Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The sun was beginning to descend¹ as Lionblaze led Graystripe, Spiderleg, and Blossomfal into the forest.

“I want to check the WindClan border,” Lionblaze meowed. “And we’l keep a lookout³ for any more signs of fox, too.”

Golden sunlight was pouring through the branches, and the trees rustled⁵ gently in a fresh breeze. The fresh scents⁷ of grass and leaves surrounded the patrol. But al Lionblaze could see were the shadows under the trees, and his mind was fil ed with imagining the day when they might spread and engulf⁸ everything.

He took his patrol to the border stream where it flowed into the lake, then turned to fol ow it away from the shore, renewing the scent⁶ markers on the way. Everything was quiet; although the WindClan scent markers on the opposite bank were fresh, there was no sign of any WindClan patrols. They had covered about half the length of the border when the WindClan scent suddenly grew stronger, carried on the breeze that blew down from the moorland.

Lionblaze raised his tail for the patrol to halt.

“Now what?” Spiderleg muttered.

As the black warrior⁹ spoke¹⁰, a WindClan patrol appeared from behind a rocky outcrop and bounded up to the edge of the stream. Onestar was at the front; Crowfeather and Sedgewhisker were with him.

Lionblaze dipped his head. “Greetings, Onestar.” The WindClan leader didn’t return the greeting.

Instead, he stared across the stream at the ThunderClan cats with hostility¹¹ in his eyes. “I was hoping to meet some of your Clan²,” he rasped.

“Oh?” Lionblaze could feel anger stirring inside him at the chal enge in Onestar’s voice, but he forced his fur to stay flat. “What can we do for you?”

“One of my warriors¹² overheard a patrol of yours talking,” Onestar replied. “It seems you have that StarClan-cursed excuse for a cat, Sol, staying with you. Is that right?”

Lionblaze nodded. “Yes.”

“Then you have to drive him out at once!” Lionblaze heard an annoyed hiss¹³ from Spiderleg, standing¹⁴ at his shoulder, but he stil refused to let his anger show. “Why?” he meowed. “Has Sol done you any harm?”

“That’s not the point!” Onestar spat¹⁵. “Every cat knows Sol is bad news. Firestar has to get rid of him now!”

The tip of Lionblaze’s tail began to twitch¹⁶. “Firestar won’t be ordered around by the leader of another Clan,” he warned.

“Then maybe WindClan wil have to force him.” Onestar drew his lips back in the beginning of a snarl¹⁷. “Every cat knows that Sol is an enemy to al the Clans¹⁸.”

Lionblaze’s indignation spil ed over and he bounded to the very edge of the stream, his tail lashing¹⁹ and his fur fluffed up. “If you want a fight, you can have one now!”

“Right!” Spiderleg leaped up to stand beside his Clanmate and slid out his claws.

Instantly Onestar and Crowfeather stepped up to the bank on the WindClan side of the stream. A growl²⁰ began deep in Onestar’s throat, but before any cat could make another move, Graystripe shouldered Lionblaze back. Lionblaze glared at him.

Surely he was as furious as Lionblaze at the way Onestar was trying to give orders to ThunderClan?

“That’s enough, Lionblaze.” Graystripe’s voice was firm and calm, and Lionblaze recal ed that once he had been Clan deputy. “There’s no need to fight over this. Onestar, you need to remember that it’s not up to you to decide who receives ThunderClan’s hospitality. You’re insulting Firestar if you think he would offer shelter to a cat who didn’t deserve it.” Though Lionblaze didn’t try to interrupt, he could tel that Graystripe’s words were sticking in his throat. He knew that Graystripe didn’t like Sol any more than Lionblaze did. We’d both like to see him gone. But that’s not the point. It’s not up to another Clan to tell us what to do.

Onestar was unimpressed by what Graystripe had said. “Send Sol away,” he growled²¹. “Or I’l make you.”

Graystripe shook his head, and there was sadness in his eyes now. “Onestar,” he began, “do you remember when you were Firestar’s friend, back in the old forest? How can we have come so far from that time? We don’t need to be enemies.” Onestar lashed²² his tail. “Your Clan makes it impossible to be anything else.”

Lionblaze watched the younger warriors welcome Sol when he strol ed back into the camp as the sun went down.

“The hunting patrols are just back,” Blossomfal meowed. “Come and choose some fresh-kil .”

“Wil you tel us more stories?” Cherrypaw added, bouncing along at Sol’s side as he strol ed across to the fresh-kil pile.

