Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 "Are you stuck?" Thornclaw asked, nearly bumping into Leafpaw as he pushed through the ferns. Leafpaw sprang forward, out of the sharp- smelling stems. "Sorry," she puffed. Thornclaw followed more slowly and looked at her. "It's all a bit strange, isn't it?" he mewed. "But this is as strange as it will ever feel, remember that. We only have to explore once for it to seem more like home." Feeling comforted, Leafpaw padded beside him, away from the hollow. When she glanced back a few moments later, the stone cliffs had vanished among the trees, and all she could see were smooth gray trunks and branches that trembled in the wind. She was pleased to think her Clanmates were sheltered by the towering walls, invisible and safe in the middle of the wood. Voices sounded up ahead, and they rounded a sturdy oak tree to find Cloudtail, Brightheart, and

第十一章 “你被困住了吗？” 棘爪推开蕨类往前走，差点撞到叶爪，开口问道。 叶爪连忙往前跳，躲开了那些带着刺鼻气味的茎干。 “对不起。” 她喘着气说。 棘爪放慢脚步跟上来，看着她。 “这一切都有点奇怪，对不对？” 他轻声说。 “不过你记住，这种陌生感之后就不会再有了。 我们只要探索过一次，这里慢慢就会像家一样了。” 得到安慰的叶爪挨着棘爪，一步步走出山谷。 过了一会儿，她回头看，石崖已经消失在树林间，只能看到光滑的灰色树干和在风中摇晃的枝条。 想到族猫们都躲在高耸的岩壁下，隐形又安全地待在密林深处，她就很高兴。 前方传来说话声，他们绕过一棵粗壮的橡树，看到云尾、亮心和

Sorreltail sniffing suspiciously at a gap between the roots. This was the patrol that Firestar had sent out to explore the territory that lay closest to the hollow. "Fox," Leafpaw heard Cloudtail meow. Brightheart lifted her head and carefully tasted the air. "It's very stale," she decided. "I think it's been moons since the fox has been there." "Shall I go in to look?" Sorreltail offered. Brightheart shook her head. "Didn't your mentor ever warn you about going into strange holes? We can smell there's nothing there. Let's keep going." Sorreltail called out a greeting to Leafpaw, then followed the warriors as they headed deeper into the woods. Leafpaw stopped to let Cinderpelt catch up, and gazed around her. Trees stretched away on all sides, their branches interwoven so tightly that only tiny splinters of sky showed through. The trees weren't as tall as the ones in the forest they had left, but Leafpaw guessed that in greenleaf their leaves would form a thick, cooling canopy.

豆爪正警惕地嗅着树根间的缝隙。 这是火星派出来探索峡谷附近领地的巡逻队。 “是狐狸，” 叶爪听到云尾说。 亮心抬起头，仔细嗅了嗅空气中的味道。 “这气味很久了，” 她判断道。 “我觉得那只狐狸已经离开好几个月了。” “我要进去看看吗？” 豆爪主动请缨。 亮心摇了摇头。 “你的导师没告诉过你，不能随便进陌生的洞穴吗？ 我们能闻出来里面什么都没有。 我们继续往前走吧。” 豆爪向叶爪打了招呼，就跟着其他武士往森林深处去了。 叶爪停下来等炭心赶上，然后环顾四周。 四周全是树木，枝桠紧紧缠在一起，只能透过缝隙看到一点点天空。 这里的树虽然没有他们原来住的森林里的树高，但叶爪猜，到了绿叶季，树叶会连成一片浓密凉爽的树篷。

Most of the ground was covered by short grass with spikes of snowdrops thrusting upward, and the occasional clump of thornbushes and bramble thickets. It was more exposed than Leafpaw was used to, and she hoped that ferns and other plants would grow in newleaf to provide homes for prey, and to make the cats feel safer as they patrolled their territory. Cinderpelt reached her and limped steadily on, following the sound of running water. "We're not likely to find juniper here," she commented as the three cats padded side by side. "Leafpaw, what else might we use for bellyache?" "Watermint?" she suggested. "Or chervil root?" "They would both be fine," Cinderpelt agreed. "Watermint should be easier to find than chervil root." They reached the stream, which flowed in a deep cleft between the tangled roots of overhanging trees. Leafpaw stood on the bank and looked for signs of the leafy green plant, but all she could see was water sliding over gray stone about a tail-length below her, with bright green

地面大部分覆盖着短草，雪滴花钻出花箭向上生长，偶尔还能看到一丛丛荆棘和黑莓灌丛。 这里比叶爪以前待的地方更开阔，她希望到了新叶季，蕨类和其他植物能长出来，给猎物提供藏身之处，也能让猫巡逻的时候更有安全感。 炭心走到她身边，一瘸一拐地稳步往前走，跟着流水的声音。 “我们这儿不太可能找到杜松，” 三只猫并排往前走的时候，炭心说道。 “叶爪，你说肚子疼还有什么别的药能用？” “水薄荷？” 她提议道。 “还是雪维菜根？” “这两种都可以，” 炭心赞同道。 “水薄荷应该比雪维菜根更好找。” 他们走到小溪边，小溪在悬垂树木交错的树根间，形成了一道深深的溪谷。 叶爪站在河岸上，寻找这种绿叶植物的踪迹，可她只看到在她身下约一条尾巴长度的地方，溪水漫过灰色石头，边上长着鲜绿的

