Leaving Totosai's residence after Kikyo departed with her characteristic arrogant snort, Asahiko and Inuyasha face the first challenge of their great adventure: how are they going to get down the mountain?
The truth is that if climbing the mountain is difficult, getting down is strangely even more difficult, since the steep edges and almost vertical areas are useless as footholds, offering a hopeless future.
"Why the hell are we still here, transform into that giant bird thing and carry us!"
Kicking a nearby rock with his bare feet, Inuyasha, who seems to be allergic to both shoes and socks, finally calms down and fixes his amber gaze on Asahiko's figure.
The latter is standing right at the edge of the mountain, throwing small stones downward, obviously using a traditional method to calculate the falling distance and whether they would survive it, which is rather strange knowing that he can fly.
"Diu, no, I don't plan on carrying a man on my back. Better jump down, I think you'll only break your legs, but your demonic regeneration will leave you as good as new in a few hours."
"Y-you... Are you joking?"
"Not at all, I even know how to make crutches from tree branches! You don't even have to worry about your bones growing back crooked!"
Beating his chest in an attempt to inspire confidence in Inuyasha, in the end Asahiko has to quickly crouch when he notices a flying fist heading toward his face, but strangely, after dodging it, there is no follow-up from the attacker.
"Now that you've finished with your jokes, you can carry me with your claws or your beak, I don't care."
"...Strange, normally you'd play along with me, especially now that you should be angry because of the situation with Kikyo, what's really wrong with you?"
"Nothing."
"Sure, and I was born yesterday, Inuyasha. Anyway, since you don't need my help to vent your anger, I don't see the point in us standing around here any longer."
Stopping acting like an idiot, Asahiko quickly transforms into a giant golden bird, grabs Inuyasha with his beak, and tosses him onto his back in a beautiful arc.
With the dog boy secured on his feathered back, he spreads his enormous wings and, with a powerful push, flies toward the gray clouds, leaving Totosai's house along with the volcanic mountain range behind.
...Some time later...
"Blagh."
Throwing up what little remained in his stomach near a tree in the surrounding forest, Inuyasha places his hand on the trunk and slowly drags himself to one side.
The thing is that not only was his stomach weak, but his legs were in the same condition, causing him to suddenly fall headfirst onto the ground.
"Hahaha, you look awful, Inuyasha."
"Y-you, ugh, you did it on purpose."
"No, no, you were the one asking me for faster, higher, with tricks! I just gave you what you asked for."
Arranging stones, branches, and dry leaves into a quick campfire, Asahiko manages within a few seconds to illuminate the surroundings of the forest with the warm flames, driving away the darkness around them as well as the unpleasant presences.
Those "presences" obviously did not leave because they were afraid of the flames, since some use fire to lure humans toward them or even locate them during the night, but Asahiko's gaze truly terrifies them and they flee in panic.
"Tsk, these bugs are everywhere."
"Ugh, at least you can scare them away with a look, if it were me I'd definitely have to fight them."
"Fight those low-ranking yokai, that cannon fodder...? God, we should think about creating a classification system for yokai, it's strange to lump them all together."
Shaking his head at such a useful yet absurd idea, since yokai are naturally chaotic and impossible to classify beyond broad categories, such as Hanyō or Daiyokai, Asahiko turns some nearby leaves into comfortable chairs.
Along with those chairs also comes a table, a meat-cutting board, a knife, and even a grill that he places near the fire, everything ready for a barbecue... All thanks to the meat kindly donated by a nearby animal.
"It's just that those idiots think that because I have human blood I'm weak, but ever since I was a child I could kill them with just my claws and teeth."
"Hahaha, now we know why you fight like a complete beast."
"At least I don't try to pretend I know how to use a sword, Sesshōmaru dragged you through the mud when you fought."
"I did it to save you, so you could be a little more grateful, you know?"
Placing the meat on the grill while watching Inuyasha crawl across the ground, it seems that the dizziness/stomachache still hasn't gone away, Asahiko raises an eyebrow at how ungrateful the boy is.
