Chapter 7

"How queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night?"-Lewis Carrol

Sesshoumaru pondered the recently developed dilemma throughout the night, though he did get enough sleep that he wasn't terribly concerned about not being at his best. He had mulled over each and every encounter he had had with his brother to no avail.

Amazing that it only took one single encounter for him to decide. Yet, it should not be suprising as said encounter had brought him to this ignoble end. Sesshoumaru was now sitting on the banks of a river in the dirt, but that isn't the whole of the matter. His hair was tangled- a state he never let it get in-, his clothes heavy, and he was thoroughly drenched. To top it all, that rotten, ill-mannered, obnoxious half-breed cur of a brother was to blame.

It had all started earlier that morning when the youkai lord was kneeling by the river, splashing water on his face to refresh himself. It was almost a morning ritual, of sorts, and Jaken and Rin knew better than to ever bother him during it. As all rituals, it was a soothing activity that remained the same for him no matter where he was. It was unchanging. Of course, Inuyasha wouldn't know the importance of it. Sesshoumaru really couldn't have -expected- him to know, but he was hardly in the mood for rationality. His brother had interrupted him, made one of his smart aleck comments, though Sesshoumaru couldn't recall exactly what it was, and the youkai had responded. Sesshoumaru couldn't recall what -he- had said either, but he was certain it was something entirely appropriate to the moment. To clarify, had it not been, he was completely sure that he was justified in saying it.

Nevertheless, it riled Inuyasha's temper and he actually had the gall to leap at him. Sesshoumaru was prepared for such an attack, but both of the two participants had forgotten that there happened to be a rather large watercourse right behind him. The youkai lord was, admittedly, off balance in his position and it only needed the catalyst of Inuyasha's force to send them both toppling into the water.

Approximately five minutes later, and almost half a mile down the river, found them both sitting on the shore with a good amount of distance between them and even more malevolence. It was an entirely undignified moment and Sesshoumaru would kill Inuyasha and the Flea if either of them ever mentioned it. It only served one useful purpose, which was to supply Sesshoumaru with an answer- no. His brother was not an equal creature. His brother was an imbecile.

------------------------------------

A wolf howled somewhere in the distance. There was not the usual answering lupine call as there almost should have been, but one was most likely not expected. It had not been issued as a call for help, nor to indicate domination of the area. It was an anguished, mourning announcement of death that echoed desolately before waning into hollow notes, only to become as if it had never existed as silence resumed.

The putrid smell of rotted flesh and flora pervaded the area, making both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha cover their noses with their sleeves, but to no avail. The smell lingered in the nostrils as a constant reminder, as if what their eyes saw would not be informative enough. The grass was almost black with decay and it squished sickeningly under their feet. Withering trees bowed under the weight of their branches, bringing rotting leaves perilously close to the heads of any who could stand it enough to pass underneath. On occasion a corpse of an unfortunate creature who did not leave the area in time could be seen lying in the brush, trapped permanently macabre display. Even more rarely, a weakening whimper of one about to forfeit their spirit in order to escape the agony of life in such a place could be heard on the wind. The riverbanks, which they had followed to this point, were littered with the dead, as if the fish would rather try their luck on land than to remain in the water.

There was silence in the group. As world-weary as they all were, such a violation of nature itself still struck them as horrendous. Finally Sesshoumaru spoke, though he almost startled himself by how loud it seemed after such complete silence, "Flea. I have my own suspicions, but does this seem fitting with Masuyo's temperament?" His words, so alive in the surrounding area, seemed to bring the other two from their appalled stupor.

Myouga hopped onto Inuyasha's head, much to the hanyou's annoyance, in order to get a better look around. He hesitated then answered, "Masuyo's youki would be quite capable of creating such a situation. Even more so should he choose not to control it and was in a hurry."

"So that means he's in the area… or was anyway. Then let's find him, kill him, and get this over with." Inuyasha scanned the area with his eyes, but couldn't bring himself to lower the sleeve from his nose to actually try to sniff out the culprit. Even his brashness had a limit.

Disgust coiled within Sesshoumaru as he looked around the area once more. No matter how asinine it might have looked, he wasn't lowering his sleeve either. It was with deep resignation that he said, "We will have to venture deeper in if we wish to discover which way he went."

He was quite aware that he and Inuyasha were rather conspicuous amongst the death around them. Not only were they alive and healthy, which was the precise opposite of everything else, but the white and reds of their clothing were a vibrant change from the greens and blacks of the landscape. They might as well have jumped up and down, waved their arms, and shouted, "Masuyo! If you want to kill us, here we are!" Not that Sesshoumaru would even consider doing such a thing. He had already fallen in a river today and was now standing with a sleeve over his nose in the company of a flea and a hanyou. He had reached his quota of humiliating experiences today.

Drawing in a deep, shuddering breath that almost made him gag even through the cloth, Inuyasha muttered, "Alright. Let's go." He took off at a high speed run. Seshoumaru followed suit. It didn't matter if they wasted their energy, both were all too eager to simply get out of this forest.

-------------------------------------

Masuyo rested, his surroundings much the same as they were before. Walls of natural stone, floors of the same- it was, in all, simply another cavern. He had long ago abandoned the idea of staying above ground, as even he could barely stand the stench of death that his malignant youki caused. Yet, his power was too great and too dark to try to control, so he chose to remain in the bowels of the earth where nothing lived so nothing could die.

He could feel their presence growing nearer and did not even waste time hoping that the death around them would deter them from their chosen course. They were too stubborn and foolish for that. Four nights now until the night he could perform the ritual. It would be a night with no moon. As the moon was the symbol of the Inu family, it seemed to Masuyo to be poetic justice. And he would have justice. He would see to it.

--------------------------------------

A/N:

Okay, so I admit it. I had a little too much fun writing that scene with the forest. ^_^* I'm so morbid… I was hoping to provide enough imagery for you all to really see it as I did. Don't know if I managed that, but I tried. ^.~ And you didn't actually think I'd let those two actually get along, did you? Nuhuh. Their bickering is much more amusing for me. Not that there isn't hope for them…

Please review and –thank you- if you already have! Few things make me feel better than to sign on and see someone likes my story. Things get a bit odd in the next chapter, so be prepared. *looks innocent*