(A/N Another chapter redone! enjoy! 9/19/2019)
It was a normal day in the Nether; Oceans of lava and fires burning, Ghasts wailing and the snortings of Pigmen – the usual things in the torturously hot and humid biome.
Up high on a spacious ledge overlooking this horrendous place was a group of Pigmen teaching some newly spawned ones the ins and outs of surviving in what they were forced to call 'home'. One of the most important rules they were taught was 'ignore and be ignored" and "if attacked –attack back as one and all"
Amongst the chatter, quiet footsteps could be heard in the distance – echoing softly into the space the Pigmen occupied.
Most did what most Pigmen do –ignore it. It was probably a magma slime bouncing around or another Pigmen going about to whatever space seemed the most interesting at the moment. And if it was a pesky minecraftian, they wouldn't attack here where they could easily be outnumbered and fall off the ledge into the lava or smash onto the blocks below.
One of the eldest kept an ear out, however – he knew what footsteps pigmen and magma slimes made – and he certainly knew how minecraftians moved; always running about and making loud garbled noises at things. These footsteps walked slowly though but didn't have the spongy sound of a pigman nor the squishy bounces of a slime.
A garbled noise sort of like a pigman came in the direction of the footsteps, but they were off – distorted and slurred almost. The eldest suddenly went to full alert mode. At the sight of his battle posture, one of the youngest stepped up to him.
"Why are you like that?" The little pigman asked in their tongue, confused by his sudden aggression. "Didn't you say ignore first and then attack if attacked?"
"There are always exceptions - always ." The eldest replied to the young one. "We must hide."
The eldest ushered the group into a corner on the ledge, where an outcropping of netherack shielded them from view. The eldest would've liked to run off away from the footsteps, but he was coming from the only exit.
Something near the exit gave an agitated snort – the same owner of the off-note noises from moments ago. The noises had been odd and garbled almost like how minecraftians talked – if one of them tried to speak Pigmen.
And the eldest did not trust that in the least.
A faint chuckle could be heard as the footsteps stopped.
And then silence.
After a few tense moments, one of the newly spawn peeked his head around the corner much to the horror of the Eldest. The other, timider, young pigmen waited, hoping that everything was okay now as they watched the curious one.
The young naïve pigmen didn't see anything at first, though the moment was short. Before one of the older pigmen could drag him back into the hiding spot, the young pigmen saw a brief flash of black and white before he felt sharp claws dig into his rotting flesh as he was forcibly ripped out from the hiding spot and thrown far and off the high ledge; He squealed in terror all the way down as the ground rapidly approached until
–SPLAT !– and then silence.
But not for long.
A bellowing and chilling laugh sounded at the death of the young pigman – and the rest of the pigmen went for their swords, but were stopped as the eldest gave a shrieked shout.
"RUN YOU IDIOTS! To the exit!"
Some took the words to heart instantly, dashing quickly to the exit in panic, but in their panic they all got stuck at the two blocks by one block exit.
An amused snort came from the beast as it slowly moved towards the panicking lot hoping to entice more fear into the younger pigmen.
He got the desired effect as they began to push and shove more and more in a frantic attempt to escape the frightening creature that they were told to run from and not fight against.
Just as the creature was rearing to sprint at the lot of them a golden sword flash in front of it. The creature halted instantly and growled at the offending object and then at the owner of it.
It was the Eldest.
He stared directly into the scorching eyes of the beast as he lifted his sword up and pointed it at it. Slowly –without breaking eye contact – he moved between the beast and the panicking pack of pigmen; he looked away for one split second to gesture to the other older pigmen to sort out the mess and get the others away, far far away.
That split second was all it took for the beast to make his move and leap at the Eldest with an explosive force. The rage towards the one for not panicking, for not running, had enraged the creature into a frenzy.
The Eldest dodged the swipe and immediately went to slash at the thing with his sword, but the beast saw it coming and rolled out of the way and put some distance between the two.
"Odd." thought the Eldest. He had seen the beast in action before; it had always kept an uncomfortably close distance to its opponents before and just wailed on them – never giving them room to breathe or think.
