Chapter 10: Champion of Shadows
How much of the land were the others familiar with?
Steve had always wondered how people tended to map out their surroundings, especially considering how the group he was traveling with was going place-to-place, thoroughly exploring an area before moving onto the next. Had they gotten particularly far before they decided to drag him along? Had they just started in their investigation? How much ground had they covered? Was their method of just searching for a random portal's pulse the only way they had been navigating things so far, or did they have a specific order in mind?
Considering that they were planning on searching for a desert, Steve really wanted for there to be a concrete answer at the moment. His thoughts shifted over to the friend that had mentioned such a place first to him as he continued to think about his current situation.
Selwyn hadn't created a formal map for the places she'd visited; she only wrote down descriptions of the places she'd been. It was her memory that guided her back through familiar locations and through new ones. Was that the case for these few as well? Should he make a map so that they could keep track of the places that they thoroughly searched through? Would it be necessary? Would it be beneficial? Appreciated?
…
Could he become the Champion of Maps? Was that a thing?
Sighing to himself, Steve followed behind the others as he glanced around at his darkened surroundings, eyes slowly becoming adjusted to the lack of light. Though they still found themselves within the tight hold of the sprucewood forest, the trees were slightly beginning to become more spaced out, much to his delight. Whether this meant that they would be reaching a new area or not, he didn't know, but the idea excited him, nonetheless. The bitter cold still attacked them relentlessly, but now that Steve was better equipped with a heavier coat, he didn't mind all that much.
If he ever saw the man again, he'd thank Minos for convincing him to purchase the coat, multiple times over.
With every step came the further crunch of frost-covered grass. Steve felt the surface of his boots be breached with the wetness of ice, though, it wasn't enough to cause major concern. Tightening his hold against the straps of his bag, Steve shivered slightly as a brief breeze blew across his face. Thankful that they were heading towards a warmer climate, he began to daydream about what the desert would possibly be like.
Rolling desert hills being heated by the blazing sun; soft, desert sand beneath his feet. Light winds carrying a sheet of sand throughout the area. Small, little desert plants peeking from underneath the cover of said sand, somehow thriving despite the harsh conditions.
Granted, all of his knowledge about the desert was from Selwyn, but as she described it, he imagined it. He couldn't wait to stumble upon the sight himself, even though he might not encounter the same desert that she had found. Maybe he'd find some notable desert landmarks apart from a temple or two. Maybe he'd be able to bring back a little souvenir, who knows?
Finding that the warmth of his thoughts provided more heat for him, Steve realized that he had been daydreaming once again, having ignored everything around him. He soon after realized that the others were talking, cutting through the silence that had once enveloped them as his focus began to shift over to their quiet words.
"...nd how many deserts have we placed them in again?" Came Constiere's voice as the boy looked up towards Herobrine, awaiting his response.
"Several. The closest one is rather small, but it's a decent place to start. I know that we don't prioritize deserts all too much, but I know that there are at least a couple where there's been a heavier amount of zombies present, and not because I put them there." Herobrine explained, continuing to walk briskly ahead of the others.
"...Wait, the zombies are there without your orders? Why?"
Herobrine shrugged.
"...I'm not sure. Could be because I've simply forgotten to relocate them, or maybe because too many mortals have died there and have been since reanimated recently."
Constiere let out a quiet "Hmm." before moving to fall back more behind the other, glancing around briefly before crossing his arms over his chest.
"...I wonder if we'll actually find a temple in that one."
Andvari nodded his head.
"Me as well. There's no guarantee that there will be anything to reap from this mission in particular, but the main point is to simply get away from the other portal, is it not?"
Constiere rolled his eyes.
"Well, yeah, but it'd be better if we could do two things at once, y'know? Find a few other portals instead of just one? Get away from Sir Subtraction? Both of those sound nice enough!"
"I get that, but even if we only manage to do one thing, we will have made quite a bit of progress. Temples aren't found in just one desert; they could all hold different information for us to utilize for our own benefits." Andvari stated.
"...But who wants to do that for weeks? I wanna do fun stuff!" Constiere pouted.
Andvari narrowed his gaze at him.
"We'll have to if we don't find any useful information, won't we sir?" The enderman looked back towards Herobrine, who thought to himself for a moment before answering the other.
