Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Hollyleaf leaped forward with her Clanmates. As they reached the middle of the Thunderpath, she heard the roar of another monster in the distance, rapidly growing louder. Dazzling light angled across her as the huge creature seemed to leap out of nowhere. Hollyleaf ran even harder, pushing with her paws against the hard surface to drive herself faster and faster to the other side. A terrified screech split the air. When Hollyleaf gained the safety of the grass beyond, she spun around to see Hazeltail rigid with fear, crouching in the middle of the Thunderpath in the path of the monster. "No!" Hollyleaf yowled. "Hazeltail, run!" Hazeltail was too panic-stricken to move. With a snarl of fury, Brambleclaw darted back onto the Thunderpath and grabbed her by the scruff, almost under the paws of the oncoming monster. "It'll kill them both!" Birchfall wailed. The monster's blazing eyebeams raked across the two warriors as Brambleclaw dragged his

第六章 冬青叶和族伴们一齐向前跃出。 跑到雷路中央时，她听见远处传来另一台怪物的轰鸣，响声越来越大。 耀眼的灯光斜斜扫过她，那只大家伙突然凭空冲了出来。 冬青叶跑得更快了，爪子蹬着坚硬的路面，拼尽全力往对岸冲，越跑越快。 一声恐惧的尖叫划破了天空。 冬青叶踩稳对岸的草地后，立刻转身，看见榛尾吓得浑身僵住，缩在雷路中央，正好挡在怪物的路线上。 "不！" 冬青叶嘶吼道。 "榛尾，快跑！" 榛尾吓得慌了神，根本动不了。 黑莓掌怒声低吼，猛地冲回雷路，叼住榛尾后颈，此时怪物几乎都要冲到他爪边了。 "它会把他俩都撞死的！" 桦落哀号道。 怪物亮得刺眼的光柱扫过这两名武士，黑莓掌拖着他的

Clanmate across the black surface. Hazeltail's legs dangled at first, as if she were dead; then in a heartbeat she scrambled to her paws and fled. Brambleclaw dashed after her, the monster almost on top of his haunches. For a heartbeat, Hollyleaf was certain that he would be crushed under the monster's whirling paws; then it was roaring past them, and Brambleclaw was still running. Hazeltail collapsed onto the grass and Brambleclaw skidded to a halt beside her. He let out a disgusted snort. "That was an example of how not to cross a Thunderpath." "I'm sorry." Hazeltail sounded like a frightened kit. "I'm so sorry!" The rest of the cats flopped down, panting. Even Lionblaze looked ruffled. Sol must be braver than any of us realized, Hollyleaf thought as she tried to calm her breathing. He made this journey all by himself! Brackenfur padded up to Hazeltail and gave her a comforting lick. "It's okay," he murmured. "We all make mistakes." "But I could have gotten Brambleclaw killed!" Hazeltail's eyes were wide with horror. "Thank

族伴冲过黑色路面。 一开始榛尾的四肢晃垂着，像是没了气； 转眼她就爬起身拼命奔逃。 黑莓掌紧跟着她冲出来，怪物几乎都碰到他的臀部了。 那一瞬间，冬青叶笃定他会被怪物转动的巨轮碾碎； 紧接着怪物轰鸣着擦身而过，黑莓掌还在不停奔跑。 榛尾瘫倒在草地上，黑莓掌刹停在她身边。 他不满地喷了下鼻子。 "这就是过雷路的错误示范。" "对不起。" 榛尾的声音像极了吓坏的幼崽。 "我太对不起了！" 其余的猫都瘫倒下来，大口喘气。 连狮焰都显得狼狈不堪。 索利一定比我们所有人想的都勇敢，冬青叶一边平复呼吸一边想。 这段路他居然是独自走完的！ 蕨毛走到榛尾身边，温柔地舔了舔她安慰她。 "没事的，"他轻声说。 "我们都会犯错。" "可我差点害死你黑莓掌！" 榛尾瞪大了眼睛，满是惊恐。 "谢

