Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Lionblaze and Jaypaw crouched with the two remaining apprentices in a clump of spiky grass. Dawnpaw kept wriggling and bobbing her head up to see over the top of the stems. "For StarClan's sake, keep still," Jaypaw grumbled. "And keep your head down." "The grass is sticking into me," she complained. "And I want to see if any cat is coming." Lionblaze laid his tail-tip on her shoulder. "We'll hear and scent the cats before we see them," he reminded her. "Keep still or you'll give us all away." Dawnpaw settled down, though Lionblaze could feel excitement quivering through her as she pressed close to his side. His belly churned with better-hidden anticipation. What's taking so long? The sun was slowly sinking, and Blackfoot was unlikely to come after nightfall, if he came at all. Suddenly Lionblaze heard rustling from the other side of the marsh. He pricked his ears and

第九章 狮焰和松鸦爪同剩下的两名学徒一起，蹲在一丛尖茅草中。 曙爪不停扭来扭去，还反复抬头想要看清草茎上方的情况。 “看在星族的分上，别动。”松鸦爪嘟囔道。 “还有，把头低下。” “草扎到我了。”她抱怨道。 “我还想看看有没有猫过来。” 狮焰把尾巴尖搭在了她的肩膀上。 “我们还没看见猫，就能先听到动静、闻到气味。”他提醒她。 “别动，不然你会把我们全都暴露的。” 曙爪安静了下来，但狮焰能感觉到贴在他身侧的她，兴奋得不停发抖。 他自己腹中也翻涌着藏得更深的期待。 怎么这么久？ 太阳正缓缓西沉，如果黑脚真的会来，也不可能等到入夜之后。 突然，狮焰听到沼泽另一边传来窸窸窣窣的响动。 他竖起耳朵，

opened his jaws to taste the air. ShadowClan scent! "Get to the trees," Jaypaw whispered. Lionblaze was just about to creep into position when Flamepaw hissed, "Wait! That's not Blackfoot!" Lionblaze froze. The lower branches of a bush at the edge of the marsh waved up and down; then a dark brown tom emerged, sniffing the air suspiciously. Dawnpaw's claws dug into the ground. "Toadfoot!" "Fox dung!" Jaypaw spat. Flamepaw's eyes stretched wide with dismay. "Now what do we do?" For a few heartbeats Lionblaze felt as helpless as a piece of prey under a warrior's claws. He guessed that the ShadowClan warrior was following the scent trail left by Tigerpaw and Hollyleaf. What would they do if Blackfoot turned up now? Then he gave himself a mental shake. This was no time to panic! "Flamepaw," he whispered, signaling with a twitch of his ears. "Creep around the marsh on

张开嘴分辨空气中的气味。 是影族的气味！ “躲到树林里去。”松鸦爪低声说。 狮焰刚准备悄悄挪到埋伏位置，焰爪就嘶声喊道：“等等！ 那不是黑脚！” 狮焰僵住了。 沼泽边缘一丛灌木的下部枝条晃来晃去； 接着一只深棕色公猫走了出来，狐疑地嗅着空气。 曙爪的爪子深深抠进了地里。 “蟾足！” “狐粪！” 松鸦爪啐道。 焰爪惊愕地瞪大了眼睛。 “现在我们该怎么办？” 有那么几秒钟，狮焰觉得自己像武士爪下的猎物一样无助。 他猜这只影族武士是跟着虎爪和冬青叶留下的气味踪迹来的。 如果黑脚现在出现，他们该怎么办？ 接着他在心里警醒了自己。 现在可不是慌乱的时候！ “焰爪。”他低声唤道，耳朵轻轻抽动示意。 “绕着沼泽从

that side, and make sure Toadfoot doesn't see you. I'll go this way. When I leap on him, you come and help." The apprentice gave him a tense nod and crept away, his belly flat to the ground. Lionblaze headed in the opposite direction, and took cover in a clump of bracken a couple of tail-lengths from Toadfoot. He caught a glimpse of Flamepaw's ginger pelt under a bush opposite. The ShadowClan warrior stalked forward, an aggressive light in his eyes. A low growl came from his throat. "I know you're there. Come out!" "Now!" Lionblaze yowled. He leaped out of the clump of bracken and bowled over the astonished Toadfoot. At the same moment Flamepaw hurtled across the boggy ground and flung himself on top of his Clanmate. Lionblaze pinned Toadfoot down with both forepaws on his belly. Toadfoot battered at Lionblaze with strong hindpaws. His forepaws flailed, scoring down Flamepaw's neck and shoulder, but the apprentice held on, stretching himself across

那边走，千万别让蟾足看见你。 我从这边走。 我扑上去之后，你就过来帮忙。” 这名学徒紧张地点点头，肚皮贴地悄悄爬走了。 狮焰朝相反方向走去，在离蟾足几条尾巴远的一丛蕨类中躲了起来。 他瞥见对面灌木丛下露出焰爪姜黄色的皮毛。 这只影族武士步步向前，眼睛里闪着好斗的光。 他喉咙里发出一声低沉的吼叫。 “我知道你在这儿。 出来！” “马上！” 狮焰怒喝一声。 他从蕨丛里一跃而出，撞得惊愕的蟾足摔翻在地。 与此同时，焰箭冲过泥泞的沼泽地，扑到了这只影族武士的身上。 狮焰两只前爪按在蟾足的肚子上，把他牢牢压住。 蟾足用有力的后爪猛踹狮焰。 他乱挥着前爪，抓挠过焰爪的脖子和肩膀，但这名学徒依旧牢牢按住，把身体横搭在

Toadfoot's neck and shoulders. "Get him into cover!" Lionblaze ordered. Together he and Flamepaw dragged the struggling ShadowClan warrior behind the clump of bracken. Toadfoot lashed out with his claws, landing a painful blow on Lionblaze's flank, but he couldn't free himself. His screeches of fury were cut off when Flamepaw pushed his head to the ground and kept a paw over his jaws. As soon as the thrashing and yowling stopped, Lionblaze heard the sounds of more cats approaching through the trees. Breathing heavily, he raised his head. Through the bracken fronds he could see Tigerpaw with Littlecloud pacing alongside him, and Blackfoot a tail-length or so behind. The ShadowClan leader paused and looked suspiciously around him. "I heard something," he growled. "Some cat hunting, maybe," Tigerpaw lied easily. "This way, Blackfoot. Flamepaw and Dawnpaw are waiting by the border." At the sound of his leader's voice, Toadfoot heaved himself up in another attempt to escape.

