A seven-turn-old Aerski hid in her room, just like she had done so many times before. She cowered behind her bed, hoping that her father was not drunk... But she heard his footsteps, heavy and uneven. She was breathing hard, eyes wide with fright. She heard his deep voice shout her name.
Aerski! Where are you, girl? Come say hello to your daddy." She heard him run into something, and shout a curse. She heard him throw whatever it was he ran into across the room. Then, his footsteps started again, towards her room. She sank lower to the floor. She heard the door swing open. Time seemed to slow. She heard his heavy, drunken breathing. She could almost see him looking across the room. There wasn't much furniture in her room...It was only a matter of time before he found her... He crossed slowly toward the bed. Aerski slid under the bed, hoping he wouldn't look under it... But he did.
What're you doin' under there, girl? Come out 'n say hello to yer father." She began to cry, terrified of what he may do. He reached under and grabbed her forearm with one large hand. He pulled her out effortlessly, and she cracked her back on the edge of the bed.
"Daddy! You're hurting me! Daddy, stop!" screamed the small girl in pain. Her father grunted and dropped her. She crashed into a small heap on the floor, bruising her knees. Aerski could smell the alcohol on her father's breath.
"Get up! I ain't raisin' no sissy girl! You gonna grow up an' be a tough'un." He grabbed her and yanked her to her feet. She pulled her arm back from him, and as soon as she did, she knew it was a mistake. She saw the fire leap in his eyes. She shrank away.
"Why you pullin' away from me girl? Don't you love your father?" yelled her father. She nodded her head furiously. He raised back his hand and struck her across the face, sending her across the room and into a wall, arms flailing. She fell to the floor and began weeping silently. She knew that if he heard her, she was in for more. Her father left the room, muttering to himself. Aerski knew that tomorrow would bring the same thing, more than likely. She crawled into her bed, cradeling her arm.
A few turns later, when Aerski was ten turns, her father came home drunk again. Aerski heard him enter the house, and begin yelling at his current live-in woman-friend. She heard a sickening thud, and then the woman started shrieking. Aerski knew that this woman would run away, and then his rage would turn on his daughter. Aerski heard the front door slam, and her father's roar of anger. Aerski panicked, and ran to her window. She winced, feeling her black eye. She looked out the window, and then leaped. She fell only a short distance to the ground, and then ran as fast as she could into the woods.
Aerski had to return to her home a few candlemarks later. She loved her father, no matter how mean he was. And he only hit her every time he was drunk...
When she entered her home, she tiptoed past her father, asleep on the couch. She crept into her room, and crawled into her bed, aching all over.
Three turns later, Aerski stood in her room, furiously packing her bags, tears pouring down her face. She had had enough. Earlier that morning, her father had come home and, without any reason, threw her across the room. Her temper, all of her anger stored up for thirteen turns, suddenly blew up. She ran screaming across the room and fought back. Her father, surprised, tried to protect himself from her beatings. His surprise turned into anger, and he fought back twice as hard. He hit her once in the eye, once in the jaw, and a glancing blow in her stomach that knocked the air from her lungs. She had fallen to the floor, and received kicks in her stomach, abdomen, back and chest. When he kicked her in her abdomen, she felt a horrible, undescribable pain, and shrieked. The noise momentarily stunned her father. She fought back with renewed anger, fearing that she had lost any chance of her ever being able to have children. She kicked his legs out from under him, and crawled to her knees. She used a chair to pull herself onto her feet, feeling like a fifty-turn-old grandmother. The anger inside her boiled over, and she leapt on her father, ripping his hair and clawing him like some kind of anger. She punched his chest and stomach until her hands wer bloody and numb. By the time she was finished, she was bawling like a baby, and her father was motionless. She got up, pain flaring up from bones and muscles she didn't know she had. Her jaw was swelling, and her left eye socket. She couldn't see from her left eye, and her throat felt raw. She knew she had to get out. She looked at her father. She had beat him up pretty bad. He was breathing very slowly. In fact...he wasn't breathing at all...
Aerski's anger disappeared immediately and was replaced by fear and despair.
"I killed my father!" she screamed to the empty house. She knew then that is was for sure that she had to get out. She limped down the hallway and into her room. Seeing herself in the looking glass, she looked again. She knew that she should take a bath, but she wouldn't have time...She needed to get out now...But people would be even more curious if she was walking around all bloody. She stopped in the middle of the floor, torn between packing or bathing. She chose the latter and raced to the bathing room. She scrubbed herself gently, watching as the clear water turned red with blood. It stung her cuts, but felt good on her sore muscles. When she got out of the tub, she looked herslef over. She had a large, swollen black eye, and a swollen jaw. Her lip was split, and would probably leave a scar. Her knuckles were bruised and cut raw. Her knees bother were bruised, and she had giant bruises on her chest, stomach and abdomen. She could detect small amounts of blood coming from her nether regions. That was definately not a good sign. Now that she had most of the blood rinsed off, she felt a bit cleaner, but she was still sore. She hurried and packed a leather bag, packing mostly clothing. She snuck into her father's room. Even though she knew she didn't have to worry about him any more, she still felt scared and guilty. She took all of the marks she could find and put them in a pouch. Then, she grabbed her bag and ran from the house, not looking back.
A few days later, Aerski awoke. She found herself staring up at a ceiling. Her first thought was that her father was not dead, but he had found her and brought her back home. She screamed and sat straight up, and then screamed again in pain. Her stomach and abdomen felt like they were on fire, and she could see nothing from her left eye. She looked around, trying to find a way to escape.
"Calm down! It's alright. Do you know what your name is?" Aerski found the source of the words, but it took her a moment to process the question. The speaker was a boy, a young man, really.
"I'm...Aerski. Where am I? Where's my father?" He looked confused for a minute, and then regained his composure.
"You are at Ryslen Weyr. I was...my dragon and I were flying, and we saw you down on the ground. We brought you here... You were pretty beat up. What happened?" Aerski hesitated for a moment. There was no way she was going to tell this boy what happened. She was a murderer! She would tell only when she felt comfortable.
"I fell down some rocks hiking. Who are you?" He didn't seem very convinced...as if he knew she was lying, and what she had done.
"I'm Searchrider D'run, rider of Blue Okserth. Okserth informed me that there was a good candidate down on the ground, so we went down. But there was nobody there, but you. If you're feeling well, can Okserth come Search you?" Aerski gaped, mouth open. She nodded. A dragon would want to Search her, after what she did? The large blue dragon stepped gracefully into the room. After a moment, he trilled gently, as if trying not to disturb her.
"That means that you have been Searched, and accepted. When you are well enough, you can go see the Weyr." He left the room, and Aerski dropped to the pillow, smiling for the first time in turns.