Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 "Sunningrocks was the safest place to hide," Cinderpelt told them as she wove through the bracken. Squirrelpaw was surprised. "But there's so little shelter there!" Sunningrocks was a wide stone slope near the RiverClan border, bare of trees or bushes except for a few scrubby tufts of grass. Aware that Stormfur was only a few pawsteps behind, Squirrelpaw lowered her voice. "And what about RiverClan? They've tried to claim it as their territory before—wasn't Firestar afraid they might attack the Clan?" "RiverClan has made no threats lately," Cinderpelt replied. "Sunningrocks is as far from the Twolegs and their tree-destroying monsters as we could get within our territory, and close to what little prey is left in the forest." Despite her limp, she led them quickly through the forest, but Squirrelpaw noticed that the medicine cat's scrawny flanks heaved with the effort. She glanced at Brambleclaw. He was watching Cinderpelt too, his eyes narrowed with

第四章 “阳光岩是最安全的藏身地，”炭毛一边穿过蕨丛，一边对他们说。 松鼠爪吃了一惊。 “可那儿几乎没什么遮挡啊！” 阳光岩是靠近河族边界的宽阔石坡，除了几丛矮草，没有任何树木和灌木。 知道暴风脚就在身后几步远，松鼠爪压低了声音。 “那河族怎么办呢？ 他们之前就一直宣称这里是他们的领地——火星就不怕他们进攻咱们族群吗？” “河族最近没有发出任何威胁，”炭毛回答道。 “在咱们领地里，阳光岩是离两脚兽和他们毁树的怪物最远的地方，而且离森林里仅剩的那点猎物很近。” 尽管腿瘸，她还是领着大伙飞快穿过森林，可松鼠爪注意到这只巫医瘦巴巴的两肋因为用力而不住起伏。 她瞥了黑莓掌一眼。 他也正望着炭毛，双眼眯起，满是

concern. "We're in much better shape than she is," Squirrelpaw whispered to him. "Our journey has made us stronger," Brambleclaw commented. Squirrelpaw felt an uncomfortable pang of guilt that their long and difficult journey had kept them safer and better fed than the cats they left behind. The sun was sinking in a clear blue sky, and a chill wind swayed the branches above them, tugging at the last stubborn leaves. She paused, listening. A few birds chirped a muted chorus, but in the distance she heard monsters all the time, humming like angry bees. Their sticky stench hung in the air and clung to her fur, and Squirrelpaw realized that she had returned to a forest that no longer smelled or sounded like home. It had become another place, one where cats could not survive. No place left for cats. You stay, monsters tear you too, or you starve with no prey. Midnight's prophecy was already coming true. The pale gray bulk of Sunningrocks loomed beyond the trees, and Squirrelpaw made out the

担忧。 “我们的状况可比她好多了，”松鼠爪轻声对他说。 “长途跋涉让我们变得更强壮，”黑莓掌说道。 他们漫长艰苦的旅程反而让他们比留在这里的猫更安全、吃得更饱，松鼠爪想到这儿，心头涌上一阵不安的愧疚。 太阳沉进澄澈的蓝天，冷风吹得头顶树枝摇晃，扯着树上最后几片不肯掉落的叶子。 她停下脚步，侧耳倾听。 只有几只鸟儿发出闷闷的鸣唱，可远处一直传来怪物的声响，像愤怒的蜜蜂一样嗡嗡个不停。 怪物黏腻的臭味飘在空中，粘在她的皮毛上，松鼠爪才意识到，她回到的这片森林，气味和声音都不再像家了。 它变成了另一个地方，一个猫无法生存的地方。 一个再也容不下猫的地方。 你留下，要么被怪物撕碎，要么没猎物饿死。 午夜的预言已经成真了。 阳光岩浅灰色的庞大轮廓隐现在树林后方，松鼠爪辨认出了

