Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20 By the time Firepaw returned, the camp was starting to look a little better. Parties of cats had clearly been patching and repairing continuously throughout the day. Frostfur and Goldenflower were still busy fortifying the nursery walls, but the outer wall looked solid and secure once more. Firepaw trotted across the clearing to see if there was any fresh-kill around. He passed Sandpaw and Dustpaw, who were preparing to leave in the next patrol. "Sorry," mewed Sandpaw, as Firepaw sniffed hopefully around the eating area. "We ate the last two mice." Firepaw shrugged. He would catch something for himself later. He headed back to the apprentices' den, where Graypaw was sitting with his back resting against the tree stump, licking a forepaw. "Where's Ravenpaw?" Firepaw asked as he sat down. "Not back from his task yet," replied Graypaw. "Look at that!" He held out his paw for Firepaw to inspect. The pad was torn and bleeding.

第二十章火爪回来的时候，营地看起来已经好了一些。 很明显，成群的猫一整天都在不停地修补和修理。 霜毛和金花还在忙着加固育儿室的墙，但外面的墙看起来又坚固而安全了。 火爪小跑着穿过空地，看看周围有没有新鲜的猎物。 他从Sandpaw和Dustpaw身边走过，他们正准备在下一次巡逻中离开。 “对不起。”沙爪叫道，火爪满怀希望地在吃东西的地方嗅了嗅。 “我们吃掉了最后两只老鼠。” Firepaw耸耸肩。他以后会给自己抓点东西的。 他朝徒弟的书房走去，格雷paw正坐在那里，背靠着树桩，舔着一只前爪。 “Ravenpaw在哪?”火爪坐下问。 “他还没有完成任务呢。”格雷paw回答。 “看那个！”他伸出爪子让火爪检查。 衬垫撕破了，还在流血。

"Tigerclaw sent me fishing and I stepped on a sharp stone in the stream." "That looks pretty deep. You should get Spottedleaf to take a look at it," Firepaw advised. "Where did Tigerclaw send Ravenpaw, by the way?" "Dunno, I was up to my belly in cold water," muttered Graypaw. He stood up and limped away toward Spottedleaf's den. Firepaw settled down, his eyes fixed on the entrance to the camp, and waited for Ravenpaw. After overhearing the warriors' conversation last night, he couldn't shake the feeling that something dreadful was going to happen to his friend. His heart lurched as he saw Tigerclaw enter the camp alone. He waited longer. The moon was high in the sky. Surely Ravenpaw should be back by now? Firepaw found himself wishing he'd spoken to Bluestar when he'd had the chance. He could see Darkstripe and Longtail guarding her den now, and he certainly didn't want them to overhear his concerns. Tigerclaw had brought back fresh-kill, which

“虎爪派我去钓鱼，我踩到了小溪里的一块锋利的石头。” “看起来很深。你应该让斑点叶去看看。”火爪建议道。 “顺便问一下，虎爪把拉文爪送到哪儿去了？”“不知道，我在没到肚子的冷水里。”灰爪咕哝道。 他站起来，一瘸一拐地朝点点树叶的窝走去。 火爪坐了下来，眼睛盯着营地的入口，等着拉文爪。 在昨晚无意中听到勇士队的谈话后，他无法摆脱一种可怕的感觉，那就是他的朋友即将发生什么可怕的事情。 看到虎爪独自走进营地，他的心猛地一跳。 他等了更久。月亮高高地挂在天上。 拉文爪现在应该回来了吧？ 火爪发现自己真希望当初有机会跟蓝星说话。 他可以看到黑条和长尾巴正在守卫着她的窝，他当然不想让他们听到他的担心。 虎爪带回了新鲜的猎物

