Give Up The Fight

Chapter 2: Reflection

A/N: Okay, I've received enough reviews and a few PMs asking to continue so I will. Here's the next chapter then, don't expect Herobrine to be an angel in this story. He's antagonist in Take Back The Night, so expect him to be one in this fic(though I personally believe that Herobrine isn't truly evil since he was created to freak people out and not be a raging lunatic that is trying to kill you, grief your stuff, and make your life miserable and ect like the mod version has TITLED him. The mod still looks like a good one though, it's like Slendeman but on a whole different level and I love to play Slenderman on my Smartphone. It also keeps you on edge and I like games like that, but still; I can't fully see him like a monster like most do.)

Enough rambling, hope you enjoy! :D

….

"Don't… touch… me." Came a low and dangerous tone of voice, one that filled the little boy with much panic and terror.

Steve felt his heart beating wildly after hearing the deep guttural growl that came along with the warning, he had never felt so much fear in his life and his adoptive father's raged boisterous booming voice couldn't even compare to the dark words lightly muttered. The atmosphere around him seemed even more heavier and thick after the man's eyes glowed vibrantly. The glow for a moment intensified and Steve again tried to jerk his appendage free from the powerful and terribly frightening man. "Let me go!" He shouted and continued to pull with great effort, but it was wasted in the strong grasp. "Please!?" Beaming white eyes seemed top pierce the very soul of the boy, he didn't know how the man's eyes could be like that but it terrified him with it's mythical glow and menacing look.

"A human child?" The white-eyed glare softened as did the brightness. "And to think these woods were uninhabited? Bah! … … There's a damn village nearby, I knew it." He sneered with visible clinched teeth, the glow in his orbs brightened again as he snorted. "I'll slaughter them all! They won't even have the chance to get close to me." He said with a hiss. With his hand still on the child; Herobrine tried to move up onto his knees and immediately roared in pain as his forgotten wound stretched from his abrupt movements, he fell back against the tree writhing and dragging the kid down with him. The being then swiftly shot forward with a loud hiss and arched his back as he carefully eased back against the blood-coated wood of the oak, being very careful to not worsen his other wound on his back and elicit more pain. A ragged sigh escaped his lips and he took deep breaths with his eyes closed as the painful shockwaves slowly receded, the deep breaths somewhat soothed the sharp ache; he was lucky that one of his lungs still seemed to be intact and functional for reprieve.

Steve was paralyzed in fear and dared not to move at all from his new found position with the being heaving for air and not paying him no mind, he was afraid that he'd be killed if he moved even the slightest. This fatally wounded man seemed even more wicked than Derrick and with just four words, now that was saying something. He was starting to think that he was in no presence of another mortal but something greater and more powerful. He was next to the out worldly being, lying against his side and unwillingly leaning; touching the man like he was told not to. His arm was angled painfully around his chest and the man's forearm rested across his back while he was on his hands and knees; kneeling like a slave and using his smaller body as an armrest like part of a chair for a dreadful king. He held his breath as long as he could but he couldn't hold it forever; he wanted to remain silent to not get killed by the powerful human. He prayed that the dangerous man wouldn't notice him, but he could not hold his breath for too much longer. He was going to have to face what the man had in store unless he could get free, that was unlikely going to happen; his arm was still caught in the unmoving hold. His lungs demanded air now and he gasped loudly and heaved in a good breath, the arm that was hanging over him; didn't move. A sudden deep chuckle hummed in his ears. The man's ribcage lightly vibrated from the laugh and it shook Steve to the core both physically and mentally.

"Did you think I was forgetting about you whelp?" Herobrine asked with a sadistic grin, he wasn't even looking at the kid. He could feel the child now quivering under his arm with faint uneven breaths escaping his lips, he was completely terrified and Herobrine was enjoying the fright fest of such a frail and feeble being at his mercy. It would take no effort at all to crush the child in one go if or when he chose to.

His white gaze was trained on the dense woods ahead of him and he scanned through the trees, keeping a close lookout for more mortals and his first kill of the day it seemed. Since he had a whelp in his grasp, it was only right to assume that the kid had an adult or two accompanying him in these dense woods. "Where are you?" Herobrine asked with a soft tone. "Come and get you offspring, that is; if you think you can?" … The immortal hummed in delight at the thought of someone hiding nearby, being too afraid to step out from the trees and approach the infamous being. He waited for one to come anyway, he was also waiting for a fight at chance; one was likely going to break out for the kid's release at some point.

