Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20 Leafpaw pushed closer against Cinderpelt as the chill of dawn dragged her awake. The stone beneath her seemed to have soaked all the warmth from her body, and the air was so cold that when she opened her eyes she could see her breath billowing in small clouds. She stood up and stretched. The rocks glittered with frost in the pale dawn light, and a scent drifted up toward her so delicious it made her mouth water. Ravenpaw was padding up the slope with a freshly killed rabbit dangling from his jaws. The other ThunderClan cats were still sleeping, clustered in a dip in the rock several fox-lengths away from where each of the other Clans had settled for the night. But the scent of the rabbit woke them, and they began to raise their heads as Ravenpaw wove among them. Firestar was already stretching, Sandstorm at his side, when Ravenpaw dropped the fresh-kill at the ThunderClan leader's paws. "A parting gift," he mewed. Firestar stared at him. "I wish you'd come

第20章 黎明的寒意冻醒了叶爪，她往炭毛身边靠得更紧。 她身下的石头好像吸走了全身所有暖意，天太冷，她一睁眼就看见呼出的气凝成了团团白雾。 她站起身伸了个懒腰。 淡蒙蒙的晨光里，岩石覆着霜闪闪发光，一股诱人香气飘来，馋得她直流口水。 乌爪叼着一只刚捕到的兔子，正沿着斜坡走来。 其他雷族猫还在睡，挤在一处石洼里，和其他族群的营地隔了好几个狐身的距离。 但兔子的香味唤醒了他们，乌爪穿过猫群时，他们纷纷抬起了头。 乌爪把新鲜猎物放到火星脚边时，火星已经在伸懒腰，沙风站在他身旁。 "一点临别礼物。" 他轻声说。 火星凝视着他。 "我多希望你能跟我们

with us," he meowed. "I've lost Graystripe; I don't want to leave another friend behind." Ravenpaw shook his head. "My home is here, but I'll never forget you, I promise. I'll be waiting for you always." Leafpaw wondered with a pang if they would ever come back. She knew they were going to be traveling a long way, but she had no idea how far. "We have been through so much together," Firestar murmured, his eyes gleaming as he remembered. "We've seen the death of Bluestar, the defeat of Tigerstar..." He sighed. "So much has happened, like water flowing past in a river." "More water will flow before we join StarClan," Ravenpaw assured him. "This is not an end. It is a beginning. You will need the courage of a lion to face this journey." "It's hard to find courage when so much is lost." Firestar's eyes clouded. "I never thought I'd leave the forest! Even when BloodClan came, I would have died to save my home." Ravenpaw drew his tail gently along Firestar's flank. "If I see Graystripe, I'll tell him which way you've gone," he promised. He dipped his head

一起走。" 他说道。 "我已经失去灰条了，我不想再丢下另一个朋友。" 乌爪摇了摇头。 "我的家在这里，但我永远不会忘记你们，我保证。 我会一直等着你们。" 叶爪心头一揪，暗自好奇他们还能不能回来。 她知道他们要走很远的路，但根本不知道到底有多远。 "我们一起经历了太多事情。" 火星低声呢喃，忆起往事，眼里闪着光。 "我们看着蓝星离去，看着虎星败落……" 他叹了口气。 "发生了这么多事，就像河水不停奔流向前。" "在我们加入星族之前，还会有更多水奔流不息。" 乌爪安慰他说。 "这不是终点。 而是新的起点。 面对这段旅程，你们需要狮子般的勇气。" "失去了这么多，我很难鼓起勇气。" 火星的眼神蒙上了阴霾。 "我从没想过我会离开森林！ 就算血族来犯，我也愿意拼上命守住我的家。" 乌爪轻轻把尾巴贴在火星的侧腹上。 "要是我见到灰条，我会告诉他你们往哪边走了。" 他承诺道。 他低下头

formally. "Good-bye, Firestar, and good luck." "Good-bye, Ravenpaw." As the black loner bounded away down the slope, Leafpaw's heart ached for her father. He was leaving behind his two oldest and closest friends—without even knowing if one of them was still alive. She watched Sandstorm press her cheek against his as if to remind him he was not alone. Cinderpelt stretched her forelegs one after the other. "We should check the cats and make sure they are all ready for the journey ahead," she meowed to Leafpaw. Leafpaw nodded. She thought back to the night before, when Squirrelpaw had returned with the others from the top of the ridge. Their eyes had been shining. "We've seen the dying warrior!" Brambleclaw's mew had been breathless with excitement. "You've had the sign?" Firestar leaped to his paws from where he had been dozing beside Sandstorm. "How can you be sure?" Cinderpelt asked.

郑重地行了礼。 "再见了，火星，祝你好运。" "再见了，乌爪。" 这只黑色独行猫蹦跳着跑下斜坡，叶爪为父亲揪紧了心。 他要抛下两个相识最久、最亲近的朋友——连其中一个是否还活着都不知道。 她看见沙风把脸颊贴在火星身上，仿佛在提醒他并不孤单。 炭毛依次伸了伸两只前爪。 "我们该去看看大家，确认所有人都准备好上路了。" 她对叶爪说。 叶爪点了点头。 她想起昨天晚上，松鼠爪和伙伴们从山脊顶回来的样子。 他们的眼睛都亮闪闪的。 "我们看到垂死的武士了！" 黑莓掌的声音因为兴奋，急促地喘着气。 "你们得到征兆了？" 火星从沙风身旁打盹的地方一跃而起。 "你们怎么能确定？" 炭毛问道。

"A star blazed through the sky, then vanished," Squirrelpaw explained. "It fell behind the mountains." Blackstar ran over from where ShadowClan huddled on the rock. He looked puzzled. "Is this the sign we waited for at the Great Rock?" Tawnypelt stared at him as if something had only just dawned on her. "Of course! This must be the great rock Midnight meant! Highstones, not the rock at Fourtrees!" Stormfur nodded. "She's never been to the forest. What she saw obviously looked like a great rock, even though to us it meant something completely different." Leopardstar shouldered her way to the front. "So what lies behind the mountains?" "Mountains?" Ferncloud drew Birchkit closer to her. "Last time we crossed them we found the sun-drown-place," Brambleclaw explained. "But this time the star seemed to fall farther along." Hawkfrost narrowed his eyes. "So we'll have to find a new route?" "Not exactly," Brambleclaw told him.

