Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21 Fireheart stared at the tiny kit. "I never expected…" he began. He dragged his gaze away and stared wordlessly at his sister. "My housefolk will choose where the rest will live," Princess went on. "But this is my firstborn and I want to decide his future." She raised her chin. "Make him a hero, please. Like you!" The unsettling sense of loneliness that had been dragging at Fireheart for so long began to ebb away. He pictured the white kit among the Clan, as he showed him the ways of the forest and hunted by his side through the thick ferns. At last, there would be another cat in ThunderClan who shared Fireheart's kittypet roots. Princess tilted her head. "I know how upset you were about your apprentice. I thought if you had a new apprentice—one who's your own kin— you wouldn't feel so lonely." She stretched her neck and rested her nose against Fireheart's side. "I don't understand all your Clan ways, but seeing you, and hearing you talk about your life, I know I would be honored if my son was brought up as a Clan cat."

第二十一章火心盯着小工具箱。 “我从没想过……”他开始说。 他把目光移开，一言不发地盯着妹妹。 “我的家人会选择其他人住的地方，”公主继续说。 “但这是我的长子，我想决定他的未来。” 她抬起下巴。“请把他塑造成一个英雄。 像你这样的!”在火心拖了这么久的那种令人不安的孤独感开始消退了。 他一边给他指森林的路，一边在他身边穿过茂密的蕨类植物打猎，一边想象着那只白色的kit在氏族中的样子。 最后，ThunderClan中会出现另一只猫，它和火心有着同样的小猫血统。 公主歪着头。“我知道你对你的徒弟有多难过。 我想如果你有一个新学徒——一个你的亲戚——你就不会感到这么孤独了。” 她伸了伸脖子，把鼻子靠在火心身上。 “我不太了解你们氏族的生活方式，但看到你，听到你谈论你的生活，我知道，如果我的儿子被当作氏族的猫养大，我会感到很荣幸。”

As the first flare of happiness settled inside him, Fireheart thought of the rest of his Clan, and how desperately they needed fighting cats. Cinderpaw would never be a warrior now. And what if the greencough took more lives than just Bluestar's? ThunderClan might need this kit. He was suddenly aware of the rain clinging to his fur. The kit needed shelter, and soon. It looked strong, but it was still too small to withstand the cold and wet for long. "I'll take him," he meowed. "This is a great gift you've given to ThunderClan. And I'll train him to be the finest warrior the Clan has ever seen!" He dipped his head and scooped up the kit by his scruff. Princess's eyes shone with gratitude and pride. "Thank you, Fireheart," she purred. "Who knows, maybe he'll even become a leader and be given nine lives!" Fireheart gazed fondly at her trusting, hopeful face. Did his sister really believe this might happen? Then a twinge of doubt pricked him. He was taking this tiny kit back to a camp infected by greencough. What if he didn't even make it to

当第一丝幸福的火花在他心中闪烁时，火心想到了他家族的其他成员，他们是多么迫切地需要战斗猫。 灰姑娘爪现在再也成不了战士了。 如果绿军团夺走的不仅仅是蓝星的生命呢？ ThunderClan可能需要这个工具包。 他突然意识到雨水粘在他的皮毛上。 这些装备需要庇护所，而且要快。 它看起来很结实，但仍然太小，无法长时间抵御寒冷和潮湿。 “我要带他去。”他喵喵叫道。 “这是你们送给ThunderClan的一份很棒的礼物。 我要把他训练成氏族有史以来最优秀的战士！”他低下头，抓住他的颈背把工具箱捞了起来。 公主的眼睛里闪烁着感激和骄傲的光芒。 “谢谢你，火心。” “谁知道呢，也许他会成为一个领袖，被赋予九条命！”火心深情地望着她那张信任而充满希望的脸。 他妹妹真的相信会发生这种事吗？ 接着，一阵怀疑刺痛了他。 他把这个小装备带回了一个被格林感染的营地。 如果他都没来呢

newleaf? But the cozy scent of the kit under his muzzle soothed him. The kit would survive. It was strong, and it shared his blood. Fireheart took a deep breath. He must be quick—the kit was getting cold already. He blinked a farewell at Princess and raced away into the bushes. The kit was heavier than he'd expected. It dangled from his mouth, bumping against his forelegs with faint protesting squeaks. By the time Fireheart reached the top of the ravine, his neck was aching. He made his way down to the camp, putting one paw carefully in front of the other, wary of slipping on the fast-melting snow. At the entrance, Fireheart hesitated. For the first time he wondered how he would explain this kit to the Clan—he was going to have to admit to visiting his kittypet sister. But it was too late now. He could feel the kit shivering. Fireheart squared his shoulders and padded through the gorse tunnel. The kit let out a deafening wail as a thorn tugged at its fur. Several pairs of eyes turned to look in amazement as Fireheart emerged into the clearing. Both hunting parties had returned. Mousefur,

newleaf吗?但他的嘴下套件的舒适的气味安慰他。 成套设备会存活下来。它很强壮，流着他的血。 火心深吸了一口气。 他动作一定很快——工具箱已经开始变冷了。 他向公主眨了眨眼睛告别，然后跑进了灌木丛。 这个工具箱比他想象的要重。 它在他嘴里晃来晃去，撞在他的前腿上，发出微弱的抗议的吱吱声。 当火心到达峡谷顶端时，他的脖子开始疼痛。 他朝营地走去，小心翼翼地把一只爪子放在另一只爪子前面，生怕在迅速融化的雪地上滑倒。 到了门口，火心犹豫了。 他第一次不知道该如何向族人解释这个工具箱——他将不得不承认去看望他的小猫妹妹。 但现在已经太晚了。他能感觉到装备在颤抖。 火心挺起胸膛，穿过金雀花隧道。 当一根刺拽着它的皮毛时，它发出一声震耳欲聋的哀号。 火心出现在空地上时，几双眼睛惊奇地转过头来看着。 两支狩猎队伍都回来了。 Mousefur,

