Chapter Text
Winter hadn’t yet fully set in, but it was coming fast. The always-biting winds that came from the icy shelves in the north that rimmed the edge of the world had turned fierce against their fur cloaks and it was only going to get worse. He could smell the snow in the air. They were running out of time.
Chris guided them into a valley, mostly to stay out of sight but also to look for somewhere to hole up for the night. They were in another clan’s territory now and he’d seen signs of other people earlier in the day. They couldn’t risk getting caught. While his former clan made no war with this one, that did not mean he could count on no hostilities, especially considering they were outcasts.
Well, he was, and it should have been him alone, but Claire came with him. On one hand he should have made her stay, on the other it was too likely she’d still suffer for his crime just by the fact she was his sister.
He’d rather have her nearby anyway. Both to protect her and for her company. Not that she couldn’t handle herself if necessary, he’d made sure of that and continued to do so even as they journeyed, but he was her brother and would safeguard her until she chose a man for herself to do so. Chris wouldn’t like it but that was her right and expectation.
Chris thumped the butt of his spear against a large stone jutting out of the incline, testing it before he dropped himself down and scanned the ground below him and the horizon above. A few foxes scampered across the valley floor an disappeared, probably for good until the winter passed.
Clair dropped down beside him and pulled her wolfsfur cape tighter about herself. “We need to find shelter.”
“I’m doing that.”
“I mean for the winter. We’ll freeze at this rate.”
“We don’t have enough food to last us more than a few days, much less the rest of the season.”
“We’ll go out during the day and hunt and gather what we can. One day at a time,” she smiled at him and pat his shoulder, “We’ve been through worse.”
No, they hadn’t, but he smiled back and nodded anyway.
“Alright, but let’s keep going a little longer.”
The valley wasn’t deep at this point, and looking ahead he could see out of it again onto the vast, treeless plain of scrub and icedust. The caribou and bison and other hoofed beasts had moved on, the larger predators after them or gone to ground like their man cousins until the Sun shone strong again and blessed the earth with his warmth. For now the Sun was sinking lower and lower in the sky a bit more every day, sleeping through the winter save when he would poke his head up to make sure things hadn’t completely frozen over. To keep those vast ice walls in the north right where they were, just on the horizon.
The Sun would stay awake a little longer yet for him and Claire, but Chris still felt uneasy. Had for a short time now. A voice inside him whispering to move on, now. So he goaded Claire on and they moved further into the valley, eyes sharp for a cave or at least an overhang to shelter them for the night. If Father Sun blessed them with a bit more of his light then the spirits of the earth cursed them and hid their gaps and openings. Chris worried. They had a spare bison blanket in the hide tarp Chris carried, and he was certain between the two of them and a fire if they stayed out of the wind they would survive the cold, but they would be vulnerable out in the open. To beasts, to weather, to men. Chris shuddered and picked up his pace, risking the noise. He shouldn’t have.
He knew they were there before he saw them, and still he could do nothing more than thrust Claire behind him as they seemed to climb from the rocks themselves. Men, spears raised and eyes bearing no friendliness. There were four of them and they circled Chris and Claire easily, even as Chris pondered his ability to fight them. He could count on Claire, and one of the men just out of the corner of his eye was slight of build. It wasn’t a good one, but there was a chance if they had to fight, but with those odds he’d rather not. He raised his hands slowly, spear point and palms up in a peaceful gesture and also in reverence to the Sun, showing these others that while not of the same clan they were of the same people, and wait. If they returned the gesture then all would be well.
The man in front of Chris stepped forward but did not return the signal, his antler spear tip edging close to Chris’ heart. He was older than Chris, taller, though not by much, his pale hair slicked back with animal fats and braided in beads, dark paint wiped across the eyes as though he was trying to hide them. It only made the blue irises stand out more. The quality of the hides he wore and the care of the beads and bone sewn into them marked him one of standing in the group.
Chris swallowed but held his pose.
The man tapped Chris in the chest with the spear but not hard enough to pierce. “Who are you?”
“I am Chris, born the year the fields of the east bloomed red.”
“And what clan claims you?”
“None.”
The man narrowed his eyes. Those expelled from their clans were done so for a reason and rarely ones those of other clans could ignore. Chris was lucky enough his crime had not been worth a marring. Apparently the man thought so as well as his attention moved past Chris.
“The girl…your woman?”
“My sister, both by parents and sign. The fields were red for her too.”
“Truly?” The man’s eyes sharpened with sudden interest as he regarded Claire, and he tapped Chris hard on the side with his spear, signalling him to move aside for a better view of her. Chris only shifted just enough to recapture the stranger’s eyes.
“We don’t mean to trespass, we’re only passing through. We’ll be gone by tomorrow.”
