Chapter 6 Sun: Back To Basics

Sun Wukong had been born in the hot sands of Vacuo among a large family. Several members lived under one roof. He had the pleasure of growing up surrounded by his aunts, uncles, and a handful of cousins. The rest of his family weren't very far away, the community remaining a close one. Most of them were Faunus like himself, but a few were humans that had married into the Wukong name.

He came from humble means, and truth be told, he preferred it that way.

He hadn't known any other way to live, learning early to love the haves, and to let go of the have-nots. When other little boys received expensive gifts, he never understood why. He couldn't comprehend the wealth of the middle and upper-classes of Vacuo. He couldn't fathom spending hundreds of lien on a toy. Buying buckets of sweets from the store seemed like a fantasy. It was beyond him completely, and he always thought it would be. It never occurred to him that there could be a better way to live.

His childhood consisted of making ruckus and finding sand in his pockets. The sort of innocent trouble a child ought to get into.

Sun wished for a life within his means, and as a child those options were few and far between. He once thought himself fortunate if he could talk his mother into buying cholate milk at the store. That simple luxury was sometimes too expensive for the sprawling family. The Faunus plight was partly to blame. It was hard to find honest work within the safety of the kingdoms. Few jobs paid Faunus what might be considered a living wage. Those that did were competitive, coming in the form of hard labor or higher education.

His father hadn't stepped foot in a classroom in the entirety of his life, so hard labor it was. He was treated no better than a pack mule, working hard for the sake of it. His father, always a man of few words, didn't complain.

His father, older brothers, and uncles left early every morning for work. They spent long, hot, hours building and repairing the fortifications around Vacuo. Sometimes they wouldn't come home until nightfall. A few of his aunts worked nearby at the flower shop, but most of the married women stayed home to tend to their families. Thanks to that, Sun and the rest of his family had never gone hungry. There was always nutritious food on the table, clean water, and sturdy walls to protect them from the deadly sandstorms that could kick up outside.

He might have grown up in a poor family, but he never thought himself impoverished.

Sun received too much to ever feel down on his luck. His generation was the first in his family to attend public school. The first to receive higher education. He remembered the awe in his eyes when his oldest cousin became a huntsmen. He recalled the large hand patting him on the head before he left to go on his many adventures. Writing letters and sending money home often. It was then that Sun Wukong knew what he wanted to do with his life.

He'd found a reasonable goal within his reach, and he grasped for it without hesitation.

"The chicken wasn't too salty, was it?"

"No." the Faunus man said, filling his glass with water a third time that evening. "Why?"

"I just wasn't sure if you were being nice or not." Ruby told him. "It wouldn't be the first time I ruined a recipe."

"Nah, it's not that. Writing a letter is thirty work, that's all."

As he sat back down at the kitchen table with a full belly, he still was a man who lived by his means. Reasonable goals were always within his view.

Four colored lien cards sat in a short stack. They rested on the kitchen table, waiting to be sent away to Vacuo. Pencil scratches came to a halt as Sun finished writing the short letter to his mother. A few photos of his little family completed his care package. He sent one every week. Some people might have laughed about the old way of doing it. It wasn't the style most people relied on. He found something sentimental about the ink staining his hand. There was nothing quite like a handwritten letter.

He called a few times a week, of course, but the letters were tangible.

He could feel the paper between his fingers. See the messy words, the handwriting all his own. It was the time put into the action, consideration placed into every turn of phrase. That alone made them profound. Faunus valued those little details greatly, sometimes more than humans. He never knew why humans were so quick to forsake the old methods. It might have been the lack of convenience, the importance of time. Letters across kingdoms were not quick or reliable. It wouldn't make sense for important information to be sent by currier, when a simple call would do.

Then again, perhaps it was something more instinctual.

Humans lacked a deeper sense of smell. They'd never have a chance to catch even a moment of familial scent upon the page. Perfume might last the length of the delivery, but, never the unique smell of one human or another. Those things would have to be implied. It was easy to think that not all implications were created equal. The sense of smell was so dulled for a human that they'd only pick up the scent of the most extreme emotions. The sort that forced sweat to drip from their pores, and pheromones along with it.

