Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27 By late afternoon the lingering smell of smoke had been replaced by the stench of wet ash, but Fireheart relished its bitter odor. "The fire must be out by now," he meowed to Graystripe, who was sheltering beside him beneath a clump of reeds. "We could go back and see if it's safe for the Clan to return." "And look for Yellowfang and Halftail," Graystripe murmured. Fireheart had known that his old friend would guess why he really wanted to go back to the camp. He blinked at the gray warrior, grateful for his understanding. "I'll have to ask Crookedstar if I can come," Graystripe added. The words came as a shock to Fireheart. He had almost forgotten that Graystripe belonged to another Clan now. "I'll be back soon," called the gray warrior, already bounding away. Fireheart gazed across the clearing to where Bluestar was huddled next to Whitestorm, as if the white warrior were the only barrier between her troubled mind and the horrific fate that had

第二十七章下午晚些时候，挥之不去的烟味已经被湿灰的恶臭所取代，但火心还是很享受这种苦涩的气味。 “火现在一定灭了。”他喵喵地对躲在他身边的一丛芦苇下面的格雷斯特说。 “我们可以回去看看族人回来是否安全。” “去找黄牙和半尾巴。”灰条喃喃地说。 火心早就知道他的老朋友会猜到他想回营地的真正原因。 他对灰衣战士眨了眨眼，感谢他的理解。 “我得问问鲁克星我能不能去，”格雷斯特里特补充道。 这句话令火心大为震惊。 他几乎忘了灰条纹现在属于另一个氏族了。 “我很快就回来，”灰衣武士喊着，已经跳开了。 火心凝视着那片空地，蓝星正蜷缩在白风暴旁边，仿佛这名白衣战士是她那不安的心灵与可怕命运之间的唯一屏障

befallen her Clan. Fireheart wondered if he should tell her where he was going. He decided not to. For the moment he would act alone and rely on his Clan to shield their leader's weakened state from the curious RiverClan cats. "Fireheart." Cloudpaw was heading toward him. "Do you think the fire is out?" "Graystripe and I are going to check," Fireheart told him. "Can I come?" Fireheart shook his head. He didn't know what they would find at the ThunderClan camp. Uncomfortably he also realized that he was afraid Cloudpaw would take one look at his ruined forest home and be tempted back into the cozy life of a kittypet. "I'd do everything you told me," Cloudpaw promised earnestly. "Then stay and help take care of your Clan," Fireheart meowed. "Whitestorm needs you here." Cloudpaw hid his disappointment by lowering his head. "Yes, Fireheart," he mewed. "Tell Whitestorm where I'm going," Fireheart added. "I'll be back by moonrise."

降临到她的氏族头上。火心不知道他是否应该告诉她他要去哪里。 他决定不这么做。目前，他将独自行动，并依靠他的部落来保护他们的领导人的虚弱状态，免受好奇的河族猫的伤害。 “Fireheart。”云爪朝他走来。 “你觉得火灭了吗？”“灰条和我去看看。”火心告诉他。 “我能来吗？”火心摇了摇头。 他不知道他们会在ThunderClan营地发现什么。 他也不安地意识到，他害怕云爪看一眼他那被毁的森林之家，就会被诱惑回到小猫的舒适生活中去。 “我会照你说的去做。”云爪认真地保证。 “那就留下来帮忙照顾你的氏族吧。”火心叫道。 “白风暴需要你。” 云爪低下头来掩饰他的失望。 “是的，火心。”他叫道。 “告诉白风暴我要去哪儿。”火心补充道。 “我会在月出之前回来。”

"Okay." Fireheart watched the white apprentice pad back toward the other cats, praying that Cloudpaw would follow his orders for once and stay in the RiverClan camp. Graystripe returned with Crookedstar at his side. The pale tabby's amber eyes were narrowed inquiringly. "Graystripe tells me that he wants to travel with you to your camp," he meowed. "Can't you take one of your own warriors?" "We lost two Clanmates in the fire," Fireheart explained, getting to his paws. "I don't want to find them by myself." The RiverClan leader seemed to understand. "If they have not survived, you'll need the comfort of an old friend," he meowed gently. "Graystripe may go with you." "Thank you, Crookedstar," replied Fireheart, dipping his head. Graystripe led the way to the river. On the other side of the swiftly flowing water, the forest was blackened and charred. The tallest trees had managed to retain a few of their leaves, which

“好吧。”火心看着白衣学徒朝其他猫走去，祈祷云爪能听从他的命令，留在河族的营地。 灰条纹回来了，弯星在他身边。 那只淡色虎斑猫琥珀色的眼睛眯成一条探询的缝。 “灰条告诉我，他想和你一起去你的营地。”他喵喵地叫道。 “你不能带一个你自己的战士吗？”“我们在大火中失去了两个族人。”火心解释道，伸出爪子。 “我不想自己去找他们。” 河族首领似乎明白了。 “如果他们没有活下来，你需要一个老朋友的安慰，”他温柔地喵喵叫道。 “灰条可以和你一起去。” “谢谢你，鲁克星。”火心低下头回答。 灰条带路到河边。 在湍急的河水的另一边，森林被烧得焦黑。 最高的树还保留了几片叶子

fluttered bravely at the tips of their highest branches. But it was a small victory when the rest of their branches were black and stripped bare. StarClan may have sent the storm to put out the fire, but it had come too late to save the forest. Graystripe slipped into the river without speaking and swam across. Fireheart followed him, struggling to keep up with his strongly paddling friend. As they climbed onto the bank at the other side, the two cats could only stare in horror at the remains of their beloved woodland. "Seeing this place from across the river was the only comfort I had," murmured Graystripe. Fireheart glanced at his friend with a pang of sympathy. It sounded as if Graystripe were even more homesick than he had thought. But he didn't have a chance to ask any questions before Graystripe charged up the shore toward the ThunderClan border. The gray warrior crossed it eagerly, pausing to add his own scent mark. Fireheart couldn't help wondering if his old friend was thinking of RiverClan boundaries—or ThunderClan. Despite the devastation Graystripe seemed to

