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Earnest
That was the word that shone as brightly as the star he was named after whenever Blake found herself looking at her companion. Her ‘golden shadow’, her mother had jokingly monikered, although Blake couldn’t find any fault in it.
Sun was devoted to what he set his mind to. Nothing would deter him, not threat nor conflict. Shouting in his face only steeled his resolve. And his intentions were always of the noblest, even when he himself didn’t always seem that way.
Blake knew from the start that Sun was earnest. From day one of their meeting, he had been nothing but attentive, wanting to know her wounds so he could set out to best heal them. He barely knew her name before he was dead set on taking on Torchwick and the White Fang with her. FOR her.
From there, it was braving a brewing plot, taking her to the dance, sharing funny videos between classes, training together for the Vytal tournament…then it was finding her carrying an injured Yang and carting them both to safety, standing vigilant until help arrived, and then, unbeknownst to her…following her onto a ship to Menagerie to make sure she stayed safe.
No amount of cold shoulders from her or glares hot enough to set him on fire from her father deterred him. He was determined and willing to stay at her side, to support her no matter what.
Her first, second, and even fifth instinct was to question it. No one wanted to support her for free. No one wanted to stay by her side, no strings attached. And those who do, ended up just leaving anyway for strings they COULD lay down.
It was demoralizing…and confusing when Sun remained steadfast. Sure.
Earnest
.
Ever since playing the ‘this-person-is-the-personification-of-this-word’ game, Sun couldn’t help but wonder what Blake would be.
His first thought was
Cool
, in every sense of the word. Appearance, attitude, gaze. But then she opened up and he found himself remembering
Vulnerable
.
Guarded. Hurt.
Even keeping an eye on her on her journey back to Menagerie, those three words echoed over and over in his head, no particular word overshadowing the others.
Vulnerable. Guarded. Hurt.
Even after meeting her family, those words still rang true with a history he had only barely heard about and could never understand.
All he could truly do was just be there for her, for whatever she needed, and watch out for any new words that might pop out at him.
And somewhere between Blake secretly turning to him for help in meeting up with Ilia, and her knocking Adam’s head into the ground, he finally found one.
Dauntless
Blake was dauntless. Absolutely.
She wasn’t fearless; she had plenty to fear. Instead, she found ways to combat and face her fears, even in simple ways, even if she didn’t do it herself. Sun was more than glad to help, to see that
dauntless
shine. And he let her know that, just by being there for her.
As
earnestly
as he could.
The air was getting colder, Blake remarked to herself as she rubbed her arms, gazing out over the Mistral mountains that almost glowed in the bright moonlight. Already there was snow capping the mountaintops, signaling that winter would be closing in fast in the upcoming weeks. It was best that they leave as soon as they planned to, rather than risk being held up by any snowstorms on the trip to Argus.
Still, it felt too soon to just LEAVE, after everything that had happened. Barely any breathing time between jumping off the ship with the Menagerie Faunus, fighting the White Fang and Cinder’s group, reuniting with her friends, hearing the tale of the gods and the Relics, and trying to explain everything back on her end. It was so much packed into a mere couple weeks she felt like she hardly had time to rest or eat.
Barely had time to process.
And now, with a rare quiet moment with nothing going on, nothing to be said, nothing to be done, she felt a barrage of emotions begin to swirl. She took a deep, shuddery breath to steady herself, and began to pick out one emotion at a time to settle it before moving on to the next one.
“Hey.”
She almost jumped, hand on her weapon as she whipped to the side to see Sun standing there with a cup of tea. He stood stock still, teacup braced in both hands, no hint of threat with a calmed aura that instantly settled Blake’s jolt of panic. She let out a long sigh that visibly deflated her reflexive stance and lowered her hand from her weapon.
“Sorry,” Sun said, his movements clearly telegraphed as he stepped closer and held out the cup. “Your ears were twitching, I thought you heard me coming.”
Blake felt a flush of embarrassment at her cheeks, but beneath that she felt a swell of affection toward Sun;
earnest
as ever. She smiled and took the offered teacup, lifting it to her face and smelling the fragrant tea that almost instantly calmed her nerves.
Next to her, Sun gave a nimble hop up to sit himself on the fence that guarded between the courtyard and the cliff, looking out over the mountains himself as he remained still and quiet.
Even before meeting Blake, he had some experience dealing with cats, mostly the alley ones back home, in Mistral, and in Vale. Cats weren’t social, but enjoyed company when the company was quiet. Some species of monkey were the same, he’d found; after all, no sense in starting up a fit when the quiet got you to pass through more quickly and peacefully.
He supposed that’s why he felt he needed to throw down whenever a friend was being threatened; when one of his troop was in danger, he had to defend.
It was why he didn’t blame Blake for running, even if he didn’t fully understand. After all, he’d seen cats run too, when they couldn’t handle what was in front of them. However, he’d also seen cats viciously defend when they had the mind to, and the carnage became even WORSE when a whole clowder pulled up.
It made him almost giggle, thinking of team RWBY as a clowder of cats. He’d definitely seen his fair share of prissy long-haired white cats that waited until someone was close enough to claw eyes out, yellow tabbies that threw themselves at enemies five times their size, and wee little tuxies that darted around like bullets. And of course, elegant black cats that observed and struck with laser precision before darting back into the shadows.
