https://www.deviantart.com/ifritnox/art/1-4-The-Allies-946955315

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Andromeda was beautiful, but it was still empty.

Together the titans walked through the new realm and considered options to fill it with life.

The most important part of Andromeda was the mighty stream in the center of the endless meadows. There Lupus placed a multitude of fish: Carp, trout, a swordfish, and even a whale! Crayfish populated the river bank. The water itself appeared to laugh with joy.

In the sky, the titans placed birds of paradise, toucans, doves, and peacocks, so that the songs of many birds may keep the darkness at bay. Their wings generated wind so strong it bend grass and tree.

Into the wild, they unleashed all the animals. Some were as big as the mighty giraffe or the strong tree, some small like the scorpion or the snake, and the big and small water snake. And the titans made more creatures in their likeness: Wolves, bears, foxes and lynxes, horses and rabbits, and birds of every season and compass side.

Andromeda became a safe haven in this world of everlasting darkness. And so it came that beings from the outside came, which had spotted the light and asked for protection, just like it might have happened with the unicorn Lukida.

Among those asking for safety were three kinds of stags. The ibex Capricorn, the ram Aries, and the bull Taurus. They all came to Lupus and he granted them to live in his land. Like him, those three were able to create beings, but their light was much dimmer than Lupus'. They weren't able to make something creative, so they made animals of their kind or imitated the works of the titans.

Then a fourth stag appeared: the elk Nunki. He was more powerful and he created countless quick, cunning creatures. Thanks to him there was plenty of prey in the woods and fields.

Now I have to mention that death was something different back then. A dead animal only lost its shell and returned almost immediately into the body of a newborn. The hunt was a game rather than the holy, deadly seriousness it is today.

One day two humans came into the land, the brothers Indus and Bootes. Both were hunters. Lupus and the titans greeted them like every animal, for they did not know the dangers of these creatures and could not suspect the evil that would come from their hospitality.

But the first shadow appeared then, as Bootes and Indus both created something of their own. They imitated the wolves' songs, but instead of mighty warriors, only two dogs appeared: Asterion and Chara.

Lupus was furious about their existence. He saw them, as did every wolf, as an insult.

Indus, as he realized what he did, disowned his dog Chara and pledged to only create guided by a titan from now on, to learn the true meaning of creation and develop his power so that nothing like this would ever happen again.

But Bootes refused to give Asterion up, instead, he made this hunting dog bigger and better. So he was ordered to Corvus' hall of judgment in the Alkeswoods. Many animals came to witness the judgment. Corvus was the judge, and Lupus himself was the accusator, while Ursa Minor had decided to be the defense lawyer, and lynx was there to advise Corvus.

Lupus, speaking for all beings of the Andromeda-Plains, told them the accusation: that humans only created animals that served them, that were not allowed to live on their own. The wolves Indus and Bootes had sung were not allowed to be wolves, they had to assist the hunters on the hunt.

Bootes apologized and asked Lupus for forgiveness, since he didn't know any better then, and he swore to become better.

"How could I forgive you", Lupus cried, "when you still keep that creature at your side?" Worse even, they had gotten word that Bootes also cared for Chara, the smaller, female dog.

But Bootes surprised them, for he spoke: "Asterion is not to blame for my actions; so how could I punish him for something I did? If I disowned him, as my brother did with Chara, Asterion would starve. For he may be a hunter, but he can only hunt at the side of a man. Since I created him defective, I am responsible for him."

Now Lupus fell silent, and Corvus talked a long time with Ursa Minor and Lynx. Finally, they stepped in front of the gathering and said that Bootes was right.

"Our punishment is not only against the humans but against their dogs as well; more than against their owners! Bootes risked our anger to help these poor creatures. We cannot hold that against him."

Thus every punishment was taken off Bootes, as long as he cared for the dogs. Even more. Ursa Minor went to him and presented the human with one of her claws, and this became a shield for Bootes with which he would protect the weak.

"You are of good heart", Ursa Minor said gently, "Today you taught all of us, even Lynx. Hold on to your wisdom, young human."

This was how Bootes gained a great honor and a difficult task instead of punishment: He had to protect the weak creatures from harm with all his power. Together with both his dogs he walked the endless plains and kept watch so that no injustice would happen. As is human nature he often inferred with the holy hunt and saved prey from the right of the hunter. But the inhabitants of Lightreach forgave him.

He became good friends with Ursa Minor and a loyal servant of Corvus' laws, which he enforced. Soon he was the only ally allowed in the glade Trishanku, where only the titans were to enter. Ursa Major still distrusted him, in spite of his actions, but she accepted the other's judgment. Bootes rarely left the bear sister's side and became known as the bear-keeper*.

Throughout all this confusion, however, Indus was forgotten. Nobody asked whether his reaction, praised at first, was really that good. He left Chara to fend for her own... Maybe it had needed punishment for this action and maybe something would have come to light then and fate would have been changed. But if someone thought of this, they did not speak up. Peace and prosperity now came to the plains, and for a long time, Andromeda was an endless, safe land where many adventures took place.

Some of them are worthy to be told here ...

*The constellation Boötes is known as 'plowman' or 'herdsman' in English, but the german name directly translates to 'bear-keeper'. I kept it for the sake of the story.