Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sun had followed Blake ever since she first ran off. He’d been tailing her and she had kept moving, never forgetting to stay discreet in the process. He’d still found her though. Fifteen days, four hours, and thirty-two minutes. That’s how long he’d been following her, worrying for her well-being. His scroll marked the time and date, confirming it.

As another minute rolled by, Sun spied her as she stopped at a tailor, or a clothing store of sorts. He waited at a nearby vendor out of obvious sight from those exiting the store but still had a relatively clear view of the door. He occupied himself by actually paying for fruits this time, eating his curiosity away. His eyes fled to the store as he heard the light chime of the boutique. He watched as Blake walked down the three little steps, waving goodbye and saying thanks to the owner. She was in no danger, he deduced.

But she looked different.

Sun’s eyes widened as he took in Blake’s new look; her contrasting black and white was still very much present, but now with a lilac shade painting the underside of her new white long-tailed coat. She replaced her laced corset with a black top, strips of ink fabric crossing over her chest and modestly revealing her lower midriff, a sight Sun both welcomed and appreciated, as he himself wore no concealing top. She had a bright belt fastened around her lower waist and as she walked on along the street away from Sun’s hideout, he could make out gold-rimmed thigh-high heels with her trademark jeweled flower dancing at her sides.

He forgot he was supposed be trailing her until she stepped out of sight behind the row of eagerly open shops. The last he caught of her was the flash of her white tailcoat, swirling in the wind.

Sun grinned. He could get used to this.

Though he still thinked she looked better without the bow.

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Does jumping on a boat to catch a ride to the place that you’re going to be in a couple days anyways count as being a stowaway? Sun didn’t think so, but the police apparently thought otherwise. Letting out a hearty laugh, Sun booked it. The tired wood of the docks creaked under his loud yet agile feet.

He was used to running from the authorities; all his life, it’s all he ever did. Not that he didn’t enjoy it. He loved the wind whistling sweet and sharp tunes in his ears, the burn of his legs as he ran faster than the last, the burst of adrenaline that heightened his senses and gave him the same thrill and excitement he missed in the heat of battle during class.

Sun also loved the faces of the passerbys. A thief and a faunus. Quite the show, he thought. He flicked his tail in light amusement as people dodged out of his way with shock plastered all over their faces as he burst out from the stone stairwell. Sun wished he’d have taken a picture.

His feet hit the rough ground with a thud and his shoes skidded ever so slightly as he made a sharp turn to his right. If there was one thing he learned it was to make quick decisions, and sharp ones at that. It made it harder for others to catch up. His eyes flickered to his pursuers and Sun saw the police trip over themselves before they had registered in which direction he had gone. Life on the run was indeed hilarious.

Snapping his eyes forward, he saw her.

Well, at first it was a blur of black, red, yellow, and white, but he saw her nonetheless. She wore black and white, a lovely contrast to Sun; it suit her starry eyes that he realized were like his. Call it intuition but a faunus knows his kin. Sun wondered what traits she had. He closed the distance between her and her group faster to match the quickening pulse of his heart. He told himself it was from the sprinting. She turned her head and their eyes locked.

Amber met cerulean and for an instant, time stopped. Sun swore he saw flecks of liquid gold in her irises, ever-changing from bright auburn to deep ivory to glowing saffron. And for a fraction of a second, Sun was at a loss for what to do. He had met attractive girls before, but she was absolutely gorgeous; definitely above average. Her dark bangs shifted in the light blow of the wind, framing her soft face that held a beauty Sun secretly swore he could stare at all day.

Time was beginning to speed up again and Sun did the only thing he could do. He flashed the brightest smile he could muster and winked at the girl who took his breath away. Her eyes widened, and then she was gone. He left her and her colored friends in the dust along with the police who still continued to chase him around the upcoming block.

Sun’s adrenaline was out, replaced with wonder and frankly, curiosity. He clutched onto an iron lampost with his tail and swung onto a building’s roof out of sight, leaving the authorities clueless; their four second delay prevented them from seeing his movements after turning the block’s corner. Sun took heavy breaths and put his hands to his knees.

His eyes focused on the clear view he had of the crystalline shore. She was gone, again, and so were her friends. Sun closed his eyes and her glowing eyes appeared in his vision, her beautiful pale complexion contrasting perfectly against her obsidian locks.

Sun concluded she hid them in her voluptuous satin bow that rested on her head. He wondered what she’d look like without it. Was she like him? Or were her traits of another kind?

He decided he would find out next time, because he promised himself that he was going to make sure they would meet again.

Chapter Text

It was fitting, her name.

