Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 Leaves brushed Jaykit's pelt like falling snow. More crackled underpaw, stiff with frost and so deep that he struggled with every step. An icy wind pierced his fur—still nursery soft—and made him shiver. "Wait for me!" he wailed. He could hear his mother's voice ahead, her warm body always a few steps out of reach. "You'll never catch it!" A high-pitched mew sliced into his dream, and Jaykit woke with a start. He pricked his ears, listening to the familiar sounds of the bramble nursery. His sister and brother scrabbling in play. Ferncloud lapping her dozing kits. There was no snow now; he was in the camp, safe and warm. He could smell his mother's nest, empty but still fresh with her scent. "Oof!" He let out a gasp of surprise as his sister, Hollykit, landed heavily on top of him. "Watch out!" "You're awake at last!" She rolled off him and

第一章 树叶蹭过松鸦崽的皮毛，轻得像飘落的雪。 更多树叶在爪下噼啪作响，被霜冻得硬邦邦，积雪深得让他每一步都走得吃力。 寒风刺穿他还带着育婴室软绒的皮毛，冻得他瑟瑟发抖。 "等等我！" 他哀声喊道。 他能听到前方妈妈的声音，她温暖的身体总在几步之外，偏偏够不到。 "你永远追不上！" 一声尖尖的猫叫闯进他的梦里，松鸦崽猛地惊醒过来。 他竖起耳朵，听着荆棘育婴室里熟悉的声响。 他的姐姐和哥哥正扒抓着玩闹。 蕨云正舔着她打盹的幼崽们。 这里哪有雪呀，他好好待在营地里，安全又温暖。 他能闻到妈妈巢穴的气味，巢穴空着，但还留着她清新的味道。 "哎哟！" 姐姐冬青崽重重砸在他身上，他惊讶地倒抽一口气。 "小心点！" "你可终于醒啦！" 她从他身上滚下来，

pushed her hind paws into his flank. With a leap, she twisted away and grasped for something just out of reach. Mouse! Jaykit could smell it. His brother and sister must be playing catch with fresh-kill newly brought into camp. He sprang to his paws and gave a quick stretch that sent a shiver through his small body. "Catch this, Jaykit!" Hollykit mewed. The mouse whistled past his ear. "Slow slug!" she teased as he turned too late to grab it. "I've got it!" Lionkit called. He pounced on the fresh-kill, his paws thudding on the nursery's packed earth floor. Jaykit wasn't going to let his brother steal the prize from him so easily. He might be the smallest in the litter, but he was fast. He leaped toward Lionkit, knocking him out of the way and stretching his forepaw to reach for the mouse. He landed in a clumsy skid and rolled over, feeling a jolt of alarm as he realized it wasn't moss underneath him, but the squirming warmth of Ferncloud's two tiny kits. Ferncloud gave him a

后爪顶在了他的胁侧。 她纵身一跃，扭身闪开，伸爪去够一样刚好够不着的东西。 是老鼠！ 松鸦崽都闻到它的味道了。 肯定是哥哥姐姐在拿刚带进营地的新鲜猎物玩接球游戏。 他猛地站起身，快速伸了个懒腰，小小的身子禁不住抖了一下。 "接好，松鸦崽！" 冬青崽喵喵叫道。 老鼠嗖的一下从他耳边飞了过去。 "慢腾腾的懒家伙！" 他转身太慢没抓到，她笑着打趣他。 "我抓到了！" 狮崽大声喊。 他扑向新鲜猎物，爪子重重砸在育婴室踩实的泥地上。 松鸦崽才不会让哥哥就这么轻易把奖品抢走。 他虽说这窝幼崽里个头最小，可身手敏捷跑得快。 他扑向狮崽，把对方撞开，伸长前爪去抓老鼠。 他笨拙地打滑摔了出去，滚了一圈，震惊地发现身下不是苔藓，而是蕨云两只小幼崽蠕动的暖身子。 蕨云给了他一

