Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 The stars of Silverpelt blazed from a clear sky, and the full moon rode high. Fireheart crouched at the top of the hollow leading down to Fourtrees. Beneath the four great oaks, the ground was carpeted with fallen leaves, glittering in the first frost of leaf-fall. Black shapes of cats moved to and fro against the pale shimmer. This time Bluestar had insisted on leading her Clan to the Gathering. Fireheart couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not. True, now he didn't have to invent excuses for her, but he was also worried about what she might say. As ThunderClan's problems piled up, it was becoming more and more difficult to present a strong face to their rival Clans, and his apprehension bit deeper when he admitted to himself that he could no longer trust his leader's judgment. He edged toward her, out of earshot of Cloudpaw and Mousefur, who were beside him. "Bluestar," he murmured. "What will you—" As if she hadn't heard him, Bluestar signaled with her tail and the ThunderClan cats sprang to

第十章西尔弗佩尔的星星在晴朗的天空中闪耀，满月高高挂在天上。 火心蹲在通往四树树的洼地顶上。 在四棵大橡树下面，地上铺满了落叶，在落叶的第一场霜里闪闪发光。 黑黑的猫在苍白的微光下来回移动。 这一次，蓝星坚持要带领她的氏族参加聚会。 火心不知道这是好事还是坏事。 没错，现在他不必为她编造借口了，但他也担心她会说些什么。 随着ThunderClan的问题越来越多，他们越来越难以在竞争对手面前表现出强大的一面，当他承认自己再也不能相信他的领袖的判断时，他的忧虑越来越深。 他慢慢地向她靠近，避开了在他旁边的云爪和鼠毛的声音。 “蓝星。”他喃喃地说。“你要干什么——”蓝星好像没听见，用尾巴示意，迅雷族的猫们跳了过来

their paws and raced down through the bushes into the hollow. Fireheart had no option but to follow. Before they left the camp, Bluestar had refused to talk about the coming Gathering, and now his last chance to discuss it with her had gone. Down in the hollow there were fewer cats than Fireheart had expected, and he realized they were all from WindClan and ShadowClan. He spotted Tallstar and Tigerstar seated side by side at the base of the Great Rock. Bluestar walked straight past them, her tail as stiff as if she were advancing on an enemy. Without acknowledging them with so much as the flick of a whisker, she leaped up to the Great Rock and sat there, her gray-blue fur glowing in the moonlight. Fireheart took a deep breath and tried to calm the fears that welled inside him. Bluestar had already convinced herself that Tallstar was her enemy; to see the WindClan leader talking privately with Tigerstar, the traitor Bluestar feared most, would make her surer that she was right. As he watched, Fireheart saw Tallstar lean over to Tigerstar and meow something; Tigerstar

他们的爪子穿过灌木丛跑进了洼地。 火心别无选择，只能跟着。 在他们离开营地之前，蓝星一直拒绝谈论即将到来的集会，现在他和她讨论这个问题的最后机会已经没有了。 在洼地下面，猫的数量比火心预想的要少，他意识到它们都来自风宗和影宗。 他看见高星和虎星并排坐在巨石脚下。 蓝星径直从他们身边走过，她的尾巴僵硬得像在向敌人前进。 她连胡须都没挥一挥，就跳上大岩石，坐在那里，灰蓝色的皮毛在月光下闪闪发光。 火心深吸了一口气，试图平息心中涌起的恐惧。 蓝星已经让自己相信，塔尔星是她的敌人；看到风氏族首领与蓝星最害怕的叛徒虎星私下交谈，会让她更确信自己是对的。 就在他看着的时候，火心看到高星俯身向虎星，喵喵叫着什么；Tigerstar

flicked his tail dismissively. Fireheart wondered if he should creep closer to listen to what they were saying, but before he could move he felt a friendly nudge at his shoulder and looked around to see Onewhisker, a warrior of WindClan. "Hi, there," Onewhisker meowed. "Do you remember who this is?" He pushed a young cat forward, a tabby with bright eyes and ears pricked with excitement. "This is Morningflower's kit," Onewhisker explained. "He's my apprentice now—Gorsepaw. Isn't he big now?" "Morningflower's kit, of course! I saw you at the last Gathering." Fireheart still found it hard to believe that this well-muscled apprentice was the same scrap of fur whom he had carried across the Thunderpath when he and Graystripe brought WindClan home. "Mother told me about you, Fireheart," Gorsepaw mewed shyly. "How you carried me, and everything." "Well, I'm glad I don't have to carry you now," Fireheart replied. "If you grow much more, you'll be able to join LionClan!"

轻蔑地摇了摇尾巴。 火心不知道自己是否应该爬近一点，听听他们在说些什么，但还没来得及动弹，他就感到有人友好地轻推了他的肩膀一下，扭头一看，原来是风氏族的战士一须。 “嗨，你好。”一根胡须叫道。 “你还记得这是谁吗？”他推了一只小猫向前，那是一只虎斑猫，眼睛明亮，耳朵因兴奋而刺痛。 “这是晨花的工具包，”Onewhisker解释道。 “他现在是我的徒弟——戈瑟paw。 他现在不是很大了吗？”“当然是晨花的工具包！”我在上次集会上见过你。” 火心仍然难以相信，这个肌肉强健的学徒，就是他和灰条纹带着风氏族回家时带过雷霆谷的那块皮毛。 “妈妈跟我说过你，火心。”戈瑟帕害羞地叫道。 “你抱着我，还有所有的一切。” “嗯，我很高兴现在不用我背你了。”火心回答。 “如果你成长得更多，你就可以加入LionClan!”

