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ember and wildfire ch2
This is what he knows about Tsuna thus far:
Dogs don't seem to like him. There isn't a place on earth where cats won't congregate around his presence. Some of the ones that do are bigger than he is. At any given time, his feet are liable to trip over themselves. He gets startled and scared by anyone who looks particularly threatening, despite the fact that he is a god and could scorch literal towns off of the map if he wanted. He can't swim.
This is what he doesn't know about Tsuna:
His domain.
It's a fascinating mystery, if Reborn is honest. Dino only needed a short while to become himself; Kyoya Hibari leapt into it without hesitation all on his own. Yet Tsuna is turning out to be an incredibly slow start by comparison. As they hop from village to village, playing out the same little trick with only slight adjustments to the length they stay or the things they do or if Reborn is a man, he tries to figure out the young god. He wants to say that Tsuna is more at home around humans, but sometimes he's not sure.
Really, it'd be easier if the boy wasn't so soft hearted. If something is hurt and is in Tsuna's line of sight, that's it. He'll fuss over the very idea of it when they're five towns over, or he'll convince Dino to help him care for whatever has caught his attention. Sometimes it's a person, sometimes it's an animal. Either way, Tsuna can't seem to let it go. There's no focus to him. If it weren't for the rare occurrences where fire sparks in his presence or lights up underneath his skin, Reborn might give up.
...Alright, ha, no he wouldn't. If anything, he thinks that would just make him all the more intrigued.
Still, they've gone all over the world, from hot desserts to cold mountains, and Reborn thinks they might have to change up how they're doing this. Right now, that means traveling on foot instead of taking the easy way out, occasionally starting up a little fire to sit at once night falls.
They don't need it, of course, much like they don't need sleep or other things. Still, Reborn reflects as he lazily stretches his legs out, it's a pleasant enough sensation. Across from him, Dino sits crosslegged, and occasionally he prods at the fire to keep it nice and bright. Tsuna is between them and, even as Reborn watches, his eyes stay on the fire warily. Funny, for someone who was born of it. "We're near Nana's village now, right?" Dino asks curiously, and smiles a little bit as Tsuna perks up. It's no surprise that he remembers her name; Dino seems to remember everyone. "It's been a while, for human years. I wonder if she'll remember us."
"I don't see why not," Reborn responses, biting back some strange twitchy urges. In the last few days they've been traveling, something uncomfortable has been twisting in his chest. All he can do is ignore it, as he does so now. "She seems to be that kind of woman."
"She's good," Tsuna says abruptly, a yawn dragging out the end of his words. "Even with only a little, she carries a lot of things.... Burning..." Another yawn, and his head droops. Amazing how he can have the insight of a god, looking into other people with only a glance, but is still the sleepiest person Reborn thinks he's ever seen. Maybe he's introduced this kid to a bad habit.
A worse habit would probably be pitching over face first into their campfire. Sighing, Reborn reaches over to flick the boy's ear. "Wake up," he says, watching Tsuna jolt. "If you're going to fall asleep, do it against something."
Tsuna groans, dragging his hands down his face and pulling at his skin a little. "I can't help it," he grumbles, shaking his head. His hair flops every which way with the movement. "I'm just tired. Why do we have to keep walking around so much? We've just appeared in places before, and we know where the town is. That's probably why I'm exhausted."
None too subtly, Reborn glances across at Dino, who is in perfectly fine health and energy as when they first started. He wants to say that Tsuna is wrong, because gods are made of sterner stuff than that... But who knows? Maybe he is. This is the first time a god has taken so long to find his calling. Maybe there's a price to be paid for that much time taken. Or maybe that has nothing to do with it at all, and Tsuna is simply flat out wrong. Reborn can't say he's been feeling alright himself. Perhaps Dino has been as well, and merely stayed quiet about it.
Like father, like son, and all that.
Regardless, it's clear that Tsuna will fall asleep on the floor if they let him. Shaking his head, Reborn tugs his youngest closer towards him. There's a little bit of flailing, proving Tsuna is at least that awake, but he sinks against Reborn's side all too easily in the end with another yawn. That doesn't seem to stop him from courting the campfire they have going, however. His legs sprawl out dangerously close to it, enough for the fire to reach out as if to brush fondly against a foot or leg. Perhaps even if the young god was a whole tree's length away, it would still long for him.
Reborn thinks he can understand that.
The fire calls to him, too. Lazily, with Tsuna slumped against him and his arm behind the young god, Reborn watches the flames, quietly enraptured. There's no predictability to the way they twitch and arch through the air. Even the interference of a wayward breeze only controls the direction, not the way that it burns. The longer he watches, the more something in his stomach starts to match its rhythm- its erratic flickering. Tsuna being at his side just makes it worse, brighter, like kindling.
Once upon a time, not even that long ago, he was like that, too. Warping, flickering, unpredictable, all consuming and bright. The dark garments he wears now, how much do they really suit him? The churning in his stomach coils all the harder. He knows the answer, of course. Plainly put, this isn't how he's meant to be- which he supposes is the point.
The fire dances before him, twisting in the air and in his mind, and Reborn can't help but wonder... Is this how Dino is supposed to be? Is this how Tsuna is supposed to be? What is a god in the end?
He knows what the Arcobaleno are. He knows what he is.
Leaves, dust, tiny little bits of debris, all of it light enough to be stolen away on the wind where they are jerked one way then another with no rhyme or reason.
Prey animals, their throats caught in the unrelenting jaws of something luckier than they, but not those exactly. Rather, the feelings that rattle through them, anger and fear and panic, legs lashing out blindly, randomly.
Fire.
Chaos.
But what is a god?
Dino is not, cannot be, the horses that stampede through the plains nor can he be hard hands at steady work. Likewise, Tsuna can't be whatever it is that calls to him. So what are they? Are they really meant to take forms as they do, warm eyes and worn feet? Or was it a mistake to let Her dust away their flames for all that both of them are Hers as much as his?
Quietly crackling, the campfire swells.
Perhaps that is what gods are. Tsuna had been nothing but quiet embers and desperate flames, crawling along his arm. No, more than that- perhaps he had been a part of him before all else. And if he is restricted, trapped, forced into this form that does not suit him, then-
A whip cracks through the air.
Reborn freezes in place, only now becoming aware of how hard his breath has become or the chill which has overtaken his skin. Past the campfire, Dino has his whip out and wrapped around the younger brother now in his arms- snapped out from Reborn's grasp faster than light. Tension makes the air still between them as their eyes meet.
Both of them know what he was about to do.
In Dino's arms, Tsuna belatedly stirs, blinking up at Dino. "What's going on?" Hastily, his brother tucks his face against his shoulder, keeping his eyes away from Reborn.
Contrasting his actions, his voice is falsely relaxed and jovial. "Hey, Tsuna, why don't we play a game or something? We can see if we're near enough to Nana's village to see the torches they light at night. Maybe that will help wake you up a little." He doesn't bother to wait for a response. Dino only turns away, quickly carrying Tsuna off into the woods. As he does so, his hand never leaves his whip... and his gaze never leaves Reborn.
Right now, he can't blame him.
He stays perfectly still until every trace of Dino is out of immediate sight- well, still save for the way his body shakes violently with every breath he takes. Reborn doesn't need to see his reflection to know how his form has warped, twisted, or how his maw is unhinged and gaping. Arcobaleno, gods, mortals... All of them are reflections of one another.
But the Arcobaleno are the source. And, as with so many things that are the origin, they are more twisted and strange at their depths.
Twisted like the way his fingers are just long enough to not be right, not be natural. Strange in how he knows his eyes now pits within his face, black engulfing the whites until there's nothing but holes. His tongue is too thin, now, and his jaw is too far from his skull. Dislocated. Disjointed. Ready to part and devour and...
The knowledge of what he'd been about to do makes his stomach nearly collapse into itself. So much so that he's almost amazed that his form hasn't warped to match it, but no. When he looks down, his body is as much the same as ever. No collapse. That doesn't stop him from feeling any less revolted with himself.
It's hard to say when Dino finally returns, although Reborn knows it can't truly have been that long. Not when they're such ageless creatures where decades can pass in the blink of an eye. That doesn't mean the moments drag, heavy and slow, before he picks up on the sound of footsteps and brush being pushed aside. "I left him in the village," Dino announces, voice careful and calm. "Nana still lives there, so he should be occupied." Looking up, moving his head just the bare minimum from how he's been curled into himself, Reborn's gaze goes to the whip still in Dino's hand. His thumb is rubbing at the handle, quiet but constant.
