Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 Hollyleaf shifted uneasily in the makeshift nest under the tree roots. Beside her, Lionblaze's ears and tail were twitching, as if his sleep was disturbed by dark dreams. Hollyleaf wasn't sure how he managed to sleep at all, so close to the Twolegplace. Even in the middle of the night, monsters growled, Twolegs shrieked, and dogs barked. I've never been in such a noisy place, she thought, trying to find a comfortable spot among the dead leaves. How do the kittypets stand it? Toward dawn she slipped into a fitful doze, only to be woken again as Lionblaze scrambled out of the nest. Yawning hugely, Hollyleaf followed him. The orange glow in the sky above the Twolegplace had given way to the pale light of dawn; the roofs of the Twoleg dens were black outlines against the sky. A cold breeze was blowing, and every blade of grass was edged with frost. Brambleclaw and the other Clan cats stood

第十章 冬青叶在树根下临时搭的窝里不安地挪了挪身子。 在她身旁，狮焰的耳朵和尾巴轻轻抽动着，好像噩梦搅得他睡不安稳。 冬青叶想不通，离两脚兽地盘这么近，他到底怎么睡得着。 哪怕是深更半夜，这里也有怪兽轰鸣、两脚兽叫嚷，还有狗不停吠叫。 我从来没来过这么吵的地方，她一边想，一边在枯叶里挪来挪去想找个舒服地方。 宠物猫怎么能受得了这种地方啊？ 快到黎明时她才迷迷糊糊打了个盹，刚睡着就被爬出去的狮焰惊醒了。 冬青叶打了个大大的哈欠，跟了上去。 两脚兽地盘上空的橘色霞光，已经换成了黎明的淡淡天光； 两脚兽巢穴的屋顶在天空下衬出清晰的黑色轮廓。 冷风吹过，每一片草叶都镶上了一层白霜。 黑莓掌和其他族群猫正站着

gazing across the grass to the outlying dens of the Twolegplace. "We need to go back into the Twolegplace," Brambleclaw began, "and look for that cat we met last night. He has to explain what he meant." Hazeltail's whiskers twitched nervously. "They obviously don't like strangers around here." Birchfall touched her ear with his nose. "There are enough of us here to outnumber a few jumpy kittypets!" Hollyleaf exchanged a glance with her brother. "I think we're on Sol's trail," Lionblaze murmured, clawing at the grass. "I'll bet you the fattest vole on the fresh-kill pile that he's the reason that black-and-white cat was so scared of us." Hollyleaf nodded. Curiosity gave her more confidence as she followed Brambleclaw back across the grass and into the gap between the Twoleg nests. She could see that her Clanmates felt the same, padding along with bright eyes and tails held high. We're warriors! she reminded herself. We don't have to be afraid of anything. The breeze strengthened to a bitterly cold

望着草地那头，两脚兽地盘边缘的巢穴。 “我们得回到两脚兽地盘里去，”黑莓掌开口道，“去找我们昨晚碰到的那只猫。 他得说清楚他那番话到底是什么意思。” 榛尾的胡须不安地抖了抖。 “很明显，他们这儿不喜欢陌生人来。” 桦落用鼻子碰了碰她的耳朵。 “我们这么多猫，几只胆小的宠物猫根本不是对手！” 冬青叶和哥哥交换了一个眼神。 “我觉得我们快找到日神的踪迹了，”狮焰小声说，一边扒着草地。 “我拿新鲜猎物堆里最肥的田鼠跟你打赌，那只黑白猫那么怕我们，肯定是他捣的鬼。” 冬青叶点了点头。 跟着黑莓掌穿过草地走进两脚兽巢穴的缝隙时，好奇心给了她不少勇气。 她看得出来，族猫们也和她一样，眼睛亮闪闪，尾巴高高翘着，一步步往前走。 我们是武士啊！ 她提醒自己。 我们什么都不用怕。 风越吹越大，变得刺骨寒冷

