Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 Brambleclaw stared down at his Clan leader. He still couldn't move. He knew that all he had to do was tighten the noose around Firestar's neck, and he would lose his remaining six lives at once. His gaze met Firestar's, where his leader lay helpless in front of him. But there was no pleading in the green eyes, only a fierce, proud question: What will you do, Brambleclaw? It's your choice. Brambleclaw thought of how Firestar and Tigerstar had confronted each other, time after time. Each hated the other for what they stood for, the plans they had for their Clan. But Firestar had never needed to fight Tigerstar to the death. Scourge, the vicious leader of BloodClan, whom Tigerstar himself had invited into the forest, had killed him with a single blow. This time it looked as though Tigerstar would win. Brambleclaw was aware of his father's spirit close beside him, urging him on. Fool! Kill him now! Closing his eyes, Brambleclaw remembered the clearing at Fourtrees, the blood pouring out

第22章 棘爪低头凝视着自己的族群族长。 他依旧动弹不得。 他明白，只要收紧套在火星脖子上的绳套，火星剩下的六条性命就会立刻消失。 他和面前无助躺着的火星四目相对。 可那双绿眼睛里没有恳求，只有一个凶狠又骄傲的疑问：你会怎么做，棘爪？ 选择权在你。 棘爪想起火星和虎星一次次针锋相对的过往。 二人因各自的立场、对族群的规划不同，互相憎恨。 可火星从来没必要和虎星拼个你死我活。 虎星亲自把血族凶残的族长长鞭引进森林，最后反被长鞭一击毙命。 这一回，看起来虎星就要赢了。 棘爪能感觉到父亲的灵魂就在身边，催促他动手。 蠢货！ 现在就杀了他！ 棘爪闭上双眼，想起四树区的空地，鲜血正不断涌出

onto the grass as Tigerstar lost all nine lives at once. He saw Scourge looking down at his twitching body with cold triumph. Was that what Hawkfrost and Tigerstar wanted him to become? "Six lives..." he murmured. Six lives stood between him and the leadership of ThunderClan. "That's right," Hawkfrost hissed. "This is our chance to take revenge on Firestar for our father's death. He could have tried to stop Scourge, but he just stood there and watched Tigerstar die, over and over and over." Revenge? Brambleclaw wrenched his gaze from Firestar to stare at his half brother. This wasn't about revenge. He knew very well that Tigerstar had willingly set his own paws on the path that led to his violent death. All I want is to lead my Clan, he thought. But not like this. His loyalty was not to ThunderClan alone, but to Firestar too—the cat who had mentored him, accepted him in spite of his father, and in the end had trusted him enough to make him Clan deputy. He had thought that loyalty to the Clan didn't necessarily mean

流到草地上，那是虎星一口气失去全部九条性命的时候。 他看见长鞭带着冰冷的得意，低头看着虎星抽搐的身体。 这就是鹰霜和虎星想让他变成的样子吗？ 六条命……他轻声呢喃。 六条命横在他和雷族族长之位之间。 没错，鹰霜嘶声说。 这可是我们找火星报杀父之仇的好机会。 他当时明明可以阻止长鞭，可他就站在那儿，眼睁睁看着虎星死，一次次看着他死。 报仇？ 棘爪猛地把视线从火星身上移开，看向自己的异母兄弟。 这根本就和报仇无关。 他再清楚不过，是虎星自己心甘情愿走上那条通往惨死的道路。 我只想领导我的族群，他想。 但不能用这种方式。 他的忠诚不只属于雷族，也属于火星——这只猫教导他，哪怕他的父亲是虎星也愿意接纳他，最后还信任他，让他当上了副族长。 他曾经以为，对族群的忠诚，不一定代表

