One of the last existing Berserkers.
I’ve always been a bit odd to people. Always too aggressive, constantly fidgeting, never able to stay in one place for too long without tearing it up. The people around me always tended to gravitate away, never knowing why I put them on their guard but knowing it nonetheless. But, it’s not like I blame them. People have never really understood me, I sure as hell don’t understand them. So why are these boys bothering me to join them in fighting a war against demons?? All I did was work a case to help my uncle!
Berserkers are known in norse mythology as warriors. In modern interpretations of that mythology they’re known as savage warriors who wore the skins of animals like bears and wolves. While being known as warriors wasn’t incorrect, the description of wearing animal skins was. Berserkers were a norse people with deep connection to the earthly powers, so potent that their gods eventually rewarded them with power for their appreciation of it. The gods turned the tribe’s warriors into shapeshifters. The warriors appreciated it at first, but it soon became clear the reward was really a curse. The warriors would turn into an animal, but many couldn’t find a way to turn back, leaving them as animals who slowly lost their humanity.
Eventually, a witch in their community decided to take action. She grew a grove of trees with magic imbued into them, and eventually imbued the magic from the berserker warriors into them. When the grove grew enough, she cut one down. She gifted a piece to each warrior and had them carve their animal form into it, making a talisman that each could carry. Some made charms, others made jewelry. These talisman would be a mortal point for the Berserkers, a way for them to retain their mortality and humanity, to control their transformations.
These Berserkers grew to cultivate their magic, using it to perform the same spells as that witch and so many others, but instead of powered with sacrificial magic, they powered it with their own. They used the power gifted to them to gain an even closer connection to the earth’s magics and became some of the first magic-wielders to ever perform witchcraft without spellwork.
Eventually, hundreds of years down the line, Berserkers became known as a supernatural “creature” rather than a community. They were animal shifters with the powers of a witch, but without the sacrifice and without a typical weakness. Berserkers were essentially immune to hunters attempts at killing them, only able to die of old age or grave illness. After a millennium, Berserkers became an endangered people. They were rare to find, and stayed in small groups of families. These days, there is only a single known family of berserkers left. Mine.
“Bear” A nickname given by Dean himself, not that he knows that.
I first met the Winchester brothers when we were only kids. I was 9, Sam 8, and Dean 12. I was visiting my Uncle Bobby for the summer, and a month into the visit, John Winchester dropped the boys off to go work a case. Sam and I hit it off, immediately bonding over our love of reading. Dean and I? Not so much. Within a week, he had butchered my name so much i told him to just pick a nickname and stick with it. He chose Bear, much to my dismay, after the carved bear talisman I wore around my neck.
We spent a month running around Bobby’s scrapyard, the nearby lake and the surrounding town. I can easily say it was probably the most fun I ever had as a kid. But, eventually even that would come to an end.
John came around and finally picked up the boys a month later, barely even leaving us with enough time for a goodbye.
For the boys, the memory of me would slowly slip away, fading into a buried memory of a friend they met at Bobby’s, to the vague image of someone they once knew, and eventually forgotten completely.
But for myself? That last parting word from Dean would haunt my dreams and memory for years to come, right up until I became a hunter at 17, and another hunter working the same case asked my name.
“Y’know, you never did give me your name kid.” . . .
“ . . You can call me Bear.”
I finally met Sam and Dean again 15 years later.
Bobby had suddenly fell into a coma, and I was across the country when I got the call. I raced there, but was beaten there by the boys.
“Who the hell are you!?” . . .
“Bobby’s Niece, who the hell are you??”
A BERSERKER’S CAPABILITIES
﹒⋆₊˚ ⁶⁶⁶ Shapeshifting ⛰︎ Through ancient magic that leads back up my family tree for centuries, I can shapeshift into a brown bear. Though I’m still young for my species, as I won’t be a full grown bear until I’m 35, I can still beat most other creatures just with physical strength. Not that Dean would have you believe that with how much he nags about me “being reckless and jumping into fights claws first”
﹒⋆₊˚ ⁶⁶⁶ Enhanced senses ⛰︎ Berserker’s aren’t really human, we look like them, have all the same biological functions, but our abilities are much different. I can hear anything within a 40 mile radius, from the flap of a birds wings to the crunch of a hikers boots. My sense of smell works oddly. I can smell every place an item has ever been, but I can also tune out smells completely. I could tell you just from smell that my leather boots came from a cow in the south that grew up on a large open farm, and was taken to a factory in Nebraska to be treated and sent to a small shop in california before I got them, but no I couldn’t tell you about how bad the smell of exhaust from a truck right beside us on the road is.
﹒⋆₊˚ ⁶⁶⁶ Enhanced prowess ⛰︎ Anyone can gain muscle or build up their endurance—but for me? It’s natural. As a berserker I’m not exactly human, my strength, endurance and stamina are much higher than any typical human. I can run for hours on end without any breaks, carry hundreds of pounds without too much effort, and still have energy afterwards.
