Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 The waning moon cast just enough light through the leafless branches to make the forest glow with eerie silver. Frost traced the outline of the dying ferns as Squirrelpaw padded through the trees beside Brambleclaw. "It'll be cold at Fourtrees," she fretted, hoping that her sister was warm, wherever she was. "But at least it's clear," Brambleclaw answered in a low voice. "Silverpelt will be shining." They were following Firestar and Cinderpelt through the forest. The pace was slower than the two younger cats had been used to on their long journey, but Cinderpelt was still struggling to keep up. Cold and hunger had made her limp worse than usual. "If there is a sign," Squirrelpaw wondered out loud, "how long do you think it'll be before we go?" She wanted a chance to find her sister before the Clans left the forest. "I don't know," Brambleclaw replied. "You saw what happened last night. Firestar can't force the Clan to leave. He's bound by the warrior

第六章 残月洒下的微光透过落尽叶子的枝桠，让森林笼罩在诡异的银光之中。 松鼠爪挨着黑莓掌在林间穿行，霜花勾勒出枯蕨的轮廓。 “四树那里肯定很冷，”她发愁地嘀咕着，心里盼着妹妹不管在哪儿都能暖和些。 “不过好在天气晴朗，”黑莓掌低声回应道。 “银毛带会闪闪发光的。” 他们正跟着火星和炭毛穿过森林。 这个步伐比两只年轻猫在漫长旅途中习惯的速度慢得多，可炭毛还是拼尽全力才跟得上。 寒冷和饥饿让她的跛脚比平时更严重了。 “要是真的会出现征兆，”松鼠爪大声说出心里的疑惑，“你觉得我们还要等多久才出发？” 她想在族群离开森林前，找到机会找到妹妹。 “我不知道，”黑莓掌回答。 “你昨晚也亲眼看到发生了什么。 火星没办法逼着整个族群离开。 他受武士

code as much as any cat, and even though he's our leader, he has to obey the will of the Clan." Squirrelpaw's belly tightened as she remembered the Clan's reaction. Beneath the stars, huddled against the icy wind that whipped the rock, Firestar had told them the message she and Brambleclaw had brought back from StarClan. A shocked cry had rippled around the gathered cats. "We can't leave the forest!" Frostfur had wailed. "We'll all die." "We'll die if we stay!" Sorreltail had pointed out. "But this is our home." Speckletail's rasping mew had cracked as she'd raised her voice. At least Shrewpaw had sounded eager. "When are we going?" he'd asked. But the memory of Hollykit's piteous mew made Squirrelpaw's pelt prickle even now. "We don't have to go, do we?" the kit had cried. "What if Dustpelt is right?" Squirrelpaw hissed to Brambleclaw as they leaped over an abandoned foxhole, a yawning black mouth amid the shadows. "What he said in the den made

规则的约束，就算他是我们的族长，也得遵从族群的意愿。” 想起族群当时的反应，松鼠爪的肚子一下子揪紧了。 寒风抽打着岩石，他们挤在星空下，火星把她和黑莓掌从星族带回来的消息告诉了众猫。 震惊的叫喊瞬间在聚集的猫群里传开。 “我们绝不能离开森林！” 霜毛哭喊道。 “我们全都活不成的。” “我们留在这里才会死！” 纹尾指出。 “可这里是我们的家啊。” 斑尾嘶哑的叫声颤颤巍巍，她高声说道。 至少鼩爪听起来还挺期待出发的。 “我们什么时候出发？”他问道。 可哪怕到了现在，一想起冬青崽可怜的叫声，松鼠爪的皮毛都忍不住发紧。 “我们不是非得走，对不对？” 这只幼崽哭着问道。 “要是尘毛说得对怎么办？” 松鼠爪和黑莓掌跳过一个废弃的狐狸洞，那洞口就像阴影里一张张开的黑大口，她对着黑莓掌嘶声说道： 他在巢穴里说的这番话让

sense—why should any cat follow the advice of a badger they'd never met?" "But StarClan sent us to see Midnight," Brambleclaw argued. "What Midnight told us must be true." Squirrelpaw guessed he was trying to convince himself as much as her. "We just have to hope that we see the sign at Fourtrees tonight," she said. "If StarClan has something to say to the Clan—to any of the Clans—it's not up to us to prove it." She trembled to think what Midnight had meant by "a dying warrior," but if the sign told them what to do next, they might still be able to save the Clans. Their journey to Fourtrees took longer than usual, not just because of the slow pace but because they had to skirt the parts of the forest that the Twolegs had ruined, keeping low as they passed swath after swath of mud and felled trees. After a while, Squirrelpaw stopped looking at the empty, ravaged spaces. "How can any cat think this is still our home?" she murmured.

道理——凭什么猫要听从一只他们从没见过的獾的建议？” “可是星族派我们去见午夜的，”黑莓掌反驳道。 “午夜说的话一定是真的。” 松鼠爪猜，他这番话与其说是说服她，不如说是在说服自己。 “我们只能盼着今晚能在四树看到征兆，”她说。 “要是星族有话要对族群——对所有族群说，轮不到我们来证明它的真假。” 一想到午夜说的“垂死的武士”是什么意思，她就忍不住发抖，可要是征兆能告诉他们接下来该怎么做，他们说不定还能救下族群。 他们赶往四树的路程比平时久很多，不只是因为步伐慢，还得绕开森林里被两脚兽毁掉的区域，经过一片又一片泥地和伐倒的树木时，他们得压低身子悄悄走。 过了一会儿，松鼠爪再也不想看那些空荡荡、被毁坏的地方了。 “怎么还会有猫觉得这里依然是我们的家？” 她低声喃喃道。

