A/N: I know I said I probably wouldn’t be putting another Author’s not, but I felt there were a few things I wanted to address. The bolded bits will help avoid any confusion in the fic, so I adamantly suggest you read them.

1. thanks to all those who did review, especially those who pointed out mistakes.

2. I had originally intended on calling ‘Emlyn’ ‘Emalyn’, but for some reason, one I am unsure of now, I took the ‘a’ from her name in the first chapter. So everyone knows, I will refer to her as Emalyn or Em from now on

3. I didn’t actually own any of the books until recently, so I couldn’t easily go and check for spellings. I hope for improvement there now.

4. on the matter of a Beta. For the moment I will send my chapters to a friend of mine who betas another one of my fics. I will be looking for a beta specifically for this story though, as she hasn’t actually read the books, making it only a temporary arrangement.

5. Most Chapters will have one or more time jumps in them. so to help you know when you’re reading it, I will be ‘dating’ the sections in each chapter. These dates will be underlined, and in italics.

‘present time’ will be dated as: 10th pass, 1st turn

While all ‘past time’ will be dated as: X turn AT (After Thread) X being the number of turns.

The reason for this is because 13 hundred years is too long in my mind to dub the period that is thread free as an ‘interval’

Locations will be noted in bold italics, either under the date (if there is a date change) or by itself.

I will be updating this story, please be patient. I will be attending college, and this may affect how often I can get chapters up for you. At the very least you will have one new chapter a month, unless something big comes up. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting so long for an update, and I hope such will not re-occur.

7. I have gone back and edited the prologue and the first chapter. The basics of them are the same though, so for those of you who have already read them, You don’t have to go back and read them again. Unless you want to of course.

8. I have opted to up the Rating to M. When I first planned this segment of the story out I had not intended to go into any mating flights or other such things, but I have since changed my mind. The rating will be changed when I add the next chapter.

Thank you for your patience, and my apologies for keeping you all waiting.

Chapter II

10th pass, 1st turn

Benden Weyr

“But there are no Weyrs to alert in this time, just empty… hulls.”

“Not yet, but there will be.”

“How can you be sure? How do we know they did not get lost between times?”

“We don’t Em. We just don’t. We can hope… but in the end, everything is left to chance.”

“We are much too young for this, Fedrier,”

Behind Fedrier’s closed lids the conversation played over in his head. He could clearly see Emalyn turning to smile at him. Her smile had not reached her eyes, as it rarely ever did. She had worn a forced smile that she made no effort to disguise. He wondered the reason behind it, but knew he would never have the guts to ask. The young woman had her private sorrows, just as he did. Perhaps the reason she had spoken those words was part of those private thoughts and memories. It could just be from her scepticism though. She had certainly looked doubtful when she spoke of between, and he couldn’t blame her. He would be sceptic himself, had his grandfather not been a Dragonrider. Even having seen a dragon before, he could only be sure that there was indeed a between. The possibility of being able to travel through time that way still seemed false, aside from the records he had never actually seen. He could go by word alone, while Emalyn could go by records alone. Neither of them could be without doubts.

She just had to bring that up... he thought almost bitterly. Before he had made a point of pushing his doubts aside, seldom letting them surface to be mulled over. Such thoughts would have only been a setback for the group. With doubts they would not have managed to gather so many to assist them. How could someone convince others to do something if they could not even convince themselves? Without the help they were providing, the Weyrs would not be ready for the dragons to arrive and if there was no proper place for the Dragonmen and their beasts to stay in a group, fighting thread would be difficult. Of course, the cleaning crews were not the most dedicated to their cause. Yes, it was hard work to set the Weyrs aright, but it was not the hardest task. The hardest was searching out new veins of the stone that was so important against fighting thread. There were plenty new veins, seeing as it had been thirteen hundred turns since it was needed. Some of the old veins still had stone that could be mined as well. The problem was finding veins they could actually mine, without infringing on someone’s land. Despite this, the miners who had committed themselves to the cause had worked diligently to create stockpiles of firestone.

