Each step that Parsleypaw took, sent pain shooting through the pads of his paws. He knew they must have been cracked, possibly even bleeding, but he was afraid to look.

Maybe leaving his clan wasn't such a good idea, after all, how could he ever look after himself? He wasn't brave, or strong, or smart, the only thing he was really good at was running away from his problems.

Your clan is much better off without you, Fennelpaw won't have you dragging him down anymore. A small voice in his head whispered, convicing him to keep going forward. He didn't know where he was going, or where he would end up, he just knew that he wanted to be as far away from the HerbClan territory as he could possibly get.

I wonder what it'd be like to be a kittypet, he thought to himself, as he spotted a row of twoleg nests in the distance. He would have to take extra care not to be spotted by any of the twolegs that might be roaming about. However, if they did spot him, would that really be such a bad thing?

He shook his head, no way could he ever be comfortable living in a twoleg nest, he needed room to run, he needed to feel the grass against his pelt, he needed to be awoken by birdsong every morning.

"Stop!" a shrill meow send a shiver down Parsleypaw's spine, and his felt the fur on his spine rise.
Had someone from HerbClan come to collect him? The meow didn't sound like any cat from HerbClan, and it couldn't have been any cat from any of the other clans, he wasn't even in the forest anymore.

"I know you," the cat meowed, sounding a little more calm this time. Parsleypaw slowly turned around, and found himself looking at a fluffy black she-cat with green eyes. She appeared to be only a few moons older than him.

"How do you know me? Did we see each other at a gathering once?" he asked, wondering if maybe she was a clan cat who decided to leave home too.

She shook her head.

"I'm part of no clan."

"Okay then, were you there in the battle between the alley cats and the clan cats?" he asked, bristling, if this cat was there, then she was obviously on the alley cat side.

"No, I've dreamt about you," she meowed, seeming unbothered by his reaction.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You've dreamt about me? Why?"

"Not only about you, but three other cats as well, a flower cat, a dark cat, and a water cat, you're the herb cat, no?"

"Not anymore, I left that life behind me," Parsleypaw meowed. Wondering who this strange cat was, and how she knew so much about the clans.

"But you mustn't! You're needed, the prophecy says so!" she exclaimed with her green eyes growing wide.

"Prophecy? How did you have a prophecy? You're not a medicine cat," Parsleypaw spat.

The she-cat's eyes suddenly rolled back in her head, and she muttered something, as though she were in a trance.

"Four who have faced great fear, must travel near, to find the one who is lost, but still here."

The first part of the prophecy made sense to Parsleypaw, and why it was him, after all, he faced great fear every day of his life, but the last part made absolutely no sense, how could someone be lost, but still be here?

"Do you understand the prophecy?" he decided to ask.

She shook her head.

"I was hoping you could tell me, I've been dreaming about it for moons now, and in my dreams, I've seen your face."

"Have you seen any other cats in your dreams?" he asked.

"Just outlines, which was the same as you, before I saw you, after seeing you, I just knew."

"You know this is completely mouse-brained right? StarClan doesn't just give prophecies to random cats, not when our clans have medicine cats," Parsleypaw meowed.

"It's not my fault that they decided to visit me," she meowed.

Parsleypaw just nodded, he was at a loss for words, could what she was saying be true? Was there really a prophecy that involved him? He shook his head, no way, he was way too unimportant, the HerbClan cat was probably Fennelpaw. Then again, Fennelpaw wasn't scared of anything, so the first part wouldn't make sense for him.

"Do you want to come to my barn? You look like you could use some rest," the she-cat meowed.

"No thank you," Parsleypaw replied, he didn't want to go into some strange cat's territory, especially not a strange cat who seemed to be crazy.

"It's not so bad, there's just a few cows, named Daisy, Daffodil, Tulip, and Rose, and a dog named Coco."

"A dog?" Parsleypaw let out a small hiss, "I appreciate the offer, but if you think I'm going to go anywhere near a dog, then you're crazier than I thought!"

The cat frowned.

"You think I'm crazy?"

"Yes!" Parsleypaw exclaimed.

"I've been told that so many times, it doesn't affect me anymore," she meowed, though Parsleypaw could tell she was lying. He didn't call her out on it though, he had more important things to focus on, like, where would he live? How would he survive on his own? Maybe he should take up her offer, and go to the barn. The thought of the dog sent a shiver down his spine, making him realize that wasn't a very good idea. Not to mention those cows, whatever they were.

"I'm Shadow by the way," she added.

"I'm Parsleypaw, though you probably already knew that."

"Well Parsleypaw, if you don't want to share my barn with me, does that mean you're going to go home to your clan?" Shadow asked.

"No way! My home isn't there anymore, my clan, they don't need me-"

"Ugh! Stop being so negative and selfish! I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad if you just tried!" Shadow spat.

"That's easy for you to say," Parsleypaw growled, "You're just a loner, you don't have anyone to disappoint."

Shadow averted her gaze, and Parsleypaw felt a sharp stab of guilt, wondering if maybe he had been to harsh on her. After all, it wasn't her fault she was born into the life that she was. Besides, wasn't he techincally a loner now himself?

"I think you should go, but remember what I told you, and please try to not let your personal feelings get in the way of helping your clan, I don't think StarClan would like that very much."

Parsleypaw opened his mouth, to ask how a loner knew about StarClan, but like the leaves in leaf-bare, she was gone, leaving him to wonder if she had ever really been there at all.