(A/N: Now we'll find out just what became of Afro since he passed out at the bottom of Mount Shumi.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 7: The Seer

Afro's eyes snapped open. "Father!"

He instinctively tried to sit up, and pain exploded throughout his entire body. His strength failed him completely and he collapsed back down. Very slowly, the pain faded away, but not completely; his body was in too poor a condition for that.

From out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Ninja Ninja crouching down beside him. "Well, looks who's finally awake. You sure took your sweet ass time comin' back. I thought you was dead for sure."

Ignoring his imaginary friend for now, Afro's eyes traveled around the small space he was in. It was a little room, but from the movement he felt, he could determine that it was moving. He quickly came to the conclusion that he was in a wagon that was traveling to an unknown destination.

The next thing he became aware of was that he was in a comfortable bed. The blankets had ben tossed aside when he had tried to rise, exposing his body, which had been heavily wrapped in bandages.

He immediately had a feeling of déjà vu, his mind going back many years ago to when he had woken up after being gravely wounded to find the beautiful face of Otsuru staring down at him. Had someone else saved him and nursed him back to health like she had?

"Um, no shit." Ninja Ninja told him. "How else you think you still alive?"

Afro glared at him. Ok, so someone had helped him, but who?

Almost as if to answer his question, the curtains of the wagon opened and a little girl who couldn't have been any older than 7 poked her head inside. She gave him a smile and shouted over her shoulder, "Daddy, the man with the funny hair is awake!"

The wagon came to a sudden stop. A few seconds later, a middle-aged man stuck his head in. his eyes narrowed at Afro, almost as if he were disappointed to see him awake. "Thank you, Mimiko. Now go to your grandmother while I take care of things."

The little girl, Mimiko, as her father called her, gave him a stern look. "Remember, Daddy, Grandma said that he's important."

"I remember what she said." Her father told her harshly. Then he relaxed, realizing that he had no reason to be talking to her in such a way, and he gave her an affectionate pat on the head. "Go on, now. Daddy won't do anything bad."

The girl nodded happily and left. The man's cold expression returned as he turned back to Afro. "It's about time you woke up. You've been lying here unconscious for two weeks."

"Two weeks!" Ninja Ninja exclaimed. "Shit, man! I didn' think it'd been that long!"

Of course, the man didn't hear any of this as he went on addressing Afro. "You should be grateful to my mother. She's the one that made me help you. If it were up to me, I would have left you there to die."

Afro struggled to speak, the effort causing pain in his chest. "Where…?"

"Are you?" the man finished for him. "On the road. Not really in any specific area. My family and I are traveling merchants. It's just my mother, my daughter, and me. We found you at the bottom of Mount Shumi as we passed by. You were half dead."

"Well, it wouldn' be the first time for that." Ninja Ninja commented.

Afro ignored him. "Kotaro?"

The man scowled. "If you're referring to that boy we found with you, he's dead. We buried him where we found him."

The image of Kotaro's broken corpse flashed through Afro's mind. With it came the memory that the boy had been clutching the Number Two headband in his bloody fist, and his eyes immediately began scanning the inside of the wagon for any sign of it.

The man noticed him looking around and reached into his jacket, pulling out the Number Two headband. "Is this what you're looking for?" he asked in disgust. If it were possible, he scowled even harder. "I kept it safe for you. Don't worry; you can have it back. I know what it is, and I want nothing to do with it." He tossed the headband on the floor as if it were a useless piece of garbage. "And I know who you are too, Afro Samurai. Practically everyone knows who you are, and what you did to get that accursed piece of cloth." He nodded into the corner, where Afro saw his sword leaning against the wall. "We found that not too far from where we found you. Just how many people did you kill with that sword to get that stupid headband? Did you kill that boy too? Kotaro, you called him."

Afro didn't answer. Yes, he did kill him. It may have been the fall that finished Kotaro off, but Afro had inflicted what had been, undoubtedly, a fatal wound on him during the fight, which would have taken his life soon enough. He was actually survived the boy had survived the deathly blow for as long as he did. But the real truth of it was that Afro had killed him long before their fight, back when he first gave him the Number Two headband.

When Afro remained silent, the man sighed. "Guess it doesn't matter now. Although, I am curious to know why it was the Number Two headband we found and not the Number One. Unless someone got there before we did and stole it while you were out."

"No." Afro muttered, recalling the fierce battle with the mysterious woman.

"So you were defeated then. Well, I guess it had to be sooner or later. You must be one lucky bastard to still be alive after having lost though." He shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense. All this fighting and killing, and for what? A damn headband that supposedly gives the wearer the power of God. Well, let me tell you something. There is only one true God, and it was never anyone that wore that stupid headband. You're all nothing but a bunch of filthy murderers!"

"Tetsuo, that is enough!" came the voice of an old woman. Moments later, the curtain parted further to reveal the speaker. "You are being rude to our guest."

"Mother," the man, Tetsuo, growled, "he is nothing but a killer!"

The old woman shook her finger at him. "You see things far too one-sidedly. Nearly everyone he killed were people that attacked him. Almost all those kills he made were in self-defense."

"All for that fucking headband!"

"Enough! Go see to your daughter. I'll take things from here."

Tetsuo grumbled irritably, but exited the wagon all the same. The old woman nodded, satisfied, and turned back to Afro. "You'll have to forgive him. He's very sensitive to violence, especially when it's connected to the headbands of legend. We've had some bad experience in dealing with them."

She came further into the wagon, and Afro got a good look at her. While at first glance she appeared to be a normal plump, gray-haired old woman, at this close a range he could see that her eyes were actually sewn shut, and there was a vertical scar over both her eyes.

