Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 The RiverClan warriors froze, their blue eyes wide with shock. "What do you mean?" Stonefur rasped. "Graypool was our mother." "No, listen…" Fireheart bundled Bluestar against the rock face and stood in front of her. He could still hear the yowls and spitting of the battle on the other side of the rock, but suddenly it seemed to have nothing to do with the confrontation in this gully. "Bluestar gave birth to you in ThunderClan," he meowed desperately. "But she couldn't keep you. Your father, Oakheart, brought you to RiverClan." "I don't believe you!" Stonefur drew his lips back in a vicious snarl. "It's a trick." "No, wait," mewed Mistyfoot. "Fireheart doesn't lie." "How would you know?" her brother demanded. "He's a ThunderClan cat. Why should we trust him?" He advanced on Fireheart, claws out, and the ThunderClan warrior braced himself for the

第十七章河族的勇士们惊呆了，蓝眼睛瞪得大大的。 “你是什么意思？”Stonefur发出刺耳的声音。 “格雷普是我们的母亲。” “不，听着……”火心把蓝星捆在岩壁上，站在她面前。 他仍然能听到岩石另一边战斗的嚎叫和吐痰声，但突然之间，这一切似乎与这条沟里的对峙毫无关系。 “蓝星在《ThunderClan》中生下了你，”他绝望地喵喵叫道。 “可是她留不住你。 你父亲奥克哈特把你带到了河族。” “我不相信你！”斯通弗把嘴唇缩了回去，恶狠狠地吼了一声。 “这是个骗局。”“不，等等。”雾脚叫道。 “火心不会说谎。”“你怎么知道？”她哥哥问。 “他是雷霆家族的猫。我们为什么要相信他呢？”他向火心前进，伸出爪子，雷霆族战士做好了准备

attack, but before Stonefur could spring, Bluestar slipped out from behind him and faced the two RiverClan cats. "My kits, oh, my kits…" Bluestar's voice was warm, and when she turned her head Fireheart saw that her eyes were blazing with admiration. "You're such fine warriors now. I'm so proud of you." Stonefur glanced at Mistyfoot, uncertainty showing in his twitching ears. "Leave Bluestar alone," Fireheart urged quietly. A sudden yowling interrupted him. "Fireheart! Watch out!" The voice was Graystripe's. Fireheart looked up in time to see Leopardstar plunging down the rock toward him. Graystripe's warning gave him just enough time to scramble backward, so that her outstretched claws only raked his shoulder. Spitting, she flung herself at him, driving the breath out of his body as she hurled him to the ground. Fireheart gripped the RiverClan leader's neck with his front paws and felt her powerful hind paws raking at his belly. Pain stabbed through him, and he slashed out blindly, feeling his claws

但石弗还没来得及跳起来，蓝星就从他身后溜了出来，面对着河族的两只猫。 “我的装备，哦，我的装备……”蓝星的声音很温暖，当她转过头时，火心看到她的眼睛里闪烁着钦佩的光芒。 “你们现在是如此优秀的战士。 我真为你骄傲。”斯通弗瞥了雾蒙蒙的脚一眼，他颤动的耳朵里流露出不安。 “别管蓝星。”火心轻声催促道。 一阵突然的嚎叫打断了他的话。 “Fireheart !小心!”声音是灰条纹的。 火心及时抬起头来，看见豹星从岩石上朝他扑来。 格雷条纹的警告给了他足够的时间向后爬，所以她伸出的爪子只擦到了他的肩膀。 她吐了一口唾沫，扑向他，把他摔在地上，使他喘不过气来。 火心用前爪抓住河族首领的脖子，感觉到她有力的后爪在他的肚子上抓来抓去。 疼痛刺透了他的全身，他摸着自己的爪子，盲目地猛砍

score through fur. For a few heartbeats all he could see was Leopardstar's spotted pelt; his face was pressed into it, half smothering him, and he struggled to breathe. Suddenly Leopardstar jerked her head back, and Fireheart lost his hold on her neck. Her stifling weight was lifted off him. Scrambling to his paws, he backed against the rock, ready for her to spring at him again. His head whirled with exhaustion, and he could feel blood pulsing out of a wound on his leg. Suddenly he wasn't sure that this was a battle he could win. He looked around for Bluestar, but she had disappeared, and so had Mistyfoot and Stonefur. The RiverClan leader crouched on the ground in front of him, breathing hard, bleeding from her neck and side. To Fireheart's astonishment, Graystripe stood over her, pinning her down with his front paws. "I had him," Leopardstar panted, almost incoherent with fury. "I heard you just now. You warned him." Graystripe released his leader so she could stagger to her paws again. "I'm sorry, Leopardstar,

通过皮毛得分。心跳了几下，他只能看到豹星的斑点皮毛；他的脸被压在里面，几乎使他窒息，他挣扎着呼吸。 突然，豹星猛地扭过头来，火心松开了她的脖子。 她那令人窒息的负担从他身上移开了。 他爬上爪子，背靠在岩石上，准备好让她再次向他扑来。 他的头因疲惫而旋转，他能感觉到血从腿上的伤口中涌出。 突然间，他不确定这是一场他能赢的战斗。 他四处寻找蓝星，但她不见了，雾脚和斯通弗也不见了。 大河氏族首领蹲在他面前的地上，呼吸困难，脖子和侧身都在流血。 令火心吃惊的是，灰条纹站在她身边，用前爪把她按在地上。 “我抓住他了。”豹星喘着气说，气得几乎语无伦次。 “我刚才听到了。你警告过他。” 灰条纹松开了他的首领，这样她就可以摇摇晃晃地爬起来了。 “对不起，豹星，

