Search Story of Virinia Virinia lay, curled up on her bed, crying. Or at least, she had been. It seemed that every drop of liquid was gone from her body, leaving her with nothing but dry, wracking sobs that shook her body. Her nearest and dearest friend, Aria, sat on the bed beside her, wiping at her forehead with a cool cloth. “You have to tell them.” She whispered, patting Virinia’s arm gently and giving a tiny sigh. “I told you this might happen. It usually does when you hang around with that group.” “It’s not…like I planned…this.” Virinia managed as hiccups settled in place instead of tears. Aria pursed her lips and shook her head, anger settling into her kind, honey-colored eyes. Virinia was glad she knew it wasn’t directed at her. “I’m…sorry.” “Don’t you dare apologize to me.” Aria admonished firmly, her voice tight as she hugged Virinia close. “He should be apologizing to you. Like you said, it’s not like you planned this. And he should know better.” “What do I tell my parents?” Virinia whispered, feeling her dark green eyes widening as she imagined her parent’s reaction. It wasn’t pretty. “We’ll wait and see what happens.” Aria said, just as softly. Virinia didn’t have the best relationship with her parents. It wasn’t that she didn’t love or appreciate them, it’s just that she found them…confining. Being the tiny bit of a party animal she was, her parent’s strictures were too stiff for her taste, and so she mostly ignored them. Suddenly, she found herself wishing she hadn’t. “Have you seen him?” Virinia asked, a tiny flicker of hope still beating deep in her heart. Aria frowned. “Please, Aria?” “I saw him this morning. He was asking after you.” She told Virinia, turning her back and refusing to meet her friends piercing gaze. “And?” Virinia prodded, sitting up and gently touching Aria’s arm. “Please, Aria. I have a right to know.” “He shouldn’t have touched you.” Aria snapped, again growing angry with someone who wasn’t there. “He had no right. He violated yours. I never should have let you sneak out.” “Aria, I sneaked out, not you. It’s not your fault, at all.” Virinia confided, wrapping her arms around Aria and sighing lightly against her back. “He had a girl with him, didn’t he?” “You know how he loves his pets.” Aria said dryly, and Virinia winced. She’d been his pet for a good while, though how she’d ever been so stupid, she wasn’t sure. “Who was she?” “I’ve never seen her before.” Aria said, much more softly than Virinia would have expected. “Oh, Rini. He told me to tell you that you two were done. I think he suspects.” “Of course he suspects!” Virinia said, surprised her friend hadn’t heard. “I blew up at him at the party last week. I think, well, he kind of figured it out.” Aria and Virinia sat in uncomfortable silence, and Aria sighed again, shaking her head. Virinia looked at her friend and felt a pang of jealousy. Aria was engaged to a blacksmith who was absolutely besotted with her, and she needed nothing in her life. She was pretty and smart; she was an excellent healer, well respected. Virinia could almost see a halo hovering above her golden hair. Touching her own black curls, rather disarrayed at the moment, she felt…dirty. “Are you sure?” Aria asked again, and Virinia pursed her lips in irritation. “You’re a healer, Aria. You see this a hundred times a year. What do you think?” Virinia asked rather shortly. Aria didn’t seem to notice. “You do show all the signs I usually associate with pregnancy, but…Virinia, what are you going to do? You know your father will not be pleased.” “Not be pleased? He’ll probably disown me. But Aria, I can’t just abandon it! It’s not the baby’s fault.” She added the last part as a whisper, pressing the flat of her hand against her slightly protruding midsection. As much as the situation distressed Virinia, she felt…excited, when she thought of holding her baby. She looked forward to being a mother, strange as it sounded. She refused to admit that was maybe why she hadn’t screamed when he had dragged her up to his room, away from the party. “He wouldn’t.” Aria said firmly, though her voice wavered. “He would, and you know it.” Virinia chided gently, licking her lips uncertainly. “Either that, or he’ll try to marry me off to some…monster.” “Oh, Rini. If he ever tries to do that, you know you’re welcome here.” Aria whispered, hugging Virinia again and straightening her hair. “I have to go.” Virinia said with a tiny grimace. She’d avoided telling her parents thus far, but that morning she’d had a rather violent case of morning sickness. They voiced their…concerns, as she rushed out the door to get to Aria’s. “I’ll come with you if you want.” Aria offered. Virinia smiled and shook her head. “I couldn’t ask you to do that. You know I wouldn’t.” “I know.” Aria said with another sigh. “I wish I could do something to help you.” “You have.” Virinia said, standing and giving Aria a quick hug before she made her way carefully down the stairs and into the street. It was an ugly day, with dark clouds staining the sky and the wind bending trees almost to the point of breaking. It fit Virinia’s mood almost to a ‘T’. Picking up her skirt, she started down the street when a hooded figure stepped out suddenly in front of her, making her stop rather abruptly. “Pardon.” She said softly, stepping to the side. Amusingly, the man stepped to the side as well. Virinia murmured an apology and stepped to the other side. The man followed her. