Chapter 26: Not Sure


How far away is the kingdom from where they currently were? Was it even worth it to go at this point? How many days would it take to get there?

These questions, along with multiple others, flooded the miner's brain as he walked along with the others on their journey to Lunarus, his feet suddenly beginning to feel the true effects of his prior lack of exercise. Growing even more thankful for Squash, Steve let out a mental sigh as his legs went on, feeling more and more tired by the minute. He was used to plenty of legwork, but the recent lack of proper use for his legs finally came back to bite him in the ass. He considered that maybe, just maybe, that this was simply how things should be from now on. When it was necessary, he'd ride on Squash, but on all other occasions, he should just take the opportunity to walk.

If he walked more on this journey, would it make his legs more used to things? Would having stronger legs help with things? With training? He'd only barely noticed it before, but as he watched Herobrine fight, both in terms of practice and actual application of abilities, he noticed that when the other wasn't moving constantly, his feet were grounded, and his legs were firmly planted, making him almost unmovable. Would having stronger legs benefit him in terms of defense? On the other hand, when Herobrine was moving during battle, he was quick and nimble. It was almost as if he was walking on air as he maneuvered his way around his opponent, whether that be the miner himself or otherwise. Did stronger legs allow him that grace? That careful, yet deadly posture and approach? Would it benefit him in his attack methods?

Why was he concerned about leg strength? Was he that desperate to take his mind out of their current situation?

Steve let out a sigh as his gaze came back into focus and switched around from snow-covered tree to snow-covered tree as he went forward. He hadn't mentioned anything to the others, but as of right now, his concerns were full with the possibility of them being attacked. If they were attacked by another champion, he could care less, but if they were attacked by another person with a blessed weapon? He was silently panicking, less so for his own safety, and more so for Herobrine's. He wasn't sure what they would do in that situation. Plus, who knew if there was already somebody on their way to finish the job? When could they expect another attack?

The forest was beginning to thin out once again, signaling another change in scenery that would happen soon enough. Would it snow where they were going? Or would the weather be clear? Everything was wrapped in uncertainty, and Steve didn't exactly know how to handle it. He knew that he wasn't exactly in a leadership position at the moment, nor did he even want to be, but he still felt responsible in a way, regardless. If he'd known how badly he'd be affected by the situation at hand, he would've done everything he could've to fight back against Julian. He'd gotten overwhelmed by the fact that a divine being was attacking him, making him lose his center of peace. If he'd ignored that fact entirely, Herobrine wouldn't have gotten injured, and they wouldn't be in this haze of uncertainty and nervousness that they were in now.

Looking back toward the injured demigod in question, Steve nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized that the other was awake, staring directly at him with fully glowing, white eyes. His gaze was somewhat less pained, as implied by his somewhat more relaxed eyelids, but it was still obvious that he was struggling.

With a nervous chuckle, Steve attempted to change the mood a bit, if only to distract himself from his overwhelming thoughts.

"Were you staring at me for a while, or did you just wake up?" He said in a joking manner, though the question was sincere.

Herobrine blinked slowly.

"...What would make you more comfortable to hear?"

Steve looked at the other with surprise on his face. Herobrine's voice was still weak, but it was steady, unbroken. Even more mind-boggling though, it seemed like the other was...trying to joke around with him? In their current situation? Was that a joke?

"Uh...I dunno. Considering that my legs are finally getting a chance to drag the rest of me on our journey here, I'd say that I'm pretty uncomfortable already. Can't change much about that."

With a small nod, Herobrine took in his words.

"...I see…"

Feeling as if the answer to his previous question was the former option, Steve let out another quiet laugh as he turned away from the other.

"...I'm guessing that you already have an idea about what I'm thinking, yeah? Can you read it on my face?"

He heard a small hum escape the demigod's lips.

"...You're...you have fears. A-about me."

Steve shrugged.

"Concerning you, yeah. I...I just don't want anything to happen while you're still pretty much down for the count. Don't worry about it, though. I-I just need a moment to myself, and once I get over this, I won't bug you about it again! Simple enough, really."

Hearing nothing but silence in response, Steve let out a mental sigh.

He didn't exactly know why he was worried about the other seeing him in such a state. Maybe it was because he was still somewhat nervous about possibly being ridiculed for his concern. Maybe it was because he was finally learning how to adapt himself to the others' personalities, and so keeping to himself was a greater part of that. Regardless, he focused his attention toward the pathway in front of him, hoping that his face wasn't betraying him in displaying his true emotions.

"...Talk to me."

It took everything in his power to not stop in his tracks at the abrupt request.

"...Again? Don't you get tired of me?" The miner turned back toward the demigod with a raised brow, curious about why now of all times the other was being direct.

