Location: Vale, train station
June 15th
[Familiar Face]
She moved farther away from Atlas as the hours ticked by, walking on foot to her next stop: Vale's Train Station. Weiss picked up a map as she crossed from one city to the other, checking to make sure that she was heading in the right direction and changing her path when she realized that she wasn't. She walked until sundown and began looking for a place to sleep when it got too dark for her to continue her journey without a flashlight of some sort. Weiss had tucked herself behind an old, humming air conditioner and allowed the noise to lull her into sleep.
Once daylight finally came, she awoke and she'd reached for her bag for something to give her energy for the days, only to find that her bag had been stolen. All of her food and lien gone. Her only belongings were the ones she'd tucked into her cloak; her clothes and her map. Instead she spent most of the morning scavenging for food to ease the hunger in her belly.
Finally, she managed to find some freshly thrown out food behind a restaurant. She'd thanked the Gods that it was still wrapped in its delivery bag when she found it, only having been tossed out, untouched, less than an hour ago. The food was from a fast-food restaurant, but she'd forced herself to eat the greasy contents and it became very clear to her that she was not a fan of hashbrowns.
After eating her fill, she made her way over to the train station, trying her best to ignore the rolling of her stomach and the tightening of her throat.
While awaiting for the train's arrival, Weiss was forced to run to the bathroom and relieve herself of the contents that clearly didn't agree with her stomach. Returning, feeling rather fatigued, she'd realized that she'd missed the train, which had just taken off.
Reaching for her bag to pay for a train ticket for the next one, she lets out a sigh and begins walking again. She didn't have her bag, she would have to hitch a ride… If she remembers correctly, one of the cargo trains would be passing through Whisper Blossom for a pickup. She brushes her disheveled purple hair out of her eyes and turns to head towards the cargo hold, making sure to stay out of sight of the workers.
Unfortunately, by the time she'd reached it, it'd already left the station.
"No!" Not wanting to lose her last ride towards Whisper Blossom, Weiss breaks out into a run after the quickly leaving train and she activates her glyphs to quicken her speed. Once she thinks she is close enough, she pauses momentarily and launches herself off of her white glyphs, sending herself practically flying towards the last open train cart.
Her landing wasn't a hard one, but it wasn't soft either. She'd landed in soil. "Oh, gross…" She flicks it off of her wrist and shakes her head as an attempt to rid her short hair of the filthy dirt. Well, at least it wasn't a train cart full of rocks.
"Well, I didn't expect to have some company." A familiar voice chortles in amusement. She turns her head to see a tall, blonde man wearing an unbuttoned white shirt standing behind her, his tail lashing as he conceals his laughter. Weiss frowns at him, recognizing her team's old friend almost immediately. He raises a brow flirtatiously, "What might your name be, beautiful?"
Weiss frowns at him, disgust pooling in the pit of her stomach. "Hello, Sun." She grumbles, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips when confusion crosses through Sun's face, his jaw falling agape. "What? Don't recognize me?"
She pushes herself up and brushes her hair out of her face, moving to lean against the crate wall behind her. The man seats himself in the soil across from her and crosses his legs, examining her closely and suspiciously. His fingers rub at his chin thoughtfully. Weiss scowls in his direction and realization clicks in his eyes.
He chuckles. "Ah, I would recognize that glare anywhere, I knew the aura was familiar" he makes a clicking noise with his tongue, "nice to see ya, Weiss!" He tilts his head curiously, his legs still crossed and causing him to appear very monkey-like. "Now, I have a few questions if you don't mind…" She looks at him, silently giving him her approval to continue. "When did you cut and dye your hair?"
"Two days ago."
He nods. "Why do you have Ruby's cloak?"
Her chest tightens upon hearing her name. "This is her old cloak… She gave it to me a few months before Beacon fell."
Sun hums and he claps his hands together, clearing his throat for his final question. "How far along are you?"
Dread settles in the pit of her stomach for the second time that day and her brows furrowed together, there is a roaring in her ears that was clearly not coming from the train. "H-how do you know…" She looks down at her stomach, wondering if she had already begun to show. Finding that there was little to no physical difference, she looks back up at him.
"Faunus senses." He smiles, tapping his nose twice with his long blonde tail.
"I'm-... I'm around six weeks." She answers cautiously.
