Three days of wandering after leaving his teacher’s house Kaiden arrived at a small town just beyond a large hill. By adjusting his dark blue shirt, he readied himself to enter the town after all those years of training in the forest with his teacher. Despite his mentor teaching him how to fight, he had left his sword and other weapons at home because of his hasty leave. All he had was a cloth pouch of money and a dream. A dream to get away. Break free from his fate of knighthood. Break free from slavery by society. There was no going back to the house now, not after he had made such a fuss and run away. With a determined look on his face, he ruffled his shaggy dark brown hair and began his decent into the town.

Kaiden’s light green eyes glanced warily around the small street. People scurried about quickly from booth to booth like mice, gathering food and assorted items. Kaiden pushed his shoulders back and stepped into the stream of people. He looked around at the shops and busy people who walked by. He let out a small yelp as two small children ran past him, bumping his leg. Steadying his balance, he began walking at a faster pace to avoid being trampled. Kaiden was not used to this many people and had no idea where he was going. This made him nervous and a tad frightened.

“I think I like it better back home... it was a lot more peaceful.” He said in a whisper. He found a small secluded area at the end of the street and took the liberty of sitting down on the side of the road. He didn’t mind the dirt from the road attaching to his pants, nor did he mind the scalding heat from the sun burning down on him.

“I need to figure out what I’m doing…” He thought out loud to himself, “I feel so dumb wandering around without a purpose. I came out here to start something for myself.” He leaned his head against the back of a stand.

Maybe teacher was right. Maybe I am just a kid… He thought. But I’m fifteen already. I should be acting like man! But I don’t want to be a knight! Then again… I am… lost. He silently cursed at himself for not bringing a map.

I’ll just shut my eyes for a bit then figure out where I am.

No sooner had he shut his eyes and stretched his legs out when someone tripped over them and fell to the ground, without a sound, into a heap.

“Ah! Are you ok!?” Kaiden scrambled to the side of the stranger and helped them sit up. The stranger had short blond hair and a delicate frame. When he got closer he noticed the person was a girl despite the short length of her hair. She held her small hands to her face and tried to stand up.

“Are you ok, miss?” Kaiden asked again as he helped her to her feet.

She moved her hands and gave him a blank look.

Her eyes, they’re so beautiful. He thought as he caught a glimpse of the light blue irises. They look so... Scared and sad and-

“-Blind.” He accidentally said out loud.

She gave him an unseeing glare that made his whole body twinge.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to insult you or anything…” He blushed, embarrassed. She ignored him and brushed the dirt off her dark green dress. She turned away from him.

“Um, can you speak?” he asked. She had lifted her foot to walk away, but froze, and instead swung around to face him.

“Of course I can speak! You’re all the same! That girl’s blind so she must be stupid! You cur!” she shouted with a look of disgust on her face.

“No, wait. That’s not what I meant! You just hadn’t said anything, so I thought-“

“-That maybe the blind girl has even more issues?” she crossed her arms and stared angrily to the spot where she heard his voice coming from.

“Well…”

“I may be blind, but I’m not stupid!”

“I never said you were!” Kaiden yelled back, growing steadily angrier.

“But you were thinking it!” she retaliated.

“Actually! I was thinking about how beautiful you were and how I should probably offer to walk you home since the streets are so crowded and a pretty girl like you shouldn’t be walking alone!” Kaiden yelled at her.

“Really?” she blushed, anger quickly fading away.

“Yes,” Kaiden muttered shyly, still annoyed but now realizing what he had admitted.

“… My name is Emi.” She said smiling now.

“…Kaiden.” She held out her hand toward him and he shook it.

“Well, Kai, where are you going?”

“Kai? Well, I’m not really headed anywhere…”

“You can’t be going nowhere. You have to be headed somewhere. Everyone is headed somewhere even if they don’t realize it!”

Emi smiled and spun in a circle. He watched her.

“Why are you spinning? Aren’t you afraid of running into something?”

“Nope.” She grinned at him. “I’ve lived in this area my whole life. Usually people barely notice that I… can’t see.” Her smile faltered. Kaiden smiled sympathetically and returned to the spot he was sitting before.

“So, why were you running?”

She stopped smiling all together. She stopped twirling and looked up at the sky.

“Just… just because.”

“That’s not an answer…”

“Well, let’s just say… some people, though you may think they’re good, they really aren’t.”

Kaiden nodded. Emi slowly walked toward his voice. She took small steps, barely lifting her bare feet off the ground. She held her arms out until she felt the same wall Kaiden was leaning against. In one movement she turned and sunk down, now sitting next to Kaiden.

“Some people are… no good.” She stated flatly.

“Yeah. I know what you mean.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. My teacher wants me to be a knight, but I don’t want to be. I feel like he’s trying to make me be something I’m not.”

“… Well, yeah... I guess that would count…”

“If I were a knight, I’d do the right thing. Not for the country, but for the people. The people make up the country. We should be helping them. Not being slaves of the king and not caring about others.”

Emi smiled, “In that case, I’d want you to be a knight. I bet you’d make a wonderful knight! Saving people. Making the world a better place for everyone!”

“Most of those knights are scum anyway.” He continued, “They become knights then it goes to their heads. And they think they can have anything. Women, ale, land, and jewels; they take it all by force.”

“Yeah…” she muttered softly, “But not everyone’s like that. There are some people worth saving. Some beautiful things. Like the animals and flowers. The world is a beautiful place if you look hard enough.”

“I think it’s all garbage.”

The two sat in an awkward silence. Kaiden’s stomach made a loud grumbling noise. He chuckled and blushed slightly.

