A/N: Thanks so much to those of you who have left reviews. I know there aren't many people even reading this fandom, so it's very kind of you. Much love! xx-Kitten.
The Lion Camp of the Zelandonii
By Kittenshift17
Chapter 3
When the group reached the Camp of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, many came spilling out in greeting and many more stopped short at the sight of so many new faces among the Lanzadonii.
"Mama!" Jonayla shouted in delight to see her mother and the man of her hearth return. The girl was oblivious to the gathered people who had travelled so far to see her parents and as she barrelled towards he parents with her younger brother right behind her and her infant sister in her arms, Ayla smiled at the girl.
Jondalar intercepted the girl, taking Jetamalie from her and propping the toddler on his hip while Jonayla pounced on her mother, jumping right up into Ayla's arms. Thonnolan climbed his father like a tree while the gathered group chuckled.
"I missed you, Mama!" Jonayla announced, pressing a kiss to Ayla's cheek in greeting and squeezing her arms tightly around Ayla.
"I missed you too, Jonayla," Ayla chuckled, having had to let go of Jondalar and Durc to catch the girl and hold her in her arms.
"Who are all these people? I know Dalanar and Jerika and Joplaya and Echozar, but who are the others?" Jonayla asked, always curious about everything and not at all shy about expressing that curiosity.
"They are the people I told you about from the Journey your father and I took, do you think you know their names?" Ayla asked her, propping the girl on her hip and turning her a little so she could see the many gathered people. Most of the group smiled at the little girl who was identical to Ayla in every way but her eyes. She had Jondalar's mesmerizing eyes, as all of Ayla's three children with him did.
"That must be Talut," Jonayla decided, pointing at Danug. Danug grinned despite the mistake, clearly pleased to be mistaken for the man of his hearth.
"That's Danug of the Maumtoi. But I almost mistook him for Talut too, he's grown so big. Talut is Danug's father," Ayla smiled while Danug began to laugh.
"You're Tholie and Markeno of the Sharamudoi," Jonayla said next, pointing at the couple, who looked surprised to be recognised, "The people Mama and Daddy almost cross-mated with, far away on the Great Mother River where you know why she is called the Great Mother."
"That's right," Jondalar praised as the Lanzadonii people began moving away to set up camp beside the Ninth Cave, "Can you guess the rest?"
Jonayla looked around the group for a few moments thinking hard on all the stories her parents had told her.
"If you're Danug, then you must be Latie," she decided, pointing at Latie, who smiled encouragingly, looking delighted by Ayla's children. Thonnolan had by now managed to climb his father until he was perched high on Jondalar's shoulders, and was looking on with interest. He was only four years, so he was still a little shy and more prone to watching than talking when he didn't know people. Unlike his older sister, Thonnolan preferred to assess things before barrelling head-long into them.
"That is Latie," Ayla nodded, leaning over so she could press kisses to the face of her two year old daughter who was giggling and pulling Jondalar's hair, and then the cheek of her four year old son, who leaned down a bit so Ayla could reach to kiss him while he sat on Jondalar's shoulders.
"Well if she's Latie, then you must be Madenia," Jonayla continued, smiling happily to be getting them all right.
"You told her about me?" Madenia asked, grinning widely to know she'd been well-remembered by Ayla.
"Of course I did. We told her about all of you."
"You must be Darvolo," Jonayla wasn't listening to their conversation, she was too busy puzzling out who everyone was, "And I saw you limping a little bit, so you must be Doban."
"She's good at this for a girl who's never met any of us," Markeno commented, looking impressed.
"And that leaves you," Jonayla said turning her blue eyed gaze on Durc where he stood close by to Ayla, looking on with interest to meet his mother's other children.
"Do you know who he is?" Ayla asked her eldest daughter seriously, beckoning Durc closer.
"You're my brother," Jonayla said quietly, "The one Mama cries about. The one she had to leave with the Clan. You're Durc."
"I am," Durc agreed with a nod, noticing the way the younger girl was in the habit of speaking with signals and with words. He hadn't understood most of what she'd said as she was speaking Zelandonii, but the signals told him the words he didn't know. He didn't know how to react to being called brother to the bright and happy blonde girl in his Mama's hold, though it was true enough.
