[Chapter XIX]
[Deeper Desires Pt. I]
The following morning the two sat at the table discussing where they could go to safely transform the remaining Ender Pearls into the Eye of Ender. Herobrine came up with a healthy supply of locations that Steve agreed would be good… but would always reply with something that in one way or another included Sanderlorum.
Sighing heavily to interrupt the miner, Herobrine finally gave in with a forced chuckle; "I get it. You want to go back, don't you? I'm sure that kitten of yours is missing you." he teased.
Steve scowled upon the other's accusations. "It's not just that. They're still kind of secluded from everything else. I just think we'll have all the privacy we need if we do it back at my place. Plus I have a chest there in my room we can keep them locked in for the time being."
Even though Steve made several good points, the demon still found it too amusing to tease him.
Returning to the Inn after spending the rest of the morning stocking up on supplies, they checked out while giving their thanks to the young woman who offered them back whenever they liked free of charge.
While they were making their way through the town towards the main entrance, Steve overheard a group of people talking about two men who had been attacked outside the taverns after leaving Joehl's without paying. They had gossiped about how they thought the two got what was coming to them since this was apparently not their first time doing this.
"The men that Joehl was looking for got beaten up?" Steve looked to Herobrine as if the man knew the answers.
Little did he know just how much Herobrine knew.
Herobrine gave a nonchalant roll of his should, "Well, when you're a piece of shit like that, karma is sure to catch up with you."
"True."
The journey back to Sanderlorum seemed shorter then when they had left. Steve wasn't complaining. Not nearly as much as Herobrine seemed to have.
The demon kept asking the miner why he wouldn't just allow him to teleport them both to the small house. Trying to explain it would be quicker and more efficient seemed to have no effect on the human as he simply kept to his replies as he didn't trust him that much yet.
After parting ways with the demon upon reaching Sanderlorum, Steve took his time meeting up with the villagers as they all came running out of their homes and such to greet him and welcome him back home.
He was immediately bombarded with questions from everyone; ranging from the men commenting on his appearance seeming stronger, to the women fussing over how he seemed to have loss weight.
Even the children were asking him what kind of neat things he came across and if he had to kill any Mobs.
The most important question asked however, was how the hunt went.
Trying to answer everyone's questions in turn, when it came to that one, he simply smiled and said everything will soon be over.
After fighting his way through the crowd and picking up Ozzy, he reunited with Herobrine once he returned home; finding the demon kicked back and relaxed in the chair he seemed to have claimed as his spot at the table.
"Well, once again I thought I was going to have to come to your rescue." Herobrine smirked with a chuckle.
Steve shook his head while setting Ozzy down, watching the young cub run into the bedroom and jump on the bed with a trill. Chuckling as Ozzy began playing with the small hills the comforter on his bed made, Steve allowed the kitten to have his fun while moving over to join Herobrine at the table.
"When did we want to start transforming the pearls?" he asked with an excited smile.
"I'll have to go back to the Nether and retrieve more rods. I only brought just the one with me. We'll rest up a bit before I go back and bring them." Herobrine stretched his arms over his head.
Just as Steve parted his lips to speak again, a soft knock on his door interrupted him.
Both heads turned to the sound before Steve looked over at Herobrine, the demon simply shrugging his shoulders with a look of confusion on his face.
Getting to his feet and approaching the door, Steve glanced over to find Herobrine was gone. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door. He was surprised to be greeted by Melz and Hugo, each holding fishing equipment. "Hey guys. What's going on?"
"Hey, Steve! Hugo and I were just on our way out to the lakes just beyond our biome to do some fishing. Your kitten certainly has an appetite!" he laughed. "Though maybe we'd swing by and see if you'd like to join us? I know you just got back."
Thinking the offer over, Steve smiled with a nod. "Sure! I'll tag along. After all, I'm sure Ozzy is a huge blame for your sudden inventory being gone."
"Oh that's not a bother! The little guy's growing up! We'll wait out here for you." Melz grinned.
"Let me gather my supplies." Steve quickly added before shutting the door to find Herobrine standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.
"What? You said we should relax! I think going out fishing will be just perfect."
"So what am I supposed to do?" he hissed.
Steve laughed before replying; "You can always come with us?"
