Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 Firepaw retraced his steps and headed back toward the stream. He thought of those eyes burning from the darkness of the ShadowClan territory. Suddenly he caught a faint smell on the breeze. A stranger! Perhaps that ShadowClan warrior… Instantly a growl rumbled in Firepaw's throat. The scent message told him many things. The stranger was a she-cat, not young and definitely not from ThunderClan. She carried no distinct scent from any of the Clans, but Firepaw could tell she was tired, hungry, and sick, and she was in an ugly mood. Dropping low, Firepaw moved forward, heading toward the scent. Then he paused in puzzlement. The warrior scent was fainter now. He sniffed again. Suddenly, with a lightning movement, a snarling ball of fur burst from the bushes behind him. Firepaw screeched in shock as the she-cat

第七章火爪原路返回，朝小溪走去。 他想起了那些在暗影氏族领地的黑暗中燃烧的眼睛。 突然，他闻到微风中有一股淡淡的气味。 一个陌生人!也许那个暗影族的战士……火爪的喉咙里立刻响起了一声咆哮。 气味告诉了他很多事情。 这个陌生人是一只母猫，不年轻，而且绝对不是来自ThunderClan。 她身上没有任何氏族特有的气味，但火爪看得出来，她又累又饿又恶心，心情很不好。 火爪低下来，向前移动，朝着气味走去。 然后他困惑地停了下来。 战士的气味现在减弱了。 他又闻了闻。突然，闪电般从他身后的灌木丛中窜出一个咆哮的毛皮球。 火爪震惊地尖叫着，那只母猫

slammed into him, knocking him sideways. Two heavy paws clamped down onto his shoulders, and iron jaws closed around the back of his neck. "Murr-oww!" he grunted, already thinking fast. If the other cat were to sink its fangs too deep, it would all be over. He forced himself to go limp, relaxing his muscles as if in submission, and let out a pretend howl of alarm. The she-cat opened her mouth to give a triumphant yowl. "Ah, a puny apprentice. Easy prey for Yellowfang," she hissed. At the insult, Firepaw felt a surge of fury. Just wait. He'd show this coughed-up furball what kind of warrior he was! But not yet, he told himself. Wait until you feel her teeth again. Yellowfang bit down. Firepaw surged upward with all the strength in his powerful young body. The she-cat gave a snarl of surprise as she was thrown clear. She tumbled backward into a gorse bush. Firepaw shook himself. "Not such easy prey, huh?" Yellowfang hissed defiance as she tore herself

撞到他身上，把他撞到一边。 两只沉重的爪子夹在他的肩膀上，铁爪紧紧地咬住了他的脖子后面。 “呜——呜！”他咕噜了一声，已经在快速思考了。 如果另一只猫的尖牙陷得太深，一切就完了。 他强迫自己变得软弱无力，放松肌肉，仿佛在屈服，假装发出一声惊恐的嚎叫。 母猫张开嘴发出胜利的叫声。 “啊，一个弱小的学徒。很容易被黄牙抓住。”她嘶嘶地说。 听到这话，火爪怒火中烧。 只是等待。他会让这个咳嗽的毛球看看他是一个什么样的战士！但现在还不行，他告诉自己。 等你再摸到她的牙齿再说吧。 黄牙咬了一口。火爪用尽他年轻有力的身体里所有的力量向上冲去。 母猫被扔出去时发出一声惊叫。 她向后摔倒在金雀花丛里。 火爪抖了抖身子。“不是那么容易下手的，是吧？”黄牙一边撕扯着自己，一边发出轻蔑的嘶嘶声

free from the clinging branches. "Not bad, young apprentice," she spat back. "But you'll need to do a lot better!" Firepaw blinked when he saw his opponent clearly for the first time. The she-cat had a broad, almost flat face, and round orange eyes. Her dark gray fur was long and matted into smelly clumps. Her ears were torn and ragged, and her muzzle was traced with the scars of many old battles. Firepaw stood his ground. He puffed out his chest and glared a challenge into the intruder's face. "You're in ThunderClan's hunting ground. Move on!" "Who's going to make me?" Yellowfang drew back her lip defiantly, exposing stained and broken teeth. "I will hunt. Then I will leave. Or maybe I'll just stay awhile…." "Enough talk," Firepaw spat, feeling the stir of ancient cat spirits deep inside him. There was no trace of the house cat in him now. His warrior blood was up. He was itching to fight, to defend his territory and protect his Clan. Yellowfang seemed to sense the change in him. Her fierce orange eyes sparked with new respect.

挣脱了枝头的束缚。 “不错，年轻的徒弟。” “但是你需要做得更好！”火爪第一次看清对手时眨了眨眼睛。 这只母猫长着一张宽大的、几乎是扁平的脸，一双桔黄色的圆眼睛。 她深灰色的皮毛很长，纠结成一团，散发着臭味。 她的耳朵破烂不堪，她的口鼻上留下了许多战争留下的伤疤。 火爪坚持自己的立场。他挺起胸膛，怒视着闯入者的脸。 “你在ThunderClan的狩猎场。 继续前进!”“谁来逼我？”黄牙挑衅地缩回嘴唇，露出了斑斑点点的牙齿。 “我去打猎。然后我就离开。 或者我就待一会儿....” “别说了。”火爪吐了口唾沫，感觉到他内心深处那股古老的猫灵在搅动。 现在他身上已经找不到家猫的影子了。 他的战士热血沸腾了。他渴望战斗，保卫他的领土，保护他的氏族。 黄牙似乎觉察到了他的变化。 她凶狠的橙色眼睛里闪着新的敬意。

