Chapter 6: Only by Accident
Even after spending the majority of the week contemplating his slow change of heart, he still didn't know what drove his instinct towards protection, but now that there was blood on his hands, he found himself even more confused than he had ever been before.
Sure, he didn't have to do it. He saw the small group of villagers and was going to ignore them entirely, but the strange pigmentation of their skin intrigued him, and he couldn't help but draw nearer to them out of curiosity. He also couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation, though it took him a minute to adjust himself due to the language that fell from their lips being entirely different from the ones he was more accustomed to hearing.
The words "attack" and "ambush" caught his ears, but he couldn't bring himself to care more about what could possibly happen to the regular villagers nearby. If they got hunted down, so be it. If it wasn't him doing the hunting, then it was fair game for anybody else to take advantage of the situation. Sure, his time with Steve gave him some empathy for them, but there wasn't a whole lot of it, and he doubted that would change anytime soon.
The words "closer" and "nearby house" made him a bit more concerned, but he just assumed that they were talking about one of the village houses near the cliffside, nothing more than that.
The words "miner" and "nobody will suspect a thing if they're gone" sent him into a sort of frenzy, and now here he was, standing over the corpses of some unsuspecting cursed villagers previously out on a patrol, staring blankly at his own hands as he slowly realized what he had done.
His complexion had grayed ever-so-slightly, and he felt the effects of the last-resort attempt on his life wash over him in a chilling wave.
"…Bad Omen." He mumbled to himself, language still matching the one he had been deciphering just moments ago as it had been shouted to him in pure shock.
He glanced over to the distant location of Steve's house, though he didn't know if he'd be able to get any closer without causing the effect placed on him to trigger.
Did Steve even know about the cursed villagers?
If he did, he never implied that he was concerned about it, and if he didn't, Herobrine was rather surprised that a patrol hadn't gone out this far into the woods yet, considering their deep hatred of the villagers in general. Given where Steve's house is, he probably wouldn't even trigger the effect either if he ever had it, though if his village friends happened to approach him, that chance of peace might be thrown out the window immediately.
Whatever the case was, he didn't know if he'd be able to talk with Steve, especially since he didn't know where any wild cows were that he could steal milk from. In addition to that, it might take a while for the effect to wear off on its own. Unfortunately for the two of them, if Steve was even close to being related to any of the villagers by blood, then there would be an even bigger problem on their hands.
How was he supposed to tell him that without causing a scene? Without getting one of the other villagers to go past the village walls and investigate?
He sighed as he shook his hands to rid himself of the blood, staining his clothes slightly as he decided to just wipe them off on his shirt out of habit and frustration. Eyes catching a bag on one of the fallen villagers' belts, he didn't hesitate to rip it off of the body and search through its contents, finding nothing but a couple of loaves of bread and a few scraps of paper.
He smirked at the sight of the paper.
That would do.
A knock at the door brought Steve's mood up, but when he opened it, he was surprised to find nobody there.
Looking down, he found an abandoned scrap of paper, words bleeding through the back as he flipped it.
'Got cursed, can't come near you' Read the message in hastily-drawn letters made out in squid-ink, no doubt written with the tip of a finger rather than a quill.
It took a moment for him to realize that the person who sent this to him was Herobrine, due to the fact that nobody else even bothered to talk about things like curses and whatnot with him, but once he did, he frowned.
'What kind of curse keeps you from saying "Hi" to me?' He thought, looking out towards the forest in an effort to find his friend.
Of course, Herobrine didn't make any effort to conceal himself from him, but when he locked eyes with the other, he found himself a bit confused.
Did Herobrine seem a bit…duller in appearance? Or was that just the shadow of the tree?
Steve gestured to the paper, attempting to somehow force the other to explain himself despite their current distance away from each other.
Slowly backing away, the demigod gestured for him to come closer, right towards the forest that laid past the entrance to the mines. Though he felt a bit of instinctual protest within himself, Steve stepped forward, following the other in confusion. He didn't know where Herobrine intended to bring him, but once he heard the sounds of rushing water, he knew that they had gone quite the distance away from the village.
What was the point of bringing him out here?
When they stopped, Herobrine let out a sigh of frustration, though he still kept his distance away from the miner.
"I didn't want to risk anybody hearing me yell at you, nor somebody walking up to see us talking, so I'm afraid I have to further explain myself here, Steven."
Steve's interest remained piqued.
"…Go on."
Herobrine displayed his arm towards him, allowing it to be illuminated by the sun as Steve stared in confusion at the clearly grey complexion he now had filtered over his still-damaged skin.
"Short story short, some banished villagers, y'know, the cursed ones of course, were making their way to the village, they talked about hurting you, I got rid of them, and now I have their death-curse placed on me. If you're anything like your village friends, or if you even have an ounce of their blood within you, then I hope that those walls that they put up are sufficient enough."
Though Steve looked shocked momentarily, he kept his composure.
"For what?" He said, looking even more confused than he already was.
"…A raid." Herobrine paused, reading the other's expression as it slowly turned back to one of shock. "Usually I wouldn't be worried about something like this, but given your face, I'd like to guess that you've never experienced one before?"
"…I didn't even know that people like that existed until now, what's…huh?"
The miner attempted to take a step forward, only for the other to take a step back.
