periodic reminder of fic's violence warning. also, in case i dont post again before then, happy Easter :)
review replies:
Okuri-Chan: Glad you're enjoying! The Evoker character should be popping up in a new fic pretty soon :)
"Ooh." Alex's voice caught Evangeline's attention, who glanced over to find the redhead stooping down to pluck a brown mushroom off the ground.
"What's that?"
"Snack." Alex popped the mushroom into her mouth. "The little brown and red ones are safe to eat," She explained at Evangeline's bewildered look. "Brown ones are my favorites, though."
"It's a good idea to forage whatever we can," Herobrine said from where he led their little procession. "Since we have no reliable source of food."
"We should make finding one a priority." Evangeline said. "Since we have no idea how long we'll be out here, and we're no good to the queen dying of starvation." Herobrine didn't answer, which brought a frown to her face.
The three of them were still in the ravine, which seemed to stretch on for miles. Evangeline wondered what kind of geographical event could cause such a thing. Despite them finding no sign of the queen or their other companions, Herobrine had insisted that they remain within the chasm. Not only was it where the queen would have gone if she had come this way, he said, but it would also keep them safe while they searched for her.
Herobrine seemed to be taking even more care to ignore her now, Evangeline noticed. He kept his conversations with her short, and sometimes failed to acknowledge her altogether. It hurt- but beyond that, it was just frustrating. They were wandering in the wilderness of a hostile dimension, trying to find their missing companions, with dwindling supplies and no backup. Whatever problem with her he may have, they needed to be able to communicate.
Evangeline glanced to her left at Alex, who was studying her bandaged arm. If not for her, Evangeline would have likely confronted him already, but she didn't want to cause a scene in front of their poor guide. So, she bit her tongue and swallowed her anger, letting Herobrine pretend that she didn't exist.
Trying to banish him from her thoughts - hard when he was walking right in front of her - Evangeline again went over the queen's most likely movements in her head. Undoubtedly she had started off in a different direction that they had, since they had yet to find any sign of intelligent life. Their chances of running across them randomly were quite slim, but they could hardly turn back without them. So, they pressed on. At least the queen and her group had Tekno with them, who was native to the Nether - surely he could help them survive until help arrived.
Absorbed in her thoughts, Evangeline noticed that Herobrine had stopped only just in time to keep from running straight into him. Blinking up at her surroundings, she soon realized what had made him stop - the ravine split in two.
"Ah…" Alex stepped forward, stopping on Evangeline's left. "Where to now?" Herobrine looked from one path to the other.
"I'm not sure," He said slowly. "There's no sign of movement down either path."
"I don't think they've ever been down here at all," Evangeline said, a note of irritation in her voice. "We should go back to the surface."
"It's safer here," Herobrine said in a clipped tone, focused on the fork in the road.
"It may be, but we're making no progress, and the queen takes precedence." Evangeline pointed out. When she got no reply, she went on. "At least let me fly up and take a look at our surroundings-"
"No." Herobrine shut her down, glancing over his shoulder to train one blank eye on her. "That would reveal our location to any hostiles nearby."
"What hostiles? We haven't seen a single person!"
"And it's best if we keep it that way."
"The queen-"
"Has two valkyries and an Aetherian warrior with her." Herobrine interrupted. "She will be fine. In the meantime, it does neither her nor us any good to put ourselves in needless danger."
"It-" Evangeline tried, but Herobrine cut her off.
"I have lived in the Nether for nearly as long as you have been alive." He stated. "And Sirben is far from our only threat. The Nether is rife with danger. Of course her majesty is my priority, but we are no good to her injured or dead." Evangeline was silent, stunned. "We'll go this way," Herobrine said, and began to walk down the path to the right.
Alex tentatively began to follow, but Evangeline did not. Her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides, gaze fastened on Herobrine's retreating back as he didn't even bother to stop and see if she was following. She could take being ignored, but for him to scold her like a child…
Evangeline's wings flared, and she took off, landing in front of Herobrine and blocking his path. "Do we have a problem here?" She demanded as he stopped short. "You have done nothing but ignore and belittle me since we reunited. It's painfully clear that you don't want to be around me, I just can't figure out what I've done to deserve it."
"I have intentionally kept my distance, yes." Herobrine said evenly. "I did not want you to be distracted."
