Ender woke up to the sun shining in his eyes the next morning. Steve and Herobrine's aunt was in the kitchen when he awoke. "Oh! You're up! Sorry if I woke you up, dear," she said in a kind, gentle voice. Creeps was still asleep next to him.
"I-It's fine…" Ender stuttered slightly. The fact that he stuttered when talking to people he wasn't comfortable with bothered him slightly, but the woman didn't seem to notice the problem. She simply continued about her business. Ender just continued to lazily lay there, staring up at the ceiling as Creeps continued to sleep. This was a vast improvement compared to living in their old shelter, as it was much warmer in the house and Ender didn't have to worry about himself or Creeps being killed. Not to mention it was much cleaner and quieter in the house.
Ender fell back asleep again for at least another hour, until he felt someone poking him in the arm. He heard Herobrine's voice say, "Hey, are you dead or what?"
Ender opened his eyes, to which Herobrine said, "Oh, wait, nevermind. Geez, how much of the day are you planning to waste? If you're gonna live here, you should know your way around the neighborhood and stuff."
Ender said nothing as he sat upright, until he asked, "Where's Creeps?
"Oh, him? He's outside," Herobrine replied. Then the door opened, to which he said, "Speaking of small, annoying creatures...:"
Both Steve and Creeps had entered the house, sweaty, gasping for breath, and red-faced. Creeps, who had a sizable bruise on his left cheek, fell over immediately. "Ugh, my stomach… I ran too much…" he groaned, curled up in a ball on the floor as Ender ran to his aid. Steve started trying to speak, but couldn't get much out since he was out of breath. "Speak English, please," remarked Herobrine, and Steve said, "I… saw… a few kids… They said that… the next time they saw… any of us… outside… They'd tear us apart…"
"One of them hit me…" Creeps whimpered, teary-eyed. Ender hugged him. "Who are this kids, and where did you see them last?" the enderman questioned Steve.
"We ran from them at- wait, you're not planning on FIGHTING them, are you?" Steve asked, a worried look crossing his face. "Not really. I just want to talk to them. Why?" Ender asked.
"Just tell us where they are. We'll take care of them," Herobrine said, to prove a point, he unsheathed an iron sword.
"We saw them near the pool," Creeps said quietly. "They wouldn't let us go anywhere near it, and it's sooo hot outside…"
Herobrine took the sword and put it back in its sheath. "I'm taking this, and you're not stopping me, Steve," he told his brother, who remained silent. Ender also remained quiet as he opened the door and stepped outdoors. Creeps was right. It was boiling hot, and if those kids wouldn't let his friends into the pool, he may have to make them.
Eventually Herobrine and Ender found the group of kids Steve had mentioned. A few of them were in the water, laughing at another line of children they refused to let in.
"People like that make me want to puke," the young enderman remarked, and Herobrine smirked. "Same," he replied, his eyes glowing brightly.
Suddenly a kid, who seemed to be the leader of the pack, noticed them. "Oh, look who it is," the kid said. "It's Herobrine. Looks like he brought a friend, too."
The entire group of kids started snickering. A lot of the children they had refused entry to were starting to leave. "So, making friends with monsters now, are we, Hero?" the kid smirked, Ender gritted his teeth and willed himself to remain calm.
"Your parents are such wimps. Oh, wait, I mean aunt and uncle. Your parents don't even give you the time of day."
Herobrine growled, quite a terrifying sound to come from someone who was only nine years old. "Tell your little friends of yours to let people in. I'm not in the mood for your crap," he said in a low voice.
"You think you're the boss of me?" the kid replied. "I'm twelve years old, and you're, what, eight? Step off, you little shi-"
He didn't have time to finish, as Herobrine lashed out and socked him across the face, hard. A loud crack echoed through the air, the kid screamed. "My tooth! You knocked my tooth out!" he screamed, blood dripping from his mouth. Herobrine had an insane looking smile on his face.
Ender was starting to panic as Herobrine hit the other kid again and again. He seemed to be losing himself.
Ender dodged an attack made by another kid by grabbing a hold on the child's wrist. He pushed the kid over, then suddenly tripped and fell over backwards. He was close to the water now. The other kid smiled. "I might as well push you in," he remarked. "It's not like Herobrine would feel anything if his only friend died. That FREAK doesn't HAVE feelings."
Ender knew he would be fine if he fell into the water, but the comment still made him sick to his stomach. The kid nearly pushed him into the water, but Ender teleported behind him and shoved HIM in instead.
I need to focus, Ender thought. Relax. Breath…
With a gesture of Ender's hand, the water rippled and then watery whips snared everyone inside.
"If you won't let them in," Ender said, gesturing towards the banned children who were now watching the display in awe, "I'll make YOU get OUT."
Using his powers, he dumped the gang of children out of the water. A few icicles suddenly formed in the air. "Leave," he told them. "And I better not see you here again."