An almost wicked grin spread across Herobrine's face, "Don't worry. I was planning on it."
Herobrine made sure to keep to the shadows and out of the line of view of both Melz and Hugo, not wanting to stir up any unnecessary trouble. With the sun at its highest point and nearly two large totes filled with fresh fish, Hugo began stating he was getting tired and wanted to return back.
"Melz, if you want to take him back, I'll finish filling the third bag up before joining you. Besides, it's getting hot… we don't want all this fish to spoil." Steve offered, finding the moment to be the perfect opportunity to allow Herobrine to come out of hiding so he could spend some time with the Nether ruler.
That thought however brought both happiness and guilt to his mind… He was happy to spend time with him, but at the same time, felt the guilt because the man was supposed to be an evil monster.
Feeling his chest ache slightly as the two emotions began stirring up a growing struggle, Hugo's voice brought him out of his thoughts long enough to wave them off with a forced smile.
"See you back home, Steve!"
Watching them leave, Steve only turned his back to them upon sensing the presence of the demon behind him. "Shall we begin relaxing?" he grinned while leading the way towards another pond further into the Plains biome.
Herobrine followed closely behind him, even offering to take the half full bag of fish to carry.
The two enjoyed each other's company as they took turns catching fish and placing them in the bag. Upon the bag now being full, they both decided it was time to take it back before the heat could ruin all they had caught.
Herobrine growled upon standing on the outskirts of the neighboring biome of the one they were passing through as they ventured slightly off their original path. With a sneer across his face, he gave a violent kick at the freshly fallen snow just at his feet, watching the tiny snowflakes sparkling brightly in the sunlight as they fluttered back towards the ground.
Steve came to stand beside him, watching the snow fall until lifting his gaze up at the demon with a smirk. "You don't want to go back in there, do you?" he asked with a teasing tone.
"I hate snow." Herobrine bluntly stated.
Steve chuckled with a shake of his head, "I never would have guessed. Anyways, we're almost to the dessert. We'll be back at Sanderlorum within the hour. Once we do, shall we start working on the pearls?"
"Sure. It won't take me but a few moments to get enough rods to finish up the rest of the pearls. That bag is slowing us down though since you're not going to let me teleport us. Here, let me just take care of it real quick." Herobrine took the bag and before Steve could ask what he was intending to do with them, was gone.
And within literally just a few seconds, Herobrine was once again beside him but minus the bag.
"Where'd the fish go?"
"Melz will find them in the cooler with the other two bags. Don't worry, no one saw or heard anything." Herobrine reassured with a grin. "Anyways, shall we continue? Least now we can walk faster."
"Aww, poor baby… You have to walk." Steve mocked, surprising himself as he found he was slowly pushing past his fears of the man and his powers yet again.
They conversed while making their way back towards the dessert, the two deciding to stick with the path that had them walking right beside the snow covered biome next to them despite the occasional glare the demon gave the land.
Suddenly, Herobrine stopped mid-sentence, as well as his steps.
Steve slowed to a halt and looked over his shoulder, questioning the other what was wrong before following where the man's white eyes were staring at. Violet opened wide upon seeing what had captured Herobrine's attention.
Three Endermen were standing on a hill in the snowy biome, watching them intently.
Leaning closer towards Herobrine to whisper to him, Steve slowly began reaching for his traveling bag to arm himself; "That's kind of creepy. How long have they been watching us do you think?"
"I'm not sure. And I don't think they plan to just keep watching us…" he warned.
Steve nodded his head while grabbing the hilt of his sword, slowly unsheathing it and bringing it out to prepare for a potential fight. "Suddenly feels like the tables have been turned, don't it?"
"Like we're the ones being hunted?" Herobrine answered Steve's question, earning a hum and nod in agreeance from the human.
Keeping his white gaze on the tall creatures, an idea came to the demon; "Steve. We need just a few more orbs. Think we can take these three down? We'll be perfectly set with them."
Taking only a second to catch on to what the other was referring to, Steve gave a curt nod.
Pleased by the miner's response, Herobrine grinned while making the first move; "We just need a few more of you bastards! And you three will do nicely!" He shouted while bringing his pickax out from thin air and gave the tool a few swings, causing the Endermen to scatter.
