Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23 RiverClan and ShadowClan had not yet arrived, but WindClan was already there. Tallstar greeted Bluestar with a respectful nod. Fireheart spotted Onewhisker and bounded over to meet him. "Hi!" he meowed. It had been over two moons since he'd last seen the small brown tabby warrior who had battled beside him at the gorge. For the first time in ages, Fireheart recalled Whiteclaw's death and felt the familiar bristle of horror as he pictured the RiverClan warrior disappearing beneath the rushing river. "Where's Graystripe?" Onewhisker asked. "Is he okay?" Fireheart could see from the concern in his eyes that the WindClan warrior was thinking about Whiteclaw's death too. "He's fine," Fireheart answered. "He's over there with the others." Fireheart remembered the WindClan queen whose kit he'd helped to carry. "How's Morningflower?" "Happy to be home," replied Onewhisker. "Her kit is growing quickly now." Fireheart purred with pleasure. "The whole Clan is well,"

第二十三章河流氏族和暗影氏族还没有到，但风氏族已经到了。 高星恭敬地点点头向蓝星致意。 火心发现了胡子，跳过去迎接他。 “嗨！”他叫道。自从他上次见到那只在峡谷与他并肩作战的棕色虎斑小战士，已经过去两个多月了。 多年来，火心第一次回想起白爪之死，当他想象着河族战士消失在奔流的河水下时，他感到了熟悉的恐惧。 “Graystripe在哪?”Onewhisker问道。 “他还好吗？”火心从他关切的眼神中可以看出，这位风氏族战士也在想着白爪的死。 “他很好。”火心回答。 “他和其他人在那边。” 火心想起了他帮忙提过的风氏族女王。 “Morningflower怎么样?”“很高兴回家，”一须回答。 “她现在长得很快。” 火心高兴得咕噜咕噜叫。 “整个氏族都很好。”

Onewhisker added. He glanced at Fireheart with an amused gleam in his eyes. "It's great to eat rabbit again. I hope I never have to taste another rat as long as I live!" Fireheart detected a fresh scent on the night air. RiverClan was coming. He could smell ShadowClan, too. He scanned the ridge that ran around the edge of the hollow. Sure enough, RiverClan cats were streaming down one side. On the opposite ridge, Fireheart saw ShadowClan cats poised at the top, their coats gleaming in the moonlight. The lean figure of Nightstar stood at the head of the group. "At last," growled Onewhisker. He'd spotted them as well. "It's too cold to be hanging around tonight." Fireheart nodded absently. He was searching the crowd of RiverClan cats as they entered the clearing, looking for Silverstream. He recognized the pale gray she-cat easily. She skidded to a halt at the bottom of the slope, then followed her father as he exchanged reserved greetings with the warriors from the other Clans. Nervously Fireheart scanned the growing

Onewhisker补充道。他瞥了火心一眼，眼里闪着愉快的光芒。 “能再吃兔肉真是太好了。 我希望我这辈子再也不用尝到老鼠的味道了！”火心觉察到夜间空气中有一种新鲜的气味。 河族来了。他也能闻到影子氏族的味道。 他扫视着山谷边缘的山脊。 果然，河族的猫从一边流了下来。 在对面的山脊上，火心看到暗影家族的猫站在山顶，它们的皮毛在月光下闪闪发光。 夜星瘦削的身影站在队伍的最前面。 “终于来了。”一个胡须咆哮道。 他也发现了他们。 “今晚太冷了，不能到处闲逛。” 火心心不在焉地点了点头。 当河族的猫群进入空地时，他正在搜寻银溪。 他很容易就认出了那只浅灰色的母猫。 她在斜坡底部滑了下来，然后跟着父亲，他和其他部落的战士们交换了矜持的问候。 火心紧张地扫视着这片生长的土地

throng of cats for Graystripe. Would he dare speak to Silverstream tonight? The gray warrior had his back to Silverstream while he talked with a WindClan warrior. Fireheart was watching Graystripe so closely that he didn't hear Deadfoot approach. "Good evening, Fireheart," meowed the WindClan deputy. "How are you?" Fireheart turned. "Hello," he meowed. "I'm fine, thank you." Deadfoot nodded. "Good," he meowed, and limped away. Onewhisker gave Fireheart a friendly nudge. "You're privileged!" Fireheart felt a small glimmer of pride. Bluestar's yowl sounded from the Great Rock. Fireheart turned and looked up, surprised. The leaders didn't usually call the meeting so soon. Crookedstar and Nightstar were standing close together on the rock. Bluestar waited beside Tallstar for the cats to gather beneath them. It was the first time Fireheart had seen the WindClan leader at a Gathering, he realized with a jolt. Fireheart and Onewhisker followed the other

一群猫为灰条纹。 他今晚敢跟银溪说话吗？ 灰衣战士背对着银溪，与一名风族战士交谈。 火心正密切注视着灰条，没听见死脚走近。 “晚上好，火心。”风族代表叫道。 “你好吗？”Fireheart转过身。 “你好，”他叫道。“我很好，谢谢你。” Deadfoot点点头。“很好。”他喵了一声，一瘸一拐地走了。 一个胡须友好地推了火心一下。 “你是特权!”火心感到一丝自豪。 蓝星的哀号从巨岩传来。 火心转过身来，惊讶地抬起头来。 领导人通常不会这么快召开会议。 弯星和夜星紧紧地站在岩石上。 蓝星在高星身边等着猫们聚到他们下面。 这是火心第一次在聚会上见到风氏族的首领，他猛然意识到。 火心和胡须跟在后面

