Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 A mournful yowl echoed around the rocky cleft, jolting Leafpaw awake. For a moment she thought she was back in the cage, and that her terrifying escape had been nothing but a dream. Then she smelled the scent of the forest and the river on the icy breeze, and remembered she was at Sunningrocks, in the new ThunderClan camp. She blinked open her eyes and looked over the edge of the hollow, her breath billowing like smoke in the freezing air. "What is it?" Cody whispered. The kittypet had slept beside her in the apprentices" gully last night. Leafpaw felt her soft fur bristling against her flank. "It sounded like Ferncloud," she mewed. "But I can only see Dustpelt from here." The striped warrior stood on the frost-covered slope, silhouetted by the early morning light. A kit dangled limply from his jaws. As Dustpelt carried the kit away, Ferncloud cried out again from the hollow that formed the camp's makeshift nursery.

第九章 一声悲伤的哀嚎在岩石裂缝间回荡，一下子把叶爪惊醒了 有那么一瞬间，她以为自己还困在笼子里，那场惊险的逃脱不过是一场梦 接着她在冰冷的微风里闻到了森林和河流的气息，才想起自己现在在太阳石，也就是雷族的新营地里 她眨开眼睛，望向凹坑的边缘，呼出的气息在冷空气中像白烟一样散开 "怎么了？" 科迪小声问道 昨晚这只宠物猫就陪她睡在学徒的凹沟里 叶爪感觉到她柔软的皮毛贴着自己的腰侧绷了起来 "听起来是蕨云的声音，"她喵声说道 "可我从这儿只能看见尘毛" 这只条纹武士站在覆着霜的斜坡上，晨光勾勒出他清晰的轮廓 一只幼崽毫无生气地垂在他的齿间 当尘毛叼着幼崽离开时，蕨云又从营地临时育婴室的凹坑里传来一声哭喊

Leafpaw scrambled out, struggling to get a grip on the icy stone, and raced to Ferncloud's side. "What's happened?" "Hollykit is dead!" Ferncloud whispered. "Dustpelt's gone to bury her." She tucked her remaining kit close to her belly. "I woke and she was cold. So cold!" Her voice cracked with grief. "I licked her and licked her but she would not wake up." Leafpaw felt sorrow grip her heart. What kind of medicine cat was she if she hadn't even noticed Hollykit was so close to death? "Oh, Ferncloud," she breathed. "I'm so sorry." One by one, the Clan gathered above the nursery in grim silence. Cody stood among them, her eyes round with sympathy. To Leafpaw's relief, her Clanmates took no notice of the kittypet. They shared a common enemy now— the Twolegs who were trapping cats and tearing up the forest. Cinderpelt scrambled down into the hollow. "Fetch some poppy seeds," she ordered. "Ferncloud must not waste what little energy she has left on grieving."

叶爪连滚带爬地冲出来，在滑溜溜的冰岩上好不容易抓稳身子，飞快冲到蕨云身边 "出什么事了？" "冬青崽死了！" 蕨云低声说道 "尘毛去埋她了" 她把剩下的幼崽紧紧贴在自己腹边 "我醒来时，她已经浑身冰凉 太凉了！" 她的声音因为悲伤哽咽发颤 "我舔了她一遍又一遍，可她再也醒不过来了" 叶爪的心被深深的悲伤攥紧了 她连冬青崽快不行了都没发现，还算什么巫医呢？ "噢，蕨云，"她轻声叹道 "我真的太难过了" 族猫们一个接一个，神情凝重地默默聚在育婴室上方 科迪站在猫群里，眼睛圆圆的，满是同情 让叶爪松了口气的是，族猫们都没注意到这只宠物猫 他们现在有共同的敌人——就是那些抓猫、毁坏森林的两脚兽 炭毛爬进了下方的凹坑 "去拿些罂粟籽来，"她吩咐道 "蕨云不能把仅剩的一点力气都耗在悲伤上"

