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:

RWBY has plenty of missed opportunities and wasted potential. And one possibility is the relationship between Jaune and Blake. Especially after the Fall of Beacon. So this is a brief exploration of Jaune going to visit Blake in Menagerie to get her back on the team.

The fall of Vale and Beacon were horrible. And after Adam had maimed Yang and stabbed her? Blake just couldn't deal with it. As long as Adam was obsessed with her, none of her friends would be safe.

So she'd fled to Menagerie, like a coward. Her parents, despite everything, had welcomed her home. Doted on her. Forgiven her.

That was the worst part. That they... They could still look at her with love, and not hatred. Like she did when she looked at herself in the mirror.

She'd spent most of her time recovering from her injuries. She'd tried to keep up with the news as best she could-Even with the CCT down, radio and other forms of communication were being used. The situation in Vale had been bad, but it was getting better slowly. The CCT might soon be fully restored.

She didn't hear anything about her friends. She tried so hard not to think about what that meant, but her guilt fueled her nightmares.

It was during one night that there was a commotion at the gates to the Belladonna manse. Blake stirred from her horrible sleep, still wincing a bit at the pain in her side. Her ears perked up as she heard her mother approaching. She was on her feet before Kali Belladonna opened the door.

"Mother? What is it?" Blake asked.

Kali didn't look alarmed-If anything, she looked somewhat amused.

"Blake sweetie, there's a human here," she said, "He claims to be your friend."

Blake blinked.

"A-A human boy?"

Kali held up her Scroll, and showed a recent picture. It took a moment for Blake to recognize him, as the face was thinner and the eyes were narrowed.

"Jaune Arc?!" She gasped. She stared up at Kali. "H-How did he-?!"

Kali's amusement increased.

"Oh, so you do know him!" Kali beamed, "I think I'll let him explain it with you present. He's made a lot of trouble for the guards."

"Him?!" Blake asked in disbelief.

Blake dressed and accompanied her mother down to a meeting room just off the main entrance hallway. There, at least ten guards were holding the struggling young man down. Her father, Ghira, calmly sipped his tea as he sat and watched.

"Father, please, let him go!" Blake insisted, "I know him! He's a friend!"

Well... More a friend of a friend, but-That didn't matter.

"Release him," Ghira said, still calm. The guards, all with Auras activated, began to pull away from Jaune... But the boy shoved them all away as he stood up, panting angrily.

Blake's eyes widened. He'd certainly never been that strong back at Beacon.

"Good," Ghira said with a nod, "Now, leave us."

"Sir!" The lead guard protested, "He's a human, and he's armed! He snuck in and could be an assassin-!"

"And he fooled you all by wearing cheap cologne and this," Ghira stated, holding up a pair of bunny ears on a headband.

The guards all looked appropriately embarassed. Blake's jaw dropped, and she stared in utter disbelief at Jaune.

"How... Wha-?"

"I actually didn't think it would work," Jaune admitted, smiling with a shrug, "But my dad told me as long as you look like you know what you're doing and that you belong? You can go almost anywhere."

"Take that as a lesson, Captain," Ghira stated, "Now go, and write up a thorough report on your failure."

Properly chastened, the guards filed out, many glaring at Jaune as they went. Kali shut the doors behind them, and smiled pleasantly.

"Welcome to Kuo Kuana, Mister Arc! You mind if I call you Jaune?"

"Uh, not at all, ma'am," Jaune said, bowing, "Er, do I bow? You are king and queen, right?"

"Chieftain, and only if you wish to," Ghira said, as Kali went to a cupboard to put together snack trays. "I must salute you, Jaune. Making the journey here from Vale could not have been easy."

"Uh, thanks," He said. He finally turned to Blake. "Hey Blake."

"Hello Jaune," Blake murmured, unsure of how to respond. She'd barely said a few words to Jaune the whole time, and couldn't fathom why he was here.

"I have... Some messages," he said. "From Ruby, Yang, and some others."

"They're okay?!" Blake gasped. Jaune nodded.

"Yeah. They all are. From Ruby?"

Jaune walked up... And hugged Blake tightly. She stiffened at the contact, but... Melted into it. She hadn't had a lot of physical contact outside of her parents, and just getting hugged like this was... Kind of nice.

"She'll be very glad you're okay," he said. He pulled back and took a deep breath. He winced.

"And Yang..."

He sighed.

"She told you to hit me, didn't she?" Blake asked.

"No, she wants to do that herself," he stated. Blake nodded.

"... It's all right," Blake murmured. "I-I'm sorry-"

Anger flared in his eyes.

"Don't say it to me," Jaune stated, glaring at her, "Say it to them."

"Are... Are they coming here?" She asked.

"No," Jaune said, "We've been helping Vale recover. It's now mostly under control. So now? We're going after Cinder. And we... We need you. Ruby needs you."

Blake turned away.

"I... I can't do that," she murmured. Jaune's eyes widened.

"What?! Why?!"

"I..." Blake looked down.

