Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 The sun had gone down but the horizon still blazed with scarlet when the ThunderClan cats set out. While he was waiting for Brackenfur to go through the tunnel in the barrier of thorns, Brambleclaw realized that Squirrelflight had slipped up to his side. "Hi, there," she meowed. She sounded friendly but uncertain, as if she weren't sure what his reaction would be. "Are you okay? You've been in a dream all day." Brambleclaw winced; the memory of his meeting with Tigerstar and Hawkfrost filled his mind so strongly that when he shut his eyes, he could almost feel the brush of his half brother's fur against his flank. He longed to respond to the affection in Squirrelflight's green gaze, but she was the last cat he could tell about his dream, given her feelings about the RiverClan warrior. He scuffed his paws on the earth. "I didn't sleep well last night; that's all." Squirrelflight narrowed her eyes, clearly

第十五章 太阳已经落山，雷族猫出发时，天边依旧燃着一片绯红。 黑莓掌等着蜡毛穿过荆棘屏障的通道时，发觉松鼠飞已经悄悄溜到了他身旁。 “嗨，你好呀。”她喵声打招呼。 她的语气友好却犹犹豫豫，好像拿不准黑莓掌会是什么反应。 “你没事吧？ 你一整天都跟在梦里似的。” 黑莓掌瑟缩了一下； 和虎星、鹰霜会面的记忆猛地涌入脑海，他闭上眼，几乎都能感受到异母弟弟的皮毛擦过自己胁侧的触感。 他多想回应松鼠飞绿眼睛里的温柔关切，可他绝不能把这个梦告诉她，谁让她那么讨厌那位河族武士呢。 他在泥土上蹭了蹭爪子。 “我昨晚没睡好，仅此而已。” 松鼠飞眯起眼睛，显然

guessing there was something he wasn't telling her. "Keep secrets if you want." She sighed. "See if I care." Whisking around, she pushed through the tunnel behind Brackenfur. "Squirrelflight, wait!" Brambleclaw raced after her, furious with himself for seeming to reject her attempt to be friends again. When he burst out at the other end of the tunnel she was padding away with Leafpaw, their heads bent close together. Though he called her name again she didn't turn to look at him. Sorreltail was the last of the warriors to emerge from the tunnel. Brackenfur had been waiting to check that they had all the cats who were meant to be coming to the Gathering. As she went past, Brackenfur stretched out his muzzle to touch her ear-tip. "Hey, Sorreltail," he murmured. "I'm glad you're coming." The young tortoiseshell warrior blinked at him and let out a purr. Firestar led his Clan uphill to the place where they could cross the stream by the stepping- stones, then followed the stream down to the

猜到了他有事情瞒着自己。 “你想藏秘密就藏吧。” 她叹了口气。 “你看我才不在乎呢。” 她猛地转身，从蜡毛身后挤入了通道。 “松鼠飞，等等！” 黑莓掌追在她身后，气得暗骂自己，居然回绝了她和好的心意。 等他冲出通道另一端，她正和叶爪并肩往前走，脑袋紧紧靠在一起说话。 哪怕他又喊了一声她的名字，她也没有回头看他。 蕨尾是最后一个走出通道的武士。 蜡毛一直在清点人数，确认所有要去参加森林大会的猫都到齐了。 她走过时，蜡毛伸过鼻子碰了碰她的耳尖。 “嘿，蕨尾，”他轻声说道。 “我很高兴你能来。” 这只年轻的玳瑁武士朝他眨了眨眼，发出了满足的呼噜声。 火星领着雷族往山上走，去到踏脚石过河的位置，接着沿着溪流往下走向

lakeshore. "If we go on Gathering near the horseplace," he meowed, "we must make sure WindClan understands we'll have to cross their territory every full moon." "That shouldn't be too difficult," Cloudtail muttered to Dustpelt. The brown tabby warrior grunted. "True. We could probably charge straight through the WindClan camp without any of the warriors lifting a paw." "That's not fair!" Sorreltail protested. "Onewhisker would defend his camp as fiercely as any warrior." Dustpelt and Cloudtail exchanged a glance; Brambleclaw could tell they weren't convinced. The cats padded along the edge of the lake; the water grew darker as the scarlet faded from the horizon and the first stars appeared. Brambleclaw found his gaze dragged back more than once to where Squirrelflight and Leafpaw walked side by side at the back of the group. He was comforted by the fact that at least she wasn't with Ashfur, who was talking to Rainwhisker and Cinderpelt. Brambleclaw thought that the young

湖岸。 “如果我们一直改在马场附近举办森林大会，”他说，“必须让风族清楚，每个满月我们都得横穿他们的领地。” “这事应该不难吧，”云尾对着尘皮低声嘀咕。 这只棕色虎斑武士哼了一声。 “没错。 咱们就算直接冲穿风族营地，估计都没哪个武士敢抬爪子拦咱们。” “这太不公平了！” 蕨尾抗议道。 “一根须一定会像任何武士一样拼死保卫自己的营地。” 尘皮和云尾对视了一眼；黑莓掌看得出来，他俩根本不相信这话。 族群猫沿着湖岸向前走； 天边的绯红渐渐褪去，第一批星星露了出来，湖水也变得越来越暗沉。 黑莓掌发现自己的目光一次又一次飘回队尾，松鼠飞和叶爪正并排走在那里。 让他稍感安慰的是，至少松鼠飞没和桦落在一起，桦落正和雨须、炭毛聊着天。 黑莓掌觉得那只年轻

