(Content Warnings: Grief)
Hundreds of years together was shorter than ten years alone.
This endless realization drove Star Berry out of her tipi and into the night where a warm breeze dried her tears. She’d awoken at the sound of her husband’s voice—only to remember that he’d passed on long ago, though ten years was akin to a day for an Aki’nii.
At the bottom of a coulee, hidden by tall grass, Star Berry lived alone in the human realm, beyond the veil of magic that rendered her own world unseen by most humans. She’d moved here after her husband’s death to find peace in a place with no memory of him. Her family insisted someone live with her, but she declined, and she had friends among other Aki’nii here to depend on if needed. She used her magic less, finding no reason to sing anymore, for music was her way of calling to the powers that existed within her. Others recited phrases or danced, and the extraordinarily gifted needed nothing at all to shapeshift or command the winds or cross the realms. Music calmed her mind and harnessed her magic, but little joy remained in her heart for singing.
She wandered down to the stream and back, gazing at the dusty path of stars stretching across the coulee, tucking strands of windstrewn grey hair behind her ears. The Wolf Trail, as it was commonly known, mirrored the one the home realm, but felt cold tonight, invoking no sense of wonder. Or maybe it was just her that felt cold and lost in the dark, unable to find comfort in starlight.
Back in her tipi, Star Berry sighed and tried sleeping again when she heard a thud on the ground followed by a yip. She shot out of bed with a gasp and peered outside the door flap, expecting to find a coyote stumbling around her home. Instead, she saw a wolf pup tumbling through the grass and into her flower garden. Golden starlight clung to his reddish-brown fur, silhouetting him with soft light. A Star Wolf, she realized with a racing heartbeat, but her shock subsided when the pup sat up and shook his head free of purple crocus petals that the wind carried away.
“Where am I?” the pup asked, sniffing the air.
“On top of my crocus patch.” Star Berry frowned. “Those have been growing for four months.” They were seeds from back home, and while they bloomed longer than magic-less crocuses, they faced the same risks as any other wildflowers: stormy weather, inconsiderate gophers, and now clumsy Star Wolves.
The pup yelped and jumped off the crushed flower patch. “I’m sorry!”
Star Berry waved a hand in dismissal. “Nothing to be done about it now.”
“Maybe I could grow them back for you!” The pup sniffed the ground. “But magic is faint here.”
“That’s because you’re in the human realm.”
The pup peered at her. “You’re the smallest human I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m no human. I’m Aki’nii.”
“The Little Folk?”
“Yes, but we consider ourselves People of the Song and Wind and Long Grass. Aki’nii means Wind Song, for we have dwelled here since the first Aki’nii was sung into existence by the wind. We’ve lived many human lifetimes.”
“I’ve heard of your people, but I’ve never met one of you until now.”
“That’s something we have in common, then. I’ve never met a Star Wolf.” She had heard tales of chance encounters with Star Beings of all kinds, including the wolves, but she never imagined meeting one herself.
The pup sat on his haunches and tilted his head. “Why do you choose to live here among humans? Isn’t it better to live where the magic is stronger?”
Now that she didn’t use much of her magic, it didn’t matter that it was weaker here. “It’s quiet and peaceful.” Star Berry gathered fallen petals into her arms. “So, what brought you down to the land and into my flower garden?”
The pup lolled out his tongue. “I was racing with my siblings and cousins above the mountains when a lightning storm sent me flying! I had to get out of there fast, so I kept running until I ran out of breath and decided to land wherever I smelled water.” The pup twisted his body around, inspecting his tail with a whimper. “I got singed a bit.”
Star Berry set her armful of petals onto the ground and whistled low. “You were lucky. Well, you can rest here as long as you need until you’re ready to go home.”
“Thank you.” The pup panted a smile. “My name is Rusty of the Tailbrush and Howler Clans. What’s yours?”
“You shouldn’t easily give your name out to strangers.” Star Berry straightened to her full seven-inch height, hands on her hips. “I might’ve gained power over you with your name alone.”
Rusty’s eyes grew wide, black as night with a cluster of tiny stars.
