Search Story of Shaeya Shaeya huddled in the corner of the cold room, her knees pulled tight against her chest and her chin tucked in to keep the cold from her neck. She could hear loud voices in the room outside where she was hiding, but she remained silent, hoping they would either get themselves drunk and pass out before really looking for her, or they would leave because they got fed up with yelling at each other. A pain in her abdomen reminded her that her mensus had come again and she sighed in relief. She knew that, yet again, she wasn't pregnant, though she had a sinking feeling her luck was running out and she soon would be. A slam pronounced her first guess wrong and she shivered. One of them was still in the house, and probably would be looking for her, if not her sister, soon. Shaeya hated men. As far back as she could remember they had abused her mother, and then her sister and herself. After her mother died and Shaeya and her sister were left with their father, he had found ample things to do with them. Each more perverted and disgusting than the last. And she didn't trust women enough to ask any for help. The only women at her house were whores or captives, and so they were even more messed up than she, and much less likely to help someone in need. Praying that her father's friend wasn't looking for her at that very moment, Shaeya slid from her hiding spot and went in a quiet search for her sister. Dirty clothes lay strewn over the floor that Shaeya would have to clean up whenever whoever it was in the house was asleep for passed out, and she had to bake something more to eat and tend the garden, and the horses still had to be fed and watered. Shaeya sighed, exhausted at the sheer idea of having so much to do. A slam and thud from the kitchen made Shaeya flinch and she rose slowly from her crouch, looking over her shoulder as she groped her way along the dark room to the back door, pausing outside to make sure no one had heard her retreating. With a small sigh of relief, Shaeya stretched and yawned, letting her long legs carry her quickly to the barn. Slipping in the door, Shaeya let out a soft sigh and called her sister's name softly in the dark, hearing only the rustle of a horse shifting in answer. "Narha? Etln?"" She called a little louder, not daring to say anything too loudly and thinking that perhaps her sister and her flit were caught inside as she had been. About to leave and head back to the house, a soft light flickered and Shaeya blinked and squinted. "Narha, why didn't you answer me?" Narha didn't say anything, and Etln still hadn't appeared, but Narha's small face with smudged with tears and she was pointing behind her. With a frown, Shaeya took a step forward and almost screamed when one of her father's friends appeared from the shadows and grabbed her by her long copper curls. Narha let out a soft cry and stepped forward to defend her sister, and was backhanded across to the wall, where she slumped to the floor in either a very good faint, or a dead weight. Shaeya was too preoccupied to notice which. With a growl, the man wrapped a thick, heavy hand around her waist and pulled her close, lifting a lock of her hair to his face and breathing deeply. Shaeya dropped her hand to her side, her fingers scrambling for her knife, and she remembered that she had taken it off when she had gone for a bath. Cursing herself, Shaeya tried to pull her head away when he leaned in for a kiss, making her gag on his stale breath. With an experienced hand, Shaeya pried him off her and stumbled backwards, her hands reaching behind her for the pitchfork they kept by the door. When her hand connected with the stiff material of someone's trousers, Shaeya groaned and made to turn, but her hair was caught in a large fist and she barely saw the fist rushing towards her face before she didn't remember anything more. ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ "...wake up, Shae!" Narha danced in Shaeya's vision as she forced her eyes open, wondering what was around them that made it so hard to see. Etln was perched on her sister's shoulder and cooed gently, tilting her amber head to look better at her owner. Narha sported a purple bruise along one side of her face, and Shaeya could see a long welt along her shoulder and probably down her back. Licking a split lip, Shaeya sat up slowly and blinked her eyes furiously as her entire body erupted in tiny pinpricks of pain. Narha watched her closely, biting her bottom lip until droplets of blood appeared. "You look like an ant ripped you apart." Narha said glumly, wiping at a dried streak of blood by her temple. Shaeya rubbed her own temples, her head pounding, and looked outside. Etln gave a sad trill as a shaft of light came inside and hoped onto Shaeya's knee, avoiding her shoulders. "It's morning?" She squeaked, her shoulders drooping as she thought of their father's temper. "Afternoon." Narha said with a grimace, rubbing at a bruise on her arm. Shaeya automatically reached out and pressed a soothing hand against it, smiling sympathetically at her little sister for not being able to provide something better for her. "Dad's passed out still, and his friend's went home after he went at them with his knife. I stayed out here with you. He was pretty mad." Narha said quietly, ignoring Shaeya's protests and gently scrubbing at the dried blood on her skin. "He's not gonna be happy