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CC4
Clancreb

In the morning, when the men came back to themselves and opened their eyes, they all were staring at Creb in awe! Never had a men’s ritual been so intense before!

“This man can no longer be mog-ur!” signed Borg. “Creb is a better mog-ur than any this man has ever seen. Creb should be mog-ur!”


Chapter 4: new leaders

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


“As mog-ur, you are entitled to a share of the kills from hunting,” signed Creb. “The old mog-ur is still young enough to hunt. This man vows that the old mog-ur will still receive his mog-ur’s share even after he has become to old to hunt. This man will provide it. The old mog-ur will not have to give up his hearth.”

All the men nodded their approval of Creb’s vow.

“With the Leader’s permission, we will have the change of mog-ur ceremony tonight,” signed Born.

“This man would suggest that we wait until after the next successful hunt,” signed Creb.

Brac nodded his agreement with the wisdom of the son of his mate. Both the men and women were tired after their rituals last night. And the Clan needed to build up its’ stores for winter, which they had done less of at the Clan Gathering.

Most of the Clan stayed near the cave for the rest of the day. The adults had not slept enough last night, so they were making up for it today. Creb carried a fur out to cover the body of his mate, who was still sleeping outside the cave. Zoug’s mate, Iga, awoke before Aba did. And after returning to Zoug’s hearth, she prepared him some tea and a breakfast. Every time he would glance towards Zoug’s hearth, though, Creb would see her encouraging him to give her ‘the Signal’! When Aba awoke, she found her wrap and the fur Creb had draped over here. She didn’t bother to put on her wrap and remained naked while she prepared some tea and stew for her mate. The whole time she was doing this, she kept striking seductive poses, trying to encourage Creb to have Needs for her to Relieve. So after they had both finished their meal, Creb gave her ‘the Signal’. She gleefully laid down on her furs and he Shared Pleasures with her, Relieving her Needs several times before he let her Relieve his. After they finished, he held her and used his hand to caress her back for a while before she sat up, still straddling him.

“This woman is very lucky to be the Acolyte’s mate,” signed Aba. “This woman especially enjoys Sharing Pleasures with her mate.”

“Is that what you told the other women about me yesterday?” signed Creb.

“This women did tell the other women how happy she is to be your mate,” signed Aba. “And about how you gave this woman Needs and Relieved them.”

“That might explain why Iga is acting so strangely,” signed Creb.

“Perhaps you should Relieve your Needs with her so she will know what this woman is saying about you,” signed Aba. “This woman thinks she wants Zoug to learn how to give her Needs and Relieve them.”

“My mate does not object to this man Sharing Pleasures with Iga?” signed Creb.

“The woman is proud that another woman wants to Relieve your Needs,” signed Aba, before bending over to kiss him again. Then she rose up off of him and put her wrap on so that she could resume her day.

Creb took a brief nap before hobbling over to Zoug’s Hearth. After he had Shared Pleasures with his mate, Iga’s seductive postures towards him had become more blatant. Creb approached the Second Ranked Hunter.

“May this man use your mate to Relieve his Needs?” signed Creb.

“This man has no objection,” signed Zoug.

“Before Relieving his Needs, this man likes to Relieve the woman’s Needs, first,” signed Creb. “If you watch this man, you may learn how to give your mate Needs and relieve them,”

Zoug nodded his assent.

So Creb showed him how to give a woman Needs and how to Relieve them. Immediately after Iga and Creb were finished, Zoug took up where Creb left off, performing the same actions that Creb had. This gave both of them Needs and Zoug relieved his mate’s before having her relieve his. Creb went back to his own hearth when he saw the two of them were going to practice what he had shown them.

When he got back, he could tell that Aba had watched him with Iga, as she was now trying to encourage him to give her ‘the Signal’ again. He needed time to recover first. But he did Share Pleasures with her again after the evening meal. They both slept soundly that night, cuddled with each other.

