A War Away

Jen's P.O.V

The sun was setting over the town, and the air had lost the day's warmth, turning a crispy cool. A sign that summer was over, and fall had come. I sat at the dinner table, stirring my soup with a spoon, and trying to think. The date with Herobrine had been...enjoyable, but now that I sat in front of Pat at the dinner table, knowing that he'd turned down on sentry duty, one of his most important duties as guard, to spend time with me, I felt like a dirty traitor.

"So, how was your day?" Pat asked. I jumped slightly. Even though his gaze had never left me since they sat down at the table, I didn't expect him to open a conversation.

"You've spent the whole day with me. You know I'm alright." I tried to make my voice sound casual. Pat looked a little awkward at my response.

"Sorry, I was talking about yesterday. I just didn't know how to ask."

"Why would he want to know about yesterday?", flashed through my head. "Does he suspect anything?" I tried to look calm as my thoughts filled with worry. "You meant: How did yesterday go for you, right?"

"Yeah that."

"Well, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special. I had a day off work at the library, so I just went for a walk."

"Wait you had a day off? Why didn't you tell me woman?" Pat looked shocked.

I internally panicked for a moment, thinking my cover was blown, then I found a response. "I wanted to surprise you. But then the whole mob thing happened." 

"Yeah, the mob thing. About the mob thing. I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm kinda scared." Pat admitted.

"Scared? Your the best fighter in the world, what do you have to be scared of?" Pat blushed, then regained the serious air he'd had since the start of our talk.

"First off, I'm not the best out there. Secondly, I'm scared that Herobrine might be back. If he is, well the Battle of Champions isn't also called the Massacre of Champions for nothing. Plus our army doesn't have the strength it used to. A lot of us have either seen too many winters or too few. If he comes for us, we're as good as baked bread."

"Age doesn't mean much. A lot of the new recruits have plenty of strength. You, Dan, and almost all the town guard are a perfect indication of that. Plus the older soldiers have wisdom and experience. And that's got to count for something right?" I tried to comfort him.

Pat sighed. "That is true. But how many of them are wise or strong as you say. And how many of them will be willing to fight against such an enemy. And how many will see his strength, and turn to it, just so they'll be spared if he wins?"

I felt a bit of worry creep through me, like ice melt dripping down my spine, but I tried to brush it off. "A lot more than you think. Plus, we're talking worst case scenario. This might not even be another invasion by Herobrine." 

"And who else could lead the mobs like this? The one thing I cannot doubt, is that it's him."

I sighed, feeling even more guilty then before. Here I was, worrying about whether Pat suspected me, when we might be on the brink of war. Or even death. But a tiny part of me was still holding out hope that there wouldn't be an invasion. 

"If I know Herobrine, I know there'll be one." I thought to myself. "Unless...", another thought crept into my head, and the pieces of a plan began to come together in my head. It was a fifty shot that it would work, but if it meant there was no invasion, I was willing to try.