brains and brawn | sting eucliffe

¹ᴅᴀʏ ᴛᴡᴏ-ᴛʜᴏᴜꜱᴀɴᴅ, ꜱɪx ʜᴜɴᴅʀᴇᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏʀᴛʏ-ᴇɪɢʜᴛ

The train whistled off in the distance, the bright light of the afternoon bringing her out of her daydream as the track took them around to the outside of the valley. Short orange hair flew into her eyes as she moved her head, and a lazy hand brushed up against her face to tuck the stray strand behind her ear.

Inhaling a deep breath, she lifted her face from the warm sunlit window and turned her gaze to the clock in the compartment she stood at. It was just past lunch.

Yellow eyes turned back to the scenery as a short breath escaped her, a heavy cloud weighing them closed. She felt exhausted after her last job, the man she took it for only giving her half the pay she thought she'd get when he found out that the 'ancient relic' he'd inherited was worth absolutely nothing.

A loud whistle was heard again as the train slowed, and she smiled as she began to recognize the familiar scenery of her home. Bushes of every type of flower surrounded the valley, and the sea-side breeze that carried a salty scent through the air greeted her even without a window letting it inside.

And so, here she was. The town of Magnolia- where she and her guild resided atop the hills behind the city square. A once flying group of fairies that had fallen, almost seven years ago.

--

"Hey, Gears!"

The hall was just beginning to slow down for the day as the young girl sat at her signature table, a cheap lacrima she used for a light floating above her sketch as she turned to the voice. Her gaze met the elder man's gaze as she got up, placing her pen down onto the page of her sketchbook before closing it tightly and walking over.

"You think you can take this?" Wakaba asked the girl, the smoke from his pipe rising high into the air as he pointed down at the paper in front of him. From what it looked like, it was a simple translation job for the Lamia Scale guild. They needed a wizard to help them decipher an artifact for a job.

Nodding, she gave him a soft smile- glad that he'd been thinking about her when looking over the requests for Master Macao.

"Thanks, Wakaba." The orange-haired girl gave him a wave as she raced across to the bar, where Kinana stood talking besides the mentioned Master of the guild.

Arriving fairly quickly, she almost-slammed the paper down on the table- a wide grin on her face. "Can you sign this off for me?"

The purple haired girl shared a look with the man sitting besides her at the bar. "Are you sure? You just got back. And Maya is supposed to be back tomorrow anyways. Why don't you wait for her to go with you?"

Brushing a stray strand of her bangs out of her face, the girl deadpanned. "Maya? On a translation job? Really?"

Seeing as the girl had a good point, Gears continued. "Besides, it's Lamia Scale. Not some kid wanting to find out if his dad left him a hidden message on a vase. Skipping this opportunity would be the worst thing I could ever do."

Putting a desperate expression on her face, she waved her hands around as she spoke. "Plus, I could gain some serious experience. And if I go now I could be back by tomorrow, no problem!"

Macao gave Kinana a tired look as she gave him a soft chuckle. "She's got a point, Master. Plus it's not like it's an unfamiliar guild, you used to work with those guys all the time. She'll be fine."

The man looked to the eager young girl as she looked between the two excitedly, already ready to start on her journey. He finally relented, hanging his head. "Fine. But no combat- you know that's not your style. And you better be back by tomorrow!"

A wide grin grew on her features as the purple-haired girl began to laugh at her ambition. "I promise! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Taking that as her leave, she rushed to her table, snatching up the sketchbook and shoving it into her rucksack that sat beside the bench. Wasting no time, she turned off the lacrima and raced it over to the drawer she kept some of her things at in the guild hall.