A small stone fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing Truatt's head. "I should NOT be down here..." he mumbled to himself, not daring to speak above a whisper. He was terrified that his voice would bring down this portion of the weyr. "C'mere Zela!" he called softly, Headwoman Anala had sent Truatt into the evacuated Lower Caverns to rescue their aging watch wher. The stupid green thing was terrified, so the drudge she looked to said.

"Why, by the First Egg didn't they send Dev to fetch the sharding wher!" he thought. A soft whimper came through a half-open door to Truatt's right. "Zela!" he whispered harshly. The sniveling green stuck her muzzle through the crack in the door. "Come on, dimglow! This whole weyr is about to come in on our heads!" He quickly grabbed the broken end of it's chain before she could scamper away and drug it towards the exit.

Zela jerked away as a large chunk of the ceiling fell. She took off back into the caverns. "NO!" came the shout from outside. The whole tunnel began to shake violently. Truatt had to decide; go after the wher, ensuring his death; or abandon it and make a run for the door. A rumble exuded from deep within the weyr, causing a portion of the tunnel to collapse, cutting Truatt off from the rest of the caverns. He dashed for the door just as the arch collapsed in on itself. Flinging himself onto the ground, he crawled away from the disintegrating weyr. A snap from deep withing the bowels of the weyr signaled the breaking of the single thread that had been keeping the whole place together. The only home that Truatt and five hundred others, people and dragon alike, crumbled to nothing right before their eyes.

Total silence was broken by the high-pitched keening of the gathered dragons, as if they'd lost one of their own. Soon human cries of anguish joined the dragons as people collapsed, sobbing, shouting, and frantically searching for missing loved ones. The queen dragon roared loudly, quieting everyone. Her rider Kayla, the new Weyrwoman, was standing on her back, and she began to speak. "Everyone! Please find a recordskeeper and report that you are outside! She'll also be able to tell you if loved ones have checked in or not! All dragonriders report to J'son and I to begin removal to the new weyr!" She leapt off of the golden dragon as people began to swarm. Soon, people had been reunited, and the saved supplies had been moved to the already chosen relocation site. Truatt had two people to find, Dev and Klaera. "Dev first.." he thought, and set off to find a recordskeeper. He practically fell over Dev, who was sobbing by what used to be the entrance to the Lower Caverns. "Dev?" he asked softly. She looked up at him with a dirty, tear-stained face.

"Dev, I..." his voice caught in his throat. Her startling blue eyes seemed to cut through him, an icy ache settling deep in his heart. Truatt sat down next to her. "I know that nothing can replace Zela, but I have enough marks to buy you a new wher egg." Dev stared blankly at the ground and swallowed. "It wasn't your fault, Truatt.." she said in a soft voice. "She was scared... I tried to tell her to follow you, but... she was scared... babbling..." Dev broke back down into tears. Truatt tried his best to comfort her, his heart breaking for the girl. "Truatt!" He looked up and saw, to his immense relief, Klaera running towards him. He rose and gave Dev's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Oh Truatt! When Anna said that you hadn't reported to her, I was so worried!" She threw her arms around his next and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry, I got so caught up in all this excitement." He pulled her close.

They had been dancing around their affection for one another for several turns now, but all caution was thrown to the wind. Truatt gently pulled her away from him and kissed her. She sighed and pushed away. "We mustn't lose ourselves." She nodded to the queen dragon, who was watching them. Her rider was Klaera's mother. "I'm glad you're okay, we'll talk later." Klaera smiled coyly at him and went off to join her mother. Truatt stood, dumbfounded with a small half smile on his face.