The sun was shining bright and hot as it did every day in the kingdom of Vacuo, the city was bustling with life as the vendors set up their large, colorful tents and the shops propped open the wooden shutters to display their wares. The smells of fresh baked bread, slow roasting meat and sweet floral and honey cut through the dull desert air and the crowds begin to emerge from the side streets into the city center; locals for their regular errands and travellers for much needed supplies for their upcoming desert treks to distant villages. It was all so exciting for Sun Wukong's small seven year old senses.
He tugged eagerly at his mother's hand, feeling she was going far too slow for his liking, but he knew letting go of her hand in the city center was something he should never do, it wasn't safe she had told him insistently over and over again every time his curiosity drew him away from her side. Wide ocean blue eyes scanned the area, taking in the colors and the shapes as his nostrils flared in an effort to pull in every smell the marketplace had to offer, his small, golden tail swished side to side with impatience.
"Mom, come onnnn!" he whined as he tugged again, "I can smell naan bread cooking somewhere! And look, there's that lady with the birds!"
"I see, Sunshine," his mother's voice was patient as ever and she laughed gently as she sped up her walk to satiate his excitement a bit, letting him lead her towards the aforementioned lady who had exotic birds for sale.
Sun stared in awe as the lady held out her arm and a bright red and green parrot with long, gorgeous tail feathers walked out onto her wrist. It cawked at him and Sun burst into a fit of giggles and it wasn't long before the bird and the boy were bobbing their head together and Sun had taught to it say his name...but his mother had to get her shopping done and she had to keep him moving or they would be wandering around the marketplace the entire day meeting everyone in the area and sampling every stall.
"Sun, come along now," she insisted, and Sun followed with his tail drooped and dragging on the ground as he looked sadly over his shoulder at the bird as it croaked 'Bye-Bye, Sun!' at him. "I know you want one but it's something we just can't do right now...maybe one day your father and I will be able to afford one for you but you must be good and patient."
"I know mom," Sun sighed and broke his eye contact with the bird, looking ahead now to the stall they were approaching and his perked up immediately at the sight of all the fruit and vegetables in the tilted boxes.
"Here you go," Fawn Wukong handed her son a small basket padded with red checkered cloth and then a slip of paper with the names of several kinds of produce on it, "Now, read the list and when you've got it all, bring me the basket."
Sun squinted at the paper with all the concentration he could muster, falling silent and thoughtful as he slowly made his way down the list, picking out the best five apples he could find, a bag of potatoes, several shocks of leafy greens with bright red beets on the ends...by the time he had finished the list he could barely lift the basket and he set it heavily in his mother's hand with a sigh. He kept silent, but he hadn't seen bananas on the list and he felt a great bit of disappointment…
"What an excellent job, Sun!" His mother praised him as she checked the list against the basket's contents, and she brushed her own tail, golden to match her son's, over his head to ruffle his choppy blonde hair. "You got every item I asked for! Smart little monkeys get to pick out one treat from the shopkeeper."
Sun's droopy tail and his droopy face came to life immediately and he immediately pointed up at the bunches of ripe, yellow bananas hanging from the archway. "I need a banana, sir!" he piped up. He eagerly peeled it as soon as it was in his hands and he happily munched away at it while his mother paid for their produce, adding a dozen bananas to the basket.
They continued their shopping, gathering the essentials and their final stop was the mercantile stand where his mother picked out a two foot section of rough, sturdy green material she declared would be used to reupholster the outdoor chairs on their patio. And then the pair were headed home...neither having any idea that this was the last time they would ever enjoy the morning at the market together.
Sol Wukong was a tall man, with hair the color of fire and eyes as blue as the sky on a clear day and a smile that could brighten a room...there was something that Sol lacked however: a tail. Sun had most definitely taken after his mother with his light blonde hair and golden tail, which made sense because Faunus traits always came out in a human/Faunus child...but he had gotten his human father's eyes.
"What's that in your hand, Sunny Boy?" he asked brightly when Sun ran to meet him at the door, "Ah, I see, your mom is cooking beets isn't she?"
Sun smiled up at his father, beet stained hands reaching up to him and red stained lips curling into a toothy smile. Despite the mess, he scooped up his son and spun him around while making a noise like he was flying which caused Sun to burst into giggles and delighted squeals. His dad laughed along and set him down with an overdramatic groan.
"Sun, you're getting so big, pretty soon I won't be able to make you fly anymore! You're going to be tall like me, I can already tell."
Sun puffed out his bare little chest proudly before scampering back to the kitchen with his father close behind and he giggled again when his parents kissed each other hello.
"Eeewwwww," he curled his nose up and made a disgusted face.
"Oh, you hush," his mother laughed, "One day you'll see what the fuss is all about."
"No, gross! Kissing is yucky!"
His father smiled for a little while longer and then he sighed and turned to his wife and held both her hands, his expression and demeanor clearly showed he had something to tell he that he knew she wouldn't like to hear.
"Fawn, I know I said last week was the last meeting for a while, but the White Fang have caused some trouble on the outskirts of the city and there was some violent retaliation...the city council has invited us to speak in support of the peace efforts...and it's tonight."
