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

The Long Awaited Adventure

By Ivaliny

Chapter 8

"Separate Ways"

It hadn't fully sunk in until the next morning when they were leaving camp, that Inuyasha, Miroku, and Frednicio were gone. They were truly gone. The morning was quiet and uneventful, except for Jaken's annoying banter, which Rin found utterly depressing. No more of Miroku's perverted jokes. No more of Inuyash's shows of manliness. No more of Frednicio's thunderous chuckles. No more.

They traveled on deeper into the forest, Sesshoumaru leading as always with the same fast pace. He stared up ahead, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed, lost in his own thoughts. Sometimes he forgot he wasn't alone and began to run, but Rin didn't mind, she was silently sitting on top of AhUn. Both lost in thought, would be jolted back to reality by Jaken's pleas to slow down. While sitting and thinking, she realized she hadn't dreamt at all the night before. No more reoccurring nightmare. She was saddened to think that her dream did come true. If she had only told Miroku, maybe none of this would have happened, and she would still be practicing her spells. She could have at least warned Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru of the upcoming attack, but how could she have known it would have come true anyways?

A sudden strong breeze picked up, rustling the leaves on the giant, powerful trees above, as she watched Sesshoumaru almost in awe as his silver strands of hair gracefully danced behind him, gleaning, shining, in the patches of sun as he walked onward. She found the way he looked fascinating at times. Never had she seen such a strong, tall man before. He seemed to tower over her at times. His stride was graceful and the only time she ever saw him stumble or fall over, was when she lost her hold on his armor and fell down, dragging him with her. He seemed almost perfect. No matter what win blew, his hair was always silky smooth. His eyes were nearly almost always narrowed in a glare, the gleamed a cold gold that made you feel empty inside, which also seemed to peer down upon everything, usually sending cold chills through her body. She found the markings on his face and the crescent moon on his forehead interesting, and wondered if all demons had such markings as those.

Watching him walk, effortlessly gliding on the forest's floor, she noticed that although he was big, his footsteps made no sound. The only thing that made a sound was the large pelt draped across his shoulder, which billowed in the wind like a snake, and a sleeve that rustled in the wind where his missing arm would have been. The thought of snakes and missing arms made her look away in sadness. Did he lose that arm from on of the 'breather attacks? she wondered.

"Sesshoumaru?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"That's Lord Sesshoumaru, you stupid human!" Jaken's shrilled voice yelled.

"Sesshoumaru, I-"

Jaken waved his staff,"Why you-"

"Jaken."

The toad stopped swinging the stand around and ducked his head, peering at his master with scared yellow eyes. "Y-yes, milord?"

"That is enough," the demon lord commanded.

"Sesshoumaru," Rin questioned again. He made no sign that he was listening, but she went on anyways. "I dreamt the attack of the dragons," she paused, waiting for him to say something, but he didn't. "I dreamt the attack first a few nights ago, and then it kept reoccurring. I should have told someone about it, but I didn't." She drew in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "I just wanted you to know I wont let that happen again, and I'm sorry it was all my fault."

For some reason he wanted to tell her it wasn't her fault and that there was nothing that she could have done, but the demon inside of him decided against it. He hated to think like that. He didn't want to feel the need to reassure her. He was a demon, and a very powerful one at that, he was supposed to have thoughts constantly going through his head about killing and gaining more power to kill, not travel with the enemy and prey that he's hunted for hundreds of years. He really wanted to kill something right then, maybe to prove to himself he wasn't growing mentally weak, and that he was the same Sesshoumaru.

Unfortunately, traveling with Rin was making him think more his father and his untimely demise, which only kept reminding him of his lost estate. He wanted to kill even more. And even being reminded of what he lost, somewhere in the deepest depth of his soul, he secretly mourned his brother's death. He hated Inuyasha for the symbol he stood for. Inuyasha was a sign of his great father's imperfection. He hated to think of his father as anything less than perfection, but everytime he saw or caught Inuyasha's scent on the breeze, his demon blood boiled with anger. Even though he hated Inuyasha for all of that, he couldn't bring himself to hate him enough to see him dead. Even though Inuyasha was a sign of imperfection, he still reminded Sesshoumaru so much of their dead father. The fact that Inuyasha was now dead, and now his father's fate seemed all to real. He really had lost everything. The thought made a growl within him escape as he clenched his fist in anger. The only thing left of his father's legacy was him, and he would be damned if Warrik would take that away. The thirst to kill was so strong now. He need to kill. He had to kill. He wanted to kill anything and everything.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, are you alright?" Jaken asked, inquiring about his lord's sudden change in demonic aura, fearing the worst. Rin watched Sesshoumaru's back stiffen and arch like a dog ready to attack.

