Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 When Fireheart returned to the clearing, there was still no sign of Ravenpaw. His belly churned. The moon was high in the sky. Before long, Bluestar would lead her warriors into battle against WindClan, and all hope of a peaceful solution would be lost. Where was Ravenpaw? Perhaps Onewhisker hadn't been able to find him. Or perhaps he couldn't come—or he was on his way but would arrive too late. Fireheart wanted to dash out into the forest and look for him, but he knew that would serve no purpose. Then he saw a flicker of movement at the entrance to the camp, and heard a mewed challenge from Ashpaw. Another cat answered, and Fireheart shivered with relief as he recognized Ravenpaw's voice. Springing forward, he bounded across the clearing. "Okay, Ashpaw," he meowed to the apprentice. "I'll look after Ravenpaw—you stay on guard." He touched noses with the sleek cat who emerged from the gorse tunnel. "It's good to see you, Ravenpaw. How are you?"

第十四章火心回到空地上时，仍然没有拉文爪的踪影。 他的肚子翻腾起来。月亮高高地挂在天上。 不久之后，蓝星将带领她的战士们与风氏族作战，和平解决问题的希望也将化为泡影。 拉文爪在哪儿？也许是一须没能找到他。 又或者他来不了，或者他已经在路上了，但到得太晚了。 火心想冲进森林去找他，但他知道这是没有用的。 接着，他看到营地入口处有动静，听到阿什帕发出一声新的挑战。 另一只猫应声而来，火心听出了拉文爪的声音，松了一口气。 他一跃而起，越过空地。 “好吧，阿什帕。”他喵喵地对徒弟说。 “我来照顾拉文波——你守着。” 他和从金雀花隧道里出来的那只光滑的猫碰了碰鼻子。 “很高兴见到你，拉文爪。 你好吗？”

Even as he asked the question he could see that the former apprentice was looking well. His black pelt shone in the moonlight and his strong muscles rippled beneath the fur. "I'm fine," Ravepaw replied. He looked around the clearing, his amber eyes very wide. "It seems strange to be here again, Fireheart. I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with WindClan. Onewhisker told me everything, and he swore they haven't been stealing prey." "Try convincing Bluestar of that," Fireheart meowed grimly. "Look, I hate to rush you—I know you must have run like the wind to get here so fast—but we don't have much time. Follow me." He led the way to Bluestar's den. The ThunderClan leader was curled in her nest, but when Fireheart looked closely at her he could see a gleam of moonlight reflected from her narrowed eyes. She was not asleep. "What's the matter, Fireheart?" she asked, sounding annoyed. "It's not time to go yet. And who's that with you?" "It's Ravenpaw, Bluestar," the loner meowed,

即使在他问这个问题的时候，他也能看到这位前学徒看起来很好。 它黑色的皮毛在月光下闪闪发光，强壮的肌肉在皮毛下荡漾。 “我很好。”拉维回答。 他环视着空地，琥珀色的眼睛睁得大大的。 “火心，我又来到这里，感觉真奇怪。 我很遗憾听说你在WindClan遇到了麻烦。 一个胡须把一切都告诉了我，他发誓说他们没有偷猎物。” “你去说服蓝星吧。”火心阴郁地叫道。 “听着，我不想催你——我知道你跑得像风一样快才跑到这儿来——但我们时间不多了。 跟我来。”他带路去了蓝星的巢穴。 雷霆氏族的首领蜷缩在她的巢穴里，但当火心仔细观察她时，他可以看到她眯起的眼睛里反射出一丝月光。 她没有睡着。“怎么了，火心？”她问，语气有些恼火。 “现在还不是走的时候。和你在一起的是谁？”“我是拉文爪，蓝星。”

stepping forward. "I've come with a message from Windclan." "WindClan!" Bluestar sprang to her paws. "What does that Clan of thieves want to say to me?" To Ravenpaw's credit, he didn't flinch, though Fireheart knew he must remember the days when he was a Clan apprentice and Bluestar's anger was something to be feared. "Tallstar wants to meet with you, to discuss the loss of prey," he told her. "Does he?" Briefly Bluestar glared at her deputy, her eyes blazing with blue fire. For a heartbeat Fireheart was sure she had guessed what he had done. There was an ominous pause. "Bluestar, surely it would be better to talk than fight?" he ventured. "Don't tell me what to do," Bluestar snapped. Her tail-tip twitched irritably. "Get out of here. Ravenpaw and I will discuss this together." Fireheart had no choice but to leave the den. He hovered around outside, listening to the murmur of voices but unable to make out what Bluestar and Ravenpaw were saying. After a while Whitestorm emerged from the

向前走。“我带来了风氏族的消息。” “WindClan !”蓝星跳了起来。 “那帮盗贼想对我说什么？”值得赞扬的是，拉文爪没有退缩，尽管火心知道他一定记得自己还是氏族学徒的日子，蓝星的愤怒是一种可怕的东西。 “高星想和你见面，讨论一下失去猎物的问题，”他告诉她。 “是吗?”蓝星短暂地瞪了她的副手一眼，眼睛里闪着蓝色的火焰。 一瞬间，火心确信她已经猜到他做了什么。 一阵不祥的沉默。 “蓝星，谈谈总比打仗好吧？”他大胆地说。 “别告诉我该怎么做，”蓝星厉声说。 她的尾巴尖烦躁地抽搐着。 “滚出去。我会和拉文爪一起讨论这件事。” 火心别无选择，只能离开洞穴。 他在外面转来转去，听着嘁嘁喳喳的说话声，但听不清蓝星和拉文爪在说什么。 过了一会儿，“白风暴”出现了

warriors' den and padded over to join him. "The moon's going down," the white warrior meowed. "Bluestar will want to leave soon. Is Ravenpaw here yet?" "Yes, he is," mewed Fireheart. "But I don't know whether—" He broke off at a movement from inside the den. A heartbeat later, Bluestar stalked out with Ravenpaw behind her. She paced forward until she reached Fireheart, her tail lashing. "Gather a patrol," she ordered. "We go to Fourtrees." "Does that mean you are going to talk with Tallstar?" Fireheart asked bravely. His leader's tail lashed again. "I will talk," she meowed. "But if there is no agreement, then we will fight." The night was still dark when Bluestar led her warriors into the hollow where the four great oaks stood. Fireheart padded at her shoulder; the smallest of rustles told him that the other cats were following. His heart lurched as an owl hooted in the distance. He had barely had a chance to murmur his thanks to Ravenpaw for

