The day passed uneventful for in the forest as nearly sixty statues, all with looks of worry and or pain stood closely together. Rukbat rolled lazily over head. Unknown to the sleeping clan a green and black dragon flew over head. The dragon’s nose twitched as she flew over the hidden clan.

Min, dear? the dragon questioned her rider. Yes, Auspexeth, what is it? Unless I am sorely mistaken I think there’s a group of candidates bellow us… some might be good for this new Flurry clutch. Min looked bellow and to her surprise in a small part of the forest something seemed to glow bellow the canopy of the trees. An aura of sorts seemed to peek though. Should we investigate, my rider? Auspexeth rumbled as she circled the area below them. Couldn’t hurt to check, Min replied, But can you find a place close to them to land?

The green, instead of replying headed towards a small clearing. When they landed they found a smoldering fire and red fruit cores strew around the campsite. The tracks that they found though confused them, they looked more like scuff marks than boots or bare feet. Auspexeth stayed in the clearing as the trees grew too tight together for the dragon to follow her rider. Min didn’t need to be told where the potential candidates were as the auras they gave off told of the direction she should go.

“By the first egg,” Min mumbled to herself as she found the stone statues. They were remarkably well carved and though some faces were a bit scary to look at most looked to have been kind faces… that is they would have looked that way if they didn’t looked so downcast. Yet still the fact that they gave off auras confused Min. This might sound odd, rider mine, but I could swear those statues you are looking at are dreaming… they give off the feeling of life. They look a bit like J’lenn’s half brother, Hasalenn’s craft work. Should we visit the Master and ask him of them? Why not, I don’t think J’lenn’s told him the news of his latest “escapades.” Auspexeth grinned at her rider’s mentioning of the hide bond riding breaking his own morals.

Min left the statue forest and mounted her dragon. In three strong strokes of Auspexeth wings they were in the air and on their way to the mason’s isolated home. Had the duo stayed a few minutes longer they would have seen a ball of flame suddenly appear right next to the stone Jilly and heard the thick branch grown under the weight of something hidden by the fire. As the flames disappeared it left in its place two new gargoyles who had turned to stone before the Phoenix Gate’s fires had disappeared. On of the gargoyles was of the beast bred while the other was like the majority of the Timewalker Clan. In the gargoyle’s claw light glinted of the gold trim of the Black Gate. It seemed to be resting or the moment but only a few seconds later it flared once more and disappeared without taking the two gargoyles it had left in the tree next to Jilly.

Rukbat slowly started to set and the sun seemed to grin as it went, as if knowing what was ahead for the stone figures in the forest. As the sun sunk fully bellow the horizon, a rumble started within the forest right where the figures stood. Crackling and popping noises accompanied the rumbles which turned into various types of roars. Stone skin burst and or fell from the multitude of different colored gargoyles. Aisugriff looked grief stricken but soon found something else to occupy her time, and not by her own chose.

“What the?!?!” two voices cried out above the griffon like gargoyle, followed by a gargoyle beast’s howl. The next thing Aisugriff knew she was pinned to the ground by three beings who had fallen out of the tree. The new comer was the first to recover, he was male and silver in color other than his black feet and hands as well as the white tip on his bushy tail. Jilly looked at the male gargoyle in a bit of shock, he had the head of a fox, with a bit of spiky hair and his longer hair was tied off at the nap of his neck causing a pony tail that ran to the middle of his wings which were feathered. The gargoyle beast came to stand next to him, she was what caused Jilly to realize who this gargoyle might be. The beast was orange and looked a bit like an over grown feline.

“Kurt, Kat,” Jilly whispered to herself while Aisugriff tried to dislodge Jilly off of her, seeming to not know her cousin yet.

“Get off who ever you are!” Aisugriff growled and Jilly quickly found herself kissing the ground.

“What happened? Where am I?” the fox like gargoyle asked.

“What do you mean by that, you were up in the tree, lad,” Aisugriff scowled and her fire lizards circled her head fretfully while eyeing the fox with annoyance.

“Were you taken by the ball of flame too?” the gargoyle asked.

“You mean you found a Pheonix Gate?” one of the other clan members asked as they had gathered around Aisugriff the moment she was set free.

“If that is what you call it yes,” the fox replied only a moment before he was wrapped in a bone crunching, to a human, hug.

“KURT!” Jilly shouted happily not being able to restrain herself any longer. It had been longer sense she had seen her old friend so Jilly had thought it better to go after him first. The fox gargoyle gasped in surprise at being known and getting a hug from a gargoyle he was sure he did not know. Before he could question the female though Jilly was already going after Kat, the only gargoyle there who was fully aware of who she was.

“KAT!” Jilly cooed and rubbed the beast’s head happily as Kat started to lick exuberantly at her face. Jilly didn’t seem to care at that moment that she was being stared at by all. She was back with her clan though they didn’t know it and her best friend from child hood had suddenly appeared in seemingly the same fashion she had disappeared.

