Chapter 15
Herobrine's Entrance
Steve slowly opened his crusty eyes, his whole body burning with a fiery pain. He shuddered and slowly turned his achy head to the side, his head pulsing.
Oh goodness...what happened? He thought as his vision slowly recovered from being blurred and he came face to face with a stone wall in front of him. The hurt miner painfully raised his head and looked in front of him, inspecting the unfamiliar place he lay in. He was in a small, underground area. It was a medium sized stone room that had clearly been dug out by a player. There was a wooden door ten blocks away from the bed Steve lay in, presumably the entrance to the dug-out. To the right of the door Steve spotted a crafting table and furnace. He thought he saw an item sitting atop the workbench but he wasn't sure. It was quite dark in the room, for there was only a dim redstone torch placed in the far corner, barely lighting the room at all. It acted more like a nightlight.
The human looked down at his body. Red blankets covered his legs and chest—they were pulled up to the miner's neck. Steve blushed in embarrassment and flopped his head back down into his pillow, pulling the blankets over his head to hide his red face. Herobrine...tucking him into bed? Oh god...
Steve laid curled up in a ball in the bed for a few more minutes, not wanting to peek his head out from under the blankets. Herobrine could be right outside the door to this room...
So, Herobrine saved him? When Steve fainted, Herobrine carried him from the grassland to this weird room? That must've been what happened. And what happened to the hacker? Did Herobrine kill him? Steve suspected that he did. He couldn't think of a reason why he wouldn't have.
Steve closed his eyes and pushed his face deeper into the fluffy, white pillow. So...it worked? He heard my thoughts? Did he hear my thoughts from a distance? When I shouted his name in my mind, did he hear it? Or did he just hear my real screams?
The young miner didn't know for sure, but all that mattered was that Herobrine did in fact come and rescue him. Now the evidence was overwhelming. The demigod wanted nothing to do with hurting Steve. For Notch's sake, he saved Steve's life!
"Wow..." Steve gaped in awe underneath the blankets. "I was saved by Herobrine...the lord of the monster kingdom...the ruler of the Nether...the Underworld's nightmare..."
He...touched me. Herobrine touched me. No player in Minecraft's history had ever been saved by Herobrine—only murdered or imprisoned. Along with that, only around five percent of Minecraftia's population has ever seen him.
Steve smiled. Now I'm part of that special population. Except, I'm the specialist one of all. I wasn't killed by him. I was saved.
The excited human gave off a fanboy-like squeal and kicked his legs around in the blankets for a few seconds. Ahhh what do I do! What do I do!?
Remain calm.
Steve nodded. That's probably the best thing to do.
Wait what?
The confused miner shot his fluffy head out of the blankets and looked around the dark room, puzzled. That voice had not come from Steve, it came from inside his head. Or, had it? Steve wasn't sure where the voice had come from—whether it was in his conscious or right in front of him—but he knew for sure that the voice wasn't his.
After experiencing this odd event the adventurer got a little nervous. He knew he shouldn't respond to the demon, but he ignored his logic guiltily. He squinted his eyes shut and bit his bottom lip, thinking: aren't you nosey? You should learn to control yourself better.
Apologies, player.
Steve gasped. He still couldn't tell if the god's voice was inside his head or not. Wherever it came from, it was crystal clear in Steve's ears. The shaken human gulped in pure excitement and a little bit of nervousness, replaying Herobrine's voice over and over again in his head. His voice sounded nothing like the hacker's. His voice was much lower and alluring. Intimidating and powerful sounding, yes, but for some reason it didn't really frighten Steve. It just...pulled him into it.
Steve really, REALLY wanted to respond to Herobrine, but now he was too shy to, knowing that the god was listening to his thoughts. The miner slowly rolled back his blankets and ran his hands through his fluffy, messy brown hair, sitting up in the bed. The room was very dark, so he couldn't see what was laying on top of the crafting table, but he knew that something was.
The miner slowly stood up, his legs shaking in pain. Bruises covered his knees and face where the hacker had kicked and punched him. Steve held his breath as he painfully shuffled over to the crafting table, reaching forward to grab the object that was on top of it.
Oh, Notch's enchanted stick. Herobrine must've taken it back from him.
Steve's iron armor laid in a heap on the stone floor next to the crafting table as well. The Overworld player didn't bother putting it back on. His body was too battered for heavy-duty armor.
Steve slowly turned his head towards the wooden door and whimpered weakly. What if Herobrine was standing outside it?
