Fond Memories of Home (3/3)

Writers: Duskdog, Heather, Sia
Date Posted: 16th December 2025

Characters: H'taysh, K'lvin, Q'vettan
Description: H'taysh needs to tell someone about this startling discovery
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 11, day 24 of Turn 12

H'taysh

Q'vettan

They were just wrapping up their Wingleader meeting when Tzenketh relayed that Selkirth's rider wanted a word with him. Selkirth, Selkirth…a not-so-helpful image of a young man from high above flickered across his vision as the bronze tried to point out the greenrider. Hm. One of the graduated weyrlings. He didn't remember which Wing the kid was in, except that it wasn't his own.

"K'lvin, do you mind lingering for a moment? H'taysh wants a meeting. He was one of yours, wasn't he?"

“He was,” K’lvin affirmed, even as he settled into his chair to stay for a bit longer. “What is he wanting to meet about?”

Q'vettan raised his hands in a confused gesture. "Your guess is as good as mine. Tzenketh doesn't like to ask pesky questions such as 'why', but he should be here soon."

The knock at the door was rapid, stuttery, and urgent, like the hand making the gesture was shaking. “Weyrleader?” came H’taysh’s muffled voice from the other side, just before he opened the door without waiting for permission. The greenrider’s eyes were wide, his face pale, his short hair mussed from running his hands through it -- hands that were, indeed, shaking. “Weyrleader, sir, I… Wingleader!”

Maybe it was K’lvin’s lingering “weyrlingmaster presence” in H’taysh’s eyes moreso than his wingleader knots, but the sight of him seemed to snap a little bit of instinctive manners and obedience back into the young man. He tried to stand up straight. “Sirs, I’m sorry sirs, it’s just… something’s happened, something with Selkirth and me, something crazy…!”

"Have a seat, son." Q'vettan said gently. "Deep breaths. Start at the beginning, tell us what's got you so upset. Is Selkirth all right?"

K’lvin’s brow furrowed involuntarily. He remembered H’taysh being a pretty stable Weyrling. Seeing him so flustered was out of character.

H’taysh sat, partially because he had been told to, and partially because he was out of breath and really needed it. “Okay, okay, I don’t know where to start -- I mean, you’re going to think I’m crazy, but I promise I’m not crazy, okay? Or drunk. I haven’t had a drop all day!”

He took a deep breath, trying to ground himself. Selkirth enveloped his mind in warmth and love and encouragement even though she was flustered, too, and it helped.

“Okay, so… I decided to visit home. Not like Garnet Valley home -- or, I mean, Barrier Lake is my home now, yeah, but before that it was Garnet Valley, but before before _that_ it was Tin Hollow Minehold. I haven’t really been back since I was little, since my Ma and Pa died and nobody could take care of us, so they shipped us off to G-- well. That’s not important, I guess. But what’s important is that I wanted to see how it looked now, since I’ve really just done flyovers. I was just curious, you know? And so we went. Just like we always do! It was normal!”

He paused in his ramble to breathe again.

“But then it wasn’t normal. I felt like it took longer to get there than it was supposed to. And I was tired and out of breath. And the old mill had been fixed, when I thought it’d been all broken and busted. All the cots that’d seemed so empty when I’d swept over were full again. And I _know_ they were empty and had their roofs gone patchy -- I remember seeing it, and being kind of sad. That’s part of the reason I wanted to go visit for real! Everything was just like I remembered it, even though it’s been so long. The view from the mill down into the hold was the same as it used to be when I was little. And… and… and I saw some people. Some people who shouldn’t be there, I mean… except maybe they should, and _I_ wasn’t supposed to be there. Except I _was_ there. Not like me-me, but… like little me, and… and my _Ma_, was there. My Ma’s been dead since I was six, sirs, and she was _there_ -- I thought I’d forgotten her face, but I knew it when I saw it, plain as day. I knew her voice! It was her! And… my sisters. And _me_.”

He clutched at his chest, over his heart, as if he could still its wild beating. His eyes were wide, a little confused, but entreating.

“We got scared. It felt wrong… weird and wrong. So we came back here quick as we could. I think… I think we went back in time, sirs! I don’t know how else I’d explain it! I _know_ it sounds crazy, but I think… I think Selkirth’s some kind of… of… _prodigy_! She went /between/ times! I swear it happened, I swear on my life, sirs, you’ve gotta believe me!”

K’lvin’s eyes slid sideways to Q’vettan. The bronzeriders would know exactly what had happened to H’taysh, but it wasn’t common knowledge for chromatic riders. Personally, when he had been Weyrlingmaster, K’lvin had not liked keeping the ‘secret.’ He felt knowledge could only further prepare a young dragonrider for all possibilities.

“We believe you, H’taysh,” the former Weyrlingmaster said, leaving the rest to the Weyrleader for how detailed he wanted to be in his explanation.

Q'vettan met K'lvin's gaze momentarily before turning back to H'taysh. "Deep breaths. That must have been terrifying for you and Selkirth. We're glad you made it back unharmed. Now, I need you to think very hard about what you saw and did when you went back in time. Did anyone see you? Recognize you? Did you do anything else besides what you've already told us?"

