Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21 When Cinderpaw had finished tending to Fireheart's wounds, he went to find Graystripe. His friend was hunched up inside the warriors' den, his golden eyes troubled. He looked up as Fireheart slipped between the branches. "I'm sorry," he blurted out. "I know I should have been here. But I had to see Silverstream. I couldn't get near her on the night of the Gathering." Fireheart sighed. For a moment, he had considered sharing his suspicions about Mistyfoot and Stonefur with his friend, but now he realized that Graystripe had more than enough worries of his own. "It's okay, Graystripe. Any of us could have been away, patrolling or hunting. But if I were you, I'd stick around camp for the next few days, and make sure Tigerclaw sees you." Graystripe scraped absently at a piece of moss. Fireheart guessed he had already arranged to meet Silverstream again. "There's something else I wanted to tell you," he meowed, deciding not to try to argue about this now. "About Brackenpaw." Quickly he described how he and the apprentice

第二十一章灰爪处理完火心的伤口后，就去找灰条。 他的朋友蜷缩在战士的洞穴里，金色的眼睛里充满了不安。 他抬起头，火心在树枝间滑过。 “对不起，”他脱口而出。 “我知道我应该在这里。 但我必须去看银溪。 聚会那天晚上，我没法接近她。” Fireheart叹了口气。有那么一会儿，他想把他对雾脚和斯通弗的怀疑告诉他的朋友，但现在他意识到，格雷斯特里克自己的烦恼已经够多了。 “没关系，灰条。我们任何一个人都有可能出去巡逻或打猎。 但如果我是你，接下来几天我会在营地附近待着，一定要让虎爪看见你。” 灰条心不在焉地刮着一片青苔。 火心猜想他已经安排好与银溪再次见面。 “还有一件事我想告诉你。”他喵喵地叫着，决定现在不去争论这件事。 “关于Brackenpaw。”他很快地描述了他和学徒是如何相处的

had gone out early, and how Brackenpaw had scented the invading band of cats. "He fought well, too," Fireheart remarked. "I think it's time he became a warrior." Graystripe let out a purr of agreement. "Does Bluestar know this?" "Not yet. You're Brackenpaw's mentor. You ought to recommend him." "But I wasn't there." "That doesn't matter." Fireheart gave his friend a nudge. "Come on, let's go and talk to Bluestar now." The ThunderClan leader and most of the warriors were still in the clearing, while Yellowfang and Cinderpaw distributed cobwebs to stop bleeding and poppy seeds for pain. Brindleface had brought out her kits to see what was going on, and Cloudkit was frisking around, pestering one warrior after another with questions about the battle. Brackenpaw was there, too, giving himself a thorough wash; Fireheart was relieved that he didn't seem too badly hurt. The two warriors went up to Bluestar, and Fireheart once more told the story of

他很早就出去了，爪子已经嗅出了那群猫的气味。 “他也打得很好。”火心说。 “我认为他是时候成为一名战士了。” 灰条发出一声咕噜声表示同意。 “蓝星知道这件事吗？”“还没有。 你是宝爪的导师。 你应该推荐他。” “但我不在那里。”“那不重要。” 火心推了推他的朋友。 “来吧，我们现在就去和蓝星谈谈。” 雷霆族的首领和大部分战士还在空地上，而黄牙和灰爪则分发蜘蛛网来止血，分发罂粟籽来止痛。 Brindleface拿出了她的装备，想看看发生了什么事，Cloudkit四处乱窜，缠着一个又一个战士，问他们关于战斗的问题。 爪子也在那儿，正在给自己彻底洗个澡；火心松了一口气，因为他似乎伤得不重。 两位勇士来到蓝星，火心再次讲述了

Brackenpaw's skill at scenting their enemies, and his bravery in the battle. "It's thanks to Brackenpaw that we had any warning at all," he meowed. "We think he should be made a warrior," Graystripe added. Bluestar nodded thoughtfully. "I agree. Brackenpaw showed himself worthy today." She got up, paced into the middle of her cats, and raised her voice. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting." Goldenflower appeared at once from the nursery, followed by Speckletail, and Smallear limped slowly from the elders' den. When they had gathered around Bluestar, she meowed, "Brackenpaw, come here." Brackenpaw looked up, surprised, and padded nervously over to Bluestar. Fireheart could see he had not the least idea what was coming. "Brackenpaw, it was you who warned the Clan today, and you fought bravely in the battle," Bluestar meowed. "It is time for you to become a warrior."

豹爪嗅出敌人的技巧，以及他在战斗中的勇敢。 “多亏了爪子，我们才有了警告。”他喵喵地叫道。 “我们认为他应该成为一名战士，”格雷斯特里特补充道。 蓝星若有所思地点了点头。 “我同意。爪子今天证明了自己的价值。” 她站起来，踱到她的猫中间，提高了嗓门。 “让所有能自己抓猎物的猫到海岩下面集合，开个部落会议。” 金花立刻从育儿室里出来了，小斑点跟在后面，小个子一瘸一拐地慢慢地走出了长老们的洞穴。 当他们聚集在蓝星身边时，她喵喵地叫道：“熊掌，过来。” 爪子惊讶地抬起头，紧张地朝蓝星走去。 火心看得出来，他根本不知道接下来会发生什么。 “猴爪，今天是你警告氏族的，你在战斗中表现得很勇敢。”蓝星叫道。 “是时候让你成为一名战士了。”