"Distra-" The word died on her lips as she realized his meaning, and her cheeks flushed red. So she really hadn't been subtle… at all. "It's f-far more distracting for you to act like I don't exist."
"I only wanted your focus to be on our mission."
"It is on our mission, but every time I try to make a suggestion you shut me down!"
"I know the Nether better," He repeated himself. "And I know the queen."
"Of course you do!" Evangeline spat, too worked up to pay any heed to Alex watching them. "You left me to serve her. Forty years, and I didn't know where you were, if you were safe, and you were in the service of the Nether Queen the whole time, in regular contact with my commander. And never told me." Her throat was growing tight, and she fought back furious tears. "Was that to keep from distracting me too?" Herobrine was silent for a moment, jaw working slightly.
"Evangeline, I didn't come to the Nether with the intent of serving the queen." He finally said. "I came to ask her to lock me up." Evangeline blinked, startled out of her rage.
"What?" She struggled to keep her voice even. "Why?"
"You told me that hiding in the wilderness wouldn't fix the damage I've done," He said, reminding her of the night that they spent together in Sirben's prison. "That I needed to let the people see that I had changed. I thought that by handing myself over, by making myself their prisoner, I would ease their minds. They would know that I could no longer hurt them. The queen, however, felt that my skills would be of better use in her service." Evangeline shook her head, stunned.
"That isn't- that's not what I meant at all."
"Hey," Alex spoke up, but Herobrine ignored her.
"I had a feeling it wasn't." He gave Evangeline a faint smile. "Still, it seemed to me like the best course of action at the time."
"And now?"
"Now?" He held her gaze. "I don't know." Slowly, Evangeline shook her head.
"Well, regardless of how you may feel about me, you can't treat me like I'm not here." Her voice wavered slightly as she spoke. "If we're going to work together - and here, now, we have to - you need to communicate with me beyond telling me that my thoughts and input are useless."
"You're right." Herobrine lowered his head in deference. "I apologize. Being able to work together is of course more important." There was something else in his eyes, but Evangeline couldn't identify it.
"Hey!" Alex's shout was urgent now, and Evangeline finally tore her gaze from Herobrine's face, looking up to see what was the matter.
Down the left fork, about thirty feet away, was a hoglin. It grunted low as it spotted them, beady eyes narrowing, and it lowered its massive head to charge.
Evangeline's wings flared, and she looked to Alex in a panic just in time to see Herobrine snatch her up and vanish. Evangeline promptly took off, spotting Herobrine and Alex at the cliffside above her and flying up to join them.
"So much for the ravine being safe," She gasped out as she landed beside them.
"It shouldn't be here, though." Alex protested. "There's no food for it here." She sat back on her hands, looking a bit shaken. "Maybe it's like the ones before…?"
"Maybe, but look." Herobrine pointed, and Evangeline followed his gaze down to where the hoglin snuffled around where they had stood just moments before. "It's injured." Evangeline frowned, crouching down on the ledge with her wings extended for balance. Sure enough, there were two large spears sticking out of the creature's back.
"You think it was driven here?" Evangeline looked up, and he nodded.
"There must be some sort of settlement in the area."
"We should kill it," Alex suggested. "It's weakened already, and we can carve it up for food."
"Beyond that, if we can find the owners of those spears, taking that thing down is sure to bring us favor." Herobrine agreed. "Evangeline?"
"I'm willing to give it a shot." She got to her feet. "Alex, wait here."
"I've fought hoglins before," Alex protested. "I can help."
"Perhaps you have, but this is a narrow battleground, and you're already injured." Herobrine pointed out. "Evangeline and I are far more mobile, it's safer if we take care of it." Alex threw her hands up in the air, but didn't argue further. Satisfied, Evangeline drew her sword.
"If we can get one of those spears, I can use it to finish it off," Herobrine pointed out the weapons again. "I will go for one if you keep it occupied."
"I'll try." With that, Evangeline spread her wings and dropped off the cliff.
She could tell, even as she circled down into the ravine again, that the creature was impaired. Its movements were sluggish as it raised its head to look at her, reactions delayed when it squealed and stamped with rage. She drew up short, landing about fifteen feet in front of it, and as it tossed its head at her Herobrine appeared behind it and reached for the shaft of a spear.
