Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Jayfeather woke when a cold breeze ruffled his fur. "We need more bedding in here," he grumbled to himself as he scrambled out of his bare nest. "It's as drafty as sleeping on top of the ridge in WindClan territory!" He lifted his head to sniff the scents of early morning. There was a strong tang of herbs in the air; as Jayfeather bent his head to give his pelt a quick grooming, he located Leafpool in front of the storage cave. She was making up leaf wraps of tansy, and beside her there was a fresh mixture of juniper berries and daisy leaves to ease the pain of Mousefur's aching joints. "Should I take those for you?" Jayfeather offered, padding up behind his mentor. Leafpool jumped. "Don't creep up on me like that! You frightened me out of my fur." She carefully patted the herbs together, then added, "No, I can manage. I want you to go over to the nursery and check every cat there, and the bedding, for fleas. I spotted Briarkit scratching

第九章 一阵冷风拂过松鸦羽的皮毛，把他弄醒了 “这儿得再多加点垫料，”他一边嘟囔，一边爬出光秃秃的窝 “这漏风得就跟睡在风族领地上的山脊顶一样！” 他抬起头，嗅着清晨的气息 空气中飘着一股浓重的药草味； 松鸦羽低头快速理了理毛发，察觉到叶池就在储藏洞前方 她正在包艾菊药包，身旁放着刚调好的杜松浆果加雏菊叶混合物，用来缓解鼠毛的关节酸痛 “要我帮你拿过去吗？” 松鸦羽问完，轻步走到导师身后 叶池吓了一跳 “别那样偷偷摸摸靠近我！ 你把我吓得魂都飞了。” 她小心把药草拍拢，接着说道：“不用，我自己能行 我要你去育婴室，检查那里每只猫还有垫料，看看有没有跳蚤 我看见小荆棘在挠

yesterday." Jayfeather turned away, resentment seething beneath his skin. "Am I a medicine cat or an apprentice?" he muttered, loud enough for Leafpool to hear, but the she-cat did not respond. He called a greeting as he pushed through the brambles into the nursery, and then he started to check for fleas. "Oh, thank you, Jayfeather," Millie meowed. "I'm sure I've a couple in my pelt somewhere. It'll be such a relief to get rid of them." "You need a change of bedding," Jayfeather told her, tracking down a flea in Briarkit's neck fur and spearing it with a claw. "I'll get Foxpaw and Icepaw to deal with it." Unless Leafpool expects me to do that as well, he added grumpily to himself. "Right, you're done," he told Briarkit. "Blossomkit, I'll—" He broke off with a startled yelp as claws stabbed into his tail. Wrenching it free, he spun around and picked up the scent of Toadkit. "I pretended your tail was a mouse," the little tom told him proudly. "I caught it, too!"

，就在昨天。 松鸦羽转身走开，心底满是愤愤不平 “我到底是巫医还是学徒啊？”他嘟囔着，声音大到叶池能听见，但这只母猫没有回应 他拨开荆棘走进育婴室，打了声招呼，接着开始检查跳蚤 “哦，谢谢你呀松鸦羽，”米莉喵喵说道 “我肯定皮毛里某个地方长了几只 能除掉它们可就太舒服了。” “你得换垫料了，”松鸦羽对她说，他在小荆棘颈毛里找到一只跳蚤，一爪子戳死了它 “我会叫狐爪和冰爪来处理的” 除非叶池连这个都要我做，他闷闷不乐地在心里补充道 “好了，你检查完了，”他对小荆棘说 “小花，我来——”话没说完他突然惊叫一声，有爪子戳进了他的尾巴 他甩开尾巴，转过身，闻到了小蟾蜍的气味 “我把你的尾巴当成老鼠啦，”小公猫骄傲地对他说 “我还抓住它啦！”

Jayfeather bared his teeth. "Just keep your claws to yourself!" "There's no need for that," Daisy protested. "He was only playing." Jayfeather bit back a sharp retort and went to check Blossomkit and Bumblekit for fleas. Toadkit wriggled away from Daisy and bounced up to him, interest sparking from him as Jayfeather parted Blossomkit's pelt. "Can you eat fleas?" he mewed. "Do they taste yucky?" "Why don't you try one and find out?" Jayfeather suggested. "You be a flea and I'll eat you!" Blossomkit squeaked, pulling away from Jayfeather and leaping on top of Toadkit. Jayfeather staggered as the two wrestling kits piled into him. "Stop that!" he snarled. "Blossomkit, do you want your fleas fixed or don't you?" The little tortoiseshell kit instantly broke away from the play fight and stood quietly in front of Jayfeather again. Toadkit pushed up close to them; Jayfeather could feel the kit's breath on his ear.

松鸦羽龇起了牙齿 “把你的爪子收好了！” “用不着发这么大脾气嘛，”黛西劝阻道 “他只是在玩而已。” 松鸦羽把到嘴边的狠话咽了回去，接着去给小花和小蜂检查跳蚤 小蟾蜍从黛西身边扭开，蹦到松鸦羽身旁，松鸦羽拨开小花皮毛的时候，小蟾蜍满是好奇 “跳蚤能吃吗？” 他喵喵问道 “它们吃起来是不是很难吃？” “你怎么不抓一只尝尝，不就知道了？” 松鸦羽说道 “我来当跳蚤，你吃我呀！” 小花叫着，从松鸦羽身边挣开，扑到了小蟾蜍身上 两只扭打的幼猫撞到松鸦羽身上，他踉跄了一下 “别闹了！” 他咆哮道 “小花，你到底要不要我帮你治跳蚤？” 这只小玳瑁幼猫立刻停下打闹，安安静静站回松鸦羽面前 小蟾蜍挤到他们旁边，松鸦羽能感觉到幼猫的呼吸吹在自己耳朵上