he was sharing with Whitestorm outside the warriors' den. Firepaw realized he was very hungry. Perhaps he should go and hunt—he might come across Ravenpaw outside the camp. As he wondered what to do, Firepaw saw Ravenpaw trotting through the entrance of the camp. A thrill of relief raced through him, and not just because Ravenpaw was holding fresh-kill between his teeth. The apprentice came straight over to Firepaw and dropped the mouthful of food on the ground. "Enough for all three of us!" he mewed proudly. "And it should taste extra good—it's from ShadowClan territory." Firepaw gasped. "You hunted in ShadowClan territory?" "That was my task," Ravenpaw explained. "Tigerclaw sent you into enemy territory to hunt!" Firepaw could hardly believe it. "We must tell Bluestar. That was too dangerous!" At the mention of Bluestar's name, Ravenpaw shook his head. His eyes looked hunted and shadowed with fear. "Look, just keep quiet, okay?" he hissed. "I survived. I even caught some

他和白风暴在勇士洞穴外分享的。 火爪意识到自己饿坏了。 也许他应该去打猎——他可能会在营地外面遇到拉文爪。 正当他不知道该怎么办的时候，火爪看见拉文爪小跑着穿过营地的入口。 一种如释重负的快感传遍了他的全身，这不仅仅是因为拉文爪嘴里叼着新鲜的猎物。 徒弟径直走到火爪跟前，把嘴里的食物丢在地上。 “够我们三个吃的了！”他骄傲地叫道。 “而且味道应该特别好——这是来自ShadowClan的领地。” Firepaw气喘吁吁地说。“你在影族领地打猎？”“那是我的任务。”拉文爪解释道。 “虎爪派你到敌人的地盘去打猎！”火爪简直不敢相信。 “我们必须告诉蓝星。那太危险了！”听到蓝星的名字，拉文爪摇了摇头。 他的眼睛里充满了恐惧。 “听着，保持安静，好吗？”他嘶嘶地说。 “我活了下来。我甚至抓到了一些

prey. That's all there is to it." "You survived this time!" Firepaw spat. "Shhh! Tigerclaw's looking. Just eat your share and keep quiet!" snapped Ravenpaw. Firepaw shrugged and took a piece of the fresh-kill. Ravenpaw ate quickly, avoiding Firepaw's eye. "Shall we save some for Graypaw?" he asked after a while. "He went to see Spottedleaf," Firepaw mumbled through a mouthful. "He cut his paw. I don't know when he'll be back." "Well, save him whatever you want," replied Ravenpaw, suddenly sounding worn out. "I'm tired; I need to sleep." He stood up and pushed his way into the den. Firepaw stayed outside, watching the rest of the camp prepare for the night. He was going to have to tell Ravenpaw what he'd overheard in the forest last night. He needed to know just how much danger he was in. Tigerclaw was lying beside Whitestorm, sharing tongues, but with one eye fixed on the apprentices' den. Firepaw yawned to show Tigerclaw how exhausted he was. Then he got to

的猎物。这就是它的全部。” “这次你活下来了！”Firepaw口角。 “嘘!Tigerclaw的寻找。 吃你那份，别出声！”拉文爪厉声说。 火爪耸了耸肩，拿了一块刚宰杀的肉。 拉文爪避开火爪的目光，飞快地吃了起来。 “我们给格雷paw留点好吗？”过了一会儿，他问道。 “他去找斑点叶了。”火爪嘴里念叨着。 他割破了自己的爪子。我不知道他什么时候回来。” “好吧，随你怎么救他吧。”拉文爪回答，突然显得很疲惫。 “我累了;我需要睡觉。” 他站起来，挤进了洞穴。 火爪留在外面，看着营地里的其他人准备入夜。 他要把昨晚在森林里听到的事情告诉拉文爪。 他需要知道自己有多危险。 虎爪躺在白风暴的身旁，互相攀谈，但一只眼睛盯着徒弟们的巢穴。 火爪打了个哈欠，让虎爪看看他有多累。 然后他开始

