Lupus

Dusk is about to begin so we must be brisk. There is one last constellation I am excited for you to meet. We must go to the southern hemisphere to see her. Since we do not have much time, we will have to sail very quick. Hold on tight while I tell you about Ainu. She is a wolf in the sky and definitely the friendliest constellation I have ever seen. She may even come lick your face! I am sure you are wondering how a wolf ended up in the stars. Let us begin…

Long ago, a hunter was traveling across the arctic. Back during this time, the Earth was covered in ice and snow. I think you all call it the Age of Ice or the Ice Age. It is something like that! Anyways, the hunter was very cold and hungry when he came across a pack of wolves.

The hunter killed most of the wolves with his spear. Three wolves were able to escape, but one stayed. It was a pup. The pup had stayed curled up next to its mother when the hunter killed her. Upon seeing the pup, the hunter took her. He knew she could not survive alone, just as he knew he could not survive alone much longer. He called this wolf Ainu.

After several months, the two became companions. He taught Ainu to help him hunt. In return, Ainu never went hungry. Ainu and the hunter became companions. Their friendship grew and grew up until one day…

One day, the hunter was sneaking up on a feast of animals. Ainu was by his side ready to attack upon the hunter’s command. When he gave it, she jumped through the piles of snow drafts. Her ferocious growls suddenly stopped though. Behind all of the piles of snow was a pack of wolves.

When she crept closer she realized it was not just any pack. It was her family. The three wolves that escaped had survived. They formed a new and strong pack. Ainu, a loyal companion of the hunter, turned on him.

She led the wolves quickly away from the hunter. Once they were a safe distance away, Ainu left and went back. When she returned, the hunter was angry. He shot his spear through Ainu and left her to die.

Ainu had stood up to her companion. She trusted her instincts, not his commands, and she had decided to protect her family. The Star King had seen all of it happen. Before she was able to take her last breath, he had made his decision. For her courage and love, she was placed in the stars to live eternity watching over her pack.

Today, all wolves will howl to her when they are in need of her help. You may have been told that they howl at the moon….but people down there simply have not met Ainu.

Now we are in the southern hemisphere! Look right over there. She is running to us. Do not be scared of her, she only wishes to lick your face and get a good head scratch.

Author's Note:

Hi guys! Thanks for reading my story. The purpose of this story was to create a fun and new story about the constellation Lupus. There are tons of stories that were floating around in my mind that I pulled from to create this one. One of them was the movie Alpha. I am also a huge fluffy animal lover so…. any chance I have to write about one I take ha ha! I am going to explain some points down below. Please let me know if there is anything you want me to expand on or explain.

Story Inspiration: For this story I used a lot of legends that I had heard throughout my life about wolves and people. I wish I could pinpoint the exact stories. There is the movie Alpha that captures a lot of the themes that inspired this story though. Alpha is about a hunter who is left for dead by his own tribe and finds a lone wolf. They build a friendship and the hunter sends the wolf with another pack of wolves they meet. This wolf continues to help the hunter and the new pack is eventually welcomed into the hunter’s tribe. I used the concept of companionship but added a dynamic of loyalty between Ainu and her pack. Instead of a hunter who lets Ainu go, he wants to continue to hunt the wolves and that emphasizes the loyalty of Ainu and her pack. This was important to make Ainu the main character and tie in her reason to be a constellation.

Names: So, there is only one name in this story and that is Ainu. Ainu is actually the name of a group of people from Japan. I found them when looking at wolves in folklore online. The Ainu people were indigenous to Japan. They believed they were the decedents of a wolf like creature and a goddess. They actually hunted with groups of dogs. If you want to learn more about their culture you can click here!

Lupus: In Latin Lupus means “the wolf.”Interestingly, there isn’t any mythology tied to it. It is a pretty old constellation to which shocked me. I thought this was a good opportunity to give it some mythology though. I also love when stories explain an unanswered question or assumption. In this case it was why wolves howl at the moon? I tied in an answer to this question while also creating a story for Lupus! If you want to read more about Lupus click here.