Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 The sun began to set for the third time since Fireheart had almost drowned. The young warrior was washing himself outside his den, scraping his tongue across his fur. He kept imagining that he could still taste the muddy water. As he twisted his head to wash his back, he heard the pad of approaching paws, and looked up to see Tigerclaw looming over him. "Bluestar wants you to go to the Gathering," the deputy growled. "Meet her outside her den— and bring Sandstorm and Graystripe." He stalked away before Fireheart could reply. Fireheart got up and stretched. Glancing around, he spotted Graystripe and Sandstorm eating beside the patch of nettles, and hurried over to join them. "Bluestar has chosen us to go to the Gathering," he announced. Sandstorm finished off her blackbird and swiped a pink tongue around her jaws. "But can we get to the Gathering?" she meowed, sounding puzzled. "I thought the stream was impossible to cross." "Bluestar said StarClan would be angry if we

第十八章自从火心几乎被淹死以来，太阳第三次落山了。 年轻的战士在窝外洗澡，用舌头擦毛。 他一直想象着自己还能尝到那浑水的味道。 正当他扭头洗背的时候，他听到了爪子靠近的声音，抬头一看，虎爪正在逼近他。 “蓝星要你去参加集会。”副警长咆哮道。 “在她的窝外面等她——带上沙暴和灰条。” 没等火心回答，他就大步走开了。 火心站起来伸了个懒腰。 他环顾四周，发现“灰条”和“沙暴”在那片荨麻旁吃东西，便匆匆过去和他们会合。 “蓝星选择了我们参加聚会，”他宣布。 沙暴吃光了她的黑鸟，用粉红色的舌头舔了舔她的下颚。 “但我们能去聚会吗？”她叫道，听起来很困惑。 “我以为这条小溪是不可能过去的。” “蓝星说如果我们

didn't try," Fireheart mewed. "She wants to talk to us now—maybe she has a plan." Graystripe spoke through a mouthful of vole. "I just hope she doesn't expect us to swim." In spite of his words, his eyes shone with excitement as he gulped the rest of the fresh-kill and sprang to his paws. Fireheart knew he must be looking forward to a chance to see Silverstream, and he wondered if they had managed to meet in the time since he and Graystripe had been caught crossing the river after their ill-fated hunting mission for RiverClan. Fireheart thought of Silverstream's kits, and he wondered how Graystripe would be able to bear seeing them grow up in another Clan. Would Silverstream ever be able to tell them that Graystripe, the ThunderClan warrior, was their father? Fireheart tried to put the questions out of his mind as he and his friends crossed the clearing to the Highrock. Bluestar was sitting outside her den, with Whitestorm, Mousefur, and Willowpelt already by her side. A moment later Tigerclaw and Darkstripe joined them. "As you know, the moon is full tonight,"

我没试过。”火心叫道。 “她现在想和我们谈谈——也许她有个计划。” 灰条纹嘴里含着田鼠味说话。 “我只希望她不要指望我们游泳。” 尽管他说了这些话，但当他吞下剩下的新鲜猎物，跳起来时，他的眼睛里却闪烁着兴奋的光芒。 火心知道他一定很期待能有机会见到银溪，他想知道自从他和灰条纹在为河族执行不幸的狩猎任务后过河时被抓后，他们是否见过面。 火心想到了银溪的装备，他不知道灰条纹怎么能忍受他们在另一个部落长大。 银溪能告诉他们，雷霆族战士灰条纹是他们的父亲吗？ 火心和朋友们穿过空地朝海岩酒馆走去，努力把这些问题抛到脑后。 蓝星坐在她的窝外，白风暴、鼠毛和威洛佩特已经在她身边。 过了一会儿，虎爪和暗条纹也加入了他们。 “你知道，今晚的月亮是圆的。”

Bluestar began when all the cats were gathered around her. "It will be hard to get to Fourtrees, but StarClan would expect us to do all we can to find a dry route. So I've chosen warriors only— this will be no journey for elders or apprentices, or queens expecting kits. Darkstripe, you led a patrol to examine the stream this morning. Report what you found." "The water's going down," meowed Darkstripe. "But not fast enough. We patrolled as far as the Thunderpath, and there's nowhere a cat could cross without swimming." "The stream's narrower up there," mewed Willowpelt. "Could we jump across?" "Maybe, if you grew wings," Darkstripe replied. "If all you've got is your own paws…" "But that has to be the best place to try," insisted Whitestorm. Bluestar nodded. "We'll start there," she decided. "Maybe StarClan will lead us to a safe place." She rose to her paws and led her cats quietly out of the camp. The sun had gone down, and twilight blurred the shapes of the forest. In the distance an owl

当所有的猫都聚集在她身边时，蓝星就开始了。 “要到达四棵树很难，但StarClan希望我们能尽一切努力找到一条干燥的路线。 所以我只选择了战士——这趟旅程不适合长老或学徒，也不适合期待装备的女王。 暗条纹，你今早带队去检查小溪了。 报告你的发现。”“水在下降，”暗条纹叫道。 “但速度还不够快。我们一直巡逻到雷道，没有哪一处猫不游过去的。” “那边的小河比较窄，”柳树叫道。 “我们能跳过去吗？”“也许吧，如果你长出翅膀的话。” “但那一定是最好的尝试地点。”白风暴坚持道。 蓝星点点头。“我们就从那里开始，”她决定。 “也许StarClan会带我们去一个安全的地方。” 她站起身来，悄悄地领着她的猫走出了营地。 太阳已经下山了，暮色模糊了森林的轮廓。 远处有一只猫头鹰