wind that swept through the world of hard, red stone as the patrol padded deeper into the Twolegplace. There was barely enough light to make out the right direction, and no sun to melt the ice that covered the puddles beside the Thunderpath. "I'm so thirsty!" Hollyleaf whimpered. "My tongue feels like a mouse's pelt." While Brambleclaw paused to taste the air, she crouched down beside one of the puddles and touched the ice with her tongue, grateful for the tingling freshness. "Come on," the Clan deputy meowed. "This way." Hollyleaf tried to jump up, only to stop with a strangled cry of dismay. Her tongue had frozen to the ice; a sharp pain shot through it as she tried to wrench herself free. "What's the matter?" Lionblaze asked. "My tongue..." Hollyleaf could hardly get the words out. "It'th thtuck!" Lionblaze snorted as he suppressed a mrrow of laughter. Birchfall stooped down until he was nose to nose with Hollyleaf; irritation swelled inside

巡逻队往两脚兽地盘深处走，冷风扫过这片布满坚硬红石的天地。 光线暗得几乎辨不清方向，也没有太阳融化雷路边水洼上结的冰。 “我好渴啊！” 冬青叶小声嘟囔着。 “我的舌头干得像老鼠皮一样。” 黑莓掌停下来闻嗅空气中的气味时，她蹲在一个水洼边，用舌头碰了碰冰面，享受这冰爽的清新。 “走吧，”这位族群副族长开口道。 “这边走。” 冬青叶试着跳起身，却惊愕地憋出一声哭喊，停在了原地。 她的舌头冻粘在冰上了；她使劲一挣，一阵剧痛窜过舌头。 “怎么了？” 狮焰问道。 “我的舌头……”冬青叶几乎说不出话来。 “粘……粘住了！” 狮焰憋住笑，哼了一声。 桦落俯下身，和冬青叶鼻尖对着鼻尖；冬青叶心头涌起一股火气

her when she saw amusement dancing in his eyes. "It'th not funny!" she mumbled as clearly as she could with her tongue plastered to the ice. "Stand back." Brackenfur's calm voice came from behind Hollyleaf. "Let me have a look." He leaned beside Birchfall, gently shouldering the younger cat out of the way. "Well, you're certainly stuck," he went on. Hollyleaf could tell that he was struggling not to laugh, too. "I suppose we could break off the ice. Then you'd have to carry it until it melts." "Hey, you've discovered a new way to fetch water for the elders!" Hazeltail put in. Her pelt itching with frustration, Hollyleaf tried again to wrench her tongue free, only getting another stab of pain for her efforts. "It hurt-th! Do thomething!" She pictured herself crouched on the hard ground with her tongue stretched out, and suddenly she felt laughter bubbling up inside her. I guess I do look pretty funny. She couldn't remember the last time she had found anything to laugh at. "Hollyleaf." Brambleclaw was at her side; his

当她看到他眼中闪着打趣的笑意时 “这一点都不好笑！” 舌头粘在冰上，她只能尽量含糊地咕哝道。 “往后退。” 蕨毛平静的声音从冬青叶身后传来。 “让我看看。” 他靠到桦落身旁，轻轻把这只年轻武士挤到一边。 “嗯，你这确实粘得挺牢的，”他接着说。 冬青叶看得出来，他也在拼命憋笑。 “我想我们可以把这块冰敲下来。 那你就得一直带着它，直到它融化。” “嘿，你都发明出给长老运水的新方法了！” 榛尾插嘴道。 冬青叶又急又恼，她再一次试着挣开舌头，只换来又一阵刺痛。 “好……好痛啊！快……快想想办法！” 她想象自己僵在硬地上伸着舌头的样子，忽然觉得笑声要从肚子里冒出来了。 我想我看起来确实挺好笑的。 她都记不清上一次有什么事能让她发笑了。 “冬青叶。” 黑莓掌走到了她身边；他的