Gorsepaw purred happily. Fireheart was sharply aware of the warm friendship that he felt for these cats, which had survived all the skirmishing and disagreements since that long-ago journey. "We should be starting the meeting," Onewhisker went on. "But there's no sign of RiverClan." The words were hardly out of his mouth when there was a stir among the bushes at the other side of the clearing. A group of RiverClan cats appeared, padding close together into the open. Stalking proudly at their head was Leopardfur. "Where's Crookedstar?" Onewhisker wondered out loud. "I heard he's ill," Fireheart meowed, realizing that he wasn't surprised to see Leopardfur taking her leader's place. From what Graystripe had told him by the river half a moon ago, he hadn't expected the RiverClan leader to be well enough to attend a Gathering. Leopardfur walked straight toward the base of the Great Rock, where Tallstar and Tigerstar were sitting. She dipped her head courteously and

戈瑟帕高兴地咕噜着。火心清楚地意识到，他对这些猫有着一种温暖的友谊，自从那次很久以前的旅行以来，它们经受住了所有的冲突和分歧。 “我们该开始开会了。”一个胡须继续说。 “可是没有河族的踪迹。” 话还没说完，空地另一边的灌木丛中就响起了一阵骚动。 一群河族的猫出现了，挤在一起进入空地。 豹皮草骄傲地尾随在他们的头顶。 “Crookedstar在哪?”一个胡须大声问道。 “我听说他病了。”火心喵喵地叫着，意识到看到利奥帕德福接替了她的领袖位置，他并不感到惊讶。 从半个月前灰条纹在河边告诉他的情况来看，他没想到河族首领的身体状况能参加聚会。 豹皮径直走向巨石的底部，高星和虎星正坐在那里。 她恭恭敬敬地低下头

settled down beside them. Fireheart was too far away to hear what they were saying, and he was distracted a moment later as a familiar gray warrior bounded across the clearing to his side. "Graystripe!" Fireheart gave a welcoming mew. "I thought you weren't allowed to come to Gatherings." "I wasn't," replied Graystripe, touching noses with his friend. "But Stonefur said I should have a chance to prove my loyalty." "Stonefur?" Fireheart echoed. He had noticed both of Bluestar's kits, Stonefur and his sister, Mistyfoot, among the cats who followed Leopardfur. "What's it got to do with him?" "Stonefur's our new deputy," meowed Graystripe. He frowned. "Oh, of course, you don't know. Crookedstar died two nights ago. Leopardstar is our leader now." Fireheart was silent for a moment, remembering the dignified old cat who had helped ThunderClan during the fire. The news of Crookedstar's death didn't surprise him, but it still brought a pang of anxiety. Leopardstar would be a

在他们身边安顿下来。火心离得太远，听不见他们在说什么，过了一会儿，一个熟悉的灰色战士从空地上跳到了他身边，他分心了。 “Graystripe !”火心做了一个欢迎的手势。 “我还以为你不能来参加聚会呢。” “我没有。”灰条纹回答，和他的朋友碰了碰鼻子。 “但斯通弗说我应该有机会证明我的忠诚。” “Stonefur ?”Fireheart回荡。 他注意到蓝星的两只幼崽——斯通弗和他的妹妹米斯特富特——都在跟着利奥帕弗的猫中间。 “这和他有什么关系？”“斯通弗是我们的新副手。” 他皱起了眉头。“哦，当然，你不知道。 克鲁克星两天前死了。 豹星现在是我们的领袖。” 火心沉默了片刻，想起了那只在大火中帮助雷霆家族的威严的老猫。 克鲁克斯塔的死讯并不使他感到意外，但仍然带来了一阵焦虑。 豹星会是

strong leader, good for RiverClan, but she had no love for ThunderClan. "She's already started to reorganize the Clan, even though it's barely a day since she went to the Moonstone to speak with StarClan," Graystripe went on, pulling a face. "Supervising the apprentice training, ordering more patrols. And—" He broke off, his paws working on the ground in front of him. "Graystripe!" Fireheart was alarmed at his friend's clear agitation. "What's the matter?" Graystripe lifted anguished yellow eyes to gaze at his friend. "There's something you ought to know, Fireheart." He took a quick glance around to make sure no RiverClan cats were within earshot. "Ever since the fire, Leopardfur has been planning how to get Sunningrocks back." "I…I don't think you should be telling me that," Fireheart stammered, staring at his friend in dismay. Sunningrocks was a long-disputed territory on the border between ThunderClan and RiverClan. Oakheart and the former ThunderClan deputy, Redtail, had both died in battle over them. For Graystripe to tell Fireheart of his new

强势的领袖，对河族有利，但她对雷霆族毫无好感。 “她已经开始重组氏族了，尽管她去月光石和星际氏族谈话还不到一天。”灰条纹继续说，做了个鬼脸。 监督学徒的训练，命令更多的巡逻。 而且——”他停了下来，爪子踩在前面的地上。 “Graystripe !”火心被他朋友明显的激动吓坏了。 “怎么啦？”灰条抬起痛苦的黄眼睛盯着他的朋友。 “有件事你应该知道，火心。” 他迅速扫视四周，确保没有河族的猫在他耳边。 “自从火灾以来，利奥帕德弗一直在计划如何夺回桑宁岩。” “我……我觉得你不该告诉我这些。”火心结结巴巴地说，沮丧地盯着他的朋友。 太阳岩是雷电氏族和河流氏族之间长期争议的领土。 Oakheart和前ThunderClan的副手Redtail都在争夺它们的战斗中牺牲了。 让灰条纹告诉火心他的新