蟾足的脖子和肩膀上。 “把他拖去隐蔽的地方！” 狮焰下令道。 他和焰爪一起，把不停挣扎的影族武士拖到了蕨丛后面。 蟾足挥爪乱抓，狠狠抓伤了狮焰的侧腹，可他还是没法挣脱。 焰爪把他的头按在地上，还用爪子捂住他的嘴，他愤怒的尖叫瞬间被打断了。 折腾和叫喊刚停下，狮焰就听到更多猫穿过树林走近的声音。 他喘着粗气抬起头。 透过蕨叶，他看到虎爪走在前面，小云陪在身旁，黑脚在他们身后大约一条尾巴远的位置。 这位影族族长停下脚步，狐疑地环顾四周。 “我刚才听到动静了。”他低吼道。 “也许是哪只猫在打猎吧。”虎爪从容地撒谎道。 “这边走，黑脚。 焰爪和曙爪在边境等着呢。” 听到族长的声音，蟾足猛地一挣，又一次试图逃跑。

Lionblaze thrust him down again. "Keep quiet if you want to save your Clan!" he hissed, planting a paw on Toadfoot's neck. Toadfoot glared at him furiously, but couldn't move. While Lionblaze and Flamepaw were fighting with Toadfoot, Jaypaw and Dawnpaw had slipped back into the marsh and taken up their positions by the saplings they had loosened. Almost covered by the mud, they were hardly visible to any cat who wasn't looking for them. The thin branches were waving as though the trees could fall at any moment. Tigerpaw led Blackfoot and Littlecloud forward as if he was going to skirt the marsh at the very edge. Lionblaze caught a glimpse of Hollyleaf creeping from behind a gorse bush and plunging into the mud to help Dawnpaw. His chest heaved. Now! Now! Jaypaw raised his tail and slapped it down on the surface of the mud; then he thrust at the trunk of his tree with outstretched forepaws. Hollyleaf and Dawnpaw pushed their tree. Slowly the trunks tilted. There was a sucking

狮焰再次把他按倒在地。 “要是你还想救你的族群，就给我闭嘴！” 他嘶声喝道，一只爪子按在了蟾足的脖子上。 蟾足怒冲冲地瞪着他，却动弹不得。 狮焰和焰爪跟蟾足缠斗的时候，松鸦爪和黎明爪已经悄悄溜回沼泽，在他们提前摇松的小树苗旁就位了。 他们几乎全被泥浆盖住了，除非特意寻找，不然根本没猫能发现他们。 细枝条晃个不停，看起来这些树随时都会倒下来。 虎爪带着黑脚和小云往前走，装作要沿着沼泽最边缘走的样子。 狮焰瞥见冬青叶从金雀花灌木丛后爬出来，踩进泥浆里去帮黎明爪。 他胸口起伏不定。 动手！ 就是现在！ 松鸦爪抬起尾巴，狠狠拍在泥浆面上； 接着他伸出前爪，用力推身前那棵树的树干。 冬青叶和黎明爪也推她们的树。 树干慢慢倾斜下去。 只听见一阵湿黏的抽吸

noise and the surface of the marsh churned with brown bubbles. Blackfoot let out a yowl of alarm, but it was too late to flee. The trees crashed down, their branches locking together as they fell, the roots rising out of the mud and lashing the air like enormous tails. Peering through the bracken, Lionblaze spotted Tigerpaw scrambling through the branches and taking refuge underneath one of the trunks. He could see Blackfoot, clawing vainly at a mesh of twigs; for a moment he was worried that Littlecloud was hurt, but then he heard the medicine cat's voice. "Blackfoot? Are you okay?" "No, I feel as if my pelt's torn off," the ShadowClan leader growled. "What happened? Where's Tigerpaw?" "I can't see him. Tigerpaw!" Jaypaw hauled himself out of the mud and balanced among the roots of the nearest tree, out of sight of the trapped cats. "Tigerpaw has vanished..." he whispered, loud enough for the ShadowClan cats to hear. "What? Who's that?" Blackfoot demanded.

声响，沼泽表面翻涌着褐色的气泡。 黑脚发出一声惊恐的号叫，可已经来不及逃跑了。 几棵树轰然倒下，倒下时枝桠互相卡缠在一起，树根从泥浆里拔起，像巨尾巴一样在空中甩动。 狮焰透过蕨丛望过去，看见虎爪爬过枝桠，躲到了一根树干底下。 他能看见黑脚正徒劳地抓挠缠结的细枝网； 有一会儿他担心小云受伤了，接着就听见这位巫医的声音。 “黑脚？ 你没事吧？” “不，我感觉我的皮都被扯掉了，”影族族长怒吼道。 “出什么事了？ 虎爪在哪儿？” “我看不见他。 虎爪！” 松鸦爪从泥浆里爬出来，在最近那棵树的树根间站稳，躲在被困猫咪看不见的地方。 “虎爪消失了……”他轻声说，声音大到刚好能让影族的猫听见。 “什么？ 谁在说话？” 黑脚喝问道。