hi yall lol

so i started writing a new fic. im about 25k words into it, but won't start uploading it until it's completely written and edited, so here's a crumb of fic to tide you over while I do that.

The man struck his flint and steel together once, then twice before the spark caught, lighting the small fire that he and Null had built.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Valor protested, rubbing his broken leg idly to ease the aches and pains. "If those endermen come back, we'll have led them right to us."

"And?" The man raised a brow at him, sitting back comfortably as the fire rose in front of him. "We sent them running, and now they're down one fighter. Surely they wouldn't attack us, not without the element of surprise." Valor opened his mouth, then shut it.

"I suppose."

"Besides," the man nodded to Herobrine's pickaxe, laying quietly in the long grass. "If it's that they're after, they probably already have a beacon. You said they've attacked you before?"

"They have." Null confirmed. "And you're probably right."

"Likely enough…" Valor muttered, prodding at his broken leg. It had, fortunately, not been injured during the fight due to Null's quick thinking in getting him out of danger. Still hurt, though.

He wasn't quite sure what to think of this stranger. Of course, he had helped them, and therefore was unlikely to pull a surprise attack, but being around a man he didn't know while unable to walk was… unsettling, to say the least.

"Right." The man clapped, making him jump. "Introductions. You all can call me Wraith." Valor glanced up, raising a brow.

"Wraith?"

"What?" The man mirrored his expression. "It's no stranger of a name than 'Herobrine'." Valor stared for a moment before he remembered his eyes. This man had no reason to think he wasn't Herobrine.

"He's not Herobrine." Null cut in offhandedly. "That's his son." Until he said that. Valor's head whipped around to fix him with a glare.

"Ah." Wraith nodded. "That explains why you look so young. Where's Herobrine, then?"

"He's dead."

"Stop." Valor hissed.

"What?" Null turned his passive gaze onto him. "He saved our lives. I can't imagine that he's eager to harm us."

"Regardless, I keep these things secret for a reason."

"Oh, I apologize for being uninformed, I've been in an End prison for the last year."

"Besides," Wraith interjected. "I've seen Herobrine's face before. Something wasn't adding up." Valor flushed, disliking this situation more by the minute. Why had he seen Herobrine's face, anyway? "Could I have a proper introduction, then?" Wraith went on. "Rather than just telling me who you aren't?"

"Valor." Val gestured irritably at the sorcerer. "And this is Null."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both, even under the circumstances." Wraith gave the both of them a pleasant nod. "Anyway, we should discuss the matter of payment."

Valor blinked. "Payment?"

"For saving your lives a few minutes ago."

"We didn't ask you to do that." Valor protested. "And you can't say with certainty that we would have died had you not stepped in."

"He just said I saved your lives." Wraith nodded to Null.

"That isn't entirely truthful. I can't die." Null said. "So, you only owe him your life."

"Like I said, I would have been fine." A note of irritation crept into Valor's voice. Why did Null insist on making this harder?

"Well, alright then." Wraith poked at the small fire with a stick. "I suppose I'll have to take payment some other way." Valor stared at him.

"What do you m-"

An enderman appeared in their midst.

Immediately, Wraith lurched back, grabbing his handaxe, but the enderman threw up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Valor, Null!"

" Qorin!" Valor shot to his feet, immediately regretting it as his broken leg protested. Qorin grabbed his hands to steady him. "What happened to you? Are you hurt?"

"I'm unharmed. Who is this?" Qorin looked down at Wraith, who was gazing up at him in bewilderment.

"You have strange friends, Valor." The man lowered his axe. "Very well, why not." He shrugged, sinking down before the fire again. "Why not."

"The majority of the endermen are peaceful." Valor told him as Qorin pressed him down to the ground again. "The ones who attacked us are rogues."

"It's true, they keep to their own devices." Null chimed in. "Though they do have a penchant for locking people in void prisons."

"You tried to kill me."

"That is true."

" Valor," Qorin caught his attention again. "I was held in their lair. I… know what their goal is." Valor turned back to him, frowning.

"Tell me."

" Not here." Qorin shook his head. "They could come back. We must move. Are you hurt?"

" My leg is broken."

"Are you two finished speaking gibberish?" Wraith interrupted them. Valor shot him a withering look.

"We're getting ready to move, we need to leave in case the endermen return."

"Didn't we establish that we have nothing to fear from them?"

"We will," Qorin interjected. "if the Elder comes looking for me."

"Would he come after you?" Valor asked in concern. Qorin shifted uneasily.

"I think it quite likely that he would."

"Alright." Valor gripped the enderman's hand, using it to pull himself to his feet again. "We need to go. Come along if you wish, but we have to move." Wraith shrugged uncaringly as he got to his feet.

"Very well then. Let's go."

"Forty-four years ago," Qorin said, purple gaze focused on the grass. "There was an attempted coup in the End." Valor sat before him, translating quietly into the common tongue as he spoke. Wraith and Null sat on either side of him, listening. "The instigators were two endermen who were very close, bonded like brothers. Huntyr, and Skorr. They sought to take the throne from the sovereign, rule the End with an iron fist. Though they were quick enough to take the palace by surprise, they failed. Huntyr was killed, and Skorr fled to the overworld."

"Is Skorr the scarred one that attacked you?" Valor broke in. Qorin nodded.

