The mountains

"Sharp hills of stone that stretch up into the sky. Huge birds, bigger than badgers, that have to be dragged out of the sky by many cats at once. Tumbling water, filling the air with spray even when there aren't any clouds..."

— Jay's Wing about the mountains in Long Shadows, page 209

The mountains
General information
Location	Mountain range between the lake and forest territories
Twoleg name	Hengest Ridge
Usage	Residence of The Tribe of Rushing Water and a rogue group
Discovered by	The Ancients

The mountains, also known as Hengest Ridge, is a mountain range that serves as the home for the Tribe of Rushing Water. It lies between the forest and the lake territories.

Description

"I'd love to go back to the mountains. I know I couldn't see where the Tribe lived, but I could feel the wide open spaces and the wind in my fur, and all the scents the wind carried from far away."

―Longtail about the mountains ^{Outcast, page 111}

The mountains is a range of tall, gray mountains with sheer slopes and jagged peaks. Tribe cats navigate the steep slopes by walking sideways. It is filled with sheer cliffs, screes, jutting crags, narrow valleys, ridges, plateaus, and large boulders. The mountains are taller than Highstones. The peaks are covered in snow with wisps of clouds around it. The land around the mountains is sparse, with limited grass and twisted thorn trees. No clear path leads up to the mountains, and it is filled with winding narrow clefts and sheer rock walls. Sharp, cold wind buffets the mountains, and unsteady ledges can result in a cat falling to their death. The mountains are also prone to rockslides.

A vast waterfall that filters into a pool and down into the valley. Boulders line the bank of the pool with spindly trees. The Path of the Rushing Water is a path of rocks that leads up beside the waterfall into the Tribe's home. The intruders live in a narrow cleft between two sheer rocks tilted together. Beyond cats, other creatures live in the mountains, including eagles, falcons, hawks, buzzards, mountain hares, shrews, mice, vole, and the dangerous Sharptooth. Wolves live on the open territory below the mountains.

Significance

Squirrelpaw: "The dying warrior!"

Brambleclaw: "Now we know which way to go."

^{Dawn, pages 254-255}

The Ancients left the lake for the mountains when Twolegs began to encroach on their home, and Stone Song was encouraged by Jay's Wing's dreams of the mountains. These cats would go one to become the Tribe of Rushing Water, and a portion of them would eventually become the Clans. The Tribe believed that their new home in the mountains would protect them, though their faith was shattered when Stripes and his rogues challenged their territory. In the mountains, Jaypaw learned that the Kin of your Kin prophecy came from beyond StarClan and the Tribe of Endless Hunting, and that he needed to find the fourth cat to fulfil the prophecy. A shooting star fell over the mountains, signifying to the Clan cats to travel over the mountains for the Great Journey.

Location history

«Sunlight came slanting into the cave, turning the screen of water into a dazzling sparkle. As Gray Wing emerged from the path behind the fall, he saw that the sky was clear blue. Gray Wing's pads tingled at the beauty of the peaks outlined against it. He took great gulps of the cold, crisp air, relishing the way it felt like water against his fur. How could I leave all this?»

—Gray Wing's thoughts about leaving the mountains ^{The Sun Trail, page 19}

When Twolegs began to encroach on their territory, Stone Song urged his peers that they should leave for the mountains, as Jay's Wing had dreamed of a place where they could live. Jay's Wing's vote was the deciding factor. Jayfeather returned as Jay's Wing later to establish the Tribe in the Cave of Pointed Stones. Seasons later, with her Tribe starving during a harsh leaf-bare, Stoneteller received a vision prompting some cats to leave and find a new home by following the sun trail. After Jagged Peak left to follow them, Gray Wing also left to find his brother and joined the others. Quiet Rain and Sun Shadow later left the mountains to join the others on the sun trail.

Midnight instructed the journeying cats—Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw, Crowpaw, Stormfur, and Feathertail—to return to their forest home through the mountains. While the warriors were keen to avoid another Twolegplace, Purdy was skeptical of its dangers. The journeying cats encountered the Tribe after falling over the waterfall, though they kept Stormfur after believing him to be the silver cat from their prophecy meant to defeat Sharptooth. However, the silver cat was Feathertail, who sacrificed her life to save Crowpaw to kill Sharptooth. After leaving the mountains, the Clans were unsure where to travel to reach their new home, though a shooting star streaked over the mountains, signaling the path they needed to travel. The four Clans traveled through the mountains on the Great Journey and sheltered with the Tribe of Rushing Water. Crowpaw received his warrior name in the Tribe's cave, Crowfeather. After leaving the mountains, the Clans discovered the lake territories, their new home, on the other side of a forest.

