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.

Not a ship chapter, just friendship between Ruby and Ren.

Ruby sighed in some frustration as she scanned around the Emerald Forest. She'd been out here for hours and all she had to show for her efforts were sweaty clothes.

"Why do the ninjas of our teams keep running off?" Ruby grumbled, scanning about with her silver eyes. Zwei sniffed nearby, looking a bit lost.

Nora and Jaune had come to them in the early morning, very distraught. Ren had received a package, which was unusual enough. He had then gone up to the Headmaster's office to speak privately with Ozpin: Even more unusual. Finally, Ren had outright vanished. Which would be like Yang no longer using puns, or Blake and Weiss getting along! Or Ruby not liking cookies!

So they'd gone out to look for him. Not an easy task, given he was a ninja. Ruby thought Zwei would give her the advantage, but so far, her adorable little Corgi was no better at tracking than her.

"Thought Blake would find him for sure," Ruby grumbled, kicking a rock petulantly, "She's our ninja. Is Ren that much better a ninja than she is?"

A haunting tune played on strings slowly drifted through the forest. Ruby froze and looked around, listening intently.

It echoed this way and that... But Zwei immediately locked on and with a cute little bark, he raced off through the trees. Ruby followed, keeping her speed down.

They came out into a clearing where a small waterfall cascaded onto a stream. The music grew stronger, and Zwei barked again. Ruby locked onto a large boulder near the river.

There was Ren, sitting cross legged, playing a rounded stringed instrument. Even from here, her keen eyes saw it was in bad shape, with missing paint and rusted metal... Yet the music it produced was still very beautiful.

Ren slowly turned his head and stared at her, still plucking at the strings. Ruby waved awkwardly.

"H-Hey... You okay, Ren?" She asked.

Ren turned his pink eyes away and stared at the waterfall, still plucking away at the instrument. Ruby and Zwei exchanged a look. The corgi shrugged, and then trotted up to jump up onto the rock. He settled down next to Ren, curling up beside him. Ren continued to play, not reacting. Ruby took a deep breath and walked up to the boulder cautiously.

She was cute, but she wasn't corgi cute.

"We... We were all really worried about you," she said, "Nora was terrified."

Ren inclined his chin an inch, still playing.

"... I'll make it up to her," he said quietly.

"What's that? What are you playing?" Ruby inquired, after another moment of letting the music wash over her. Ren let out a soft sigh.

"A pipa. A Mistralian lute. It was..."

He paused his music.

"It was my mother's."

Ruby's face fell. Ren continued quietly, and resumed the song.

"She would play it for me when I was young. A scavenger found it in my old village. One of Ozpin's agents got it, and sent it to me."

"Oh... That..." Ruby struggled, "That was very kind... I... I didn't know you could play."

Ren's finger plucking became a bit more... Tense.

"My mother was teaching me it before..."

He trailed off.

Ruby winced. She climbed up onto the boulder, very slowly, like Ren might bolt at any time. She shakily reached out, hesitated... Then rested a hand on his shoulder. He didn't react to this, the sad song still spilling from the instrument like tears.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I just... Why run off? I mean... Nora-"

Ren slowly shook his head.

"Nora's mother abandoned her," he said quietly, "While my parents took care of her too... I... I did not want to remind her."

He bowed his head.

"I didn't want her to be reminded of what I had... And she never did," he said softly.

Ruby shook her head.

"I... I don't think she would be hurt by that," Ruby said softly. "She loves you. You know that, right?"

Ren stared out at the falling water, the spray, his song continuing on automatic.

"Yes," he murmured. "I just... It's my pain. I did not want to burden her."

"Burden her?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"She is..." Ren considered his words carefully, "Everything to me. I have no right to make her feel pain."

"Like by running away and scaring her?" Ruby asked sarcastically... Before slapping her hands over her mouth in horror. Ren ceased the music and stared at her intensely. Zwei quickly intervened, putting his head in Ren's lap and whining for attention. Ren stared down at the dog, then up at the cringing Ruby. He let out a soft sigh, before reaching down to scratch behind Zwei's ears. The corgi growled happily as Ren looked aside.

"... Sorry," he murmured.

Ruby shook her head.

"We... We all do stupid stuff when we're... We're upset," Ruby managed. "I-I tried this super cool move when my Uncle told me I wasn't old enough. I... I just wanted to be amazing like my mom... Ended up breaking my wrist."

Ren nodded. Ruby looked intently at the pipa, her eyes narrowing. Something had been bothering her about it from the moment she'd seen it.

"Did... Did your mom do anything else with the pipa?" She asked.

"Like what?" Ren asked, blinking.

Ruby held out her hands.

"Can... Can I see it? I won't break it, promise," she said.

Ren stared intently at her, before slowly handing over the instrument. Ruby took it in her hands, as though it was made of glass. As the waterfall roared, she examined the pipa from every angle. It was red and blue, with what she thought was an oni-skull shaped head with large fangs. She pulled out a small toolkit from her combat skirt, and began fiddling with a few bits here and there. She felt Ren tense, but Zwei came to the rescue by hopping up to lick his face affectionately.

Finally, Ruby applied a bit of oil to a few spots, then scrubbed a few bits clean with some steel wool. She beamed at Ren, and turned the back of the pipa to him.

"Look, look!" She said happily, pointing at a few lines, "Dust runes!"

"Dust runes?" Ren asked, intrigued as he leaned in to study them. Ruby nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! Some old mechashift weapons had them installed instead of traditional circuitry! They don't do as much, but they last REALLY long! Jaune's got some on Crocea Mors!"

She held the pipa out to him. He took hold of it carefully.

"What do the runes do?" He asked.

"Try surging your Aura through it," Ruby said, "And press... That part!" She pointed to a depression under the oni head. Ren's Aura flared with pink energy... He pressed the depression...

A flash of Aura and the pipa transformed into a curved, single-edged sword with an elaborate hilt and handle. Mistralian letters glowed on the fine blade. Ren stared in wonder at the weapon. He stood up, Zwei hopping out of his lap. Ren swung and thrust the blade a few times, weighing it carefully. He ran his hands over the blade, which, despite the age of the weapon, was still shiny.

Ren slowly turn to Ruby. His lips trembled.

"... Thank you, Ruby," he said softly, voice choked with emotion. Ruby beamed, stood up, and hugged him tightly around the mid-section.

"No problem, Ren," she said. "So um... What do the letters say?"

Ren took a deep breath and centered himself. He looked at the letters, even as he tried to pull away from the hug. Ruby, however, would not let him. So he read it anyway.

"It's a poem. It reads: 'My veins are strings, my pulse is percussion, my breath is air flowing through a woodwind, and there is no place for the distortion of evil in the music of my life.'"

"Woah," Ruby whispered, "Awesome! Did your mom write that?"

"I believe so," Ren said with a slow nod.

Ruby beamed.

"Your mom sounds really cool!"

Ren smiled softly.

"She was."

A short bit between Ren and Ruby. I thought it might be cool if Ren had some legacy from his family that Ruby could help him work out.

The poem and transforming pipa are from "Thunderbolt Fantasy".