“No, I didn’t do anything else. Yeah, I think maybe some people saw me? But it was at a distance, I don’t think anybody recognized me? I mean, I don’t remember recognizing myself… well, my now-self recognized my past-self, but I don’t remember my past-self seeing myself and thinking ‘oh hey it’s future-me’ or anything. Because I would, right? If I’d seen myself, I would remember it now, right? Nobody else ever said anything about seeing me on a dragon or anything. I don’t think they’d even ever imagine me on a dragon…” H’taysh took a few deep breaths, belatedly remembering Q’vettan’s instruction. “This is all pretty confusing… Selkirth is pretty special, huh?”

**Oh boy,** K’lvin thought. At least the greenrider hadn’t _done_ anything while he was /between times/. It was a relief to know that nothing had been endangered while H’taysh was gone, but… How did they explain that Selkirth wasn’t ‘special’?

“I’m glad you made it back to the correct time unharmed, H’taysh. You and Selkirth could have ended up anywhere… any_when_, but you made it back here properly. I commend you on that,” the former Weyrlingmaser said.

Q'vettan nodded. "You did everything right, H'taysh. Selkirth is a special girl, to be able to go there and back again safely. And you acted correctly by coming straight to us. This is why it's important to picture an area exactly as they are today when you're going /between/, and why the Weyrlingstaff are so careful during training. Dragons can go almost anywhere /between/, if we believe the old ballads-- into solid objects, under water, to the Red Star…and between times. None of those things should be attempted on your own. We don't usually share this information outside the Weyr Leadership. Traveling through time feels less perilous when you’re already carrying regret, and we cannot have the Weyr trying to fix every piece of their past."

H’taysh blinked, actually taking a moment to digest that information, looking between K’lvin and Q’vettan and back again. Solid objects? Check, they’d all heard the horror stories. Under water? Check, they’d discussed that, too. To the Red Star? Check… sort of. He’d heard the ballad, but had thought it seemed pretty far-fetched. And who would want to, anyway?

But… between _times_? Of course it was apparently possible, because he’d just done it, but…

It took his brain a few more seconds to catch on to what they were saying.

“Wait. You… you knew about this? Dragons can do this -- not just Selkirth -- and… you knew about it the whole time?” He couldn’t help the creeping sense of betrayal bleeding into his voice. “Sirs… I get it, I guess. I just… I wish I’d known.”

}:I’m not special?:{ Selkirth asked.

**You are the _most_ special,** he assured her fiercely.

"I wish you had, too." Q'vettan said gently, though he cast another look at K'lvin. "The deception was deemed necessary a very long time ago. This does not reflect what any of us think of you or Selkirth's abilities. You two did much more in unknown circumstances than many of us would have."

K’lvin did not know who had made the original rules about who learned /timing it/ and who didn’t, but they had been adhered to like any other tradition over the Turns without question. And to the credit of the rule, H’taysh was the first person K’lvin knew personally who had ‘accidentally’ gone /between times/. **Although… I wonder how many have done it without realizing,** he then thought.

“So… what would have happened if I _did_ try to change something?” H’taysh asked. “If I’d’ve… I don’t know, talked to my Ma? Tried to warn her to keep her from dying or something?” He wasn’t sure it was even possible -- what would he even tell her to look out for? Sickness wasn’t something you could exactly set up a watchtower for. “Would it have messed everything up in the now? Would it have made it so that I never came here, never Impressed Selkirth…? But then I couldn’t have gone back to mess up the past, and… whoa, this is all really confusing. I guess maybe I can see why you wouldn’t want anybody to test it.”

"That's exactly it. We don't know how small changes in our lives ripple outwards. Would you cease to exist as you are? Would we in the present know there was a change? If you hadn't been on the Sands that day, what would have happened to Selkirth? How would your friends and family have changed from you not being here as you are?" Q'vettan asked. He ran a hand through his greying hair, meeting H'taysh's quizzical expression with a pained one of his own.

"That is not to say we shouldn't consider telling others. You're proof that keeping that information away doesn't prevent it from happening. You've given us a lot to think about. But for now, we're trusting you to keep this between us. Can you do that?"

H’taysh blinked. Keep it a secret? Something that was still actively blowing his mind? “Uhhh… yeah. Yeah I think I can…”

He blinked again, frowning, as he visibly thought it through. What if he _had_ spoken to someone, messed something up? What if someone else tried it -- even if they thought he was just joking -- and messed something up? Or got lost?

Q’vettan was right. He _couldn’t_ tell anybody.

“Yessir,” he amended, looking up again, his expression resolute (if still a little frantic). “I know I can. I won’t tell anybody anything!”

"That's good to hear, lad." Q'vettan said. "You're dismissed. And you let your Wingleader know if you have any questions about it once you've had some time to think about it. It's a lot to keep to yourself."

H’taysh nodded, standing. His hands were still shaking, and there were still a lot of questions floating around in his head, but he made the conscious decision not to think too hard about them right now. Tomorrow, maybe. Or never. “Thank you, sir. Sirs.” He nodded again, to K’lvin, with a nervous little smile.

Last updated on the December 21st 2025

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Fond Memories of Home (3/3)