Weiss eventually caved, but it was something she was fond about as Blake packed up the diaper bag and handed it off to Ruby. The white haired woman issued a few more warnings about being vigilant and calling as soon as problems reared their ugly heads, but Ruby only promised halfheartedly.

She just wanted to get back to Sun, wishing to every deity that she could reasonably think of that he had managed to keep himself sober. She clung to that hope desperately, and every moment wasted, was a moment longer she was left wondering. A few texts on a scroll wasn't good enough, not when she knew the kind of vice-like hold booze could have over a person.

Finally, Ruby was well on her way, with Zhu in her arms.

Ruby was used to the elements, and enjoyed being out in them, rain or shine. The bitter cold didn't slow her down, she was inspired by it. The wind goading her to move faster. Zhu huddled inside her cloak for warmth. She could have taken a limo back, as Weiss had offered, but Ruby's own feet could carry her just as well. Thanks to her semblance, she could go faster than any car, though a simple jog would do just fine in the circumstances. At this time of day, she could beat the midafternoon traffic on foot anyway.

She took a deep breath of the cool and crisp air, yet another reason she wanted to make the walk back on her own. She wanted the time to think, and a trip to the corner store near Sun's house needed to happen anyway.

Zhu seemed content enough bundled in his own winter coat. The red cloak around them warded away the wind and snow Ruby kicked up around her. She looked down at him watching him fiddle with the end of his tail. It was covered with its own long knitted piece of fabric. The little puff of blue at the end called to his attention, and he toyed with it while he studied her.

A low, thoughtful hoot issued from the boy, and Ruby to chuckled mildly.

"We'll be home soon little guy." She said, though she wondered how much of that he understood, if anything at all.

She picked up the pace with care, running into the distance with the child in her arms.

Zhu Wukong was a little a happy-go-lucky bundle of energy on a good day. On bad days, he was restless and rambunctious, always in search of new ways to entertain himself. Having inherited every bit of his father's meddlesome curiosity, Zhu had a zest for life and a gift for making trouble. He was adventurous for his age, too, which only added to his caregiver's worries.

In an attempt to keep the boy safe, Sun had unlocked the child's aura early. It was common, and most Faunus parents tended to do it. However, Zhu's aura it had yet to kick in on an intuitive level. It was only a matter of time before Zhu would grapple with control of it, and Sun prayed it would be sooner, rather than later.

Monkey Faunus were small climbers after all, prone to heights, and the pitfalls of gravity.

Zhu was smart and cunning, the latter trait offering no end to his mischief. The small Faunus boy had always been that way, ever since he was born. His normally cheery attitude was an experience in and of itself as he launched himself at his father. Small toes and fingers dug into the fabric of his father's shirt as a muscular arm kept Zhu from falling.

Naturally, the too young monkey Faunus had no fear of heights, or of falling down. His heritage and minimal aura protected him from his rough and tumble ways, but Sun held tightly, just in case.

Zhu's inexperienced tail curled happily around that strong bicep, but the hold was clumsy, and not enough to protect Zhu on its own merits. The small boy didn't seem to care though, he was far too busy sniffing around, in search of something that simply wasn't there.

He hooted at his father expectantly, but Sun ignored the question, ruffling the boy's messy locks instead.

"What was that about?" Ruby asked.

"Ah, well, you know...stuff." Sun shook his head, swallowing and looking away. "Anyway, it's probably about time for lunch. He's hungry, I'll bet."

"It is about that time, isn't it?" Ruby said, allowing the abrupt change of subject. Checking her scroll she noticed it probably was time to get a meal started. "Well, what do you want to eat?"

"I don't really know. Maybe some fruit salad, or something?"

"Good thing I picked up some actual fruit and veggies at the store then." She held up the plastic bags she had reinforced a few times so that they wouldn't break. "We can't live off canned goods forever." Then she smirked. "Well, I mean, we can, but why eat that when you can eat what's fresh, right?"

"Fruits and veggies, huh? Zhu loves that stuff. He's just like his mom in that way." He spoke the last bit more to himself than to Ruby as she stepped passed him, one hand falling onto his shoulder supportively as she finished making her way across the living area and into the kitchen. He could only shake his head and force another smile, hoping his son wouldn't detect his sour mood through his scent. "Guess we should go in too, huh?"

