Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Enter the Wolf's Den

By: wolf demoness

Chapter Three: "That he is gentil that dooth gentil dedis" Ibid. l. 1113

Legend:

'……' thoughts

"……" speech

In the months that followed the companions saw a great change in the half demon. Inuyasha no longer made snide remarks at the humans he was forced to deal with. He never spoke anymore of gaining the jewel to become a full demon or of increasing his own demonic powers. He no longer fought with the group when they decided to help a village under threat of demons, whether or not a jewel shard was gained in the effort. In fact on days that they designated for rest he would wander off into the forest and return only after night had fallen. No one knew what he would do on these outings until one morning he asked the company to wait half a day before setting out so that he could help the local villagers finish building a damn across the river. Well, naturally no one believed the hanyou when he said he wanted to delay the search for the Shikon no Tama's shards in order to help some humans. However, when they followed him into the village they were startled, shocked even, to see the village men greet the half demon warmly.

But perhaps the most startling change that occurred in the half demon was that he never once fought with Kagome when she stated that she needed to go back to her home. Without the demon's griping Kagome returned to her home more and more frequently. At one point she even asked Inuyasha if she could go home for a month in order to catch up on the assignments that she was behind on. Thought the half demon had been unusually mellow lately the others all expected him to begin screaming at Kagome for making such a ludicrous request. Inuyasha just looked at her and said, "If you really need to go Kagome, and if it's alright with the others, it's alright with me." Everyone was so shocked at Inuyasha's easy agreement that they agreed and Kagome was gone before they even realized what they'd done. Without the Miko they couldn't hunt the shards themselves and with a month lost and winter fast approaching they would have little time to gather any shards before incoming snow began to hamper their movements. That and the threat of Naraku was looming even larger in the minds of the small group of shard hunters.

******

One day, during Kagome's month long absence from the feudal era, the monk Miroku came upon the hanyou working in the fields around Kaede's village with a handful of men. "Inuyasha what are you doing?"

"Digging a hole. What does it look like?" the hanyou teased with a smile.

"Apparently. Why are you digging a hole?"

"Well it's more like a trench really," the demon said as he stepped up out of the trench to stand beside the monk and rest leaning against his shovel. "You see that river over there on the edge of the forest?"

"Yes."

"We're going to divert water from the river into the fields."

The river in question was rather far away and downhill of the fields. "Inuyasha that's not going to work. The only way you could get that river to flow into this ditch is if the water was moving much faster than it is."

"No problem. There are several smaller streams, which don't lead to any other villages, in the forest that we can damn to divert water into the river. That way there will be enough water moving in the river to get it moving into this trench." The demon tapped the upturned mud with his shovel. "So we'll be able to salvage the crop and we won't deprive anyone else of water for their crops."

"That's a huge task, Inuyasha, and the harvest is in a few weeks. How are you going to accomplish this?"

"Well I've already got the frame work up for the damns and we've only got a few more feet to lengthen this ditch before we hit the river. If we get the trench close to the river today, I can probably get the damns finished in a couple days and then we can finish the trench. Hopefully by then the fields won't have dried and the crop won't be spoiled." The monk stared at the hanyou for a few minutes, astounded. He was called back to himself by the silver haired demon. "Hey, Miroku! Are you all right? You kind of spaced out there for a minute."

The dark haired man gathered himself and said, "Yes. I just have one more question to ask."

"What is it?"

"Do you need any help?"

The hanyou smiled, "Grab a shovel."

******

The irrigation ditch that Inuyasha engineered was a great success. It diverted enough water into the rice patties to stop the drought, which had threatened to destroy the village's crops and plunge the humans that lived there into a period of famine. Less than a week after the ditch's completion misfortune struck the village again. A storm of great ferocity swept through the village. Houses were blown down and several villagers lost their lives when their houses collapsed on top of them. Before the winds had even died down, Inuyasha could be seen pulling bodies from fallen houses and rushing them to Kaede's hut for medical treatment. With his acute hearing the demon could direct the men of the village to the collapsed houses under which human hearts still beat. By the time the storm had passed there wasn't a person in the village that did not owe the life of some family member to the half demon. After that the hanyou devoted his time exclusively to rebuilding the houses of the villagers.

When the villagers tried to bring him gifts in payment he politely declined mostly asking them what a demon needed with a horse or house of his own. He was content to help them and wanted nothing in return. Not content with his refusal of gifts the people turned their good will on the priestess Kaede who, it was known in the village, was a great friend of the hanyou's. The old woman wanted for nothing. At first she was greatly flustered with the gifts showered on her and her temple, but when she came to realize the village was seeking a way to thank the hanyou for his good deeds she accepted it with all the grace and duty her station afforded her.

For his willingness to help without compensation and his great contributions to the village the villagers became enamoured of Inuyasha. He swiftly became a vital asset to the community and a source of great pride. Truthfully, how many villages can boast so kind a demon protector?