Sun I – Rubble

After the Fall, Day 1, Evening

Sun couldn't get the smell of blood out of his nose. Professor Goodwitch had split the Hunters-in-Training between helping in Vale and trying to clear the Grimm from Beacon. Team SSSN was one of the teams sent up to Beacon. Sun suspected that the available non-Beacon teams were sent to clear the school so that they would be less likely to break down at the bodies of Beacon students. It was a shrewd decision.

Sun had a hard-enough time keeping his own team moving and didn't want to think of how RWBY or JNPR would have reacted if they were combat ready. The worst had been when they found a weaponless Beacon student slumped against a wall. She had died from blood loss after being gutted by a Grimm. She had managed to crawl away and seal herself in a room, where she died trying to keep her insides on the inside and likely hoping for help. Her name had been Lily and Neptune had taken finding her badly. Sage and Scarlet had to practically tackle him to prevent him from running to her body. Sun's partner had always been a flirt and Lily had the distinction of being the first girl the blue-haired man had flirted with when he got to Beacon.

While the rest of the team sorted out Neptune, Sun photographed the scene and picked up her body. After passing her off to the civilian collectors he noticed the locker half buried under rubble. He picked up the long blade inside it, walked silently back to the body, placed the weapon on her chest, and crossing her arms over it. "May you be prepared for the road ahead." An old Vacuoen saying that left the civilians giving him strange looks but Sun was more concerned about keeping his team moving.

The rest of the day had been less traumatic if only for the lack of bodies around, but the smell of blood and decay from carrying Lily never left him. When SSSN's shift ended, Sun was asked if he could stay on after nightfall to help a group of faunus aid workers clear more debris while there was still a chance to save people. He didn't hesitate at the opportunity, telling his team to get some sleep so they could cover for him in the morning. That joke got a laugh out of his team, so Sun walked out with a smile on his face. As Sun approached the group, a camera flash brought his attention to Velvet, whose head was wrapped in bandages, and Coco, who was posing with her minigun. Sun's smile widened at the sight of the rabbit-faunus. "Hey Velvet, good to see you up and about!"

Velvet tensed up at being addressed while Coco laughed at her teammate before turning to Sun. "Well if it isn't the monkey boy. Are you going on the dark mission?"

Sun struck a pose and grinned. "I go where I'm needed!"

Coco laughed and Velvet even turned away to giggle. Coco wasn't wearing her glasses because of the darkness so Sun watched her eyes turn hard as she spoke to him much more seriously. "I heard your team went out this morning."

Sun locked eyes with the fashionista, trying to read what she was getting at. Is she worried my Aura is already low? Does she want information on survivors? Coco leaned slightly toward Velvet when the rabbit-faunus turned to look at her. Now he understood. Coco was worried that he was going to screw up and get her teammate killed. Sun took out his weapon and swung it over his shoulder. "I'm not gonna slow her down."

Coco retracted her minigun and slid her shades onto her face. "You better, or the Grimm will be the least of your worries."

Sun saluted her while Velvet moved to chastise her team leader. "Coco! I'll be fine." Once Coco moved down the street and towards the makeshift barracks, Velvet turned to look at him with bent ears. "Sorry about that. She…"

"Is worried that I won't have your back?" Velvet looked around to try and find a nicer way of saying it. Sun gave her a small smile. "Velvet, it's fine. Last night was a mess and you just got your bell rung pretty bad. If one of my team was going out on their own, I would be doing the same thing."

Velvet graced him with a small genuine smile. "I guess so." Her ears perked up and one of them swiveled toward the civilians who were checking the supplies. "We should be leaving soon. Are you ready?"

Sun unfolded his staff and laid it across his shoulders. "Yep. How about you? Do you have enough…" He racked his brains for a proper way of saying 'pictures for your Semblance' "...research material?"

Velvet looked uncomfortable. "Y-yeah, I'll be alright."

Sun twirled his staff and held a pose with a confident grin. "Snap away."

"I think I'll be fine." Velvet said, though she did lift the camera to take a picture.

Sun shifted his pose. "My uncle always says 'always have as many options as possible' so click away. Never know when you'll need a staff or some gunchucks."

