Ronin
He was a gun for hire.A gunslinger, if you will. He believed only in his Colt 45, a piece of cold, ruthless, calming steel. His name was Ronin. He never knew his parents, as he was found as a baby at the gates of a local cemetery in Tokio. That is how he got his name: Ronin - a lonely, masterless, samurai warrior, an outcast. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege. So the gravedigger that found him, gave him that name, he thought it would be appropriate.
And the way he was born was the way he lived his whole life: fighting and winning battles, one by one, all by himself.
Ronin acquired an interesting set of skills as he was growing up in Japan, and his childhood was far from easy. Not being Japanese, but a pale, blue-eyed, prickly kid, didn't help. And the worse part of it: Ronin didn't care. He was always a foreigner, always not good enough for the group.....always Ronin. However, that life made him tough, martial arts became his getaway, an excuse to be alone with the only person he could trust - himself. But above all, he was infatuated with guns. He went through a lot of phases until he chose his life companion, his "ultimate weapon" as he called it. He tried Desert Eagles,Magnum 357's, he even tried a Bereta once, but the moment he saw his Colt in the hands of that street hustler selling it for 4000 Yens, the moment he saw the tribal engravings in his handle and the scars on the barrel, he knew that that gun and him went through the same amount of fighting and struggle in life, and that that Colt will be his new brother. He always thought that finding his gun was a touch of destiny.
Now, feelings was not something Ronin had problems with. And why is that? Cause apparently he didn't have any. Or at least that was what everyone thought. That was what he thought.
His unique skillset, fast and merciless in close combat, precise and deadly with his revolver, having no need to even blink an eye when taking someone's life, made him very famous in his line of business.He was a gun for hire, and he had a lot of customers. He killed more people than what an average man would meet in his lifetime. People were afraid of him, but the thing that was scaring them the most, were his eyes, pale blue, like a wolf, cold like the handle of his gun.
For a while now, Ronin had this distinct notion that there is something missing, like that moment when you forget something but you don't really know what it is. This tingling was familiar to him, he used to get it ever since he was a boy. He shook those thoughts off, like a dog would do to a pesky insect, he needed to focus as he just got his new assignment: a local banker, someone that obviously pissed off some wrong people.
As he was approaching the banker's house,he heard gunshots from the inside and rushed in.It seemed that he was not the only one coming for the banker's soul.He busted the door open, and there was a familiar scene: the banker and his wife were at the couch, wife already dead, and two gunslingers, like himself, just weaker, stood in front of them, one of them holding a smoking gun. They were no match for Ronin, they did not even manage to lift their guns before Ronin put 2 slugs in each of them.For a second there, the banker thought he was saved, but the second passed, and he realized that his life is about to end anyway.2 shots to the chest, 1 to the head, that was Ronin's signature, and his job there was done.
And then, it all began.He heard a baby crying above them,somewhere at the second floor.He didn't know that his mark had a child. He climbed up to the room, and there it was - a cradle with a little baby boy.As soon as he entered, the baby stopped crying. Ronin never left any witnesses, so he approached the cradle where the baby was, put his hand on his small mouth, determined to suffocate it,but at the same time the babies hand reached out and grabbed his thumb.
That was the point when he snapped. Something in him snapped like a dry branch, under the first drop of rain in 30 years.
His hands started to shake, he couldn't explain what was happening to him, and after quite some time, Ronin was afraid. He couldn't kill him. This creature, that was holding his thumb, seemed as if it was holding him locked, frozen. He heard the wailing of the police sirens in the distance, immediately knew that they were coming for him, so he had to move fast. He grabbed the baby, went downstairs and out of the house.
Half an hour later he was back in his fancy apartment, he called home, although it never really felt like that. Not that Ronin cared before how did it feel. He put the baby on the couch and sat next to it, with his hands still shaking.
"Why couldn't I kill it?", he thought to himself.
The baby was so calm, so quiet, and it was looking Ronin straight into his eyes in a way that seemed strange but familiar.That look....it was strong, determined.....cold.Like looking into a mirror. Then, Ronin realized why he couldn't bring himself to killing the boy. That boy, was a Ronin too. That little boy, was him, his image, his own reflection, his closure of the circle. Masterless, cold, doomed to loneliness. Tears overwhelmed him. Ronin have never cried before in his life. His heart was pumping, it became hard to breathe. The feeling that he was getting that something was missing? It was his conscience reminding him that there is more to life than this, but he didn't listen. He tried to calm down and stop the tears from flowing out but it was out of his hands. Is this what it means to feel? It felt like his life was pouring out of that void he had in him, that he always knew was there but chose to ignore. It felt like millions of needles poking around his body, trying to wake him up. It felt disgusting, it made him feel week. It felt.......liberating.
Hours passed and Ronin was still crying, holding the babies hand. He knew that he must not allow this baby boy became a Ronin. Nobody deserves a life like that, living free but still being imprisoned for life in his body, in a solitary.
