Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 Mews of alarm and the pounding of paws in the clearing roused Fireheart from sleep. He blinked against the glaring sunshine that streamed between the branches above the warriors' den. A golden head appeared through the wall of leaves. It was Sandstorm, her pale green eyes gleaming with excitement. "We've captured two ShadowClan warriors!" she meowed breathlessly. Fireheart leaped to his paws, instantly awake. "What? Where?" "By the Owl Tree," Sandstorm explained, adding, "they were asleep!" Her voice betrayed her scorn at the ShadowClan cats' carelessness. "Have you told Bluestar?" "Dustpelt's telling her now." She ducked out of the warriors' den and Fireheart sprang after her, past Runningwind, who jerked up his head, startled awake by the commotion. Fireheart had slept fitfully after returning from the Gathering, shaken by the loaded silence that had greeted the announcement of his deputyship. His dreams had been filled with unknown cats that recoiled from him as if he were an owl of ill

第八章惊叫声和空地上爪子的砰砰声把火心从睡梦中惊醒。 他眨了眨眼睛，刺眼的阳光从战士巢穴上方的树枝间照进来。 一个金色的脑袋从树叶墙里钻了出来。 那是沙暴，她淡绿色的眼睛里闪烁着兴奋的光芒。 “我们抓到了两个影族战士！”她上气不接下气地叫道。 火心跳了起来，立刻醒了过来。 “什么?在哪里?”“在猫头鹰树旁边，”沙暴解释道，“他们睡着了！”她的声音流露出她对影子家族猫的粗心大意的轻蔑。 “你告诉蓝星了吗？”“达斯特尔正在告诉她呢。” 她从战士们的洞穴里钻了出来，火心跟着她跳了过去，跑风猛地抬起头，被这一阵骚动吓醒了。 火心从聚会回来后断断续续地睡了一觉，被宣布任命他为副手后的沉默吓坏了。 他的梦里充满了不认识的猫，它们躲着他，好像他是一只生病的猫头鹰

omen flying through a forest of shadows. He thought he had left his days as an outsider behind him, but the challenging stares from the other cats had warned him that he was still not fully accepted into forest life. He just hoped they didn't find out about the broken naming ritual. That would only reinforce their uneasiness about a kittypet replacing a respected Clanborn deputy. Now he faced yet another challenge. How would he deal with enemy cats captured on ThunderClan territory? Fireheart found himself hoping that Bluestar would be in a calm enough mood to guide him. The dawn patrol was gathered in a circle in the middle of the clearing. Fireheart pushed his way through them and saw two ShadowClan cats crouching on the hard earth, their tails bushed out and their ears flattened. He recognized one of the warriors at once. It was Littlecloud, a brown tabby tom. They'd met at a Gathering when Littlecloud was no more than a kit. He had been forced into apprenticeship by Brokentail when he was only three moons old. He was fully grown now, but still small-framed, and

预兆飞过阴影的森林。 他以为自己已经告别了作为一个局外人的日子，但其他猫充满挑战的目光警告他，他仍然没有完全被森林生活所接受。 他只希望他们不会发现他破坏了命名仪式。 这只会加剧他们对一只小猫取代一个受人尊敬的克兰族代表的不安。 现在他面临着另一个挑战。 他会如何处理在ThunderClan领土上捕获的敌人猫？ 火心发现自己希望蓝星能以足够平静的心情来引导他。 黎明巡逻队在空地中央围成一圈。 火心推开他们，看见两只影子家族的猫蹲在坚硬的土地上，尾巴翘着，耳朵扁平。 他立刻认出了其中一个战士。 那是一只棕色虎斑猫，名叫小云。 他们是在一次聚会上认识的，当时小云还只是个小玩意。 他只有三个月大的时候就被布罗肯泰尔强迫做学徒。 他现在已经完全长大了，但骨架仍然很小，而且