Whitestorm, Sandpaw, and Brackenpaw were all in the clearing. Only Graystripe was missing. One by one the rest of the Clan were drawn out of their dens by the noise and the unfamiliar scent. None of the cats made a sound. They stared at Fireheart with hostile, puzzled eyes as though he were a stranger. Fireheart turned slowly in the center of the clearing, the kit still dangling from his mouth, and looked at the ring of questioning eyes. His mouth began to feel dry. Why had he assumed the Clan would accept a kit that wasn't even forest-born? He felt a rush of relief when Bluestar emerged from Yellowfang's den. But her eyes widened in surprise as she saw him. "What is this?" she demanded. A tremor of foreboding ran along Fireheart's spine. He placed the kit between his front paws and wrapped his tail over it to keep it warm. "It's my sister's firstborn," he replied. "Your sister!" Tigerclaw glared at him accusingly. "You have a sister?" called Speckletail. "Where?"

白风暴、Sandpaw和Brackenpaw都在空地上。 只有Graystripe不见了。 氏族的其他成员一个接一个地被噪音和陌生的气味吸引出了巢穴。 没有一只猫发出声音。 他们用充满敌意和疑惑的目光盯着火心，仿佛他是个陌生人。 火心在空地中央慢慢地转过身来，工具箱还挂在嘴里，看着那圈疑惑的眼睛。 他的嘴开始觉得干。 为什么他认为氏族会接受一个甚至不是在森林里出生的装备？ 当蓝星从黄牙窝里出来时，他感到一阵如释重负。 但当她看到他时，惊讶地睁大了眼睛。 “这是什么？”她问。 火心的脊背上一阵不祥的震颤。 它把包夹在前爪之间，用尾巴包住包取暖。 他回答说：“这是我姐姐的长子。” “你妹妹!”虎爪指责地瞪着他。 “你有个妹妹？”斑点尾巴叫道。 “在哪里?”

"The same place as Fireheart was born, of course," Longtail hissed with disgust. "Twolegplace!" "Is that true?" Bluestar asked, her eyes widening further. "Yes," Fireheart admitted. "My sister gave it to me to bring to the Clan." "And why would she do that?" Bluestar asked with menacing calm. Fireheart stammered nervously. "I told her about Clan life—how great it was…." His voice trailed away under Bluestar's incredulous gaze. "How long have you been visiting Twolegplace?" "Not long, just since leaf-bare began. But only to see my sister. My loyalty still lies with ThunderClan." "Loyalty?" Darkstripe's yowl rang out across the clearing. "And yet you bring a kittypet here?" "Isn't having one kittypet in the Clan enough?" croaked one of the elders. "Trust a kittypet to find another kittypet!" snarled Dustpaw, ruffling his fur indignantly. He turned to Sandpaw and nudged her with his nose.

“当然是火心出生的地方。”长尾巴厌恶地嘶嘶地说。 “Twolegplace !”“是真的吗？”蓝星问，眼睛睁得更大了。 “是的。”火心承认。 “我姐姐给我的，让我把它带到部落里去。” “她为什么要那么做呢？”蓝星带着威胁的平静问道。 火心紧张地结结巴巴地说。 “我告诉她部落的生活有多棒....” 他的声音在蓝星怀疑的目光下渐渐消失了。 “你来巴黎多久了？”“不久，就在光秃秃开始的时候。 但只是为了见我妹妹。 我仍然效忠于雷霆氏族。” “忠诚?”黑条纹的嚎叫响彻空地。 “你还带了一只小猫来？”“氏族里有一只小猫还不够吗？”一位长老嘶哑地说。 “相信一只小猫会找到另一只小猫！”尘埃爪咆哮着，愤怒地揉着他的毛。 他转向Sandpaw，用鼻子捅了捅她。

Sandpaw glanced uncomfortably at Fireheart and then looked down at her paws. "Why have you brought it here?" Tigerclaw growled. "We need warriors…." The tiny kit squirmed beneath his belly as he spoke, and Fireheart realized how ridiculous he must sound. He bowed his head as yowls of scorn met his words. When the insults had died away, Runningwind spoke up. "The Clan has enough to worry about already without this." "It'll be nothing but a burden," Mousefur agreed. "It'll be at least five moons before it's ready to begin training." Whitestorm nodded his head in agreement. "You shouldn't have brought this kittypet here, Fireheart," he meowed. "It'll be too soft for Clan life." Fireheart bristled. "I was born a kittypet. Am I soft?" He thought that he'd begun to challenge the Clan's prejudice against kittypets, but he was wrong. He couldn't see one friendly face in the crowd. A voice sounded from behind Whitestorm. "If

Sandpaw不安地看了火心一眼，然后低头看着她的爪子。 “你为什么把它带到这里来？”Tigerclaw咆哮道。 “我们需要战士....”他说话的时候，那个小工具箱在他肚子下蠕动，火心意识到他的话听起来一定很可笑。 他低下头，听到他说的话，他发出轻蔑的嚎叫。 当侮辱消失后，奔风开口了。 “就算没有这件事，氏族已经有够多的事要操心了。” “那只会是一种负担。”老鼠同意了。 “至少需要五个月的时间，它才能准备好开始训练。” 怀特斯托姆点头表示同意。 “你不该把这只小猫带到这儿来，火心。” “这对氏族的生活来说太软了。” Fireheart直立。“我生来就是一只小猫。 我软吗？”他以为他已经开始挑战氏族对小猫的偏见了，但他错了。 他在人群中看不到一张友好的脸。 一个声音从白风暴后面传来。 “如果