Hero's Bane
Chapter 90: For a Life He Never Had
A/N: Apologies for the long wait, my grandma had a heart attack back on the 3rd of July and even now she's still in a critical condition. The ordeal has been bothering me for a while as she's not improving and will likely not make it in her deteriorating condition. That and stress at work had me bogged down along with Writer's Block of all things to add. Regardless, I do hope that you like this chapter and will enjoy the read. Oh and special thanks to Spindelle for the idea in this chapter.
Approaching the crowd of foul pig-like creatures had the miner feeling increasingly disquieted by the passing second, most of the squealing mobs were tall and bulky; almost half of them were armed with arrows sitting ready to fire on their crossbows at their sides. Steve could only guess that this so called 'tribe' of piglins Herobrine was familiar with had at least twenty or so in their group, every single one of them had their current focus on him and the ingot in his grasp; it was a little nerve-wracking that there were no identifiable expressions or individual faces. Only blank eyes, sharp tusks, discolored jagged teeth partially visible from the wrinkled snouts, dirty flesh rough textured marred and scarred, they all reeked of a heavy repugnant stench of burnt skin and muck.
"So, who wants to trade?" Steve said with a forced fake grin on his face, voice hesitant with every word. He daringly took a few steps forward while holding the golden bar outward, wondering if the creatures understood what he said.
"Wrrrggghhhnnnn."
Snorts and loud grunts erupt from the Nether mobs and they began rushing forward at the miner, Steve froze in place then immediately halted with wide eyes; not prepared for an attack by the gold sword wielding piglins. He then squeezes his eyes shut and waits for the imminent strikes but nothing happens, he peels an eye open after hearing softer grunts and see the mobs now up close and personal with fixated stares on the gold but not hostile thankfully; apparently Steve found himself more approachable than Herobrine. It was reasonable, Herobrine did have a fluctuation of power that mobs could easily sense and a fear inducing effect about him; but not Steve. He was just glad that that the pig-men were not tackling him in desperation for the gold ingot or trying to swipe it out of his hands like would be thieves. Herobrine was right, they did have some intelligence, even enough to know how to barter and not just up and attack anyone on sight and take the gold for themselves.
"Wrrreeehhhh!"
"One of these piglins in particular seems to almost always trade what we need." Herobrine scanned the crowd of snorting and squealing swine beings to find one near the main edge of the group, his memory over every detail and wrinkle of the creatures face did not fail him. He moved a hand up and pointed to it. "That's the one we're specifically looking for, the one on the far right with a small scar over it's left eye." He said then approached the mass of filthy pig beings and Steve, some of them moved backwards and away from his powerful aura. Herobrine then looked at the miner and nodded for him to begin bartering. "Offer your gold to that one. Thankfully I have no problems in dispersing the crowd some, otherwise you'd have to push some around and they might not like that."
Steve looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "Uh, what should I say?"
Herobrine shrugged back. "I doubt they understand our language, but that one seems to always give me what I want just by holding gold towards them. Just hold the ingot at them; it'll decide what to give you."
Steve looked back to the appointed piglin and sighed, it had a gold sword in hoof-like hand and stood slightly taller than he did. The unblinking creature was intimidating to say the least.
"Is that fear I sense?" Herobrine mused from behind with a grin.
Steve frowned, then sweated a bit. "No. ... Well technically, blade wielding pig-men are a little more terrifying than the crossbow wielding ones, this is also the first time I've ever traded with a hostile mob. I'm nervous, not scared." He defended. "It could accidently swing it's sword and hit me for all we know."
Herobrine chuckled lowly. "Then worry not, it'll be dead before the blade even reaches you."
If that comment was to promote reassurance of protection then it seemed good enough, Steve felt himself relax a bit and breathe a little easier; it didn't stop the grotesque creature from looking any less intimidating though. Steve carefully lifted up the ingot at the chosen mob, then nodded at it. "Here's some gold, trade?" He asks with a small smile as he carefully inches the ingot closer, clearly pointing to the one he was wanting to trade with.
Once within reach the piglin takes the gold ingot out of his hand with a swift swipe and then brings the shining object closer to it's eyes and stares at it, softly grunting as it inspected the ingot. It's strange fixation on the gold and soft sounds coming from it's snout was actually kind of adorable, the miner thought; it's quietness and now relaxed posture reminded him of Pork Chop. He missed that pig.
After a minute the human blinked and gaped as the piglin made a louder snort and reached into it's brown leather tunic to take out an item, it slipped the gold into it's inventory and then withdrew some sharp chunky white object and tossed it towards the miner. Steve caught the item and lifted it with raised a brow as he gazed at the off-white thing with it's crystalline shape, he could even see his reflection in it. "Wow this is pretty." He then turned towards Herobrine. "Hey, Is it what we need?"
Herobrine frowned deeply. "No, we don't need Nether quartz. Try again." He then summoned another gold ingot into hand and tossed it to Steve, the miner quickly dropped the quartz and held his arms and hands out to catch the ingot; but once it landed in his palms he unintentionally tossed it out of hand in the midst of his fumbling in trying to get a grip on it. The soft and reflective surface made the item slip out of his grasp like butter.
"Whoa! Darn." The miner watched as the gold bar hit the ground, he shook his head and planted a palm on his temple from his clumsy attempt to catch the metal bar. He then laughed nervously when the ancient being narrowed his eyes a little. "Sorry Herobrine, but I wasn't ready to catch it."
The white-eyed duplicate shook his head and exhaled loudly. "It is fine, don't apologize for something that was not your fault." He lightly scolded. "The mistake was mine, I was impatient and tossed too soon." Hero had another gold ingot forming in his hand as he quietly seethed to himself, it was a minuscule matter but it made him feel embarrassed; something he hadn't gotten used to feeling again after a long time. It was an unpleasant feeling to say the least.
