Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25 Leafpaw shook the drizzle from her whiskers and padded after the others up the heather-covered slope. They had trekked all morning, leaving the snow and mountains behind, chased by the rain that rolled down from the mountains after them. "Have you noticed Tallstar?" Sorreltail whispered, padding beside her. The WindClan leader was walking beside Onewhisker through the banks of heather. Despite the rain, he no longer leaned against Onewhisker's flank, but padded confidently, as if he finally believed he was within reach of his Clan's new home. He pricked his ears as a rabbit darted from a boulder farther ahead. Onewhisker glanced at his leader, and, when Tallstar nodded, he darted after the rabbit. Tornear and Webfoot raced up the slope after him. "I think the smell of the heather has given WindClan some of their old spirit back," Leafpaw purred. All the cats seemed more relaxed than they had been in the mountains, not just WindClan.

第25章 叶爪抖掉胡须上的细雨，跟着其他猫走上石楠覆盖的斜坡。 他们整整跋涉了一个早上，把冰雪与群山抛在身后，从山间滚涌而来的大雨紧追在他们身后。 "你发现高星的变化了吗？" 栗尾轻声说着，挨着叶爪往前走。 这位风族族长正和一根须并肩走在石楠丛生的河岸旁。 尽管下着雨，他已经不再靠在一根须身上，而是迈着自信的步子往前走，仿佛终于确信自己已经离族群的新家不远了。 前方一块巨石后窜出一只兔子，他猛地竖起了耳朵。 一根须看了一眼族长，等高星点头后，立刻追着兔子跑去。 弯脚和网脚跟着他冲上坡去。 "我觉得石楠的气味让风族找回来了往日的活力，"叶爪轻声呼噜道。 不止风族，所有猫都比在山里的时候放松多了。

Blackstar padded next to Firestar. Dustpelt walked alongside Russetfur, the heather brushing his striped flank as he talked comfortably to the ShadowClan deputy. "I never thought I'd see Dustpelt so comfortable around the other Clans," Leafpaw commented. "He'll soon be back to his old self," Sorreltail replied matter-of-factly, "once we're settled in our new home and things are back to normal." "There will always be four Clans," Leafpaw murmured, half to herself. But would there really? Looking around, she realized with a shock that it was impossible to tell from the throng of cats where one Clan ended and another began. "I'm just glad to be out of the mountains," Sorreltail mewed. "Stormfur was brave to stay." "He had so little left in the Clans," Leafpaw murmured. "Well, I'd rather be here," Sorreltail decided. "Even though we don't know where we're heading?" Leafpaw asked her, surprised. "Look at this place!" Sorreltail flicked her tail at the land around them. "No sign of monsters or

黑星挨着火星往前走。 尘毛陪着赤毛，石楠蹭过他带条纹的胁腹，他舒服地和这位影族副族长聊着天。 "我从来没想过能看到尘毛和其他族群的猫相处得这么自在，"叶爪说道。 "等我们在新家安顿下来，一切回归正常，他很快就会变回原来的样子了，"栗尾坦然回答道。 "我们一定会一直拥有四个族群的，"叶爪喃喃道，这话大半是说给自己听的。 可真的会是这样吗？ 她环顾四周，震惊地发现，这群猫挤在一起，根本分不清一个族群从哪儿开始，另一个又在哪儿结束。 "我只是很高兴终于离开山里了，"栗尾喵呜道。 "暴毛留下来真勇敢。" "他在族群里已经没什么牵挂了，"叶爪轻声说道。 "反正我更愿意待在这儿，"栗尾肯定地说。 "哪怕我们根本不知道要去哪儿吗？" 叶爪惊讶地问她。 "你看看这地方呀！" 栗尾尾巴一扫，指了指周围的大地。 既看不到怪物，也看不到