Ninja Ninja immediately jumped back in shock. "Oh, shit! What's up with her eyes? This bitch is blind, yo!"

Surprisingly, the old woman looked right at Ninja Ninja and smiled. "I'm used to such reactions, but I could do without the language."

Ninja Ninja's mouth dropped open. "Yo, hold up a sec, can this bitch see me? How in the hell is that possible?"

The old woman returned her attention to Afro. "My son told you that he's a traveling merchant, but that is only his profession. I have a business of my own. My name is Kaho, and I am a seer. So I travel with my family as a fortuneteller."

Ninja Ninja retreated farther away. "Whoa, Afro, this here woman is some kinda witch!"

"Not a witch," the old woman corrected him, "a seer. I have visions of the future, so I make predictions for my customers." She sighed and rubbed her sealed eyes. "They're enough to drive a person mad. Several years ago, I cut out my own eyes to try and stop the visions from happening." She chuckled humorlessly. "I should have known better. You'd be correct in thinking that it only made them worse."

"Well, no shit." Ninja Ninja replied. "That's always the case. Any dumb ass could have seen that comin'."

"True." Kaho agreed. "Cut off one of your senses and the others get stronger, the sixth sense included. But with nothing else I could do, I decided to put my second sight to good use and began telling fortunes." She sighed again. "It's actually part of the cause for my son's bitterness. You see, one day, back when Mimiko was still a baby, she was sick with a fever, and he took her into town to see a doctor while his wife stayed behind to watch the shop. While he was away, I ended up getting a customer that wanted me to use my fortunetelling to find the location of the Number Two. When I could not tell him, he became angry and trashed the shop. My daughter-in-law tried to get him to leave, and he killed her. That's why my son hates anyone involved with the headbands of legend."

Now Afro felt sympathy towards Testuo. Still, he couldn't help but wonder why he was helping him if he hated him so much. "Why are you telling me this?"

"So you understand." The old woman told him. "Trust me, I have no love for those involved in the headband wars either. Under normal circumstances, I too would have left you to die where we found you. My son certainly wanted to, and I had to convince him otherwise."

"Why?" Afro asked again.

"A good question. Why would we save someone we hate, nurse him back to health, treat his injuries, force feed and give water to him, when he may never even wake up from his coma? As my son said, you've been lying here for two weeks. You most certainly would have died anyway if I wasn't such a skilled healer, nor would you have recovered so quickly. After all, you did have numerous broken bones. So why would we go through so much effort to save a man we despise. It's simply really. It's because the world needs you."

Afro nearly scoffed at that, and probably would have if it didn't hurt so much. "That's why you saved me, because you think I'm good for the world? Bullshit. You're crazy."

"Hey, man," said Ninja Ninja, "don't be sellin' yourself short like that. Yeah, sure, you made a lot of mistakes, but, hey, nobody's perfect, and you're a hell of a lot better than some of them other mutha fuckas that wanted to be Number One."

"Your friend is right." Kaho told him. "It's how I managed to convince my son to help you. The lesser of two evils, if you will." She stroked her blind eyes. "I've seen what the future holds if that rotten old man rules. There will be much suffering and death. You must stop him. Only you can defeat his two guards and put an end to him."

Afro assumed she was referring to Kinko and Kuma. "What do I care for the world? It's been against me nearly my entire life."

"Ok, now that's cold, man." Ninja Ninja told him. "I understand that you're not really a people person, but that's just messed up."

"You should listen to your friend." Kaho told him. "He may just be a figment of your imagination, but he's also you're inner voice." If she were able to, Afro had a feeling that she would be glaring at him right now. "Why else would you feel the need to give penance for all the wrongs you've committed? I know, Afro Samurai. You were driven by hate for your father's killer, so you cast out all other emotion to do what was necessary in order to get your revenge. Now, if you want to make up for all the sins you've committed, then taking back the Number One headband from that diseased man will be a start."

Afro simply closed his eyes. "There's not enough forgiveness in the world for all I've done. You should have just let me die."

Kaho crossed her arms. "Perhaps I should have, but we would all suffer greatly if I did. You can't run away from this. Do you not remember what your father told you? It's your responsibility."

Her words hit home. Dream or not, Afro knew what his father would really say if he were here. As the holder of the Number One headband who sought to put an end to its powers, he was indeed responsible to see that the job got done, or to pass it on to someone else that could do it if he couldn't. And that certainly wasn't Brother 7, or his two cronies.

"There you go." Said Ninja Ninja. "You just do what the old bag says. Who knows, maybe savin' the world from Mr. Old-Sick-And-Ugly will absolve you of your sins, or at least let you find the peace you need. You'll be savin' a hell of a lot more lives than you took."

"That is for sure." Kaho agreed. She noticed that Afro seemed to be ready to fall asleep again, and decided that she had said enough for now. She turned to leave, but left him with some parting words. "Know this, Afro Samurai, oceans of blood have been spilled over those headbands, and you can put an end to that once and for all. Now ask yourself if it's worth it."

Ninja Ninja nodded as he watched her leave. "Mmm, hmm. She's right. If you want to do penance, this is the way. Besides, you know that if you accept death now that you'll just be runnin' away. And it ain't like you ta be a coward."

Afro's eyes shot open towards Ninja Ninja, making the imaginary man flinch. But a familiar fire was now burning in his gaze. "Shut up."

Ninja Ninja blinked, then a grin crept up his face. "Now there's the Afro I know."

(A/N: It's a little annoying writing Ninja Ninja's speech, but I still get a kick out of it. I hope no one found the part with the seer to cheesy. She won't have much more to do with the story after this. For now, Afro has to recover. So where's Afro going to go from here.)