For the Love of Netty

ELEVEN

Tom's POV
After three days of walking, building, and fighting, Lina and I had finally had some sort of a house, miles and miles away from the world's edge, and the beginning village we started at.

Of course, I missed Netty during these days of traveling. But I'd have to move on at some point, so I'd do that by living here until I died and respawned fresh in my home world. Luckily, Lina helped me move on and such things.

I sat in the grassy yard, a single yellow flower sitting a few feet away, Netty's favorite. Crackers, who was slowly getting more and more tired as the days passed, laid next to me, a bone in front of him. I patted his head, and he barked happily. "At least you have someone you love..." I whispered quietly.

I stood up and walked over to the flower, plucking it from the ground and sniffing it. For an odd reason it smelled much like Netty. I turned to Crackers. "I miss her, you know that?" He barked, and I sat back down next to him.

Unfortunately, Lina was out mining, so I had to stay home, meaning I couldn't go out or do anything useful or helpful in any way, unless staying at home with a tired dog counts for anything at all, which I highly doubt it did in any way possible.

Notch, that was a long thought.

I patted Crackers again and turned to the large wood/stone house Lina and I had made for ourselves. I stood up, picked up Crackers, and went inside into my room. I sat Crackers on the bed and watched as he laid down silently.

"Lina doesn't realize how much time you actually have left; you're an old dog, you've done everything." The dog's tail wagged gently, and he barked at me, as if saying he understood. "I may barely know Lina, but when you do pass, I'll take care of her. I promise."

Crackers's tail wagged a little slower, and I sat down next to him, rubbing his back. "She'll be home soon. Don't leave just yet." The dog sighed, and I stood up when I heard the door click open. I walked out of my room to see Lina walking in, her iron pickaxe in hand.

"Where's Crackers?" she asked immediately, and I sighed. "Come upstairs." She nodded, and we both walked up to my room, Lina spotting Crackers immediately. "Crackers! Tom, what happened?" Lina cried out, running over and sitting next to her dog.

I sighed. "Lina, you know what's wrong." She turned to me, her hand still on Crackers's back. "That's not it, Tom... It can't be." I shook my head. "It is, Lina. You know it is, I know it is, even Crackers knows it is."

She sighed, tears welling up in her eyes. "This can't be happening... I love Crackers, he can't leave yet." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lina, it's gonna be alright."

Then she exploded.

"How do you know?! Crackers is all I have left in the world! What do you know about losing someone you love?!" I frowned angrily. "Because my parents were killed in front of my brother and I! I lost Netty, the love of my life, all because her brother didn't approve! I lost my brother, my friends, everything! At least you weren't kicked out of your world!"

Lina stopped her shout from escaping, and she stared at Crackers silently, tears falling out of her eyes. I sighed, grabbing my headband and throwing it at the wall angrily. "Lina, I'm sorry-" She stood up, shaking her head at me. "No, I'm sorry, Tom. I didn't think of it like that..."

I sighed, and we wrapped our arms around each other in a hug. Suddenly, Crackers began to bark at us. We turned to see him standing up completely, his eyes darting back and forth at us.

Then he froze in place.

His eyes glazed over, and beams of light erupted from him, similar to when the Enderdragon was killed. Lina and I stepped back, and she buried her face into my chest, unable to watch her dog's soul leave his body, which happened whenever something died.

The lights got brighter and brighter as Crackers's body slowly began to crumble, falling onto the bed in a heap. His eyes remained open, and a straight white light erupted from his side. It split into several light beams, lighting up the room, and I covered my eyes with my hands.

So this is what it looked like.

The light beams went from white to a wispy black, fluttering around the room like a thick fog. The fog spread around the room and around Lina and I, a slight tingling sensation coming from it.

Suddenly, the ghost of Crackers erupted from the fog, bouncing around the room happily, as if he was a puppy again. The sudden barking from him caused Lina to look up from my chest, her face stained wet with tears.

"Crackers...?" she gasped, and the dog's ghost fell to her feet, lifting his paw up. Through the fog you could barely see him, but the dog hopped up on the bed, pawing his body sadly, and yipping at it. Then he looked outside and barked happily, waving his tail at us.

As if he was saying goodbye.

Lina waved sadly as Crackers ran out the window, his barking heard through the walls. The fog settled around Crackers's body, and then it sank back into his body. Then it disappeared completely, and we saw Crackers's body clearly for the first time.

He laid on his side, his eyes barely open, and his paws sprawled out in front of him. His tail laid on the bed, in the middle of a wag. Lina released me and walked to her dead dog, tears falling out of her eyes. "We must bury him, Tom. Crackers was my best friend, I must honor him like I would my own family."

I nodded, picking up the dog's body and following Lina outside. She dug a hole into the ground, and placed some white wool on the bottom, as a cushioning for Crackers. I climbed into the hole and placed Crackers into the bottom of the hole. I climbed back up, and replaced the dirt blocks. Then Lina added gravel blocks and wrote a sign.

'R.I.P. Crackers: the best dog in the world. We love you :)'

I sighed sadly, wrapping an arm around Lina's shoulders. She stared up at me. "I still can't believe he's gone..." I nodded. "It'll be alright, Lina. There's always more wolves out there who want a good home to live in." Lina nodded, but I knew that it would be a while before she got another dog.