-Mianite crew's POV-

Sparklez couldn't help but marvel at the organization that these cats had. It was amazing to think that these wild cats were functioning so similarly to how humans did, and no one had any idea. Upon entering the camp, several cats seemed to already be aware of strangers in their midst. A couple of them hissed loudly and arched their backs, fur bristling. They must've thought the four of them were captured enemies.

"Cinderheart, Shadowclan is coming to get us!" A tiny voice squealed from the far side of camp.

"Hush, Hollykit, it's just some rogues."

A gray tabby was quickly ushering a tiny kitten towards a large bush, keeping her voice calm despite the worry in her eyes. Sparklez shifted his paws awkwardly, realizing that she was afraid the four of them were a threat. It was odd to think that these cats saw them as some vicious enemy, when there were so many of them. The dark tabby who had led them there immediately climbed atop a ledge along the side of the camp. The white cat led them to a spot below the ledge and lashed his tail once.

"You stay right here, I'll go get Jayfeather." He growled.

Jericho happily collapsed onto the ground again and Firefoxx moved over to sit up against him. Syndicate remained standing, staring defiantly around the clearing at all the cats. It looked like another fight was seconds away from breaking out. Sparklez flashed him an annoyed look and whispered fiercely;

"They're nice enough to let us stay here, stop egging them on!"

"One of them said we could stay. If the rest of them don't agree, don't you think we'll be in trouble? They'll chase us out whether he wants them to or not."

Sparklez couldn't argue with that logic and when he glanced up at the tabby on the ledge, Syndicate's words seemed even more plausible. He didn't know what had changed during the trek here, but now the tabby had the same distrust in his eyes as the others. The high stone walls that had seemed like a perfect place to shelter just seconds before now loomed like the sides of a monstrous cage. There would be no easy escape if another fight was started. Sparklez ears flicked back against his head in sudden fright, afraid that perhaps they had been tricked by the tabby's kindness and that they were in the middle of a trap.

"Keep your fur on, all of you! Acting like that is only going to put them on edge too."

A loud voice filled with annoyance suddenly sounded from beside them. Sparklez flinched slightly and spun around, still half-expecting to be attacked. The speaker was a gray tabby with odd-looking blue eyes, it took Sparklez a second to realize that he was blind. An older tabby followed up behind him, with leaves and plants in her mouth. He turned to her, expecting that she was this "Jayfeather".

"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I'm useless, mousebrain."

The tabby spoke again, as if reading his mind, this time with a growl echoing in his throat. Gulping and ducking his head in embarrassment, Sparklez struggled to find a response that wouldn't offend the tabby. Syndicate quickly took advantage of his awkward silence.

"Yeah, Sparklez! Why you gotta be so darude to these cats? They've been nothing but kind to us!" He called mockingly.

Jayfeather glanced over at the tortoiseshell for a second, his unseeing eyes seeming to scorch through his fur, and then rested on Jericho. He moved over and motioned for Firefoxx to move out of the way. She looked indignant for a second, but when met with the tabby's glare she quickly backed off to let him work. The light brown tabby dropped some of the leaves beside him.

"I'll need some marigold and horsetail for the minor wounds, Leafpool."

"That nasty cut along his shoulder will need some mallow as well."

"Only if we have any left, if we don't just bring the marigold and horsetail."

The two of them moved with startling efficiency, even Jayfeather seemed to know the exact severity of the wounds despite not being able to see them. Jericho's eyes were half closed and he didn't seem to be focusing much on what any of them were saying. Is he really hurt that badly? Sparklez wondered worriedly, sparking terrified thoughts of Jericho not making it through this.

"Stop panicking. He's just going through a little shock, I'm guessing you've been through a lot today and that would explain it."

Jayfeather stated bluntly, surprising Sparklez again with how much he knew about what was going on around him. Shifting his paws awkwardly again and then sitting down, he watched the two tabbies work. Jayfeather was washing some of the blood away with wet moss, while Leafpool instructed Syndicate to do the same.

"W-what?! With my tongue? That's disgusting."

"How else are you going to clean the wounds?"

"With moss, like your using on Jericho!"

"Only because he can't do it himself. We only have so much moss, you know."

Leafpool seemed to be showing infinite patience with Syndicate, where as, Jayfeather kept shooting him annoyed glares as he listened to him complain. Sparklez glanced around self-consciously as he realized what a fuss his friend was making over something that seemed to be common knowledge among the clan. While they were being taken care of, the tabby had explained to the rest of them the situation. Several of the clan cats openly protested, while most just glanced at them periodically with wary, unhappy eyes.

