A time for everything

Writers: Avery, Eimi, Emma
Date Posted: 12th January 2007

Characters: J'an, M'galec, C'mer
Description: An accident during the first trip /between/ for the senior weyrlings at River Bluff, leads to the loss of the Weyrlingmaster and his dragon
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 13, day 20 of Turn 3
Notes: This is late due to LOAs - sometimes they happen ;)

No matter how good the weather really was, there was always a chill in the air when it came to first trips /between/, thought J'an.

}:There is nothing to worry about,:{ interjected Alylth. }:The little ones will all come back, they are strong, they are ready.:{
**It's a big thing for them,** replied J'an as he checked his straps before watching the senior class form up.

"The riders are ready, J'an!" M'galec called from Dwarkanath's back. He would not be going with, but instead would be waiting for them as they arrived. The Weyrlingmaster Second fully expected it to be a boring day for him just making off the weyrlings as they popped in from the sky.
They were well trained. He had drilled them on their visualizations, as had the Weyrlingmaster. They were ready.

"Good," he said calmly to M'galec.

"Okay," he began to the class. "You know what's going to happen today.
We're going to fly straight for a set distance, over past the far side of the river and upstream a little way. Then one by one, you'll be going /between/. Any questions?"

C'mer didn't have any questions himself, and he didn't think his class did, either. They had been trained long and hard for this moment.
Everyone knew what to do, right? What kind of dimglow would need to ask questions? So he shifted around impatiently, waiting until they were told they could go. He wanted to just get this over with. Once they were through with /between/... but he had to focus on making it through, first. He waited, hoping they could just _go_ already.

"I will not be flying with you. I will be waiting here on this side.
Good luck all of you." M'galec gave the Weyrlingmaster a nod before his bronze launched them into the sky to wait in their assigned position.

"Follow me," called out J'an as he mounted his bronze. He raised his hand in the age old motion that meant to fly. "After us."

Oh shards. This was it. Rhysth took to the sky with the signal. This was that moment, the moment where they would become dragonriders. Well, they were dragonriders, because he was riding on Rhysth- but once they went /between/, well, they got all the rights of dragonriders. He knew some of the others had been talking about sex. Well, he didn't want to do anything with females- just because he was at the Weyr and women acted improperly didn't mean he would. And he was a proper man, and wouldn't with men. He was just looking forward to getting closer to graduation.

**And going home.**

C'mer hadn't allowed himself to think about it for awhile. Not since three days after he got permission to, in fact. It had been consuming his thoughts and his mind when he wasn't busy, so he'd finally put aside the thoughts so as not to get distracted. But now he thought about it again- after this jump, he could go home!

But first, he needed to make it.

**Rhysth,** he told the brown when their turn arrived, **send them out picture.** His mental image of the Weyr was strong. Excitement filled him. He could do this. They could do this. And then, they could go home.

It was almost a mental sigh of relief that J'an shared with his bronze as the first few had made it sucessfully back to where M'galec waited.
He'd had both the dragonet and M'galec conform their safe arrival. Maybe this time everyone would make it?

"Okay, C'mer, please have Rhysth share his visualisation with Alylth,"
said J'an.

}:Looks good,:{ reported the bronze as he shared it with his rider.
}:It is clear, I see the weyr.:{
**Good,** was the reply.

"C'mer, do you understand what we are going to do now?" asked J'an. He always asked, always best to be sure.

"I continue visualizing and send Rhysth /between/, back to the Weyr, and then I report to M'galec." the brownrider confirmed. Shards, but he could feel his palms going clammy inside his gloves. If they did this wrong...but everyone else so far had done it right. He would do it right.

"Okay then, mount up!"

C'mer took a deep breath and pictured it. Here it was. The big moment.
/Between/, cold and scary, dark and strange. What was it? How did dragons get through it? He still wasn't entirely clear, nor did he particularly care. The brownrider didn't love the academic sides of classes. They were just a necessary evil he had to deal with. It was the practical work that he enjoyed most, like flying. And he and Rhysth were good at flying- some of the best. He knew his brown was more agile than a normal brown, and was proud of it.

