Stone Circle Winter comes on gilded wings

A cool breeze blew across the undercoat of a certain wizened wolf. He lifted grizzled maw and studied the area and the coming winds. He wasn't sure if it would be mild or wild, but it was coming ready or not.

Gunnar had lived through many winters and still to this day, he wasn't fully certain what was happening. It felt like it maybe a bad one, but he wasn't certain either.

Sandy gloves cut grooves though the lands as he walked. A mask of brown across his slate grey eyes. He could feel the age in his bones lately and the pain in his back. Was this how mother felt? No wonder she was so tired in her latter years

if his slowing/pain isn't visible to outsiders yet let me know and i can edit <3

bjarna had become something else in the wake of knowledge.

she did not look like sanja and gunnar because she was not of them. not that she had ever thought she had come from gunnar but...she supposed if somebody asked her what a father was like, it might be him.

and now father bear seemed to slow in the cold. unlike bjarna who welcomed it with relief. of course she was concerned. of course she watched him with a hawk gaze every time she could. always eager to help him when needed.

so perhaps it was no surprise when she came sliding up alongside him today.

i come with?

I love her<3

If the girl had asked if she could call him father, or tell everyone he was. He'd have told her to go ahead. he'd gladly claim her. Any of the children, he'd claim them. It didn't matter to the scarred norseman if they were his of flesh and blood or not. They were his of his heart.

Bjarna came running up to him, and he offered her the kind smile he always reserved for her, and ran a muzzle along her head in greeting.

Hello Bjarna. Of course you can. I'm just traveling the borders. What were you doing this early in the morning?

the best part of being stunted (the only good part of it really) was often times being small enough for such affection.

mother and father bear both could easily touch her crown. so when brown bear gunnar did, she softly bumped her muzzle to his shoulder. mindful of the way he seemed to ache these days.

i wanted to see you, she told him as her wrinkled face wrinkled further with a smile. are you okay?

if he did not wish to speak of his slowness, she would say no more.

A soft smile curved the greying hairs upon his muzzle. It makes my heart glad to see you little Bjarna.

Gunnar sighed and motioned for her to walk with him. Though he was stiff at first, a small grimace curled upwards miniscule, but there.

Not as young as I used to be, darling. The cold air hurts my bones and my joints. Tell me of some of your adventures.

cold hurt him? she frowned softly. although it was hardly noticeable when one had a face such as hers.

i don't adventure much. i help mama with the little ones... who were still too little to be left alone long!

she thought of when mother bear would journey with her to the place she had been found.

her gut clenched, but she remained composed.

can anything help bones and joints?

Gunnar watched her as she walked with him. Such a tiny thing, their bjarna, but pretty as a picture. He would admit he doted on her a bit. Felt she needed a little extra love.

Ah so you like taking care of other's? You'd make a good healer then. You know my mother was a healer, of incredible knowledge.

A sharp pain followed the mention of his mother. He missed her. She would have been wonderful to have around when Sanja had fallen ill from the babes.

yes many things. One that comes to mind is Ginger. And Aloe Vera can help ease an ache. But you mustn't eat Aloe Vera. And ginger can only be taken in small doses.

she felt sheepish beneath the praise. uncertain if she could take care of others in a general sense. but she adored her mother bear with her cubs. gunnar. taktuq. she could take care of them.

what if...what if bjarna find those for you?

she did not know how she would! only that she felt she must.

Gunnar looked down at her and smiled. I have some in a cache nearby. Would you like to see waht they look like so you can find them. Aloe grows in the late winter, early spring, and ginger in late spring early summer.

He motioned for her to follow while he moved towards the cache where he kept a little supplies. It was nothing compared to his mother's and he was no healer by any means, more a cultivator of knowledge and plants than someone who could apply his knowledge. But he knew enough.

fade and maybe something new? <3

yes. please.

she was content to fall in line with him, learn from him. gunnar earned his title as father bear time and time again.

Would love something new. Who starts?

Very well

With a small smile he would lead her to the cache and wile away the day with conversation and sharing his knowledge. There would be a day, he wouldn't be here, and she would need something to remember him by. And something to strive for. He would give her all he could.