Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30 The air in the clearing was heavy with the scent of WindClan and RiverClan. Fireheart felt a tremor of anxiety. In just a few moments he was going to have to stand on the Great Rock and address these cats. There was no sign of ShadowClan. Had the sickness taken such a firm hold that they couldn't make it to the Gathering? A pang of pity for Whitethroat reminded Fireheart of Tigerclaw, and of the terror in the young warrior's eyes as the massive cat loomed at the edge of the Thunderpath. Suddenly his paws itched to mount the Great Rock and warn the other Clans about the dark warrior's presence in the forest. "Fireheart!" Onewhisker bounded up to Fireheart's side. He felt a flicker of surprise at Onewhisker's friendly purr. The last time he had seen a WindClan cat it had been Mudclaw screeching angrily away into the heather. But Onewhisker clearly hadn't forgotten how Fireheart had brought his Clan back from exile. The two warriors had grown close on that journey, and both cats still valued the bond they

第三十章空地上弥漫着风氏族和河氏族的浓重气味。 火心感到一阵不安。 再过一会儿，他就要站在大岩石上对这些猫讲话了。 没有影子氏族的迹象。 是不是病得太厉害了，他们都不能参加聚会了？ 一阵对白喉的怜悯，让火心想起了虎爪，想起了这只巨大的猫出现在雷道边缘时，年轻战士眼中的恐惧。 突然，他的爪子发痒，想爬上巨石，警告其他氏族，森林里有黑暗战士的存在。 “Fireheart !”一个胡须跳到了火心身边。 他对一须友好的咕噜声感到一阵惊讶。 他上一次见到风氏族的猫，是泥爪在石南丛里愤怒地尖叫。 但一须显然没有忘记火心是如何把他的族人从流放中带回来的。 在那次旅行中，这两个勇士走得越来越近，两只猫仍然珍惜他们之间的纽带

had forged. "Hi, Onewhisker," Fireheart greeted the brown tabby. "You'd better not let Mudclaw see you talking to me, truce or no truce. We didn't part on very good terms last time we met." "Mudclaw takes pride in defending his territory," replied Onewhisker, shifting uncomfortably from paw to paw. He'd obviously heard about the two attacks on ThunderClan cats in WindClan territory. "Maybe," Fireheart admitted. "But that's no excuse for turning Bluestar away from Highstones." He found himself wishing Bluestar had been able to share with StarClan at the Moonstone that day. Things might be very different now if she had received some assurance that her warrior ancestors had not turned against her. "Tallstar wasn't happy when he heard about that. Even if you were sheltering Brokentail, it was no excuse—" "Brokentail was dead by then," Fireheart interrupted him, regretting his tone when he saw Onewhisker's ears flicking uncomfortably. "I'm

伪造的。“你好，一须。”火心向棕色虎斑猫打招呼。 “你最好别让Mudclaw看到你跟我说话，不管有没有休战。 上次见面时，我们的关系不太好。” “泥爪以保卫自己的领地为荣。”一须回答，不安地换着两只爪子。 他显然听说了在风氏族领地上两次对雷霆氏族猫的攻击。 “也许吧。”火心承认。 “但这不是让蓝星远离海斯通的借口。” 他发现自己希望蓝星那天能在月光石与StarClan分享。 如果她确信她的战士祖先没有背叛她，现在的情况可能会大不相同。 Tallstar听到这个消息后很不高兴。 “那时候布罗肯泰尔已经死了。”火心打断了他的话，看到一胡须的耳朵不安地翕动着，他对自己的语气感到后悔。 “我

sorry, Onewhisker," he meowed more gently. "It's good to see you again. How are you?" "Fine," answered Onewhisker, looking relieved. "I'm sorry to hear about the fire. I know how bad it is for a Clan to be driven from its home." His eyes met Fireheart's sympathetically. "We've returned to our camp and we've rebuilt it the best we can. It won't be long before the forest recovers." Fireheart tried to sound confident. "I'm glad to hear it," Onewhisker meowed. "You know, it's as if we've never been away from our camp now. There have been plenty of kits this greenleaf, and Morningflower's kit is here as an apprentice—it's his first Gathering." Fireheart remembered the tiny wet bundle of fur he had helped to carry through the rain, out of Twoleg territory and back to WindClan's home. He followed Onewhisker's gaze across the clearing to a young brown tom. Although small like the rest of his Clan, the apprentice's muscles were already lean and well developed beneath his short, thick fur. Fireheart noticed Onewhisker suddenly dip his

对不起，一个胡子。”他更温柔地叫道。 “很高兴再次见到你。 你好吗？”“很好。”一个胡须回答，看上去松了一口气。 “听到火灾的事我很难过。 我知道一个氏族被赶出家园是多么糟糕的事。” 他同情地看着火心。 “我们已经回到我们的营地，并尽我们所能重建了它。 森林很快就会恢复。” 火心试图装出自信的样子。 “听你这么说我很高兴。”一个胡须叫道。 “你知道，现在我们好像从来没有离开过我们的营地。 这片绿叶里有很多工具包，晨花的工具包在这里当学徒——这是他第一次聚会。” 火心想起了他在雨中帮忙搬运的那一小捆湿漉漉的毛皮，离开了特沃雷格的领地，回到了风氏族的家。 他顺着胡须的目光穿过空地，看到一只棕色的小汤姆。 虽然这个学徒和他家族的其他成员一样矮小，但在他又短又厚的皮毛下，他的肌肉已经很精瘦，发育得很好。 火心注意到一个胡须突然垂下他的胡须

