Accidents Happen [OPEN, Day 4]

[Kitsuneko]

Zamanth emerged from between, shaken. Saira knew that traveling through time took longer than a normal trip between, but still...The rider was gasping for air and shivering despite her thickly-furred riding gear. The trip had taken so long she had started to feel like she was suffocating, and it was difficult to shake off the feeling of the freezing cold of between, despite the warmer air which, come to think of it, was still quite cold, almost winter-like.

What is wrong, Mine? Are we where we are supposed to be? Zamanth asked as she glided in lazy circles.

The young greenrider continued to shiver as she looked at the scene below them. There were people--lots of people, and some dragons as well, in an area surrounded by stalls and tables of food. It looked like...a Gather. Had they misjudged the jump? Saira and Zamanth were supposed to arrive at the beginning of the New Fall with the rest of Trelis Weyr's riders, but neither rider nor dragon saw anyone they recognized among the dragons below. Saira could tell they were somewhere within Trelis's territory, but that was all, as the landscape was largely unfamiliar. If they had made a mistake going between, there was no telling where--or when--they were now.

Comet! Saira thought, looking around for her brown fire lizard and even calling out to him mentally. There was no answer, and the familiar shape of the fire lizard failed to materialize. Her heart sank as she told Zamanth, Look for someone we can talk to, Zamanth. Let's figure out where we are...it looks like we might have made a mistake...

[Jilli]

K'gan sighed boredly as he scratched Orath's eye ridges. He'd been through the gather several times already, not finding anything more entertaining than he had the time before that. It was growing tiresome in all honesty. He'd since then decided to hang back outside the general populace with Orath, who needless to say, wanted no part of the gather.

My K'gan Mine? Why do they all get together in such big groups? Dont they get jumbled and pushed around?

His green beauty's voice was sweet and genuinely curious. Large groups of humans made her nervous. Too many variables. Any one of them could do something while she was distracted by the others. So why did they do it?

"Because most people like the feeling of a festival. They like the activity and being able to be out with their friends."

Well I do not like it. Far too many humans to keep an eye on all of them. We must stay safe. Promise we don't have to go back in there again mine?

Alright Orath. We won't go back out there if you dont want to. We can have fun out here away from the crowds." He smiled and patted her on the shoulder. She was a beautiful larger than normal green, nice and strong. But while he had begun to ease himself around dragons*with some reservations about garnets , understandably*, she was still very nervous about crowds of humans.

[Kitsuneko]

The uneasy feeling in her belly grew as Zamanth spiraled toward the ground. There appeared to be no official watchdragon, and the nearest rider and dragon pair was a green and her male rider on the ground. The two seemed about their own age, if not slightly younger, but Saira still didn't recognize them. She had a feeling they had indeed jumped into the future, but just how far had they come?

Hello there, Zamanth called to the other green as she back-winged to land nearby. I think my rider and I might be lost. Can you tell me which is the nearest Weyr?

Saira slipped down from Zamanth's back to greet the rider as well. "Umm, I'm Saira, of Green Zamanth. This is a Gather, isn't it? What's the occasion?"

[Jilli]

Orath's neck twitched slightly as she heard a new voice. New New. one she hadnt heard around the weyr before. It was dragon, not human which put her mind a bit more at ease. Were they good? Friend or foe... It asked for the nearest weyr.... Surely telling them they were AT trelis wouldnt do any harm. I mean... they were already here...

go ahead dearest, I'll take care of you and her rider will be just fine. Dont worry. He gave the girl a smile and he shrugged.

"Uhhh I dunno if there's an occasion really. It's the Winter Gather. Our Queen and Subqueen just finished their flights, so I suppose that could be called an occasion." He thought for a moment or two, then plopped his fist in his open hand. His expression was one of dumbfounded realization.

"I know! It's the Graduation! Some weyrling classes are graduating today!"

Orath stayed glued to K'gan's side. He would protect her... yes.

"You are in Trelis. TrelisWeyr."
She didn't offer a lot in the way of talking. She was generally shy anyway, and she didnt know this pair. She watched them carefully, always hyper-vigillant.

[Kitsuneko]

A Winter Gather. That made since with the rather cold weather she'd noticed. Saira listened as he continued talking. There had been no weyrling graduation coming up when she had left, which seemed to be further proof that she was in the future. She nodded in understanding, but then frowned as the rest of what the greenrider had said registered.

"Er...what's a subqueen?" She felt a slight blush coming over. She knew the only female dragons were golds and greens, but the matter-of-fact way the other rider was talking made her think whatever these "subqueens" were, they were common knowledge. Perhaps some sort of alternate name for the junior queen?

Zamanth snorted in surprise. Saira, the green says we are still in Trelis. But then why is everything so different? Her dragon asked, and Saira didn't have an immediate answer.

She addressed the greenrider. "Umm, also, I know this might sound kind of weird but, well, can you tell me what turn we are in? Has the New Fall started yet?"

[Jilli]

K'gan thought the pair seemed pretty normal, until the girl asked about subqueens. The news of the mutations not to mention the rebellion was common knowledge now. He felt orath tense behind him and sent soothing waves to her over their link. We're still safe dearest.

" A sub-queen is a topaz or an Obsidian dragon. You know, mutation colors like garnets, amethysts, and ebonys?"

He told orath to be still but she was still watching, calculating the pair and planning courses of action just I case they turned out to be insane and they attacked. He heard the playbyplay in her mind in snippets as she got into her planning and forgot to put her mental block back up. 'bite the human then scoop up mine and fly. ... Run.. Get to. Ther...". He grinned and shook his head. She was such a worrywart.

"It's the 202nd turn. The new fall began. Who are you anyway ?" his eyebrow was lifted in confusion. There was no way anyone on pern would have thought the new fall hadn't started. There was something off with this pair...

[Kitsuneko]

Aaagh! Now he was looking at her like she was insane! Saira drew herself straighter, feeling defensive despite herself. If anyone was insane here, though, it was the other rider. Topaz? Obsidian? Mutated dragons? Who had ever heard of such a thing?

Then he told her the date, and her jaw dropped. She recovered quickly, but her shock was still evident. "Oh, shards, two hundred turns," she muttered, not realizing or caring that K'gan could hear her. "We missed it by two hundred turns, how could we do that, Zamanth? Oh, this is bad," she moaned. "We're two hundred turns in the future!"

The green's reply was a snort. Calm down, SairaMine. We will figure this out. That was about as far as Zamanth's reassurance went, and the dragon gave her rider a shove forward with her nose. Now answer the man's question. We need to figure out what to do next, right?

"What? Oh, did I not tell you before? I'm Saira, and this is Zamanth. Did I say that already?" She was rambling, she knew, but her mind wasn't so much on what she was saying as she was still dwelling on the fact she was far in her own future. "We are--or were, I guess--from Trelis, but...it's complicated."

Zamanth seemed to grow tired of Saira's rambling and addressed the younger green in her typical matter-of-fact manner. My rider and I are from the past, near the beginning of the first Pass. We tried to jump forward in time and appear to have misjudged the timing. I do hope we'll be able to stay here, at least until we figure out how to get back.