Tradition vs. Tech: Peace in the Conflict

Moogle-Girl

Moogle-Girl

Morality Kitchen Sinker
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. One post per week
Online Availability
I work full time, so I'm usually not on until after 6PM EST on weekdays. (Weekends are free game though.)
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
  4. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Futanari
  5. No Preferences
Genres
Urban/modern fantasy, psychological horror, fandom using OCs (no canon characters except in mentions!)
Sarah Gallo leaned up against the wall of her basement, tapping her fingers against it impatiently. She could still hear the sirens wailing outside, signifying yet another raid by Elynwan's sorcerers. She knew that out in the gleaming capital city of her home kingdom, Adreridon, fireballs and ice shards were falling from the sky as quickly as rain, desperately trying to pierce the shield of energy covering the entire city. Every so often, an Elynwan soldier would get through the boundary, only to be quickly taken down by the waiting infantry and their superior gunpowder-powered machines. Almost immediately after Adreridon had armed its armies with guns and cannons, Elynwan had begun to lose the war. Sarah didn't understand any of it. She didn't get why Elynwan insisted on attacking like this with such out-of-date methods.

At nineteen years old, Sarah had graduated from the city's finest high school only last year, electing to move away from her parents and find an apartment of her own. She was doing fine living alone, but it had become a hard life as of late due to the ongoing war. She was skinny, and had short, dirty-blond hair that reached a bit past her chin. Her clothes consisted of a long-sleeved orange shirt, a worn-down pair of blue jeans, and some black-and-white sneakers. Her eyes were a bright, shining shade of blue, the color that often signified a user of magic, which she most certainly was: she held power over the dangerous element of electricity, able to fire bolts of lightning from her fingertips with but a thought. Sarah had once lived in a town in Elynwan with the rest of her family, but they had moved away to experience the quality of Adreridon's bustling cities.
 
Allister let out a rather agitated growl, pushing past an older man as he lumed over a large weapon that in someway, had failed to function proberly. "Geeze Tim, if you're going to be a mechanic you've got to stay up to date with the weapons they're making."

"Well excuse me for being an old man," the older man, Tim, said with a chuckle. Wiping sweat from his brow as he watch Allister reappear, sending the weapon on it's way. "I don't see why you help me with all of this stuff. You know what they use them for. You've even agreed to help build those new things they're coming out with."

"It pays, I don't have much of a choice in the manner," Allister let out a sigh, wiping a bit of grease off his cheek as he let out a chuckle. "What difference does it make though. One voice isn't going to stop this pointless war. And though I've got no intention of fighting in it personally. So long as I can keep them from getting across our borders, it's fine. My sister doesn't need to see any of that crap." He let out another chuckle before making his way out of the shop. Coming to a sudden hault as some of the fighters rushed pass him.

Shaking his head, he made his way down the road once more. "Tell the little one hello for me!" The old man shouted out to Allister, causing him to stop and wave one last time. Allister smiled softly, turning back toward home as he walked on. Knowing his little sister was undoubtedly waiting patiently in the window for his return.
 
Carefully, Sarah climbed the stairs and looked out the window of her apartment. They hadn't done much damage, thank the lord. Adreridon's capital had decided to integrate some of Elynwan's best strategies into their defenses since the war started, namely in the form of the force field protecting it. It was a controversial decision, but the kingdom's leaders had decided that protecting the most important city was top priority. Sarah approved of the decision. She figured that if there was a way to do things better, there wasn't a reason to stick to the old ways. Fuck tradition, she always said.

She knew it probably wasn't entirely safe to go outside, but she needed to walk around and get some fresh air. Thinking about the war was making her angry. So with that, she pushed open the door, walked out into the hallway, and made her way outside of the complex, into the sun. Sarah wasn't really sure where she was going, she just wanted to clear her head. It wasn't long before she found herself at the train station, and a thought began to creep into her head: Maybe it was time to pay a visit to the magic-driven kingdom. She might learn something about why they clung to tradition so steadfastly.
 
