Steve finally speaks up, leading to a positive change in his relations with the mysterious figure that haunts him. Maybe positive?
Non-angst past for a change. Mostly.
43 days ago...
Steve was on the last hour of his mining at a plentiful coal vein, when he felt it. He paused, his pickaxe still raised.
He was here again.
Steve frowned. No, he wasn't afraid. Maybe apprehensive? His twin seemed to be in a sour and gloomy mood this time, he could just tell. He didn't know how he knew this. Before, he used to think that it was only his imagination. Now, he was almost certain of this. Perhaps he gained this ability because Herobrine marked him somehow and wanted him to know whenever he arrived, to add to Steve's fearful anticipation?
Still, the last several times Steve felt Herobrine return, the powerful being did not even approach Steve, nor cause any mayhem, unlike in the first few months after their first encounter in the mansion. Steve glimpsed him in the distance, but his twin left again as quietly as he had arrived.
Steve remembered feeling true dread whenever he got this feeling before, in those first few months. His stomach would sink and he would immediately cease doing what he was doing and run home as fast as he could. If he managed to reach his cabin in time, then his twin would not bother him as much. His white-eyed endermen might hover by the house windows and a few zombies might knock on his doors, making Steve flinch each time as the rickety wood would jump.
He would not dare show his nose outside until morning came, unable to sleep well because of the nightmares of the white-eyed fiend chasing after him to slaughter him again and again, or have his monsters tear him apart.
Nothing like that happened in reality, of course. Even if Steve got caught out in the open when his twin would show up, their interactions would usually amount to mobs chasing Steve and perhaps a few mean tricks meant to scare him. It amused Herobrine to see Steve's panicked reactions.
Beyond that time in the mansion, however, Herobrine in real life never harmed him. Only one time, about three weeks after Steve's misfortunate trip to the mansion, his twin once lost self-control.
Steve could still remember steely grip that suddenly yanked him off his feet while he had gone out to feed his animals. It had been terrifying, because he didn't expect it, not connecting the strange feeling he woke up with, with the being's presence. Lifted in the air, Steve uselessly tried to scratch at the unyielding fingers that squeezed his throat, making him gasp for air as he flailed and kicked.
He had been thrown back, slamming against the side of his barn, to find his twin looming over him with a sneer, which became a frown at the sight of fear on Steve's face.
"Still pretending?" His twin demanded, scowling, but quieted when Steve only blinked up at him with confusion. Then, he smirked again with a malicious, cruel mirth, which made Steve's heart sink in ill foreboding. "Let's see how long you can keep that up."
The being murmured in low tone before turning away and vanishing. Shaken, Steve remained where he was for several long moments, yet, before managing to pull himself up to his feet and stumbled to finish his chores. In danger or not, his animals needed to be tended and fed.
Besides, where could he run?
It was useless to flee from Herobrine once he singled you out for his personal spoils. All the books that Steve hungrily read in town library after his first visit to the mansion, warned that the powerful dark demigod enjoyed to play games with mortals he selected as targets for his amusement. So long as they remained passive and not challenging, the being would not kill them. If they remained in place, not attempting to escape, he would eventually lose interest and go looking for better entertainment.
Steve understood that he gained the demigod's attention simply because he had been mistaken for a foolish champion, who invaded Herobrine's keep to single-handedly challenge him. It had been a miracle that the being spared Steve, then. And even healed him? Steve's memories of the latest parts of the events were very fuzzy.
He barely left his house for days afterward. And on the questions of the children who arrived the next morning with city guards, he said nothing.
The books warned that if the victim complained or turned to others for help, the being would simply kill him in anger before teaching all others who dared to interfere a lesson to fear his name. So, he didn't say anything. And after the guards ventured to the mansion and reported that everything remained as it was and the old ghost still dwelled within, unresponsive and silent, Steve almost with relief concluded that the entire thing had been a terrible nightmare despite how real it felt.
He felt his twin's presence even then, watching him with suspicion, confusion, and hostility, changing briefly to disbelief, to only repeat the cycle. It had been almost as if the being was trying to decide who Steve was and his true motives for going to the mansion.
And then, he simply left and that presence vanished.
