Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Fireheart opened his eyes and blinked in the uncomfortably bright sunlight. He still couldn't get used to the way the sun shone straight into the warriors' den now that the thick covering of leaves had gone. Yawning, he uncurled himself and shook the clinging scraps of moss from his coat. Close beside him, Sandstorm was still asleep; Dustpelt and Darkstripe were curled up a little farther away. Fireheart padded out into the clearing. It was three days since the Gathering and the discovery of Tigerstar's new leadership, and there was still no sign of the attack Bluestar had feared. ThunderClan had used the time to rebuild the camp, and although there was still a long way to go, Fireheart couldn't help feeling pleased when he saw shady walls of fern beginning to grow back around the edge of the camp, and the bramble thicket firmly interlaced with twigs to shelter the nursing queens and their kits. As Fireheart made his way toward the pile of fresh-kill, he saw the dawn patrol returning with Whitestorm in the lead. Fireheart paused and waited for the white warrior to join him.

第三章火心睁开眼睛，在刺眼的阳光下眨了眨眼睛。 既然厚厚的树叶已经消失了，他仍然无法习惯太阳直射到战士洞穴的方式。 他打了个哈欠，伸开身子，抖了抖衣服上黏在身上的青苔。 紧挨着他的沙暴还在睡觉；“灰尘”和“暗条”蜷缩在稍远的地方。 火心蹑手蹑脚地走进空地。 集会和虎星新领导层的发现已经过去三天了，蓝星担心的袭击仍然没有迹象。 雷族利用这段时间重建了营地，虽然还有很长的路要走，但火心还是忍不住高兴地看到，营地边缘又长出了一排排绿树成荫的蕨类植物，荆棘树丛紧紧地交织在一起，为哺育皇后和她们的幼崽提供了庇护。 当火心向那堆刚被杀的猎物走去时，他看到黎明巡逻队在白风暴的带领下返回。 火心停了下来，等着白衣武士过来。

"Any sign of ShadowClan?" Whitestorm shook his head. "Nothing," he meowed. "Just the usual scent markings along their border. There was one thing, though…." Fireheart's ears pricked. "What?" "Not far from Snakerocks we found a whole stretch of undergrowth trampled down, and pigeon feathers scattered all over it." "Pigeon feathers?" Fireheart echoed. "I haven't seen a pigeon for days. Is some other Clan hunting in our territory?" "I don't think so. The whole place reeked of dog." Whitestorm wrinkled his nose with distaste. "There was dog dirt there too." "Oh, a dog." Fireheart flicked his tail dismissively. "Well, we all know that Twolegs are always bringing their dogs into the forest. They run around, chase a few squirrels, and then the Twolegs take them home again." He let out a purr of amusement. "The only unusual thing is that it looks as if this one caught something." To his surprise, Whitestorm continued to look serious. "All the same, I think you should tell the patrols to keep their eyes open," he meowed.

“有影子家族的迹象吗？”怀特斯托姆摇了摇头。 “没什么，”他喵喵叫道。“只是它们边界上常见的气味标记。 不过有一件事....” 火心的耳朵刺痛了。“什么?”“在离蛇岩不远的地方，我们发现一大片矮树丛被践踏了，鸽子的羽毛散落了一地。” “鸽子羽毛?”Fireheart回荡。 “我好几天没见过鸽子了。 是不是有别的部族在我们的地盘上打猎？”“我不这么认为。 整个地方都散发着狗的臭味。” 怀特斯托姆厌恶地皱起鼻子。 “那里也有狗屎。” “哦，一只狗。”火心轻蔑地摇了摇尾巴。 “嗯，我们都知道特立格总是带着他们的狗到森林里去。 他们跑来跑去，追逐几只松鼠，然后特立格人又把它们带回家。” 他发出一声高兴的咕噜声。 “唯一不寻常的是，它看起来好像抓住了什么东西。” 令他吃惊的是，怀特斯托姆看起来仍然很严肃。 “尽管如此，我认为你应该让巡逻队睁大眼睛，”他喵喵地说。