Leafpaw hurried to the crack in the rock where Cinderpelt stored her tiny heap of remedies and reached in to pull out a leaf- wrapped hoard of poppy seeds. She wished with all her heart they were still in the ravine, where the medicine cats had kept their den in the rock well stocked. Looking at the shriveled leaf beneath her paw, she guessed there were only two or three doses of poppy seeds left, and there was no hope of finding more with leaf-bare nearly upon them. Firestar's call startled her. "Leafpaw!" She turned to see her father bounding up the slope with Brambleclaw and Mousefur. "How is Ferncloud?" he asked. "Cinderpelt told me to get some poppy seeds to calm her," Leafpaw told him. "I didn't think it would get this bad so soon!" Firestar growled. "Oh, StarClan! What can I do to help these cats?" He raised his eyes to Silverpelt, fading quickly in the dawn light. "Last night was so cold," Mousefur remarked. "The poor little mite didn't have enough flesh on her bones to make it through."

叶爪连忙走到炭毛存放药材的石缝边，伸手取出那包用叶子包着的罂粟籽 她打心底希望他们还住在峡谷，那里巫医巢穴的药材一直储备充足 看着爪下皱缩的枯叶，她估摸着罂粟籽只剩两三个剂量，秃叶季将近，根本找不到更多的了 火星的呼唤吓了她一跳 "叶爪!" 她转过身，看见父亲和黑莓掌、鼠毛一起跑上斜坡 "蕨云怎么样了？"他问道 "炭毛让我拿些罂粟籽帮她镇静下来，"叶爪告诉他 "我没想到情况会这么快变得这么糟！" 火星低吼道 "噢，星族! 我能为这些猫做些什么呢？" 他抬眼望向在曙光中渐渐消隐的银带星空 "昨夜实在太冷了，"鼠毛说道 "这可怜的小家伙身上没多少肉，熬不过这么冷的天"

"Birchkit survived," Leafpaw reminded them. "We must do everything we can to make sure Ferncloud can feed him properly." "But the nights are only going to get colder, and once the snow comes..." Firestar trailed off and stared into the treetops beyond Sunningrocks. Brambleclaw glanced uneasily at Leafpaw. "If we are to leave the forest we should go soon," he meowed. "Before snowfall makes the mountains too difficult to cross." Leafpaw narrowed her eyes. She had been torn by doubts since her sister had told her about Midnight's warning. She could tell that many of her Clanmates couldn't believe that StarClan really intended them to go, but she trusted that her sister and Brambleclaw had a role to play in their Clan's destiny. She did not want to leave her forest home, and she feared the Clan were not strong enough for such a journey, but how could she ignore the will of StarClan? "You already know how I feel. We cannot go without the other Clans," Firestar pointed out. Leafpaw silently agreed with him. However

"桦崽活下来了，"叶爪提醒大家 我们必须尽全力保证蕨云能好好喂饱他 "可夜晚只会越来越冷，一旦下雪了……"火星话说到一半停住，望向太阳石外的树梢 黑莓掌不安地瞥了叶爪一眼 "如果我们要离开森林，就得尽快动身，"他喵声说道 赶在降雪让翻山变得难以前行之前出发 叶爪眯起了眼睛 自从姐姐告诉她午夜的警告之后，她一直被疑虑困扰着 她看得出来，很多族猫都不敢相信星族真的要他们离开，可她相信姐姐和黑莓掌在族群的命运中自有使命 她不想离开自己的森林家园，也担心族群不够强壮，走不完这段旅程，可她怎能无视星族的意志呢？ "你早就知道我的想法 我们不能抛下其他族群独自离开，"火星指出 叶爪在心里默默同意他的说法 尽管如此