head. He turned to see Tallstar approaching them. The WindClan leader looked at Fireheart with narrowed eyes. "We've been seeing a lot of you lately, Fireheart," he remarked. "Just because you once led us home doesn't give you the freedom to wander around our territory." "So I've been warned," replied Fireheart. He forced himself to stay calm, keeping his resentment at Bluestar's treatment out of his voice —after all, the Gathering was held under a truce, and this was a warrior he had learned to respect on their journey together through Twoleg territory. But Fireheart held the black-and-white leader's gaze and meowed firmly, "However, I must put the needs of my Clan first." Tallstar's eyes glittered back at him; then he gave a tiny nod. "Spoken like a true warrior. Having traveled with you, I wasn't surprised when Bluestar made you her deputy." The WindClan leader glanced around the clearing and added, "There are those who thought such a young cat would never carry off such a great responsibility. I was not among them." Fireheart was taken aback. He hadn't expected

头。他转过身来，看见塔尔斯特正在向他们走来。 风氏族首领眯起眼睛看着火心。 “最近我们经常见到你，火心。”他说。 “不能因为你曾经带领我们回家，就给你在我们的领土上游荡的自由。” “有人警告过我。”火心答道。 他强迫自己保持冷静，把对蓝星遭遇的怨恨藏在嘴里——毕竟，集会是在休战协议下举行的，而这是一个他在穿越特沃莱格领地的旅程中学会尊重的战士。 但火心抓住黑白相间的首领的目光，坚定地喵喵叫道：“然而，我必须把我部落的需要放在第一位。” 塔尔斯塔的眼睛也对他闪闪发光；然后他微微点了点头。 说得像个真正的战士。 和你一起旅行过，所以当蓝星任命你为她的副手时，我并不感到惊讶。” 风氏族首领环视了一下空地，补充道：“有些人认为这么年轻的猫永远担当不了这么大的责任。 我不在其中。”火心吓了一跳。 他没有想到

such a compliment from the leader of WindClan. He stifled a delighted purr, and nodded his thanks. "Where is Bluestar?" asked Tallstar. "I can't see her among your cats." His voice was casual but his eyes betrayed a keen interest. "She's not feeling well enough to travel yet," Fireheart answered lightly. "Was she injured in the fire?" "Nothing she won't recover from," Fireheart meowed, hoping with all his heart that he was telling the truth. Beside him, Onewhisker looked up sharply. Fireheart followed his gaze to the slope on the other side of the valley. Three ShadowClan cats were charging into the clearing, Runningnose at the head. Fireheart felt a glimmer of relief as he recognized one of the two warriors behind the gray-and-white medicine cat. It was Littlecloud, clearly recovered from the sickness—thanks to Cinderpelt. The other Clan cats backed away from the ShadowClan warriors as they skidded to a halt in front of the Great Rock. News of their disease had

这是来自WindClan领袖的赞美。 他抑制住高兴的咕噜声，点点头表示感谢。 “蓝星在哪儿？”高星问道。 “我看不到她和你的猫在一起。” 他的声音很随意，但他的眼神流露出浓厚的兴趣。 “她还不太舒服，不能出门。”火心淡淡地回答。 “她在火灾中受伤了吗？”“没什么是她恢复不了的。”火心叫道，真心希望自己说的是实话。 在他身边，一须突然抬起头来。 火心跟着他的目光来到了山谷另一边的斜坡上。 三只影子家族的猫冲进空地，流鼻冲在最前面。 当他认出灰白相间的药猫后面的两个战士之一时，火心松了一口气。 那是小云，显然已经康复了——多亏了灰姑娘。 当影子部落的战士们在巨岩前停下脚步时，其他部落的猫纷纷后退。 他们患病的消息传开了

obviously spread through the forest. "It's all right," Runningnose meowed, panting, as if he could read their minds. "ShadowClan is free of the sickness. I have been sent ahead to tell you to wait before you begin the meeting. ShadowClan's leader is on his way." "What makes Nightstar so late?" called Tallstar from Fireheart's side. "Nightstar is dead," answered Runningnose bluntly. A stunned ripple spread through the other cats like a breeze through trees, and Fireheart blinked. How could the ShadowClan leader be dead? He had only recently received his nine lives. What a terrible sickness! No wonder Littlecloud and Whitethroat had been so afraid to return to their camp. "Is Cinderfur coming instead?" Whitestorm called, referring to the ShadowClan deputy. Runningnose looked at his paws. "Cinderfur was one of the first to die of the sickness." "Then who is your new leader?" demanded Crookedstar, emerging from the shadows on the other side of the Great Rock.

显然蔓延在森林中。 “没关系。”流鼻涕叫着，喘着气，好像他能读懂他们的心思。 “暗影氏族没有这种病。 我是提前派来告诉你开会前等一等的。 暗影部落的首领已经在路上了。” “夜星怎么来得这么晚？”火心身边的高星喊道。 “夜星死了。”流鼻涕直截了当地回答。 一阵震惊的涟漪像微风吹过树林一样传遍了其他的猫，火心眨了眨眼睛。 暗影氏族首领怎么可能死了？ 他最近才得到九条命。 多可怕的病啊！难怪小克劳德和白喉这么害怕回到他们的营地。 “灰姑娘会来吗？”白风暴叫道，指的是影族的副手。 流鼻涕看着自己的爪子。 “灰姑娘是第一批死于这种病的人之一。” “那么你们的新领袖是谁呢？”克鲁克星从大岩石另一边的阴影中出现，问道。