CHAPTER 5: ON THE MOVE

Avalon and Jaken follow Sesshomaru as he starts to head out. He sets a brisk pace. He assumes there will be frequent stops and progress will be slow but finds that Avalon seems to stop only when she is in need of a drink. He finds himself pleased with the progress.

She munches on the duck and after eating a single berry and finding no ill effects she eats more as they go. Avalon lets her eyes wander as they walk, looking at the many different plants and animals. She looks at the beautiful blue sky with light fluffy clouds passing over head. It is pleasantly warm and she assumes it must be spring rolling into summer.

They continue their journey passing through trees and underbrush when Sesshomaru suddenly stops and turns his head to the left. Avalon stops and looks in the same direction straining her eyes to see what he is looking at as Jaken walks right into the back of her leg. Jaken lets out a small squawk of protest but seeing that Sesshomaru and Avalon both have stopped, he makes no further noise. He also looks to the left. Moments later 2 male individuals walk out, approaching Sesshomaru. They bow before him. They both look human but the elven ears and ethereal beauty gave them away. One is as tall as Avalon and the other is an inch shorter at most. They both have jet black hair and piercing slate, gray eyes. Their skin is tan but they have no markings. Avalon can feel her skin crawling just looking at the two beings. She finds herself backing up and hiding behind Sesshomaru. She is holding the hilt of her katana so tightly her knuckles are white, ready to pull her blade at a moment's notice. The tallest speaks, "I am Hakai and this is my brother Ojike."

'Destruction and fright?' Even their names make her uneasy. She peeks out to look over at the two demons. They are no longer bowing and have taken a defensive pose. Hakai leans forward and again speaks, "you have entered our forest without our leave Lord Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru does not move and does not acknowledging their claim. Jaken gets out in front and puts himself between Sesshomaru and the two demons. "Lord Sesshomaru does not need permission!"

Ojike is looking over the group and sees Avalon. She accidentally meets his eyes. A frightening smile spreads across his face as his eyes rake over her body. Ojike speaks, "Brother I like the girl."

Avalon looks away and looks at Sesshomaru's back. She cannot see that Sesshomaru's eyes narrow. Hakai looks past Sesshomaru to see the girl. He glances at his brother and can tell how eager he is to have the woman. Ojike has always loved to hear them scream. "Lord Sesshomaru I will make you an offer, the girl for safe passage."

Jaken is flabbergasted at the audacity of these two demons and cannot put words together. Sesshomaru takes a menacing step forwards. Answering in a deadly tone. "And if I refuse?"

"We will have no choice but to take her by force."

With that said, Ojike seems to disappear, reappearing in two places, one at his brother's side and the other behind Avalon. He quickly clasps his hand over her mouth and the other around her waist. Avalon's eyes widen instantly and her heart rate skyrockets. She rips her katana from its sheath and plows it into her captors left arm then pulls it back out and goes to plunge the blade back in. Ojike does not release her but his grip slackens as blood flows freely from his arm and she struggles to get free.

Sesshomaru hearing and smelling the fresh blood turns and quickly strikes Ojike down by lopping off his head. The image of Ojike by his brother disappears. Hakai is in a state of shock for a moment before fully realizing his brother was dead. "You bastard!"

Ojike quickly darts to get the head of his brother hopeful to reattach it to his body. Sesshomaru does not give him the chance. He strikes out with his whip cutting Hakai from head to toe. Hakai stands in place for an instant then tumbles down into two piles. Avalon frees herself from Ojike's arms. When Sesshomaru turns and sees Avalon's terror strained face and disheveled appearance he lashes out one last time with his whip destroying Ojike's body.

Avalon seeing everything is over, starts to collapse. Sesshomaru moves on instinct to stop her descent, catching her. Without thinking Avalon wraps her arms around him and pulls herself closer to him. Jaken seeing her taking liberties with his Lord is about to protest when he watches as Sesshomaru wraps his arms tighter around her small frame. He can barely stutter seeing his Lord acting so oddly. Jaken becomes suspicious, 'perhaps Avalon is bewitching Sesshomaru-sama.' Sesshomaru can feel her body trembling in his embrace and smells her tears. He finds himself wishing to comfort her further but doesn't know how, so he allows the embrace to continue until Avalon pulls her face from his chest. She looks up at him with puffy and watery eyes. "Thank you my Lord."

Sesshomaru unwraps his arms from her and helps Avalon to stand as he is getting up. She wipes her tears away with her sleeve.

"Come." Sesshomaru leads the way.

They come across a small creek and Avalon calls out. "Please wait a moment?"

