(A/N) Kaijuu/pokemon aren't my creations, and I'm not getting any money for it. Paws off my original ideas and characters!

The Adamant Key

By Trivnar Silversword

Chapter three: Unexpected delay

Rowan awoke stiff and cramped. Every muscle complained and her cuts stung angrily. Groaning, she sat up and tried to make sense of what she saw. Why was she sitting in a wood? Where were Mist, Coal and her cart? She glanced to her left and saw the blaziken. Oh. She remembered.

The Trader's stomach grumbled with hunger so she stood shakily and left Kepa, looking for something they could eat. Keeping under the cover of the copse, she found the dark green manya berries and some edible roots, thanks to a sandshrew who deserted his meal at her approach.

Kepa Nur was still sleeping when she returned, so she ate her half of the sparse meal and started to do something about her clothes. Tearing up her sleeves, Rowan managed to cover herself up more decently.

Kepa stirred and woke, sitting up as carefully as she had, suggesting that his fall, although shorter, had been just as brutal.

"Morning. I scavenged some food for us to eat. It's not much, but it will keep us from starving."

As Kepa ate, Rowan redid the splint on his leg, tying it more securely with strips of bark and cloth. Satisfied, she stared at him until he finished, her green gaze unfaltering.

"What? What is it, is something wrong?"

She shook her head, "No, but I have a few more questions about what I learnt last night."

Kepa heaved a long-suffering sigh, "All right, I have a question for you, too. So, what do you want to know?"

Rowan paused to collect her thoughts. "Well, first of all, this...Loth you spoke of. How did she learn about your... skill?"

"Loth often bought metals from my forge. I told her of my discovery, through an apprentice because she didn't know I could talk. But when she heard, her eyes shone with lust and power." Kepa shook his head sadly, "she said horrible things... I got mad...I yelled at her, calling her a monster. She didn't even look surprised that I could talk, only smiled evilly and vowed she would one day get my secret. I ran, and have been running ever since, going from town to town, never staying longer than half a year."

Rowan wrapped her arms around her legs. She didn't like the sound of this Loth. "So... You had a question for me?"

"Yes!" the blaziken crossed his arms and glared, "Why did you have me run off that cliff!"

"Oh...," she giggled sheepishly, " well, you weren't supposed to fall, only run along the edge of the plateau. We could have hidden among the rocks of the east edge and they wouldn't have been able to track us." She shrugged, "I didn't know how far away the edge of the plateau was."

Kepa stood up, still glaring, "you could have at least warned me! Come, we should get going before our tracks are found."

Stifling another giggle, Rowan stood and followed after the limping blaziken.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Rowan questioned as they walked. "Do you have a plan or something or are you just going to run for the rest of your life?"

Kepa frowned thoughtfully. "I don't really know... I want to do something for I have no desire to keep on running. I mean, look what happened to the last town I stayed in. Completely destroyed and all my fault." He kicked at a stone with his good leg.

"I suppose Loth hopes that you'll feel guilty about it and give yourself up," Rowan thought aloud. "The way I see it, the only way would be to hide in a place where there would be no way she could ever find you."

Kepa Nur stared at the blue sky, "yeah... too bad there is no such place..."

Rowan laughed, happy and light as a bell, "but there is! A temple hidden away in the Mountains of the Sun where only those of pure heart can find it. There, priests watch over the rarest Kaijuu and keep them safe."

Kepa snorted, "that's just an old legend, told to children before bedtime."

Now how does he know that? Rowan wondered. "Yes, it's a legend, but I believe that in every legend the seeds of truth are hidden. If we can reach the Mountains of the Sun then I think we could find this temple." She chose not to mention that she had a friend who had once visited the Temple and returned with a rare kaijuu as a companion.

"Why not?" he shrugged, "don't have anywhere else to go, do I? I might as well go off chasing legends."

Rowan beamed at him, "You forget; adamantine is supposed to be a legend too. If you can make that, surely we can find a temple!"

"Your optimism is nothing short of amazing" Kepa said, but smiled to take the bite out of his words. "I suppose I should tell you that Loth lives in the Mountains of the Sun."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. The nearest town is Pewter; we can get clothes and supplies there."

