Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26 Fireheart tried to hide his misgivings as he led the three RiverClan warriors down the tunnel and into the camp. Clan cats rarely visited each other's territory, and he wondered what was so urgent that it couldn't wait until the next Gathering. Alerted by Cloudpaw, Bluestar was already seated at the foot of the Highrock, and Fireheart's apprehension increased when he saw Tigerclaw was beside her. "Thank you, Cloudpaw." Bluestar dismissed the apprentice as Fireheart approached with the newcomers. "Take your fresh-kill to the elders." Cloudpaw looked disappointed to be sent away, but he went without protest. Leopardfur walked up to Bluestar and dipped her head respectfully. "Bluestar, we come to your camp in peace," she began. "There's something we must discuss." Tigerclaw let out a low disbelieving growl, as if he would rather be ripping the fur off the intruding cats, but Bluestar ignored him. "I can guess what brings you here," she meowed. "But what is there to discuss? What's done is done. Any

第二十六章火心试图掩饰他的疑虑，他带领三名河族战士穿过隧道进入营地。 家族里的猫很少访问彼此的领地，他不知道是什么事情如此紧急，以至于不能等到下一次聚会。 蓝星得到云爪的提醒，已经坐在高岩脚下，火心看到虎爪在她身边，更加担心了。 “谢谢你，云爪。”当火心带着新来的人走近时，蓝星解雇了学徒。 “把你刚宰杀的东西拿给长老们。” 云爪似乎对被赶走感到失望，但他没有抗议就走了。 豹皮走向蓝星，恭恭敬敬地低下头。 “蓝星，我们和平地来到你的营地，”她开始说。 “有件事我们必须讨论一下。” 虎爪发出一声不相信的低吼，好像他宁愿扯掉那些闯入的猫的皮毛，但蓝星没有理睬他。 “我能猜到是什么风把你吹来了，”她喵喵地说。 “可是有什么好谈的呢？” 木已成舟。任何

punishment for Graystripe will be handled by his own Clan." While she spoke to Leopardfur, Fireheart noticed, her eyes kept straying to Mistyfoot and Stonefur. It was the first time Fireheart had seen his leader with the RiverClan warriors since she had admitted to him that they were her kits. He did not think he was imagining the wistfulness in her blue eyes as she looked at them. "What you say is true," Leopardfur agreed. "The two young cats were foolish, but Silverstream is dead, and Graystripe's punishment is not for RiverClan to decide. We've come here about the kits." "What about them?" asked Bluestar. "They're RiverClan kits," meowed Leopardfur. "We've come to take them home." "RiverClan kits?" Bluestar's eyes narrowed. "Why do you say that?" "And how do you know about them?" Tigerclaw demanded, glaring in fury as he sprang to his paws. "Have you been spying? Or did some cat tell you?" He turned on Fireheart as he spoke, but

对灰条的惩罚将由他自己的部族来处理。” 火心注意到，当她和豹皮说话的时候，她的目光一直在雾蒙蒙的脚和石头佛身上徘徊。 这是火心第一次看到他的领袖和河族的战士们在一起，因为她向他承认了他们是她的随从。 他认为自己并没有想象出她望着他们时蓝眼睛里的惆怅。 “你说的是真的，”利奥帕德福表示同意。 “那两只小猫很傻，但银溪已经死了，而灰条的惩罚也不是河族能决定的。 我们来这里是为了那些装备。” “他们怎么了？”蓝星问。 “它们是河族的装备，”利奥帕德福喵喵地说。 “我们是来接他们回家的。” “RiverClan包?”蓝星眯起了眼睛。 “你为什么这么说？”“你是怎么知道他们的？”虎爪问，跳了起来，愤怒地瞪着眼睛。 “你一直在监视我吗？”还是有猫告诉你的？”他一边说，一边对着火心，但是

Fireheart stood his ground, and Mistyfoot kept quiet, not betraying him by so much as a glance. Tigerclaw couldn't know for sure that he had told Mistyfoot, and Fireheart refused to regret what he had done. RiverClan had the right to know. "Sit down, Tigerclaw," murmured Bluestar. She flashed a look at Fireheart, and he realized that his leader guessed what he had done, as surely as if she had seen him cross the river. But she didn't intend to give him away. "Who knows, perhaps a RiverClan patrol saw what happened? Such things can't be hidden for long. But Leopardfur," she went on, turning back to the visiting deputy, "the kits are also half ThunderClan, and one of our queens is taking good care of them. Why should I give them to you?" "Kits belong with their mother's Clan," Leopardfur explained. "RiverClan would have raised these kits if Silverstream had lived, without knowing who the father was, and that makes them ours by right." "Bluestar, you can't send the kits away!" Fireheart couldn't stop himself from interrupting.

火心坚守阵地，而雾脚则保持沉默，连看都没看他一眼。 虎爪不能确定他是否告诉了雾脚，而火心不肯为自己的所作所为后悔。 大河氏族有权知道。 “坐下，虎爪。”蓝星低声说。 她朝火心瞥了一眼，他意识到他的头领猜到了他做了什么，就像她看见他过河一样肯定。 但她不打算把他送人。 “谁知道呢，也许河族巡逻队看见了？” 这样的事情不可能隐藏太久。 但是利奥帕德弗尔，”她转身对来访的副手继续说，“这些套件也是半个雷霆氏族的，我们的一个女王正在好好照顾它们。 我为什么要给你呢？”“幼崽属于它们母亲的氏族，”利奥帕德福解释说。 “如果银溪还活着，河族也会抚养这些孩子，但他们不知道孩子的父亲是谁，所以他们理应是我们的孩子。” “蓝星，你不能把装备送走！”火心忍不住打断了他的话。