He sighed, shifting his back against the cool stone behind him, grunting when he felt his shoulder blade press painfully against the unyielding surface. He could have chosen a better place to sit, but he had picked this particular spot because it would be uncomfortable. He wanted to remain awake as long as he could. He had no desire to miss the Dragons arriving because he had fallen asleep. He’d never hear the end of it from Gar, and especially not from Emalyn. He had privately come to the conclusion long ago that the woman positively delighted in his embarrassments. She had a sort of subtle way to rub them in his face for months. Oh yes, she was very much his type looks wise, but he could do without the discrete barbs she was so fond of sending his way. Yet he could not bring himself to dislike her for them. The woman had her little eccentricities, but she was one of the few who did not pay him the respect he felt he did nothing to achieve. As such she was one of the few people he felt easy around, even when she was ‘secretly’ poking fun at him.

The young man shook his head and brought a hand up to rub the sleep from his eyes. With a grunt he pushed himself slowly to his feet. If he remained sitting any longer, even in such a state of discomfort, he was likely to fall asleep. “Perhaps a walk,” he murmured to himself, yawning, before looking around the bowl. He took note that there were very few watchers still awake. Of course, not many had decided to stay. After midday hit and there was no sign of the promised Dragons, they had left, most on account of other things they had to attend to. Fedrier hadn’t expected them to show up right after the malevolent star framed itself in the eye rock anyway. There was no way they could get their timing so perfect. It had been entirely more probable that they show up before the event that predicted thread. That would have certainly been more preferable then this. Everyone was on edge, even those sleeping. They shifted constantly, some waking up to pace for several minutes, before trying to settle down again. Those who had chosen to remain awake seemed to be having similar thoughts as himself. He spotted a few men of various ages, either engaging in low conversation, or taking a walk around the bowl.

Deciding it wouldn’t do him much good to just stand around, Fedrier began to make his own lap around the Weyrbowl. He winced after the first few steps; his body was stiff from sitting against the cold stone for so long. Maybe that hadn’t been the smartest of ideas. Why was he trying to stay awake when it wasn’t very likely the riders would arrive this night anyways? Granted, the night was still rather new. Dusk had been only a few hours ago, but the darkness down in the bowl was almost complete. What light there was came from the glows the watchers had with them. The sky was too clouded over for the stars to be seen. He had little interest in stargazing however, having looked at the clear night sky many times over the last several turns. He was sure he knew as much of the night sky as any journeyman Starsmith would.

Laughing lightly to himself, he looked up ahead to the entrance of the lower caverns. He wondered how many had chosen to take refuge inside, rather than keep vigil within the bowl. Probably not many. As long as they were in the bowl, even if they fell asleep they would have a chance to see the sky filled with dragons. If they retired to the lower caverns, their chances would be greatly reduced. Still, he knew of some who would take the comfort, even if it risked their chances of seeing the grand arrival. He probably would to, if the Dragonmen and their beasts did not arrive soon, though he personally hoped they did not arrive too soon either. They didn’t have either Fort or Benden Weyrs stocked adequately. Both Weyrs currently only housed very meagre numbers of heardbeasts. More would not be arriving at Benden for at least three more days. He was unsure when Fort’s herd would be replenished. Supplies for people were also low. It was not easy for them to gather everything they needed to re-stock the two Weyrs. They needed marks to do it, as they couldn’t just go around asking for the supplies. The average Pernese still believed thread would never again trouble the planet.

They needed supporters with the means to purchase or produce the supplies, and they had few. Among the crafts, only the Harper craft was totally loyal to their cause. This of course was in part because of Talia, and in part because the Harpers were growing bored with the lowering demand for their craft. Of the other crafts they had a significant number of supporters in the Miner, Smith and Starsmith crafts. Recently seven journeymen, and a number of apprentices of the Dolphin craft hall had committed to the cause. In other crafts they had on average three supporters. There were no masters supporting them, other than Harpers. If he had been able to choose any hall to turn wholly to their cause, he had to admit the Harper craft would not have been first on his list. Even so, it did help them greatly. There were Harpers spread across Pern, and they served as a means of communication between the scattered supporters.

