Chapter Text
Princess was incredibly worried about her family.
It had been more than half a moon since Firestar last came to visit.
He had said they were going to fight Bloodclan, and she mustn't go wandering into the forest. She kept her promise to stay home.
That is, until now.
Her worry for her family had finally overcome her fear of the forest, and as she jumped over the fence of her home, all she felt was the sheer determination to find out what happened to Firestar and Cloudtail.
The house cat landed on the soft forest floor, unsure of what direction to take. Firestar had described Thunderclan territory to her, but she had never been further than a few strides away from her home.
After a few moments, she decided to go straight, and hope she would meet a Thunderclan patrol, or stumble on their camp.
Princess tried not to think about what would happen if she was discovered by another clan, or worse - Bloodclan, so she occupied her mind by paying attention to her surroundings. All the trees seemed the same, the undergrowth thick with thorny bushes, and she quickly realized finding her way back would be nearly impossible.
She wondered about how clan cats even managed to find their way around the forest, then cursed under her breath as a thorny branch got tangled in her thick fur. Pulling herself free, Princess sighed and kept walking, refusing to give up so quickly.
The sun had started going down by the time Princess saw three cats prowling around the nearby cluster of bushes, not far away from her. By the time she wanted to call out to them, she had already been noticed, and the cats circled her, blocking any way of escape.
A brown tabby warrior spoke first, his fur bristling menacingly: "Who are you, kittypet and why are you intruding on Thunderclan territory?"
Princess shivered at his icy tone, but answered steadily, relieved to know that these were apparently Thunderclan warriors. "I'm Princess. Your leader’s sister.” Unable to wait much longer, she added: “Are Firestar and Cloudtail ok?"
The tabby seemed taken aback by the question, but before he could continue, one of his companions spoke, his voice excited. "Princess! Nice to finally meet you!" He was a dark gray tom with long shaggy fur and yellow eyes.
"I’m Graystripe. Firestar’s friend, and Thunderclan’s deputy.” He said awkwardly, clumsy with the introduction.
"I’ve heard a lot about you!” Princess exclaimed, happy to meet her brother’s best friend, and was relieved that not all clan cats were as hostile as they seemed at first.
Graystripe smiled, but before he could say anything more, the third cat interrupted, stepping closer to the brown tabby. "Can someone explain what's going on here?" she was a dusky brown she cat, wearing an annoyed expression.
Princess opened her mouth to speak, but Graystripe interrupted her. "As she said before, this is Firestar's sister. Mother of Cloudtail. Firestar’s told me about her before."
The two other cats paused for a moment, then nodded.
"What brings you here, so far into Thunderclan territory?" The dusky brown she cat asked, her tone still unfriendly, but not menacing anymore. “Firestar and Cloudtail must have told you we don't tolerate intruders."
Princess hung her head apologetically, then spoke. "I'm sorry to have come here, but a few weeks ago my brother and son visited me and told me I was not to leave my house folk, because you were going to fight some other clan. They never came back, and I became so worried, so I decided to find out if my family is ok."
The dusky brown she cat nodded impatiently. "Both of them are fine. Now. Are we done here? If so, we can escort this kittypet back to the Twolegplace. I don't like the fact that our territory has become more packed with intruders than the Fourtrees during gatherings!"
The brown tabby tom chuckled at her joke but shook his head. "Don’t hurry so much, Mousefur."
Princess mentally cataloged the name, remembering that Firestar had mentioned her before.
The brown tabby, whose name she had yet to learn, continued: "If we travel to the Twolegplace now, it will be dark by the time we get there, and I would prefer to be back in camp before nightfall."
Graystripe flicked his tail in agreement, before offering a different plan. "Brackenfur, I have an idea! We could take Princess to camp for the night. She could sleep with us tonight, and we could escort her home with the dawn patrol. We planned to head there anyway."
Mousefur seemed slightly displeased, muttering something about Thunderclan being filled with kittypets, but reluctantly agreed.
As the three clan cats picked up their prey and set off, Princess trotted behind them, fighting to keep up, yet happy to see her family again soon.
After a while, they had reached a part of the forest, where the trees parted to reveal a clearing, surrounded by a thick undergrowth of brambles. As they approached, Princess caught numerous scents of cats coming from somewhere behind the thick bushes.
Brackenfur pushed through the narrow entrance, followed by Mousefur and Graystripe. Princess went last, and as she emerged on the other side of the bushes, she barely suppressed an exited gasp at the sight that greeted her.
The clearing was large, with cats sitting all around it, some eating, others relaxing. As she was led through the camp and more cats noticed her, they started curiously glancing at her and whispering in hushed voices.
Mousefur and Brackenfur went to the other side of the camp, laying down their prey onto the fresh kill pile, and Princess was left with Graystripe, who nudged her towards a cavern under a large rock in the center of the camp. “That’s the leader’s den. I’m sure Firestar will be happy to see you. “
Princess nodded, and together the two cats entered the leader’s den.
The second they entered, Princess noticed her brother who was sitting in his nest. He seemed lost in thought, but mediately perked up when he saw them, rushing to touch noses with his sister. “Princess!” He meowed, sounding surprised. “What are you doing here?”
It was Graystripe who answered. “As far as I understand, she came looking for you and Cloudtail. Since you were as mouse brained as always, you failed to reassure her that we defeated Bloodclan and are still very much alive. It was getting dark outside, so I offered to let her spend the night with us.”
Princess flicked her tail to confirm Graystripe’s words, and Firestar nodded slightly guiltily. “Of course you can spend the night here. I’m so sorry I didn’t visit you sooner, but I had so much work with the clan that I couldn’t find any more time to do so. I should have come to reassure you much sooner.”
Princess shook her head good naturedly. “Absolutely no problem. Besides, it’s so exciting to finally see your clan. Never thought I would be able to come here, so dragging myself through the forest for a while was quite worth it.” She laughed, before turning around to look at the entrance, just in time to spot a familiar white tom entering the den.
“Hi Mom!” Cloudtail exclaimed, as she rushed to her son, greeting him eagerly. “Brackenfur just said you were here, so I decided to stop by.”
“You can’t even imagine how worried I was about you!”, Princess purred, burying her nose in her son’s fur, but before she could continue, a sand colored she cat interrupted them, poking her head into the den.
“I hate to disrupt the family reunion, but I think Firestar ought to make an announcement about our guest. The clan is getting restless.”
Firestar sighed. “Thanks Sandstorm. That is, in fact, a good idea. I don’t want any rumors spreading inside the clan.” Turning to face the rest of the cats, he flicked his tail towards the entrance. “Come on. It’s getting late, so we better get everyone settled.”