Meteor

Personality

Meteor is a curious and gentle wolf. He wants to learn everything there is to know about the world. He deeply regrets that death will one day get in the way of his adventures. He sometimes wishes he could be an immortal comet again, so that he'd have more time to learn. But if he'd never fallen, he would've never met his closest friend, Earth. Perhaps mortality is worth it.

Backstory

Meteor used to be a comet, a ball of ice and rock shooting through space. He barely remembers that time. He only knows that it was cold, empty, and desperately lonely. He'd never been loved, so he shouldn't have noticed its absence so keenly. At least that was what he told himself.
Sometimes, in his orbit, he would fly past the planet Earth. He saw the lights of cities, the snow-capped tips of mountains and clouds over the sea. That looks like fun, he thought. He wished he could go there.
Wolves are not the only ones who the moon will grant favour to. Sometimes, if a shooting star wishes upon itself with enough hope, She will smile upon it. And so She sent him crashing into the planet's surface. When he landed, he realised his muscles were aching.Then he had the far more disconcerting realisation that he had muscles at all. He was alive. He was frightened at first, but then every part of his body was warmed by pure joy. He was alive!
He'd landed near the territory of some wolves. He watched them, puzzled as to why they were treating him like one of them.
"Because you are," said Orion, tilting his head.
He was? Well, yes, he supposed he was. He examined his pelt in a puddle. Along his back, half-hidden by uneven spots of white fur, there was a long blue streak. Like a comet blazing through the atmosphere, surrounded by clouds. A reminder of his old life.
They invited him to join, and he agreed. But it seemed a shame that the only parts of the world he'd ever see were his landing site and the small territory of some wolves. His memories were foggy, but he knew there was more to life than this. There was so much to see, so much he wanted, needed, to experience.
So Orion took him to see their scout. "She'll show you the ropes," he said.
And like any good meteor, he fell into Earth. He stuck by her side as she took him over mountains, through valleys full of flowers, and even past the edge of a human town so he could marvel at the lights. They'd seemed so small from space. Down here, they were huge.
It was hard not to feel close to her. All they had was wide, empty expanses, the great unknown, and each other. They were usually quiet during the day, and they kept their focus on their surroundings. But at night, they made camp in a cave or the roots of a tree and talked for hours. He told her his past during one of those nights.
"You really wanted to explore our little planet that badly?" she asked.
"Oh, yes."
She thought for a moment, then laughed. "I would have done the same. And I'd be a comet, too, if I could."
"Why? It's terribly lonely."
"I suppose it would be. But the stars must look beautiful from up there."
Meteor thought back to those days. "They did," he admitted.
"Maybe in another life, we'll both be comets, and we can keep each other company."
"And in this life?"
"We'll keep each other company now, too."
He rested his head on his paws, and watched the stars from the entrance to the cave. They were scouting the desert together, and the sky was clear and alive with stars. Maybe one day he'd go back, but not in this life, not unless she came with him. He finally knew what it was to be loved.