As fate would have it, Cin has a home in the city of Shade. While she may not be from Vacuo, and she may still be a member of the Fang, it turns out that she's been living here for the past several months with her little brother. There's also the matter of said little brother, but I'm getting ahead of myself- the two most important things to begin explaining the events of today are that the city of Shade is an absolutely beautiful mess, and Cin has invited me to stay at her home for the next several days. Both of those facts surprised me quite a bit, but looking back, I don't think either one should have done so.

Beginning with Shade, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. The entire "city", such that it is, is in the formation of loose, concentric rings around the steppe pyramid of Shade Academy. The innermost ring is a seemingly endless loop of market stalls, taverns, brothels, and the occasional small business that make up the bazaar. Most of the stalls are simple wooden frames with worn, hole-ridden, brightly-colored fabric draped lazily over the upper part to serve as shade for the vendors who hawk goods at anyone who cares to listen. Occasionally, there is a more sophisticated giant tent that serves as a shop between stalls, and it is within those that more expensive goods can typically be found.

The air within the market hangs heavily around the area with the scent of exotic spices, smoked meat, heady perfumes, and unwashed people. It's a jarring, somehow pleasant mixture that showcases the unique blend of classes and peoples that make up all of Vacuo. It feels as though the bazaar itself has always been here, and some errant wind merely uncovered it from beneath the desert sands. The entire ring fits so perfectly against the backdrop of the Academy and the surrounding desert that it gives off a strange welcoming vibe. I have a feeling I'll be spending much of the next few days there, haggling for goods and information so that I can determine my next move. There's also the possibility that the people here might know more about Cin, and her apparent family.

The next, larger ring around the bazaar is made up of houses and hostels. More large tents, much like the ones housing the more expensive goods in the market, dot the perimeter of the "housing" ring, while mud-brick adobes make up the majority of the available lodging. Cin's house is one of those, and one of very few that sports an upper floor. I am currently writing from a deck chair upon the rather large balcony, late into the night. Torches in brackets on the outside walls of several homes allow me to see quite a bit of the other houses around us, and countless other lights from within the bazaar make it seem like the sun never sets inside of the city itself. Endless music and bustle emanates from the inner ring even now, and if we were unfortunate enough to have only a tent, I honestly have no idea how I would be able to sleep. I imagine that this is what being trapped inside a beehive must feel like.

I will admit, this situation of busy nightlife isn't all bad, and despite the constant noise, it's somehow comforting. I can't remember the last time I had the opportunity to lay up in an actual house, and this is quite a nice one, by Vacuan standards. While the inside of the home is only sparsely decorated with furniture, Cin has taken the time to display a few pieces of artwork like masks, sculptures, and paintings. Nothing seems to be of great value, and it would seem that most, if not all of it, was made by her or her brother. There is little of value here for would-be thieves to pilfer while she is away, but the place is cozy, all the same. Her habit of burning incense around the house helps with that, and I can still smell the fragrant smoke all the way out here. The invisible tendrils of odor seem to almost be pulling me back inside, but I won't head back in to join my host until I recount the other events of today. After all, without that, it would be impossible to explain the teenage male faunus currently snoring lightly upon the chair next to mine.

When Cin said she wanted to deliver some packages from the caravan to a building right up against the edge of the outer ring of Shade, I was somewhat surprised. The outer ring is made up almost entirely of guard posts and barracks for the men patrolling the perimeter of the city, and the notion of the Fang being associated with the guards was a potentially worrying one. Oddly and fortunately enough, there is one building that doesn't fit that description, and it is one of very few structures in Shade made out of wood. The two of us drove a small truck between the outermost and housing rings and straight up to the porch of the odd looking building, with two tightly-bound, cube-shaped packages the size of hay bales in the bed of the vehicle.

Several children waited for us just outside of the dark green structure, and one child who seemed to be in the middle of his teenage years led the pack straight to us as we stepped out of the vehicle. I was somewhat surprised to see the outlier head straight for Cin, and I was more surprised when the two shared a quick kiss and embrace. When Cin introduced the boy who looks absolutely nothing like her as her brother, I believe my mind completely shut down, and when she explained that the building we were delivering to was an orphanage, I gave up entirely on trying to piece together what was happening. I think doing so actually made understanding the situation easier.

Almost immediately after embracing his sister, the younger boy offered me his hand, and a wide, innocent grin. For whatever reason, he treated me almost as though I was a friend that he hadn't seen in ages, and he later told me that any friend of Cin's was someone worth treating like a hero. I think that alone says more about the boy I came to know as Sun Wukong than anything else, really. He adores his big sister, and their small and subtle interactions made it quite clear to me that she feels the same way toward him. While they may not be blood related, they have a bond that I'll readily admit I am envious of. It was certainly a nice thing to see, and his presence brought about more genuine smiles from Cin, so I really can't complain. All in all, I like the boy, and the constant positive energy he seems to radiate from every pore is a nice contrast to his sister.

In addition to his relationship with my companion, Sun is impressive in his own right. I would guess that he is 14, maybe 15 or 16 at absolute most, and if he wasn't so pure and innocent of an individual, I would also guess that he heavily abuses illegal steroids. The boy's arms are thicker than my neck, and his abs, which he keeps on constant display through a perpetually unbuttoned dress shirt, look more like an arrangement of smoothed stones than muscles that an actual person his age could develop. He easily puts my physique to shame, and I am not at all somewhat secretly bitter about that fact. Sun also has golden blonde hair befitting of his namesake and baby blue eyes, along with a monkey tail that seems to almost have a mind of its own. The extra limb curls and twists behind him when he's excited, or thinking. It's quite honestly adorable, and adds to his boyish charm.

