Background: Three generations have passed since Alya and Jondalar finally died of old age, surrounded by friends, extended family and a community that would miss them. Horses and wolves are common now and the Zelandonii territory is massive. The Clan are no longer referred to as animals, just a different kind of human and most people know enough of their language to communicate pretty well. The Clan understands that the female Others are not bound by Clan traditions regarding women and the Others do not expect them to change the way the Clan behaves within their own communities.

Summary: When a massive earthquake shatters the peace of their every day lives, one young woman on a hunting trip finds herself responsible for two clans worth of women and children whose mates were killed during the quake while on a joint hunt by the terrified, stampeding bison they were tracking. Descended from Ayla and Jondalar, young Kanna has her hands full as she embarks on her own journey of understanding the world she lives in. EARTH'S CHILDREN, AU/AR.

Journey

The young woman slowly got to her feet when the ground finally ceased to shake and jolt around, calming her horses took a while but eventually she managed it. Her two mated wolves, Tara and Kep were still whining a little but soon settled down as she checked her travois and made sure nothing was loose. She was very glad both horses had still each been on a short line attached to a picket pin hammered into the hard ground. Though both mares had reared and tried to run away, the strong rope attached to their halters had prevented it, their foals had fallen to the ground during the quake, and were only now rising to their feet, staying near their dams. She picketed both youngsters anyway.

She left one wolf to guard one mare and both foals, calling the female wolf to her while leaving her mate to guard the horses. After an earthquake, prey animals were often in shock, too terrified to react, not even running away and she intended to see if she couldn't get a large animal, like a deer, before they recovered their natural wariness.

A few hours later, she had two young bucks skinned and cut up, both drying in the sun. It would be a few days, she knew as she set up her travel tent, but getting provisions while she had a very good chance of a kill had been smart. While the horses rested and grazed on their lines and the wolves guarded both the horses and her belongings, Kanna got a gathering basket and went to see what was growing here that she could use. Vegetables dried more quickly than meat and if she could lay in a few weeks worth of dried vegetable foods to shore up her supplies, that would be a good thing. Then it would be time to return to the large system of caves that she had found and had been dwelling in alone, to see if the quake had left them useable or not. She sure hoped so, she was far from home...or any other recognized territory of her kind of people...and had been preparing for a winter spent alone except for her siblings. These wolves pups were at the cave with her two sisters and a much younger brother. The four were all that remained of a Cave that had suffered the bad luck of having a lazy leader who didn't do his job...and even lazier adults. While Kanna and her siblings had weathered last winter pretty well due to hard work, many of their Cave had starved.

They had done what they could, feeding the other children enough to keep them alive, but as their Cave didn't have a donier, there was no one to scold the leader or the hunters. They had discussed their options once Spring came, gathered their belongings, bonded wolves and their horses and simply left without warning. Some of the older children whose parents had died from starvation had gathered up what belongings they'd had, and followed. That Cave was a bad luck Cave. Kanna's group had stopped by another Cave, the Third, to tell the Donier what had happened and to inform her that she, her siblings and the children of the dead were leaving.

Kanna didn't bother to dismount, giving only the sketchiest of greetings. Just enough so that the donier would know which Cave had come to disaster over the winter. "Burials didn't happen there, because you lot couldn't decide who to assign to our Cave. Now many people are dead and haven't been interred. There are dead bodies wrapped up in skins but still in their shelters. Their elans are loose and looking for revenge on the Cave that was so disrespectful to the dead. We are leaving this territory because you are a bad luck people and we don't want you spoiling our luck. We survived, after all, so the Mother is obviously looking out for us." She told the woman in an insulting tone that left no doubt as to the girl's opinion of the local Doniers, then she had turned her horse's head and galloped back to the departing children on the hill. Not one of them had ventured downhill, or even looked behind them when the shouts from adults to stop and return rang out. They had enough of a head-start that the other people's horses weren't likely to catch up and six months later were looking at a massive and complicated cave system far to the west in unclaimed territory.

