Skylor
Nuka froze when he heard that!
"To Skylor?!" he repeated in horror, whereupon Herobrine stopped himself for a moment and turned to him, before he shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
"Yeah, why?" he replied, appearing unimpressed by Nuka's reaction, before turning and walking on.
"What do you mean, why?" Nuka stammered, aghast, as he gave the city ahead a worried look before turning back to Herobrine, "This is the most dangerous place in the world! At least for us! If the guards recognize us, we'll never get out of there!"
Herobrine stopped and turned, his face angry.
"Well, if you shout like that, they'll definitely notice us before we even reach the gates of the city!" he warned Nuka, before pointing in the direction of the city, where Nuka could just make out tiny dots running up and down the walls.
"Now come on!"
He strode off and Nuka moved to follow him, pausing again after a few steps.
Herobrine noticed his hesitation and turned to him again with an annoyed look.
"Now, what's wrong?" he scoffed indignantly, "Are you still afraid or something?"
Nuka remained silent and turned his eyes away when he heard the harshly spoken words.
"I'm not afraid," he mumbled without looking at Herobrine, "I… I'm just worried, you know," he looked up and looked at Herobrine with uncertainty, "If they discover me," he continued and his voice began to tremble slightly, "that… that would be my… my death..."
Herobrine just sighed deeply in response before taking a few steps towards Nuka and placing a hand on his shoulder with surprising gentleness.
"Don't worry," he reassured in a calm voice, "This is no more dangerous than sneaking into any other city, and since we're going to attack this one soon, it's better if you've been there before so you know what to expect… Besides," he continued with a grin, "you've always dreamed of being a normal boy. Now you have a chance to show how good you are at it, okay?"
"O-Okay," Nuka replied, nodding slightly.
Herobrine's explanation and argument made sense, but still Nuka didn't feel comfortable with the idea of going straight into the proverbial lion's den. He knew that Herobrine would not turn back, though. Refusing to do what Herobrine said would only get Nuka into more trouble.
I hope Herobrine knows what he is doing. Nuka thought, following Herobrine.
Soon, despite his fear, curiosity began to rise as well. It was not surprising, since he hadn't been in a real city since his 12th birthday. Nuka couldn't help wondering how different this city might be from his hometown.
In the meantime, they had come to the huge gate, through which, despite the fact that the sun was not yet shining long in the sky, many people were already going in and out.
Nuka wove his way through them as best he could, trying not to lose sight of Herobrine and at the same time avoiding eye contact for fear of being spotted, but no one seemed to be paying attention to him.
Herobrine continued to move through the crowd just ahead, confidently pushing his way through busy throngs of people. Nuka's own heart raced and he could feel his hands trembling with fear, as he walked, trying not to pay attention to the guards who stood on either side of the gate, their eyes carefully surveying the crowd.
They all wore enchanted iron armor with a crest on their chests which Nuka had seen several times during his escape. It was probably Steve's crest.
Their faces did not look friendly, either, and Nuka's heart skipped a beat when the eyes of one of the guards fell and lingered on him. He held his breath, but a moment later the guard's attention moved on, not recognizing him. Nuka released a soft sigh of relief.
Herobrine's camouflage seems to be working, he thought, returning his gaze back to Herobrine, who seemed to not even notice the guards as he glanced here and there with some interest.
Incredible, Nuka thought in awe. He is not worried at all! This is definitely not his first time coming here.
With these thoughts Nuka entered the city and was immediately overwhelmed by the flood of information.
Numerous voices around him shouted, laughed, seemingly coming from everywhere at once and echoing from the walls of the houses. Loud music pouring from several directions also didn't help, making his ears ring.
All along the roadside crowded various trading stalls, offering all kinds of possible and impossible things for sale, while above them the tall wooden and stone houses cramped close to each other. Behind them, Nuka glimpsed the enormous, imposing structure towering over it all like a giant watchdog - Steve's Castle.