Belladonna, the dark berries that bloomed from jade roots. Belladonnas were used for healing, her mother had told her, as she and her father worked to patch up the White Fang and all its cuts and bruises. Blake, reflecting her midnight tresses and dark lashes, her father had said, as she began to sink into the White Fang’s volatile shadows. Blake Belladonna, the beautiful lady that brought the darkness with her. And it willingly followed.

It was her fault, the broken buildings. It was her fault, the destruction of Beacon. It was all her fault, the missing length of Yang’s arm. She screamed and cried until she couldn't anymore. She cowered under Adam’s harsh gaze, and moon’s waning judgement. She was tired of the horror’s constant chasing, and her racing the other way. It hurt her friends and her family, this curse.

It was fitting her, her name.

It was always her constant battle between the light and the dark. Everytime she found something new that she could learn to love, her past came crashing down like a raging beast and crushed it. She could always hope for the best, but she expected the worse.

This time was different. She hadn’t felt at home for such a long time she had almost forgotten the feeling. She wanted to stay with her team but her taboo refused it, so she ran. She ran far away, out of the light and into the dark unknown. Anywhere was fine, as long as she was far away from her friends. Her chase continued with the blackness licking her heels as she hid from the sun’s rays. The light had never followed her, and it never would.

But Blake had forgotten the cycle of the universe. As night falls, morning is soon to follow. The sun’s smile would reach the dark corners of her plagued mind and help her heart find ease.

It was fitting, her name, and so was his.

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“Sun,” she glanced up, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough.”

Blake then slowly cast her eyes downwards. Don’t look at him. He’ll see you. He’ll see your fear. “I’m still…”

He smiled, “You’re still working a lot of things out.” She can’t look him in the eyes, so she stares at the glass floor of the overhead station bridge instead. His voice is low, and Blake doesn’t think she can bear to see the disappointment in his features much less his voice, which she can already hear--

“I know.” His words echo in her mind. “But you can do it with them.” He gestures to her teammates below them by the tracks. She blinks.

Blake’s head is still tucked safely behind her bangs, so he can’t see her face, but can he hear her heart? Because it’s beating louder and louder and louder, pounding in her ears, in her head, over the insistent whispers of doubt and fear of losing another friend to her inability to keep them near; it’s all she can hear.

She looks up. She’s so scared to let him go but--he understands?  She doesn’t get time to fully comprehend what he means because he starts speaking again.

“And in the future,” his voice positive yet still soft and caring, “Who knows?” He turns to fully face her, smiling that confident smile of his that makes her stomach flip, and raising his fist in the air. “I’ve got a feeling you haven’t seen the last of me.”

His crooked grin is contagious because she finds herself smiling back. “I certainly hope not.”

And then she looks at him, fully this time; no bangs to cover her shaking eyes (they’re not shaking anymore because she has nothing to be afraid of), no doubt to cower behind (they were drowned out by the hammering of her racing heartbeat and his glowing words), and no darkness to cover her light (it’s laughable really, that her light is someone named Sun of all things; she likes it though).

She sees the shimmering ocean in his eyes, calming and relaxing, yet still never resting, always bringing ships home and gifts to shore. He gave her reason to believe she had true friends and a real home to return to. Because that’s what he was: home.

She thought she was home when she knocked on the golden doors in Menagerie. She knew she was home when she found her teammates. And she realized that she had found a new home with the eccentric and determined faunus that shone like the sun.

“My hero.”

She smiled as she tucked stray saffron hairs behind his ear, but maybe he should’ve tucked her dark bangs behind hers. It doesn’t really matter though because they’re here together. That’s what counts. No White Fang, no grimm, no parents, no teammates--just them.

Blake’s hand lingered, and he leaned into her touch, covering her pale hand with his.

She let her hand fall to his shoulder. She wasn’t going to waste this moment, not any longer. Blake pushed herself up on her toes and kissed Sun’s cheek. It was brief but it was more than enough. She cherished the soft touch of his sun-kissed skin and his widening eyes almost made her giggle. Her warm smile widened to match his, and she knew he understood.

They were partners, like the sun and moon were. Everlasting and ever-repeating in a celestial cycle that would forever continue until the end of time, though she knew in her heart it would go beyond that.

She wasn’t going to let him go, and as she watched him walk away as Neptune beckoned to him that it was time to leave, backing up but still locking eyes with her, she wasn’t letting go. She was holding on, and so was he.

Her lips still tingled warmly from the kiss. She had saved the real one for the end of war, when the world was safe, when they could say three words to each other and not fear the consequences. She nodded to herself.

Blake would save it for then, when she saw him again.

Chapter Text

Trust is a two way-street, and it seemed neither she nor Weiss were open to walk down it.

