Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Lionblaze heard his sister screeching, but he ignored it. He knew, with every hair on his pelt, that he could fight the dogs. He could feel his blood pumping hot and fierce through his veins, and every fighting move he had ever learned was at his claw-tips. The dogs seemed to approach in slow motion. He had all the time he needed to watch the drool waving from their lips and their paws pounding over the ground. His gaze flicked from one to another. I'll take out that black-and-tan one first. When it falls, it'll trip the thin gray one, and the white one too, if I'm lucky. Then I'll go for that yapping little horror with the black paws... He was dimly aware that his Clanmates were yowling behind him, but he still didn't respond. This is my fight. I'm the only one who can save them! Lionblaze braced himself to leap, spotting the surprise in the leading dog's yellow eyes. "You

第十一章 狮焰听见妹妹的尖叫，可他没有理会。 他浑身每根毛发都笃定，自己绝对能打赢这群狗。 他能感觉到滚烫凶猛的血液在血管里奔涌，从前学过的每一招格斗技巧都浮在爪尖。 那些狗仿佛慢动作一般缓缓逼近。 他有充足的时间看清口水从它们嘴边垂落，爪子重重砸在地面上。 他的目光在一只只狗之间飞快移动。 我先干掉那只黑棕花斑的。 它一倒下，就会绊倒那只瘦瘦的灰狗，运气好的话连那只白狗也能绊倒。 然后我再对付那只叫个不停、长着黑爪子的小讨厌鬼…… 他隐约听见族猫在他身后吼叫，可他还是没有回应。 这是我的战斗。 只有我能救大家！ 狮焰摆好架势准备扑击，他看见领头狗的黄色眼睛里露出了惊讶。 “你

didn't think a cat would turn and fight!" he taunted. "Well, now's your chance to learn!" His last words were drowned by a shattering crash; he glanced behind to see that one of the silver boulders had toppled over, sending a silver disc spinning across the ground. It rolled into the pack of dogs; they swerved to avoid it, the rush of their attack halted. To Lionblaze's surprise, a dark brown tabby she-cat popped up from behind the fallen boulder, closer to the fence than the terrified Clan cats were. "Quick!" she meowed. "Help me push this one over." She reared up, resting her forepaws against the side of the next shiny boulder. Brambleclaw sprang up beside her, and together they pushed. The boulder crashed over like the other one, the silver disc on top of it spinning away. Twoleg rubbish spilled out from inside. The dogs were yelping in frustration, scrabbling at the boulders in their efforts to get around them and sink their jaws into their prey. "Come on!" the strange she-cat ordered. "It won't hold them off for long."

居然想不到猫会反过来反击！” 它嘲讽道。 “那好，现在就让你好好学学！” 它话音刚落，就被一声碎裂的巨响盖了过去； 狮焰回头一看，一块银色巨石翻倒在地，一块银色圆片顺着地面滚了出去。 圆片滚进狗群，狗连忙拐弯躲开，进攻的势头一下子停住了。 让狮焰惊讶的是，一只深棕色虎斑母猫从翻倒的巨石后钻了出来，她站的位置比受惊的族猫更靠近栅栏。 “快！” 她喵声道。 “快来帮我把这块也推倒。” 她站起身，把前爪搭在另一块闪亮巨石的侧面。 黑莓掌一下子跳到她身边，和她一起使劲推。 这块巨石像上一块那样轰然翻倒，顶上的银色圆片滚了出去。 两脚兽的垃圾从石头里面撒了出来。 狗们恼怒地汪汪叫，扒着石头努力想要绕过去，好扑上去撕咬它们的猎物。 “快走！” 陌生母猫下令道。 “这挡不了它们多久。”

She dove through a narrow gap at the bottom of the hedge that had been hidden by the silver boulders, and the patrol followed her at full pelt, racing across a wide stretch of pale gray stone. Renewed barking made Lionblaze glance over his shoulder as he fled. The small brown-and-white dog and the thin gray one had pushed their way through the gap and were bounding across the expanse of stone. "They're coming!" he gasped. "This way!" the she-cat mewed tersely. She led them down a narrow path between two high fences and halted beside a small hole with jagged edges. "Through there." Birchfall bundled through first, followed by Hazeltail and Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze squeezed through after them. He let out a yowl of alarm as he crashed hind legs over head into brittle grass. Head spinning, he staggered to his paws to see Brambleclaw already beside him and the strange she-cat scrambling through the hole. "Brackenfur?" he asked anxiously. A screech answered him as the golden brown tom hauled himself through the fence, paws

她钻过树篱底部被银色巨石挡住的窄缝，巡逻队紧跟着她全速前进，跑过一大片浅灰色石地。 又一阵狗叫声传来，狮焰逃跑时回头瞥了一眼。 那只小小的棕白狗和瘦瘦的灰狗已经挤过缝隙，正顺着石地追过来。 “它们追上来了！” 他喘着气说。 “这边走！” 母猫简短地说道。 她带着大家走进两道高栅栏之间的小路，停在一个边缘凹凸不平的小洞旁。 “从这儿钻过去。” 桦落第一个钻了过去，接着是榛尾和冬青叶，狮焰紧跟着挤了过去。 他倒栽葱摔进干枯的草里，吓得忍不住吼了一声。 他头晕眼花地站起身，看见黑莓掌已经站在他身边，陌生母猫正爬过洞来。 “蕨毛呢？”他焦急地问道。 一声尖叫回答了他，那只金棕色公猫刚把自己拽过栅栏，爪子

flailing as he tugged at his tail. "Fox dung!" he gasped, collapsing on the grass. "That flea-ridden brute bit me!" Brambleclaw gave his Clanmate's tail a quick sniff; Lionblaze could see that some of Brackenfur's fur had been stripped off, but there didn't seem to be any blood. "You'll be okay," the deputy decided. "Where now?" The she-cat's reply was drowned out by a flurry of barking. The fence creaked and bent as the dogs flung themselves against it. In the Twoleg nests around them, lights began to appear in the dark holes in the walls. Lionblaze heard a Twoleg shouting angrily, but the dogs went on barking and pounding at the fence. His belly lurched when he saw that the small brown-and-white dog had stuck its head through the gap and the wood around it was starting to splinter. The dark tabby she-cat darted forward and slashed her claws at the dog's nose. Yelping, it pulled back. "That'll teach you," she meowed with satisfaction. To the cats she added, "Quick, follow