"No problem Herobrine, really. It had just a little too smooth and slippery surface and I didn't have a good grip on it is all." The miner exclaimed to lighten the bitterness the ancient being had over such a small slip up, he then reached down to pick up the gold until a small form ran before him and hurriedly swiped up the ingot and bolted. "Wha- hey!" He watched as a small piglin runt ran a few blocks away before turning around, having the ingot pressed against it's chest with small arms wrapped around it possessively. "Are you going to give me something in return for that?" Steve asked, now feeling annoyed as the creature just stood there staring, offering nothing in return for the gold; it basically stole the metal.
The miner moved down onto a knee to meet the smaller mob's gaze. "Hey there little guy, you want to bring that gold ingot back over here? We kind of need it." Steve asked with a soft smile and sounding as friendly as possible while holding out his hand. He blinked when the young piglin took a couple of short steps towards him with a curious look, the gold ingot still bound to it's chest with it's tiny hooves wrapped around the ends of the precious metal. It was compliant? It was also kind of cute and maybe even friendly? The miner thought with surprise written on his expression, the little guy was actually going to give it back to him? How thoughtful and amazing that such a mob could show compassion despite being typically hostile.
Then to his shock the small mob narrowed it's eyes, snorted, and stuck it's tiny snout up in the air and turned around with an almost haughty look and started to slowly trot away.
Steve's brows slanted and he gaped for a short second before heaving his body forward and lunging at the small piglin, he of course missed and landed belly flat with an pained 'oof'; the small mob quickly retreated amongst the idle tribe and went into hiding within the group with it's prize.
"Young piglins don't barter, forget that ingot."
Steve glanced up at Herobrine. "But it stole it, we worked hard for our gold."
Herobrine seemed to have gotten over his small moment of shame and was already back to his usual self. "That ingot is a lost cause, unless you want me to slay the entire tribe to get it back?" The half-god offered with a gesture of his hand, his tones were light but his expression clearly showed his annoyance with his slanted brows. The ancient being's darkening expression made the miner's lighten. "And careful, if you had accidently hurt the young one then I' would' have to exterminate the entire tribe, any kind of hostility towards them will cause them to share it in return tenfold. Though these mobs are nuisances that I can dispatch with ease, I'd rather not as they serve some use to me and have been spared for that very reason."
"I was only going to take the gold back, not hurt it. I was close to getting the runt. You saw." Steve lightly pounded a fist into the ground.
"Hmph, more like close to making yourself an enemy of a tribe of twenty-three. Even causing the child stress would likely offset all of them, I don't imagine you'd get the ingot back without force either. Not to mention the possibility of landing on it and injuring it somewhat. Next time think before you leap." He held a hand down at the miner.
Steve sighed as he pushed himself up off the ground and took Herobrine's hand. "Well, It was taunting me." He said as he fully stood up and rubbed the sides of his arms, brushing off fragments of Netherrack and Netherish mycelium. "I'll be more careful next time." He added and slightly gaped as Herobrine held out another gold ingot, he took the shining bar with a firm hold and returned to the group of pig-mobs recapturing their attention.
"Do not worry about wasting gold, we have more than enough."
"Okay then, let's try this again shall we?" Steve muttered to himself and held out the new ingot towards the sword wielding piglin. "Trade?" He asked.
The piglin takes the ingot and inspects it closely for roughly a minute, unblinking and softly grunting. The miner waited patiently, silently hoping to be traded with what they needed. He sees the piglin pull the side of it's tunic open, dropping the gold in and pulling something out; it drops a dark sphere into Steve's hands.
"Hot, hot!" Steve tosses the small black ball between both of his hands repeatedly while grimacing, the sphere had thin bright glowing creases all across it's cracked surface and was indeed hot to the touch and yet rather solid. It looked oddly like a ball of hardened lava with some molten fire still inside. "Is this thing it?" He asked as he kept moving the burning orb from palm to palm, feeling almost as if he was holding fire in his hands.
The white-eyed man thinly narrowed his eyes and gave a toothy frown, he then reached over and took the sphere from the miner and threw it on the ground next to him in vexation; a plume of fire erupted from the object on impact and incinerated several blocks of the crimson mycelium and set the ground at his side ablaze. Steve quickly backed away from Herobrine and away from the flames, he didn't fancy the idea of catching on fire; he was surprised that Herobrine wasn't burning from being so close to the flickering flames.
"That was a fire charge, definitely not what we need." He then summoned another ingot into his hand and this time he held it firmly in his grasp as heat surged through his fingers and thus through the ingot, small flecks of black formed on the surface of the ingot and then chipped and peeled from the shining object. "Try this one." Herobrine said heatedly, still very much annoyed. "It's completely refined and as pure as gold is going to get, absolutely no impurities whatsoever. Hmph, leave a half-god to do the simple work of a furnace."
The bar was almost as hot as the black ball of molten lava but Steve took it into hand and tried his best to ignore the heated gold and quickly held it back to the same piglin; seriously hoping that it would take the ingot soon before he drops it from the burning sensation eating at the palm of his hand. To his relief, the piglin quickly swipes it up and closely inspects gold for a third time; eyeing the metal more closely.
"If it doesn't give us what we want this time, then I may consider obliterating this tribe." The white-eyed man sneered.
The miner sweated a bit and put on a fake grin, giving the powerful man a nervous look as the guy's hands coil into fists. "There's no need to be that harsh Brine, don't punish all for the mistake of one okay?" Sure the piglins were hostile mobs of the Nether, but they were somewhat smart and even traveled together in families. Just knowing even this much about the swine creatures made him pity them and even favor them over the other mobs he's encountered in the hostile dimension. His smile quickly fell, infuriated and tense Herobrine standing before a wall of crackling flames was actually kind of terrifying. Steve turned back towards the piglin, it ceased it's surface inspection and then bit down on the corner of the ingot; after another glance over the gold it was ready. The creature then reached into it's leather tunic and dropped the ingot in before pulling out a glass bottle and holding it out to the miner.
Steve cautiously took the bottle and eyed it suspiciously, it looked exactly like a potion; except it had an unusual glowing gold color to it.
"Ah, just what we need. About time."
