The child paid no attention to the grumbling green Demon. All she knew was that she had nothing behind her, and her whole future lie in front of her. She followed the Demon in white the whole of the afternoon. He was walking slowly, still not fully healed. The girl did not know the source of his wounds, but the Demon had battled, and won, against a large lesser dragon. It was the same dragon that had been ultimately responsible for his father's death.

Rin followed his slow steady pace. She tried to stay beside him for awhile, but there was just too much around her to look at. She had never been this far from the village, and she was fascinated by everything around her. The trees were sighing in the wind. She had never really noticed it before. She had always been too intent on finding branches suitable for her stove to notice much more. Today she had nothing more to do than walk and take in her surroundings. She was looking at her world through the eyes of a child for the first time since her parents had been killed two years ago. She did not remember them very well. She rarely even thought of them anymore. To her, the world was a wonderful place on this very special day. What had begun as the worst day of her life was ending with a feeling of contentment she had not known existed.

When Lord Sesshomaru stopped walking late that evening, Rin was tired. Her legs ached as much as they ever had when working a full day in the farmers' fields. In truth, he would not have stopped at all that evening. He had stamina and endurance far beyond those of mere humans. He had to get back to patrolling his lands. But he knew she was tired. She had been slowing down since dusk. Several times she had to run to catch up to him, staying only a few feet behind him. Jaken was trailing even further behind, obviously unhappy about the turn of events. His grumbling, however, had ceased long before, much to his master's relief. Sesshomaru knew his lands would have to wait awhile longer.

Sesshomaru made a decision and spoke for the first time all day. "Jaken, stay here with the girl. Build a fire. I will be back soon." He turned into the trees surrounding them and left in a flash of movement, knowing his lackey would obey him.

Rin stood there, staring after him. He was leaving her in this odd Demon's company? She turned to the ugly green thing and burst out into uneasy laughter. She had not seen him fully, just a glance at him now and then. Now, under the light of the moon, he resembled nothing more than a large frog wearing a ridiculous hat and carrying an odd stick with heads on it.

When she laughed Jaken was taken aback by it. He somehow knew she was laughing at him, Sesshomaru's faithful right-hand man. With a scowl on his frog-like face, he did as his lord commanded him. He built a small fire and sat down, waiting for the dog Demon's return.

Rin, not knowing what else to do, sat beside Jaken. She was nervous, but she figured if Lord Sesshomaru trusted the little Demon not to harm her, then she would as well. With nothing else to do, she took a stick and idly drew small swirls in the dirt around her. As she did, her eyes began to close slightly. Her arm holding the stick grew heavy. She let it drop to her knees, which she had drawn up to her chest. When her head fell to them shortly after she was already sound asleep.

That was how Sesshomaru found her later that night. He had left them to hunt for meat for them. He had found a young wild boar and killed it. When he brought it back to where he had left them, he found both of his followers fast asleep. He stared at them both for a few minutes. Then he brought the boar to the fire and placed it on top of the smoldering ashes. He would let it cook all night, replacing sticks and branches as necessary. He took his furs off his shoulders and placed them on the hard ground. Then he lie down a few feet from the girl and also fell into a restless sleep.