Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 "I'll go first." Jaypaw hardly realized he had said the words out loud until he heard Breezepaw snort scornfully. "You're blind!" "And you can see perfectly in the dark, I suppose!" Hollypaw snapped. Jaypaw sensed Breezepaw bristle, but the WindClan cat didn't argue. He was glad, because he was on the verge of turning tail and fleeing back along the tunnel to the forest, where rain pattered on leaves and earth and didn't collect in cold stone tunnels to sweep away everything inside them.... All he could think of ever since he set foot in the first tunnel was racing for his life, terrified, with Fallen Leaves. Images filled his mind: the dark tunnel, the roaring of the water, the shock as the wave hit him and swept him up like a leaf caught in a storm, gasping for air and finding only water to breathe. Don't think about it! At least this time there would be no glimmers

第十九章 “我先走。” 松鸦爪几乎没意识到自己把话说出了口，直到听见荆爪轻蔑地哼了一声。 “你眼睛看不见啊！” “那你倒是说你在黑暗里看得清？” 冬青爪厉声喝道。 松鸦爪感觉到荆爪炸了毛，但这只风族猫没有顶嘴。 他暗自庆幸，因为他差点就要掉头顺着隧道逃回森林，那里雨滴打在树叶和泥土上，雨水不会积在冰冷的石隧道里，冲走里面的一切…… 自从踏进第一条隧道起，他满脑子都是当年和落叶一起拼命奔逃的恐惧。 各种画面涌进他脑海：漆黑的隧道，隆隆的水声，浪头打中他、像暴风雨卷落叶般把他卷走的冲击，他拼命喘气却只吸进一肚子水。 别想这件事了！ 至少这次不会再有闪光了

of light to distract him; instead he could focus on his instincts. Lionpaw stepped out of the way to let Jaypaw pass. As Jaypaw brushed past him, he felt relief flooding from his brother's pelt. He thinks I'll do better in the dark than he will. I hope he's right. Cold air blasted over him, making his whiskers tremble. But the breeze carried something else, whispers he felt rather than heard, flooding from deep inside the tunnel like the pulsing of blood in his veins. He padded into the tunnel, feeling the darkness swallow him up. This wasn't darkness he was used to. Blind in the forest, he could feel the warmth of the sun on his pelt, smell the fresh tangs that flavored the air, hear the wind that rustled the leaves. This darkness was suffocating, musty, and cold, pressing against his fur and filling his nose and mouth. Nothing but blackness, thick as fur, soft as water, drawing him in. The rock beneath his paws was covered in fine silt, the walls so narrow they grazed his pelt as he crept slowly forward. "Can't you go any faster?" Breezepaw's mew was as jagged as the walls.

来打扰他；他反而可以专注于自己的直觉。 狮爪退到一旁，让松鸦爪先走。 松鸦爪擦过他身旁时，感觉到哥哥皮毛里涌出一股释然。 他觉得我在黑暗里比他做得更好。 希望他是对的。 冷风吹过他，吹得胡须都抖了起来。 但风还带来了别的东西，那是他更多感觉到而非听到的低语，从隧道深处涌出来，就像血管里搏动的血液。 他缓步走进隧道，感觉黑暗将自己吞没。 这不是他习以为常的黑暗。 就算在森林里看不见，他也能感受到阳光落在皮毛上的暖意，闻得到空气中清新的气息，听得见风吹树叶沙沙响。 这里的黑暗令人窒息，闷臭又冰冷，压在他的皮毛上，塞满了他的口鼻。 只剩无边的漆黑，厚得像皮毛，软得像水，将他往里吸。 他爪下的岩石覆着细淤泥，洞壁十分狭窄，他慢慢往前挪时，洞壁都蹭着他的皮毛。 “你就不能走快点吗？” 荆爪的叫声像洞壁一样尖利扎人。

