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Clanluna

Chapter 62: Winter with the Đűmbleđore Član

Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling
Earth’s Children is owned by Jean Auel


Several days after her arrival, Mariza awoke to find an owl waiting for her with a letter from her mother. Mariza wrote back a friendly letter that she all right and telling about her mating. After this, Mariza began receiving letters via owl from various members of her old Clan every few days. It was a long journey for the birds to take and took some time for them to fly the distance.

Mariza spent much of her time gathering plants, mushrooms, fishing and hunting. Some of this was to add the the Đűmbleđore Član’s winter stores. But she was also gathering ingredients for potions. She even had to owl to Ayla for a few things that weren’t available where she was, like amber.

Širtić and Đučaviča had adapted well to the enlargement of their family and their peculiar arrangement at bed time. Širtić seemed to enjoy watching the two women Share Pleasures. And when they were done, Đučaviča was very receptive to Širtić. He didn’t even mind if Đučaviča held Mariza’s hand while they Shared. But there was a certain sadness in Šitić’s eyes that Mariza detected. And so she came up with a plan to help the situation . . . a gift, of sorts, for Širtić. Yes, it was a waste of ingredients to frivolously use them for a potion like this . . . and it did take a month to brew. But the happiness of her family was important to her. The potion in question was N.E.W.T. level material, so Luna didn’t have a recipe in her books as she had never taken potions at that level. It had taken Ayla years to come up with a recipe. In the end, Mara and Mariza had helped her complete the discovery. And the fact that her memories of this particular potion were so bound up with Mara, made her hesitant to brew it. But . . .

One day, Mariza was returning home, her basket laden with plants when she spotted her son playing with the cave bears. All of the Đűmbleđore Član’s cave bears were descended from Hug-Giver. And although no one here could ride them, they did let children touch them. Presently, a group of the children had found the bears sunning themselves on a rock and had taken the opportunity to cuddle into the fur of the bears. As she came closer, Mariza saw Zariz grab handfuls of the cave bear’s fur and use the grip to pull himself up onto the bear’s back. Once he was sitting up there, the cave bear rose and began walking around.

“Look at me! Look and me! I’m Zeen!” proclaimed Zariz.

Suddenly all activity around the cave stopped as the whole clan stared at the boy in shock! It was taken for granted that only the Mog-Ur could ride on the backs of Cave Bears unassisted. Yet here was the son of the Weech doing the impossible!

“Me too!” proclaimed Đoroči. Before anyone could stop him, Đučaviča had climbed onto the back of another Cave Bear and was riding along side Zariz.

This broke the silence as everyone began talking about this at once. Other children tried it. But the bears would only let Rađiv and Rečibar ride them.

Mariza owled back to Ayla about this at first opportunity.

When Zeen answered her back, he told her that he’d done some checking and several other boys were able to do this too. After some checking, he’d found that all of the boys who could, were Weez-urs, like him. So Zeen theorized that any of the boys who could ride bears, must also be weez-urs. This news was greeted by the entire clan with much joy.

Finally the potion was ready. Mariza dosed the boy’s food with sleeping potions and once they were soundly asleep, she told the other two what she was up to. . .

“This is called polyjuice potion,” explained Mariza. “I know you were disappointed that I wouldn’t Share Pleasures with you, Širtić. So I made this for you . . . it can make you look like anyone you like. All it needs is a hair from the person you’re trying to imitate. If you’re Blessed, it can make you lose the baby. So I did a geomantic reading earlier today, and you’re not. But just to be certain . . .”

Mariza cast a quick pregnancy detection charm on Đučaviča. But she didn’t think her charms were reliable . . . which is why she had cast a geomancic chart, earlier. Mariza was better at divination than, charms.

“. . .and you’re not,” said Mariza. “now we just need a hair from me . .”

Mariza started to pull a hair from her head, stopped herself and lifted her wrap, so she could pull out a lower hair, with a wink. She then ladled a cup of the potion, added her hair, and handed it to Đučaviča.

As soon as she drank, Đučaviča’s features began morphing: she grew taller, her hair and eyes turned lighter. In a few seconds, she turned into an exact copy of Mariza.

“So now you can have your Needs Relieved by someone who looks and feels just like me, but who actually enjoys your touch,” said Mariza.

Širtič and Đučaviča enjoyed the present and took several more doses as the night progressed.