However; nothing caught his attention, there was barely any sound but of that coming from the child.

One of his great senses must be failing then? … But it shouldn't be. He was struck through the chest so how would that effect his sharp hearing? Herobrine's grin soon fell into a frown after a minute or two passed by, he hadn't heard a single twig snap or the sounds of rustling grass. He couldn't even hear the cowering of anybody except for the child that shook at his side. It was strange that he couldn't hear no one else. His mind started to wonder as looked down at the young boy, the child's deep blue eyes went wide and he stiffened up in his position. The kid then shrank back and lightly burrowed into his side in fright. "Where are they whelp?" He asked with his eyes slanted from impatience.

Steve shut his eyes from the sound of the threatening strong voice and dared not to speak, he could already tell the inhuman being was becoming aggressive with his growing tone and the show of fierceness in his eyes. It was that same look that his adoptive father had shown right before he'd strike him, he was too terrified to talk back because speaking to an aggressive adult almost always got physical in his case.

"Did you not hear me? I said- WHERE ARE THEY?!" He shouted loud enough to make his words reverberate from the surrounding trees. The child continued to quake in fear. The silence Herobrine continued to receive was pissing him off to the point that he was about to force something to come out of the kid; whether it be words or a gurgle from his own saliva from choking the brat. "Speak now or I will-!"

"Who?" Steve asked quietly, finally answering from the greater fear of what the man would do to him if he didn't.

The being had no trouble in hearing the child's low mutter, the only problem was what the boy said. "Who?" Herobrine repeated mockingly. "Who?" Herobrine threw his head back and laughed hysterically from the ridiculous reply, human offspring were always so innocent and naive. Surely this kid was either dumb or … or trying to keep quite about his guardians in the woods to keep them safe. Perhaps the boy wasn't so dumb after all… but clever? This thought had killed the laughter and Herobrine soon grew quiet, he tilted his head back down towards the kid and frowned deeply. Herobrine gritted his teeth as a growl out of anger and out wittedness sounded from deep within his throat. The boy had nerves if he was going to show such disrespect to an being more powerful than himself, doing that wasn't a smart and clever idea. "Who?! Insolent child!" He barked. Herobrine carefully jerked his arm out and forced Steve by his own arm to fall to the ground belly flat at his side, causing not only a little pain but to teach the brat a lesson for lack of respect.

Steve yelped but kept his eyes shut, he was so afraid. He didn't understand who the man was asking for. He didn't know who 'they' were. He was all by himself.

Herobrine glared coldly at the boy now sprawled out on the ground at his side, he heard a small whimper but got nothing else. Grounding his teeth from intolerance; he let go of the kid's arm and quickly clasped his hand around the boy's throat before he could scramble away. He hauled the kid up on to his feet close to him and steadied his hand to a fixed tightness so that he didn't crush the boy's fragile neck, he had to be careful or he'll kill the child sooner than he wanted; his neck wasn't as strong as an adult's. He pulled the boy up close and jarred him a bit to get him to look at him. "Disrespectful whelp, look at me when I talk to you!"

Steve swayed his head back and forth, showing his silent refusal to look.

"I said look!" Herobrine shouted. … "Errr… You dare defy me?" He was loosing his temper quick, so much that his hand was starting to move on it's own.

Steve thought he felt a thumb pressing into his neck while the other fingers worked in unison to close away his windpipe, the feeling was a terrifying one. He didn't want to die. "I don't… I don't know who you are asking for?!" He quickly opened his eyes and shouted. Tears flowed down his face and he tried his best to look into the vile eyes to stop his punishment, it was difficult to muster courage but he didn't want to feel anymore pain so the flight or fight instinct kicked in for him. He couldn't fight someone so strong and he was trapped by a firm hand, so he had no choice but to obey to survive longer. Steve believed that he was staring at the entity of fear itself, those eyes of white… so contemptible, violent, and so very cold. But as he stared; he could almost see something else in them. Isolation. Emptiness. Pain.

"Your caretakers, your guardians, your keepers, …your parents boy!?" Herobrine shouted.

