Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 It was the first time Squirrelflight had left the camp since the battle with Mudclaw, and she found herself enjoying the feel of wind in her fur and the crackle of leaves underpaw. Here and there she glimpsed early signs of newleaf: a few pale snowdrops scattered under a tree, and a single early coltsfoot flower like a splash of sunlight against a mossy green trunk. Squirrelflight reminded herself to tell her sister, Leafpool, where it could be found. Coltsfoot was a good remedy for shortness of breath. Once they were well away from camp, Brambleclaw stopped. "Why don't you two take the lead?" he suggested, nodding to Ashfur and Rainwhisker. "Let's see how well you know the territory." "Sure," Rainwhisker agreed enthusiastically, picking up the pace. But Ashfur gave the tabby warrior a hard stare before sliding through the bracken after Rainwhisker. Squirrelflight knew why. "What did you say that for?" she mewed

第二章 这是松鼠飞在和泥爪大战后第一次离开营地，她发觉自己很享受风儿吹过毛发、叶子在爪下沙沙作响的感觉。 她随处都能看到新叶季来临的前兆：树下散落着几朵淡色雪花莲，还有一朵早开的款冬花，就像落在长青苔的绿树干上的一片阳光。 松鼠飞提醒自己，要告诉妹妹叶池这朵花长在哪里。 款冬是治疗气短的好药材。 等他们离营地很远之后，棘爪停住了脚步。 “要不你们俩走前面带路？” 他一边提议，一边朝蜡毛和雨须点了点头。 “我倒要看看你们对这块领地有多熟悉。” “没问题，”雨须兴致勃勃地答应了，还加快了脚步。 可蜡毛狠狠地瞪了这只花斑武士一眼，才钻过蕨丛跟在雨须身后离开。 松鼠飞明白这是为什么。 “你为啥要说这话呀？”她轻声问道

crossly to Brambleclaw when they were alone. "You're treating them as if they're your apprentices. Ashfur's older than you, don't forget." "And I'm leading this patrol," Brambleclaw pointed out. "If you don't like my orders, you'd better go back." Squirrelflight opened her mouth for a stinging reply, then closed it again. She didn't want to get dragged into yet another quarrel. Instead, she whisked past Brambleclaw and bounded around the edge of a clump of brambles, following the scent trail Rainwhisker and Ashfur had left. Ashfur must have heard her brushing through the bracken; he waited for her to catch up and slowed his pace to pad next to her. "The buds on the trees are swelling," he remarked, flicking his tail toward the branches of an oak. "Not long now till newleaf." "I can't wait," Squirrelflight mewed. "No more ice and snow, lots more prey." "The Clan could do with some extra fresh- kill," Ashfur agreed. "Talking of fresh-kill, how about we hunt? Do you think Brambleclaw

等只剩他们俩时，她气冲冲地对棘爪说。 “你这简直是把他们当成你的学徒了。 蜡毛可比你年长，你可别忘了。” “而且这次巡逻是我带队，”棘爪提醒道。 “要是你不喜欢我的命令，那你最好回营地去。” 松鼠飞张开嘴想尖刻地回敬他，最后又闭上了嘴。 她不想再被卷入另一场争吵里。 于是她快步擦过棘爪身旁，沿着雨须和蜡毛留下的气味踪迹，绕着一丛荆棘的边缘跳着走。 蜡毛肯定听到了她穿过蕨丛的声音； 他等着她追上来，还放慢了脚步，和她并排走。 “树上的芽都鼓起来啦，”他一边说，一边用尾巴指向橡树的树枝。 “再过没多久就是新叶季了。” “我都等不及了，”松鼠飞轻声说。 “再也没有冰雪，还会有好多好多猎物。” “族群确实需要多来点新鲜猎物，”蜡毛赞同道。 “说到新鲜猎物，咱们去捕猎怎么样？ 你觉得棘爪