"Do you like being a medicine cat?" Toadkit asked. "I wouldn't want to do it if you only get to look for fleas." StarClan, give me patience! "That's not all medicine cats do," Jayfeather replied through clenched teeth. "We have to know about herbs and—" "Do you think I'd be a good medicine cat?" Toadkit persisted. "I'd be good at finding herbs. I can scent out anything. Can I be a medicine cat? Can I?" "You'll be lucky to make warrior if you don't shut up," Jayfeather muttered. "Daisy!" Toadkit let out a wail as he scampered away through the bracken that covered the floor of the nursery. "Daisy, Jayfeather was mean to me!" "Honestly, Jayfeather!" Daisy's irritated voice came from the other side of the den. "I think you've got ants in your fur this morning. You should go away and come back later when you can be more pleasant." Jayfeather ignored her, and went on searching for fleas in gloomy silence. He wanted Hollyleaf

“你喜欢当巫医吗？” 小蟾蜍问道 “如果天天只是找跳蚤，我可不想做这个” 星族啊，赐我一点耐心吧！ “巫医才不是只做这个，”松鸦羽咬着牙回答 “我们还要认识药草，还要——” “你觉得我能当好巫医吗？” 小蟾蜍继续追问 “我找药草可厉害了 我什么气味都能闻出来 我能当巫医吗？ 能不能嘛？” “你再不闭嘴，能当上武士就不错了，”松鸦羽嘟囔着 “黛西！” 小蟾蜍哭叫着，跑过育婴室地上的蕨丛逃走了 “黛西，松鸦羽欺负我！” “说真的，松鸦羽！” 黛西恼怒的声音从巢穴的另一边传过来 “我看你今天是心里烦躁不耐烦，你先走吧 等你能好好说话了再过来。” 松鸦羽没理她，阴沉着脸继续找跳蚤 他想去找冬青叶

and Lionblaze to come back. They belonged together—especially now, when they had no idea where they had been born, who their parents were, or why Squirrelflight had lied to them for so long. When Jayfeather finally left the nursery, he paused for a few heartbeats, letting out a long sigh as the weak rays of the leaf-bare sun soaked into his fur. A paw step behind him and the scent of his Clan leader made him turn. "Good morning, Jayfeather," Firestar meowed. There was concern in his voice. "Are you okay? Any problems?" "I'm fine." Jayfeather dipped his head awkwardly. He didn't want to tell his leader that all his problems came from his Clanmates. After all, Firestar had never lied to him, as far as he knew. He felt a pang of regret that he didn't share his Clan leader's blood after all. His respect for the flame-colored tom had nothing to do with the prophecy, and everything to do with the way Firestar led his Clan, even losing a life to

等着狮焰回来。 他们本该在一起——尤其是现在，他们根本不知道自己出生在哪里、父母是谁，也不知道松鼠飞为什么骗了他们这么久。 当松鸦羽终于走出育婴室，他顿了片刻，长长叹了一口气，秃叶季微弱的阳光浸在他的皮毛上。 身后传来脚步声，混着族群族长的气味，他转过身去。 "早啊，松鸦羽，"火星说道。 他的声音里带着担忧。 "你没事吧？ 出什么事了吗？" "我没事。" 松鸦羽局促地低下头。 他不想告诉族长，自己所有的烦恼都来自族猫。 毕竟，在他印象里，火星从来没有骗过他。 想到自己终究和这位族长没有血缘关系，他心头一阵懊悔。 他对这只姜黄色公猫的敬重和预言无关，全都是因为火星带领族群的方式，哪怕他曾为了

greencough for their sake. "Good," Firestar murmured. Jayfeather sensed that the Clan leader didn't entirely believe him. "You know, you can always tell me if there's anything bothering you." "Yes... fine." Jayfeather felt even more uncomfortable. Firestar, you don't want to know the things I could tell you! To his relief, Firestar padded off toward the fresh-kill pile. Left alone at the edge of the hollow, Jayfeather scanned the clearing. He located Mousefur and Longtail sharing tongues outside their den, and heard the skinny brown elder complain, "Leaf-bare was never as cold as this in the old forest." Outside the apprentice den, Foxpaw and Icepaw were trying out a new fighting move; Jayfeather reminded himself to tell them about the nursery bedding. Cloudtail and Brightheart were padding toward the thorn tunnel. "I think we should try for prey near the old Twoleg nest," Cloudtail suggested. "Stupid furball!" Brightheart's voice was full of affection. "We scared off all the prey when the

救大家染上绿咳症失去了一条命。 "那就好，"火星低声说。 松鸦羽感觉到，族长并没有完全相信他的话。 "你知道的，要是有什么烦心事，随时都可以跟我说。" "嗯……我没事。" 松鸦羽觉得更不自在了。 火星，你才不会想知道我能告诉你那些事呢！ 让他松了口气的是，火星迈步朝新鲜猎物堆走去了。 独自待在山谷边缘的松鸦羽，扫视着整个营地空地。 他看到鼠毛和长尾在巢穴外互相梳理皮毛，还听见这瘦瘦的棕色长老抱怨："以前在旧森林里，秃叶季从来没有这么冷过。" 学徒巢穴外，狐爪和冰爪正在练习新的格斗招式； 松鸦羽提醒自己之后要跟他们说育婴室垫料的事。 云尾和亮心正朝着荆刺隧道走去。 "我觉得我们可以去旧两脚兽巢穴附近找找猎物，"云尾提议道。 "你这笨毛球！" 亮心的声音里满是温柔。 "上次我们把所有猎物都吓跑了，因为那时候