Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Fireheart woke to find Graystripe sitting beside him, hunched on his belly like a rabbit, his shoulders stiff and his fur fluffed out. "Graystripe?" he meowed quietly. Graystripe jumped. "Are you okay?" Graystripe sat up straight. "I'm fine." Fireheart suspected that his friend's cheery mew wasn't heartfelt, but at least he was trying to be more positive. "It looks cold," Fireheart meowed. Graystripe's words had billowed out in clouds. Fireheart was still snuggled down among the warm bodies of the other warriors. "It is!" Graystripe bent to lick his chest. Fireheart sat up and shook his head. The air tasted of frost. "What are you going to do with Brackenpaw today?" he asked. "Show him the forest," answered Graystripe. "I could bring Cinderpaw, and we could travel together." "It might be better if we travel alone today," answered Graystripe.

第九章火心一觉醒来，发现灰条纹坐在他身边，像只兔子一样弓着腰，肩膀僵硬，皮毛蓬松。 “灰条？”他轻声叫道。 Graystripe吓了一跳。“你还好吗？”灰条坐直了身子。 “我很好”。火心怀疑他的朋友的快乐的新消息不是发自内心的，但至少他试图更积极。 “看起来很冷。”火心叫道。 灰条纹的话在云雾中汹涌而出。 火心仍然蜷缩在其他战士温暖的尸体中。 “这是!”灰条弯下腰去舔他的胸膛。 火心坐起来，摇了摇头。 空气中有霜的味道。“今天你打算拿爪子做什么？”他问。 “带他去看森林。”灰条带回答。 “我可以带着灰姑娘的爪子，我们可以一起旅行。” “今天我们单独旅行可能会更好，”格雷斯特回答说。

Fireheart felt a bit hurt. They had been shown ThunderClan's hunting grounds together as apprentices. He would have liked to do it together again as mentors. But if Graystripe wanted to be by himself, then Fireheart could hardly blame him. "Fine," he mewed. "I'll see you later. We can share a mouse and compare apprentices." "That'd be good," Graystripe meowed. Fireheart crept out of the den. The air outside was even colder. His breath swirled from his muzzle like smoke. He shivered, ruffling out his fur, and stretched one leg at a time. The ground under his paws felt like stone as he trotted over to the apprentices' den. Cinderpaw was fast asleep inside, a fluffy gray heap that rose and fell as she breathed. "Cinderpaw," Fireheart called quietly, and the little gray cat lifted her head at once. Fireheart backed out, and in a moment Cinderpaw bounded from the den, wide-awake and enthusiastic. "What are we doing today?" she mewed, looking up at him with her ears pricked. "I thought I'd take you on a tour of ThunderClan territory."

火心感到有点受伤。 他们作为学徒一起参观了雷霆部落的狩猎场。 他本想以导师的身份再次合作。 但如果灰条纹想一个人待着，那么火心也不能怪他。 “很好，”他叫道。“待会儿见。” 我们可以共用一只老鼠，比较徒弟。” “那太好了，”灰条喵喵地说。 火心蹑手蹑脚地走出了洞穴。 外面的空气更冷了。 他嘴里吐出的气像烟一样旋转。 他打了个寒颤，捋了捋皮毛，一次伸直一条腿。 当他小跑到学徒的洞穴时，他爪子下的地面感觉像石头一样。 Cinderpaw在里面睡得很熟，一堆毛茸茸的灰东西随着她的呼吸上下起伏。 “灰爪，”火心悄悄地叫道，小灰猫立刻抬起了头。 火心退了出来，不一会儿，灰爪从窝里跳了出来，完全清醒，热情高涨。 “我们今天要做什么？”她叫着，竖起耳朵看着他。 “我想带你去参观一下雷霆部落的领地。”

"Will we see the Thunderpath?" asked Cinderpaw eagerly. "Er, yes, we will," Fireheart replied. He couldn't help thinking Cinderpaw would be disappointed when she saw what a dirty, stinking place it was. "Are you hungry?" he asked, wondering if he should tell her to eat first. "No!" Cinderpaw shook her head. "Oh, okay. We'll eat later," Fireheart meowed. "Well, follow me." "Yes, Fireheart." The young cat looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. The pang of sadness that had been lingering in Fireheart's stomach since talking with Graystripe was swept away by a warm feeling of pride. He turned and padded toward the camp entrance. Cinderpaw raced past him and charged through the gorse tunnel. Fireheart had to break into a run to catch up. "I thought I said follow me!" he called as she scrambled up the side of the ravine. "But I want to see the view from the top," Cinderpaw protested. Fireheart leaped after her. He overtook her

“我们能看到雷道吗？”灰姑娘急切地问。 “嗯，是的，我们会的。”火心回答。 他不禁想到，当灰姑娘看到这是一个又脏又臭的地方时，她一定会失望的。 “你饿吗？”他问，不知道是否应该让她先吃点东西。 “不!”灰姑娘摇了摇头。 “哦,好的。我们待会儿再吃。”火心叫道。 “好吧，跟我来。”“是的,Fireheart。” 那只小猫抬头看着他，眼睛闪闪发光。 自从和灰条纹谈话以来，一直萦绕在火心肚子里的悲伤被一种温暖的自豪感驱散了。 他转过身，蹑手蹑脚地朝营地入口走去。 灰姑娘从他身边跑过，冲进了金雀花隧道。 火心不得不跑起来追赶。 “我记得我说过跟我来！”当她爬上峡谷时，他喊道。 “但是我想从上面看风景，”灰姑娘抗议道。 火心跳着跟在她后面。 他追上了她

