Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 Brambleclaw stood at the top of the slope, gazing at the claw-pricks of silver fire reflected in the lake below. The Clans had finally found their new home, just as Midnight had promised. StarClan was waiting for them, and they were safe from the Twoleg monsters at last. Around him warriors from all four Clans murmured to each other, staring uneasily at the dark, unfamiliar space at the foot of the hill. "It's impossible to tell what's down there in this light." Brightheart, a ginger-and-white ThunderClan warrior, swung around so that her one good eye could take in the whole of the landscape. Her mate, Cloudtail, twitched his tail. "How bad can it be? Think what we've come through to get here. We can fight off anything on four legs." "And what about Twolegs?" demanded Russetfur, the ShadowClan deputy. "The journey has left us all tired and weak," Blackclaw of RiverClan added. "Foxes and

第一章 棘爪站在坡顶，凝视着下方湖面倒映的银色火焰爪痕。 四大族群终于像午夜承诺的那样，找到了新家园。 星族在等待着他们，他们也终于摆脱了两脚兽的怪物，获得了安全。 四大族群的武士们围在他身边，低声议论着，不安地望着山脚下那片漆黑陌生的区域。 "这种光线根本看不清下面有什么。" 雷族姜白相间的武士亮心转过身，用她那只完好的眼睛打量着整片地貌。 她的伴侣云尾甩了甩尾巴。 "能糟到哪里去呢？ 想想我们一路闯过多少难关才来到这里。 任何四条腿的对手我们都能打跑。" "那两脚兽呢？"影族副族长褐皮追问道。 "长途跋涉把我们都弄得又累又弱，"河族的黑爪补充道。 "狐狸和

badgers could track us down easily when we're all out in the open like this." For a moment Brambleclaw felt a tremor of fear. Then he braced his shoulders. StarClan would not have brought them here if they did not believe the Clans could survive in their new territories. "What are we waiting for?" a new voice spoke up. "Are we going to stand here all night?" Stifling a mrrow of laughter, Brambleclaw turned to see his Clanmate Squirrelpaw standing behind him. The ginger apprentice was tearing the tough, springy grass with her front paws, her green eyes glowing with anticipation. "Brambleclaw, look!" she purred. "We did it! We found our new home!" She tucked her hind legs under her, ready to dash down the hill, but before she could take off, Firestar pushed through the cats and stood in her way. "Wait." The ThunderClan leader touched his daughter's shoulder affectionately with the tip of his tail. "We'll go together, and keep a sharp lookout for trouble. This may be the place that

獾也能轻易追踪到我们，毕竟我们现在全都这样暴露在空地上。" 有一瞬间，棘爪心头掠过一丝恐惧。 接着他便挺直了肩膀。 如果星族不相信族群能在新领地生存下去，就不会把他们带到这里来了。 "我们还在等什么？" 一个新声音响了起来。 "我们打算在这里站一整夜吗？" 棘爪憋住一声笑，转过身，看到同族的松鼠爪站在他身后。 这只姜黄色学徒正用前爪扒扯坚韧有弹性的青草，绿色的眼睛里闪着期待的光。 "棘爪，你看！" 她轻声喵道。 "我们做到了！ 我们找到新家园了！" 她屈起后腿蹲好，正准备冲下山坡，可她还没动身，火星就从猫群里挤出来，挡在了她面前。 "Wait." 这位雷族族长用尾尖温柔地碰了碰女儿的肩膀。 "我们一起走，还要警惕随时可能出现的危险。 这里说不定就是星族

StarClan wished us to find, but they would not expect us to leave our wits in the forest." Squirrelpaw dipped her head respectfully and stepped back, but when she shot a sideways glance at Brambleclaw, he saw that her eyes still gleamed with excitement. For Squirrelpaw, their journey's end could not possibly be scary. Firestar padded over to join Blackstar and Leopardstar, the leaders of ShadowClan and RiverClan. "I suggest we send a patrol ahead," he meowed. "Just a couple of cats, to find out what it's like down there." "Good idea—but we can't just stand here and wait for them to return," Leopardstar objected. "It's much too exposed." Blackstar grunted in agreement. "If a fox came along now, it could pick off the weaker cats with no trouble at all." "But we need to rest." Mudclaw of WindClan came up to join the discussion. His leader, Tallstar, lay on the ground a little way off, with the medicine cat Barkface crouching over him. "Tallstar can't go much farther." "Then let's send the patrol right away,"

希望我们找到的地方，但星族也不会要求我们把判断力丢在老森林里。" 松鼠爪恭恭敬敬低下头，退到一旁，可她斜瞥棘爪的时候，棘爪看到她眼中依然闪着兴奋的光。 对松鼠爪来说，旅途的终点怎么可能会可怕呢。 火星走过去，和影族族长黑星、河族族长豹星会合。 "我建议我们先派一支巡逻队前去探路，"他喵道。 "只派几只猫，去看看下面的情况。" "好主意——但我们不能站在这里等他们回来，"豹星反对道。 "这里太暴露了。" 黑星咕哝着表示同意。 "要是现在有狐狸过来，它能轻而易举抓走体弱的猫。" "But we need to rest." 风族的泥爪走过来加入讨论。 他的族长高星正躺在不远处的地上，巫医叶脸蹲伏在他身旁。 "高星没法再走更远了。" "那我们现在就立刻派巡逻队出发，"

Firestar suggested, "and the rest of us will follow more slowly until we find somewhere more sheltered. Yes, Mudclaw," he added, as the WindClan deputy opened his mouth to argue, "we're all tired, but we'll sleep more easily if we're not stuck out on the open hillside like this." Blackstar called Russetfur over to him, while Leopardstar signaled with her tail for her deputy, Mistyfoot. "I want you to go as far as the lake, then come straight back," Leopardstar ordered. "Find out what you can, but be quick, and stay out of sight." The two cats flicked their ears, then whirled and raced away, loping along with their bellies close to the ground; within a couple of heartbeats they had vanished into the darkness. Firestar watched them go before letting out a yowl to call the rest of the cats around him. Mudclaw went back to Tallstar and nudged the old leader to his paws. Their Clans clustered together behind the leaders of ThunderClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan and began to follow them down the slope toward the lake.