Another deep trembling breath, and Reborn thinks his fingers might be a common length, now. "So he didn't see anything?" he asks, cutting to the chase.
Dino's lips thin a little, although he shakes his head in the end. "I don't think he even realized what you were starting to do. He didn't show it, anyway, and I don't think he knows how to hide that kind of thing just yet." Reborn doesn't have a chance to say anything in response before his eldest forges on. "Is it coming undone?"
Slowly, Reborn reaches up, and presses his hand against the dark material still wrapped around his shoulders. There's no real need to. He knows the answer. Its presence underneath his fingertips is still a reassurance of its own. "No," he says, voice grittier than if he'd swallowed sand. "It's still there."
"Then what happened?" Dino's voice strains from his worry, his aggravation, even with how much he's clearly holding himself back. His thumb is pressing harder against his whip, motionless for now, but his restraint isn't enough to keep from grinding right against Reborn's own patience.
"I don't know," he snaps, voice sharp and cold. No sooner than the words have left his mouth does he regret them- regret the lack of control. Tense silence hangs between, blocking them, and Reborn pulls in a slow breath between his teeth. "I don't know," he tries again, voice more level. At the edge of the trees, Dino's tense shoulders gradually ease up. "For the past while, something has been off but it's not within me- any part of me." Not 'Reborn', not Chaos, and yet he knows there is something...
Grass swishes against Dino's boots, announcing him even before he cautiously settles near to Reborn. The campfire is smaller, now. "Do you want to go back to your place...?"
His place. That long, wide room with its too smooth surfaces and shining columns, white and black and bare. It would be a wise choice, probably. After he was wrapped up and bound, it's where he went to recuperate. Yet the very idea has him knead his fingers into his palm, leaving dark crescent marks. If he has to be in that place for any longer-
All his frustration must be embarrassingly obvious. "I'll look after Tsuna," Dino says, wary and tired. "If you want, maybe you can-"
An explosion rocks the earth.
Immediately, Dino scrambles to his feet. A light blares from between the trees, brightens the once dark sky. Where it fades, the clouds become painted in gory reds and breathtaking golds... all of it from one direction in particular. Before his eldest can react, Reborn gets to his feet and strides forward. Behind him, there's the sound of a whip uncurling. "Reborn!"
He doesn't give him a chance to say or do anything else. "Tsuna," he says simply, sharply, and he almost sees the realization in his son's eyes before disappearing into the shadows.
The blaze is coming from Nana's village.
As he steps out from the shadows on the forest line, there's only a momentary sense of deja vu. This, he thinks, was the very first place that he looked out onto the village. This is where Dino and Tsuna both stood behind him, not understanding what he planned to do. In an instant, however, the moment passes, and that sickly coiling feeling wracks him again. His hand digs into a tree, and he raises the other to his mouth as if that will help anything. The essence of himself doesn't need an opening; it can split one apart. He fights against it, only able to drag his eyes upwards and lay them upon the village.
Despite the spectacle... It's not as bad as he thought it would be. That is to say, the village is at least still standing. It might not be for long. Fire has claimed a portion of it, an angrier red than most is, and its people are scattered in panic. Past all the screaming, the crying, the crackle of flames, he thinks he can hear the sound of violence.
Besides him, Dino appears- not from shadows, but from the blaring yellow light that the flames have cast all the way to the trees. Fire of his own curls at the edges of his being and a swear falls from his lips- surely one that he's learned from the mortals under his care. "I couldn't have been gone long," he hisses, teeth bared. "What-" His gaze jerks to Reborn before he can finish his sentence, and he reaches over to him. "What's wrong? Come on, we need to get you away from here."
Away, from mortals and Tsuna. Reborn isn't oblivious. He knows where his eldest's priorities lie. The thing is, he can't even hate him for it.
He takes in a sharp breath, air burning all the way down his throat with the nearby heat, but he doesn't get a chance to respond. Nearest to them, some of the fire swells and twists before hopping away from the rest. Agile and quick, it leaps from one home to the next, leaving destruction in its wake. It stops right outside the village, right before them. Well aware of its audidnece, it starts to shift and warp until there's a figure standing there.
They're not touching. In fact, there's a good long distance still between the forest, farther than Dino's whip. Yet it doesn't matter. Beneath Reborn's skin, he burns.
"Well well!" says the figure, muscular body still forming and a lazy loose mohawk still blazing against her skull. "So this was what was tapping at the back of my head for so long! But isn't there something a little off about this?"
Both of them knows what she's talking about. The difference between him, wrapped tight in his consequences, and her, only half together and all indulgence.
Bent over, hand digging at his chest, Reborn can't spare a breath to counter her. Instead, Dino steps in front of him with his whip stretched tight between both hands. Judging by his voice, his smile is just as tense. "Isn't it a little rude to just waltz up without introductions? We're a little busy right now."
"Oh, I'm sure you can spend a little time to entertain me, since all my dear friends are just as much as you." Song laces her voice as she shifts her stance, raising one leg up in preparation. "But you may call me Lussuria."
His face hits the dirt, and Tsuna wheezes.
Everything is so sore. It's not only how his bruised ribs ache from where a foot had planted solidly into them. It's not the rough scrapes along his palms. Somehow, the throbbing goes in deeper. He can't explain it. How could he? That the villager's burning lungs are his, too, and that his bones might as well be the buildings that are quickly becoming ravaged. At the same time, he is that fire, that smoke.
All of it is a confusing chaotic mess within his head that he doesn't have time to dwell on. Desperately, as he has many times so far since the intruders came to the village, he scrambles to his feet and looks fearfully at the one responsible.
"You're a god?" There's a cruelness to the way he laughs, face warping with his reckless grin, and Tsuna shudders. He has always been small, not able to come to his father or brother's shoulders. Yet it is one thing to be small and another to feel it. When the man with the swept back black hair and churning storm red eyes looks at him, he feels it harder than he's ever felt before. "What a joke."
Honestly, Tsuna has thought that plenty himself the longer time has passed with him having no idea of what to do. He doesn't need someone else to tell him. Wiping the dirt away from his mouth hastily, he takes a tentative step back. This is scarier than Reborn smacking him upside the head, scarier than watching predators stalk amongst the trees. Those, he understands. This guy... "What, does that mean you aren't?" he asks, bewildered as to what else he could be. Not god, not Arcobaleno-
Wrong question to ask. In a snap, that vicious smile disappears, and Tsuna takes another hasty step back at those eyes burn all the brighter. Before he can even ask what's wrong, the other does the exact same thing he'd done when him and his companions had shot down straight into the middle of the village: he bursts forward at Tsuna and his fist cushions straight into the young god's chest. All the air escapes him in one big wheeze, leaving him to crumple onto the ground. Instinctively, Tsuna curls up into a tight a ball as he can manage. It's a weak attempt, and the other's following kicks hurt just as much as if Tsuna hadn't tried at all.
"I'm better than scum like you," he growls, the low rumble of his voice penetrating past the sounds of his kicks. "Relying so much on weaklings looking to you for anything- it's pathetic."
In Tsuna's stomach, something hot sparks. It's not pain, or something piercing through, but... It's hot. As if the fires still burning around them have leapt into the very pit of his stomach, that kind of hot.
It doesn't hurt.
A scream somewhere in the distance goes off, a despairing sort of wail, and the other man stops for just a moment at the sound of it. Moving on instinct, Tsuna rolls away, scrambling to his feet at the same time. All he wants is to get some distance between them, just enough to plead or talk or- anything. He doesn't know. He can't even get that, however, before another punch sends him flying through what was once a home. Fire licks at him as he crashes to the other side. Dazed, he stares up at the sky- blocked with smoke and sickly crimson.
This isn't right. This hurts. And, worst of all... There's nothing he can do.
As he lays there, feeling sorry for himself, that broad figure steps through the ruins that were once a wall. Smoke billows around him- no. As he comes closer, Tsuna can see that it's not just a part of the fire. It's part of him, smoldering out from patches of his skin and curling through his hair. Still breathing heavily, Tsuna starts to push himself up onto his elbows. While he struggles, the other speaks. "Remember this: I am Xanxus. We're going to wipe weak gods such as you from existence."
