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

Chapter Seven: Mynoaru

It was a normal day in the village. All seemed peaceful, until….

"Kagome, where is that stuff?"

"What stuff?" Kagome asked the inu-hanyou, who was sniffing around Kaeade's hut.

"You know. That stuff. That stuff that I like."

"You mean…the…" Kagome searched her mind for what Inuyasha was looking for. "The…" Kagome sighed, "Ramen noodles."

"Is that the yellow stuff?"

Another sigh. "Inuyasha…."

The hanyou lifted his face from the floor, where he had been sniffing. He slowly turned to see a very angry Kagome. "Kagome…no…"

"Oswari!" Kagome shouted.

Inuyasha preformed a perfect face-plant, and managed to pry himself off the ground. "What the hell d'ya do that for?"

Kagome didn't say anything, but stormed out of the hut. Inuyasha slowly and warily followed.

Meanwhile…

May Lee sat in the small corner of the cave, inhaling stale air. It reeked like wet dogs. She didn't know how much longer she could take this. She felt like a prisoner, not a patient.

"Do you mind if I grab some fresh air?" May Lee asked. The woman looked like May Lee had just spoken a different language.

"Fresh air?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, you know? Um, fresh air. Going outside? Getting out of a smelly wolf den? That sort of fresh air." May Lee explained, hoping she didn't offend anyone by that last little bit.

The woman simply nodded, then walked over to a man standing by the entrance of the cave. She muttered a few words and gestured at May Lee. He nodded and walked over to May Lee. He grabbed her elbow, and led her out of the cave.

There was a beaten rocky trail that led down to the small pond and waterfall. The man let her go, but watched her closely. Does he think I'm gonna run for it? May Lee wondered. Does he think I can run for it? Even though her leg felt much better, she couldn't outrun this man. She probably couldn't outrun him anyway, but if she hadn't been injured, she might have tried.

"I'll take it from here," said a gruff voice from behind her.

May Lee turned around to see the man who had brought her here, 'Lord Kouga' speaking to her guard. The guard nodded, and with three leaps, was up the hill.

Kouga didn't say anything, but just stood watching her intently, as the other man had. May Lee decided that she wasn't going to spend her precious outside time worrying about a man who was watching her. She decided to ignore him, if he had something to say, he could say it. May Lee found a nice rock by the water's edge to sit down on.

"What did they tell you?" the man said suddenly.

"Who?" May Lee said, and confusion covered her face.

"The northern wolf tribe, where you came from."

He must mean the men who kidnapped me, and brought me here…should I tell him? What if I'm just a source of information…and they'll just kill me after that too…'cause they won't need me, will they?

"Why do you want to know?" May Lee searched.

"The northern pack and eastern pack are sworn enemies."

"And this is the eastern pack?" May Lee assumed.

"Yes. So, what did they tell you?" the man asked, obviously becoming impatient.

"Nothing." May Lee said quietly, but Kouga heard her, having supreme youkai hearing.

"I know they told you something. I know they wanted to use you as bait, to lure my men into an attack. What I can't figure out, is why they would use you to lure our armies into danger."

"They, uh, thought I was someone else."

"Who?" the man said, a little relieved he was getting somewhere, but frustrated at the same time, that he didn't really gain much information.

"Kagome."

"What do they want with Kagome!" Kouga burst out unexpectedly.

"I don't know… they said something about luring a wolf prince to the attack."

"A…wolf prince?" Kouga said, a little surprised.

"Yeah, why?"

"I am the wolf prince that they told you of," Kouga spoke solemnly.

"Oh, I, uh…sorry…." May Lee stuttered, she didn't know what to say.

"What else did they tell you?"

"What will you do with me, after I tell you? Will you just kill me, because you don't have any use for me anymore?" May Lee said, with more courage than she felt.

"Wh-what? Why..? No, I wouldn't kill you." Kouga said, taken by surprise.

"What would happen to me then?"

