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[color=purple]”Don’t just talk with him! Fight!” Quetzal’s voice was a roar inside Riptide’s head. With the ghostly fire snowferra guiding him, he slashed his ice sword at the fireferra. Before it hit its target, a burst of fire appeared at deflected the blow. The fireferra sneered again.
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”I can block anything you toss as me, kitty,” the fireferra taunted Riptide as he swung his sword of ice again and again, Quetzal’s rage flowing through him. Every swing was blocked by the fireferra’s bursts of fire, with seeming ease.
”You must be better than that!” Quetzal snarled in Riptide’s mind. ”You must have fire powers buried down there somewhere… use them!”
I don’t know how! Riptide complained through his thoughts.
[color=purple]”What did I tell you before? I’ll guide your pawsteps.”
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Riptide agreed to Quetzal’s plan grudgingly. The voice in his head was already guiding his pawsteps, but he still didn’t know how the fire snowferra planned to have him use his fire powers as well as his ice ones.
But apparently Quetzal did. Before he knew what he was doing, Riptide whipped his head around and slashed at the fireferra’s face with his sword of ice. At the same time, one front paw slashed out, sending a tiny line of fire at his opponent. As before, the fireferra easily blocked his sword thrust, but the fire met its mark. The fireferra yowled and took a step backwards, uncertainty in his eyes.
”How do you have fire powers? Only the fireferra have those!”
Yes, Quetzal. Riptide thought. How do I have fire powers?
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”I told you I would guide you. While I help you, you inherit my powers…” Quetzal chuckled inside Riptide's mind. "And as a fire snowferra, I am privileged to have both the powers of fire and ice..."
The fireferra Riptide had been facing had already fled back into the mass of fighting cats. Riptide abandoned his ice sword on the ground and turned to face the snowferra kit. [color=teal]"Are you ok?" he asked.
"I think so," the kit responded.
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[color=teal]"Good. Run back to your family, then," Riptide smiled at the snowferra kit, who nodded and raced off.
It was then that Riptide realized how tired he was. Quetzal's rage, filling him up, had made him forget almost everything else. Now the phantom's emotions had faded a bit. Quetzal? Do you know of any herbs near here?
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[color=purple]"Do not bother yourself with healing herbs. There is a battle to be fought and won!" Quetzal's voice rebounded inside Riptide's mind.
That's not my goal, Quetzal. I'm trying to help as many cats as I can, no matter what side they're on. Riptide thought, protesting.
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[color=purple]"That's not what your goal should be. But I will give you the time you need to come to terms with my viewpoint," the phantom agreed.
Now, Quetzal... where can I help next? Guide me. Riptide thought.
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"Next we should be looking for my cousin..." Quetzal's voice spoke. "When I am reunited with my two cousins, then I will be able to assume a regular form again."
Then what do your cousins look like? What are their names? Riptide thought.
[color=purple]"Basilisk. And Phoenix."
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Basilisk and Phoenix? Weird, Riptide thought, scanning the battlefield. But I'll help you out, Quetzal. Are they fire snowferras, too?
[color=purple]"Phoenix is. Basilisk is a snowflake fireferra. But enough talk! There is a battle raging just beyond your paws, and here you are talking to me! Forward! Take up your sword of ice once more!" Quetzal said briskly.
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Once again, Riptide took the ice sword he had made in his jaws and glanced around the battlefield. We won't be able to see your cousins either, will we? Riptide thought to Quetzal.
[color=purple]"No, but I will be able to sense them. By extension, you will be able to as well." As the phantom spoke, Riptide did indeed feel everything more clearly around him. Including a familiar presence close by.
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Quetzal guided Riptide’s pawsteps until he was racing along the edge of the battle, the phantom’s emotions urging him forward. Before he could get very far, though, a fireferra slammed him to the ground. Quetzal gave him the strength he needed to throw the fireferra off and turn to face her.
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The fireferra snarled at him, but with Quetzal guiding him, he didn't flinch. Quetzal. What about my own powers? Will I be able to use my powers of dimensions now, too?
"Not while I am guiding you..." the phantom responded. "If you wish me to let you assume full control of yourself again, you need only think it, and I will withdraw while you use your own powers."
Riptide nodded before darting at the fireferra. Feeling reckless, he tossed the ice sword Quetzal had helped him create, following up with a thin stream of ice that Quetzal created on his behalf. The fireferra ducked the sword, but the ice hit her squarely in the chest and she fell to the ground.
Oh my goodness! Quetzal, what did you make me do?
[color=purple]"What was necessary. Continue forward."
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Riptide grudgingly obeyed Quetzal's order, though he was still horrified that he had killed a cat. Picking up his ice sword from the ground, he continued onwards, racing along the edge of the battlefield once again.
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Soon Riptide was faced with another opponent, this time a young fireferra his own age of seven moons. He hesitated, not wanting to hurt another cat, but Quetzal forced him forwards. The snowferra swung his ice sword at the fireferra, but his opponent dodged and sent a ball of fire his way. Quetzal gave him the strength he needed to dodge, but his tail was burnt.
Quetzal! Riptide complained.
[color=purple]"That was my mistake. Continue," the phantom's voice briskly stated.
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Riptide nodded. Give me my self for a moment, Quetzal, he thought, and felt his body become his own for a brief moment, in which he felt for the darkness at the edge of his vision and pushed into it, willing himself to reappear behind the fireferra. To his surprise it worked, and Quetzal once again became part of himself, taking over and making him slash his ice sword down at the fireferra. The sword met its mark, and the fireferra yowled in pain.
That's enough, Quetzal. Riptide reminded the phantom. I don't want to hurt cats that I don't have to.
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Quetzal's voice was only an acknowledging grunt in Riptide's mind, but the phantom had the good sense to let Riptide draw back and run away, towards the presence that was ever closer in both their minds.
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Soon Riptide could feel the familiar presence even closer than before. "Stop here," Quetzal told him, though she didn't have to. He had already halted, weary of running and of fighting. He ached all over, but Quetzal's mind was his own for the time being. Riptide understood how important finding Basalisk and Phoenix was.
Quetzal spoke again. [color=purple]"I will call for him."
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"Basilisk," Quetzal's voice rang clearly in Riptide's thoughts. For a moment, there was silence. Then...
[color=green]"Quetzal? Is that you?" a second voice answered, running through the snowferra's mind as always.
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"Yes, it's me," Quetzal responded shortly. "I assume it's you, Basilisk?"
"Of course it is," the second voice replied. [color=green]"Who's this with you?"
I'm Riptide. Quetzal has been... helping me, Riptide answered using his thoughts just as the other two were..
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"Good." Basilisk's words had a certain kindness to them that Quetzal's didn't, and Riptide was already thinking he liked Quetzal's cousin better than Quetzal herself.
"Now, let's get back to business. A few fights, and then we try to find Phoenix," Quetzal ordered. "And Basilisk... don't interfere in the fighting too much. Having to combine two of our minds is hard enough as it is."
[color=green]"No way! I can certainly help however I want. Mainly, I will lend this Riptide my energy and my skill."
