File 1.2 - Hard Worked Peace

A stiff wind blew through the field of corn playing the leaves against each other. In the rows spread out over several acres of land were workers toiling everyday to tend to the plants. An occasional truck would drive by the edge of the row taking in weeds removed from the paths. It kept the grounds quiet with nothing but the village of Welest for as far as the eye could see. There wouldn’t be another village or town for a day’s drive. However, this was their life and leaving wasn’t what they wanted to do. They welcomed the simple life that dirtied their hands and toughened their skin. It made each day feel alive and worth living.

The village was far enough north, meaning it was built in the last decade, that the people were emigrants from Antarctica City rather than having been born in the land. There were a few that came from other villages, but it was a place of adventure for many, whose boring slow lives had been eking out an existence surrounded by nothing but steel and plastic. It was chaotic and disordered, but it was exactly what they wanted. Sweat made them smile and breathing free open air made them want to stand up on their own legs.

It was the same for her as well. A young girl bent down in the brittle earth pulling out a large weed from near the base of a stalk. She dropped it in her woven basket. That had been the last for the area and so she treated herself to a stretch by standing up lifting her arms up above her head. Even at her full height only her arms managed to clear the tops of the corn, she was only fourteen and still growing. The villagers saw her as a child still in many ways, but she still insisted on helping them not letting the word get to her.

There was still plenty of time left on the corn before it came time to harvest. Once it got too tall Shizuka wouldn’t be able to help them anymore with some of the tasks. However, she would still help them shuck the corn during the harvest season. It was then that what the village needed to live off got stored while the rest shipped off to the trading towns.

The towns then packed it for the major ports to be processed before shipping it back to Antarctica City. A large percentage of the population still lived within the domed city, relying on the imports of supplies to survive on the frozen continent. It was how life had to be, they worked for the benefit of those in sheltered domes. Most didn’t even think about the cycle for a moment, but it was a fact that never escaped Shizuka. It always left her with a dull aching feeling. One she couldn’t completely escape, seeing as she needed to maintain her way of life.

Once her back and legs felt at ease she straightened herself up, dropping her arms down. While she stood she checked her hair tied back with a coarse cloth. It kept her hair off her back and folded up, left to dangle in a large loop at a third its normal length. She learned quickly how easily it picked up dirt as she worked. Her hands delicately confirmed for her that it still held tightly. She dusted off her brown aged canvas dress and wiped off sweat from her forehead leaving a little dirt behind on her face, a common ingredient for her skin from her appearance.

Shizuka turned her light blue eyes up to the sky, catching the thick cloud cover of the late morning. It was a rare sight to see the sun. A pale illumination most days reached the surface, always shrouded in an endless sea of gray clouds. Particles from the fires of the past still hung suspended in the atmosphere preventing anyone ever forgetting or feeling completely safe.

However, as she was turning away the roar of an engine from a vessel alerted her to its passing. ‘What’s a transport doing out here at this time of year?’ she thought to herself as it got smaller. Sound and sight of the transport disappeared from her allowing her to return to her duties forgetting that it had occurred.

An hour came to pass as the morning warmed a little more bringing it to a tepid temperature. All of the crops and plants they grew had genetically altered structures to fit a more hostile unforgiving environment than they used to grow. The land that they were using was clean and terraformed, but the clouds and atmosphere still held their reminder, fighting to keep the memory alive. It was the only way they were able to produce the farms that they needed to support the growing population and not die off from consistently cool weather.

Lunch came soon, providing for a break. Shizuka had finished her row and began returning to the village along the edge of the plot. There was a gap of dirt along the end of the rows before going into thick grass that rose up to the gravel road that led into the village. She took to the side of the road following it until she came to a tree nearby.

It hadn’t been the tree that caught her attention, but the person underneath it. ‘Is Dave slacking off again?’ A wrinkle around her eyes pulled down as she marched over to the tree prepared to give him a piece of her mind. However, when she came in front of the person ready to open her mouth she could see that it was a stranger. ‘A foreigner?’

Reclined with his hands comfortably resting under his head for support and his eyes closed was a teenage boy, older than Shizuka. A well used brown fedora stood upon his head tilted forward slightly as though he was trying to sleep. Slowed movement, not cautious but relaxed, stirred from the boy. It took a moment longer, but he picked up on her presence feeling the slightly darkened light around him. Keeping to his lax position and not even looking to address her he spoke out casually, “Yer blockin’ the view.”

“The view…” she repeated curtly. She had already been ready to deal with Dave that her emotions quickly transferred without issue. The appearance of the kid made her quickly realize that he was from the city. There was the casual attitude of not caring about work or the world, simply thinking that everything was ready prepared without having to lift a finger or think for one’s self. For her, that held the heart of the matter. However, she wasn’t about to start a fight with a foreigner and turned to walk away towards the village.

The teen pulled himself up no longer able to sit still and lifted his fedora above his eyes getting an actual view. “Oh…yer a girl…” It seemed to fall out of his lips so casually as a personal note, except that he declared it aloud.

Having been mistaken for a boy stopped her legs immediately. Shizuka turned slowly around struggling with the full display of anger that she was wishing to show to the stupid boy. She ripped the tied cloth in her hair free holding the gently blowing fabric in her clenched hand. As her hair fell down a strong frigid gust broke through the area dragging her hair out to its full length wrapping partly around her. It provided an almost serpentine quality to her hair exaggerating the anger in her face. “Was it the dress or the hair that clued you in?!”

“Made ‘er mad, Ed…” he said to himself under a low breath. He took a step back putting up his hands in front of his chest trying to show the girl he wasn’t interested in a fight. “It wasn’t like I’d thought ya a boy, kid!”

