(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

Chapter 10: A reunion and a Confession

By Trivnar Silversword

Viridian stood on a stony ledge, out of the sight of the workers who swarmed over the metal contraption below. They were situated in a natural cave which traversed the mountain adjacent to the one which housed the temple. The machine itself was placed in a chamber open to the sky.

Viridian watched the workers. They were only polishing and carving the metal; the main frame was finished. All it needed was adamantine, which Loth had yet to produce. Viridian snarled and sent out a mental query towards her mistress.

A few minutes later, Viridian's spine tingled unpleasantly, warning her that Loth was now watching her through the scrying pool.

"My Lady, so kind of you to respond to this humble servant's bidding. We are ready, and waiting for the metal."

Loth's voice growled at her from thin air. "Your trackers were lazy fools! They lay in wait for the blaziken halfway up the path to the Temple, but the cursed Kaijuu teleported before they reached the ambush!"

"Exalted one, I beg forgiveness for my servants' clumsiness. How may I serve now?"

"I will attack the Temple directly with my own Kaijuu. I have no need of your help now, Viridian. Stay and guard the contraption with your life."

Loth's voice faded away, leaving Viridian alone on the ledge once more. She sneered unpleasantly. "It seems I can no longer depend on Loth to secure the metal. I will have to finish this myself."

Rowan stubbed her toe on a fallen branch and stumbled, regaining her balance just in time to prevent herself from blundering into a thorn bush. She winced and walked around the bush. She was tired of wandering around this dratted forest that never ended, tired of walking into hidden puddles, tired of eating berries and roots. Rowan sighed heavily and started to run her fingers through her hair, but it was so tangled she had to stop.

What am I doing here? She wondered again. Rowan's bow caught on a low branch, jerking her back. Hissing in annoyance, she pulled it loose, showering leaves over herself.

"Having troubles?"

Rowan jumped in surprise. Behind her stood a strange Kaijuu, the likes of which she had never seen before. She bore a resemblance to a umbreon, but seemed to be mixed with other Kaijuu. She stood on two legs and was covered in the night black fur, broken by golden rings on her thighs, shoulders, forehead, tail and ears. Long black spines curved out of her back and wrists.

"I am Viridian," purred the Kaijuu. "I can show you the way out of the forest, if you want."

Rowan was instinctively on her guard, although she couldn't tell why. "You can talk!" she exclaimed, feigning surprise.

The Kaijuu's eyes narrowed. "Don't play that game with me. I know who you are and you don't know who I am. You are Rowan, healer, trader, and companion of Kepa Nur."

Rowan's hand twitched towards her bow, but she knew she had no chance against the Kaijuu's superior speed.

"Alright, maybe I am. What are you going to do about it?"

Viridian smiled. "I'm going to take you hostage and trade you to Kepa for adamantium."

Rowan turned and started to run, expecting any moment an attack from Viridian. The Kaijuu didn't disappoint her. A heavy weight slammed into her back, sending her flying against a tree trunk. Rowan was unconscious before she hit the ground.

Kepa woke to an emptying temple. Confused, he watched from the window in his room as Kaijuu and human alike left the buildings and the Courtyard. He left his room and walked out, quite puzzled.

-What's going on?- He asked a moltres flying overhead.

-We are going to fight Loth, away from the Temple, so as not to damage it.- the firebird replied.

The blaziken sighed. "And I have to stay here," he grumbled, "what am I supposed to do here, all alone?"

The girl Gwyn rushed up to him, red robes flapping. "Kepa! I was hoping that I could talk longer, but I have to go. There is a forge at the north end of the Courtyard, if you want something to do."

A charizard swooped down from the sky and she scrambled onto his back. "Younger Kaijuu are staying here, as well as some others to guard them, so you won't be alone."

The charizard lunged into the air, Gwyn waving good-by from his back. Kepa watched them go, then made his way to the north end. Finding the forge was no trouble, as it was the only building with one storey and a large chimney. It was deserted, but ashes still smouldered in the hearth, a couple of pumps from the bellows bringing them into a nice blaze.

He picked up a piece of scrap metal and slipped it into the flames until it turned cherry red. Plucking it out with his bare hands, he bent it in half and hammered it together before thrusting it back into the flames.

For hours he worked the metal, mixing it with other alloys until it shone like silver, then worked it into an intricate pattern. To finish, he used a claw to etch arcane symbols into its polished sides. Kepa yawned and wrapped his finished product in a nearby rag, then secured it with twine.

Wondering how much time he had spent bent over the flames, he grabbed his package and strode out of the forge, almost running down Inali, the abra.

She teleported out of harm's way and shot him a baleful look. A message has come from one of Loth's representatives. Ismitta instructed us not to tell you, but I thought you should know.