They knew that there were people that they had respected and liked two weeks back, but they wanted to claim a living-space of their own. That the Yattadonii's leaders and doniers had been horrified by the tale these children had told was an understatement. An adoption ceremony made the Zelandonii youngsters Yattadonii youngsters. Since the eldest of them were fully grown and all the children were the younger siblings of an adult, they were allowed to search for a cave of their own. A specific donier was reserved for them, for when they found a Cave. The number of the Cave was already known because no one else was splitting off or moving that summer. They would be the Eleventh Cave of the Yattadonii...their Donier would be The First Donier of the Eleventh Cave of the Yattadonii.

Roughly, Yattadonii meant The Children of the Mother that live between the Earth and the Sea, the new cave was nicely situated to harvest both. It was understood that once they had selected a dwelling cave, more Yattadonii would join them, a number suitable to the size of the cave and mindful of eventual births. Thirty people were too few, especially since most of them were young children.

The second earthquake that occurred on the trip back with the meat, changed those plans, abruptly and sharply. On the ride back, once she regained control of her horses, Kanna heard wails and screams on the wind, panicked cries, screams of pain and screams of utter horror and fear. She also hear the sounds of a stampede, thought it was bison, and realized that people had been run over by stampeding bison. Bison weren't deer and didn't react the same way to movements of earth. She would never hunt bison after an earthquake unless she was following a stampede. After such a terror driven hard run, they were too exhausted to run away and you could walk up to them where they had collapsed on the ground and take your time spearing the ones you wanted. Eventually, the rest would react to the blood and the death smell, get up and wobble away. You could still pretty much take your pick of those for a few moments until they found the energy to trot. After that, returning to your kills was smarter and after all that if you hadn't killed what you needed by the time the rest of the herd left, that was your own fault, wasn't it?"

But Kanna really had no choice but to turn her horses toward the sounds of those screams. Although the cries of pain had ceased, the rest had not, those had changed to horror and loss, so she knew people had died. She'd heard those kinds of wails enough last winter to know what they were, hadn't she? But lazy idiots at her birth cave were one thing, people caught in a bison stampede while hunting was another, at least these people, whoever they were, weren't lazy.

She noted they were of the Clan as soon as she topped the rise but that didn't deter her. Three of the children with her group were also clan and as she looked at the scene of destruction and realized all the dead were the hunters...all males, she felt a sinking in her stomach. She sent her bitch for help and rode down to deliver aid. She was a child of a child of a child of Ayla and Jondalar's first born daughter, Jonayla. Each generation had learned to Speak Clan, though this generation was better at it than the last since they actually had Clan people living with them. Well, rescued children, but still...she had tradition to uphold.

Her eyes sought the waist of every adult female there, finally spotting a young woman bearing the traditional otterskin container of a Medicine Woman. She didn't stop the women from mourning their men, but she did ask questions and got answers. She wasn't happy with what she was told, but she aided in gathering in the Dead for the journey home.

"The bison that took so many lives were driven to do so by the evil spirits that moved the Earth." The Yattadonii that had been assigned to their cave motioned slowly, once the male donier found her with the women and their children and Kanna explained. "The meat is unlucky and will have to be left for the Good Spirits and the Mother to cleanse it. Only scavengers like wolverine and hyenas can eat it safely, even other hunting animals will be affected by it's evil in bad ways for a while and our hunters must be wary of greater aggression from them. But you women of the clan will come home with us and we will look after you while we attempt to find a cave that has a clan that has a good, level headed, responsible leader who has too many hunters and not enough matable women to give to them as mates.

Our cave is a very large cave, it has two major openings and many inner caves and tunnels between them. Kanna wants to give the Clan a section that is connected to ours by tunnels and which has a hard to reach exit to the outside. If you don't know exactly and precisely where it is, you'll never see it. I will perform our kind of burial rites for your men so their spirits do not grow angry at the delay, but later one of your mogurs will have to do it again, to make sure their spirits went to the part of the spirit world that they were supposed to. Until then, their spirits will be the guests of the spirits of our own dead. They will be made comfortable while they wait for a mogur." He motioned.

