Salvaged

            There was a time in my life where the sun always shined, but it was dark. It was dark from all the words at loss and all the loss of love. So, my world was blind, and no one understood the meaning of find.
           What was there left to find? Nothing can be seen in darkness because darkness veiled everything. Yet, we tried. We tried with all our might to find light. We were a colony of people who were shunned away by the sun and had to live our lives completely blind.
            One night, a star past by and caused a commotion in the hearts of everyone who witnessed it. Here we stood, a colony of the blinded, gazing at the glorious bright star. We could finally see; our lives no longer stood in darkness because light was inching closer. It was our salvation. This was our salvation.
——♥;
            “Brandon!” a voice of a female called forth.
            My head spun around and I saw a running figure of a goddess. Her hair glowed with a spark and I was left electrified in my steps. She had the eyes of the sun; such bright radiance rendered me blind.
            “I heard you are the seeker,” the beauty said to me. Slow, heavy breaths were drawn from her and it was obvious she had been out of breath.
            “Seeker I am, milady. How may this seeker help such a beaut?” My hand reached out for hers and I gave it a gentle touch with my lips.
            “…uhh,” the beauty began to say. It might’ve been my ego, but I could’ve sworn she was left speechless and in awe.
            As I flashed my best smile, I couldn’t help but look at her necklace. I had seen it before, but I could not remember where.
            “Just where are you staring at?” the gentle voice said as it grew cold and vicious.
           Looking up very quickly, I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. “Oh, uh, I wasn’t looking at anything. I mean, I was looking at something, but it wasn’t you. I mean, it was you, but it wasn’t you you.” My voice cracked a few times and I suddenly heard her giggle.
            “They never told me that the seeker was quick to embarrass,” she commented. A hand was brought up to her lips and I saw her smile as she giggled. Her brilliant eyes closed as her lips curved and a melodious sound came from her mouth.
            “If it isn’t too rude to ask, may this seeker acquire your name?” I managed to say before I lost my nerve to speak again.
            “I am Isabella Locke. My father owns land just north of this village and I came here with a task for you to complete,” Isabella said to me. Her eyes never strayed away from mine and it had me wondering why.
            “You’re rather cogent, Miss Isabella,” I said to her with my most powerful gaze.
            “Indeed I am, Sir Brandon. Now, will you help me to ascertain this little question I have or will I need to travel elsewhere for another seeker?” Isabella questioned me.
            I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was testing me. There was a hinting somewhere that made me think the real task would not be given to me for a while.
            “Well?” she asked. A little irritation could be heard in her tone. I could tell she was rather spoiled.
            “If you let go of your supercilious attitude, perhaps I will help you with your minute dilemma,” I told her as I began to walk away. I didn’t care for the way she spoke to me, and I soon realized that she looked at me as though I were property.
            “Wait. Hold on,” she began as she ran to stop me. Her face soon stood a mere three inches from mine and I was a little breathless. She really was quite the beauty. “I need your help. Will you help me?”
           Stepping back and removing my hat from my head, I bowed down towards her. “Why, of course milady. What sort of lad would ignore such a damsel in distress?”
            “My task is simple: find my father,” she commanded.
            “Do you understand how this system works? I cannot simply make things seen by my eyes. I need a piece of his property, something valuable,” I told her.
            “Valuable?” she reiterated, a little confused. It took a few minutes, but her hands soon reached behind her neck and the necklace I had been staring at came off. “Will this do? It was given to my mother by my father. It was his treasure and he thought it would keep her protected before she passed away.”
            “An heirloom would most certainly do,” I explained to her as I took the necklace. “However, I need to know the reasons behind why you have it.”
            “My mother bequeathed it to me, for safe keeping under my father’s absence,” she explained. The radiance in her eyes gleamed and an air of sadness filled our atmosphere. It was a difficult topic for her to speak about. I understood that much.
            “I will help you; give me until sunset and I will have a map drawn for you,” I told her.
            “Wait, a map? You won’t be going with me?” she questioned as her eyebrow rose.
            “Of course not. It’s not my job. I am a seeker, not a warrior. If you need men, go look for someone in the taverns. I’m sure you could find some very willing to help out a young beauty,” I explained to her.
            “But you don’t understand, I need you!” she begged as her arms reached out toward me.
            May the stars please be witness to what had happened: she just said that she needed me. Clearing my throat as calmly as I could manage to, I met her gaze and I realized my attainment. “Why must I be affiliated with you more than I have to be?”
            “Because, you’re the only one I can go to for this. You’re the only one my mother trusted. She told me to find you. She said you would know who I was.” Isabella had such desperation in her eyes and voice, it was nearly heartbreaking.
            “…who was your mother?” I asked, finally giving in.
            “Melissa Harte was her name before my father,” she said to me.
            I froze again. Melissa Harte. She was the woman whom my parents esteemed with the highest level of grace. “I will accompany you.”
            The sun rose with her joy as she leapt into the air and hugged me. Her eyes were powerful. They knew how to manipulate those who stared into them. They were an abyss of magic.