“Even in passing, with as little as you are carrying, you will eat of our lands and take what we made need,” the man snapped, annoyed at Chris’ defiance.
Before Chris could reply, the slight man to his right stepped forward and Chris realized his error. Not a slight man at all, but a woman! A hunter like the men, and judging by the hardness of her eyes and tone of her arms and legs, the bear teeth she wore around her neck had no doubt been her kill.
The woman stepped beside her leader and spoke, softly, but not attempting to hide her words. “Wesker, they could be useful. Bring them back, what good are they frozen on the plain?”
“They’d be more mouths to feed,” he growled at her, never breaking eye contact with Chris.
“The caribou were plentiful this season, we have more than enough. Besides, this man is young and strong, he could hunt if we need fresh meat, and as for the girl…” she shrugged.
The man, Wesker, sighed, then glanced beyond Chris to the two other men. “What of you two?”
One grinned, “Heh, if anything, if we need more meat we send this one out into the cold to get it!”
“An extra spear-hand doesn’t hurt, I guess…but whatever you want," the other, less cocksure, shrugged.
Again those piercing eyes snapped to Chris’ own, then traveled upwards to the sky then the Sun, Wesker’s head tilting slightly as though he was listening. Slowly his spear tip rose away from Chris, and Wesker raised one hand slightly upward, palm out. The other two men and the woman put their spears up.
Wesker gestured for the two to follow and then deftly jumped up the rocks towards the lip of the valley. The woman gave them only the slightest of smiles before following after. Chris took Claire’s hand and the two climbed up the slope, the remaining men staying behind, just in case they tried to run, Chris supposed. But run to where?
“Well, I guess we found shelter for the winter,” he said to Claire.
“I hope so,” she whispered, then released his hand to ease her climb.
One of the men caught up and stayed beside Chris as they ascended and crested the valley edge. “I’m Joseph, born not far from here with a crown of frost,” he said proudly, “That’s Brad back there. What clan are you from?”
Chris hesitated, then sighed. “Bird clan. There was a…disagreement.”
“Anything we need to worry about?”
“No. And my sister wasn’t involved…”
Claire butt in, “Chris is my brother. Where he goes, I go.”
Joseph held up his hands in placation. “Hey, I understand, I have sister. She married off to another family, I only see her in the summer when the clan gathers for the caribou hunt. Anyway, if Wesker’s bringing you home then you’re over the worst of it.”
“Wesker’s your leader?”
“Yeah, he runs this group. Carry your weight and he’ll leave you alone.”
“Sounds fair,” Chris said.
The band traveled across the open plain, the wind picking up as the Sun sank lower and stretched shadows across the land. Wesker snapped at them to hurry up and their pace increased to a light jog as they headed towards a sharp drop in the land that, with the Sun setting behind them, made it seem as though the world ended as nothing but darkness stretched beyond.
“Almost there,” the woman said and pointed out into the darkness.
There was the slightest glint of sunlight reflecting off distant hills, the darkness a long shadow cast over a lake caused by the dip in the land. The band slowed and began to descend the steep drop towards the water. The surface of the lake was very still, reflecting the dark sky above and making it seem like a large patch of blackness. The Sun sank into the earth to rest in the underworld and night closed about them.
“I didn’t get your name,” Chris asked the woman.
“Jill.”
“Just Jill?”
“Just Jill,” she said, her tone emphasizing that that was all she was going to say on the matter.
“Well, Jill, thank you for speaking up for us. The best I was hoping for was a shelter for the night.”
“Honestly, Chris, you and your sister will find you’re not the only ones here who have come from strange places. We aren’t…well it doesn’t matter.”
“So this isn’t temporary? You’d let us stay? Wesker wouldn’t mind?”
“If you want to, I don’t see why not.”
Chris glanced back at Claire and she smiled. “I thought the spirits had cursed us,” she said, “but I guess we’ve been given a second chance.”
Despite the dark the strangers found their way along the rocks easily, their feet finding a path while their hands led Chris and Claire. Wesker turned before they reached the water and disappeared into the rocks. Faint, flickering light shone on the stones as he drew aside the covering of the entrance of a cave, providing a guide Chris and Claire could follow.
Within the craggy cliff beside the lake a cave lay buried among the rubble, its entrance extended by an awning of earth and hide stretched over the bones of a mammoth to keep the rain and frost from coming inside. A hide hung across the entrance, held open by Wesker, glaring at them for dawdling. Joseph and Brad slid past and vanished into the light and heat of the cave while Chris took it all in.
Wesker went in and Jill took the hide in his place, holding it open to the siblings.
“You’ll find second chances are a common thing here,” she smiled fully, and it was lovely, “Welcome to Raccoon Clan.”
Chris hesitated, unsure whether he or Claire should enter first. He should, it might be a trap after all, but he also wanted her out of the cold right away. He put his hand on her back and she entered, smiling gratefully at Jill, though she paused only a few steps into the cave. Chris followed.
