Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 As Fireheart wearily pushed his way through the entrance to the camp he spotted Bramblekit dashing toward him, almost falling over his paws in his eagerness to greet the returning warriors. "Did we win?" he asked. He stopped and stared round-eyed at Graystripe. "Who's this? Is he a prisoner?" "No, he's a ThunderClan cat," Fireheart replied. "It's a long story, Bramblekit, and I'm too tired to explain now. Get your mother to tell you." Bramblekit took a step back, looking slightly crestfallen. Though he wouldn't remember it, Fireheart reflected, he had suckled side by side with Graystripe's two kits. Goldenflower had cared for them in the few days they had spent in ThunderClan after Silverstream's death. The dark tabby kit eyed Graystripe suspiciously as the two warriors padded past him, and then turned to Tawnykit as she came bounding up. "Look!" he mewed. "There's a new cat in the Clan." "Who is he?" Tawnykit wondered.

第十八章当火心疲倦地穿过营地的入口时，他看见布兰布利特向他冲了过来，急于向归来的战士们打招呼，差点摔倒在地。 “我们赢了吗？”他问。他停了下来，睁着圆眼睛盯着灰条纹。 “这是谁?他是囚犯吗？”“不，他是雷霆家族的猫。”火心回答。 “说来话长，布兰布吉，我现在太累了，没法解释。 让你妈妈告诉你。” 布兰布吉向后退了一步，显得有些垂头丧气。 虽然他不记得了，火心想，但他曾经和灰条纹的两只小羊羔并肩吃过奶。 银溪死后，他们在雷族待了几天，金花一直照顾他们。 当两个战士从他身边走过时，深色虎斑猫怀疑地盯着灰条，然后当唐妮基特蹦蹦跳跳地走过来时，它转向她。 “看！”他叫道。“氏族里来了一只新猫。” “他是谁？”Tawnykit很好奇。

"A traitor," Darkstripe spat as he stalked past on his way to the warriors' den. "But then, we're all traitors, according to Bluestar." The two kits stared at him with total bewilderment in their faces. Fireheart fought down his fury; there was no time to start an argument with Darkstripe, but the warrior had no business letting his anger spill over onto the kits. Feeling an unusual pang of sympathy for Bramblekit, he turned back and meowed, "Yes, we did win. We keep Sunningrocks." Bramblekit gave a little joyous bounce. "Great! I'm going to tell the elders." He scurried off with Tawnykit hard on his paws. "Those are Tigerstar's kits, aren't they?" asked Graystripe curiously, watching them go. "Yes." Fireheart didn't want to discuss them now. "Let's go see Cinderpelt and get patched up." Graystripe looked around as the two warriors crossed the burned-out clearing. "It's never going to be the same," he muttered despondently. "Next newleaf, you'll see," Fireheart replied, trying to cheer him up. He hoped Graystripe was

“一个叛徒。”暗条纹在他大步走过勇士巢穴的路上啐了一口。 “但是，按照蓝星的说法，我们都是叛徒。” 那两个小家伙满脸迷惑地盯着他。 火心抑制住了怒火；没有时间和暗条纹争论，但战士不能让他的愤怒溢出到套件上。 他对布兰布吉产生了一种异乎寻常的同情，转过身来，喵喵地叫道：“是的，我们赢了。 我们一直在Sunningrocks。”布兰布吉高兴地跳了一下。 “太好了!我要去告诉长老们。” 他赶紧跑开，托妮基特紧紧抓住他的爪子。 “那些是虎星队的装备，对吧？”看着他们离去，灰条纹好奇地问。 “是的。”火心现在不想讨论他们。 “我们去看看灰姑娘，把伤口补好。” 当两个战士穿过被烧毁的空地时，灰条环顾四周。 “再也不会和以前一样了。”他沮丧地嘟囔着。 “下一片新叶，你就知道了。”火心回答，试图让他高兴起来。 他希望灰条纹是

