[Chapter XIII]
[Powers Revealed]
They spoke to pass the time as they made their way through the thick jungle, idle chit-chat of no real importance for the most part. As time progressed on, Steve was finding himself surprisingly relaxed around the other's company.
Something Herobrine remarked on about a Creeper struck Steve just right and suddenly had the miner laughing. Genuinely laughing. The Nether ruler was surprised by this… never really hearing the human laugh before throughout the months he spent keeping a close eye him before his freedom.
Sure he's chuckled and all—
But never laughed...
"Hunh? Imagine that… I've never heard you laugh like that before." he pointed out casually.
The comment instantly silenced Steve, the demon mentally cursing at himself as he watched the human direct his violet eyes down towards the springy green grass, frowning.
Eyes soon narrowing into a glare as he took his gaze off the younger male, Herobrine sneered; "Didn't mean you needed to stop…"
Steve barely caught the words that were spoken under the other's breath in annoyance. Swallowing while sorting through his thoughts, he gave a small sigh, "Sorry. I guess it just caught me off guard? I don't think I've laughed like that since waking up on this island." he finally confessed, earning a curious rise of a brow.
"Where exactly did you come from, Steve? I'm usually pretty spot on at solving anything I'm curious and interested about but… your origin is still so mysterious. I'm having a hard time figuring you out."
Slowing in his pace as he lowered his half lidded eyes to the ground once more, the dejected look that glossed over his face had Herobrine stopping in his steps. "Steve?"
"I'm fine. It's just… well, I honestly have no origin anymore."
Herobrine cocked his head to the side, watching as Steve brushed past him. "Wait, what? How can you not have an origin anymore? You still have a home off this island, don't you? A place you can return to once you're done with this hero crap, right? You know… the place you were born? Isn't that what you're trying to get off this island for?"
"I know what you mean, Herobrine." he answered surprisingly sternly, not looking back at the other as he added; "… and that place no longer exists. Therefore… I have no origin."
The tone he spoke in told Herobrine to drop it. And shockingly enough… he did.
Remaining in silence for about half an hour, Steve abruptly came to a halt, the suddenness causing Herobrine, who hadn't been really paying attention, to bump into his back with a low grunt. "Shh!" Steve snapped at the demon, earning a low growl.
About to demand why he stopped, Steve placed a finger over his own lips, signaling for Herobrine to remain quiet. Motioning a head of them, the miner pointed out the cause for his actions.
Upon spotting the creatures, Herobrine narrowed his eyes and looked over at Steve, ignoring his urges for silence, "You have got to be kidding me! I thought it was like a fucking Creeper or something!" he shouted, startling the mother Ocelot and her young cub, causing the two shy creatures to flee the pond they were just drinking at.
Steve let out a whine, "Aww! Come on! I've never seen a wild Ocelot before! And this one was a mother and her kitten! Dammit, Brine, why'd you have to scare them off like that, you ass!?" he glared, the expression holding very little threat mixed with an uncharacteristic pout.
Herobrine said nothing. His white voided eyes just stared at him, wide. His lips were parted and brows were cocked upwards. Steve had never seen this expression on the demon's face before…
An expression that was a mixture of both surprise and shock.
"What? What's that look for?" Steve took a step back, feeling a little uneasy from the look he was being given all of a sudden. Thinking as if maybe there was some horrid monster standing right behind him that had Herobrine paralyzed in fear, Steve shot a quick glance over his shoulder. Upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned his focus back towards the demon while taking yet another step back. "Hello…? You alright?"
"You…?" Herobrine started, but shook his head, the shock and surprise completely gone and replaced with the cocky smirk Steve has only ever really seen on his face, "You're that upset over a wild animal?" he laughed while changing what he was about to say.
A small pout crossed Steve's face before he growled and walked past the still laughing demon. "That's not the point!"
Settling down his laughter as he followed, Herobrine frowned with a hum that went unheard by the human as the man continued a little ways ahead of him. 'He… he just said—? I wonder if he realized what he said. I… I haven't heard my name… in a very long time.'