churned earth. And it's good to smell prey again." She swiped her tongue around her lips. As she spoke Onewhisker came trotting back toward the Clans, a rabbit dangling from his jaws. Leafpaw knew she was right—this place felt safer than anywhere they had been for many days and nights—but with no sign from StarClan, was it really their new home? "Leafpaw!" Cinderpelt's voice shocked her into wakefulness. She blinked open her eyes. It was still dark. "Is everything okay?" she asked, struggling to her paws and staring around the shadowy copse where the Clans had sheltered for the night. A chilly wind whipped between the trees. "Firestar wants to set off as early as possible," Cinderpelt told her. "Why can't we stay here?" Leafpaw heard Birchkit's fretful mew and, as her eyes became accustomed to the predawn light, she saw him staring up at his mother, crouched between the roots of a tree. "We can't stop yet." Brambleclaw's deep mew

被翻动过的土地。 而且还能重新闻到猎物的气味，真好呀。" 她伸舌头舔了舔自己的嘴唇。 她话音刚落，一根须就小跑着回到族群这边，嘴里叼着一只垂着身子的兔子。 叶爪知道她是对的——这个地方比他们这些天待过的任何地方都安全，可没有星族的指示，这儿真的会是他们的新家吗？ "叶爪!" 炭毛的声音吓得她一下子回过神来。 她眨了眨眼睛，睁开了双眼。 天还黑着。 "一切都还好吗？" 她问道，挣扎着站起身，环顾着族群夜宿躲雨的阴暗小树丛。 一阵冷风在树林间呼啸吹过。 "火星想要尽早出发，"炭毛告诉她。 "我们为什么不能留在这里呀？" 叶爪听到了小桦烦躁的喵叫，等她眼睛适应了黎明前的微光，才看到小桦正抬头盯着蹲在树根间的妈妈。 "我们还不能停下。" 黑莓掌低沉的声音

rang out before Ferncloud could reply. "StarClan will tell us when we have found our new home." "But the sign might come if we wait here," Dustpelt meowed. "Wait here?" Mudclaw glared at the ThunderClan cats. "These trees may feel like home to you, but not to us." "The streams here aren't wide enough for fish," Leopardstar pointed out. Squirrelpaw nodded. "We must keep going." "Going where, exactly?" Hawkfrost growled. Squirrelpaw narrowed her eyes. "Do we have to know everything?" Brambleclaw flicked his tail to silence her, then glanced at Cinderpelt. "Have you had any sign from StarClan?" Cinderpelt shook her head. "Not me. But Leafpaw had a dream," she meowed. Leafpaw's heart lurched as the eyes of all the Clans turned to her, gleaming in the half-light. "I I don't know if it was a sign," she mewed quickly. "I dreamed I sat before a great stretch of shining water..." "Shining water?" Leopardstar interrupted.

在蕨云开口回答之前就响了起来。 "星族会在我们找到新家的时候给我们指引的。" "可征兆说不定会来，只要我们在这儿等一等，"尘毛说道。 "在这儿等着？" 泥爪怒视着雷族的猫咪们。 "这些树林可能合你心意，对我们可不是。" "这儿的溪流不够宽，养不了足够的鱼，"豹星指出。 松鼠爪点了点头。 "我们必须继续往前走。" "那到底要往哪儿走？" 鹰霜低吼道。 松鼠爪眯起了眼睛。 "难道我们每件事都要提前知道吗？" 黑莓掌甩了甩尾巴让她闭嘴，随后看向炭毛。 "你收到星族的任何征兆了吗？" 炭毛摇了摇头。 "我没有。 但是叶爪做了一个梦，"她说道。 所有族群的目光都转向叶爪，在熹微晨光里闪闪发亮，叶爪的心猛地一跳。 "我……我不知道那是不是征兆，"叶爪急忙说道。 "我梦到我坐在一大片波光闪闪的水域前……" "波光闪闪的水？" 豹星打断了她的话。