The miner turned around to face Herobrine and noticed the man's now diminished anger, he was faintly grinning and seemed more at ease with a less than tense posture. "What? This potion?" Steve asked as he raised the bottle up and gave it another quick look before glancing back at the ancient being as he folded his arms. He sighed when he realized that look on the old hero. "You want me to drink this don't you?" His frown deepened when Herobrine nodded.
"Yes, drink all of it. It won't taste pleasant but it will give you just the right effect for training today, so drink up."
Steve furrowed a brow, Herobrine had a smirk on his face; he trusted the guy so he supposed the potion won't hurt; but he certainly wasn't too thrilled to drink it. That grin on the white-eyed one was a mischievous one, almost enough to indicate that the concoction was probably going to surprise him in some way. "Here we go then." The miner popped the cork and tossed it away before bringing the glass to his lips and beginning to down the bottle. In just a few gulps he quickly came to a stop with a twisted expression of disgust and abhorrence. "This is worse than the stamina potion." He declared, wiping at the corner of his mouth with a face of disgust.
"All of it." Herobrine pressed.
Steve wearily stared at the glowing substance before tilting his head back and chugging the rest of the bottle's contents, once finished he pulls the glass back with an expression of nausea and coughs a couple of times while lurching forward as if about to spit it back up.
"So how was it?" The ancient being asks as he approached the miner.
Steve shook his head and fought to hold the liquid down, it was a challenge but he managed to and forces himself out of his hunched posture. He stands up straight and put his hand on his hip and keeps his eyes glued shut, just glad that the small ordeal was over. "It burned on the way down, it's extremely bitter too." Steve said in relief, now that he didn't have to drink anymore. His face was somewhat contorted from the residual horrid taste of the concoction still in his mouth, so was the lingering burning sensation down his throat. For some reason, his throat felt hotter than the air he breathed; a weird tingling sensation formed and quickly spread throughout his body that he couldn't quite explain. For some odd reason, his throat burned more than his body did. Actually, he noticed how much more tolerant the Nether heat was than the potion he drank; even his stomach felt like a pit of flames in comparison to the extreme temperatures of the current environment toasting his flesh.
"Hmmm, good. That mean's it's working."
Steve pried his eyes open and raised a brow. "What's working? What kind of potion even was-" Before he could say another word he feels Herobrine's grip on the arm tighten and he drops the bottle; the man's smirk was continuously present.
"This." He said with a impish look, and without warning swung the miner overtop of him and over into the flames nearby created by the fire charge.
The mortal screamed with wide eyes as he was thrown into several blocks of fire and smacked the crackling Netherrack beneath him. "Ahhha! No!" He swung his limbs out and cried out at the thought of burning alive, he was in full blown panic and fright mode until playful laughter nearby made Steve cease in his flailing. He's never heard Herobrine laugh like that before. It was then when the miner blinked and gawked in shock as the fire licked his skin but did not burn, strangely, not even the bands of gauzes nor his pants or boots singed. 'The fire is hot to the touch, but I'm not burning?' It was then when Steve noticed a faint golden glow on the surface of his skin, so it was a fire resistance effect that the potion gave?
Turning belly flat, Steve pushed himself up to stand up in the fire to see the old hero just outside the blaze chuckling, smiling; it was so genuine that it was a shock to Steve. Despite the thought of almost literally burning to death seconds ago he too found himself laughing along; but mostly in relief.
...
A single mauve eye gazed upon the two men far below, the Endermen stood high upon the Netherrack shelf, just within the cyan colored Warped Forest as it observed Steve and the demon. It was about to teleport into the blazing fire once the miner was unexpectedly thrown into it to save him, but the man now stood in it amazingly unscathed; laughing among all things when he could have perished. Stealth lowly hissed at the white-eyed being, not only tricking Steve but also interacting with him in such a way when the two were supposed to be enemies. Herobrine in a way; replaced him, stole his brother, and this fueled the rage of the soul within.
Stealth soon teleported away.
...
The miner walked out of the fire and soon inspected his clothes, just to make sure nothing burned. "Wow Herobrine, that was quite some scare; I thought I was going to burn alive for a second in the fire. Silly of me to think that, especially with how protective you've been lately. So this is what you wanted to show me huh? Nice prank." Steve said as his and Herobrine's laughter had died down. "I'm actually more surprised with how much that little stunt you just pulled has made you seem so happy and relaxed, it's a good look on you; not to mention how you were while mining earlier. I've never seen you have so much fun in just one day." Herobrine's smile quickly fell and he became silent with a frown. "It's so unlike you, yet I'm glad you got a good laugh out of it; you should smile and laugh more."
The ancient man looked away with his posture tensing up a bit, his tones now back to the usual heavy seriousness. "Enough. Yes, that is indeed what I wanted to show you; though it was not entirely for entertainment, there happened to be fire nearby and now you got a good idea of what we need for the next training session." He then turned back to face Steve and held out his hand, a bright ball of blaze formed within his palm; this made the miner gape in awe. "For the training in evasion you will be trying to avoid fireballs that I will be throwing at you, we need potions of fire resistance so that you do not burn; of course getting hit by one even with the resistance will still very much hurt; so keep that in mind for later."
Steve gulped and nodded, not so keen on the possibility of pain coming soon. "Yeah, will do." He replied more softly.
"Good." Herobrine crushed the semi-solid orb of flames in his hand and it dispersed into tuffs of smoke and ash.
"Well it's a good thing my legs are feeling a little better since this morning, I should still be able to run; that apple I ate gave me a lot of energy and I'm still up to moving around with ease."
"Then let's waste no more time, we'll trade for several more of those concoctions and be on our way; I'm assuming you've had enough of the Nether heat by now." He gestured.
Steve shrugged with a light frown. "I don't know, at first I was super parched and very hot; but for some reason I'm not burning up as much. Granted it is still stifling in this world, but it's suddenly much more tolerable, I don't even think I'm sweating anymore." He says as he brings the back of his hand up to his forehead and pats around for moisture; not that it would last long in the Nether anyway.
Herobrine put a hand on his chin in thought. "Hmm, it must be the potion that is at work then; the resistance to fire must also work against intense heat as I've once used these potions to build part of the foundation of my Nether fortress in the depths of the lava lakes."