"They don't want us here."

Sparklez turned away to see that Firefoxx had sat down next to him. She looked pretty tired as well, even though she wasn't hurt as bad. She was obviously worrying over Jericho. Her words rang true, though, because he could still here the cats arguing around them.

"They've got to be kittypets, look at the thing on that tabby! That's no leaf I've ever seen."

"The other Clans will never let us hear the end of it."

"I thought we were through with bringing more kittypets into the clan, we have enough mouths to feed anyway."

The tabby leader was starting to look overwhelmed, doubt crossing his face. Sparklez flicked his tail nervously, wondering if they were about to be driven out. To his surprise, Firefoxx suddenly stood up and marched closer to the ledge. She was clearly worn out beyond belief, but she managed to keep her head held high. A couple of the cats around them let out hisses of distrust, but the tabby lashed his tail and they quieted down. The fox-colored she-cat took a deep breath to steady her nerves and then spoke loudly;

"I know we're strangers to you, and you have no reason to trust us, but can you please put your doubt aside for just a little bit? My boyfriend is hurt so bad he can't move and the rest of us are injured too. We can't leave like this anyway, Jericho wouldn't make it off your territory without collapsing. All we ask for is a little kindness, we'll move on as soon as we're able to, I promise."

The tabby nodded slightly at her words, impressed by her bravery of speaking to a group of cats she didn't know, and who clearly didn't like her. Most of clan seemed to pacify with her speech, as well. They glanced over at Jericho, not knowing the meaning of the word "boyfriend" but they assumed it was like her mate. This softened a lot of them, seeing her loyalty to her friends. Eventually the protests died down and meows of agreement rang out, the Mianite crew would be allowed to stay until their wounds healed.

-Bramblestar's POV-

The leader let out a silent sigh of relief, after seeing how the orange she-cat calmed the clan down. Jayfeather and Leafpool began moving Jericho to the medicine cats den, with the tortoiseshell and the she-cat following along. The black and white cat glanced around, not knowing what to do. His wounds were minor and were practically healed already just by time itself.

Just as Bramblestar was about to jump down and speak to him, Lionblaze, who was acting as deputy in Squirrelflight's place, paced up to him and began talking amiably. He motioned to the fresh-kill pile and the two toms padded over to it. Confident that the newcomer was in good paws, Bramblestar hopped off the highledge and headed towards the place that the other three had disappeared to.

Jayfeather met him just as he was about to enter the den, knowledge flashing in his pale blue eyes. They padded side by side out of camp, Bramblestar knew that Jayfeather's next words would not be for idle ears and he didn't want the clan to panic again.

"You thought of the prophecy too?" The leader asked.

"Of course." Jayfeather replied curtly.

"Then was I wrong to bring them here? Are they the dark force the prophecy mentions?"

"They hardly seem like dark forces to me."

Bramblestar was growing annoyed of Jayfeather's short, tart replies. The tabby medicine cat obviously thought they had something to do with the prophecy, but if they weren't a threat, what value did they hold to it? Unless they're the four the it speaks of! A sudden thought struck him. He voiced his idea with trembling whiskers, and Jayfeather seemed to become just as annoyed.

"No! They're neither the dark force, nor the Four. This prophecy has something to do with us getting our powers back and I think these cats can help us. They can lead us to the dark force."

The gray tabby was very adamant with his response, but Bramblestar could see that he lacked the conviction he normally had with these type of things. It suddenly dawned on Bramblestar just how difficult it was for Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Dovewing to cope without their powers. Now, presented with a prophecy that sounded like it would return those powers, Jayfeather refused to believe it meant anything other than that. Which means they could still be the Four it mentions...Bramblestar decided, becoming more convinced with every passing heartbeat.

Jayfeather flashed him another angry look and then turned to go back to camp, using the excuse of checking on how the injured strangers were coming along. The dark tabby leader was left alone in the forest with his thoughts.

"They'll stay until their fully healed...and hopefully the clan will have warmed up to them by then. Maybe the dark force with have made itself known by then, and they'll know how to deal with it." He decided aloud, confidence filling him. They would beat this prophecy and avoid a tragedy like the Great Battle.

AN: Haven't read through this chapter, since I'm not feeling all to well right now, so feel free to point out any errors and I'll fix them. I have tomorrow's chapter half-done, but I don't know if I'll have it finished in time. I might take a few days break from posting anything, just a heads up.