Hero's Bane

Chapter 52: What It's Worth

Edited 5/1/2022

Herobrine didn't know what to do, not even what to think now. He kept a long soft gaze on the miner from his raised throne made of dark Nertherbrick and gold, he rested the right side of cheek in his palm with his elbow resting on the chair's support. He quietly tapped the end of the other armrest with his left hand, letting his fingers drum in rhythm at the end of the brick as he contemplated on what to do with the miner. The human laid splayed out and belly flat on the floor before the throne steps, only his back slightly lifted from his silent breaths. Steve seemed to be resting quite well after being accidentally knocked out, even the man's expressions were soft despite the pain he felt before being forced out of consciousness.

"So I have to trust you now?" Herobrine asked the miner though he knew the human couldn't hear or respond to him. "It has been centuries since the last time I had ever placed trust in your kind, I am not sure I even know how to anymore." His white eyes now moved to ceiling as he tilted his head up in thought.

It was true, he hadn't had any kind of social connections to humans for a very long time, the only human he had any kind of true trust in was Lionel; his figurative brother. As for other humans in that time; it was all betrayal, he could never believe in them or even care for them. So he killed most of them to get revenge on the ones he 'once' trusted, his and Lionel's persecutors and tormentors. He let others survive mostly because they had either no connection through the trials or were part of the sentinel's family. Trust had long been lost after that and he had wasn't sure if he could ever place it in humans again, he really didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

-That miner though.- Herobrine massaged his temples and looked back down at the unconscious man. Steve had proved himself worthy of trust by refusing to escape and nearly dying just for something as simple as words despite the dangers around him, he remained in his spot and even refused to leave as the being had commanded. It was obvious from his words and actions that he was determined to fulfill his promise and so he did, almost at the cost of his own life. One willing to lay their life down for something as small as a promise was almost unbelievable, that mortal risked everything for trust. That and giving in to his soon to be sealed fate, allowing the souls to drag him into the sands without even so much as a fight.

For what it's worth to him; Steve had his determination and it was impressive that he carried it out all the way through, Herobrine had to admit that. That miner battled the heat, the last chance to escape, dehydration, starvation, and even ravenous souls just to prove a point, as ridiculous as it was now; the being had to honor his word as he had since the beginning of his time. He had to trust Steve and allow the man to live a while longer with some limited freedom until his purpose is completely served, after the hero got enough answers; only then he could finally claim the man's life.

With that thought in mind he closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he steadied his focus, letting his clouding thoughts clear up and make way for his memories. He hated his memories; for many of them he retained were painful and completely unforgettable, at least the ones he had at the end of his trust in humans and his days of being powerless and thrown into the Nether. Some of them were strong enough to put him into a blinding rage so he tried his best not to venture towards the days of his accusation and torment. He searched deep in his mind to the days before the fortress, ignoring everything that had anything to do with becoming a full-fledged sentinel and Lionel's eventual demise. Going back further; he let his mind finally settle on his first true encounter with a human being, an encounter that didn't involve the mortals that fled from the sight of him. This was when he first learned of what trust was, or so he recalled.

Herobrine leaned the back of his head against the tall chair and let the memory replay.

… …

From the top of the mountainside; the silent and stoic man gazed down around grassy slopes below, keeping an eye out for anything of interest. He was looking for something but he wasn't quite sure of what he was exactly trying to find. He knew that he existed in flesh and blood, but how he came to be puzzled him. He knew of no family or relatives of his own; unlike those two-legged creatures he had seen in small settlements, they were similar looking beings such as himself but they were nothing like him when it came to power. These creatures were called humans and they mostly lived together as families and in communities. However; these humans weren't as strong as him and did not possess any kind of power that he did.

Actually, they were quite weak and fearful and ran from Herobrine at the very sight of him. The beings mostly ran away after seeing the pupil-less eyes, a trait that seemed to not exist amongst the weaker kind. The other reason would be when the powerful man displayed his power to destroy some of the more hostile creatures attacking some of the humans, they feared this power greatly and ran from him despite his efforts to protect them. Herobrine didn't understand why.

He did however, understand common knowledge. He wasn't born like a human infant, he just simply popped into existence with no memory; only with knowledge of the world and his own power. He knew that the two-legged beings were called humans, what families were, he knew what weather was, what the sun and moon was, he knew of the day and night cycles, he knew of the world's creatures and monsters, and even all of the natural resources; above and below the surface of the ground. He knew a lot of things but he didn't know anything about the human's behaviors or actions, what those weaker beings did and the bonds they shared amongst each other was foreign to Herobrine. His own existence was the another thing he couldn't find an explanation for. He didn't seem to fit in with mankind, he had searched many days and nights for anyone like himself; but there was no one with power like his to be found. He didn't feel like he belonged in the same place as the humans, so it was sort of disheartening knowing that he had no ties to any other.

