Riverstar's Home is the sixteenth Warriors Super Edition. It takes place during the Dawn of the Clans arc.
The prologue and first couple chapters of the book cover the "Bonus Scene" in Thunder Rising: Ripple lives in a beautiful park with other cats, but one day monsters arrive and begin destroying it, and several of his friends get captured while trying to flee - including the she-cat he has feelings for, Flutter. While fleeing, Ripple slips and falls into a river, being swept downstream until he reaches what will later become the Clans' forest. The first cats he meets are a lone she-cat named Night, and her brother Mist, and upon meeting them he names himself River Ripple, since he feels that his ride down the river has changed him.
River Ripple is determined to return to the park and find his friends, but he finds difficulty in traveling upriver past the waterfall. Stumped for the time being, he remains where he is, but an aggressive rogue starts to claim part of the river as his territory, and he brings friends to attack River Ripple. Injured and desperate, River Ripple starts taking food from Twolegs, and becomes a kittypet. It's a comfortable life for a few moons until they get a puppy, and at his first opportunity, River Ripple escapes.
When he returns to the wild, River Ripple sees that new cats have moved into the area from the mountains: one group, which includes a cat called Gray Wing, seems friendly, although River Ripple overhears them talking about territory and realizes they're not as peaceful as they initially seemed, and he doesn't want to get involved in that. The other, led by a cat called Clear Sky, is just as aggressive as the rogue Hawk had been. River Ripple suggests to Night that they become a "group" of their own - no fighting, no territory, just looking out for each other. Over time, they befriend other cats who join them as well; although they are a group, they're less permanent than the others, an assorted collection of loners that come and go.
River Ripple begins to encounter the mountain cats a bit more: a she-cat named Dappled Pelt helps when Night is injured, and River Ripple helps the cats escape a forest fire. One night he awakens to see spirit cats, who lead him to The Four Trees, where the mountain cats are fighting. He watches in horror, seeing them die, but the spirits tell him to wait: after the fight, he can be a bridge to peace. After the battle concludes, the spirits tell everyone that they must "unite or die". River Ripple accepts that he has a "group" just as much as the others, and does his best to try to be a leader.
In the days after the battle, Gray Wing is lost in his grief over his lost friends that had died in the battle, and River Ripple brings him to his camp to stay temporarily for some peace. Then a rogue named One Eye arrives, who already has a reputation for being aggressive even before joining Clear Sky's group. One Eye ends up leaving the group after killing one of his groupmates, and later steals an herb that they need to treat sick cats. Despite his love of and desire for peace, River Ripple knows that the only way they can stop him is to kill him, and he joins in the battle against them, where they're finally successful in killing him.
River Ripple and the other leaders are scolded by the spirit cats for not "growing and spreading like the Blazing Star". The groups split up a bit more - now there's Wind Rinner's group on the moor, Tall Shadow's group in the pines, Clear Sky's and Thunder's two groups in the forest, and River Ripple's by the river. A few more cats join River Ripple's group, and though he's happy about the peaceful life he's created here, he feels a bit of guilt for not having gone back to the park.
The next scene picks up a little bit later, during Path of Stars: one of One Eye's former allies, Slash, has kidnapped Star Flower (One Eye's daughter who had originally betrayed the forest groups, but then joined them and became Clear Sky's mate, pregnant with his kits). The leaders had planned a rescue, however, and Star Flower has her kits on the way back. Slash shows up later when the groups hold a gathering and welcome Slash's former rogues to their groups, threatening revenge, and River Ripple hopes it's just an empty threat. Clear Sky and Thunder visit River Ripple afterward to bring news of Gray Wing's peaceful death after his prolonged health issues, and that Gray Wing had named the groups "Clans" before he died, with River Ripple's Clan being named "RiverClan". River Ripple approves of the word "Clan" and his own Clan's new name.
The next scene is several seasons later, at the end of Moth Flight's Vision. Wind Runner's daughter Moth Flight has found the Moonstone, a place to communicate with the spirit-cats, which were now called StarClan. The Clans each have a medicine cat now, and Wind Runner had been brought to the Moonstone when dying, where she'd been healed by StarClan, given nine lives, and renamed Windstar. River Ripple, now, was going to receive nine lives of his own.
