Herobrine Reborn

Part One: Blast Radius

I Jump Off A Cliff

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and flowers were blooming.

In other words, a perfect day to go jumping off cliffs.

It began when my sister started running along the edge of a ravine without any concerns about the thirty-block drop, or the seven block wide lava pool at the bottom of the cliff. Yeah, she does that. All the time.

"Cal!" I yelled. "Cal, get away from that cliff!"

Calliope Deniara merrily skipped around, smiling brightly at me. "Don't worry, Toni. I'll be fine."

"That's what you said when you burned down the lodge."

"Hey, that was the chicken's fault and you know it."

That's my sister, alright. The adults saw her as some reckless daredevil who loved to cause trouble. That's not true.

She's a reckless daredevil, alright, but it's usually the trouble that comes to her.

(Don't worry. I'll try to keep the exposition dump quick.)

Most of the stuff Cal gets in trouble for usually isn't her fault—it's just her having really bad luck and being a little too sassy for her own good. (Note that I said usually, though.)

Once when we were kids, we had snowball fights at school. Cal happened to pick up a snowball that looked innocent enough and chucked it at our gym teacher.

Turns out it wasn't a snowball—it was pure ice. Cal chucked a hunk of ice at a teacher's head.

Yeah, she was suspended for a while.

Also another example of her getting in trouble—once she was messing around with our neighbor's cows, but the gate was locked, so she'd entered the cow pen by putting down a log in front of the fence. That's how she got out of the pen, too.

Unfortunately, that's how all of the cows got out as well.

Long story short, the cows caused a lot of mayhem, Cal got in a lot of trouble, and we only managed to get half of the cows back in the pen.

Cal started calling herself 'the liberator of cattle' after that.

Another thing about my sister—everyone thinks she's…uh…good looking. It's weird saying things like that about my sister, but everyone seems to like her. She's not really interested in anyone though, because she hasn't met someone that she truly 'approves' of yet. Don't even ask me what that means.

But me? I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Nobody talks to me, and Cal's friends act like I'm invisible. Even the people who know I exist just see me as the stereotypical nerd who enjoys studying and reads dictionaries for fun. Which isn't true. I like reading, and I'd rather pick a book over a sword, but I'm not a complete nerd. (And who reads dictionaries for fun anyways?)

Whoof. That's enough of the boring exposition. Let's get back to Cal and her slightly dangerous exploits.

"Cal, get away from that ravine. I will not be held responsible if you fall down there and break your legs or something!" I called, standing a safe distance away from the ravine. "And besides, it'll be night soon and the monsters will come."

Cal laughed. "Let them come! I'll slay them all!"

"You're going to kill them with your bare hands?" I said dryly. "Cal, we're outside of the village's lit area. Mobs can still spawn."

"It's still light out!" Cal protested.

"The sun is setting, Cal."

"Ugh, fine." Cal groaned. "I'll leave, but on one condition."

"What?" I asked exasperatedly.

Cal smirked. "You admit I am the superior sister."

"…Cal. Seriously?"

"Oh, come on." Cal smirked. "We've got all the time in the world."

"We literally don't."

"You're no fun."

I glanced at the sun, which was slowly dipping below the horizon. "Cal, I'm being serious. We need to go."

"Say it," Cal encouraged me. "Come on."

I groaned—I couldn't believe Cal, who was a full four years older than me, was acting so childish.

"Alright." I rolled my eyes. "You're the superior sister. Happy?"

Cal frowned. "That didn't sound genuine."

"If you expect me to say that genuinely, you're out of luck." I put my hands on my hips. "Cal."

"Alriiiight," Cal whined. "God, you're so bossy. Aren't I the older one here?"

"Mentally, you're still around twelve."

"Rude."

"Okay, we're leaving." I grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from the edge of the ravine.

"Hey, hey! I can walk on my own!" Cal protested, pulling away.

I turned to make a sarcastic comment was when I heard the whistling of an arrow.

Cal grabbed me by the collar and pulled me back roughly. The arrow flew so close to my head that the feathers on the arrow nicked my ear. The arrow hit the ground, the end of the arrow quivering.

"What the hell was that!?" Cal yelled.

"That was an arrow," I said fearfully.

"I know it was an arrow, Toni!"

"Then why'd you ask!?"

I heard the clatter of bones, the moans from the zombies. Another arrow struck the ground not far from us.

"I knew we shouldn't have come here." I said fearfully. "Cal, we need to get out of—"

I turned to see a zombie blocking the way. The zombie swung at me, and I barely blocked the blow with my arms, which stung from the blow.

