21
Gleb
The last few sun cycles have been the happiest in my life.
Waking next to my grumpy dushevnayasvyaz is better than the mated males described.
My Hannah is a creature of the night.
Each morning, I kiss her awake just to listen to her adorable grumbles as she throws a fur sheet over her wild red hair. I hope she doesn’t stop greeting the day with defiance when the nights lengthen to zima .
Today is different in that I didn’t cheer her up with a quick mating.
She’s sore from her wounds and our rigorous tumbles in the furs.
I let her sleep most of the day to prepare for our travels to the southern grounds this evening.
We will arrive with enough darkness to hide ourselves from the humans who might be camping in the boreal forest. While it feels strange to migrate to the south this time of year, when we are usually preparing to travel in the opposite direction, I know the Fates smile on us this day.
A reindeer wandered to my doorstep.
“Let’s see,”
I say to the reindeer and our pile of gear.
“Flint, mugs, and boiling bowl for tea in that bag.
Food, knives, and empty bags for my meager stores on the southern grounds.
We will need to empty the place to have enough for winter.”
The reindeer grunts as if he agrees with me.
The herds shouldn’t be migrating this way, so this male is lost.
Half of them are west of our northern grounds, hiding from the wolves that prowl the central grounds.
The other half graze the forest floor on the southern grounds. The Chuchunya choose reindeer from the forest-fed herds and migrate behind them. Once we unhook our sleighs, we return them to the fold. A separated reindeer doesn’t survive the winter, so he’s coming with us.
Besides, he followed me around all day as I prepared for the trip.
“You will love Hannah, little guy.
Well, you probably will love her because she’s light, but she’s sweet, fun, beautiful—”
“Grouchy, overheated, and plowed to within an inch of my life by taking on a boyfriend way too big for her,”
Hannah says as she emerges from our dyla weturanya.
She’s wearing her snowsuit with Sydney’s leggings draped over her arm.
“Don’t you like the human pants?”
“I don’t have a shirt to wear with them.
All I have that fits is this fur suit, which is way too warm for these grounds.
As we travel south, it will be warmer.
Tucked against you, I’ll roast like a coffee bean. We’ll be a vanilla latte by the time we reach your friends!”
“Can’t you ride topless?”
“Topless? No, I won’t risk nipple damage by going topless in the wild—”
“Most Chuchunya females are topless and don’t injure their nipples.
I’ve never injured mine,”
I say, lifting the hair over my nipples to show her I’m intact.
“They aren’t accident-prone.
Put your fur down,”
she says, holding her middle so her giggles don’t split her in two.
I don’t think I looked funny, but her radiant smile warms my heart and lights my mind.
She can laugh at me all the way to the southern grounds.
“I can split your fursuit before we leave.
You can use the top and leave the bottoms here.
It will be less for this guy to carry.”
“By this guy, I assume we shall ride the reindeer beside you.
I’ve never done that, have you?”
“Yes, but you will ride him alone—”
“I can’t do that! Did you just hear the part where I told you I’m accident-prone and have never ridden a reindeer?”
“I’ll be walking by your side.
We won’t thunder across the Tundra like Artyom and Vera,”
I reply, leading the animal toward her.
She shrinks back until I give her an encouraging nod.
When she pets his muzzle, he rocks his head to tap his ears against her.
“If you promise me it’s safe, I’d like to try… Does he like people?”
“I have no idea.
He appeared on our doorstep.”
Her hand freezes in midair.
“I’m petting a wild reindeer? Unbelievable! I get to ride a feral reindeer—not a domesticated one,”
she murmurs.
“Did you think I had a reindeer herd hidden somewhere? Of course, he is wild,”
I say with a chuckle.
“Ha-ha-ha, laugh all you want,”
she says, folding her arms over her chest.
I’d be worried if she wasn’t holding in a fit of giggles.
Her face is pink with her efforts, yet she loses the battle to her shaking shoulders.
“Admit it,”
I reply, handing the sinew reins to her.
“You’re curious.”
“Curious as to how I’ll ride comfortably.
I’m not exactly in riding shape after our mating activities the last few days,”
she grumbles as she pets the reindeer’s head.
“You’re right.
I can’t wait.”
Gleb
She calls her sideways mount, riding side-saddle.
I love learning her words.
Every little detail is named in part of her code.
While the Chuchunya language has names for things and actions, our words were few before the great cave-in took our adults.
