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Tyeth glided down and settled in the sand of the brief lakeside shore. His rider unstrapped and dropped down, looking around the mostly empty expanse of beach. This would suit them.

Shall I call them?

Yes. Suunath and Kindra will join us before anyone else does, I'm sure. The sooner we announce it the more likely it will be that everyone will assemble. N'mol and Kindra both had tried to warn what Benden riders they knew of the meeting in advance, so no one's plans would be ruined, but they knew there had to be more than those they had spoken to. This might be a wake up call for some of them.

N'mol sighed faintly. They had to do a head count, if nothing else. See who had made it to the Weyr and judge their numbers. Threadfall would still come. N'mol had to see if his wing was depleted at all and, if so, find replacements. He had made an effort to secure those of his wing that he could, so he knew he still had a few, but he had noticed too many faces missing.

As his rider contemplated the future of Benden's wings, Tyeth got to putting out the call. Dawn's Fliers, assemble at the lakeside immediately. All other Benden dragons are also expected to arrive or drop off their riders for a mandatory meeting with myself, Bronze Tyeth, and Suunath. He projected the image of the lake in question, since there were technically three now. Some of the other dragons might not be bright enough to recognize him. No sense in taking chances.

N'mol looked up at the sky and leaned back against Tyeth's leg, waiting for other dragons to join them.

He was oiling his riding leathers. Checking the straps and rings; just doing general maintenance on his equipment. F'law had spent the morning trying to be helpful, but after awhile he got the feeling that he was more in the way than actually helping. He couldn't blame them. He didn't know where anything was. So he had come to his shared rooms to work on his stuff. It was a rather dull and boring task. All of it made harder by the serious lack of comforting stone walls around him.

Zurith was laying in a suitable wallow with his head stretched out so he could watch his rider. His had promised a bath and oiling in one of the lakes after the other chores were done. The blue rumbled softly. When the call came in from bronze Tyeth, he lifted his head with a tilt. Mine. Tyeth calls a meeting at the lake for Dawn Fliers. His bath would have to wait. He heaved himself from the warm sand and waited for his rider to mount.

F'law sighed and set the straps aside. "We'd better go. It's hard enough to keep track of Benden riders here." But why oh why did it have to be by the lake? True he was taking Zurith there for a bath, but then he'd be doing something. Not standing around with that wide open blue sky above him. He capped the oil up. Quickly he mounted and summoned Onyso. Lets go.

With the black flit clinging to his shoulder and cheeping, he hung onto the neck ridge in front of him. With such a short flight, he hadn't bothered with straps because he knew Zurith wouldn't preform any wild manuvers. Still he kept his eyes firmly on the dark blue neck in front of him. In a short time he could see two large dragons from the corner of his eye. A gold and bronze. That must be them, he thought.

Sure enough Zurith circled to land lightly a fair distance from the larger dragons. He bobbed his head to them. Greetings Tyeth, Suunath. The blue crouched low for his rider to slide down his side. Since they were here already, he could hope that His would give him a bath after the meeting.

I don't have the brushes or oil, F'law replied, feeling the longing in the blue. He approached the pair and nodded. "F'law of Zurith reporting." Onyso cheeped at them from his shoulder.

"Even this isn't conclusive proof that only have this many Benden riders chose the Weyrs over the Wherhandlers. We don't know how many escaped to other Northern Weyrs, since we haven't had contact with them since the last group joined us here. There could be riders taking shelter in more traditional Weyrs, or... killed by wherhandlers at Benden is still a possibility. We know some did before we even arrived here. We just need to know how many able-bodied riders from Benden ended up here."

It wasn't a pleasant thought, but it was one N'mol accepted. There were dead riders at Benden. Roscoe had told him that much once he'd gotten his friend back to Trine and had his wounds seen to. He still gave Valkyrie treats when he could for that message.

He didn't comment on D'lin for the moment. That was a matter he and Kindra were going to have to discuss, though his choices didn't necessarily mean she would make the same ones. D'lin had brought it up with him before, and he was still considering the matter carefully. He saw the sense in it, but at the same time these were Benden riders. They didn't intend to stay at Trine forever while Keller ran their Weyr like it was some great triumph of Wherkind, rather than the backstabbing cheating steal that it was. Integrating Benden also meant potentially losing his wing to someone else, and he wasn't going to have that happen, no matter how many members he had lost. Truth be told, he just wasn't ready for the lines between weyrs to be blurred that much.