"...Not necessarily. We can't afford to delay our operations for too long, especially if we can just send mobs to do the searching for us. At most, we'll head for two different deserts, but if our efforts are not rewarded properly, we'll move on back to the original plan." Herobrine explained to the others, glancing back in order to make sure that they appeared to understand his words.
Both Andvari and Constiere nodded.
"Right."
"Of course."
Steve took note of the information, mulling over the other's words carefully.
Would different deserts all look the same? Would they be significantly different from each other regarding size? What was the name of the one they were heading towards now? Should he give it a name?
…
…
For now, he was content on dubbing the place 'Sandville.'
Steve only felt himself growing even more excited at the idea of discovering the desert, wishing that he could step out from the forest and immediately be transported to the new location. Of course, they still had to walk there on foot, but the idea was nice, nonetheless. Letting out a quick sigh, Steve looked up towards the moon, finding it to be hanging only somewhat high in the sky. It was only a crescent moon that provided little moonlight to the surrounding area, but nevertheless, it captivated him well enough for the time being.
Hearing the sigh, Constiere looked back at him and moved to fall back in order to walk right beside him, giving him a small smirk before he began to speak.
"Bored too, huh?"
Looking back down at the other, Steve shrugged.
"...Not really in the 'entertained' sense, but more in the 'I'm tired of seeing the same bunch of trees over and over again' sense."
Constiere nodded in agreement, stretching his arms back behind his head.
"I hear you! Even though I've been doing this for a while, it's always pretty boring if we're just walking and nothing else."
Curious, Steve raised a brow at the other.
"Wait, how do you keep yourself entertained while traveling like this?"
Constiere gave him a smug look.
"Oh, we're usually on the hunt for humans in our spare time, so we spend a lot of that time stalking you guys at night. It's way more fun messing with people while moving than just walking by itself."
Steve nodded, letting out a slightly uncomfortable chuckle.
"...Well, entertainment is entertainment, I guess…?"
Constiere let out a hum, his expression turning into one of curiosity.
"So, what do you do when you're bored? Mine for stuff?"
Steve shook his head, adjusting the bag on his back a bit before talking.
"I...well, I do that regardless of whether I'm bored or not, but I usually read stuff from a friend of mine in my free time. Other than that, I'm pretty much occupied enough."
He found himself being met with a look of disappointment.
"Reading? That's it?"
Steve shrugged.
"...All I have time for. Besides, I don't need much to entertain me, that's enough on its own."
Looking around briefly to find that they were beginning to step out into a clearing, Steve smiled, thankful that the sprucewood trees had finally let up for the time being.
"...The friend who told me about the desert is the same one who writes the books I read from. They're traveling journals, actually…"
Steve paused, briefly debating with himself on whether or not he wanted the next bit of information he had to slip, ultimately deciding that it would be good to let himself be more vulnerable than he already was.
"...They inspire me, really. I've always wanted to go on an adventure like the ones she writes about."
Fully expecting laughter to burst out from the other's mouth, Steve was surprised to hear nothing. Glancing over to the other's face expecting to find a mocking look, he instead found a sad smile upon Constiere's features.
When the boy finally spoke up, he didn't expect the other to sound so...diminished.
"...Yeah. I get that. Wanting adventure, I mean."
Constiere cast him a look of slight sympathy, which soon turned to one of embarrassment as he finally realized that the miner had been staring at him. He immediately became flustered.
"Y-you understand, right? Wanting to go out? See the world? Everybody does, right?"
The two of them heard a scoff from further up ahead of them.
"No, but to each their own, right?" Malgun added, slightly slowing down to better meet their current pace.
Constiere looked at the skeleton with an unimpressed expression.
"You literally can't go anywhere unless it's dark."
"...None of us can."
"I meant without dying, sir."
Malgun stared at the boy.
"Which causes all of us to stay back. Other than that, we all function better in the dark anyway, don't we?"
Hearing a small round of hums stemming from everybody apart from Herobrine, Steve slightly nodded his head in agreement, though, the situation was the complete opposite for him.
