Seekers of the Sacred Jewel

[ recap ]

KAG:  (narrating a recap of the previous episode) A giant, centipede-like demon pulled me into the depths of the Hidden Well in the shrine. I’m just a girl in her third year in middle school and nothing this strange has EVER happened to me before. A youth was held fast to the Sacred Tree with arrows… Inuyasha was his name, I think… An eternal spell to hold him there had been cast. But it was broken. Demons now seek to possess something known as the Sacred Jewel. This Sacred Jewel has appeared once again in the era of the Warring States.

Flashback of fight between INU and the Centipede Monster.

INU:   Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!

INU claws at the centipede’s mouth and splits the centipede body into two. The body breaks into pieces and lands scattered on the ground. Cut to KAE handing the Sacred Jewel to KAG.

KAG:  Why was it inside my body? This jewel which can empower such a demon?

INU:   If you don’t want to feel the pain of my claws, just give me the Jewel and get it over with!

[ End of recap: 1min 3sec ]

[ Title screen: Seekers of the Sacred Jewel ]

[ ACT I ]

INU face off with KAG and KAE amidst the skeletal remains of the Centipede-Monster. Armed villagers close in on INU from behind.

KAE:  You… Kagome! Do not hand over the Jewel!

KAG:  (thinking) The Sacred Jewel increases the power of these demons. Could it be cursed?

INU:   I show no mercy! Especially to women whose scent I dislike!

INU runs towards KAG. KAG starts to run and trips over a pile of bones. INU leaps and claws claws at KAG, but misses as KAG falls onto the ground. One strand of KAG’s hair is sliced off.

INU:   (landing, brandishing his claws) Next it’ll be you, split down the middle!

KAG:  (yells) Y-You were serious just now, weren’t you?!

Villagers: Shoot! (fire arrows)

INU turns around and waves the arrows away. He leaps and slices off two tree trunks above the villagers. They run away before the trunks topple over. INU leaps onto a tree trunk.

INU:   Who you think I am, anyway?! Don’t you dare treat me like some dumb Centipede Monster!

Villager 1: Priestess Kaede! Perhaps that arrow sealing the spell on Inuyasha shouldn’t have been removed…!

KAE:  (irritated) Oh, for pity’s sake… That troublemaking hellion!

KAE reaches into her clothes and takes out a rosary with black beads and animal teeth. Cut to INU still chasing KAG.

INU:   (leaping after KAG) Prepare yourself!

KAG:  (still running) Prepare myself?! How can I?

INU slices at KAG. She trips and fall onto the ground, the Sacred Jewel landing a distance in front of her. She turns around to find that INU’s attack made three long rifts in the ground, horrified.

INU:   Now it’s mine! (leaping towards the Jewel)

KAE makes a prayer stance and the rosary she took out earlier emits light. It breaks and the beads fly towards INU. They join back into a rosary around INU’s neck and stop glowing.

INU:   (holding the rosary) What’s this?!

KAE:  Kagome! Recite the Word to hold Inuyasha’s spirit!

KAG:  Huh? What?

KAG crawls a little and picks up the Sacred Jewel, and runs.

KAE:  Just say something! To subjugate the Inuyasha!

KAG runs to the edge of a cliff and falls off. The Sacred Jewel falls out of her grasp and rolls away from her onto a bridge. INU bursts out of some trees and leaps towards the bridge.

INU:   Subjugate me, will you?! You fool!

KAG:  Subjugate him? But what do I say?

INU is in midair about to land on the bridge. A full moon appears behind him, howling is heard. He lands on the bridge and reaches for the rolling Sacred Jewel. KAG notices INU’s twitching ears.

KAG:  S—S—Sit!!

Llight emits from the rosary and pulls INU’s neck, making him fall flat-faced. Echoes of KAG’s voice ‘Sit! Sit! Sit!’ is heard throughout the valley.

KAG:  (approaches the bridge, in disbelief) It held him.

INU:   (gets up and tugs at the necklace furiously) Wh-What’s this?! (tries to take out the necklace in vain) Damn!

KAE reaches the cliff with the villagers, overlooking INU and KAG on the bridge.

KAE:  It’s useless, Inuyasha. Your powers cannot remove the rosary.

INU:   Shut up, old hag! You’re first in line! Tho’ you look half-dead already.

KAE:  The Word…

KAG:  (holds up a finger, with one hand on her hip) Sit!

The rosary glows and tugs at INU. He crashes onto the planks of the bridge and falls into the water.

KAE:  Now, then… Let us return to the village.