The entrance extension created a gap between the cave chamber and the outside, a secondary hide, currently tied to the side, would provide an extra barrier between the inhabitants and the cold doorway when drawn down as well as hide the flickering light of the campfire from anyone prowling outside. Claire waited there at that entrance as the rest of the band rose in surprise at the sudden visitors.
Jill came up behind them and gestured them into the main chamber. Staying close together, Chris and Claire moved to the side and Jill drew the second hide closed. The warmth of the cave increased as the hearth fire crackled and burned over a pile of fresh bones. Chris followed the smoke upward and out to a gap in the ceiling, cleverly hidden by stone and earth in such a way he hadn’t seen it from outside.
Aside from Jill and the three men, within the cave was another man and a woman and two children, currently hiding behind their mother. Still their heads peeked out to look at the newcomers. The man was tall with a beard and red hair and he was looking at Chris intently. He looked familiar but in the dim, flickering light Chris couldn’t place it.
The man moved forward, peeing through the smokey light. “Chris?”
Chris startled, but the familiar voice brought back a place, a time, a war, and a face.
“Barry!”
“By the spirits, it is you!” The older man rushed forward and engulfed Chris in an embrace, laughing. “Of all the places to see you again, inside my home wasn’t it!”
“Yeah, long story,” Chris chuckled, the face of an old friend easing the muscles of his back in a way they hadn’t been in what seemed like ages.
“Barry,” Wesker’s voiced sliced into the reunion, “you know this man?”
“Yeah, several seasons ago when the clans allied against Snake Clan, Chris fought beside me. No one can throw a spear with such accuracy as he can.”
Wesker regarded them both, though his demeanor seemed to be loosening as his hands relaxed and slid down his spear. “You trust him?”
“With my life,” Barry said with no hesitation.
Another long pause with Wesker’s pale eyes boring into Chris. He didn’t like it at all.
The fire popped, sparks flying upwards. Wesker sighed. “That makes this easier then.” He gave a vague wave in Chris and Claire’s direction and turned away, “They are clan exiles. They may stay for now but I will have to consult with Enrico and then Father Sun before I initiate them into the Clan.” Wesker turned towards a large crack in the cave wall an slid into it, the hanging shells and bits of bone strung across the entry clacking as he passed. He disappeared into the dark passage beyond.
“Shamans,” Jill muttered into Claire’s ear.
As soon as Wesker was gone the remaining members of the group burst into animation. Barry wrapped his arm around Chris’ shoulder and spun him to face the woman and children as the adults crowded around, spewing questions. Despite the obvious welcome Chris still reached for Claire’s arm and pulled her close.
“One at a time, one at a time,” Barry laughed, “First though, Chris, who’s this?” he asked, nodding his head towards Claire.
“My sister, Claire.”
Barry smiled at her, then, with his free arm, reached out and drew the other woman to him. “This is my woman, Kathy, and those two are my daughters, blessed twice.”
Chris couldn’t tell if he meant he was blessed with two daughters or that one had nearly died and was blessed with a second chance.
Kathy gave a slight bob of her head towards Chris and then focused her attention on Claire. “Come on, my dear,” she took Claire’s hand and pulled her towards the central hearth, “come warm up and eat what you need. We have the room and the food.”
The two little girls followed, fascinated by Claire, and Barry shooed the remaining men away. They shrugged and went to the fire, presumably to eat as well. Barry kept Chris with him.
“You’re exiled?” he whispered.
The shame had been minimal, then. The eyes of accusation as he left the clan of his parents had burned but that heat snuffed out quick as he and Claire struck out alone and with it came a numbness. Now, standing before a man he’d fought beside, with whom he shared food and laughter, Chris felt the nauseating coil of humiliation grip his gut and his face grew warm.
“Yes,” he ground out.
“Anything any of us need to worry about?”
“No. Nothing I did.”
Barry’s face was grim, but more in sorrow than anger, and he nodded. “Alright then, there’s nothing more to be said.” He smiled then, eyes glinting in the firelight, “Don’t worry, Wesker’s gathered for himself an…interesting little group. Those with nowhere else to go. You aren’t the only one with a past. In fact,” he raised his voice enough the others could hear, “some of us won’t shut up about it!”
Joseph looked up from his bowl of dried meat soaking in broth and gave Barry the one-handed gesture of fornicating on a pole.
“What? Even you?” Chris asked.
“Well, I chose to be here,” Barry’s voice was a little smug.
He started to move towards the fire but Chris stopped him. “Barry,” he whispered, “is there anything I need to worry about? I don’t want to give Claire false hope if Wesker or this Enrico are going to turn against us.”