He was drawn from his thoughts of the current circumstances on Pern as he reached the entrance to the lower caverns. He probably wouldn’t have noticed where he was if it hadn’t been for the smell of Klah. He cocked an eyebrow, peeking inside. Just within one of the older women who chose to stay had set up a small fire and, until moments ago he guessed, there had been a kettle of Klah brewing. “What’s this, Alva?” he asked, recognizing the woman.

The woman turned from the fire, holding a pitcher of Klah, and a cup she had just filled. “Klah of course, for the mad men such as yourself who insist on trying to stay awake.” She grinned at him, an act that caused her already smallish eyes to scrunch up. She had broad shoulders, and a square, heavy set jaw. In combination with her small, though round eyes, and upturned nose, it was common for one to mistake her as unfriendly. With her broad frame, and her above average height, for a woman, he would go as far as say she looked rather intimidating. One would have to look closer to see the laugh lines around her mouth, and the absence of worry lines upon her brow to realize such a judgment of her was wrong. She was friendly... if a little crude. “You look like you could use some,” she went on, handing the cup to him.

Fedrier accepted the cup with one hand. “Thank you Alva.” His thanks was almost absent minded, as his eyes had already wandered back to the Weyrbowl. He wondered which of the Harpers Talia had left at the Weyr. As a rule, there was always one Harper at any of their gathering spots, major or minor. Talia herself had left shortly after Emalyn had imparted the news of the red star to her. Emalyn had chosen to go with her. As MasterHarper, Talia couldn’t remain away from her craft hall for too long. On Emalyn’s part, she had left because she hadn’t been back to the hall in nearly a full turn. There had been three other Harpers present at Benden Weyr the previous day, and as he had taken some time during today to rest, he was not sure who was still present. Harpers generally took a term of two or more sevenday at any given gathering place. However, he seldom took note of when a Harper arrived, and how long their term was. At the Weyrs there were usually two harpers present at any given time.

“Alva... which Hapers are designated us this sevenday?” he asked after a moment of scanning the bowl, before he tentatively sipped at his Klah.

The woman raised one of her finely shaped eyebrows, before shaking her head. “Your friend Gar, and a new Journeyman I’m not familiar with.”

Fedrier paused with his cup half way to his lips. “Gar is still here?” This news mildly surprised him.

“Oh yes. He’ll be here for another sevenday at least,” the older woman responded, before turning her back to him. She gathered some cups with her free hand then made to move passed him. “I’m going to make a round of the bowl,” she stated simply. “Gar’s inside right now. He’s probably snooping around for something to eat.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Fedrier mumbled to himself, watching Alva walk away as he took another sip of his Klah. No, he wouldn’t doubt that that was what the journeyman Harper was doing. In fact, he would bet all the marks he had to his name on it.

245th turn AT

Landing

After the last computer had failed, the Pernese left Landing again. There was little left that was of use to them. The knowledge they gained, they could take with them. All that was left were the buildings, watched over by the three ancient peeks. The sun had just finished setting and the memories of the day continued to fade into night. The occasional whery disturbed the otherwise absolute silence of the place. The air held a sort of eerie weight to it; a tension that seemed without cause. It was this tense air that greeted the night when it came to blanket the land. The stars peeked down from the sky, waiting for what the night would bring. The silence wore on, through the infancy of the dark. As the shadows lengthened the silence stretched out, just waiting for something to break it. Tension continued to build in the air, smothering the scenery.

