Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Something was prodding Fireheart in the side. With a muffled mew of protest he opened his eyes to see Cinderpelt stooping over him. "You dozed off," she murmured. "But you'll have to wake up now. It's time to bury Bluestar." Fireheart staggered to his paws. He flexed each stiff leg in turn and passed his dry tongue over his lips. He felt as if he had been crouching in the clearing for a moon at least. The sense of comfort he had felt as he slept was replaced by a wave of guilt. "Did any cat see?" he muttered to Cinderpelt. The medicine cat's blue eyes glimmered with sympathy. "Only me. Don't worry about it, Fireheart. No cat would blame you after what happened yesterday." Fireheart glanced around the clearing. The pale light of dawn was just beginning to seep through the trees. A few tail-lengths away the elders had assembled to carry out their duty of bearing Bluestar's body to the burial place. The rest of the Clan were slowly emerging from their dens, forming two lines between Bluestar's body and

有什么东西在戳火心的侧面。 随着一声低沉的抗议的叫声，他睁开眼睛，看到了俯在他身上的灰姑娘。 “你睡着了，”她喃喃地说。 “但你现在必须醒过来。 是时候埋葬蓝星了。” 火心摇摇晃晃地站了起来。 他把两条僵硬的腿依次弯曲起来，用干巴巴的舌头舔了舔嘴唇。 他觉得自己好像蹲在空地上至少等了一个月。 他睡觉时的舒适感被一阵内疚所取代。 “有猫看见了吗？”他低声对灰姑娘说。 医猫的蓝眼睛闪烁着同情的光芒。 “只有我。别担心，火心。 经过昨天的事，没有猫会怪你的。” 火心扫视了一下空地。 黎明的微光刚开始从树林里透进来。 在几尾远的地方，长老们聚集在一起，履行他们的职责，把蓝星的尸体运到墓地。 氏族的其他成员慢慢地从他们的洞穴中出来，在蓝星的身体和

the entrance to the gorse tunnel. At a nod from Cinderpelt, the elders took up the body and carried Bluestar between the rows of her grieving warriors. Every cat bowed his head as their leader was borne past. "Good-bye, Bluestar," Fireheart murmured. "I'll never forget you." Sharp thorns of pain pierced his heart when he saw the tip of her tail scoring a furrow in the blackened leaves that still lay on the ground after the recent fire. When Bluestar had vanished with her escort, the rest of the cats began to disperse. Fireheart checked the camp, noticing with approval that the pile of fresh-kill had been stocked up. All he needed to do was send out the dawn patrol; then he could eat and rest. He felt as if a moon of sleep would not be enough to banish the exhaustion from his paws. "Well, Fireheart," meowed Cinderpelt. "Are you ready?" Fireheart turned, puzzled. "Ready?" "To go to the Moonstone to receive your nine lives from StarClan." The tip of Cinderpelt's tail twitched. "Fireheart, surely you hadn't forgotten?"

金雀洞的入口。 灰姑娘点了点头，长老们抬起尸体，把蓝星抱在悲伤的战士们中间。 当他们的领袖被抬过去时，每只猫都低下了头。 “再见，蓝星。”火心喃喃地说。 “我永远不会忘记你。”当他看到它的尾巴尖在地上烧黑的树叶上划出一道沟时，他的心被刺痛了。 当蓝星带着她的护卫消失后，其余的猫开始散开。 火心检查了营地，赞许地注意到那堆新鲜的猎物已经储备好了。 他所需要做的就是派出黎明巡逻队；然后他可以吃饭和休息。 他觉得睡上一个月还不足以消除爪子上的疲惫。 “好吧，火心。” “你准备好了吗？”火心转过身来，迷惑不解。 “准备好了吗?”“去月光石那里接受星族给你的九条命” 灰姑娘的尾巴尖抽搐了一下。 “火心，你不会忘了吧？”

Fireheart shuffled his paws uneasily. Of course he hadn't forgotten the ancient ceremony to initiate all new Clan leaders, but somehow he hadn't realized that it would take place right away. He felt dazed by the speed with which everything was happening, bearing him forward relentlessly like the swift waters of the gorge that had almost drowned him. Fear rose in his throat and he had to swallow quickly. No leader ever spoke of the mystic rite, so no other cat, except for the medicine cats, knew what happened there. Fireheart had visited the Moonstone before and watched Bluestar share tongues with StarClan in her sleep. That experience had been awe-inspiring enough. He could not imagine what would happen when he had to lie beside the sacred stone himself and share dreams with his warrior ancestors. On top of this, he knew that Highstones, where the Moonstone lay in a cavern far underground, was a whole day's journey away, and the ritual demanded that he not eat beforehand, not even the strengthening herbs that other cats took for the journey.

火心不安地挪动着爪子。 当然，他没有忘记所有新氏族领袖的古老仪式，但不知怎的，他没有意识到它会马上发生。 他被这一切发生的速度弄得晕头转向，像峡谷里的激流一样无情地推动着他前进，几乎把他淹死。 恐惧涌上他的喉咙，他不得不迅速吞咽。 没有哪个领袖提起过这个神秘的仪式，所以除了药猫之外，没有别的猫知道那里发生了什么。 火心以前曾造访过月光石，看到蓝星在睡梦中与星族交谈。 那次经历已经足够令人敬畏了。 他无法想象，当他不得不躺在神圣的石头旁边，与他的战士祖先分享梦想时会发生什么。 最重要的是，他知道月光石藏在海斯通的一个地下洞穴里，要走一整天才能到那里，而且按照仪式规定，他事先不能吃东西，甚至连其他猫在旅途中服用的增强体质的草药也不能吃。

