Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape or form own Inuyasha or any of the other characters.

Chapter 5: Kidnapped

Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness – a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of he Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the firmness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity, laughing at the futility of life, and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen, Northland Wild.

But there was life, abroad in the land and defiant. Down the frozen waterway toiled a string of wolves. Their bristly fur was rimed with frost. Their breath froze in the air as if left their mouths, spouting forth in spumes of vapor that settled upon the hair of their bodies and formed into crystals of frost.

Among the wolves walked and army of fierce wolf youkai. Dressed in animal furs, which they had no doubt killed ruthlessly. These wolven demons were not that of which any had seen before.

The fiercest and gruffest one of them all, perched upon a frozen rock, spoke to the numerous soldiers before him. "Tomorrow, we will reach the lands where the water flows, and the grass breaks the snow. In the morning, we will attack! These wolves who called themselves our brothers, that of the eastern kingdoms. We shall leave none alive. Kill every living creature. Kill the pups, mothers, maidens, and most of all, the warriors. Save the wolf prince for me." His stern voice rung off of the pure trees, their coated innocence tainted by his sinister.

"Lord, how will we know which one of the warriors is the prince that you seek?" asked a particularly rough looking warrior.

"The prince that I will slay has powers like no other. He runs so quickly, he creates a tornado. I have a brilliant plan though. I have learned, from a demon who calls himself Sesshomarou, that the prince I seek is very fond of a mortal girl. The demon has proven useful, for tomorrow, we will kidnap the girl called Kagome, and use her as bait for the wolf prince," the northern wolf pack leader explained. He let a baleful chuckle, laughing in his own menace.

May Lee had been taking daily walks to get exercise and explore. She set out early in the morning, like she had when she had gone hunting. She silently got up, muffling the cry of pain she yearned to release. She stiffly walked to the door, and pushed aside the bamboo curtains. She began to walk easterly, as she had the first day, hoping to see Conan again. She stopped and turned around to see a flash of red dodge behind a nearby cargo wagon.

"What do you want?" May Lee said to InuYasha, as he came out of his hiding place, knowing she had seen him.

"I wanted to make sure you weren't gonna do anything stupid, like go chasing after that horse," InuYasha said gruffly.

"It's not like I'm your responsibility. You don't have to play bodyguard," May Lee said, trying to be courteous, but was becoming slightly annoyed.

"Keh. Yeah right. If you're gonna travel with us, you're my responsibility, whether you like it or not," InuYasha retorted, even though he didn't know what a 'bodyguard' was.

"I am going to look for Conan, and I would prefer if you didn't follow me."

"Tough."

May Lee looked at him sharply and said in a strained voice, "Fine, follow. See if I care. Just stay away, I don't want you to scare Conan."

InuYasha said nothing, but rolled his eyes. With that, the girl walked on, and InuYasha stayed a good 300 feet back. He could easily cover that much ground in two leaps. Just as he was about to start after her, he heard Kagome's voice.

"InuYasha? Where are you?"

InuYasha stopped, so did May Lee. She turned and gave him a challenging look. The inu-hanyou's ears flickered to catch every last morsel of the heavenly sound emitted from Kagome's mouth.

"I guess I'm gonna stay," InuYasha mumbled briefly to May Lee and leaped eagerly back to Kagome.

May Lee said nothing but turned back to the east and began to jog.

When she reached the creek that she had the two days before, she stopped again to get a quick drink. She let the water run down her chin and dribble a little on her shirt. She looked up to see Conan standing before her. She didn't know how he came to her so quietly, without hearing the soft plod of his hooves. This time, he didn't hesitate to approach her this time. She stood and ran her hand along his sleek neck. He didn't seem to be frightened, or uneasy at all. She stroked his mighty, bulging neck, hard with muscle, and let her hands wonder to his back. She wanted to spring upon his back and ride him to the end of the earth.

Conan turned to face her, and somehow, someway, she knew it was okay. She grabbed some of his thick mane with her hands and leaped upon his back. Steadying herself with her hands, she nudged him with her heels, signaling his go.

Conan sprang into a light gallop, May Lee settled low on his neck. She knew that this was how it was supposed to be. She was so ecstatic, she had never felt happiness like this before. She felt the blood, rushing through her body, the pounding of her heart, the thunder of Conan's mighty hooves beneath her.

May Lee was so caught up in her ecstasy, that she had lost track of where she was going. Conan slowed when they reached a forest, but this was a different forest of that in which she had ventured out of by the well. She looked around, and sat up straighter, faintly sad though that the wind wasn't whipping in her face from Conan's speed anymore.

