Chapter 14
Dreaming About You
The Overworld player made it back to his small bedroom slowly, dragging his feet and armor in the dark ravine. He was very tired, the heat from the lava and the mentally exhausting encounter with the Nether lord totaling his ability to stay awake.
Steve threw his armor in the corner of his bedroom, closing his door and plopping down on his red bed, his eyelids drooping heavily. His stomach still growled a bit but the human didn't care about his appetite too much...all he wanted now was to fall asleep and start a new day...
"Of course he does not know about him yet. He's too young in this universe to be burdened by such knowledge."
"With all do respect Notch, I think I'd be worse if we DIDN'T tell him. If Steven randomly stumbles into him, he'll become frightened and may develop even worse paranoia and anxiety than he has now."
"Jeb I will not tell him. Steven must not know about Brine."
"Oh, did you hear? The monsters are calling him 'hero Brine' now."
"What?"
"Yes. It's their way of showing their respect to him, I believe. They call him their hero."
"Ridiculous..."
Steve suddenly woke up in his old Alpha house, the first house he ever created. A warm breeze swept through the bright green trees and an old, ancient smell lingered in the air. Steve inhaled it desperately, missing the nostalgic smell and aesthetic of the Alpha days.
When Steve ran a hand through his messy, fluffy brown hair he noticed Herobrine's face in his window. He yelped in shock and jolted out of his bed, hoping to his feet anxiously. Herobrine continued staring at Steve through his window, not moving.
"E-Excuse me?" Steve questioned, grabbing his iron sword instinctively.
Herobrine saw Steve's sword and jolted away from Steve's window, running into the green forest at an insanely fast pace. Steve raised an eyebrow in confusion at this and quickly grabbed some cobblestone from his chest, replacing all of his windows with stone.
"Try that," Steve muttered under his breath teasingly, gritting his teeth in nervousness.
Suddenly it was night again and Steve lay down in his bed, closing his sore eyes and relaxing his fatigued body that had been mining all day. When he flickered his eyes open once more he saw Herobrine standing outside his wooden door, looking around the house for monsters. Steve was confused but closed his eyes again, not caring.
Herobrine walked in circles around Steve's house for a few hours, making sure Steve was sleeping alright and no monsters or creators were nearby to disrupt him.
At one point during the night Herobrine slowly opened Steve's door and walked over to the side of Steve's bed, watching him sleep. He wasn't trying to be creepy, but the way he silently stood over Steve's sleeping figure was nightmarish. He only wanted to look at Steve's face to see if he had similar features to those of his. Herobrine found out that Steve looked much like him except shorter, cuter, and less-scarred. Steve had long eyelashes and soft skin. His skin held almost no scars at the time. Herobrine vowed to himself to make sure Steve's skin would be kept that way for a long, long time. He didn't want Steve to be scarred. He didn't want Steve to get hurt in the stupid ways he has. The thought of seeing the new Overworld player in pain made Herobrine anxious.
Steve would roll around in his bed a lot during the night because he had trouble sleeping in the Alpha days. He was scared of the World he lived in and was extremely lonely. He felt cold at night and frightened of the monsters that roamed outside his house. This is why Herobrine knew that his job was important. He needed to make sure the new player felt comfortable in the World so he wouldn't lose his sanity.
The newly named Herobrine gently grabbed a corner of Steve's blanket and dragged it back over Steve's shoulder, covering the younger miner in blankets once more. Herobrine smiled and finally felt as if he could leave for the night. Now that he had been revived by the ender dragon and made half-monster, he didn't like to sleep as much. In fact, he rarely ever did. Lately Herobrine had been working on creating a different dimension that he could isolate himself in. He wanted to escape the Overworld for good. He knew he didn't belong in the Overworld any longer...and he was THIS close to accomplishing this desire of his. He would call this dimension of his "the Nether."
Whenever Steven would wake up in the middle of the night screaming from a nightmare, Herobrine would immediately race into the lush forest behind his house and stand behind a tree, peering into Steve's window cautiously to make sure he was alright. Whenever Steve would almost fall into lava while mining, Herobrine would teleport himself behind Steve just in time to place down a stone block over the lava. Whenever Steve got lonely or depressed, Herobrine would create glowstone towers and place down redstone torch trails to keep the curiosity and excitement alive in the adventurer. Herobrine cared for Steve. He cared for him like no other.
But as time passed by, Steven became more experienced and independent. He didn't need Herobrine's watchful eyes inspecting his every move any longer. Once Herobrine saw this, he left the Overworld. His new dimension, the Nether, is where he stayed for centuries. When Steven accidentally discovered how to make a portal to it, Herobrine was very frustrated with him, for the young Overworld master showed the entire player population how to make a Nether portal as well.
