Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 Leaves rustled as the young tabby cat slid through a gap between two bushes, his jaws wide open to drink in the scent of prey. On this warm night in late greenleaf, the forest was full of the scuffles of tiny creatures. Movements twitched endlessly at the edge of his vision, but when he turned his head he could see nothing but thick clumps of fern and bramble, dappled with moonlight. Suddenly he stepped out into a wide clearing and gazed around in confusion. He could not remember being in this part of the forest before. Smooth-cropped grass, glowing silver in a cold wash of moonlight, stretched in front of him as far as a softly rounded rock where another cat was sitting. Starlight sparkled in her fur, and her eyes were two small moons. The young tabby's bewilderment increased as he recognized her. "Bluestar?" he meowed, his voice shrill with disbelief. He had been an apprentice when the great leader of ThunderClan had died, four seasons

第一章 年轻虎斑猫钻过两丛灌木的缝隙，树叶沙沙作响，他大张着嘴捕捉猎物的气味。 在绿叶季末这个温暖的夜晚，森林里到处都是小动物活动的窸窣声。 他眼角总能瞥见不停晃动的影子，可转过头，却只看见茂密的蕨丛与荆棘，洒满斑驳月光。 突然，他走到一片开阔的空地上，困惑地环顾着四周。 他从来都不记得自己来过森林的这片区域。 修剪整齐的青草在清冷月光下泛着银光，一直延伸到前方一块圆润岩石旁，岩石上坐着另一只猫。 星光在她的皮毛上闪烁，她的眼睛就像两轮小小的明月。 年轻虎斑认出她之后，心里越发困惑了。 “蓝星？”他喵了一声，声音因为不敢置信而发尖。 这位伟大雷族族长去世时，他还是学徒，那已是四个

ago, leaping into the gorge with a pack of blood- hungry dogs after her. Like all her Clan, he had grieved for her and honored her for the way she had given up her life to save them. He had never thought to see her again, and he realized for the first time that he must be dreaming. "Come closer, young warrior," Bluestar meowed. "I have a message for you." Shivering with awe, the tabby tom crept across the shining stretch of turf until he crouched below the rock and could look up into Bluestar's eyes. "I'm listening, Bluestar," he mewed. "A time of trouble is coming to the forest," she told him. "A new prophecy must be fulfilled if the Clans are to survive. You have been chosen to meet with three other cats at the new moon, and you must listen to what midnight tells you." "What do you mean?" The young cat felt a prickle of dread, cold as snowmelt, creep down his spine. "What kind of trouble? And how can midnight tell us anything?" "All will be made clear to you," Bluestar replied.

季节之前，她为了引开一群嗜血的恶狗，纵身跳进了峡谷。 和所有族猫一样，他为蓝星悲痛，也敬重她为拯救族人牺牲自我的举动。 他从没想过能再见到她，这才第一次反应过来，自己一定是在做梦。 “靠近一点，年轻的武士，”蓝星说道。 “我有一个口信带给你。” 年轻的虎斑公猫满心敬畏地发着抖，慢慢爬过这片闪光的草地，蹲在岩石下抬头迎上蓝星的目光。 “我在听，蓝星，”他喵声道。 “森林很快就要迎来一场劫难，”她对他说。 “族群想要活下去，就必须完成一个新预言。” 你已被选中在新月那天和另外三只猫碰面，你要听清午夜对你说的话。 “你这话是什么意思？” 年轻猫感到一阵恐惧顺着脊椎爬上来，冷得如同融雪。 “是什么样的劫难？” 午夜又能告诉我们什么呢？” “一切都会水落石出的，”蓝星回答道。

