Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 Confused and unhappy, Fireheart made for the warriors" den. Before he reached it he hesitated. He did not want to risk meeting Tigerclaw, and he wasn't in the mood for sharing tongues with his friends. Instead, almost unconsciously, he headed for the tunnel of ferns that led to Yellowfang's den. Cinderpaw limped out and almost collided with him. Fireheart fell back on his haunches with a thump, and Cinderpaw skidded to a halt, spraying him with snow. "Sorry, Fireheart," she puffed. "I didn't see you there." Fireheart shook the snow off his coat. His heart felt suddenly lighter at the sight of Cinderpaw, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief, and fur sticking out in all directions. This was how she used to look, when she was his apprentice; for a while, after the accident, Fireheart had been afraid that this Cinderpaw had vanished forever. "What's the hurry?" he asked. "I'm going out to look for herbs for Yellowfang," Cinderpaw explained. "So many cats

第七章 又困惑又难过的火心，朝着武士巢穴走去。 还没走到地方，他犹豫了。 他不想撞见虎爪，也没心情和好友闲聊。 于是，他下意识地朝着通往黄牙巢穴的蕨类隧道走去。 炭爪一瘸一拐走出来，差点撞到他身上。 火心猛地蹲坐到地上，炭爪也急刹停住，溅了他一身雪。 "对不起，火心。"她喘着气说。 "我没看见你在这儿。" 火心抖掉了身上的积雪。 看见炭爪，他的心一下子轻快起来：她蓝眼睛闪着调皮的光，毛发蓬得四处炸开。 这才是她原本的样子，那时候她还是他的学徒； 事故发生后好一阵子，火心都怕这个活泼的炭爪永远消失了。 "你急着去哪儿呀？"他问。 "我出去帮黄牙找药草。"炭爪解释道。 好多猫

have been ill, what with all this snow, that her stocks are getting very low. I want to find as much as I can before it gets dark." "I'll come and help you," Fireheart offered. Bluestar had told him to do something useful, and not even Tigerclaw could find fault if he went to collect herbs for the medicine cat. "Great!" Cinderpaw meowed happily. Side by side, they headed across the clearing toward the gorse tunnel. Fireheart had to slow his pace to match Cinderpaw's, but if she was aware of it she didn't seem to mind. Just before they reached the tunnel, Fireheart heard the shrill voices of kits. He turned and stared at the branches of a fallen tree, close to the elders" den. A group of kits had surrounded Brokentail, who had been given a nest among the branches. Ever since Bluestar had offered shelter to Brokentail, he had lived alone in his den, with warriors to guard him. Not many cats passed that way, and the kits had no reason to be anywhere near him. "Rogue! Traitor!" That was Cloudkit's voice

都生病了，下了这么大雪，她的存药快见底了。 我想在天黑前多找一些回来。" "我跟你一起去帮忙。"火心主动说。 蓝星本来就让他找点正经事做，他帮巫医采药，连虎爪都挑不出错处。 "太棒啦！" 炭爪开心地喵了一声。 他们并肩穿过空地，朝着金雀花隧道走去。 火心不得不放慢脚步配合炭爪，不过炭爪就算察觉到了，也好像一点都不介意。 快走到隧道口的时候，火听见了幼崽们尖锐的叫声。 他转过身，盯着长老巢穴旁一棵倒树的枝桠。 一群幼崽围着断尾，断尾的窝就被安排在这些树枝之间。 自从蓝星给断尾提供庇护，他就一直独自住在窝里，由武士看守。 很少有猫往那边去，幼崽们根本没必要靠近那里。 "泼皮猫！叛徒！" 这是云崽的声音

raised in a jeering meow. Fireheart watched in alarm as the white kit darted forward, jabbed Brokentail in the ribs with one paw, and scrambled back out of range. One of the other kits copied him, squealing, "Can't catch me!" Darkstripe, whose turn it was to guard the blind cat, made no attempt to send the kits away. He sat a fox-length away, watching with his paws tucked under him and a gleam of amusement in his eyes. Brokentail swung his head from side to side in frustration, but with his cloudy, unseeing eyes he could not retaliate. His dark tabby fur looked dull and patchy, and his broad face was scored with scars, some of them from the clawing that had ruined his eyes. There was no trace of the former arrogant and bloodthirsty leader now. Fireheart exchanged a worried glance with Cinderpaw. Many cats, he knew, thought Brokentail deserved to suffer, but seeing the former leader so old and helpless, he could not help feeling a scrap of pity. Anger began to burn inside him as the taunting went on. "Wait for me," he mewed to Cinderpaw, and hurried over toward

一边起哄一边叫着。 火心吃惊地看着这只白幼崽冲上前，一爪戳在断尾肋骨上，又赶紧爬回安全范围。 另一只幼崽跟着学，尖叫道："抓不到我吧！" 今天轮到黑条看守这只瞎猫，他根本没打算把幼崽赶走。 他坐在离断尾一狐狸身长的地方，爪子收在肚子底下，眼里闪着看好戏的光。 断尾烦躁地来回晃着脑袋，可他眼睛浑浊看不见，根本没办法反击。 他的深棕虎斑毛黯淡斑驳，宽脸上满是伤疤，有些伤疤就是当初弄瞎他眼睛的抓伤留下的。 从前那个傲慢嗜血的族长，现在连一点影子都找不到了。 火心和炭爪交换了一个担忧的眼神。 他知道，很多猫都觉得断尾罪有应得，可看见这位前族长这么老弱无助，他忍不住生出一丝怜悯。 戏弄还在继续，怒火在他心里渐渐烧了起来。 "等我一下。"他对炭爪说，连忙朝着

