Chapter Three

Dawn broke over the horizon almost an hour after she came to stand by the side, watching as time passed. More people started to come above deck, going about their day when the captain joined her by the rail.

"We should be arriving sometime this evening. I appreciate you helping us out back off the coast of Vale and I'm sure everyone else is thankful as well," he said, smiling at Blake fondly.

"It was no problem, sir. We were only doing our job. Thank you for allowing my…" Blake stumbled over her words for a moment. "Colleague to stay on board. I apologize for him coming aboard illegally."

"If all of the stowaways could fight like that, they'd all get a free ride. There aren't enough Huntsmen manning the seas for voyages like ours."

"You're right. I'm sorry that we will be staying in Menagerie for the time being, so you'll have to manage without us."

"We'll do fine. As I said, shortly before dinner, we'll be making landfall. I wanted to properly thank the two of you before we parted ways, but it seems the boy is still in bed. Please, pass along my appreciation to him if I don't have the time," he requested, stepping away from the rail.

"I will."

Though it was a small appreciation, Blake felt a small confidence boost with the interaction. At least she could make that small contribution to the people on the ship. Maybe life on the sea was more her style.

Heavy footsteps came from behind Blake, causing her to jump slightly as she turned, only to be confronted by her blonde companion. Her heart settled in her chest as her paranoia subsided. "You just missed the captain," she said, turning back to the sunrise.

"What did he need?" Sun asked, leaning his back against the rail and propping his right foot up behind him on the railing.

"Oh, he was only thanking us and letting me know we'd be arriving later tonight," she explained, side eyeing the casual posture he fancied.

"Tonight? Man, this trip wasn't as long as you said it would be."

"Time flies when you're having fun, so I'd assume that your view of time is a bit askew."

"And you'd probably be right. It's hard not to have fun when you're the life of the party," he said, winking at her.

The urge to chuckle took over her as a small laugh rumbled from the feline Faunus. "At least you're confident." She couldn't help feel at ease in Sun's presence. It was a lot like how she used to feel about Adam.

Blake shook her head, trying to shake away the thoughts overwhelming her mind. She wanted to get away and not think about him, but it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. Her hands squeezed the railing as her jaw clenched tightly.

"Blake?" Sun asked softly. Moments before, he watched the comfort fade from her eyes only to be replaced with an icy thousand-mile stare into the ocean. It killed him to know that there was very little—if anything—he could do to help Blake deal with her struggles. If all he could do was be there to listen, then he'd do it until Remnant's end if he could. However, he also knew that Blake wasn't ready to deal with some of her feelings and the last thing he wanted was to push her.

Her golden eyes continued to stare out into the waves as her body relaxed slightly. It was like she wasn't even there, like her mind was a million miles away, leaving an empty shell of who she was behind. She heard Sun, but her body almost wouldn't allow her to answer. It was like that red blade rested against her throat, stealing her breath and tearing her apart.

Sun sighed, reaching over to cover one of Blake's hands with his. Immediately, her gaze locked with his and her body jumped, like he'd frightened her. "I'm sorry, you were acting weird. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

After a few heavy breaths, she spoke. "Yeah, I'm okay. Let's go get our things packed." Her voice was flat, as if she were still on autopilot.

Several hours later, the ship made landfall. The two Faunus bid farewell to the crew and made their way into Kuo Kuana. Sun was awestruck by how beautiful this island was. Not only was he on a piece of land only populated by Faunus, but everything about Menagerie drew him in.

That is, until he met the beast that was Blake's father. He could barely get a single word out without clumsily tripping himself with inappropriate remarks and his own fear of making a fool of himself in front of Blake. Of course, he'd already done that.

Most of his time the first day was spent just walking about absentmindedly as Blake reconnected with her parents. The last thing he wanted to do was infringe on their family moment. It was just nice to see Blake relax and become comfortable.

Then, Corsac and Fennec had to show their ugly fox heads. It had completely destroyed the progress Blake had made in keeping herself calm. Sun just wanted to bash their heads together.

The night came quickly and everyone made their way to bed. Kali had been kind enough to have their housekeeping staff set up a room for him a few feet from Blake's. That didn't seem like it was going to be a problem, so Sun crawled under the blankets, falling asleep almost instantly.