The sun was still high above the trees, nightfall not due for a few more hours and they were easily about half way through the jungle. Just as they came across another much smaller pond, Herobrine stopped dead in his tracks, eyes narrowed and lips pulled down in a frown.
Sensing the other's hesitance, Steve halted and turned to look at the other, growing slightly alarmed at the look of seriousness that had suddenly overcome the man's face. "Hey… what's wrong?" he whispered while backtracking towards him, thinking maybe the demon picked up on something dangerous nearby he himself couldn't.
Looking around the area for a moment more, Herobrine suddenly put all his focus on Steve. "Something… has come up in the Nether…" he spoke in a low voice, his tone off from its usual confidence. "I feel…? Hmm… Steve, stay here. Do not move from this location under any circumstances. Build a shelter in case I'm unable to return to you by nightfall." he instructed with authority.
"W-wait, what? What's wrong? What's happening?" he blurted, reaching a hand out to Herobrine but touched nothing but thin air as the demon vanished before his eyes, most likely returning to the portal that led to the Nether. "Well… dammit. Now what?"
With a sigh, he pulled the strap of his bag over his head and allowed it to fall to the sandbank of the pond, eyes scanning for a good, sturdy location to build a temporary shelter.
Upon finding a nice little alcove created by the trees and exposed stone that were in the perfect formation naturally, all he would have to make is a way to block it off. Smiling while picking his bag back up and carrying it over towards his discovery, he gently set it down on the stone ground before opening it and taking out his Iron ax.
Approaching a smaller tree, he began gathering just the amount of wood he felt he would need to create a barricade.
After collecting the wood, he went over towards a large tree that had healthy looking vines climbing down it. Cutting the thick ropes down with one strong swing from his tool, he gathered the vines up and carried them over towards the laid out wood.
Wiping the small beads of sweat from his brow, he then began piecing the wood together and tying them using the vine until he was able to create a sort of wall that, when lined up with the stone, gave it a natural look. Satisfied with his work, he groaned slightly as his stomach gave a painful growl.
"I don't even remember the last time I ate something… I think it was breakfast before we left my house?" he noted to himself. About ready to dig through his bag in search for something possibly to eat other than bread, the glistening water of the pond caught his eye. Instead of seeking out the loaves, he reached into his bag and removed his fishing pole, unfolding it and prepping the rod and hook while walking a little closer towards the water.
Fish sounded good for some reason…
After getting it ready, he set it down, returning to his shelter and gathering up the scraps of wood his wall left behind. Rummaging through the bag once more, he pulled out his flint and iron, smiling while igniting the wood and creating a small fire.
Returning to his fishing rod, Steve gave a few test swings before actually casting it out; settling in the soft warm sand after hearing the hook hit the water.
And then he waited, watching the baited hook bobbing up and down in ripples the gentle breeze created within the crystal clear water.
This being a fairly untouched biome it seemed, it didn't take long for one of the many fish the pond was stock full of to take the bait. "Yes!" Steve let out a triumphant laugh while reeling the fighting fish in, his stomach aching in anticipation.
After getting the decent sized fish out of the water, Steve gave a chuckle while getting to his feet, turning on his heel to head up towards his fire to cook it.
That's when he stopped dead in his tracks, body frozen in place with violet eyes open wide.
Silently stalking up to him timidly… was the baby Ocelot from before.
Steve remained still, not wanting to risk frightening the already skittish creature. Upon seeing it's big, green eyes locked onto his fish, it's nose flaring while it's large head bobbed up and down as it sniffed out the prize it sought, Steve gave his potential meal a torn glance.
His stomach growled in protest, but he ignored it.
With a small smile, he slowly lowered himself to his knees, gently placing the fishing rod on the ground and unhooking the by now dead fish from the line.
After making sure there was nothing else man-made touching the fish, he held it out towards the baby, keeping his eyes on its soft looking paws. 'Don't make eye contact.' he mentally reminded himself from what he had read about these creatures in the many books back at the Elder's residence. "Here you go. You need this more than I do, little guy. Take it back to your mother." He spoke softly, flinching as the baby Ocelot jumped noticeably at his voice.