Sun's dark blue eyes become sad, but he offers a smile as an attempt to cover it. "Well, congratulations!" He leans back, uncrossing one of his legs. "I didn't think you'd forget about Ruby so quickly…" Weiss sighs and she shakes her head, whispering her answer under her breath. Sun somehow hears her. "Oh! It's her baby- Well, um, I know where she is?" Weiss perks up and she looks at her friend almost hopefully. Despite knowing she couldn't visit her girlfriend, she would still like to know of her whereabouts and know she was alright. "She's in Mistral!"
"...Mistral?" That was one of Winter's stops, if she remembered correctly.
"Yeah." Sun waves his hand dismissively, "Blake and I managed to take back the White Fang, she and Yang reunited," it sounded like her team had finally come back together, well, most of them… "Blah blah blah, Battle of Haven, and now I'm on my way to Vacuo to meet up with my buds!" He looks at her and frowns in worry, "Say, why aren't you with your team? You on your way there?"
Weiss' heart tightens. "I can't… Because of my baby… I'm heading to Whisper Blossom City."
He gives her a puzzled look, "Wait, what? But, didn't you say that-"
"Sun." Her voice becomes serious and she looks at her old acquaintance. "You can't tell anybody that you've seen me, okay? I don't care who it is…" She pauses for a moment, blue eyes glancing down to her bracelet. Her heart grew heavy. "Not even Ruby."
He stares at her for a long moment in shock before nodding, making himself comfortable and patiently waiting for her explanation. Weiss' stomach turns with hesitation.
"I'm-" She couldn't tell anybody… But, she needed to get this off of her shoulders. Sure, she could talk to Winter, but unfortunately her sister couldn't be of much help, despite trying her best. Weiss avoids eye contact with Sun. "My father is searching for me…"
He tilts his head and chuckles. "Well, yeah, I'd be worried, too, if my daughter ran off while she was pregnant."
Weiss laughs a little bit, "No, I meant that he's searching for me to bring me back to Atlas… I can't go back." Sun's mouth clamps shut and he leans forward, giving Weiss silent permission to continue. "Sun, my baby is a child conceived outside of marriage, outside of engagement, Father won't be very happy… He threatened to have my baby aborted."
"He can't do anything." Sun frowns at her, "You're the mother, you have a say in what happens with your kid."
She forces a laugh, "Gods, I wish that was true…" She reaches up to rub at her forehead, "If he allowed me to keep my baby, he would make sure I didn't have any influence on them…He would either destroy me to the point I don't have the bravery to fight back against him, just like he did with my mother," she hesitates, "or he would use my baby's safety against me, their lives depending on how I behave."
Sun's tail lashes behind him as he struggles to comprehend what she was saying.
Weiss' brow twitches. "I'm here because my father is a psychopath who wants my child dead and if he didn't, he could turn my child against me, and my sister thinks being on the run is safer than being at home." She pauses, "Which I guess is true, because if he let me keep my baby he would legally deem my bastard child as a disgrace to the family and make sure their childhood is terrible." She looks at him again. "Is that better?" She asks with an annoyed voice.
"I suppose." Sun rubs his chin in thought, "So you're on the run because your father would do terrible things to you and your child." Weiss nods and he frowns at her, a tiny smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You're running from things you think would happen… Just like someone else I know." He sighs, "You and Blake are more similar than you think, Weiss…"
Apparently he didn't hear the part about the forced abortion. "I know." Weiss murmurs in agreement, a slight pang of longing pulling at her heart. She'd had Blake promise to come to them, their team, whenever she had a problem, she'd asked her to trust them, yet she was running from her own. What a hypocrite she was… "How is Blake, by the way?"
Sun grins happily, his eyes lighting up at the mention of his friend. "Oh, she's doing great actually! Last I spoke with her, she was very happy that she'd been reunited with her team, and a certain someone!" He winks at her and Weiss smirks, matching the man's knowing expression, "She's managed to overcome most of her fears, too." He claps his hands together excitedly, "Man! You should've seen how she arrived at Haven with half of Menagerie behind her! Because of her, the White Fang has fallen apart and Ilia even-"
"Who?" Weiss cuts him off.
"She's an old friend of Blake's, they were in the White Fang together." He waves his hand, "But at the last moment, she decided to ditch the White Fang and joined our side! It's only because of her that Haven wasn't destroyed!" He smiles, "She's really cool, once you get to know her of course. At first, I absolutely couldn't stand the witch." Sun laughs, pressing his hand to a certain spot on his shoulder and shrugs, "But apparently Blake managed to get through to her. So all's good!"
