None of the fictional animals I’m aware of (e.g. Dragons, Minotaur, Hydras, Werewolves, Fu-Lions, etc.) would make good “lifelong companions” as they would not be conducive to a life that was long. Perhaps the kind of foxes one sees in Chinese and Japanese folklore, though those relationships also usually end poorly (not to mention being weirdly sexual.)
Saiweng Lost His Horse 塞翁失马: A Story about Life and Values by Qixia Yu
After dark —-
A city park —-
There runs the thing
That comes to life
By night.
Caged in stillness
Through sunlit hours.
Its night persona
Is blurred movement
Seen only from the
Corner of an eye.
It stays near deep shadow,
Beyond the lamp lit arcs.
Where is it?
No one knows,
But if one were to
Check the cathedral
Spire, you’d find
Only an impenetrable
Void…
until sunup.
I see Dragons on the walls
Of temples and market stalls.
From Shanghai to London way,
I've seen them by night and day.
I've seen them skewered by St. George
And belching flame like a forge.
I saw one once in Baku,
But never saw one in a Zoo.
The Ballad of Mulan: 木兰辞 by Song Nan Zhang
Dark demon rising by Tunku Halim
