Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 Brambleclaw heaved a sigh of relief to come down from Highstones and feel grass under his paws again. They were alone now, a tiny band of cats in a vast, unknown territory. Ravenpaw had pointed out a path across fields divided by sharp, shiny Twoleg fences, and there were many scents of Twolegs and dogs, though none of them were fresh. Wooly-faced sheep stared at the traveling cats as they slipped past, their heads low and their ears flat, uncomfortable at being out in the open. "You'd think they'd never seen a cat before," Stormfur grunted. "Maybe they haven't," Tawnypelt replied. "There's no reason for cats to come here. I haven't had so much as a sniff of prey since we left the barn." "Well, I've never seen a sheep before," Squirrelpaw pointed out. She padded a little closer to the nearest one, and Brambleclaw unobtrusively moved up behind her; as far as he knew sheep were not dangerous, but he was

第十四章 黑莓掌走下高石，爪子重新踩在青草上，长长松了一口气。 现在只剩他们几个了，一小群猫，置身在这片广阔又陌生的领地。 乌爪给大家指出了一条横穿农田的路，农田被两脚兽尖利发亮的栅栏分割开来，这里到处都是两脚兽和狗的气味，只是都不新鲜了。 毛茸茸的绵羊盯着赶路的猫，猫们低着头抿着耳朵，在开阔地浑身不自在，悄悄从一旁溜过。 “也就像它们从来没见过猫似的。”暴毛嘟囔道。 “说不定它们真没见过呢。”褐皮回应道。 “本来就不会有猫来这儿。 我们离开谷仓后，我连猎物的气味都没闻过一下。” “哼，我之前也没见过绵羊啊。”松鼠爪说道。 她往最近的那只绵羊又凑近了些，黑莓掌不声不响地跟在了她身后； 在他看来绵羊并不危险，但他还是

taking no chances. Squirrelpaw paused a tail- length away, took a good sniff, and wrinkled her nose. "Yuck! They might look like fluffy clouds on legs, but they smell horrible!" Tawnypelt yawned. "Can we get on, for the love of StarClan?" "I wonder why StarClan is sending us to the sun-drown-place," Feathertail meowed, swerving to avoid a grass-cropping sheep that was too close for comfort. "Why couldn't they have told us what we need to know back in the forest? And why do we have to hear the message at midnight?" Crowpaw snorted. "Who knows?" He narrowed his eyes and stared at Brambleclaw. "Maybe the ThunderClan warrior can tell us. After all, he's the only one of us who has seen this place—or so he says." Brambleclaw gritted his teeth. "You know as much as I do," he meowed. "We just have to trust StarClan that it will all come clear in the end." "Easy enough for you to say," Crowpaw retorted. "Leave him alone!" To Brambleclaw's

不会冒任何风险。 松鼠爪在离它一条尾巴远的地方停住，好好闻了闻，皱起了鼻子。 “呀！ 它们看着就像长腿的软云朵，可气味也太难闻了！” 褐皮打了个哈欠。 “看在星族的份上，我们能不能快点赶路了？” “我好奇星族为什么要派我们去太阳沉没之地，”羽尾轻声说道，一边急转躲开一只靠得太近的吃草绵羊。 “为什么他们不能在森林里就把要告诉我们的话说清楚？ 为什么我们非得等到午夜才能拿到消息？” 鸦爪哼了一声。 “谁知道呢？” 他眯起眼睛盯着黑莓掌。 “说不定这位雷族武士能告诉我们啊。 毕竟，我们里只有他见过这个地方——至少他自己这么说。” 黑莓掌咬了咬牙。 “你知道的和我一样多，”他说道。 “我们只要相信星族，到最后一切都会水落石出的。” “你说得倒轻松。”鸦爪反驳道。 “别欺负他！” 让黑莓掌吃惊的是

amazement, Squirrelpaw darted forward and planted herself in front of the WindClan apprentice. "Brambleclaw didn't ask for the second dream. It's not his fault that StarClan chose him." "And what do you know about it?" Crowpaw growled. "In WindClan, apprentices know when to keep their mouths shut." "Oh, so you'll be quiet from now on?" Squirrelpaw mewed cheekily. "Good." With his top lip drawn back in a snarl, Crowpaw stalked around her and went on. Brambleclaw padded across to his Clanmate. "Thanks for backing me up there," he murmured. Squirrelpaw's eyes flashed angrily at him. "I'm not doing it for you!" she snapped. "I'm just not letting that stupid furball think WindClan is so much better than ThunderClan." She dashed off with an annoyed hiss, past Feathertail and Stormfur, who had stopped to watch. "Don't get too far ahead!" Brambleclaw called after her, but she ignored him. As he set off in pursuit, Brambleclaw was uncomfortably aware that none of the other cats

惊讶之余，松鼠爪猛地冲上前，挡在了那名风族学徒面前。 “黑莓掌又没主动要第二个梦。 星族选中了他，这又不是他的错。” “那你又懂什么了？” 鸦爪低吼道。 “在风族，学徒都知道什么时候该闭上嘴。” “哦，那你从现在开始就会闭嘴了？” 松鼠爪调皮地问道。 “那最好。” 鸦爪呲牙咧嘴，怒冲冲绕开她继续往前走了。 黑莓掌走到自己的族伴这边。 “谢谢你刚才帮我撑腰。”他低声说道。 松鼠爪的眼睛气得发亮，瞪着他。 “我才不是帮你！” 她厉声说道。 “我就是看不惯那个笨毛球，觉得风族比雷族好得多。” 她恼怒地嘶叫一声冲了出去，从停下看热闹的羽尾和暴毛身边跑过。 “别跑太远！” 黑莓掌在她身后喊，可她根本不理他。 当他出发去追松鼠爪时，他不安地察觉到，其他猫没有一个