"Why don't we table that discussion for now?" Ghira asked. "There is the matter of you sneaking into Kuo Kuana, after all. Friend of my daughter's or not, that is illegal for any human to do."

Jaune worked his jaw with a wince. He got on his knees and put his forehead on the floor before them.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said, "I made a promise to find her, and bring her back. I always keep my word. I'll accept any punishment-"

"Don't!" Blake said quickly. "Please, don't Father. He...He's my friend."

Ghira stared for a long moment before he nodded.

"Very well. I respect a man who keeps his promises. And we have never had a human guest for dinner before." He smirked slightly. "Especially a friend of my daughter's."

Jaune winced again.

"Ah, I mean... We're kind of-"

"We are friends, Father," Blake interjected, "We are very good friends."

She took his hand for emphasis.

"Well, any friend of Blake's is a friend of ours!" Kali tittered. "Especially such a handsome one!"

Blake groaned on the inside.

Afterwards, Jaune gets a room at the manor. He can't sleep. He wanders around and meets Blake. And they just... Talk, as they look up at the stars.

Jaune: "... We never really did this, huh?"

Blake: "No... I'm sorry."

Jaune: "Don't. It..." sigh "It... Feels like a lifetime ago, huh?"

Blake: "Yeah... Yeah, it does."

Jaune: "We should have invited you to play board games with us more."

Blake: "We... should have accepted more often."

Jaune: "It... It would have been nice."

Silence falls. Then:

Blake: "... How did... How did you help Yang?"

Jaune: "... We argued a lot. Actually hit each other..." sigh "She's a lot better now. It's all I could do..."

Blake: "Jaune-"

Jaune: "I just... Ruby asked me to do it. And I did it... Because no one else would. That's... This is all I can do. She was so lost, so hurt... Nora and Ren too. All I could do was hold them together, as best I could. Try to keep them going, to be strong for them..." sighs "That's all I'm good for."

Blake: "No, no! You're... You're so much more than that Jaune."

Jaune: "... I... You know... I just... I don't understand why you're blaming yourself. You... You could fight. You did fight... You knew what you were doing."

Blake: shakes her head, and lets out a scoffing laugh "Jaune... None of us knew what we were doing. I was running away from the White Fang and pretending I was a human, Weiss was trying to escape her father while being the perfect Schnee daughter at the same time, Yang just wanted to have adventures every day, and Ruby was fifteen and missed finishing middle school and wanted to live a fairy tail."

Jaune: "And how am I any better? I... I was the dolt. The deadlast! The weak link-!"

He's fighting back tears. Blake hugged him tightly.

Blake: "You've done better than I've done. Jaune... If more people showed kindness to others, if more people empathized about their pain and shared it instead of taking it out on others... We would live in a better world."

Jaune: "Blake..."

Blake: She smiled sadly "If Pyrrha saw that side of you, then she was right. She saw what we were all too self-absorbed to see. You're not the weakest, you might just be the strongest of us crazy, damaged hero-wannabe teenagers. You kept going... Where the rest of us just fell apart, or ran away."

Jaune looked away, blushing. He stared out at the faunus city.

Jaune: "... I just... I still wish it was me instead of her. Why should someone so amazing live... And someone like me just...?"

Blake: "Then... you have to live for her. She loved you enough to risk fighting someone that strong alone. So live. I might have not known her that long. All of RWBY might have barely known her... but everyone knew. She always shined the brightest around you."

Jaune: "I was too stupid to see it... She kissed me and told me she loved me before she shoved me in that locker... I... The whole time... I was too stupid to see it." sigh "... Or maybe I did, and I just... I didn't think I deserved it."

Blake: "And she was too scared to say. And there wasn't enough time. But do you regret knowing her?"

Jaune: shakes his head, says it with deadly certainty "Never."

Blake: "Then love her, even now, even when she's gone. Maybe you couldn't back then, but love her now. Your feelings matter, and if she's watching us, watching you... She'll know."

Jaune: "... Can I ask you something?"

Blake: "What?"

Jaune: "... Why did you run away?"

Blake bowed her head.

Blake: "... Because my best friend had gotten her arm chopped off and stabbed through the gut. Because she was my friend. Because I brought her into that fight, just by being around her."

She looked out at the night sky too.

Blake: "Everything I touch... was poisoned from the inside, by my presence. I try and try and... And all I do is fail." She sniffled "I failed to change the White Fang, I failed to protect my friends, I... All I can do is come here and try to help but... But all I do is fail."

Jaune: "Blake..."

Blake: sigh "You... You should go back. You think they need me? They don't. Everything you've done... They need you, more than me."

Jaune: "Blake... I made a promise to bring you back. They see something worth fighting for in you. If you... If you're telling me I'm worth something? Then trust me, you're better than me in every way. You... You're a princess, a freedom fighter-!"

Blake: "-And a coward. I meant it before, Jaune... You were the strongest of all of us."

Jaune: "I'm still a horrible failure."

Blake: cries softly, leans against him "... Then we're both failures..."

They turn to stare at the stars in silence.