(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 11- Adamantium!

By Trivnar Silversword

"Rowan, bring me the feather that you pulled out of my shoulder, would you?"

Curiously, she looked up from where she sat, meditating. Kepa was bent over the flames, eyes heavy and intense as he stared at whatever lay among them. The long, white tails that grew from the back of his head were streaked black with soot.

For hours he had busied himself at the forge, while she sat with nothing to do except meditate and practice the control exercises Scucca had show her.

Rowan rose and brought him the feather, which still lay on the bench where she had left it after she had pulled it out. Instead of sitting back down though, she hovered next to his shoulder, sweat pouring down her face from the intense heat.

"This metal," he mumbled, "is different than what has been pried from the ground. It is living metal, which grows and is flexible while still attached to whatever beast it came from. It has something to do with this, I know it! The memories are right there, but I can't access them!"

Kepa barred his teeth and shook his head in frustration. Rowan laid a hand on his arm.

"Relax. The memories will come when they are ready. Let them come to you, don't bother exhausting yourself searching for them."

He stiffened, resenting the advice, then relaxed and smiled down at her. "When did you get so wise?"

She grinned and settled back down on her previous spot on the floor. "I wouldn't call it wisdom," she remarked before attempting to regain a state of meditation once more.

-wan? A stray thought danced persistently around her, keeping her from achieving total oblivion. She tried to ignore it, but it came again, more strongly. Rowan!

Rowan twitched. She knew that touch! Scucca!

Yes. Where are you? Your thoughts bumped against mine a couple of times. Are you alright?

I'm fine. Kepa and I are Viridian's prisoners. She let him read the memory of that happenstance. Looks like she beat the Riders to it. Kepa has some sort of plan, but he hasn't told me what it is, in case we're overheard.

There was a pause, then the empath replied. We have been watching a battle between Loth and the Temple. It seems neither side knows you've been captured. This Viridian... seems to me like she's manipulating Loth. I told Tyuru, and he's outraged that Loth is winning and insists that we join the battle against her. I'll send you what I see, alright?

Send me what you see? What do you mean by that?

A picture formed before her closed eyes, from Scucca's point of view, and erased all her questions. Rowan relaxed and watched.

Scucca had felt Rowan's frustration at being left out of the events happening all around her, although she hadn't said as much. Cloistered away in a large cave, with only one opening to the sky, she could only tell if it was night or day. So he let her see through him, as he rode his charging tauros mount to battle.

They were above the battle, which raged on a open plateau. The Free Riders rode single file along a thin ledge, winding down towards the battleground. To Scucca's right rose rocky cliffs, a madness to climb without a talented Kaijuu. Flashes of light from the battle below cast eerie shadows upon the stone face. To the left, a sheer drop off, leading downwards into oblivion.

Scucca forced himself to look away, to keep his eyes firmly fixed between his tauros's horns. The empath did not like battles, not in the least. The emotions flowed too strongly, in out-of-control rushes which his mental shields could not block indefinitely. At one point, he would be completely consumed by the fear, anger and pain. He wasn't looking forward to it.

As they neared the battle, it rushed up to meet them. A charizard hovered beside them, fire flickering in its jaws. A girl with white hair and ninetails' ears rode on his neck, along with a boy, whose black eyes stood clearly out. They eyed the Free Riders uneasily.

"Who are you? What do you want of this place?" challenged the girl.

Scucca reached out with his mind. Gwyn Animoro. Ninetails-human hybrid. Accompanied by the charizard Cinder and the human Namir. Temple forces. The empath instantly sent the information to his leader.

Tyuru shouted back a response. "We are the Free Riders, trained mercenaries and enemies of Loth! We desire to bring about her downfall!"

The girl wiped a hand across her forehead, leaving a bloody streak behind. "Welcome then, and good luck. Those from the Temple all wear red bands."

Tyuru urged his mount forward once more, and the Free Riders rushed into battle. Scucca's shields were instantly assaulted. He gritted his teeth and forged ahead.