/Between/ was the most practical test they could ever face- could he hold his picture and bring them out of it? If he could, they would be full-fledged dragonriders finally. He could return to the Weyr triumphant, secure in the knowledge no one could part him and his dragon, knowing that they would graduate and take their rightful place among the ranks of the wings.

And, more importantly, he could go home.

He could show his parents his beautiful Rhysth. They'd never seen a dragon this up close and personal before, not since the dragon that had collected him from the cothold- and that had been a green, smaller and less perfect than his handsome brown. He could show them how they flew, how they would make the Weyr proud, how he was upholding his family honor in the best way possible. He allowed himself that feeling for a wonderful moment before setting it aside and picturing the Weyr.

**Let's go.** he told Rhysth, and suddenly they went /between/.

Colder beyond frozen things. Or was it beyond all things? C'mer couldn't remember the words of the song anymore. It was cold, and frozen, and dark, and he couldn't feel his own body or Rhysth. Rhysth! Rhysth! Where was his dragon? He couldn't feel anything anymore.

}:I am here.:{ The brown told his rider confidently, sending waves of love and assurance.

Shards! The Weyr! C'mer had nearly forgotten to hold onto his image in the shock of /between/. This was only his second time there. He wanted to get out. Oh shards, shells, great Faranth, this was so much worse than he remembered, only slightly mitigated by the feeling of his own brown with him. He wanted to be out. He wanted to be home. Home NOW.

But the Weyr was not his home.

They broke out of /between/. The sky was cloudy, but there was sun, and it was warm. So amazingly hot and warm, after that icy chill, the icy shock of that horrid place. C'mer was dazed by the contrast, relieved to be out and alive. They had done it! They had survived /between/!

Something was wrong. He hadn't heard the watchdragon bellow, or seen M'galec. Where was he? He scanned the air, and found nothing. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. He ordered Rhysth to drop lower, and looked down.

They weren't at the Weyr.

**Rhysth?!** he thought in panic. **Where are we?**

}:You were thinking of here, you wanted to go home.:{ The brown was confused by his rider's panic. He had gone to the place his rider was thinking of! Should he not be happy?

**Oh Rhysth, we're supposed to be at the Weyr!** C'mer thought in panic.
He'd wound up home- **shouldn't have been thinking of it so much, stupid sharding wherry**- and now he couldn't even enjoy circling above the cothold, the perfect image of a dragonrider. **Call the Weyrlingmaster.
Call the Second!**

}:Alylth? Dwarkanath? I took my rider to where he pictured, but it was not the Weyr. He is very upset. What should we do?:{ }:Stay where you are,:{ came the almost instant reply from the Weyrlingmaster's bronze. }:Stay where you are and tell yours to calm himself, we will come for you.:{ J'an kept his face calm as the rest of the weyrlings watched anxiously.
They would know that something was not quite right, even if he said nothing, their dragons would tell them.

"I want you all to stay here. You don't move, not until I come back for you, or M'galec comes for you, is that understood?"

There were frantic nods, and sounds of hurried 'yessirs'. They knew enough not to argue in situations like this.

**Al, contact Dwarkanath's. Tell him that I'll go and get them back.**

His bronze relayed the message as J'an checked his straps one last time, before settling himself comfortably on the bronze.

}:Rhysth., my rider wants you to tell us where you are. Slowly, and calmly, build the picture, and show it to me.:{ C'mer wanted to close his eyes and picture the Weyr and take himself back home, but he knew how foolish that would be. He'd messed up and come here, even though he hadn't intended to come here! Think about exactly how it looked and picture it. He could do that. He could do that. He looked down at the cothold. Building a mental image of his old home was much, MUCH harder to do when he was trying to do it then it had apparently been when he was panicking.

