"This is where we're going to live."

Turning to look at his brother, Herobrine stood from the grass block he was sitting on and shook his head.

"No. Not here." He said simply.

"Since when did you become the expert here, Herobrine?" The young woman inquired, "However, I do agree with you."

Notch mocked a gasp and slapped his hand to his chest dramatically.

"Ally! What did I do to get kicked off your favorites list?"

She laughed, and even Herobrine teased the shadow of a smirk.

"Nothing personal, friend, I just don't think this is a safe place."

Then stepping forward, she jammed a few fingers roughly into his chest and getting in his face.

"And nobody calls me Ally!"

Bored by the petty conversation, the hazel-eyed Herobrine had wandered to a nearby cave, the noises coming from it drawing him in with curiosity. Treading silently, the man listened and watched, one foot stepping noiselessly over the other, and his hand resting loosely on his sword.

Stopping dead, he closed his fist on the sword, swinging it along with his gaze inches from the source of the sound that caught his attention.

"Whoa, hey!"

Seeing his blade inches from the young woman's neck, he lowered his sword-carrying arm and straitened into a less combative stance.

"Hey," he replied simply, face blank of emotion while trying simultaneously to read hers.

"Did our bickering bore that genius mind of yours? Or are you just anti-social?" Allison said jokingly, smiling all the while.

"Insulting the other isn't a very reliable coping technique."

That smile fell and the two watched each other for a moment. But then Allison spoke.

"Just because you're afraid of loss doesn't mean you should be afraid of gain. Afraid of friendships, or even… love."

"I'm not afraid."

"Then why not take a chance?" she argued, voice getting progressively louder.

"How do you know I'm just not into you?" Herobrine snapped, fighting her in volume.

Trying to hide her hurt, Allison said quietly,

"If that's what you want to believe, Herobrine." She turned away, long brown hair whipping to the side as she started out the cave.

"Wait."

She stopped. Herobrine took a shaky breath.

"Whenever I get close to someone, especially women, it causes a piercing sensation in my head. Having… feelings for someone puts me in physical pain and I don't know why."

"Herobrine…"

"Don't. I shouldn't have told you that."

"So, do you..?"

"No."

"That's a lie!" the woman young snapped, tears suddenly leaking from her eyes. The man who caused him watched her sadly for a moment.

"I know." And then he walked out. Once away from her sight, he sat down on a grass block, and his clueless brother walked over and ogled at the other with his shocking blue eyes.

"What happened?"

"Nothing you'd understand."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about your love for an imaginary girlfriend?" Herobrine spat. Notch's face grew cold and his jaw locked and tightened.

"She's not imaginary."

Cutting off his reply, there was a yelp and then a throaty scream. Grabbing his sword, Herobrine tore over to the entrance of the cave and then froze in horror from what he saw.

"No… no no NO!"

What he hadn't seen just around a bend in the cave system was an ancient mass grave and the swirling necromantic spawner in the gloom. What he did see was the mangled body of Allison, now drenched in its own blood and being torn apart by the undead. Desperately looking for an opening to go to what was left of her, his brother stepped up next to him and put a hand on his chest, silently telling him to leave her.

"It's far too late. Let's go before they detect us." The older murmured.

"We can't leave her!" the younger pleaded, a slow growing state of hysteria gripping him.

"We must go now!" Notch hissed, pulling his grief-stricken brother from the scene. Their sudden movements caught the attention of the horde of corpses and quickly the two were stumbling through the forest as fast as they could.

Tripping as he ran, Herobrine found himself tumbling onto the ground. His elder took a minute to realize he wasn't behind him and turned to find him just as a zombie leapt towards him. Fortunately, Herobrine had good reflexes. Within the half-second the monster was falling over him, the man had pulled the worn iron sword out of his sheath and pointed it towards the things chest. When the fairly large body impaled itself and started to fall over, he manipulated the momentum to pull himself up speedily.

"Keep running!" he called to his older brother, sheathing the sword and following the other once again.

Breaching the tree line, Notch slowed from a run to a walk while the smaller slowed even more just behind him. The others, Anne-Sara, Richard, and Tess, looked to them curiously.

"What happened, where is Allison?" can a strong and elderly voice. It belonged to Anne-Sara.

"She's gone," Notch said slowly, speaking for his solemn brother. The small group went silent.

"She's gone."

"Brine? Brine?! Herobrine!"

The faint sound of his name being called resonated into the back of the man's head, jerking him awake and causing him to drop to the ground sprawling.

Wait, drop to the ground?

A flicker of a flame went out above him, leaving in its wake the stagnant scent of the Nether.

Two faces hovered hesitantly in the center of his vision, the rest occupied by sky, and it took him a moment for his pale eyes to focus on them.

"Hey..?" the redhead sounded, a touch of fear as well as worry in her voice.

"Oh yeah, 'Hey how's it going, you were just on fire!'" the brunette spat, trying to hide her own mixed emotions.

"What?!" Sitting up abruptly, he looked at himself noting that that he was unscathed, if a little warm.

"You were on fire, Herobrine, floating a couple inches off the ground, and your eyes were wide open and… glowing." Shelby stuttered quietly, avoiding eye contact.

"How did you do that anyways?" asked Sydney casually.

"I'm not sure." was his reply, but a distracted one as he tried to catch Shelby's eye.

"How do you not know?! Does it just happen? What caused it?!" she spewed frantically, her insatiable curiosity getting the best of her.

"I don't know!" the man snapped, "But if I find out, I'll tell you, okay?"

Startled, she stared at him for a second.

"Wow, okay."

He looked back over at Shelby, whose face had a look of deep thought.

"Shelb?" she looked up at him and he reached a hand out to her, bringing it close to her face. She didn't move and he ran a thumb gently across her cheek.

"Hey. You okay?"

"No. No I'm not." She replied quietly. "Honestly, you're terrifying. I wake up to find you hovering in the middle of the clearing, eyes flashing and your entire body ablaze."

The woman looked up at him intensely, eyes boring into him.

"I'm scared for me, I-I'm scared for you. I mean… who knows what's next?"

"Nobody does. He's dangerous." The other female said, watching the situation carefully.

Glancing from her friend to Herobrine, she took his hand off of her face and pulled him closer.

"I don't care."

Momentarily keeping eye contact, he felt the familiar pain in his head, but he ignored it and closed the gap between them. Now Sydney ~really~ knew.

And she had a ~real~ problem with it.