Whitepath jumped through the undergrowth of ThunderClan territory with his Clanmates. All of the old, familiar scents of his past life wafted around him, making the tom feel nostalgic. For a moment, he missed living in ThunderClan. But suddenly, as Whitepath pulled himself back to reality, two cats stopped in front of the patrol, and Whitepath jumped back in surprise. The two cats were Shadowstripe and Elmcloud.

"Thank StarClan, you're all here," Elmcloud sighed. "We're glad you finally are."

Whitepath tilted his head in confusion, but then the name came to him. "Elmpa -- I mean, Elmcloud!" he said with a smile, pushing past the patrol to approach the ThunderClan cat. "I didn't realize you'd be against Blackclaw now."

Elmcloud peered at Whitepath for a heartbeat before gasping in shock. "W-Whitepaw! You're alive!" The small black cat touched noses with Whitepath, as if they'd been old friends. Whitepath was surprised by the gesture. "When RiverClan told us they had you when they came out to see ThunderClan's camp, I thought they were bluffing!"

"I-it's good to see you, Elmcloud." Whitepath purred, feeling a bit awkward. "A-and my name is Whitepath now. I'm sorry to have hid from you all for so long..." Whitepath trailed off and looked at Shadowstripe, remembering Blackclaw's treachery and how Shadowstripe was his friend. He flattened his ears, and Shadowstripe did the same, but out of shame instead.

"Forgive me for the way I acted in the past, Whitepath," Shadowstripe murmured, his voice sorrowful and genuine. "I didn't know how far Blackclaw would go to help his father and himself become powerful. Even now, Blackclaw is training a kit who's only four moons old so he could become deputy after Ambereye. I turned my back on him, and I only hope that you can forgive me." The gray tabby lowered his head.

"I'm sorry as well," Elmcloud meowed. "I should've been friends with you, not Blackclaw.."

Whitepath sighed, feeling touched that his old Clanmates were asking for his forgiveness. Then, he nodded.

"Okay," he said. "I forgive you two. It's not good to hold grudges. Besides, if you're here, then you must be telling the truth. You're betraying your own leader."

"Most of ThunderClan is on our side at this point," Shadowstripe said, grateful that he'd been forgiven, but wanting to get to the point. "Come on, everything's ready. Nightstar will fall tonight."

☁️

Back at camp, Nightstar patrolled his camp nonstop to make sure everything was perfect. Even in the dead of night, when the tom couldn't sleep, he would walk around camp. Blackclaw did the same, however this time he was not outside. Instead, he was in the warriors' den, quietly arguing with Lightheart.

"C'mon Lightheart," Blackclaw insisted. "I'm giving you the chance to be mates with the future Clan deputy..!" Ambereye and all of the other warriors were asleep.. or so Blackclaw thought. "Drop Elmcloud..! He's a coward."

"Not after what you've done," Lightheart hissed back, annoyed. "And don't call Elmcloud a coward. You're a coward! You're so insistent!"

There was nothing Blackclaw could do, unless he wanted another mysterious murder to anger Lightheart even more. Suddenly though, rustling sounds came from the barrier surrounding camp. Blackclaw and Lightheart both looked up, then slipped out of the warriors' den. Outside, Nightstar's back faced the entrance, and the Clan leader looked nonchalant.

"Don't worry you two," Nightstar mewed, not looking. "It's just Shadowstripe and Elmcloud. They told me that they were going hunting tonight." The two warriors the Clan leader mentioned entered the camp, however a third cat was with them. Lightheart let out a small shriek, and her legs momentarily felt weakened. Blackclaw's eyes widened, and his ears shot up in shock.

Nightstar turned to Elmcloud and Shadowstripe. "How was hunting, you two?" he asked. His eyes flickered up to the white-pawed tom that stood in between them. "And who's this?"

"We caught nothing, but we brought back someone.. rather surprising." Shadowstripe shoved the tomcat forward, causing him to collapse onto the ground. "Whitepaw has apparently been alive and in hiding all this time." Shadowstripe curled his lip, as if disgusted. "Coward."

