Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 How will I manage without him? gasped Mothwing, her eyes huge and scared. "You'll be fine," Cinderpelt assured her. "And there will be time to grieve, but not now." Mothwing looked at her for a moment, then nodded and left the medicine clearing to tell her Clan that Mudfur was dead. Leafpaw waited until the RiverClan cats began to pad through the tunnel to pay their final respects, then hurried out into the main clearing. Mothwing was sitting in the rain with her head bowed, water streaming from her whiskers. "I can't believe he's gone," she mewed. "He hasn't gone far," Leafpaw comforted her. "He's with StarClan." "I hope so," Mothwing murmured. Leopardstar emerged from the medicine clearing and padded over to Firestar. "Shadepelt and Loudbelly will remain here with your elders," she meowed. "They are too old to travel and wish to sit in vigil for Mudfur." Firestar nodded. "We will wait until

第十七章 没有他我该怎么办呀？ 飞蛾翅倒抽一口冷气，眼睛大大的，满是恐惧。 “你会没事的，” 炭心安慰她说。 “我们之后会有时间悲伤，但现在不是时候。” 飞蛾翅看了她一会儿，点点头，离开了药草空地，去告诉族群泥毛已经去世了。 叶爪等到河族猫都陆续走进隧道做最后道别，才急忙赶到主空地上。 飞蛾翅低着头坐在雨中，雨水顺着胡须往下流。 “我不敢相信他走了，” 她喵呜道。 “他并没有走很远，” 叶爪安慰她。 “他在星族呢。” “希望如此吧，” 飞蛾翅低声说。 豹星从药草空地出来，走到火星身边。 “影皮和壮肚会留在这里陪着你的长老们，” 她说道。 “他们年纪太大走不动了，想要留下来为泥毛守夜。” 火星点点头。 “我们会等到

RiverClan is ready to travel," he murmured. Hawkfrost and Stormfur padded toward Leafpaw and Mothwing. For once, Hawkfrost's gaze was gentle as he rested his muzzle against his sister's cheek. "I never thought we'd be leaving anyone behind." Stormfur sighed. "Neither did I," Leafpaw agreed, gazing at Frostfur and Speckletail. The image of Graystripe staring out from the monster's belly flashed through her mind. Leopardstar padded to the center of the clearing and looked around. "Is everyone ready?" "We haven't hunted today," a RiverClan queen protested, wrapping her tail protectively around her kit. "We can hunt on the way," Leopardstar told her. The moment had arrived. Silently, the cats began to head for the camp entrance. Frostfur and Speckletail sat in the clearing watching their Clanmates leave. "Good-bye, Frostfur," Leafpaw whispered. "Good-bye, Speckletail. Good hunting."

河族准备好出发了，” 他低声说。 鹰霜和石毛迈着步子走到叶爪和飞蛾翅身边。 这一次，鹰霜的目光格外温柔，他把下巴贴在妹妹的脸颊上。 “我从没想过我们会丢下谁离开。” 石毛叹了口气。 “我也没想过，” 叶爪赞同道，她望着霜毛和斑尾。 灰条被困在怪兽肚子里的画面一下子闪现在她脑海里。 豹星走到空地中央，环顾四周。 “大家都准备好了吗？” “我们今天还没捕猎呢，” 一只河族母猫抗议道，一边把尾巴保护性地绕在自己幼崽身上。 “我们可以路上捕猎，” 豹星告诉她。 出发的时刻到了。 猫群安静地朝着营地入口走去。 霜毛和斑尾坐在空地里，看着族人们离开。 “再见了，霜毛，” 叶爪轻声说。 “再见了，斑尾。 捕猎顺利。”

"Good hunting," Frostfur replied. Leafpaw looked up at the gray sky crisscrossed by leaf-bare branches. The rain spattered on her face, and she blinked away the drops that clung to her eyelashes. It was as if StarClan wept to see their Clans leave the forest. Bleakly, Leafpaw wondered if their ancestors would travel with them, or whether this was a final farewell. "Come on." Firestar's voice sounded softly in her ear. "The Clan will be waiting for us." The trek through the forest was hard going, the rain making the leaves slippery underpaw. The RiverClan cats stayed together, keeping up with ThunderClan but traveling separately. Sorreltail fell into step beside Leafpaw and nudged her up each time she stumbled. As they neared the edge of the forest, where there was a narrow strip of RiverClan territory before the moorland began, Leafpaw scented ShadowClan cats. She lifted her head and saw them huddled under the trees, wet and shivering. "We thought you'd never get here," Blackstar complained, shaking the water from his coat.

“捕猎顺利，” 霜毛回应道。 叶爪抬头望着灰沉沉的天空，干秃的树枝交错着划过天空。 雨水打在她脸上，她眨掉沾在睫毛上的雨滴。 就好像星族在为族群离开森林流泪。 叶爪忍不住暗暗难过，不知道祖先们会不会跟他们一起走，还是这次就是永别。 “走吧。” 火星的声音轻轻在她耳边响起。 “族群在等着我们呢。” 穿过森林的路途很艰难，雨水把叶子打湿，爪子踩上去滑溜溜的。 河族猫走在一起，跟上雷族的速度，但分开走。 蕨尾跟在叶爪身边，每次叶爪差点绊倒都扶她一把。 当他们快走到森林边缘，那里在进入荒野之前，有一小块河族的领地，叶爪闻到了影族猫的气味。 她抬起头，看见他们挤在树下，浑身湿透，不停地发抖。 “我们还以为你们永远到不了了，” 黑星抱怨道，抖掉身上的雨水。

