Chapter 24

CHAPTER 25 After they said good-bye to Princess, Cloudtail went off to hunt, leaving Firestar to return to the camp alone. Twilight was gathering by the time he reached the ravine, and he scented Whitestorm before he spotted the pale warrior ahead of him. Firestar caught up to him just before he reached the gorse tunnel; he had a vole clamped in his jaws, and set it down when he saw Firestar. "I was hoping for a word with you," he began, without even waiting for a greeting. "And it's best out here, where no cat will overhear us." Firestar's heart lurched. "What's the matter? Has something gone wrong?" "You mean apart from Scourge?" the older warrior meowed wryly. He settled himself on a flat rock and beckoned with his tail for Firestar to join him. "No, nothing's wrong. The patrols and the training are going well…but I keep asking myself, have we really thought about what we're doing?" Firestar stared at him. "What do you mean?" The ThunderClan deputy took a deep, painful breath. "Scourge and his Clan outnumber us by

第二十五章他们和公主告别后，云尾巴去打猎了，留下火星一个人回到营地。 当他到达峡谷时，暮色渐浓，他嗅到了“白风暴”的味道，才发现前面那个面色苍白的战士。 就在他快到金雀花隧道的时候，“火星”追上了他。他的嘴里夹着一只田鼠，当他看到“火星”时，把它放下了。 “我正想跟你说句话呢。”他连招呼都没等就开口了。 “在这儿最好，没有猫会听到我们说话的。” 火星的心猛地一跳。“怎么啦？” 出什么事了吗？”“你是说除了天灾之外？”年长的战士挖苦地叫道。 他在一块平坦的岩石上坐下来，用尾巴示意火星加入他的行列。 “不，没什么事。巡逻和训练进行得很顺利……但我一直在问自己，我们真的想过我们在做什么吗？”火星盯着他。 “你是什么意思？”雷霆家族的代表痛苦地深吸了一口气。 "天灾和他的氏族人数比我们多

many, even with WindClan fighting on our side. I know our warriors will fight to the last drop of blood to save the forest, but perhaps the price will be too high." "Are you saying we should give in?" Firestar's voice sharpened; he had never expected to hear advice like this from his deputy. If Whitestorm's courage hadn't been beyond question, he would have said it was the speech of a coward. "Leave the forest?" "I don't know." Whitestorm sounded tired, and Firestar was suddenly reminded of his age. "Things are changing, no cat can deny that, and perhaps it's time to move on. There must be territory beyond Highstones. We could find another place —" "Never!" Firestar interrupted. "The forest is ours." "You're young." Whitestorm looked solemnly at him. "You would see it that way. But cats are going to die, Firestar." "I know." All day Firestar had kept busy, encouraging his warriors—and himself—with thoughts of a victory over Scourge. Now

很多，即使有风氏族在我们这边战斗。 我知道我们的战士会为拯救森林战斗到最后一滴血，但也许代价太高了。” “你是说我们应该让步吗？”火星的声音变尖了；他从来没有想到会从他的副手那里听到这样的建议。 如果不是白风暴的勇气不容置疑，他一定会说这是懦夫的演讲。 “离开森林？”“我不知道。” 白风暴听起来很疲惫，火星突然想起了自己的年龄。 “事情在变化，没有人能否认这一点，也许是时候继续前进了。 海斯通斯之外一定有领地。 我们可以另找一个地方——”“不可能！”Firestar中断。 “森林是我们的。”“你还年轻。” 怀特斯托姆严肃地看着他。 “你会这么看。 但是猫是会死的，火星。” “我知道。”火星整天忙个不停，用战胜天灾的想法鼓励他的战士和他自己。 现在

Whitestorm was forcing him to face the fact that even if they won, it would be at a terrible cost. ThunderClan might drive the invading cats from the forest and still be left with few survivors, as weakened as if they had been defeated. "We must go on," he meowed. "We can't turn tail and run like mice. You're right, Whitestorm, I know you are, but what other choice have we? It can't be the will of StarClan for us to leave the forest." Whitestorm nodded. "I thought you would say that. Well, I've told you what I think. That's what a deputy's for." "I'm grateful for it, Whitestorm." The white warrior rose to his paws, turned toward his vole, and then glanced back at Firestar. "I've never had the kind of ambition that drove Tigerstar—or you," he meowed. "I've never wanted to be leader. But I'm particularly glad I'm not leader now. No sane cat would envy you the decisions you have to make." Firestar blinked, not knowing what to say. "All I hope for," Whitestorm went on, "is that I'll fight my hardest when the time comes."

“白风暴”迫使他面对这样一个事实：即使他们赢了，也将付出巨大的代价。 雷霆氏族可能会把入侵的猫科动物赶出森林，但仍然会留下很少的幸存者，因为他们的身体虚弱得就像被打败了一样。 “我们必须继续走。”他喵喵叫道。 “我们不能像老鼠一样扭着尾巴跑。 你说得对，白风暴，我知道，但我们还有别的选择吗？ 我们离开森林不可能是星族的意愿。” Whitestorm点点头。“我就知道你会这么说。 我已经告诉你我的想法了。 这就是副手的职责所在。” “我很感激，怀特斯托姆。” 白衣武士站起身来，转向他的田鼠，然后回头看了火星一眼。 “我从来没有像虎星那样的野心，也没有像你那样的野心，”他喵喵地说。 “我从来没想过当领袖。 但我特别高兴我现在不是领导了。 没有一只理智的猫会羡慕你必须做出的决定。” 火星眨了眨眼睛，不知道说什么好。 “我所希望的，”怀特斯托姆继续说道，“就是当时机到来时，我会尽我最大的努力去战斗。”

