The horn of the ship bellowed as the great barge approached the harbor. Two young men stepped out onto the ship's deck alongside the ship's captain and shielded their eyes from the intense sunlight. They had finally arrived in Vacuo. The shorter of the two young men stopped at the railing of the ship and looked down at the docks, beyond the port, and the warehouses were few roads and an expansive desert.
"Well we made it," he said, "I knew it would be hot, but not this bad" he looked back to his companion, a burly seven-foot tall individual, "Well Brick what do you think?"
The larger young man stepped over to his friend and scanned their surroundings before looking down to him and quietly nodding.
"Yeah me too" the shorter boy replied turning back to the captain, "Thank you, Captain," he said handing the Captain a small case filled with money, "I threw in a bit extra for the food and all ."
"My pleasure," the Captain said, "Never had stowaways buy their way onto one of my ships before. Well, you two enjoy your stay in Vacuo ."
The two boys nodded and got off the ship before the rest of the crew spotted them, "This place is different from Mistral" the shorter one said to which his burly companion nodded with a grunt.
"What should we do first?" the shorter one asked, "Learn the lay of the land, start looking for work? What do you think?"
His companion silently raised his arm and pointed to a merchant who was counting his wares. His smaller friend agreed, and the two approached him. The shorter of the two young men called out to the dealer and introduced himself.
"My name is Sin," he said before nodding to his large friend, "This is Brick . We're new to Vacuo and were hoping you could direct us to some places of interest."
"That depends on what you're looking for," the merchant told him setting his log down, "The docks here are mostly just warehouses, there are a few places to eat, but nothing too fancy. There is a bus that will take you into the city that's where you'll find all the main attractions."
"Well we were thinking of staying here for a while, know any place that's looking for workers?"
The merchant looked up at Brick, "Well your friend here looks pretty strong, I think he could easily get a job here at the docks" he noticed Brick's rounded ears at the top of his head, "Oh you're a Faunus?"
Sin asked, "That's not a problem is it?"
"Not at all" the merchant replied, "You won't find much discrimination here in Vacuo. There aren't many laws out here, but there is one rule that everyone believes in. If you can survive here, then you are welcome here. And you're friend here looks like he could survive a lot."
"He's pretty tough," Sin said, "Well thanks for your help we won't keep you any longer."
"Good luck boys," the merchant said as they walked away.
Sin and Brick continued walking around for a while trying to become familiar with the area before moving on. The merchant wasn't kidding almost every single building around was a warehouse of some kind with only a few diners and a hotel that they could barely see in the heat distorted distance. Sin wiped his forehead and looked up at the sky, the sun was beating down on them, and they hadn't even been there an hour yet. Glancing up at Brick he noticed that while the mountain of a man was sweating, he didn't seem bothered by it. Sin looked down at his clothes he saw sweat stains seeping through the expensive fabric.
"No idea why I wore a suit out here" he complained, taking off the navy blue jacket and slinging it over his shoulder, "Going to have to find some more appropriate clothing."
Brick tapped a large finger on his shoulder and pointed to the road. A bus was waiting as passengers boarded from one side and departed from another.
"Into the city, it is" Sin agreed, "Well let's go."
Stepping onto the bus Sin paid the fee and smirked back at Brick who had to hunch down and turn sideways to fit through the door. The massive Faunus shuffled his way to the back of the bus where there was room and stood with his hands holding onto the luggage railing as Sin sat next to him and yawned telling Brick to wake him when they arrive. Brick watched as Sin closed his eyes and quickly dozed off before the bus started moving.
In Vacuo's merchant district swarms of the population were moving between stores and merchant stalls looking at wares and other products before going about their daily lives. On the third floor balcony of a hotel, two girls were looking down at the sea of people. A pair of Faunus girls with fox ears at the top of their heads and reddish-brown hair each of them eating from a basket of fruit.
"Another noisy day," one of them said, "Merchant district or not it wouldn't kill them to be a little quieter."