Nightstar's eyes gave away his shock, but only for a second. "Ohh, if it isn't my son." Nightstar padded closer to the white-pawed tom and glared down at him menacingly. "I thought you died in an accident beside the river. Why did you never return to ThunderClan?" Nightstar reached out with his forepaw to touch Whitepath, however Lightheart leaped up.

"Don't touch him!" she screeched, waking up cats within their dens. Warriors, queens, and apprentices alike all looked out from their dens, confused and sleepy. Some gasped when they recognized Whitepath, Ravenfeather looking the most shocked.

Lightheart helped her old friend up, and she choked on a sob as she pushed her nose into his black fur. "You mouse-brain!" she cried, tears streaming down her fur. "Why did you worry me so much? Just how far were you even swept away!?"

Whitepath lowered his head close to the light tabby's ear. "Forgive me, Lightheart," he whispered. "Please, please forgive me. I really did miss you."

Lightheart purred uncontrollably, but then paused. "Wait.." she said quietly. "How did you know my warrior name..?" The she-cat pulled away and stared at Whitepath, who only winked at her passively. Despite still being confused, Lightheart fell silent.

"How is this possible?" Nightstar asked calmly, his eyes flickering from one emotion to the next. Confusion, anger, calmness.. "Where have you been living all this time, Whitepaw?"

For a moment, Whitepath's expression was solemn. But then, his eyes turned to slits. "My name is Whitepath," the tom said, "and your reign is over, Nightstar."

"RiverClan, attack!" Riverstar's voice rang in the air from the shadows.

"ThunderClan, attack!" Shadowstripe screeched.
Shocked yowls rose from Nightstar's followers as their own Clanmates turned on and attacked them. Too-young apprentices ducked back into their den fearfully as RiverClan warriors flooded into camp, yowling and hissing as they started to fight. Nightstar and Blackclaw looked around wildly, stunned by the sudden attack. Whitepath hissed at Nightstar, but Blackclaw leaped in front of him.

"You traitor!" he yowled. "You've been living in RiverClan! You're supposed to be dead!"

"You have no right to call me a traitor, you murderer," Whitepath said lowly. "After everything you and Nightmist have ever done, you don't deserve to be a warrior."

Blackclaw's eyes turned to slits. "Don't you dare disrespect my leader!" the black-pawed tom shrieked before flinging himself at Whitepath. Lightheart watched in horror as Whitepath lunged forward, meeting Blackclaw halfway and slamming him onto the ground.

The clearing had exploded, with both fur and blood flying. The RiverClan cats and the ThunderClan rebels were winning due to heavily outnumbering Nightstar and his followers. After a while of fighting with tooth and claw, the RiverClan and ThunderClan warriors had their enemies surrounded, injured and unable to go any further.

Nightstar panted next to Blackclaw, who had one of his forepaws dislocated after his fight with Whitepath. The dark leader spotted Whitepath and glared at him with fury.

"This is all your fault!" he screeched. "My plan is falling apart because of you, and you!" Nightmist then looked up at Riverstar, who met his gaze with cold fury. "You just can't stay away from ThunderClan, can you?"

"Leave my mother out of this." Faint gasps rose from the crowd as Whitepath stepped out and stood in front of Nightstar. "No more hiding behind your followers for protection, Nightmist. If you can't even fight me, then what kind of warrior are you?"

Nightstar snarled, then ordered his cats to step back. When they obeyed, the black-furred tom lunged at Whitepath. The white-pawed warrior leaped to the side, then unsheathed his claws and lashed out. The blow sent Nightstar lopsided, and he stumbled before hissing at Whitepath and striking. Whitepath grunted when the Clan leader struck his cheek, but it didn't stop him. Even despite his wounds from his and Blackclaw's fight, he and Nightstar were evenly matched.

