Taylor Dancinghands'

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 20

2009-11-08T22:23:00Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -laughingunicorn@gmail.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, and eventually Sheppard/Weir, plus: Teyla, Ronon, Stackhouse, Markham, Miller, Kavanagh, Cadman, Halling, and Jinto, and a big ol’ pile of OCs

Category: slash, drama, action/adventure, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 20

Radek looked over the perfect, straight limb of yellow-wood it had taken him two days of roaming through various local forests with R'non to find, with complete satisfaction. It had most certainly been worth it, for as he removed the bark, the grain that was revealed was just as he had hoped: smooth, close and perfectly even. The warrior had allowed R'dek to inspect the wood of his own long bow, showing him just how perfect the grain must be to support the stresses that would come with its use. The grain of the limb he worked now was much the same, and R'dek felt the warm sense of accomplishment that came with setting off on what he knew would be another fine piece of work.

The knife he was using now was one he had made while showing Kvena'ah some of his knapping techniques, and it was a perfectly good knife, but he had one back in the cave which he had made years ago, specifically for working on wood, and he was missing it now. No man or woman loves their tools so much as the toolmaker, he'd heard it said time and again in his travels, and R'dek knew this to be altogether true. He was beginning to miss quite a few things about the home he had come to share with Rodne -the peace and quiet, the natural beauty of the mountains, even Spitt, the small wildcat Rodne had adopted as an orphaned kitten, but he missed his tools most of all.

These thoughts drifted on the periphery of R'dek's mind this afternoon, however, as R'dek happily lost himself in the task of stripping the bark off the yellow-wood branch that was destined to become his first longbow. Watching the smooth, fine grained wood slowly come to be revealed under his knife as he worked, R'dek was, naturally, completely engrossed in his task and did not hear Li'bet draw near at all. It was only as he paused to take a drink of water from his nearby flask that he noticed her presence, startling slightly.

"Headwo... Li'bet, forgive me," he spluttered. "I did not see you..."

"No need to apologize," she said with an easy smile. "I didn't want to interrupt you while you were working." She moved closer to take a look at just what he'd been working on. "Will that be a bow, like R'non's?"

"I hope so," R'dek said, careful not to jinx his work. "It would be my first."

"I'm sure it will be a fine one, when it's finished," she said. "And the first of many. I have something here that may possibly aid in your task as well. A... gift, from Shef'hred."

What she held out to him now, in a finely worked leather scabbard, was clearly a knife of some sort, but when R'dek took it, drawing it from the scabbard by it's leather wrapped handle, he thought his poor eyes were misleading him again. Surely it could not be...

"This..." he said, eyes wide with wonderment. "Li'bet, do you know what this is?"

"I thought it was a knife," she said, gentle humor in her smile.

"So it is," said R'dek dryly. "What I meant to ask was if you knew what it was made of."

"It's bronze, isn't it?" she relied, sounding a little uncertain, for all that her knowledge surprised him. R'dek had learned of the remarkable brownish metal in his travels, and even seen a few specimens but, while he was certain that it would soon become far more common, he'd rarely seen it this far west.

"Yes, it most certainly would seem to be," R'dek said, his voice hushed with wonder. "It... it is a gift beyond measure. Li'bet..." R'dek lifted his head to meet her gaze. "Why?" he asked "Why would he make such a gift as this? I do not understand."

The expression on the headwoman's face as she answered was hard to read, though there did seem to be some humor in it. "I... released Shef'hred from his bonds today," she said, which wasn't really any kind of answer, but R'dek guessed that it might be the beginning of one. He nodded for her to continue.

"We really couldn't keep him like that any longer," she continued -R'dek nodding again to let her know he thought so too, "and the elders agreed... So, you see, it happened to be this knife," Li'bet lifted the fine stone knife that R'dek had given her last Midwinters, "that I used to cut his bindings, and it struck me that he might be interested in knowing who had made it."

"So you told him..." R'dek said, not sure what he thought about the fact that his knife had been used to free the raider, nor that the man had been told.

"I did," Li'bet concurred with a nod, "and he said that I should be sure to tell you as well." She smiled wryly at this, and R'dek could not but return the smile. He was a fascinating man, this Shef'hred; there could be no doubt of that.

"Later," Li'bet continued, "I told him he could have his jewelry back, that we took from him when he was captured, but he said he didn't want it, and to give it to those who had suffered loss or harm from the battle. I told him that the knife was his too, though I must keep it for him for a little while yet, but he said to give it to you, and so I have."

R'dek stared down at the knife, speechless at first, shaking his head in astonishment. "I still do not understand," he said after a moment.

"I can't say I honestly do either," Li'bet said, "though I am afraid it is partly because he feels he no longer deserves it."

"And I do?" R'dek said. He pulled the knife entirely free of it's scabbard and tested it against the bark of the yellow-wood branch he'd been stripping. The fine polished, golden hued edge cut through the fibrous bark as though it were fresh cheese. R'dek swore softly in astonishment.

"My goodness," Li'bet said, stepping closer to inspect the cut mark. R'dek nodded silently.

"I think my world has changed," he said quietly.

"I think the world is changing for all of us," Li'bet said soberly.

"Hey, R'dek!" Rodne's voice jarred both of them. "Finally found your perfect stick?"

He'd been consulting with various of the villagers and drafting out plans for the new fishing dock with Hallen, the last few days that R'dek had been rising at dawn and returning after dark with R'non, in his search for just the right yellow-wood branch. Today he'd been helping Kubia's family rebuild their hut which, R'dek had heard, had involved a lot of suggesting very clever improvements and very little heavy lifting. There were only a few complaints about it, however, as the improvements really were clever, and just having Rodne the Hermit's slightest help was considered very lucky indeed. Rodne's arrival here just now suggested that it was probably time for a midday meal.

"That is not all I have," R'dek said excitedly. "Come, have a look at what Shef'hred has given me!"

Rodne's brows rose at R'dek's evident enthusiasm, and strode promptly over to have a look. When he was close enough to see, R'dek laid his new knife to the yellow-wood bark once again, carving away another long, perfect curl of wood.

"Oh my gods," Rodne breathed. "Is that bronze? Shef'hred gave you a bronze knife? Is he insane?" R'dek huffed out a laugh.

"Not... precisely, I do not think," R'dek said.

"No," Li'bet offered, "I think he is just very sad." Both men looked at her oddly.

"He has given away everything he has that is of value -things I told him he was entitled to keep," she explained. "It's as if he's preparing to die... or he thinks he already has."

"Well, he has, in a way, hasn't he?" R'dek reflected, gazing down at the knife in his hand. "His life as he has known it is over. All these things -this knife, his jewelry, they were a part of that life."

"You're right, of course," Li'bet agreed. "What I wish I knew was how to convince him to want a new life, here or anywhere else."

"Yeah, well, when you figure that out," Rodne put in suddenly, his voice unexpectedly quiet. "You might want to tell Caresn, because he's going to have to convince Loren of the same thing."

R'dek and Li'bet both looked up at Rodne's comment, and sure enough, the healer could be seen just emerging from his hut, alone, and looking weary and miserable.

"Caresn," Li'bet rose and strode toward him, beckoning him to join them by the fire circle. "How are you doing?"

Caresn shrugged and seemed to try to lighten his expression, but then gave up. "I've been better," he admitted with a sigh, letting Li'bet guide him with an arm around his shoulders. "Neither one of us has been sleeping terribly well, and now Loren seems to have taken a low fever. His wound is healing as well as it might... but he doesn't really seem to be recovering at all."

"Dammit," Rodne said sorrowfully and R'dek lowered his head, his heart aching for Caresn and Loren both. His head lowered, R'dek's gaze fell on the knife, the midday sun gleaming on its finely honed edge, and the half peeled piece of wood that would become his first long bow. When he finished it, the bow would go to someone other than R'dek, as a distance weapon such as this would be absolutely useless to someone with eyesight as bad as his own (or aim as bad as Rodne's). He had not really made a decision, yet, who would have it, or whether he would trade it for something, but now he had just received an unparalleled gift, one which R'dek could not comfortably accept without making some kind of gift of his own.

The bow must be a gift then, he realized now, and who better to receive it than the man with the finest eyesight, and the finest aim in Lakeside? The perfection and symmetry of this solution delighted R'dek more than he could say, but it needed to be done right. Shef'hred must understand his part in it, too.

"Pardon," R'dek said, standing suddenly. "I must... I need to do something. Rodne," he handed the partially peeled yellow-wood limb to his lover. "Guard this with your life. I'll be back before long. Oh, and anyone who would like this," R'dek dropped his old, stone carving knife on the log where he'd been sitting, "they may have it."

He heard Li'bet give an amused sounding chuckle as he departed, but he left her and the others behind soon enough, walking quickly across the village to where Shef'hred's 'camp' such as it was, was situated. He found the man stretched out on his belly, on the grass in front of his shelter, looking, curiously, a little like Spitt, basking in the sun. He seemed content enough, head pillowed on his crossed arms, but the expression on his face was a touch brooding, rather than relaxed.

"Toolmaker," Shef'hred called welcomingly as he evidently recognized R'dek's feet. "Come for another chat?"

"If you are agreeable," R'dek replied. "And also to convey my thanks."

"Aha," Shef'hred said, rolling and then pushing himself upright a little gracelessly, and with a grimace of pain. This seemed wrong to R'dek, as he imagined that the raider should naturally move like a cat, as well as rest like one, but of course, R'dek realized, he was still recovering from being restrained for several days. "Sit," Shef'hred invited when he was more or less upright, gesturing to the ground in front of him. "I'd offer you something to drink, if I had anything, but..." he shrugged, indicating his mean surroundings.

"Thank you," R'dek answered, "but I will not be staying long. I have much work to do today, though your gift will make some of the work go far more quickly."

"Ah, so Li'bet gave you the knife?" Shef'hred asked, finally settling himself comfortably.

"She did," R'dek said with a grin, "and I must tell you that I do not know whether to kiss you or fall at your feet and weep with gratitude."

"Is there possibly a... third option?" Shef'hred asked, a little uneasily.

"There is," R'dek said, grinning even more widely. "Though I don't know if you will like it any better, in the end. Shef'hred, your gift to me follows one that was given to you, and must be followed by one from me to another. To do otherwise... it would go against nature -my nature at any rate."

Shef'hred tilted his head thoughtfully. "Understandable," he said. "So what's your gift going to be?"

"I have just now begun making a new weapon, the first of it's kind I have ever made," R'dek replied. "It would be useless to me, even if I had vowed to never take another man's life, save in self defense, as it strikes at a great distance -much farther than I am able to see."

"You're making one of those giant bows, like... that tall guy with the crazy hair has?" Shef'hred asked. "Don't tell me you want to give it to me, 'cause I don't think most of the folks here would be too happy about me having it."

R'dek shook his head, no. "There is one of our best hunters," he explained, "who was injured in the fight -his foot string was cut- and he feels that his old life has ended now, for this injury means that he will never again be able to hunt as he once did. He, like you, sees only endings in his life, and cannot imagine any meaningful new beginnings."

"Yeah, I can see how he might," Shef'hred said. "So he's the one you are going to give it to?"

"He is," R'dek confirmed. "With this weapon, I believe he may be able to learn to hunt in a new way, and begin a new life, in spite of his injury."

"Sounds like it would be possible, yeah," Shef'hred said. "But I don't get what there might be about this that I might not like."

R'dek nodded, thinking how he might explain himself to Shef'hred. "You know that if you dig a hole near a river or lake, it will soon fill with water, yes?" he began.

"Sure," Shef'hred agreed with a nod.

"If you take water from such a hole, more will inevitably come to take it's place," R'dek continued. "This is how I believe it is when you give away something of true value. The more water you take away -the greater the worth of your gift- the more that must inevitably return. For that reason I say to you, Shef'hred, that many gifts will be returning to you, though I cannot say how or from whom, but that, like my gift to our hunter, they will give you a new life, here in Lakeside, whether you wish it or not."

"Huh," Shef'hred said thoughtfully. "Well, that's an interesting theory, though I'm not sure if I believe in it."

R'dek shrugged, grinning widely. "You do not have to," he said, "for I believe that it will be proven to you, before too much time as passed. But, speaking of passing time, I must make use of it now to fashion this new bow -a task which your knife makes much, much easier, so I must thank you once again."

"Sure," Shef'hred said, a little uncomfortable with R'dek's gratitude. "But... you know what Li'bet said to me when she cut me loose this morning?"

"That it was a knife I had made that freed you?" R'dek answered. "She said the same to me."

"So..." Shef'hred made an indistinct gesture. "Think of my gift as a thanks to you." R'dek shook his head.

"I make tools, to be used for good or ill by those who hold them," he said. "It is she you have to thank, and the Elders who agreed with her. I am not sorry to learn that my work was the instrument they used, however," R'dek added with a smile.

"Well then," Shef'hred said playfully, "I guess I'm not sorry that you're not sorry."

R'dek chuckled as he rose, feeling light in his heart that he was able to exchange such pleasant words with the man he once thought to be his greatest enemy. "Fair day to you, Shef'hred," he said as he parted, passing a nod as well to Teleya, still keeping watch on the raider. "I look forward to our next conversation."

"Yeah," said Shef'hred, suddenly sounding a little disarmed. "Me too."

***

Next week: Shef'hred's identity crisis.

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 19, and tdancinghands.com, Back online!

2009-11-01T22:34:03Z

Had some issues with my host to work out, but they were very nice about everything, and we should have no trouble from here on in. Just to give credit where credit is due, Startlogic's help line and service have always been really terrific, and I can definitely recommend them.

And now on to our story...

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -laughingunicorn@gmail.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, and eventually Sheppard/Weir, plus: Teyla, Ronon, Stackhouse, Markham, Miller, Cadman, Halling, and Jinto, and a big ol’ pile of OCs

Category: slash, drama, action/adventure, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 19

Understanding that R'dek's conversation with Shef'hred had needed to be private had not removed the temptation Li'bet felt to eavesdrop on it, but she resisted. The very fact that it had taken place, however, was powerful evidence of the sort that she needed to take to Lakeside's elders, to convince them that Shef'hred might be safely released from his bonds.

He'd taken pains to disguise his discomforts as she'd dined with him that morning, and more that evening, but the facts of the matter made his feigned nonchalance pointless. Anyone bound so that their legs could not be straightened for more than three days would inevitably be suffering, especially one so accustomed to physical activity as Shef'hred must have been.

She knew there'd already been talk, and she hadn't missed the black looks surreptitiously aimed in her direction from some of the bakers, when she'd gone to fetch food for him, and at one time this might have worried her. She'd been headwoman of Lakeside for more than fifteen summers now, however, and she knew she had the loyalty of the better part of its residents. She had the freedom now, though she'd never taken it before, to do something a little controversial.

Asking for approval for their prisoner to walk freely among them might strike some as more than a little controversial, she knew, so she spent almost two days gauging people's feelings about the idea, and garnering support. It was late in the afternoon of that second day that she'd arranged to meet with the elders, and happily, Teleya had offered to support her idea before them. While Li'bet knew that R'dek would not be so keen on vouching for Shef'hred's character before Lakeside's elders, Teleya at least would be able to report on the tenor of their conversation, and that ought to count for a lot, she hoped.

And in the end, it had. What had sealed the deal was her insistence that Shef'hred first agree to making some sort of reparation, and Li'bet had thought of the perfect means to do that. She had thought it perfect, anyhow, and so had the elders -Hallen especially- but now it remained to be seen as to whether Shef'hred would think the same.

She dined with Shef'hred that morning on fresh bread with honey and tea, and the day was fair and pleasant, but it was too clear that the man had slept little if at all the night before. He was in some pain now, as well, and was hiding it badly, trying to eat though he obviously had little appetite. It dawned on Li'bet then that making him agree to anything when he was in such distress would be tantamount to forcing him under duress. It could never be an honest agreement.

There were times, Li'bet knew, that a headwoman must take certain autonomous actions, though she must be wise to know these times rightly. She would be staking much on her accurate assessment of Shef'hred's character, and if she was wrong then she risked a great deal, possibly even her life. No one can know another's heart, but she thought she knew how to catch a glimpse of Shef'hred's, and give credence to the certainty she already felt. She leaned forward to place a gently hand on Shef'hre'd own, as he chewed disinterestedly on his bread, calling his attention to the seriousness of her intent.

"Shef'hred," she said, "when you speak of how you have lost your honor, I see in you an honest grief, and though you insist that it is something that is beyond regaining, I believe that a part of you longs for the chance, would do anything for such a possibility." She met her eyes now with the utmost sincerity, and he seemed taken off guard by it.

"Tell me Shef'hred," she asked, insistent, "is that true?"

Shef'hred's gaze was caught in hers for a moment, and he seemed almost startled, but he broke away a moment later to stare down and to the side. Under her hand she felt his form a fist, then relax again. "Yes," he said at last, still not meeting her gaze.

Li'bet nodded, her certainty like a rock. "Sit forward," she commanded, and when he did she drew her knife from her belt -a gift from R'dek last Midwinters- and cut the thongs binding his ankles to his waist, and then the ones securing his feet. When he looked up at her in surprise, she caught his hands and cut those bindings too, then lifted the knife to show him.

"R'dek the Toolmaker, whom I believe you have met," she said with a smile, "made the knife that freed you. I thought you might be interested to know."

"Bet he'd be interested too," Shef'hred said, grimacing as he struggled to shift his position. "Please excuse me for a moment, Headw... Li'bet -this may take a little bit." He ended up tipping himself over onto his side, then ever so slowly extending first one leg, then the other, groaning loudly as he did.

Li'bet winced to see his face contort in undisguised agony as he straightened his long confined limbs. "I am so sorry," she murmured, shaking her head in dismay. "We should never have kept you like this so long."

"S'okay," Shef'hred muttered, having now rolled onto his front so that his face was pressed into the grass. "Your guys loosened things up a couple times a day so I could take care of, you know, personal stuff... It's not so bad."

The small, pained noises Shef'hred continued to make suggested otherwise, and reminded Li'bet of the knots she used to tie herself into when she'd lose herself in a project on her small tapestry loom and spend all day long on her knees. Ca'dell would come home to find her barely able to stand, and then he'd lay her out on their bed and work the knots out with his strong hands. Her hands, Li'bet reflected now, were not so large, nor likely so strong, but perhaps they were strong enough.

Sitakhus, guarding Shef'hred this morning, was already looking at them strangely, though he had been told that Shef'hred would be released from his bonds. The noises he was making were just a bit alarming, but a glance in their direction showed the guard that nothing was amiss, even as the sounds Shef'hred made changed abruptly when Li'bet began to knead the backs of his calves, massaging out the abused and neglected muscles there.

"Whu...?" he mumbled, turning his head to the side to try and see what she was doing.

"My man used to do this for me," Li'bet explained, "when I'd spent all day on my knees, weaving. Is it helping any?"

"Oh hell yes," Shef'hred groaned, in a way that suggested other sorts of pleasures, and Sitakhus seemed to think so too, the way he was frowning at the both of them. He could see for himself, Li'bet knew, that nothing inappropriate was happening, but she could also see that he didn't quite approve. Well, rumors would fly, regardless; Li'bet knew better than to fret about that and continued to work over Shef'hred's abused muscles until the tremors decreased to almost nothing.

"Man..." Shef'hred said, ever so slowly pushing himself over to lie on his side, then, moving like an old man, pushing himself upright to rest his back against the pole to which he had been bound. "Thank you for that," he said, artifice stripped away by the pain. "So... I'm guessing what you were talking about earlier... that chance for me to regain my honor, wasn't just hypothetical, was it?"

"No, it wasn't," Li'bet said. "But it's our sort of honor, not yours, and does involve some... manual labor. If you can't do that, well, I wouldn't have your legs bound again, but..."

"So I'm going to have to earn my freedom, is that it?" Shef'hred asked.

"Not exactly," Li'bet said. "If you agree to this, you'll have your freedom, for what it's worth. Doing this work... it would be more about proving your honor."

"And what does that matter to you?" Shef'hred asked, no hostility in his voice, but much confusion. Li'bet shrugged.

"We would not give dishonorable persons the freedom of our village," she explained. "You would be watched, to start with, to be sure you do no harm to anyone or anything, but if you chose to run away, so be it. There is your freedom. Once you prove your honor among us, however, you would have the freedom to go or stay, if you wished."

"And why would I want to stay here?" Shef'hred asked, and Li'bet could see that while he believed his honor lost, Shef'hred still had his pride, and he struggled with it now.

"I have no idea," she said meeting his eyes honestly. "As I said, you would have your freedom, as you have it now... but where else would you go?" That was cruel, Li'bet knew, but for all that Shef'hred's pride was a fine thing, it would hold him back now. Her words had struck a blow to it, though, and it saddened her to see how it hurt him.

"Nowhere," he said, barely audible as he stared down at his hands.

"Shef'hred," she said softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. "If it didn't matter to me, I would tell you to go take your freedom now, and never to let yourself been seen in these parts again, and I've no doubt that there are many in this village who would just as soon you did, but I and others take the long view. In that view, we might have better confidence that you would not remain nearby, laying in wait for a chance at vengance, if we settled things between us."

"Maybe," Shef'hred said, in the tone of a man grudgingly conceding a point.

"For my part," Li'bet took a breath, preparing to go a little ways out on a limb. "I honestly do believe that our village would be the better for having you become part of it, and that, over time, you would truly be accepted, even welcomed."

"Right," Shef'hred's snort of derision had a bitter edge to it, but Li'bet could hardly blame him. "'Over time.' I'll be welcomed into my grave when I die of old age; that's when I'll be welcome here."

"By some," Li'bet admitted with a little smile. "Others will find it easy enough to welcome you once you have done your part in rebuilding the fishing dock, assuming you do it well and with a good will."

Shef'hred glanced over in the direction of the lake and the remains of the dock, assessing and apparently finding the task acceptable. "And what about the ones who don't?" he asked.

"There are over two hundred men, women and children in this village," Li'bet pointed out. "Surely you can't imagine that every one of them gets along with everyone else."

"I guess that makes sense," Shef'hred conceded, perhaps seeing in her chagrined smile the many times she'd been called on to referee in various village feuds. "So... rebuilding the dock, huh? Is this something I'm gonna have to do by myself? Because, I don't figure it will come as any surprise to you, but I've never done work like that before in my life."

"And I don't imagine that it will come as any surprise to you," Li'bet answered, "that no one is terribly keen on having you work unsupervised, for numerous reasons. Hallen has volunteered to oversee the project, and you. He's a good man, and he'll treat you fairly."

Shef'hred nodded, wincing a little as he stretched his legs again. "Will I be starting today?" he asked.

"No," Li'bet said, shaking her head. "We thought it would be better to give you a day to recover, but if you'd like to stretch your legs with a little walk later, I'll have Hallen come by and give you an overview of what you'll be doing."

"And if I'd like to go on a little walk by myself?" Shef'hred asked. Li'bet gave a half frown.

"Until we get to... know you better, there will be someone with you at all times," she said, "and for now, it might be wisest to stay in this area. With time, I hope, people will get used to seeing you around the village, but just now... feelings are still running a little high."

"Yeah, makes sense..." Shef'hred said, sounding a touch bitter as he looked out over the grassland, away from the village. Reconsidering his options, Li'bet imagined. The man didn't have many, and that had to rankle someone accustomed to so much freedom.

"I have the things we took from you, when you were captured," she offered, knowing that there was no comfort she could offer him for his lost former life of freedom and privilege. "I'd be happy to return them to you," she continued. "All except the knife, I'm afraid, for now. I'll keep it for you though. I promise it won't go to anyone else."

"My jewelry, you mean?" Shef'hred asked her, his expression difficult to read, but not particularly happy. "I can't wear it anymore. It was the mark that I'd earned myself a band, and was their leader." He shook his head and Li'bet could see that what she'd meant to be a peace offering was only bringing the man bitterness and grief.

"I'm sorry," she said, hoping that he would hear the sincerity in her voice. "I... I didn't think what it might mean to you. I only meant to return what was yours."

"Why would you know?" Shef'hred replied, his voice bleak. "Your people have no such marks, no such honors. You know as little about my people as I know about yours."

Li'bet knew that Shef'hred hadn't meant the remark to be cutting, but it had been. She'd let herself spin a foolish fairy tale that Shef'hred would happily reject everything from his old life and leave it behind without regrets. That, of course, had been terribly ignorant, and she felt more disappointed in herself than anything.

"Of course," she said, subdued. "I'm afraid I've been stupid, and I am sorry. What would you like me to do with them?"

Shef'hred shrugged -a painful gesture. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe, see if the people who lost... homes, family members, if they want them? Divide it between them, if they do... And give the knife to the toolmaker. Tell him that the knife he made freed me when you do, and then tell him to ask himself whose knife is better. I know I am."

Shef'hred's knife was of bronze, the strange, hard, brown metal that Li'bet had heard of but never seen or touched before. R'dek's eyes went dreamy when he spoke of it, as other men's did when one spoke of gold or other riches, and she wondered what he would make of Shef'hred's gift. The rest of Shef'hred's small treasure trove of ornaments and jewelry included four rings, a pair of bracers, a torque and a wide, flat neck piece, and a handful of hair ornaments, all made of shiny, polished copper. She herself, considered 'wealthy' by the standards of Lakeside, had a single bracelet and hair ornament made of this metal, and no one else in the village had any such.

Without a doubt, more than a few of the families who had lost loved ones in the battle would refuse these offerings from the captive raider leader, but others would accept them happily. Of course, Li'bet had a feeling that no small measure of jealousy and avarice might well be generated by these gifts, and conflict spring between those that accepted them and those who did not. For a moment she considered throwing them all into the lake, but the waist of such an action was unconscionable. They were bound to see more such things in the days to come, and they must all learn to deal with them.

Li'bet, for her part, had to learn to deal with the fact that making Shef'hred welcome in Lakeside, insofar as she was able, was not going to make Shef'hred a happy man. The raider was never going to forget or disregard who he had been for half his life, and it was unfair and unrealistic of Li'bet to imagine that he might. She looked up to regard the man, leaning in feigned relaxation against the pole he'd been tied to for four days, and realized that where she'd intended to bring him hope and encouragement today, all she'd brought him was pain and grief. Suddenly Li'bet found she was doubting herself, as she had not in many summers -not since her first days as headwoman.

"Forgive me," Li'bet said, feeling terribly uneasy. "I'll do as you've requested, with your things, but I need to be on my way for now. I'll... probably be back this evening, and someone will bring you something to eat at midday. It's probably best for now that you let us bring you food here..."

"Sure," said Shef'hred, looking up at her a little worriedly as she stood. "I'll be fine."

"Good, good," Li'bet said, brushing the grass off her hands once she was up. "Then I'll bid you both," she glanced over at Sitakhus, "fair day," and then she was off, already turned away and walking as she heard both men's returned farewells. She would do as Shef'hred requested, though she knew some trouble would surely arise from it. Trouble would arise no matter what she did, she realized, and it would be a test of her leadership skills as no other.

Drawing a long, uneasy breath, Li'bet considered how best she might distribute the raider's troubled legacy throughout her village, and not cause it to be torn apart at the seams.

****

Next week: the Toolmaker gets a new knife

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 18

2009-10-26T07:11:21Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -laughingunicorn@gmail.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, and eventually Sheppard/Weir, plus: Teyla, Ronon, Stackhouse, Markham, Miller, Cadman, Halling, and Jinto, and a big ol’ pile of OCs

Category: slash, drama, action/adventure, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 18

It was Teleya who watched over him this morning, and she now had a little shelter too, with a proper fire pit set in front of it, between her and the prisoner. She sat there now, comfortably enough, it seemed to Rodne, sipping on a cup of tea, and she greeted them as they drew near.

Rodne returned the greeting and R'dek nodded a little absently, his attention drawn to Shef'hred.

"Be advised," she said, cautious eyes on R'dek, "that I am enjoined to protect the prisoner from harm as much as I am to prevent him from harming others."

"I am not here to do harm," R'dek said, still focused on Shef'hred. "But to make peace... if I can."

Teleya tipped her head thoughtfully, glancing up at Rodne as though for confirmation and Rodne recalled that she had been witness to R'dek's earlier outburst with Shef'hred and might not know how out of character it was for him.

"He's really not usually like that, how he was the other day," Rodne explained. "He... he wasn't... himself, after the fight."

"I understand," she said after only a moment, and it seemed to Rodne that she really did. "I have too often seen men and women of a gentler disposition, forced to become fighters, to defend their homes against the raiders, as you have done, and I have seen how this can cause wounds, as serious as those made by an arrow or a knife." Her gaze was distant, and a little sad, even as she directed it to Rodne, a question in her look.

"Yeah," Rodne said. "I think maybe we both... took some hits that way." He shuddered a little, thinking of the blood stained trip lines he had thrown into the fire. "But I think maybe it hit R'dek a little harder."

Teleya nodded again. "Then your friend is on the right road, though it will not be an easy one," she said, then shifted herself to the side a little, so that there was room for two beneath her shelter. "Come, sit," she offered, patting the space on the grass mat at her side. "Take tea with me while you wait, for this should take a little time."

"Sure," Rodne replied, only a little hesitantly, sitting where she had indicated. He and R'dek both had exchanged ideas with the traveling warrior woman, but he had not really gotten to know her all that well and, to be honest, he found her just a bit intimidating. Rodne took the cup of tea she handed him with a nod of thanks, but his attention was on R'dek where he stood, nervously, before Shef'hred, clutching the fingers of one hand in his other.

"Come to give me another bath?" Shef'hred said with an uncaring smirk as he looked up at R'dek. His tone was light, laconic, but underneath Rodne had the sense of bristling defenses. The man was wary, but disguising it very well indeed.

"No," R'dek said sharply, shaking his head and letting the shame bleed from every part of him. "No, I... I am here... " R'dek shook his head again, wrapping his arms around himself in misery. "I have no words for the wrongness of what I did... how I was with you... before." He drew a long breath, searching for words or some sort.

"I... I have said to my friends that I would make peace..." he continued after a moment, Shef'hred watching him with unfeigned interest. "Though I do not know how it might be managed... with such a beginning."

Shef'hred gazed up at R'dek for a long, silent moment, and Rodne found it difficult to read his expression. The wariness still seemed present, but he also seemed to be weighing something. After a moment he bit his lip, thoughtfully, and gestured for R'dek to sit. "Maybe we could try that beginning thing again, then," he said, and then followed that with, "Have a seat, stranger. My name's Shef'hred, of the southern plains. How about you?"

