Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25 "Cloudkit!" Fireheart heard Brindleface calling from inside the nursery. Tigerclaw turned and padded away. Cloudkit gave the moss ball a final shove and ran over to the nursery entrance. "'Bye, Fireheart," he mewed before he disappeared inside. Fireheart looked up at the sky. It was almost sunhigh, time to join his patrol. He was hungry, but no fresh-kill had been gathered yet. Perhaps he might find something while they were out. He hurried across the clearing and out through the gorse tunnel, frozen leaves crunching beneath his paws. Sandpaw and Mousefur were already waiting at the foot of the slope. Fireheart raised his tail in greeting, unexpectedly happy to see Sandpaw. "Hi," meowed Sandpaw. Mousefur nodded to him. Whitestorm emerged from the gorse tunnel. "Is the dawn patrol back yet?" "No sign of them," answered Mousefur. But as she spoke, Fireheart heard the rustle of undergrowth above them. Out of the bushes came

第二十五章“Cloudkit!”火心听到布林德脸在育儿室里叫。 虎爪转身走开了。 Cloudkit最后推了一下苔藓球，跑到育儿室门口。 “再见，火心。”他叫了一声，然后消失在屋里。 火心望着天空。 太阳快出来了，是时候加入他的巡逻队了。 他很饿，但还没有捕捉到新鲜的猎物。 也许他们出去的时候他能找到点什么。 他匆匆穿过空地，穿过金雀花隧道，冰冻的树叶在他的脚掌下嘎吱作响。 沙爪和鼠毛已经在斜坡脚下等着了。 火心抬起尾巴向他打招呼，没想到他见到了沙爪。 “嗨，”Sandpaw叫道。老鼠向他点了点头。 怀特斯托姆从金雀花隧道里出来了。 “黎明巡逻队回来了吗？”“没有他们的踪迹。”鼠毛回答。 但就在她说话的时候，火心听到了头顶灌木丛的沙沙声。 从灌木丛中走了出来

Willowpelt, Runningwind, Darkstripe, and Dustpaw. "We've patrolled the entire RiverClan border," Willowpelt reported. "No sign of any hunting parties so far. Bluestar's patrol will check the area again this afternoon." "Good," replied Whitestorm. "We'll take the ShadowClan border." "Hopefully they'll have the same good sense as RiverClan and stay away," meowed Darkstripe. "After last night, they must know we'll be looking out for them." "I hope so," growled Whitestorm. He turned to his patrol. "Are you ready?" Fireheart nodded. Whitestorm flicked the tip of his tail and leaped away into the bracken. Fireheart followed Mousefur and Whitestorm. They kept up a fast pace as they climbed out of the ravine. Sandpaw was right behind Fireheart; he could feel her warm breath as she scrambled up the boulders. They had not even reached Snakerocks when Fireheart picked up a sinister, familiar scent. He opened his mouth to warn the others but

柳皮、跑风、暗条和尘埃爪。 “我们已经巡逻了整个河族边界，”威洛佩尔特报告说。 “到目前为止没有任何狩猎队的迹象。 蓝星巡逻队今天下午将再次检查该地区。” “很好，”怀特斯托姆回答。 “我们要拿下影族的边界。” “希望他们能像RiverClan一样有判断力，离我们远点。”Darkstripe叫道。 “经过昨晚的事，他们一定知道我们会照顾他们的。” “但愿如此。”白风暴咆哮道。 他转向他的巡逻队。“你准备好了吗？”Fireheart点点头。 “白风暴”甩了甩尾巴尖，跳进了蕨菜丛。 火心跟在鼠毛和白风暴后面。 他们快步爬出了峡谷。 沙爪就在火心后面；当她爬上巨石时，他能感觉到她温暖的呼吸。 他们还没走到蛇岩，火心就闻到了一股熟悉的不祥气味。 他张开嘴想警告其他人，但是

Mousefur spoke first. "ShadowClan!" The four cats stopped to smell the rank stench. "I can't believe they've come back already!" Sandpaw murmured. Fireheart noticed the fur quiver along her spine. "The scent is recent." Whitestorm's eyes glittered with fury. "I had hoped Nightstar might bring some honor to his Clan. But I suppose the cold winds beyond the Thunderpath blow over every ShadowClan cat's heart." Fireheart turned away and began pushing his way into a thick patch of bracken. He rubbed his teeth along the fronds to pick up the scent that hung there. It was ShadowClan all right. The smell was familiar. Very familiar. Fireheart paused. The scent belonged to a ShadowClan warrior he had encountered before, but which one? Fireheart pushed onward, hoping more scent- markings might jog his memory. Now he could smell something else. Fireheart looked down. On the ground, among the bracken stems, lay a pile of rabbit bones. Clan cats normally buried the bones of their prey as a sign of respect for the life they

老鼠先说话了。“ShadowClan !”四只猫停下来闻那股恶臭。 “我不敢相信他们已经回来了！”Sandpaw低声说道。 火心注意到她脊椎上的毛在颤抖。 “这气味是最近的。”“白风暴”的眼睛里闪烁着愤怒的光芒。 “我本来希望夜星能给他的氏族带来一些荣誉。 但我想，雷道那边的冷风一定会吹过每只影子家族的猫的心。” 火心转过身去，开始挤进一片茂密的蕨菜丛。 他在叶子上磨牙，想闻一下挂在叶子上的气味。 确实是影子家族。 那气味很熟悉。非常熟悉。 Fireheart暂停。这是他以前遇到的一个影族战士的气味，但是是哪一个呢？ 火心继续往前走，希望更多的气味能唤起他的记忆。 现在他闻到了别的味道。 火心低下头。在地上，在蕨菜的枝干中间，放着一堆兔子骨头。 氏族猫通常会把猎物的骨头埋起来，以示对自己生命的尊重