Throughout the seasons, the Tribe was the only group of cats who lived in the mountains, as they occasionally chased away loners. However, not long after the Great Journey, a group of rogues led by Stripes settled in the mountains. Stormfur's plan to fight the rogues resulted in failure, and he and Brook were exiled. Talon and Night asked for Stormfur's help, resulting in the the Clans sending a patrol to help the Tribe. With the Clan cats' help, the Tribe established borders and reaffirmed their right to live on the mountains. Jayfeather was later summoned to the mountains by Rock, prompting another journey. Jayfeather returned to the past to help establish the Ancients as the Tribe of Rushing Water. After Stoneteller's death, Jayfeather chose Crag as the new Stoneteller to continue the Tribe's legacy in the mountains. Seasons later, Tawnypelt, Dovewing, and Shadowkit ventured to the mountains after Shadowkit dreamed of danger coming to the Tribe. During their wander, Flipclaw and Graystripe visited the mountains.

Known deaths

This is a list of deaths, ordered chronologically, that took place at the mountains.

• Dark Whiskers
• Broken Feather
• Fluttering Bird
• Bright Stream
• Crow Muzzle
• Dancing Leaf
• Stoneteller
• Star That Shines On Water
• Feathertail
• Smokepaw
• Jagged Rock Where Heron Sits
• Swoop of Chestnut Hawk
• Stoneteller

Book mentions

• Riverstar's Home (Mentioned only)
• The Sun Trail
• Thunder Rising (Vision or Dream)
• The First Battle (Vision or Dream)
• The Blazing Star
• A Forest Divided (Mentioned only)
• Path of Stars (Mentioned only)
• Moth Flight's Vision (Mentioned only)
• Onestar's Confession
• Mothwing's Secret (Mentioned only)
• Moonrise (First appearance)
• Dawn
• Starlight (Mentioned only)
• Twilight (Mentioned only)
• Sunset (Mentioned only)
• The Sight (Mentioned only)
• Dark River (Mentioned only)
• Outcast
• Eclipse
• Long Shadows
• Sunrise (Mentioned only)
• Hollyleaf's Story (Mentioned only)
• The Fourth Apprentice (Mentioned only)
• Fading Echoes (Mentioned only)
• Night Whispers (Mentioned only)
• Sign of the Moon
• The Forgotten Warrior (Mentioned only)
• The Last Hope (Mentioned only)
• Crowfeather's Trial (Vision or Dream)
• Bramblestar's Storm (Mentioned only)
• Tawnypelt's Clan
• Graystripe's Vow (Now)
• Secrets of the Clans
• Cats of the Clans (Mentioned only)
• Battles of the Clans (Mentioned only)
• The Ultimate Guide (Mentioned only)
• The Ultimate Guide: Updated and Expanded Edition (Mentioned only)

Gallery

Map art

The mountains on the map

The mountains in The Sun Trail map

The mountains in the reprinted version of The Sun Trail map

The mountains on the Twoleg view map

The mountains in the Ivypool's Heart map

Official art

The mountains on the reprinted cover of The Sun Trail

The mountains on the cover of Moonrise

The mountains on the reprinted cover of Moonrise

The mountains in Winds of Change

The mountains on the cover of Outcast

The Cave of Rushing Water on the cover of Sign of the Moon

The Cave of Rushing Water on the reprinted cover of Sign of the Moon

The mountains in Cats of the Clans

The mountains in The Ultimate Guide

The mountains in The Ultimate Guide: Updated and Expanded Edition

Quotes

"This is a cruel place, but it's my home, for better or worse."

―Quiet Rain after Fluttering Bird's death ^{The Sun Trail, page 31}

«[Brambleclaw's] voice trailed away, and Leafpaw felt the cold wind pierce her fur. What was it about the mountains that frightened these cats so much? How would they get kits and elders through such a place?»

—Leafpaw's thoughts about traveling through the mountains ^{Dawn, page 262}

"You look better. Last night you looked like you'd been as far as the mountains and back."

―Brook to Lionpaw ^{Dark River, page 320}

Lionpaw: "Pity. I was looking forward to seeing you bounce all the way to the bottom of the mountain."

Breezepaw: "Shut up, stupid furball!"

^{Outcast, page 206}

"The mountains are not safe anymore. We trusted them to protect us, and they have let us down."

―A Tribe of Endless Hunting member to Jaypaw ^{Outcast, page 234}

«Wind buffeted his pelt and made his eyes water. Blinking, he made out an even wider landscape of jutting crags and narrow valleys, with streams that looked narrow as grass stems weaving their way among the rocks. Far away he could see a blur of green, and he realized that he was looking at the edge of the mountains, perhaps the forest they had crossed on their way.»

—Lionpaw's thoughts about the mountains ^{Outcast, page 243}

«The falling water glittered in the moonlight, and as Dovewing emerged onto the rocks beside the pool the spray filled the air with a mist of silver. It's beautiful, she realized, catching for the first time a glimpse of what kept the Tribe in their inhospitable home [...] Dovewing cast her senses out over the snowy landscape, her sight and hearing sharpened in the clear air. She could hear the stir of huge birds—eagles?—in their twiggy nests on the bare precipices; ice thawing on small streams hidden among the rocks; white-furred hares scuffling among snow and pebbles to find blades of grass. The mountains that seemed so barren were full of tiny lives.»

—Dovewing's thoughts about the mountains ^{Sign of the Moon, page 153}

See also

• The Tribe of Rushing Water
• Journey to the mountains