easily, climbed to the top, and sat washing a forepaw, keeping an eye on her as she scrambled from rock to rock. By the time she reached the top of the camp ravine she was panting, but no less enthusiastic. "Look at the trees! They look like they're made from moonstone," she mewed breathlessly. She was right. The trees below them sparkled white in the sunshine. Fireheart took a deep breath of cold air. "You should try to save your energy," he warned. "We have a long way to go today." "Oh, yes. Okay. Which way now?" She kneaded the ground with impatient paws, ready to dart away into the woods. "Follow me," meowed Fireheart. He narrowed his eyes playfully. "And this time I do mean follow!" He led the way to a trail along the edge of the ravine, into the sandy hollow where he had learned to hunt and fight. "This is where most of our training sessions will be held," he explained. During greenleaf, the trees that circled the clearing filtered the sunshine into a warm dappled light. Now cold daylight

他轻松地爬上了山顶，坐在那里给她洗前爪，看着她爬过一块又一块岩石。 当她到达营地峡谷的顶端时，她气喘吁吁，但热情丝毫不减。 “看那些树！”它们看起来像是月光石做的。”她上气不接下气地叫道。 她是对的。他们下面的树在阳光下闪闪发光。 火心深深地吸了一口气。 “你应该尽量节省精力，”他警告说。 “我们今天还有很长的路要走。” “哦,是的。好吧。现在走哪条路？”她不耐烦地用爪子揉着地面，准备飞奔到树林里去。 “跟我来。”火心叫道。 他开玩笑地眯起眼睛。 “这次我说的是跟着！”他带路沿着峡谷边缘的一条小路，进入他学会打猎和战斗的沙地洼地。 他解释说：“我们的大部分培训课程都将在这里举行。” 绿叶时节，环绕在空地上的树木把阳光过滤成温暖的斑驳光。 现在是寒冷的白天

streamed down onto the frozen red earth. "A river ran here many moons ago. A stream still flows beyond that rise there," meowed Fireheart, pointing with his muzzle. "It's dry most of the summer. That's where I caught my first prey." "What did you catch?" Cinderpaw didn't wait for an answer. "Will the stream be frozen? Let's look and see if there's ice!" She charged down into the hollow and headed toward the rise. "You'll see it another time!" Fireheart called. But Cinderpaw kept running, and Fireheart had to race after her. He stopped beside her at the top of the rise and together they looked down at the stream. Ice had formed at the edges, but the speed of the water as it slid over its sandy bed had stopped it from freezing over completely. "You wouldn't catch much there now," mewed Cinderpaw. "Except fish maybe." The sight of the spot where he had caught his first prey filled Fireheart with happy memories. He watched Cinderpaw stand at the edge of the stream and crane her neck to peer into the black water. "If I were you, I'd leave fishing to

流到冰冻的红土地上。 “很久以前有一条河流过这里。 那边还有一条小溪在流淌。”火心用它的嘴指了指，喵喵地叫道。 “夏天的大部分时间都很干燥。 我就是在那里抓到第一个猎物的。” “你钓到了什么？”Cinderpaw没等回答。 “小溪会结冰吗？” 我们去看看有没有冰！”她冲进山谷，朝高地走去。 “下次你会看到的！”Fireheart调用。 但是灰姑娘一直在跑，火心不得不追着她跑。 他在山顶停在她身边，两人一起俯视着小溪。 冰川的边缘已经结了冰，但水在沙床上滑动的速度使它没有完全结冰。 “你现在抓不到多少鱼了，”灰姑娘叫道。 “也许除了鱼。”看到他第一次抓到猎物的地方，火心充满了幸福的回忆。 他看着灰姑娘站在小溪边，伸长脖子凝视着黑色的河水。 “如果我是你，我就不钓鱼了。

RiverClan," Fireheart warned her. "If they like getting their fur wet, then let them. I prefer dry paws." Cinderpaw padded restlessly around in a circle. "What now?" Her excitement, and his own apprentice memories, filled Fireheart with energy. He bounded away, calling over his shoulder, "The Owl Tree!" Cinderpaw charged after him, her short fluffy tail sticking out behind her. They crossed the stream over a fallen tree Fireheart had used many times before. "There are stepping-stones farther down, but this is a quicker route. Be careful though!" The pale white trunk was stripped of its bark. "It gets slippery when it's wet or icy." He let Cinderpaw cross first, keeping close behind in case she lost her pawhold. The stream wasn't particularly deep, but it would be cold as ice, and Cinderpaw was still too small to cope with a soaking. She crossed the log easily, and Fireheart felt a glow of pride as he watched his apprentice jump down onto the forest floor at the far end. "Well

大河家族。”火心警告她。 “如果它们喜欢把皮毛弄湿，那就随它们去吧。 我喜欢干爪子。”Cinderpaw焦躁不安地围成一圈。 “现在?”她的兴奋，加上他自己当学徒的回忆，让火心充满了活力。 他跳开了，回头喊道：“猫头鹰树！”Cinderpaw跟在他后面，她毛茸茸的短尾巴在后面伸出来。 他们跨过了一棵倒下的树，这棵树火心以前曾用过很多次。 “下面有垫脚石，但这是一条更快的路。 不过要小心！”苍白的树干被剥去了树皮。 “潮湿或结冰的时候会很滑。” 他让灰姑娘的爪子先过了马路，紧紧地跟在后面，以防她的爪子掉了。 这条小溪不是特别深，但它会像冰一样冷，而灰姑娘的爪子还太小，不能泡在水里。 她轻松地跨过圆木，火心看着徒弟跳到另一头的森林地板上，心中充满了自豪。 “嗯