He couldn't quite see in the dark like them. Sure, he constantly worked in low-light conditions and could function perfectly well enough in them, but that didn't mean he had any sort of standing when being compared to the others. He thrived during the day and with torchlight; they thrived during the night with nothing but the glow of their eyes.
"Regardless, I wouldn't want to travel the rest of this world even if I could."
Curious, Steve looked up at the man.
"...Why not?"
Silence followed his words before Malgun gave a quiet chuckle.
"...Humans. Living ones. Not ideal for a creature like me to wander about when they're everywhere."
Both he and Constiere nodded in understanding, though the latter raised a brow.
"Yeah. But why not just hunt them down, then? Like I said, it's fun to do while making up ground!"
"That would negate the point of traveling to just see the sights."
The boy crossed his arms over his chest, casting a confused glare at the skeleton.
"Aren't you an archer? Why not jump at the opportunity to use your bow?"
Malgun glared back at him, though, whatever he had intended to respond with was left on the tip of his tongue, as the group suddenly came to a sudden halt.
Moments of pure silence passed by before Steve suddenly found himself becoming the focus of one slightly distressed demigod. Herobrine's gaze fell upon him, but before confusion could overtake his thoughts, Steve let out a tiny laugh.
"Is there a portal around here, somewhere?"
Herobrine glanced around the clearing for a bit before responding, his voice a bit quieter than what the miner was used to.
"...Several."
Eyes widening in surprise, Steve looked to see the reactions from the rest of the group, finding all of them to be as surprised as he was.
"...Wait, how ma-"
"Several. All in one area. All together. Side-by-side."
"That close by?!" Constiere asked in shock.
"Are you sure that it's not just one huge one, sir?" Andvari asked, demonstrating the size of the bigger portals with his hands.
Herobrine shook his head.
"No. I can barely feel it, but they seem to each have slightly different pulses. I only felt an active one at first, but some of that energy is fluctuating a bit; like it's being drawn in different directions. It's subtle, but noticeable enough."
Continuing to walk forward, Herobrine looked around briefly before beginning to lead the others towards a slightly different direction than the one they were heading in.
"...Let's take care of it before I'm affected too much, and we end up being unable to find new portals."
With a round of agreement, the group began to follow the other.
Though they had to head back into the cover of the forest, the group seemingly forgot about their woes for a moment, keeping ever-so-vigilant as they glanced around through the trees. Eventually, a light began to shine out from a not-so-distant source, causing them to stop in their tracks. Before long, Herobrine gestured for the others to spread out, however, he stepped closer to Steve, keeping him in place before he even had the chance to move.
Quietly, he looked at the other with a commanding gaze.
"...We're going to try this again. Go in with the intention to attack first, and stand your ground."
Steve looked back at him with a slight glare.
"Depends on who's there. I don't know if there's one person up there, or-"
A shout came up from the area ahead, seemingly filled with frustration. Gathering their attention rather quickly, they looked towards the source, even though they couldn't see anybody through the trees. The voice sounded somewhat familiar to Steve, though, he couldn't exactly place its owner quite yet.
"...Sounds like only one. Do what I said to do, and maybe you won't find yourself on the receiving end of any sort of weapon anytime soon." Herobrine motioned for the other to go forward, however, Steve merely continued to stare at him.
"...I said go."
Hesitantly, Steve walked forward, giving one last glance at the other before quietly sneaking up to the area ahead, slightly surprised to find another small clearing before him.
A camp had been set up in the location, consisting mainly of a small tent, a slightly dug-out fire pit, and a good pile of wood that was placed next to a few rocks. However, to his surprise, right in the middle of the clearing laid three portals, their black frames placed in a triangular formation. As the demigod had estimated, only one was currently activated, slightly stunning Steve with its brilliant display of otherworldly colors and magic. Without even realizing it, he was stepping closer towards the center of the camp away from the trees, only to realize that the portals had been slightly blocking his sight of another station that had been built into the camp.
On the other side of the clearing sat a cloaked figure, working tirelessly on something that appeared to be, from a distance, a brewing station that had been placed onto a cut log. The stranger that was working on the station appeared to be swishing around the contents of a glass bottle, before placing it back onto the stand carefully.
