[Chapter XVI]

[Moving Forward]

The night had come quickly and with it the cooling drop in temperature as the vast desert fell into its usual eerie silence. As they roamed across the almost endless sand field, they came to discover to the both of their pleasures, Steve's idea was a perfect one.

Literally a dozen Endermen had suddenly materialized before them and began to spread out throughout the desert just as the bright sun vanished beneath the edge of the earth. Just none had appeared too close to Sanderlorum it seemed. Steve sighed heavily before looking over to Herobrine with a chuckle; "Damn, it's a shame we can't take all of them on at once!"

Humming with a nod of his head in agreement as he looked around them to assess the situation, Herobrine turned to Steve; "True. But we may luck out and get at least two. Think you can take one on by yourself? I can go and attack one myself. If we can each at least kill one, then that'll bring our number up to eight."

Only taking barely two seconds of hesitation to think that question over, Steve nodded his head while drawing his sword. "Let's do this."

Herobrine was easily able to take down the one he had chosen to fight, whereas Steve struggled slightly in battle. Despite this, both came out victorious and claimed their opponents' precious Pearls as prizes, doing exactly as Herobrine had said and brought their current total of collected pearls to eight.

Staring at the sphere he held in his hand, Steve couldn't help the small smile that spread across his face. They had eight out of the supposed twelve needed to at least activate the portal. This really wasn't taking as long as he had begun to fear that it would.

As the night progressed on, they each attacked more and more Endermen but the creatures would end up fleeing them rather than staying to fight.

By sunrise, the entire dessert for as far as they could see held not even the faintest glimmer of the purple particles they leave dancing around in the air when the creatures teleport. "Fuck. Looks like they've caught on to us for tonight… Let's get you back to your village since the sun's coming up. Won't be seeing any of them in the day light out here." Herobrine suggested with a mildly annoyed sigh.

Agreeing with the demon, Steve began following him back towards Sanderlorum; knowing once they come within visual of the villagers, Herobrine would simply teleport himself to the miner's house to remain out of site.

Quickly being greeted by everyone, Steve excused himself after explaining about his new tactic for hunting the creatures now at night and was extremely tired because of this. He stopped by the Inn and picked Ozzy up, the kitten more than happy to be reunited with his owner as he meowed and began purring loudly while head-butting and snuggling into Steve's neck.

Opening the door to his house, Steve set the excited kitten down before shutting the door behind him, smiling upon sure enough seeing Herobrine sitting at the table waiting for him.

"So… when do you think we can start turning these into the Eye of Ender?" Steve asked before taking a bite of his steak.

Herobrine turned to face the other across from where he stayed sitting at the table as Steve had joined him with a meal, taking a moment to think the question over in his mind before shrugging his shoulder while keeping his arms crossed over his chest. "I haven't really thought about it that much to be honest. Tell you what I'll do; as we collect more of the pearls, I'll bring you the rods and have you do all the work of collecting the powder from them and then turning the pearls into the proper item." He grinned as he replied, knowing the human would be up for the challenge. "But in the meantime, let's just keep focus on trying to get as many Ender pearls as we can."

Swallowing his food, Steve nodded his head with a wide grin. "Sounds good."

After Steve was finished eating, he had once again offered something to Herobrine who denied simply stating he wasn't hungry. Frowning, the miner joined the other back at the table as they spent the rest of the day talking.

By nightfall, the weather outside began taking a turn for the worse. Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Herobrine sighed through his nose while pushing himself to his feet. "Tonight's hunt is off." he stated bluntly.

Steve blinked and turned away from Ozzy whom he had been playing with using a piece of string. "What? But why?"

"Take a step outside, you'll feel it." he pointed his thumb over his shoulder and towards the front door.

Cocking his head to the side and rising one brow, Steve pushed himself up from his squatting position and did as told. Upon taking a foot outside, he could feel the drop in temperature and feel the difference in the pressure in his head as the brewing storm approached. Shutting the door and locking it as he saw the Mobs coming out of hiding as the sun's harmful rays were gone, he turned back to face the demon. "I hate these random storms."

