Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 As Fireheart bounded across to Bluestar's den, Speckle tail spun around to face him. Her eyes were burning with anger. "There are two RiverClan cats here," she growled. "Mauling our leader's body!" "No—no, they're not." Fireheart gasped. "They've a right to be here." He realized that the rest of the Clan had gathered anxiously behind him and he heard Cloudtail yowling a challenge, with snarls of rage breaking out all around. Fireheart whirled to face them. "Keep back!" he ordered. "It's all right. Mistyfoot and Stonefur-" "You know they're here?" The voice was Darkstripe's; the dark tabby thrust his way through the crowd to stand nose-to-nose with Fireheart. "You let enemy cats into our camp— into our leader's den?" Fireheart took a breath, forcing himself to stay calm. He deeply mistrusted the black-striped tabby. When the Clan had been preparing to escape the dog pack, Darkstripe had tried to slip away with Tigerstar's kits. He had sworn that he

当火心蹦蹦跳跳来到蓝星的巢穴时，斑点的尾巴转过身来面对着他。 她的眼睛因愤怒而燃烧。 “这里有两只河族的猫。”她咆哮道。 “打我们领袖的身体！”“不，不，他们不是。” Fireheart气喘吁吁地说。“他们有权利来这里。” 他意识到氏族的其他成员已经焦急地聚集在他身后，他听到云尾巴在吼叫着挑战，周围爆发出愤怒的咆哮。 火心转过身来面对他们。 “退后！”他命令道。“没关系。 “你知道他们在这儿吗？”声音是“暗条”的。那只黑色虎斑猫从人群中挤了出来，和火心面对面站在一起。 “你让敌人的猫进了我们的营地——进了我们首领的窝？”火心吸了一口气，强迫自己保持冷静。 他非常不信任这只黑条纹虎斑猫。 当氏族准备逃离狗群时，暗条纹曾试图带着虎星的装备溜走。 他发誓说他

knew nothing of Tigerstar's plot to destroy ThunderClan with the dogs, but Fireheart was not sure he believed him. "Have you forgotten what I told you?" he asked. "Mistyfoot and Stonefur helped me to pull Bluestar out of the river." "So you say!" Darkstripe spat. "How do we know you're telling the truth? Why should RiverClan cats help ThunderClan?" "They've helped us often enough in the past," Fireheart reminded him. "More of us would have died after the fire if RiverClan hadn't given us shelter." "That's true," meowed Mousefur. She had returned with Cinderpelt from the medicine cat's den in time to hear the confrontation, and now she pushed forward to stand beside Darkstripe. "But it's no excuse to leave them alone in the den with Bluestar's body. What are they doing in there?" "We are giving honor to Bluestar." Stonefur spoke defiantly, and Fireheart turned his head to see that the RiverClan deputy and Mistyfoot had appeared in the mouth of the den.

对虎星要用狗摧毁雷霆氏族的阴谋一无所知，但火心不确定自己是否相信他。 “你忘了我对你说的话吗？”他问。 “雾脚和斯通弗帮我把蓝星从河里拉了上来。” “你是这么说的！”Darkstripe口角。 “我们怎么知道你说的是真话？” 为什么河族的猫要帮助雷族呢？”“他们过去已经帮过我们很多次了。”火心提醒他。 “如果不是河族给我们提供庇护，大火过后我们会有更多人死去。” “那倒是真的，”鼠毛喵喵地说。 她带着灰姑娘从药猫窝回来了，及时听到了他们的对峙，现在她向前挤到黑条纹旁边。 “但这不是把他们单独留在洞穴里和蓝星的尸体在一起的借口。 他们在里面干什么呢？”“我们把荣誉献给蓝星。” 石弗挑衅地说，火心转过头，看到河族的副手和雾脚已经出现在洞口。

They both looked taken aback at the reaction of the ThunderClan cats, their fur beginning to bristle as they realized they were being treated as intruders. "We wanted to say good-bye to her," Mistyfoot meowed. "Why?" Mousefur demanded. Fireheart's stomach clenched as Mistyfoot faced the light brown she-cat and answered, "She was our mother." Silence fell, broken only by the call of a blackbird from the edge of the camp. Fireheart's mind raced as he faced the shocked, hostile stares of his Clan. His gaze met Sandstorm's; she looked dismayed, as if she guessed that Fireheart would never have chosen for ThunderClan to discover their leader's secret like this. "Your mother?" growled Speckletail. "I don't believe it. Bluestar would never have allowed her kits to be raised in another Clan." "Believe it or not, it's true," Stonefur retorted. Fireheart stepped forward, warning Stonefur to stay silent with a flick of his tail. "I'll deal with this now. You and Mistyfoot had better go."

看到雷霆家族的猫们的反应，他们都吓了一跳，当他们意识到自己被当作入侵者对待时，他们的毛开始竖起来。 “我们想跟她说声再见。” “为什么?”Mousefur问道。当雾脚面对那只浅棕色母猫，回答道：“她是我们的妈妈。” 四周一片寂静，只有从营地边缘传来一只画眉的叫声。 面对族人震惊而充满敌意的目光，火心的思绪加速了。 他的目光与沙暴的目光相遇；她看起来很沮丧，好像她猜到了火心绝不会选择让雷霆氏族这样发现他们领袖的秘密。 “你妈妈？”斑点尾巴咆哮道。 “我不相信。蓝星绝不会允许她的装备在另一个部落中被抚养。” “信不信由你，这是真的。”斯通弗反驳道。 火心走上前来，甩了甩尾巴，警告斯通弗不要出声。 “我现在就处理这件事。你和迷雾脚最好还是走吧。”