had taken. Suddenly aware of what this might mean, Fireheart picked up a mouthful and wove back through the bracken. He dropped them at Whitestorm's paws. Whitestorm stared at the bones in fury. "Rabbit bones? The warriors who left these want us to know they've been hunting on our land! Bluestar must know about this immediately." "Will she send a battle party against ShadowClan?" asked Fireheart. He had never seen Whitestorm so angry. "She should!" hissed the great white warrior. "And I'll lead it myself if I can. Nightstar has betrayed our trust, and StarClan knows he must be punished." "Bluestar!" Whitestorm flung the rabbit bones down in the middle of the camp clearing. "Bluestar has already left on patrol," Tigerclaw told him, stepping out from the shadows. Halftail and Frostfur came hurrying from their dens to find out what was going on. Whitestorm stared at Tigerclaw, still furious. "Look at these!" he spat.

了。火心突然意识到这可能意味着什么，他捡起一口，穿过蕨菜退回去。 他把它们扔在白风暴的脚爪上。 白风暴愤怒地盯着尸骨。 “兔子的骨头?留下这些的勇士想让我们知道他们一直在我们的土地上狩猎！蓝星必须立即知道这件事。” “她会派人去对抗暗影氏族吗？”火心问道。 他从未见过白风暴如此愤怒。 “她应该！”伟大的白人战士嘶嘶地说。 “如果可以的话，我将亲自领导它。 夜星背叛了我们的信任，星族知道他必须受到惩罚。” “蓝星!”怀特斯托姆把兔子骨头扔到营地空地中央。 “蓝星已经出去巡逻了。”虎爪告诉他，从阴影里走了出来。 半尾巴和霜佛急忙从洞穴里跑出来，想看看发生了什么事。 白风暴盯着虎爪，仍然很生气。 “看看这些！”他吐了一口唾沫。

Tigerclaw didn't need to be told what they meant; their scent carried the whole story. His eyes began to burn with anger. Fireheart hung back at the edge of the clearing and watched the two great warriors. The evidence was certainly ominous, but the discovery of the bones had filled his mind with questions, not anger. It was only three moons since ShadowClan had driven out their cruel leader, with the help of ThunderClan. How could that same Clan possibly be ready to risk war with ThunderClan? Tigerclaw clearly had no such doubts. Already he was calling Darkstripe and Runningwind to him. "Willowpelt and Mousefur will join us too!" he announced. "We'll find a ShadowClan patrol and leave them with some wounds that'll remind them to keep out of our territory in the future." Whitestorm nodded. "Can I come?" Sandpaw meowed. She had been pacing excitedly behind the white warrior. Now she stopped and looked at him with glittering eyes. "Not this time," Whitestorm told her. Frustration flickered across her face. "But what

虎爪不需要别人告诉它们是什么意思；他们的气味透露了整个故事。 他的眼睛开始气得发烫。 火心躲在空地的边缘，看着两位伟大的战士。 这些证据无疑是不祥之兆，但骨头的发现使他心中充满了疑问，而不是愤怒。 在雷霆氏族的帮助下，暗影氏族驱逐了他们残忍的首领，而这仅仅是三个月前的事。 同一个氏族怎么可能准备好冒险与雷霆氏族开战？ 虎爪显然没有这样的疑虑。 他已经在召唤黑条纹和奔风了。 “柳树皮和鼠毛也要加入我们！”他宣布。 “我们要找一支影族巡逻队，在他们身上留下一些伤口，提醒他们以后不要进入我们的领土。” Whitestorm点点头。“我能来吗？”Sandpaw呜呜呜。 她一直兴奋地跟在白衣武士后面踱步。 现在她停下来，用闪闪发光的眼睛看着他。 “这次不行，”怀特斯托姆告诉她。 她脸上闪现出沮丧的神情。 “但是什么

about Fireheart?" she meowed. "He found the bones." Tigerclaw narrowed his eyes, his hackles raised. "Fireheart can stay here and tell Bluestar when she arrives," he hissed contemptuously. "You're going to leave before she gets back?" Fireheart asked. "Of course," Tigerclaw spat. "This needs to be settled now!" He turned to Whitestorm and flicked his tail. Fireheart watched as the two warriors charged out of the camp, Darkstripe, Willowpelt, Runningwind, and Mousefur close behind. He could hear their paws pounding the frozen earth as they headed for the side of the ravine. Fireheart was suddenly aware how empty the camp was. As Frostfur and Halftail came forward and began sniffing the rabbit bones, he meowed, "Who went with Bluestar?" Frostfur looked up. "Graystripe, Longtail, and Swiftpaw." A cold wind ruffled Fireheart's fur. He hoped that was what made him shiver. He was the only warrior left in camp. "Will you check the

火心？”她叫道。 “他找到了骨头。”虎爪眯起眼睛，竖起鬃毛。 “火心可以留在这里，等蓝星来了再告诉她。”他轻蔑地低声说。 “你要在她回来之前离开吗？”Fireheart问道。 “当然。”虎爪啐了一口。 “这件事必须马上解决！”他转向白风暴，摇了摇尾巴。 火心看着两名战士冲出营地，黑条纹、柳皮、奔风和鼠毛紧随其后。 他能听到它们朝峡谷边走去时，爪子踩在冰冻的土地上的声音。 火心突然意识到营地里空荡荡的。 当霜毛和半尾巴走上前来，开始嗅兔骨时，他喵喵地叫道：“谁和蓝星一起去的？”弗罗斯特弗抬起头来。 “灰条、长尾巴和雨燕爪。” 一阵冷风吹皱了火心的毛。 他希望这就是让他颤抖的原因。 他是营地里唯一剩下的战士。 “你能检查一下吗？