hooted, and Fireheart could hear the rustle of prey in the undergrowth, but the warriors were too intent on their journey to hunt. Bluestar took them straight through the trees to the place where the stream emerged from a hard stone tunnel underneath the Thunderpath. Their usual route to Fourtrees did not pass this close to the Thunderpath, and Fireheart wondered what his leader was planning to do. When they reached the tunnel, he saw that floodwater spread out on either side, reflecting the pale light of the rising moon. Water covered the Thunderpath as well, and as the cats watched they saw a monster pass by, moving slowly, throwing up a filthy wave from its round black paws. Once the monster had disappeared into the distance, Bluestar led her cats to the water's edge on the hard surface of the Thunderpath. She sniffed the water, wrinkling her nose at the stench, and cautiously put one paw into the flood. "It's shallow enough here," she meowed. "We can walk up the Thunderpath until we're on the other side of the stream, and get to Fourtrees along the border with ShadowClan."

火心听到了灌木丛中猎物的沙沙声，但战士们都专心于他们的旅程，没有时间狩猎。 蓝星带着他们径直穿过树林，来到小溪从雷暴之路下面一条坚硬的石头隧道流出的地方。 他们通常去四棵树的路线并没有经过这么近的雷电之路，火心不知道他的首领打算做什么。 当他们到达隧道时，他看到洪水在隧道的两边散开，反射着初升的月亮发出的苍白的光。 水也覆盖了雷道，当猫们看着的时候，他们看到一个怪物经过，慢慢地移动着，从它圆圆的黑爪子里甩出一个肮脏的波浪。 当怪物消失在远处时，蓝星带着她的猫来到了雷暴之路坚硬的水面上的水边。 她嗅了嗅水，闻着臭气皱起鼻子，小心翼翼地把一只爪子伸进水里。 “这里够浅的了，”她喵喵地说。 “我们可以沿着雷道一直走到小溪的另一边，然后沿着影族的边界到达四树村。”

Walk up the Thunderpath! Fireheart felt his coat begin to prickle with fear at the thought of deliberately following the tracks of the monsters. Cinderpaw's accident had shown him what they could do to a cat, and she had only been at the edge. "What if another monster comes?" asked Graystripe, voicing Fireheart's fear. "We will keep to the side," Bluestar replied calmly. "You saw how slowly that monster was moving. Maybe they don't like getting their paws wet." Fireheart saw that Graystripe still looked doubtful. He shared his friend's worries, but there was no point in protesting any more. Tigerclaw would just berate them for being cowards. "Bluestar, wait," called Whitestorm as the Clan leader waded into the water. "Remember how low our territory is on the other side of this stream? I can't help thinking it will be flooded there, too. I don't think we'll get to Fourtrees without going onto ShadowClan territory, which is higher." A cat close to Fireheart let out a faint hiss, and Fireheart felt another pang of fear. A band of

沿着迅雷之路走！火心一想到要刻意跟踪怪物的足迹，就觉得自己的外套开始刺痛。 灰姑娘的事故让他知道了他们能对一只猫做什么，而她只是站在边缘。 “要是又来了一个怪物怎么办？”灰条纹问，说出了火心的恐惧。 蓝星平静地回答说：“我们会留在这边。” “你看到那个怪物走得有多慢。 也许它们不喜欢弄湿爪子。” 火心看到灰条纹仍然犹豫不决。 他和朋友一样担心，但再抗议也没有意义了。 虎爪只会斥责他们是懦夫。 “蓝星，等等。”氏族首领涉水而入时，白风暴喊道。 “还记得我们在这条河对岸的领土有多低吗？” 我不禁想到那里也会被洪水淹没。 我认为如果不进入ShadowClan的领地，我们就无法到达Fourtrees。” 靠近火心的一只猫发出一声微弱的嘶嘶声，火心又感到一阵恐惧。 一群人

warriors setting paw across the border of a Clan with which they had recently battled? If a patrol caught them, they would think it was an invasion. Bluestar paused with water lapping over her paws, and looked back at Whitestorm. "Maybe," she acknowledged, "but we'll have to risk it, if it's the only way." She set off again without giving her cats any time to protest. There was nothing to do but follow. Fireheart splashed along the edge of the Thunderpath just behind Whitestorm. Tigerclaw brought up the rear to keep a lookout for monsters coming up from behind. At first everything was quiet, except for a single monster traveling in the other direction on the opposite side of the Thunderpath. Then Fireheart heard the familiar growling and the splash of an approaching monster. "Look out!" Tigerclaw yowled from the end of the line. Fireheart froze, pressing himself against the low wall that edged the Thunderpath as it crossed the stream. Darkstripe scrambled on top of it and crouched there, baring his teeth at the monster as

战士们的爪子越过了他们最近战斗过的部落的边界？ 如果巡逻队抓住了他们，他们会认为这是入侵。 蓝星停了下来，水拍打着她的爪子，她回头看着白风暴。 “也许吧，”她承认，“但如果这是唯一的办法，我们就得冒这个险。” 她又出发了，没有给她的猫任何抗议的时间。 除了跟着，别无他法。 火心号在“白风暴”后面沿着雷道边缘溅落。 虎爪在后面监视从后面冒出来的怪物。 起初，一切都很安静，只有一个怪物在雷暴之路的另一边朝另一个方向行进。 接着，火心听到了熟悉的咆哮声和一只正在靠近的怪物的扑通一声。 “当心!”虎爪在线的末端嚎叫着。 火心僵住了，紧紧靠在雷霆之路的矮墙上。 “黑条”爬到上面，蹲在那里，对着怪物龇牙咧嘴