Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 Leafpaw shifted uneasily in a pool of moonlight and listened to the soft sighing of the wind in the oaks at Fourtrees. She and Cinderpelt were on their way to meet with the other medicine cats at Mothermouth, and already the half-moon was high in the sky. "They're late," Cinderpelt meowed. "We're wasting moonlight." Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat, settled himself more comfortably in a hollow in the grass. "They'll be along soon." Cinderpelt's tail-tip twitched. "We need all the time we have at the Moonstone, especially tonight. We have to find out what we should do about the Twolegs." Leafpaw tried to curb her own impatience with the RiverClan medicine cats, who should have met them long before now. Perhaps sharing tongues with StarClan wasn't so important to them, when their own territory hadn't been invaded by the Twoleg monsters. Everything was quiet now; the Twoleg monsters slept at night,

第13章 叶爪不安地在月光里挪了挪身子，听着四树区橡树林中风儿柔柔的叹息声。 她和炭毛正赶去月亮山口和其他巫医会面，半轮明月早已经高挂在夜空了。 "他们迟到了，"炭毛喵声道。 "我们都浪费月光了。" 影族巫医小云，舒舒服服地在草洼里趴好了身子。 "他们很快就会来了。" 炭毛的尾尖轻轻抽动了一下。 "我们得在月亮石充分利用每一分钟，尤其是今晚。 我们得弄清楚，面对两脚兽我们该怎么做。" 叶爪按捺住对河族巫医的不耐烦，他们早就该到这里汇合了。 他们的领地还没被两脚兽的怪物入侵，说不定和星族交流对他们来说没那么重要。 现在四周静悄悄的，两脚兽的怪物晚上都会睡觉，

but Leafpaw knew they were still there, squatting on the scarred ground among the trees they hadn't destroyed yet. The silence in the forest was unnatural, without the small sounds of prey that always seemed louder at night. Her belly rumbled at the thought of prey. Cinderpelt had given her traveling herbs to quell her appetite before they set out, but they didn't help her hunger when she couldn't remember the last time she had been full-fed. All the Clan cats were suffering; lack of food had begun to weaken them so that they couldn't run as fast and catch what prey there was. With leaf-bare looming ever closer, crisping the leaves and sending them spiraling to the ground in the chill breeze, Leafpaw couldn't see what help StarClan might give. To her embarrassment, her belly rumbled again, loud enough for the others to hear. Littlecloud shot her a sympathetic glance. "Blackstar has sent warriors to fetch rats and crow-food from Carrionplace," he told Cinderpelt. His eyes darkened. "We haven't had any sickness yet, but it's only a matter of time."

可叶爪知道它们还在那里，蹲伏在还没被毁掉的树林间，那片满是伤痕的土地上。 森林里的安静很不对劲，没有夜晚本该清晰的猎物细碎响动。 一想到猎物，叶爪的肚子就咕咕叫了起来。 出发前炭毛给她吃了抑制食欲的旅行草药，可她记不清上次吃饱是什么时候，草药根本止不住饿。 所有族群猫都在受苦； 食物匮乏已经让他们日渐虚弱，跑不快也抓不到仅存的猎物。 秃季一天天临近，冷风把树叶吹得发脆，打着旋儿落到地上，叶爪想不出星族能给他们什么帮助。 让她尴尬的是，肚子又叫了一声，响得其他猫都听得见。 小云向她投来同情的目光。 "黑星派了武士去腐肉场找老鼠和腐肉，"他告诉炭毛。 他的眼神暗了下来。 "我们现在还没闹疫病，但这只是早晚的事。"

"I hope you remember the herbs and berries I gave you when you were ill," Cinderpelt meowed. "I've been collecting them. I know I'll need them soon." "And tell your Clan not to touch any crow- food," Cinderpelt advised. "Fresh rats might be okay, but not carrion." Littlecloud sighed. "I've tried, but what can I do when Blackstar gives the orders? Most of our cats are too hungry to care what they're eating." Just then Leafpaw caught sight of Mudfur, the RiverClan medicine cat, and his apprentice, Mothwing, climbing the slope from the river. She leaped to her paws, delighted to see her friend again, though she could not suppress a pang of envy that Mothwing looked so well fed, her long golden fur sleek with good health. "At last!" Cinderpelt growled as the two cats came up. "I was beginning to think a fish must have jumped out of the river and swallowed you." "Well, we're here now." Mudfur hardly paused for greetings, but led the way around the

"我希望你还记得你生病时我给你用的药草和浆果，"炭毛喵道。 "我一直在收集它们。 我知道很快就用得上了。" "告诉你的族群别碰任何腐肉，"炭毛提醒道。 "新鲜老鼠或许没问题，但腐肉绝对不行。" 小云叹了口气。 "我已经提醒过了，但黑星下了命令，我能怎么办？ 我们族里大半猫都饿疯了，根本不在乎吃的是什么。" 就在这时，叶爪看见了河族巫医泥毛和他的学徒蛾翅，正从河边爬上山坡。 她一下子跳起身，能再见到朋友开心极了，可忍不住羡慕——蛾翅看起来吃得饱饱的，长长的金色皮毛光滑健康，满是光泽。 "可算来了！" 两只猫走过来时，炭毛低吼道。 "我还以为河里蹦出条鱼把你俩吞了呢。" "好了，我们这不就来了。" 泥毛没停下来打招呼，径直领着大家绕过

top of the hollow toward the WindClan border. Cinderpelt and Littlecloud followed, while Leafpaw and Mothwing brought up the rear, side by side. "I got into trouble about that fishing lesson," Leafpaw whispered. "I knew I should not have eaten your prey." "Your leader's got no right!" Mothwing meowed indignantly. "We're medicine cats." "Still, we shouldn't have done it," Leafpaw replied. "Medicine cats have to stick to the warrior code as much as any cat." Mothwing just snorted. "I think I'm getting on really well," she mewed after a moment. "Mudfur taught me the herbs to use for greencough and blackcough, and the best way to get thorns out of pads. He said he'd never seen a cat do it so neatly." "That's great!" Leafpaw purred. She didn't mind her friend boasting because she knew how insecure Mothwing felt. Because she was the daughter of a rogue, many of her own Clan thought that she should never have been allowed to train as a medicine cat. Mothwing was