As he looks around the cats of StarClan, he's relieved that none of his parkmates are not there; it must mean that they haven't died. The cat who greets River Ripple is Gray Wing, and he gives him his first life, for clarity and perspective. His next three lives are from Gray Wing's mother Quiet Rain (kindness and humility), Tall Shadow's brother Moon Shadow (patience), and Thunder's mother Storm (a wise, nurturing heart - which she says he will use for his Clan and one day his kits, which surprises him since he had resolved himself to being single for the rest of his life). His fifth life is from Jackdaw's Cry (resilience), sixth is from Hawk Swoop (initiative), seventh is from Rainswept Flower (honesty), and eighth is from Frost (fairness). The final life is from - sadly - his lost love Flutter, who explains that she'd been hit on a Thunderpath when trying to escape the Twolegs. With this final life, she gives him courage. Gray Wing finishes the ceremony by recommending he choose Night as deputy, and giving Riverstar his new leader's name.
A few moons later, Moth Flight has given her kits to the other Clans (her son Spider Paw had joined RiverClan), and it's noted that some of the cats have started calling themselves "warriors". Some ThunderClan cats arrive with - to Riverstar's shock - his parkmate Arc, who is injured and bleeding. It takes two days, but Arc recovers, and he and Riverstar catch up. Arc reports that Slash has made his way to the park and taken it over with other rogues. The park cats aren't used to fighting and can't stand up to him, but they hope that Riverstar can help. He's torn between whether to go and help or stay with his Clanmates, and Dappled Pelt suggests he consult with StarClan at the Moonstone, but Flutter tells him only that he must choose.
Riverstar makes up his mind, and ultimately decides to join Arc. Before leaving, he promises Night that he'll be back within two moons, and that if he's not back by then, to get her nine lives and name at the Moonstone. They've traveled for most of the day when they realize that the young she-cat Drizzle has followed them - when they hear her crying for help after she falls in the river. Riverstar saves her, but ends up drowning himself, losing the first of his nine lives.
The trio ends up getting lost, including a panicked flight through a shopping mall when looking for food. Finally, after a dangerous climb up a cliff, they find the river again and the spot where the park used to be, which is now just replaced with identical Twoleg nests. They meet up with their parkmates - including a she-cat named Finch that intrigues Riverstar - and get the idea to convince cats to turn on Slash, since back in the forest many followed him only because they feared him and didn't think they had another choice. They attack, but several of the cats who said they'd side with the park cats just wait to see who will win. Unfortunately it goes badly, they're overwhelmed, and Riverstar loses his second life.
In StarClan, Gray Wing tells Riverstar that his greatest strength is that he's always been an outsider. Riverstar doesn't understand how that can be a strength until he comes back and the rogues are all freaked out at him coming back from the dead. He then uses this to scare them further, claiming he'll keep coming back, that he has power they can't imagine. The rogues leave, with only Slash left, and Riverstar debates whether he should kill him. Then Slash grabs Finch's father, an elder named Owl, and threatens to throw him over the edge of a cliff into the river. Finch attacks him furiously, catching Slash off guard and saving her father, and Slash slips and falls into the river.
The weather is too bad to try returning home in the days afterward: the river's too swollen and the Thunderpath is too dangerous. Drizzle's getting restless, but Riverstar doesn't mind waiting a bit. He spends time with Finch, and starts to feel that he belongs right there, with Finch. A moon passes since they'd first left, with the weather still not improving, and during that time, they officially become mates. It turns out that Finch doesn't want to leave while Riverstar doesn't want to stay, but for now they still have to wait until the river drops.
With just a quarter moon left, one morning Drizzle tries to return home, but nearly drowns until Riverstar rescues her. She blames him for waiting for Finch to agree. Arc reminds Riverstar that he can make his own decisions and doesn't have to let the river decide things for him. Riverstar accepts this, and goes to tell Finch… who then announces that she's expecting his kits. He asks her to come back to RiverClan with him, but she says she wants the kits to grow up with her kin and the place she's always called home. They accept that they have different paths, and she promises to name one of the kits after him.
