The road out of the city was a graveyard with no markers
Shigure didn't need a map
He walked like the dead already knew his name
Behind him
Ashes swallowed rooftops
Ahead
Only fog
And silence
The kind of silence that made your heartbeat feel too loud
He stopped at an old tree
It had been there before the city
And it would be there after
He touched the bark
Rough
Like the calluses on his palms
There were no signs
No travelers
Just the weight of air that didn't want him here
Still
He moved forward
His feet bled again
But he didn't stop to check
Pain was the only thing that felt familiar now
A carriage passed him by
Pulled by horses too clean
Driven by a man who didn't look
Like Shigure wasn't there
Like he never existed
He laughed once
Not because it was funny
But because the wind didn't even carry the sound
A small shack waited at the road's bend
He opened the door
Inside
An old woman
Blind
Stirring soup
"You're late" she said
He froze
"I don't have a name"
She smiled without turning
"I didn't ask for one
Only the lost come here
And you…
You don't even know what you're looking for anymore"
He sat
Shoulders sagging
Not from the weight of travel
But from the years he hadn't lived
Only survived
The woman poured him a bowl
Steam rose
Like ghosts escaping
He didn't eat
He just stared into it
Like it might show him a past where he made different choices
But the only thing it showed
Was his reflection
And even that looked like a lie
She placed a hand over his
"You think dying would be peace
But you forgot
Even death fears the ones who refuse to stop"
He looked at her
Eyes burning
Lips trembling
"I don't want to walk anymore"
"You will" she whispered
"Because no one's waiting at the end
But that never stopped you before"