He was truly alone in the vast world.

The powerful man scanned the barren plains below, but there was nothing attention worthy to be found. He quietly moved over top of the large plateau to the other side, being cautious while leaping down the steep cliff. His gaze once more darted around for movement, looking for anything that could provide any kind of distraction from his ever growing mundane and pointless existence. Without finding anything again; he moved along steep hill and stopped at a short ledge, he was about to hop down onto some smaller ledges below until a faint noise sounded in his ear. Curious, he glanced around once more. This sound was oddly familiar, it sounded like a human scuffle but with annoying screeches and deep groans added into the mix.

He let his white eyes pass over an exposed cavern with a crater of stone surrounding it. Part of the hill the he was looking at was missing and so was some of the inside of it too, leaving a huge shaded hole to peer into. Herobrine fixated his adjusting eyes from where the sounds were coming from and focused on the darkness until he could see inside of it. The form of a man soon came into sight and was becoming easier to see as he backed away from the exposed cavern and moved out into the light. This human held onto his weapon tightly and stopped in his retreat to catch a breath and rest his legs, the sun was hidden from an overcast of heavy clouds so he wasn't as safe as he probably thought he was. Soon, the human backed again from movement in the dark side of the hill and disappeared from sight behind the crater's ridgeline.

Becoming more interested in this being; Herobrine teleported from the spot on the mountainside onto the edge of a small outcrop that was right above the human, the smell of blood was immediately present and it lingered in the air. -He must be injured and bleeding- He thought to himself as he gazed down to see the man wipe the sweat off of his face and that was when Herobrine raised a brow and silently gaped. This human looked almost like him he immediately noticed, but he was younger and adorned a set of plain iron armor that appeared to be damaged with holes and dents all in it; the set of iron seemed to be slowing the man down and wearing him out from the heavy weight on the young man's frail physique. That could explain where the smell of blood was coming from.

One of the dents on the man's lower left thigh had a few thin trails of blood rolling down along the armored leggings, it was dented in a way that looked like it had bent in enough from some force that it had dug into the man's skin. Aside from his hindering armor; his sword was made of stone and it didn't look all that sharp, it was actually a little longer than most blades he saw humans wield; it must have been heavier too. It was strange to see a 'human' look like him. Even stranger to see the same man hindering himself and going near a place infested with hostile creatures all by himself with damaged armor, a leg wound, and a dull heavy sword that took two hands to wield. What he was doing was practically reckless; if not suicidal.

The armored man took a few deep breaths and steadied his sword that was shaking in his tired arms. "Come on already." The man said with an annoyed tone of voice. "I'm not done yet, I'm just taking a little break." He quietly laughed to himself despite his growing exhaustion, that weak laughter soon died out as well as his faint smile as a few of the hidden mobs stepped out of the safety of the darkness and slowly neared him.

A huge black spider swiftly crawled around the slow staggering mobs; speeding right at the human and screeched loudly as it got closer. The human moved his sword back and took a deep breath before raising the blade and swinging it outwards with both of his hands clinging to the handle; hitting the arachnid and causing it to jump back as the blade cut across it's head and slashed out a few of it's eyes. The arachnid crawled back and screeched in pain as a few zombies stumbled by to take it's place.

"Three against one? No biggie." The armored human fixed his slacking fighting stance and lifted the sword again, he then rolled his head and then his wielding arms before moving forward in a dash with his weapon held at his side.

Herobrine watched as the human lunged at the first mob and swung his blade across the chest of the zombie which caused the mob to growl and lurch back from the new deep gash. The man then brought his stone sword across the mob's lower torso, putting an even deeper gash that made the monster now stagger backwards before suddenly pushing it's weight forward and now stumbling at the human.

"Why won't … you … die?!" The armored man huffed with each new strike on the wounded mob, clearly growing more tired and agitated with each swing.

Herobrine could immediately tell that the human was getting weaker with each move, the man was slowing down and nearly gasping for breath now. It didn't help that zombies were resilient and ignored pain, they were also tough and eager; especially from the smell of blood in which had flooded the being's nose. The immortal couldn't see much blood considering the armor concealed most of it, but apparently the man had bled out enough to catch the attention of the mobs.

The human seemed so focused on his first target now that he had pretty much forgotten about the other two zombies getting even closer. "He's going to get himself killed." Herobrine whispered to himself. The old hero contemplated on jumping down and helping the mortal out, but something inside of him had him going against the idea. He was sure that if was to make his presence known then the man would freak out and run away, just as many had done before. Herobrine was tired of saving mortals that only feared and learned to hate him, they did not see him as a person; but as a monster. There was no point in trying to save another that would eventually come to despise him for his differences, all humas were the same as far as he was concerned.

