Author's Note:

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update but I finally got a chance to start writing again and I wanted to play with these characters. I have absolutely no idea how the story is gonna play out so let me know what you think in a message or a review. Thanks! Enjoy!

Chapter 9:

Their journey began as journey's often do. The difference was that the demon and the demi-god traveled in silence. They moved through the forests, avoiding the main roads and stopping only so that Yori could eat and rest.

In the beginning she would attempt to let him know when she grew tired or needed to eat but Yori quickly learned that Sesshomaru cared very little about her or her needs.

"This is a waste of time." He growled while Yori made the beginnings of a small fire.

"Well go if you don't want to be here! I need sleep not your bad attitude." She said, shooing him away, and hoped for some relief from the constant ache that plagued her heart when he was around.

Sesshomaru looked at her like he couldn't decide whether or not to squish her into pulp before sauntering off into the forest, his fur and a cloud of cloying sweet scent trailing behind him.

Eventually, after the initial twinge of hurt wore off, Yori took to simply stopping and setting up a camp for herself, and letting Sesshomaru keep walking on without her.

Yori figured that once he realized that he'd left her behind, he'd decide to come back when he was ready.

Sure enough, every morning, after Yori woke up in her small makeshift camps, Sesshomaru was perched next to a nearby tree, or boulder, impatiently waiting for the journey to continue.

Yori wasn't particularly surprised by the pattern they found themselves in. She'd forced him into the expedition and Sesshomaru was never much of a talker. And Yori knew that putting herself near him for so long, to endure the sharp looks and irritated growls, which both made her heart sore and sing, was the the price to pay for keeping her promise to the Inu no Taisho.

But she'd hoped. Oh she'd hoped with everything she had that maybe things would have been different. Maybe he could… Maybe he would...Maybe...

Yori hoped. Which, for her, was a dangerous past time when she loved a demon.

"The Mountains are this way."

Yori rolled her eyes and for the third time said, "Mt. Hakurei is this way." She pointed in the opposite direction of Sesshomaru, toward the green rolling foothills.

Sesshomaru glared, equally as frustrated, "There are no mountains there."

"Good thing we aren't looking for more than one mountain then."

Yori gave a defiant toss of her midnight hair as she headed her way, leaving Sesshomaru behind on the road. He could rot for all she cared. Whose power were they trying to recover anyway?

Suddenly he was there, walking beside her, silent contempt radiating off him in waves. His scent wafted back toward her, massaging the edges of her anger until it went from a snarling wolf to a whimpering puppy.

"What aren't you telling me?" Sesshomaru said as he kept pace with her.

Yori forced her eyes to stay forward, "Guard dogs don't ask questions."

She smelled the acid before she felt his claws on her skin.

"We really need to work out a better way for you to communicate." Yori wheezed as Sesshomaru's claws dug into her neck.

In some strange way, Yori was happy that he was showing any emotion at all. His anger, although it left physical scars, made a small part of her glow with warmth. He was touching her and the hope she felt earlier sent her heart racing.

Sesshomaru gave no indication that the woman in his grip meant anything to him. He squeezed harder.

"Just keep your end of the bargain." He growled and released her. Yori crumpled to the ground, choking on air.

Sesshomaru looked at her for a long moment before turning and walking toward the foothills. "Get up." he said.

Curled in on herself in the grass,Yori found that she never thought she'd miss her power more than right then. She wanted to make him bleed, she wanted to make him beg, she wanted to make him love her. But all those things were beyond her now. Even the soft feeling of Kage's fur under her hands and Akira's sarcastic comments in her ears were almost distant memories.

Yori needed her power back and she would get it. Even if it meant enduring the abuse of the Inu no Taisho's son.

She could almost hear her Lord's voice, counseling her from his place in the otherworld.

"Patience, Yori. He needs to be pushed but slowly. He can be great one day. When he learns how to love. Help him."

Yori snorted quietly to herself and breathed easier as she found her footing again.

I don't think this is what you meant, milord. She thought as she followed the young Lord of the West deeper into hills.