Sun would never be sure what the answer really was. Ruby had even found herself confused when he asked such questions. Abstract for the sake of it. Still, he could not forsake the ritual of it all. Pen to paper, thoughts that might transcend onto the next generation. Even if it didn't, that was alright too.

A fond letter from a relative always deserved a reply, the words reaching across the distance to find those who mattered most.

"Are you sure that's going to be enough lien?" Ruby asked as she took Sun's dinner plate from the table, depositing it into the sink already filled with soapy water.

"If I try to send more, dad would probably just get annoyed. He's got his pride too, ya know." Sun laughed as he folded the letter. He could just imagine the fur on his father's tail ruffling up indignantly. He'd never tolerate the thought of being so reliant on his youngest son. It continued to amuse Sun as he stuffed the money and pictures inside, sealing the already addressed envelope. "I think this'll be enough."

"You can always add a little extra if you're not sure." Ruby told him, as she began to wash and rinse the dishes one by one. "We have the savings."

He'd given it more than a passing thought. It was one of his many struggles. Wondering how best to balance looking after his folks without stifling them. Money was the largest point of pride for a man who'd lived to provide for his wife and children. Faunus men particularly had very little to be prideful for. The world was cruel for those that couldn't prove themselves worthy, and even in Vale, Sun felt the weight upon his shoulders. He wanted to measure up to that lofty standard.

Much of it was self-imposed.

Ruby was perfectly capable of her own independence. Sun knew that fact well. It was less a comfort than he liked to admit, knowing that she didn't need him to be the solitary provider. Her own work as a huntress could easily provide as well. A simple glance on the wall reminded him that it wasn't a slight to his capabilities. Ruby didn't view the world with the same lens. Masculinity in her eyes didn't boil down to money and posturing. That wasn't the sort of man she knew.

For her, it came down to fatherhood. Keeping a home together when the world itself wanted to fall apart... and her personal world had fallen to pieces more than once as a little girl. Yang's too.

He cleared his throat looking away from the photo on the wall. Summer looked too much like Ruby, and the woman's fate was an unpleasant consideration. He refused to think that history might repeat itself. His mind went back to his own parents. Deep down, he wanted to send more lien, but he knew that it would be an insult.

"I think I'll just leave the letters as they are." Sun finally said to Ruby, watching her tending to the dishes in the sink. "My brothers send money too, and dad has his pension. I think it should be fine." Sun told her, placing the letter atop the stack of bills that were meant to go out for the mail carrier. "I'd feel better about sending more money if we could get them to move out of that crap-shack of a house."

"It's not so bad." She laughed gently. Her brilliant mind capable of crafting weapons was also able to deconstructed complex blueprints. She was able to piece together every pipe, electrical line, and vent that built the bones of the home. She had spent days putting ideas to paper, mapping out each room and hallway until her curiosity had been satisfied. "They live in a very reputable area, your dad says so himself."

Sun puffed his chest in amusement, a dark smirk lifting the edge of his lips. "Oh yeah? Why not tell that to the activists making scenes in the same city block. The White Fang never shut up."

"That's no reason to leave." She shot back, returning to the dishes. "It's quaint."

"It's old."

"Charming."

"It's falling apart."

"Then you get off your butt, and you do the best you can to fix it." The retort hit the air with a firmness that Ruby so rarely expressed outside of battle. It wasn't anger, but rather that same headstrong defiance that demanded to be heeded. "Your granddad built that house with his bare hands. Your dad grew up there, and so did you. You don't just get rid a generational home like that." She finished, her position on the matter firmly rooted in place. That's just the way Ruby was. Once she took a position on something, she rarely budged. "It would be a waste to get rid of something so special."

"Doesn't mean it's not a crap-shack." Sun said, earning him teasing slap on the shoulder with the towel in Ruby's hand.

"Stop calling it that." She told him while drying the final plate that was in her hand. "Just because it isn't very modern, that doesn't make it bad. I think it's a nice place to live."

"Yeah, but dad's getting on in his years." Sun said, speaking only truth. "There's a lot of stairs and let's be honest, the house needs a lot of repairs. I'd feel better if they sold it and moved to an apartment on a nicer side of Vacuo. There are plenty of other places a Faunus can live."

