Post by Zen on Jan 29, 2020 4:57:25 GMT -5
The day after Precautionary Measures
Yelanna had long since ventured ashore, leaving Treyjen to the work that awaited him in order to find her own amusement elsewhere. He rather thought it was a testament to how much she cared about him that she had even given him an extra day before running off. Unlike him, she actually enjoyed being ashore. It was something of a necessary evil in Treyjen’s mind, though the variety in company that it brought was at least welcome.
So he, Karosh, and Jusikar took a final check of their inventory and he made note of several items on the list that Mavros just might have interest in, moving crates and barrels around for easier access when it came to unloading, and so whoever came to negotiate could inspect that everything was in good order before any agreement was reached. Faranth knows Shennah and Laurica were both thorough women. Nalyra really ought to have been helping them, but he had long since given up trying to work with her in this capacity. She got bored quickly, and when Nalyra was bored she was very good at making herself unbearable to be around, all the better to be released to do as she pleased.
They were interrupted when a member of the crew he’d already released to spend time with his family came back to find him, hurrying down the stairs below decks and calling for him, “Captain! Captain! Have y’heard, yet?”
Treyjen raised a brow at him as he turned away from his work, “That depends just what you mean, specifically.”
Rekken laughed, “I’d say no then. My wife just told me. The Weyr sent dragons back’n time. They sent the twin golds and came back with two clutches, near full grown. All’n a day!”
Treyjen stared at the man, brow furrowing slightly as he tried to figure out how he had gotten so drunk in so short a time, but his eyes were clear and his stance was sure, and there was no smell of alcohol about him.
“I know it sounds crazy, I thought so too. But I’ve heard several people talking about it already. It wasn’t more’n two sevendays ago,” he explained further, clearly seeing Treyjen’s skepticism, “It caused quite’n uproar. Seems no one was told beforehand and then all of a sudden dragons were gone and no one knew why. Did y’know dragons could do that? Travel through time?”
“Can’t say that I did,” Treyjen admitted, still skeptical as he turned to hand his lists to Karosh, who was standing beside Jusikar, both of them looking utterly confused by the news Rekken had brought them. “You two can handle the rest without me?” He intended to go straight to the source to settle this nonsense. Where had such a tale come from? It couldn’t possibly be true, could it? But if it was….
Karosh nodded after a moment, reaching to take the lists from him, “Aye, we can handle it.”
He clapped Rekken on the shoulder as he passed, “Go back to your family, Rekken. I’m going to look into it.”
Why hadn’t Mialli told him? He’d asked if there’d been a leadership change, she could have mentioned this, if it was true. But he didn’t want to think about Mialli and their short, sour conversation. Instead he headed up to the Weyr side of the caverns. Normally he sent someone to set up a meeting with A’zael upon his arrival, rather than dropping in unannounced, but he wanted to hear the truth of this tale before he heard a dozen different contradictory stories. Hopefully the man was in, or he supposed he could track down someone else who might know what the shell had happened. Rekken hadn’t seemed to have much in the way of detail to offer.
Upon reaching the Weyrleader’s door, he heard the faint sound of a gitar on the other side. Good, it seemed A’zael was in. He hesitated for only a moment before knocking, considering that the man might be entertaining, and then decided it would be rather amusing to interrupt and knocked anyway. A few moments later the music stopped. A’zael shortly appeared at the door, looking rather surprised to see him.
“Treyjen? You have been gone awhile haven’t you? Did I forget we were meeting today?” A’zael stepped back to let him inside.
Treyjen laughed, “Aye, has been a while. You haven’t forgotten, we only just arrived yesterday and I’ve not sent anyone up to you yet.” He took a moment to study the younger man, as though he might read the truth of the matter somewhere on his person.
A’zael glanced down at himself at the pirate’s scrutiny, then rubbed a hand over his chin, asking with some amusement, “Do I have something on my face?”
Treyjen grinned, “Aye, A'zael. Some pretty blue eyes, and lips I’d like to have wrapped around my-”
“Shells, Treyjen,” A’zael shook his head, rolling his eyes, and turned to walk further into his weyr as Treyjen laughed and followed. He didn’t normally enjoy pointless pursuits and it was very clear he would never get the Weyrleader into bed with him, but at this point it had become a point of amusement. “I imagine you came for an actually important reason and not just to harass me?” A’zael glanced back at him, hovering near the door to his office, unsure just what Treyjen was here for.
“Aye,” he agreed, clearly still amused, and A’zael’s gaze narrowed slightly as he obviously anticipated further harassment. But Treyjen had come for answers, and he intended to get them sooner rather than later, “I’ve heard an interesting story. I thought you might be able to tell it to me true.”
“A story?” A’zael was still suspicious, Treyjen could hear it in the wariness of his tone. The man was so easy to unsettle.
“Mm… about dragons disappearing back in time,” Treyjen offered, eyebrow raised, tone skeptical. A few different things flashed over the Weyrleader’s face in quick succession, but it was enough for Treyjen to gather that the story was true, “Dragons really can Between times?”
A’zael hesitated, as if he wasn’t sure he should confirm that fact, but obviously Treyjen had heard the story from someone, and it was all over Mavros. It wasn’t like the pirate could do anything with the knowledge. He had no dragon to take him through time. “Yes. They can.”
“Why am I just hearing about this now? That seems a damn useful skill, A’zael.”
