YO THEY FINALLY FIXED THE VIEW COUNTER? It doesn't retroactively count all the ones I missed, but it's counting them now! That's pretty cool
Lenticel: my piglins are fairly humanoid, so he looks pretty human tbh. Small tusks, pink hair, pinkish skin. Sort of pig-like ears. I should draw him.
Evangeline woke to a low growl.
It took her a moment to process the sound, but as soon as she did her head popped up from the grass in alarm. She scanned the clearing, searching for wolves or wild animals - that sound had been close - before her gaze finally fell to Meryl. Their captive was covered mostly by a dark cloak, only her head and one awkwardly-held wing visible. She was glaring daggers at Evangeline, and, as the latter met her eyes in surprise, growled at her again.
"Meryl?" Evangeline tried. Another growl. Meryl hadn't made a sound while she was fighting them the previous night, much less these… animalistic noises. Her eyes looked a bit less blank, though. Evangeline couldn't tell if this was a good or a bad sign.
Another thought occurred to her, and Evangeline sat up all the way, searching the trees in the early morning light. She and Meryl were alone. Uncertainty stole through her chest, and Evangeline got to her feet.
"Herobrine?" She called out.
"I'm here." The voice made her turn, just in time to see Herobrine emerge from the trees on the far side of the clearing. "I apologize. I was trying to keep warm."
"Oh." Evangeline made the connection a moment later, that the cloak covering Meryl was his. "You should get some sleep." She began to unfasten her own cloak as he drew near, but he waved her off.
"I won't be able to." He said. "We should be off."
"Very well." Evangeline didn't argue with him. She was as eager as he to get back to the relative safety of his brother's mansion.
It was cloudy, now, the grayness blunting the light of the slowly approaching sunrise. Evangeline felt that the conditions were favorable for snow - which wasn't good for them. They could only hope that the snows held off until they had gotten to shelter.
Meryl growled again, and Herobrine's gaze snapped down to her.
"I woke up to that." Evangeline told him. "I presume she wasn't doing that last night?"
"No." Herobrine frowned. "No, she was quiet. What..?"
"I don't know." Evangeline shook her head helplessly. "Perhaps whatever was done to her is… fading."
"Is that a good or a bad thing?"
"I couldn't tell you."
"Whatever the case, we should get moving." Herobrine bent down, wrapping Meryl up in the cloak before hoisting her over his shoulder. Meryl made several displeased sounds, struggling as much as she was able, but between the ropes and the cloak she was unable to do much more than squirm. Evangeline scooped up Herobrine's abandoned knapsack, then fell into step behind him as they began to walk back the way they had come.
They kept up a steady pace all day, anxious to reach Lord Lancaster's mansion as quickly as possible. Though the clouds remained threatening, it didn't snow yet, and Meryl was quiet for most of the day. When they stopped to rest, Herobrine slept first, and Evangeline spent that time anxiously scanning the skies. Whoever had sent Meryl likely knew that she had failed, and it was only a matter of time before they would attack again.
Despite her fears, the night passed without incident, and Lord Lancaster's mansion came into view around noon the next day.
Lord Lancaster was waiting at the garden door when they arrived.
"Herobrine?" His face said 'you aren't supposed to be here', but Herobrine ignored him, pushing past him into the building with Meryl in his arms. Evangeline gave the lord an apologetic look as she followed, and Lancaster turned to follow in astonishment. "Is that a… what nonsense are you getting me involved in now?"
"We need your help." Herobrine said bluntly, having stopped once he was within the relative warmth of the building. "You recall what we told you about being attacked by reanimated valkyries?"
"I… yes." Lancaster frowned at Meryl, who was silent and still where she was wrapped up in Herobrine's cloak. "Then that is…"
"We caught one alive." Herobrine shifted her a bit, and she growled at him. "As alive as possible, anyway."
"Not only that, but this is-" Evangeline choked on her words a bit. "This… was my best friend, for whose murder I was banished."
"I see." Lancaster studied Meryl's pale face for a moment. "So, you hope to use her to prove your innocence?"
