Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 "Ravenpaw!" Fireheart sprang forward to give his old friend a welcoming nuzzle. "It's so good to see you, Fireheart!" Ravenpaw nudged him in return and turned his eyes to Sandstorm. "And can this really be Sandpaw?" "Sandstorm!" the ginger she-cat corrected him sharply. "Of course. The last time I saw you, you were half the size!" The black tom's eyes narrowed. "How's Dustpaw?" Fireheart understood Ravenpaw's wary tone. Sandstorm and Dustpelt had trained at the same time as him, and had viewed Ravenpaw more as a rival than a denmate. When Ravenpaw had fled from his mentor, Tigerclaw, and gone to live in the Twoleg territory beyond the uplands, Dustpaw and Sandpaw had not been sad to see him go. Fireheart doubted that Ravenpaw had missed them either. "Dustpelt's fine." Sandstorm shrugged. "He has his own apprentice now." "And is this one your apprentice?" Ravenpaw asked, looking at Brightpaw.

第十九章“拉文爪！”火心跳上前去，用鼻子吻了一下他的老朋友，表示欢迎。 “见到你真是太好了，火心！”拉文爪回推了他一下，把目光转向沙暴。 “这真的是Sandpaw吗？”“沙尘暴！”姜黄色的母猫严厉地纠正他。 “当然。我上次见到你的时候，你只有现在的一半大！”黑汤姆眯起眼睛。 “Dustpaw怎么样?”火心明白拉文爪警惕的语气。 沙暴和Dustpelt和他是同一时间训练的，他们把拉文爪看作对手而不是对手。 当拉文爪从他的导师虎爪那里逃出来，住到高地那边的特沃格人的领地时，尘埃爪和Sandpaw并没有为它的离去感到难过。 火心也怀疑拉文爪有没有漏掉他们。 “Dustpelt很好。”沙尘暴耸耸肩。 “他现在有自己的徒弟了。” “这是你的徒弟吗？”拉文爪看着亮爪问道。

Fireheart felt his ears twitch as Sandstorm answered curtly, "I don't have an apprentice yet. This is Whitestorm's. Her name is Brightpaw." The warm breeze ruffled the leaves at the tops of the trees. Fireheart glanced up at the noise. This unexpected meeting had disarmed him, and he'd let his guard slip. He scanned the undergrowth warily as he remembered the threat of Tigerclaw and his band of rogues. "What are you doing here, Ravenpaw?" he asked urgently. Ravenpaw, who had been studying Sandstorm with a curious expression in his amber eyes, turned his head. "Looking for you." "Really? Why?" Fireheart knew it had to be important for Ravenpaw to come back to the forest. The young black cat had lived in constant fear after he had accidentally witnessed Tigerclaw killing Redtail, the ThunderClan deputy. When Tigerclaw had tried to kill Ravenpaw too, to keep him quiet, Fireheart and Graystripe had helped their friend escape. Ravenpaw now lived on a Twoleg farm with Barley, another loner—a cat who wasn't a kittypet, nor part of a forest Clan. Ravenpaw must have a very good reason for

沙暴简短地回答道：“我还没有徒弟。 这是白风暴的。她的名字叫亮爪。” 温暖的微风吹皱了树梢上的树叶。 火心抬起头看了看那声音。 这次意外的会面解除了他的武装，他放松了警惕。 他小心翼翼地扫视着灌木丛，想起了虎爪和他那帮流氓的威胁。 “你在这儿干什么，拉文爪？”他急切地问。 拉文爪一直在研究沙暴，琥珀色的眼睛里流露出好奇的神情，这时他转过头来。 “在找你。”“真的吗? 为什么?”火心知道拉文爪回到森林里来一定很重要。 这只年轻的黑猫在意外目睹虎爪杀死雷霆家族的副手红尾巴后，一直生活在恐惧之中。 当虎爪也想杀死拉文爪时，火心和灰条纹帮他们的朋友逃走了。 拉文爪现在和另一只独来独去的猫巴利一起住在一个特沃列格农场，巴利不是一只小猫，也不是森林氏族的一员。 乌鸦爪一定有很好的理由