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” She asked, a tiny flutter of uncertainty touching her gut. Stepping back, Virinia let out a tiny yelp when she backed into someone. She hadn’t even realized anyone had come up behind. “This her?” One of them asked gruffly, and Virinia licked her licks and shivered. “Looks like. Pretty enough. Shame, though.” “Gentlemen, if you’d just give me a little space, I’m sure I could help you find whoever you’re looking for. Or not.” Virinia added as one of them flashed a short, wicked-looking knife. “I do hope you’re careful with that.” “Oh, I’m very careful.” The first man said with a smile wide enough for Virinia to make out under the dark hood. It was when he made a grab for Virinia that she gave a low growl and swung her fists, hard, right at his face. He gave a grunt and dropped back, and Virinia was already spinning around, holding her arm stiff as a board as she chopped at the side of the other man’s neck. Which was when she saw the other two standing in the shadow between two buildings. Stifling a whimper, she picked up her skirts, hiked them up, really, to well above her knees, and ran. Virinia, thankfully, had always been on the athletic side; riding, swimming and running, mostly. At that moment, she was very happy she didn’t have on any silly slippers and that her stomach was staying clam enough for her to just go. Muffled curses sounded behind her, and the sound of boots crunching on the gravel road. Virinia was running along the grassy side, and looking behind decided she wasn’t just going to lose these people. It was the middle of the day, almost, but it was gloomy out so most people chose to stay indoors. Pity for me, Virinia thought as she darted off the side of the road and ran for the trees that stood not more than one hundred paces away. The first twigs hitting her skin were a shock, and a nasty one at that. Virinia was starting to breath heavy; she’d always been athletic, but that didn’t mean she was exceptionally good at anything. Truth be told, she was fairly average when it all came down to it. Average speed, strength, stamina, even her size was average. Her face was prettier than some, but running through the trees, the thoughts flickered briefly through her mind in what was almost regret, and she pushed herself onwards. “Find her!” Someone bellowed not far to her right and side. She heard a horse snort and whinny and felt her heart stop for a moment. They could easily outrun her with a horse, especially now that most of the underbrush had been cleared out of this area. Grinding her teeth, she stopped running and stood for a moment, her mind whirling. She was soaked through, from the water dripping down from the trees and splashing up as she ran. She wouldn’t last long when the cold settled in, but she had a feeling she’d last a longer time than if these…pursuers found her. Making up her mind, Virinia found a large, bushy tree, and started climbing. Pulling herself up to the lowest branch was the hardest part, as she didn’t have an extraordinary amount of upper body strength, but the yells behind her was pumping adrenaline through her veins and suddenly she was up. Trying very hard not to look down, Virinia reached for the next one and kept climbing, keeping close to the trunk. When she finally stopped, her hands stinging with a thousand tiny cuts, Virinia looked down and bit her bottom lip to keep from crying. She had a head for heights, but the four men gathering in the clearing she had recently vacated was enough to make anyone cry. “She can’t just disappear.” The one on the dark horse snapped, and Virinia shivered and sat down on the branch to make herself less noticeable. She blessed her mother for having taken all her bright clothes and leaving only the brown skirt and creamy colored shirt. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she leaned sideways and tilted her head to listen. She was very good at listening. “…want her found?” The tallest one asked softly, shifting uncomfortably when all three looked at him. “Seemed like a nice lady, is all. Can’t have done all those bad things.” “Maybe you should think less and do more.” The short, stocky one snapped. “I, for one, have never seen her.” “You don’t even live around here. I know her, seen her around anyway. At the parties. Kind of quiet, stuck with her own. Sweet, though, and innocent looking.” ”You want the money for the job or not?” Horse man said, his voice boorish and mean. Virinia felt herself frowning. She knew one of them? “I want the money.” Tall guy said, and the quiet one nodded, cracking his knuckles and