Carefully, R'dek sat before the raider, nodding and opening his hands as Shef'hred had done in the traditional indication that he held no weapon. "I am R'dek, the toolmaker," he said, "once of Hostyn Mountain, but now I reside here."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Toolmaker R'dek," Shef'hred said, his formality formulaic, but not in the least mocking. "Hostyn Mountain... that's not from around here, is it?"

"No," R'dek said. "It is many leagues to the east and north. I have traveled most of my life away from that place... for reasons I think you may guess."

"Yeah..." Shef'hred said carefully, "I guess I can, and I suppose I might have done the same thing, in your place."

"But I imagine you have also traveled some distance in your life," R'dek said, carefully turning the conversation away from dangerous topics.

"Never done anything but," Shef'hred said, shrugging, then wincing, as though he had forgotten his recently disjointed shoulder. "Never really lived in a village. Couldn't understand wanting to. Waking up in the same place every day for your whole life? I still can't imagine it."

R'dek was silent for a moment, contending with something difficult, and then Rodne recognized the look on his lover's face that came when he was being brave. "Do you truly feel so much contempt for those who do?" he asked at last.

Shef'hred's look went unguarded for a moment, even Teleya noticed, Rodne saw, for she became subtly more alert. The question, it seemed, had been an unexpected one.

"I..." the raider seemed to find something distasteful in the answer he was finding. "I was taught to," he said at last.

So you don't mind eating, Rodne thought to himself, scornfully, but you have no respect for the ones who grow your food. R'dek did not drive this point home, however.

"I was taught," he said quietly, "never to strike a man who could not strike back. It seems I have strayed from these teachings, and for that... I am deeply sorry. It is my intention never to stray from them again."

"I can't say," Shef'hred replied after a thoughtful moment, "that I don't understand why... why you, ah, lost it, the other day... especially given what happened to you... to your village." Shef'hred drew a long breath, contemplating his next move in the conversation as though it were a strategy game, like the one with stones and sheep's knuckles Caresn had taught them earlier.

"I won't say that I... agree with everything I was taught, either," he finally offered. "Some things... some things I think I always knew... weren't quite right... but who I am..." the raider looked up now, his gaze forthright and challenging. "I am who I am, and I'm not going to say I'm not proud of that."

R'dek nodded slowly, conceding the point graciously, and Rodne felt a little easing in his heart. "Tell me," R'dek said, considering his own 'moves' just as Shef'hred had, "what you are the most proud of?"

Shef'hred's expression was complex, both fond and wistful, proud and a little sorrowful. "Our tribe was a large one," he said. "Our winter camp nearly as large as this village, and in our last five spring games, I was the best rider -fastest, best around obstacles, best jumper..." Shef'hred's look grew distant. "No one could beat us -Jumper and me. They used to say that it looked like we could fly... and sometimes it even felt like it."

Oh. Even Teyla noticed it, how, for a moment, Shef'hred's soul was laid absolutely bare before all of them. Rodne could tell because her eyes grew wide, and his own breath caught in his throat for a moment, as the image came to him, of the raider leader on his coal back mount, magnificent in his braids and beads and copper bands, flying... just as he said.

R'dek did not miss the significance of this moment either, and he gave it a long moment, tilting his head, his eyes growing attentive. "This will explain, perhaps," he said eventually, "your skill at falling off a horse and not breaking your neck."

"Oh hell yes," said Shef'hred, his face falling back into an easy, and sincere, smile. "Though I think that was maybe my best fall ever, the other day." Then his mood shifted back to careful, though he tried to keep his tone and smile just as easy as before. "If you saw that, uh, fall, did you... happen to notice how Jumper came out of it? My horse, I mean..."

R'dek frowned in thought for a moment. "You do not know, of course," he began, "that my eyes are not so good at any distance, so what I saw... may be inexact." Shef'hred nodded his understanding and R'dek continued. "I recall that he seemed to rise again quickly, though it may be he moved a little... unevenly, afterward, as though he might be favoring a leg. Since then... I cannot speak to his case particularly, but quite a number of horses escaped the battle and have been seen, all together in a group, several times. By the southern lake shore, mostly, I think."

Shef'hred nodded, his expression carefully neutral. "So," he said, "do you think you could tell if... whether it was broken or not, his leg, I mean?"

R'dek drew a breath. "Again, I cannot be completely certain," he replied, Shef'hred nodding once more, "but I do not think so. The horses I encountered which had broken a leg, I..." R'dek bit his lip. "I finished them."

A flicker of pain crossed Shef'hred's face. "Good," he said, voice low. "You did the right thing. Thank you." His hands, bound together on his thighs, clenched into fists and then unclenched.

"That was to have been his duty," Teleya surprised Rodne, speaking softly, as though thinking out loud. "To protect and care for his men and their mounts." Rodne thought he sensed a touch of admiration or respect in her voice.

"So," Shef'hred began again, his slightly overly hearty tone heralding a change in mood. "What about you, toolmaker? What do you take pride in?"

Rodne saw R'dek duck his head for a moment, briefly hiding a secretive sort of smile, then he lifted his head to glance at Rodne before turning back to face Shef'hred. "I am," he said, "really a very good flint knapper, and I like to take pride in all my work, but the very best piece I ever made... it won me a greater prize than I could ever have imagined."

"Sounds like a good story," Shef'hred said, shifting to rest his back against the pole to which he was bound -the closest the man could come to relaxing, Rodne guessed.

"Anything that can be made with flint, I can make," R'dek said, and Rodne knew it was not a boast. "But I prefer to make things for hunting, and tools such as knives for cooking and so forth." Shef'hred nodded and R'dek continued.

"A good cooking knife is really quite a challenge," he explained, "for you must start with a fairly large flint blank and not make any mistakes, and the best cooking knives should have a curved blade, which is not so easy to make well."

"Sure," Shef'hred said. "I've seen 'em. The women in our camps use 'em too." He gestured the way in which such knives were used.

"Precisely," R'dek said. "So, some time ago I found the most perfect flint for a cooking knife, and worked it so very carefully for nearly half a year. When it was done I knew I had made the very finest cooking knife ever, and I thought, I will trade this for half a year's food, or some thing else of great value." R'dek laughed then and suddenly Rodne knew what it was that R'dek had traded that knife for.

"So what did you end up getting?" Shef'hred asked, playing along.

"Well it happened that, not long after I finished the knife, just four summers ago, in the very same season we are enjoying now," R'dek said, casting Rodne a merry sidelong glance. "I was traveling to some flint grounds I'd been told of, near a large lake, when my guide abandoned me in the mountains, two days or so journey south of here. I did my best to stay with the trail but, as I have mentioned, my eyes are not the best, so it happened that I took a wrong turn."

Rodne could not hide the affectionate smile that grew as R'dek told his tale. Beside him, he saw Teleya give him a curious look and Rodne just smiled and nodded in R'dek's direction. Just listen, he thought to her. You'll get it.

"I didn't know it was a wrong turn at first, of course," R'dek continued, clearly aware now that he had more audience than just Shef'hred. "But gradually it became clear to me, as the sun began to set, that I was not where I meant to be, and then the trail ended, and I saw that I had come to someone's dwelling. There was a cave as well, and it was inhabited, as it turned out, by a very rude, grouchy man, who insisted that I give him that very fine knife in exchange for a place by his fire for the night."

"Man!" Shef'hred winced sympathetically. "That sucks."

"Not so much," Rodne, no longer able to restrain himself, called out. "Seeing as how a few days later, the same rude, grouchy man went some considerable distance out of his way to save your sorry ass from getting frozen to death."

"So there you see," R'dek said with a grin, gesturing to Rodne. "Here is my great prize. And when I am at home, I can use this fine knife whenever I like, so I have not really given it up, either."

"Okay, so I have a feeling there's more to this story, yes?" Shef'hred commented with a twinkle in his eye, looking over to where Rodne sat. "Think you could introduce me to your friend, now that I guess I've heard how you met?"

R'dek beckoned him and Teleya gave him a little nod, so Rodne pushed himself to his feet and strode over to where R'dek and Shef'hred were sitting. "There is, indeed, a great deal more to the story," R'dek was saying as he sat again, "but it will not be told today. Instead, allow me to introduce you to Rodne, the stargazer."

"Saw you yesterday," Shef'hred greeted him, hands open, "but didn't get your name. Mine's Shef'hred... the rider." He gave a little satisfied smile as he spoke the name, as though he'd just now thought it up, and maybe he had. Rodne returned the open hand gesture.

"Pleased to meet you," Rodne said, not terribly convincingly, but making an effort.

"Stargazer, huh?" Shef'hred commented. "Don't think I've ever met one of those before."

"Don't know that there are any others," Rodne said, warily, not really wanting to explain his curious avocation to this possibly dangerous stranger.

"Possibly not," Shef'hred said, appearing not to take any offense at Rodne's reticence, but then, Rodne reflected, he had been introduced as 'rude and grouchy', so maybe the man wasn't expecting much. He did seem to be considering something, however.

"You know though," Shef'hred said, frowning as he recollected something. "Some of the people in the village we came to before yours tried to tell us that there was some crazy old wizard or hermit or something that lived in a cave in the mountains nearby and who would 'protect' Lakeside... although some of them said he wasn't a hermit exactly because a few summers ago there was another guy who seemed to live there too, like some boyfr..." Shef'hred trailed off suddenly, glancing between the two of them in comprehension. "Ah," he said.

There was an awkward silence, until Rodne burst out with, "Wizard? Who in the hell is saying that I'm a wizard? I mean, crazy I'll accept, hermit is more or less accurate, but wizard?!"

"Rodne," R'dek attempted to mollify him. "Bear in mind that the ones saying this may have been intending to frighten the raiders away from Lakeside, or the area in general."

"Definitely," Shef'hred confirmed. "They were trying to convince us that we would be sorry we attacked their village, and if it's any consolation, we none of us believed a word of it."

"Yes, except that that's exactly what happened isn't it?" Rodne snapped, entirely unconsoled. "Gods if this gets out, I'm going to have to find another cave and keep the location secret. Do you have any idea how far people will travel to find a real 'wizard'?"

"No," R'dek and Shef'hred answered simultaneously. Rodne scowled at them both.

"I value my privacy!" Rodne protested, "and my time, and you have no idea how much I've lost to all this..." he gestured to encompass all of Lakeside and the events which had drawn them and kept them here. "Practically half the summer's observations are irretrievably lost, thanks to your fondness for climbing patently unsafe trees," he pointed accusingly at R'dek, "and your cultural imperative for attacking helpless villages." Rodne's condemning gaze now moved to Shef'hred. "There's no telling what this loss will mean to the sum of human knowledge."

Sure enough, Shef'hred's look seemed to say to R'dek, grouchy and rude. R'dek only smiled and shrugged. Rodne scowled at both of them again.

"Right," he said, rising. "Thrilling as this little introduction has been, Aberam wants a consultation from me after lunch today, in exchange for the hides that are keeping the rain off our heads, which means that I need to go find some lunch now. You coming?" he directed at R'dek.

"Evidently so," R'dek said, rising as well. "Shef'hred, I am... truly pleased to have made your acquaintance."

"Same here, I'm sure," Shef'hred replied. "And feel free to drop in any time. I'll be, you know, right here..."

R'dek's glance to Rodne was troubled, and Rodne understood why. They couldn't go on keeping the man here, tied like this. Before very long it would amount to torture. Surely Li'bet would be thinking the same thing, though, Rodne told himself. She would find a solution.

"I would like to ask Teleya something," R'dek said, requesting that Rodne wait for a moment with a touch of his hand. It was R'non's whereabouts that he was seeking, and Teleya told him that he was hunting with some of the men from Lakeside today, but would be back by sundown. R'dek thanked her and then set off with Rodne in search of lunch.

"I wish to speak with him about his bow," R'dek explained as he and Rodne shared the rest of the onion stuffed bread along with some fruit and cheese, back under the wingseed tree. "I am as much interested in how it is made as what it is made from. I have my suspicions, but I would like him to confirm them."

Rodne, for his part, was simply pleased to see R'dek take an interest in something new. He'd worried that the one-time traveling toolmaker would come to miss the opportunities for seeing new technologies and tools that traveling had brought him, but here was something new that had traveled to him instead, and that boded well for the future.

***

Next week: Shef'hred is freed, yet not freed.

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 17

2009-10-18T21:51:48Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -laughingunicorn@gmail.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

AN: So I'm moving my posting time from Monday mornings to late Sunday nights (my time), which means that some of you will be able to get this on Sunday afternoons, if you live in the right time zones and are particularly industrious. More Power to ya.

What's been written so far has come up to over 70,000 words and is just beginning chapter 23, and while the end is in sight, it's not close yet. FYI.

Chapter 17

Being kissed awake by R'dek was always pleasant, Rodne mused sleepily, regardless of the scratchy beard or the disordered hair that never failed to fall into his face and tickle. This morning, however, it brought with it a host of memories, some more happy than others, and a profound sense of relief. His fight with R'dek had left Rodne deeply shaken, for all that their disagreement had lasted less than a day, for Rodne had come to assume that only death might take his lover from him, as it nearly had not so long ago.

To retrieve R'dek from Death's door only to lose him to some personal failing of his own had plunged Rodne into a terrifying depression and left him searching his soul desperately for some way to assure that it never happen again, in spite of R'dek's insistence that the failings had all been his. This didn't compute for Rodne, who knew himself to be host to scores more personal failings than R'dek could ever be.

Failings notwithstanding, however, here was R'dek, whole and healthy and in his arms, kissing his face and lips till Rodne woke enough to respond properly. When he did it was a long, sleepy kiss, that ended when R'dek's hair tickled his nose and made him sneeze.

"Good morning," R'dek said when Rodne had recovered, and Rodne sniffed, scratched his head and said, "Good morning to you too."

"I wish to bath in the lake this morning," R'dek announced. "Will you join me?"

Rodne blinked, squinting at his lover. "Is that a trick question?" he griped. "Because it's not fair to ask me trick questions before I've had any tea or breakfast, really."

"It is not a trick question," R'dek said with a grin, standing and stretching, like a cat, and making Rodne feel a little thrum of desire run though him. "But it was perhaps a foolish one." He reached down to lend Rodne a hand standing and Rodne took it. All of the toolmaker's wiry strength was evident as he hauled Rodne up onto his feet, and Rodne rejoiced to feel it. The scar was still visible on the inside of his thigh, and dark scabs were still evident here and there, but R'dek's health and strength were back, evident in the firmness of his handclasp and the ease with which he pulled Rodne's weight.

It was fairly early, and still a little chill, so they made their way to the lake wearing only loin-cloths and sharing R'dek's rabbit fur blanket to keep warm. There were a handful of people already bathing in the shallow area near the sandy beach when they got to there and not one of them even glanced their way as they arrived. Though Rodne generally held bathing to be something that one did, at most, two to four times per year, R'dek was a fastidious fellow, and had gotten Rodne into the habit of cleaning himself in this manner rather more often, especially in the summer. Having grown accustomed to dousing himself in the icy cold stream that ran near their cave on a semi regular basis, Rodne could really appreciate the calm, relatively warm waters of the lake, and this morning he hardly minded at all.

In addition, it was always a pleasure to observe R'dek, gloriously naked in the morning sunlight, ducking down in the water and then standing again so that the water streamed down over his body. He smiled to see Rodne staring at him, then shook out his wet hair, pulling away the thong that bound it. Rodne ducked himself under next, scrubbing at his face while it was under the water, then rose, shaking his head to send the water off.

"I think it is time to cut your hair again, " R'dek said as Rodne ran his fingers through it and decided he was right.

"Could trim my beard too," Rodne agreed. R'dek was unbraiding his own thinner but longer, scraggly beard to wash it. He'd braid it up again, quite neatly, when he was done here. The two of them each took handfuls of clean sand from the bottom of the lake to scrub each other's backs, and then applied more to their own hands and feet.

Closer to shore a handful of noisy children played and splashed, their mothers chatting pleasantly nearby. There was nothing to distinguish this morning from any other, save that from time to time the conversation among the mothers turned sorrowful, and that some of the children where blacking each other's faces with bits of charred wood from the burnt dock. Rodne was just rinsing the sand out of his crotch (with his back turned toward the moms and kids) when R'dek surprised him with a pinch on the ass.

Rodne yelped and went down, taking R'dek with him, the two of them making a tremendous splash, and when Rodne got his feet under him again, R'dek was kissing him.

"Sorry, could not keep my hands off," he said with a grin that held not a hint of contrition. Near the shore several of the moms had broken off in their conversations and were making appreciative noises.

"Not doing this in front of an audience," Rodne hissed, though he didn't exactly pull away from the kiss either.

"Not doing what?" R'dek inquired in an innocent tone, while at the same time stepping very close in front of Rodne, so that none of their personal bits could be seen, and then rocking his hips against Rodne's so that those very same personal bits began to throw off the influence of the cold lake water.

"This!" Rodne exclaimed, stepping back to scoop up a double handful of water and dumping it on R'dek's head. "You insatiable loon!." The women near the shore laughed and R'dek shook his head, spraying water every which way.

"That's it," Rodne announced, splashing his way to shore. "I'm going for breakfast."

R'dek followed him, of course, and they helped each other dry off and slip into the clean tunics they'd left on the shore. Once dressed, Rodne followed the scent of fresh baking bread to the ovens on the far side of the village green, and there he shamelessly abused Trinka's belief that he was some sort of agent of the Gods in order to pry from her two whole loaves of bread stuffed with wild onions and herbs, piping hot from the ovens.

The price, of course, was that he sit at the bakers' table while he and R'dek ate this delicious bread, and listen to her ramble on about her children and grandchildren, and confirm that yes, this one was was most certainly destined to be the greatest hunter Lakeside had ever known, and surely that one would be a beauty with no end of suitors, and of course the Gods had ordained that this young man would catch more fish than any other -once he was out of swaddling clothes. Rodne had to school his gaze away from R'dek as he said these things, because he kept rolling his eyes when Trinka wasn't looking and Rodne had to keep a straight face.

Brinna came after a bit with a pot of honey sweetened tea, which made it easier for Rodne to say these ridiculous things, and after he and R'dek had nearly polished off one of the loaves Li'bet came by to get one for herself, along with her own pot of tea, which she said she was going to take to the prisoner, Shef'hred. The chatter amongst the women at the ovens dropped off as she left.

"Should've given her the burnt one," Brinna finally broke the silence.

"Foolish girl!" Trinka exclaimed, standing to plant both her fists on her ample hips. "I can't give burnt bread to the headwoman! No matter who she is sharing it with."

That was the conundrum, Rodne mused, wondering if Li'bet knew how controversial her treatment of the prisoner was. No doubt she did, for the whole village was buzzing about it, but no one had any answers either.

"What do you think will be done with him?" R'dek asked softly as the women returned to work.

"No idea," Rodne said, finishing off his tea. "But Li'bet will figure something out. She's good at that."

R'dek finished his own tea in silence, looking troubled. "I need to go and see him," R'dek said finally, setting his empty cup down.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rodne asked, quietly so that no one but R'dek could hear him.

"I... I need to face him, and... and not behave as I did before," R'dek answered hesitantly. "I know it will not be easy, but I think I must."

"Yeah, okay..." Rodne began, wondering what else to say when they were abruptly interrupted by an enormous pile of bread dough, landing on their table with a floury whump.

"Table's needed for work gentlemen," Trinka announced. "Begging your pardon, honorable Seer." She was the only one that called Rodne by this name, and Rodne would be just as pleased if no one else ever did.

"No problem," Rodne said, gathering up his second loaf of bread, thinking that, with the addition of some cheese and fruit, it would make an excellent lunch. "We were just getting ready to go ourselves, yes?" He turned to R'dek.

"Indeed," R'dek replied, turning to Trinka and the other bakers. "My thanks for a delightful breakfast, and equally delightful company, Mistress baker," he offered chivalrously. Now it was Rodne who rolled his eyes.

"If you're going by Caresn's hut...?" Kimma put in as they got up to go.

"Sure," Rodne answered.

"I've a loaf here for him and Loren," she said, handing him a hide wrapped loaf of the onion herb bread. "Please deliver our wishes for both their health when you take it to them?"

"Of course," R'dek answered with a dimpled smile. Kimma blushed and bowed her head, returning to work quickly.

"Think she's sweet on you?" Rodne asked with a smirk as they headed off.

R'dek snorted in humor. "If she is, she is out of luck," he said.

"Actually, I think she was really into Loren until recently, when it got to be obvious who he'd rather spend his time with," Rodne commented as they drew near to Caresn's hut. "You'd think she'd learn a thing or two by now."

"The heart is not always wise," R'dek remarked. "But sometimes it is very, very fortunate."

The deep affection in R'dek's pale blue eyes, and in the wide smile gracing his lips went straight to Rodne's heart and he wrapped his arm tightly around his lover's waist as they came up to the firepit, seeing Caresn and Loren there, quietly enjoying their morning tea.

"We bring salutations, and breakfast, from Trinka and the bakers," Rodne announced as they approached. Neither man looked as though they'd gotten much sleep last night, but Caresn brightened a bit at Rodne's announcement, and more as he drew close enough that he could smell the bread.

"And how is the good head baker this morning?" Caresn asked as he broke off a piece of bread for Loren and another for himself.

"Destined to have the most fortunate and popular children and grandchildren in the history of Lakeside," Rodne said, with only a little wince. Even Loren gave a ghost of a smile at this and Caresn chuckled outright.

"If she does, she'll credit you for it, lad," Caresn told him. "She tells everyone that following your advice has gotten her everything good in life."

Grimacing, Rodne laid a hand over his eyes. "Gods I wish she wouldn't do that," he said. "I have a hard enough time with people's expectations of what I can and can't do."

"I don't think anyone really expects you to work miracles, Rodne," Caresn said kindly. "And while Trinka is certainly a fine baker," he gestured with the bread, "it's also well know that she's... just a wee bit daft."

"Just a wee bit," Loren remarked dryly, taking another bite of bread. The former hunter, Rodne noted, seemed to carry a sort of resigned mood today, which Rodne supposed was better than wishing he was dead, which is how he sort of looked yesterday. There was a kind of spark missing from the man, though, Rodne could not help but notice, and he wondered if it might be a hard thing to rekindle.

R'dek, Rodne now saw, was also looking thoughtfully in Loren's direction, but from his look Rodne could tell that his thoughts were elsewhere. It was a look Rodne knew well, and it meant that he was figuring something, usually something wonderfully clever. Naturally, Rodne was instantly curious, and he turned to give his lover a questioning look.

R'dek answered him with a lift of his hand, that suggested 'later' and Rodne nodded his understanding. Ideas, like fruit, often needed time to ripen before they could be shared and Rodne knew that R'dek's ideas were always worth waiting for.

"Let us put this food away," R'dek said instead, "and proceed with the business of the day. I would as soon have it done as promptly as possible."

"What's you plan then, lads?" Caresn asked, washing down his bread with a swallow of tea.

"R'dek says he wants to, ah, see the prisoner, Shef'hred," Rodne answered, glancing sidelong at R'dek.

"You said," R'dek said uncertainly, "that there was... 'mending work' for me to do, and I think it may begin there, with... with him."

"Aye, that's a good place to start," Caresn agreed, "though it won't be an easy one."

"No, I know it won't be," R'dek said with a sigh, "but it is often best to start with the hardest thing... and I won't be alone." He returned Rodne's glance, and it was filled with gratitude and trust. Rodne reached out to take his hand.

"Yeah," Rodne confirmed for Caresn and the healer nodded with approval.

"Then you'll do fine, lad," he said. "I've no doubts."

They made their farewells after that, then made short work of rigging a food cache for their bread, suspended from a branch of the wingseed tree. They walked the village's southern edge to reach the place where Shef'hred was being kept, and they walked in contemplative silence, Rodne calculating the days left before the day of balance, and R'dek probably lost in whatever it was he'd been thinking of as he gazed at Loren. Li'bet was just getting up to leave from her breakfast with Shef'hred as they arrived.

"Good morning gentlemen," she greeted them cordially. "How goes your morning?"

"It goes well, Headwoman," R'dek said with a deferential nod. "I hope yours does as well."

"It does," Li'bet answered, "but I would count it as a distinct improvement if I did not have to answer to the name 'Headwoman' any more today."

R'dek gave her a chagrined look and scuffed his feet awkwardly. "Li'bet," he said a little abashed. "I fear I still must make amends for my... ill mannered actions yesterday, both to you and... and to him." R'dek's gaze shifted to where Shef'hred knelt, still bound.

"Is that why you're here now?" she asked gently. R'dek looked down again, then nodded.

"I owe the man an apology," R'dek said, so quietly that it was barely audible. "As much or more than to you. What I did... it was not... decent."

Li'bet reached across and laid a hand on R'dek's shoulder, waiting till he looked up at her to speak. "Let no one ever say that you are not a brave man, R'dek," she said, conviction strong in her voice.

"I must be," R'dek said, looking out to where the prisoner sat, his voice quiet and fearful, "if I am to redeem myself."

Rodne saw her hand squeeze R'dek's shoulder as she left, and then the two of them approached the little 'campsite' where the prisoner and his guard were ensconced.

***

Next week: The Raider and the Toolmaker

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 16

2009-10-12T06:31:20Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -laughingunicorn@gmail.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 16

The coals from the banked fire on her hearth gave Li'bet enough light to find the covered bowl of leftover wild rice and herbs from yesterday, and she debated building it up before she sat down to eat. She was only going to eat and then go to bed, after all. Why waste the fuel?

And yet... though she had lived alone for so very long, and had grown used to many such solitary suppers, Li'bet found herself contesting with a profound sense of loneliness tonight. Just as Rodne had gone to visit briefly at K'harien's grave after the burial ceremony, Li'bet had gone to stand for a moment at Ca'dell's, and now, though she had been without him for many years, she found that she missed him again. No, she would not dine alone tonight, but she wasn't sure where she might go.

On another night she might have found company at the firepit, or gone to visit Hallen and Meera or another family, but tonight was not a night for visitors. The families of Lakeside would be wanting only their own company tonight. Teleya and R'non, she considered, who had made their own camp among the snowbark trees, might welcome her, but she didn't really know them that well, and tonight they too might prefer each other's company alone.

There was, however, one who would also be very much alone tonight and, upon reflection, Li'bet realized that no one had likely told Shef'hred what had become of the survivors of his band. It was not happy news, but he deserved to know. The more she thought about it, the worse she felt about how the man had been kept in the dark, and about how she had not made certain that anyone had even brought him food or water. She'd had other things on her mind, yes, but as their prisoner had not really been made anyone else's responsibility, he had to be hers.

Once again Li'bet found herself gathering up things to take to the prisoner: the bowl of rice plus another bowl and a pair of spoons, and some dried fish and a couple of plums to make it a real supper, a flask of water and her summer shawl, for the night had turned cool and breezy. Outside, the village green was empty tonight, though the crushed grass where the dead had lain was evident in the light of the half moon. She crossed it quickly, skirted the lakeshore, and finally came to the place where the prisoner was being kept.

It was, in fact, R'non who was keeping watch tonight, and he'd built a small fire to keep himself company. Shef'hred was kneeling up, leaning against the post to which he was bound, and gazing absently out over the moonlit lake from under the little shelter that Li'bet had made for him the night before. She was pleased to see that tonight it was acting as a shelter against the wind, and she imagined that he was pleased to have it.

"Good evening R'non, Shef'hred," she called, from a far enough distance that the traveling warrior on guard would not be startled.

"Headwoman," R'non returned the greeting perfunctorily, looking up only briefly before returning to work using an antler straightener on a long piece of wood that would eventually become one of his arrow shafts.

"Headwoman Li'bet," the prisoner said, sitting up and breaking into a smile that Li'bet suspected was mainly artifice. "Looks like a clear one tonight; do I get to keep my roof anyhow?"

"Of course," she said, ignoring the implication that he was not to be shown the least consideration. "Have you had anything to eat today?"

"Some girl came by earlier and gave me some bread," Shef'hred answered. "And Mr Chatty here's been giving me water when I ask for it."

"Thank you, R'non," Li'bet said, sincerly, realizing that if she was going to offer food to the prisoner she needed to offer it to his guard as well. "And how about you? Have you had dinner this evening?"

"Ate earlier," R'non said, acknowledging Li'bet's thanks with the barest incline of his shaggy head.

"Excellent," Li'bet said, laying the food out and sitting. "There'll be plenty for the two of us then."

"Um..." Shef'hred's casual artifice seemed to be shaken at the sight of the food, though he did attempt to maintain it. "That looks real nice," he said, "but I'm not sure how I'm gonna eat it."

Of course, Li'bet realized with chagrin. His hands were still bound behind his back. She could feed him, she supposed, but that would entail robbing the man of a significant portion of the tiny amount of dignity he had left. That seemed wrong.

"R'non," she said, reflecting. "Don't you think that we could let the prisoner have his hands bound in front now? Seeing as we have a pretty good idea that he and his people don't represent much of a threat anymore..."

R'non looked up, giving the both of them a long, assessing gaze. "Sure," he said at last, rising with astonishing grace, given his size. Li'bet stood back to give him room as he strode forward to loom over Shef'hred. "You even think about trying anything..." R'non advised darkly, brandishing the knife he would use to cut the prisoner's bonds.

"Never crossed my mind," Shef'hred said disarmingly, and would have held his hands up, Li'bet sensed, had he been able.

R'non grunted sceptically and leaned down to sever Shef'hred's wrist bindings with a quick movement. He had the man's hands captured in front of him a heartbeat later, and deftly rebound them.

"Thanks," the prisoner said brightly, grimacing in pain slightly as he rolled his shoulders to loosen them. When his gaze turned to Li'bet she saw a spark of sincere gratitude there, buried under the layers of practiced nonchalance. This uncaring attitude, Li'bet thought to herself, was something Shef'hred had taken on long ago, to hide himself even from his own people. For all that he had been their leader, she wondered if Shef'hred had been... uncomfortable among the raiders. Was it possible, she mused, that he might come to be more comfortable here?

She sat before him now, thinking that others in Lakeside might not be so trusting, even with R'non's watchful presence, but she felt no concern. Li'bet considered herself a good judge of people, and though, on the face of it, this man ought to be regarded as highly dangerous, she had no doubts that she was safe with him.

