Chapter IV - The fall of Asai Suehisa

The warrior's destiny sees its end in the eyes of death.

It was a beautiful, calm morning. The sun's rays pushed their way into the repurposed tavern after sunrise. Asai, sleeping on one of the stools in a rather uncomfortable position was woken up by the brightness of said rays warming up his eye.

With a sharp grunt, the samurai slid himself off the stool, the creaking of old wooden floors audibly echoed throughout the tavern. He took a peek around himself.

- "That was one hell of a night..." He whimpered out, reminiscing about the burning river of sake running through his throat the other night, even if he couldn't remember much.

- "It sure was, warrior." A soft voice lifted up the air above him. He already knew who's voice it was, slowly getting used to Tokisuke's maid following him like a shadow, or even better, a hungry dog. The maid smiled down on him and kicked his shoulder playfully. "Stand up! There's a long journey awaiting you, warrior." Kimiko spoke up once again, letting the samurai push himself up with an unbelievably huge slice of effort put into it. His shoulders waved up in a swift manner as the samurai stretched out, yawning like a bear waking up from a good winter's sleep.

- "I figure I did inform Tokisuke about my leaving yesterday, didn't I?" Asai asked the maid briefly, already knowing the answer. He just let her nod.

- "I polished your armor again when you were asleep, warrior. I promise it won't disappoint you!"

Her lips puckered up before landing on Asai's cheek; leaving a kiss on it. Despite looking into bottles often, the samurai couldn't let himself succumb to earthly pleasures like the maid's body; he pushed her away in a calm, yet oh so strict manner, like a father about to lecture his child.

Yet without a word more, Asai turned around, walking away from the maid and towards his beautiful, shining armor. He could almost see his reflection in the shoulder plates of it.

"Thank you for having me. Please tell your master that I'm gonna visit him again as soon as my destiny reaches its end." His stoic voice entered Kimiko's ears like a melody dancing through her mind.

All suited up already, his masked face turned itself to Tokisuke's maid, bobbing down in a sharp nod. The grimace on the demon's face, usually oh so menacing and scary, seemed way more smug and confident in that particular situation. The maid spoke up in excitement, throwing her hands up towards her chest level like a puppy begging for a treat.

"Good luck, warrior!"

A smile figured under the black clay mask, unable to be seen by Kimiko, yet the presence of it alone could warm her fast-beating heart a bit. That beautiful sound of the metal on his body clinking around with each step he took, announcing eastern Asia that its soon-to-be legendary warrior is back on his feet again... His ears missed this sound a bit. It accompanied him throughout his whole life - his training under the wing of his mentor, and his last journey towards Fujitama.

His borrowed horse's grunt was heard as the warrior heavily tossed his butt onto the saddle, galloping further and further away from the repurposed tavern. He even looked back at it, somewhat grateful towards the ronin for saving his life and having him as a guest, no matter what horrible things he said about the emperor.

From underneath the mask, Asai's deep blue eyes admired the Asian landscapes. He traveled for a long while, the moon's light now giving his blue and black armor a glimmering feeling.

Having fallen from a cherry blossom tree, a hot pink petal laid on Asai's mask. Perhaps it was time to finally take a rest? The blue ocean resting in his beautiful eye splashed around as the samurai scanned his whereabouts calmly. He felt at peace for once for some weird reason. Despite knowing there was such a long journey ahead of him, Asai dropped off his horse, letting the mount rest underneath the cherry blossom.

His metal-clad back smacked against the tree with a metallic clink before the Samurai slid down, dropping onto the dirt, letting the cherry blossom's petals rest in between the golden horns of his crest. It took him no time to fall asleep, his mind drifting off into a different place, a snowy land of dreams.

Asai opened his eyes wide to the dreamy landscapes, his sandals gently tapping on the weirdly pillowy piles of unusually white snow. His skin was covered by a silver kimono, almost blending in with the whiteness of his environment. A greyish beard laid on his face, almost hanging down to his muscular stomach. As the samurai made his way down the hill, his eyes traveled across dead bodies lying in the snow. For some reason, it seemed normal to his dream self. He just ran his wrinkly hand across the grey beard hanging down his chin. A scream punched into his earlobe oh so sharply, making the elder's whole body twitch. A silver and black, visibly aged katana appeared in his hand, but he just couldn't grab it properly; the handle slipping out of his hands each time he swung, making the air whistle. The shouting came closer and closer with each second before an arrow pierced through reality, making Asai's whole vision nauseously shift and start shaking around the place.

