His human carried him through the Keep, quickening his steps as they were about to pass the Commander's mabari. He was nice enough for a hound, but somewhat lacking in sophistication; nothing he could do anything about, of course, that was simply the way of dogs. Sure, they had plenty of brute strength, but could they climb sheds, or wake up their fallen humans with the flick of a tail? No. They hardly even had tails.
Not that Pounce planned on ever letting his human fall in battle, of course. The point was that he could awake him, if need be.
He doubted it would be necessary, though. His human had clearly survived plenty of battles on his own; he could tell by the wonderful feathers he wore upon his shoulders, trophies taken from many vanquished enemies, no doubt. Pounce felt a surge of pride.
"This is our room, Ser Pounce-a-lot," Anders said as he closed a sturdy door behind them. "I have never had a room of my own before, you know. Well, now it is not strictly my own any longer, since it is yours, too. But how could I ever mind sharing with such a pretty kitty? I could not, no I could never ever not!"
Pounce was pleased to find out that his human understood that he had to nuzzle his fur before putting him down on the bed, and pet him as he talked. Yes, this was truly a splendid choice of human.
"Now, you can scratch at the bedpost as much as you like! But you have to be careful of that pillow over there, it is a memento. You guard it while I am gone, alright Pounce? I will probably need to be in a few battles, and I really should not bring you along, it would not be safe…"
Despite his words, his human looked troubled, unsure. Pounce mewed in support, to make him smile and coo again. It worked.
"I bet you are the bravest kitty there ever was, though! You could face down those darkspawn, no trouble. Because you are the bravest kitty ever, yes you are, yes you are!"
Of course he was.
And even though guarding the memento was a noble task indeed, it was not the task for him. No, he would accompany his human into battle, and keep him safe. He was his human, after all.