The Goddess and Pack Lord - Folician Chronicle 5

Chapter 9 - The Pack Lord Visits Gerdal

~~~ Sees Far in the distant past

The Pack Father's son woke in the early morning and rolled on his back and stretched before looking at the leather cover of his tent. The thick furs under his back were warm and comfortable. Beneath them was a layer of springy branches for some extra comfort. They would be shortly moving to their winter hunting grounds. They had been using the cave for longer than they could remember. The pack had pretty much outgrown it so there was only the very central core of the pack who went. It was a sacred site to the pack his father was in charge of.

They had two songs which were passed down from the Pack Mother and Pack Father to their heir and future Pack Mother. One song was for the females to learn with the exception of the Pack Father. The other was for the males with the exception of the Pack Mother. It was about how the Gods came down and protected the pack from some unspecified danger. One of the other packs they occasionally dealt with had a similar set of songs as well. It was one reason the two packs were tied together though they were days apart at their closest approach to each other's territory.

Moments later he rolled out of bed and slung the leather skirt around his waist and secured it. After that was a leather vest with a furred liner since it was getting colder. After a brief glance outside he decided he didn't need his rain skin since the sun was up and their shaman hadn't detected any snow or rain storms for the next few days. Right now, they were going to start packing to head to the cave. For some other odd reason, they only took three males and ten females though the normal count was seven females to each male. As it was since he was still fairly young, he only had three females who looked to him.

His father had the traditional seven, one for each of the sub packs who looked to him. There were several other males. Depending on their rank dictated if they had females looking to them or if they just serviced the unattached females. Granted if a female wished to spend time with a senior male they would go to the senior mate and request an evening with the male. Since he was the Pack Leader's son and heir to the pack if he wished he could have plenty of action but for the most part he was content with the three in his life.

Once outside he found his three females working. Two were starting to break down the tent and pack it up. The third was fixing him something to eat and carried it over as well as a skin of cold water, "Here you go Sees Far." Once he took the food from her, he settled down to eat. Once done he would check with his father to see what he was to take care of. Since he was young his father had a habit of rotating him through the various jobs needed.

After returning from speaking to his father he told his mates he was to help with the pack beasts. He was to organize them and have the proper amount led to the various family groups. When the core of the Pack moved to the cave the rest would head to the hunting grounds further south. They would keep in contact with each other via runners.

Since much of the camp had been packed up already the majority of it was taking down the tents and packing the items on the travois they were to be using. It didn't take very long and since they had started shortly after the sun had risen, they were on the trail with plenty of day left. The infants were being carried by their mothers and pack sisters. The toddlers and somewhat older children were tucked into a travois. The older pups walked and swapped out spots on the travois when they were tired.

Once they were on the trail Sees trotted to the front to speak briefly with his father, "Morning Sire, from here has the shaman given you a number of days it should take?" He needed to know to ensure the hunters would have an idea how much meat they would need.

His father nodded, "Good question son and the shaman indicated four or five suns unless a storm happens. She wasn't given an indication any might appear but as you know the Gods and Goddesses do as they wish."