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Once, he’d had something to protect. When Boy was young and defenseless, he'd needed him. To save him from the Swirly Sand, for instance, to take him places, to show him new things…
But Boys grow quickly—quickly like he used to before, before Her—and, other than a brief period a few weeks ago when Sword Girl cried into his mane, he doesn’t have anything to Stand Guard over anymore.
It doesn’t make him sad exactly, but he doesn’t like it. What’s the point of him, when Boy doesn’t need him anymore, and Sword Girl seems okay, and She is gone…
But, one day, the Strong One comes back with something Small.
Lion lurks out from under the porch where he’d been avoiding the rain. The Small Thing smells familiar, like him, like his cubs had, once, before...
“I’ve brought a new friend,” the Strong One says. “Take care of him.”
She plops Small Thing on top of his mane. He feels Its belly get big and small.
He will protect it, he decides, carefully balancing the Small Thing on his head as he retreats into the house to keep It from the rain.
That’s what he’ll be for.