Disclaimer: Kaijuu/pokemon are not my creations. Paws off my original characters and ideas!
The Adamant Key
By Trivnar Silversword
Chapter Four: On the Road to Pewter
Kepa woke her some time later, gently shaking her awake. "Come on, it's time to go."
Rowan sat up and yawned hugely. "Ugh, I'm sore all over." Her hands hurt more too, a steady throbbing ache. "How far are we from Pewter?"
"About a week, I figure. Those rogues took us a bit off course but the ones tracking us will have a hard time making sense of all these tracks, so they bought us some time."
She nodded and rose, stooping to avoid hitting her head against the low ceiling. "We can't get there soon enough" she proclaimed fervently.
Kepa turned and led the way out of the burrow. Outside, the sun was right above them, telling them it was around noon. Rowan started giggling as she caught sight of Kepa's back. It was covered in small silver disks, remains of the net that he had melted the previous night. The iron had dripped onto his back and gotten stuck in his fur.
"What's so funny?" The Blaziken asked, scanning the horizon for any sign of either group of pursuers. Sunlight reflected off the pieces of iron, making him quite visible.
"Very subtle, you are. Don't move, this might hurt a bit." She walked closer and started to pull the bits of metal out.
"Ouch!" Kepa squirmed as Rowan pulled out metal and fur. "What the heck are you doing?"
As a reply, she handed him the metal and struck out towards Pewter. Kepa Nur turned it over in his hands, still confused. Shrugging, he dropped the pieces into a bush and limped after Rowan.
Two bright eyes peered out of the bush's trunk and gazed at the trader and Kaijuu until they disappeared from sight. The bush quivered, its leaves turning pink, then melted into a pink blob.
"Di- ditto!" It said proudly, holding up the pieces of metal. The blob shifted into a spearow, holding the metal firmly in its talons. "Spearoooow!" Beating its small wings strongly, the shape-shifter rose into the air and flew off east, towards the Mountains of the Sun. So occupied in its mission, it didn't notice the fox-like eyes that watched it go.
The spearow flew straight towards its destination. The journey to the Mountains of the Sun took it one week, although it could have done it in four days. The time was not wasted, however, for the ditto collected information from many Kaijuu on the way.
It arrived in a deep valley, a river having sliced its way though the rock thousands of years ago. Halfway up the north side of the valley, in a face otherwise smooth, was a carved arch. The spearow flew through the arch, agilely flying through the corridors of the hollow mountain. It flew into a great chamber, where a dark skinned, black haired woman lounged in a chair, reading a book.
Loth rose as the spearow entered and held out her arm. Exhausted, the ditto perched on it and dropped the metal into her other hand.
She fingered the metal as the ditto returned to its original form and began to give its report. Loth addressed the alakazam sitting beside her chair.
What does she say?
She has seen the one you seek. Damian did not lie when he said that he found the trail once more. The blaziken travels in the company of a human trader, by the name of Rowan. They were attacked by bandits, but they survived and are heading towards Pewter. Eventually, they seek the Temple of the Ancients.
Loth smiled. It was not a nice smile, more like the look of a savage beast before it pounced on its prey.
The Temple of the Ancients? He must believe that he will be safe there. Kepa, Kepa, you should know I'd follow you to the bowels of the earth and beyond. I think we should have a welcome party for him, don't you?
The alakazam's eyes twinkled. Yes, my lady. I shall take care of it at once.
Loth watched as the Kaijuu faded from view. Cradling the exhausted ditto in her arms, she walked out of the room and down the rich corridors of her dwelling. She passed many Kaijuu on the way, all female. They all served Loth faithfully, her personal army. With the alakazam Lorelei serving as translator, each and every Kaijju would give their life for their mistress.
She took the ditto to the infirmary, manned by one of the five hundred humans living in the complex. "Take good care of her; she has served me well."
"Yes, my Lady." The healer bowed, gently taking the ditto and bustling off.
Lorelei? Send Viridian to keep an eye on our prize. Then seen if you can get hold of Damian. I've got a job for him.
Rowan and Kepa covered quite a bit of ground in four days, even though both were rather a bit worse for wear. The ground flattened out into huge fields of swaying grass, which was easy to walk through and to hide in. Around noon, Rowan spotted a building on the horizon.
"Hey, look up ahead! I think it's a farmhouse! I really, really hope it is," she added. Kepa shielded his eyes with his paw. "Yes, I think it is as well. Perhaps they'll let us stay there tonight."
Rowan closed her eyes happily. "Mmm, even if we get to sleep in the stable it will be nice to rest without keeping a watch."
Both unconsciously quickened their strides, Kepa limping along gamely, so they reached the farmhouse midway through the afternoon. Two rapidash and a tauros grazed contentedly in a fenced-in field beside the house, not paying them the least bit of attention as Rowan walked up to the front door and knocked loudly.
