The Swordmaster
Epilogue Three: The Ronin

"We tell the tales of heroes to remind ourselves that we also can be great."
- The Tao of Shinsei

In the northern lands of the Crane Clan, two days ride from Kosaten Shiro there sits a small temple devoted to the fortunes of strength and beauty, and home to a small family within the Kakita house. In that temple, there sits a room to one side of the Fortunes' altar, where a small grey cat is often seen sleeping, and where a daisho stand rests, silent and alone.

Upon the lowest of the three rungs rests a pale blue wakizashi, alone with two empty spaces reserved for unknown swords. When someone asks about the purpose of this room, the owner merely smiles and changes the subject, a small smile slipping into her eyes.

So does the line of Kakita Kenshuko remembers the path of their lost father, holding on to his legend and honoring his chosen way. His story rests in the darkness, a small rack of rolled scrolls beside the wakizashi. Each one bears a simple message…

One day, he will come home.

* * *

The Empire looks at a man and gives him a label; heroes and villains, but names alone can never explain the price of these roads. How could these words explain Koshin's loneliness, Kenshuko's losses, or Kutsu's ghosts? The world would never accept the truth of the world that we "heroes" live in. To believe in us, it cannot.

They walk their own road. They fight their own battles.

For them, that is enough.

Mirumoto Nikkan