Steve's eyes lighted up in curiosity and astonishment. "Wait, you used these potions building that thing?"
The old hero folded his arms and exhaled softly, not pleased with recalling all the pain he endured just to build his empty kingdom of the Netherworld; that thought quickly came to mind. "Only a little. Not for the entirety of the foundation as I hadn't ventured off in the Nether realm very far or for a very long time, I mostly staid in that one place and had to deliberately burn just to start the base of the fortress." His head dipped a bit and his gaze moved to the ground for a long moment before moving back to the miner's violet eyes, giving himself just enough time to reword what he wanted to say and avoid a moment of vulnerability. Vulnerability was something he detested with an unbridled passion, even in present time because it would always remind him of when he was helpless to do anything and was subjugated to torment by the humans.
"I've been tormented by being thrown into lava before as you know, but at least on my own accord I could move within it and escape it; either way it was not easy to place the foundation in the liquid fire as it took what felt like days to recover after every dive just to heal enough to go again. Unfortunately, I hadn't considered exploration until at least half of the structure was complete; if I had then I would have discovered the piglins more sooner and eventually the fire resistance potions that they can make and trade." Herobrine sighed heavily with a disgruntled huff. "I wouldn't have to suffer so needlessly had I known sooner."
"Why build in the lava? Why not just the Netherrack?" The miner inquired.
"Because Netherrack is a very weak type of stone, it's porous and easy to crush; it takes intense flames just to smelt blocks of them into viable material like condensed bricks. I couldn't trust the natural source to hold up my fortress alone."
"Wait, why even build a Nether fort in the first place? I thought you hated the Nether."
The white-eyed man's frown deepened and eyes slightly narrowed. "I do. Building it was a testament to myself and dominating a world that once thought it could break and dominate me." He said with his arms falling to his sides and fingers coiling into fists. "Besides, once freed of the paralysis spell I was still trapped here until Ender had regained enough power to give to me that would allow me to teleport out of this place. The Overworld and the Netherworld are very close dimension wise, yet there seems to be a strong barrier between the two, same with the void; I couldn't even escape there. It's like this world was not meant to be accessed so easily for mortals nor half-gods. Thankfully, Ender found a way and made it possible through the purple mists that I can now conjure, or through built 'portals' of obsidian as you humans call them."
The miner titled his head in thought. "I suppose that's how people have gotten into the Nether then, I once never believed anyone to have ever come here but I've heard rumors of humans getting in here through portals made out of obsidian; some finding rare materials and many others never returning. I just dismissed it all as folklore or blatant lies as I've never cared anything about a fabled place I used to not believe in. As an avid miner, nothing of such really ever piqued my interest; my sister on the other hand, would have been all over it as she's into fabled stuff and stories of ancient legends and whatnot. I'm assuming Nigel is too." Steve softly inhaled a breath of hot air, curious and yet somewhat not expecting a response to a question he suddenly had come to mind. "So, about Ender's power to teleport through dimensions ..."
Herobrine huffed before swinging an arm towards the ground, causing the fire to die out instantly. "Enough, that is a concern for another day." He said with irritancy and held out his hand before summoning another brick of gold. "Right now there's things to be done and training to get started on, I will answer your question but it will not be anytime soon." To his relief Steve kept his frown but nodded, he had no intentions to speak so much about the beast; lest he destroys what confidence the miner has so quickly.
As Herobrine summoned the gold the piglin horde that had dispersed a short while ago soon came trotting back together and huddled around the two men behind a hidden barrier, being weary of Herobrine's power but still very much interested in the gold. Soon Herobrine and Steve begins their bartering all over again to the same piglin, the quality of the gold ensures that they get several potion bottles and a random chunk of blackstone in which Herobrine places them in one of Steve's old bags that he summoned from the stronghold. They were down to the last barter before things went awry.
"The next concoction it gives you will be the last, seven of them is more than enough."
The miner nods as he straps the bag over his side and makes sure it's secure. "Yeah." He says as he pats the dark grey sack and awaits for the sword wielding piglin to finally make up it's mind. But before it can the entire tribe immediately break from the trance of the gold ingot in the mob's grasp and move about in a violent frenzy with weapons raised while squealing aloud, this frightened Steve and he reels back in confusion as the mobs turn away from them and start charging a small group of other pig-like mobs; except these pigs were quadrupeds and had large tusks, bulky bodies, small blank eyes, and wild dark colored manes trailing down their backs. He watched in horror as they fought, weapons dug into the unfamiliar creatures and tusks marred through cloth and flesh.
Herobrine growled and narrowed his eyes. "How very inconvenient." He complained as he summoned his diamond blade of wrath into hand.
"What's going on? What are those things? Are they piglins too?" The man questioned, wincing as one of the four-footed creatures grunted aloud as an arrow struck it's side.
"Those are not piglins, they are hoglins; a mob just as stubborn and territorial as piglins. However; they are unintelligent and care not for gold, they attack anything and everything that they consider to be on their turf. These mobs have bad blood with each other and will typically fight to the death." He squeezed the handle of his sword and glanced back at Steve. "Stay put right here, I will help kill these nuisance mobs off; get the last potion from that piglin still staring at the gold." He pointed to the side, the miner blinked in disbelief as the mob continued to inspect the bar as if nothing was happening behind it. "Afterwards just wait there patiently, this shouldn't take long; and do not engage with hoglins, they are quite formidable by human standards."
"Okay, here I'll stay then." Steve said worriedly, watching arrows fly around in nearly all directions before him; hopefully he would not get caught in the crossfire. He then watched as Herobrine zipped away several blocks from him and throw his arms out from a large charging hoglin heading in his direction, he snagged the mob by the tusks and held firmly as the creature tried to ram itself into him but it was not strong enough; the miner than gawked in amazement as Herobrine hauled the hog from the ground and slung the large beast into a crimson tree before appearing next to it and shoving his sword through it.
"Wrreeehhhh! Huggnnn!"
