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Rin did wake up early the next day, apparently earlier than anyone else. She could see the dragon thing over the tall grasses, but there was no sign of the one called Jaken. But Sesshoumaru-sama was nearby, white standing out like day itself in the pre-dawn light. He was sitting down and looked to be resting. Rin moved through the dewy grass, and sat down a little bit away. She looked at him. His eyes were closed and he was asleep, or at least close enough.
Rin watched him. She had noticed things about him before, but hadn't been close enough to look again. Now he slept and she curiously moved closer. He was dressed nicely, not even the lords that occasionally came through the village had worn clothes as rich as his. And he was...different, though Rin didn't know how. The same odd feeling that told her that he could make the wolves go away told her that he was different from her. He certainly looked different. Though Rin could care less about what the person who was nice to her looked like, she had never seen anyone like him before. His hair was different, and he had markings on his face. His eyes were also a golden yellow, reminding her of eyes that she had seen somewhere else before, but couldn't place. She had never seen people with eyes like those. Suddenly, they opened, and he looked at her. She stared back, but he only stood up and walked away. She stood as well, waiting for him to leave.
Rin walked a little closer than she had before. The plains and hills rolled by as the day went on. She heard them talking about her later in the day. Apparently Sesshoumaru-sama didn't really want her gone, at least not immediately. Rin was pleased at that. She would stay with him, then. She wondered if he was always this quiet. It would be nice for him to talk to her. She was ready to do anything he said if he would just let her stay. But Rin couldn't do what he wanted if she didn't know what it was.
Soon they entered woods, woods much like the ones that had surrounded the village. Rin liked the woods. It was nice and quiet, and no one bothered her in the woods. They walked for a long time before she began to realize how hungry she was. But she couldn't see anything around to eat, and she couldn't stop to look or she would lose him. Even if he wouldn't make her go away, she knew that he wouldn't stop to wait on her. So she continued on.
It was later in the day when Sesshoumaru-sama turned to look at her the first time. Jaken had just pointed to something, but Rin couldn't see anything. She wondered what they were looking at. When he turned around, Rin wondered what he was going to say. Whatever he wanted, she would do. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Catch up if you don't want to get eaten."
Rin didn't understand what that meant, but she ran up behind him without question, happy that he had told her to come closer. Suddenly, she heard a noise by the bushes, and she saw a scary looking thing staring at her. She jumped in surprise and moved closer to Sesshoumaru-sama, who was obviously not afraid of the thing. She walked close beside him until the thing disappeared around the curve of the forest's path. She looked up at him, but he made no sign that he noticed her or cared that she was there. Jaken, however, gave her a dirty look and moved to Sesshoumaru-sama's other side. But Rin didn't care.
She thought about Sesshoumaru-sama. He had been nice to her again, warning her about the monster and keeping it away from her. And he had told her to catch up. Now she walked beside him, and not behind. She knew that he wouldn't tell her to go away again. They walked that way until the night, when he wordlessly stopped and walked off of the path to sit down. Hungered and exhausted, Rin lay down and fell asleep almost instantly.