With a groan, the stranger began to stand up, prompting Steve to move as quietly as he could to hide back within the forest, which ended up being not as quiet as he would have hoped. Though he managed to get out of the other's line of sight, he had made enough noise to alarm the other, prompting them to draw a blade rather quickly.
"Who's there?! Show yourself!"
Peeking out from behind the tree he was hiding behind, Steve looked to find none other than the traveler he had encountered earlier, Raff, who seemed to be a bit more on edge than he had been before. His hair was even messier this time around, his face was covered with dirt, and his clothes were lightly dusted with what appeared to be gold and sugar.
Holding his breath, Steve watched the other pace around the clearing, attempting to lean even further out so that he could keep a watchful gaze on the other. Just as the other was moving to head back towards his brewing station however, a hand found its way upon his back, and before he could turn around to see who had snuck up on him, a voice whispered, low in tone, laced with annoyance.
"Don't just stand here. Go!" Came Herobrine's harsh voice.
Just as quickly as the words were spoken, Steve found himself being shoved out away from the trees, stumbling hard as he fought to regain his footing before he had a chance to meet with the ground beneath him. As he came into view, Raff snapped his head towards him, moving to rush to attack him, only to stop once he realized who had approached him.
With a frustrated sigh, Raff sheathed his blade, instead briskly walking over to the miner to grab his shoulder roughly and force him to stand straight up.
"You stalking me, or something?"
Shaking his head excessively, Steve nervously laughed.
"N-no! I was being chased around by a mob, and I happened to find light coming from over here, so I ran as fast as I could to get over to it. I guess running into you was only a bonus."
Staring into his eyes for a moment without changing expression, Raff then sighed, reluctantly letting the other go as he went to move towards his fire pit, which was currently burning a decent pile of sticks. Without hesitation, he began to kick dirt over it, seemingly intending to put out the flames. As the man began to mumble to himself, Steve slowly approached the portal frames nearby, looking over them eagerly as he focused most of his attention upon the active one.
Moving closer to the portal, Steve stared into the shimmering wall of pure magic as it moved about like the surface of water. As he drew nearer to the frame, a strange feeling began to envelop him; it felt like he was being surrounded at all angles by a dense, suffocating substance, which warped the area closest to the portal.
Before he could accidentally find himself interacting with the frame, Raff had already made his way over to him, pulling him away from it with quite a bit of force.
"Don't mess with that!" He yelled, quieting down only once he realized how loud he had gotten. "Last portal I had got tampered with, and it takes me way too long to make any new ones! These were taxing enough, and they aren't even halfway decent!"
Slightly embarrassed, Steve stepped further away from the portals, holding his hands up in defense.
"Uh, sorry about that! I just...I've never seen one like this before."
"...You've actually seen a portal before?"
Not wanting another chance to get another person killed, Steve tried to brush off the other's words.
"So uh...what are you brewing stuff for?"
Raff narrowed his gaze at him in suspicion.
"Don't change the subject, you actually know what a proper portal looks like?"
Drawing his voice into a whisper, Steve leaned in towards the other.
"I can't explain much, but yes, I've seen one before. I just haven't seen any activated."
Nodding in what Steve assumed to be understanding, Raff turned back to look at the portals, letting out a sigh as he did so.
"...I suppose that we have an advantage over most, then."
Raff turned back towards Steve.
"Portals are hard to come by, but I've figured out a way to make the kind that are less difficult to work with. I don't know why or how you know about them, but I use mine to get better brewing materials from the world they connect to."
Continuing to stare at the active portal, Steve felt himself becoming rather curious.
"...Like what?"
"Fungi specific to that world's regions. Dust shaved from shiny rods taken from weird creatures. Stuff like that. They make it much, much easier to remain in the shadows."
Steve thought about his words for a moment, before looking at the other with a raised brow.
"...I've heard you mention the shadows before. What's up with that?"
Laughing, Raff backed away from him, gesturing to himself as he proudly stood back.
"You're looking at the Champion of Shadows! It's my thing, actually."
Though Steve let out a quiet "Huh." in understanding, his thoughts shifted over to the memory of the last time a "Champion of Shadows" was mentioned to him.