What seemed like hours had passed as the baby slowly crept up to him, its innocent eyes growing wider and wider the closer it got towards the delicious fish in his hand. Just when it opened its mouth to take the fish, a sharp growl caused it to flinch away and Steve to look up.
Approaching them with a snarl on her face was the mother of the baby Ocelot.
Steve swallowed as he slowly inched away from the cub, just as slowly placing the fish on the ground before the baby. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you or your cub." he whispered.
Coming up to her cub, the mother stared the human down for a moment before the scent of the offered fish caught her attention. Looking down at it, she lowered her heard and sniffed the fish, glancing up at Steve for a second before nudging her cub with her nose.
It let out a purr mixed with a squealing meow as it pounced the dead fish, wrestling against it as if it were putting up the fight for its life.
Smiling fondly at the site, Steve continued to crawl away from them, the mother keeping her eyes trained on him.
Taking his rod back in hand, he cast out once more and within a few moments, caught another decent sized fish.
This time, instead of trying to get close to them, he simple whistled before tossing the fish towards them, the mother side stepping to avoid the fish as it flopped around on the land, the kitten's eyes growing almost too wide for its head as it squealed yet again in pure joy and pounced the live fish, this time actually struggling against it.
With a low purr directed towards her cub, the baby left the live fish and picked up the dead one in its teeth, having to hold its head up high and walk with a trot as the fish dragged along the ground, the mother approaching the still flopping fish, taking it into her mouth and with a quick bite killed it instantly.
Lifting her head up to look at Steve one final time, she turned and ran off after her cub, the two disappearing into the thick jungle with their fresh meals.
Remaining still for a moment more, Steve released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Well, that was exciting! Guess I don't need to be mad at Herobrine any longer for scaring them…" he smiled while turning back towards the water, finally catching himself a fish and, before any other animals came around looking for free handouts, quickly cooked and ate it.
He wasn't sure how much time has passed, but the sun was beginning to set, an uneasy feeling settling into the pit of his stomach as he quickly retreated into his shelter after putting the fire out and hiding all traces of it.
Lighting a torch and setting it down on the ground, Steve barricaded himself within the small enclosure. After making sure it was secured, he used the back of his hand to stifle a yawn, taking his sword in hand and lying it down on the ground next to where he settled down to get some rest, using a soft part of his bag for a pillow.
'I hope everything is alright with Herobrine… he's been gone for a good few hours now…'
He then blinked. Why did he care if he were alright or not? If anything, he should be enjoying the time he had to himself without that freak popping up behind him and scaring the living hell out of him! With a soft scoff, he rolled over; shutting his eyes and tried to slip into a light slumber.
He missed a bed.
He tossed and turned, body feeling unusually hot. Cracking open his eyes, he sat up in the darkness of his shelter as his torch had gone out sometime during his rest, a hand going to his mouth to cover it as he began coughing.
He couldn't breathe!?
With sluggish motions due to his body and mind being sleep deprived, Steve managed to force his way through the wall he built, still coughing as what smelt like and had the same thickness as smoke filled his lungs.
Upon a wave a heat nearly making him sick, he opened his eyes again, shock freezing him as he stared.
The jungle was burning.
"W-what the hell?! Everything's... burning?" he gasped out before running back into his shelter to gather his belongings.
Despite what Herobrine told him, he knew he had to get out of there. It was no longer safe as trees began falling over and burning branches fell from above. He didn't know which direction he was running in… he just needed to run!
"I really wish there was someone else who could keep that bastard in his place…" Herobrine sighed just as he teleported back to where he had left Steve. "Anyways, hope I didn't leave you here for too lo— What the fuck?!"
Completely caught off guard by the fire all around him, Herobrine began looking all over the area, the heat from the flames not bothering him at all. "Steve? STEVE!?" he called out, a growing nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't quite put a finger on what it was began to get on his nerves upon not getting a response from the human.
"Where are you…?" he whispered.
