Björnstjärna ☉✒️

Björnstjärna picked up his fathers, Ulls, cape and reluctantly put it on. It felt weird, it felt too big and too small and like it was made for someone else. And it was. Björn sighed. As his mother too was aging, he was now responsible for their household. Björn had recently split up with the mother of his own pups, and she decided to move out to the packs main cave again. Ulls family cave felt empty now, the only ones left were Björn, his mom, and three little adolescent boys. Two were his, and one was his little brother. His little brother was obviously superior in every way. Most importantly, he was much stronger. Strength is something his family inherited from the first alpha, Tyr. Björn was named in honour of her, as she was known as the bear slayer. Björn hopes to live up to that name some day.

-

When Björns mother died, he truly felt the loneliness of an empty cave. It was just Björn and his baby brother, and his two sons were almost never at home. Björn decided to visit Vårs ever-growing family often to hang out. Two pups were born not long after Björns mother died. Seeing their family made Björn hopeful that he could some day have one too.

-

So, Björns sons moved out and went travelling and the den became even more empty. The only one left in his family cave was his little brother, Skald. But Skald was an adult now, Björn didn't want to be in his hair too much. The company of his older cousin Lusse, and the rest of their family, helped a great deal with Björns loneliness, but when he wasn't out hunting he still had a lot of time alone, and he was so tired of it. To distract himself and have something to do, he took many walks and explored the surrounding forest.

Björnstjärna looked around. He hadn't thought it to be possible, actually he was purely in denial so he kept going but it only made things worse, he was lost. He sighed and turned around for the third.. or fifth time? A sudden pain hit his paw pad, first it was just as if he was scratched by a branch but then it stung with every step and started itching!

"Ouch!" His paw looked fine so he looked around and found the culprit, a stinging nettle. Ugh, just his luck. At least it hurt less now that he knew what it was, he was good at enduring pain at least. He sat down and watched the bees buzzing around as he tried to figure out where he had gone, but it was alright, worst case scenario he would have to wait until night time and find his way back home by watching the stars. Wait. Bees? That's unusual in the middle of the forest. Something small and red caught his eye. A berry! Nice! He limped over to the berry bush and chomped up the berry. Not the worst place to be stranded!

Björn was awoken from his nap by a yelp and he was immedietly on his feet, ready to face the danger, but all he saw was a sweet little wolf.

"Herbalist!" Björn shouted as he recognized her, the packs herbalist! She didn't look too happy to see him though.

"What are you doing here?" She asked while scanning the bushes around her with a concerned look on her face.

"I got lost, I must admit I'm not the best at finding my way," he felt a little embarrassed, "and then I stepped on a stinging nettle and decided to rest a bit."

"Oh my, here, I have some salve to help you with that," the herbalist pulled something out of her satchel but Björn stopped her.

"No no, it's fine, it's all okay now," he smiled at her but she seemed a bit sceptical still, "what are you doing here yourself?"

"This is my garden, and you've stepped all over my nettles and my raspberries and oh god you took a nap on the yarrow!" Oh. Björn looked around him and realized there were indeed more plants here than there should be in the forest.

"Oh god, I didn't realize, I'm so sorry," he stood up and tried to carefully walk out of the area but ended up stepping on more things!

"Oh god Björn, don't move, let me help you," she came to his side, and at the mention of his name he realized he had forgotten hers. Embarrassed, he asked her carefully to remind him, "my name is Kåda."
"Thank you," he said, for the information and for being so kind to him, "and please forgive me for the mess I've made. Can I make it up to you?"
-
Oh gods, how was he supposed to answer that question? He felt flustered and just smiled at her and changed the subject. The reality was that he had followed her scent through the woods back to her little herb garden, and Björn was a good hunter indeed but stalking was not his best talent. The reason it had been so easy this time was because Kåda was clearly in heat. But that's not why he wanted to visit her, not at all, it just helped him find his way! She probably didn't even want pups, and especially not with him. He just wanted to see how she was doing, maybe she was lonely too? They had a brief chat before he realized, she was holding some scriptures. He was probably interrupting her!
"Well, I should get going!" He blurted out, and left.

-
Björn visited her a few times more, but he wasn't sure she wanted him around, he had heard gossip about it, so he stopped.
A few days passed, Björnstjärna was hanging out in the den after a hunt. The steep slope on the south of the den provided shade to rest in, it was a hot autumn day. Suddenly she stood before him, looking at the elk next to them, then looking at him.
"Did you kill that big elk?" She talked quietly. Björn looked up at her and nodded as he noticed her eyes were the same colour as the sky above her. Kåda trampled nervously and stuttered, "nice."
This wasn't like her, something must be wrong.
"Did you have something on your heart?" Maybe he talked too old fashioned, he thought, since Kåda seemed flustered by his question. She shook her head.
"Wh- um- which star is the bear star?" She stuttered and looked away. Björn laughed!
"The bear star? Why are you asking me about this?" He smiled brightly at her, noticing something was amiss.
"I'm just curious!" She seemed defensive.
"I can show you later when the stars are out," he decided it would be too hard to describe its position in the sky.
-
Björnstjärna looked at his mothers beads lying on the stone desk in her old den. She had really loved beads and wanted him to wear them too, but he had refused as the teenager he was. He put them on carefully and went to the river. He paced a bit, and looked at his reflection. He felt more complete now. The sun was setting and reflected onto the river, making it almost glow orange. Björn sat down and looked up at the part of the sky that was still the colour of Kådas eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about her, he hadn't stopped since he met her in the forest that day. Every time she was in the den he was delighted to even catch a glimpse of her. He got a lot of wounds from hunting and fighting but he usually took care of them himself, he didn't want to show himself as weak, but if it meant meeting Kåda.. He smiled at the thought. Björn was watching the water turn pink from the sunset, when four small paws rustled the leaves behind him. He looked back at her, she was beautiful and her blue eyes glowed at him.
"You're early, the stars aren't out yet," he stayed in his place, and she came to sit next to him. She felt close enough to make his heart flutter, but still too far away.
"I need to ask you something," she said quietly.
"About the stars?" Björn looked at her. She sighed and shook her head, smiling as if he had amused her. It was silent for a moment before she spoke.
"Are you tired of me?" The words shocked him, almost frightened him.
"What?" He blurted out loudly, he thought he saw her flinch and he took a breath to speak quieter this time, "I'm not tired of you, are you tired of me?"
"Björn," she looked up at him with her mesmerizing eyes and Björn was scared of what she would say, the pause felt like it lasted forever, and suddenly her eyes darted away from him and looked down at the water instead, "I.. I missed you when you didn't come to visit me. Why didn't you?"
"I'm sorry," he was relieved and moved to hear that she had missed him. He wanted to comfort her, inched closer and spoke softly "I'm sorry, I didn't know if you wanted me there."
Her front paws trampled nervously, but softly and slowly, before her gaze lifted to look into his eyes again. Björn could feel his face relaxing and a sigh of relief escaped from his nose. He waited patiently for what she had on her mind.
"I have decided," she sounded nervous, "that I want you around, for the foreseeable future."
He smiled. He knew what she meant, so he moved closer, but her phrasing was so silly, he giggled and couldn't help himself.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
Kåda looked flustered, first she looked down, and then up at him again. Then she sighed, and her head crashed into his shoulder.
-
Björnstjärna fathered many pups with Kåda, and had a big family who he loved and treasured until his death.