"This is fine. Take the time and go get some rest, you're exhausted and haven't slept yet all day today. If the storm lightens up before the dawn, I'll come wake you."

Steve held an unsure expression with the other's words, causing Herobrine to back track as he cleared his throat; "If, of course, that's alright with you."

"Well… alright. Come on, Ozzy. I'm sure you're tired too." Steve smiled down to the kitten who trilled in response and ran into the bedroom. Looking over to Herobrine once more, the miner gave him a half smile; "Good-night then, I guess." He chuckled before going into his room.

Unlike before, Steve did not shut the door to his room this time. This had Herobrine cocking a brow upwards, but he chose to not question the young human.

Before long, the sounds of the wind picking up outside had Ozzy snuggling more into Steve's chest, his purring growing louder as the miner began scratching under his chin subconsciously in his sleep.

Herobrine watched the scene unfolding from where he was still sitting in the chair opposite the bedroom. He was also still thinking about finding it unusual that Steve hadn't shut the door to separate them like before. He had kept the door open even while changing into his sleep wear.

'Maybe he's beginning to truly trust me?' Herobrine mused to himself. It was strange but… he couldn't help but think about how it was almost comforting to see the human sleeping in person, rather than watching him from the depths of the Nether. Or when nearly on the brink of hyperthermia. He could only think of the reasoning behind the weak feeling as at least this way he knew Steve was safe.

Regardless, Herobrine just allowed the young man to sleep. Because he knew the storm, though not as bad as the one on the night Steve killed his first Enderman, would not be passing before dawn.

Days passed as their nightly hunts continued to turn up leaving them empty handed, resulting in the two to grow more and more frustrated with the very creatures they were hunting down.

After a little over the third week of absolutely no progress passed, Herobrine finally released an aggravated sound before thrusting one tip of his diamond pick into the sand; "Ok! Clearly, they've abandoned this desert, Steve. We need to move further out!"

Steve stopped walking and turned halfway to face the other, surprised to see just how upset he was becoming with the situation. "H-how far?"

"I'm talking into a biome we haven't hunted them in yet."

Violet eyes opened slightly wide at the suggestion; "A-another biome?" He didn't want to admit he was becoming too comfortable living within a village and not having to venture out. Before, he would've jumped on the chance to explore but now… he didn't want to leave his new friends behind. And what about Ozzy?

"Yes. And I know the perfect place. There's a large town just to the East from here. It's called Bloomingston. We'll not only have ample opportunities to run into Endermen while traveling as it's a long journey; about three day's tops." Herobrine began explaining. He paused when he took in the expression he received from the human about the length of time it would take for them to arrive, before continuing on with a roll of his shoulder; "But I've heard that it's almost becoming a hot spot for Endermen to go to at night. Bloomingston Town was around back during my time over six hundred years ago, only was much larger because back then it was a kingdom. There was a castle with a king and queen that ruled over that section of this island but that's all gone now apparently. Anyways, the Endermen used to go there all the time at night except when it would rain. No one knows why. The only thing people could think of back in my time was they were attracted to the natural stone the town is built on."

"Really?" he asked with a cocked brow. His interest was peaking the more the demon continued speaking. He had never ventured to that section of the island before. He has heard of a place by the name of Bloomingston and had even seen the signs. But the rumors he had picked up on about a few of the people within the almost forgotten village of Sanderlorum knowing secrets others didn't about The End had Steve completely bypass the larger town.

Sensing he had the human's full attention, Herobrine grinned. "Yeup. So what do you say?"

Steve hesitated for a moment, thinking things over in his mind before saying anything. Finally, he let out a soft sigh with a forced smile; "Well? It's not really like I have much choice, is there? So I say let's go for it."

"Great. I'll meet you back at your place. It's late enough where I don't think anyone would still be awake, but I don't think that little friend of yours you built would appreciate me all that much."

Steve didn't bother to say anything else as Herobrine was already gone.