A shadow of uncertainty crossed his face, and Firestar realized that many cats would have joined the elders by Whitestorm's age. It would be natural for him to fear that his fighting strength might fail. "I know you will," he agreed. "There's no nobler warrior in the whole forest." Whitestorm held his gaze for a long moment, saying nothing. Then he picked up his vole and padded into the camp. Firestar stayed on the rock. Whitestorm's words had disturbed him, and he was suddenly reluctant to go back into camp and settle in his shadowy den under the Highrock. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. After a few moments listening to the soft sounds of the gathering night, Firestar rose and headed back up the ravine. Faint red streaks showed where the sun had gone down, but overhead the sky was dark, and a few early warriors of StarClan looked down at him. Firestar slipped silently through the undergrowth, and it was some time before he realized that his paws were taking him toward

一丝不确定的阴影掠过他的脸，火星意识到许多猫在白风暴这个年龄应该已经加入了长老们的行列。 他担心自己的战斗力会丧失，这是很自然的。 “我知道你会的，”他同意道。 “整个森林里没有比他更高贵的战士了。” 白风暴久久凝视着他，什么也没说。 然后，他抱起田鼠，蹑手蹑脚地走进营地。 火星呆在岩石上。 白风暴的话让他感到不安，他突然不愿回到营地，在海岩山下那阴暗的洞穴里安顿下来。 他知道他将无法入睡。 听着夜色渐浓的轻柔声音，“火星”站起身来，朝着峡谷的方向走去。 微弱的红色条纹显示了太阳落山的地方，但头顶上的天空是黑暗的，几个星际部落的早期战士低头看着他。 火星悄悄地穿过灌木丛，过了好一会儿他才意识到自己的爪子正带着他走向

Sunningrocks. By the time he reached the edge of the trees it was completely dark. The rounded shapes of the rocks were outlined against the sky like the backs of crouching animals, with a shimmer of frost on the surface. Beyond them he could hear the soft bubble of the river over stones, and much closer a faint scuffling noise alerted him to the presence of prey. Firestar's mouth watered as he identified the scent of a mouse. Barely letting his paws touch the ground, he crept up on it and sprang. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until his jaws closed on it, and he finished it in a few ravenous gulps. Feeling better, Firestar sprang up to the top of the rock and found a place where he could sit and look down at the river. The dark water glittered with starlight. A breeze ruffled the surface, buffeting his fur and stirring the leafless forest around him. Firestar turned his gaze upward to Silverpelt. The warriors of StarClan were watching—but they seemed cold and far away on this frosty night. Did they really care about what happened

Sunningrocks。当他走到树边时，天已经完全黑了。 在天空的映衬下，岩石的圆形轮廓像蹲着的动物的背部，表面上闪烁着一层霜。 在他们后面，他能听到河水拍打石头发出的轻柔的水声，再近一点，传来微弱的扭打声，提醒他有猎物出现了。 火星闻到了老鼠的气味，不禁流口水。 他的爪子几乎没碰到地面，就爬上去跳了起来。 他还没有意识到自己有多饿，直到他把它咬到嘴里，狼吞虎咽地吞了几口。 感觉好多了，火星跳上岩石的顶端，找了个地方坐下来，看着下面的河流。 黑暗的水面闪烁着星光。 微风吹动着水面，拍打着它的皮毛，搅动着它周围光秃秃的森林。 火星把目光转向希尔佩尔特。 星族的战士们在一旁观看——但在这严寒的夜晚，他们似乎又冷又远。 他们真的在乎发生了什么吗

in the forest? Or had Bluestar been right all along, when she raged against them in her private war? For a moment Firestar caught a glimpse of his former leader's terrible sense of isolation. He could not truly share it, for unlike Bluestar he had never lost faith in the warriors of his own Clan, but he was beginning to understand how she had come to doubt StarClan. So many cats had already died in Tigerstar's fierce struggle for power, and StarClan had not saved them. Firestar wondered if he was being foolish to think that his warrior ancestors would help him now. But without StarClan, how could his Clan survive? Lifting his head, he yowled to the glory of Silverpelt: "Show me what I should do! Show me that you're with us!" No answer came from the white fire above him. Painfully aware of how small and weak he was compared with the sky-spread StarClan, Firestar found a hollow in the rock that was sheltered from the chill breeze. He did not expect to sleep, but he was exhausted, and after a while his eyes

在森林里？还是说蓝星在私下里对他们怒不可遏一直都是对的？ 一时间，Firestar瞥见了他的前领导人可怕的孤立感。 他无法真正分享这一点，因为与蓝星不同，他从未对自己氏族的战士失去信心，但他开始明白她是如何开始怀疑星族的。 在虎星激烈的权力斗争中，已经有那么多的猫死了，而StarClan并没有拯救它们。 火星不知道自己是不是太傻了，以为他的战士祖先现在会帮助他。 但是如果没有StarClan，他的Clan怎么能生存下去呢？ 他抬起头，冲着西尔弗佩尔特的荣耀嚎叫道：“告诉我该怎么做！让我知道你是和我们在一起的！”他头顶上的白色火焰没有回答。 火星痛苦地意识到，与遍布天空的星族相比，他是多么的渺小和虚弱，他在岩石中找到了一个可以躲避寒风的洞。 他不想睡觉，但他已经筋疲力尽了，过了一会儿，他的眼睛