Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 "Bluestar, it's been a quarter moon since we returned from the uplands." Fireheart carefully avoided mentioning the Moonstone. Even though they were alone in her den, he still felt uncomfortable mentioning their fruitless expedition. "There's been no sign of WindClan in our territory, or ShadowClan." Bluestar narrowed her eyes disbelievingly but Fireheart pressed on. "There are so many apprentices in training, and the woods are so full of prey, that it is hard to keep three warriors in camp all the time. I…I think two would be plenty." "But what if we're attacked again?" Bluestar fretted. "If WindClan really intended to harm ThunderClan," Fireheart pointed out, "Mudclaw wouldn't have let you leave the uplands…." alive, he finished silently, letting his words trail away. "Okay." Bluestar nodded, her eyes clouded with an unreadable emotion. "Only two warriors need stay in camp." "Thanks, Bluestar." This was going to make the task of organizing all the guards, hunting parties,

第七章“蓝星，自从我们从高地回来，已经是满月了。” 火心小心翼翼地避免提及月光石。 尽管只有他们俩在她的窝里，提起他们毫无结果的探险，他还是觉得不自在。 “在我们的领土上没有风氏族的踪迹，也没有影氏族的踪迹。” 蓝星怀疑地眯起眼睛，但火心继续说下去。 “有那么多学徒在训练，森林里又到处都是猎物，要让三个勇士一直呆在营地里是很难的。 我……我想两个就够了。” “要是我们再被攻击怎么办？”蓝星烦躁。 “如果风氏族真的想伤害雷霆氏族，”火心指出，“泥爪不会让你们离开高地....” 他还活着，默默地说完，让他的话渐渐消失。 “好吧。”蓝星点了点头，她的眼睛里充满了一种难以言喻的情感。 “只需要两个战士留在营地。” “谢谢,蓝星。”这将使组织所有的守卫，狩猎队，

and apprentice training much easier. "I'll go and sort out tomorrow's patrols." Fireheart dipped his head respectfully and left the den. Outside the warriors were waiting for him. "Whitestorm, you lead the dawn patrol," Fireheart ordered. "Take Sandstorm and Ashpaw with you. Brackenfur, Dustpelt, you'll guard the camp while I'm hunting with Cloudpaw." He looked around at the remaining warriors, realizing how much more confident he felt about arranging the patrols. He'd had a lot of practice since Bluestar stayed in her den so much nowadays. Pushing away the unsettling thought, Fireheart went on: "I'll leave it up to the rest of you whether you train your apprentices or take them hunting, but I want the fresh-kill pile as full as it is today. We're getting used to eating well!" An amused purr ran through the group of warriors. "Darkstripe, you lead tomorrow's sunhigh patrol. Runningwind, you take sunset. You can choose who you take with you; just be sure to let them know so they can be ready in time." Runningwind nodded, but Darkstripe's eyes glittered and he asked, "Who will be going to the

学徒训练也容易多了。 “我去安排明天的巡逻。” 火心恭恭敬敬地低下头，离开了洞穴。 外面的战士们正在等着他。 “白风暴，你带领黎明巡逻队。”火心命令道。 “带上沙暴和阿什帕。 布拉肯弗，尘埃皮，我和云爪去打猎，你们守住营地。” 他看了看周围剩下的战士，意识到他对安排巡逻有了多大的信心。 自从蓝星现在经常待在她的窝里，他就经常练习。 火心打消了这个不安的念头，继续说：“你们是训练徒弟还是带他们去打猎，我就交给你们自己决定了，但我希望新鲜的猎物堆和今天一样满。 我们已经习惯吃得好了！”一阵有趣的咕噜声传遍了这群战士。 “黑条纹，明天你来带队巡逻。 流风，你带走夕阳。 你可以选择和谁一起走；一定要让他们知道，这样他们才能及时做好准备。” 跑风点点头，但暗条的眼睛闪闪发光，他问：“谁要去。