"I…" Evangeline blinked. She hadn't really considered that. "Yes, but… she showed signs of… being herself when she attacked us. I'm wondering if there might be a way to bring her back."
"Ah." Lancaster stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Well… come with me. At the very least, we can keep her somewhere safe for now." Beckoning them with him, he turned and headed down the hall, and Herobrine and Evangeline followed.
Lord Lancaster guided them down a staircase to a small prison, which Evangeline assumed was typically used for holding petty thieves or small-time offenders. Herobrine placed Meryl down in one of the two cells, and Evangeline hung back as he unwrapped her from his cloak and left her there. She felt a stab of guilt at locking up her friend, but it was for her own good.
"Tell me what you noticed." Lancaster ordered as he locked the cell door. "What makes you think she can be healed?" Herobrine looked to Evangeline and gestured for her to speak.
"She attacked us the night before last." Evangeline tore her eyes away from the body in the cell. "And she was in a position to kill me, but she froze, and she was… crying." She swallowed. "She must have recognized me."
"All of the puppet valkyries that we've killed so far have had a blackened wound over their heart." Herobrine broke in. "I… suspect that while their body can no longer support life, whatever magic is controlling them is keeping them in a half-alive state - and, if Evangeline is right, their consciousness remains in it."
"So if we could revive her body, then perhaps she would regain her humanity as well." Lancaster jumped in. "It's worth a try. If she could be revived, she may be able to provide information on who did this to her."
"Exactly." Herobrine agreed. "We just need to find a way to heal her while she is hostile and aggressive to us."
"A golden apple." Evangeline spoke up suddenly. When both brothers looked at her, she went on. "They grow from golden oak trees in the Aether, and can cure any ailment, even from the brink of death. They are used to treat valkyries who are gravely wounded in battle."
"I'm familiar." Lancaster nodded slowly, and Evangeline realized a moment later that he was most likely raised in the Aether as well. "Perhaps that would work, yes, if we could get our hands on one."
"And get her to eat it," Herobrine added.
"Yes…" Evangeline fell silent, musing over this. She was, of course, banished from the Aether, and still couldn't fly. She highly doubted that Herobrine would be allowed within five miles of an Aether portal, and Lord Lancaster couldn't request a golden apple without potentially alerting their enemy of their plans. Perhaps they could wait until she could fly again and work from there… but did Meryl have that long?
"Steven," Herobrine spoke up. "That valkyrie who came to ask about me, did he give you a way to contact him?" Lancaster frowned.
"Not specifically, but I'm sure I could get a message to him if I tried."
"Good. Evangeline," His eyes flashed up to meet Evangeline's startled ones. "You are certain that your commander is not involved in this plot?" She gave a firm nod.
"Absolutely."
"Then send him a message," Herobrine looked back to his brother, "telling him and his friend to come at once. We have proof of what we told them in the mines. Perhaps they can help us."
"Very well." Lancaster stepped back to hang up the keyring. "I will pen a letter. I welcome you two to get some rest."
"Thank you." Herobrine stepped away from the cell, then paused when Evangeline didn't move.
"I'm going to stay with her for now." Evangeline sank down to sit cross-legged on the floor. "I will sleep later."
"Very well." Herobrine turned away, and Lancaster followed him out, leaving Evangeline to sit alone in the prison.
"You're still here?" The voice made Evangeline jump, and she looked up to find Lord Lancaster coming down the stairs. "I apologize." He said. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's alright." Evangeline shifted, stretching out her stiff wings before folding them against her back as he drew near. "What time is it?"
"It's nearly sundown." Lancaster came to stand beside her, gazing at Meryl's prone form. "Is she asleep?" Evangeline shook her head.
"She doesn't sleep. Not that I can tell, anyway. Nor has she given any sign of needing to eat or drink… all she does is struggle, and growl from time to time." Evangeline struggled to tamp down her emotions, feelings of hope, fear, and anxiety all rolled into one. On one hand, the thought that Meryl might still be able to be saved was intoxicating, but at the same time she refused to accept it. She did not want to grieve all over again.