Cal screamed and ran forward, kicking the zombie in the chest.

The zombie fell backwards into the ravine, hitting the ground with a loud bang.

Cal turned to me, her expression urgent. "Toni, we need to le—"

An arrow flew out of nowhere and pierced through her ankle.

Cal screamed and dropped to the ground. I screamed too, at least that's what I think. That moment felt like a nightmare that I can't remember all the details of.

"Pick me up," Cal rasped.

I put my arm around her shoulder, and she put her arm around my shoulder. We sprinted/limped away.

As we ran, I noticed more and more monsters pooling out of the forests. A dozen zombies, two skeletons, and a witch, not that I was counting.

Why are there so many mobs? It just turned night. They should have started spawning in by now!

"Where do we go?" I yelled.

"Why are you asking me?" Calliope gasped, clutching her leg.

In the distance, I saw a bridge leading across the ravine. Maybe we could hide or run away somewhere and wait until daytime. We changed course, sprinting towards the bridge. A zombie lumbered towards me, and I punched it in the face. It tried to bite my hand as I punched it, so I kicked it away.

We finally got to the bridge and ran across. "Go! GO!" I urged, lugging her along like a sack of beetroots. She was only half-conscious now. I glanced behind us. The monsters were swarming the bridge, all of them trying to get on at once. One of the zombies were pushed off the bridge by the horde of mobs and hit the ground with a loud crack, reminding me of the thirty block drop. However, there was a water pool a few blocks from the bridge, so if worst came to worst, we could jump in.

I registered all of this in a second as I looked behind me. Unfortunately, I was so preoccupied with what was behind us that I forgot to think about what was ahead of me.

And so, we ran metaphorically and literally into doom.

I looked forward just in time to see a creeper expanding, starting to glow...

I barely had any time to throw down two wooden blocks between us before the creeper exploded.

There was a blinding flash of light, and the wood blocks were blown to splinters. I felt my vocal cords vibrate as I screamed. Every other sound was drowned out by a head-pounding ringing. I flew backwards off the bridge along with Cal, the wind clawing at my face. The ground rose up to meet me, and a single thought pounded in my head.

I can't die like this.

My last sensations before passing out were my body suddenly pumping with adrenaline, and the edges of my vision turning lightning white.

I hit the water with a crash, and felt like I'd hit the bottom of the ravine instead of water.

Despite my efforts…my eyes began to close, and I felt myself sink to the bottom of the water.

Then, nothing.

?-?-?

Toni wakes up.

Where is she?

A small room. Not unlike a cell block.

She recognizes the smell of smoke.

Something's burning.

A red glow fills the room. It is not unlike the glow made by fire.

A horrible laugh fills the room.

"This is what is to come, child."

A loud screaming like mike feedback echoes throughout the room, and she screams, clapping her hands over her ears.

A shadow, the silhouette of a terrifying man fills the entire room.

The dream changes.

This time, the surroundings are completely pitch black.

A man with a beard suddenly appears in front of her.

He looks her up and down, and then smirks.

"So you're the one. I sure hope my brother chose correctly."

Notch's expression changes.

"Tell Cara I said hello."

The man vanishes, and pain fills her head.

She screams.

Black.

?-?-?

I woke up, and everything was cold. And blue. And incredibly wet.

I opened my mouth, and bubbles came from my mouth.

My lungs screamed for air as I kicked for the surface, my hands blindly groping for the surface.

I burst out of the water, disoriented and blinded by the sun. I flopped onto the stone floor of the ravine like a fish.

Every single spot on my body hurt. My clothes were completely drenched, and I could feel the sun on my back.

I rolled onto my back, staring at the blue sky.

Was I here all night? My parents must be frantic.

That thought jolted me into action. I sat up instantly, and heard a 'crack' coming from my back. I winced.

Did I break my spine?

I did a quick check and cleverly deduced that my back was not, in fact, broken.

Then a thought burst into my mind.

Cal!

The thought was like a slap in the face. I'd been so worried about myself but not about my sister.

I stood, looking around frantically, and turned to the water pool that I had just climbed out of. I saw someone floating face down in the water.

By some crazy stroke of luck, we'd somehow managed to land in a pond of water. Or was it really luck?

No time to think about that. As I pulled her out of the water, I prayed. I'm not a religious person, but I really was desperate.

Please don't let her have drowned. Please don't let her have drowned.

I checked her pulse, and then remembered I had no idea how to do that.

