Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20 Brambleclaw halted at the edge of the lake and gazed across the stream into ShadowClan's territory. The pine forest on the far side of the stream was a blue-black shadow against the heavy gray sky. No cats were in sight, but the damp wind brought a powerful reek toward him: the old, familiar ShadowClan scent, nearly as strong as it had ever been. It was one more sign that all the cats were settling into their new territories. An even more powerful sign was the discovery of the Moonpool. Early that morning Cinderpelt and the newly named Leafpool had returned from the medicine cats" first meeting with StarClan, and in two nights" time Onewhisker would receive the nine lives of a leader at last. "Yuck!" exclaimed Rainwhisker. "I'll never get used to the way ShadowClan smells. It's like a fox that's been dead for a moon." "I don't suppose they're too keen on our scent, either," Brambleclaw pointed out.

第二十章 黑莓掌在湖边停下脚步，望向溪流对岸的影族领地。 溪流对岸的松林在阴沉灰蒙的天空下，晕成一片蓝黑色阴影。 看不见半只猫的踪影，但潮湿的风给他送来一股浓烈的气味：那是熟悉的旧影族气息，几乎和从前一样浓烈。 这又是一个迹象，说明所有猫都已经在新领地安顿下来了。 更振奋的迹象就是月亮池被发现了。 那天一大早，炭毛和刚定下名字的叶池就参加完巫医与星族的首次会面回来了，再过两个夜晚，一根须终于就要得到属于领袖的九条性命了。 "呀！"雨须大叫。 "我永远都受不了影族的味道。 闻着就像一只死了整整一个月的狐狸。" "我猜他们也不喜欢我们的气味呀，"黑莓掌说道。

A splash and a startled yowl behind him interrupted him. He glanced around to see Spiderleg standing in the lake with water lapping halfway up his legs. "Great StarClan, what are you doing?" Spiderleg waded back to the shore, hanging his head in embarrassment. "I saw a fish," he explained, and added unnecessarily, "It got away." Brambleclaw sighed. "You don't catch fish like that. Remind me sometime to give you a lesson. Feathertail taught us when we were on our journey." The familiar ache tugged at his heart when he remembered the beautiful RiverClan she-cat. "Come on; we'd better finish patrolling this border." He turned to head upstream, and stopped when he caught sight of something moving on the ShadowClan side. A gray cat had emerged from the trees and was racing along the lakeshore toward him. Brambleclaw's eyes widened in surprise when he recognized Mistyfoot. What was a RiverClan cat doing in ShadowClan territory? "Brambleclaw, wait!" she yowled. She

他身后传来一阵溅水声和一声受惊的喵叫，打断了他的话。 他转头看去，只见蜘蛛腿站在湖里，湖水漫到了他半条腿的位置。 "伟大的星族啊，你这是在干什么？" 蜘蛛腿蹚回岸边，窘迫地耷拉着脑袋。 "我看见一条鱼，"他解释道，还多余补了一句，"它跑掉了。" 黑莓掌叹了口气。 "哪有你这么抓鱼的。 有空记得提醒我给你上一课。 我们当初赶路的时候，羽尾教过我们抓鱼。" 想起那只美丽的河族母猫，熟悉的痛感轻轻扯动了他的心。 "走吧，我们最好赶紧巡完这片边境。" 他转身朝上游走去，刚走几步就停住了，他看到影族一侧有东西在动。 一只灰猫从树林里走出来，沿着湖岸朝他飞奔而来。 黑莓掌认出对方是雾脚，惊讶地瞪大了眼睛。 一只河族猫怎么会待在影族领地里？ "黑莓掌，等等！" 她吼道。 她

splashed through the stream as if it weren't there and skidded to a halt in front of him, panting. "I've got to talk to Firestar right away." Spiderleg stepped forward, his neck fur bristling. "What are you doing on our territory?" "Yeah, let's chase her off," Rainwhisker growled. Brambleclaw flicked his tail irritably at the two younger warriors. "We're not chasing her anywhere. This is Mistyfoot—remember? She's been a good friend to ThunderClan." "Thanks, Brambleclaw." Mistyfoot dipped her head, though there was still a wild look in her eyes, as if she'd seen something that terrified her. "Please take me to Firestar." "Okay." Brambleclaw couldn't think what might be so urgent, but he knew Mistyfoot wasn't the sort of cat to make a fuss about nothing. "You two carry on with the patrol," he told the others. "Watch out for Twolegs, and when you get as far as the dead tree, make sure the ShadowClan scent marks are where they're supposed to be." Rainwhisker and Spiderleg exchanged a

哗啦蹚过溪流，就当没看见水似的，一下刹停在他面前，大口喘着气。 "我得立刻见火星。" 蜘蛛腿走上前，颈后的毛都竖了起来。 "你跑到我们领地里来做什么？" "没错，把她赶出去，"雨须低吼道。 黑莓掌不耐烦地朝这两个年轻武士甩了甩尾巴。 "我们才不赶她走。 这是雾脚——还记得吗？ 她一直是雷族的好朋友。" "谢谢你，黑莓掌。" 雾脚点了点头，可她眼里仍旧满是慌乱，就像看见了什么让她恐惧的东西。 "请带我去见火星。" "好的。" 黑莓掌猜不出是什么事这么紧急，但他知道雾脚不是那种无事生非的猫。 "你们两个继续巡逻，"他对另外两只猫说。 "小心两脚兽，走到枯树那里的时候，确认影族的气味标记都在该在的位置。" 雨须和蜘蛛腿交换了一个