Well, apparently Blake was doing pretty good. A small, thankful smile comes to Weiss' lips, grateful that her friend had begun growing during their time apart. She was becoming stronger and she'd stopped running away from her fears, she'd learned that she can depend on others to have her back. Even after everything that's happened, after everything that she was afraid would happen happened, she'd managed to pull through. 'I'm proud of you.'
"And Yang? How is she doing…?"
Sun chuckles again, more than happy to fill her in on everything. "Well, she has a new arm now!" Confusion crosses Weiss' face and she opens her mouth to ask how, but he beats her to it. "A robotic arm! She combined her gauntlet into it, or at least it looked like it. I didn't really speak to her," he shrugs, "but she looks like she's doing a lot better than the last time we- I mean, you saw her." He sighs sadly, "There's a depressed air around her, but I can imagine it'll be there for a while… I mean I don't blame her, honestly."
There was only one person left to ask about.
Weiss' heart tightens and she feels her world crash down around her, she averts her eyes and stands to her feet, leaning over the side of the train cart as the winds whip all around her, helping her clear the many thoughts racing through her mind like a bullet. She didn't know if she wanted to know. What if Ruby had already moved on and forgotten about her? What if she didn't care for her anymore?
Sun's voice is gentle. "Ruby's doing the best she can." Weiss brushes her dyed purple hair out of her face and looks at the man, who had come to stand beside her in a relaxed pose, leaning over the side and staring off into the distance, his tail flicks behind him. "But I know that she misses you," Weiss' heart does a flip before clenching with guilt, "Blake asked about you and… Well, you know that look she gets when she doesn't want anybody to know that she's hurting?"
"Yeah."
"She got that look on her face and she said she doesn't know," he looks at her remorsefully, "but she is aware that you're missing from Atlas with absolutely no trace a few days ago…"
Her hands clutch the metal of the cart, she swallows the cry rising up inside of her throat and rests her forehead on her knuckles, shielding her face from the wind and listening to the vibration from the train quickly moving across the tracks, the carts rocking and bumping behind it. Weiss lifts her head with a blank expression. "She's worried about me."
"Mhm." Sun agrees as he waves his tail in thought. "I won't tell anybody where you are, and that we met," Weiss whispers a thanks under her breath, but he didn't seem to hear over the chugging of the train, "but don't forget that you're not the only one hurting… Your absence hurts your team, it hurts Ruby, just like it does for you to be away from them." He sighs, "Except they don't know if you're alive."
"I know." She clutches the railing again and she tilts her head back, her heart twisting inside of her as agony rises up in the pit of her stomach, causing a huge lump to form around her chest area. She swallows hard. "I really, really wish I could tell them… But, the more people who know of my whereabouts…"
Sun finishes for her, "The more likely you are to be caught." Mischief flashes across his face and Weiss glares at him, he chuckles innocently. "You know… There is a little farm boy who happens to have a lil' crush on your girl."
Jealousy shot through Weiss faster than a speeding bullet. "What?" Her voice was cold, almost malicious. "Who? Why? What are his intentions with my Ruby?" Her last words cause an empty feeling to spread from her chest throughout her body. Why was she being so possessive…?
They weren't together anymore… Ruby should be free to move on. Her fingers move to touch the bracelet Ruby gave her, running over the engraving.
"I'm-... I'm sorry." She whispers as Sun chuckles again, "I guess I'm still in love with her…"
"I know." Sun says softly and supportively, "Don't worry, she doesn't have any romantic interest in him as far as I can tell. I was just teasing." He reaches into his jeans pocket to remove a black wallet-like item, he offers her a handful of lien under the wind of the moving train and Weiss eyes him suspiciously, "Yes, I stole it," he raises a brow at her and Weiss turns away, "but you and your baby need this more than I do." Weiss sighs and she begrudgingly accepts the lien from her friend. "Now, promise me that you'll take care of yourself."
Weiss scowls at him and he raises a brow, unphased by it. "Weiss, I'm serious. Carrying a baby takes more out of you than you think it will... Take it from someone who has five siblings."
Wait, what?
The train was slowing down.
"Thanks." Weiss murmurs, preparing herself to get off the train once it slows down enough. She smiles at him and Sun flashes her a bright, supportive grin. "I appreciate it, Sun… I really needed someone to talk to," she looks away and her chest becomes heavy, "thank you for informing me about my teammates."