much hardship one Clan was in, they had to remain together for StarClan's sake. "I must take these to Ferncloud," she murmured, picking up the bundle of seeds. As she reached the crevice, Sorreltail was padding away, her eyes dull with sorrow. She didn't even look up as she went past. Leafpaw noticed that she trod carefully on the freezing stone as if it hurt her paws. She scrambled into the hollow and dropped the poppy seeds at Cinderpelt's paws. Ferncloud was lying with her eyes wide, staring at nothing. Birchkit was huddled beside her, too shocked and hungry to mew. To Leafpaw's surprise, Cody was there too. "Thank you," Cinderpelt whispered, taking the leaf bundle and carefully unwrapping it with her teeth. "Shouldn't you be outside?" Leafpaw gently prompted Cody. "I thought I might be able to help," came the reply. "I lost a litter once." "A whole litter? That's so sad!" "They didn't die," Cody explained quickly. "My housefolk sent them away to new homes.

有一个族群正深陷困境，为了星族，他们必须团结在一起。 “我得把这些带给蕨云，”她轻声念叨着，抱起那包种子。 当她走到石缝边时，栗尾正慢慢走开，眼神里满是悲伤。 她走过的时候，甚至连头都没抬一下。 叶爪注意到，她在冻硬的石头上走得格外小心，好像石头会弄疼她的爪子。 她爬进凹洞，把罂粟籽放在炭爪的脚边。 蕨云睁着眼睛躺在那儿，眼神空洞地望着前方。 小桦蜷缩在她身边，震惊加上饥饿，连叫都叫不出来了。 让叶爪惊讶的是，科迪居然也在这里。 “谢谢你，”炭爪轻声说，她接过种子包，用牙齿小心地把它拆开。 “你不该待在外面吗？” 叶爪轻轻提醒科迪。 “我想我说不定能帮上忙，”科迪回答说。 “我以前也失去过一窝幼崽。” “一整窝？ 这太让人难过了！” “他们没有死，”科迪连忙解释道。 “我的主人把他们送去新家了。

But I felt the loss as badly." "And these are the Twolegs you want to go back to?" Leafpaw mewed in disbelief. "How could you possibly forgive them?" "It is normal for kittypets not to raise their kits. We don't expect anything else." Cody blinked. "My housefolk are gentle and kind. They chose good homes for each kit. They wouldn't have known that I miss them." Cinderpelt silenced them with a warning stare. Ferncloud had grown fretful again, writhing on the cold stone and letting out tiny moaning sounds. "Hollykit is with StarClan now," Cinderpelt whispered to her. "She will never know cold or hunger again." "I tried my best," Ferncloud wailed. "Why couldn't I have died instead of her?" Firestar's deep mew sounded from the rim of the hollow. "Because then there would be no cat left to look after Birchkit. You must have courage, Ferncloud." Leafpaw looked up. Cody flattened her ears. She had not met the ThunderClan leader yet. "Ferncloud, I'm so sorry about Hollykit,"

可我还是一样难过。” “那这就是你想要回去的地方吗？” 叶爪难以置信地说道。 “你怎么可能原谅他们呢？” “宠物猫不自己养幼崽本来就是常事。 我们也不奢望别的。” 科迪眨了眨眼睛。 “我的主人温柔又善良。 他们给每个幼崽都选了好人家。 他们根本不知道我会想念孩子们。” 炭爪用带着警告的眼神示意她们安静。 蕨云又变得焦躁不安，在冰冷的石头上翻来覆去，发出微弱的呻吟。 “小冬青现在已经在星族了，”炭爪轻声对她说。 “她再也不会挨饿受冻了。” “我已经拼尽全力了，”蕨云哭喊道。 “为什么死的不是我，偏偏是她？” 火星低沉的声音从凹洞洞口传了过来。 “要是你走了，就没人照顾小桦了。 你一定要坚强起来，蕨云。” 叶爪抬起头看过去。 科迪抿起耳朵放平了。 她还从来没见过雷族的族长呢。 “蕨云，对于小冬青的事我真的很抱歉，