Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Jaypaw winced as grit from the trail dug into his pads. At least they did not ache with cold. The stony path to the Moonpool was warming up as newleaf took hold. Ahead of him, Leafpool chatted with Mothwing. Their mews were only just audible over the rush of water, because the stream that flowed beside their path was swollen by snowmelt from the distant mountains. It carried the scent of frost and rock, and below them, the level of the lake would be rising with the extra water. Littlecloud and Barkface had taken the lead while Willowpaw trailed behind with Kestrelpaw. Jaypaw slowed occasionally in case the two apprentices wanted to catch up to him, but Willowpaw adjusted her soft step, and Kestrelpaw quickly matched it so that they were always a little behind. It was a silent challenge but Jaypaw was content to walk alone. At least he could listen to snatches of the medicine cats" conversation—who

第三章 砂砾嵌进松鸦爪的肉垫，疼得他缩了一下。 至少他们不会冻得发疼了。 通往月池的石径随着新叶降临慢慢暖和了起来。 在他前方，叶池正和蛾翅聊着天。 她们的声音几乎被奔腾的流水盖过，因为路旁的溪流被远山的融雪涨得满满当当。 溪水带着冰霜和岩石的气息，下方的湖面也会因这些额外的水流上涨。 小云和獾面走在最前面，柳爪和鹊爪落在队尾。 松鸦爪偶尔放慢脚步，方便这两个学徒追上他，可柳爪调整了轻缓的步子，鹊爪也立刻跟上，始终和他保持着一点距离。 这是场无声的僵持，可松鸦爪愿意一个人走。 至少他还能偷听到几句巫医们的谈话——谁

had recovered from greencough, who had sprained a paw, which herb best treated the mange that was currently running rife in the ShadowClan apprentice den. As he listened, he let his mind wander, feeling for what emotion lurked behind the words. "I've tried comfrey for the itching," Littlecloud sighed. He blames the apprentices for not keeping their pelts clean in the first place. "We didn't think Morningflower would recover from greencough, but she has lived to see another newleaf," Barkface confided. But your anxiety tells me that you think it will be her last. "Is Mousefur completely recovered?" Mothwing asked Leafpool. Jaypaw searched Mothwing's mind, but only found the blankness that always seemed to shield her emotions. He flicked his attention to Willowpaw. If Hollypaw was right and RiverClan was in trouble, Willowpaw would be the one to betray it. Her mind was usually as open as the moorland. He concentrated on the RiverClan

从绿咳症中康复，谁扭伤了爪子，哪种草药对目前在影族学徒窝肆虐的疥癣最有效。 他边听边走神，感知着话语背后潜藏的情绪。 “我已经用紫草止痒了，”小云叹道。 他怪学徒们一开始就没把自己的皮毛打理干净。 “我们本来都以为晨花熬不过绿咳症了，可她居然撑到了这个新叶，”獾面悄悄说道。 可你的焦虑告诉我，你觉得这会是她最后一个新叶了。 “鼠毛完全康复了吗？” 蛾翅问叶池。 松鸦爪探查蛾翅的心思，可只找到一片空白，这片空白总是把她的情绪藏起来。 他把注意力转到了柳爪身上。 如果冬青爪说的没错，河族确实遇上了麻烦，那泄密的一定是柳爪。 她的心思向来像荒原一样坦荡。 他集中精神探向这只河族

apprentice, sniffing out her emotions as though they were scent. Sure enough, unease enfolded her. Jaypaw tried to delve farther into her thoughts but it was as though she had wrapped herself in brambles. Thorny barbs drove him back. Frustrated, he gave up. I'll find out more when she dreams. The path had reached the steep rocks that walled the ridge. Conversation died as the medicine cats climbed, their words turning to breathless gasps as they bounded up rock after rock. Jaypaw scrambled ahead of Leafpool. He felt his mentor's watchful gaze warm his pelt as he leaped onto a tricky ledge. Thankfully, she said nothing. He had been this way often enough to make it to the ridge without help. As he hauled himself over the edge he was caught by the fresh scent of the Moonpool. Frost and rock and sky. "Look how big it is," Willowpaw breathed as she climbed up beside him. "Meltwater," Leafpool meowed. "It's wide enough to hold every star in the sky," Kestrelpaw mewed.

学徒，像嗅气味一样探寻她的情绪。 不出所料，不安笼罩着她。 松鸦爪试着深入探究她的想法，可她就像把自己裹在了荆棘丛里。 带刺的倒钩把他挡了回来。 他满心沮丧，放弃了尝试。 等她做梦的时候，我就能知道更多了。 小路已经走到了围住山脊的陡峭岩壁前。 巫医们往上攀爬时都停止了交谈，他们一块接着一块岩石往上跳，说话都变成了急促的喘气。 松鸦爪爬到了叶池前面。 当他跳到一块难爬的岩架上时，他感觉到导师警惕的目光暖着他的皮毛。 幸好，她什么都没说。 他这条路走得够多了，不用帮忙也能爬到山脊。 当他奋力翻过岩脊时，月池清新的气息扑面而来。 那是冰霜、岩石和天空的气息。 “你看它多大呀，”柳爪爬到他身边，轻声惊叹道。 “都是融雪水，”叶池轻声说。 “它宽得能装下天上所有的星星，”鹊爪轻声说。

There is room for all tonight, a whispering breeze sang into Jaypaw's ears. The voices had come to welcome him. He wondered if they welcomed the others, too. "Did you hear that?" he asked casually. Leafpool's gaze scorched his ears. "Hear what?" "That'd be the wind," Littlecloud explained. "It sounds different up here because it's echoed by the rock," Barkface added. Their matter-of-fact tone answered Jaypaw's question. These cats heard only the wind. The voices spoke to him alone. Jaypaw thought again of the prophecy he had heard in Firestar's dream: There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws. His pelt prickled with excitement. This must be part of his power, the ability to hear things no other cat could. Willowpaw shifted her weight from one paw to another. "Where shall we lie? The water has covered our usual places." Jaypaw heard Mothwing's tail swish the air. "The rocks are flat over there."

