Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Squirrelflight stopped underneath a tree and listened. The woods were silent except for the wind rustling in the trees. When she tasted the air, the scents were faint; the cold weather must have sent all the prey deep into their holes. Shrugging, she padded on, letting her paws decide where to take her. She hadn't left the camp intending to hunt. She had set out with Ashfur and Birchpaw on the way to the mossy clearing Brightheart had discovered. But when they emerged from the thorn tunnel they met Brambleclaw on his way back from a training session with Spiderleg and Rainwhisker. "Where are you going?" he asked Squirrelflight, gesturing for the two younger warriors to go on without him. "Ashfur's going to teach Birchpaw some fighting moves," Squirrelflight meowed, ignoring the tabby warrior's aggressive tone. "I thought I'd go along and help." "Well, you thought wrong," Brambleclaw

第十一章 松鼠飞停在一棵树下，侧耳倾听。 森林里一片寂静，只有风拂过树叶沙沙作响。 她嗅了嗅空气，气味都淡得几乎闻不见； 寒冷的天气把所有猎物都逼去了洞穴深处。 她耸耸肩，继续往前走，随性地逛着。 她离开营地本来就不是来捕猎的。 她本来和蜡毛、桦爪一起，去亮心发现的那块长苔藓的空地。 但是他们穿出荆棘地道的时候，遇到了刚和蛛足、雨须训练完回来的黑莓掌。 "你们要去哪里？" 他问松鼠飞，一边示意那两个年轻武士先走，不用等他。 "蜡毛要教桦爪一些格斗技巧，"松鼠飞说，没理会这只虎斑武士咄咄逼人的语气。 "我想着过来搭把手。" "哼，你想错了，"黑莓掌

snapped. "Ashfur is Birchpaw's mentor, not you. If you're looking for something to do, the elders need their pelts checked for ticks." Squirrelflight drew her lips back in the beginning of a snarl. "Don't order me around!" "Then stop being so irresponsible," Brambleclaw retorted. "There's still a lot to do." He flicked his tail angrily and vanished into the tunnel. "We'd better go by ourselves," Ashfur meowed. He glanced at Birchpaw, who had listened to the exchange with wide, scared eyes. "There's no point making trouble." "It's Brambleclaw who's making all the trouble," Squirrelflight pointed out, although she had to admit that Ashfur might be right. Back in their old home, mentors and apprentices had usually trained alone. "I'll see you later. But I'm not checking the elders for ticks," she added, as Ashfur and Birchpaw headed for the clearing. "I'm not letting Brambleclaw think he can tell me what to do." As she bounded away from the camp, Brambleclaw's actions started to make more

厉声说。 "蜡毛才是桦爪的导师，不是你。 要是你没事可做，去找长老们帮他们检查皮毛上有没有蜱虫。" 松鼠飞龇起牙，就要发怒。 "别对我指手画脚！" "那你就别这么不负责任，"黑莓掌反驳道。 "还有好多事要做呢。" 他愤怒地甩了甩尾巴，消失在地道里。 "我们还是自己去吧，"蜡毛说。 他瞥了一眼桦爪，刚才那番争吵桦爪睁着大大的眼睛，吓得都听呆了。 "没必要惹麻烦。" "明明是黑莓掌在找事，"松鼠飞说，尽管她也觉得蜡毛说不定是对的。 在以前的老家，导师和学徒通常都是单独训练的。 "我们待会儿见。 但我才不去给长老找蜱虫呢，"蜡毛和桦爪朝空地走去的时候，她补充道。 "我才不会让黑莓掌觉得他能对我呼来喝去。" 她蹦跳着离开营地，慢慢开始反应过来黑莓掌刚才的举动