Instead I put my ear to her face.

She was breathing.

I flopped backwards onto the ground, weak with relief. It was a miracle that I'd made it through the night lying in that ravine without being spotted by any mobs.

I spotted a few wooden blocks sitting on the ground. I remembered the other night.

This must have come from the bridge.

I glanced up. How were we going to get out of here?

I glanced at the wood on the ground.

I picked up four wooden planks and took a deep breath. I tried to remember how to do it correctly, and tried pushing them together.

It took a bit of time, but I made a makeshift crafting table.

I crafted a pickaxe, and started swinging away at the wall.

I began a long process, thwacking away at the wall until there was a deep stairway embedded in the wall. I then crafted a stone pickaxe and went up the staircase, hacking away at the stone.

And let me tell you, mining is harder than it looks. Especially for a bookworm who's never done any physical labor in her life. After a while of endless swinging, I leaned on my pickaxe, resting for around five minutes before swinging at the rocks a few times and then resting for another five minutes.

Eventually I decided to take a break. I splashed my face with water from the pool, which was refreshingly cool.

I sat down next to my sister, who was still unconscious. I wondered when she would wake up. And then I started wondering whether she was in a coma or something and what I would do if she was. And then I started wondering if my sister could climb the treacherous staircase I had made in the side of a ravine with her ankle like that.

And then…I heard something. I quickly stood up, and heard another 'crack' in my back, making me groan in discomfort.

I heard the noise again. It was a grinding noise, like someone was rubbing two stones together.

Whatever this sound was, it probably wasn't good. I suddenly regretted not crafting a sword.

Is the sound coming from that cave over there? Should I go in? What if it's a group of monsters?

All of these thoughts swirled around in my head as I lifted my pickaxe like a sword.

Eventually I decided to go in, reasoning that if it was a zombie or skeleton I would just run into the ravine. After all, they couldn't walk into the sunlight.

And if it's a creeper?

I ignored that thought. Anyways, it didn't sound like a creeper's signature hiss.

I slowly creeped into the cave. To my left was a bizarre rock formation. It looked like a bunch of stalactites and stalagmites fused together to make some bizarre, spike shaped figure.

I ignored it, instead looking around in the dark for any mob.

As you can guess, that rock formation was not just a rock formation. And of course, I was about to find out as well.

The grinding sound again. I spun around and stared at the rock formation.

And it moved. Uncurling, revealing large, bulky legs, and a spiky chest with stalagmites sticking out of its back. Its arms were connected like a marionette's, moving only at the joints. The same for its legs. Its head was like a rough oval with spikes sticking out of the top like some crown.

I was completely paralyzed. I couldn't tell if it was looking at me or not, because it didn't have eyes.

"R-rock g-go-lem." I stammered.

As it moved, horrible, loud grinding sounds came from its joints. Imagine fingernails on a chalkboard, but bass boosted.

I screamed like a little girl. I mean, who wouldn't after seeing a behemoth like that?

I ran out of that cave faster than a zombie baby with Speed III, and as I ran I heard the golem smashing pretty much everything as it tried to escape the cave. I had a bit of a head start—the golem was too big to leave the cave easily, which gave me an opportunity to hide Cal in a large crack that was out of the way.

As I turned, the rock golem smashed through the cave, and I saw its shockingly sharp, spear-like…appendages attached to its arms. This thing could easily impale 3 cows on one of its spikes and eat it like a shins kebab. That's how big they were.

(Well, it didn't have a mouth, but you get my point.

The golem lifted its arms into the air and I dove to the side as the spikes smashed the floor so hard that cracks spread across the floor and shards of rock sprayed me.

I frantically crawled backwards on all fours as the rock golem straightened and began to turn my way. Luckily, the rock golem was pretty slow, so it took a while to get to me.

I picked up a rock the size of my fist and threw it as hard as I could. It bounced off the golem's head.

The golem turned to the stone, lifted its foot, and crushed it into the floor. The golem then looked at me.

I chuckled nervously. "Uh…hey."

The rock golem turned to me and started to run. It was moving faster than I expected, moving at the pace of an elderly man hobbling as fast as he could.

I turned, but there was nowhere to go. The lava pool was in my way, and I couldn't run past the golem.

And then I remembered something from a book that I had read. Something about a red cape…and a bull.

There was else I could do. I tensed up.

"Hey, stone head!" I shouted. "I've seen diorite stronger than you!"

I don't think it actually knew what I was saying, but I'm pretty sure it got the gist.

The golem charged at me, and a bead of sweat ran down my forehead.

