Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 The sun had not yet risen when Brambleclaw set out with the dawn patrol. Even in the few days since Sorreltail's warrior ceremony, the leaves had begun to turn to gold and the first chill of leaf-fall lay on the forest, though it still hadn't rained for longer than a moon. The young warrior shivered as long grasses, heavy with dew, brushed against his fur. Cobwebs spread a gray film over the bushes, and the air was filled with damp, leafy scents. The twittering of waking birds began to drown out the soft padding of the cats" paws. Brightheart's brother, Thornclaw, who was in the lead, paused to look back at Brambleclaw and Ashfur. "Firestar wants us to check Snakerocks," he meowed. "Watch out for adders. There are more of them since the weather has been so hot." Brambleclaw instinctively unsheathed his claws. The adders would be hidden in cracks now, but as soon as the sun came up the warmth would tempt them out again. One bite from those poisoned jaws could kill a warrior before a medicine cat could do anything to help.

第二章 太阳还没升起，黑莓掌就跟着黎明巡逻队出发了。 哪怕从栗尾的武士仪式到现在才过了短短几天，树叶已经开始变成金黄色，虽然已经一个多月没下雨了，落叶季的第一丝凉意已经笼罩了森林。 沾满露水的长草扫过他的皮毛，这位年轻武士忍不住打了个哆嗦。 灌木丛上结了一层灰蒙蒙的蛛网，空气中满是潮湿的树叶气息。 苏醒的鸟儿叽叽喳喳，渐渐盖过了猫爪轻踩地面的声音。 走在队首的亮心弟弟棘爪停下脚步，回头看向黑莓掌和蜡毛。 “火星让我们去蛇岩检查一下，”他喵喵说道。 “小心蝰蛇。 天气这么热，蝰蛇比之前多了。” 黑莓掌下意识地亮出了爪子。 现在蝰蛇还躲在石缝里，可太阳一出来，暖意就会把它们引出来了。 被这些带毒的家伙咬一口，不等巫医施救，武士就会死了。

Before they had gone very far Brambleclaw began to hear faint sounds behind him, as if something were moving around in the undergrowth. He paused, glancing back in the hope of an easy bit of prey. At first he could see nothing; then he noticed the fronds of a thick clump of fern waving about, though there was no breeze. He sniffed the air, opening his jaws to drink it in, before letting the breath out again with a sigh. "Come out, Squirrelpaw," he meowed. There was a moment's silence. Then the bracken waved again and the stems parted as the dark ginger she-cat came out into the open. Her green eyes glared defiance. "What's going on?" Thornclaw padded up to Brambleclaw, with Ashfur just behind him. Brambleclaw indicated the apprentice with a flick of his tail. "I heard something behind us," he explained. "She must have followed us from the camp." "Don't talk about me as if I'm not here!" Squirrelpaw protested hotly. "You shouldn't be here!" Brambleclaw

他们没走多远，黑莓掌就听到身后传来隐约的动静，好像有什么东西在灌丛里动来动去。 他停下脚步，回头望去，盼着能轻轻松松抓到一头猎物。 一开始他什么都没看见； 接着他发现一丛茂密的蕨叶晃个不停，可根本没有刮风。 他吸了吸鼻子，张开大口吸进空气，之后叹了一口气。 “出来吧，松鼠爪，”他喵喵说道。 接下来是一阵沉默。 之后蕨丛又晃了晃，茎秆向两边分开，这只深姜黄色母猫走了出来，来到空地上。 她绿色的眼睛里满是不服气的神色。 “这是怎么回事？” 棘爪走到黑莓掌身边，蜡毛跟在他身后。 黑莓掌甩了甩尾巴，指了指这位学徒。 “我听到我们身后有动静，”他解释道。 “她肯定是从营地跟着我们过来的。” “别把我说得好像我不在这儿一样！” 松鼠爪气冲冲地抗议道。 “你不该来这儿的！” 黑莓掌

retorted; somehow Squirrelpaw had only to open her mouth for him to feel that his fur was being rubbed the wrong way. "Stop bickering, the pair of you," Thornclaw growled. "You're not kits anymore. Squirrelpaw, tell us what you're doing. Did some cat send you with a message?" "She wouldn't have been skulking in the bracken if they had," Brambleclaw couldn't resist pointing out. "No, they didn't," Squirrelpaw meowed with a resentful glance at Brambleclaw. Her paws scuffled in the grass. "I wanted to come with you, that's all. I haven't been on a patrol for ages." "And you weren't told to come on this one," Thornclaw replied. "Does Dustpelt know you're here?" "No," Squirrelpaw admitted. "He promised last night we'd do some training, but every cat knows he spends all day in the nursery with Ferncloud and their kits." "Not anymore," Ashfur mewed. "Not since the kits opened their eyes. Squirrelpaw, I think you might be in trouble if Dustpelt goes looking