Without even checking if Sesshomaru has stopped, she goes to the water and rinses away the dry tears from her face and the blood from her blade and hands. She dries the blade and her face and quickly goes to rejoin the group. Sesshomaru had stopped, he knew it would not be a long stop. He figures she would do just what she did. Once Avalon rejoins the group Sesshomaru says, "let's go."

They continue their journey as the sun makes its way across the sky. As the sun is lingering on the horizon Sesshomaru brings the group to a halt. "We will camp here." With that said, he walks over to a tree and gracefully sits down.

Even though it isn't that warm, the journey was still hard on Avalon and she feels hot, tired and sweaty, in other words gross. She approaches Sesshomaru and looks down where he sits. "Lord Sesshomaru, is there somewhere I can bathe?"

Sesshomaru raises his eyebrow at the request as he wonders why she wants to bathe so soon, when he knows most ningen do not bathe regularly. He takes a gentle and covert sniff and finds her scent is not unpleasant though there are traces of sweat on her person.

Avalon continues to speak, "I am sure I don't smell all that pleasant to you. Even I can smell myself."

'She can smell that small amount of sweat?' He is slightly amused at the asinine concept of bathing so regularly but then remembers back to when he had first scented her and that she did not have any body odor on her other that the man's scent and blood. "Jaken build a fire and find something for the ningen to eat."

"Yes my Lord."

"Come."

Avalon follows Sesshomaru in silence as she sees the last rays of sunlight fading and the darkness enveloping the world. They come to a small spring in a thicket of trees. Avalon's eyes light up when she sees how serene and perfect it looks. She can't help but think it looks like something out of a fairytale. "Thank you my Lord. I just wish I had a separate kimono."

Sesshomaru moves away from the water to allow Avalon to gain entrance but turns to watch her. She turns and sees him watching her and hesitates. 'Is he just going to watch?' She pulls her katana from her obi and places it leaning against a tree right at the entrance of the water. She starts to undo her obi, slowly placing it on a branch near the water. 'Come on take the hint, turn around.' Sesshomaru continues to watch her without saying a word and without an emotion crossing his face. Avalon realizes he will be watching her the entire time and resigns herself to her fate as she continues to undress herself. She pulls the kimono off and gives it a delicate sniff and exclaims, "ewww." She pulls off the nagajuban and doesn't even bother smelling it, she knows it stinks.

"Wash your kimono if you please. This Sesshomaru will lend you mine."

"Oh, thank you so much Lord Sesshomaru!" Avalon looks at him with a smile and grabs both the kimono and nagajuban and enters the water. It's cool but not nearly as cold as the stream. She notices Sesshomaru moving. She turns and sees him removing his katana and placing it next to hers. He removes his pelt and lays it over a branch and then pulls off his obi. She watches as he pulls his kimono off and then his hanjuban. "Uh what are you doing?"

'So she has realized I will be joining her. I need not explain myself to her.' Sesshomaru simply continues to look at her as he removes his boots and hakama.

Avalon finds her eyes roving over his exposed body. She could not help but see the broad shoulders and chiseled chest and muscular abs. Her eyes rake over his features traveling further down. They move below his waist and sees his large member resting down and flaccid. 'He's got to be huge when he is erect.' She feels warmth pool between her legs and realizes she is becoming aroused by his naked presence. 'I haven't felt like this since Brandon assaulted me.' She suddenly turns around and tries to clear her mind of the treacherous thoughts of how their bodies would fit together. 'I'm a woman and he is most definitely male, it is only natural to feel such things.' she nods her head once she draws the conclusion and focuses on her task of cleaning her clothes in the water.

Sesshomaru knows she is admiring his body and can smell her sweet scent of arousal. He figures he might be getting more than a simple bath, however as soon as that thought crosses his mind, she suddenly turns and the scent fades away. He finds himself disappointed. Sesshomaru enters the water and Avalon can feel the ripples breaking over her back. She focuses on cleaning her kimono and nagajuban and once they are scrubbed, she turns and meets Sesshomaru's eyes. She gives a polite smile and wades through the water to the shore and places the kimono and juban over a branch to dry. She enters the water and starts to scrub her body. Sesshomaru watches her and finds her movement seductive and arousing. She gently caresses her curves and brings water to slide along her body. His member hardens and pulses with the thoughts of sheathing himself in her warm folds.

