Which side are you on?

The sun in the sky continues on it's cycle, turning the afternoon into a sunset, all throughout the day it provided light to all those underneath it.

However the thick dark smoke present throughout the urban sprawl resulted in dim conditions, emitting from the large chimneys connected to various factories in Parquis, the industrial heartland of Aclarus.

The sound of heavy machinery echoed throughout the city, the sound of manufacturing and production, not one day where it wasn't busy in this city.

18 hours all day, every day, it was limbo, stuck in working dangerous long jobs with no guarantee that they will achieve the dreams that was promised to them.

As the sun continues to set, a lone elf stood by the sidewalk of the busy streets, the ringing of the rail cars caused the large group of crowds to make way for the passing of the vehicle which was full of passengers.

An elf leaning against the wall continued to read the newspaper, never paying heed to the large bustling crowds or the political campaigning in the background, he made himself comfortable by slightly adjusting his red suspender belt attached to his black pants with his left hand, tipping his newsboy cap upwards, and unbuttoning the top button of his white button down shirt.

Separatists and Liberals, the elf could hear the slogans they are shouting to each other "We are well off without the Commonwealth! What we have here is enough! Without the rule of the nobles who are puppets to the crown in Valoria, The Kings and Queens and their divine right are bogus! We here have grown stronger! We are the ones guided by the divines!"

"Preposterous!" Retorted the Liberal "Only united can we secure a better future for our nation, they know this themselves! The rest of the commonwealth cannot survive without us yes, but neither can we! Who supplies our cities with grain? Who makes sure that for at least a tiny piece of bread will end up in our plate? We cannot risk such endeavors!"

The debate continued as the lone elf read his paper.

On the front page, the letters in bold spell out:

"UNIONIST AGITATORS ARRESTED, INCREASED MILITANCY AMONG FACTORY WORKERS."

The elf read the article on it's own designated page, mumbling the words under his breath as his eyes darted through the words "12 suspected agitators...An alleged cache of firearms...arrest met with resistance from fellow workers...Authorities are confident..." the last line made him chuckle, as if this elf doesn't have confidence in his own government.

As he continued to read, he didn't notice another elf in walking towards him, doing his best to avoid walking crowds on the street, when he finally reached the elf holding the newspaper he tapped on his shoulder to get his attention.

The elf with the newspaper looked at the source with a face of confusion for a split second then the sight of a dark skinned elf wearing the same hat as him with a brown jacket and black pants made it all familiar to him and morphed his earlier expression into a welcoming smile "Aywin! Haven't seen you since last week." the elf lowered his newspaper to greet Aywin with a hug.

"Good to see you too Pierre." Aywin responded with open arms.

Pierre closed his newspaper and folded it in half then rolled it up "So what have you been up to since we last met?" Pierre inquired.

"Oh I've just been there and here." Aywin smiled.

"There and here?" Pierre's faced morphed back into a confused expression.

"I've been running some other jobs." Aywin replied.

"Must be taking you places then." Pierre chuckled.

Aywin sighed then smiled, he then observed Pierre for a moment, his clothing were as dirty as usual, still working at the nearby steel factory it seems, however what caught his attention the most is a fresh scar that runs across his right arm which was exposed by his rolled up sleeves, while it seems like a minor cut, it still caused concern to rise in Aywin's mind.

"Where'd you get that." Aywin pointed at Pierre's scar.

"Oh this? Just a small accident at the factory." Pierre reassured his friend but Aywin pressed the topic further.

"Small? That scar runs across your whole arm." Aywin rebutted.

"It's nothing to worry about trust me." Pierre gave a small smile while lightly rubbing the area where his injury is.

Aywin rolled his eyes at that statement "Hey, why don't you follow me for just a while to another place, it's nearby so you don't have to worry about getting back to your home in the middle of the night."

"Is this one of your aspiring next generation inventions again? If so please do not make me a test subject of yours, I'll have an injury bigger than this scar." Pierre joked to which Aywin chucked at.

"Okay first of all, my attempts could see good use if perfected, and second, you gotta admit you weren't that much harmed in my testings!" Aywin replied.

Pierre scoffed "Like that one time you tested on me an anti-revolver body armor."

"Bad example because that actually worked!" Aywin answered.

"You used a large caliber rifle on me." Pierre said.

"Well uh, well-you see-uh, at least we know it might work on rifle calibers too!" Aywin fumbled with coming up with a response.

Pierre laughed off his attempts at an excuse "Look, follow me, it doesn't involve any inventions whatsoever." Aywin promised.

Pierre looked at him for a moment before finally agreeing "Fine, this better be good." he said.

"Great! You won't regret this." Aywin then started walking towards the place he mentioned, halfway through the block he looked back to check if Pierre was following him to which he saw that he was still in the same place.

"Come on!" Aywin motioned with his hand as he raised his voice for Pierre to hear him in the busy city.

Pierre sighed and started to catch up with Aywin.

