History Fanfic / TheKnightsErrant

** Ruby coming to Weiss's rescue serves as a ''much'' better first impression than blowing her up with her own dust supply, and as a result they get a much smoother start to their friendship.

** Blake  -- the White Fang leaks her identity to Vale police, which prevents her from lying low at Beacon.
** Yang  -- torchwick hung around at Junior's bar long enough that he got involved in the fight shown in the Yellow trailer, and was able to drive the fight outside, causing the police to get involved. Since Beacon can't accept students with a criminal record, however minor the charges might be, Yang is out of the running too.

** Weiss  -- Ozpin is forced to reject Weiss's application at the last second due to Weiss's father getting involved. This leads to Weiss having an altercation when her guards try to escort her home against her will, which plays into...
** Ruby  -- Yang not being able to attend Beacon makes Ruby reluctant to accept Ozpin's offer, but what actually gets her off of the airship leaving for Beacon is witnessing Weiss's altercation with her guards and leaping to the conclusion that Weiss is being mugged.

* FloatingContinent: [[spoiler: This is the hidden secret of Morius's success: the heart of the kingdom itself was mobile, its flight magic powered by a massive dust crystal.]]

** Blake – The White Fang leaks her identity to Vale police, which prevents her from lying low at Beacon.
** Yang – Torchwick hung around at Junior's bar long enough that he got involved in the fight shown in the Yellow trailer, and was able to drive the fight outside, causing the police to get involved. Since Beacon can't accept students with a criminal record, however minor the charges might be, Yang is out of the running too.

** Weiss – Ozpin is forced to reject Weiss's application at the last second due to Weiss's father getting involved. This leads to Weiss having an altercation when her guards try to escort her home against her will, which plays into...
** Ruby – Yang not being able to attend Beacon makes Ruby reluctant to accept Ozpin's offer, but what actually gets her off of the airship leaving for Beacon is witnessing Weiss's altercation with her guards and leaping to the conclusion that Weiss is being mugged.

''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-knights-errant.374200/ The Knights Errant]]'' is a RWBY fanfic written by Zam and hosted on the Spacebattles Creative Writing forum. The premise is simple: by way of a series of [[ForWantOfANail nails]] caused by circumstances outside their control, none of the main cast ever makes it to Beacon Academy. Blake’s identity as a White Fang "agent" is leaked to Vale police, Yang gains a criminal record for smashing up Junior’s club and is denied admission, Weiss’s application is withdrawn at the last second by her father, and Ruby doesn’t want to take Ozpin’s offer because Yang won’t be there with her. Yet in spite of these things, [[InSpiteOfANail Team RWBY winds up forming anyways.]] This is the story of how they became the most badass hunter team on Remnant without ever setting foot inside of secondary school.

* CrazyEnoughToWork: As usual, Ruby provides the crazy plans that always seem to work out. In this case, [[spoiler: using Crescent Rose and Weiss’s glyphs to launch themselves at a bullhead that’s in flight and hitch a ride by sticking themselves to the underside of it.]]

* DefeatMeansFriendship: This is how Blake and Yang’s fight ultimately turns out. Weiss needs a little more convincing though.

--> ''“All we did was fight!”''
--> ''“Can you name a better way to get to know someone?”''
* EnemyMine: Defied. Blake and Yang’s running fight takes them through a White Fang stronghold about halfway through the first arc but it just turns into a MeleeATrois instead.

** Blake – The White Fang leaks her identity to Vale police, which prevents her from lying low at Beacon.
** Yang – Torchwick hung around at Junior’s bar long enough that he got involved in the fight shown in the Yellow trailer, and was able to drive the fight outside, causing the police to get involved. Since Beacon can't accept students with a criminal record, however minor the charges might be, Yang is out of the running too.
** There’s also a dangling plot thread mentioned which keeps Yang in Vale: Taiyang has been recalled to active duty for some reason, so Yang is Ruby’s primary caregiver and got a job working for Junior as a courier and general errand-girl to make ends meet.
** Weiss – Ozpin is forced to reject Weiss’s application at the last second due to Weiss’s father getting involved. This leads to Weiss having an altercation when her guards try to escort her home against her will, which plays into...
** Ruby – Yang not being able to attend Beacon makes Ruby reluctant to accept Ozpin’s offer, but what actually gets her off of the airship leaving for Beacon is witnessing Weiss’s altercation with her guards and leaping to the conclusion that Weiss is being mugged.
** Ruby coming to Weiss’s rescue serves as a ''much'' better first impression than blowing her up with her own dust supply, and as a result they get a much smoother start to their friendship.
* GoodVersusGood: The primary conflict of the first story arc is Yang trying to snag the bounty on Blake’s head, Weiss trying to kill Blake because she’s White Fang, and Ruby trying to make sure Yang and Weiss both stay safe. Blake just wants to get away in one piece.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Pretty much the driving force of the second half of the first story arc. The only reason the heroes are fighting at all is because Blake has been framed and doesn’t have a chance to tell her side of the story until the last chapter, at which point even Weiss gives up on trying to kill her.

