Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Moonlight shone into the cave, turning the waterfall into a sheet of rippling silver. Stormfur felt as though the day had lasted for a moon, and now even the shallow, sandy dips in the cave floor were looking as comfortable as his nest among the reeds back home. Stoneteller had returned and shown the forest cats to sleeping hollows at the side of the main cave, their curved sides lined with a sparse layer of moss and feathers. "You may rest here," he meowed. "Stay many days—for as long as you want. You are all welcome." Once he had gone, Brambleclaw beckoned with his tail for all his friends to gather around. "We need to talk," he mewed. "How long do you think we should stay here?" Crowpaw's tail lashed from side to side. "I don't know how you can ask that!" he rasped. "I thought we were on a mission. What about taking Midnight's news to the forest?" "Crowpaw's right," Stormfur meowed, stifling a brief stab of annoyance that he had to agree

第十一章 月光洒进洞穴，将瀑布化作一层波光荡漾的银绸。 风暴毛觉得这一天漫长得像过了一个月，就连洞穴地面浅浅的沙坑，看着都跟老家芦苇丛里的窝一样舒服。 石歌回来后，把森林猫领到主洞侧边的睡眠凹坑，坑的曲壁上铺着薄薄一层苔藓和羽毛。 “你们可以在这里休息，”他喵声道。 “多住些日子吧——想待多久就待多久。 我们随时欢迎你们。” 石歌走后，棘爪摇尾巴招呼所有朋友聚过来。 “我们得商量一下，”他喵道。 “你觉得我们该在这儿待多久？” 鸦爪的尾巴狠狠甩来甩去。 “你居然能问出这种问题！” 他哑着嗓子说。 “我还以为我们是在执行任务。 我们还要把午夜的消息带回森林啊？” “鸦爪说得对，”风暴毛说道，压下了那一丝不快——他居然得同意

with the WindClan apprentice. "I think we should leave right away." "Me too," mewed Tawnypelt. "Leaf-bare's coming, and there'll be snow up here." "But what about your shoulder?" Brambleclaw reminded her. Since their plunge over the waterfall, she'd been limping on three legs, and a trickle of dried blood ran down her shoulder, seeping between her claws. "We've got to stay until the rat bite is better. We'd all get on faster after that." Tawnypelt's neck fur bristled. "I knocked it again, that's all. If you think I'm holding you back," she spat, "then just come out and say so." "Brambleclaw didn't mean that." Feathertail brushed her side comfortingly against Tawnypelt's flank, taking care to avoid the injury. "That's more than just a knock. It looks like you've done as much damage as before, and it won't heal if you don't rest." Squirrelpaw looked thoughtful. "It sounded as if the Tribe cats don't think we should leave at all. What are they all so frightened of? Are we going to meet more danger farther on?"

这位风族学徒的观点。 “我觉得我们应该立刻离开。” “我也同意，”褐皮喵道。 “叶枯节就要来了，这儿很快就会下雪。” “可你的肩膀怎么办？” 棘爪提醒她。 从瀑布摔下来后，她一直三只脚跛着走路，肩膀渗出的干血流到了爪子缝里。 “我们得等到老鼠咬的伤口好转再走。 那之后我们赶路也能更快。” 褐皮后颈的毛炸了起来。 “我只是又撞到了而已，就这样。 要是你觉得我拖后腿，”她啐道，“那就直说好了。” “棘爪不是这个意思。” 羽尾温柔地用身子蹭了蹭褐皮的侧腹，小心避开了她的伤口。 “这可不只是撞了一下。 看着跟你之前伤得一样重，不休息根本好不了。” 松鼠爪露出若有所思的神情。 “听着这群部落猫好像根本就不想让我们走。 他们到底都在怕什么？ 我们继续往前走还会遇到更多危险吗？”

The other cats looked uneasily at one another. Stormfur admitted to himself that the thought had crossed his mind too. Part of him wanted to stay safely in the cave for as long as they could, if the alternative was unknown terror among the rocks and precipices of the mountains. "It'll be risky whenever we leave," Crowpaw pointed out. "Okay, I agree about Tawnypelt, but let's get Stoneteller to fix her shoulder, and then go." "That's all very well," Squirrelpaw broke in, her green eyes sparkling in the moonlight. "But we're all assuming we can leave whenever we want." "What do you mean? They wouldn't dare stop us!" Crowpaw exclaimed. Squirrelpaw snorted. "I'll bet you my next piece of fresh-kill that they would. Look over there." She flicked her ears toward the cave entrance. A cave-guard was seated on either side, making no secret of the fact that they were keeping an eye on the newcomers. "Perhaps they're guarding the cave from

其他猫不安地对视着彼此。 风暴毛也在心里承认，自己也闪过这个念头。 要是前面要在山间悬崖乱石里面对未知的恐惧，那他巴不得一直安安稳稳待在洞穴里。 “不管我们什么时候走都有风险，”鸦爪指出。 “好吧，褐皮的事我同意，我们先让石歌治好她的肩膀，然后马上出发。” “这些都没问题，”松鼠爪插嘴道，她的绿眼睛在月光下闪闪发亮。 “可我们都默认了我们想走就能走啊。” “你这话是什么意思？ 他们敢拦我们！” 鸦爪大声嚷道。 松鼠爪哼了一声。 我用下一块新鲜猎物跟你打赌，他们肯定会拦。 你看那边。” 她动了动耳朵，指向洞穴入口。 入口两边各坐着一名洞穴守卫，他们根本不掩饰自己正盯着这群新来的猫。 “说不定他们是在守卫洞穴，抵挡

enemies outside," Feathertail meowed. "We could always try leaving," Crowpaw suggested, the tip of his gray-black tail twitching. "Then we'd see what happened." "No." Brambleclaw's voice was firm. "It would be mouse-brained to leave right now. We're all tired out, and we need to sleep. Tomorrow we'll see how Tawnypelt's shoulder is, and figure out when we can leave." There was a murmur of agreement. Not even Crowpaw wanted more trouble just then, and it was not long before the forest cats were settling into their sleeping hollows, huddled together against the curious stares that darted at them from all around the cave. As Stormfur prodded his bedding into place, he heard a pawstep behind him, and turned to see one of the mountain cats padding across the cave toward him. Warm recognition swept through his pelt as he recognized Brook by her soft tabby fur and lithe walk. She carried a wad of feathers in her jaws. Dropping them in the sleeping hollow Stormfur had chosen, she dipped her head to