"What was I doing my whole life?", he thought. Maybe his purpose in this world was to take care of this baby boy. To break the circle where one Ronin gives birth to another. To kill Ronin, by becoming another samurai's master.Yes, that sounded about right, because it was the right thing to do.Because he lost everything that day, his job, something he was working on his whole life, his reputation, his name, but what he found was more important.
He found his soul.
And the way he was born was the way he lived his whole life: fighting and winning battles, one by one, all by himself.
Ronin acquired an interesting set of skills as he was growing up in Japan, and his childhood was far from easy. Not being Japanese, but a pale, blue-eyed, prickly kid, didn't help. And the worse part of it: Ronin didn't care. He was always a foreigner, always not good enough for the group.....always Ronin. However, that life made him tough, martial arts became his getaway, an excuse to be alone with the only person he could trust - himself. But above all, he was infatuated with guns. He went through a lot of phases until he chose his life companion, his "ultimate weapon" as he called it. He tried Desert Eagles,Magnum 357's, he even tried a Bereta once, but the moment he saw his Colt in the hands of that street hustler selling it for 4000 Yens, the moment he saw the tribal engravings in his handle and the scars on the barrel, he knew that that gun and him went through the same amount of fighting and struggle in life, and that that Colt will be his new brother. He always thought that finding his gun was a touch of destiny.
Now, feelings was not something Ronin had problems with. And why is that? Cause apparently he didn't have any. Or at least that was what everyone thought. That was what he thought.
His unique skillset, fast and merciless in close combat, precise and deadly with his revolver, having no need to even blink an eye when taking someone's life, made him very famous in his line of business.He was a gun for hire, and he had a lot of customers. He killed more people than what an average man would meet in his lifetime. People were afraid of him, but the thing that was scaring them the most, were his eyes, pale blue, like a wolf, cold like the handle of his gun.
For a while now, Ronin had this distinct notion that there is something missing, like that moment when you forget something but you don't really know what it is. This tingling was familiar to him, he used to get it ever since he was a boy. He shook those thoughts off, like a dog would do to a pesky insect, he needed to focus as he just got his new assignment: a local banker, someone that obviously pissed off some wrong people.
As he was approaching the banker's house,he heard gunshots from the inside and rushed in.It seemed that he was not the only one coming for the banker's soul.He busted the door open, and there was a familiar scene: the banker and his wife were at the couch, wife already dead, and two gunslingers, like himself, just weaker, stood in front of them, one of them holding a smoking gun. They were no match for Ronin, they did not even manage to lift their guns before Ronin put 2 slugs in each of them.For a second there, the banker thought he was saved, but the second passed, and he realized that his life is about to end anyway.2 shots to the chest, 1 to the head, that was Ronin's signature, and his job there was done.
And then, it all began.He heard a baby crying above them,somewhere at the second floor.He didn't know that his mark had a child. He climbed up to the room, and there it was - a cradle with a little baby boy.As soon as he entered, the baby stopped crying. Ronin never left any witnesses, so he approached the cradle where the baby was, put his hand on his small mouth, determined to suffocate it,but at the same time the babies hand reached out and grabbed his thumb.
That was the point when he snapped. Something in him snapped like a dry branch, under the first drop of rain in 30 years.
His hands started to shake, he couldn't explain what was happening to him, and after quite some time, Ronin was afraid. He couldn't kill him. This creature, that was holding his thumb, seemed as if it was holding him locked, frozen. He heard the wailing of the police sirens in the distance, immediately knew that they were coming for him, so he had to move fast. He grabbed the baby, went downstairs and out of the house.
Half an hour later he was back in his fancy apartment, he called home, although it never really felt like that. Not that Ronin cared before how did it feel. He put the baby on the couch and sat next to it, with his hands still shaking.
"Why couldn't I kill it?", he thought to himself.
The baby was so calm, so quiet, and it was looking Ronin straight into his eyes in a way that seemed strange but familiar.That look....it was strong, determined.....cold.Like looking into a mirror. Then, Ronin realized why he couldn't bring himself to killing the boy. That boy, was a Ronin too. That little boy, was him, his image, his own reflection, his closure of the circle. Masterless, cold, doomed to loneliness. Tears overwhelmed him. Ronin have never cried before in his life. His heart was pumping, it became hard to breathe. The feeling that he was getting that something was missing? It was his conscience reminding him that there is more to life than this, but he didn't listen. He tried to calm down and stop the tears from flowing out but it was out of his hands. Is this what it means to feel? It felt like his life was pouring out of that void he had in him, that he always knew was there but chose to ignore. It felt like millions of needles poking around his body, trying to wake him up. It felt disgusting, it made him feel week. It felt.......liberating.
Hours passed and Ronin was still crying, holding the babies hand. He knew that he must not allow this baby boy became a Ronin. Nobody deserves a life like that, living free but still being imprisoned for life in his body, in a solitary.
"What was I doing my whole life?", he thought. Maybe his purpose in this world was to take care of this baby boy. To break the circle where one Ronin gives birth to another. To kill Ronin, by becoming another samurai's master.Yes, that sounded about right, because it was the right thing to do.Because he lost everything that day, his job, something he was working on his whole life, his reputation, his name, but what he found was more important.
He found his soul.
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