Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 Stormfur opened his eyes and blinked in light that was sharp as a claw. His breath rasped in his throat and every muscle in his body ached. He felt too exhausted even to move. As his vision cleared he saw that he was lying on rain-wet rock, beside a pool of churning black water. His ears were ringing; when he raised his head feebly he saw a waterfall thundering down into the pool in a whirl of foam and spray, and realized that what he could hear was the roar and crash of falling water. At once he remembered the flood that had swept him down from the rocks and plunged him into the pool. How had he survived? He remembered the roar, the foam, the darkness.... Fear for his friends stabbed through him. "Feathertail? Squirrelpaw?" he mewed hoarsely. "Over here." The reply was so faint, it was nearly lost in the endless pounding of the waterfall. Stormfur turned his head to see Squirrelpaw splayed out

第七章 暴毛睁开眼睛，像爪子一样锋利的光线刺得他不停眨眼睛。 他喉咙里呼吸粗重，全身上下每一块肌肉都酸痛不已。 他累得连动都动不了。 视线慢慢清晰后，他看见自己正躺在被雨水打湿的岩石上，旁边是一汪翻涌着黑浪的水潭。 他的耳朵嗡嗡直响； 他虚弱地抬起头，看见一道瀑布轰隆隆冲进水潭，溅起漫天飞沫和旋涡，这才明白他听到的是瀑布奔腾冲撞的轰鸣声。 他立刻想起那场把他从岩石上冲下来、卷进这汪水潭的洪水。 他究竟是怎么活下来的？ 他记得那轰鸣声、白浪，还有无边的黑暗…… 对朋友们的担忧像刀子一样扎进他心里。 “羽尾？松鼠爪？”他沙哑地轻唤道。 “在这儿。” 回答太轻了，几乎被瀑布永不停歇的轰鸣声盖过去了。 暴毛转过头，看见松鼠爪四仰八叉地

on the rock beside him, her dark ginger fur sodden. "Got to sleep..." she muttered, closing her eyes. Just beyond her, Stormfur could see Brambleclaw, stretched limply on his side. The ThunderClan warrior was staring up at the sky, his breathing fast and shallow. Crowpaw was on Stormfur's other side; with a feeling of horror, he thought the WindClan apprentice was dead until he saw the faint rise and fall of his flank. What about Feathertail and Tawnypelt? Beginning to panic, Stormfur struggled to sit up. At first he could not see either his sister or the tortoiseshell she-cat. Then a movement farther around the pool caught his eye. Near the waterfall, Feathertail was helping Tawnypelt out onto the rock. The ShadowClan warrior was tottering on three legs, and as soon as she reached solid ground she collapsed and lay without moving. Feathertail hauled herself out, her gray fur plastered to her sides so it looked almost black. She settled down beside Tawnypelt and gave her shoulder a couple of feeble licks.

躺在他旁边的岩石上，深姜色的皮毛全都湿透了。 “得睡一会儿……”她闭上眼睛咕哝道。 就在她不远处，暴毛看见了黑莓掌，他侧着身子软软摊在地上。 这位雷族武士盯着天空，呼吸又快又浅。 鸦爪在暴毛的另一边； 他满心恐惧，一开始以为这位风族学徒已经死了，直到看见他的胁腹微弱地一起一伏。 那羽尾和褐狸呢？ 暴毛开始恐慌，挣扎着想要坐起来。 一开始他既没看见自己的妹妹，也没看见那只玳瑁色母猫。 接着水潭更远岸边有什么动了一下，吸引了他的目光。 瀑布附近，羽尾正帮着褐狸爬上岸到岩石上。 这位影族武士三条腿摇摇晃晃，一踩到坚实的岩石就瘫倒在地，再也不动了。 羽尾接着爬上岸，她灰色的皮毛紧贴身体两侧，看起来几乎全黑了。 她在褐狸身边卧下，虚弱地舔了舔她的肩膀。

"Thank StarClan!" Stormfur rasped aloud. "We all made it." He vaguely knew they had to find shelter, that if they went on lying here they were vulnerable to predators like the eagle, but he was too exhausted to move. He gave his drying fur a few licks, but even that was too much effort. He lay still, his senses drifting, his gaze fixed unseeingly on the rocks beside the pool. As his senses gradually returned he noticed that they were lying in a curved bowl of rock, open on the side where the stream surged out of the pool and headed down the valley. Boulders covered the ground on either bank, a couple of spindly trees rooted among them. Light shivered on the water; the rain had almost stopped and the clouds were thinning out. Above Stormfur's head, rainbows danced in the spray thrown up by the waterfall. A thin beam of sunlight splashed on the rocks a tail-length away from him; he dragged himself painfully into it and sighed with pleasure at the warmth on his fur. A few heartbeats later he thought he saw a flash of movement. He blinked, straining to focus

“感谢星族！” 暴毛粗声说道。 “我们都活下来了。” 他隐约知道得找个藏身之处，继续躺在这里很容易成为老鹰这类捕食者的目标，可他实在累得动不了。 他舔了几下快干的皮毛，可连这么点事都费劲得不行。 他静静躺着，意识渐渐模糊，目光茫然地落在水潭边的岩石上。 等意识慢慢恢复，他才发现他们躺在一块凹成碗形的岩石里，溪水从水潭涌出来流向山谷的那一侧是敞开的。 两岸遍地都是大圆石，石缝里长着几棵细弱的树。 水光在水面颤动，雨差不多停了，云层也渐渐散开。 暴毛头顶上方，瀑布溅起的水雾里，一道道彩虹在舞动。 一缕细细的阳光洒在离他一个尾长远的岩石上； 他痛苦地拖着身子挪到阳光下，感受到阳光晒着皮毛的暖意，满足地叹了口气。 过了一会儿，他好像看到有什么东西动了一下。 他眨了眨眼，努力聚焦