Avalon finishes her bath and heads back out of the water. She stands and lets the water drip off her body and rings her hair out. Sesshomaru never stops watching her with a predatory look in his eyes. His mind keeps playing out sexual encounters. His face is a neutral mask however. He exits the water himself with his member painfully hard and wanting relief. He feels she's a temptress with the way she moves her body and wants to claim her body for the night for his own pleasure. Avalon notices Sesshomaru exiting the water and the thing that stands out the most is his erect manhood. She quickly turns her gaze to the drying kimono and juban. "Why do you look away?"

"Honestly?" She turns to meet his eyes keeping her gaze on his face. "I don't know how to react. How should I react?"

'Was she that inexperienced?' "From what this Sesshomaru have seen, onna throw themselves at me and want me to take them."

"Yokai or ningen?"

"Both."

"Hmm, well then I guess you might be disappointed when I don't."

Sesshomaru is shocked that she would deny him. He sees no reason to delay copulation. She is old enough and is no virgin. He gazes at her studying her trying to see if she has spoken the truth. He cannot smell any hit of arousal on her and she seems to be completely in control of her faculties and not a hint of a lie. "This Sesshomaru could smell your arousal when you looked upon my form."

"Well, you are attractive. I will not lie about that and arousal is natural."

Sesshomaru is pleased with her words and thinks she should be grateful that he would allow her to have the pleasure of his body tonight. "So you do want this Sesshomaru."

Avalon's heart rate skyrockets as her right hand moves to clutch at her chest. He is stating it and she is concerned he might try to force her. She looks into his eyes and face desperately trying to ascertain the meaning behind his words. Is it only a true statement and nothing more or is she sensing danger because she really is in danger. She would rather die than have him violate her. She had developed a trust in him that she could not bear for it to be broken.

Sesshomaru doesn't move. He only looks at her with a neutral expression waiting for her to react to his invitation.

"Just because a flower is beautiful does not mean I must own it or touch it, sometimes looking is sufficient." She hopes that he can understand the meaning of her words since she really isn't ready for any type of sexual activity.

Sesshomaru quickly grasps her meaning and takes it as a challenge to see how long it will take for her to want to touch and want to have him but he will not force her. That is not honorable and most definitely beneath him. "This Sesshomaru is not disappointed."

She nods her head not completely sure what he means by that but watches as he approaches her. She feels the adrenaline burn away as hope dies. She knows she cannot fight him and she cannot run from him. However as he comes closer she takes a step back and accidentally slips on the damp ground. Sesshomaru catches her and pull her into his body. He can hear her heart pounding in her chest and small the bitter scent of fear. She looks at him with an almost hopeless look as her mouth is partially parted in fear. He finally comes to the reason behind her odd behaviors she fears he may take her without her consent. Looking her in the eyes with a predatory gleam he speaks, "Do you fear this One with force himself upon you?"

Avalon's lip trembles as she stutters out, "I I I…"

Sesshomaru reaches out and places one of his fingers on her trembling lip. "onna this Sesshomaru would not force himself on you."

He steadies her releasing her arm and walks past her and reaches for his hakama and puts them on. Her heart slows and she releases a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. He grabs his kimono and tosses it over to her. She wraps it around her body and finds she is finally able to relax. Sesshomaru puts on his boots and hanjuban and obi. She moves to put on her obi to hold his kimono in place. Sesshomaru picks up both blades and hands Avalon hers.

"Thank you."

He grabs his armor and pelt and starts to walk away.

"We are returning to camp."

"Hai." Avalon quickly grabs her drying clothes and rushes to follow Sesshomaru back to camp. Once there, Sesshomaru leans his armor beside a tree and places his pelt over a branch. He gracefully sits under the tree and leans back and closes his eyes.

Avalon places her wet clothing on another tree close to the fire Jaken had started. She looks around camp and doesn't see him anywhere. 'I wonder where he is?' She looks around and spots a pile of roots by the fire. 'I wonder if I can just eat those or if they have to be cooked.'

Sesshomaru idly wonders how hard it will be to bed Avalon.

Avalon goes over by Sesshomaru and asks, "Do you know if I can eat these roots raw or do they need to be cooked?"

"Ask Jaken when he returns."

Avalon looks away with a light sigh. "Very well my Lord." 'Guess I'll just have to wait.' Avalon walks away to wait by the fire and sits.

Jaken comes back later with several small lizards in hand. "Oh master Jaken, thank you for bringing the food. Do I need to cook these roots or can I eat them raw?"

"They need to be cooked Baka."

"BAKA, BAKA, BAKA!" Avalon jumps up and quickly stalks over to Sesshomaru and has a seat next to him so she can whisper quietly to him. "Lord Sesshomaru, what would you think of me if I were to beat your vassal?"

