Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Lionpaw stiffened when he saw Hollypaw's eyes flash in the darkness, even though they had closed by the time he reached his nest. Hollypaw had been watching for him to slip back into the apprentices" den. "It's okay," he hissed into her ear. "I only went to make dirt." He flexed his claws. Why did he have to explain every movement to her? She rolled over without replying. He curled down into his nest, his back to Hollypaw. Outside the moon was high, the sky clear, the wind warm. He longed to sneak out of camp and meet Heatherpaw. She didn't watch him with that narrowed gaze like she was waiting to prove he was a traitor to his Clan. She knew they were just playing, not swapping Clan secrets. Lionpaw closed his eyes, anger like a hard knot in his belly, and buried himself in sleep. He began to dream. Hollypaw blinked at him. Her eyes shone from the darkness of a burrow. They were full of warmth and excitement as they had been when

第五章 狮爪看见冬青爪的眼睛在黑暗中闪了一下，不由得浑身绷紧，可等他走到自己窝边，那双眼睛已经闭上了。 冬青爪一直在等着看他溜回学徒窝。 “没事的，”他凑到她耳边低嘶。 “我只是去方便一下。” 他张开爪子绷紧了。 凭什么我一举一动都得向她解释？ 她没答话，翻了个身。 他蜷回自己窝里，背对着冬青爪。 外面月挂中天，天空澄澈，晚风暖融融的。 他满心渴望能溜出营地，去见石楠爪。 石楠爪不会眯着眼睛盯着他，好像就等着抓他把柄，证明他是族群叛徒。 她知道他们只是一起玩，不会交换族群秘密。 狮爪闭上眼睛，肚子里憋着一团怒气，很快沉沉睡去。 他做起了梦。 冬青爪朝他眨了眨眼。 她的眼睛在洞穴的黑暗里发着光。 那双眼睛里满是温暖和兴奋，就像从前

they played as kits. Lionpaw crept closer to the entrance. What was she doing in there? "Hollypaw?" "I'm going to get you," she mewed teasingly. So that was it. A game. Lionpaw crouched and crept closer. Hollypaw twitched her whiskers mischievously, her amber eyes glittering in the darkness. Lionpaw's blood turned to ice. Amber? Hollypaw's eyes were green! Lionpaw stepped backward. The eyes had lost their playful glint. They fixed him with a vicious stare. This wasn't Hollypaw. A growl sounded from the burrow. Fox! Lionpaw tried to run but his paws seemed to have turned to stone. Snarling, the creature shot out at him, teeth bared and red with blood. Lionpaw woke and leaped to his feet. Pale light filtered through the branches of the den, speckling the sleeping cats. Hollypaw's head shot up. "Are you okay?" "Just a nightmare," Lionpaw panted. Hollypaw leaned toward him. "What about?"

他们还是幼崽玩耍时那样。 狮爪悄悄往洞口挪近。 她待在这里干什么？ “冬青爪？” “我要来抓你咯，”她调皮地喵喵叫。 原来如此。 只是个游戏。 狮爪伏低身子，悄悄凑近。 冬青爪调皮地翘了翘胡须，琥珀色的眼睛在黑暗里闪闪发亮。 狮爪的血液一下子冻住了。 琥珀色？ 冬青爪的眼睛明明是绿色的！ 狮爪往后退了一步。 那双眼睛已经没了玩味的光。 它们死死盯着他，眼神凶狠无比。 这不是冬青爪。 洞穴里传出一声低吼。 狐狸！ 狮爪想要逃跑，可他的爪子好像变成了石头，动不了。 那野兽嘶吼着朝他扑来，露出沾着鲜血的尖牙。 狮爪猛地惊醒，一跃而起。 淡淡的光透过巢穴的树枝筛进来，光斑落在熟睡的猫身上。 冬青爪一下子抬起头。 “你没事吧？” “只是做了个噩梦，”狮爪喘着气说。 冬青爪朝他凑了过来。 “梦到什么了？”

