Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or anyone from the show

Chapter 1

Shippo opened his glazed blue eyes. Yawning he looked around seeing nothing but trees flying by. He stretched in the small basket he was sleeping in. Kagome smiled down at him briefly, quickly returning her gaze on where she was going. Sango and Miroku flew above them on Kilala. Inuyasha was nowhere in sight, but the young fox could sense him nearby. Probably jumping threw the trees like the caveman he was, he thought.

"Are we almost there? Are we almost back?" Shippo asked as he yawned again. He recognized the scents and sights around him; he knew they were close to Kaede's village, another day or so.

Kagome smiled and answered, "Yep, we're gonna set up camp at sunset. It won't be too long."

Shippo nodded and fell back into the comfortable position he had been in. it was sunset when he woke again. Inuyasha and Miroku had already set up camp and Kagome and Sango were nowhere in sight. They probably found a hot spring nearby, and went off to bathe.

"You shouldn't have slept all day, Shippo. I doubt you'll sleep at all tonight." Miroku said as he stoked the fire.

"I'm a growing demon, Miroku. I need my sleep, and I'll sleep fine tonight" Shippo nodded smugly.

"Lady Kagome and Lady Sango went off a while ago. They should be returning soon enough. In fact," the monk got that look in his eyes and he glanced over at Inuyasha. The half demon appeared to be sleeping. He sat cross-legged with Tetsaiga across his shoulder. "They have been gone long enough that something might have happened to them. I better go check on them."

"Sit down Monk." Inuyasha growled, opening one golden eye. "If something had happened Kagome would have been a scream or something." Miroku slumped back into his spot with a pout.

Kagome sunk into the warm water. All her tense muscles relaxed and she sighed. "Ah, this is so nice. How long has it been since we got to relax like this?"

Sango sighed as well. "A while now. We've been so busy looking for Naraku…"

"And we haven't found anything. I can't sense the Shikon Jewel and neither Miroku or Inuyasha can sense any real evil."

"He's up to something, I know it! We have to find out what that some thing is before he can act."

Kagome sunk further into the water; only her eyes remained above water. She always did this when she wanted to think. She didn't know why but it relaxed her and her mind escaped everything else.

They had to find an easier way to hunt Naraku. He always seemed one step ahead of them, like he was watching them. She didn't put that thought past her. Every once in a while they came across Kagura or Kohaku, and other times those poisonous insects would appear, but Inuyasha would always kill those before they could return.

Kagome was so caught up in her thoughts that she missed the sound of the brush moving and twigs snapping under heavy footsteps. Sango didn't miss it and instantly reached for a towel. "Who's there?" she shouted. Kagome looked in the direction her friend was staring, seeing nothing in particular. Another snap. "Miroku, I swear if that's you I'm gonna…"

As she said this, a figure stepped out of the brush. It wasn't Miroku. "Oh my god." Kagome whispered as she too grabbed a towel and stepped out of the water. Sango was already getting dressed and going over to the newcomer. They needed some help, so Kagome yelled for Inuyasha.

The shout came to his ears as if she was right there next to him. Her heavenly voice panicked as she shouted for him. Inuyasha's silver ears twitched on his head taking in any more sounds from her direction. Without any warning he leapt out of sight, leaving Miroku and Shippo staring, confused. Miroku was the first to talk, shouting "Inuyasha you horn dog!"

They were crouching over something. Actually someone. He didn't recognize the newcomer's scent, but it had something vaguely familiar about it. From what he could sense the figure was human, and as he got closer he could see bloodied arrows on the ground- four of them. Had they all been in this stranger?

Kagome leaned over the unconscious girl, applying pressure to the open wounds. Some had already been roughly wrapped up with the cloth of their towels and the bleeding had stopped in most of them. But one was deeper than the others and still bleeding profusely.

"What happened to her?" Inuyasha asked, startling both girls.

Kagome looked up at him with panic in her storm colored eyes. "We don't know, she walked out of the bushes like this and fainted. She needs a lot of medical attention."

"But we're still several hours away from Kaede's village. She needs the help now." Sango said more to herself.

The human girl looked no older than seventeen. Her plain white kimono was torn and bloodied, and the stains that were left behind created a strange pattern. The crimson blood turned black leaving the design of a dragon destroying a village. The flames that rose above the huts and castle remained red. In the center of it all stood a figure where the blood stopped and remained white. The small figure was surrounded by spikes and what looked like vines.

"We'll take her back to camp. Kagome do you have any supplies left from your own era?"

"Yes, but it won't-"

"It will have to do. Long travel is not an option for her condition right now, so until she regains consciousness she can't really go anywhere." Inuyasha lifted the frail human body in his arms.

Kagome looked at him in awe. You rarely saw this side of him. The side that actually cares for someone other than himself. His more human side. Most demons she had met over the time she had been in the feudal era had only worried about themselves and had hated all humans. Inuyasha had been that way too when she first met him, but the more she knew about him the more complicated he got.

"Well, are you coming Kagome?" He broke her thoughts. Inuyasha held the girl in his arms, cradling her to his chest. The girl's raven hair wasn't long and if it wasn't for her curvy figure she could have been mistaken for a boy. Her head was lolled back and her arms fell toward the ground. Kagome could see the girl's blood as it dripped down her arms and into a puddle on the ground.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Don't wait for me. I'll be right behind her." Kagome smiled and followed Sango back to their camp.