would mind?" "I don't give a mousetail whether Brambleclaw minds or not," Squirrelflight hissed. She opened her jaws to taste the air. At first she thought she caught a trace of badger, and wondered if she should mention it to Brambleclaw—badgers were trouble, especially if their territory overlapped with a Clan's. But he was the last cat in the forest she wanted to speak to right now, and she guessed he wouldn't listen to anything she had to say anyway. She tasted the air again; the scent of squirrel flooded over her, and when she spotted the bushy-tailed creature stooped busily over a nut a few fox-lengths ahead, she pushed the badger to the back of her mind. Checking the direction of the wind, she dropped into a hunter's crouch and crept up on her prey. As she launched herself forward the squirrel leapt for a nearby tree trunk, but Squirrelflight sprang quickly. Her claws sank into its shoulder and she dispatched it with a swift bite to the neck. A loud alarm call made her swing around to see a blackbird fluttering up from a clump of

会介意吗？” “我才不管棘爪介不介意呢，”松鼠飞嘶声说。 她张开嘴嗅了嗅空气中的气味。 一开始她以为自己闻到了獾的气味，琢磨着要不要告诉棘爪——獾可是大麻烦，尤其是它们的领地和族群领地重叠的时候。 可棘爪现在是整座森林里她最不想说话的猫，而且她猜，不管她说什么，棘爪都不会听的。 她又嗅了嗅空气中的气味； 松鼠的气味扑面而来，她看见前方几狐步远的地方，一只大尾巴松鼠正忙着啃坚果，于是她把獾的事抛到了脑后。 她确认过风向，伏低身子摆出捕猎姿势，悄悄向猎物靠近。 她扑出去的瞬间，松鼠就跳向旁边的树干，可松鼠飞动作更快。 她的爪子深深扎进松鼠的肩膀，接着迅速一口咬在它脖子上，结果了它。 一阵响亮的惊叫让她猛地转过身，看见一只乌鸫从一丛

bracken while Ashfur watched it in frustration. "Bad luck!" Squirrelflight called. "I probably startled it by going after the squirrel." Ashfur shook his head. "No, I stepped on a twig." "Never mind, you can come and share this." Squirrelflight waved her tail invitingly. "There's plenty." As Ashfur joined her beside the fresh-kill, Brambleclaw appeared from the undergrowth. "What are you doing?" he growled. "We're on our way to see WindClan, or had you forgotten?" Squirrelflight swallowed a mouthful of prey. "Come on, Brambleclaw—lighten up, for StarClan's sake. None of us have eaten this morning." Awkwardly, not sure how Brambleclaw would react if she tried to be friendly, she drew back from the squirrel. "You can have some if you want." "No thanks." The tabby warrior's voice was curt. "Where's Rainwhisker?" "He went on ahead," meowed Ashfur, with a wave of his tail. Without another word, Brambleclaw strode

蕨丛里飞了起来，蜡毛正沮丧地看着它飞走。 “运气真差！” 松鼠飞喊道。 “肯定是我扑松鼠的时候，把它给惊到了。” 蜡毛摇了摇头。 “不怪你，是我踩到了树枝。” “没关系，过来跟我分着吃这只吧。” 松鼠飞晃了晃尾巴，热情地邀请他。 “够我们吃的。” 蜡毛走到她和猎物身边时，棘爪从灌木丛里走了出来。 “你们在干什么？”他低吼道。 “我们本来是要去风族的，你该不会忘了吧？” 松鼠飞咽下一口猎物肉。 “好了啦，棘爪——放松点，看在星族的份上。 我们今天早上都还没吃过东西呢。” 她不确定如果自己示好棘爪会是什么反应，于是尴尬地从松鼠旁边退开。 “你要是想吃就来点吧。” “不用了，谢谢。” 这只花斑武士的语气十分生硬。 “雨须去哪儿了？” “他先走一步了，”蜡毛甩了甩尾巴说道。 棘爪没再多说一句话，大步