"Take this!" The human cried aloud and brought the blade's end across the rotting flesh again, now adding to the many deep wounds that seeped with a putrid brown-colored fluid that had a repulsive odor to it. He then rammed the hilt of his sword into the gravely wounded fiend only to nearly trip backwards as he backed away from another rotting flesh mob that came at him from his right side. This one came close to grabbing onto him and that would have been bad with other zombies close by, fighting a horde atone was always very dangerous. The mortal took a few more deep breaths and a few steps back before charging up to the second zombie and bringing his blade straight into the center of the undead's chest, he then forced the sword completely through with all of his might. He then tried to jerk it out in a sideways motion in an effort to slay the discolored humanoid but he couldn't move the speared sword, he was more fatigued than he thought.

The mob only moaned deeply with it's fetid hands still trying to reach it's victim, hungry for human flesh. The human now tried to move the sword out but it wouldn't budge, so he started tugging at it again and again only to fail in removing it. Unfortunately, the sword was now stuck deep within the stumbling monster 's torso and the man was now having a hard time trying to yank it out without getting close to the mob that was trying to grasp onto him.

The zombie was still groaning and moving to the human's distress, getting close to grabbing on to him with it's rotting hands. The sword was just refusing to move at all, this meant that the weapon was probably either too dull or he was just too weak to pull it out of the thick corpse. If the man didn't get the weapon out soon then he was going to be a victim of the zombies or whatever monsters that lurked near the exit of the exposed cavern.

Herobrine noticed that the spider was mostly incapacitated but it was appearing to recover a little by wiping off some of the blood that had gotten into it's some of it's eyes with it's legs. The mortal's luck was taking a turn for worse now that the other zombies was now coming from around the impaled one with their arms stretched out and ready to grab a hold of him.

"Give it back you brainless fiends!" The mortal tried to pull at the sword but in doing so only made the monster get closer to him, in growing desperation the man growled loudly with a determined look in his deep blue eyes. He had then forced the impaled humanoid from side to side; knocking back both of the walking corpses back a few feet. He couldn't hit them hard enough to knock them down but at least he could buy himself enough time to try and free his sword.

The man was so busy with the monster in front of him that he was oblivious to a bony mob coming at him at an angle. A skeleton was making it's way out of the cave with it's bowstring drawled back and ready to fire at it's target, it's bones clacked together as it stepped off of a small stone shelf and slowly approached the human.

Watching the walking pile of bones getting within shooting range made the powerful being a little anxious for the human's wellbeing and so Herobrine spoke out regardless if the man was afraid of him or not. "Archer to your left!"

The human suddenly froze in place and tilted his head in the direction of the strange dark voice to see the being with glowing white eyes several blocks high upon a ledge. The human gasped and only stood there with a frightful expression, in doing so he forgot about his current problem. He yelped as a fetid hand whacked him across the face and made him stumble back against the wall in which the white-eyed man stood upon. He finally reverted his attention to the more immediate threat then tried to grab onto his blade that was still jutting out of the living corpse, but as soon as he grabbed a hold of it something sharp pierced his left side. He cried out loud from the sharpness of the flint arrowhead piercing his damaged armor and sticking him in the side of his ribcage, he released his weak grasp on the sword to move his hands down to his side as he fell to his knees.

He tried to grab for it but instead he moved his arms up as the impaled zombie pushed him all the way down onto his back and aimed it's nasty maw at the human's exposed neck. He held the mob back with his remaining strength but was struggling to keep it up and away from him with the painful wound at his side becoming a very distracting hindrance. The man then looked straight up at the sky in his failing efforts and gaped as he saw the white-eyed being looking down upon him. His eyes went wide with what Herobrine thought was fear.

"Help me, please help?" The man plead.

Even through fear the human still reached out to him.

"I don't want to die!" The human cried out, now on the verge of losing his strength completely as the zombie pressed harder to get to the exposed flesh.

Herobrine blinked, he knew that the human feared him but now he was asking-no begging for help? The skeleton was preparing another arrow and the spider was moving towards the human again, as well as the slashed zombie and the uninjured one. That human was going to be done for unless the being did something about it quick. He just wasn't sure if he should.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" The man repeated louder as his arms gave in and the zombie came down on him.

Herobrine had then made up his mind.

