Previously…

"Nevertheless, we will be escorting you back to your home," Kagome said firmly and raised her left hand. Immediately, armed men and women poured out from behind the trees and from underneath the bushes, all guns pointed steadily at Sesshoumaru.

He sighed again. "Ma cherie, I don't think that this is a good idea."

"And your reason would be…?"

"The Rogue is heading this way with a hundred men strong. Don't you think you should be aiming your guns at him?"

ooo0ooo

IV.

By: Kei Taiho

Kagome swore. "Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I can handle him easily."

"Arrogant bastard!"

"Hn."

The young woman shook her head and turned to focus her attention on the monk. "Miroku! Contact Kouga and ask him what the hell is taking him so long. He should be here already with the backup!"

"Right away, Kag dear!"

The Master turned and raised an eyebrow. "'Kag dear', ma cherie?"

She gave a long-suffering sigh. "It's Miroku the lecherous monk. What do you expect?"

"Point taken."

ooo0ooo

The Rogue tensed before relaxing to allow a smile to spread across his features. The wench was up ahead with only a few people around her. This was definitely his day. Not only was he going to finally make the girl his, the bastard Sesshoumaru had also unintentionally set him free when he left the perimeters of the city. He grinned sadistically, not only that, he was able to corrupt about a hundred soldiers from the Master's own army. He had filled their pathetic human minds with thoughts of immortality if they were to serve him and only him. Truly wretched were the race of human beings. The Rogue snorted, it wasn't like he could actually grant eternal life. Besides, even if he could, there would be no way in Seven Hells would he grant this weak species their wish anyways.

Gesturing for a soldier, the Rogue ordered, "Get me the commander. We are getting close to the girl."

"Yes, sir," the soldier smartly saluted his general before sprinting off to carry out his order.

A few minutes later, the flap of the tent lifted and a man with short curly black hair and sharp grey eyes stepped through. Saluting in greeting, the man said, "You called, sir?"

"Takka, we are nearing the girl that we have been chasing after and nearly caught this morning," the Rogue turned around and faced his commander with narrowed red eyes. "This is your last chance to capture her. If you fail me and let her slip through your fingers again, consider your life to be over. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir!" Takka swallowed nervously. "I will send our best men after her immediately!"

"No." His general walked over towards him and gently traced a line down his cheeks with a claw. "She will sense them nearby since she is, after all, a sorceress."

"A sorceress, sir?"

The Rogue sighed. "This girl is from a long line of strong magical blood. Over the centuries, her ancestors have tuned their powers to align with the Heavens and Mother Nature. They are, what you might call, holy people with holy powers. And since SEEDs like me are not part of nature and are creations created by Mankind, her holy senses will detect the taint in your men's aura from being in contact with me. This will give her plenty of warning and she will be able to slip through our grasps and I will not let that happen again!"

"Then what do you suggest, sir?"

"I want you to bring me your choice of men first. I will give them something to hide their aura from her senses."

"As you command, sir!" With that, Takka turned sharply on his heels and marched smartly out of the tent.

The general waited until the flap closed behind him before lifting a draping at the back of the tent and stepped into another room—a bedchamber to be more exact. Sitting in the middle of the room was a large king-sized red silk bed with chains hanging from the bedposts that would serve their purpose once delicate female wrists and ankles were strapped in and anchored. A silk scarf was set on the small oak table beside the bed that he hoped would be used later on as a gag with a leather whip which he could hardly wait to whip across a pale white bottom. This room was not actually part of the tent although it was connected. He had used a little bit of magic to create this chamber and a little more to cloak it from the eyes and ears of humans. Sitting on top of the bed, a sadistic smile spread across his face. The Rogue hoped that his little chosen female will appreciate the time and thought he had taken to prepare this room when he finally has his way with her.

He sighed. This was not the time to start fantasizing. He needed to concentrate on the task ahead. He sighed again. Might as well get on with it. Leaving the magical chamber, the Rogue stepped back into his tent and went to his desk to unlock a drawer. Taking out five red amulets, he touched each one all the while muttering incantations under his breath. When the last amulet turned black, he sat back with a small smile. The spell was complete.

"Sir, I have brought the men you have requested for." Takka was back and this time, he was with five other men.

Standing up, the Rogue threw a spelled amulet to each of the new five men with careless ease. "Put these on," he instructed, "and do not take them off until I say you may. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir!" came the chorus reply.

"Then get out there and bring me that girl!"

ooo0ooo

Kagome sat happily beside Sango and Miroku as she relaxed against a pine tree. "Now this is what I call relaxation!"

Sango sighed with a joyful grin. "Yeah. I—Kagome! Look out behind you!"

