Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 Lionpaw stood beside his sister, gazing down at the lake and the familiar Clan territories. A ripple of excitement pulsed through him as he turned his back on his home and saw for the first time a wide stretch of unknown country. "What are we waiting for?" he complained to Hollypaw. "Why can't we keep going?" "Didn't you hear Brambleclaw?" his sister meowed. "He told us all to rest, and he said we could hunt if we want to eat." Lionpaw had been so focused on their journey that he hadn't noticed his father giving the order. His forepaws tore up the short grass of the ridge. "I don't want to sit around. We've hardly started." "It's the traveling herbs giving you all that energy," Hollypaw mewed practically. "The mountains won't go away." She turned with a flick of her tail and began to stalk toward a gorse bush, her ears and whiskers alert for signs of prey. Lionpaw's paws were sore from the stiff climb up the ridge, but he had never felt so alive, so

第十五章 狮爪站在姐姐身边，低头望着湖泊和熟悉的族群领地。 激动的战栗传遍全身，他转身背向家园，第一次望见了这片开阔的未知原野。 "我们还在等什么？"他向冬青爪抱怨道。 "我们为什么不继续往前走？" "你没听见黑莓掌的话吗？"姐姐开口说道。 "他让大家休息，还说想吃东西就可以去捕猎。" 狮爪满心都记着赶路，根本没注意到父亲下达了命令。 他的前爪扒乱了山脊上的短草。 "我不想闲坐着。 我们才刚出发呢。" "是行路草药给了你这么多精力，"冬青爪务实地说。 "山又不会跑掉。" 她甩了甩尾巴转身，悄悄朝荆豆丛走去，耳朵和胡须都绷紧，留意着猎物的踪迹。 狮爪的爪子因为费力爬上山脊已经酸痛，可他从来没有感觉这么鲜活、这么

eager to keep traveling. In front of him, dark forest covered the downward slope, and beyond it Lionpaw could see flat green stretches like the grass at the horseplace. It was sliced through by Thunderpaths and dotted with Twoleg nests— some of them close together, whole clusters of red stone dens. Lionpaw bounded over the short, springy grass to a rocky outcrop, the highest part of the ridge. At the top of the rocks, wind flattened his fur along his sides. He felt as powerful as a warrior of LionClan! If he stretched out a paw, he could blot out whole Twoleg nests. The biggest Thunderpath looked as thin as a strand of bramble or a twig that he could snap with his teeth. I could run farther than a hare! I could fight the fiercest fox that ever lived. Spotting the dark gray stain that hovered on the horizon, he added, I could climb the highest mountain faster than an eagle could fly. He wondered if the other cats felt like this. When he looked down at his traveling companions dozing peacefully below him, he suspected that they didn't.

渴望继续赶路。 在他面前，幽暗的森林覆盖着下坡，森林尽头，狮爪能看见平坦的绿地，和马场的草地一模一样。 绿地被雷劈路切开，散落着两脚兽的巢穴——有些挤在一起，是一整群一整群的红石巢穴。 狮爪踩着短而有弹性的青草，蹦跳着跑到山脊最高处的一块岩岬上。 站在岩石顶端，风把他身侧的皮毛都吹平贴在了身上。 他觉得自己就和狮族武士一样强大！ 只要他伸出爪子，就能盖住整群两脚兽的巢穴。 最宽的雷劈路细得就像一根荆棘枝，或是他一口就能咬断的小细棍。 我能跑得比野兔还远！ 我能打赢世上最凶猛的狐狸。 望见地平线尽头那片灰蒙蒙的山影，他补充道：我能爬上最高的山，比鹰飞得还快。 他好奇其他猫是不是也有这种感觉。 当他低头看见旅伴们在下方安安稳稳打盹，他猜它们并没有这种感觉。

Lionpaw strained his ears to pick up Tigerstar's voice in the sighing of the wind and looked for the dark tabby shape in the shadows cast by rocks and bushes. This was exactly how Tigerstar had told him he should feel, as if his enemies were no bigger than beetles. But there was no trace of the former warrior. All these turbulent feelings seemed to come from inside Lionpaw himself. "Lionpaw! We're waiting for you." His father's voice made him jump. The other cats had finished resting and were getting to their paws. "Coming!" he called. He leaped down from the outcrop and joined his littermates as the cats began to make their way into the trees. His father and mother took the lead with Tawnypelt and Crowfeather. "Remember how we felt when we first climbed up here?" Tawnypelt meowed. "I remember how sore my paws were," Squirrelflight replied with a twitch of her tail. Brambleclaw skirted a huge clump of bracken. "Tallpoppy's kit fell over here. Ferncloud picked her up and carried her. We all helped one another

狮爪竖起耳朵，想在呼呼风声里听出虎星的声音，又在岩石灌木投下的阴影里寻找那只暗纹虎的身影。 这正是虎星告诉他该有的感受，就像敌人都不过是甲虫那么大。 可这位前武士连一点踪迹都没有留下。 所有这些汹涌的情绪，似乎都是从狮爪自己心底冒出来的。 "狮爪！ 我们在等你。" 父亲的声音吓了他一跳。 其他猫都休息完毕，站起身准备出发了。 "来了！"他喊道。 他从岩岬跳下来，加入兄弟姐妹，猫咪们开始朝树林深处走去。 他的父母和褐皮、鸦羽走在最前面。 "还记得我们第一次爬上这里的时候是什么感觉吗？" 褐皮问道。 "我只记得我的爪子那时候有多疼，"松鼠飞甩了甩尾巴回答。 黑莓掌绕开了一大丛蕨菜。 "高罂粟的幼崽在这儿摔倒过， 蕨云把她抱起来带走了， 那时候我们都会互相帮助

