First of all, this is NOT the last chapter. I have decided to extend it, thanks to the reviewers :) Half of this was incredibly boring to write so I hope it's not incredibly boring to read too... After you read the last couple paragraphs, please review and tell me what you think his father should say. Oh, did I just give the chapter away? Oopsies... Well, enjoy anyways!

Chapter 8

Blackhorizon hesitated for a moment as he entered the shadows of the buildings on the edge of the town, but soon was filled with a new determination as he thought back over his purpose.

I'm going to find my father.

Blackhorizon pressed on, the short cut grass feeling strange but soft beneath his pads, until he had slipped between two buildings and emerged on the other side. He stopped when he reached black ground and tentatively placed a paw on its oddly smooth surface before drawing back from the heat.

He looked around, hoping for another way to cross, but hardly had time enough to think before there was an explosion of barking. Instinctively, Blackhorizon raced across the hot, black path until he reached the grass on the other side and leaped onto a large tree. Only once he had scrambled up completely out of reach did he look back. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the source of the noise was a dog that was inside of a building, scratching frantically at the door.

Nonetheless, Blackhorizon stayed in the tree awhile, waiting for his fur to settle and his heart to stop racing. He also had time to think. He knew he wouldn't just stumble upon his father while searching. That hadn't worked for two moons. No, he needed to ask around, so the most important thing now was to find a cat. But where to look?

"I saw it! I saw it!"

It was a high-pitched human voice, coming from the building Blackhorizon's tree was in front of. He could hear its owner's loud footsteps come closer until the leaves no longer blocked his view. The human's shoulder-length black hair bounced up and down as she jumped excitedly, pointing a chubby finger at Blackhorizon.

"It's a kitty!" the girl squealed.

Blackhorizon didn't move until he heard another set of footsteps. He wasn't afraid of the small humans, but adults could be clever… and ruthless. As fast as he could, he shot towards the trunk and then raced down the side opposite the girl, barely getting one claw-hold on it to slow his fall before he reached the ground. Then he was off, pelting across the grass in front of several more buildings. He could hear the girl's squeals and screams until the barking of dogs drowned out everything. It throbbed in his ears and pressed him to run even faster.

Blackhorizon finally slowed to a halt after he cut between two buildings and reached the welcoming shadows. He waited for the barking to stop and his heart rate to slow. Once quiet settled back in, other than the birds, Blackhorizon felt his stomach growl and he cursed himself for not eating a good meal before he entered the town.

At that same moment, he heard a short grunt. His eyes were immediately drawn to the door at the back of the building, where a rather large white cat was trying to wiggle its way out of a hole in the door. Blackhorizon froze for a moment. Should he run? No, he needed to ask this cat about his father.

Just as the cat cleared the door, it looked up and instantly saw Blackhorizon. Fear crossed its light green eyes. "Uh… hullo…" The voice was definitely female. "Are ya… ya know… like a stray?"

"No, I'm a…" Blackhorizon trailed off as he thought about it. What was he? "I'm a loner," he finished awkwardly.

"Well, uh… this is my ter'tory… and I'm neutered so…"

Blackhorizon shook his head. "No, that's not what I-"

"Well, thank the stars!" the white she-cat exclaimed, "You dun even know how many toms come 'round here. My friend down the block had kits wit one of 'em."

"Look, I was just wondering-"

"Call me Emerald."

"Okay, uh… Emerald. I was wondering-"

"So do ya come 'round here often? I never seen you before. What's your name?"

"Uh, Blackhorizon. J-"

"Blackhorizon? Weyull, that's a mouthful. I'm guessing yer not from around here."

"No, I-"

"I've lived here all my life. This house belongs to my owners. Isn't it big and pretty? They feed me good. Although recently they've been cutting down. Maybe it's because of my big bones. Runs in the family, ya know?" She laughed.

Blackhorizon was about to cut in when she continued on once again. He was considering waiting until she stopped, but that would probably be until she dropped dead. He took a deep breath. "EMERALD!" he basically yowled.

Emerald halted immediately, light green eyes wide. "Oh, I'm sorry, hun. I started talking again, didn't I? I just can't keep my mouth shut, especially when I meet new cats. It's not that often, ya know. I've been stuck talking to the same old…" She stopped when she realized she was doing it again. "Er, sorry… What were ya gunna ask me 'bout?"

"You don't meet many new cats?" Blackhorizon inquired, disappointed.

Emerald shook her head. "I don't often get out of the neighborhood. I can't exactly defend myself."

Blackhorizon felt a pang of pity for the fat and spoiled housecat. She had very pretty eyes too. "Do you know someone that does meet new cats?"

"Why yes! There's a cat not far from here at the edge of the neighborhood. He gets all sortsa new cats. You know, he even once saw a Clan cat! Can you believe it?"

Blackhorizon brightened. "A Clan cat? Do you know about Clans?"

"Yessum. I le… Say… Your name sounds odd like theirs. Are you a Clan cat?"

Blackhorizon shifted weight uncomfortably. "I… I was…"

"Really? Oh my goodness! I've met a Clan cat! Oh just imagine the look on my friends' faces when I tell them this! They won't believe me!"

"Emerald, can you ple-"

"A Clan cat! Well, how 'bout that!"

Blackhorizon raised his voice. "Can you show me to the cat you were talking about?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Emerald continued to talk about her surprise and her friend's reactions but at least was moving now, headed around the building to the front. Blackhorizon followed her nervously. He didn't think his ears could handle any more barking.

