Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 "Sasha!" Mistyfoot called again. "Is that you?" There was no reply. Leafpaw pressed her muzzle against the web and peered out. She had heard of Sasha many times, and was curious to see the rogue she-cat who had taken Tigerstar as her mate and given birth to Mothwing and Hawkfrost while staying with RiverClan. But in the half-light of the wooden nest, she could only just make out Sasha's tawny pelt huddled at the back of the cage the Twoleg had just brought in. "Sasha, are you okay?" Mistyfoot called more urgently. "Give her time to recover," Cody advised. "The new ones are always quiet." "I don't need time to recover," came a furious hiss. "How dare they put me in here? If I could get out, I'd rip that Twoleg to shreds!" "What were you doing in the forest?" Mistyfoot asked. "I wanted to see my kits," Sasha replied. "I had heard about the Twolegs destroying the

第五章 “萨莎！” 雾脚又叫了一声。 “是你吗？” 没有人回答。 叶爪把鼻头贴在网面上向外张望。 她听过萨莎很多次，十分好奇这只流浪母猫——她和虎星结为伴侣，留在河族时生下了蛾翅与鹰霜。 可在木窝的昏暗中，她只能勉强辨认出萨莎黄褐色的皮毛缩在两脚兽刚搬来的笼子尽头。 “萨莎，你没事吧？” 雾脚越发急切地喊道。 “给她点时间缓一缓吧。”科迪建议道。 “新来的都总是安安静静的。” “我才不需要缓什么，”一个愤怒的嘶声传来。 “他们怎么敢把我关在这儿？ 要是我能出去，我一定把那只两脚兽撕成碎片！” “你刚才在森林里做什么？” 雾脚问道。 “我想看看我的幼崽们，”萨莎回答。 “我听说两脚兽要破坏

forest, and I wanted to make sure they were safe." "I saw Mothwing not long ago!" Leafpaw mewed. "She was fine. She's going to be a medicine cat." "Who's that speaking?" Sasha called. "I'm Leafpaw, ThunderClan's apprentice medicine cat," Leafpaw told her. "I'm friends with Mothwing." "Do you know Hawkfrost too?" Sasha demanded. "Is he safe?" Leafpaw did not answer. Her paws prickled as she pictured Sasha's other kit. He had an icy-blue gaze like the sky in leaf-bare, and his shoulders were as broad and powerful as those of a warrior of twice his age and experience. Last time Leafpaw had met him, he had threatened to drag Sorreltail back to the RiverClan camp because she had strayed across the border by mistake. Luckily, Mothwing had persuaded him to let Sorreltail go. Mistyfoot called from her cage, "Hawkfrost was fine when I saw him last." "Thank goodness," Sasha breathed. The relief in her voice surprised Leafpaw.

森林，我得确认他们平安无事。” “我前不久刚见过蛾翅！” 叶爪出声道。 “她好得很， 她很快就要成为巫医了。” “是谁在说话？” 萨莎喊道。 “我是叶爪，雷族的巫医学徒，”叶爪告诉她。 “我是蛾翅的朋友。” “那你也认识鹰霜吗？” 萨莎追问道。 “他平安吗？” 叶爪没有回答。 想到萨莎的另一个幼崽，她的爪子阵阵发麻。 他长着冰蓝色的眼眸，就像秃叶季的天空，肩膀比年纪经验是他两倍的武士还要宽阔强壮。 上次叶爪遇到他时，他威胁要把误闯边界的褐皮拖回河族营地。 幸好蛾翅说服他放褐皮离开了。 雾脚在自己的笼子里喊道：“我上次见鹰霜的时候他好好的。” “谢天谢地，”萨莎轻声说。 她语气里的宽慰让叶爪十分惊讶。

