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Chapter 9

The market was incredibly busy, since most people were out shopping on their day off. Vendors called out into the crowd what they were selling, and everyone jostled around each other to get to where they needed to go. As soon as Herobrine saw the crowd, he froze and clung to Steve's hand. Steve was tempted to shove the child off, but he didn't. At least he knew that Herobrine wouldn't go wandering off if he was holding his hand. Steve started to continue, but Herobrine stubbornly didn't move.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Steve asked.

Herobrine didn't say anything. He messed with his fingers and stared firmly at the ground. He was terrified, but Steve wasn't sure of what.

"Hero—" Steve stopped himself from saying his full name. There were still people around them, and if anyone heard him, with or without context, a panic could erupt. "Hero, what's wrong?" he asked in a much calmer tone than before.

"I don't want them to be scared of me," he said quietly.

"What? Why would they be scared of you?" Steve could think of several reasons why, but he didn't think that Herobrine knew any of those reasons.

"You said that they'd be scared of my eyes." Herobrine looked up at him.

A pang of regret shot through Steve's chest. He probably shouldn't have said that. Herobrine looked down at the ground, and Steve just stuttered as he racked his brain for a response. "Okay, look. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that about you." Herobrine looked back up at him. "It's true, though. Your eyes… they're different from everyone else's. It's not a bad thing, it just means that you can't show anyone your eyes. Okay?"

Herobrine looked at the busy crowd, then back at Steve. "Okay," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Herobrine took Steve's hand, and they walked into the market.

Steve wasn't sure how he felt about lying through his teeth to Herobrine. Well, it wasn't all a lie, just the part about his eyes not being bad. His eyes were dangerous because if anyone saw them, they would try to kill him. Steve would also probably end up in a jail cell, since Herobrine was an enemy of everyone in the Overworld and associating with him would probably be considered a crime. His eyes were a very bad thing, but it was not okay for Steve to tell a six-year-old that, no matter who that six-year-old happened to be.

Steve's first stop in the market was the farmer. After spending two emeralds on a dozen loaves of bread, he went to the butcher and bought some meat. Usually, this was when he went home, since all he usually needed was food for the coming week, but this time was different. He then went to a textile vendor and began browsing what they had in the children's section. Herobrine followed Steve around and occasionally, Steve held something up to Herobrine's small body to see if the item he picked out would fit. Herobrine quickly grew bored of this, and after a while, he wandered away while Steve wasn't looking. Steve didn't notice for quite some time since it didn't take long for him to get a good estimate of Herobrine's size.

Herobrine wandered through the small clothes shop and explored. The large racks of clothes were perfect for hiding and playing in. He grinned and peeked out and saw Steve paying for the clothes. He smiled at the idea that he was completely invisible to Steve. He was as stealthy as an Enderman. He wasn't sure what an Enderman was, but it sounded like a very stealthy creature.

"Oh, hey there little guy! You're that kid we found in the mine, aren't you?"

Herobrine quickly turned around to face the person who was talking to him. He was disappointed from realizing that he wasn't as stealthy as he thought he was and terrified that someone was looking at him. What if they saw his eyes and got scared?

The person talking to him was a woman in iron armor. She had a bow strung on her back and a quiver of arrows on her thigh. She smiled at him.

"Hi," Herobrine said quietly.

"Hello. Are you here with Steve?"

Herobrine nodded.

"Well, I'm just glad you're okay," the woman said. "Why are you wearing that hat?"

Herobrine shifted uncomfortably. "Because my eyes aren't normal. I don't want to look scary."

The woman's smile faded. "What's wrong with your eyes?" She bent down and lifted the hat out of Herobrine's face. As soon as she saw his eyes, her eyes quickly changed to horror. Herobrine pulled away and pulled the hat back over his eyes. So, Steve was right. His eyes were scary.

"Hero!" Steve called. He frantically turned the corner and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Herobrine. "Thank the gods, there you are! Don't go wandering off like that!" Steve huffed. "Oh, hi Clara."

Clara looked up at Steve and as soon as their gazes met, he knew that she knew. Oh no.

"Steve, is this who I think it is?" Clara asked.