"Shh!" He tried to block out the fear pulsing from the other cats, and padded on, feeling the path slope downward, the tunnel widen, cold air jab his pelt as they passed under a slit in the roof. Was this really the right way? The draft flowing through the tunnel like water carried no kit scent, only forest air seeping through fissures in the roof. Suddenly, a pelt brushed his flank. Jaypaw bristled. "I'm leading, Breezepaw!" He barged the cat away. "What are you talking about? I'm back here!" Breezepaw snapped from behind. Hollypaw's nose brushed his tail-tip. "There's no one near you, Jaypaw." Surprised, Jaypaw tasted the air. A new scent bathed his tongue. Not a Clan scent, but still faintly familiar. He tasted the air again, his pelt pricking with unease as the other cat pressed against him, matching him step for step. "I will walk with you, my friend, as you once walked with me," the voice whispered in his ear. Fallen Leaves! Jaypaw's heart lurched. The memory of a great, black wave engulfing him made him stop dead. He fought the urge to turn

“嘘！” 他努力驱散其他猫身上散发出来的恐惧，继续往前走，感觉到道路向下倾斜，隧道变宽，他们从洞顶的裂缝下走过时，冷空气刺着他的皮毛。 这条路真的对吗？ 像流水一样穿过隧道的风没有带来幼崽的气味，只有森林空气从洞顶裂缝渗进来。 突然，一块皮毛蹭过他的侧身。 松鸦爪立刻炸了毛。 “我在带路，荆爪！” 他把那只猫撞开。 “你在胡说什么？ 我在后面呢！” 荆爪在身后怒声喝道。 冬青爪的鼻子蹭到了他的尾尖。 “你旁边没人呀，松鸦爪。” 松鸦爪吃了一惊，他辨了辨空气中的气味。 一种新的气味漫上他的舌尖。 不是族群的气味，但隐约有些熟悉。 他又辨了辨气味，不安让他汗毛直竖，那只猫正贴过来，一步不落地跟着他。 “朋友，我会陪你走，就像当年你陪着我一样，”声音在他耳边轻语。 落叶！ 松鸦爪的心脏猛地一跳。 滔天黑浪吞没自己的记忆让他猛地停住了脚。 他压下转身

and run, to pelt back to the cave and the forest and the safety of the open sky. "I could not leave you here to walk alone, when you walked with me like a brother." Jaypaw blinked, trying to see. "Am dreaming?" "No," Fallen Leaves whispered. "I have come to help. I know where the kits are." "Why have we stopped?" Breezepaw mewed crossly from behind. Hollypaw's nose flicked Jaypaw's tail. "Are you okay?" "Fine," he told her, then he lowered his mew to less than a whisper, breathing the words so that only Fallen Leaves could hear. "Have you seen them?" "I know where they are." Fallen Leaves pressed his pelt to Jaypaw's, urging him forward. "But we must hurry." Jaypaw resisted. "Why should I trust you? You couldn't even get yourself out of these tunnels!" "I have walked them ever since," Fallen Leaves murmured sadly, "and I know them better than the moors above us."

逃跑的冲动，想一口气奔回洞穴，奔回森林，奔回开阔天空下的安全地带。 “你曾经像兄弟一样陪我走，我不能留你一个人在这里独行。” 松鸦爪眨了眨眼，努力想看清。 “我在做梦吗？” “不是，”落叶轻声说。 “我是来帮你的。 我知道幼崽们在哪里。” “我们为什么停下了？” 荆爪在身后不满地叫道。 冬青爪的鼻子碰了碰松鸦爪的尾巴。 “你没事吧？” “我没事，”他告诉冬青爪，接着放低声音，轻得像呼吸，只有落叶能听见他的话。 “你见到他们了？” “我知道他们在哪里。” 落叶把自己的皮毛贴紧松鸦爪，催他往前走。 “但我们得快点。” 松鸦爪不肯动。 “我凭什么相信你？ 你当年自己都没能从这些隧道里出去！” “从那以后我一直走这些隧道，”落叶难过地轻声说，“我对这里比上方的荒原还要熟悉。”