With a shake of his head, he continued towards the small village with a smile growing as he was greeted by the large protector that seemed to never sleep. Quickly reaching his front door, he pushed it open and was immediately greeted by his small orange and yellow kitten.

He was really beginning to feel guilty leaving Ozzy behind so much. The kitten was still so young, and was clearly attached to the miner. Scooping the small animal up in his arms after feeding him, he excused himself and went into his room, once again leaving the door open enough for the demon to be able to peer inside and see the human's bed.

Lying on his right side, he curled into himself enough to create perfect little cubby for Ozzy to sleep in and feel secure. Purring loudly against Steve's chest had the miner smiling to himself while he began gently massaging just under the small animal's chin.

He forced himself to relax, trying to will his mind to do the same as it began to automatically wander off on its own. He couldn't help as he thought back to when they were in the cave together.

Herobrine had displayed so many different things all at once that left the miner confused. The man was supposed to be evil, right? An immortal demon who had been banished into the Nether for over six hundred years and had somehow found a way to escape. Melz would often tell him different variations of stories that all had one thing in common; Herobrine was a man that had become lost with power and began murdering for fun.

If this were truly the case… why hasn't he killed anyone yet? Could he be waiting and planning something? He was frightening in his dreams. So why not in reality?

A weak heat began warming his cheeks as he remembered waking up within the cave. He wasn't sure if he had merely dreamed it, and found no way in hell to ask the other about it; but he could have sworn at some point in time he had been lying on top of the demon. He could feel his body heat when his own being was still so cold from the snow.

And the calming sensation from the man's scent that overcame him when he did finally wake up only further ignited deeper confusion.

Deciding that thinking about it now wasn't going to help him, he brought Ozzy closer while trying to rest his mind and thoughts until he was able to at last doze off. The last clear thought he remembered having was how he wished he had the other's scent to help calm him once again.

By morning, Herobrine had already prepared Steve's traveling bag with all the necessary items he would need for the journey, holding the bag up for the human to take with a smirk on his face; "Ready to go?"

Steve frowned while exhaling a soft sigh through his nose. "Do I have a choice?" he asked with a forced smile.

"It won't be bad. Trust me. I know the biggest thing you're concerning yourself about is the Mobs. But remember, Steve. I'm with you now. They'd be fools to even look at you the wrong way within my presence."

Though he didn't want to admit it… Steve would have been lying if he said that alone wasn't enough to ease his nerves.

Taking Ozzy next door to the Inn, Steve chuckled as once again the moment the kitten heard Melz's voice, he meowed with excitement and jumped from Steve's arms, running towards the older man and the fish he just knew he had hidden away just for him. Clearly he wasn't as upset at being left with the Inn keeper as Steve was worrying.

After saying his temporary good-byes once more, Steve headed out of the village and made his way in the direction he knew where a pathway that leads to Bloomingston Town was, his lips curling into a small smile the instant violet eyes spotted Herobrine waiting for him at the pathway.

Herobrine was correct with it taking three days to arrive at the town. Between stopping to rest during the day and traveling while keeping their eyes open for Endermen at night, Steve was beginning to feel the toll the new ritual was taking on his body.

Yawning while rubbing at his eyes, Steve paused to stretch out his muscles, groaning in the back of his throat upon a few of his bones popping back into place. Herobrine looked over his shoulder and saw the human stopping, backtracking until he was before the young man; "You know. If you'd just let me teleport us there, you'd be sleeping in a nice clean hotel bed after getting cleaned up within the next ten minutes."

"You are NOT teleporting me anywhere. You understand me?" he groaned. It didn't appreciate the man's powers since all he ever did was pop up behind him and scare him.

"It's just a suggestion for the feature. We're here anyways." he grinned while walking ahead of Steve. With a brow raised, he quickly followed him down the path and around a bend that circled a tall hill.

