Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23 Stormfur froze. It was too soon! The outlaws dived for the cave walls, and the Tribe cats who had not already taken up their positions pelted down the tunnel to the Cave of Pointed Stones. Stormfur and his friends were left in the center of the cavern, staring around in panic. Their moment's hesitation was a moment too long. A ferocious snarling sliced through the noise of the waterfall. A shadow fell across from the entrance, etched in moonlight. Then Sharptooth burst upon them. Just as the Tribe had said, he looked like a lion from the elders" tales, but without the fiery mane around his head. Lean muscles rippled beneath his short-haired pelt, and his massive gold head was lowered, following the trail of Talon's blood. When he entered the cave he looked up. He saw the hare, and swiped it aside with one vast paw. "No!" Squirrelpaw yowled. Her screech brought the huge head swinging

第23章 暴毛僵住了。 这一切来得太快了！ 亡命徒们纷纷扑向洞壁，还没就位的部落猫顺着通道冲向尖石穴。 暴毛和他的朋友们被留在洞穴中央，惊慌地四处张望。 这片刻的犹豫，已经错过了最佳时机。 一声凶狠的咆哮划破了瀑布的轰鸣。 入口处投来一道阴影，在月光下轮廓分明。 紧接着，尖牙猛地朝他们冲了过来。 就像部落说的那样，他长得和长老故事里的狮子一模一样，只是头颈部没有火红的鬃毛。 短毛皮下精瘦的肌肉不住涌动，他巨大的金色头颅低垂着，循着锐掌留下的血迹。 走进洞穴后，他抬起了头。 他看见那只诱饵野兔，一掌就把它拍到了一边。 "不！" 松鼠爪嘶声喊道。 她的尖叫让那颗巨大的脑袋猛地转了过来

around, the round, thick-furred ears twitching with interest. "Get back!" snarled Brambleclaw. "All of you, hide!" He leaped toward the lion-cat, lashing out with both front paws and rolling aside before Sharptooth could turn on him. Stormfur saw Squirrelpaw dash in from the other side and spring onto Sharptooth's back, sinking her claws into the base of his tail. "Squirrelpaw!" Brambleclaw yowled. "What in StarClan's name are you doing?" As the lion-cat twisted, trying to dislodge her, Squirrelpaw leaped down and fled for the boulders that lined the cave wall. With a roar of fury, Sharptooth launched himself after her, but she was too fast for him, scrambling out of reach to stand hissing on a jutting piece of rock, her ginger fur fluffed up. Stormfur fled to the opposite cave wall, following Feathertail up a series of cracks in the rock until they reached a tiny ledge tucked under the roof. Crouching in the narrow space beside his sister, he looked down at the cave floor.

转了过来，圆乎乎覆着厚毛的耳朵好奇地不停抽动。 "退后！" 黑莓掌低吼道。 "你们全都躲起来！" 他扑向这只狮形猫，双爪齐齐挥出，在尖牙转头攻向他之前滚到了一旁。 暴毛看见松鼠爪从另一侧冲出来，跳到尖牙背上，把爪子深深扎进他的尾根。 "松鼠爪！" 黑莓掌吼道。 "看在星族的分上，你到底在干什么？" 这只狮形猫扭着身体想把她甩下来，松鼠爪趁机跳下来，冲向沿洞壁排列的石群。 尖牙暴怒地大吼一声，朝她猛冲过去，可她跑得太快，很快爬到够不着的地方，站在一块突出的岩石上嘶嘶哈气，姜黄色的毛发根根炸起。 暴毛逃向对面洞壁，跟着羽尾沿着一连串岩石裂缝往上爬，最后爬到洞顶下一块小小的岩架上。 他蹲在妹妹身旁狭窄的空间里，低头看向洞穴底部。