Shizuka narrowed her eyes a little more, taking further insult to being called a kid. “All you people from the city don’t have any manners.”

“Manners?! Now wait a minute ‘ere! Yer the one gettin’ upset fer nothin’”

“Nothing?! How dare you! You’re the one acting like me being a girl is a surprise. How would you like it if I did that to you?”

The young man recoiled a little, having to take the time to think about her question. ‘What’s with this girl?’ He rubbed his hand against his chin as he watched her for a moment waiting to answer her. The piercing glare of her light blue eyes was entrancing him almost as though she was penetrating his mind. “Well…I guess I wouldn’t. Whatcha want from me?” It seemed that agreeing with her didn’t make her temper any less severe leaving him cornered.

“I want an apology!”

“Wha-but I…” There was no relenting from the girl forcing a sigh of reluctance. “…I’m sorry…”

Shizuka held her gaze at him, reading him for his emotions and intention. ‘That was pretty empty sounding, but…’ She was feeling less angry with the boy, though still miff with him still about the misunderstanding.

A slow catch up by him made something Shizuka had said stand out to him. It left him a little suspicious. “How’d ja know I’m from the city?”

Feeling more like herself she checked her speech having slipped up from getting so angry with the boy. “Ya stand out like a sore thumb.” All she got back from him was a confused and perplexed expression that wasn’t following what she was meaning. “Yer too clean and yer clothes are nothin’ like around ‘ere.”

“Oh…that obvious huh?” he said as he examined his own clothes before comparing them with Shizuka’s. Dirt covered her hands with smears on her face as well as old stains in her dress she had been unable to wash out. Threads were hanging loosely beginning a discordant mess at the edges of the material. Wear and tear was an understatement as it appeared to be her only dress available to her. It made him take a step back. “Well guess yer right! Name’s Edgar Dubois, but ya can just say Ed.” Ed began to remember his manners having forgotten to introduce himself.

Shizuka scanned him cautiously, not keen on his overly familiar attitude suddenly. “Mr. Dubois, why ya out ‘ere?”

Ed let his mind crawl over what he remembered from the meeting that they had had before leaving. “Well I guess the short of it is we’re lookin’ fer someone.” He turned his head towards the village up the road in the distance thinking to himself. ‘Guess Cap’n Fin’s there by now…’ His hand rose up to lift his fedora up as he scratched his head. “Come ta think ‘bout it, yer from that village up the road, right?”

A cautious nod came from Shizuka before she spoke as she started to understand his purpose. “That’s my village. Who ya lookin’ for?” There was a building fear in her stomach that she couldn’t shake. It gnawed at her insides drawing up memories she wanted to forget.

It was taking time for Ed to recover the name. ‘Everyone else seemed to remember…’ Names were never his strong suit and for him it was an even weirder name than he normally heard. “Well ya see…I think it started with an ‘S’…Sue, no…Suoka, hmm…who was that doctor guy?” He couldn’t believe that he was forgetting something so important to his mission. ‘Sheila’s gonna kill me. Wonderin’ off and forgettin’ the mission for Dr. Kitawara.’ A moment longer was all he needed before he finally remembered. “Shizuka Kitawara! Knew I’d remember if I thought hard enough.”

Ed, feeling pleased with himself to have recalled the name, focused his eyes back towards Shizuka. “So do ya know her? She’s supposed to be the daughter of our client. If I recall she’s got black hair and fourteen…uh… Ya know I don’t know yer name, what do I call ya?”

Shizuka didn’t like how friendly Edgar was getting with her. He extended a hand out to her leaving her a little cautious of his motives. “Hiraoka…Miss Hiraoka,” she said reluctantly, shaking his hand.

A bit of a frown transitioned across his face hearing how cold she was still being to him. “Ya have a first name right? Ya don’t need to be so formal! We’re just a coupla teenagers.” He tried to smooth things over with her, but it broadcasted strong enough that she wasn’t going to play along with him. “Ya can call me Ed, alright?” he said, making another attempt to make things casual.

“What are ya plannin’ on doin’ with ‘er?”

“We’re just supposed to take ‘er back to ‘er dad. Dunno what happens afterwards.”

“I see…’fraid she doesn’t sound familiar, Mr. Dubois.” Shizuka turned away from him, quickly stepping away from the tree back towards the fields of corn. She had heard enough from him.

Ed paused for a moment feeling like he was missing something, but then jumped down grabbing Shizuka by the arm. “Hey wait! Aren’tcha gonna back to the village? Maybe someone there knows more!”

She quickly snapped back around glaring at him venomously making him back off. “Don’t touch me!” Once Shizuka finished she rotated on her feet and entered the row of corn quietly disappearing amongst the plants.

“Didn’t answer my question…” said Edgar softly, no longer able to see Shizuka. He readjusted his fedora once more feeling frustrated that he came to a dead end. After a moment his eyes panned over to the village in the distance answering for him what his next course would be. ‘Strange girl…are all the people in the boonies like that?’ He remembered that his time off the ship stayed limited to port security most times or more developed parts of the world. The thought bothered him as his first impression.

Forced to go back empty handed didn’t make him feel good, but he had little choice as he began walking the dirt road. He kicked a small stone out of the way as he slowly made his way to the village.

Shizuka came to rest once she was deep enough into the field that no one would see her. Lunch would be coming soon meaning that the grounds would be empty for the time, but she couldn’t help but feel nervous as she carefully sat down. Her mind raced with questions from what she had gathered from the city kid. ‘So father’s come looking for me, huh? It’s been six years. He was probably so busy with his work that he just now realized that I was missing. Why’s he looking for me anyway? It’s not like I need him now. But it looks like I’m going to have to leave Welest…’