Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 It was a cold, gray morning. Fireheart dragged himself reluctantly out of his warm nest, and padded over to nudge Graystripe. "Wha…?" Graystripe twitched and settled down again with his tail wrapped over his nose. "Go away, Fireheart." Fireheart lowered his head and butted the broad gray shoulder. "Come on, Graystripe," he whispered into his friend's ear. "We've got to hunt for RiverClan." At that, Graystripe levered himself upright and parted his jaws in an enormous yawn. Fireheart felt just as tired as his friend; supplying RiverClan with fresh-kill as well as keeping up with their duties in ThunderClan was taking up all their time and energy. They had crossed the river with prey several times, and so far their luck had held. No ThunderClan cat had found out what they were doing. Stretching, Fireheart glanced cautiously around the den. Most of the warriors were curled among the moss, too sound asleep to ask awkward questions. Tigerclaw was just a mound of dark

这是一个寒冷、阴沉的早晨。 火心不情愿地从温暖的窝里爬出来，走过去推了推格雷条纹。 “那…?”灰条抽搐了一下，又坐了下来，尾巴裹在鼻子上。 “走开，火心。”火心低下头，撞在他宽阔的灰色肩膀上。 “来吧，格雷斯特。”他在朋友耳边低语。 “我们得去找河族。” 听了这话，灰条纹挺直了身子，张开了嘴巴，打了一个大大的哈欠。 火心和他的朋友一样累；为RiverClan提供新鲜的猎物以及在ThunderClan履行他们的职责占据了他们所有的时间和精力。 他们带着猎物渡了好几次河，到目前为止，他们的运气还不错。 没有一只雷霆家族的猫发现他们在做什么。 火心伸伸懒腰，小心翼翼地扫视了一下洞穴。 大多数战士蜷缩在苔藓中，睡得很熟，没有时间问一些尴尬的问题。 虎爪只是一堆黑

tabby fur in his nest. Fireheart slipped out between the branches of the den. At first he thought that all the other cats were asleep; then he saw Brindleface appear at the entrance to the nursery and lift her face to sniff the air. As if she didn't like the raw, damp wind that greeted her, she retreated almost at once. Fireheart looked back at Graystripe, who was shaking scraps of moss off his coat. "Okay," he meowed. "We can go now." The two cats bounded across the clearing toward the gorse tunnel. Just as they reached it, a familiar voice behind them called out, "Fireheart! Fireheart!" Fireheart froze and turned around. Cloudkit was scampering toward him, yowling, "Fireheart! Wait for me!" "Fireheart," growled Graystripe, "why does your kin always turn up at the most awkward moment?" "StarClan knows." Fireheart sighed. "Where are you going?" Cloudkit panted excitedly as he skidded to a stop in front of the warriors. "Can I come with you?"

他的窝里有虎斑毛。火心从洞穴的树枝间溜了出来。 起初，他以为其他的猫都睡着了；接着，他看见斑脸出现在育儿室门口，抬起脸来嗅着空气。 仿佛她不喜欢迎面吹来的阴冷潮湿的风，她几乎立刻后退了。 火心回头看了看灰条纹，灰条纹正在抖衣服上的青苔屑。 “好吧，”他叫道。“我们现在可以走了。” 两只猫蹦蹦跳跳地穿过空地，朝金雀花隧道走去。 他们刚走到门口，身后一个熟悉的声音喊道：“火心！Fireheart !”火心僵住了，转过身来。 Cloudkit朝他跑来，大叫着：“火心！等等我！”“火心，”灰条纹咆哮道，“为什么你的亲戚总是在最尴尬的时候出现？”“StarClan知道。” Fireheart叹了口气。“你要去哪儿？”Cloudkit兴奋地喘着气，他在战士们面前滑了下来。 “我能和你一起去吗？”

"No," Graystripe told him. "Only apprentices can go out with warriors." Cloudkit shot Graystripe a look of dislike. "But I'll be an apprentice soon. Won't I, Fireheart?" "'Soon' isn't 'now,'" Fireheart reminded him, struggling to keep calm. If they hung around much longer, the whole Clan would be awake and wanting to know where they were going. "You can't come this time, Cloudkit. We're going out on a special warrior mission." Cloudkit's blue eyes grew round with wonder. "Is it a secret?" "Yes," hissed Graystripe. "Especially from nosey kits." "I wouldn't tell any cat," Cloudkit promised eagerly. "Fireheart, please let me come." "No." Fireheart exchanged an exasperated glance with Graystripe. "Look, Cloudkit, go back to the nursery now, and maybe I'll take you out later for some hunting practice. Okay?" "Okay… I suppose." Cloudkit looked sulky, but he turned around and trailed off in the direction of the nursery. Fireheart watched him until he reached the

“不，”格雷斯特告诉他。 “只有学徒才能和武士一起出去。” Cloudkit厌恶地看了Graystripe一眼。 “但我很快就要当学徒了。 是不是，火心？”“‘不久’不等于‘现在’。”火心提醒他，努力保持镇静。 如果他们在这里逗留太久，整个氏族就会醒过来，想知道他们要去哪里。 “这次你不能来，云kit。 我们要执行一项特殊的战士任务。” 云kit的蓝眼睛惊奇地瞪大了。 “这是个秘密吗？”“是的。”灰条嘶嘶地说。 “尤其是那些爱管闲事的家伙。” “我不会告诉任何一只猫，”Cloudkit急切地保证。 “火心，请让我来吧。” “没有。”火心恼怒地瞥了灰条纹一眼。 “听着，云kit，现在回保育室去吧，也许我一会儿会带你出去练习打猎。 没事吧?”“好吧……我想。” Cloudkit看起来很生气，但他转过身，慢慢地朝育儿室的方向走去。 火心一直看着他，直到他走到