Can that even happen to a god? Can a god die? Tsuna isn't sure, it's not a question that has ever come up, but he doesn't want to find out now. Muscles screaming with exertion, he forces himself up onto his feet, ready to do.... something. He has no idea what. Dino has his whip, guidance and threat. Reborn has, honestly, whatever is on hand; it has not escaped Tsuna that the Arcobaleno could could decimate a village with a single pebble. All Tsuna has as he sways in place are his own hands. They rise up in front of him, feeble fists held close together in a mimic of the prayer he's seen mortals so often do, shaking. His fists and his legs tremble together, and Xanxus only sneers harder as he raises up one hand-
A yell sounds off, so much closer than the terrified cries of the escaping villagers, and both of them look to the side almost at the same moment.
It's a woman, deep brown skin, long black hair, shoving against wreckage with her shoulder so that she can drag some poor unfortunate out from it. As she turns, Tsuna can see soot warped beneath one eye. Reborn has dragged him to see so many humans that he's pretty sure he's seen a good chunk of the range they're capable of... but this kind of selfless valor is rare. Worthy of being treasured.
He doesn't see agreement in Xanxus' face when he turns to look. Dismissal, disgust, whatever it is curls at his lips in displeasure, and worse makes his eyes glow hot. Slowly, he raises up one hand in the direction of the two and his fingers clench. Around them, the fire twists. Tsuna doesn't know what he's doing, what he's about to do-
But it doesn't matter.
Tsuna moves before he thinks, jolting forward to wrap his fingers around Xanxus' wrist. "Wait! You can't- !"
A fist slams right into his forehead.
For not the first time, Tsuna goes flying through the air and crashes against the ground. His vision swims, making the world nothing but a scramble of heat and light. Something wet and hot gathers, drips, against his forehead. Is he bleeding? Did that actually cut him? At the same time that it hurts, a certain kind of nonsensical relief bubbles upwards. Blearily, swaying every time he tries to get up, he rolls onto his side so that he can raise his head at least a little.
Xanxus has gone back to completely ignoring him, now that he's out of the way. Instead, perhaps more incensed than ever before, he's storming to the two women. Horror clogs in Tsuna's throat; he's going to murder them not by fire but by his own hands. He is going to snuff their lives out, and it's- it's not fair. It's not fair! They're human, they're thin skinned and slow and mortal. They're mortal, and Xanxus, whatever he may be.... He's not.
More heat is pouring from the wound in Tsuna's forehead, but he doesn't notice.
There are prayers in his ear. He is halfway across the village with the force Xanxus had hit him with, head ringing, the inferno crackling hard about him, and the two women that Xanxus are approaching- he can hear their voices. They aren't speaking, but he can regardless as well as if they were all standing side by side. Tsuna doesn't know how, or when, only that the feeling is suddenly reality. He is right before the two mortals, their prayers at his back and Xanxus' fist coming towards his face once more. For a split second, he can see the other man's eyes widen in surprise, but he doesn't stop his attack. Then again, he doesn't need to.
Tsuna's hand barely fits around Xanxus' fist. That doesn't matter, either. All that matters is that his hand, no matter how small, is enough to stop the larger man in his tracks. Xanxus' face warps at the insolence, at the impossibility, and Tsuna ignores that, too. Everything is suddenly so clear. The world makes sense in a way he hadn't realized before. Had Dino felt this way, once? Seeing how all the strings connect and pull and hold....
At his back, the prayers continue.
The fire still burns.
In the village, something like a thunder crack goes off, and Dino freezes. Fortunately, so does Lussuria, a whip wrapped around one leg and her still burning fingers wrapped around the whip. It's nowhere near the same resounding crash that no doubt announced the presence of Lussuria and whoever her companions were. That had been a bang- trees crashing in a storm, waves smashing against a cliff, a fist shattering a jaw. This... This is different. It rings in Reborn's ears, a sharp clap, and he looks away from the battle that's been going on before him.
He's just in time. Within the village, the fire that has been eating at it is no long raging but twisting strangely. No wind is rolling across the lake or battering at the trees. Nature can't be blamed for the way the fire is warped. The longer he watches, the clearer it is to see two figures flickering in and out amongst it. It's a complicated game, both of them darting and dodging the other. Soon, however, the smallest one bursts forward faster, size an advantage in such quick back and forths that it can duck under a countering attack. Another thunderous noise, and the large shape goes flying out of the city to crash onto the outskirts.
Looking upon it, Reborn is reminded faintly of what he used to be. There is barely any form to the creature down there, clouded in fire and smoke and rage. His eyes burn, and his bulk would be intimidating enough on a mortal. In contrast, Tsuna is still small as he hops down from the flames.
But he isn't any weaker than his opponent.
From his forehead, curling around his wild locks, a crown of flame burns. It is the same fire that bore him, that once decimated an entire forest because of a careless gesture, but it's not wild here. At least, it's no wilder than Tsuna's hair, and burns only as bright as his eyes. This wouldn't say much, if this was perhaps only weeks, days, minutes ago. Now, however, they are not quiet and dull brown. Now, they are the eyes Reborn saw once in the ruined ashes of a forest: the brilliant topaz of embers.
None of this takes away the fact that Tsuna has clearly had his face smashed into the dirt more than once, or that a trail of blood has dried along the bridge of his nose down to the corner of one mouth. Most noticeable of all, matching what is crackling about his hair, are the flames licking at his fingertips and pressing kisses against his knuckles. Every bit of skin that's touched, unlike his wreath of flames, is warped and burned. If he's noticed his own state, there's certainly no indication of it on Tsuna's own face. From simple scrapes to the ruined nature of his hands, it all as well might be the same to Tsuna as far as Reborn can tell. His youngest's eyes are't focused on himself. His quiet, calm expression is aimed right at his opponent.
Perhaps that stare is the reason why he's so enraged in turn, and only gets moreso as the longer Tsuna stares. "Bow your head, scum!" he snarls, smoke billowing out with the words from his mouth. Fire of his own snaps out through the air around him.
Tsuna heaves out a sigh, soft but heavy, and Reborn is inexplicably reminded of Yuni for a moment. "Xanxus," he murmurs, not angry despite the damage he's taken. Just... saddened, instead. That only feeds the rage more, and, in the blink of an eye, the two clash once again.
"Ooooh my," Lussuria says lowly, the whip now untangled from one leg, but she doesn't come after Dino again. Instead, she takes a hesitant step back, her eyes not leaving the battling pair. "I didn't think he'd get this angry."
The lack of combat from her, at least, eases up the churning that has been going on in Reborn's chest since she first got near enough- nearer than when they first saw her. While the combat around Tsuna and Xanxus should make up for that, if not make it worse, Reborn is surprised that it's not so. Instead, as he watches the way the fire blurs from Tsuna with each duck and dodge...
A strange sense of stillness rests in a part of him.
Stranger still, it doesn't seem like something foreign. Reborn would have thought that sort of thing would be his antithesis, insufferable as watching his realm form all smooth lines- an untouched toy with no history, no change, no character. Dull. Plain. A trap with nothing to even gild it. Tsuna's steps and ducks are smooth, and he takes any blows he can't hide from with teeth grit simply. The feelings in Reborn's chest should be of agitation. So why aren't they?
As Tsuna side steps around Xanxus, the two of them spinning about in a violent smooth circle, he realizes why.
In the distance, he can see the fire changing. No longer is it consuming everything, leaving only ash. Instead, it's drawn to the fighters, leaping from house to house until it's spinning around both god and foe. Xanxus seems to devour it, fire disappearing into the smoke and causing it to swell all the more aggressively. Tsuna does no such thing. The fire only snaps at his feet, trails behind the movement of his arms as if a cloak. With all the smoke and flames, any other person would have a hard time keeping track of the fight. As more than a person, Reborn has no such troubles. He can see every exchange of fists, every twist of feet, every burning flare. He sees exactly when the two finally part for only a flicker of a moment, their hands drawn back before closed fists meet open hands and a whisper snakes between them.
Light bursts.