Steve's breath hitched as the man mentioned that last one of the list. At least now he understood what was being asked, this man wanted to hurt and or kill his parents that should be attending him out in the woods; but only real caring parents would do that. His current ones didn't give any care for him at all, they didn't even want to make him happy. But in all truthfulness, he really didn't have anyone anymore. His abusive adoptive parents didn't really count as parental guardians, just his tormentors and they would never take him on a hike through the woods or 'waste' time to play with him at all.

"I know you have someone with you. Now tell me were they are and what weapons they carry on them? Tell me!"

"I- I don't have any." Steve sniveled softly as he grabbed onto the man's strangulating hand, it was getting hard to breathe. "I came out here by myself." He said softly.

"Lie! You don't think I know what you are doing?" Herobrine wasn't about to be fooled by some young mortal, he wasn't going to risk being killed again by a human and that was for certain. "I know that you are protecting them, keeping them hidden from me; either that or you got separated. But regardless whelp, they will coming looking. When they finally come for you; they will die first." Herobrine said coldly.

Why would he be hiding anybody? He was just a seven year old kid. Who would he hide? He had no one to hide. Steve wondered why this man was saying such things, no one cared for him except his friends; which he'll no longer see and those at the orphanage so far away. "Come for me? No one will." Steve blinked, his watery eyes were starting to hurt from the intense lights that he gazed into. "No one." He said more somberly.

"I do not believe you whelp." Herobrine said abruptly. "I will not allow them nor anyone to claim my life so easily, no mortal nor living creature will ever again!"

Steve was greatly confused. So this man was killed before? That didn't make any sense. When someone dies they die, they cannot face death again. But then again, there was something different about this guy. The child's eyes move down to the man's wound. That narrow hole through his chest was proof that he should be dead but he wasn't, the man's chest lightly expanded and contracted with his breaths. He was definitely something more than the average human. So even though this guy was so strong; he was somewhat fearful for his life? Given the depth of the visible wound and the amount of blood pooled and drained into the ground; he could tell that the being was in so much pain. That must be why he was asking what weapons his 'nonexistent' parents had, he didn't want to die again and wanted to kill them to ensure that. Maybe he was scared to feel more pain? Steve now knew what it was that he saw in that endless white gaze, it was real pain and not just that of the physical type. "You don't have to be afraid." Steve started carefully with a soft voice as he looked back into those white orbs. "No one will hurt you, I came alone." He said with honesty. "Maybe I can even help you?"

Herobrine clinched his empty fist so much that his knuckles turned white from the pressure. "Me? Afraid? You think that I am afraid?!"

Steve lightly shook and it wasn't by his body but by the hand that still clung around his throat. He remained silent again, terrified that he had said something that he really shouldn't have. The clasp around his neck was dangerously shaking, there was no telling when it would crush through flesh and bone.

Herobrine's expression shifted from one of rage to one of hysteria, maniacal laughter erupted from the being's mouth and his voice sounded throughout the woods. "Afraid?" He laughed again, he was highly amused by such nonsense; absurdity of the naïve human kind. As if he could be afraid of anything? The simple thought was just absolutely illogical and unfathomable. Soon his laughter dwindled down to a dark chuckle, that devious grin reappeared upon his lips. "Do you not know who I am whelp?"

Steve swiftly swayed his head back and forth to quick reply to the question.

He was quite surprised, almost everyone knew him; the infamous being of all Minecraftia. Even most children did and hunting them in their nightmares was often at times; more entertaining than adult mortals, their reactions were more 'fresh'. Herobrine was sure to make his presence known to all so that all would fear him, word of his being spread quickly amongst the fearful; like a rapidly contagious disease jumping from one human to another. They knew his face, his eyes, his power.

He wasn't afraid of anything though, he was stronger than any human and he was immortal; there was absolutely nothing to fear. "I am Herobrine!" He bellowed. "Herobrine; the essence and source of fear itself child. There is nothing in this world and beyond that I fear." He said darkly with a wicked grin. "And no, I don't fear death whelp. I always come back from it so there's nothing to fear. You however-" His white eyes lightly narrowed inward with an expression of delighted madness plastered on his face. "You have everything to fear when it comes to me and yourself. In fact, you should be fearing for life right about now- …because I am about to- TAKE IT!" He shouted with joy and wrapped his other hand around the kid's windpipe and squeezed tightly. He put enough pressure to not instantly snap the boy's neck, but enough to get that delectable and satisfying look of great horror from the frightened dying prey.

