We've finally made it, Dear Traveler. We have reached the part where the spider spirit reunites with the rest of Sun Ritsu's cadre. How did she manage to find him? Well, it seems that you've finally learned how to ask the right questions.

Though Anari was a skilled tracker and huntress, there was really no need for her to rely on any of that sort of expertise. The annual Peach Festival was so popular, she was bound to run into an advertisement or twelve. Once she saw the details of the event, she figured that it would attract any and all sun clones in the area. Therefore, the odds were in her favor that she should run into Sun Ritsu.

Let me tell you, Dear Traveler, the spider was more than pleasantly surprised when she happened to pass by a typical gaming booth and spot her benevolent monkey waiting in line to test his strength . . .

Sun Ritsu caught Anari's attention at a time when she hadn't really been looking for him. He stood in a line, towering above half a dozen other spirits. He was dressed casually, too casually for a festival in fact.

Anari herself wore a cornflower blue robe tied in the traditional way. An even pattern of finches and berries stitched with fine golden thread stretched across the seams. The hem of the robe brushed her at mid-thigh, making her stand out among those whose robes dropped down to their ankles. For shoes, she had to forgo her usual boots for a pair of wooden platforms.

This morning she had felt confident in her attire, but after seeing Sun Ritsu, it made her second guess everything.

Pull yourself together.

Sun Ritsu's golden brown gaze wasn't even focused on her and she was already losing her head. As he edged closer and closer to the booth, she felt his mere presence pulling her toward him. But she had no idea what she would say to him. She tore her eyes away from the monkey, if only to clear her head.

That's when Anari actually recognized the premise of the gaming booth. And the prizes.

In a booming, sonorous voice, the rock spirit running the booth said, "The spirit mighty enough to bend this bamboo into a full arc will be rewarded with an artifact better than any trophy. They shall receive the monkey god's staff!"

The prize was most definitely a toy replica, nothing more. No one in the line except Sun Ritsu seemed to even care what the rock spirit was going on about. Most of them were already tipsy and simply there for the fun of the challenge.

That's right. He did say he was looking for his staff, Anari remembered.

Before she lost her nerve, she made her way towards the monkey. This was it. Only a few more steps –

"Ay! No cutting!"

A burly sun clone blocked Anari from getting any closer to Sun Ritsu. She caught her balance and glared at him. "I wasn't cutting. I just needed to talk to him." She pointed to make herself clear.

Someone else pushed her. "Get in line like everyone else!"

Anari stumbled again. "Watch it!"

That's it. If another one of these ugly baboons touches me –

A hand closed around her bicep. Falling back on instinct, the spider clapped her hand over the intruder's and held it in place while she spun and drove the flat of her palm towards their skull.

She blinked in disbelief at Sun Ritsu, who was on the ground with an arm over his bleeding nose.

"Sun!" she gasped.

The other spirits looked on with a mixture of interest and intrigue. The burly monkey from earlier muttered, "What an idiot." He shook his head in admonishment. "How could he just give up his spot like that?"

Ritsu could care less that his nose was swollen and throbbing.

Anari came back!

They had temporarily abandoned the test of strength booth for a spot under an isolated wishing tree. She knelt with his head in her lap so she could better tend to his wound. She dabbed him with the hem of her sleeve while pressing ice cubes wrapped in cloth to the most sensitive area.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea that was you."

Ritsu smiled through the pain. "Really, it's okay. I'm . . . glad to see you again, Anari."

Looking up at her regal features set against a sky of paper wishes and lazy leaves eased all the nerves he had around finding his staff. He just wanted to stay like this forever.

Anari looked as if she might have let a smile slip through without really meaning to. Suddenly business-like, she said, "I want to apologize for my behavior the last time we met. I was hungry and tired. I should have offered you a proper payment for helping me shake off those trolls."

She helped Ritsu sit upright and encouraged him to hold the ice to his nose. "I can assist you in locating your weapon. Then we can finally call it even."

Ritsu considered her words. "So what you're saying is, you'll stay with me until we find my staff?"

Anari hesitated. "We could renegotiate a different arrangement if you don't want to be bothered by my company –"

"No!" He held up his hand. "That's not what I – Ow. Ow. Ow."

Anari gently tskd at him. "Stop talking through your nose."

Ritsu adjusted his speech. "Thanks. I'm not bothered by your company at all. To be honest, I . . ." his face grew hot. "I want more of it."

He dared a look at Anari. To his frustration, her gaze was unreadable. All that gave her away was the parting of her lips, which could have meant she was flattered or flabbergasted. Who knew?

"Who is this?"

Both Ritsu and Anari turned their eyes to the newcomer.