Two had appeared and remained close by the demon to fight him while the third closed in on the miner.
Steve was trying to keep from making eye contact while putting himself into an offensive stance, managing to remain calm as the thought crossed his mind once again. Herobrine was right. These three Endermen would be perfect. They would give them the pearls they needed to find the portal and activate it. They would no longer have to hunt the creatures down and slay them.
Suddenly, the Enderman he was standing before gave a strange shriek before lunging at him, swinging its long arms and sweeping them as if trying to scoop the man up.
Steve took a wide step back out of the Enderman's reach, eyes narrowed as he the creature simply took a large step closer and attempted to grab him again. It was almost as if the thing was trying to catch him!
"Steve, you alright?" Herobrine called out to the other while blocking one of the two he was fighting when it tried to smack him.
"Yeah." he gasped just as he narrowly dodged yet another of its attempts at grabbing him.
Herobrine watched the one Steve was taking on, noticing its strange behavior and suddenly feeling uneasy about the situation. "Steve!" he called out yet again after managing to thrust enough energy forwards to knock the creature away from him and put some distance between them. "Something's not right here! Let's leave!"
"They're not going to let us just leave, Brine!" Steve snapped before jumping back and once again evading the Mob's long black arms. "We have to kill them!" he then shouted while taking advantage of his raised voice surprising the Enderman he was fighting and charged at the stunned creature.
The Enderman successfully evaded each of Steve's attacks however, steadily building up the human's frustration and aggravation. "Dammit!" he shouted while turning to face the creature.
As he stood his ground against the tall Mob, Steve couldn't help but focus more on how it seemed like the creature wasn't trying to harm him. This behavior alone confused him and sent an eerie chill down his spine. However it seemed to him, Steve knew he needed that pearl! So he pushed aside his thoughts and uneasy feelings and ran towards the Mob with his sword tightly clenched.
He thrust his blade forward, tching as it missed. Without hesitance, he swung it sideways in an attempt to catch the beast's abdomen but only for the attack to end up missing as well.
With a shout of frustration, Steve almost carelessly brought the blade around again. This time the Mob let out a startled cry as the tip of the iron blade kissed its dark flesh. Steve grinned while he watched the Mob take a few steps away from him while grasping at the faint scratch his weapon caused on its left just above its hip.
Recovering from the minor injury, the Enderman cried out while teleporting itself to be directly before Steve while lifting its long arms. It swung its left arm to slap Steve hard across the face to stun the human before it brought its right arm against the miner's lower abdomen, causing the man to stumble while doubling over with a fit of coughs coming from him before he fell to one knee against the sandy ground.
Recovering from the assaults, Steve hissed with a shake of his head while lifting it up to glare at the Enderman. It was then he gasped, eyes opening almost painfully wide in pure shock upon seeing the tall creature holding the precious Eye of Ender.
"No…" he breathed, slowly pushing himself up onto his hands and knees as the Mob grunted while holding the item tightly. He had only brought the item with him because he was going to ask Herobrine if they want to try using it to seek out the entrance…
Putting himself in the position to enable the move, Steve quickly launched himself forwards, reaching out in an attempt to grab the Eye of Ender from the creature's grasp, cursing as it simply teleported itself out of his reach and closer towards an opening through the thick snow covered trees on the edge of the neighboring biome.
Looking over his shoulder to see Herobrine still fighting off the two other Endermen, Steve slowly brought his gaze towards the one before him. Not wanting to venture too far from the Nether ruler, Steve glared into the glowing purple eyes of the Enderman holding the Eye, trying to provoke the creature and have it come to him.
But it remained still, staring straight into Steve's eyes and softly chattering as it shared the challenging contact.
Waiting.
Cocking a brow as he found the Mob's behavior extremely strange and unnerving now, Steve slowly pushed himself up onto his feet while continuing to stare the Mob down until finally he shook his head, turning his back on it with a tighter hold on his sword while making his way towards the demon to help him.
He couldn't explain it, but he was getting a really bad vibe coming from the creature's behavior and no longer felt safe being this far from the demon. It would push them back… but they could always make a new Eye of Ender. They were going to be transforming all the others today anyways. If he could at least help Herobrine kill the two he was fighting, that would still be enough.
