Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 Leafpaw opened her eyes to see fronds of fern above her head, outlined against a paling sky. At once she remembered that this was the day of the half-moon, when all the medicine cats and their apprentices made the journey to Highstones to meet with StarClan at the mysterious Moonstone. A shiver of excitement ran through her; she had traveled there only once before, when StarClan had received her as a medicine cat apprentice, and the experience would stay with her for the rest of her life. Leaping up from her comfortable mossy nest, she stretched and yawned, blinking away the last traces of sleep. She could hear Cinderpelt moving around inside her den, and a few moments later the medicine cat poked her head out and scented the air. "No smell of rain," she meowed. "We should have a good journey." Without any more delay she led the way out of camp. Leafpaw cast a regretful look at the pile of fresh-kill as they passed it; no cat who wanted

第十五章 叶爪睁开眼睛，看见头顶的蕨叶，在泛白的天空下轮廓清晰。 她立刻想起今天是半月聚会日，所有巫医和他们的学徒都要赶往高石，在神秘的月光石拜见星族。 一阵兴奋的战栗传遍她全身； 她之前只去过那里一次，就是星族接纳她成为巫医学徒的时候，这段经历她永生难忘。 她从舒适的苔藓窝里一跃而起，伸懒腰打哈欠，眨掉了最后一丝睡意。 她听见炭毛在巢穴里走动的声音，没过一会儿，这位巫医探出头嗅了嗅空气。 “没有下雨的味道，”她喵声道。 “我们这一路应该会很顺利。” 没再多耽搁，她领头走出了营地。 经过那堆鲜猎物的时候，叶爪遗憾地看了一眼；任何想要

to share tongues with StarClan was allowed to eat beforehand. Ashfur, who was on guard beside the entrance to the gorse tunnel, dipped his head as Leafpaw and her mentor went by. Leafpaw felt faintly embarrassed. She was conscious that she was still only an apprentice, and was not yet used to the honor with which warriors treated all medicine cats. Shadows still lay in the ravine and under the trees as Cinderpelt limped toward Fourtrees, where she and Leafpaw would cross into WindClan territory. Faint rustlings in the undergrowth told them where prey was stirring, but the tiny creatures were safe from hunting for now. From time to time a bird uttered an alarm call as the two cats passed by, no more than shadows themselves in the gray light. "Practice your scenting skills," Cinderpelt instructed Leafpaw after a while. "If you can find any useful herbs, we'll collect them on the way back." Leafpaw obeyed, concentrating as hard as she could, until they reached the stream. She and

和星族交流的猫，出发前都不能吃东西。 叶爪和导师经过时，在金雀花隧道入口放哨的灰毛低下了头。 叶爪隐隐有些不好意思。 她清楚自己还只是学徒，还不习惯武士们对所有巫医都抱有的这份敬意。 炭毛一瘸一拐走向四树，她俩要从那里进入风族领地，此时沟壑里和树下还布满阴影。 灌木丛传来隐约沙沙声，说明猎物正在活动，但这些小生灵今天暂时安全，不会被猎捕。 两只猫路过时，时不时有鸟儿发出警报声，在灰蒙蒙的天光里，他俩本身也不过是两道影子。 “练练你的嗅探本领，”过了一会儿，炭毛吩咐叶爪。 “要是找到有用的药草，我们回去的时候就把它们采走。” 叶爪听从吩咐，拼尽全力集中注意力，一直走到小溪边。 她和

Cinderpelt crouched to lap at the water, then padded along the bank until they reached the place where a rock midstream made it easier to cross. Leafpaw kept an eye on her mentor, worried that her injured leg would give her trouble, but Cinderpelt managed the jump with the ease of long practice. As they climbed the slope that led to Fourtrees, Leafpaw began to pick up the scent of other cats. "ShadowClan," she murmured. "That must be Littlecloud." Cinderpelt nodded. "He usually waits for me." Leafpaw knew that Cinderpelt had saved Littlecloud's life when sickness raged through ShadowClan; because of that, Littlecloud had chosen to follow the path of a medicine cat, and ever since there had been a bond of friendship between him and Cinderpelt, beyond even the common loyalty shared by all medicine cats. When they reached the top of the hollow, Leafpaw spotted the ShadowClan medicine cat sitting at the base of the Great Rock. The small but dignified tabby figure was alone, as he had no apprentice. He leaped to his paws as soon as he

炭毛伏下身喝了几口溪水，接着沿着河岸往前走，直到走到溪中那块岩石旁，从这里过河更轻松。 叶爪一直留意着导师，担心她受伤的腿会吃不消，但炭毛凭着长期练习的经验，轻松就跳了过去。 爬上去往四树的斜坡时，叶爪闻到了其他猫的气味。 “是影族，”她低声说。 “那一定是小云。” 炭毛点了点头。 “他通常都会等我。” 叶爪知道，当初瘟疫席卷影族的时候，是炭毛救了小云的命； 正因为如此，小云才选择走上巫医的道路，从那以后他和炭毛就结下了友谊，这份羁绊甚至超越了所有巫医共有的信念联结。 她们走到凹地顶端时，叶爪看见这位影族巫医正坐在大岩石脚下。 这只小个子却仪态端庄的虎斑猫独自待着，因为他还没有学徒。 一看到她们，他立刻

saw them, calling out a greeting. At the same moment the bushes farther around the hollow rustled, and Mudfur from RiverClan stepped into the clearing with his apprentice, Mothwing. Leafpaw was pleased to see the RiverClan apprentice. She bounded down the slope to join her as Cinderpelt and the other two medicine cats met in the center of the clearing and began to exchange their news. "Mothwing!" she meowed. "It's good to see you." The sun had risen fully above the trees, and Mothwing's golden fur glowed amber. Leafpaw thought again how beautiful she was, but she was disconcerted when her friendly greeting was not returned. Instead, Mothwing nodded coolly. "Greetings. I wondered if Cinderpelt would bring her apprentice." Something about the way she spoke made Leafpaw feel small, as if Mothwing were trying to put her in her place. Of course, Mothwing was already a warrior, so perhaps she expected respect and not friendship from an apprentice.