loyalty to the Clan leader. That wasn't true. Firestar was ThunderClan. "No," he meowed to Hawkfrost, amazed to hear his voice come out strong and steady. "I won't do it." He recalled how Brook and Squirrelflight had freed Berrykit when the kit caught his tail in a fox trap. Leaping over to Firestar's side, he began scrabbling in the earth, trying to dig up the stick that held the tendril taut around his leader's neck. "Keep still, Firestar," he panted as the earth flew. "I'll have you out of this in a heartbeat." A yowl of protest battered his ears; he couldn't be sure whether it came from Hawkfrost or from the vengeful spirit of Tigerstar. Hawkfrost sprang at him, slamming into his side and knocking him off his paws. Brambleclaw was pinned under him. Hawkfrost's ice-blue eyes glared into his. "Coward!" Hawkfrost snarled. "Keep away and I'll kill him myself if I have to." Never! Brambleclaw thrust his hind paws hard into Hawkfrost's belly, throwing him off. While his half brother lay winded, he hurled

对族长的忠诚。 这根本不对。 火星就是雷族。 不，他对鹰霜开口，惊讶地发现自己的声音坚定又平稳。 我不会这么做的。 他想起贝里崽尾巴被狐狸陷阱卡住时，溪儿和松鼠飞是怎么救他出来的。 他跳回火星身边，开始拼命刨土，想把那根绷紧套在族长脖子上藤蔓的木桩挖出来。 别动，火星，泥土纷飞间，他喘着气说。 我马上就能救你出来。 一声愤怒的抗议嚎叫冲进他的耳朵； 他分不清这声音是来自鹰霜，还是怀着恨意的虎星灵魂。 鹰霜扑向他，狠狠撞在他侧腰，把他撞翻在地。 棘爪被他压在了身下。 鹰霜冰蓝色的眼睛怒瞪着他。 胆小鬼！ 鹰霜低吼着。 滚开，逼不得已我就自己动手杀了他。 休想！ 棘爪用后爪狠狠蹬向鹰霜的肚子，把他踹开了。 趁着异母兄弟喘不上气的功夫，他猛地冲向

himself at the stick again, grabbing it in his jaws. His earlier digging had loosened it; now it came free altogether, and the tendril around Firestar's neck slackened. He heard his Clan leader draw a single gasping breath. A fierce snarl behind him made him spin around to see Hawkfrost springing at him. Brambleclaw dodged to one side, letting the stick fall. He felt the sting of Hawkfrost's claws raking through his fur as his half brother leaped past him. Spinning around, Brambleclaw faced Hawkfrost again, and saw a cold flame in the RiverClan cat's ice-blue eyes. "Traitor!" Hawkfrost spat. "You're a traitor to everything our father planned! You were never strong enough to be like him." "I don't want to be like him," Brambleclaw retorted. "Then you're a fool," Hawkfrost sneered. "And stupid too. You never realized that this was a test. It was Tigerstar's idea. He said that if you really deserved power, you would do anything to get it."

那根木桩，再次用牙齿紧紧咬住了它。 他之前刨土已经让木桩松动了； 现在木桩整个被拔了出来，火星脖子上的藤蔓顿时松了。 他听见族长倒吸了一口带着喘息的气。 身后传来一声凶狠的咆哮，他猛地转身，看见鹰霜正向他扑来。 棘爪往旁边一闪，让木桩掉在了地上。 异母兄弟从他身边跃过，他感觉到鹰霜的爪子划过皮毛带来的刺痛。 棘爪转过身再次面对鹰霜，看见这只河族猫冰蓝色的眼睛里燃着冰冷的火焰。 叛徒！ 鹰霜唾骂道。 你背叛了我父亲所有的计划！ 你从来都不够强，成不了他那样的猫。 我才不想成为他那样的猫，棘针反驳道。 那你就是个蠢货，鹰霜冷笑着说。 还蠢得要命。 你从来都没意识到，这是一场考验。 这是虎星的主意。 他说，如果你真的配得上权力，你就会为了得到它不择手段。