Whitepath struck Nightstar again, and then again and again. He used his size to his advantage, slipping away just before Nightstar could attack him. Finally, after the battle continued on like that, Whitepath shoved Nightstar to the ground. He unsheathed his claws and dug them into the leader's throat, ignoring the gasps of horror arising from his followers.

"Aack --!" Nightstar gasped, eyes widening when his son's claws touched his throat. Tears welled up in Riverstar's eyes from the sidelines as she whispered, "Finish him."

Whitepaw nodded and gazed down at his father.
"Y-you can't kill me," Nightstar gasped, flailing his paws. "I have nine lives!"

Whitepath snorted, then lowered his head to the black cat's ear.

"Your kin will destroy you. You're a liar. Goodbye, Nightmist."

Then, with that, Whitepath tore out Nightstar's throat. Blackclaw yowled before turning tail and fleeing from the camp. Darkpelt, Ambereye, and a pawful of Nightstar's followers followed close behind, all of them crying out with defeat and fear. Nightstar's body gave one final jerk before falling still.

All of the cats cheered and ran up to Whitepath. Lightheart was amongst them, touching noses with her old friend happily. Whitepath returned the gesture, then looked around at his old Clanmates. Iceclaw, Elmcloud, Silverstripe, Shadowstripe... it was surreal to see them all again after so long of believing that he wouldn't.

"So Nightstar only had one life.." Elmcloud breathed, shocked.

"Where's Blackclaw?" a voice rang out. "I want to give him a piece of my mind!"

"Let him go," Riverstar responded. "If he is in his right mind, then he'll never come here again."

"But who will lead us?" a queen asked. "ThunderClan is without a leader or a deputy!"

Lightheart turned to face her Clanmates, then looked over at a certain warrior. "I vote Iceclaw," she announced. "He's fit to bring our Clan out of this mess."

Whitepath stared at the striped she-cat, then looked at Iceclaw too and nodded. "I-I agree!" he said, looking at his old mentor with a firm nod. "Although I haven't been in ThunderClan for a while, I believe Iceclaw would make a great leader."

Iceclaw stared at Whitepath and Lightheart, clearly touched by their words. As he stared, his other Clanmates started to agree. Soon, they were all cheering for the white warrior.

"Icestar! Icestar! Icestar!"

Iceclaw stepped forward, facing ThunderClan. "Really?" he asked. "You want me to lead you?"

Everyone started to respond, nodding and saying yes. Iceclaw thought for a moment before nodding. "Okay," he said. "I will make my journey to the Moonstone at dawn. I will announce the new deputy now, and reconstruction starts tomorrow as well. But first.."

Iceclaw looked at Whitepath. "I'm so glad that you're alive, young Whitepath," the tomcat meowed. "You had your reasons for hiding for so long, so there are no hard feelings from me. But now, you must make a decision. Will you stay in RiverClan, or will you come back to live in ThunderClan?"

Everyone looked at Whitepath, and all of the eyes made the tom's paws shift uncomfortably. Still, he'd already made his choice.

"Iceclaw," Whitepath said quietly, "ThunderClan has been my home at the beginning, but now I want to go back to RiverClan. I feel as if I could never integrate back into ThunderClan again after learning the truth and almost dying. I love ThunderClan, but my heart belongs to RiverClan."

Although he looked a bit disappointed, Iceclaw nodded in understanding. "I see," he meowed. "It's alright, Whitepath. I understand." Then, the white tom turned and began speaking to Riverstar.

Lightheart nuzzled Whitepath's neck fur. "You better come visit me, you mouse-brain," the tabby meowed. She was sad that Whitepath wasn't going to stay, but she knew that it was for the best. "I've missed you for so long." Elmcloud, Ravenfeather, and Shadowstripe walked over to the two. Meanwhile, the rest of the Clan cats dispersed.

"I missed you too," Whitepath sighed, pressing his nose into Lightheart's fur. "I will -- I promise."

As Shadowstripe, Ravenfeather, and Elmcloud both talked to Whitepath, the voice returned to Lightheart's mind. Destiny, it whispered. Pure destiny.