Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 "What?" Fireheart was so astonished he could hardly speak. "Are you saying that Mistyfoot and Stonefur came from ThunderClan?" "Yes." Graypool gave her chest fur a couple of licks. "That's exactly what I'm telling you." Fireheart was stunned. "Did Oakheart steal them?" he asked. Graypool's fur bristled, and she drew her lips back in a snarl. "Oakheart was a noble warrior. He would never stoop to stealing kits!" "I'm sorry." Alarmed, Fireheart crouched and flattened his ears. "I didn't mean…It's just so hard to believe!" Graypool sniffed, and her fur gradually lay flat again. Fireheart was still struggling with what she had just told him. If Oakheart hadn't stolen the kits, perhaps rogue cats had taken them from the ThunderClan camp—but why? And why abandon them so quickly, when the scent of their Clan was still on their fur? "Then…if they were ThunderClan kits, why did you look after them?" he stammered. What Clan would willingly take in enemy kits, and in a

第六章“什么？”火心惊讶得几乎说不出话来。 “你是说雾脚和石弗是从雷电氏族来的吗？”“是的。” 格雷普舔了几下她的胸毛。 “这正是我要告诉你的。” 火心惊呆了。“是奥克哈特偷的吗？”他问道。 格雷普的毛竖了起来，她噘起嘴唇咆哮。 “奥克哈特是个高尚的战士。 他绝不会堕落到偷套件的地步！”“我很抱歉。” 火心吓了一跳，蹲下身子，捂住耳朵。 “我不是那个意思……只是太难以置信了！”格雷浦嗅了嗅，她的毛又渐渐平了。 火心还在纠结她刚才告诉他的话。 如果奥克哈特没有偷走工具包，也许是流浪猫从雷霆部落营地拿走了它们——但为什么呢？ 为什么这么快就抛弃了它们，它们的皮毛上还残留着氏族的气味？ “那么……如果它们是雷霆战队的装备，你为什么要照看它们？”他结结巴巴地说。 哪个部落会愿意接受敌人的装备呢

season when prey was already scarce? Graypool shrugged. "Because Oakheart asked me to. He may not have been deputy back then, but he was a fine young warrior. I'd recently given birth to kits of my own, but all except one died in the bitter cold. I had plenty of milk to spare, and the poor little scraps would never have lived to see the sunrise if some cat hadn't cared for them. Their ThunderClan scent soon faded," she went on. "And even if Oakheart hadn't told the truth about where they came from, I respected him enough not to ask any more questions. Thanks to Oakheart, and to me, they grew into strong kits, and now they're good warriors—a credit to their Clan." "Do Mistyfoot and Stonefur know all this?" Fireheart asked. "Now listen to me," rasped Graypool. "Mistyfoot and Stonefur know nothing, and if you tell them what I've just told you, I'll rip your liver out and feed it to the crows." She thrust her head forward and drew her lips back as she spoke, baring her teeth. In spite of her age, Fireheart flinched.

猎物已经稀少的季节？ Graypool耸耸肩。“因为奥克哈特要求我这么做。 他当时也许不是副警长，但他是个优秀的年轻战士。 我最近也生下了几只幼崽，但除了一只外，其余的都死于严寒。 我有足够多的牛奶，如果没有猫的照顾，这些可怜的小碎片永远也看不到日出。 他们迅雷氏族的气味很快就消失了。”她接着说。 即使奥克哈特没有说出他们来自哪里的真相，我也足够尊重他，不再问任何问题。 多亏了Oakheart和我，他们成长为强壮的套件，现在他们是优秀的战士——这是他们部落的荣誉。” “迷雾脚和斯通弗知道这一切吗？”Fireheart问道。 “现在听我说。”格雷普粗声说。 “雾脚和斯通弗什么也不知道，如果你把我刚才告诉你的告诉他们，我就把你的肝挖出来喂乌鸦。” 她说话时头向前伸，嘴唇向后缩，露出了牙齿。 尽管年纪大了，火心还是退缩了。

"They never doubted that I'm their real mother," Graypool growled. "I like to think they even look a bit like me." As she spoke, Fireheart felt something stir in his mind, like the twitch of a fallen leaf that betrayed the mouse sheltering beneath it. He thought that what Graypool had just said should mean something to him, but when he tried to capture the thought it scuttled away. "They have always been loyal to RiverClan," Graypool insisted. "I don't want that loyalty to be divided now. I've heard the gossip about you, Fireheart—I know you were once a kittypet—so you should understand more than any cat what it means to have a paw in two places." Fireheart knew he would never make any cat go through the uncertainties that he suffered himself about not fully belonging to his Clan. "I promise I'll never tell them," he meowed solemnly. "I swear it by StarClan." The old cat relaxed and stretched, her front paws extended and her rump in the air. "I accept your word, Fireheart," she replied. "I don't know if this has helped you at all. But it might explain

“他们从来没有怀疑过我是他们真正的母亲。”格雷普咆哮道。 “我觉得他们甚至长得有点像我。” 她说话的时候，火心感到有什么东西在他的脑海里动了起来，就像一片落叶的抽动，暴露了躲在树叶下面的老鼠。 他以为格雷普刚才说的话对他应该有什么意义，但当他试图抓住这个想法时，它却溜走了。 “他们一直忠于河族，”格雷普坚持说。 “我不希望这种忠诚现在分裂。 我听说过关于你的流言，火心——我知道你曾经是一只小猫——所以你应该比任何一只猫都更明白爪子长在两个地方意味着什么。” 火心知道，他永远不会让任何一只猫经历他自己因不完全属于他的氏族而遭受的那种不确定感。 “我保证永远不会告诉他们。”他严肃地喵喵叫道。 “我对StarClan发誓。”老猫放松了一下，伸了伸懒腰，前爪伸出来，屁股翘在空中。 “我接受你的话，火心。”她回答。 “我不知道这对你有没有帮助。 但这也许能解释

