A small, pained groan escaped Sun as he shifted within the small cot. The haze of sleep weighed heavily upon him, and he felt as though he hadn't moved in months. A second, softer noise echoed in the small cabin as he felt a curious warmth shift against his back, and he looked over his shoulder to find Ilia pressed up against him beneath a thin sheet.
"Hey. Get some more sleep," Sun said as he shifted from his side to his back. He put a gentle hand upon Ilia's shoulder, and the girl looked at him through lidded eyes. "I just need some air."
"Mmph," the girl replied as she rolled over once again to face the featureless white wall of the cabin. Sun offered his friend a soft smirk as she closed her eyes, and he slid to the edge of the bed to let his feet touch down upon the deep blue carpet.
As he looked out across the room, something immediately struck the boy as wrong- Maria and Jaune were sound asleep in their own cots on the perpendicular wall, but both Weiss and Yang were missing from the bed across from his. Sun put a hand up to his head and tried to massage away the headache that sprang forth as he began to recall the previous night's events. He used his free hand to fish his scroll from his pocket and took a look at the time, before exhaling in frustration.
It was only four in the morning.
Sun muttered a soft curse to himself as he shook his head and rose from the bed, taking care to make as little noise as possible while his bare feet sank into the carpet. He meandered his way to the small bathroom in the hall and locked the door before relieving himself. With another sigh, he washed his hands and looked into the mirror. The gaunt, expressionless face of Adam Taurus stared back, blood trailing from his lower lip as the life in his eyes faded quickly.
Sun took several steps backward and impacted the wall with a noisy thump as he raised his hands, suddenly feeling very much awake. His breathing quickened as he looked through the small darkened room once again and found an entirely different reflection within the glass. A shirtless boy in his late teens returned Sun's gaze, his chin encircled by a short blonde chinstrap beard that matched his wild, matted hair. The reflection's nose was slightly angled and had obviously been shifted as a result of a messy break, and his eyes were very much alive. The reflection continued to breathe hard as Sun closed the distance and put his hands upon the edges of the sink, unable to break eye contact.
"Shit,' Sun whispered as a myriad of emotions and thoughts battled for dominance within his chest. "I need sleep. I need to get a grip. I… need to lead."
Sun watched as his doppelganger mimicked his words, until he finally brought his eyes down into the basin of the sink. He took in one final, heavy breath through his nose before blowing it out through his mouth, and then nodded once again to his reflection. A slight twinge of frustration caused him to grip the porcelain a bit harder as he thought of Adam's dying moments once again, but he quickly fought it down as best he could. He tried shifting his mind to Blake, only for a stinging sensation to threaten tears at the corners of his eyes to replace his momentary anger. At a loss for what to do, Sun tore his gaze from the mirror and peered out into the hall, toward the bedroom.
There was no movement in the narrow corridor or the room beyond, and the entire boat seemed eerily silent beyond the occasional, gentle creaking of plastic and metal as the vessel bobbed upon the surface of the ocean.
Sun allowed himself a silent nod before he stepped out into the hall and began to head in the opposite direction. It wasn't long before he reached the steps leading up to the upper level of the boat, where Yang stood facing away from him inside of a small enclosure. The girl had her hand upon the ship's steering wheel as she sat in a plushy chair, her attention on the waters ahead. Sun hesitated before clearing his throat and stepping into the semicircle of metal that made up the captain's cabin.
"Please tell me you're not planning on driving all night," he said in a hushed voice. Yang merely looked over her shoulder, most of her frame hidden by the massive chair.
"The rest of it, yeah," Yang replied before chasing her statement with a massive yawn. "Jaune actually took the first shift, after you fell asleep. I volunteered to cover us until seven, and then you're up. Might as well go back to bed while you can."
"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep," Sun admitted as he folded his arms across his bare chest. He shivered lightly as the sea air tingled against his exposed arms. "I… I've got a lot on my mind."
Yang grimaced before turning around in her seat once again. "I can't imagine killing someone is easy."
"Killing comes easily, with enough practice. You'll see," Adam's voice replied within his head, as clear as day. Sun could still picture the burning forest around Haven Academy within his mind, and hear Ilia screaming for help until he shook his head with a more pronounced shiver.
"No. No, it's not. It wasn't," Sun said quickly. "But I had to. We had to, to protect ourselves, and maybe even protect the world. Adam was… he was…"
"It's okay," Yang interrupted. "None of us are judging you. You saved Weiss' life, and secured our escape. We'll all be here for you, whatever that looks like."
"Thanks, I appreciate it," Sun replied automatically, though he felt completely hollow. He paused briefly, before shifting his weight as his tail twisted uncomfortably behind himself. "Do you know where Weiss got off to? Is her shoulder alright?"
"Back of the ship, and yeah- Jaune mostly took care of it, though she said it's sore," Yang said with a sigh. "She couldn't sleep either and said she wants to be alone. Your call."
Sun turned to peek around the large, raised plastic wall that blocked the view of the staircase from the top level of the boat, only to spot Weiss rather easily. The heiress stood with her hands gripped around the metal railing, her unbound snow white hair reflecting the moonlight and giving her entire upper body an almost ghostly glow. She wore a pale blue nightie that reminded him quite a bit of Blake's sleepwear, and the sight caused his heart to tug in longing.
"…you know I have to, right?" Sun asked as he looked back at Yang.