"Brother," a young girl called out excitedly, running quickly down the street toward Allister. Chuckling, he scooped her up in his arms, hugging her close to him. "They taught us some new techniques in school today. I learned how to turn water into ice." The young girl squealed excitedly, eager to show her older brother what she learned.

"That's great, now we don't have to worry about running out of ice," he chuckled as he carried her back inside. "I can only stay for a bit today. We'll be working on some new weapons and techniques today. I guess some things have gone wrong with the fighters." He shrugged, taking a seat at the table as his young sister ran off toward the kitchen. Rushing back in with a glass of water for him.

"I understand. Here you go, I'm sure you're tired from working in the shop all day. I don't know why you don't help the sorcerers instead. Instead of making those make shift weapons." The young girl took a seat in the chair next to him. Her hands folded neatly in her lap as she watched her older brother down the glass of water. As a small joke, she turned it to ice, stopping the flow.

Watching the young girl as she giggled, Allister bit down on the ice. Swirling the cup around until it turned to water once more and downed the rest of it. "You know well enough why I don't help those stuck up mage's. Besides, who can use the weapon isn't my problem, I just make them and that's all I need to do. Just like all you need to do is go to school and not worry about anything else. Now, go out back and study. I want you in bed by the time I return home."

With that, Allister made his way out and about again.
 
The ticket had been expensive. Travel between the two neighboring kingdoms had become difficult lately, making related prices skyrocket. But the more that Sarah dwelled on the thought, the more she wanted an answer. She'd always been stubborn, and preferred to get answers as quickly as possible. What other way was there to learn about something like this than to go there herself?

Sarah didn't even bother returning to her house to grab anything. She had most all of her money on her person, and she wasn't planning to stay too long. If she had to, she could just buy something local and be done with it.

A few hours later, the train pulled up to the station, and Sarah stepped into enemy territory for the first time. Well, maybe that was being a little dramatic. Her clothes might have been a little strange, but she was a magic-user; surely she wouldn't stand out too much, right? Not sure what she wanted to do, she walked aimlessly, nimbly cutting through the ridiculous and bustling crowd surrounding the train station. It looked like a lot of people were emigrating from this place, too...It made sense.

It wasn't long before she reached the less-crowded streets, and she began to formulate a plan. First, she would check out the local schools, maybe ask a few teachers. If she had to, she would say she was doing a report on Elynwan history, and needed to know just why things had been so stagnant for so long. And then she could move on to the other locals, interviewing at random...

Lost in her thoughts, she slowly stopped paying attention to just where she was going, and without even noticing, she got herself lost in the city.
 
He kept a slow and steady pace, feeling no rush to get to the job. Today was nothing but going over war plans and techniques. The works of which he hardly ever payed much attention in. Nor did he take the time to contribute ideas of any sort. Listening to generals and Mage's go on as if there was no way the two cities could get along peacefully. A scoffed escaped him, the rolling of his eyes following. The two cities may have thought they were different, though he didn't see it. It was all a pointless war to him.

He looked up at the sky, seeing the blue dimming in the background. Instead the sky was filled with clouds, none white. All gray, just like his eyes. "Figures," he mumbled to himself, continuing on once more. Last minute he'd made the decision to visit the local bakery, catching the scent of it's sweets from a few blocks away. The scent seeming to carry him there, as well as reminding him that'd he'd forgotten to eat while he was at home.

The walk wasn't a very long one, really only one or two blocks before he'd reach his destination. Though at his slow pace, it seemed like it took so much longer. Time was nothing to him now though, just a bunch of numbers in a circle. Sirens and explosions seemed to go off at all hours. If they paid no attention to the time, why should he.

Sighing with that thought, he bought himself a pastry and made his way off once more. Picking his pace up only a tad more.
 