to see you like this." "I'm not happy to see me like this." Shaeya muttered, trying not to cry. Etln placed a warm clawed hand on Shaeya's knee and trilled her encouragement. "Do I want to know what happened after I blacked?" Narha went white and shook her head, her mouth opened in a tiny 'oh' of horror as she recalled last's nights events. Etln squeaked angrily. Shaeya nodded and left it at that. If Narha said she didn't want to know, she didn't want to know. "You didn't black, though. That stupid drunk hit you with something after knocking you around." "I know that." Shaeya said dryly, raising a timid finger to the swollen bruise around her eyes. "There was a visitor this morning da sent running." Narha said quietly, rinsing out the bloody cloth and turning to Shaeya's back. Narha remained still for a few moments, and Shaeya gritted her teeth. "Someone nicely dressed and decent looking." Etln twittered in agreement. "Then of course he'd send them running." Shaeya said through her clenched teeth, small tears seeping from the corner of her eyes. Narha saw them and tried to hurry while being more gentle. The two didn't go to well together. "He asked for the two of us. More specifically you." Narha added, pausing again to look around at Shaeya's face. "I don't know what he'd want with me." Shaeya said truthfully, wondering if maybe her knight in shining armour had come to save her. That's what her mother used to tell her, that someday her knight would come to save her, free her from her bonds. She'd stopped believing that right after her mother had died and her father had turned his unwanted attention to his daughters. Narha took a shuddering breath in and stopped, throwing the cloth across the room and sending Etln screaming to the windowsill, flipping her wings around angrily. "I'm sick of this!," she cried, dissolving into tears on Shaeya's shoulder, "I'm sick of being tired and scared and hurting. Shaeya, I just want to die sometimes!" Shaeya swallowed hard and wrapped her skinny, bony arms around her sister, pulling her coppery head next to her own and shushing softly. She didn't say that she did as well, that anything would be better than what she had at the moment, but the words caught in her throat and she just rocked back and forth on the floor of the barn with her sister. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you something better, Narha. I'm so sorry." She whispered, tears welling out of her own eyes as well. "Oh Shae! It's not you. You're the only thing I feel safe around." Narha confessed, sitting back and staunching the tears. "I'm over a month late. I think I'm pregnant." Shaeya sat in stunned and grim silence. Her thirteen-year-old sister was pregnant by the dragons know who, while she, Shaeya, was not. She felt a thick shroud of guilt settle around her shoulders and she decided, even as the tears poured from her eyes and sobs wracked her body, that it was time she got away. Rising, Shaeya pulled a board from the floor, and to both Etln's and Narha's surprise, pulled out a bag filled with clothes and food. "We're leaving." Narha started crying again as she threw her arms around Shaeya, and the two of them quickly tacked up two horses. It was mid-afternoon by the time they were ready, and neither thought to check the house before leaving. Etln soared above their heads, chirping happily, and Shaeya and Narha set out. "Where do you think you're going?" A loud voice bellowed from behind them, Shaeya cringing just as hard as Narha. They looked back to see their father staggering out of the house behind them, and Shaeya thought for a moment about spurring the horses and running, but it flew from her mind as a man ran up the drive and stopped by Shaeya and Narha, disgust on his face as he took in their conditions. "I want you to wait over that hill for me. Grab your bags, but leave your horses." "Why should we?" Shaeya asked bitterly, looking from the man to her father and then to Narha. Etln had flown ahead, and came roaring back to chatter excitedly at Shaeya's head. "What's wrong with you?" The man had moved on, and Narha was pulling on her arm, so Shaeya followed her sister and the flit, not bothering to look back at the hell-hole she was leaving behind. As they crested the hill, Shaeya dropped to her knees and stared. A dragon sat waiting, his huge wings spread to either side as he looked lazily about. He bellowed happily when he caught sight of her and Narha, and Narha flew down the hill. Shaeya hung back, afraid of the large beast as she had only ever seen them in the sky. "He doesn't bite." Shaeya jumped and looked at the man, her eyes narrowing on the patch on his arm. He was a searcher. "I can get you out of here. Give you and your sister a new life." "That's something I could never do for her." Shaeya said sadly, watching her sister clamber around the dragon. "I can." He whispered fiercely, refraining from touching her. Shaeya respected him for that, but her trust was still wavering. When he smiled at her, though, a warmth touched her heart. No man had ever smiled at her, beautiful as she didn't realize she was. "Please?" Shaeya pleaded, following the man to the dragon and hoping that she wasn't making a mistake. Etln landed on her shoulder and chirped encouragingly, and Shaeya felt slightly better. It couldn't get worse. She wouldn't let it. Shaeya is a bonder at the Healing Den Etln is from Falas Weyr