Three weeks later, he returned again, and Steve felt him nearby, watching. He still thought it was only his imagination, until this attack and Herobrine's strange words.
After this moment, he became a toy, just as the books described. Zombies and hostile mobs would appear out of no where and chase after him, roaming around the cabin at night until the morning light while Steve sat on his bed and shook, unable to sleep a wink. Things would mysteriously go missing or appear in different places than Steve left them. One time, he went to draw water from a well and when he turned back, he saw his house blazing on fire, only for everything to go up to normal when he closed his eyes and rubbed them.
At the same time, he distinctly felt his twin's amusement. It pleased his tormentor to see Steve afraid and startled. On occasion, Steve even heard his dark, silky laugh.
Another time, he came to check on his animals, only to find them all slain. It nearly overwhelmed him to the point that he did become angry and grasped his sword, which appeared to be exactly what his twin was waiting for. He appeared, eager, waiting for Steve to attack him. It took great effort for Steve to look away and grimly grit his jaw.
"I am not going to fight you." He declared to Herobrine and felt his disappointment.
Then, the illusion of blood-stained, empty barn suddenly fell away, revealing it to be in ordinary disarray. And Steve heard his animals outside, safe and sound.
Herobrine was a master of illusions just like the books said. Still, as time passed, his fear began to leave as more and more differences between this man and the monster in legends emerged.
This Herobrine did not fight until he had been challenged. And his tricks, although scary and mean at first glance, ended up mostly harmless, at least as far as Steve was concerned. Steve was not so sure about the other places, from which horrific stories continued to come.
Only on occasion, when he left elsewhere did he return in a truly sour mood, in which case Steve could expect the man to set his mobs on him, not allowing him to escape. Then, Steve knew that he should fight and did it the best he could, though it instead quickly calmed Herobrine's mood.
Most of the time, though, Steve preferred to stay indoors in his cabin as much as possible during his twin's visits. To his relief, Herobrine did not come here that often, usually staying only for a day or two between several weeks of absence elsewhere.
And last three times Steve felt his presence, he didn't even approach Steve at all, merely watching him from afar. The renewed absence of usual mobs then became the only sign to Steve that Herobrine came and then left again.
No, Steve no longer feared him nearly as much as he used to.
Steve held his pickaxe and debated whether to abandon his mining and head home as was his usual tactic. After a moment of hesitation, he instead struck the vein again and continued mining. He was almost done, anyway.
Only half his attention held on his routine task, directing his pick toward the spots, which he knew would weaken the rocks to free the ore. Chunks of it broke off and floated around him, waiting for him to pick it up.
He continued to mine and couldn't help recalling the very last time that he met Herobrine directly.
That time, his twin's presence caught him out in the open woods, exploring the lands beyond. Herobrine had not returned in almost a month, so Steve judged it safe for him to head out on a prolonged trip. He was almost two days away, slowly making his way back to his camping site and regretting that he didn't bring more torches and potions.
He had been living under Herobrine's protection so long that he had become complacent of other, normal dangers. The monsters in these woods certainly did not consider Steve special. A pack of wolves began to trail him, eyeing him with hungry interest, counting him for an invader that he was.
Steve was gathering more wood for the fire by the edge of a steep ravine, when he felt the other's tale-tell presence. Herobrine must have gone out searching for him just as the books warned he might. Only Steve did not mean to escape! He was just exploring.
Feeling his twin's ire, yet not seeing him, yet, Steve nervously held the bundle of branches in his arms as he cast uneasy looks about himself.
The sudden appearance of several rumbling forms, which reached out their rotting arms and lunged toward him, making guttural, growling sounds, startled him badly so he dropped everything. He turned around, about to run and...
His ankle caught on a root, twisting, and then he was falling, unable to help yelps as first his knee, then his ribs, then other parts of his body collided with protruding rocks as he tumbled head over heels to the bottom of the ravine.
He was still sitting there in the mud, rather dazed, when the sound of teleportation made him throw up wide-eyed look. He found his twin looking at him with an angry look. And then Herobrine strode to him and grabbed him by his arm, yanking him up.
