A fox screeched1 from deep inthe forest. Hollypaw stirred in her nest as its bark echoed around the walls of the camp and crept into her dreams. “Not in the tunnels,” she murmured.
“What?” Lionpaw rolled over beside her, but Hollypaw didn’t answer. She had fallen back into sleep, slipping into the dream again.
A tunnel stretched away in front of her, disappearing into shadow. The dark river frothed and swirled2 at her tail. Heavy paws padded down the tunnel toward her, claws scraping against the rock floor. The stench of fox filled her nose. Her pelt3 pricked4 in terror as she saw a shape forming from the shadows, eyes glowing in the dark. Fox!She backed away, feeling the river tugging5 at her hind6 paws. The shape kept coming, eyes unblinking, until it emerged into the half-light.
It was Lionpaw.
She leaped up with a start as a paw touched her shoulder.
“Hollypaw?” Brackenfur was standing7 beside her nest. The den8 was in darkness, weak moonlight washing through the branches of the yew9. “Are you okay?”
She was trembling, her pelt hot with panic. “It was just a dream.” Relief washed over her like a cool wind.
“Can’t you dream more quietly?” Lionpaw grumbled10 beside her. “I was out on the midnight patrol while you were snoring.” He rolled over and tucked his muzzle11 under his paw.
“It’s your turn now, Hollypaw,” Brackenfur meowed softly.
Foxpaw and Icepaw were fast asleep in their nests.
“Is it dawn?” Hollypaw asked, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.
“Not for a while yet,” Brackenfur whispered. “We’re doing the predawn patrol.”
The extra patrols had drained the Clan12 and left its warriors14 and apprentices15 tired, but Firestar’s plan seemed to be working. There had been no sign of intruders or prey-stealing in days. Hollypaw stretched and followed her mentor17 out of the den. Her paws felt numb18 with sleep, and even the early-morning chill couldn’t chase away her weariness.
A sharp white moon lit the camp. Thornclaw sat in the clearing, holding his tail down with a paw while he washed the tip.
Sorreltail paced around him. “It’s too cold to sit still,” she complained.
“There’ll be more warm nights before greenleaf is gone,” Brackenfur promised, padding up to the tortoiseshell and brushing his muzzle against hers.
“Is Hollypaw awake?” Thornclaw asked.
Hollypaw stepped from the shadows. “Almost.”
“Good.” The golden brown tabby got to his paws. “We can go.”
A small squeak19 sounded from inside the nursery. “Has the fox gone?” Rosekit mewed anxiously. “I heard it barking, and it sounded really close!”
“It’s far away in the forest, dear,” Daisy soothed21. “Now go back to sleep.”
Hollypaw fell in behind Brackenfur as the patrol padded single file out into the forest. It was dark beneath the shelter of the trees, and Hollypaw stumbled over a root as they headed up the slope toward the WindClan border.
Brackenfur glanced back at her. “Are your paws still asleep?”
“I’ll wake up soon,” she promised.
They trekked22 to the border stream, slowing as they neared it. Sorreltail, leading the patrol, signaled with her tail for them to halt and lifted her nose to taste the air. “No fresh scents23 here.”
Thornclaw scrambled25 down the bank, and Hollypaw heard bushes rustle26 as he checked beneath them. He emerged with leaves caught in his pelt. “No signs there.”
Padding quietly through the trees, they followed the stream along the border. Brackenfur pushed through a clump27 of ferns, sliding out the other side with a shake of his head. “All clear.”
Thornclaw left a scent24 marker at the roots of an oak.
“We’ll follow the stream out of the trees,” Sorreltail decided28. “Then we can reset29 our markers along the moorland border.” She led the way out of the forest and into moonshine. The hillside glowed eerily31 white, and the silence of the moor30 and the forest set Hollypaw’s pelt prickling.
“It’s so quiet,” she murmured.
“Dawn’s coming,” Brackenfur meowed. “The birds will be waking soon.”
A breeze rustled32 the heather.
“Thornclaw, Brackenfur, you reset the markers,” Sorreltail ordered. “Hollypaw and I will scout33 around and check for any WindClan scents.” She nodded to Hollypaw. “Follow me.”
Hollypaw padded down the slope after the tortoiseshell, her sleep-clumsy paws slipping on the coarse grass. Sorreltail beckoned34 her onward35 with her tail, and Hollypaw weaved ahead through the heather while Sorreltail headed back up the slope. Sniffing36 her way from bush to bush, she followed the curving ground through a dip and up onto a shallow hillock. The borderline lay here, detectable37 more from recent ThunderClan markers than the stale WindClan scent. It was as if this border hardly mattered to WindClan anymore. They must have been too busy hunting in the forest.
Hollypaw gazed at the hillside beyond. The hill arched like the spine38 of a giant cat against the sky. It stretched to the horizon, creamy with the coming dawn. Cream gave way to yellow as the sun began to push against the darkness, driving back the night and staining the hilltop a soft pink.
As the sky lightened, Hollypaw noticed a shape silhouetted39 on the crest40. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make it out. She could not gauge41 its size. But as the dawn light washed over the hilltop, she recognized the shape as feline42, with a face that tapered43 at the muzzle, a long, smooth back, and a curving tail, bushed44 at the tip. There was something proud and magnificent about the way it held its head; the large, wide-spaced ears prickled as it surveyed the lake below.
