Icegaze couldn't sleep. She knew that they were going to leave as soon as it was midnight, but she still needed some rest. She couldn't get any.
A thin stream of moonlight barely made its way into the tunnel, giving Icegaze some idea of where the moon was. The light would disappear at moonhigh, since it would be directly over everything.
She admired the light, relishing the beauty of it. She could still see thanks to Mistfeather. The she-cat whom she'd hated since she was a kit had wanted to 'rescue' them. Icegaze still didn't understand. After quite a lot of thought, she came to the conclusion that Mistfeather's personality had changed, though it was very unlikely.
"Icegaze, you awake?" She jumped, and her eyes widened.
"Oh, right yes." She nodded. "Let's go. You remember what we planned."
Lionear nodded. Icegaze went first, creeping out and landing a quick blow to one of the guards' heads. She felt satisfied, knowing that she hadn't had to kill anyone. Neither did Lionear, as he knocked the other guard out cold.
At least, they wouldn't have to kill yet.
She and her brother spotted the entrance, and crept across the clearing. Lionear flicked his tail, telling her to go through the dirt-place tunnel. She nodded, and they both slid through.
The smell of dirt masked their scent, though they had to wrinkle their noses. The Gemini slid into the forest, knowing they hadn't been seen. Icegaze let out a small breath. "Lionear?" She whispered. Her brother looked at her. "That was too easy."
His eyes widened. His tail fidgeted. 'Fox-dung'.
"Indeed it was!" Icegaze wasn't surprised to see Fireclaw step out from the trees. She realized that he'd masked his scent with wild onion.
Wait, that scent was too strong. She had a feeling that there were more cats than she and Lionear had expected. Icegaze unsheathed her claws, as did her brother.
"A smart move, you two. But I believe I'm going to have to execute you now. Too bad we couldn't do a proper one in front of the Clan." Fireclaw's tail lashed, and he stepped out into the open. He unsheathed his claws, and Icegaze took a step back.
She saw that her father's claws were...glowing? They seemed to be on fire!
"Don't look so surprised. You should have known by my name. I am indeed an Ember. But you Gemini aren't the only ones with incredible abilities." Fireclaw bared his teeth; they also seemed to be on fire.
Lionear hissed, and his hackles raised. Three other cats emerged from the trees.
Icegaze narrowed her eyes. "Other Embers from SeedClan and ShadeClan?" She recognized them from encounters on border patrols.
The first one purred, his eyes narrowing in amusement. "She's intuitive, this one. Too bad she's gonna have to die." It was a pure white tom with blue eyes, just like her. She shivered slightly when the tom unsheathed his claws.
Lionear snarled. "You four aren't going to kill us. You may be Embers, the exterminators of Gemini, but we will survive. And we will stop this horrible way of life."
Icegaze tensed her muscles when she saw a brown tabby she-cat advancing on the two of them. "You talk big. But can you really believe all that? And stop it? Don't kid yourself."
The brown tabby spat. Her eyes glinted, and she curled her lip, revealing a set of sharp fangs.
A grayish-blue she-cat tilted her head, her blue eyes full of mocking and amusement. "Pathetic," She muttered.
Fireclaw and the others closed in on Icegaze and Lionear. "I'm sure you're wondering who we really are."
"Spot on," Icegaze retorted.
"We are the strongest of all the Embers in the three Clans," He raised his unsheathed claws, ready to deliver the first strike. "We are the Elementals!" Then he brought it down, beginning their battle.
"Strongest?" Icegaze cried. She swiftly dodged, landing a blow on his flank.
The brown she-cat teamed up with Icegaze's father, and they both launched attacks on her. The other two did the same to Lionear.
The brown tabby continuously lashed out, never tiring. Her claws flashed left and right, barely giving Icegaze time to dodge. And with Fireclaw attacking her too, it made it twice as hard.
It was as though her sight was dragging her down...she realized that she was much more comfortable without her vision. She needed to get farther away from camp to get out of range on Mistfeather; a Burning.
Icegaze turned and ran, closing her eyes. She felt the whole world suddenly shift into focus. She opened her eyes to darkness, and spun around. Satisfaction flowed through her when her claws came in contact with flesh. A surprised yelp came from Fireclaw.
"Strongest? I can hardly believe it?" Icegaze spat. Newfound strength flowed through her, and her grip on the reality around her seemed to grow stronger. She concentrated, and a vision came to her.
She saw the brown tabby loop around, trying to take advantage of her lack of sight.
As soon as the vision ended, Icegaze moved to the side, opening her mouth. She turned her head and bit down. Her vision had certainly been correct. Her teeth sank into the brown tabby's flesh, and she screeched.
Fireclaw growled. "Mudleap! Unsheathe your claws!"
Suddenly, Icegaze was thrown off. She landed on her feet, but she could tell that the brown tabby, Mudleap, was much stronger than she seemed.
Icegaze hissed in pain as she felt burning hot claws pierce her pelt. Then something hard hit her, and the wind was knocked out of her.
Luckily, a vision came. Icegaze saw Fireclaw hitting her again while she was winded, slashing her throat open. Her heart skipped a beat, and she knew that she had to be quick, or she would die.
The vision came, and she rolled out of the way. Icegaze knew that she had just barely escaped the claws of death. She had caught her breath though.
Icegaze dug her claws into the ground, growling. Now she understood what Fireclaw had meant by 'Elemental'. Mudleap must have been 'earth', Fireclaw 'fire', and so on.
Then the other two Lionear was facing had to be 'wind' and 'water'. She flexed her claws. "I know your weaknesses..." She purred devilishly.
"You're finished," Fireclaw hissed. She heard him and the she-cat's paws as they leapt toward her. Icegaze didn't move, for she knew exactly what she had to do to stop them.