Steve didn't even have time to startle when the world around him blurred and he found himself unceremoniously dumped on the porch of his cabin, hours of way away from where he had been.
A splash potion broke next to flinching Steve's form, which he understood was a healing potion, since his aches and pains swiftly fled. His twin frowned at him with what seemed to be disappointment and concern fighting in his expression, before scoffing and turning to leave.
"W-wait!" Steve called out before he could help himself. His twin paused, turning his head as he waited for Steve to explain. Steve's heart beat loudly in his chest as he reflected on his own daring. It had been the first time that he ever managed to even speak to the being's face. Or back as it were.
"T-thank you. I..." Steve suddenly swallowed his words, not sure what else to say. "I w-wasn't running away. I w-was just e... exploring." He explained just in case.
His twin appeared to almost sigh. Turning around, he glared at Steve from narrowed eyes, his expression stern and quite unlike the chagrin and concern that Steve still felt emanating from him somehow.
"You are too low level to explore that location. Do not go that way again." Herobrine said and Steve hastily nodded, though the only thing he understood from the man's words was that Herobrine did not wish him to go far from home again. That, he intended to do already. Those enormous wolves with hungry, red eyes looked scary enough.
Herobrine watched him a moment longer, disbelief and astonishment briefly warring in his face, then huffed and vanished.
Steve was left alone by his cabin, glad to be safe once more. His twin's presence in the area that night had been almost a comfort, though he did regret leaving his things in the forest far away, despite how little he managed to gain there by that moment.
In the morning, he discovered his things left by his door. Herobrine thought of even that.
Steve looked at it all and couldn't help it as a smile began to beam on his face. He finally understood something at that moment.
The books he read about Herobrine were all wrong.
Or, maybe this was not true Herobrine, but only a fragment of his being, still gathering his old power as some of the newest tales said.
In any case, this man was not the monster who toyed with his victims and slayed them without mercy at first sign of displeasure. He didn't enslave humans and turn them into his undead servants. Steve had seen nothing of that. And he was not the malicious, terrifying creature from Steve's early dreams after his mansion visit, relentlessly pursuing to kill him, again and again.
This man hated him at first, Steve certainly felt that, but that dimmed to mere dislike and now even became concern despite the man's own misgivings. Herobrine no longer wanted to make Steve suffer, though he still did not trust Steve's intents, for some reason believing that Steve was somehow misleading him, pretending to be someone he was not.
Steve already understood that because of him coming alone to Herobrine's mansion, the being mistook him for a hero who came to challenge him. Surely, by now, he could see that Steve was no hero?
The being continued to return and watch Steve, not to satisfy his anger and desire to punish him for annoying slights of other heroes that continued to bother him, but simply to alleviate his boredom and... loneliness?
In the last several returns, when Herobrine did not even approach Steve, preferring to remain afar, Steve distinctly felt that mood.
It was the same again, today, only stronger. Pensive, almost brooding.
Having finished his mining, Steve made his way out of the cave shaft, taking care to take a look around just in case. Everything was eerie still and Steve took a breath of relief. Not a mob in sight. Herobrine was close, somewhere, but not interested in him.
He was close, though. Very close.
Steve glanced at the already darkening outline of the trees and eyed the barely perceptible trail that led through the grass into the shady woods – a way to his cabin. He really needed to get home, weary after working day in and out in the shafts, getting coal for trading. Clean up, drink water, and fall on his comfortable bed to sleep without dreams.
Instead, Steve turned and began moving in nearly opposite direction, to where his twin's presence called to him. Carefully placing his footing, he scrambled up the steep side of the mountain to where a familiar gorge opened up, sunk in the shadows of tall, hundreds of years old trees with thick stems.
Just a few minutes later, carrying a lit torch to dispel some of the gathering darkness, Steve came to a clearance, where a small waterfall ran glistening down into the dark abyss, the sound of water hitting surface somewhere far below, hidden by rising mists.
He could have sworn that this is where his senses led him. Herobrine was just here, Steve was sure of that.