"Stay," he ordered with a menacing growl. She watched him leap off the trail and into the forest with curiosity and fear. She couldn't help but feel responsible for his anger, and all that was left of him was a cloud of dust. Jaken stared after his lord then quickly turned around, glaring at Rin.

"You stupid human! It's all your fault. Keep your moth closed!"

Rin looked down in shame,"I'm sorry! I just felt that he should have known about it."

"I've seen that look in his eyes, and I hate it! That look of blood thirst chills me to the bones, and it's all your fault! Who knows, maybe right now he's slaughtering a whole village."

"A village?"

Jaken smiled evily,"Milord has destroyed many a village. I am so lucky to serve a demon as strong as him."

Rin looked off towards the direction he had disappeared. Was he really going to kill because of what I said?

The toad sighed,"Who knows when he'll be back. We might as well get comfy."

When Sesshoumaru returned, covered in blood, bits of flesh, and reeking of death, he was actually glad to see Rin was napping peacefully next to AhUn. The dragon raised his heads in a greeting towards his master. Sesshoumaru motioned for AhUn to stay still as to not wake up Rin or Jaken, although he really didn't care whether or not Jaken awoke. Looking down at his bloodied arm, and noticing the stench of decaying flesh, it made his nose curle, and he decided to wash up.

After removing his armor and clothing, he dipped himself into the water, enjoying the cool, refreshing way it slid across his skin. He reflected upon the dozens of demons he had slain with his bare hand as he moved it around in the water, washing away the blood. As he began to pick out the bits and pieces of flesh from his hair, he smiled. His blood thirst to kill had successfully been quenched, and the ecstasy it left behind put him in a good mood. He didn't care about Warrik, he didn't care about his father, he didn't care about Inuyasha, and he didn't care about Rin. All that mattered then was that he had killed countless of demons. He snorted, taking a deep breath, and letting it out in a deep satisfying sigh. I still have it.

Off in the practice grounds, Torent and a spider demon were busy dueling. He swung his sword around, catching the spider off guard, but with its many legs, quickly jumped to avoid the sharp blade before it could take out a leapt. Torent twisted his body around as the spider spewed out a poisoning, sticky ooze from it's mouth, which knocked Torent's sword out of his hand, which dripped onto his skin. The poison didn't penetrate his dragon tough skin, which he could thank his father's bloodline for that. Torent twitched out a pointy, serpenty smile at his foe. The spider reared up on his back legs exposing a weak spot, tossing his forelegs up and down, threatening the half-dragon warrior. Without hesitation, Torent formed a triangle with his fingers, which made his eyes turn a fiery red, and let out a powerful blast, hitting the spider's weak spot. The spider let out a monstrous roar as his body glowed like electricity from the energy of Torent's black, then exploded, leaving a pile of ash.

He let out a victorious chuckle, smiling, showing his pointy fangs that gleamed in the early morning sunlight, and rubbed his hands together. "Well, that was fun. Who's next?" Looking around, dozens of armored soldiers and demons looked at each other in bewilderment, making Torent decide it was the perfect time to show off. He took in a deep breath and blew out a long stream of fire from his mouth and nose. The faces he saw were priceless.

"C'mon," he said teasingly," I wont bite that hard!" He took in another deep breath, ready to spew the fire when a bird's cry was heard above. Torent stopped, gulped, and looked up to see a hawk swooping down from the sky, giving another cry as it landed on Torent's armored shoulder.

"Touga?" Torent asked. The hawk turned to him and gave a shrill cry, then flew off.

"Yes, sir?" a tiny voice asked.

Torent looked at the men around him suspiciously, and began to walk off. "When I come back, someone had better duel me!" he hissed. The soldiers and demons talked among themself as Torent walked to a secure location.

Once he found a place where he was sure no prying ears could hear, he asked a tiny speck on his arm," So what have you brought for me?"