"一颗星星划过天空，然后消失了。" 松鼠爪解释道。 "它落到山的后面去了。" 黑星从影族挤着休息的岩石那边跑了过来。 他满脸困惑。 "这就是我们在巨岩等的那个征兆吗？" 褐皮盯着他，仿佛突然想通了什么。 "当然了！ 这一定就是午夜说的那块巨石！ 是高石山，不是四棵树的那块石头！" 暴毛点了点头。 "她从来没去过森林。 她看到的本来就是一块巨石，哪怕对我们来说，它是完全不同的意思。" 豹星挤到了最前面。 "那山后面有什么？" "山？" 蕨毛把小桦搂得更紧了。 "上次我们翻过山，找到了太阳沉没之地。" 黑莓掌解释道。 "但这次星星好像落得更远。" 鹰霜眯起了眼睛。 "所以我们得找一条新路线？" "也不全是。" 黑莓掌告诉他。

"It'll be safer if we cross the mountains the same way as we did last time," Tawnypelt mewed. "Otherwise we risk getting lost—and the snows might come at any time." "We can head toward where the star fell once we're over them," Squirrelpaw put in. Leafpaw saw her sister's whiskers twitch, and Brambleclaw flexed his claws on the rock as if he were bracing himself for the journey. But there was a hunted look in their eyes as well. They were frightened of what lay ahead, because they knew what the journey might hold. With a twinge of alarm, Leafpaw wondered why StarClan had chosen a dying warrior to show them the way. It seemed a dark omen on which to fix the hopes of the Clans. "Come on, Leafpaw!" Cinderpelt's voice jolted her back to the frosty morning. "Cinderpelt," Leafpaw meowed hesitantly. "Do you think the sign from StarClan means they're coming with us?" The gray medicine cat gave her a long, thoughtful look. "I hope so." "But you're not sure?" Leafpaw guessed.

“要是我们沿上次的路线翻过山，会更安全。”褐皮轻声喵道。 “不然我们很容易迷路——而且随时都可能下雪。” “等翻过山，我们就能朝着流星坠落的地方走了。”松鼠爪插嘴说。 叶爪看见姐姐的胡须轻轻颤动，黑莓掌在石头上张开爪子，仿佛正在为这段旅程攒劲。 可他们的眼神里也藏着挥不去的忧虑。 他们害怕前路的未知，因为清楚这段旅程可能藏着多少凶险。 叶爪心头猛地一慌，好奇星族为什么偏偏选了一位垂死的武士来给他们指路。 把族群的希望寄托在这上面，实在是个不祥的预兆。 “快走啦，叶爪！” 炭毛的声音把她拉回了这个霜寒的清晨。 “炭毛，”叶爪犹犹豫豫地开口， “你觉得星族的预兆是说，他们要和我们一起走吗？” 这只灰色的巫医若有所思地看了她很久。 “我希望是这样。” “可你不确定对不对？” 叶爪猜道。

Cinderpelt glanced around. No cat was near. "When we went to the Moonstone yesterday, I could hardly hear StarClan," she admitted. "But did they say anything?" Leafpaw asked, alarmed. Cinderpelt narrowed her eyes. "I know that they spoke to me, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. It was as if their voices were drowned by the roaring of a great wind." "You couldn't make out anything?" "Nothing." Cinderpelt closed her eyes for a moment. "But they were there." "They must be suffering as much as we are," Leafpaw murmured. "It must be terrible to watch the forest being destroyed, and to be powerless to stop it. After all, it was once their home too." Cinderpelt nodded. "You're right. But like us, they will recover, as long as all five Clans remain." "But will they find us in our new home?" Leafpaw fretted. "Will they know where to look for us?" "These are questions we cannot answer." Cinderpelt straightened up, and her voice

炭毛扫视了一圈四周。 附近没有别的猫。 “昨天我们去月亮石的时候，我几乎听不到星族的声音。”她坦白说。 “那他们到底说什么了吗？” 叶爪惊慌地问道。 炭毛微微眯起了眼睛。 “我知道他们肯定对我说话了，可我听不懂内容。 就好像他们的声音全被狂风的呼啸盖过去了一样。” “你真的什么都没听清吗？” “什么都没听清。” 炭毛闭了一会儿眼睛。 “但他们确实在那儿。” “他们一定和我们一样痛苦。”叶爪轻声说。 “眼睁睁看着森林被毁掉，却什么都做不了，一定太难受了。 毕竟，这里曾经也是他们的家呀。” 炭毛点了点头。 “你说得对。 但只要五个族群都在，他们就会和我们一样，挺过这一关的。” “可他们到了新家园还能找到我们吗？” 叶爪不安地问道。 “他们能知道该去哪儿找我们吗？” “这些问题我们现在回答不了。” 炭毛直起身子，她的声音