“Enrico won’t have a problem with you, and he defers to Wesker anyway. He leads the other half of this band. We hunt together and when winter settles in full we share space and food, but in between then and the summer hunts they stay on their side of the lake.” He grinned, “We’re apparently more than Wesker can stand at once.”
“Will Wesker cast us out?”
The grin faded and Barry’s mouth drew into a firm line. “Wesker is… Well he can be a stick in the mud let’s say but the truth is if you carry your weight and do what he needs you to he doesn’t care about the rest of it.” He hesitated, then added, “He’s fair, Chris. He’d rather we all think otherwise but I wouldn’t have followed him if I didn’t trust something in him. The spirits favor him, I’ve seen it when all others failed to even be heard.”
Chris wanted to ask more but Barry’s tug toward the fire was insistent and Chris’ legs had begun to hurt. As he approached Claire scoot over and made room for him on some wolf skins. He sighed in exhaustion as he settled himself and let the heat of the fire embrace him.
It had only been days but it felt like seasons upon seasons since he felt such warmth. He would have shut his eyes and dreamed then and there but Claire nudged him and offered him a bowl of broth and some dried meat. As soon as the hot broth touched his tongue his hunger flared to life and he sipped and chewed with fervor until the bowl was dry.
The main chamber of the cave was large enough to comfortably keep them all and more besides, but not intimidatingly so. The ceiling was out of reach but not beyond the firelight, the various painted figures dancing across the stone surface.
There were horses and wolves and mammoths, hand prints of each member of the band slapped here and there, and judging by the different appearance of the animals they had each drawn at least a little. Chris had never seen that before; the sacred paintings were reserved for the chosen. Close to the door was a racoon, arched over several figures. He frowned at the image of a snake near the floor, raised as though to strike.
He was pulled from his musings by Claire trying to removing his fur cape. It was indeed starting to get over-warm and he shrugged it off. She slid her own cloak and outer cote off and piled them on top of Chris’ own.
“So, Chris,” Joseph asked from across the fire, alternately licking melting fat off his fingers and a bare bone in his hand, “Know any good stories?”
Chris looked around the fire at the waiting faces. This was really it? He was an exile, cast out, the best he could hope for was lonely survival for him and his sister, but not only were they welcomed into this band but with no more questions on his past? Where are you from, is what happened a threat. That was it?
“I…Claire’s better at the telling than me.”
“I am not, you liar!”
Barry rescued them. “Come on, they’re probably exhausted and they don’t know us. It’s our job to tell a few stories to them so they learn how things go in the Star Lake band. Brad! Tell them of your brave battle against the brushfowl!”
Brad choked on his broth and turned bright red as the group burst into laughter around him. “I hate you guys…” he muttered.
“He was trying to get the eggs and the bird caught him in the act. That was when Brad decided to join the band, after Wesker heroically saved him from it.”
“It…it was an abnormally big brushfowl!” Brad tried to defend himself.
Claire tried stifling her giggles behind a hand but decided to play along, “How did Wesker defeat such a beast?”
Barry gave her a long-suffering side-eye. “He poked it with the butt of his spear and told it to go away.”
Brad looked absolutely miserable as the band howled around him.
Things quieted down after that. Kathy collected Chris and Claire’s bowls and they sat in silence and listened to the conversations around the fire.
Chris knew he and his sister had been blessed this night, and while he couldn’t help feel a bit unnerved at the fickle nature of the spirits, he would have to remember to sacrifice the next kill he made to them.
As the fire died down and everyone began to settle into their nooks and corners, Wesker re-emerged to assign guard duty. Chris and Claire started to lay their cloaks out for bedding close to the fire when Chris felt a harsh tap of a spear against his bicep. He looked up at Wesker, glaring down at him.
“Your place is there,” he intoned, and pointed to a bare patch of stone and earth close to the door. It would be colder there, and notably separated from everyone else.
Chris couldn’t help but glance around at the others. They were pointedly not getting involved, and Chris knew he would have to capitulate. It made sense. He and Claire were not of the clan yet, they didn’t deserve a place of their own in the home, and he knew damn well he was in no position to challenge Wesker on the matter, much as he at least wanted to argue. Chris nodded to Claire and they gathered their furs and moved to the far wall.
It was still warmer, safer, and far more comfortable than if they’d slept outside anyway.
No one lay down to sleep right away. Barry’s two girls were too awake to lie down and made sure everyone knew it. Kathy threw the fresh bones of their meal into the fire and it rose up, the flickering light washing the cave and its crackles and snaps a soothing lullaby. Wesker roamed about the cave, whispering to the others here and there before the rattle of shells and bone meant he’d gone back to his private space. Wolves howled far away.
Claire shuffled under her furs, tightening them around her. “Chris?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad we kept going today, and didn’t bed down for the night.”
He smiled, “Me too.”