Quip and the Tremwolves

Quip looked just like his father. Leafy mohawk, handsome face, cunning smile, and winning image. Proud was Quipidel, and proud was Aiyana. Everyone loved Quip, for he was friendly to all, and never deceiving. But, there was a secret hiding inside of Quip that he didn’t even know about. Quip, like his mother and father, was a water Granite, at least, they thought he was only a water Granite. It all happened when Quip met his first friend, Rawn Crimson.

Rawn was of the fire Granites, who were the toughest out of all their kind. His tail tip was lit with fire, and his eyes glowed darkish red, almost like dragon’s blood. He had an earring on the left ear and carved symbols on his strong teeth. Why they do that, I have no idea.

Rawn was twelve years old, just like Quip, on the day he met him. Quip was walking through the Rumberry Orchard, which had hundreds of thousands of rumberries. As a fact, Rawn simply craves rumberries. Quip was gathering rumberries for his mother’s famous pie that she makes on a special occasion. He set a basket down by a Rumberry bush and started picking them. It was a very beautiful day, and a calm wind was blowing from the east. Nothing could be heard except the sound of Quip picking berries.

RUSTLE.

“(Gasps) Who’s there?” Quip said in fear. He stopped picking and listened. He heard another rustling noise by a huge Rumberry bush. He stood up on all fours and tiptoed closer to the bush. The sound got a lot noisier and sounded like someone was sloppily eating something. Quip put his paw over the bush and pushed it down so he could see.
Behind the bush, he saw a fire Granite. His mouth was full of rumberries, and his fur was stained in the red color of them. The granite got up and swallowed the berries in his mouth. He laughed and held out a paw to Quip.

“Hi! I’m Rawnington Crimson, son of Leedrin Crimson. You can call me Rawn. What’s your name, friend?” Quip cracked a smile and shook his Rumberry stained paw.

“Quip Marblestone, son of Quipidel Marblestone. You fire Granites are really proud, huh?” Rawn scoffed at that remark.

“We are proud because we act tough. But when it comes to real war, we are always the first ones to die. It’s all going to change on the next war though, I know it!” Quip asked another question.

“Hey, why do you carve symbols onto your teeth? Is it like a tradition?” Rawn felt his teeth with his tongue. He laughed and wiped his mouth with his arm.

“We fire Granites have been doing it for years! So, I guess it’s a tradition. I just think it looks cool. So, what are you doing in the Rumberry Orchard?” asked Rawn. Quip went back to his basket and Rawn followed. He continued picking berries, and Rawn helped.

“I’m picking berries for my mom’s famous Rumberry pie. Tonight’s the Granitian Festival, the most exciting event of the year. This time, it’s going to be held in Waterhill, the greenest pasture ever. It’s right by Falcon Peak.” Quip told. Rawn looked puzzled.

“What is the Granitian Festival? I’ve never heard of it.” He said. Quip widened his eyes in shock.

“You don’t know about the Granitian Festival? It’s amazing! You get to play games, win prizes, do Element Wars, and eat the most delicious food you’ve ever tasted! There’s also strength testing, where you do your best to beat Granites at lifting heavy rocks! That part is my favorite!” Quip explained. Rawn smiled at the thought of eating the delicious food. He picked more Rumberries as fast as he could and put them into Quip’s basket.

“Why the rush, Rawn? It starts in the evening, not in ten minutes.” Quip questioned. Rawn picked Quip up by the arm and led him out of the Orchard.

“We have to hurry! I want to show you something, so let’s go drop the berries off at your house!” Rawn declared. He pushed Quip in a frenzying hurry to rush him to his home. Quip ran as Rawn trailed behind. As they made it to the Granite homes, Quip scurried inside his house, and Rawn waited outside the door jumping with impatience. Quip dashed into the kitchen and called his mother.

“Mother! I have the berries! I’m going to place them on the table!” Quip set them onto the table and ran for the door. Aiyana walked into the other side of the kitchen and accidentally ran into Quip.

“What’s the hurry, Quip? I thought you were going to help me make the pie.” She wondered. Quip maneuvered around her and turned back.

“I will! I made a friend named Rawn and he has something of his to show me! I promise I’ll be home soon!” Quip went out the door and saw Rawn waiting outside. Aiyana came out and yelled,

“Quip! Can you get me water from the Dew fountain? I need it to make the pie!”

“Okay! See you when I get home!” Quip replied. He ran with Rawn wondering what he had to show him.

“What is it, Rawn? What’s so important that we have to run for it?” he inquired. Rawn kept running, and answered without looking.

“I want to show you a special place, and Dew fountain is next to it so you can get your water then.” Quip sighed and followed Rawn as he accelerated to their destination. The friends went past the Riddling Woods, across Whispering River, and into the Kage Shrine Ruins. Quip stopped there to catch his breath, and so did Rawn, who was breathing just fine.