"I know. I would, too. Just speak from the heart," Yang advised. "It's all any of us can really do."
Sun merely nodded and began to make his way toward the back of the vessel. Without a word, he moved to stand beside Weiss and mirrored her stance as he watched the boat kick up frothy water in two symmetrical trails while it puttered along. Neither of the teens said anything for a long time, though Weiss beat Sun to the punch just as he tried to open his mouth to start a conversation.
"…my father ruined his life, and then I was forced to end it."
The words were simple, but enough to send a chill creeping up Sun's spine. He knew immediately what his companion was thinking, and yet, for once, he couldn't find the words to help.
"It isn't fair. Not just to us, but to him. To the entirety of the White Fang, to all of the faunus, even," Weiss insisted as she finally turned to look up at Sun. Her eyes were threatening to burst with tears at any second, and the sight brought back the hollow feeling in Sun's chest immediately. "I know that trading lives for others is unreasonable, foolish, and dramatic, and I'm not about to suggest it. But I also don't know how to deal with what I'm feeling. I know there wasn't another way, but I also don't know how to live with what we did."
At a total loss for what else to do, Sun merely opened his arms and offered a hug. Weiss immediately stepped into his embrace and put his core into a death grip unlike any he had ever felt. The faunus gently laid his hands upon Weiss' upper back as she began to sob, and Sun felt the familiar sensation of cold tears upon his bare chest.
"Weiss… I honestly don't know what to say. We had to defend ourselves. I had to defend you, and when it came down to your life or his, the choice was clear. I'm sorry that you had to be the one to land the killing blow, but…"
"It's not about that," Weiss protested as she leaned back and sniffed heavily. "It has nothing to do with the fact that I killed him. We're hunters, Sun. It was only a matter of time." Sun physically felt the sensation of himself going pale as he looked into Weiss' eyes, still finding tears, but also an unfamiliar, cold resolve. "It's about the fact that this is going to keep happening. It's about how my family has perpetuated ruined lives just like his for decades, and how until the dust company is taken away from my father, there are going to be more faunus like Adam Taurus being raised to harbor hatred and resentment as he was. They're all going to despise my name, and they're all going to be justified, even if their actions won't be."
Sun swallowed hard and found himself unable to look away from Weiss' captivating, chilling stare as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.
"…I know. And… Ilia's one of those people, too. She lost her parents in a mining accident, working for your father. The difference between her and Adam is that Blake I and were there for her, and we had to fight to get her to redirect her hatred. We barely succeeded," Sun explained slowly.
"…what if someone had been there for him?" Weiss questioned as she let her hands drop to her sides. Sun felt his shoulders tense, until he turned around and put a vice grip on the metal railing once again.
"…Cinnamon was. In the end, she was lying to him and manipulating him, just like she manipulated us, but… their relationship must have felt real, for him to trust her enough to follow through with their plan," Sun reasoned as he wrung his hands around the metal. "Maybe some people can't be saved. Maybe that's something we just have to accept, moving forward."
Weiss took a while to consider the words and folded her arms lightly upon her chest as she let her eyes linger upon Sun's back.
"…I don't know if I'm ready to accept that or not. I do know, however, that when we get to Atlas, once the relic is secured… I have two personal objectives. I want to save every future Adam Taurus that I can from those mines, and I'm going to make my father answer for his crimes against your people. Reaching General Ironwood has to come first for the good of all of Remnant, but once that's taken care of… those two things will be my focus. Any of you are welcome to join me, but I'm not wavering on this," Weiss finished as she gently shook her head.
Sun turned around, keeping his grip on the railing as he pressed his backside into the steel and let his tail wrap gently around the bar. "I'm in, and I know Ilia will be, too. No idea on Yang and Jaune, but… I'd guess they might want to stick with us. I hope they want to stick with us."
"Thank you, Sun," Weiss offered with a nod. "I knew that returning home would be incredibly personal and a struggle, but… all of this has opened my eyes to just how difficult it's going to be."
"Hey," Sun reassured as he unwrapped his tail from the railing and approached Weiss once again. "We're all here for ya. We're all here for each other, the way a team is meant t-"
Suddenly, Weiss rushed forward past Sun and put a death grip on the railing as she leaned forward, squinting.
"Sun! You can see better in the dark, is that a person!?"
Sun whirled immediately and joined Weiss at the railing. He craned his neck as he watched his friend point to a collection of bobbing wooden planks within the ocean, upon which a figure was desperately waving and trying to call out over the noise of the boat's engine.
"Yang!" Sun cried out as loud as he could while turning and breaking into a run for the front of the vessel. "Yang, stop the boat! We need to turn around, now!"
Author's Note:
We're finally back after a somewhat uneven, but mostly positive Volume 7, as far as I'm concerned. I'm definitely happy that I set up so many threads independent of canon in this story, because while there will be some familiar events, What You Stole Volume 7 is going to be very different. Get ready for a wild-ass ride that will go to a whole new level of madness, and a good 15-20 chapters (most likely) before we get to the next hiatus in preparation for Volume 8.
I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I am sure as hell not going back to 'once every three days' with this. It'll hopefully update once per week or once every other week at the latest. If you're a fan of this story and haven't yet checked out Arboretum, that would be cool, as it's definitely my main focus at the moment and updating weekly. Hope you're all excited for the return of What You Stole and everyone's favorite monkey boy getting the attention he deserves once again. See you all soon!
-RD