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Winter came and Mariza turned to brewing more potions and sewing clothes for herself and her son. Winter here was a time of windy storms the wind blew so strong that you could barely stand. Usually this wind was mixed with freezing rain, sometimes sleet or snow. This made milking the Clan’s herd of snorkacks a chore that nobody liked in the winter. Mariza’s new family often didn’t go out at all unless they had to. It was like they were alone . . .

When it finally came time for the Winter Mother festival. They whole family put on their winter leggings, tunics and parkas and made the trek through the wind and sleet to the cave. When they went in, they saw that it had been cleared for the usually household divisions. Within the cave, there were usually boundary stones to mark the hearths and screens made of wood and hide. These had all been taken down and moved to one end of the cave. People removed their outer clothing and stored it by the entrance of the cave. At one end of the cave were the drums and children. The older ones would guide the younger ones. There was a small dance area in the center and furs spread out in the rest of the cave. People were milling about talking and flirting as they waited for the others to arrive. Once the whole Clan was in the cave, Krstulović gave the signal and the drumming began as she walked around offering the special mushroom tea to all of the adults. Once everyone had drank, the clanluna had to finish the bowl. She then began leading them in the dance. . .

Mariza’s head was spinning as she weaved in and out of the other dancers, looking each of them in the eye. She was trying to figure out which woman would enjoy Sharing Pleasures with her. But this became more difficult s her thinking became cloudier. She locked eyes with Širtić as they passed and suddenly Mariza, had an idea . . . His mate’s other mate had been very good to her. . .this would be a good opportunity to give him something he wanted very badly. And afterwards she could just claim it was the mushrooms that made her do it . . . perhaps it was the mushrooms giving her these very thoughts . . . When she passed Širtić again, she grabbed his hand and pulled him from the crowd and towards the furs.

“Mariža, are you certain about this?” asked Širtić

She put a finger to his lips to quiet him, then reached down, grabbed the bottom edge of her tunic and pulled it over her head. The Pleasures that followed were not so bad for Mariza. If she was completely honest with herself, she actually enjoyed it. Her only other man before had been Zeen, at her 1st Rites . . . and she could see why it was universally known that Zeen was the best man at Pleasures in all the Clans of the Clanluna . . . but he was still a distant second to the centaurs during Spring Heat. Like any woman who’d tried it, Mariza was addicted to the experience of being a unicorn during Spring Heat. That was the only time she wanted Pleasures with a male. Still . . . it wasn’t so bad to Share Pleasures with Širtić. Perhaps she should Share with him more often . . .

These thoughts were driven from her mind by the realization that Luna had Blessed her! She was going to have another baby! Mariza hugged Širtič, who was still on top of her, tightly and kissed him fiercely. It wasn’t until after they’d shared pleasures again that it occurred to Mariza: (How am I going to go on a journey if I’m pregnant?)

The next time Đučaviča and Širtić Shared Pleasures, after the Winter Mother Festival, Mariza didn’t just hold Đučaviča’s hand, but joined them. After that she never again initiated Pleasures with Širtić, But if he started them with her, she let him Share with her completely. Đučaviča found that watching the other two gave her Needs. So there was a lot of Need Reliving going on this winter. Mariza had to discipline herself, not to let it interfere with her brewing and sewing.

One morning, near the beginning of the spring, Mariza got an owl from Luna. She could tell who it was from before she opened it because it was written on paper. Almost no one in the Đümbleđore Član was literate. There wasn’t much point. Luna had all of the books in the world. Still a few people, could read and write, Đučaviča’s mother had sent her to the Abraxas Clan for several Winters when she was a little girl, specifically to learn this skill. This winter, she had began teaching this skill to the Clan’s newly discovered Weez-urs. Of those that could, most had to write on piece of leather. Zeen and the older Weeches could transfigure leather into parchment. But only Luna could transfigure wood into paper.

When Đučaviča returned to from milking the snorkacks, (it was her turn) she found Mariza curled into a ball, sobbing as Širtić tried to comfort her.

“What điđ you đo to her?” demanded Đučaviča.

“Nothing,” defended Širtić. “Šhe waš reađing her letter anđ then šhe štarteđ črying!”

“What letter?” demanded Đučaviča.

“The one that . . .” Širtić’s words died as he picked up the charred corner of the letter that had fallen in the fire . . .