Chapter 2

A New Appearance

It was night-time. Stars glittered in the dark navy sky. Blazing white and blue flames licked the sides of houses, barns, stables, and markets. It was as if my small part of the world was on fire.

I roared in fury at the sight of my town on fire. I ran as fast as I could, clutching my iron sword, with Alex right behind me. She held her two katanas, her gaze filled with the same fury and intensity glistening in my violet eyes. We reached the group of people in no time, houses flashing past us. I was glad I was fit for once and wasn't out of breath for the fight. Flames licked the sides of buildings and furniture, and reached towards us, but were stopped by an invisible wall that we had somehow walked through, keeping us safe from the fire.

I stood in my most ready stance, looking to my left, my frown displayed. Alex was behind me; we were back to back. She swung her katanas around in her hand, her teeth bared in a snarl. Then he stepped out.

He wore tight black leggings, a black t-shirt, and a black hoodie. A white mask with black eyes, triangle marks, and a wide smirk with sharp, white teeth half-covered his messy black hair. He held a glowing white scythe in one hand and flint and steel in another. He used the tip of his scythe to lift the mask from his face.

Underneath the mask, he had shiny grey eyes that glinted with amusement and his face displayed a smirk very similar to his mask.

"Hello there, Alex and Steve." He greeted us. I growled in anger. He laughed.

"You can call me Steel." His metallic voice made me twitch. He lifted his scythe and his mask returned to stare at me again. He stuffed his flint and steel in his pockets and started swinging his scythe around passing it from his left hand to his right. People from his group stepped forward, all of them wearing them the same mask.

Another boy stepped forward next to Steel, holding two, smaller scythes similar to Steel's, one in each hand. He leaped towards Alex and they started battling with each other. A movement out of the corner of my right eye distracted me from helping her. I turned around and started battling against three of Steel's minions. I picked them off easily, and leaped at four more, my eyes displaying how apoplectic I was.

After destroying the minions, Steel leaped at me, like a cat. I rolled forward, dodging his attempt to kill me. I turned around, my sword screeching as it slid across the edge of the scythe. I did a front flip to avoid getting stabbed, but I only got kicked in the stomach. I landed on my feet and planted my sword in the ground for stabilisation, creating a massive wound in the earth. I lifted my sword out of the ground and did a side flip to get out of the way of Steel. I didn't land on my feet this time, but I was lucky.

Steel only stood where I was moments before, his scythe still in hand. He displayed hatred and frustration in his face then he and all his minions disappeared. The fire also vanished, as if the hackers were never there. The only thing they left behind was the burn marks and corpses of dead players.

Steve rushed over to Alex. She was lying on the floor, unconscious. Her katana was shoved through her right shoulder, and she was losing blood fast. I returned my sword to its scabbard and lifted Alex and laid her in my arms with infinite caress. I walked as fast as I can without hurting her. Thankfully, the fire didn't touch our houses.

I lay her down on my couch, and let her head rest on a pillow. I gently squeezed her hand. She squinted. She knew what I was about to do was going to cause extreme pain. I handed her some painkillers and not long after did she fall into a deep sleep. I leaned over to her shoulder and pulled out her katana. I took bandages plus disinfectors and wrapped her shoulder up. I didn't care that my leather couch was covered in blood.

I took hold of her bloody katana and realised that I didn't bring the other one with me. I sighed and stood up. On my way to the cauldron on the other side of the room, a somewhat vision cascaded onto me. The katana clattered onto the wooden birch floor, crimson blood spattering on the floor as I fell to my knees. I could see the scene flash before my eyes, a little blurry.

Steel's second-in-command called Flint, kicked Alex in the stomach, making her fly and crash into the side of a stone building. She had let go of her katanas, one lying close to Flint, the other not too far away from her. Flint dropped his two scythes and picked up Alex's katana. He ran up to her, jumped up and attempted to stab her in the heart. Alex moved, but she was a bit too slow, out of breath; she was in pain.

Instead of her katana landing where her heart was, it ended up going straight through her shoulder. Alex went limp. Flint went back over to his two scythes, picked them up, and then went to fight off some other players trying to defend our town.

Steel's mask flashed in front of me, taunting me; laughing as I groaned. I lifted my hands to my head, and they shook with anger. My frown developed into pointy, bared teeth. An evil smirk. My eyes were closed as I lifted my head. I opened my eyes. White, glowing eyes had replaced my shimmering, violet ones. Lightning crackled and travelled along my body as I rose to my feet. Thunder could be heard outside, even though there was not a single grey cloud in sight.

The Hackers had tried to kill my best friend, Alex, and they were going to pay.

Hello again people who are reading! You officially have the first glimpse of Herobrine, hooray! I won't be posting anything tomorrow since I'm going to be spending time with family, and I'll also be drawing a lot. I am working on the next POV for how 'Bloodclan Came to Be', however, so don't worry!

Hope you all have a good weekend and Easter. Stay safe and wash your hands! :D

-HollowHeartStar