"ThunderClan, attack!"

Fernkit yelped in surprise as a tom barreled into her, squashing her into the ground. "Hawthornkit!" She gasped, struggling underneath her brother's weight. "I wasn't ready!"

The pale brown tom stepped off of her, whiskers twitching. "Is an enemy warrior going to wait until you're ready?"

"No, but you're not an enemy warrior!"

Hawthornkit smirked, batting at her muzzle with a paw. "Cmon, let's try again. You be ThunderClan this time."

Fernkit groaned. "I don't want to be smelly ThunderClan!"

"Hey, Hawthornkit, Fernkit," Locustkit nodded to them. "Why don't we play teams? Me, Briarkit, and Fernkit against Rabbitkit, Leafkit, and Hawthornkit."

Fernkit looked up at her brother, who nodded. "Ok. Your team can be WindClan."

The black tom-kit nodded, and turned to pad over to Fernkit's other brother. She followed Locustkit over to where Briarkit sat, carefully grooming his tail.

The pale brown tabby tom blinked up at them, pausing his rhythmic licks. "Oh, hi guys. What do you need?"

"Do you wanna play battle patrol with us? We need you on our team," Fernkit asked, bouncing excitedly.

Briarkit cast aside long glance over at the other team. "Can me and Leafkit switch? I wanna be with Rabbitpaw."

Locustkit's tail tip twitched in annoyance, but he sighed and meowed, "I suppose. Send her over here please."

A few heartbeats later, Leafkit came running through the thick patch of heather, her small white head barely visible among the purple stalks. She dug her heels into the ground to keep herself from barreling into her teammates. "So, Briarkit told me we're WindClan?"

Fernkit nodded. "Let's get started! I can't wait to beat Hawthornkit!"

Locustkit snorted. "Good luck with that."

The white tabby whipped her head towards him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Hawthornkit is a pretty good fighter."

"And I'm not?"

"I didn't say that-"

Fernkit scoffed, holding her chin high. "I will beat him, just you wait and see."

"ThunderClan, attack!" A few heartbeats later, Hawthornkit, Rabbitkit, and Briarkit came crashing through the tall grass. Locustkit nodded to his teammates, and they all leaped into different directions as soon as the other patrol reached them. They blinked in confusion for a moment, but quickly regained their senses.

Hawthornkit came charging straight at Fernkit, while Briarkit tackled Leafkit and Locustkit pinned his brother. Fernkit rose to her hind paws to bat at her brother's muzzle, but he ducked out of the way and collided with her hind legs, causing her to fall. She hit the ground with a loud "oof", and then he was on top of her. She struggled under his grip, but couldn't break free.

The pale brown tom let out a yowl of triumph as she went limp. Using his loosened grip to her advantage, she exploded upward, sending a very surprised Hawthornkit flying. She landed gracefully on her paws and flung herself on top of him. Fernkit pummeled him with her hind paws, holding his shoulders down with her fore paws.

"Arg! Fine, you win!" Hawthornkit breathed after a few more heartbeats of struggling.

Fernkit let him up and growled playfully in his ear. "Get out of our camp, ThunderClan scum!"

"Scum yourself!" Hawthornkit joked. "All WindClan does is chase rabbits all day!"

"That's no way to talk about your home Clan," Both kits looked up at Cedarthorn, the deputy. He was gazing at them with a stern expression. "You should be respectful of your clanmates and your Clan's traditions."

Fernkit dipped her head, embarrassment flooding her pelt. "Sorry, Cedarthorn. We were only playing."

"Playing or not, you shouldn't say such things about WindClan," the deputy's tail tip twitched, but he turned away from the kits to face a ginger tom with muddy brown paws and a white tail tip.

Foxstar! Fernkit realized with a gasp. Was he watching us too? Was he impressed?

   Hawthornkit had noticed the leader too. "Hi, Foxstar! Were you watching the battle? Did I fight well?"

   Foxstar turned his cold yellow gaze to Hawthornkit. "You did well," he meowed, his voice showing no emotion. "You'll make a formidable warrior one day."

   "Really?"

   "If you work hard, then yes."

   Fernkit scowled. Why should he get all the praise? I'm the one that won! Isn't winning that most important thing in battle?

   The little white tabby held her chin high and puffed out her chest. "But I did better, right Foxstar? I won! I beat Hawthornkit!"

   "Your fighting style was a little reckless," the leader commented nonchalantly, making Fernkit's heart sink. "But, you could become a decent warrior with enough training."

   A decent warrior? She thought angrily. I'll be the best warrior in WindClan! Just you wait, Foxstar. Just you wait.