Even when they are all temporarily blinded, Reborn can hear the ringing in the air and in his ears. When things finally clear up, Tsuna and Xanxus have been flung from one another. Tsuna is slumped against the wall of a home that's barely standing. Across the way, struggling to pull himself up by the firm trunk of a tree, Xanxus heaves out smoke from between his teeth. No longer is he obscured by it. No longer does it billow quietly from the outlines of him or patches of skin and hair. Instead, red and sore, burn marks mar him. They're everywhere: curving across his cheek, trailing down the front of his throat. For someone so clearly full of pride, that alone would no doubt enrage him... Yet Reborn doesn't think his new scars are why he looks at Tsuna with such venom or why he forces himself up onto unsteady feet. Any words he tries to say are ash on his tongue, but that fearsome glare says all it needs to.
Even if he could stumble over to Tsuna, he doesn't get a chance to. Dino's whip snaps through the air, as good as any snarl, and Reborn's eldest is right there between them. His smile is all bared teeth, a facsimile of friendliness that's leaf thin. "I think that's more than enough of that," he says. "Don't you?"
Xanxus couldn't disagree any clearer with how he snarls, but it's not up to him in the end. Lussuria intervenes, a little less fire and a little more shape as she hooks one of his arms under her shoulder. "Oh, if only Squalo was here," she mutters, before dragging him away, their bodies twisting until they're gone right in thin air. The grass smolders where their feet once were.
With Lussuria gone from the immediate area (yet still out there, still a presence, still affecting his sprawling sense of self), Reborn lets out a breath. Something about that one set off every bit of him, trapped inside the straining bonds of void. There's an itching underneath his skin, popping bursts of heat, but he can ignore it a little better now. It's nothing unusual, after all. He's been feeling that since the very first moment the void settled around his shoulders, confining him to form. With that settled, he slowly makes his way over to where Dino is crouched besides Tsuna.
The brilliant burning crown is no longer. Instead, there's just a small sprout of fire from the center of his forehead, flickering harmlessly around the strands of his hair. His eyes are half lidded, distant but unmistakably brilliant. When Dino lightly shakes his shoulder, Tsuna's gaze is slow to rise up. "They're everywhere," he says quietly, voice soft and full of awe. "The talking never stops."
Talking? Prayers, perhaps. "Who's talking?" Reborn asks, the question that has been floating around all of their heads ever since Tsuna was first made. What domain would this little god hear? Yet he already has a suspicion, even before Tsuna redirects that same warm stare up at him.
"Everyone?" he says, voice tinged with a question as if even he can't believe himself. His hands are no longer set completely ablaze, but that doesn't mean they're back to normal. Instead, they're darkened and twisted, used up tinder, and ember light still glows all over from within his skin. Tsuna doesn't let this stop him, pushing himself unsteadily up onto his feet with Dino's help. "I'm supposed to do something..."
"What do you need to do?" Reborn asks, shooing Dino's hands off of Tsuna's shoulders. Sometimes, you have to let the fire burn instead of bothering with it. The style of teaching clearly comes through for him. Without much prompting, Tsuna starts to wobble right off without any explanation. With each step, his stride becomes a little more certain and steady, and Reborn can see why off in the distance: at least a good chunk of the villagers, huddled together and passing information between one another hastily. There's no general composition to the group. There are the young, and the elderly, but there are perfectly healthy adults there, too. The only thing that they all have in common is that they're watching the way their village still softly glows from leftover heat. Smaller flames have still been abandoned in places, and they only grow stronger as time passes.
Tsuna doesn't look at any of it. His eyes are only for the people huddled together. Pausing at the edge of the group, he leans down slightly just enough to brush his fingers against the crown of one person's head. It's a young man with olive skin, long black hair, and, now, thanks to Tsuna's touch, embers softly clinging to his head like resting fireflies.
Something lights up in the young man's eyes, brighter than the fires but just as bright as the embers, and he gets up to his feet... but Tsuna is already moving on by then. Again and again, he touches people- everyone in fact. Some get to their feet, like the young man, and immediately begin to take action. There's a girl organizing people to the water, an elder comforting crying children, people moving in unity and strength. Others stay on the ground. Mostly children, of course, but there are others who Reborn can tell are weak or sick. It's only when the spread of embers is dusted against every single mortal does Tsuna suddenly vanish from their midsts, right to the edge of the ruined village.
To say that Tsuna isn't the same person would be a mistake. Reborn made him, once. There's a lot to still learn about him, but he knows his youngest and newest son at his core. An ember is a fire is an inferno. So is the same for Tsuna, even as he steps into what is still standing of the village.
Behind him, unseeing but feeling, the mortals follow him.
Only moments ago, they'd all been weak and crying, unable to do much more. As Reborn watches now, even with their home in ruins and not much on hand, they work against the corner they've been driven into. They only have themselves and a disaster; it doesn't stop them. It doesn't stop Tsuna. Turning on his heel, Reborn leaves Dino where he is, and steps through the night's darkness into the uneasy shadows of the village. As he does so, there's an unexpected surprise in its depths. Meowing surrounds him, and he raises an eyebrow as cats- now pitch black with soot and ash no matter their original color- scurry about. It doesn't take long at all for the mortals to find them... or the people who had been trapped or lost that the feline cries call attention to.
He has approximately zero surprise when, with their jobs done, each cat starts to trail after Tsuna's presence, dark and quiet and satisfied. No matter how many times his hands pass over them, or that of an absentminded mortal, the blackness of their fur stays stubbornly on. The fire which had burned through had not been a regular one, after all. Neither is the soot, or the dedication of the cats.
Reborn waits right in the center of the ruined village as Tsuna zigs and twists through the whole thing. Inevitably, the young god must come this way, and he's right. He's practically sleepwalking by the time he makes it to where Reborn is waiting for him, eyes only slivers of amber beneath heavy eyelids. Behind him, nearly tripping over cats even as she carries an armful of kittens, Nana is making reassuring noises down at all of them. "There, there.... We'll be alright." Soot and scrapes and burns cover her arms beneath her sleeves, but she still smiles down at them. "It's only things. We can rebuild."
There are no embers in her hair, but Tsuna trails around after her anyway, all around the perimeter of the village center. Reborn isn't sure if he's actually aware of what he's doing. His gaze is still tired and distan, and Reborn has to reach over and snag him when he passes by close enough. "Tsuna," he says simply, watching the boy god blink up at him.
He didn't ask, but Tsuna tells him anyway. "She was both at the same time," he says, and actually yawns. He seems properly exhausted instead of merely dozing. "All the others were just the one, but she was still both. She didn't need me, not really."
With the way he's swaying, he's going to faceplant at any moment, probably. Best to get him to talk while he's still conscious. "Both what?"
Slowly, Tsuna's gaze drags up to Reborn's own face, and his burning eyes are something Reborn has seen in many places, from the sun to himself. They're a deep stare, one that sees a great deal. "Weak," he says, quietly. "But, strong, too." His hands rise up, fingers spreading to show the extent of what he's talking about. Embers pop beneath charred skin. "Weak things can always be strong... And strong things can always go back to being weak." His eyes stare right at Reborn.
Reborn lightly bops him right in the forehead with his fist.
"Ow-"
"Of course I know that," he says, watching as fire flicks around the curve of his fist, still pressed against skin and hair. "Obviously." Slowly, he relaxes his hand until he can spread his fingers out through Tsuna's hair. Since the time he first started fighting up until now, where he's been tending to desperate prayers, his hair has started to lose its wildness. Yet it only takes the slightest brush of Reborn's fingers for it to fluff up again. Without thinking, he sinks his fingers in deeper, and gives it a good ruffle. "You learned, Tsuna. Good."
It's rather brisk praise, but that's fine. Tsuna murmurs something in recognition that it's happened, and then his legs start to go out from beneath him. Reborn doesn't try to catch him. There's no need to. Dino suddenly steps out and hooks his arm around his little brother's middle. "What a flashy way to figure out his domain," he grunts, hefting Tsuna up into his arms. "But I guess that explains why nothing else was quite working. It's a domain even wider than mine."
Not only a wide domain, but one that relies on two extremes... Reborn nods, thoughtfully, and glances back to the village. Everyone in it has been imbued with strength, now, and they willfully ride out the tides of chaos that Xanxus and Lussuria's actions brought. Like birds on stormy winds, or fish in turbulent waters.
So this is what his youngest can do.
"Dino," he says, and his eldest son looks up at him. "I think we're done. Watch over Tsuna."
He quirks up an eyebrow. "I can do that, but where are you going?"
Reborn is already turning on his heel. There's not even a pause as he answers over his shoulder. "I need to see a few old friends."