* SleepCute: The end result in one of the epilogue chapters. It turns out that Yang’s semblance has the side effect of making her a natural heat source, so when the team is out roughing it in the wilds everyone cuddles up to her for warmth. [[SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel D’awww!]]

* GoodVsGood: The primary conflict of the first story arc is Yang trying to snag the bounty on Blake’s head, Weiss trying to kill Blake because she’s White Fang, and Ruby trying to make sure Yang and Weiss both stay safe. Blake just wants to get away in one piece.

* SleepCute: The end result in one of the epilogue chapters. It turns out that Yang’s semblance has the side effect of making her a natural heat source, so when the team is out roughing it in the wilds everyone cuddles up to her for warmth. [[SweetDreamsFuel D’awww!]]

** Happens again in ''Pirate Signals'' when Team ABRN shows up and they and RWBY briefly mistake each other for the pirates.

* TheLeader: Subverted in that Team RWBY doesn't actually ''have one'' in this setting. Since Ozpin never assigned the position to Ruby, she never takes the initiative to step up and take it for herself. Instead the role goes to whoever is most experienced at whatever the job in question is: Weiss leads in matters of diplomacy such as negotiating payment for a job, Blake takes over when wilderness survival or scouting is required, Yang handles mechanical issues such as repairing the bullhead or salvaging spare parts, and Ruby becomes TheStrategist whenever a situation calls for [[CrazyEnoughToWork a crazy plan]].

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Chapter 6 of Pirate Signals [[spoilers: introduces the villains of the arc, the titular pirates, during a mutiny aboard an Atlesian warship.]]

* TownWithADarkSecret: Shorelight. [[spoilers: The town has been functionally taken over by a gang of pirates who demand tribute from them, forcing the citizens to take drastic measures to make ends meet... such as luring Team RWBY into a trap so they can salvage ''Starlight'' for spare parts.]]

The initial story is short but complete, weighing in at seven to ten chapters long depending on whether you count the epilogue posts, and with a handful of side stories covering how Team JNPR is faring at Beacon in this setting. As of August 1st 2016, Zam has also posted the first sequel story, ''Raucus Ruins'' (complete with 7 Chapters).

* AndTheAdventureContinues: As the title implies, Team RWBY don't exactly go their separate ways once the first story is over.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Cooper turns out to be this. He looks like a mild-mannered archaeologist but he's really a vicious mercenary of a treasure hunter. As soon as the girls and Oobleck dispose of the King Taijitu guarding Morius's massive dust crystal he double-crosses them all and gloats as he imagines the reward he'll get for turning Weiss and Blake over to the Schnee Dust Company.]]

* DayInTheLimelight: The side stories include the adventures of team JNPR and CFVY in Beacon.

* EnemyMine: Defied. Blake and Yang’s running fight takes them through a White Fang stronghold about halfway through the story but it just turns into a MeleeATrois instead.
* FantasticRacism: Antifaunus prejudice and discrimination are considerable more visible and discussed than in the original series.
* FireForgedFriends: This is the end result of Team RWBY's escapades in the first story.

** Yang – Torchwick hung around at Junior’s bar long enough that he got involved in the fight shown in the Yellow trailer, and was able to drive the fight outside, causing Vale police to get involved. Since Beacon can't accept students with a criminal record, however minor the charges might be, Yang is out of the running too.

