Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 His heart thudding, Fireheart looked from Graystripe to Silverstream. She quivered with happiness, her green eyes glowing with pride. "Your kits?" he echoed in alarm. "Are you both out of your minds? This is disastrous!" Graystripe blinked and would not meet his friend's eyes. "Not… not necessarily. I mean, these kits will join us together forever." "But you come from different Clans!" Fireheart protested. From the uneasiness in Graystripe's expression, he guessed that his friend knew very well what difficulties the kits would cause. "You can't ever claim these kits as your own, Graystripe. And Silverstream," he added, turning toward the RiverClan cat, "you won't be able to tell anyone in your Clan who the father is." "I don't care," Silverstream insisted, giving her chest fur a quick lick. "I'll know. That's all that matters." Graystripe looked as if he wasn't too sure of that. "It's stupid that they can't know," he muttered. "We haven't done anything to be ashamed of." He pressed himself against

第十四章火心的心怦怦直跳，他看看灰条纹，又看看银溪。 她高兴得发抖，绿眼睛里闪烁着骄傲的光芒。 “你的工具箱？”他惊恐地重复道。 “你们俩都疯了吗？” 这是灾难性的！”灰条眨了眨眼睛，不愿直视他朋友的眼睛。 “不……不一定。我的意思是，这些套装将永远和我们在一起。” “但你们来自不同的氏族！”Fireheart抗议道。 从灰条纹不安的表情来看，他猜他的朋友很清楚这些套件会带来什么困难。 “你永远不能声称这些装备是你自己的，Graystripe。 至于银溪，”他转向河族的那只猫，补充道，“你不能告诉你族里的任何人孩子的父亲是谁。” “我不在乎。”银溪坚持着，迅速舔了舔她胸前的毛。 “我就知道。这才是最重要的。” 灰条纹似乎对此不太确定。 “他们不知道是愚蠢的，”他喃喃地说。 “我们没有做过什么可耻的事。” 他把自己压在

Silverstream's flank and shot Fireheart a helpless glance. "I know that's what you feel," Fireheart agreed heavily. "But it's no good, Graystripe; you know it isn't. These will be RiverClan kits." His heart sank at the thought of the trouble this could cause in the future. When these kits grew to be warriors, Graystripe might have to fight against them! He would be torn between loyalty to his blood kin, and loyalty to his Clan and the warrior code. Fireheart could not see any way for him to keep faith with both. Had it been the same with Mistyfoot and Stonefur? he wondered. Had their ThunderClan parents ever had to fight against them? He remembered Oakheart, trying to defend them from ThunderClan attack; how had the RiverClan warrior explained that to them? It was an impossible situation, and now it would all begin again with a new set of kits. But Fireheart knew it was pointless to say this now. Glancing up and down the line of bushes in case any cat was approaching, he meowed, "It's time we were going. It must be sunhigh. They'll

银溪的侧翼，向火心投去无助的一瞥。 “我知道你是这么想的。” “可是没用，灰条带；你知道不是的。 这些将是RiverClan的套件。” 一想到这件事将来可能引起的麻烦，他的心就沉了下去。 当这些套件成长为战士时，Graystripe可能不得不与他们战斗！他将在忠于自己的血亲，忠于自己的氏族和武士准则之间摇摆不定。 火心不知道有什么办法能让他对这两个人都忠诚。 迷雾脚和斯通弗也是这样吗？ 他想知道。他们的雷霆氏族父母曾经和他们打过仗吗？ 他记得奥克哈特，试图保护他们免受雷霆战队的攻击；大河氏族的勇士是怎么跟他们解释的？ 这是一种不可能的情况，现在一切都将以一套新的套件重新开始。 但火心知道现在说这些毫无意义。 他上下扫视了一下灌木丛，以防有猫靠近，然后喵喵地叫道：“我们该走了。 一定是太阳出来了。他们会