gray warrior paid far too much attention to Squirrelflight. By the time they were nearing the Twoleg horseplace, the full moon had floated away from the trailing wisps of cloud and was flooding the lake and its shore with pale silver light. Just before they reached the fence, Onewhisker appeared on the brow of the hill above them, flanked by several of his Clanmates. Brambleclaw was surprised to see that Mudclaw was with him, but there was no sign of the new deputy, Ashfoot. Firestar stopped and waited for the WindClan cats to catch up, greeting Onewhisker with a friendly purr. Although the two leaders walked on side by side, the warriors behind them stayed with their own Clanmates. Brambleclaw spotted Crowfeather and waved his tail to catch his attention, but instead of padding over to greet him, Crowfeather just acknowledged him with a brief nod. Suddenly Firestar raised his tail for them to halt. Brambleclaw padded quietly forward to find out what was going on. He paused to taste the air

灰武士对松鼠飞实在太过关注了。 等他们快走到两脚兽的马场时，满月已经挣脱了残云的束缚，淡银色的月光洒满了湖面和湖岸。 就在他们快要走到围栏前时，一根须出现在他们上方的山脊上，身边跟着好几名风族同伴。 黑莓掌惊讶地看到泥爪也跟在他身边，却没见到新副族长灰足的踪影。 火星停下脚步等候风族猫赶上来，友好地呼噜一声向一根须打招呼。 两位族长并肩往前走，可身后的武士都只和自己族群的同伴走在一起。 黑莓掌看到了鸦羽，晃了晃尾巴吸引他注意，可鸦羽没有走过来打招呼，只是匆匆点了点头回应他。 突然，火星抬起尾巴示意大家停下。 黑莓掌放轻脚步走上前，想看看出了什么事。 他停下脚步，嗅了嗅空气中的气味

and his neck fur began to rise when he made out the scent of strange cats. "More kittypets?" he muttered to Crowfeather. The WindClan warrior bristled, his ears pricked. Brambleclaw followed his gaze and spotted a tiny movement in the grass on the other side of the Twoleg fence. A moment later two cats emerged. The first was a muscular gray-and- white tom; he glared at them through the fence with his lips drawn back in a snarl. "Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded. Mudclaw and Cloudtail both sprang forward, ready for battle, but Firestar waved them back with his tail. "We're not looking for trouble," he meowed. "We have come to live near here." "There are so many of you!" the second cat, a queen with long, creamy fur, exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise. Her heavy round belly showed that she was expecting kits. "Actually, there are more than this," Onewhisker told her. "But Firestar's right: we won't bother you."

当他分辨出陌生猫咪的气味时，颈毛一下子竖了起来。 “又有宠物猫？” 他对着鸦羽低声咕哝道。 这位风族武士炸起了毛，耳朵直直竖了起来。 黑莓掌顺着他的目光看去，发现两脚兽栅栏另一边的草丛里有一丝轻微动静。 没过一会儿，两只猫走了出来。 第一只是体格健壮的灰白相间公猫； 他隔着栅栏怒瞪着他们，龇牙咧嘴皱起嘴唇。 “你是谁？你们来这里干什么？”他质问道。 泥爪和云尾都一下子冲上前，准备开战，可火星用尾巴示意他们退回去。 “我们不是来找麻烦的，”火星喵道。 “我们搬到这附近居住。” “你们居然有这么多猫！” 第二只猫是长着奶白色长毛的猫后，她睁大眼睛，惊讶地惊呼出声。 她圆滚滚沉甸甸的肚子，一看就知道怀小猫了。 “说真的，我们的猫比这还要多呢，”一根须告诉她。 “不过火星说得没错：我们不会打扰你们的。”

"Provided you don't bother us," Mudclaw snarled. The strange tom fluffed up his neck fur. "Set one paw inside this fence..." "Why would we do that?" Squirrelflight asked, pushing forward with a gleam of curiosity in her green eyes. "We don't live with Twolegs." "Twolegs?" The long-furred queen looked bewildered. "The pink creatures who walk on their hind legs," Brambleclaw explained. On their journey to meet Midnight they had discovered that not all cats used the same words. "They live in red stone nests like the one over there," he added, gesturing with his tail to the Twoleg nest on the other side of the horseplace. "Oh, you mean Nofurs," mewed the queen. "We don't live with them either. We live in the stable with the horses." Brambleclaw tipped his head to one side, puzzled. It sounded as if these two cats were loners, like Barley and Ravenpaw, who lived in a barn near the old territory. But he couldn't imagine any cats wanting to live this close to a

“只要你们不来打扰我们就行，”泥爪吼道。 这只陌生公猫蓬起了自己的颈毛。 “敢把一只爪子踏进这栅栏……” “我们为什么要那么做？” 松鼠飞挤上前来，绿色眼睛里闪着好奇，开口问道。 “我们不和两脚兽一起住。” “两脚兽？” 长毛母猫一脸茫然不解。 “就是用后腿走路的粉色生物呀，”黑莓掌解释道。 在他们前去寻找午夜的旅途中，他们早就发现不同的猫用的词汇并不一样。 “他们就住在红石头窝里，就像那边那座，”他补充道，还用尾巴朝马场另一边的两脚兽窝指了指。 “哦，你说的是无毛怪呀，”母猫喵道。 “我们也不和他们一起住。 我们和马儿一起住在马厩里。” 黑莓掌歪着脑袋，一头雾水。 他听着觉得这两只猫就是独行猫，就像住在旧领地附近谷仓的巴利和乌爪一样。 可他怎么也想不通，怎么会有猫愿意住得离