Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 "Spottedleaf!" Leafpaw called desperately into the forest. There was no reply. The wise medicine cat had guided her many times before in dreams; if ever Leafpaw had needed Spottedleaf's help, it was now. "Spottedleaf, where are you?" she called again. The trees did not even tremble in the breeze. No prey-sound whispered in the shadows. The silence tore at Leafpaw's heart like a claw. Suddenly an unfamiliar yowl echoed in her ears, forcing its way into her dream. Leafpaw opened her eyes with a jolt. For a moment she couldn't think where she was. Her fur was ruffled by a cold draft, and instead of a soft, mossy nest there was a strange, cold, shiny web beneath her paws. She stood up in panic, and more shiny web grazed her ears. Wherever she was, it was a very small space, hardly taller than she was. Taking a deep breath, Leafpaw forced herself to look around, and everything came rushing back to her. She was trapped in a tiny den, with walls,

第二章 “斑叶！” 叶爪绝望地朝着森林大喊。 没有任何回应。 这只聪慧的巫医从前已经在梦里指引过她好多次； 现在正是叶爪最需要斑叶帮助的时候。 “斑叶，你在哪里呀？”她又喊了一声。 树林连晃都没晃一下，连微风都没有。 阴影里连一点猎物的动静都没有。 这片寂静像爪子一样撕扯着叶爪的心。 突然，一声陌生的号叫钻进她的耳朵，闯进了她的梦里。 叶爪猛地睁开了眼睛。 有好一会儿，她都想不起来自己身在何处。 一股冷风吹得她毛发蓬乱，爪子底下不是柔软的苔藓窝，而是一块陌生、冰冷又亮晶晶的网。 她慌慌张张站起来，更多亮晶晶的网蹭过了她的耳朵。 不管这是哪里，空间都极小，几乎不比她自己高多少。 叶爪深吸一口气，强迫自己环顾四周，所有回忆一下子都涌了回来。 她被困在一个小小的巢穴里，四周有墙，

floor, and roof made entirely from cold, hard web. There was just enough space to stand and stretch, but no more. It was packed among other dens lining every wall of a small wooden Twoleg nest. Leafpaw longed to see the stars, to breathe in the comforting presence of StarClan and know they were watching her, but when she looked up she saw nothing but the nest's steeply pitched roof. The only light came from a shaft of moonlight that streamed through a small hole in the wall at one end of the nest. Her den was on top of others; the one directly below was empty, but beneath that she could just make out a bundle of dark fur. Another cat? Not a forest cat, since its scent was unfamiliar. The shape was so still, it must have been sleeping. If it was alive at all, Leafpaw thought grimly. She listened again for the yowl, but the cat that had cried out was silent now, and Leafpaw could hear only the soft mewling and shuffling of cats trapped in the other dens. She sniffed the air but recognized no scents. An acrid Twoleg stench filled the nest, tinged with fear. Leafpaw

地板和屋顶，全都是又冷又硬的网做的。 刚好够她站起来伸个懒腰，再多一点空间都没有。 它挤在两脚兽小木屋里，挨着所有墙壁排列的其他巢穴中间。 叶爪渴望看到星星，感受星族令人安心的守护，确认他们正看着自己，可她抬头望去，除了木屋陡峭倾斜的屋顶什么都看不见。 唯一的光线来自一缕月光，它从木屋一头墙壁的小洞里照进来。 她的巢穴在其他巢穴的上方； 正下方的那个巢穴是空的，可再往下她勉强能看到一团深色的毛发。 那是另一只猫吗？ 不是森林猫，因为它的气味闻着十分陌生。 那团身子一动都不动，肯定是睡着了。 叶爪阴郁地想，说不定它早就不在人世了。 她再次去听那声号叫，可那只叫唤的猫已经不出声了，叶爪只能听到其他巢穴里被困的猫发出微弱的喵呜声和挪动的声响。 她吸了吸空气，可闻不出任何熟悉的气味。 两脚兽刺鼻的臭味填满了整个木屋，还混着恐惧的气息。 叶爪