火星提议道，"剩下的我们慢慢跟上，直到找到更遮风挡雨的地方。 好了，泥爪，"他见这位风族副族长张开嘴要争辩，便补充道，"我们都累了，但总比困在开阔山坡上好，这样我们也能睡得更踏实。" 黑星把褐皮叫到身边，豹星则用尾巴示意自己的副族长雾脚过来。 "我要求你们一直走到湖边，然后立刻返回，"豹星下令道。 "尽量打探消息，动作一定要快，躲好别被发现。" 两只猫动了动耳朵，随即转身飞奔而去，肚皮紧贴着地面向前奔跑； 没过几下心跳的功夫，它们就消失在了黑暗之中。 火星望着它们离去，随后发出一声号叫，把剩下的猫都召集到自己身边。 泥爪走回高星身边，把这位老族长推得站起身来。 族群们聚在一起，跟在雷族、河族和影族族长的身后，沿着山坡朝着湖边进发。

"What's the matter?" Squirrelpaw demanded, noticing that Brambleclaw wasn't moving. "Why are you standing there like a frozen rabbit?" "I want..." Brambleclaw glanced around and spotted his sister Tawnypelt padding past a little way off; he summoned her with a jerk of his head. "I want all of us to go down together," he explained when the tortoiseshell she-cat joined them. "All the cats who made the first journey." Four cats remained from the six who had left the forest in search of a new home many moons ago. They had gained something very precious on that journey, as well as a safe place for their Clans to live: a strong bond of friendship had been forged between them, stronger than rock and deeper than the endless water that washed against the cliffs where Midnight the badger lived. Now Brambleclaw wanted to travel with his friends one more time before their duties to their separate Clans forced them apart. Tawnypelt let out a purr of approval. Meeting her green gaze, Brambleclaw knew that, like him, she understood they would soon be rivals again;

“怎么啦？” 松鼠爪注意到棘爪站着没动，开口问道。 “你怎么站在那儿跟个冻僵的兔子似的？” “我想……” 棘爪环顾四周，看见姐姐尾羽爪正从不远处缓步走过； 他歪了歪头，叫她过来。 “我希望咱们几个一起下去，” 这只玳瑁母猫走过来后，他解释道。 “所有当初一同出发旅程的猫都去。” 许多个月亮之前，共有六只猫离开森林寻找新家，如今只剩四只。 那次旅程不仅给各族找到了安身的新家，还让他们收获了无比珍贵的礼物：四只猫之间结下了牢固的友谊，这份情谊比岩石更坚韧，比冲刷着獾午夜居住的悬崖的海水还要深邃。 现在棘爪想，在他们回到各自部族履职不得不分开之前，再和朋友们一起走这最后一程。 尾爪满意地咕噜叫了一声。 对上姐姐绿色的目光，棘爪明白，她和自己一样清楚，他们很快又会变成对手；

that the next time they met could be in battle. The pain of parting swelled in his heart, and he pressed his muzzle to his sister's, feeling her breath warm against his whiskers. "Where's Crowfeather?" she asked. Brambleclaw looked up and spotted the young WindClan warrior a few tail-lengths away, anxiously pacing beside Tallstar. The WindClan leader looked so exhausted he could hardly put one paw in front of the other; his long tail dragged on the ground and he was leaning heavily on the brown tabby warrior Onewhisker. The WindClan medicine cat, Barkface, walked close behind, a worried look on his face. "Hey, Crowfeather!" Squirrelpaw called. The WindClan cat bounded across. "What do you want?" Brambleclaw ignored his unwelcoming tone. Crowfeather's tongue was sharp enough to slice your ears off, but if danger threatened he would fight to his last breath to defend his friends. "Travel down to the lake with us," he urged. "I want us to finish the journey how we started— together."

他们下次见面，说不定就是在战场上了。 离别的痛苦在棘爪心中翻涌，他把鼻子贴在姐姐的鼻子上，感受着她温暖的气息拂过自己的胡须。 “鸦羽在哪儿？” 她问道。 棘爪抬眼望去，看见这只年轻的风族武士在几步开外，正焦虑地绕着星毛来回踱步。 这位风族族长累得几乎挪不动步子； 他长长的尾巴拖在地上，身子重重地靠着棕虎斑武士一根须。 风族医猫巴克脸跟在后面，一脸担忧。 “嘿，鸦羽！” 松鼠喊道。 这只风族猫快步跑了过来。 “你想干什么？” 棘爪没理会他冷淡的语气。 鸦羽说话向来尖刻，但要是朋友们遇到危险，他一定会拼到最后一口气保护同伴。 “跟我们一起去湖边吧，” 他邀请道。 “我想让我们像出发时那样，一起走完这段旅程。”