Walking away from it, Steve missed the Enderman narrowing its eyes as it watched him leaving, grunting before disappearing and reappearing right behind the miner.
Dropping the Eye of Ender to the sand, it instead reached down and grabbed Steve suddenly around the waist, the human crying out in surprise as he was handled with barely any care as the creature spun him around to face it.
"What the—? Hey! Let me go!" He struggled against its hold as it began patting him down, as if searching his person for something.
Reaching up and grabbing the strap to his bag, the Enderman gave it a hard yank, releasing Steve and instead began struggling now to remove the bag. Amidst the scuffling between the two, something heavy fell to the sand with a muted thud, catching the Enderman's attention and releasing its hold on the bag.
No longer having the other's strength to fight against, Steve fell backwards with a shout of surprise, grunting in discomfort as he landed on his backside on the hot sand. Lifting his head up to glare at the creature once more, violet eyes snapped wide open as a loud gasp filled his lungs instead.
The Enderman was now holding the one of a kind diamond pickax that Herobrine had hand-made for him. Having the idea that maybe they would use the Eye of Ender to find the entrance; he had packed the tool in case they did manage to locate it… He wanted to be prepared to dig down to the earth's center if need be.
The Enderman, perking up as it noticed it now had the human's full attention once again, looked back down at the item in its hands. With a tilt of its head, it looked back up at Steve before teleporting back to where it was when it held the Eye of Ender.
Narrowing his eyes with a growing growl, he tightened his grip on his sword while pushing himself forwards, running at the Mob and giving chase as it continuously teleported and led Steve deeper into the thicket of snow covered spruce trees.
Slaying the last of the two Endermen that had been keeping him preoccupied, Herobrine gave a huff of air before turning towards where the miner had been at, raising a brow upon no longer seeing the human nor the Enderman he had been fighting anywhere in site, but seeing the Eye of Ender the man had been carrying instead lying abandoned on the sand. "Steve…"
Each time the Mob came within reach, Steve gave an angry shout with each swing of his sword, growing angrier and angrier as each time he missed the beast.
He was too focused on the creature that he wasn't paying any attention to where he was going or just how deep it had led him. He only stopped his pursuit when he managed to corner the tall being between himself the ledge of a tall hill they had gone up.
Far below was a small lake that had been frozen over completely.
Staring at the creature while taking deep breaths in an attempt to regulate his breathing, Steve held the hilt of his sword tightly before making his move; "Give that BACK!" he shouted, thrusting his weapon blade-first forwards and driving it into the creature's stomach as it seemed to just stand in place and purposely allowed the miner's attack to hit home, the Enderman shrieking while slumping forwards, dropping the tool it was holding hostage and collapsing against Steve's body.
Steve gave a grunt while pushing the creature off and away from him, withdrawing his sword from its stomach and panting, his lungs burning from the cold air as puffs of steam lifted into the sky with each heavy exhale.
With a loud bark of victorious laughter as he bent down to retrieve his stolen tool, Steve smirked in victory while getting ready to walk away, also picking up the Enderman's pearl.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him trembled with a loud cracking noise, causing him to stop in his tracks while looking around. "What the hel-ahh!?" he cried out as the cliff he was on gave way, feeling himself beginning to fall towards the icy water of the small pond below.
Just as he began falling, a force suddenly plowed into him painfully, knocking the air out of his lungs while also pushing him out of the way of danger.
With a muffled sound upon hitting the ground, Steve looked over his shoulder with eyes wide, trying to figure out what had just saved him. Quickly crawling towards the edge, though being careful not to fall over, Steve was just able to catch a glimpse of Herobrine just before the demon broke through the ice and plunged into the dark waters-back first.
"BRINE!" he shouted.
Herobrine heard his name being called out to him, but held no strength to respond. The fight he had just won between those two Endermen and the energy he'd spent trying to track down the human had taken a toll on him. And the instant his body hit the icy water after breaking through the solid layer of ice, nothing but pure agony filled his entire being.
Screaming into the water all around him, blackness soon began filling the corners of his vision as his body grew numb and heavy the deeper he sank towards the freezing bottom, feeling his body temperature dropping as he was rapidly losing heat.
'S-Steve…!'
Just before his eyes closed, a dark figure dove into the water after him, his numb body barely able to feel warm arms encircling him and pulling him back towards the surface.