shapes of cats moving over the stone. A yowl startled her, and she saw white and ginger fur flashing through the undergrowth. A heartbeat later, Sorreltail and Brackenfur burst out of the bushes in front of them. "I thought I could smell a familiar scent," Sorreltail meowed breathlessly. Squirrelpaw stared at the two warriors. They were as disheveled as Cinderpelt, and beside her, Brambleclaw's eyes were wide with shock as his gaze flicked over their gaunt bodies. "We didn't think you were coming back," Brackenfur meowed. "Of course we were coming back!" Squirrelpaw protested. "Where have you been?" Sorreltail demanded. "A long way away," Stormfur murmured. "Farther than any forest cat has ever been." Brackenfur glared suspiciously at the RiverClan warrior. "Are you on your way home?" "I need to talk to Graystripe first." Brackenfur narrowed his eyes. "Let him come," Cinderpelt advised. "These cats have a lot to tell us."

石头上移动的猫的身影。 一声号叫吓了她一跳，她看见白棕相间的皮毛在灌丛中闪过。 一眨眼的功夫，蕨尾和榉毛就从他们面前的灌木丛里冲了出来。 “我就说我闻到了熟悉的气味，”蕨尾喘着气说。 松鼠爪怔怔地看着这两名武士。 他们和炭毛一样狼狈，身旁的黑莓掌看清他们枯瘦的身体，震惊得眼睛都瞪圆了。 “我们还以为你们回不来了，”榉毛说道。 “我们当然会回来！” 松鼠爪反驳道。 “你们去哪儿了？” 蕨尾追问道。 “去了很远的地方，”暴风脚低声说。 “远到任何一只森林猫都从未去过的地方。” 榉毛猜疑地瞪着这位河族武士。 “你这是要回家吗？” “我得先和灰条谈一谈。” 榉毛眯起了眼睛。 “让他来吧，”炭毛劝道。 “这些猫有好多事要告诉我们。”

Brackenfur's whiskers twitched, but he dipped his head and turned to lead the way through the trees toward the rocks. "Come on," Sorreltail mewed, padding after Brackenfur. "The others will want to see you." Squirrelpaw fell into step beside her, trying to ignore the anxiety that gnawed her stomach like hunger pangs. It was starting to look as if their journey had been in vain, and hearing what Midnight had to tell them had come too late to help the Clans. She prayed that the dying warrior's sign would be enough to save them. Glancing sideways at Sorreltail, she saw that the tortoiseshell warrior's tail was drooping and her gaze rested wearily on the ground. "Cinderpelt told me about Leafpaw," Squirrelpaw murmured. "I couldn't do anything to save her," Sorreltail answered dully. "I don't know where they've taken her. I wanted to look, but we moved camp the next day, and there hasn't been a chance." She paused and looked at Squirrelpaw, her eyes flashing with desperate hope. "Did you see her while you were traveling? Do you know where

榉毛的胡须抖了抖，但还是低下头，转身带路穿过树林往岩石那边去。 “快来，”蕨尾轻声唤道，跟在榉毛身后走去。 “其他猫都想见你们。” 松鼠爪跟在她身旁走着，努力压下像饿痛一样啃噬着肚子的焦虑。 现在看来，他们的旅程似乎已经白费了，等他们带回午夜的话，已经太晚救不了族群了。 她祈祷那名垂死武士的征兆足够救下他们。 她侧眼看向蕨尾，发现这只玳瑁武士尾巴耷拉着，眼神疲惫地落在地面上。 “炭毛跟我说了叶爪的事，”松鼠爪低声说。 “我根本救不了她，”蕨尾木木地回答。 “我不知道他们把她带到哪儿去了。 我本来想去找，可我们第二天就搬了营地，一直没找到机会。” 她停下脚步看向松鼠爪，眼睛里闪着孤注一掷的希望。 “你们赶路的时候见过她吗？ 你知道她在哪儿