"Like I said. If there's any chance that you're related to the people in this village by blood, this entire area will be targeted, and we'll have a problem on our hands. More likely than not, you'll be put at the front of it all, and you'll have to suffer needlessly because of something avoidable."
"But Herobrine, I-"
"I urge you, Steven, to keep your distance. I don't want you getting hurt because of my lack of judgment and rash behavior."
Steve found himself hesitating, but nevertheless, he continued to edge closer to the other.
"How would that even happen?" He asked, voice calm.
"The cursed villagers hate your people. They've kidnapped and killed enough of them in the past to recognize their blood and curse it for generations to come. They're both drawn to each other, unfortunately."
"Again, how would I get hurt by that?"
"The second I get close enough, I become a beacon, of some sort. They'll think that some human killed one of their own, and all hell will break loose from there on out. If I stay away long enough, they'll realize on their own that one of their patrol groups disappeared, but won't have any way to find them. By then, their bodies will have been taken care of, and nobody will get hurt."
"Brine, how would I specifically get hurt?"
Avoiding Steve's gaze with anger in his expression, Herobrine sighed. Leaning back against a nearby tree, he slumped down to the ground, keeping his eyes fixated on his feet.
"You have more experience than anybody else in that village with fighting. I'd bet Almun has some knowledge himself given his profession, but since I don't know him, nor do I care to learn more about him at the moment, I can't be sure. You'll be sent to deal with the oncoming raid by yourself, maybe alongside the golems if you're truly lucky. The villagers will hide out in their comfy little homes while you get attacked, and if you die, they'll never give you a second thought beyond the funeral."
"…You don't know that." Steve immediately refuted.
"They've betrayed you before, correct? They used you for your talents, then left you in the dirt?"
"Not exactly-"
"-And you still think that they'd fight alongside you?"
"Would you?"
The question surprised Herobrine quite a bit. Did Steve not believe that he'd stick to his word?
"…Of course I would! Didn't I say that I'd help you out if I felt like it?" He asked in response, astonished.
"Even if you would risk letting the villagers know that we're friends?"
"Would they prefer to die, or take help from a demigod that's willing to fight for them? What do you think?"
Steve let out a small laugh in response.
"Brine. You're their boogeyman, they hate you. Some more than others, but everybody there would love to see you dead, even if you're preventing them from meeting death itself. You're like, the only 'taboo' thing that they'll talk openly about in public. "
Herobrine rolled his eyes.
"I'm aware of that, but you'd think that some of these fools would care to take any help they can get when their enemies are riding in on beasts that can destroy buildings while carrying long-range weapons. Not to mention, last time I checked, you humans weren't on good terms with the witches either, so you'll all have to worry about them as well. Granted, I'm not friendly with them either, but they at least have the respect not to approach me foolishly."
Though the last bit was an attempt at a verbal jab towards Steve, Herobrine continued to look around vigilantly, as if a villager would pop out at any moment and trigger the countdown to certain doom.
"…How long would it take for the raid to happen if I got closer to you?" Steve asked quietly.
Herobrine stared off into the distance, looking pensively at the possible target location in question.
"A day, at maximum. Depending on the location of the nearest outpost, we'd have a day to check for different defenses around the village, then plan accordingly. But that's only if you manage to catch me by surprise and-"
When he looked back towards the miner, he found the other right in front of him, hands held innocently behind his back.
"You said if I had their kind of blood in me, I'd set off the trigger, correct?"
The demigod gave no response as he stared at the miner with clear disbelief in his eyes.
"…Well, did it go off?"
Herobrine leaped up to his feet to lunge at the other, grabbing his shoulders forcefully and shaking him in anger, although he remained rather gentle.
"Steven, that was stupidly reckless of you to just… go ahead and do that!"
Steve simply smiled in response.
"What? You said if I had the blood, we'd have a problem. Well, I didn't know if I did, so I wanted to test it out! I don't know how it'd look like if I set off the beacon, but you do look the same, don't you?"
Letting the other go, Herobrine looked at his hands and found that indeed, he still had a bit of grayness to his skin.
"So Brine, what do we do now? I'm assuming that my plans for today are put on hold?"
Facing the other with a calmer expression, Herobrine crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Steven, you're a fool."
"Yes, and? My question is still out there."
Herobrine narrowed his eyes as he glared at the other.
"Either we wait this one out or let the raid happen and plan accordingly. I can have a couple of my dear friends scope out the area and search for the outpost that those fiends hail from so we can either take them out then and there or estimate how long it would take for them to come here. Does your village have an alarm system?"
Steve pondered the question for a moment.
"What do you mean by alarm?"
"A bell. A village bell. Do you have one?"
"Oh! Yeah, we have one near the meadery. Haven't heard it ring before, though."
"They…they've never set it off? Not even a test ring?"
Steve shook his head, slightly amused by the other's confusion.
"Uh, not while I've been here, I think. If they have, it might've been set off while I was mining in the cave and couldn't hear it, but as far as I know, we haven't had an opportunity to use it."
"Then you'll get the opportunity to if the raid comes. For now, we deal with preparations to prevent one."
Steve nodded in response.
"And how are we gonna do that?"
Herobrine smirked.
"Simple. Since you're not affected, if you go out and bring me some milk, it'll flush the affliction out of my system. Believe me, I know it sounds weird, but this curse affects the blood, not just the skin."
"So…if I bring you milk, this'll not be a problem?"
