Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21 "Yellowfang has killed Spottedleaf and taken my kits!" screeched Frostfur. The other queens rushed to Frostfur's side and tried to calm her with licks and caresses, but Frostfur pushed them away and wailed her grief to the darkening sky. As if in reply, the sky rumbled ominously and a cold wind ruffled the cats' fur. "Yellowfang!" hissed Tigerclaw. "I always knew she was a traitor. Now we know how she managed to fight off the ShadowClan deputy. It was a setup to let her trick her way into our Clan!" Lightning crackled overhead, punctuating Tigerclaw's words with a glaring white flash, and a clap of thunder rolled around the woods. Firepaw couldn't believe what he was hearing. Dazed with grief, his mind whirled. Could Yellowfang really have killed Spottedleaf? Above the shocked murmurings, Darkstripe meowed loudly, "Bluestar! What do you say?" The cats fell silent as they turned to look at their leader. Bluestar's gaze moved across the crowd of cats, and settled finally on Spottedleaf's body. The first

第二十一章“黄牙杀死了斑点叶，抢走了我的工具箱！” 其他的女王都跑到弗罗斯特弗身边，试图用舔和爱抚来安抚她，但弗罗斯特弗推开了他们，对着黑暗的天空嚎啕大哭。 好像是作为回应，天空不祥地轰鸣着，冷风吹皱了猫的皮毛。 “黄牙！”虎爪嘶嘶地说。 “我一直都知道她是个叛徒。 现在我们知道她是如何击退暗影帮的副手了。 这是一个让她骗进我们部落的圈套！”闪电在头顶噼啪作响，虎爪的话被一道耀眼的白光打断了，一阵雷声在树林里滚来滚去。 火爪简直不敢相信他所听到的。 他悲伤得晕头转向。 黄牙真的能杀死点点树叶吗？ 在一片震惊的窃窃私语声中，暗条大声叫道：“蓝星！你说呢？”猫们转过身来看着他们的首领，沉默了下来。 蓝星的目光掠过一群猫，最后落在斑点叶的尸体上。 第一个

drops of rain began to fall, sparkling like dewdrops on the medicine cat's still-glossy fur. Bluestar blinked slowly. Grief clouded her face, and for a moment Firepaw was afraid that this new death would overwhelm her. But when her eyes opened they glittered with a fierceness that showed her determination to seek revenge for this cruel attack. She lifted her head. "If Yellowfang has killed Spottedleaf and stolen Frostfur's kits, she will be hunted down without mercy." The crowd meowed approvingly. "But we must wait," Bluestar went on. "There is a storm coming, and I am not prepared to risk more lives. If ShadowClan has our kits, they will come to no immediate harm. I suspect Brokenstar wants them as recruits for his own Clan, or as hostages—to force us to let him hunt in our territory. As soon as the storm has passed, a patrol will follow Yellowfang and bring back our kits." "We cannot waste time, or the scent will be lost in the rain!" Tigerclaw protested. Bluestar flicked her tail impatiently. "If we send out a hunting party now, our efforts will be wasted anyway. In this weather the scent will

雨点开始落下来，像露珠一样闪闪发光，落在药猫仍然光滑的皮毛上。 蓝星慢慢眨了眨眼睛。悲伤笼罩着她的脸，一时间，火爪担心这新的死亡会把她压垮。 但是当她睁开眼睛的时候，眼睛里闪烁着凶狠的光芒，表明她决心为这次残酷的袭击寻求报复。 她抬起头。“如果黄牙杀死了斑点叶，偷走了霜佛的工具包，她会被毫不留情地追捕。” 人群赞许地喵喵叫着。 “但是我们必须等待，”蓝星继续说。 “暴风雨就要来了，我不准备拿更多生命去冒险。 如果暗影氏族有我们的套件，他们不会立即受到伤害。 我怀疑布罗肯斯塔想让他们加入他自己的氏族，或者作为人质——迫使我们让他在我们的领土上狩猎。 风暴一过，一支巡逻队就会跟着黄牙队，把我们的装备带回来。” “我们不能浪费时间，否则气味会消失在雨中！”Tigerclaw抗议道。 蓝星不耐烦地摇了摇尾巴。 “如果我们现在派出狩猎队，我们的努力无论如何都会白费。 在这种天气里，气味会

