Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24 Hollypaw led the to-bes out of the cave in time to see Lionpaw and the rest of Brambleclaw's patrol disappear across the rocks. For a heartbeat she wished she could go with them. But she knew it was equally important to give the Tribe to-bes some practice in warrior fighting techniques. "Sit there and watch," Breezepaw ordered when every cat had emerged from the cave and leaped down to the open space beside the pool. "Hollypaw and I will show you how to fight." Hollypaw's pelt prickled. Even if they were acting as mentors, he didn't have to sound so bossy! "Why don't we let them show us what they know already?" she suggested. "We might be able to build on that." "Well... okay." Breezepaw gave an ungracious shrug. "Only the cave-guards learn this stuff," Pebble explained, stepping forward to face Hollypaw. "We're taught how to fight off eagles if they try to attack the prey-hunters."

第24章 冬青爪带着准学徒们走出洞穴，正好看见狮爪和黑莓掌巡逻队的其他猫消失在岩石另一边。 有那么一瞬间，她真希望自己能和他们同去。 但她清楚，教部落准学徒练习武士格斗技巧同样重要。 "坐在那儿看着，" 所有猫都走出洞穴跳到水池边的空地后，石楠爪下令道。 "我和冬青爪会给你们示范怎么格斗。" 冬青爪听得浑身发毛。 就算他们要当导师，也用不着这么颐指气使啊！ "要不先让他们展示一下已经学会的本事？" 她提议道。 "我们可以在他们的基础上教新动作。" "呃……那好吧。" 石楠爪不大情愿地耸了耸肩。 "只有护穴猫才学这种内容，" 鹅卵石上前站到冬青爪面前解释道。 "我们学的是怎么打跑想要袭击猎食猫的老鹰。"

Hollypaw sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws. "Fine. Show me what you do." Pebble crouched down, then used her powerful hind legs to thrust herself into the air. At the top of her leap she lashed out with both forepaws, then landed neatly and dropped right away into another crouch. Hollypaw was impressed; the leap was beautifully timed to fight off a flying enemy. How could she adapt it to attack one on the ground? "That was great," she meowed. "Can you all do it?" A couple of the other to-bes stepped forward. "We can. We're going to be cave-guards like Pebble." Three to-bes, including Screech and Splash, remained standing by the pool. All three of them were giving Hollypaw and Breezepaw hostile looks. "I don't see why we have to do what you tell us," Screech muttered. "You're not warriors yet." "We know more than you about fighting," Breezepaw shot back at him. Hollypaw stifled a sigh. Breezepaw was right,

冬青爪坐下，把尾巴绕在了爪子边上。 "好的。 展示一下你们会的动作吧。" 鹅卵石伏低身子，用强健的后腿一蹬跃到了半空中。 跃到最高点时，她伸出两只前爪猛挥，接着干净利落地落地，立刻又伏好了身子。 冬青爪十分佩服，这个跃击用来打飞行动物时机拿捏得恰到好处。 要怎么调整才能用来攻击地面的对手呢？ "做得太棒了，"她轻声说。 "你们大家都会这个动作吗？" 另外几个准学徒往前站了出来。 "我们会。 我们以后要当鹅卵石那样的护穴猫。" 包括嘶鸣和水花在内的三个准学徒依旧站在池边。 他们三个都满怀敌意地看着冬青爪和石楠爪。 "我不明白为什么我们要听你们指挥，"嘶鸣嘟囔道。 "你们又还不是武士。" "我们懂的格斗技巧比你们多，"石楠爪立刻回怼。 冬青爪硬生生把叹气憋了回去。 石楠爪说得没错，

but being so obnoxious about it was only going to ruffle Screech's fur. "We're doing it because Brambleclaw asked us to." "So what?" Screech turned his back rudely, then glanced over his shoulder to add, "He's not our leader. We don't have to do what he says." "Besides, we're prey-hunters." At least Splash was being more polite than her Tribemate. "We're trained to hunt." "Okay, pretend Breezepaw over there is a rabbit." "Hey!" Breezepaw protested. Before he could say any more, Splash had dropped into something similar to the hunter's crouch and gave an enormous leap to land on top of him. The WindClan apprentice threw her off and scrambled to his paws, shaking his ruffled fur. "Well done!" Hollypaw mewed. "That would be great in a battle, but you'd need to follow it up with some claw work, or sink your teeth into your opponent's throat." Splash nodded; to Hollypaw's relief she was looking interested rather than hostile. "I'd do that to the rabbit," she pointed out, "but I thought I'd

可他这么嚣张，只会惹得嘶鸣更不服气。 "我们教你们是因为黑莓掌要求我们这么做。" "那又怎么样？" 嘶鸣粗鲁地转过身，又回头瞥了一眼补充道："他不是我们的族长。 我们没必要听他的话。" "再说了，我们是猎食猫。" 至少水花比她这位部落同伴要礼貌得多。 "我们练的是捕猎。" "好吧，就当那边的石楠爪是一只兔子。" "喂！" 石楠爪抗议道。 他还没来得及多说，水花就已经伏成捕猎的蹲姿，猛地一跃跳到了他背上。 这位风族学徒把她甩下去，连忙爬起身，抖了抖蓬乱的毛发。 "做得好！" 冬青爪轻声说。 "这招在战斗里已经很棒了，但你得跟上爪击，或是咬穿对手的喉咙。" 水花点了点头，让冬青爪松口气的是，她看起来感兴趣而非充满敌意。 "我对付兔子会这么做，"她解释说，"但我觉得我还是