He was used to Herobrine's method of starting conversations. By that, he meant that he was more used to suddenly finding himself being interrogated as the other wished to hide his intentions for learning more about him. Now he was being direct about it, Steve didn't know exactly how to approach the situation.

The more he stared at Herobrine, the more confused he became, mostly because it was slowly starting to become apparent that the other had struggled in even trying to kill his pride enough to decide to speak up.

"...About what, then?" Steve quietly asked, correcting his previous attitude as he attempted to read the other's expression.

Shifting his gaze elsewhere, Herobrine let out a small hum.

"...Anything. The more...well, the more you sit in silence...the worse your thoughts become. T-theoretically."

Herobrine wasn't even trying to hide it. Well, if he was, he was doing a crappy job at it. He wanted to ease Steve's worries and distract him from his troubles.

With a soft smile appearing on his face that he couldn't hold back, Steve gave a small nod of understanding as he returned his gaze forward.

"I get it. So, uh…"

Steve trailed off, suddenly remembering the fact that he was, in fact, terrible at improv once again.

Hearing a sigh coming off from the side, he glanced over at Herobrine again, finding a look of slight annoyance appearing on his face.

"...Steven. Do...do you know what time of year is the best for local flora?..."

Confused, Steve shook his head at the strange question.

"N-no. Why?"

Herobrine glanced over to Steve, expression uncharacteristically soft.

"...June. People say otherwise, but I-I think it's June."

With a hesitant nod, Steve found that the other's answer still hadn't affected his current confusion whatsoever.

Was the other still suffering from blood loss? Was he confused about who he was speaking to? What was with the sudden interest in random topics?

Looking around at their surroundings, Steve found his gaze captured by the appearance of several flowers around them, primarily poppies, leading to him being momentarily taken away from the conversation. Maybe those were the reason why Herobrine had taken their discussion in such a direction.

"...I'd pick a month in spring rather than summer for flowers, personally. Though, I guess that's the standard, huh?" Steve responded with a chuckle as he returned his attention back to the other, trying his best to hide his true emotions.

"What...what season do you prefer?" Herobrine asked, voice somewhat a bit shakier than before, though, not enough to cause too much concern.

"...For flowers, or in general?"

"...G-general."

Thinking to himself for a moment, Steve found himself rather interested in the question.

The seasons all brought their individual highs and lows, with the weather shifting somewhat subtly for all four back in his village. Though winter and summer were rather certain in what they brought to the table in terms of chilled winds and blazing heat, his preference shifted more toward the other two seasons, spring and autumn, mainly for their more in-between weather. Neither of the latter options overwhelmed him with strong heat or frost, so he was more appreciative of them. Out of the two, however, he found himself more appreciative of spring.

"...I mean...spring, I guess?"

"...Why?"

Herobrine's genuine interest in his answer made him more confident about his theory of the other suffering from blood loss.

"...In my village, when winter dies off and whatever, the flowers there bloom beautifully on the hillsides and in the forest. You can smell them from practically miles away, and the scent gets into the mines I work in all the time. It's pretty comforting, and not to mention visually stunning, I have to add. Definitely prettier than any ore I pull up, anyways."

Watching the other nod in response, Steve felt himself strangely growing suspicious of his intentions.

What did Herobrine really want to talk about? There was zero chance that he'd started a conversation just to speak to him about nonsense alone. When would he confess to wanting to speak about something else?

"...Mines...Mines summer. The heat c-comforts me." Herobrine answered in a more quiet voice.

"You can handle that kind of heat? I'm lucky enough that the mines don't turn into a sauna when summer comes around!" Steve said with a laugh.

"I...It's nothing. Nothing compared to...to the Nether."

Despite finding interest growing for the location mentioned, Steve found his focus remaining mostly on Herobrine himself. It was becoming rather apparent that speaking, on its own, was beginning to tire the demigod out, but why he didn't simply shut down the conversation intrigued the miner.

"...Brine, you oka-"

"-J-just...keep talking. I-I can't see you."

See?

'Yup. He's delusional. Got it.' Though he felt bad thinking about it, Steve felt somewhat vindicated that his silent, unintentional insult was warranted as he finally got the confirmation that, yes, Herobrine was still rather loopy from the recovery process and loss of blood.

What did he even mean by see? He'd been looking at him the entire time, was it a slip of the tongue, or genuine confusion?

"You mean hear, right?"

As the other processed his words slowly, a light shade of red began to dust Herobrine's features as he realized what he had said.

With a bit of an understanding smile, Steve looked at the other.

"You totally meant hear. Sometimes when my head isn't in it either, I mess up too, and-"

"-I meant see."

The demigod spoke in a firm tone of voice, his gaze somewhat wavering in growing embarrassment as he looked back at the miner.