only referring to the damage caused by the fire, and not a sense that he could never recover his old place within the Clan. "Everything will grow back stronger than before." Graystripe didn't reply. He didn't look as happy as Fireheart had expected him to be, as if he were beginning to doubt that the rest of his birth Clan would accept him. And Fireheart could see pain in his eyes that suggested he was already beginning to miss the kits he had given up. After all, he hadn't even had a chance to say good-bye. The returning warriors were gathering in Cinderpelt's clearing. As Fireheart and Graystripe approached, the medicine cat looked up from pressing cobwebs against a wound in Cloudpaw's side. "Here's Fireheart now," she mewed, and added, "Great StarClan, you look as if you've been fighting monsters on the Thunderpath." "It feels like it." Fireheart grunted. Settling down to wait for Cinderpelt to check him over, he realized how much his wounds hurt. The one in the leg that Leopardstar had given him was still bleeding, and he bent his head to lick it. "What are you thinking, bringing him back

只是指火灾造成的伤害，而不是他永远无法恢复他在氏族中的旧地位。 “一切都会变得比以前更强大。” Graystripe没有回复。他看起来并不像火心所期望的那样高兴，好像他开始怀疑他的嫡系氏族是否会接受他。 火心可以从他的眼睛里看到痛苦，这表明他已经开始想念他放弃的套件了。 毕竟，他甚至没有机会说再见。 归来的战士们聚集在灰姑娘的空地上。 当火心和灰条走近时，药猫正在用蜘蛛网捂住云爪的伤口，抬起头来。 “火心来了，”她叫了一声，又补充道，“伟大的星族，你们看起来好像在霹雳之路上打过怪物似的。” “感觉就是这样。”Fireheart哼了一声。 静下心来，等着灰姑娘给他检查，他意识到自己的伤口有多痛。 豹星给他腿上的伤口还在流血，他低下头去舔它。 “你在想什么，把他带回来

again?" Fireheart looked up to see Dustpelt glaring at Graystripe. "We don't want him here." "Who's 'we'?" Fireheart asked, gritting his teeth. "I think he belongs here—and so does Sandstorm, and—" He broke off as Dustpelt pointedly turned his back. Graystripe shot an apologetic look at Fireheart. "They won't accept me," he mewed. "It's true; I left the Clan, and now…" "Give it time," Fireheart tried to encourage him. "They'll come around." Privately, he wished he could believe it. Thanks to Bluestar's indifference, some of the ThunderClan cats would have no qualms about objecting to Graystripe's return. One more problem, Fireheart thought, to add to his worries about what was really going on in the forest. How could the Clan hope to survive the destruction StarClan had prophesied, unless they were united? Fireheart wondered if Graystripe knew about the dark threat in the forest from RiverClan's medicine cat the "pack" that StarClan had warned them of. Though Fireheart's fur prickled with

再一次?”火心抬起头，看见尘土怒视着灰条。 “我们不希望他在这里。”“‘我们’是谁?”火心咬紧牙关问道。 “我认为他属于这里——沙暴也属于这里，而且——”当达斯特尔断然转过身去时，他停住了。 灰条带着歉意看了火心一眼。 “他们不会接受我的，”他叫道。 “这是真的;我离开了氏族，现在……”“慢慢来。”火心试图鼓励他。 “他们会回心转意。”私下里，他希望自己能相信这一点。 由于蓝星的冷漠，一些雷霆家族的成员会毫不犹豫地反对Graystripe的回归。 又有一个问题，火心想，使他更加担心森林里到底发生了什么。 氏族怎么可能在星族预言的毁灭中幸存下来，除非他们团结起来？ 火心不知道灰条纹是否知道河族的药猫——星族警告过他们的“狼群”——在森林里带来的黑暗威胁。 虽然火心的皮毛刺痛