In the first months of players knowing how to get to the Nether, every player who entered was slaughtered by Herobrine or kept alive and tortured in his Nether fortresses. Herobrine assigned monsters to guard his Nether fortresses in efforts to keep them more protected from Overworld intruders, but the players just kept coming.
Herobrine thought about talking to Steve about how rude and intrusive his actions were, but he could never muster up the courage too. He was afraid that Steven would be afraid of him. This is why he keeps his distance from the younger miner. He doesn't want to scare him away like he does with everyone else. Even though he had been the one secretly protecting Steven for years, Herobrine thought that telling him about his presence was a bad idea.
"He would never accept me for who I am. He would run away from me, cower in a dirt hole...almost kill himself just to get away from me. I know this for certain." - Herobrine, 2011
Steve woke up in his red bed, his body jolting him awake right as his dream ended. The miner panted, startled at his dream. What in the world did I just dream about? That...didn't feel like a dream. It felt too real.
Steve squinted at the stone wall. Was it...real?
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach. The miner sighed, knowing that he really had to get some food as soon as possible. His craving for cookies hadn't gone away, so he decided that getting some coco beans and maybe a few meats from the Overworld would be his main goal for today. Of course, along with that goal, remaining hidden was just as important.
Steve slowly rose from his red blankets, stretching and yawning comfortably. Part of him wished to just stay in his bed all day, but he knew that that wasn't a very good use of his time on this World. Plus, what would Herobrine think of it? Would he think that Steve was lazy and careless?
Oh for god's sake Steve STOP thinking about HEROBRINE! The miner cursed under his breath and shook his head in frustration at himself. He needed to stop thinking so much about Herobrine...for it was distracting him. Even though his encounter with the god last night was rather exciting, he needed to control his excitement and eagerness to meet him once again. You know, there are better things to do then to just fantasize about meeting a big, terrifying, monster guy that you're too scared to meet anyway.
Steve chuckled under his breath. Are there?
The Overworld player slowly pushed his door open, walking over to his large chest full of blocks. He grabbed a stack of dirt just in case he would need to build up to reach some coco beans from a tree. Once he grabbed some dirt, he started trotting over to the ravine's waterfall, gritting his teeth in remembrance at how cold the water is.
Steve held his breath and plunged into the icy waterfall, swimming up it as fast as he could. His legs swished in the water rapidly, shooting him up the stream until he reached the top. Steve dug the grass blocks above his head to get to the Overworld, his large layer of stone and dirt covering the ravine entirely.
He hesitated a bit before placing dirt blocks under his feet to raise him up the grassland, but once the sun beat down on his face Steve felt much happier. He had missed the sun. If Steve had it his way, he would build a huge house in the grassland with a pool right outside his door. He would bask in his pool for hours upon hours...
Maybe I could have a pool party with Herobrine?
"Stop it!" Steve cried to himself. You're worse than the fan girls!
The human cursed under his breath the whole way towards the inner part of the jungle to the right of the ravine, his wild eyes scanning his surroundings nervously. Vines spiraled down the humongous trees and onto the leafy jungle floor, making it quite difficult for Steve to maneuver his way around. Luckily, due to the size and density of this jungle, there were many coco beans growing from the trees—ripe and ready to be picked. Steve sighed in relief as he saw this. It wouldn't be so hard to get coco beans after all. They were practically everywhere.
Player Steve ducked below a tree, gathering the coco beans from its trunk. Even though the jungle was quite dense and almost completely sealed from the sky, he still needed to be careful and move undercover as much as possible. He couldn't imagine what would happen if the hacker Herobrine got him. He'd probably be kidnapped and taken to the Nether...maybe he'd never be found by anyone.
Steve shivered at this possibility. What does he even want from me? I don't understand what he could possibly want to do with me.
Steve walked around on the jungle floor, going over to low-lying trees to get their coco beans. After only a few minutes, Steve had over thirty beans. This was more than enough to make him a few cookies...and some for Herobrine. Steve blushed and giggled. No way I could give Herobrine a cookie. I'd be way too embarrassed to do something like that.
The miner bit his lip. Or would I? I could just leave one by his Nether portal...
A warm, relaxing wind blew through the trees, rustling their leaves in the sun. Steve lost his train of thoughts as he glanced up at the World's beauty. The wind ruffled his hair and cooled his chest, making Steve feel relaxed for once in his life on this World.
