First Entry

I have spent the past few weeks in the company of an intriguing race. They are like humans in many ways, yet they have several clearly non-human traits. “Garu,” at least I believe that is how it would be spelled, is the word from their native tongue they use to describe themselves. It roughly means “the wolf's growl,” they say. Quite fitting if you were to judge from their appearance! You see, what sets these people apart from your normal humans are several lupine features. The first of these features you may notice are their ears, because they sit atop a Garu's head, just like they would on any wolf. Another bold factor drawing your eye to this particular trait is their hair coloring; it is always colored as if it were a wolf's natural coat, thus matching their ears. I must admit, it is quite disorientating to meet a young child with white hair. Continuing the fur pattern on the Garu are their hands. Yes, they are quite human in shape, but as you might have assumed from my lead in they are indeed covered with fur. This soft, lupine fur continues up to just short of their elbows before thinning out to reveal their soft skin. The palms of their hands are also padded similarly to a wolf's paws, and instead of fingernails they have short, lupine claws. Finally, there are their tails; yes, friends, tails! I must say, I was quite surprised upon my first glimpse of one of these people from behind. These tails of theirs are in every way just like a wolf's! They wag when the individual is happy, they droop when they are sad or injured, it is just as much an extension of the Garu as any other limb. Yet, my friends, these are merely the physical traits which define a Garu.
As I observed the culture of these people, I took notice that almost every single individual was accompanied by a lupine companion. At first, I thought it was merely a social practice developed to teach young Garu responsibility, but I soon learned that it had a much much deeper historic and spiritual meaning. Luna, or “Mother Luna” as the Garu name her, the guardian deity of our larger moon, is widely worshiped by the Garu. Their culture is highly tied to the goddess and all of her symbolism, especially that of the wolf. As such, it has become a spiritual “right of passage” for young Garu to be paired with a lupine companion. This noble wolf, which often has a similar coat as its partner, is spiritually bound to the Garu for life; and most assuredly this paring is more than a simple partnership, for the lifespan of the wolf is never shorter than that of the Garu which is paired with the wolf. Observing the link between each pair more vigilantly, it becomes clear that they are no longer two separate creatures, but are now each an extension of the other. I even found that they share a genuine telepathic bond! Astounding, undoubtedly astounding, this link is! I can scarcely believe that a feral creature can have human intelligence, no matter how cunning a hunter or survivor it is, but to see the Garu openly communicating with their lupine companions on much more than an empathic level leaves me without a doubt that these wolves do. So intrigued by this, I was, that I simply had to observe how it influenced their culture even farther.

Human Calender: Gia, 25 – Dragon

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primary upload -> http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2221865

i decided to go ahead and upload an actual text file of this since it is part of a story and not just an image