Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 Lionblaze led Foxpaw and Icepaw into the forest to collect brambles. He felt numb; the terrible scene kept repeating itself endlessly behind his eyes. Was there anything I could have done? If I'd been quicker... maybe if I'd leaped for the snake I could have killed it first. Both the apprentices were still trembling with fear, spooking at every leaf rustle, as if they thought that a snake might be hiding in every hollow. And for all I know, they're right... "I can't believe we've got Sol and a snake in the camp," Icepaw mewed, jumping aside with her fur bristling as an oak leaf drifted to the ground beside her. "I wonder if Sol summoned the snake to kill Honeyfern," Foxpaw added, his voice shaking. "Don't be ridiculous!" Lionblaze's voice came out louder than he'd intended; both apprentices jumped backward. "The snake was just there. It could easily have bitten Sol instead of Honeyfern."

第十八章 狮焰带着狐爪和冰爪进森林采集荆棘。 他浑身麻木，那可怕的一幕不停在他眼前重复上演。 我本来能做些什么吗？ 如果我动作再快一点…… 说不定我扑过去就能先咬死那条蛇了。 两个学徒还吓得浑身发抖，每一声叶子响都让他们受惊，好像每个树洞里都藏着蛇似的。 而且说不准，他们说不定是对的…… "真不敢相信营地里居然有日神还有蛇，"冰爪喵呜道，一片橡树叶飘落在她脚边，吓得她跳到一边，浑身毛发都竖了起来。 "我猜会不会是日神召来蛇杀了蜜蕨的，"狐爪补充道，声音抖个不停。 "别胡说八道了！" 狮焰的声音比他预想的更大，两个学徒都吓得往后一跳。 "那条蛇只是刚好在那儿。 它本来很容易咬到日神，而非蜜娜。不对，是蜜蕨。哦对：它本来很容易咬到日神，而不是蜜蕨。"

"I wish it had," Foxpaw muttered. Lionblaze didn't say anything. Hadn't there been enough death in the Clan already? He led the apprentices to a bramble thicket near the beginning of the old Thunderpath and crawled underneath to bite the long, thornless stems at the bottom. The two apprentices hesitated at the edge of the stone, blinking nervously. "Come on!" Lionblaze urged them. "What's the matter?" "Are there any snakes in there?" Icepaw whimpered. "If there are, I'm dead," Lionblaze replied irritably. "Okay," he added with a sigh. "I'll bite through the stems, and you drag the tendrils out." For a while they worked steadily, and the pile of bramble tendrils began to grow. Then Foxpaw stopped with the end of a stem in his mouth. "What's wrong?" Lionblaze asked. "I need you to get that out of the way so I can reach the next one." Foxpaw dropped the tendril. "I can smell WindClan!"

"真希望咬的是他，"狐爪小声嘟囔。 狮焰什么都没说。 族群里死的猫还不够多吗？ 他带着学徒来到旧雷鬼路起点附近的荆棘丛，爬进去咬断底部不带刺的长茎。 两个学徒在边缘犹豫，紧张地眨着眼睛。 "快过来！" 狮焰催促他们。 "怎么了？" "这里面有蛇吗？" 冰爪小声哭着问。 "就算有，死的也是我，"狮焰不耐烦地回答。 "好吧，"他叹着气补充道。 "我来咬断茎干，你们把枝条拖出去。" 他们稳稳干了一阵，堆起来的荆棘枝越堆越高。 接着狐爪叼着茎干的一端停了下来。 "怎么了？" 狮焰问道。 "我需要你把这个挪开，我才能够到下一根。" 狐爪放下了荆棘枝。 "我闻到风族的气味了！"

Icepaw let go the stem she was dragging to the pile and tasted the air. "No, it's RiverClan!" she exclaimed. Quickly Lionblaze wriggled his way out of the thicket and took a deep breath. "You're both right," he meowed, his neck fur beginning to rise. "And there's ShadowClan scent as well." Foxpaw laid his ears flat and crouched low to the ground. "Are we being invaded again?" he shrieked. "I don't think so." Lionblaze forced himself to stay calm. "The scents aren't strong enough for lots of cats." Gesturing with his tail, he added, "Stay behind me. And don't do anything unless I tell you." The two apprentices huddled together, close to his hind paws, while Lionblaze faced the undergrowth from where the scents were approaching. A clump of bracken quivered, and Blackstar of ShadowClan stepped into the open, followed by Rowanclaw. A heartbeat later Leopardstar and Reedwhisker appeared, and hard on their paws came Onestar and Tornear. All three leaders! Lionblaze stared at them, his

冰爪松开自己正往堆上拖的茎干，嗅了嗅空气中的气味。 "不对，是河族！" 她大声叫道。 狮焰赶紧钻出荆棘丛，深深吸了一口气。 "你们俩说的都对，"他说道，颈后的毛发慢慢竖了起来。 "还有影族的气味也在这儿。" 狐爪放平耳朵，伏低身子贴紧地面。 "我们又要被入侵了吗？" 他尖声问道。 "我不这么认为。" 狮焰强迫自己冷静下来。 "气味不够浓，说明来的猫不多。" 他摆了摆尾巴，补充道："待在我身后。 没有我的吩咐，什么都不许做。" 两个学徒挤在一起，挨在狮焰的后脚边，狮焰面向飘来气味的灌木丛。 一丛蕨类晃动起来，影族的黑星走到空地上，身后跟着罗万爪。 片刻之后，豹星和芦苇须走了出来，紧跟在他们身后的是一星和托尼尔。 居然是三位族长！ 狮焰盯着他们，他的

