Oh my goodness. There is only two chapters left after this one. I'm actually going to finish a fanfiction story. HALLELUJAH!

Next chapter will probably be fairly short, meaning a quick update, and I have something really special planned for you. I think you're gonna love it.

Anyways, you gotta read this one first! Enjoy!

Oh, btdubs, I'm considering renaming this story Redemption. What do you think?

Chapter 9

"So… why Harry?"

Blackhorizon padded alongside his father, headed back in the direction he had come… home. And despite all the hardships that were to come, he finally felt free. His father was innocent. He was going to see his friends again. He wasn't alone anymore. No, his father was padding beside him, light blue eyes nervous but bright.

"What?" Lightningstrike inquired.

"Your housecat name… why Harry?"

"That was the name of the first cat I met after I left DuskClan."

Blackhorizon thought about the cat he first met after leaving DuskClan... Moss. He wondered what had become of the small black tom. Had he given Blaze a piece of his mind? Or had the three bullies overwhelmed him? As he thought harder about his friend, he began to seriously consider asking him to come with to DuskClan. His hunting skills were obviously superb and his fighting had improved tenfold. He was loyal and followed orders. He had everything that a cat needed to be a respected member of a Clan.

And then Blackhorizon remembered the last rogue that had been allowed to join…

.

Dawn was breaking as Blackhorizon and Lightningstrike reached the edge of a long stretch of forest. In the distance, a picturesque barn rose out of a field of waving grass, its maroon siding old and worn and its almost opaque windows reflecting the rising sun.

Blackhorizon turned to his father with anxious excitement. Another two long moons of traveling had passed, this time with a companion that could talk his ears off. Blackhorizon remembered a time when he himself was like that; a bubbly apprentice with not a care in the world. But after feeling blood in his claws… There was no recovery from that.

"Is that it?" Lightningstrike asked, feeling a sudden rush of emotions: fear, excitement, uncertainty. They were less than a sunrise away from their old Clan… from redemption...

"That's it," Blackhorizon whispered, taking a few steps in its direction. Then he was walking, trotting, running, sprinting… He pelted through the long grass towards the barn, towards the cat he hadn't seen in four moons.

He didn't slow until he reached the door of barn and ended up skidding to a stop on the hay-strewn ground inside of it, panting. "Moss?" he whispered before shouting, "Moss?"

A moment of unbearable silence followed. Blackhorizon looked around desperately at the scattered hay bales and the rafters that dripped with cobwebs. He inhaled deeply but couldn't find a single trace of his friend.

"Blackhorizon?"

Blackhorizon whipped around at the sound, his ears perking up and his tail raising. Both drooped as it was only his father entering the doorway of the barn.

"He's not here," Blackhorizon whispered, his silver eyes downcast.

Lightningstrike hated the disappointment written all over his son's face. "He's gotta be here somewhere," he insisted, "Maybe in the town?" Blackhorizon looked uncertain. "Come on," Lightningstrike encouraged, leading the way out of the barn.

The silver and black pair circled around the barn and headed towards the thin stretch of the river that spilled from the forest and meandered along the edge between the field and the town. They leaped across the same rocks Blackhorizon had used to cross that river in the other direction, and stopped on the other side.

Blackhorizon looked at his home forest and longing gripped his heart. How would they ever find Moss, even if he was okay? If his friend wasn't living in that barn, he was probably beaten by Blaze and his friends, and left to die in an alley. Was it worth wasting precious time away from his home for a cat they would never find?

"Blackhorizon!"

Blackhorizon looked up, his eyes wide.

"BLACKHORIZON!"

He turned, afraid to hope.

A cat was racing towards them, the barn framing his small, dark gray form and a bright orange sunrise framing the barn.

"Moss!" Blackhorizon cried. He flew back across the river, his heart pounding. The two cats gave each other a flying tackle-hug and ended up tumbling a short ways through the long grass.

"Where were you? You weren't in the barn! Your scent wasn't there!" Blackhorizon exclaimed.

"I don't live there anymore! I live in the town! I just had a dream about you so I came back! And I found your scent and- Oh my goodness, I thought I would never see you again!"

The two continued to scream to each other without any intention of catching their breaths.

.

Blackhorizon took in a sharp breath as he spotted the massive oak tree that marked on quarter of DuskClan's border. He remembered the last time he had seen it, that dark night when he had been banished. He remembered saying goodbye and praying that it wasn't forever.

And now, he was back and he let the wonderful, earthy smell of his clan fill his nostrils and calm his racing heart.

"We're here," Blackhorizon and Lightningstrike murmured in unison and then exchanged uncertain glances.

"We should w-wait for a patrol," Lightningstrike stated and his son nodded. The two cats approached the border and settled down to wait in a clump of ferns.

Blackhorizon thought back to Moss, who had probably already convinced his mate to join the Clan and was headed towards the forest.

"We'll continue on while you ask her. We need to settle a few things before you get there anyways."

Settle.

That was an understatement.

"Blackhorizon, what if they kill us when they see us?"

