Sons of Baaltazar and Luena Black, who bonded brown and green dragons at Draco's Inferno.

Alain, on the left in brown, is in training as a Guardian. He has been awarded his sword, but not the status-showing uniform which Guardians wear. At the age of 20, that's not surprising, as it usually takes many more years to perfect the tactics and moves needed to fully become a Guardian.

Luc, on the right in silver, is more the head-case. He enjoys thinking and debating, and learning all things about whatever he sees. He is a student, still, at the age of 18, but a student who has mastered most intellectual ideas - philosophy, reading and literature, histories, and math. He likes chatting tactics with his brother, using historical references, but has little in the way of physical training in fighting. His parents don't think he should play with sharp things. They're rather surprised the House Dawnlight let their older son touch a blade in the first place.

Both of them are tall and skinny, but athletically so. Though Luc is not a physical master at any sport or martial art, he is still a good runner and is healthy. Alain is quick, dangerous, and has a keen eye.

They are blackbottoms, like their parents, it runs in the family. With aqua-colored hair Luc is seemingly at odds with his mohawk, but his brother coerced him to get the same style as his own bright green one.

After a debate turned into an argument (that they weren't participating in) and then into a riot, Alain and Luc Black sat back and watched the results. It was almost as if they admired the chaotic handiwork of their debate. It would have sparked something in a couple people, anyway, and that was the point.

Of course, they didn't tell little Ata that. She wouldn't be fully trusted by the brothers for a while yet. But they did have the presence of mind to keep her with them in theory, by asking her to come to Blackstone with them. She seemed so concerned about this person she knew, a relative or something, who had been exiled to Eden's Gate. And while it was common knowledge that the township or village or whatever it was called now had in fact come from the old world to Alskyr, no one really seemed to know where it was.

Or, if they knew, they weren't saying. Maybe the people there just wanted some privacy. These things were on the minds of the trio as they tripped across the small body of water between Paniya and the Kshau Isle - and Alain and Luc spoke of it quietly while Ata stood awestruck watching the waves and people.

"I think they even have a couple bronze riders..." Luc said, trying to remember any of the dragon riders' listings he'd seen as a youth. "But they don't live there, do they? They live at Blackstone with the other dragons."

"You'd think that, but remember Mama Tani and Caledrus and the other smaller Alabaster places are scattered around on Paniya. I just don't remember seeing any information about where Eden's Gate landed."

Eden's Gate, the little outcast village, always poor and always in need of help - that's what happens when you put up outlaws in a building near a desert. How could they survive then? No one was really sure in the first place, but they did know that a lot of good riders had come out of the outcast and outlaws there.

They were on their way to Blackstone to find out if anyone knew about the rest of the township. The couple blacksmiths, the scribe or teacher, the farmers and the poor other folks whose only crimes were speaking out against the Lords of Dawnlight... All of them might have disappeared when the Nexus lapsed the Kshau Protectorate to Alskyr. But maybe not.

The ride across the water over with, the Black brothers had to find skirr to carry them up to the Blackstone area. They were fit, sure, but they weren't on dragon back, and that was one heck of a climb!

The towering green island peak dominated the whole landscape - unless you were looking east, in which case the horizon bore the distinct shape of Paniya's hills.

When Ata found the little nook where a strange, dark computer room lay, they all got curious. Alain kept watch, though. Always the vigilant Guardian, he knew his job well. And, he wasn't all that adept at strange things like electronics. Not like his brother. Luc could pick up information and use it like ... well, like he was a computer himself.

Alain stood with his back against the dark wall, glancing half-in and half-out of the hideaway flap. The trio of Skirr would give their location away, but he didn't want to leave the other two in case they found something important.

Actually Alain didn't want to leave the safety of the dark room and move the Skirr because he wasn't entirely convinced that he'd be able to find the place again. It wasn't that he couldn't see better than most people in his guardian class, it was that he had a gnawing mental feeling that wouldn't go away - one that told him to forget the room and move along.

Maybe it was that he was part of a family of Blackstone folk that he was able to ignore the wishes of the powerful psionic barrier that had been erected two decades ago. Or, maybe the barrier was just wearing down.

Inside, Luc helped Ata look up several things. One was the interesting "search database". "Look at the listing on the left," he suggested. A sidebar opened up on the screen that showed several options. Luc pointed at one. "Candidates needed, that sounds promising..."

"Are you kidding?" Ata whispered. "What is this anyway?"

"It looks like it's a listing of places with dragons. Sands, records, flights, and..." he nodded at the screen, "places that need candidates to stand."

"But..." Ata glanced at the tall skinny blackbottom, "who maintains this? I mean, when? How?"

"I think it's just best to not worry about those things..." Luc said. "Say... Starburst weyr. That one has some cool dragons. Tabo bonded there."

"Tabo who?" Ata said, not moving her eyes from the list. The weyr was on the old world. "How are we supposed to get there, then? They need three, and... we are three. They need two males, and one female... and, need I point out, we are two males and a female."

Luc lowered his head, almost poking Ata in the face with his outrageous hair. "Maybe I could get our parents to ask around... Or, maybe one of their dragons might be willing to do it?"

He stood, and Ata printed out the page where it said who was needed, and then a second sheet came out with what looked like an orienting-star-pattern. "I guess the dragons need this to get there," she said, "now I remember... Dragons teleport to a place they've seen or are being told about, so we don't know where this place is, really."

A shiver went through her, and Luc placed his hand on her shoulder as she got up. "Don't worry. Obviously dragons can do it, it's us who'd have the trouble. We confuse things terribly, all the time."

"Dad always told me, trust the dragon." Alain said, as the pair came out from the darkness of the computer room. "And I guess he'd know, huh?"