Breaking him out of his peaceful sleep, the arrow suddenly landed in Asai's shoulder. The samurai woke up with a scream and instantly jumped up, reaching for his own bow.

Despite his heart beating so loud that its sound echoed in the samurai's ears, he looked around calmly, just for his eyes to widen as he saw another arrow flying towards his head.

After a swift dodge, the samurai launched an arrow back at whoever may be his next opponent.

The silent night was interrupted by a painful scream, letting Asai know he didn't miss his shot.

Before he knew it, a blade launched right at him, and despite the samurai deflecting it with his metal-clad gauntlet, he still lost enough balance to lose advantage over his opponent, or better yet - opponents.

His eyes couldn't process how many blades started flying at him in such a short time, it was like fighting a whole army of well-trained warriors.

"One... Two..." He started counting his enemies in his mind, just to get interrupted by an attack everytime. It was horribly humiliating and oh so frustrating for the warrior. He couldn't keep deflecting all those attacks for the whole night, but what choice did he have?

Seems like he did have a choice, after all.

With an angry growl piercing out of his lips, the Samurai pulled his wakizashi out, the short sword menacingly flashing in the moonlight before it started to swing around, dancing between the blades of Asai's enemies with oh so much passion.

In no time, his armor was scratched and pierced all over, but he was fighting with such courage, even if Asai's eyes couldn't clearly see who and where his opponents were. He swung his blade powerfully, unexpectedly slashing through the body of a pitch-black ninja, who's blood splattered all over the samurai's armor.

That was enough to distract him for a split second, letting another ninja strike at his hip and leave a deep cut behind himself, knocking Asai off his feet and onto the grass.

Wind furiously blew around the warriors, tossing the cherry blossom's leaves around and into the puddles of blood slowly soaking into the dirt. The samurai furiously struck at the air, yet to no success. All he could do was dodge just a few of the ninjas' attacks. There were only two of them left. Sometimes it seemed so easy to dodge or deflect their spinning blades, and sometimes Asai's life flashed in front of his eyes whenever they met the sparkling tip of a sword.

First his shoulder, then his forearm, and then his legs; Asai felt each of his body parts burn with pain one by one, spewing blood all over the place.

He was slowly losing focus, falling into the cold embrace of death with each slash he launched into the air, but one of them turned out to be quite lucky.

Asai closed his eyes peacefully, only hearing the two decapitated heads of his opponents fall onto the ground beside him. Blood splattered all over his masked face, but at this point, he had no idea whether it was his own or his enemies'.

The samurai laid there defeated, without even a bit of strength to push himself up from the ground. Losing grip on his blade, he let it drop onto the grass beside him. Asai's shaky hand reached up to his mask, tossing it aside as well. He was once again standing infront of the face of death, looking into its empty eyes, unable to comprehend his fate.

Another arrow flew in his direction, instead hitting Asai's already dead horse. Was this a warning shot, or is his opponent just a horrible archer? One could only wonder, but Asai had no time for that.

His deep blue eyes met those of whoever had Asai's life in their hands. The masked man aimed his bow right at Asai's forehead, the flash of the arrow's pointy tip just showcasing how much power the ninja now had over Asai. He was taking his time with it, creating such an awkward tension between the two last survivors of such a spectacular fight.

And then, Kimiko's words echoed in Asai's mind. The gift he received from Tokisuke... Was it possible that the ronin will save Asai's life once again?

He did notice something weird clipped to his sheath, and now his hand drifted down and grabbed into a single shuriken. Should he throw it? The ninja was just a meter or two away, seemingly contemplating whether to kill the samurai or not. It was his last chance, and so he shot it.

The shuriken ended up right inbetween the ninja's eyes, the arrow from his bow dug into the ground just a few centimeters away from Asai's head, and his body fell ontop of the Samurai's, just to get pushed off.

Asai could finally close his eyes in peace, succumbing into eternal rest. Although the darkness around him was lit up by a well-known voice.

"Don't go, brother! I'll get you out of here. I promise!"