The zombie's bare teeth came within inches of the human's neck before it was torn away from the man in an instant. Herobrine grabbed the mob by the neck and pulled it off of the injured mortal before taking a hold of the stone blade and slashing the weapon out of the mob, nearly cutting the monster in two from the upper torso. Putrid blood splattered across the ground and the human stared up at Herobrine in horror. The repulsive creature went limp in the being's grasp and Herobrine's eyes quickly found his next target speedily crawling right at the grounded man. The powerful being turned and kicked the short mob away before throwing the nasty corpse in his hand at the skeleton several blocks adjacent from him. The archer shattered from the impact of the heavy body and it's bones flew several blocks out and clattered to the ground.

The injured zombie now stumbled in his direction along with the uninjured one and so Herobrine sprinted towards the first and drove the dull weapon straight through it's gaping mouth and through the spinal cord; killing it instantly. He forced the weapon in a downwards motion and yanked it out right before the corpse touched the stone underneath it. He then brought the dull blade around and swung it across the other mob's torso; using his strength to make the monster stumble backwards several blocks. He then let the sword clank to the ground before moving forward with his leg swinging out and upwards, his foot impacted it's head and sent the body flying out and into a mound of stone before it crashed to the ground and rolled limply a few inches. He then turned his attention to see the arachnid coming after him again with a loud screech, he growled in irritation and swung his leg up and around as the mob enclosed on him. The mob was then sent flying up high from a swift angled kick and then fell flat as it crashed upon the stone with a sickening thud and a pained shriek. A few of it's legs twitched before the red glow in it's eyes vanished, then it became perfectly still.

More moans and groans soon filled his ears and he looked towards the open cavern to see more figures moving about on the inside, a few of them were slowly heading into his direction as a soft breeze blew across the being's face.

"His blood?" Herobrine said to himself as he swiftly turned his head to find the human trying to drag himself away from the danger zone, smearing the crimson as he moved across the ground slowly. The scent was heavy in the powerful man's nostrils so it was probably heavy enough to attract the attention of more zombies. He could also tell that the human was making the wound bleed out more from his movements, doing that was killing him faster. "Foolish human." Herobrine sighed to himself, he then looked back at the carved out hillside to see several of the undead now stumbling closer towards the wounded human.

The human grunted as he stopped before a raised wall that was two blocks high and lifted a hand up to grapple onto it, unfortunately he couldn't find any kind of ledge to grasp onto so he was basically trapped. The human carefully rolled onto his back and stared nervously at the white-eyed man that was now looking at him intently.

"Stay there and don't move." Herobrine commanded, He watched as the human gulped and nodded. "Otherwise you'll burn."

"O-o-oh-kay."

He heard the human stutter out of nervousness and fright. Herobrine took a few steps closer to the open cavern and glanced around at the many mobs that he could see hidden the shadows. There were a lot of them, there were a few skeleton archers and spiders, but plenty of flesh eating beings that would soon catch wind of the mortal's blood. Taking a deep breath; Herobrine let power course through his body as he focused on channeling it to what he wanted to do with it, he then closed his eyes with another breath.

"!ERIF FO GNIR" He suddenly shouted aloud and his eyes opened with an intense light shining from them. At the same instant of his shout; fire erupted out of nowhere, flames suddenly appeared in all sorts of places around the powerful man and under the feet of every visible mob and they began to burn alive from the licking hot blaze. The entire open carven was alighted by the fire as the mobs moved around quickly to get relief of the burns, but they only screeched and groaned as their bodies burned and singed.

Herobrine then turned towards the human and began to slowly pace in his direction, walking around the flames that obscured his path.

The human was extremely frightened and tried to back away but his back only hit a stone wall and it was too high to climb. He then leaned forward and tried to stand but the sharp arrow moved in his struggle and cut deeper into his side. The man winced and cried out from the pain, he then somehow managed to silence himself as the being neared him, though the sounds of the burning mobs didn't cease.

"You're only hurting yourself by moving around like that." Herobrine let his passive eyes stay on the human while his frown deepened. The human was terrified by him, just like the rest. The man wanted help and even got it but the he was still very afraid.

"Please don't kill me." The man said as he reached down and grabbed the arrow to keep it steady, he scooted back against the wall to prop himself up better. "I have so… so much to live for." His expression twisted as the being stepped closer and he inched to his side in a pathetic attempt to escape.

"Why would I want to kill you? You were the one who wanted help." He stopped within two blocks of the man and folded his arms out of dissatisfaction of his work. Not only did he take care of the man's problems, but he also scared him more with his powerful display of fire. The human definitely was going to try and make a break for it, probably die in the process of his escape.

Surprisingly, the man let the terror on his face fade to a more calm one, though fear was still present in his tone. "I guess that makes some sense? But-… How did you do that? I mean, what are you?" He asked cautiously.