When Jonayla held her arms out towards him, wriggling towards him in Mama's hold, Durc glanced at Ayla, unsure what to do. It wasn't all that customary in the clan for men to hold children, excepting those of their own hearth and usually only within the lines of one's hearth in the cave, but the girl seemed insistent. When Ayla just watched him, letting him choose what to do, Durc held his arms out and took Jonayla from her, propping the child on his hip the way his mother had done and the way her mat was holding the other, younger girl. She seemed too tall to be so childlike, but Durc had learned many things about the Others and he knew their children took longer to grow and mature than the Clan did.
"You should all set your things up with us," Ayla invited, taking Jetamalie from Jondalar and leading the gathered travellers towards the camp where she, Jondalar and their children slept.
"We'll hold off on introductions until everyone is gathered, I think," Jondalar added, "And perhaps on the stories of your travels here, until everyone can hear them."
"Just like at Lion Camp," Latie grinned at Danug who nodded, both of them recalling the tale telling of Jondalar and Ayla when they had first come to the Lion Camp of the Mamutoi.
"It's so good to see everyone," Ayla said, depositing Jetamalie on her sleeping fur and clearing room for all the travellers to squeeze into their camp alongside them.
"Are you sure it's alright for us to all camp here?" Tholie asked, "We don't want to put you out. And there's not that much space for so many new people. Especially when you have such young children, Ayla."
"Oh Tholie," Ayla sighed, hugging the woman and earning a chuckle, "You don't know how happy I am to see all of you. I wouldn't have you anywhere else. All of you must join us. We'll make the shelter bigger for the Summer Meeting to fit everyone if we have to."
"Jondalar?" Folara's voice came from the entryway, "Ayla? What's going on? Who are all these people?"
"Oh Folara!" Ayla grinned, "Come in, come in, everyone's just getting settled, help me make some tea, would you? These are our companions from our journey. From the stories. All of them have travelled here to visit us."
"That's wonderful!" Folara beamed at her, "I feel like I don't even need any introductions, I feel as though I know you all."
"You've been telling everyone about all of us?" Tholie asked Ayla curiously, expressing the surprise they all seemed to feel.
"Of course I have," Ayla told them, "I've missed you all so much, and talking about all the times we spent with you helps keep alive the love we have for all of you."
"Oh Ayla!" Latie said, beginning to sniffle at that, her eyes welling. "We've been so worried that we wouldn't even find you, let alone that we'd have such a warm welcome."
"Why wouldn't you have a warm welcome?" Ayla asked, puzzled, "Without all of you, we would have never made it here to the Zelandonii?"
No one mentioned for that moment the fears the group of travellers had shared that they would not find Ayla and Jondalar, that if they did they might not be welcome. None more than Durc had feared seeing Ayla again, wondering if she would remember him. Wondering if he would be welcomed. Wondering if he would have come so far for nothing.
"We scared ourselves around our campfire at night," Markeno told her, "Worried we'd never find you."
"Well I'm pleased you did. I'm pleased you have all come so far," Ayla told them, smiling widely.
"It's is a very long journey," Jondalar agreed, "Knowing how far it is, I am all the more pleased you chose to come."
"We didn't just come to visit, you know?" Tholie piped up, "We've come to stay. If you'll have us?"
Ayla paused as she was gathering together cups to pour everyone a nice cup of tea, looking up at the gathered group who all wore such hopeful expressions. She glanced at Jondalar, who looked equally surprised by Tholie's announcement.
"You…." Ayla paused to try and reign in the emotions that threatened to consume her once more, "You all… want to stay? You… you would give up your families; your people; just to stay with me and Jondalar?"
"Do you imagine we came all this way to see you without the intention of doing that? I'm never going to make another journey for days and days over a glacier, Ayla," Tholie told her, blunt as ever in the way only the Mamutoi could be.
"You all feel this way?" Jondalar asked, "Danug? You and Latie wish to begin your own Camp here? What about Talut? Nezzie? The Mamutoi people?"
"We'll miss them," Latie admitted, "I already do. But it's much too far to go back. At least for a good long while. We'd like to stay. Is that alright?"
Ayla felt more tears leak from her eyes.
"Of course you can stay!" she announced.
"The Council might have some objections to that Ayla…" Folara interrupted quietly.
"The Council?" Ayla asked blankly, "If the council have such trouble accepting visitors into their midst then… well, then we'll just have to leave too. We could start our own Camp!"
"It won't come to that, Ayla," Jondalar assured her, "Though I do like the idea of a lodge like the Mamutoi Camps."
"You would leave our cave?"