cats as they settled themselves beneath the rock. Fireheart looked up expectantly, waiting for Bluestar to welcome Tallstar and WindClan back, but the ThunderClan leader was clearly in no mood to waste time on friendly words. "RiverClan has been hunting at Sunningrocks," she began angrily. "Our patrols have scented your warriors many times, Crookedstar. Sunningrocks belongs to ThunderClan!" Crookedstar met Bluestar's gaze steadily. "Have you forgotten how recently one of our warriors was killed defending our territory from ThunderClan?" "You had no need to defend your territory," Bluestar answered. "My warriors were not hunting there. They were returning home after finding WindClan. It was a mission we all agreed on! According to the warrior code, they should not have been attacked." "You speak of the warrior code?" spat Crookedstar. "What about the ThunderClan warrior who has been spying on our territory since then?" Bluestar was caught off guard. "Warrior?" she

猫在岩石下安顿下来。 火心满怀期待地抬起头，等待蓝星迎接高星和风氏族的归来，但是雷霆氏族的首领显然没有心情在友好的话语上浪费时间。 “河族一直在太阳岩打猎。”她生气地说。 “我们的巡逻队多次嗅出了你的战士的气味，鲁克星。 太阳岩属于雷电族！”歪星坚定地注视着蓝星。 “你难道忘了最近我们的一名战士为了保卫我们的领土而被雷霆氏族杀害了吗？”“你不需要保卫你的领土，”蓝星回答。 “我的战士没有在那里打猎。 他们在找到风氏族后正要回家。 这是我们都同意的任务！根据武士守则，他们不应该被攻击。” “你说的是勇士守则？” “那从那以后一直监视我们领土的雷霆族战士呢？”蓝星公司措手不及。 “战士?”她

echoed. "Have you seen him?" "Not yet," Crookedstar hissed. "But we find his scent so often, it won't be long before we do." Fireheart glanced at Graystripe in alarm. He knew only too well which warrior had been detected in Crookedstar's territory. Would any of the RiverClan warriors recognize his scent tonight? Graystripe sat motionless, not taking his eyes off the leaders on the Great Rock. Tigerclaw's deep growl sounded from the crowd. "We have scented ShadowClan in our territory as well as RiverClan this past moon. And not just one warrior, but a whole patrol, always the same cats." The ShadowClan leader's eyes flashed indignantly. "ShadowClan has not been in your territory. Clearly your warriors can't tell the difference in the scents of cats outside their own Clan. You have been smelling the scent of rogue cats. They have been stealing prey from our territory as well!" Tigerclaw snorted in disbelief and Nightstar glared down at him. "Do you doubt the word of

回荡。“你见过他吗？”“还没有。”克鲁克星嘶嘶地说。 “但我们经常能找到他的气味，用不了多久就能找到了。” 火心惊恐地瞥了灰条一眼。 他非常清楚在克鲁克星的地盘上发现了哪个战士。 今晚会有河族战士闻出他的气味吗？ 灰条一动不动地坐着，眼睛一直盯着巨石上的首领们。 人群中传来虎爪低沉的咆哮声。 “在过去的这个月里，我们在我们的领土上嗅到了暗影氏族和河流氏族的气味。 而且不只是一个战士，而是整个巡逻队，总是同样的猫。” 暗影族首领的眼睛里愤怒地闪着光。 “影子氏族没有进入过你的领地。 很明显，你的战士们分辨不出自己部落以外的猫的气味。 你闻到了流浪猫的气味。 他们还在我们的领土上偷猎物！”虎爪难以置信地哼了一声，夜星瞪着他。 “你怀疑……

ShadowClan, Tigerclaw?" The crowd murmured uncomfortably as Tigerclaw stared back at Nightpelt with unconcealed distrust. For the first time, Tallstar spoke, his tail twitching uncertainly. "My warriors have also found strange scents in WindClan territory. They seem to be ShadowClan." "I knew it!" Tigerclaw snarled. "RiverClan and ShadowClan have united against us!" "Us? What do you mean by us!" spat Crookedstar. "I think it's you and WindClan that have formed the alliance! Is that why you were so keen to bring them back? So you can use them to invade the rest of the forest?" Tallstar's fur bristled. "That's not why we returned, and you know it. We have kept to our own hunting grounds these past moons." "Then why have we found strange warrior scents in our territory?" Crookedstar growled. "They don't belong to WindClan!" hissed Tallstar. "They must be rogue cats, as Nightstar says." "But rogue cats would be a convenient excuse for invading our territories, would they not?"

ShadowClan, Tigerclaw ?”当虎爪用毫不掩饰的不信任盯着夜魔时，人群不安地嘟囔着。 Tallstar第一次开口说话了，他的尾巴不确定地抖动着。 “我的战士们也在风氏族的领地上发现了奇怪的气味。 他们好像是影族。” “我就知道！”Tigerclaw咆哮。 “河族和影族联合起来对付我们了！”“我们? 你说的我们是什么意思？”歪星啐道。 “我认为是你和风氏族结成了联盟！”所以你才这么想把他们带回来吗？ 这样你就可以利用它们入侵森林的其他地方了？”塔斯达的毛竖了起来。 “这不是我们回来的原因，你知道的。 在过去的几个月里，我们一直守在自己的猎场里。” “那为什么我们在自己的领土上发现了奇怪的战士气味？”Crookedstar咆哮道。 “他们不属于风氏族！”高星嘶嘶地说。 “它们一定是夜星说的流浪猫。” “但流浪猫会成为入侵我们领土的方便借口，不是吗？”