heart racing. What kind of patrol is this? "Greetings, Lionblaze." Blackstar dipped his head. "We need to speak with Firestar." "O-okay," Lionblaze meowed. "Follow me. Foxpaw, Icepaw, bring back the brambles, please." Leaving the apprentices to their task, he led the visitors back to the stone hollow and through the thorn tunnel. The clearing was quieter than when he had left. Honeyfern's body still lay in the shade. Her family crouched around it, keeping vigil alone until nightfall. Sol had disappeared; Thornclaw was back on guard duty outside his nest. The queens and kits had retreated into the nursery. Firestar was standing in the middle of the clearing, talking to Graystripe and Brambleclaw. All three cats looked up in surprise as Lionblaze emerged with his unusual patrol following. "Greetings," Firestar mewed, dipping his head courteously to the other Clan leaders. His tone was wary, and his neck fur had begun to bristle. "What can I do for you?" Blackstar didn't bother to return his greeting. "Is Sol here?" he demanded.

心脏狂跳不止。 这到底是一支什么样的巡逻队？ "你好，狮焰。" 黑星点了点头。 "我们要找火星谈谈。" "好、好的，"狮焰说道。 "跟我来。 狐爪，冰爪，麻烦你们把荆棘带回去。" 把活留给两个学徒后，他领着访客走回石谷，穿过了荆棘隧道。 营地比他离开的时候安静多了。 蜜蕨的遗体仍然躺在树荫下。 她的家人围蹲在她身边，独自为她守夜直到夜幕降临。 日神已经不见了，刺爪回到他的巢穴外站岗了。 猫后和幼崽们都退回了育儿室。 火星站在空地中央，正和灰条、黑莓掌说话。 狮焰带着这支不寻常的队伍出来，三只猫都惊讶地抬起了头。 "你们好，"火星招呼道，礼貌地向其他族长点了点头。 他的语气带着警惕，颈后的毛发已经竖了起来。 "我能为你们做些什么？" 黑星懒得回他的礼。 "日神在这儿吗？" 他质问道。

"And is it true that he killed Ashfur?" Leopardstar added. Onestar bared his teeth in a snarl. "When were you going to tell us that you're keeping a murderer captive?" Firestar's ears pricked and his tail-tip twitched from side to side. Lionblaze could see shock in his green eyes. "How did you find out so quickly?" he asked. "One of my patrols saw your cats returning with Sol along the edge of the lake," Onestar replied, his voice tense with anger. "They told a RiverClan patrol, and RiverClan passed on the news to ShadowClan." Firestar's gaze flicked from one leader to the next. "Since when was this any of the other Clans" business?" he meowed icily. "Since you put our Clans in danger," Leopardstar retorted. "You know how much of a threat that cat is," Onestar added, his forepaws kneading the ground. "And yet you brought him back into our territories!" Blackstar took a pace forward. Lionblaze could

‘那他真的杀了阿什弗吗？’ 豹星补充道。 一星龇起牙，低吼一声。 ‘你瞒着我们囚禁了一个杀手，到底打算瞒到什么时候？’ 火星耳朵竖了起来，尾尖不住地左右摆动。 狮焰看出他绿色的眸子里满是震惊。 ‘你们怎么这么快就知道了？’ 他问道。 ‘我的一支巡逻队看到你们的猫带着索尔沿湖岸回来，’愤怒的一星声音紧绷地回答道。 ‘他们告诉了河族巡逻队，河族又把消息传给了影族。’ 火星的目光在两位族长之间扫过。 ‘这件事什么时候轮到其他族插手了？’他冷冷地说。 ‘从你把我们各族都置于危险之中开始！’豹星反驳道。 ‘你明明知道那家伙有多危险，’一星一边说，一边用前爪刨着地面。 ‘可你居然还把他带回我们的领地！’ 黑星向前跨出一步。 狮焰能够

hardly believe that he would attack Firestar in the ThunderClan camp, but he braced his muscles ready to defend his leader if any of the other cats so much as raised a paw. "Have you forgotten what Sol tried to do to ShadowClan?" Blackstar hissed. "He tried to force us to stop believing in StarClan!" And I'm a mouse! Lionblaze thought cynically. A look flashed between Graystripe and Brambleclaw, telling Lionblaze that the senior warriors shared his thought. Blackstar wasn't prepared to admit any responsibility, though at the time he had been only too willing to listen to Sol. "What are you going to do with him?" Leopardstar demanded. Firestar hesitated. He was looking increasingly harried, but he kept his claws sheathed. "I haven't decided," he admitted. "We're still trying to find out exactly what happened." Onestar's nostrils flared and he narrowed his eyes. "Sol is too dangerous to keep anywhere near the lake. You should send him away now." "You should have left him where he was,"

几乎不敢相信他居然敢在雷族营地对火星动手，但他还是绷紧肌肉，随时准备只要其他族猫敢动一下爪子，就保护自己的族长。 ‘你忘了索尔对影族做过什么了吗？’ 黑星嘶声说道。 ‘他居然逼我们不再信仰星族！’ 我可真是只笨老鼠！ 狮焰嘲讽地心想。 灰条和黑莓掌对视一眼，狮焰看出这两位资深武士和他想法一样。 黑星根本不打算承认自己有任何责任，当初他可是对索尔言听计从。 ‘你打算怎么处置索尔？’ 豹星质问道。 火星犹豫了。 他看上去越来越焦虑，却依旧没有亮出爪子。 ‘我还没做决定，’他坦白道。 ‘我们还在调查整件事的来龙去脉。’ 一星鼻孔张大，眯起了眼睛。 ‘索尔太危险了，不能留他在湖区附近， 你现在就该把他赶走。’ ‘你本该把他留在原来的地方，’