Chapter 29

CHAPTER 30 The clearing fell silent. Blood glistened on the grass as cold sunlight sliced through the trees. Cloudtail struggled to his paws and staggered over to stand beside Firestar, looking down at Scourge's lifeless black body. "You did it, Firestar," he panted. "You saved the forest." Firestar gave the young warrior a lick. "We all did," he meowed. He thought back to the trouble his kin had caused when he first arrived in the forest. In those days, Firestar would never have imagined he could have felt so proud of his wayward nephew. "Go and find Cinderpelt, and get yourself something for those wounds." Cloudtail nodded and limped off across the clearing. Looking around, Firestar saw that warriors from each of the four Clans were gathering around their medicine cats at the edge of the clearing. One had become four again; LionClan was no more. At first he couldn't see Sandstorm, and he felt panic welling up inside him. He was not sure he

第三十章空地静了下来。 冰冷的阳光穿过树木，鲜血在草地上闪闪发光。 云尾巴挣扎着伸开爪子，摇摇晃晃地站在火星旁边，低头看着天灾死气沉沉的黑色躯体。 “你成功了，火星。”他喘着气说。 “你拯救了森林。”火星舔了一下年轻的战士。 “我们都是。”他喵喵叫道。他回想起当他第一次来到森林时，他的亲人所造成的麻烦。 在那些日子里，火星永远不会想到他会为他任性的侄子感到如此自豪。 “去找灰姑娘，给你的伤口找点东西。” 云尾巴点点头，一瘸一拐地穿过空地。 环顾四周，Firestar看到四个部落的战士都聚集在空地边缘的药猫周围。 一个又变成了四个；LionClan不复存在。 起初，他看不见沙暴，他感到一阵恐慌涌上心头。 他不确定他

could bear it if he had lost her. Then he saw her stumbling wearily across the clearing. The fur along one flank was stiff with drying blood, but Firestar could see that her injuries were not serious. "Thank StarClan!" he breathed. He crossed the clearing in two bounds, and Sandstorm turned her head to look at him, her green gaze filled with relief. "We did it," she murmured. "We drove out BloodClan." Firestar suddenly felt light-headed, as if the whole of Fourtrees were spinning around him. "Steady," urged Sandstorm, supporting him with her shoulder. "You've lost a lot of blood. Come and see Cinderpelt." Firestar staggered the rest of the way, drinking in Sandstorm's scent and feeling comforted by the softness of her fur. When they reached Cinderpelt he collapsed on the ground, wondering if he were about to lose another life. Then he realized he could still hear the sounds all around him in the clearing, and the pain of his scratches throbbed instead of fading as Fernpaw started pressing cobwebs to the worst of his wounds.

如果他失去了她，他也能忍受。 接着，他看见她疲惫地跌跌撞撞地走过空地。 它一侧的皮毛因干燥的血液而变得僵硬，但火星看得出它的伤势并不严重。 “谢谢星族！” 他分两界穿过空地，沙暴转过头来看着他，绿色的目光里充满了宽慰。 “我们成功了，”她喃喃地说。 “我们赶走了BloodClan。”火星突然感到头晕目眩，仿佛整个四棵树都在围着他旋转。 “别急。”沙暴催促道，用肩膀支撑着他。 “你流了很多血。 过来看看灰姑娘。”火星摇摇晃晃地走完剩下的路，一边喝着沙暴的气味，一边被她柔软的皮毛安慰着。 当他们到达煤渣堆时，他倒在地上，不知道自己是否又要失去一条生命。 接着，他意识到自己还能听到周围空地上的声音。芬爪开始把蜘蛛网贴在他最严重的伤口上，他抓伤的疼痛非但没有消失，反而还在悸动。

"Is he okay?" That was Graystripe's voice. "Hey, come on, Firestar—you can't give up now!" "I'm not. I'm tired, that's all." Firestar blinked up at the gray warrior. "Don't worry; you won't have to be leader for a while yet." "Firestar." Sandstorm gently prodded his shoulder. "There are more cats coming." Firestar sat up to see a group of RiverClan cats padding toward him, headed by Leopardstar. The RiverClan leader dipped her head toward Firestar. Claw marks covered her pelt, but her eyes were clear and she carried her tail high. "Well done, Firestar," she meowed. "They tell me you killed Scourge." "Every cat fought well," Firestar replied. "We wouldn't have won unless all the Clans joined together." "True enough," Leopardstar conceded. "But now we must separate again. I am going to take my Clan home. We must care for our wounded and grieve for our dead." "And ShadowClan?" Firestar inquired. "ShadowClan must go back to their own home," Leopardstar replied firmly. "I have a new

“他还好吗？”那是灰条纹的声音。 “嘿，加油，火星，你现在不能放弃！”“我不是。 我累了，仅此而已。”火星对灰战士眨了眨眼睛。 “别担心;你暂时还不用当领导。” “Firestar。”沙暴轻轻地戳了戳他的肩膀。 “还有更多的猫来了。” 火星坐起来，看见一群河族的猫朝他走来，领头的是豹星。 河族首领朝火星探了探头。 爪子的痕迹布满了她的皮毛，但她的眼睛是清澈的，她把尾巴高高举起。 “干得好，火星。”她叫道。 “他们说你杀了天灾。” “每只猫都打得很好，”Firestar回答。 “除非所有氏族联合起来，否则我们不会赢。” “没错，”豹星承认。 “可现在我们又得分开了。 我要带我的族人回家。 我们必须照顾我们的伤员，哀悼我们的死者。” “ShadowClan呢?”Firestar问道。 “影子家族必须回他们自己的家去。”豹星坚定地回答。 “我有一个新的