The hot sun was suddenly cut off and the neighborhood was thrust into shadows. Blackhorizon looked up and saw that dark clouds were moving in, the misty haze of rain traveling with them. He picked up the pace and Emerald struggled to keep up, dealing with both a large belly and constantly moving mouth. Eventually, her breathing was too heavy for words, and the two traveled on in silence.

"This is it," Emerald panted just as the first rain drops were beginning to fall, splattering on and staining the gray ground in front of them that meandered in a thin strip until it stopped at the steps before a door. She led the way, completely comfortable with the smooth surface of the gray ground while Blackhorizon flinched at the unnatural feeling.

"I'm not going in there," Blackhorizon stated when Emerald began to push her way through a hole in the door similar to the one Blackhorizon had first seen her using.

She pulled her white head back to say, "I'll bring him out here."

Blackhorizon waited impatiently, his ears twitching from sound of the rain, which had now turned into a steady drizzle. This housecat had seen a Clan cat before. Could it possibly be his father? Was his luck finally changing?

"Blackhorizon, meet Harry," Emerald grunted with effort as she cleared the hole.

Blackhorizon froze for the third time that day. The cat that followed Emerald was light gray, like a stone in moonlight. He blinked at Blackhorizon, surprise in his pale blue eyes. They were identical to Blackhorizon's in that they seemed to glow silver in the darkness of the storm.

"Blackhorizon," the old tom breathed.

"Lightningstrike," he whispered.

Emerald corrected him, confusion in her light green eyes. "It's, um… Harry, Blackhorizon. I just told you that."

"Emerald," Blackhorizon's father murmured, not even looking at her, "You can go now. Thank you for bringing him here."

"It's raining!" Emerald protested, but the father-son pair ignored her. She moaned but somehow knew that this was a moment she shouldn't be a part of, so she headed out into the rain to a friend a few buildings down.

Lightningstrike and Blackhorizon, meanwhile, were just staring at one another, silver gaze on silver.

Lightningstrike was the first to find words to speak. "What are you doing here?"

Blackhorizon hardly knew where to start. "You're… you're innocent. You never killed them."

Lightningstrike's silver eyes grew wet, but he said nothing; he just shook his head.

"I hated you. I mean… like I really hated you. You had ruined everything. My family… my trust… the Clan's trust… But… you didn't do it. You're innocent. I just wish I would've known..."

"How did you find out?"

Images flashed by: blood spilling from her throat, pleading hazel eyes, Wavecrest and Eagletalon's faces when he said goodbye…

Then different ones followed: his first apprentice's bright eyes at his ceremony, the fox that killed Eagletalon's sister, Wavekit before he was even named, Meadowlark purring by the moonlit river, tiny Blackkit rebelliously excited at hearing about Oakstar, the look on Rainfall's face at Blackhorizon's first outbreak, Moss laughing at the fleeing back ends of his bullies…

The images blended together to form a fuzzy outline that became clearer and clearer until Blackhorizon saw himself, through all the mistakes and the anger and the grief, standing proud and tall. His self just stared at him, unblinking, with emotionless blue eyes that flared silver.

And suddenly everything spilled out. He talked about his anger, his depression, and his madness after his father was banished. He talked about healing and his apprentice. And then he talked about Meadowlark: Wavecrest's warnings, her stories, her laugh, the feeling he got when he was around her, her terrible secret…

"I killed her, Lightningstrike. I… killed her."

Lightningstrike was silent, a mix of emotions churning in his eyes.

Blackhorizon waited patiently. Lightningstrike hadn't interrupted him once as his life's story spilled out. And while he waited, one image kept coming back to mind.

"That wasn't Blackhorizon, Thunderstar… That was a madman… a broken cat…"

There was a pause. "Oakstar…"

Blackhorizon's head snapped up.

"What?" Eagletalon asked incredulously.

Thunderstar's voice was barely audible. "That was the same way Oakstar looked…"

Blackhorizon couldn't decipher the sound that echoed from within the blackness of the den.

"Don't you dare say ANOTHER WORD!"

Eagletalon stormed out of the den, eyes blazing. He didn't even look at Blackhorizon before leaping down from the caved-in rock. He didn't stop until he reached the camp entrance and there he sat down, shaking from anger.

There was silence coming from the den. It was a while before Thunderstar emerged. His nose and cheek were bleeding. A single red drop fell from the wound and split into three smaller drops as it met the ground.

Three drops…

"Oakstar was… innocent too…" Blackhorizon whispered. He looked up from the ground, straight into Lightningstrike's eyes.

"Oakstar was innocent too!" he repeated in a stronger voice.

Lightningstrike closed his eyes, his ears folding back in content, and nodded in relief.

It all made sense now. Their entire family was misunderstood. They may have struggled with controlling emotions, but they were innocent… or had a good reason.

"I had just been made an apprentice when the cat that had been guarding the nursery during the rogue attack that killed my mother was found dead," Lightningstrike explained, "As soon as Oakstar heard the news, he knew he was going to be blamed, so he came to me. 'Notice how a warrior and apprentice, which had nothing to do with it, were found dead,' he told me… and then he said, 'The rogues finally hit the vein.' And then… and then when I was found with… with their bodies and I told them it was rogues, they just assumed 'like father, like son' – I was lying! Those rogues took everything from me: my mate, my daughter, my son's trust, my Clan…" Lightningstrike looked up at his son. "I'm not saying what you did was right… but I… I understand."

There was a moment of silence, where both cats' eyes were wet. "Thank you," Blackhorizon whispered. Lightningstrike nodded, a tiny sparkle lighting in his eyes. Blackhorizon thought for a moment. "Do you… Do you think we should go back? You know… redeem our family's name?"

Lightningstrike was silent.