brains and brawn | sting eucliffe

⁷ꜰɪꜱʜ ᴀʀᴇ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ, ɴᴏᴛ ꜰᴏᴏᴅ

Gears was literally exhausted as she rode back from the woodlands, the only secluded area where the girl could practice her magic without the risk of using it accidently on her guildmates.

So, the tired mage sat lonely on the train seats in broad daylight- she learned her lesson on the whole night train incident. She debated getting up and walking out the exhaustion, but it was fruitless. It would be great if she could fall asleep in vehicles, but no. Fate just had to be cruel to her.

A sigh escaped her as she looked down at her pouch, a slightly worn burlap brown that had lasted her years. She'd gotten it from her grandfather, he had made it for her thirteenth birthday.

Gears remembered the day clearly. She'd woken up as usual, forgetting the date since she'd been working on another project that took away her sense of time. Running down the stairs, she was surprised to see a little paper box on the counter, the note addressed to her.

'Happy 13th Birthday, Gears.
Love, Grandpa.'

She peeled the twine around it away, pulling on the side of the string with a curious smile. The sides fell away as she lifted the top, revealing an elegant music box- one that clicked in the tune of Beauty & the Beast. A grin broke onto her features as she stared at the craftsmanship, noting the spinning gear on the side.

The girl opened the lid further, curious to see what could be inside- and she wasn't disappointed.

"Oh," A gasp tore through her throat as she picked it up, two fingers holding the ring carefully. "It's absolutely lovely."

And it was. Gears could remember it clearly. Actually, she was looking at it now. Her grandfather always knew what would help her in life, whether she knew it or not. The ring that he'd made her, was a gear.

Well, not really, it was a bronze ring, with the centerpiece being a gear. She could fiddle with it and wind it up- watching it spin on her finger whenever she wanted. It was the key to helping her magic- one she didn't wear very often, but now that she found out another way to use it, she wasn't going to take it off.

Her grandfather had met her outside in the workshop, and they spent the day building something new, something different.

When they finished, a rose music box was born into the world, decorated with all of their heart and soul, and her grandmother's favorite song embedded into the metal. Later that day, they took it to her grave.

It was one of the last good days she had with her grandfather.. before he fell terribly ill. The shop the two had spent so much time together was boarded up, and only a few months later her grandfather was dead. She was left alone.

Gears never knew her parents. They had died when she was only a year old, a part of a guild in Lily- the town where she'd grown up- called the Locken Keys. They'd taken a job, a really dangerous job, but they thought they could handle it. Two weeks went by without a word, the royal guard showed up to help search and rescue teams, but it was pointless. Her parents were gone. Just another pair of wizards that died taking a job that was too hard for them.

She toed the ground, a solemn expression on her face. It wasn't that she could blame her parents for taking such a huge risk, she could understand. They were the strongest in their guild at the time, who else was going to take it?

Pausing, a tear fell down her cheek. There it was again, that word.

What defines someone who is strong? Their physical capabilities? Magic? Maybe it was the amount of courage and heart they carried around or gave to others. To her, it was whoever could protect the ones they cared about.