unsheathed her claws, feeling them catch on the shiny web. StarClan, where are you? The thought fleetingly crossed her mind that she was already dead, but she thrust it away with a shudder that made her claws scrape against the floor of the den. "You're awake at last," whispered a voice. Leafpaw jumped and craned her neck to look over her shoulder. A heap of tabby fur stirred in the den beside hers, and she smelled the unmistakable Twoleg-tainted scent of a kittypet. There had been kindness in the she-cat's voice, but Leafpaw felt too wretched to reply. Her mind flooded with bitter memories of how the Twolegs had trapped her while she was hunting with Sorreltail and brought her to this awful place. She had been separated from her Clan and locked in darkness. Overwhelmed by despair, she buried her nose in her paws and closed her eyes. Another voice sounded from a den farther along. It was too quiet to make out the words, but there was something familiar about it. Leafpaw lifted her muzzle to taste the air, but all

亮出了爪子，感觉到爪子勾在了亮晶晶的网面上。 星族啊，你们在哪里？ 一个念头飞快闪过：难道我已经死了？可她打了个寒颤甩开这个想法，抖得爪子都刮在了巢穴的地板上。 “你终于醒啦，”一个声音轻声说道。 叶爪吓了一跳，伸长脖子扭过头去看。 隔壁巢穴里，一团虎斑毛发动了动，她闻出那毫无疑问是沾着两脚兽气味的宠物猫。 这只母猫的声音带着善意，可叶爪太过难过，根本不想回答。 她的脑子里涌满了痛苦的回忆：她和栗尾打猎时，两脚兽是怎么抓住她，把她带到这个可怕地方来的。 她和族群分开了，被关在了黑暗里。 绝望淹没了她，她把鼻子埋进爪子里，闭上了眼睛。 更远些的巢穴里又传来了另一个声音。 声音太轻，听不清说什么，可这声音听起来有点熟悉。 叶爪抬起口鼻嗅了嗅空气，可所有

she could smell was a sour tang that reminded her of the herbs Cinderpelt used for cleaning wounds. The voice spoke again, and Leafpaw strained her ears to listen. "We must get out of here," the cat was mewing. Another cat answered from the far side of the nest. "How? There's no way out." "We can't just sit here waiting to die!" the first voice insisted. "There have been other cats here—I can smell them, and their fear-scent. I don't know what happened to them, but whatever it was must have scared their fur off. We've got to get out before we become nothing but stale fear-scent!" "There's no way out, you mouse-brain," came a rough mew. "Shut up and let us sleep." The words made Leafpaw feel sick with fear and sadness. She didn't want to die here! She flattened her ears and closed her eyes, clawing for the safety of sleep. "Wake up!" A voice hissed in Leafpaw's ear, jolting her out of troubled dreams. She lifted her head and looked around.

她能闻到的只有一股酸溜溜的味道，让她想起炭毛用来清洗伤口的药草。 那个声音又说话了，叶爪竖起耳朵仔细听。 “我们必须从这里逃出去，”那只猫小声说。 另一只猫在木屋的另一头回应了。 “怎么逃？ 根本出不去。” “我们总不能坐在这里等死吧！ 第一个声音坚持道。 “之前还有别的猫来过这儿——我能闻到他们的味道，还有他们留下的恐惧气息。 我不知道他们出了什么事，但不管发生了什么，都把他们吓得魂都飞了。 我们得赶紧逃出去，不然我们就只剩下发馊的恐惧气息了！” “根本出不去，你这个老鼠脑子，”一个粗哑的声音响起。 “闭嘴，让我们睡觉。” 这些话让叶爪又害怕又难过，心里堵得发慌。 她不想死在这里！ 她放平耳朵闭上眼睛，只想睡着躲开这可怕的处境。 “醒醒！” 一个声音在叶爪耳边嘶声喊，把她从不安的梦里猛地拽了出来。 她抬起头，环顾四周。