山谷顶，朝着风族边界走去。 炭毛和小云跟在前面，叶爪和蛾翅并排走在队尾。 "上次钓鱼课我惹了大麻烦，"叶爪小声说。 "我知道我不该吃你的猎物。" "你的族长根本没道理！" 蛾翅愤愤地喵道。 "我们可是巫医啊。" "话虽这么说，我们本来就不该那么做，"叶爪回答。 "巫医也要和所有武士一样遵守武士守则呀。" 蛾翅只是哼了一声。 "我觉得我最近进步特别大，"过了一会儿她开口说道。 "泥毛教了我治绿咳和黑咳该用什么药，还有取肉垫里刺的最好方法。 他说从来没有猫做得这么干净利落。" "那太棒了！" 叶爪发出愉悦的呼噜声。 她不介意朋友炫耀，因为她知道蛾翅心里其实很不安。 因为她是泼皮猫的女儿，她族群里很多猫都觉得不该允许她接受巫医训练。 蛾翅现在

desperate to prove them wrong. As they approached the WindClan border, Leafpaw felt a twinge of nervousness. It was not long since the confrontation with WindClan, and she knew that their warriors would still be hostile. They seemed determined to keep their starvation a secret, even though it was horribly obvious from their scrawny frames and dull eyes. Would they be desperate enough to attack medicine cats if they found them on their territory? She said nothing; Firestar would be furious if she gossiped with Mothwing about that fateful encounter. None of the medicine cats paused as they crossed the border. They hurried on, their pace set by Cinderpelt's limping gait. Coming to the top of a gentle rise, Leafpaw found herself looking down on the worst scene yet of Twoleg devastation. The scar on WindClan's territory was much longer and wider now than when she and Sorreltail had first seen it. A couple of Twoleg monsters squatted there, moonlight glinting off their shiny pelts. If a hill got in their way they just gorged a path through it, leaving

一心想要证明他们错了。 当他们靠近风族边界时，叶爪心头掠过一阵紧张。 刚和风族爆发冲突没多久，她清楚风族武士依旧会对他们充满敌意。 他们下定决心要隐瞒挨饿的真相，可骨瘦如柴的身躯和黯淡无神的眼睛早就暴露了一切。 如果他们发现巫医踏入领地，会不会孤注一掷发动攻击呢？ 她一言不发； 要是她和蛾翅闲聊起那次致命的遭遇，火星一定会勃然大怒。 穿过边界时，没有一名巫医停下脚步。 他们继续匆匆赶路，步伐跟着一瘸一拐的炭毛调整。 登上缓坡顶端后，叶爪低头看见了两脚兽破坏森林以来最惨烈的景象。 风族领地的这道伤疤，比她和蕨尾第一次见到时更长更宽了。 几只两脚兽怪物蹲在那里，月光在它们发亮的外壳上闪烁。 要是小山挡了路，它们直接就能啃出一条通道，留下

earth piled high on either side. Were they going to devour the whole moor? Shuddering, Leafpaw bounded on behind her mentor. Not far from the WindClan camp, Barkface, the WindClan medicine cat, emerged from behind a gorse bush. Even though Leafpaw had been prepared for him to look hungry, it was a shock to see how thin he was—barely more than a walking skeleton covered by his ragged pelt. Cinderpelt went up and touched noses with him sympathetically. "StarClan be with you, Barkface," she mewed. "And with all my Clan." Barkface heaved a great sigh. "Sometimes I think StarClan wants every one of us to join them, and not even a kit left to keep the warrior code alive." "Perhaps they will show us what to do when we share dreams at the Moonstone," Cinderpelt tried to encourage him. "It's getting worse for WindClan." Mothwing's amber eyes were wide as she murmured the words to Leafpaw. "They've been stealing fish from the river again, you know. Hawkfrost

泥土高高堆在通道的两侧。 它们难道要把整个荒原都吞掉吗？ 叶爪浑身发颤，紧随着导师往前奔去。 离风族营地不远处，风族巫医树皮脸从金雀花丛后走了出来。 尽管叶爪早就做好了他挨饿的准备，可看到他瘦成这副模样还是大吃一惊——简直就是一副骨架套着蓬乱的皮毛。 炭毛走上前，同情地和他碰了碰鼻子。 “星族与你同在，树皮脸。”她轻声说道。 “也与我的全族同在。” 树皮脸重重地叹了一口气。 “有时候我觉得，星族就是想让我们全族都投奔他们，连一个留存武士守则的幼崽都不留下。” “等我们去月石分享梦境时，星族说不定会指引我们该怎么做。”炭毛试着鼓励他。 “风族的情况越来越糟了。” 蛾翅睁着大大的琥珀色眼睛，对着叶爪轻声说出这句话。 “你知道吗，他们又去河里偷鱼了。 鹰霜