You're so confusing Steve! One moment you want everything to do with him and then not even one second later you want to run away from him and hide! Just go outside this room and calm down! He saved your life!
Steve sighed and slowly trudged towards the door, swallowing nervously as he approached it. He gently pushed on the wooden door, creaking it open very cautiously. Steve was greeted with a dark cave in front of him and a few dim, redstone torches scattered on the ground outside the door. The adventurer looked at them hesitantly, his legs aching as he emerged from his room, standing a block away from the door.
The cave system looked unfamiliar to Steve. It didn't look like the one located in his ravine. This cave system had hot, humid air and a large ceiling. It kind of looked like an underground ravine but not quite. It was very large and located deep underground.
Steve looked to his left, seeing a large lava fall coming out of the side of the cave wall, making a large pool on the cave's floor. It was clear that the lava was responsible for the hot air in the cave system. Steve panted a bit, but mostly enjoyed the warmth. It comforted his injured joints.
He gave off an embarrassing squeak when he crouched down to pick up the redstone torches outside his room. His legs shook and his knee failed him, causing him to awkwardly fall on his side and lay sideways on the cold, stone ground. Steve blushed in embarrassment and did his best to get himself back on his feet as quickly as he could.
He panted and clutched the few redstone torches he had grabbed to his chest. His restless eyes scanned the ground as a sharp pain flowed through his body. Steve really needed some healing potions to fix his right knee and...both legs in general. He could barely walk. He can't be on a World like this in such a disabled state.
Steve breathed heavily as he raised his head, looking towards the lava fall with tired eyes.
Steve wasn't expecting another pair of eyes to look back at him.
The younger miner grew stiff as his eyes connected with another's. In the lava pool, a player sat, the lava up to his armpits. His large arms were sprawled out on the stone he leaned back against. He had extremely bright, glowing eyes. His eyes were pure white.
Steve almost fell over but kept his rigid stance. Herobrine's eyes never disconnected with his. They didn't blink once. Steve's breath quickened and he stared at Herobrine insanely, not knowing what to do. He couldn't even see Herobrine very well because the lava pool was a ways away from him...but it was clear that Herobrine was staring directly at him.
Steve's face caught fire when he realized that he was still clutching the bundle of Herobrine's redstone torches in his arms. Oh my god. Kill me now. Kill me now...
Herobrine continued to stare at the adventurer, his posture never changing and eyes never blinking. Steve screamed internally.
Suddenly Steve started shuffling towards the lava pool where Herobrine sat in impulsively, his brain completely ignoring the pain in his bones. The younger miner's mouth was wide open, his arms still locked around the Underworld god's redstone torches. Steve walked quickly, dragging his bad leg behind his other slightly as he uncontrollably shuffled towards the lava.
The adventurer didn't know what took over him, but he wanted to see Herobrine. He wanted to get closer to him. Suddenly all of his fear was gone and replaced by curiosity and desperation. No, no, no. Don't you dare teleport away. I swear to god...
Herobrine didn't move a muscle. He kept so still that Steve almost thought he wasn't real.
The younger miner started panting as he grew closer and closer to the god, beginning to see some of his features. Steve whimpered a little as his knee popped but kept furiously walking...right up until he stood on the stone blocks across from the god in the lava pool.
The human panted heavily as he came to a sudden stop, slowly bending over to place his redstone torches on the cave floor. He raised his sweaty head and desperately looked at the Nether lord, scanning his face and upper body. Is...is he real? He can't be...
"Are you...real?" Steve asked shakily, inhaling air painfully as his legs pulsed. Herobrine sat so still, his arms still resting on the stone blocks to his sides, not ever moving. His eyes look as if they were frozen in time. The way he never fidgeted or shifted made him look like a hologram. Steve started to think that he was hallucinating or that this was just a picture of Herobrine sitting in the lava pool.
"Um..." Steve hummed softly, unknowing what to say. He could finally see the god's facial features. He looked a lot like the Herobrine Steve saw in the News. Exactly like him. Except he was a little more...attractive and terrifying in real life. Steve gazed at him in awe and shyness.
He had tan skin. It was slightly tanner than Steve's. He had darker colored eyebrows and a larger body. His arms were huge. He looked strong. Very strong. Steve freaked out when he spotted small droplets of sweat on the god's forehead, as well as some dark, coal smudges on the sides of his face. Yep. This is definitely not a hologram or a fake. He is real.