The next morning, it was time for the men of the Clan to get serious about hunting. And this time, Creb would be going with them. He marched with the men of the Clan out to the edge of the forrest. There was a nearby hill on the steppes and in the distance could be seen a herd of reindeer. Creb started for the top of the hill, while Brac led the men in stealthily encircling the herd. The ancient silent language of the clan was helpful in Brac co-ordinating the hunters of the Clan as he picked the large buck he wanted to take down and directed the men to encircle it. When it realized the danger, the reindeer buck bounded away. But then, Vorn raced into his path. So the reindeer turned and ran another direction, only to find Bok in its’ path. The buck changed direction again, only to find Brac blocking the way.

CRACK!

Creb flung a stone and a different reindeer, shooting it through the head and killing it instantly. The buck that was being run down was panicking as every time it changed direction another man of the Clan was in its’ way and they moved in closer and closer.

CRACK!

Creb felled another one.

By now, the circle of hunters was small enough that when it tried to turn away from Borg, the old mog-ur was close enough that he could make a killing thrust with his spear. His aim was true, and the reindeer was dead.

CRACK!

Creb felled one last one. After this, the herd had run too far away for him to kill with his sling. They would still be in range to be hit, but not hard enough to take serious injury from his stones. Creb hobbled down from the hill to re-join the men. By the time he arrived, Brac had already cut the buck open and was sharing the raw liver amongst the hunters. He handed Creb a piece.

“This Leader’s mate’s son has hunted well,” signed Brac, waving at the three reindeer Creb had brought down with his sling. “Zoug, go bring the women. We will need help to carry this many back.”

While waiting for Zoug to return, Brac carved out the hearts of all the reindeer and buried them where they fell, then had the men drag them all together in one place to they could be more easily guarded from predators. Creb used his sling to discourage the various foxes, hyenas and wolverines that came to steal their kill. When they returned from the hunt, Creb and Borg led the way.

This was the first of many successful hunts. With the aid of Creb’s magical ability to use the sling, the Clan was easily able to hunt enough game to feed them over the winter and the women had more time to gather roots that could be saved to feed them over the winter, while there were plenty of greens and fruits in their diet while they still grew. Greeba and Brona also wanted to have their mates shown how to Relieve their Needs. So Creb Shared Pleasures with them too. Darn, the man of the Others did not recover quickly enough and had to spend the winter with the Clan. Creb continued to work with him, teaching him how to speak properly as the Clan did, and learning to understand his purely spoken language. Although his native language was made only of sounds. He sub-consciously revealed his thoughts in his facial expressions and body postures in a way that everyone in the Clan could read, even though he didn’t realize that he was telling those things to them. So when he started getting Needs, all of the women in the Clan encouraged him to give them “the Signal”. But it was obvious that he was repulsed at the idea of Relieving his Needs with a woman of the Clan. Once he had learned to speak properly, each of the men in the Clan offered to let him use their mate. He was even taught how to make ‘the Signal’. But he refused at every turn. Only Vasa was able to persuade him to use her. And when he did, what he did with her was more like Creb’s method of Sharing Pleasures than it was like what men of the Clan usually did. He only did this for her the one time, no matter how blatant her attempts to entice him after that day became. As soon as the Spring thaw came, he left to return to his people. The Clan made sure that he was well supplied for his journey. He left them some Other’s style spears he had made during the winter. But it seemed to Creb that Darn, of the Mammoth people, had left them as soon as he was able to.

It was during the winter that Drona’s baby was born. It was a girl, who died before her naming day. It was during late spring that Iga’s and Aba’s sons were born around the same time. By now, Creb was the mog-ur of the Clan. He named Iga’s son: Grod and Aba’s son: Zeen. They were in the middle of summer when Vasa had her child. It was a difficult delivery. A less skilled medicine woman than Creb’s mother, Uba would not have been able to save Vasa and her baby.

“The Medicine Woman is grieved to report that the woman, Vasa has given birth to a baby girl,” signed Uba.

Brac went over to Zoug’s hearth to inspect the new baby as was his duty, as Leader. The girl had a large bump above her eyes and below her mouth.

“The child is deformed,” pronounced Brac. “The mother will have to dispose of her.”

“Vasa is too weak to perform this duty,” signed Uba. “This Medicine Woman will dispose of the child for her.”

Creb knew he wasn’t supposed to. But he had watched this conversation. He used his staff and climbed to his feet before hobbling over to see the child for himself.