Gathering tonight?" "I don't know," Fireheart admitted. Darkstripe narrowed his eyes. "Didn't Bluestar tell you, or hasn't she decided yet?" "She hasn't discussed it with me," Fireheart answered. "She'll tell us when she's ready." Darkstripe turned his head and stared into the shadowy trees. "She'd better tell us soon. The sun is starting to set." "Then you should be eating," Fireheart told him. "You'll need your strength for the Gathering, if you're going." Darkstripe's tone made him uneasy, but he refused to let it ruffle his fur. He sat down and waited for the warriors to move away. Only when they had all gone did he turn back to Bluestar's den. She hadn't mentioned the Gathering, and he'd been too busy worrying about tomorrow's patrols to remember it. "Ah, Fireheart." Bluestar met him as she was pushing her way out through the lichen. She looked as if she'd just finished washing, and her pelt glowed in the dusky light. Fireheart felt a jolt of relief that she seemed to be taking care of herself once more. "When you've eaten, call the

今晚聚会?”“我不知道。”火心承认。 黑条纹眯起眼睛。 “蓝星没告诉你，还是她还没决定？”“她还没跟我商量呢。”火心回答。 “她准备好了会告诉我们的。” 黑条纹转过头，凝视着阴暗的树林。 “她最好快点告诉我们。 太阳开始下山了。” “那你该吃饭了。”火心对他说。 “如果你要去的话，你需要有足够的力量参加聚会。” “黑条纹”的语气让他感到不安，但他拒绝让它激怒自己。 他坐下来，等着战士们走开。 直到他们都走了，他才回到蓝星的巢穴。 她没有提到集会，而他一直忙着担心明天的巡逻，所以忘了这件事。 “啊,Fireheart。”蓝星在穿过地衣时遇到了他。 她看起来像是刚洗完衣服，皮毛在昏暗的灯光下闪闪发光。 火心感到一阵宽慰，她似乎又能照顾自己了。 “吃完后，打电话给他们。

warriors together for the Gathering." "Er…who shall I call?" Fireheart asked. Bluestar looked surprised. She listed the names so easily—leaving out Cloudpaw and including Ashpaw, as he'd requested several days earlier— that Fireheart wondered if perhaps she'd already told him, and he'd forgotten. "Yes, Bluestar," he answered. He dipped his head and padded across the clearing to the fresh- kill pile. A fat pigeon had been left on the heap. He decided to leave it for Bluestar. Perhaps this might tempt her to eat more than two mouthfuls. He picked up a vole, not feeling very hungry himself. He was too unsettled by Bluestar's shifting, patternless moods. As Fireheart carried the vole back to his favorite eating place, a shiver ran along his spine. Instinctively he looked over his shoulder, and he felt a prickle of apprehension as he saw Bramblekit watching him. He recalled Cinderpelt's words: He will never know his father. It will be the Clan that raises him. Fireheart forced himself to nod at the kit, then turned away and padded to the clump of nettles to eat.

战士们聚集在一起准备集会。” “呃……我该给谁打电话呢？”Fireheart问道。 蓝星看起来很惊讶。 她把名字一一列了出来——不包括云爪，只包括阿什爪，这是他几天前的要求——火心怀疑她是不是已经告诉过他了，而他忘记了。 “是的，蓝星，”他回答。 他低下头，蹑手蹑脚地穿过空地，来到刚宰杀的那堆牲口跟前。 一只胖胖的鸽子被留在了垃圾堆上。 他决定离开公司去蓝星。 也许这会诱使她多吃两口。 他捡起一只田鼠，自己也不太饿。 他对蓝星变幻无常、毫无规律的情绪太过不安。 当火心抱着田鼠回到他最喜欢吃的地方时，他的脊椎一阵颤抖。 他本能地扭头看了看，看到布兰布吉在看着他，他感到一阵恐惧。 他想起了灰姑娘的话：他永远不会认识他的父亲。 是氏族养大他的。 火心强迫自己朝工具箱点了点头，然后转身走到荨麻丛中去吃东西。

