Then he saw the clouds of silver on the horizon. Glancing in the other direction, he spotted a cave, where a red-haired girl leaned against another, dark-haired boy in fear. Suddenly, A'ros knew exactly where-and when-they were.
A'ros's eyes widened. "K-Krinoth..." He stuttered weakly, staring around him in awe. "You...dragons can go between times?"
"Actually, I'm quite surprised you didn't know about it already." Krinoth answered. "But you did say, if you had the chance..."
A'ros gasped. "Krinoth...We can't-this has got to be dangerous...We can't change the past..."
"But we won't." Krinoth insisted. "Remember? You said you saw an andalusite-celestial dragon, didn't you? Before my brother and I were even hatched. How else could it have happened, unless we were already here?"
A'ros hesitated, thinking it over. This was more than he had ever dreamed was possible. He was actually here, back in time. He had a chance to save Myriam and Iason...
He looked up at Krinoth and smiled. "Well, come on, then. We'll have to hurry, the Thread's here!" Sure enough, the monsterous silver Threads were falling on the unprotected trees. No dragonriders were around.
A'ros was fuming. Where are the dragonriders? Isn't it their job to fight Thread?
"There's not supposed to be anybody around to protect." Krinoth reminded him. "Besides, this area is heavily grubbed, the thread can't do much damage."
"The grubs are only in the ground, Krinoth." A'ros said, watching as a tree withered from the top down, where a peice of Thread had fallen into its upper branches.
An animal's frightened yowl startled the two of them as a gray-striped feline darted toward them. A'ros kneeled and picked up the feline. "Nieto? Oww! Nieto, it's me!" He said as the feline clawed at him in fright. "Krinoth, call the dragons, any dragons. Get them out here!"
"Already have." The andalusite-celestial dragon answered.
Still clutching the-slightly calmer, thankfully-feline, A'ros climbed back onto his dragon.
A flash of red caught his eye, and he turned. A red-haired girl stumbled and fell, looking up in terror at the falling Thread. A'ros gasped. "Myriam!" He whispered. He drew his cloak around him, covering his face with the hood.
Krinoth took off towards the girl. She screamed as the dragon landed in front of her, and A'ros jumped off his dragon's back. "Don't worry, it'll be alright." He reassured her as he helped her onto Krinoth's back.
"There's two others!" Myriam said. "My brother, and-"
"I know." A'ros interrupted her. "Come on, Krinoth." He said, and the dragon nodded. They watched as Iason raced out, searching for his sister.
Suddenly, the air was filled with dragons, as a whole wing appeared. "The dragons from Opal Moon have arrived." Krinoth told him.
A'ros blinked in puzzlement. Opal Moon? Hadn't that been...But then he remembered they were two turns in the past, before Opal Moon Weyr had been moved to Lao Daemia and Kjanli'eyr.
"Took them long enough." He muttered.
Myriam gasped from behind him. "Iason!"
A'ros turned to see her younger brother, Iason, glancing around worriedly. A huge, hideous mass that had once been a tree, now covered with writhing Threads, tottered behind him, unoticed.
Krinoth winged his way over there, as A'ros practically leaped to the ground. Grabbing Iason's arm, he jerked the boy out of the way, just before the tree fell, which would have crushed him. A'ros glimpsed something to his right, on his blind side. He turned to see another, dark-haired boy, shielding his face as Thread fell above him.
He helped Iason onto the dragon's back, and turned to Krinoth. "Take them somewhere safe, okay Krinoth?" He directed the dragon, who spread his wings and took off.
With that done, A'ros knelt by his other self as another dragon landed beside them with his rider. He helped the other man carry the injured Akeros onto the brown dragon. As they went between, A'ros sighed, wondering just how he was going to explain this.
The healer tended to the unconscious boy the stranger had brought in. A'ros stared down at himself. Faranth, this is wierd. He thought to himself.
"So." The healer said, interrupting A'ros's thoughts. "You just happened to be flying over a totally uninhabited area, during Threadfall, and saw a couple of kids in danger. Then you had your dragon call us from halfway across the continent, for no apparent reason. Also, you ride a dragon that nobody's ever seen before; hell, I can't even think of a name for a color like that!" He finished, staring at A'ros doubtfully.
"Andalusite-celestial, sir." A'ros supplied helpfully.
The healer cocked an eyebrow, staring at him. "Where did you Impress a dragon like that from, anyway?"
A'ros paused, hesitant. "Kjanli'eyr, on a planet called Lao Daemia." He grinned.
The healer just rolled his eyes as another man entered. This man had long, black hair in a braid running down his back, and peircing dark blue eyes. "So, just what is going on here?" He asked.
"This boy was brought in." The healer said to the dragonrider. "That guy called one of our wings from halfway across the continent to help."
The rider raised an eyebrow, staring at A'ros, but said nothing. The man, Head Searchrider M'naz, as A'ros knew, glanced back down at A'ros's other self, still lying unconscious. "Is he dead?" He asked with concern in his eyes.
A'ros spoke up. "No, but he's been badly scored. He'll be blind in his right eye."
The healer glared at him. "Are you a healer? I don't think so."
"I'm right, aren't I?" A'ros countered as the healer fumed silently.
"Who is he?" M'naz asked, breaking the tension.
"I don't know." The healer shrugged. "Probably from some nearby hold. Poor kid..."
A'ros chose this moment to quietly step out of the room. As he left, he heard the rider's blue dragon. So, the healer saves himself and his friends, with the Impression of a dragon. Thus providing needed healing...
A'ros ignored the dragon as he walked away. He heard the rider sigh, and say something to his younger self. "Well, Falaath said something about a healer and needed healing, and Impressing a dragon. So basically, Falaath says you should stand for Adityath's clutch."
A'ros just grinned and shook his head, meeting Krinoth outside. "Hey, Krinoth. Where's Myriam and Iason?"
"Well, you told me to take them someplace safe, so I left them in our weyr." The dragon answered.
A'ros stared at his dragon. "Krinoth? Our weyr is two turns in the future."
Krinoth blinked. "Yes. Your point?" He asked, and his rider just groaned.
A'ros shook his head and smiled. "Come on, Krinoth. Let's go home. We're gonna have a lot of explaining to do." He laughed as he climbed onto the dragon's back.
...For others, and himself.