The instant he came around the other side, violet eyes opened wide as his lips parted to allow a gasped "Wow" slip out upon seeing a massive wall caved out of stone standing boldly against the blue of the sky as it sat on the ocean's edge. Within the tall wall, is the large town they were seeking. "Bloomingston is inside there?" Steve asked as they quickly made their way towards the wall that seemed to only grow taller and taller with each step they took.

"Correct. Hundreds of years ago, the people built this wall. It goes around the entire town." Herobrine explained, smiling at Steve's renewed excitement.

Following the perfectly carved out stone path that lead to a wide patio, Steve lifted his gaze up as he came to stand at the base of the tall staircase leading up to the two large heavy looking iron doors. Whistling to himself upon the actual height of the massive stone wall that separated the large town from the Mobs outside, he followed Herobrine as the demon began climbing the stairs and approaching the doors.

Herobrine stopped and turned to Steve before grinning widely; "Welcome to Bloomingston Town, Steve!" He held his arms up as if to show off the place, seeing the human lifting his gaze to read the large wooden sign above the doors with the town's name carved into it. "It's much smaller than what I last remembered…" he mused to himself after taking in the actual size of the town and the wall surrounding it.

"Smaller? Are you kidding me?! The wall looked big from afar but up close it's huge! It almost looks about as tall as Melz's Inn. And it's four stories!"

"Yeah… For as long as I can remember, this place has always had a wall around it. Even back when the castle was still standing. Like I was saying before, the people built the wall as a way to keep the Mobs out, so that they could continue living their luxurious lives in peace." he scoffed. "It just seemed like the wall got taller and taller. But this time it actually looks smaller."

Steve turned to Herobrine, feeling a swelling pride knowing he had someone with more knowledge about the past than anyone else alive. He couldn't explain why he was so easily able to believe the demon either. "Does it actually work with keeping the creatures out?"

"Yes. Well, for the most part. Whatever is able to sneak past the wall, there are iron golems that patrol the town as a secondary line of defense."

"Hunh… neat." Steve looked back towards the wall. Approaching the double doors, Steve paused and turned to face his traveling companion as a thought suddenly hit him. "How are you going to walk around a large town like this freely? People will take just one look at your eyes and freak out, won't they?"

"I've got you covered, Steve." Herobrine grinned while reaching into his back pocket. Pulling out a long thin strip of black wool he held it up and, with a wiggle of his brows, placed it over his eyes like a blindfold, carefully and securely tying it in a knot behind his head. "Voilà."

With a cocked brow, Steve blinked while trying to decide to take the other seriously; "A blindfold? Aren't people going to think that's a little strange? And can you even see through that?" he asked while waving his right hand in front of the demon's face.

Frowning at the onslaught of questions from the human, Herobrine reached up with his left hand and perfectly caught Steve's wrist, proving to the miner that he could in fact see. "It's fine. The people here get weird travelers all the time. My only concern is about you."

Pulling his hand free from the other's grasp, Steve couldn't explain the cause of his face heating up while lifting a brow; "What? Me? Why?"

Turning so he was facing the large doors, Herobrine's frown grew deeper; "I'm curious if word has gotten out yet about who you are. The people in that small village may care about you, Steve… but I wouldn't be surprised if they've let it slip out they've got the Great Hero living in their village. Especially since they've begun to travel outside the village once again and trade with neighboring towns. I'm sure by now this land is aware that the newly appointed Great Hero has been awakened. If it gets to the point where people are able to identify you, it'll cause too much unwanted attention."

"For you. Right?" Steve thought he corrected.

"For both of us." Herobrine in turn re-corrected.

Sensing the dread hidden deeply in the other's tone, Steve slowly turned to face the doors, suddenly developing the urge to just forget the place and turn around to head somewhere else.

"But we can't let fears stop us now!" Herobrine chirped while pushing against the doors. Steve was surprised at how easily the demon was able to open the heavy doors, yet at the same time-felt he shouldn't really be.

Taking only just a few steps inside, Steve felt his jaw drop-

Inside opened up immediately into a large residential section. Both large and small houses lined the wide street as it led up to a small flight of steps that simply opened up into an even broader section of homes. Hedges trimmed neatly hugged close to the many different homes and some even marked out territory and fenced off yards.

