Date: Year 10181 Villager calender, third day of summer
Hiding in my bunker
My things are packed. I've made the decision- I'm going to get out of here today. As soon as I have finished writing.
I just can't stay in here. It's too tight and I'm going stir-crazy.
Now where was I?
Oh.
Well, better get this over with. I promised myself I would write it all.
I dragged myself out of the lake gasping and coughing, too relieved to realize what was happening around me. When I had gotten myself sorted out and as much as the water off as I could, I took a look around. The area was quiet around the lake, with a chilly breeze sifting through the trees. The thin mist of rain pattered down on the lake, and the chuckling waters lapped gently on their shores. The entire scene had a deep sense of serenity. I went on all fours and just gulped in the air, happier than anything to simply be alive.
Somewhere in that time, my instincts took over the false sense of security. I looked up and realized that it was well past sundown- shouldn't there be monsters? I got to my feet, my sword unsteady in my hand, but nothing moved. Fatigue pulled at the edges of my focus, willing me to just lay down and sleep for now. I was exhausted. I could go fight when I was rested...
An acrid scent blew past my nose. Snapping out of it, I looked upwind and sniffed the air. There was definitely something foreign on the wind. Above the smells of the forest and the lake, there was a slight smoky tang.
No. Just smoke. Unmistakeably smoke.
That was when I noticed the red glare growing on the horizon.
"NO!" I screamed, and at that moment, my heart nearly stopped. The village! I had to get to the village! Without another moment's hesitation, I tore off into the night.
I flew through the forest, barreling past anything in my way. With every step, I prayed to Notch that I wouldn't be to late. Wet branches slapped my chest, my arms, my face. Thorns tugged at my legs and cloak. In one terrifying instance, a thorn bush caught my cloak and held it, stopping me dead in my tracks. Screaming in frustration, I fumbled with the ties and ripped it off, leaving it hanging on the thorns. I was warm enough without it.
Heart pounding and chest heaving, I broke through the trees at last and had to stop. Gasping, I looked out across the plains towards the village. What I saw made my knees give out.
The plains themselves were aflame. The weak drizzle of rain did nothing to impede the progress of the wildfire, and bright tongues of fire licked the air for as far as I could see. Smoke rose in a thick haze that set me hacking in moments. From where I knelt, I could only just see the village. Tears blurred my eyes.
I could hear them. Above the crackling of the fire, I could hear the screams. Too hoarse to shout or even to speak, I closed my eyes and covered my ears. There was nothing I could do! I couldn't get to them in time! It was already too late- Herobrine was already here. He was already slaughtering them.
Something made me stop and take my hands off my ears. Another sound. It was weak and strained from echoing across the vast space, but I knew that sound. It was a now very familiar laughter. Rage blossomed in my chest.
"You-... You Notch-cursed filth." I muttered darkly, narrowing my eyes against the smoke. Tears were already streaming down my face. I let them. Slowly, legs shaking from the effort, I got to my feet and drew my sword. "Not this time, Herobrine."
Leaping down the hill, I faced the fire head-on. I was still wet from the lake, and that helped. Aiming for the blackened, burned-out patches, I ran through the fire as fast as I could. Hot smoke burned my lungs, and my boots began to char from where I had to step. Whenever I reached a clearing in the fire, I had to stop and rest. For all my rage, my legs weren't going to hold up after my run through the forest. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other. My mouth had an unpleasant feeling to it, like I had chewed on gritty sand. I spat out the grit, and it came out black. Bad sign.
The screams were dying down. That made me move even faster, even as my entire body felt like it was on fire and melting in the heat. Silence meant... I didn't want to think about it.
All at once, I was out of the fire. My legs gave out again, and this time, I fell flat full-length.
That wouldn't do.