* GoodVsGood: The primary conflict of the first story is Yang trying to snag the bounty on Blake’s head, Weiss trying to kill Blake because she’s White Fang, and Ruby trying to make sure Yang and Weiss both stay safe. Blake just wants to get away in one piece.
* TheHeart: Ruby is already this in canon, but her role is more pronounced in this direction once Team RWBY forms for real because the role of team leader gets passed around depending on the situation.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Pretty much the driving force of the second half of the story. The only reason the heroes are fighting at all is because Blake has been framed and doesn’t have a chance to tell her side of the story until the last chapter, at which point even Weiss gives up on trying to kill her.
* MeleeATrois: The second half of the story is a running battle between Blake, Yang, and the White Fang while a second running battle has more of the same group of White Fang fighting Weiss and Ruby.

* WreckedWeapon: [[spoiler: Ember Celica was destroyed at the end of Raucus Ruins because of Yang's semblance getting over charged.]]

* InSpiteOfANail

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Cooper turns out to be this. He looks like a mild-mannered archaeologist but he's really a vicious mercenary of a treasure hunter. As soon as the girls and Oobleck dispose of the King Taijitu guarding Morius's massive dust crystal he double-crosses them all and laughs as he imagines the reward he'll get for turning Weiss and Blake over to the Schnee Dust Company.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigures: Ozpin and Oobleck qualify as this. As mentioned above, Oobleck doesn't care that half of Team RWBY is composed of runaway princesses and fugitive ex-terrorists, and [[BigGood Ozpin]] is implied to be subtly supporting the girls from a distance by sending lucrative jobs their way.

The initial story is short but complete, weighing in at seven to ten chapters long depending on whether you count the epilogue posts, and with a handful of side stories covering how Team JNPR is faring at Beacon in this setting. As of August 1st 2016, Zam has also begun posting the first sequel story, ''Raucus Ruins''.

* InSpiteOfANail: The ''other'' half of the fic's premise.
* TheLeader: Subverted in that Team RWBY doesn't actually ''have one'' in this setting. Since Ozpin never assigned the position to Ruby, she never takes the initiative to step up and take it for herself. Instead the role goes to whoever is most experienced at whatever the job in question is: Weiss leads in matters of diplomacy such as negotiating payment for a job, Blake takes over when wilderness survival or scouting is required, Yang handles mechanical issues such as repairing the bullhead or salvaging spare parts, and Ruby becomes TheStrategist whenever a situation calls for [[CrazyEnoughToWork a crazy plan]]. Oh, and [[TeamPet Zwei]] guards the bullhead when the girls are absent.

* TheLeader: Subverted in that Team RWBY doesn't actually ''have one'' in this setting. Since Ozpin never assigned the position to Ruby, she never takes the initiative to step up and take it for herself. Instead the role goes to whoever is most experienced at whatever the job in question is: Weiss leads in matters of diplomacy such as negotiating payment for a job, Blake takes over when wilderness survival or scouting is required, Yang handles mechanical issues such as repairing the bullhead or salvaging spare parts, and Ruby becomes TheStrategist whenever a situation calls for [[CrazyEnoughToWork a crazy plan]].

The initial story is short but complete, weighing in at seven to ten chapters long depending on whether you count the epilogue posts, and with a handful of side stories covering how Team JNPR is faring at Beacon in this setting. Zam is also working on a sequel [[WordOfGod which he will begin posting when it is completely finished.]]

* TheHeart: Ruby is already this in canon, but her role is more pronounced in this direction once Team RWBY forms for real because the role of team leader gets passed around depending on the situation: Weiss takes over during situations requiring diplomacy, Blake is in charge when wilderness survival or scouting is required, and so on. Ruby is the closest thing the team has to a strategist thanks to her propensity for [[CrazyEnoughToWork thinking outside the box]].

''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-knights-errant.374200/ The Knights Errant]]'' is a RWBY fanfic written by Zam and hosted on the Spacebattles Creative Writing forum. The premise is simple: by way of a series of [[ForWantOfANail nails]] caused by circumstances outside their control, none of the main cast ever makes it to Beacon Academy. Blake’s identity as a White Fang agent is leaked to Vale police, Yang gains a criminal record for smashing up Junior’s club and is denied admittance, Weiss’s application is withdrawn at the last second by her father, and Ruby doesn’t want to take Ozpin’s offer because Yang won’t be there with her. Yet in spite of these things, [[InSpiteOfANail Team RWBY winds up forming anyways.]]

The initial story short but complete, weighing in at seven to ten chapters long depending on whether you count the epilogue posts, and with a handful of side stories covering how Team JNPR is faring at Beacon in this setting. Zam is also working on a sequel [[WordOfGod which he will begin posting when it is completely finished.]]