The Tribe cats were all in their hiding places, too scared to move. Brambleclaw had gained safety too, on another ledge just below Squirrelpaw. He was snarling up at her, looking almost as furious as Sharptooth himself; Stormfur couldn't hear what he was saying, but he could guess. For a moment Stormfur could not see Tawnypelt; then he spotted her head poking out of a cleft halfway up the cave wall near the entrance. That just left Crowpaw. Then Stormfur felt Feathertail tense against him and heard her murmur, "Oh, no!" Sharptooth was scraping at the cave wall almost directly below them. Stormfur caught a terrifying glimpse of his eyes, glaring black in the moonlight, and his lips drawn back to reveal savage, dripping fangs. Crowpaw was trapped in a crevice at floor level that was too shallow to shelter him, desperately trying to press himself against the rock and escape the vicious claws. A cry of terror escaped him. Stormfur felt his belly flip over. Everything was going wrong. Sharptooth had ignored the

部落猫全都躲在藏身之处，吓得不敢动弹。 黑莓掌也安全了，他待在松鼠爪正下方的另一块岩架上。 他仰头对着她怒吼，看上去几乎和尖牙一样暴怒； 暴毛听不到他在说什么，但猜也猜得到。 一开始暴毛没有看到褐皮； 接着他看见她的头从入口附近洞壁半腰的裂缝里露出来。 现在就剩鸦爪还没踪影了。 接着暴毛感觉到靠在他身上的羽尾绷紧了，还听见她轻声说："哦，不！" 尖牙正在他们正下方的洞壁上扒抓。 暴毛惊恐地瞥见他的眼睛，在月光下闪着凶戾的黑光，他皱起嘴唇露出凶残沾着涎水的尖牙。 鸦爪被困在洞底一块太浅挡不住身的石缝里，他拼命贴紧岩石，想要躲开那双恶毒的爪子。 他忍不住发出一声恐惧的尖叫。 暴毛只觉得心都揪紧了。 所有事情都彻底乱套了。 尖牙已经无视了那只

baited hare and pursued the cats instead. Within heartbeats he would have Crowpaw, and StarClan's mission would be ruined. How could four Clans become one if the WindClan cat were killed? Stormfur cursed himself under his breath; there was nothing that he could do, because he was not the cat the Tribe's warrior ancestors had promised. His stupid, thoughtless pride had gotten it wrong. Beside him, he heard Feathertail whisper, "Crowpaw." She gave Stormfur a long look, filled with love and sorrow, her blue eyes glowing in the moonlight. "I can hear the voices clearly now," she murmured. "This is for me to do." Then Stormfur felt her muscles bunch. Before he realized what she was doing, she leaped—not down, but up toward the cave roof, digging her claws into one of the narrow talons of stone with a grating noise that sent shudders along Stormfur's spine. "No!" he yowled. The rock split and broke away under Feathertail's weight. With a terrifying wail she plummeted down, straight at Sharptooth. The

诱饵野兔，转头追向这些猫。 不出几秒尖牙就能抓到鸦爪，星族的使命就要毁于一旦了。 如果这只风族猫死了，四大族群怎么能合为一体？ 暴毛在心里暗骂自己； 他什么都做不了，因为他不是部落武士先祖预言过的那只猫。 是他愚蠢轻率的自负搞错了一切。 他听见身旁的羽尾轻声唤道："鸦爪。" 她久久看着暴毛，眼神里充满爱与悲伤，蓝色的眼睛在月光下发亮。 "我现在能清楚听见声音了，"她轻声说。 "这件事得由我来做。" 接着暴毛感觉到她绷紧了肌肉。 他还没反应过来她要做什么，她已经跳了出去——不是往下跳，而是朝着洞顶往上跃，爪子抠进一块窄长石片，发出刺耳的摩擦声，听得暴毛后背发凉。 "不！"他吼道。 岩石在羽尾的重量下断裂脱落。 她发出一声凄厉的叫喊，直直坠落，正好砸向尖牙。 那