“I still can’t believe you wanted me to go Lady Godiva in the middle of the Arctic Circle.
Before you ask, it’s a story about a woman who rides a horse naked around her kingdom to prove a point.”
Our language now incorporates First Nations words from Polina’s teachings and English words from the doctorates.
But Hannah has a rainbow of descriptions.
Some of them are direct like the words she used to describe the bloody stain on her fursuit bottoms.
Others are colorful phrases or story references that have nothing to do with what they describe.
“When you put images like that in my head, you make it hard for me to walk.”
It’s more than my mind’s eye that’s causing me to lust after my mate.
With her back to me, the heart shape of her butt seated on the reindeer is at my chest level.
I look down the gentle slope of her back if I turn to face her.
That curve calls to my primal self. I long to rut her in the ways of the Chuchunya. So far, we’ve tested many adventurous positions, but not that one.
I’ve never lost control with her—mostly because our size difference terrifies me.
With a shiver, I push the fears from our first mating to the back of my mind.
She’s fine—better than fine.
To make her giggle, I exaggerate my troubles by shaking my legs in front of me with each step.
If she says she’s not worried that I will hurt her, there’s no reason to spoil our relationship with my worries. Her laughter rings over the rolling hills and I haven’t the heart to shush her. There’s nobody for miles—I hope—who could hear her giggles.
“Whoa, whoa, what’s scared you, little guy? We could stop for tea and stretches,”
I say to the reindeer, who’s doubled his speed to a swift trot.
“Hannah, hold on!”
“To w-what? It’s not like h-he has a b-bridle or mane!”
Her words stutter as she’s bounced by the distraught reindeer.
“Use your legs and lean against the hump on his back!”
I toss the sinew tether to her to give her more control over the animal while I scan the horizon.
There’s nothing as far as I can see in any direction.
The birch tree thickets aren’t big enough to hide a pack of wolves or a bear.
I turn around to walk backward…is someone following us? How could that be when the clan is on the southern grounds and human sleds don’t travel at twilight? They guide their sleds with dogs, who are no match for the nocturnal predators on the Tundra.
Chuchunya use reindeer because they are faster and anything that can catch our reindeer must deal with us.
“Gleb! Gleb!”
Hannah’s screams pull me from my musings.
While I was turned backward, the reindeer tore off in a full-out sprint.
Hannah’s hair waves behind them as she fights for control.
I’m proud that she’s adjusted herself to sit astride the animal, so she can stay on him.
The reindeer bucks his head and thrashes his antlers to free himself from the sinew. My feet pound the muddy earth as I run after them.
My world narrows as I pray.
Please stay on the reindeer.
Please don’t trample her .
I could lose my future with the incorrect placement of a few hooves. Hannah’s tiny body flops around like a rag as he runs. Her bones are as thin as a bird’s wing. She’s not sturdy. What was I thinking when I put her on a reindeer?
“Gleb!”
“I’m right behind you! No! Don’t twist around to look! Focus on calming him down!”
As I run, I watch for predators.
This would be the time they jump out from behind a dune or emerge from a thicket.
Dozens of hiding places sail past us, but no animals give chase.
Nothing follows us.
So, I drop my head and sprint.
“Come on, little friend, I’ve got you.
I’ve got you,”
Hannah whispers as she pats the side of the reindeer’s neck.
Miraculously, the animal responds to her.
He loses some of his speed.
His breathing evens out and the panic fades from his eyes.
“That’s a good girl.
Keep talking to him.
Wrap the reins around your elbow—the whole way.
If you use your wrist, you can lose your hand if he runs full speed again. There you go,”
I coax Hannah when I catch them.
I grab the tether and use my weight to slow him down to a trot.
While I want him to alert us to predators, I also want to protect my mate—who is already sore.
“There, there—oh! I wonder if he recognizes them! Do you know who that is?”
Up ahead, on the horizon, stand two reindeer with riders astride.
The huge rider with a fuzzy silhouette is Chuchunya.
The other rider isn’t tall enough to see over the top of their reindeer.
Their feet don’t hang beneath the animal’s belly. Even Hannah’s feet dangle a quarter of a meter below the animal’s belly. I’ve never seen an adult—Chuchunya or human—smaller than Hannah except one…
“That must be Artyom and Vera.”
Who else would be wandering without shelter at twilight?
“I think their reindeer are from the same herd as ours.
He’s ready to run again.”
