WTP Storm: ah, don't you know by now? I've never planned a thing in my life, and I'm not about to start now. I'm leaving this one in Null's hands :)
Heather winced, pinning her eyes shut as the Elder's eye flashed over her vision.
"You alright?" Herobrine asked lowly. She nodded, rubbing her eyes.
"Mining fatigue."
"Ah." Herobrine looked ahead to the obsidian prison, which was visible not far ahead of them. "We're almost there."
"I can detect Steve and Alex." Theo murmured from behind them. "And the guardian. But not Null. Either he's out, or he's undetectable for whatever reason."
"Right. We'll tread carefully." Herobrine started to close the gap between the group and the prison, and Heather hurried along at his heels, ensuring that her sword was fastened safely to her belt. If they were attacked, there was no way she was going down without a fight.
They reached the wall, and Herobrine paused, looking at Theo.
"What's the simplest way in?"
"I have mining fatigue." Theo brushed at the small, silver particles coming off of his skin. "If you get the wall, we can slip inside." Herobrine nodded and drew his pickaxe, and Heather waited tensely as he broke one block, then another. Slowly, her husband leaned in, looking back and forth.
"Null's gone." He reported. "As is his Enderman. Heather, the guardian?" Heather nodded, moving to step through the opening, and he gave her hand a squeeze as she passed by. Heather squeezed back. Even though she was considerably more competent than she was five years ago, she knew it was still hard for him when she was in potential danger.
Anxious shivers wracked her body as Heather stepped into the prison and was met almost immediately by the Elder Guardian's gaze. The creature was calm, not attacking, and Heather slowly edged towards it.
"Hey, girl." She murmured, as if trying to tame a frightened puppy.
"Heather?" A voice caught her attention, and she turned around to meet Steve's eyes. The miner was grasping the bars of his cage, looking tired and worn but not injured. "What are you- how-"
"Shh." She hushed him quickly. "We're here to spring you, let Theo work."
"Theo?" Steve echoed. At that moment, the hacker popped through the opening, and the Elder Guardian's gaze immediately zeroed in on him, starting to charge a laser.
"Hey, hey! Nonono, let him be." Heather blocked her gaze, and the laser dissipated. "Hey, okay, I don't know if you can understand me. But he helped you, okay? Your monument is safe now." The unnerving gaze didn't change. "Okay. Well, don't laser him."
"Been a hot minute since we've seen you." She could hear Alex grumble, followed by the sound of a block breaking. Heather glanced over her shoulder to see Alex crawling out of her cage, stumbling a bit as she lost her balance in the layer of water.
"Where's Herobrine?" Steve asked as Theo moved to his cage. "Is he-?"
"Keeping watch." Heather edged closer to the guardian, tentatively laying a hand on the rough skin next to her eye. She didn't protest, so Heather patted her gently.
"I appreciate the effort, but this won't do much." Alex muttered, her voice a little strained. "Null can set our spawns. Whenever he wants, apparently."
"And he has a command block." Steve cut in. Heather and Theo exchanged a look.
"Oh."
"Well, my plan is to set up a repeating command block that constantly re-sets your spawn point in our hidden base." Theo told him. "So unless he sets up the exact same thing, it should be foolproof."
"Ah." Alex straightened, leaning back until her spine popped. "That should work."
"Now c'mon." Theo waved them towards the exit. "Let's see if we can get out of here before Null shows up."
This was, of course, the exact moment that Null appeared with his Enderman.
In the few moments it took him to process what was going on, Theo had bolted with Steve and Alex for the exit, and Heather moved to follow, but stuttered to a stop when she realized that the Elder would attack them if she tried to leave before they were out of range. Heather hesitated just long enough for Null to snap,
"Get her!" And for his Enderman to teleport over her, lean arms flying around her torso to pin her hands to her sides.
"Ah! Let go!" Heather kicked as she was lifted off the ground, and Theo spun in alarm.
"Heather!"
"Go!" Herobrine shoved him aside, pickaxe drawn, murder in his visible eye. "I'll deal with this." Theo paused, then shrugged and vanished through the hole again. Null chuckled, glaring at the guardian.
"Traitorous creature."