And he disappears through the shadows.
Dogs don't seem to like him. There isn't a place on earth where cats won't congregate around his presence. Some of the ones that do are bigger than he is. At any given time, his feet are liable to trip over themselves. He gets startled and scared by anyone who looks particularly threatening, despite the fact that he is a god and could scorch literal towns off of the map if he wanted. He can't swim.
This is what he doesn't know about Tsuna:
His domain.
It's a fascinating mystery, if Reborn is honest. Dino only needed a short while to become himself; Kyoya Hibari leapt into it without hesitation all on his own. Yet Tsuna is turning out to be an incredibly slow start by comparison. As they hop from village to village, playing out the same little trick with only slight adjustments to the length they stay or the things they do or if Reborn is a man, he tries to figure out the young god. He wants to say that Tsuna is more at home around humans, but sometimes he's not sure.
Really, it'd be easier if the boy wasn't so soft hearted. If something is hurt and is in Tsuna's line of sight, that's it. He'll fuss over the very idea of it when they're five towns over, or he'll convince Dino to help him care for whatever has caught his attention. Sometimes it's a person, sometimes it's an animal. Either way, Tsuna can't seem to let it go. There's no focus to him. If it weren't for the rare occurrences where fire sparks in his presence or lights up underneath his skin, Reborn might give up.
...Alright, ha, no he wouldn't. If anything, he thinks that would just make him all the more intrigued.
Still, they've gone all over the world, from hot desserts to cold mountains, and Reborn thinks they might have to change up how they're doing this. Right now, that means traveling on foot instead of taking the easy way out, occasionally starting up a little fire to sit at once night falls.
They don't need it, of course, much like they don't need sleep or other things. Still, Reborn reflects as he lazily stretches his legs out, it's a pleasant enough sensation. Across from him, Dino sits crosslegged, and occasionally he prods at the fire to keep it nice and bright. Tsuna is between them and, even as Reborn watches, his eyes stay on the fire warily. Funny, for someone who was born of it. "We're near Nana's village now, right?" Dino asks curiously, and smiles a little bit as Tsuna perks up. It's no surprise that he remembers her name; Dino seems to remember everyone. "It's been a while, for human years. I wonder if she'll remember us."
"I don't see why not," Reborn responses, biting back some strange twitchy urges. In the last few days they've been traveling, something uncomfortable has been twisting in his chest. All he can do is ignore it, as he does so now. "She seems to be that kind of woman."
"She's good," Tsuna says abruptly, a yawn dragging out the end of his words. "Even with only a little, she carries a lot of things.... Burning..." Another yawn, and his head droops. Amazing how he can have the insight of a god, looking into other people with only a glance, but is still the sleepiest person Reborn thinks he's ever seen. Maybe he's introduced this kid to a bad habit.
A worse habit would probably be pitching over face first into their campfire. Sighing, Reborn reaches over to flick the boy's ear. "Wake up," he says, watching Tsuna jolt. "If you're going to fall asleep, do it against something."
Tsuna groans, dragging his hands down his face and pulling at his skin a little. "I can't help it," he grumbles, shaking his head. His hair flops every which way with the movement. "I'm just tired. Why do we have to keep walking around so much? We've just appeared in places before, and we know where the town is. That's probably why I'm exhausted."
None too subtly, Reborn glances across at Dino, who is in perfectly fine health and energy as when they first started. He wants to say that Tsuna is wrong, because gods are made of sterner stuff than that... But who knows? Maybe he is. This is the first time a god has taken so long to find his calling. Maybe there's a price to be paid for that much time taken. Or maybe that has nothing to do with it at all, and Tsuna is simply flat out wrong. Reborn can't say he's been feeling alright himself. Perhaps Dino has been as well, and merely stayed quiet about it.
Like father, like son, and all that.
Regardless, it's clear that Tsuna will fall asleep on the floor if they let him. Shaking his head, Reborn tugs his youngest closer towards him. There's a little bit of flailing, proving Tsuna is at least that awake, but he sinks against Reborn's side all too easily in the end with another yawn. That doesn't seem to stop him from courting the campfire they have going, however. His legs sprawl out dangerously close to it, enough for the fire to reach out as if to brush fondly against a foot or leg. Perhaps even if the young god was a whole tree's length away, it would still long for him.
Reborn thinks he can understand that.
The fire calls to him, too. Lazily, with Tsuna slumped against him and his arm behind the young god, Reborn watches the flames, quietly enraptured. There's no predictability to the way they twitch and arch through the air. Even the interference of a wayward breeze only controls the direction, not the way that it burns. The longer he watches, the more something in his stomach starts to match its rhythm- its erratic flickering. Tsuna being at his side just makes it worse, brighter, like kindling.
Once upon a time, not even that long ago, he was like that, too. Warping, flickering, unpredictable, all consuming and bright. The dark garments he wears now, how much do they really suit him? The churning in his stomach coils all the harder. He knows the answer, of course. Plainly put, this isn't how he's meant to be- which he supposes is the point.
The fire dances before him, twisting in the air and in his mind, and Reborn can't help but wonder... Is this how Dino is supposed to be? Is this how Tsuna is supposed to be? What is a god in the end?
He knows what the Arcobaleno are. He knows what he is.
Leaves, dust, tiny little bits of debris, all of it light enough to be stolen away on the wind where they are jerked one way then another with no rhyme or reason.
Prey animals, their throats caught in the unrelenting jaws of something luckier than they, but not those exactly. Rather, the feelings that rattle through them, anger and fear and panic, legs lashing out blindly, randomly.
Fire.
Chaos.
But what is a god?
Dino is not, cannot be, the horses that stampede through the plains nor can he be hard hands at steady work. Likewise, Tsuna can't be whatever it is that calls to him. So what are they? Are they really meant to take forms as they do, warm eyes and worn feet? Or was it a mistake to let Her dust away their flames for all that both of them are Hers as much as his?
Quietly crackling, the campfire swells.
Perhaps that is what gods are. Tsuna had been nothing but quiet embers and desperate flames, crawling along his arm. No, more than that- perhaps he had been a part of him before all else. And if he is restricted, trapped, forced into this form that does not suit him, then-
A whip cracks through the air.
Reborn freezes in place, only now becoming aware of how hard his breath has become or the chill which has overtaken his skin. Past the campfire, Dino has his whip out and wrapped around the younger brother now in his arms- snapped out from Reborn's grasp faster than light. Tension makes the air still between them as their eyes meet.
Both of them know what he was about to do.
In Dino's arms, Tsuna belatedly stirs, blinking up at Dino. "What's going on?" Hastily, his brother tucks his face against his shoulder, keeping his eyes away from Reborn.
Contrasting his actions, his voice is falsely relaxed and jovial. "Hey, Tsuna, why don't we play a game or something? We can see if we're near enough to Nana's village to see the torches they light at night. Maybe that will help wake you up a little." He doesn't bother to wait for a response. Dino only turns away, quickly carrying Tsuna off into the woods. As he does so, his hand never leaves his whip... and his gaze never leaves Reborn.
Right now, he can't blame him.
He stays perfectly still until every trace of Dino is out of immediate sight- well, still save for the way his body shakes violently with every breath he takes. Reborn doesn't need to see his reflection to know how his form has warped, twisted, or how his maw is unhinged and gaping. Arcobaleno, gods, mortals... All of them are reflections of one another.
But the Arcobaleno are the source. And, as with so many things that are the origin, they are more twisted and strange at their depths.
Twisted like the way his fingers are just long enough to not be right, not be natural. Strange in how he knows his eyes now pits within his face, black engulfing the whites until there's nothing but holes. His tongue is too thin, now, and his jaw is too far from his skull. Dislocated. Disjointed. Ready to part and devour and...
The knowledge of what he'd been about to do makes his stomach nearly collapse into itself. So much so that he's almost amazed that his form hasn't warped to match it, but no. When he looks down, his body is as much the same as ever. No collapse. That doesn't stop him from feeling any less revolted with himself.
It's hard to say when Dino finally returns, although Reborn knows it can't truly have been that long. Not when they're such ageless creatures where decades can pass in the blink of an eye. That doesn't mean the moments drag, heavy and slow, before he picks up on the sound of footsteps and brush being pushed aside. "I left him in the village," Dino announces, voice careful and calm. "Nana still lives there, so he should be occupied." Looking up, moving his head just the bare minimum from how he's been curled into himself, Reborn's gaze goes to the whip still in Dino's hand. His thumb is rubbing at the handle, quiet but constant.
