Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27 Lionblaze dug his claws into the bank of the stream, only just managing to suppress a wail of dismay. Yet he couldn't feel any sense of grief for his dead Clanmate. Ashfur had been about to reveal something that would have destroyed them all; now those terrible words would never be spoken. Exchanging a glance with Hollyleaf, he could see that his sister felt the same. He hoped no other cat would ever know how relieved they felt at Ashfur's death. "Get him out," Firestar ordered. Dustpelt slid into the stream, with water washing around his belly fur. He gripped Ashfur's shoulder in his teeth and started tugging. "Be careful," Ferncloud mewed anxiously. Graystripe leaped into the water on Ashfur's other side, and together the two warriors freed him from the rock and hauled his body up the bank. Leafpool crouched beside him, one paw on his chest as she gave him a rapid sniff. Jayfeather stood beside her, his whiskers quivering. Leafpool

第27章 狮焰把爪子抠进溪岸，好不容易才压下一声沮丧的哀嚎。 可他对死去的族亲生不出半分悲伤。 蜡毛刚才差点说出会毁了他们所有人的秘密； 如今那些可怕的话永远都不会说出口了。 他和冬青叶交换了一个眼神，看得出来妹妹和他想法一样。 他希望别的猫永远都不会知道，蜡毛死了他们有多松了口气。 “把他拉出来。”火星下令。 尘毛滑进溪里，河水漫过了他的肚皮毛。 他用牙咬住蜡毛的肩膀，开始用力往外拽。 “小心点。”蕨云焦急地轻唤。 灰条跳到水里站在蜡毛身侧，两个武士合力把他从岩石边拉出来，拖到了岸上。 叶池蹲在他旁边，一只爪子搭在他胸口，快速嗅了一下。 松鸦羽站在她身旁，胡须轻轻颤动着。 叶池

looked up. "He's dead." "How did he die?" Cinderheart asked, her blue eyes wide. "Did he fall in and drown?" "I fell into the stream by ShadowClan," Squirrelflight reminded them; Lionblaze wondered if she too shared his relief. "It's easily done, when the water's running as high as this." Cloudtail let out a snort. "Ashfur was a strong warrior. He wouldn't drown like a kit. If we want to know how he died, we should be looking at WindClan." Firestar bent his head to sniff Ashfur's sodden body. "There's no WindClan scent." "The water would wash it off," Cloudtail pointed out. "We'll talk about this later." Firestar glanced around swiftly. "Dustpelt, Graystripe, can you take Ashfur's body back to camp? The rest of us must go on, or the other Clans will know something is wrong." "I'll go, too," Lionblaze volunteered. "Ashfur was my mentor." Firestar nodded. "Good. You others, follow me."

抬起了头。 “他已经死了。” “他是怎么死的？” 炭心问，湛蓝的眼睛瞪得圆圆的。 “他是掉进去淹死的吗？” “我是在影族领地旁的溪流里发现他的，”松鼠飞提醒大家； 狮焰不知道松鼠飞是不是和他一样，也松了口气。 “现在水位这么高，这种事很容易发生。” 云尾哼了一声。 “蜡毛是个强壮的武士。 “他才不会像幼崽那样淹死。 “要是真想知道他怎么死的，我们该去找风族算账。” 火星低下头，嗅了嗅蜡毛湿透的尸体。 “这里没有风族的气味。” “水流早就把气味冲掉了。”云尾指出。 “这件事我们晚点再谈。” 火星迅速扫了一眼四周。 “尘毛、灰条，你们能把蜡毛的尸体运回营地吗？ “我们其余的猫必须继续出发，不然其他族会发现出事了。” “我也一起回去。”狮焰主动请缨。 “蜡毛曾经是我的导师。” 火星点了点头。 “好。 “你们其他人，跟我走。”

As Firestar and the rest of his warriors half waded, half swam across the stream, Lionblaze and his Clanmates picked up Ashfur's body. It hung between them, a dead weight, as they struggled back through the forest to the hollow. Thornclaw was on guard at the entrance to the camp. "What...?" His fur rose as they dragged Ashfur up to the tunnel. "What happened?" Dustpelt explained, while Lionblaze and Graystripe carried the dead warrior into the middle of the clearing. The moonlight shone silver on his drenched gray fur; Lionblaze thought he looked strangely small in death. It was hard to imagine the power he had held in his paws, the power to drag down his Clan and bring shame on Squirrelflight and the kits who had believed they were hers. Lionblaze flinched at the sound of a distraught wail behind him. Whitewing had emerged from the warriors" den, followed by Birchfall. "Did a fox get him?" she cried. Lionblaze shook his head. "We found him in the stream on the WindClan border. It looks as if

当火星带着其他武士半涉水半游泳渡过溪流时，狮焰和族友们抬起了蜡毛的尸体。 尸体吊在他们中间沉得像块石头，他们艰难地穿过森林，往山谷营地走去。 荆爪在营地入口放哨。 “这……？” 他们把蜡毛拖进隧道时，荆爪的毛都吓得竖了起来。 “出什么事了？” 尘毛解释情况的时候，狮焰和灰条把死去武士的尸体抬到了空地中央。 月光洒在他湿透的灰色皮毛上，泛着点点银光； 狮焰觉得，死了的蜡毛看起来出奇的瘦小。 很难想象他当初爪中握着怎样的力量，足以毁掉整个族群，让松鼠飞和那些一直以为她是自己母亲的幼崽蒙羞。 听到身后一声悲痛的哀嚎，狮焰猛地一颤。 白翅从武士巢穴走出来，桦落跟在她身后。 “是狐狸害死他的吗？”她哭着问。 狮焰摇了摇头。 “我们在风族边界的溪流里找到他的。 “看起来好像