He still had two invisibility potions left and the enchanted stick. If the hacker did find him, Steve could easily send him flying away again. In theory, Steve didn't have much to worry about. And since the real Herobrine doesn't seem interested in harming him at all...Steve could call his name and bring him over to the hacker. Would that actually work, though? If I called for Herobrine, would he come?
For some reason Steve knew that it would. He felt confident that Herobrine would listen.
The young miner slowly started hiking his way up the jungly hill towards the ravine that lay on the other side of it. Steve guiltily punched down a tree and made a crafting table right outside his hole that led down into the ravine, not wanting to go back down into its dark, gloomy depths. He missed the sun and the wind very much. Just seeing the leaves on the trees blow in the cool wind made him feel one-hundred percent better. Maybe Herobrine was made to dwell in the dark but Steve was not. He could never willingly live in a cave. He enjoys creating medium-sized wooden houses in grasslands with lots of windows to let the sunshine come in, as well as...eyes, he supposed. It would've been easy to spy on him during the Alpha days. Herobrine would've been able to see the entire inside of his home just by standing outside one of his large windows.
Perhaps I'm a little foolish. Steve thought, sitting against a tree while making his cookies. Then again, I didn't know he existed.
Steve held up his newly made cookie to his dry lips. His stomach growled furiously as he slowly bit into it, the coco cookie bits crumbling in his mouth. Steve's eyes rolled dramatically and he moaned in satisfaction. Thank god. I felt as if I was going to die sitting here one more second with no food in my mouth.
After only a few moments Steve had devoured the cookie and was reaching for a second. He shoved the cookie into his mouth and swallowed quickly, grabbing two more before finally feeling full.
Steve flopped back against the tree lazily, whimpering in happiness. Remaining two cookies are for Herobrine... He closed his eyes and smiled. You're the worst. What's wrong with you? You've never been so obsessed with someone in your life. Not even when you first met Alex. What's gotten into you?
The young miner clutched the last two cookies shyly, refusing to answer his own question. He just wanted Herobrine to like him and be interested in him...that's all. Nothing weird about that, right?
Steve slowly rose to his feet, breaking his crafting table to cover his tracks. Before heading back down into the ravine, the curious miner wanted to check out the forest he had seen Herobrine run into last night. What if there were structures Herobrine had placed in the forest? What if he had a base over there or something cool? Steve couldn't resist checking the dark forest out. It wasn't far from the ravine either...only a hundred blocks or so.
Instead of running directly across the open grassland to get to the dark forest, Steve decided to travel along the outskirts of the jungle so he was more protected from plain sight. He moved clumsily through the vines and leaves, tripping over the growth along the jungle floor as he persisted onwards. The sun was starting to get a little low in the sky, signaling to the Overworld player that sunset would be coming soon. Upon realizing this, he panicked a bit and picked up his pace, trudging through the leafy biome.
Leaves smacked Steve in the face and he batted them off the trees in frustration, sneering angrily. Jungles were such a pain in the butt for the adventurer. He didn't understand how some players could live in them.
After madly swinging his arms around, the jungle leaves suddenly disappeared and he stumbled into a dark oak tree, the side of his cheek smashing into the log as he fell.
"Owe for Notch's sake!" Steve shouted uncontrollably, clutching the side of his face on the ground. Well, at least I'm out of that stupid jungle...
The young miner shakily rose to his feet again, hissing and clutching his face in pain. Dark oak trees towered over his head, hardly allowing any light to come through their leaves. The forest was indeed dark and slightly cold, making Steve shake a little at first. At the same time, Steve shook in thrill. This is totally a Herobrine forest. This place reeks of his presence.
Player Steve bunny hopped into the forest a little, still holding a hand to his cheek. The cold, dark forest was very quiet. No animals lived here. The dark shadows of the tree tops covered the ground that consisted of grass and gravel, making everything feel even more ominous.
After cautiously walking into the forest for a bit, Steve stopped when he came face to face with an empty sign that had been placed on the ground. The human tipped his head and bent down, examining the sign. It was old. Steve ran a hand around it's edges. They were dull and worn out. This sign was much like the sign on the Nether portal. It has been here for years.
Steve stood up slowly, looking down at the sign with big eyes. He hated the way it looked so creepy just sitting there on the ground.
Oh! I know how to make this situation so much better... Steve whipped out his last two cookies, placing them right next to the sign on the ground. Steve giggled at how silly it looked. It feels like a sin to put cookies next to an abandoned Herobrine structure. It makes everything look so light-hearted when it really isn't.
The young miner smiled shyly and put his arms behind his back, walking onwards into the dark forest. What else was there in here for him to discover? Steve was more excited than fearful. He was starting to become less and less scared of the Demi-god without realizing.