chuckling. “She can’t have gone too far. We’ll find her soon enough.” “Stay here.” Horse man said, pointing a mean finger at tall one. He motioned the other two off. “I’ll ride around, see if I can’t scare her back this way.” Tall one didn’t say anything, just leaned against the base of Virinia’s tree. She gave a small shiver, shaking her branch ever so slightly. Tall one jerked and looked up, but Virinia had chosen a good branch and twitched her skirts tightly around her, holding her breath. Obviously not seeing anything, tall one muttered something and started stalking around the clearing, stopping every now and then to bend over and poke the ground. Virinia hoped she hadn’t left too many marks, but with the rain, she couldn’t have left that many. Which was when she realized it had stopped raining, and the only thing dripping in the tree was her. The man stalked around some more, growling when quiet and stocky came to complain about them getting cold. The man on the horse didn’t return, and Virinia started shivering despite the fact that the sun had started shining and steam was rising from the cool ground. Jerking her head up, Virinia realized she must have nodded off, because her skirt was falling over the side of the branch, and her neck was stiffer than she’d thought possible. Feeling her tunic and skirt, she was pleased to find they were mostly dry, but for that edge hanging over… Snatching it up, Virinia held her breath again. The fear had left some time ago, maybe when she fell asleep, and the only thing she felt was a chill, a touch of anger, and a weariness that sank right to her bones. Wringing out her skirt to the other side of the branch, Virinia gave a tiny sigh and resettled her back against the tree. When something warm rested gently on her wrist, the first thing Virinia did was resist the urge to jerk. For all she knew, it could be a small rodent, or a baby ant, or a killer animal… “So you’ve been up here?” An amused voice asked softly, and Virinia almost fell out of the tree. “Hell of a time finding you, you know.” “Let me go.” Virinia said tightly, straining against the iron hold on her wrist. “I didn’t do anything.” “You ran.” The man said accusingly, his blue eyes sparking dangerously. Virinia shivered and the man tsked. “Come on, they’re not here at the moment, and I can get you out of here for so long only.” “What?” Virinia asked, looking down for any signs of the horse man, or the other two. “They’re not here. Let’s go!” He whispered harshly, dragging her down to the branch below. Virinia shook her head. She couldn’t think clearly. One of them was helping her? With two feet firmly on the ground, Virinia twisted her wrist and darted, but an arm snagged her around her waist and picked her up. Being thrown over a man’s shoulder wasn’t something Virinia was thrilled over, and pounding a kicking seemed to have no result that would help her in the least. “Will you put me down?” She finally asked, her hands grabbing thick handfuls of shirt as she was jounced around. “Right away.” The man said with a half-smile. Virinia gave an angry huff and tried to look around the man’s shoulder. All she could see was the edge of a clearing. When he stopped, Virinia started squirming again, but he just patted her bottom and told her to hold still. “What do you think…” Virinia started, but something heavy landed behind her and she gave a tiny yell and started squirming again. “That her?” A deep voice asked, and she could feel the man nod as he stepped quickly forward, her still firmly held on his shoulder. Twisting still did nothing, and when two strong hands gripped her side she simply sighed and allowed herself to be hauled…way up. Looking around, Virinia’s eyes opened wide at the blue dragon under her. Her mouth fell open, and both men laughed at her. “I don’t see anything funny.” She snapped, and the tall man shook his head again. “You made him very angry when you yelled at him at that party. You’re lucky the two of us could get you away at all. I’ll talk to your parent’s, and Aria, and he’ll make sure you don’t come back before you’re ready. I suggest you wait until you’ve had the baby. He doesn’t like the fact that he’s gonna be a father.” “He doesn’t have much of a choice.” Virinia snapped, wrapping her arms protectively around her middle. She set her jaw stubbornly and frowned at the man. “I’m keeping the baby, no matter what anyone says.” “The best of luck to you. And at Ryslen.” “Ryslen?” Virinia asked, her steady voice wavering. Just when she thought she was finally getting a grip. “Plenty of eggs to bond, plus a few others, I’ve heard.” “Bond?” Virinia said softly, and the dragoner behind her chuckled. “Why else did you think we agreed to help? Anything for a potential bonder.” “Why did you help?” She asked, twisting around to glare at the tall man. He smiled halfway and opened his mouth, then closed it with a sigh. “Maybe I’ll see you around.” He said half-heartedly. “I can only wait.” Virinia said, and she meant it. Virinia is a bonder at Ryslen