As Princess slipped over the fence, she broke out into a run. A combination of freedom and excitement coursed through her veins, and the shadowy trees flashed past her. Eventually, the dirt became rough and over-turned, so she could no longer run so carelessly. Firestar had once told her that the only way to get beyond the Clan Lands was to go through WindClan territory, all of which was moorlands, so she looked for a place where the trees began to break up.
As she ran, she remembered a few times that Firestar had taught her a few simple hunting moves. Now, as she looked around her, she didn't think that there was anything for her to practice on. Her eyes narrowed with worry at the lack of animals around, and it made her worry that this meant that it would be even harder to hunt.
Stopping suddenly to scent the air, she could faintly smell something similar to her brother's scent. ThunderClan, wasn't it? It was mingled with many others, and nervously she twitched her whiskers. If the danger was so bad that it made all those cats leave, she better be especially careful. The good news was that now she had a trail to follow, no matter how faint it was. She began to walk, not run, towards the way the scent led.
At long last, the trees began to open up. But what Princess say was not open moorland, but torn up earth and trees. This disturbed the tabby, and with all of her energy, she dashed across the land. All she wanted to do was get away from this place of destruction, and see her brother and son again. The memory of Firestar's orange pelt and Cloudtail's blue eyes drove her on even harder.
At long last, moorland appeared, though much of it was also torn up. Panting, she slowed down, and continued on towards the other side of the area. There was something up in the distance, a sort of building. She was exhausted, and the thought of shelter fully awakened how tired she was. Looking up in the sky, she finally realized just how long she had been traveling. The moon had just risen when she started, and now it was about halfway to the center of the sky.
Though this was much longer then it would have taken a Clan cat (who would have known the area better and was stronger), Princess still felt like she was being pushed to her limits. All of that running was using up the energy she had from her last meal, and it was far later then she normally stayed out. Briefly, she wondered how her housefolk would react when the morning came and she wasn't waiting by the back door, as she always did on the few times she slept outside.
Her tired paws continued to carry her body, though as the shelter loomed on the horizon sleepiness continued to grow in her mind. All of her adrenaline was gone, and her eyes drooped. The excitement of seeing her kin again had given her an extra spurt of energy, but even that was fading fast. She had to get to the house-thing. If there was someone else who lived there, this tabby didn't care! A roof over her head was all she wanted right now, and no one was going to take it from her. Completely exhausted, Princess managed to drag herself inside. Sleep finally consumed her mind and she collapsed onto the ground.