The ShadowClan cats paced impatiently around him. They were not comfortable under the trees that had once belonged to ThunderClan; even Tawnypelt looked eager to leave. But Leafpaw longed to linger here, suddenly unable to bear the thought of saying good-bye to the forest for the last time. Firestar gazed at his Clan. "We must say good- bye to all we have known," he meowed. Leafpaw felt Sorreltail's pelt pressing against hers, and she noticed Squirrelpaw draw closer to Brambleclaw. "I want to go home!" one of Tallpoppy's kits mewled up at her mother with her eyes stretched wide. "We are going home," Tallpoppy promised, her ears twitching. "Our new home." As she spoke, a tawny-colored cat emerged from the trees a little way off. Even though the rain masked her scent, Leafpaw recognized the stranger at once. It was Sasha. Mothwing recognized her too, because she bounded over and rolled on her belly like a kit. Hawkfrost padded after his sister more slowly,

影族猫在他身边不耐烦地走来走去。 待在这片曾经属于雷族的树林里，他们很不舒服； 就连褐皮都迫不及待想要离开。 可叶爪却想要在这里多停留一会儿，一想到要永远跟森林告别，她突然就舍不得走了。 火星望着他的族群。 “我们必须跟所有我们熟悉的一切道别，” 他说道。 叶爪感觉到蕨尾的皮毛贴着自己的，她还看到松鼠爪靠近了黑莓掌。 “我想要回家！” 高叶的一只幼崽睁着大大的眼睛，对着妈妈叫。 “我们就是在回家呀，” 高叶答应着，耳朵轻轻动了动。 “回我们的新家。” 她话音刚落，一只黄棕色的猫从不远处的树林里走出来。 尽管雨水盖住了她的气味，叶爪还是一下子就认出了这个陌生人。 是莎夏。 飞蛾翅也认出她了，立刻蹦过去，像幼崽一样趴在地上蹭她。 鹰霜慢慢跟在妹妹身后走过去，

the tip of his tail flicking from side to side. The RiverClan cats watched them go with patient acceptance, but Leafpaw saw bewilderment in the eyes of the ThunderClan cats who did not know who Sasha was, and open hostility from the ShadowClan cats. "What's she doing here?" Squirrelpaw whispered. "Perhaps she knows we're leaving," Leafpaw guessed. "But why did she come?" Sasha finished greeting her kits and padded toward the watching cats. Ashfur hissed threateningly, but Firestar silenced him with a look. "I didn't think we'd see you again," Leopardstar meowed, dipping her head to Sasha. "Nor I you," Sasha admitted. "I have come to ask Hawkfrost and Mothwing to leave RiverClan and come with me. I've seen what the Twolegs are doing to your homes. It is no longer safe for them to stay with you." Mothwing looked down at her paws and Leafpaw's heart skipped a beat. Could she really

他的尾尖来回轻轻甩动。 河族猫平静地看着他们互动，可叶爪看到，不认识萨莎的雷族猫满眼困惑，影族猫更是公然流露着敌意。 "她来这儿做什么？" 松鼠爪小声问道。 "说不定她知道我们要走了，"叶爪猜测道。 "可她为什么要来这儿？" 萨莎和自己的幼崽打完招呼，缓步走向围观的众猫。 阿斯弗发出威胁的嘶嘶声，可火星一个眼神就让他安静了下来。 "我没想到还能再见到你，"豹星说着，朝萨莎点了点头。 "我也没想到，"萨莎坦言。 "我来是想叫鹰霜和蛾翅离开河族，跟我走。 我亲眼看到两脚兽对你们的家园做了什么。 他们留在这里再也不安全了。" 蛾翅低下头看着自己的爪子，叶爪的心猛地一跳。 她该不会真的

be thinking about leaving? She brushed past Sasha and faced the RiverClan medicine cat. "I know things have been tough lately, but you wouldn't really go, would you?" Mothwing blinked. "I-I don't know..." "Your Clan needs you," Leafpaw protested. She rounded on Hawkfrost. "You wouldn't abandon your Clanmates, would you?" "The decision is theirs." Firestar's voice rose above the sound of the falling rain. "But I agree they should remain with their Clan." Sasha narrowed her eyes. "You want them to stay?" Suddenly the wind dropped, and every cat seemed to hold their breath as she went on, "In spite of the fact that Tigerstar was their father?" Leafpaw scanned the shocked faces of the RiverClan cats. They obviously didn't know that Tigerstar was Hawkfrost and Mothwing's father, even though his kits had been raised in their Clan. There was a long pause while Firestar held Sasha's gaze. "I want them to stay because Tigerstar was their father," he meowed. Brambleclaw sank his claws into the mud, and

想要离开吗？ 她擦过萨莎身边，面对着这位河族巫医。 "我知道最近日子很难熬，可你不会真的要走吧，对不对？" 蛾翅眨了眨眼睛。 "我……我不知道……" "你的族群需要你呀，"叶爪急忙劝阻。 她转而质问鹰霜。 "你不会抛弃你的族猫，对不对？" "去留由他们自己决定。" 火星的声音盖过了淅淅沥沥的雨声。 "不过我也认为他们该留在自己的族群里。" 萨莎眯起了眼睛。 "你居然想让他们留下？" 风忽然停了，所有猫都屏住呼吸，只听她继续说道："哪怕虎星是他们的父亲，你也要让他们留下？" 叶爪扫过河族猫震惊的脸庞。 尽管虎星的两个孩子一直养在河族，可他们显然从来不知道这件事。 火星迎上萨莎的目光，现场久久沉默。 "我想让他们留下，恰恰因为虎星是他们的父亲，"火星说道。 黑莓掌把爪子深深扣进泥里，