Brambleclaw just shook his head and padded after Firestar toward the top of the slope that led down into Fourtrees. For a moment, it felt like the start of every other Gathering Squirrelpaw had attended, and when she closed her eyes she could almost hear the murmur of cats below, sharing tongues as the four Clans met in peace under the full moon. But there was no full moon, and this was not a Gathering. Her eyes snapped open, and she peered over the crest of the rise. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, her breath caught in her throat. Even though Webfoot had warned them that the Twolegs had cut down the four great oak trees, Squirrelpaw hadn't let herself imagine what it would look like. Not in nine lifetimes could she have imagined anything as terrible as what she saw now. The four giant oaks that had once guarded the Great Rock had completely disappeared; even their stumps had been torn from the ground. Their trunks lay in pieces, neatly sliced by giant claws. Squirrelpaw could smell the bitter sap that seeped like blood from each mutilated piece of

黑莓掌只是摇了摇头，跟在火星身后，朝着通往四树山谷的山坡顶走去。 有那么一瞬间，感觉这和松鼠爪以往参加的每一次集会开场都一模一样，她闭上眼睛，几乎能听见山下众猫的低语声，四大族群在满月下和平相聚，互相梳理皮毛。 可今天没有满月，这也不是一场集会。 她猛地睁开眼睛，望向山脊的顶端。 等她的眼睛适应了黑暗，她一下子屏住了呼吸。 哪怕水脚已经提醒过他们，两脚兽砍倒了那四棵大橡树，松鼠爪之前一直不敢想象那会是什么模样。 就算活九辈子，她也想象不出眼前的景象会这么可怕。 曾经守护着大岩石的四棵大橡树已经彻底消失了； 连树桩都被连根从土里拔走了。 它们的树干被切成碎块，整整齐齐地躺在地上，像是被巨爪砍断的。 松鼠爪能闻到苦涩的树液正像鲜血一样，从每一块被摧残的

wood. The heart of the forest—and the roots of life for the four Clans—had been ripped out. Nothing would ever be the same again. Squirrelpaw wondered how their warrior ancestors could bear to look down from Silverpelt at the ruined clearing. "Webfoot told us they had destroyed Fourtrees, but I didn't think..." Her voice trailed away as her father looked at her, sympathy in his eyes. "Come on," he hissed, leading them down the slope. As she picked her way over the sliced trees, sticky sap clung to Squirrelpaw's fur, and tree dust wafted up to sting her eyes and tickle her throat. Blinking, she scanned the clearing, then stared in disbelief. "The Great Rock is gone!" Brambleclaw stopped dead and followed her gaze. "How could that happen?" he gasped. He bounded over to peer into the huge hole that gaped where the rock had once stood. "I-I thought it had roots like a tree," Squirrelpaw murmured dazedly, looking down into the hole. "I thought they reached down so

树林。 森林的心脏——四大族群的生命根基——已经被硬生生扯走了。 一切再也回不到从前了。 松鼠爪真好奇，武士祖先们怎么忍心从银毛星带俯视这片被毁的空地。 “网脚告诉我们他们毁了四棵树，可我没想到……” 父亲看着她，眼里满是同情，她的声音渐渐低了下去。 “走吧，”他低声说，领着大家走下斜坡。 松鼠爪小心地在被砍断的树木间穿行，黏糊糊的树汁粘在她的毛上，木屑飘起来刺得眼睛疼，还弄得喉咙发痒。 她眨了眨眼，扫过整片空地，接着难以置信地愣住了。 “大岩石不见了！” 棘爪猛地停住脚步，顺着她的目光看去。 “这怎么可能？” 他倒吸一口冷气。 他奔过去，盯着大岩石原本位置那个豁开的大洞往里看。 “我、我还以为它像树一样长根，”松鼠爪晕乎乎地低语，低头看向洞里。 我以为它的根往下扎得那么

far that nothing could ever move it." "Over here!" Firestar called from the side of the clearing. He and Cinderpelt were standing almost belly-deep in the mud beside a vast gray stone. It looked clumsy and awkward, and the shape was unfamiliar—after a few moments, Squirrelpaw realized it was upside down—but it was definitely the Great Rock. Brambleclaw thrashed his tail. "Twolegs did this!" he spat. "They must have used their monsters to move it." In the cold, unfeeling moonlight, Squirrelpaw could see gouge marks scarring the rock where the monster's talons had scratched it. This was worse than losing every single tree in the forest; every cat knew that trees were living things that grew old and died just like they did, but the Great Rock had been there for moons upon moons before the cats came, and should have lasted for uncountable moons more. A harsh voice rang out across the clearing. "There will be no more Gatherings now." Squirrelpaw recognized Blackstar's meow, and

深，什么都不可能动得了它。” “这边！” 火星在空地边上喊道。 他和炭毛站在一块巨大灰石旁的泥地里，泥都快没到肚子了。 它看起来笨重怪异，完全认不出原来的样子——过了好一会儿，松鼠爪才反应过来它被翻了个底朝天——但它千真万确就是大岩石。 棘爪狠狠甩了甩尾巴。 “是两脚兽干的！” 他恶狠狠地说。 “他们肯定是用怪兽把它挪走的。” 在冰冷的月光下，松鼠爪清晰看到岩石上布满怪兽爪钩刮出的深深凹痕。 这比森林里所有树都被毁还要糟糕； 所有猫都知道，树和他们一样，会变老也会死去，可大岩石早在族群猫到来之前就存在了无数个岁月，本该继续存在更久的。 一个粗哑的声音响彻了整片空地。 “从今往后再也不会有集会了。” 松鼠爪听出这是黑星的声音，而且