Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 The sky was growing pale with the first light of dawn when Fireheart and his warriors returned to the ThunderClan camp. Although Fireheart knew what he would find, it was still a shock to reach the top of the ravine and gaze down at the devastation. All the covering of gorse and fern had been stripped away by the fire. The earth floor of the camp was left exposed, surrounded by the blackened remains of the wall of thornbushes that was shored up with branches where the Clan cats had begun to repair it. "Will it ever be the same?" Sandstorm meowed softly as she came to stand beside him. A wave of exhaustion flooded over Fireheart as he thought of how much time and work it would take before the camp was fully rebuilt. "One day," he promised. "We've been through bad times before. We'll survive." He pressed his muzzle against Sandstorm's flank, taking comfort from her reassuring purr, before he led the way down the ravine. The bush where the warriors slept was still there, but the thick canopy of twigs had been

当火心和他的战士们返回雷霆氏族营地时，天空随着黎明的第一缕曙光变得苍白。 虽然火心知道他会发现什么，但当他到达峡谷的顶端，俯视着下面的废墟时，还是很震惊。 所有覆盖的金缕草和蕨类植物都被大火剥去了。 营地的地面暴露在外面，周围是烧焦的荆棘墙的残骸，这堵墙是由猫族的树枝支撑着的，猫族已经开始修复它了。 “还会和以前一样吗？”沙暴走过来站在他身边，轻声叫了一声。 当火心想到营地完全重建还需要多少时间和工作时，一阵疲惫涌上心头。 “总有一天，”他保证。“我们以前也经历过困难时期。 我们会生存下去。”他把自己的嘴紧贴着沙暴的侧翼，从她那令人安心的咕噜声中得到安慰，然后带路下了峡谷。 战士们睡觉的灌木丛还在，但浓密的树冠已经消失了

burned away. Only a few charred branches remained, the gaps between them interwoven with sticks. Brackenfur was crouched outside, while Longtail sat on watch near the entrance to the nursery, and Dustpelt paced back and forth in front of the elders' den. Brackenfur sprang to his paws as Fireheart and the others appeared, only to relax a moment later. "It's you," he meowed, relief in his voice. "We've been expecting Tigerclaw all night." "Well, you can stop worrying," Fireheart meowed. "He's too busy to worry about us. Tiger star is the new leader of ShadowClan." Brackenfur stared in astonishment. "Great StarClan!" he said with a gasp. "I don't believe it!" "What did you say?" Fireheart turned to see Longtail loping across the clearing. "Did I hear you right?" "You did." Fireheart could see the shock in the tabby warrior's face. "Tigerstar has taken over ShadowClan." "And they let him?" meowed Longtail. "Are they mad?" "Not mad at all," Whitestorm replied, coming

燃烧。只剩下几根烧焦的树枝，它们之间的缝隙被树枝交织在一起。 布拉肯弗蹲在外面，长尾巴在育儿室入口附近放哨，尘埃皮在长老们的洞穴前踱来踱去。 火心和其他人出现时，布拉肯弗跳了起来，过了一会儿才放松下来。 “是你。”他叫道，声音里透着宽慰。 “我们整晚都在等虎爪。” “好了，你不用担心了。”火心叫道。 “他太忙了，没时间担心我们。 虎星是影族的新领袖。” 布莱肯弗吃惊地瞪大了眼睛。 “伟大的星族！”他喘着气说。 “我不相信！”“你说什么？”火心转过身来，看见长尾巴正大步穿过空地。 “我没听错吧？”“你做的。” 火心可以从虎斑战士的脸上看到震惊。 “虎星已经接管了影族。” “他们让他这么做了？”长尾巴叫道。 “他们疯了吗？”“一点也不生气。”白风暴回答，走过来

up to stand beside Fireheart. The elderly warrior scraped the bare earth with his paws and settled down on his haunches with a tired sigh. His thick white fur was stained with soot after the journey back through the forest. "The sickness almost destroyed the ShadowClan cats. They were desperate for a strong leader. Tigerstar must have seemed like a gift from StarClan." "It sounds like that's just what he was," Fireheart agreed heavily. "Apparently StarClan sent an omen to Runningnose to tell ShadowClan that a great leader would arise." "But Tigerstar is a traitor!" Brackenfur protested. "ShadowClan don't know that," Fireheart pointed out. By this time other cats were appearing. Brightpaw and Swiftpaw ran over from the apprentices' den; Dustpelt padded up with Darkstripe's apprentice, Fernpaw; Speckletail peered curiously out from the nursery. As they pressed around Fireheart with their questions, he had to raise his voice to make himself heard. "Listen, all of you," he meowed. "There's

站到火心身边。 老武士用爪子刨着光秃秃的土地，疲惫地叹了口气，蹲了下来。 在穿过森林回来的路上，他厚厚的白色皮毛上沾满了煤烟。 “这场病几乎摧毁了影子家族的猫。 他们迫切需要一个强有力的领导人。 Tigerstar看起来一定像是来自StarClan的礼物。” “听起来他就是这样的人。”火心沉重地表示同意。 “显然星际氏族给流鼻送来了一个预兆，告诉暗影氏族一个伟大的领袖将会出现。” “但是虎星是个叛徒！”Brackenfur抗议道。 “暗影家族可不知道。”火心指出。 这时，其他的猫出现了。 亮爪和雪爪从学徒的窝里跑了过来；尘埃尘带着黑条纹的徒弟Fernpaw走了进来；斑点尾巴好奇地从育儿室向外张望。 当他们把问题簇拥在火心周围时，他不得不提高嗓门，好让别人听到他的声音。 “听着，你们所有人。”他叫道。 “有

