31-Day MCSM One Shot Challenge - February Edition 2019

As Time Ticks By

Jesse rested with her elbows on the window sill, staring out at Beacontown. A city, bustling with life. Its streets stretched miles into the distance and, unlike a few years ago, Jesse couldn't even see it's gates from her window.
It was hard to believe that everything she looked down on, belonged to her. It was hard to believe that Beacontown started off as the small village that she grew up in.

Jesse pulled back from the window, turning her head away so she was no longer looking outside. She didn't know what it was, but something about it all didn't feel right. She used to love Beacontown, she still did, but... It was just so different to how it used to be.

Beacontown used to be a place where she'd walk down the street with a smile on her face, waving to her citizens. It used to be a place where she felt comfortable being herself.

Nowadays, Jesse hated to admit how intimidated she felt by her own town. She didn't feel at home out on the streets, it felt like she was walking through some foreign city. She didn't know the people that ran up to her, she didn't recognise the voices that called her name.

It's been so long since she had actually stepped foot outside the building of the Order Hall.

Jesse sighed, closing the window and turning away from it. She knew she should be happy, but she wasn't. Every day was the same old cycle repeating itself, her life was dull and repetitive. What happened? Where did she go so wrong?

Pushing the depressing thoughts away, Jesse began walking down the stairs. As she reached the bottom, she stopped. A frown founding it's place on her forehead when her eyes spotted the door to the treasure hall, slightly ajar.

"The hell?" Jesse whispered softly, slowly beginning to walk in that direction. She hadn't been in the treasure hall in... at least a few weeks. And she definitely remembered the door being tightly shut.

Laying her hand on the door, Jesse pushed it open all the way. She raised her eyebrows, not having expected the sight she was greeted with.

Two of the pedestals were knocked over, the atlas and the redstone heart lying discarded on the floor. Lluna was standing up on her hind legs with her front hooves resting on another pedestal, reaching her snout out to the amulet.

"Ehem, Lluna?" Jesse propped her hands on her hips. "What exactly are you doing in here?"

The llama grunted in surprise, jumping back from the pedestal at Jesse's voice. The momentum was enough to send it toppling over, the amulet rolling off into the distance.
Lluna snorted, shaking her head and pawing at the ground.

"Are you longing to sniff out treasure that much, Lluna?" Jesse asked with a chuckle as she walked into the room.

Lluna grunted in response, pawing at the ground before trotting over to Jesse. She excitedly headbutted Jesse, her way of asking for some affection. Letting out another chuckle, Jesse scratched Lluna behind her ears.

Lluna was admittedly one of the most important things in Jesse's life at that point. She was the only reason the Order Hall didn't feel empty, she was the only reason the loneliness of the place never really got to Jesse. Always getting up to something, Lluna could make her smile on the darkest of days.

"Come on, let me clean up this mess you made, and then I'll make us both some dinner." Jesse said, giving Lluna another pat, before walking over the tipped over pedestal that the atlas used to be on.

She stopped, her eyes catching the photo that hung on the wall right opposite the pedestal. Jesse froze in her tracks, finding herself staring at the faces of her four, old friends. The smile faded right off her face, instantly replaced by a lump in her throat.