AN: I wrote this story after hearing that my dog of fourteen years passed away while visiting my Grandmother. It saddens me that this is the second of my families dogs to be sent to Doggy Heave this summer, the first being my cousin's dog who was in my life for at least the last ten years, who they decided to put to sleep when she had trouble's walking. This is for you Speckles and Bandit.
Jump had been Kel's faithful companion for more than fourteen years. He had gone everywhere with her in the beginning. He even refused to stay with Daine, the Wild Mage, and had somehow won over the gruff training master, Lord Wyldon.
It had been years of Jump fighting alongside Kel, helping protect his mistress from would be killers. She had allowed him to follow her into battle for around ten years. But by then she knew he was an old dog, far too old to be in active duty.
She was sad when she had first started to tell him he had to stay behind. Missing his comings and goings. But she knew then that even though he still had the energy, he was not as quick as he used to be, and he was beginning to tire easily.
But towards the end, he stopped complaining. He would still follow her around the Palace grounds, the halls of Mindelan, Masbolle, and Queenscove, but he no longer would go for rides if she was patrolling or just enjoying a day out.
She was out patrolling the lands around Masbolle with Dom and some of his men, they had been given a few weeks leave to enjoy together as husband and wife when one of her sparrows came to find her.
Knowing it would be wise to follow the bird to where it wished to lead them, the group turned back, they had already completed their round and would have headed back anyways.
Upon entering their rooms, Kel noticed Jump curled up sleeping in his favorite place before the fire. As usual, he gave a slight wag of the tail before he went back to sleep. She decided to leave the old dog be, he had deserved his rest many times over in the past.
It wasn't until much later in the day when she was trying to give him a bone that she noticed he still hadn't moved. Beginning to worry, Kel went over to find that Jump was finally at peace, having gone in his sleep.
While sad about his passing, she couldn't help but notice the small smile that seemed to be on his lips. It was then that she knew what her sparrow had come to tell her. Jump was letting her know his time was near, and had wanted her close by when he passed.
She never made it to dinner and so a concerned Dom came to see if anything was wrong. Upon seeing his wife crying over her fallen comrade, he quickly scooped her up and placed her on the bed, holding her until she fell asleep.
In the morning, they buried Jump in his favorite spot amongst his mother flowers in the garden. She would have complained, but she knew how important this pet was to her new daughter-in-law, and even to her son who had worked besides the dog for many years.
Shedding one last tear over Jump's grave, Kel and Dom left, never noticing the ghost of Jump following them. For even in death, he knew had had to protect his mistress until she received the puppy from Lord Wyldon's best hounds for Midwinter.