Ynunlle

Chapter VI

Day One

The nine travelers sat in silence, each wondering, a little in anticipation, a little in fear, for what visions they might see as they made the journey.

At first, all they could see was a bright white mist that hurt the eyes.

Two baritone voices started softly singing; singing a song that was calm and ethereal in the tune, although the lyrics didn't make a lot of sense at first:

"Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld from me
I realise and I can see
That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
I can take or leave it if I please
The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll some day lay
So this is all I have to say
That suicide is painless. . . ."

Edward and Remus both looked at each other. Remus said "Padfoot! Prongs!" and together they yelled, "Knock it off!"

"Twits," Edward added in a mutter.

Harry's eyes, partially closed against the light, flew open, and indeed, all nine were still together, surrounded by the mist. Standing in the middle of their circle were his father and Sirius.

"Now, we can't stay long," James said.

"Bending all sorts of rules, you know," Sirius agreed.

"So, nice meeting you, Weasleys, Mister Longbottom; you have your own visions." Charlie, Ginny, and Neville faded away.

"And Nymph!" Sirius addressed her in a familiar and leering voice. "Finally bagged Moony, huh? Way to go!" He gave her a thumbs up, and Tonks faded away, squeaking in protest.

"Moony, Teddy, thanks for looking after Harry," James said, now with great seriousness. "I'm sorry for leaving you both so soon; I shouldn't have been taken by surprise."

"I understand, James," Remus said.

"Thanks, Jamie," Edward said. "I really miss you."

"I understand, Ted. You've both done a great job."

"Thanks for looking after my cycle, too!" Sirius put in. "In fact, Moony, thanks for everything those last two years!"

"You know it was my pleasure, Padfoot," Remus said softly.

"You've both done more than Lils and I could ever have asked," James added, as Edward and Remus faded away.

"My goodness," Sirius leered, "I must say I didn't think you had it in you, Harry! Ow!" James had cuffed Sirius on the back of the head.

"Quiet, Padfoot!" James turned to Harry. "I'm sorry you learned I could be such a prat at times, Harry. I'm also sorry your mother couldn't come, too." He looked at Luna and Hermione, flanking Harry. "I don't know if this arrangement will work, but I wish you two luck. Either one, or both of you, are very good for him, and for what it's worth, Lily and I approve." He turned back to Harry. "Treat them good, Harry. And listen to Edward and Remus. If I had, most of the major problems in your life never would have happened."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed sadly, "you should have listened to Moony, not me, Harry."

"Sometime, Fate can't be avoided," Luna told them both.

James gave her a twisted smile that was almost a leer. "Wisdom on one side, brilliance on the other, and beauty on both. Well done, my boy! Ow!" Sirius had cuffed him back.

"Just never become staid, Harry, and you'll know I always approve," Sirius told him. "And I'm sorry I screwed up at the Ministry. That wasn't anybody's fault but mine."

"Thanks, Dad; thanks Sirius," Harry said, finally able to get a word in. "I love you both."

They all faded away.

***

"Neville! Charlie! Harry!" Ginny called.

"I'm over here, Gin," a quiet voice said.

"Charlie?"

"No," Charlie said, "I'm here." Ginny saw Charlie, and grabbed on to him.

"Then who. . . ?" Ginny started to say.

"I always thought he was your favorite brother."

"Ron!"

The three siblings hugged.

After a few moments, Ron said, "I wish I could stay -- I wish I could have stayed with you for that matter! -- but I have to go. Give my love to everyone, even Percy."

"We will," Charlie said.

"I love you, Ronnie," Ginny managed to say, before they all faded out.

***

Remus and Tonks watched together in shock as their daughter took her first steps.

***

"Ron!" Hermione threw herself into Ron's arms.

As Ron embraced the crying Hermione, he looked over to an embarrassed Harry. "I know time is relative here, but there still isn't much of it. I hope you realize, if I had done it right, we both would have been saved. Don't feel guilty." He looked down at Hermione and smiled. "And don't either of you feel guilty."