She wore a harlequin green bolero jacket with short open mouthed sleeves and gold trimmings over a white tube top and a harlequin green one legged skirt that stopped halfway down her right calf and a red sash across her waist.
"It's no big deal Alena," the shorter Faunus said, "You just have to get used to it."
She wore a blue trimmed white bolero top over a matching short camisole and white short culottes with slits in the sides running up to her hips. A teal rope sash wrapped around her waist and was held in place by a buckle with the kingdom's symbol on it.
"It's bad to me" the one called Alena replied irritably, "Talking so loud that we can hear them from up here."
The shorter one giggled, "Oh my poor big sister, the noise is too much for her."
Alena turned around to go back inside, "Let's go inside Rhia."
"Alright" the little sister agreed following her inside, "You know we're going to have to go down there at some point today right? We need food."
"I know" Alena sighed, "I just down want to go out right now. There are too many people, too much noise."
"At least we don't have to work today," Rhia muttered sitting at the edge of the bed as her older sister laid on her side.
"It won't be much longer Rhia," Alena said as she closed her eyes, "Another few months and we'll have enough saved up to get out of here."
Rhia turned her eyes to the floor, "What do you think Menagerie is like?"
"Filled with our people," Alena softly replied, "No humans, a place we can live in peace."
"It's peaceful here," Rhia said turning to her, "Well, minus the noise and occasional grimm sightings."
"It will be better in Menagerie," Alena told her, "You'll see when we get there."
"I hope you're right" Rhia whispered lying down as well and closed her eyes.
Sin yawned loudly as he stepped off the bus with Brick right behind him, "Alright first find some clothes that breath, next food, then somewhere to sleep. Tomorrow we'll look for some work."
Brick didn't say anything as he turned and started walking through the merchant district with Sin following close behind him. The sea of people made it difficult for the two to navigate, especially the seven foot tall Faunus, but once they found the direction most people were moving in they managed to get through the crowd and find a store selling clothing. Walking inside Sin yawned again and rubbed his eyes as Brick crouched down to fit through the door.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" the shopkeeper asked.
Sin forced a tired smile at him and answered, "Yes, my friend and I just arrived and we're looking for some more appropriate clothing for the local weather."
The shopkeeper noticed their suits, "Yes I can see, the two of you aren't from around here. I'm sure I have something for you young man, but you're friend there I fear I may not have anything in his size."
"Are there any tailors in town?" Sin asked him.
"Oh, my wife is a tailor" the shopkeeper replied, "She could make something for him, but it would take a while ."
"Well if you've got the time we've got the money," Sin told him, " Any chance she could do it today?"
The shopkeeper nodded, "Oh, of course, it's been a few days since she last had any orders, let me just get his measurements while you try some things on ."
Sin thanked him and went to try some clothes on, as much as he liked his suit wearing it in the harsh climate of Vacuo would kill him faster than any creature of Grimm ever could. The shopkeeper advised what kind of clothing would help Sin get used to the weather best. Most of the clothing Sin tried on was too colorful, while he appreciated the high-quality fabric the colors and patterns just weren't just style, he preferred something simplistic.
"Got anything more basic?" Sin asked the shop keep, "All these colors aren't my style."
"There are some single color shirts in the back corner over there" he answered as he finished taking Brick's measurements, "Alright, that's everything, now what kind of clothing would you like Sonny?"
Brick growled quietly as he looked around at the racks filled with clothes.
"Brick doesn't talk much," Sin told the shopkeeper as he tried on a sleeveless a sleeveless white leather jacket and blue pants, "This will work. The leather is pretty light, and it feels nice ."
"Very well and what of your friend?"
Sin walked over to Brick, "Seriously buddy you got to feel this" he waited for Brick to run his finger over the leather feeling the smooth texture and the giant Faunus nodded.
"Leather like this, in brown if you have it. Russet-brown to match his hair."
