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It just seemed like a dream to their mother, when they were born. She never really did expect to have a child, let alone two, three and four. Even though that night that seemed so long ago was also like a muddled, strange, frightening dream, the woman remembered one thing: music. It had been everywhere, the harpers and other musicians singing and strumming and playing their instruments to make anyone joyful. She didn't remember much after that, and she didn't want to.

But not even what she'd done to make her forget the whole thing, whatever that was, could make her forget the music. Her four children were born on a golden autumn day, and she named them as they were born into the world.

And she felt no pain after the eldest - a girl - was named, from there on. She felt relaxed, soothed, by the child's smile when she pronounced her name.

"Jorah," she named her. This lovely girl had red hair already shining on her head, and green eyes - her mother's own - but unusual tanned skin, which she figured must have come from whoever their father was.

"Karif," she named the second - a boy. This one had his older sister's vibrant red hair and green eyes, and the same skin. By this time, the mother suspected them all to look like this - beautiful children, and so far healthy.

"Kaydence," the third was dubbed soon afterward. She was different, though - her hair was blonde, the colour of golden autumn leaves, and her eyes shone chocolate brown. She reminded her mother of the melody she remembered from a while back.

The last one was a boy and his name took a little thinking - he looked, again, like his sister Kaydence, sharing also their mother's fair skin. "Lirit," she called him, another musical child.

So it was. The quadruplets grew up with their mother, a very capable woman, and through many years Kaydence and Lirit became skilled musicians; while Jorah and Karif were daydreamers and artists. They painted things that could draw anyone into thinking they were staring at something real.

They made their mother proud, to say the very least. Though she frequently was exhausted - guessing it was a side effect of birthing four children - she managed to care for her children alone. The healers enjoyed testing the children for illness, because they were a true miracle to all have survived the whole pregnancy and birth. Living quadruplets were rare, and the mother was usually worse off afterward. And their survival put them in many record books.

When Kaydence had grown to a responsible age, about ten years or so, she happened upon a firelizard egg on the ground. Her mind was racing on what to do when it shuddered there and cracked open, immediately spilling a white firelizard into her arms.

"Your name's Pianissimo," she said quickly, without even being aware that she was doing to.

She rushed home and held tight to the white. "Meat! She needs it!" Kaydence shouted, her voice topping everyone else's. Startled, Lirit brought a cut of meat from the chopping board he was working at, which the flit devoured. Blood on her lips, she fell asleep, her breath slowing.

"Lirit..."

"What is it, Kay?" he asked, concerned for his sister.

"I... it... bonded me."

"Are you all right, Kaydence?" Jorah asked, arm on her sister's shoulder at the time.

Kaydence was pale, and her breathing shallow. "I'll be all right. I think..."

Jorah led her sister to a couch where she quickly slept, firelizard curled up in her embrace. Jorah and Karif both picked up brushes, smoothed the tips, and painted on the same canvas the picture they saw there.

"Kay."

Awoken from her dream - musical as always - Kaydence sat up, dizzy. "I... dreamt about..."

"Shh, it's all right. Come see this."

Her mother led her outside to see that painting - and still clutching her small flit, Kaydence smiled. "I love it."

"As do I, Kay."

"We painted it while you were asleep," her siblings explained. "Best work we've ever done."

"I agree," Lirit said from where he stood - beside his sister.

"Does this mean they all get firelizards too?"

"Why do you ask, Kaydence?" her mother asked.

"Because it doesn't seem fair that I'm the only one."

"She does have a point," muttered Karif, looking a little envious at his painting.

"We'll see, dear," said their mother. "We will see."

Karif and Lirit found the eggs a sevenday from that time.

Jorah, actually, found them, but being just a teensy bit competitive, the boys took the credit. Kaydence was still a little shocked by being bonded at her young age of ten, but the others rushed back inside (the eggs were found on a carefully prepared grass mound outside) with delight and began gathering table scraps - Jorah could only tell their hatching was imminent.

First of all, a pale silver head broke shell and wiggled out, into the hands of Lirit who gleefully stood ready to feed it - him? As the pair created their bond, the flit shook egg-fluid from its wet hide and preened his glittering horns. This one looked so much like Kaydence's firelizard, though you could visibly tell Lirit's was silver indeed.

"Mom!" He yelled, realizing that he should have probably checked with his mother before trying to bring the eggs inside.

"Coming!" came the reply, and footsteps pitter-pattered on the floor as she ran towards them. She said nothing when she saw Lirit feeding the firelizard, just stood there before him.

"Oh!" Jorah's flit was struggling against the egg, spilling the eggshell over Jorah's dress. Though she cringed in disgust, Jorah continued to support the firelizard, whose hide was a mixture of ivory and white.

