Two Souls, One Heart Chapter 9: Abandoning, an inuyasha fanfic

For all of my fellow Kingdom Hearts geeks out there, yes, that was supposed to be the part where Sora sees Kairi as a kid talking with her grandmother in Hollow Bastion. I had to do that part! It was just too cute! Anywho, to the reviewer that asked what about Riku, Koga's taking a small part of his role (Inuyasha and Koga are NOT friends, so I had to change that up a little) but the part where Riku turns over to the dark side (this is not Star Wars; I just couldn't put it in better words) is definitely going to Koga. You'll see!

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"Hey Shippo, do you think you could try using your foxfire to light that cavern over there up?" Miroku asked, pointing to a wide opening in the side of the mountain that had miasma bleeding out of it thickly. The little kitsune nodded before hopping off of Kirara's back and marching a little closer to the cavern's entrance.

"FOXFIRE!" Unlike his usual little puff of powder blue flame, a massive, scorching ice blue fire erupted from his little hand and traveled the distance of the cavern, giving it a brilliant glow. The miasma subsided to the walls of the cavern, as if Shippo's foxfire was suppressing the purple toxic gas.

"Hey, everyone! I can blow up a lot of stuff with this! Yahoo! Look at me!" Shippo bounced around happily at the thought that Inuyasha couldn't beat him anymore with this new flame technique. He would dominate the world!

Everyone backed away from the pyromaniac kitsune very slowly.

"Shippo, focus on what lies ahead, maybe that's what triggered such an attack." Shippo stopped in mid-bounce and sobered, his sanity returning to him quickly.

"Okay, Miroku…you're probably right." He returned to his spot on Kirara's back before everyone continued to push on through the now brightly lit opening they hoped would reach to Kagome.

(Meanwhile…)

This was most certainly an unwelcome obstacle.

"Damn that Inuyasha!" Naraku pounded his fist into the stone wall beside him. He had not expected their new clothing to grant them any new abilities or powers. Now they were sure to find their way through the cavern and try to disrupt his plan…again.

"NARAKU!"

Then again, maybe some obstacles were welcome after all.

Naraku turned to the swirling vortex of demonic aura and wind, watching with slight amusement as it gradually dissipated to reveal a young man with long jet black hair pulled up into a high ponytail. His azure blue eyes shone noticeably against his darkly tanned skin, which was only hidden by a wolf fur toga (Koga wears a toga…hee hee) and a metal chest plate. Two wolf fur shoulder pads were distinctly shown attached to the chest plate. Wolf fur stockings covered from his ankles to just below his knees, and left his feet bare.

"What a pleasant surprise…Koga."

"Naraku, there were whispers that you kidnapped Kagome and courted her! Is this true, you vermin?" Naraku smiled wickedly.

"Why should you care? You've already mated with Ayame. And besides, only one man can save her. Whether it's human, demon, or hanyou is still left for judgment." Koga shuddered at the thought that the mutt was going to save his friend that he had fallen in love with. That was his job!

"Once you've managed to obtain the Armor of the Searching SOLDIER, you might stand a chance at saving her." (for those of you who ever played Final Fantasy VII, you know who I'm talking about: Cloud!)

"Where do I find this 'armor'?" Naraku smiled darkly.

"Inuyasha."

"Be ready, guys; we're getting close." Inuyasha called behind him, his left hand rising to the hilt of Tetsusaiga as he walked. They could distinctly make out the light at the end, signifying that it was the tunnel's exit. Upon walking out of the tunnel, they found themselves inside a huge cavernous maw.

Saying things were…out of the ordinary…was an understatement.

The water, rather than sink into the depths of the maw, rose up and curled over the edges of the hole and disappearing from sight. Shippo absentmindedly began walking forward without realizing there was no solid ground ahead of him, but rather a level amount of water.

"Shippo-!" Before Inuyasha could scold him, the little kitsune was half way across the surface of the water, still walking with his head turned upward, his gaze following the water's pathway above him. He stopped and turned to the hanyou curiously.

"What?" He asked like the little innocent child he was. He failed to notice what was truly conspiring, like any respectfully sane kit would. Inuyasha stepped half of his foot onto the water.

He didn't fall through.

He stepped both feet onto the water, his entire weight now on the water. He still hadn't fallen through. His other three friends followed hesitantly in wonder, and soon they continued. A little further into the water-filled maw, they saw many of what looked like hovering hunks of ice, shifting mischievously up and down. Above these hovering ice blocks lied a stone platform hovering in mid air.

"Let's go." Ignoring most of the icy platforms, Inuyasha scaled to the stone one in two leaps, Kirara completely ignorant to the blocks and simply carrying the other three companions to the area. Upon their landing, they were welcomed by the sight of Koga facing away from them, another male about four yards away from the wolf prince in an attacking stance. He wore black hakama pants and a white kimono top that looked like Inuyasha's undershirt he had worn before he got the armor he now donned.

"No vessel…no help from the heartless…so, tell me; how did you get here?" The young man brushed his dark brown bangs away from his emerald green eyes.

"My heart led me here…nothing more to it." He whipped out his katana and held it half an arm's length away from him.

"When our village fell into darkness, Aria was taken away from me. I vowed I would find her…so, here I am. She must be here." His green eyes clouded over in determination.

