Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 Lionblaze felt cool grass brushing his belly fur as he crept forward. The scent of WindClan was in his nostrils. Leaves scraped his pelt and left raindrops on his ears and whiskers, but he was concentrating too hard to flick them away. Every muscle in his body was focused on what he could see in front of him. Now! Pushing off with his powerful back legs, Lionblaze leaped. The squirrel fled, but it was too late. Lionblaze's claws sank into its shoulders and he killed it with a swift bite to the throat. As the squirrel went limp, Lionblaze's vision blurred. A lake of scarlet, sticky blood spread out across the grass and leaves of the forest floor; he could taste the stench of it. The squirrel became a gray-furred she-cat. Lionblaze found himself looking down at Heatherpaw's dead body; her blood clogged his paws. "No... oh, no," he whispered. Ever since Jaypaw had asked him to fetch the catmint from WindClan, two sunrises before, Lionblaze had felt guilty. But he couldn't do it.

第十三章 狮焰匍匐前进，冰凉的青草蹭过他肚皮上的毛。 风族的气味钻进了他的鼻孔。 树叶擦过他的皮毛，雨滴落在他的耳朵和胡须上，可他太过专注，根本没空抖掉它们。 他全身上下每一块肌肉都紧盯住眼前的目标。 就是现在！ 狮焰用有力的后腿一蹬，猛地扑了出去。 松鼠想要逃跑，可已经来不及了。 狮焰的爪子深深扎进松鼠的肩膀，他一口快速咬断喉咙，杀死了它。 松鼠的身体软下去的时候，狮焰的视线突然变得模糊。 一片猩红色的粘稠血湖在森林地面的青草和树叶间铺展开； 他甚至能闻到那刺鼻的腥臭味。 那只松鼠变成了一只灰毛母猫。 狮焰低头看到了石楠爪的尸体；她的血糊住了他的爪子。 "不……哦，不，"他轻声呢喃。 两天前，自从松鸦爪让他去风族取猫薄荷之后，狮焰就一直满心愧疚。 可他做不到。

He was too scared that his dream would come true, and he would end up killing Heatherpaw. He shuddered, staring at the dreadful vision of the dead cat he had once loved. Yet again, he wished that he could be an ordinary warrior, without the powers that terrified him more and more as they grew stronger. If only I could tell Jaypaw how I feel... But he couldn't show weakness to his brother, not when Jaypaw was depending on him to fulfill his part of the prophecy. He only knew that he couldn't risk going into WindClan territory, especially not through the tunnels. Heatherpaw had betrayed him; Lionblaze desperately wanted to believe her story that it was the kits who had given away the secret of the tunnels, but he couldn't be sure that was true. Heatherpaw was his enemy now, because he was completely committed to ThunderClan. Why should he trust a cat from another Clan? He would never forgive Heatherpaw, but he still didn't want her blood on his paws. As the vision faded, Lionblaze straightened up with his prey in his jaws. Ashfur was approaching

他太害怕自己的梦会成真，害怕自己最终会杀死石楠爪。 他浑身发抖，盯着这幅他曾经爱过的死猫的可怕幻象。 他一次次期盼自己能做一只普通的武士，不用拥有这份随着力量增长、越来越让他恐惧的能力。 要是我能告诉松鸦爪我的感受就好了…… 可他不能在弟弟面前露出软弱，松鸦爪还指望他完成预言中属于他的那部分使命。 他只清楚，他不能冒险踏进风族领地，尤其是不能走隧道。 石楠爪背叛过他； 狮焰拼命想相信她的说辞——是幼崽泄露了隧道的秘密，可他没法确定这是不是真的。 石楠爪现在是他的敌人，因为他完完全全效忠雷族。 他凭什么相信别族的猫呢？ 他永远不会原谅石楠爪，可他依旧不希望她的血沾在自己的爪子上。 幻象褪去后，狮焰直起身，嘴里叼着自己的猎物。 蜡毛正朝这边走来。