Her voice faded, echoing strangely as if she were speaking from a cavern far beneath the earth. The moonlight also began to grow dim, leaving thick black shadows to creep out of the trees around them. "No, wait!" the tabby cat cried out. "Don't go!" He let out a terrified yowl, thrashing his paws and tail, as darkness rose up and engulfed him. Something poked him in the side and his eyes flew open to see Graystripe, the ThunderClan deputy, standing over him with one paw raised to prod him again. He was scuffling among the moss in the warriors" den, with the golden sunlight leaking through the branches above his head. "Brambleclaw, you crazy furball!" the deputy meowed. "What's all the noise about? You'll scare off all the prey from here to Fourtrees." "Sorry." Brambleclaw sat up and began picking scraps of moss from his dark fur. "I was just dreaming." "Dreaming!" grunted a new voice. Brambleclaw turned his head to see the white warrior Cloudtail heave himself out of a mossy

她的声音渐渐远去，带着诡异的回音，仿佛她是从地底深处的洞穴中说话一般。 月光也慢慢变暗，浓重的黑影从他俩周围的树林里爬了出来。 “不，等等！” 虎斑猫大喊道。 “不要走！” 他发出一声恐惧的嚎叫，爪子尾巴拼命乱挥，黑暗翻涌上来将他彻底吞噬。 有什么东西戳了戳他的侧腹，他猛地睁开眼睛，看见雷族副族长灰条站在面前，抬着爪子正要再戳他一下。 他正挤在武士巢穴的苔藓里扭动，金色阳光从头顶的枝桠间漏下来。 “黑莓掌，你这傻毛球！” 副族长喵道。 “吵吵嚷嚷干什么？” 你会把从这儿到四棵树的所有猎物都吓跑的。” “抱歉。” 黑莓掌坐起身，开始把沾在深皮毛上的碎苔藓扯下来。 “我刚刚做了个梦。” “做梦！”一个新的声音咕哝道。 黑莓掌转过头，看见白武士云尾正从一块长着苔藓的

nest nearby and give a long stretch. "Honestly, you're as bad as Firestar," Cloudtail went on. "When he slept in here he was always muttering and twitching in his sleep. A cat couldn't get a good night's rest for all the prey in the forest." Brambleclaw twitched his ears to hear how disrespectfully the white warrior spoke about the Clan leader. Then he reminded himself that this was Cloudtail, Firestar's kin and former apprentice, well known for his barbed tongue and ready scorn. His impudent talk didn't stop him from being a loyal warrior to his Clan. Cloudtail gave his long-furred white coat a shake and slipped out of the den, flicking the end of his tail at Brambleclaw in a friendly way to take the sting out of his words as he went by. "Come on, you lot," meowed Graystripe. "It's time you were moving." He picked his way through the moss on the floor of the den to prod Ashfur awake. "Hunting patrols will be going out soon. Brackenfur is organizing them." "Right," Brambleclaw mewed. His vision of Bluestar was fading, though her ominous message echoed in his ears. Could it really be true that

附近巢穴里爬出来，伸了个大大的懒腰。 “说真的，你跟火星一样不让人省心，”云尾接着说。 “之前他住这儿的时候，睡觉总说梦话还不停扭动。 就算森林里全是猎物，也没法安安稳稳睡一觉。” 黑莓掌抖了抖耳朵，听见这只白猫对族长这么无礼，不由得有些惊讶。 接着他想起来，云尾本就是这样，他是火星的亲戚，也曾是火星的学徒，向来以说话带刺、爱嘲讽出名。 他说话放肆，却依然是对族群忠心耿耿的武士。 云尾抖了抖自己长长的白毛，钻出巢穴，经过黑莓掌身边时，友好地甩了甩尾尖，消去了话里的刺。 “好了，你们几个，”灰条说道。 该起床出动了。” 他穿过巢穴地面的苔藓，过去叫醒蜡毛。 “狩猎巡逻队很快就要出发了。 蕨毛正在组织队伍。” “好的，”黑莓掌应声喵道。 蓝星的幻影渐渐褪去，可她那不祥的预言依旧在他耳边回响。 这一切真的会是