She smiled. “But I won’t do that. You should be more careful, though.”
“I will!”
“Good. You can call me Berry.”
Rusty’s ears lowered flat against his head. “Auntie Berry, I’m very sorry for hurting your flowers. Please let me make it up to you.” His ears sprang up. “Please let me try growing them back for you!”
“You can do that?”
Rusty went quiet for a moment. “No, I don’t know how. How about I take you for a quick visit to the Trail instead? Not many outside my pack get a chance like that!”
Star Berry drew in in a deep breath, the exhaustion from tonight’s tears weighing on her aching joints. She lifted her gaze to the sky and considered the distance. The journey might take all night.
“Please, Auntie Berry!”
But the thought of traveling to the Wolf Trail so far beyond her reach thrilled her, evoking memories of youthful adventures, spurred on by Rusty’s enthusiasm. Her toes even wiggled in anticipation of walking on the stars, teasing out a smile from her. “Oh, all right. It might be fun.”
Rusty’s tail wagged in response.
•••
Star Berry retrieved some leftover bannock and a bit of dried meat while Rusty drank from the stream. She offered him the food, which he scarfed down. After, he flattened himself to the ground, allowing her to climb onto his back. She secured her long, greying hair behind her and gripped his fur at the neckline.
Rusty tilted his head back. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
“Hang on tight!”
Rusty raced up and over the coulee, jumping over holes and cacti. He dodged a couple of white-tailed deer and ran alongside a bewildered coyote for a few seconds. Warm flecks of stardust from his fur fell against her cheeks along with what she suspected was spittle, as Rusty howled in excitement.
“Here we go, Auntie!”
They lifted into the air, and Rusty’s fur grew brighter as they soared over the prairie. Her eyes teared from the wind when she peeked over the edge and saw the campfires of a human village, followed by a sleepy herd of buffalo where a few looked up at the flashing light passing over them. The land grew wider yet smaller at the same time, as they ascended higher and higher. The river stretched thin like a vein, and wisps of moonlit cloud rolled underneath them.
Rusty howled again, joined by other Star Wolves in a high but melodic chorus that raised the hairs on Star Berry’s skin. The air grew cold and thin, forcing her to take shallow breaths. Rusty gave a short bark and warmth crept back into her lungs like a hot summer’s breeze, as Star Wolf magic enveloped her body.
“We’re here!”
Star Berry opened her eyes and gasped.
Beneath her floated an expanse of stars in intermingling shades of silver and blue. The Trail appeared steady beneath Rusty’s paws, as though he were standing on the ground instead of open air. She threw up an arm to shield against the powerful light of a passing star, averting her gaze to the glowing, blue-tinted night that still loomed above her. The full moon gleamed a clearer, brighter grey than she’d ever seen it.
“Do you want to step down and walk?”
“I won’t fall, will I?”
“Anyone who enters uninvited will sink, but I’ve welcomed you into my home, so you are protected. Go ahead and try!”
She slid down the wolf’s side until the tips of her moccasins touched the trail’s surface. It felt like a warm rock. With growing confidence, she settled her full weight on the trail and released Rusty’s fur. She stepped forward, dazed laughter bubbling out of her. She turned to Rusty and opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words to describe her elation of treading the night sky on a path of stars. She could only grin and laugh, and Rusty joined her with a series of light-hearted barks.
Then, she heard the voices.
They rose up from beneath her feet and filled the air with laughter and songs and words awash in pain so familiar that they drew tears from her eyes.
“Can you hear them?”
Star Berry nodded, swallowing hard. “Where do they come from?”
“Everywhere.”
“Even from our realm?”
“Yes.” Rusty gazed around the trail, ears twitching. “They are all the words spoken in both realms, my grandpa says. The wind takes them and carries them up and up until they pass through our Trail and into the Beyond.”
She strained her ears to catch any fragments in Aki’nii, and while many languages flowed through her ears like water, nothing recognizable jumped out at her.
“I don’t hear them unless I focus,” Rusty said, “There are too many. Grandpa says it’s best to leave them be. Most of what we hear was spoken long ago, centuries even.”