Vines and flowers climbed up the sides of many of the old houses and even some on the wall surrounding the town. Following Herobrine further inside the large town, he let out a sound of pure awe when they came to the town's center.

A large pool of water with a tall fountain standing in the middle had fresh crystal clear water pouring out of the openings at the top, the benches and greenery around the area creating a relaxing atmosphere.

Large lights attached to tall wooden poles were inactive during the day as the sun beamed down on their solar panels, causing the human to become anxious with curiosity to know how pretty the area looked at night once the glow stones became active.

Herobrine took in his surroundings until at last he found one of the few Inns that he recognized. "Come on, Steve. Let's go get checked in so we can at least drop off our stuff and have a place for you to get some rest."

Without saying a word, Steve almost too obediently followed.

From its homey appearance on the outside, Steve thought the Inn would be cozy like Melz and Glorenda's. But once inside, it was anything but.

It wasn't even so much the building as it was the staff.

Despite Herobrine acting as if everything were alright, Steve couldn't shake off the creepy feeling the woman behind the counter gave him since they first stepped foot inside as he kept catching her staring at him.

"Don't take what I said outside of town to heart so strongly, Steve. You're an attractive man. She's probably just staring at you wondering what you look like naked is all. You'll get that a lot here." Herobrine looked over his shoulder and at Steve, seeing the miner trying to avoid eye contact with the young woman as they followed the other desk clerk to their room after checking in.

Feeling his face heating up at Herobrine's choice words, Steve forced himself to calm down as his stomach began doing small somersaults. "J-just my paranoia returning… I guess." he lied.

"Hmm."

"Here we are gentlemen." she announced while stopping before a basic wooden door. "They're two beds inside, just as requested." She stated bluntly and with very little excitement and hospitality to her tone.

"Thanks." Steve spoke up since all Herobrine was doing was glaring rudely at her which went completely unnoticed by her. Unlocking the door after the woman practically dropped the key in his palm, Steve held it open for Herobrine to enter first before following him in and shutting the door.

"Jeeze. Think that bitch is thrilled to be alive or what?" Herobrine scoffed while dropping Steve's bag onto the table.

"Well, you were the one who picked this place." Steve teased while walking over to one of the beds, taking in the rather plain and boring room.

"I remember people having more manors towards their guests back in my time. Especially if their guests are paying customers." the Nether ruler barked back while moving over and claiming the other bed that was closest to the only window in the tiny room by falling against the mattress on his back.

Steve chuckled as his retort came out faster than he was able stop himself; "Aww, what's the matter? Are you having a hard time adjusting to how people are nowadays old timer?"

Herobrine rolled his head to the side to glare at Steve, lifting his hand up and tugging the blindfold free to be sure the other could see he was glaring hard at him; "Don't ever call me that again."

All Steve could do in response was laugh.

They had already spent two nights within the town, excitement fueling their energy as the rumors Herobrine had heard about the Endermen coming here turned out to be true. The first night they spent simply walking around the town while talking, becoming more familiar with the town's layout in case they needed any sort of quick escape route. Plus, Herobrine had been curious to see just how many of the same buildings and businesses remained standing.

The second night they spent once again walking around however this time observing the creatures while trying to spot out any form of patterns they may have been following.

By the third night, they made the mutual decision to actually attack the Mobs and try to collect as many Pearls as they could. Just as Steve finished getting prepped for what was most likely going to be a long night, a bright flash blinded the sky as a loud clap of thunder vibrated the glass windows.

Steve let out a startled yelp, not in the least bit expecting such a vicious sounding storm to seem like it suddenly just materialized. Herobrine on the other hand let out an exasperated sigh while throwing himself down on the bed closest the window. "Well. We're not going out in that weather. And since we've more or less turned our hours around we're not going to sleep either. We might as well find something to do to preoccupy ourselves in the mean time until it passes."