This guy didn't look at all like a manipulator of darkness. Sure, he wore all black, and sometimes he was invisible, but he didn't exactly live up to the image of the demigod that he'd seen in the Litefall museum, and certainly not the description given to him by Minos. Then again, neither would he ever live up to whatever title he would eventually be given, or whatever title he happened to earn.
Raff glared at him upon seeing his reaction.
"No fanfare? Okay. I get it."
Moving back over to the brewing station, Raff scoffed at Steve, leading to the miner scrambling to apologize as a bit of red dusted his features.
"S-sorry! It's just...I'm supposed to be a champion as well."
Raff froze.
"...Really?"
Finding himself in a familiar situation that he had already learned to absolutely dread, Steve grew quieter.
"...Yeah."
"...Of what?"
"...I dunno."
Raff stared at him for a moment, before letting out a chuckle.
"...Whatever you do, make sure to not get in my way. You'll regret it."
Steve laughed nervously.
"Noted."
Silence followed their brief conversation, leading Steve's focus to shift over towards the portal once again.
The slightly more impulsive side of him wanted to jump right into the portal, just to catch a glimpse of the mystical world that waited beyond. Sure, he didn't know what traveling between worlds would feel like, but given that apparently Raff had already used it and was still here, alive and well, the miner suspected that it was safe enough. Though, his deep desires to throw all caution to the wind were dampened once he remembered that there was a certain demigod who wouldn't exactly be pleased with his lack of self-control, only a few feet away.
Sighing to himself Steve waved to the other, turning away slightly.
"...I guess I'll start on that right now. I see that you're pretty busy here, so uh...bye, I guess?"
Without waving back, Raff nodded, turning back to face his potions.
"...Bye." The other dismissed him, moving to grab one of the bottles.
Stepping away from the camp in order to leave the other to do his work slowly, Steve slipped back into the shadows, eyes slowly beginning to adjust back to the lack of light once again. He glanced back a couple of times to make sure that Raff was all right before fully leaving, escaping into the night.
He didn't notice that the man had turned to watch him leave at the last second.
Upon finding himself rather far away from the camp, Steve was approached by Herobrine, who had a look of annoyance on his face.
"I said attack, what part of that did you not understand?"
Steve sighed.
"...I've met the guy before. All he wanted to do was use the portal to find better brewing supplies, or whatever. "
"...He needed three portals to do that?"
Steve shrugged as the other raised a brow.
"Well, probably not, but maybe he just didn't know how to set one up? He said that it takes him a while to make new portals, so I guess the ones that weren't working are there because he messed them up? Not sure."
Staring at the miner for a moment before sighing, Herobrine turned away from the other, hands falling behind his back.
"...It was more likely for stability, but that doesn't matter. Whenever he falls asleep or goes back into the activated portal, I'll make sure to destroy them all."
"...Wait, you're gonna trap him in there?!" Steve's eyes widened in shock and worry at the other's words.
Herobrine shrugged.
"...He'll be fine enough. He should know by now what he's gotten into, messing around with the balance of the world and tinkering with magic he should've never had access to."
Pausing, Herobrine thought a bit to himself before looking back at Steve.
"...Did he ever mention how he discovered the method of portal-making?"
Steve shook his head.
"Nope. But, if I had to take a guess, I'd think that he saw a frame somewhere, found the materials, and winged it."
"...Either he got lucky, or something, somebody, told him how to make a portal. Caring for obsidian is a rather unknown trade, and you need to typically purify said obsidian for any sort of use, lest you make something unable to conduct magic properly, or at all."
Herobrine started to walk away, and Steve began to follow, attempting to keep the conversation alive as his curiosity had been piqued.
"...What happens when the obsidian isn't good enough?"
Silence followed his question, but just as he was about to give up on waiting for an answer, Steve heard Herobrine release a small sigh.
"...The portal could collapse while one travels through it, sending them to only who knows where. Not ideal. Plus, an unstable portal throws off dimensional balance, as well. Horrible for everyone involved, really."
With a small chuckle, Herobrine continued.
"Granted, if I cut off his connection to this world, he'll probably manage to survive over there if he's so accustomed to brewing with Nether wart and the like. Well, if he manages to stay away from the native flora and fauna, that is."
