Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Summary: The Gathering: A tradition among demons that is as old as time itself. Once every four hundred years the demons gather to take out Higher's orders. But this time there are eight more obstacles in their way, and one very important asset. It's the final showdown between Inuyasha and Naraku. Who can win? And who is the mysterious Higher whom our heroes must soon face?

Story teaser: "It has begun." Naraku stated, a sadistic smirk of satisfaction on his face as he gazed into Kannah's mirror. "We shall see how Inuyasha stands against these forces."

Chapter teaser: "What's he doing?" Kagome whispered over her shoulder.

Shippou glanced out from under her hair and murmured softly to her, "He's trying to sniff out the source of the demon aura."

It was then that Inuyasha cursed softly and turned to face his four companions, a remarkably pained look on his face. He met Kagome's gaze and bit his lips, his claws were digging into his palms and tiny droplets of blood were stemming from where they had pierced through his flesh. Kagome gasped and stared at him. What could be so wrong that he could get in such a state?

"It's coming." He stated monotonously. "It's coming soon."

The Gathering

Part the first

Demon's aura

The aura hung thickly over the forest. She could feel it gathering around her feet and ankles. The contact with her flesh was giving her chills. Sango frowned as she watched the visible aura crackle around them. Why was it so thick? She could barely see through it-like a thick fog. Squinting she could see Inuyasha walking ahead of her-Kagome was between them, Miroku trailing a few feet behind her. Suddenly Inuyasha stopped, causing Kagome to almost crash into him. Shippou ducked into Kagome's hair when this happened. Inuyasha took no heed to the near collision as he stood stalk still, his nose pointed upward and twitching slightly. Sango raised an eyebrow but it was Kagome who spoke up in question to this act.

"What's he doing?" Kagome whispered over her shoulder.

Shippou glanced out from under her hair and murmured softly to her, "He's trying to sniff out the source of the demon aura."

It was then that Inuyasha cursed softly and turned to face his four companions, a remarkably pained look on his face. He met Kagome's gaze and bit his lips, his claws were digging into his palms and tiny droplets of blood were stemming from where they had pierced through his flesh. Kagome gasped and stared at him. What could be so wrong that he could get in such a state?

"It's coming." He stated monotonously. "It's coming soon."

"What is?" Miroku asked, cocking his head to the side as he gazed upon the half-breed. "Inuyasha…what's all this about?"

"The Gathering." His tone was tight; they had never seen him look so scared before. It was so uncharacteristic of him that it threw Kagome for a loop. Miroku frowned and Sango shook her head slowly as he continued. "Sesshoumaru told me about it, when we were children. I guess Father told him. I thought he was just trying to scare me then but-all the signs are pointing toward it."

"Toward what?" Kagome asked slowly, her tone was higher than it usually was. This sounded bad, and she didn't want to get caught up in the middle of it without knowing just what they were against.

"The Gathering is a demonic tradition." Inuyasha explained, tucking his hands into his sleeves and staring at a tree directly in front of him. "They come and prepare for a Purging of Humanity. Once every four hundred years, I think he said."

"Purging of Humanity?" She gazed at him, her expression dark with fear. "What do you mean a 'Purging of Humanity'?"

Inuyasha didn't reply at first. He was remembering Sesshoumaru's words. Those words that had terrified him as a child and even more so now. He had to remember. He thought he already did, but he needed to remember those exact words…

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru had said to him that day, when they had been out in the gardens and their father had been away, "They'll come for you. They answer to Him and Him alone. They shall come and kill you when it comes time for the Purging of Humanity."

"P-Purging of Humanity?" His voice had trembled a bit; he had been scared so badly. He had been but a pup then. "But…but, Niisan, I'm part human!"

"Yes you are." Sesshoumaru had nodded. "Train hard so you can fight back when they come to cleanse you from the earth. You and that pathetic wretch you call a mother."

"Mama won't die when they come!" He had shouted, shaking his head in resentment of the accusation. "Mama's the strongest lady out there. Her spirit's stronger than those other humans. Mama's heart is pure and kind. She'll live through this Purging of Humanity!"

"She is weak and mortal. Old age shall claim her, if They do not." His brother had snickered at him, amused with his discontent. "To root out all the human scum and reset the scales of fate. That is what The Gathering is all about, Inuyasha. Father told me so, that's why he wants to get strong. To protect your mother when she cannot defend herself."

