Warnings and Disclaimers: There's no lemon or violence yet, but it's aaaallll coming! Also, 
if you've read "Clan of the Cave Bear" byt Jean M. Auel, you may recognize some themes... 
What can I say? It as a good series! ^_^ Otherwise, everything is mine, the ppl, the 
religion, the screwed up mental disorders, etc. ^^

***

Orlov is an ancient place, where women are strictly mothers and wives, and men are hunters 
and rulers. People are not equal. At all.

A certain woman named Murre, daughter of Creb and Kayli, was a cold, but beautiful woman, 
who hated everyone. No one really liked her, either. She was strange. She had all memories.

Memories are had at birth on Orlov. All people are born with a complete set of racial 
memories: Two languages, social structure, rules, laws, survival in the wild and religious 
laws and customs. After birth, however, people were steered in the direction of their 
gender, forced to forget the memories that wouldn't aid them in life.

Murre's mother and Creb, however, had spawned an analomy. Murre didn't forget. As hard as 
her parents tried to train her, she always knew things she shouldn't. She knew what 
happened at the mens' secret meetings. She knew how to hunt and fight and kill. She knew 
things that no woman had ever known before, and thus she was furious.

She knew the injustice that the women faced on Orlov. She wanted to change that, but with 
this knowledge she had, she gained wisdom. The others were blind. They thought this life 
was normal. Thus, she became angrier and angrier.

***

It had been a year since Murre and Erfen had gotten married. Murre was angrier than she 
had ever been. She never would have agreed to marry Erfen if he wasn't so powerful. He was 
the Clan's second most powerful Holy Man. To be mated with him would guarantee that her 
words would have more weight. Erfen loved her, also, but that was only secondary. He 
thought she was perfect, but that only made life slightly more bearable. She was a bitter 
shrew, but he adored her every breath, but that was just another thing to deal with in her 
life.

He loved her, and that was why he was so happy at her pregnancy.

Murre had walked into the hut, screaming about what a horrible life she would lead because
of Erfen. The poor, sad man had tried to comfort her, and then found out that she was going 
to have a baby. The only bad thing for him was that she wanted to kill it.

She knew the special magic needed to abort a baby, and this made life hard for Erfen. He 
wanted to have a family with this beautiful, spirited woman, but she had the means and 
desire to kill it.

So, he gave her a choice: Keep it or die. If she aborted it, he would have no choice but to 
have her killed. Shocked, Murre agreed to keep the infant, but her fury had reached a peak. 
The child would die. There was no question of that.

The pregnancy went quite well. Murre was strong and healthy, and so she had a strong and 
healthy baby. A beautiful girl was born whom her mate named Kanani, "eyes of wisdom".

Kanani grew to be a happy, lovely child, with the soft heart of her father, and the beauty 
and intelligence of her mother. Erfen loved her and coddled her with everything he had, 
while Murre neglected her and quietly planned the murder.

At the age of three, Kanani was given her Spirit Animal, or Totem Spirit, a protective 
animal that would help guide her through life.

As the main Spiritual Guide of the Clan, it was Erfen's job to meditate and find her Spirit 
Animal.   He meditated for three whole days, as was tradition, and found her Spirit in a 
stunning vision of a Lion hunt.

Dazed at his vision, he went to the leader of the Clan to report the odd finding: Kanani 
was to have the most powerful Spirit Animal of the Clan; usually only given to the most 
powerful of Shamans and hunters, and only as a last resort or second Spirit Animal. She was 
selected to carry the Spirit of the Great Lion.

The Ceremony of Spirit-Giving was held on the third moon of her third year , according to 
ancient tradition. All of the people in Kanani's Clan attended, as had been done since the 
Spirits first gave people life. They all arranged themselves excitedly, wondering what 
spirit would aid this lovely girl in her Journey through life.

Erfen and the Lesser Priests waked out, holding bowls of holy liquid, with which to offer 
to her Guardian Spirit. With great poise and grace he led the activities, invoking powerful 
and ancient Spirits that would protect them during the ceremony.   The entire Clan was 
waiting in eager anticipation for the invocation of the child's protective Spirit.