entrance, and then slipped into the mouth of the tunnel. Moments later he was racing up the ravine with Graystripe at his side. "I just hope Cloudkit doesn't tell the whole Clan we went out early on a special mission," puffed Graystripe. "We'll worry about that later," Fireheart panted. The two warriors headed for the stepping- stones. The fallen tree was still there to help them cross the river, and hunting close by meant they had less distance to carry the fresh-kill, and were less likely to be spotted. By the time they reached the edge of the forest, the daylight had grown stronger, but the sunrise was hidden behind a mass of gray cloud. There was a spatter of rain in the wind. Fireheart couldn't help feeling that all sensible prey would be curled up in their holes. He raised his head and sniffed. The breeze carried the scent of squirrel, fresh and not far away. Cautiously he began to stalk through the trees. Soon he caught sight of his prey searching among the debris at the foot of an oak tree. As he watched, it sat up and began to

入口，然后溜进了隧道口。 片刻之后，他在格雷斯特的陪伴下冲向峡谷。 Graystripe说：“我只是希望Cloudkit不要告诉整个Clan我们提前出去执行特殊任务了。 “我们以后再担心吧。”火心喘着气说。 两个勇士朝台阶走去。 倒下的树还在那里，可以帮助他们过河，在附近狩猎意味着他们携带新鲜猎物的距离更短，被发现的可能性也更小。 当他们走到森林边缘时，天色已经更亮了，但日出却被一团灰色的云遮住了。 风中有零星的雨点。 火心忍不住觉得，所有明智的猎物都会蜷缩在洞里。 他抬起头来嗅了嗅。 微风带着松鼠的气味，清新而又不远。 他开始小心翼翼地穿过树林。 不久，他看到他的猎物正在一棵橡树脚下的废墟中搜寻。 在他的注视下，它坐了起来，开始摇晃起来

nibble on an acorn held between its front paws. "If it knows we're here," Graystripe breathed in his ear, "it'll be up that tree in a flash." Fireheart nodded. "Circle around," he murmured. "Come at it from that side." Graystripe slid away from him, a silent gray shape in the shadows of the trees. Fireheart flattened himself into the hunter's crouch with the ease of long practice, and began to creep up on the squirrel. He saw its ears prick, and its head swiveled around as if something had alarmed it; perhaps it had seen a flicker of movement from Graystripe, or caught his scent. While it was distracted, Fireheart hurled himself across the open ground. His claws pinned the squirrel to the forest floor, and Graystripe ran forward to finish the struggle. "Well done," Fireheart grunted. Graystripe spat out a mouthful of fur. "It's a bit old and stringy, but it'll do." The two warriors continued their hunt until they had killed a rabbit and a couple of mice. By then, although he could not see the sun, Fireheart knew it must be near sunhigh. "We'd better take

啃啃它前爪夹着的橡子。 “如果它知道我们在这里，”格雷斯特对着他的耳朵说，“它会立刻爬上那棵树的。” Fireheart点点头。“绕一圈。”他喃喃地说。 “从那边来。” 灰条从他身边溜走了，在树影中出现了一个无声的灰色身影。 火心经过长时间的练习，轻松地摆出猎人的蹲姿，开始向松鼠爬去。 他看见它的耳朵在刺痛，它的头转了一圈，好像有什么东西把它吓坏了；也许它看到了灰条纹身上的一点动静，或者嗅到了他的气味。 正当它分心时，火心纵身跃过空地。 他的爪子把松鼠钉在森林的地板上，灰条纹跑上前结束了这场斗争。 “干得好。”火心咕哝道。 “灰条”吐出一口皮毛。 “有点老了，有点硬，不过还行。” 两个武士继续打猎，最后打死了一只兔子和两只老鼠。 这时，虽然火心看不见太阳，但他知道太阳一定快出来了。 “我们最好带上。

this to RiverClan," he meowed. "They're bound to miss us back at the camp soon." Stumbling slightly under the weight of the squirrel and one of the mice, he led the way to the fallen tree. To his relief, the water was no higher, and the crossing seemed easier now that he had done it several times. All the same, Fireheart felt uneasy as he scrambled through the branches, knowing that he was in full view of any ThunderClan cat who happened to be patrolling the forest's edge. He and Graystripe swam the last couple of fox-lengths and pulled themselves out of the river on the RiverClan side. When they had shaken the water out of their fur they slunk quickly toward the bushes where RiverClan had made their temporary camp. A cat must have been on watch, because as they approached, Leopardfur emerged from the bushes. "Welcome," she meowed, sounding a lot friendlier than she had when she first came upon them with the two kits they had rescued. Fireheart followed her into the shelter of the hawthorn branches, remembering how he and

这是给大河家族的。”他叫道。 “他们很快就会在营地里想念我们的。” 在松鼠和一只老鼠的重压下，他踉跄着走到倒下的树前。 让他松了一口气的是，水位并没有升高，而且由于他已经游过好几次了，渡河似乎更容易了。 尽管如此，火心在树枝间爬来爬去的时候还是感到很不安，因为他知道，任何碰巧在森林边缘巡逻的雷霆家族的猫都能看到他。 他和灰条纹游了最后几英里，从河族这边游出了河。 他们抖掉皮毛上的水，迅速向河族搭建临时营地的灌木丛溜去。 一定是有一只猫在放哨，因为当他们走近时，豹子从灌木丛中走了出来。 “欢迎。”她喵喵地叫道，听起来比她第一次带着他们救出来的两个孩子来的时候友好多了。 火心跟着她走进山楂树枝的掩蔽处，想起他和