White Fang? I got into high security areas in similar ways."

Blake stared at her in shock, and Kali smirked.

"Ninety percent of the time, if you look and act like you belong? Most people, human or Faunus, won't pay you a second glance."

"And the remaining ten percent?"

Kali's smirk gained teeth.

"That's when you bring out the claws."

As was typical of her mother, Blake's 'less physically demanding' exercises were still quite difficult, even in the warm Belladonna Dojo. She meditated, focusing on channeling her Aura into Shadow Clones and making them perform movements.

"Next one, jump up. Next one, jump down. Next one, roll right. Next one, roll left!"

Channeling Aura also helped her heal, but it was still challenging. She had her clones doing all sorts of things around her, sweat beading on her forehead, as her mother barked commands.

"Next one, look sexy for Jaune!"

Blake flushed, but obeyed instinctively. A Shadow Clone emerged wearing a sexy, come hither smile, toying with her kimono to tease its contents.

"M-MOTHER!" Blake cried. Kali lightly slapped the back of her head with a bokken. "OW!"

Kali hummed and looked the clone over.

"Not bad, but nowhere near seductive enough," she stated. Blake scowled up at her mother, rubbing the back of her head.

"That hardly seems suitable for training."

"No, but it does address something holding you back," Kali said softly. She looked Blake over. "You're usually much better at this, faster. You're distracted."

Blake closed her eyes.

"Jaune coming here... Brought up a lot of emotions," she admitted. "Emotions I... I don't want to deal with."

Kali sat down next to her daughter.

"I know that dealing with them is difficult," Kali said, "But it has to be done."

"Can't I... Can't I just raise an army and go help?" Blake asked, looking plaintively at her mother, "Wouldn't that be enough to... To make up for all of it?"

Kali chuckled sadly.

"Were it that easy," she sighed. She shook her head. "You must give your troops a reason to follow you, Blake. Trading on your name and rank alone isn't enough. Not for the important battles. The only way to be that person is to confront your demons and conquer them first."

Blake looked away, staring at the far wall.

"There's just so much," Blake murmured. Kali nodded.

"I know," she said, "But we can take it, a battle at a time. So... What about Jaune?"

Blake shut her eyes.

"... He..." She hesitated.

"He what?" Kali asked quietly.

"... He told me, last night," Blake continued, "That he wished he had died instead of Pyrrha. That he... He was the expendable one. The useless one."

"You don't agree?" Kali asked. Blake shook her head furiously.

"Of course I don't agree! He-He stayed! He pulled Ruby and Yang out of their depression! He kept Nora and Ren with him! He figured out so much, did so much... He came all the way out here! I-I never thought that of him!"

Blake sighed quietly.

"I mean... I never really thought much of him at all," she admitted, "He was... He was Ruby's goofy blond friend. The one who got stuck in a tree in Initiation. The one who kept getting beat up, trounced and humiliated. The one who was dense as a doorknob... I just..."

She hesitated again. Her voice became thick with emotion.

"We... We made jokes about him. About how useless he was. How weak he was. Sometimes, we joked that he shouldn't even be there. I thought... I thought they were just jokes. Back and forth. I thought that's how he took them since he always... Always laughed it off."

She closed her eyes again.

"But he took it to heart, after Pyrrha... Pyrrha was killed," she murmured. "He genuinely thinks he's good for nothing. He's done so much more than I did... And he still thinks I'm better."

She sniffled. Fat tears began to roll out of her eyes, and down her cheeks.

"Me... The one who poisons everything I touch. Ruins everything. The one who always runs away, when my friends... My friends need me," she whispered. "Look at me... A princess, sitting in a palace, and... And someone I dismissed is the one who did... Who did what I should have done... He still thinks I'm a good person. And... And I'm not."

She bowed her head, her tears peppering the wooden floor beneath her knees.

"... He shouldn't have come," she whispered, "His friends... They... They don't need me. They need him... And he doesn't believe it... It's my fault, Mama... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...!"