She held out her right hand palm up, and Kepa knelt to be on the same level as her. A shimmering image formed above her palm.

A cloaked figure sneered out from under the shadows of its hood. "To those who dare defy my will; I am through with false pretenses! I have in my possession the human trader Rowan, who is to be slain if adamantium is not delivered to me. You are dealing with Viridian now, and I am enough to give Loth nightmares."

The image of the figured was replaced by that of a brown-haired girl, lying prone on a stone floor, then vanished. The memory of that image tugged fiercely at the blaziken's heart.

"Rowan..." Kepa whispered. Inali fixed him with her strange eyes in a sort of what-are-you-going-to-do-now? stare. The blaziken's hand tightened around the package it held.

"Thank you for showing me this. I'm going to go rescue her, one way or another."

I thought you would, the abra called after him, as he dashed off into the falling night. In fact, I counted on it.

Kepa dashed through the Courtyards of Fire and Earth and was passing through that of Air when he was hailed by an aerodactyl.

-You are Kepa Nur, are you not?-

-...yes...-

- I am Stonejaw. Inali asked me to take you to Rowan; hop on! -

Kepa climbed onto the Kaijuu's back, who took flight and circled above the Temple before wheeling off to the west.

Rowan groaned and rolled over. Her hand fell into a puddle of cold water, sending shivers up her spine.

"Wha-? Oh yeah." She sat up and studied her surroundings, unconsciously using her healing powers to get rid of the bump on her head. Rowan was in a small stone chamber, lying on a thin straw pallet. Water dripped from the ceiling to the floor next to her.

Grumbling under her breath, she moved further away from the offensive drip. The chamber looked as if it had been hewn from the sides of a bigger cave by Kaijuu hands. Green moss, perhaps better described as slime, cast a faint, sickish light over the rough stone walls. A scizor lounged at the entrance to her prison, looking intensely bored.

Bait. Again. Her enemies really lacked imagination, she decided. She glanced at the scizor and sighed. No getting past him, no matter how little attention he was paying her at the moment. Would Kepa come for her? She wondered briefly before pushing the thought away. Better not to think of such things and not let her emotions betray her.

Edging back towards the puddle, she dipped her hands into the water and held them up. It looked clean enough, although the glowing moss hardly provided much light. She washed her face with it, the chill reviving her. Using her fingers and water, she then set about to put some order to her hair. It wasn't something she would normally bother with, but she didn't have anything better to do.

After she had groomed herself to her satisfaction, Rowan sat with her legs crossed on the pallet. She let herself relax, and set her mind loose to wander, a trick Scucca had taught her. It removed her from her body, setting her free of its restraints, of its pain.

Completely oblivious of the world around her, she began to wait.

- See that mountain up ahead? That's where they are hiding. Loth built her contraption there, but we don't know the precise location. If you get a chance, you should destroy it.-

"Is..." Kepa was almost scared to ask. "...there any fighting going on?"

-Plenty! We'll fly over it soon, although you won't see much.-

Stonejaw was right, it was too dark to see anything when they soared over the plateau where Loth's Kaijuu fought against the free Kaijuu from the temple and their guardians. Kepa could only see small blasts of light from their attacks and hear distant shouting. Guess that means they didn't even consider giving me in exchange for Rowan, Kepa thought sadly.

Stonejaw banked sharply, causing Kepa to clutch wildly at the Kaijuu's neck spikes.

-Whoops! We've got company!-

Seven skarmories slid out of the darkness. -I can't outfly them carrying you- Stonejaw warned.

"Right. That only leaves us one option." Kepa pulled himself into a sitting position, so that his legs dangled on either side of the aerodactyl's neck. Two balls of flame gathered around his hands and flickered around his arms. The skarmories hissed and began to glow faintly. They dove at them, metal wings aimed to slice.

Kepa's arms shot out, blocking two skarmories. Stonejaw caught another between her powerful jaws, but the others landed blows: two cuts on the aerodactyl's flanks, and one on Kepa's back. The skarmories fell back, then swooped down and came up under Stonejaw's tender belly.

The aerodactyl put on a sudden burst of speed, causing their enemies to overshoot. Her tail lashed out, twining itself around one of the Kaijuu's legs and pulling it along after her. Kepa balanced himself on his hands and used his feet to kick the bird senseless. Stonejaw threw the skarmory at one of its companions; the pair fell from the sky, hopelessly entangled in one another.

Now only five skarmories remained. They flew out into the night, but Kepa could still hear the wind whistling through their wings, proving that they hadn't gone far. Indeed, two birds suddenly rushed out of the darkness, talons extended to grab Kepa.

Stonejaw barked a warning, barely giving the blaziken enough time to throw his arms around her neck as she rolled onto her stomach and grabbed the metal birds in her powerful talons. She clenched her feet, then dropped the lifeless forms back to the ground.