——♥;
            “What happened to your father?” I asked as we ventured into the forest.
            “My father left for a meeting with a friend, but it has been weeks since we last heard from him,” she said to me.
            “I see. And your mother, how did she pass away?”
            I heard tracks stop following me as I continued to walk. This silence made me pause and turn around. Isabella had eyes that welled up with tears and that invulnerable guise she put up immediately dispersed. A part of me wanted to grab her and place her in my arms. I wished to tell her that it was okay, but that was not my place, and this was not the time for bonding moments. Our time was finite, and it was quickly running out.
            “My mother…she died of disease…,” Isabella began. She wiped away her tears and spoke again, “my father left looking for a panacea, but according to the doctors, it was already too late.”
            “Oh.”
            “And what of yours?” she asked me as she picked up her pace and began to walk beside me.
            “My father died in war, and my mother was killed by a madman rampaging through our town. We tried for her justice, but the judge said that the crime was venial. We have been looking for her murderer ever since, my brother and I.”
            “…brother? I never heard of a brother,” she said.
            “Because it's not the business of the public’s,” I told her, quickly dismissing the topic.
            “…oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you,” she quietly apologized.
            I couldn’t help but to chuckle when she apologized. “No. It’s quite alright, really. It should be me apologizing to you for my intrusion of your private matters.”
——♥;
            As the nights passed by, I realized we were nearing the path of where Isabella’s father was. He had not moved from where he was, adding concern to my mind. I did not tell her though, lest it be the case that I was wrong.
            “How much further?” she asked me with a tired voice. Sweat drenched her body, and dirt painted her clothes, yet she still looked so radiant.
            “Only a few stretches more,” I told her, attempting to keep eye contact with the road in front of me and not with her.
            “Is something the matter?” Isabella’s voice of concern enveloped my thoughts.
            “…no. Nothing is the matter.” How could I have not realized it until now? All those subtle signs in the beginning that grew into things that made my heart pound meant one thing: I had fallen for her.
            “You won’t look at me anymore, Brandon,” she mentioned.
            Those words stung my chest and I felt my footsteps stop as hers continued to stride forward. “…why do you say that?”
            “People can tell when you refuse to look them in the eye. We might not all be seekers, but we are not blind.” With a soft voice, Isabella’s words haunted my mind like an echo. She could tell that something was wrong. Who am I to hide it anymore?
            “…the truth is—” I began to say before Isabella stopped in her tracks in horror.
            “Father?!” she cried aloud as she quickly kneeled before the tired old man who face was so bloodied he could not be distinguished from a beast.
            There was the sound of a subtle breaths being drawn from the old man with graying hairlines. It was the sound of life and the sound of relief.
            “He’s alive, Isabella. He’s alive,” I told her as I began to walk towards him. There was a hint of sadness in my chest because it meant the journey was over. I realized things too late.
            My sadness was cut short when I realized something on the neck of her father. It was the same necklace Isabella had given to me, and suddenly a million images ran across my mind. I finally connected all the pieces together. He was the madman who rampaged through my village, leaving my mother dead. My aching heart became full of fury as I finally saw my ticket towards vengeance.
            “…move aside, Isabella…,” I told her as I got ready to draw my sword.
            I wonder if the look in my eyes scared Isabella because when she looked up at me, she looked up in horror.
            “…what are you going to do?” she asked in fear.
            “…he killed my mother,” I told her, “what do you suppose I do for justice?”
            With eyes widening so much, she crawled over towards her father’s body and laid herself on top of the blood and dirt. “No. You cannot.
            “Move aside, girl.” My hand reached for my sword’s handle and I drew my sword from its sheath. “It’s unfortunate that you forced me to come with you. Your father might have still had a chance at being alive had you gotten someone from the taverns.”
            “…you will not harm my father. What justice you must obtain, please gain it through me,” I heard her say as she slowly raised her head to look at me.
            This was where I was left completely struck. My heart tore itself apart in seconds when I saw the look on her face, her fearing face. I didn’t see the pain or the tears that should’ve been so obvious to my eyes. How had I grown so blind even though I claimed to have the eyes of a god? It took a moment, but I withdrew my sword and tossed her back the necklace I used to guide us to the madman. “If I come across him once more, his life will end with my sword.”
——♥;
            There was a time where the sun would always shine and people managed to see past the glare. We were no longer blind, yet we became unable to do much with our sight. This sense was completely new to us so we did not know what to do with it. Confusion struck through and people went mad when day became too bright. The glare was something we could no longer ignore, and all we could do was stare at the bright sun that never seemed to set. It drove many towards the path of insanity, and few came back with their minds intact. It was the punishment left for us, for not understanding why we had to value the darkness.

--; November 4th, 2012
I wrote this for some reason...a few things in this story pay respect to The Legend of the Seeker (AKA, The Sword of Truth series).
Anyways...yup. It was supposed to be apart of a two-part series, but I never got to making the part two.
I attempted to use age-old words and stuff (but to be honest, I pretty much failed because I have no real idea what certain words mean and stuff).