It lifted its arms to crush me, and I flinched, yet I stood still. It wasn't the time.

It brought down its spikes, and I threw myself to the side.

The golem slowly ground to a halt, its arms waving to keep its balance.

I screamed and ran at the golem, ramming into it as hard as I could.

At first I thought nothing happened. The golem caught its balance for a second…and then tipped backwards, plunging into the lava pool.

A wave of lava exploded from the pool, which hissed as it touched the ground. I backed up, not wanting to get roasted along with the golem. As soon as I was My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto my face.

And then, it was silent.

I rolled onto my back, staring unbelievingly at the bubbling lava pool.

I jumped to my feet and whooped up a storm, laughing and yelling random insults at the lava pool.

"Yeah, that's right!" I taunted the lava pool. "Who's the superior in this family? ME!"

The lava pool exploded, and the golem rose from the molten rock.

All the insults I was about to call the golem died in my throat.

"Oh, come o—"

The golem swung at me and its arm smashed into my chest, throwing me backwards. I slammed into the wall and fell the ground, my ribs aching.

The golem looked worse for wear. One of its arms was missing, most of its body looked black as coal, and lava was still seeping out of some of the cracks in the golem's body.

Well…I tried. Good game, golem. At least I put up a fight before I died.

I'd pretty much given up at that point when I saw Cal.

She'd fallen out of the crack I'd put her in and was lying on the ground, still unconscious. If the rock golem turned around, it would definitely see her…and kill her.

Suddenly, I got the energy to stand up. For some reason, I wasn't as scared.

It was either we both died here, or I stopped the rock golem. And I knew which option I would choose.

I placed down the crafting table and began to craft.

The rock golem charged.

A bead of sweat ran down my forehead.

The rock golem raised its fist.

I pulled a stone sword off the crafting table and dashed to the side, the rock golem smashing the crafting table into splinters. Oddly enough, that white glow around the edges of my vision was back.

I ran behind the rock golem and swung my sword as hard as I could.

The stone blade smashed into the golem's leg, and the golem's leg exploded on impact. Small shards of stone nicked my arms and hands, leaving small cuts. The golem wobbled on one leg, barely keeping its balance.

I'd swung the stone sword extremely hard. So hard, in fact, that the blade was covered in small cracks and dents. But I couldn't stop now.

I kicked off the ground and into the air—three blocks, a height that should have been impossible. I slammed the golem in the chest with the blade.

The sword splintered apart, and I could have sworn I saw sparks come out of the sword as it shattered.

The golem thrust its spike at me, but I dodged and pulled out my pickaxe, smashing it into the golem again. The golem fell backwards and hit the ground with an earth-shaking boom.

I raised the stone pick into the air and smashed it into the golem's face. The pickaxe snapped. Automatically, I pulled out the wooden pickaxe and smashed that over the golem's head.

I smashed everything I had on the golem's head, and I didn't stop until I realized there was nothing left in my inventory. I stopped. I looked down at the golem, which was surrounded by shards of wood and stone. It was pretty much a pile of rubble at this point.

I lifted my foot and crushed its head.

The body stopped moving, and crumbled into dust which drifted away on the wind.

I stood there for about ten minutes before my legs gave out and I collapsed into a heap on the ground. I'm pretty sure I passed out.

?-?-?

When I got home, my parents freaked.

My mom was doing the thing where she got mad at me, then started crying, then was happy I was alive, and then went back to being mad at me.

My dad was more chill about it, yet he looked shaken up, more shaken than I've ever seen him.

"…and you're lucky a guard saw you two down there, and I told you Cal not to go anywhere near the ravine and—oh—" My mom put her head in her hands.

Dad put his hand on her shoulder. "Now, now. Calm down, Rebecca. We don't need to think about what could have happened. Let's just be grateful they're here alive."

"I suppose," Mom sniffed. Then she gave me and Cal a watery smile. "Just don't frighten me like that again, alright girls?"

"Ok, Mom," me and Cal chorused.

Mom gave both of us a hug, and Dad patted me on the back.

The whole time, Cal was looking at me weird.

I was walking to my room when Cal tapped me on the shoulder. I turned. "What?"

"Hey, back there…when I woke up, you were lying on the stone floor instead of in the water pool, and you had all these cuts and stuff all over your body…did something's happen back there?"

I thought about telling her about the rock golem, and how we just happened to land in the water. And the glow around my vision.

I thought about it, and then shook my head.

"No, nothing happened."

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I'd told her the truth then.