you, Brambleclaw. You saved my life!" The fury in Brambleclaw's eyes faded, and he blinked. "Just make sure I don't have to do it again." "I promise you won't." After allowing them a few moments to rest, Brambleclaw urged the patrol members to their paws again. "We can't stay here," he meowed. "Let's head for the trees. There might be some prey there." The cats followed him as he struck out across the prickly grass. The snow had stopped, but it still lay thickly on the ground, clogging Hollyleaf's paws as she limped after her Clan deputy. My fur's so cold I think I'm turning into an ice cat, she thought, trying to shake the cold white clumps off her feet. A cold wind was blowing into their faces, catching up the loose snow and flinging it into her eyes. "Mouse dung, that stings!" she muttered. As they drew closer to the copse, she could see that the trees were shorter than the ones on ThunderClan territory, and twisted into strange shapes. They looked like the bushes on WindClan's moorland territory, bent double like

谢你，黑莓掌。 你救了我的命！" 黑莓掌眼中的怒火渐渐褪去，他眨了眨眼睛。 "保证别再让我救第二次就好。" "我保证不会了。" 让大家休息片刻后，黑莓掌催促巡逻队成员再次出发。 "我们不能待在这儿，"他说道。 "我们往树林走， 那儿或许能找到猎物。" 群猫跟在黑莓掌身后，穿过扎脚的草地。 雪已经停了，但地上还积着厚厚的雪，冬青叶一瘸一拐跟在副族长身后，雪块塞满了她的爪缝。 我的毛好冷 我都快变成冰做的猫了，她一边想一边抖掉爪子上冰凉的雪块。 冷风吹在脸上，卷起散雪吹进了她的眼睛。 "鼠粪，真疼！" 她小声嘟囔。 靠近小树林后，她发现这里的树比雷族领地上的矮，扭曲成奇怪的形状。 它们长得就像风族荒地上的灌木丛，弯着腰好像

hunched Twolegs. But as she tasted the air, Hollyleaf realized that the smells were more familiar than anything she had scented since she left the forest. The reek of the Thunderpath was dying away, and in its place she could pick up the scents of leaf and bark; water flooded her jaws as she recognized mouse, rabbit, and squirrel. "We'll stay here to eat and rest," Brambleclaw announced when the cats reached the edge of the trees. "We won't find anywhere better to spend the night." Birchfall's ears perked up, and Hollyleaf exchanged a hopeful glance with Lionblaze at the thought of not having to plod any farther through the snow. "It can't be sunset yet," Brackenfur objected, eyeing the gray clouds that still shouldered their way across the sky. "No, but we're all tired and cold," Brambleclaw replied. "And when we can't see the sun, we can't be sure that we're heading the right way to the sun-drown-place." Brackenfur shrugged, agreeing, and all six cats headed deeper into the copse. There wasn't as

驼背的两脚兽。 可当冬青叶尝了尝空气里的气味，她发现这是她离开森林后闻到过最熟悉的味道。 雷路的臭味渐渐消散，取而代之的是树叶和树皮的气息； 认出老鼠、兔子和松鼠的气味后，她一下子口水直流。 "我们就在这儿吃饭休息，"众猫走到林边时，黑莓掌宣布。 "找不到比这儿更适合过夜的地方了。" 桦落一下子竖起耳朵，想到不用再在雪地里跋涉，冬青叶和狮焰交换了一个充满希望的眼神。 "还没到日落呢，"蕨毛反对，望着天上挤成一团的灰云。 "没错，但我们又累又冷，"黑莓掌回答。 "而且看不到太阳，我们没法确定去太阳沉没之地的方向对不对。" 蕨毛耸耸肩表示同意，六只猫一起往小树林深处走去。 这儿并没有那么多