Kouga thought. What will we do with her? I kept her here for her wounds to heal, and to get information out of her, but won't she want to leave? Or does she think she's going to stay? Do I want a human here in my harem, anyway? Well, why not? I would let Kagome in my harem, as my queen, so why not let this woman stay? What if she doesn't want to stay? Would she want to be taken back to her home?

"I would take you home, if you wanted. Or, I suppose you could stay here, if that's what you want."

"Oh," was all May Lee said.

"Why?"

"Just wondering," she said quietly, and turned her back to him, sitting on the rock, her knees tucked to her chest.

"Did they tell you anything else?"

"No, not really. I was supposed to stay on that cliff, you know, the one you chased me up? And-" May Lee was cut off.

"I didn't chase you up that hill." Kouga prostested.

"Oh, no? What would you call it then? 'Following me' while I was scared out of my wits?" May Lee retorted.

"You were….I mean….I scared you?" Kouga asked quietly.

"Well, yeah. I didn't know what you were going to do with me, I thought you were another one of them."

"Oh, I see." Kouga said a little distractedly. Without warning, Kouga knelt down, and sniffed around a little bit. What is he doing! May Lee thought. Who just starts sniffing the ground in the middle of a conversation? This guy's insane! May Lee thought to herself.

Kouga stood, brushed some dirt off of his shins, and sniffed the air once more. "They're here," he said, all too calmly.

"Who's here?"

Kouga didn't answer, but instead, picked May Lee up, and bounded up the hill toward the cave. He set her down, much more carefully than last time, even in his haste, and pushed her toward some men, coming at them. "You two." Kouga said, picking out two men from the group. "Take care of this girl. Guard her with your life. The rest of you, come with me."

The two assigned men took her to the far side of the cave, where a group of women and children were huddling together. May Lee recognized several of the women, the two who had taken care of her, one that had brought in some herbs to the other women, and another who had pulled a curious child away from her, She had muttered something about not staring… But these were four of nearly forty women, and their children, May Lee assumed.

From where she stood, May Lee could hear yelling men from outside, metal hitting metal, spears clashing with swords. Suddenly, a woman from behind her started screaming.

"Mynoaru! My son! He's gone!" came the horrible, terrified screams. May Lee turned to see the woman who had pulled that child away from her the other day…Mynoaru must be the boy. An image of the boy's smiling face flashed through her head, and May Lee instantly realized what shemust do. Though she may be a mere human, because of her inherited powers, she was much stronger than any of these women here.

May Lee waited for her chance. When the woman didn't stop crying, the two guards assigned to protect her left May Lee's side. One went to try to calm the woman down, while the other searched the cave carefully. The first man, who realized his efforts were futile, that he could not make a woman start crying over her lost son.

She knows he's not in the cave, or else she wouldn't be crying… May Lee thought. Now that the second man had returned from his search in vain, they both stood over the woman, trying to subdue her.

"He'll show up, don't worry," said one of the men.

That's what you say when someone loses a purse, or a jacket, not a child! May Lee thought, as she watched the woman become more and more upset. Another image of the young boy's face flashed through her mind, and May Lee bolted off, toward the cave's entrance. The pain in her leg was overcome by the will in her heart, and she raced into the bright sunlight. She heard the two men running after her, but soon she could no longer hear their footsteps behind her, the only thing she heard were the shouts and cries of men, killing and being killed.

When May Lee stopped her frantic run, as she got deeper into the battle. If I were a curious kid, where would I go? Hmmm, well, I personally, would go back inside the cave, but, we're all different I guess…

"Give it up, you're mine!" she heard men yelling, taunting one another, and her thoughts were broken. Then, out of the corner of her eye, May Lee saw a small figure running away from a vicious looking man. She tried to focus her vision on the pair, but this was harder than it may have sounded. Finally, she recognized the young boy that stood happily before her, just a few short hours ago. With all efforts left in her, May Lee ran after the boy and his pursuer.