"Precisely."
Steve shrugged.
"Seems easy enough. I'll go and grab you that, I guess. The market doesn't open until a bit later, but it won't be long."
"Good. Until then, I'll keep my distance, and we'll both scout out the village for potential weak points, you inside the walls and I outside, as my servants go and search for that outpost. As long as we're careful, this will go smoothly."
Their plan had in fact, not gone smoothly.
In hindsight, they should've expected for everything to be thrown straight out the window once they put aside their concerns about the individual villagers that might've posed a threat.
In their defense, they had completely forgotten about Pickett in the first place.
It was a simple mistake, really. Though Steve had brought him what he asked for and he managed to drink it, he only remembered last-minute that it normally took a while for milk to nullify any and all afflictions. While waiting for the curse to be lifted, Herobrine was watching the village at a far enough distance away from anybody, and in his mind, nobody would've dared to disturb him, if they could even find him, that is.
Or, at the very least, that what was supposed to be the case.
Instead, he ended up being spotted, and without being given a chance to escape, the other miner got close enough to say hi, questioned him about being where he was, and then said goodbye as he headed back towards the unfortunate thing about Pickett's sudden appearance was that he was born and raised within the village, so there was no doubt about the blood that flowed through his veins.
The moment that Herobrine's skin turned flush once again, losing its grayness, he quickly found that he'd never had to hold back a scream of pure frustration before in his entire life.
When Herobrine approached Steve about the predicament, he found that the other was just as upset and annoyed as he was. Though the miner was already equipped with the tools that he'd need for a quick journey, he nevertheless sighed as he realized that he may need even supplies.
"Pickett?…Really?"
"I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings, but it also didn't occur to me that he still had a schedule. I guess we'll have to push forward and rush a better plan into existence before we have to make good use of that bell."
The two stood silently, allowing the forest ambiance to interrupt their conversation for a moment.
Steve kicked at the ground absent-mindedly, watching the earth beneath him make way for deeper layers of dirt.
"I'm guessing that since I used to be the village protector, you'll be taking up that chore today, correct?"
Though he didn't receive a verbal answer, Steve tried again to ask a pressing question.
"So…any luck on finding the outpost, at least?" He brought up, not expecting much in response.
Herobrine shook his head.
"I might have an idea of where it is, but I'm unsure if we can manage to find it in time to stop the raid from happening."
Steve looked at him with worried eyes.
"…Can we at least try to reach it? If we encounter them on the way, we can at least interrogate-"
"-Take out-" Herobrine interjected.
"-Wouldn't it be better to just-"
"I'll do it for you if you aren't comfortable with it. Honestly."
"…Are you sure?" Steve looked at him with what could be described as slight disgust.
Herobrine shrugged.
"Me getting rid of those first three guys is what led us to this whole situation in the first place, so…"
Steve sighed.
"And here I thought that you changed."
The other looked rather offended by the miner's remarks.
"I changed enough to want to protect you, Steven. Don't forget that without me, it might've been you being the one responsible for causing this raid in the first place."
"You actually wanted to protect me from them? Really now."
A smirk on Steve's face was all it took for the other to feel the most embarrassment that he'd felt in a while.
Why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut?
In a show of confidence, he gave the other an equally-as-teasing smile.
"It was three giant men armed with crossbows against one tiny, little bright-eyed boy that looks more like a child than a man. You would have gotten completely wiped out if it weren't for me, so count your blessings, Steven." He said in response.
"Hey! You do realize that we have the same face, right?! You just insulted yourself, how does that feel?"
"I actually manage to make do with my looks, Steven. Plus, I have the advantage of being able to call you a child because I'm older than you."
Steve gave him a skeptical look.
"And how do you know that?"
"Do I have to explain? With the whole being a demigod thing that I have going on?"
Finding the other's look of annoyance amusing, Herobrine started walking deeper towards the forest.
"C'mon, we're gonna get that head start and save your village before it gets a rude awakening and few dents in its wall."
Steve followed close behind, hands holding on tightly to the straps of the bag that hung from his shoulders.
His friend's intentions still didn't sit quite well with him.
"Promise me that you'll at least consider negotiating with them?" He asked softly.
He wasn't given anything but a shrug.
Steve knew that he would have to bring up an appealing offer in order to change the other's mind.
"…Then I'll negotiate with you."
Herobrine paused in his tracks, looking back towards him with a look of curiosity.
"What do you mean by that?"
Steve looked away from him towards the rest of the forest, attempting to avoid his gaze out of slight nervousness.
"…Could you maybe…I dunno, burn down their outpost or whatever? If they don't have a base, they'll either have to rebuild or leave, correct?"
Herobrine crossed his arms as he mulled over the other's request.
"…I assume so, yes. But what if they rebuild in the same spot?"
"Would they really rebuild in the same spot if the fire was large enough to draw that kind of attention? Smoke rises higher than trees and mountains, right?"
Herobrine thought to himself for a moment, looking Steve in the eyes as he came to a quick conclusion.
"…I'll consider your offer. However, if I accept and they move even closer to the village, that's on you, not me."
Steve shrugged.
"You'll still be here to watch my back from what you said earlier, so…I'm not particularly worried about that for now."
Steve gave Herobrine an innocent smile as he was met with a pair of rolling eyes.