The leader of the gang was still getting beaten up beyond repair by Herobrine. Blood poured out of his mouth and several cuts on his face and arms. Herobrine was just smiling the entire time. "Stop, stop!" he cried. "We'll leave! Stop!"
"Then leave," Herobrine replied, returning to normal. The kid struggled to get up and then fled the area. "You're both freaks! I'm telling my mom and dad!"
"Good for you," Ender heard Herobrine mutter under his breath. Ender simply watched as the gang of children ran off. Even the ones who were initially cheering for the two had left. It seemed that the excitement of the battle had been the only thing keeping them there.
"You know, I think this might be the start of a beautiful friendship," Herobrine said with a slight smile, looking up at Ender. Ender nodded, then started walking back to the house. Creeps practically burst outside as soon as Ender set a foot down on the porch, ramming into him and almost making him fall over. "You're back!" he squealed with happiness, Ender said nothing in reply and wrapped his arms around the little creeper. "Man, you took forever! Steve and I were here all by ourselves and I was so worried!"
"You were here ALONE?! I thought your aunt was watching you two!" Ender said, shocked, his speech more directed towards Steve. "Oh, she and my uncle are at work right now," the Minecraftian replied shyly.
"Ok, enough of this. The pool's been cleaned out now," Herobrine said. "Although, after what we just went through, I don't really feel like swimming all that much. I'm starving. The rest of you guys can go though."
"YES!" Creeps squealed, freeing himself from Ender's grasp and taking off down the hill. "Creeps! Wait!" Ender yelled after him, then teleported to the pool. Creeps was waiting for him in the water. "Come on!" he called, bobbing in the water. "It's really nice in here!"
Ender hesitantly slid into the water, and Creeps turned out to be correct. The water was nice, not too hot and not too cold. He kept a good eye on Creeps, making sure he didn't drown or slip on the stone floor surrounding the pool when he was running around. Steve must have decided to stay home as well, as neither of the two ever saw him leave the house. After a while of goofing around in the water, the two climbed out and went back home.
As soon as they got back into the house, Creeps exhaustedly flopped onto the couch. "I'm so tired…" he said quietly, then fell asleep. Steve and Herobrine were goofing off in the kitchen.
Ender sat on the couch next to Creeps, who was kind of curled up into a little ball as he slept. Ender simply picked him up and set him on his lap as he stared at the ceiling. This was a vast improvement to their old living situation. Now, he and Creeps could finally make friends instead of hoping they could find enough food to survive for the next day ahead of them. They both finally had parental figures again. And, most comfortingly, they didn't have to worry about being killed every ten minutes.
Creeps shifted in his sleep, and Ender was immediately thankful that they were not in their old little shelter anymore. Creeps shifted in his sleep once more as a shout from Steve saying, "Stop throwing bread at me!" Echoed from the kitchen. Ender stifled a laugh as Herobrine responded, "Pfft. Or what? You'll hit me? I'm untouchable."
When their two parental figures arrived back home, Herobrine and Ender each got a lecture. Apparently they had heard everything about the fight that happened, and they were a little miffed about it. Creeps had been awake for a long while by this point and had started making a pillow fort with Steve, but was having trouble because, as a creeper, he had no arms or hands to help build it with. Ender just settled down to read after he was done being talked to, instinctively keeping one eye on Creeps as he read.
Eventually they were called to dinner, something that Ender hadn't experienced in years. The whole meal was awkwardly quiet, as no one really had anything to discuss.
After dinner and some goofing around afterwards, all four children were sent to bed.
"Wouldn't it be, 'go to couch,' since we're sleeping on the couch?" Creeps asked Ender as they laid there. Ender left the question unanswered as he just shook his head and closed his eyes. Creeps kept peppering the enderman with random questions, wide awake and most likely unable to sleep. Eventually, however, he did go to sleep, as did Ender.
Ender felt someone poking him hours later. He slowly opened his eyes to see Herobrine repeatedly jabbing him in the shoulder with his hand. Creeps was still asleep, curled up next to Ender.
"Mnn… what? Why're you up?" Ender groaned tiredly. "FINALLY, you're awake. Geez, I've been poking you for forever," Herobrine whispered hurriedly. "Come here, bring Creeps too. I think there's people outside."
Ender slid off of the couch, Creeps in his arms. He followed Herobrine to his room and up to the window. Herobrine peered through his shut curtains quietly, his glowing eyes dimming themselves so that he wouldn't be noticed as easily. "Come here," he whispered. Ender walked over and peered through the curtains. Herobrine was right. A fairly large group of people were in front of their house, talking among themselves. "Is this normal?" Ender whispered to Herobrine, tense. One of them had a peculiar stone and a piece of metal in their hands. Herobrine shook his head. "I'm going to get Steve. Wait here," he whispered back, leaving the room for a second before returning with Steve behind him.
Suddenly the person with the stone and metal piece crouched and struck the two together repeatedly, setting the house on fire.