May Lee dismounted, and landed with a small thump on the ground. Unaware that she was being watched, May Lee began to wander around. She noticed that the plants in this forest were not as unique or colorful as those in the other one she had seen. Conan followed obediently behind her, but spooked at a twig snap. May Lee spun around quickly to see about fifty men behind her. They all looked very ferocious, and carried spears or swords.

May Lee backed away from them a few steps, before she bumped into Conan. Quickly, she mounted and clucked. Conan could outrun any human easily, she knew, but it was the spears that worried May Lee, for she didn't want to bring any harm to her beloved horse.

Conan rushed through the men, and out of the forest. He leaped over several fallen men, and knocked through the ones in his way, as if they were simple bowling pins. Once out of the forest, Conan and May Lee were breathing heavily. As Conan continued to rocket forward, a tall, gruff looking man stood in their path with a bow and arrow. He aimed directly for Conan's heart, and fired. Conan, sensing danger to his rider, reared quickly, maneuvering his body to block the arrow from hitting May Lee.

With a dreadful cry, one that would make anyone's hair stand on end, Conan fell to his knees. May Lee scrambled off of Conan's back, and crawled to his head. Conan, who was now on one side, moaning in pain, looked at May Lee, with hope, and love – pure love -in his eyes. May Lee cradled the horse's head in her arms and sobbed quietly, allowing silent tears to streak her cheeks.

May Lee saw a movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see what it was. The man – the man who had killed her beloved horse – was coming at her. May Lee gently laid the lifeless head of Conan on the soft earth. She stood, the sorrow that once blinded her eyes was clouded by anger. She turned to face the man and held out her right palm.

"You beast! Look at what you have done! Have you no heart?" May Lee screamed at him, and released the power in her hand.

Instantly, the man was knocked back, where he lay, and did not get up, though breath still came from him. The surrounding men, who had formed a circle around May Lee and Conan, looked from one to another. They assumed the best way to handle this, was to attack her at once, before she could run, or worse, kill them off one by one.

As the circle of men got smaller, and they closed in, May Lee stood, unsure whether she should attack, or try to escape. Surely the could hunt her down, so she braced herself for the light in her hand. Then, the men, seeing that she was ready to battle, rushed in, yelling and drawing their swords, or readying their spears.

May Lee opened the palm of her hand, and the green light was shot at the attackers in front of her. She spun around to see more men coming through the far valley, as if the numbers that they had weren't enough. Great, just great. May Lee thought bitterly.

Without warning, a side attacker, who possessed more speed than she would have expected from his stout body, threw his spear, aiming for her heart. Fortunately, his aim was not too impressive, but the blood thirsty spear found its way to the tender flesh in her leg. May Lee cried out in pain and rage, closing her hand around the wound.

From the trees leaped a massive youkai, and fought back the advancing warriors. He stepped in front of her, blocking her from the viscous warriors.

"You idiots! I told you I wanted her alive!" the man yelled in fury.

He scooped her up carelessly and bound through the stopped demons. May Lee bit her lip to keep herself from crying out in pain as his arm brushed her new wound.

"What do you want with me?" May Lee asked the man, with more courage than she thought she had in her.

The man grunted, but said nothing. They continued to run through some forests and meadows that she was unfamiliar with. She began to wonder how this man could have enough strength and power to carry her, and run at an amazing speed. The pines and evergreens whizzed by, in flashes of green.She remembered how when she first met InuYasha, he too, also traveled with amazing speed. Kagome had said something about InuYasha being a half demon, so maybe this man too, was a half demon. She didn't know how to tell the difference between a half demon and a full demon, so May Lee wasn't sure which one this guy was.

As they continued to travel, May Lee wondered when they were going to stop. They must have traveled countless miles, because now, it was beginning to get cold, and some light sleet was falling. Within a few more minutes, the man stopped abruptly and dropped her carelessly. May Lee landed with a thump! and struggled to get to her feet. Her leg throbbed and she felt a little dizzy.

As soon as the dizziness had passed, May Lee ran after the man who had brought her here, who was kneeling down by a small creek. Actually, it was more like a trickle of water.

"What do you want with me?" May Lee demanded once again.

"You, are to lure the wolf prince from the east here. Then, we will slaughter him and his men, sound like a plan?" the man retorted, obviously trying to scare her.

"I don't know a wolf prince of the east that you're talking about. So, you'd better take me back," May Lee said, very huffy like, trying to hide the growing fear inside of her. If I'm just bait, then, won't they just kill me too, when they don't need me anymore?

"Don't play dumb. We know all about you and the prince, and how he has fallen in love with you, though I don't know why. So, don't try to get out of this," the man said briskly, before getting up and pushing her out of his way. She watched him as he walked away, before she too, knelt down to get something to drink.

Why do they need me? I don't know any wolf princes…. Why would they want me as bait?