"Okay." Fireheart respected the older warrior too much to ignore his advice, but privately he thought the dog would be a long way away by now, shut up somewhere in Twolegplace. Dogs were noisy nuisances, but he had more important things to worry about. He was reminded of his anxiety about food supplies as he followed Whitestorm to the pile of fresh-kill. Brightpaw, Whitestorm's apprentice, and Cloudpaw, who had made up the rest of the patrol, were already there. "Look at this!" Cloudpaw complained as Fireheart came up. He turned a vole over with one paw. "There's hardly a decent mouthful on it!" "Prey is scarce," Fireheart reminded him, noticing there were only a few pieces of fresh-kill on the pile. "Any creatures that survived the fire can't find much to eat." "We need to hunt again," Cloudpaw meowed. He bit into the vole and swallowed. "I'll go as soon as I've finished this." "You can come with me," mewed Fireheart, selecting a magpie for himself. "I'm going to lead

“好吧。”火心非常尊重年长的战士，不会无视他的建议，但他私下里认为，这条狗现在应该已经走得很远了，被关在双城的某个地方。 狗是吵闹的讨厌鬼，但他有更重要的事情要担心。 当他跟着“白风暴”走向那堆新鲜猎物时，他想起了自己对食物供应的担忧。 白风暴的徒弟亮爪和组成其余巡逻队的云爪已经到了。 “看这个！”火心走过来时，云爪抱怨道。 他用一只爪子把田鼠翻了个身。 “它几乎一口都咬不动！”“猎物很少了。”火心提醒他，注意到堆上只有几块新鲜的猎物。 “任何从火灾中幸存下来的生物都找不到什么吃的。” “我们得再去打猎。”云爪叫道。 他咬了田鼠一口，吞了下去。 “我一做完这个就走。” “你可以跟我来。”火心叫道，给自己挑了一只喜鹊。 “我要领导

out a patrol later on." "No, I can't wait," Cloudpaw mumbled through another mouthful. "I'm so hungry I could eat you. Brightpaw, do you want to come with me?" Brightpaw, who was neatly tucking into a mouse, glanced at her mentor for permission. When Whitestorm nodded she sprang up. "Ready when you are," she meowed. "All right then," mewed Fireheart. He was slightly annoyed that Cloudpaw hadn't asked for his mentor's permission like Brightpaw, but the Clan did need fresh-kill, and both the apprentices were good hunters. "Don't go too far from camp," he warned. "But all the best prey is farther away, where the fire didn't reach," Cloudpaw objected. "We'll be fine, Fireheart," he promised. "We'll hunt for the elders first." Swallowing the last of his vole in one enormous gulp, he dashed off toward the camp entrance with Brightpaw racing after him. "Stay away from Twolegplace!" Fireheart called after them, remembering how Cloudpaw

过会儿出去巡逻。”“不，我等不及了。”云爪又一口吞吞吐吐地说。 “我太饿了，我想把你吃掉。 亮爪，你想跟我一起去吗？”亮爪正整齐地吃着一只老鼠，她瞥了导师一眼，请求允许。 白风暴点点头，她跳了起来。 “等你准备好了，”她喵喵地叫道。 “那好吧。”火心说。 他对云爪没有像亮爪那样征求导师的许可有点恼火，但氏族确实需要新鲜的猎物，而且这两个学徒都是优秀的猎人。 “不要离营地太远，”他警告说。 “但是所有最好的猎物都在更远的地方，火够不到的地方。”云爪反对道。 “我们不会有事的，火心。” “我们先去找长老。” 他一口吞下最后一口田鼠肉，向营地入口冲去，亮爪在后面紧追不舍。 “离双街远点！”火心在他们身后喊着，想起了云爪