"Well I guess so," Ata said, "never having met him, or his dragon, I don't know who to trust, but I do know this paper," she waved it in the air, "will be our ticket out of here!"

The boys knew she meant 'her' ticket, because she was the one who was mostly stuck in Dawnlight. Never mind the fact that she didn't really 'have' to return, she could just as easily stay at Blackstone and be a journalist here...

When the trio completed the journey up to Blackstone's peak, Ata was blown away by the sheer size of the place. It was carved both inside and outside the great mountain, the caldera was far above them still - but apparently it was good enough to have their landings halfway up the mountain.

Luc and Alain greeted people they knew along the way to their destination. Luc took the lead, and Alain made himself look important with his sword and all. They looked - to people who had seen that strange motion picture Star Wars - to be escorting the princess to her captors...

But she was smiling and all googly eyed. Luc pointed out several locations, and knew that the journalist would certainly remember where they were and what went on there. He found they had a lot in common, other than the focus of their interests.

Luc wanted to know everything. Ata wanted more to show off everything that could be gathered. She focused on truths and duties and traditions, Luc meant to know rumors and wive's tales and legends.

Alain gave a cough when they'd located their quarry - the dragoners lounge. In this huge room, with two great open ledges looking west, more than three dozen dragons rested or argued or showed off. Their riders too, rested, showed off, or whatever. Some played darts. A couple of them were busy making out on a couch.

It was a stunning, rather embarrassing thing for a House Born girl like Ata to see all of a sudden. But the dragons soon looked at the trio and some of their riders came walking near.

"I've been told you're looking for a ride somewhere," said a tall bearded man. He looked ever-so-slightly familiar to Ata. "And you've grown up, little girl."

"So you do know me? Wh... what's your name?" She stammered, and Luc nudged his brother. She was so cute when she wasn't all controlling herself.

"Sh'awn, dearie, I worked with your mother, time was. Long time ago indeed." He smiled.

"But..." Ata said, then she composed herself quickly, "Sh'awn, um, I'm sorry to pester you like this but we were wondering actually, more, where Eden's Gate went to."

At that question, Sh'awn stood taller and his eyes grew wide. "Ah... Now, there's the rub. It's a secret little Ata, they want their privacy and they've got it. I ... used to live there, you realize. We didn't do much other than starve out there anyway. Just content yourself to know that your uncle and his wife are doing just fine."

So that was it, Alain thought to himself. So much concern because this girl might have been sent outcast for asking about where her dear uncle went to? Such was the reasoning behind their debate anyway - what if they could invite those people back? But now, it wasn't hard to guess, that on Paniya - or wherever they had wound up, the outcasts of Eden's Gate were far better off than they had been before. No need to worry about them. Ata seemed visibly relieved too.

"And yes, sir," Alain pointed out, "we were looking for transport somewhere. To a weyr on the old world called ... what was it?"

"Starburst," Luc announced, and Ata stood with little tears brimming in her green eyes. She hardly heard the rest of the conversation. "We'd like to get a ride there, they seem to be in need of just us three."

"Just you three, huh?" Sh'awn grunted with a smile. "Well come on then, Sordath won't worry about getting fat if he has to actually work for a living again..."

I am not getting fat! You wanted me to be a bigger bronze and I am getting bigger!

"You're getting fatter! Just because you can still eat your own weight in a day doesn't mean you must!"

They heard giggling from the corner, and Sh'awn's beautiful dark skinned wife and their tall healthy son laughed at their family's dragon rider.

Grumbling, but grinning, Sh'awn took the image of the star chart from Ata, and then passed the image along to Sordath. The trio of unusual people - suddenly realizing that they'd be headed off to a weyr on a foreign world without even a scrap of extra clothing or supplies - or even a recommendation from their leaders, got all giddy all at once.

But they didn't stop Sh'awn from transporting them to Starburst...

"... Aaannnndddd, do you yet have any good idea how we're going to explain this to anyone?" Alain asked his younger eggheaded brother. "I mean, here we are with bronzes for goodness sake, and we haven't even told anyone where we're at."

"Sh'awn knows. In fact I think he's still here," Luc pointed out. Since they were going to head back to Alskyr, their names would remain intact, but they had to keep telling people at the weyr that no, they weren't called A'in and L'c or something. Sh'awn kept his distance until the party was mostly over, then sauntered toward the pair of brothers and their young journal-keeping friend.

"You've all done... remarkably well, given that you just barely got here. I can't believe it."

"Well I can," Luc grinned. "I mean, yeah, Odyseuth almost didn't make it into the world at all, but it was a heck of a hatching. I thought for sure one of those blue twins would come to me, though. And you," he looked at his brother. "But you blew that bet when the hatching started."

Ata giggled a bit, as their dragons slept in a pile. The big celebration was usually to be held in the evening, but generally speaking they upped the timetable for any hatching party to right after the hatching stopped. So it was barely even noon when Sh'awn watched the trio.

"So, you'll have a couple years here to get a grip on dragon riding," he said, and watched them all get buggy-eyed. Ata especially.

"But... A year, and I haven't even brought ... a year? Couple years?" She stammered.

"Yes, but remember," Sh'awn said with his round cheeks red with humor, "Dragons can move through time as well as space. And there will be more than time enough to send information if you wish - but you're just as likely to want to head back to Paniya and Blackstone the day you left it. I doubt you'll be able to forget it now, just remember to focus on your memory of the day. What the sky looked like, and the temperature and such. It's not just star charts that get you places. It's also the mood."

Luc nodded. "I think there is some travel in our future, my friends..."

Dark bronze Namaeth is the burlier of the pair, strong and bold. His brother light-bronze Odyseuth loves talking to his 'eggheaded' rider.

They both plan on chasing some worthwhile gold. Who would allow them on their flight board? Who knows!?