But then the pigman saw the reason why as a wicked ball of flame formed in the hands of the beast. The pigman didn't have time to react as hellfire was blasted towards him and then another and then another; one right after the other in rapid succession. The Eldest squealed at the sudden pain – fire usually didn't hurt, but as one of the fireballs singed his shoulder, the Eldest felt like acid had been poured into the wound.
"How is this-?!" The pigman thought through the pain. Not only was fire not supposed to hurt, but the beast didn't have this ability last time he saw it attack. He was interrupted from his thoughts as another fireball whizzed by his head and smacked into the wall behind him, nearly hitting a fleeing pigman.
He had to hold off the beast a little longer but was getting increasingly frustrated. He couldn't get close enough to hit the beast and even if he did he'd still have to deal with the fact that the beast was even deadlier at close range.
The only thing he could be thankful for is that, despite the burning pain they caused, the fireballs were weak and the pain lasted only a split second. But with so many being lobed his way, even the minimal damage could add up.
After a few more grueling, long seconds of dodging and being hit over and over, the last of the pigmen made it out of the enclosed area and fled to safety. That was the Eldest cue to run.
And run he did – fast as a lightning bolt.
Speed was always a pigman's ally being much faster than anything else in the Nether – The beast wouldn't be able to catch him!
What the Eldest didn't count on was the beast's impeccable aim and arm sending a ramped up fireball to hit him full force in the back.
He squealed loudly as the acid-like fire bit into his flesh, but he had to keep moving and put more distance between himself and it; least he get hit by another, larger, fireball.
The beast let the Eldest stumble and scrabble away, for although he was furious that the pigman had spoiled his game and stood his ground, seeing him flee in disgrace was satisfying. Serves him right, he had originally planned to just get them off the ledge by spooking them into the lava pools below. They wouldn't have been hurt what with their immunity to lava and all them.
But maybe hearing a few more splats would've been fun, too.
Well at least using his newly found ability had proven quite satisfying! As the white-robed figure plopped down into his conquered space, he reminisced on the look on the Eldest face. Grinning ear-to-ear, the beast idly let a small fire develop in his hand.
He had learned it by accident really. Just the other day during a rare moment where he had not been attacking anyone and had been instead munching on a patch of mushrooms, a pigman had briskly walked up to him and demanded he leave for he was trespassing. He hadn't given the pathetic thing any attention and just kept eating away until the blasted fool had stomped and kicked and flat out destroyed all the mushrooms within the area. At first he was shocked by this idiot's display but had quickly become rabidly enraged at the pigman. If he hadn't wanted to listen to the pigman before he certainly wasn't going to now.
At first he had just stuck to his usual "claw their faces off until nothing is left" attacks, but as the fight went on and on and the pigman proved to be an over-confident scumbag, a boiling rage was reaching fever-pitch and he just wanted to BURN his flesh RIGHT OFF until nothing was left but a pile of ash!
Somehow, someway, he did.
He had felt that wildfire burning hotter and hotter within himself and The Voice, his only friend in this hellscape, had encouraged him – poked and probed him- to do it, to release the full brunt of his rage on this poor fool for stubbornly challenging him.
He had followed The Voice's advice, his guidance, and fire had erupted from his hands and hit the pigman square in the chest. The shocked pigman had tripped and started a long tumble down the hill they were on while the beast chased after him with reckless abandon. By the time the pigman had stopped and started getting to his feet again, he was met with a fist full of fire. The pigman had staggered backward right into the opening of a cave. If he recalled correctly, the pigman's neck had snapped from the fall.
'And good riddance! That idiot got what was coming to him.' He angrily thought. But it did beg the question; how was he able to shoot fire from his hands now when he couldn't before?
The question was soon gone from his mind and with a flick of his wrist, the fire dancing between his fingers was snuffed out. As long as it was useful it didn't really matter where it came from.
Bored with the ledge, he got up and started to wander about aimlessly. He would laugh at seemingly random but be laughing at things that came and went from his mind. As he passed other mobs in the area, they scurried off and hid, not wanting to be a victim to his sudden bursts of anger and becoming his latest victim. But for now, he didn't plan on attacking anyone else today –Voice was telling some marvelous jokes right now and he didn't particularly want him to stop now did he? The Nether was a boring place with little to do besides fight and eat.