“Wait!” signed Creb. “This mog-ur would see the child.”

Brac nodded his permission, and Creb examined the girl. She had a large bump forming a forehead above her protruding brow ridges, which were smaller on a baby than an adult, normally. Her head was long, like a Clan head and her neck was strong enough to hold her head up. She did not have a chin, like the Others do.

“This girl is not deformed,” signed Creb. “This girl is mixed. It is obvious to this mog-ur that Vasa’s totem was defeated by the man of the Others, Darn. This girl is part Clan and part Others.”

Hearing the mog-ur’s pronouncement, gave Brac pause. He turned to his mate:

“Do not dispose of the girl yet,” signed Brac. “The men of the Clan will discuss the girl’s condition before this Leader makes his decision.”


Once all the men were in the men’s chamber, Brac began the discussion.

“The woman, Vasa, has given birth to a baby girl,” signed Brac. “The girl looks deformed to this Leader. But the mog-ur disagrees.”

“The girl is part Clan and part Others,” signed Creb. “Vasa’s totem was defeated by the man of the Others, Darn. The bump on her head is as the Other’s heads,”

“Is the girl able to hold her head up and suckle milk?” signed Borg.

“The girl is,” signed Brac.

“Then, this mog- . . . this man thinks that if she lives until the naming day, she should be allowed to live,” signed Borg.

“No! No! No! shouted Dorv, before signing: “We have never let deformed children live before! The girl should die!”

“It should be in the paws of Ursus,” signed Vorn. “If the mog-ur thinks the girl is part Others, we should trust his judgement. Let Ursus decide whether she lives of dies.”

“This man also thinks that we should trust the new mog-ur when it comes to matters of the spirits,” signed Zoug.

“Deformed children are not Clan,” signed Grev.

“The girl must die,” signed Bok.

“This Leader has seen your signs,” signed Brac. “Our Clan shall leave it in the hands of Ursus. The Medicine Woman will not aid the girl until after her naming day. If the girl lives until the naming day, she will be accepted by the Clan.”

Brac’s mate was not happy when she was told that she would not be able to offer aid to the baby girl. But she was able to help with Vasa’s recovery and recruited Iga to help the woman take care of her child until she was well enough to do it herself. The girl thrived and when the naming day came, Creb marked her totem sign of Hare and announced her name:

“The girl’s name is: Vara!”

The Clan continued to have success throughout the summer and autumn by the time winter arrived, the Clan had plenty of food in storage to tide them by over the winter.

It was during this winter that Creb’s mother had another son. He remembered his brother not living long enough to reach his naming day. But this time, he did, and was named: Brev.

Drona also had a son, named: Bon and Ona had a daughter, which was named Dona.

Being well supplied for winter for winter gave Creb lots of time to think over the winter. He worried that the mixed clan girl Vara would be drawn to hunt as Ayla had. But she didn’t have a strong totem like Ayla so perhaps his fears were groundless.

In the Spring, Vora became a woman. Creb gave her 1st Rites as Iga the Clanluna had taught the Clan in his past life. He taught her how she could have Needs of her own and how to Relieve them. After that, she was temporarily taken as a second mate by Brac. The Leader had plans to mate her to Gred, but he was not yet a man, so Brac took her into his hearth temporarily. Vora taught the Leader what Creb had taught her about women’s Needs and how to Relieve them. He, in turn, use what he had learned on his regular mate. Creb’s mother and her mate were a lot happier with each other now and she was enticing him to Relieve his Need with her much more often than she had in the past.

This year the hunting and gathering was as successful as last year’s. They were well stocked for winter again.

During the winter, Vora had her son, who was named: Vorc. Iga also had a son. But he died before his naming day from the same winter illness that took Ona’s new Daughter and Borg, the former mog-ur. Creb’s success with the sling had shown that he could be a good provider in spite of his disability. So Uma was given to him as a second mate. She was comfortable living in the hearth of a mog-ur, even if this one had a strange way of Relieving his needs with Aba.

“Uma, take off your wrap and lay down,” commanded Creb the mog-ur.