“Then we run,”
I say, clicking my tongue.
The reindeer gladly picks up his pace to match my jog.
“Traveling in a herd is much safer than traveling alone.
We are fortunate to cross paths with them again. They will have news of Sergei…although I doubt my food stores will feed all of us.”
“I’m sure if we share, so will they.”
“Oh no,”
I reply with a breathy chuckle.
“Vera and Artyom never carry supplies.”
My suspicions are confirmed when the mounted pair proceed directly at us, so we meet in the middle.
After an ostentatious lap around us, the couple split, so Vera faces Hannah and Artyom rides next to me.
“Hi, I’m Vera.
We met at the crash site, but I don’t think you remember.
I sure wouldn’t! I worked in the bus while Artyom fished people from the sea.”
I wince at her.
Artyom fished dead bodies from the sea and lined them up for a funeral pyre.
Other humans took them elsewhere to be burned, but Chuchunya readied them for respectful rites.
Hannah didn’t have any relatives among the dead, but I still haven’t told her the number of people who lost their lives that night. Her group on the ice sheet was fortunate to leave the Arctic alive…well…mostly.
“I’m Hannah.
I’m Gleb’s mate…his Dust-the-China? Dush-ve-daunya?”
I beam with pride.
She claimed me.
We have two witnesses to how happy she is to be mine.
With any luck, Artyom and Vera will stand in support of us at a mating chase. It all depends on Sergei… Vera won’t go against Patricika or Sydney who follow Sergei’s lead. He must forgive me or the couple’s support will be for nothing.
We’ll still be shunned.
“ Dushevnayasvyaz ,”
replies Vera with a laugh that startles our skittish reindeer.
At least the little guy isn’t trying to carry Hannah into the night anymore.
“You get used to the Russian accent on everything.
That’s Artyom. He’s my dushevnayasvyaz . Sergei sent us to collect you, since you’re two days late.”
“Late? I didn’t know we had an appointment! Will that hurt Gleb’s chances of being reinstated?”
“It’s not that serious,”
she says, tucking a lock of hair back under her hat.
“Sergei’s a worrywart.
You know how he is, Gleb.
He still sees you as a little kid.”
“Well, I’m the head of my family now.
I have my mate and we will have kits before niibin season.”
“Gleb! I’ve told you once and I’ve told you a thousand times.
I need to ovulate first.
There’s no way I’m pregnant already.
I just finished my period.”
“I just want you to have what you had with Madison, svet kamina .
I know you miss her, but I promise you will love your own flesh and blood more than sleeping.
There’s nothing my mate loves more than sleeping—”
My mate elbows me in the shoulder when I tease her, but giggles too.
“Madison was pink, happy, and eating when I left her,”
Vera says.
“She was saved that night and probably won’t remember the ordeal.”
“I guess that’s for the best.
While I’m sad she won’t remember me either, I’m glad she won’t have the heartbreak of our parting.
I was fired for not staying with the group.”
“You don’t seem mad at Gleb for stealing you, though.”
“No,”
Hannah replies, reaching back to hold my hand.
“I’ve learned where I’m supposed to be.”
“Good, then Sergei won’t have to worry about you running off.
If Gleb chases you, he will worry a bear ate both of you.”
“Even the greatest hunters are no match for bears,”
Artyom grumbles.
Vera shoots him a look that confuses Hannah.
Her brows lower as he looks at me for guidance.
I give her a little headshake to indicate not now . I’ll have to tell her the story of how a bear killed Artyom’s brother because he went hunting alone. I’m sure the story played on Sergei’s mind the whole time I’ve been away.
“Someone’s cranky,”
Vera announces.
“It must be time to stop for tea.”
“We’ll stop there—”
Artyom points to the beginning of the boreal forest, where the birch trees are thick and snowberry bushes cluster around their roots.
He doesn’t wait for us to reply before clicking his tongue at his reindeer and charging into the forest.
“Don’t worry,”
Vera says, patting Hannah on the elbow.
“He’s going for firewood.
He trusts Gleb to clear the mud to form a drier pit and you to fill the boiler bowl with water.”
Vera clicks her heels and chases after Artyom.
“How do they have tea when they don’t have bags?”
Hannah asks me once Vera’s silhouette disappears over a dune.
“Our tea,”
I grumble.
“We have just enough water for four mugs of tea…but on ly two mugs.
Looks like we’ll be sharing your little mug.”