Steve's eyes shot wide open as Herobrine squeezed his neck and smiled with such maliciousness and joy from the desire to kill him. He never did anything wrong and now he was going to die? This was sort of a reminiscent attack of what his dad tried to do to him once, but at least he didn't have such a sick and twisted toothy smile in his attempt. Why did Herobrine want to kill him? It was that question that pained the boy the most. He tried to sympathize with the man and it went horribly wrong, he actually made his situation worse and now he was paying for it. His adoptive mother was right, he couldn't do anything right and all he ever did was cause trouble; even for himself.

He was too young to die but it seemed that everything went wrong for him, it was like this event was meant to happen at his age; on this day and at that very moment of time. Fate greedily ate at his survival chance with large slow bites, devouring a good soul and chipping away at the body until nothing would remain. It was as if Life itself was done thrashing him around like a big bully and ready to oust him out for good. No more beatings, no more bumping into deadly mobs in the caves, no more falls or trips, no more nothing. His smaller hands clamped tighter on the choking source and he instinctively clawed at the man's skin for air, he couldn't breathe anymore. Though he was greatly terrified; he couldn't remove his gaze from his killer, he didn't want to close his eyes and never open them back up again.

Herobrine's grin faded a bit. It wasn't the whelp's nails digging into his flesh that was distracting him; but the face of the kid in general, he was now getting a nice and long look at him in his hands. The human boy looked quite like himself awkwardly, he even saw his own reflection in the child's glossy blue eyes. Large bright white dots stared back from those orbs, they almost seemed to mesh with the kid's wide watery eyes. This made Herobrine angry, no more did the smell of salty tears streaming nor the silent begging to live fueled his malevolent intentions like it had been; it was something else now. The more he looked at the kid's struggling face; the more enraged he felt from the show of his own reflection. He saw something that he hated in that face, himself and what he reflected. Herobrine tightened his hold.

Steve started lashing his legs out now, he squirmed and kicked with the lack of air. He couldn't even make any sound but that of his writhing and flailing lower limbs lightly scraping the ground below him. His lungs were seizing up and burning in his ribcage, it was too much to take and he could feel his eyelids getting heavy. He was also becoming lightheaded and sick to his stomach, dizziness was now starting to settle in and the man known as Herobrine was starting to get fuzzy in sights. Steve continued to kick his legs out though, his instincts quickly shifted from flight to fight; he wasn't going down without a battle. He would not let Fate take him so easily, not after nibbling on him for a good portion of his young life.

Herobrine was growing even more irate with the tips of the boy's feet lightly kicking into his stomach, the kid's kicks were close enough to his wound to make the tenderness surrounding the area; grow. He wouldn't have such irritation if he was standing up while strangling the boy, but he was still bound to the ground by the tree. "Give up the fight whelp, it'll all be over soon enough." He hissed through his barred teeth and squeezed tighter, this time ready to just put the young human out of it's misery.

The boy blinked and continued to stare into the hazing white, he could see the pain reflecting out of the being's eyes with each kick he made. Steve tried to kick harder but he was growing exhausted fast, he was getting sluggish too. He continued though, he couldn't give up because he didn't want to face death. No matter how cruel life was treating him now; he wanted to live, to live for his family at the orphanage.

Then it happened. Life finally gave him the break he needed and Fate spat him out of it's merciless sharp-toothy maw. He finally did something right for himself for once. He flew through the air for a brief moment and then fell to the ground with a pained grunt from the light impact. Steve coughed violently while rolling onto his side, air shot down his throat and filled his burning lungs to his relief.

The White-Eyed man roared aloud and wrapped both of his arms around his upper torso, he held tightly to numb the pain he felt but it did little to help. His eyes went wide as a warm substance seeped through his stained fabric and trickled down his forearms. Drops of red pattered to the red-stained dirt below. He removed his arms carefully and gazed down to see his wound had reopened to his disgust. Herobrine hissed as he re-covered his wound with an arm, the sensitivity of it was nearly unbearable; the wound continued to sting from the hit. The being growled loudly from being kicked, that little brat had luckily nailed him right in the dead center of his chest and undid nearly half a day of healing. Speaking of the said child; Herobrine looked up to see that he had thrown the boy down just a few blocks in front of him. That little whelp was going to pay.