had once been all too fond of visiting the Twolegs. The apprentice had paid a harsh price when they had taken him away to their nest on the far side of WindClan's territory. As greenleaf drew to an end, with the prospect of a hungry leaf-bare to come, Fireheart hoped that his apprentice wouldn't be tempted back into his old ways. "Apprentices!" Whitestorm purred as he watched the two young cats bounding away. "Dawn patrol, and now they're off hunting. I wish I had their energy." He dragged a blackbird a little way from the pile of fresh-kill and crouched down to eat. As Fireheart finished his magpie, he saw Sandstorm padding across from the warriors' den. The sun shone on her pale ginger coat, and Fireheart admired the ripple of her fur as she moved. "Do you want to come and hunt with me?" he asked as she approached. "Looks as if we need it," Sandstorm replied, surveying the pitifully few pieces of fresh-kill that remained. "Let's go now—I can wait to eat until we catch something." Fireheart looked around for another cat to join

他曾经非常喜欢到特立格去游玩。 当学徒被带到风氏族领地另一边的巢穴时，他付出了高昂的代价。 当绿叶走到尽头时，眼看着饥饿的枯叶即将到来，火心希望他的学徒不会被诱惑回到过去的生活方式。 “学徒!”看着两只小猫蹦蹦跳跳地跑开，怀特斯托姆呜呜地叫着。 “黎明巡逻队，现在他们出去打猎了。 我希望我有他们那样的精力。” 他把一只画眉拖到离那堆刚宰杀的猎物不远的地方，蹲下来吃。 火心吃完喜鹊后，他看见沙暴正从战士的巢穴走过来。 阳光照在她淡姜黄色的外套上，火心欣赏着她移动时皮毛的涟漪。 “你想和我一起去打猎吗？”当她走近时，他问。 “看来我们需要它。”沙暴回答，看着剩下的可怜的几块新鲜的猎物。 “我们现在就走吧——我可以等抓到东西再吃。” 火心环顾四周，寻找另一只猫加入

them and noticed Longtail heading for the apprentices' den, calling for Swiftpaw. "Hey, Longtail!" he meowed as the two cats padded across the clearing. "Come and join our hunting patrol." Longtail hesitated, as if he wasn't sure whether that was an order from his deputy or not. "We were going to the training hollow," he explained. "Swiftpaw needs to practice his defense moves." "You can do that later." This time Fireheart made it clear that he was giving an order. "The Clan needs fresh-kill first." Longtail flicked his tail irritably but said nothing. Swiftpaw was looking more enthusiastic, his eyes bright. The young black-and-white tom had grown almost as big as his mentor, Fireheart noticed; he was the oldest of the apprentices, and he could expect to be made a warrior soon. I must talk to Bluestar about his naming ceremony, Fireheart thought. Cloudpaw too, and Brightpaw and Thornpaw. The Clan needs more warriors. Leaving Whitestorm to take a well-earned rest, Fireheart led his hunting party out of the camp

他们注意到长尾巴朝学徒窝走去，喊着雨爪。 “嘿，长尾巴！”他叫道，两只猫蹑手蹑脚地走过空地。 “来加入我们的狩猎巡逻队吧。” 长尾犹豫了一下，好像他不确定这是不是他副手的命令。 “我们要去训练场，”他解释说。 “Swiftpaw需要练习他的防守动作。” “你可以以后再做。”这次火心说得很清楚，他是在发号施令。 “氏族首先需要新鲜的猎物。” 长尾巴不耐烦地摇了摇尾巴，但什么也没说。 雨燕爪看起来更热情了，他的眼睛明亮起来。 火心注意到，这只黑白相间的小汤姆已经长得几乎和他的导师一样大了；他是学徒中年龄最大的，有望很快成为一名战士。 我必须跟蓝星谈谈他的命名仪式，火心心想。 还有云爪，亮爪和刺爪。 部落需要更多的战士。 离开白风暴好好休息一下，火心带领他的狩猎队走出营地