returning to his old enemy's territory now. After all, he had no way of knowing that Tigerclaw's treachery had been revealed and he had been driven out of ThunderClan. As far as Ravenpaw knew, Tigerclaw was still the deputy. Ravenpaw flicked his tail uneasily. "A cat has come to live on the edge of my territory," he began. Fireheart stared at him, confused, and Ravenpaw tried to explain. "I found him while I was out hunting. He was scared and lost. He didn't say much, but he smelled of ThunderClan." "ThunderClan?" Fireheart echoed. "I asked him if he had come over the uplands, but he didn't seem to have any idea where he was. So I took him back to the Twoleg nest where he said he was living." "So he was a kittypet?" Sandstorm was staring intently at the black cat. "Are you sure it was ThunderClan you smelled on him?" "I wouldn't forget the scent I was born to," Ravenpaw retorted. "And he didn't seem like the usual sort of kittypet. In fact he didn't seem at all pleased to be back with his Twolegs."

现在要回他老敌人的地盘了。 毕竟，他不知道虎爪的背叛已经暴露，他已经被赶出了雷霆氏族。 就拉文爪所知，虎爪仍然是副校长。 拉文爪不安地摇了摇尾巴。 “一只猫住在我领地的边缘，”他开始说。 火心困惑地盯着他，拉文爪试图解释。 “我是在打猎的时候发现他的。 他很害怕，也很迷茫。他没怎么说话，但身上有一股雷帮的味道。” “ThunderClan ?”Fireheart回荡。 “我问他是不是从高地过来的，但他似乎不知道自己在哪里。 所以我把他带回了他说他住的Twoleg巢。” “所以他是一只小猫？”沙暴目不转睛地盯着那只黑猫。 “你确定你在他身上闻到的是雷电氏族的味道吗？”“我不会忘记我生来就该闻到的气味。”拉文爪反驳道。 他看起来不像一般的小猫。 事实上，他似乎一点也不高兴和他的两条腿一起回来。”

A glimmer of excitement sparked in Fireheart's belly, but he forced himself to stay silent until Ravenpaw had finished his story. "I couldn't get his scent out of my mind. I went back to the Twoleg nest to speak to him again, but he was shut in. I tried to talk to him through a window, but the Twoleg chased me away." "What color was this cat?" Fireheart felt Sandstorm glance sharply at him. "White," replied Ravenpaw. "He had a fluffy white pelt." "But…that sounds like Cloudpaw!" It was Brightpaw who spoke. "Then you know him?" Ravenpaw meowed. "Was I right? Is he a ThunderClan cat?" Fireheart hardly heard Ravenpaw's words. Cloudpaw was safe! He began to circle his old friend, his paws tingling with joy and relief. "Was he okay? What did he say?" "W-well," stammered Ravenpaw, turning his head to follow Fireheart as he padded around him. "Like I said, the first time I met him he seemed utterly lost."

火心的肚子里闪过一丝兴奋，但他强迫自己保持沉默，直到拉文爪讲完他的故事。 “我无法把他的气味从我的脑海中抹去。 我回到特沃列格的窝里，想再跟他说话，但他被关在屋里了。 我试着隔着窗户跟他说话，但特沃莱格把我赶走了。” “这只猫是什么颜色的？”火心感到沙暴怒视着他。 “白的。”拉文爪回答。 “他有毛茸茸的白色皮毛。” “可是……听起来像云爪！”说话的是亮爪。 “那么你认识他了？”Ravenpaw呜呜呜。 “我说得对吗？”他是雷霆家族的猫吗？”火心几乎没有听见拉文爪的话。 云爪安全了！他开始围着他的老朋友转，他的爪子因高兴和宽慰而刺痛。 “他还好吗？”他说什么？”“嗯——嗯。”拉文爪结结巴巴地说，一边绕着他转过头来，跟着火心。 “就像我说的，我第一次见到他时，他似乎完全迷路了。”