站起身出声打招呼。 与此同时，凹地另一侧的灌木丛沙沙作响，河族的泥毛带着他的学徒蛾翅走进了空地。 能见到这位河族学徒，叶爪很高兴。 她蹦跳着跑下坡去找蛾翅，这时炭毛和另外两位巫医已经在空地中心碰面，开始交流各自的消息。 “蛾翅！”她喵声道。 “见到你真开心。” 太阳已经完全升到树梢上方，蛾翅金色的皮毛泛着琥珀般的光泽。 叶爪再一次心想，她可真美啊，可对方没有回应她的友好问候，这让叶爪有些不知所措。 相反，蛾翅只是冷淡地点了点头。 “你好。 我还在好奇炭毛会不会带她的学徒过来呢。” 她说话的语气让叶爪觉得自己很不起眼，好像蛾翅就是想提醒她摆正自己的位置。 当然，蛾翅已经是正式武士了，说不定她希望从学徒这里得到的是尊重，而非友谊。

Disappointment stabbed Leafpaw like a thorn; she dipped her head and fell back a pace to follow the other cats as they made their way up the side of the hollow and across the border into WindClan territory. Her spirits rose again as they began to cross the moorland; the bright, early leaf-fall sunlight, the breeze ruffling the grass that felt springy under her paws, the scents of gorse and heather were all so different from the lush, shady forest of ThunderClan. Seeing that Mothwing was padding behind her mentor without joining in the talk of the medicine cats, Leafpaw went over to join her. "I didn't think you would be here," she mewed. "I thought that Mudfur would have taken you to Mothermouth already." Mothwing swung around to look her full in the face, her amber eyes smoldering as if Leafpaw had said something to offend her. Leafpaw flinched. "I'm sorry..." she began. Suddenly Mothwing relaxed and the hostile light died out of her eyes. "No, I'm sorry," she meowed. "It's not your fault. You heard what

失望像一根尖刺扎进了叶爪的心里； 她低下头，往后退了一步，跟在其他猫身后，跟着它们爬上山谷坡壁，越过边界进入了风族领地。 当它们踏上荒原时，叶爪的心情又好了起来； 明亮的早秋阳光，吹得草丛起伏的微风，爪下的草弹性十足，还有金雀花和石楠的香气，这一切都和雷族葱郁荫凉的森林大不相同。 看到蛾翅跟在自己导师身后，没有加入其他巫医的聊天，叶爪便走过去陪她。 “我没想到你会来这儿，”她喵呜道。 “我还以为泥毛早就带你去母亲嘴了呢。” 蛾翅猛地转过身，直直盯着叶爪，琥珀色的眼睛怒火熊熊，仿佛叶爪说了什么得罪她的话。 叶爪吓得往后缩了缩。 “对不起……”她刚开口说道。 突然间蛾翅放松下来，眼中的敌意消散了。 “不，该说对不起的是我，”她喵声道。 “这不是你的错。 你刚才听到

Mudfur said at the last Gathering, about waiting for a sign from StarClan that I would be the right medicine cat for the Clan?" Leafpaw nodded. "The sign didn't come." Mothwing paused and began to tug at the tough moorland grass with the claws of one forepaw. "There was nothing! I thought that meant StarClan had rejected me— and the other cats were quick enough to start talking about it! Just because my mother was a rogue, and I'm not Clanborn." The fierce light shone briefly in her eyes again, and then faded. "Oh, no—I'm so sorry!" Leafpaw exclaimed, eyes wide with sympathy. "Mudfur just told me to be patient." Mothwing's lips twisted wryly. "He may be good at that, but I'm not. I tried, but still the sign didn't come. I was ready to leave the Clan, but Hawkfrost—you remember my brother, Hawkfrost?—told me not to listen. He said I didn't have to prove my loyalty to jealous cats, only to StarClan, and he was sure they would send the sign eventually." "And he was right," mewed Leafpaw, "or you

泥毛上次集会上说的，关于等星族给我兆头，确认我适合当族群巫医的话对不对？” 叶爪点了点头。 “兆头一直没有来。” 蛾翅顿了顿，伸出一只前爪，用爪子扯着荒原上坚韧的野草。 “什么兆头都没有！ 我原本以为这说明星族拒绝了我——其他猫也很快开始议论这件事了！ 就因为我妈妈是流浪猫，我不是族群出生的。” 凶狠的光再次在她眼中闪过，随即又消散了。 “噢，天啊——真是太对不起了！” 叶爪惊呼道，眼睛睁得大大的，满是同情。 “泥毛只是让我再耐心等等。” 蛾翅的嘴角无奈地扯了扯。 “他或许能耐得住性子，可我不行。 我试过了，可还是没有等来兆头。 我都准备离开族群了，可是鹰霜——你还记得我哥哥鹰霜对不对？——叫我别听那些闲话。 他说我不需要向那些嫉妒我的猫证明忠诚，只需要对星族忠诚就够了，他肯定星族最终会送来兆头的。” “而且他说的对，”叶爪喵声道，“要不然你