through the bracken from the stream that marked the WindClan border, carrying a couple of voles by their tails. Spiderleg followed him with a mouse. "Well done." Ashfur nodded at Lionblaze, dropping his prey nearby. "Have you seen Sorreltail? We've caught as much as we can manage." "Here." Sorreltail staggered through the undergrowth, dragging a rabbit nearly as big as she was. "Whew!" Dropping her prey, she spat out a clump of fur. "Some other cat can carry that back." As they padded back to the stone hollow, Lionblaze's worries started to creep back into his mind. So far leaf-fall had been mild and prey was running well, but there weren't enough warriors fit to hunt. When he had left the camp that morning, Brightheart was coughing, and he had spotted Honeyfern heading toward the medicine cats" den. How long before so many cats are sick that there aren't enough of us left to take care of them? The fresh-kill pile was ominously low when

从界定风族边界的小溪边的蕨丛中走来，嘴里叼着两只田鼠的尾巴。 蜘蛛腿跟在他身后，叼着一只老鼠。 "干得不错。" 蜡毛朝狮焰点点头，把自己的猎物丢在了旁边。 "你见过粟尾了吗？ 我们能捕的猎物已经捕得差不多了。" "我在这儿。" 粟尾跌跌撞撞从灌木丛中钻出来，拖着一只几乎和她一样大的兔子。 "呼！" 她丢下猎物，吐出一团兔毛。 "换别的猫把这个叼回去吧。" 当他们朝石谷营地往回走的时候，狮焰的忧虑又慢慢爬回了他的心头。 迄今为止，落叶季一直温暖温和，猎物也很充足，可身体健康能出猎的武士却不够多。 今天早上他离开营地时，亮心一直在咳嗽，他还看见蜜蕨往巫医巢穴走去。 还要过多久，才会有那么多猫生病，剩下能照顾它们的猫都不够了呢？ 新鲜猎物堆的存量已经少得吓人，当

Lionblaze dropped his prey on it. "We'll go out again right away," Ashfur announced, "but we should all eat something first, to keep our strength up." "I'm fine," Sorreltail meowed. "One of the sick cats can have mine." Ashfur padded up to her. "You will eat. What good will you be to your Clan if you get sick too?" Sorreltail stared back at him rebelliously for a heartbeat, then dropped her gaze. "Okay. You're right." But Lionblaze noticed that she chose the smallest mouse from the pile. As he gulped down a vole, he spotted Jaypaw emerging from the warriors" den. Swallowing the last mouthful, he bounded across to him. "How's Brightheart?" he asked. "I heard her coughing this morning. And Honeyfern was on her way to your den." "Like you care!" Jaypaw snapped at him. "I do!" Guilt and indignation battled inside Lionblaze. That's not why I won't go to WindClan! "They both have greencough," Jaypaw mewed

狮焰把自己的猎物丢在了猎物堆上。 "我们马上再出去一次，"蜡毛宣布道，"不过我们都得先吃点东西，保持体力。" "我没事，"粟尾喵呜说道。 "我的那份可以给生病的猫吃。" 蜡毛走到她身边。 "你必须吃。 要是你也生病了，还能为族群做什么呢？" 粟尾叛逆地瞪了他一会儿，随后垂下了目光。 "好吧。 你说得对。" 可狮焰注意到，她只选了猎物堆里最小的那只老鼠。 他大口吞下一只田鼠的时候，看见松鸦爪从武士巢穴里走出来。 他咽下最后一口，立刻蹦到了松鸦爪身边。 "亮心怎么样了？"他问道。 "我今天早上听见她咳嗽了。 而且蜜蕨还往你们的巢穴去了。" "你才不会在乎呢！" 松鸦爪厉声对他说道。 "我当然在乎！" 愧疚和愤怒在狮焰心里激烈交战。 我不去风族不是因为那个原因！ "她们俩都得了绿咳症，"松鸦爪说道