Sun is an overall pleasant, helpful individual, and he wasted no time assisting us in carrying the large parcels into the orphanage. Despite the sand and wind-worn exterior of the building, the inside is surprisingly well maintained. Sun eventually explained to me, merely an hour or so ago, that he grew up within the orphanage, and it was the only home he ever knew until he met Cin, only a year before the present. As no one saw fit to adopt him, Sun eventually became a fixture of the place, and grew into a position of taking care of the other, younger children. The older couple who still runs the orphanage have come to rely upon him to do repairs, sort out conflicts, and just generally keep the place running. I didn't have the heart to suggest that they're using him, but I don't know if Sun even sees it that way. He calls it volunteer work, because of course he does. I have a bad feeling that one day, his kind and outgoing nature is going to lead him down a road of disappointment and heartbreak. I hope that I am wrong, but I seldom am when it comes to pessimistic thoughts.

The three of us spent quite a bit of time at the orphanage, and I get the feeling it was far longer than Cin intended to stay. After we dropped off the goods to a waiting supply room in the basement, Sun prepared tea for the three of us and insisted that we stay and catch up on things. I know when I'm a third wheel, so I decided rather quickly that I was going to stay relatively quiet throughout the exchange. At first, I got away with it, too, as the unrelated siblings were content to discuss what had gone on in Shade during Cin's absence. Apparently, it had been a month since she had been back to Shade, and Sun was left alone to watch the house when not volunteering his time at the orphanage. While the notion was sweet, I was blindsided by two things in rapid succession.

First and foremost, Sun asked if I knew the details of Cin's work. I said that I was largely unaware, but assumed that she was more or less wandering muscle looking for a job, like me. I was quickly corrected by the boy, and informed that Cin is supposedly a mail carrier for items of value all throughout Vacuo. According to Sun, his sister's job is escort and protection, and it always has been, ever since she was old enough to strike out on her own. A whole field of red flags surfaced in my mind as I listened to his examples of a few of her past adventures. The final nail in the coffin housing my optimism was when he told me that Cin supposedly grew up in a small, nomadic village out in the desert, and that the traveling lifestyle gave her the idea for such a unique career.

Last night, Cin told me that she was born in Atlas. I can think of only two possibilities, and neither one is good. The first possibility is that she's been lying to me, this is all a huge misunderstanding, and I may have jumped to conclusions far too quickly about her involvement with the White Fang. The other possibility is that she's been lying to Sun, he has no idea that she's with the Fang, despite their supposed closeness and recent development into a patchwork "family", and Cin has no problems with the inconsistencies beginning to surface because she either hasn't realized her missteps with me, or she's toying with me, and knows that I know the truth. No matter which of the two possibilities it is, something isn't right, and I'm determined to get to the bottom of it. All I can be sure of right now is that I need to be careful, and that Sun needs to be kept out of the confrontation between Cin and I at all costs, until I know exactly what's going on.

The second surprise came while I was still trying to process and recover from the first. Cin finally joined the conversation, only to point out that she still didn't know much about me, but she was interested in keeping me around for the foreseeable future. Sun backed her up on that notion for reasons that I didn't quite understand at the time, and insisted that I begin to share a bit about myself. Caught between two other faunus, a throng of children parading about the building, and a chipped teacup, I didn't really have a choice but begin to explain why and how I do what I do, and a little bit of where I came from. The pair across the table from me listened intently as I told them a slightly edited version of the truth about my upbringing in Harold's Folly, Higanbana, and my return to Vacuo afterward. I'm not sure how much I can trust either of them anymore, and I'm also not sure I would tell anyone the entire truth, just yet. Not even myself, within these pages.

The rest of the conversation at the orphanage was relatively uneventful, and consisted largely of small talk. Once the sky turned from a vibrant, almost eye-searing blue to a dark blanket of navy, Cin stood and informed us that she needed to stop by the Academy before the end of the day to speak to her friend. I offered to remain behind with Sun and help him with whatever needed doing around the orphanage before heading back to Cin's place with him, and fortunately, she accepted the offer. My intent was to subtly collect more information about her from what seems to be a reliable source, but the outcome was something very different. I suppose I may never learn.

Halfway through drying whatever dishes Sun handed me, the boy asked if we could privately discuss his sister. Given that such a thing was perfectly aligned with my goals, I eagerly, and too quickly, agreed to do so. It was then that Sun told me that he had literally never seen Cin so comfortable around someone she had worked with, and that I should keep "doing whatever it is I'm doing to get her to look at me the way she does". Naturally, when I asked him how she looks at me, he couldn't formulate an answer, because that would be informative and helpful in my decision making process, and the entire world insists on making me feel as uncomfortable as possible at all times. Half of me wanted to thank him for the flattery, and the other half of me wanted to spike the plate in my hands directly into his stupid, innocent, well-meaning, handsome face.

I cannot help but wonder if Sun has ever seen Cin with another member of the Fang, unknowingly. It seems likely that he has, and if what he said is true, that fact isn't encouraging. I may not know how I feel about her overall, but I do know that in a general sense, she deserves to smile more. I've decided that at least for as long as we're at her house here in Shade, I'm going to make an attempt to make that happen, without considering the potential costs. When it comes to the next "job" she has in mind, I'll reevaluate my stance. For now, I'm going to locate and drape a blanket over Cin's exhausted little brother, and then join her within her bed. I need to get some sleep before I meet this "Shiv Lazuli" person tomorrow, so that I can hope to impress him with my stunning wit, charming smile, and total bewilderment as to what the hell is going on in my life anymore. If nothing else, at least I have a willing companion to keep warm throughout the night.

And spines to avoid.

Author's Note:

With that, Sun's Arboretum arc has officially begun. It's going to be quite a journey. Potentially to the West.

Nailed it.

Also, this update went up early because reasons. Reasons.

-RD