﹒⋆₊˚ ⁶⁶⁶ Hibernation ⛰︎ Though I do transform into a bear—I don’t have the sleep schedule of one. Much as I’d like to hibernate for months on end, I typically only sleep 8 hours a night, but I do need all 8 hours. Whenever I don’t get enough rest, I do end up getting a small burst of aggression from my bear half until I can get a nap in. It’s a bit of a pain, but I’m typically good at making sure I get enough rest.
﹒⋆₊˚ ⁶⁶⁶ Animalistic instincts ⛰︎ Though I may not be a bear full time— I do tend to share some characteristics even as a human. Whenever I’m frustrated I tend to get more aggressive and easy to provoke. I tend to use scent to investigate before my sight on instinct, and I can be exceptionally protective whenever I deem anything a threat to anything I claim as mine, whether it be people, locations or items.
﹒⋆₊˚ ⁶⁶⁶ Spellwork ⛰︎ Being a berserker, I’ve always had an interest in magic, and once I was old enough, I was taught everything my family knew. Though, honestly? That wasn’t enough. I spent years researching into every kind of magic, practicing other kinds of magic and seeing how it worked without the sacrificial magic behind it. These days, I can cast a spell with just a small flare of my power and some concentration. A few spells I consistently use are a shrinking spell, to shrink my truck and the things in it into a toy car size to keep in my pocket whenever I decide to ride with the boys in the impala, and a teleportation spell to send my dogs home with my family whenever a job gets too dangerous for them.
﹒⋆₊˚ ⁶⁶⁶ Weaknesses ⛰︎ Though berserkers don’t have anything that can typically kill them like most species, we are weakened by a few items. As a huge part of our being is magic, iron can weaken us like it does fae and ghosts. Silver can’t outright weaken us, but if we’re injured by it, it makes wounds harder to heal, and lastly our own emotions. A good portion of berserkers have issues with shapeshifting whenever their emotions aren’t under control, shifting on accident and not being able to if they aren’t in control of themselves. It’s typically hard for younger berserkers to keep emotions under control, as they have to handle both their animal side’s emotions and their human side’s at the same time without much practice.
"Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind"
ⓘ Dust in the wind, Kansas
🂱 ﹒﹕⋆₊˚⸝⸝ ⁶⁶⁶ wildflowers, smoke, & sea salt the lingering scent that follows me around, stuck to my skin like tar. A vial of perfume i keep in my bag made of as many essential oil flower scents i could find, a vintage cigarette case full and in use, and the salt of the sea that raised me in california, that will never truly leave me.
🂾 ﹒﹕⋆₊˚⸝⸝ ⁶⁶⁶ cotton tops, flannel, & combat boots a small wardrobe, but stylish nonetheless. I wear cotton tees and tanks lined with lace, chunky belts and the combat boots i can never go without. greens, browns, neutrals and naturals are the only ones to cover my skin. and the garnish on top of any outfit, the bear pendant I carved as a child, hung from my neck with by a string of leather.
🂭 ﹒﹕⋆₊˚⸝⸝ ⁶⁶⁶ rev of an engine, echo of a door opening my chosen transportation, a gorgeous brown cream and cream 1978 ford f150 that I love like a child i bore myself. I got Stella’ at 15 instead of my quinceañera and I’ll never regret it. She’s taken me across the country and back a hundred times and never failed. Gotten through rough mountains and freeways the same, and not once broke down.
🃟 ﹒﹕⋆₊˚⸝⸝ ⁶⁶⁶ the shuffle of a deck & scent of paper my poison of choice, a simple deck of tarot cards I keep in my back pocket at all times. Staying at a new motel? I do a reading before I even step outside my truck. Feeling uncertain about a case? I’ve got it covered. Need to understand my mental state just a little better? Well, whoever needed therapy when you’ve got a deck of cards?
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ・ ・ ・
“Local bear is actually just.. a guy?” . . . “What the hell are you talking about Jerry?” . . . “I swear that bear turned into a guy dude.” . . . “Man, you’ve got check your glasses prescription.”
“Bear? Yeah I know them, what’d you wanna know?” . . . “Yeah we met on a hunt a few years back, they fist fought a werewolf with a cigarette still in their mouth, the crazy bastard.” . . . “Couldn’t tell you too much about them honestly, they don’t talk much to anyone but the gals up at the roadhouse and Bobby Singer, though I do hear they’ve been running around with the Winchesters lately.”
“Bear? Yeah they’ve worked a few jobs together with Dean and me. They’re Bobby’s niece, not biologically mind you.” . . . “Yeah I could tell you about them.” “Well for one, They’re entirely against drinking, but you’ll never catch them without a cigarette on them. Uh, They also travel with their two dogs.” . . . “Their real name? Couldn’t tell you. They prefer Bear, only time I’ve seen anyone call them anything else is Bobby when they almost got themself killed on a hunt awhile back, and even then he called them Sol’, which I assume isn’t their full name.”
ib; @jadeshifting | Jade actually helped me a lot with figuring out the whole berserker thing!! She has a post about it if you wanna check it out. She also posts about her spn dr, and her intro inspired mine a lot! This is also my reveal as her 🐻 anon!!! 😼😼