"I...uh.." Steve muttered awkwardly, feeling like he was talking to himself. The god still wasn't budging. The human suddenly had a really wicked idea and grabbed one of Herobrine's torches, throwing it directly at him.
The torch bounced off of Herobrine's upper chest, burning in the lava in front of him. Steve stared at the demon and held his breath in anticipation. Herobrine furrowed his dark eyebrows and glanced down at the lava in front of him, the corners of his mouth down-turning. Steve stared at him as his mouth moved, watching his facial expressions in curiosity. That was really mean but at least it got my point across. He needed to stop staring and start engaging.
The god slowly raised his head and looked back up at Steve. The human couldn't tell if he was angry, disappointed, or confused. Herobrine's expression was extremely hard to read. It was also really... Steve blushed.
"Y-You look cool." Steve stammered and nipped his lip. And then a second later Steve clutched his face in embarrassment, not realizing he had said something so stupid. What the hell does "you look cool" mean?! You're so stupid! Stop making a fool out of yourself!
"Steven."
Steve's eyes widened in his hand as he heard Herobrine's voice for the first time in his life.
"Why throw a torch at me?"
Steve shivered and closed his eyes tight. The god's voice was low and oddly louder than a typical player's. It was also really...soothing. Or, maybe that was just Steve who thought that.
"I don't know... you weren't moving." Steve mumbled back, a flustered wreck.
"I did not want to scare you, Steve."
The younger miner uncontrollably shivered again at Herobrine's voice. His voice was just so amazing. Steve loved it. All his life he's wanted to hear it. It sounded way better in real life than in the miner's dreams. "Well...well..." he trailed off aimlessly.
"Why aren't you running away?" Herobrine questioned immediately, his piercing white eyes locked with Steve's.
Steve stared back into them hazily, feeling hypnotized by their glow. "I...don't know.."
Silence fell between them for a few moments. Steve wanted so badly to break their small talk and terse questions but he was too shy to speak his mind to Herobrine. The way the god stared him down made him feel self-conscious.
Steve licked his lips and slowly laid his leg down to the side, sitting down on the cold, stone floor in an injured looking position. He finally broke the silence by stating, "you saved me, Herobrine."
The god tipped his head ever so slightly. "It's not the first time, Steve."
His deep voice rang throughout the miner's ears and Steve nodded, panting. "I know...but still...you saved my life. That means a lot to me. I...don't want to run away from you. I want to thank you."
Herobrine didn't respond, leaving Steve feeling embarrassed. The Overworld player moved his leg to the side a little more and gasped under his breath in discomfort. Herobrine seemed to notice for Steve saw him shift his piercing gaze over to his leg for a second. The god's face was expressionless. His eyebrows never moved. His mouth was always a straight line that was slightly downturned. Steve found it sad how emotionless the Underworld god was.
"So...what happened to the hacker?" Steve asked softly, looking at Herobrine's face hesitantly.
The god finally moved. He brought his arms down from their resting position on the stone and looked down at the lava, fully submerging his body in the pool for a few, long seconds. Steve's watched him do so in fascination.
When Herobrine surfaced again, he wiped the coal smudges off the side of his face and waded closer to Steve, keeping his luminous eyes focused on the lava in front of him. The younger miner watched him move closer in nervousness, leaning back a little bit in his sitting position. The lava lapped at Herobrine's hips as he moved closer, bubbling on his shirt. His shirt was a slightly darker teal color than Steve's due to the coal stains, ancient ruffles, and old cuts in it. It wasn't necessarily ragged or dirty, just more worn.
Herobrine stopped moving when he got to be a few feet away from Steve. Steve stared into his face curiously but also shyly. He could finally see Herobrine up close. He could finally see the god's tan skin and dark brown hair. He could finally see Herobrine's mouth and toned arms. Steve took all of it in as much as he could. He was overwhelmed by the god being right in front of him. Herobrine looked nothing like the hacker Herobrine. Steve couldn't believe that he actually thought that the hacker was Herobrine at first. The real Herobrine was sooo much different. He was bigger, stronger, and more well-kept, surprisingly. He was wayyy more pleasant looking, really.
"Steven, look." The god spoke, holding up an object in his hand. Steve shyly leaned forward to look at what he was holding. "This is a sword he dropped."
Steve gazed at the enchanted diamond sword, chewing the inside of his cheek in disturbance.