Consciousness slowly fading in and out, Herobrine was blearily aware of his body once again on solid ground, no longer feeling the burning pain of the frigid water as his cheek rest against the snow. Summoning the last of his energy, he pushed himself up too quickly as dizziness nearly made him fall back over, gasping in the cold air while turning back to face the edge of the water; "The Eye of Ender!" he panicked just as he watched the same dark figure that had rescued him jumping back into the water once more.
Vision blurred and his strength gone, Herobrine let out a low groan as he fell against the snow once more, this time his white eyes closing as his consciousness left him fully at last. The young miner was the last clear thought he had before darkness swallowed him.
Warmth.
Sweet, precious warmth was all around him. Selfishly he pulled said warmth tighter around himself, nuzzling into what his brain slowly processed was a wool blanket. Groaning while rolling his head to the right, eyelids slowly fluttered open.
Glowing white eyes were immediately greeted by the site of a wall made up of spruce wood planks. Blinking his vision into focus, he turned his head forwards, looking up now at the roof made of the same material. It was then his brain registered that he was inside a house.
Pulling the heavy blanket that was keeping him warm closer around himself, Herobrine continued looking around the cabin-like home. It was certainly small as it consisted of literally one room, and was constructed of nothing but spruce wood and spruce wood planks.
The bed he was in was pressed up against the right wall, directly in front of him being a caldron filled with crystal clear water and a table with what looked like clothing and miscellaneous items were spread out upon.
A window was also to his right but more towards the foot of the bed.
Looking to the left, he found the source of the heat within the small room. In the middle of the back wall was a fireplace built out of red bricks which housed a roaring fire behind iron fencing.
To the left of the fire was a crafting table against the wall opposite the bed and a set of tables attached to either side to give extra working space. Beside the table on the crafting tables left was a furnace which had the faint smell of cooked fish filtering from it.
Next to it was a bookshelf with a potted rose set on top underneath a window that the early morning sun was beaming in through, the inside of the house sparkling like a cave lined with diamonds as the slowly falling snow shimmered brightly in the sunbeams.
In the corner of the house next to the bookshelf was a single table and chair, indicating that whoever lived here lived alone.
With a bit of a struggle, he sat upright; looking over his shoulder after his head stop swimming. He noticed that the bed's headboard was pressed up against a large chest that sat right beside the front door, the door itself being directly behind the bed.
"Strange… But it's cozy. And warm…"
In the middle of the floor lay a rather soft looking area rug made of wool which had been dyed; the color reminding him an awful lot of Steve's shirt—
He gasped with eyes widening.
'Steve! Oh fuck, I haven't seen him!' About ready to throw himself from the warm bed, something green caught his eye that had him looking up and over towards the lone table and chair once more.
Sitting on top of the wooden table was the Eye of Ender, and the pickax he had made special for Steve.
A distasteful mixture of panic and anger began rising inside him the longer he stared at the items.
Did the person who lives here do something with him and was keeping the items as trophies? What if that person knows Steve's the Great Hero and tries to do to him what those two bastards back in Bloomingston failed? Or worse; What if they not only knew he was the Great Hero but also knew he was the only living Valerrencian?
What if that's what was going on right now? What if the person living here had Steve outside somewhere and was hurting him right this very second!? Or trying to drag him off to wherever he could be sold!?
Rage began overpowering his panic the more 'What ifs' kept flashing across his mind as he threw the blanket off from his chest with a low growl and quickly placed his feet against the wooden floor, blinking while looking down upon suddenly freezing.
His clothes…
He was naked.
Narrowing his eyes into a glare, he began skimming the room in search for his clothing, blinking in mild confusion and annoyance as his blank eyes found them hanging over the iron fence in front of the fire. "How did I miss them before?"
Just then, the door suddenly burst open, allowing a frigid gust that threatened to extinguish the flames to blow in as well as some snow trespassing into the house.
Whipping his head towards the door, Herobrine didn't bother to cover himself as he instead readied himself to grab whoever had just entered and interrogate them for Steve's whereabouts. The man that entered however had Herobrine abandoning his plan while quickly pulling the blanket over his lap with a sigh surprisingly filled with noticeable relief that he would not admit to feeling for a long time.