there was a new prophecy from StarClan? It seemed fairly unlikely. For a start, Brambleclaw could not imagine why she would choose to give it to him, of all the cats in ThunderClan. Medicine cats frequently received signs from StarClan, and ThunderClan's leader, Firestar, had often been guided by his dreams. But they were not for ordinary warriors. Trying to blame his wild imaginings on too much fresh-kill the night before, Brambleclaw gave his shoulder one last lick and followed Cloudtail out through the trailing branches. The sun was barely up above the hedge of thorns that surrounded the camp, but the day was already warm. Sunlight lay like honey on the bare earth in the center of the clearing. Sorrelpaw, the oldest of the apprentices, lay stretched out beside the ferns that sheltered the apprentices" den, sharing tongues with her denmates Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw. Cloudtail had gone over to the nettle patch where the warriors ate and was already gulping down a starling. Brambleclaw noticed that the pile of fresh-kill was very low; as Graystripe had

星族竟然传来了新的预言？ 这简直太不可思议了。 首先，棘爪想不通，雷族那么多猫，星族为什么偏偏把预言传给自己。 通常都是巫医收到星族的征兆，雷族族长火星也常常在梦境里得到指引。 可预言从来都不属于普通武士呀。 棘爪觉得自己是胡思乱想，肯定是昨晚吃多了新鲜猎物，他最后舔了舔肩膀，跟着云尾穿过垂枝走了出去。 太阳刚爬到营地外围的荆棘树篱上方，这天就已经热烘烘的了。 阳光像蜂蜜一样铺在空地中央的裸地上。 年纪最大的学徒沙爪正摊开身子，躺在学徒巢穴旁的蕨边，和同巢的蜘蛛爪、鼩鼱爪互相舔毛呢。 云尾走到武士们用餐的荨麻丛，已经大口啃起了一只椋鸟。 棘爪注意到新鲜猎物堆已经所剩无几，就像灰条此前

said, the Clan needed to hunt right away. He was about to go and join the white warrior when Sorrelpaw sprang up and came bounding across the clearing toward him. "It's today!" she announced excitedly. Brambleclaw blinked. "What is?" "My warrior ceremony!" With a little mrrow of happiness, the tortoiseshell she-cat hurled herself at Brambleclaw; the unexpected attack bowled him over and they wrestled together on the dusty ground, just as they used to when they were kits together in the nursery. Sorrelpaw's hind paws battered Brambleclaw in the belly, and he thanked StarClan that her claws were sheathed. There was no doubt that she would make a strong and dangerous warrior, one that every cat would respect. "All right, all right, that's enough." Brambleclaw cuffed Sorrelpaw gently over one ear and scrambled up. "If you're going to be a warrior, you'll have to stop behaving like a kit." "A kit?" Sorrelpaw meowed indignantly. She sat in front of him, her fur sticking up in clumps and covered with dust. "Me? Never! I've waited a

说过的那样，族群必须立刻出发捕猎。 他正打算去找那只白武士一起捕猎，沙爪却一下子跳起来，蹦跳着穿过空地朝他冲来。 “就是今天！” 她兴奋地大声宣布。 棘爪眨了眨眼睛。 “什么就是今天？” “我的武士命名仪式呀！” 这只玳瑁小母猫开心地喵呜一声，猛地扑向棘爪； 这突如其来的袭击把他撞翻在地，他俩就在满是尘土的地上扭打起来，就像小时候一起待在育婴室的时候那样。 沙爪的后爪不停拍打着棘爪的肚子，棘爪暗自感谢星族，她没把爪子伸出来。 毫无疑问，她一定会成为强壮勇猛的好武士，得到所有猫的尊敬。 “好了好了，别闹了。” 棘爪轻轻拍了下沙爪的耳朵，爬起身来。 “你马上要当武士了，可不能再像小奶猫一样调皮啦。” “小奶猫？” 沙爪气鼓鼓地叫了一声。 她坐在他面前，毛一撮撮翘起来，还沾满了灰尘。 “我？ 才不可能！ 我已经等了