"Not a problem!" Sun says confidently, puffing his chest out. Weiss rolls her eyes, "Anyway, Whisper Blossom, right?" Weiss nods and the man checks his scroll, letting out a hum as he skims through the holographic map of Vale. "Your stop is about eight hours away, mine is nearly ten." Weiss feels her stomach drop, but he smiles at her as an attempt to lift her spirits. "In the meantime, I can teach you what I know about livin' the free life!"
Well, he's survived this long without being caught… "Okay." Weiss murmurs as Sun slides his scroll back into his jeans pocket. "What's first?"
Sun retreats from the side of the freight and lifts himself up on the other end, straddling the metal and causing Weiss to cringe in false pain.
"There are some cameras just ahead, but I know a way we can avoid them. Come with me." He informs her as he descends over and disappears out of her side, Weiss crosses the train cart, groaning when her shoe becomes stuck in the dark soil. Growling under her breath, she looks down to see Sun hanging onto the side and navigating his way to the front of the train carts.
Carefully, Weiss descends down and breathes in deeply, calming herself before she steadies herself on the side of the vibrating crate and slowly following Sun, mimicking his movements and relying on her upper body strength to save her. "Hey!" She calls to the man, feeling rather unsafe without a proper footing beneath her.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Sun calls back with a laugh.
She scowls at him. "Does it look like I know what I'm doing?!"
He just laughs again, she looks up; he was a whole freight ahead of her. "Watch this!" He hollers back, the wind carrying his voice. The blond man braces himself on the other side of the cart door and uses his tail, wrapping it into a hook, to withdraw the lock and Weiss' expression morphs into one of shock. Sun carelessly lets the pin holding the door in place drop and opens the door with a kick of his feet. "Come on!"
Yeah, she wouldn't be able to do that.
Weiss growls and she steps across to the other wagon with extreme caution, all of her senses on high alert as her balance is put to the test; it was like walking trapeze. Fear strikes into her heart as she stares down at the train tracks rapidly moving below her.
"I thought the train was slowing down?!" She hollers as she crosses the gap between the carts and over to the open door. Sun grins at her from the inside and she sneers at him in response, bracing one hand on the other side and shifting her body weight inside before completely moving. Her feet hit the stabilized metal floor and she releases a heavy sigh of relief, feeling like a ton of weight has been washed away.
"Yay you did it." Sun claps his hands together sarcastically. "I knew you could."
"Shut up!" Weiss snaps. Sun just laughs as Weiss seats herself across from him, now only dimly aware of the rattling door to her left. "Are you sure we're out of sight?" She murmurs, worrying that somehow the cameras would peer inside. "I mean, people do this all the time-"
Sun cuts her off. "Weiss, you're the first person I've met stoawaying on a train in a long time." He waves his hand in a weird way as if to prove his point somehow. "But, I'll admit… I appreciate the company."
Weiss stares at her friend for a long moment and her brows furrow in worry, "Sun, tell me," he looks at her with kind eyes, awaiting her question patiently, "how long have you been doing this?"
He grins broadly, "Since I was fifteen!" He answers proudly, jabbing his thumb at his chest with a smug expression, "My youngest brother had just been born, and my father was-" Sun trails off and he becomes hesitant, rubbing his neck, "My father was taken away," Weiss already knew how and why, Sun's voice remains cheery, but it almost monotone, "and since I'm the oldest, I needed to support our family for my Mother. So, I managed to get a job on the other side of Vacuo, I didn't want to use my Mother's lien, so I traveled by train."
Sun continues as Weiss moves over to sit next to him, listening to his story with interest. "My first time boarding a train, I didn't know what I was doing so I climbed on between two freights. I got lucky enough to not be caught." A train was given a security check every so often during their stops. "But my second time, I met some older guy who had been traveling by train since he was twelve." He pauses for a moment, rubbing his chin in thought. "We'll call him Sniper because he was very observant and tactical. Anyway, Sniper asked what I was doing and I told him, so he showed me the ropes! He taught me everything I know!"
The former heiress remains quiet for a little while, noticing that the blond's eyes had become sad and grievous. "What… Happened to him?"
Sun lets out a forced chuckle. "I don't know. I was supposed to meet up with him when I was seventeen for my first trip outside of Vacuo," he looks at her, "he never showed up." Sun shook his head and he leaned back against the wall behind him, "Well, anyway, how long do you think you'll be on the run?" Weiss only shrugs. "I can teach you what I know on the way to your next stop, if you'd like?"
Weiss smiles a little, "Sure."