he drowned." Whitewing shuddered. "That's dreadful." Birchfall pressed his muzzle against hers. "You mustn't upset yourself," he murmured. "Think of the kits." Whitewing nodded. Slowly she padded up to Ashfur's body and settled down beside it, her nose pushed into the cold, wet fur. Birchfall crouched protectively at her side, to keep vigil along with her. "He was a good mentor," he mewed sorrowfully. "I'll miss him." By now other warriors were coming out of their den, forming a ragged circle around Ashfur and questioning one another in hushed, shocked voices. "WindClan will be at the bottom of this, mark my words," Mousefur meowed as she padded up with Longtail. "On the night of a Gathering, too." Honeyfern's voice shook. "StarClan will be angry." "Firestar doesn't think any cat is to blame," Graystripe told them. "Ashfur was just very unlucky."

他是淹死的。” 白翅打了个寒颤。 “太可怕了。” 桦落把鼻子贴在她脸颊蹭了蹭。 “你别太难过了，”他轻声说。 “想想咱们的幼崽呀。” 白翅点了点头。 她慢慢走到蜡毛的尸体旁，在他身边卧下，鼻子贴在了他冰冷湿透的皮毛上。 桦落护着蹲在她身边，陪她一起守着遗体。 “他是个好导师，”他悲伤地说。 “我会想他的。” 这时其他武士都走出了巢穴，在蜡毛周围站成歪歪扭扭的一圈，压低声音互相询问着。 “这件事肯定是风族搞的鬼，记我说的，”纹脸跟着长尾走过来，说道。 “居然还选在大集会的晚上。” 蜜蕨的声音都在发抖。 “星族会发怒的。” “火星不觉得有哪只猫要为此负责，”灰条告诉他们。 “蜡毛只是运气太差了。”

Mousefur snorted with disbelief as she bent her stiff joints to crouch beside Ashfur's body. Lionblaze lifted his head to gaze up at the moon as it floated above the treetops. The clouds had cleared away; perhaps Firestar was right, and there was no need for StarClan to show their anger. Sighing, he crouched down in his turn and pushed his nose into his former mentor's fur. There was nothing to scent there but mud and water. Closing his eyes, he hoped that none of his Clanmates could sense that instead of grieving, his mind was numb with relief. Lionblaze stayed beside Ashfur until the sky began to grow pale with the first hints of dawn. Other cats came and went around him, mewing in hushed voices. At last Lionblaze heard the sound of movement in the thorn tunnel as Firestar and the rest of the Clan began to return from the Gathering. He stretched his cramped muscles and looked around to see Hollyleaf bounding toward him. Her eyes shone with a fierce light. "You wouldn't believe what happened at the

鼠毛满脸难以置信地喷了喷鼻子，弯起僵硬的关节蹲在灰毛的尸体旁 狮焰抬起头，凝望浮在树冠上方的明月 乌云已经全部散尽; 或许火星说得对，星族根本没必要展露怒火 他叹了口气，跟着蹲下身，把鼻子贴进前导师的皮毛里 那里除了泥水什么味道都没有 他闭上眼睛，希望族猫都没察觉，他非但不悲伤，还因为松了口气脑子一片空白 狮焰一直守在灰毛身边，直到天空泛白，透出黎明的第一丝微光 其他猫在他身旁来来去去，低声轻叫着 终于，狮焰听见荆棘隧道传来动静，火星和其他族猫从森林大会回来了 他舒展了僵硬抽筋的肌肉，看见冬青叶正向自己奔来 她的眼睛闪着灼灼的厉光 "你绝对想不到在那场

Gathering!" she hissed. "Firestar didn't say a single thing about Ashfur." Lionblaze's pelt prickled with surprise. "He didn't?" "Not a thing." One or two cats gave Hollyleaf a curious glance as she passed; Lionblaze touched her mouth with his tail to warn her to be quiet, and drew her a pace or two away from Ashfur's body. "He just passed on trivial bits of news about prey," Hollyleaf went on in a furious whisper. "And he thanked our warrior ancestors for watching over us. And that was all." "Well... maybe he didn't want ThunderClan to sound weak," Lionblaze suggested. "We're not weak because one cat dies!" Hollyleaf spat. Lionblaze couldn't work out why she was so angry. "Every Clan leader reports stuff like that. It's part of what Gatherings are for." "And none of the other cats noticed that something was wrong?" Hollyleaf shook her head. "Obviously Squirrelflight isn't the only cat who's good at lying."

森林大会！" 她低声吼道 "火星半个字都没提灰毛的事" 狮焰听到这话，惊讶得汗毛都竖起来了 "他真没提？" "半个字都没提" 有一两只猫经过冬青叶身边时，好奇地扫了她一眼; 狮焰用尾巴碰了碰她的嘴，提醒她小声点，把她拉到离灰毛尸体几步远的地方 "他就只说了些关于猎物的碎事儿，"冬青叶气冲冲地压低声音说 "他还感谢武士祖先庇佑我们 说完就没别的了" "唔…也许他不想让雷族看起来很软弱，"狮焰劝道 "我们才不会因为死了一只猫就变弱！" 冬青叶愤愤地啐道 狮焰想不通她为什么这么生气 "每个族长都会这么报告的 森林大会本来就是这么回事呀" "那其他猫都没发现不对劲吗？" 冬青叶摇了摇头 "很明显，不止松鼠飞一个猫擅长撒谎"