"StarClan will give you strength," meowed Cinderpelt, as if she had read his thoughts. Fireheart muttered in vague agreement. Glancing around, he spotted Whitestorm on his way to the warriors' den and summoned the older warrior with a flick of his tail. "I've got to go to Highstones," he meowed. "Will you take charge of the camp? We'll need a dawn patrol." "Consider it done," promised Whitestorm, and added, "StarClan go with you, Fireheart." Fireheart took a last look around the camp as he followed Cinderpelt toward the gorse tunnel. He felt as if he were going on a long journey, farther than he had ever traveled before, where the prospect of return looked doubtful. And in a way he never would return, for the cat who came back would have a new name, new responsibilities, and a new relationship with StarClan. As he turned away, a yowl sounded behind him. Graystripe and Sandstorm were racing across the clearing. "You weren't sneaking off without saying

“星族会给你力量的，”灰姑娘喵喵地说，好像她读懂了他的想法。 火心含糊地表示同意。 他扫视四周，发现白风暴正朝战士洞穴走去，便甩了甩尾巴，召唤年长的战士。 “我得去海斯通。”他叫道。 “你愿意掌管军营吗？” 我们需要一支黎明巡逻队。” “就这么办吧，”白风暴答应道，又补充道，“星族跟你走吧，火心。” 火心跟着灰姑娘朝金雀花隧道走去，最后环视了一下营地。 他觉得自己好像踏上了一段漫长的旅程，比以往任何时候都走得更远，而返回的前景似乎很渺茫。 在某种程度上，他再也不会回来了，因为回来的猫会有一个新的名字，新的责任，以及与StarClan的新关系。 当他转身离开时，身后传来一声嚎叫。 “灰条”和“沙暴”在空地上奔跑。 “你不是没说一声就溜了吧

good-bye?" Graystripe panted, skidding to a halt. Sandstorm said nothing, but she twined her tail with Fireheart's and pressed close to his side. "I'll be back tomorrow," Fireheart meowed. "Listen," he added awkwardly, "I know things will be different now, but I'll never stop needing you —both of you. No cat ever had such good friends." Graystripe butted him in the shoulder. "We know that, you stupid furball," he mewed. Sandstorm's green eyes shone as she gazed into Fireheart's. "We'll always need you too, Fireheart," she murmured. "And you'd better not forget that." "Fireheart, come on!" Cinderpelt called from where she was waiting at the entrance to the gorse tunnel. "We have to reach Highstones by nightfall —and remember I can't move as fast as you." "Coming!" Fireheart gave each of his friends a quick lick before plunging into the gorse tunnel after the medicine cat. His heart felt full of hope as he caught up to her and made his way to the top of the ravine. He might have been leaving his old life behind, but he could take with him

再见?”“灰条”喘着气，滑行着停了下来。 沙暴什么也没说，但她把尾巴缠在火心身上，紧紧地贴在他身边。 “我明天再来。”火心叫道。 “听着，”他尴尬地补充道，“我知道现在情况会有所不同，但我永远都需要你们——你们两个。 从来没有猫有过这么好的朋友。” 灰条用头撞了他的肩膀。 “我们知道，你这个愚蠢的毛球，”他叫道。 沙暴凝视着火心，绿眼睛闪闪发光。 “我们也永远需要你，火心。”她喃喃地说。 “你最好不要忘记这一点。” “火心，加油！”灰姑娘从她在金雀花隧道入口等着的地方喊道。 “我们必须在天黑之前赶到高石镇——记住，我跑得没有你快。” “来了!”火心迅速地舔了一下他的每一个朋友，然后跳进了金雀花隧道，追赶药猫。 他的心充满了希望，他追上了她，向峡谷的顶端走去。 他也许是要把过去的生活抛在脑后，但他可以带走

everything that was important. The sun was up in a clear blue sky and the frost had melted from the grass by the time the two cats reached Fourtrees, where the Gatherings were held between all four Clans every full moon. "I hope we don't meet a WindClan patrol," Fireheart remarked as they crossed the border onto the high, exposed moorland, leaving the shelter of the forest behind them. Not long before, Bluestar had tried to launch an attack on WindClan, accusing them of stealing prey from ThunderClan. Fireheart had disobeyed his leader and risked accusations of treachery to avoid a battle. Although Tallstar, the WindClan leader, had been prepared to make peace, Fireheart could imagine that the WindClan cats might still bear a grudge. "They won't stop us," Cinderpelt replied calmly. "They might try," Fireheart argued. "I'd rather avoid them altogether." His hopes were dashed as he and Cinderpelt reached the crest of a stretch of moorland and saw

所有重要的事情。 当两只猫来到四树村时，太阳已经升上了晴朗的蓝天，草地上的霜也已经融化。每逢满月，四个氏族都会在四树村举行集会。 “我希望我们不会遇到风氏族的巡逻队。”火心说。他们离开森林的掩体，越过边界，来到了高而暴露的沼地。 不久之前，蓝星曾试图向风氏族发起攻击，指责他们从雷霆氏族那里窃取猎物。 火心违背了他的领袖，冒着被指控背信弃义的危险避免了一场战争。 尽管风氏族的首领塔尔斯特已经准备好讲和，但火心可以想象，风氏族的猫们可能仍然怀恨在心。 “他们不会阻止我们的，”灰姑娘平静地回答。 “他们可能会试试。”火心争辩道。 “我宁愿完全避开它们。” 他的希望破灭了，因为他和灰姑娘到达了一片沼地的山顶，看到了