The rest of the day wasn't very exciting. Steve tried to avoid Entity and Null, which wasn't too difficult since Null spent the rest of the day outside and Entity was… actually, Steve had no idea where Entity went. That actually scared Steve a little bit, since who knew what kind of things Entity was getting up to.

With really nothing else to do, Steve decided to explore the house. He had already seen the majority of the first floor, but he hadn't seen the second floor. He carefully crept up the stairs, taking note of here the steps creaked so he could move up the stairs silently. The second floor wasn't anything too interesting, just a small hallway with two doors leading to bedrooms. He opened the first door, which led to presumably Entity's room. The room was a mess, with piles of dirty laundry and a half-eaten piece of chicken that had probably been there far longer than Steve was comfortable with. There were no curtains on the window in the room, so Steve could see outside. Below the window, he saw Null pulling weeds in the garden while Entity ran around the property, chasing birds and shooting rocks at the trees with a slingshot.

Steve carefully left the room and shut the door behind him. He then opened the other door, but couldn't figure out of this was Herobrine or Null's room. The room was impeccably clean compared to the disaster of Entity's room. The bed was nicely made and several weapons hung on a rack. Steve inspected the weapons. There was two iron swords, a bow with a quiver of arrows, and a pickaxe. The swords were both polished to the point where Steve could see his reflection. The weapons were rather simple compared to what he was used to, since the performers in the circus often used overly decorated and fancy blades that were too heavy and dull to be of any use.

Steve wandered around the room for a few moments before he spotted a few envelopes on the dresser addressed to Herobrine. Steve glanced around, making sure he was still alone, before looking at the envelopes. All of them were already opened and were all addressed to Herobrine. Steve pulled out one of the letters, but quickly realized he couldn't read the words. They were in Piglin, which he only knew because the circus once had stopped in the Nether. He could recognize the language, but he couldn't read it. He checked the other letters, and they were all in the same language and signed the same way, with a hoof print. Steve made sure to put the letters back in their respective envelopes. It didn't seem like there was anything else interesting up here, so he decided to head back downstairs and wait on the cou—

"Notch f###ing dammit!" Steve heard. He panicked at the sound of a voice and with few other options, dove under the bed. There wasn't anything else under there other than a dusty set of armor, so Steve made sure to avoid it as he crammed himself as far as he could go. He put a hand over his mouth and nose to hide his breathing.

Steve watched anxiously as a pair of shoes walked into the room. Both Entity and Null didn't wear shoes, so Steve could assume that Herobrine was home. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he watched the shoes approach the bed, thinking for one terrifying second that Herobrine knew where he was. Herobrine didn't pull him out of his hiding spot, though, and instead sat on the bed. Steve heard the wood above his head creak slightly and started praying to all the gods that the bed wouldn't break while he was under here.

"And this is my good shirt!" Steve heard Herobrine hiss in frustration. "Ow ow OW OWW! S###! F###! Gods, that hurts! I f###ing hate crossbows!"

Herobrine was very clearly angry, so Steve had to sneak out of here without being spotted and spend the rest of the day avoiding him, otherwise that anger could be taken out on him. He had to just wait for Herobrine to leave the room.

An arrow fell to the ground. The first four to five inches were soaked in blood, causing Steve's heart to stop beating for a second. Herobrine stood up and walked out of the room, and Steve waited a few moments to see if Herobrine was coming right back. Steve heard Herobrine continue to swear downstairs, so this was Steve's opportunity. He dashed out from under the bed and hid behind the door, checking if the coast was clear. He then crept down the hallway and peered down the stairs, seeing Herobrine in the kitchen pressing a wet rag to his chest. He turned his back and Steve darted down the stairs, making sure not to hit any of the creaky places.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He had made it! Now he just had to find a place to hide that was out of the way and no one would think to look—

"Oh, hey Steve! There you are!"

Steve's heart stopped and he whirled around to see Herobrine looking right at him. He didn't seem angry anymore and was instead smiling pleasantly. His smile faded a bit, though, when he saw Steve's panicked expression. "Everything okay?"

Steve swallowed hard, but he still didn't quite have his voice under control. "Y-y-you're not mad at me?" he asked, trembling like a leaf.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Herobrine asked.

"Y-y-you… I-I heard you were m-mad—" Steve began. He was shaking too hard to continue, so he just stopped.

"Oh, I wasn't mad at you. Sorry if you heard me say some things, Null's always telling me to clean up my language in front of Entity," Herobrine said with a chuckle. "It's not you, though. Just got shot in the chest, that's all." He moved the rag to reveal a bloody hole in his chest. Steve gasped in shock. "But it's fine, I physically cannot be killed." His smile faded away as he looked at Steve. "Were you worried that I was going to lash out at you because I was angry?"

Steve hesitated, almost said something, but remained silent. Herobrine got down on one knee to be at eye level with Steve and put his hand on Steve's shoulder. "You don't ever have to worry about us treating you like that. Your life will NEVER look like it did with that circus, I can promise you that." Steve was trembling under Herobrine's hand and just nodded, not saying anything. Herobrine didn't want to push him, so he nodded too and stood up. "Do you wanna get some bandages for me from the kitchen?" he asked, changing the subject. Steve nodded and scurried away.

"Just give him some time. He has been through quite a bit and it might take him a moment for him to realize that he's safe."

Herobrine jumped in surprise. "Nether!" he shouted, whirling around to face Null. "Sweet Notch, Null! Maybe a warning next time!"

"I apologize. I considered my introduction the necessary 'warning.'" Null said. "I came in when I heard you get home. I also heard the colorful language you used in front of Steve." Null gave him a scolding look, and Herobrine flinched under it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know he was inside; I thought he was outside with you and Entity," Herobrine said. "But you're right. It's going to take some time for him to get used to us."

"It's something Entity hasn't quite wrapped his head around either, but he's young. I believe he will make a great companion for Steve when the two get used to each other." Null then spotted the bloody rag Herobrine was pressing to his chest. "What happened?"

Herobrine sighed. "They shot me and chased me out of the warped forest, so that should give you a good idea as to how the conversation went," he grumbled. Null blinked at him, confused. Right, he wasn't the best at reading between the lines. "The tribe hates me," Herobrine summed up.

"Ah," Null said with a nod. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," Herobrine admitted with a shrug. "I may just take a break from that whole situation and start investigating these." He pulled out the enchanted bands he had gotten from Steve. "I'm very curious about the enchantments on them. Something doesn't add up between the shi… er, crappy magic show I watched and the power in these bands."

Null nodded. "Congratulations. You are getting much better about the kind of language you use."

Herobrine rolled his eyes and laughed. "Thanks. So, what's for dinner?"