Dipping her head and breaking eye contact, she started to back off. "No need to be hasty, now," she purred in a silky tone. Firepaw wasn't fooled by her trickery. Claws extended and fur on end, he leaped forward, his war cry ringing out: "Grr-aaar!" With a hiss of rage the other cat responded. Snarling and spitting, young cat and old locked together. They rolled over and over, teeth and claws flashing. Ears pressed flat to his head, Firepaw fought to get a grip. But the she-cat's clumpy fur snagged in his claws, and he couldn't break through to skin. Then Yellowfang reared up on her back legs. With her filthy tail bristling, she looked even bigger. Firepaw sensed Yellowfang's huge jaws lunging toward him. He leaned backward, just in time. Snap! Bared teeth closed on the air next to his ear. Instinctively Firepaw lashed out with a backswipe. His paw caught the side of Yellowfang's head. The force of it sent shock waves up his front leg. "Yee-ow!" Stunned, Yellowfang dropped onto

她低下头，不再和我目光接触，开始后退。 “现在不必着急了，”她用柔滑的声音咕噜着。 火爪并没有被她的诡计骗到。 爪子伸出，毛发直立，它向前跳去，他的战斗叫声响起：“呜——呜！”另一只猫发出愤怒的嘶嘶声回应。 幼猫和老猫一起咆哮和吐痰。 它们不停地打滚，牙齿和爪子闪闪发光。 两只耳朵贴在头上，火爪挣扎着想抓住它。 但是母猫那块状的毛被他的爪子缠住了，他无法突破到皮肤上。 然后黄牙用后腿直立起来。 她那肮脏的尾巴竖起来，显得更大了。 火爪感觉到黄牙的巨颚朝他扑来。 他及时向后倾身。 中计了!露出的牙齿咬住了他耳朵旁边的空气。 火爪本能地向后一击。 他的爪子抓住了黄牙的一侧脑袋。 它的力量在他的前腿上产生了冲击波。 “Yee-ow !”黄牙惊呆了，倒在地上

four paws. She shook her head to clear it. In the single heartbeat before the she-cat recovered, Firepaw saw his chance. He threw himself forward, crouching low, and clamped his jaws tight on Yellowfang's back leg. "Mur-ugh!" The taste of the matted fur was horrible, but he chomped down hard. "Reow-ow-wow!" Yellowfang screamed in agony and whipped around to snap at Firepaw's tail. Her teeth connected and pain lanced up Firepaw's spine, but it only made him angrier. He ripped his tail from his opponent's grip, and lashed it back and forth in rage. Yellowfang crouched, ready for a fresh attack. Her breath seemed to wheeze up from her foul- smelling lungs. The scent blasted Firepaw's nose. Up close, the message of desperation and weakness, and the aching void of the she-cat's hunger, was almost painful. Something stirred inside him, an unwarriorlike feeling he didn't want: pity. He tried not to dwell on this instinct—he knew his loyalty must be to his Clan—but he couldn't shake free of it. "You

四个爪子。她摇了摇头澄清。 在母猫恢复之前的那一次心跳中，火爪看到了机会。 他向前扑去，蹲得很低，咬住黄牙的后腿。 “Mur-ugh !”打结的毛皮的味道很可怕，但他还是狠狠地咬了下去。 “Reow-ow-wow !”黄牙痛苦地尖叫着，猛地转过身去咬火爪的尾巴。 她的牙齿连在一起，疼痛刺痛了火爪的脊柱，但这只会让他更加愤怒。 他把尾巴从对手手里扯下来，愤怒地前后甩动。 黄牙蹲了下来，准备发动新的进攻。 她的呼吸似乎从恶臭的肺里喘了出来。 那香味扑鼻而来。 近距离看，那绝望和软弱的信息，以及母猫饥饿的痛苦空虚，几乎是痛苦的。 他心里有什么东西在动，一种他不想要的非战士般的感觉：怜悯。 他尽量不去想这种本能——他知道他必须忠于自己的家族——但他无法摆脱这种本能。 “你

speak from your heart, young Firepaw." Lionheart's words echoed in his head once more. "This will make you a stronger warrior one day." Then Tigerclaw's warning rang in his ears: "Or it might make him give in to kittypet weakness right at the moment of attack." Yellowfang lunged forward and Firepaw jerked instantly back into aggression. The bigger cat tried to reach up onto his shoulders and get a killing grip, but this time she was hampered by her wounded leg. "Gar-off!" Firepaw arched his spine, but Yellowfang managed to dig in her claws and hung on tight. The bigger cat's weight forced him to the ground. Firepaw tasted earth on his tongue and spat out a mouthful of grit. "Pah!" He twisted nimbly to avoid Yellowfang's thrashing back legs and the thorn-sharp claws that were trying to rake at his soft underbelly. Over and over they rolled, biting and snapping. Moments later they broke apart. Firepaw was gasping for breath now. But he sensed that Yellowfang was weakening. The she-cat was badly

说真心话吧，年轻的火爪。” 狮心王的话再次在他脑海中回响。 “总有一天，这会让你成为一个更强大的战士。” 这时，虎爪的警告在他耳边响起：“不然，他就会在受到攻击的那一刻屈服于小猫的弱点。” 黄牙向前扑去，火爪立刻又恢复了攻击性。 那只大猫试图爬到他的肩膀上，抓住他，但这次她被受伤的腿挡住了脚步。 “Gar-off !”火爪拱起了脊背，但黄牙却设法把爪子插进去，紧紧地挂在地上。 那只大猫的重量把它压在了地上。 火爪尝了尝舌头上的泥土，吐出一口沙砾。 “多环芳烃!”他敏捷地扭动身体，避开黄牙的后腿和尖利的爪子，它们正试图抓他柔软的下腹部。 它们一遍又一遍地打滚，又咬又咬。 片刻之后，他们分手了。 火爪已经喘不过气来了。 但他感觉到“黄方”正在减弱。 母猫病得很严重