Steve coughed a few more times until his chest was alleviated of the tight burning feeling. The young boy pushed himself off of the ground and sat still with his hands now lightly grazing his pained neck, it was tender to the touch and he winced as he applied just a little pressure. He was thankful to still be alive, he was so close to death and just thinking about that feeling kept his eyes watering.

"You little whelp, you'll pay for this."

Steve spun around and saw Herobrine carefully lean forward and place one hand on the ground to help him move forward as his other was used to conceal the wound. The smell of blood was now heavier and Steve had realized what he had done. Scared, he quickly scurried onto his feet and ran away as fast as he could through the woods ahead of him to escape the hand reaching out for him.

"Get back here!" Herobrine leaned in more as the boy got just out of reach, all he had to do was just quickly stretch a little further and- … "Errrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!"

A loud sharp cry sounded from behind and Steve ran just a little further before he stopped and looked back. He saw Herobrine had his head thrown back from pain and huffing in his spot just a block away from the tree; partially lying on the ground and taking deep steady breaths with his arm still wrapped around him. The powerful being then sat up with a soft wail and lightly scooted back to rest against the wood, his face contorted from his acute ache and turned to one of relief as he moved back to his original spot. The man's stained shirt was oozing red and slowly trailing over the other darker stains; giving the dried brownish color a tint of fresh light crimson. Steve swiftly moved out of sight and hid behind a small birch tree close by, his body was telling him to turn on heels and run but his mind was drenching him with guilt. Steve had never hurt someone like that before, sure he killed a spider by accident once and got into a few fights at the orphanage; but he never caused someone to bleed. The man's injury was worse now and it was his fault, but he had to do something to get free or else he would have died. Yet… the man was already wounded to begin with and he was just trying to protect himself right? The boy's consciousness was slowly eating him alive, he never meant to do such harm but he really didn't want to be choked to death either. It was this at this point in time that Steve didn't know what to do, he couldn't just go back to the being but he had to do something to make up for his fault.

The White-Eyed man closed his eyes as the waves of tenderness progressively moved across his torso, each stinging ripple made him wince and roll his head from the sharp pulsing feeling. He never expected the boy's retaliation to cause him so much trouble, he clearly wasn't thinking things though; not in his heated rage. He should have known that keeping the child close was a bad idea; especially after the boy started to fight back and kick for freedom of his clutches. It's too bad that he didn't finish him off sooner or killed him a different way, he could have saved the trouble and be one step closer to recovery. What bothered him more than his reopened lesion was his pride. He let a young 'human' offspring cause so much distress, it was nothing like him to allow such a thing to happen with the power he held. There was just too much going on in his head to deal with the whelp properly though, first it was just pleasure of a kill and then it was rage from a painful reminder. It didn't matter though, now he was paying for his inattentiveness.

Herobrine exhaled heavily and rolled his head down to look at his wound again, he was bleeding more and blocking it with his hand did little to help it. He apparently pushed himself too much when he tried to grab for the kid, what damage the boy had done was little compared to what he had done himself with the abrupt lurch forward that he made. It was hard to grasp the concept but worsening the wound was mostly on his behalf, just because he wasn't healed enough and ready to move. He had already pushed himself too far just getting to the woods after hours of running from the crumbling fortress and now he had done it again, now he was stuck in his spot for a while longer to heal more. Herobrine sighed and narrowed his eyes, patience was a virtue he didn't have; he never had it. The thought of waiting for that little brat of a mortal to go and fetch his keepers wasn't a good one. Not in his condition. For all he knew; the whelp had went told his parents the name of the man he found and what the being was trying to do to him, this meant that the humans that may be coming for him would be prepared and armed to the teeth. What annoyed him more was the idea of them grouping up with a mass of other mortals to take him out, and it would be a result of his failure to kill a mere child. Failure was disgraceful. Pathetic. Just utterly disgusting. Many humans could possibly come to kill him now, not many would want to miss the opportunity to take him out. After all, he was Herobrine and he was greatly feared and hated. They will be surprised upon his return if they manage to kill him though, he'd come back and make them all pay with suffering and torment until their bitter end.