Sesshomaru opens his eyes and looks over at Avalon and ponders her query. He leans over and speaks softly in her ear. "Do as you please with him but do not kill him. His life is mine."

Avalon feels his breath ghost over her ear and shoulder and she shudders at the feel. She's not afraid and feels her lower abdomen tense with slight pressure and the image of his nude body springs to the front of her mind. She closes her eyes unintentionally and tries to calm the sudden arousal flooding through her body. She opens her eyes and sees Jaken looking at them strangely.

Sesshomaru smells her arousal and wonders what has caused it. He slightly smirks when he realizes it is most likely his breath cascading along her body causing the reaction.

"Could he hear us?"

Sesshomaru grasps the chance to test his theory by breathing a little heavier on her and closer along her neck, whispering, "no."

Avalon's body reacts in much the same way but it's more intense and she can feel herself becoming wet between her thighs.

Sesshomaru is enjoying her reaction to his hot breath and wonders if it will be easier than he had first thought to bed the woman. He can smell the sweet scent of her juices pooling between her legs and wants to plunge himself into her. His manhood is erect and throbbing wanting to be used.

She closes her eyes and finds she wants his lip where his breath was ghosting along her flesh. She shakes her head trying to dislodge the lecherous thoughts. "You are enjoying this?"

He leans closer to her and even allows his shoulder to press onto her side and breathes her heavenly scent in. Feeling no need to lie he answers with a smirk on his face, "Yes, quite entertaining."

She takes a deep breath and tries to regain control of her wanton lust reasoning this was not the right time or place. She can barely contain her desires and wants to flee from his side but queries one last thing and whispers. "I know you can smell me but can Jaken?"

Sesshomaru brings his nose along her chin under her jaw and whispers to her, "no. That has been my pleasure alone."

It's too much for her body and brain and she wants to get away before she does something she will regret. She turns her head to him and whispers in his ear, "thank you for this pleasant conversation Lord Sesshomaru." With that said she quickly extracts herself from his side and stands up and walks over to Jaken. Part of her didn't want to go but a larger part knew she had to. It was all too much, all too quickly.

Sesshomaru feels his erection twitching in between his legs. He would bury himself within her folds and sate his lust. He figures it is only a matter of time.

She speaks loudly with a commanding voice, "Jaken do you have nothing better to do than stare at your Lord? I do believe he said something about making food for me."

Jaken jumps at her sudden change of voice as it rings with an air of authority. Sesshomaru wonders how she will use her new found power. Jaken still has not responded so she continued, "Are you deaf? Why are you not working on cooking the food?"

Jaken starts scurrying around the camp skinning the roots and skewering the lizards. He cuts the roots and skewers them and places them around the fire. Avalon then sits over by Sesshomaru and watches as Jaken works. She looks over at Sesshomaru and all she can see is a stoic look on his face as he gazes into the sky. Part of her is disappointed. She rather liked the heated look in his eyes, it made him seem alive while now he might be mistaken for a statue if he were not breathing.

Sesshomaru smells that her arousal is gone and he focuses himself on controlling his body. He can hear his vassal moving about. He opens his eyes to look over at Avalon and then closes them once again.

Avalon has several thoughts on her mind the most pressing one being that she needs to talk to him to make sure he will not share with anyone that she knows bits of the future. She can see Naraku trying to extract information from her if he thought she would talk. It sent a shiver down her spine just thinking of that evil being. Avalon gets up and walks over to the fire to help warm herself. She glances down at Jaken as he is resting by the fire, watching the food cook. "Jaken how long until the food is ready to eat?"

Jaken turns and looks up at Avalon and then a sudden realization hits him. He has been following her orders, not his Lord's. "Now ningen stop that! You cannot tell me what to do."

Sesshomaru's attention is drawn to his retainer with his outburst and wonders how Avalon will deal with it. 'Violence, this shall be entertaining.'

"I wasn't, I only wanted to know when it would be done." 'True that was not a command.'

"You must call me Master Jaken."

"I think we already had this discussion and you broke our deal."

"A deal with a ningen is meaningless."

Sesshomaru becomes very aggravated with his retainer since a deal is a deal whether with a ningen or not. He intends to correct him.

"No it just means the yokai had no honor or no brains. Which are you?" 'Both'

"Neither."

"Then I will simply no longer call you Master but I will call you Jaken and you can call me Avalon."

"No"

"Why not?"

"Because you stupid girl, I am Master Jaken and you are a simple ningen."

"What makes you my Master?"

"Because I am a yokai and you are a ningen."

"AND?!"