Hollypaw stiffened45. “It’s a lion!”
“A lion?” Sorreltail dashed to join her. “Where?”
Hollypaw pointed46 with her nose at the figure standing motionless on the hill.
Sorreltail shook her head. “It’s just a cat.” She peered harder. “Doesn’t look like WindClan, though. It’s far too stocky and long-haired.”
Hollypaw blinked, realizing Sorreltail was right. But for a moment it really had looked like a lion; she’d heard of them in stories whispered in the nursery when she was a kit20—huge and fierce, rising like the sun to defeat all their enemies.
“We’ve reset the markers!” Brackenfur called from the treeline. “We should head back so the dawn patrol can leave.”
Sorreltail turned and dashed away to join him. Hollypaw dragged her gaze from the strange cat still standing on the horizon. Was it watching them?
“Hollypaw reckons she saw a lion,” Sorreltail told Brackenfur and Thornclaw as they padded back to camp. “On the moor.”
“A lion?” Brackenfur’s eyes glittered with amusement. “Are you sure you weren’t still dreaming?”
“No, I wasn’t!” Hollypaw mewed defensively. “And it did look like a lion.”
“It did look strange,” Sorreltail agreed. “Not a WindClan cat, that’s for sure.”
“Just so long as it doesn’t cross our border,” Thornclaw growled47.
Cinderpaw was nosing her way out of the medicine cat’s den as Hollypaw padded into camp. She limped around the clearing, heading for the thorn tunnel.
Hollypaw fell in beside her. “Where are you going?”
“Swimming.”
“On your own?” Hollypaw asked in surprise.
“Jaypaw’s busy sorting herbs, and Leafpool says I’ll be okay if I take it slowly.”
Hollypaw noticed that Cinderpaw’s words were no longer punctuated48 with gasps49 of pain. “Is it feeling better?”
“Lots.” Cinderpaw stopped and stretched. Her injured leg trembled with the strain, but she didn’t flinch50.
“Can I come with you?” Hollypaw asked.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Not anymore.” The sight of the “lion” on the moorland had jerked her wide-awake.
Cinderpaw purred. “I’d love the company.” She glanced sideways at Hollypaw. “Do you want me to teach you how to swim?”
Hollypaw shivered at the thought of a cold, wet pelt. “No, thanks!”
They padded nose-to-tail through the thorn tunnel. The sun was climbing the sky, warming the forest, and birds chattered51 in the trees. Hollypaw loved how the woods had lost the neat crispness of early greenleaf and had grown unkempt and disheveled, the undergrowth spilling over paths and trees sending willowy shoots out from among their roots. It seemed that the forest was fuller and lusher than ever.
She slowed as they climbed the slope toward the lake, so that Cinderpaw could match her step for step despite her limp.
“Have you seen how Honeyfern keeps following Berrynose with that drippy look on her face?” Cinderpaw mewed.
“Oh, yes!” Hollypaw agreed. “Anyone would think he was StarClan’s gift to the Clan!”
“Can’t she see what a bossy52 know-it-all he is?”
“I think she likes him almost as much as he likes himself.”
“Then it must be love!” Cinderpaw’s whiskers twitched53. “That reminds me! Have you noticed how Birchfall has started sharing tongues with Whitewing?”
“The nursery could start getting crowded,” Hollypaw purred.
“I don’t know if there’ll be room once Millie has her kits,” Cinderpaw mewed. “Leafpool says there’re going to be at least three.”
“Has Millie chosen names yet?” Hollypaw wondered if Cinderpaw had heard any gossip while she’d been confined to Leafpool’s den.
“Leafpool says a kit needs to be seen before it can be named.”
“Then I must have been a prickly kit,” Hollypaw joked. It was good to talk about nothing in particular. It was like things used to be, before the prophecy. For the first time since returning from the mountains, she felt like an ordinary apprentice16 again.
But she wasn’t. A stab of envy jabbed her belly54. Cinderpaw could chat like this forever, with no worries about being more powerful than her Clanmates. Her only ambition was to become a warrior13 and do the best she could for her Clan.
I have so much more to aim for.Hollypaw frowned. And I don’t even know for sure what that could be.
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收听单词发音
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1
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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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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yew
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| n.紫杉属树木 | |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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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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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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apprentices
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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trekked
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| v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水 | |
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23
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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24
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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25
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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reset
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| v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物 | |
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moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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31
eerily
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| adv.引起神秘感或害怕地 | |
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rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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34
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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36
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；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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detectable
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| adj.可发觉的；可查明的 | |
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38
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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39
silhouetted
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| 显出轮廓的，显示影像的 | |
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40
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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41
gauge
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| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
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42
feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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43
tapered
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| adj. 锥形的，尖削的，楔形的，渐缩的，斜的 动词taper的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
bushed
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| adj.疲倦的 | |
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45
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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46
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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47
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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48
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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49
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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50
flinch
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| v.畏缩，退缩 | |
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51
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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52
bossy
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| adj.爱发号施令的，作威作福的 | |
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53
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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54
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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