KAG:  (approaches the Sacred Jewel on the bridge, looking at the water) How weird… All I said was "Sit."

[ End of ACT I: 4min 10sec ]

[ ACT II ]

Daytime. The villagers are rebuilding the village which was devastated during the attack of the Centipede Monster. Cut to interior of KAE’s hut. KAE is applying some medicine on KAG’s torso, where the Sacred Jewel fell out of in the previous episode.

KAE:  Let’s see… I’ll apply more salve on the wound on your belly.

KAG:  (grimacing) Oww…! (looking out) They’re fixing the houses destroyed by that Centipede Monster. So much work!

KAE:  This does not bode well at all. Now that the Sacred Jewel has reappeared, there will be others who seek to possess it.

KAG:  (worried) Like yesterday…

KAE:  And not just demons, but also humans, who have evil in their hearts. With all the violence in the world, it follows there will be those who seek the Jewel’s power to realize their greedy ambitions.

KAG:  Huh. (turns to her side) Hey! Why are you here anyway?

INU is lying on his side some steps away from KAE and KAG, with his back facing them defiantly.

INU:   (turns his head slightly, deadpan) Give me the Jewel. (turns back)

KAE:  It seems the holding power of the rosary is quite effective. Even if he gets near the Sacred Jewel, we do not have to worry.

KAG:  Why do you want the Sacred Jewel? You’re awfully strong right now. (opens her palm and look at the Sacred Jewel) You don’t really need its power, do you?

KAE:  He is only half demon.

INU:   (punches a fist into the floor violently, angry) You old hag! Who do you think you are, anyway. Don’t talk as if you know all about me!

KAE:  Don’t you understand? I guess it can’t be helped. I am the younger sister of Kikyo, the one who put the spell on you. I am Kaede.

INU:   Kaede?

Cut to flashback of a young KAE holding KIK’s arrows and standing next to her. Back to present.

INU:   So… You’re that kid?

KAE:  Fifty years have passed. And I have grown old.

INU:   (aloof) And that means… Kikyo must be really old now, too. Humans age so easily. That’s the way it goes.

KAE:  My sister Kikyo… died.

INU listens harder.

KAE:  On the same day that she shot the spellbound arrow at you. (throws some wood into the fireplace)

INU:   (sarcastic) Heh, so that’s how it went. She kicked the bucket, huh? (scoffs and lie on his side again) What a relief!

KAE:  Inuyasha, it is too early to breathe a sigh of relief. Kagome, you are the reincarnation of my sister, Kikyo.

KAG:  (surprised) What?

KAE:  It’s not just your appearance or psychic powers…

Cut to KAG’s two encounters with the Centipede Monster, when she repelled it with an aura.

KAE:  (voice-over) But the fact that you carried the Jewel within yourself, that is irrefutable proof.

Cut to KAG walking along a pathway in the village, looking at the Sacred Jewel, which is attached to a necklace around her neck.

KAE:  (voice-over) You must protect the Sacred Jewel, Kagome.

KAG:  (thinking) I must protect this Jewel…? (to herself) That is ridiculous…

Pan to some villagers on top on a mound, overlooking KAG.

Villager 1: She’s what?! High Priestess Kikyo’s…??

Villager 2: When you think about it, she does seem quite saintly…

Villager 3: What’s up?

Villager 1: The kid’s the reincarnation of High Priestess Kikyo.

Villager 2: Watch your language. Show some respect for the young lady!

Villager 4: The 'young lady' is a reincarnation!

KAG takes her gaze off the Sacred Jewel and turns around to find all the villagers on the mound clasping their hands and praying in reverence to KAG.

KAG:  (shocked) They’re worshipping me!

KAG runs off hurriedly.

Cut to INU sitting on a tree branch high up in a tree, some distance away from the village.

INU:   (looks into the distance, pensive) So…she’s dead.

A pear suddenly appears and flies ominously at INU’s back. He grabs it nonchalantly and looks at it. KAG appears at the bottom of the tree, carrying a few bundles.

KAG:  Here! I’ll share with you.

INU:   What?! What’s with all that food?

KAG:  The villagers’ offerings. Say, can’t you come down? Let’s eat together.

Cut to awhile later, KAG and INU sitting at the base of the tree, near the rice fields. KAG is munching away and INU eyes her suspiciously.

INU:   You’re up to somethin’. I know it.

KAG:  (continues eating and looking into the distance) Am not. Only… (turns to INU) You do hate me, don’t you?

INU:   (dramatically) You’ve noooo idea how much!

