Thank you very much for the great reviews. I'm finally getting into a routine with my new college classes (2 more years to go!) and updates for both of my stories should be getting regular. Here's chapter 3!

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There was a long silence.

"Hahahahahaha! Lord Sesshoumaru… with a… human for a mate!? Hahahaha!" The pig demon erupted into raucous laughter. The rest of the surrounding demons joined in, slapping their knees and elbowing one another. The racket of all them laughing together was offensive, almost as offensive as the collective odor they produced.

"Eh.. hehe… I guess we'll be going now," Kagome said, nervously watching the leader of the demons. The pig demon wiped a tear from his dirty face.

"So can you tell me why Lord Sesshoumaru's daughter does not have the smell of demon blood?," he finally asked, a sneer making his features all the more unpleasant.

"Well, I.. she was my daughter before I became Sesshoumaru's mate, of course. Don't be stupid," she said, looking about for any kind of escape. The forest seemed to be closing in on them. Rin's eyes were darting from one demon to another, her fear evident.

"Well how interesting. So if we take you to our camp, and send a hostage note, we should be able to get whatever we want from the Lord Sesshoumaru, correct?" The pig demon winked at another demon, who grinned back.

There were mumblings of "Yeah!" and "That's right!" from the group. They continued to chortle and elbow each other in amusement.

"No!" Kagome protested, her heart racing. What had she gotten herself into!?

"What's the matter? Afraid your lover wouldn't come to your rescue?" The pig demon stepped closer and brushed a thumb over Kagome's cheek, and she quickly pulled her face back in disgust. Laughter spread throughout the group once more. "The way I see it, if you are his mate, we get a ransom. And if you're not, we get to keep you and have lots of fun together…" The glint in the eyes of the repulsive demon left Kagome sick to her stomach. Rin clutched at her from behind, and seemed to gain courage.

"Sesshoumaru can fight you all!," the litle girl exclaimed defiantly, although her voice was trembling.

"We shall see!" Two of the demons picked the girls up and tossed them over their shoulders. Kagome cried out as pain seared into her leg because of the rough handling. She watched from the shoulder of the demon holding her while a note was scrawled and left behind for Sesshoumaru to find. Kagome tried to struggle against her captor's grasp, but to no avail. The group began to leave, the pig demon leading the way.

For a moment Kagome almost laughed. She was wondering whether she was in worse trouble with this mob of demons, or Sesshoumaru after discovering what she had said about him…

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Later that afternoon…

"Rin? Where are yooouuuu!" Jaken shuffled about, his staff clutched in one hand. Neither Rin nor that girl Kagome were anywhere to be found. He had come back ahead of Sesshoumaru to check on them, and was getting more nervous by the second. He did not want to have to return to his master to tell him Rin was missing. He swallowed thickly at the thought, and continued along the forest path. He wondered if that crazy girl had done something with Rin.

"Riiiinnnnn!" Jaken yelled, then paused to wait for a response. There was none. He wandered down by the river, thinking that the girls might be having a bath. Rin tended to do that at times.

"What's this?," he muttered, spotting a piece of fabric on the ground. He bent down for a closer look, then saw that a note was etched into it.

Dearest Lord Sesshoumaru,

Two women who claim to belong to you are now in our company, including your lovely mate. Or so she claims. Seeing that they were left alone and unprotected, this clan of demons claim them for our own. Unless you wish to offer something in exchange, such as the powerful sword Toukijin, we will keep them for our own. We will be in touch!

Love,

Neighborhood Friendly Demons

Jaken nearly passed out. "Idiots!" he growled. Sesshoumaru would easily track them down, and kill them one by one. They knew enough about Sesshoumaru to know the name of the sword he possessed, but not enough to know better than enticing his wrath. "Idiots," he repeated. He looked back down at the note, then blinked with surprise. "Mate!? Why am I always the last to know anything!?," Jaken exclaimed to himself.

"What are you talking about, Jaken?" Sesshoumaru suddenly loomed behind the toad youkai. Jaken looked from the note to his master, then back again. "Ahh, it seems Rin and Kagome have been taken," Jaken said, and offered the note to Sesshoumaru. He wrung his hands nervously.

There was a moment of silence as the Lord of the Western Lands carefully read the note. He then crumpled it and let it fall to the ground. His expression did not change, but Jaken could see the anger within suddenly stormy, golden eyes. He swallowed hard.

"Ah, Lord Sesshoumaru… What are you going to do?" Jaken watched as the powerful demon before him stared off into the distance. Without bothering to answer, Sesshoumaru began walking calmly into the woods. Jaken waited, then followed at a respectful distance, his staff clutched in both hands.

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Kagome drifted in and out of consciousness as she was rudely jostled on the shoulder of some kind of cat demon. At least so she assumed, by the orange tinted cat ears and long tail. She couldn't see its face from where she was… The ears reminded her of Inuyasha, and she wondered once more what had become of him. He was always so protective of her, she was sure he would be looking for her. Unless he thought she was already dead. Which she would be, if not for Rin and Sesshoumaru…

The forest passed by rather quickly, and soon lush trees and grasses were replaced by a rocky mountain path. The background became boring, as all Kagome could see from her vantage point was rocks, an occasional shrub, and more rocks. She found herself losing track of the time, and at one point couldn't decide whether minutes or hours had passed during her captors' trek.

The journey ended in a cave where it appeared the demon gang lived and slept. Kagome and Rin were tossed carelessly to the ground, and Kagome bit her tongue fiercely to keep from crying out in pain. She hate how weak and defenseless she was; she hated showing it to these filthy demons even more.

With their hands and feet bound with cruelly tight ropes, the two girls found that there was nothing left for them to do but wait. Rin flashed Kagome a small, brave smile. "Don't worry. He'll save us," Rin said assuredly. The devotion and trust Kagome heard in the little girl's voice was amazing. She truly did adore that regal demon lord. Kagome felt the distinct awareness that Sesshoumaru was much more than he appeared, or ever let anyone else see. She couldn't help but wonder what he was really like.

Hoping for Sesshoumaru to rescue me. Quite a change…