Blake was fuming on the walk back to their dorms. “Damn it all. Princesses like her don’t know anything.” She had thought she was far enough behind the trio to be out of their earshot, but Ruby flinched as soon as the seething words left her mouth. She didn’t say a word though.

“We?”

Weiss’ icy glare disappeared, replaced with confusion. She took a step back, out of surprise or out of caution, Blake didn’t know.

“I—” Blake stuttered. Her throat wouldn’t let a coherent sound escape. Weiss was staring at her, demanding an explanation with her cold eyes. Ruby stood aghast, not knowing what to say, or if she should say anything at all. Yang had her hands glued to the armrests of her chair, eyes wide and awake.

The panic inside Blake’s chest rose faster and faster and faster, until it was all she could feel inside her lungs. She didn’t mean for it to come out. She’d been trying to hide that part of herself during her time at Beacon. She wanted it hidden for the rest of her life.

Their stares burned her skin and she felt feverish within seconds. Their eyes were all on her, asking her why she was so adamant about the faunus, why she defended the notorious White Fang, why in the world she called them we, not they. Their eyes asked too much in the beats of silence that skipped between them. It was too much— the tense quiet was ringing in her ears; the same silence that sang when bodies dropped at the hands of what she thought had been justice; the same silence that screamed as red painted concrete and stone— it was too much.

So she ran. Like she always does.

Her face felt wet as she ran across the tiled courtyard grounds. She could hear Ruby calling after her and Yang shouting her name. She didn’t hear Weiss, but Blake didn’t expect anything from her. Instead, she kept her eyes down and feet moving, pounding against the tiled ceramic at a pace that tried to match the growing headache in Blake’s head and her heaving chest. She felt droplets on her arms and almost laughed at the irony. Of course it would rain when she felt alone, abandoned, exposed. Except it wasn’t raining; she was crying.

She slowed in front of the statue in the center of the courtyard, stopping if only to avoid crashing into it.

Smooth stone shapes formed the base of the scene, soon turning jagged to mimic the defeated creature of darkness. Feet planted on the head and stomach of the beast, the armoured figures stood tall above the grimm, majestic and proud.

To the students of Beacon, the statue was a symbol, a heroic display of the hope and triumph hunters brought over the discord scattered across the world. To Blake, it was indeed a symbol: a disgusting reminder of the domination of human over beast that was never truly forgotten nor forgiven. Though the grimm were the nightmares of children and warriors, half the world still equated faunus to grimm, despite fanus and humans sharing so many traits. It made Blake want to tear down the stupid, false display of compromise and collaboration into rubble. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t like them anymore.

Blake trailed her eyes up the statue; up their buckled shoes to their flowing capes, their triumphant smiles, to the tip of their raised sword, as if challenging the gods for a better victory. The White Fang was too radical, too violent. She knew too many faunus, friends, family that had been pierced by the tips of blades that looked like the one carved of stone. She couldn’t cause more destruction. That’s why she came to Beacon: to start anew.

Blake felt more tears threatening to fall. Her chance had ended when Weiss slipped slurs into her spiteful speech and Blake had stepped in. Ruby, Yang, and least of all Weiss, could never understand, would never understand her.

She stared at the statue until her head couldn’t take it anymore. She dropped her gaze to the grimm, growling, snarling at her. You were a fool to think you could escape. There was no use in hiding, they all knew. She slowly tugged at the black silk of the bow, the ribbon slipping off easier than she would have liked. Her cattish ears had stayed hidden for weeks, so when it finally came off, she felt weak, exposed.

Blake quickly brushed the beginnings of another tear from her eye and took a breath. What could she do now? Run, she thought miserably. Run as fast as you can. If only there were no barriers, if only she could just be herself, just for once—

“I knew you’d look better without the bow.”

Blake’s eyes widened at the sound of a voice.

Blinking her tears away, she slowly turned her head towards the stranger. Light filled her vision, bright clothes and features against the dark courtyard. It was the faunus from the docks, she realized as she took in his blonde hair and swirling tail.

His eyes stayed on her, and she looked away. He was the reason she and Weiss fought. Wasn’t he?

Don’t delude yourself. Blake knew he wasn’t. What happened was inevitable, she'd expected it. She just… hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

Blake shifted her feet. She didn’t know this boy, but he was a faunus; maybe he knew. Maybe he understood. Don’t get your hopes up, it never works.

The sound of footsteps grew louder and she felt him stop behind her. “I’m assuming they didn’t know.”

She doesn’t say anything. What could she say? She was part of a group humans considered terrorists, and could’ve stopped them but didn’t, and instead ran?