“Kurt? Kat?” Aisugriff spoke in surprise. Kurt on the other hand was taking in what he was seeing, a beautiful gargoyle was playing with the beast he thought loyal only to him and one other… but that other had been gone for over twenty five years, twenty six to be exact. As he looked harder the silver fox grew wide eyed as realization dawned on him.

“Jilly is that you?” Kurt asked the light blue gargoyle open mouthed. It was then that Jilly finally acknowledged what was going on around her. She grinned sheepishly and once again got to her feet.

“Yeah, Kurt, it’s me,” Jilly replied and then looked at the confused clan whom she knew had one question on their minds, “It’s a long story to tell.”

“Well I for one would like to hear it,” Aisugriff sounded almost insulted by the change, “I mean last night you were a hatchling, today you seem to be the same age as me, and last I checked the Gates, even the Rogue gate didn’t do that!”

“I’ll give you the short version for now,” Jilly replied not quite feeling up to telling them everything that happened, “Last night when you saw me disappear in a ball of flames… that was twenty turns back for me.”

“Turns?”

“That would be the term for… now what was it called… year that’s it. Turns is the word people on Pern use for years,” Jilly smiled, for a short time feeling like she was back in her first conversations with Hasalenn about terms such as years and turns.

“I’ve been waiting for twenty turns for this day,” Jilly replied, “the day I would once again see your faces and join back up with my clan.” Aisugriff approached her cousin who was now only slightly shorter than her. She looked over the light blue gargoyles face and took in the new clothing. Lastly she looked into the light green eyes and there it seems she found what she was looking for.

“Twenty years you waited for us, Jill?” Aisugriff finally spoke, caressing her cousin’s cheek. Jilly smiled and embrassed the eagle headed gargoyle in a hug.

“I’ve missed everyone of you so much,” Jilly cried happily into her cousin’s shoulder.

“I was so afraid we had lost you last night,” Aisugriff replied, “but I guess in a way we did though we might not feel it as much with such a short time lapse.”

“We should get going now,” Jilly spoke one again after a long silence, “I have a home here but if we don’t move quickly we might not make it there by sunrise. I have so much to tell you about Pern… for instance, these miniature dragons of yours they are called fire lizards. There are dragons here on Pern but they are much bigger, you probably won’t be able to see them but from afar though.”

“I wouldn’t count on that tonight Jilly,” a voice seemed to smile from behind the clan.

“Uncle!” Jilly’s smiled brightened though she quickly put an understanding claw on her cousin’s shoulder as the darker blue gargoyle looked thinking it was her own father.

“I see you found your Clan finally,” Hasalenn smiled and bowed in greeting to the other gargoyles, “I guess Seafrost was fairly well informed for a fire lizard.” As if on cue the aqua fire lizard popped out of between chirping smugly.

“How did you get her so fast, it usual takes three or four days on foot,” Jilly questioned. Behind Hasalenn someone cleared their throat. A young woman walked out of the shadows that hid her and she smiled at the creatures before her.

“I’m the reason he’s here so quickly,” Min smiled, “Minaeya, rider of Night green Auspexeth at Ryslen Weyr.”

“A dragonrider!” Jilly brightened and then looked confused, “You don’t seem surprised to see us or even scared of us.”

“That’s because Auspexeth and I came here earlier today,” Min replied with a smile, “She thought she sensed candidates, and I thought I saw the auras of many as well.”

“Candidates for what?” Kurt finally spoke up finally, having felt left out of all other conversations since Jilly had started to talk with her cousin.

“They don’t know?” Min asked looking at Hasalenn.

“All but Jilly have been here for less than a two days,” Hasalenn replied pointing to the blond so that he was sure Min knew which gargoyle he was talking of.

“Her aura seems brighter at this time than the others,” Min replied and made her way to Jilly, “Hasalenn says you’ve been here a long time now, so would you know what I’m talking about when I say to you that you have been searched?”

“Do I ever!” Jilly grinned, “And I’ll tell you now I accept!”

“Searched for what, Jill?” Okumen asked in her seemingly shy way.

“To be a candidate on Ryslen’s hatching sands,” Jilly smiled, “I’m going to see if I can bond to a dragon.” As Jilly expected the whole Clan burst into a ruckus. Bond a dragon, but dragons might hurt or even eat Jilly. What was the girl thinking, had she gone mad on this world she had called Pern.

“Jilly you can’t go on such a suicidal mission,” Kurt begged of his rookery sister, “You’ve only just come back to me you can go off and die now.” Jilly just smirked at her fellow clanmates and Kurt, Min had seemed to get the gargoyle’s idea and stood next to her silently letting the gargoyle handle this.

“What’s so funny about going to your death, cousin?” Aisugriff scowled.

