How many times had he died? Within that query lay the potential to elucidate myriad wisdoms beyond a simple tally. The only mislaid piece was the accompanying question; Why? It would take only a single why to conquer and an endless how. Yet, with every repatriation of the soul back unto the vessel, the waters were muddied further, their depth becoming indiscernible. Consciousness flickered from vacuity to presence as the first breath of yet another chance expanded his lungs. Immediately the grievance of questions unanswered flooded into Inosuke's reconstituted mind. A growing warmth spread outward from his chest whilst the beating of his heart tumulted in his ears.
As he had died, he remained; lying motionless to gaze expressionlessly upon the stars. 'Why am I still here?' he asked himself. Blood caked his skin, soiled lacerated fabric that veiled him. Flesh hadn't ceased to part from the last mortal blow, festering in protest of his divine resuscitation. 'I have broken myself upon countless blades, yet I am no closer to edification.' A slow, frustrated exhale emanated from puckered lips, evoking a warm fog against the frigid Atrisian air. 'There must be more to this,' he surmised. 'What am I missing?' For a final moment, he marveled at the sky in case he should not see it again, preparing himself to take another plunge. Veld and leaves rustled as he fought against the stiffness of his withered cadaver to rise to his feet.
A fire burned in the throes of its illumination only steps away from where he had fallen. The same man who had been allowed to strike him down three times before now slumbered upright against a tree, his sedge hat drooping to obscure his face. Inosuke called his batter blade to his grasp with a single flex of volition through the force. Weapon in hand, he place bloody fingers from his free hand between his lips and whistled loudly to startle the man awake.
The man stirred and adjusted his hat backward to meet Inosuke's graven gaze. "Again with this?" he chided.
Inosuke said nothing.
"You cannot best me, Ashina. You're washed up, and it is clear that the gift is strong with you. We are getting nowhere, this is meaningless."
Again, Inosuke said nothing. Against the wintry air, his blade hummed as it flourished and came to a readied stance.
The man chuckled. "Why don't you go home? I hear you have a woman waiting for you, not to mention your sister. Stop being foolish."
"Home?" Inosuke echoed. This was home. This was supposed to be home. Only at this moment did he realize how little it truly felt like home. Similarly, now was the first time in longer than he could truly discern that he gave real thought to Henna, Ishida, or anyone. A small contortion, the furrowing of his brow, broke his usually unwaveringly stoic visage. So much mental effort had been dedicated to answering some indeterminate question that now, even his beloved's face appeared little more than a honeyed blur in his mind's eye. 'Has it really been so long?' he questioned. Memories of Ishida were only distinct insofar as he could remember the striking white of her hair. Were he any less composed, his heart may have sunk into stomach in that moment.
Inosuke squinted slightly, the composure returning to his face. "Once more," he insisted. "I have played you for a fool, used you as a stepping stone for answers." His stance returned to ready from where it had unconsciously melted beneath consideration.
"It will only be more of the same, Ashina."
"No, I have allowed you these victories. It is no longer necessary."
His opponent did not believe him, guffawing with disbelief. "You are a fool," the man chided. "This will be the last time, then I disarm you and leave before you rise again." Plucking his weapon from the fireside, he mimicked Inosuke's stance. "I've always wanted an Ashina blade."
There was only the sound of the breeze as the pair stared eachother down with a foreshadowing stillness. The man surged forward, and Ashina remained in place as he had done every time before. One stroke was all it took, appearing almost effortless, perhaps even lackadaisical, in the way Ashina sundered his assailant's abdomen. The battle-cry that the man had emitted faltered to a gasp and sputter as he toppled to the grass, his attempted strike stifled in an instant.
"Wh- Wh-?" the man stammered in disbelief. His essence was vacating his form with a mind-boggling urgency.
"You have my respect," Ashina offered. He could have left Inosuke high and dry after the first return, yet he remained time after time. "Now, die with honor," he bid in a morbid farewell.
"Did you-?" the man stammered again, raising himself with his hands and turning to see Ashina halting a step to look back at him. "-find your answers?"
"Thanks to you."
A wry grin weakly manifested across the man's face. A chuckle accompanied it, each titter expelling blood from his mouth. A whispering breeze swept across them, seemed to carry the man's very soul away as he crumpled to the ground. For a moment, Ashina allowed the silence to linger and he remained still in quiet reverence above the corpse.
'To think I would find wisdom merely by being such a fool,' Inosuke mused once the stillness broke, striding to retrieve his bag from the fireside. Throwing over his cadaverous shoulder, Inosuke departed from the small campsite. Down a starlit path, his intention was renewed.
He was going home.
