Story 2: Candles
Summary: If there's one thing that Notch and Herobrine agree on, it's that candles are awesome. So when they find themselves lost in the wilderness, it's this fact that they look to.
Herobrine's POV
"Ugh, where am I?" I murmured, waking to an unexpected feeling of cold. Not even the Aether at its coldest had felt like this. Blinking my eyes open, I gasped in surprise upon seeing open sky rather than the usual ceiling of my room in Notch's Aether palace. Sitting up abruptly, I wrapped my arms around my body, feeling the chill of the air seep into me.
"Why am I so cold?" I shivered, eyes scanning the area around me. Tall, leafless trees rose up around me, coated in a fresh snow that bore no marks to indicate how I might have gotten here. A flash of yellow near the base of one of the trees caught my attention and I stood slowly, slogging through the deep snow towards whatever it was. By the time I traversed the relatively short distance I was completely out of breath, snow crusting my boots and pants and weighing me down.
"Notch!" I gasped upon seeing what the yellow shape had proven to be. Ignoring the cold I dropped down next to him, reaching towards his neck to check for any signs of life. A hand grabbed my wrist as I did so, holding it immobile and cutting into my flesh with sharp fingernails.
"Don't get any closer." hissed Notch, eyes mere slits as he glared at me "What have you done?"
"What, me?" I asked defensively "I haven't done anything. I don't even know where we are much less how we got here. Actually, I don't really remember anything after we had that argument." I shifted back slightly from Notch as he sat up, eyes still narrowed.
"Yeah, that argument." he said flatly.
"Look, I'm sorry I'm not perfect." I sighed "But I really don't want to keep dealing with that right now. Have you noticed where we are?"
Slightly mollified, he looked around, eyes widening as he took in the area where we were situated. He seemed to become aware of the cold air around us as well, wings curling slightly around his body and a slight shiver shaking his body. With some concern I looked at his wings, silently searching for any breaks. Cold made them brittle, and I really didn't want to have him in danger of bleeding everywhere from a torn wing. As I looked though, I noticed something strange.
"What's wrong with your wings?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to start us fighting again but concerned by the lack of shifting colors that always seemed to be present. Startled, he looked up quizzically, turning his gaze towards his wings.
"What?" he breathed, letting out a startled gasp. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and paling slightly. "I can't feel my powers." he said softly, his lips almost blue now from the cold. Seriously worried now, I opened myself to the magic, reaching for my fire magic. But like Notch, I encountered nothing. Searching further, I found nothing but the portion of my link with Notch that wasn't bound to our powers.
"What's going on then?" I asked, scooting closer to him in hopes of warming him up a bit.
"I don't know." he murmured, shiver more pronounced now.
"Come on." I said, standing and pulling him up with me, trying to support him despite how cold I felt "We just need to get out of the snow. Then we can hopefully warm up a bit." He nodded, leaning closer to me in hopes of finding a bit of protection from the biting wind. I looped the end of my cape over his shoulders, eyes scanning the area for any place that we might be able to shelter from the elements. A small cave entrance set into the edge of a hill caught my eye and I waved my hand in front of Notch's face, hoping to get his attention. "Over there, see?" I said, gesturing towards the small opening. Notch nodded, expression brightening slightly at the prospect of being out of the wind.
Now keenly aware of how weak the two of us were I managed to drag us to the small cave, placing a few blocks in the entrance in attempt to keep out the wind.
"Come on Notch, you've got to stay awake." I said, shaking his shoulder, trying to hide my panic when he didn't respond at first. If anything serious happened to him out here, to either of us for that matter, well things would not end well for us or the realms unless our link to Shadow and Steve still worked without our powers.
"But it's cold." he murmured at last, eyes opening slowly.
"I know." I sighed "But I can't make it go away right now. My powers, as you know, are not working today." Reaching into my pockets and hidden pouches, I pulled out the few meager supplies I had with me. A few miscellaneous blocks, some redstone dust, a half broken shovel, a stray arrow. An amid the last few bits of random debris, a single candle, a special version of a torch that Crafters used mainly for magical rituals. "Hey, look Notch, a candle." I said, waving the thing in front of his face in hopes of distracting him from the cold.