amber eyes sparkled, but his voice was gentle as he touched his nose to her ear. "Breathe out hard. Your warm breath should melt the ice." He crouched down next to her and let out a long breath at the patch of ice where she was stuck. A trickle of warmth spread through Hollyleaf; it was good to be cared for. But the warm feeling turned to ice as Brambleclaw broke off to add, "You know, you're just like your mother. She was always getting stuck in things, too." She's not my mother! Hollyleaf let out a fierce breath and tugged at her tongue again, gasping as it came free at last. The frozen puddle was glossy with melted water where Brambleclaw had breathed on it. But she wasn't going to thank him. "Right," she meowed, straightening up. "I'm okay. Let's—" She broke off as a low growl sounded behind her. Every cat spun around. A couple of fox- lengths away, a line of dogs was standing on the other side of the Thunderpath, blocking their way. There were five of them, all different shapes, from a small, rough-coated brown-and-white one

琥珀色的眼睛闪着光，他语气轻柔，用鼻尖蹭了蹭她的耳朵 “用力呼出来。 你的热气能把冰化开。” 他在她身旁伏下身，对着卡着她舌头的那块冰长长呼了一口气 一股暖流漫过冬青叶全身，被人关心的感觉真好 可这份暖意很快冻成了冰，黑莓掌顿了顿补充道：“你知道吗，你和你妈妈一模一样 她以前也总把自己卡住。” 她才不是我妈妈！ 冬青叶猛地呼了口气，再次扯动舌头，舌头终于挣脱出来，她大口喘着气 黑莓掌呼过气的冰坑融了些水，变得水光发亮 可她才不打算谢他 “好吧，”她直起身子，喵呜说道 “我没事了 我们——”话没说完，身后传来一声低沉的咆哮 所有猫都猛地转过身 几个狐狸身长开外，雷鬼路的另一边站着一排狗，拦住了他们的去路 一共有五只狗，体型各不相同，其中最小的那只个头矮小、毛发粗糙，是棕白相间的

to a huge black-and-tan brute. Vicious hatred glared out of their eyes. Hollyleaf heard Hazeltail whisper, "Oh, no..." "Back away." Brambleclaw's voice was quiet but steady. "Don't turn and run." Fear froze Hollyleaf's paws to the ground harder than the ice had trapped her tongue. She couldn't move. It was too easy to imagine the dogs" teeth ripping into her pelt, her blood streaming out.... She staggered as Lionblaze gave her a hard nudge. "Come on!" he hissed. Suddenly Hollyleaf found she could move again. All her instincts were screeching at her to turn and flee, but she forced herself to retreat paw step by paw step; the line of dogs advanced, keeping the same distance between them and the cats. The big black-and-tan dog opened its jaws to show dripping yellow teeth. A drawn-out snarl came from its throat. Not much farther, Hollyleaf told herself. Once we're away from this Twolegplace, we can climb the trees.

一直到那只高大的棕黑大块头恶犬 它们的眼睛里迸射出凶狠的恶意 冬青叶听见榛尾小声说：“哦，不……” “往后退。” 黑莓掌的声音平静却沉稳 “别转身跑。” 恐惧把冬青叶的爪子钉在了地上，比刚才冰卡舌头时更动弹不得 她一步都动不了 她轻易就能想象出狗牙撕开她的皮毛，鲜血喷涌而出的画面…… 狮焰用力推了她一把，她不由得踉跄了一步 “快走！” 他低声吼道 突然间，冬青叶发现自己又能挪动了 本能不停叫嚣着让她转身逃跑，可她强迫自己一步一步往后退 狗群步步紧逼，始终和猫群保持着相同的距离 那只高大的棕黑狗张开大嘴，露出淌着口水的黄色尖牙 喉咙里发出一声长长的咆哮 再退不远了，冬青叶对自己说 等我们离开这片两脚兽地盘，就能爬到树上去了