Divergence

Divergence

Canto V

...Comest," said Minos to me, when he saw me,
-The Inferno, Dante Alighieri, Canto V, Line 17


The weather was still horrible, with no end that Sesshoumaru could discern. He and his
brother had been traveling for three days, covering ground that no human could ever wish
to achieve. The pace was shift but not overly so, but the rush of the physical exertion was
more than a little pleasant. Sesshoumaru didn't want to voice these thoughts, but running
alongside his brother was not as horrible as he thought it would be. Unlike most of his
subjects Inuyasha seemed perfectly comfortable in silence. They hadn't spoken to each
other since they had left the temple. Although he liked the exercise, the fact that they
didn't seem to be getting closer to any destination was troubling him.

It still rained.

It still snowed

His lands still suffered and...where the hell were they going?

Currently the two youkai lords had paused in their days-long sprint and were walking
through a small wooded area on the top of a high cliff face. The unopposed wind was
worse here than it was anywhere else they had been. Inuyasha had seemingly gotten tired
of his hair whipping around because he stopped walking suddenly and began wrestling
with it. Slowly a long thick braid began forming and when he was done he tossed it over
his shoulder, only for a sudden gust of wind to toss it back so that it smacked him in the
face again. Sesshoumaru didn't even try to hide his amusement.

The ruffled looking hanyou gave him a mild glare as he tossed the braid back over his
shoulder. Sesshoumaru took this opportunity to ask his nagging questions, in true
Sesshoumaru fashion.

"Do you know where you are going, hanyou?" he asked as they began moving.

"Sure," Inuyasha answered shortly.

Sesshoumaru allowed a pause to grow until he realized in irritation that Inuyasha didn't
plan on saying anything else. "Tell me."

Inuyasha sighed and glanced over at his brother with a miffed look. He looked down at
his feet and ran a hand through over his face. "I don't think you'll like my answer."
Sesshoumaru glared coldly and he sighed again. "I'm following all the warm places."

Sesshoumaru stared at Inuyasha, an incredulous look on his face. Inuyasha shrugged a
shoulder, trying to act careless but the small blush on his cheeks gave him away.

"I told you, you wouldn't like my answer," he muttered indignantly.

Sesshoumaru continued to stare at his hanyou brother in disbelief, his eyes dark as he
began to get angry. Inuyasha seemed to realize this and coughed uncomfortably, looking
down at his feet again. After a few moments of silence Inuyasha looked up with a snarl.

"Look asshole! That's how I'm finding this guy whether you like it or not and it's not
like you know where he is! So you have no right to be mad at me! If you want this
fucking storm to stop then I have to find him and stop looking at me like that you stupid
bastard!"

Sesshoumaru's eyebrows rose in amusement but he remained silent as Inuyasha glared at
him. After a few moments of pointless glaring Sesshoumaru snorted softly and turned
away, his amusement still a tangible thing. The hanyou stared at his brother's retreating
back and mumbled something that sounded like 'prick' before following him. He could
feel the soul's amusement and did his best to ignore it.

Two days later Inuyasha finally found the most recent trail left from the fire-wielder. His
pace was shift and he and Sesshoumaru ran for half a day before finally catching up to
the fire-wielder. The meeting itself was far from passive. As Inuyasha broke through the
edge of the forest that he and Sesshoumaru had been running through a sudden jet of light
and heat exploded in front of him. He jumped back just in time to save himself but had to
dive aside again to prevent his face from being melted off. This was most definitely the
fire-wielder.

The man moved in sudden fluid motions, his large hands open. The air around him
shimmered in heat and every place he stepped the grass withered and died. His face was
sharp, his eyes angled and narrow. They glowed brightly, the light brown turning almost
yellow. The hanyou ducked and weaved, avoiding the flame he conjured and knocking
them away with brief gusts of wind when he couldn't avoid him. He was vaguely aware
of Sesshoumaru's presence as the dai-youkai watched the two elementals fight, but
ignored him mostly. The fire-wielder, Hikaru narrowed his eyes as he sent another jet of
flame at him with a flick of his wrist. He watched Inuyasha block it with a gust of wind
conjured by bringing his right arm close to his body and flinging it out again. Hikaru
tisked and rocked back on the balls of his bare feet.

"No. Use less of your arm and more of your wrist. Try again."

And thus Inuyasha's training began.