Suddenly, Sarah realized she had been walking for some time and hadn't a clue where she was now. Mentally cursing herself for not looking for landmarks as she wandered, she stopped and took a look around to get her bearings. It proved difficult thanks to the constant noise of war, even more plentiful here thanks to the lesser defenses, but she was...sort of used to it. It felt weird walking around in the middle of the sirens' blarings.

Noticing a rather quaint-looking bakery only a short walk away, she decided it might be a good idea to grab a snack and clear her head...again. Idly, she wondered if the stress was getting to her as she reached into her back pocket for her wallet. She started counting her money as she walked, seeing how much she could spare, and--

Wham.

Her wallet jumped out of her hands and hit the ground with a soft thud. "Oh shit, sorry," she said hurriedly, looking reflexively up at the person she'd walked right into. The first thing that caught her attention was his eyes; gray was such an unusual color, after all. "I gotta watch where I'm going," she added with a dry chuckle, leaning down to pick up her wallet.
 
Allister was just as shocked as she walked into him. Dropping his pastry as he took a small step back. A soft chuckle left him as he looked down at her, brushing himself off. "It's no problem. It's easy to get distracted in this chaos. You're alright I hope?" Smiling still, he reached before the girl. Grabbing what she'd dropped and then holding his hand out to help her up.

"I assume we're both headed in the same direction now though. Seeing as I dropped my food, and you seemed to be lured to the bakery as well," his voice was soft and cheerful as he helped her up. Returning her wallet to her.

For some odd reason he took pleasure in this strange meeting. Having not had any real time to make a social life lately, and with people being so up tight as well. It was just a terrible mix for him. Seeing as most of his younger years he spent hanging out and chatting with anyone and everyone around. That was all before this war got so hectic and chaotic though. His younger sister and his job had taken up all his time. Though the little one was worth it all in his eyes. He smiled once more at the girl that bumped into him. "I'm Allister by the way."
 
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sarah said, looking up at him and taking his hand as she stood. She pocketed her wallet with a nod of thanks. Any other day, she would have simply humored the man and gone about her business after a short bout of small talk, but then she remembered just why she was here in the first place. Getting to know one of the locals certainly couldn't hurt. At the very least, she could use him as a guide. "Call me Sarah," she responded quickly, shoving her hands in the front pockets of her denim jeans.
 
Allister nodded at her, turning and making his way back into the bakery. Of course he paused at the door, holding it open for her to step inside.

"Back already Al. You're gonna get fat," a voice called out from behind the register. The young girl giggled as she made her way into the back real quick. Returning with fresh muffins. "Who's your friend?"

"It's not my fault. I dropped my last one," Allister chuckled, stepping inside after Sarah had gone in. As the girl headed into the back, he kneeled before all the goods they already had out on display. It wasn't in his interest to have the same thing twice, or at least not in one day. So he pondered the thought, seeing as he didn't finish his last pastry. "Oh, right. Sorry, her name is Sarah. Or at least that's what she told me to call her. Just met her a few steps out of the shop."

"Oh, well I'm Veena. It's nice to meet you Sarah. Are you new in town?"
 
"Yeah," the blond responded, looking over the bakery's selection of treats. "I...just moved here, actually. I got a little lost on my way through the city and ended up running into Allister here." She chuckled dryly at the awful pun - they were never really her thing, but she didn't catch it until she said it - and added, "You guys can help me out, right? What's the easiest way to get to the train station? Just to help me get my bearings."
 
Veena smiled, nodding at Sarah from behind the counter. Watching Allister for a moment as he took his time deciding what he wanted. "I'm sure Allister wouldn't mind showing you. He's slacking off anyway. Trying to pass time so he could avoid going to work."

"Haha, you know me too well. I want that one though, in the back. It's some sort of muffin," he chuckled, standing up straight again. "That's fine by me though. It's on my way too. So not showing you would be pretty rude on my part." Taking the muffin from Veena, he took a bite, nodding his head approvingly. "Go ahead and get whatever you'd like Sarah, my treat."
 