"Mama won't die!" He had repeated stubbornly. "You'll see, Niisan. She'll survive when they come. Father will save her."

"Father is the only thing that will save her." Sesshoumaru had shrugged off his claims.

"Not true!" Inuyasha had protested. "I'll become strong like you and Father. I'll become strong enough to protect Mama if Father is away when it happens."

"'To root out humanity and reset the scales of fate.'" Inuyasha murmured, drawn back to the present suddenly. "That's The Gathering. The demons rise to 'cleanse' the earth from humans. They do it every four hundred years to keep humans from becoming too great in numbers."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Kagome protested, clutching her hands at her side in worry. "Why would demons care if humanity has 'great numbers'?"

Inuyasha turned his gaze to her and uttered one word. One single word that she supposed he thought would explain everything. "Defence." He then elaborated with, "If humanity's numbers become to many, then slowly that sheer strength shall outrun all but the strongest. If that happens, then to whom can the youkai mate with? Who can bare their children? This isn't a faerie tale, Kagome." He frowned at her when she opened her mouth to retort. "This is our way of survival. This is the way we make sure that we don't become extinct."

"But, Inuyasha," Sango cut a now exasperated Kagome off as she tried to speak again. "How can you include yourself? Will this Purging of Humanity not also come after you?"

"Yes." He nodded simply. He had no shame in this, for he would survive it. "But I'm strong, I won't loose."

"We are not exactly pushovers ourselves, Inuyasha." Miroku reminded him wryly. "If we loose, I'm confident that we can take quite a few with us."

"Inuyasha," Shippou looked worried. "Are you going to take alliance with the demons when the Purging starts?"

"Of course not!" He snapped, insulted. "My mother was human. I ain't going to side with the bastards who would just as soon have killed her if The Gathering had happened during her lifetime. What kind of disloyal fool do you take me for, brat?"

Shippou didn't reply. Kagome didn't know what else to do so she simply stared silently at Inuyasha. Sango was trying to figure out a way to deal with the recently aroused issue. Miroku was contemplating a very dangerous thought, as he pondered the situation that might arise.

"Inuyasha," He spoke his thoughts slowly, as though choosing his words carefully, "what if they get Naraku?"

"We're dead." Inuyasha stated. "Because we can't kick his ass on his own, and if they get Naraku-they get Kagura and Kannah too."

The thought was unsettling, to say the least, but not one to worry about just then. They had to start building an alliance to fend off the approaching danger. And Inuyasha knew just where to start. Getting her to join them might prove problematic though.

"We need to go to Kaede's village." Inuyasha stated suddenly, breaking the silence that had previously enveloped them.

"Why?" Miroku and Sango asked in unison.

"To find her." Was all he said.

***

Kikyou paused in her task and glanced up at the sky. She could sense, no practically smell, the demonic aura coming from the near-by forest. Not Inuyasha's Forest, no. It was in the opposite direction that this aura was coming from. Could this be The Gathering of legend? Was it…possibly…? Suddenly she whirled around as a twig snapped behind her. A small scornful smile curved her lips as she laid sight upon the man she had once loved.

"Inuyasha." Her tone was cold and mocking as she met his gaze. "What brings you here?"

"Kikyou," Kagome could see the pain and reluctance in his gaze as he spoke to the priestess. "It's coming. The Gathering, it's coming soon."

"You are here about the demon aura." Kikyou nodded, her brown eyes pivoting-a hint of worry glinting in them. "Yes, I can sense it too. It has already begun."

"Kikyou…" He wasn't meeting her eyes. In fact, he was purposefully avoiding it. "You're going to fight them?"

"Of course." She glared sharply at him, her gaze suddenly overly cold. "Did you think I would side with them?"

Kagome could see how uncomfortable Inuyasha was at this point and spoke up. Speaking quickly, she confronted Kikyou with, "So, you're going to fight with us-right?"

"So that was your plan." She ignored Kagome and still spoke to Inuyasha. "To get me to join your little alliance." She frowned and crossed her arms. "Am I just some asset to your cause, Inuyasha?"

"N-no!" He protested, shaking his head vigorously. "Kikyou, you should know that!"

"Give me a reason!" She shouted, apparently tuning the rest of the world out. "Give me a reason not to kill you where you stand!" Her eyes filled with angry tears as she stared at him. "I could do it, Inuyasha. I could watch them slaughter you. Watch them bleed you to death-or rip you to shreds!"