While his rider discussed serious matters with Suunath's, Tyeth was busy paying attention to the Gold herself. We are bunking with Plexith and his rider, yes. Mine is doing as well as he was yesterday. We hope to see a great many more faces than we have already seen at this meeting. We know some from our wing are still missing, and it would be nice to know they have simply been in parts of the weyr that we were not.

N'mol nodded at F'law as he arrived. One of the most reliable members of his wing, not to mention another rider who Impressed from Tyeth's Clutch. Although he only rode a Blue, N'mol found that he could generally count on F'law to arrive to Wing meetings and practices. He had been glad to see the Bluerider had made it to Trine, and was glad now that he was the first to arrive.

"F'law. Have you seen anyone else from the wing today?"

Almost on the end of his words, a Green glided down and landed heavily near them. N'mol smiled as Dezima landed as well, though it faded slightly as he noticed Microth still favoring a leg. "Hello, Dezima. How is Microth doing?"

Welcome, Zurith, Microth. We will wait to see if others join us before we begin.

Kindra grimmaced a little, she didn't like the idea of merging fully with Trine anymore than N'mol did. "it just..." she sighed, not knowing what to say to end the sentence. She didn't want to think about those they'd lost and the bitterness at Dragons turning on Dragons galled her.

She smiled as a Bluerider appeared, closely followed by a Greenrider. She frowned as she looked at the Blue. "Bluerider, is there a reason you have no riding straps on your Dragon, need i remind you that if we were to be ambushed you would be in serious trouble" she tried not to snap but knew all too well the dangers of riding unsafely.

She eyed the Greenrider too, the woman not wearing her flying gear, it wasn't the worst thing in the world but still, just because they were in a strange, warmer Weyr it didn't mean they could relax on protocols "You, Greenrider, next time you wear your riding gear" she said.

Suunath rumbled, somewhere between soothing and reprimand at Kindra "Mine, the Green is hurt and the Blue is a steady dragon, sensible" she said to Kindra, knowing Hers was on edge but wanting to get her to make friend among those they had left, they'd be more loyal if they actually LIKED Kindra, at least that was Suunath's reasoning, she did agree with her on those points she'd said but knew Hers could have done it gentler. "You are both well i trust?" she sent to Zurith and Microth "How is your Leg Microth? Healing well?" she asked of the Green, noting the lifted leg to keep weight off it and sympathising instantly because Kindra had been off her leg for a while too. She didn't move from Tyeth's side though, instead leaning in, almost cuddling.

N'mol glanced at Kindra as she corrected his riders, but said nothing about it himself. He'd talk to F'law later about the straps, in private, but Dezima's lack of leathers would only be a problem if Thread started falling -- and Faranth forbid that happen.

Thankfully, the next rider who appeared was one he recognized, though not a member of his wing. "A'in," he greeted, nodding. It was good to see others from their Clutch had made it. "Have you seen anyone from the rest of your wing?" B'nen and Keela N'mol knew about, but other than that pair he couldn't remember having seen anyone from the other wing whose names he knew (and those he knew only from fighting alongside them during the revolution). Had so few genuinely escaped? Two Greens and a Brown appeared shortly afterward, landing and offering brief greetings before beginning to take stock of the other riders around them and their lone Goldrider. The group was too small. N'mol, despite his friendly appearance, was beginning to get a bad feeling.

"K'en and B'nen are here as well, though I'm not sure what's keeping them," N'mol offered to the few assembled riders, memorizing faces as he looked around at them. "F'itz is in the infirmary, along with a few others. I know some riders from the Dusk Treaders arrived, as well, and should be along eventually." He nodded to one of the Greenriders, who nodded back. "I met with them when they arrived or ran into them when we began cleaning up the Weyr."

Another Green and Brown arrived, both from his Wing. Internally, he felt a small spike of relief. The Green was a rider he hadn't known had made it to Trine. He added her to the mental tally of those riders present from his wing. He'd give the riders another moment to arrive, and if none did he would simply begin and hunt down any others later.