Steve turned to face the Nether ruler, a brow rising. "What? Are you saying you'll melt or something?" He then snickered while turning back towards his bag to go over and recheck their supplies.

Herobrine shut his eyes with a snort, "Hardly. But Endermen do."

Steve paused at that and half turned towards the other once again. "No they don't."

Herobrine cracked open his right eye and looked over at Steve, watching him just staring at him for a few seconds before shrugging and closing it again, wiggling into a more comfortable position. "Well, okay… maybe not melt. But water does hurt them. So it's safe to say we won't be finding any Endermen outside until this storm passes."

"Water hurts them? I didn't know that."

"Well you remember the first one you fought, right? When you were saving that child? Remember how when it started raining it started screaming? Or what about the one we fought in that old ship wreck when I knocked it off the crate it was standing on? Humans typically don't know much about those creatures. In fact, I myself really don't either. But I do know that water in fact hurts them."

Steve remained silent after that was said, no longer finding anything else he wished to say to the other. With him mentioning the Enderman he had fought when saving Kelsa, it still creeped the miner out that Herobrine knew so much of what had happened before his freedom, making him wonder just how much he really knew about him and was just bullshitting that he didn't.

So instead, he hummed before quietly continuing to go over everything they still had in their inventory. They were still really well stocked up and prepared for the worse to happen. Not much would need to be purchased in this city. Which was a good thing because-while he had a hard time explaining it-he didn't feel safe here.

Hours had past and the storm didn't look nor sound like it was going to be letting up any time soon, thus pulling an annoyed sound from Steve as he turned his back to the window and threw himself down on his bed, ignoring the raised brow he received from the demon sitting at the table with his arms crossed over his chest.

Yawning with a stretch, the miner decided to rest in hopes that he could just pass the time of the storm. It wasn't even the close to being in the middle of the night yet!

Watching the human wiggling himself into a more comfortable spot deeper into the mattress, a sudden idea came to the demon's mind-causing a wide grin to spread across his face; "Say, Steve!" he chirped loudly, causing the human to startle.

Jumping with a low shout, Steve glared at Herobrine; "What, Brine?"

Surprised at hearing him say his name again, he quickly brushed it off as the human finding it safer calling him by that name since no one remembers it versus Herobrine. "When's the last time you've had a drink?" he asked with a growing grin while pushing himself to his feet and walking up to him.

Raising a brow in a mixture of confusion and suspicion, Steve asked wearily; "What are you getting at…?"

"This town is well known for its many different taverns! This is the best time to go check them out, you know? Grab a couple of beers and find another place to settle down for the night! I think two nights of this particular Inn were enough for me. What do you say we just check out now, take our shit with us and have some drinks before finding and crashing at another Inn for a few more nights?"

"This late at night? And I thought we were going to just keep traveling after tonight?"

"Come on! We've only been here for two nights! We've barely explored the town and besides, we're not going to find any Endermen in this storm. And I highly doubt you really want to be out walking around outside in the open with that kind of lightning." he pointed out, now standing directly before the human.

Steve hummed as he thought about the proposal over in his head. In a sense, Herobrine was right? What was the point in going out and hunting something in the rain that can't stand to be touched by water?

And it not like it would hurt anyone to go out and spend the night with Herobrine and having a couple of drinks, right?

If only Steve knew just what "a couple" of drinks actually meant for the Nether ruler.

To Be Continued…

A/N - If I'm allowed to hate a chapter... it's this one. Don't know why, but I don't like it. Feels like too many fillers and cheating time skips but I wanted to be lazy dammit! Next chapter will totally make up for it as not only will it have a highly drunken Steve, but it becomes the starter for the 'M' ratedness! And no... Herobrine does NOT take advantage of Steve. So stop those dirty thoughts right now!

And on a random side note... I literally squealed with joy upon seeing new tags being added for Minecraft and that Herobrine is one of them.

*Again, a huge special thanks to slingading for the fantastic cover art for this story! Thank you so much and much love to you!*