Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Early-morning sunlight streamed down onto the forest floor as Firepaw roamed in search of prey. Two moons had passed since he had begun his training. He felt at ease in this environment now. His senses had been awoken and educated in the ways of the woods. Firepaw paused to sniff the earth and the cold blind things that moved within it. He caught the scent of a Twoleg that had wandered the forest recently. Now that greenleaf was fully here, leaves were thick on the branches and tiny creatures were busy beneath the carpet of leaf mold. Firepaw made a lean, strong shape as he moved silently through the trees, all his senses alert for the scent trail that would end in a swift kill. Today he had been set his first solo task. He was determined to do well, even if his task was only to bring back fresh-kill for the Clan. He headed for the stream that he had crossed on that first trek through the ThunderClan hunting grounds. It gurgled and spattered as it ran downhill over the smooth, round pebbles. Firepaw paused briefly to lap at the cold, clear water, then

第六章清晨的阳光洒在森林的地面上，火爪在四处游荡，寻找猎物。 他开始训练已经两个月过去了。 他现在在这种环境中感到自在了。 他的感官已经被树林的生活方式唤醒和教育了。 火爪停下来嗅了嗅泥土和在泥土里移动的又冷又瞎的东西。 他闻到了最近在森林里游荡的一条特沃莱格的气味。 现在，绿叶已经长得很茂盛了，枝头也长满了厚厚的叶子，小小的生物在落叶的地毯下忙碌着。 火爪默默地在树林里移动，做了一个瘦削而强壮的形状，他所有的感官都在警惕着气味的踪迹，以便迅速杀死猎物。 今天是他第一次单独完成任务。 他决心做好，即使他的任务只是为部落带回新鲜的猎物。 他朝他第一次穿越雷霆部落狩猎场时穿过的小溪走去。 当它在光滑的圆卵石上跑下山时，发出汩汩声和飞溅声。 火爪停了一会儿，舔了舔冰冷清澈的水

lifted his head and tested the air again for any scent of prey. The stench of a fox lay heavy in the air here. The smell was stale, so the fox must have drunk here earlier in the day. Firepaw recognized the odor; he had smelled it on his first visit to the forest. Since then, Lionheart had taught him it was fox-scent, but, apart from the glimpse of the fox's brush he had caught on that first outing, Firepaw had still never seen one properly. He struggled to screen out the fox-stench and concentrate on prey-scent. Suddenly his whiskers prickled as he homed in on the warm blood-beat of prey—a water vole busy about its nest. A moment later he saw the vole. The fat brown body was darting back and forth along the bank as it gathered grass stalks. Firepaw's mouth watered in anticipation. His last meal had been many hours ago, but he dared not hunt for himself until the Clan had been fed. He remembered the words repeated by Lionheart and Tigerclaw time and time again: "The Clan must be fed first." Dropping into a crouch, Firepaw began to stalk the little creature. His orange belly fur brushed

他抬起头，再次检测空气中是否有猎物的气味。 这里的空气中弥漫着狐狸的恶臭。 气味很难闻，所以狐狸一定是今天早些时候在这里喝过酒。 火爪认出了那股气味；他第一次去森林时就闻到了。 从那以后，狮心王就告诉他这是狐狸的气味，但除了第一次外出时瞥见狐狸的毛外，火爪还没有真正看到过。 他努力屏蔽掉狐狸的臭味，专注于猎物的气味。 突然，他的胡须刺痛了，因为他瞄准了猎物——一只在窝里忙碌的水田鼠——的温暖的血液跳动。 过了一会儿，他看见了田鼠。 那肥胖的棕色身躯在河岸上跑来跑去，一边捡草梗。 火爪期待地流口水了。 他最后一顿饭已经是好几个小时以前的事了，但他不敢自己去打猎，直到全家都吃饱了。 他记得狮心王和虎爪说过一遍又一遍的话：“必须先喂饱族人。” 火爪蹲下身子，开始跟踪这个小家伙。 他橙色的腹部毛被拂过

