Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Bluestar led the way swiftly back to camp. The noise of their return awoke the cats who had remained behind. As the group streamed through the gorse entrance, sleepy figures began emerging from the dens. "What's the news?" called Halftail. "Were ShadowClan there?" asked Willowpelt. "Yes, they were," Bluestar replied gravely. She strode past Willowpelt and leaped up onto Highrock. There was no need for her customary call for a Clan meeting—the cats were already gathering below the rock. Tigerclaw jumped up beside her. "There was much tension between the Clans tonight," Bluestar began. "And I became aware of a possible new allegiance between Crookedstar and Nightpelt." Graystripe squeezed into the small space next to Fireheart. "What are they talking about?" he asked. "I thought Nightpelt agreed with Bluestar." "Nightpelt?" croaked One-eye's ancient voice from the back of the crowd. "He has been named as ShadowClan's new

第三章蓝星迅速带路回营地。 他们回来的声音把留在后面的猫吵醒了。 当这群人穿过金雀的入口时，昏昏欲睡的身影开始从金雀窝里钻出来。 “有什么消息？”半尾巴问。 “影族在那里吗？” “是的，他们是。”蓝星严肃地回答。 她大步走过威洛佩尔特，跳上了海罗克。 她没有必要像往常一样召集部落会议——猫们已经聚集在岩石下面了。 虎爪跳到她身边。 “今晚氏族之间的关系非常紧张，”蓝星开始说。 “我意识到弯曲之星和夜魔之间可能有新的忠诚。” 灰条挤进了火心旁边的小空间。 “他们在说什么？”他问。 “我以为夜魔同意蓝星的意见。” “夜魔？”人群后面传来独眼那苍老的声音。 “他被任命为暗影氏族的新成员

leader," Bluestar explained. "But his name—hasn't he been accepted by StarClan yet?" asked One-eye. "He plans to travel to the Moonstone tomorrow night," Tigerclaw told him. "No leader can speak for their Clan at a Gathering without receiving StarClan's approval first," muttered One-eye, loudly enough for all the cats to hear. "He has the support of ShadowClan, One- eye," answered Bluestar, nodding at the old she- cat. "We cannot ignore what he said tonight." One-eye gave a disgruntled sniff, and Bluestar lifted her head to address the whole Clan. "At the Gathering, I suggested we find WindClan and bring them home. But Crookedstar and Nightpelt don't want them to return." "They're hardly likely to join forces, though, are they?" called Graystripe. "They almost had a scrap over hunting rights in the river." Fireheart turned to his friend. "Didn't you see the looks they were swapping by the end of the meeting? They're both desperate to get their paws on WindClan's territory."

蓝星解释道。 “但是他的名字——他还没有被星际战队接受吗？”独眼问道。 “他计划明天晚上去月光石那儿。”虎爪告诉他。 “没有得到星族的同意，任何领袖都不能在集会上代表自己的部落发言。”独眼喃喃自语，声音大到所有的猫都能听到。 “他得到了独眼影族的支持。”蓝星回答道，朝老猫点点头。 “我们不能忽视他今晚说的话。” 独眼不满地哼了一声，蓝星抬起头来对整个氏族说话。 “在聚会上，我建议我们找到风氏族，把他们带回家。 但弯星和夜魔不想让他们回来。” “不过，他们不大可能联合起来，对吧？” “他们几乎因为河里的狩猎权发生了争执。” 火心转向他的朋友。 “你没看到他们在会议结束时交换的眼神吗？” 他们都迫不及待地想要染指WindClan的领地。”

"But why?" asked Sandpaw, who was sitting beside her mentor, Whitestorm. Whitestorm answered her. "I suspect ShadowClan is not as weak as we thought they would be. And Nightpelt seems to have more ambition than any cat expected." "But why does RiverClan want to hunt WindClan's grounds? They have always grown fat on the fish from their precious river!" yowled Willowpelt. "The uplands are a long way to go for a few windblown rabbits!" The once-beautiful queen, Dappletail, spoke up in a voice cracked with age. "At the Gathering, some of the RiverClan elders spoke of Twolegs taking over part of their river." "That's right," added Frostfur. "They say Twolegs have been living in shelters beside the river, disturbing the fish. The RiverClan cats have had to hide in the bushes and watch them with empty stomachs!" Bluestar looked thoughtful. "For now, we must be careful to do nothing that may bring ShadowClan and RiverClan closer together. Go and rest now. Runningwind and Dustpaw, you

“可是为什么呢？”Sandpaw问，她坐在她的导师白风暴旁边。 怀特风暴回答她。“我怀疑暗影氏族并不像我们想象的那么弱。 而夜猫似乎比任何一只猫都更有野心。” “但是为什么河族要去风族的领地呢？” 他们总是靠吃他们宝贵的河里的鱼而长得很胖！”柳树叫道。 “对于几只被风吹走的兔子来说，高地是一段很长的路要走！”曾经美丽的女王，斑尾，用衰老的声音说话了。 “在聚会上，一些河族长老谈到特立格人占领了他们河流的一部分。” “没错。”弗罗斯特弗补充道。 “他们说特立格人一直住在河边的庇护所里，打扰了鱼。 河族的猫只好躲在灌木丛里，饿着肚子看着他们！”蓝星显得若有所思。 “现在，我们必须小心，不要做任何可能拉近暗影氏族和大河氏族关系的事。 现在去休息吧。跑风和簸箕，你们

will take the dawn patrol." A cold breeze rattled the dying leaves in the trees overhead. The cats, still murmuring amongst themselves, went to their dens. For the second night in a row, Fireheart dreamed. He was standing in the dark. The roar and the stench of a Thunderpath was very close by. Fireheart felt himself buffeted and blinded by the monsters that roared up and down with glaring eyes. Suddenly, through the din, Fireheart heard the pitiful cry of a young cat. The desperate wail sliced through the thundering of the monsters. Fireheart awoke with a start. For a moment he thought that the cry had woken him. But the only noise was the muffled snores of warriors sleeping beside him. A growl came from somewhere near the middle of the den. It sounded like Tigerclaw. Fireheart felt too unsettled to go back to sleep, so he crept silently out of the den. It was dark outside, and the stars dotting the black sky told him dawn was still far off. With the wail of the young cat echoing in his mind, Fireheart padded over to the nursery, his ears

