[GrayGriffin]

"What?" exclaimed Rewhister, echoing her thoughts. "What do you mean? I am Rewhister!"

The Kuhna's pleasant expression faded, and its teeth bared in a snarl. "Oh, so there are pretenders already?" it growled. "The old guardian of this ocean has abandoned his post to dally away his days on land, and I have been called to fill the void."

"What-what's-you're lying!" exclaimed Rewhister. "Obviously you are the pretender here! Leave now, and I'll forget this transgression!"

[GrayGriffin]

The Kuhna laughed, raising a paw lightly to its mouth. "Oh my," it said, "you really think you have a chance against me? Well-the larger they are, the harder they fall." It raised a paw, and suddenly Rewhister was flung upwards, his body snapping out into an almost-straight line. Nutina felt a strange pressure on herself as well, pushing and trying to fling her away from Rewhister. She gripped onto his fins even tighter, willing herself to stay.

[GrayGriffin]

"So you can control some of the currents," snarled Rewhister. "Like this could stop me!" He started coiling his body around the current they were stuck in like a corkscrew. The coils then widened, until he was making a complete circle around the current, and now completely free of its influence.

"Stay hidden," he whispered, and Nutina ducked down so that she was more concealed by the fin. Rewhister waved a claw, and suddenly the Kuhna was encased in an air bubble.

[GrayGriffin]

This wasn't like the air bubbles he provided for the air-breathing half of the agency when they visited and he wished to bring them into water areas-the Kuhna seemed clearly distressed, and despite pushing at the sides of said bubble, was unable to actually break free. As it pawed desperately at the bubble, Rewhister gestured again, and it started floating closer. The Kuhna started pushing harder in the opposite direction, but it could not even affect the bubble's movement.

[GrayGriffin]

Finally, the bubble was hovering right in front of Rewhister's face. The Kuhna seemed to have realized the futility of fighting back, and was curled up on the "floor" of the bubble, paws over its face.

"I'll give you one last chance to surrender," he growled. "And to tell me who sent you to disturb my peace and try to oust me from my position."

The Kuhna didn't respond. Rewhister frowned, and the bubble started shaking back and forth slightly. Despite being knocked back and forth, it still said nothing.

"Didn't you hear?" he growled even louder. "Answer me!" Nutina started crawling forward, about to tell him to stop, when all of a sudden she became aware of an ominous glow from beneath them.

And then the jet of superheated water came lancing through the bubble, popping it and singing one of Rewhister's whiskers. The Kuhna was hovering in the water once more, forelegs crossed and eyes glowing the color of its flames.

"Oh," it said. "Now I'm angry."

[Wild Pet Found]

[GrayGriffin]

As it spoke, it shot a paw forward, and another lance of hot water came shooting at the area on Rewhister's body that could be approximated as a torso. He twisted in the water again, letting it strike him only glancingly, but from what she could see Nutina noticed that he was wincing nonetheless. She couldn't see the actual site of the hit, but she was pretty sure it had still injured him to some degree.

[GrayGriffin]

However, you wouldn't be able to tell that from Rewhister's voice. He simply let out a deep, growling laugh, glaring at the Kuhna.

"So you have a few more tricks up your sleeve. I suppose that's what comes of being partly fire as well. None of that makes you a guardian though." He waved a claw, and another bubble appeared around the Kuhna, and slowly started frosting over. Another jet of heated water lanced at it, but seemed to glance off instead of piercing through.

[GrayGriffin]

The Kuhna bared its teeth, growling as the frost continued to spread over the bubble, obscuring its face slowly. Nutina crawled forward to tug lightly at Rewhister's ear.

"You-you're not going to kill them, are you?" she asked softly. He seemed surprised at the question for a moment, and it took a while before he shook his head imperceptibly.

"It shouldn't be that harmed by the ice bubble. It's simply a convenient method of containing it for now."

[GrayGriffin]

As the bubble continued to frost over, the Kuhna's expression slowly became hidden from view, but Nutina could see it stop banging its paws against the surface. Rewhister noticed this as well, and smiled, looking pleased about it.

"There. About time it gave up. I shall bring it back to my lair for interrogation, then." He floated closer, picking up the frozen orb in his claws and starting to wind back towards his usual lair.

[GrayGriffin]

As they traveled onward, Nutina frowned, tilting her head and pricking her ears up. There was a strange sound that seemed to be coming from the orb...was the Kuhna crying? Despite everything, she still found herself sympathetic...but no, those groans didn't sound like the kind you'd get from someone sobbing.

And listening closer, they didn't really sound like the groans of a living creature, either. As a matter of fact, they sounded closer to something creaking or cracking...

[GrayGriffin]

"Rewhister, watch out!" she cried, just as the orb exploded in his claws. He immediately flung up a similar one around his own head, one meant to shield them instead of imprison his opponent. However, with the shield being focused on protecting Nutina, several shards of ice still ended up embedding themselves into the tip of his snout and his foreclaws. He picked out the latter, wincing slightly as his blood mixed together with the ocean water.

[GrayGriffin]

"That was a bit harder to bust," snarled the Kuhna, "but in the end you still couldn't measure up to me, you faker." Its claws were glowing slightly, as if they had been burning before, but the glow was slowly fading before their eyes. "Really, using ice against me?"

"That was only a fraction of my power," snarled Rewhister. He sounded really angry now, his whiskers whipping back and forth in the current that he was now calling up.

[GrayGriffin]

Even as he spoke, the current started to gather around him, becoming visible in how it rushed and cut through the ocean. It was all rushing towards Rewhister, pushing the Kuhna into his claws. The Kuhna laughed, even as it slowly started getting caught in the current.

"Oh? Are you actually dragging me closer?"

"I am," hissed Rewhister. "I have had enough of you! I shall settle this in the oldest way known, with my bare claws and teeth."

[GrayGriffin]

"Claws and teeth? You really think you'll win because yours are bigger?" Once more, the Kuhna's claws started glowing with heat, before bursting into flame completely. "None of the wounds I leave you will heal," it threatened.

"We'll see about that," was all Rewhister said, opening his own jaws to reveal the long line of teeth running down it. Nutina found herself shuddering slightly at the sight. Rewhister had always been soft-spoken and polite, and she'd hardly ever seen his teeth in their full glory like that.

[GrayGriffin]

And then they were on each other, and everything became a terrifying blur. Nutina clung tightly to Rewhister's fin as she struggled not to be thrown away, even as the superheated claws raked at his throat and he struggled to grab the Kuhna in his jaws. The current around them bubbled with heat and pressure, spinning and tumbling as the two oceanic creatures grappled with each other, neither able to gain the upper hand on each other.