Steve slowly raised a brow.

"...Are...a-are you sure?"

Herobrine firmly locked gazes.

"...H-having bright, glowing eyes...t-there are disadvantages."

"...Like what?..."

"...D-do you want the truth?"

With a hesitant nod, Steve waited for the other to answer him.

He didn't.

The other's words brought him confusion at first, but as it became more apparent that the demigod was waiting for him to verbally answer, genuine fear began to creep through the miner's body as he realized what Herobrine was implying.

"...Y-yes. Tell me."

If the other answered, he'd get all the confirmation that he needed for his hypothesis.

He didn't want that confirmation.

Herobrine looked down at the ravager below him in shame.

"I...I-I can't see. I-I can't see you. Not clearly. N-not clearly at all."

Like he said, he didn't want the confirmation.

Drawing closer to the other in worry, Steve tried to hide all traces of it from his face, even though Herobrine wouldn't be able to tell.

"W-what do you mean? Is this a side-effect of something? The attack? The potions? What?" He asked in a somewhat frantic manner.

Herobrine shook his head.

"...I'm driving...a-all conscious effort toward healing. So I can be better, sooner. I...I can't...I didn't realize how much...how much I relied on sight alone…"

Trying to make sense of the other's words, Steve raised a brow.

"...Are you trying to say that...you control how bright your eyes are? Them glowing actually impairs your sight?"

"N-no! I haven't been controlling them...for the past month, I-I...I haven't had the ability to, for a while...That's what I believed, a-at least. It...I thought it was dark enough to see…when I could..." Herobrine answered, struggling to push out his words.

Steve shrugged as he tried to push off his growing sense of panic, noticing how the other was currently more distressed than he was.

"...Maybe you were doing it subconsciously? I mean, you did say your powers were coming back and...well...maybe they came back sooner than when you were expecting them to."

Herobrine thought to himself momentarily, slightly rolling around his wrist in his hand. Steve watched him as he did so, noting the action with intrigue.

'...Nervous habit.'

"I...my body works on...o-on its own quite frequently. I-I don't worry about it too often. You...you may be right." He said in an almost dazed manner.

Steve nodded in response.

"When you get better, I guess you won't have to worry about it then. I'll keep talking to you though, so you at least don't freak out about where I am, okay?"

Herobrine abruptly turned toward him in order to scowl, causing him to flinch.

"I was not freaking out about where you were."

The firm tone of voice startled the miner as well.

"I thought you couldn't see me!" Steve exclaimed in surprise and slight confusion.

Herobrine lowered his head as he "looked" back down at his hands.

"I-I can't. I can, however, hear you. That's...that's why I-I at least know where you are.

Somewhat amazed, Steve relaxed as he continued looking at the other with intrigue.

"...Your other senses are that good?"

"My...my eyesight varies greatly a-at points. I need a backup option, of course."

Steve nodded in understanding.

"I...yeah."

Learning that their strongest line of defense couldn't even see properly was a bit disheartening, but considering how he'd been managing things at this point, Steve didn't feel that much different after hearing the information.

"...And here I thought that the sword or whatever caused it." Steve let out a small laugh, though he felt his stomach drop a bit at the idea.

"...I-If it didn't...hit me...I'd be fine. You...y-you were right."

Steve nodded slowly, allowing the silence to momentarily fill the space between them.

"...I'm glad you told me that, at least. About your eyes, I mean." He admitted quietly.

Herobrine looked toward him with confusion on his face.

"...You are?"

Steve nodded.

"It took you a lot to even mention it, right? Something like that."

Silence filled the space between them for a moment before Herobrine, to Steve's general surprise, hesitantly nodded.

"I didn't wish for...well, y-you to know."

"But now I do. Now I know. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me, Brine."

The silence returned for a few more seconds. Herobrine let out a quiet scoff, his usual behavior already beginning to make an unwanted return.

"...Of course."

With a small nod, Steve put more distance between himself and the other two, moving more in a position to lead as he wanted to make sure that any excited noises he may absentmindedly release wouldn't be properly heard by the demigod specifically.

Herobrine had opened up even more to him. He had more of the other's trust. Despite the situation at hand, he was celebrating, feeling a great amount of joy at his accomplishment.

"I can tell that you're enjoying yourself, Steven. Don't think too highly of yourself."

Freezing, Steve looked back toward the other, finding his gaze being focused more toward the distant forest trees, arms crossed lightly over his chest. Herobrine's voice was firmer. More commanding.

After a moment, however, that commanding presence faded away suddenly as the demigod let out a shaky sigh.

"...I-I can hear your heartbeat. You got...excited." The other's voice returned to its previous weakened state.

How good was the demigod's hearing? How good were his other senses in comparison to his sight?

