Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29 The sky stayed gray and cloudy over the next few days, but the showers didn't hamper the rebuilding of the camp. In fact Fireheart welcomed the cleansing rain that would wash the ash into the soil and help the forest to recover. But this morning the sun shone high overhead, the clouds billowing away over the horizon. The sky will be clear for tonight's Gathering, Fireheart thought ruefully, wishing for once that the moon could be hidden so that the Gathering could not be held. Bluestar was still a long way from being her former self, emerging from her den only when Whitestorm persuaded her to come and see how the repairs were coming along. The ThunderClan leader had nodded blankly at the cats as they worked before limping back to the security of her nest. Fireheart wondered if she even remembered that the Gathering was tonight. Perhaps he should go and find out. He padded around the edge of the clearing, feeling a ripple of pride at the work the Clan had done so far. The camp was already regaining some of its former shape. The trunk of the elders' oak

第二十九章在接下来的几天里，天空一直是灰暗多云的，但阵雨并没有妨碍营地的重建。 事实上，火心欢迎净化的雨水，雨水将灰烬冲刷到土壤中，帮助森林恢复。 但今天早晨，太阳高高地照耀着头顶，云在地平线上翻滚着。 今晚的聚会，天空会放晴，火心悲哀地想，但愿月亮能藏起来，这样聚会就不能举行了。 蓝星离她以前的自己还有很长的路要走，直到怀特斯托姆说服她来看看修理的情况，她才从洞穴里出来。 在猫们干活的时候，雷霆族的首领茫然地点了点头，然后一瘸一拐地回到了自己安全的巢穴。 火心甚至怀疑她是否记得聚会是在今晚。 也许他应该去看看。 他在空地的边缘蹑手蹑脚地走着，对氏族迄今为止所做的工作感到一阵自豪。 营地已经恢复了一些原来的样子。 老橡树的树干

was blackened but still in one piece, although its maze of branches had burned away to nothing. The bramble nursery, which had been stripped of its protective leaves down to a tangle of stems, had been carefully patched with leafy twigs fetched from less damaged parts of the forest. And the camp wall had been shored up with the strongest branches the cats could find, although there was little they could do to replace the thick barrier of ferns that used to surround the camp. For that they would have to wait for the forest to grow again. Fireheart heard a scratching behind the nursery. Through the patchy walls, he saw a familiar pelt of white fur. "Cloudpaw!" he called. The apprentice emerged from behind the bramble bush, his jaws crammed with twigs that he'd been weaving through the nursery walls. Fireheart blinked in welcome. He hadn't been the only cat to notice how hard Cloudpaw had worked these past few days to fix the camp. There had been no more questions about the white apprentice's commitment to the Clan. Fireheart wondered if it had taken something as severe as a

被熏黑了，但还完好无损，尽管它那迷宫般的树枝已经烧得无影无踪了。 荆棘苗圃里保护性的叶子都被剥光了，只剩下一堆乱糟糟的枝干，上面精心地用从森林中受损较轻的地方摘来的多叶小树枝补了几处。 营地的墙是用猫们能找到的最结实的树枝支撑起来的，尽管它们几乎无法取代过去围绕着营地的厚厚的蕨类植物屏障。 为此，他们必须等待森林重新生长。 火心听到育儿室后面有搔抓的声音。 透过斑驳的墙壁，他看到了一层熟悉的白色皮毛。 “云爪！”学徒从荆棘丛后面钻了出来，嘴里塞满了他从育儿室墙壁缝进来的小树枝。 火心眨眨眼表示欢迎。 他并不是唯一注意到云爪在过去几天里如何努力修理营地的猫。 关于白人学徒对氏族的承诺，已经没有更多的问题了。 火心不知道它是不是受到了像

fire for Cloudpaw to discover the true meaning of loyalty. The young cat stood in front of him now without speaking, his fur flattened and blotchy with soot and mud, his eyes strained and exhausted. "Go and rest," Fireheart ordered gently. "You've earned it." Cloudpaw dropped his bundle of twigs. "Let me finish these first." "You can finish them later." "But I've only got a few left to do," Cloudpaw argued. "You look dead on your paws," Fireheart insisted. "Go on." "Yes, Fireheart." He turned to leave and glanced forlornly at the fallen oak where Smallear sat with Dappletail and One-Eye. "The elders' den seems so empty," he mewed. "Patchpelt and Halftail are with StarClan now," Fireheart reminded him. "They'll be watching you tonight from Silverpelt." A wave of regret tugged at his belly as he remembered that Bluestar had refused to conduct the proper ceremony for her dead Clanmates.

让云爪发现忠诚的真谛。 那只小猫现在一言不发地站在他面前，皮毛被烟灰和泥土弄得扁平而斑斑点点，眼睛紧张而疲惫。 “去休息吧。”火心温和地命令。 “这是你应得的。”云爪扔下他那捆小树枝。 “让我先把这些做完。” “你可以以后再写。” “但我只剩下几件事要做了。”云爪争辩道。 “你看起来像死了一样。”火心坚持道。 “继续。”“是的,Fireheart。” 他转身离开，凄凉地瞥了一眼倒下的橡树，小矮人、斑尾巴和独眼坐在那里。 “长老们的洞穴似乎很空，”他叫道。 “补丁和半尾巴现在和星族在一起了。”火心提醒他。 “他们今晚会在西尔弗佩尔监视你。” 当他想起蓝星拒绝为死去的部族成员举行正式的仪式时，一阵悔恨涌上心头。