With a flick of his wrist, Herobrine summoned a flame in his hand, though, it was slightly weaker than what the demigod had demonstrated earlier. However, after a couple of seconds, the flame grew stronger in a quick flicker, only to simmer down immediately afterward. With a groan of annoyance, the man glared at the flame briefly before extinguishing it as quickly as he had created it.
"I might not even have to trap him there myself. His portal is so poorly constructed, it's already releasing enough short bursts of energy to signal a collapse in the near future."
Slightly worried for the other, Steve glanced back at the path that they had taken, briefly debating on going back to warn the man. His plans were doused immediately as Herobrine let out a scoff, however.
"Don't even think about going back towards him. You'll only raise suspicion. On top of that, you can't do anything about it, anyway."
"...How'd you know I wanted to go back?" Steve tilted his head in confusion.
"...Again, you have a history of doing stupid, pointless things already, I wouldn't put it past you."
There's that attitude again.
Steve glared at the other's back, tching.
"Wow. Maybe I can shoot for becoming the Champion of Pointlessness, then? Everything I do seems to be that way to you, right?" the miner quipped, sarcastically.
Surprisingly enough, Steve heard the other breathe out a huff of air from his nose in what appeared to be amusement.
Did he just make the other laugh?
"...While that would be rather fitting, I hate to say it, but I have suspicion that your stupidity will also lead you to something more...notable. Our agreement included some added benefits, and I'd like to propose one of those being a decent title."
Did he just receive a slightly less-backhanded compliment?
Slightly elated at the other's suggestion, Steve nodded, even though the other couldn't see him.
"That'd be nice, I guess."
"You guess? What, would you rather fade into obscurity, or die?"
Steve shook his head profusely.
"No! A good title is great! I just...don't know what that'd be for me, really."
Silence followed his words, though, Herobrine broke it rather quietly.
"...Not sure if you'd prefer something so familiar to your profession, but wouldn't Champion of Ores sound suitable?"
Steve thought about the title for a moment, before tilting his head with curiosity.
"...What did the actual Champion of Ores do?"
Herobrine stopped in his tracks.
"...There isn't one."
"...What?"
Herobrine groaned in annoyance.
"...Look, I don't know what titles are available and what aren't. I've never been interested in mortal affairs, and the only reason why I'm humouring you is because it directly relates to the situation we're in right now. All I know is that, surely, there isn't exactly a champion for everything, yet. That book you revealed to me needs to be studied further, and I assume that we'll focus on that once the sun rises again."
Steve stared at the other with disappointment.
"...The whole point of becoming a champion is so that I can replicate the actions of previous ones! Making a new title won't do anything!"
Herobrine turned towards him, brow raised.
"...How the hell do you think they got their titles in the first place?"
Steve glared at him.
"...Doing something new won't exactly get the attention of everybody else. They're too focused on the old stuff to care."
"...Shame. Well, like I said, we'll go over the book in order to better select something fitting for you. Otherwise, you can simply steal from another champion if you wish."
Not exactly liking the other's answer, Steve sighed, silently agreeing with him. Watching the miner nod, Herobrine turned away to walk off, not even waiting to see if Steve was following him.
Before long, the two were once again joined by the mob generals, who were all rather eager on their own to share what they had witnessed.
"That dude was a champion too?! Man, at least he's alone." Constiere exclaimed, glancing back at the area that they had come from as he spoke.
"Yes, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous." Andvari stated.
"...To our mission, you mean. Not us." The boy corrected, glancing back upwards at the enderman.
"...Well, yes."
Sighing, Herobrine shook his head.
"The portal's still activated, so we'll have to decide when exactly do we want to break it and the ones beside it."
"...While he's on the other side?" Constiere suggested.
Silence followed his suggestion before Herobrine let out a small chuckle in response.
"...Great minds think alike, don't they?" Herobrine smirked at the boy, which led to the other growing a grin on his own face.
Andvari hummed.
"...Technically speaking, if we were to destroy the portal on this side while he was on the other, wouldn't that only lead to a forceful reconstruction if he were to simply light it up again?"
Herobrine's eyes widened slightly in realization upon hearing the other's words.
"...Damn it, you're right."
Curious, Steve looked at the enderman.
"...What's 'forceful reconstruction?'"
Andvari smiled at him.