The brave samurai had no strength left to even open his eyes, bleeding profusely from each cut that broke his skin. But despite not being able to see his savior, he already knew it was Tokisuke. Asai's bloody lips shifted into a weak, yet oh so heartful smile, a smile that couldn't be broken even after the samurai passed out on his brother in arms' shoulder.

Warmth surrounded the samurai as he opened his eyes in a cozy bed, he felt as if he died and was laying on a cloud beside all of his fallen pals, but as he moved his hand to touch his own face, he noticed the patched up wounds and scars all over it, Asai just sighed. While he should be amazed by his own combat techniques, he knows he would've died to the enemy's blade if Tokisuke didn't save him. Already bearing so much shame on his shoulders from the past events, his brave, fiery soul was slowly extinguishing, and a warrior-like Asai couldn't handle that for long.

Then his eyes opened as wide as they could - he remembered that he was supposed to deliver a message to the emperor. The room was empty, and he could recognize that he was in Tokisuke's tavern. Asai pushed himself off the bed, just to grunt loudly and stumble into a wall shortly after. Friendly, known voices pierced through his ears painfully before Tokisuke ran down into the room alongside his maid.

- "And where are /you/ going? Lay down, brother. You need to rest." Tokisuke spoke in such a calm, yet worried tone. His veiny hand rested on the samurai's shoulder and gripped into it tightly.

- "I need to speak with the emperor. Where is my armor?!" He pushed the ronin's hand away, looking him straight into the eyes. Asai's face was bruised and cut up, each inch of his body showed how hard the fight was for him.

The samurai's lip quivered in a mixture of anger and physical pain as the two exchanged looks. The atmosphere got so tense and thick you could cut it with a blade. It took Tokisuke a longer while to answer, but after letting out a quick sigh - he spat out a couple of words.

- "Your armor was completely destroyed. I... Left it behind. I wasn't able to carry both you and your plates at the same time." The ronin looked away from Asai's eyes in a sort-of guilt, but his maid just pouted angrily at her master, making it obvious he's acting it all out.

But Asai Suehisa's mind was far away from those two, drifting onto his beloved armor, the shell he's been hiding in for almost his whole life, the equipment that grew up and gained experience alongside him.

- "Where are my swords?!" His panic shout punched into the duo's ears abruptly.

- "They didn't suffer that much damage, brother. I have given them to an old friend of mine, one of Asia's best blacksmiths." Tokisuke spoke, calm once again. His hand rose to rest on Asai's shoulder, this time not as forcefully as before.

- "How long was I gone?! The emperor probably thinks I'm dead!"

Hearing this, Tokisuke just smirked. His hand slid off Asai's shoulder in no time, just for their eyes to meet again.

"And he's probably really happy about that." The ronin spoke up and then paused for a while, taking a bit of time to think his next move through.

"Please accompany me outside. There's a lot of things I need you to know."

All he heard in response was a nod.

Each step Asai took was accompanied by a quiet grunt, he occasionally fell onto Tokisuke's shoulder, just for the ronin to help him get back on his feet without a word of objection. Both of the men were comfortably clad in their kimonos, which surprisingly were warm enough to hide them from the chilly evening wind.

After a good few minutes, Asai's eyes saw the moon's reflection on the surface of a calm lake. He knew this spot like the back of his hand.

It was like a ritual for them. Everytime Tokisuke wanted to speak with him, they went to this oh so mesmerizing lake. And they never spoke on the way there, letting each other collect their thoughts, or even just admire the landscapes around them.

Finally, the ronin took a dramatic stop, a cloud of smoke accompanied by a loud sigh shot out of his half-closed lips.

Before he could speak, Asai interrupted him.

- "You still haven't answered my question."

The ronin cocked one of his eyebrows back, yet not even looking in Asai's direction.

- "Hm?"

- "How long was I gone, Tokisuke? You seem to have done a lot when I was asleep."

- "That's not important, is it?" The ronin took a longer drag from his pipe.

- "To me it is."

- "A few days, perhaps. You would've already been at your destination if it wasn't for the fight." His lips shifted into a worried smile, he side-eyed Asai and blew smoke out through his nostrils, getting back to the conversation.

"I never believed you would wake up. Kimiko is the one who really saved your life.

