Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 It was Crowpaw who scented the moorland first as the morning sun spread creamy light over the dew-soaked grass. Although he made no sound, Squirrelpaw saw his ears prick up and sensed him shake off a little of the weariness he had struggled against since Feathertail's death. The dark gray WindClan cat quickened his pace, hurrying up the slope, where mist still clung to the long grass. Squirrelpaw opened her mouth and drew in a deep breath until she too could taste the familiar scent of gorse and heather on the cold morning air. Then she dashed after him with Brambleclaw, Stormfur, and Tawnypelt following fast behind. They could all smell the moorland scents now; they all knew they were close to the end of their long, exhausting journey. Without saying anything, the five cats stopped in a line at the edge of WindClan territory. Squirrelpaw glanced at her Clanmate, Brambleclaw, and then at Tawnypelt, the ShadowClan she-cat. Beside her, Stormfur, the gray RiverClan warrior, narrowed his eyes against

第一章 当清晨奶白色的阳光铺满沾着露水的草地时，是鸦爪最先闻到了沼地的气息。 他没发出一点声音，但松鼠爪看见他猛地竖起耳朵，也感觉到他甩掉了几分自羽尾去世后就一直苦苦对抗的疲惫。 这只深灰色的风族猫加快脚步，匆匆跑上山坡，坡上的长草还裹着薄雾。 松鼠爪张开嘴深吸一口气，终于也在清晨清冷的空气里闻到了金雀花和石楠熟悉的香气。 接着她追了上去，黑莓掌、暴毛和褐皮紧跟在她身后。 现在他们全都闻到沼地的气息了; 他们都知道，这场漫长又累人的旅程已经快到终点了。 五只猫什么都没说，一齐停在了风族领地的边缘。 松鼠爪扫了一眼自己的族群伙伴黑莓掌，又看向影族母猫褐皮。 在她身旁，河族的灰毛武士暴毛眯起眼睛，迎着

the cold wind; but it was Crowpaw who stared most intensely at the rough grassland where he had been born. "We would not have come this far without Feathertail," he murmured. "She died to save us all," Stormfur agreed. Squirrelpaw winced at the raw sorrow in the RiverClan warrior's voice. Feathertail was Stormfur's sister. She had died saving them from a ferocious predator after they had met an unfamiliar group of cats in the mountains. The Tribe of Rushing Water lived behind a waterfall and listened to their own set of ancestors—not StarClan, but the Tribe of Endless Hunting. A mountain cat had been preying on the Tribe for many moons, picking them off one by one. When it had invaded the Tribe's cavern yet again, Feathertail had managed to dislodge a pointed spur of stone from the roof and send it crashing down to kill the beast. But she had been fatally wounded in the fall, and now she lay beneath rocks in the Tribe's territory, close by the waterfall with the sound of rushing water to guide her to StarClan.

凛冽的寒风; 但只有鸦爪正无比热切地凝视着这片他出生的荒草地。 "要是没有羽尾，我们走不到这里。"他低声说。 "她是为了救我们大家才死的。"暴毛附和道。 松鼠爪听到河族武士语气里藏不住的悲伤，不由得心头一紧。 羽尾是暴毛的妹妹。 在山中遇见一群陌生猫咪后，羽尾为了救他们，死于凶猛猛兽的袭击。 急水部落住在瀑布后方，他们信奉自己的祖先——不是星族，是无尽狩猎部落。 一只高山猛兽骚扰部落已经有好多个月，把部落猫一只接一只害死。 当它再一次入侵部落山洞时，羽尾奋力顶松了洞顶一块尖尖的石刺，让巨石砸下来杀死了猛兽。 可她也在这场落石中受了致命伤，如今她长眠在部落领地的岩石下，靠近瀑布，奔腾的水声会指引她前往星族。

"It was her destiny," Tawnypelt commented gently. "Her destiny was to complete the quest with us," Crowpaw growled. "StarClan chose her to travel to the sun-drown-place and hear what Midnight had to tell us. She shouldn't have died for another Clan's prophecy." Stormfur padded to Crowpaw's side and nudged the WindClan apprentice with his muzzle. "Bravery and sacrifice are part of the warrior code," he reminded him. "Would you have wanted her to make any other choice?" Crowpaw stared across the wind-ruffled gorse without replying. His ears twitched as if he were straining to hear Feathertail's voice on the breeze. "Come on!" Squirrelpaw bounded forward over the stunted grass, suddenly eager to finish the journey. She had argued with her father, Firestar, before she left, and her paws pricked with nervousness as she wondered how he would react to her return. When she and Brambleclaw had left the forest, they had not told any of the Clan where they were going, nor why. Only Leafpaw, Squirrelpaw's sister, knew that

"这就是她的命运。"褐皮温柔地说道。 "她的命运本该是和我们一起完成使命。"鸦爪低吼道。 "星族选了她和我们一同前往太阳沉落之地，聆听午夜的话语。 她本不该为了别的族群的预言丢掉性命。" 暴毛走到鸦爪身边，用脑袋碰了碰这位风族学徒。 "勇敢和牺牲本来就是武士守则的一部分。"他提醒鸦爪。 "你难道想让她做出别的选择吗？" 鸦爪望着被风吹得起伏的金雀花，没有回答。 他的耳朵动了动，仿佛在努力捕捉微风中羽尾的声音。 "快走吧！" 松鼠爪蹦跳着越过矮草，突然迫不及待地想走完这段旅程。 她出发前和父亲火星吵过架，一想到父亲见到她回来会是什么反应，她的爪子就忍不住紧张发僵。 当初她和黑莓掌离开森林的时候，没有告诉任何族群他们要去哪里，也没有说为什么要走。 只有松鼠爪的妹妹叶爪知道