Not even twenty blocks from the sign there was a dirt pyramid. Steve stared at it in wonder. I've heard legends about him creating dirt and sand pyramids...but I always thought those legends were fake. I guess they aren't after all.
Steve slowly walked up to the small pyramid, curiously digging into it to see if there was anything underneath it. There was, but it was only a singular redstone torch. No treasure or goodies. Steve still bolted forward and snatched the redstone torch off the ground, holding it to his chest greedily. This was his second Herobrine torch he could add to his collection. Not that he should be taking Herobrine's stuff...
"Heh heh." Steve awkwardly laughed, not bothering to fix the hole in the pyramid he had created. He thought that Herobrine might be happy to see that Steve had discovered his old structures. I mean, is there a real reason why Herobrine creates these builds and places signs and torches everywhere? I wonder why he does these things. I want to know the real reason why...not just Notch saying that "he's lonely."
I mean, that's probably true... I would be too if I didn't have a single friend in this universe. That thought hit Steve hard. Herobrine doesn't have a single friend. He's all by himself. Well, he communicates to monsters and goes on patrols with them in his fortresses...but, he doesn't have any player friends. None.
Steve looked down at his shoes sadly. Does he want to be my friend? Does he want me as a friend? Is that why he has attacked every player in Minecraftia but me?
"I'll be your friend, Herobrine." Steve whispered into the cold air, glancing around the dark woods, as if expecting him to come out. "I left you cookies..."
Of course all Steve was greeted with was silence, but he still smiled at his own words. If Steve was truly going to be Herobrine's friend, he would need to get over his fear of the Underworld god. He needed to be calm around him and not run away or shiver in fright before him. That was probably the reason why Herobrine left him last time. Steve was showing noticeable signs of discomfort in his voice and in his mind...which Herobrine caught onto. Now Steve felt kind of bad for acting the way he did. He probably just made the demon's self-consciousness worse. He probably made Herobrine feel even more lonely and sad that his counterpart and only liked player in this universe pushed him away.
Steve shook his head in disapproval and sighed, turning around to head back out of the shadowy forest. I'm such a wimp. I'm so impolite. He LITERALLY protected me all throughout my childhood days in Alpha and all I do is push him away when he finally tries to meet me after all of these years of him never harming or disturbing me once? What is WRONG with me? Steve cursed at himself softly and quickly stomped out of the forest, the dark grassland coming into his view. It was past sunset now, the sun was almost completely gone. I will wait for him tonight. I will be a good boy and sit by his Nether portal and WAIT. And when he does come, I'll stand up, look him in the eye, and shake his—
A cold wind knocked Steve over and pushed his face in the earth, its icy air sneaking under his iron armor and stinging Steve's exposed skin, making him writhe in pain.
Steve screamed in fear that the hacker was near him and tried to crawl behind a tree desperately, but the powerful wind knocked him over once more, chilling the miner's body. It was such an intense and fridge-like wind that it made Steve feel like his skin was being frozen and then sliced off his body. It hurt him like no other time before.
The Overworld player screamed and wrapped his arms around his body, rolling around in the grass painfully, the cold wind tearing through his skin.
And then it left. Steve panted in pain and whimpered rather loudly, his body shivering in complete shock and frostbite. He tried his best to move his legs, but they felt numb and stick-like. Steve couldn't move. He's close. Hacker Herobrine is EXTREMELY close. For the love of Notch no...
Steve's breath quickened and he started hyperventilating. The hacker was extremely close to him and he couldn't move. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even curl his fingers. He was dead. He was sooo dead. There was nothing he could do this time.
Wait... Steve exhaled painfully as he slowly forced his frozen fingers to wrap around his enchanted stick. He could hit him... Maybe once.
Steve's head slammed back down into the grass blocks as he gasped for air, his body failing him. His bones ached, his skin stung, his mouth was dry and parched. He felt lifeless. Steve felt as if he was going to die. He was so, so cold. The hacker must have been just a few blocks away. That wind was unlike anything he had ever experienced before...
"Steveeee."
The miner's pupils shrunk in horror. He tensed his already frozen body on the ground. He couldn't move. Fear washed over him and he whined, flexing his muscles as much as could, rocking his paralyzed body side to side in an attempt to move. He couldn't though. All he could do was whimper pathetically and dart his terrified eyes up and down. He screamed in his mouth, hearing another player's feet swish through the grass behind him as they moved closer.
"What's wrongg? Why are you lying there like a dead cow?" The hacker's voice hissed in the wind. Steve's heart pounded and his purple eyes darted around wildly, his legs twitching repeatedly in pain and efforts to move. The hacker chuckled under his breath madly, sounding extremely close. Steve estimated that he was only a block or so behind him.
