A few days later, after J'lenn had taken Toshi, Jetiyan, Tiyoshi, and Jekyann off to Opal Moon Weyr, the smithhall, and Abri Weyr Tiyanni came looking for J'lenn, and she was in a rage. "J'lenn," she snapped, her eyes flashing fire and her tone as hard and cold as steel. "Just where on Pern are my children?"
J'lenn knew it was coming, but he was not prepared for the intensity of Tiyanni's wrath. "Opal Moon and Abri, and the smithhall, just like I said." He did not look away from her, as it was the truth.
"I've just been to see the Smiths, and my son is not there, nor was he ever there." She snarled. "Try again."
"Honestly Tiyanni, I took him to the smithcraft hall."
Tiyanni stepped closer, her lips pressed in a firm line until she spoke. "There is no Opal Moon, nor Abri Weyr, J'lenn. Where are my children?"
"They're in the future, Weyrwoman. A dragon not yet hatched timed it back to give me the visual." J'lenn swallowed hard. It was the truth, but it seemed like a huge lie.
Tiyanni fumed. "Go get them."
J'lenn cowered. "I cannot. It's too late, the clutches will have hatched by now, they were incredibly hard..."
The Weyrwoman was really at a loss, and incredibly angry. Her teenage children were taken forward in time - they no longer existed in the here-and-now. There was no way she could visit them. "Prove it, J'lenn. Prove to me that my children will return here safely."
J'lenn searched his mind. "The Weyrwoman of Abri will Impress at Ryslen. Her dragon will be a gold..." J'lenn paused for a moment, his features unreadable. "...named Xhorieth."
Tiyanni was not comforted by this, as it was impossible to prove, and his pause could have been taken as a scramble for a dragon's name he'd never before heard. "And Jekyann and Tiyoshi are standing for her clutch then?"
J'lenn sighed. "No, Weyrwoman. They will have impressed from the clutch of a black dragoness, as will Toshi, and probably Jetiyann."
Tiyanni stared for a moment. "BLACK? And you took them there?" It was unreal.
J'lenn hung his head. "I'm dreadfully sorry I have deceived you, Tiyanni..."
"Get out of my sight." Tiyanni growled, and the man, the rider of Litayth's clutchmate Scith, hurried away. In time, she would forgive him, and in time, her children would return to East Rock. Someday after Xhorieth hatched... Whenever that would be.
* * *
In that future time, Jekyann and Tiyoshi learned many things, and were told in full detail of the Lights and the Nights and the Flurry dragons that hatched from their home in the long years and short days that they'd been gone.
Not long before the hatching, Jekyann obtained a second flit egg - one that Keepa particularly favored. It hatched into a strong blue-white creature, and with a sigh and a smile, Jekyann named him Okast - for an outcast he would have been in former times with coloring like that. There were, of course, days when Jekyann wished he hadn't been brought forward, but here he was.
The hatching came, and with it a soft strong brown dragon, who chose Jekyann.
Are you glad J'lenn took you here now, J'kyan?
"Of course I'm glad we came ahead, Itaoth. Now I have you!" Jekyann, now J'kyan said with a grin on his face a dragonlength wide. Tiyoshi smiled too. Somehow she'd known her stable, responsible brother would impress a brown.
Something nagged at her then. She'd never considered what color she should impress. Gold, said part, and green, screamed another. Tiyoshi shook her head. It was the dragon's choice, there was no point in dwelling on it.
The largest egg shuddered and cracked, letting a bright young gold out into the world. Tiyoshi smiled, and then stared as the baby queen spread her wings - her green wings. A gold-green!!
Can you explain even me to your mother, Tiyoshi? the queen said sweetly in her mind.
"Valaeryth." She said softly, naming her bond, her friend that loved her unconditionally. All ideas of color and rank were thrown from the heights - this called for a new philosophy all together.
A few months after Itaoth hatched, a third firelizard egg was gifted to J'kyan - and this one hatched red.
"Oh dear..." Tiyoshi giggled when she saw the crimson flit.
It cheeped at J'kyan, and he laughed. "Odi it is."
* * *
Time passed, and soon the children of the black dragoness were ready to depart.
"Home then?" J'kyan said to his sister as he tightened the ties on the last bag Itaoth would be carrying.
Tiyoshi smirked from where she sat astride her gold-green Valaeryth, who was at that moment amused by the red, green, and blue-white flits that danced around Itaoth's head. "Let's stop over at Opal Moon, and see how Toshi and Jetiyan are doing."
J'kyan's grin was enough of a response, and in a moment, they were airborne. A visual of Opal Moon's bowl, and they were gone.
The pair spiralled down to land, announcing themselves to the watchdragon. An older rider was traversing the bowl as Tiyoshi swung down from her perch. "Excuse me, but could you tell us where to find Jetiyan and Toshi?"
"J'ti," the rider corrected absently, "and Toshi are attending the Weyrlingmaster before he releases them to go to their new weyrs."
"Thank you." J'kyan said, and with his sister, set off to find their siblings. They would all go home together, it seemed.
Itaoth's Chases
Flits from Cy Dragonstake