but Fireheart's my friend." Leopardstar shook drops of blood from her golden tabby fur and glared at the gray warrior. "I was right about you all along," she hissed. "You were never loyal to RiverClan. All right, you've got a choice. Attack your friend for me now, or leave my Clan for good." Graystripe stared at her in dismay. Fireheart's breath caught in his chest. Was Leopardstar going to force him to fight his former Clan mate? He knew that he didn't have the strength to beat a cat who was still relatively fresh—and much more than that, how could he lift a claw against his best friend? "Well?" snarled Leopardstar. "What are you waiting for?" Graystripe glanced at Fireheart, his amber eyes filled with anguish. Then he bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Leopardstar. I can't do it. Punish me if you want." "Punish you?" Leopardstar's face was contorted in fury. "I'll claw your eyes out; I'll set you loose in the forest for the foxes to track down. Traitor! I'll—"

但火心是我的朋友。” 豹星抖动着金色虎斑毛上的血滴，怒视着灰袍战士。 “我对你的看法一直都是对的，”她嘶嘶地说。 “你从不忠于河族。 好吧，你有一个选择。 现在替我攻击你的朋友，否则就永远离开我的部落。” 灰条纹惊愕地盯着她。 火心屏住了呼吸。 豹星会强迫他和他以前的同族伙伴打架吗？ 他知道他没有力气打败一只相对来说还很新鲜的猫——更重要的是，他怎么能举起爪子来对付他最好的朋友呢？ “怎么样？”豹星咆哮道。 “你还在等什么？”灰条纹瞥了火心一眼，琥珀色的眼睛里充满了痛苦。 然后他低下了头。“对不起，豹星。 我做不到。你想惩罚我就惩罚我吧。” “惩罚你吗?”豹星的脸气得扭曲了。 “我要把你的眼睛挖出来；我把你放在森林里，让狐狸去追。 叛徒!我- - - - - -”

A chorus of yowling drowned her threats. Fireheart looked up, almost despairing at the thought of more enemies to fight. He could hardly believe what he saw. A wave of ThunderClan cats was streaming over the rock and down into the gully. He spotted Mousefur, Darkstripe, Sandstorm, and Dustpelt, and Swiftpaw leading the other apprentices. His message had gotten through, and help had come at last! Leopardstar took one look and fled. The ThunderClan warriors gave chase at once with furious yowls. Fireheart and Graystripe were left looking at each other. "Thank you," Fireheart mewed after a few moments. Graystripe shrugged and padded over to him. He was limping slightly, and his fur was torn and thick with dust. "There was no choice," he whispered. "I couldn't hurt you, could I?" Fireheart drew himself up. As his head cleared, he realized that the sounds of battle were fading and a heavy silence was gathering over Sunningrocks, filled with the reek of blood. "Come on. I've got to see what's happening."

齐声嚎叫淹没了她的威胁。 火心抬起头来，想到还有更多的敌人要对付，几乎绝望了。 他几乎不能相信他所看到的。 一波迅雷族的猫从岩石上奔流而下，进入沟壑。 他看见鼠毛、黑条、沙暴、灰尘，还有雨爪在其他学徒的前面。 他的消息已经传达出去了，救援终于来了！豹星看了一眼就逃走了。 雷霆族的战士们狂怒地嚎叫着立即追赶。 火心和灰条互相看着对方。 “谢谢你。”过了一会儿火心叫道。 灰条纹耸耸肩，向他走去。 他一瘸一拐地走着，皮毛被撕破了，沾满了厚厚的灰尘。 “别无选择，”他低声说。 “我不会伤害你的，对吧？”火心挺直了身子。 当他的头脑清醒时，他意识到战斗的声音正在消失，阳光岩上空弥漫着血腥的气味，一片沉重的寂静。 “来吧。我得看看发生了什么。”

He turned and padded along the gully, aware that Graystripe was following close behind. Coming to the open ground beyond the rocks, he saw the RiverClan warriors retreating down the slope that led to the river. At the head of the patrol, Blackclaw launched himself into the river and began swimming toward the opposite bank. Brackenfur and Sandstorm stood nearby, and more ThunderClan cats crouched on top of Sunningrocks, watching their enemies depart. Cloudpaw raised his head and let out a yowl of pure triumph. Bluestar padded after the retreating cats as far as the RiverClan border, her ears pricked with determination. Fireheart saw with a twinge of distress that she was following Mistyfoot and Stonefur. "Now that you know the truth, we must talk," she called after them. "You will be welcome in the ThunderClan camp. I will tell my warriors to bring you to my den whenever you want to see me." But both warriors turned away from her and stalked down to the edge of the water. Stonefur glanced back before he waded out into the river.

他转过身，沿着沟壑走去，意识到灰条纹正紧紧跟在后面。 来到岩石后面的空地上，他看到河族的战士们正沿着通往河流的斜坡撤退。 黑爪走在巡逻队的最前面，跳进河里，开始向对岸游去。 布拉肯弗和沙暴站在附近，更多的雷族猫蹲在太阳岩上，看着他们的敌人离开。 云爪抬起头，发出一声纯粹胜利的嚎叫。 蓝星紧追不舍，一直追到河族边境，她的耳朵因决心而刺痛。 火心看到她在跟着雾蒙蒙的脚和石头弗，感到一阵痛苦。 “既然你们知道了真相，我们必须谈谈。”她在他们身后喊道。 “你会受到雷霆部落营地的欢迎。 你想见我的时候，我就吩咐我的勇士把你带到我的穴里来。” 但两个战士都转身离开了她，大步走到水边。 斯通弗回头看了一眼，然后涉水跳入河中。