"I can see why they don't, though." She placed the plate away, noticing a small chip on one side. It had been that way for years. Yang damaged it when they were little, standing on kitchen chairs to help daddy with the dishes after dinner. He could have thrown it away, but he didn't. Taiyang had gotten out a nail file, dulling the edge until it was no longer sharp. The dinner plate withstanding the test of time. It was just one small example of many. "Don't worry so much, you'll grow grey."

"Hey now, there's nothing wrong with that." Sun replied. "At least then I'd look wise and distinguished."

"Not dressed like that you wouldn't." She said, eyeing his shirt. He never buttoned them up, but, this one was full of holes. Well used and abused by time. "Anyway, oh wise one, your sister lives there too. If she thought it was a problem, she'd say something. I mean, if they were that bad, she probably would have made them move out by now."

"Yeah, right. She's just as attached to that place as they are." He grunted, even while he glanced down at his shirt. He didn't see the problem with it. "She'd never give it up. She'd never ask my parents too, either."

"If you know that, don't start a fight you aren't going to win." Ruby chided logically. "You might be a huntsman, but you won't stand a chance. If you try arguing with your sister about it now, there's only one way it'll end up." It was then her voice lowered a little, mostly in self-reflection. "Never thought I'd meet anyone more hotheaded than Yang…"

"Tell me about it…" Sun said, reclining back on the chair, balancing it on the two hind legs. He reached back to the refrigerator with his tail, opening the door and fumbling around. His tail bypassed a few cans of beer before he found the carton of chocolate milk. The childhood luxury was now a household staple. The last of it would hardly be enough to full his glass. "And there goes the last of the milk. Guess I'm going to the store again tomorrow."

"Take the list with you." Ruby told him gesturing to the fridge. "And don't forget to stop by the hardware store to grab another gallon of paint. I'll need it to finish the shed."

"Right, mustn't forget the paint now, should I?" He grumbled unhappily as a yawn washed over him.

"See, it's not so easy to watch Keiko and get the chores done without an extra set of hands, now is it?" Ruby said, humor dripping into her voice.

"Tai will be home soon." He said, that single mantra was all that Sun could cling to during the long day. The only thing enticing him to stay awake right now was the chocolaty substance in front of him and Ruby's boundless energy. It spoke to her skills as a huntress that hard work didn't tire her. She'd been finishing up the yard all day. Stopping only when the baby needed a feeding. Meanwhile, he'd been in charge of watching over his daughter and keeping house. "That'll make things easier."

"My uncle's mission is finishing up too." Ruby said glancing at the calendar on the fridge. "He should be here by this evening, actually. I don't know how long he'll stay around this time though. He seems to vanish more often these days."

"Well, we should take advantage of the extra help. That'll make things easier to get some alone time. In fact, you should come out to the stream next time I go fishing." Sun replied, knowing well that a day of fishing would be in store with so many mouths to feed. He'd have to be up early if he wanted a chance of making a good catch. "Two fishing poles are better than one, and I bet they're both pretty tired of trudging around outside."

"Somehow, I doubt it's the fish you'd be trying to catch." Ruby said with a little smirk.

"As if I'd have to try…" He said, standing to his full height and pulling the clean cup out of her hands, setting it off to the side. His hands easily found a place to rest on her hips. His thumb toying with the soft expanse of skin just beneath the hem of her shirt. "Now that you mention it, it has been a while."

"Mm, so it has." Ruby agreed, letting her eyes slip closed as Sun leaned down to kiss her. As if on cue, the baby started to fuss. The little soul demanding love and protection from her parents. She was too small to do anything for herself yet. Ruby reluctantly broke the kiss, murmuring against his lips. "That was a longer nap than usual. She probably needs a change." She joined their lips once, this time in brief apology.

Sun pulled away from the kiss, sighing as he rested his forehead on Ruby's shoulder. His lips ghosting over her neck, he sighed away the stress of the day. "Finish up in here, I'll go get her." He said, slipping away from the soft scent of the woman he loved.

As Keiko began to cry in earnest he resigned himself to her young whims. He gently collected her into his arms. At the mercy of the small soul who had no concept of the vast world surrounding her.

Physical exhaustion was just part of being a huntsman. Emotional fatigue was an entirely different sort of beast. Worse, perhaps, than slaying Grimm.