Velvet smiled and took a few more pictures before the rescue team moved out. Night missions in civilian areas were one of the most dangerous missions to take for a Hunter. Night allowed the Grimm to blend into their surroundings and even the best Faunus night vision couldn't see perfectly at night. The biggest issue was that the natural fear of the dark would do nothing but pull more Grimm. If they were lucky, they could take advantage of that pull to find packs of Grimm sifting through rubble and find some survivors. The problem was not pulling more than the Hunters in the group could handle. With that in mind, the larger group was split into multiple small cells to split up around the city. Besides Sun and Velvet, their group consisted of two armed civilians, one medic, and a single certified Huntsman.

Snow Villa was an owl-faunus, with wide owl eyes and feathers for hair. Snow was confident in his night vision and organized the group so that Velvet was scouting ahead and Sun between Velvet and the rest of the team, sending signals back and forth. It was a risky idea, but there wasn't really a no-risk plan with a group like theirs. For a few hours, they moved through the city. They picked off Grimm that were alone or in pairs while searching for survivors, finding nothing but blood stains and discarded weapons. Thankfully, Sun was too on edge to feel tired. He knew he would be suffering the next day but knowing that wouldn't affect his work.

The moon was at its peak when Velvet raised her hand again to stop. Sun passed it on to the group and kept his eyes trained on Velvet. She held up five fingers. Five Grimm was doable, depending on the type. The problem would be destroying them before they cry out and pull any nearby Grimm to surround them. Ordinarily, Velvet would gesture down a different path, but she was hesitating. Sun held up his hand again to make sure the rest of the team stayed put and moved over to her. Velvet looked very concerned as he approached, as if trying to decide whether to stop him or not. When Sun crouched next to her, he figured out why. There were a group of five Creeps clumped around a destroyed building. The issue was, they were digging into the rubble like they were looking for something. There was probably someone alive under the rubble.

Uncle Gyn had warned him more than once about acting before he weighed the consequences. Sun knew that if they didn't clear this group in one attack, they could very well have every Grimm in Vale bearing down on their shoulders. He turned and locked eyes with the worried Velvet. He wondered why she was so worried for a moment before realizing she didn't know his semblance. Sun gave her a grin. "You take the one on the left." Sun pressed his palms together with the staff balanced in the crooks of his elbows.

As the three golden clones shifted out of Sun's body, Velvet's expression shifted from confusion to determination. She reached for her camera and nodded before they both moved at once. Sun pushed his Aura into his clones and readied his weapon as they closed in. His clones could only get one or two hits in before dissipating, but luckily Creeps were some of the weakest of the Grimm. The plan worked without a hitch, Sun and his clones slamming their staffs into the heads of the Grimm with enough force to kill them. Sun looked to his left and saw that Velvet had done the exact same move, the translucent version of his staff breaking apart in her hands. The makeshift partners locked eyes and shared a smile and nod at each other's skill.

As they looked away to begin looking for survivors, they both stopped upon seeing a pair of Beowolves walking out of an alley. Sun acted immediately, putting all his faith in Velvet as the Beowolves breathed in for a howl. Sun grasped the end of his staff like a bat and swung toward Velvet. Velvet jumped up, using his staff and the force of his swing to propel herself at the Beowolves. Velvet collided with the Beowolves with a translucent version of Fox's weapons on her arms. Velvet sliced into the Grimm, knocking them off balance enough to prevent them from howling. Velvet focused on the one in front of her, leaving her back open. Sun used the momentum from his swing to over extent himself and roll into a sprint. When the second Beowolf righted itself, Sun had closed in to swing his staff over its neck, pulling on both sides to hold the Grimm to him and prevent it from making any noice. Sun's captured Grimm started clawing backwards, its nails scrapping against his Aura, as Velvet decapitated her Grimm. Sun's Grimm got the same treatment before it could pierce his Aura. There were no smiles exchanged this time, Sun pressed his back against Velvets as them slowly turned in place, looking for any additional enemies. After a few moments of tense silence that felt far longer, Velvet spoke. "I'll look for clues, you get the others."

Sun didn't argue. "Stay safe." He moved quickly, but quietly back to where he began and waved the group on. When he moved back to Velvet, he found her with her ear pressed to the rubble. When she saw Sun, she nodded and held up two fingers. Sun immediately move to help her shift some of the rubble. Clearing it was at once amazing and disheartening, as he revealed a dead man covering a pair of unconscious children. Sun held the corpse of the presumed father off his children as the medic checked over the children. It was decided that the children were safe enough to move, so they began the journey back to base camp. Snow tried to argue that Sun couldn't protect the group while also holding both the children in his arms, but Velvet said that Sun has abilities that didn't require his arms. The journey back to camp was even tenser than when they left, everyone waiting for the inevitable point where the children would wake and start screaming for their father.