"Let them come." Herobrine said with a hiss when another wave of pain formed in his chest. "I may be down but I am not powerless." He felt the palm of his right hand getting hot as his anger grew, as if he was prepared to summon a ball of fire. Unfortunately, using his power in his condition would make him weaker and he couldn't risk it; at least not yet. Not unless the situation gets out of hand or he otherwise had no choice but to when the humans come.

The tenderness was becoming fainter with each passing minute, his senses were picking up again and he could finally focus on anything other than steadying his breath for respite. Just as he went silent he heard a light brushing sound like that of something gliding along bark, small rapid breaths could also be distinguished. Herobrine listened more carefully and kept his eyes on the birch tree several blocks in front of him, there was something clearly behind it. The rapid heartbeat was the dead give-away. 'No way.' Herobrine thought to himself, that child was either quick to fetch his guardians or he remained absolutely quite to avoid being noticed. The latter seemed more like it with the small frame of time he had but the notion of staying near an enemy and not escaping with his life was foolish. He almost couldn't believe it, but his acute senses were in perfect condition and they didn't lie to him.

"You're still here? You are truly a foolish child to waste such a rare opportunity for escape and real vengeance. So stop hiding in the shadows whelp, come out. I know you're there."

"H-Herobrine?" Steve lightly tilted his head and peered from behind the birch, his hands clutched tightly to the wood when his blue orbs landed on the wounded man. The boy took a deep breath and then slowly moved out from behind his hiding place and into the sight's of white eyes. He remained still beside the tree though, too frightened to really move.

"Tell me child, why have you yet to flee from here?" Herobrine asked calmly, somewhat entertained by the notion that the boy hadn't left at all. "Why waste your only chance at revenge? I'm down, there's not much I can do now. I am almost as helpless as you are, … almost." Herobrine grinned, he then moved his right hand off to the side and out of the child's view as heat radiated from it. There was a nasty little plot going on in the being's head, one that tickled him greatly. He was brilliant, a conniving mind toying with the innocence of a simpleminded child. It was child's play, something so simple and yet highly amusing. Tiny mortals were always quick to trust and believe; having not yet to develop that bridge between trustworthiness and deceitfulness, this always played out in his favor. There was always time for trickery, a nice little game really; one that would eliminate the messenger and stop the threat of multiple confrontations with armed humans in this case. He didn't have to use much power, just enough to incinerate the little pest and continue to heal until he could move around and continue on his path in search of the one he wanted to destroy so slowly. "You could have scurried off to tell your parents where and who I was, they would have certainly alerted others. They would then come for me and kill me. Actually, there's many mortals who would love this opportunity you know? Some would even KILL to have this sliver of a chance, to KILL me; HEROBRINE." He said more loudly and lightly clamped down on a small orb of contained fire, he lightly tapped on the hot shell of the molten sphere in impatience; rushing things would take some of the fun out of it.

Something didn't seem quite right to young Steve, Herobrine didn't appear to be so mad anymore; it was as if he was over the whole incident and was on the same level of frailty now. This made the guilt trip hit the boy harder, he was the cause of it. It was him who made Herobrine feel threatened, now the man was explaining what others would do to him if they had the chance to attack him. He didn't know why people would try to kill him but that was a question for another time. Perhaps he could ask his adoptive parents? He let the thought pass for now. The people hunting him would probably kill him if they found him in this state and it would be all his fault for causing the injury to worsen. The boy lowered his head slightly and frowned. "I'm sorry."

Herobrine's smile fell to a frown, he was not quite expecting that response but something more along the lines of 'why' or an actual answer to one of his questions. Not an apology. "For what?" He asked more bitterly. "For kicking my injury? Don't be. If you hadn't then you wouldn't be standing there whelp, you made a good decision to hit a weak spot at the right time. I am not one so inclined to mercy if you have failed to notice?"

Steve took a deep breath and moved away from the tree, he swallowed a bit of his fear but he was still pretty scared.

Herobrine slightly gaped at the nearing child, this kid was more foolish than he ever thought possible. "I just tried to kill you whelp, aren't you afraid that I will try again?" He asked, now concealing the small flaming sphere with his hand wrapped tightly around it to hide it.