"She sounds as worried as a Clan queen would be!" she whispered to Cody through the web that separated them. "Of course." Cody had been listening quietly to the exchange. "She's talking about her kits— she's a she-cat just like any other, after all." "But she gave them away to be raised in RiverClan!" Leafpaw exclaimed, almost forgetting to keep her voice low. "Why didn't she let her own Clan raise them?" Cody sounded puzzled. "Sasha's not a Clan cat," Leafpaw explained. "She's a rogue." "That's right, call me names just because I choose not to live among the rest of you," Sasha growled, overhearing. "Not that I care, as long as my kits are safe." "I'm sorry," Cody apologized. "This is such a small nest it's hard not to get involved." She glanced sideways at the cage next to hers where a tattered black rogue crouched without giving any sign that he had heard their conversation. "With some cats, at least," she added pointedly. Leafpaw knew that Cody had been trying to

“她担心起来和族群的猫后一模一样啊！” 她隔着分隔她们的网，轻声对科迪说。 “本来就是啊。” 科迪一直在静静听着这段对话。 “她说的是自己的幼崽——说到底，她本来就是一只和别的猫没两样的母猫呀。” “可她明明把幼崽送给河族抚养了啊！” 叶爪惊呼，差点忘了压低声音。 “她为什么不让自己的族群养幼崽呢？” 科迪听起来十分困惑。 “萨莎不是族群猫，”叶爪解释道。 “她是一只流浪猫。” “说得对，就因为我选择不跟你们住一起，就给我扣帽子，”萨莎偷听到了，低吼道。 “我才不在乎，只要我的幼崽平安就好。” “对不起，”科迪道歉说。 “这个地方太小了，想不听到都难。” 她瞥向隔壁笼子，那里缩着一只破毛的黑色流浪猫，看不出他听到了对话的样子。 “至少对有些猫来说，是这样，”她意有所指地补充道。 叶爪知道科迪一直试着

befriend the black tom but had not managed to get any answer from him except his name—Coal. "You're a kittypet, aren't you?" Sasha asked Cody bluntly. "You sound too polite for a rogue, and you look too fat to be a Clan cat." Leafpaw saw Cody bristle. "Cody's a friend!" she mewed, leaping to her defense. "I didn't say she wasn't," Sasha meowed. "I'm just trying to work out who's who in this place." Mistyfoot explained: "They're mostly rogues, but there are a few other forest cats here." Gorsetail, Brightheart, and Cloudtail meowed greetings as Mistyfoot went on, "Cody's the only kittypet, as far as we know." "Have any of you worked out a way to escape from this foxhole?" Sasha asked. "Not yet," Mistyfoot admitted. "Even StarClan hasn't given us a clue," Leafpaw added. "StarClan!" In the shadows, she saw Sasha curl her lip. "Do you Clan cats still believe in that nonsense after what's happened to the forest?" "Of course we do!" Leafpaw hissed. "Well, say a prayer for me, little one," Sasha

和这只黑公猫交朋友，可除了他的名字——煤炭之外，从来没得到过任何回应。 “你是宠物猫，对不对？” 萨莎直截了当地问科迪。 “你说话比流浪猫斯文，长得又比族群猫圆润。” 叶爪看到科迪炸毛了。 “科迪是我的朋友！” 叶爪出声，跳出来维护她。 “我没说她不是呀，”萨莎说道。 “我只是搞清楚这地方谁是谁而已。” 雾脚解释道：“这儿大多是流浪猫，但也有几只别的森林猫。” 戈斯尾、亮心和云尾出声打招呼，雾脚接着说：“据我们所知，科迪是这里唯一的宠物猫。” “你们谁想出从这个狐狸窝逃出去的办法了吗？” 萨莎问道。 “还没有，”雾脚坦言。 “就连星族都没给我们一点线索，”叶爪补充道。 “星族！” 阴影里，她看到萨莎撇了撇嘴。 “森林都变成这样了，你们族群猫还信这种胡话吗？” “我们当然信！” 叶爪嘶声道。 “那好吧，帮我许个愿吧，小家伙，”萨莎