"Even kill my Clan leader?" "Especially that. But you're as weak as Tigerstar feared. We have great plans for the forest, he and I, and you could have been part of them. But we don't need you." Brambleclaw understood exactly what his half brother was saying. He knew too much. Hawkfrost could not let him or Firestar live now; that must have been part of his plan from the beginning. He took a step toward Hawkfrost. "Go back to RiverClan. You're my brother. I don't want to hurt you." "Because you're weak," Hawkfrost taunted him. "You care more for kin than for power. But I don't." He leaped for Brambleclaw again, carrying him off his paws and pinning him down. His ice- blue eyes blazed close to Brambleclaw's own. Brambleclaw felt sharp claws digging deep into his fur and saw teeth snapping at his throat. He struggled vainly to rake Hawkfrost's belly with his hind paws, feeling his own death a heartbeat away. To save himself, to save Firestar and

“哪怕杀我的族长？” “尤其是那件事。 可你就像虎星担心的那样软弱。 我和他对这片森林有宏大的计划，你本来也能加入我们。 可我们不需要你了。” 黑莓掌完全明白这位异母弟弟想说什么。 他知道得太多了。 现在鹰霜绝不可能放过他和火星； 这肯定从一开始就是他计划的一部分。 他朝鹰霜迈了一步。 “回河族去。 你是我弟弟。 我不想伤害你。” “因为你本来就软弱，”鹰霜嘲讽他。 “你在乎亲缘胜过权力。 可我不在乎。” 他再次扑向黑莓掌，把撞得黑莓掌失去平衡，按倒在地。 他冰蓝色的眼睛燃着怒火，凑到黑莓掌面前。 黑莓掌感觉到锋利的爪子深深抠进自己的毛里，看见尖牙朝自己喉咙咬来。 他拼命想用后爪抓鹰霜的肚子，却没能成功，只感觉到死亡近在咫尺。 为了救自己，救火星

ThunderClan, there was only one thing he could do. Writhing from side to side, he spotted the stick from the fox trap lying half under his shoulder. He strained his neck and managed to grab it in his teeth. As Hawkfrost lunged down toward him he heaved the stick around and felt the sharpened end sink deep into Hawkfrost's throat. Hawkfrost stiffened with a horrible gurgling sound, then fell limp and heavy on Brambleclaw's chest. Shocked, Brambleclaw struggled free of his half brother's body and let go of the stick. It fell to the ground, leaving a ragged wound in Hawkfrost's throat. Scarlet blood splashed onto the earth, faster and faster until it started to spill down toward the lakeshore. "Hawkfrost!" Brambleclaw gasped. "I... I didn't want this." Amazingly, his half brother pushed himself to his paws and staggered toward him. Brambleclaw braced himself, not knowing whether to expect another attack or an appeal for help. "Fool!" Hawkfrost rasped; the effort of

救雷族，他只能做一件事。 他扭着身子左右挪动，瞥见那根狐狸陷阱上的树枝半压在自己肩膀下。 他绷紧脖子，好不容易用牙齿咬住了树枝。 鹰霜朝他扑下来的时候，他猛地挥出树枝，锋利的尖端深深扎进了鹰霜的喉咙。 鹰霜僵住了，发出可怕的咯咯声，接着瘫软下来，重重砸在黑莓掌胸口。 黑莓掌又惊又愣，挣扎着从异母弟弟的身体下脱出来，松开了树枝。 树枝掉到地上，鹰霜的喉咙留下一道参差不齐的伤口。 猩红的血溅在泥土上，流得越来越快，一直漫到湖边。 “鹰霜！” 黑莓掌喘着气说。 “我……我不想这样的。” 令人惊讶的是，他的异母弟弟撑起身子，摇摇晃晃朝他走来。 黑莓掌绷紧身体，不知道接下来会迎来攻击还是求助。 “蠢货！” 鹰霜哑着嗓子说；说话的力气让