His lungs began burning as the smoke filled them, his vision blurring a little as dizziness soon settled in. Slowing to a stop, he kept a piece of cloth he had dug out of his bag over his nose and mouth in an attempt to filter out the smoke. Managing to remain calm, he paused upon hearing the voices of about four men.
"Think we over did it with the fire?" one laughed.
Pinpointing where the voices were coming from, Steve slowly approached an opening, eyes narrowing at what he saw.
Poachers…
"It's fine. It's due to rain any second now so it'll put the fire out. I'm just pissed off we haven't gotten anything." another spoke, his voice muffled slightly behind his thick beard.
"I managed to snag this thing… but its pelt got ruined from the fire and arrow." a third, much scrawnier than the other three chimed in, walking up to the bearded man while dragging something with him.
Steve's heart broke at what it was…
An adult Ocelot; its yellow fur dingy with mud, blood and burns, was being held tightly by the nap of its neck as the man continued dragging its lifeless corpse through the dirt and ashes. An arrow was sticking out of the side of its neck, blood coating the entire front of its chest.
The bearded man scoffed while turning his back to the dead animal. "Just leave it to rot. It's useless now anyways since you ruined it with your sloppy kill!"
With a scowl, the man holding the poor creature simply let it go, its limp body falling with a dull thud. Without another word, the four men walked off, leaving behind their destruction without a care nor second thought.
Steve watched them leave before turning his gaze back towards the innocent creature they pointlessly slaughtered. Just as he was about to turn and leave, a familiar squeaking noise reached his ears and pulled at his heart even more.
Slowly turning back to look in the direction of the slain Ocelot, Steve felt his heart sink as the baby Ocelot he had fed earlier that day approached the body of the other.
"Oh no… Please don't tell me…"
He watched as the kitten approached the other's body, its scared meowing barely being heard over the roar of the fire all around them, its body dirty from dirt and mud as it hung low to the ground. Its ears lain flat against its head, it tried to make itself as small as possible until it was safely reunited with its mother. It then tried to wake her up; thinking she had merely lain down to rest after fighting off those men when they tried grabbing it, its terrified cries falling on deaf ears as the kitten began biting and tugging on her ears and tail in between its cries to get her up.
No one heard the kitten's heartbroken and desperate cries.
No one except Steve…
Acting on impulse and disregarding his own safety, Steve dropped his bag and pulled off his shirt as he ran at the kitten. Holding his shirt up while diving for it just as a burning branch cracked and broke off from a tall tree high above them and began falling down towards the ground, Steve managed to scoop the terrified kitten up within his shirt and used his body to shield that of its slain mother.
"STEVE!"
He braced himself for the burning pain that was to come, holding the struggling kitten close to his chest and arching his back to ensure the small animal wouldn't be touched by the flames. The shout of his name went unheard by him as his adrenaline was causing his blood to pump loudly against his eardrums.
However, when the expecting pain never came and the unbearable heat that was swallowing them all suddenly disappeared, he slowly cracked an eye open. He gasped loudly upon seeing the jungle no longer on fire.
The roaring of the flames no longer filling the night sky, nor the blinding orange and red glow from the fires hurting his tired eyesight, the damaged jungle fell into a dark and eerie silence as darkness was all that was around them now.
Looking around the clearing until he gazed over his shoulder, his heart skipped a beat the instant his wide eyes fell on Herobrine.
The demon was standing over him protectively, the large branch that was falling towards them having been launched all the way to the other side of the clearing, the wood in the middle of the branch splintered and broken inward from where it looked like a fist had collided against it…
He was quick to put two and two together when he glanced down to Herobrine's right hand, seeing it still balled up in a fist with chips of wood stuck to the scratches on his knuckles caused by the splintering wood.
'He… he punched that large branch…?' His eyes then grew even wider upon making a frightening connection, a cold and almost paralyzing realization seizing him so suddenly and tightly he was feeling as if he were about to suffocate—
If Herobrine really desired to kill Steve… the human was now fully aware that the demon-in fact-possesses the power to easily break his neck…
Swallowing to dampen his dry throat, Steve looked into Herobrine's narrowed eyes, asking the first question to pop into his head stupidly while trying to cover up the sudden familiar fear he first felt towards the man back in his dreams; "H-h-how'd you… find me?"