Touga replied,"I was flying through the air, snacking on that hawk, when I saw your 'breathers being destroyed by the Demon Lord of the West, Sesshoumaru, a half demon, and a human."

Torent gave out a curse and began to pace,"So the 'breathers failed, and Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru still haven't been captured." He let out another curse. "Now I'm going to have to be the bearer of bad news, again!"

The tiny tick on his arm sighed,"But that's not all."

Torent rolled his eyes,"What more horrible news do you have for me Touga, because nothing you have ever brought me was good."

"I overheard Sesshoumaru and his servant after he had saved a human girl from the last 'breather, that not only did the 'breather's destroy his whole estate, but that it also seems that they may have killed his brother, Inuyasha."

Torent groaned at the last part,"What? Inuyasha has the sword Master Warrik wants." He sat down on a fallen log, rubbing his temples, already fearing the worst from Warrik. The 'breathers had never failed before, and now they have to deal with Sesshoumaru.

"But I may have good news," Touga said as Torent looked at him with interest. "You wont have to go find Sesshoumaru, because he's coming this way with that human girl."

The half-dragon groaned even louder, throwing his head back in defeat. "How is that good news!"

Rin shot up out of her sleep with a start, breathing heavily, drowning in sweat to see that Sesshoumaru was staring at her. She blinked a few times, looking away embaressed.

"You were moaning in your sleep," he said without caring.

She coughed to clear her throat,"I had another nightmare." He said nothing. "A demon was tearing away at my skin while someone laughed in the background." She looked away, shaking and scared. Now that she knew she could see into the future, this dream scared her. What made it worse, is that she had no way of knowing when it would happen, and it seemed like Sesshoumaru didn't care. She sighed and noticed the time of day. It was mid to late afternoon.

"Why didn't you wake me? We've just wasted a tong of traveling time!"

He shrugged,"I didn't see that I should have awakened you. You need your rest."

Rin eyed him suspiciously, "What are you talking about? I thought we were trying to get there as fast as we could to save Princess Kagome, not take a damn vacation!"

His eyebrow twtiched. He had forgotten about the Princess, being so wrapped up in his own affairs, and because Inuyasha wasn't there to remind them about her all day.

"The princess isn't my problem," he answered honestly.

Rin was starting to get frustrated by the demon prince,"I know you didn't like your brother much, and I've gathered you don't care about Efeu, but we really need to rescue the princess so that Efee can be saved." She stopped from continuing after remembering who she was talking to. He'd destroy a whole village for the sport of it.

Letting out a long, frustrated sigh, she looked in his golden eyes, which made him shift uncomfortably, "I care what happens, actually they are all counting on me," she paused,"on us, to destroy Warrik." Watching his bored, uninterested expression made her heart sink, and she gave up. "Forget it."

"How do you know Warrik hasn't destroyed Efue yet? He's already destroyed Mondlicht."

Rin shrugged,"I guess I just have to believe that it's alright. I can't go into this battle without some kind of hope."

They both fell silent, looking up at the sky. To the northeast, a large thundercloud began to roll towards them. They watched the sky become darker and darker. She was surprised when her demon companion broke their silence.

"The reason why I didn't want to wake you, is because you'll need as much rest as you can get. Once we leave the safety of the forest we will be in a desert, easy targets for anything, especially Warrik. We need to get through it as quickly as possible without little to no stopping to reach Augapfel. That's why you need plenty of rest."

For a second, she felt the slightest hint of concern in his voice, but she quickly ignored it. He's being ridiculous!

"But what about Warrik?"

"He knows we're coming, or at least he will soon know. Either he will come after us, or he'll wait for us. He's expecting us to reach the base of the Augapfel Mountains within a week or a little more. It wouldn't hurt to rest a few days, and catch him off guard."

Lightening from the northeast split from the clouds to the ground in the distance, and a couple of minutes later, a thunderous boom rumbled their way. The two watched the thunder cloud while Rin contemplated the demon's words. She stood, stretched, and yawned.

"Well we better find some shelter soon, otherwise neither of use will get much rest."

Sesshoumaru agreed, humans are sickly, fragile creatures, she needs shelter. "There was a village a couple of miles to the west, we should go there."