"It is named 'Heart.'" Herobrine told Steve softly, pulling his gaze away from the sword to settle it back on Steve. The younger miner lost his train of thought as soon as Herobrine started looking at him again and his vibrant purple eyes looked back into Herobrine's white ones uncontrollably. Steve was noticeably attracted to the god's eyes.
"D-Does that have meaning? Do you know what it means?" Steve mumbled quietly, biting his lower lip nervously.
The god examined Steve's settle movements for a few seconds before replying in a grave tone, "I am worried it has something to do with you."
"Heart? I...I don't understand how that—"
Steve immediately stopped talking when Herobrine pulled out a stick and pushed into the middle of Steve's chest, making the Overworld player sway a little in his sitting position.
"Heart." The god said tersely and then pulled the stick away from Steve slowly. For some reason Steve suddenly got chills and raced his eyes around on the ground.
Heart? For my heart? Is Herobrine showing me that the sword was made to kill me? To take out my actual heart? Oh god...
"Steven, you're not safe here." Herobrine said, giving Steve a stern look.
Steve laughed a little bit in paranoia. "Yeah, I figured that out a while ago."
"Leave."
The god's voice was low and dark, ringing throughout Steve's ears. The human's eyebrows drooped and gave Herobrine a pathetic look. "I..."
Herobrine continued giving Steve that same old emotionless look. Except, Steve swore he saw the Nether lord's eyes glow at a brighter intensity for a few seconds. Is he doing that on purpose? Can he control the glowing in his eyes? Is he making his eyes flash to try to scare me away or obey him or something?
"No. I cannot directly control the brightness of my eyes. They tend to be brighter when I am stressed, angry, or feeling anything along the lines of frustrated. They barely glow at all when I am calm, relaxed, or happy." Herobrine replied in response to Steve's thoughts.
Steve listened intently but also gave him a little glare. "Don't read my mind!"
"Maybe I wouldn't if you didn't think so loud." The god responded, still giving Steve an unreadable look.
Steve huffed and broke their mini stare-contest, looking into the lava with a pouty face. Herobrine found Steve's childish facial expression hilarious. Steve missed Herobrine's wide smile.
Before Herobrine could move away from Steve's hand, the human swiped his hand a few inches from Herobrine's lower chest, as if batting him away. The god almost laughed but contained his amusement.
"What has caught your attention, Steve?"
Steve batted the air by Herobrine again, playing with his wispy particle effects. "You have little smokey things coming from you...can you control these too?" The human mumbled curiously, eyeing the cold wisps radiating from Herobrine's body.
"No, not really." The god responded, glancing down at his chest to look at the tiny particles flowing off of his body.
"Can I..." Steve started but trailed off, looking up at the demon's dark, attractive face. Steve, again, immediately shut his mouth as soon as Herobrine's eyes found his.
"Yes?"
Herobrine noticed the adventurer looking at his hand. The way Steve longingly looked at it made Herobrine push away his inner thoughts and slowly lift it out of the lava towards him. Steve parted his lips and gazed at him, as if waiting for approval. Herobrine didn't say anything to him. He only watched him with calm eyes.
Player Steve had been wanting to do this embarrassing thing ever since he laid eyes on Herobrine. But, should it really be embarrassing? There's nothing wrong with being curious, right? Notch told him that Herobrine had a cold body temperature, the coldest of all creatures in Minecraftia. Steve has felt his cold drafts surround him, but he has never touched him yet. Even when Herobrine was just now explaining to him what he thought "Heart" meant on the sword, he touched Steve with a stick, as if purposefully trying to socially distance himself from the Overworld player. Steve wanted to know why.
It was embarrassing for Steve to slowly raise his arm towards Herobrine's, but it didn't seem like the god cared. Of course, Steve would never know even if he did. His face was always expressionless.
Steve parted his lips as if he was being precise about putting his hand against Herobrine's. And when he finally did, he gasped not even a second into the feeling and quickly drew his hand away, pulling it to his chest instinctively. His purple eyes darted around in shock, his chest heaving a bit as he panted. That felt...amazing.
Herobrine looked away from Steve and Steve noticed him do so. The demigod spoke, "You must leave now. You will end up getting hurt even more than you already are if you continue to roam around on this World."
Steve squinted at Herobrine. Avoiding the feeling you just felt? Trying to change the subject so fast like that just to avoid talking about your feelings? I know you felt it too. You must've enjoyed the feeling of gently touching another player even more than me. You've never really gotten to.