shove, pushing him away with her hind paws. Jaykit gasped. "Have I hurt them?" "Of course not," Ferncloud snapped. "You're too small to squash a flea!" Foxkit and Icekit mewled as she tucked them closer into her belly. "But you three are getting too rough for the nursery!" "Sorry, Ferncloud," Hollykit mewed. "Sorry," Jaykit echoed, apologetic even though Ferncloud's comment on his size had stung him. At least the queen's anger would not last. She would easily forgive kits she had suckled—when Squirrelflight's milk had not come, it was Ferncloud who had fed Jaykit, Hollykit, and Lionkit in the moons before Foxkit and Icekit were born. "It's about time Firestar made you apprentices and moved you to the apprentice den," Ferncloud meowed. "If only." Lionkit sighed. "It won't be long," Hollykit pointed out. "We're almost six moons old." Jaykit felt the familiar surge of excitement as he imagined becoming an apprentice warrior. He

记猛推，用后爪把他蹬开了。 松鸦崽倒抽一口冷气。 "我伤到他们了吗？" "当然没有，"蕨云厉声说。 "你小得连跳蚤都压不死！" 狐崽和冰崽呜呜叫着，她把他们往自己肚子那边拢得更紧。 "不过你们三个玩得太疯了，早就不该待在育婴室了！" "对不起，蕨云，"冬青崽乖乖说道。 "对不起，"松鸦崽也跟着道歉，哪怕蕨云说他个头小的话戳疼了他，他还是满心愧疚。 至少这位猫后的怒气不会持续太久。 她肯定会原谅吃过她奶的幼崽——当初松鼠飞没奶水，还是蕨云喂养松鸦崽、冬青崽和狮崽，一直到狐崽和冰崽出生。 "火星早该把你们升成学徒，搬去学徒窝了，"蕨云说道。 "要是真能这样就好了。" 狮崽叹了口气。 "不会等太久的，"冬青崽说道。 "我们都快六个月大了。" 松鸦崽一想到自己要成为学徒武士，心里就涌起熟悉的兴奋。 他

couldn't wait to begin his training. But without even seeing Ferncloud's face, he could sense the flicker of doubt that prickled through the queen's pelt and knew that she was looking at him with pity in her eyes. His fur bristled with frustration— he was just as ready to become an apprentice as Hollykit and Lionkit! Ferncloud answered Hollykit, unaware that Jaykit had sensed her moment of unease. "Well, you're not six moons yet! And until you are, you can do your playing outside!" she ordered. "Yes, Ferncloud," Lionkit replied meekly. "Come on, Jaykit," Hollykit called. "Bring the mouse with you." The branches of the bramble bush rustled as she slid out through the nursery entrance. Jaykit picked up the mouse delicately in his teeth. It was newly killed and soft, and he didn't want to make it bleed—they could have a good, clean game with it yet. With Lionkit close behind him, he scrabbled out after his sister. The barbs of the entrance tunnel clawed satisfyingly at his fur, sharp enough to tug at his pelt but not so sharp that they hurt.

早就迫不及待要开始训练了。 可哪怕没看到蕨云的脸，他都能感觉到这位猫后浑身掠过一丝疑虑，也清楚她正用怜悯的目光看着自己。 他气得毛发倒竖——他明明和冬青崽、狮崽一样，早就准备好当学徒了！ 蕨云回应着冬青崽，没发现松鸦崽已经察觉到了她那一瞬间的不安。 "哼，你们还没到六个月大呢！ 没到日子之前，你们都到外面玩去！" 她命令道。 "好的，蕨云，"狮崽温顺地答应。 "走吧，松鸦崽，"冬青崽喊道。 "把老鼠带上哦。" 她滑出育婴室门口的时候，荆棘的枝桠沙沙作响。 松鸦崽小心翼翼地把老鼠叼在嘴里。 这老鼠刚死没多久，软乎乎的，他不想把血弄出来——这样他们还能痛痛快快玩一场干净的游戏。 狮崽紧跟在身后，他扒拉着通道，跟在姐姐后面爬了出来。 入口通道的棘刺蹭着他的皮毛，力道刚好舒服，够锋利扯动皮毛却不会弄疼他。

