Disclaimer: I do not own the Inuyasha characters, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I do however own my own ideas for this companion/spin off.

Chapter three:

While her mistress carefully regaled the group of strangers who had buried the villagers with the tales of the warrior priestess and all her exploits, Kirara sat there quietly staring at the statue of her former mistress and partner. Her black eyes softened a little as a deep sadness entered her small kitten sized body.

She barely managed to hold back a whine as she stared at the deep hole in the statue's body. Deep yearning began to overcome the tiny fire neko as small portions of their adventures together flashed through her mind.

The images made her soul cry out for the loss of her former mistress and friend. Unable to bear the sight any longer Kirara closed her eyes and tried to bring her emotions under control. She took deep breaths keeping the exhales slow.

'Sango isn't a priestess so she won't be as talented as Midoriko was. But, in her own right Sango is just as fierce of a warrior as Midoriko was.' Kirara's eyes opened and went to her current mistress. 'Those two share a similar sense of justice and both are powerful warriors in their own rights. Both are pure in heart and mind with a strong sense of right and wrong.'

'They are also very different. For starters Sango has no priestess powers, but she can sometimes see the shards. Midoriko was both a warrior and a priestess where as Sango is just a warrior.'

She inhaled a slow deep breath to keep her overwhelming emotions from leaking to the others. 'Lady Midoriko did whatever it took to banish the evil and in the end even locked the evil away deep inside her very soul, before casting the manifestation out from her body- and thus was born the Shikon no tama.'

Kirara watched a moment longer as her current mistress finished the tale. She stared up at the statue. 'Sango admires you very much old friend.' A deep sense of loss filled Kirara. She lowered her head and slowly walked through the mouth of the cave into the open air.

She sat and exhaled a long drawn out sigh before turning to look over her shoulder and cast one last longing glance at her former mistress. She slowly padded toward the river with her shoulders slumped.

Shippo walked out with the others and looked around. 'Why did Kirara stay so silent in there?'

Inuyasha and the others had already walked off to resume their duties around the small and otherwise abandoned village.

Shippo walked over to his solemn friend. "Hey, are you okay?"

Kirara just stared at him a minute, before laying down with her head on her paws and sighing as she stared at the water not really seeing anything.

When he didn't get an answer Shippo knew something was definitely wrong. He quietly sat beside her and placed a hand on her head to scratch behind her ears. "Kirara, what is it?" His voice and eyes was both full of concern for his normally chipper friend. 'I've never seen you this quiet or depressed before.'

A single tear fell from her cheek to land on her paw. She whispered, "I miss her so much." She failed to stifle a brokenhearted sob.

Shippo's emerald eyes widened slightly. "Who?" His head titled to one side to stare at her.

Her bottom jaw trembled. "Midoriko." She sobbed again using one of her paws to try to hide her face.

Shippo sucked in a shocked breath. "You mean you actually knew her?"

"Yes. We were friends, partners actually." No longer able to hold back her misery the neko cried into her paws.

Shippo continued scratching behind her ears in a clumsy attempt to try to comfort her. His voice was softer than normal. "I'm sorry, I know how you must feel. I… lost my father a while back. He was killed by the thunder brothers." He lifted his free hand to wipe his own wet cheek.

"Oh Shippo, I'm sorry." She nuzzled her head against the hand scratching behind her ears trying to comfort the kitsune.

He sniffed. "Lucky for me Kagome and Inuyasha came around." With a watery smile he confided, "Kagome's like a second mother to me." Adding amused, "And even though he is a bully at times, Inuyasha is growing on me too."

Kirara smiled weakly. "It isn't quite as lonely since Sango and Kohaku were born."

Shippo leaned his head against Kirara's as they sat side by side in silence for a while both reminiscing about their own pasts.

XOXOXO:

A/N: So, there is chapter three, I hope you like it! XD