Zhu hooted merrily in response, none the wiser.

Seeing the red hair on Zhu's head and his cheery demeanor was a bitter little detail that hurt to notice. He looked so much like his mother, impish tendencies aside. He was too little to really understand what was happening in the world around him, and too easy going to care about anything other than the fruit pieces cut into little chunks on the paper plate. His tail curled happily, none the wiser that his father seemed conflicted about something as simple as lunchtime.

Ruby noticed though, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

"You're good with him." Sun said, trying to form civil conversation. "Better than I am, usually."

"I've never seen you be anything other than good to him." Ruby said, and she believed it to be true.

"Nah, you're better." He said, as he combed the unruly locks on his son's head and tail. He forgot the last time the boy had a trim, but he was long overdue. If that was meant to be taken as a compliment to her abilities with small children, or simply that he thought himself somehow inadequate, Ruby wasn't sure. "I'm glad you think so." It wasn't the reply she wanted to say, but she couldn't think of anything better. The air was strange, heavier than before. Some sort of weight carried in Sun's words, a forced sort of sincerity and kindness that was only half there.

"Wasn't much I could do when he was little. Now that he's getting older, I can finally teach him how to use his tail. Before, Octavia kept him on the hip most of the time. It was a mother's job, she said, and honestly I felt inclined to agree."

"Oh yeah? Tell that to my dad." Ruby said softly. "I'm sure you'll get a laugh."

"Honestly, Ruby, I kind of figured you would have already settled down by now." He continued, as he watched Ruby lean heavily over the counter top, knife in hand. Watching her prepare meals had become a common thing to him, and he thought her to be quite good at the task. Yet, he also noticed just how much she seemed to hate it.

Ruby looked over her shoulder. "This sort of lifestyle doesn't suit me."

He raised a brow to that. "Looks just fine to me."

"I hate it."

"It doesn't seem like you do."

"Oh, I do. I always have." Ruby told him. "Living like this, cooped up all the time. There's no place to go, nothing to think about except for the same things, over and over again. The same routines day in, and day out." She didn't dare look up from her task. She refused to give Sun even that small measure of satisfaction. "There's nothing in that kind of life for me. I belong in the wilds, alongside the Grimm."

"Kind of lonely out there, isn't it?"

"Any lonelier than being trapped in this house?" Ruby asked him. "You'll forget what it's like to be out there if you keep it up."

"Touché."

Ruby looked at the diced up pile of fruit on the cutting board, the chicken sitting out to thaw, and everything else in-between the two points. She set down the knife with care, the metal scraping upon the wood of the chopping board. "One of the first things Oobleck really taught me wasn't something he could teach me in a classroom. He said that some Grimm were smart, and he told me why he became a hunter. I was fifteen then, standing in the ruins of Mountain Glenn. I always wanted to be a huntress, but that was the first time anyone had given me any real perspective on it."

"And that's important because…?"

"I thought killing Grimm was the only real part of it. Helping people, sure, but how? I never had an answer for any of that before Oobleck came along." She told him, finally lifting her gaze to Sun. "I think there are two kinds of hunter. The kind that kill Grimm to cut numbers, and the kind that try to understand the Grimm. I like being out there too much. I've gotten so used to Grimm, slaying them isn't the first thing I think about. If they're not doing anything, I just leave them be."

"Ruby, that's kind of twisted."

"Trust me, I know." Ruby smirked. "I'm not saying that most Grimm aren't evil. They are, and they're a threat. Most of them you just have to take down. You don't have a choice. Then again, some just aren't aggressive at all. You can go right up to them, and so long as you're not in a bad mood, they'll just sort of ignore you." Ruby licked her dry lips, wishing she was out there in the elements. It was where she felt most at peace, and where everything made the most sense. "Grimm feed off of negativity, but if you honestly don't have any in that moment, the older ones…the ones that are smart, they won't react."

Sun shrugged, saying nothing more even though it was obvious that he wasn't convinced.

"I love the wilds, Sun." Ruby told him. "To me, it's where I belong. The problem is...there aren't a lot of people who understand that. They can't love the job the way that I do. I'm a huntress, it's just who I am. I won't ever compromise on that."