With a sigh, Steve turned his attention forward, finding his gaze focused on the forest up ahead.

"...I wasn't excited."

"You...you were."

"Okay sure. But you don't know the reason for that."

"I-I can take...s-somewhat of a guess."

With a scoff himself, Steve turned away from the other, mock annoyance on his face.

"Then guess."

Herobrine shook his head slowly, moving to bury his face in his arm once again as he leaned against the ravager's head in front of him.

"I-I'd rather...save my breath. I'll rest, instead."

Letting out a small laugh, Steve shrugged in return.

"Whatever you say. Goodnight, sweet prince."

The words had carelessly left his mouth in a joking manner, but once they had, he felt his heart drop straight into his stomach. He wondered if the other heard his heart freeze and collapse for a brief second.

Did he just let slip that he knew about the other's true status? Where'd that come from? What part of him decided to bring up those words in particular?

Before he could even say anything in his own hasty defense, a small chuckle, followed closely by a small hiss of pain, escaped the demigod's lips.

"I-I...I can't believe you remembered that. Must've...must've been quite a g-grudge."

Briefly confused about what the other meant, Steve's eyes flashed in realization once he processed Herobrine's words further.

Thoughts about their first series of meetings came back into memory. Their first and second encounters came to mind, to which Steve nearly winced at the memories associated with them. Granted, the injuries he had sustained then were long since forgotten despite their severity, but the other's last words to him before his life had changed significantly came to the forefront of his mind.

Herobrine had called him sweet prince in a mocking manner as well. Maybe that's where he got the phrase from.

With a sigh of relief, Steve let out a responding hum.

"Yeah. I guess we're like...kinda even? Well, not actually. I mean, you blew me up, and I did nothing with my own two hands to cause this. Well, technically it was Constiere who blew me up, so...maybe it's even, I guess?"

"...W-who knows?" Herobrine weakly shrugged at the other's remark.

"I'll get you back for that, eventually. I don't think I've completely recovered from it, though."

"...G-good luck."

"...Thanks?" Steve said with a laugh, somewhat amused by the fact that the other hadn't teased him further about the idea.

Watching as the demigod slowly became somewhat limp as he fell asleep once again, Steve looked forward, gaze returning to the path ahead.

He had to watch himself more closely. Now he had a better idea of why the others had originally hesitated in giving him important information; he had an unfortunate tendency of letting things slip in the heat of the moment. It wasn't a conscious effort, but it was an unfortunate habit, nonetheless.

Silently promising to work on himself in the future, Steve allowed himself to become distracted by his surroundings once again.


Grassy plains met their feet, somewhat covered by snow as they left the sprucewood forest with clear relief on their features. Plenty of mobs were flooding the surrounding area, but none dared to come close to them, instead giving them intrigued, yet saddened looks as they soon realized why they felt the need to offer them space once the demigod came into view.

The amount of pure respect that the mobs had for their king was a true sight to behold. Steve was amazed by it.

As he looked up toward their second-in-command, he watched silently as Andvari cast his gaze upward, staring at the slowly setting moon as a small "tch" left his mouth.

"...I would like us to press forward, but…" The enderman cast a saddened glance back toward the injured demigod. "...It'd be better to rest again, yes?"

A groan escaped Constiere's lips.

"We haven't even gotten that far away from that other cave! How many times are we gonna stop now?!"

"As many times as we need until Lord Herobrine is fully healed enough to act, that's how many." Andvari answered, glaring at the boy.

"He's up and can speak now, actually. I dunno if you heard us, but-" Steve explained, stepping a bit closer to the others in order to do so.

"-Really?!"
"-Master?!"

"-For real?!"

All three of the mob generals rushed to the side of the ravager in order to meet their leader, leaving Steve standing a bit awkwardly as a sigh left his lips.

"He's not doing too hot, but...he's getting a lot better, at least." The miner further explained, moving to join them as Herobrine looked at them with a somewhat blank expression.

The glow of his eyes was only dimmed somewhat, allowing the outline of his true gaze to be seen. Whether this meant that the other was healing or not, Steve wasn't sure, but nevertheless, he was glad that the demigod was still conscious.

"Herobrine, how are you feeling?" Andvari asked softly, looking at the other with a worried, yet somewhat relieved look in his eyes.

"...C-could be better."

As the enderman nodded in acknowledgment, Constiere pushed by him a bit in order to get closer to the demigod.

"Do you think you're actually healing better? How's the wound? Are the effects spreading? Are they-"

A quick "Hey!" left the boy's mouth as he was picked up by Andvari and moved off toward the side, interrupted completely.

"Of course he's still healing! That sword was blessed, he's lucky he's not dead right now!" Andvari answered, frustrated.

"...P-poorly so."

