Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23 Firepaw could tell there were several cats in the patrol, traveling fast. He couldn't recognize the individual scents of the cats through the earthy bog odors, but he knew it was ThunderClan. He held his breath as the pawsteps raced past and away. "Are we really going to try to rescue the kits from ShadowClan alone?" whispered Graypaw. Yellowfang answered him first. "I might be able to find us some help from inside ShadowClan. Not all the cats support Brokenstar." Firepaw pricked up his ears and Graypaw flicked his tail in surprise. "When he became leader," Yellowfang explained, "Brokenstar forced the elders to leave the security of the inner camp. They had to live on the boundary and hunt for themselves. These are cats who have grown up with the warrior code. Some of them might help us." Firepaw stared into her old eyes, thinking quickly. "And I might be able to persuade the ThunderClan hunting party to help us too," he meowed. "If I can speak to them before they see

第二十三章火爪看得出来巡逻队里有几只猫，走得很快。 透过泥泞的泥沼，他无法分辨出猫的气味，但他知道那是雷霆家族。 脚步声跑过又跑开，他屏住了呼吸。 “我们真的要一个人去拯救暗影氏族的工具包吗？”格雷paw小声说。 黄牙先回答了他。 “我也许能从影族内部找到一些帮助。 并不是所有的猫都支持布罗肯斯塔。” 火爪竖起耳朵，灰爪惊讶地摇了摇尾巴。 “当他成为首领时，”黄方解释说，“布罗肯斯塔强迫长老们离开内部营地的安全。 他们必须住在边界上，自己打猎。 这些猫都是在勇士法则下长大的。 他们中的一些人可能会帮助我们。” 火爪盯着她那双苍老的眼睛，思考得很快。 “我也许还能说服雷霆部落的狩猎队来帮助我们。”他喵喵地叫道。 “如果我能在他们看到之前跟他们说

Yellowfang, I might be able to make them believe her story. Graypaw, you wait at the dead ash, where we smelled the kit blood, till one of us returns." Graypaw looked worried. "But do you really trust Yellowfang to bring back help?" he murmured to Firepaw. "You must trust me," growled Yellowfang. "I will return." Graypaw looked at Firepaw, who nodded. Without another word Yellowfang sprang past the two apprentices and disappeared into the bushes. "Have we done the right thing?" asked Graypaw. "I don't know," Firepaw admitted. "If we have, we are heroes and the kits are safe. If we are wrong, then we are as good as dead." Firepaw sprinted after the patrol, around brambles, past gorse, and through nettles. The trail was easy to follow. The angry ThunderClan cats weren't trying to disguise their presence in ShadowClan's territory.

黄牙，我也许能让他们相信她的话。 格雷paw，你在我们闻到套件血味儿的死灰堆那儿等着，直到我们中的一个回来。” 灰爪看上去很担心。“但你真的相信黄牙会带人回来吗？”他低声对火爪说。 “你必须相信我。”黄牙咆哮道。 “我会回来的。”灰爪看着火爪，火爪点点头。 黄牙二话没说，从两个徒弟身边跳过去，消失在灌木丛中。 “我们做得对吗？”格雷paw问。 “我不知道。”火爪承认。 “如果我们做到了，我们就是英雄，这些装备就安全了。 如果我们错了，那我们就跟死了一样。” “火爪”紧跟着巡逻队，绕过荆棘，经过金雀花，穿过荨麻。 这条小路很容易走。 愤怒的ThunderClan猫并没有试图掩饰他们在ShadowClan领地的存在。

Overhead, the thick layer of cloud had finally rolled away. Beyond the treetops, Silverpelt glittered across the night sky. The moon was just rising, but its cold light couldn't pierce the mist that clung to the shadowy undergrowth. Firepaw concentrated on the scent from up ahead. He could smell Whitestorm. He sniffed again. Tigerclaw wasn't with them. He raced to catch up and skidded to a halt behind the band of ThunderClan cats. The warriors turned and glared at him, fur bristling, ears flattened aggressively. Darkstripe was with them and the young she-cat Mousefur, as well as the tabby warrior Runningwind. Mousefur wasn't the only she-cat in the patrol— Willowpelt was there too. "Firepaw!" growled Whitestorm. "What are you doing here?" Firepaw gasped for breath. "Bluestar sent me!" he panted. "She wanted me to find Yellowfang before—" Whitestorm interrupted him. "Ah!" he meowed. "Bluestar told me I might find a friend out here. Now I understand what she meant." He

头顶上那层厚厚的云终于散开了。 越过树梢，Silverpelt在夜空中闪闪发光。 月亮刚升起来，但它的冷光不能穿透笼罩在树荫下的薄雾。 火爪专注于前方的气味。 他闻到了“白风暴”的味道。 他又闻了闻。虎爪没有和他们在一起。 他跑过去追赶，却在一群雷霆家族的猫后面滑了下来。 战士们转过身来怒视着他，毛发竖起，耳朵竖起，气势汹汹。 和他们在一起的还有小母猫“鼠毛”和虎斑猫“跑风”。 鼠毛不是巡逻队中唯一的母猫——威洛佩特也在那里。 “火爪！”白风暴咆哮道。 “你在这儿干什么？”火爪喘着气。 “蓝星派我来的！” “她要我在——”白风暴打断他的话。 “啊！”他叫道。“蓝星告诉我，我可能会在这里找到一个朋友。 现在我明白她的意思了。” 他

looked thoughtfully at Firepaw. "Is Tigerclaw nearby?" Firepaw asked, feeling a tingle of pride at their shared gaze. Whitestorm looked at him curiously. "Bluestar insisted she needed him to remain at camp, to protect the remaining kits." Firepaw nodded quickly, relieved. He meowed urgently, "Whitestorm, I need your help. I can lead you to the kits. Graypaw is waiting for me. We plan to rescue them tonight. Will you come?" "Of course we'll come!" The warriors flicked their tails with excitement. "It will mean raiding the ShadowClan camp," Firepaw warned. "Can you lead us there?" asked Runningwind eagerly. "No, but Yellowfang can. And she has promised to bring help from her old allies in the camp." Mousefur glared at him and thrashed her tail angrily. "You have found Yellowfang?" she hissed. "I don't understand," meowed Whitestorm, puzzled. "The traitor is going to help rescue the kits she stole?"