They travelled all day, through fields alternating with small woods. Their pace was slow owing to Kepa's leg but the weather stayed warm and sunny all day and their journey was pleasant. Beedril scouts occasionally flew over them but Kepa's keen eyes picked them out long before, giving them time to hide.

"I would feel quite stupid if these were wild beedril" Rowan remarked as they crouched in a thick cover of thorn bushes. The thorns were long and curved, piecing her rags with ease and leaving bloody scratches behind.

Kepa ignored her obvious discomfort, watching the beedril through the branches. "It is better not to take chances."

"You're one to talk. I bet you would change your tone if these thorns passed through your skin."

He turned to look at her then, and started to laugh. The trader was spread out on the ground, as flat as she could make herself, barely breathing, trying not to brush up on the thorn laden branches above.

"I'm sorry, it was a rather tactless hiding-place. I forgot humans have fairly thin skin." he chuckled.

"It's not funny!" Rowan glared at him angrily, muttering under her breath. "Is it gone?" Without waiting for Kepa to reply she started to squirm backwards. "I don't care. The whole world can go to Hell but I refuse to stay under here one moment longer!"

Free of the bushes, she sat up and started to pull thorns from her legs. "If this keeps up I won't have an inch of skin left when we reach Pewter. Remind me to buy thick leathers next time I tramp cross-country with you. Maybe chain-mail as well."

"Ah, don't worry, my pretty, that won't be necessary. We'll take better care of you than that nasty blaziken."

Rowan whirled around, pain forgotten as she stared down the shaft of a wickedly barbed arrow. The man holding it was dressed in rugged, earth coloured clothes. Golden earings flashed in the setting sun. Five other men stood around him, all armed with bows. Rowan swallowed nervously. These were bandits, roving thieves, the hated enemy of Traders.

"Why don't you call your friend out." The first man instructed. "Make him come out slowly."

Rowan shook her head and screamed, "Kepa! Get out of here! Run!" She tried to say more but a dagger was pressed to her throat, cutting off her words.

"Not too wise, my little friend."

Two more men immerged from the bushes.

"It doesn't matter; he's gone." one of them said.

Rowan sighed with relief. "I don't have anything you could possibly want, as you can tell from my clothes. No money, no goods, no Kaijuu."

The dagger was removed and she was hauled to her feet. "Nothing you say?" The bandit leaned close and tweaked her chin, a pleasant grin on his face. "Not even a certain secret metal? I think you would be good bait, don't you?"

Rowan glared and spat in his face. The bandit moved away angrily, wiping spit from his face, no longer pleasant. "If you don't cooperate I might just give you to my friends here. They haven't had a woman in quite a while and I think they'd enjoy you."

"Scum!" she hissed as two bandits grabbed her arms and led her away. As soon as they were away from the leader one hit her across the face, splitting her lip. Hanging her head, Rowan let herself be led, using all her will to fight back tears.

Who would save her now? They were too many for Kepa to risk himself being caught with, especially with a wounded leg. The bandits surely had Kaijuu nearby, waiting to strike. No, he was now far away, hopefully heading towards the Mountains of the Sun.

Oblivious now to her surroundings, she was only remotely aware of being slung on a tauros's back and moving west, away from Pewter.

She had no idea for how long they travelled or where they were going. A filthy strip of cloth had been wrapped around her eyes while her hands and ankles were bound. Thankfully, they hadn't gagged her, although that probably meant there was no one to hear her scream, wherever they were. Eventually, she fell asleep, her dreams uneasy and troubled.

The trader awoke with a start as she was thrown none too gently to the ground. No one bothered to remove her blindfold but she gathered from the sounds that the bandits had picketed their tauros mounts near her and built a fire. The ground under was grassy telling her they were far from the rocky plateau.

I wonder how long they'll keep me once they realise that Kepa isn't coming. Perhaps they won't let me go! Rowan banished the thought angrily. Of course they'll let me go. I would be of no further use to them. Still...

She rolled until she faced the bandit's fire and started to work at the rope that bound her wrists. It was made of coarse rope and quickly chafed her wrists. Her fingers, not healed from the fall down the cliff started to bleed again. Grimacing, she finally gave up.

I have a knife in the side of my boot, she thought angrily, but I can't reach it! Rowan twisted angrily; she didn't like being unable to do anything. Slumping against her bonds, she drifted to sleep again.