"Wha—?" was the only thing Kagome could utter before she was knocked unconscious. Her attacker swiftly picked her up bridal style as he nodded at the rest of his companions. The four other men took out their guns and without hesitation, fired at the shocked and unarmed Sango and Miroku. Satisfied that the young woman and man were dead from having bullets shot through their heads, the four turned and trailed after the first man and his precious bundle, guns posed in case there were others nearby that might needed killing.

ooo0ooo

From underneath a bush, a figure winced. "Ouch. That's gotta hurt."

Another figure whacked the speaker on the head and hissed, "Shut up, you idiot. If they find out that we're here, we'll be dead meat."

"Thank you so much for that little encouragement there."

"Shut up," was the snapped reply.

The first figure only sighed.

ooo0ooo

Kagome awoke only to groan in pain. What the hell happened to her? And where is she anyways? Muttering angrily under her breath, the young woman sat up on the bed and—wait. Bed? What on Earth—? Her eyes dropped down only to see that she was sitting on a large—probably king-sized—red silk bed. Horrified she yelped and tried to scramble away only to fall flat on her face on top of a soft red pillow. It was then that she realized that she was tied up. Her wide eyes travelled from the metal clasps on her wrists up to the chains that were wrapped tightly around the bedpost. With her heart in her throat, Kagome looked down her body and found that her ankles were also chained up. Now completely terrified, she struggled vainly to release herself from the chains.

"I see that you are awake."

Kagome looked up and stared in fear at the sneering Rogue at the foot of the bed. "What the hell do you think you're doing! Release me at once!"

The Rogue ignored her and continued speaking, "Do you like this chamber? I spent quite a while on it. I hope you find it to your liking."

"I'm terribly sorry to disappoint you but I find it disgustingly fucking ugly," the young woman spat angrily.

The Rogue turned and slapped her hard across the cheeks. "You will do well to control your language in my presence!"

"Do you really think that I fucking care!"

"Hold your tongue!"

"Sorry," Kagome sarcastically apologized. "But no can do."

The Rogue spun and punched her in the stomach, knocking the breath from her body. Gasping for breath, Kagome could only curl into herself as he delivered more punches at her body. After a while, the Rogue sighed and stood back. "That was quite refreshing."

"Of course it was," Kagome managed to say as she coughed up blood. "I must say that attacking a chained and unarmed person is very enjoyable, you fucking monster!"

She watched as his face slowly turned red with rage, his hands curled into tight fists as the vein bulged from his forehead. Oh dear, she had said something that had hit a nerve. Now she was in for it. She mentally sighed and prepared herself for more punches. What she didn't expect was for him to rip his shirt off and stalk towards her with a feral glint in his eyes. Grabbing her roughly around the waist, he pulled her flush against his body as his mouth descended upon hers with bruising force.

'Oh God! He's going to force himself on me!' she thought frantically and began to struggle violently. The Rogue only smiled against her lips and reached for the helm of her shirt.

"You really are stupid, aren't you? Well, I guess that can't be helped since you think from between your legs instead of your brain. How pitiful."

The Rogue wretched himself from Kagome and turned to face the owner of the flat and cold voice in shock. "How the fuck did you get in here?"

"This Sesshoumaru does not need to explain himself to the likes of you."

The Rogue pulled Kagome in front of him and raised his right hand to lay his deadly extended claws at her throat. "You come any closer and this girl here dies."

The Master gave a small smile. A smile that shouted death. It was the deadly infamous smile of the Killing Perfection. "What girl?"

The Rogue looked down at the young woman in his arms and surprise showed in his eyes as he watched her turn and smile then waver to disappear into thin air.

"I suspect you enjoyed threatening an illusion that Kagome created for you," Sesshoumaru said flatly and cracked his knuckles, his eyes bleeding red as poison leaked from his claws to drip onto the carpet with a hiss. "I'm going to teach you to never try again to touch what is mine."

"It's time for you to go back into your cage, Naraku."

ooo0ooo

Phew! That was an intense scene there. I know, I know, I left it at a cliffy as usual. But, don't you just luv the suspense? Heh, I certainly do.

I'm really hoping to get more reviews this time. Since there were more than 150 hits to this story and I only got four reviews, I think I will wait for three or more reviews to continue. (I'm sorry Broken-Memory. You've supported me throughout chapters 1 to 3 and I thank you deeply from my heart, but I would really like more reviews to get me going. I hope you understand.)

I know that some things are a bit confusing at the moment and that you have no idea who or what SEED is, and there are some loose ends to be tied up but please don't worry. These confusions will be cleared up in later chapters.

Please review!