"Hey!" Steve swiftly spun around and quickly reached out and caught the glowing potion as it was chucked his way, just barely keeping the glass from shattering on the rough jagged stone below. The bartering mob whipped it's golden sword up into the air and joined the fray in a quick sprint, soon disappearing into the horde of chaos.
The miner shook his head, eyes darting everywhere as the mobs fought each other, they were savage and relentless; all over a little plot of land? Herobrine was slaying the beasts with ease, thankfully he wasn't killing the piglins; they weren't so bad. He thought.
"Hurrggghhh!"
A sudden squeal had him turning to his side to see a baby hoglin charging his way, it was quicker than expected and yet so small; he didn't even get to jump out of the way before the little mob barreled into his legs and sent him crashing face-first onto the ground. Steve landed with an 'oof' and winced as he pushed himself up; it was then when he noticed that the helmet on his head was missing, a hand moved up to his scalp but all he felt was his hair. His eyes widened as he sees the shining armor piece just a few blocks away from him, a little far out of reach but easily recoverable. He swiftly moved on his knees towards the helmet until a familiar small figure moved in his line of sight and stood just before the gold helmet.
"No." Steve gaped and narrowed his eyes as the same baby piglin that stole his gold was now looking down at his helmet in wonderment. "Don't you dare." Steve warned, now cautiously moving forward; thankful that the older piglins were too preoccupied to worry about him at the moment. The small mob picked up the helmet and inspected the gold. The miner's head swung from side to side, now a pleading look crossing his features. "Please don't. I really need that." He said with almost a begging tone of voice. He then held a hand out. "Please?" He asked again, but to his dismay the baby piglin places the gold helmet onto it's head and trots away like a little prince.
"You've got to be kidding me." He mutters lowly just as the sounds of the pig and hog scuffle comes to an end, he turns to face the crimson forest and hoglins laid motionless everywhere; but the piglins soon turn their attention to him. Rotten luck it was for the battle to end just as he accidently looses his gold helmet and it gets stolen from him by the same runt.
...
"Ahhhaaaa!" Steve screams as he runs as fast as his legs could carry him through the red forest, he hops over small mounds of Netherrack, evades flying arrows, and weaves through thorny weeping vines of red; trying to lose the mass of murderous pig-men chasing after him. Soon he senses Herobrine's power at his back and he glances over his shoulder to find Herobrine just a few blocks away with the piglin horde following behind in pursuit. "Herobrine?" He huffs out.
The old hero sneered, making the miner give him a toothy frown. "I told you not to take off that damn helmet!" He scolded loudly in Steve's head, making him grimace.
'I didn't mean to!' He plead back in his mind.
"I'm going to turn around and destroy this tribe, consider yourself lucky that I'm here; otherwise they will run you to your death." He growled out.
'No! Don't!' It's my fault, don't kill them because of me!' The miner defended, soon wondering why he was since they were trying to kill him; but then he decided that him and Herobrine infiltrated their territory and it was an accident that he lost his helmet and triggered them. 'They trade you the Fire resistance potions!'
"I can find another tribe to get the potions from, I'll slay these mobs." Herobrine said darkly, his eyes widen for a second. "Get down!"
"No please!" Steve shouted out as he ducked as instructed, narrowly avoiding an arrow from sinking into the back of his head.
Herobrine grit his teeth as they exited the crimson woods, thinking. Now running next to a huge gap in Netherrack at their side, the old hero ported over next to the miner and gave him a serious look. "Fine, I will use some of our remaining gold to distract them, you however; need to get out and away from here and as far as possible." He demanded, then shoved the miner to the side to take an arrow to his arm, he grunted in pain but kept up his pace with his burning white eyes still on the miner.
"Herobrine?!"
"I will be fine. Now be gone with you!" He growled and then reached out his arm and shoved the miner again, but this time more roughly and with more force that the miner didn't even touch the ground.
Steve yelped as he was pushed away from the white-eyed man and over a cliff nearby, his violet eyes stare on in despair as he was now falling down towards a sea of lava below. The miner panicked in his fall, the glow on his skin was nearly gone; the Nether was starting to become a lot hotter again. The effects of the fire resistance potion was beginning to wear off, if he lands in the lava he's as good as dead.
His freefall to his doom was cut short as a large white blob passes underneath him, he lands on the somewhat squishy soft surface; the landing though safe was not exactly a painless one, the large mob shrieks loudly from the impact but continues to fly forward and in an hurried speed in no known direction. Steve grunts out in pain and lifts his head to find himself on top of a ghast, it flew over the sea of molten rock and wasn't trying to throw him off like the first ghast he hitched a ride on.
With curiosity getting the better of the miner, he slowly inched his way to edge of the creature's temple and glanced down at it's face, it had large glowing white eyes; under Herobrine's control. Relief fell on the miner and he scooted back a little to rest and catch his breath, he stayed low and dug his nails into the mob just so that he wouldn't slip off the speeding creature. Steve then blinked when a rope formed around the ghast in front of him, he reached for it and grabbed the lead; with it he was able to sit upright and not worry about falling off or struggling to hang on.
"Thanks Herobrine, sorry to have caused that mess back there; but it was an accident I promise." Of course he wasn't going to get a reply but he liked to think that the ex-hero had angrily dismissed him as usual, a soft scolding.
Steve soon began to survey his surroundings as him and the ghast flew over and into new places of the Nether. The miner stared in awe as he passed over more crimson and warped forests, finding more piglins, hoglins, zombie piglins, and Endermen as he looked on down below; as well as new red colored creatures that were somehow able to traverse the surface of the lava on two legs. He covered his mouth and nose with his arm and squinted his eyes as they passed into an area covered in grey and black, thick ash swirled about in the air and almost appeared to be coming down from the smoky colored Nether ceiling. He saw a new type of mob here, there were various sizes of square-ish limbless creatures that would hop around; globs of lava oozed from their forms as they splat about.