The children didn't wake up before they got to the base camp. Sun handed them off to the medics and was debating picking them up and sprinting them to the hospital when they woke up. What followed was to be expected for such young children learning of their parent's death. Their sobbing dug into his heart, but he moved away from them as the medics started calming them down.

As the sobs died away, they were replaced by screaming and crying from years ago, in the sandy wastes of Vacuo. Sun moved away as quickly as he could, returning Snow's 'good work' with a quick smile and a 'you too'. He had almost got away when Velvet grabbed his hand, looking determined. "Thank you for your help tonight, Sun."

Sun blinked, the sounds ringing in his head slipping into a background. "You're welcome, but you don't haveta thank me. I volunteered to help, just like you did."

Velvet gave him a shaky smile. "Well, you also had to deal with Coco threatening you."

He laughed heartily. "I don't know what she was worried about though. You're really good! I was worried I was gonna give ya another concussion when the Beowolves showed up."

Velvet laughed. "So, did I! I'm glad I got the timing right. Do you usually throw your teammates around?"

Sun rubbed the back of his head. "Not…really. There was that one time with Scarlet, but it's not a go-to move. What about you? That kick-off seemed practiced"

Velvet's smile widened. "It is Yatsu and Fox's move, but I was able to do it due to my semblance. Luckily, I had a picture of Fox or that would have been bad."

Sun grinned at the rabbit-faunus. "Well if there is another night mission, we can try it again and see how wacky it could go."

Velvet looked away and smiled softly. "That sounds fun. Well, you should really get some sleep."

Sun waved behind him before turning around and moving down the street.

Vale City Field Hospital, Late Evening

Sun knew he wasn't going to sleep that night. His body was exhausted, but the bodies he saw throughout the day were haunting him. So, he decided to visit the remaining members of RWBY despite how late it was. They needed watching over more than his team did at the moment. The streets were quieter than the last time he walked down them. Windows and doors in the safe zone were closed and barricaded. They were unnecessary with the soldiers around but if it made people feel safer than the better to keep the Grimm at bay.

Despite being in a safe zone, Sun kept a hand on his collapsed weapon even as he approached the makeshift hospital. As he moved to step into the building, he saw a long mane of black hair move into an alley. Blake? After a moment's consideration, he chocked it up to being tired and moved into the building. Putting on his best smile, he addressed the nurse behind the makeshift reception desk. "Hope your night is going well. I am here to see team RWBY!"

The nurse looked at him and then immediately down the hallway before looking back. It was then that Sun heard the voices coming from the hallway. "What do you mean you don't know where she is? She's your partner!"

It was past midnight. There was no need to wake an entire building of wounded people a little over a day after their world collapsed. Sun paid no mind to the nurse as he moved to the doorway the sounds were coming from. Inside the room he found two angry VPD officers interrogating Yang, who was still sitting in her hospital bed. Her face looked angry, but her eyes were a dull lilac, not the red he had seen once or twice. Sun knew that if Yang wasn't injured, she would be in the officers' faces demanding that they leave. Yang gave him a confused expression when she noticed him, before sitting up straighter and staring down one of the officers. "I already said I don't know where she is. Now leave me alone before you wake the whole hospital."

The VPD didn't look like they were going to back down, but Sun had figured out what they were looking for. He put on his best smile and moved away from the doorway. "You guys are looking for Blake, right? I just saw her hobble down a back alley across the street when I came in." He gestured helpfully in the wrong direction. The VPD officers looked at each other before staring at him closely, trying to read if he was lying. Sun offered them a raised eyebrow.

After a moment they moved quickly out the door, reaching for their radios. Sun leaned his body out the door to wave goodbye to the officers. When he turned back to the room, Yang was staring at him, flabbergasted. Her voice was panicked. "What are you doing?"

Sun shut the door behind him and tried disarming her with a smile. "Leading them on a wild goose chase. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Yang looked at her stump a moment. "I've been in bed all day."

"You're in the hospital Yang. Your job is to heal up." Sun moved over and sat on the low table between the two beds.

Yang looked back at him, eyes too dull for Sun's liking. "I should have been out there helping people."