"I will not place them in the paws of StarClan," she had told him bitterly. "Our warrior ancestors do not deserve the company of ThunderClan cats." And so Whitestorm had soothed the anxious Clan by speaking the words that would send Yellowfang and Halftail safely to their old friends in Silverpelt, just as he had done for Patchpelt at the RiverClan camp. Cloudpaw nodded, but he looked unconvinced. Fireheart knew that the apprentice still found it hard to believe that the lights of Silverpelt were the spirits of their warrior ancestors, watching over their old hunting grounds. "Go and rest," he repeated. The young cat dragged his paws toward the charred stump where the apprentices gathered to eat and share tongues. Brightpaw hurried across the clearing to greet her friend, and Cloudpaw met her with a friendly nuzzle. But the white apprentice's eyelids were already drooping, and his greeting was interrupted by a huge yawn. He lay down where he was, resting his head on the ground and closing his sore eyes. Brightpaw crouched at his side and gently began to wash

“我不会让他们落入星族的魔爪。”她痛苦地告诉他。 “我们的战士祖先不配和雷霆家族的猫为伍。” 于是，白风暴安慰了焦虑的氏族，说了几句话，就能把黄牙和半尾巴安全地送到他们在银皮尔的老朋友那里，就像他在河族营地救大补丁一样。 云爪点了点头，但看上去并不服气。 火心知道，学徒仍然很难相信，Silverpelt的光芒是他们战士祖先的灵魂，守护着他们古老的狩猎场。 “去休息吧，”他重复道。 年轻的猫把爪子拖向烧焦的树桩，学徒们聚集在那里吃东西，分享舌头。 亮爪匆匆穿过空地去迎接她的朋友，而云爪友好地用鼻子碰了她一下。 但白衣学徒的眼皮已经耷拉下来，他的问候被一个大大的哈欠打断了。 他躺在原地，头靠在地上，闭上疼痛的眼睛。 亮爪蹲在他身边，轻轻地开始洗澡

Cloudpaw's grubby pelt. Watching them, Fireheart felt a pang of loneliness as he remembered the same companionship he had once shared with Graystripe. He turned his paws once more toward Bluestar's den. Longtail was sitting outside, and he nodded as Fireheart passed. Fireheart paused at the entrance. The lichen had been burned away and the stone was black with soot. He mewed a quiet greeting and stepped inside. Without the lichen, the wind as well as daylight flooded in, and Bluestar had dragged her bedding into the shadows at the back of the drafty cave. Cinderpelt sat beside the huddled shape of the leader, pushing a pile of herbs toward her. "They'll make you feel better," she urged. "I feel fine," snapped Bluestar, keeping her eyes fixed on the sandy floor. "I'll leave them here, then. Perhaps you'll manage them later." Cinderpelt stood and walked unevenly toward the den entrance. "How is she?" Fireheart whispered. "Stubborn," replied Cinderpelt, brushing past him out of the den.

云爪肮脏的皮毛。看着他们，火心感到一阵孤独，因为他想起了曾经和灰条纹的那种友谊。 他又把爪子转向蓝星的巢穴。 长尾巴坐在外面，火心走过时，他点了点头。 火心在门口停了下来。 地衣已经被烧掉了，石头被烟灰熏黑了。 他轻轻地喵了一声招呼，走了进去。 没有了地衣，风和阳光都涌了进来，蓝星把她的被褥拖到了通风的洞穴后面的阴影里。 灰姑娘坐在缩成一团的首领身边，把一堆草药推到她面前。 “它们会让你感觉好些，”她催促道。 “我感觉很好，”蓝星厉声说，眼睛一直盯着沙质地板。 “那我就把它们留在这儿吧。 也许你以后会对付他们的。” 灰姑娘站着，摇摇晃晃地朝洞口走去。 “她怎么样了？”Fireheart低声说。 “固执，”灰姑娘回答，从他身边擦过，走出了洞穴。

Fireheart cautiously approached the old leader. Bluestar was even more of a stranger to him now, locked in a world of fear and suspicion directed not just against Tigerclaw, but at all their warrior ancestors in StarClan. "Bluestar," he began tentatively, dipping his head. "The Gathering is tonight. Have you decided who will go?" "The Gathering?" Bluestar spat with disgust. "You decide who to take. I won't be going. There is no longer any reason for me to honor StarClan." As she spoke, a cloud of ash blew through the open doorway, cutting off her words with a bout of coughing. Fireheart stared in dismay as spasms racked her frail body. Bluestar was the leader of the Clan! It was she who'd taught him about StarClan and the way the warrior spirits watched over the forest. Fireheart couldn't believe she would reject the beliefs she had based her whole life upon. "Y-you don't have to honor StarClan," he stammered at last. "Just be there to represent your own Clan. They need your strength now." Bluestar looked at him for a long moment. "My kits needed me once, but I gave them to

火心小心翼翼地走近老头目。 现在，蓝星对他来说更加陌生了，它被困在一个充满恐惧和怀疑的世界里，不仅针对虎爪，而且针对他们在《星际部落》中的所有战士祖先。 “蓝星。”他试探性地说，低下了头。 “聚会就在今晚。 你们决定谁去了吗？”“聚会?”蓝星厌恶地啐了一口。 “你决定带谁去。我不去了。 我再也没有任何理由尊重《星际战队》了。” 她说话时，一团灰烬从敞开的门口吹了进来，一阵咳嗽打断了她的话。 火心惊恐地看着痉挛折磨着她虚弱的身体。 蓝星是氏族的首领！是她教会了他关于星际部落的知识，以及战士的灵魂是如何守护森林的。 火心不敢相信她会抛弃她一生的信仰。 “你——你不需要尊重星际部落。”他终于结结巴巴地说。 “去那里代表你自己的部落。 他们现在需要你的力量。” 蓝星看了他很长时间。 “有一次我的孩子需要我，但我把它们给了