she is?" Squirrelpaw's heart twisted. "No, we haven't seen her." The strong, familiar scent of ThunderClan filled the air. Squirrelpaw longed to rush forward to greet her Clanmates, but instinct warned her to approach them warily. She stood still for a moment, hoping that her thudding heart couldn't be heard by every cat on Sunningrocks. The smooth stone slope, lined with gullies and small hollows, rose ahead of her. Trees bordered one side, and at the far edge, where the slope fell steeply away, Squirrelpaw could see the tips of more trees, following the river as far as Fourtrees—or the place where Fourtrees had been. The cold stone, blasted by the leaf-bare winds, was a chilly resting place for the Clan. Squirrelpaw looked at Sorreltail's paws and saw dried blood staining the white fur around her claws. She remembered how the rocks in the mountains had grazed her own paws while they were staying with the Tribe of Rushing Water. There was no central clearing here for cats to gather, as there had been in the ravine. Instead,

是她吗？ 松鼠爪的心一下子揪紧了。 “不，我们没见过她。” 雷族那强烈又熟悉的气味弥漫在空气中。 松鼠爪多想冲上前迎接族伴，可直觉提醒她要小心靠近。 她一动不动站了片刻，生怕自己怦怦乱跳的心跳被太阳石上的每只猫听见。 平缓的石坡横在她面前，坡上布满冲沟和小坑洼。 石坡一侧长着树木，在坡度陡降的远边，松鼠爪能看到更多树顶，沿着河岸一直延伸到四树——或是原本身处四树的地方。 被秃季寒风吹扫过的冷石，对族群来说是个冰凉的落脚处。 松鼠爪看向莎草尾的爪子，看到她爪边的白毛沾着干血渍。 她想起之前和急水部落待在一起时，山里的岩石也蹭伤过她的爪子。 这里不像从前的峡谷，没有供族猫集合的中心空地。 只不过，

the cats were huddled in small groups; Squirrelpaw spotted the dark pelt of her mentor, Dustpelt, sheltering beneath an overhang, with Mousefur next to him. He seemed much smaller than when she had left, his bony shoulders jutting out from beneath his ungroomed fur. Frostfur and Speckletail, two of the Clan elders, were crouched in the deepest gully. Even in the shadows, Squirrelpaw could see that their pelts were matted and dull, speckled with scraps of moss and dried mud. Farther down, where the gully widened, the pale gray shape of Dustpelt's mate, Ferncloud, was hunched over her two remaining kits. "It's more sheltered down there," Cinderpelt explained, following Squirrelpaw's gaze. "But the queens still feel very exposed after being used to a nursery made of brambles. The apprentices make their nests in that hollow over there," she went on, lifting her muzzle to point at a dip in the rocks. Squirrelpaw recognized the brown fur of Shrewpaw, one of Ferncloud's first litter, fluffed up against the cold. Squirrelpaw glanced at Brambleclaw, who

族猫们三三两两挤在一起； 松鼠爪看到导师尘毛深色的皮毛，他正躲在悬石下方，鼠毛在他身旁。 他比松鼠爪离开时瘦小太多，乱糟糟的皮毛下，削瘦的肩膀凸了出来。 族群的两位长老霜毛和斑尾，正蹲在最深的冲沟里。 哪怕在阴影里，松鼠爪也能看出他们的皮毛乱糟糟没有光泽，沾着碎苔藓和干泥块。 再往下冲沟变宽的地方，尘毛的伴侣蕨云浅灰色的身影弓着身子，守着她仅剩的两只幼崽。 “那边更挡风，” 炭皮顺着松鼠爪的目光看去，解释道。 可猫后们早就住惯了荆棘围起来的育婴室，还是觉得这里太没遮蔽。” “学徒们都在那边的凹洞里做窝，” 她接着说，抬起鼻头指向岩石上的一处洼地。 松鼠爪认出了鼩爪棕色的皮毛，他是蕨云头胎的幼崽，正把毛蓬起来抵御寒冷。 松鼠爪瞥了一眼黑莓掌，他