The Temple's troops were gathered on the higher part of the plateau, struggling hand to hand with Loth's followers. Another battle raged in the sky, with those kaijuu who could fly. Although the Temple had the power of the Ancients, they were completely outnumbered by the more common kaijuu.

"Scucca!" hollered Tyuru, "take half of the Riders and circle round, catch those bastards from behind! I'll take Makani and the other half."

"Right!" As he raised his hand, half the Free Riders peeled off and gathered around him. Tyuru waved goodbye and led his company away. Scucca cast an appraising look over his followers.

"You all ready? Let's go!" They crashed into the back of Loth's troops, who struggled to turn around and face this new foe. Scucca hefted his spear and thrust it through a human's throat, tears streaming down his face as his shields failed to block the dying man's anguish.

His battle trained tauros dodged attacks from kaijuu, while retaliating with its own. He winced as the tauros gored a nidoran. Scucca saw Galatea dart past him and twirl, the heavy metal balls at the end of her braid smashing bones while she expertly wielded a short sword.

He briefly wondered where her mount had gone, then a rapidash singed his tauros's rump. The kaijuu reared, sending Scucca toppling head over heels next to a blastoise. Scucca froze as a heavy foot descended towards him, intent on crushing.

Scucca! Snap out of it! Tyuru's mental shout jolted him out of his stupor. The empath blinked, and drove his spear up into the kaijuu's foot. Large drops of blood rained down on him as he wrenched the weapon out.

Gwyn and her charizard swooped down, both forming fireballs and throwing them at the blastoise. The water kaijuu tried to counter with a blast of water, but the fire was too powerful; it dried up the water and engulfed the blastoise.

Scucca backed away from the heat, twirling his spear defensively. A persian ran at him: he crouched and braced the butt of the spear against the ground. Unable to stop its headlong rush, the white cat impaled itself on the shaft. Grimacing with distaste, he pushed the carcass off himself and pulled the spear free.

"Scucca! Ghost kaijuu!" One of the still mounted Free Riders pointed wildly at the sky, where a purple cloud was descending.

"Stay away from them!", the empath shouted back. "We are no match for them!"

"Mewwwww." Pearl the mew faced the oncoming horde. "Mew." She blinked, and was instantly incased in a pink bubble. Scucca watched, open mouthed, as another bubble formed, this one around the purple cloud of ghost kaijuu.

The ghosts angrily tried to push their way out of the bubble, and when that failed, to attack through it. Mew flicked her tail tauntingly at the ghosts as their attempts failed.

Scucca opened himself up to her joy, letting it banish the pain and fear. He laughed happily, dodging a energy blast, then brought up his spear. The unmounted Free Riders gathered behind him and they pushed forward in a massive attempt to break Loth's ranks.

However, humans don't last long when assaulted by the powers wielded by kaijuu. One by one the Free Riders died and each dragged Scucca closer to despair. He could no longer hold up his shields. They shattered, and he was engulfed in a wave of emotion.

Rowan was sent from his mind, her last perception of the empath being his rage filled thoughts. Her eyes flew open and she stared vaguely at the floor, stunned by the violence of what she had seen.

Eventually the implications began to sink in. Curiously, she glanced over at where Damian stood guard. Kepa had told her he was Loth's man. So if Viridian was manipulating Loth behind her back, it would explain why he was being reduced to guard duty.

Rowan wished she could send what she had learnt telepathically to Kepa. Sighing, she stood and wobbled over to him.

"You awake? What were you doing? I tried to talk to you a number of times, but you didn't answer."

"I was...meditating, like Scucca taught me. It's the only way to keep myself sane in this place."

He seemed to guess that there was more to it than that, for he nodded slowly and looked over towards the guards.

"How is the metal coming?" Rowan asked, trying to change the subject.

"I'm not sure yet... It feels... right somehow, what I'm doing, but it's just instinct that I'm following." He grimaced and stepped back from the forge. "Anyways, I'm done for the day now. What I made has to be cooled and heated repeatedly, and I can do that from a distance."

"Great. I'm exhausted and hungry. Why don't you go see if pretty-boy Damian will give us some food?"

The blaziken walked over to the tunnel entrance but soon came back, with empty hands. "No such luck. We get some breakfast tomorrow though."

