Fly, Phoenix, Fly - Herobrine x Reader

Chapter Seven - Aching Hearts

"Hmm." Alex sank down on her bedroll, digging through her knapsack for food of her own. "I suppose that makes sense. At what age do you stop getting older?"

"Twenty." Y/N told her. "So, we stop at about the physical age of a twenty-five year old human."

"So we are about the same age." Alex deduced. Y/N smiled at her.

"We are."

The trio's path out of the forest had taken them back into the wastes, where they spent several hours traveling without incident. None of them had any means by which to tell the time, so they just walked until they were too tired to go any further.

They had made their camp in the first decent shelter they could find, a small hollow within a rocky pillar that gave them partial cover from potential enemies. Herobrine currently sat near the exit, his back to them as he watched the plateau outside.

Y/N took a bite of her dried fruit, absently watching the outside through one of the gaps in the wall. Their method of searching for the queen was hardly foolproof, but they had little other option. Currently, all they were doing was walking away from the forest and avoiding obviously hazardous terrain, with Y/N occasionally flying about to scan the area for any sign of them. It was possible that they had gone in entirely the wrong direction... perhaps the queen had made it home already. They had no way to tell.

"Do valkyries marry?" Alex's innocent question nearly made Y/N choke on her food.

"I-" Y/N coughed, turning back to Alex to find a concerned look on the girl's face. "Y-yes... we do. Obviously not for... reproductive purposes, like other races do, but, yes."

"Oh." Alex mused over this for a few moments. "I only ask because your commander seems very fond of my queen."

"Oh, indeed he is." Y/N broke into a grin. "He thinks he's a lot more subtle about it than he actually is."

"Oh. Wait, are they..." Alex linked her fingers together, tilting her head quizzically. "...courting?"

"I don't know that they officially call it that, but Commander Zenith visits her at least once a week, so..." Y/N shrugged. "And they appear to be on a first-name basis."

"Hmm." Alex arched a brow as she bit into her piece of bread, and Y/N glanced over at Herobrine again. He had gone back to giving her the silent treatment after their encounter with the enderman.

"Herobrine, you should eat." She called over, trying to ignore how odd it felt to say his name so casually like this.

"I will." He replied without turning around. "You two sleep, I will take first watch."

"I'll take first watch." Y/N countered. "Otherwise you may not wake me up." That made him turn, his blank eyes meeting hers over his shoulder.

"Even if I did not, you need the rest more than I do."

"You still cannot keep going without sleep indefinitely." Y/N pointed out. "I traveled with you for weeks, I should know. You're no good to us dead on your feet."

"I'm not tired."

"We've been walking for hours, and that was following a hoglin attack." Y/N told him irritably. "You may be immortal, but you still need to rest-"

"Y/N." He cut her off sharply. "Go to sleep." She met his glare with her own for a long moment, trying to communicate her ire with her eyes, before she finally turned away.

"Fine." She said. Satisfied, Herobrine turned back to the exit. Y/N finished her meal in silence, not missing the several strange looks that Alex shot between the two of them. Finally, Y/N lay down, made herself as comfortable as possible on the rocky ground, then shut her eyes.