"Am I not like you?" Herobrine asked with a raised brow. The human looked almost identical to him and that also helped in making a decision in saving the man. "You do look like me."

The human blinked and let a small sigh of relief escape him, he even appeared to be less afraid as he made a weak smile. "That's sort of… what I wanted to ask you. ... I can't believe it." He muttered to himself. "And I thought... they were crazy. The all powerful White-Eyed man actually exists ...and he's super scary." He lightly chuckled to himself and went silence as he moved his hand away from the arrow.

"Don't touch it human!" Herobrine quickly barked and made the man lightly jump from the abrupt shout. "You're bleeding out enough as it is, if you keep moving it then you'll only end up killing yourself more quickly. I've seen several of humans getting shot by arrows before and a few of them actually died from moving around too much with them worsening their wounds from movements."

The man moved a little in his place but sighed as the being now moved in the direction that he was trying to inch to. "I understand that, but if I don't… get help soon then… I'll die. That is…" He winced again as he sat straight up. "That is if you can… go out and bring one of the vi…village priests out here. They are good when it comes to … tending wounds." He then slowly moved a limp arm up and pointed east. "There's a very small village east of here, about two miles. If you… can get help then that would be gr-great." He grimaced and leaned his head back. "Make it quick, I do-don't know how long I can last."

"I'm not going." Herobrine simply said with a blank expression. This made the human pry his eyes open and gawk in confusion. "Humans are afraid of me, all of them. I've tried many of times to speak with one and you're the only one that I've had the chance to actually talk to, with your given condition that is. If I walk into that village then they will most certainly flee, you tried to."

"Aw man." The wounded mortal sighed. "I'm sorry I tried to run… well crawl. I didn't know you were- were- how should I put it? Friendly?"

"I didn't ever try to attack you so why were you afraid?" Herobrine asked with a darker expression.

The man's brows furrowed. "Lighten up will ya? I… I don't know? You have this kind of intimidation about you, like some kind of influential and authoritative power that makes me feel very vulnerable when near you. I still feel a little of it though your intentions are for the good. There's like some kind of mental pressure that fills my head as I look at you. I …" The man stopped and took a few short breaths. "I can't explain it!"

"Is it my eyes?" The being asked in curiousness.

"No, not really. It's not even the way you look… definitely not the way you look since you look a lot like me oddly enough. It's just your presence or something, I'm not… really sure." He paused and took a deep breath. "Look, I really need help. Can't questions come later?" He said with a pleading tone. "I'm dying here!"

The being looked back down at the arrow then he moved closer to the man and kneeled down next to him. "I think I might be able to save you." He said quietly whilst taking a grip on the speared stick. The human hissed and writhed as the being started to pull on it.

"Save me? Pulling it out now is only going to kill me! Stop, just stop!" He cried out but the white-eyed being persisted on pulling it out. "STOP!" He shouted and after that cry the sharp object had been removed, the tenderness had welled up in that spot but at least it wasn't cutting him on the inside from the slightest of movements.

Herobrine examined the arrowhead, the flint piece was sharp, very sharp as he wiped away the human's blood on his shirt and ran a finger across the tip. A thin line of red took the place of where the arrow was driven across before it was replaced with a glowing white. The tiny cut quickly sealed up and vanished completely on the being's thumb. He looked at the human to see that the man had shut his eyes and controlled his breathing to keep himself calm. "I think I know a way to save you… but I am unsure if it'll work on your kind."

"My kind?" The man asked as he reopened his eyes. "What are you talking about? How are you going to save me? I'm bleeding heavily here."

"Be quiet and sit still, I can heal from any cut. My blood is- is very unique I suppose?"

"Unique?" He repeated.

Herobrine placed the sharp end of the arrow in his palm and dug in, this made the man cringe and look away.

"What are you doing?! Stop hurting yourself!"

"Look now mortal!" The human refused and this agitated the powerful man. "Err… I said look!" Herobrine raised the arrow out of his hand and squeezed it, making the stick dissolve within his grasp.

"Whoa Notch!" The human's eyes went wide as he watched the arrow break into tiny pieces and fade out of the being's hand completely. "How did you do that?!"

The other growled in annoyance and rolled his white eyes. "That doesn't matter, just look at my hand!"

The human looked into the being's palm and he gasped as the edges along the cut began to seal with a white glow. "Wha- What's happening to your wound?"

"The same that I hope will happen to yours." He said more calmly before tilting his bloody hand over the human's open wound. A few drops of crimson ran down his palm and fell past the open hole in the armor and into the deep lesion.

