Rider
At dawn, Kohaku left the confines of the palace to find Kirara. The small fire cat had waited patiently outside the walls of the fortress while he dealt with Sesshoumaru.
"Hey Kirara."
The fire demon cat jumped on his shoulder and purred in greeting.
"Sorry it took so long, I -"
A strange roar had interrupted him. Kohaku turned and looked up in time to see a large two-headed dragon sail over the fortress wall.
What in the world? He vaguely remembered the dragon from somewhere. It was Sesshoumaru's right?
It wasn't until the dragon landed next to him, that he noticed that it carried a rider.
The rider wore a dark blue kimono and hakama. He wore a sword at his hip, and a bamboo hat obscured much of his face.
Kohaku raised a hand to the scythe on his back.
"Easy. It's alright. It's just me, Kohaku-kun."
The rider took off the hat, revealing a beautiful young woman.
Rin.
He ran his hand over his face. "What are you doing?"
"I'm coming along."
"No, you are not. This is not some kind of game, or fun adventure. This is dangerous." Kohaku insisted.
Rin swung her legs over the side of the dragon, and hopped down to the ground. She marched up to him full of righteous anger.
"How dare you insinuate that I have no idea what I am doing. Where were you when Kagome was trying to fend off a horde of demons trying to kill her son?"
"Rin-chan, I was -"
"You weren't there!" She shouted and jabbed at finger at his chest. "I can tell you where I was. I was right next to Kagome killing demons!"
Guilt stabbed at him so fiercely, he choked on his next words. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"You have no right to order me around. I will go with you whether you like it or not." Rin said with an air of finality. She turned around and climbed up on the back of Ah-Un.
"I suggest we get a move on if we want to get anywhere near the border by tonight." She added.
Kohaku stared open-mouthed at the fiery woman atop the dragon. Rin had always been headstrong, but she seemed entirely different now. How much had changed since he had been away?
Kirara jumped off his shoulder, and transformed into her big cat form. He threw a leg over her side and took to the air.
Rin quickly followed.