Disclaimer: *beats away angry mob with stick* I DON'T OWN INUYASHA! *in the background, Inu hops in, tied up with rope held together with spirit wards*Um… whoops.

So, um, HI! This is my first InuYasha fanfic on the 'net. Hope you like it! My last two fanfics didn't turn out so well. *sweatdrops* Anyway… Enjoy!

Summary: There's a new face on the scene. Or, is it a not-so-new face? Miroku seems to know her, but can't recall where. Pretty soon he has nightmares about her. Can he unveil this mystery?

***Warning*** A really horrible battle scene is coming up… I'm not so good at battle scenes, so… Brace yourself.

Chapter One: The New Girl

            "Kagome!" The little kitsune's voice rang in the miko's ears. Kagome looked behind her, fear in her eyes. A giant fist swung at her. It belonged to a gargantuan blue demon. Kagome covered her eyes, not seeing a way to escape. Suddenly, a flash of red appeared and she was enclosed in a silver- haired hanyou's strong arms. She felt the hanyou leap into the air, still holding her.

            "Inu…Yasha?" she whispered, grasping InuYasha's outer kimono.

            "Keh!" the hanyou cried angrily. "You're pathetic. I can't just jump to your rescue every time something happens! Be more careful!" The pair landed on a fallen tree a little ways away.

            "Thank you, InuYasha…" Kagome breathed, setting her feet on the tree.

            "Well? Where's the jewel shard, wench?" InuYasha growled. Kagome huffed, concentrating on the demon. "It's in his stomach," the miko replied, seeming put out. InuYasha leapt into action, slicing through the great demon's belly. "Humph. That was a cinch," he mumbled, as the demon crashed to the ground. Kagome leapt off of the tree and to the demon. Now for the worst part, Kagome though with a shudder. She reached into the demon's wounds and extracted, with ease, a large shard. "Here we go…" she said, feeling, as always after such a deed, a bit sick.

            "Kagome" called the voice of Sango. "Come here!" Kagome clenched the shard securely in her small fist, then ran over to Sango. She looked at the taijiya, then followed her eyes to… a girl. The girl lay, unconscious, on the ground. Her black hair, falling across her face, had purple highlights in it. She looked to be about sixteen years old. She was wearing a tattered blue and white kimono, and it was stained red around her stomach.

            "Oh, my…" Kagome uttered, her fingers grazing her bottom lip. InuYasha and Miroku ran to join the women, and their eyes rested upon the girl. "Oh…" Miroku whispered.

            "We have to get her back to Kaede," Sango stated. She and Kagome proceeded to pick her up, and head through the forest, Inu and Miroku trailing behind.                                        

                                                                                              ***

            Miroku sat a ways away from the girl, in Kaede's hut. He stared at her furrowing his brows slightly. She seems familiar, he thought, shifting his weight.

Suddenly, the girl awoke. She widened her purple eyes and slid backward slightly, but stopped, as her wounds did not allow for much movement. She clutched at her stomach.

            "Oh, ye must not move," Kaede said gently. "We don't intend to harm ye." Kagome nodded. "Tell us," she started, "what's your name?" The girl looked around, the fear in her darting eyes slowly fading. "My… my name is… Rhiqa," she said," resting on her elbows.

            "Well, Rhiqa," Sango said. "You can stay with us for as long as you'd like." Rhiqa smiled, nodding to show she accepted.

~~~

SO! My first chapter! Sorry if it muchly sucks, I have to get back in the swing of things. So, I'll be posting thanks to reviewers, and don't flame. 'Cause I'm not aiming for a literature award or anything, I'm doing this for fun. Gots it?

---Foolish Rice