better not do it to him." "I'd like to see you try," Breezepaw growled. "Your leap would be good, too." Hollypaw turned back to the cave-guard group. "But instead of clawing at the top of the leap, land on your enemy's back, and then use your claws." That was quite an advanced move, and the trespassing cats might not be expecting it. "Now Breezepaw and I will show you some more basic skills," she added. They ran through some of the techniques a new apprentice would learn: dashing past an enemy to rake its side with their claws, and rolling over to claw an opponent's belly with their hind paws. "Now let's see you try," Breezepaw ordered. "In pairs, a cave-guard with a prey-hunter." "And remember, claws sheathed for practice," Hollypaw added. She and Breezepaw sat side by side to watch the to-bes. To her surprise, the prey-hunters were picking up the new techniques faster. They were more agile, and she guessed it helped that they didn't have to unlearn the moves the cave-guards already knew.

最好不对他下狠手。" "我倒要看看你敢试，"石楠爪低吼道。 "你的跃击也很不错。" 冬青爪转回身对向护穴猫们。 "不过不用在跃到最高点时挥爪，直接落到敌人背上再出爪就好。" 这是相当高阶的招式，入侵的猫很可能想不到。 "现在我和石楠爪给你们示范更多基础技巧，"她补充道。 他们演示了新学徒要学的几种技巧：冲过对手身侧挠对方肋部，翻身用后爪抓对手肚子。 "现在换你们试试，"石楠爪下令道。 "两人一组，一个护穴猫配一个猎食猫。" "记住，练习时把爪子收起来，"冬青爪补充道。 她和石楠爪并排坐着看准学徒们练习。 让她惊讶的是，猎食猫掌握新招式更快。 他们更灵活，冬青爪猜这是因为他们不需要忘掉已经学会的旧动作，学起来更轻松。

On the other side of the pool, Squirrelflight and Stormfur were training some of the older Tribe cats. Hollypaw heard one of them meow, "Why do we have to do this? We've stuck to our ways for season after season and we've been fine until now." Hollypaw felt a stab of sympathy. She could understand why the Tribe cats wanted to continue in the ways of their ancestors, and she hated forcing them to change. But they have to learn, she told herself. It's the only way they're going to survive. She comforted herself with the thought that once the borders were properly established, less blood would be spilled. The trespassers would think twice before attacking cats who knew how to defend themselves. When the practice was over, she let Breezepaw take the prey-hunters to learn one or two more advanced moves, while she worked with the cave-guards, trying to adapt some of their own techniques. Sunhigh came and went. Hollypaw's belly was rumbling, but none of the to-bes suggested stopping to eat, and she guessed that they only

水池对岸，松鼠飞和暴毛正在训练几只年长的部落猫。 冬青爪听见其中一只猫喵道：“我们为什么要做这个呀？ 我们的生活方式传了一季又一季，直到现在都过得好好的。” 冬青爪心里涌起一阵同情。 她能理解部落猫为什么想延续祖先的生活方式，也不想强迫他们改变。 可他们必须学习，她暗暗告诉自己。 这是他们能活下去的唯一办法。 她安慰自己，等边界正式划定之后，就不会流那么多血了。 入侵者在进攻这些会自卫的猫之前，肯定会再三掂量的。 训练结束后，她让荆棘爪带着猎手去学一两招更进阶的动作，自己则留下来指导洞穴守卫，试着改进他们原本的技巧。 日高时分悄悄过去了。 冬青爪的肚子饿得咕咕叫，可没有一个准成员提议停下来吃东西，她猜他们只

had one meal a day. For a couple of heartbeats she longed to be back in ThunderClan, where she could take a piece of fresh-kill from the pile any time she liked, provided she had done all her apprentice duties. Finally she signaled the to-bes to rest by the side of the pool. "That was great," she mewed. "I'm surprised Stoneteller hasn't been out to watch you. I think he'd be proud to see how much you've learned." "Stoneteller hardly ever leaves the cave," Pebble told her. Hollypaw's eyes stretched wide in shock. "Really?" "He only comes out for ceremonies at the top of the waterfall, like when a to-be becomes a full Tribe cat," Splash meowed. "And sometimes for emergencies," Pebble added. "I suppose that's different in the Clans, too," Screech sneered. Eventually he'd started to work at the training, but Hollypaw could tell he didn't like it. "Yes, a Clan leader hunts and patrols with his

吃一顿饭。 有那么一小会儿，她特别想回到雷族，在那里只要做完学徒任务，她随时都能从食物堆里拿一块新鲜猎物吃。 最后，她示意准成员们到水池边休息。 “刚才做得非常棒，”她喵道。 “我很惊讶尖石没出来看你们。 我觉得他看到你们进步这么大，肯定会骄傲的。” “尖石几乎从不离开洞穴，”卵石对她说。 冬青爪惊讶地瞪大了眼睛。 “真的吗？” “他只有在瀑布顶端举行仪式的时候才出来，比如准成员成为正式部落猫的时候，”水花喵道。 “有时候遇到紧急情况他也会出来，”卵石补充道。 “我猜这在族群里也不一样吧，”嘶叫嗤笑道。 虽然他最后还是参加训练了，可冬青爪看得出来他根本不喜欢这个。 是啊，族群领袖会和自己的