The human smiled upon seeing Herobrine sitting up in bed, "Oh great! You're awake! I was beginning to worry a little." Steve sighed before chuckling while setting the bag containing freshly gather wood down by the door and removing his shoes to allow them to dry from the snow. "You've been resting for nearly three days."
Herobrine said nothing at first as he watched the young miner strip off a heavy looking dark blue wool jacket that he has never seen the man wear before to hang it next to the fire to allow it to dry as well. "Where are we? And what happened exactly?" he at last asked.
Steve smiled sadly while bringing the chair over towards the bed before taking a seat, having it face more towards the fire than the actual bed itself. By this point, Herobrine had gotten back into the bed and covered himself, no longer able to take the coldness of the room despite the fire nearby. "Well, after I killed that Enderman… the ground beneath me caved in. You pushed me out of the way and fell into the pond instead. You broke through the ice and sank nearly to the bottom. I jumped in right after you and pulled you to the surface. After that, I went back in for the Eye of Ender.
"You had already passed out by the time I came up and was unresponsive so I started to panic. I had no idea what to do and it was quickly getting dark. But as I looked around, I noticed the area looking familiar. Once I got my bearings, I knew exactly where I was and was able to bring you here. I had built this small home not too long after I got stranded here. After I recovered from the… accident, I left the village that had taken me in in search for a way off this island since the village was too small and had no boats that would survive a long journey. I came to this biome and got caught at night fall during a really bad snow storm. At first I just threw together a small hut… but as the days passed, I began adding more and more to it. And so that's how it became the way it is today. I stayed here for about two months before moving on… I'm actually surprised it's still here and undamaged."
Herobrine remained silent as he listened to Steve explaining the situation. He was honestly speechless. Steve had risked his life to save him…? Why?
"You could've died, Steve…" he began, blinking and looking over at the human upon hearing him sigh loudly.
"God, not this again, Brine…" He got to his feet and reached into the bag of wood before quickly tossing two large chunks of wood into the weakening flames before moving to stand before the demon now. "You're seriously not going to go on about that shit again, are you?"
"I'm just… surprised. That you would risk your life for mine." he confessed in a soft tone, minutely picking up on how more fouled mouthed the human has become since being in his company.
Steve cocked a brow at him, "Well why wouldn't I? You're my friend, Brine."
Those words had white eyes opening wide and staring at the human. As well as something powerfully seizing within his chest. He hadn't forgotten when Steve called him a friend when he was drunk, but Herobrine simply brushed it aside as the man not knowing what he was talking about due to his intoxication.
But here he was, sitting before him completely sober and once again, called him his friend. It had been a very long time since he's heard anyone say that to him…
Waiting for a moment to see if Herobrine was going to add anything, Steve shrugged to himself before continuing, once again taking a seat in the chair; "Anyways, the whole encounter was peculiar… I got separated from you by the one. It somehow managed to get ahold of the Eye of Ender and was trying to lure me into the woods or something. I was about to follow but I didn't want to leave you.
"So I was going to just give up on the Eye of Ender. I figured we were fine. The weirdest part happened when I turned to leave it be and go back to you. It came at me and dropped the Eye as if it no longer had any interest in it. It then grabbed me and began patting me down as if seeking something else it could take. It managed to grab ahold of my bag and when we fought over it, the tool you made for me fell out. I freaked out when I saw it pick it and when it seemed like it noticed it had my attention, it teleported deeper into the woods… being closely followed by me." Steve looked away, almost holding an expression of shame upon admitting he had blindly followed the creature alone into the woods for a simple mining tool.
Herobrine remained silent while he listened closely to Steve's explanation about the Mob, his white empty eyes narrowing into a slight glare as he turned away from the human as he began focusing on his own thoughts; his expression overtaken by seriousness. 'So… That Enderman was purposely trying to lure Steve away. It was trying to separate us… It would explain why it tried luring him into these particular woods. They must know I hate this fucking weather and figured if they could get Steve in here… I wouldn't follow. Too bad they don't seem to understand how important Steve is to me and just what lengths I would go to keep him from anyone and anything besides me! But it doesn't add up as to why? What purpose could they have had to separate us? Is it because of me?'