The human suddenly roared with a pained wail and flopped over from his leaning position until he was lying on his side gasping for breath with wide watery eyes. Both of his hands clutched around the open wound and he rolled a few inches in his spot before arching in pain and wailing soundlessly.

Herobrine didn't understand what had happened. His wounds always healed after being cut and he was hoping that his blood could repair the damage done to the mortal as it had for himself, but the human seemed to be in more pain and cried out as if he was dying. He did feel some pain for larger wounds as they healed, even more when a creeper had blasted part of his forearm off after attacking the strange creature up close for the first time. When he healed for that; the pain was just unfathomable, well for a short while.

Hoping that the human wasn't dying; he stood reached over and pulled the man's hands away from the wound to see a dim glow around it. The wound didn't seem to fade so quickly, instead healing at a slow pace; but at least now he wasn't bleeding anymore.

He had sat there and watched for minutes as the man writhed in pain, it was now obvious that healing for a human was taking an even longer time and being even more painful then it did to him. It was also sad to see the man lying there and acting like he was dying. Herobrine sighed then fully stood up. He then reached down and grabbed the human by the neck and hauled him up to eye level. "Forgive me for this." He said before clinching more tightly around the human's windpipe. The pained man started to squirm in the hold and even managed to pry his sealed eyes long enough to see that the being was choking him, blocking off his precious air. The man lifted a hand and scraped his nails against the being's flesh to free himself but Herobrine held firmly. He applied even more pressure which caused the human to squirm even more despite the pain. "Just a little longer." He said quietly while narrowing his eyes. He was afraid of squeezing more and snapping the man's neck but there wasn't much of a choice to get the man out of consciousness unless he was bash the guy's head, but that could prove to be too much and maybe even fatal with his strength.

The man was now becoming weak and his waterlogged eyes finally began to close. Herobrine felt the human's pulse growing weaker and more faint but the guy's heart was still racing so he kept a firm grasp. "Come on." Herobrine was growing anxious since the human was clinging to consciousness but he could tell that it was slowly going out. -This isn't working, it's only killing him. There must be another way.- Herobrine thought with a sneer, finally loosening his grasp and letting the man breathe normally again. Herobrine then stared into the man's half-lidded eyes, he didn't know the full extent of his powers yet; but focused on forcing the human asleep. That's all he wanted the mortal to do. After his eyes brightly flash and dim down, to his surprise the man almost immediately closes his eyes and his head droops over to the side; his muscles relax and his heart rate slows. The human was surprisingly asleep, as if on command.

"He's asleep?" Herobrine questions as he lowers the man and watches for any movements; but there were none. He then looks at one of his hands and it coils into a fist. "Another power?" He questioned, seeming rather surprised he had discovered another useful ability and through a human at that. "This one is quite convenient." His white gaze falls back on the armored man, at least now the guy could sleep through the healing process and avoid possibly hours of agonizing pain. He wonders if the man will be grateful or flee when given the chance.

…

Herobrine tossed a few sticks into the pile of wood and flames and watched as several burning ashes flew up into the night's sky, they disappeared within the thin film of smoke that veiled the starry atmosphere. His eyes immediately moved down to the now groaning mortal who rolled onto his unwounded side.

He opened his eyes and gasped as he saw fire and glowing white looking down upon him from the other side of the flames. He tried to move back but winced and froze from a shot of pain as he sat up.

"I wouldn't move too much if I were you. Healing for humans takes a long time as I have come to realize." He said with a calm tone despite the dark echoing of his voice. "Your injury is still open and it's taking a while for my blood to repair the damage, but at least it is working; you wouldn't be alive right now if it didn't."

He saw the man lose his fear-filled expression and lay back down slowly. "You didn't k-kill me?" He lightly stuttered as he laid back down and pulled what looked like a long leather pelt over his arms.

"How many times must I tell you? You wanted help so I gave it. I had to knock you out some way."

"Then why did you have to choke me uh-… uh… what's your name?"

"It's Herobrine." He said blankly. "As for relieving you of the pain? Knocking you out is what I intended. Choking? Not. If I punched you or slam your head into a wall then I could have easily killed you, so I decided to cut off your air to limit more injuries or possibly death. I can sense your pulse and I had to wait until you were completely out or you would just be gasping for breath while in pain." He said while taking a stick at his side and moving a small block of wood deeper into the fire to fuel it. "Unfortunately, it was becoming too risky to cut off your air so I somehow forced you to sleep with the use of my powers. You're lucky that my blood worked. I would of hated to see you die, you wouldn't have even made it without it. Not with that deep injury."