something you need to hear." And I have to tell Bluestar, he added silently, bracing himself for the encounter. "Whitestorm will tell you what happened at the Gathering," he went on, "and then I want a dawn patrol." He hesitated, looking around at the assembled cats. All the warriors were tired; those who hadn't been to the Gathering had stayed awake to guard the camp. Before Fireheart could decide who to send, Dustpelt spoke. "Ashpaw and I will go." Fireheart dipped his head gratefully. The brown warrior had never been friendly toward him, but he was a loyal cat to ThunderClan, and he seemed to accept Fireheart's authority as deputy. "I'll go too," Mousefur offered. "And me," meowed Cloudpaw. Fireheart let out a purr of appreciation at his apprentice's words. He was pleased that his sister's son was working harder for the Clan and showing more commitment to Clan life, after the disastrous episode when he was taken away by Twolegs and had to be rescued. "Dustpelt, Mousefur, Cloudpaw, and Ashpaw, then," he

你需要听听。” “我必须告诉蓝星，”他默默地补充道，准备迎接这次会面。 “白风暴会告诉你集会上发生了什么，”他接着说，“然后我要一支黎明巡逻队。” 他犹豫了一下，看看周围聚集在一起的猫。 所有的战士都累了；那些没有参加聚会的人都醒着守卫着营地。 在火心决定派谁去之前，达斯特佩尔说话了。 “阿什帕和我去。”火心感激地低下了头。 棕袍武士向来对他不友好，但他对雷霆家族忠心耿耿，似乎也接受火心作为副手的权威。 “我也去。”老鼠说。 “还有我。”云爪叫道。 火心听了学徒的话，发出了一声赞赏的咕噜声。 他很高兴他妹妹的儿子在被Twolegs带走，不得不被拯救的灾难性事件之后，更加努力地为氏族工作，并表现出对氏族生活的更多承诺。 “那么，尘皮、鼠毛、云爪和阿什爪，”他说

meowed. "The rest of you get some sleep. We'll need hunting patrols later on." "What about you?" asked Darkstripe. Fireheart took a deep breath. "I'm going to speak to Bluestar." The curtain of lichen had been burned away from the entrance to Bluestar's den at the base of the Highrock. As Fireheart approached, Cinderpelt, Thunderclan's medicine cat, emerged into the clearing and paused to stretch. Her dark gray fur was ruffled, and she looked worn out from the strain of caring for the Clan in the aftermath of the fire, but the strength of her spirit still shone in her blue eyes. Fireheart was reminded of the time when she had been his eager apprentice, until she had been lured too close to the Thunderpath, in a trap which Tigerclaw had set for Bluestar. The young cat's leg had been permanently injured so she could never be a warrior, but she had always kept her commitment to serving her Clan. Fireheart padded up to her. "How is Bluestar today?" he asked quietly. Cinderpelt cast a worried glance back into the

呜呜呜。“你们剩下的人去睡觉吧。 我们以后还需要狩猎巡逻队。” “那你呢？” 火心深吸了一口气。 “我要和蓝星谈谈。” 青苔的帘子已经从海岩崖底部蓝星巢穴的入口被烧掉了。 当火心走近时，迅雷氏族的药猫灰姑娘出现在空地上，停下来伸伸腰。 她深灰色的皮毛被弄皱了，由于在火灾后照顾氏族的紧张工作，她看起来很疲惫，但她的精神力量仍然在她的蓝眼睛里闪耀。 火心想起了她曾是他热心的徒弟的时光，直到她被虎爪为蓝星设下的陷阱引诱到离雷霆之路太近的地方。 这只小猫的腿永远受伤了，所以她永远不可能成为一名战士，但她一直信守着为氏族服务的承诺。 火心向她走来。 “蓝星今天怎么样？”他平静地问。 灰姑娘忧虑地瞥了一眼

den. "She didn't sleep last night," she replied. "I've given her juniper berries to calm her, but I don't know if they'll do any good." "I need to tell her what happened at the Gathering," Fireheart meowed. "And she's not going to like it." Cinderpelt's eyes narrowed. "Why not?" As quickly as he could, Fireheart told her. Cinderpelt listened in shocked silence, her blue eyes wide with amazement. "What will you do?" she asked when Fireheart had finished. "There isn't much I can do. Besides, it could be a good thing for ThunderClan. Tigerstar's got what he wants now, and with any luck he's going to be far too busy working his new Clan into shape to bother about us." Seeing that Cinderpelt looked disbelieving, he added hastily, "Who they choose for leader is ShadowClan's business. We'll have to keep a watch on our borders, but I don't believe Tigerstar will be much of a threat, for a while, at least. I'm more worried about how Bluestar is going to take it." "This is going to make her worse," Cinderpaw meowed anxiously. "I only hope I can find the

窝。“她昨晚没睡，”她回答。 “我给了她杜松子让她平静下来，但我不知道它们是否有用。” “我得告诉她聚会上发生的事。”火心叫道。 “她不会喜欢的。” 灰姑娘眯起眼睛。 “为什么不?”火心尽快告诉她。 灰姑娘沉默地听着，惊讶地瞪大了蓝眼睛。 “你打算怎么办？”火心说完后，她问道。 “我能做的不多。 此外，这对雷霆战队来说可能是件好事。 虎星现在得到了他想要的东西，如果运气好的话，他会忙着把他的新家族组织起来，无暇顾及我们。” 见灰姑娘一副不相信的样子，他急忙补充道：“他们选谁当首领是影族的事。 我们得把守边境，但我不认为虎星会构成多大威胁，至少在一段时间内。 我更担心的是蓝星会怎么做。” “这会让她更糟的，”灰姑娘焦急地喵喵叫道。 “我只希望能找到。