Harry tried to hug Ron as well, but the vision faded.

***

Charlie Weasley was smiling. He saw dragons. Every kind of dragon he could imagine.

***

Neville's smile faded as the vision of six red-headed children froze in time, and one stern-looking Ron Weasley appeared.

"Neville!" Ron barked, "what the bloody hell have you been doing to my little sister!" He looked at the frozen scene. "And what the hell are you planning on doing to her?!"

Neville managed to give Ron a grin. "Fertile pair, aren't we?"

***

Hermione and Luna stood with their arms around Harry's waist. They were watching a vision of what was known as 'the little house' on the main island of Potter Place, a few hundred meters south of the castle. From the look of it, they were some twenty years older in the vision than they currently were. Six children, looking between fourteen and four, were running around the yard playing tag, while Hermione nursed an infant and a heavily-pregnant Luna sat on Harry's lap. The three boys had Harry's hair, and one of the girls had hair that showed that she was both Harry and Hermione's daughter. The remaining daughters had Luna's hair and Harry's eyes.

Three crups were trying to play tag with the children as well. Hermione pointed, and Harry and Luna saw Dobby and a female elf happily polishing silver on the veranda while a little elfling played at their feet.

Then Luna pointed, and they saw a crowd of people coming towards them. There was a horde of Weasleys, and Edward and Carole with four children, and Remus and Tonks with two.

Luna pointed again, and they saw the 'real' versions of Edward, Ginny, Neville, Remus, and Tonks looking on from nearby.

The sun light intensified, and all nine found themselves lying down in the grass, with the sun in their face.

As the members of the party opened their eyes, they found themselves in a small glade, an ancient stone arch standing near a rocky hill.

They had arrived at Ynunlle.

Hermione recovered first. She sat up, sniffling.

Edward was on his feet quickly, surveying the scene. Tonks followed, checking for problems. In less than ten seconds, Remus, Charlie, and Harry joined them.

It was an hour past dawn or so. There was a small rounded mountain to their north, with a semi-circle of sheer rock some thirty feet high and then a gentle slope going the rest of the way to the summit, some hundred feet higher. Water was gushing from three springs, forming a small stream that flowed south-southeast. The clearing was only some fifteen yards across and maybe extending twenty from the rock face. The stream bisected the clearing, leaving some five yards on the east side, where the arch was, and some ten on the west side, where they were.

"How far is the so-called safe zone?" Harry asked quietly.

"We're on a small rocky rise that extends maybe fifty yards before sloping down to the main valley floor," Remus replied, almost as softly. "The safe zone encompasses just this glade, although the rest of the rise is free from accidental penetration. We're at the north end of the valley. You can't see it for the trees, but these are old mountains, maybe a hundred to five hundred feet of vertical height from valley floors to summits in the older river valleys like this one. Remember, this one is some four to six miles across east to west, with two small rivers flowing south."

"They meet at a point approximately six miles south, right?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly," Remus agreed. "It will be rough going at first, because no one is supposed to live in this valley. There could be some traffic on the rivers, as they meet the sea some forty-five miles below their confluence."

"Which is where the one real town is," Neville stated, to show he had paid attention.

"Exactly. More to the point, there are a series of rapids below where the rivers join. The rivers nearly meet a mile or so above the actual confluence. People coming down the east river carry their boats over the narrows. There's a small bridge, marking the start of the paved road, that goes over the west river, and they typically go the next sixteen miles on foot. That's where the rapids end and there's a small village on the down side of a mountain the river cuts through. People going the west river do the same. The west bank is troll country from the bridge to the north side of the mountain before the village, so they usually go in groups on that trail. The male trolls here keep small harems deep in the woods, and act individually as hunters. Faced with more than six wizards, they always give way."

"Why don't we want to join a group?" Ginny asked Remus. "I presume we don't want to, anyway, right?"