Sun watched, only half interested in the conversation, but he knew enough to know his other wasn't overly pleased with the invitation and he didn't understand why.
"Sol, you always spring things like this on me out of nowhere," she sighed with a roll of her eyes, "I wish that you would give me some time to prepare...I know, I know, you didn't know about it till today either." She sighed again, but this time she was smiling, gazing at her husband with soft eyes and she shook her head in easy defeat, "Oh, alright, you're right, it's a cause we can't ignore."
Sol embraced his wife, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head before nuzzling his nose into the blonde waves. "One day...I hope the rest of the world can see that we're not so different. It's so pointless, all this hate over a few genetic differences…"
"All we can do is be an example of how easy it is." Fawn agreed.
Sun liked his babysitter, her name was Lapis and she let him use her scroll to watch cat videos and listen to music, and she gave him snacks and junk food and let him stay up late. However, this time she had insisted it was getting far too late to stay up and wait for his parents, so he was hyped up on chocolate covered bananas, hanging by his tail on his closet door playing with the necklace hanging from his neck when the knock at the door made him jerk in surprise and he lost his grip and thunked onto the floor, but he scrambled up and peeked out his bedroom door and carefully tiptoed down the hall and saw Lapis heading for the door. He quickly and quietly crossed the room behind her and hid behind the couch by the open window.
"Who is it?" Lapis asked.
"Vacuo City Police, ma'am. Please open the door." The sound of the voice sent a chill up Sun's spine, there was nothing truly frightening about the voice itself...but there was something in the tone that he didn't like, but couldn't quite understand why.
Lapis opened the door immediately and revealed a large man with donkey-like ears poking through his police cap, at his side stood a thin, balding man in a gray suit. Sun didn't recognize either of them but he remained silent and watched and listened.
"This is the residence of Sol and Fawn Wukong, correct?"
"What's happened?" Lapis asked, her voice was shaking.
"And...you," The police officer began delicately, "I take it you're caring for the boy for the evening while the parents are out at the peace meeting?"
"Yes...but they're late…they were supposed to be back two hours ago." Sun looked up at the clock on the wall and his heart clenched in his chest. His mother had told him they would be back when the short hand pointed at the ten...but it was almost to the twelve.
"There was…..an attack."
"An attack…?" Lapis' voice was trembling more than before, "Please….no…."
"I'm afraid so. Their bodies were found a few blocks from the city hall," the officer finally delivered his news, his terrible news, "There was nothing anyone could do for them."
Lapis' breath caught in her throat and she clapped her hand over his mouth to try and stop the cry that she released. It failed and her wailing sent a shiver up Sun's spine, a dread he had never felt before in his short life. He stood then, slowly and almost robotically stepping out from behind the chair.
"Lapis? What's wrong?" he asked numbly, "It's ok...mom and dad….they'll come back...they will, they said so." His voice was dull, monotone, his eyes blankly staring at the two men in the doorway. "Tell her, mister….tell her...I don't want her to cry…"
The man in the gray suit approached him, his gnarled hands over his heart as if in pity, and he knelt down in front of Sun's trembling little figure. He laid his hand on his shoulder and Sun felt a strong urge to throw up, the touch sent an immediate fear into his very soul and it took all his courage not to yank away from the touch.
"Ah, little one, I'm afraid the officer is correct...you parents won't be coming back, not tonight, not ever. But don't worry, I have a place for you to stay where it's safe and you'll be with other children to help you…"
"No."
The man stopped speaking, and Sun saw a flash of annoyance in the dull brown eyes of this stranger, the grip on his shoulder tightened a bit and although his head was spinning, nothing making sense around him, he knew one thing for certain: this man was bad.
"No!" he yanked away from the icy hand, his blue eyes burning with tears as he glared and bared his tiny fangs, "You're LYING! I'M NOT GOING!"
"Yes. You are." The old man's false tone of kindness was gone, the flash of anger he had seen earlier was now a firmly constant presence, the icy hand reached out again and Sun knew he had to get away.
The Faunus spun on his heels, keeping his tail tucked close to avoid it being grabbed during his retreat, and he sprinted on all fours across the room and over the couch and out the window into the cold desert night.
Run.
But where?
It doesn't matter right now, just run and keep running and don't stop until you can't run any longer!
I will. I will.
And he did. Sun ran, alternating between all fours and his two feet, until he couldn't take another step, his lung fit to burst, and he skidded to a stop. When he looked around him he didn't recognize anything, and the adrenaline began to wear off while fear took its place. Where was he? What was he doing? Where could he go? He had to find them. He would find them.
But he was too exhausted to go on and he was too cold and he was too blinded by his tears and body wracking sobs of fear and sorrow to think clearly. He couldn't go on, not another step, not another breath, and he laid down on the street, tail tucked around his leg, and despite the cold and brokenness and the hopelessness...he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.
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Dang, it's been awhile since I posted here...like QUITE a while. But….I latched onto a character and RWBY's doing him dirty so I figured someone should tell his backstory! At least, the backstory I made up anyway! Get ready for some serious angst!