"You helped plenty. You were cutting through Grimm while the rest of us were still stuck in Amity. Why don't you let the rest of us do the heavy lifting for once?" Sun reached down and took Ruby's hand in his, rubbing the back of her palm with his thumb. He looked to the sleeping girl, hoping for her to stir, but she just slept on.

"What exactly are you doing to my sister, Sun?" He looked up to see a very unamused Yang glaring at him suspiciously.

Sun responded with a grin. "My mom used to say 'when someone's mind is drifting, they just need to know that people are waiting for them to get back.' So I am just giving her a tug" He gave Ruby's hand a squeeze. "See Ruby, even in a hospital bed your big sister is looking out for you."

Yang had a sad smile as she looked down at her comatose sister. She was obviously distracted so Sun stood up and walked around Yang's bed and sat cross legged on the floor. He was on her left side, away from her maimed arm and unconscious sister. Yang followed his movement sluggishly but seemed to relax when he sat down. "Do you have a habit of running around in the middle of the night helping people?"

Sun laughed before clapping a hand over his mouth. He looked toward the door, waiting for a nurse to come in and chastise him for making too much noise. After a moment he turned back to Yang who was smirking at him. "Yeah, I have a hard time saying 'no' to people in trouble. Been that way since I was a kid."

Yang chuckled lightly. She was brightening, but slowly. "When you were a kid? You aren't the kinda guy that ever grows up, Sun."

Sun grinned. "Says the girl who blows up nightclubs and steals her teammate's diary every chance she gets." He thought his joke would help but Yang's face shut down and she looked down at the floor. Sun's grin dropped almost as quickly. Way to go, brainiac. Weiss just got pulled out this morning and now Blake is missing. The silence that filled the room was painful. Silence always put him on edge. He desperately wanted to end it, but the usually vibrant woman looked so fragile that he didn't dare speak. Instead, he decided to act. Sun reached out and placed his hand in Yang's.

Yang was startled for a moment, looking down at his hand for a moment before speaking softly. "Did you really see Blake outside before you came in?"

He considered lying but decided to go with the truth. "I saw a swirl of pretty black hair run through an alley close to your window. I don't know if it was her for sure, but it sounds like her M.O."

Yang was silent for a moment and when she spoke, her voice cracked. "She ran away? Ruby still hasn't woken up, Weiss is gone, and Blake just runs away! What am I supposed to do? What do I tell Ruby?"

Sun got up and sat on Yang's bed, pulling her into a hug. He half expected her to slug him, but she just sobbed before clamping her arms around his back and burying her face in his chest. He could feel where her arm ended against his back as he tried to reassure her. "Blake can take care of herself and the Weiss Schnee I know won't take crap from anyone. Ruby will wake up when she is ready but right now you just need to rest and recover. You don't have to be the big sister right now."

Yang cried against him for a few minutes before pulling herself together enough to pull away. "Thanks, Sun." He stood up and looked away while she wiped her eyes. "Looks like you can play a good sibling yourself, Monkey Boy."

"I have a gaggle of siblings back in Vacuo." Some people might not consider the orphans of a nomadic tribe as 'siblings' but they couldn't tell Sun otherwise.

Yang looked surprised for a moment before smiling slightly. "Can you tell me about them?"

Sun smiled. "I will if you lay down."

Yang laughed and slugged him on the shoulder. "Is that the best line you have?" Sun felt his face heat up as he tried in vain to respond. Yang laughed again and all Sun could do was smile as the worry seemed to leave her face. Unfortunately, it was short lived. As the laughter died down and the pain of the battle crushed back down on her, Yang's smile fell. She grabbed Sun's hand tightly, her whole body shaking. "She abandoned us."

Sun squeezed her hand in turn and wrapped his other arm around her to bring her close. He laid his head on the top of her own. "She'll come back. They both will." He sounded more confident than he felt but Yang's peace of mind was the only thing he was concerned with at the moment.

Yang pressed her face into his chest as she shook. There was no sobbing this time, just quiet anguish. Her voice was soft when she asked. "W-will you make sure she is okay?"

Sun pulled away and locked eyes with Yang. "Of course. As soon as you go to sleep."

Yang ripped her hand out of Sun's grip and pushed him away. "I will be fine. Please, go find her!"

Sun placed both hands on her shoulders. "Yang, stop!" Once she was looking at him again, he continued. "Blake has been hiding from the authorities for years. I sent the police in the wrong direction and she already has a head start. She will be fine for now. I promise I will find her and make sure she is okay. Now can you please lay down."