N'mol caught F'law's comment and turned back to the Bluerider, mind spinning to find a way to correct F'law's behavior without completely alienating anyone. Kindra had been less than polite about her chastisements, but she was a Goldrider. F'law rode a Blue; that called for a show of greater respect than he was giving Kindra, even if he didn't like how she spoke to him. He should already know how Kindra was from when they were Weyrlings together; junior Weyrling lessons hadn't ended so quickly that others hadn't noticed Kindra's brusque attitude.

"I would have understood why you were late if it meant you were taking precautions. And I'm sure that Kindra's concern for your safety is something you would appreciate more if something had happened to you," N'mol commented to F'law, meeting the other rider's gaze with a smile meant to take any potential sting out of the words. "As we can see from those who have gathered, every rider and dragon pair is needed in so desperate a time." He swept a hand at the assembled, face growing serious. "I, for one, want to lose none of you. Threadfall will start again and everyone will need to be at full strength for it, especially since it seems that our Wings have been scattered.

"Wingleader S'vek did not arrive at Trine, as I'm sure the Dusk Treaders have noticed by now. Since we have no report of his death we will have to assume that he went to another Weyr, hopefully with the yet-unseen members of the Dawn Fliers. However, this leaves those of you from the Dusk Treaders at loose ends, and my wing is currently short of riders. Until Wingleader S'vek or Wingsecond H'lor arrive, the members of Dusk Treaders at Trine Weyr should consider themselves new members of the Dawn Fliers. Together we can make a strong wing to aid when Thread falls again. And it will fall again, likely before we're ready for it." N'mol looked around at the assorted faces of young and old riders. "If anyone has issue with these new arrangements, or has questions, I want you to all feel comfortable coming to me with them. We may be refugees for the moment, but we are still Benden dragonriders. Our duties and our loyalty to our Weyr must come first. Junior Weyrwoman Kindra and I are here to handle any concerns you have and have already begun coordinating with the Wingleaders and Weyrwomen of Trine so that we can work alongside our fellow dragonriders in restoring Trine and protecting against the next Fall. Dawn Fliers--" he looked as his riders and then at the Dusk Treaders who were now for all intents and purposes the same, "We will be having practice soon to get us all used to the same formations for Threadfighting. Tyeth will contact your dragons with the information once it has been decided if I am unable to find you myself. You will be required to wear full leathers and come equipped with your riding straps as all of us have experienced Threadfall before and the practices will therefore begin with full mock-Thread combat."

N'mol's speech not only let him get to the point of the meeting, but it also effectively prevented either F'law or Kindra from getting a word in until they'd both had a chance to consider holding their tongues.

Tyeth.

I will ask, but I cannot demand anything. Though Tyeth clarified this, he knew his rider already knew the limitations his words had over Suunath. Suunath. Perhaps Yours would like to say something to the riders to encourage cooperation among our riders. It is never too early to begin gaining favor with the other riders of our Weyr, especially now that we are in a new Weyr where we do not have the same status as we did at Benden.

"We protect here. For Trine. Benden is going to have to try to defend itself."

N'mol had thought long and hard about that decision, but in the end it was the only option left to them.

"Were we to try to go back to save Benden from Fall, chances are very good that, for our efforts, the Revolutionaries would attack us either during Fall or once we finished rescuing them. I hate to think of leaving our Holds unprotected when they had nothing to do with this, but going back now would be a mistake."

"With the combining of all Benden riders into one wing, the Dawn Fliers have enough riders to be considered a full wing. Trine will not be filling in our ranks, but we will fly alongside Trine and Malvren now. The Wingleaders will be meeting soon to discuss how Falls will be handled with multiple weyrs present, but I doubt it will be much different from the way Threadfall has been fought before. We'll fly together and count on the dragons and riders around us to do their jobs as we do ours so that we can keep any of the Menace from falling to Pern."

N'mol shook his head at F'law and then let his gaze travel the rest of the assembled riders. "I'm sorry if any of you wanted to continue protecting Benden, but this is our new home for however long it takes us to reclaim our weyr. We will fly as part of a collection of wings. It's safer for us all in the long run."