The light of his torch showed that the clearance was empty. And now, Steve could also no longer feel the other's presence. That did not mean that his twin was still not nearby, since sometimes Steve lost this sense just when Herobrine noticed him and shifted his focus to him in a sort of predatory way that made Steve very nervous. But the absence could also mean that his twin simply teleported away, not wishing to be disturbed, which was more likely.
Steve made a small sigh and curiously peered out to the edge, curious what lay beyond.
Even if Herobrine was here, he wouldn't hurt him. Not really, not even when very angry. From his experiences so far, Steve almost believed this by now. Wanted to believe it. Otherwise why would the man had spared him before? And even helped him?
Encouraged by the thought, Steve made a step forward and approached the edge. Absent-mindedly placing the torch upon a pile of rocks nearby, he with wonder eyed the sight beyond.
Steve knew this place, now. This is where he had on occasion seen Herobrine appear – a small figure distant upon the mountain edge between the trees. When Steve dared to step out in the late evening from his cabin, he would at times see Herobrine standing here silently and watch.
Hesitantly, Steve drew even closer to the edge.
He could understand why Herobrine would choose this spot.
From here, Steve could see woods stretching as far as the eye could see, filling with green the space between the rising rocky slabs shrouded in shadow. The setting sun's rays painted the clouds with vanning pinks and purples, which poured upon the mountains towering beyond, their peaks capped with snow lit golden. Somewhere farther to the east lay the small valley where Herobrine's mansion stood, tucked away within the passage leading higher into the mountains. Steve couldn't see it from here. He could see a bit of the town, where lanterns already burned to light the tiny streets. And he could see his own cozy cabin with its sloped roof and some of his fenced in yard, looking toylike from this distance.
Craning his neck, Steve leaned forward even more, trying to distinguish the details. What were those tiny black figures meandering around his yard? Endermen? Hopefully they wouldn't accidentally release his animals from their pen like already happened on several occasions...
Slight crumbling underfoot and Steve didn't even have time to react as he found himself leaning into the empty space below him, his arms helplessly flying up and waving about as he tried to regain his balance.
A flash of fear only began to rise, when a strong hand grasped his jacket and roughly hauled him back, making him stumble away from the edge a few steps while his heart already beat loudly in his chest. Steve fell on his bum.
Trying to catch panicked breath, Steve gulped and hesitantly looked up, to find Herobrine scowling at him. White eyes considered him with mistrustful concern, before settling into a grim look.
"Do you have a death wish, mortal? I could easily arrange it." His twin growled with annoyed, but idle threat he did not truly mean. At least, Steve felt it again, along with the being's puzzlement since he did not expect to see him here.
Because of that, Steve only sheepishly and foolishly smiled. Hopefully, he looked at the taller man, not sure what to say. After a moment, the grumpy look on his twin's face softened, though he continued to frown.
"What are you doing here? You should be at home. Its nearly night." He grumbled without his former ire, his strange voice sounding almost normal.
"I... I just wanted to... to see... Are you all right?" Steve blurted out and earned himself a startled look. His twin stared at him, his face at first betraying confusion, before a scowl appeared to take its place. He glared at Steve with renewed mistrust and suspicion.
"You really must ask this, player?" Herobrine's voice held tones of barely restrained anger. His form shifted slightly and only now Steve's eyes ran over it, widening to discover numerous torn spots in his clothes that looked singed. The skin beneath looked unblemished except for recently healed new scars showing through the rends.
Catching Steve's concerned expression, the anger noticeably drained and Herobrine looked away, his pensive mood returning in a powerful wave even as his face settled into calm indifference. He looked out into the world beyond Steve as if searching for something.
"What h-happened?" Steve dared to ask.
"Search the forums if you wish to know. I have no desire to explain. If you choose to live in false ignorance, then it's your own choice, but do not dare to play this game with me!"
"I don't understand..." Steve began uncertainly, but his twin's anger suddenly flared. In an instance, Steve found himself hauled up again by a steel grip, reflexively grasping on to the scarred hand grasping his shirt collar. His fear returned as white glare held on his gaping face.
"Do you really claim not to know what I say? I am not in the mood to play your stupid games! Enough of this pretense!"
Steve felt his twin's hand jerk him to the edge and frantically grasped on to the man's iron forearm, casting fearful glances to the dark void below. His feet barely reached the edge with the tips of his boots.