A middle-aged woman opened it slowly and peered out. She had greying brown hair tied up in a bun and wore a stained apron over a faded dress. Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in Rowan's ragged state.
The trader smiled sheepishly. "Sorry to bother you, but I wondered if you could give a place to stay for the night. I'm a trader, but I ran into some bandits two days ago and they took all my stuff."
The woman opened her door all they way. "You poor child, are you alright?"
"It would have been worse, but my blaziken protected me. If it causes no trouble, could we sleep in your barn?"
The woman tutted and pulled Rowan inside, gesturing for the blaziken to follow. "Don't be ridiculous, you have a room inside, a good supper at our table and some new clothing. Tess! Come here please, Tess!"
Rowan was led into the kitchen where a girl of about ten stood on a stool, stirring dough in a large bowl. Her wide brown eyes stared at the strangers curiously.
"We don't get very many visitors," the woman continued. "My husband and sons are out working, they'll only be back around suppertime. My name is Liz. This is my daughter Iva and that's my other one, Tess."
Tess tottered into the kitchen, sucking her thumb and toting a persian plushy. She looked up at Rowan fearlessly and held out a pudgy hand. "I'm four."
Rowan crouched down and smiled. "I'm called Rowan, and that's my blaziken, Kepa Nur. His name means 'stone fire'. Have you ever seen a blaziken before?"
Tess shook her head, peering up at Kepa curiously. Rowan winked and stood up. "Maybe when he's feeling better he'll give you a piggyback ride."
Liz hustled Rowan over to a chair. "Iva, go get some of Blaine's clothes, they should fit our young visitor. Tess, get me some bandages and some salve, you know where they are." Both girls rushed off and Liz started tugging at Rowan's clothes. "Now take these off and let's see how badly you're hurt."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rowan saw Kepa abruptly turn around and hurriedly stifled a giggle. Liz soon patched her up, wrapping her hands in soft white cloth after applying a soothing layer of salve. More of it was spread on her worst bruises and cuts. Blaine was obviously one of the aforementioned sons, but his clothes fit well enough.
"This is good stuff," Rowan said, sniffing the slave critically. The scent filled her nostrils, taunting her with its familiar overtones. She could identify most of the herbs that made it up, but some of them eluded her. "Mind if I make a few modifications to it?"
"Go right ahead," agreed Liz. "We have tons of the stuff."
"Stay here, Kepa, I'll be right back." Rowan rushed outside and came back five minutes later, clutching plants in her fist. She crushed the plants into the original salve, giving it a bitter smell. She made Kepa sit in the chair she had vacated and undid the rags around his leg while the three women looked on.
"As this evaporates, it will take away much of the pain," Rowan explained as she rubbed the salve into his ankle. After a good night's rest he should be able to put his weight on it again." She rebound it with clean bandages and slapped him gently on the knee. "Feel better already, don't you?"
Tess tugged on her mother's apron. "Can the lady make Ratty better?"
Rowan stood up. "Ratty?"
"My son found a rattata in the barn," Liz explained. "It must have gotten too close to one of our rapidash, poor thing, and got burnt."
"Oh? I'll go take a look at it, if you want. Is it still out in the barn?"
"Yes, Blaine got a box for it and made it as comfortable as he could. Tess will show you the way."
"Good," smiled Rowan, "I have to earn my keep. Coming, Kepa?"
The two followed the little girl out to the barn and to where the kaijuu lay, gasping and whimpering. Rowan could see right away that its chances weren't good and hastily sent Tess off to find a plant that would help sooth it. The rattata's eyes were closed tightly and it whimpered with every second breath. She opened the bottle of slave and peered over the kaijuu.
"Thanks, my leg really does feel better," said Kepa, now that there was no one within earshot.
Rowan smoothed the salve over the rattata's burnt skin. "I thought it would. This stuff is really good. A professional healer made this, or I miss my guess. It must have cost quite a bit."
The rattata squeaked and Kepa smiled. "You're making him feel better, too."
"Yeah..." she said, frowning. "Say...is it hard... getting treated like you're an animal?" she asked, changing the subject.
"I am an animal."
"You know that's not what I meant."
Kepa sighed. "It's better than all the questions and strange looks that I'd get if they knew I could talk. Don't worry about it, I don't mind."
But Rowan could not ignore or forget the sad look in his eyes as he turned away. Tess ran back inside the barn, halting any further conversation.
"I found the plant! What do you want it for?"
Rowan gently took the plant and fed it slowly to the rattata. "A burn can give a kaijuu a tummy-ache and this plant will make it feel better and also keep him from getting too active. It will make him sleep, which will help him heal faster."
They returned to the house and were soon joined by the rest of the family; Liz's husband, Scott and the three boys, Jordan, Benjamin and Blaine. All three boys were thrilled with Kepa, wanting to know if Rowan had tamed him on her own or gotten him from a professional kaijuu trainer.