With more agility than she thought she possessed, May Lee was able to get down the rocky slope fairly quickly. The boy seemed to be playing cat-mouse with the man, running around a large rock, changing directions every so often. The boy managed to dodge the man's grasp, whenever he neared, and because of the man's large size, he could not maneuver very nimbly.

When May Lee reached them, she could tell both the boy and the man were tiring. She didn't know what to do. Now that she had found the boy, she realized she had no plan or strategy to help him back to the cave. After standing and watching them for a few moments, trying desperately to think of a plan, she saw it. Her opportunity.

The boy slipped, on a wobbly rock, and fell to his hands and knees. She watched in horror, as the warrior advanced. May Lee jumped into the scene quickly, and threw herself over the boy's body. Almost sub-consciously, she released her green light, and the man was thrown back. He stood, and looked so bewildered, that he stared and ran in fear, from the strange ningen.

"Move!" she heard a man's familiar voice shout to her, and she saw another man rushing toward her and the boy. Quickly, May Lee scrambled to her feet, as did the boy. Grabbing him by the wrist, May Lee ran toward the cave, taking the fastest route that she knew of. In an instant, May Lee realized she was no longer running, but being lifted off the ground, by the back of her shirt. She looked up, and saw that man, the one who had brought her here, Kouga, carrying her in one hand, the boy in his other. Within moments, they had reached the mouth of the cave. There were two light thumps and the two assigned guards hurried over.

"I thought I told you to watch her." Kouga stated, a clear look of disgust on his face.

"We…I mean…he…well, she uh….she ran out, and then…." they stuttered.

Kouga said nothing else to the men, but grunted. Then, he turned to May Lee, "You ok?"

"I'm fine."

With that, Kouga leaped from the cave, back into battle. May Lee watched him go, but soon returned her attention to the boy sitting beside her. They both stood, brushing dirt and dust off of her, May Lee looked at the boy. He seemed to be all right. He had the scrapes on his hands and knees from the fall, but it was no more than May Lee's bicycle injuries, long ago.

"Are you ok?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah…thanks, for uh, you know, helping me," the boy said uncomfortably.

"Sure."

The boy walked slowly back to his mother, like a dazed deer. His mother covered him and embraced him, sobbing into his hair. She muttered words about how worried she had been, how angry she should be, how happy she was. Joy filled May Lee, knowing that she had played a role in bringing them back together.

May Lee walked back to where the others were, and noticed her leg didn't hurt at all. She looked down at it, to see it had almost completely healed, that it looked to be nothing but a minor scratch now. What sort of medicine did they give me? May Lee thought, thinking that could be the only explanation for it's quick healing.

A few hours later, after the yelling and crying and shouting had stopped, men began to come back into the cave. Some were wounded, some were not, some carried dead soldiers. Women, mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives cried for the wounded, and the dead. The others, who were not grieving, busied themselves taking care of the wounded. May Lee noticed one of the women who had tended to her wound, helping a man with a deep cut across his chest. She approached the woman, who was wrapping the man's chest in a simple bandage.

"Teach me, please." May Lee said to the woman, who had nodded before, acknowledging her presence.

"Teach you what?" the woman asked, still wrapping the man's chest.

"To heal the wounded. Or do something, please, I want to help. I feel useless."

Before the woman could answer, a voice from behind her cut into the conversation. "Come, follow me."

May Lee turned to see 'Lord Kouga', who, thankfully, was not hurt. May Lee nodded, but did not say anything. The man turned to leave, and May Lee followed.

Special thanks to:

Demonic devils: you've review each chapter, faithfully, thank you.

Liz: this one I succeeded in making longer, yay!

Everyone else: ya'll need to review! Co'mon! you know you wanna. If I keep on getting scrawny reviews, I'm gonna like, protest or something… maybe…I won't write chapter eight until I have 20 reviews…co'mon guys, it's only four more! You can do it!