The apprentice's mouth fell open. His eyes blazed with excitement as Bluestar pronounced the ritual words. "I, Bluestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn." She fixed her blue gaze on Brackenpaw. "Brackenpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Brackenpaw trembled slightly, but his voice was steady as he meowed, "I do." "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Brackenpaw, from this moment you will be known as Brackenfur. StarClan honors your forethought and your determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." When she finished speaking Bluestar stepped up to Brackenfur and rested her muzzle on his bowed head. Brackenfur licked her shoulder respectfully, then walked over to stand between

学徒张大了嘴。 当蓝星宣布仪式词时，他的眼睛里闪烁着兴奋的光芒。 “我，蓝星，雷霆氏族的首领，号召我的战士祖先们鄙视这个徒弟。 他受过艰苦的训练，懂得了您高贵的准则，我也向您推荐他，让他成为一名战士。” 她用忧郁的目光盯着宝爪。 “猴爪，你能保证坚持战士的准则，保护和捍卫这个氏族，即使付出生命的代价吗？”爪子微微颤抖着，但它的声音很稳定，喵喵叫道：“我愿意。” “那么以星际之神的名义，我授予你武士的称号。 Brackenpaw，从现在起你的名字就叫Brackenfur。 星际战队尊重你的远见卓识和决心，我们欢迎你成为雷霆战队的一名正式战士。” 她说完话后，蓝星走到布莱肯弗跟前，把它的嘴贴在他低垂的头上。 布莱肯弗恭敬地舔了舔她的肩膀，然后走过去站在她中间

Fireheart and Graystripe. The watching cats raised their voices to chant the new warrior's name. "Brackenfur! Brackenfur!" They began to press around him, congratulating him and wishing him well. His mother, Frostfur, pressed her muzzle against his flank, while her dark blue eyes glowed with delight. "Tonight you have to keep vigil alone," mewed Sandstorm, giving Brackenfur a friendly nudge. "Thank StarClan! The rest of us can have a night off!" Brackenfur was too overwhelmed to answer properly, but he broke into a deep, contented purr. "Th-Thank you, Graystripe," he stammered. "And you, Fireheart." Fireheart felt a rush of pride to see the cat made a warrior at last, almost as though Brackenfur had been his own apprentice. It made up, a little, for knowing that he would never go through this with Cinderpaw. StarClan had a different fate for her. Now that the ceremony was done, weariness swept over Fireheart. He was about to go back to the warriors' den when he caught sight of Cinderpaw limping rapidly over to

火心和灰条。围观的猫们高声呼喊着新战士的名字。 “Brackenfur !Brackenfur !”他们开始围着他，向他祝贺，祝他好运。 他的母亲弗罗斯特弗把它的嘴紧贴在他的腰上，深蓝色的眼睛里闪烁着喜悦的光芒。 “今晚你得一个人守夜。”沙暴说着，友好地推了布莱肯弗一下。 “谢谢StarClan !我们剩下的人可以休息一晚了！”布莱肯弗太激动了，无法正确地回答，但他突然发出了一声深沉、满足的咕噜声。 “谢谢你，格雷斯特。”他结结巴巴地说。 “还有你，火心。”看到这只猫终于成为了一名战士，火心感到一阵骄傲，仿佛布莱肯弗是他自己的徒弟。 这稍稍弥补了一点，因为他知道他永远不会和灰姑娘一起经历这一切。 《星际战队》对她来说有着不同的命运。 仪式结束后，倦意笼罩了火心。 他正要回到勇士的洞穴，突然看见灰姑娘一瘸一拐地快步走了过来

her brother. "Congratulations, Brackenfur!" she mewed, her blue eyes sparkling as she covered his ears with licks. Brackenfur's purring faltered and his eyes looked troubled. "You should have been with me," he murmured, gently nosing her injured leg. "No, I'm fine as I am," Cinderpaw insisted. "You'll have to be a warrior for both of us. And I'll have to settle for being the greatest medicine cat this forest has ever seen!" Fireheart gazed at the dark gray she-cat with admiration. He knew that Cinderpaw really was happy to be Yellowfang's apprentice. She would be a fine medicine cat. But she would have been a fine warrior too. It took a special spirit, he thought, not to begrudge her brother's triumph. As always, the sight of Cinderpaw's injury reminded Fireheart of Tigerclaw. Fireheart was so sure the deputy had caused her accident, and had also tried to drown him just recently. Yet today Tigerclaw had fought with the strength of StarClan. Without him, they could have lost the battle. If you prove his treachery, Fireheart asked

她的哥哥。“祝贺你，布莱肯弗！”她轻声叫道，在舔他的耳朵时，她的蓝眼睛闪闪发光。 布莱肯弗的呼噜声颤抖了，他的眼睛看起来很不安。 “你应该和我在一起的，”他低声说，轻轻地抚摸着她受伤的腿。 “不，我这样很好，”灰姑娘坚持说。 “为了我们俩，你必须成为一名战士。 我只能满足于成为这片森林里有史以来最伟大的药用猫了！”火心羡慕地看着这只深灰色的母猫。 他知道灰姑娘真的很乐意做黄牙的徒弟。 她会是一只很好的药用猫。 但她也会成为一名优秀的战士。 他想，不嫉妒她哥哥的胜利，需要一种特殊的精神。 像往常一样，看到灰姑娘的伤痕，火心想起了虎爪。 火心很肯定是那个副手造成了她的事故，而且就在最近，她还想把他淹死。 然而今天虎爪却以星族的力量进行了战斗。 如果没有他，他们可能会输掉这场战斗。 如果你能证明他的背叛，火心问道