Everybody say "Grats!"

So it's a little hard to see, but...


That would be my Tux, dinging 70.

Lemme tell you a little bit about Tux.

He was the very first pet I ever tamed (aside from the "taming quest pets") on the very first hunter I ever rolled-- heck, the very first character I ever rolled period.

For some strange reason, he stuck by me even though he was starving and unhappy and rebellious for a little while because I had no food with which to feed him.

He stuck by me even though he couldn't hold aggro worth a darn because I didn't know I was supposed to teach him Growl.

He stuck by me when my strategy was "Hey Tux, let's run around and melee things together!"

He was the pet that I put on aggressive in Deadmines, zipping around attacking everything and pulling everything because the two of us didn't know any better. Or perhaps he did and was just too polite to tell me.

He followed me everywhere. In Westfall. In Redridge. In Darkshore. In Wetlands. Actually in Wetlands I tamed a raptor and Tux spent a good few levels in the stable, but for some reason he still liked me when I eventually pulled him back out.

Desolace. Stranglethorn Vale. Arathi Highlands. Swamp of Sorrows. Tanaris. Hinterlands. Felwood. Un'goro Crater. Winterspring. I went all over Azeroth and back again and the whole time there was a little owl following me.

It was around this time that I realized I had a little problem; namely, Tux's birdlike nature and his big wings were annoying people that I grouped with. So out of courtesy I tamed my teal kitty, Locke. Now, I love Locke to death. And Locke was my first pet to hit 70 because he gets to go to all the instances.

But Locke is no Tux.

Tux is just a normal ol' gray owl, a Strigid Hunter to be precise. He's not one of those fancy white owls or black owls or super-shiny red-and-purple owls. Nope, he is just a plain gray bird from the night elf starting zone.

...and that is why I wouldn't trade him for anything. We've experienced the entire game together, he and I. We've grown together and learned together and made mistakes together and never once has he complained.


We've come a long way, you and I...

So I guess what I'm trying to say is...

GRATS TUX!