Herobrine's eyes glowed brighter as he stared at Steve and the younger miner returned his attitude with a small glare.
"Steven, I am being serious." He almost growled, his low voice filling Steve's ears.
"Well, I am being serious too, mister serious." Steve sneered back.
The adventurer swore he saw the corners of Herobrine's mouth rise into a small smirk, but when he blinked the mysterious smile was gone. "If you continue to argue with me about keeping you alive then I may as well force you to leave myself."
"But won't you be lonely when I'm gone? If I leave, you'll be all alonee..." Steve slurred, giving Herobrine an innocent but mean smile.
"Cruel joke, Steve."
Steve smiled passive-aggressively and the demon sighed. "You really are the worst."
"Says you!"
Herobrine chuckled darkly and moved closer to Steve in the lava, right up until he was only a few inches away from the human. Steve smiled a little bit but also leaned back in fright.
Even though Steve was sitting on the stone outside of the pool, it still felt like Herobrine was towering over him. For the first time, expression was written all over the god's face. His eyebrows were slanted downwards and his lips smiled mischievously, his eyes practically blinding Steve.
"Be careful who you poke, Steve."
There was clearly something wrong with Steve. Instead of feeling scared, Steve's face turned beat-red and he started panting in embarrassment.
Herobrine watched the red color wash over Steve's face and he studied it for a few seconds in curiosity. Steve noticed Herobrine's eyes traveling around his face and an embarrassed puff escaped his lips, his face only getting redder. Stop it Steve what is wrong with you?! Just act normal!
"Tired? Rest. I will make healing potions for your leg. They will be ready when you wake up." Herobrine told him, not budging from his current stance, still leaning over Steve slightly.
The Overworld player nodded quickly and gulped, closing his eyes. Maybe sleeping some more was a good idea. He could clear his head.
Not that he needed to...
"Steve, stay where you are." The god ordered him in a dominant voice, suddenly heaving himself out of the lava and onto the cave floor next to Steve. The younger miner watched him in amazement as he dusted lava specks off of his large arms and legs. He was huge.
Steve felt like a little speck compared to the god, even though that wasn't entirely true. The Underworld god looked so intimidating with his luminous eyes and muscular body. Steve cowered on the ground, rolling over onto his back in nervousness as Herobrine stood over him.
Steve breathed heavily as he watched Herobrine lean down and slowly wrap a cold arm around Steve's back and another under his legs. Herobrine picked him up effortlessly, holding him like a baby close to his chest. The demigod's shirt felt warm because of the lava, but Steve could feel his cold body temperature slowly taking over the external heat. The Overworld player had never been picked up before. Never. He actually enjoyed the feeling...but it was quite embarrassing...especially since his picker-upper was the one and only Herobrine.
The god teleported them, leaving Steve in a dazzled state. When his eyes finally adjusted again, he realized that Herobrine had teleported Steve to his room...the small enclosed bedroom he had in his ravine. Steve looked up at the god in happiness, his lips still parted in awe about the whole situation he was in.
The god tilted his head and met Steve's eyes, making the human start breathing heavier instantly. "This alright?"
Steve nodded shyly.
Herobrine slowly walked over to Steve's bedside, his heavy footsteps filling the small room's walls. He slowly bent over, setting Steve down onto his red bed with ease. The younger miner didn't want to leave the god's arms for he had never been carried like that before, but accepted the fact that Herobrine was only dropping him off, not staying with him.
After Herobrine set Steve down, he broke all of Steve's torches in the room, making the room pitch black. All Steve could see was the faint glow of Herobrine's eyes at first but then the god placed a redstone torch against the wall, giving the room a dim light. Steve watched him start to move around the small enclosed stone room, replacing all of the floor, ceiling, and walls with obsidian. Steve couldn't help but get butterflies in his stomach as Herobrine did this. No one has ever cared for me this much without me asking for them to. He just does. He just protects me without me having to ask.
Once Herobrine finished, Steve lay on his bed in a small room of obsidian. The younger miner gazed at Herobrine through the darkness of his small room, his pupils large and droopy. He felt safe. For the first time on this World, Steve felt safe.
"I will come back when you wake, Steve. Of course, that is only if you'd like me to. Sleep well, player." Herobrine spoke, his deep voice quite soothing to Steve. The Overworld player nodded a little, his eyelids already closing in comfort.
Herobrine inspected Steve's relaxed face for a few seconds before teleporting away, leaving him to rest peacefully...