Staring down at Steve with an almost unreadable expression, Herobrine huffed before replying; his answer doing nothing to ease the miner's renewed fear— "I've told you before. You can't hide from me, Steve."
"O-oh. W-what happened to the fire?"
With a snap of his fingers on his uninjured hand, a small flame appeared on the Nether ruler's fingertip, causing Steve to flinch slightly away from him upon revealing he actually had more than just superhuman strength, "I can control fire. So I put it out. What I'd like to know is who started it." he in turn asked while giving his hand a quick shake to put out the flame.
Despite his current fearful state that the demon had reawakened, Steve's expression darkened; surprising Herobrine with just how much anger and hatred that could be seen reflecting in his eyes. "Poachers. They set the jungle on fire in an attempt to smoke out potential game." He explained.
Herobrine lifted his head up and looked around the area, picking up the remaining aura of the evil men Steve spoke of, "Hmm. I see." He then looked back down to the human, "What happened to you? I told you not to leave that spot! I was coming back you know-I would have found you and taken you out of there! And why were you just going to sit there and let that branch fall on you like that?! It may not have been the case but it could have killed you, Steve! You're only human after all!" Anger filled his tone, but Steve also picked up a hint of what his brain made him think was concern.
'Concern? For me? Yeah…that's almost a laughable joke…' he scoffed to himself before anger began bubbling up in him at the other's words and tone of voice as he scolded him, "I'm not a damn child for fucks sake, Herobrine! And I acted without thinking, alright? I couldn't let it die to…" The anger that started out in his tone soon faded as sadness replaced it, his eyes lowering to the ground as his shoulders slumped.
"Let what die, Steve?" He then cocked an eyebrow, "Aaaaand… mind telling me why you're topless?"
To answer both his questions at once, Steve leaned back slightly, showing the demon his balled up shirt that was wiggling. Small, squeaky mews were filtering out through the cloth. He then shifted to reveal the body of the mother, Herobrine making a face while taking a step back away from the slaughtered animal.
Wrinkling his nose upon seeing the ruthless and careless killing tactic, Herobrine narrowed his eyes, "Humans are so disgusting…" he breathed.
Getting to his feet, Steve turned towards Herobrine and held out his shirt, "Here… can you hold him for a minute?"
"And what exactly do you want me to do with it?" he asked as Steve handed him the now hissing ball of cloth, watching the miner walk over to his bag and take out his shovel he had also packed. He remained silent while he just watched as Steve began digging a decent sized hole in the dirt, next to the mother Ocelot's body.
Once pleased with the depth of the hole, he shoved his shovel into the dirt right next to the grave and bent down to pick up the body. Before he lifted her up, he narrowed his eyes at the arrow that had ended her life as she slowly and painfully bled to death.
"I can only imagine… the pain and fear you were feeling." he whispered softly, causing Herobrine to raise a brow in confusion.
He was talking to a dead cat…?
With great tenderness as if she were still alive, he gently removed the arrow and tossed it away. Equally as tenderly, he stroked her head once before lifting her body up and turned to slowly lower her into the grave he dug for her. After getting her comfortably in the grave, h tenderly stroked her dirty fur as he whispered again, his eyes beginning to sting, "I'm sorry. I was so close to you and yet… I couldn't save you." he paused, eyes narrowing as they now burned while his unshed tears obscured his vision slightly. "It happened… yet again. Again I let another innocent life get taken away despite how close I was. I was so close to you. But I… I couldn't save you. I let you die… just like everybody else." His voice grew quieter and quieter with each word, his body trembling in the effort to keep himself from collapsing while missing the uncharacteristic and rather soft look Herobrine gave him.