the edge of the clearing. He saw Cloudkit pounce on the blind tom's tail, worrying it with needle-sharp teeth. Brokentail scrabbled away from him on unsteady legs and swiped one paw in his direction. In an instant, Darkstripe jumped to his paws, hissing, "Touch that kit, traitor, and I'll flay your skin in strips!" Fireheart was too angry to speak. Leaping toward Cloudkit, he grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and swung him around, away from Brokentail. Cloudkit wailed in protest. "Stop it! That hurts!" Fireheart dropped him roughly into the snow and let out a low growl through bared teeth. "Go home!" he ordered the other kits. "Go home to your mothers. Now!" The kits stared at him, wide-eyed with fear, and then scuttled off, to disappear into the nursery. "As for you—" Fireheart hissed to Cloudkit. "Leave the kit alone," Darkstripe interrupted, padding up to stand beside Cloudkit. "He's not

空地的边缘走去。 他看见云崽扑到这只瞎公猫的尾巴上，用尖尖的小牙啃咬扯拽。 断尾摇摇晃晃躲开，朝着云崽的方向挥了一爪。 黑条瞬间站起身，嘶嘶叫着："敢碰这幼崽一下，叛徒，我就把你的皮扒成条！" 火心气得说不出话来。 他跳向云崽，叼住他的后颈把他拽开，甩到离断尾远远的地方。 云崽哭叫着抗议。 "别闹了！ 弄疼我了！" 火心把他狠狠丢进雪地里，龇着牙发出一声低沉的怒吼。 "回家去！" 他对其他幼崽命令道。 "回你们妈妈那儿去， 现在就走！" 幼崽们睁大眼睛，害怕地看着他，接着赶紧跑开，躲进育婴室没了踪影。 "至于你——"火心对着云崽嘶声说。 "放了这孩子吧。"黑条打断他，缓步走过来站在云崽身边。 "他又不

doing any harm." "Keep out of this, Darkstripe," growled Fireheart. Darkstripe shouldered past him, almost knocking him over, before stalking back to his prisoner. "Kittypet!" he sneered over his shoulder. Fireheart's muscles tensed. He wanted to leap at Darkstripe and force the insult back down his throat, but he stopped himself. This was no time for Clan warriors to start fighting each other. Besides, he had to deal with Cloudkit. "Did you hear that?" he demanded, glaring down at the white kit. "Kittypet?" "So?" Cloudkit muttered mutinously. "What's a kittypet?" Fireheart gulped as he realized that Cloudkit had not yet learned what his origins meant to the Clan. "Well, a kittypet is a cat who lives with Twolegs," he began carefully. "Some Clan cats don't believe that a cat who's born a kittypet will ever make a good warrior. And that includes me, because like you, I was born in Twolegplace." As Fireheart spoke, Cloudkit's eyes grew wider and wider. "What do you mean?" he meowed. "I

造成任何伤害。” “别掺和这事，黑条。”火心低吼道。 黑条用肩膀撞开他，差点把他撞倒，接着大步走回他抓的囚犯身边。 “宠物猫！” 他回头嗤笑一声。 火心浑身肌肉紧绷。 他真想扑上去让黑条把侮辱咽回去，可他忍住了。 这可不是族群武士内斗的时候。 再说，他还要处理云崽的事。 “你听到了吗？”他低头瞪着这只白幼崽质问道。 “说你是宠物猫？” “那又怎样？” 云崽不服气地咕哝着。 “宠物猫是什么呀？” 火心心里一咯噔，才反应过来云崽还不知道自己的出身对族群意味着什么。 “嗯，宠物猫就是和两脚兽一起生活的猫啦。”他小心地开口。 “有些族群猫不相信，生为宠物猫的猫能成为好武士。 我也懂这种感受，因为我和你一样，出生在两脚兽地盘。” 火心说着话，云崽的眼睛越睁越大。 “你这话是什么意思？”他叫道。 “我

was born here!" Fireheart stared at him. "No, you weren't," he meowed. "Your mother is my sister, Princess. She lives in a Twoleg nest. She gave you to the Clan when you were very young, so you could be a warrior." For a few moments Cloudkit stood rigid, as if he were a kit made of snow and ice. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded. "I'm sorry," Fireheart meowed. "I…I thought you knew. I thought Brindleface would have told you." Cloudkit backed away a couple of tail-lengths. The shock in his blue eyes was slowly replaced with cold understanding. "So that's why the other cats hate me," he spat. "They think I'll never be any good because I wasn't born in this dump of a forest. It's stupid!" Fireheart struggled to find the right words to reassure him. He couldn't help remembering how excited Princess had been when she gave her son to the Clan, and how he had promised her that Cloudkit would have a wonderful life ahead of him. Now he was forcing Cloudkit to think about

就是出生在这儿的！” 火心盯着他。 “不，你不是。”他说道。 “你妈妈是我姐姐，公主。 她住在两脚兽的巢穴里。 你很小的时候，她把你送给族群，这样你就能成为一名武士。” 好一会儿，云崽直挺挺站着，像个冰雪做的幼崽一样一动不动。 “你为什么不早告诉我？”他质问。 “对不起。”火心说道。 “我……我以为你知道。 我以为斑脸会告诉你的。” 云崽往后退了几个尾巴长的距离。 他蓝眼睛里的震惊，慢慢换成了冰冷的了然。 “所以其他猫才讨厌我。”他愤愤地说， “他们觉得我永远不行，就因为我不是生在这个破森林里， 这太蠢了！” 火心拼命想找合适的话安慰他。 他忍不住想起，公主把儿子交给族群的时候有多开心，他还向公主保证，云崽以后会过得很棒。 现在他却逼着云崽去想