"Jor, you got another white one!" Karif exclaimed, while the firelizard tumbled into the scraps and began feeding herself. "I can't wait to see what mine is!"

His answer arrived moments afterward. Blue limbs popped open the shell, and another small head poked out, looking for food. Finding the bowl quite near, he exploded from his egg - Karif felt shards scratch his arms as it did - and tumbled after the other white. It was blue - not rare in the least - but Karif fell in love with it and was the first to name it.

"His name is Rhai!"

Not to be outdone, Lirit piped up after him. "And mine's called... Forte!"

"She will be called Gaenor."

"Um... that's kind of a boy's name, Jor."

"Is not," snapped Jorah, cradling the now very full Gaenor protectively. "It's a perfect name for a perfect little white."

Instead of falling asleep, Rhai trilled a happy tune. "Isn't that neat? He likes music too!"

"Very nice, love," their mother said.

"So you... don't mind us having firelizards around?" Karif asked, with pleading green eyes.

"Of course not, dear," she said, and Kaydence saw her wink in the short time she opened her drowsy eyes.

Lirit felt tired as long as his sister did, and little Forte respected that as well. He and Pianissimo got along well as long as their owners were asleep and drowsy. Kaydence did, however, get over her exhaustion and gave Issi tremendous amounts of attention.

Which, of course, made Forte a tiny bit jealous. He always tried to cut in on the bonded pair, much to Lirit's annoyance - if the firelizard would spend more time around him, he'd get plenty of attention.

"Maybe your Forte likes hotspring baths more than cold-water dunks," joked Kaydence as she washed her firelizard and oiled her in a basin which she'd brought back from the local hotsprings.

"It's not a dunk!" protested Lirit, looking at his shivering firelizard beside another basin, filled at a water spring nearby. "It's... um..."

"Yeah. Maybe you should go down and get hot water for him. He'll freeze!"

"C'mon, Lirit. I'm going too, Rhai likes to bathe right in the hotsprings. Maybe Forte would like to..."

Karif was quite rudely interrupted by Forte, who almost ran him over in his eagerness to go. Lirit sighed and snatched up his basin.

"Fine. But I'm not doing this every single day, you realize."

Forte sniffed, but didn't do much else. One could tell he didn't believe his owner and would certainly be dragging him back there every single day.

Jorah, meanwhile, was painting her firelizard - at least roughly, because the firelizard was continually getting splattered with the paint she was using. Gaenor was a patient subject, though, and sat still while she became a spotted rainbow flitter.

"Gaenor, you're filthy," Jorah said when she was finished, scooping up her flit in her arms. "Let's see if Karif and Lirit are still at the hot springs, and we'll bathe you."

Gaenor chirped and crooned in a content response.

Later that month, the trees changed colours and autumn began to set in. Close to the quadruplets' birthday, a call went out around the Weyr where they dwelled.

"Children, come. Threadfall is coming!"

Jorah, Karif, Kaydence and Lirit ran with their mother across the Weyr with their firelizards in tow to a place they often stayed in such a situation - a cave situated near the Abandoned Caverns of Starburst. Thread began to fall in just a few minutes, writhing as it came, and the quadruplets shuddered. Spores fell past the cave so closely that Jorah felt unsafe. Suddenly a burst of brilliant flame shot across the entrance and a great blue dragon landed there.

"Are you all right?" called the rider over the roar of other flames.

"Yes, we shelter here in every Fall," explained their mother.

"Hyunth and I will stay here. You had better get to the back of the cave."

They nodded and shrunk backward into the darkness, still holding the four firelizards tightly to their chests. Though they were all fearful, the triplets were in awe. A real dragonrider, protecting them! They felt calm and cool alongside dragons, like they were meant to be together.

The Fall continued on through the night and in the morning, Jorah awoke to see people coming out again. She ran to the mouth of the cave, but the dragon had gone. Above, the dragons circled - bronze, brown, blue and green, and then some - while the Queen and Weyrleader, Emynth and Kyarath, looked on.

It was majestic, and as her siblings awoke they each witnessed it in turn. They'd never been able to see this before.

Just when they had made their way back home, the dragons had all found their positions again and the family was praising their survival of Thread once again - a tradition by the Tamber family.

"Mom," Karif said when his siblings had gone to their daily chores.

"Yes, Karif?"

"Do you think the dragons could... I mean, could I... ever ride a dragon?"

"Maybe, dear," she said. "Maybe."

Karif went to fetch water from the springs, and the quadruplets' mother pondered what her son had asked.

Could they ride dragons?

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