then." "But it can't be like that anymore." Lionpaw thought Crowfeather sounded wistful, the familiar edge missing from his voice. "It's natural for Clans to be rivals." Lionpaw thought sadly about Heatherpaw; he guessed that all four of the senior warriors missed the friendships they had forged on their journeys. He was relieved that they seemed to know the way. Now that he couldn't see his home anymore he was daunted by the vast stretches of unknown territory. His pelt grew hot with embarrassment when he remembered his dreams of power on the hilltop, and he was thankful that no other cat knew what he'd been thinking. Unless Jaypaw knows. Lionpaw's pelt grew hotter still at the idea that his brother might have been eavesdropping on his thoughts. "Come on, pick up your paws," Brambleclaw called back. "I want to be out of these trees by nightfall." Lionpaw stifled a sigh. His paws were dragging already and his belly was yowling with hunger. The energy from the traveling herbs seemed to

呢。" "但是现在不可能再那样了。" 狮爪觉得鸦羽的声音带着怅惘，原本熟悉的尖锐感从他声音里消失了。 "族群本来就该是对手。" 狮爪难过地想起了石楠爪； 他猜这四位资深武士都想念当初旅程中结下的友谊。 他很欣慰它们看起来认得路。 现在他已经看不见家园了，这片广阔的未知领地让他发怵。 想起自己在山顶做的权力梦，他尴尬得皮毛发烫，庆幸没有别的猫知道他刚才的想法。 除非松鸦爪知道。 一想到哥哥可能偷听到了自己的心思，狮爪的皮毛变得更烫了。 "快点，跟上脚步，"黑莓掌回头喊道。 "我想天黑前走出这片树林。" 狮爪把叹息憋了回去。 他的爪子已经开始发沉，肚子也饿得咕咕叫了。 行路草药带来的力气好像已经

have worn off. He wished he'd taken the chance to rest and eat after all. "Here." Squirrelflight's voice was muffled; Lionpaw glanced back to see her padding up to him with a mouse hanging from her jaws. "Eat as quickly as you can," she added, dropping her prey at his paws. "Thank you!" Lionpaw touched his nose gratefully to his mother's shoulder. "I was tired of listening to your belly growling," Squirrelflight mewed, her tail curling up in amusement. "I reckon they could hear it back in ThunderClan." She ran ahead to join Brambleclaw, while Lionpaw crouched over the mouse and devoured it in a few famished bites. By the time he had finished his companions were out of sight, but he could hear their voices ahead and followed their scent trail until he caught up. Strength had flooded back into his paws. Passing the rest of the group, he bounded up to his father. "What do you know about these invading cats?" Brambleclaw was asking Talon. "How many

全都耗光了。 说到底，他真后悔没抓住机会休息吃东西。 “给你。” 松鼠飞的声音闷闷的； 狮爪回头一看，只见她叼着一只老鼠，轻步朝他走来。 “快点吃，”她补充道，把猎物放到了他爪边。 “谢谢你！” 狮爪满怀感激地用鼻子碰了碰妈妈的肩膀。 “我都听烦你肚子咕咕叫了，”松鼠飞说道，乐得尾巴卷了起来。 “我估摸着雷族老家都能听见啦。” 她跑上前去找黑莓掌，狮爪俯在老鼠旁，饿狠狠地几口就把它吃光了。 等他吃完，伙伴们已经没了踪影，但他能听见前方的说话声，顺着气味追了上去。 力气一下子涌回了他的四肢。 他超过队伍里其他猫，蹦跳着跑到爸爸跟前。 “你对这些入侵的猫知道多少？” 黑莓掌问鹰爪。 “到底有

are there?" "Too many," Talon replied. Brambleclaw twitched his ears. Lionpaw guessed that he didn't find the Tribe cat's answer much use in planning what they would do when they reached the mountains. "Well, what have you done so far?" Brambleclaw went on. "Have you worked out their ways of hunting and fighting? And what about regular patrols—" "We're not Clan cats, you know." Talon's neck fur bristled. "We need help, but that doesn't mean we want to be treated like a bunch of to-bes." "Calm down, Talon." Night touched her Tribemate's shoulder with the tip of her tail. "Brambleclaw's only trying to work out the best way of helping us." For a heartbeat Lionpaw thought that the tabby cave-guard would snap at her too, but then his fur lay flat again and he gave Brambleclaw an awkward nod as if he was trying to apologize. "We've never needed to set boundaries before," he explained. "We just chose some rocks around our cave and set guards to keep watch for

多少只？” “太多了，”鹰爪回答。 黑莓掌抖了抖耳朵。 狮爪猜，黑莓掌觉得这个部落猫的回答，对他们进山后的行动计划没什么帮助。 “那你到现在都做了些什么？” 黑莓掌接着问道。 “你们摸清楚他们捕猎和战斗的习惯了吗？ 那定期巡逻呢——”“你知道的，我们不是族群猫。” 鹰爪脖子上的毛都竖起来了。 “我们需要帮助，但这不代表我们愿意被当成一群啥都不会的新手。” “冷静点，鹰爪。” 夜用尾尖碰了碰这位部落同伴的肩膀。 “黑莓掌只是想找出帮我们的最好办法呀。” 有那么一瞬间，狮爪以为这只虎斑穴卫也要冲她发火，但很快鹰爪的毛就平了下去，他尴尬地朝黑莓掌点了点头，像是在道歉。 “我们以前从来不需要划边界，”他解释道。 “我们只是在洞穴周围挑了几块石头，安排守卫盯着