glance, as if they weren't sure they wanted to leave Brambleclaw and Mistyfoot together, but neither of them said anything. They set off upstream; Rainwhisker kept looking back as if he expected Mistyfoot to attack Brambleclaw as soon as his back was turned. "What's the problem?" Brambleclaw demanded, as he led Mistyfoot to the camp by the quickest route. "You'll hear soon enough," Mistyfoot meowed grimly. "Brambleclaw, can we hurry?" Startled, Brambleclaw sped up until the two cats were hurtling through the trees, not slowing their pace until they reached the tunnel that led into the camp. Brambleclaw pushed his way through first, and to his relief spotted Firestar at once, sharing a thrush with Sandstorm near the fresh-kill pile. Beckoning Mistyfoot to stay close to him, Brambleclaw padded over. Firestar swallowed a bite of fresh-kill and stood up. "Mistyfoot, welcome," he greeted the RiverClan warrior. "What brings you here?" "Nothing good," Mistyfoot replied. Firestar's ears twitched, and Sandstorm

眼神，尽管他们不太放心把黑莓掌和雾脚留在一起，但谁都没多说什么。 他们动身朝上游走去； 雨须不停地回头看，就好像觉得自己一转背，雾脚就会攻击黑莓掌一样。 "出什么事了？" 黑莓掌一边问，一边领着雾脚抄近路回营地。 "你很快就会知道了，"雾脚语气沉重地说。 "黑莓掌，我们能不能快点？" 黑莓掌吃了一惊，加快了脚步，两只猫在树林里飞奔，直到来到通往营地的隧道才放慢脚步。 黑莓掌先挤了进去，他一眼就看到了火星，松了口气——火星正和沙风在猎物堆旁分吃一只歌鸫。 黑莓掌招呼雾脚跟紧自己，朝他们走了过去。 火星咽下一口猎物，站起身来。 "雾脚，欢迎你，"他招呼这位河族武士。 "是什么事让你过来呀？" "没好事，"雾脚回答。 火星的耳朵动了动，而沙风

looked up curiously. "I'm afraid there's trouble for all the Clans," Mistyfoot went on. "Wait a moment," Firestar interrupted. "We'd better let Dustpelt and Brackenfur hear this too. Brambleclaw, can you find them?" Brambleclaw raced to the warriors" den. Thrusting his way in through the outer branches, he found Brackenfur curled up next to Sorreltail and gave the ginger tom a sharp prod. Brackenfur looked up, blinking. "What's wrong?" "Firestar wants you," Brambleclaw mewed. "Have you seen Dustpelt?" Brackenfur shook his head, but Cloudtail, who was sharing tongues with Brightheart a few tail-lengths away, raised his head. "He's in the nursery with Ferncloud." "Thanks." Brambleclaw backed out and pelted across the hollow to the bramble thicket; Dustpelt emerged just as he was skidding to a halt by the entrance. His ears pricked inquiringly when he saw Brambleclaw. "Firestar wants you," Brambleclaw explained

好奇地抬起头。 “恐怕所有族群都会遭遇麻烦。”雾脚继续说道。 “等一下。”火星打断她。 “我们最好让尘毛和蕨毛也来听听这件事。 黑莓掌，你能去找找他们吗？” 黑莓掌快步奔向武士巢穴。 他拨开外层的枝桠钻进去，发现蕨毛正蜷在罂粟霜身边，于是轻轻碰了碰这只姜黄色公猫。 蕨毛眨了眨眼睛，抬起头。 “出什么事了？” “火星找你。”黑莓掌说道。 “你看见尘毛了吗？” 蕨毛摇了摇头，几尾距开外正和亮心互相舔毛的云尾抬起了头。 “他和蕨云在育婴室里。” “谢谢。” 黑莓掌退出来，飞快穿过营地空地奔向荆棘丛； 他在入口处急刹停步的时候，尘毛正好走了出来。 看见黑莓掌，他好奇地竖起了耳朵。 “火星找你。”黑莓掌解释道

again. "Mistyfoot's here, and she says there's trouble." His eyes narrowing, the brown tabby warrior followed him over to the fresh-kill pile, where Brackenfur had just joined the others. "Now," Firestar meowed, waving his tail at Mistyfoot. "Tell us what's wrong." She had recovered some of her composure, but her eyes were still anxious. "Three nights ago I was on my way back to camp when I spotted two cats on the shore of the lake opposite the island," she began. "It was raining heavily, so I couldn't think why they wanted to hang about where there was no shelter. I was going to order them back to camp when I realized who they were." She paused, digging her claws into the ground. "Well?" Firestar prompted. "One of them was Hawkfrost," Mistyfoot replied. She swallowed painfully, as if a tough bit of fresh-kill were lodged in her throat. "And the other was Mudclaw." "What?" exclaimed Dustpelt. Brambleclaw's belly lurched. What did

又说道。 “雾脚来了，她说有麻烦找上门。” 这只棕虎斑公猫眯起眼睛，跟着他走到猎物堆边，蕨毛刚刚已经赶到那儿和大伙汇合。 “好了。”火星开口，冲雾脚摆了摆尾巴。 “告诉我们出什么事了。” 她已经稍稍平复了情绪，但眼神依旧满是焦虑。 “三天前的晚上，我返回营地时，在湖对面小岛的岸边看见了两只猫。”她开口说道。 “当时雨下得很大，我想不通他们为什么待在毫无遮挡的地方。” “我正打算喝令他们回营，突然认出了他们是谁。” 她顿了顿，爪子深深抠进地里。 “然后呢？” 火星催促道。 “其中一只就是鹰霜。”雾脚回答。 她难受地咽了口唾沫，就像一块粗硬的鲜猎物卡在了喉咙里。 “而另一只就是泥爪。” “什么？”尘毛惊叫道。 黑莓掌心头猛地一紧。 这到底是