“Where are you going to go now?”

Where would she go? It’s not like she could go back to her dorm; the piercing looks and accusing stares were something she couldn’t handle, not now.

“Not sure. Not back there,” she forced out as she turned to face him. She still didn’t fully trust this man, but so far he was all she had. She avoided his gaze, but she could, however, see his lips form a bright grin. Blake narrowed her eyes. “What?” she deadpanned.

The boy coughed and tried to hide his emerging smile. “It's nice to hear you speak, is all. We haven’t had a proper conversation yet,” he confessed, sheepishly bringing his hand up behind his head. She blinked, then rolled her eyes. “We haven’t even had a proper introduction yet.”

He stood contemplating for a second and snapped his fingers. “You’re right! Well, I’m Sun. Sun Wukong.”

Under different circumstances, she would’ve told him her last name. Under different circumstances she would have laughed at his floppy grin. She shook his outstretched hand. “Blake.”

She forced herself to meet his eyes— and was surprised at how blue they were amidst the darkness. On the docks they had sparkled with sunlight, but here the moonlight reflected them a deep sapphire. They were beautiful. Just like his.

Red flashed in her mind followed by a piercing pain. She gasped and staggered backwards, holding her head. Firm hands caught her by her shoulders, steadying her. “Woah, are you alright?” Sun worriedly asked.

Blake’s head throbbed and her heart burned. Sun’s concerned grip was the only thing keeping her from hitting the ground.

Blue, blue, blue— a color that once brought her reassurance, but now only brought her distrust and heartache. She had told him he looked nice in blue, it matched his eyes, but he refused, saying that blue wasn’t going to get results. No one looked to the sea for answers, they looked for blood.

She groaned in pain. The signs had been so clear. Her blindness back then made Blake want to throw up. He was the reason she was running, the reason she faced inner turmoil every day since she had left him behind on that train. When she saw Sun’s cerulean eyes, she immediately wanted to push the blame on him, all those years of guilt and agony.

But they were not Adam's. Sun was not him.

Blake slowly unfurled herself and stepped out of Sun’s grip. She met his wide eyes and let out a breath. She could see it clearly now: his bright arctic orbs shone with life while Adam’s eyes were a darkened cobalt tinged with hunger.

Shaking her head, she looked closer at Sun's expression, making out the worry spread across his features. “Sorry,” she shook her head. “Bad memories.” He lowered his arms and stuffed them in his pockets, shifting his eyes elsewhere. “Would you… like to talk about it?”

Blake stiffened. “No.” He nodded quickly in understanding. “I thought so. Well, uhm,” he stuttered, “Then where are you heading? If not here?” She squinted up at him, truly unsure what to make of his curiosity and inquisitiveness towards her. Did he want something? Did he want to use her? She bit back her tongue. Part of starting over was being more receptive; that’s what her teammates had taught her, at least. Easier said than done. She sighed. “Maybe there’s a motel here or something. I left without my things.”

He locked eyes with her and then shrugged. “You could… come with me. For the night, I mean, if you want to get away.” Blake’s mouth dropped slightly. Of all the things, she hadn’t expected that.

Sun didn’t seem dangerous; at most a happy-go-lucky thief from what she remembered. And he certainly didn’t look dangerous with his something-akin-to-puppy eyes and wagging tail. Composing herself and side-eying him, she considered it. She already had a lack of plans since she hadn’t been thinking when she bolted, leaving her current options limited. If she went with Sun, she’d at least have somewhere to stay without paying because she didn’t have her wallet on her. In the event she had to get away quickly, it wouldn’t be too difficult, it was what she was best at. She didn’t dare ask herself what could go wrong though. It would only be for a night.

Blake faced him fully, eyes wary but affirmative. “Just for a night, then.” He grinned.

As Blake followed Sun, she fell into step with her thoughts, wondering about what might happen next. Would her teammates look for her? Would they even care? A part of her wanted them to, but the rest of her ached and told her to trudge on.

She glanced at the boy in front of her, tail swishing in the moonlight. Sun had given her no verbal reasons to trust him other than his name. But, his actions spoke much louder. He wanted to help. She wasn’t sure yet what his motive beyond that was, but for now, he was all she had.

Her contemplative thoughts were interrupted by a yelp, snapping Blake’s focus back to reality. Sun had tripped over a slab of concrete, followed by an “I’m okay!” and then proceeded to curse himself for being distracted, his tail lowering in embarrassment. Through his insistent muttering, her chest felt a little lighter. Blake allowed herself to smile, allowed herself to snort at the boy’s awkwardness. And, after taking a breath, she allowed herself to give this Sun Wukong a chance.