Fishing around in my inventory, I found a healing potion and thanked my lucky stars that I had had enough sense to bring it. Dragging myself to a sitting position, I coughed hard and spat out another wad of bitter, charcoal-tasting black and tipped the potion into my mouth. The taste was sickeningly sweet after the smoke, but I forced it down. Gagging, I threw the empty bottle aside and shuddered as the potion took effect. Strength returned to my limbs. I was able to stand.
Firefall in hand, I charged past the village barrier.
Immediately I knew I was too late.
Half of the wooden houses were now blackened skeletons, and the rest were on fire. There was lava in the streets. I found the first living soul by tripping on him. The Villager was draped limply across his stairs and into the street, moaning weakly. Horrified, I sheathed my sword and grasped the man under the shoulders and helped him up onto the stone stairs. With all the awful noise he was making, I couldn't move him any further without my stomach turning. When I removed my hands, they were covered in sticky red blood. I swallowed hard and wiped them off as best as I could on the ground.
There were no bodies, but I knew the signs of death well enough. There were man-sized patches of dark red here and there, and tattered robes. I found another living person- a child- weeping at one of those patches, screaming for her mother. I glanced at her and then looked back harder. She had given me a rose only that morning. Her mother had wished me well... No, oh Notch no, that was where she had been killed!
A fireball arced down at the child. Thinking fast, I dove down and scooped up the girl, and we both narrowly missed being hit. The outside edge of the blast hit my side and I cried out in pain as my metal chain armor superheated. Dropping the crying girl behind a pile of rubble, I rolled to my feet and drew my sword.
Herobrine hovered in the air between what was left of two houses, his white eyes gleefully shining. He had another fireball floating in one hand, waiting to be cast.
"Well hello there, Huntress." He said mockingly. "I can't say that I am not surprised. To be honest, I'm amazed that you made it this far. And still standing? Most impressive." I raised my sword and said nothing.
Herobrine lazily threw his fireball in my direction. I flew aside and rolled, and it skidded on the ground where I was and exploded. My ears rang from the blast, and I had trouble understanding what Herobrine said after that.
"You know, you had a lot more spirit when we were at the temple," he said as he floated gracefully to the ground while I clumsily regained my footing. "Where has that gone now? Has it been drowned in your utter insignificance?" I snorted.
"That wasn't exactly the most poetic." I said bitterly. Herobrine narrowed his eyes.
"Nonetheless," Herobrine pronounced deliberately, venom dripping from his voice, "You will die here. I am going to kill you here and now, and you will respawn exactly where I want you to. There is nothing you can do to stop me." He laughed a little. "On the lighter side, you will get to see your friend Dragon again in the Nether. I'm sure you miss him." I glared at him.
A thought struck me. Moving quickly, I reached into my inventory and retrieved a small and valuable object that I had been given by the priests at the Temple a long time ago. Setting the commands, I placed the block right in front of me and smirked. Herobrine's smile faded.
"A command block. How clever." His voice was carefully controlled, but his eyes flared much, much brighter. I backed up a step, more than a little intimidated.
A bolt of lighting struck the block with a deafening boom of thunder. When my vision cleared, Herobrine stood a little closer, his expression dark and fiery. The command block was unharmed. I cautiously smiled.
"I thought you liked tricks," I taunted. "You certainly pulled a lot of them in the Temple." Herobrine closed his eyes and his face smoothed. When he opened his eyes again, his countenance was calm, but his gaze was flaring dangerously.
"No matter. You can keep this game going as long as you want, Huntress, but only so far as your strength and your tricks will last." Herobrine wasn't laughing now. Instead, I faced a cold and ruthless killer, with more power than any other being in the universe, aside from Notch himself. "And I am still going to kill you."
"I am not afraid to die," I retorted, but my hands were subtly shaking as they gripped my sword a little tighter. I was lying, and he knew it. I hadn't died many times in the past, in fact, I had only died twice in my life. Both times were horrible. Once was from a long fall into lava, and the other was falling into a cave literally swarming with monsters, and my weapons ran out. This time, I would respawn in the place of my choice with all of my items, but this time was no better. Actually, it was worse. I had never died alone before. Ever.
