"But even when you think you've defeated your enemy, you can never let your guard down." Icefeather's mate whispered.

Or you could call him Darkcloud.

He and Sootkit's father, Spidefur, were doing a reenactment of a battle, Spiderfur pinning Darkcloud to the ground. However, after speaking his line, Darkcloud began battering at Spiderfur's exposed belly with sheathed paws. As Spiderfur pretended (unconvincingly) to recoil in pain, Darkcloud dramatically jumped to his feet and commenced attacking.

This triggered a chorus of giggles from the five kits that were watching them.

It was the first time the two full groups of siblings had hung out together. And they couldn't have picked a worst day.

It was snowing over camp. And while thick-furred cats like Palekit thrived in the cold, Sootkit and Antkit weren't as lucky. They had both inherited their father's short fur.

So while Darkcloud's kits sat comfortably and laughed at the slapstick-filled performance, Spiderfur's kits were huddled together under a tiny ledge that the snow wasn't able to reach.

However, the two didn't seem to mind, and were barely even paying attention to the reenactment. They were lost in their own conversation about anything and everything, while awkwardly grooming each other in an attempt to imitate the warrior tradition of "sharing tongues".

Eventually, they transitioned into the topic of warrior names.

"If you could choose your warrior name, and Stormstar would have to give it to you, what would you choose?" Antkit asked.

"Soot...storm."

"...Really?"

"What?" Sootkit squeaked. "What's wrong with it?"

Antkit smiled, and got up and began strutting around. "Oh, I'm Sootstorm! You better watch out for me! I might make you sneeze!"

Sootkit felt his face heat up with anger, and smacked Antkit as he laid back down. The bigger brown kit didn't even notice. He was laughing too hard.

"All right genius!" Sootkit yelled. "What about you? What's your perfect name?"

Antkit was still stifling his chuckles as he forced out a response. "Well, actually-."

"Is everything okay around here?" A new voice questioned. Both kits whipped around to see Spiderfur approaching them tentatively. "Why is Sootkit yelling?"

No response came at first, and Sootkit looked at his brother to see why he was so silent. The brown tom's mouth was still open, and his eyes were wide.

He looked scared.

"Oh, um... I was just annoyed that Antkit was making fun of me. That's all." Sootkit stammered himself. He lightly shoved his brother, who quickly regained his composure.

"Well, what do you think? Is Sootstorm a good warrior name?" Antkit asked, adding mischievous smile. He had gone back to normal so fast, Sootkit wondered if Spiderfur had even noticed his initial reaction to seeing him.

"Well..." Spiderfur padded over to them and laid down under the shade, his two kits clamoring towards him for warmth. "I don't think any warrior named can be considered bad. Unless they don't make any sense, that is."

"See!" Sootkit yelled. "That means mine is perfectly fine. Now how about yours, Antkit? What genius name can you come up with?"

"Um..." Uncertainty once again crossed Antkit's face. "Ant...fang."

Spidefur nodded approvingly. "That's a good one. In fact, I think that at one point, that's what I wanted my warrior name to be. I was kind of disappointed when Stormstar chose 'fur'"

"Yeah, what about your name?" Antkit asked his father. "Is it a good one? Do spiders even have fur?"

The black and white tom let out a short laugh. "Yeah. At least, some do. But I think the name was based more off of my appearance. I sometimes wish he could have thought of my fighting skills instead, though."

"What!? But Darkcloud was beating you up earlier. We saw it!" Sootkit joked. At this point, the two kits were laughing almost hysterically, while Spiderfur was just chuckling softly.

"Spiderfur." The three looked up to see a giant red she-cat now approaching them. She gave a curt smile to the two kits (who were doing their very best to stifle their laughter) before locking eyes at the tom in question. "Sorry to interrupt your family time, but Creekfur just assigned us two and Barkwind to a border patrol."

Spiderfur stared blankly at the she-cat for a few moments, before sighing and slowly getting to his feet. "I understand Hollyberry." He murmured.

"Don't worry father!" Antkit squeaked reassuringly.

"We'll see you later, Spiderfang." Sootkit added.

Hollyberry looked amused, while Spiderfur looked back and smiled at the pair.

The kits watched silently as the two warriors were joined by a tortoiseshell she-cat, and then left camp together.

Antkit laid his head on the ground lazily. "So what now?" He mumbled.

"Why did you look so scared earlier?" Sootkit asked.

Antkit looked at him quizzically. "What?"

"When Spiderfur first showed up. You looked like cornered rabbit."

The brown tom stayed silent for a while before replying, "Can you promise not to tell this to anyone?"

"Sure."

"Well," He sat back up, and looked at his brother seriously. "I don't know if I want to become a warrior."

"What!?" Sootkit squeaked, then realized that he had said that louder than expected. Lowering his voice, he asked, "Why not?"

Antkit again stayed silent, clacking his claws against the ground. "Right before Spiderfur came, I was about to tell you that I've been thinking about becoming a medicine cat. I went inside the den the other night, and really enjoyed it."

In a flash, Sootkit recalled last night's occurrences. He had started dismissing that event as a dream!

"Wait, but why are you scared of Spiderfur finding out, then?"

"Well, see," The kit let out a sigh. "It was a warrior that showed me the medicine den. I don't know what his name was, but he told me that he was our father's friend. And he said that he wouldn't be too happy if he found out that I was interested in that kind of thing."

"...Huh." Was all Sootkit could think to say. Looking around at all the warriors in camp, he still couldn't find the tom that was with Antkit last night.

"Listen." The brown tom said, exasperated. "Can you just promise not to tell him?"

Sootkit pondered for a moment. "But you know that either way he'll find out when we become apprentices."

"I know. But can you at least make sure that he doesn't know until I'm ready to tell him."

Antkit's eyes were tired and pleading. So different from the cat that had come up with a joke on the spot for his name earlier. It scared him a bit.

"I promise."