今晚所有人都有位置，一阵微风轻语着吹进松鸦爪的耳朵。 这些声音是来欢迎他的。 他不知道这些声音是不是也欢迎其他猫。 “你听到了吗？”他漫不经心地问道。 叶池的目光烧得他耳朵发烫。 “听到什么？” “那是风呀，”小云解释道。 “这里因为岩石有回声，听起来不一样，”獾面补充道。 他们理所当然的语气回答了松鸦爪的问题。 这些猫只听到了风声。 这些声音只说给松鸦爪一个人听。 松鸦爪又想起他在火星梦里听到的预言：将有三只猫，你血亲的血亲，掌握着群星的力量。 他激动得浑身皮毛一阵发麻。 这一定就是他力量的一部分，能听见其他猫听不到的东西的能力。 柳爪把重心从一只爪子换到另一只爪子上。 “我们该躺在哪里？ 水把我们平时待的地方都淹没了。” 松鸦爪听到蛾翅的尾巴在空中扫过的声音。 “那边的岩石很平坦。”

He followed Leafpool down toward the pool. The breeze stirred his fur, and the voices whispered in his ear again. Welcome, Jaypaw. The stone beneath his paws was dimpled, worn into a pathway by countless paw steps. Water suddenly lapped his paws. They were only halfway down the slope! Tingling with surprise, he followed Leafpool around the water's far-reaching edge and settled on the rock beside her. He heard Leafpool's breath stir the pool and then deepen as she fell into dream-sleep. The other cats lay down, their fur brushing the rock, and soon the hollow echoed only with the sound of breath and wind upon water. Willowpaw was the last to settle. Jaypaw waited while she slid into sleep. Focusing on her mind, he leaned forward and touched the Moonpool with his muzzle. Instantly, he was swept away in a torrent of seething water. He struggled and flailed with his paws, his heart bursting with terror as he gasped for air. He looked up and saw a stormy sky clouding above him and all around, churning water that stretched

他跟着叶池朝水潭走去。 微风吹动他的皮毛，那些声音又在他耳边低语起来。 欢迎你，松鸦爪。 爪下的石头坑坑洼洼，无数猫爪踩踏出了一条小路。 水波忽然漫过了他的爪子。 他们才只下到斜坡一半啊！ 他带着惊讶的战栗，跟着叶池绕到水潭远岸，在她身旁的岩石上趴好。 他听见叶池的气息拂过潭面，接着她坠入梦境，呼吸慢慢沉了下去。 其他猫也纷纷卧下，皮毛蹭过岩石，很快山坳里就只剩呼吸声和风吹水面的声音在回响。 柳爪是最后一个卧下的。 松鸦爪等着她慢慢陷入沉睡。 他凝聚精神探向柳爪的意识，探身用鼻尖碰了碰月池。 一瞬间，他就被奔腾汹涌的激流卷走了。 他拼命挣扎、爪子乱挥，满心恐惧，大口大口喘着气想要吸到空气。 他抬头望去，头顶和四周都是乌云密布的暴风雨天空，翻涌的水流一直延伸

to endless horizons. Then he saw Willowpaw's head bobbing above the waves. She was swimming, her eyes filled with determination, her jaws clutching a mouthful of herbs as her paws churned. Jaypaw clutched at the water, struggling to keep his head above the surface. The water sucked at his hind paws, dragging him down. Water filled his mouth and nose. Splashing, coughing, he tried to claw his way back into the safety of consciousness. He opened his eyes. He was lying on damp grass. Trees leaned over him, their leaves blocking out the sun, and ferns crowded around him. Jaypaw struggled to his paws and looked around. Was this Willowpaw's dream or his own? "You must hurry!" A husky mew hissed beyond the ferns. Jaypaw stretched warily onto his hind legs and peered over the ferns. A brown tom, stiff with age, was nudging Willowpaw forward. "You must leave," he meowed. "What about my herbs?" Willowpaw dug her claws into the grass. "You know I can't leave them behind, Mudfur." "Take what you can, find the rest when you

到无尽的天边。 接着他看见柳爪的头在浪尖浮浮沉沉。 她正在游泳，眼神满是坚定，爪子不停划水，嘴里叼着一大束药草。 松鸦爪在水里乱抓，拼命想让头露出水面。 水流拽着他的后爪，把他往水底拖。 水灌满了他的嘴巴和鼻子。 他一边扑腾一边咳嗽，拼命挣扎想要回到清醒的安全中。 他睁开了眼睛。 他正躺在湿漉漉的草地上。 树木弯着枝干罩着他，树叶挡住了太阳，蕨草密密围在他身边。 松鸦爪挣扎着站起身，环顾四周。 这是柳爪的梦，还是我自己的梦？ "你必须快点！" 蕨丛后传来一声沙哑的低吼。 松鸦爪警惕地踮起后爪，朝蕨丛对面张望。 一只因年老而肢体僵硬的棕色公猫，正推着柳爪往前走。 "你必须离开。"他说道。 "我的药草怎么办？" 柳爪把爪子抠进草地里。 "你知道我不能把它们丢下，泥毛。" "能拿多少拿多少，剩下的等你