A true memory from The Hermit Wolf
In the beginning, when the heavens were still wild and unpaved, stones of fire roamed the dark like wolves without a pack. They flew without purpose, slamming into the young worlds, tearing oceans into steam and turning forests into ash. Earth was small then, fragile, her skin barely cooled, her seas still learning to sing. She cried out, for each century brought ruin.
The Great Father of the Sky heard her cries. He looked upon his children and saw Earth’s beauty, green and blue, but also her weakness. So he summoned one of the elder Titans, a being of storm and thunder, and said:
"Take your place beside her. Let your belly be vast, your hands wide. Catch the stones that would break her. Shield her, that she may grow."
And so the Titan descended into the heavens and was clothed in bands of cloud and lightning. His heart became the Great Red Spot, an endless storm to show his might. He stretched himself immense, swallowing the space around him, so that every wandering stone that sought Earth first felt his pull.
When comets hurled themselves inward, Jupiter caught them. When meteor swarms tore through the sky, his storms absorbed them. Sometimes, in his great fury, he flung the stones back into the abyss, like a warrior hurling spears. Other times, he took the blows himself, scarred but steadfast.
And so the tale is told: that the gods placed Jupiter as the sentinel of the solar kingdom, the bulwark against chaos, so Earth could cradle oceans, forests, and the fragile spark of life.