As the earth beneath her moved from side to side, her eyes opened only to be to be greeted by the sun poking its way through tree tops.
"You've finally awakened Rin!" Jaken exclaimed.
"Huh?" She said a bit disoriented.
"Time with the humans have made you lazy Rin. You must not continue this way, you are only burdening Lord Sesshomaru." Jaken scolded her.
She sat up a little and realize she was on A-Un's saddle as the creature followed dutifully behind Lord Sesshomaru.
"I must've overslept." She realized. "I'm sorry."
"Yes, well don't let it happen again. You've already sealed both of our fates, the least you can do is wake up on time."
Rin yawned and stretched, "You sound upset Jaken, I thought it was your honor to die for Lord Sesshomaru." She reminded him. "Or did you say that in jest?"
Sesshomaru barely turned his head in their direction and Jaken nearly seized in fear, "Of course it is my honor to die for him, I could never jest about such a matter."
Rin smiled tiredly, "Don't worry, it won't come to that because I'll protect you." She promised.
Jaken's jaw dropped and hit the saddle of the two headed beast before he fell over with laughter.
"What's so funny?" Rin asked.
Jaken clutched his stomach as he waved his staff at her and then slapped his knee before leaning on it for support and continuing to laugh.
"What?" Rin asked again.
"You?" he exclaimed. "Protect me? I'd be better off facing the ogres alone!" he laughed.
She opened her mouth to reply only to be cut off by his insistent laughter.
Rin rolled her eyes, a trait she'd picked up from Kagome while staying in the village, and thought better of it.
Her goal was not to impress Jaken after all, it was to impress the demon she was following. Perhaps by defeating the ogre army, he would see her as a resource, though she still hadn't contemplated how exactly she would do that.
How big exactly was a small army? How tactical or strategic were they? And how exactly could she outsmart all of them? Her physical strength was impressive for a woman her age, but it certainly wasn't her greatest strength and it was nothing compared to her coming foes. She'd always been able to out strategize and outmaneuver her opponents, speed and agility helped more often than not, but a small army was not something one could easily outrun or even anticipate in movement. It would be chaotic and she would have no one, save Jaken, to watch her back.
She sighed before she sat up fully and combed her hair with her fingers so that it was pulled towards the left side of her features, the rest draped her body as she brought her arms around her knees to organize her thoughts. A task she was finding surprisingly difficult this morning.
Admittedly she'd been a bit disoriented when she had woken up, she couldn't remember how old she was the last time she'd woken up on the two headed dragon's back with a nagging Jaken at her side. For years she hadn't been sure if she'd ever experience such a thing again, most nights she dreamed of waking up like this after all that would mean she was with him again but every morning she'd woken up in the Kaede's hut or if she'd needed space, in the tree across from her hut.
A smile tugged at her lips as she realized that waking up here meant that in spite of all the years that had gone by, she was back where she belonged.
She looked down at Jaken who was still chatting excessively though she'd stopped paying attention long ago, she looked around and saw the full forestation that surrounded them. Her eyes narrowed as she peaked through the gaps in the trees, suddenly she slid off the back of A-Un and walked towards the sound of a bubbling stream.
"Hey!" Jaken called after her.
Rin looked at the stream carefully before picking up a pebble and skipping the small stone over the water. She watched as the stone sunk just before midpoint of the stream.
She nodded to herself and walked back to the small entourage, continuing to walk alongside them as if nothing strange had happened. Though her eyes kept focus on the stream without fail until she focused on Sesshomaru who kept walking as if there were no cares in the world.
A small line furrowed between her brows in frustration and contemplation. Surely, he knew. She was not daft enough to believe that she could have seen it, when he couldn't. Was this some kind of test? Or was he truly unbothered?
"I must say, you have grown in beauty Rin but you've become even more strange too."
Jaken continued to prattle on, mumbling under his breath about her strangeness when she decided that her curiosity had reach its peak. She huffed in annoyance and walked towards the stream stopping at the tree line.
She tucked herself behind a tree facing away from the stream and facing her companions, who watched her warily. She brought her hand over her chest and pulled out a small spear like object, Sesshomaru watched her with mild interest, the corner of his lip twitching in amusement.
Her eyes were sharp, even a yokai like himself who primarily relied on his sense of sound and smell, found that this prey was not easy to detect if one's senses were not astute.