deputy, and enough warriors to defend our territory if ShadowClan don't respect our border s." "Who is the new deputy?" Firestar asked curiously. "Mistyfoot," meowed the RiverClan leader, a glint in her eyes. As Firestar stared in astonishment, Mistyfoot emerged from the ThunderClan cats, followed by Featherpaw and Stormpaw. "I'm going with Leopardstar," she explained, fixing Firestar with her mother's ice-blue gaze. "I'll always be grateful for what you did, but I'm a RiverClan cat at heart." Firestar nodded. He had never expected Mistyfoot to change her allegiance completely from her birth Clan. "But…as deputy?" he meowed. "After what happened to Stonefur?" There was deep grief in Mistyfoot's eyes, but her determination did not waver. "Leopardstar asked me just before the battle started," she explained. "I said I'd think about it, and now I know I have to do it for Stonefur's sake, and for the sake of the Clan."

如果影族不尊重我们的边界，我们需要足够的战士来保卫我们的领土。” “谁是新的代表？”火星好奇地问。 “雾脚。”河族首领叫道，眼里闪着光芒。 当火星惊讶地盯着他们的时候，雾脚从雷霆家族的猫中走了出来，羽毛爪和风暴爪紧随其后。 “我要和豹星一起去，”她解释道，用母亲冰蓝色的目光盯着火星。 “我会永远感激你所做的一切，但我骨子里是河族的猫。” Firestar点点头。他从来没有想过米丝富特会完全改变对自己出生氏族的忠诚。 “但是……作为副手？”他叫道。 “在斯通弗出事之后？”迷雾脚的眼睛里充满了深深的悲伤，但她的决心没有动摇。 “豹星在战斗开始前问我的，”她解释说。 “我说过我会考虑的，现在我知道，为了斯通弗，为了氏族，我必须这么做。”

Firestar dipped his head, respecting the hard decision she had made. "Then StarClan go with you," he meowed. "And may you always be a friend to ThunderClan." The two young cats beside Mistyfoot glanced uncertainly from Firestar to Leopardstar. "We're going too," Stormpaw mewed. "RiverClan has lost many warriors. They need us." Featherpaw padded up to Graystripe and touched noses with him. "You'll come and visit us, won't you?" "Try to stop me." Graystripe's voice was muffled and his eyes were filled with the pain of his kits' divided heritage. "Be the best warriors you can, and make me proud of you." "You've got something to live up to," Firestar added. "Your father is ThunderClan deputy now." The two apprentices pressed close to their father and twined their tails with his. Leopardstar gave them a moment to be together before signaling to them, and the young cats fell in behind her. The RiverClan cats vanished into the bushes and up the slope toward their own territory.

火星低下头，尊重她做出的艰难决定。 “那StarClan和你一起去吧。”他喵喵叫道。 “愿你永远是雷霆家族的朋友。” 雾脚旁边的两只小猫迟疑地从火星星看向豹星。 “我们也要去。”暴风猴叫道。 “大河氏族失去了许多战士。 他们需要我们。”羽爪走到灰条跟前，用鼻子碰了碰他。 “你会来看我们的，是吗？”“想办法阻止我。” 格雷条纹的声音低沉，他的眼睛里充满了他的孩子们分裂的遗产的痛苦。 “尽你们所能成为最好的战士，让我为你们感到骄傲。” Firestar补充道：“你有自己的目标。” “你父亲现在是雷帮的副手了。” 两个徒弟紧紧地靠近他们的父亲，把自己的尾巴和父亲的尾巴缠在一起。 豹星给了它们片刻的时间在一起，然后向它们发出信号，幼猫们跟着她。 河族的猫消失在灌木丛中，顺着山坡朝自己的地盘走去。

Firestar's gaze fell on the group of ShadowClan cats not far away, and he noticed that Bramblepaw was with them, talking to his sister. Firestar rose to his paws and limped slowly toward them; Blackfoot got up to meet him as he approached. "Firestar." The ShadowClan deputy narrowed his eyes. "So we won the battle after all." "Yes, we did," Firestar agreed, adding, "What will you do now, Blackfoot?" "Take my Clan home, and prepare for a journey to Highstones. I'm their leader now. We have much to do to recover, but life in the forest will go on as usual." "Then I'll see you at the next Gathering. And Blackfoot, you would do well to learn from the mistakes of your predecessors. I saw what you did to Stonefur at the Bonehill." A shadow flitted across Blackfoot's eyes, and he did not reply. Firestar flicked his tail to beckon Bramblepaw, who pressed his muzzle briefly against Tawnypaw's flank and slipped through the ShadowClan cats to his mentor's side. Blackfoot

火星的目光落在不远处的一群影族猫身上，他注意到蓝爪和它们在一起，正在和妹妹说话。 火星站起身来，一瘸一拐地慢慢朝他们走来。当他走近时，布莱克福特站起来迎接他。 “Firestar。”影族代表眯起眼睛。 “所以我们最终赢得了这场战斗。” “是的，我们是这么做的。”火星同意了，又补充道，“你现在打算怎么办，黑脚？”“带我的族人回家，准备启程去海斯通。 我现在是他们的领袖。我们还有很多工作要做才能恢复，但森林里的生活将一如既往。” “那下次聚会上见。 布莱克福特，你最好从前任的错误中吸取教训。 我看到你在骨山对斯通弗做了什么。” 黑影掠过布莱克福特的眼睛，他没有回答。 火星摇了摇尾巴，招呼蓝爪，蓝爪用它的嘴在唐波的侧身轻轻贴了一下，然后穿过影子家族的猫，溜到了他导师的身边。 黑脚