Choice

     As the sun began to set, a lone samurai wandered the plains of feudal Japan, though he could barely be called a samurai. A samurai serves a lord, yet this swordsman serves a lord no longer. He was a Ronin, a samurai without a master. It was a rare sight, but certainly a saddening one, like watching a stray roam the streets, or to see a bird without its flock. The Ronin didn’t mind it all that much, however. He could take the glares of civilians when he passed through towns, and he could get by easily enough on his own, yet there was one aspect he couldn’t stand, and that was what everything else had to say to him about his situation.

     As he walked, he came across a rabbit. It was small, white, and defenseless, yet it didn’t run when it saw him. He pulled out his katana and pointed it at the creature, or at least, what remained of his once brilliant weapon. It was now just an edged stub on a handle, and though he knew it, he still held it strong, like a warrior would. To the rabbit, though, he was nothing more than a fool.

     “I see through you,” it started, yet the man remained still, unflinching. “You lack purpose. You won’t kill me, for salvation isn’t what you seek. You want a master.” It said, and the Ronin, without so much as a look towards his scabbard, sheathed his sword and glared towards the rabbit, his gaze as cold as ice. The rabbit, on the other hand, began to hop away, yet it continued to talk, as if it expected him to follow. “You were one of the greats, once. I’m sure you liked it. You seemed like you did, yet you left. Now, you’re hated, cast off, and known only as an outsider. Tell me, why did you do that? You want a master, yet you left your own. Why are you a fool?” the rabbit asked, yet the Ronin did not respond, and only walked along the path he was following, and the rabbit hopped ahead. Before it spoke again, however, a second voice appeared.

     “Is it a foolish act to defy those that are corrupt?” it asked, and the rabbit turned to look towards the sheathed blade, where the voice emanated from. “Is it not foolish to strike down those that do you no harm? Is it foolish to leave the one that opposes your beliefs?” the blade asked, and the rabbit continued to hop along.

     “It is if it goes against what you claim to want. What if you found a new lord, and they were worse?”

     “Then we would leave yet again in search of one better.”

     “And what if the world becomes only filled with evil?”

     “Then we will rid it of such corruption.”

     “And what if-” The rabbit started, but the Ronin held up his finger to silence them both.

     “I’ve known you both since I was born, yet you both lack an understanding of me. If anyone is the fool, it is the ones that claim to know that which they do not. Since you are both fools, I’ll give you an answer that is correct, but will not please you: I left because I like the way that freedom tastes in my unbound mouth, sounds in my open ears, and feels on my unarmored skin. My morals aren’t for you to decide, nor is my goal. I’ll do as I please, regardless of what you think I will. And thus, I cast off my past completely, killing two birds with one stone.” He stated, walking away from his sword, which was now stuck into the gut of the rabbit, and was beginning to shatter to dust as the Ronin stopped holding such a title, now only a man, though a man uninhibited by loyalty, expectations, and presumptions.