"As lovely as it is, you know it's beginning to overflow with the children. I've been thinking about trading for the supplies to extend the one we have or to build us a new one," Jondalar admitted, "Why not extend it into a Camp like the Mamutoi dwell in. They were cosy and warm. Not to mention that having so many dear friends living in close quarters is appealing. After all, we couldn't fit Durc in the cave we have now. Not with the children too; I know you want to have another baby soon now that Jetamalie is two years. And everyone else would need Caves to live in too. One big lodge would be perfect."
"What are you saying Jondalar?" Danug asked, "We're relatively fluent with signs, Mamutoi, Sharamudoi, Ladunai and some S'Armunai but we only know a collection of Zelandonii words we remembered and what little we picked up wintering with the Landzadonii after we crossed the glacier."
"Oh, we're being rude, I'm sorry," Ayla apologise in Mamutoi since the largest number of people gathered in the group understood it, "Jondalar and I are discussing the need we already had for a larger dwelling and the possibility of building a Mamutoi lodge for us all to live in together."
"That's a wonderful idea," Tholie's eyes lit up, "I haven't lived in a lodge since I was a girl. It's the perfect way to fit everyone in. We can make our own little Camp. I know Shamio and Tarnego would benefit from living in a lodge with your children Ayla, and anyone else's too."
"What's a Mamutoi Lodge?" Madenia asked, needing clarification.
"A dwelling we would build primarily from mammoth," Latie explained, "They are long and domed, but made by us since Mut so rarely builds caves just the way we need them. We all share the lodge, living together inside it but separated into Hearths with rocks and partitions for privacy based on family units. So Tholie and Markeno would have a hearth where they would live with Shamio and Carduno. Ayla would live with Jondalar and – Ayla what are the names of your children?"
"Jonayla," Ayla pointed indicatively as she named them, "Thonnolan and Jetamalie."
"Right. The rest of us would bunk in wherever we fit. At least until we were mated. Generally speaking any of us could also make additional hearths. I might bunk in with Ayla and Jondalar, or I might make a hearth of my own with Darvolo – once we're mated. The lodge is long and warm, and the children come and go to every hearth as they please. They all grow up together, as close as hearth-siblings."
"That sounds lovely," Madenia smiled, "How do we build one?"
"Well they take a long time…." Latie admitted, "Though if everyone pitches in it wouldn't take too long. But we'd need a lot of materials – mostly mammoth is used in the Mamutoi but that's because it's our most easily accessible resource. I don't know if they even have mammoth here."
"We do," Jondalar assured her, "Though we sometimes have to travel further to find them. It's already too late in the summer to build one to set properly before the winter snows though… or it would be by the time we got enough materials to build one effectively."
"These things can be sorted out later anyway," Folara waved her hands dismissively, "Though it is a nice idea. If you do build a Mamutoi lodge, I hope you'd consider letting me move in?"
"Of course you could Folara," Ayla smiled at the younger woman.
"I'd be happy to share my hearth with you," Danug piped up, grinning widely and Ayla smiled wider as she realised the big red-haired man was even more like Talut than ever – already teasing people. She also found herself smiling when Folara looked Danug over speculatively as though considering that very idea. Ayla wondered how long it would be before the two began sharing Pleasures.
She glanced towards Durc when she noticed Jonayla still propped on his hip, quizzing him about the Clan and prattling as she tended to do. Durc looked like he was having trouble understanding everything she said as she only used the signs half the time and he didn't understand Zelandonii.
"Jonayla where is you tea cup?" Ayla asked the girl.
"It's with my things, Mama" Jonayla told her, looking over before squirming to be let down by Durc so she could fetch it. Durc looked relieved and just the barest hint of a thankful expression crossed his face.
"I should warn you Jondalar, the Leaders have all heard about Dalanar's arrival, and the sight of so many faces – especially another man of mixed spirits – are making people curious. You're likely to be overrun shortly with curious and intimidating people demanding answers," Folara said though she smiled secretively at Danug's advance.
"Well they'll just have to wait. Where are Marthona and Willamar? And where is Joharran? Could you find them and send them in? We need to get everyone settled and then we all need to help Dalanar set up the Lanzadonii camp for the summer," Jondalar said, "Everything else can wait until we've all settled in and until it can all be shared at once, rather than repeating the tale and introductions over and over again."
"Jondalar?" Joharran appeared suddenly, "What's going on?"
Ayla and Jondalar shared a look and Ayla knew Jondalar was already getting sick of repeating himself. He explained to Joharran what he'd just told Foloara, asking that Joharran notify the other Leaders and the Council while they helped Dalanar set up.