The air crackled, breaking the building tension. Winged beasts thundered into existence above the plateau in a shimmering array of color. The trees shook as startled creatures fled from the airborne monsters. Green, Blue, Brown, Bronze, and Golden translucent wings obscured the night sky. They remained suspended in the air for several long moments before two beasts dropped from the others. The Bronze and Gold spiralled down to land on the plateau. Both beasts had a rider astride them, looking rather delicate and insignificant next to the bulk of their mounts. Once they landed, the riders dismounted their beasts. They looked at each other, eyes nearly level. The slightly shorter of the two nodded before turning towards the nearest building. They brushed shoulder length brown curls back from a round face. The second figure moved to stand beside them, one arm moving around the other’s waist. His dark hair was cropped short, and his frame was broader than his companions.

Together they moved to the building, glancing inside. It was little more than a skeleton of what it had once been. What was left of it was what they could see from the outside. “Well then... Guess you were right. They left after the computers failed.” The curly haired figure turned to look at the man beside them, a small smile gracing pale pink lips.

“Of course I’m right,” the man spoke, his voice holding only a hint of arrogance. “Have Noralith call the rest down,” he instructed her.

“Yes sir,” the woman spoke in a mocking tone, before turning to the golden dragon. “You heard him Noralith. You can tell the others to come down now.”

The golden dragon turned her head to the two riders, eyes whirling mainly blue. She watched as the two separated and the woman approached her. The dragon rumbled, bending down to allow her rider to remove the sacks that had been tied to the riding straps. ~They come.~ She assured her rider. The woman smiled, reaching over to scratch the beast’s eye-ridge. “Thank you, Noralith. Find yourself somewhere to sleep with Mneloth.” She pulled her hand away, laughing as the dragon rumbled again. Taking several steps back, she let her eyes move to the Dragons still aloft. Two more Golden beasts separated themselves from the cloud, spiralling down to land nearby. Their riders dismounted and retrieved their belongings.

Noralith took to the air again, gliding towards the tree line. She landed once more, the Bronze dragon not far behind her. The two beasts twined necks, eyes whirling blue-green. The other two queens moved towards the trees as well, once their riders had their packs. Three bronze beasts landed soon after, while another three began their lazy decent.

“Minessa,” the rider of the first bronze called to the woman from the building they had checked. She turned, curls bouncing slightly with the motion. She smiled then, cheeks dimpling. With a slight limp she made her way over to the man. “It will take awhile for everyone to land,” the man went on when she neared. “We have some time to ourselves.” The ghost of a grin marked his features.

“Not that much time,” Minessa scolded him, now standing in front of him. In the dim light of the night she looked young, but her eyes betrayed that illusion. They held a sort of confidence that only life experience could give. Her already thin lips were pressed into an even thinner line. She glared at the man in front of her for a moment longer, before shaking her head with a small laugh. She smiled at him briefly, before limping passed. Her right leg never bended much at the knee, which was the cause of her limp.

The man watched her limp to the building, frowning. “Is it bugging you today?” he asked her, just loud enough to be heard.

She stopped, looking over her shoulder at him, “No more than usual.” Minessa assured him. “You could carry these sacks though,” she went on, lifting one sack, eyebrow cocked and lips tilted in a small grin.

The man laughed, lifting his own gear to sling it over one shoulder. Closing the space between them, he took her pack from her, and then waited for her to slip inside the old building. The door was long gone from it, so it wouldn’t shelter them from the cold of the night. It would shield them from the wind, and other elements, however.

“Thank you, D’tul,” the woman smiled at him, before she made her way inside. Looking around the small building, she moved to the corner farthest from the door. The floor was dusty, which caused her to wrinkle her nose. She sighed then turned back to D’tul. “It will have to do, I suppose.”

D’tul chuckled, placing their bags down, and moving to her side. He wrapped an arm around her waist, grinning at her. “Miss home already?”

Minessa glared at him again, before her expression softened. She sighed, before nodding. “Well... we aren’t likely to ever see it again.... I had to leave behind all my family heirlooms.”

