Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 "Quick—the stepping-stones!" Firestar hissed. Alone, the ThunderClan cats could have raced easily out of danger, but none of them would abandon the prisoners. Graystripe fell back to join Ravenpaw as rearguard, while Firestar tried to urge on the RiverClan cats. "You'll have to leave us!" Mistyfoot gasped. "There's no sense in all of us being captured." "Never!" snarled Graystripe. "We're all in this together." By now they were bounding alongside the river, the RiverClan cats stumbling in their efforts to keep up. Firestar could already see the ripples in the water where the current was broken by the stepping-stones. But the yowling behind them grew louder, and when he turned his head to draw in a rapid gulp of air he could taste the scent of ShadowClan. "Great StarClan!" he whispered. "They're catching up." None of the pursuing cats had appeared yet by the time they reached the stepping-stones. Firestar leaped onto the first stone, then the second, and

第十七章“快——踩踏板！”Firestar发出嘘嘘的声音。 独自一人，雷霆家族的猫可以很容易地逃离危险，但他们没有一个会抛弃俘虏。 灰条纹撤退，加入拉文爪作为后卫，而火星则试图敦促河族的猫。 “你得离开我们！”Mistyfoot气喘吁吁地说。 “我们所有人都被俘是没有意义的。” “决不！”灰条咆哮道。 “我们都在一起。” 现在他们已经在河边蹦蹦跳跳了，河族的猫在奋力追赶的过程中跌跌撞撞。 火星已经看到了水流被踏脚石打破的地方的涟漪。 但他们身后的嚎叫声越来越大，当他转过头来快速吸进一口空气时，他闻到了暗影家族的气味。 “伟大的星族！” “他们正在迎头赶上。”当他们走到台阶上的时候，没有一只追赶的猫出现。 火星跳上了第一块石头，然后是第二块，然后

gestured with his tail for Mistyfoot to follow. "Hurry!" he urged. Mistyfoot bent her hind legs and leaped, staggering as her paws hit the slippery surface, but managing to keep her balance. The two apprentices came next. Firestar stopped when he was halfway across and waited, the river water lapping his paws, while the other cats leaped out behind him. Because the RiverClan cats were so weak they were agonizingly slow, bracing themselves for each leap. Mistyfoot reached him first, and Firestar edged to the side of the stone to let her go past. The two apprentices were still some way behind. Firestar's claws scraped the rough stone in his impatience, though he tried to stay calm. When the first dark shapes of pursuing cats slipped out of the reeds he forced himself to say nothing. Stormpaw was just nerving himself to leap; Firestar locked his gaze with the younger cat's. "Come on," he mewed steadily. "You're doing fine." But as her brother gathered himself, Featherpaw, a couple of stones behind him,

用尾巴做手势，让雾脚跟着。 “快点！”他催促道。雾蒙蒙的脚弯着后腿跳了起来，当她的爪子碰到光滑的地面时，她摇摇晃晃，但还是保持了平衡。 接着是两个徒弟。 当他走到一半的时候，火星停了下来，等待着，河水拍打着他的爪子，而其他的猫则在他身后跳了出来。 因为河族的猫太弱了，它们的速度慢得令人痛苦，每次跳跃都要打起精神。 雾蒙蒙的脚先走到他跟前，火星爬到石头的一边，让她过去。 那两个徒弟还落后了一段路。 火星不耐烦地用爪子刮着粗糙的石头，尽管他试图保持冷静。 当第一批追来的黑黑的猫从芦苇丛里溜出来时，他强迫自己什么也不说。 暴风猴正鼓起勇气要跳下去；火星凝视着那只年轻的猫。 “来吧。”他坚定地叫道。 “你做得很好。”但当她哥哥羽爪站在身后几块石头前，