KAG:  (irked) Look… The one you hate is not me, but this lady named Kikyo.

INU throws down his food and leaps onto the tree branch spitefully.

KAG:  I’m Kagome! I’m not Kikyo! So won’t you be a little nicer to me?

INU:   Keh! Are you stupid or what?! I don’t care who you are! In order to get the Sacred Jewel, I have to be merciless! (points a finger at KAG threateningly)

KAG:  I see. (looks away from INU and onto her pear) In case you should decide to get violent, then all I have to do is say "sit," and—

INU crashes face-down violently onto the ground.

KAG:  Oops, sorry! I didn’t mean that.

INU:   (pries his face off the ground) Damn!

Nighttime in the village. KAG is lying on the floor of a hut, about to sleep.

KAG:  It’s been two days since I arrived here. (flashes of KAG’s family) Gramps. Sota… Mom… They must be so worried. I’ve gotta find a way to get back home. (pulls her blanket and sleeps)

Outside, a flock of crows rest on a tree. One of them glows and reveals three eyes. It zooms in on KAG’s hut and notices the Sacred Jewel on her neck. INU appears suddenly and claws at the crows. They fly off and escape into the night sky.

INU:   Great. They’ve followed the scent of the Jewel. Nasty vermin…

Daytime, KAG is walking away from the village into the forest.

KAG:  (thinking) The Inuyasha Forest… The Dry Well… I climbed out of there, so shouldn’t it have a clue about how to get home?

At the village, KAE is walking around.

KAE:  Kagome…? Kagome…!

Three villagers come up to KAE.

Yukichi: She’s nowhere to be found in the village.

KAE:  She couldn’t have left the village alone…? I ought to have explained to her in more detail about the evil ones who seek the Sacred Jewel.

Pan to INU standing on a roof, listening to the conversation, looking pensive.

Cut to KAG walking in the forest. A few mercenaries appear among the bushes and follow her. KAG reach the Dry Well.

KAG:  Found it! The Dry Well I came out of.

The mercenaries pounce on her, cover her mouth and grab her.

Cut to outside of a dilapidated hut. A few horses are grazing. Cut to interior of hut, where one of the mercenaries pin KAG onto the floor.

KAG:  Oww!

Bandit A: Boss! I captured her just like you ordered!

Bandit B: She really has some strange clothes on. What’s this flimsy wrap-around? (feels and lift KAG’s skirt)

KAG:  (shoots up and yells) Cut it out, you pervert!

Bandit C: Well, you asked for it! Exposing yourself like that!

Bandit A: You wanna marry me?

KAG:  Wh-Who are you guys?

Boss: (slow and monotonous voice) Give me the Jewel!

The boss of the mercenaries, a fat and big man, trudges slowly towards KAG. He unsheathes his sword. Two mercenaries grab KAG’s arms.

KAG:  Hey, wait!

Bandit C: Hey Boss! Slice ‘er in half in one swift stroke.

KAG:  Let me go!

Bandit C: Start praying!

The boss slices at Mercenary 3 instead. Everyone gapes at the boss in fear.

Bandit C: B-Boss! (collapses onto the ground)

Boss: Made a mistake…

The boss readies for another attack. The mercenaries run from him in fear. The boss swings his sword clumsily several times, but the mercenaries manage to dodge.

Bandit A: Boss, where are you aiming?! It’s her! Aren’t you gonna slay this girl?! (pushes KAG towards the Boss)

KAG:  What are you doing?! There’s something wrong with your boss! (slaps away their hands) Snap out of it or it’ll be your turn next. Don’t you get it?!

The boss swings his sword at them, they squat and dodge. They flee in different directions.

KAG:  (thinking while running) No! Will somebody tell me why is it that me, who hasn’t done a thing has to go through this?!

Cut to INU leaping across a pond in the forest. He leaps onto a tree branch and sniffs the air.

INU:   Oh, great. That stupid girl! Where’d she go with the Jewel?!

Cut to the mercenaries’ hideout. The boss is still swinging violently, but clumsily at various things and directions. He hits one of the pillars and the roof starts to collapse. One of the mercenaries is trapped under the rubble. KAG runs towards him with a few other mercenaries

KAG:  Are you all right?!

Mercenary 4: The exit is blocked!

KAG:  Can you stand? (helps the mercenary out from the rubble)

Mercenary 5: Thank you very much. Thank you.

Boss: The Jewel… Give me the Sacred Jewel…

KAG:  (thinking) He wants this Jewel. If I get rid of it, he won’t come after me.

