for now it's time to run, it's time to run!

"Speech"

The night was cool against her skin. Her elegant paws carefully picked their way through the undergrowth of the woods. She could almost taste her freedom. The slavers had camped at the northern edge of these woods, close to the water. They had been lazy and didn't recheck her binds after they offloaded her from the transport. This strange new land was so far away from home... She didn't mind, she wasn't intending to go back.

Could she really do it? Could she be her own woman? What would she do first? Will she introduce herself as one of the characters in those stories? Could she be a runaway princess? Ready to fall in love with her rescuing prince?

A branch snap had her freeze in the darkness and slowly hunker down. Her green eyes trying to peel through the layers of foliage and shadows. Another snap and she flattened herself into the ground, catching her hushed breath behind her teeth. A rustling of foliage announced the visitor behind her. It took everything in her not to bolt. Was it one of the slavers who came to recapture her? A predator? A stranger? She felt like she was going to die if she stayed where she was any longer. Slowly she crawled over the mulch and soil. Her limbs trembling with excitement and fear. So close...