A’zael sighed, moved to take a seat and settled into it before he spoke again, “It has been a carefully guarded secret for most of Pern’s history, passed off as exaggeration in old tales. It isn’t like Betweening places, Treyjen. It’s far more dangerous.”
“And yet, from what I heard, you sent Srunae back?” Treyjen raised a brow at that, surprised the man allowed her to do something that was clearly a risk.
A’zael made a displeased noise at that, “It was her idea. I was convinced not to go.” He sighed again, “We lost a green, her rider, and their two passengers on the trip back. Fortunately they were the only casualties.”
“And just what was the point of taking this risk?” Treyjen settled into the chair across from the Weyrleader with some interest.
“We need dragons, Treyjen,” A’zael explained with a note of desperation, “We are horribly short on dragons. From what I’ve gathered every other Weyr on Pern has at least two Flights of dragons plus a reserve Wing or two, and those are the worst off in the South. We have one. One. We can’t-” He cut himself off, looking over at Treyjen, unsure if he should continue.
Treyjen laughed, much to his surprise, “Well, you’re a bit late, but I commend you on your consideration in divulging just how poorly your Weyr is doing.” He waved his hand for him to continue, “You know Mavros has our loyalty, A’zael. You’ve nothing to concern yourself with where I’m involved.”
A’zael blew out his breath. Treyjen was right, he’d already sort of gone into it before he’d thought about it. “We can’t continue like this. Falls are getting more frequent and so are injuries. We lost a rider to Thread only… a little over a month ago. We haven’t had any losses in some time.” Running a hand over his face, he sat back, pushing away thoughts of A’dion’s loss, “Sending the twins back in time allowed them to bring forward a full Wing’s worth of weyrlings. They still have a few months to go before they can graduate and join the fighting Wings, but when they do, we’ll have a fourth Wing. Finally. A relief Wing. A reserve. Every rider won’t be fighting every Fall. In all honesty, it really isn’t enough, but it’s a start. And after the next two classes join the fighting Wings we’ll be able to form a fifth Wing. We’ll be so close to a second Flight, and then… then I’ll feel like maybe we can make it. We’re just one bad Fall away from disaster right now, Treyjen…. We’ve been so lucky this far… I can’t imagine that luck will hold up much longer. We only used the timing option because we’re desperate. It isn’t something I ever plan to utilize again if I can help it.”
Treyjen made a displeased noise, “But there is so much you could use it for!”
“It’s too dangerous,” A’zael replied firmly, “And it might have had… strange effects.”
“... What sorts of effects?” Treyjen prompted, curious.
“On the dragons. Maybe. I don’t know. There was a black hatchling… technically she’s a green, but she’s… she’s black. And then there’s the brown with black markings. I’ve never seen black on a dragon before, Treyjen. I don’t know if it’s related or not, or if there’s more to it than that. They don’t seem to be otherwise strangely altered, but… I don’t know.”
Treyjen sat back, considering it all, mildly frustrated at his lack of ability to utilize this unique skill that dragons had. There were so many possibilities going to waste. And then he couldn’t help but laugh because the ridiculous story Rekken had told him was true. Even though A’zael had confirmed it, it was still a bit hard to believe, even as he mused over the many ways he would put it to use if he could. He made another displeased noise, “Nothing worth doing is without risk, A’zael.”
“It was an act of desperation. We accomplished what we set out to do with it. It’s done,” A’zael responded definitively, eyeing the other man warily, “There are so many other risks to it that I haven’t even mentioned. Like the possibility of… of changing the present with actions you do in the past, and possibly getting lost Between because the present you’re trying to get back to doesn’t exist anymore!” It had been something Srunae had brought up, because he never would have thought about such a crazy notion himself, “We just don’t know what could happen if we push it too far.”
“Mm…,” Treyjen had followed, for the most part, the strange what if A’zael had laid out. It was all rather wild, the risks and the possibilities. But it seemed overall a high risk, high reward sort of situation. His favorite kind. But he would never have the chance to use it. He had no dragon, after all, nor did he want to be tied to one, for that would tie him to a Weyr and all the obligations and responsibilities that came with being a dragonrider. Risking his life in an endless fight against Thread was not how he wanted to spend his days. Not to mention the strict hierarchy of the dragons. Bah. “Well… this has been quite informative, A’zael….” Something else occurred to him, “How long did you say they were gone? The ones that went back in time?”
“Ah… about 18 months?” A’zael raised an eyebrow slightly at him, wondering why it mattered.
“18 Months… shells but that’s a long time, I wonder if Srunae missed me?”
A’zael snorted derisively at that, his tone dry, “I wouldn’t know. She hasn’t mentioned you since she returned.”
“Well she is a sweet girl. I’d imagine she wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings, A’zael. You can be rather sensitive, you know,” Treyjen teased, to which the Weyrleader rolled his eyes, “I’ll have to stop by to see her later.”
“You do that,” A’zael replied in the same dry tone, “Are we done here? You caught me during some free time and that time has quite dwindled.”
“Aye,” Treyjen agreed, amused, and stood, “So sorry to have imposed, Weyrleader.”
“Yeah, I bet you are,” the sarcasm dripped from A’zael’s words and Treyjen laughed as he headed for the door.
“Perhaps I’ll bring you some wine later to make up for it!” He called back.
“Oh, hah hah!” Sharding pirate.