already be lost by the time we are ready. If we wait until after the storm, we stand a better chance of success." There were murmurs of agreement among the Clan. Even though it was barely sunhigh, the sky was growing much darker. The cats were unsettled by the lightning and thunder, and seemed willing to listen to their leader's advice. Bluestar looked at her deputy. "I'd like to discuss our plans with you, please, Tigerclaw." Tigerclaw nodded and stalked away toward Bluestar's den, but the leader hesitated. She glanced at Firepaw, signaling with a flick of her tail and a ripple of her whiskers that she wanted to speak to him alone. The other cats gathered around Spottedleaf and began to share tongues with her, their wails of grief sounding above the thunder. Bluestar wound her way through them and went toward the fern tunnel that led to Spottedleaf's den. Firepaw quietly skirted the mourning cats and followed her inside. It was very dark beneath the ferns. The storm had blotted out the morning sun so that it seemed as if night had fallen. Rain was

在我们准备好之前就已经丢失了。 如果等到暴风雨过后，我们成功的机会更大。” 氏族中响起了一致的低语。 尽管太阳刚刚升起，天空却越来越暗了。 猫们被闪电和雷声弄得坐立不安，似乎愿意听从他们的领袖的建议。 蓝星看着她的副手。 “我想和你讨论一下我们的计划，虎爪。” 虎爪点点头，大步朝蓝星的巢穴走去，但蓝星首领犹豫了。 她瞥了火爪一眼，甩了甩尾巴，摇了摇胡须，表示想和他单独谈谈。 其他的猫围着点点树叶，开始和她说话，它们悲伤的哀号声盖过了雷声。 蓝星绕着它们走过去，向通向点点树叶洞穴的蕨类植物隧道走去。 火爪悄悄地绕过那些哀悼的猫，跟着她走了进去。 蕨类植物下面很黑。 暴风雨遮住了早晨的太阳，所以看起来好像夜幕降临了。 雨是

falling more heavily now, spattering noisily against the leaves, but at least it was sheltered in Spottedleaf's clearing. "Firepaw," Bluestar meowed urgently as he arrived at her side, "where is Yellowfang? Do you know?" Firepaw hardly heard her. He couldn't help remembering the last time he had come to this clearing. An image of Spottedleaf, trotting out of her den with her coat gleaming in the sunlight, burned in his mind, and he closed his eyes to preserve it. "Firepaw," snapped Bluestar, "you must save your grieving for later." Firepaw shook himself. "I…I saw Yellowfang go through the camp boundary after the kits went missing. Do you really think she killed Spottedleaf and took the kits?" Bluestar gazed steadily at him. "I don't know," she admitted. "I want you to find her and bring her back—alive. I need to know the truth." "You're not sending Tigerclaw?" Firepaw couldn't help asking. "Tigerclaw is a great warrior, but in this case

现在落得更厉害了，哗啦哗啦地落在树叶上，但至少它躲在了斑点叶的空地上。 “火爪，”蓝星来到她身边，急切地叫道，“黄牙在哪儿？ 你知道吗？”火爪几乎没听见。 他不禁想起了上次来到这片空地的情景。 斑点叶从窝里小跑出来，皮毛在阳光下闪闪发光的画面在他脑海里燃烧，他闭上眼睛，想要留住它。 “火爪，”蓝星厉声说，“你得把悲伤留到以后。” 火爪抖了抖身子。“我……我看到‘黄牙’在工具包丢失后穿过营地边界。 你真的认为是她杀了斑点叶子，拿走了小工具箱吗？”蓝星凝视着他。 “我不知道，”她承认。 “我要你找到她，把她活着带回来。 我需要知道真相。” “你不会派虎爪去吧？”火爪忍不住问道。 虎爪是个伟大的战士，但这次