off in the direction the gray tom had indicated, shouldering through the long grass until his dark pelt was swallowed up by damp green fronds. Squirrelflight let out a hiss of annoyance. Ashfur flicked her ear lightly with the tip of his tail. "Don't let him get to you so easily." "He doesn't," Squirrelflight muttered, trying to convince herself it was true. Once more she remembered how close she and Brambleclaw had been on their journeys, how they had relied on each other and come to need each other. How did we get from there to here? she wondered despairingly. Glancing up at Ashfur, she saw that his eyes were dark with concern. She knew he wanted to be closer to her, more than just fellow warriors. It was tempting to tell him she felt the same way, but it was too soon for her to be sure her feelings were real. She needed to get over the quarrel with Brambleclaw first. And in the meantime we have a job to do, she reminded herself with a flash of impatience. You're a warrior, not a moonstruck rabbit! She and Ashfur finished the squirrel in a few

他朝着那只灰公猫指示的方向出发，挤过长草，深色皮毛很快就被湿润的绿叶吞没了。 松鼠飞恼怒地嘶了一声。 灰毛用尾巴尖轻轻碰了碰她的耳朵。 "别这么轻易被他打乱心情哦。" "我才没有，" 松鼠飞咕哝着，努力让自己相信这话是真的。 她又想起从前旅途里她和黑莓掌有多亲密，他们彼此依靠，早已经离不开彼此。 我们怎么会变成现在这样呢？ 她绝望地暗自想道。 她抬头看向灰毛，看见他的眼睛里满是担忧。 她知道他想和自己更亲近，不只是普通同族武士的关系。 告诉他自己也有同样的心意确实很诱人，但她还没法确定这份感情是不是真的。 她得先放下和黑莓掌的争吵才行。 而且我们现在还有任务要做，她不耐烦地提醒自己。 你是一名武士，不是神魂颠倒的小兔子！ 她和灰毛没一会儿就吃完了那只松鼠

swift bites and set out again toward the WindClan border. Soon they overtook Brambleclaw and Rainwhisker. Brambleclaw had brought down a starling and was tearing into it hungrily, while Rainwhisker was gulping down a vole. He glanced up as his Clanmates appeared. "I thought you'd got lost," he meowed. Brambleclaw took his last mouthful of starling and rose to his paws. Without saying a word, he turned and stalked off. Squirrelflight exchanged a glance with Ashfur, shrugged, and followed. The trees were thinning out when Squirrelflight began to hear the chattering of water over stones. The patrol emerged at the top of a slope that led down to the stream bordering WindClan. Gusts of WindClan scent drifted across on the breeze, but there was no sign of any cats. "We must have just missed a patrol," Ashfur meowed quietly. "Those scent marks are fresh." That was a good sign, Squirrelflight thought. If WindClan was organized enough to be patrolling their boundaries, they must be on their way to recovering from Mudclaw's rebellion. Did

几口吃完，再次动身朝着风族边境出发。 很快他们就追上了黑莓掌和雨须。 黑莓掌放倒了一只椋鸟，正饿乎乎地大口撕咬，雨须则在狼吞虎咽一只田鼠。 看见同族伙伴来了，他抬眼看了过来。 "我还以为你们迷路了呢，" 他喵声说道。 黑莓掌吃完最后一口椋鸟，站起身来。 他一言不发，转身大步走开了。 松鼠飞和灰毛对视一眼，耸耸肩，跟了上去。 走到树林渐渐稀疏的地方，松鼠飞听到了流水冲过石块的哗啦声。 巡逻队走到斜坡顶端，斜坡下方就是分隔风族边界的小溪。 微风一阵阵飘来风族的气味，却看不到任何猫的影子。 "我们刚好错过了他们的巡逻队，" 灰毛轻声说。 "那些气味标记还是新鲜的。" 这是个好兆头，松鼠飞心想。 如果风族还能有条不紊地巡逻边界，那他们肯定已经从泥爪叛乱中慢慢恢复过来了。 难道