why Oakheart would never let a ThunderClan cat harm Mistyfoot or Stonefur. Even if he claimed to know nothing about where they came from, he would have smelled the ThunderClan scent on them as clearly as I did. As far as they're concerned, they are loyal only to RiverClan, but it would seem that Oakheart's loyalties were divided on their behalf." "I'm very grateful to you," Fireheart purred, trying to sound as respectful as he could. "I don't know what this means in relation to what I have to find out, but I really think it's important, for both our Clans." "That's as may be," mewed Graypool. She frowned. "But now that I've told you everything, you must leave our territory." "Of course," Fireheart meowed. "You won't even know I've been here. And Graypool…" He paused before thrusting his way out of the bush and held her pale yellow gaze for a moment. "Thank you." Fireheart's mind was spinning as he returned to the camp. Mistyfoot and Stonefur had

为什么奥克哈特永远不会让雷霆家族的猫伤害米斯特福特或斯通弗。 即使他声称不知道它们是从哪里来的，他也会像我一样清楚地闻到雷霆氏族的气味。 就他们而言，他们只忠于RiverClan，但看起来Oakheart的忠诚是为了他们而分裂的。” “我非常感谢你。”火心咕噜着，尽量装出一副尊敬的样子。 “我不知道这与我必须找到的东西有什么关系，但我真的认为这对我们两个氏族来说都很重要。” “也许是这样，”格雷普叫道。 她皱起了眉头。“但现在我已经把一切都告诉你了，你必须离开我们的领土。” “当然。”火心叫道。 “你甚至不会知道我来过这里。 还有格雷普……”他停顿了一下，然后从灌木丛中挤了出来，盯着她淡黄色的目光看了一会儿。 “谢谢你。”当火心回到营地时，他的脑子一直在转。 雾蒙蒙的脚和斯通弗说了

ThunderClan blood! But they belonged entirely to RiverClan now, with no idea of their divided heritage. Blood loyalty and Clan loyalty were not always the same, Fireheart reflected. His own kittypet roots did not make his commitment to ThunderClan any less strong. And perhaps now that Mistyfoot had confirmed how Oakheart had died, Bluestar would be willing to accept that Tigerclaw had killed Redtail. Fireheart decided to ask her about Graypool's latest revelation too; Bluestar might be able to tell him if a pair of kits had ever been stolen from the ThunderClan camp. When he reached the clearing, Fireheart made straight for the Highrock. As he approached Bluestar's den, he heard two cats meowing together, and picked up Tigerclaw's scent along with Bluestar's. Quickly he pressed himself against the rock, hoping to stay out of sight, as the deputy shouldered his way out past the curtain of lichen that screened the mouth of the den. "I'll try a hunting patrol toward the Snakerocks," the dark tabby called over his shoulder. "No cat has hunted there for a few

ThunderClan血!但他们现在完全属于河流氏族，不知道他们的遗产是如何分割的。 “血缘忠诚和氏族忠诚并不总是一样的，”火心想。 他自己的小猫血统并没有削弱他对雷霆战队的承诺。 也许既然雾脚已经证实了奥克哈特的死因，蓝星就会愿意接受虎爪杀死红尾巴的说法。 火心决定也问问她格雷浦的最新发现；蓝星也许能告诉他是否有一对装备从雷霆军团营地被偷了。 到了那块空地，火心直奔海岩。 当他走近蓝星的巢穴时，他听到两只猫在一起喵喵叫，同时也闻到了虎爪和蓝星的气味。 他迅速地把自己压在岩石上，希望不被人看见，而副手则用肩膀挤过遮住洞口的地衣。 “我要试着派一支狩猎巡逻队到蛇岩去，”那只深色虎斑猫从他身后喊道。 “有好几年没有猫在那里捕猎了

days." "Good idea," agreed Bluestar, following him out. "Prey is still scarce. May StarClan grant the thaw comes soon." Tigerclaw grunted agreement and loped off toward the warriors' den, not noticing Fireheart where he crouched by the rock. When he had gone, Fireheart padded up to the mouth of the den. "Bluestar," he called, as the Clan leader turned to go back inside. "I'd like to talk to you." "Very well," Bluestar meowed calmly. "Come in." Fireheart followed her into the den. The curtain of lichen swung back into place, cutting off the bright snow-light. In the dim interior, Bluestar sat facing him. "What is it?" she asked. Fireheart took a deep breath. "You remember the story that Ravenpaw told, that Redtail killed Oakheart at the battle of the Sunningrocks?" Bluestar stiffened. "Fireheart, that is over," she growled. "I told you before, I have reasons enough to be satisfied that this isn't true." "I know." Fireheart bowed his head

天。”“好主意，”蓝星附和着，跟着他走了出去。 “猎物仍然稀缺。愿星族保佑解冻早日到来。” 虎爪哼了一声表示同意，快步向战士的洞穴走去，没有注意到火心蹲在岩石旁边。 他走后，火心蹑手蹑脚地走到洞口。 “蓝星。”当部落首领转身回屋里时，他喊道。 “我想和你谈谈。” “很好，”蓝星平静地喵喵叫道。 “进来。”火心跟着她进了洞穴。 地衣的帘子又摆回原处，挡住了明亮的雪光。 在昏暗的室内，蓝星面对着他坐着。 “什么事？”她问。火心深吸了一口气。 “你还记得拉文爪讲的那个故事吗？在太阳岩战役中，红尾巴杀死了奥克哈特。”蓝星僵硬了。 “火心，结束了。”她咆哮道。 “我之前告诉过你，我有足够的理由相信这不是真的。” “我知道。”火心低下了头