miss us back at camp." Graystripe touched his nose gently to Silverstream's. "Fireheart's right," he murmured. "We must go. And don't worry," he added. "They'll be the most beautiful kits in the forest." Silverstream's eyes narrowed with affection, and her voice came in a deep purr. "I know. We'll find a way to get through this." She stood watching as Fireheart and Graystripe left the bushes and padded down the slope toward the flooded river. Graystripe kept looking back, as if he could hardly bear to leave her. Fireheart felt as if he were carrying a cold, heavy stone in his chest. How long can this go on, he wondered, before some cat finds out? He was still feeling weighed down with anxiety as they crossed the tree trunk and went back into ThunderClan territory, though he tried hard to push the problem out of his mind. Right now it was more important to decide what to say if any cat had noticed their absence. "I think we should hunt for a bit," he told Graystripe. "Then at least—"

想念我们回到营地。”灰条轻轻地碰了碰银溪的鼻子。 “火心说得对。” “我们得走了。别担心，”他补充道。 “它们将是森林里最漂亮的幼崽。” 银溪深情地眯起眼睛，发出低沉的咕噜声。 “我知道。我们会找到办法度过难关的。” 她站在那里看着火心和灰条离开灌木丛，沿着斜坡朝泛滥的河水走去。 灰条纹不停地回头看，好像舍不得离开她似的。 火心觉得自己的胸膛里好像装着一块又冷又重的石头。 他想，这种情况还能持续多久，才会被猫发现？ 当他们穿过树干回到雷霆部落的地盘时，他仍然感到焦虑不安，尽管他努力把这个问题从他的脑海中赶出去。 现在更重要的是决定如果有猫注意到他们不在，该说什么。 “我认为我们应该去找点东西，”他告诉Graystripe。 “那么至少——”

An excited meow from the edge of the forest interrupted him. "Fireheart! Fireheart!" Fireheart stared in disbelief as a small white body crashed out of the bracken at the edge of the trees. Cloudkit! "Oh, mousedung!" muttered Graystripe. Fireheart padded across the grass, his heart sinking. "Cloudkit, what are you doing here?" he demanded. "I told you to stay in the nursery." "I tracked you," Cloudkit announced proudly. "All the way from camp." As he looked at the kit's shining blue eyes, Fireheart felt sick with apprehension. Their chances of slipping back into camp with a story of early hunting had just vanished. Cloudkit must have seen them crossing the river. "I followed your scent trail right up to the stepping-stones," Cloudkit went on. "Fireheart, what were you and Graystripe doing in RiverClan territory?" Before Fireheart could think of a reply, another voice broke in—a low, menacing growl. "Yes, that's what I would like to know, too." Fireheart felt the strength drain out of his paws

从森林边缘传来一声兴奋的猫叫声，打断了他的话。 “Fireheart !Fireheart !”火心难以置信地盯着，一个白色的小尸体从树边的蕨菜丛中冲了出来。 Cloudkit !“哦，老鼠！” 火心蹑手蹑脚地走过草地，心一沉。 “云kit，你在这里做什么？” “我叫你待在育儿室里的。” “我跟踪了你，”Cloudkit自豪地宣布。 “从营地一路过来。”火心看着工具包闪闪发光的蓝眼睛，担心得难受极了。 他们带着早期狩猎的故事溜回营地的机会消失了。 Cloudkit肯定看到他们过河了。 “我顺着你的气味一直走到台阶上，”云kit接着说。 “火心，你和灰条纹在河族领地做什么？”火心还没来得及回答，另一个声音就响起了——一个低低的、威胁的咆哮。 “是的，这也是我想知道的。” 火心感到爪子的力量在慢慢流失