“(panting) Are we there yet? I’m getting tired.” Quip complained. Rawn smiled greatly. He sat down, with his fiery tail in the air.

“We’re here. The ruins of Kage Shrine. Legend says that a Granite got lost in here and died within its grounds. Then, since the shrine didn’t have a name yet, they named it after the Granite’s name. Kage Shrine. My father said that this used to be the place everyone went to have celebrations. Celebrations like Spirit Festivals, when Granites used to bring presents for Kage and all of the spirits who made the shrine.” Quip looked around and saw nothing but a bunch of tablets.

“I don’t really see anything, Rawn. What’s the big deal?” Rawn turned around and smiled. He walked toward Quip and showed him a carving on his teeth.

“Do you see this carving on my tooth? This is the symbol of Kage Shrine. A circle for the sun and a crescent for the moon. Every fire Granite has it. That’s how important Kage is to us. He was the best, according to all of the elder fire Granites. He was so helpful, and he was close friends with my father. He has a lot of pictures of him and Kage together in his room.” Rawn walked over to a big slab of rock. He felt it with his paw and put his forehead on its worn carved symbols. Quip lay his paw on Rawn’s shoulder.

“You really like this place, don’t you Rawn? Can you tell me more about Kage?” he asked. Rawn smirked a little and continued.

“Kage wasn’t a regular Granite. Usually, a Granite is born with only one element. And he was only born with one, but when he came to this place, that all changed. He went to this stone tablet, and something weird happened. One minute he was an earth Granite, then the next minute, he was an earth and fire Granite! He could control two elements at once. That’s why he’s a legend! It’s very rare for a Granite to have two elements.”

Quip examined the tablet and saw the same symbol on Rawn’s tooth in the middle. Rawn sighed and went to some other tablets that were sunken in a little water puddle. Quip looked closely at the symbol and saw something very peculiar about it. In the center of it, he saw a glowing bluish color. It started to grow greatly over the symbol. Then it took over the writing all across the tablet, making a quiet humming sound. Rawn looked back at Quip and gasped. Quip was in a daze and placed his paw on the symbol out of curiosity.

Rawn quickly hastened to save Quip, but it was too late. A whole unknown force took over Quip’s body and blocked Rawn’s grasp with a blue force field. Quip’s eyes were empty and white, looking straightforward into his soulless world of darkness. Rawn panicked and tried to save Quip a second time. He jumped onto him and was pushed to the ground by the field again.

Quip’s fur stood up on end and he was making weird noises. Rawn stood back and watched his friend’s spirit be taken over. An unfamiliar dialogue was spoken from Quip. To Rawn’s concern, it may have been Ancient Granite. “Demon Sakte Aktu Tenshi Burakete…” Quip spoke. A white light suddenly burst out in front of Rawn and forced him to cover his eyes. Quip lastly yelled out something in Ancient Granite. “Kage Tagase Kundai Ro Sektu!”

The white light blasted throughout the whole shrine, and impelled Quip away from the tablet. When it was over, Rawn opened his eyes and ran to Quip, who was gasping uncontrollably on the ground.

“Quip! Breathe, Quip, breathe! Come on!” he yelled. Quip’s eyes were still white, and his gasping turned into choking. “QUIP! Don’t do this to me! Come on! Breathe!” Quip’s eyes were turning back to normal, for Rawn could see his pupils coming back to the surface of his eye, almost like it was sunken into a white pool of nothing then brought back up. He gasped again and took in a deep breath and coughed. Rawn picked Quip up and let him lean against the tablet.

“Quip! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Rawn asked in fright. Quip started to breathe normally and looked to Rawn.

“What happened? I- I touched the tablet and, I just blacked out…” Quip looked down at his feet. He saw his tail of flowing water and his shadow in the sun. Something looked different to Quip, and Rawn was the first to notice.

“(gasp) Quip! Your back! It has something on it!” he shouted. Rawn grabbed him and turned him around. It was a marking, a flesh cut. “Whoa, it’s another symbol. It looks like the one for wind.” Rawn said. Quip touched his back and felt even gashes. He gazed at his paw for any sign of blood.

“It’s dry. Why is there a cut on my back? Rawn, my mother will be so mad at me for hurting myself. Mother…Oh! I still need to get water from Dew Fountain. Come on! Don’t worry about the cut!” He got up and ran to Dew fountain. Rawn did the same, but noticed another change. In two steps, Quip started running faster than he ever did before! He was rapidly speeding across the grass, almost barely touching it. Rawn couldn’t see him anymore, for Quip was already at Dew Fountain.