"A fox," Lionpaw breathed. "There are no foxes in here." Cinderpaw padded from her nest and blinked encouragingly at him. Lionpaw bristled. Wasn't anywhere safe from this prying pair? He barged past them. "I'm going to get some food," he mewed, stalking out of the den. Brambleclaw was watching the camp from Highledge. Firestar must be on patrol, Lionpaw guessed. Jaypaw was washing himself beside the halfrock that jutted from the earth on the far side of the clearing. He paused as Lionpaw crossed the camp. "Are you okay?" Jaypaw tipped his head to one side. "I had a nightmare, that's all," Lionpaw grumbled. He padded to the fresh-kill pile, picked up a small, stiff mouse and carried it back to Jaypaw. They shared it in silence. At least Jaypaw didn't seem to want to poke his nose into everything Lionpaw had done in the last moon. "Lionpaw!" Ashfur padded out of the warriors"

“一只狐狸，”狮爪轻声说。 “咱们这儿没有狐狸呀。” 炭爪从自己窝里走出来，鼓励地冲他眨了眨眼。 狮爪浑身炸毛。 难道就没有一个地方能躲开这两个爱打听的家伙吗？ 他硬从她们身边挤了出去。 “我去拿点吃的，”他说完，大步走出了巢穴。 黑莓掌正站在高岩上望着营地。 狮爪猜，火星肯定去巡逻了。 松鸦爪正在空地另一头那块突出地面的半石旁洗漱。 狮爪穿过空地的时候，他停了下来。 “你没事吧？” 松鸦爪歪了歪头。 “我做了个噩梦，仅此而已，”狮爪嘟囔道。 他走到新鲜猎物堆旁，叼起一只小小的硬老鼠，叼回松鸦爪身边。 他们静悄悄地分吃了这只老鼠。 至少松鸦爪看起来不想打探我这一个月来做的所有事。 “狮爪！” 灰毛从武士

den. "We're training with Brackenfur and Hollypaw in the hollow this morning." Oh, great! Can't I ever get away from her? The thorn barrier trembled as an early hunting patrol raced into camp. Firestar and Sandstorm were both holding prey in their jaws. Spiderleg and Mousepaw each carried a mouse, and Whitewing gripped a plump thrush between her teeth. "Is everything all right?" Brambleclaw called down. Firestar dropped his prey on the fresh-kill pile. "All quiet and as you can see, the prey is running." Berrypaw was already at the fresh-kill pile, sniffing the thrush Whitewing had dropped. He picked it up and carried it to the nursery. "Hi, Jaypaw." Hollypaw was bounding across the clearing with Cinderpaw. "Any food left?" "You can eat later, Hollypaw!" Brackenfur was pacing up and down in front of the camp entrance. "Training first." Lionpaw gulped down the last of his mouse, feeling a twinge of satisfaction. Hollypaw had probably been gossiping about him. Serves her

巢穴走了出来。 “今天早上我们要去山谷，跟蜡毛和冬青爪一起训练。” 哦，可太棒了。 我就不能躲她一会儿吗？ 早间狩猎队冲进营地时，荆棘屏障晃了晃。 火星和沙风的嘴里都叼着猎物。 蜘蛛腿和鼠爪各叼了一只老鼠，白翅咬着一只肥嘟嘟的歌鸫。 “一切都还好吗？” 黑莓掌从高岩上喊道。 火星把猎物放在猎物堆上。 “一切平静，你也看到了，猎物很充足。” 莓爪已经站在猎物堆旁，嗅着白翅放下的歌鸫。 他叼起歌鸫，送去育婴室。 “嗨，松鸦爪。” 冬青爪蹦蹦跳跳和炭爪一起穿过空地。 “还有剩吃的吗？” “你可以待会儿再吃，冬青爪！” 蜡毛正在营地入口来回踱步。 “先训练。” 狮爪咽下最后一口老鼠，心里掠过一丝快意。 冬青爪八成一直在说他的闲话。 她活该