spotted the ShadowClan warriors racing along the riverbank. "They're coming!" she yowled. Caught off balance, Stormpaw misjudged the distance and fell short. His forepaws landed on the stone, but his hindquarters splashed into the river. The current bubbled around him, dragging at his thick fur as he scrabbled to pull himself to safety. "I'm slipping!" He gasped. "I can't hold on!" Firestar jumped back onto the previous stone, barely managing to balance in the space left by Stormpaw's clawing forepaws. He fastened his teeth in the apprentice's scruff just as the younger cat lost his grip and slid backward into the river. For a few heartbeats Firestar felt his own paws sliding on the smooth rock under Stormpaw's weight and the force of the current. Then he spotted Graystripe swimming up behind his son, paws thrusting strongly through the icy water. The gray warrior shoved his shoulder underneath Stormpaw and heaved him upward. Firestar managed to haul the apprentice out to crouch shivering on the rock. Glancing toward the RiverClan shore, Firestar saw Ravenpaw urging Featherpaw onto the next

看到暗影族的战士们沿着河岸奔跑。 “他们来了！” 由于失去平衡，暴风爪误判了距离，没有达到目标。 他的前爪落在石头上，但他的后腿溅到了河里。 当他挣扎着把自己拉到安全的地方时，水流在他周围冒着气泡，拖着他厚厚的皮毛。 “我滑!”他气喘吁吁地说。 “我坚持不住了！”火星又跳回了前一块石头上，勉强在暴风猴的前爪留下的空间里保持平衡。 他咬紧牙关咬住学徒的颈毛，就在这时，年轻的那只猫挣脱了他的手，向后滑进了河里。 几下心跳后，火星感到自己的爪子在风暴爪的重量和水流的力量下在光滑的岩石上滑动。 这时，他看见灰条在儿子身后游来游去，爪子在冰冷的水中有力地伸着。 灰衣武士把他的肩膀推到风暴爪下面，把他举了起来。 火星把徒弟拖了出来，让他蹲在岩石上瑟瑟发抖。 火星朝河族岸边瞥了一眼，看见拉文爪在催促羽毛爪到下一个地方去

stone, getting his own paws wet to leave her space to stand on the driest part. Behind them, the pursuing cats had reached the first stone. Blackfoot was in the lead, flanked by Jaggedtooth and three or four others—too many to fight, Firestar realized. "Come on!" he yowled. "Hurry!" He nudged the shivering Stormpaw. "Keep going—follow Mistyfoot!" Blackfoot crouched, ready to spring, his eyes fixed on the stepping-stone where Ravenpaw had put himself between Featherpaw and the ShadowClan warrior. Firestar's belly clenched. The loner was brave, but his training days were far behind him and he would be no match for a seasoned warrior like Tigerstar's deputy. Graystripe began swimming back toward Ravenpaw. A wild screech split the air as the rest of the ShadowClan warriors spread along the bank in a menacing line. "Keep going!" Firestar gasped to Mistyfoot. "Take Stormpaw with you. I'm going back." But before he could move, a fierce battle yowl went up from the forest on the ThunderClan side

石头，把自己的爪子弄湿，让她站在最干燥的地方。 在他们身后，追赶的猫已经到达了第一块石头。 黑脚处于领先地位，两侧是锯齿牙和另外三四个——人数太多，无法战斗，火星意识到。 “来吧！”“快点!”他轻轻地推了推瑟瑟发抖的暴风猴。 “继续走——跟着雾脚！”黑脚蹲了下来，准备跳起来，眼睛盯着拉文爪挡在羽爪和影族战士之间的那块垫脚石。 火星的肚子紧绷着。 孤独的人很勇敢，但他的训练时间已经过去很久了，他不是虎星副手这样经验丰富的战士的对手。 灰条开始向拉文爪游去。 一声疯狂的尖叫划破了空气，其余的暗影族战士沿着河岸排成了一列威胁的队伍。 “继续!”火星气喘吁吁地对雾脚说。 “带上暴风猴。我要回去。” 但在他移动之前，一声激烈的战斗嚎叫从森林中传来