CUT TO FLASHBACK of conversation between KAE and KAG earlier in the episode.

KAE:  And not just demons but also humans, who have evil in their hearts. All will come seeking the Jewel.

Fade to present.

KAG:  But why me?! (thinking while moving away from the boss) Anyway, I have to get out of here!

KAG carries the injured mercenary and takes a few steps sideways. The mercenaries hide behind her. When she moves a few steps more, they tumble behind her too.

KAG:  Hey-y-y!

Mercenaries: (laughs uneasily) Heheh…

The boss attacks the group but misses and crashes into the wall. KAG passes the injured mercenary to the rest.

KAG:  I know! Take him!

KAG takes the Sacred Jewel from the necklace and throws it out of a window.

Boss: The Jewel… The Sacred Jewel!

KAG:  (to the mercenaries) Now! Let’s all push against the wall!

Mercenary 6: (pushes the wall with other mercenaries, but it doesn’t budge) Boss! It’s no good!

KAG:  I am not your boss!

The boss closes in on KAG and swings his sword at KAG. KAG closes her eyes and makes a prayer stance helplessly. Suddenly, INU crashes in from one of the walls and blocks the sword, breaking it into two.

KAG:  (hopeful, thinking) Inuyasha!

INU punches the boss in the face several times and he falls backwards onto the ground. The mercenaries run past him and KAG, escaping through the hole in the wall that INU burst out of.

Mercenary 6: Boss, we’re going ahead.

Mercenary 5: Thanks again! (leaves with the rest)

KAG:  (to INU) You came to rescue me?

INU:   Is it safe? The Sacred Jewel!

KAG:  (gapes) Eh?

INU:   (furious) I’m asking you if the Sacred Jewel is safe!

KAG laughs uneasily. The boss trudges towards them. KAG hides behind INU.

INU:   (covering his nose with a shirt sleeve) What’s that smell?! That putrid smell!

One of the buckle on the boss’ clothes comes off, revealing a hole in his chest. Three eyes peer out of the hole and caws. It is the crow from last night in the village.

KAG:  What?!

INU:   His heart must’ve been torn apart a couple of nights ago. Then it nested there.

KAG:  He was being manipulated? I thought something was strange about him.

INU:   Corpse Crows aren’t too strong. They use dead bodies to fight. (kicks the ground and aims for the crow) Disgusting!

INU plunges his hand into the chest of the boss, where the crow is. The crow escapes from the hole in the boss’s back. INU takes out his hand and goes to the side. The boss falls towards the ground, his flesh disintegrating at the same time. The Corpse Crow flies out of the window.

KAG:  It got away! Aren’t you going after it?

INU:   (flexing his arms) I can’t go after every stupid demon. There’s only one of me, after all.

KAG:  But…!

INU:   (fierce and firm tone) Forget it! I’m the one doing the fighting!

Cut to outside, the Corpse Crow picks up the Sacred Jewel with its beak. Cut to interior.

INU:   So I decide! Now what about the Sacred Jewel? (notices the crow from the window) Ahh! Is that the Jewel in its beak?! (to KAG) Why, you…!

KAG:  (defensive) I-I never said anything about having it on me.

INU:   Follow me!

INU crashes out of the hut, grabbing onto KAG’s hand. He stops and notices a quiver of arrows and a bow on the horses parked outside. He takes the bow and arrow and leaps into the air, piggy-backing KAG.

INU:   No way it’s gettin’ away!

Cut to INU leaping in the air, chasing the crow.

INU:   What’re you doing?! Hurry and shoot that thing down!

KAG:  Are you crazy?! I’ve never used a bow and arrow in my life!

INU:   The Corpse Crow survives by eating human flesh! With the Sacred Jewel, it might transform!

The crow swallows the Sacred Jewel.

KAG:  (gasps) It just swallowed the Jewel! (resolute) I’ll try it!

INU:   All right! (thinking) Heh! Once that crow is shot down, I won’t need a girl like her. (to KAG) Make it one shot! Kikyo was a master archer! (leaps into the air)

KAG:  I am Kagome! (thinking) But if it’s okay, Kikyo, please lend me your power… (yells) Hit it!

Cut to a majestic view of KAG firing an arrow. It misses the crow by a long way off. INU, shocked, falls onto the ground.

KAG:  Erm… You’re not lying about Kikyo being a master archer, are you?

INU:   (exasperated) Then you must be a klutz!

The crow transforms.

INU:   Look, now it’s gettin' bigger!

INU gets up and runs after the crow, piggybacking KAG.

INU:   Aim!

