Sorry for the long wait! This is the last chapter, although I am adding an epilogue. Enjoy :)

Chapter 11

Mountainkit was silent for a full day. He immersed himself in playfighting with Serenity, watching Sanddune's every move while he hunted, eating fresh kill, and taking long drinks from the river to calm his racing heart. It wasn't until dusk was settling in, after a refreshing nap in the fading sunshine, that he decided to discover the truth.

The kit watched Serenity lap the water of the river, his moss green eyes tinged with uncertainty. Serenity raised her head from the water and slowly rested back on her haunches. At the same time, Mountainkit got to his paws. As he padded behind her, he guessed she was having the same thoughts as he was.

My father is dead. Sanddune isn't my father.

"Sanddune?" he inquired as he approached the sleeping tom. When he didn't respond, Mountainkit prodded him gently. "Sanddune?"

"Don't take her away from me," Sanddune whispered in a pathetic voice, "Dewkit… Dewkit, no."

"Sanddune!" Mountainkit whispered harshly, prodding him with more force.

"Dewkit, no! No! No, no, no! Please!"

"Sanddune!" Mountainkit cried desperately. "Sanddune!" He jabbed him in the side, just wanting the voice to stop. He couldn't stand its heartbreaking whine.

Sanddune's eyes suddenly opened. His chest heaved with each breath and, although he got to his paws, his whole body was trembling. "Sorry…" he whispered before taking a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry. What…" He swallowed. "What's the matter?" It sounded as if something was caught in his throat.

Mountainkit lost all determination. He saw the shaking cat before him and the anger just fell apart. Yes, Sanddune had lied to him, but what else could he have done? Knowing that his father was by his side had given Mountainkit the courage he had needed to grow up without his mother. Besides, anger would distance himself for much longer than the feeling would actually last. Sanddune had lost everything. He couldn't lose Mountainkit too.

"Sanddune, I... I heard you last night." He didn't even give Sanddune time to react. "I understand. I understand why you did it. I'm not mad. I just… I just wanna know…"

Sanddune was silent, taking it in, thinking it through. His pale blue eyes were brimming with sorrow as he looked at the kit that used to be his son. Finally, he spoke. "Come. I think Serenity wants to hear this too."

.

"Your mother was my sister," Sanddune began, getting a faraway look in his eyes. "She was exactly how I told you. Beautiful blue eyes and beautiful gray fur. Both she and I were in OakClan. We lived in competition with MapleClan. And your mother, Riverbend… she fell in love with a MapleClan cat."

Sanddune had talked about Clan life very little with Mountainkit, but he knew enough to know that that was forbidden. He gave a small gasp, his mind already forming the ending for this story.

Sanddune continued on. He explained everything, just as he had done with the forest, in that same, wonderful voice. Mountainkit could touch the ground of OakClan camp. He could scent the border where Sanddune had first seen Riverbend and Autumnleaf meet. He could hear the yowls as cats discovered Fogstar's betrayal. He could feel the sting of Northstar's words when he didn't believe Watervapor's actions.

Most of all, he could see his father… his real father: loyal deputy of MapleClan, loving mate to Riverbend, with light brown fur and moss green eyes, just like Mountainkit. He felt Autumnleaf's strength and courage flow through him.

The battle was difficult: Autumnleaf being brutally murdered, the Clanmates he had never known being struck down like parasites that needed ridding of… and finally, his mother – his brave mother – giving her kits a chance at life.

"So I left… I left with tiny Dewkit in my jaws and you on my back. I raised you. I told you I was your father… or at least I never told you differently. I was planning on telling you… both of you… when you were older, when you would be able to handle the truth. I'm sorry, Mountainkit. I really am sorry, but that doesn't mean I would do it any differently. You can understand why. I know you can."

Mountainkit attempted to gulp the lump in his throat down but found that he couldn't. The only emotion blocking his airways was sadness. How could he possibly be angry at the cat who had lost everything? He started with a simple nod that gradually turned fierce and ended with a sob. Then the sob grew in intensity as the young kit thought of his father and mother and sister and Sanddune and Serenity and everyone who been in his life at one point and the fact that most of them were gone.

"But we're here now," Serenity whispered. She had listened with such complete silence that Mountainkit had forgotten she was there. "We're here now… together. We've all had pain and betrayal and heartbreak, but we've survived. No one's ever gonna stop us now."

.

Moons passed. Wounds healed. Trust mended. Friendship blossomed. Yet something was still not quite resolved. Time could heal the wounds, mend the trust, grow the friendships… yet it couldn't forget the memories, stop the wishes, or blot out the truth.

An idea had formed not long after the discovery of his past, but it had been fleeting and didn't enter his thoughts very often. Recently, however, it had popped up more and more. It became an obsession. It haunted his dreams. It distracted him constantly. It had transformed from a 'what if' to an 'I have to.'

Soon enough, Mountainkit couldn't take it anymore. He had to tell Sanddune. He didn't want to think about the pain it would cause him, but he had to tell him. Now.

The moment came. It was as if both toms had something bursting from their seams. Their words came at the same time.

"Mountainkit."

"Sanddune."

"We have to go back."

.

"You don't have to come with. I'll be back soon."

Serenity bristled, hazel eyes flashing dangerously. "What is that supposed to mean? Of course I'm coming with!"

Sanddune was nervous and relieved at the same time. "I don't think… I don't-"

Serenity's glare silenced him.

"Then we should go now," Mountainkit meowed impatiently. He couldn't understand why Sanddune wouldn't want Serenity to come. She had no bad memories there. She would only provide moral support. What was wrong with that?

Sanddune nodded uncertainly. Serenity stalked past him to lead the way.