Kanna nodded. "Our hunters will train your sons, but we can't do that in your traditional ways. We don't know those, so we can only teach them the way we were taught. But it's better than not learning at all and growing a beard while they are yet boys."

The Donier nodded in agreement.

The distraught mates and mothers could only submit, until men of their kind could be found, they had no choice. Not when a male of the Others had ordered what was to be and was a mogur besides.

The summer meeting discussions over who would move to the massive cave the formerly Zelandonii children had found abruptly got simpler after the addition of the clan women and their children. Once the burials were finished, a rider was sent to the meeting to report on the recent events.

If you had a problem with the Clan...as some still did...you didn't go live with a new cave that had a large number of their women and many of their children living there before you got there. By the time all the withdrawals of those under consideration had been made, those that remained were a good number of people for the settlement. Other people were still discussing it and hadn't yet responded. When the rider returned, he was followed by the new people and was just as glad that the bigots had not come.

Upon questioning the dead leader's mate, the details were explained. All the hunters, both Mogurs and both leaders from two very small clans that were considering joining into one decent sized one had been lost. Even two older boys that would have soon been men had died. They were far from both caves and none of the women knew how to get home...the men had the memories for that, not the women.

"Well," She signed, sighing. "Then the only thing you can do is gather up your children and come home with us. Our donier has already told you this. Gather what you have and we will give you part of our cave system to live in...even after we find men for you, your new leader may keep it. There's no reason for it to go unused and we don't have enough people to need it. But it could take a very long time to find a clan for you, I don't know how long you'll be living with us, but we have a very good location. "She reassured them. "There is lots of game for the hunters and a very great deal of the foods your women gather. Since our women are allowed to hunt and you are not, you may take the responsibility of gathering, along with whatever of our people wish to gather instead of hunt, and whatever children of both peoples are sent out to help. Also, there are three orphaned children of the clan who are very young, living with us already."

"Two are boys and you have a woman with no sons. You also have a woman with no children at all. Since the boys are brothers and the girl isn't their sibling, I am giving the woman that has no sons both of the two boys and the girl to the childless woman. The children are weaned but not for very long...they are very young. When the men get here, they will need names. We do know their totems."

Another woman who had come to help added with rapid, precise motions, "A cave lioness tried to carry the younger boy baby off and we made her drop him with only a few thrown stones. The older boy baby was bitten by a leopard but just enough to leave a good mark...it wasn't trying to kill, only to mark...for it bit lightly and walked away. It was seen."

Kanna turned her attention to the woman who had been the mate of one of the leaders. "The female child had a badger try to drag her off, she will need a strong mate. Our mogur thinks that because the bad spirits have been attacking the clan, good totem spirits are choosing more children so they can defend them. Keep a close watch on any child that doesn't know his or her totem...they are more likely than not to be chosen. If you see a live animal like your totem, you should ask your totem to have the living creature mark your baby, gently...until we find men for you, they will need the help."

It was alarming news but it relieved the women who had small infants who didn't know their totems.

Egra also had no sons but since she had been told the mate of the leader that was coming had four sons, she didn't need to cause a conflict of rank with male children. She was being given a daughter, that was enough.

Egra sighed as she worked, it had been three Moons since the evil ones had sent the bison to kill their men, but there was finally word of a clan that was coming. They had been looking for another cave anyway, because their's was too small for their clan. It was good news for the Other's mogur said the new clan had too many men. There were not nearly enough women for all of them to have mates. It made for a well provisioned clan, but it also meant that the mated women's mates would be loaning them to the unmated males to relieve their needs.

The Others of Seven Cave Rock had been very good to the grieving women and children, seeing to their care and supplying them with green and partly worked hides that they could finish as well as properly worked ones. They had shown the women how to use brains instead of fat for curing hides and the results made for a longer lasting material than fat dressed ones.