The next Nether biome they flew across though was the absolute worst, the atmosphere was not as stifling hot; it was actually more tolerable but it was darker and there was almost a heaviness to the air. Deep turquoise fog permeated the place, obscuring sight and hiding what lied ahead around twenty or so blocks. Steve's eyes widen and he shrank back in his position and kept his head low, he saw skeleton archers treading across dark soil; something he recalled seeing when Herobrine filled them with souls. Chills ran up his spine from the very thought of soulsoil, the gigantic bones jutting up from the grounds rattled him; not knowing what they came from; he hoped to never find out.
The only thing that he liked about the place was the blue flames here and there burning across the surface of the soil, despite it being fire; the more cool color made it seem less dangerous for some reason. It probably wasn't.
"Whoa!" Steve nearly let go of the reigns of the mob and slipped off when the creature suddenly tilts to it's side while passing between what Steve thought was two large pillars of dark colored salt; extending from the ground all the way to the ceiling, he managed to get a good grip and hold tightly until the mob stabilized itself in an upright position. "A little warning would be nice next time Brine." Steve complained, the ghast only quietly whined as he tapped it on the head with the palm of his hand.
Out of seemingly nowhere, a fiery large object passed over him and the ghast and smashed into a spire of salt up ahead, the pillar cracked from the impact and crumbled down to it's base. The miner quickly whipped his head around to see two huge white forms in the distant fog behind him, after squinting his eyes he could make out the same shape of the ghast he was on; there were two other ghasts now flying after him. One of them peeled it's red blazing eyes open before spitting out a large fireball that quickly flew into his direction.
"Herobrine?!" He tapped the ghast below him, but it did nothing. "Hey, are you even there?" Steve asked, but he got no response and nearly slipped off the massive mob as the flaming projectile flew right at his side; nearly hitting him spot on. The man breathed a sigh of relief before sighing. "Okay, so Herobrine might not be in complete control, so I guess I will have to." Steve took the rope and glanced back over his shoulder, he saw two spheres of flames coming at him this time; he lurched forwards on the white mob and pushed downwards with a bit of pressure. The mob dipped downward towards the ground as the projectiles fly overhead and smash into the Netherrack ceiling and exploding on impact.
Unfortunately, going downward had slowed him down and now the following ghasts had gotten closer. Steve pulled the reigns right and left to stir his mob away from the incoming fireballs, he easily avoided the flaming orbs but was steadily coming upon more salt pillars. He held the lead tightly in his grasp and lowered himself closer to the mob, he grit his teeth and stirred the creature through the gaps. Weaving through the vertical columns he hoped to lose the pursuing monsters; but to his annoyance he didn't lose them, only slowed them a little. "Really?"
Soon he had exited the dark biome and returned to the Nether wastes and vast lakes of lava, more fireballs were sent his way, one barely grazed him; it burned and nearly had him letting go of the rope. Thankfully it only left a light burn on the side of his good arm; the damage likely reduced from the remains of the potion he drank earlier. Steve hissed as he resituated himself on the ghast and readjusted his grip on the reigns, there didn't appear to be any way to escape or out speed his pursuers. But to his surprise a large black structure in the distance caught his immediate attention, it was halfway built into a Netherrack wall with a long bridge extending out of it. He wondered if Herobrine made it, but there was no time to ponder as another fireball nearly hitting him tore his focus from the thought.
Steve pulled up on the rope as he neared the black building, he leaned over and glanced down as he flew up and over the bridge; he saw piglins of all kinds tending to a huge mass of gold. Larger piglins in black with axes of gold tried to chase after him but stopped their pursuit when they couldn't follow off the bridge. The structure was basically a colony he realized. He returned his attention to face forward and looked for any direction that he could go to try and attempt to lose the ghasts still following behind. He swiftly directed the mob through a wide ravine and then through a narrow tunnel of Netherrack at the end of it, but as he grew closer to the exit of the tunnel he jerked the mob aside as he almost ran into a lava fall from the Nether roof on the way out. At the same time however; the ghast was struck by an explosive fireball from behind. It shrieked aloud and slowed it's pace considerably, it was wounded.
"Oh no. Come on big guy, we gotta go." He muttered to the creature and tugged at the rope as they flew into a very open area, The ghast only whined, then suddenly shrieked again as another fireball struck it. "Oh Notch no!" The mob began to descend towards a open lake of lava. "No stop!" The miner yanked the reigns upwards as hard as he could, the two white mobs in his peripheral urged him to try harder to get his mob moving. "No... we... can't go... down... only... up." He said through clenched teeth and continued to pull. To his surprise his efforts paid off and the mob began to ascend again.
"Come on, just keep going." He held the rope tightly and mentally prayed that the other ghasts would just give up already, after a long moment he noticed that there hadn't been anymore fireballs flying his way. Steve dared to look back and he nearly shuddered in shock when he saw that there was only one ghast now following him and Herobrine was standing on it's back just a few blocks away, arms crossed and with a grin on his face. Finally, true reprieve. The miner leaned back and breathed deeply.
"You know, we haven't even begun the training and you are doing fairly well; both you and the ghast you are on are still alive. I was expecting you not to take control and just get picked off, having to look for you somewhere on the Nether floor."
The miner briefly closed his eyes. "Herobrine, don't ever do that again."
"What, spare you?" He mused.
"No, don't push me over a gap of lava ever again; that was utterly terrifying." He groaned.
"Did you think I wouldn't have a plan?" The old hero countered and shook his head, he retained his grin. "I could have easily sent you back to the Overworld as we fled the piglins, but then I thought more about your evasion training and decided to try out something a little different than originally planned; a small experiment if you will."
"What?" Steve sat up on the ghast and shot Herobrine a light glare.
The old hero chuckled. "It turned out to be a good practice, even if you weren't on your feet you still made some interesting maneuvers in your attempts to escape and dodge the projectiles. You did better than expected, well except for that last part; but cramming yourself through tunnels and into lava falls are too dangerous for you to deal with safely without the fire resistance effect."
"So I was never in any 'real' danger?"
"Hmph, I wouldn't say that exactly; you did take a bit of hit yourself." He nodded at the miner's arm and the guy wrapped a hand over it. "But I wouldn't let you die if that is what you are thinking."
"Well thanks. Next time a heads-up would be very much appreciated." Steve said quietly as he examined the slight burn on the side of his forearm and bicep.