For Mountainkit, the journey there would be the most difficult thing. He just kept repeating Serenity's words over and over again, squeezing every last bit of comfort from them.

No one's ever gonna stop us now.

They did their best to skirt around the clearing where Dewkit died. He could hardly breathe for fear he would catch the scent of her clean-picked bones.

No one's ever gonna stop us now.

Mountainkit was big enough now that he easily cleared the gap that Dewkit couldn't five moons ago as they carefully made their way down the rocks beside the waterfall. The image of her desperate eyes flashed before him constantly until it was blurred by tears.

No one's ever gonna stop us now.

The cats padded along the stream in silence. It took far less time for the three older cats with a purpose than it did for Sanddune and the young kits those many moons before, but it still took almost a quarter moon. This time there was no happy playfighting, no stories of the forest, just two cats working up the courage to face their past and one not about to disturb them.

It seemed like moons before Mountainkit saw Sanddune stiffen. It was the border. He knew it.

"OakClan border," Sanddune whispered breathlessly, confirming Mountainkit's thoughts. They continued on at a slower pace.

"Is it MapleClan's border now?" Serenity asked quietly. Sanddune had given her the basics of Clan life one night, in turn giving Mountainkit some information he didn't know before.

"I don't smell them," Sanddune replied in the same quiet voice, as if someone could hear them. "I'm sure they expanded their territory a little into OakClan's, but they wouldn't come this far. Way too much to patrol."

Serenity nodded. "How much farther until camp?"

"Just through the tun…" Sanddune stopped, and Mountainkit barely avoided running into him. "through that tunnel."

The landscape continued at a slightly upward slope, but Mountainkit could make out where a passageway cut into the earth. The pine trees were thick here and fresh spring saplings shrouded much of the ground.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Serenity asked nervously, speaking more to Sanddune. "Maybe you should wait until daylight. The battle…"

Mountainkit knew what she meant. The battle had been at night. The pain might be worse if he came back to the camp at the same time. Besides, daylight would be a lot friendlier.

"No," Sanddune stated firmly. "Seeing the camp in daylight… It would make it seem like nothing had ever happened."

And so the three cats pressed on in the darkness. Sanddune only hesitated for a moment before entering the tunnel leading to camp. The walls seemed to press in on them, echoing their heartbeats until they were as deafening as thunder.

The camp was deserted when they finally emerged from the passageway. Instantly, Mountainkit was bombarded with the images of Sanddune's story. He saw Northstar announcing Watervapor's warrior name on a large boulder. He saw the dens where Sanddune had slept when he was an apprentice, a warrior, injured from the battle with MapleClan… He saw Juniperpaw racing through the ferns. But before he could even glance at the place he was born, his gaze was drawn across the floor of the clearing.

Bones.

They were everywhere.

Those are my Clanmates.

He couldn't breathe.

"Mountainkit."

Mountainkit turned to meet Serenity's eyes. He saw Sanddune further along, headed towards a large cave, not looking at what remained of his Clanmates. He padded unsteadily after him with Serenity barely a step behind. He felt like he was going to lose the contents of his stomach any moment.

"This is where… you were born," Sanddune whispered, his voice cracking.

Mountainkit felt a memory tug at his thoughts as he padded further into the cave and took a step into the small cavern at the back. Finally, after moons of trying to remember, the sound of his mother's voice suddenly came back. He didn't even know what she said, but the murmur of her sweet voice was enough to bring a sad sparkle to his moss green eyes.

It left as quickly as it came. Mountainkit felt panic rise within him. He groped his memories for the voice again, but it was gone.

"I could hear her," he whispered, "I could really hear her."

"Mountainkit, I have… I have something to tell you."

Mountainkit turned to face Sanddune, his eyes wet with emotion.

"You're going to be a warrior someday. You're going to be a strong, loyal warrior…" The sandy brown tom trailed off, gulping and recovering himself before continuing. "I can't get you there."

Mountainkit didn't understand. "Wh-? Bu-"

"If you had some real training… from a warrior who can fight without tripping over his own paws… you could be so great. I know you could."

The panic came faster with more intensity. "I don't understand-"

Sanddune's gaze was fierce. "You're six moons old. You're ready to be an apprentice. You need a capable mentor now. You need a Clan to grow up in."

Mountainkit was beginning to understand. That's why Sanddune wanted to come back, not for closure, but for Mountainkit… to…

No.

He pushed the thought away. He refused to believe it.

"Your name is Mountain now. You're a rogue."

"No." Mountainkit shook his head fiercely. "No."

"You accidently stumbled onto MapleClan's territory. They'll take you in."

"No!" Mountainkit whimpered, "I can't leave you!"

"You have to. You're going to be amazing. Do you know what your mother said to me… before I took you?"

The two toms locked gazes.

"She said that the most amazing things… they can come from some terrible lies."

For some reason, with that sentence… the sentence from his own mother… he knew Sanddune was right. Mountainkit had a destiny… and it wasn't in the cedar forest with Sanddune and Serenity. It was here. It was with MapleClan.

That was his fate. Now he just had to accept it.

So there we are! Epilogue should be coming soon... within the next couple of days I hope. It's amazing how many different ways I could sprout another story off of this. Serenity's past, Sanddune's past (you probably noticed I never mentioned his parents), Mountainkit's future life, etc. Unfortunately, school is starting soon, and I'm already struggling to get the motivation to write. So I probably won't start another story until next summer. Probs won't finish Inconsistency either... Meh..

Anywho, you probably noticed that the 'No one's ever gonna stop us now' was a little strange, but I decided to throw in another lyric from the band Fun. If you haven't heard the song 'Carry On', go listen to it now. It's amazing. I'll probably include more of its lyrics in the epilogue.

Til then, review! ;)