D’tul let out a bark of laughter, pulling her closer to him. “Of course, those dusty old things would be the first thing you missed.” He rolled his eyes at her, before kissing her brow. His eyes moved towards the nearest window. It was nothing more than a square hole in the wall now. He watched the last trio of Brown dragon’s circle down lazily to land on the plateau. As he turned back to the woman at his side a pair of blues detached themselves from the rest, a green fallowing suit. “Well my dear... you’ll just have to find yourself some new trinkets to pass down.”

The woman scowled at him smacking his arm lightly, “Oh, you!” She tried to continue her glare, but as he just kept grinning down at her, she found that to be rather impossible. She rolled her eyes and pulled away from him, opting to turn her attention to setting up for the night instead. As she fussed with sleeping furs, she didn’t notice that D’tul had stepped out of the building. So it was quite a surprise when she turned to ask him if he thought the arrangement would do for the night... only to find him gone. “D’tul?” she called softly, stepping towards the rectangular opening that was the doorway.

“He’s picking out a building to have his little meeting in.” The voice was male, but noticeably younger than that of D’tul. She turned to her left, which is where she believed the speaker was. She didn’t need to look to know who it was though. She’d be more than just embarrassed if she couldn’t recognize the voice of her own son. He had her curly hair, though it was closer in shade to his father’s darker brown... almost black, actually. He kept it short, though not as short as his sire. His eyes were a dark brown, though she knew if you took a closer look there were veins of pale green running through them. He was currently leaning against the wall by the doorway she stood in now. There really wasn’t that much to him. He was barely an inch taller than herself, standing at five foot six, and he appeared to be all bones. Then again that could have something to do with the fact that until recently he’d only been barely five foot.

“Donessan,” she greeted him with a soft smile.

“D’san,” he corrected mechanically, before he pushed away from the wall. He jabbed his right thumb over his shoulder. “Father’s that way.” She sighed, before looking past the young man... well... he was still a boy really. He’d only impressed his brown, Zolth, at a little more than fifteen turns... which was only a turn and a half ago. She’d be sure he was stationed with one of the groups that would be staying behind with his sister Lirana when the time for her gold Olinath to mate was nearer. She didn’t really like the idea of a boy not quite seventeen turns facing thread... that and he was her only son. She wasn’t likely to have another one either. After her last daughter, Linika, she didn’t think she could manage another pregnancy.

She shook her head, and looked passed her son to spot her weyrmate a couple buildings away. Two of the other bronze Riders had already joined him, along with Lirana and Renalla, rider of gold Saynath. “He just had to choose a building so far away,” she murmured sarcastically. Grimacing she made her way slowly in that direction. Sometimes she wished she could turn back time and prevent herself from ever earning that leg injury seven years ago. It had never healed quite right, thus impeding her movement.

When she was about half way there Lirana caught sight of her as she was looking around. The small woman made her way over to her mother, her own curly hair bouncing as she moved. The girl covered the distance in surprisingly long strides for being so small in stature. “Evening mother,” the girl said softly, moving to the older woman’s side to assist her the rest of the way to the now growing group. The rest of the bronze riders were now assembled and a few brown riders were joining them now as well. The two women joined Renalla, who was standing slightly back from the gathered men.

D’tul looked up briefly, his grey eyes searching for his weyrmate. That was a strange thought... weyrmate... he hadn’t thought of her like that much before, seeing as they had lived in a time where the Weyrs where uninhabited. He’d have to get used to the thought, as that was exactly what they were... or were going to be, however one wanted to look at it. Before he turned to head into the building he gestured for her to stand by his side. Waiting patiently for her to do so, he watched as the others filed into the building. They’d be sitting in a circle on the floor, seeing as none of them had thought to bring any kind of chairs with them. Not that there were really much in the way of portable chairs in their time. Certainly nothing they could carry with them on dragon back, in any case.

Once the woman had reached him and everyone else had found themselves a spot to sit in the building, he moved through the empty doorway. Looking around at the rather oval shaped assembly of men, and two women, he found a gap had been left for the two of them at what he assumed was the ‘head’ of the formation. He allowed himself a small, pleased smile, before he took a seat, cross-legged on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he watch Minessa slowly ease herself into a sitting position, opting to spread her legs out in front of her since her one knee wouldn’t bend enough for her to sit any other way. When she was seated he turned his eyes onto the rest of the group.