Uma was very surprised at this. She had not expected her young, but deformed mate to use her like this. After all, he already had a young woman who was very enthusiastic about Relieving his Needs. But when he loomed over her and pressed his lips to hers, she didn’t understand why he was doing that to her. She tried licking his lips like Aba does and soon found herself licking his tongue. Now she understood why Aba liked it so much! By the time he’d kissed his way down, he had given her Needs! Needs that he Relieved over and over and over again. Now she knew why she had seen Aba riding him with him laying on his back. She rolled him over so she could mount him. After she’d guided him in, she rode him until his Needs were relieved. Uma had been sad to become a young crippled man’s second mate, even it he was the mog-ur. But now she was happy to be the second mate of a man who could do such magic!

Once the winter had thawed enough to to hunt again, Brac decided that it was time for Gred’s manhood hunt. In order to keep the focus on Gred, Creb decided that he would not help with the actual hunt, so he watched from a distance as the other men took turns taunting a woolly rhino to charge at them them before another man diverted it to charge at him. This was a dangerous prey to pursue. A man could easily be killed doing this. It charged at Bok, then Grev persuaded it to charge after him with a wave, then, before it could get to Grev, Vorn waved a skin at it and it changed direction to him, but before it could gore Vorn, Dorv waved a skin at the rhino. This continued over and over until the rhino stopped pursuing them. Gred wanted to spear it now, but Brac waved him off:

“Not yet,” signed Brac. “He still has a couple of more charges in him.”

Zoug crept a little closer, and the rhino charged at him. Brac waved a skin at it and it charged direction and came for him. But it was truly tired now. When Bok waved a skin at it, it sat there and ignored him. Brac motioned to Gred that it was time. Slowly the young man creeped forward. When he was close enough, he bounded the last few steps and leaped up onto the air so he could put his weight on it when he stabbed with his spear. His thrust was true and he pierced the Heart of the beast. It waved its‘ horn at Gred one last time. But the young man leaped away before it could hit him.

Seeing that the hunt was successful, Creb hobbled down to join the men by the downed woolly rhino. Brac gave Creb a piece of the Liver the other men were already sharing before he buried the heart of their kill in the place it had fallen. Zoug was sent to run get the women and when they returned, they started to work butchering the animal, which was too large to be carried the the cave in one piece. While the women worked, Clan used his sling to drive away any predators that that came near.

That night, the men performed the hunt dance, with Dorv playing the part of the wooly rhino. It was an exciting performance. Afterward, Creb the mog-ur performed the ritual to make Gred a man, and then the mating ceremony to bind Vora as Gred’s mate. A new hearth had been set up for the new couple. So she carried her baby son as she followed her new mate to their new hearth to begin their isolation.

Isolating the Clan’s new hunter did not impinge on the Clan’s ability to hunt. With Creb’s sling he could bring down more big game than the rest of the hunter’s combined. Often he had to let some of the game escape unharmed. There was a limit to how many animals the women of the Clan could butcher and dry at a time. And so, when the winter stores were full, he would often go sling hunting for small animals with Zoug, who was the second best sling hunter in the Clan. But unlike Creb, Zoug was unable to use magic to improve his accuracy.

Spring turned to Summer to Autumn, then Winter came again. They had plenty of dried meat, dried fruits and roots to feed them over the winter.

By now, it was apparent that Vara, the part Other daughter of Vasa, had Clan memories. But when Creb tried to teach her number magic, she was able to grasp it as easily Ayla had in his previous life.

“If the girl need more numbers that my fingers and toes, this girl could make marks in the ground to represent your toes, then Vorn’s toes, then my mother’s toes, then Brac’s toes?” signed Vara.

Perhaps this ability with number magic was one of the ways the Others are different mused Creb?

Creb’s mother, Uba, had another child, a daughter that had never been born in his previous life. Although she was still a baby, Uba planned to teach her to become a medicine woman just like she was already doing with Creb’s sister, Iza. Ona and Drona also had daughters that lived. But Iga’s daughter did not live until the naming day.