"Hey, thanks," Sarah said to him, eyes still scanning the snacks. It all looked delicious, and it'd been quite a while since she had splurged on a random treat; money was fairly tight. After a short while, she pointed to a set of brownies and looked up at Veena. "I'll have one of those."

While Veena pulled out her selection, Sarah turned back towards Allister. "What do you do for a living? Nothing too important, I hope," she said with another dry chuckle. Slackers were one of her pet peeves, especially when they were supposed to be doing something rather important.
 
Allister nodded, munching on his muffin as he waited for Veena to charge the two pastries up so they could be on their way once again. Paying her, he turned to Sarah. Stuffing his wallet back into his pocket and wiping a crumb from his cheek. "Oh, me. I'm a mechanic and a few other things now. Nothing special."

He chuckled and made his way out of the shop again, waiving to Veena and saying good bye once more to her. "So what made you decide to move to this side?" He questioned her curiously. Though he was mostly only trying to start a conversation with the girl. Walking with someone in an awkward silence, well, it just made him uncomfortable.
 
Nibbling on her browie, she followed him through the city. Better now than later. "I won't be here very long," she said. "I want to find out why you guys keep everything so damn stagnant. You're losing the war because of it." She frowned at him, hoping he'd give her an actual reason. Putting up with excuses wasn't exactly something she did on a regular basis.
 
"Oh, so you're like a spy?" He chuckled, a few crumbs sitting on the sides of his lips as always. Licking his lips, he shrugged. "I don't know what you see that's stagnant about what we're doing. Things are moving rather quickly, just none of it's been put to use yet. They aren't sure how to control all of it since the stuff that I just invented can only be used by extremely powerful mages." He grinned, shrugging. "Not that I didn't do that on purpose."

"Sense it's a concern of yours, I assume you're a supporter of the war?" Allister took the last bite of his muffin, stuffing it into his mouth and swallowing. A rather satisfied look on his face.
 
Sarah quickly finished off her brownie while he spoke and licked the chocolaty residue from her fingers. "I can't stand the war," she said firmly, frowning. "None of it makes sense to me. Do you guys think you have something to prove? All you've proven is that you're incapable of picking up the slack when you're a major disadvantage." She looked over at him while they walked, the frown on her face flattening out a little. "You said you invent weapons?"
 
He chuckled nervously. Realizing he was being thrown in with that crowed. Seeing as she was going on about 'you guys' while talking to him. Not wanting to start an argument with a girl though, he just stayed quiet. Kind of nodding as she talked. Trying not to take offensive to anything she said, as she grouped all of Elynwan's people together. His liking for the girl fading more and more as he listened to her go on.

"Um, yeah. I was one of the best mechanics and had a lot of ideas. So," he shrugged. Keeping his eyes straight forward as he noticed the sign for the train station come into view.
 
"A mechanic, huh?" she repeated, suddenly curious. She thought all of Elynwan's forces were mages, and the idea of someone working on mechanics of any kind caught her off-guard. Inwardly, though, she scolded herself for stereotyping so much. She knew plenty of people who were...far more than they'd originally appeared. "You also said," she continued, unaware that they'd walked into familiar territory, "that you made the stuff you came up with is hard to use on purpose. You must not be happy with your job."
 
"Yeah, well," he chuckled, shrugging a bit. Watching her quietly as they walked on. It didn't shock him that this girl seemed so curious, on top of the fact that she appeared young as well. Not that he could pin point an age on her just yet. Stuffing his hands in his pockets. He returned his attention to the road before them. Listening to the girls last statement. "No, I love my job....sort of. When I was just working with the normal things that needed fixing, I enjoyed my job. But being part of some strange committee or whatever. I would have been happy if it was to help this city better itself. Not help us win a pointless war."
 
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