Outside, the air smelled crisp and frosty. Firestar was sharing tongues with Sandstorm below Highledge. Dustpelt sat with them. "We should be thinking about expanding the warriors" den," the dark tabby advised his leader. "It's crowded already, and Daisy and Sorreltail's kits won't be apprentices forever." Nor will we! thought Jaykit. Brightheart and Cloudtail were grooming each other in a pool of sunlight on the other side of the clearing. Jaykit could hear the steady lapping of their tongues like water dripping from a rain- soaked leaf. Like all the ThunderClan cats, their pelts were leaf-bare thick, but the muscles beneath had grown lean with scarce prey and hard hunting. Hunger was not the only hardship leaf-bare had brought. Molepaw, one of Sorreltail's kits, had died of a cough that had not responded to Leafpool's herbs, and Rainwhisker had been killed during a storm, struck by a falling branch. Brightheart paused from her washing. "How are you today, Jaykit?" Jaykit placed the mouse between his paws,

外面的空气清冽，带着霜寒的气息。 火星正在高岩下和沙风互舔整理毛发。 尘毛也和他们坐在一起。 “我们该盘算着扩建武士巢穴了”，这只深色虎斑猫向族长建议道。 “现在巢穴已经够挤了，黛西和栗尾的幼崽不会永远当幼崽，总有天要成为学徒的。” 我们也不会一直是幼崽呀！松鸦崽心想。 亮心和云尾在空地另一头的阳光里互相整理着毛发。 松鸦崽能听到它们稳稳舔毛的声音，就像雨水浸湿的叶片往下滴水。 和所有雷族猫一样，它们的毛在秃叶季长厚了，但因为猎物稀少、捕猎辛苦，皮下的肌肉都变精瘦了。 饥饿并不是秃叶季带来的唯一苦难。 栗尾的幼崽鼹爪，死于咳嗽，叶池的草药也没能治好它，雨须则在暴风雨中被掉落的树枝砸中丧生。 亮心停下了舔毛的动作。 “你今天感觉怎么样呀，松鸦崽？” 松鸦崽把老鼠放到自己的两只爪子中间，

safe from Hollykit's grasp. "I'm fine, of course," he meowed. Why did Brightheart have to make such a fuss over him? He'd only been sleeping in the nursery, not out raiding ShadowClan territory! It was like she was always keeping her one good eye on him. Eager to prove he was just as strong as his brother and sister, Jaykit flung the mouse high over Hollykit's head. As Lionkit thundered past him and grappled with Hollykit to be the first to catch it, Squirrelflight's voice sounded from the side of the nursery. "You should show more respect for your prey!" Their mother was busy pressing leaves into gaps in the prickly walls that surrounded the queens" den. Daisy was helping her. "Kits will be kits," the she-cat purred indulgently. Jaykit's nostrils flared at Daisy's strange scent. It was different from the Clanborn cats', and some of the warriors still referred to her as a kittypet because she had once lived in the horseplace and eaten Twoleg food. Daisy wasn't a warrior, because she showed no sign that she ever wished to leave the nursery, but her kits Mousepaw,

这样冬青崽就抓不到它了。 “我当然没事啦”，他喵声道。 亮心为什么非要对他这么大惊小怪呢？ 他不过就是一直在育儿室睡觉，又没跑去影族领地捣乱呀！ 她好像总用那只好眼睛盯着他。 松鸦崽急着证明自己和哥哥姐姐一样强壮，一下子把老鼠高高甩过了冬青崽的头顶。 狮崽咚咚地跑过他身边，和冬青崽扭抢着想第一个抓住老鼠，这时松鼠飞的声音从育儿室边上响了起来。 “你们应该对猎物多一点尊重！” 他们的妈妈正忙着把叶子填进母猫巢穴四周带刺围墙的缝隙里。 黛西在给她帮忙。 “幼崽嘛，本来就是这样”，母猫宠溺地咕噜着说。 松鸦崽闻到黛西那股特别的气味，不由张开了鼻翼。 她的气味和族出生长的猫不一样，有些武士还一直叫她宠物猫，因为她从前住在马场，吃两脚兽的食物。 黛西不是武士，因为她从来没有表现出想要离开育儿室的想法，但她的孩子鼠爪，