Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 Gray-green clouds hung low over the forest and the air felt thick and clammy. Hollyleaf's pelt prickled with the warning of an approaching storm. As she padded through the forest at the rear of Ashfur's hunting patrol, the looming storm clouds seemed to echo the uneasiness inside her. However much she tried to push her worries away, she couldn't ignore the feeling that something was wrong. Two nights before, Brambleclaw had chosen her to attend the Gathering. Blackstar had been there, but he had said nothing at all about Sol, or his decision to let ShadowClan live by the warrior code once more. Brambleclaw had taken Firestar's place with the three Clan leaders, telling them briefly that Firestar was sorry he couldn't come, but without explaining why. What else are we hiding from one another? Hollyleaf wondered. She was reminded of one secret as the patrol was passing the Twoleg nest. Lionblaze emerged from inside, along with Honeyfern and Rosekit.

第二十二章 灰绿色的乌云低低笼罩着森林，空气闷热又潮湿 冬青叶的皮毛阵阵发紧，预感到暴风雨就要来了 当她跟在灰蓟狩猎巡逻队的队尾轻步穿过森林时，压城的乌云仿佛呼应着她心底的不安 无论她怎么努力驱散忧虑，都没法摆脱“有事不对劲”的预感 两天前的夜晚，黑莓掌选了她去参加森林大会 黑星当时也在场，但他完全没提起日神，也没说他决定让影族重新遵循武士守则这件事 黑莓掌代替火星和另外两位族长议事，只简单说火星抱歉没法来，却没解释原因 我们到底还有多少事瞒着彼此？ 冬青叶不禁思索 巡逻队经过两脚兽巢穴时，她想起了另一个秘密 狮焰从巢穴里走出来，身后跟着蜜蕨和玫瑰崽

The tiny cream-colored kit bounced through the opening and hurled herself into a drift of dead leaves, squealing with excitement as they crackled around her, and batting them up into the air. "Steady," Lionblaze mewed. "You don't want to wear yourself out before you get back to camp." Rosekit sat up, a dead leaf clinging to the top of her head. "I'm fine!" she announced. "I want to catch some prey for my mother." Purring, Honeyfern nudged her out of the pile of leaves and gave the tiny kit's pelt a quick grooming. Lionblaze padded up to his sister. "More cats going home?" Hollyleaf asked. "That's right," Lionblaze replied. "There's just Millie and Briarkit left now, and Firestar. He won't leave until every cat is back in camp." "It was great that Jayfeather found that catmint," Hollyleaf remarked, her eyes narrowing as she watched her brother's reaction. "Er... yeah." Lionblaze looked uncomfortable. His behavior convinced Hollyleaf of what she

这只奶黄色的小幼崽蹦蹦跳跳冲出来，一头扎进枯叶堆，兴奋地吱吱叫，周围枯叶沙沙作响，她还挥爪把枯叶打到半空中 “慢点儿，”狮焰轻声说 “可别在回营地前就把力气耗尽啦” 玫瑰崽坐起身，一片枯叶粘在她的头顶 “我没事！” 她大声宣布 “我要给妈妈抓猎物” 蜜蕨满足地呼噜着，把玫瑰崽顶出枯叶堆，还飞快帮她理了理绒毛 狮焰走到姐姐身旁 “还有猫没回营地吗？” 冬青叶问道 “没错，”狮焰回答 “现在只剩下米莉、荆崽和火星没走了 他没看到所有猫回营地，是不会走的” “松鸦羽找到猫薄荷真是太棒了，”冬青叶说着，眯起眼观察哥哥的反应 “呃……是啊” 狮焰看起来很不自在 他的举动印证了冬青叶心中原本就

had suspected already: that there was some secret about the catmint, and both her brothers were involved in it. Why won't they tell me? We shouldn't have secrets from one another. "Everything will be fine now," Lionblaze went on quickly as if he wanted to avoid any questions. "The catmint here is starting to sprout again, so there's enough for Millie and Briarkit. They're getting stronger every day." "That's good. But what—" "Hollyleaf!" Ashfur's impatient yowl cut off her question. The gray warrior had turned back, and was waiting for her a few tail-lengths along the old Twoleg path. "I've got to go," she meowed to Lionblaze, certain that she spotted a flicker of relief in his eyes as she spoke. "See you later," he replied, and headed back to camp beside Honeyfern, with Rosekit frisking ahead of them. Hollyleaf watched them go, then padded along the path to join Ashfur. "You're going to hunt today and not

怀疑的事：猫薄荷一定有秘密，她的两个兄弟都牵扯其中 他们为什么不肯告诉我？ 我们之间不该有秘密 “现在一切都会好起来的，”狮焰连忙往下说，仿佛想避开任何问题 “这里的猫薄荷已经重新发芽，足够米莉和荆崽用了 他们一天比一天更强壮了” “那就好 可是——”“冬青叶！”灰蓟不耐烦的号叫打断了她的问题 这只灰毛武士已经折回，在旧两脚兽小路上离她几个尾巴身长的地方等她 “我得走了，”她对狮焰说，她确定自己说话时，瞥见狮焰眼里闪过一丝释然 “回头见，”狮焰回应，接着和蜜蕨一起回营地，玫瑰崽在他们前面蹦蹦跳跳 冬青叶看着他们离开，然后沿小路走去和灰蓟汇合 “你今天要去捕猎，而不是

tomorrow?" he asked scathingly as she approached. "Sorry," she muttered. "I just wanted a word with Lionblaze." Not that it did me any good, she thought, as Ashfur snorted and led the way deeper into the forest, after the rest of the patrol. She was still no closer to finding out what Lionblaze and Jayfeather were hiding from her. The air had grown heavier still by the time the patrol returned to camp. A hot breeze had sprung up, folding back the leaves that still remained on the trees. Hollyleaf's pelt was fluffed the wrong way and the scents of the prey she was carrying choked her as if she had a mouthful of crow-food. Huge, tepid raindrops began to fall as Ashfur led his patrol through the tunnel. One of them splashed onto Hollyleaf's nose when she emerged into the camp; she twitched her whiskers irritably to shake it off. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Good, Hollyleaf thought as she carried her prey to the fresh-kill pile. The air will be fresh again after a storm.