"I said that I'm more inclined to protect you. Not that I one-hundred percent would." Herobrine corrected with a harsh tone as he turned to walk away.
The miner feigned hurt in his expression.
"What?! That's not very-"
Raising a hand to silence the other, Herobrine looked at him with a stern glare.
"I'm not falling for that again, Steven. You're on your own, here."
"But-"
"No."
"Brine, I-"
"No."
"Brine, I thought that-"
"You're not making any progress in changing my mind, Steven."
"Hero, please think about it?"
Hearing the first half of his name genuinely surprised the demigod, causing him to look back at Steve with a bit of confusion written on his face that was wiped off as quickly as it came and was replaced with indifference.
"…I…I'll think about it. But this is the last time you'll have any say in my actions."
Steve celebrated with a quiet "Yes!" as Herobrine attempted to hold in a sigh, but failed.
Letting the other relish in his ability to beg his way into ruining his fun may have been a bad idea, but Herobrine found himself completely fine with allowing Steve this small victory.
Besides, they had more pressing issues to handle at the moment.
Though the village that Steve lived in was placed within an oakwood forest, it was nothing more than a small patch of bright green that was completely surrounded by a taiga forest, which stretched out for miles. The skyline was filled with spruce wood trees, and the smell of pine and sweet berries came first to the senses in a somewhat overwhelming manner. The forest wasn't at a point that was high enough for snow instead of rain, but in the far distance, mountains extended across the horizon and brought promises of snowstorms regardless.
Steve had never gone that far out, but to his surprise and quiet enjoyment, that was exactly where they were heading. Herobrine had received a report that there was evidence of an outpost near those same mountains, so with no time to spare, they set out to make their way towards it.
He didn't know what to expect or even what they were looking for, but regardless, he remained ever-vigilant, searching for any abnormalities amongst the dark green forest trees. Though his attention was caught by fleeing foxes more than once, he attempted to provide at least some help to his companion.
"So…what are we looking for, Brine?"
Herobrine led him by a couple of feet ahead, searching somehow even harder than he was.
"A tall, singular building I believe. Made of dark oakwood and stone, surrounded by guards. The trees may block our view for now, but when we see it, we'll definitely see it. They usually clear out the area around their base in order to set up proper campsites."
"And they're not afraid of getting seen from far away?"
"They're armed with witches, crossbows, and horrific beasts, they're most likely surrounded by tall trees, and I've heard that they're rather good at hiding their own campfires. What do they have to be afraid of?" Herobrine asked in response with a bit of a scoff.
"You, I guess? I dunno, I can only imagine that somebody like you would ever pose some sort of threat to them…Maybe one of your servants, too?"
Herobrine slowed his pace, falling to the other's side.
"Listen, let me tell you something. Anybody with reflexes and a shield can take them head-on, Steven. Since I'm seeing that you only have one of those, I just hope that you're quick enough to dodge several arrows firing at you at once."
Steve shrugged.
"I've taken on a tunnel full of skeletons before, I hope it's not too different from that, at least."
"…They're actually slower than my archers, but they still know how to do some damage. Crossbows tend to load slower, but hit harder."
As Steve was about to ask the man another question, a figure teleported next to Herobrine without any warning, startling Steve badly and cutting the conversation short. As his friend noticed his reaction, he turned to his side and acknowledged the intruder.
"Oh, Andvari. Hello." Herobrine greeted, completely unfazed by the sudden entrance.
The sudden influx of bright purple particles in the air prevented Steve from acting in anything but fear. Though Steve instinctively kept his gaze away from the being's eyes, it didn't take much to realize that the creature that had just appeared beside them was the enderman servant that Herobrine had mentioned from time and time again. Though, rather disturbingly, there were certain features present on the tall being that didn't seem entirely…correct. The skin of the creature's hands flaked off to form dangerously sharp claws that curved at the tips, but from where they started at the wrist, it looked more smooth and soft like human skin rather than anything that resembled an enderman's. Despite the fact that this creature was clearly a monster, the enderman was well-kept and clean, with a clear absence of dirt or grime anywhere on its body, which was completely unusual. The claws themselves were as sharp as the blade of a sword, so it was rather confusing for Steve to think about how the creature even managed to look presentable without. Endermen always looked like they had some sort of human resemblance, but Steve could never fully be able to tell due to the features that locked them firmly within the "monster" category.
Leaning down towards the demigod, Andvari began to speak. His voice was distorted, yet it still sounded somewhat human.
"There are two separate patrol groups coming in this direction. They know that the group you disposed of is gone, but they don't know where the village is."
The language that the enderman spoke in was completely lost to Steve's ears, but Herobrine clearly seemed to understand Andvari without any problems.
"Mind taking care of them for me? I believe that our archers have been looking for some target practice, correct?" He spoke back.
As morbid as the suggestion was, Andvari smiled regardless.
"Of course. You and the human will be able to make your way closer without any obstructions. However, I do have to warn you, their Ravagers are ready for use, so it might not be long until they just set out to conduct a full raid."
"Any idea on how many waves they're capable of?"
"There might've been more individuals up in the tower, but so far, I can only confirm that at most, they're capable of at least five."
Herobrine thought to himself for a moment, before turning back to Steve.
"I doubt that you understood that, but Andvari said that there are enough cursed villagers up ahead to form at least two squads worth of enemies, so I hope that you have your sword ready."
"Two squads? How many people is that?"
