The Sparrow and The Princess

Sierra needed to leave. She was in a tough spot though. If she stayed, her life as she knew it was over. If she left, she would be free to do what she wanted. She wiped her hands on the gray jeans she was wearing, her nerves making her sweat. She took a peek out of the room she was in, trying not to alert any guards. when she was satisfied that no one would be alerted, she took a few steps out into the hallway. A map of the place floated in her head. Down two floors, left, right, left. She silently chanted the directions in her head as she reached the stairs. She glanced over the railing to see two guards conversing. Any minute now, they would start their patrol and she could go down. They started to move, and she waited about a minute before descending the stairs. She wanted to take them two at a time but she knew not to rush. Just as she was getting ready to head down the second set of stairs a radio crackled in the distance. She jumped and crouched, intent on listening to what was being said. "Sector Patrol, be on the look out for a young lady. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Unsure of what she's wearing. She is to be apprehended and detained." Sierra silently cursed to herself. She had been hoping to get out of this fortress undetected, but luck was not on her side. She descended the second set of stairs, the guards missing her by seconds. She briskly walked down the hallway and took turns without incident, but she was still on alert. Left, right, left. She was sure the guards would start at the top floor and work their way down. She was unsure of how much time she had left to make her escape. She came to the last fork where she'd have to take a left turn easily enough. A look to her left told her that the hallway was empty. She pushed a dark lock of hair out of her face and took a few tentative steps forward. Finding no signs of guards or any recent activity, she snuck forward. Footsteps echoed just as she crouched behind a few crates. She felt like her life hung in the balance and if she was caught it would all be over. She peeked out from behind the crates to see a guard pacing down the hall towards her. Please, don't let him see me. She mentally begged whatever God was listening to her. The sound of a radio crackling to life made her hold her breath. The guard was on the other side of the crates. "Is the sector secure?" a voice on the radio questioned, followed by a beeping. This caused the guard Sierra was currently hiding from to turn away from her. She thought she was surely done for. Her heart beat loudly in her ears and she was sure the guard could hear her too. The bay that held the ship, and her freedom, was just within reach down the corridor. "All clear," a gruff voice answered. The guard turned around and marched back to where he had come from. Sierra let out the breath she was holding. She peeked out from the crates to make sure the guard was truly gone. She couldn't stay one more day in this place. If the fight she had with her parents earlier wasn't enough to make her want to leave, the fact that there was something more than what she was used to was. She started forward when a flashlight beam hit against the hallway wall, alerting her that guards were just behind her. She started to run forward, eager to get to the ship bay, boots pounding behind her. "She's here!" A guard exclaimed behind her. She stole a glance and noticed it was a younger guard than the one who had cleared the sector earlier. This only made her try to run faster. The little fighter space ship was the closest as she burst into the ship's bay. It was huge and housed a transport ship, a few fighter ships, and a cargo ship. She jumped into the little fighter plane and closed the glass hatch just before the guard came tumbling towards it. He wouldn't dare shoot, she was too valuable to be dead. As the guard pounded onto the door, she started the engines of the ship. Sensing a ship's movement, the bay doors opened and she was off, flying out of the doors and towards the sky. Towards freedom she never had the luxury of actually having. She left pristine white walls and perfectly manicured gardens behind her. The inky blackness of space was her destination. She needed to leave the planet of Maira and not come back. It would do her no good to go back. Space flight was one of her lesser skills. Sierra had been taught proper lady things, along with a great deal of diplomacy. She was sure she had enough jet fuel to last her to the next planet at least. She let out a laugh, one that probably felt like it was full of insanity. No, she had left insanity behind. Now, she just needed to start a new life. It shouldn't be hard. She could make herself seem like a nobody quite easily, she was sure. Just as she was trying to breach the stratosphere, shots rang out around her. She panicked and started to steer erratically to avoid them. The guards were actually shooting at her. This was such a surprise. She maneuvered the little fighter plane around a few trees. She was so close to the stratosphere and to space she could almost taste it. A shot clipped the left side wing of her plane, causing some smoke to billow out of it. She looked back to see the guards that were pursuing her suddenly dip away and move back to the building she had left. She plunged through the stratosphere and into the inky blackness of space with not a scratch on her but a pretty beat-up fighter plane. The smoke had come to a stop thanks to the void of space. However, she knew she would have to fix it or risk crashing somewhere. The nearest planet was several hours away. She couldn't remember what button to push to go into hyper drive and pushed quite a few. The fourth button activated it and burned a significant amount of jet fuel to get her going forward. She saw a few pieces of metal fly off the left wing, where the damage was. Unsure if she would make it to the next planet, she started to pray in her mind. Just get me to the next planet. She would do anything as long as she could get to the next planet. More pieces flew off her plane, and she knew she was done for. Just as hope was lost, she saw a planet looming towards her. "Here goes nothing," she said as she flew towards it. Her plane started to shake horribly as it breached the stratosphere of the new planet. Alarms started to go off on the panel of buttons in front of her. Unsure of how badly her plane was injured, she pulled up on the steering wheel. The ground was coming at her much too fast. She let out a scream as her plane collided onto desert sand. She hit her head against the wheel and blacked out from the impact. She only hoped she wouldn't die from this.