“We will not be making any jumps tomorrow,” he announced, raising his voice just enough so that it carried through the building. A few of the other bronze riders did not seem surprised at this. However, all the brown riders, and most of the bronze looked at him in a rather perplexed fashion. It was amusing to scan their faces, picking out the different way each chose to portray their current feeling of confusion. “We will be flying practice sweeps over the area in our respective wings instead. As we haven’t really had a chance to fly together in units, it is imperative everyone gets used to their fellow wingmen as soon as possible.” As his eyes moved over the men again, he saw the confusion on most faces melt into understanding. Some were a little slow, but they came around. “We will stay here... in this time for three days. On the forth my own wing, as well as Minessa and Ranella will jump ahead another sixty six turns.” He saw confusion again, which caused him to sigh.

“As I’m sure most of you know, Lirana’s queen, Olinath will rise soon for her first mating flight. Ranella’s queen is due for a mating flight soon as well. We cannot chance having her too close when Olinath rises, and as we have very little land we can fly over without being seen, the logical solution is to have them turns apart.” He paused, looking over to the two young women, who both just nodded. “The rest of you will stay here and wait for Olinath to rise. After she does, V’ral and B’lev’s wings will stay behind with the wing of whatever dragon flies her. The rest of you,” and he looked at the other bronze riders, “Unless your dragon flies Olinath, you will jump forward sixty six turns with your wings to meet up with my own. B’lev, and V’ral, you two will be in charge of those who stay behind. You’ll have to find a way to get more candidates, most likely, and wait until you believe the dragonets are old enough to fly between times to rejoin the rest of us. We will continue to wait for you until then.”

He looked around the room again, this time meeting eyes with each rider in turn. “Is that understood gentlemen.... Ladies,” he added the last to the three women who sat together to his left. This elicited a few grins from some of those gathered. Everyone nodded their understanding, so he stood, straightening his frame. “Well then, that is all for this evening. You may go to your chosen buildings and set up for the night, if you haven’t already. Some of you may want to help out with the food preparations. Dinner will be ready in an hour, and the fires will be kept going to keep the food warm, so you all can take your time eating. Don’t be up too late though.” He directed the last to the two younger bronze riders of the group, whom both grinned sheepishly at him. He almost chuckled, but instead reached down to pull Minessa to her feet. “We will meet here tomorrow after breakfast, which, for all of you, should take place an hour after dawn. Good evening.” With that he took his leave, moving at a casual walk, since this would be easier on the woman beside him.

When they were half way back to their chosen building, Minessa came to a stop. D’tul went a few steps further before he noticed she was no longer with him. Cocking an eyebrow he turned to look at her questioningly. “Now, why did you leave me behind without a word?” the woman asked him, planting her hands on her hips as if she was speaking to an erring child.

The man laughed, shaking his head in amusement. “Why, you looked perfectly content in setting up the bed furs. I could hardly disturb you while you were occupied in such an all important task, lest you find yourself something to hit me over the head with.” She rolled her eyes, smacking at his arm when he reached out to wrap it around her waist. “Oh come on now, love, no harm was done. You found us alright.”

She sighed, allowing him to hook his arm around her waist again. “You could have at least chosen a closer building,” she admonished him, though most of the force behind her words was gone now. She was silent up until they passed through the doorway of their building. Then she turned to him, a small smile on her thin, pink lips. “So... will we be joining everyone for dinner tonight, or would you prefer a small private meal of yesterday’s bread?”

He grinned down at her, pulling her out of view of the doorway. “At this moment, yesterday’s bread is sounding very appealing.”

She matched his grin, allowing him to pull her over towards their furs. “I thought it would. Would you like to eat now, or later?”

“Later,” he answered almost immediately. “Much later,” he repeated in a bare whisper, before he leaned down and captured her lips with his own.