The look on Shef'hred's face, as she served him a bowl of rice and handed him a spoon, suggested that he, too, found her level of comfort with him confusing, but Li'bet only smiled and lifted her own bowl. "Good appetite to you," she offered, laying into her food with considerably more enthusiasm than she'd had a little while ago. This had been a very good idea.

"Thanks," said again, uncertain, his artifice failing him. Kindness undid him, Li'bet reflected sadly, speculating at how rare a thing that might be among the raiders. How would it be to grow up, a good man with a kind heart, among such people? Surely to survive one would have to learn to hide one's heart, and shield it carefully. Was this what she was seeing, or was it merely wishful thinking?

Eating with hands bound was a little awkward, Li'bet could see, but it had to be infinitely preferable to being fed, or worse, being made to eat like an animal without the benefit of hands at all. Shef'hred's first attempt resulted an a bit of spilled rice, but his eyes lit up as he got to tasting it.

"Hey," he said, after a couple of bites. "This is pretty good."

Li'bet laughed. "I'll be sure to tell Rinta," she said. "The mix of herbs she uses are a closely guarded secret, and here," she dropped a strip of dried fish and a plum next to his bowl. "Our healer tells us that it's healthy to have a little meat or cheese and fruit with every meal."

Shef'hred's look was disbelieving at first, but the offering remained and after a moment's consideration he picked up the plum, taking nearly half of it in one juicy bite. He tried to hide the look of pure pleasure on his face as he tasted it, looking away for a moment, but then looked up a moment later, determined curiosity in his eyes.

"You know," he said, wiping the plum juice off his chin with his arm. "I'm pretty sure this isn't the way most people treat their prisoners of war."

Li'bet shrugged. "I'm afraid it's nothing I know anything about," she said, sounding apologetic even as she smiled at him. "I don't know if I could bring myself to do it any differently."

"So..." Shef'hred's attitude grew carefully casual, "this isn't some kind of... last meal... or anything?"

LI'bet felt a little twinge of sadness in her heart to hear what Shef'hred expected, but she knew it shouldn't be so surprising. "No," she answered, shaking her head, "definitely not... but I do have some news for you... that you probably won't be pleased to hear -about the rest of your band."

Shef'hred's shoulders slumped in something like resignation and he gave her a wry sort of smile. "I did kinda wonder what you meant when you told my keeper there that 'me and my people' no longer represented much of a threat."

Li'bet nodded, her eyes sad. "We sent some hunters after your... companions, with the idea of driving them off for good, more or less." Or killing them off, but Shef'hred could figure that part for himself. He nodded, and Li'bet could see that he had.

"They followed them to Twin Groves, the village you had taken before, and had plans to attack after dark," she continued. "Apparently, however... your people would seem to have... underestimated the... determination of the women of the village." Li'bet grimaced, not sure how best to explain further.

"Just the women?" Shef'hred asked, eyes narrowed.

"My people tell me that they saw no others," she replied. "They guessed that the men had all been killed... is that what happened?"

"Not when I left." There was an unmistakable note of outrage in the raider's voice. "But Ba'ates..." he sighed, his shoulders slumping further. "Gods above, the man is such an idiot... probably a dead idiot now, I imagine."

"More than likely," Li'bet acknowledged. "My people tell me that after dark the men... your men each took women into the various huts... and that the women evidently took that opportunity to... strike back."

"Of course they did," Shef'hred sighed, raising his hand -both hands perforce- to rake fingers through his disordered hair. "Gods! I don't know how many times I told them to leave the women alone..." He let his hands drop in defeat, head bowed, and Li'bet's heart went out to him. "Did any of them get away?" he asked without raising his head.

"A few," she answered, as kindly as she could, reflecting that one of those was the one who had permanently crippled their best hunter, but there was no need to mention that now. "My people tell me that three, maybe four managed to escape, but it was dark, so they're not sure."

"Probably Fedor and a couple of his cousins," Shef'hred speculated, looking out over the lake, grieving, Li'bet thought. "He was the one smart one, but Ba'ates was older, held more sway with the others." Shef'hred looked down at his food again, but Li'bet could see that his appetite had fled.

"I am sorry," she said, meaning it as she reached over to lay a hand on his shoulder. She did not miss R'non's suddenly more alert posture as she leaned in close to the prisoner.

"No reason for you to be," Shef'hred replied darkly, shrugging her hand away and then wincing when he aggravated his injured shoulder. "They were a bunch of murderous sons-of-bitches for the most part, and you're almost certainly better off now that they're gone."

"And is that what you were too?" Li'bet asked, because she was almost certain that he wasn't and was very curious to hear what he would say.

He met her gaze directly, as though trying to fathom her intent in asking. "Had to be," was his answer, and then he picked up the piece of fish jerky, biting off a mouthfull.

The answer had been brief, but illuminating, Li'bet thought, and she felt certain that it had been true as well. That was remarkable in and of itself, for she had half expected him to play the role of a dangerous barbarian. Instead he had made a significant confession, giving up something that he had striven to hide up to now. Had she made a connection with the man? And if she had, why did the hope she felt in response seem so personal? Now Li'bet had a host of questions for herself as well as for the raider.

She thought on these questions as she finished her rice and fish, then lifted her gaze to meet the raider as she turned the plum over in her hands. "We buried our dead today," she said, without preamble. And burned yours, Li'bet did not say. The man was sure to have smelled the unmistakable scent of burning flesh all day.

"The sorrow I saw on the faces of my people," she continued, "was no different than what I see on your face now, Shef'hred. Grief is grief, and it takes no account of the 'worthiness' of these lost."

"Grief doesn't change the facts either," Shef'hred answered, setting down his rice bowl which Li'bet was pleased to see had been emptied. "And the facts are that you are almost certainly better off without Ba'ates or the rest of us, and Fedor, frankly, is probably better off without me."

"Why do you say that?" Li'bet asked, drawing up a knee to rest her elbow on as she ate her plum.

"Most bands like ours are lead by someone with proven skill as a fighter or archer, or a reputation for ruthlessness," he said, wiping his fish oily fingers in the grass. "I'm an okay fighter, I guess, but mostly I was the best rider of my clan, five summers in a row. Ba'ates and Fedor and some others, I guess they thought that meant I'd make a good leader." Shef'herd gave a bitter bark of laughter. "And I guess I thought they'd make good men for my band, so it looks like we were both wrong."

And perhaps it means, Li'bet thought to herself as she finished her plum, that a good man is unlikely to succeed at doing bad things, but she wasn't going to suggest that. She doubted that Shef'hred saw himself as a good man, possibly did not know what it meant to be one.

"What would you do," she asked thoughtfully, "if we set you free now?"

"Now?" he asked, but there was no anticipatory joy in the question. His look was only haunted, fearful even, and he shook his head. "I'm a warrior who's lost his Honor. I failed to lead my men into victory, failed to choose a second I could trust, failed to keep my men alive... I've got nothing left. I might as well be a slave... or a beggar."

Li'bet felt her heart moved, for to her mind the very fact that he felt these failings made Shef'hred a very honorable man indeed, but honor apparently meant something different to him. She wondered if it would be possible to change his mind. "I'm afraid we have neither slaves nor beggars here in Lakeside," she said at last. "But we do value honor a great deal here. To us it can be gained by hard work and self sacrifice, by contributing to the well being of others. Even when honor is lost, it can be regained in that way as well."

"By working in the dirt and mucking around in fish guts?" Shef'hred's tone had grown scornful suddenly. "There's no honor in that! Honor is what you have when you can take what you like, because you are strong and they are not! Honor was my birthright, is my people's birthright, and once that Honor is broken you are nothing, less than nothing. No real man would ever wish to live that way."

"Your 'Honor' is a very strange and fragile thing, Shef'hred," Li'bet replied, undaunted by his hostile words. "Do you truly wish to die?" Her question was met at first by a moment of silence.

"I should," he said eventually, the angry arrogance in his voice vanished now, leaving only shame as he looked down on a meal that part of him seemed to think he shouldn't have eaten.

"I... I believe I would be very sorry if you did," Li'bet confessed honestly.

Shef'hred looked up at her now, revealing at last a man broken with shame and confusion. "Why?" he asked, and the great tragedy was that he really did not know why anyone would be sorry at his death.

"Because I see in you a different sort of honor," she answered, meeting his gaze directly. "Very deep within you, and much stronger than the thing you call Honor, that you believe you have lost. The sort of honor I see in you is a very rare thing in any man, and too precious to throw away so readily."

The brief flare of hope she saw in his eyes guttered and was extinguished quickly, but Li'bet had kindled her share of fires in this slow and tedious manner, and knew that patience and perseverance would be required. Shef'hred only shook his head slowly in reply to her words, then said that he was tired and would like to sleep.

Li'bet allowed how that was fair enough, gathering her dishes and helping the man draw the sheepskin she'd left him last night over his shoulders when he'd laid down. She wished him pleasant dreams as she stood to go, but before she did, he called her name.

"Headwoman Li'bet?" he said.

She dropped to crouch before him once more. "You know," she said, "I've been Headwoman Li'bet all day today, but it really is just for special occasions. I'd just as soon go by Li'bet alone, if that's alright with you."

"Li'bet, then," Shef'hred said, letting her see an honest smile. "I don't understand why you're doing it, but... I want you to know that I am... grateful for dinner... and everything. Maybe that's that 'honor' thing you claim I've got inside..."

"That is precisely that 'honor thing' that I know you have inside," Li'bet said, smiling broadly. "And you are very welcome."

She bid goodnight to R'non as well then and returned home, pausing at the lakeshore to watch the half moon setting into the pool of silver it had transformed their lake into. Back in her hut, she added a few sticks to her hearthfire so that it would keep going through the night and settled into her bed, thinking that it did not seem so cold this night as it had in the past. Ca'dell had told her, long ago, that she must feel free to give her heart to another, should she find herself alone some day, but her heart had never found another that moved it... until, perhaps, now.

It seemed beyond foolish, she knew, perhaps even dangerous, and she dared not imagine what others in the village might think. The others did not know, however. They did not see him as a man, but as an enemy, and she did not know what it would take for that perception to change. Shef'hred himself, she reflected, did not see himself as much of a man just now either, but maybe these changes in perception would come together. The symmetry appealed to the weaver, and new patterns began to form in her mind's eye as she drifted off to sleep, weaving the lives of her villagers as she might a new tapestry.

***

Next week: Morning in Lakeside

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 15

2009-10-05T07:47:12Z

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 14

2009-09-28T11:12:20Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -laughingunicorn@gmail.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 14

Even as they had seen Loren, braced on either side by Caresn and Hallen, with their own eyes as he entered the village, Rodne and R'dek had exchanged quick glances and known they were of one accord. They had raced off then, to gather whatever of their own belongings (and the things of Caresn's which they were making use of, like his flask of lightning water) remained in Caresn's hut, and carried then over to the wingseed tree. Caresn and Loren would be needing their privacy, that was obvious enough, even for Rodne, and maybe he and R'dek could use a little too, such as it could be had beneath the wingseed tree, for themselves.

They'd already hung R'dek's soaking wet bedding to dry in the branches of the tree, and later they'd find Aberam, the tanner, to borrow from him some hides to make a proper shelter for themselves, but for now they would join some of the returning hunters at the firepit, to hear their tale. Loren, of course, was with Caresn, and Sitakhus had gone immediately off with Chana, as Dirneer had gone with his cousin to be with his old mother, who'd had a hard couple of days. Lienan, who had been Nevin's brother, had gone off as well, to be with his brother's family, and that left Marak'm, Ml'lar and Gefeir, who was had gotten a minor arrow wound -a long gash on his arm- and was now having it cleaned and bandaged by Meera.

Trinka and Kimma had come with fresh bread and other food for the returning warriors, and R'dek passed them the flask of lightning water as soon as they had found a place on one of the logs around the fire pit. People gathered as the three hunters ate, many bringing their own food, for it was about the right time time for a midday meal, and waited patiently to hear their accounts. Rodne could not help to notice, however, that none of the hunters seemed to be all that keen to begin.

It was Ml'lar, first fortifying himself with a shockingly long draught of the lightning water, who finally made a start, and it was clear from his look that the tale he had to tell was not a pleasant one. Little by little, the crowd of gathered villagers had come to see how the exciting and uplifting story they'd been hoping for was not what they were going to hear, and they'd grown more subdued and sober as they waited, so that by now everyone was quiet.

"I don't want to have to tell this story more than once," Ml'lar begun unhappily, his voice roughened by the lightning water. "And there's parts of it... that aren't fit for youngsters." He shuddered. "If I never ever speak of the things I saw in that village last night, I'll be happier for it."

"Loren said it was a cursed venture," Marak'm muttered, taking his own swig of lightning water. "And I'd say he had the right of it."

"How cursed could it be," of course it was Kvena'ah who had the temerity to ask such a question, "if you've all made it back in one piece, with no raiders at your heels?"

"Loren's not in one piece," Gefeir muttered miserably. "Fucking raider arrow cut his foot cord... the bastards."

Even Rodne knew what that meant, and beside him he heard R'dek moan in sorrow, lowering his face into his hands. The people of Lakeside reacted with sorrow as well, for Loren was much beloved, and his hunting prowess storied. Stories were the only place Loren would be hunting now, Rodne thought sadly to himself, putting a comforting arm around R'dek's shoulders.

"That was just the sorry end to a sorry misadventure," Ml'lar said. "Things seemed pretty hopeful to start with. We followed the raiders' trail clearly to the Twin Groves village, and it was easy enough to see they'd been moving fast. We figured they were scared, and it wouldn't take too much to scare them away from these lands for good." He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "We didn't even bother to ask ourselves what might have happened in Twin Groves."

"What did happen in Twin Groves?" someone asked.

Ml'lar just looked a little sick and reached for the flask. "We're not really sure," Marak'm answered. "But we think that maybe the raiders killed all the men, maybe some of the older boys too."

"If the villagers tried to resist them," this was Teleya, whom Rodne had not seen arrive, but who stood now, beside R'non, not far from where the three hunters sat, "then the raiders may well have done just that. It is not an uncommon practice."

Rodne heard murmurs of horror from all around him, and some voices thanking the Gods for having spared them. "Yeah, so maybe that's what had happened," Marak'm continued. "Cause when we got there and spied around for a bit, all we saw was women, babes and elders. The raiders seemed to be getting ready to leave, and maybe take some of the women with them, as slaves, but they weren't going to leave till morning, and so we figured we'd wait till dark and then, you know, rescue them. We thought we'd be big heroes." Marak'm gave a painfully bitter bark of laughter at that, and reached out a hand for the flask. Rodne could already see that this flask of lightning water wasn't going to last the night, possibly not even the tale.

"So we waited," Ml'lar said, picking up the tale himself again. "Most of the raiders took one or two of the women back to their huts when it got dark, and we figured that was a good thing, because they'd be, you know, distracted. And if we'd had any doubts about what was going down, one of the raiders, I guess he was supposed to be keeping watch, but he had one of the village women with him too, he was sitting by their central fire, so we could see what he was doing, clear as day." Ml'lar made a face, both of distaste, and scorn for the raiders' foolishness.

"Yeah, that seemed pretty stupid to us," Marak'm said, "and it was. But we were a little stupid too, not to guess that those women, they had their own plan." All three of the hunters looked a little pale now, Rodne noticed, and the flask was passed among them once again.

"They were witches," Gefeir muttered darkly. "No natural woman would do that to a man. It's... it's sick..."

"What did they do?" someone, Rodne thought maybe it was young Deban, asked. Ml'lar shook his head.

"Nothing suited for young ears," he said grimly, "and I'll not speak of it here. It's enough for now to say that those raiders would have been far better off if we'd attacked them. In the end all but two or three were dead... and they none of them died well."

"They were not witches," Teleya's voice carried over the stunned silence. "Only women half mad with grief and rage. That I have seen before as well... and I too wish I had never seen such a thing."

Rodne, for his own part, had recently seen how a previously gentle soul could be transformed by such traumas, and understood those women far too well. He also knew, with sorrow, that they, like R'dek, would most likely be plagued by regret and self loathing when they woke to what they had done, and Rodne wondered what would be the eventual fate of the women of Twin Groves.

"Witches or women," Gefeir growled. "I am never, ever returning to that place. It's cursed."

"I think that perhaps I will," Teleya said solemnly. "They will need help, these women, and if I can lend it, I shall do so."

"You'd be right about their needing help," Marak'm said. "The place was pretty badly trashed, from what we could see, but we didn't go in. I'm not sure it would have been safe for any man that night."

"Probably smart," R'non put in.

"Yeah," Ml'lar. "We took one look at what was going on and... Gods' blood, they were dancing around the fire with... with..." he shook his head, unable to go on. "Anyhow, it sure looked unsafe to me."

"There wasn't really anything for us to do anyway," Marak'm said. "Obviously these women didn't need rescuing, and all the raiders we'd come to scare away were either dead or fled, so we decided to head back. We didn't bother making any camp even to rest a little, because after what we'd seen no one much wanted to sleep either. Maybe if we had, the last bunch of retreating raiders wouldn't have found us, but maybe... maybe it really was a cursed venture, and they would have found us no matter what we did."

"It was evil luck," Ml'lar concurred, "many times over. Evil luck that we came to cross their path, as they'd fled in a panic and were most likely lost, and evil luck that their arrows struck where they did. We struck a blow of our own, but we did not stay to see if we had killed our enemy or merely wounded him. We had wounded of our own and wanted only to take ourselves home. So we did." Ml'lat tipped the lightning water flask back one last time, extracting the last drop from within and then let it fall. The flask was empty and the woeful tale finished.

"It was those witches, or women, whatever they were, that cursed us," Gefein grumbled. "I'll bet they cursed every man within a day's journey of that place."

"It is quite possible that they did," Teleya's voice held a quiet warning, "but do not blame them for your mischance. You were advised that your plan was unwise, yet you undertook it in spite of this."

A tense silence fell over the crowd at the fire pit, and Rodne could smell the foul smoke from the burning bodies in the fields south of the village, drifting over them as the wind shifted. Teleya's reproval was just, but daring nonetheless, given the circumstances.

"We did," said Ml'lar, the oldest and steadiest of the three hunters sitting at the firepit, "and we have paid a price for our foolishness. I, for one, intend to take a lesson from it, you can be sure. To pay such a price and not to take a lesson would be compounding my foolishness ten-fold."

Gefein seemed to take this as a slight and stood with a short, bitten off curse, pushing his way through the crowd and striding away.

"I'll go after him," Marak'm said. "He just needs some time to cool off."

"Take care of him," Rodne heard Li'bet say from somewhere in the crowd. "Take care of each other, and do not let the darkness poison your hearts."

Wise words, Rodne thought, glancing at R'dek worriedly. His lover looked a little stricken and Rodne pulled him close.

"His heart is black, just as mine was," R'dek whispered. "And he suffers. They must understand that."

"I'm pretty sure they do," Rodne said, watching the hunters go, then he turned to lay an arm around R'dek's shoulders, guiding him away from the firepit along with the rest of the crowd. "C'mon," he encouraged. "Let's go get those hides and put up our tent. If we don't argue about it too much we can have it all set up before sundown."

***

In fact, they only 'debated' a little over the overall design approach, and once they had settled on that Rodne and R'dek were entirely of one mind, working together like two parts of a greater whole. Working so well, they got finished well before sundown and R'dek had time to put together a stew of rabbit meat he'd gotten from Kvena'ah and carrots and onions Rodne had gotten from Emat's mother. Then Radek set the stew pot at the edge of the fire to simmer slowly as they went, with everyone else, to the burial.

Music: Itku (weep) Varttina, from Musta Lindu
http://www.sendspace.com/file/y41bh9

The villagers made a procession from the green, carrying the bodies of their dead, every free hand bearing a torch or rushlight so that their progress could be seen in a line of twinkling lights running from the village to the hillside to the north. The graves, fourteen of them, had been dug earlier, and so now each family laid their own loved one into their final bed of earth, leaving gifts of food and items of personal significance with them.

Though Caresn had surely argued against it, R'dek saw that Loren had made the journey to be present as well, and with the help of Sitakhus and Marak'm he came to stand beside Nevin's and then Yarred's graves, leaving some token with each of the fallen hunters. When he was done, his companions helped him walk carefully back to stand with the other hunters, who closed around him like heard beasts around one of their calves. Would the wounded hunter see this as genuine caring or pity, R'dek wondered, and hoped it would be the former.

R'dek, for his part, had his own offering to make, and now stepped silently up to Trigan's grave. There he left his leather sling and a single stone, kneeling at the graveside to speak a little prayer he had learned as a child before he rejoined Rodne. "I am finished with it," he said, inclining his head in the direction of the grave and the things he had left there. "I have learned my lesson, I hope, but I trust you will remind me of it if need be?"

For an answer, Rodne pulled him into a warm embrace, and R'dek could feel how he had taken another step towards setting Rodne's heart at ease. He knew he had wounded Rodne horribly with his words yesterday, and knew that for all that Rodne had offered his forgiveness so quickly, he would still be some time in healing. R'dek pledged to himself most solemnly that he would do whatever he could to speed that healing.

They stood in silence with all of the the villagers as Caresn passed a brazier, burning sweet herbs and resins, and spoke a blessing over each grave. Then Li'bet spoke a few words about sacrifice and memory and loss, and when she had finished each family member dropped a handful of soil into the open graves of their loved one. Most departed then, though some stayed to finish filling in the graves and others remained at the gravesides, grieving still and keeping vigil.

R'dek expected Rodne to depart them, but first he wandered back toward an older section of the burial ground, to a grave marked by a single raised stone with a reed basket bound to it. The basket had been finely made, though now it was worn and weathered by many years exposure to the elements. Rodne paused here, and then placed in the basket a handful of the sweet, red raspberries R'dek knew he loved so well... and then R'dek realized whose grave this must be.

"She... she really liked them a lot," Rodne said, sounding a little self conscious, but also sad, and strangely regretful. R'dek found himself at Rodne's side before he even knew he had moved, holding him close, hugging him hard and Rodne responded in kind.

"How is it," R'dek murmured, voice full of sorrow and affection, "that you have kept your heart so well hidden for so long? Does no one know of it but me?"

"And Caresn," Rodne said, sniffling a little and trying to hid it, "and um..." Rodne nodded his head to the left, indicating a figure standing in the torchlit darkness. It was Headwoman Li'bet, her eyes sad and bright with tears, but a small smile graced her lips as she gazed upon Rodne and R'dek. She stepped forward when she saw Rodne let his arms fall away from R'dek, and placed a kiss, almost like a blessing, on Rodne's forehead.

In response, Rodne gathered her into his arms for just a moment, and R'dek found himself following suit. She sniffled and wiped her eyes when they'd parted, and thanked them both, though for what she did not make clear. Maybe it was for a lot of things, R'dek thought.

The three of them walked back to the village together in silence, though it was a pleasant, companionable one. When they arrived at the village green they paused, clasping hands before parting, and as they did Li'bet said. "Those we have said farewell to tonight would want us to remember, I think, that we here still live, and that is a thing to be celebrated. Bear that in mind this evening, my friends, and perhaps we will have a different sort of gathering soon."

Rodne and R'dek both nodded their concurrence as they parted company, but Rodne looked over his shoulder once more as they crossed the green, to see her entering her dark and empty hut. "Sometimes I wish..." Rodne said hesitantly, "that she... she had someone, you know?"

"I do know, my love," R'dek said softly, lifting his head to kiss Rodne's cheek as they walked.

There was no one by the firepit when they returned, though the coals of the banked fire still glowed welcomingly. Maneuvering it carefully with a pair of handy sticks, R'dek turned the clay pot of rabbit stew sitting at the fireside and then lifted the lid to stir it. The smell that rose from within drew Rodne like a moth to a flame and R'dek chuckled to see it, then had to smack his hand away when Rodne reached in as though to snag a bit of meat.

"You will burn your fingers, foolish man." he said. "Run and get our bowls and some bread and perhaps Caresn and Loren will be back by then and we can ask them if they would like to join us."

"Oh fine," Rodne said with mock petulance, trotting off to do just as R'dek had asked. Loren and Caresn, assisted by Ml'lar, were just coming in to view as Rodne returned.

"If you would care to eat," R'dek offered as Loren sat heavily on one of the firepit logs, "I have enough here for all of us." By now R'dek had shifted the stewpot to a flat rock at the edge of the fire and he lifted the lid again so that the stew could be served.

"Damn, that does smell good," Ml'lar said. "You've convinced me. Do I need to get my own bowl?"

"I believe I've enough extra," Caresn said with a smile, "even with the ones that these lads seem to have made off with." Caresn indicated Rodne and the bowls he carried.

"Just borrowing!" Rodne objected. "I happen to have plenty of my own dishes, thank you very much. They just weren't one of the things I happened to consider when it turned out that I needed to carry my dying and delirious lover all the way to Lakeside all of a sudden!"

"While I do not recall all of that journey," R'dek commented, ladling stew into Rodne's bowl, "I do recall walking on my own at least some of the way, yes?"

Rodne gave R'dek a narrow eyed look as he sat and blew on his stew to cool it. "Walking, yes, after a fashion," he replied. "But 'on your own'? Not so much."

"Mm... that's fair, I suppose," R'dek said as he ladled up more stew for Caresn. "How much for you?" he asked.

Caresn glanced up at where the two hunters sat, passing the question on to them. "I'll take as much as you can give me," Ml'lar offered. "I think I'm still missing last night's dinner. What about you, friend?" he inquired of Loren. Loren only shrugged.

"Dunno if I'm all that hungry," he said.

"You need to eat something, love," Caresn said, "and this smells delicious, R'dek."

R'dek thanked the healer, serving up a full bowl for Ml'lar, a half bowl for Loren, a nearly full one for Caresn and a like one for himself. He sat next to Rodne on the log and took a moment to anticipate his meal, inhaling the fragrance and letting the heat seep through the bowl to warm his fingers, for the evening had turned cool as the sun set. In the silence they all could hear Caresn quietly speak a short phrase in his old language.

"What?" asked Rodne, his mouth full.

"Oh," Caresn said, looking a bit self conscious. "It's... it's just a blessing my folks used to say over meals. It's to say we're thankful for our food today and that we'll be thankful for it tomorrow as well. I don't know why it just came to me tonight. I haven't thought of it in ages."

"It's not a bad thing," R'dek replied, "to take a moment before eating, to be grateful. When I was young we said..." and R'dek found the old words on his lips as though he still said them every day. "It means... 'today the food is plentiful and good, may it always be so'."

"My mom would smack me if I ever started eating before we said thanks to the Gods for our dinner each night," Ml'lar said with a chuckle of fond remembrance. "I haven't bothered since the day she died, but you know, when I have a kid, I'll probably start again. I don't know if I even believe in the Gods, but it just seems right."

"Don't get me wrong, food is definitely important," Rodne put in, scraping the bottom of his bowl as if to illustrate his point. "But if I'm feeling grateful for something, it's usually something bigger, like, say, for being alive after a day like yesterday? Or for, um, other people being alive, you know?"

"I do know, my love," R'dek said softly, leaning his shoulder against Rodne's and feeling a warmth all though him that had nothing to do with the warmth of his food.

"Aye," Caresn affirmed softly, laying his hand over Loren's. "I do as well."

R'dek saw Loren lay his partially eaten stew aside to turn his hand and curl his fingers around Caresn's. "I'm working on it," he said quietly, his voice still full of loss and sorrow. "I... I really am... it's just hard..."

"I know love," Caresn acknowledged. "I know."

R'dek's heart ached for the hunter's loss, trying to imagine having a thing so fundamental to what he did taken from him. His gaze traveled down to Loren's injured foot, bound tightly to restrict it's movement, and found his naturally analytical mind considering the mechanics of what had been damaged there. Idly, he wondered if a partial remedy might be devised through some external construction, and he let his mind wander with the idea. Ideas of this nature came to him at times, and perhaps one would come for this. He hoped it might, but for now he would keep his own council.

***

Next week: After the funeral, an affirmation of life (ie, sex) ;)

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 13

2009-09-21T18:53:43Z

This week's notes: No music this week. Just didn't seem like there was any particular mood piece for this chapter. In other news, living the teacher's life means that my schedule fills right up in September, and my writing time heads for the basement. This does not make us happy, but it does make us money.

I will continue to be able to post weekly chapters for now, as you are just getting to chapter 13 while I am writing chapter 19, but that gap is going to disappear fast. We are certainly past the halfway point, but Ch 19 is nothing like close to the end. Gawd what an epic -hope y'all are enjoying.

-TD

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 13

The new day dawned fair and clear, just as Li'bet had thought it would, heralded with the symphony of birdsong that had woken her. Drawing a long breath of the morning air, Li'bet scented how the night's storm had cleaned it, washing away the stench of blood and fear and fire that had hung over the village at the close of the previous day. The storm had been a gift, she thought, without question.

Such beneficent gifts aside, however, Li'bet knew that there were still clouds hanging over this day. Loren and his party of hunters would or would not return today, bringing tidings fair or ill, and there were the raider bodies to be disposed of, and their own dead to be laid to rest. It would be a day of reckoning, as the fishermen, herders, bakers and others in the village would come to realize that this trusted companion, coworker or partner would never again be there to lend the support or unique skills that others had come to depend upon. Today was the day they would really begin to notice just who and what they had lost, and the pain that many had not noted yesterday would be coming home today.

Li'bet fortified herself with a good breakfast, therefore, and dressed herself in some of her finer garb, out of respect for those lost, and to remind others of her leadership, as was sometimes necessary. Most days Li'bet was perfectly happy to be Li'bet the weaver, rather than Headwoman Li'bet, occupying herself in her day's labors no differently than anyone else. Other days, however, she knew that Lakeside needed it's leader, and today would, without doubt, be one of those days.

She began by facing what lay practically at her doorstep, solemnly greeting the families keeping vigil over the fallen, and even as she stepped out onto the green she saw another family arrive, grieving and bearing the body of Nevin, one of the hunters, who'd been struck in the belly with an arrow and had died during the night. She came and shared her sorrow with his woman and brother and his two daughters, then did likewise with the other families gathered there. A party of laborers had gone out a little earlier and begun digging graves up on the hillside north of the village where they laid their dead, and these fallen would be laid there at sunset this evening.