As soon as his hand made contact, the beast screamed with pain, and Herobrine only just managed to jerk back in time to avoid being struck by a flailing hoof. The hoglin whirled about to face him, and Evangeline lunged at it, swiping at it with her sword and scoring a deep cut in its pink hide. It spun around again, and Herobrine shouted,
"Go for the underside of its jaw if you get an opening, it's vulnerable there!" He drew his own knife, edging around to the hoglin's blind spot. "Superficial cuts will only make it angrier."
"Noted." Evangeline held the hoglin's gaze, wings poised to flee if it charged at her. Even in its weakened state, it made for quite the imposing foe.
Herobrine went for the spear again, and Evangeline lunged forward, intending to keep it occupied. She slashed at its eyes, but her sword lodged instead in one of its razor-sharp tusks, and her weapon was yanked out of her hands when the hoglin tossed its head. She flinched back in alarm as her sword clattered against the far wall.
"Eva, careful." Herobrine snapped. Evangeline shot him a glance in acknowledgement, but she was fairly confident in her ability to- what had he called her? 'Eva'? He'd likely misspoken, but there was something so… striking about it.
The hoglin broke into a lumbering charge in her direction, and Evangeline beat her wings as she leapt out of the way. The hoglin skidded to a stop, turning, and Herobrine teleported beside it and lunged for the spear. The hoglin squealed as he grasped the wooden shaft in both hands, and Herobrine was yanked off his feet when the beast lurched away. Evangeline took off again, drawing up short above the hoglin's head and driving both heels into its face.
Bracing a boot on the huge creature's heaving side, Herobrine finally managed to rip the spear free, staggering back with his weapon as Evangeline landed nearby. Before the beast could recover, Herobrine had lifted the spear above his head and drove it into the hoglin's skull.
Evangeline let out a shaky sigh, dusting off her hands on her robes as the unfortunate creature crumpled to the ground. "I can see why it takes a group to take these down," She muttered.
"Yes…" Herobrine frowned, kneeling down beside the massive corpse. "…it's not bleeding."
"What?" Sure enough, despite the many wounds on the hoglin's body, Evangeline couldn't spy a single drop of blood. "You don't think-?"
"Sirben?" Herobrine finished. "It's possible. And it would explain the hoglins that attacked us in the warped forest."
"Right…" Evangeline took a deep breath, resting a hand over her chest. Her heart was still roaring in her ears. Though she was trained to fight against any one of the humanoid races, a giant, murderous hog was a little bit outside of her area of expertise.
"EVANGELINE!" The scream from above made her jump, and her gaze flickered up in alarm to find Alex peering over the edge and pointing frantically in her general direction. "Behind-!"
Evangeline felt the impact more than the pain as a second hoglin rammed her from behind, a bloody tusk protruding from the front of her robes.
Herobrine's cry sounded faint to her ears as she stared down at the tusk, then the hoglin had shaken her off and she was crumpling against the side of the cliff. One hand went to her front as she rolled to a stop, clamping instinctively over the wound. Despite knowing how severe this wound must be, she could barely feel it.
Then a hand had her by the shoulder, and the world spun dizzily around her before she was deposited again on solid ground.
She could hear Alex and Herobrine's voices as though muffled through cloth, an incoherent back and forth as she stared up at the distant ceiling with blood flowing from between her fingers.
"She doesn't have that long!" Herobrine was saying. "I can try to wrap it, but-"
"She's going to die." Alex's voice was stricken.
"No." Movement flickered in her vision, and Evangeline focused dimly on Herobrine's face as he leaned over her. "No, she won't." One hand went to her robes, unfastening the outer layer as his other hand pried hers away from her stomach.
"Hey-" She croaked out.
"Shh." He hushed her. Something flashed in the light, and Evangeline was able to identify his knife just before he used it to cut away her jumpsuit around the stab wound. She was starting to feel a dull ache from the site of her wound, though still not nearly as much pain as she imagined she should be feeling.
"You're going to be fine, I promise." Herobrine muttered vehemently. "I promise." As she watched, he pressed the flat of his knife into his palm, fire erupting around it and remaining until the blade glowed red-hot.
Without ceremony, Herobrine reached down and pressed the flat of the blade against her wound, and the blinding pain was enough to wipe out whatever consciousness she had left.