"I will have her back!" He roared. Koga smirked, drawing out his own sword, which he had until recently used rarely, if at all.

"Take her, if you can." The wolf prince challenged, leaving his sword calmly at his side. The brown haired man gave out a cry of anger and charged at the demon, but he swiftly back flipped out of the way of the blade's path. He skid on his feet a moment before leaping forward low to the ground and took a single swing at the man. Inuyasha had seen enough.

"Stop!" He called, stepping in front of the now kneeling man." It wasn't until then that he realized that Koga's azure blue irises were lined in a deep royal purple, the areas where it was supposed to be white were a slight lavender color. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Naraku's miasma was influencing Koga's actions; no matter how much Inuyasha despised the wolf, he knew that there was no way Koga would do such a thing on his own.

"Inuyasha…we meet again." Now he knew Koga was possessed; he would never monologue like that...and he never called the hanyou by his name, either. Normally, Inuyasha would have taken no greater pleasure than to rip Koga limb from limb, but with the situation as bad as it was, there was no way he was going to be stalled by this stupid wolf.

"Move, Koga; we don't have time for this!" Inuyasha shouted at the miasma-educed wolf demon. He seemed deaf to Inuyasha's demand, and continued,

"You and I have always been rivals. You have pushed me, as I have pushed you." Koga's voice was unnervingly steady and even, low and deadly. Inuyasha knew he was treading on thin ice here.

"But it ends here, let the SOLDIER's armor choose who saves Kagome!"

"What-" His eyes widened as his body began to glow an intensely bright light that encased his vision. He cried out in sudden pain as he felt the miasma and darkness begin to suddenly paralyze his body and burn his skin. 'The armor…' He vaguely thought as he felt its protection slip away. The light dissipated, and he was in his fire rat haori and hakama pants again. He sank to his knees in pain and agony, his eyes half lid and dim from the pain he was enduring. One of his eyes was covered by his bangs, though you could practically see the anguish he was going through.

He fell forward, his arms shakily stopping him from hitting the floor. His arms didn't last long. They shuddered before giving under his weight and letting him completely hit the floor. With what strength he had, he managed to lift his gaze back to Koga, whose demonic aura just sharpened and increased tenfold.

He was wearing the armor.

That bastard took his armor!

"W-what…?" Inuyasha whispered hoarsely, regretting it the moment he opened his mouth. The miasma sent him into a coughing fit he almost lost control of before he brought his sleeve over his mouth, what little protection it offered.

"I knew it. There's only one person strong enough to save her. Only one person is strong enough to bear the Armor of the Searching SOLDIER, and change the world." He grinned darkly, reminding Inuyasha of Naraku almost exactly.

"You may have made your way here with the armor, but you were just the delivery boy. Go play hero, 'cause that's the closest you'll ever get to saving her." He turned and began to walk away.

"Sango, let's go. We have to remember why we came in the first place." Miroku said hesitantly. Sango turned to him incredulously.

"…I know we need to save Kagome and all…but…" She paused, looking at Inuyasha, who returned the gaze with dim, pleading amber eyes. She bit her lip, but followed Miroku against her better judgment. Inuyasha could only silently plead for his friends to help him, but they all walked away slowly. Miroku stopped for a moment, still keeping his back to his friend to hide his shame.

"Inuyasha…we're sorry…we really are…" He said before continuing to follow Koga's retreating form.

Had Inuyasha had the ability, he would have beaten the floor with his fist until it bled. How could this have happened? How could he have gone from a determined, spirited hanyou to a lost puppy with its tail in between its legs? A single tear slipped out of his eye, trailing sluggishly across his face, over his nose, before departing from his skin and hitting the floor. 'Kagome…I'm so sorry…I tried…I really tried! I was so close! I'm sorry!' Dry sobs racked his shoulders, though no tears could be shed. He refused to let them escape his eyes. He had given up hope. There was nothing that could save him now…nothing that could bring his strength back…nothing that could help him so that he could save her…

Nothing…

"Hold on there, you'll be good as new in no time." Wait…that man that was fighting with Koga…could he help…? Inuyasha suddenly felt the burden of the darkness and miasma lift off of his heart. The pain ebbed away to a warm sensation that filled his body. He felt as though the darkness was nonexistent…just to test out his range of movement, he lifted his arm to push himself off of the ground to a sitting position. He then gradually pushed himself up to stand, slowly at first, but then moved quicker with each passing second.

He turned to the man, bowing his head in thanks. Not something he normally did, but he was overwhelmed with the fact that he now had another chance to save Kagome, so he was more grateful to this mysterious man than he was to most all people he had come across in the past other than his friends.

"Arigato, but who are you…?" He asked the man. The stranger bowed a hello.

"I just thought that I should return the favor, you saving me and all. I am Tari, who might you be?"

"I'm Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha…so, why did you come here? I came to look for Aria. I vowed I would find her no matter what the cost." His voice lowered, though Inuyasha could see the intense fire in his eyes. This man was fighting for someone he loved as well…maybe they weren't so different after all. Inuyasha lifted his head proudly.

"You're right…I'm not about to give up. I came to save someone very important to me."

Ta-da! I know it wasn't exactly Riku's part, but it was the best I could come up with. See you later!