Blackhorizon looked at his father. His gray ears were folded back and his silver eyes were wide. "They won't," he whispered back, trying to keep his composure, "I just hope one of my friends will be-" He stopped when he both smelled and saw cats approaching. Lightningstrike followed his gaze and stifled a gasp.

The patrol stopped, their ears pricked.

"Did you hear that?" The voice belonged to Morningmist, Blackhorizon's old mentor.

"It came from over there." Blackhorizon barely held in a sigh of relief when he saw Eagletalon's yellow eyes searching the border.

A third cat who Blackhorizon didn't recognize followed Eagletalon warily, his sandy brown ears pinned back on his head. "Do you think it's a fox?" he whispered to the dark brown tom in front of him.

Eagletalon shook his head. "Those things reek; we would've smelled it by now."

His assumed apprentice nodded but it hardly relieved his fears. His hazel eyes continued to dart back and forth nervously.

Finally, Blackhorizon stood up out of the ferns, his heart beating loudly in his ears.

All three cats' gazes immediately snapped to the movement. Morningmist blinked a few times as shock filled her every feature. The light brown apprentice froze with fear.

Eagletalon seemed to be in awe. "B… Blackhorizon?" he sputtered.

Lightningstrike chose this moment to follow his son's lead and pop out of the undergrowth.

Eagletalon tried to form Lightningstrike's name, but he ended up opening and closing his mouth a few times without any sound.

Blackhorizon looked at Lightningstrike and back to Eagletalon, thinking of something to break the silence. "We… I… We want to…" he stammered before straightening up and regaining his composure. "We request to see Thunderstar immediately," he stated in a more authoritative tone.

There was a moment of continued shocked silence as Eagletalon tried to figure out what in the name of StarClan Blackhorizon could be doing with the father that had betrayed him and killed his family.

"We… Thunderstar…" Blackhorizon attempted to repeat himself.

Finally, Morningmist seemed to find words. "B-both of you were b-banished. We have the right to… to kill you!" she tried to say without her voice breaking.

"Please," Blackhorizon pleaded, "Let us see Thunderstar. L-let him decide."

Eagletalon exchanged glances with Morningmist and there was a moment of unbearable silence where Blackhorizon's fate was being decided. Finally, Eagletalon gave an uncertain nod.

"Follow me," he commanded, as if Blackhorizon and Lightningstrike had forgotten how to reach the camp.

Blackhorizon heaved a sigh of relief. He had a chance! He had a chance to redeem his family's name and prove his father and kin's innocence. He had a chance to return home. Most of all, he had a chance to be with Wavecrest again. The weight of living his life without his white friend suddenly crashed down on him and he realized how much he had missed their friendship. Through all of the laughs and anger and sadness, Wavecrest had been there for him.

Would he be there for me now?

The patrol was deathly silent as they made their way back through the woods towards camp. No one dared utter a syllable, making the trip seem to stretch on forever. Blackhorizon could hardly breathe when he spotted the camp entrance through the maze of tree trunks. He exchanged a fearful glance with his father.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion when the group entered the camp. Blackhorizon could hear his heart thumping against his chest as silence ascended over the cats in the clearing.

Buh-bum.

A shriek echoed through the trees. "It's the traitors!"

Buh-bum.

Cats emerged from their dens, their yawns instantly ceasing as shock froze their faces.

Buh-bum.

"Blackhorizon?" a warrior mouthed incredulously.

Buh-bum.

"Lightningstrike?" an elder inquired aloud, their mouth agape.

Buh-bum.

Blackhorizon looked from cat to cat, seeing shock and terror spread like wildfire. Then he froze as he met eyes with a cat pushing to the front of the gathering crowd. For a moment, its dark blue eyes mirrored everyone else's.

"Wavecrest," Blackhorizon whispered.

Wavecrest suddenly raced towards him and Blackhorizon feared that his friend was going to attack him, but he soon caught the look in his friend's eyes as perfect happiness glazed them over. "BLACKHORIZON!" Wavecrest bellowed.

I guess he missed me too, Blackhorizon thought just before he was tackled.

"ENOUGH!"

The reunited friends quickly got to their paws as Thunderstar's voice rang through the clearing.

The great gray leader waited for the murmuring to stop. "I need to speak with Blackhorizon and Lightningstrike alone," he stated before leaping down from the tree and, without looking to see if the two he spoke of were following, disappeared into his den.

Wavecrest laid the tip of his white tail on Blackhorizon's shoulder. "I knew you'd come back," he whispered, "I knew you had a reason."

Blackhorizon couldn't put into words what it meant to him that Wavecrest had believed in him all along, and he didn't get a chance to since Lightningstrike brushed past him and gave him a 'come on' look.

"It'll be fine. You'll be fine," Wavecrest encouraged, nudging the black tom forward.

Blackhorizon padded on towards the leader's den, following the pale gray tail of his father. He ignored the looks burning holes in his sides. "This is it," he whispered over and over again.

This is it.