Kali hugged her daughter tightly, as she sobbed. Blake tried to pull away, but Kali's grip was ironclad.

"It's all right, Blake, it's all right," Kali whispered, as her daughter wept.

The Home Guards were soldiers who split their time between guarding the city of Kuo Kuana and the Chieftain and members of the Council. They were well trained in melee combat, marksmanship, Dust use, and their Semblances. They drilled relentlessly, training whenever they didn't have anything else to do, led by some of Ghira's best commanders.

He had brought Jaune to the main training yard, and called up ten random guards. A mix of newcomers and seasoned veterans.

"This is Lord Jaune, from a Northern Sanus Faunus city," Ghira stated, and the guards nodded, "He will fight you all at once, non-lethally. Let's see how our brothers on Sanus are training their warriors."

Ghira stepped back, smiling at Jaune's worried expression. He then gestured to one of his Sergeants, Torg, a lizard Faunus, who walked up to his Chieftain. Ghira bent down and whispered in his ear.

"Get the Aura Measuring Sensor, please."

"Of course, My Lord," Torg said, turning and heading out. Ghira turned his eyes back and watched. The ten guards spread out and surrounded the hidden human.

Jaune pulled his sword and shield, and took a sure-footed stance with a determined look on his face.

The guards attacked Jaune from all sides and stayed in pairs to cover one another, wielding swords and spears.

Five minutes later, Torg returned... To see all of the guards knocked out or down, with Jaune apologizing to them and Ghira. Torg nearly dropped the Aura Sensor, but he recovered and kept it focused on Jaune.

"I'm really, really sorry," Jaune said. Ghira laughed.

"It was nothing they can't walk off, son! Don't you worry!" He clapped Jaune's shoulder with a large hand, and grinned. "Why not help them all up, hm?"

"Sure, no problem, sir," Jaune said with a quick nod as he went around with an open hand and a friendly smile. The guards, now looking much less skeptical, let him pull them up and then assembled in front of Jaune. Ghira walked over to Torg, who shook the Aura Sensor and frowned at the results.

"Well?" Ghira asked softly. Torg looked at his Chieftain with wide eyes.

"He's got more Aura than two squads combined, at least!" Torg gasped.

Ghira hummed, and walked back to Jaune's side. He smiled at Jaune.

"Tell us Jaune. How long have you been training?" He asked.

Jaune coughed, looking embarrassed.

"Er... About a year? Maybe two years, sir?"

Dead silence. Jaune sighed.

"I know I'm not as good as I should be, but I'm trying as hard as I can," he said. He bowed his head. "If you have any suggestions or training that you think could help me? I would really appreciate it, please. I want to help my friends and protect people."

"Two years?!" Torg grunted. "You gotta be having us on, lad!"

Jaune shook his head, his bunny ears shaking.

"No, really. Just two years. Sorry if I'm really sloppy. Again, I'm working as hard as I can."

Ghira let out another laugh, and patted Jaune on the back.

"We'll happily train you, son! You're doing well, but it's good that you recognize you can always improve," he said with a nod. "Mistralian style, right?"

"Er, yeah," Jaune nodded, "Though I've been learning from some other friends, too, with different styles."

"Good, good," Ghira said with a nod. "Though, only two years? You entered a Hunter Academy with... No experience?"

Jaune nodded, looking ashamed.

"Yeah... My uh, my family didn't approve," he admitted. "Sorry. Again, working very hard to get better."

"Good, but really," Ghira said with a smile, "You're progressing very well. Go on. How about you join the men for the morning training?"

"Yes sir, thank you sir," Jaune said with a rapid nod. He followed the guards, who had not lost their sense of awe at the secret human. Ghira crossed his arms as he watched them go. Torg stood next to his chieftain, frowning in disbelief.

"Two years? That's all?" He gasped. "And that-that boy can take down a squad of our guards without so much as a scratch?!"

"The boy has potential. All of his friends do, apparently," Ghira chuckled.

"But... Is he stupid?"

"No," Ghira said, his eyes narrowed, "But I believe I will have words with his family at some point..."