"Steve…" Herobrine started, but stopped. He had no idea what to say to the human, the time he spent alone in the Nether having removed all his compassion for others. So instead he remained silent, the only sounds filling the night sky were the iron shovel scooping the dirt back into the ground, and the kitten still struggling and hissing in Herobrine's hold.
When he was finished, he returned his tool and took back the kitten as Herobrine thrust it out to him, his face saying 'take it back, now'. "Thanks." he whispered softly, taking the kitten and holding it close to his chest, it's hissing ceasing the instant the heat and scent from Steve's body reached through the shirt and to it.
"Mmm." Herobrine hummed with a nod of his head. He then gave a quick glance to the miner, "So what do you plan on doing with it?"
Steve remained silent for a few moments, stroking the kitten through the fabric of his shirt. A small smile crawled across his face the moment it started purring at his touches. "He's too young to survive on his own with no mother. So… I'm going to keep him."
"WHAT?!" Herobrine shouted.
Steve jumped and looked up at the demon. "What? You hate cats or something?"
"I personally don't care for anything on this planet. But in case you weren't paying attention just now—it doesn't really seem to like me."
Ignoring the fact that Herobrine more or less both admitted and confirmed he really didn't care for him despite the concern he thought he heard in his tone earlier, he scoffed. "I'm sure over time he'll grow to like you." He then grinned, "Maybe if you'd stop being so loud?"
"You are not keeping it, Steve." Herobrine growled.
"Watch me." the human dared without skipping a beat.
The defiance in both his eyes and tone shot a sudden quick sting of emotion through Herobrine, catching the demon completely off guard thus causing him to deeply groan in the back of his throat that Steve simply mistook as a sound of admitted defeat.
"Anyways, we're not too far from Sanderlorum. Let's head back there with him and I'll have Melz and Glorenda look after him until I get back." he explained while smiling fondly at the purring lump in his arms as he continued gently running his hand down the kitten's spine through his shirt.
Herobrine said nothing as he watched the scene before him, eyes narrowing slightly as the purring grew louder. He already knew he wasn't going to like this cat as he watched the way Steve acted around it; fondling it gently and cooing to it softly as it purred louder and louder in response. Though he was too prideful to dare admit he was getting jealous or anything over a kitten!
Turning his back on them with an annoyed click of his tongue, Herobrine scoffed; "Whatever. Do what you want! You're going to anyways. But I am not going to that village. Whenever you're done and are ready to actually, you know, continue on—just call out to me. I'll hear you and come to you. Don't come looking for me." he instructed firmly before suddenly vanishing, teleporting out of the jungle and to who knew where, leaving Steve alone in the middle of the destroyed and dark jungle.
Steve stared at the spot Herobrine was just standing seconds ago, brows furrowed together in a slight scowl as he took a deep breath in through his nose. Looking down at the purring lump held safely in his arms, he then released a saddened sigh, violet gaze falling onto the freshly disturbed dirt. "What the hell was with him? There was no need to get so upset. What could he have been expecting me to do? Leave you here all alone to die?" he asked the kitten, smiling sadly as he felt its steady breathing that indicated it had fallen asleep. "I can imagine you're tired. Come on, let's get you to your new home."
Watching Steve making his way out of the forest from atop the tall trees, Herobrine narrowed his eyes in growing annoyance as he crossed his arms over his chest; 'This is taking too long…'
Steve made it back to Sanderlorum with absolutely no trouble, and had run into no Mobs along the way. He thought that alone was very odd, but he figured Herobrine must actually still be close by and was preventing any Mobs from going near him.
That thought alone had him feeling both special in a sense… but also freaked out. "There really is no hiding from him… is there?" he asked the sleeping kitten still wrapped up snugly within his shirt, its purring finally going silent nearly an hour ago.
He smiled while gently scratching the cub under his chin, being rewarded with a steady rhythm of renewed purring as he continued talking to it; "I still don't know what to do. I mean, I don't really want him with me but… what can I do to prevent him from following? Especially after seeing what he's capable of." He then frowned. "But of course… if it weren't for Herobrine… you and I could very well not be here right now. Or at least not in this condition." he admitted.