"Er... I found him wounded when he was a torchic and nursed him back to health," she invented, a little nervous with all three pairs of eyes fixed at her.
"He doesn't talk much," Jordan, the second youngest pointed out. "Gwyr and Gawayn are always talking to us."
Rowan guessed he was referring to the two rapidashes. "No, he's never spoken to me, ever since I found him. Something terrible must have happened to him, that day I found him."
The boys exchanged awed looks and Rowan had to fight to keep a straight face. The couple were overjoyed to have company and they talked until it was dark while the children played around with Kepa.
Once Tess fell asleep on the floor, all the other children were sent to bed as well and Rowan took that opportunity to return to the barn to check on the rattata. Liz came with her this time, curious to see the healer at work.
"He's doing better," Rowan said as they approached, "but he's not go-" She choked off as she drew close enough to see the kaijuu's sides were no longer moving. The jar of salve fell from her fingers and rolled away into the darkness as she rushed forward and checked the rattata for signs of life.
Liz gently drew her back. "It's alright, I'm sure you did your best. I'll tell the children he got better and went home. Here, you go back inside and get some rest, I'll take care of it." She gave her a little push back towards the house.
Rowan numbly returned to the house and to the room allotted to her. There was only one bed in the small room, but it was a double so Rowan and Kepa could settle in it quite comfortably. As she neared the door, she could hear the blaziken moving around inside. She quickly composed her face into a cheerful mask and entered, yawning.
"I'll be glad to get a decent night sleep," Kepa commented. He lay on the half of the bed closest to the wall, arms folded under his head.
"Don't you want any sheets?" Rowan asked, as she slid under the comforter.
He chuckled. "I'm a fire kaijuu. Do you really think I get cold?"
Rowan recalled all the times she and Mist had slept pressed up against Coal for warmth and chuckled. "No, I guess not. Good night, then."
The healer stared into the darkness for a long time before falling into an uneasy sleep, chased by demons of past and present alike. A long dead spectre was chasing her across a field of thorns, howling incoherently. She didn't dare turn to see how close it was, but she felt it catching up, as the thorns that lashed her legs did not affect her pursuer. A hand with an iron grip suddenly locked on to her shoulder and the spectre moaned, "Rowan..."
"Rowan! Rowan, c'mon, you're going to wake everybody up!"
"Hn?" She opened her eyes and found herself staring into Kepa's concerned grey ones.
"Thank goodness... you started tossing and turning, then moaning and calling out. I was scared you were going to wake our hosts."
"Oh..." She closed her eyes and leaned back against the pillows. "What was I saying?"
"...I couldn't tell, it was all garbled. What's wrong?"
Tears slid down her cheeks quietly, following the path of her tattoo. Impulsively, Kepa took her in his arms and let her cry against his shoulder. Eventually her sobs died down and he released her.
"I'm sorry," whispered Rowan, embarrassed. "I don't usually crumble like this."
"What happened?"
"The rattata... died." She shook her head. "I've seen lots of death as a healer. I know kaijuu get sick and that sometimes there is nothing that we mortals can do about it. Heavens, I've even killed kaijuu to put them out of their misery, so I don't know why this affected me so much. I guess... I'm just tired."
"We have been through a lot crammed in a short time," Kepa agreed, eyes filled with sympathy. "The dream... was something chasing you?"
"My brother,"she said and didn't elaborate. Kepa wisely didn't press her to clarify. He could tell by her eyes, flared wide open, that she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.
The blaziken sighed and gathered her against him again. "Try to go back to sleep, alright? You need it."
Rowan was scared the spectre would reappear the second she closed her eyes, but with Kepa's arms around her, she felt safer. Snuggling up to him as she would to Coal, she finally fell into a dreamless sleep.
Kepa watched the girl sleeping quietly in his arms and felt something that he had thought he had lost long ago stir.
(A/N)
-Ditto: looks like a pink blob. Ditto is a shape-shifter, and can imitate the appearance and skills of any kaijuu, provided it has seen the kaijuu before. Element varies
-Spearow: A bird kaijuu with short wings, with brown and red feathers. Has a fierce temperament. Element air
-Alakazam: evolutionary form of kadabra, who in turn evolved from abra. stands on two legs, hide a tan colour. A triangular head with two long whiskers. Has a darker coloured exoskeleton around the chest and shoulders, wrists and knees. Element psychic
-Rapidash: evolutionary form of ponyta. A white horse with flames for a mane and on the fetlocks. Has a single horn in the middle of the forehead. Element fire
-Persian: a cat kaijuu, with a red gem in the center of the forehead. Has beautiful white fur and ears edged with black. Element none
-Rattata: a very common kaijuu, resembles a small, purple mouse with a white belly. Element none
-Torchic: Resembles a young chicken and the beginning evolutionary step to blaziken. ( Torchic - Combusken - Blaziken)