A little over an hour later, he was woken by a loud shriek. He didn't miss a beat, jumping out of bed and sprinting down the hall toward the noise. Blake's bedroom door was open, two security guards standing in the doorway. Blake was still in bed, but was sitting up, sweating and shaking with her hands pressed against her face.

"Miss, are you hurt? What's going on?" one of the guards asked quickly, searching for the threat.

She looked over to the guard, wiping the tears from her face as she spoke, barely able to keep her voice from cracking. "No, I just had a nightmare. I'm sorry to have bothered you. Please, continue whatever it is I interrupted." As she met eyes with the man, she noticed Sun standing behind him, shirtless and in nothing but boxer shorts. "Sun?" she said, losing the battle of keeping her voice level.

"Hey, I heard you scream. I was worried," he said, stepping into the room as the guards returned to their duties.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," she said as he stepped closer to her.

"No, don't be sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, sitting on the edge of her bed—one far too large for one person.

Blake shook her head gently. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? I like to believe I'm a good listener."

The chuckle that came from her was music to Sun's ears. "You like to believe you're good at everything," she said.

"Have I been wrong?"

The feline Faunus glared at him, but didn't answer him.

"You see my point," he said, kicking his feet out in front of him. "I'm here, if you want to spill it."

Blake swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "I have nightmares about Adam a lot." Sun watched as she fiddled with the cloth of the blanket between her fingers, refusing to meet his gaze. "I know it's stupid, but they still really get to me sometimes."

"It isn't stupid," Sun said, noticing that she'd turned to him in surprise. "Really, I completely get it. He's still out there and I'd be scared of the creep too."

Blake returned to watching her fingers dance over the sheet. "Most of the time, it's like flashbacks, like memories that just decide they want to play a sick game of peek-a-boo. I'll forget all about it for a moment, but I will always lose sleep over it."

"I'm sorry, must be hard," Sun agreed, watching Blake closely, but ensuring that he didn't scare her into going silent. It was really nice to have her talking to him without him having to press her for it.

"I just wish I could forget it ever happened," Blake said, wiping her cheeks with the ball of her hand. "I hate having this shadow lurking behind me all the time. I'm terrified to turn every corner. Seeing Corsac and Fennec here earlier made me realize that I'm not safe here either. There's nowhere left to run."

Sun shrugged. "Maybe it's time to stop running then. You aren't alone and I can assure that neither me or your bear of a dad are going to let some asshole come anywhere near you. The same goes for your team. Yang already knows exactly what happened and she stood behind you. I know you aren't necessarily as close to Weiss and Ruby, but I know they would fight for you too."

"I run because I don't want people to have to fight for me. Ruby, Weiss." Blake touched her chest, feeling the familiar tightening inside. "If either of them would get hurt trying to protect me, I don't know what I would do. I love them and I don't want them to bear that burden. We may not have been close like Yang and I, but they are like my sisters. I have no doubt they would react exactly like Yang did, but telling Yang was hard enough and I'm closer to her than I've ever been to anyone in my life. I can't imagine forcing Weiss and Ruby into this situation."

Sun felt awful for making her so emotional. It seemed he may have made it worse for the time being. "I'm sorry, Blake, I didn't mean to make you upset."

Blake shook her head. "You didn't. I miss them and I can't help feeling like I had to leave. I have to sort myself out before I involve them in anything further."

"So, why didn't you say goodbye?" As the question left Sun's lips, he felt the sting of his own words. Her leaving without confiding in anyone had hurt everyone involved, including herself. He didn't normally take things so personally, but getting no goodbye before seeing his friend flee had really hurt his feelings.

Blake's eyes slowly raised to meet his gaze. Her golden eyes were rimmed with red, sore tissue from the tears. "I don't know," she confessed. "I was so afraid, I had no idea how to act. I followed my instincts and got out before I lost the opportunity."

Sun smirked. "Thanks for telling me the truth."

She took a deep breath, leaning her head over to rest on his shoulder. The contact comforted her far more than it should have. Sun's natural scent was all around her, embracing her.

Only a few moments passed before Blake fell asleep against his shoulder. Sun smiled and pulled her down gently to lay her flat and he settled in on the opposite side of the massive mattress.