Chapter 63 - Beast

The moon moved in the sky slowly, easing from one side of the sky to the other. The group fell into a comfortable silence. Hours passed as they walked together through the meandering grasses of the plains between the mountains. Eventually, as night turned to early morning, Rin grew sleepy and took the opportunity to curl up in A-un's saddle for a long nap. Jaken grew sleepy as the hours passed also, and eventually, he scrambled up to the dragon's saddle also, and fell asleep leaning forward against their twin neck's. Sesshomaru kept vigil, leading the dragon through the night, sleepiness never tempting him.

Dawn broke, and saw Rin and Jaken still fast asleep in the saddle. Sesshomaru continued his path, unwavering as he headed northeast, in the general direction where the ocean met the mountain. If there was no sign by the time he reached the ocean's shores, he would have to reformulate. But that was several days away still.

As he walked, a group of poor farmers walked along the path, presumably heading toward their field's for the days work. When they saw the yokai lord, the four men fell to their knees with their hands raised in the air, praying that they would be spared. Sesshomaru spared them not a glance, walking directly by them without so much as a word. It was several moments later that one of the farmers called out, running to catch up.

"My Lord demon! Please wait!" Sesshomaru paused, turning as the short human man raced to catch up to them. The man appeared unarmed, other than a small grain sack that he held in his arms. "Please my Lord!" The man fell to his knees and offered the sack to the demon. "Please take this offering. It's not much - fruit and fresh bread, some dried meats. Please take it with our gratitude."

Sesshomaru's eyed the man, without expression. "I have done nothing for you. Why do you offer this to me?"

The man kept his head down, the balding middle of his head gleaming in the early morning light. "As tribute my Lord. We can see how powerful you are - you are the only demon who has been kind enough to leave our village in peace. We are most grateful. Please allow us to repay you."

In the saddle, Rin stirred, drifting toward wakefulness. So far, the man had not noticed the girl or the imp, as far as Sesshomaru could see. In a calculated move, the yokai reached out and grasped the sack from the man, with his right hand.

"Very well. I will accept your offering." Sesshomaru moved to stand between the human and A-un, his shoulders hiding the occupants of the saddle. "Tell me, in which direction is the Ox Tiger?"

The man kept his head down, and pointed off toward the woods. "It is in that direction my Lord. Several days journey."

"Thank you."

The man bowed his head to touch the ground, then swiftly rose without lifting his eyes and raced back toward the village, which was likely somewhere behind them, in the middle of the grassy valley.

Turning around, still holding the sack, Sesshomaru found Rin awake and smiling at him.

"Good morning Lord Sesshomaru! Who was that man?"

The yokai glanced back at the retreating form of the human as he raced across the grassy field. "A local, apparently he was grateful that I did not attack his village." Lifting the sack, he opened it and sniffed the contents, assessing to be certain nothing was poisoned. "I suppose that humans don't know enough about the demon world, to understand that not all demons are mindless beasts."

Rin was silently thoughtful for a moment. "I never thought you were a mindless beast, Lord Sesshomaru." The yokai's eyes lifted, from where he had been examining the food within the coarse bag. Her smile was bright and adoring, fully genuine. He felt his lips tilt up the tiniest bit at the corners.

"I know, Rin." His voice was soft, the girl seemed to melt a little as his gold eyes rested on her. Now thoroughly satisified that the contents of the bag of human food, was indeed safe to eat, he lifted the sack and handed it to Rin.

Eagerly she reached for the heavy bag and sat it in her lap, peering inside the full sack. "Oh! How lovely! There's dried fish... dried berries and nuts..." Rin rattled off a list of delicious things that were contained in the bag.

Sesshomaru moved back to A-un's head, where he grasped the beast's reins. "Come. We must keep moving." With a wuffling sound, the dragon followed his master, the massive paws making heavy sounds each time they met the ground.

Rin busied herself taking tiny bites of each type of food, and excitedly describing every one to Sesshomaru, before carefully packing them back into the bag. At length, Jaken awoke, at which point Rin began almost force-feeding the imp, insisting he had to taste the best treats as well. Jaken sqwaked and complained, yet he tried every morsel that she presented to him.

It was approaching afternoon, when Sesshomaru paused, lifting his nose to the breeze. InuYasha. "Stay here. I will return." Then, thinking about it again, he turned to Rin, waiting until she met his eyes with a questioning glance. An unspoken communication seemed to pass between the yokai and the girl, leaving Jaken feeling very left out as his bulging eyes shifted from one to the other. Rin's smile burst forth again, wide and bright as the sunlight that cast down over them. She nodded, entranced by his gaze, and the fact that she could see her reflection in Sesshomaru's eyes.

"I will call you if there's any trouble my Lord!"

Nodding, Sesshomaru turned and leapt into the air, in a moment he was gone.