Another deep trembling breath, and Reborn thinks his fingers might be a common length, now. "So he didn't see anything?" he asks, cutting to the chase.
Dino's lips thin a little, although he shakes his head in the end. "I don't think he even realized what you were starting to do. He didn't show it, anyway, and I don't think he knows how to hide that kind of thing just yet." Reborn doesn't have a chance to say anything in response before his eldest forges on. "Is it coming undone?"
Slowly, Reborn reaches up, and presses his hand against the dark material still wrapped around his shoulders. There's no real need to. He knows the answer. Its presence underneath his fingertips is still a reassurance of its own. "No," he says, voice grittier than if he'd swallowed sand. "It's still there."
"Then what happened?" Dino's voice strains from his worry, his aggravation, even with how much he's clearly holding himself back. His thumb is pressing harder against his whip, motionless for now, but his restraint isn't enough to keep from grinding right against Reborn's own patience.
"I don't know," he snaps, voice sharp and cold. No sooner than the words have left his mouth does he regret them- regret the lack of control. Tense silence hangs between, blocking them, and Reborn pulls in a slow breath between his teeth. "I don't know," he tries again, voice more level. At the edge of the trees, Dino's tense shoulders gradually ease up. "For the past while, something has been off but it's not within me- any part of me." Not 'Reborn', not Chaos, and yet he knows there is something...
Grass swishes against Dino's boots, announcing him even before he cautiously settles near to Reborn. The campfire is smaller, now. "Do you want to go back to your place...?"
His place. That long, wide room with its too smooth surfaces and shining columns, white and black and bare. It would be a wise choice, probably. After he was wrapped up and bound, it's where he went to recuperate. Yet the very idea has him knead his fingers into his palm, leaving dark crescent marks. If he has to be in that place for any longer-
All his frustration must be embarrassingly obvious. "I'll look after Tsuna," Dino says, wary and tired. "If you want, maybe you can-"
An explosion rocks the earth.
Immediately, Dino scrambles to his feet. A light blares from between the trees, brightens the once dark sky. Where it fades, the clouds become painted in gory reds and breathtaking golds... all of it from one direction in particular. Before his eldest can react, Reborn gets to his feet and strides forward. Behind him, there's the sound of a whip uncurling. "Reborn!"
He doesn't give him a chance to say or do anything else. "Tsuna," he says simply, sharply, and he almost sees the realization in his son's eyes before disappearing into the shadows.
The blaze is coming from Nana's village.
As he steps out from the shadows on the forest line, there's only a momentary sense of deja vu. This, he thinks, was the very first place that he looked out onto the village. This is where Dino and Tsuna both stood behind him, not understanding what he planned to do. In an instant, however, the moment passes, and that sickly coiling feeling wracks him again. His hand digs into a tree, and he raises the other to his mouth as if that will help anything. The essence of himself doesn't need an opening; it can split one apart. He fights against it, only able to drag his eyes upwards and lay them upon the village.
Despite the spectacle... It's not as bad as he thought it would be. That is to say, the village is at least still standing. It might not be for long. Fire has claimed a portion of it, an angrier red than most is, and its people are scattered in panic. Past all the screaming, the crying, the crackle of flames, he thinks he can hear the sound of violence.
Besides him, Dino appears- not from shadows, but from the blaring yellow light that the flames have cast all the way to the trees. Fire of his own curls at the edges of his being and a swear falls from his lips- surely one that he's learned from the mortals under his care. "I couldn't have been gone long," he hisses, teeth bared. "What-" His gaze jerks to Reborn before he can finish his sentence, and he reaches over to him. "What's wrong? Come on, we need to get you away from here."
Away, from mortals and Tsuna. Reborn isn't oblivious. He knows where his eldest's priorities lie. The thing is, he can't even hate him for it.
He takes in a sharp breath, air burning all the way down his throat with the nearby heat, but he doesn't get a chance to respond. Nearest to them, some of the fire swells and twists before hopping away from the rest. Agile and quick, it leaps from one home to the next, leaving destruction in its wake. It stops right outside the village, right before them. Well aware of its audidnece, it starts to shift and warp until there's a figure standing there.
They're not touching. In fact, there's a good long distance still between the forest, farther than Dino's whip. Yet it doesn't matter. Beneath Reborn's skin, he burns.
"Well well!" says the figure, muscular body still forming and a lazy loose mohawk still blazing against her skull. "So this was what was tapping at the back of my head for so long! But isn't there something a little off about this?"
Both of them knows what she's talking about. The difference between him, wrapped tight in his consequences, and her, only half together and all indulgence.
Bent over, hand digging at his chest, Reborn can't spare a breath to counter her. Instead, Dino steps in front of him with his whip stretched tight between both hands. Judging by his voice, his smile is just as tense. "Isn't it a little rude to just waltz up without introductions? We're a little busy right now."
"Oh, I'm sure you can spend a little time to entertain me, since all my dear friends are just as much as you." Song laces her voice as she shifts her stance, raising one leg up in preparation. "But you may call me Lussuria."
His face hits the dirt, and Tsuna wheezes.
Everything is so sore. It's not only how his bruised ribs ache from where a foot had planted solidly into them. It's not the rough scrapes along his palms. Somehow, the throbbing goes in deeper. He can't explain it. How could he? That the villager's burning lungs are his, too, and that his bones might as well be the buildings that are quickly becoming ravaged. At the same time, he is that fire, that smoke.
All of it is a confusing chaotic mess within his head that he doesn't have time to dwell on. Desperately, as he has many times so far since the intruders came to the village, he scrambles to his feet and looks fearfully at the one responsible.
"You're a god?" There's a cruelness to the way he laughs, face warping with his reckless grin, and Tsuna shudders. He has always been small, not able to come to his father or brother's shoulders. Yet it is one thing to be small and another to feel it. When the man with the swept back black hair and churning storm red eyes looks at him, he feels it harder than he's ever felt before. "What a joke."
Honestly, Tsuna has thought that plenty himself the longer time has passed with him having no idea of what to do. He doesn't need someone else to tell him. Wiping the dirt away from his mouth hastily, he takes a tentative step back. This is scarier than Reborn smacking him upside the head, scarier than watching predators stalk amongst the trees. Those, he understands. This guy... "What, does that mean you aren't?" he asks, bewildered as to what else he could be. Not god, not Arcobaleno-
Wrong question to ask. In a snap, that vicious smile disappears, and Tsuna takes another hasty step back at those eyes burn all the brighter. Before he can even ask what's wrong, the other does the exact same thing he'd done when him and his companions had shot down straight into the middle of the village: he bursts forward at Tsuna and his fist cushions straight into the young god's chest. All the air escapes him in one big wheeze, leaving him to crumple onto the ground. Instinctively, Tsuna curls up into a tight a ball as he can manage. It's a weak attempt, and the other's following kicks hurt just as much as if Tsuna hadn't tried at all.
"I'm better than scum like you," he growls, the low rumble of his voice penetrating past the sounds of his kicks. "Relying so much on weaklings looking to you for anything- it's pathetic."
In Tsuna's stomach, something hot sparks. It's not pain, or something piercing through, but... It's hot. As if the fires still burning around them have leapt into the very pit of his stomach, that kind of hot.
It doesn't hurt.
A scream somewhere in the distance goes off, a despairing sort of wail, and the other man stops for just a moment at the sound of it. Moving on instinct, Tsuna rolls away, scrambling to his feet at the same time. All he wants is to get some distance between them, just enough to plead or talk or- anything. He doesn't know. He can't even get that, however, before another punch sends him flying through what was once a home. Fire licks at him as he crashes to the other side. Dazed, he stares up at the sky- blocked with smoke and sickly crimson.
This isn't right. This hurts. And, worst of all... There's nothing he can do.
As he lays there, feeling sorry for himself, that broad figure steps through the ruins that were once a wall. Smoke billows around him- no. As he comes closer, Tsuna can see that it's not just a part of the fire. It's part of him, smoldering out from patches of his skin and curling through his hair. Still breathing heavily, Tsuna starts to push himself up onto his elbows. While he struggles, the other speaks. "Remember this: I am Xanxus. We're going to wipe weak gods such as you from existence."