"You mean a river?" Leafpaw shook her head. "No, not a river. These waters were smooth, not churning. I could see Silverpelt reflected, all the stars shining as clearly as if they were swimming in the sky." "Is that all?" Blackstar demanded. "Spottedleaf was there too, and she told me StarClan would find us," Leafpaw forced herself to meet the ShadowClan leader's gaze even though her legs were shaking. "So we should head for water?" Tallstar mewed hopefully. Leafpaw's ears twitched. "I think it was just a dream," she whispered. "I've had no sign from StarClan since." She looked unhappily at her paws. "I'm beginning to think I just dreamed what I wanted to." "Then we have nothing," Blackstar muttered, turning away. "Are you sure it was just a dream?" Brambleclaw asked Leafpaw. She searched her heart for the truth. "I don't know." She had never been wrong about her dreams

“你说的是一条河？” 叶爪摇了摇头。 “不，不是河。 那片水面很平静，并不湍急。 “我能看到银带映在水面，所有星星都清晰闪亮，就像它们在天空中游弋一样。” “就这些吗？” 黑星追问道。 “斑叶也在那里，她告诉我星族会找到我们。”叶爪强迫自己迎上影族族长的目光，哪怕她的双腿都在发抖。 “所以我们应该往有水的地方走？” 高星满怀希望地轻声说道。 叶爪的耳朵抽动了一下。 “我觉得这只是一场梦。”她轻声说。 “从那之后，我再也没有得到过星族的征兆。” 她闷闷不乐地看着自己的爪子。 “我开始觉得，这只是我一厢情愿做的梦罢了。” “那我们什么线索都没有。”黑星嘟囔着转过身去。 “你确定这只是个梦吗？” 棘爪问叶爪。 她在心底探寻真相。 “我不知道。” 她以前从来没有在梦境上出过错

before, but if the dream had really carried a message from their warrior ancestors, wouldn't some sign—a falling star, another dream—have told them by now that StarClan was with them in this strange place? "Well, we'll just have to keep going." Brambleclaw padded out from the trees. A grassy bank sloped down in front of him to a narrow valley. Beyond, a ridge rose into the indigo sky, its curving side shadowed by forest. As the cats began to pad out of the copse, still blinking and stretching, Leafpaw glanced up at the sky. Clouds obscured the stars. "Don't worry about the sign." Her father's voice surprised her, and she turned to find him standing beside her. "You are still an apprentice medicine cat," he murmured. "You shouldn't feel responsible if StarClan wishes to remain silent." She gazed gratefully into his emerald eyes as he went on. "I'm proud of you. And Squirrelpaw too—even though Cinderpelt's prophecy frightened me for a while." "Cinderpelt's prophecy?" Leafpaw echoed. "StarClan's sign that fire and tiger would

在此之前从未出错过，可如果这个梦真的承载着武士祖先的讯息，那到现在，总该有什么征兆——比如一颗流星、另一个梦——告诉我们星族在这片陌生之地与我们同在了，不是吗？ “好吧，那我们只能继续往前走了。” 棘爪慢悠悠从树林里走出来。 他面前一片草坡向下倾斜，延伸进狭窄的山谷。 山谷尽头，一道山脊耸入靛蓝色的天空，弯曲的山腹蒙着森林投下的阴影。 当猫咪们陆续走出小树林，还眨着眼睛伸懒腰时，叶爪抬头瞥了一眼天空。 乌云遮住了星星。 “别为征兆的事担心。” 父亲的声音吓了她一跳，她转过身，看到父亲就站在她身边。 “你还只是个医学徒呀。”他轻声说。 “如果星族选择沉默，你不该把责任揽到自己身上。” 她满怀感激地凝视着父亲翡翠般的绿眼睛，听他继续说道。 “我为你骄傲。 就连松鼠爪也是——虽然炭毛的预言曾经让我害怕了好一阵子。” “炭毛的预言？” 叶爪重复道。 “星族的征兆说，火与虎会