These are obviously all done in WMV because it's late IRL and I didn't want the screen shots coming out dark. These are Rhyela's top five pets, the one she almost always has in her actives.
First up is Tetsusaiga. I loved this lion since the moment I saw him on Petopia waaaaay back in the day (we're talking vanilla WoW, mere months after its release). A horde summoned him and let me tame him. Aside from abandoning him once, thinking I'd just re-tame him later, he's never left my side. Thankfully, after said abandonment, a GM was kind enough to return him to me. He will never leave me ever again. <3
The next is Apollyon, the first real rare tame that I actually lost sleep over and camped in earnest. It took several hours (probably 24 total) before I got him, since the first time he was killed right in front of me, but I finally got lucky on a day I called off sick (yay for weird instinctual feelings to go check) and got him. I had originally picked out the name Kaiser for him, but as soon as I saw him and had the hardest time taming him (I tamed him at level back when tames took 20 seconds), the name Apollyon came to me and it fit perfectly. I also now have King Mosh, what I call Krush's little brother, and named him Abaddon.
Third is Vulkoor. Madexx is probably pretty high on most peoples' list, but this scorpid is special to me. I originally wanted green since I love green, but got bronze first. He's pretty, and I do like him and would gladly keep him on another character, but he just didn't suit Rhyela, so I let him go. I camped and camped and camped and finally, one day, I stumbled across black Madexx. I had meant to hang onto him for someone else, and just pressed tame in the meantime to try to deter anyone from ganking (I was nervous and it seemed like a good idea at the time, I was just going to tame/cancel, tame/cancel, etc.); but in my confusion of not being able to find the person I was looking for (tried typing it in and misspelled instead of just looking at my friends list, derp!), I actually tamed him. Annoyed that it wasn't green and that I tamed something I didn't want, I just threw him in the stable (but not before noticing how very handsome he was, and receiving a compliment from a camping buddy). However, during a Madexx photo shoot with a couple of camping friends, I pulled out my black Madexx instead of my bronze, and for some reason we just really clicked. He seemed like he was MY Madexx. He spawned for me and whether I liked it or not, he was going to stay with me. Well, I ended up really falling in love with him and he is my main tanking pet.
Next up is Naphthali. This special little spider was originally going to be a replacement for Naraxis since it wasn't up at the time, and I was going to just give the skin a test run to see if I'd like it. She's a Razzashi Broodwidow from Zul'Gurub, back when it was a raid instead of an instance. So, this particular model is now extinct. I didn't mean to, and I wasn't expecting it, but I quickly fell in love with her. She has a very protective, motherly nature about her. On several occasions, she would stand on top of saronite ore as I mined it, as if to keep others from trying to swoop down and steal it. I almost replaced her with Naraxis, but after looking at that sweet little face staring at me from the entrance to Naraxis' cave, I just couldn't do it.
Lastly, there is Shikon. I know she's not exactly the most popular spirit beast and she's not as difficult to obtain, but I love her. I had Loque'nahak and Arcturis for a time, but even Loque didn't win me over the way Gondria did. I abandoned her once because I felt like I ought to keep Loque, since he's more of an icon spirit beast and my brother said he really matched me, but it didn't take long for me to start to feel the sting of Shikon's absence. I abandoned Loque again, and went and got my favorite SB back. I love her quieter roar, her purple glow, and her beautiful green eyes. She has a quiet beauty and strength about her, and I love it.
Perhaps later I will do my alt hunters' pets. They don't have as many so it won't take as long.
P.S. Wow, now that I see these wmv things in the post, they're atrocious. I'll replace them with actual screen shots later. x_x