Can that even happen to a god? Can a god die? Tsuna isn't sure, it's not a question that has ever come up, but he doesn't want to find out now. Muscles screaming with exertion, he forces himself up onto his feet, ready to do.... something. He has no idea what. Dino has his whip, guidance and threat. Reborn has, honestly, whatever is on hand; it has not escaped Tsuna that the Arcobaleno could could decimate a village with a single pebble. All Tsuna has as he sways in place are his own hands. They rise up in front of him, feeble fists held close together in a mimic of the prayer he's seen mortals so often do, shaking. His fists and his legs tremble together, and Xanxus only sneers harder as he raises up one hand-
A yell sounds off, so much closer than the terrified cries of the escaping villagers, and both of them look to the side almost at the same moment.
It's a woman, deep brown skin, long black hair, shoving against wreckage with her shoulder so that she can drag some poor unfortunate out from it. As she turns, Tsuna can see soot warped beneath one eye. Reborn has dragged him to see so many humans that he's pretty sure he's seen a good chunk of the range they're capable of... but this kind of selfless valor is rare. Worthy of being treasured.
He doesn't see agreement in Xanxus' face when he turns to look. Dismissal, disgust, whatever it is curls at his lips in displeasure, and worse makes his eyes glow hot. Slowly, he raises up one hand in the direction of the two and his fingers clench. Around them, the fire twists. Tsuna doesn't know what he's doing, what he's about to do-
But it doesn't matter.
Tsuna moves before he thinks, jolting forward to wrap his fingers around Xanxus' wrist. "Wait! You can't- !"
A fist slams right into his forehead.
For not the first time, Tsuna goes flying through the air and crashes against the ground. His vision swims, making the world nothing but a scramble of heat and light. Something wet and hot gathers, drips, against his forehead. Is he bleeding? Did that actually cut him? At the same time that it hurts, a certain kind of nonsensical relief bubbles upwards. Blearily, swaying every time he tries to get up, he rolls onto his side so that he can raise his head at least a little.
Xanxus has gone back to completely ignoring him, now that he's out of the way. Instead, perhaps more incensed than ever before, he's storming to the two women. Horror clogs in Tsuna's throat; he's going to murder them not by fire but by his own hands. He is going to snuff their lives out, and it's- it's not fair. It's not fair! They're human, they're thin skinned and slow and mortal. They're mortal, and Xanxus, whatever he may be.... He's not.
More heat is pouring from the wound in Tsuna's forehead, but he doesn't notice.
There are prayers in his ear. He is halfway across the village with the force Xanxus had hit him with, head ringing, the inferno crackling hard about him, and the two women that Xanxus are approaching- he can hear their voices. They aren't speaking, but he can regardless as well as if they were all standing side by side. Tsuna doesn't know how, or when, only that the feeling is suddenly reality. He is right before the two mortals, their prayers at his back and Xanxus' fist coming towards his face once more. For a split second, he can see the other man's eyes widen in surprise, but he doesn't stop his attack. Then again, he doesn't need to.
Tsuna's hand barely fits around Xanxus' fist. That doesn't matter, either. All that matters is that his hand, no matter how small, is enough to stop the larger man in his tracks. Xanxus' face warps at the insolence, at the impossibility, and Tsuna ignores that, too. Everything is suddenly so clear. The world makes sense in a way he hadn't realized before. Had Dino felt this way, once? Seeing how all the strings connect and pull and hold....
At his back, the prayers continue.
The fire still burns.
In the village, something like a thunder crack goes off, and Dino freezes. Fortunately, so does Lussuria, a whip wrapped around one leg and her still burning fingers wrapped around the whip. It's nowhere near the same resounding crash that no doubt announced the presence of Lussuria and whoever her companions were. That had been a bang- trees crashing in a storm, waves smashing against a cliff, a fist shattering a jaw. This... This is different. It rings in Reborn's ears, a sharp clap, and he looks away from the battle that's been going on before him.
He's just in time. Within the village, the fire that has been eating at it is no long raging but twisting strangely. No wind is rolling across the lake or battering at the trees. Nature can't be blamed for the way the fire is warped. The longer he watches, the clearer it is to see two figures flickering in and out amongst it. It's a complicated game, both of them darting and dodging the other. Soon, however, the smallest one bursts forward faster, size an advantage in such quick back and forths that it can duck under a countering attack. Another thunderous noise, and the large shape goes flying out of the city to crash onto the outskirts.
Looking upon it, Reborn is reminded faintly of what he used to be. There is barely any form to the creature down there, clouded in fire and smoke and rage. His eyes burn, and his bulk would be intimidating enough on a mortal. In contrast, Tsuna is still small as he hops down from the flames.
But he isn't any weaker than his opponent.
From his forehead, curling around his wild locks, a crown of flame burns. It is the same fire that bore him, that once decimated an entire forest because of a careless gesture, but it's not wild here. At least, it's no wilder than Tsuna's hair, and burns only as bright as his eyes. This wouldn't say much, if this was perhaps only weeks, days, minutes ago. Now, however, they are not quiet and dull brown. Now, they are the eyes Reborn saw once in the ruined ashes of a forest: the brilliant topaz of embers.
None of this takes away the fact that Tsuna has clearly had his face smashed into the dirt more than once, or that a trail of blood has dried along the bridge of his nose down to the corner of one mouth. Most noticeable of all, matching what is crackling about his hair, are the flames licking at his fingertips and pressing kisses against his knuckles. Every bit of skin that's touched, unlike his wreath of flames, is warped and burned. If he's noticed his own state, there's certainly no indication of it on Tsuna's own face. From simple scrapes to the ruined nature of his hands, it all as well might be the same to Tsuna as far as Reborn can tell. His youngest's eyes are't focused on himself. His quiet, calm expression is aimed right at his opponent.
Perhaps that stare is the reason why he's so enraged in turn, and only gets moreso as the longer Tsuna stares. "Bow your head, scum!" he snarls, smoke billowing out with the words from his mouth. Fire of his own snaps out through the air around him.
Tsuna heaves out a sigh, soft but heavy, and Reborn is inexplicably reminded of Yuni for a moment. "Xanxus," he murmurs, not angry despite the damage he's taken. Just... saddened, instead. That only feeds the rage more, and, in the blink of an eye, the two clash once again.
"Ooooh my," Lussuria says lowly, the whip now untangled from one leg, but she doesn't come after Dino again. Instead, she takes a hesitant step back, her eyes not leaving the battling pair. "I didn't think he'd get this angry."
The lack of combat from her, at least, eases up the churning that has been going on in Reborn's chest since she first got near enough- nearer than when they first saw her. While the combat around Tsuna and Xanxus should make up for that, if not make it worse, Reborn is surprised that it's not so. Instead, as he watches the way the fire blurs from Tsuna with each duck and dodge...
A strange sense of stillness rests in a part of him.
Stranger still, it doesn't seem like something foreign. Reborn would have thought that sort of thing would be his antithesis, insufferable as watching his realm form all smooth lines- an untouched toy with no history, no change, no character. Dull. Plain. A trap with nothing to even gild it. Tsuna's steps and ducks are smooth, and he takes any blows he can't hide from with teeth grit simply. The feelings in Reborn's chest should be of agitation. So why aren't they?
As Tsuna side steps around Xanxus, the two of them spinning about in a violent smooth circle, he realizes why.
In the distance, he can see the fire changing. No longer is it consuming everything, leaving only ash. Instead, it's drawn to the fighters, leaping from house to house until it's spinning around both god and foe. Xanxus seems to devour it, fire disappearing into the smoke and causing it to swell all the more aggressively. Tsuna does no such thing. The fire only snaps at his feet, trails behind the movement of his arms as if a cloak. With all the smoke and flames, any other person would have a hard time keeping track of the fight. As more than a person, Reborn has no such troubles. He can see every exchange of fists, every twist of feet, every burning flare. He sees exactly when the two finally part for only a flicker of a moment, their hands drawn back before closed fists meet open hands and a whisper snakes between them.
Light bursts.
