Long long ago before the telling of time we watched your kind from the darkness. Our yellow eyes glinting in the light of your fires as we waited hungry and lean for any signs of weakness. For a chance to strike and sate our burning hunger on your meat, to rip and tear your bodies to fill our bellies as we howled to the moon far above. Running through the night, our feet pounding the dry Mother Earth from whence we came.
Time and time again we fought. Back and forth the violence continued, life was red in tooth and claw. Us and others like us, you fought tooth and nail to exist just as we did in this cold and unforgiving land. It seemed like this battle would be ours for all eternity. Doomed to fight and die alone in a savage world that did not care for the plight of creatures such as us.
But something happened then that we did not expect, something remarkable. Your kind reached out your clawless hands with offerings to keep us at bay. Sharing the spoils of your hunts to placate our more savage tempers and keep us at bay, and at first we simply took with no thought of return. But it could not last forever this way, for soon we began to realise the truth. You among all other creatures on this Earth were like us, and understood us.
You reached out to my kind and found an answering call. Slowly but surely drawing us closer with your kind and softer nature. A true rarity in the brutality of life, you showed us that we could be more. Showed us a new way to live.. together.
Not as monsters, but as friends.
Your kindness drew us in, and soon we sat by your fires directly. No longer slinking in the darkness as we had before but sitting by your side. Bellies full and minds full of strange new feelings. Love and loyalty for these new creatures. For you.
For a time we both struggled, learning with each new passing day what we were capable of. Of the things that we could accomplish if we worked together. And oh what we could do together.
We ran, and so did you. The wind rushing through our fur as it did across your own bodies, the rush and thrill of having partners that we could fly with. We hunted once again, but now by your side and not biting at your heels. Your spears and slings adding bite to the stubborn prey that had at once eluded us. Had once been beyond our reach. Together we found we could conquer this old world, survival turned to mastery. And then to sport.
And all that time we stayed by your side. Sleeping by your fires and in your animal-skin huts. Guarding your young and protecting you from the dangers of a hostile world with a passion for life. And in turn you showed us how important we were to you. Treated us in ways that would have seemed strange in the before times.
Not as slaves, but as equals.
We hunted together for an age long past, and you continued to grow. And we grew with you. Our forms changed, as did yours. Slowly we became more, more than we had once been. And more than we could have become by ourselves. And still you always loved us, always cared for us. You spread through the world, and you brought us with you.
On ships and beside wagons, across raging oceans and scorching deserts. Through perilous mountains and dense jungle, by your side we always traveled. Ever watchful, ever loyal. Explorers and travelers, we circled this whole Earth. And what miracles we found together.
We discovered new lands at your side, we found new peoples and they in turn welcomed us as well. New friends to love and aid.
All the aggregates of your pains and joy we felt as well, connected as we were together. Equal in suffering as we were in triumph, we remained by your side. Stoic and unyielding, we faced the terrors of this mortal world together.
Not as servants, but as partners.
We watched your kind fight and die in wars we could not understand, and wept at the cruelties you forced upon yourselves. But ever we stood ready, to fight and die at your side. Loyal to a fault and with hearts full of fury, we fought you and each other because you asked us too. We might not have understood why, but we never needed to. You asked for our help, and so we gave it.
Comrades in arms, partners in crime. We stood tall and proud by your sides with ears alert, ever mindful for any dangers that might threaten you, our friends. Ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice heedless of the danger to ourselves. You asked us for much and offered more in return, but all we ever wanted was your love. That strange kindness that was so rare in an often-hostile world.
But not all was as bad, for there were many triumphs of peace and joy. And we leapt into the air in jubilation to see your successes, tongues lolling and eyes a-sparkle with the joys of your creations. We wanted only to be by your side.
Endless highways and concrete jungles, the world that was.. changed. And we changed with it once more. But still to us you clung, to us you confided. We soothed your fears, for we were not the terrors in the night anymore. But still we loved you, still we followed you. To us you would turn in tragedy, to us you would tell your secrets. You trusted us, and we trusted you. Our two fates entwined forevermore. Together we continued forwards, struggling as one to create a world where we could live in peace.
Not as strangers, but as family.
You grew and prospered. Spreading like wildfire across all that was. And we went with you. You sent us to the depths of the seas, to the peaks of the mountains. To pits that stank of brimstone and fire and across fetid swamps. We tracked and fought and bled and died for you. And you for us.
Never again did we question that bond forged in blood and loyalty. For thirty-thousand years we have guarded your side, and for thirty-thousand more we will stand vigil at your request. For we know that the bond we share is stronger than any trials that might work to separate us. It is stronger than time itself.
For we were made in each other's image, if not in body than in spirit. We found in you the part of ourselves that we never knew we missed, and you the same in us. Together stronger than each of us would have ever been separate. We love you and the kindness your kind first showed us on the snowy slopes of those mountains all those years ago.
Soon it seemed there was nowhere else we could go. All lands had been discovered, all places mapped. But you were not satisfied with this and turned your eyes skyward. To the very moons we had called to for all our existence. And to our surprise you showed us that your kind would allow no boundaries to stop you. You would go farther, farther than we might have imagined was possible. And we would go with you.
Beyond the stars themselves into that dark eternal nothing, we stand ready at your side. To face all the joys and sorrows of your kind ever watchful at your sides, for we are of one heart and of one mind.
Your friends, for all time.
End of Story