"I don't like how they've been acting." Herobrine interrupted his own thoughts while grabbing the miner's attention once again.
"What do you mean?"
"When I was the Great Hero, they all either sought me out to kill me or simply all hid from me. But these ones with you…? They're just acting differently from before. They're almost acting as if… they want something from you."
Steve simply shrugged. "Maybe they just want me dead since I'm the next Great Hero? Plus we've gotten much closer to finding their home world. I'm sure it's safe to say maybe they're beginning to panic?"
"No." Steve blinked in confusion at Herobrine's firm response, waiting in silence for the demon to continue. "I've been noticing something with them, Steve. They're not acting violently towards you unless you physically provoke them. It's almost like they don't want to hurt you or something. I can't figure it out and it's pissing me off!" He suddenly reached a hand to his forehead and laid back down as his loud outburst caused a wave of lightheadedness to hit him.
"Brine, just calm down okay? Everything's alright now. Just get some rest. Keep getting yourself upset over this whole thing isn't what you need right now."
Trying to deliver a harsh glare at the human for practically talking like a damn mother to him, Herobrine failed and instead simply 'rolled his eyes' and sighed while turning away.
After a few moments of nothing else being said, Steve pushed himself to his feet with a soft sigh and weak chuckle, "Anyways, I'll be back. I need to go get some more wood for the fire before it gets too dark. It took forever to get you to stop shaking… I'd hate to know what'll happen if the fire died out." He gave the demon a quick flash of a smile that unknowingly to him caused a sting of arousal to stab at the Nether ruler before grabbing his still slightly damp coat and slipping it on, heading out the front door and into the freshly falling snow after putting his now dried shoes back on.
Herobrine remained silent for a few seconds; even after Steve had left. "Steve looked… so ill and tired…" he noted almost absently to himself.
Feeling about ready to go crazy from being in the bed for far too long, Herobrine sighed while pushing the blanket off and slowly sitting up, giving a quick glance towards the front door before turning his body so his feet touched the wooden floors.
Shivering as he no longer had the extra warmth of the heavy blanket covering him, he stood to his feet and quickly reached for his dry pants, surprise filling him at how warm and soft the carpet was beneath his bare feet.
After slipping his pants on and enjoying the warmth of them from the heat of the fire, he remained standing on the carpet, staring deep into the dying flames of the fire that once burned so strongly.
Steve had said he had been resting for nearly three days. Which means Steve was the one caring for him and keeping him warm by constantly ensuring the fire kept going. And seeing how quickly the flames ate the chopped up spruce wood like a greedy glutton, Steve most likely had to go out to retrieve more at least every few hours.
Day… and night…
Groaning in the back of his throat while stretching his arms above his head, Herobrine soon let out a loud sigh as his arms dropped to his sides before bringing his hands to rest on his hips, just above his pants as they hung loosely from his hip. He continued staring into the flames, slightly being reminded of the fires within the Nether.
And it was suddenly then an idea came to him. It was clearly taking a toll on the human to keep having to go out and restock the wood for the fire…
Each time the man went out he was putting his very life in danger. Herobrine narrowed his eyes as another thought crossed his mind. He couldn't risk having him go out alone to get wood. If he lost Steve, then everything he worked so hard for would—!
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he gave one last quick glance at the door. Steve shouldn't be back soon, he had just left. He needed a way to make Steve stop going out for wood for the fire. So making a decision, Herobrine closed his eyes and focused. He was still rather weak, but he felt he had enough strength for a quick round trip.
Without another moment of hesitation, he teleported himself out of the cabin and back into the Nether.
To Be Continued…
A/N - So I had to break this outrageously long chapter up into two sections. Hope you don't mind that. I'm going on a mini vacation Sunday and wanted desperately to update this story before we left. I hope this wasn't too terribly rushed, and I apologize for any spelling and grammar mistakes still hiding in here. Again, I've gone over it multiple times but I know I've missed , for those who wanted Herobrine to be the one needing saving; hope this chapter filled that wish! ;)
After being swamped with work, looking forward to our vacation in Orlando! What better vaca than VIP tickets to see Weird Al Yankovic! VIP pre-show party! You can't come sooner!
*Again a huge special thanks to slingading for the fantastic cover art for this story! Thank you so much and much love to you!*