of the river. Firestar saw three shapes streaking out of the undergrowth: Cloudtail, with Sandstorm and Thornclaw just behind him. "Thank StarClan—" he began, breaking off as Cloudtail leaped toward the river, eyes blazing and claws extended. He was heading straight for Mistyfoot, who was just jumping from the last stone onto the bank. Firestar raced across the remaining stones to intercept the white warrior, barrelling into his side and knocking him off his paws. "Mouse-brain!" he snapped. "The enemy is back there." He jerked his head toward the middle of the river, where Ravenpaw and Graystripe were tussling with Blackfoot on the central stone. Stormpaw was nerving himself for the last leap onto the bank, while Featherpaw huddled two or three stones farther back. Sandstorm and Thornclaw launched themselves across the stones to face the ShadowClan warriors, the two apprentices cowering at the edge of their stones to let them pass. Muttering "Sorry" to Mistyfoot, Cloudtail sprang after them. Firestar bunched his muscles to

河的。火星看见三个人影从矮树丛中窜出来：云尾巴，沙暴和桑克劳紧随其后。 “谢谢星族——”他刚要开口，就停住了，这时云尾巴朝河边跳去，眼睛闪闪发光，爪子伸出来。 他径直向迷雾脚走去，迷雾脚正从最后一块石头上跳到岸上。 火星冲过剩下的石头截住了白衣战士，冲到他的身边，把他从脚掌上撞了下来。 “鼠脑！”他厉声说。 “敌人就在后面。” 他把头朝河中央一扭，拉文爪和灰条正在河中央的石头上和黑脚扭打。 风暴爪鼓起勇气，准备最后一次跳上岸，而羽爪则蜷缩在离岸边两、三块石头远的地方。 沙暴和桑克劳冲过石头，面对暗影氏族的战士，两个学徒畏缩在石头的边缘，让他们通过。 云尾巴对雾脚嘀咕了一声“对不起”，就跟在他们后面。 火星把他的肌肉捆起来

follow, but before he leaped he saw Blackfoot slip off the stone to be swept away in the current. He ducked briefly below the surface of the water, then reappeared swimming clumsily back toward the RiverClan side, his ears flat against his head. The three ThunderClan warriors stood crowded together on one stone, digging in their claws and growling fiercely at the remaining pursuers. "You'll come no farther if you want to stay alive," snarled Sandstorm. The ShadowClan warriors milled about uncertainly on the first two or three stones. Unused to the river, they were unsteady on their paws and clearly unwilling to join battle with the furious ThunderClan cats. "Get back!" Blackfoot yowled as he clambered onto the bank, his fur streaming. "Let them escape; they're only half-Clan crowfood." His warriors seemed happy to obey, and within moments all the ShadowClan cats had vanished into the reeds. Firestar concentrated on helping the two apprentices finish crossing. Graystripe and Ravenpaw followed closely behind. Checking his

但在他跳之前，他看见黑脚从石头上滑了下来，被水流卷走了。 他在水面下短暂地蹲下，然后笨拙地游回河族这边，耳朵贴在头上。 三个雷霆族战士挤在一块石头上，用爪子挖洞，对着剩下的追赶者猛烈咆哮。 “你要想活命就别再往前走了。”沙暴咆哮道。 暗影族的战士们在最初的两三块石头上犹豫不决地走来走去。 由于不熟悉河流，它们的爪子不稳，显然不愿意加入与愤怒的雷霆家族猫的战斗。 “回来!”黑脚嚎叫着爬上河岸，他的皮毛淌着水。 “让他们逃跑吧；它们只是半个氏族的乌鸦食。” 他的战士们似乎很乐意服从，不一会儿，影子家族所有的猫都消失在芦苇丛中。 火星专注于帮助两位徒弟完成穿越。 灰条和拉文爪紧紧跟在后面。 检查他的