明天才打吗？”她走近时，灰蓟刻薄地问道 “对不起，”她小声嘟囔 “我就是想和狮焰说两句话” 反正也没问出什么，冬青叶心想，灰蓟哼了一声，领着她往森林深处走，跟上巡逻队的其他猫 她还是没弄清楚狮焰和松鸦羽到底在瞒她什么 等巡逻队回到营地时，空气变得更加沉重闷热 一阵热风刮了起来，把树上残留的叶子都吹得翻了面 冬青叶的皮毛乱蓬蓬的，她带的猎物的气味呛得她难受，就像嘴里塞满了腐肉 灰蓟带着巡逻队穿过隧道时，大颗温热的雨滴开始落下 她钻出隧道到营地时，一滴雨正好溅在她的鼻子上； 她烦躁地抖了抖胡须，把雨滴抖掉 远处雷声隆隆作响 这样挺好，冬青叶把猎物放到新鲜猎物堆上时心想 暴风雨过后空气就会重新变得清新了

She glanced up, only to squeeze her eyes tight shut as a jagged bolt of lightning split the sky. Thunder crashed right overhead and suddenly rain started to pound down, splattering on the earth floor of the hollow and plastering Hollyleaf's pelt to her sides within a couple of heartbeats. A wail went up from the warriors" den, and Cloudtail stuck his head out. "What's happening?" Too terrified to run for shelter, Hollyleaf flattened herself to the ground. She caught a glimpse of Spiderleg streaking through the rain to the warriors" den with Mousewhisker hard on his paws. Another bolt of lightning crackled across the sky. Hollyleaf stared in shock as a tree on the edge of the hollow burst into flames, red tongues of fire roaring upward. Even the torrents of rain couldn't quench it. Blackened leaves fell into the hollow; with a terrible groaning sound a blazing branch tore itself free and plummeted down to land with a crash a tail-length from Hollyleaf. Yowling in fright, she leaped to one side,

她抬头一望，紧接着就紧紧闭上眼睛，一道锯齿状闪电划破了天空。 雷声就在头顶炸开，大雨骤然倾盆而下，雨点砸在凹地的泥地上，没一会儿就把冬青叶的皮毛打湿贴在了身上。 武士巢穴里传出一声喊叫，云尾探出头来。 “出什么事了？” 冬青叶吓得不敢跑去躲，紧紧贴在了地面上。 她瞥见蛛足冒雨冲向武士巢穴，鼠须紧紧跟在他身后。 又一道闪电劈里啪啦划过天空。 冬青叶震惊地看到，凹地边缘的一棵树突然燃起大火，红色火舌呼啸着向上窜。 哪怕倾盆大雨都没法浇灭这火。 烧焦的叶子飘落到凹地里； 伴随着可怕的断裂声，一根燃烧的树枝脱离树干，轰然坠在离冬青叶仅一条尾巴远的地方。 她吓得尖叫一声，往旁边一跳，

cannoning into Thornclaw. "The forest is on fire!" he screeched. Yet another claw of lightning tore the sky apart. An earsplitting crack sounded above the roar of the thunder, and Hollyleaf saw a tree begin to topple, its roots ripped out of the earth as flames devoured its branches. Blazing leaves and twigs rained down into the clearing. Panic-stricken caterwauling rose around Hollyleaf. She spotted Brambleclaw racing across to the nursery, and Sandstorm splashing water with her paws over a burning branch, trying to stop the flames from reaching the warriors" den. Graystripe yowled, "Millie!" and shot into the tunnel on his way to the Twoleg nest. The moment his thick gray tail vanished, Firestar appeared at the mouth of the tunnel and raced into the center of the clearing. His flame- colored pelt was darkened by the rain and streaked with mud, but he held his head high and let out a commanding yowl. "Get out! All of you get out! You'll be trapped if you stay in here!" Cats began to emerge from their dens. They

一下子撞到了荆爪身上。 “森林着火啦！” 他尖声叫道。 又一道闪电像利爪一样撕开了天空。 一声震耳欲裂的裂响盖过了雷声，冬青叶看见一棵树开始倾倒，树根被从土里拔起，火焰已经吞掉了它的树枝。 燃烧的树叶和小枝丫像雨一样落到空地上。 冬青叶四周响起了群猫惊慌的尖叫。 她看见黑莓掌往育婴室跑去，沙风正用爪子往燃烧的树枝上拨水，想挡住火势不让它烧到武士巢穴。 灰条嚎道：“米莉！”随后冲进了通往两脚兽巢穴的地道。 他粗厚的灰尾巴刚消失，火星就出现在地道口，冲到了空地中央。 他火焰色的皮毛被雨水打暗，还沾满了泥点，可他仍旧高高昂着头，发出一声威严的号叫。 “快出去！ 你们全都快出去！ 再留在这儿会被活活困住的！” 猫们纷纷从各自的巢穴里走出来。 他们