against the damp grass. He crept closer, his eyes never leaving his prey. Almost there. Another moment and he would be near enough to spring…. Suddenly there was a loud rustle in the ferns behind him. The water vole's ears twitched and it disappeared down a hole in the bank. Firepaw felt the hackles rising along his spine. Whatever had ruined his first good chance of catching prey would have to pay. He sniffed the air. He could tell it was a cat, but he realized with a jolt that he couldn't identify which Clan it belonged to—the stale stench of fox still confused his smell-sense. A growl rose in his throat as he began doubling back in a wide circle. He pricked up his ears and opened his eyes wide, seeking out any movement. He heard the undergrowth rustle again. It was louder now, off to one side. Firepaw edged closer. He could see the ferns moving, but the fronds still hid the enemy from view. A twig snapped with a sharp cracking noise. From the noise it's making, it must be big, Firepaw thought, preparing himself for a fierce battle.

靠着潮湿的草地。他蹑手蹑脚地靠近，眼睛一直盯着他的猎物。 差不多了。再过一会儿，他就会跳起来.... 突然，他身后的蕨类植物里传来一阵响亮的沙沙声。 水鼠的耳朵抽动了一下，掉进了河岸的一个洞里。 火爪感到脊背上的毛都竖了起来。 不管是什么破坏了他第一次捕捉猎物的好机会，他都必须付出代价。 他嗅了嗅空气。他能分辨出那是一只猫，但他猛然意识到，他分不清那是属于哪个氏族的——狐狸的臭味仍然迷惑着他的嗅觉。 他开始绕着一个大圈子往回跑，喉咙里响起了一声咆哮。 他竖起耳朵，睁大眼睛，寻找着任何动静。 他又听到灌木丛沙沙作响。 现在声音更大了，在一边。 火爪慢慢靠近。他可以看到蕨类植物在移动，但叶子仍然把敌人挡在视线之外。 一根小树枝啪的一声折断了。 “从它发出的声音来看，它一定很大。”火爪想，准备和它展开一场激烈的战斗。

He leaped for the trunk of an ash and climbed swiftly and silently up to an overhanging branch. Below him the invisible warrior came closer, and closer still. Firepaw held his breath, judging his moment as the ferns were pushed aside and a large grayish shape emerged. "Gr-aaar!" The battle cry rumbled in Firepaw's throat. Claws unsheathed, he launched himself at the enemy and landed squarely on a set of furry, muscular shoulders. He dug in hard, gripping with thorn-sharp claws, ready to deal out a powerful warning bite. "Wa-ah! What'sat?" The body below him shot straight up in the air, carrying him with it. "Uh! Graypaw?" Firepaw recognized the astonished voice and caught his friend's familiar smell, but he was too fired up to loosen his grip. "Ambush! Murr-oww!" spat Graypaw, not realizing that the cat gripping onto his back was Firepaw. He rolled over and over in an attempt to dislodge his attacker. "Uufff-ff!" Firepaw rolled with him, squashed and flattened beneath the heavy body. "It's me— Firepaw!" he yowled as he struggled to pull free

他跳到一根灰树干上，迅速而无声地爬上一根悬垂的树枝。 在他下面，那个看不见的战士越来越近了。 火爪屏住呼吸，判断着时机，蕨类植物被推到一边，一个灰色的大身影出现了。 “Gr-aaar !”战斗的喊声在火爪的喉咙里隆隆作响。 它伸出爪子，向敌人扑去，正好落在它毛茸茸的、肌肉发达的肩膀上。 他使劲地咬，用尖利的爪子抓住猎物，准备发出强有力的警告。 “Wa-ah !'sat什么?”他下面的那具尸体直冲云霄，把他也带走了。 “呃!Graypaw ?”火爪听出了惊讶的声音，闻到了他朋友熟悉的气味，但他太激动了，无法松开手。 “伏击!喵——喵！”灰爪子吐了口唾沫，没有意识到抓在他背上的那只猫就是火爪。 他翻来覆去地想赶走攻击他的人。 “Uufff-ff !”火爪跟着他滚来滚去，被他沉重的身躯压扁了。 “是我——火爪！”他嚎叫着，挣扎着想挣脱