"You told her not to attack me." Heather hurled back, smug. If she could just get a grip on her sword-
Herobrine whipped out a crossbow and fired, the enderman teleporting away instinctively as the bolt flew over her shoulder. Heather dashed towards him, and Herobrine grabbed her arm, pulling her towards their escape.
"Not so fast!" Null snapped, and he lunged for them both, sword raised above his head. Heather yanked her sword free of its scabbard to block, though the force of his blow nearly sent her to one knee. Taking advantage of Null's compromised attack, Herobrine arched his pickaxe over his head and slammed it onto Null's spine, causing their attacker to explode into a cloud of black mist.
Heather paused only a moment to catch her breath before grabbing her husband's hand,
"Let's go." and hurrying out of the prison, searching the cavern for Theo. To her disappointment, the hacker was gone. "He must have taken Steve and Alex back." She muttered.
"Let's make distance." Herobrine told her. "There's no telling where Null will respawn. This way." Taking the lead, he hurried in the opposite direction of which they ran last time they escaped.
This time, Heather noted as they ran, there wasn't the same panicked adrenaline running through her. She was anxious, sure, but Theo was coming to pick them up, and running from Null was part of the plan anyway. Besides, she and Herobrine just taken him out. She wasn't too worried about losing to him in a fair fight. The unfair fights, well…
Herobrine slowed, pulling them behind a wall, and leaned down to rumble in her ear,
"Did I hear correctly when I heard Steve say that Null has a command block?"
"You did." Heather confirmed. "And I guess he knows how to use it."
"That's unfortunate." Herobrine tugged her close as footsteps sounded nearby, but they both realized what the source was when a zombie wandered into view, then back out.
"We should inform Notch, as soon as possible." Heather hissed. "I'm guessing that's how he's able to… do all this to you and him."
"Likely." Herobrine sighed quietly. "Should we stay close to make it easier for Theo to find us, or keep going?" Heather mused on this for a moment.
"Stay." She said at last. "We can take Null." Herobrine nodded, and he rested an arm around her shoulders as they waited for Theo to collect them.
"How's the eye?" Heather murmured after a couple of minutes.
"Nonfunctional." Was Herobrine's reply. "Unfortunately."
"Mm…" Heather was quiet. "...think Theo could help?"
"Maybe." Herobrine at least entertained the prospect. "I presume it would be about the same amount of work as releasing Null's hold over my code."
"Which would also be helpful."
"Mm." Another period of silence, in which Heather tucked herself against her husband's side.
"Think we're going to miss our wedding?" She mumbled. Herobrine blinked, looking down at her.
"What brought this on?" He asked. She shrugged.
"Been on my mind."
Herobrine was quiet for a few moments, then reached down to cup her cheek, tilting her face up to look him in the eye. "We're not going to miss our wedding."
Heather blinked, a little taken aback. "How do you know?"
"Well, we're too stubborn, for one." He grinned, and she hesitantly returned it. "We have, what, two weeks of real time? That's nearly two years in the game. Don't worry." Heather was quiet for a moment, considering this, then nodded.
"Mm…"
"I doubt anyone will even notice we're gone." Herobrine drew his thumb across her cheek before letting go. "Maybe a few missed texts. But we haven't even reached the end of the month." Some of the tension in her shoulders dissolved at his words.
"It sure feels like longer…"
"It does." Herobrine agreed. "We've been imprisoned, threatened, nearly killed… and we're exhausted." Heather gave a rueful chuckle at that.
"Yeah."
"Time crawls when you're fighting for your life, I've noticed." Herobrine gave her a little squeeze, and she was suddenly reminded of the 1600 years he spent alone here before he ever met her, clawing his way to the top of the hostile ecosystem and trying to keep Notch from stamping him out. Heather wrapped her arms around his chest with a sigh.
"Mm…"
A soft footstep was their only warning before Null appeared around the corner. "There you are."
Herobrine all but shoved his wife against the wall, swinging at Null to force him back. Null sneered at him, blocking the swing and trying to wrench the pickaxe out of Herobrine's hands. "Oh, my apologies. Am I interrupting something?"
"You could say that." Herobrine gritted out. Heather darted through a gap between Null and the wall as she drew her sword, moving to run him through from behind, and Null was forced to dance to the side to avoid her. He swung at Herobrine again, and Herobrine ducked, then advanced.