sense. He must be jealous of Ashfur because he had been chosen to mentor Birchpaw. And maybe because I'm spending time with Ashfur instead of him, she realized. But he made it perfectly clear how he felt about me, so he has no right to act like a bee-stung badger! She had decided to hunt for a while and take back a decent contribution to the fresh-kill pile. She wouldn't give Brambleclaw the satisfaction of telling her off yet again for neglecting her warrior duties. Suddenly she was flooded with the reek of ShadowClan. Her wanderings had taken her close to the border, not far from the dead tree. A heartbeat later she heard a fierce snarling, followed by the screech of a fighting cat. She froze. Had she crossed the border by mistake? In front of her, a few tail-lengths on the ShadowClan side, a clump of bracken started waving madly, and two cats locked in a yowling knot of fur crashed into the open. One was Tawnypelt; the other was the huge black and white tomcat from the Twoleg nest in ShadowClan's territory.

是怎么回事了。 他肯定是嫉妒蜡毛，因为蜡毛被选成了桦爪的导师。 说不定还因为我现在跟蜡毛待在一起，不怎么理他了，她反应过来。 可是当初他把对我的态度摆得那么清楚，他凭什么像个被蜜蜂蛰了的疯獾一样撒野！ 于是她决定去猎一会儿食，给猎物堆添点拿得出手的猎物。 她才不会给黑莓掌机会，又指责她不履行武士职责。 突然，她闻到了影族的刺鼻气味。 她一路逛不知不觉走到了边界附近，离那棵枯树不远了。 紧接着，她听到一声凶狠的咆哮，然后是战斗中的猫发出的尖叫。 她一下子僵住了。 难道是她不小心越界了？ 在她前方，影族领地那边几尾远的地方，一丛蕨类疯狂晃动起来，两只猫扭打着缠成一团，吼叫着滚了出来。 一只是褐皮； 另一只是住在影族领地里两脚兽巢穴里的那只黑白大公猫。

Squirrelflight heard a shriek of pain from Tawnypelt as the kittypet fastened his teeth in her throat. She couldn't stand by and watch her friend and former Clanmate get killed. She streaked across the border and flung herself on top of the tomcat. "Let her go!" She raked her claws down his side and as he tried to writhe away she bit down hard on his tail. He let out a yowl of mingled pain and fury, and Tawnypelt pulled free from him, whirling around to aim her claws at his ear. The kittypet rolled over, battering at both she-cats with his powerful hind legs, then leapt to his paws and raced off into the trees. Squirrelflight scrambled up and watched him until he was out of sight; a moment later Tawnypelt joined her and stood panting hard. "Thanks," she gasped. "He jumped me when I wasn't expecting it." "You're welcome. Any time." There was a haunted look in Tawnypelt's eyes and her gaze darted warily from side to side as if she expected to find an enemy behind every tree.

那只宠物猫一口咬住褐皮的喉咙，松鼠飞听到褐皮痛苦地叫了一声。 她不能眼睁睁看着自己的朋友、前族猫被杀。 她冲过边界，一下子扑到那只公猫背上。 "放开她！" 她伸出爪子狠狠挠他的侧腹，那公猫想扭身挣脱，她又狠狠咬住了他的尾巴。 公猫疼怒交加，大叫一声，褐皮趁机挣脱出来，转过身一爪拍向他的耳朵。 那只宠物猫滚了一圈，用有力的后腿蹬打两只母猫，然后跳起来逃进树林里不见了。 松鼠飞赶紧爬起来，盯着他直到看不见踪影； 没过多久褐皮也走过来，站在她旁边大口喘气。 "谢了，"褐皮喘着说。 "他趁我不注意偷袭我。" "不用谢。 随时都可以帮你。" 褐皮的眼神里带着不安，她警惕地不停张望，好像总觉得每棵树后面都藏着敌人一样。