The shopkeeper nodded, "Alright then, I'll take these measurements to my wife, and we'll get started we should have it ready by the end of the day ."
Sin paid for his clothes and the two of them left the shop to find somewhere to eat. Most of the people were finishing their business and beginning to head home leaving the street more open than it was when they arrived. After asking for directions Sin and Brick finally found a hotel and went inside to see if they had any rooms available for a few days.
"We'll need a room with two beds, kings of course," Sin said casting a quick smirk at Brick who stood as silent as ever to the side.
"We do have one such room available on the third floor," the clerk told him, "How long will you be staying?"
Sin answered, "Not sure. We just arrived in Vacuo today and don't know how long we'll be staying."
"I see, well, in that case, I can either put you down for a daily charge or weekly until you've figured out what you'll be doing."
"Weekly works best," Sin told him, "How much for the first week?"
"At our daily rate, it will come out to, six hundred and fifty lien."
"Done" Sin agreed handing the clerk a few cards and taking the room key, "Alright, now final question, does your establishment have a place to eat?"
"We do have a kitchen and bar area here on the ground floor on the other side. We offer free breakfast to our guests, but lunch and dinner will orders will incur a charge that can either applied to your room bill or paid on the spot."
Sin nodded, "Good to know thank you" he turned to Brick, "Well let's go see the room."
After seeing their room and setting down what little luggage they had with them Sin and Brick returned to the ground floor and headed to the bar area to order some food. Of course, they were too young to drink so they couldn't sit at the bar and all of the chairs were far too small for Brick to sit in so after ordering their dinner the two of them walked outside to the hotel's gazebo to wait. The sun had started to set, and the air was starting to cool.
"Be honest with me Brick" Sin began, "Do you think leaving Mistral was a good idea?"
Brick looked over at him and nodded.
"I know we had it made there, but I just couldn't take it anymore. Between mom's 'legit' business deals and dad's fights I just couldn't put up with life there anymore".
Brick's mouth open, but before he could speak the sound of someone else talking distracted him. The two of them looked across the courtyard. Two girls were sitting on the bench there one dressed in green the other in white. As the two girls were talking to each other Sin glanced at Brick and grinned, but Brick shook his head.
"Oh, I'm going for it" Sin chuckled as he stood up, "Wait here big guy," he said.
As he started walking over to the bench one of the girls, the one in green had gone back inside leaving the one in white left. As Sin got closer, he saw that the girl had fox ears poking through her hair, a Faunus.
"Hello there," he said calmly.
The girl jumped a little in surprise and turned around to see who was talking to her.
"Sorry to startle you," Sin said, "My name is Sin, I'm new to Vacuo."
The Faunus girl hesitated, "I'm Rhia."
"That's a nice name," Sin said, "Have you been in Vacuo long?"
"A little over a year" she answered.
"Any chance you could show me around?" Sin asked.
Rhia hesitated again, "I don't think I would be the best tour guide."
"Well, maybe you can just show me to some restaurants," Sin said his tone was becoming smooth, "Then I can buy you dinner."
The Faunus girl stammered a little as her cheeks changed color and she looked away, "Um I…well I mean…"
Before she could answer the other girl returned, "Rhia is everything ok?"
"Yes," Rhia replied standing up and looking at the other girl.
"Who are you?" the other girl asked Sin.
Sin held his hand out, "I'm Sin, my friend and I are new to Vacuo, I was wondering if the two of you could show us around."
Before the girl could answer screaming reached their ears from the street, "Grimm" someone yelled.
Sin lowered his hand and sighed, "Sorry ladies hopefully we can continue this later. Please excuse me" he turned toward the gazebo and yelled for Brick as he ran and jumped over the courtyard railing.
The two girls watched as a large man in the gazebo stood up and followed Sin into the streets where the people were fleeing.
Rhia looked up to her sister, "Should we help?"
Alena nodded, "We won't fight, but we'll try to keep everyone safe."