He perked up at a distant sound of a Ghast shooting off its own much stronger blasts of fire. He chuckled darkly at the thought of whatever poor mob who had angered the Ghast being blown to pieces. Maybe he'd go watch for a bit and see the show?
But all too suddenly, the death cry of the Ghast –along with a loud boom - echoed throughout the Nether.
'Nevermind…' He thought as he blinked in surprise. The quick death of the Ghast was a surprise to say the least. Whenever he fought them –and he didn't fight them often- the battle was always long and draw out. He wondered if those kinds of fights would be easier now that we had a long-range mode of attack now. He also wondered if it was worth going to check the scene out now since whatever brawl there was was clearly over.
But another much closer Ghast had started its own battle cry soon after. Now he was interested.
What was attacking the Ghasts? Whatever it was, it was either an individual mob deliberately pissing the Ghasts off or it was something New. He remembered when the Blazes appeared in the Nether. It had been a long month before the Ghasts finally got use to the Blazes.
As the distant Ghast let loose another blast of fire, he decided then and there that he just had to see whatever there was being ballsy enough to attack multiple Ghasts and be winning. The only problem was getting to the battle. The noises were coming from behind a tall wall of netherack. Voice was extremely excited about this too –almost too excited- as he frantically pointed out a thin section that was perfect to punch through. He hesitated from Voice's excitement and was swiftly rewarded with Voice's impatient side.
The Voice grew thunderous and violent, shouting so loud he clutched his head in a vain attempt to stop the pain blossoming through his skull. He was sure he could feel blood trickling out his ears.
"SHUT UP!" He shouted just as loud back. To the unaware, it looked like he was shouting at nothing. Voice curled back in his mind as it huffed and told him to get a move on already. He almost didn't out of spite. Instead he took his frustration out on the netherack; slashing, hacking, and punching his way through.
"!" A faint noise was barely heard just as he was about to punch through the last couple of blocks. A deafening fireball quickly drowned it out. The noise had sounded… he wasn't sure, but a faint memory.. or maybe dream.. of something like it struggled to the surface only to quickly vanish just as fast.
The sound of the Ghast wailing in pain snapped him out of his moment and he quickly picked up the pace. The battle had to just be around the corner. The sound of the Ghast taking it last wheezy breath made him go into a dead-on sprint. He was shoving startle mobs out of his way in his rush to find the source – no time to stop and maul them much to their surprise.
He eventually slowed to a crawl, turning his head this way and that and straining his ears for that small sound. But there was nothing and shame wash over him as Voice got very very angry. He didn't know what his problem was, the Nether would carry on the same whether they found the mysterious mob or not. Hell, the mysterious mob could be dead at this point.
Before the furious Voice could dig his claws into his skull again, the sound was back.
It was feeble and strained now, but it was there as the Nether repeated the noise over and over - and it was oh so very close. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to put up much of a fight now.
He scanned his surroundings anyway, curiosity winning out over the thought of a too-quick fight. The echos of the Nether had ceased to confuse him ages ago and with the noise so close now, it was almost laughable how easy it was to find the thing's hiding spot.
A particularly dull outcrop of Netherack was shielding a… rather odd mob. Despite its warm coloration, from its hair that looked like fire to its slightly dyed brown shirt, it still looked heavily out of place here in the Nether. It hadn't seen him yet as it was hunched over down on one knee clutching its side with a pained hiss now and then. Giving the air a sniff, he immediately smelled the all too familiar scent of burnt flesh – a burn from one of the Ghasts no doubt.
Voice was speaking up again, commanding him to do something that came all too naturally –kill it. Instinctively he began to move forward with a claws poised to maim, but stopped suddenly. There was another smell on the odd mob in front of him, something long forgotten and struggling to break the depths of his memory. He hesitated where he was and looked over the odd mob again searching futilely for the source. What he did spot however was the silver glint of a sword. Probably why Voice wanted it dead despite its weakened state. If this thing could kill a couple of Ghasts with nothing but a sword, then it must be a very seasoned fighter.