"Right," Edward answered. "First of all, they won't trust us. Second, when we strike west, it will mean we're going to the Crystal Cave, which they won't like. Third, below the village is currently vampire territory for the next twenty miles or so. If members of any party are caught by vampires, they will of course tell them our mission. Trolls will be bad enough without having to worry about vampires and their minions."

"So, we stay here all day?" Harry asked.

"That's what Dumbledore implied, anyway," Tonks injected.

"We're going about four miles south," Edward told them. "There must have been an ice age here right before people started coming to Ynunlle, because the terrain is pretty rough for those four miles, above where the river ever flooded. Lots of dips, no real flat forest floor. We'll try to go at least as far as the end of the dips."

"We don't want to get too near the carrying path, and the dips end about a mile before that," Remus said. "Any party on the path south will leave at first light. Hopefully those going up-river will do the same."

"Why isn't there any kind of path from the arch to the bridge?" Hermione asked.

"The people that built the arches did so about two thousand years before the cave was discovered, and about fifteen hundred before these river valleys were started to be settled," Edward explained. "They built the arches in any location that could, originally corresponding to locations back on Earth. This one corresponds with a malfunctioning one in Morocco. They later figured out how to link the Ynunlle arches together for psychic travel from any arch on Earth."

"And people traveling to the cave wouldn't want a set path from this arch to the native paths, because then that way would be more easily guarded," Remus added. "Of course, we'll be following one of the four native roads to the cave, so an extra few miles of trail wouldn't hurt as far as I can see. Still, that's the set-up."

"So," Edward commanded, holstering his wand and unshouldering his shotgun, "Harry, Neville, wands away, shotguns out. This is the area we're most likely to run into bears. Charlie, take point. Remus?"

Remus nodded and turned into the wolf. Charlie and Remus moved out cautiously, followed by Ginny, Hermione and Luna, then Neville and Tonks, and finally Harry and Edward. Charlie turned to the group. "I know we all want to process the visions, but we need to stay alert."

Everyone merely nodded.

It was not easy for most of them.

They followed the little stream as it meandered, even if it took them a little off to the southeast. There were no trees right next to it, and the banks were fairly level and stony. After a mile or so, however, it ran into a larger stream, with steeper banks. It took an hour to walk the next mile, as the group learned what 'the dips' meant. It was as if a very choppy sea had been frozen and planted with trees. The dips ranged between three feet wide and a foot deep, to some as large as ten feet across and five feet deep. The trees were mostly hard woods, especially various types of hickory and maples, and although fairly widely spaced, they were mostly old enough to make any real line-of-sight to be less than thirty feet. They were all glad they had the walking staffs; they were needed for walking this broken ground, although they would likely leave them in the habitat until they returned. Edward wasn't happy that they had to shoulder the shotguns and holster their wands, but they needed the staffs more.

The next mile took an hour and a half. The third mile took even longer. It was just as they completed the third mile that they came to a small clearing. Charlie walked the parameter while Edward walked it in the other direction. Remus sniffed the air, and popped back into human form.

"I guess it's time to take a break," Ginny said, flopping on the ground. "And it's getting warm!"

"Remus, Hermione, Charlie, go ahead and join Ginny; the rest of us will keep watch," Edward said in a hard voice.

Ginny flushed. "Sorry," she said.

"We all need to remember we'll be lucky if this is just a long, boring stroll," Edward said. "Today is likely to be the safest and easiest day we have, but we have to learn not to take chances."

"Lemonade?" Charlie asked his sister.

Forty minutes later, the four women went off into the woods. Neville and Charlie looked a bit concerned for a moment, then realized that it was probably a call of nature. This was confirmed twenty minutes later when the three teens came back wearing their jeans transfigured into denim skirts -- a much more practical article of clothing. Charlie was about to make some remark, but was hushed by Harry, Remus, and Edward. All three knew Hermione would give them a long lecture on why robes and skirts had been the most common way Europeans dressed, except for those few who had to ride horses, until the 1400s. None of them wanted to hear it.