With a soft sigh, he greeted the golem with a warm smile while heading towards his home. "Maybe he's right? Maybe I am unable to get through this stupid 'journey' on my own."
The instant his door was shut and locked, Herobrine's voice caused him to jump nearly out of his skin while loudly cursing; "You're being too hard on yourself, Steve."
"Fuck!" Steve gasped, waking the baby Ocelot up in the process. It began growling while struggling until Steve's gentle strokes and hushes soothed it back into a calm state. After making sure the kitten was calmer, he delivered a harsh glare at the demon who was sitting at the table; arms crossed over his chest and one leg crossed over the other. "You… need to seriously knock off that teleporting shit you do!" he hissed, "It scares the shit out of me!"
Herobrine ignored him; "I don't really think you'd die on your own, you know."
"Sure." Steve scoffed while unwrapping his balled up shirt and kneeling down to release the small kitten into its new home. "Whatever…" he whispered under his breath.
Though Steve meant for Herobrine to not have heard him, the demon did and narrowed his eyes further at the human. He watched the kitten running all over the small house with its tummy low to the ground, eyes wide while sniffing everything it came across.
Steve chuckled while standing up and walking into the kitchen section of the front room. Taking out a clay bowl, he dipped it into the cold and clean water that the caldron was filled with and kneeled down to place it on the floor, the kitten lifting its head up and twitching its ears before hastily moving over and drinking the water.
Steve and Herobrine both watched it quickly drinking the water, clearly indicating it was thirsty until Steve broke silence. "I'm going to call him Ozzy." he randomly stated.
Herobrine cocked a brow at him before snorting, "That's a bizarre name for a cat."
Steve's first response was a roll of his shoulder, soon frowning as he kept his eyes on the small kitten. "Thank you." he said quietly, directing it towards Herobrine but not looking up at him.
"For what?"
"For whatever reason… you saved me." he replied before repeating his thanks.
Herobrine scoffed while shaking his head. Lowering his white gaze upon the kitten, the demon soon sighed, "So I take it tonight is out of the question. Go get some sleep with that new pet of yours. Tomorrow we try again and this time, no more distractions." He warned.
Steve narrowed his eyes in a weak glare, not appreciating the implied accusation that this was all Steve's fault. However, a quick flashback of Herobrine standing above him after having punch a large branch that was on fire while falling towards him had him sighing in defeat through his nose.
Adverting his eyes from the demon, he quickly pushed himself to his feet and muttered while walking towards his room, being closely followed by Ozzy, "I'll… see you in the morning then. G-good-night."
Steve shut the door to his room after ensuring Ozzy was inside with him, deciding to properly prepare his house for the new kitten after he woke up. Any mess the small animal made he would simply clean.
Herobrine stared at the closed door for a moment, his suspicion for Steve's sudden change in behavior and attitude towards him becoming confirmed as he picked up the fear in the human's violet eyes before he began avoiding his empty white as he excused himself into his room.
Feeling himself filling with rage at this, Herobrine balled his injured hand into a tight fist, drawing it back and aiming it at the sandstone wall that was separating Steve's room from the rest of the house.
Just before his fist collided against the stone in anger, he stopped it; glaring at his scratched up knuckles while narrowing his glowing eyes even further.
"Dammit…" he whispered to himself softly while forcing himself to calm down.
To Be Continued…
A/N- So, I hope not too many people hate me for this chapter? I have a Minecraft Baby Ocelot plush that I've named Ozzy, and thus Ozzy is in the fic! Between my roommate and myself, we have 8 cats. Each with unique personalities and quirks that I'm going to portray with Ozzy! XD
I tried making this longer than it is, but couldn't. Least it's longer than the last, lol. Hoping the next chapter will be longer and will be done soon.
And I don't know why... but I can easily see Herobrine getting jealous over a kitten! XD
Quirk Number One: One of mine dramatically sniffs the air whenever she gets a whiff of like ANY type of food. XD
*Again a huge special thanks to slingading for the fantastic cover art for this story! Thank you so much and much love to you!*