Whitepaw woke up in an unfamiliar den. The air smelled of herbs and river water, and the nest Whitepaw awoke in was lined with soft feathers. Cool sunhigh light filtered through the mouth of the den.

Am I in StarClan? the white-pawed tom wondered. His last memories were horrifying: Blackpaw flinging him into the river.. Whitepaw struggling to swim but to no avail.. Him losing consciousness..

"Finally," a kind voice murmured, "you're up."

Whitepaw's body jerked in surprise and fear before he looked up. A small black she-cat looked at him with relief shining in her rich green eyes.

"Who are you?" Whitepaw asked, his mind still hazy after waking up.

"I'm Ivypaw," the cat replied with a small smile. "Your.. your sister."

Whitepaw stared at the black she-cat in disbelief. "M-my sister?" Whitepaw asked. Confusion filled his mind as he looked around wildly. "What? Where am I?"

"You're in the RiverClan medicine den," Ivypaw answered, circling around Whitepaw and sniffing his faint wounds from the dog battle. How long had it been? "I saw you drowning in the river when I was out on a stroll, and I felt the need to save you. Why were you in the river?"

"I-I.. I was thrown in," Whitepaw replied after a moment of hesitation, his ears flattening.

Ivypaw sighed, then looked at the tom with sympathy shining in her eyes. "You're lucky I found you so late at night," she meowed. "I always knew Blackpaw was sketchy." When she finished speaking, a moment of silence fell upon the two.

"Wait.." Whitepaw began. "H-how did you know Blackpaw threw me in? A-and if you're my sister, then why are you not in ThunderClan? Our mother is there, as well as our father."

Ivypaw answered as calmly as she could, avoiding Whitepaw's first question about Blackpaw. "Ravenfeather is not your real mother," she said slowly. "She took you in after she and Nightmist became mates and had Blackpaw. Riverstar is your real mother."

Whitepaw stared with shock in his ice-blue eyes. He couldn't believe that the leader of RiverClan was his real mother. "Is Blackpaw still my brother..?" he asked faintly. "Does he know any of this?"

"Not entirely.." Ivypaw replied, fidgeting. "He's our half-brother. And I don't know. Most likely not."

"Oh.." Whitepaw mewed, lowering his head and trying to take in all of the information he was given at once. So.. I'm not a full-blooded ThunderClan cat, he thought, shocked.

Ivypaw watched Whitepaw for a moment before suddenly perking up her ears. "Wait here," she ordered. "I hear Riverstar. I'll go get her." With that, the medicine cat apprentice rushed out of the quiet den. A few moments later, Whitepaw heard a she-cat's voice approaching where he was.

"Beechpelt taught you well," the voice mewed, sweet and velvety. "You're lucky to have saved him."

Riverstar.. Whitepaw thought, suddenly feeling nervous. At that moment, Ivypaw slid into the den with a large, silvery-gray she-cat. Said cat gazed at Whitepaw before gasping.

"My son!" she meowed. "Oh, my precious son!" Riverstar padded up to Whitepaw and touched noses with him lovingly. From outside the den, the shadows of RiverClan members could be seen standing outside. The medicine cat, Beechpelt, shooed them all away as he entered the den.

"Wait," Whitepaw meowed, staring at Riverstar when she pulled away. "You're actually my real mother?"

"Yes," the Clan leader replied. "I am Riverstar -- RiverClan's leader. Though, you already knew that. I am also your mother, which is something you didn't know."

"Wow," Whitepaw whispered, still confused but nonetheless pleasantly surprised by his supposed kin. "I-I'm sorry I didn't know."

"You don't need to apologize," Riverstar meowed. Ivypaw padded over to her mentor as the leader's tone turned icy. "Of course you didn't. My former love, Nightmist, took you away from me. I was crestfallen. I loved you and him so much, but now I hate that monstrous cat. He became my mate just so he could take his son to raise him for ThunderClan's benefit." Riverstar unsheathed her claws and sank them into the ground.

"I didn't know Nightmist was so cruel," Whitepaw murmured sadly. "P-please don't send me back to ThunderClan.. Blackpaw told me that they both wanted me dead."

Riverstar sighed sympathetically, and Ivypaw frowned sadly. "Come then," she ordered. "You can walk, right? I have a Clan to discuss to."