The men then went off on a similar mission. Finally, they went back to hiking. While they were heading for a point roughly four miles from the arch, their three mile trek so far had not followed a straight path. They therefore had about a mile and a third to go before they would even consider stopping for the day. Lunch had refreshed them a little, and there were slightly fewer large dips.

In addition, there must have been a serious forest fire within the last few years. After the first twenty yards, they ran into the evidence, and soon most of the trees were dead, and some had fallen. While it was not always easy to climb over the fallen trees, many of them allowed quick crossing of the dips. It also made the day brighter, and gave them their first real glimpses of the low mountains that formed the valley.

In an hour and twenty minutes, they were in an area mostly cleared by the fire. The group could clearly see the three long low mountains to their west. "The bridge is about two thirds the way down the southern-most mountain," Edward said, pointing out the one that was now the closest. They could see the incline that would take them to leveler ground ahead of them, although the dips continued off to their right in a more gentle slope.

Remus looked at his watch. "Eight forty," he said. "I know we don't want to get too close to the bridge, but it should be almost exactly a mile from here."

Edward thought a moment. "Charlie, did the files say anything about biting insects?"

Charlie shook his head. "Not that I saw. Has anyone collected any kind of bites?"

Everyone considered their bodies, and they all shook their heads.

"How is everyone feeling?" Edward asked. "Any problems at all?"

"Well," Hermione said, "my feet hurt."

"So do mine," Neville admitted.

"I have a slight headache," Harry added.

"My calves could use a massage," Ginny said, giving Neville a nudge that Charlie missed.

"That's not too bad. Now, after tonight, we will not want to be out after dusk," Edward said. "There is still a slight risk tonight, but I think we can risk it. If there are no biting insects, we certainly don't need a fire; that would just give us away. The area partially cleared by the fire seems to extend another quarter mile or so. I think we should back up a few dozen yards to be on the safe side -- someone from the bridge might come this way hunting or looking for firewood, and we don't want to be seen. Sound reasonable to everyone?"

They all nodded in turn. They walked back twenty yards, and took twenty minutes for each member to retest their cube to set up the habitat in turn. Each one worked, and they left Remus' to use for that night. Then, each went down to take a shower. The three teen girls went back to jeans after their shower, and Harry started dinner, a fairly slow-cooked meal, since for once they had plenty of time.

Forty minutes before the twelfth hour, Harry turned down the stew, Remus stopped setting the table, and everyone gathered outside. After about twenty minutes, Remus pointed out a fast-moving sheparding moon. Over the time remaining before complete darkness, the thin ring slowly appeared in the night sky. Half an hour after sunset, there was a night such as none of the students had ever seen. Even Hogwarts suffered a little from the industrial air pollution of the modern world, and the tiniest amount of smoke and light pollution from Hogsmeade.

A thin wisp of smoke that appeared just before sunset showed there was indeed a group camping out near the bridge, but there was no other light visible, except in the sky.

"The stars in this part of space during this time of year are a little closer than around Earth," Remus said softly. "There are several visible small stars within three light years, and about three times as many sun-sized stars within twelve light years." He then pointed out the very visible spiral galaxy, and they used their pocket omnioculars to locate several more.

While it would normally be Remus' job, Edward went in early to report to Dumbledore. Finally, a little after the first hour of darkness, the others retired into habitat as well. Charlie pressed the correct tile, and to outward appearance, the tent turned into a small rock.

The hungry group happily ate Harry's stew and other dishes. While Neville and Ginny cleaned up, Luna pre-prepared breakfast and Hermione did the same for lunch (including refilling the canteens). Remus showed them how to do the preserving spells.

After the chores were finished, everyone gathered in front of the fireplace. Each told, and recorded, their visions. Seeing Ron, James, and Sirius gave everyone some comfort, and they all enjoyed their visions of the future (although Charlie now realized how close Neville and Ginny were).

All-in-all, everyone felt that it had been a successful, if easy, first day.