Soon they were packed and ready to get back on the road. Having more sleep than he was used to having, Jaken was lively and more talkative than normal. He made their trip bearable, although Sesshoumaru would never have admitted it, he welcomed his servant's mindless, gossipy banter. He found it odd that Rin wasn't as talkative as she had been before, but he had to remember her friends were gone.

Drawing nearer to the, the air surrounding it became strange and thick. Sesshoumaru noticed the stench of death and demon all around. He looked over at Rin, and saw that she didn't seem to notice the change, and stopped walking. She looked up at him curiously. Jaken, still walking behind them toddled forward until a polished boot kicked him in the face.

He rubbed the lump growing on his forehead,"Wha-what was that for, milord?"

"Go check out that village before us, and report back immedietly."

Still rubbing his head, he looked at Sesshoumaru suspiciously, then slumped his shoulders and walked forward, mumbling to himself. It was Rin's turn to be suspicious, raising an eyebrow towards the demon who watched the toad walk out of sight.

"What was that for?" she questioned,"Why can't we check it out ourselves?"

He stared her bored,"For one, I don't deal with humans. They annoy and disgust me to no end." Rin frowned." And for two, Jaken's shrill voice was getting on my nerves, so I had to send him away to save my sanity."

Rin felt defensive after what he said. His words cut through her like knives. Why was he always so critical of humans? What did we do to fall under his graces? she wondered. What a jerk! she thought as she glared at his direction, which took him off guard. He wasn't expecting to see her do that. He thought she was past the whole glaring thing. He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly to show his confusion and interest in her glare.

"We disgust you to no end?" she asked, still fuming about his remark.

"I'm not following," he replied.

She groan at how dense he seemed," You said you don't deal with humans because they're disgusting." He stared at her as if it were either no big deal or that he was still not following. "Do you even remember saying that?"

"Of course, I mean everything that I say."

Her glare grew icy,"Then what am I?"

He paused and stared at her with narrowed eyes. "A mere human." What is she getting at? What is her problem?

"Oh," she said putting her hands out sarcastically," so I guess you think I"m an annoying, disgusting human as well?" She actually hated the way she was acting, it was very childish of her, but the felt highly defensive at the moment. Usually, she wouldn't let what he cared about matter to her, but it did this time.

Sesshoumaru's narrowed eyes turned into a scowl, glaring at the human girl. She was starting to get on his nerves. Why were women always so sensitive and unpredictable? he wondered.

"Right now you are indeed. You're annoying, loud, and disgusting, especially when your nose wrinkles with your glare, which I must say is pathetic. You're the same as every other human."

Rin let her jaw drop in surprise and protest. She hadn't expected him to say such things to her face at least. Clinching her teeth in anger, wanting to strangle the demon in front of her, she let out an exasperated scream of frustration.

"How can you-no why are you," she lout another one, seeing that her frustration was doing nothing to intimidate or change his bored, snobbish expression. Even though she was so mad at him, she couldn't understand exactly why. He was just speaking his mind, but it still infuriated her, because she realized she was wrong about him. There was nothing to him. He was just a rich, spoiled, pompous jerk.

He was still confused by her sudden mood change, and the scent on her changed to that of something similar to the scent his father had when he was disappointed. Why would she be feeling this way? What would have made her feel disappointment? The scent she was sending off made him want to gag. He's smelt it so many times before when his father was alive. He wanted to make it go away.

Rin laughed at herself sarcastically, talking to herself and looking at the ground as if she had just learned she were dying. "Here I am thinking you were different from the egotistical jerk I had spyed on in the woods, but I was wrong. I thought that night by the stream I saw something different in you, but I can see I was wrong." She started to back away. I can't trust you. I can't travel with you. I had forgotten how much you infuriate me."

"Where are you going?" he asked cooly as he watched her walk away from him.

"I can't do this," she motioned all around her, " I can't do this with you. I can't go fight Warrik with someone who I can't trust or hates me."

Sesshoumaru snorted,"You're foolish." He was starting to get very mad and annoyed with her. She was being irrational and stupid, and he now wanted her to go. He'd find Warrik and kill him himself. He didn't need help from a human woman whom barely even knew how be a wizard or even fight.