Dauntless
, he thought, eyes flicking to the side to watch Blake sip her tea. He breathed in deep, the cool mountain air chilling his lungs; a bitter reminder now that their time was about to be separated. Blake to the cold North of Remnant, and he to the hot West. It would be likely he wouldn’t feel a decent cold breeze again for a long, long time.
The idea wasn’t as comforting as the metaphor. He would rather be cold with a warm heart than warm with a cold empty space where Blake’s presence would be.
“Tomorrow it is, huh?” he murmured softly, his tail curling around the fence railing to ground himself both physically and emotionally. “...seems like all we do is travel, but I don’t really wanna stop.”
‘I don’t want us to travel apart,’
was the unspoken additive.
Blake made a soft noncommittal sound. “Yeah,” she said, before taking another sip of her tea. “...I was hoping Menagerie was my last stop for awhile…but now I’m so glad it wasn’t.” Her throat tightened at the memory of seeing her team again for the first time in what felt like AGES. The idea that she might have missed that, even by an HOUR…
It wasn’t a thought she was keen on giving more mental energy than she could spare to, tipping back and finishing her tea to loosen that emotional knot. She let out a heavy sigh, the heat from the tea making her breath mist in the cool air.
Sun’s hand tightened around the fence railing, the same idea running through his head, loathed as he was to remember it. After hearing the whole story, knowing just how CLOSE they were to losing too much to fathom, it kept niggling the back of his head every time he had a spare moment to think. The idea of Blake having to pull up to Haven and see nothing but rubble, possibly BODIES, seeing that
dauntlessness
crumble into despair…
“I’m glad you’re going on too,” he said before he could stop himself. “Not that I wanna see you go, but…” He trailed off, feeling her hand cover his on the railing and squeeze softly, turning to meet her eyes glowing softly from the moonlight. His words caught in his throat, unable to look away, not WANTING to look away. Not now, not ever.
Blake’s eyes searched his perfect blue, seeing nothing but
earnest
in them, as she always had from the very beginning. Such
earnest
was a double-edged sword for him to carry, giving nothing but his best but also hiding nothing, not from her. From the moment back then when he winked at her to this moment now where there was worry and ‘what-if’ and hope…
Earnest
was her favorite shade of blue.
She leaned in closer, almost too slow to be considered normal, until her lips pressed against his.
It was a moment frozen in time, just for them. Where hope, gratitude, and adoration came together in the cool Mistral night. It almost didn’t feel real, like it was just a vivid fantasy they both shared. But it was real enough for both of them, indulging in a mutual desire for closeness, if just this once.
They felt they deserved it.
They absolutely deserved it.
If even for a moment, even in a fantasy, that they could be selfish, they took it.
Sun was the first to pull away, and Blake thought he was oddly subdued for having just kissed someone. HIs expression was bittersweet, his smile almost sad.
Earnest
. Knowing that this living fantasy was just that– a fantasy. He turned his hand under Blake’s to hold hers properly, letting out a soft huff of mirthless laughter. “...couldn’t have dreamed of a better kiss,” he said. “...hate that it has to end.”
Blake squeezed his hand before leaning in closer, curling her other hand around the back of his neck. “...it doesn’t have to,” she replied, in all the self-pleading to stay up late and finish reading a book just nearing its end. “...not right now.” A
dauntless
proclamation, paired with reeling him in, stealing a bit more time, a few more words in their chapter together.
Blake both loved and loathed the end to a good story.
It was so difficult finding a REALLY good one, one that grabbed and kept her attention and love, one where reality didn’t hit just how close it was ending until she felt the loose thinness of the remaining pages between her fingers, until she saw the dreaded
Epilogue
chapter. Then she would curse herself for not savoring the book enough, not pacing it out better to make it last, having more responsibilities that made enjoying it while she had it in her hands.
Looking at Sun while listening to Neptune and Ilia in the distance behind her felt like the story was ending, and she yearned for more time, more pages, SOMETHING to keep this tale going. But she had another story, a FAR larger tome to tackle, and Sun reminded her with gentle resignation.
“You don’t need me anymore,” he said
earnestly
, and Blake loved and hated to hear it. “Look…despite the drama, the fighting, and the NUMEROUS attempts on my life…I had a lot of fun. But…” His smile grew sad. “...you’re with who you’re supposed to be now.”
Blake felt bitterness at her own agreement in his words, her selfishness in wanting MORE tainting the moment. She rubbed her arm, lowering her eyes. “...Sun…I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough. I’m still…”
“You’re still working a lot of things out,” he finished, a knowing tilt to his voice; an empathetic agreement. “I know. But you can do it with them. And in the future…who knows.” Blake glanced up, seeing his bright
earnest
smile alight with a promise to wait. “I have a feeling you haven’t seen the last of me.”
Blake’s heart skipped a beat as she reached out to hold his shoulders, leaning in. “I certainly hope not,” she said, before pressing a kiss to his cheek, and then to his lips before pulling him into a hug. “...I’ll be back.”
He hugged her back tightly. “I know.” He loosened his hold and stepped back, watching as she took a breath, straightened her spine, and turned to walk down to where the rest of her group was waiting, ready to face her task with a
dauntless
ferver.
In her mind, Blake’s fingers twitched around the final page of the book, the weight of the tome entitled RWBY that she’d barely begun seeming heavier than before. But the book had to close eventually.
She smiled, her eyes aglow with a
dauntless
gleam; after all, she thought as she grabbed her bag and waved to her team, who all waved back…
…..any story was open for a sequel.