"Why take away the surprise? There's no fun in that."
Steve exhaled heavily and closed his eyes, a slight expression of exasperation rested on his features. "I'm human Brine, there's only so much I can handle at a time. Being chased down by raging piglins and then immediately thrown over a lava lake, only to be hunted in the air by mobs with explosive fireballs and trying desperately to escape them? My mind and body can't handle such pressures, I don't need to keel over from stress and anxiety when were nearing the take down of a powerful beast. I can understand if something like this happens against Ender, but not for training. So please, just give me a little breathing room next time?"
... ...
Steve's eyes open back up after a long moment of silence, he looks back over his should towards Herobrine; but the man was not there.
"Um Herobrine?" Steve asks as he looks to his left, the white-eyed man and even the ghast he rode on was gone. Steve then turned to his right to see the open space next to him also empty; he then glances back over his shoulder and there was no man or mob to be seen. Herobrine was truly gone. "Herobrine?" He called again, but this time with more worry before eyeing the large wall of Netherrack that him and the ghast he was on was heading to, there was no where to turn and the ghast wouldn't stop when he tugged at the rope; the only way to go was down and into lava which he absolutely refused.
"Herobrine!?" He asked more desperately.
Soon he was closing in on the wall, there was about to be one bad collision. "Ahhhhhaaaa!" Steve let go of the reigns and closed his eyes, throwing his arms up in front of his face instinctively to shield it.
The miner screamed aloud as he neared the wall, then in an instant felt a slap of cold air all across his body as well as small swirling gales of wind brush against his exposed flesh.
"You disappoint me miner, did you honestly think I was going to let you run into that wall?"
Steve lowered his arms and looked back behind him, he saw Herobrine standing just a foot away on the ghast with his arms folded while looking across the horizon with a smile; partially painted with a slight orange and yellowish glow. The man nodded towards the space before the ghast. The miner turned his head back in front of him and gazed in awe at the sight before his eyes, he gaped at the amazing view. They were high up in the sky right before the Stronghold and all the settlements surrounding it, beyond the full view of the structures was a plethora of plains, forests, cedar woods, and mountains in the far distance; the snowcapped peaks reflected the golden glow of the sun descending on the horizon. It was beautiful.
"This... this is amazing." The miner said as he stared, his smile widened and he relaxed in his now sitting position on the mob; just drinking in the view and the feeling of flight as cool refreshing wind rushed through his hair. "How often do you come up to such heights and watch a sunset?"
Herobrine's smile faded a bit. "Not much, hardly ever. This is the first time I've ever been up this high in the Overworld that I can recall, let alone ride a ghast." The miner looked back at him, now frowning with a crestfallen expression. "But it's what you should have expected by now Steve, I once didn't exist for such moments of pleasure and satisfaction, or not of this sort; it was always getting ahold of those I hunted down and slaughtering them that brought me such elation. However; there are quite a few times I remember enjoying the nearing nightfall that I would watch with Lionel before going on guard duty, that is why I can finally enjoy this spectacular sight before us. I have you to thank, even if it might be for a short time."
This made Steve's smile somewhat return, even if Herobrine wasn't used to such nice moments; at least he could begin to experience them again now. Such a thought fueled his determination to free the ancient being of his debt, the guy deserved happiness for even the simplest of things. Steve reclined forward some on the mob and traced his eyes all over the stronghold, though decrepit and mostly in ruin; there was a beauty about the stone brick structure. He could almost envision what it was like if it had been restored to it's formal glory, that was something they'd need to work on once stopping the End beast.
Maybe then afterwards he could bring his friends and family and show them the amazing history of the land and perhaps reside there if Herobrine would allow. It's big, stunning in design, nice inside décor, it's safe; with Herobrine around of course. There was so much to it, so much untouched land and underground caves to explore and mine. There's so much room to build and occupy, it had every type of room they needed and much more. With a view like the one before him, it only sold the idea more that he wished he could stay there.
"Man, Alex would love this place, she'd definitely love being so high up." He muttered to himself as he thought about the adventurous and brave lady that has often put him to shame with her skills and quick thinking.
Herobrine raised a brow, assuming the miner was talking about his friend he mentioned a couple times. "Hmmm, tell me more about this friend of yours named 'Alex'." He mused, not because he was interested in the human specifically but because they seemed so important to the miner and might have shaped his way of life to the way that it is now.
Steve blinked and gave Herobrine a side glance of mixed confusion and excitement. "Hmm." He grinned and looked back towards the fortress as it grew nearer and nearer in their slow approach and descent. Herobrine being curious over other humans besides him or Lionel was shocking to say the least, but he wouldn't miss the opportunity if it meant that he could one day meet his friend and find trust in them too.
"She's a really close ... uh childhood friend of mine." Steve started nervously, now feeling a bit bashful as he thought about her and how close they've gotten over the years; only his mining trips ever seemed to separate them anymore. He exhaled and let the heat leave his cheeks, he shouldn't feel embarrassed to talk about her. "I-I think you'd like Alex, she's fearless, courageous, loves to go on adventures, is really skilled with bows and surprisingly hand to hand combat." He lightly chuckled on the last part, remembering first meeting her and getting pretty much pulverized upon accidently spooking her in his quiet approach. "She's also daring and not afraid to stand up to those who may be stronger or tougher than her, I mean sometimes she even scares me ha ha." He said with a nervous chuckle.
"Yet she's surprisingly chill and very supportive, we used to go on adventures back in the day before my mom lost her village job and had to turn to field work. After that I had to pick up the weight to support our family and became an official miner since it's the best paying work in our village and it's something I enjoy doing, we would still go exploring and stuff but it became a less frequent thing. Still, the times when we do go on our adventures she can easily hold her own mostly and is not afraid to attempt dangerous stunts; which is why I think she'd love ghast riding through the Nether. She likes being on the edge sometimes, it was this trait of her that inspired me to be a little more reckless and brave. Can't say that it's a good thing sometimes, but she's inspiring."