his eyes. For a moment all was still; then he caught another flicker on the far side of the pool. His fur prickled. They were being watched! Stormfur narrowed his eyes, gazing hard at the boulders near the waterfall. "Brambleclaw," he whispered. "Look over there." "What?" The ThunderClan warrior raised his head, peered around, and lay down again. "Can't see anything." "There!" Stormfur hissed as movement flickered again, this time a tail-length closer. He flexed his claws, knowing how helpless he and his friends were to defend themselves. Then a gray-brown shape detached itself from the rock and began padding toward him around the edge of the pool. It was a cat! Before Stormfur could move, another cat appeared and then another, a whole group of cats moving silently away from the rocks where they had been hidden, camouflaged against the boulders, as if they were carved from stone themselves. They sat on the edge of the pool, staring unblinkingly at the group of half-drowned travelers. Stormfur swallowed hard. These cats were

自己的双眼。 好一会儿一切都静悄悄的；接着他看到水潭对岸又有什么闪了一下。 他的毛发一下子竖了起来。 他们被盯上了！ 暴毛眯起眼睛，死死盯着瀑布附近的大圆石。 “黑莓掌，”他轻声说。 “看那边。” “什么？” 这位雷族武士抬起头，环视了一圈，又躺了下去。 “什么都没看见。” “在那儿！” 暴毛发出嘶声，那东西又动了一下，这次近了一个尾长。 他绷紧爪子，心里清楚他和朋友们现在根本无力自卫。 接着一个灰棕色的身影从岩石后闪出来，沿着水潭边慢慢向他走来。 原来是一只猫！ 暴毛还没来得及动，一只接一只的猫走了出来，一整群猫静悄悄地从藏身的岩石后走出来。之前他们一直藏在大圆石后面，和石头融为一体，就好像本来就是石头雕出来的一样。 他们在水潭边坐下，一眨不眨地盯着这群快被淹得半死的异乡来客。 暴毛狠狠咽了口口水。 这群猫

like none he had ever seen before, uniformly gray-brown with dull, flattened fur. Then one moved into the sunlight and he realized that their fur was covered with thick streaks of mud, helping them to blend into the rocks and hiding the real color of their pelts. Stormfur sat up, his muscles shrieking a protest. He prodded Squirrelpaw with one paw and whispered hoarsely, "Sit up very slowly. Whatever you do, don't say anything out loud." Squirrelpaw lifted her head, then saw the watching cats and tried to scramble up with alarm flaring in her green eyes. Her movement disturbed Brambleclaw, who jumped up at once. Stormfur managed to get to his paws and stand beside him, thankful to have the strong ThunderClan warrior with him as they faced danger. Brambleclaw glanced around for the other cats. "Feathertail, Tawnypelt—over here, now." There was a commanding rasp in his voice, even though it shook with exhaustion. "You too, Crowpaw." Crowpaw struggled up, for once not arguing,

那是他此前从未见过的模样，整体呈灰棕色，毛发暗淡又平顺 这时一只猫走到阳光下，他才发现它们的毛发上沾着一道道厚厚的泥，这能帮它们混在岩石里，藏起皮毛本来的颜色 鹰霜坐起身，肌肉酸痛得直抗议 他伸出一只爪子碰了碰松鼠爪，沙哑地小声说：“慢慢坐起来 不管你做什么，都不要大声说话。” 松鼠爪抬起头，看到那些正盯着他们的猫，立刻想爬起来，绿色的眼睛里满是惊慌 她一动惊醒了黑莓掌，黑莓掌立刻跳了起来 鹰霜好不容易站起身，站到黑莓掌身旁，面对危险，他很庆幸身边有这位强壮的雷族武士 黑莓掌环顾四周寻找其他同伴 “羽后、褐叶——快过来。” 尽管他的声音因为疲惫而颤抖，却带着不容抗拒的命令语气 “你也过来，鸦爪。” 鸦爪挣扎着站起来，这次他没有顶嘴

and went to help Feathertail. Tawnypelt was leaning against her shoulder, hardly able to move. The three of them limped around the pool until they could bunch together with Stormfur and the others, their eyes wide and scared as they watched the strange cats. Stormfur knew they were too shaken and exhausted to defend themselves. But in spite of his fear a pang of curiosity stabbed him. He wanted to know more about these strangers who looked so different from any other cats he had known. The thought even flashed through his mind that they might help with food and shelter —then he reminded himself that he and his friends were unlikely to be made welcome after trespassing on the strange cats" territory, and the best they could expect was to be driven off. He hardly dared to breathe as the first cat approached and studied them all carefully. Padding close to Stormfur, he gave him an especially long scrutiny, barely sparing a glance for the cats on the other side of him. Stormfur tried to meet the staring yellow eyes, wondering uneasily what it was about him that interested

然后过去帮羽后 褐叶靠在羽后肩上，几乎动不了了 他们三个一瘸一拐地绕到水池边，和鹰霜他们聚在一起，看着这些陌生的猫，眼睛里满是恐惧 鹰霜知道大家都吓坏了，又疲惫不堪，根本无力反抗 尽管很害怕，一股强烈的好奇心还是涌上他的心头 他想多了解这些陌生人，他们和他见过的所有猫都不一样 他甚至闪过一个念头：他们说不定能提供食物和住处——可随后他又提醒自己，他们擅自闯入了这些陌生猫的领地，不可能受欢迎，最好的结果也不过是被赶走 第一只猫走过来仔细打量他们，他连呼吸都不敢大声 他轻轻走到鹰霜身边，格外久地打量着鹰霜，几乎没看鹰霜身边其他的猫 鹰霜试着迎上那双紧盯着他的黄眼睛，满心不安地好奇自己身上到底是什么让