Erfen began to call the Spirits of all the Clan: "O, Great Bear, He who protects the Leader 
of our Clan, help aid us in the naming of this Girl's Spirit Guardian. O, humble Roe Deer, 
He who protects the mate of the Leader, add your power to this occasion, and bless this 
unworthy Girl. O, powerful Rhinoceros, He who protects our greatest Hunter, add your great 
power to our Gathering, to protect us as we invoke the sleeping Spirits to bless this 
pitiful Girl. O, wise Snow Owl, He who protects the Second-In-Command of our Clan, please 
add your wisdom and craftiness to our Gathering of Spirits as we have a chosen Spirit bless 
this Girl," and so on, until all Spirits had been properly invoked. 

Finally, he walked to Kanani and asked her step forward. A little nervous, the young girl 
stepped forward, and saw a great spectacle: Erfen was using the Ancient Sign language to 
invoke the most ancient of the Spirits; Eishe of Wind, Urrea of Water, Histia of Flame, and 
most holy and ancient of all, the twin Spirits Jurnea and Kimiyi, the Spirits of the Moon 
and Sun. These were the five Spirits of the Ancient Clan; the only female Spirits there 
were. They were only called under the most desperate of circumstances: severe punishments 
when people had to be banished from the Clan, and when a child needed intense protection. 
They were not able to be used as Guardian Spirits; since there was no way that a person 
could have complete protection by the Moon or by Fire. It was impossible for them to do 
that. The only Spirit that was held in approximate reverence was the Great Lion; Guardian 
Spirit of the whole Clan.

Kanani stared, wide-eyed, calling on the most ancient Memories of her people to understand 
the implications of calling upon these Spirits. For some reason she was receiving special 
treatment, but her Memories of those Spirits were so ancient that she was barely able to 
recall them. She only knew that these weren't Spirits of kindness and protection; these 
were Spirits to be feared. They were Spirits to quake at the mere mention of their names.
They were the strongest and most dangerous of all Spirits, that people had pushed to back 
of their minds in the hopes of not being destroyed by the very Spirits they were to honor. 
They were the Spirits that controlled life and death, the turning of the world, and the 
very fibers of their beings.

Now, these fearsome beings were being called into use at what was supposed to be a rather 
joyful occasion.

Murre sneered in confusion and fury that these Spirits were being called in her presence at 
the Spirit Ceremony of her only, loathed, child.

Kanani shivered, though it was warm outside, and walked obediently toward the man who was 
calling the dreadful names of these monstrous deities.

He called her forth, to stand directly before him, and called out the proper words of 
prayer and invocation, only for Kanani the words were different, and very old.

"O, Ancient Spirits of the world, please grant us protection for the following event. This 
Girl has been called into the protection of the most fearsome and revered of the Guardian 
Spirits, the Great Lion. This Girl is young, and has a long and promising life ahead of her 
in this, your most honored Clan.

"We have all received stunning visions of her Guardian Spirit, and thus have no cause to
believe that we have been led astray. This child, a mere Girl, has been Chosen by the most 
powerful of Guardian Spirits.

"The Clan is afraid of the life this child may lead if she must have such fierce protection 
from the Spirits. Only the strongest and most tragic of us have ever been chosen to bear 
this Spirit. Why, O Great Ones, has this mere child been Chosen for such a great 
protection?

"The Clan fears you. We are humbled and in awe of your very names, but we must pitifully 
beg your assistance in this most pressing matter. We are pitiful mortals, unworthy to 
mention the names of the Great Spirits of the Land. However, since we are such pitiful 
mortals, we are afraid. Afraid of the Future, and what it holds for us.

"This Girl is a simple child, vastly unworthy of your protection, and the honor of your 
most esteemed presence. Please, O Great Spirits that Govern Our Very Lives, please lend 
your protection to this pathetic child, and ensure that her life, though filled with 
tribulations, is a happy and fulfilled life."

He dipped his hand into the Sacred Liquid that was in the largest bowl and walked over to 
Kanani, "with this Nectar of the Spirits, I name you Kanani, Chosen of the Great Lion 
Spirit of our Clan."

He traced an ornate pattern of the liquid on her small forehead and said silent prayers in 
the Ancient Sign Language.

The Clan murmured in shock and surprise. No child in many generations had been blessed with 
such a Spirit, and a girl was never even considered for such a thing. The Great Lion was 
most certainly not a Spirit to be given to just anyone. This girl would achieve great 
things, they knew...

Kanani stepped away from Erfen, her head reeling with all that had happened. She had been 
Chosen by the most powerful Guardian Spirit in the Clan...