He'd long concluded that he could suffer any physical pain on the planet. Nothing would hurt more than watching the ones he loved suffer. The mental hoops he had to jump only grew more complex as his life went on. He was surrounded by people who needed him. Good men were not built of brawn, but, rather determination. The job of a family man was first and foremost to his family and his home. So, first thing in the morning, he did the one chore he hated above all else.

Grocery shopping.

The second mark of a good man was his duties to kinfolk. People were not meant to live alone. Not humans, not Faunus. A strong community could only be cultivated by the will of the people who saw fit to keep it that way. As his friend attempted to withdraw herself from her team, he carefully dragged her back in. Considering that friend was Blake Belladonna, that was no easy task.

Herding feral alley cats might have been easier than coaxing Blake into doing anything.

"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe Weiss wouldn't mind seeing where things go."

"I don't know about that, Sun." Blake said to him, her voice crackling from the other side of the scroll. "She has a lot on her plate right now."

"When doesn't she?" He rolled his eyes, thankful that he couldn't be seen as he adjusted the earpiece. With a glance to the list he'd been given, he continued walking up and down each and every isle. "She always has something going on, Blake. She always will. It didn't stop her from getting married and poppin' out a kid once before."

"Need I remind you that she got divorced?"

"Need I remind you she reeks of the guy every time she crosses paths with him?" Sun quipped back before cringing at his own wordplay. That was one of the worst things he could think of to say. He gathered the fresh produce while berating himself inwardly. Outwardly, he cursed. "Damn it... Okay, so that might have been a stupid thing to say, and that's not the best way to convince you."

"You think?" She groused darkly, a growl at the edge of her voice.

"Give me a break, I didn't mean anything weird by it." Sun sighed as he turned the corner to stock up on vegetables. He could almost feel her ire burning through the call. "Blake, could you stop growling at me. Sounds like you want to take my head off…"

"No one's supposed to know about that." She said, sounding as though her teeth were still clenched. "Weiss has been very careful to keep that private."

"We're Faunus Blake, our noses don't lie. Besides, it's not like I told anybody, not even Ruby." He said, a fist full of carrots hitting the basket before radishes and lettuce followed suit. "Putting the whole boy-toy thing aside, you've been friends for years."

"So...?"

" Obviously, she doesn't hate you." Sun said, plucking a box of raisins from a side isle. "If you're honest with her about things, maybe she'll consider giving it a chance. If you both take the time, it might work out."

"She won't date." Blake was fast to retort, almost as if she refused to hear his words at all. "She's sworn that off completely. She won't bring anyone new around Ada. Knowing what I know about the White Fang activists and supporters, I don't blame her."

"Key words there." Celery in hand he left the produce section. "Anyone new. You're not new. She can trust you, and she knows that."

"That little girl as a target painted across her back. As long as she's young and defenseless, she's at risk. The White Fang are going to try to make her life a living hell." Blake said, an entirely new tirade picking up from the ashes of her other excuses. "If I were to get involved, then even the humans might be against it. Could you imagine that? Besides, I'm not so good with kids."

"Newsflash, no one's good with kids without a little practice." He told her. "If we were, Ruby wouldn't have had to pace the house half of the night with a pissed off baby."

"Fine, but still..."

"Would ya stop being a pain in the ass?" Sun groused.

"I mean it, Sun. What about Nolan?"

Sun wasn't sure what to say about that. "What about him, Blake?" He muttered soft enough not to be overheard in case there was anyone nearby. "Nothing's wrong with taking the edge off a little. Weiss has a life, she's going to want to live it." When Blake said nothing to this, he lowered his voice further. "Maybe he's all she's got..." He posed thoughtfully. "Maybe, if she had someone else she could rely on, she wouldn't turn to him."

Blake laughed bitterly. "Her life obviously doesn't include me in that way…"

"Dunno." He said, knocking a loaf of bread into the basket as he passed by the shelf. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"Trust me, I'm positive."

"How can you be positive about something you haven't found out from the source?" He asked, only receiving a sigh for his effort. "Take it from me. Human women are usually shyer about those kinds of things. The whole world tells them not to talk about sexy stuff, so, they just don't. It took a long time to get Ruby used to talking about it…what she wanted…what she liked..." The entire thought still upset him. "Most human women probably don't know that they can talk about those things, or that they should."

"Tell that to Yang..."