勇士的洞穴，然后走过去和他一起。 “月亮要下山了，”白衣武士叫道。 “蓝星很快就会想要离开。 拉文爪来了吗？”“是的，他是。”火心说。 “但我不知道是否——”他听到洞里有动静，就打住了。 一个心跳后，蓝星走了出来，拉文爪跟在她后面。 她拖着尾巴向前走，走到火心跟前。 “召集一支巡逻队，”她命令道。 “我们去四棵树。”“这是不是意味着你要和Tallstar谈谈？”火心勇敢地问。 他的尾巴又动了起来。 “我会说话的，”她喵喵地说。 “但如果没有达成协议，我们就会战斗。” 当蓝星带领她的战士们进入四棵大橡树所在的山谷时，天还很黑。 火心依偎在她的肩上；最小的沙沙声告诉他其他的猫在跟着他。 远处猫头鹰在叫，他的心猛地一跳。 他还没来得及低声感谢拉文爪

bringing Tallstar's message before the black cat had slipped away from the ThunderClan warriors. He would follow a different route back to his farmland home, keeping well clear of Fourtrees. Bluestar paused at the top of the slope. As the other warriors caught up with her, starlight cast a faint sheen on their fur, touching their pricked ears and reflecting from their wide eyes. Fireheart could almost taste their anticipation. When he looked across the border into WindClan territory, he thought at first that the sweep of moorland was empty, stretching up to the night sky. Wind swept across it and rustled the oak trees in the hollow behind him. Then he caught sight of movement up ahead, and he realized that a line of cats was standing there, with Tallstar at their center. His stomach clenched as Fireheart realized that Tallstar, too, had brought his warriors with him. "What's that?" Bluestar hissed, turning to glare into his eyes. "So many WindClan cats? I thought I was coming here to talk." Her eyes glared furiously at Fireheart, some sharpened instinct flooding her expression with understanding. "This

在黑猫从雷霆族战士手中溜走之前，他带来了高星的消息。 他会走另一条路回到他的农田家，避开四树。 蓝星在斜坡顶上停了下来。 当其他战士追上她时，星光在他们的皮毛上投下微弱的光泽，抚摸着他们刺痛的耳朵，从他们大大的眼睛里反射出来。 火心几乎能感觉到他们的期待。 当他望向风氏族的疆界时，他起初以为那片荒原是空旷的，一直延伸到夜空。 风拂过它，在他身后的山谷里，橡树沙沙作响。 然后他看到前面有动静，他意识到一排猫站在那里，高斯达在它们的中间。 当火心意识到高星也带来了他的战士们时，他的胃一阵痉挛。 “那是什么?”蓝星嘶嘶地说，转身瞪着他的眼睛。 “这么多风氏族猫？”我以为我是来谈谈的。” 她的眼睛愤怒地瞪着火心，某种敏锐的本能在她的表情中充满了理解。 “这

looks more like an ambush than a meeting of leaders." At a flick of her tail, the ThunderClan warriors moved up in purposeful silence to form a tight line on either side of their leader, facing the WindClan cats. Fireheart felt the air crackle with tension, and he realized that it would be all too easy for fighting to break out, even if WindClan did not attack first. Would Tallstar keep his word, and try to talk to Bluestar rather than fight? "Tallstar?" Bluestar meowed coldly. "What have you to say to me?" Waiting for the WindClan leader's response, Fireheart nervously sheathed and unsheathed his claws. He did not know if the line would hold. If just one cat moved forward, battle could engulf them all. He saw Dustpelt exchange a tense glance with Brindleface, as if both cats were thinking the same as he was. Next to him, Sandstorm kept her gaze fixed on the WindClan cats, her ears flat to her head. Swiftpaw stared nervously at his leader, but he held his place in the line. Cloudpaw, on Fireheart's other side, had dropped into the hunter's crouch, his rump

看起来更像是伏击，而不是领导人会议。” 她的尾巴轻轻一甩，雷霆族的战士们故意沉默地走上前，在他们首领的两侧排成一条紧密的线，面对着风族的猫。 火心感到空气因紧张而噼啪作响，他意识到，即使风氏族不先进攻，战斗也很容易爆发。 塔尔斯塔会信守诺言，与蓝星谈判而不是开战吗？ “Tallstar ?”蓝星冷冷地叫了一声。 “你有什么话要对我说？”等待着风氏族首领的回应，火心紧张地把他的爪子套出又套出。 他不知道这条线是否能坚持下去。 只要有一只猫向前，战斗就会把它们全部吞没。 他看见尘土飞扬和斑脸紧张地交换了一下眼色，好像两只猫的想法和他一样。 在他身旁，沙暴把耳朵贴在头上，目不转睛地盯着风氏族的猫。 Swiftpaw紧张地盯着他的首领，但他在队伍中坚守着自己的位置。 火心的另一边的云爪，耷拉着屁股，变成了猎人的蹲姿