"Enough to cause a problem. Come on, let's see if we can at least distract them enough to change their plans if you're not willing to fight."
As the two went forward, Herobrine walked confidently as Steve hesitantly followed. To Steve's surprise, however, he looked to his side and found that Andvari was walking alongside them.
As if the enderman could read minds, Andvari looked down towards him, and immediately, Steve averted his gaze to focus his attention firmly on the ground.
"…Do you not realize that I won't hurt you?"
Though he heard the other's voice, Steve didn't know how to respond, so he remained silent.
"…Andi, he doesn't speak Ender." Herobrine said quietly, pointing at the miner with his thumb as he gathered his servant's attention.
The enderman took Herobrine's words into consideration for a moment, before nodding and looking down at Steve once again.
"…Ah. My apologies."
Hearing his own language come out of the other's mouth shocked Steve enough to stop him in his tracks. Noticing that he had stopped walking, Andvari followed suit.
"As I was saying, I hope that you're aware of the fact that I won't bring you harm."
Steve simply nodded in response.
"You can look at me, I promise I won't bite."
Steve didn't budge, keeping his head down.
"Can you not give me conflicting information? I thought that I wasn't supposed to look into the eyes of endermen."
"You're correct, but let me just say, that rule only applies to 99.9% of all endermen."
"And that remaining .1%?"
"That's me. I'm the exception in this case. I'm aware of myself enough to not outright attack you for eye contact. Besides, if I did, I'd be dead within the next minute. You're fine."
Though Andvari's words did nothing to completely silence his deeply ingrained fears, with great hesitation Steve looked up towards the enderman, flinching when he saw the other's purple gaze connect with his.
"See? You're okay."
The eye contact made Steve rather uncomfortable, but nevertheless, he gave the enderman a nervous smile.
"I…this is weird. I mean, not as weird as everything else that's happening, but…still kinda weird."
"Well, you won't have to bear it for much longer. I'll be on my way soon enough, I just need to guide you both in the right direction and assure your safety."
Finding that the enderman hadn't lured him into a dangerous trap, Steve continued to walk as Andvari kept up with him, remaining rather close by his side. In an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart, Steve attempted to make conversation with the other.
"…Is the outpost that far from here?" He asked.
Andvari slowly shook his head.
"No, you'll be done with this soon enough. Then you can get back to putting Herobrine through whatever hell you've had planned for him." He responded with a smile.
Steve snorted at the remark.
"I haven't treated him that badly. I think the only hell I've put him through is human interaction, and the only thing that I've hurt personally is his pride."
Andvari looked at him with a sort of warmness that he'd never seen from a mob before.
"…I think he's perfectly fine with that, to be honest."
"I'm not." Herobrine butted in, almost hissing out his words.
"See? He agrees!"
Rolling his eyes, Herobrine stopped and leaned against one of the nearby spruce trees, staring at the two with annoyance.
"Can we talk less about me and Steven's agreement, and more about the dangers we're about to encounter?"
Andvari laughed.
"Of course, sir."
The enderman walked briskly in front of the two and moved to stand behind another tree, peeking around it as he stared at something that was out of both Steve and Herobrine's line of sight. Soon after he started, he raised a claw to point at his target.
"There. Do you see it? A Pillager flag as clear as day, standing out amongst these trees."
Steve followed his gaze, soon finding himself a bit confused.
"…Really? They plastered that thing onto a tree? Here?"
"It's a boundary mark. Their base is right up ahead, this flag just marks the border that they've set up for themselves." Herobrine explained, carefully walking up to the item in question. Grabbing one of its edges gently, he stared at the pattern that was painted on it with a quiet glare.
Andvari walked up to his side, looking curiously as he watched the other mess around with the fabric.
"…We'll leave this here for later, I'm assuming?" He spoke quietly, Ender falling from his lips.
"We need some proof that Steven had a good reason to be completely absent today, don't we?"
Though his question was aimed for only Andvari's ears, Steve perked up upon hearing his name.
"What's the plan?" The miner asked, maintaining his current distance as he waited for their responses.
Herobrine approached him, arms crossing over his chest.
"We'll go forward as planned, but carefully. They travel primarily in groups, so we'll do the same at first in order to avoid being overwhelmed, but the moment we reach the tower, we'll split up. You two lookout for any stray archers, and I'll take care of the tower, as we discussed earlier-"
"-Thank you for considering it, Brine-"
"-Don't push it, Steven. I still have enough time to change my mind, and I can't say that the villagers will be so lucky to get to avoid a conflict if I do. We're working off an assumption of yours, so if we're gonna try it, we're gonna have to try it fast. Got that?" Herobrine's tone was stern.
"…Yeah. Let's get this over with." As the words left his mouth, Steve grazed his hand over the hilt of the sword that laid against his hip, nodding his head in agreement.
Herobrine looked to Andvari.
"Are there any additional mobs around that we can utilize?"
Andvari nodded.
"Though it was rather difficult, I managed to get the spiders involved. A few creepers are standing by closer to the camp, and a few other endermen are waiting for further instruction."
"Good. Alert them if things go south, I don't particularly wish to have to walk back with several arrows sticking out of my body."
"Yes, sir. I'm sure that it won't come to that, though."
Walking forward, Herobrine made sure to keep himself hidden deep within the forest shadows, motioning the others to do the same as they went along.