Rowan sighed. "It would just have to be him. Alright, let's go to bed. Nothing else to do."

At the back of the forge, there was a small alcove, lined with a straw pallet and a single, ragged blanket.

"That is where we are supposed to sleep!"

Rowan shrugged. "The quarters I had before these where similarly furnished."

Kepa sighed and glared over at the guards, as if it was their fault that he had to sleep on bare rock. Rowan ignored him and lay down on half of the pallet. A rock was poking her between her shoulder blades. Cursing under her breath, she rolled off and removed the rock, throwing it across the chamber angrily.

This seemed to cheer Kepa up, for he chuckled and joined her on the pallet. Rowan curled up against him, enjoying the natural warmth of his body better than that of the blanket. She knew she should be more worried about their predicament and about the battle raging outside, but snuggled up against Kepa, she couldn't think of a single place she'd rather be.

Kepa woke with the sun, as was his longtime habit. He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling absently. Rowan stirred against him, catching his gaze. He smiled and reached out to tenderly brush a strand of hair from her face. In his kaijuu body, he could not risk thinking of her affectionately, but with her sleeping so contentedly...

The blaziken regretfully rolled away and went to inspect his work in progress. A vat of liquid metal bubbled sluggishly, casting shadows across his fur. He glanced over at Rowan again. It seemed like there was going to be only one way to save her... Kepa turned back to the task ahead, dipping his hand in the vat to feel the texture.

When Rowan woke, it was past noon, judging by the height of the sun seen through the opening in the roof. Kepa was no longer at her side and loud clanging of metal against metal filled the chamber. Half a loaf of bread and a jug of water stood next to the pallet. Rowan leaned against the stone wall and munched on the food, thankful that she had even that.

She began to plan ahead. Her bow and daggers had been taken, so she had no weapons against their guards and the terrifying dark lugia outside. Kepa had some kind of plan, but she had no idea what it was. She suspected that he would make some metal similar to adamantium, but with a weakness that they could exploit at the proper time.

Viridian was sure to test the metal in myriad ways, to make sure Kepa hadn't foiled her. A sudden thought made her shudder. What if Viridan tortured her, to make Kepa tell the truth? The umbreon was certainly cruel enough. Rowan muttered muffled curses under her breath, then stood.

She looked around vaguely, unsure what to do. The trader part of her hated depending on someone else, hated waiting without anything to do. Still, she forced herself to stay calm and paced about the chamber.

"Rowan, would you stay still for a minute and come over here please?"

She rushed over to him, eager to do something, anything. Instead, Kepa pressed something into her hand. Rowan looked down at it in surprise. It was a beautiful crafted dagger, shaped like the skarmory feather.

"Is this...?"

"The real thing? Yeah. Adamantium."

Rowan tried to push it back at him. "But this... I'm a healer... I don't want..."

"I trust you with it, Rowan. If anyone will use it right, it's you. Hide it carefully, you'll need it soon." His eyes flicked back to the forge. "I've almost finished Viridian's batch."

"What happens when it's done?"

The blaziken shrugged, and wiped a sooty paw across his eyes. "All hell breaks loose is my guess."

She tucked the dagger in her shirt and slumped, suddenly drained of energy. Her eyes flicked towards Damien, then upwards, towards the hole and the dark silhouette of the lugia. They had to somehow fight their way past these guards, find the contraption that Loth planned to use to steal the Ancient's power and destroy it. To make matters worse, the deadly Viridian had her own plan, and her own motives, which were anyone's guess.

She groaned. What in the name of the Ancients had she gotten herself into?

"Blaziken! I'm here for my progress report. And it better be good, because I just had some bad news." Viridian's voice rang through the chamber, cold and hard. She swept up to them, wearing a thick blood red cloak that swirled around her ankles.

Rowan stiffened, feeling the adamantium dagger's cold presence against her skin. "Bad... news?"

Viridian barely glanced at her, eyes greedily fixed on Kepa. "Loth's troops are actually winning! Who would have thought that the Ancients would prove so weak? Perhaps they are simply scared to use their power. Nevertheless, that is none of your concern. Well, blaziken?"

