I don't own them. Not a real exciting chapter, but I think its just a little bit cute.
Sesshomaru hated the rain. A hard rain could drown out soft noises and made it near impossible to smell anything. Plus his daughter was cold. Her kimono was soaked through and she was chilled to the bone.
She rode Ah Un leaning down close to the dragon for warmth. Sesshomaru looked back over his shoulder at the girl. They needed to find shelter soon. The packs on the saddle were leather so the rain didn't get in them. Rin had a spare kimono but they needed to get out of the rain before she could change.
They were riding through a valley with steep rock walls on either side. Up ahead another mountain trail merged with their own. Sesshomaru growled ever so softly when he thought he heard horses' hooves agaisnt the stone of the other path.
Three samurai came around the rock outcrop and met them on the trail. Sesshomaru really wasn't happy when he recognised the last one. Makoto and his father, Taro, spotted the other group first and nodded politely. Then Kenji came around the corner and his face litup.
"Sesshomaru-sama, Rin, Hello." He called causing the girl to sit up right and his family to wonder how he knew them.
"Kenji, hello." Rin smiled as her group reached his.
"Father, Makoto, this is Sesshomaru-sama and his daughter Rin. Sesshomaru-sama, Rin, this is my father Taro Yomato and my older brother Makoto."
Both Taro and Makoto bowed slightly and Sesshomaru nodded his head and Rin returned their bow. Then the two groups kept moving. Kenji rode close enough to Rin that they could speak together. His brother rode just infront of him to the side a little and His father decided to keep pace with Sesshomaru.
"Your daughter is soaked to the bone, poor child." The old samurai stated looking back at the young folks. Sesshomaru nodded just slightly. He knew very well that Rin was wet.
"My sons and I are familliar with this area." He continued. "There is a good size cave up the road a quarter of a mile. My sons ans I plan to wait out the storm there. Your family is more than welcome to join us."
"I will consider it." Sesshomaru replied though both knew there was nothing to consider, the humans all needed to get out of the rain. That included Rin. They reached the cave quickly and all gathered inside. It was indeed large, big enough to accomadate even the horses and the dragon. They tied the animals to a tree root that poked through the rock and found some wood left by other campers.
Yomato tried unsucessfully to light a fire. He had wood and kindling but his stone and flint were wet. "My stone and flint are dry, may I try to start the fire?" Rin asked standing behind him. He nodded and moved out of the way. In just a few minutes Rin had a small fire going and was feeding the smallest twigs into it.
Kenji mean while saw examioning the walls of the cave, they were riddled with smaller caverns, but none were deep enough to afford any privacy. If he knew anything about women it was that they never go anywhere without extra clothing. And if Rin's flint and stone were dry her extra kimonos would be as well.
He and his brother and father were men, warriors, they were strong. And they were not strangers to being cold and wet, they'd be fine, But what about Rin? She should get out of those wet cloths before she fell ill. But none of the smaller caverns were deep enough to conceal her. Then he got an idea.
He pulled his blanket out of his bag and laid it to the side. Then He went to where Jaken was sulking in a corner, the little imp was still miffed that no one had bothered in introduce him. "What do you wan't, human?" The Imp asked when he saw Kenji standing over him smiling.
"I need to ask a favor."
"What?"
"I need to borrow your walking stick." He replied then snatched the staff out of Jaken's hand before he could refuse. This caught everyones attentions, that and the imp's ranting and screaming. "I'll bring it right back." Kenji assured him, slightly amused by his reaction.
Kenji wedged the Staff Of Two Heads into the entrance to one of the smaller sub-caverns. He threw his blanket over it and gave a slight tug to be sure it wouldn't fall. Then he turned to Rin. "I assume you have a spare change of clothing? You should get dry before you catch cold."
When Jaken heard Kenji's words he paused to see just what he'd done with the staff. Then realizing it was for the girl's benifit he quit yelling. He still muttered and sulked in the corner however.
Rin smiled at Kenji then looked questioningly at her daddy. He watched Kenji walk to the other side of the cave then gave Rin a slight nod. She gathered up the folds of silk out of her pack and dissapeared behind the makeshift curtain.
Sesshomaru gave Kenji just the very slightest glance. "Clever." He told the boy then returned to his own thoughts before he could see the smile that spead across Kenji's face.
After a few moments Rin emerged from behind the curtain wearing a pink kimono with light green bamboo stalks all over and a matching green obi. She had her wet hair twisted up in a bun so it didn't get her kimono wet. She smiled brightly at Kenji and took a seat beside Sesshomaru.
Kenji then took the curtain down. He folded his blanket and put it back in his pack. He handed the staff back to Jaken while thanking the imp for his cooperation. Then there was nothing to do but sit around talking while waiting out the storm.