"Will you still claim that you do not understand?" Herobrine darkly demanded, but Steve could no longer answer at all as his panic began to rise.
After a long, tense moment when all Steve could hear was his panting breath, his twin's face suddenly grimaced as a note of guilt crossed his expression. Again, the anger lessened.
A familiar blurring of the world, and Steve staggered as his feet suddenly found welcome hard ground beneath him. His eyes skewed and with relief noted the comforting sight of his small, wooden cabin. Once again, Herobrine had safely brought him home.
The hand on his shirt let go a little. Steve glanced back at his twin to find a dimmed gaze searching him, before Herobrine released him to stand on his own.
"Perhaps you do not pretend, after all..." He said dryly with a frown.
"It's not my fault." Steve protested when he finally understood what Herobrine might have been talking about. "And no, I am not pretending. I really don't know where I come from or who I am. I am not even sure if Steve is my real name. I am not sure how you found out about that, but it's true."
Herobrine frowned at Steve, who gave the man a rueful smile.
"Explain. How can you not remember who you are? Your words make no sense at all, player."
"I don't know what you mean by that, when you call me a 'player'. But I am not lying. I really... I don't know. I just woke up one day. I woke up in the woods and then just... wandered. Until good travelers found me and took me to town. This happened, about... eight years ago? Before that, I remember nothing at all. I am not lying about that." Steve said earnestly, keeping his eyes on mistrustfully narrowed white ones, where suspicion did not seem to lessen.
Uncomfortable to reveal his history to this hostile stranger, yet for some reason badly wishing for him to believe him, Steve lowered his eyes and nervously shifted the toes in his boots.
"When I came to the mansion, it wasn't to challenge you. I am not a hero. It's just when I first got here, I accidentally... came in. I didn't know it was your mansion, then. I was running away from the mobs and thought... I then found the-the ghost... the other you... Only he didn't attack me. So I didn't think that... Those children from town, the ones you saw coming here sometimes? They said that they saw you walking in the woods and asked me to go back and check if our normal ghost is still there. I really didn't think that real Herobrine came like they said. I didn't believe it. That's why I came to the mansion alone. If it was only the ghost, he would not have attacked me. While he still sleeps, he is pretty much harmless, except if heroes come to challenge his domain. That's what the local people all say, anyway."
Steve saw his twin's frown get deeper before his eyes opened wider as he seemed to consider something.
"Wait. You say that you've been to my mansion before? You've seen my copy? My double, the ghost?" Herobrine asked with sudden curiosity. Steve cautiously nodded.
"Yeah. I did see him. I thought he was you. He isn't?" Steve suddenly badly wanted to ask if anything he had learned from the legends was true, but bit his tongue.
"Of course not. That's just an empty bot. There are thousands of them. They... You said that he didn't attack you?" White eyes narrowed on Steve with returning mistrust.
Steve silently shook his head.
"Hmm... I think I need to check this. Let's go." Herobrine reached out to grab Steve's arm and before Steve could even back off, the world swirled again and Steve lurched on his feet, dizzy by suddenly change of scenery yet again. Herobrine's hand kept him steady until he was able to look around him once again.
They stood within the mansion, right on the corridor on the bottom floor, which Steve recognized immediately by the sight of dusty red carpets running along the forbidding hallway into the darkness barely dispelled by dim, red torches. Beyond, he glimpsed the vast, semi-dark hall of stone, with some of the closest pillars visible.
His heart sunk in his stomach, and he gulped, recalling his own unease at finding himself here, when he finally realized whose dwelling, it was that he inadvertently entered.
He felt his twin's slightly mocking gaze held on him, as if testing, and turned to look, only to find Herobrine giving him an encouraging nod.
His knees feeling shaky and weak, Steve meekly turned and faced the entrance to the great hall.
"Go on. I wish to see the truth of your words. If he has not attacked you before, he won't attack you this time." Herobrine said with mild, amused tone. "Don't worry, he won't kill you. I won't let him, even if your words prove to be a lie."
He didn't believe him.
Steeling his heart, Steve made a step forward and entered the silent abode.