They had been taught other things, new things, that were now a part of their memories, how to make and use soap, both regular lye soap and gentler ones that could be scented during the making. They were shown how to make pottery and utensils, fire it and then fire it again once the glazes were added. The finished products were easier to make, use, clean and store than ones made of stone, wood or bone. They were also taught to make and fire bricks in large numbers, which were used to build partitions between and behind each hearth and at the front boundary of the hearth, posts sunk into the dirt floor on each side held up a large piece of mammoth hide, fur side out. Overhead, poles were laid and thatching covered the hearth. There were places for smoke to lift up and drift away but this arrangement kept more heat inside and also made for added privacy. This added to their value.

They had been adding a pair of very large hearths, like the Medicine Woman's, they were intended for many people, though the medicine woman's had sick people instead of well ones. One was the largest and set aside for the Leader. The other was for the mogur. To one side, down a short tunnel, the long dead bodies of their men waited eagerly for a mogur to end their time as guests in someone else's spirit world and send them to their own. The next smallest woman's heart was still very big because she was the woman who had many sons and had never born a girl...she needed the room. She had born four times and had twin boys each time. The oldest pair were just barely old enough for their first spears.

But for the women, it was a nervous time as they worked to provide a feast for the large number of men that were bringing their own few women and children here to adopt all of them.

They had been taught to tame, train and use the strength of horses to carry far, far more than any women could carry which added to the amount of food that could be harvested at one time. They were taught to train wolf cubs which bonded to them and guarded them...though this last was not done until word came that the men were coming. Ranking in a wolf-pack was explained to the women, just as someone who was leading the other clan here had explained it to the men of the clan as well as the women and children. Like people, some wolves stayed home to mind the children and guard the den and others hunted. Cubs did not meet the members of their pack until they were several weeks old and by that time, the new clan would be here.

This cave had smaller storage caves inside it, most were full of the gatherings of the women and preserved meat enough to supply many clans for more than three winters. The Others had given the Clan women hides frequently, though when their men arrived they were off butchering kills in one of the Other's surrounds, with only a few women working at chores at the cave while minding everyone's children.

"Most of the women went with our hunters this morning. The kills made this day will belong to the hearth of the man who accepts the woman who works the carcass. Our mogurs have driven away the evil spirits that infected the bison and today a large number of bison were hunted successfully in the first bison hunt since the tragedy." The Donier motioned to the Clan Leader that had come. "A few older women and two that are too close to giving birth are in the cave that is to be your's, working at quiet things and minding the children."

"And you have given them wolf cubs that our men can bond with, train and hunt with? Their value as hunters and guards is high."

"Yes." He motioned back to the Leader. "The cubs are of an age where their dam would have begun to bring them out of a den to be introduced to their pack and the Leader of the pack. It will be many moons before they're old enough to hunt, though...they are very young cubs, after all."

"Yes. Our First Mogur sent word, also. There are two Horse Spirits. One is Wild Horse and the other is Working Horse. From now on, Spirit of Working Horse is the strongest female guardian totem and may not be hunted. They give us their strength and friendship, but the work they do is women's work. Spirit of Wild Horse is still a man's totem and also prey. If we do not have an agreement with a creature that belongs to Horse Mother, then it is ruled by Wild Horse and may be hunted." He paused to look at his own mogur.

"The marks on the children you had rescued have been examined by our medicine woman and she agrees with the medicine woman of the Lost clans...the boys are Chosen of Cave Lion and Chosen of Leopard, the girl is Chosen of Badger."

"The boys were given to a sonless woman who had three daughters. The girl was given to the former mate of the higher ranking of the two lost leaders, who lost three adult sons in the attack of the evil ones. We did not wish to create a conflict of rank by allowing one of the former mates of either leader to adopt sons. Your mate already has many sons, so we determined it would not be fair to her first born or to your mate." The donier motioned. "You're going to have enough problems with so many new females. There are two women for every person you brought with you, including your clan's children...all of them. Most have at least one child...one woman has birthed pairs of boys several times...the oldest of those boys are ready for their first spears. Since you were so close to them, we told those boys they must wait until their mother is mated and then their mother's new mate would take over their training."

