Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 Hollypaw slid out her claws, muscles tensed to spring into battle. If she hadn't yowled like that, they might have been able to sneak past the trespassers. At least there were only four strange cats confronting them. If it came to a fight, there was no way the newcomers would win. They might have had an easy time with the Tribe, but they would soon find out what it was like to mess with trained Clan warriors! The cat who had spoken was a large tom; dark stripes rippled on his silver tabby fur and his insolent amber eyes traveled lazily from cat to cat. His three companions pressed up close behind him: a skinny light brown tom with large pointed ears that swiveled alertly back and forth, a dark-brown-and-white she-cat with green eyes, and a young tortoiseshell with white streaks like lightning on her face. "I've seen you before," the silver tabby taunted Talon. "What are you doing, so far away from the waterfall? I didn't think you hunted in these parts

第19章 冬青爪伸出利爪，肌肉紧绷，随时准备扑出去战斗。 要是她刚才没有那样大吼，他们说不定就能偷偷绕过这群入侵者了。 好在对面只有四只陌生猫拦着他们。 真要是打起来，这些新来的根本不可能赢。 他们对付山地部落可能轻松得手，但很快就会知道，得罪训练有素的族群武士是什么下场！ 刚才开口说话的是一只大块头公猫； 他银虎斑的皮毛布着深色条纹，傲慢的琥珀色眼睛慢悠悠扫过每一只猫。 三个同伴紧挨着他站在身后：一只瘦瘦的浅棕色公猫，长着一对不停机敏转动的大尖耳；一只绿眼睛的棕白相间母猫，还有一只年轻玳瑁猫，脸上带着闪电一样的白纹。 “我见过你，”银虎斑嘲讽鹰爪说。 “你跑到离瀑布这么远的地方做什么？ 我没想到你们会来这片区域捕猎

anymore." The skinny brown cat gave him a nudge in the shoulder. "Do you think they're scared, Stripes?" Stripes blinked slowly. "Flick, you could be right. I reckon they've realized that the prey around here belongs to us." His tongue swiped across his jaws. "That was a great rabbit I had this morning. Good and fat, more than I could eat." "You should show more respect for prey!" Crowfeather snapped. Flick spat. "Who are you to tell us what to do?" Crowfeather's lip curled to bare his teeth in a snarl. "Want to find out?" Brambleclaw touched the WindClan warrior's shoulder with his tail-tip, a warning gesture. "We're not looking for a fight," he murmured. Crowfeather cast him an angry glance but said no more, though his claws scraped the hard ground and his tail twitched. "What are you going to do with them, Stripes?" the skinny cat asked. Before the silver tabby could answer, Night took a pace forward. She was stiff-legged with

了。” 那只瘦瘦的棕猫用肩膀碰了碰他。 “你觉得他们害怕了吗，纹斑？” 纹斑慢悠悠眨了眨眼。 “弗利克，你说的说不定没错。 我看他们也清楚，这附近的猎物现在都是我们的了。” 他伸出舌头舔了舔嘴巴。 “我今天早上逮到的兔子可棒了。 又肥又大，我都吃不完。” “你对猎物放尊重点！” 鸦羽厉声喝道。 弗利克啐了一声。 “你算什么东西，也敢来教我们怎么做？” 鸦羽咧开嘴，露出牙齿嘶吼起来。 “想试试吗？” 黑莓掌用尾巴尖碰了碰这位风族武士的肩膀，这是警告的示意。 “我们不是来打架的，”他低声说。 鸦羽愤怒地扫了他一眼，没再多说，可他的爪子刮着硬地面，尾巴不停抽动。 “你打算怎么处置他们呀，纹斑？” 那只瘦瘦的猫问道。 银虎斑还没来得及回答，夜上前走了一步。 她四肢僵硬，满心

fury, her pelt bristling. "You've no right to do anything with us!" she hissed. "You've no right to come here and steal our prey." "Rights?" The brown-and-white she-cat spoke for the first time. "Who gave you the right in the first place?" "Well said, Flora," the skinny cat snickered. The brown-and-white cat's question cut across Hollypaw's fury. She had been ready to fight on behalf of the Tribe. This was their territory, watched over by their warrior ancestors! But Flora's question didn't have an answer. Maybe the Tribe cats didn't have the right to drive out the intruders. "We're not looking for trouble," Brambleclaw mewed quietly, resting his tail on Night's bristling shoulders. "We're just traveling to the waterfall. You should let us go in peace." Stripes and Flick glanced at each other, then Stripes took a pace back, gesturing up the valley with his tail. "We're not trying to stop you." Oh, no? Hollypaw thought. Their approach had been aggressive, bounding over the rocks with lashing tails and pelts fluffed out, until they

怒火，毛发都炸了起来。 “你们根本没资格对我们指手画脚！” 她嘶声吼道。 “你们没资格来这里抢我们的猎物。” “资格？” 那只棕白母猫第一次开口说话。 “这块地方凭什么一开始就是你们的？” “说得好啊，弗洛拉，”瘦猫窃笑起来。 棕白母猫的问题浇灭了冬青爪一半的怒火。 她本来已经准备好为部落而战了。 这是他们的领地，由他们的武士祖先守护着！ 可弗洛拉的问题，竟然找不到答案。 说不定部落猫本来就没有资格赶走这些入侵者。 “我们不是来找麻烦的，”黑莓掌轻声说，尾巴搭在夜炸起的肩膀上。 “我们只是赶路去瀑布， 你放我们平静过去就好。” 纹斑和弗利克对视一眼，然后纹斑退了一步，尾巴朝着山谷上方比了比。 “我们没打算拦你们。” 哦，是吗？ 冬青爪心想。 他们刚才来的时候来势汹汹，甩着尾巴毛发炸起，跳过岩石，直到他们