he looked in a bad way. His fur was matted and he stank of crowfood and fear. His haunches were bony, like featherless wings, and his eyes were sunk into his head. The other one wasn't much better off. These were hardly warriors to be afraid of, Fireheart thought with a twinge of unease. He looked at Whitestorm, who had led the dawn patrol. "Did they put up a fight when you found them?" "No," Whitestorm admitted, flicking his tail. "When we woke them up, they begged us to bring them here." Fireheart felt confused. "Begged you?" he echoed. "Why would they do that?" "Where are these ShadowClan warriors?" yowled Bluestar, pushing her way through the audience of cats, her face twisted in fear and rage. Fireheart felt his belly tense. "Is this another attack?" she hissed at the two wretched cats. "Whitestorm found them on patrol," Fireheart explained quickly. "They were sleeping in ThunderClan territory." "Sleeping?" snarled Bluestar, her ears flat against her head. "Well, have we been invaded or

他看起来脸色不好。他的皮毛打结了，身上散发着乌鸦食和恐惧的臭味。 他的臀部骨瘦如柴，就像没有羽毛的翅膀，眼睛陷在脑袋里。 另一个也好不到哪里去。 这些根本算不上什么可怕的战士，火心心里一阵不安。 他看了看带领黎明巡逻队的怀特斯托姆。 “你找到他们的时候，他们打架了吗？”“不，”白风暴摇了摇尾巴，承认道。 “当我们叫醒他们时，他们求我们把他们带到这里来。” 火心感到很困惑。“求你了？” “他们为什么要这么做？”“影子部落的战士们在哪里？”蓝星咆哮着，挤过一群猫，她的脸因恐惧和愤怒而扭曲。 火心感到肚子紧张起来。 “这又是一次袭击吗？”她对那两只可怜的猫嘶嘶地说。 “白风暴在巡逻时发现了他们。”火心很快解释道。 “他们睡在雷霆部落的地盘上。” “睡觉？”蓝星怒吼道，耳朵贴在头上。 “嗯，我们被入侵了吗？

not?" "These were the only warriors we found," meowed Whitestorm. "Are you sure?" demanded Bluestar. "It could be a trap." As Fireheart looked at these two sorry creatures, his instinct told him that invasion was the last thing on their minds. But Bluestar had a point. It would be wise to make sure there were no other ShadowClan cats hiding in the woods, waiting for a signal to attack. He called to Mousefur and Dustpelt. "You two, take a warrior and an apprentice each. Start at the Thunderpath and work your way back to camp. I want every bit of the territory searched for signs of ShadowClan." To Fireheart's relief the two warriors obeyed instantly. Dustpelt called Runningwind and Ashpaw, while Mousefur signaled to Swiftpaw and Brackenfur; then the six cats raced out of the camp and into the forest. Fireheart turned back to the trembling captives. "What are you doing in ThunderClan territory?" he asked. "Littlecloud, why are you here?"

不是吗?”“这是我们找到的唯一的战士，”白风暴叫道。 “你确定吗？”蓝星问道。 “这可能是个陷阱。”当火心看着这两个可怜的家伙时，他的直觉告诉他，入侵是他们最不想做的事情。 但蓝星说的有道理。确保没有其他暗影家族的猫躲在树林里，等待攻击的信号是明智的。 他叫老鼠和灰尘。 “你们两个，各带一个战士和一个学徒。 从迅雷之路出发，一路返回营地。 我要搜遍这片土地的每一处，寻找影子氏族的踪迹。” 令火心松了一口气的是，两个战士立刻服从了。 尘土叫跑风和阿什帕，鼠毛叫雨燕帕和蕨毛；然后，六只猫冲出营地，跑进了森林。 火心转过身来，看着颤抖的俘虏。 “你在雷霆部落的地盘上干什么？”他问道。 “小云，你怎么在这儿？”