his paws and followed Ravenpaw inside. Ravenpaw was asleep, but Firepaw could tell from his twitching paws and whiskers that he was dreaming. He knew it wasn't a good dream by the tiny mewls and squeaks that Ravenpaw was making. Suddenly the black cat leaped to his paws, his eyes stretched wide in terror. His fur was standing on end, and his back was arched. "Ravenpaw!" Firepaw meowed in alarm. "Calm down. You're in our den. There's only me here!" Ravenpaw looked around wildly. "It's just me," Firepaw repeated. Ravenpaw blinked and seemed to recognize his friend. He collapsed onto his bed. "Ravenpaw," mewed Firepaw seriously. "There's something you need to know. Something I heard last night when I was out looking for the wild garlic." Ravenpaw looked away, still trembling from his dream, but Firepaw persisted. "Ravenpaw, I heard Tigerclaw telling Darkstripe and Longtail that you betrayed ThunderClan. He told them you slipped away during the trip to Mothermouth and told ShadowClan that the camp was unguarded."

他收起爪子，跟着拉文爪走了进去。 拉文爪睡着了，但从它抽搐的爪子和胡须来看，火爪知道它在做梦。 从拉文爪发出的轻微的呜咽和吱吱声，他知道这不是一个好梦。 突然，黑猫跳了起来，惊恐地瞪大了眼睛。 他的毛竖着，背拱着。 “Ravenpaw !”火爪惊恐地喵喵叫着。 “冷静下来。你在我们的书房里。 这里只有我一个人！”拉文爪疯狂地环顾四周。 “是我。”火爪重复道。 拉文爪眨了眨眼睛，似乎认出了他的朋友。 他瘫倒在床上。 “乌鸦爪。”火爪严肃地叫道。 “有件事你需要知道。 昨晚我出去找野大蒜的时候听到的。” 拉文爪把目光移开，还在为他的梦而颤抖，但火爪坚持了下来。 “拉文爪，我听到虎爪对黑条纹和长尾说，你背叛了雷霆氏族。 他告诉他们，你在去母茅斯的路上溜了，还告诉暗影氏族说营地无人看守。”

Ravenpaw spun round to face Firepaw. "But I didn't!" he exclaimed, horrified. "Of course you didn't," Firepaw agreed. "But Darkstripe and Longtail believe you did, and Tigerclaw persuaded them that they should get rid of you." Ravenpaw was speechless, his breath coming in gasps. "Why would Tigerclaw want to get rid of you, Ravenpaw?" Firepaw asked gently. "He's one of the Clan's strongest warriors. What threat are you to him?" Firepaw suspected he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear the truth from Ravenpaw's own mouth. He waited while Ravenpaw fumbled for words. At last the black apprentice crawled closer to Firepaw and whispered hoarsely into his ear, "Because the RiverClan deputy didn't kill Redtail; Tigerclaw did." Firepaw nodded silently, and Ravenpaw continued, his whisper cracking with tension. "Redtail killed the RiverClan deputy—" "So Tigerclaw didn't kill Oakheart." Firepaw couldn't help interrupting.

乌鸦爪转身面对火爪。 “可我没有！”他惊恐地叫道。 “你当然不知道。”火爪同意了。 “但是黑条纹和长尾巴相信你说了，虎爪说服了他们，让他们把你赶走。” 拉文爪说不出话来，喘不过气来。 “虎爪为什么要除掉你，拉文爪？”火爪温和地问。 “他是氏族中最强壮的战士之一。 你对他有什么威胁？”火爪怀疑他已经知道答案了，但他想从拉文爪亲口听到真相。 他等着，拉文爪在摸索着说什么。 最后，黑衣学徒爬到火爪身边，在他耳边沙哑地说：“因为河族的副手没有杀死红尾巴；Tigerclaw。” 火爪默默地点了点头，拉文爪继续说下去，他的声音因紧张而嘶哑。 “红尾巴杀了河族的代表——”“这么说虎爪没有杀奥克哈特。” 火爪忍不住打断了他。