"Where?" he asked, eyes staring blankly into the darkness. Even without my powers, my night vision was far better than his had ever been.
"What stuff do you have with you?" I asked, hoping he had something to light up this dark cave. That at least would make it feel a bit more secure and allow me to so something with Notch to pass the time.
"Uh, some tools, couple blocks, bit of flint and uh, this." he held up a candle almost identical to mine, a faint yellowish tinge to its wax where as mine had a light red hue.
"It's another candle." I said, looking at it in confusion "Where did we get candles? We don't hang out around Crafter mages."
"I don't remember." said Notch nervously "And I don't that. I don't like it when things don't add up like that."
"Yeah, I know the feeling." I sighed "When I first built the Nether, I had constant blackouts, waking up with no idea what had happened. I had thought that was over, but apparently not."
"At least its candles though." said Notch "And not something really weird."
"Yeah."
"I quite like candles actually. Their all nice and glowy, soft light, not harsh like from some other sources."
"I like candles too." I said, leaning back against the side of the cave. "A little bit of fire that is perfectly content with itself, not wishing to burn brighter than it is for destruction or to show its might. Sometimes, I wish I could be like the candle flame, happy with what I am and not caring a bit about how others see me. But I'm not like a candle flame. I'm like a blazing fire, one minute keeping a house warm all helpfully, then next setting the carpet alight by mistake. Because, like I said, I am not perfect."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." sighed Notch, shifting closer "There are days when I wish I could be like a candle too. A candle has soft light that helps without blinding, that shines without having to be the center of notice. But I, despite efforts otherwise, am not like that. I am like a little sun in the middle of a dark room, distracting from all else by forced contrast, who's rays hurt all whos eyes try to see. And its because I am also not perfect." He said the last bit softly, in an almost pained tone. I knew how much it hurt to admit something like that, even to someone you trusted.
"Hero, I don't think we're going to make it out of this." he said finally, eyes downcast.
"That's alright." I said, resting my head on his shoulder "I always thought we would get longer than this, that we would see the sand prophecy completed, but if fate says our time is up, who are we to argue. At least we are together." The words I had spoken surprised even me. I had not know that was how I felt, but at least the others would no longer be held back by having to clean up my messes. With that thought, I set my candle next to his, the two almost touching. Then I lay back beside Notch, waiting for the inevitable.
Abruptly Notch sat up, eyes wide.
"You alright?"
"I thought I heard something. There!" As he spoke a shovel pierced through the dirt blocks I had placed in front of the entrance, letting light seep into the cave. Shatter stood silhouetted against the landscape, shovel in hand.
"I found them!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Shadow's idea, not mine." he said abruptly, tossing over a couple potions. "Those should fix your powers. Stevie says he's sorry he couldn't stop this." With that he vanished, racing away from the entrance.
"Shadow did this to us?" I asked hesitantly, picking up one of the potions and yanking off the top with my heavily shivering fingers. "But why? We could have been killed."
"I don't know." said Notch, grabbing the other potion and downing it "But he is going to regret it. Oh, that feels so much better." Thin flickers of color lazily traced their way down his frozen wings, gradually restoring his normal powers.
Carefully, I drank my potion, relief filling my body as the usual warmth of my magic flowed through me again.
"You guys alright?" asked Shadow, peering in through the entrance.
"You are going to pay for this." hissed Notch, lunging for Shadow and only succeeding in falling forwards. Shadow caught him with an outstretched tail, gently stopping his wings from vibrating with a careful finger.
"I didn't want to do this." he said "But you two were always fighting. We didn't have a day go by for almost a month without at least one. I had hoped this would help you to understand each other. Alright?"
Reluctantly I nodded, my eye catching Notch's gaze. First we recover. I sent cautiously.
*Then we strike.* he agreed, pulling himself to his feet. Slowly we followed after Shadow, heading towards where Mirexal was waiting with a portal back to the Aether.