had tried to defend him, not even Tawnypelt. They must all be full of doubts about his vision of the sun-drown-place, and why they had to go there, just like Feathertail. A sense of responsibility was settling more heavily on Brambleclaw with every step he took, and he knew that if any of his companions were injured or even killed on the journey, it would be his fault. Perhaps StarClan had gotten it wrong this time. Perhaps in the end, not even the faith and courage of warriors would be enough to bring them through safely. Not long after sunhigh, they came to their first Thunderpath. It was narrower than the one they were used to, and curved so that they could not see monsters approaching until the last moment. On the opposite side, a tall hedge stretched as far as they could see in both directions. Crowpaw approached cautiously and sniffed the hard black edge of the Thunderpath. "Ugh!" he exclaimed, wrinkling his nose. "It's foul stuff. Why do Twolegs spread it all over the place?" "Their monsters travel on it," Stormfur told

站出来帮他说话，连褐皮都没有。 他们肯定全都对他看到的太阳沉没之地的异象心存怀疑，就像羽尾一样，疑惑他们为什么要来这里。 每走一步，责任感都让黑莓掌的肩头更沉重，他知道，如果旅途中任何一个同伴受伤甚至丧命，都怪他。 说不定这次星族也弄错了。 说不定到最后，哪怕是武士的信念和勇气，也没法让他们平安闯过去。 正午过后没多久，他们就碰到了第一条雷鬼路。 这条路比他们见惯的那条更窄，还弯弯曲曲的，直到最后一刻都看不见怪物过来。 路对面，一道高高的树篱向左右延伸，一眼望不到头。 鸦爪小心地走上前，嗅了嗅雷鬼路坚硬发黑的边缘。 “呃！”他叫了一声，皱起了鼻子。 “这东西臭死了。 两脚兽为什么要把它铺得到处都是？” “他们的怪物就走这条路，”暴毛对

him. "I know that!" Crowpaw snapped. "Their monsters stink, too." Stormfur shrugged. "That's Twolegs for you." "Are we going to sit here until sunset discussing the habits of Twolegs?" Tawnypelt interrupted. "Or are we going to cross this Thunderpath?" Brambleclaw crouched on the grass verge, ears pricked to catch the sound of approaching monsters. "When I say "now," run," he told Squirrelpaw, who was crouching beside him. "You'll be fine." Squirrelpaw didn't look at him. She had been in a bad mood ever since her earlier quarrel with Crowpaw. "I'm not scared, you know," she hissed. "Then you should be," Tawnypelt grunted from her other side. "Didn't you listen to what we told you when we crossed the Thunderpath near Highstones? Get this straight: they're dangerous even for experienced warriors. Cats have died on them." Squirrelpaw glanced up at her and nodded,

他。 “我知道了！” 鸦爪厉声说。 “那些怪物也臭死了。” 石毛耸耸肩。 “两脚兽就是这副德行。” “我们要坐在这儿讨论两脚兽的习性直到日落吗？” 褐皮打断道。 “还是说我们要过雷鬼路？” 棘爪伏在路边草地上，竖起耳朵听靠近的怪物的动静。 “我说‘走’的时候就跑，”他对蹲在自己身边的松鼠爪说。 “你不会有事的。” 松鼠爪没看他。 自从刚才和鸦爪吵架后，她就一直心情很差。 “我可没害怕，知道吧，”她嘶声说。 “那你该害怕，”褐皮在她另一侧闷哼道。 “你忘了我们上次在高石岩附近过雷鬼路时跟你说的话了？ 记住：就算对经验丰富的武士来说，它们也很危险。 已经有猫死在那上面了。” 松鼠爪抬眼看了看她，点了点头，

her green eyes huge. "Good," mewed the ShadowClan warrior. "So listen to Brambleclaw, and when he tells you to go, run like you've never run before." "Before we cross"—Brambleclaw raised his voice so all the cats could hear him—"I think we should decide what we are going to do on the other side. We can't see beyond that hedge, and I can't pick up any scents for the reek of the Thunderpath." Stormfur raised his head and opened his jaws to taste the air. "Nor can I," he agreed. "I suggest we cross, go straight through the hedge, and meet up again on the other side. If there is anything dangerous through there, the six of us together should be able to deal with it." Brambleclaw was impressed by Stormfur's sensible thinking. "Okay," he meowed, and the rest of the cats, even Crowpaw, murmured their assent. "Brambleclaw, you give the word," Stormfur mewed. Once more Brambleclaw strained to listen. A low growling in the distance quickly grew into a

绿色的眼睛睁得大大的。 “很好，”这名影族武士轻声说。 “所以听棘爪的，他一说走，你就拼命往前跑。” “在我们过马路之前——”棘爪提高音量让所有猫都听见——“我觉得我们得先说好，到了对岸该怎么做。 树篱后面有什么我们看不见，雷鬼路的臭味太重，我也闻不到任何气味。” 石毛抬起头，张开嘴嗅了嗅空气中的气味。 “我也闻不到，”他赞同道。 “我建议我们过去之后，直接穿过树篱，到对岸集合。 如果那边有危险，我们六个一起总能应付。” 棘爪很佩服石毛这么周到的想法。 “好，”他说，其他猫，就连鸦爪也都低声表示同意。 “棘爪，你来发令，”石毛说。 棘爪再一次竖起耳朵仔细听。 远处一声低沉的轰鸣，很快变成了