"Wise."

"We have shown your women how to build surrounds and now your men know how and why we use them." One of the lead hunters of the Others commented. "Every other hunt has been for the women you have adopted without even seeing them. The cave is well provisioned."

Another man of the Others nodded. "It is also huge. There is a massive central area and many, many small caves suitable for hearths along the walls. The females who have the largest numbers of children have those small caves, which are still good sized, as a sign of their worth to a potential mate, since he will own the cave as his hearth when he mates the woman who lives there with her children. The women have put posts on either side of the hearthcave's opening with another pole over the tops of those to hang a large hide from...their new mate will benefit from the rise in status at having a hearth with utter privacy."

"In the rear, there are three very large sub-caves that are not yet used as hearth caves, with more sub-caves inside, one is nearly as big as the main cavern. We forbade the females from entering the biggest of the rear caves because there is a full skeleton of a cavebear in it, with no bones missing. Our mogurs decided it was intended by Ursus for the mogur of your clan to hold ceremonies in. We Doniers have cleansed it and put red stained poles and a red hide that has not been worked or even touched by a female covers the opening to that cave."

He paused to point outward and downward where the returning hunters and the clan's new females could be seen, heavily loaded horses pulled and carried the meat and the women diligently gathered as they moved, adding more stores. The new clan's leader got a good long look at the very large number of women and his hunters could be heard grunting satisfaction. Soon, they would have mates. There were both adult females and half grown ones, the sons of the mated females would have mates as well, when the time came that they needed one.

One of the hunters below halted the line of horses and clan females to gesture up the hill to the large number of men of the clan that stood there, watching them. Even at that distance, male or female, they could hear the cries of relief and joy at the presence of so many men.

"They have been without men for over three moons," A hunter motioned to the mogur who paused and nodded, then informed his leader. The leader nodded. "We will meet them at the new cave. Tell me more about the cave."

"The cave to the right side of that one is well provisioned as is the one on the left, these are intended for the Leader and the Mogur for hearths, since you already have mates and they both have several children. The women have filled each cave with welcoming gifts for your mates. The one on the right is intended for the leader and is slightly larger than the mogur's who will have the ceremonial cave as well. We put asside a Medicine cave, where the Medicine women can keep patients. It has access to the women's cave, the main public cavern and also has three heart caves for themselves that opens to the Medicine cave that they share. This way, sick and injured people or people that are dying of old age and are near death, are set aside in a place where they have quiet and can rest."

"These are good reports, this is good news."

"On the far side of the mogur's hearth is a deep, narrow cave, where bodies can be interred. Those killed by bad spirits were put in an even deeper place, one that has a waterfall from one of the deep rivers that flow underground, that blocks any spirits that linger near the bodies from re-emerging to bother living people."

"The women you have accepted as your own have made a point of filling the hearths they are using with products of their works, to show they are good, useful women. They wish you to be proud that your decision has brought your clan hard workers with great skill, so that their new clan gains rank."

"To the left of the main cavern, is another cave. The opening doubles back a bit so that wind from the hidden opening doesn't get inside, this is the cave of Age and Youth. Only three older females are there, too old for bearing more children but all three have half grown children, sons and daughters both. The more sheltered location eases the infirmities of winter cold. This is also the place where the three women who have new babies and the ones that adopted the three Chosen children live. They have their main hearth for when the children are older, but for now, for the sake of very young infants, they are in a more protected area."

"This is also wise. The elders have many troubles in winter."

Now the Donier grew grave and serious, gesturing for the females to look away and not see what was being said.