lion-cat looked up. His throaty growl changed to a scream as the spike of rock plunged into him; he fell writhing to the ground. Feathertail plummeted to the floor of the cave beside him. Stormfur hurled himself down the wall, slipping on the rock and feeling his claws rip, until he reached his sister's side. Feathertail lay without moving, her eyes closed. Sharptooth was still twitching, but as Stormfur scrambled to a halt the lion-cat gave one massive shudder and died. "Feathertail?" Stormfur whispered. He was aware of Crowpaw creeping out of the rock to crouch beside him. "Feathertail?" The WindClan cat sounded desperate. "Feathertail, are you okay?" Feathertail did not move. Stormfur lifted his head and saw the other Clan cats gathering around him, along with cats from the Tribe, creeping fearfully from their hiding places. He dropped his gaze back to his sister, and saw the faint rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. "She'll be fine." His voice cracked. "She's got to be. She... she has a prophecy to fulfill."

狮猫抬起了头。 尖利的岩石扎进他身体，他低沉的咆哮变成了惨叫； 他扭着身子倒在了地上。 羽尾坠落到他身旁的洞底。 石毛猛地顺着岩壁冲下去，他在岩石上打滑，爪子都被撕开，终于冲到了妹妹身边。 羽尾闭着眼睛，一动不动地躺着。 尖牙还在抽搐，可当石毛爬过来站定，这只狮猫狠狠抖了一下，便死去了。 "羽尾？" 石毛轻声说。 他察觉到鸦爪从岩石后爬出来，蹲在了他身旁。 "羽尾？" 这只风族猫的声音满是绝望。 "羽尾，你还好吗？" 羽尾一动不动。 石毛抬起头，看见其他族群的猫都围了过来，还有部落的猫，正害怕地从藏身之处爬出来。 他垂下目光重新看向妹妹，看见她的胸口还在微弱地起伏。 "她会没事的。" 他的声音沙哑发颤。 "她必须没事。 她…… 她还要完成预言呢。"

Crowpaw crept forward until his nose touched Feathertail's fur. He breathed in her scent, and then began to lick her gently. Blood from a slash on his shoulder smudged against her pelt. "Wake up, Feathertail," he whispered. "Please wake up." There was no response. An achingly familiar scent wreathed around Stormfur, and he looked up. "Silverstream?" Near the entrance to the cave, where moonlight rippled through the sheet of falling water, he thought that he could see a silver cat. She was nothing more than the faintest sliver of light, but her voice sounded clearly in his head, filled with grief. "Oh, Feathertail!" There was a gasp from Crowpaw and Stormfur snatched his gaze back to see that his sister's eyes were open. Trembling, he spoke her name. She shifted her head and blinked. "You'll have to go home without me, brother," she murmured. "Save the Clan!" Her eyes focused on Crowpaw, and Stormfur saw in them a lifetime of love for the difficult young apprentice, enough to sweep their Clans"

鸦爪慢慢爬上前，鼻子碰到了羽尾的皮毛。 他吸了吸她的气味，接着开始轻轻舔她。 他肩膀伤口的血蹭在了她的皮毛上。 "醒一醒，羽尾，"他轻声说。 "求你醒一醒。" 没有任何回应。 一股熟悉得让人心痛的气味裹住了石毛，他抬起了头。 "银溪？" 洞穴入口处，月光透过倾泻的水幕泛着涟漪，他好像看见了一只银色的猫。 她不过是一缕极淡的光，可她的声音却清晰响在他脑海里，满是悲伤。 "哦，羽尾！" 鸦爪倒抽一口气，石毛猛地转回头，看见妹妹睁开了眼睛。 他颤抖着喊出了她的名字。 她动了动头，眨了眨眼睛。 "哥，你们只能自己回家了，"她轻声说。 "要拯救族群！" 她的目光落在鸦爪身上，石毛看出那里面装满了她对这只倔强年轻学徒的爱，这份爱足够消弭族群之间的