She found Caresn standing at the perimeter when she finished her condolences with the families of the dead. The healer looked tired and defeated. He'd come, having only just heard about Nevin, and although Li'bet knew he'd told the hunter's family that there was little to be done, the healer still felt bad to hear that he had finally succumbed. Li'bet drew him away from the unhappy scene and offered him a warm hug, which he accepted gratefully.

She listened attentively as he shared with her how Rodne and R'dek had come to quarrel last night, and how the storm, and R'dek's evil dream had, it seemed, brought them back together again. They were both still sleeping, he told her, but he himself had been up since dawn, uneasy with worry over Loren and the more seriously wounded from yesterday. Nevin's fate he had just learned, and another -a fisherman named Arvid, looked to join him within a day or two, but another for whom he'd feared the worst looked more hopeful this morning. Li'bet encouraged him to look on this success rather than the other failures, and he gave her a sad but grateful smile.

"I know you've the right of it," he said, "but I'll not be able to think on anything but Loren and the hunters until they've returned, and all I can seem to do is worry."

Li'bet laid a hand on the healer's shoulder, knowing better than to offer assurances about the future. She worried too, but she knew how it was between their healer and lead hunter, and knew nothing short of seeing Loren and his company appear on the south road would bring Caresn comfort... and that gave her an idea.

"Have you seen Yinte this morning?" she asked Caresn.

Caresn told her that he thought he'd seen the lad over in the grove of snow-bark trees, taking down the shelter they'd erected there for the wounded, and so they walked there together. Li'bet spotted him immediately when they came to the place and called him over.

"Do I recall," she asked him, "that you are a fair tree climber?" Yinte enthusiastically confirmed her recollection.

"There's a big acorn tree on the south way into town, a short walk distant," she told him. "Do you know the one I mean?"

"Sure!" he said. "I've even climbed it before."

"Why am I not surprised?" she commented to herself. "So, what I'd like you to do is to find yourself a perch, as high as you can in that acorn tree, and keep an eye on the south way. As soon as you see Loren and the hunters returning, come down as fast as you can to let us know, especially if it looks like they need any kind of help. Think you can do that?"

"You bet!" he cried, then, apparently realizing that he'd been a fairly important task, he recalled his decorum. "I mean, yes I can, Headwoman. I'll do just as you've asked."

"I know you will," she said, sending him off with a pat on the back. "And I'll let your parents know."

She watched him go, pausing to share the news of his new job with a friend as he went, so Li'bet knew he would likely have company in his vigil. It wasn't a bad idea.

"That's a right sharp notion, Li'bet," Caresn said to her as he too watched Yinte race off.

She answered him with a nod. "And not only for today," she said, considering. "I think it may be wise to keep a look-out there more often, maybe every day. It's not just friends and peaceful travelers we may be seeing coming down that road."

Caresn sadly nodded agreement. "Aye," he said, glancing anxiously to the south. "I suppose a lot of things like that'll have to change now."

Li'bet thought that possibly truer words had never been spoken.

***

Li'bet spent the rest of that morning visiting every corner of her village, touching base with each family in it, making note of who needed help and who had help to give. Hallen, who volunteered to oversee the rebuilding of the dock, surprised Li'bet by insisting that before he begin that project, he would help her replace the warp set on the acorn tree behind her hut, pointing out that he was the only person in Lakeside tall enough to do the job well. Li'bet chuckled at the truth of this and accepted, reflecting that even if the times had changed, perhaps the hearts of her people need not, and that was an encouraging thought indeed.

They were more than three quarters finished with the task, and the sun not quite at its zenith, when they heard shouting from the south side of town. They both dropped everything, leaving the remaining warps and weights to fall on the ground in a tangle, and raced to the south entrance, hoping for good news and fearing for the worst.

Yinte was there, supported by a couple of his young friends, and gulped for breath as he gave his news. "I seen 'em," he said between pants. "All six, I counted three times."

A ripple of profound relief passed through the gathered crowd, including Caresn, who looked like he was going to collapse for a moment. Rodne and R'dek were there too, though both of them looked as though they had just barely woken up. Hallen clapped Li'bet on the back and then moved though the crowd to greet his son, gathering him into a proud embrace.

"They might need help, Headwoman," Yinte continued when he had extracted himself from his father's arms. "It seemed like they were moving pretty slow, though they were all walking, and it looked like maybe two of them was helping another, but I couldn't see who it was. Sorry."

"You've no need to apologize, Yinte," Li'bet said, stepping forward to lay a hand on his shoulder. "You've done just as I asked and you've done it excellently. All of Lakeside is most grateful for the news you've bought today." Yinte beamed with pride and then quickly turned to accept the more comfortable accolades of his peers. Li'bet turned to the other attendant adults.

"I think we need not send half the village out to greet them," she suggested, "but certainly Caresn and perhaps three or four others with strong arms and backs to help our warriors home." Hallen volunteered, of course, and Meera's brother, Kerm, who frequently helped Hallen on his fishing boat, and Kadam, a tall, strong woman and excellent trapper who, Li'bet imagined, would have made a fine hunter had their taboos not forbidden it. Her cousin, Dirneer, was among those returning now.

Li'bet made herself wait. She felt it important to stand as an example for doing the more difficult thing, and right now, staying and waiting was harder, when she herself wanted to run and see who was hurt and hear what had happened as soon as possible. Instead, she stood with the women, with Ml'lar's sister and Sitakahus' woman -carrying his unborn child, and with Marakm's aunt and mother, and did not speculate or wonder. Rodne and R'dek came to stand beside her as well as they watched their greeting party head down the road.

"How are you doing this morning?" she asked them both, seeing shadowed eyes and tired looking, slumped shoulders. She also saw that they both had a tight grip on one another's hands. "Caresn said that you both had something less than a restful night?"

"Yeah," Rodne confirmed without meeting her eyes, "but... I think we got things... straightened out now, I hope." She saw R'dek squeeze Rodne's hand and some of the anxiety in Rodne's gaze dissipated. She nodded her understanding.

"It was," R'dek confirmed as well, "and I have come to see that my behavior yesterday, after the battle..." R'dek looked away then, his expression ashamed. "It was not... appropriate, and it was probably not very helpful, either... and I am sorry for it."

"R'dek," Li'bet answered him, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You placed yourself at great risk yesterday, and endured much, for all our sakes. If that left you in an... unsettled... state of mind, I think you can hardly be blamed."

"You are most understanding," R'dek said, grateful, though his shame was still evident in his voice. "I fear it will be some time before I can be so understanding with myself." Now it was Rodne squeezing R'dek's hand and Li'bet saw him pass his lover a shy smile.

Looking out at the waiting crowd now, Li'bet saw that Yinte had helped one of his smaller friends up onto his shoulders, giving the lad a perspective not quite so good as the one he'd have had up in the acorn tree, but still higher than most of the crowd. "I can see them!" he called now, and the crowd hushed to hear his news.

"I still can't see who's hurt," he said, "'cause they're keeping him in the middle, but it's not Sitakhus..." Chana, his woman, gave a cry of gratitude, thanking the Gods in a tearful voice.

"...And it's not Ml'lar, nor Marak'm..."

That narrowed it down, Li'bet thought worriedly, and beside her, she felt Rodne and R'dek grow tenser and more worried.

"It's... Gods' Eyes, I think it's Loren..."

Around her, the crowd reacted with dismay, and she saw Rodne's eyes close in pain and sorrow. R'dek's face was a mask of guilt. Li'bet wanted for there to be something she could say that would soften the blow, but there was nothing. She was as helpless as all of them and could only wait to learn more.

"I don't think it can be so serious though," the boy on Yinte's shoulders continued. "'Cause he's walking and everything, though it looks like your dad and the healer are helping him a lot... and he seems to be limping pretty bad."

That, Li'bet though, pursing her lips, might not be too serious at all, or it might be very bad. Rodne and R'dek stood very close to one another, exchanging worried glances and likely thinking the very same thing. Please, Li'bet prayed silently, let it not be too bad. Let their finest hunter and Caresn's love be able to be made whole and healthy again, please.

Li'bet did not deny the existence of the Gods, as Rodne did, but she did not pretend to know what motivated them, or why they seemed to answer some prayers and not others. She knew she ought to be grateful to them for sparing her village, and knew that she could not have realistically asked for no one to be harmed or slain, but still, she came to wonder later, when she had learned the nature of Loren's wound, surely... surely it had not been necessary, in this one case, to have beeen so cruel.

***

"I know I'm never going to be able to hunt again, Caresn," Loren said miserably as he lay on the bed in Caresn's hut. "You don't have to tell me that this is a bit beyond anything that Turtur can deal with."

Caresn pursed his lips and said nothing, still carefully cleaning the dried blood and dirt from his lover's wound, but he knew that Loren had the truth of it. There was no denying it.

Loren had been struck by an arrow at the back of his left foot, just above the heel, where a cord-like bit of flesh ran from the heel to the calf, severing that cord. Hunters like Loren, Caresn knew, sometimes intentionally aimed for this spot on some of their faster moving quarry, in order to slow them, but Loren had always considered it a cruel tactic and insisted that game so wounded be slaughtered quickly. Treating his lover's wound, Caresn knew a dark fear that Loren now wished that same mercy for himself.

"I'll no deny it's bad," Caresn said, "and that you're likely right about hunting, as you've been used to, but love, you must know that we'll still have need of you, always. You'll find a new place in the village, and you'll be using your skills in a different way, but your place here, love," and Caresn lifted Loren's hand to place over his own heart, "that'll never change. Never. You must know that."

"I won't live on charity," Loren said through gritted teeth. "I... I can't."

"Why would ye?" Caresn assured him. "Do ye think that hunting is the only thing you can do? It was what you were best at, aye, but you'll be best at something else now. I've no doubt of it."

"Doesn't matter what else I do," Loren said, voice subdued in misery. "I'll be pitied. I know it and you know it." He pulled his hand away from Caresn's to lay over his eyes and Caresn heard him give a little choked sound as though he were trying not to cry. "I can't live like that, Caresn, I can't..."

Caresn felt his own throat grow tight as fear and grief clouded his thoughts. "Love, love..." he plead, pulling Loren's hands away from his face to hold between his own. "You know when a man holds a longing for death in his heart, death will find him, and there's naught anyone can do to prevent it. Please love..." Caresn's voice broke now, and he felt the tears spill over onto his cheeks.

"Don't leave me, love, not like this," he wept. "I couldn't... I couldn't bear it."

Loren's face was contorted as though he were in terrible pain, his eyes screwed shut, trying to hold back the tears, but Carson saw them seeping past the tightly closed lids in spite of this and heard his love give a heartbreakingly pained little sob.

"You were right, Caresn, you were right," he choked miserably. "We should never have gone. It was a cursed venture, and if we'd listened to you... If I'd listened to you..."

"Oh love," Caresn lifted the weeping hunter to hold him in his arms, rocking him gently and murmuring soft comforts in his own broken voice. "Ye didn't know, ye couldn't, and I didn't know either. Not really. If I'd had a vision I'd have said, but I didn't... it wasn't. It was just a lover's worries, just my own fretful heart at the end of a terrible day... No one could have known. No one..."

Helpless to do otherwise, Loren gave himself over to weeping, wrapping his arms around the healer and letting his tears fall on his shoulder. "Oh Gods, Caresn," he cried, "what'll I do? I don't know what to do..."

"Just live, my own heart," Caresn murmured, stroking a hand over Loren's hair. "Just live for today and let tomorrow sort itself. Do ye thing you can do that, love? For me, if no for yourself?"

Loren nodded against Caresn's shoulder and sniffled loudly.

"Thank you love," Caresn said, pouring his heart into his words. "Now I need to lay you down again to finish binding your wound, so you'll be able to keep that promise. Is that alright?" Loren nodded again, and Caresn gently settled him on the bed, placing a tender kiss on his forehead.

Caresn set to work with skillful efficiently then, dressing the wound with a poultice of mustard and healing herbs bound with honey, then wrapping the foot and ankle with a complex binding to hold the joint immobile. It was the best he could do, but as he worked Caresn could not help seeing the awful severed cord of flesh in his lover's foot, and thinking on what it meant. It meant that Loren would surely never walk freely again, nor run nor climb, and he feared terribly that if Loren, a man of such physicality and action, dwelt on these losses too deeply, then not even Caresn's love would be enough to entice him into wanting to live now.

***

But hey, what happened?

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 12

2009-09-14T07:55:52Z

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 11

2009-09-07T11:55:37Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 11

Rodne caught up with his lover quickly enough, but the man seemed disinclined to speak, for all that he was obviously in pain. Rodne was able to guide him to sit on one of the logs near the firepit and felt enormous gratitude to see Caresn hurrying up to join them. R'dek's leggings were by now stained with both fresh and dried blood and Caresn took one look at it before directing Rodne to keep R'dek where he was and hastening to his hut to gather his supplies.

He returned shortly and knelt at R'dek's side to clean and treat his injury in silence. R'dek suffered in silence as well, sharply drawing in a breath from time to time but uttering no other sound. Caresn stood when he was done, and now Rodne could see how exhausted the healer was, and how he grieved as well, for every injured man or woman who had come to him today who he had not been able to save.

"I don't suppose I need to waste my breath," Caresn said tiredly, "tellin' you what you should and shouldn't do to see that you heal properly. You're a smart lad, and you'll do as you please, but I don't imagine that Turtur will be so obliging if you let your wound get poisoned again."

"Not gonna happen," Rodne said, fearfully clutching at R'dek's shoulders. "Not gonna let it."

"Aye," Caresn replied, letting a weary smile grace his features. "I believe it. I'm told that there's food for everyone laid out by the bachelor's lodge, if you're inclined to eat." Caresn didn't sound as if he was, though Rodne was sure he ought to eat something -they all ought to.

"If... if you wanna just hang out here, I could go get some," he offered, feeling the need to help his two friends terribly, though he hardly knew how.

R'dek didn't answer, staring off towards the lake -towards where their prisoner lay bound- without a word. Caresn, however, nodded after a moment's consideration.

"Thank you Rodne," he said eventually. "That'd be lovely, and if you look just inside the door to my hut there's some baskets you could use to carry things."

Rodne did just that and a little while later he had returned with a basket filled with bread, fruit, smoked duck meat, and cheese. Caresn started in slowly and seemed to find his apatite as he went along, but R'dek had to be coaxed into every bite. For his part, Rodne was suddenly remembering how little breakfast he'd had very early this morning, and here it was late afternoon already and, now that he had a moment to think about it, he realized that he was famished.

It was only with the utmost restraint that Rodne didn't eat through all of the food he had bought all by himself right away, and when he saw that all that was left on the bit of hide he'd set the food on were a couple of pieces of bread and an apple he figured that he probably ought to go and get some more. When he stood to go, however, gathering up the empty basket again, Caresn stood too.

"That'll do me for now," he said, "and I probably ought to go look in on the wounded folks again. Most have likely gone back to their huts with their families by now, but it's best that I check." The bachelor's lodge was on the way to the snow-bark tree grove, where the shelter for the wounded had been set up, so Caresn walked with him part way, leaving Rodne off at where the food was laid out. To Rodne's disappointment, there was not near so much food now as there had been when he first came around, but Rinta , who was overseeing the food, let him know that there was a large batch of wild rice and herbs that would be done soon if he wanted to wait. That, of course, was a no-brainer.

Rodne picked through the crumbs of cheese and hard cooked eggs left as he waited, reflecting that however screwed up things were in some respects, he was still alive, most of the residents of Lakeside were safe, and the cheese was still very good, so it couldn't be considered a total loss. He paid no attention to the strident voices he heard arguing not too far off at first, but then he realized that they were both familiar voices, and that he'd never heard them arguing before.

"Li'bet agreed, we should go," Loren's voice was saying, in a tone that suggested that this was not the first time he'd said this.

"Aye, likely because she knew you'd up and go whether she agreed or no," Caresn's voice countered, sounding even more tired and stressed.

"Or, possibly because she knows it's a good idea," Loren persisted. "We've got them on the run. We can wipe them out for once and for all if we follow after them tonight and hit them when they're down."

"Or you could walk right into a bunch of really angry raiders with nothing left to lose, and get slaughtered," Caresn said, "when they'd have been perfectly happy to ride off and lick their wounds in solitude, and never return to these parts again."

"Caresn..." Loren's voice was strained with over-tested patience and Rodne crept closer, knowing perfectly well how impolite eavesdropping is, but going anyway. "You're a healer. I get that, and I get that your priorities are to keep people safe and not to take risks, but this just isn't your area of expertise."

"And it is yours?" Rodne could see them now, and Caresn was throwing up his hands in exasperation as he spoke. "You've never killed anything that didn't have four legs or wings before today."

"It just makes sense, Caresn," Loren's tone was becoming increasingly exasperated, pacing up and down, his hands clenched in fists. "If you're hunting a wolf, and you wound it, you don't assume that it will admit defeat at that point and wander off quietly by itself. On the contrary, they become even more dangerous then, because they're desperate. That's why you have to make sure you've finished them off."

"They're not animals!" Caresn was shouting, and Rodne concluded that he could not possibly be eavesdropping at this point because half the village was hearing this now. "They're people, not wolves, even if they're fairly unpleasant people, and speaking of them as if they were... I'm sorry, but it's wrong, and it's going to lead to mistakes, just like the one you're making now."

"For the Gods' sake," Loren hissed, "are you trying to jinx us?"

"What!?" Caresn, for all that he communed with 'spirits' in his healing work, couldn't really be said to be a superstitious man, much to Rodne's relief, but Loren, like all hunters and fishermen, could be terribly superstitious at times.

"Look," Loren said. "We're going, whether you like it or not. Your options are to wish us luck, or to just please, shut up. Either way, we won't be gone long, honestly, Caresn."

Evidently, Caresn couldn't decide what to do, because now all he did was to bury his fingers in his hair, as though he wished to pull it out.

"You'll see," Loren continued, as if he had a chance in hell of convincing Caresn of anything at this point. "When morning comes, everything will be fine. Really."

If these words were meant to set Caresn at ease, they seemed to have the opposite effect. For a moment Rodne thought that the healer was actually going to collapse where he stood, and he had gone dead white, his eyes wide and... terrified.

"Don't say that!" Caresn cried, clutching the front of Loren's vest with both hands. "Gods above, ye mustn't say that, of all things!"

"Caresn? What the hell?" Loren was clearly confused and tried to shake him off. "All I said was..."

"Don't!" cried Caresn, clinging tenaciously, and looking to Rodne like he was fighting off tears. "Just... don't... don't say another word to me till you come back. I know I can't stop you, just... please come back to me love... Please...."

Loren only shook his head and pulled Caresn in for an embrace, and Rodne crept away. He didn't stop by the bachelor's lodge to get any wild rice on his way back to the fire circle either. He didn't feel hungry any more. R'dek had eaten the rest of the bread and was finishing off the apple when he returned, which was somewhat encouraging, he thought. He sat heavily on the ground by R'dek's feet, letting his head rest on his knees.

"Sorry," he mumbled when was startled out of his reverie by R'dek tossing his apple core away. "Did you want me to bring back some more food? I... kind of forgot."

R'dek's hand came to rest on his shoulder and Rodne looked up to meet R'dek's inquiring gaze, hiding nothing of his confusion and misery. "I do not require further food, Rodne," Radek said, "but I would know what has unsettled you so?"

"What hasn't?" Rodne replied, throwing up his hands then letting his head fall to rest in them. "Caresn was right," he muttered.

"What about?" R'dek asked, his hand still firm on Rodne's shoulder.

"He and Loren, they were fighting. I heard them when I went to get more food," Rodne said. "Loren wants to... well he's going, with a few of the hunters, to chase down the last of the raiders and 'finish them off'."

"Seems like a good idea to me," R'dek said.

"Are you kidding?" Rodne raised his head abruptly, looking at R'dek in alarm. "It's a terrible idea! It's inviting trouble is what it is. We beat them. They ran away! Why, by all the Gods, can't we leave it at that. Haven't we lost enough people already?"

"No!" R'dek's hand was off his shoulder and the anger was back, as though it had never been far from his thoughts. "It will never be enough, until every one of them is dead. Otherwise we will never be finished with losing people, with being afraid, and I, for one, have had more than enough of all those things!"

"Um," Rodne began to counter, torn between the evident foolishness of arguing with Radek when he was in such a mood and the wrongness of letting the remark pass. "Not that I disagree with you about the whole 'having enough' thing, but R'dek, we can't possibly kill every one of the raiders. There must be hundreds upon hundreds of bands like the one we fought today and, you know, there must be settlements somewhere with women and children raiders, and we can't just slaughter them all. That... that would be wrong."

"Wrong?!" R'dek was standing now, fists clenched and bristling with outrage. "Never before have I taken you for a fool, Rodne," he said, "but if you truly believe that, then you are a fool, and a naive one. Will you stand here wringing your hands over the 'wrongness' of slaughtering these beasts while they return to this village to wreak their havoc again and again and again? They will not be stopped, they will not be humbled save by death, and I will not hesitate to give it to them -not for a second!"

"Starting with out prisoner, eh?" Rodne accused, smarting at being called a fool. "Because killing bound and helpless prisoners, that's the way to bring about peace, right?"

"Tell me how keeping him alive aids in our cause?" R'dek retorted. "All he does is eat our food -the food he came to steal, now being delivered to him by our own people- and laugh at our foolishness. He mocks us; he mocks us!! And takes freely what he came to take by force."

"So, what..." Rodne snapped angrily. "We should starve him to death? There's the way to prove how civilized we are."

"Yes!" R'dek rounded on him, all but spitting the words in his fury. "Let him die, little by little. Let the widows curse him, let the children laugh at him, let the dogs piss on him, let him be humbled and his pride crushed; let him suffer, slowly, and then let him die! That would be true justice!"

The viciousness of R'dek's words left Rodne stunned, and now the pain behind them was clear to him. Suddenly all of Rodne's annoyance and outrage evaporated in the face of his lover's distress. "R'dek," he said, beseeching. "That's not justice. It's not right and... and, it's not you. You're... you're better than that, and all this... all this anger and hatred... It's not right for you... It's hurting you..."

Rodne's sudden change of manner seemed to confuse R'dek at first, and Rodne watched a welter of emotions battle on R'dek's features, but what emerged at the finish was not pleasant. He turned to Rodne with narrowed, angry eyes and Rodne felt his heart sink, even before R'dek spoke.

"And what do you know of what is 'right' for me?" he accused. "You have known me two summers out of forty that I have lived. You know nothing of who I am!"

"Apparently not," Rodne said quietly, feeling his heart starting to break. There was no other word for it. "I sort of thought I did, though."

"Of course you did." R'dek's scorn cut like a knife. "Everyone likes the nice little R'dek. Weak but useful R'dek; helpless but clever R'dek, who makes such fine tools, though he would not hurt a fly. This is who you think I am, yes?"

"Not... not exactly," Rodne attempted, feeling somewhat weak and helpless himself at the moment.

"R'dek the fighter, R'dek the killer, he is not so easy to love, is he?"

"What? No... I mean, that's not how it is at all..." Rodne was struggling to his feet but R'dek was already turning to go.

"I thought as much," R'dek said, striding away, not even looking back.

"Wait... please, R'dek..." Rodne implored, but it was useless. R'dek was gone. Rodne sat again, heavily, on one of the firepit logs and stared after his departing lover, or perhaps ex-lover. He thought he would cry, maybe, but it was too big for that, so Rodne only sat, staring into the distance, and wondered how victory could taste so much like ashes.

***

So many things had happened in the day already, but there was still a considerable measure of daylight yet and much to be done. Eventually Rodne went to take up all the trip lines he had laid, stacking all the stakes neatly and carefully coiling the many lengths of line. He had some offers of help as he worked, but he refused them. Rodne felt like working alone. How proud he had been, he recalled, setting these triplines up, of how clever he was, and how well they would confound the enemy.

Well, they most certainly had done that, Rodne reflected unhappily, and they had helped Lakeside's defenders immeasurably in their dealing out of death. It meant that Rodne's hands were as red with the raiders' blood as anyone else, and while he had thought nothing of what this would mean as he had laid his plans, now Rodne was not at all sure that he was happy to have any man's blood on his hands. It made him feel a little sick, and sad in a way he had not expected.

Once or twice he caught sight of R'dek, helping Hallen and a crew of some of Lakeside's stronger men haul all the dead horses from the south side of the village into a pile where they would be burned tomorrow. Caresn would, no doubt, be displeased if he knew, but it paled in the greater scheme of things, and Rodne doubted that there was anything to be done about it anyhow. Later he heard that when they'd finished with the south side R'dek had offered to help the crew on the north, but that Hallen had refused his help and told him to go home. Hearing that, Rodne had known that they really were among family here in Lakeside, and it was an unexpected, warm feeling.

He was working at the south entrance when the half dozen hunters set out on their mission. The men working out in the fields, clearing horses' and men's bodies, cheered them on, but Rodne remained mute. He wondered, unhappily, if he would ever see Loren or Marak'm or Sitakhus -soon to be a father- or Ml'lar or any of the others again, but he said nothing and returned to his work.

There was more food being served at the bachelor's lodge when Rodne finished taking down the last of the triplines. A few of them he'd found had blood on them -Lakesider blood, raider blood or horse blood, he didn't know and he didn't care. He'd bundled those up separately and placed them in the firepit when he was done. Accordingly, he didn't have so much appetite for dinner, though he did make his way through a bowl of wild rice and herbs, and a strip of dried venison.

Carson came, after a little while, to sit beside Rodne on the grass mats laid around the food in front of the bachelor's lodge. They ate together in silence, Rodne casting guilty glances in Caresn's direction from time to time because he knew the nature of Caresn's woes but Caresn didn't know his. If Caresn noticed, he didn't say anything.

After dinner Rodne spent a little time helping one of the three families whose huts had been damaged by the flaming arrows the raiders had sent into the village. Two had only had the roof damaged, but one had lost most of one side as well as the roof, and the family was moving in with relatives and needed help collecting their belongings from their ruined home. The man, Kubia, had been wounded in the fight, but still tried to help, and half of Rodne's job ended up being to keep him from doing any heavy lifting.

Rodne did some digging around in the ruins too, however, and found one of their children's toys, which seemed to be very precious, and earned him a sticky and tearful hug, both from the girl and her mother. After that he was more kinds of filthy than he had ever been in his life and so went down to the lake shore to bathe and find that more than half the village felt the need as well.

Removing his stained, singed tunic and then taking it into the water with him, Rodne immersed himself in the cool waters of the lake and let them carry away the dirt and dust, the soot and stickiness, and the sweat, tears and blood from this long and momentous day. All around him, waist or neck or knee deep in the lake's forgiving waters others -families, couples and those like himself, alone yet not alone- labored to the same end, and Rodne felt himself a part of this community, for all that he had seen himself as separate for so much of his life. He had sweated, toiled and shed blood with the people of Lakeside in their defense; he was one of them now as much as if he had been born there.

He met Li'bet on the beach when he came out and she lent him the heavy woven flax cloth she'd been using so that he could dry himself. They said little, and it was strangely easy to completely ignore the fact that both of them, along with nearly everyone else there, was naked. Li'bet knew better than to ask how Rodne was and Rodne knew better than to ask her what she thought about Loren's hunting party. She did pause to lay a hand on his shoulder as they parted, saying only, "Thank you for everything you've done today, Rodne. It won't be forgotten."

He could only offer her a wan, half smile in return, but he knew she understood. Li'bet, in her wisdom, had always understood him, from the very beginning, and some day he'd tell her how grateful he was for that.

A number of people were sitting around the fire when Rodne headed back to Caresn's hut to find a fresh loincloth and tunic. The one he'd washed in the lake he laid on the roof of Caresn's hut to dry. Then he returned from the hut with clean garb and the flask of lightning water. He found Caresn sitting by the fire with the others, too troubled or restless to sleep as yet, and passed him the lightning water. Caresn took it gratefully.

Rodne had not failed to notice, while he'd been in Caresn's hut, that half the bedding had been removed from the pallet where he and R'dek had been sleeping, and now he could see, in the distant light from the fire, a lone figure sitting hunched under the wingseed tree. So that was it, Rodne thought with sorrow, taking another swallow of the lightning water and wishing it could dull the pain in his heart. It seemed they were finished.

Caresn followed his gaze to where R'dek sat under the wingseed tree, and then glanced back at Rodne, the misery undoubtedly clear in his face. The reflected sorrow and profound understanding in the healer's gaze nearly had him undone, but Rodne wasn't quite ready to let go yet, and so only turned back to stare wretchedly into the fire.

Music cue: Maaria, from Varttina -Miero
http://www.sendspace.com/file/l1sjgb

They'd all thought to be celebrating tonight -either that or picking up the ruins of their village, but it seemed they'd avoided the latter fate. No one, however, seemed to be in a celebratory mood, whether for mourning their own losses, or pondering, as Rodne was, what it meant to have taken part in the killing of another human being, even in defense. Sitting in silence would not have been bearable, however, and so there was singing, sad and solemn songs that everyone knew much too well.

There were tears that came with the singing, especially when Teleya, to everyone's surprise, lifted her own voice in a song whose words no one could understand, but which nonetheless carried the profoundest feeling that left no one untouched. Rodne saw the tears on Caresn's face, reflected in the firelight, and found himself, without thought, laying an arm over his friend's shoulders. Caresn responded in kind, and Rodne felt a little of the aching loneliness in his heart ease just a tiny bit.

Caresn retired a little while later, and a short while after that Rodne followed him. The figure huddled under the wingseed tree had changed positions some time back, so that it seemed he might be sleeping, or at least lying down. Rodne wanted nothing more than to lie beside him, but he knew he would not be welcome and so crawled into the depleted furs on his guest bed in Caresn's hut alone. He and R'dek had been sharing that bed for more than a moon now, and R'dek's scent remained, for all that it was cold and a little stale.

It would be the same in his cave now, Rodne reflected miserably, and soon enough his lover's scent would fade from there entirely. Would R'dek make himself a hut in Lakeside, Rodne wondered, or find another cave, or worse still, decide to return to his traveling and leave them all for good? Considering any of those eventualities cut into Rodne's heart like a knife, finally bringing the tears that he had kept at bay for so long. He muffled his sobs in the furs that held his lover's fading scent and hoped that Caresn might not be awake to hear him. Caresn needed no more miseries in his life right now.

If Caresn slept through Rodne's heartbroken weeping, however, it was likely because the day had left him exhausted, and it was not so different for Rodne. Sleep finally overtook him in his grief, and that was a small mercy at least.