在最高的树枝上勇敢地拍打着翅膀。 但是，当其余的树枝都变成黑色，光秃秃的时候，这是一个小小的胜利。 StarClan可能派出了暴风来扑灭大火，但它来的太晚了，无法拯救森林。 灰条一言不发地溜进河里，游了过去。 火心跟在他后面，奋力跟上他奋力划桨的朋友。 当他们爬上对岸的河岸时，两只猫只能惊恐地盯着他们心爱的林地的残骸。 “从河对岸看到这个地方是我唯一的安慰，”格雷斯特里特喃喃地说。 火心同情地瞥了他的朋友一眼。 听起来，灰条纹似乎比他想象的还要想家。 但他还没来得及问任何问题，格雷斯特里特就向海岸上的雷霆部落边界冲去。 灰衣战士急切地穿过它，停下来添加自己的气味标记。 火心忍不住想知道，他的老朋友是在想河族的边界，还是雷霆族的边界。 尽管遭受了巨大的破坏，Graystripe似乎

relish being back in his old territory. As Fireheart pushed on to the camp, Graystripe wove back and forth behind him, sniffing intently before catching up with his friend. Fireheart was amazed that he could recognize anything. The forest was changed beyond belief, the undergrowth burned away, the air empty of the scent or sound of prey. The ground felt sticky underpaw where rain and ash had mingled to make black, acrid-smelling mud that clung to their fur. Fireheart shivered as raindrops splashed onto his wet pelt. The sound of a single, brave bird singing in the distance made his heart ache for everything that had been lost. At last they reached the top of the ravine. The camp was clearly visible, stripped of its protective canopy, the hard earth gleaming like black stone in the rain. Only the Highrock was unchanged by the fire, apart from a slick of sticky black ash. Fireheart rushed down the slope, sending grit and ash crumbling ahead of him. The tree where he had saved Goldenflower's kit was nothing but a heap of charred sticks now, and he leaped over them easily. He searched for the gorse tunnel that had once led to the clearing, but only a tangle of

好好享受回到自己的地盘吧。 当火心向营地推进时，灰条纹在他身后来回穿梭，专注地嗅着，直到赶上他的朋友。 火心很惊讶自己居然能认出什么东西。 森林发生了难以置信的变化，矮树丛被烧毁了，空气中没有了猎物的气味和声音。 雨水和灰烬混合在一起，形成了一种黑色的、有刺鼻气味的泥土，粘在它们的皮毛上。 火心颤抖着，雨滴溅落在他湿漉漉的皮毛上。 远处一只勇敢的小鸟的歌声使他为失去的一切而心痛。 最后他们到达了峡谷的顶端。 营地被剥去了保护伞，清晰可见，坚硬的土地在雨中像黑色的石头一样闪闪发光。 除了一层黏糊糊的黑灰外，只有海岩城堡在大火中没有任何变化。 火心冲下山坡，扬起的沙砾和灰烬在他的前方破碎。 他救了金花的那棵树，现在已经变成了一堆烧焦的树枝，他轻松地跳过了它们。 他寻找曾经通向空地的金雀花隧道，但只有一团乱麻

blackened stems remained. He picked his way through and hurried into the smoke-stained clearing. As he stared around, his heart pounding, he felt Graystripe nudge him. He followed the gray warrior's gaze to where Halftail's scorched body lay at what used to be the entrance to Yellowfang's fern tunnel. The medicine cat must have tried to get the unconscious elder back into the safety of the camp, hoping perhaps that the cracked rock where she had made her den would protect them from the flames. Fireheart started toward the burned shape, but Graystripe meowed, "I'll bury Halftail. You look for Yellowfang." He picked up the limp brown body and started to drag it out of the camp toward the burial place. Fireheart watched him go, his heart frozen with dread. He knew this was why he had come back to the camp, but his legs suddenly felt too weak to move. He forced himself to walk over to the burned stumps that lined the path to Yellowfang's clearing. There was no sheltering green tunnel now. The medicine cat's home was

变黑的茎保留了下来。他挑着路，匆匆走进那片烟雾缭绕的空地。 他环顾四周，心怦怦直跳，他感到格雷斯特推了他一下。 他跟随灰衣战士的目光，来到半尾巴烧焦的尸体所在的地方，这里曾经是黄牙蕨隧道的入口。 药猫一定是想把失去知觉的老人救回安全的营地，也许是希望她筑窝的那块裂开的岩石能保护他们不受火焰的伤害。 火心朝那个烧焦的身影走去，但灰条叫道：“我要把半尾巴埋起来。 你去找黄牙。”他捡起那具软软的棕色尸体，开始把它拖出营地，向墓地走去。 火心看着他离去，他的心因恐惧而冻结。 他知道这就是他回到营地的原因，但他的腿突然感到无力，无法移动。 他强迫自己走到通往“黄牙”空地的路上，两旁都是烧焦的树桩。 现在已经没有绿色的隧道了。 药猫的家在