Right ahead, standing by the gray, stone throne, was the ghostly figure that Steve well remembered. The cyan and dark blue clothes and the entire look mirrored those of Herobrine, who entered right behind Steve and now intently observed his own copy.
Seeing that it remained still, its face expressionless, Herobrine's lips twitched.
"Interesting..." He murmured and strode past Steve, who hesitantly stopped at a safe distance.
Herobrine walked around his copy, thoughtfully eyeing him.
"Status neutral? The first time I see one of them react like this to a player... Ah! Of course. Your interface is off. If I do this..."
Steve caught a glimmer of something, a red flash in the corner of his vision, and suddenly perceived the world around him change as formerly indifferent attention suddenly turned and regarded him with malicious intent.
The ghost before the throne suddenly stirred as well, coming alive. His chest moved, drawing in breath, and white eyes turned and bored upon Steve, who froze in terror at a familiar sneer that appeared on the being's face. He had seen such expression before... He...
"As I thought... Enough!" Herobrine's usual, powerful voice distorted into dual tones as it rang across the chamber. Suddenly, Steve glimpsed numerous shadowy forms that had appeared in corners of the room. Skeletons, zombies, half-men half-pigs with rotten flesh, with their arms reaching out to him with clawing fingers and bows raising in aim. His breath caught.
But the figures were already vanishing into purple mist and disappearing without a trace, dismissed by real Herobrine's will. Herobrine's menacing image also waivered and vanished, leaving only the slightly tattered man standing alone before the throne.
Steve's heart still raced, when the being turned and gave him a kinder look, even smiling a little.
"You didn't lie, at least about this. Very well, for now I will accept your claim at face value. If you really don't remember who you are, then its only better..."
Steve frowned, since somehow, he felt that the last words his twin spoke were meant solely for his own benefit and not Steve's. Still, Herobrine seemed to have come to a decision of some kind and it seemed to be a favorable one.
"This carries interesting implications... Which I am going to test..." For some reason, this time the being's widening grin held a menacing quality which sent a shiver through Steve's bones.
As if remembering Steve's presence, Herobrine glanced back and walked back to him with unhurried look. Another reach, and Steve found himself back by his cabin once more, this time nearly retching as his stomach painfully curled within him. Again, Herobrine waited until he remained steady on his feet, before letting go.
"Continue with your affairs and do not leave anywhere. Is that understood? First of all, its not safe for someone in your... condition. And second, I have no wish to search for you who knows where like I did last time. Stay put. When I return, we are going to have a good, long talk."
For some reason, the dark anticipation in Herobrine's voice did not seem very encouraging to Steve this time. Somehow, he managed to lessen the being's suspicion of him in one regard, but successfully gained even more interest. Now, Herobrine will definitely not leave him alone.
Was that good? Steve really was not sure. Should he regret his earlier impulsive actions when he decided to search out the being, for some reason imagining that Herobrine may wish to have his company? What even went through his mind to give him that idea?
Steve wanted to cringe at his earlier strangely hopeful thoughts. His twin, meanwhile, gave him a warning look, to which Steve quickly nodded. Satisfied, the man vanished again, leaving Steve alone. And his presence disappeared entirely next, too, which meant that he left... this world?
Steve didn't understand the things he sensed. But that he just convinced Herobrine to openly come and speak to him both frightened him and raised his intense curiosity.
To finally be able to talk to this figure of legend and... ask questions?
Steve didn't understand himself why the thought of this made him suddenly smile. Finally, he did something right.
Herobrine will be back. And then... Steve didn't know, only that it was right and what he felt should be. The way this was supposed to be.
Still, this entire thing was tense, as all his other encounters with that mysterious being. Sighing with relief that all of this was over for now, Steve stood up straighter and straightened his hunched shoulders. Raising his chin, he looked up at the tiny spot high up in the mountains, where he thought he could still glimpse the light of the torch he left stuck in the pile of rocks.
Ha! Herobrine saved him a fairly long and tricky trip. With a small grin, Steve turned and headed into his cabin. It was late and he still had to unload the coal, sort it, stack it, and clean up. He was hungry, too. A pre-made dinner would do. Only then he could go to bed.