The sound of crickets surrounded her. Her mind drifted on the line of consciousness and unconsciousness until her thoughts bombarded her. The pain in her arms came to mind, then the pain in her stomach. She opened foggy gold eyes to look at her surroundings. Everyone around her seemed to be sleeping. There were two females, two males, and a child. The child and one of the males appeared to be demons.

She tried, unsuccessfully, to sit up, and ended up flopped back down on her back. Hot pain shot through her body and she had to bite back a scream. The crickets had fallen silent and the only noise in the night now was her heavy breathing as she tried to ignore the pain. She had to blink back tears, squeezing her eyes closed as tight as possible.

"If you hadn't have moved you wouldn't be in so much pain." A tried voice startled her. Looking over at the dog-eared demon, a pathetic attempt at a growl escaped her sore throat. "You got no right being angry at me! I'm the one who saved you."

"I would have been fine." She choked out.

"I could take you back to where Kagome found you?"

"Inuyasha? What are you yelling about?" Kagome broke in, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Nothing. That girl woke up."

Kagome shot up, suddenly wide-awake. She rushed over to the girl's side. "Are you okay? What happened to you? How did you get like this? What, or who, did this to you?"

"I'm fine. I was attacked. And do you honestly think I'm going to tell you?"

"Eh. You should be grateful. You would have been dead had Kagome and Sango been down at the spring."

"It's fine Inuyasha. She doesn't have to tell me anything she doesn't want to, though it would be nice to know. Did a demon do this?"

"Why would a demon use arrows?"

Kagome ignored the remark. "What's your name? Where'd you come from?"

"Name's Yuki, and I don't come from anywhere."

"What's with the freaky leather strap around your neck?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously. He'd something like it before.

Yuki looked down for the first time, her uninjured arm coming up to touch the leather surrounding her neck. "You're a dog, you should know what a collar looks like." She said starkly.

"Feh." Was all he had to say.

"Don't worry about him. I'm Kagome by the way. You should get some sleep and in the morning I'll introduce to everyone else before we head out. We're heading to the nearest village and there you can get proper medical help from a friend of ours. She's really good at what she does." Kagome realized she was babbling and shut up. "You should get some sleep."

Yuki watched as Kagome settled back into her sleeping bag. "Hey Kagome?" the chatty girl looked up. "Thanks… I guess."

"You're welcome."

"And ye say she just wandered into your camp?" Kaede asked directing Inuyasha into a small hut.

It had taken half the day to reach the village, and Yuki was still sleeping. She had woken several times to murmur about nothing and then slip back into unconsciousness. Kaede hadn't recognized the girl when Kagome had asked.

"Well she actually wandered near a hot spring that Sango and I were bathing in. I brought back the arrows that she had." Kagome held out the bloodied arrows for the old woman to examine.

"They've not been used by any demon I know of."

"We figured that out already you old hag. We just don't know who used them, she won't tell us."

"Inuyasha you don't have to be so rude." Kagome scolded him.

"I'm not being rude! I'm only telling the truth!"

"Yeah, but in that rude way."

"This how I always talk!"

"And it's rude!"

"Both of you hush." Kaede interrupted, "we don't want to disturb the girl's healing sleep."

"Sorry Kaede." Kagome apologized but Inuyasha just huffed and jumped off to his favorite tree.

Most of the pain was gone, and she felt numb. She felt warm and wrapped up so tight she couldn't move to the side. Her gold eyes opened to look up at a ceiling. "Ah, I see ye have awakened. Was your sleep well?"

Yuki completely ignored the question. "Where am I?"

"I told you that we were heading back to the nearest village." Kagome sat next to the elderly woman. "Yuki, this is Kaede, the priestess of this village."

"Hmm." Yuki pushed herself up into a sitting position, tested her arms and poked at the neatly sealed wound in her stomach, and then stood up to everyone in the room's amazement.

"Ye should really stay put until your wounds fully heal. Ye are in no condition to be going anywhere."

"Shut up- I'm fine." Yuki snapped and stumbled out the door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Yuki looked up at the dog-eared demon that sat in a tree. "None of your business, half breed," she snapped back and continued walking. She got several more steps before Inuyasha jumped in front of her. "Leave me alone!"

"No. You're still injured, and because you stupidly decided to walk your wounds have reopened. I could smell the blood the minute you left that hut."

Yuki let out another growl at him and grabbed a handful of his hair. Pulling him close to her face she said, "Someone like you should mind his own business." And that said she pulled further, dragging the shocked hanyou to the ground and continued walking.

As she disappeared into the forest Kagome and the others ran up behind him. Inuyasha remained on the ground, his eyes locked on the spot where Yuki had been. She'd surprised him when she grabbed him; her strength was obviously above a normal human's, and the growl was inhuman as well.

What scared him was the look in her eyes. The gold irises had momentarily flashed a flame red.

"Are you alright Inuyasha? Where did she go?" Kagome asked.

"Off into the woods. She made it very clear she didn't want my help."

"Ye shouldn't have let her leave, Inuyasha. The girl might bleed to death." Kaede said.

"Let her." Inuyasha scoffed. "She obviously doesn't want any help. If she's lucky she'll die of blood loss before a demon finds her. We've got our own business to worry about."

Kagome continued to stare off into the seemingly empty forest. Yuki had lost a lot of blood, and yet she was still walking around as if nothing happened. The clean robe Kaede had put her in had already started to stain crimson. The smell of human blood would most definitely attract the creatures that lurked in the dark. Kagome sighed and followed her friends back to the village.

Again I don't own Inuyasha, but I did create Yuki…I had thought her up for another story, but she's gone through some changes.

Please review and tell me what you think.