"Then you should leave," he slightly growled. After he said those words; however, he wished he could take them back, which once again made him feel weak from the sudden emotion. He wished those worthless emotions would just go away, but no, they couldn't. They were etched into his blood, a curse from his beloved father. She can't find Warrik on her own. She can't even fight to defend herself, he thought with slight concern. He didn't know why he even felt that tinge of concern for her, maybe it was because right now she reminded him of his father. Emotions are weak, the thought to himself. Let her go off by herself. Let her get lost. Let her become a human entree. Let her go.

Rin raised her chin,"Fine. I can see you don't care, so I will leave. Good luck, Sesshoumaru," she said coldly, turned around, and walked off as a rumble of thunder pounded overhead. What is wrong with me? she thought. I can't do this on my own! She sighed as she walked farther away from the uncaring demon and towards the rolling thunderstorm. The only thing that kept her from turning around was her cursed pride.

AhUn watched her leave with sad eyes, but instead of following after her, he stayed loyal to his master's side, huffing out air through both head's nostrils as Sesshoumaru watched with annoyance leaving his sight. He was alone again, but it didn't matter. She was a stupid human, and he wanted to be glad that she was walking away from him. "Stupid," he muttered to himself.

Just then Jaken returned, swinging his large staff around, as he always did, and shrieking as usual. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" he yelled,"Lord Sesshoumaru, your servant, Jaken, has returned!"

Sesshoumaru raised his chin higher, waiting for Jaken to relay what he had seen. The toad looked around, noticing that the girl was gone.

"What happened to that wretched girl?" he muttered to himself," hopefully something horrible."

"She went into the forest," Sesshoumaru replied.

Jaken laughed,"Foolish, human! Doesn't she know that's suicide?"

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru firmly stated, feeling a horrible headache creep across his head.

The toad demon flinched,"Y-yes, milord?"

"What did you find?"

"The village was empty, milord. No humans at all. There was no human or demon scent anywhere, either. It looked as if the humans just got up and left without finishing their chores. There wasn't even a sign of any struggle, milord."

How odd, he thought, I can smell a strong demon aura, and death wafting from the village, but Jaken says there is none. Why did his senses not pick up these? Lightening struck and a thunderous boom echoed afterwards as rain droplets began to fall upon his white silk and armor.

"Very well," Sesshoumaru said as he began to make his way towards the village as the sky grew darker, as the rain began to soak his hair.

She was getting wetter and wetter, rain drops dripping from her hair to her face and down her nose as she wandered, stumbling across the wet forest floor, looking for some kind of shelter. Every time lightening struck and the thunder boomed, shaking the ground, her heart would jump.

Now she was regretting letting her emotions take the better of her. Normally, she would have ignored him and thought nothing of it, but may the grief for her friends were overwhelming her senses. It had only been a day, but to her it seemed like forever, so maybe because of this, she threw out all logical thinking. Wanting to cry, she realized that even if she did want to go back to Sesshoumaru, which she desperately wanted to now, she wouldn't know the way back. Not only did she not know where was was, but the thought of actually trying to find Warrik by herself now sickened her. She felt so helpless.

Looking around for a cave, or an overhanging rock, or condensed bushes or trees, she felt like someone was watching her. She looked around for anyone, but no one was there. Her skin grew goosebumps as a cold, dreadful chill tingled down her neck. The rain was pouring down harder now, splashing much on to the clothes she had gotten from Sango. The mud was slippery and she fell face onto the mushy earth. She groaned loudly at her misfortune and stupidity, as she tried to get up out of the sloppy mess when twigs behind her crackled. She looked behind her with wide eyes to see nothing, then turned back around with a relieved sigh only to be face to face with a gnarled, fangy smirk.

"A helpless human in the forest," it said with a snickering growl. "Perfect, just when I was starting to get hungry."

A/N: Oy! I'm so sorry for all of you who thought there was gonna be more action in this chapter. I thought I was going to write in some action, but I decided there needed to be a little bit more inbetween Chapter 7 and Chapter 9. So I PROMISE Chapter 9 will be the chapter with lots of action, and more romance..hehe! Um, this chapter took a long time to type, but I got through it! Yay! I hope you all like it! Please submit your comments and reviews! I'd greatly appreciated it! Oh and thank you, again, to all of you who have sent me comments! They have encouraged me so much! Thank you!