“Yes, did you ever see that dog again?” Molepaw asked eagerly.

Toadstep and Rosepetal gathered to listen, and Briarlight dragged herself over from the medicine cat’s den⁴. Foxleap and Icecloud, who were sharing a blackbird, looked up as Sol approached; Whitewing, Birchfal , and Hazeltail appeared from the warriors’

den and sat nearby.

Lionblaze noticed that Dovewing remained within earshot, but a few tail-lengths off, with Ivypool and Bumblestripe. None of them looked enthusiastic about Sol’s return, and they made no move to join him and the others.

Good. Not all the young warriors want to be friends with him.

While Sol gulped²³ down a plump vole, Blossomfal told him about the clash with WindClan earlier that day. “Lionblaze and Graystripe told Onestar that he can’t tel ThunderClan what to do,” she meowed. “But Onestar said that if we don’t send you away, then he’l make us!”

Sol swal owed the last bite of vole and swiped his tongue appreciatively around his jaws²⁴. “You can’t possibly be afraid of WindClan,” he taunted²⁵. “Those scrawny rabbit-chasers? They’re no match for our warriors!”

“We’re not your warriors! You’re not a ThunderClan cat!” Ivypool blurted²⁶ out.

Several cats gasped²⁷, and Whitewing turned and glared at her.

“Ivypool! That’s no way to talk to a visitor.”

“Wel , he’s not,” Ivypool muttered.

Dovewing pressed her muzzle²⁸ sympathetical y against her sister’s side and Bumblestripe let his tail-tip rest for a heartbeat on her shoulder. The young warrior exchanged a glance with Dovewing over Ivypool’s head, and she gave a tiny nod in reply.

Dovewing and Bumblestripe seem to be getting very close, Lionblaze thought, and added to himself grimly, I wonder what will happen when Bumblestripe finds out about the prophecy?

Meanwhile, the young cats around Sol raced to reassure²⁹ him that they weren’t afraid of WindClan at al .

“We’l show them,” Foxleap yowled. “They can’t order us around like that!”

“Yes, we’l rip their pelts³⁰ off if they try,” Blossomfal growled.

Lionblaze listened to them with a growing sense of unease. The last thing any cat should want was a battle with another Clan. But Firestar couldn’t ignore Onestar’s chal enge. Now he would be forced to offer hospitality to Sol purely³¹ in order to preserve the honor of ThunderClan. Anything else would look like Firestar was obeying orders from WindClan.

We can’t back down now, Lionblaze realized.

Onestar has forced us to ally ourselves with Sol, even though he isn’t welcome here.

1 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

2 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

3 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

4 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

5 rustled   

v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

7 scents   

n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉

参考例句：

• The air was fragrant with scents from the sea and the hills. 空气中荡漾着山和海的芬芳气息。
• The winds came down with scents of the grass and wild flowers. 微风送来阵阵青草和野花的香气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 engulf   

vt.吞没，吞食

参考例句：

• Floodwaters engulf a housing project in the Bajo Yuna community in central Dominican Republic.洪水吞没了多米尼加中部巴杰优那社区的一处在建的住房工程项目。
• If we are not strong enough to cover all the minds up,then they will engulf us,and we are in danger.如果我们不够坚强来抵挡大众的意念，就会有被他们吞没的危险。

9 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

12 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

13 hiss   

v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满

参考例句：

• We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
• Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

16 twitch   

v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛

参考例句：

• The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
• I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。

17 snarl   

v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮

参考例句：

• At the seaside we could hear the snarl of the waves.在海边我们可以听见波涛的咆哮。
• The traffic was all in a snarl near the accident.事故发生处附近交通一片混乱。

18 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

19 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

21 growled   

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

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 gulped   

v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
• She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下，似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

25 taunted   

嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• The other kids continually taunted him about his size. 其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
• Some of the girls taunted her about her weight. 有些女孩子笑她胖。

26 blurted   

v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。
• He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

28 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

29 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

30 pelts   

n. 皮毛，投掷, 疾行 vt. 剥去皮毛，（连续）投掷 vi. 猛击，大步走

参考例句：

• He did and Tibetans lit bonfires of the pelts. 他做到了，藏民们点起了篝火把皮毛都烧了。
• Description: A warm cloak fashioned from thick fabric and wolf pelts. 一个由厚布和狼皮做成的暖和的斗篷。

31 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。