When he'd finished his meal, Fireheart glanced around the clearing. The rest of the Clan was sharing tongues as night stretched out the shadows and brought a welcome coolness to the camp. The days had been so hot lately that Fireheart had found himself wishing more and more that he could swim like the RiverClan cats. He looked over at the apprentices' den, wondering if Cloudpaw would remember that he wasn't going to the Gathering because he had eaten while out hunting. Cloudpaw was crouched on the tree stump outside his den entrance, play-fighting with Ashpaw, who was scrabbling at him from below. Fireheart was pleased that at least Cloudpaw was getting on with his denmates. He wondered if Graystripe would be at Fourtrees tonight. It seemed unlikely, as he had been in RiverClan for barely a moon. But he had given them Silverstream's kits. The RiverClan leader, Crookedstar, must have been grateful—after all, Silverstream had been his daughter, so the kits were his kin. And even though it would confirm his friend's acceptance into another Clan,

吃完饭，火心环视了一下空地。 夜幕笼罩着阴影，给营地带来了一种受人欢迎的凉爽，氏族的其他成员在窃窃私语。 最近天气太热了，火心越来越希望自己能像河族的猫一样游泳。 他朝徒弟们的书房望去，不知道云爪会不会记得他不去大聚会，因为他在外面打猎时吃了东西。 云爪蹲在洞口外的树桩上，和阿什帕打闹，阿什帕正从下面抓他。 火心很高兴，至少云爪和他的同学相处得很好。 他不知道格雷条纹今晚会不会在四树酒店。 这似乎不太可能，因为他在河氏族才待了一个月。 但他给了他们银溪的工具包。 河族首领克鲁克之星一定很感激——毕竟，银溪是他的女儿，所以幼崽是他的亲人。 尽管这会让他的朋友被另一个部族接受，

Fireheart found himself hoping that Graystripe would be granted the privilege of joining the Gathering. Fireheart pushed himself to his paws and called the cats together for the ThunderClan patrol. As he ran through the list of names that Bluestar had given him—"Mousefur, Runningwind, Sandstorm, Brackenfur, Brightpaw, Ashpaw, and Swiftpaw"—he realized with growing unease that Darkstripe, Longtail, and Dustpelt weren't among them. The three warriors had all been close allies of Tigerclaw, and Fireheart wondered if Bluestar had left them out deliberately. An uncomfortable shiver rippled through his fur as the three cats exchanged glances, then fixed their gazes on him. There was an unmistakable gleam of anger in Darkstripe's eyes. Unnerved, Fireheart turned away and joined the other cats to wait for Bluestar. She was sharing tongues with Whitestorm outside her den, and only when the gathered warriors began kneading the ground with anticipation did she get up and cross the clearing. "Whitestorm will be in charge of the camp

火心发现自己希望灰条纹能被授予加入聚会的特权。 火心站起身来，把猫们叫到一起，准备参加雷霆族的巡逻。 他把蓝星给他的名字一一念了一遍——“鼠毛、奔风、沙暴、蕨毛、亮爪、阿什爪和雨燕爪”——他越来越不安地意识到，黑条、长尾巴和尘埃皮不在其中。 这三个勇士都是虎爪的亲密盟友，火心怀疑蓝星是不是故意把他们排除在外。 三只猫交换了一下目光，然后把目光固定在他身上，一阵不舒服的颤抖在他的皮毛上荡漾。 “暗条纹”的眼睛里明显流露出愤怒的光芒。 火心感到不安，转身离开，加入了其他猫的行列，等待蓝星。 她在巢穴外与白风暴交谈，直到聚集在一起的战士们开始满怀期待地揉捏地面，她才起身穿过空地。 “白风暴将负责营地