"You would have been upset to see me die?" The armored man asked with a raised brow. "You have got to be like … like a god or something to have that kind of power you have. Why would you care for a lowly human? We die all of time, some of us get lucky to survive the beasts." He froze and quickly scanned his environment to find that it wasn't the stone outcrop but somewhere in the middle of a clearing surrounded by woodlands. "My sword?!" He carefully leaned up and patted the grass that he was laying on and searched frantically.

"I left it behind. It was dull anyways."

The human turned his head to see Herobrine then he looked down at the fire and he deeply frowned. "I guess it- it was, wasn't it?" He said halfheartedly.

"What were you doing down there anyways mortal? There was no sunlight for the day and the place was crawling with the monsters, going in there was a foolish idea mortal."

"My name is Lionel, stop calling me mortal." He said childishly. "I was down there to train." He then fully sat up and pulled off his dented helmet to scratch the back of his head. He looked even more like the being with his helmet off, they even had the same hair color and facial features. The only differences was their physique; Herobrine having a more bigger build and of course the eyes. His were white while the human's was a deep blue that glistened with the flickering flames.

"The leader of our people is trying to expand our tiny and pathetic excuse of a fortress, but he needs more sentinels to guard the workers that work after the night comes. He's a man that knows how to get things done so he has a set of workers that work until dawn, I was one of them for about a month, but the night's were becoming too dangerous to work through for men of 'my stature'," He highlighted with an agitated tone of voice. "So I was laid off and put top working in the fields." He sighed and folded his arms, being careful not to touch the healing wound. "The fields aren't even flourishing enough anyways! They have plenty of workers without anything to do but just stand there. The damn creepers keep blowing up the crops anyways. So what's the point?"

"Sentinels?" The White-Eyed one asks.

"Yeah." Lionel replied more enthusiastically as he looked back up at the being. "They are a group of the most trusted and most strong fighting force in all the land! If you are good enough to become a sentinel then you get an awesome set of armor and even powerful and sharp blades to go along with it! My dad was one of the first sentinels of the land and he was actually quite famous at his time." Lionel's smile slowly fell into a frown.

"Was? What happened to him?"

"Uh, he was killed in accident." The man said nervously. " More specifically a stonewall… which is kind of funny since that is our last name. Stonewall. Okay, it's sad. He was guarding the fortress in it's early years when it wasn't even considered a fortress, but rather a big cobblestone house or barracks to be more precise. He fought off the monsters valiantly with pure muscle and will, then one night he strayed from the other sentinels to keep an eye out for the incomplete building and had a run-in with a creeper.

One of the other sentinels showed up in time to see him hack away at the mob but he was oblivious as another snuck up from behind. He was warned from a shout but by then it was too late, it exploded but it didn't kill my dad surprisingly. He had on some tough armor. The witness was running up to see if he was okay until the unstable cobble wall came crashing down upon him and it crushed him to death." He finished with a heavy sigh. "That's why we build with stone bricks now, it takes longer to chisel out bricks though, but they are more sturdy. That place we were at earlier was an abandoned stone mine, the quarry just became too dangerous once they dug into a cavern."

Herobrine watched the human intently, it was strange but nice to finally have a conversation with a human. "You want to follow in your father's footsteps?"

Lionel nodded. "I-I want to be a sentinel too, they get to go out and fight, get to explore new places, they get a cool set of armor, and I heard it's great when it comes to the ladies." He grinned, but then his smile fell. "Unfortunately, I am not strong enough to join the rankings of the Sentinels; so I go out to the abandoned stone quarry and fight till I drop. Been doing that for months and am surprisingly still alive. I have developed quite the muscles so far but compared to the existing sentinels? I am still far from becoming one, I am just not strong enough." He said flatly, but then his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched tightly. "That's okay though, I am not going to give up. My dad had a saying he lived by and I sort of follow it now. Give it your all. That is how it starts so that it what I plan to do." He unfolded his arms and looked down at his wound as it stung from the movement, his eyes widened. "It's glowing?"

"Like mine did."

"Yeah, wait?" He looked back over to the superhuman. "I guess your little self-made wound is gone then?" Lionel inquired.

"Indeed." The hero raised his hand and revealed a perfect palm with no scratch or scar.

"Lucky, so I take that it that mine will heal up completely soon?"

Herobrine tilted his head up to the stars as he thought. "Hmmmm… maybe within a week's time?" He said now looking back down at Lionel.

"Man, I am not getting stronger sitting out, but I guess I can consider myself lucky to be alive to fight another day instead."

Herobrine nodded with an actual smile for once. "Yes, that you can do. But I advise not going back there alone, you were almost killed."

"I know." He responded with a deflated tone. "There were more mobs than usual." Lionel paused then smiled. "Thank you Herobrine, I would have been dead right now if you hadn't helped me."