“Looks like I’m hungry. It is about suppertime anyway. Stay here, Emi. I’m going to go buy us some food. Ok?” Emi only nodded.

Kaiden stood and stretched his arms and legs before taking off into the dispersing crowd.

Emi looked out into space. It was all black around her. She had never had anyone treat her like a normal person before. Her heart felt warm.

“Well hey there.”

Her body tensed at the sound of a familiar rough voice.

“You ran away from us earlier little girl, but you won’t get away now. There’s nowhere to run.”

She could feel the presence of at least two people. Two big people. She knew she didn’t stand a chance this time, but she wasn’t going quietly.

Kaiden handed the merchant two gold coins and took the basket of fruits and bread. They had been the only food stand still open. He turned to walk back to where he had left Emi when he heard a scream from his destination.

“Emi?” he questioned nervously. Kaiden began walking quickly around the few people left. He heard it again. It was definitely her.

“Emi!” He shouted and ran through the street. He pushed through a few people until he came to the clearing only to see two burly men. One in armor, obviously a knight. The other in plain robes, but with the crest of a knight embroidered on his back. He stood a few feet from them. Fire burned in Kaiden’s eyes yet he was unable to move.

“Emi!” He shouted when he saw her behind them. The men were laughing, clearly drunk, and attempting to rip off her dress. Snap back to reality. Kaiden rushed at the man without armor from behind.

“Ugh. You brat!” The man yelled. He pushed Kaiden to the side and Kaiden fell to the ground.

“Haha, go back to your mommy, little boy.” Said the other, holding onto Emi’s arm, “This is man work.” Emi was crying. She struggled against the first man, trying to push him away from her. Emi cried out in pain as one of the men punched her in the stomach. Her body went limp as she gasped for air.

“That’s more like it.” The man muttered, alcohol aroma leaking from his every pore.

“No!” Kaiden screamed, once again slamming his body into the man without armor.

“Get lost or we’ll be forced to take action on you! You’re assaulting a knight! We’ll have you hanged,” The man threatened. The other man laughed. Emi opened her eyes slightly and looked in Kaiden’s direction. Emi smiled at him. It was a sad smile.

“It’s ok. Go,” she whispered.

Kaiden was frozen, why is she asking me to just leave?

“See, kid, even your friend is telling you to leave.” The man in armor laughed.

“No…”

“What was that little boy? I couldn’t hear you.” He smirked.

“NO!” Kaiden leaped to his feet and once again threw his body at the man without any armor. This time the man fell over on his side. Kaiden reached into the man’s side pocket and as he expected, he found a concealed knife there. Without thinking, Kaiden reacted to his training. He took the knife in both hands and without another thought he slammed the knife straight down into the man’s throat. The man gagged and coughed blood before passing out. The man in armor stared in horror.

“Wh-what’d you just do kid! You killed him!” Kaiden turned his head to look at the man who jumped in fear. Kaiden stood looking down at the ground and began to walk slowly to the man. Kaiden’s anger possessed him now.

“Don’t come near me!” he shouted. The man pulled his sword out of the sheath and held it to Emi’s throat. Kaiden paused for a second, but then took another step forward. The man pressed the sword closer up to Emi’s throat drawing a trickle of blood but Kaiden continued to walk. The man was shaking so bad that you could hear the rattling of him armor. Kaiden looked up at him.

“I’ll teach you!” he yelled slashing the sword across Emi’s throat. He turned and ran down the street.

“Emi!” Kaiden yelled running to her side

“Kai...” Emi choked out.

“Emi, Emi are you ok?” She smiled and coughed. Blood ran out of her mouth and her throat.

“Oh, Emi…” He felt tears coming to his eyes. He ripped part of his sleeve off and held it to her throat, trying to stop the blood.

“You’re going to be ok, I promise. It’s not too deep because you’re not dead yet.”

“You’re going to be a savior.”

“What?” he asked, tears running freely from his eyes.

“You’re going to make a great knight. The people are lucky to have someone like you.”

“Emi, Emi don’t talk like that. I told you I wasn’t going to be a knight. Don’t be stupid. You’re my friend. You’re going to stay by my side and we’ll battle the world.”

She smiled.

“It’s ok, Kai.”

“Emi, its all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault. …. I think my ribs are cracked… and I cant feel my body anymore…” She said slowly, gasping for air.

“Emi no, don’t leave me. I know I just met you and everything. But I feel like you already know me better than anyone else I’ve ever met.”

She smiled at him.

“You made me feel normal for once in my life,” She said exhaling.

“Emi, don’t be stupid.”

“Thank you, Kai.” She closed her eyes

“Emi! Don’t leave me!”

Her head went limp and fell slowly to the side.

“Emi!” Kaiden cried and pulled her to him. He rocked back and forth muttering her name.

“Emi…”

He sat there for what seemed like hours but was actually only a few minutes. He looked up at the rising moon. He looked at the blood covering his hands and his clothes.

“Emi, for you. I’ll make the world a better place. I’ll make sure every knight is destroyed. I’ll make it a place where you could have been happy. You said there were some things worth saving and that the world was a beautiful place… I didn’t believe you. But you were worth saving, Emi. You were right. You may have been blind, but I think I was the real blind one. I’m going to save them. I’m going to save the good things.”

He laid her body down on the street. He wiped the tears away from his eyes, only managing to smear his face with blood. He walked down the street. The shops were all closed by now. He took off at a fast jog. Running now. He ran out of the street and kept running until he exited the outskirts of the town. He stopped to catch his breath. He looked back at the small town. Everyone slept. No one had even noticed what happened.

“I’ll fix everything for you, Emi. I’ll make the world a better place for you.”

He looked down the dirt road leaving the village. He began walking, headed somewhere.