That was exactly what he was afraid of, Steve didn't know this man that well so he had to be cautious on his approach. He saw that Herobrine had something in his right hand, it lightly glowed like that of a torch flame. Now he really terrified. He didn't even know why he was moving back over to the dangerous being, it was very risky; but it was as if his legs were prompting him to at this point. He felt as though he had done enough damage though, he had to make it up and hope for forgiveness. That was a lesson he learned by the adults that held them in their care at the orphanage, when he'd get into a fight with another kid he was told to apologize and find a way to make amends if he started it. In this case it just seemed downright crazy but he was taught better than to run from his problems; no matter how bad they were, that was one of the reasons why he never ran away from his abusive parents to begin with. Even when they first started beating on him; he sucked it up and still tried to be a good little boy, over a year of needless punishment was enough to make him want to leave but he knew he couldn't. A little rebellion was all he could muster and that was it. He couldn't even guess how many times he'd said sorry. Steve came to a stop within five blocks of the man and he slowly moved onto his hands and knees with his eyes fixed on the powerful being.

Herobrine laughed at the pathetic sight. He really didn't expect the child to return, let alone get so close and bow. Seeing him kneel down was slightly amusing, this child was acting rather unpredictable and daring by coming close to his deadly enemy. "If you are here for forgiveness then you will not receive any young mortal, there is simply none to be had or given."

"Please?" Steve bowed his head again and looked up at the White-Eyed man. "I am really sorry, I- I want to make it up to you."

"Oh? You do now?" Herobrine inquired with a raised brow and a sick grin.

"Yes, I will do whatever it takes to make it up for bringing you so much harm. I never meant any, and you were probably just looking out for yourself right?"

"Why of course. I face my own kind of danger right now boy. For all I know, you could leave here and reveal my location. If that is the case then I face possible death. I have every right to protect myself any way that I can." Herobrine chuckled. He wasn't too thrilled on playing along with the child but it would make controlling his target a little more easier, even in his condition he'd have to be careful to not move too much and bring more infliction from his throw. "I will not die again for I will not allow it; especially by humans. I will not allow my presence here be known for that reason, there's 'a lot' of people who'd like to kill me you know?"

Steve nodded. "I won't tell anyone. I promise. And I promise to make it up to you… somehow?" He looked a way for a second.

"Promise hmm? You really want to make it up to me then?"

The young boy looked back at him and eagerly nodded again.

"Very well, then stand up and be perfectly still. There's something that I'd like to show you." He moved the concealed object up from his side and smiled widely.

Steve stood up and stared closely at the hand but he couldn't quite see what it was that Herobrine was hiding; only that whatever was in the hand seemed dangerous and pulsed with light. His eyes suddenly went wide as tiny flecks of fire came from between the man's fingers, the man only laughed aloud from his reaction. Something in his gut told him to run, that man didn't have the friendly intention of showing off some cool trick but rather to kill him by some strange thing.

"Just stand there, it won't take long at all."

"You?" Steve started to take steps backwards, eyes shining with alarm.

"Why do you move away whelp? Is it because you have finally realized that I cannot trust in your kind? That I will protect myself every way imaginable?"

Steve yelped when his back finally met a flat bumpy surface.

Herobrine carefully leaned up and opened his hand; revealing a small orb of cooling lava with tiny bits of flames coming off of it. "You cannot trick me child. Don't think that I don't know what you are up to. You try to seem like a trustworthy mortal only wanting good intentions, but you are a threat as of now and I will not allow you to get away. Not again." He grinned. "I will not risk letting your tongue revealing my nature and whereabouts."

"But I don't-"

"I will not risk falling by the hands of a mortal again, that I will promise you!" Herobrine quickly interrupted and pulled his arm back before swiftly throwing the flaming orb at the child. It sped right at the kid but kid had quickly dove down towards the ground at the last second with his hands covering his head. Wood splintered out from the strong impact and a wave of fire exploded around the area of the tree it hit.

Steve was quaking in fear, he was lucky to dodge that fast throw. He got lucky that the flying flames from the outburst missed him too. He swiftly moved up onto his feet to see fire burning the trees around his area, even the one behind him was alighted by flame with a decent hole burning right through it. He then spun around after hearing a low angered grunt. Herobrine had kept his hand open and out of thin air; a ball of molten lava formed. Knowing that Herobrine was going to try and hit him a second time; Steve quickly ran around the burning tree and through the woods as fast as he could.