The following morning, they say farewell, and Riverstar and Drizzle set off… and then Finch wades into the river: she's changed her mind. The river's still a bit swollen, but they ride on the raft almost to the forest. They come upon some rapids upstream of the falls, however, which destroys the raft and nearly kills Drizzle. They know they have to go on foot from there, but at least they're close to the forest.
They arrive back the very day Night had intended to go to the Moonstone. Things aren't good at the moment; Skystar's been hunting in RiverClan territory, claiming that they're not a real Clan without a leader that has nine lives, and that he has StarClan's blessing since they allowed a tree to fall across the river. Drizzle's parents and brother - Dawn Mist, Moss Tail, and Pine Needle - have left to stay in Twolegplace because they fear that Skystar will be like Slash was. Riverstar vows to earn his Clan's trust back and show them that they won't be bullied.
Riverstar and Drizzle find her family and convince them to return to the camp. He promises his Clan that he'll never leave them again, and announces that Drizzle and Pine Needle will sleep in the warriors' den from now on. The Clans have been having a loose mentorship system with picking one cat to train a younger cat, but Riverstar formalizes it, naming mentors and apprentices - including naming Drizzle as the mentor of Moth Flight's kit Spider Paw.
The Clans hold a Gathering, and Riverstar confronts Skystar in front of the others, asking the other three Clans if they'll back him up. Thunderstar's the most supportive of the three leaders, but all agree that RiverClan must show that they're willing to defend their own borders instead of leaving it for everyone else to fight their battles for them.
On their way back from the Gathering, Riverstar learns that Finch has gone into labor. He freaks out, and there are a genuinely tense few moments where a kit gets stuck and isn't breathing when it's first born, but ultimately the kits and their mother are fine. They have a she-kit they name Ripple Shine, and two toms, Dusk Smoke and Arc Shadow.
Riverstar tries to reason with Skystar, who still insists that their hunting on RiverClan territory is StarClan's will. Riverstar gives them until dawn to clear out of his Clan's land, but knowing that Skystar will almost certainly attack before then, he and his Clan prepare. They fight on the tree-bridge and the battle spills into the river, where RiverClan obviously has the advantage. They win, and SkyClan flees; Riverstar and his warriors push the oak into the river, and a surge of water finishes the job. He's thankful that the river has always been his ally, and is proud of his Clan. The book ends with Riverstar telling his Clanmates that it's time to go home.
This book contains examples of the following:
- Accidental Misnaming: When Finch is still learning about Clan life, she accidentally calls StarClan "StarryClan".
- Action Prologue: The prologue starts with the park getting destroyed by Twoleg monsters; Ripple tries to flee and falls into the river.
- Alliterative Name: Ripple's new name River Ripple, as well as some of the mountain cats like Turtle Tail.
- All There in the Manual: Riverstar promises to give Finch a more Clan-like name, but we don't see him do this by the end of the book. The official site reveals her new name to be Finch Song.
- Audience Participation: The book is the result of a poll held on the official site as to which cat should get their own Super Edition; the other two in the poll were Ivypool (who ended up getting a Super Edition the following year anyway) and Mistystar.
- Babies Ever After: The book ends with Riverstar having a mate and newborn kits.
- The Bait: Sparrow Fur taunts One Eye when they regroup and prepare to fight him again.
- Badass Boast: Riverstar gives one to scare the Big Bad Slash:Slash: "This is absurd! You're not special. You're just a mountain cat who's learned a few tricks."Riverstar: "I'm not a mountain cat. I never was. I'm not like them. I'm not like you. I'm like nothing you've seen before. I'm a water rat, remember? A cat who can ride rivers. I can come back to life when I'm dead. I live where and when I choose. Even the mountain cats couldn't drive me out. Who are you?"
- Best Friend: Night refers to Riverstar as the best friend she's ever had.