The remaining three followed in the path of the first, sweeping out of the night with talons extended. Kepa snarled and grabbed one of the skarmories. The bird struggled, jabbing its metal wings into the blaziken's flesh. Kepa rammed his fist against the bird's head, knocking it unconscious, then dropped him to the ground. Stonejaw faced the two remaining Kaijuu with open jaws. A ball of energy formed between the twin rows of teeth then shot out, hitting one of the skarmories.

The last Kaijuu dodged another ball of energy and dove at Kepa. Kepa ducked, the sharp beak barely missing him. The movement jerked his shoulder and he gasped in pain. A metal feather had been pulled out of the skarmory's wing and was lodged into his shoulder.

Gritting his teeth, Kepa sent a wave of flame at the skarmory. The bird glowed red hot and screeched angrily.

-Do that again!-

Kepa complied, and this time Stonejaw beat her powerful wings, fanning the fire into a blazing tornado that hungrily swept up the skarmory and sent it spiralling away in an inferno of flame.

Kepa could not resist a grin. "Cool."

The mountain rose up in front of them, its peak lost in cloud. - Here comes our welcoming committee.- A large black shape detached itself from the surrounding rock and flew towards them at an astounding speed. Kepa shuddered as the kaijuu drew close enough to distinguish it. It was a lugia, but instead of being pure white, it was a deep purple, almost black, with ice coloured spines.

Perched on its neck rode a strange Kaijuu. Kepa recognised it at once as being the cloaked figure who had delivered her ultimatum from Inali's palm. She smiled evilly at Kepa, revealing sharp and pointy teeth.

"Glad you could make it! Kepa Nur, I presume? Don't worry, I haven't touched a silver hair of your trader friend. You may follow us."

The dark lugia turned back towards the mountain and Stonejaw followed directly behind, hitching a ride on the suction of air behind the enormous Kaijuu. They soared above the north slope of the mountain, so close to the ground that Kepa had no trouble distinguishing the gaping black maw of the cave's mouth.

The lugia stopped at the mouth of the cave, hovering next to the ground so Viridian could dismount, then flew off again. Stonejaw did the same, winking to Kepa before she flew away.

The blaziken followed the twisted espeon into the dark cave. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, but the stone passageway twisted back and forth so that it was impossible to see more than a few feet ahead and disoriented him so he no longer knew north, south, east or west. As they walked, Viridian instructed him while the blaziken kept a stony silence.

"There is a forge waiting for you. You will make the liquid form of adamantium, then meld it into whatever shape I desire. The trader may assist you, for she shall be kept here in order to grantee your best behaviour. I am the master here, not Loth, so keep that in mind. If you delay, I will be the one to punish you. Loth thought such things were beneath her, but I have no such reservations."

The darkness of the tunnel suddenly gave way to the light of the open. The chamber they now stood in had no roof, letting daylight filter in. Only two tunnels led out of the chamber. A dark shadow was cast over the chamber. Kepa looked up in time to see the dark lugia fly overhead. Viridian caught his look.

"Yes, Astennu guards that exit. Trust me, you don't stand a chance against him."

Five Kaijuu and two humans walked out from the tunnel from which they had come. The Kaijuu were blastoise against which Kepa held no advantage. The first human was Damian. He smiled at Kepa, pulling the other human along by the arm.

"Blaziken. I'm only sorry that I wasn't the one to catch you. It wouldn't have been as... tame as this."

He shoved the other human forward, sending her stumbling across the chamber. Rowan rubbed her arm, sore from where he had grabbed her, and glared at everyone in the chamber, including Kepa.

"You shouldn't have come."

"How could I not?"

Viridian turned and walked out of the tunnel. "The sooner you get to work the better," she tossed over her shoulder. "Guards, retreat to the tunnel entrances."

Kepa waited until the Kaijuu and Damian moved away, then walked up to Rowan and gathered her into his arms. She pressed her cheek into his furry chest, breathing in his scent. It was spicy, with traces of soot and fire. Strong hands capable of bending metal in half gently brushed Rowan's cheek.

"I missed you."

"Me too," smiled Rowan. "You shouldn't have come, but I'm glad you did."

Rowan gently brushed Kepa's fist, which was still clenched tightly around a small object. "What's this?"

"Hnn?" Kepa looked down and unclenched his fist. "Oh that." He looked vaguely embarrassed. "Just something I made in the forge at the Temple while I was waiting. You can have it if you want." Rowan took the package and untied the twine that held it together.

Nestled inside the package lay a bracelet made of entwined strands that shone like silver. Rues were carved along the outside.

"It's beautiful..."

"...Here, let me." Kepa reached over and opened the bracelet on cleverly hidden hinges. He closed it around Rowan's left wrist, leaving a seamless band. The bracelet fit perfectly around her wrist, causing Rowan to blush fiercely.