The outpost itself managed to blend in well enough amongst the trees, but the space around the tower was flat and mostly empty, only holding a couple of scarecrows, a cage, and a small crafting area within it. The same banners that they had seen plastered onto the forest trees were hanging from the top of the tower proudly, almost as if the Illagers were boasting about their exposed base.
As they drew nearer, they began to split up amongst themselves in different directions, with Herobrine going straight for the tower, Andvari heading towards his right, and Steve heading towards his left.
The run to the tower wasn't met with any resistance from the cursed villagers, mainly because there appeared to be no one there. Not even when Herobrine reached the top of the building was he met with flying arrows and yells of surprise and anger. Though he found a chest at the top, once he walked over to it and looked inside, he was rather disappointed to find nothing but extra wood, arrows, and bread within. The whole building had been emptied of both people and valuable supplies.
Without hesitation, he summoned a ball of fire within his hands and flung it to the ground beneath him, watching as it exploded in a blast of heat and flame and began to eat away at the wooden flooring. To make sure that the destruction of the outpost was inevitable, he repeated the action, only to throw the fire at the supporting pillars that held up the roof of the building.
Satisfied with his work, Herobrine hastily made his descent down the stairs of the building, cutting through any stray flames with ease.
Meanwhile, Steve was dealing with a whole different mission entirely.
The miner had originally intended to stay amongst the trees to avoid being seen, but his attention had been caught by the sight of the wooden cage that stood out in the open. Upon approaching it, he found what appeared to be a slightly-damaged iron golem, who stared at him with blank, red eyes.
"...Who put you in here?..." Steve asked quietly, drawing closer to the small structure.
As he approached, the iron golem put itself into an attack stance, refusing to back down.
"I'm not here to hurt you! I wanna help." Steve insisted, putting his hands up as he backed away slowly in order to not intimidate the confused golem.
With careful hands and a watchful gaze, Steve moved around to the side of the cage, beginning to pull at the wooden bars that held the golem. Finding that they were slightly loosened, most likely by the golem itself, Steve pulled harder, soon enough managing to break down the side of the cage enough to provide the golem a means of escape.
"There! Now you can get out."
The golem never kept its eyes off of him, but as he stepped away in order to allow the creature to leave, he found that it refused to move, staying within the cage even as he moved into the trees.
"You can leave!" He tried to encourage the golem, but found that his words did nothing to change the direction of its gaze.
He had an idea of what he could do in order to make the golem move, but a little voice in the back of his head nagged him to consider another way. Finding that none were arising, he went with it.
"...I suck at this, but you're leaving me with no other options here…"
Steve walked back up to the golem slowly, keeping his hands up and visible in order to show the creature that he wasn't a threat to its wellbeing. After getting close enough without any signs of a strike or lunge, he carefully reached for the golem's arm, tugging it gently in his direction before backing out of the cage a bit.
"Come with me, you don't have to stay here any longer."
Finally, after a few gentle tugs, Steve managed to lead the golem out of the cage, letting go once the creature was fully out.
"There. Isn't that better, now?"
The golem stared at him with unblinking, red eyes.
Steve stared back.
"...Well, I'm gonna walk away and see how my friend is doing, alright?"
As he backed away once again, he waved the golem goodbye.
"I'll be back to check on you, okay?"
Receiving no response, Steve turned around, only to find that the outpost had already been set on fire and that Herobrine was making his way back to him.
"They'll have to turn back soon enough, the smoke is getting higher, and the smell is getting worse. Are you satisfied?" Herobrine asked, dusting his hands free of remaining sparks of fire as he approached the miner.
Though the question was asked in a slightly joking manner, Steve nodded enthusiastically.
"Better than having to fight, at least. But what else can we do to make sure they'll turn around and come back?"
Herobrine smirked as Andvari teleported back next to them, carrying what appeared to be a rolled-up banner within his hands.
"My acquaintances will take care of that soon enough. Right now, we have to make sure that we aren't around when they discover what happened."
Looking past Steven, Herobrine raised a brow as he finally noticed that they had a guest present.
"...Did...did you make a friend?"
Steve turned around, only to find that the golem was now closer to him than before.
"Oh, hello!" Steve turned back towards Herobrine. "Yeah, this golem was all locked up in a cage, so I freed it! I guess I kinda did make a friend here."
Shaking his head, Herobrine began to tease the other.
"Steven, you're gonna have to be less friendly if you want any chance of survival outside of the village…"
"Hey! At least I made friends with a golem! They're relatively nice, I think?"
"Depends. Considering that it hasn't launched you into orbit yet, I'd say that it at least tolerates you, but that could change depending on how long it's been with the pillagers, here."
Herobrine walked past the two, Andvari swiftly following.
"Let's go. If your golem friend can keep up, then you can keep it. Otherwise, it may be a liability as long as we keep it with us."
"I think golems can run, can't they?" Andvari questioned, moving closer in order to tap the golem's shoulder, only to be immediately met with an attack stance.
"Well, we only have so much time to check, so let's get moving." Herobrine said in response.
The golem surprisingly did manage to keep up with them, though it lagged behind a bit out of what could only be described as caution. Though it only amused Herobrine, and by extension Andvari, to see that the golem was more or less watching Steve more than anybody else, almost following his movements and his pace to a T.
The actions and presence of the golem slowly made the demigod realize something.