A white gaze moves back to the fire. "Next time don't be so reckless, think before you throw yourself into a dangerous pit. Or at least put some torches in the cave to limit some of them from gathering around in there. And… You're welcome."

"You helped me out man, is there anyway that I could help you?" He asked with eagerness and a gesturing hand.

Herobrine pondered on the possibilities but there wasn't that a human could do for someone like him. "I don't know anything that you can do for me. I have enough power alone to support myself and I don't die as easily as you mortals."

"Do you have anywhere to go? A home?" Lionel curiously asked. "Because I think I know of a place that could really use a warrior like you!"

That instantly hit Herobrine, he hadn't thought of that or the loneliness of his wasted existence. "A warrior?" He repeated with a raised brow.

"Yeah!" Lionel leaned forward a bit. "My people have been struggling for a very long time to make a strong settlement on the land and we are still toiling in strife; trying to make everything work. Our fields can't prosper, some of the people have no jobs because of the danger we live through, some of us get killed, and we don't have many sentinels right now to get a good start on the new and improved fortress. If we have someone like you then I bet our land would surely prosper, I bet that we could get it built up enough to thrive, and I just know that we can keep the people safe!"

The being looked down at his feet in uncertainty. "I don't know? Humans almost instantly fear me from just the sight of me. It would be unwise to take me to a community filled with them, they would hate and fear me." He said darkly. "They always do!"

Lionel threw his arms out. "Whoa! Calm down Herobrine. They might at first, but you proved to me that you were not the kind of malevolent being that I thought you were. I mean for Notch's sake! You saved my life and even healed me! I am alive because of you and the power you have! If we leave for the fortress tomorrow morning then I know we will make it in time to show them what you had done for me!" He pointed to his wound. "They might have a hard time believing it at first, but you can show them yourself, you can also show them the strange power you have. But if I were you, I would wait until they warm up to you so they don't just throw you out for being super powerful." He trailed off.

Herobrine looked up as Lionel held his hands up in the air. He never felt like he belonged anywhere and he hadn't talked to a human and received a normal conversation until today, he just wasn't sure if he should. "I just don't know? I have never belonged anywhere, I have always been alone." He lightly swung his head back and forth. "I can't be sure if any of the mortals on your land would accept me?"

"I do."

Herobrine gave the man an awkward stare.

"No really. You saved me friend and so I am going to make it up to you for I am forever in your debt, I promise you that you can place your trust in me to helping you belong to that land. Once you show the people of what you are capable of then they will come to trust you, I know it. You can become a great sentinel! Maybe the best of the best?! And with more training on my end, I can become one too! We can work together!"

Herobrine liked the idea of doing something useful with his life, he even liked the idea of belonging. But there was something he just couldn't quite grasp the idea of. He has of course; been alone for a long time now, so he wasn't sure of what trust was yet. "What is trust to you? What's it's worth?"

Lionel blinked in confusion and then smiled as he lowered his arms. "Trust to me… it's well-. To me it's sort of like a promise. If you have faith and reliance in me then I'll do whatever is in my power and maybe even more to keep that promise, to keep that reliance going until it can't go no further. And trust me… I don't break promises, so I will go to my grave to prove myself to you that you can keep faith in me." He said with a more serious expression. "I will keep nothing from you, no secrets, no lies. I will also never betray you. Trust and promise is worth everything to me."

Lionel seemed very intent on getting the being's trust, but was it only because of his power? "Why are you so willing to get me to trust you then? Can you answer that?"

"Simple. My debt. You saved my life so I owe it to you. I always pay my debts, just like dad did." He warmly smiled to himself before looking up at the white-eyed man. "I also consider you my friend, I don't care if people say you are a monster or run and cower from you. You showed me that you weren't by caring enough to save my pathetic hide, so if it's even possible for you to even need help then I'll be there. Even when you don't need it, I'll still be there. You can put your trust in me Hero." Lionel chuckled to himself. "Hero. That sounds good on you, you know that?"

The being didn't let his smile fade. He still wasn't used to this trust thing and he never had a friend before, so far it was looking to be a good thing. Maybe within time he'll finally understand it completely. "Very well… friend. We'll set out for this land of yours and you can prove your first test of trust by getting your people to accept me."

"Alright then, I won't let you down."

… …

"Lionel… …"

Herobrine's eyes snapped open from the sound of a voice intruding upon his memory. He then gazed down at the source to see the miner moving a little and sputtering undecipherable words.

"Li-onel." Steve muttered under his breath again and he slowly opened his eyes. His blue eyes slowly pried open to see a similar looking figure sitting high upon a throne of Nertherbrick, gazing at him with eyes of white.