Izola sat on the edge of the wall that outlooked the empty space of this section of the clockworks. Few knights ever came here and she was assured a few moments of rest. Business wasn’t good for her, none of the new recruits cared to study under her they all wanted to be the big hero. She looked down at the gears slowly churning miles down, she remembered a time when the guardians were appreciated sadly that time has long since passed. She heard a hiss and a clank as the elevator nearby brought another knight to this mission floor, this one would probably ignore her just like all the rest. These young recruits didn’t care to learn how to fight, they’d rather charge in blindly hoping to kill the enemy before it killed them. “Mind if I sit here?”

Izola turned to see a young female recruit standing behind her.

“It’s not like I own the place” Izola retorted.

The young recruit sat down and began tinkering with a small bomb, it was one of the blast bombs that HQ handed out to all young knights. Izola asked “Why don’t you use a sword or gun like everyone else?”

“Because I’m not like everyone else, I don’t give a damn about what you think is the best”

Izola was taken back a bit by the harsh response, she guessed the young knight had trouble making friends who could fight alongside someone who fought with this unorthodox weapon. The knicks and scratches on the recruit’s armor indicated that she was not an adept demolitionist. Izola chuckled to herself a bit, the young recruit noticed this and asked “what’s so funny?” The guardian responded “You remind me of myself a long time ago”.

“Yeah right, I’m nothing like you, you’re a guardian and I’m a demolitionist. We have nothing in common”

Izola said “Of course we do, we’re underappreciated knight classes and we both have trouble finding a good team”

“Whatever, as soon as I figure out how to do this right everything will fall into place”

“What’s your name kid?”

The young recruit responded without looking up “My name is Ginger"

“Ginger, let me give you some advice on fighting, you have to be able to see what your actions in battle will do. You can’t just attack wildly without thought, you’ll end up getting both yourself and your allies hurt”

Ginger looked at the battle-worn guardian “If you’re so smart why don’t you have a squad? Huh?”

Izola looked back out over the clockworks “Today is different from my time, however I’ve been doing this job for years on end, I’m too set in my ways. I’m just trying to pass on what I know to those who need it”

A month later Ginger entered the building where Izola and the other class tutors usually stayed. When she went to visit Izola in the guardian academy she found that the classroom was locked and the lights turned off. Headmaster Barrus explained to her that since no one was signing up for Izola’s class she shut it down in order to focus on other duties. He told Ginger that Izola had ventured into the clockworks with a group of knights to rescue some prisoners but when confronted with the enemy her allies retreated leaving her at the mercy of the enemy. Those knights are spending time in the brig for their actions but they have no knowledge of Izola’s whereabouts or condition, but it was presumed she had fallen in battle.

Ginger went down into the clockworks to where she had first met Izola. She pulled out her bomb which she had almost fully upgraded and began fiddling with it. The knight sat down at the edge of the world, her feet dangling off. She was so deep in thought that she didn’t hear the elevator as a young recruit got off…..