Not afraid to die? Please. I had never been more afraid in my life.
"I see you, Huntress." Herobrine said, shifting into a simple battle stance. I knew what he meant- he could see what I was really feeling. He could see into me, into my thoughts and memories. "You know what this means. This is a temporary reprise, and nothing more."
I watched in terror as the hilt of a sword appeared in Herobrine's hand. Slowly, a heavy black blade formed, glittering in the firelight. The blade was wider and longer than my own sword, and I knew it would be hard to defend against. A sword that size had simply too much weight behind it, and with the ease I saw Herobrine handle it, I knew I was in over my head. He was bigger than me, and much stronger, and faster, too.
I wasn't going to last long.
"I cannot imprison you," Herobrine conceded, hefting his sword, "But I can still make you SUFFER!" On that last word he lunged forward.
I couldn't move in time and just barely parried his lightning blow. Immediately, another heavy blow came to the other side, and his sword skidded off of mine to squeal against my armor. It held- barely. I groaned as I felt my chain mail dig into my flesh.
His sword came down again, and I blocked it straight-on. The force behind it nearly sent me to my knees, and he slid the blade so that our swords locked. He grinned broadly as he looked me in the face. I gritted my teeth and focused on holding his blade at bay. My arms shook from the effort.
"Now now, you can't expect to win like that," Herobrine mocked. Slowly, his blade forced mine down further and further. He was toying with me. I slid a foot backwards and quickly shifted my weight. My sword tore free of the hilt-to-hilt lock.
Suddenly, Herobrine's sword swept around and up, slamming my sword up and around. I felt the shock of it all the way up my arm through the shoulder, and the joint popped unpleasantly. I don't know how I kept my grip.
Before I could react, Herobrine half-turned and kicked me full-on in the chest. My breath whooshed out of my lungs and I flew backwards, hitting a brittle wall hard and crashing through. I landed in a heap as a pile of charred debris rained down on me. Gasping, I accidentally took in a lungful of ash.
Coughing desperately, I clawed my way up through the pile until I was out in the air again. Grasping my sword, I tried to stand and slipped on something loose, falling belly-first back down onto the rubble.
Herobrine was there in an instant. He snatched me up by grasping a handful of the back of my chain mail and throwing me headlong into the open. I crashed into the remaining wall of the church tower, rebounded, and fell to the ground slumped against the cobble wall. My sword had flown out of my hand and rattled on the scattered stones. My head throbbed and my ears rang louder than ever. My vision blurred, and for a moment, I nearly passed out.
A hissing sound brought me back to my senses. I looked up just in time to see a fireball whistling straight at me, and barely threw myself aside in time. The fireball struck what was left of the church tower and exploded, sending chunks of blazing-hot scree flying through the air and battering me as I rolled. Scrabbling for my sword, I got up and tried to run.
Coughing and staggering, I didn't make it very far before Herobrine was upon me again. He came up behind me and hooked one of his feet in front of my ankles, sweeping my feet out from under me. I fell flat and cried out sharply when my tender and aching head hit the stones below.
Herobrine stabbed down at me. I swung my sword as hard as I could and only just deflected the blow, and then rolled aside, heaving myself away. He stopped me dead by standing on my leg, and stabbed down again. I screamed as his sword tore through my iron leggings and into my thigh. Writhing against the blade, I tried to shake off Herobrine's weight to no avail.
Herobrine ripped his sword free, and let me drag myself away and get to my feet dizzily. I couldn't put weight on the wounded leg at all, and my vision was swooping and whirling in such a way that I could barely stand. Undoubtedly from hitting my head so hard. Gripping my sword with both hands, I stood and faced Herobrine with an unshakable feeling of despair. He was right- I couldn't beat him, and he sure wasn't going to relent.
