Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26 When Fireheart reached the top of the ravine he halted and turned to Fernpaw and Ashpaw. "You two wait here," he ordered. "As soon as you see the dogs, run straight for the gorge. Sandstorm will be next in line. When you see her, climb a tree, and then when the dogs have picked up her trail and gone, head for Sunningrocks." He looked down at the two apprentices. Their eyes gleamed with fury, grief for their mother momentarily forgotten in their desire to avenge her death. Fireheart hoped they would remember their instructions and not panic, or even worse, try to attack the dogs by themselves. "The Clan's relying on you," he added. "And we're all proud of you." "We won't let you down," Fernpaw promised. Fireheart left them there and led the others farther into the forest. His ears were pricked for sounds of the dogs, but for now the forest seemed to be waiting under a suffocating silence, as sinister as any howling or crashing of undergrowth. The sound of the cats' breathing and their soft pawsteps seemed unnaturally loud

第二十六章当火心到达峡谷顶端时，他停了下来，转向芬帕和阿什帕。 “你们俩在这儿等着，”他命令道。 “你一看到狗，就直接往峡谷跑。 沙暴将是下一个。 当你看到她的时候，爬上一棵树，然后等狗找到她的踪迹就走，向桑宁岩走去。” 他低头看着两个徒弟。 他们的眼睛里闪烁着愤怒的光芒，对母亲的悲痛暂时被他们复仇的欲望所遗忘。 火心希望他们记住指示，不要惊慌失措，或者更糟的是，自己动手攻击狗。 “氏族靠你了。”他补充道。 “我们都为你感到骄傲。” “我们不会让你失望的。”Fernpaw保证道。 火心把他们留在那里，带领其他人深入森林。 他竖起耳朵倾听着狗的声音，但现在整个森林似乎在令人窒息的寂静中等待着他，就像任何灌木丛的嚎叫或撞击一样险恶。 猫的呼吸声和柔软的脚步声似乎很刺耳

as they padded under the trees. Soon Fireheart halted again. "Sandstorm, you wait here," he meowed. "I don't want those two apprentices to have to run too far. You're the fastest cat in ThunderClan—you'll need to get a good start on the dogs to give the rest of us a chance. Okay?" Sandstorm nodded. "You can trust me, Fireheart." Briefly she brushed her muzzle against his. There was no time for more words, but her love for him glowed in her green eyes, and Fireheart was filled with a wave of fear for her. Tearing himself away, he took the rest of his warriors along a line stretching all the way to the gorge, leaving each of them at regular intervals as he went: next Longtail, then Dustpelt, and then Mousefur. At last he and Graystripe were left alone on the border with RiverClan, as near as they could get to the gorge without leaving their own territory. "Right, Graystripe," he meowed, halting. "You hide here. If all goes well, Mousefur will lead the dogs to you. When they come, head for the steepest part of the gorge. I'll be ahead of

他们在树下漫步。 很快火心又停了下来。 “沙暴，你在这儿等着。”他叫道。 “我不想让这两个学徒跑得太远。 你是thunderclan里跑得最快的猫——你需要在狗身上有一个好的开始，才能给我们其他人一个机会。 没事吧?”沙尘暴点点头。“你可以相信我，火心。” 她把自己的嘴和他的嘴擦了一下。 没有时间多说了，但她对他的爱在她的绿眼睛里闪烁，火心对她充满了恐惧。 他拔腿就跑，带着其余的战士排成一条线，一直向峡谷走去，每走一步，就把他们每个人都留下：接着是长尾巴，接着是尘埃皮，然后是鼠毛。 最后，他和灰条纹被单独留在河族的边界上，这是他们在不离开自己领地的情况下尽可能接近峡谷的地方。 “好了，灰条。”他叫了一声，停顿了一下。 “你躲在这里。如果一切顺利，鼠毛会带狗来找你。 当他们来的时候，向峡谷最陡峭的地方走去。 我会走在前面的

you, waiting to take over for the final stretch." "That will be on RiverClan territory." Graystripe sounded dubious. "What's Leopardstar going to think about that?" "With any luck, Leopardstar won't have to know anything about it," Fireheart replied, remembering how the RiverClan leader had threatened Graystripe with death if he set paw in her territory again. "We can't worry about that now. Stay hidden on our side of the border, and if you see a patrol, don't let them know you're here." Graystripe nodded and flattened his belly to the ground to crawl underneath the branches of a thornbush. "Good luck," he meowed as he disappeared. Fireheart wished him luck in return and went on, more warily now, into RiverClan territory. He saw no RiverClan cats but he scented some fairly fresh traces, which suggested that the dawn patrol had already passed that way. At last he found a place to hide in a hollow at the foot of a rock and settled down to wait. The whole forest was silent, except for the distant roar of water in the gorge.

