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Rin awoke early the next morning, due to her own set internal clock. Something told her that she couldn't sleep for long if she wanted him to still be there when she woke up. And she had had enough practice at sleeping short hours from the cold winters, sneaking into the back of a warm building long after its inhabitants had gone to sleep and getting out before they discovered her the next day.
She sat up and looked around. The sun was just coming up, and she saw Sesshoumaru-sama sitting in the same spot as he had been the night before. He moved his head to look at her, and then turned away. She remained where she was, staring at his silent form, ready to follow him again, ready to do anything he asked. Anything but what he said next.
He stood up and looked at her again. "Go away. We don't want you and we don't need you." Then he turned and left, waking up his two companions and walking away.
Rin just stood there, frozen. She didn't know what to think. Sesshoumaru-sama had told her to leave, just like everyone else had. But he had also been nice to her. She was confused. He couldn't have meant both. And she couldn't go back to the village now, there was no way that she'd ever find it again. She couldn't stay here, either, by herself. Rin was alone in the wilderness, and he was all that she had in the world now. So she followed.
Rin walked closer this time, hoping for any sort of reaction one way or the other. But both of them were silent for the most part, and he never turned to look at her the whole day. As she followed through the grasses, she soon decided that Sesshoumaru-sama had been nice more than he had been mean. He obviously did not want her gone too badly, or he would have made it clearer. Until he raised a hand to stop her, she would follow.
At sunset, she ate the last of the fruit that she had picked, though she was still hungry. But that wasn't unusual for her. Still, she had never done so much walking on an empty stomach. Rin kept an eye out for food along the way, but nothing grew in the grasses. She only managed to get a drink from a stream they passed. But she wouldn't fall behind. She couldn't now.
When night came, it grew incredibly dark. The sky was covered by clouds, and no trace of the moon could even be seen. Rin feared that she would lose him, and be alone in the night by herself. She had never liked the night, even inside the village. There were strange noises, especially on nights like this, when the dark was so black that it covered everything. Villagers told stories of monsters called youkai that roamed the lands at night. Rin was never exactly certain of what a youkai actually was. But she didn't want to get left behind, so she ran ahead, following even closer to make sure that Sesshoumaru-sama was still there.
She wondered how he could see where he was going. She couldn't see him at all now, but she could hear. Sometimes she would have to stop and listen for the noise they made as they walked. Sometimes she would fall and trip over some unseen object in the night. Either time, it was a continual game of whether she could find him and catch up again. Suddenly, she hit something and fell over once more. She took the time to listen again. It was completely silent this time. She then reached her hand out. Whatever she had run into was not merely a stump or rock. But Rin found nothing in front of her. Confused, but satisfied that she also heard nothing, Rin prepared to sleep again, knowing that they would be doing the same. She readied herself to wake up as early as possible, so that she wouldn't be alone in the morning.