The group turned to look at him, surprise on their faces.

"What do you mean by that?" Steve asked quietly.

Herobrine slowly began to sit up a bit, somewhat struggling at first to get himself upright.

"A-awakening was in very...v-very poor shape. I'm more lucky that the owner was so...so careless a-about upkeep."

With general nods of agreement, the group's expressions turned to ones of worry.

"Still, you should be more careful from this point onward, sir." Andvari instructed.

"Yeah. This was a close call, but it could've certainly been much, much worse, all things considered." Malgun added, casting a quick glance upward toward the moon.

"Please be more careful in the future! Otherwise, you're gonna leave me with Andi, and I don't think either of us want that, sir!" Constiere exclaimed, clasping his hands together as the demigod let out a responding, weak laugh.

"...Also, I...I don't want you to get hurt anymore for my sake, either." Steve said in a quiet manner, looking at Herobrine with a gentle gaze that was met with a conflicted one.

With a slow nod, Herobrine looked between the four.

"I get it...I-I'll be more careful. Less reckless."

"Less careless, yes." Andvari nodded as he spoke.

"Less self-sacrificing." Steve added.

"Less active." Malgun muttered.

"Less willing to leave us al- wait, active?!" Constiere turned toward the skeleton with a look of disbelief, interrupting himself in his own shock.

Malgun shrugged.

"Only reason why he's the one who always gets seriously hurt is because he insists on being the most active. Stop being so active, and you'll get hurt less."

Steve looked up at him with curiosity.

"...He always gets this hurt?"

The skeleton shook his head.

"Not always, but when he does, it's for us. Because of us, I mean."

"Just because you're the immortal one doesn't mean you have to get all the damage, master! We can take a hit or two!" Constiere exclaimed, giving the demigod a determined expression.

As Herobrine took in their words, he slowly nodded in response.

"I...I'll think about it…"

Looking up toward the moon himself, a small sigh escaped Herobrine's lips.

"Right now...we need cover."

Receiving nods from the others, Herobrine let out a hum as he waited for them to take action. He didn't have to wait long as Andvari began to lead the group once again, glancing around at their surroundings.

"Not entirely sure about caves in this area, but I think we'll be content with that roofed forest right ahead of us, correct?" Pointing a claw at the fairly distant forest in question across the other side of the plains, Andvari waited for the others' responses.

He received more nods.

"Then let's get over there as soon as possible."

Continuing their previous pace, the group set off toward the distant forest, keeping an eye on the moon as they went along. Though it didn't take them that much time to reach it, the sky was significantly a lighter shade of blue once they got there, leading to them making haste toward a deeper section of the forest.

Finding a spot next to a large, sturdy dark oakwood tree, the group let out a collective sigh of relief as they finally got a chance to gather their belongings.

"I can't wait to take a good long nap once this is all over." Steve said, slumping down against the tree after he'd gotten Squash situated next to it, making sure that Herobrine was comfortable as well.

"What, the champion business or our thing, bright-eyes?" Constiere asked with a smirk.

"Yes. The answer to your question is yes." Steve said, rolling around his wrist within his hand.

Glancing down, he watched himself as he performed the action, only half-aware that he was doing so until he found himself suddenly being reminded of how Herobrine had looked while doing the same.

"Well, depending on how things go, that little nap you're looking forward to may or may not be permanent." Malgun remarked as he sat down a bit further away from the miner.

"I get that, but rest is rest, and this is all so...tiring, y'know?"

He received nods of agreement from the others.

"Yeah, but...it'll be over before we know it. We'll be working quickly, despite the setback." Andvari said, giving a quick, saddened glance over toward Herobrine as he spoke.

"You think? How do you think dealing with Lunarus is gonna be? Easy?" Steve raised a brow at the enderman.

Andvari shrugged.

"Depends on what you call easy. I'd say if we managed to kill all the champions in a single fell swoop and manage to get back out without much hassle, that'd be the easiest, most ideal outcome we can possibly hope for."

Steve let out a small sigh.

"Which means it's the least likely to happen."

"Hey, hey!" Constiere nudged his shoulder as he sat down next to him. "We have a chance of making that work! The silverfish are ahead of us, they'll find them first, all we need to do is confirm the kill. Simple as that!"

Still unnerved by the idea of taking the champions' lives, Steve hesitantly nodded.

"...Yeah. But...who's gonna do it? Who's gonna do it that quickly?" Steve asked quietly, glancing at the others with a slightly worried expression.

"We will, of course. All of us. The quicker we take them out, the better. If we all focus on one at a time, getting rid of them all will be no hassle whatsoever. Ideally, we'll do this before they set out, but if we manage to get there before the festival and do it, that'll work out in our favor as well." Malgun explained, looking directly at the miner with as serious an expression as he could make.