Rowan woke sometime before dawn, shivering in the cool air. A strange noise had woken her and she strained her ears, trying to discern it. There! It was a gentle sizzling noise, interrupted by irritated snorts. The trader closed her eyes again and focussed on the sound. It almost sounded like someone was burning through rope.

The noise continued on for a while, then stopped, to be replaced by a large CRACK! and a flash of blinding light that seared through Rowan's closed eyelids. The tauros bellowed in pain and surprise. Blinded by the light and terrified of the noise they bolted, while the bandits struggled out of their blankets and hurried after their mounts.

"That ought to keep them busy for a while." Kepa Nur's voice was smug as he rolled her over and used a small flicker of flame to burn through the ropes that held her.

Rowan stared at the blaziken in surprise. "Y-you came back for me?"

Kepa frowned, "of course I did! Did you think I'd have left you there!"

Rowan didn't answer, sitting up as the bonds were cut and rubbing the circulation back into her hands. She couldn't see him clearly, only as a shape outlined against the horizon. Only his eyes glinted grey in the feeble light. Since it was dark, she couldn't tell where they were, only that she sat under a large oak tree.

"They are using me to bait you. This is probably a trap," she said bluntly, standing up then stumbling into him as her legs buckled under her, cramped from being pressed together all day.

"Steady there!" Kepa's arm gently wound about her waist, supporting her as she stomped the circulation back into her feet.

"Get them now!"

Before human or kaijuu could react a metal net was flung down on top of them, its weight dragging them to their knees.

"Got 'em!" cried the bandit triumphantly, starting to climb down from the tree from which the trap had been set.

"Get down!" Startled at the urgency in Kepa's voice, Rowan lay down again, flattening herself against the ground and making herself as small as possible. The blaziken lay down over her, making sure he covered every inch of the trader before he sent white hot fire through the net.

The rings turned bright red then started to melt, dripping hot melted iron onto Kepa's fur. Rowan, face pressed into the ground, had no idea what was going on, only that she couldn't hold her breath much longer. She started to struggle, pushing at the massive weight above her, to no avail. Rowan was starting to black out when the weight was suddenly lifted and cool air filled her lungs.

Kepa pulled her to her feet and she looked around in surprise at the bits of melted net that littered the ground around them. Two bandits were climbing down from the tree as fast as they could go, swearing as twigs snagged into their clothes.

"This way." Kepa grabbed her hand leading her away from the tree, in the opposite direction from the one the fleeing tauros had taken.

"I hope you can see better than I can." Rowan complained as she stubbed her toes on a rock.

"Don't worry; they'll expect us to run far but there is a hiding-place nearby where they will never find us. Can't run on this bad leg anyway."

He led her to an abandoned dugtrio burrow, its entrance carefully hidden by a dead thorn bush placed on top of the hole. Their way lit by a small flame flickering in Kepa's palm, the pair descended into the bowels of the earth, finally stopping in a relatively large chamber.

Rowan sighed in relief, flopping down on the hard earthen floor while Kepa arranged for a large fire in the middle of the chamber. It provided a fair bit of light, but no heat.

"That's a neat trick," smiled Rowan, stretching out her aching fingers towards the blaze.

Kepa grabbed her wrists, peering at the mangled fingers, then glared accusingly at her.

She shrugged. "They haven't had time to heal since our fall and all these adventures are making them worse."

He shook his head, "you should have complained, or something!" Holding both wrists in one hand, Kepa reached over and tore a strip of cloth from Rowan's rags then carefully bound her hands.

"There!" he muttered angrily, although he released her hands gently. "Next time take better care of yourself!"

Rowan smiled as he sat down beside her and glared into the flames. He's so human, she caught herself thinking again, wondering if she dared ask him about it.

"You'd better get some sleep while you can."

Rowan looked up into his grey eyes, startled, "...yes, I suppose I should. Thank you for the rescue, Kepa."

"You would have done the same." The Kaijuu dimmed the fire until it was only a comforting glow and Rowan lay down to sleep.

(A/N)

Kaijuu:

-Tauros: resembles a bull with three long tails, has a red stone inset in their foreheads. Element none

-Dugtrio: The evolved form of diglett, it has three heads and its body is never seen above ground, only the heads, which are oval and chocolate coloured.