- Blood Is Squicker in Water: River Ripple realizes that Night is badly injured when attacked by Casper, when he sees the water turning red around her.
- Cabin Fever: River Ripple remarks that the kits have "camp fever" from having to stay in camp due to the cold, and that they need to stretch their legs.
- Clean Pretty Reliable: After going over the waterfall, Drizzle isn't breathing. Finch performs a feline version of CPR, pushing on her chest, and Drizzle is okay, just weak, after coughing up a little water.
- A Day in the Limelight: Riverstar's only POV.
- Dead Person Conversation: The spirits of the recently-deceased cats appear after the battle at The Four Trees, as well as in a dream to the leaders not long afterward.
- Disney Villain Death: Slash gets knocked off a cliff into the river.
- The Dog Bites Back: Slash is such a cruel bully that the cats he torments are only too willing to try to overthrow him if given the chance.
- A Dog Named "Cat": There are many cats in the book named after other creatures: Moth, Stoat, Squirrel, Midge, Owl, Hawk, Fox, Woodlouse, Kite (a bird of prey), Bee, Beetle, Snake, Snail, Finch, Sparrow, Grub and Swallow.
- Ear Notch: Dew's ears are noted to be notched with battle scars, and Night stares at them when Dew asks to join the group, clearly questioning whether a rogue experienced with fighting will fit in with their peaceful group.
- Fainting: Ripple passes out from exhaustion after going over a waterfall and making it out of the river.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Clear Sky starts to panic and grieve when he thinks that his friends have all betrayed him and left his mate to die. It takes Wind Runner raking her claws across his ears and telling him to sit up and stop acting like a kit to make him realize that they actually have a plan to save her. As River Ripple's narration says, Wind Runner isn't a cat to do things gently.
- Go for the Eye: Riverstar scratches Snail's eyes in the fight against Slash's rogues.
- Heel–Face Turn: Some of Slash's rogues join the park cats. Arc is willing to give them a chance.
- I Have Your Wife: Slash kidnaps Clear Sky's pregnant mate Star Flower.
- Inevitable Waterfall: River Ripple goes over the falls on his first ride to the forest.
- It's Raining Men: River Ripple and the others use this when fighting One Eye, knowing he wouldn't be able to see them hiding in the tree due to the sun being in his eyes.
- Karmic Death: Slash takes an elder hostage and threatens to throw him off a cliff. The old cat's daughter rushes forward without thinking to save her father, accidentally knocking Slash over the edge instead.
- Look Both Ways: Flutter is killed on the Thunderpath.
- The Lost Lenore: River Ripple loved Flutter but never got the chance to formally ask if she wanted to be his mate. She was captured by Twolegs in the Park, and as he learns later, was hit by a monster immediately afterward. He grieves for her through his whole time establishing a home by the river.
- Malicious Misnaming: Ember mocks Riverstar by calling him "River Dribble".
- Maternity Crisis:
- Star Flower goes into labor while they're fleeing from Slash's rogues with her.
- One of Finch's kits gets stuck, and then once they get it out it's not breathing, but thankfully both mother and kit survive.
- Meaningful Rename:
- Ripple doesn't feel like the same cat after his journey down the river, so he renames himself River Ripple for the river that brought him there.
- Most of the rogues who have joined the forest groups have given themselves two-word names to put their pasts behind them and fit in better with the group. River Ripple's cats Dawn, Moss, Pine, and Kite have chosen the names Dawn Mist, Moss Tail, Pine Needle, and Kite Wing.
- As Gray Wing died, he renamed the groups "Clans". River Ripple likes the word, since it means "family" and what he's trying to build with the cats he lives with.
- The new Clan leaders are given a new name ending in -star when they receive their nine lives.
- The Medic: Dappled Pelt is knowledgeable about healing herbs, and ends up becoming RiverClan's first medicine cat.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast:
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: Arc Shadow is named after Riverstar's parental figure, Arc. It's also possible though not explicitly stated that Ripple Shine is named after Riverstar himself, since Finch had previously promised to name one after him.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: River Ripple never got to say goodbye to the cat he loved, Flutter, when she was captured by Twolegs.
