Back at the beginning of the mists of time, before man ever trod, spirits roamed the earth. Some were good, but others were very wicked. They were all overseen by the Great Spirit, he who had created the heavens and the earth. One of these spirits was Otus, who was basically good, but was possessed of an inordinate sense of curiosity. His job was to fly over the land and report back any problems he saw to the Great Spirit, but often his curiousness would cause him to become sidetracked, and the Great Spirit would be forced to chide him. One day, as Otus was flying around, observing the lands beneath him, he spied Lupus below, and stopped to see what he was doing. Now, Lupus was a wily spirit, a mischief-maker who was always playing tricks on his fellow spirits. He decided to have a little amusement at Otus' expense. "What are you doing, Brother?", the curious Otus enquired. "I am preparing to go on a journey," was the smiling reply. "But where are you going?" asked Otus, his interest peaked. "Why, to visit the land of the light spirits", answered Lupus. He knew that he had Otus just about hooked. "Tell me of this land, my Brother. Is it far? Have you visited before?" "I have been there many times", lied Lupus. "It is a place of untold beauty and not very far at all." Otus was now completely taken in. He had to learn more about such a wonderful place. Moreover, he felt a burning need to see it. "Tell me how to get there, so that I might discover this wondrous place," he begged Lupus. "Why, just fly toward the light until you come to its gates," smirked Lupus. So Otus set off. He flew higher and higher into the sky; closer and closer to the land of light. After a while, he started to feel very warm, but his great desire to see the magical place Lupus had told him of, kept him flying on. Finally, the heat was too much. Otus felt as if on fire; his eyes could no longer focus in the glare. He felt himself beginning to fall, a comet screaming toward Mother Earth below. But Otus did not crash onto the ground. At the last possible moment, the Great Spirit reached down his massive hand and caught Otus. It seems that Lupus, who wasn't really such a bad spirit, had begun to feel guilty about the trick he'd played on Otus, so he had run to the Great Spirit and confessed. The Great Spirit tended to Otus as best he could, but even he could not repair all the damage which had been done, so in order to protect Otus' tender skin, he wrapped him in a thick blanket of the softest feathers, and upon his eyes, placed little hoods to protect him from the light. He then told Otus that, from now on, he would have to avoid the light and only fly about when the curtain of night had been drawn. The Great Spirit then called unto him Lupus, and as a punishment for his trickery, declared that from that day hence, he would be ridiculed by his fellow spirits and forced to sculk among the shadows, forever.
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