and sheath his claws. Rolling away, he sprang to his feet and gave himself a shake, which rippled all the way along his body to the end of his tail. "Graypaw! It's me," he repeated. "I thought you were an enemy warrior!" Graypaw rose to his feet. He winced and shook himself. "It felt like it!" he grumbled, twisting his head around to lick his sore shoulders. "You've raked me to shreds!" "Sorry," Firepaw mumbled. "But what was I supposed to think, with you creeping up on me like that?" "Creeping up!" Graypaw's eyes were round with indignation. "That was my best stealth crouch." "Stealth! You still stalk like a lopsided badger!" Firepaw teased. He flattened his ears playfully. Graypaw gave a hiss of delight. "I'll show you lopsided!" The two cats leaped at each other and began rolling over and over in a play-fight. Graypaw swiped at Firepaw with a hefty paw and the young apprentice's head buzzed with stars. "Uufff-ff!" Firepaw shook his head to clear it

收起他的爪子。他滚开了，跳了起来，抖了抖身子，浑身上下都起了涟漪，一直到尾巴尖。 “Graypaw !是我，”他重复道。 “我还以为你是敌人的战士呢！”灰爪站起身来。 他畏缩了一下，抖了抖身子。 “感觉就是这样！”他嘟囔着，扭过头去舔着酸痛的肩膀。 “你把我撕成碎片了！”“对不起。”火爪咕哝道。 “可是你这样悄悄靠近我，我该怎么想呢？”“爬!”灰爪愤怒地瞪大了眼睛。 “那是我最好的潜行蹲伏。” “隐形!你走起路来还是像只歪歪扭扭的獾！”Firepaw嘲笑。 他开玩笑地捂住耳朵。 灰爪高兴地发出嘶嘶声。 “我让你看看不平衡！”两只猫互相扑来扑去，开始打滚。 灰爪用他那粗壮的爪子朝火爪猛扑过去，小学徒的脑袋里闪着星星的嗡嗡声。 “Uufff-ff !”火爪摇了摇头，澄清了一下

and then launched a counterattack. He managed to get in a couple of paw strikes before Graypaw overpowered him and held him down. Firepaw let his body go limp. "You give up too easily!" mewed Graypaw, loosening his grip. As he did so, Firepaw sprang to his feet, firing Graypaw off his back and into the undergrowth. Firepaw leaped after him and pinned him to the ground. "'Surprise is the warrior's greatest weapon,'" he crowed, quoting one of Lionheart's favorite phrases. He jumped nimbly off Graypaw and began to squirm around in the leaf litter, enjoying his easy victory and the warmth of the earth against his back. Graypaw seemed unbothered by his second defeat of the morning. It was too fine a day for bad temper. "So how're you getting on with your task?" he asked. Firepaw sat up. "I was doing just fine till you came along! I was about to catch a vole when your noisy trampling frightened it off." "Oh, sorry," mewed Graypaw. Firepaw looked at his crestfallen friend. "That's

然后发起了反击。 他设法用爪子打了他几下，然后格雷帕才把他制服，把他按倒在地。 火爪让他的身体瘫软了。 “你太轻易放弃了！”灰爪叫道，松开了他的手。 就在他这么做的时候，火爪跳了起来，把灰爪从背上射到灌木丛里。 火爪追上他，把他按倒在地。 “‘出其不意是战士最强大的武器，’”他得意地说，引用了狮心王最喜欢的一句话。 他敏捷地从灰爪身上跳下来，开始在落叶堆里蠕动，享受着轻松的胜利和背对着大地的温暖。 格雷paw似乎对早上的第二次失败无动于衷。 天气太好了，不能发脾气。 “你的任务进行得怎么样了？”他问。 火爪坐了起来。“你来之前我过得很好！”我正要抓一只田鼠，你那嘈杂的脚步声把它吓跑了。” “哦，对不起。”灰爪叫道。 火爪看着他垂头丧气的朋友。 “这是