“Rawn, hurry up!” Quip yelled. Rawn could hear him, but he couldn’t see him. Finally, he could see Quip coming into focus at the fountain. Rawn started walking and taking his time to get there. “Rawn! What took you so long? I’ve never seen you so slow!” Rawn panted his way to the fountain and stared at Quip.

“Quip! Do you know how fast you ran?! I could also hear your voice from far away! Something’s not right, Quip. Do you feel different?” Rawn asked. Quip took a moment to realize, he did feel different. His mind was swift and smart, he felt stronger and faster, and he felt light.

“I do feel… weird. Is it because of that tablet?” Quip asked. Rawn shrugged.

“I don’t know. It might just be a puberty thing or something. Let’s get the water for your mom.” Quip ripped a Jinto leaf (water carrying leaf) from a tree and used his water control to pour it in. When it was full, Quip tied it and carried it with his mouth. As he turned around with Rawn to get home, the Jinto tree behind them made a cracking sound.

“What was that?” Rawn panicked. Quip spun around in a defensive stance and looked around. Nothing was there. Quip put down the water.

“Hmm. It might have just been the wind, Rawn. Come on, we need to get to my house.” Quip went along, and Rawn followed. The Jinto tree made the cracking noise again, and Rawn jerked his head to see.

“Quip? Turn around for me again.” Quip looked at Rawn in question.

“Why?” he asked.

“Just do it.” Quip obeyed and turned once more. The tree bent backwards with its leaves blowing in the wind. “What the… Quip! I think it’s you!” Quip nodded his head in disbelief.
“I think you’re just seeing things, Rawn. There’s no way I made that tree bend back like that. I’ll even prove it. I’m going to swish my tail towards it and nothing will happen.” Quip did exactly as he said he would and swung his tail in a lazy fashion. Nothing happened. “See?
What did I tell you?”

Rawn hinged his eyebrows. “I could have sworn… Maybe it will work if you try a little harder.” Quip sighed and tried it again. This time, the tree’s leaves were moving against Quip’s force, and were falling off the branches. Quip gasped in amazement and hung his mouth open. Rawn smiled confidently, proving to Quip that he was wrong.

“I… I can control wind? How did this happen?” asked Quip.

“It must have been the tablet! Quip, you’re just like Kage now! You both have two elements! How lucky!” Rawn shouted excitedly. Quip grinned widely and yelled out,

“I have two elements! Me! Quip Marblestone! Wind and water! Yeah! Wait till my mom and dad hear about this! They’ll be so… Mother!” Quip paused. He quickly picked up his water and started to sprint. Rawn tagged behind and kept up as best he could. They ran past the fountain and headed to Whispering River again. They crossed the river and followed their recent paths back into the Riddling Woods. The Granite homes were in clear view as Quip and Rawn hurried to Aiyana’s home. They both rushed inside and startled Aiyana.

“Oh! Oh, boys! Quip, you’re home! Where have you two been? I was getting worried.” Quip set the water down on the wooden table next to the cupboard. Rawn sat down and wiped the sweat off his face.

“Mom! You’ll never believe it! Rawn and I went to Kage Shrine, then I touched this tablet, got a mark on my back, and now I have the element of wind!” Quip shouted. Aiyana got them both drinks and set it down on the table.

“What? Where are you getting these stories from, Quip? What nonsense.” Aiyana doubted.

“No! It’s true! Look!” Quip blew at Rawn’s fiery tail, which was impossible to extinguish for every Granite, and made it burn out.

“WHAT THE HECK?! DON’T DO THAT!” Rawn hastily blew fire back onto his tail. He let out a sigh of relief and growled at Quip. “Don’t you know that we fire Granites can die without our tails lit?” Rawn turned away and drank his beverage. Quip looked back at his mother.

“Do you believe me now?” he asked. Aiyana was astonished. She called Quipidel from the garden. He came in, stumbling upon one of the potted flowers by the door.

“What?! What is it?! Are you okay?!” Quipidel asked. Aiyana gently set a paw on Quip’s shoulder and looked back at Quipidel.

“Your son has something to tell you.” Aiyana explained, as she slowly walked away into the kitchen. Quipidel glared at Quip, waiting for the answer. Quip gulped as he spoke out as clearly as he could.

“Dad, I don’t really know how to tell you this, so I’m just going to tell you. (breathes deeply) I have two elements.” Quip covered his face, fearing his father would slap him silly for making such an idiotic story. But, Quipidel surprisingly stood still. He didn’t talk, blink, or even breathe. Rawn was frozen too, waiting for Quipidel’s temper explosion.

“You…have two… elements? You…elements…how…”

THUD.

Quip moved his arms from his face and looked down.

“He fainted! What a drama king!” Rawn laughed.

“Come on, Rawn! Help me get him up!”