The tabby tom stared up at Fireheart with round, frightened eyes, and Fireheart felt a stab of sympathy. The cat looked as lost and helpless as he'd been at that first Gathering, when he was a barely weaned kit. "W-Whitethroat and I came here h-hoping you'd give us food and healing herbs," Littlecloud stammered at last. Hisses of disbelief rose from the ThunderClan cats, and Littlecloud shrank back, pressing his scrawny body against the earth. Fireheart stared at the prisoner in amazement. Since when did ShadowClan cats seek help from their bitterest enemy? "Fireheart, wait." The voice of Cinderpelt sounded softly in Fireheart's ear. She was studying the two ShadowClan cats with narrowed eyes. "These cats are no threat to us. They are sick." She limped forward and touched Littlecloud's forepaw gently with her nose. "His pad is warm," she mewed. "He has a fever." Cinderpelt was about to sniff the second cat's paw when Yellowfang forced her way through the throng of cats. "No, Cinderpelt!" she screeched.

虎斑猫汤姆用惊恐的圆眼睛盯着火心，火心感到一阵同情。 这只猫看起来就像第一次聚会时一样迷茫无助，当时它还是只刚断奶的小猫咪。 “我——白喉和我来这儿——希望你能给我们食物和治病的草药。”小云终于结结巴巴地说。 雷族的猫们发出了难以置信的嘶嘶声，小云退缩了，把他骨瘦如柴的身体贴在地上。 火心惊讶地盯着囚犯。 从什么时候开始，影子家族的猫开始向他们最大的敌人寻求帮助了？ “Fireheart等。”火心耳边轻轻地响起了灰姑娘的声音。 她眯着眼睛打量着影子家族的两只猫。 “这些猫对我们没有威胁。 他们病了。”她一瘸一拐地走上前，用鼻子轻轻地碰了碰小云的前爪。 “他的垫子很暖和，”她叫道。 “他发烧了。”灰姑娘正要闻闻第二只猫的爪子，黄牙从猫群中挤了进来。 “不，灰姑娘！”她尖叫道。

"Get away from them!" Cinderpelt leaped around. "Why? These cats are sick. We must help them!" She twisted her head, looking pleadingly first at Fireheart, then at Bluestar. Every cat turned expectantly to Bluestar, but the ThunderClan leader just stared, huge-eyed, at the captives. Fireheart could see the old gray she- cat struggling with bewilderment and fear, her eyes clouded with confusion. He realized he had to distract the cats' attention while the troubled leader gathered her thoughts. "Why us? What made you come to our territory?" he asked the two prisoners again. The other ShadowClan cat, Whitethroat, spoke this time. He was a black tom with paws and a chest that used to be white but were now stained with dust. "You helped ShadowClan before, when we drove out Brokentail," he explained quietly. But ThunderClan also gave sanctuary to the ShadowClan leader, Fireheart thought with a ripple of unease. Had Whitethroat forgotten that? Then he realized that Brokentail had forced these

“离他们远点！”灰姑娘跳来跳去。 “为什么?这些猫病了。 我们必须帮助他们！”她扭过头，恳求地先看了看火心，又看了看蓝星。 每只猫都满怀期待地转向蓝星，但雷霆氏族的首领只是瞪大眼睛盯着俘虏们。 火心可以看到那只灰色的老母猫在困惑和恐惧中挣扎，她的眼睛里充满了困惑。 他意识到他必须分散猫的注意力，让陷入困境的领导人集中注意力。 “为什么是我们?你们为什么到我们的地盘来？”他又问那两个囚犯。 另一只影子家族的猫，白喉，这次说话了。 它是一只长着爪子的黑汤姆，胸部原本是白色的，但现在沾满了灰尘。 “以前我们赶走布罗肯泰尔的时候，你帮助过影族。”他平静地解释道。 但雷霆氏族也为暗影氏族首领提供了庇护，火心不安地想。 白喉忘了这一点吗？ 然后他意识到这是布罗肯泰尔强迫他这么做的