sighed unexpectedly. "I think we're all going to need as much help as we can get." Sunhigh passed, and the tepid warmth of the afternoon sun began to fade. "Here comes the Twoleg again," Cody called to the other cats. Over the distant grumbling of the Twoleg monsters, Leafpaw heard footsteps outside and instinctively crouched at the back of her cage. The nest door opened and the Twoleg came in carrying the food pellets. "There's no way you'll persuade that Twoleg to let us out of here by purring at it," Leafpaw whispered to Cody as the Twoleg began opening the cages and putting in more food. "I guess not," Cody shrugged. "But it won't hurt to make him trust me." As she spoke a hiss exploded from the cage next to her. The Twoleg leaped backward from Coal's open door. Blood trickled down its forepaw as it stamped around the nest, spitting in rage. Leafpaw strained to see Coal through Cody's cage. She could just make out his shadowy outline as he flattened himself against

忽然叹了口气。 “我觉得我们都得尽可能多寻求帮助。” 正午过去，午后暖洋洋的日光渐渐退去了。 “两脚兽又来了，”科迪对其他猫喊道。 隔着远处两脚兽怪物隆隆的轰鸣，叶爪听见外面的脚步声，本能地蹲到了笼子最里头。 兽舍门打开了，两脚兽捧着猫粮走了进来。 “你就算对着它打呼噜，也不可能劝动两脚兽放我们出去，”叶爪趁着两脚兽开笼子添粮，轻声对科迪说。 “大概是吧，”科迪耸耸肩。 “不过让他信任我总没坏处。” 她话音刚落，旁边的笼子突然爆出一声嘶鸣。 两脚兽从开着门的柯奥的笼子边猛地向后跳开。 它的前爪淌着血，愤怒地咒骂着，在兽舍里跺着脚打转。 叶爪使劲透过科迪的笼子张望柯奥。 她只能隐约看见他把身子贴紧在

the floor. The blood pulsed in her ears as she glanced over her shoulder at the Twoleg. It had stopped screeching and was staring menacingly at Coal. Suddenly, with a vicious cry, it thrust its paw back into the cage, and Leafpaw heard the tom screech in pain. Muttering, the Twoleg slammed the door shut. Leafpaw shuddered. What had the Twoleg done? When the Twoleg opened Cody's door and tipped pellets into her pot, the kittypet shied away. She was not purring at it now. As soon as the Twoleg had gone, Leafpaw yowled, "Are you okay, Coal?" A muffled groan came from the cage beyond Cody's. "That stinking Twoleg!" Leafpaw sniffed the air and smelled the warm tang of blood. "It looks bad," Cody whispered to Leafpaw. "There's blood on the floor of his cage." "Where are you hurt?" Leafpaw asked Coal. "I've cut my leg," replied the rogue. "That badger-pawed Twoleg shoved me against something sharp."

地板上。 叶爪扭头看向两脚兽时，耳朵里嗡嗡直响。 它已经停止叫骂，正凶巴巴地盯着柯奥。 突然，它恶吼一声，把爪子猛地伸进笼子，叶爪听见这只公猫痛得尖叫起来。 两脚兽嘟囔着，“砰”地关上了笼门。 叶爪打了个寒颤。 两脚兽到底对他做了什么？ 当两脚兽打开科迪的笼门，往她的食盆里倒猫粮时，这只宠物猫吓得躲开了。 她现在才不会对着它打呼噜呢。 两脚兽刚一走，叶爪就大声喊：“你没事吧，柯奥？” 科迪隔壁的笼子传出一声闷闷的呻吟。 “这臭两脚兽！” 叶爪嗅了嗅空气，闻到了浓烈的血腥味。 “情况很糟，”科迪轻声对叶爪说。 “他笼子的地板上都是血。” “你哪里受伤了？” 叶爪问柯奥。 “我的腿割伤了，”这只流浪猫回答。 “这笨手笨脚的两脚兽把我推到了尖东西上。”