How was Steve going to show that the village had been saved by a legitimate threat?
Sure, battle scars and a few arrow wounds would've been a good indicator, but they were lucky enough to have avoided those entirely in favor of having only tired legs to worry about. Would anyone believe Steve's story? How were they to confirm that Steve did something heroic? Would they believe him if he showed the golem of all things?
Herobrine decided to bring up the question quietly.
"So, back when you did your whole 'mob slayer' thing, what did you do in order to prove that you actually protected the village?"
Steve thought to himself for a moment before answering.
"...It's been a while, but I remember that I brought in things like broken bows, spider string, and zombie clothes, y'know, stuff that can be repurposed, and just gave it to the Elder of the village. I don't remember him asking for any of that stuff, but I brought it anyway just to help out."
"And should we still do the same now?"
Steve shrugged.
"He'll probably ask what the heck a 'cursed villager' is, but other than that, if we bring in something as proof, I think he'll take it seriously enough to do something about it."
"...Then I'll go and talk to him. You know too little about the situation and the true danger that the pillagers are capable of, so I'll explain what he'll be up against, personally."
Steve raised a brow at the other's suggestion.
"Are you sure? I thought you were done with the village?"
Herobrine glared at him.
"Their carelessness can lead to their downfall, for all I care. It's you that I'm worried about, since I'm pretty sure that those patrolmen tend to prefer not leaving any witnesses present. I don't want you getting involved in their battles, alright?"
His words were said in a harsh tone, but for Steve, he was able to hear the sincerity and care behind them.
He nodded in response.
"I understand, Brine. Still, they're just as important to me as you are, so please don't just throw them to the side like that."
The demigod appeared to be a bit offended by the idea of being compared to another set of humans, but nevertheless, he rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. Let's go."
The three (technically four) left the area swiftly, taking an alternative route away from the camp in order to keep out of sight. Once they had gotten within range of the village, they slowed down their pace, looking behind them to see if any cursed villagers had found their path.
Slightly out of breath, Steve looked to Andvari with appreciation.
"Hey, thank you for helping, Andvari!"
The enderman looked down at him with a smile.
"You're truly welcome. It was nice meeting you...Steven, was it?"
"Yeah, or just Steve. Nice meeting you too!"
"I hope that you both take good care, and have a nice evening."
With a slight bow, Andvari teleported away, starling Steve once again with his sudden departure.
"Do you guys just not know how to walk away?"
"Andi has things to do, and teleporting isn't really a big deal for endermen, so it's the best way to travel for him. Gets him from point A to point B, so I don't really see the issue here."
"It's just... nevermind. Anyways, what're we gonna do about talking to the El-"
Steve was interrupted by Herobrine unfurling the banner that they had stopped at before, now having been ripped away from the tree it had been previously attached to.
"I'll just show him this, and maybe he'll understand. If he asks any questions, I'll explain that it's a war banner, and hopefully, we can move on from there."
"...Alright, then. I guess that I can leave you to it, Brine. The Elder lives within the town hall, you won't miss it. It's the tallest building that we have. "
"I'm guessing that it's the one in the middle of all the shops and stuff?"
"Yup!"
Rolling up the banner once again, Herobrine gave the miner a little salute as he started to walk away.
"Wish me luck."
Though the fabric was surprisingly heavy, Herobrine carried it with one arm rather easily as he made his way to the village, eyes warily looking around so that he'd be able to avoid any potential interactions. Steve's directions to head to the "tallest building" were easy enough to follow, but once he got there, he was unsure of whether or not to just leave the "parting gift" of the pillagers at the door, or within the building itself.
When he was met by the presence of a cat, however, his question was quickly answered. A young, siamese cat came out of the entrance of what he assumed was the town hall, gave him a judgemental glare, then circled around his feet and guided him back towards the building.
Shrugging to himself, he followed.
The interior was nice enough, with wooden seats placed in a relatively small waiting area, a front desk, and a jukebox, but what caught his attention was the equally-as-judgemental pair of eyes that met his own from behind the desk.
"And what are you here for this late in the afternoon?" Came the low, almost raspy voice from the visibly-exhausted man behind the counter.
Herobrine walked over to him, and in one swift motion, he unfurled the banner and held it up for the other to see.
"Found a pillager base, wanted to talk to the Elder about it."
The other's face momentarily held traces of shock, but it was quickly replaced with indifference.
"Go up, then." He said, pointing towards the hallway next to them.
Wanting to avoid staying any longer with the disgruntled secretary, Herobrine nodded and made his way around the corner, only to find a couple of ladders placed where a good flight of stairs should've been.
"…I guess the Elder has to keep in top shape to even be the Elder, huh?" He mumbled to himself, rolling up the banner once again to climb the ladder as best he could with one arm.
Once he poked his head through the wooden trapdoor, he was greeted by a warm "Hellooo there!" that was given by an older man, whose features were heavily dusted with grey and white. His kind, green eyes stared down at him, and as he met his gaze, Herobrine could very much tell that while the man's physical form had aged, his soul had certainly not.
"What brings you here today, Steve?"
Presenting the banner the same way he had to the secretary, Herobrine waited for the other's reaction.
He didn't have to wait long.
"…They're getting closer and closer, huh?" The older man's tone became somber as he closed his eyes in contemplation, walking away from his desk to stare out of a nearby window.