curtly. "Cloudtail, too. I've told them not to leave their nests. Now will you go and fetch the catmint?" "I can't." Lionblaze flinched from the fury in Jaypaw's eyes. He wished that he could explain to Jaypaw about his dreams; then he would understand why it was impossible for him to go to WindClan. "Why can't you send another cat instead?" he asked. "You know why!" Jaypaw spat, his fur bristling up. "You know what it's like in the tunnels." "So does Hollyleaf," Lionblaze argued. "She could go—" "Hollyleaf!" Jaypaw interrupted. "You know what she's like about the warrior code. Do you think she'd agree to trespass on another Clan's territory and steal their herbs? She'd claw our ears off if we even mentioned it. No, it has to be you. Besides, you're the best fighter we've got, and if you get caught you'll need your powers to escape." "Then why can't Leafpool ask Barkface for some catmint?"

语气生硬地说道。 “还有云尾。 我已经吩咐过，不许他们离开巢穴。 你现在能不能去把猫薄荷取回来？” “我不能去。” 狮焰被松鸦羽眼里的怒火吓得缩了一下。 他多希望能向松鸦羽解释自己做的那个梦； 这样对方就能明白，为什么他没法去风族了。 “你为什么不派别的猫去呢？” 他问道。 “你心里清楚！” 松鸦羽啐了一声，全身的毛都炸了起来。 “你知道隧道里是什么情况。” “冬青叶也知道，”狮焰反驳道。 “她可以去——”“冬青叶！” 松鸦羽打断了他。 “你知道她对武士守则是什么态度。 你觉得她会同意越境到别的族群领地偷草药吗？ 我们只要一提这事，她都能把我们的耳朵抓下来。 不行，必须得是你去。 再说了，你是我们这儿最能打的，要是被抓住了你还能靠力量逃出来。” “那为什么不让叶池找斑脸要一些猫薄荷呢？

"Stupid furball!" Jaypaw hissed. "Which cats did we just fight? Barkface might give Leafpool catmint, but Onestar would have to know, and if he found out ThunderClan is weak, he'd attack again before you could say "mouse.'" Lashing his tail, he added, "It's useless talking to you. I never thought my own brother would stand by and let his Clan die." Spinning around, he stalked toward his den. Lionblaze watched him go, then padded sadly back to the patrol by the fresh-kill pile. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight had appeared, and Graystripe bounded up to choose a piece of fresh-kill and head for the medicine cats" den. "Take some for yourself as well," Squirrelflight called after him, but Graystripe gave no sign that he'd heard her. "Okay, Ashfur," Brambleclaw meowed, "when you take your patrol out again, go along the ShadowClan border. You can combine the border patrol with some hunting. But when you get back, that's it for today. You need to rest." "Take your own advice, then." Squirrelflight gave her mate a flick on the shoulder with her

“笨毛球！” 松鸦羽嘶声骂道。 “我们刚刚才和哪个族群打了仗？ 斑脸说不定会给叶池猫薄荷，但这事一星肯定会知道，要是他发现雷族现在实力虚弱，你刚说出“老鼠”两个字，他就会再次发起进攻。” 他甩了甩尾巴，补充道：“跟你说话简直是白费功夫。 我从来没想过，我的亲哥哥会袖手旁观，眼睁睁看着族群灭亡。” 他转过身，怒气冲冲地走回自己的巢穴。 狮焰看着他离开，接着悲伤地慢慢走回猎物堆旁的巡逻队那里。 黑莓掌和松鼠飞已经来了，灰条蹦跳着选了一块新鲜猎物，往巫医巢穴走去。 “也给你自己带一块吧，”松鼠飞在他身后喊道，可灰丝半点没表现出自己听见了。 “好了，蜡毛，”黑莓掌开口道，“你下次带巡逻队出去的时候，沿着影族边界走。 你可以把边界巡逻和打猎安排在一起。 但等你回来之后，今天就收工了。 你需要休息。” 那你也得听听自己说的话。 松鼠飞拍了拍伴侣的肩膀，用她的