Herobrine raised his sword, and then lowered it, a grin on his face. He moved it from a two-hand grip to his left hand and raised his right, palm up.
"I don't need this to finish you," He murmured, almost to himself. I watched, horrified, as a bright orb of fire formed in his hand. It was too late to run. I was able to take one step backwards before Herobrine flicked the fireball at me. It hit the ground right in front of my feet.
The world exploded into heat and light and I flew up into the air.
For a few terrifying seconds, I couldn't see or hear, and all I knew was that I was falling fast. The ground rushed up and I slammed down hard. Something dull and pointed was under my back, and I heard something break on impact. My sword clattered away somewhere- I could only just hear it. My ears were ringing so loud, and my vision was filled with red starbursts.
I knew it was the end.
Flipping onto my belly, I dragged myself to where my sword had fallen and touched it with one hand. It vanished into my inventory. Good. At least I wouldn't lose that.
Moaning in agony, I rolled back onto my back and gagged. Something hot and acidic was coming up. Too weak to move, I let my head roll to the side and my body heaved without warning. I retched onto the blackened ground, coughing hard between heaves. There was nothing but bitter acid that came up, and more blood than I was comfortable with. The smell of it made me sick. Swallowing hard, I worked up a mouthful of saliva in my dry mouth and spat, and turned my head the other way. I had never been in so much pain.
Herobrine came into my line of sight with his sword resting casually across his shoulders.
"Pathetic," he said, looking meaningfully at the mess I had made. "You really are weak after all. Determined, but weak. You came all this way... for what? You saved no one and only brought about your own demise." Herobrine put the tip of his sword to my throat. "It's almost tragic, really. It took all of this pain to teach you that you cannot defy me. Not these Villagers, not Dragon, and most certainly not you. I told you this would come, Huntress. Prepare yourself."
I watched Herobrine raise his sword and fresh adrenaline shot through my entire being. But it was too late. My body screamed in protest when I even thought of moving. My breath quickening, I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped it would be quick.
Searing pain tore through my chest and everything fell into dizzying silence.
Moments later, I woke up here in my bunker, alive and gasping. Gathering my knees to my chest, I let out a strangled sob and began to cry.
I... I'm sorry, I have to stop.
I'm sorry if my handwriting wasn't that neat for those last few pages. My hands were shaking.
They still are.
I don't know what we are going to do against Him. I really don't. I've never fought so hard in my life, and I've never been beaten so badly.
It's time to leave. I don't want to- especially not now. Not after reliving that to write it down. But someone has to fight Him. Someone has to do something. I just don't know what.
It's sunrise out there. I'm going to bring this along with me, just in case I get the chance to write more later. Maybe I'll have some good luck after that.
Notch help me, and for the love of all that is holy, let the others be okay.
It's time to go.
Amanda the Huntress here. Whew! That one was a doozy! (slaps self awake and looks over shoulder to make sure Herobrine isn't there)
I know, I KNOW! That was violent. Why do you think Huntress was having nightmares?
Anyway, this rewrite is going surprisingly well. That was one SERIOUS fight, don't you agree? There'll be more where that came from, and lots of fun drama and lots and lots of running for our lives here. No flat scenes from me, you know me too well. I'll be surprised if you get the taste of smoke out of your mouth anytime soon (I know I won't...I'm the one who had to write that.)
How did you like it? Don't go away- I've got more coming up again soon! Leave a review if you want it on time. If I can get up to ten reviews before this Wednesday, I'll update then. (If not, you've got another week to wait, buster. I'm not pushing it without encouragement.)
Now- Huntress is alive and about to venture out into the open again... to what? What will she find out there? Will her friends be alive? Will she ever find answers? Or is Herobrine just going to beat her into pulp again and take over the world? (I hope not... *shudders at the thought of writing another defeat like that*)
Remember- REVEIW NOW AND GET ANOTHER UPDATE IN TWO DAYS! Make sure to like and follow and I will see you later, readers!