This Spring, Brun was judged to be old enough for his manhood hunt. Like with Gred’s hunt, Creb did not take part, so that the focus of the Clan would be on his brother’s achievement. The hunt was successful and Brun was able to kill the bison with a single thrust of his spear. He was now a man! But there was no available woman to be his mate. Brona was the girl closest to him in age. But Brun did not like her. He told Brac he would rather wait until Ebra was a woman. For now, he would stay at the hearth of the Leader. His mother could continue to take care of the women’s tasks for him. And if he needed to Relieve his Needs, he could always borrow one of the other men’s mates for that. Brun was quite open minded and was willing to learn from Uma the things that Creb had taught her about Relieving her own Needs.

This was in contrast to Gred, who was not at all interested in trying any of the things that Creb had taught Vora. He would only Relieve his Needs in the traditional Clan way and cared nothing for his mate’s Pleasure.

It was still Spring when it happened . . . The men of the Clan were hunting a mated pair of wooly rhinos that had a baby rhino with them too. Creb stood ready in the distance with a loaded sling while the men encircled and taunted the trio. They had nearly worn the rhinos out when the female made a sudden charge at Zoug. Creb swung his sling in a circle and let fly the stone at supersonic speed, enhanced by the magic he had channeled through the sling.

CRACK!

The stone passed through the head of the female rhino bringing it to it’s knees before it could gore Zoug, who turned and stabbed it with his spear to finish it off! But then, the male charged at Brac and gored him before Creb could reload his sling! Creb froze at the sight of the rhino horn passing through the back and out the abdomen of the Leader before the rhino withdrew his horn and tried to trample Brac! Dorv, Vorn, Grev and Bok all surged forward at once and stabbed the male rhino before it could trample their leader! Gred used his spear to kill the baby rhino. Brac was not dead, but it was apparent that he soon would be.

“Bok, Carry the Leader back to the cave,” signed Zoug who, as second in command, was now in charge. “After the Medicine woman has him, send some women back to butcher these rhinos.”

“Yes, Zoug,” signed Bok, before throwing Brac over his shoulder and running back to the cave. As the man ran off, the men of the Clan could see their Leader’s blood running down the back of Bok. Creb had not seen this before, he had not been a hunter before and only knew his mother’s mate had died in a hunting accident.

Zoug took charge and did the usual post hunting rituals of giving each man a piece of raw liver and burying the hearts of the animals in the places where they had fallen.

Bok was still covered in their Leader’s blood when he returned with the women.

“Does the Leader still live?” asked Brun.

“He still lives for now.” signed Bok. “But the Medicine Woman says that the Leader will not survive his wound.”

Brun nodded his understanding as he struggled not to show the emotions he was feeling at this news.

After the meat was butchered enough to take back to the cave, the women started drying it and preparing it for winter. The men all went to their Leader’s hearth.

“The Leader is dead,” signed Uba.

All of the men turned to look at Brun.

“Prepare him for burial,” signed Brun, at Creb the mog-ur.

Creb nodded and motioned for Gred and Bok to help him carry the body back to the part of the cave where the dead where laid to rest. Creb took the Leadership token out of Brac’s totem bag, rubbed the body of his mother’s mate in red ochre mixed in bear’s grease, and arranged his tools with the fallen Leader. While Gred and Bok piled rocks on the body, Creb signed all the usual prayers to the spirits. The women paused their work to attend the funeral.

Once it was over, Brun summoned all the men back to the men’s chamber.

“Our Leader is dead,” signed Brun. “Who shall be the new Leader?”
“Usually, the new Leader is the oldest son of the old Leader,” signed Creb. “But ever since Ursus chose this man, Brac had planned for you to be the Leader after him, Brun.”

“But this man only this year became a man,” signed Brun. “This man does not have the experience to be a good Leader. This man can not be Leader without the advice and experience of the other men of the Clan. Zoug, if this man becomes Leader, will you continue to act as second in command?”

Zoug nodded his assent.

“Creb, as mog-ur, will you aid this man in advising him on spiritual matters?” signed Brun.

Creb nodded his agreement.

“Do all of you wish for this man to take on the mantel to Leadership?” signed Brun.

One by one each of them nodded their agreement that Brun would be their new leader.

That night, the Clan gathered outside the cave, by the racks of drying meat and fires. Creb performed the ceremony and passed the Leadership of the Clan on to Brun.