"To the Right is another large cave one reaches by going through a short tunnel and then a smaller cave, where no male should enter. It is the place where women go and live during their moon days. The tunnel represents a journey into the Underworld, women who are due to bleed but which will still be clean for a night and a day, who are transitioning from Clean to Unclean must leave the clan's living cave and go through the tunnel, passing through a fall of cold water to enter the small cave. The water is the barrier that keeps safe the men and boys of the clan. There they put off the garments they wear, all wrappings and put the contents of their amulet in a new pouch which they will find there." The Donier told the mogur. "The new clothing is bloodstained because all the stains of a wounded totem did not come out and reminds her she is a dangerous threat to her clan. At this time, it is best if they feel ashamed. They will remain in the underworld until they are supposed to begin to bleed, then continue to the cave beyond until they cease. Once they start bleeding they are to go naked. They must bathe in the Spirit Water before redressing in the same clothes they took off, to leave, to cleanse themselves."

"If they do not bleed, they must put off the bloody clothes after three days, bathe in the fall of cold water which comes from the spirit world and return to the clan naked, going to one of the medicine women to be examined for pregnancy. They may not wear any clothing until a medicine woman has examined them. If they are faking, a medicine woman will know and expose their treachery."

"If they are faking it, it means that an evil one entered them while they walked the underworld. Do not death curse them, it's not their fault if their totem was too weak to protect them. But they must be punished with shameful and humiliating things until the spirit is too embarrassed at having such a host and leaves her."

"Pain from the fist of a man will not help with this kind of spirit because it wants you to beat her, it want her to be in pain...it will stay in the hope of causing more."

"But instead, you must relieve your needs in her mouth, ordering her to lick and suck your manhood and your testicles until your pleasure comes...if you must enter her body, use her anus. She isn't to be allowed normal uses until the spirit has gone away." The Others lead hunter warned. "We have many children in our cave who are survivors of a possessed Leader...he didn't take his hunters to hunt and they didn't insist the non-hunters gathered. Nobody worked.

All but a handful of children died that winter, those few that had hunted or gathered on their own survived, the rest perished. We will have no lazy people here!"

"Boys or men that need a severe punishment are also to be used in similar ways, though not in the mouth since the spirit may cause him to bite...punish him in the stone ringed place at the center of the cave so that everyone in the clan may watch. Such as need punishment in this way will be bent over the wall and the real men will stand behind him and push their manhood into his rectum, using him as if he were female, they must relieve their needs in the anus of a punished male at least once a day for a count of seven days. Your mogur will keep track of the days. This is the sign of a punished one, there is no gender indicator because this makes for more punishment. Such males as are used this way should be made to lick the organs and the anus of a low ranked woman who has no value, for her pleasure. This is truly a humiliation." A man with some rank mentioned. "If you with to humiliate him past recovery, make him pleasure a bleeding female. He becomes a Not Man, though he is still not female...he loses all gender identity and has no rank. He must obey women and even children...and can be made to pleasure anyone at all."

The donier sighed, "Sometimes people punished this way will die, ripped up inside in the guts from the punishment of a man's penis if he is very large. This is how you know they invited a Spirit of Death into them like some of the hunters who died under Bison's hooves had. My colleagues and I were shocked and horrified when we discovered why Spirit of Bison killed the men. Until we found this out, we thought they were guests in our afterlife, but our spirits say, 'no', they are lost and wandering in the place between one world and the next."

The Leader and mogur looked at each other. The leader nodded and the mogur spoke. "Those who were spared committed no wrong. Those that died were judged and executed. We will seal up the cave where the bodies are and curse it...and they will be locked out of our spirit world also and will be Nameless and forgotten. They will do no more evil."

"And that is why the Cave of the Evil Dead is nowhere near the caves of the living and why there is a fall of cold Spirit Water between the cave and the opening. They are kept separated from the living."

"We wish to see the cave you have given to the clan, now. It is time for more pleasant things."

"Reach to the far side of that willow bush next to you and pull the top toward you. The entrance lies behind it."

"Well hidden indeed."

"A cave without men needed to be hidden. Have a medicine woman cut it down now and add it to her supplies, it isn't needed anymore to hide the cave-mouth and it will be in the way."

"True."

~*TBC*~