我将参加黎明巡逻。” 一阵冷风吹得头上树上的枯叶格格作响。 猫们仍在互相窃窃私语，回到了它们的窝里。 连续第二个晚上，火心做梦了。 他站在黑暗中。 雷声的轰鸣声和臭气就在附近。 火心感到自己被那些瞪着眼睛上下咆哮的怪物打瞎了。 突然，在一片喧闹声中，火心听到一只小猫可怜的叫声。 绝望的哀号划破了怪物的轰鸣。 火心被惊醒了。 有那么一会儿，他以为是那喊声把他吵醒了。 但唯一的声音是睡在他身边的战士们低沉的鼾声。 从洞穴中央某处传来一声咆哮。 听起来像是虎爪的声音。 火心感到很不安，无法再入睡，所以他悄悄地爬出了洞穴。 外面很黑，星星点缀着黑色的天空，告诉他黎明还很遥远。 心中回荡着小猫的哀号，火心蹑步走到育儿室，侧耳倾听

pricked. He could hear pawsteps beyond the camp wall. He sniffed the air. It was just Darkstripe and Longtail. Fireheart picked up their scents as they guarded ThunderClan's territory. The calm of the sleeping camp soothed Fireheart. Every cat must have nightmares about the Thunderpath, he told himself. He crept back into the den and circled comfortably back into his nest. Graystripe purred briefly in his sleep as Fireheart settled beside him and closed his eyes. Graystripe's nose woke him, prodding his side. "Leave me alone," Fireheart grumbled. "Wake up!" Graystripe hissed. "Why? We're not on patrol!" Fireheart complained. "Bluestar wants to see us in her den, now." Fuzzy-headed, Fireheart scrambled to his paws and followed Graystripe out of the den. The sun was beginning to turn the sky pink, and there was frost on the trees around the camp. The two cats bounded across the clearing to Bluestar's den and announced their arrival with hushed mews.

刺痛。他能听到营地墙外的脚步声。 他嗅了嗅空气。只有黑条纹和长尾。 火心在守卫雷霆氏族领地时嗅到了他们的气味。 沉睡营地的平静使火心平静下来。 他对自己说，每只猫都做过关于雷道的噩梦。 他蹑手蹑脚地爬回洞里，舒舒服服地绕回巢里。 灰条纹在睡梦中发出了短暂的呼噜声，火心坐在他身边，闭上了眼睛。 灰条纹的鼻子戳醒了他。 “别管我。”火心抱怨道。 “醒来!”Graystripe发出嘘嘘的声音。 “为什么?我们不是在巡逻！”Fireheart抱怨道。 “蓝星现在要我们去她的窝里。” 火心毛绒绒地爬起爪子，跟着灰条纹走出了洞穴。 太阳开始把天空染成粉红色，营地周围的树上结了霜。 两只猫蹦蹦跳跳地穿过空地，来到蓝星的窝里，悄声宣布它们的到来。

"Enter!" It was Tigerclaw's voice that answered from behind the draped lichen. Alarm swept through Fireheart as he remembered his conversation with Bluestar on the way to the Gathering. Had she told Tigerclaw about his accusations? Graystripe pushed his way into Bluestar's den. Fireheart followed him uneasily. Bluestar was sitting in her nest, her head up and her eyes bright. Tigerclaw stood in the middle of the smooth sandstone floor. Fireheart tried to read his expression, but the great tabby's eyes were as cold and steady as always. Bluestar began at once. "Fireheart, Graystripe, I have an important mission for you." "A mission?" Fireheart echoed. Relief and excitement swept away his anxiety. "I want you to find WindClan and bring them back to their territory," announced Bluestar. "Before you get too excited, bear in mind this could be very dangerous," Tigerclaw growled. "We don't know where WindClan has gone, so you will have to follow what is left of their scent–probably into hostile territory." "But you've been through WindClan territory,

“进!”那是虎爪的声音，从覆盖着的地衣后面传来。 当火心想起在去集会的路上与蓝星的谈话时，一阵恐慌席卷了他。 她有没有告诉虎爪他的指控？ 灰条纹闯进了蓝星的巢穴。 火心不安地跟着他。 蓝星正坐在她的窝里，她昂着头，眼睛明亮。 虎爪站在光滑的砂岩地板中央。 火心试图读懂他的表情，但这只大虎斑猫的眼睛一如既往地冷漠而坚定。 蓝星立刻开始了。“火心，灰条，我有一个重要的任务要交给你。” “任务?”Fireheart回荡。 宽慰和兴奋消除了他的焦虑。 “我要你找到风氏族，把他们带回他们的领地。”蓝星宣布。 “在你太兴奋之前，记住这可能非常危险。”虎爪咆哮道。 “我们不知道风氏族去了哪里，所以你必须跟着他们残存的气味——很可能进入敌对地区。” “但你已经穿过了风氏族的领地，