- No One Could Survive That!: Slash falls into the river and disappears under the surface. Riverstar assumes the current dragged him to the bottom, and Arc comments that there's no way Slash will survive that.
- Offing the Offspring: Slash hints that he's killed his own kits before.
- Panicky Expectant Father: Riverstar's more worried about Finch's kitting than Finch herself.
- Parental Substitute: Riverstar explains that he didn't remember his parents and was simply found as a kit near the park entrance, and that Arc had raised him.
- Perspective Flip: The first half or so of the book is a retelling of Dawn of the Clans from River Ripple's POV, including some scenes where we'd seen the DOTC protagonists encountering him.
- A Pet into the Wild: A kittypet, Cleo, joins River Ripple's group in order to be able to stay with her kits, at least until her mate reports that new Twolegs moved in and he expects they'll be fine with keeping the kits.
- Pregnant Hostage: Star Flower is carrying Clear Sky's kits when kidnapped by Slash.
- Premature Birth Drama: Star Flower's kitting. In addition to coming at the worst possible time - as they're running form the villain - the kits are very early, which worries everyone.
- Prequel: Dawn of the Clans and its supplemental books take place long before the main series or any of the other prequels.
- Reluctant Warrior: River Ripple tries to uphold peace, but once One Eye kills one cat and steals herbs meant for others who may die without them, he knows that the only way to stop him is to kill him, and comes to accept that survival and peace must be fought for.
- Resurrective Immortality: Leaders get nine lives, so they can come back eight times. Riverstar makes the rogues think he can just keep coming back indefinitely.
- Revenge by Proxy: Slash had threatened the park cats that he'd hurt one of their friends if any of them left. He does indeed hurt Dart after Arc goes to get Riverstar's help.
- Ruler Protagonist: The book is about Riverstar forming RiverClan, trying to build a home where cats live peacefully and care about each other, in contrast with the local rogues and warring mountain groups.
- Screaming Birth: Finch's kitting, when one of them gets stuck.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Slash's rogues are terrified when Riverstar comes back from the dead, and all of them choose to leave.
- Second Love:
- Clear Sky becomes mates with Star Flower after having previously fathered Thunder with another she-cat. (As we see in the other Dawn of the Clans books, Star Flower is actually his third love, after Bright Stream and then Thunder's mother Storm died.) River Ripple feels jealous that Clear Sky gets to start a second family when he never got to have kits with Flutter.
- Finch is Riverstar's second love after Flutter. He's also her second love, since she mentions that she's had kits before.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Riverstar and Finch talk about how they would have missed each other once Finch changes her mind and decides to join Riverstar on his journey back to the forest. Drizzle rolls her eyes and grumbles that she hopes they won't be like that all the way home, and Finch promises to try to not be too soppy.
- Tagalong Kid: Drizzle follows Arc and Riverstar, and they let her join them because it'll take too long to bring her back.
- Talking in Your Dreams: All of the leaders share a dream with each other to meet with the spirit-cats.
- Technical Pacifist: If there's a way to solve things by talking, Riverstar prefers that. He also can't quite bring himself to kill Slash, which gives Slash an opening to take an elder hostage. Thankfully, Finch is able to rescue her father and accidentally kill Slash in the process.
- Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: Tall Shadow isn't up to eating while grieving for her brother's death.
- Unsuccessful Pet Adoption: River Ripple lives with Twolegs for several moons, but they underestimate how much he would hate their new puppy, and he returns to the wild at the first opportunity.
- Violence is the Only Option:
- River Ripple knows that the only way to stop One Eye is to kill him, and he comes to accept that they may need to fight to defend their home.
- Similarly, when talking with Skystar fails, Riverstar knows they have to fight to defend their land.
- Watching Troy Burn: The Cats of the Park have to see their beloved, beautiful home destroyed.
- You Fool!: Wind Runner calls Clear Sky a fool for thinking that the other leaders would really abandon his mate to die.
