"Would you care to explain where you were this afternoon?" Weiss snapped, they were alone in her royal apartments. Blake swallowed, if she wasn't the crown princess, she would make a fine General.
Blake did what she did best, "I'm sorry milady" she said as she curtseyed. She swallowed her anger, not wanting to spoil the memory that was fresh in her mind.
Having just left the palace, walking through the town was quiet a shock to Blake. Despite being new to the kingdom, Sun seemed to navigate the town with more ease. Blake had seen many people inside the place in one place, she had seen servants rush back and fourth through the kitchens, and she had seen courtiers dance with one another. Somehow, the town felt different, it somehow still felt overwhelming and intimidating. She was excited at the prospect of what she would discover outside of the palace, but she couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Blake kept close to Sun, seeing as he was her only hope of weaving through the city without drawing attention to herself.
Sun guided Blake to a small wooden door in an alleyway, he opened the door before gesturing for her to enter. Blake had only read about such a place in the books that were kept in the palace. She took small tentative steps through the door, into the dodgy tavern she had often read about in books. The place inhabited by pirates, thieves, thugs and who knows who else. Blake tried to walk with some confidence, trying to hide how nervous she felt. This was the world outside the palace, it would be different from the books she had read...at least she hoped so. Blake sat down at the bar and tried to avoid the weird gazes that other people were giving her. Sun gave her a warm smile as he tried to calm her. "I know you said the ribbon stays, but perhaps you could do without the hood." he said, "we're outside the palace so it should be fine now".
Blake wanted to be brave, it was her first time outside of the palace and she wanted to enjoy it. She tentatively reached up and slowly lowered her hood, everyone else briefly glanced at her before going about their business. Sun laughed, "What's so funny?" Blake asked.
"While you were being terrified of everyone else, everyone else thought you looked a little odd" Sun remarked. He took a sip of his own drink before handing Blake hers. Blake looked at the amber liquid inside the glass. In the palace she had drunk wine before, but this was new to her. She took a deep gulp of the liquid, it seemed tasteless to her for a few seconds, and then it tasted bitter. Sun couldn't help but chuckle at how she stared dejectedly into the cup. "It's an acquired taste, different from your fancy palace wine I know.", he said. Sun took a few gulps of his own drink, feeling a bit too amused at that moment. Blake's head felt heavy and the room was starting to gently sway. There was a good reason why she didn't drink too much wine in the palace. Sun cheerfully drank from his cup, he had to admit he was glad that he brought Blake with him.
Blake foolishly tried to stand up and she stumbled clumsily into a tall, thin, old man walking past her. He wore a dark blue trench coat and his eyes were dark and deeply set. "I'm sorry" Blake mumbled, but the stranger wasn't going to let it go. Blake's clumsiness has caused him to spill his own drink on his coat. Blake tried to stumble away, but he slammed the bottle in his hand down on the nearby table, and grabbed Blake's dark locks with his bony fingers.
"Going somewhere girl?" the man snarled, Blake tried to free herself from his grip, but that only made it hurt more.
Sun stood up from his chair, his amused expression was now serious. "Let. Her. Go. Now." he said darkly, as he stared him down.
If the old man was intimidated, he did his best not to let it show. "What do you plan to do about it?" the old man snarled. Sun had only one answer to the question. Before Blake knew what was going on, there was a gun pointed towards the drunken old man.
"Make a mess and you'll be one who will be cleaning it up," the bartender called.
"Let go of my friend, and there won't be a mess to clean" Sun replied. The old man realized that his victim was more trouble than she was worth for him. He threw Blake to the ground and walked out of the tavern. Sun bent down and helped her off the floor, Blake dusted off her skirt and smoothed out her hair as she stood up. "You alright?" Sun asked, he didn't mean to have her stumble into that situation.
"I'm fine," she said as she tried to compose herself, "is there somewhere else we could go?" she asked. The tavern still made her feel awkward and nervous. Some people were still giving her odd looks and whispering to each other about her.
"Sure," he said as he paid the bartender and left. Blake had barely taken a step outside the tavern, when she was pulled into the nearby alleyway. The old man was sitting outside the tavern, he appeared to be ether half asleep or passed out drunk. At that moment, it was the least of Blake's worries. The alleyway was small and cramped, and she didn't expect to be pressed against the person who accompanied her. A pink blush burned her cheeks, the tight space wasn't doing her breathing any good ether. Sun smiled at her and slid past her in the narrow alleyway. He took her hand and lead her through passage between the damp, grey stone walls. They were like secret passages to several different places. Places which were so close to the palace, and yet they had been out of her reach.
Blake was still intrigued by the town, she never thought anywhere could be more vast than the palace. There was so much to see that Blake felt disappointed she couldn't see everything in a single day. Eventually she had to return to the palace, she had to return to her old life.
As she heard all of this, Weiss had already taken a seat halfway through Blake's story. "You missed luncheon with General Ironwood, just so that you could go escape to a musty little tavern, get sloshed and get into a fight?" Weiss hissed. Blake looked at the floor, avoiding her gaze. Weiss tried to calm herself as she spoke, "at least you took that boy with you, you could have been killed". She couldn't stay furious at her half sister, as much as she hated everything that her existence meant. Perhaps they had become close without realizing it, perhaps Weiss had simply grown use to Blake.