Steve exhaled loudly in fear as he felt a shoe brush against his leg. He whimpered and stared in front of himself, his pupils small and wild. His heart beat so fast in dread that he thought he was going to explode.
"What's wrong with you. You're like...dead or something. I guess this makes my job easier and less painful for you though, isn't that right Steve?" The hacker chuckled tauntingly from behind him, pressing his foot down onto Steve's leg, making Steve screech in his mouth in fear. "Oh come on Steve, it can't hurt that much..."
The hacker swung his leg up and brought his heavy shoe down onto Steve's leg, making Steve scream in pain, his breaths becoming shorter and panicked. Pain seared throughout his already destroyed body, his vision blurring in hurt and hyperventilation.
The hacker kicked Steve's frozen body brutally a few more times before bending down behind his back to examine the stick the miner held in his hand.
Steve couldn't see him at all, for his head was frozen in front of him, but he felt the hacker's breath hit the back of his head, telling him that he was extremely close to Steve's hand. The Alpha player screamed in his mouth again, his screech muffled by his closed lips, but clearly disturbed nonetheless.
"Oh yeah. This is that piece of shit thing you hit me with. Why don't I take it for you, since you're already holding it out towards me." The hacker grinned, laughing mechanically. "Why don't... I HIT YOU WITH THIS? WHY DON'T I DO EVERYTHING YOU DID TO ME EXCEPT MAKE IT TEN TIMES WORSE? THAT'S ALL YOU DESERVE."
Steve screamed and shook his body, flexing his muscles repeatedly, trying as best as he possibly could to move. His body wouldn't though. The cold had numbed his bones and muscles. All of his movement was hindered. Steve was defenseless. Steve was going to die.
HEROBRINE. HEROBRINE. Steve shut his eyes and yelled as loud as he could in his head. He then whimpered as loud as he could, his voice high-pitched and pathetic sounding.
"Aren't you cute." Hacker Herobrine teased him, kicking his legs furiously.
Steve's knee popped and he screamed in his mouth, tears collecting in the corners of his bright, violet eyes. His tears stung his skin as they fell. HEROBRINE.
The hacker stepped on Steve's knee and then grabbed Steve's limp, cold arms, twisting them behind his back. Steve, by some miracle, was able to break the seal on his mouth and his lips gained feeling again from his tears that had fallen on them. He screamed as loud as he could, his scream so intense and gurgly sounding that the hacker had to cover his ears for a few seconds.
"For Christ's sake SHUT UP!" Hacker Herobrine furiously yelled, kicking Steve directly in the face. Steve squinted his face in pain as the hot feeling of his own blood pouring out of his nose settled in. Steve produced another throaty scream before being silenced by the hacker punching his cheek a few times while pulling his arm upwards and kneeling on his knee.
Steve's eyes drooped in pain and light-headedness. Pain seared throughout his bruised, unmoving body. He was losing consciousness fast. He couldn't continue like this. It hurt too much. It was over for him. "Herobrine..."
And almost as soon as Steve whispered the demigod's name, the hand that was punching his cheek suddenly disappeared, as well as the hand that was tugging his arm upwards. The legs that were kneeling on his joints seemed to back away. The hacker got off Steve's body. Steve whimpered in fear and shook weakly, his vision blurring. His purple eyes rolled in a small circle as he did his best to keep himself awake, but he knew he couldn't hold on for much longer.
Steve heard a loud scream come from behind him. Steve's eyes widened. The scream was the hacker's. The miner panted and his eyes froze in shock. He came. He actually came.
"AHHHHGH!" The hacker shouted weakly, his voice sounding shaky. Steve heard a few, extremely loud thumps sound on the ground behind him, as well as a few terrified noises escape the hacker's throat. Steve's eyes zoomed back and forth in fear and he whined softly, wanting to see what was happening behind him very badly.
Suddenly the sound of something being thrown into wood filled the air, as well as a loud, heavy sounding thump. Steve screamed nervously, his vision blacking.
Lightning sounded from directly behind Steve, making his heart skip a beat. Numerous lightning bolts spiraled out of the night sky and crashed into the hacker's body, the dark oak trees that towered over Steve's body catching fire.
Player Steve freaked out, his short breaths quickening, sending him into an even worse state. His vision spiraled into blackness, leaving the young miner blind.
Steve heard a few more loud crashes sound from behind him before he was sent into a state of unconsciousness...his purple eyes closing and tears drying upon his white, cold cheeks.
