"Willow. Willow! WILLOW!" Marigold swore under her breath. Her best friend's thoughts were as fast as her running speed. Sometimes it was impossible to keep up with her, or she would just disappear into her dreamworld. Willow slowed to a jog. "Finally." Marigold thought, as she hurried over. The only time she would shut up was when she was out of breath. Little did she know that Willow had ignored her on purpose. She wanted some silence to think.

When Marigold finally caught up with Willow, the look on her friend's face left her too shocked to utter a word. There was an intensity in her eyes that Marigold had never seen before. Those grey blue eyes seemed to glow with such a fierce light that they seemed to turn into an ice blue. Willow blinked, and Marigold let out a breath. Her eyes were back to the soft blue that made one want to tell her anything and everything.

"Primrose Petal's been spreading rumours about you again."

"Tell me something I don't already know Marigold. You know I'm not deaf."

"No this one's different Willow. She's talking about how you go into this dreamlike trance where you think about the other realms even though you know that it is forbidden and how you will be the reason the Shadow awakes even though we all know that is a myth and she says one day you are going to be in big trouble and that's why you're ignoring everyone because..."

Willow held up her hand. "That's enough Marigold. I don't want to talk right now. I just want to have some time to think."

"But is is true Willow? Is it? Is it?"

"Just shut UP Marigold. I told you I want some time to think."

Willow winced at her own harshness, but it couldn't be helped. She really just wanted to think and the fact that Primrose's rumours about her was a little too close to the truth didn't help, even though the Shadow was just a story parents told their children to scare them to bed. Now though, things felt different. She wanted the Shadow to be real. Even more, she wanted the Hunters to be real.

Willow jumped back into reality. Already, Marigold had her back on Willow, walking away hurt and dejected. "Oh well," Willow thought, "It can't be helped." Again her mind wandered off to the story of the Hunters. She continued jogging home, her mind still lost in the clouds.

As she jogged back home, she suddenly thought of the speed she had. Deciding to test it, she ran across the forest, landing next to her little house. She must have generated wind as she ran because the moment she stopped outside, three beautiful flowers floated down into her hands. Willow flowers, she thought, just like me, and with them, I'm seriously going to find out what this is all about.