The Missing Clan

Chapter 2

❅

Lightpoppy knew it would take a long time until all of her Clanmates would trust her again. All she had to do was keep being herself and being kind. She padded in line behind Smokestar's mate, Dreamcloud. Brindlefern was watching Ashkit and Spotkit, but who knows what trouble they could get into when Brindlefern took her eyes off the kits for a second.

Lightpoppy was happy that SunClan took Nightstripe in, although Nightstripe now hated them. She didn't think that Nightstripe was better off executed from IceClan, but she wasn't in charge. She was hardly a member. "IceClan, we need to sleep, but we also have to guard our camp. Lightpoppy, Lizardtooth, Jaywing, and Foxbranch, guard our camp. You can sleep when other cats take the next watch," Smokestar meowed. He stalked inside his den and curled up. Lightpoppy's eyes shone. Smokestar trusted her!

Lightpoppy sat in the entrance of the camp, keeping her eyes sharp and looking at everything closely. Intruders could hide anywhere. Suddenly, a bush rustled. She jerked her head to the bush, squinting at it. If it was a frog or lizard, she could catch it, but if it was an intruder, she would warn her Clanmates. A growl sounded from the bush. Definitely not a lizard, Lightpoppy thought. Only one animal could make that sound. Dog! "Dog attack!" Lightpoppy yowled. 

In a flash, the dog reared up and raced toward Lightpoppy. She ducked under the dog's underbelly and slashed her claws against the dog's belly. Then she raced out from under the dog. She jumped on the dog's back and raked her claws on the dog's flesh. The dog yowled with pain, but soon recovered. The dog jerked its head around, snapping its jaws at her. Lightpoppy reared up, but that dodge unbalanced her. She fell to the ground, and the dog spun around. Oh no. I'm going to die.

She closed her eyes and braced for the worst, but it never came. Instead the worse came to the dog. The dog howled. Lightpoppy's eyes sprang open. Lizardtooth had his jaws clamped in the dog's tail. The dog snapped at Lizardtooth, and the tom let go. But long enough for Lightpoppy to dig her claws in the dog's neck. The dog retreated, and raced away. "Thank you, Lizardtooth," Lightpoppy meowed. "I would have never survived without you."

"Always," Lizardtooth meowed back. "That's what are Clanmates for." 

Smokestar came out and asked, "What happened?" "A dog attacked us, but Lightpoppy defeated it," Lizardtooth explained. "Now it's gone." 

Smokestar nodded, "Good job, Lightpoppy." "Thanks," Lightpoppy dipped her head respectfully. "But I couldn't have done it without Lizardtooth." Smokestar turned to Lizardtooth, "Thank you for helping Lightpoppy drive out the dog." 

"Oh, it was nothing," Lizardtooth meowed. "Just helping out an old friend of mine." He grinned at Lightpoppy. There was one cat who thought of Lightpoppy a friend, and that was Lizardtooth. She grinned back. "Thank you," she meowed again. "You saved my life."

~ ⋅ ~ 

Lightpoppy woke up, refreshed. Lizardtooth and a few others were still sleeping. She quietly stalked out of the den and saw Smokestar organizing the dawn patrol. "Can I come, too?" she meowed. "Sure," Smokestar turned to Jaywing, "Jaywing, Lightpoppy is coming too."

Lightpoppy heard the hiss of a lizard. She dropped into a crouch. Lightpoppy suddenly pricked her ears, hearing a stick snap. The lizard scrambled away, into its den. "Hare-dung!" she hissed. Lightpoppy lifted her paw. I wasn't paying attention to the ground! Suddenly she heard a squeak of a squirrel.

Then, paws thrummed the earth. Lightpoppy sniffed the air. It was a squirrel. She could see the squirrel now. It was frantically searching for acorns. Lightpoppy dropped into a crouch, and when she was close enough, sprang. A minute later she was heading back to her Clanmates with a plump gray squirrel hanging limply in her jaws.

Winterfall had caught a fat mouse, and Frostpoppy and Talonpaw had both caught pigeons. "Where did you find pigeons?" Winterfall asked. "There were a whole flock of them," Frostpoppy murmured.

When they returned to camp, Lizardtooth came over. "You caught a pigeon?" "No. This is Frostpoppy's. I caught the squirrel and the vole." Lightpoppy corrected. "Well. That's still good," Lizardtooth meowed. "Clan meeting!" Smokestar yowled. "We are going to vote on who should search for WaterClan."