All around him, countless people, of various dispositions and clothing, wandered through the many streets and alleys. All of this was more than Nuka could handle, already overwhelmed by the comparatively small crowd he encountered at the gate.
The whole city overflowed with life and energy, and was also otherwise very different from his old, small, sleepy town where he had grown up.
Pausing, Nuka stood and admired all this for a moment.
He had never thought that there could be so many people in Minecraftia, let alone that so many different ones could live peacefully together in one place.
Suddenly, Nuka realized that someone stood behind him!
Startled, he span, but saw that it was only Herobrine.
"Relax," he murmured softly, "it's just me."
Nuka sighed in relief and relaxed, turning fully to Herobrine, who was standing there with his arms crossed, looking at him with an expectant gaze.
"So, what do you think?" The god asked with amusement as he gave the city around them an idle look.
"Um… loud?" Nuka replied, turning his attention back to the city. "But also exciting and… interesting?" He grinned, "It's amazing! There is so much here that I have never seen before! I bet if you live here you will never get bored! "Still…" he continued, lowering his voice as he looked around again, "I don't think I could live here."
Herobrine nodded when he heard that.
"Understandable," he murmured. A moment later, he walked past Nuka, motioning him to follow.
"Come on," he added with a surprisingly friendly smile, "let's find something to eat."
They strolled around the city for a while. Herobrine had allowed Nuka to look around a bit, but cautioned him to stay close, so Nuka ended up always walking a few blocks in front of Herobrine, only managing to stop every so often by a store window and admire the contents before walking to the next one.
Herobrine would walk behind him at a leisurely pace, amused by Nuka's childlike curiosity, as he would immediately press his nose to the glass of every shop window he spotted to see what was inside.
He behaves very differently from the Nether, Herobrine thought with a smile. Much happier and also... more carefree. He's almost like the... the child he could never have been....
Sadness arose in him again at these thoughts, but Herobrine pushed it aside. He didn't have the luxury to feel such sympathy!
Soon they found a cafe not far from the center where they settled down, to enjoy their late breakfast. Herobrine contented himself with a coffee, while Nuka ordered a cocoa and a waffle with cream.
Herobrine couldn't help a small smirk when Nuka began to gobble down his food, as if expecting it to vanish into thin air if he wasn't quick enough.
"Slow down," he cautioned when Nuka choked and coughed, "It won't run away from you."
Nuka swallowed and smiled sheepishly before wiping the cream from his mouth and turning his gaze back to his food.
"Sorry," he mumbled, his gaze turning wistful, "It's just...I haven't eaten something this good in ages."
Herobrine's smile fell at that.
He's probably right about that, he thought sadly, if he had been on the run, he didn't exactly have the opportunity to go out for a fancy meal somewhere, let alone cook himself something that can't be done in five minutes.
Pity rose in him again and not for the first time Herobrine felt the desire to tell Nuka that he did not deserve all the suffering he had to go through.
This boy is such a good guy, he thought sadly, he deserves better... better than this life he has been living for the last 5 years, better than all the years he has spent in solitude, better than metting someone like me...
He wanted to tell Nuka all this so much.
But he remained silent.
The rest of the meal went without a hitch until two guards entered the cafe, sat down at the counter, and started talking.
Immediately Herobrine noticed how Nuka's face blanched at the sight of the guards and he stared fearfully over at them.
Alarmed, he grabbed the boy's arm. "Don't look!" he whispered sternly, "They'll notice you! Stay calm and pretend that… they don't exist. You're just a normal Minecrafter on a normal visit here, okay?"
"O-Okay" whispered Nuka with a barely perceptible nod, but Herobrine could see how tense he remained. Tearing his eyes away from the guards, Nuka turned and tried to take a deep breath to calm himself. Herobrine sighed in annoyance as he looked at the boy.
He still had a lot to learn.
They quickly finished the rest of their breakfast, paid, and then left the cafe without any of the guards recognizing them.
As soon as they were outside, Herobrine grabbed Nuka by the arm and pulled him closer, while he glared at him with a grim look.