Kepa barely hid his disgust. "It is ready to be forged into whatever shape you want."

Viridian smiled. "Very good, blaziken. Perhaps you did take my threats seriously. Damian!"

The human rushed over, but kept a safe distance from her. "Y-yes?"

"Take the trader away." She waved a paw vaguely, black spines glinting viciously. "Just keep her out of the way. The blaziken is going to make a hollow, carved ball, using all of his skill. Then Astennu will test the adamantuim ball, and if it doesn't hold up to my expectations, Damian, you will get a message from me. Then you have permission to throw the trader off the cliff, after slitting her throat. I doubt her healing powers can handle that!"

Kepa clenched his fists but kept his mouth shut as Damian pulled Rowan's arms behind her back and prodded her out of the room. His last glimpse of her was a sorrowful glance she shot at him before Damian pulled her out of sight.

Viridian craftily followed his gaze. "Missing her already, are you? Now get to work. I'm going to watch you forge this, and I don't feel like sitting here all day."

She passed him a wooden model of what she wanted him to forge. Kepa turned it over in his hands, inspecting it. The finished product would be a globe of silver threads, some braided together, others interlacing in intricate waves. He memorized the pattern, then tossed it back to her.

"Very well. It will take me a couple of hours, I warn you in advance." He turned back to the forge and dipped his hand into the fake adamantium, letting the liquid metal run between his fingers. A grim smile crossed his face and he began to work the metal.

Rowan dragged her feet as Damian and his raichu led her through the maze of tunnels. They passed other kaijuu, but all seemed to have a job to do, a place to be, and hurried past them.

"Why are there no other humans here? You're the only one I've seen."

Damian snarled angrily. "This is Viridian's base. Only kaijuu work for her, no humans. Loth hires humans."

"In that case, what are you doing here? I've gathered that Loth has complete faith in Viridian, so she didn't send you to spy on her."

"That is none of your business."

Rowan smiled devilishly. "I think I can guess. You failed Loth once too many times and she sent you here as punishment. So much for her most faithful."

"Shut up!" He shook her vigorously, jerking her head back unpleasantly. "Viridian is going to order you killed even if that damned blaziken does his job right." he hissed at her. "So it doesn't really matter if I do it now or later, does it?"

She wiggled her fingers experimentally. "No, not really. Guess Loth is right, you really can't take orders. What are you doing to do next, order your kaijuu to do me in for you? Too lazy to get your own hands dirty?"

With a curse of rage, Damian ordered his raichu to back off and not to interfere. Rowan nodded grimly and swung her leg out, throwing her captor's balance off. He didn't fall, but he let go of her arms to catch himself against the wall. In a flash, she drew her new knife and flung it at him with deadly accuracy.

Damian slid to the floor, a bubbly gurgle dying on his lips. Rowan glanced at the raichu and pulled her dagger from his chest, wiping it clean on his shirt. "Sorry 'bout killing him. I would have asked him where my bow was, but then he could have cancelled his earlier order and I don't stand a chance against you."

"Rai?"

She tucked the dagger back down her shirt and started to run down the hall, away from Kepa and the corpse. No one stopped her as she rushed down the halls, careening around corners and stumbling down small flights of stairs. She had no idea where she was going, but she had a destination in mind.

Kepa watched as black energy sizzled around his creation, flicking in and out of all its intricate surfaces. The rock upon which it stood bubbled and frothed, but the adamantium stood firm, blazing silver against the black light.

He could not stop a self-satisfied smile from slipping across his lips. Astennu had attacked the globe again and again, but none of his attacks had left the slightest mark. It was almost invincible! All except for a single flaw...

"Very good, Astennu, that will be all."

The long neck that peered down through the hole in the roof moved away, and faint starlight filtered into the room.

"Well done, blaziken, I didn't believe you could actually do it." Viridian picked up the globe then bowed to him, twirling her cape artistically around her. "I almost wish I could let you live so you could see it at work, but that wouldn't do. Can't have desperate enemies running loose all over the place."