dread, there was some comfort in knowing that Graystripe was back, and he would have his friend to rely on, whatever lay ahead. Fireheart began to lick his wound again, wishing that he could just enjoy the gray warrior's return for a few moments. "That's right, get it clean," Cinderpelt meowed as she came up to him. She sniffed at the leg wound and then rapidly checked his other injuries. "You'll be fine," she reassured him. "I'll give you some cobwebs for the bleeding, but apart from that you just need to rest." "Have you seen Bluestar?" Fireheart asked as Cinderpelt brought the cobwebs and laid them over the wound. "Is she badly hurt?" "A bite on her shoulder," replied the medicine cat. "I gave her a poultice of herbs, and she went back to her den." Fireheart struggled to his paws. "I'd better go and see her." "Okay, but if she's asleep, don't wake her. Clan business, whatever it is, can wait. And while Fireheart does that," she added to Graystripe, "I'll have a look at you." She gave his ear a quick lick. "It's good to have you back."

虽然心里很害怕，但想到格雷斯特里特回来了，他又有了一个可以依靠的朋友，心里还是有些安慰的。 火心又开始舔他的伤口，希望他能稍微享受一下灰袍战士的归来。 “对了，把它弄干净。”灰姑娘朝他走来，喵喵地叫着。 她闻了闻腿上的伤口，然后迅速检查了他的其他伤势。 “你会没事的，”她安慰他说。 “我会给你一些蜘蛛网来止血，但除此之外，你只需要休息。” “你看过《蓝星》吗？”火心问道，灰姑娘拿来蜘蛛网，把它们铺在伤口上。 “她伤得严重吗？”“她的肩膀被咬了一口。”药猫回答说。 “我给了她一剂草药，她就回窝里去了。” 火心挣扎着抓住爪子。 “我最好去看看她。” “好吧，但如果她睡着了，就别吵醒她。 家族事务，不管是什么，都可以等等。 在火心动手的时候，”她又对灰条纹说，“我来看看你。” 她迅速地舔了舔他的耳朵。 “你回来真是太好了。”

At least some cats would welcome Graystripe, Fireheart told himself as he padded across the clearing. The others would change their minds; Graystripe just needed time to prove that he would to be a loyal member of ThunderClan again. "Fireheart!" Sandstorm hailed him as he approached Bluestar's den. "Mousefur and I are going out to hunt." "Thanks," Fireheart mewed gratefully. "Are you all right?" Sandstorm drew closer, her eyes narrowing. "I thought you'd be pleased—we won the battle, and Graystripe has come home." Fireheart pressed his muzzle briefly against her flank. He felt a pang of relief that the ginger she- cat seemed to have forgiven him for going behind Bluestar's back to arrange the talk with WindClan. "I know—but I'm not sure that all the cats will accept Graystripe. They'll find it hard to forget that he loved a cat from another Clan, and then left us altogether." Sandstorm shrugged. "That's in the past. He's here now, isn't he? They'll just have to put up with it."

“至少有些猫会欢迎灰条的。”火心一边穿过空地，一边对自己说。 其他人会改变主意；灰条纹只是需要时间来证明他会再次成为雷霆家族的忠实成员。 “Fireheart !”当他走近蓝星的巢穴时，沙暴向他打招呼。 “小老鼠和我要出去打猎。” “谢谢。”火心感激地叫道。 “你没事吧？”沙暴走近了，她眯起了眼睛。 “我以为你会高兴的——我们打赢了这场仗，灰条纹回来了。” 火心把他的枪口短暂地抵住了她的侧翼。 他感到一阵宽慰，因为姜黄色的母猫似乎原谅了他背着蓝星安排与风氏族的谈话。 “我知道，但我不确定所有的猫都会接受灰条。 他们会发现很难忘记他爱过另一个部落的猫，然后就离开了我们。” 沙尘暴耸耸肩。“那是过去的事了。 他现在在这里，是吗？他们只能忍着了。”