反驳道； 不知道为什么，只要松鼠爪一开口，黑莓掌就觉得浑身不自在。 “你们俩别吵了，”棘爪吼道。 “你们又不是幼崽了。 松鼠爪，告诉我们你过来做什么。 有没有猫派你过来送信？” “要是有人派她来，她就不会躲在蕨丛里偷偷摸摸了，”黑莓掌忍不住说道。 “对，没人派我来，”松鼠爪满是怨气地瞪了黑莓掌一眼，说道。 她的爪子在草地上蹭来蹭去。 “我就是想跟你们一起来，仅此而已。 我好久没参加巡逻了。” “可没人通知你参加这次巡逻，”棘爪回答道。 “尘毛知道你在这里吗？” “不知道，”松鼠爪承认道。 “他昨晚说好了带我训练，可谁都知道他整天都待在育婴室，陪着香薇云和他们的幼崽。” “才不是这样呢，”蜡毛说道。 “自从幼崽睁开眼睛之后就不是了。 松鼠爪，我想如果尘毛去找

for you." "You'd better go back to camp right away," Thornclaw decided. Anger flared up in Squirrelpaw's eyes, and she took a step forward that brought her nose-to-nose with Thornclaw. "You're not my mentor, so don't order me around!" Thornclaw's nostrils flared minutely as he let out a patient sigh, and Brambleclaw admired his self-control. If Squirrelpaw had spoken to him like that, he would have been tempted to rake his claws over her ear. Even Squirrelpaw seemed to realize she had gone too far. "I'm sorry, Thornclaw," she meowed. "But it's true I haven't been on patrol for days. Please can I come?" Thornclaw exchanged a glance with Ashfur and Brambleclaw. "All right," he mewed. "But don't blame me if Dustpelt turns you into crow- food when we get back." Squirrelpaw gave a little skip of excitement. "Thank you, Thornclaw! Where are we going? Are we looking for anything special? Is there going to be trouble?"

找你。” “你最好立刻回营地去，”棘爪决定道。 松鼠爪的眼睛燃起怒火，她上前一步，和棘爪鼻尖对鼻尖。 “你又不是我的导师，别对我指手画脚！” 棘爪的鼻孔微微张开，耐心地叹了口气，黑莓掌十分佩服他的自制力。 要是松鼠爪这么跟他说话，他都忍不住想用爪子挠她的耳朵了。 连松鼠爪都意识到自己太过分了。 “对不起，棘爪，”她喵喵说道。 “不过我真的好多天没出巡逻了。 求求你让我跟你们一起吧？” 棘爪和蜡毛、黑莓掌交换了一个眼神。 “那好吧，”他喵喵说道。 “等我们回去要是尘毛收拾你，可别怨我。” 松鼠爪兴奋地轻轻跳了一下。 “谢谢你，棘爪！ 我们要去哪儿？ 我们在找什么特别的东西吗？ 会有麻烦吗？”

Thornclaw swished his tail across her mouth to silence her. "Snakerocks," he replied. "And it's up to us to make sure there won't be trouble." "Watch out for adders, though," Brambleclaw added. "I know that!" Squirrelpaw flashed back at him. "And we do it quietly," Thornclaw ordered her. "I don't want to hear another squeak out of you unless there's something I need to know." Squirrelpaw opened her mouth to reply, then took in what he had said and nodded vigorously. The patrol set off again. Brambleclaw had to admit that now she had gotten her own way, Squirrelpaw was behaving sensibly, slipping quietly along behind the leader and staying alert for every sound and movement in the undergrowth. The sun was well risen by the time the four cats emerged from the trees and saw the smooth, rounded shapes of Snakerocks in front of them. A dark hole gaped at the foot of one of them; it was the cave where the dog pack had hidden. Brambleclaw shuddered, remembering that

棘尾甩尾巴扫住她的嘴，让她别出声。 “蛇岩，”他回答。 “得由我们来确保这里不会出乱子。” “不过要小心蝰蛇，”黑莓掌补充道。 “这我知道！” 松鼠爪立刻顶了回去。 “而且我们得安静行动，”棘尾命令她。 “除非有我必须知道的事，不然我不想听到你出一点声音。” 松鼠爪张嘴想反驳，明白他的意思后用力点了点头。 巡逻队再次出发了。 黑莓掌不得不承认，松鼠爪既然如愿来了，表现得倒是很懂事，安静地跟在领队身后，对灌木丛里的任何声响动静都保持着警觉。 等四只猫走出树林，看见面前圆乎乎、线条平滑的蛇岩时，太阳已经升得很高了。 其中一块岩脚下张着一个黑洞，那就是之前狗群躲藏的洞穴。 黑莓掌浑身一颤，想起了

Tigerstar, his own father, had tried to lead the savage animals to the ThunderClan camp in deadly revenge against his former Clanmates. Squirrelpaw noticed his expression. "Scared of adders?" she taunted him. "Yes," Brambleclaw replied. "And so should you be." "Whatever." She shrugged. "They're probably more scared of us." Before Brambleclaw could stop her, she bounded forward into the clearing, obviously meaning to poke her nose into the hole. "Stop!" Thornclaw's voice brought her skidding to a halt. "Hasn't Dustpelt told you that we don't go dashing in anywhere before we're sure of what we're going to find?" Squirrelpaw looked embarrassed. "Of course he has." "Well, then, act like you might have listened to him once or twice." Thornclaw padded up beside the apprentice. "Have a good sniff," he suggested. "See if you can scent anything." The young she-cat stood with her head raised, drawing the morning air into her mouth.

他的亲生父亲虎星，当年曾领着这群凶兽冲向雷族营地，要向昔日的族亲展开致命报复。 松鼠爪注意到了他的神情。 “怕蝰蛇啦？”她调侃他。 “是啊，”黑莓掌回答。 “你也该怕。” “得了吧。” 她耸了耸肩。 “它们说不定更怕我们呢。” 黑莓掌还没拦住她，她就蹦进了空地，明摆着要凑去洞里探个究竟。 “停下！” 棘尾的声音让她急刹停住了脚。 “尘毛没告诉你吗，没弄清情况之前不能乱冲进去？” 松鼠爪露出了尴尬的神色。 “他当然说过。” “那好，那你就该表现得像是听过他话的样子。” 棘尾轻步走到学徒身边。 “好好闻一闻，”他提议。 “看看你能不能闻到什么。” 年轻的母猫抬着头站着，吸进清晨的空气嗅着。