"They're all Graystripe has to live for." A growl rumbled once again in Tigerclaw's throat, but it was Bluestar who answered. "Fireheart, be quiet. This doesn't concern you." "Yes, it does," Fireheart dared to meow. "Graystripe's my friend." "Silence!" hissed Tigerclaw. "Does your leader have to tell you twice? Graystripe is a traitor to his Clan. He has no right to the kits, or anything else." Rage flooded through Fireheart. Had Tigerclaw no respect for Graystripe's terrible grief? He whirled on the deputy, held back from springing at him only because cats of another Clan were looking on. Tigerclaw bared his teeth in a snarl. Bluestar flicked her tail angrily at both of them. "Enough!" she ordered. "Leopardfur, I admit RiverClan has some right to the kits. But so does ThunderClan. Besides, the kits are small and weak. They can't travel yet, especially across the river. It's too dangerous." Leopardfur's hackles began to rise and her eyes narrowed to slits. "You are just making excuses."

“他们是Graystripe活下去的理由。” 虎爪的喉咙里又响起了一声咆哮，但回答的是蓝星。 “火心，安静。这与你无关。” “是的，确实如此。”火心大胆地叫道。 “灰条是我的朋友。”“安静！”虎爪嘶嘶地说。 “你的领导需要告诉你两次吗？” 灰条是他氏族的叛徒。 他没有权利得到这些工具包或其他任何东西。” 火心顿时怒不可遏。 难道虎爪不尊重灰条纹的悲痛吗？ 他向副手转过身来，忍住没向他扑过去，只是因为另一个氏族的猫在旁边看着。 虎爪龇着牙咆哮。 蓝星生气地朝他们俩甩了甩尾巴。 “够了！”她命令道。“利奥帕德，我承认河族对这些套件有一定的权利。 但ThunderClan也是如此。此外，它们又小又弱。 它们还不能旅行，尤其是不能过河。 这太危险了。”利奥帕德弗开始竖起鬃毛，眼睛眯成两条缝。 “你只是在找借口。”

"No," Bluestar insisted. "Not excuses. Would you risk the kits' lives? I'll think about what you have said and discuss it with my warriors, and give you our answer at the next Gathering." "Now get out of our camp," growled Tigerclaw. Leopardfur hesitated, as if she would have liked to say more, but it was clear that Bluestar had dismissed her. After a few tense moments, she dipped her head again and turned to go, with Mistyfoot and Stonefur behind her. Tigerclaw stalked across the clearing with them as far as the tunnel. Left alone with Bluestar, Fireheart felt his anger begin to fade, but he couldn't help renewing his pleas. "We can't let them take the kits! You know how Graystripe would feel." The bleak look Bluestar gave him made him wonder if he had gone too far, but her voice was soft as she replied, "Yes, Fireheart, I know. And I would give much to keep these kits. But how far will RiverClan go to take them? Will they fight? How many ThunderClan warriors would risk their lives for kits that are half-RiverClan?"

“不，”蓝星坚持道。“不是借口。 你会拿孩子们的生命冒险吗？ 我会考虑你所说的话，并与我的战士们讨论，在下次聚会时给你答复。” “现在滚出我们的营地。”虎爪咆哮道。 利奥帕德弗犹豫了一下，好像她还想多说些什么，但很明显，蓝星已经解雇了她。 过了几分钟的紧张气氛，她又低下头，转身要走，迷雾脚和斯通弗跟在她后面。 虎爪跟着他们穿过空地，一直走到隧道。 独自和蓝星在一起时，火心感到自己的愤怒开始消退，但他还是忍不住再次恳求。 “我们不能让他们拿走工具包！”你知道Graystripe会是什么感觉。” 蓝星冷冷地看了他一眼，他不禁怀疑自己是不是说得太过分了，但她的声音很温柔：“是的，火心，我知道。 我愿意付出一切来留住这些工具箱。 但大河氏族会把他们带走到什么程度呢？ 他们会打架吗？有多少雷霆族战士会为了半河族的装备而冒生命危险？”

Fireheart's fur prickled with fear of the picture she painted. Clans at war over mewling kits—or ThunderClan split against itself as warriors fought among themselves. Was that the fate that StarClan had decreed for his Clan when Spottedleaf warned that water could quench fire? Perhaps it wasn't the floodwater that could destroy ThunderClan, but the cats that came from the territory by the river. "Have courage, Fireheart," urged Bluestar. "It hasn't come to a battle just yet. I've won us time until the Gathering, and who knows what will happen before then?" Fireheart couldn't share her confidence. The problem of the kits would not go away. But he could do nothing except bow his head respectfully and withdraw to the warriors' den. And now, he thought despairingly, what am I going to tell Graystripe? By the time Silverpelt stretched across the sky, the whole of ThunderClan seemed to know why the RiverClan cats had come. Fireheart guessed that Tigerclaw had told his favourite warriors, and

火心因害怕她画的画而浑身刺痛。 氏族之间的战争是为了喵喵的工具包——或者雷霆氏族之间的战士们互相争斗。 这难道就是星族在Spottedleaf警告说水可以灭火时给他的氏族定下的命运吗？ 也许摧毁雷霆部落的不是洪水，而是来自河边领地的猫。 “勇敢点，火心。”蓝星催促道。 “现在还没有打起来。 我为大家争取到了聚会之前的时间，谁知道在那之前会发生什么呢？”火心无法分享她的自信。 套件的问题不会消失。 但他什么也不能做，只能恭敬地低下头，退回到武士的洞穴里。 现在，他绝望地想，我该怎么跟格雷斯特说呢？ 当银豹横跨天空时，整个雷族似乎都知道河族的猫为什么来了。 火心猜想虎爪已经告诉了他最喜欢的战士