***

Something's gotta give, yes? And it will... it will.

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 10

2009-08-31T12:23:24Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 10

(Music notes: No particular instruction for this week's selections, found at the beginning and close of the chapter. Just listen and let them add to the story and atmosphere.)

Cue Music: Meri, from Varttina -Ilmatar
http://www.sendspace.com/file/y41bh9
(AN: If you don't cry when you hear this, there's something wrong with you.)

They made a somber little procession coming into Lakeside, and they weren't the only one. Rodne ended up carrying Trigan's body, as R'dek was still injured and the other sling bearers with them were youngsters, more or less. The lad, eldest son of Karal, one of Lakeside's many fishermen, had been struck through the heart, and R'dek told Rodne that he had probably died instantly. It was meant, Rodne imagined, to be a consolation, but Rodne's trouble was with the fact that the boy had died at all, and he suspected that the lad's parents would feel the same.

They were spared the awful task of telling Karal -Truva or Deban probably had- but the man was looking for them as they came into the village and came running over the moment he saw Rodne and his unhappy burden.

"Really, really sorry..." was all that Rodne could manage as the man took the body of his son from Rodne, sinking to his knees as he wept and rocked the boy in his arms. Karal had been with the firefighters, and he was streaked with mud and soot and now his face was streaked with tears too. The image tore at something inside Rodne, and he couldn't say whether what he felt was unbearable sorrow or rage, but he had to turn away suddenly, hands clenched into fists.

He felt R'dek's hands on his arms before he saw him, and then he was enveloped in a crushing embrace and R'dek's voice was in his ear, saying, "It's not your fault, it's not... it's not..."

Rodne started to say, 'it's not your brother,' but then didn't, because in a way, it was. It was another innocent youth who'd only wanted to protect his village and his family, who'd wanted to be a man and now never would be. There were words that might be said about his sacrifice and bravery, and they would be said a lot over the next few days, but none would really address Karal's grief, nor his mother, Ferya's, when she learned. There would be more grieving mothers in Lakeside, when the boats returned, Rodne was grimly certain.

Exactly how many, however, Rodne did not know, and now he very much wanted to. He drew back from R'dek to see that his lover's face was wet. Rodne felt his own tears very close to the surface, but they had not yet broken through. They would soon enough, he was sure, but he thought that maybe he would prefer to be alone with R'dek when they did. "I want to find Caresn," Rodne said finally, and R'dek nodded.

In their slow trek through the chaotic village -R'dek was limping badly now, Rodne noticed- they saw many reunions, some joyful, some tragic. It seemed that most of their casualties had occurred among the sling bearers, which was not so surprising. Most were young men and women, but a few were older men who'd never become hunters but had some skill with a sling. Thus it was that Emat had survived the wound in his leg, but his father had not. His aunt was sitting with him now under the shelter set up for the wounded, holding his hand as the two of them wept.

Yinte was there too, sitting with a cousin who had been among the sling bearers at the northern entrance and who had taken an arrow in the shoulder. There, Yinte and his cousin Vedir recounted, the raiders had taken a terrible toll on those defending the entrance, because a hill sloped up from the village border to the north, giving the raiders a clear view of the defenders hiding in the grass. Only Vedir and Hallen had survived there, and only R'non's bow had kept the raiders from approaching the entrance. All in all, Yinte told them, gesturing toward the central green where the bodies were being laid out, it seemed that twelve men and women of Lakeside had given up their lives defending their home.

It was likely, Rodne thought, looking over the thirty or more wounded laying under the hide roof, erected to shelter the wounded, that one or more of those here now would join those lying on the green. It meant, Rodne's calculatory mind immediately supplied, that a little more than one person out of twenty from Lakeside's two hundred residents had paid the ultimate price for the safety of their fellows. If they had to do it again, he reflected, they could, and they could probably reduce the death toll considerably, as they had learned a lot today. Rodne knew he had anyway.

"Yinte," do you know where Caresn is?" R'dek was asking, and Rodne shook himself from his reverie to hear the answer. "I thought we would find him here, but I don't see him."

"Since there are no more newly injured coming," Yinte told them, "he has gone to treat the raider. They said he was injured when he fell from his horse."

"Injured," Rodne muttered. "It's a miracle he's not dead. Did you see him 'fall'?"

Yinte shook his head. "Did you?" he asked, wide eyed. "They're saying he was dressed in gold and jewels, and his riding beast too, and that they flew like the wind... until they hit our trap!" Yinte grinned at his retelling of how this fight would almost certainly be remembered, regardless of the facts.

"Yes, we saw him," Rodne said, rolling his eyes, "and he was not wearing gold or jewels, and neither was his horse." Yinte's face fell, and Rodne gave a defeated sigh. "Though they were both, um, decked out a bit with some kind of shiny metal and other, ah, stuff."

Now Yinte smiled up at him with near hero worship that made Rodne squirm a bit inside. "Anyhow," he said a little loudly. "We were going to go and find Caresn, yes?"

R'dek laughed and stood, slowly and a little painfully. "We're going to have to get him to look at that too," Rodne said, gesturing at R'dek's leg as they headed toward where Yinte had said the prisoner was being kept. That was at the eastern edge of the village, not so far from where the smoldering remains of their dock stood, and R'dek's limp got worse and worse as they walked. Rodne had begun thinking about how Caresn was going to tear R'dek a new one for aggravating his injury so badly, but eventually ended up suggesting that R'dek stop and rest were he was and that Rodne would go and get Carson and bring him here. R'dek would have none of it, however.

"I wish to see the prisoner," R'dek said, eyes hard, and would not say any more. He didn't even let Rodne lend him a shoulder after that, and so Rodne only sighed and walked with him in silence. Li'bet was there when they arrived, as were Loren, Marakm, Sitakhus and Ml'lar, Telaya and R'non, and Caresn. The healer was just standing up from where the prisoner lay bound, brushing the sand off his knees and looking around so that he noticed Rodne and R'dek right away. He also noticed R'dek's limp, and the fresh blood staining his leggings.

"Gods above," he said with a resigned sigh. "I just knew you'd do yourself a mischief out there today... though I suppose you might have come out of it far worse. R'dek, lad, you should've just waited for me back at the injury tent; I'd have got to you eventually."

R'dek only shook his head, looking past Carson to the prisoner. "I came here to see him," R'dek said in a flat voice that Rodne found disturbing for some reason. "You can look at my wound when we come back to your hut later."

Rodne and Caresn shared a helpless gaze, though Caresn's was a little surprised as well. Rodne was not, for he had figured the pattern by now. R'dek got a little weird when there were raiders around -weird in a kind of disturbing way. He and Caresn stood back now and let R'dek pass and walk up to where their prisoner knelt on the grass. He was kneeling by necessity, as his wrists were bound together and in turn bound to his ankles, which were likewise tied. All these bindings were fastened to a span of rope no more than two paces in length which was tied to a stout pole, half as tall as a man. He was hobbled and leashed, like an ill behaved dog, Rodne thought, and somehow that seemed wrong to him too.

Perhaps that was because, hobbled or no, he was not at all humbled. Beaten and streaked with dirt, his shoulder bound as -Caresn explained- he had put it out of it's joint when he landed, his fine copper and bronze jewelry removed, the man still seemed almost regal, in his own way, and Rodne could tell that he knew it. He was dressed in a black leather vest and leggings, and Rodne recalled that he'd had bracers on his forearms earlier, but they'd been removed along with his necklaces and bracelets. Clearly the man was fit and strong, back held proud and straight even as he knelt, and Rodne could easily see why he'd been a leader. R'dek, however, seemed to see none of that.

He stood silently for a long moment, his gaze holding a burning hatred that it disturbed Rodne to see, then, without warning, he spat on the prisoner, the spittle striking his face. What followed was undoubtedly a stream of the vilest swears imaginable... in a language that no one there but R'dek could understand. Even the raider, whose expression up to now had been one of casual contempt, wavered a bit, letting a little dismay show. R'dek's rant continued to build speed until, with lightning speed, he lifted his hand and struck the man on the face, hard. The raider swayed with the force of the strike, but did not flinch, and a second later Loren had hold of R'dek's hand, holding it back from further acts of violence.

R'dek turned on Loren now, fury in his gaze, but held back, containing himself until the fury abated and R'dek relaxed... somewhat. "Sorry, can't be doing that, friend," Loren admonished, and R'dek yanked his hand away, turning back to the prisoner with an angry glower.

"R'dek, he is our prisoner, but he is also out guest," Li'bet said now, stepping forward to stand before R'dek and the raider. "If we are better than they are, then we need to show it by our actions, no matter how strong our feelings may be."

"Do you expect a wolf to be swayed by our high principles?" R'dek snapped. "Would you show mercy to the lion that has slain your neighbor's children and comes to slay yours? This... this creature deserves nothing but to die, slowly and unpleasantly."

"Say, friend..." the raider spoke at last, his tone shockingly relaxed and even laconic. "I really don't know what your gripe is with me, but I can tell you for a fact that I have never been anywhere that they talk like you talk... if that helps to clarify matters."

"Your... kind," R'dek spat the words with such venom, "have murdered and raped and thieved their way across the whole land, and your hands are red with every drop of blood spilled in their vile acts. It was your people who killed my family and half of my old village, your people who destroyed their village," R'dek gestured toward Teleya and R'non, "and countless others like it. I call you to account for all of it!"

Li'bet looked a little discomfited by this, and the raider a touch displeased, then his eyes narrowed and his expression turned sly.

"Oh, I bet I know what's going on here," he said, his tone poisonously condescending. "You were hoping to find your daddy, weren't you? I'll bet you're one of those kids whose mommy told you that she only knew your daddy for one night, but that he promised to come back some day and make a man of you, isn't that right?" When the raider grinned now he did almost look like a wolf, Rodne thought.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, guy," the raider continued, everyone else too outraged to stop him, "but while I've certainly left my share of spawn behind in a dozen or more villages, you're a little old to be one of mine. Sorry." The man's callously amused expression put the lie to his last words, and only twisted the knife, and this had the expected result.

"Filth!!" R'dek spat and hauled back to hit him again, though Loren saw it coming and prevented it again.

"Sorry friend," he said sincerely. "Can't let you go there."

"You will not speak of my mother!" R'dek raged, his face dark with fury. "You will not defile her memory with your filthy words! She burned to death, trapped in her own home with her infant daughter rather than let any such as you lay hands on her! Filthy dog!! Whore's son!!" This was followed by another succession of truly vile sounding swears in R'dek's native tongue and finished with another accurately delivered mouthful of spittle.

"R'dek..." Rodne said quietly, imploring, because as furious as his lover plainly was, Rodne could not help seeing also that he was in greater distress, pain even, than he had ever seen. Rodne wanted to take him away from this man, who was only making the pain worse, for all that R'dek seemed to want to stay. R'dek remained with his back to him, however, seemingly caught in a spell of rage and resentment woven by their prisoner, who, it seemed, was not so powerless for all that he was bound and tethered.

"R'dek," Li'bet's voice held something different from Rodne's, something subtly commanding, and this broke the spell, for R'dek shuddered at her speaking of his name. "That's enough," she said, her tone neither reproving nor commending, but not to be ignored. Now, when Rodne reached out to take R'dek's hand he came, though he stood mutely at Rodne's side, his face blank.

"Just trying to help out," the prisoner said disingenuously, shrugging as though it did not hurt in the least, though with a recently disjointed shoulder, Rodne knew that it must.

"If you are sincere in that desire," Li'bet said in a cold, intractable voice which made it clear that she knew he was not, "then you will give us answers to the questions we have asked. Will others come to rescue you, and if so, how many and when may we expect them? Our new friends tell us that we can make no honest deals with your people, but I will tell you frankly that we have no wish to make war with your people, and if they will be satisfied with your return, promising to leave us in peace, then I would make that deal."

Teleya, Rodne noted, frowned at this, but she kept silent. It was possible that she had never seen any village gain an advantage such as this. The prisoner's answer, however, lent strength to Teyla's earlier assertion, and to R'dek characterization of the raiders as well.

"No one," the man said after a long moment. "No one will be coming to rescue me, and there will be no ransom paid either. We don't do that. And the fact that I've been captured," the man's mouth twisted, and there was suddenly an expression of such bitterness on his face, Rodne was shocked to see it. "The fact that I've been captured means that I'm no longer worthy to be a raider, much less their leader. I've lost my Honor," Rodne heard the weight of the word on the man's tongue, and wondered at it's meaning. "And once that's gone there's no getting it back."

Li'bet's expression softened at these words, but there was only pity in her gaze and Rodne saw that this wounded the man as R'dek's vilest insults had not.

"So it would seem that you're ours now," she said thoughtfully, shaking her head. "Not that I have any idea what to do with you. We don't even know your name," she finished with a sorrowful shake of her head.

"You can call me Shef'hred," the prisoner said. "And it doesn't really matter what you do with me." He shrugged again, and this time he didn't try to hide his wince.

A sound from the lake shore now called Rodne's attention to the fact that the boats bearing the women, elders and young children were at last coming ashore, on the sandy stretch of beach near Hallen and Meera's hut rather than at the now nonexistent dock. They were being met by family members as they came in, some with jubilation, some with sorrow. Before long there were shouts and cries coming from that direction, as villagers who had suffered losses came to learn of the prisoner and, like R'dek, appeared to wish to unleash their anger and grief upon him. At a nod from Li'bet, Ml'lar and Marak'm stepped forward to stop them, and Li'bet came to stand beside them.

"My friends," she said solemnly. "I know you grieve, and would have justice from our prisoner, but I pray you, take this time now to spend with your families. Give yourselves the space of a day or two to temper your feelings, knowing that the justice you will seek by then will have a more sober quality."

"My Yanos is dead!" cried a woman's voice, broken with grief. "My Emmat lies wounded! What justice is there for that? What recompense? I say he who deals in death should know it for himself!" Hearing these words, many in the small crowed voiced their approval and agreement loudly.

"Renna," Li'bet stepped forward to take the grieving woman's hands in her own, pleading. "I beg you, my good friend, my sister, has there not been enough death dealt out today, that we must cause more? I swear to you, on my man's grave, that the prisoner will face justice, but I will brook no acts of retribution. No man or woman ever had a loved one returned by that means, and no heart was ever granted peace by such acts either, though you may long for it now. Go to your son, Renna , and tell him that you love him still. See that he will live and heal and cherish him, and let not your hearts be poisoned by thirst for revenge. Please..."

There was a tense moment, and then Renna dissolved into sobs, collapsing on Li'bet's shoulder until others from the handful of grieving women gathered round and supported her, and each other. Many black and hateful looks were cast in the direction of the prisoner, but the crowd eventually departed and Rodne and the guarding spearmen all relaxed. Shef'hred did too, though he tried to hide it.

"You should have let them have him," R'dek muttered darkly. "They would have shown him some real justice." Indeed, Rodne reflected, those women would had torn Shef'hred to bits with their bare hands. Slowly.

"Is that what you would have, toolmaker?" Li'bet said, and Rodne was surprised by the sharpness of her tone. It had to have been, he reflected, a terrible and long day for her as well. "Would you have the grieving mothers of Lakeside stain their own hands with blood as well? Do you think that will give them peace, rather than add fuel to their nightmares?"

For a moment, to Rodne's dismay, it seemed that R'dek had an argument for her, but his eyes were full of hurt, anger and confusion, and after a moment he only muttered a short curse and stormed off, limping painfully as he went, back in the direction of the firepit , without uttering another word. Rodne ran after him, calling his name. Lakeside had won her battle, Rodne reflected unhappily as he hurried after his wounded lover, but she had lost something too, something precious, and quite possibly irredeemable.

Music for angry, angry R'dek: Riena, from Varttina -Miero
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ehu0xv

***

Next week: How bitter the fruits of victory...

Rodney again

2009-08-26T12:05:09Z

A contrasting expression this time. Wish I knew what episode this was from.

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 9

2009-08-24T10:31:16Z

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 8, now with musical soundtrack!

2009-08-24T10:17:14Z

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 7

2009-08-17T10:12:46Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The raiders had most certainly sent scouts to inspect Lakeside and it's defences, but the Lakesiders had done the same, and learned much. They could learn more still, Teleya suggested, by speculating as to what the raiders' scouts would have seen and the conclusions they might draw from it.

"They will surely have seen the 'cattle barricades'," Teleya pointed out at a meeting of elders one afternoon after it had been determined that the raiders were likely to come in the next day or so.

"They will have seen that they were not completed," she continued, "and this fact may have even motivated them to attack sooner than they might have otherwise."

"That sounds like a bad thing," Li'bet remarked.

"Not necessarily," Teleya explained. "It mens that they will most likely come in fewer numbers, as more of their men are still required to hold the last village they took. To attack now means that they must spread their forces more thinly."

"Okay, that makes sense." Li'bet did look reassured, Rodne thought to himself, and she definitely wasn't stupid. After all the time he and R'dek had spent with them, Rodne had come to the conclusion that Teleya and R'non most certainly knew what they were doing, and that they were trustworthy. It was comforting to see that Li'bet had apparently come to the same conclusion.

"Another advantage for us, I believe," Teleya said, "is that the raiders are likely to suspect nothing of our hidden obstructions, thinking that we have spent all our efforts on the unfinished cattle barricade. They will likely be more confident and less cautious when approaching."

"Meaning that they're more likely to head right into our trip-lines at full speed, yes?" Loren remarked. "Then that's definitely a plus. If we position the sling-stone throwers in the tall grass near those places, we can bring down a lot of them in the first charge."

Rodne agreed, though he was trying not to think about how most of the sling-stone throwers would be those too old or young to be among the hunters... and R'dek, who had adamantly insisted upon taking a role in the actual fight. He himself would be organizing the small group of those he'd deemed the best knotters, who would be repairing the trip lines as the raiders' horses stumbled into them. More than a few, Rodne assumed, would give way even as they served their purpose, and it would not do for them to leave a clear entrance into the village on a second approach. He and his crew would be tasked with finding and repairing the damaged lines as the riders fell upon them, in the heat of battle. He was more than a little nervous about that, but understood perhaps better than anyone else how vital the task was.

"I agree," Teleya answered Loren. "If we divide those with slings into five groups, to cover the five largest openings, there will be enough to leave those openings quite well defended. How many have you now that can manage your new spear sticks?" she asked.

"We have ten that have mastered it, including myself," Loren said, "and another four or five that have nearly done. I figured we'd find ourselves some good spots behind the barricades, since we have the distance, and they will provide some cover from the arrows the enemy will be firing."

"They will," R'non confirmed, "but if the raiders spot where you're hiding they'll concentrate their fire there and they'll eventually get through, so you should probably plan to move around a lot too."

"I figured as much," Loren replied, nodding over at Sitakhus, who stood to his left, making sure that he took this advice to heart too. The hunter nodded in return, then looked out across the circle at Teleya and R'non, and at Li'bet.

"Can I ask," he began a little hesitantly, as he was here not as an elder but as Loren's right hand man, "if we've made any plan to keep the women and youngest children safe? I know we'll be doing our best to keep the raiders out of the village, but if the women and children remain scattered around in different huts they'll be too easy to grab while we're busy elsewhere, and if they all stay together in one place then they'll just make a more tempting target."

Of course, Rodne reflected, Sitikahus had a new, young mate, who was currently carrying his child. Naturally he was worried, and likely not the only one of the hunters with similar concerns. This could be serious, Rodne thought, for if the hunters were too distracted with worry for their families, then they would not be at their most effective in defending the village, and neither Teleya nor R'non looked as though they had an answer.

"I may have an idea about that," said Li'bet, unexpectedly. All eyes turned instantly to her.

"I believe that there is a place we can hide our most vulnerable people," she said, "where they could be seen, but not touched, even by the arrows from R'non's bow." She pointed now, a dramatic gesture, towards the wide lake to their east, calm now as it generally was in the summer, with the great cluster of fishing boats on the near shore. Rodne saw what she meant immediately, and saw the genius in it too. He'd always thought her to be a good and wise leader, and if any in the village had doubted it before, this should end those doubts.

"I was originally thinking about how we could keep our boats safe," she explained. "For it seemed likely that the raiders might try to burn them, and when I thought about how it might be achieved that they could all be moved out of harm's way, it occurred to me that anyone on those boats would be safe too... in the middle of the lake."

"Of course!" Teleya's face broke into a broad smile. "Headwoman, that is a truly ingenious idea," she exclaimed. "For the raiders will be unable to reach them, yet they will still be able to see them, and this will infuriate them all the more."

"And we want these raiders to be even more furious with us than they already are?" came Kvena'ah's acerbic question.

"A fighter whose mind is clouded with anger is a distracted fighter," R'non answered calmly enough. "And easy to defeat. Any raider who spends any time standing on the lakeshore shouting threats at your women will be an easy target."

"I will go now and carry this excellent idea to the womenfolk and crafters," said Zuszka, Lakeside's best potter and eldermost of the crafters. "We can quickly prepare the boats to carry foodstuffs and some slingstones too. Any raider who thinks that he will find us only frightened and helpless should he try to swim to us, will be most unpleasantly surprised."

A dry chuckle went around the circle of those gathered, for all knew that many of the women of Lakeside were deadly shots with a sling. Some of those women not yet with children to care for would be among those hiding in the tall grass near the trip lines, but now those men with children, or with sisters who had children, or elder parents, would have one less thing to worry about. Rodne felt the resolve in those around him become firm, determined. It was something he had never felt from the citizens of Lakeside before, for the village had never before known war, and Rodne was both comforted and troubled to feel it.

At his side, R'dek worked almost obsessively now making new spearpoints, and every one he finished found a hunter waiting for it, with a spearshaft ready for it's deadly component. In the days since his highly successful spear-stick demonstration, R'dek's mood had grown gradually yet progressively darker, his brow furrowed in grim determination nearly all the time now. It was revenge that was on his mind, Rodne feared, and he thought of R'non's words from a moment ago. If R'dek's mind was clouded by thoughts of vengeance, he too might make mistakes, or put himself into danger. Rodne resolved to stick close to his lover throughout the fight, though it might make fulfilling his other duties more difficult.

"Has anyone else any questions about what they will be doing when the raiders come?" Li'bet was asking now. She was answered only with thoughtful head shaking.

"You have organized a fine defence for your village," Teleya said with admiration a moment later. "Though the position of this settlement has provided many challenges, I believe your plans will overcome them. R'non and I have fought with many villages against the raiders, sometimes successfully, and sometimes not so successfully, and my experience tells me that your fight will be successful. Your plans are most ingenious, your people cooperative and brave, and your determination unparallelled. It will be a pleasure and an honor to fight beside you."

This encouraging speech was answered with a hearty cheer from the hunters and a few others, and the meeting broke up with encouraging words and muttered plans. Rodne looked over to R'dek again, to see that his demeanor had not changed in the least. "You, um, want to go and join Caresn for some lunch?" Rodne suggested. "I think he could use the company."

R'dek only shook his head, flaking away another bit of the spearpoint he was working on. "Am not hungry," he said, "but you should go."

"R'dek..." Rodne laid a hand on the toolmaker's lean shoulder, not bothering to keep the worry from his voice. "You're still healing, and you need to be resting and eating more. You could get sick again, Caresn says so too. Please...?"

R'dek's expression, as he looked sharply over his shoulder at Rodne, was annoyed at first -the way he looked when one of the children was bothering him overmuch- but gaze softened when he saw the undisguised concern on Rodne's face. "Very well," he said after a moment. "You may... have a point, and at least we can give Caresn one less thing to worry about."

Glancing about, Rodne saw that there was no one nearby to see them, and leaned over to give R'dek a kiss on the cheek as he helped him to his feet, and R'dek rewarded him with an affectionate smile. Caresn was indeed worried about a lot of things, naturally. He'd spent the last few days in the forest, gathering an unprecedented amount of mosses and other herbs and plants he'd need to treat the wounds and injuries sure to result from the coming fight. He was unhappy about all of it, though he knew there was nothing to be done to prevent it, and most especially he was worried about Loren.

There was nothing to be done about that either, however, anymore than there was any way to convince R'dek to stay away from the fight. Rodne had already tried. Instead he did his best not to think about it, as Caresn was surely trying not to think about the danger Loren would be in, and fortunately there was a host of other things to occupy Rodne's thoughts, and Caresn's too. Unfortunately, too many of those things merely added further worries.

"By all the Gods," Rodne could hear Caresn's voice, strident and exhausted as they approached his hut. "If there's a place for you on the boats then you should go, Meera. Ye've wee ones to care for, and they don't need their mum out dodging arrows and putting herself at risk while helping me."

"Um, hey..." Rodne said, poking his head in the door to see Careson and Meera facing off in the center of the healer's hut. There was almost no room to move in there, as everywhere was piled high with baskets and bundles of things that Caresn, and Meera, had collected over the last few days. "We thought maybe you'd like to get some lunch?" Rodne said uncertainly. "Or we could come back later...?"

Caresn spared Rodne a cursory glance, returning his determined gaze to Meera, but her look was even more determined, and Rodne already knew who was going to win this argument. After a moment Caresn came to the same conclusion, and his shoulders slumped tiredly. "It seems I'm finished here for now," he said with a sigh. "And a bit of nourishment and fresh air would likely do me some good."

They spread out their provisions on a grassy patch by the shady side of Caresn's hut, and it was harvest season, so the provisions were fresh and abundant. Rodne lit into the fresh berries, bread and cheese with gusto as always, but after a few mouthfuls could not help but noticing that neither of his dining companions seemed to have anywhere near as much appetite as he did.

"Oh come on guys," he exhorted. "Wild raspberry season only lasts about six days, and okay, yes, this year's has unhappily coincided with our raider crisis, but it's still raspberry season."

Caresn, at least, cracked a smile at this and reached for the bowl of berries. "Aye, you've a point, no mistake," he admitted, popping a few in his mouth. "And it was a particularly fine year for them. R'dek?" Carson passed to bowl over, but the toolmaker only shook his head. R'dek had a piece of bread in his hand, and he seemed to have taken a couple of bites, but Rodne didn't think he'd eaten anything else.

"R'dek, lad," Carson prompted, "has your wound been troubling you? I know I've been so busy, I haven't looked at it in a few days. Maybe..."

"Is fine," R'dek interrupted bluntly, biting off another chunk of bread and chewing aggressively.

There was a moment of silence and then Caresn said, slowly, "Then you won't mind if I have a look at it, will you." It wasn't a question.

R'dek huffed and set down his bread. "Look then, if you must," he snapped, unfastening his leggings to reveal his injury.

Caresn came over to R'dek's side, looking closely, and then laying his hands gently over the wound, moving down it's length. When they came to about a handspan above his knee, R'dek flinched a little. "Is it paining you a bit there?" Caresn asked, nothing at all accusative in his tone.

Disarmed by Caesn's gentleness, R'dek frowned and then nodded. "A little," he admitted.

"Aye," Caresn said, nodding. "It feels a bit warm here, which isn't so surprising considering it was deepest here." Caresn knelt back to meet R'dek's gaze. "I appreciate that you've been keeping off it, for the most part," he said, "and that getting good food and rest is like to be difficult these days, but I'd like you to try. I'd also like you to start taking that tea I gave you mornings and evenings. Can ye do that, lad?"

R'dek nodded, sighing and tying up his leggings when Caresn lifted his hand away. Rodne was relieved to hear that R'dek was still healing well, but it seemed to him that there was still something not quite right with his lover. Caresn seemed to think so too if the long steady look he was giving R'dek was any indication.

"Can you tell me what else is troubling you, lad?" Caresn finally asked outright when R'dek remained silent. R'dek frowned and lifted his hands to push his hair out of his face, glancing over at Rodne, and then back at Caresn. Evidently seeing the concern on both his friends' faces, he finally gave a resigned sigh, staring down at the grass as he spoke.

"There are memories..." he said at last. "Memories I have not visited in a long time... that come to haunt me now. It is too close, what is happening here now. I see my brother's face in those of the young men who will go out and fight with slings and stones... and I cannot help but wonder how many will not come back, as he did not."

"Aye, I thought as much," Caresn said kindly, reaching up to lay a hand on R'dek's shoulder. "There's naught any of us can do save to wait for the 'morrow," he said. "But don't forget that there's those here as care for you too. You're not alone, lad."

R'dek nodded, still looking down. "I know," he said quietly, but all Rodne could think of was that R'dek would be among those sling stone throwers too, and suddenly his own appetite fled. He was not sure how R'dek, so lost in his own troubles, came to sense Rodne's change in mood, but now R'dek's hand was on his own shoulder, grip firm and strong.

"Rodne," he said. "I will not leave you, as my brother left me, I promise you."

Rodne wanted to believe him, wanted more than anything to take comfort in R'dek's promise, but the words that came out of his mouth were fearful and bitter. "And you think your brother didn't make the same promise, to your mother? To you?" Rodne could not meet R'dek's eyes, but it didn't matter. In the next moment R'dek's arms were around him, holding Rodne tight.

"I will not, I will not," R'dek was murmuring, desperate conviction in his words. "By all the Gods I swear it, Rodne, I will not leave your side."

Rodne returned his lover's embrace, knowing that neither one of them could promise much. They both had jobs to do that would place them in harm's way, for the only other choice was to abandon Lakeside and their friends and this they could not do. "I know," Rodne said. "I know, and I'll stick by yours, no matter what."

The rest of lunch was a quiet affair, but they each made a good meal of it, knowing that nourishing themselves well was as necessary for the defense of the village as any of the other preparations they were making. Afterwards Rodne went out to walk the borders of the village, checking and rechecking the trip lines to be sure they were all tied securely.

R'dek went off to practice his sling skills, which were not so bad as long as he remained within about twenty paces of his target, and his target was a wide trunked tree. Rodne found him still hard at work when he returned from his rounds, even thought it was growing late and the light was failing.

"You know," Rodne offered, "you could help me manage the trip lines instead of trying to be a fighter. You know the knots, and we'll probably need more people on that job."

"You will need someone to watch your back as you do this work as well, yes?" R'dek said, letting another stone fly and grunting in satisfaction as hit the tree with a loud smack. "And also," he continued, running the straps of his sling through his fingers, "I want to hurt them. I want to hurt them very much."

"Yeah, okay," Rodne said quietly, understanding, even if the understanding worried him and made him feel sad for reasons he couldn't quite fathom. "But right now we've got just enough light left to gather up all the stones you've been practicing with, and then Caresn's made some good rabbit stew. That okay?"

