Demon Slaying
The demon was enormous. A fire-red scorpion burst through the trees, its angry stinger spinning in menacing circles and its mismatched lion head snarling dreadfully. Jack and Annie had never seen anything like it. Bigger than even the tallest building in their town, the monster could've easily swallowed a school bus in its hairy, pinching jaws.
"Tch, we've got an easy one today," sighed Shippo. "How boring."
"B-boring?" Jack stuttered in shock, pointing wildly at the scorpion beast. "How can you call that thing boring? And what do you mean today? You get these demons regularly?"
"Well…yeah."
Jack wasn't sure which disturbed him more: that demon or the fact that no one really seemed as shocked out of their mind as he was. Even Annie smiled and nodded with the fox-kid!
Gently, a warm hand clapped over his shoulder. Miroku's face was serious, but his eyes seemed to be laughing. "I assure you, this is a monster Inuyasha alone can handle. Just watch."
"Nasty bug!" In a blur of red and white, Inuyasha zipped overhead and under the scorpion's defenses. The giant sword gleaming like a fang in his grip, the dog-demon cried out words that echoed far and wide. "Wind Scar!"
Right down the middle, the scorpion was split in two, its guts spraying in all directions.
"Ewww!" Jack and Annie grimaced in unison as an especially meaty chunk dropped at their feet.
"Whoa! Careful!" Sango warned, guiding them away from the piece. "These remains can still infect if you're not wary."
Kagome suddenly ran up to the pulsating scorpion flesh.
"Hey!" Jack called. "Didn't you hear her? It's dangerous!"
"It's okay," Sango said. "Kagome's special. She can purify the demon."
"Huh?" Now even Annie was confused.
At Kagome's touch, the flesh melted in the encasing skeleton and a small crystal fell out. "There we go," she beamed. "These are Shikon Jewel shards and when a demon possesses them they get really powerful for a bit, but quickly lose total control of themselves."
"Do people go searching for these shards?" Jack asked.
"Unfortunately, all the time," Kagome answered.
Something occurred to Annie and she asked, "Do demons fight for them?"
"Yup," Inuyasha replied, putting away his sword. "I do."
"It's a formidable strength that conquers all," Miroku added.
"So you would call it a small treasure?" Jack concluded.
"Yes, why not?" Sango finished.
"Jack, what are getting…?"
Holding up a hand to Annie, Jack stared unflinchingly at the group. "Then we need to take that shard."
Without batting an eye, Inuyasha drew his blade again. "Just try."