“The fact that I’m not going to my death, my mentor,” Jilly smiled widely, her two upper fangs showing more and more, “dragons on Pern are not like the dragons of old. Dragons on Pern are like gargoyles, they protect. They would never think of eating a human, only herdbeast, wild felines, and possibly a net of fish or two.” Some of the clan looked surprised while others didn’t look to sure about what the former hatchling was saying. Jilly sighed and shook her head.

“Min, is your dragon near by?” Jilly asked out of the corner of her mouth. The Night green rider nodded and then Jilly spoke aloud to everyone, “Follow me if you will. Min, if you’ll lead us to where she’s waiting for you.” When the gargoyles entered the clearing and found the black bottomed green dragon waiting there with whirling blue eyes some of the clan inched away. The fact that Auspexeth tilted her head at them didn’t’ help much either.

While half the clan was nervous about the dragon Jilly was quite taken aback by the sight of a dragon up close. She’s beautiful. Why thank you. For your kind you seem to be too. Jilly’s mouth dropped, the dragon had talked to her. It had been an interesting feeling of having a voice that you knew wasn’t your own speaking inside your head.

“Thank you,” Jilly spoke aloud causing her clan mates to look at her oddly once again that night. Jilly didn’t hear a reply this time though it seemed Min was getting one.

“She finds your kind interesting,” Min replied, “Though I’m not sure your clan believes you yet.”

“Can I make a request then?” Jilly asked and by the silence of the green rider she took that as to ask away, “would it be too much trouble if my clan came to stay with me at Ryslen?”

“We might not have enough weyrs to accommodate so many visitors,” Min replied a bit surprised by the request.

“Don’t worry,” Jilly replied, “They’d only need them at night as we are stone during the day. And we usually stay on wall and such things anyway when we do sleep.”

“I think it might be do able,” Min replied then seemed thoughtful, “my only fear now is what happens if the clutch hatches during the day you won’t be awake then.” Jilly nodded knowingly, this problem had occurred to her as well.

“I can only hope that the hatchlings are able to see that I am a living being though I’m in stone at the time,” Jilly replied, “my fire lizard, Seafrost, was able to tell when I first turned to stone in front of her, and she still lives as you can see.” Jilly stroked the aqua fire lizard to show this.

“Let us hope so,” Min replied. To the duo’s surprise a dark lavender gargoyle approached them at the end of this.

“Jilly,” she started a bit shyly, rubbing her short, almost monkey mouth like, beak, “If you really want to do this, I’ll see about trying to make that magical amulet and pendants so you might be awake for the hatching no mater what.”

“If you could that would be great, Pleiades,” Jilly brightened at the red haired female.

“Then I will do my best,” Pleiades replied.

“Alright everybody listen up,” Jilly called out, “I know I’m not the clan leader, I’m not even a second, for Faranth’s sake… But I’d like to stay with my clan yet impress a dragon… I know you’re nervous about dragons but this world is full of them, all of the dragons are protectors as are their riders… I wish to request that you all come to Ryslen so that we all can be together, and perhaps it will help you find a better understanding for this world.” Jilly paused for a moment then continued, “And as harsh as this sounds, either way I’m going. If you say here you’ll know nothing of this world we have been stranded on, and that can be a dangerous thing.”

The Timewalker Clan looked nervously at the dragon but then looked to the leaders of the clan. The three males and one female spoke in a hushed conversation finally they came up. Ebric and Keikan didn’t quite look fully agreeable while Okumen and Daten looked a like they thought they had made the right decition.

“We will follow you Jilly,” Daten replied.

“You know more of this world than we,” Okumen continued on.

“Even if it’s only twenty more years of information that we have,” Ebric went on.

“Despite the fact that you might not want it,” Keikan started to finish up their speech, “you are more qualified to be the leader of this clan now. Saddly we can not call ourself Timewalkers anymore with the gates gone… We shall thus forth be known as the Pern Clan now.”

The whole clan was abuzz with this news now and Jilly herself was caught by surprise. She hadn’t intended to take over the leadership of the clan this way. Yet I see their lodgic.

“I’m not sure I fully ready for such responsibilities,” Jilly replied slowly as the noise from the clan died down, “but I will take this position if you have that much faith in me… however you will be my council on how to truly lead this clan.”

“It is agreed then,” Okumen smiled.

With the former Timewalker Clan, now Pern Clan under new leadership the winds of change were blowing. Jilly would lead and teach them, whether she impressed a dragon or not. She would meet the Weyrleaders Jeyann and Ke’l and with their permission the clan would help guard the hatching grounds during the day and roam the Weyr at night. As the gargoyles would stay at Ryslen they started to become enthralled with the dragons but even so, none were sure if gargoyle were meant to impress at all. Jilly would have to prove this all the new clan leader could hope was either the hatching started near sunset or Pleiades did her magic and made a talisman that would hold certain stones. Those stones would have a mate that the lavender gargoyle would make into pendants for a few gargoyles to wear, but the spell might take time to make these things. The Flurry hatching grew closer, and no one, least of all Jilly knew what would happen.

Background set and Jilly were

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