Jaypaw steadied his breath. "You've really seen the kits?" "They are alive, but they are cold. We must hurry." Instinct alone might not be enough down here. Touching his tail to Fallen Leaves's flank, Jaypaw let the tom guide him forward into a tunnel that branched to one side. The passage sloped steeply down; Jaypaw's pads slipped on the floor. The rock was slick with rain. "Are you sure you know where you're going?" Breezepaw called. "Can you still smell them?" Lionpaw asked anxiously. "They went this way," Jaypaw replied. Fallen Leaves swerved again, nudging him toward another tunnel. "Duck!" he warned. Jaypaw dipped his head just in time, squeezing through a shallow gap. "Keep down!" he warned his Clanmates as he wriggled beneath the pressing rock. The gap grew lower and lower until he was scrabbling on his belly. "This feels like a dead end!" Hollypaw panted

杰爪稳住了呼吸。 “你真的见过那些幼崽吗？” “他们还活着，就是浑身冰凉。 我们得赶紧过去。” 在这底下，只靠本能可不够。 杰爪把尾巴搭在落叶的身侧，让这只公猫领着自己，拐进一旁岔开的地道。 通道陡直向下，杰爪的肉垫在地上直打滑。 岩石被雨水泡得滑溜溜的。 “你确定你知道往哪走吗？” 风爪喊道。 “你还能闻到他们的气味吗？” 狮爪焦急地问道。 “他们往这边走了，”杰爪回答。 落叶再次转弯，把他往另一条地道推。 “低头！” 他提醒道。 杰爪赶紧低下头，刚好挤过一道低矮的缺口。 “低下头！” 他一边扭动身体挤过挤压过来的岩石，一边提醒族猫。 缺口越来越低，最后他只能贴着肚皮往前爬。 “这感觉就是死胡同啊！” 冬青爪喘着气说

as she squeezed after him. "It opens up in a moment," Fallen Leaves promised in Jaypaw's ear. Jaypaw smelled the sweet scent of heather and felt rain on his face. There must be an opening in the roof ahead. He slithered out of the gap, relieved to feel space around him. "Which way now?" Heatherpaw's fur brushed the rock as she squirmed out after him. "There are three tunnels," Lionpaw told him. Jaypaw tasted the air, but there was no scent of the kits. "This way," Fallen Leaves whispered. Jaypaw felt his whiskers brush rock on either side as he let Fallen Leaves guide him into another tunnel. "How do you know we're going the right way?" Breezepaw's mew was sharp, but Jaypaw could sense the panic throbbing beneath his pelt. It came from every cat, filling the darkness with a suffocating dread that Jaypaw tried to block from his mind. "I can smell them," he lied. He mustn't let their fear overwhelm him. Listen to Fallen Leaves! The tunnel twisted and veered upward, then

跟在他身后挤过来的时候说道。 “前面很快就宽敞了，”落叶在杰爪耳边轻声保证。 杰爪闻到了石楠花的甜香，还感觉到雨水打在了脸上。 前面的洞顶一定有一个出口。 他滑出了缺口，感觉到周围开阔起来，松了一口气。 “现在往哪边走？” 海瑟爪跟在他身后扭着身子挤出来，皮毛擦过岩壁。 “这里有三条地道，”狮爪对杰爪说。 杰爪分辨着空气里的气味，却没闻到幼崽的味道。 “这边走，”落叶低声说。 杰爪让落叶领着自己走进另一条地道，感觉到胡须蹭到了两边的岩壁。 “你怎么知道我们走的路是对的？” 风爪的叫声尖利，可杰爪能感觉到他皮毛下翻涌的恐慌。 这种恐慌来自每一只猫，填满了黑暗，带来让人喘不过气的恐惧，杰爪努力把它挡在脑海外。 “我闻得到他们，”他撒谎道。 他不能让大家的恐惧把自己压垮。 相信落叶！ 地道一转，向上倾斜，然后