as he looked up to see Tigerclaw shouldering his way through the crisp brown bracken. "Fireheart's really brave!" mewed Cloudkit, while Fireheart stood with his mouth half-open, panic turning his brain to feathers. "He went out on a special warrior mission—he told me so." "Did he now?" hissed Tigerclaw, an interested gleam in his eyes. "And did he tell you what this special warrior mission was?" "No, but I can guess." Cloudkit trembled with excitement. "He's been with Graystripe to spy on RiverClan. Fireheart, did you—" "Quiet, kit," snapped Tigerclaw. "Well?" he challenged Fireheart. "Is that true?" Fireheart glanced at Graystripe. His friend was frozen, his yellow eyes staring in horror at the deputy; obviously there would be no helpful suggestions from him. "We wanted to see how far the floods went," Fireheart meowed. That was not exactly a lie. "Oh?" Tigerclaw paused while he looked deliberately in all directions and then asked, "What happened to the rest of your patrol? And some cat must have sent you," he added, before

他抬起头来，看见虎爪在棕色的蕨菜丛中挤来挤去。 “火心真勇敢！”云kit叫道，而火心则半张着嘴站在那里，惊慌得脑袋都变成了羽毛。 “他出去执行一项特殊的战士任务了——他告诉我的。” “是吗？”虎爪嘶嘶地问，眼睛里闪烁着兴趣的光芒。 “他有没有告诉你这个特殊的战士任务是什么？”“不知道，但我能猜到。” Cloudkit兴奋得发抖。 “他一直跟着灰条去监视河族。 火心，你是不是——”“安静，小鬼。”虎爪厉声说。 “怎么样？”他质问火心。 “是真的吗？”火心瞥了灰条纹一眼。 他的朋友僵住了，黄色的眼睛惊恐地盯着警官；很明显，他不会提出有用的建议。 “我们想看看洪水有多远，”火心喵喵地说。 这并不完全是谎言。 “哦?”虎爪停顿了一下，故意朝四面看了看，然后问道：“你们其余的巡逻队怎么样了？” 一定是哪只猫派你来的。”他接着说

Fireheart could reply. "It wasn't me, even though I sent out all the other patrols." "We just thought…" Graystripe began feebly. Tigerclaw ignored him. He thrust his huge head so close to Fireheart that he could smell the deputy's hot, rancid breath. "If you ask me, kittypet, you're far too friendly with RiverClan. You might have been over there to spy—or you might be spying for them. Which side are you on?" "You've no right to accuse me!" Anger made Fireheart's fur bristle. "I'm loyal to ThunderClan." A deep growl came from Tigerclaw's throat. "Then you won't mind if we tell Bluestar about this expedition of yours. And we'll see if she thinks you're so loyal. As for you…" He glared down at Cloudkit, who tried to meet his amber gaze boldly, but couldn't help retreating a pace or two. "Bluestar ordered that no kits were to leave camp alone. Or do you think Clan orders don't apply to you, like your kittypet kin?" For once, Cloudkit didn't reply; his blue eyes looked scared. Tigerclaw swung around and stalked back

火心可以回答。“不是我，尽管我派出了所有其他的巡逻队。” “我们只是觉得……”灰条纹无力地说。 虎爪不理他。他把巨大的脑袋伸到离火心很近的地方，以至于他都能闻到副警长那股灼热、腐臭的气息。 “小猫咪，要我说，你对河族太友好了。 你可能是去那里做间谍的，也可能是替他们做间谍。 你站在哪一边？”“你没有权利指责我！”火心气得毛发直竖。 “我忠于ThunderClan。” 虎爪的喉咙里发出一声低沉的咆哮。 “那么你不会介意我们把你这次探险的事告诉蓝星吧。 看看她会不会觉得你这么忠诚。 至于你……”他低头怒视着云kit，后者试图勇敢地迎向他琥珀色的目光，但却忍不住后退了一两步。 “蓝星命令任何装备都不能单独离开营地。 还是你认为部落的命令并不适用于你，就像你的小猫亲戚一样？”这一次，Cloudkit没有回复；他的蓝眼睛看起来很害怕。 虎爪转过身来，大步走了回来