"That's not surprising. He's never been outside ThunderClan territory before." Fireheart weaved impatiently around Sandstorm and Brightpaw. "He hasn't made his journey to Highstones yet. There's no way he'd know he was so close to home." Sandstorm nodded, and Ravenpaw remarked, "That would explain why he was so upset. He must have thought—" "Upset?" Fireheart stopped pacing. "Why? Was he hurt?" "No, no," Ravenpaw mewed quickly. "He just seemed really miserable. I thought he'd cheer up when I showed him the way back to his Twoleg nest, but he still seemed unhappy. That's why I came to find you." Fireheart looked down at his paws, hardly knowing what to think. He realized that he had been hoping that Cloudpaw would be happy in his new life, even if Fireheart never saw him again. Ravenpaw blinked uncertainly. "Did I do the right thing in coming here?" he meowed. "Has this…er…Cloudpaw been banished from the Clan?"

“这并不奇怪。他从来没有离开过雷霆部落的领地。” 火心不耐烦地绕过沙暴和亮爪。 “他还没有去海斯通。 他不可能知道他已经离家这么近了。” 沙暴点点头，拉文爪说：“这就解释了它为什么那么不安了。 他一定以为——”“不高兴？”火心停止了踱步。 “为什么?他受伤了吗？”“不，不。”拉文爪赶紧叫道。 “他看起来真的很痛苦。 我以为当我告诉他回他的窝的路时，他会高兴起来的，但他似乎仍然不高兴。 所以我才来找你。” 火心低头看着自己的爪子，简直不知道该怎么想。 他意识到，他一直希望云爪能在新生活中快乐，哪怕火心再也见不到它。 拉文爪不确定地眨了眨眼。 “我来这里做得对吗？”他喵喵叫道。 “这个……呃……云爪是不是被驱逐出氏族了？”

Fireheart gravely met Ravenpaw's gaze. The black cat had risked his life coming here; he deserved an explanation. "Cloudpaw was stolen from the forest by Twolegs," Fireheart began. "He was my apprentice, and my sister's son. He's been missing for a quarter moon. I…I was beginning to think I'd never see him again." Sandstorm glanced quizzically at Fireheart. "What makes you think you are going to see him again? He's living in Ravenpaw's territory with Twolegs." "I'm going to go and get him!" Fireheart declared. "Go and get him? Why?" "You heard Ravenpaw. He's not happy!" "Are you sure he wants rescuing?" "Wouldn't you?" Fireheart countered. "I wouldn't need rescuing. I wouldn't have been taking food from Twolegs in the first place," Sandstorm pointed out sharply. There was a startled grunt from Ravenpaw, but the black cat said nothing. "It would be good to have him back in the den," Brightpaw put in, but Fireheart hardly heard

火心严肃地迎着拉文爪的目光。 黑猫冒着生命危险来到这里；他应该得到一个解释。 “云爪被特莱格从森林里偷走了。” “他是我的徒弟，也是我姐姐的儿子。 他失踪有四分之一个月了。 我……我还以为再也见不到他了呢。” 沙暴疑惑地瞥了火心一眼。 “你怎么知道还能再见到他呢？” 他和特立格住在拉文爪的地盘上。” “我要去找他！”Fireheart宣称。 “去找他？”为什么?”“你听到拉文爪的声音了。 他不高兴！”“你确定他需要救援吗？”“你不会?”Fireheart反驳道。 “我不需要救援。 我一开始就不会从特勒格斯拿食物，”沙暴尖锐地指出。 拉文爪吓得咕噜了一声，但黑猫什么也没说。 “要是他能回到洞里就好了。”亮爪插嘴说，但火心几乎没听见