" He is. He was gravely wounded in his attempt to escape, putting him in his… current state." Qorin gestured to his own face, imitating the scar that ran across the larger enderman. "Huntyr's pearl was given to one of the sovereign's trusted advisors to raise, one you know as Earl."

"Earl…" Valor trailed off as Qorin looked at him expectantly. "Earl raised you." He said slowly. "You're Huntyr."

"His pearl, yes. And Skorr recognized me." Qorin nodded, his face pinched. "Which is why he did not kill me, as he has done to every other enderman that has crossed his path."

"That explains the small army." Valor muttered. "But why- what does he want with the rest of us? And why did he send his army after my amulet?"

"Skorr is greatly wounded. His wounds cannot be healed by any normal means. But endermen are inherently magical." Qorin explained. "So he is seeking out every magical item he can find in order to drain it of power and heal himself."

"Including my pickaxe." Valor felt a stab of fear. If that happened, would Herobrine…?

"And your amulet." Qorin added. "Along with many other things."

"We have to find it before he does, then."

"Agreed."

"So," Null interjected comfortably. "Now we have a time limit."

"We do." Valor grimaced slightly. What an inconvenient time to be injured.

"You said this 'Skorr' fellow is collecting magical items." Wraith broke in, his tone conversational. Valor glanced at him.

"Yes."

"So," Wraith went on. "By hunting down your missing amulet, we have the potential to find a much greater treasure as well." Valor gave him a side-eyed look.

"We?"

"Well, I would like to offer my services." Wraith lifted his arms in an inviting gesture. "I would consider that payment for saving your life."

"Again, I didn't ask you to do that." But Valor was considering it. Having another fighter would make the threat of Skorr's endermen that much less intimidating.

"I think we should bring him." Null said brightly. "I like him."

"I like this guy too." Wraith nudged him cheerfully. Valor glanced at Qorin, gaging his reaction. Qorin shrugged slightly.

" We may as well take him up on his offer."

"Alright." Valor turned back to the white-robed man. "If you wish, you can come with us." Wraith bowed his head, smiling.

"You won't regret it."

"Then let's go." Valor pulled himself to his feet, Qorin wrapping an arm around him to steady him. The enderman was thin and light, but his height allowed him to support Valor without compromising his own balance. "Null?"

"This way." Null pointed to the south, to the right of where the first glow of sunrise was appearing in the east. Qorin took a step, and Valor limped along beside him, their bedraggled party setting off towards his missing amulet.

Wraith set his hands on his hips with a sigh. "Well," he said. "This isn't good."

"It certainly is not." Valor muttered. An ocean stretched out before them, with nothing but water as far as the eye could see.

"They must have crossed the ocean." Null muttered. "Or be crossing the ocean."

"How can we follow?" Valor asked, his stress audible in his voice. "We have no boat."

"Well, yes, but I doubt they have one either." Wraith said. When Valor shot him a strange look, he went on. "Of their own, anyway. They likely paid for passage aboard a vessel heading in the direction they wanted to go." The mercenary pointed to the east, and Valor followed his gaze to chimneys that peeked over a hill. "Probably from there."

"I suppose." Valor muttered, his mind working. Would he have enough to pay for passage for all four of them? He had no other option. Qorin could teleport, of course, but he certainly couldn't hit a target on the other side of the ocean so he doubted that the enderman could either. "Well… let's go find one of our own, then."

" Must we?" Qorin cut in, his voice concerned, and Valor tilted his head up to look at him. "I… Endermen do not like water."

"Don't like it?" Valor echoed, confused. "Can you not swim?"

" You could say that." Qorin shifted uneasily. "Water burns our flesh when we come into contact with it. Even a light rain puts us in excruciating pain, if we cannot find shelter. That is one reason you rarely see us in the overworld." Valor's jaw dropped in alarm.

"Well, it…" he started, then stopped. "You would be safe on a boat, though?"

"Well," Null interjected. "Being on the deck of a sea vessel is rarely a dry experience, especially if the waves are choppy." Valor's head snapped around to face him. How had he been following their conversation? "He's afraid of the water, isn't he?" Null nodded to Qorin. "It rained the first night you were attacked by the rogues. He told me then."

"Oh."

"However," Null went on. "Below deck would be safe, so long as the hull is watertight- a rather important feature for a boat." Valor nodded, looking back to Qorin, but the enderman did not seem pacified.

" What if the boat were to capsize? I would be killed, and my pearl lost forever beneath the waves."

"I find it very unlikely that we would be the victims of a sinking ship." Valor told him.

"The possibility remains."

"Are you refusing because you're scared?" Null demanded, and Valor was taken aback by the heat in his voice. "Your friend, your charge, his very life is bound to that amulet. If this 'Skorr' gets to it first, Valor could die. His life is at stake, and you refuse to help him because you're afraid to cross an ocean?"

"Null!" Valor exclaimed. He was ignored.

"If our boat were to sink, we would all die, not just you." Null went on. Qorin's ears slowly flattened against the sides of his head. "In fact, could you not simply teleport back to the End and preserve your own life? Don't be a coward."

"Null, that is not-"

" He makes a good case." Qorin interrupted his protests. "He is correct. I would be able to escape in the event of an emergency. And the threat to your life is far more immediate." His arm around Valor gave him a slight squeeze. Valor frowned, his glare in Null's direction softening.

"You're sure?" He asked Qorin.

" Yes."

"Alright then," Wraith said cheerfully. "Let's go find ourselves a boat."