"I said usually, and she doesn't count." He could just imagine Blake brushing his point off. She tended to do that more than she would ever admit. "I mean, hell, you aren't nose blind and you act like you are. Even you don't say the sorts of things Yang does. Actually, when I think about it, you're a really private person…probably one of the most conservative Faunus I know."

"That's not the point, Sun."

"It is the point though... It's mine anyway." He pressed, unwilling to let sleeping dogs lie. "Blake, you don't know how Weiss feels about you. You've never asked. Yeah, she's got something going on with Nolan. I'll give you that, but listen. We both know it won't go anywhere. If it had, she wouldn't have gotten divorced in the first place. She'd probably stop sleeping with him if she had someone else in her life to fill that need. You owe it to yourself to find out if you can be that person…and if the answer's no, at least find out why."

"There's a whole list of reasons why."

"Stuff you came up with? Or was it stuff Weiss told you?" Sun shot back, pausing at stacks of cookies. They weren't on the list, but he'd be remiss to forget such a guilty pleasure. He grabbed one bag of chocolate chips. His other hand lingering between the fudge bars and vanilla wafers.

"My own reasons, not hers."

He grabbed one of each. Neither would go to waste. "Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Push people away like this?" He bypassed the canned goods, recalling a time when he'd pick up a few cans of tuna out of habit whenever he made a trip to Vale. She had always found that more endearing than flowers. She valued practical gifts that she would use. At first, he didn't think anything of it, but now he knew the truth. Blake denied herself so many simple pleasures, and he could never figure out why. "It never mattered what I did, you always felt like you couldn't measure up. Nothing was ever good enough, even when I said it was. You were never happy, Blake. That was all I ever wanted you to be, and you never were."

"I was happy, Sun. Far more than you ever gave me credit for."

"Maybe..." He murmured. "It'd be different with Weiss..."

"You say that..."

"I know it, okay? You look at her and you just…" He trailed off with a sigh. "I don't think you know what romantic love is all about. I don't think you've ever let yourself figure that out. Maybe, before, you just didn't have to. Maybe what you had with her was enough." Finishing the shopping list by gathering the milk and meat, he leaned on the basket heavily as he pushed it along "All I'm saying is that maybe it's not enough anymore…and if it isn't enough for you, well…maybe it's not enough for Weiss, either."

He learned to love the haves in his life. He learned let those great gifts be enough for him. The lesson served him well.

It wasn't always easy. The lists of have-nots grew longer by the day. Dragged away by every grocery bill, medical expense, and hour of missed sleep. The tiny sacrifices he made continued to add up, and the more he let go of those small things, the less he missed them. There were glimpses of selfishness. Times he would have liked to have things his way. Sometimes he wanted to pretend that his greed was the only thing that mattered.

He'd be lying if he said he never felt annoyed by his responsibilities. Especially when they called him away from his joys in life.

He certainly missed the bygone days with his teammates. Nights of slamming down beers and bowls of noodles without remorse. The hangover cures and moronic schadenfreude. He missed the dusty dirt roads and bored stupidity that could only be shared between four young men in the wilderness. They'd carved their lives far away from the safety of home. The harsh realities of the world raising them from boys to men slowly. Hard work, Grimm, and failures beating the immaturity out of them relentlessly. It was such a gradual change, he didn't realize it at first.

None of them did.

They'd been molded into men together, which had made parting ways so much more painful. He had plenty of stories to tell, many of them too embarrassing to ever be spoken aloud. He didn't regret any of it, even when he looked at his weapon on the wall. He would never make those kinds of journeys again. None of his teammates would. There was no time for that sort of recklessness. Not now. Not with families to look after, and commitments of their own.

His days as a young, stupid, huntsman was a stage of his life well-lived. Cherished all the more for its brevity. He was not a wealthy man, but as he popped open a can of beer and brought it to his lips, he was fine with that.

Ruby was curled into his side, her head resting on his chest. A bowl of popcorn balanced between them. A good tournament battle was about to start. Taiyang slouched in his armchair, napping after the long teaching mission he'd been on. Keiko was acquainting herself with her great uncle. Bonding with Qrow the only way she knew how. Looking up to him with those big silver eyes.

Sun knew, he really couldn't ask for more than this.

Honestly, he didn't want to.