"Jondalar, the council might not like this," Joharran said quietly, "You know some of them have enough trouble accepting Echozar… another man of mixed spirits?"
Ayla stiffened at Joharran's words, wondering how Jondalar would react and suddenly feeling grateful that she hadn't been translating the words he said.
"Joharran, that man is my son," she told the leader of the ninth cave of the Zelandonii sternly, "His name is Durc. He has travelled more than a year's worth of distance just to find me. If the Council or anyone else does not want him here they will find they will have to go through me."
Durc realised it was him they were discussing and he looked down at his feet for a moment, worried that his fears of being rejected by his mother's people were to be realised. The Clan didn't like him because he was mixed spirits and he knew there were many among the Others who didn't like him for that reason either. He had formed a fast friendship with Echozar upon crossing the glacier and joining with the Lanzadonii – recognising a man who would understand the problems he faced.
"Ayla…" Joharran said, a slight frown crossing his face and Durc got the feeling this man was the Leader of his mother's Cave. Durc frowned to know that just as she had done when he'd been born, his mother was willing to directly challenge the Leader on his behalf when they didn't want to accept him.
"Joharran," Jondalar interrupted, "You knew Ayla had a son of mixed spirits. He and several of our other friends and companions from my journey have travelled far to meet the Zelandonii people. We will not turn them away."
"We would not turn any of you away," Joharran said, nodding his head and Arya could sense the subtle lie in his words. It wasn't that he would personally, but she knew that as a people, the Zelandonii were unwilling to accept mixed spirits people. They had been trading with the Clan for two years now, but there was still little tolerance for the Clan among the general populous.
"I will see to it that the Leaders are aware of our visitors. I assume you'll be doing the introductions later?" Joharran asked Jondalar.
"It will be easier that way. Our immediate family and group of friends will be enough to begin with. Others can introduce themselves at a later date. Now, we need to help Dalanar set up for the summer. Keep everyone else out of our way, could you?" Jondalar asked his brother.
Joharran nodded, leaving to do just that.
Ayla passed out the cups of tea for everyone, pouring Durc a cup and bringing it to him with a squeeze of his hand before taking care of everyone else. She brushed a kiss to Jondalar's cheek as she brought him some tea. Thonnolan was still sitting on Jondalar's shoulders, perched up high and watching the proceedings in silence, as was his way. Where Jonayala was outgoing, bubbly and a chatter-box, Thonnolan was shy, often quiet and much more watchful. He could be loud and have fun when the mood struck him, but he was wary of strangers and much more like Ayla than Jondalar. Watching, assessing, gauging a situation before making any input.
Ayla offered him his cup of tea, which he accepted, signing his gratitude to her one-handed while clutching the cup to his face with the other. Jonayla had taken her cup from her mother, accepting the kiss atop her head with a smile, before shuffling over to sit next to Shamio. Both little girls struck up conversation in Mamutoi quickly – Tarnego leaning in to listen as well. Jonayla lapsed into Zelandonii often, blending the two languages together and beginning to teach Tholie's children more of the Zelandonii language almost immediately. Jetamalie was too young for tea, but once everyone was taken care of, Ayla pulled the toddler up into her lap for a cuddle. She was too old to be living only on Ayla's milk, but the girl still suckled occasionally for comfort and Ayla let her.
"We really ought to help Dalanar," Jondalar worried, glancing towards the man of his hearth where they were setting up across the way.
"We'll only be in the way for a little while. They know what they're doing and don't need our help, Jondalar. Not yet, anyway," Ayla soothed him, smiling at him fondly.
She looked around the gathered group of people. Folara had left to locate Marthona and Willamar so only the travellers from distant lands remained.
"Would you really move out of your current dwelling to build a lodge with us, Ayla?" Latie asked, sipping her tea and holding Darvolo's hand.
"Of course we would," Ayla smiled, "It's a wonderful idea to fit everyone in together without being spread out. The Zelandonii Caves are much larger groupings than any other people we visited on our way here. It would not be so easy to slot all of you into the Ninth Cave very easily. And you have all come so far because you wished to stay with us. With so many people from so many different cultures, living together will be the perfect way to combine it all together and enjoy aspects of each."
"You are worried the Zelandonii will not be accepting of them?" Jondalar asked quietly in his native tongue.