外面的敌人，”羽尾说道。 “我们大可以试着离开，”鸦爪提议，他灰黑色的尾尖轻轻抽动着。 “到时候就知道会发生什么了。” “不行。” 棘爪的语气十分坚定。 “现在就走是没脑子的鼠辈做法。 我们都累坏了，得先睡一觉。 明天我们看看褐皮的肩膀情况，再商量什么时候离开。” 众猫低声表示同意。 就连鸦爪那时候也不想惹更多麻烦，没多久森林猫们就挤在各自的睡眠凹坑里安顿下来，抵挡着洞穴各处投来的好奇目光。 风暴毛整理好窝垫之后，听到身后传来脚步声，转身看见一只山地猫穿过洞穴朝他走来。 他靠着柔软的虎斑皮毛和轻盈的步伐认出那是溪儿，一股温暖的熟悉感涌遍全身。 她嘴里叼着一团羽毛。 她把羽毛丢在风暴毛选好的睡眠凹坑里，低下头向

him. "Stoneteller sent me to make sure you're comfortable." "Er, thanks," Stormfur replied. Did Brook mean that Stoneteller had sent her to all the cats, or to him in particular? She showed no signs of going to fetch more feathers for the rest of them. True, Stormfur still felt battered from the fall into the pool, but so did all his friends. He was not their leader either, who would get special treatment. "I... I hope you'll be happy here," Brook went on hesitantly. "This must be very different from what you're used to. Do you have caves for sleeping in your forest?" "No, we sleep in nests of reeds and bushes. RiverClan's camp—that's my Clan—is on an island." A pang of homesickness stabbed Stormfur as he spoke, and he wondered if he would ever again lie curled up in the warriors" den, listening to the soft sighing of the wind in the reeds. If Midnight was right, and all the Clans had to leave the forest, he might never find another home that was so peaceful. Brook's eyes shone in the moonlight. "Are you

他。 “尖石巫师派我来看看你舒不舒服。” “呃，谢谢。”石毛回答道。 溪儿这话是说尖石巫师派她探望所有猫，还是特地只来看他呢？ 她完全没有要给其他猫添羽毛的意思。 没错，石毛掉进池子后现在还浑身酸疼，但他的朋友们也一样啊。 他又不是族群首领，轮不到特殊待遇。 “我……我希望你在这里过得开心。”溪儿迟疑着继续说道。 “这里肯定和你以前习惯的地方大不一样。 你们森林里有睡觉的洞穴吗？” “不，我们睡在芦苇和灌木做的窝里。 河族营地——那就是我的族群——在一座小岛上。” 说出这话，一阵想家的刺痛涌上石毛心头，他不知道自己还能不能再蜷在武士窝里，听芦苇丛里风轻柔的沙沙声。 如果午夜说的没错，所有族群都得离开森林，那他可能再也找不到这么安宁的家了。 溪儿的眼睛在月光下闪闪发亮。 “你

a cave-guard or—" She broke off, scuffling her paws in embarrassment. "No, of course not, if you have no caves there will be no cave-guards. Do you guard your camp, or are you a prey- hunter?" "Our Clans don't work like that," Stormfur told her. "We all guard and hunt and patrol." "That must be hard," Brook meowed. "We are born to our duties, so we know exactly what we have to do. I am a prey-hunter," she added. "If Stoneteller allows it, perhaps you would like to hunt with me tomorrow?" Stormfur swallowed. It sounded as if Brook assumed that the forest cats would be staying for a while. He was not sure either that he liked the idea of asking Stoneteller's permission for everything; they would respect the Tribe's leader while they stayed in his territory, but he had no right to give them orders. All the same, it would be fun to hunt with Brook. He wondered whether to ask her outright if they were prisoners, but before he could speak, the pretty young tabby dipped her head in farewell. "You're tired; I'll leave you alone now,"

是洞穴守卫吗——”她话说到一半停住，不好意思地蹭了蹭爪子。 “不对，当然不是啦，你们那没有洞穴，自然就没有洞穴守卫啦。 你们守卫营地吗？你是捕猎手吗？” “我们族群不是这么分工的。”石毛告诉她。 “我们全都要守卫、捕猎和巡逻。” “那肯定很辛苦吧。”溪儿喵声道。 “我们生下来就注定了自己的职责，所以清楚知道该做什么。 我就是一名捕猎手。”她补充道。 “如果尖石巫师同意，明天你要不要和我一起捕猎呀？” 石毛咽了一下口水。 这话听起来，溪儿觉得森林来的猫咪们要在这里待一阵子呢。 他也不太喜欢做什么都要征得尖石巫师同意这件事； 他们待在部落领地会尊重部落首领，但尖石巫师可没权利对他们发号施令。 话虽这么说，和溪儿一起捕猎肯定很有意思。 他犹豫要不要直接问清他们是不是囚犯，可还没开口，这只漂亮的年轻虎斑猫就低头道别了。 “你累了，我现在不打扰你了，”