Star Berry knelt down and touched a hand to the warm, pulsating light. “That is both beautiful and sad.”
•••
Rusty’s ears perked up at a distant, yet familiar howl, and he answered with one of his own before running off to his mother. Star Berry continued onward, marveling at the stars and sifting through the voices, hoping for the slightest chance of hearing her husband and other deceased loved ones. Through family and friends, she never felt unloved, but living for hundreds of years meant enduring loneliness for just as long. Sometimes she envied humans whose lives burned as swift and brilliant as falling stars.
Rusty returned with his siblings and cousins, who all introduced themselves and asked her what it was like to live among humans and if the land wolves could fly. Then, they invited her back to the main lodge of the Tailbrush Clan where she met Rusty’s parents and grandparents and numerous family members wandering in and out of the home. They welcomed her with a feast, surrounding her with laughter and stories and wagging tails that left her fuller than any meal could manage.
Rusty’s mother, a large red and brown wolf named Juniper, gave Star Berry a gift. “Plant these seeds in your garden during the next moonrise,” Juniper said, holding out a small deerskin pouch with her teeth. “Nourish them as you would a land flower.”
Star Berry accepted the pouch, which dropped light and soft into her cupped hands. “Thank you, but I have nothing to give in return.”
Juniper shook her head slightly. “I do not give to receive back. Besides, it’s also a gift of apology for my son’s clumsiness.” Her black eyes twinkled with silver and violet stars. “He has much to learn about accurate landings.”
“Flowers can always be regrown.” Star Berry hugged the pouch close to her chest with a smile. “Thank you for your kindness. I will never forget this night.”
•••
Star Berry spent the journey home watching the Trail grow smaller behind her until it shrunk to a thin band of faint light curving in the dark. Rusty padded through the air and touched down onto the prairie, the grass swaying in the breeze. With her guidance, he delivered her back to her coulee home.
“You and your family are welcome to visit,” Star Berry said, when she’d regained her balance on steady ground, light-headed from the descent. “But try to come in the evenings when I’m still awake.”
“We will, Auntie!”
“And I’ve been meaning to tell you my full name. It’s Star Berry.”
“That’s a pretty name!”
“I’ve always thought so.”
Rusty opened his mouth and dropped a small, bloodied tooth on the ground. “This is my last milk tooth. Hold onto it. If you’re ever in trouble, call for me with the tooth and I’ll come to your side.”
Star Berry picked up the tooth, its magic thrumming in her palm, like a tiny star about to burst. She patted his nose with a smile. “Thank you, child. I’ll tell anyone who troubles me that they better watch out, because my special nephew from the stars braves lightning storms and outruns all creatures in both realms.”
Rusty stomped a paw on the ground in response, beaming with pride.
“Would you like a lift back into the sky?”
“How?”
She began humming a favourite song of hers, drawing the melody out from deep within her soul and transferring it to air, stirring a gentle wind from her fingertips. Memories followed songs, and her husband’s laughter accompanied this one, but instead of finding pain in remembrance, she embraced the joy and let its warmth flow through her and into the wind.
Rusty rose into the air, looking from side to side, his tail wagging. “Is this your doing?”
“Yes, my boy.” Star Berry chuckled, as Rusty floated upward, legs swimming in the air, “Aki’nii are skilled at handling the wind. This is what makes us who we are.”
Rusty gave a short series of barks and climbed skyward. “I will see you again, Auntie Star Berry! Take care of yourself!”
She threaded magical and natural wind together as one, and then she let go. Now singing, she watched the wolf vanish into the stars with a burst of light.
•••
Star Berry planted the seeds in place of her lost crocuses, and they bloomed into dark blue and silver flowers that glowed at night. Rusty’s tooth lay nestled within Juniper’s pouch, which Star Berry turned into a necklace she wore wherever she went, for its presence alone comforted her in moments of unbridled grief.
She could now face the next ten or hundred years alone with the promise that loneliness did not last forever.
On clear nights, Star Berry sat outside near the starlit flowers and held the tooth close to her, listening for a howl along the Wolf Trail.