若有所思地看着火爪。 “虎爪在附近吗？”火爪问，看到他们共同的目光，他感到一阵自豪。 怀特斯托姆好奇地看着他。 “蓝星坚持说，她需要他留在营地，以保护剩下的工具包。” 火爪迅速点了点头，松了口气。 他急切地叫道：“白风暴，我需要你的帮助。 我可以带你找到工具箱。 灰爪在等我。 我们计划今晚营救他们。 你会来吗？”“我们当然会去！”战士们兴奋地摇着尾巴。 “那就意味着要袭击暗影家族的营地。”火爪警告道。 “你能带我们去吗？”跑风急切地问。 “不会，但是黄牙会。她还承诺会从她在营地的老盟友那里寻求帮助。” 鼠毛怒视着他，生气地甩着尾巴。 “你找到黄牙了？”她嘶嘶地问。 “我不明白，”怀特斯托姆困惑地叫道。 “那个叛徒会帮助营救她偷走的工具包吗？”

Firepaw took a deep breath to calm himself, then looked steadily into Whitestorm's eyes. "Yellowfang didn't take them," he meowed. "Nor did she murder Spottedleaf. She wants to help us rescue our kits." Whitestorm stared back at him, then blinked slowly. "Lead the way, Firepaw," he ordered. Graypaw was waiting by the ash tree, pacing restlessly around its rotten trunk. He stopped as soon as he saw the patrol emerge from the mist and twitched his whiskers in greeting. "Any sign of Yellowfang?" Firepaw asked. "Not yet," answered Graypaw. "We don't know how far it is to the ShadowClan camp," Firepaw pointed out quickly, feeling Whitestorm stiffen beside him. "She may be on her way back right now." "Or she might be happily sharing tongues with her ShadowClan comrades while we sit here like fools waiting to be ambushed!" meowed Graypaw. Whitestorm watched the two apprentices. His ears flicked uneasily. "Firepaw?" he prompted. "She will come back," Firepaw promised.

火爪深吸一口气，让自己平静下来，然后坚定地盯着白风暴的眼睛。 “黄牙没有拿他们。”他喵喵叫道。 “她也没有谋杀点点树叶。 她想帮助我们拯救我们的工具包。” 白风暴盯着他，然后慢慢眨了眨眼睛。 “带路，火爪。”他命令道。 灰爪在白蜡树旁等着，围着腐烂的树干不安地踱来踱去。 他一看到巡逻队从雾中出来，就停了下来，捻了捻胡须打招呼。 “有黄牙的踪迹吗？”Firepaw问道。 “还没有。”格雷paw回答。 “我们不知道这里离暗影家族营地有多远。”火爪觉得身边的白风暴镇僵住了，赶紧指出。 “她现在可能正在回来的路上。” “或者她可能正在愉快地和她的暗影族同伴们分享舌头，而我们却像傻瓜一样坐在这里等着被伏击！”灰爪叫道。 白风暴看着两个徒弟。 他的耳朵不安地抖动着。 “火爪？”他提示道。“她会回来的。”火爪保证。

"Well said, young Firepaw." Yellowfang stalked out from behind the ash tree and sat down. "You're not the only one who can sneak up on someone," she meowed at Firepaw. "Remember the day we met? You were looking in the wrong direction that time too." Three other ShadowClan cats appeared from behind the tree and settled themselves calmly on either side of Yellowfang. The ThunderClan cats bristled, alert and suspicious. Both Clans stared silently at each other. Firepaw fidgeted uncomfortably, unsure what to do now. Eventually one of the ShadowClan cats, a gray tom, spoke. His long body was skinny, and his fur looked dull. "We have come to help you, not to harm you. You have come for your kits; we will help you rescue them." "What's in it for you?" asked Whitestorm warily. "We want your help to get rid of Brokenstar. He has broken the warrior code, and ShadowClan is suffering." "So it's that simple, is it?" growled Runningwind. "We just drop into your camp,

“说得好，小火爪。” 黄牙从白蜡树后面走出来，坐了下来。 “你不是唯一一个能偷偷接近别人的人。”她对火爪喵喵地说。 “还记得我们相遇的那天吗？”那次你也看错方向了。” 另外三只影子家族的猫从树后出现，平静地落在黄牙的两边。 雷霆家族的猫竖起了鬃毛，警觉而多疑。 两个氏族都默默地面面相觑。 火爪不安地坐立不安，不知道现在该怎么办。 最后，影子家族的一只灰猫说话了。 它那长长的身躯瘦得皮包骨头，皮毛也显得暗淡无光。 “我们是来帮助你的，不是来伤害你的。 你来拿你的工具包；我们会帮助你解救他们。” “这对你有什么好处？”怀特风暴警惕地问。 “我们想让你帮我们除掉布罗肯斯塔。 他打破了武士的准则，暗影氏族正在受苦。” “这么简单，是吗？”奔风咆哮道。 “我们只是顺道进入你们的营地，