There were two buildings he could picture in relation to each other, and the small creek that usually dried up to a trickle but had been a great place to hide and climb. Those he could relate to each other in his head, but he was having trouble visualizing them. He had been here long enough to know the place innately, to form a strong enough image of it that he could have guided Rhysth there, but that was born from pure instinctive knowledge and not from actively trying to imagine it. Now that he was, he couldn't do it. There was just nothing distinctive about the place for an outsider to memorize, no patterns of cliffs or bluffs.
It was thoroughly unremarkable.

Sighing, C'mer closed his eyes and tried to run through the events in his head, trying to recapture the image that had brought them here.
Rhysth tried to help somewhat, commenting on what he recognized from the first trip and what he didn't. Finally, there was a picture of his home.
He'd gotten as many details right as he could from his memories and from what he could see below him, even if he kept getting distracted by thoughts of wanting to go back to the Weyr, now. He could almost see the pattern of the Weyr below him instead. But no! He had to send the Weyrlingmaster the picture. He focused as best he could on the image through the mounting panic.

Rhysth took his rider's image and sent it on to Alylth. }:Here.:{ the brown dragonet said. His image was a bit shaky, not because he had problems sending, but because C'mer's vision wasn't entirely clear.
}:This is where we are.:{
**Is that them?** asked J'an.

}:Yes, that is what Rhysth sees, :{ reported the bronze. }:It's clear, and I have it.:{
**Tell them that we are coming for them. We will be there soon, now go!**

The bronze rose slowly into the air, wings beating as they gained enough height. They could see the anxious weyrlings below, looking up at them, trying to keep calm.

}:Do not worry, we will be back soon, with your clutchmate,:{ reassured Alylth.

With those words he went /between/, hoping to emerge near the brown and his rider....

C'mer was desperately hoping that the Weyrlingmaster would come out of /between/ soon, find him and Rhysth, and then bring them back to the Weyr. He just wanted to go back to the Weyr right now and hide. He'd never be allowed to come back here until he was graduated, that was for sure! No one would let out a stupid weyrling who couldn't even go back to the Weyr on his own. Everyone would look at him funny. He'd failed!
He'd failed and now everyone would ostracize him when he got back. He might have survived /between/, but he hadn't done it right. Shards, but no one would like him anymore. Being home had lost all its appeal.

He felt the brown below him tremble, the only flash of warning he had before Rhysth began to keen. **Rhysth?!** he cried mentally. **What happened? Why are you keening?**

}:They are gone.:{ the brown said, anguished. }:Alylth is gone.:{ C'mer felt numbness sweep over him. They'd been on the way to come get him...and now they were gone? /Between/ forever? Never coming back out?
Shards, and it had been HIS visualization! He'd been the one to call them here, and he'd done it wrong. What part of the picture had he given them wrong?!

Now he was stuck here! He couldn't go /between/ back to the Weyr on his own, and he couldn't call M'galec to come, because he didn't have any better visualization. He'd kill him too!

Kill. Shards, he'd killed the Weyrlingmaster.

C'mer felt like he was going to be violently sick with his guilt, his terror, and his misery. Could they take Rhysth away from him? Would he be allowed to graduate? Could he ever fly Thread? Would he be sent away from the Weyr? How would they ever get back? He began to lose himself to the panic and the shame.

}:Dwarkanath, please help us.:{ Rhysth pleaded, feeling his rider's anguish and reaching out to the other bronze dragon.

M'galec was already springing into action. He didn't have time to wonder what went wrong. **Tell him we're coming! Ask him for a visual.
Tell the others to return to the Weyr. And make sure they know to fly _straight_! They are to gather in the large classroom and wait for my return.**

There was no time to reflect on what a tragic irony it was that the _Weyrlingmaster_ who had trained hundreds of young dragonriders on such a simple exercise was the one to make a fatal lapse in imagery. There would be time for that later. Now he had to take control of the situation and not allow them to give in to panic.

}:I've got the visual. The staff has been alerted and will keep the weyrlings together until your return. But M'galec, they are in shock. We will miss Alylth and his.:{
**Won't we all...** With a slight shudder, M'galec and Dwarkanath blinked /between/.

Last updated on the January 13th 2007

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A time for everything