"Hiding, mm?" Null goaded. "Or did you stop to have an impromptu makeout session?"
"What kind of a question is that?" Heather sputtered as Herobrine arced his pickaxe up towards Null's chest. Null jerked back, then thrusted at Herobrine's neck, and Heather hurried close to offset his attacks. Herobrine was still impaired by his blind eye.
Null was obviously struggling to keep them both off of him, though he was faring better now than when the two of them had caught him by surprise. He had no fear of death, all he had to lose here were two potential prisoners, so he wasn't fighting for his life like she and Herobrine were. He knew he would get another chance.
Null brought his sword down hard on Heather's blade, nearly tearing the hilt from her hands and causing her to stumble back. Herobrine took a warning step forward, moving in for another strike, but Null moved faster, and Herobrine couldn't jerk back in time to avoid the blade swinging at his face.
Heather whirled around as Herobrine cried out, grasping at his face as blood arced through the air.
"HERO!" She didn't even pause to check on him as she hurled herself at Null, forcing him to defend himself as she laid down blow after blow. Null grunted, chuckling as he took a few steps backwards.
"You haven't changed a bit."
"I beg to differ." Heather hissed, taking a stab at his neck. Null deflected her sword with his own, locking the blades together and forcing them both to the ground.
"You still act without thinking." He hissed. "Filled with youthful recklessness."
"Yeah? Y'know, technically, I'm older than you."
"Did you spend 700 years trapped in a-"
"Nether portal, yeah, I know." Heather jerked her sword free, staggering back to catch her balance. She cast a fleeting glance at her husband. He was sitting up, hands pressed over his face, and her heart hammered as she turned back to Null. She didn't have time to wonder how badly he was hurt.
Null exhaled, rolling the shoulder on his sword arm as Heather took a fighting stance again.
"Put down your sword." He spoke, voice almost coaxing. "And I won't have to hurt you too."
"There's some saying- 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned', or something - which isn't actually applicable in this situation, but I'm still going to kill you." Heather brandished her sword, and Null scoffed.
"Go ahead." He lifted both arms in an inviting gesture. "Try it." Heather lunged at him.
Null swung his sword up to block, and wasn't fast enough to get in a hit of his own before Heather swung at him again. Her repeated attacks drove the entity down to one knee, both hands on the hilt of his black sword to keep it from flying from his grasp. Heather slowed for just a moment, and his hand shot out, palm slamming into her knee and driving it back.
Heather gasped as pain shot up her leg, but didn't pause in her attack, instead taking the opportunity to slam her sword down on his blade and send it clattering to the ground. Null barely had a chance to raise his hands in defense before her sword came down on his head, his body dissipating in a puff of black.
The hilt of her sword slipped from her hand as Heather panted softly, reaching down to prod at her injured knee. Abruptly, she remembered what had caused her desperate attack.
"Hero!" She whirled around and ran to her husband's side, sinking to the ground and reaching for his face. Herobrine lowered his hands, giving her a tight smile as he revealed the bloody cut across his cheek and the bridge of his nose.
"It's not bad." He said quietly. "I was just caught off guard." Heather sighed in relief. "It's probably going to scar," He added, a bit morose.
"Mm…" Heather reached up to try and dab away the blood. "It's okay. You'll look ruggedly handsome. Not that you aren't already, of course." Herobrine just scoffed in amusement.
"Is your knee alright?" He asked, nodding to her leg. Heather retracted her hand, rolling up her pant leg to investigate the knee. There was a dark bruise, but she could move it.
"It's not too bad."
"Not broken?" He confirmed. Heather nodded. "Good."
"We need to get out of here before he comes back." She told him, her voice hushed. "He's going to be twice as angry, and we're already injured." Herobrine sighed.
"The farther we go, the more difficult it will be for Theo to find us."
"Yeah, but if Null finds us first…" She let her voice trail off, and Herobrine just nodded. Either he would kill them, or he would take them prisoner. Neither one was preferable, especially after their experience with the twisted games he liked to force them to play.
"Alright." Herobrine dragged himself to his feet, helping Heather up and wrapping an arm around her to help her stand. "Let's go."