right if it means she goes hungry. He got to his paws and hurried toward Brackenfur. Ashfur bounded across the clearing to join them. "I'm starving!" Hollypaw complained, catching up. "We'll hunt after battle training," Brackenfur promised. The golden warrior darted through the tunnel. Lionpaw fell in beside Ashfur, leaving Hollypaw to hurry after them. They padded to the training hollow in silence. Sun was slanting through the bright green leaves, and the air trembled with birdsong. Lionpaw saw Hollypaw lick her lips. Ashfur sat down in the center of the hollow, his tail whisking over the mossy ground. "Today, we're going to be thinking about how other Clans fight—their strengths and weaknesses, and the best way to exploit them." "So, what strengths do the other Clans have?" Brackenfur prompted. "RiverClan can swim," Hollypaw mewed, "which means they can approach from water." "WindClan is well camouflaged and small, so they are hardest to detect," Lionpaw offered.

就算要让她挨饿，她也觉得无所谓。 他站起身，快步朝蕨毛赶去。 灰毛蹦过空地，加入了他们。 "我饿死啦！" 冬青爪一边抱怨，一边追了上来。 "战斗训练结束我们就去捕猎，"蕨毛保证道。 那只金棕色武士飞快冲进了隧道。 狮爪挨着灰毛走，留下冬青爪在后面匆匆追赶。 他们静悄悄地快步走到训练谷。 阳光斜斜穿过翠绿的树叶，鸟鸣声让空气都仿佛在颤动。 狮爪看见冬青爪舔了舔嘴唇。 灰毛坐在山谷中央，尾巴扫过覆着青苔的地面。 "今天，我们来聊聊其他族群的作战方式——他们的强项、弱点，还有克制他们的最佳方法。" "那么，其他族群都有什么强项呢？"蕨毛引导大家说道。 "河族会游泳，"冬青爪说道，"所以他们可以从水路攻过来。" "风族个头小还擅长伪装，所以最难被发现，"狮爪开口说道。

"Unless they're upwind," Hollypaw pointed out, "in which case their rabbity scent gives them away." Lionpaw bristled with indignation. Heatherpaw didn't smell rabbity. "What about ShadowClan?" Ashfur asked. "Well, they are just evil," Hollypaw growled, "so you never know how low they'll stoop in any attack. That makes them unpredictable." "And weaknesses?" Brackenfur pressed. "ShadowClan is weak because they think they are braver than they actually are," Hollypaw mewed. "And RiverClan is so well fed that they're slower than us." Lionpaw shifted on his paws, searching for something to say. Hollypaw was answering everything first. Ashfur glanced at him. "What about WindClan?" Lionpaw's mouth turned dry. Ashfur's gaze seemed to be boring into him. Had Hollypaw told her mentor about his meetings with Heatherpaw? Lionpaw started to panic as he realized that all three cats were staring at him, waiting for his

"除非他们在上风处，"冬青爪指出，"那样他们身上兔子的气味就会暴露自己。" 狮爪气得毛发都竖了起来，满是愤怒。 石楠爪才没有兔子味呢。 "那影族呢？" 灰毛问道。 "哼，他们就是坏透了，"冬青爪低吼道，"你永远猜不到他们进攻的时候会耍多下作的手段。 这让他们很难捉摸。" "那弱点呢？"蕨毛追问道。 "影族的弱点就是他们高估了自己的勇气，"冬青爪说道。 "还有河族吃得太饱，所以动作比我们慢。" 狮爪挪了挪爪子，琢磨着该说些什么。 所有问题都被冬青爪抢先回答了。 灰毛瞥了他一眼。 "那风族呢？" 狮爪的嘴巴变得干巴巴的。 灰毛的目光好像要把他刺穿一样。 冬青爪有没有把他和石楠爪私会的事告诉自己的导师？ 狮爪发现三只猫都盯着他，等着他的