"Thank you."

Her gaze raised to his face, and to the metal feather still imbedded in his shoulder. Eyes filling with concern, she reached up and grabbed his hand, dragging him over to a bench.

"Here, sit down and let me take care of that." She peered closely at the feather, then nodded briskly. "Ok, this is going to hurt, but try to stay cool, alright?"

Without waiting for an answer, she wrapped both hands around the quill and yanked it out.

"Shades!" Kepa cursed, and would have said more but Rowan had already placed her right hand over the open wound and urged it to heal. Severed muscle knitted back together and skin flowed over the wound, then sprouted fur.

The blaziken stared in surprise at his unmarked shoulder. "Looks like you've been plenty busy on your own!"

Rowan grinned and set down the metal feather on the bench beside Kepa. Her hands were cut where she had grabbed the feather, so she held them out, palms up, and willed them to heal.

"Yes, I did learn quite a few things while we were separated." She then told Kepa all that had befallen her since the battle and her capture by the Free Riders. Both stayed silent for a while when she had done, then Rowan asked. "And you? Where did you go?"

So Kepa told his end of the story, describing the Temple in every detail. "It sounds so wonderful. I wish I could go visit someday, when all of... this is over."

Kepa stared at the ground. "Listen Rowan... I was never entirely truthful about this whole business, as you might have guessed. I supposed now would be as good a time as any to tell you the truth... all of it."

Rowan frowned and sat down beside him. "Well yes, I guessed there was more but... go on."

"Please... I'm sorry that I never told you... it's not that I didn't trust you... well, I suppose I didn't. I guess I never got the courage to tell you because I don't quite know what to make of it myself."

Rowan was twisting with impatience but she managed to keep her mouth shut.

"The truth of it is..." he dragged a foot along the ground. " I was once a human." Now that it was out, Kepa couldn't stop the words. "I was a blacksmith, the best for miles around. People came from all over to request my work. That was how I first met Loth; she was a regular customer. I would always experiment with different metals, different combinations and when I stumbled upon adamantium, I was ecstatic.

"I told Loth about it, thinking that she would see my vision, see all the ways in which an unbreakable metal could help the people. That was when her true nature revealed itself. I soon realised that Loth would much rather put the metal to evil use, so I ran. I sought refuge with the Free Riders, but they wanted to make weapons with it, so I ran again.

"Eventually, Loth caught up to me and tried to get the secret, but I refused to tell her. She lost her temper, and did... something. Whatever sorcery she worked, it transformed me into a Kaijuu, a torchic. I had no memory of who I was and spent the days as a wild Kaijuu. Loth had no use for a dumb animal, so I was free. Then I evolved into combusken, and the trouble started. I started to remember, brief flashes of my previous life, suggesting dark, uncomprehensible things.

"I evolved again and the memories came in stronger. I could talk, and knew how to make things out of metal. I knew my name, and, gradually, pieced together my life before Loth shattered it. I still don't remember everything though."

He sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"Well. That certainly does explain a lot." Rowan stared vaguely ahead, mulling over what she had learnt. Deep down, she felt curiously relieved, although she couldn't think of why. Then she realised; she was relieved that her growing feelings were not towards a Kaijuu, but a human under the form of a Kaijuu. The thought caused her to giggle nervously.

Hastily she cleared her throat. "Erm... so are you going to make adamantium for Loth? Or Viridian?" she said to change the subject.

Kepa finally looked at her, his golden eyes profoundly sad. "I don't remember how. It's one of the things that hasn't come back yet."

The healer's eyes widened in shock. This surprised her more than Kepa's confession.

"You... you don't remember? Then how- how are we going to..."

"Get out of there?" he finished. " I have no idea, but by the looks on the faces of our guards, they think it's time we stopped talking and got to work.."

Now it was Rowan's shoulders that slumped. "That's great, just great."

"Don't worry, I'll think of something," laughed Kepa. He stood and started towards the forge, but stoped halfway and turned to her. "You've changed, Rowan, and for the better. You've grown."

(A/N)

Kaijuu

-Umbreon: a black, cat-like kaijuu, with rabbit-like ears. Has golden a ring encircling each ear and the tail, as well as rings on each leg and forehead. Element - night / dark

-Aerodactyl: ressembles a flying dinosaur. Has grey hide with a large jaw filled with sharp teeth and long tail ending in a triangular tip. Element - rock / air

-Scizor: A red, insect-like kaijuu with a powerful exoskeleton of metal. Although it has wings, it cannot fly. Stands on two legs and has crab-like pincers. Element - metal

-Skarmory: bird-like, with feathers and skin made of a living metal which is grey in color, apart from the wings, which are red. Element - air / metal