Even when they are all temporarily blinded, Reborn can hear the ringing in the air and in his ears. When things finally clear up, Tsuna and Xanxus have been flung from one another. Tsuna is slumped against the wall of a home that's barely standing. Across the way, struggling to pull himself up by the firm trunk of a tree, Xanxus heaves out smoke from between his teeth. No longer is he obscured by it. No longer does it billow quietly from the outlines of him or patches of skin and hair. Instead, red and sore, burn marks mar him. They're everywhere: curving across his cheek, trailing down the front of his throat. For someone so clearly full of pride, that alone would no doubt enrage him... Yet Reborn doesn't think his new scars are why he looks at Tsuna with such venom or why he forces himself up onto unsteady feet. Any words he tries to say are ash on his tongue, but that fearsome glare says all it needs to.
Even if he could stumble over to Tsuna, he doesn't get a chance to. Dino's whip snaps through the air, as good as any snarl, and Reborn's eldest is right there between them. His smile is all bared teeth, a facsimile of friendliness that's leaf thin. "I think that's more than enough of that," he says. "Don't you?"
Xanxus couldn't disagree any clearer with how he snarls, but it's not up to him in the end. Lussuria intervenes, a little less fire and a little more shape as she hooks one of his arms under her shoulder. "Oh, if only Squalo was here," she mutters, before dragging him away, their bodies twisting until they're gone right in thin air. The grass smolders where their feet once were.
With Lussuria gone from the immediate area (yet still out there, still a presence, still affecting his sprawling sense of self), Reborn lets out a breath. Something about that one set off every bit of him, trapped inside the straining bonds of void. There's an itching underneath his skin, popping bursts of heat, but he can ignore it a little better now. It's nothing unusual, after all. He's been feeling that since the very first moment the void settled around his shoulders, confining him to form. With that settled, he slowly makes his way over to where Dino is crouched besides Tsuna.
The brilliant burning crown is no longer. Instead, there's just a small sprout of fire from the center of his forehead, flickering harmlessly around the strands of his hair. His eyes are half lidded, distant but unmistakably brilliant. When Dino lightly shakes his shoulder, Tsuna's gaze is slow to rise up. "They're everywhere," he says quietly, voice soft and full of awe. "The talking never stops."
Talking? Prayers, perhaps. "Who's talking?" Reborn asks, the question that has been floating around all of their heads ever since Tsuna was first made. What domain would this little god hear? Yet he already has a suspicion, even before Tsuna redirects that same warm stare up at him.
"Everyone?" he says, voice tinged with a question as if even he can't believe himself. His hands are no longer set completely ablaze, but that doesn't mean they're back to normal. Instead, they're darkened and twisted, used up tinder, and ember light still glows all over from within his skin. Tsuna doesn't let this stop him, pushing himself unsteadily up onto his feet with Dino's help. "I'm supposed to do something..."
"What do you need to do?" Reborn asks, shooing Dino's hands off of Tsuna's shoulders. Sometimes, you have to let the fire burn instead of bothering with it. The style of teaching clearly comes through for him. Without much prompting, Tsuna starts to wobble right off without any explanation. With each step, his stride becomes a little more certain and steady, and Reborn can see why off in the distance: at least a good chunk of the villagers, huddled together and passing information between one another hastily. There's no general composition to the group. There are the young, and the elderly, but there are perfectly healthy adults there, too. The only thing that they all have in common is that they're watching the way their village still softly glows from leftover heat. Smaller flames have still been abandoned in places, and they only grow stronger as time passes.
Tsuna doesn't look at any of it. His eyes are only for the people huddled together. Pausing at the edge of the group, he leans down slightly just enough to brush his fingers against the crown of one person's head. It's a young man with olive skin, long black hair, and, now, thanks to Tsuna's touch, embers softly clinging to his head like resting fireflies.
Something lights up in the young man's eyes, brighter than the fires but just as bright as the embers, and he gets up to his feet... but Tsuna is already moving on by then. Again and again, he touches people- everyone in fact. Some get to their feet, like the young man, and immediately begin to take action. There's a girl organizing people to the water, an elder comforting crying children, people moving in unity and strength. Others stay on the ground. Mostly children, of course, but there are others who Reborn can tell are weak or sick. It's only when the spread of embers is dusted against every single mortal does Tsuna suddenly vanish from their midsts, right to the edge of the ruined village.
To say that Tsuna isn't the same person would be a mistake. Reborn made him, once. There's a lot to still learn about him, but he knows his youngest and newest son at his core. An ember is a fire is an inferno. So is the same for Tsuna, even as he steps into what is still standing of the village.
Behind him, unseeing but feeling, the mortals follow him.
Only moments ago, they'd all been weak and crying, unable to do much more. As Reborn watches now, even with their home in ruins and not much on hand, they work against the corner they've been driven into. They only have themselves and a disaster; it doesn't stop them. It doesn't stop Tsuna. Turning on his heel, Reborn leaves Dino where he is, and steps through the night's darkness into the uneasy shadows of the village. As he does so, there's an unexpected surprise in its depths. Meowing surrounds him, and he raises an eyebrow as cats- now pitch black with soot and ash no matter their original color- scurry about. It doesn't take long at all for the mortals to find them... or the people who had been trapped or lost that the feline cries call attention to.
He has approximately zero surprise when, with their jobs done, each cat starts to trail after Tsuna's presence, dark and quiet and satisfied. No matter how many times his hands pass over them, or that of an absentminded mortal, the blackness of their fur stays stubbornly on. The fire which had burned through had not been a regular one, after all. Neither is the soot, or the dedication of the cats.
Reborn waits right in the center of the ruined village as Tsuna zigs and twists through the whole thing. Inevitably, the young god must come this way, and he's right. He's practically sleepwalking by the time he makes it to where Reborn is waiting for him, eyes only slivers of amber beneath heavy eyelids. Behind him, nearly tripping over cats even as she carries an armful of kittens, Nana is making reassuring noises down at all of them. "There, there.... We'll be alright." Soot and scrapes and burns cover her arms beneath her sleeves, but she still smiles down at them. "It's only things. We can rebuild."
There are no embers in her hair, but Tsuna trails around after her anyway, all around the perimeter of the village center. Reborn isn't sure if he's actually aware of what he's doing. His gaze is still tired and distan, and Reborn has to reach over and snag him when he passes by close enough. "Tsuna," he says simply, watching the boy god blink up at him.
He didn't ask, but Tsuna tells him anyway. "She was both at the same time," he says, and actually yawns. He seems properly exhausted instead of merely dozing. "All the others were just the one, but she was still both. She didn't need me, not really."
With the way he's swaying, he's going to faceplant at any moment, probably. Best to get him to talk while he's still conscious. "Both what?"
Slowly, Tsuna's gaze drags up to Reborn's own face, and his burning eyes are something Reborn has seen in many places, from the sun to himself. They're a deep stare, one that sees a great deal. "Weak," he says, quietly. "But, strong, too." His hands rise up, fingers spreading to show the extent of what he's talking about. Embers pop beneath charred skin. "Weak things can always be strong... And strong things can always go back to being weak." His eyes stare right at Reborn.
Reborn lightly bops him right in the forehead with his fist.
"Ow-"
"Of course I know that," he says, watching as fire flicks around the curve of his fist, still pressed against skin and hair. "Obviously." Slowly, he relaxes his hand until he can spread his fingers out through Tsuna's hair. Since the time he first started fighting up until now, where he's been tending to desperate prayers, his hair has started to lose its wildness. Yet it only takes the slightest brush of Reborn's fingers for it to fluff up again. Without thinking, he sinks his fingers in deeper, and gives it a good ruffle. "You learned, Tsuna. Good."
It's rather brisk praise, but that's fine. Tsuna murmurs something in recognition that it's happened, and then his legs start to go out from beneath him. Reborn doesn't try to catch him. There's no need to. Dino suddenly steps out and hooks his arm around his little brother's middle. "What a flashy way to figure out his domain," he grunts, hefting Tsuna up into his arms. "But I guess that explains why nothing else was quite working. It's a domain even wider than mine."
Not only a wide domain, but one that relies on two extremes... Reborn nods, thoughtfully, and glances back to the village. Everyone in it has been imbued with strength, now, and they willfully ride out the tides of chaos that Xanxus and Lussuria's actions brought. Like birds on stormy winds, or fish in turbulent waters.
So this is what his youngest can do.
"Dino," he says, and his eldest son looks up at him. "I think we're done. Watch over Tsuna."
He quirks up an eyebrow. "I can do that, but where are you going?"
Reborn is already turning on his heel. There's not even a pause as he answers over his shoulder. "I need to see a few old friends."
And he disappears through the shadows.