The city continued with it's stream of busy crowds, the clanking of tools still echoed even in the dark alleys of the industrial metropolis, as if it was its own heart beating, there are sometimes automobiles which stroll around the city, honking either to get attention or to signal the people walking on the street to move out of the way, a luxury either way only afforded by the upper classes of the city as a flaunt of wealth.

Aywin and Pierre entered an alleyway and went past alley after alley, distancing themselves from the busiest centers of the city, the gradual decrease of noise from the city did not go unnoticed from Pierre.

"I thought you said it was nearby?" Pierre complained.

"It is, just one more alley." Aywin said.

After they went into another alley, they entered into a messy yard, littered with various empty wooden boxes, some have labels of companies they used to belong to, along with the boxes are folded cardboard, pages from newspapers, and empty beer bottles, the whole yard was surrounded by tall fences, though Pierre can still make out the fact that this place is near a port due to the lack of tall buildings surrounding the area and a faint ship horn.

"What is this? Your new testing grounds?" Pierre joked.

"Very funny." Aywin sternly replied.

Aywin approaced a clutter of folded cardboard boxes, he crouched them and began to push them aside to reveal a long box with a lock in it, Aywin began to dig in his pockets for the keys.

"So why did you bring me here anyways." Pierre said as he continued to observe the litter around the yard.

"You'll see." Aywin replied as he fumbled trying to get the lock open, a click sound emitted from the lock as it was open, he opened the box to reveal a stack of rifles resting on hay.

Pierre approached to see what Aywin was trying to open, once he realized what it was, he took a step back as he was surprised, Aywin took a rifle out of the box as he showed it to Pierre.

"That's... a rifle." Pierre said trying to think of what to do next.

"Not just any rifle, this one's semi-automatic." Aywin said as he carefully showed every inch of the rifle to Pierre in order for him to get every detail.

"Semi-automatic?" Pierre asked.

"It means it doesn't need a bolt for you to chamber another round!" Pierre answered enthusiastically.

"That's definitely something new, but where did you even get this? Let alone five of them?" Pierre inquired as he lowered his voice.

Aywin stayed silent, considering if he should tell his friend the truth.

"What? Are you an arms dealer now?" Pierre chuckled.

Aywin sighed then answered "I joined a unionist organization."

"What...?" Pierre was taken aback, he looked around to check for anyone else but it was only him and his friend.

"Is this what you've been doing last week?" Pierre said as his face morphed into a concerned look.

Aywin stayed silent "Aywin if the authorities find out they're going to put you away for a long time! You know how much the nobles hate unionists!" Pierre warned his friend "Especially the fact that this thing was only covered by cardboard!" 

"This box was a fresh delivery, it was only temporary, but Pierre, don't you think it's tiring to just keep working and it's just all for nothing? That scar of yours could've spelled your own death!" Aywin said as Pierre looked at his own scar.

"Pierre." Aywin said as Pierre looked at him "We could change things, there could be a better future for us! For our families, our kids! This is what your younger brother fought fo-"

"I don't see what my brother has anything to do with this." Pierre interrupted.

"Pierre don't let your brother's death be in vain." Aywin replied as he got closer to Pierre

"I don't see how any of this is related, he's been dead for a decade now." Pierre answered back.

"And don't you even think of using him to convince me of joining in on this scheme of yours." he continued.

"I'm not, I'm just saying that he fought not just for you, but for every single downtrodden individual in this commonwealth, he did it for you, for your two sons who worked in the mines." Aywin convinced Pierre to change his views however he was unrelenting.

"That was my fault, I as a father should've made sure they never took hard labor at that age, they aren't in the mines now and is doing their best in school so your point is moot." Pierre crossed his arms.

"That was out of your control, those people on top, they're the ones at fault! You need to realize that none of this will end on it's own! Unless we take action!" Aywin rebutted.

"Oh now you're sounding like my brother." Pierre averted his gaze.

"Pierre, I know you have unionist sympathies, what if one day you had an accident, or you just collapse in the streets from being overworked? Who will help take care of your kids? Your wife's only choice is to become a prostitute, do you really want that?" Aywin replied to which Pierre just sighed.

"What if I get arrested from doing this then? Who will take care of them?" Pierre replied.

"I promise if you do get involved in this, I'll take full blame, look Pierre, the Royal Houses in Valoria is having an uproar, soon this whole country will implode, you need to choose which side you are on." Aywin said as he was met with momentary silence from Pierre.

"I'll... think about it." Pierre replied.

Aywin's face beamed up a little "I hope you make the right choice then." He said as he went back to the box to return the rifle back to the unlabeled container.

"I better get home soon then, Sun's dying out." Pierre said as he looked at his wristwatch.

As he walked back to pass through the alleys they went through, Aywin called out to him.

"Pierre." He turned around "I trust you." Aywin grinned.

Pierre nodded in reply as he turned back on his path back home.

As he was back on the streets, the evening was setting in, but the city was still busy at this hour.

"Shit." he muttered under his breath.