"It is, yes," R'dek replied with a nod, walking with Rodne to the base of the tree to gather his stones. They returned to Caresn's hut for dinner in silence, and the three of them partook of their meal in much the same manner, each of them lost in their own troubling thoughts. It was almost with relief that they heard the news that Yinto brought them as they finished their dinner, carrying it from hut to hut through the whole village.

The raiders were making their preparations, he told them, and would almost certainly come to Lakeside at dawn tomorrow.

****

Cue ominous music...

Hey, I can draw other guys too!

2009-08-15T18:05:11Z

Like Rodney.

Not superman, but pretty damned close.

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 6

2009-08-11T12:39:14Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta:Many thanks to my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 6

R'dek elected to start on his way to the indicated tree now and send Rodne to bring as much bedding as he could carry. "And the flask!" R'dek called as an afterthought as Rodne scrambled to gather what they'd need.

"Perhaps you'd like me to bring the whole bed?" Rodne quipped when he eventually caught up with R'dek and handed him the flask of lightning water. "The fire might be nice too, yes?"

"It would be, yes," R'dek admitted, pausing to take a long swallow of the liquor, "but it would take to long, and I am feeling a little impatient."

"Impatient, eh?" Rodney flashed a lustful grin as he strode ahead of R'dek to throw the bedding down onto the thick grasses and dried leaves at the foot of the tree.

"What do you expect?" R'dek groused, gesturing with the flask which Rodne finally took off his hands. "It has been days and days since I last knew any release, even from my own hand, whereas you," he pointed accusingly, "I know for a fact, have been sneaking off..."

"Hey, I am only human," Rodne didn't even bother to deny it, R'dek noted with humor. "And I was thinking of you."

"And what," R'dek asked, sitting slowly and carefully on one of the hides Rodne had spread, "were you thinking about me?"

"Mmm..." Rodne said, helping R'dek down and then coming to sit beside him, wrapping them both in R'dek's new rabbit fur blanket. "Mostly," he answered finally, "I was thinking about the first time I sucked you."

"Indeed?" R'dek queried, wriggling out of his tunic while at the same time snuggling close to Rodne, which was no small feat. "What do you remember?"

"Oh gods, everything," Rodne answered, though to be honest, R'dek reflected, he might also be rhapsodising about his now exposed torso, which Rodne was caressing with both fingers and lips. "I mean, I remember being a little nervous to start, but then the first time I actually tasted you, felt your cock on my tongue..." Rodne shivered a little and then reached up for a kiss, which R'dek could hardly deny him, for all that it complicated his attempt to remove Rodne's garment.

"Skin so soft..." Rodne carried on when their kiss had ended and Rodne proceeded to nibble and kiss his way along R'dek's jaw and down his neck. "Cock so hard..." It was hard to tell whether Rodne was still reminiscing or commenting on his current explorations, as his hand was now cupped over R'dek's crotch, and his cock was indeed very hard.

"As soon as I tasted it, I wanted it," Rodne was saying now. "I can't explain it. I wanted to take as much as I could... I wanted to fill my mouth and throat with it..."

R'dek groaned and arched in anticipation. "Please tell me that is what you are having in mind right now," he begged, entirely without pride.

"Oh hell yes," said Rodne, unfastening R'dek's loincloth and moving his mouth lower still, to the hollow bellow his hips.

"Please, please, Rodne," R'dek begged, moaning with need.

"Some people don't, I guess..." Rodne mused philosophically as he nuzzled the dark curls of hair at the base of R'dek's cock, "but I liked the taste of you from the very start. Don't think I'll ever get enough..." As if to prove his point, Rodne now licked the first few drops of precum from the head of R'dek's cock, and R'dek gave a loud, if inarticulate, cry.

"Oh yeah..." Rodne said in delight, and then took the whole of R'dek's cock in his mouth with evident relish.

"Gods! Rodne!" Radek cried aloud, and Rodne hummed in delight.

***

Caresn laughed to hear R'dek's voice lifted loudly in obvious pleasure. "Now that's lovely to hear," he said as he lay back on his bed, comfortably naked on the furs there.

"Why's that?" Loren asked with a raised eyebrow as he divested himself of his tunic, leggings and loincloth.

"He's had a hard time of it," Caresn said, "and hearing that he's able to enjoy himself so, that's a sure sign that he's well on his way to being truly healed, in body and mind. Also," Caresn rolled to take in the vision of his beautiful lover standing naked in the lamplight of his hut, "it's a healthy thing for a man or woman, to take such pleasures as often as they can."

"Well then," Loren said, climbing over Caresn to sit astride him. "I'm all in favor of a healthy lifestyle. How do you think we should address that, healer?"

"I suggest a judicious application of this critical ingredient," Caresn said, holding up the pot of goose fat. "But I'm happy to take your suggestions on where it should be applied."

"How about... everywhere," Loren finished by whispering the last word into Carson's ear just before he moved across to take Carson in a hungry kiss. Carson happily let Loren ravish his mouth as he remembered how he had decided, on a whim, to enter the wrestling contest in the mid-summer games this year. All the wrestlers had covered themselves in some kind of oil or fat to make themselves harder to grab hold of, so Carson had done the same.

He'd done surprisingly well in the contest, and was among the last four competitors, when he drew a match with Loren. The two men had stared at each other, all but naked and their bodies glistening with oil in the mid-summer sun, and Carson realized that if the two if them actually started to wrestle they'd be ripping their loin-clothes off and fucking each other's brains out in front of half the village in no time. Caresn had elected to forfeit.

The memory alone could still make him hard, and now, with Loren sitting astride him, his balls brushing over Caresn's cock, Caresn felt as hard as a rock. He handed over the jar of goose fat when Loren gestured for it, and Caresn supposed that he'd probably lie still for it, even if Loren did choose to cover him entirely in goose fat, though he would likely ask him to move the nicer furs away first. Loren did not do this, however, but instead put a tiny dab on each of Caresn's nipples, which he then stopped to play with for a while.

Caresn sighed with pleasure, running his hands over Loren's perfect, firmly muscled thighs and enjoying immensely the sensation of being pinned at the waist by Loren's solid weight while Loren's fingers on his nipples made him want to writhe and arch his back. Although Caresn had not had so many lovers, he still found Loren to be rather unique, in that he definitely preferred to take a dominant role in sex, but also clearly liked to be on the receiving end of Caresn's cock. Caresn had no complaints about any part of this, and it appeared as though Loren was looking for more of the same this evening, for he was already slicking up Caresn's cock with generous quantities of goose fat.

Caresn moaned with pleasure and helplessly tried to thrust his hips against Loren's weight, but he was well and truly pinned. Loren chuckled at his predicament and pinched one of Caresn's nipples, hard.

"Don't move," he said now, his voice rough with arousal and almost dangerous sounding. He knelt up then, reaching behind himself with fingers full of more goose fat, preparing himself for Caresn's cock. Sometimes he let Caresn do this, but Loren seemed to prefer to retain control even here. Caresn, for his part, loved to watch Loren's face go soft with pleasure as he pressed his fingers into himself, making himself slick and open for Caresn's cock.

"Stay still," he said, moving forward a bit to position himself, and though it was no easy thing, Caresn complied. His reward would come soon enough. It came now, as Loren lowered his body with perfect control, impaling himself slowly, slowly, onto Caresn's cock. Caresn whimpered, holding himself as still as he could as he was gradually enclosed in Loren's warm, slick tightness.

"Gods..." Loren gasped. "Gods you feel so good."

"Ah love..." groaned Caresn, panting to hold himself still. "So beautiful, so strong..." And so fantastic around his cock. Then Loren moved, kneeling up a bit and then sinking back down, even farther than before, taking Caresn even deeper, and Caresn cried out in desire -wondering, as he heard his own lifted voice, if it might carry to the two lovers lying beneath the wingseed tree.

***

"It's no skin off my nose if you wake half the village," Rodne said, lifting his head away from R'dek's cock, "but if you insist on yelling my name they may not think kindly of either one of us in the morning."

"Gods, gods..." R'dek was murmuring, panting slightly. "It really has been too long. But I have... I think, an idea..."

"Well now there's a noteworthy event," Rodne said with a grin.

"Quiet, you," R'dek muttered, maneuvering himself to lay with his head at Rodne's groin. "This is idea to prevent us from waking whole village. You can see how it works, yes?"

"Alright... okay," Rodne's voice faltered a bit as he felt R'dek's warm breath on his cock. "I can see where this idea could have it's... merits..." Then there was R'dek's cock within easy reach of his own lips and tongue once more and Rodne opened his mouth to take it in, just as R'dek was taking Rodne into his. Rodne gave a heartfelt, if muffled, cry and grasped R'dek's hips with bruising strength.

For a moment Rodne could forget about everything except how good it felt to have R'dek's warm, wet mouth around his cock, and how good R'dek's cock felt in his own mouth, hot and hard and real, solid proof that R'dek was here, alive and all his. He opened his throat to take it as deep as he could, as he had learned to do fairly well by now, and was rewarded by the sensation of R'dek's own muffled groan of pleasure. It was more than he was able to manage, to prevent his hips from thrusting, from fucking R'dek's mouth, but then he felt R'dek's hands on his hips, restraining him with the wiry strength he knew so well.

Only a handful of days ago, it seemed, so much of that strength had fled from his lover, and to feel it returned now was almost as much of a turn-on as the sensation of R'dek's tongue lapping at the head of his cock, as he was doing now. Immersing himself in his task, even as he also immersed himself in the sensations he was feeling, Rodne strove to set a regular rhythm to his sucking, moving his head up and down the length of R'dek's cock at a steady pace.

He could feel R'dek attempting to match his rhythm, but from the way R'dek's fingers were clutching at his hips, and from the high, whimpering noises Rodne could hear him making around his cock, Rodne suspected that R'dek was too close to completion to manage anything so coordinated. Thinking to put the man out of his misery, Rodne took R'dek's cock as deeply down his throat as he possibly could, and then tried swallowing around it. It was a technique he had not yet mastered, but perfection was not required in this case.

Almost instantly, R'dek was pushing Rodne's hips back forcefully, giving a huge gasp followed by a choked cry, and then Rodne was tasting the salty spurts of R'dek's release, feeling his whole body jerk rhythmically with the force of his climax. Rodne sucked him dry, licked him clean and then withdrew, soothing him with calming caresses as he recovered.

"Take your time," Rodne said softly. "Don't rush yourself."

"I know," R'dek said, voice still a little breathy. "But I want you... very much."

Rodne gave a little huff of a laugh, then his eyes fell on the half healed line of scar and scab running the length of his lover's thigh. He ran his fingers along it, carefully. "I'm really glad you're alive, R'dek," he said.

"I am very glad of it too," R'dek said. "And I would like to now show you just how glad." And then Rodne felt the wet, delicious warmth of R'dek's mouth on his cock once again...

***

The slick, tight heat surrounding him was Caresn's whole universe for a moment, driving every other thought out of his head, and then there was motion, up and down on his cock. He groaned again, loudly as Loren got into a regular rhythm, settling down to take Caresn deep into himself, and then pushing up, drawing him out. Though he rhythm remained regular, Caresn could hear Loren's breaths gradually grow harsher, until he began to let little cries escape.

If it took a little effort at that point to focus his vision, it was well worth it, Caresn mused as he took in the sight of his lover, head bowed and lolling slightly as he rose and fell on Caresn's cock. His eyes were half closed, his wide mouth slightly agape in a blissful smile. Loren's hands hung loose at his sides now and Caresn reached up to take them both, feeling Loren clutch at him in desire.

With his right hand and Loren's left, Caresn reached across to take hold of Loren's cock, encouraging him to do the same. Soon, their fingers intertwined as they pumped Loren's cock together, in the same deliberate rhythm with which he was fucking Caresn. Loren's right hand left his for a moment then, and returned with the pot of goose fat, spreading a generous quantity on his cock and their hands. Loren's little cries soon became loud ones, and his rhythm began to falter.

Loren was moving faster now, and his control was slipping, allowing Caresn to thrust his hips up a little. Caresn tried to match Loren's rhythm, but it was no longer quite so even, and Caresn found himself overtaken by his own rhythm, helpless to follow any other urge. For a brief spell their two bodies moved, out of synch with each other, their hands working with desperate speed on Loren's cock, and then Loren threw his head back, choking out Caresn's name, and came.

***

"R'dek... Gods..." Rodne called out his lover's name before he could remember that he'd warned R'dek to be quiet only a little while earlier. R'dek, happily, seemed to be having too much fun sucking Rodne's cock to reprimand him, and so Rodne just turned his face into R'dek's rabbit fur blanket moaned with purest pleasure. He nearly inhaled half a lungfull of rabbit fur when R'dek slipped a finger into him and he gasped at the sensation, and then R'dek began to finger fuck him with slow, deliberate thrusts.

It rendered Rodne into a quivering wreck in no time, and before long he was whimpering and writhing in the furs, begging R'dek to finish him, even as he knew that his pleas would fall on deaf ears. R'dek got it into his mind, from time to time, to bring Rodne to the edge and keep him there for what seemed forever. Rodne could tell that this was one of those times, and all he was going to be able to do would be to hang on for the duration of the ride.

R'dek's warm mouth continued to work his cock, his clever fingers moving in and out of his ass, and Rodne let the pleasure of these sensations wash over him. His thougts drifted, taking in the accompanying gentle caress of the late summer breeze on his naked skin, the calling of a night bird coming in counterpoint to his own nearly animal cries. He wanted to move, to fuck R'dek's face and fingers, but R'dek held him transfixed with one hand grasping his hip and his mouth on his cock.

It was only when Rodne finally stopped begging, because R'dek had finally driven every last word from Rodne's head, that R'dek at last curled his fingers to caress that special place deep inside Rodne. Caught completely unawares, Rodne shuddered all over and let out long, wordless cry, and then came... and came, and came. He was gasping and nearly sobbing with the force of it when the wave of ecstasy eventually crested and then moved on, leaving Rodne laying boneless and sated on the furs like some piece of flotsom cast up on a riverbank.

He was only vaguely aware of R'dek releasing his cock and slipping his fingers free, and only slightly more aware of his lover realigning himself to lay with his head near Rodne's. It was when he felt R'dek's lips brushing his own that Rodne seemed to come to himself again, unable to leave R'dek's kiss unanswered. He tasted himself in R'dek's mouth, which fired his banked ardor further, and pulled his lover into a warm embrace.

"Alive..." Rodne murmured into R'dek's throat as he kissed his way across his lover's face. "Alive, alive, alive alive..."

"And tired," R'dek added, kissing the top of Rodne's head. "You are also ready to sleep now, I hope?"

"Mphlgm..." Rodne affirmed, snugging R'dek closer still and pulling the furs over them both. He loosened his hold on his lover enough for him to roll over and curl his back into Rodne's chest, so that they fit, spooned together, and R'dek took one of Rodne's hands and raised it to his lips. "Good night my love, and sleep well," Rodne heard him whisper, even as he heard another muffled cry of passion penetrate the peaceful silence surrounding them -Caresn's voice, perhaps.

That's nice, Rodne thought contentedly as he drifted off. Caresn deserves a night of pleasure, he reflected and, filled with post-coital generosity, wished the same to everyone in Lakeside. Basking in these kindly thoughts Rodne tumbled, at last, into sleep, curled around his lover beneath the spreading wingseed tree.

***

Hearing Loren's voice raised in pleasure, feeling the warmth of his spending spatter over his chest and belly, and feeling Loren's whole body clench and spasm around his own, Caresn thrust up, powerfully, into Loren's shuddering body, once, twice, and then came himself. Caresn couldn't stop the shout that seemed to leap straight from his heart, full of joy and pleasure and desire. He knew it was loud -probably loud enough to be heard well beyond the confines of his hut, but he didn't care.

Loren was bending to kiss him now and Caresn slipped free, shuddering a little at the sensation of his cock moving from Loren's body one last time. Caresn kissed his lover back with passion, wrapping his arms around him and hauling him down to lie in the sticky mess on his belly. Caresn didn't care about that either. Nor, it seemed, did Loren, who lay, draped over Caresn, and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him, until Caresn began to seriously miss breathing, and then Loren slid off to his side so that he could.

"Beautiful man," Caresn murmured softly a little later as he caressed the planes of his lover's handsome face. "I think I might love you. Is that alright?"

Loren's smile was sated, sleepy, but his eyes were lit by a spark that shone straight from his heart. "It better be," he said, voice soft with affection, "since I'm pretty sure I love you."

Caresn pulled him into a tight embrace at this, holding the solid mass of his lover close, so close, and feeling his heartbeat and Loren's sound against one another. He and Lakeside's leader of the hunt had been slowly been spending more and more time together, growing closer and closer, for many years, but they'd never before spoken of such things. Perhaps it was seeing how it was between Rodne and R'dek, perhaps it was the coming of the raiders, but it now seemed easy to recognise how they were no longer merely two good friends who enjoyed the occasional fuck.

Though nothing could have made Caresn's heart gladder than to hear Loren confirm that he had come to the same conclusion, he was also prone to worry, and this new truth came with a host of worries. Loren seemed to sense this too, and pulled back just a little to gaze into Caresn's eyes. "Don't tell me you're worrying again?" he asked.

"Aye, of course," Caresn admitted with a self-effacing smile. "Is it all right... do others give you any trouble for spending so much time with me, with a backwards man? I know people will say it's fine for a healer, but for a hunter, for the leader of the hunt?"

Loren gave Caresn the special smile he kept for dispelling Caresn's worries and lifted his hand to run through Caresn's dark hair. "Do you know what I tell hunters who ask why I spend so much time with you?" he asked, a little mischeviously.

"What do you tell them, love?" Caresn asked.

"I tell them it's good hunting magic," he said, matter-of-factly, "because in the hunt I thrust my spear into the animals we hunt to eat, and then afterwards, to appease their spirits, I come to you -our shamen, and let you thrust your spear into me."

"You do not!" Caresn laughed, worries completely dispelled, just as Loren had intended.

"I do so!" protested Loren, defending himself as Caresn smacked him in the face with a corner of one of the furs they were lying on. "And it makes perfect sense to most of them. No one will say anything more about it either, because they're afraid of messing up the magic."

"You're a terrible liar, you are," Caresn chuckled.

"Hey, who's to say it's not true," Loren objected. "Since I am the best hunter in Lakeside."

"Aye, and I'm the luckiest backwards man that ever lived," Caresn said contentedly, pulling the furs up and settling in to sleep. Loren only kissed him again for an answer, and settled in beside him, sound asleep in the blink of an eye. Comfortable and content as he'd ever been, Caresn followed him only moments later.

***

Next week, final preparations.

Further Radek Portraiture

2009-08-06T12:30:15Z

What better to do on those hot summer days when you don't want to budge from your flat, than to draw my favorite worried Czech?

The original screen cap was from "Adrift" (and he was such a brave boy in Adrift, yes?) where Radek is explaining just why it might be a bad idea to ignore the safety restrictions for taking the city into hyperspace without enough energy...

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 5

2009-08-03T10:38:55Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor

Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com

Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir

Category: slash, h/c, AU

Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.

Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions

Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?

Spoilers/Season: none

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Beta: Oh dear! How can I have forgotten to mention my most worthy betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 5

The next few days flew by in a flurry of activity. R'dek carved spear-sticks until his hands ached, and Rodne divided his time between helping him with this task and overseeing the installation of trip lines all around the village. These he had arranged in a complex and labyrinthine manner, in order that the raiders not be able to guess their locations, and R'dek, hobbling around to inspect them with Rodne on one of his afternoon walks, remarked on this with admiration.

"This may well prove their undoing, my friend," he said seriously as they returned to their customary place by the firepit. "You have set them farther back than the barricades, so as to entice them in, and yet there is no entrance into the village proper that is not blocked, and each blockade is set at a different angle. If they try one way and then think that they know how to avoid your traps at a different spot, they will be fooled again. It is quite ingenious, Rodne."

Rodne preened for a moment, and R'dek delighted in seeing him do so. They had all been so serious and worried over the last few days, Rodne no less than anyone else, and it was a pleasure to see him take a small moment of pride and happiness. They'd reached the firepit now and R'dek collapsed (carefully) and with gratitude onto his customary seat, for while his strength was returning, walking with the crutch was more effort than the usual sort, and longer walks still exhausted him.

He looked up after a moment to see Caresn and Loren coming to join them, and they'd brought food and drink, which R'dek now realised was something he was more than ready for. Rodne greeted them, and their gifts, with equal enthusiasm.

"Gods, you're brilliant Caresn," he said, grabbing up a large piece of flat-bread and dried venison. "I was starving, and really, the mind needs nourishment to function, and right now you need this mind functioning at top capacity, yes?" He finished this statement with his mouth full of bread, but he was understood nonetheless, for Loren and Caresn nodded their agreement with indulgent smiles.

"Aye, Rodne," Caresn said with a grin. "You're as indispensable as you always were."

"He was ever indispensable before?" Loren asked, clearly sceptical.

"Well, his arrival, that first time, came at an extremely opportune moment," Caresn said, "just as in the current situation."

"Seems like that was you," Loren countered, "the way I recall it, anyhow."

"Well," Caresn said, "the Gods brought us both to Lakeside at the time we were needed most, for our own purposes."

"This is a tale I do not know," R'dek said, full of curiosity. "But I think I would very much like to hear it, if it may be shared?" He turned to Rodne first, who shrugged but did not immediately reply, his mouth being too full even for him to speak.

"I don't mind telling it," Caresn said, "and it seems a good evening for a tale, though the first part is Rodne's, to be sure."

It was a pleasant late summer evening, and as the warm sunny day was ending a cool breeze was rising, refreshing after their day's labors. The days were getting shorter, as the day of the change, when the nights began to be longer than the days, would come in a little over a moon. Loren was squatting by the fireside even now, setting some tinder in place to kindle a fire which R'dek could see would be wanted before too long. A good evening for a tale to be sure, Radek thought.

"You want to hear how I first came to Lakeside?" Rodne asked. "Sure, I can tell that, but R'dek's the only one here who doesn't know it already."

"I've never actually heard you tell of it, Rodne," Caresn answered. "I just know what Li'bet and the others said about it when I first came. I'd be curious to hear how you'd say it."

Rodne shrugged again, paused to take a drink of water from the flask R'dek handed him, and then began.

"Well, you know how I was staying at Kip's little mountain goat-herder's shack, right?" he asked.

R'dek nodded. "That is where you came after you left... the village where you had grown up." R'dek was careful not to mention anything more about that place, as it was a painful memory for Rodne, and one he had not shared with anyone else, he was sure.

"Yeah, well I wandered around and kind of starved for a year first," Rodne said. "And then I came upon Kip and he, you know, took me in for the summer, but then in the fall he went back to his village with his goats, to spend the winter, and I'd kinda had it with people, by and large, so I said I'd stay in his place, up in the mountains." Rodne gave a humorless chuckle here.

"Old Kip might not have been the, ah, brightest pebble in the stream bed," he said, "but he was right when he told me that his little shack wasn't fit for winter habitation. I nearly starved and froze to death that winter, but I made huge improvements to the shack, and learned a lot about trapping, and I actually survived, which is really amazing when I look back on it now." Rodne shook his head at the memory and paused to take a bite of apple.

"It seems weird," he went on when he'd chewed most of it, "that I was actually looking forward to having him come back in the spring, which he said he would. I mean, yes, there would be better food, but I really wanted him to see the improvements I'd made in the place, and to see that I actually had survived. I was proud of that."

"Aye, and for good reason, I'd say," Caresn commented.

"Maybe," Rodne replied with a shrug, "but at any rate, he never did. I never found out what happened to him either. A few years later, when I finally made the trip to Lakeside, I passed the remains of a tiny village at the foot of the mountain. I could see that it was in ruins, and I didn't go in... I mean there could have been plague, or who knows, and maybe that wasn't even Kip's village... But I do wonder sometimes, about what happened to him. He helped me a lot, after a fashion, and he left me my first home, but I doubt I'll ever know."

Eyes resting on the shifting light of the fire, R'dek lifted his flask in a silent thanks to Kip the goat-herd, wherever he was, and hoped that the Gods had granted him a kind ending.

"So anyhow," Rodne continued after an introspective moment, "I'd already survived the toughest part of the year, and while I really missed the cheese, I knew I could survive pretty well there without Kip and his goats, so I stayed. I never saw another human being for like, I don't know, maybe five summers, but that was when I really began to notice the stars. It was like... they were there for me in a way that people never had been, and they offered questions and challenges that kept me going. They were the reason I wanted to get up most... well, afternoons, since I stayed up almost every night watching them."

It was a routine Rodne still kept, R'dek knew, having spent two summers with the man now. Though it had seemed a bit odd at first, R'dek had long grown used to Rodne slipping into the bed they shared late at night, and of rising early, as he was accustomed, while Rodne slept late into the afternoon. For two men long used to solitude, it was actually a good arrangement.

"It seems strange now," Rodne mused, "how sure I was that I would be content to spend the rest of my life like that, never seeing another human being again. I even remember imagining how I was going to grow old and die in that bed, but eventually... I don't know, I think maybe I was just too naturally curious to stay in one place my whole life. Apparently even the mysteries of the stars weren't enough for my brilliant mind." Rodne gave a little smirk at that, but privately, R'dek thought that he was probably right.

"I think perhaps your brilliant mind was even wiser than you realized," R'dek suggested, "for it knew that you needed something more, like the number marks, to truly divine their mysteries."

"Possibly," Rodne replied with a shrug, "but at any rate, one Spring I suddenly realized that I had to move on. I wasn't sure that I wanted to see people again, though I was definitely missing Kip's goat cheese, and I knew I needed to find people -with goats- to get that... and maybe I thought I'd find out what happened to Kip. I can't say what it was, really, but that Spring I packed up everything I thought I would need to travel, which wasn't much, and put everything else away... and just left. Probably nothing left of the place now... not that I could ever find it again anyhow..."

Rodne drifted off thoughtfully, and R'dek wondered how long it had been since Rodne had thought of those days, and that place. For himself, R'dek had never spent more than two summers anyplace after he'd left his old village, and could not imagine what it would have been like to have had a home as Rodne had, those five summers. "So you came to Lakeside straight after that?" R'dek asked.

"Mmm... not so straight, I'm sure," Rodne said. "I kind of wandered all over, and I actually avoided a lot of villages and places where I saw people. By late summer I'd come down out of the mountains, though, and found myself following one of the rivers that leads to the lake here. I avoided the people I saw here too, at first, but it was well into Fall then and the nights were starting to get cold... and then I saw that there were goats here so I though, what the hell." Rodne shrugged again, smiling a little sheepishly at the simplistic rational that had finally brought him to this place.

R'dek imagined Rodne wandering into the village as Teleya and R'non had, alone and unknown and unused to human interaction for over five summers, and wondered how he had seemed to the residents at the time. "Who came to meet you then?" R'dek asked.

"I was the one that spotted him first," Loren said with a fond chuckle, "and went running into the village to tell everyone that there was a crazy looking man wandering into town."

"Well I don't remember you," Rodne snipped, "but Li'bet was there. She did seem a little... awkward, though I don't know if that was because she thought I was crazy or because she didn't quite know what to do with me."

"She was only six moons without her man, Ca'dell, back then," Loren pointed out. "And still finding her way as Headwoman. You were probably the first stranger to Lakeside she'd had to meet as Headwoman."

"And quite the figure you appeared, no doubt," Caresn smiled.

"Yes, okay, I probably looked like a nut, possibly even a dangerous nut," Rodne conceded. "And I probably acted pretty weird too, because I had to really think for a second before I could remember how to talk, or what to say at first, but it is to her credit," he continued, "that she didn't just send me away with the likes of Loren and his young friends at my heels."

"She was wise in her ways, even then," Loren said admiringly.

"True enough," Rodne agreed. "She even knew not to send me to stay in the bachelor's lodge, because I'd have run screaming after about two minutes in there."

"Yeah, you were pretty twitchy in those days, I recall," Loren commented.

"Hello!" Rodne snarked. "Five summers in complete isolation. How was I not supposed to be 'twitchy'? And also? They let their dogs stay in there with them."

"Just saying," Loren let the snark pass without batting an eye. "None of us had ever met a hermit before, so we had no idea what to expect."

"Where did you stay, Rodne, if you couldn't stay in the bachelor's lodge?" R'dek asked.

"First few nights I set up a little camp right there," Rodne pointed to the large wingseed tree that stood a couple dozen paces from the firepit. "Then after that Li'bet set me up with K'harien, the old basket maker, and I stayed with her from then on."

"Now that was a stroke of genius," Loren said, "and really, that was one of the first things that Li'bet did that showed all of us that she definitely had the wisdom to be a good Headwoman."

"And what was so brilliant about it?" R'dek asked, curiously.

"Old K'harien was an incredible basket maker," Loren answered. "In truth, I've never seen the like since, but Gods Above, that woman was as mean as a snake. No one liked her and she didn't like anyone else, but her eyes were starting to go bad, and she really needed help gathering the materials she needed for her baskets, and doing other stuff too. She'd nearly set her hut on fire by accident about a moon before Rodne showed up, and something like that is a danger to the whole village."

"Of course," R'dek said. "That I understand, but you are saying that Li'bet sent Rodne to be her helper?"

"She told me," Rodne explained with a little wounded pride, "that if I stayed with K'harien, helped her find the stuff for her baskets and stopped her from burning the village down, then I could stay in Lakeside and she'd personally see to it that I got a good sized block of goat cheese every moon. It seemed like a pretty fair deal to me."

"But you hadn't met K'harien yet," R'dek clarified, "when you made this agreement?"

"Li'bet told me that she thought K'harian was probably a lot like me," Rodne said, "and she was right, you know. K'harien had her reasons for not liking people, just like I did. We both understood that, even if neither one of us wanted to share our reasons."

"Aye, that's wisdom indeed," Caresn said with an approving nod. "And when I showed up at Lakeside, a few summers later, the two of you seemed to get along well enough. How was it when you first met?"

"Oh man," Loren said with a laugh. "They fought like two cats in a bag. Woke the whole village up just before dawn the first morning Rodne stayed with her, screeching at each other at the tops of their lungs. I have no idea what you were arguing about, 'cause all I could hear was the names you were calling each other."

"Well, neither one of us was exactly used to having other people around, you know," Rodne said a little defensively, then his expression softened in recollection. "I don't remember what that fight was about either," he said after a moment, "but I remember some of the things I called her." He shook his head in chagrin. "Eventually, we came to an... understanding."