She swished out of the room. "Finish him, Astennu."

Before Kepa could even register the meaning of her words, the dark lugia's head snaked down again, and grabbed him by the arm. Astennu pulled him out of the cave and onto the mountainside, tossing him carelessly against a boulder.

Lights danced in the blaziken's eyes and the pain in his left arm nearly sent him spiralling into darkness. Groaning, Kepa rose unsteadily, cradling his right arm against his chest, pretending that it was the wounded one. Astennu regarded him lazily, the Ancient barely even considering the blaziken as a opponent. Kepa's eyes flicked across the landscape, looking for a way to escape or something that he could use to his advantage. He came up with nothing.

"Astennu... you would be Ismitta's mate, wouldn't you?"

The lugia hissed and lashed his tail alarmingly. "What does it matter? I left that behind years ago!"

Kepa thought faster than he had ever before. "Why did you give up a mate to join this filth that obviously only intends to use you as a weapon? As a kaijuu Ancient, surely you have more dignity than that?"

"Dignity has nothing to do with it. This is the best way I know of protecting her. Even if it means forsaking her trust in me."

"Then what the heck are you doing here? Ismitta is fighting against Loth's troops and, from what Viridian said, losing!"

Astennu shook his head. "No... that cannot be true! She is safe... by doing this... she is kept safe. It is the only way!" At the last words his eyes gleamed with a dark and cruel light.

Kepa recognised a lost cause when he saw one. He barely leapt away as back energy shot from Astennu's mouth and grazed his leg. Now what? Is this... how it ends?

"No!" Kepa surged forward, surprising Astennu, his 'injured' arm whipping forward and releasing a red hot blade. The fake adamantium blade plunged into the lugia's chest up to its crude hilt. Using the blade as a conduit, Kepa sent waves of heat at it, burning the flesh.

Astennu grabbed the hilt with his beak and, ignoring the heat, jerked it out and dropped it to the ground. Kepa nodded grimly at the terrible wound. "Never underestimate a desperate opponent."

The lugia started to charge forward, but the pain jerked him to a stop. His chest heaved violently, as if he had trouble breathing. Discarding a physical attack, the Ancient turned to the elemental powers which every kaijuu could command. Black energy gathered around his body, concentrating around his mouth. Kepa had two choices; Astennu's attack or the void. He took the latter.

The blaziken darted to his left, where the mountainside fell away in a sheer drop, and lunged off the cliff into the velvety folds of the night.

Rowan finally had to stop, out of breath, and lean against the stone wall, panting. She watched through glazed eyes as a marill waddled past.

"H-hey you!" The marill turned and looked at her. Rowan hesitated, then asked straight out, "if a prisoner or an enemy was brought here, where would their weapons be kept?"

"Marrrr-il. Mar-mar-illllllllll."

"Really? Could you lead me there?" Rowan expected the marill to knock her down on the spot, or call an alert, but instead it took a few steps forward, then turned around to see if she was following.

Incredulous, she followed after the marill. After about a ten minute walk, they arrived in what seemed to be an enormous store house. Goods of all sorts were pilled ceiling-high and were lit by softly glowing globes hovering among the piles. She saw food, scraps of metal, tools, even some bundles of clothing.

She turned to her guide. "You wouldn't be able to find my bow, would you?"

The marill ran off and was soon lost among the piles. A few minutes later, she ran out again, carrying bow and quiver in her small paws held high above her head.

Rowan grinned triumphantly. If I had known from the start that all I had to do was ask... "Thank you very much, little one!" She strapped the quiver and bow to her back then picked around the piles of clothing until she found a soft leather belt to hold Kepa's dagger.

"One last favour, marill?"

"Maaaar."

"A machine was built here, well hidden and protected. I need to get there, can you show me the way?"

"Ril-ril, Riiii."

This is really too easy. Re-arranging her bow so it rested more comfortably against her, she trailed after her guide.

(A/N)

Kaijuu

-Marill: a very round kaijuu, with mouse features. Has two small feet and arms, a white belly, and round ears. Its fur is blue, and has and long tail with a round buoy on the end. Element - water