"Bodhi?" Ritsu lowered the ice from his numb face. "What's wrong? What are you doing here?"

Bodhi looked a bit sheepish as they replied, "Heh. We have a problem. I lost the pig."

Anari's predatory eyes slowly scanned the monk. "Sun, I thought you were traveling alone."

Bodhi crossed their arms. "Hey, little miss daddy long legs. I think you've got the wrong Sun."

Anari stood up. "And I think you smell like a wet frog, you bald little –"

Ritsu stood up too and gently touched Anari's shoulder. She read the plea in his eyes and almost immediately, the fire died down in hers. Then she leaned cooly up against the tree and folded her arms.

Ritsu turned to Bodhi and scrunched his nose. "Ugh, you do actually smell pretty bad. Have you been drinking again?"

That nervous grin came back. "Right. Remember when I said I lost the pig?"

Ritsu nodded.

"Yeah, I meant to say that I sold him to a butcher for a barrel of rice wine."

Sweet immortal peaches, what have I gotten myself into this time?

Ritsu quickly introduced the monk to Anari on their way to the butcher's stand. Once she was acquainted with their pronouns, she took the time to assess them more thoroughly.

The monk had a lithe, yet strong body that was evident in their plain gray garb. The deep cut in the collar revealed a fair amount of their chest. Had it not been for the light smattering of freckles, their face would have been forgettable. It was the monk's shifty facial movements and arrogant swagger that made them stand out. And, Anari hated to admit, granted them a sort of reckless allure.

She followed behind Sun Ritsu and Bodhi, listening to them squabble. The two attempted to carry on a heated argument, but failed at it due to Bodhi's inebriated flippancy and Ritsu's overall confrontational incompetence. It was like watching a toddler try to rationalize with the densest of sheep.

Finally, they reached the meat vendor, a skeletal spirit with deep sockets that, despite their hollowness, seemed to miss nothing.

Something that could perhaps pass as a friendly grin stretched across his features as soon as they approached.

"Ah, my esteemed monk. Back for another deal? How much will you take for the spider? I've always wanted to have a foreign delicacy on the menu."

Anari knew he was teasing, but she bristled all the same. It wasn't uncommon for spirits this side of the Ninth Heaven to either mock or "compliment" her otherness.

She braced herself for the monk to reply with their own scathing, tasteless comment. Instead, they narrowed their eyes ever so slightly and said, "She's not for sale." They shot her a glance and added, "Besides, something tells me you take one bite of her and you'll find she's full of poison."

Anari couldn't tell if that was a slight or just the monk's strange way of defending her.

Bodhi's expression shifted back into something more cheery. "We're here about the pig. You know, the fat juicy one?"

The butcher started sharpening his tools. "Don't tell me he's poisonous too. I just sold him to the nobles for their feast."

Ritsu bulldozed past the monk and slapped his hands on the surface of the butcher's work station.

"Feast? You mean the one in the Garden of Immortal Peaches?"

Keeping his eyes on his knives, the butcher snickered. "Yes. Where else would the nobles gather? Here in the dirt with the common folk? No, they have no problem buying out our most valuable wares for their satisfaction, but they would never mingle anywhere below the altitude of the Jade Pool."

Ritsu took a step back. "They forced you to sell to them."

Anari regarded the monkey with mild puzzlement. She caught the gaze of the monk, who looked just as perplexed.

The skeleton paused in his sharpening. "Not the nobles themselves. Just their detainers. I was behind on a few debts. The only way to start a business these days is to take out a loan. And even though I work from the crack of dawn until the drunks leave the gambling dens, it's been hard paying off what little I owe."

Ritsu stood with rapt attention. Under their breath, the monk said, "Uh, Ritsu? We know where the pig is, so can we go now?"

Their question went ignored.

The butcher prattled on, "I would have made a lot more money if I could have kept the pig and barbecued him for general admission." He shrugged. "But how can I say no when representatives of the Nine Luminaries, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the Five Elders of the Five Regions, and numerous other gods of the Milky Way give me less than two hours to deliver meat only fitting for the divine palettes of the nobles? What other choice do I have when they say 'two hours or you can say goodbye to your little business forever'? They might as well threaten to banish me to the Lake of Ninefold Darkness. I stood here, thinking that this would be my last Peach Festival when I saw your pig, ripe and unglamoured as the day he was born, oinking in the dirt just across the street. Luck has its own sense of humor, neh?"

Before Ritsu could respond, Bodhi reached up, grabbed his collar and practically dragged him away from the butcher's booth.

"Come on, Legs," they said, beckoning Anari to follow, "we're wasting time. I've got an idea on how to get the old porker back."