StarClan had spoken to one cat from each Clan, telling them in dreams to go to the sun-drownplace to hear Midnight's prophecy. None of them had guessed that Midnight would turn out to be a wise old badger; nor could they have imagined what momentous news she had to share with them. Crowpaw raced past her to take the lead, knowing the territory better than any of them. He headed toward a swath of gorse and disappeared along a rabbit track with Tawnypelt close behind. Squirrelpaw ducked her head to avoid catching her ears on the prickers as she followed them along the narrow tunnel. Brambleclaw and Stormfur were hot on her heels; she could feel the thud of their paws through the soil. As the gorse closed around her, memories beat dark wings inside her head, reminding her of the dreams that had been disturbing her sleep— dreams of darkness and of a small space filled with panic and fear-scent. Squirrelpaw was sure these terrifying dreams were somehow connected to her sister. She told herself that now that she

星族托梦给每个族群的一只猫，命他们前往太阳沉落之地，聆听午夜的预言。 谁也没想到，午夜竟然是一只聪明的老獾; 他们更想不到，午夜要告诉他们的是多么重大的消息。 鸦爪从她身边跑过冲到了最前面，他比谁都熟悉这片领地。 他朝一大片金雀花走去，顺着兔径消失不见，褐皮紧随其后。 松鼠爪低下头跟着他们走在窄道里，生怕耳朵被尖刺勾到。 黑莓掌和暴毛就紧跟在她身后; 她能透过土壤感觉到他们爪子落地的咚咚声。 当金雀花把她围在中间时，记忆像黑翼在她脑海里扑打，让她想起那些扰人的梦——梦里全是黑暗，还有一个狭小空间，满是恐慌和恐惧的气味。 松鼠爪肯定这些吓人的梦一定和她妹妹有关系。 她告诉自己，如今她已经

was home, she would be able to find out exactly where Leafpaw was—but feeling a fresh wave of alarm, she raced toward the light. She slowed down when she emerged into an open grassy space. Brambleclaw and Stormfur burst out after her, their fur raked by the sharp gorse spines. "I didn't know you were scared of the dark," teased Brambleclaw, falling in beside her. "I'm not," Squirrelpaw objected. "I've never seen you run so fast," he purred, his whiskers twitching. "I just want to get home," Squirrelpaw replied stubbornly. She ignored the glance Brambleclaw and Stormfur exchanged as they padded along beside her. The three cats were trailing behind Tawnypelt and Crowpaw, who had disappeared into a bank of heather. "What do you think Firestar will say when we tell him about Midnight?" Squirrelpaw wondered out loud. Brambleclaw's ears twitched. "Who knows?" "We're only the messengers," meowed Stormfur. "All we can do is tell our Clans what

回了家，她就能准确查到叶爪的位置——但一阵新的恐慌涌上来，她朝着光亮飞快跑去。 她跑到开阔的草地上后，脚步慢了下来。 棘爪和暴毛紧跟着冲出来，他们的毛都被锋利的荆豆刺刮乱了。 “我可不知道你还怕黑呀。”棘爪打趣着，走到她身边。 “我才不怕。”松鼠爪反驳道。 “我从没见过你跑这么快。”他呼噜着，胡须轻轻抖着。 “我就是想快点回家。”松鼠爪固执地回答。 棘爪和暴毛跟在她身旁走路时交换了个眼神，她装作没看见。 三只猫跟在早就钻进石楠丛的褐皮和鸦爪身后。 “你觉得我们把午夜的事告诉火星后，他会怎么说？” 松鼠爪出声说出了心里的疑问。 棘爪的耳朵抖了抖。 “谁知道呢？” “我们不过是送消息的罢了。”暴毛说道。 我们能做的只有把该告诉族群的

StarClan wanted us to know." "Do you think they'll believe us?" Squirrelpaw asked. "If Midnight was right, I don't think we'll have much trouble convincing them," Stormfur pointed out grimly. Squirrelpaw realized that she had thought of nothing except returning home to her Clan. She had pushed from her mind all thoughts of the threat that faced the forest. But her heart twisted with fear at Stormfur's words, and Midnight's terrifying warning echoed in her mind: Twolegs build new Thunderpath. Soon they come with monsters. Trees will they uproot, rocks break, the earth itself tear apart. No place left for cats. You stay, monsters tear you too, or you starve with no prey. Her stomach tightened with dread. What if they were too late? Would there even be a home to return to? She tried to calm herself by recalling the rest of Midnight's prophecy: But you will not be without a guide. When return, stand on Great Rock when Silverpelt shines above. A dying

星族想让我们知道的话说出来。” “你觉得他们会相信我们吗？” 松鼠爪问道。 “如果午夜说的是真的，我想说服他们不会太困难。”暴毛严肃地提醒道。 松鼠爪这才意识到，自己满脑子只有回族群这件事。 她早就把森林面临的威胁全抛到脑后了。 可听到暴毛的话，她的心害怕得揪紧，午夜可怕的警告在脑中回响：两脚兽要修新的雷路。 很快，他们就会带着怪物来了。 他们会连根拔起树木，撞碎岩石，撕碎整片土地。 再也没有猫咪容身的地方了。 要是留下来，要么被怪物撕碎，要么没有猎物活活饿死。 她的肚子因为恐惧缩成了一团。 万一他们已经来晚了怎么办？ 还会有家等着他们回去吗？ 她努力平复心情，想起了午夜剩下的预言： 但你们不会没有指引的。 回去后，当银毛星带照耀天空时，你们要站在巨岩上。 一位即将逝去的