Times a' Changing

Writers: Sia, Yvonne
Date Posted: 22nd April 2026

Characters: Thiseta, Q'vettan
Description: Q'vettan and Thiseta discuss telling the wingriders about time travel
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 12, day 3 of Turn 12
Notes: Notes: Follows H'taysh's time travel storyline

Q'vettan

Thiseta was finishing updating the weather records for the Weyr for the sevenday when Imbeth told her that Tzenketh’s rider wanted to talk. }:Tzenketh says that it is a serious talk,:{ the queen dragon added. }:While you confer, he will join me on my ledge.:{

**That’s interesting.** The Weyrwoman wiped her ink-stained fingers (how did she always get ink on her hands?!) and rang the bell to summon a drudge. She asked for klah, and the drudge left just as Q’vettan arrived. “I hope you’re ready for klah,” she told him as entered her office. “I could use a pick me up.” Especially ahead of a serious talk.

"You know exactly the way to my heart." Q'vettan said graciously and accepted the first not-tampered mug of klah he'd had in sevendays. He'd taken to making V'maran bring him klah, but eventually the disgruntled kitchen staff had found out about that, too. Now the man wouldn't do any favours in fear of never getting a good meal or his laundry ever done again.

"So, one of our greenriders accidentally traveled between times." Q'vettan said without any preamble. "He had sense enough to come back, thank Faranth, and sense enough to report his new discovery to the Wingleaders."

Thiseta’s heart jumped. She closed her eyes and slumped back in her chair, rubbing her eyes with her hand. “Thank Faranth for that. It’s so dangerous.”

"He's lucky to have made it back in one piece." Q'vettan said. "And that he thought to tell us. But it's since got me thinking-- it made sense to keep it a secret, back when there were only a few hundred of us scattered across the south. But we have…what, double the Weyrs since the last Pass? And riders are doing it, whether or not they realize they can or know that it's an option. Would it prevent or increase incidents to train everyone?"

“What? No.” Her first instinct was ‘no.’ “Maybe during the Interval we could have, but now? How many people would be jumping back into Threadfall to rescue a friend or a lover?” She paused. “Why did this greenrider go back? Who was it, anyway?”

"H'taysh and Selkirth. A new pair, from Riyanth's last clutch." Q'vettan raised his eyebrows a little at the quick reaction. "He tried to visit his family and pictured what it looked like when he was a child. Thankfully he had enough sense to come back without messing around. Which brings me to-- imagine accidentally travelling between times to come out mid-threadfall before your loved one dies? Or doing it because your loved one told you about it, without any real understanding of the risks involved."

“That’s what I’m saying.” Thiseta bit her lip, thinking of her weyrmate and his despair when he’d been unable to save a patient. The times she’d had to hold a grieving weyrmate or parent as their person was taken /between/, and sit in shame as they mourned the actions they could have taken, if they’d known. If they had time to save them. “People do rash, dangerous things when they grieve.”

Q'vettan thought of his children, long _between_. His eyes unfocused momentarily as he conferred with Tzenketh, then returned. "They especially do rash, dangerous things when they know it's possible but don't know all the risks." He finally pointed out with a small shake of his head. "A lot of them probably know already. How many weyrlings do you know that could keep a secret like that? I think I told my weyrmate as a way to impress her."

“Really? I never have.” Thiseta bit her lip. “I don’t know what he’d say. What happened when you told her?”

Q'vettan smiled. "She didn't believe me at first. We had a fight." Several fights. "It didn't go exactly as I planned, but the end result was the same."

“Which was?”

"The angry sex. And then the make up sex. What else does a young bronzerider divulge Weyr secrets for?"

“You’re useless,” she said, swatting at his arm. “And I’m still not convinced that telling the entire Weyr that /timing/ is an option is a good idea.”

Q'vettan shrugged but took the swat with good humour. "I'm not either, but the end result is the same. I don't think keeping this information from blue and green riders until they attain an appropriate rank or until their bronze- or brown- flight partner divulges something they shouldn't. We can stress upon them the importance of keeping it secret and the ramifications of it."

“It just feels like… it’s been this way for thousands of turns. I’m sure that our predecessors had a good reason…”

"I'm sure they did. That reason is lost, and the secrecy is doing more harm than necessary." Q'vettan said. "Think about it, and I hope you come to the same agreement as me before I give the Wingleaders the go-ahead."

That gave her pause. She was new to her knots, but this felt like a Weyrwide matter and not just something for the Wings. It wasn’t even about fighting Thread. Shouldn’t it be her decision? “I don’t think… we need to decide _together_, don’t we?”

"Ideally, yes." Q'vettan said easily, "But this isn't a tithe dispute or a Hold complaint. I answer for the safety and capability of my riders, as well as their discipline in the air and on the ground. And, importantly, I'm responsible for the Weyrlingmaster's curriculum that pertains to fighting Threadfall, which does include /between/. If there's a gap in training that could get a rider killed, it's my duty to address it. If they're already at risk of stumbling into timing it without understanding it, then correcting that falls onto me."

She felt hemmed in. N’vanik had already told the riders at Dolphin Cove, and in some ways it was only a matter of time. But tradition was there for a reason - and she could imagine the consequences all too well. “I… let me think about it tonight,” she said, but she knew that she’d lost. Q’vettan would do what he wanted and there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.

Q'vettan dipped his head in a nod. "Of course, Weyrwoman." He said. "I still need to discuss with J'nic and the weyrlingstaff. The sooner we can move, the better. I'd rather be able to control the news breaking than letting it wash over us."

It was too late for that. Outside Imbeth stirred restlessly in an unconscious echo of her rider’s thoughts. “I suppose.”

Q'vettan let the conversation slip away as he took a slow sip of klah, watching Thiseta. The fear of change might slow her, but he couldn't press so hard she'd start digging her heels in on principle. It needed to be a concession, the lesser of two evils. The Weyr would change, whether either of them liked it or not, and if it _must_ change, he would be the one to guide it there.

The end result was what mattered. It always had.

Last updated on the May 1st 2026

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Times a' Changing