"The Zelandonii are not so open to change, Jondalar," Ayla sighed, "There is much about the Mamutoi way of life that would unsettle them. More about the Sharamudoi that would confuse them. I do not wish to pack up everything and move far away – somewhere close by to the Ninth Cave, within walking distance would be an ideal place for a lodge. Where we can all be who we are – all cultures together – without the constant pressure of the Zelandonii people to fit in. Our friends did not travel so far to become Zelandonii, Jondalar. They came to be with us, as we were with them. I would not like to see some of the terrible tricks your people played on me, turned on our friends."
Jondalar looked stricken for a moment and everyone else looked lost since the conversation they held was much too fast and in a language they didn't know well.
"Is everything alright, Ayla?" Tholie asked, sensing the slight tension between the couple.
"Yes, Tholie," Ayla smiled, "Sorry. We are being rude again. Jondalar and I are discussing the idea of where best to put the lodge. While the Zelandonii are lovely people, they are set in their ways and might not take easily to the different ways each of you do things. I would like for all of us to enjoy each other's culture – to be able to practice and express it together – without concern of how the Zelandonii people might react."
The gathered group looked concerned and slightly intrigued and Ayla noticed that Jondalar looked slightly ashamed of the habits of his people.
"The Zelandonii are not bad people," he spoke up, "But they can be… insensitive to the ways and ideas of others. It has taken many long years of fighting with the zelandonia and the Leaders Council to commence trading missions with people of the Clan and to change their ways of thinking. Ayla is – of course – a driving force for all the change they have endured already, but they aren't always open to new ideas straight away."
Markeno nodded in understanding.
"They might not understand the concept of cross-tying as the Sharamudoi do. Or the abrupt manner of the Mamutoi," he summarised.
"Yes," Ayla nodded, "And though you have come to stay, you do not need to become like the Zelandonii to do so. Not unless that is what you wish. When I arrived they did not always approve of the way I talked, the way I dressed or the way I conducted myself. But they have learned to deal with it."
Tholie, Latie and Madenia all smiled widely at her words, while Danug looked pleased by her fire. Durc looked on, saying little but understanding loosely that it would not just be him who might have trouble being accepted. It pleased him a little to know his mother was not wholly accepted even by her people and that she was defiant of the notion that she ought to be.
Uba had told him many stories before his journey to find his mother of the type of woman his mother had been. Durc knew well the stories of how defiant and wilful Ayla had been while Brun was leader. Uba had told him of the terrible things Ayla had done to spite Broud – a hateful man whom Durc had never liked. To know that all these years later his mother was still wilful and defiant pleased him immensely. Not because he wanted her to be in trouble, but because it fit with the way he had imagined her. He had limited memories of her before she had left the Clan.
"You do love to cause an uproar, don't you Ayla?" Jondalar smiled at Ayla widely, pleased despite her defiance, knowing that while it sometimes worried him, his mate was a powerful force to be reckoned with when she set her mind on something. Especially something important.
"The Zelandonii need another good stir," Ayla replied, signing the words and speaking Mamutoi, "Too long left untouched and they develop sediment and begin to stagnate. And people should never be allowed to stagnate. They must grow. They must change. They must learn new and different ways of doing things."
"So we're building a lodge then?" Danug asked, "Will you be headman, Jondalar?"
"I think having a headman in a lodge for us would be unnecessary," Ayla told him, "Jondalar and I know a good place not far from our Cave where we could build the lodge – and we could still fall under the Leadership of the Ninth Cave. Many of our friends live there, and the leader there is Joharran – Jondalar's brother. Instead of needing a headman to govern us the way individual lodges do with the Mammoth Hunters, we could defer to Joharran as Cave Leader as we would have little call for needing disputes settled and those other Headman and Headwoman duties."
"But… who would be in charge?" Latie asked, frowning in confusion.
"No one," Ayla smiled brightly, "No one needs to be in charge. We will all live together and go about our lives."
"But who will delegate tasks and settle things and plan things?" Latie pressed, "Who will lead the hunt? Everyone needs a leader…"
"I think, Latie, that you are not yet used to the Zelandonii way of life. The Lion Camp had how many members? A little over twenty?" Jondalar asked.
Latie nodded.
"The Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii has ten times that many people living there. Joharran is leader. We all live in separate dwellings alongside each other, but still slightly apart. When important meetings are held, those in charge of different things gather. The rest simply pitch in when it's required. We would all be representatives from our own Hearth in a lodge," Jondalar told her, smiling widely at her as everyone began to nod slowly.
"Everyone's input is important. When something needed to be done we would all pitch in," Tholie agreed, "Shall we have a name?"
"The Lion Camp, of course," Ayla smiled slowly, "The Lion Camp of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii."