A/N: All Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi!

The Long Awaited Adventure

By Ivaliny

Chapter 7

"A New Cause For Justice"

He sat cross-legged by the fire, poking at the embers as the sun was setting. He looked across the fire at Rin who was snuggled up against his dragon, AhUn. After she had passed out, his faithful servant, Jaken came to him in a frantic mess, riding AhUn, and not even noticing the already decaying body of a 'breather. Sesshoumaru held Rin in one arm as the toad jumped off, swinging around his two-headed staff

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru acknowledged.

The toad started to whine,"Milord, I have some terrible news!" He ducked his head, ready for his master's rage, but none came out, he only walked on with the human girl slumped in his right arm awkwardly. AhUn followed his master as Jaken tried to figure out how to break his news.

"Y-y-your," Jaken stuttered,"estate is gone! 'Breathers came looking for you and your stupid brother, and when we told them you were away, they burned the estate!" He whimpered, shaking where he stood. "Please don't kill me, Lord Sesshoumaru!"

Sesshoumaru stopped walking as AhUn looked at the tall demon curiously. "Jaken," he questioned,"is it all destroyed?"

Jaken whimpered some more, "Y-yes, milord! All of it was destroyed, and AhUn saved me!"

His home was destroyed by those nasty 'breathers. The estate had been passed down generation after generation. His father took pride in its up keeping, and Sesshoumaru honored his wishes. The burning of his home sent a wave of fury and despair through his heart. It was all he had of his father, and just like his father, it was all gone, damaged by evil flickering flames. What now did he have left? What would his father think of him now? His stomach churned, everything his father worked so hard for is gone. He had nothing left. A dark cloud of rage hung over his head. He wanted to kill something. His anger was overtaking his body and a growl deep with in from the bottom of his chest vibrated it's way upward. His eyes slowly turned a blood red as the demon in him took over. He dug his claws deep into the unconscious girl in his arm who began to whimper as droplets of her blood came trickling down his hand. Her whimper startled him. He had forgotten he was carrying her. Suddenly his eyes returned to their golden state, controlling the emotions bottled up inside of him, and began to walk on, away from the monsters that destroyed his life.

Jaken uncovered his head and saw that his master and AhUn where leaving him behind, and ran off after them. "Wait for me, milord, your humble servant Jaken, wait for me!"

Sesshoumaru poked at the fire unconsciously, brooding over his loss. 'Breathers were controlled by Warrik and the Augapfel Kingdom, so they must have had orders to look for him and his brother, but why. He had nothing that Warrik would want, except his land, but if that was the case, Warrik's minions would be scouring the lands, destroying everything in their path right then. If that was the case, they wouldn't just destroy his castle and everything he had either. Sesshoumaru glared at the fire, No, whatever the reason, this journey is personal. Warrik will not live once I'm done with him. He made a slight growl in his chest.

Something deep down in the pit of his being ached. It wasn't for the loss of his estate, but for something else. Something entirely new. Something much deeper which made a dull ache, which he had discovered for the first time, the night he had spotted Rin at the stream's edge under the moonlight.

Rin, he thought. The flicker of the fire before him made his golden eyes a fiery amber that narrowed at the thought of the name. She was strange to him. The way she acted, the way se talked, seemed different and foreign to him, yet she was also the only human whom he found truly humble and true warm heart. He hated it. He found it annoying at how much she would smile and laugh, even when there was no need to be happy.

Looking at her sleeping, unconscious, tiny form surrounded by his dragon, he laughed mockingly at himself. What next? A lone demon and a lone human stuck on a journey together. He stared at her, No, a worthless human, and a demon with nothing his name, now stand alone, stuck on a journey together. How ironic. Ironic indeed, the thins he dreaded the most, losing his father's honor, and being stuck with a human, now were all true and present.

She fluttered her eyes open, staring at a burning fire in front of her, which made her jump and stand up in a fright. Remembering the fire breathing dragons, she feared she was enveloped in their fire. Sesshoumaru looked at the girl in surprise. Her face was a sickly pale and her scent had fear all over it. She darted her eyes around in horror and fell backward with a scream as AhUn's two heads moved up from their resting positions to look at their new favorite pet. Sesshoumaru caught her before she fell into the fire. She tried to steady herself in his grasp, reaching for his other arm frantically, then realizing there was nothing there. Her eyes widened in horror as she grabbed at his arm when he lost his holding and they both toppled over on top of AhUn. The dragon made a grunt of pretest but did little about it.

She scrambled out from underneath the dog demon, holding herself protectively with a look of worry and concern towards his missing arm. "I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru! I didn't mean to pull you over."

The demon stood up effortlessly, dusting off the dirt from his silk outfit with his right hand. Rin couldn't help but stare at the left side of his body. She had never noticed he was missing an arm. Looking him up and down, she wondered what other things she had missed about the demon prince. He walked over to where he sat before and set himself down on to the forest floor gracefully, ignoring her watchful eyes. He resumed his glare at the fire, wishing she would stop staring at him.

"Where are Miroku and Inuyasha?" she asked, looking around noting their absence, and then only realizing how late in the evening it actually was. "How long was I out?"

"Half the day," he answered, and for some strange reason he felt regretfull for the next thing he was going to tell her,"and I don't know where Inuyasha or Miroku are. I sent AhUn out to look for them, but they were not found." He paused, "They must have been eaten." Mentally he kicked himself in the head for that slip up. He watched the hurt and horror in her eyes as she dumbfoundedly plopped down onto the earthen floor. They were gone. Her friends were gone, and he seemed to not care. Never in her live until then has she felt truly alone. The crackling of the fire echoed hard in her head as the pit of her stomach sank. She felt like she was going to throw up. Now that Miroku was gone, she couldn't learn any new spells, and now that Inuyasha was gone as well, she hand no one to start her combat training with.

He watched her fight with her burning emotions. The look on her eyes showed pain and loneliness. They were both alone on this journey now. Her eyes welled up with tears. He frowned at her, never caring much for tears, especially from a woman. She looked at his frown, her cheeks rosing with embarrassment, and swallowed back the ache and the tears caused in the back of her throat. She was alone, alone wit the uncaring demon lord. She desperately wanted to cry, and the look she gave Sesshoumaru, a disheartening glare, made him look away, not in embarrassment but in pity; pity for the fact she was hurt and about to cry.

Rin stood up and walked away from the campsite. He watched her walk away; first, glad she wasn't going to cry in front of him, but then he remembered he was hunted man, and he could feel other demon presences surrounding them.

"Wait," he choked out surprisingly,"don't, it's not safe."

"Why?" she asked, turning around to face him, paling.

"It's dangerous-"

"Are there more dragons out there?" she interrupted in a panic.

"No, those are dead, but there are demons out that and they would love to have a fresh young human for dinner."

"And you don't?" she snapped. "What makes you any different from them? How do I know you wont eat me, too?"

He didn't answer.

"Now that Inuyasha is gone, you have no deal with him. You can just go back home and do your piling paperwork and sniff your pretty flowers. You have no reason to stay here."

He looked away from her as silence fell between them," I have no home."

"What? I was there not several days ago. What are you talking about?"

He was silent for a long moment," It was burned down by the 'breathers before the attack."

Her heart sank at his words," I guess we both lost something today," she whispered silently to herself.

"I'm going to find Warrik," he stated. Rin knew perfectly well what he meant. He was going to avenge his household. She looked over at him with a sudden warmth radiating from every pore. At first the change in her scent startles him, but soon her scent began to tingle inside of him. He looked away, it was overwhelming him.

Maybe he really isn't that bad, she though, at least he has some kind of honor.

"And I will fight as well. Warrik needs to be brought down," she said with sudden enthusiasm, but Sesshoumaru couldn't help but snort, which made her frown.

"What?"

He said nothing.

"You know, I was going to say something nice about you, but you can forget it!"

"Nice?" the word seemed foreign to him," I could kill you ten times worse than what those 'breathers could have even dreamt of."

She huffed,"Oh, so now you're threatening me."

He just stared at her, "You should go to sleep. We're way behind, we should already be traveling the desert." Watching him poke at the fire, she realized she wasn't going to say anymore, and decided sleep was the best thing. She got ready for bed and slipped under the blanket. She was surprised when Sesshoumaru's dragon curled up around her, but she welcomed the warmth the dragon gave her, making her smile. She felt oddly protected that night.

"AhUn doesn't usually like humans," Sesshoumaru stated across the fire.

She looked up at AhUn's two heads and grinned when the dragon gave her a loving nudge. Sesshoumaru was surprised to find out he liked the way his dragon curled around the girl. He watched her with mild interest as her breathing became softer as she drifted off into sleep.

A/N: Awww, wasn't this chapter sad? I thought it was, that's why it was way shorter than the other ones. AWW, poor Sesshoumaru and Rin!So, what will happen to the two now?I promise Chapter 8 will be much longer with action filled...stuff!