KAG fires another arrow. It misses the crow pathetically. INU stops suddenly and plops KAG onto the ground.

KAG:  Oww!

INU:   (turns around and points at KAG, yelling) Now I get it! (shakes his finger at KAG) NO WAY you’re Kikyo incarnated! Now I know not to expect nothin’! (runs off)

KAG:  Inuyasha!

The Corpse Crow flies over a river in the village. Several villagers are walking on a bridge spanning across the river, including a woman with her toddler. The Crow swipes the toddler and flies off with him in its claws.

Woman: My son!

INU:   (running on top on the trees on the bank on the river) Looking for food already? Well, you’d better think about running away from me first! You can’t hunt if you’re bein’ hunted!

KAG:  (reaches the bridge and shouts) No! Save the child!

INU:   Stupid! (leaps towards the crow) Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!

INU claws at the Crow and the Crow’s body is clawed into pieces, which fall into the river together with the toddler. The toddler is struggling desperately in the rapid river, but INU is only concerned with the Jewel.

INU:   Where is it? (landing on a rock in the river) Where’s the Sacred Jewel!

The toddler is rapidly washed away by the current. His mother and the villagers run along the riverbank, chasing the toddler.

Woman: My son! Shokichi!’

KAG follows the group. She stops, takes off her socks and shoes, and dives into the river. She swims towards the toddler.

KAG:  (thinking) I’m glad I went to swimming classes!

Villager 1: (amazed) How is she doin’ that?!

Villager 2: So fast! She must be a kappa! A water-imp! First time I saw one up-close!

Shokichi: Help!

KAG:  (reaches the toddler and swims backstrokes with him) Hang on! Relax…

Villager 2: The kappa is swimmin’ on its back! IMPossible!

KAG:  I’ll kappa you, you stupid—

INU:   Hey girl! Where’s the Sacred Jewel?!

KAG reaches the riverbank and gets out of the water. The toddler runs towards his mother.

Woman: (hugging) Shokichi!

Shokichi: Ma! I was so scared!

KAG glares at INU and turns away, indignant with a loud ‘Hmph!’.

INU:   (taken aback) Wh-What?!

Shokichi: Thanks, sister!

Woman: Thank you so much. Thank you!

KAG:  It’s okay, really.

Underwater, the pieces of the Crow joins back and flies out of the surface into the air.

INU:   Damn! (yells to KAG) It’s gettin' away!

KAG:  (to herself) I guess this is no time to be fighting.

The Crow’s claw, still on the toddler’s back, tugs at him. Shokichi gasps in terror.

KAG:  That's right! (to a villager) May I use your bow and arrow?

Villager 3: Huh? But it’s so far away…

the silhouette of the crow is far off in the distance.

INU:   No way she can get it.

KAG:  This time, for sure… I’ll get it! (fires an arrow with the claws of the Crow on it)

INU:   She attached the foot of the Corpse Crow…!

KAG:  (thinking) The crow’s foot will be drawn by the power of the Sacred Jewel.

The arrow hits the Crow, shattering it into pieces. The Sacred Jewel in the Crow’s body shatters into tiny pieces, emitting a bright light.

KAG:  I did it!

INU:   (disbelief) She got it…?

KAG:  But…what’s that light?

The light from the Sacred Jewel suddenly disperse in many directions.

Yukichi: Priestess Kaede… Up in the sky!

KAE:  I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

Fade to evening in the forest. INU and KAG are searching the area.

INU:   Are you sure it’s around here?

KAG:  Yeah… I feel it… But I wonder what it was… that light?

The head of the Corpse Crow appears suddenly and caws at them, flying in KAG’s direction. INU rushes in front of KAG and claws at the head.

INU:   Die!

A glowing fragment falls out of the crow and lands on the ground.

KAG:  Could this be…?

INU:   "Could this be"…what?

KAG:  (picks up the fragment) A fragment of the Sacred Jewel…?

Flashback of earlier on, when KAG’s arrow shattered both the Corpse Crow and the Sacred Jewel.

INU:   (voice-over, yelling) Wh… What did you say?!!!

[ End of ACT II: 20min 34sec ]

[ End of episode 2: Seekers of the Sacred Jewel ]

[ Preview for next episode ]

The Sacred Jewel has shattered into pieces. Even so, Kaede says that the fragments themselves would still have a tremendous power. We have to find all of them before they fall into the hands of demons! But Inuyasha is eyeing them too! What should I do? A young woman who manipulates hair appears at this time and attacks us! Next episode, 'Down the Rabbit Hole and Back Again'!