With that in mind, he started forward again, but the oddness of the creature before him caused another pang from ancient memories. A flash of green briefly zipped through his mind and thought that voice surely wouldn't like came along with it - 'why?'
He wavered again as total confusion washed over him. He shook his head vigorously in an attempt to clear his head as Voice started to rant on his little question of why – just do like you did with all the other mobs!
But as he refocused –hard to do with a furious Voice – he noticed that the odd mob had noticed him and had his sword pointed directly at him.
"Do ya worst you foul beast of the Nether! I'd fight ya even if you were Herobrine himself!" The odd mob blared between his hard panting. Something clicked deep in the back of his mind. The name Herobrine… it sounded so familiar… like he had heard it a thousand times before and that it meant something, something he did.
A cascade of voices he never remembered crashed one after the other through his head – high, low, whispering, shouting, laughing, serious, scared, sad, singing, and so many more all repeating the name Herobrine. Faster and faster they went until an old flame started to kindle.
The Voice, suddenly roared to life chasing away all the others. His fury was unlike any time before and an explosion of pain erupted within.
He cried out for the first time – no retorts or huffs of annoyance – just so much searing pain that digging his own claws into his head felt like a relief. He could feel himself slowly slipping unconscious as this kept bulldozing forward.
Yet one other voice was determined to get one last word in before it too got snuffed out. "save him!"
The odd mob before –though he didn't notice – had gone from determined to utterly surprised and dropped his sword immediately and rushed to his side. He didn't notice it trying to shake him out of it or whatever words may have tumbled from his mouth as Voice continued his tantrum before he suddenly just… stopped.
The sudden silence was even really silent. His ears were ringing so strongly to the point of being deaf. He inhaled roughly (when had he last breathed?) and slapped a hand on the ground to balance himself (When had he fallen to his knees?) He clutched his still aching head as he tried to make sense of his surroundings again. He opened his eye slowly and blinked a few times to get rid of the black edges of his vision.
His lifted his eyes and bleary looked at the odd mob who moments ago had a sword pointed at him but had now dropped to knees and was trying to help him up. His orange-ish brown hair was disheveled as the bushy mustache under his nose and his thick brown shirt had a lot more cuts and scruffs on it then he remembered. His eyes fell a bit and noted the dusty black pants and plated black boots before they went up again when the odd mob's hands shook him again. They too had some kind of plating from the wrist to the elbows.
Soon the ringing started to quiet down and he was finally able to hear what the odd mob was saying.
"Lad! Can you hear me? What happened to you just then?" The odd mob said as he nudged his shoulder again. He just looked at the odd mob confused for a second –how could this stranger be so concern for him when just a minute ago he had a sword pointed at him? The new question was not helping his aching skull and he lowered it onto the ground and closed his eyes for a bit as he tried to process everything. Why had finding this person caused everything that had just happened? Voice had never been that violent and then there was the green flash and all those other voices and that other voice that had pleaded to 'save him'.
He supposed the answers lay within the person that triggered it all in the first place.
He lifted his head again to look at the odd mob again. He had stopped trying to shake him out of it but continued to stare at him with concern with those lively golden eyes of his. He opened his mouth to try and speak to the odd mob, but his own voice creaked and cut off as he heaved slightly. He never really had to talk all that much; plenty of laughing and shouting, but talking was starting to show how hoarse and how scarcely used his vocals really where.
"Lad, you okay there?" He asked with feather light softness as if he was afraid something else might break. His voice cracked as he tried to say anything, anything at all, but it was proving challenging. Eventually, he managed to grind out a few words of his own.
"Who are you?" He managed to ask with a voice that sounded broken and tired. And honestly, it reflected how he felt at that moment.
"I might as well ask you the same thing lad but I suppose I'll go first. Just try not to do that thing ya did again." The stranger replied. "My name is Aodh, Aodh Rincaid. Ended up in your wonderful home by accident."
So the odd mob was called Aodh. It seemed a little strange, but it fit the person before him like a glove. But now it was Aodh's turn for questions and one that should've been easy had him stumped.
"So I told you mine now what's yours?"
Such a standard question and yet he couldn't answer it at all.
Because he had completely forgotten it.