"You will not escape me!"

A glowing round object flew past his head and struck an oak tree nearby. Steve felt heat coming from his side as the orb impacted wood and ducted in his sprint to avoid the flying fire. He got lucky again, the flames missed him by a hair this time. The young boy ran up to the small cliff he fell from and looked up, he had to get to safety quick with the spreading of fire amongst the branches of the trees. He hopped up against the cliff and latched on to a small ledge, he then pulled himself up and repeated the process two more times until he made it to the main edge. He climbed and held firmly to the main end and used the long grass as a rope to help haul himself up. Once he reached the top he turned around to see another ball of fire smash into the side of the cliff he fell from, Herobrine was really determined to hit him but he couldn't now at least. Smoke soon flooded the boy's nose and he turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could back towards his home, the fire would spread quickly and he didn't want to get caught running from it and being blamed for the start of the fire.

"Damn it!" Herobrine shouted and slammed a fist onto the ground, he didn't get the kid and now he was certain to have 'visitors' real soon and they wouldn't be so welcome to see him. He had just wasted power for nothing and it wouldn't be long that the humans would show up after the boy announces the being's appearance in the woods, it was going to be harder to fight multiple armed humans with his reopened wound. He had but no choice to move to a new location for now, the only problem is that it would be difficult in his current condition. He was already bleeding out a lot and moving would increase the flow and eventually knock him out from the loss.

Growling loudly from failure a second time, Herobrine sat up from the wood with a hiss and blinked with the haze of grey filling his vision. His eyes moved to the dancing flames around him; spreading quickly through the trees, burnt wood and smoke would immediately give away his location. Herobrine calmed and took a long and deep breath, he then closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. A large gust of wind then swept from behind him and blew through the trees at a swift pace, this strong gust had suffocated the flames in one go and made the lingering smoke disperse out into the fresh and clean air above the treetops. "You're pretty lucky whelp." He said to himself as he prepared to lean forward. "So luck-" Herobrine wailed loudly as he leaned forward, his wound was stretching to his distress and the pain was anything but tolerable. The being then carefully used the tree that he had been propped up against to help him stand and stay steady on his heels, he carefully moved forward in a haunch; trying his best from causing more damage. He lightly swayed in his slow walk and winced with each step, just standing was now becoming difficult; being off of his supportive limbs for so long made them feel numb and tingle annoyingly as the blood flow rushed through them. Herobrine huffed with each step, he definitely wasn't healed enough to move around like this and he was probably causing more trouble for himself that way.

"I shouldn't-… shouldn't have missed. I should …have killed the whelp… sooner." He lowly muttered in between his pained hisses. It was his own faltering in his throws that gave the open chance for the young mortal to escape, the growing tenderness he felt while making the shots really threw off his aim. More warm fluid drained from the lesion and pattered to the ground in his slow amble, he could tell that his strength was draining too and he'd probably pass out soon. "I hate this… this weakness!" Herobrine growled. He kept moving though, he'd rather die from blood loss than fall from a human's blade or arrow. All he had to do was get far enough and rest again, after that; then he could carry out his revenge on not just his original target but a new one as well.

…

A/N: So, what you guys think? Tell me. Seems like Steve had it pretty bad for a first encounter, almost getting killed… twice. But don't think he's given up on the White-Eyed One yet. The child seems to be perceptive, younger children tend to notice these things better than older people. Herobrine seems to hate his reflection in the boy's eyes, the kid's identical look and fearful expression with the glow from his eyes beaming back at him helps in showing his hatred for weakness and pain in himself. I just wanted to get that point across if you didn't catch it, there's a reason for it.

There's still plenty to come, next chapter will likely have more talk in it and some things you wouldn't expect. I don't quite know what just yet. So what happens next? You'll have to wait for it, I might have to work the next two Saturdays unfortunately, but I will try to update soon if I can. I will work on Hero's Bane tomorrow and hopefully post it.

Also, you can now find me on Tumblr. Name: Blackdragon41sbm Feel free to chat or check out my posts. ;D

Review?