his loyalty to the Clan may cloud his judgment," Bluestar explained. "He wants to give the Clan the vengeance it desires. No cat can blame him for that. The Clan believes Yellowfang has betrayed us, and if Tigerclaw thinks he can reassure the Clan by handing them the dead body of Yellowfang, that's what he will do." Firepaw nodded. She was right—Tigerclaw would kill Yellowfang without question. Bluestar looked stern for a moment. "If I find that Yellowfang is a traitor, then I will kill her myself. But if she is not…" Her blue eyes burned into Firepaw's. "I will not let an innocent cat die." "But what if Yellowfang won't come back?" Firepaw meowed. "She will, if you ask her." Firepaw felt stunned by Bluestar's faith in him. The enormity of what she was asking him to do weighed down on him, and he wondered if he had enough courage to carry it through. "Go at once!" she ordered. "But be careful; you will be on your own and there may be enemy patrols about. This storm will keep our own warriors in camp for a while."

他对氏族的忠诚可能会影响他的判断，”蓝星解释道。 “他想给氏族报仇雪恨。 那件事谁也不能怪他。 氏族相信黄牙背叛了我们，如果虎爪认为把黄牙的尸体交给氏族就可以使他们放心，他就会这么做。” Firepaw点点头。她说得对，虎爪会毫不犹豫地杀死黄牙。 蓝星严肃了一会儿。 “如果我发现黄方是叛徒，我就亲手杀了她。 但如果她不是……”她的蓝眼睛瞪着火爪。 “我不会让一只无辜的猫死去。” “可是如果黄牙不回来怎么办？”Firepaw呜呜呜。 “如果你问她，她会的。” 火爪对蓝星对他的信任感到震惊。 她要求他做的事情如此之大，使他感到沉重，他不知道自己是否有足够的勇气去完成它。 “马上去！”她命令道。 “但是要小心；你得靠自己，周围可能有敌人巡逻。 这场风暴会让我们的战士暂时留在营地里。”

Thunder rolled overhead as Firepaw dashed out into the clearing. Rain hammered down, pelting against his fur like tiny stones. A bolt of lightning lit up the faces of Darkstripe and Longtail as they watched him cross the clearing. Firepaw bounded past the nursery. He couldn't leave without sharing tongues with Spottedleaf. The other cats had run for shelter, abandoning the medicine cat's body to the downpour while they huddled beneath the dripping ferns, meowing their fear and loss. Firepaw buried his nose in Spottedleaf's wet fur and breathed in her scent one last time. "Good-bye, my sweet Spottedleaf," he murmured. His ears pricked as he overheard the voices of Frostfur and Speckletail talking nearby. He froze, straining to listen. "Yellowfang must have had help," Speckletail growled. "Someone from ThunderClan?" came the anxious voice of Frostfur. "You've heard what Tigerclaw's been saying about Ravenpaw. Perhaps he had something to do with it. I've never felt comfortable with him,

火爪冲进空地，雷声在头顶响起。 雨水像小石子一样敲打着他的皮毛。 一道闪电照亮了黑条纹和长尾的脸，他们看着他穿过空地。 火爪蹦蹦跳跳地走过育儿室。 他不能不和斑点叶说几句话。 其他的猫都跑去避雨，把药猫的尸体扔在倾盆大雨中，自己蜷缩在滴水的蕨类植物下，喵喵地诉说着恐惧和失落。 火爪把鼻子埋在点点树叶潮湿的皮毛里，最后一次吸了吸她的气味。 “再见了，我亲爱的斑点树叶。”他喃喃地说。 他听到附近霜狐和斑点尾巴的谈话声，耳朵都刺痛了。 他僵住了，使劲听着。 “黄牙肯定有人帮忙。”斑点尾巴咆哮道。 “雷族的人？”Frostfur焦急的声音传来。 “你已经听到虎爪是怎么说拉文爪的了。 也许他和这件事有关。 我和他在一起从来都不舒服