"Where is your brother?" She asked in an attempt to change the subject.
"Sleeping," Lancaster told her. "As you should be. He tells me that you have barely slept since the night she attacked you." Evangeline pursed her lips.
"I…" She began slowly. "...do not wish to leave her here alone. If something were to happen while I was not here…"
"I understand." Lancaster sat down beside her. "You must rest sometime. I sent a message out to your commander, but it will likely be days before he even receives it. You cannot stay here until then.
"I know…" Evangeline shifted, drawing one knee up to her chest and leaning her chin on it. "What did you say to him?"
"Only that I had vital information for him and to come immediately." Lancaster answered. "So that, if it should somehow be waylaid, our plans would not fall into the wrong hands." Evangeline nodded.
"Good." They sat in silence for a few minutes, Evangeline slowly turning their plans over and over in her head. She was both hopeful and nervous about Commander Zenith's arrival - assuming he responded to the message. He was a good man, but Sergeant Tekno had undoubtedly told him of how Herobrine had attacked him in the mines… would Herobrine be able to control himself around him?
"May I ask you something?" Evangeline murmured. Lancaster glanced down at her.
"Of course."
"Why…" Evangeline shifted, feeling a bit guilty about going behind her companion's back. "...does your brother hate piglins?" Lancaster didn't answer for a moment.
"Have you spoken to him about this?"
"I asked." Evangeline dipped her chin in a nod. "He said he didn't want to talk about it. So, I understand if you…"
"No, I… think since you've been traveling with him, that you have a right to know." Lancaster glanced from her to the stairs, then back, and he sat back with a sigh. "There was… an incident, in the second year of his rule of the Nether." Evangeline fell quiet, listening.
"At the time, the Nether was still considered uncivilized." Lancaster told her. "A wild place. Herobrine, as king, had a force of personal guards that consisted mainly of humans with the odd valkyrie in the mix, but they were… not as digilant as they should have been. Brine would frequently be left alone, as his guard would be more focused on defensible points than his safety, and this had severe consequences when a group of piglin assassins broke into the castle to kill him.
"Of course, as I'm sure you know, Herobrine cannot die." Lancaster went on, his voice low. "But he was left lethally wounded until a guard eventually came across him." Evangeline's thoughts went back to the jagged scars she had seen on Herobrine's chest and back. "His wounds were treated, and when I heard I came as soon as I could. By the time I arrived, almost a week after the attack, Herobrine was at full strength and seemed unbothered by the whole event." Lancaster shook his head, voice sorrowful. "It's clear to me now that he was putting on a brave face. I wish I had done something at the time. Perhaps…"
"You could not have known." Evangeline murmured. Did Notch know about this? It obviously did not absolve Herobrine of the consequences for his cruelty, but it was a reason, it was not that he had just… gone mad with power, as she and many of her fellows had assumed. "I suppose that's why he attacked Tekno in the mines." She said softly. Lancaster nodded.
"He is… much more sound in mind than he was 300 years ago." He told her, and Evangeline was inclined to agree. "But it seems it is still difficult for him."
"Mm. And Sergeant Tekno is, I can only assume, the first- well, partial piglin he has seen in centuries." Evangeline rested her folded arms on her knees. "It… worries me that he will be coming here."
"That occurred to me as well, but Herobrine specifically requested his presence." Lancaster pointed out. "Given that he will be prepared this time, I doubt there will be any violence between them."
"Ah." Evangeline nodded, feeling a bit more at ease.
"Now, you really should get some rest." Lancaster urged her. "You will be no good to your friend half-upright from exhaustion. If it would make you feel better, I can stay with her while you sleep."
"O-oh, no, that's not necessary." Evangeline rose to her feet, staggering a bit on stiff and tingling limbs. "I will… try to get some rest. Thank you, my lord." Lord Lancaster gave her a nod and she turned away, reluctantly leaving Meryl behind to seek out the guest room that she had stayed in before.