Chapter Eighteen:
"A cutlass is the sword of choice for any pirate," Jack said as he pulled out his own sword. Inuyasha and Sango sat, quietly listening to the pirate tell of swords. Jack continued, "As you can see, a cutlass is rather short, and is slightly curved. Only one side is sharp." Jack held up his sword vertical and motioned with his index finger to the outward side of the weapon. "This is the strong part of the blade; you do not attack with this side, only block. The opposite end is the sharp part of the blade."
"Hold up," Inuyasha demanded as he rose to his feet. His nose was fiercely smelling the air.
"What is it, Inuyasha?" Sango asked, standing up and putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Blood. I smell blood, gallons of it. It's human. Get Kagome and Miroku; we're gonna check this out." Sango went to find Miroku, and Jack went to find Kagome. When the entire company was there, they set off in search of the source of the scent of blood.
"The entire village, they're all dead!" Kagome exclaimed as they all set foot on the bloodied ground.
"Bloody hell, who would do this?" Jack asked. He noticed a little girl still breathing and knelt down next to her. He saw a large claw mark across her stomach. Without thinking, he took off the large bandage that was on his torso and laid it on the girl's open wound. "It's okay, love." He stood back up and noticed that both Miroku and Inuyasha were staring at the sky. Without being asked, Kagome ran to get the child and his herself under a nearby tree and held the child tight.
"What is that?" Jack asked, now looking up.
"It is a Bird of Paradise!" Inuyasha answered with surprise.
"Wait," Jack said, "I've seen a bird of paradise in the Caribbean; it is a bird-shaped plant, not an actual living animal."
"Shows how much you know," the monk and dog demon said simultaneously. Jack flashed them both with a hard glance. The Bird of Paradise dove down and made like it was going for the men. Miroku started to undo the purple cloth hiding his wind tunnel when Sango's foot knocked down his hand.
"Miroku, you can't use your wind tunnel yet, remember?" Sango rebuked.
"Sorry, must have forgotten." Miroku shrugged as he wrapped up his hand.
"Forgot? How can you be so dense?"
"Well, not everyone can be as perfect as you!"
"Ooooo, I…"
"Sorry to get in the middle of this, mate," Jack interrupted, "but I couldn't help noticing that the bird is getting too close for comfort, and we might need your assistance." Sango and Miroku stopped arguing and gazed at Jack in utter confusion.
"To translate, can it!" Inuyasha screamed.
"I understood the meaning of his words, but not why he said them that way," Miroku stated in an annoyed tone.
"Well," said Jack, "it got you to shut up. If I had yelled, you would have both kept going at it, savvy?"
"Oh," Both Miroku and Sango said together. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and brought out the Tetsusaiga. The Bird of Paradise was almost on top of them when it turned up and headed straight for Kagome. Sango flung her boomerang at the demon, but it was no use; the bird managed to dodge it. The Bird of Paradise had Kagome, and Inyasha ran to get her out of the claws of the bird. Inuyasha flung the Tetsusaiga, but the bird dodged even that.
The child that was under the tree managed to get up as a bolt of lightning hit the tree and snapped it in half. Jack ran to the tree and beheld the little girl nearly out except for her leg. While Jack comforted the crying child, Sango lunged in the air with her sword, but the bird was fast and grabbed her with its other claw and flew away. A steady rain came down and soon turned into hail beating down upon the earth. Jack knelt by the tree, his hand caressing and comforting the little girl, whose leg was crushed under the weight of the tree. Miroku slipped a band through his hair and grabbed a tuft of it. Inuyasha put the Tetsusaiga back in his holder and turned around to where a man in a white fur robe stood.