Somewhat surprised that the Elder did in fact know what he was talking about, Herobrine followed his gaze as it rested on the sight of the village streets outside.
"Actually, their base wasn't too close to here, but a patrol group did get within range of the village."
Suddenly, the Elder flipped around to look at him with wide, worried eyes.
"…Did you get cursed?"
With a bit of actual sheepishness, Herobrine looked off to the side.
"…Yeah, but I got rid of it."
"Did you come within the village walls?!"
"No! No, I...I didn't even get the chance to, I was so busy worrying about mining that I kept away long enough to let the curse wear off, but I got curious and went out to find where they came from."
"Good...at least you came back…"
The elder looked back towards him, taking the banner from his hands and placing it on his desk.
"Don't ever speak of this to the others. I'm sure that it was stressful, and you may have gotten out of it without any injuries, but please, keep it to yourself. We have too many worries as it is, and I'll work on it eventually, but now's not the time to throw everyone into a panic. Since you didn't set off the curse, everything should be fine."
The man's words slightly shocked Herobrine, but as quickly as the shock came on, it was replaced with slight anger.
"What if they come closer before you're ready to deal with them, huh? What then?" The words left his mouth before he could stop them, but he refused to keep silent.
"Well, we have a bell, don't we? It'll be alright for now, Steven. I thank you for your concern, but for now, I'll appreciate it if you left me to my duties."
Finding the other's lack of care infuriating, Herobrine nevertheless sighed and decided to keep in character.
"Alright. Thank you for your time, elder."
Without much protest, he turned away to go and climb back down the ladder.
"Oh, and Steven?"
Stopping in his tracks, he looked back.
"Yes?"
The Elder glanced around before lowering his head towards him as he began to speak in a whisper.
"Do take good care of yourself. There have been a couple of reports stating that Herobrine is lurking around here somewhere. I know you don't particularly care about focusing on legends and whatnot, but this is a serious matter, here. Please, be watchful and mindful of your actions, and whatever you do, don't stay out mining for too long at night."
The statement caught him off-guard and almost got him to laugh, but instead, he simply nodded and kept a straight face.
"Thank you for your concern, Elder."
With that, Herobrine descended down the ladder, hopping off halfway as he made his way back out onto the streets of the village, which were slowly beginning to be illuminated by the orange light of the sunset.
He had gained some interesting information, but he wasn't sure if Steve was ready to hear it.
For a person who didn't really care to let the outdoor air into his house all of the time, Steve's house was rather dusty, and overall a bit dirty. There was evidence of mud that had been tracked into the house, the dust of coal was evident on the ground in front of his furnaces, and his bags and tools were covered in various mixtures of ore residue, dirt, and grass. The miner would absolutely insist that he was doing something about it, but apparently, he could never keep his word on that front.
So here Herobrine was, cleaning around a bit with a wet rag and a slightly eager attitude, though his mind was as busy and clouded as always.
The Elder knew. The Elder knows.
That man knew that his village was in potential danger with its location, but was not willing to set up more defenses beyond the golems, who could only handle so much. He knew his only saving grace was Steven, but he was entirely willing to forget that fact and take a chance on losing him to the hands of ruthless individuals, all because the matter wasn't as important to him as it should've been.
The villagers themselves aren't any the wiser. They know nothing about the danger that lurks around them. They only expect that the iron golems will do their work and that Steve will back them up if necessary.
Why did they insist on treating Steve as if he was entirely disposable?
Why does he just take the treatment and move along, instead of confronting them about it?
Herobrine was seriously beginning to regret simply burning down the outpost and directing the pillagers back to it, instead of letting them come as they please, but as he considered what could've happened, he began to realize the extent of his own selfishness.
'...For reasons I don't think that I'll ever understand, Steve believes that those people are more of a family to him than anything or anybody else.'
Rinsing out the filth that has been trapped within the rag, Herobrine mentally sighed.
'I guess I can understand that.'
He didn't know whether or not he should've relayed all the information to Steve. He only told him about the Elder's message of thanks and the warning of his presence, which of course, led to laughter between the two.
How much information had been hidden from Steve over the course of his stay within the village?
How much information had been hidden from the villagers in general?
He assumed that the regular censoring of topics such as the Nether was just to prevent the villagers from coming into contact with things that they had no hope of surviving and to prevent them from turning out like their cursed bretheren, but why actively hide them from something that they could fight against? Was he the only thing that they'd ever raise an alarm for?
He didn't know whether or not Steve could take that bombshell straight to the heart, so he decided to keep it to himself.
Steve doesn't deserve to know that type of pain.
The pain of betrayal.
Y'all, I swear I'm not doing these hiatuses on purpose :(
Sorry for the long wait AGAIN!
Thank you to Ranger Wheatley for the suggestion on chapter ideas! My brain has been occupied entirely by school, and I was having genuine trouble with what direction I wanted to take this fic in as it closes off, so I appreciate it! I was also dealing with writer's block, which didn't exactly make things better either, lol
I have two classes that are focused heavily on writing, so most of my time was focused on them. I barely had time to work on this fanfic mainly bc there was more work to take care of thanks to Midterms, unfortunately. We'll have finals in a bit, so there may be a delay there too-
I'll still be working on this fic, though! I don't plan on stopping until it's finished, so count on that!
Welp, anyway, if you have any thoughts or criticisms, leave a comment!