"Yokai are above ningen." 'True none could disagree. We have the strength to surpass them so we are above them.'

"Interesting theory Jaken but that seems too broad a scope. If I killed a yokai would you kill me?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"Why? Who it was of course." 'Of course it would all depend on which yokai she killed.'

"So not all yokai are above ningen? Otherwise I should be killed no matter what yokai I killed."

'That is an interesting point and a valid one perhaps yokai in general are not above ningen. But I Sesshomaru am most definitely above all ningen. But is Jaken above her? Hmmmm. He cannot overwhelm her. Yes he could kill her with his staff but without it she could easily kill him. In this case if it was only a matter of strength than she is above Jaken.'

"That's not how it works."

"I see, so why won't you follow my orders?"

"Because I am Lord Sesshomaru's vassal."

"Interesting but since I follow Lord Sesshomaru and my current orders are not interfering with what Lord Sesshomaru wishes, why won't you follow my orders?"

Sesshomaru is enjoying the philosophical conversation she is having with his vassal and is enjoying how she can cleverly counter his points and work things to her benefit. Jaken is becoming frustrated with the whole thing while Avalon seems to be enjoying herself.

She feels like bursting out laughing at him.

"Just shut up ningen."

"Jaken ouch that hurts."

"SHUT UP!"

"Hmmmm, now that just seems childish. You never answered me. When will the food be done?"

Jaken let out a sigh. "The lizard is done and the roots will be soon."

"Thank you Jaken."

Jaken looks over at Avalon with a surprised look on his face. He had assumed the argument would continue. Avalon reaches over and grabs a skewer of the lizard and walks over to Sesshomaru. "You want any my Lord?"

"I don't eat ningen food."

"As you wish."

She peels away the outer skin and grabs a small chunk of meat and pops it in her mouth. "Not bad Jaken."

"It's Master Jaken."

Jaken sulks by the fire but says nothing more. Avalon finishes her lizard and once the roots are done she eats some as well. Jaken eventually falls asleep and Avalon pokes the fire. She's not tired, at least not in the sense of being sleepy and really wants to talk to Sesshomaru without Jaken as an audience. Once she is sure Jaken is out cold snoring she gets up and walks over to Sesshomaru and sits next to him.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

Sesshomaru looks over to her and wonders what she could be wanting. "Hmm?"

"When I ask you a question can you always answer me honestly? If you don't know the answer then just let me know that you don't know the answer."

"That is a dangerous request."

"I know."

"Will you grant this Sesshomaru the same?"

"Honestly I cannot."

"Why?"

"Hmmm, as things play out, the future changes. So what I know now, may not come to pass as I know it. If that makes any sense at all."

"It does."

"I can guarantee you one thing though, I will never lie to you and I want you to understand I only want for you to be the greatest yokai to ever live. I will dedicate myself to help you achieve that. I see you surpassing your sire one day and I can only hope I can bear witness to that."

"Why would a ningen care for such things?"

"I cannot answer that since I am not entirely sure of the answer myself. Lord Sesshomaru, please never speak of me knowing the future to anyone not even Jaken."

"This Sesshomaru has no intention of doing such. If you truly know such things, it is a weapon this Sesshomaru alone will wield. It would be foolhardy to allow others to know."

"I am glad we are in agreement. Uh since we are agreeing on things would you mind doing one more thing for me?"

"What is it that you request of this Sesshomaru?"

"I know you are above me and you are my Lord but can you please stop being so formal with me at least in private?"

"This I can do."

Avalon gives him a radiant smile. "Uh you never actually answered my first question."

"I will grant you the same as you grant me. I will not lie but there may be times that I will not answer you."

Avalon nods her head in understanding and closes her eyes and opens them again.

"When will we be arriving at our destination?"

"If we leave around sunrise we will arrive around midafternoon."

"Well then I think I should get some sleep, if that is alright?"

"Do as you will."

"Good night Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru is unsure how he feels about Avalon dropping his title but thinks it is not that concerning as long as it is in private. Avalon nestles down closer to Sesshomaru but still between him and the fire. She figures it will be easier for him to cover her if she is closer.

Sesshomaru glances down at the woman lying at his feet and hears her even breathing letting him know she has drifted off into unconsciousness and still wonders how she can sleep so soundly before returning his eyes to the night sky and allowing his mind to drift while his senses range out to make sure nothing will attack while Avalon and Jaken sleep.

Next up Chapter 6:Finding Inuyasha

A/N I have still not been able to obtain the rights to Inuyasha. My dear Elohiniar is a most gracious help and I owe her big time. Please review it will make me write more promise.