The miner nodded in understanding, fighting himself a bit as he did so.

"...Got it…"

He just hoped that he wouldn't have to fight anybody who was particularly strong.

Spotting movement from the corner of his eye, Steve turned to find Herobrine attempting to dismount from Squash on his own, only to stumble and collapse once his feet touched the ground. With a brief hiss of pain, Herobrine clutched his midsection, bracing himself against the confused ravager beside him as Steve immediately stood up and rushed over to his side.

"Brine, if you wanted to get off, I could've helped you!" Steve partially said in a scolding manner, looking at the demigod with a worried gaze.

"D-did I ask?..." Herobrine said with a bit of an annoyed tone, though it immediately melted away as another wave of pain overcame him as he tried to stand up again. "...I-it hurts to move."

"I can see that! Just...come here."

Without even waiting for the other's approval, Steve moved to wrap the other's arm around his shoulders, receiving a bit of resistance before the demigod finally gave in, allowing the miner to move him properly around to the front of the tree where he'd been sitting prior, pausing momentarily to watch as Constiere got up in order to give the two space. Steve let him down as carefully as he could, and as he looked at Herobrine to see how he was doing, he found nothing but embarrassment on his features.

"...I'm sorry." Steve apologized, though he found himself confused on why he did so.

Herobrine let out a small sigh.

"...Don't be."

Looking down at himself, Herobrine focused his attention more on the palm of his hand, which was still stained with his own blood.

"...At the very least...m-my sight's better. Coming back, I mean."

"That's good! I'm glad that you're healing up!" Steve paused, thinking to himself momentarily. "Does...does this mean that it's taking you less effort to heal?"

Herobrine shook his head weakly.

"I-it's still...pretty rough."

Steve nodded his head in slight pity.

"I'd already be dead after being hit with something like that, so I'm not exactly expecting a miracle here, Brine." He finished with a small laugh, moving to sit right in front of the other.

"...Me neither."

Hearing a sigh coming from his side, Steve turned to find Constiere laying on the ground, limbs spread out as he gazed up toward the leaves above.

"I wish sunset would come faster. Staying still like this is gonna kill me one of these days. I can't wait for some action to roll around." He said, his voice carrying frustration within it.

"Neither can I. I'm actually getting jealous of my fellow archers." Malgun said, disbelief lacing his own tone.

"I can wait, for sure." Steve said with a laugh.

"...We can move...before then." Herobrine said quietly, looking around as he listened for the others' reactions.

He was met with both surprise and deep worry.

"You need to take it easy. As far as we know, that attack could've caused a serious disruption to your abilities, including your healing ones. You may feel fine for now, but...who knows how long it may take for you to heal if you're moving around too much?" Andvari said, moving to draw closer to Herobrine as he spoke.

"Y-yes. But we n-need to keep moving. Wasting time like this...i-is not ideal." Herobrine replied, looking up at the enderman with a firm expression.

"It's not 'wasting time' if it's time spent making sure that you're alright, Brine. Besides, aren't we gonna waste some time, regardless?" Steve added, looking at Herobrine with a worried expression.

Glancing between the two that were currently the closest by him, Herobrine let out a sigh as he relaxed his gaze into something more neutral, yet a bit soft.

"...Sure. But we still need to...leave. I-I'll catch my breath...a-and we can go."

Andvari cast a worried glance toward Steve, then toward Herobrine.

"...Are you sure, sir?"

Herobrine nodded his head, saying nothing afterward.

Andvari sighed.

"...Then we'll use this as another resting period. I hate to do such a thing, but...if that's what you desire, then it can't be helped."

Watching as the enderman began to walk away from the two, Herobrine raised a slight brow as Andvari went off deeper into the forest. Before getting out of earshot, the enderman looked back momentarily.

"I'll be off to get some reports from mobs within the local area. We haven't had a field update in a while, it'd be best to get some intel on what we're dealing with as we go along."

As the enderman teleported elsewhere, Steve looked back toward Herobrine with a curious expression.

"...Field report? Didn't we...well, didn't we recently hear from the silverfish?"

"He meant from the other mobs, bright-eyes. Our forces." Constiere corrected, raising his head a bit as he responded to the miner's question.

"Oh." Steve said in response, turning his attention back toward Herobrine as he found the other staring at him once again.

The other's white gaze was somewhat unnerving, now that he knew that there was something actually hidden behind it. Emotionless and cold, it accurately reflected the personality of the demigod before him, or, more accurately, the image that Herobrine wished to portray. With those striking white eyes, it was impossible to tell what the other was thinking, but now that Steve knew what the silver pair behind them often expressed, it was somewhat easier to pull some meaning out from that harsh gaze. Or maybe that was simply his imagination at work as he tried to distract himself from the awkwardness of the current situation.

