CHAPTER 3
Jaykit tried to move, but pain shot through his limbs and gripped his chest like claws.
Panic flooded him. I’m broken!
He tried to mew for help.
“Hush, little one.” Warm breath stirred his fur, and a soft nose nuzzled his flank.
He figured it must be Leafpool, though she sounded strange. Perhaps the throbbing1 in his head was confusing him. Jaykit knew he was in the cleft2 in the wall of the hollow that formed Leafpool’s den3. Moss4 softened5 the ground beneath him. Cold air flowed down the smooth rock walls, soft as water. Tendrils of bramble shielded the entrance. The scent6 of herbs filled the air; instinctively7 Jaykit tried to distinguish one from another. He identified juniper easily—Leafpool had fed it to Lionkit for bellyache after he had eaten too much fresh-kill. Borage he remembered from when Ferncloud had a fever after Icekit and Foxkit were born.
Where were Hollykit and Lionkit?
He couldn’t smell them anywhere.
“Lie still, little one.”
Jaykit opened his eyes and saw a she-cat crouched9 beside him. He realized he must be dreaming. She wasn’t a cat he recognized, but she had ThunderClan scent. Her image was hazy11, a jumble12 of shapes, but he could make out the beautiful orange and brown markings on her lithe13 body as she sniffed14 along his pelt15.
Her eyes were large and pale, one rimmed16 with darker fur than the other, and her mottled face narrowed to a soft white muzzle17. “Don’t look so frightened,” she told him. “You are safe.”
“What about Hollykit and Lionkit?”
“They are safe too.”
Jaykit let his head rest back into the moss as the she-cat continued to nuzzle his fur, gently touching18 every aching spot on his body. The parts she touched seemed to flood with heat until he felt warm all over.
“Drink now, precious,” she urged. She dragged a leaf to his mouth. It held a tiny pool of water. It was cool and sweet and made him feel sleepy. He closed his eyes.
When Jaykit awoke the she-cat was gone. His body still ached, but not as much as before.
“You’re awake.” Leafpool’s voice surprised him.
“What other cat?”
“The one that brought me water to drink.” He recalled the distinctive20 mottled markings on her body. “She was a tortoiseshell, with a white muzzle.”
“Tortoiseshell with a white muzzle?” Leafpool’s mew sharpened with interest.
Jaykit couldn’t understand why Leafpool was just repeating everything he said. He tried lifting his head, but his neck felt too stiff and he winced21 in pain.
“You’ll be sore for a while,” Leafpool warned him. “But you were lucky that no bones were broken.” She rolled a ball of water-soaked moss to his muzzle. “Here, you should drink something.”
“I’m not thirsty,” Jaykit mewed. “I told you, that other cat brought me some water.”
Leafpool pawed the moss away from his mouth. “Tell me about her,” she prompted gently.
Jaykit started to feel uneasy, as if he might have done something wrong. He was puzzled by the tension in Leafpool’s shoulders, and the way the tip of her tail stirred the moss-covered ground. “I’d never seen her before, but she smelled of ThunderClan and she was here in your den, so I guessed it was okay to drink the water she gave me.”
There was a long pause, then: “It was Spottedleaf,” Leafpool meowed. “One of our warrior23 ancestors.”
“Like in StarClan? I . . . I’m not dead, am I?”
“No, of course not. It must have been a dream.”
“But why would I dream of a cat I’ve never met?”
“StarClan works in its own way. Spottedleaf chose to come to you for a reason,” Leafpool murmured. She turned away to tidy a wrap of herbs. “Thank StarClan your ancestors took pity on you,” she told him briskly. “You could have died falling over the cliff. You were lucky you weren’t badly hurt!”
“I feel hurt enough,” Jaykit complained.
“You have no one to blame but yourself. You should never have gone hunting foxes. You’re mouse-brains, the three of you! And you most of all. What were you thinking of, leaving the camp like that?”
Her irritation24 sparked anger in Jaykit. Ignoring his aching stiffness, he scrabbled to his paws and glared at her. “It’s not fair!” he snapped. “I should be allowed to do the same things as any cat!”
“None of you should have been outside the hollow,” Leafpool pointed25 out. “Hollykit and Lionkit have been in serious trouble with Firestar and Squirrelflight.” Jaykit opened his mouth to defend himself, but she went on. “Thank StarClan that Thornclaw was close enough to save Hollykit and Lionkit from that den. Those fox cubs26 were old enough to have torn them to pieces.”
“One day you will,” Leafpool promised. “But first you need to learn as much as you can, which includes learning not to go off by yourself!”
“Do you think Firestar will delay my apprenticeship28 because of this?” he mewed, suddenly anxious.
Leafpool drew the tip of her tail gently around his ears and said nothing.
“Dear Jaykit.” Leafpool sighed. “You must know that you can never become an ordinary apprentice29 like Hollykit or Lionkit.” She ran her tail along his back.
Jaykit shrugged31 it away. It was as though a gale32 had swept him up and he could hear nothing but the rushing of wind in his ears. He began to walk to the entrance of the den, but each paw step made him wince22 with pain.
Leafpool called to him, sounding unhappy. “Jaykit, wait. I thought you understood. . . .”
“Understood what?” Jaykit whipped around to face her. “That I’m not good enough to fight for my Clan?”
“This has nothing to do with not being good enough,” Leafpool meowed. “There are other ways to serve your Clan.”
But Jaykit hardly heard her. “It’s not fair!” he raged. He started to push his way out through the brambles.
“Jaykit!” Leafpool’s voice was firm. “Come back!”
Instinctively Jaykit paused.
“You described Spottedleaf to me perfectly33. Have you always been able to see like that in your dreams?”
Jaykit tipped his head to one side. “I guess,” he mewed.
“What do you see?”
“It depends what I’m dreaming about.” Jaykit was growing impatient. How could his dreams help him become a ThunderClan warrior? The hazy images he saw while he slept were pale in comparison to the rich world his senses brought him while he was awake.
“Now tell me which herbs I used to treat you.”
Curious now, Jaykit padded back to his nest, focusing on the pungent34 scents35 that lingered on his pelt, scents left by the herbs Leafpool had massaged36 into his wounds. “Dock on my scratches and comfrey where my body is stiff.”
“You have a good memory for plants. There are other ways to serve your Clan than being a warrior. You’d make a good medicine cat, for example.”
“A medicine cat!” Jaykit echoed in disbelief. Always stinking37 of mouse bile and cleaning up bad-smelling wounds?
“You could be my apprentice,” Leafpool urged.
“I don’t want to make do with being a medicine cat!” Jaykit hissed38. “I don’t want to live half a life, separated from my Clanmates like you are. I want to be a warrior like Brambleclaw and Firestar.”
He turned away from Leafpool, bristling39 with fury. “I hate being blind. I wish I had never been born!”
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1
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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jumble
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| vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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rimmed
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| adj.有边缘的，有框的v.沿…边缘滚动；给…镶边 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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groggily
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| adv.酒醉地；东倒西歪地 | |
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distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wince
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| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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massaged
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| 按摩，推拿( massage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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