"Eventually," Loren said, smiling. "But you definitely gave the whole village something to talk about for moons, until you did."

"I'm glad we were able to supply you all with a source of entertainment," Rodne groused. "Clearly you were desperately in need of it."

"Well you hadn't learned to be a story teller yet," Loren said, placating a bit, "so what else did we have?"

"Well, there was that one traveling story teller that came through town the following summer," Rodne pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, that guy," Loren shook his head. "He told the strangest damned stories, about giant villages bigger than a hundred like ours, that could fly into the air or sink into the sea. I mean, I like to hear stories with some magic or miracles in them, but no one could believe these stories, they were so crazy."

"But he wasn't," Rodne said quietly. "He was the man who taught me about the number marks, R'dek. He stayed in town long enough to teach me how they worked, telling stories that no one believed at night and talking to me in the day. He was the first person I ever told about what I had learned from the stars, and he... it almost seemed like it was all stuff he knew already, but he seemed excited about what I was learning too." Rodne fell to gazing into the fire for a moment, and R'dek gazed at him in turn, loving how the firelight shone in his eyes, and the intensity of his inward turned thoughts.

"Until I met you, R'dek," Rodne's gaze was redirected now, his expression showing something deeper than affection, "I'd never met anyone else who seemed to understand why I've been so captivated by the stars all my life. I was actually tempted to believe in the Gods after I met that traveler... just like I was after I met you." Rodne ducked his head then suddenly, letting R'dek glimpse a flash of one of Rodne's rare, lopsided smiles.

R'dek also spotted an understanding grin pass between Caresn and Loren, and knew he was among more than friends -something like family perhaps. Knowing that, he felt comfortable wrapping an arm around Rodne's waste to pull him close and kiss his cheek and Rodne raised his head to invite another on his lips. When they had parted R'dek noticed that Loren and Caresn had moved to sit closer to one another too.

"So this is about where your part in the story starts, isn't it?" Loren asked, speaking softly because his lips were nearly caressing Caresn's ear.

"Aye, I suppose," he answered, settling himself in the hunter's embrace. "K'harian said that she'd had Rodne helping her out for four summers or so when I came that autumn, about the time her health began to really fail."

"Yeah, she started to get the pains in her fingers and wrists the first winter I was with her," Rodne said. "It went away most of the summer, at first, but then it started to bother her when it rained, when there was a wind from the north, and then some days for no reason we could figure. It just got worse and worse over time."

Though Rodne had never spoken of her before, it now became clear to R'dek that Rodne had really cared for the old woman, in his way... possibly the only way she would have let anyone care for her, R'dek considered.

"Aye, it's a common enough affliction in elders," Caresn replied, "and sometimes it can be quite cruel, though there are a few treatments I knew, and I used quite a few with her." Caresn glanced over to the large, spreading wingseed tree now, his gaze reflective. "I had my own tent set up under yon tree for a few moons, but soon enough I could see I was needed closer to poor old K'harien, so we were all in her hut for a time, she and I and Rodne."

"It was all winter," Rodne supplied. "And I assume you can see now why I was motivated to move to a cave two days walk from the village that spring."

Radek gave a small huff of a laugh. "Aye, but you didn't go all at once," Caresn commented. "You were in and out a lot that summer, helping me with K'harien and getting the things you needed to make your new home. And when she caught the fever that was going around, you stayed with her that whole time."

"I remember that," Loren said. "It got me too, but good. And I think that was the first time I really got to know you, Caresn." Loren's smile was fond and got an answering one from Caresn.

"Caresn got to meet a lot of people in Lakeside when the fever went around that summer," Rodne said. "It was a nasty one, and honestly, I'm a little surprised that K'harien survived it, but she was too tough and mean to die yet, I suppose."

"And she had you caring for her," Caresn said kindly. "That made a world of difference, I know."

"Yeah, well, she started thinking I was one of her dead sons," Rodne said uncomfortably, "and I think she was half convinced that you were the other one. Honestly, I don't think her mind ever really recovered from that fever... and I really couldn't stick around after that."

"Aye, she did often call me 'Ryken' towards the end there," Caresn confirmed, "and she sometimes asked for Temmon when I know she was speaking of you, but I never knew her really, before she started to wander, as it were, so it was easier for me to be with her."

"It's good she had someone," Rodne said quietly. "I always felt a little... sorry, that I left her the way I did."

"You were there for her when she needed you, lad," Caresn assured. "And later it was me that she needed more, so I was there. Also, Rodne, if you'd stayed you'd be the one who inherited her hut, and then you'd be stuck living in Lakeside all this time." Caresn's smile spoke volumes about forgiveness and the rightness of things as they had come about, and R'dek felt Rodne relax beside him.

"Right," Rodne said with a mock shudder, "so that's two huge debts I owe you, Caresn."

"Och, you don't owe me a thing, lad," Caresn said. "Turtur sent me to Lakeside to find just what I found, and to do just what I did. He said there'd be a place for me there, good friends and a good life, and he was right, as he always is."

"Ah... huh," Rodne said, awkward as he always was when Caresn spoke of his spirit guide. To R'dek it was no more troubling than if the man was speaking of his tools or herbs. They were simply the techniques of the healer's art, no different from his own antler chippers or knapping tools. R'dek wasn't sure why it bothered Rodne so much, but he'd learned patience. Likely he'd know the truth eventually.

"And you have been in that cave," R'dek asked, "what, twelve summers now?"

"Yeah," Rodne said, mentally counting back. "The first couple of summers after K'harien died I hardly came down at all. It was just hard to be there with her gone, you know? And I really didn't mind not seeing people for moons at a time."

"So who was it finally started going up to your place for 'consultations'," Caresn asked, "and eventually convinced everyone that you were some kind of 'holy man'?"

"Oh gods, that was Trinka," Loren said with a groan. "Crazy Trinka. She was convinced you could really tell the future, and all kinds of other stuff too, but then she told everyone that she did just what you told her to and that was how she got her man -and nobody believed that she'd ever get herself a man- and it looked like maybe she had a point."

"Trinka!" Rodne shuddered. "That woman was insane. She would not leave me alone... Though, come to think of it, I haven't seen her in quite a few summers. What ever became of her?"

"She's got knee troubles, so she can't make the trip any more," Caresn said with a laugh, "but she's got five grandchildren too, and I understand she's senior-most of the bakers now, and rules the others quite strictly."

"Yeah," Loren confirmed. "Kimma tells me that all the flour grinding must be done during a waning moon, and new flour added to the leavening only on the waxing... all kinds of crazy stuff like that."

"And yet ye've no complaints with the bread these days, luv?" Caresn said playfully, letting his hand play over Loren's torso.

"Which proves nothing...!" Rodne began, until R'dek short circuited his imminent rant by slipping a hand under his tunic.

"Perhaps we should let Caresn and Loren have the hut to themselves tonight," R'dek whispered to Rodne while letting his lips just barely caress Rodne's ear. "And you can show me how nice a spot it is under the wingseed tree?"

"We'll, um, want to get a few hides or something," Rodne said, his voice suddenly a little unsteady. "'Cause it can get, you know, a little cold at night... this time of year..." R'dek grinned at how easily he was able to derail Rodne's babble, just by biting his ear gently.

"Go and get whatever you need, lads," Caresn called happily. "And thank you, ever so much."

****

Next week: SEX!

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 4 + A Map!

2009-07-27T09:38:34Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor
Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com
Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir
Category: slash, h/c, AU
Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.
Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions
Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?
Spoilers/Season: none
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?
Beta: Oh dear! How can I have forgotten to mention my most encouraging betareader smingus for her encouragement and feedback. We loves our betareaders we does.

Chapter 4

"Traders?" R'dek asked immediately, because that seemed most likely.

"I don't know," said Yinto, "but... I don't think they look like traders. They look... fierce, maybe."

"Are you saying they could be dangerous?" Kvena'ah asked worriedly.

The boy shrugged. "Maybe," he said. "But they look different from any other strangers I've seen."

"How so?" R'dek considered that he might be the most widely traveled of anyone in Lakeside, and that he might be able to shed some light on the identity of these strangers and whether or not they were actually dangerous.

"The man," Yinto replied immediately, "he was really tall, and he had hair like... like a lion's, and the woman, her hair was the color of sweetwood bark."

"And were they dark skinned?" R'dek asked, sifting through his memories of all the far flung travelers he'd met in his life.

"A little," Yinto said. "It's like the color of the honey that cousin Rinta gets from the forest in the Fall."

R'dek nodded. "I have seen such people, I think," he said. "It is likely that they are from far to the south and east -farther than I have come even. It seems more likely that they would be traders, or perhaps story tellers, but probably not dangerous." Of course it was also quite possible that they were adventurers, looking for a fight or some other trouble, but R'dek knew better than to start such rumors before the strangers had even arrived.

"And you know this because everyone from the south and east are peaceful and polite?" Kvena'ah snipped suspiciously. Though his particular quarrel with R'dek had been solved, R'dek had come to see that the man was just plain prickly tempered, and he'd learned to ignore it.

"No," said Rodne suddenly, who hadn't seemed to be paying any attention but evidently had, in fact. "He knows this because there are only two of them, and it's a man and a woman. They might be refugees too, though."

"I don't think they're refugees," Yinto put in. "Refugees usually look tired and hungry, and these two don't look like that at all."

"Fair enough," Rodne said with a shrug and went back to his scribbling. Someone had sent word to Li'bet by now, however, and she arrived in the company of a few of the hunters who happened to be in the village. She asked Yinto to repeat for her what he'd told the others.

"R'dek thinks they're from far away, from the south and east," he concluded when he had told his tale.

"Does he?" Li'bet said with a smile. "It would seem to be good fortune that you are a guest in our village just now, to be our expert on foreigners."

R'dek blushed. "This is my expertise," he said, gesturing at the mess of flint flakes all around his feet. "If I have any knowledge other than this, it is only because I am myself a foreigner in these parts."

"A foreigner perhaps," said the headwoman, coming to sit on an adjacent log, "but not a stranger any longer." She smiled warmly at R'dek as she sat. "Perhaps we will be able to say the same of these visitors as well, before too long."

A small crowd of villagers gathered as the visitors drew nearer and word of their impending arrival spread. Many were children who gathered now to watch R'dek while he worked, while others played noisily as they waited. The fell quiet as the strangers came into the village, however, and the whole crowd became silent when they approached. R'dek watched with admiration at how Li'bet drew herself up to meet the strangers, looking almost regal even as she stood before the two taller travelers.

They did look a little fierce, R'dek had to admit that Yinto had been right about that. The man wore his hair in locks, as R'dek had seen only once on a man who claimed to have been a sailor on the southern sea, but what was more astonishing was the weapon he carried, which R'dek recognized but had not seen any such in a long time, and never of such size. The raiders who menaced the villages of his homeland used such weapons, called 'bows', but those were no longer than a man's arm. This man carried one that looked to be over half his height, which was quite considerable on it's own.

The woman, whose hair was indeed a rather striking color, walked with a long staff, which stood a little taller than her shoulder and R'dek imagined that she could use it as more than a walking stick, from the way she gripped it. They walked shoulder to shoulder as they approached, and stood that way when they came to stop before the headwoman. They are fighters, R'dek thought to himself, and they fight together, but they have not come here to fight us. He was sure of it.

"Greetings travelers," Li'bet said. "You have come to the village of Lakeside, and we are happy to make you welcome if you come with peaceful intentions."

"Greetings to you as well, headwoman," the red haired woman answered cordially. "I am Teleya, and my companion is R'non. Our intentions are indeed peaceful, but our mission, I am sorry to report, is not a happy one. We have come to warn you that that there are people coming whose intentions are not at all peaceful. They know of your village and will have it's riches, by means both violent and cruel."

The woman's words hung in the silent air for a long moment as all the villagers felt the slow shock of their portent. R'dek felt it too, but for him they also brought a horrible sense of recognition.

"No!" In his shock, R'dek forgot his injury for a moment and struggled to stand. Only Rodne's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "No, it cannot be!" he cried. "You speak of raiders, but I have journeyed all my life to move beyond their reach. They cannot be here!"

"I am sorry, my friend," Teleya said, and her gaze was truly sorrowful. "But if you know of the raiders, you know that they ride swift beasts they call horses, and they by this means they can travel in a year the distance it might take a man half his life to walk. They move westward as birds fly south in the Fall, and they will not stop till they come to the westward sea. There is no where you can travel, my friend, to be beyond their reach."

R'dek felt a plummeting sense of despair, only faintly aware that Rodne had finally set down his slate and moved to put an arm around R'dek's shoulders, as much a gesture of protection as it was comfort. R'dek had lowered his head to rest in his hands and so when Li'bet spoke next he did not see her, but heard how her voice had grown hard.

"Are you agents of theirs," she demanded, "come to announce their arrival and strike fear into our hearts so that we will capitulate all the quicker?"

"This is not our intention, headwoman" Telaya spoke firmly, "I swear it. R'non and I have pledged our lives to work against these men, and we come to the villages in their path to warn them and help them fight against them if they will."

"Fight them!?" Elizabeth spread her arms to take in all the villagers gathered there. "We are hunters and fisher-folk and craftsmen and women, not fighters. How are we to oppose such men as you describe?"

Telaya nodded her understanding, and there was nothing condescending in her manner, which R'dek found surprising. "There are means even for people untrained in fighting to defend themselves, and these we are willing to teach. Also, some villages chose not to fight, but to hide. If this is your choice, we will respect that and aid in what ways we can, but if you would think to treat with these men, or bargain with them, then I must tell you that we cannot help, and that you will not succeed. They do not bargain in good faith, and will not consent to any deal, in any case, that does not include some of your women and children to be taken as slaves."

R'dek could hear the horrified gasp from the crowd of villagers at this prospect, knowing that they must all be thinking that there would be no place for them all to hide on the open grasslands and small patches of forest that surrounded Lakeside. He and Rodne might retreat to their cave and be perfectly safe, he reflected, but how could they abandon their friends? He lifted his head to glance over at Rodne and saw only naked distress on his lover's face. It was clear that Rodne was thinking the same and could not bear the idea either.

"What if we gathered a generous portion of our food and animals, and other goods and left them at the edge of the village for them to take," Kvena'ah was asking, his voice shaking just a bit as he spoke. "Wouldn't they take it and leave us in peace? Wouldn't it be less trouble for them?"

"I am sorry to say that it would not," Telaya answered him. "For what you deem 'trouble' these men take great joy in. Nothing pleases them more than doing violence and causing destruction, and an offering such as you suggest would only delay them for a moment, and serve to entice them to take further riches from your village by force."

Images of the violence done to his own village long ago, the burning and killing, the screams of terror and agony were all R'dek could see and hear for a moment, and he felt his hands curl into fists of helpless rage. But no. He would not be helpless. He was no longer a boy, but a man who had traveled far and become a master at the crafting of weapons and tools. They were, in fact, the very weapons and tools that could be turned to the uses they needed now, only neither Rodne nor the people of Lakeside knew it.

"We can fight them!" he burst out suddenly, surprising Rodne terribly. "There are ways, and I know them. I can teach you, show you. I will not let it happen here as happened in my own village!"

"You make weapons." The woman's companion, R'non, spoke for the first time, his dark eyes falling on R'dek with a penetrating gaze.

"I make tools," R'dek said, moving his foot among the flint shards so that they clinked and rattled against one another. "And weapons for hunting, but I can make weapons for war, though I have chosen not to do so before now."

"Can you make one of these?" he asked, drawing forth and stringing the massive bow he carried and, with cat-like speed, drawing an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocking it to the bow. He turned away from the crowd then and loosed it, and R'dek heard a collective gasp from those watching as the missile sailed far, far over the grassland, striking the trunk of a tree countless paces distant. None of the residents of Lakeside had ever seen the like, R'dek was sure, and he himself had never seen a bow which shot so far, or with such force.

"I could," he said nodding slowly, "but it would take time, and I think we may not have so much, yes?"

"How much time do we have?" Li'bet asked.

Telaya inclined her head, thinking. "A handful of days, no more," she finally said. "Possibly less. They are already in the village a day's walk to the east of here, but they have just taken it and will be some few days 'enjoying' themselves there."

R'dek knew just what sorts of 'pleasures' the raiders would be taking in that village, and he cringed at the thought. Rodne knew too, and his arm came back around R'dek's waist, pulling him close.

"And did you 'help' those people fight the raiders?" Kvena'ah asked, his voice full of accusation he was not brave enough speak.

"Didn't believe us," R'non answered with a shrug. "Wasn't anything we could do."

"We might have made the same mistake," Li'bet said charitably, "had it not been for our well traveled friends, so I am grateful to them and to you. We must make plans now, and we must call out hunters back. Yinto," she turned to the lad who stood with the crowd of older boys, gazing with open admiration at the leonine stranger and his amazing weapon. "You know where they have gone, yes?"

He nodded, standing straight and trying his best to look as grownup as possible. "They've gone to the northern grasslands, to find the herds that graze there. I can find them in a day, I am sure."

"Go stealthily as well as swiftly, Yinto," the headwoman commanded him. "And do the same as you return. If these raiders would move on us next they may already have watchers nearby."

"I will do as you say, headwoman," Yinto said, and promptly sprinted off to his parent's hut to gather the things he would need for his journey. Li'bet turned to the rest of the villagers then, addressing them calmly, as though none of this came as a surprise to her, for which R'dek found himself admiring her greatly.

"The rest of you," she said. "As we cannot make a fortress of our village, we must each make one of our own homes. Gather your belongings, your beasts and fowls, and keep them close, likewise with your children. What we cannot keep close in the days to come, we are libel to lose, and I think we can afford to lose little."

The villagers dispersed then, leaving only himself, Rodne, Caresn -who had come and listened speechlessly the whole while- and the two strangers along with Headwoman Li'bet, lingering by the firepit. "I am not certain," Telaya said carefully to Li'bet, "that the advice you have just given your people will have much use when the raiders come."

Li'bet smiled and nodded in concurrence. "Likely not," she said, "but its use for now is that they will occupy themselves with some worthwhile labor rather than gossiping amongst themselves and heightening the fear and uncertainty everyone already feels. I trust that you and R'dek will have other, more directly useful tasks to set before them by the time the hunters return, but they need something to fill the hours until then."

"Makes sense," R'non said with a shrug, setting out at a jog to retrieve the arrow he had loosed earlier.

"You are a wise leader," Teleya acknowledged, "and I do very much hope that we may able to help you repel the raiders, but I must tell you..." the traveler cast her eyes over the village and lake beyond it, "your settlement presents... some serious challenges with regard to its defense."

"I've no doubts about that," said Li'bet, sitting on a log not far from R'dek and Rodne and inviting Teleya to do the same. "Have you any ideas on how it might be managed?"

"I have," R'dek spoke up, and Teleya met his eyes as she sat, offering him a sad smile.

"I think that you and I," she said, "may share a similar history, yes?"

R'dek nodded. "I am R'dek, of the village we called Below Hostyn Mountain. There may be a village there still, but after most of my family was killed by the raiders, there was very little to keep me there, and a great deal to entice me to leave that place forever."

"I know your sorrow too well, R'dek of Hostyn Mountain," Teleya said solemnly. "Of the village where Ron'n and I grew up, I think nothing remains. It was too small to have any name, and when the raiders had finished with it, no one remained alive save for Ron'n and myself."

"I am sorry to hear it," R'dek said, his head bowed, "and sorrier still that I have heard too many stories like it. Let me tell you a different sort of story instead -of villages who made war with one another, and learned of the ways that horses can be vulnerable, for all that they may lend swiftness and power to an enemy."

"I, ah..." R'dek was surprised to hear Caresn speak from behind him, his voice uncertain. "I may have a story or two of that sort myself, if you'd like to hear it."

"Of course, Caresn," Li'bet said, offering him a seat beside her on the log where she sat. "Join our council and with so many wise heads we are sure to devise a way to save our village."

For all that he knew the terror of the raiders, and what difficulties lay ahead for them, R'dek heard the confidence and strength in the headwoman's voice, and and found that he believed her, and knew hope.

***

By late that afternoon, Li'bet had new instructions to keep the residents of Lakeside busy, and these were activities which even Ron'n agreed were likely to prove effective in managing the defence of the village. The fisherfolk and those who wove their nets were given the task of spinning as much as they could of the strongest cord they could make. Others were instructed to dig pits all around the village which were to be filled with water, for Teleya had told them, and R'dek had concurred, that the raiders would use fire against them. The younger residents of Lakeside had been given the task of finding sticks of certain lengths and stoutness, which were to serve various purposes.

Limbs the length of a man's leg, and of similar stoutness were gathered, sharpened at both ends, and pounded into the ground around the borders of the village, at an angle facing outwards. Masses of these, at a pace or two's thickness, Caresn had seen used to defend villages in the north from herds of cattle which had been stampeded to trample villages in the tribal wars he'd known as a lad. R'dek and the two strangers agreed that they would be equally effective in turning away charging riders, as horses would not dare to ride at full speed into such an obstacle.

Ringing the whole village in such a barricade would have been the work of a moon or more, which none of them thought they would really have, so Caresn's 'cattle barricades' were placed at strategic locations around the borders of the village, intended to entice riders into other, less visible obstacles. It was fortunate that no one had as yet harvested the long grasses from around the edges of the village, for these would serve to conceal the trip-lines R'dek described for them, and that Rodne would set in place.

This was the purpose of the great lengths of cord the netmakers were spinning, and Rodne tested them all for strength and consistency, berating the spinners mercilessly if any fell below his standards. Li'bet had to come eventually, to ask him not to reduce the netmakers to tears anymore, as they surely knew as well as he what was at stake. After that Rodne contented himself with teaching the headwoman the special knots he had devised for his trapmaking, which would serve to fix the cords as firmly as possible to the stakes.

R'dek himself was engaged in carving some of the sturdiest sticks -ones that were about the length and thickness of his forearm- into a curious object with a smooth grip on one end and a sort of small cup on the other. He'd made three of these by the time the hunters returned to camp, and he called them together the following morning for a demonstration. Loren had returned with the hunters, very late the night before, and had come to the healer's hut upon his arrival, not knowing for sure if Caresn still had guests. This was probably a common enough occurrence, however, given the nature of Caresn's work, and he knew well enough how to move quietly.

R'dek had woken briefly to the sounds of their whispered greetings and few quiet kisses and then all fell quiet again and R'dek had returned to sleep. Loren was still there, curled protectively around the healer in his bed, when they woke the next morning, much to Rodne's confusion, as he had not heard the hunter return during the night. They discussed their plans with Loren over breakfast, and he expressed his approval. R'dek was reluctant to explain just what purpose his oddly carved sticks would serve, however, knowing that a demonstration would prove far more effective. He told Loren to bring his best spear, and to come with the other hunters to a spot at the edge of the village where R'dek would show them all just what they were for.

It had taken little time for R'dek to earn the hunters' respect when he'd first come to Lakeside nearly two years ago, for his spearpoints were particularly fine, and he knew this. Being small and slightly built, however, R'dek also knew that his physical prowess was never going to command much respect from these men, and today, that fact would add impact to the demonstration he was about to make.

It was a double handful of curious hunters, along with Rodne and some of the older lads who aspired to be hunters soon, that gathered at the meeting spot R'dek had indicated, and R'dek was pleased at the turn-out. He began his demonstration with the familiar, asking Loren to throw his spear as far as he could. There was some palaver amongst the hunters about this, for Loren held the record for this feat in the village, and had for some years. His throw was good and was met with expressions of admiration from the crowd, especially from the younger ones. R'dek sent one of these to measure the throw and fetch the spear.

"Two hundred ten paces," the lad said, jogging back up to the crowd with Loren's spear in his hand. "The same as at the midsummer games." Loren smiled and graciously accepted the congratulations of his peers.

"Now," R'dek said to the crowd as he took the spear from the hunter's hand. "Who thinks that I would be able to beat that record?" This received the jocular response R'dek expected, and he didn't mind. He knew, as he lifted Loren's spear and fitted the butt end into the cup shaped part of his thrower, that all those men joking and laughing now had a real surprise coming. He had to drop his crutch to position the spear and thrower correctly, however, and quickly discovered that his injured leg was not going to support him without it. Wincing, he called Rodne to his side.

"Will you let me lean on you for a moment?" he asked. "I need to use both my hands for this."

"Sure," Rodne agreed without hesitation, stepping close to R'dek and wrapping an arm around his waist. R'dek smiled affectionately at his lover, knowing that he'd preferred to keep his personal life -his preference for men in his bed in particular- to himself in the past. That had all gone out the window, however, the moment he had appeared in the village with R'dek in his arms, and R'dek felt grateful that Rodne seemed to have accepted this small loss of privacy with so little fuss.

R'dek now gave himself a moment to find his own, Rodne-assisted balance, then to find the balance of the spear and thrower. When he was ready, he turned to address the crowd. "You had probably better all stand back some," he said. "I promise that this spear will fly some distance but, given my eyesight, there is no telling in which direction it will fly."

This got a chuckle, and the crowd of hunters did indeed move back to stand well behind him, then R'dek took a deep breath and launched the spear with all his strength. He gave a grunt of pain as his weight fell on his injured leg for a moment. but Rodne pulled him back quickly, then stooped to grab up R'dek's crutch and hand it to him. "Looking good," he said with approval, following the flight with his gaze as R'dek could not.

Unable to track the flight of the spear himself, R'dek turned instead to take in the expressions of those around him, immediately pleased to see similar looks of admiration and astonishment on the faces of the gathered hunters. He grinned in satisfaction, even as he heard one of the hunters mutter, "What witchcraft is this?"

"Oh please," Rodne snorted in disdain. "Is it 'witchcraft' when Hallen brings a netfull of fish into his boat? Or when Li'bet uses her loom to weave a blanket? It's just a new tool -one you haven't seen before."

"And one which you can easily learn to use," R'dek added hastily, shrugging off his pack and extracting the two extra spear throwers he had there. As the hunters gathered around to examine the new devices, the lad who had run to measure and retrieve the spear which R'dek had thrown returned, breathing hard as he announced the distance.

"Three hundred forty paces!" he cried with excitement. "No one has ever thrown a spear so far!"

"Perhaps," R'dek said with a smile, handing one of the throwers over to Loren who had his spear back now, "but I think that in a moment someone is going to throw it even farther, yes?"

"Perhaps," Loren mimicked playfully, experimenting with his grip on the spear and thrower. R'dek hobbled over to his side, giving him a few pointers, and after a little bit, Loren hazarded his first throw. The cast wasn't perfect, this would take a little practice, R'dek knew, but the spear flew straight and some distance, already noticeably farther than his first, unassisted throw.

"No witchcraft at all," he confirmed with satisfaction. "It's as though I'm throwing the spear with an arm grown to half again its old length. A fantastic invention, toolmaker," Loren said, turning to R'dek. "And I thank you for it."

"Do not thank me," R'dek said with a worried frown, "until you have repelled the raiders. It will take more than this improvement alone to accomplish that."

"What of the weapon that the stranger, R'non carries?" another of the hunters asked. "If you could make us all such weapons surely we would defeat them easily."

Seeing the look that Rodne was directing at the questioner, R'dek thought to himself that he would have to take his lover aside later and point out to him that it might be better that he not wish death on their own hunters, at least until after they had dealt with the raiders. "While I know of such weapons," R'dek answered calmly, "and I can tell you that the raiders will very likely have similar, though much smaller ones, I have never tried to make one myself. I probably could, given time, but such time we do not have now, yes?"

There was a muttered agreement, if a regretful one, among the hunters at that, and then Loren spoke up again. "Hunters," he said, "this gift is a gift from the Gods, and I accept it with gratitude. Now that they've given us this gift, the Gods are asking us for a little effort and a little faith, and I'm not planning on disappointing them." There was no arguing this point (unless you were Rodne, who was quietly rolling his eyes) and the hunters all made affirming sounds in response.

"Now you kids," Loren now turned to the group of youngsters who had come to watch, "who haven't yet learned the way of the spear, still I know I've seen some of you nail a sparrow in flight with a sling stone, haven't I?" This was answered with a lot of good natured jostling and punching of shoulders.

Loren grinned in approval. "I don't need to tell you that with a slightly larger stone, it's possible to stun or even kill a man," he continued. "This is how, my young friends, you'll be doing your part in the defense of this village. Now, while my hunters and I practice with this new spear-stick thing from R'dek, you guys go and practice your sling skills, and tell the younger ones to gather stones, as many as they can. If every man woman and child of Lakeside takes part in our defense, well that'll show the Gods what we're made of, and the enemy too!"

This got a cheer from the youths and hunters alike, and another eye roll from Rodne. "Come," R'dek said to him, before his impiety could be noticed. "You can help me make spear-sticks, for I think we will need as many as we can make."

****

An extra for my readers this week:

If you have not come to wonder exactly where things are happening in the little village of Lakeside, you probably will soon. I know I did, so I drew a map.

****

And next week, Lakeside continues to prepare for the raiders, and then our friends take an evening off to share some history...

More Art, of a non smutty nature

2009-07-22T07:36:51Z

Told you, it's summer and I've got a lot of time on my hands.

This is Radek from one of his finer moments in "Tabula Rasa". Sure he's scared to go off world, and of water, but don't back this guy into a corner, especially if he's got a stick.

A (smutty, slashy) Art Interlude

2009-07-21T12:13:36Z

Once again, I've been up to my old tricks of finding photos with, ahem... *poses* that I like, and redrawing them with the faces of my favorite SGA lads. Just to be clear, what lies beyond the link is most definitely Not Safe For Work

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 3

2009-07-20T09:02:54Z

Cave Geeks II, Chapter 2

2009-07-13T12:21:55Z

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks Book II: The Warrior of Honor
Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com
Characters/Pairings: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir
Category: slash, h/c, AU
Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.
Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions
Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?
Spoilers/Season: none
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Clan of the Cave Geeks: Warrior of Honor

by Taylor Dancinghands

Chapter 2

Evidently he had been spotted on the way in and already villagers were running to help. Headwoman Li'bet was there at his side first, and then there were Caresn and Loren coming now and people were asking him things and Rodne tried to answer them but he wasn't sure he was making any sense.