"Are you out of your mind?" he whispered angrily, "Another action like that and we'll both end up in prison!"
"Sorry," Nuka mumbled ashamedly and lowered his eyes, whereupon Herobrine just sighed again.
"Listen," he said sternly, "We're about to get to the center of the city, where Steve's castle is. There will be a lot of guards there, including his bodyguards. They are trained to recognize such signs of nervousness and immediately become suspicious. You better pull yourself together, or else they'll catch us! Got it?!" he hissed softly.
"Yes" Nuka mumbled, not daring to look up at Herobrine, "I...I got it..."
"Well, I hope so! For your own sake." growled Herobrine and let go of him again, before they resumed their way to the center of the city.
Nuka walked without saying a word, but that didn't bother Herobrine, as he was still angry with Nuka and didn't feel like talking with him. Instead, he strode faster, wishing to reach the center of the city as quickly as possible, so he no longer paid much attention to the boy. That turned out to be a mistake.
Glancing back, he found that Nuka was nowhere to be seen.
Herobrine stopped, annoyed and also worried. Then, he backtracked. To his relief, he spotted the boy in an alley, standing on outside of a large crowd gathered looking at something Herobrine couldn't see from his position.
Sighing with annoyance, Herobrine went to join him. Nuka stood frozen, staring transfixed at something ahead.
"What's going on?" Herobrine hissed softly, to which Nuka just nodded his head in the direction of the crowd.
Following his gaze, Herobrine noticed a wall full of posters of hybrids and other criminals, and above it all a huge sign with the words WANTED! His own poster was there, too, but Herobrine only gave the picture an amused look, when Nuka suddenly moved forward through the crowd and stopped in front of another wanted poster - his own.
Anger instantly flared in him when he saw the boy's face pale to white, staring at that picture in shock. After he just told him not to stand out!
Stifling a growl, Herobrine stepped to Nuka and was about to grab him to pull him away, when Nuka's mouth silently gaped, his eyes frozen on the amount of bounty that was declared for his head.
"So much money..." he whispered, his voice slightly trembling, while Herobrine joined him and also looked at the warrant.
It was indeed a lot of money, not as much as the amount on his own poster, but still a lot, so much that there was hardly any other offer that that could beat it.
Unbelievable, Herobrine thought as he looked at the wall of wanted posters, before looking again at Nuka's wanted poster. What has this boy done that Steve actually put so much on his head?
"So much money!" enthused a young girl who had suddenly appeared next to Herobrine, pointing to Nuka's picture that she was looking at with two others.
"If I were a little older and had enough guts," she continued, "I would go in search of him right now."
"You can forget about that!" a little boy next to her intervened, "My big brother is already looking for him and he will find him, first!"
"Are you sure?" another girl asked doubtfully, "I mean... Others have gone after him before and almost no one returned."
"My brother will!" said the boy with conviction, "He joined a large group! Not just hunters, but guards from Steve's bodyguards, too! They're going to get this monster and bring him to justice!"
At these words, Nuka ducked his head and whimpered softly, whereupon Herobrine decided it was enough. Grabbing him firmly by his arm, he pulled him away from the board, hoping that no one noticed Nuka's abnormal behavior. Nuka didn't resist as Herobrine led him away.
In a small valley nearby, making sure they were both out of sight, Herobrine roughly let go.
"Do you really want the guards to catch you?" Herobrine demanded as quietly as he could and saw the boy flinch, "Because if you keep this up, that's what's going to happen!"
"I- I'm sorry," Nuka mumbled sorrowfully. Instead of feeling sorry for him, Herobrine's angry gaze gained a hint of scorn.
"You're sorry. That's great. But that won't help us if we get caught because of you!" He retorted. Before Nuka could say anything, he grabbed his arm again and pulled him along. Nuka obeyed, silently walking besides him, though his face remained nervous and pale.
Glancing at him from time to time, Herobrine frowned. Maybe it was not such a good idea to bring Nuka here, in the frist place.