He looked taken aback. Kikyou had…she had just…but was she really…?

"I…" He stammered, staring at her with hallow eyes; counter acting her own-burning with anger. "I…can't." He looked surprised. "I can't give you a reason, not a real one. But…Kikyou, you have to believe me-you would be more than just some asset."

She looked somewhat calmed, but still unreasonably angered. "Fine." She spat after a long pause. "On the condition that you understand this," She cupped his chin in her hand-too calm, "If they do not kill you, Inuyasha, when all this is over…" Her eyes narrowed as she breathed out the last two words into his ear. He could feel her warm breath tickling the flesh under fur. "I will."

Inuyasha took a deep calming breath after having heard that and uttered the words that pleased the priestess and terrified her reincarnation so greatly.

"Kikyou," He said-his tone barely trembling, "if you help us through this, I'll go down with you with no regrets."

"Inuyasha!" Sango, Miroku, Kagome and Shippou all shouted in unison. Kikyou simply stared at him with a pleased look in her eyes. So…Inuyasha had finally surrendered to the fate she had set up for him? Well then, she really had no choice but to agree.

"Very well." She nodded at him, her lips curved cynically. "We have a deal then. I shall consider your offer. But don't worry, Inuyasha. When you need me in this battle, I will always be by your side."

+++

"Why are you here, Otoutou?" Sesshoumaru asked him coldly, staring down upon Inuyasha with disdain. "What made you think you were worthy to return to this place?"

"Cut the crap." Inuyasha barked impatiently. "I know you can smell it just as well as I can."

"The Gathering." He nodded uncaringly. "Why are you here?" He repeated.

"To get you." Inuyasha looked like he would have rather bitten out his own tongue than ask his brother for assistance, but did so anyway. "You know more about this than I do, Sesshoumaru. You can help."

"What makes you so sure I would?" It was a plausible question to pose. "Why are you so sure that I am not intending to join that which you seek to destroy?"

"Your pup." Inuyasha stated. "You know what they call it, the Purging of Humanity. That girl of yours is just as human as any other. You care too much about her to join Him and His armies. She would probably be the first one you were to kill. You can't do that." Inuyasha was sure that if he were able, Sesshoumaru would have already.

The demon lord didn't answer that right away. Instead he studied his younger brother, judging how sincere he was-apparently. It was as if-and this was probably true-he didn't believe Inuyasha actually wanted to help him. In fact, this was the most likely reasoning behind his silence that Inuyasha could think of.

"You would side with your enemy for your cause." Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow coolly at Inuyasha. The half-breed glowered right back. "Inuyasha, where do your loyalties lie?"

"I ain't siding with no enemy." Inuyasha snorted sardonically. "I'm asking my family for help. What does my family say, Niisan?" He put a remarkable amount of sarcasm into that one word. As though he were trying to tell Sesshoumaru that he held him in lower respects than he had when at the age of five.

"You realize this could be a grave error in your calculations?" He cocked his head to the side, still eyeing the half-breed with a heavy air of impassiveness. "I could murder you all in your sleep."

"Yeah," Inuyasha admitted, "But there's a good chance we're all gonna die anyway, may as well be from you as anyone else."

"You do pose a valid point about Rin." He admitted reluctantly. "Otoutou, I shall consider your offer carefully. Chances are I shall not help you-but there is that slim chance." He turned to leave them. "Do not count on it."

To be continued…

Next Chapter Teaser-

"Inuyasha," Kagome looked at him with concern. "Do you honestly think that asking Kikyou and Sesshoumaru to join alliance with you was a wise thing to do?"

"What choice do we have?" He leaned back against the tree and stared up, green light flickering upon both of them. "They are strong. We need their strength." A pause before, "Kagome," he changed the topic, "things are going to get really messy for a while around here and…" he paused, looking determinedly up at the tree top. "I don't want you to get hurt so…" Reaching out he grabbed the Shikon Jewel from around her neck, yanking gently and breaking the chain. "I want you to go home. Study for one of your mock tests or something. Just…" He avoided her gaze as she stared at him in shock. "Just go home."

He received no reply. No SIT, no berating, nothing. Finally he heard the rustling of clothing and heard her footsteps dying away. He half wanted her to hit him with her backpack or any number of things to show she was still there. But she did not. She was gone. He wasn't even sure she would come back.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to no one. "So sorry."

Next time- Visionary