ferns trailing over the edge of the bank. "Let's try on the other side," Thornclaw suggested when they came to a place where the banks sloped down and they could splash across. Cinderpelt agreed, but it was much the same: open woodland with little in the way of undergrowth. Then Leafpaw smelled damp soil, a bit like the marsh at the far end of the lake. Watermint didn't have to grow in a stream— sometimes wet earth was enough. She raced ahead, pushing her way through some spiky tussocks of grass, and spotted the tall, leafy stems half-hidden in a clump of bracken. "Good work!" Cinderpelt praised her, coming to join her. "There's enough here to supply us regularly." Tipping their heads to one side, they bit through several stalks. Leafpaw's eyes watered as sap clung to her fur, filling her mouth with the pungent scent. "I'd better get back to camp," Cinderpelt meowed when they had finished picking the watermint. "Thornclaw, will you take Leafpaw to WindClan now?"

蕨类植物垂在河岸边缘。 “我们去对岸试试吧，” 走到河岸倾斜可以蹚过去的地方，棘爪提议道。 炭心同意了，不过对岸也差不多：开阔林地，几乎没什么下层灌丛。 接着叶爪闻到了湿润泥土的气味，有点像湖尽头沼泽的味道。 水薄荷不一定长在溪边——有时候湿润泥土就足够了。 她往前冲，推开一簇尖草，就看到高大带叶的茎干半掩在蕨类丛中。 “干得好！” 炭心走过来夸她。 “这儿的量足够我们日常用了。” 它们歪着头，咬下了好几茎水薄荷。 树汁粘到叶爪的毛上，刺激得她眼睛都流出来了，嘴里全是浓浓的刺激性气味。 “我得回营地了，” 摘完水薄荷后，炭心说道。 “棘爪，你现在能带叶爪去风族吗？”

"We'll see you home first," meowed Thornclaw. "I don't think any cat should be alone in these woods until we know a bit more about them." He led them back by a different route, calculating from the way the ground sloped that it should lead more quickly to the stone hollow. They passed beneath some beech trees, and Leafpaw's belly rumbled as the scent of squirrel flooded over her. Thornclaw tasted the air with a gleam in his eyes, and Leafpaw guessed he was ravenous too. "Do we have time to hunt?" he asked Cinderpelt. The medicine cat set down her stems of watermint. "If we don't take too long." "This won't take long at all," Thornclaw promised. He flicked his ears toward the nearest tree, and Leafpaw spotted a squirrel among the roots, nibbling a beechnut. Thornclaw paused for a moment to judge the direction of the breeze, then began stealthily working his way around so that he approached the squirrel from downwind. Bunching his hindquarters under him, he pounced; the squirrel

“我们先送你们回家，”荆爪喵声道。 “在我们摸清这片树林的情况前，我觉得任何猫都不该单独留在这里。” 他带大伙儿走另一条路往回赶，根据地面坡度估算，这条路能更快抵达石头凹地。 他们穿过山毛榉树下，松鼠的气味扑面而来，叶爪的肚子饿得咕噜叫了起来。 荆爪嗅了嗅空气，眼里闪着光，叶爪猜他也饿坏了。 “我们有时间捕猎吗？” 他问炭毛。 这位巫医放下了她摘的水薄荷茎。 “只要别耽搁太久就行。” “用不了多久的，”荆爪保证道。 他朝最近的树动了动耳朵，叶爪果然看见树根间藏着一只松鼠，正啃着山毛榉坚果。 荆爪顿了片刻判断风向，接着悄悄绕过去，打算从下风处靠近松鼠。 他绷紧后肢，猛地扑了上去；那只松鼠

gave one spasmodic kick, and was still. "Come on," he called. "There's enough for all of us." The fresh-kill was delicious, and Leafpaw offered a quick prayer of thanks to StarClan for bringing them to a place where the prey was plump— and slow. Her mouth was filled with the scent of the squirrel, so she had no warning when three cats suddenly appeared around the trunk of a tree a little way off. They paused for a heartbeat when they spotted the ThunderClan cats, and then loped toward them. As they drew closer, Leafpaw realized it was a WindClan patrol made up of Tornear, his apprentice, Owlpaw, and Whitetail. Swallowing his last bite of fresh-kill, Thornclaw rose to his paws, but Tornear spoke first. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. "This is WindClan territory." "What do you mean, WindClan territory?" Thornclaw stared at him in surprise. "The boundaries haven't been marked yet." "We're marking them now," Whitetail

猛地抽搐蹬了一下，就不动了。 “来吧，”他喊道。 “够我们大家分着吃了。” 新鲜猎物美味极了，叶爪赶忙向星族致谢，感谢星族带他们来到这片猎物肥美又迟钝的地方。 她嘴里全是松鼠的气味，所以三只猫突然出现在不远处的树干后时，她一点预警都没有。 他们看见雷族猫，只顿了一眨眼的功夫，接着就慢跑着过来了。 他们越走越近，叶爪才认出这是风族的巡逻队，由托尼尔、他的学徒猫头鹰爪和白尾组成。 荆爪咽下最后一口猎物，站起身来，可托尼尔先开口了。 “你们在这里干什么？” 他质问道。 “这是风族的领地。” “你说什么风族领地，这是什么意思？” 荆爪惊讶地盯着他。 “边界还没划定呢。” “我们现在就来划边界，”白尾