"He fell," Rodne said, gesturing weakly toward R'dek. "He fell out of a tree and I wanted to bring him here right away but he didn't want to come and then the next day I knew we had to so then he said yes, but he was already sick then and he couldn't walk very much because of his leg... Did I mention that it was his leg that was hurt? But I knew we had to get here somehow so I tried to help him but he just kept getting worse and worse and, oh Gods it's too late, isn't it? I tried, I really did, to get him here as fast as I could, but he was so sick... he was speaking some language I couldn't even understand yesterday and now he isn't speaking at all and Gods, Gods, don't let it be too late, please. I tried, I tried..."

Rodne suddenly realized that he was feeling more than a little light headed and somebody was pressing a flask to his lips and, Gods, he'd had no idea he was so thirsty.

"Rodne," Li'bet was speaking to him, supporting him with an arm around his shoulder. "Rodne," she said again. "You did it, you got him here and Caresn is looking at him now."

"Caresn?" Rodney looked up now to see where the healer was kneeling beside his lover, his tunic drawn back to reveal the injured leg, gory with fresh blood and matter. The sight made Rodne feel ill for a moment and he swayed a bit where he was kneeling. A moment later Caresn was by his side and Loren was lifting R'dek up, preparing to carry him somewhere.

"I'm here, lad," Caresn's voice was soft and reassuring. ""You've done wonders to get him here and we're taking him back to my hut now to do what can be done, but I'm going to need your help as well."

"It's not too late?" Rodne cringed at the tone of helpless pleading in his voice.

"R'dek is in a bad way, there's no denying that," Caresn confirmed, "but I'd say he's got a good chance of recovering, if the working goes well." Caresn and Li'bet helped him to his feet as Rodne tried to focus on the healer's words and what they meant.

"A 'working'?" he repeated. "Oh Gods, Caresn, you're not going to..." Rodne had always respected Caresn's knowledge and skill as an herbalist, and his unique understanding of the human body, but his occasional practice of going into a trance and consulting with 'spirits' -for the most part a turtle which he called by the name, Turtur- in order to help bring about healing in his more extreme cases, left Rodne distinctly unsettled.

"Rodne, R'dek is far too ill for the usual herbs and other treatments to work," Caresn explained as they followed Loren, carrying R'dek, over to the healer's hut. "And I've my suspicions that they might never have been enough, even if I'd had him from the start. What kind of tree was it, Rodne, that R'dek injured himself on?"

"What kind of tree?" Rodne squawked indignantly. "What difference... alright, fine; it was a sweetwood. Does that help?"

"Unfortunately, it doesn't help R'dek one bit," Caresn answered with a grave expression. "Rodne, ye know how putting chips of sweetwood in your bedding keeps the fleas out, aye?" Rodne nodded. It was something everyone knew.

"Well the reason it does that is because it contains a tiny bit of poison," Caresn explained, "more than enough to send such wee beasties off, but not enough to harm a man... that is unless it gets inside you. Surely ye've noticed how getting a splinter of sweetwood is always more painful than any other kind?"

Come to think of it, Rodne reflected, it was... and he'd probably left more than a few inside R'dek's injury. "Dammit," Rodne swore sadly. "I really tried to get them all out, Caresn, but it was hurting him so much..."

"Rodne," Caresn laid a hand on his shoulder as they stepped into the sweet smelling darkness of the healer's hut. "No one could have gotten all of the splinters out of a wound like that, and you did better than most. Ye mustn't fret over it."

Rodne appreciated the kind words, but there was no way he could keep from fretting -not when R'dek lay so lifelessly where Loren had laid him on Caresn's spare pallet, the sweat shining on his brow and the too rapid rise and fall of his chest the only signs of life. Collapsing with exhaustion beside the fire, Rodne watched as Loren helped Caresn remove R'dek's garments and then clean the wound using water and hanks of freshly cut sweetgrass from a basket by the door.

Rodne moved almost reflexively to build up the fire as they tossed the wet, befouled handfuls of grass there to be burned, and soon the hut was filled with the scent of sweetgrass smoke. They were done with this unpleasant task soon enough and when they were Loren asked if there was anything else he was needed for. Caresn thanked him and told him no.

"Only be sure to mention to Meera that we'll be wanting tea in the morning." Caresn said as they parted. Loren placed a gentle kiss on the healer's forehead as he stood at the threshold, then took his leave, letting the hide curtain fall closed after him.

"Thank you for minding the fire, Rodne," Caresn said as he turned to fetch a small wooden chest from the foot of his bed. He set this on the bed and then went to another corner of the hut to pick up a medium sized frame drum and a basket full of sweetwood chips and the odd, white berries from the yellow-wood tree. He tossed a hand-full of this mixture onto the fire as he sat beside Rodne, handing him the frame drum.

Rodne held the frame drum dumbly for a moment, before it dawned on him what Caresn meant by handing it to him. "Oh, no no no no..." he objected, panicking. "I can't... I've never... Caresn, I have no sense of rhythm -none at all..."

"That's not what I see when you're dancing with R'dek at mid-winters," Caresn commented with a kind smile. "And Rodne, you are the very best person to do this, for the working to be as successful as possible. You and R'dek, you've a connection. You carry him in your heart just as you carried him in your arms today, and you can lend him strength when he needs it."

Rodne glanced over at where his lover lay and knew that R'dek needed all the strength he could get right now. He swallowed and bowed his head. "Okay," he said softly, nervously turning the drum over in his hands. "What do I need to do?"

The firelight seemed to accentuate the gentle affection in Caresn's deep blue eyes as he lifted a hand to lay briefly on Rodne's face. "Just keep a simple, steady rhythm going through the whole working," he said. "And don't stop till I say. I'll show you the rhythm I need you to use."

Rodne nodded solemnly, his exhaustion forgotten, as he watched Caresn beat out a slow, steady heartbeat rhythm on his knee. Nodding once again, Rodne took up the drum, trying to match Caresn's rhythm and not quite succeeding.

"Can ye find yer own heartbeat?" Caresn suggested as Rodne's rhythm faltered. Rodne bit his lip and tried, finding it soon enough but finding it to be rather more rapid than the rhythm Caresn had shown him.

"Aye, that's the idea," Caresn said with a smile as Rodne struck out the rhythm of his own heartbeat on the drum. "Now I just need you to relax a bit..." Rodne flashed the healer an incredulous look.

"You can do it, Rodne," Caresn said with confidence. "Just close your eyes for a bit and draw a slow, deep breath... now another... again. That's good. Now I want you to imagine the most relaxing sight you can think of..."

"Clear, blue skies..." Rodne murmured, wondering where that had come from, for all that it was just the right thing. He could actually feel his own heartbeat slowing.

"Aye, that's the idea," Caresn said. "Now try the drum again."

Rodne did, feeling the steady, even rhythm flow from him almost effortlessly this time.

"Perfect, lad," Caresn said. "That's perfect. Now you practice for just a bit while I get ready."

Ready for the working... on R'dek. Rodne felt the nervousness rise in him again, but combated it with the vision he had conjured up before. Clear, blue skies, he thought, closing his eyes and concentrating on his drumming. He could hear Caresn opening the box on his bed, removing things that rattled and rustled and a little while later he heard the box close again and heard Caresn draw a long, steadying breath.

"That's quite good, Rodne," Caresn said softly, and Rodne opened his eyes to see the healer bedecked in dozens of necklaces of bead, bone and other indescribable talismans. He also now wore a mask-like headpiece that, lit by the flickering light of the fire, transformed his friend's face into something less familiar -almost otherworldly.

With practiced ease, Caresn threw another handful of wood chips and berries onto the fire and the sweet, pungent smoke rose up again, filling the small space of the healer's hut. "Now when you start the drumming again, Rodne," Caresn said, "I'll need you to keep it going, without stopping till I tell you, no matter what happens, or what I do. D'ye understand?" Rodne nodded silently.

"The drumming will be our lifeline, Rodne, mine and R'dek's, so you mustn't stop for anything," Caresn elaborated.

"No pressure, then," Rodne said with a nervous frown, stroking his hands over the surface of the drum.

"I've every confidence in you, Rodne," Caresn said sincerely, turning to kneel beside where R'dek lay. "You can start whenever you're ready."

Rodne swallowed back any of several replies about how he would never be ready, and instead brought his vision of clear, blue skies back to mind, drawing in a deep breath of the pleasantly scented air. Pum-pum... Pum-pum... Pum-pum... Rodne let his hand fall with the beating of his own heart and found it came easily now -almost naturally.

Outside it would be dark now, the other residents of Lakeside retiring to dinner in their own huts, and so there were almost no sounds from beyond the walls of the healer's hut. Rodne could imagine that the three of them were alone in the universe, the only sounds those of their three breaths, the soft crackle of the fire, and his heartbeat played out on the drum. After a moment these sounds were joined by another, as Caresn began to chant softly.

It had been some time since Rodne had heard Caresn speak in the language of his childhood -like R'dek's, one that Rodne understood not one word of, though the sounds were quite different.

Rodne let the unfamiliar sounds roll over him, noting how they fell in counterpoint to his drum beats, reinforcing his rhythm. Now, in the low light of the fire, Rodne could see Caresn moving, laying his hands first on R'dek's forehead, then his throat, his belly, his genitals. He rocked slightly as he chanted now, his hands coming to hover over R'dek's injury and the words of his chant growing more strained sounding, as though he were feeling the pain of R'dek's wound himself.

Turning his thoughts away from such unsettling ones, Rodne returned his focus to his drum beats, finding that it had not drifted away from his own heartbeat in the least. In fact, if he listened now, it seemed as if he could hear all three of their hearts, beating in sync with the drum, as though compelled by it. Rodne felt a surge of anxiety at that thought, feeling the weight of all their lives in his less than skilled hands, but he soon came to notice that he was as compelled as they were. Something -some force or spell- held them all, and Rodne could no more falter in his rhythm than he could fly like a bird.

Caresn's chanting was getting louder now, and more forceful, as though it, or he, was doing hard work, and for all Rodne knew he was. His hands lay over R'dek's leg now, spread over the surface of the wound, and Rodne could all but see how Caresn's mind was entirely focused there. He began to pant between the words of the chant, though he still did not lose the rhythm, as if he were straining to lift something of great weight.

Then suddenly Caresn was not the only one laboring thusly. Now, though the rhythm still compelled him, Rodne found it took considerable effort to move his hand to strike the drum, as though the air had gone as thick as water. He refocused himself, determined to carry his weight as instructed, no matter that it seemed more like a real weight now. Before him, still kneeling by R'dek's side, Caresn ground out one more line of his chant, then gave a shout, as if he had finally dropped his heavy burden into place, and Rodne found his own burden lifted suddenly as well. Schooling himself to keep the rhythm steady in spite of this, Rodne felt a trickle of sweat roll down his temple but did not falter. He could do this. Caresn and R'dek were counting on him.

Caresn had fallen silent now, his chanting apparently finished, and he knelt with his head bowed over R'dek, drawing long, harsh breaths. He raised his hands again a moment later, though Rodne noted that one seemed closed in a fist now, and began to run them down the length of R'dek's body, slowly at first and then more swiftly, as if brushing some dust or dirt off of him. He did this several time, punctuating the last few with a word Rodne did not recognize, then he straightened, lifting his face and hands to the sky. He spoke one last time in his old tongue, making some pronouncement or formal thanks, then dropped his hands and bowed his head, his whole body drooping with exhaustion.

"Thank you Rodne," he said after another long moment. "That will do."

Oddly, Rodne found it a little difficult to stop, finally letting his drum beats slow and fade away until they were too soft to hear. Then he lay the drum down carefully and moved to Caresn's side. "You okay?" he asked.

"Aye, luv," he said with a tired smile. "Just a wee bit knackered is all, but it went well -see?" Caresn opened the hand he had closed in a fist and inside, smeared with blood and matter, were three small slivers of rust colored wood.

"That's it?" Rodne was wondering not at Caresn's efforts, but that such small things could so quickly sicken and kill a man. Caresn understood and nodded seriously.

"Aye," he said. "Even such a little poison, when it gets past the body's defenses, can do great harm, as you've seen." He took up another handful of grass to wipe his palm clean, tossing it into the fire after the others, then turned back to his own bed where he removed the headpiece and necklaces. Rodne moved to sit by R'dek's side as he did this, laying a hand on R'dek's face to note that, though it was warm, it was not fever warm any more. He turned back to Caresn with gratitude and wonder in his gaze.

"The fever is gone," he said with profoundest relief. "Did you do that?"

"Well," Caresn said a little reluctantly, "Turtur did, mainly..."

"Um, right," said Rodne awkwardly. "So, ah, should we wrap the wound again before you fall asleep? because that's clearly what's next for you."

"Aye, ye are right about that," Caresn said with a yawn, "but I think we should let R'dek's wound breath for the night and cover it again tomorrow... If ye don't mind keeping an eye on him so he doesn't move about too much when he wakes."

"Sure," Rodne answered without thinking. He was exhausted himself, to be sure, but he doubted he'd really be able to sleep till he knew R'dek was truly better. He did seem somewhat better now, but he remained too still yet, and had not woken since before Rodne had brought him here. Rodne would not find it too difficult, he knew, to remain wakeful till he heard R'dek speak his name once again.

Caresn seemed to understand that, giving Rodne a sympathetic glance as he stepped outside briefly to pee. He fell directly into bed when he returned and Rodne settled himself by the fire, gazing at the shifting light over the coals as he listened to the sound of his lover's slow and steady breaths.

Inevitably, Rodne did doze off after some time, knees drawn up and head resting on his crossed arms, but the small sound of R'dek stirring roused him immediately. He mumbled something next, as Rodne stretched out his aching joints, speaking so softly that Rodne couldn't tell what language it was, but his next word was clearer.

"Rodne?" R'dek's voice was a bit rusty, but music to Rodne's ears nonetheless.

"Right here," Rodne assured, coming to sit stiffly at R'dek's side. "How are you feeling?"

R'dek blinked, considering. "Better, I think," he said after a moment, then, "we are in Caresn's hut?"

"Yeah," Rodne said, carefully pushing strands of hair away from R'dek's face. "How did you know?"

"The smell," R'dek said with a little smile, eyes closed. "How did I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Rodne asked, worried still that the fever and illness had somehow damaged his lover's mind.

"I..." R'dek's brows furrowed for a moment, then he opened his eyes to gaze at Rodne with a touch of puzzlement. "You...you carried me?"

"I said I would," Rodne repeated, eyes downcast.

"Rodne..." Rodne felt fingers, warm but not fever warm, brush against he cheek.

"There wasn't anything else I could do," Rodne said, his voice not quite steady. "You... you were dying. I could feel it... and I had to... I had to..."

"Sshh, Rodne," R'dek calmed him. "You did it. You got me here and I will be well now, yes?"

"More than likely," said another, sleep roughened voice, "though you'll be needing a fair piece of time to mend altogether."

"Caresn," Rodne turned toward the sound of the healer's voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..."

“Nay, ye mustn’t trouble yourselves, lads,” Caresn said, sleepily good natured. “The sun’s nearly up anyhow, and Meera’ll be here in a bit with our morning tea.”

Glancing blearily over his shoulder at the door, Rodne noticed now that there was a faint grey light creeping in under the ox-hide covering the door. It meant, he realized, that he had been mostly awake for the better part of three days, and suddenly Rodne felt every bit of the exhaustion that he’d held at bay up till now, and he swayed a bit where he knelt.

“Dear me,” Caresn exclaimed, climbing out of bed and coming to Rodne’s side. “You are all done in, Rodne lad, but you can rest now. I’ll take care of things for a bit.”

He could rest? For a moment Rodne couldn’t quite grasp what that meant, until R’dek tugged his hand gently and patted the far side of the bed.

“Come,” he said, “sleep beside me so you will know I am well, and I can hold you when I sleep.”

“Oh Gods…” Rodne sighed, mindlessly pulling his tunic off, forgetting about it the second it left his hand, and crawling over to the bed, where he found himself a space between R’dek and the wall of Caresn’s hut. Stretching himself out on the bedding next to Rodne ached in the very best ways possible, and scooting close to fold R’dek in his arms caused something wrapped tightly around Rodne’s heart to unbind itself, all at once. It made his breath hitch and a moment later he was sobbing quietly against R’dek’s shoulder, broken with exhaustion and fear and relief.

“Oh, my love,” he heard R’dek sigh softly, and he felt his lover’s slender fingers moving through his hair. There was a larger hand, heavy and comforting on his shoulder as well, and Caresn’s kind voice murmuring, “There you go lad, there you go… you’ve had a hard time of it but it’s done now and you’ve been so strong and brave…”

The touches and voices soothed, and before long Rodne’s tears abated. “Thank you Caresn,” he said weakly, “and R’dek … you know I love you…”

“I do know, love. Sleep now,” R’dek said, tenderly kissing Rodne’s forehead. At that moment, that seemed like the best idea ever to Rodne, and so he did.

***

And what of R'dek?"

Return to the Land of the Cave Geeks!

2009-07-06T11:36:24Z

To be fair, right up front, I must tell you that this story is nowhere near finished, but it's a long one, and a big chunk of it is done. I ask myself then, why make my faithful readers wait to get started, and why make myself wait for the adulation and encouragement every author loves? No reason at all, I have decided, and so I will begin by posting one chapter a week, and then each one as they are finished and ready.

I know a lot of you don't like to get invested in WIPs because your hearts have been broken by never-to-be finished WIPs in the past, but fear not, in my case. I never, ever, start writing a story without knowing exactly how it will end, and have never, ever, left a fanfic unfinished. (There is the matter of my half completed original novel, which continues to languish while I write fanfics, but that is another matter.)

That said, I am pleased to introduce Chapter 1 of the next 'book' of my stone age SGA au, Clan of the Cave Geeks, this one titled, Warrior of Honor. This tale will probably make a lot more sense if you read the first in the series, The Stargazer and the Toolmaker, which is primarily a McKay/Zelenka romance, with hints of Beckett/Lorne. In this sequel, I introduce the au versions of Teyla, Ronon and Sheppard, continue to make happy with Zelenka/McKay and give a lot more screen time to the Beckett/Lorne relationship. There's other stuff too, which I guess I'll let you read and discover on your own. So now, on with the tale...

Title: Clan of the Cave Geeks 2: The Warrior of Honor
Author: Taylor Dancinghands -taylor@willendorphians.com
Characters: Zelenka/McKay, Beckett/Lorne, Teyla/Ronon, and eventually Sheppard/Weir
Category: slash, h/c, AU
Warnings: Sloppy Paleolithic history, anachronistic technological leaps and funnied up names.
Rating: NC-17, explicit M/M and eventually M/F sex depictions
Archive: Generally yes, but please let me know where
Summary: So what does a bonafide genius do in an era of stone knives and bear skins?
Spoilers/Season: none
Author's notes: You know, I never used to even *read* AUs like this, much less write them. Insomnia and jet lag are to blame. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, never will, not claiming to. Just wanna play with 'em a little. Can't I, can't I, huh?

Clan of the Cave Geeks - Book II

Chapter 1

Rodne had lived a life full of bad moments, some downright horrible, but he would forever categorize as perhaps the very worst, the moment he watched his lover fall out of that tree. R'dek had insisted that the resins he needed could only be acquired by climbing high into the branches of a very tall sweetwood tree, and when Rodne -standing uneasily at the base, heard the slender branch beneath R'dek's feet give way, he'd thought his heart would stop.

Fortunately, R'dek was quick and agile, and clung with both arms and all his strength to the trunk of the tree so that he slid rapidly down it's length, letting the odd side branch slow his descent, rather than plummeting to his death. It was still painful to watch and Rodne winced numerous times as R'dek approached the ground. When he landed, shaking and rubbing his eyes, Rodne could see the long, jagged gash on his thigh where the treacherous branch that had failed him in the first place, had wounded him as he fell.

"R'dek!" Rodne cried, dropping to his knees besides his lover, touching him carefully, but wanting desperately to assure himself that he was still alive and largely intact. Pushing his hair out of his face -and random bits of bark and other detritus out of his hair- with shaking hands, R'dek looked up at last to meet Rodne's troubled gaze. "That," he said unsteadily, "was not at all what I intended."

Rodne stifled the urge to take his lover by the shoulders and shake him, seeing as he had likely been shaken enough, but he could not silence the panicked words that came in response. "No," he snapped. "Evidently what you intended was to get yourself killed, but don't give up yet, you may still have succeeded."

Urgently fumbling through the contents of his shoulder pouch, Rodne extracted the bit of soft hide he'd used to wrap the lunch he'd eaten earlier, and used it now to brush the splinters and bits of bark away from the gash in R'dek's thigh, which was already bleeding copiously. It was long and deep, running from just above his knee nearly to his groin, and of the sort that was as likely to turn poisonous as to heal, and Rodne felt the dread that had begun as he watched R'dek fall take hold in his heart. His lover's life was still very much in danger.

"Rodne..." R'dek's voice was gentle, and Rodne saw that R'dek understood the reason for his harsh words. "It will heal. I will be fine, I promise." He laid his hand on Rodne's, firm and warm, and Rodne knew that the promise was not made lightly.

"Well Caresn does say that having a positive attitude always helps in the healing process," Rodne muttered crossly, reaching an arm around R'dek's back. There was a good, clean running stream they'd pass on the way back to the cave, and he'd wash R'dek's wound there, as Caresn had told him to do to prevent a serious wound going bad. Even the tiniest of foreign objects in a wound could cause it to turn poisonous, he'd told Rodne, and Rodne fretted about this in particular, for there were surely countless little bits of wood in R'dek's wound.

"Caresn is a wise man," R'dek said, struggling to stand with Rodne's help and the support of the tree he'd just fallen from. "I shall take his advice to heart."

After that they'd neither of them had the strength or attention for conversation. R'dek had done his best to help Rodne clean his wound in the icy stream, but his face had been white with pain by the time Rodney had done all that he could there. He wasn't at all sure that he'd done enough, for R'dek's injury had been long and complicated, with too many places that some bit of splinter might still be hiding. He did not speak of this with R'dek, however, instead assuring him that he'd gotten everything. R'dek had gotten a good look at the wound himself, however, and Rodne wasn't at all sure that he'd been convinced.

Back in the cave, Rodney had dressed the injury with pads of soft, dry moss, securing them with strips of hide, then gone to make some broth as R'dek rested with his flask of lightning water, which he said lessened the pain slightly -or at least rendered him so that he didn't care about it quite so much.

After he'd finished making the broth he swapped it out for the flask of lightning water, which R'dek had been reluctant to relinquish until Rodne suggested that he might want it more later on. That was something that Rodne didn't much care to contemplate, but was likely true nonetheless. Even if it healed, R'dek's wound was going to get worse before it got better.

Once he had drunk the broth and some herbal tea which Caresn had described as being good for 'strengthening the blood' -whatever that meant- the trauma of the day's events and the lightning water finally had their way with R'dek and he drifted off to sleep. There would be no such solace for Rodne, however, even later, when he lay down besides his lover and took him in his arms. How could he sleep when the image of R'dek's first precipitous plunge from high in the tree remained, as though painted on the inside of his eyelids? And when it was not that, there was the image of the long, jagged tear in his lover's flesh, in the strong smooth thigh that Rodne had caressed and kissed countless times.

There would be a scar there now, forever after -that was assuming this wound did not kill him. Rodne would have liked to put that possibility out of his mind, but his mind was not so compliant. In his unhappy experience, wounds of this sort went bad more often than not, and the thought that over the next handful of days he would watch his lover succumb to fever and the agonies of a poisoned wound tormented Rodne horribly. He could not sleep, felt no apatite, and it seemed as though a dark pall had fallen over his whole world.

By morning, however, Rodne had determined one thing. He would not sit and do nothing while R'dek sickened and died. Though it was a two days walk distant, there was aid to be had, in Lakeside. He knew Caresn would come if summoned, but that would mean leaving R'dek alone for four days, and that he could not do. R'dek would have to come to Caresn then, though it was possible that the journey itself might kill him. Staying here though, Rodne had become increasingly convinced, would end up being just as deadly.

R'dek woke feverish the next morning, however, and begged not to be forced to make the journey. It would not be necessary, he insisted. He would heal on his own, right here. Rodne acquiesced that first day, letting himself be swayed by R'dek's determination, but by the next day R'dek's condition had clearly worsened and his own determination to take R'dek to Caresn rose up again.

"Please, Rodne..." R'dek had plead weakly as Rodne replaced the moss covering R'dek's injury, which was now seeping stuff that seemed decidedly unhealthy. "I cannot... It is too far..."

"I'll help you," Rodne said, wrapping R'dek in a warm hide tunic although the day was warm and pleasant, for his lover's fever came and went with bouts of terrible chills. "I'll carry you if I have to, but we need to get you to Caresn.

"I won't!" R'dek tried for obstinate, but Rodne remained undaunted.

"And you're going to stop me how?" Rodne snapped back, hating the look of helpless distress on R'dek's face that followed. "R'dek, listen to me, please," Rodne relented a bit, taking one of R'dek's fever warm hands in his. "It's bad; you know it's bad, and if we wait for it to get any worse it'll be too late, and I can't..." and Rodne had to stop and swallow because it was hard to talk about how scared he was, but R'dek needed to know.

"If I... If I lost you," he finally managed, "I don't know what I'd do... I don't know if I'd even want..." He let himself trail off there, because judging by the look on R'dek's face, he'd made his point.

"Rodne..." R'dek said softly, then he nodded solemnly. "Alright," he said. "Alright, I will go, but I... you may yet have to carry me. I do not think I will be able to walk very far."

"We'll take it easy," Rodne said earnestly, his fingers brushing strands of hair away from R'dek's sweat dampened brow. "We'll rest as often as you need to, but we'll get you there, and then Caresn will be able to help you."

R'dek nodded solemnly, leaning against Rodne as though he were exhausted already. "I know you are probably right," he said. "I am sorry I have caused this trouble."

"What, by going about your business and ignoring my paranoid whining?" Rodne replied, gathering some food and other supplies for the journey and stuffing them into his bag. "If you listened to me all the time you'd never come out of the cave, and then I'd probably fret at you about the damp or the bad air. Stuff happens, R'dek; no one can avoid it and it isn't anyone's fault."

R'dek seemed to take some consolation in this, but still, getting him to his feet and out of the cave at first took more out of him than Rodne was pleased about. He should have insisted on leaving yesterday, Rodne worried to himself, for R'dek was clearly sicker and weaker than he'd let on. The fresh air and sun did seem to revive R'dek somewhat, however, and with Rodne's help, they did make fairly good progress after a bit.

They took a long break at mid day, though R'dek didn't eat as much as Rodne wished he would have, and his strength seemed somewhat restored as they continued on their way once again. By late afternoon, however, R'dek's energy was flagging badly, and Rodne knew that they'd have to make camp far short of the usual spot. He'd told himself to expect that -even had a good camping spot planned out in his mind- but as he settled R'dek with calm words that he did not entirely feel, Rodne knew that he'd hoped for more. If they kept this pace he knew they might make it to Lakeside in three days, but Rodne also knew that R'dek would almost certainly not be able to keep this pace, and that he would get sicker and weaker as they went on.

It would more likely be four days or more before they reached the village and Caresn's aid and that, Rodne worried increasingly, would be too late. There was a quiet desperation growing in Rodne's heart as he curled up behind his feverish lover in the tent that first night, and all night long he wracked his brain for a better solution.

None had come by morning, of course and, of course, R'dek was sicker still, hard to wake and uncertain of where he was at first. When he did finally wake he would take nothing more than honey sweetened tea for breakfast and had real trouble standing upright for the first time. Rodne got him going mainly by unremitting browbeating and that proved effective enough for the first part of the day. More browbeating was required to get R'dek to take any solid food at mid day and when Rodne deemed it time to move on it was as if R'dek had not rested at all.

It took everything they had to make it to the usual camping spot, and when they reached it R'dek simply collapsed. Rodne wanted desperately to do the same, but he couldn't. Instead he ended up carrying R'dek over to the shelter he'd built there and making some broth which he had to coax a half awake R'dek into drinking. It was all Rodne could do to make himself drink more of the same and curl up at R'dek's side, miserable and afraid and sleepless.

R'dek woke in the hours just before sunrise, thrashing restlessly in his sleeping furs and speaking in a tongue Rodne did not know. Rodne had heard R'dek speak this language only in snippets before and hearing him ramble on as though he had forgotten how to speak words Rodne could understand put Rodne's heart in his throat. R'dek's fever seemed to have reached new heights as well, and Rodne determined at that moment that they must get to Caresn without further delay, no matter what it took.

Without even trying to get food into either of them, Rodne hastily bundled up their belongings and, as the first rays of sun came over the horizon, levered an incoherently protesting R'dek to his feet and set off down the mountain. R'dek did remarkably well at first, likely because he was delirious, Rodne reflected, but his strength began to give out long before mid day. At first he was only leaning heavily against Rodne, but as the day went on Rodne was taking more and more of R'dek's weight until shortly after mid day when R'dek simply slumped to the ground and would not move.

"I am afraid we have come to the point where you will have to carry me," R'dek said, suddenly troublingly lucid.

"I said I would," Rodne answered him, carefully not thinking how he would manage it, nor how long his strength would have to hold out. Instead he stooped to lift his lover in his arms, cradling him as if he were a child. R'dek weighed far too little, Rodne reflected with concern, for all that he was a small man he was also strong and sturdy, or rather, he had been three days ago. Held so close, Rodne could all but feel R'dek's strength and vitality seeping away by the minute, and he knew that he would find the strength within him, somehow, to get R'dek to Lakeside today.

It was a nightmarish journey. R'dek did not speak again, neither in a tongue Rodne understood nor the other, which he presumed was from R'dek's childhood. Instead he lay supine in Rodne's arms, his over-warm breath falling too rapidly onto Rodne's shoulder. Rodne did not dare stop, for fear that he would not be able to start again, and so he neither ate nor drank for the whole rest of the day. It was fortunate that he knew the path so well that he could have walked it blindfolded, his feet finding their way by instinct, for with R'dek in his arms he could not see the path before him, and to stumble and fall would be disastrous.

Rodne could never say what kept him going at the end, save that he knew he was close and that the path was mainly level here and very well trodden at the end. He could never remember much of that time either, until the moment, some time around dusk, when he came stumbling in to the village's central green, meaning to lay R'dek gently on the ground and instead simply collapsing. He'd wanted to call for help but he couldn't seem to find the strength. Fortunately, it was not needed.

***

Coming soon: anyone ever want to see Carson as a real shamen? doing spooky shamen stuff? Watch this space!