As Sesshomaru had stopped walking to observe the girl, Jaken jumped down from the two headed dragon, waving around his staff as a near extension of his tiny arms; a frown marring his green complexion.
"What are you-"
Suddenly the water from the stream shot forward and towards the little demon, the nearly transparent demon looked to be made of water with only black antennas at its head and sharp rows of teeth, distinguishing it as such.
Sesshomaru's body moved in preparation, without his explicit command, to leap towards her but as he looked on he resisted the urge in order to truly observe her.
While Jaken screamed facing his oncoming doom, Sesshomaru watched as Rin who had swiftly pulled herself up into the leafy top of the tree, lithely spun out onto a sturdy branch and threw the spear like object in her hand with precision.
It whizzed through the air and as he caught the smell of it; he paced back and brought his sleeve to cover his face as it made contact and exploded in a flash and smoke. Suddenly, he felt the dispersed water hit him with unprecedented force, marking trees down in its path.
As he lowered his arm, he watched as she sat comfortably on the limb of the tree with a smug expression on her face.
Jaken moaned as he struggled to get up after the dizzying blast. Rin slid off the tree to go help the little imp demon, taking him into her hands and starting to perform basic CPR on him by compressing his chest. He watched on as she vehemently annoyed the little demon who squeaked insults at her while compressing his chest, before reaching behind her and offering him a flower while laughing.
Jaken snatched the flower from her hand and tore it apart causing her to sit back and laugh as the wind danced with wisps of her hair. Jaken, flustered in her midst, started spluttering out incoherent sentences and Sesshomaru found himself intrigued by the scene.
In this moment, she looked as if she were still the innocent flower child that followed him around without question, except now she was taller and more like a lady. A young lady whose beauty did not speak towards the way she just dismembered a demon that most humans and lesser demons would not have been able to detect. A young woman who did not need his constant saving.
Sesshomaru shook off the water the drenched him, not unlike a dog, seizing their attention.
Rin flushed as the motion left a barely noticeable shade of pink beneath his cheeks and a shine to his impeccable white mane of hair.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" she called out to him.
He turned to gaze at her, an indication of response for him.
Her eyes darted towards the stream and he immediately understood. "Can I-"
He turned back around and waved his hand dismissively in her direction. "Go." He said not needing an explanation from her.
"Jaken." Sesshomaru said, as the green imp prepared to follow her dutifully. "She has exceeded the level of protection you can offer, leave her be."
Rin smiled to herself as she went down the river alone to freshen up.
Jaken's heart swelled with relief. He was certain that Rin would not be pleased about being followed again. "Yes, My Lord."
….
"I did not know you possessed such a talent, Master Jaken." Rin said absent-mindedly, playing with the flowers in her hand as she sat saddle side on A-Un. Her hair was loosely braided, her face fresh, and her clothes changed (her demon slaying outfit beneath her simple traveling kimono) since her freshening up earlier that morning.
"What talent?" Jaken asked as he looked up at her from where he walked alongside them.
"Being quiet for any length of time." Rin quipped. "Truly, I underestimated you."
Jaken threw a scowl in her direction.
"Well maybe you should take example."
"You don't mean that." Rin said as she turned to lay on her side and smile down at him. "I think you're happy I'm back. Now you can talk without fear of punishment and I certainly listen more than….well more than I used to."
"Don't be ridiculous." Jaken snapped. "I could care less that you've returned, it only means more work for me."
Rin laughed a tinkling and mischievous little laugh, that sounded all too gentle in her womanly voice.
"Ah, well we both know that's not true." She teased. "I guess I'm not as useless as you once thought. Perhaps now you'd be willing to leave your life in my hands than face the ogres alone."
Sesshomaru over hearing their conversation couldn't help but be amused though his features did not show it.
She'd been able to detect the water serpent with ease and destroyed it without much effort, it was an interesting spectacle but just that. The ogres would be something else entirely, something he was sure she had to understand, after all she'd slayed Kimimaru; no small feat. It was clear that her greatest strength lied in her wit and not her physical strength, yet he had to admit after having fought her himself it was enough to keep her alive but again nothing to brag about.
Perhaps she teased Jaken now in simple rebuttal to his quips this morning, after all she'd proven she was not as helpless as she formerly was but that meant nothing before any real demon. Thinking otherwise would seal her fate and before he knew it, Sesshomaru found himself unamused by his train of thought.
"Rin." He said addressing her for the first time today.
She looked up at him in earnest, her eyes beseeching his.
"Enough."
