Why do I bear the burden of another man's mistakes?
I come from a family that was cursed to spend the rest of its days as mere heimin. Father always said we were once Hare, long, long ago. Generations have passed, and we still bear the mark of a ronin. My father was a bushi. But was never accepted by any as a samurai. So, he became a bandit. For as long as I knew him, he lived a life he was condemned to by history and tradition. We survived off the pickings of merchants. Many a night I went to bed with an empty belly and nothing to cover my feet with.
One day we found ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. We both escaped with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Somewhere between there and the next day, he decided that he would have nothing to do with that life. And he walked away. I rose that morning, and heard his final words to me.
"Someday, Riyati, you will be forgiven for the past." I never saw him again. But I swear that I will find him again, one day.
I swore that day would come nearly twelve years ago. I found a village, and they accepted me. Like me, they were outcasts. I had found a new home. A home that was short-lived, unfortunately. Our village burned in the night. We were told that it was because of the clan whose lands we lived upon. They thirsted for blood and power, and considered their actions "for the good of the empire."
I had to run again. But, I was not about to return to the life that condemned me to lose my only friend, my father, so I wandered. After more years on the road, I finally stopped, and could walk no further. That was when I met two men who like me, were outcasts. One was still paying for the past, another trying to build a future. I owe a great deal to these two, who restored my faith in this land, and it is for them that I wear these two symbols.
I can finally say that I no longer owe debts for the sins of the past.
But I have not forgotten the one who may have saved me from a fate worse than death - I will find you, someday. I swear it.
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