"...I need to talk to you." Came Herobrine's sudden interruption to his thoughts.

Coming back into focus, Steve blinked.

"...About what?"

The other left him in silence for a moment, thinking carefully to himself as he cast his gaze elsewhere. After a few seconds, he returned his focus to the miner.

"I...I wanted to speak to you. Face-to-face."

Steve nodded.

"...Must be pretty important then, I guess."

The two fell back into silence as the demigod began to silently debate with himself again, ultimately deciding to continue their conversation.

"...When I...first asked you to talk. I-I…"

The demigod's words trailed off as the miner realized that he was struggling to force his words out again.

"You...what?" Steve attempted to guide the conversation forward.

Herobrine looked rather embarrassed as he then forced himself to continue.

"When...when I first told you to talk, I wanted...I wanted you to explain why you said what you said. About me deserving peace during death. A-about wanting to help me. I-I was also trying to get you to explain why you tried to help in the first place, a-as well."

The sudden admission surprised Steve as the other's tone became firmer once again, offering a feigned image of strength.

As the miner took in the information, Herobrine looked off to the side with a bit of a weak, narrowed gaze.

"You didn't give me what I wanted."

Realizing what exactly the other was trying to explain to him, remembering his error in full, Steve suddenly became rather flustered.

"T-then why didn't you stop me and clear things up? Well, actually, I know the answer to that, but still! Why didn't you try, at least?! I knew that you wanted to talk about something else but..."

Herobrine folded his hands together in his lap rather slowly as he waited for the other's energy to die down.

"...I didn't feel the need to. Nothing was telling me to stop you, so I didn't." He answered quietly.

Steve felt entirely confused as he failed to read the demigod's now neutral expression.

"But...if you wanted to talk about something else, it was hard to tell...You told me about that pendant of yours, and-"

The miner was stopped by Herobrine's gaze suddenly switching back over to him, causing him to flinch as he glared at him.

Though he was expecting for Herobrine to speak, he was left with utter silence. Staring into the other's eyes gave him no indication of what he was thinking, the glow somewhat taking away any chance he had of seeing if there was any intention behind the sudden staring contest. Herobrine continued to stare at him wordlessly, and Steve felt himself becoming more and more nervous as time went on.

What was he expecting from him? Why the glare? Why wasn't he saying anything? Were they done speaking?

After a few added moments of silence, Steve found himself frozen in place, unable to move on as the other kept his glare on him. However, much to his general surprise, that glow slowly began to fade, leaving the hazy silver of the other's eyes in its place. Staring into those eyes, Steve felt even more confused as it now seemed like the other was trying to tell him something, but what?

Surprisingly enough, he suddenly felt like he got it.

Steve held up a finger as he began to stare at the demigod with confusion on his features.

"W-wait, did...did you go along with me telling you random stories because...you didn't know how to tell me to stop otherwise? You didn't want to make it awkward, or something like that, so you went along with it?"

Now the other was very much surprised at his answer, looking at the miner with widened eyes.

"...H-how'd you?..."

Steve shrugged as Herobrine's words trailed off.

"I...I dunno. I felt like that was what you were thinking, I guess. Was I right, or what?"

Herobrine's expression became neutral once again.

"Y-you...were, actually. I-I didn't want to interrupt you because...well, I wasn't specific enough, and you were trying your best." Herobrine paused, embarrassment returning to his face. "...A-and as much as I hate to admit it...you speaking to me in my time of need...w-well, it brought a strange sort of comfort. I didn't want to ruin it."

Amused by the other's sudden, uncharacteristically meek appearance, Steve looked at him with a bit of shock.

"...I brought you comfort?"

Herobrine focused his gaze on the miner's once again, and as Steve tried to analyze it, it took all of his strength to not smile at the other for fear of it being misconstrued as being a mocking grin.

All he could see in the other's gaze was a simple "Yes." The rest of his expression said otherwise, but those emotional silver eyes gave him the confirmation he needed.

Steve closed his own eyes as he nodded in understanding.

"...I'm glad. I thought I just brought you trouble, honestly."

Herobrine shook his head as he cast a quick glance over toward the remaining two individuals that were sitting quietly close by them.

"...Y-you can improve that. My sight is still r-rather poor. Tell me...what are the looks on their faces like?"

Steve followed his gaze, looking over to find Constiere and Malgun sitting and laying on the ground rather silently, both obviously making an effort to remain as quiet as possible. Though Malgun's face was as emotionless as ever, Constiere was evidently holding back whatever words that were currently gathering in his head, no doubt being stored away to be directed toward the miner later on.

With a bit of a shrug, Steve tried to make himself seem as nonchalant as possible.