You should go easy on her. I heard a word about that... Encounter between you two, right before you left."

- "It was stupid of her to try her lustful tricks on me, and it was even dumber of her to keep me in here." Asai brought his hand up to his lips, nibbling on his thumb nervously.

"I can handle myself."

Tokisuke then raised his tone, looking straight into the samurai's eyes.

- "I found you lying there, covered in blood and mumbling some nonsense to yourself. If I didn't show up, you'd bleed out. And even after I did, there was a horribly small chance that you'd come out of this alive, and now you tell me you don't need me?"

He spoke, his face uncomfortably close to Asai's. The samurai could even hear a dramatic note of sadness in Tokisuke's voice, the same emotion being shown in his eyes.

Then he quickly backed up, shifting his view towards the lake and regaining his usual calm way faster than he should.

"Your swords are being repaired for two days now, your armor is a piece of junk, and your horse's corpse is still laying under that tree." He lamented nervously, his lips quivering as Tokisuke brought the pipe up to them and took a drag.

All Asai could do right now was just stare at his 'savior', letting him fall deeper and deeper into the dramatic monologue.

"If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even set out on that journey. You'd die under Suga's shoe like a dog. You are like a brother to me, Asai."

The samurai took a good look around, worried, and extremely uncomfortable.

- "L-let's get back into the tavern. I need to recover."

- "You know they were the emperor's men, right?" Tokisuke completely switched the atmosphere up, puffing a cloud of smoke into the air before speaking again.

"First it's the Fu brothers, then you get assaulted by a bunch of ninjas.

It's obvious he wants you dead, and he sent you to the same people that killed Fuse Rai.

How comfortable, isn't it?"

Crossing his arms, Asai just nodded calmly. The samurai's eyes laid on the lake's surface, watching his own reflection in the water. He was buried six feet deep in his own mind, travelling through various thoughts, mainly about the emperor.

No matter how he looked at it, Tokisuke's words made more and more sense. But what could he do now? Agreeing with the ronin would be betrayal, and leaving him behind would mean nothing but death if what he says is true.

- "Let's get back into the tavern already." Completely dismissing the topic, the samurai just turned his back to Tokisuke, kicking his feet into motion.

- "You owe me a favor, don't you? A couple of them, even."

This made Asai stop suddenly, releasing a cold sigh.

- "What do you have in mind?"

Tokisuke's eyes sparked up in excitement for a second before he turned his head to the side a bit, grinning mischievously. He tipped his conical hat down a bit and finally spoke.

- "Join me. Leave your corrupted master behind and let me teach you things you could never even dream about, not even under Fuse Rai's wing.

I will let you see through their lies and pierce through their armors, live life to its fullest, and regain your lost glory at the end of it."

He took a deep breath, now fully turning towards Asai, just to see that the samurai has turned around to him as well. Their gazes met in the dark and pierced into each other's minds as if a beautiful flame just sparked up between the two warriors. The ronin spoke again, the corner of his mouth clicking up into a half-smile.

"You owe me a favor, don't you?"

Asai turned around once more and looked up into the sky, speaking.

- "I really need to think about all of this."

- "Of course, brother. Although I don't want you stalling your answer so you can feed off my generosity and just use me and Kimiko to get back on your feet."

- "I am a man of honor, after all. But don't blame me if my destiny takes a turn away from yours." Asai calmly replied, letting Tokisuke take the lead as they made their way back to the tavern shortly after.

Its door opened loudly before the two men stepped inside. Seems like Tokisuke's maid was already asleep. Considering she would be jumping around them by now.

They exchanged gazes and one could feel all the tension of the past day slipping down their shoulders, freeing both men off their worries - at least for now, considering that their journey is still awfully long.

No matter which path Asai chooses.

- "Go to sleep, brother. You really need to rest right now." Tokisuke smiled down at the samurai, resting a hand on his shoulder and lightly pushing it in a playful, yet dismissing manner.

"I have to speak with Kimiko about something... Important."

- "Isn't she asleep?" Asai grinned nervously, just to get an equally troubled "Yeah, right.." back.

Author's Note

If you read through the entire chapter, I'm very much asking you to spend those 5 minutes to write a review. I'll make sure to read through some of your work in return!