你，等着接手最后一段。” “那将是河族的地盘。” Graystripe听起来很可疑。 “豹星会怎么想？”“幸运的话，豹星就不会知道这件事了。”火心回答，他想起河族首领曾威胁过灰条纹，如果他再踏进她的地盘，就会被处死。 “我们现在不能担心这个。 躲在我们这边的边境，如果你看到巡逻队，不要让他们知道你在这里。” 灰条点点头，把肚子贴在地上，爬到一棵荆棘树的树枝下。 “祝你好运。”他一边消失一边喵喵叫着。 火心也祝他好运，然后更加小心翼翼地进入河族领地。 他没有看到河族的猫，但嗅到了一些新鲜的痕迹，这表明黎明巡逻队已经从那里经过。 最后，他在一块岩石脚下的一个洞里找到了一个藏身之处，静下心来等待。 整个森林一片寂静，只有远处峡谷里的水声。

Fireheart couldn't help wondering where Tigerstar was now. Safe in ShadowClan territory, he guessed, waiting for his old Clan to be torn apart. Then he could swoop in like a carrion crow and take the ThunderClan territory for his own, gloating over his perfect revenge. Clouds still covered the sky, so Fireheart had no way to judge the passing of time, but as each heartbeat followed the last he began to worry that something had gone wrong. Why was it taking so long? Had the dogs caught one of his warriors? Fireheart pictured Sandstorm being ripped apart by those cruel jaws and worked his paws on the hard earth in front of him, extending and sheathing his claws. He had to force himself not to go back and see what had happened. What if this was all a huge mistake? he asked himself. Had he led his Clan into even greater danger? Then, above the noise of the river, he heard a distant barking. Rapidly it grew closer. The dark force had gained a voice at last, giving tongue as the pack bore down on the cats who had become their prey. The sound grew louder still, until it

火心忍不住想知道虎星现在在哪里。 他猜想，在暗影氏族的领地里是安全的，等待着他的老氏族被撕裂。 然后他就可以像一只腐尸乌鸦一样猛扑进来，占领雷霆氏族的领地，为自己完美的复仇而沾沾自喜。 天空仍然乌云密布，所以火心无法判断时间的流逝，但随着心跳的不断加快，他开始担心是不是出了什么问题。 为什么要花这么长时间？ 狗抓住了他的一个战士吗？ “火心”想象着“沙暴”被那些残忍的大嘴撕成碎片的样子，它的爪子在面前坚硬的土地上蹭来蹭去，伸出爪子，收起来。 他不得不强迫自己不要回去看看发生了什么事。 如果这一切都是个巨大的错误呢？ 他问自己。他把他的氏族带进了更大的危险吗？ 然后，在河水的喧嚣之上，他听到了远处的犬吠声。 它很快就靠近了。黑暗力量终于发出了声音，当狼群向成为它们猎物的猫逼近时，它发出了舌头。 声音越来越大，直到它

seemed to fill all the forest, and Graystripe appeared, streaking along with his belly almost flat against the ground. Barely three fox-lengths behind him was the pack leader. Fireheart had never seen a dog like it. It was enormous, easily twice the size of any Twoleg pet. As it ran, its muscles bunched powerfully under a short black-and-brown pelt. Its jaws gaped to show a vicious set of teeth, and its tongue lolled. It barked hoarsely as it snapped at the fleeing Graystripe. "StarClan help me!" Fireheart whispered, and sprang out of his hiding place. He just had time to see Graystripe hurtling toward the nearest tree; then all he could do was run. The barking seemed to redouble, and he could feel the hot breath of the pack leader against his hind paws. For the first time Fireheart wondered what he would do when he came to the gorge. He had imagined slipping aside at the last moment to let the unsuspecting dogs dash straight over the edge. Now he realized that might not work; the dogs were much, much closer than he had imagined.

似乎填满了整个森林，灰条出现了，他的肚子几乎平贴在地面上，飞快地跑着。 在他身后不到三匹狐狸的距离是狼群的领头羊。 火心从来没见过这样的狗。 它体型巨大，几乎是任何两条腿宠物的两倍大。 当它奔跑时，它的肌肉在黑色和棕色的短皮毛下有力地聚集在一起。 它的下巴张开，露出一副凶狠的牙齿，它的舌头耷拉着。 它嘶哑地吠着，咬住了逃跑的灰条狗。 “星族救救我！”火心低声说着，从他的藏身之处跳了出来。 他刚好看到灰条向最近的一棵树飞奔而去。然后他能做的只有逃跑。 狗叫声似乎更响了，他能感觉到领头狗的热气吹在他的后爪上。 火心第一次想到自己来到峡谷后该做些什么。 他本想在最后一刻溜到一边，让毫无戒心的狗直接冲下悬崖。 现在他意识到这可能行不通；狗比他想象的要近得多。

Perhaps he would have to leap over himself. If that's what it takes to save the Clan, then that's what I will do, Fireheart vowed grimly. The gorge was close by. Fireheart emerged from the trees to see nothing but smooth turf between him and the edge of the cliff. Casting a hasty glance over his shoulder, he saw that he was outrunning the dogs, and he slackened his pace a little to let them catch up. The pack streamed out of the trees behind their leader, their tongues lolling as they barked. "Pack, pack! Kill, kill!" The words slashed at Fireheart like teeth. Then from his other side a heavy weight barreled into him, bowling him over. He fought vainly to get up as a massive paw pinned him by the neck. A voice growled in his ear, "Going somewhere, Fireheart?" It was Tigerstar.

也许他得跳过自己。 “如果这是拯救氏族所需要的，那我就会这么做。”火心冷酷地发誓。 峡谷就在附近。火心从树林里钻出来，在他和悬崖边缘之间除了光滑的草皮什么也看不见。 他急忙回头瞥了一眼，发现自己正在追赶那些狗，于是他放慢了脚步，让它们追上他。 狼群从他们首领身后的树丛中涌出，它们的舌头耷拉着，吠叫着。 “包,包!杀,杀!”这句话像牙齿一样刺痛了火心。 接着，一个重物从他的另一边砸向他，把他打翻在地。 一只巨大的爪子夹住了他的脖子，他徒劳地挣扎着要站起来。 一个声音在他耳边咆哮：“要去什么地方吗，火心？”是虎星。