[A/N: Most of this was written before I put the story on hiatus, but in case you don't follow my deviantART, I am working on the story. I promise to finish it some day. Until then, enjoy this and know that I love you all]

Shelby blinked her eyes open slowly. A moment of confusion greeted her as the feeling of soft blankets and crisp air filled her senses.

Her eyes focused on a small freckled face and she smiled.

Oh, right. She was home.

Shelby lay in a double bed with her sister, whose eyes were closed in what she assumed was a light sleep. Across the small room was a smaller bed, in which lay their mother.

She let out a small sigh, and still smiling at the sight of her younger sister, Kate's green eyes opened.

"Are you awake now, Shelby?" Kate whispered.

"Yeah," she murmured back, grinning just a few inches away.

"I'm hungry."

The older girl sat up and stretched lazily, the aches from her previous sleeping places having faded drastically.

"Let's get some food then!" She threw the soft blankets out of her way and crawled out of the double bed she shared with her sister. She readjusted the pale blue shirt she'd put on the night before and watched Kate scramble to her feet. She took the girl's hand and led her down the first set of stairs.

Her bare feet hit the ground and ached. If she hadn't have stolen those damn heels from her mother, she wouldn't have had to walk around in them for however long she'd been in the Nether.

Granted, she could have taken them off, but she found it much too hot. She had noidea how Herobrine went around barefooted.

A pang of hurt shot through her for a second. She wondered if they would see each other again. She wondered if he wanted to.

Herobrine slid the green sleeveless shirt over his head, and looked down at himself. The feel of the fabric was foreign to him, the soft wool of the shirt and sweatpants differing from the aged t-shirt and jeans. That being said, he didn't actually know what they had been made of.

He leaned over and wrapped the cord of his shoe, feeling the inside with his toes, and saw a shadow pass over the ground.

"Oh, cool, you're awake!" Sydney's voice was filled with boundless energy like usual. He wrapped his other shoe and heard a crunch from the brunette's direction. He glanced up. She looked back at him curiously, chewing a rather large cookie.

"How..?" he began, referring to her breakfast of choice, and drew his eyebrows together.

"I stole it." she replied innocently from behind a mouthful of cookie. He shot her an amused glance and stood up, stretching one of his arms. Sydney watched him stand, popping the rest of her snack into her mouth.

"Ya look good." She swallowed. "It's a little big, but it's not bad. Like, the shirt, I mean."

Herobrine rolled his shoulders and watched Sydney. She stared at him blankly for a second.

"Oh! Sorry, I came here to make sure your clothes fit and to ask if you were going back to your project thing." She waited a moment.

"So are you?"

He nodded. She smiled.

"Cool! I'm going to go hunting and stuff, so don't die while I'm gone!" She didn't wait for a reply before bounding out into the woods, spear in hand. He watched her go, and then turned to grab his lent supply bag and sword. He brought the weapon to his hip and realized with an embarrassed start that he no longer had belt loops to hold it. Herobrine adjusted the bag on his shoulder and stepped out of his tent. The fire in the center of the clearing was coughing up it's last puffs of smoke and left only dying embers in the small pit. He turned to the direction of his half-built house and lifted a foot to walk. An idea struck him.

Gripping tight his bag and sword, he imagined the unfinished building and the overhang above it. He felt his energy center in his core, a build-up he hadn't recognized before. With a push of will, he once again found himself in the shade of the hollowed mountain. The faint smell and sound associated with his... teleportation... faded as quick as it had come, leaving the man standing in the near silent biome edge by himself.

With a small sigh of content, Herobrine stepped toward his project and opened his bag. As much as he liked the company of Shelby, and admittedly Sydney as well, nothing could replace the peace he felt out in the woods alone. He pulled a handful of planks from the bag and floated up to the unfinished wall he'd left off at. The silence gave him room to think.

He placed a block.

The first thing that came to mind was Shelby. Of course, Shelby. He had to admit he agreed with Sydney's reasoning to take her back. When awake he seemed in control, but he'd proven while asleep he could accidentally activate his abilities. That and his most recent discovery, that he could do so as a reaction to fear. He didn't even want to think about how he could go wrong with that.

He placed a block.

On that note, he didn't know where these abilities, or 'gifts' as the male voice had called them, came from. His initial thought had been that everything -his physical state, powers, everything- was a result of the ghast's tears. She hadn't known, as she isn't the most knowledgeable of creatures, so it was his only explanation. He figured she must've been different somehow anyways, because he'd never heard of intelligence in mobs.

He placed a block.

It frustrated him to no end that he didn't have all the answers. He considered asking the voices in his head, but that thought caused even more frustration. Those damned voices. One male, one female. The male seemed genuinely helpful, once even calling him 'sir'. The female on the other hand rarely spoke, many times only just to scold the male. She seemed insistent on keeping up the act that they did not exist.

He placed a few blocks, a small frown on his face. How long had they been there? Was it a sign of him going crazy? It was pitiful to consider, but the possibility was there. In the case that they are real people, how did they talk to him like that? Are there others with powers like his?

He placed a block.

His frown deepened. He hated not having all the answers.

A few loud crunches interrupted Herobrine's thoughts, and he stopped his arm's movements mid-air, turning to where he assumed Sydney was. Instead of Sydney, he saw a cloaked young man racing off towards the village mumbling to himself. The mysterious man pulled his hood tighter around his blonde head.

Herobrine watched him in silence, a sense of uneasiness crawling up his spine the longer he stared. The boy faltered in his steps and then stopped in his tracks. He turned cautiously, and Herobrine got a glimpse of the other's face.

Hungry blue eyes darted around, his short blonde hair tucked into the sheepskin hood he wore. As the man continues to study his features, the extensive scarring on the left side of his face was revealed by the shifting of the cloak. He had the air of something unnatural around him, and the way the scars sat on his face reminded Herobrine of his own. There was something very wrong with that one.

Shelby ran a hand along the wood surface of a chest, walking back out the door of the storage room. Kate chewed complacently on a small loaf of bread and followed her out, oblivious to the growing noise just down the hall.

"Oh, hey, are you okay?"

A worried voice carried down the hall, drawing Shelby's attention from her sister.

"Ha ha. Yes, I'm fine." a familiar voice lilted, his voice pulling suddenly at the woman's heartstrings.

"It's not a particularly old wound, but it isn't anything to worry about."

With faltering steps, Shelby made her way to the end of the hallway. Chocolate eyes settled on the person gracing the doorway, and she felt a sudden lightness in her chest. Relief spread through her body until she was near giddy with joy and her hand found it's way to her mouth. With a breathy gasp, a name slipped through her fingers.

"Jack..!"