Watery sunlight filtered in through the hole in the wall, though it did nothing to lift the chill from her fur. In the weak dawn light she could see the tabby she-cat in the den next to her more clearly. The stranger was soft and well groomed, and Leafpaw was conscious of her own matted pelt as she stared at her. She was definitely a kittypet, plump and soft-muscled beneath her tabby pelt. "Are you all right?" asked the kittypet, her eyes wide with worry. "You sounded as if you were in pain." "I was dreaming," Leafpaw replied hoarsely. Her voice felt strange, as if she hadn't spoken for several days, and as she spoke memories of her nightmare came flooding back: images of water- swollen rivers scarlet with blood—and great birds swooping out of the sky with thorn-sharp claws. For a heartbeat, Leafpaw saw Feathertail hidden in darkness and then swathed in starlight, and without understanding why, her paws trembled. Outside a Twoleg monster roared into wakefulness, bringing her back to the wooden nest and the den that pressed around her.

淡淡的阳光从墙洞透进来，一点都没驱散她皮毛上的寒意。 借着黎明微弱的光线，她终于看清了隔壁巢穴里的那只虎斑母猫。 这只陌生母猫毛发光滑、打理得整整齐齐，叶爪看着她，才发觉自己的皮毛乱糟糟打了结。 她绝对是只宠物猫，虎斑皮毛下的身子软软胖胖，肌肉也软乎乎的。 “你没事吧？”宠物猫睁大满是担忧的眼睛问道。 “你刚才听着好像疼得厉害。” “我刚才做噩梦了。”叶爪哑着嗓子回答。 她觉得嗓子怪怪的，好像好几天没说过话；一开口，噩梦的记忆就涌了回来：河水暴涨，河水被血染得通红——巨鸟张着荆棘般锋利的爪子，从天上猛扑下来。 有那么一瞬间，叶爪看见羽尾藏在黑暗里，转眼又被星光包裹，她没明白为什么，爪子就已经开始发颤。 洞外，两脚兽的怪物轰鸣着发动起来，把她拉回了这个四面挤压着她的木窝和巢穴。

"You don't look well," the kittypet commented. "Try eating some breakfast. There's some in the corner of your cage." Cage? Leafpaw wondered at the strange word. "Is that what this den is called?" The kittypet was nodding through the web that separated the two "cages" toward a half-empty holder of stinking pellets. Leafpaw looked at the Twoleg food in disgust. "I'm not eating that!" "Then at least sit up and give yourself a wash," the kittypet urged. "You've been hunched up like a wounded mouse since the workfolk brought you here." Leafpaw twitched her shoulders but didn't move. "They didn't hurt you when they caught you, did they?" the kittypet asked. There was concern in her voice. "No," Leafpaw mumbled. "Then get up and wash yourself," she went on more briskly. "You're no use to yourself or any cat moping around like that." Leafpaw did not want to get up and wash

“你看着气色不太好。”宠物猫说道。 “吃点早餐吧。 你的笼子角落还有一些。” 笼子？ 叶爪暗自纳闷这个奇怪的词。 “这个巢穴是叫这个名字吗？” 虎斑猫隔着隔开两个“笼子”的网，朝角落那盒吃了一半的臭干粮点了点头。 叶爪厌恶地看着那堆两脚兽的食物。 “我才不吃那个！” “那至少坐起来打理打理自己吧。”宠物猫劝她。 “自从工作人员把你带过来，你就一直像受伤的老鼠那样缩着。” 叶爪抖了抖肩膀，没有动弹。 “他们抓你的时候没伤着你，对不对？” 宠物猫问道。 她的声音里满是关切。 “没有。”叶爪咕哝道。 “那起来打理一下自己呀。”她语气更轻快了一些。 “你这么没精打采的，对谁都没有好处。” 叶爪根本不想起身打理自己