Which he is completely entitled to do because he left more than just his blood on that prairie, a large part of what he left behind was his pride and ego, partly because he truly was crushed by Sesshōmaru.
"Grateful? I've already repaid you, didn't you see how Sesshōmaru ran away when he saw me arrive?"
"Buddy, your perception of reality is way too distorted, Sesshōmaru could have beaten both of us senselessly if he had wanted to. He simply left because, I don't know, maybe he felt merciful or something?"
"You're the one whose perception is distorted, he clearly got scared when he saw me arrive with Steel Fang! I bet he remembered how I cut off his arm and that's why he didn't take his yokai form."
Slamming the table with blind confidence after finally managing to reach it, Inuyasha grabs his sword with his other hand and waves it through the air, although doing so makes him dizzy again.
"And is Sesshōmaru's yokai form strong?"
"Bah, not at all, he's just a dog bigger than normal! I even managed to defeat him when I first took Steel Fang, how strong could he be?"
"It feels like there's something strange there, but who am I to judge? Damn it, if you're going to throw up, do it away from the table!"
"But no, ugh."
Covering his mouth when he realizes he really is dizzy and was only holding it back because he was talking about something interesting, Inuyasha runs toward a nearby tree.
"I hope he recovers soon, otherwise I don't know how we're going to fly tomorrow."
...Some time later...
Once again flying through the completely clear blue skies, Asahiko, in his golden bird form, moves his neck from side to side in search of something specific.
What was that something? Simple, an extensive mountain range that should be visible from a distance, also known as the Dragon Valley by the nearby inhabitants, although the damn thing is nowhere to be seen!
"I told you it was to the right, birdbrain!"
Kicking the feathers on Asahiko's back with his bare feet, Inuyasha quickly grabs onto whatever he can when he notices the bird's small erratic spasms.
Good thing he did, because moments later Asahiko begins doing 360° spins, flying in zigzags, and even diving downward, leaving the dog boy on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"Next time I won't stop, Inuyasha."
"Do you think, ugh, I'm afraid of you?"
"Ah, children, they don't know when to give up. Saya, directions!"
Setting the conversation aside with his obvious victory, not because he had gotten scared by the sounds coming from Inuyasha's stomach, the captain of the ship asks another of the passengers a question.
This metaphorical passenger called Saya is none other than the elderly spirit, who strokes his long white beard and looks around without knowing how to answer, because quite unexpectedly Inuyasha had been right about the directions.
"I... Over there, I can already see the mountain!"
"Where did that come from?" x2
Both of them widening their eyes at what suddenly appears before them, where just moments ago there had been nothing in sight, both Asahiko and Inuyasha are astonished by the scale of the so-called Dragon Valley.
It was not only a mountain, which indeed exists and rises easily five hundred or eight hundred meters above the surface, but even around it there is an entire distorted ecosystem, leaving those present speechless.
And the surprise is perfectly understandable, since long rocky spires extend in a circular formation around the mountain for two hundred or three hundred meters. On the other hand, the ground beneath them remains dry and brittle, while powerful wind currents use the gaps between the pillars as passageways, creating death zones everywhere.
"We haven't even gotten too close yet and the situation has already become difficult, are you sure you want to keep going with this, Inuyasha?"
"Hahaha, are you scared, Asahiko?"
"I just wanted to give you the chance, someone has to be the voice of reason without Kikyo or Miroku nearby. By the way, Saya, is this normal? Isn't Ryukotsusei supposed to be sealed?"
Struggling to maneuver through the air currents that seem to be guided by a divine hand, Asahiko quickly notices what he believes is an oddity and lets Saya know.
"And he is, although his mere presence, even while sealed, alters the surroundings, transforming the area to adapt to him."
"Bah, that only makes him easier to defeat, since he must not have much energy left if he's wasting it like this."
"Or it's exactly the opposite, he has so much that he can even afford to waste it."
Trying to shake his bird neck, something truly difficult, Asahiko attempts to use the air currents to advance toward the mountain, but they all seem to work together to prevent him from doing so.