realized that they had encountered too many cats to fight with any hope of winning. They could pretend all they liked, but she knew they would have attacked if they had met the Tribe cats on their own. Brambleclaw dipped his head with cold politeness and led his group onward up the valley. The intruders watched them go, mockery in the eyes of the two toms. For a heartbeat Hollypaw met the gaze of the young tortoiseshell, who had waited a little way behind the others, watching but not speaking. If she had been a Clan cat, she would have been an apprentice. She might have been my friend. Breezepaw was clearly seeing nothing but enemies. As he stalked past the intruders he lashed his tail, letting out a furious spit. Instantly his father nudged his haunches, thrusting him ahead. "Are you mouse-brained? Do you want to cause a fight?" "They're asking for it," Breezepaw mumbled. Hollypaw noticed that Lionpaw still had his claws unsheathed, as if for a couple of mousetails he would have sprung at the newcomers, but he

发现遇上的猫太多，打起来根本没胜算。 他们再怎么装无所谓，冬青爪也清楚，要是只遇上部落猫，他们早就动手了。 黑莓掌冷冷地颔首示意，带着队伍继续往山谷上方走。 入侵者看着他们走开，两只公猫的眼睛里满是嘲弄。 一瞬间，冬青爪对上了那只年轻玳瑁猫的目光，她站在其他人后面一点，一直只看不说。 如果她是族群猫，现在也应该是学徒了。 她说不定还会成为我的朋友。 风爪眼里现在只有敌人。 他从入侵者身边走过时，狠狠甩着尾巴，愤怒地啐了一声。 他父亲立刻推了推他的屁股，催他往前走。 “你是不是脑子缺根弦？ 你想挑起一场架吗？” “本来就是他们找事，”风爪嘟囔道。 冬青爪注意到狮爪还露着爪子，仿佛只要再有一点点刺激，他就会扑向这些新来的，可他

didn't make his hostility as obvious as Breezepaw. All the way up the valley Hollypaw felt the eyes of the intruders boring into her back. She let out a sigh of relief when she rounded a jutting spur of rock and they were left behind. Around her she could feel the other cats beginning to relax, too. "This is dreadful!" Brook exclaimed. "Do these cats think they can tell you where you can go? Are the Tribe cats prisoners in their own cave?" "It's not quite as bad as that," Night replied. "But they thought they could order us around! Can you still get out to hunt?" Talon padded up to Brook's side. "It's true, the intruders are getting more and more confident. They come right up to the waterfall to take prey now." "They know we can't stop them," Night added bitterly. "What does Stoneteller think?" Brook asked. Talon shrugged. "He says we shouldn't challenge them, for our own safety." What good is that? Hollypaw wondered. Stoneteller is the Tribe's leader. He should do

并没有像风爪那样，把敌意表现得那么明显。 沿着山谷往上行进时，冬青爪一直感觉入侵者的目光盯在自己背上。 当她绕过一块突出的石崖，把那些猫甩在身后，才松了一口气。 她感觉到，身边其他猫也渐渐放松下来了。 “这太可怕了！” 溪儿惊呼道。 “这些猫真觉得能管你们该去哪儿吗？ 部落猫在自己的山洞里都成囚犯了吗？” “情况还没那么糟，”夜回答道。 “可他们竟然敢对我们呼来喝去！ 你们还能出门捕猎吗？” 利爪走到溪儿身旁。 “没错，入侵者越来越嚣张了。 他们现在都直接跑到瀑布这儿抢猎物了。” “他们知道我们拦不住他们，”夜苦涩地补充道。 “石言者怎么看这件事？” 溪儿问道。 利爪耸了耸肩。 “他说为了我们的安全，不该和他们对抗。” 这有什么用啊？ 冬青爪心里犯嘀咕。 石言者是部落的首领啊。 他本该做

something! Brook shook her head, dropping back a few paces so that she could brush pelts with Stormfur as they continued up the valley. The gray warrior had been silent through the encounter with the intruders. His eyes were full of sorrow; Hollypaw guessed he was remembering the battle he had led the Tribe into, and the cats who had lost their lives. Scarlet streaked the sky as the sun went down. The jutting mountain peaks cast deep shadows; in the open the rocks looked as if they were bathed with blood. Hollypaw shivered, imagining she could hear the shrieks of cats dying in battle. A ridge of broken rock blocked the entrance to the valley. Hollypaw reached the top after a hard scramble and stood looking out across a range of bare rock and plunging precipices, as far as she could see in all directions. A stiff breeze ruffled her fur, and she tried to dig her claws into the rock to keep her balance. She couldn't imagine where cats might live in this stony wilderness. Talon padded toward one end of the ridge, overlooking a shelf of flat rock. "This way," he

做点什么啊！ 溪儿摇了摇头，往后退了几步，挨着暴毛一起继续沿山谷往上走。 和入侵者碰面时，这只灰色武士一直一言不发。 他的眼睛里满是悲伤； 冬青爪猜，他想起了当初自己带领部落打的那场仗，还有那些战死的猫。 太阳落山，天空染满了猩红色的霞光。 突出的山峰投下了深深的阴影； 开阔处的岩石看起来就像浸在鲜血里一样。 冬青爪打了个寒颤，仿佛都听见了战死猫的惨叫。 一片断裂的石脊挡住了山谷的入口。 冬青爪费力爬上山脊顶端，站在那儿放眼望去，四面八方都是光秃秃的岩石和陡峭悬崖。 一阵劲风吹乱了她的毛，她赶紧把爪子抠进岩石保持平衡。 她实在想不出，猫怎么能在这片荒石地里生活。 利爪走向山脊的一端，那里下方是一块平坦的石台。 “这边走，”他