胡乱挥舞着，使劲拽着被卡住的尾巴。 “狐粪！” 他喘着气，一头栽倒在草地上。 “那只满身跳蚤的畜生咬了我！” 黑莓掌快速闻了闻这位族伴的尾巴； 狮焰能看见蕨毛掉了一块毛，但好像没有流血。 “你不会有事的，”副族长判断说。 “现在往哪儿走？” 母猫的回答被一阵狗叫声淹没了。 狗扑在栅栏上，栅栏吱呀作响，被压得变了形。 周围的两脚兽巢穴里，墙面上黑乎乎的窗口纷纷亮起了灯。 狮焰听见一个两脚兽愤怒地吼叫，可狗还是不停地叫，一个劲撞栅栏。 看见那只棕白小狗把头挤进缝隙，周围的木头都开始裂开，狮焰的心一下子提了起来。 深棕色虎斑母猫冲上前，一爪子划在了狗的鼻子上。 狗嗷叫着缩了回去。 “这下给你个教训，”她满意地喵声道。 她对其他猫补充道：“快，跟

me!" They raced after her to the entrance of a Twoleg nest. Brambleclaw skidded to a halt. "We can't go in there!" he protested. "It's a Twoleg nest." "Fine!" the tabby snapped. "Stay out here and get eaten." She squeezed through the skinny gap at the side of the flat piece of wood blocking the opening and disappeared. Brambleclaw and the rest of the patrol exchanged confused glances; then the deputy shrugged and raised his tail, signaling his Clanmates to follow. Lionblaze paused to look back across the grass, and saw that the small dog was still scrabbling at the gap. It had managed to get its shoulders and one paw through the hole. Lionblaze felt his fur bristle and grow hot again as he braced himself to fight. He could almost taste the blood and hear the terrified yelping as his claws ripped into his enemies" pelts. Then he heard a crash and a Twoleg shouting; it sounded much closer than before. The dogs" fierce barking turned to frightened yelps; the little dog struggled backward to free itself from the hole

“是我！” 他们追着她跑到两脚兽巢穴的入口。 黑莓掌刹住脚步停了下来。 “我们不能进去！” 他抗议道。 “这可是两脚兽的巢穴。” “行吧！” 虎斑猫厉声说道。 “待在外头被吃掉吧。” 她挤过挡路木板侧边的窄缝，消失不见了。 黑莓掌和其他巡逻队员困惑地交换了眼神； 接着副族长耸耸肩，抬起尾巴示意族猫跟上。 狮焰停下来回头望向草地，看见那只小狗还在刨那个缝隙。 它已经把肩膀和一只爪子挤进洞里了。 狮焰做好战斗准备时，感觉毛发竖起，浑身又燥热起来。 他几乎都能尝到血腥味，听见爪子撕开敌人皮毛时对方恐惧的嚎叫。 接着他听到一声撞击和两脚兽的叫喊，声音比刚才近多了。 狗凶狠的吠叫变成了恐惧的哀鸣； 小狗拼命向后挣，想要从洞里挣脱出来

in the fence, then vanished. Lionblaze's fur lay flat again as the noise died away. He started to feel disappointed that he hadn't managed to try out his battle skills against the dogs, then jumped as Brackenfur nudged him. "Come on," mewed the ginger tom, angling his ears toward the entrance to the nest. "What are you waiting for?" The other cats had already gone inside. Lionblaze pushed his way through the gap, with Brackenfur close behind him. He found himself in a small, straight-sided den; his Clanmates huddled together in the middle, casting nervous glances around them. He tasted the air: There was a strong scent of cat, but only a very faint, stale trace of Twoleg. "That's unusual," he began. "Why...?" The brown tabby she-cat paid no attention to him. "This way," she mewed briskly. "Since you're here, you may as well meet the others." She led the way through an archway into a larger den. Light streamed into it from a long slit in the wall. As Lionblaze padded hesitantly forward, the smell of cats grew overpoweringly

钻进栅栏后，就消失不见了。 噪音渐渐消散后，狮焰的毛发也平复下来。 没能和狗交手试试身手，他不禁有些失望，这时蕨毛碰了碰他，吓了他一跳。 “走吧，”姜黄色公猫喵了一声，耳朵朝着巢穴入口歪了歪。 “你还在等什么？” 其他猫已经进去了。 狮焰挤过缝隙，蕨毛紧紧跟在他身后。 他发现自己待在一个四四方方的小洞穴里； 他的族猫们挤在中间，紧张地四下张望。 他嗅了嗅空气：猫的气味很重，只有非常淡的、陈旧的两脚兽气味。 “这不太对劲，”他开口说。 “为什么……？” 那只棕色虎斑母猫没理他。 “这边走，”她轻快地叫了一声。 “既然来了，不妨见见其他猫。” 她领着穿过拱门，走进一个更大的洞穴。 光线从墙上一道长长的缝隙照进来。 当狮焰犹豫着缓步向前时，猫的气味变得愈发浓烈得