much snow under the shelter of the trees, and Hollyleaf felt her paws starting to warm up. The ground was uneven, sloping roughly down to where a small stream trickled among the roots of the trees. "Catch your prey and then rest," Brambleclaw ordered. Hollyleaf thought he sounded tense— perhaps he was unhappy about where their journey would take them next. Does he know there's something dangerous up ahead? Brackenfur vanished into the undergrowth, and Lionblaze and Birchfall headed off together. "Would you like to hunt with me?" Hollyleaf asked Hazeltail; her Clanmate still looked shocked by her panic at the Thunderpath. "That would be great!" Hazeltail's ears flicked up. "Where should we start?" "Right here's as good as anywhere." Both she-cats tasted the air; Hollyleaf picked up a strong scent of squirrel, and a moment later she spotted one scuffling among the debris at the foot of a twisted thorn tree. Angling her ears, she pointed it out to Hazeltail. Her friend nodded, eyes gleaming.

树丛遮蔽下积了好多雪，冬青叶感觉自己的爪子慢慢暖和起来了。 地面坑坑洼洼，斜斜向下延伸，一条小溪在树根间涓涓流淌。 "抓到猎物就休息。"黑莓掌下令道。 冬青叶觉得他语气紧绷——也许他也对接下来的旅程前路感到不安。 他是不是知道前面有危险？ 蕨毛消失在了灌木丛中，狮焰和桦落结伴出发了。 "你愿意和我一起打猎吗？" 冬青叶问榛尾；这位族友还在因为刚才在雷路的惊慌惊魂未定。 "那太棒啦！" 榛尾一下子竖起了耳朵。 "我们该从哪儿开始呀？" "就在这儿吧，哪儿都一样。" 两只母猫都嗅了嗅空气中的气味； 冬青叶闻到了浓郁的松鼠气味，没过多久，她就看见一只松鼠在一棵歪刺树下的杂物堆里扒找东西。 她侧过耳朵，把松鼠的位置指给榛尾看。 她的朋友点点头，眼睛闪闪发亮。

Hollyleaf signaled to Hazeltail to stay where she was, then dropped into a hunter's crouch and worked her way in a wide circle around to the other side of the tree. She had carried out this hunting move so often in ThunderClan territory that it almost felt as if she were home again. Approaching the squirrel from the other side, she crept closer and closer, sliding her paws through the rough grass. When she thought she was close enough, she let out a fearsome yowl and leaped. Panicked, the squirrel darted away, only to run straight into Hazeltail's claws. Hazeltail dispatched it with a swift bite to the neck. "Great catch!" Hollyleaf exclaimed. "You set it up," Hazeltail mewed; she looked a lot more cheerful now. As Hollyleaf padded over to her friend, Lionblaze came bounding out from behind a bramble thicket. "Birchfall and I got a really fat rabbit." Birchfall appeared as he spoke, staggering as he dragged the rabbit between his forepaws. Dropping it with a gusty sigh, he stumbled into the low-growing branches of a hazel bush. A load

冬青叶示意榛尾待在原地，接着摆出捕猎的蹲伏姿势，绕着大树绕了个大圈，走到松鼠的另一侧。 她在雷族领地已经练过无数次这个捕猎动作，几乎感觉就像回到了家一样。 她从另一侧靠近松鼠，一点一点悄悄挪近，爪子轻轻划过粗糙的草地。 觉得距离够近之后，她发出一声威严的吼叫，猛扑了上去。 松鼠慌了神，急忙窜开，正好一头撞进了榛尾的爪子里。 榛尾对着脖子快速一口，就解决了它。 "干得太棒了！" 冬青叶欢呼道。 "是你布置的好呀。"榛尾轻声说，她现在看起来开心多了。 就在冬青叶走向好友的时候，狮焰从荆棘丛后面蹦了出来。 "我和桦落抓到了一只超肥的兔子。" 他话音刚落，桦落就走了出来，拖着兔子走在两只前爪之间，步子都踉跄了。 他把兔子扔下，重重呼了口气，不小心撞到了榛树低矮的枝条上。 一大堆