Yang allowed herself to be slowly pushed back down to the bed. She was still very tense and looked away from him when she spoke. "Okay, now go."

Sun smiled down at her and placed his hand back on hers. "When you get some sleep." Yang looked to him with a weak glare, but only received a warm smile in response. After a moment, Yang rolled over and looked at the wall, but still held onto Sun's hand. He decided to hum a lullaby softly as he stroked the back of her hand.

Despite all her sorrow and panic, if didn't take long for Yang to sleep. He gave her a few minutes after her breathing leveled out, letting her know she had a place to return to like he did for Ruby. The night was growing long, but Sun had made a promise and he would do everything he could to keep it.

Downtown Vale, Late Evening

Upon leaving the makeshift hospital, and dodging the night nurse, Sun quickly made his way to his team's room to grab one of his bags. Luckily none of his teammates woke up and he was able to make it out unseen. From there, he moved quickly down the dark, empty streets into Downtown Vale, keeping himself calm and serene by humming an old song softly to himself. It felt like nights out in the deserts between settlements in Vacuo. The bleakness was at once disconcerting and nostalgic, the silence of the desert having no place in a usually bustling city.

Thankfully the silence ended as he grew closer to his destination. He was surprised that Neptune's directions had been correct, given how fast Yang drove him there. Junior's had a simpler design than the clubs in Mistral, but it did seem like a more 'underground' place. The door wasn't locked, but there were armed guards on the other side of it. There was no music playing, but the room was filled with people. Whole families huddled close together, wrapped in blankets. Most were sleeping but others were awake and talking softly to others with insomnia. Some of the civilians looked over to him as he entered but the guards were the only ones who moved closer. The door guard on Sun's left moved closer to address him without raising his voice. "What's in the bag?"

Sun moved it from his shoulder and offered it to the guard. "Payment for information. I need to speak with the boss man. He awake?"

The guard took the bag and sifted through it before handing it back. "He's in the back." He then gestured to another of the goons in red sunglasses to take Sun back. Sun followed, not missing the two goons who moved into step behind him. They seemed a little tense, but Sun didn't know whether it was him or the potential Grimm outside their door they were worried about. When he finally saw Junior, Sun added 'boss having a mental breakdown' to his list of goon worries. Hei 'Junior' Xiong's vest was opened and his shirt was untucked. His eyes were bloodshot and his body was tense. He probably hadn't slept since the attack. Junior took a moment to compose himself, laying a hand on his weapon. "What do you want, kid?"

Sun gave the club owner his best grin. "I'm trying to track someone down and am new to the neighborhood, so I am looking for help."

Junior scoffed. "Do I look like a PI, Monkey Boy?"

"No, but you have a lot of men and a lot of contacts. I need to find a girl on the run, and I am willing to pay for the help."

Junior ran a hand through his hair, succeeding only in messing it up more. "Believe it or not kid, I am not interested in money right now. I'm having a hard-enough time taking care of my people without helping you." He looked toward an open side door before turning back to him. "So, why don't you get out of here, Huntsman?" His voice had a note of menace in it.

Sun looked toward the door, seeing a bed where a black-haired woman slept with her white clad twin sleeping in a chair beside her. Hard time protecting your own indeed. Sun hefted the bag from his shoulders and placed it on the desk beside Junior. Rounds of dust clicked in their cases as the contents settled. "I'm payin' in ammo."

Junior blinked and opened the bag. His jaw dropped comically at the contents. "What did you do? Raid a dust shop?"

Sun laughed "Am I wearing a white suit? Nah, I heard of the issues in Vale before I left Haven so I stocked up."

Junior sighed as he sifts through the contents. "Torchwick did make a big dent in the dust industry. Gonna miss that asshole."

Sun didn't know what to feel about that. He had put together that Torchwick was in one of the ships that crashed and wasn't dragged away when the Atlas troops pulled out that morning and so was likely dead. Sun wasn't sad the gangster was dead but seeing someone actually affected by his death did play on his empathy. "This was been a mess for a lot of people." He gestured at the door leading to the nightclub floor filled with refugees.

"Ain't that the truth." Junior closed the bag and handed it to one of his goons. "Get this added to the armory." Turning to Sun, Junior gave him a long look up and down. "Alright, kid. Who are my boys looking for?"