Squirrelflight was close enough to catch the fear- scent coming from her friend. She couldn't understand it; Tawnypelt was a brave warrior, and in her own territory. "Is there something wrong?" she asked. Alarm flared briefly in Tawnypelt's eyes, then she shook her head. "Nothing we can't deal with." "Yeah, and hedgehogs can fly," Squirrelflight retorted. "Come on, Tawnypelt, I can see something's upsetting you. It can't surely be that mangy brute." "Leave it, will you, Squirrelflight?" Tawnypelt snarled. "You shouldn't even be here. Consider yourself lucky a patrol hasn't caught you already." She spun around and bounded away, deeper into ShadowClan territory. Her pelt prickling with anxiety, Squirrelflight checked that no cats were in sight, then she ran after her friend. "Tawnypelt, wait!" Tawnypelt skidded to a halt in the shadow of a pine tree. "Squirrelflight, you mouse-brain!" she hissed. "Go back! If a patrol catches you here they'll claw your ears off, and I'll be in just as

松鼠飞离得很近，都闻到朋友身上散发出的恐惧气味了。 她想不通，褐皮本就是勇敢的武士，而且这里还是她自己的领地。 “出什么事了吗？” 她问道。 褐皮眼中猛地闪过一丝警觉，接着她摇了摇头。 “没什么，我们能搞定。” “是啊，那刺猬都能飞了，”松鼠飞反驳道。 “拜托，褐皮，我看得出来有烦心事困扰你。 总不会就是那个肮脏的恶棍吧。” “别管了行不行，松鼠飞？”褐皮低吼道。 “你本来就不该来这里。 还没被巡逻队抓住，你就偷着乐吧。” 她转身跃开，往影族领地深处跑走了。 松鼠飞也焦虑得毛发发紧，确认四周没猫看见后，就追着好友跑了上去。 “褐皮，等等！” 褐皮在松树的阴影下猛地停住了脚步。 “松鼠飞，你这个鼠脑袋！” 她嘶声说道。 “回去！ 要是巡逻队在这里抓到你，他们会抓破你的耳朵，我也会跟着

much trouble for letting you get this far." Squirrelflight ignored her. Scanning her closely, she saw how thin her friend looked, her ribs showing like branches and her pelt rough. She looked exhausted from more than the recent fight. "I'm not going back," Squirrelflight mewed stubbornly. "Not until you tell me what's going on." Tawnypelt sighed. "You never give up, do you?" She crept backward into the shelter of the pine tree until its low-growing branches screened them from passing patrols. Squirrelflight gave her a comforting lick around the ears. "Come on, you can tell me." "You know where that black and white tom comes from?" Tawnypelt began. "The Twoleg nest in our territory? There's another kittypet there too—a tabby." Squirrelflight's tail curled up. "Did you think I'd forgotten? They nearly clawed my fur off!" And I wouldn't have got away if Brambleclaw hadn't helped me, she added to herself. "Well, ShadowClan is having some trouble with them," Tawnypelt explained reluctantly.

摊上大麻烦，因为放你走到这么远。” 松鼠飞没有理会她。 她仔细打量褐皮，发现朋友瘦得厉害，肋骨凸得像树枝，皮毛也粗糙不堪。 她的疲惫可不只是因为刚打完那场架。 “我不回去，”松鼠飞固执地说。 “你不告诉我出了什么事，我就不走。” 褐皮叹了口气。 “你从来都不肯罢休，对不对？” 她慢慢退到松树的隐蔽处，直到低矮的松枝挡住他俩，不被路过的巡逻队发现。 松鼠飞安慰地舔了舔她的耳朵。 “来吧，告诉我的吧。” “你知道那只黑白公猫从哪儿来吗？” 褐皮开口说道。 “就是我们领地里两脚兽的那个窝对不对？ 那儿还有另一只宠物猫——是只虎斑猫。” 松鼠飞的尾巴蜷了起来。 “你以为我忘了吗？ 他们差点把我的毛都扯光了！” 她暗自补充：要是黑莓掌没帮我，我根本逃不出来。 “唉，影族被他们搅得不得安宁，”褐皮不太情愿地解释道。