Stonefur gave him a curt nod and took the lead as he and Mistyfoot made their way toward the gorse tunnel. Fireheart heard one or two furious hisses as the ThunderClan cats parted to let them pass. "The thanks of the Clan go with you," Fireheart called out after them, his voice echoing thinly off the Highrock. Mistyfoot and Stonefur didn't respond. They didn't even turn to look back before they vanished into the tunnel. Every hair on Fireheart's pelt prickled with the desire to turn and run from his new responsibilities. The secret that had been so heavy to keep—that Bluestar had given up her kits to another Clan—would be heavier still in the sharing. He wished that he had been given more time to think of what to say, but he knew that it was better for his Clan to hear the truth from him now, instead of from Tigerstar at the next Gathering. As Clan leader he had to face the task, however little he liked it. Dipping his head to Cinderpelt, he bounded up onto the Highrock. There was no need to

斯通弗简短地点了点头，带头和雾蒙蒙的小脚朝金雀花隧道走去。 火心听到了一声或两声愤怒的嘶嘶声，雷霆家族的猫分开让他们通过。 “氏族的感谢和你们一起去吧。”火心在他们身后喊道，他的声音在海岩山上微弱地回响。 迷雾脚和斯通弗没有回应。 他们甚至没有回头看一眼，就消失在隧道里了。 火心皮毛上的每一根毛都刺痛了他想转身逃避新责任的欲望。 蓝星已经把她的装备交给了另一个部族，这个难以保守的秘密在分享中会变得更加沉重。 他希望能有更多的时间考虑该说些什么，但他知道，对他的族人来说，现在从他那里听到真相，比下次聚会时从虎星那里听到真相要好。 作为部落首领，他不得不面对这个任务，不管他多么不喜欢它。 他把头伸到灰姑娘身上，跳上了海岩。 没有必要

summon the Clan; they were already turning to look up at him. For a heartbeat Fireheart was breathless, unable to speak. He could see their anger and confusion, and smell their fear scent. Darkstripe was watching him with narrowed eyes, as if he were already planning what to tell Tigerstar. Bleakly Fireheart reflected that Tigerstar already knew; he had heard what Bluestar said to her kits as she lay dying by the river. But the ShadowClan leader would certainly be pleased to hear about ThunderClan's confusion and Fireheart's own difficulties. Tigerstar was sure to find a way to twist it to his advantage in his quest for revenge against ThunderClan and his efforts to recover his kits, Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw. Fireheart took a deep breath and began: "It's true that Mistyfoot and Stonefur are Bluestar's kits." He struggled to keep his voice steady, and prayed to StarClan to give him the right words so that the cats would not turn against Bluestar. "Oakheart of RiverClan was their father. When her kits were born, Bluestar gave them to him to be brought up in his Clan."

召唤氏族；他们已经转过头来看着他。 一时间，火心透不过气来，说不出话来。 他能看到他们的愤怒和困惑，闻到他们恐惧的气味。 暗条眯着眼睛看着他，好像已经在计划怎么告诉虎星似的。 心灰意冷地想，虎星已经知道了；他听到了蓝星躺在河边奄奄一息时对她的孩子们说的话。 但是暗影氏族的领袖听到雷霆氏族的困惑和火心自己的困难肯定会很高兴。 虎星肯定会找到一种方法来利用它来报复雷霆氏族，并努力找回他的套件——蓝爪和汤柏。 火心深吸了一口气，开始说：“雾蒙蒙的脚和石头弗确实是蓝星的装备。” 他努力让自己的声音保持稳定，并祈求StarClan给他正确的话语，这样猫们就不会背叛蓝星。 “河族的奥克哈特是他们的父亲。 当她的孩子出生时，蓝星把他们交给了他，让他在他的部落里长大。”

"How do you know?" snarled Frostfur. "Bluestar would never have done that! If the RiverClan cats said so, they're lying." "Bluestar told me herself," Fireheart replied. He met the white cat's gaze; her eyes blazed with fury, her teeth were bared, but she did not quite dare to accuse him of lying. "Are you telling us she was a traitor?" she hissed. One or two cats yowled a protest. Frostfur spun around, fur bristling, and Whitestorm rose to face her. Though the senior warrior looked stunned with shock, his voice was steady as he meowed, "Bluestar was always loyal to her Clan." "If she was so loyal," Darkstripe put in, "why did she let a cat from another Clan father her kits?" Fireheart found that question hard to answer. Not long ago, Graystripe had taken a mate from RiverClan, and his kits were growing up there now. The ThunderClan cats had been so horrified that Graystripe had felt he couldn't stay in his birth Clan any longer. Although he had returned, some cats still felt hostile to him and doubted his loyalty.

“你怎么知道？”弗罗斯特吼道。 “蓝星绝不会这么做！”如果河族的猫们这么说，那他们是在撒谎。” “蓝星自己告诉我的。”火心回答。 他遇到了白猫的凝视；她的眼睛里闪烁着愤怒的光芒，露出了牙齿，但她不敢指责他说谎。 “你是说她是叛徒吗？” 一两只猫嚎叫着表示抗议。 霜毛转过身，毛发竖起，白风暴站起来面对她。 虽然年长的战士看起来被震惊了，但他的声音很稳定，他喵喵地说：“蓝星一直忠于她的氏族。” “如果她这么忠诚，”Darkstripe插嘴道，“她为什么要让另一个部落的猫来养她的幼崽？”火心觉得这个问题很难回答。 不久前，灰条纹从河氏族带走了一只配偶，他的幼崽现在就在那里长大。 雷电族的猫们吓坏了，灰条觉得他不能再呆在自己的氏族了。 虽然他回来了，但一些猫仍然对他怀有敌意，怀疑他的忠诚。