"Pretty normal. They're just relaxing like we are."

Herobrine looked back at him with suspicion.

"...Can I...Can I trust that you're being honest?"

Steve nodded eagerly.

"Yup!"

After the other continued to stare at him for another few moments, he let out a sigh, moving to lean back more against the tree he had been left by.

"...I-I got hit in the abdomen, but I can...the pain is e-everywhere."

Steve looked at him with deep pity.

"...Does it burn?"

Herobrine nodded his head.

"Burns...feels numb. Dull, a-and pulsing. All of the above…"

Thinking to himself for a moment, Steve then looked down toward the injury in question, worry appearing on his face.

"W-wait. That sword went pretty deep in, aren't you suffering from internal damage?"

Herobrine nodded weakly.

"...Yeah."

Steve's eyes widened.

"Yeah?! Why didn't you say something earlier? Why didn't I notice earlier?! Why-"

Herobrine held up a hand, silencing him.

"...I-it'll heal, in time."

Staring at the other with genuine shock on his face, Steve struggled to think up a response. Hearing a small groan from off to the side, Steve turned to look at the boy it had come from for some sort of help.

"You lived through some pretty nasty injuries too. Don't be surprised that a demigod can do the same."

Looking back at Herobrine, Steve let out a sigh.

"...Still isn't comforting."

Though it looked rather painful as he did so, Herobrine let out a small chuckle at his words.

"I-it's even worse for the one experiencing it."

Leaning back in order to look up toward the overhead leaves, Steve allowed himself to relax his tense body.

Sure, he'd miraculously survived an explosion. That was a serious injury, but he'd survived thanks to the help of medical professionals. Herobrine had gotten an injury from a weapon that was intended to kill gods, and he had nothing but a potion and a half to help him live through it. That alone worried him, but the fact that he was going through internal damage too? Despite never seeing the other eat, it was clear that if he did eat a meal after this, his body would have quite the awful experience in processing it, now with a lack of properly functioning organs that somehow managed to heal, if they had even started to heal at all. With no internal stitches or proper surgery to fix things, could Herobrine rely on his body to fix itself accordingly? Could he trust that the demigod would even be able to monitor its healing without guidance?

How did divine beings work? How did they heal? How did they die?

If he and the world survived things, should he drop everything to study at Brickston, just to get that knowledge?

Not wanting to overwhelm himself too much, Steve allowed his body to fully fall against the grass-covered ground beneath him, wishing for the earth to swallow him then and there as he took in a deep breath, smelling the nearby flowers and wet dirt. Peace washed over him for a brief moment, before he heard a small thud come from in front of him, causing him to sit up almost immediately to find Herobrine lying on his side in front of the tree. Before he even had the chance to open his mouth to ask if the other was okay, Herobrine waved dismissively at him, eyes closed.

"I'm fine."

Hearing those words led to the miner letting out a small sigh of relief as he went back to laying against the ground himself.

Peace returned to him as he closed his eyes, allowing the surrounding sounds of nature to drown out his worries and stress.


Yoooooo my brain broke this week, sorry for the delay lmao. I was having a hard time thinking about the general concept of this chapter. I'm kinda entering a small little dead period where I know what I want to happen for the next major event, but I'm having some solid trouble thinking about the coherency of the minor events that are supposed to happen in between. A little bit of writer's block, but it happens!

Herobrine's better! Still recovering, but he's getting along fine! The wound he sustained pretty much screwed him up, but he'll be able to manage it, no worries! Wanted some more Steve and Herobrine development this chapter, so here you go lol

Another heads up! This next week, I'll be away from my computer again, so uhhhhh the next chapter may be delayed again. Most likely by a week. I'll try to work on it on my phone, but like last time, progress will not be guaranteed T_T

Aight, in the meantime, time for some Fun Facts!:

1.) Even when Herobrine can control the glow in his eyes, he still can't see clearly. When they're completely silver, there's still like, a bit of film over them that prevents complete sight. Dude needs glasses or something lmao (I say that like I'm not completely blind without my own glasses XD I'm one to talk!)

2.) Like I've said previously, Herobrine isn't fully aware of when his eyes lose their glow, at this point. The state of his powers affects that, as well as subconscious wants and desires.

3.) To be more specific, when Herobrine's eyes are at their brightest, he's only able to see when it's dark, or there's a significant amount of shade around. Shine a flashlight in his eyes or something, and he won't be able to see you unless he heavily focuses on himself.

4.) Surface wounds are typically the first to heal for divine beings, lol. Herobrine's rather unlucky on that front, so he'll have quite the nasty scar when the time comes for the wound to fully heal. Of course, he's no stranger to scars though!

That's all for now! Leave a review if you have any thoughts! I always love to read through them! :D