Herobrine nodded, of course the miner has such tendencies to get reckless and face dangers head on, his friend was someone he was aspiring to be. Not the healthiest nor safest of traits to mimic; but that has helped Steve to survive in this dangerous and hazardous land, and even him. It was quite a fascinating observation, some other mortal shaped the miner to who is now; ultimately altering what the guy could have been had he had no such influence. He probably wouldn't be here or alive.
"And your sister, 'Stephanie' was it? What is she like?" Herobrine inquired, wondering if the younger Stonewall was anything like Steve or Lionel.
Steve scratched the back of his head and sweated a little with his smile fading, she and Alex were nothing alike but they were good friends at least. "Uh, well for starters she's not exactly 'audacious' I should put it. Not like me or Alex as she doesn't get away from the village often enough." He paused when he saw Herobrine raise a brow at him, he wasn't trying to talk bad about his sibling but she's not the kind to impress someone like Herobrine with how she was; at least Alex was somewhat interesting with her skills, acrobatics, toughness, and courageousness. "Stephanie is however; very kind, really pretty, very friendly. She's a great cook and has been learning how to use a sword lately, she's getting really good in her practice and is very persistent and fast on her feet." Steve paused for a moment, hesitant if he should continue; they were nothing alike and barely had much in common yet he continued out of his respect for her even if she didn't seem like the most exciting person.
"She takes care of a bunch of orphans in our town most of the day, great with kids and people, tends to our horses at the stables, and she can sing really well too."
For someone of Lionel's linage; this descendant didn't seem so appealing, tending to younglings and singing were traits less to be desired. Had no one taught her how to fight? Why is she so invested in other mortals outside of her family? It's a waste of time and dangerous with mistrustful beings, unfortunately she must be naïve or too trusting. Appearances have no value, cooking skills are a waste of time as well, friendliness has little to no benefits. At least she was learning to use a sword, that was something if anything worthwhile to note.
Steve sighed heavily, Herobrine didn't seem to be even the slightest interested in her. The miner shook his head and frowned. "Yeah, compassion is her strong suit, not fighting or mining, or anything exciting like that. But she's nice and caring. I wish I was always as considerate as she is, maybe then I wouldn't taken so long to try and understand you, or had so much trouble trying to fight the need for revenge when you showed me my dying father and brother. If anything, I want a heart like hers."
Compassion is a weakness, if the miner had none than Herobrine himself would be dead and Ender's debt gone; threat no more. He did not deserve forgiveness from the mortal, his caring side has almost got him killed multiple times. Having a softer heart would have brought Steve to an early grave, especially from the start of their encounters, so why want something that would only serve to cripple and bring about his death sooner? If sympathy and gentleness was the woman's greatest strength then it was detrimental to herself, something so abhorrent and pathetic only teaches the miner to hinder himself. No matter if they became friends from such a thing, there has been nothing but pain and torment to the man for weeks because of it.
Typical for humans to cling to such weak emotions, indeed they are such strange creatures; living in small communities and relying on frail trust to coexist with one another. These bonds they have are so easily broken, yet they persist and endure those that betray them.
A thought suddenly occurred to him, he wondered what would it be like if he lived like these mortals; it wasn't a pleasant thought but if it was anything like in the old days of being a hero then it couldn't be so bad right? It was interesting to ponder on, living in a small house, having neighbors, family, going off to do menial tasks all day, eating, sleeping every night. ... No. He shook his head. What a pathetic way to live, that would be a life he'll never have. Someone of such power and status and hatred for mortals would surely never lower himself to such feeble position and endure trusting that which he could not.
"So yeah, that's Stephanie." Steve said anxiously, Herobrine's blank expression remained unchanged and his arms were still folded as if he never really cared about the conversation from the beginning; just something to pass time as they descend to the ground below. "Anyway, I'm sure if you met them then you'd see them for who they really are as people and-"
"It'd be fruitless, I can't talk to other mortals remember? Unless you'd allow me to risk their very lives to form a mental connection? I was merely curious as to what they mean to you and if they had an impact on your life, there is nothing more I wish to know." He replied rather coldly.
Steve gaped at that in shock but then frowned and nodded, it was the power of soulsand that even had the connection form for him and now there was practically no sand left and he definitely didn't want the ladies to go through what he did. It could have killed him in the process even with the aid of the souls power. Besides, Herobrine hated humans and seems like he always will; he was foolish to assume that the guy would actually meet them; mute or not. "You're right." He said looking at the grass below as they neared the ground. "But even without words, I still think that they'd treat you just like me; maybe even better for being my friend. It's not like I couldn't speak for you, but I know you'd hate that." As expected Herobrine did not reply, he simply had no interest in meeting his friend and sister, let alone any other humans. There goes Nigel's chances too, disappointing.
The ghast flew low to the ground and Herobrine leapt off the top, easily landing on his feet with no trouble whatsoever; Steve held onto the edge of the mob and the rope before carefully sliding down to the ground. He turned away as the huge white creature flew up into the sky and into a cloud of purple, vanishing into the swirling violet fog that soon dissipated into thin air. The miner turned back towards Herobrine to see the man's eyes glowing brightly for a brief moment, then he turned to face him.
"There, that will keep mobs away as I am going to assume that the training will likely roll into nighttime; I apologize for this. Also, don't forget to drink your potion, the last one should be wearing off soon if not already."
"Pssh, no problems." Steve nonchalantly waved his hand at the being dismissively as he pulled the small bad from his shoulder and took out a glowing bottle. "The dark will probably help me to see the fireballs better anyway." He then paused as he gazed at his surroundings, they were not far from where Herobrine once hunted him and lead him to the cave where the guy fell into the lava pit; he wondered why this place in such an not so open field. "So why exactly are we out here in this place specifically?" He questioned with raised brows.
Herobrine chuckled lowly, this had the miner looking back at the old hero to see the man with both raised hands up at his sides as spheres of flames form in the palms of his hands. The white-eyed man grinned. "Familiarity with the environment is to better serve you during this training exercise, ...which begins now." He says darkly with narrowed eyes and soon floats up from the ground several feet, a big grin spreads across his face.