Free Writing: The search is over pt. 1

Their first meeting was disastrous. He had not been expecting anything to make it through the vastness of the land and had reacted a bit blindly. She on the other hand had been on the verge of despair, held up only by her will. She had held death in a grip close, as the fate waiting for her if she had failed. But she hadn`t! She had found him after years of searching and long wandering. How her spirit had soared, death put aside for another day. Such despair and doubt, a black cloud or emotion that had filled her past days, gone in a flash at the realization that her search was over. But the words he had uttered, "Go home, I am not the man you are looking for." She could not believe that! Rage grew inside, a hot consuming flame- fed by the memory of every wrong-headed thing done to her. That cloud called forth the death feeling that had resided in her and she drew her sword and with a mighty leap struck at him.

So quick! His blade drawn, parried and at her neck all in a flash of light in her eyes. Indeed now her eyes flashed brightly, the light of hope emerging from despair. She knew! Here was the man who had proceeded her, who had explored the depths and lived. He said through clenched teeth "I am the man who holds a blade to your neck and, woman, I have told you I am not the man you are looking for." But he was and they both knew it, she happily and he despairingly. For in his heart he knew it was the end of his life here, that this girl would bring ruin or salvation yet both meant the termination of his life here amongst the forest. Long years spent in the wild, cultivating an appreciation of the multitude of colors and sights that this mighty forest revealed, all over.

One night as the sun was moving towards the horizon he came to her. As she emerged from the hut she had built, he said to her. "Tonight we lay aside your training for something else. Get your pack, we have a hike ahead of us." With a brief look of surprise she gathered her pack and they set off. For five months they had trained solid, days with no breaks, no questions, no explanations other than that first day.

He had withdrawn his blade with a sigh. "You are the first to reach me, You found the message hidden within I presume." His posture held ever alert readiness yet his face showed only sadness, as if he had lost something dear yet which still lay sometime in the future. With a touch of hesitation at the look on his face she replied, "Yes, deep in the net, hidden behind the training avatar, accessed through defeating the final guardian." And only you broke it?", he said. Angry she said, "You know I came through hell, gave up a normal life and have nowhere left to go. The least you could do is offer me some food or water!"

Still on guard yet more focused on her he said "It`s true then, only you made it. Well I guess the trail has been erased by now. You know, I had little hope that anybody would find my message much less seek me out. I programmed the guardian to be unbeatable and lethal if pushed. But your here so you must possess some mettle." "Hey" she yelled, "I made it, tell me, show me the answer!" "Its not that simple," and he let out a sigh, "long have I been here, beneath the trees and under the sky. Only the seasons for company. I know what you seek, I know you want answers, training and power. Yes I know the promise in the message and will honour it. But you must follow my commands until I deem you fit to emerge a real human being. No questions, no complaints, never quit, never lie, give me all, hold back nothing. If you agree I accept you in all." So saying he turned his eyes to hers for the first time. Meeting his gaze she saw the pain and anguish he had faced, the long suffering faced in the past. Yet what had convinced her in the beginning and now held her rapt was the honesty and truth found in his whole being, two things she had missed most of her life. And with a passion and yearning she put all the strength and energy into these two words, "I accept"