"Basically, whenever a portal is created in this world and activated, a copy appears in the other world that is being traveled to. That in itself doesn't really cause much of a disturbance in the other world but is still noticeable here. Forceful reconstruction is when a portal is activated in another world, but the one it connects to was broken in this world, so it has to make another copy here. That causes much, much more chaos over on this end."
"Mostly because, again, this world's magic is heavily different from others." Herobrine added on.
Steve nodded in understanding.
"So...can we consider not trapping him in there, since that can happen?" Steve meekly suggested, leading to Herobrine rolling his eyes as Constiere laughed.
"I mean, sure. We can leave him in the world that has significantly easier access to more obsidian that he can use to make more portals, or we can trap him on the side that'll be harder to search through in order to find any. Pretty difficult choice." The demigod said sarcastically, narrowing his eyes at Steve.
"...I just wanted to have options." Steve spoke up quietly, embarrassment and sadness quickly finding its way upon his face.
Before their conversation could continue on any further and he could recognize what was happening, Steve suddenly found himself being dragged out of the way of a flying arrow, much to his shock, dragging him immediately out from his previous emotions. Looking down to his wrist, he found Herobrine's hand grasped tightly against it, not soon afterward finding the other placing himself in front of whatever had been targeting Steve.
While attempting to look past the demigod, Steve heard a scoff coming from the darkness of the forest, sounding a bit too familiar for his liking. Though he strained his eyes to see into the tree line, he still found nothing, only to flinch once another arrow came soaring their way.
Suddenly, a thought clicked.
It might have been Raff who shot the arrows. They hadn't exactly walked miles away from his camp, after all.
The champion's name left his voice in a confused whisper, but before he could make a move to repeat it louder, Herobrine let go of him, briefly glancing back at him before staring out into the dark forest with a watchful gaze.
"It would be wise to expose yourself now, before you end up making a fool of yourself, Raff." Herobrine commanded, narrowing his gaze.
A light gasp of surprise came to their ears, confirming Steve's fears. Raff had followed him. It was more than certain that the man was about to meet his untimely end, and Steve was about to have a front-row seat to the event.
Though Raff didn't come into view, another couple of arrows did, missing all five members of the group.
"...Y'know, I thought it was pretty weird for a guy to be talking to himself, but now I know that was a fat lie." came the champion's voice, laced somewhat with venom.
Steve moved out from behind Herobrine, facing towards where the voice had originated from.
"Raff, please just leave, there's nothing good that'll come out of thi-"
"-Actually, there is." Raff interrupted him.
Surprise briefly crossed all of the group's features except Herobrine's.
The sound of a bottle popping open and a couple of gulps came before the man came into full view, his gaze filled with an emotion that Steve didn't exactly expect to see.
Pure glee.
Raff drew his sword and pointed it at the group, directly towards Herobrine in particular.
"I've been searching, and searching for something to one-up the title of Champion of Shadows. It seems pretty cool until you realize that there's not much really that you can do with it."
Glancing briefly towards Steve, Raff let out a small chuckle.
"...I'm not the only one who knows this, but I'll certainly be the only one to see it come to fruition. Everybody who wants to be a champion tends to go for easier stuff from the legends, but we all know what we really want, and if you're one of us as well, then I assume that you do too."
Laughing nervously, Steve looked at the other with worry and confusion in his eyes.
"...Uh, what are you talking about?"
Raff scoffed.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! Everybody wants to slay that stupid dragon, but nobody knows where it is! It's dangerously close to unleashing chaos and destruction on this world, and everybody wants to kill it before it does. Nobody knows how to get to it, but I think that I've finally found the way."
As the words escaped the champion's mouth, Steve felt his blood run cold as Herobrine turned to look at him, expression heavily filled with what appeared to be shock at the other's words, and yet, rage.
He'd have to play dumb if he wanted to survive this encounter.
"...A what?! A dragon?! You mean I could've gone for that this entire time instead of wandering aimlessly?!" Steve exclaimed in an exaggerated fashion, hoping that the demigod bought his lie well enough so that he could escape with his soul still in his body.
While he was unsure about Herobrine, Raff seemed to buy his lie, however.
"What? You got appointed and you don't know anything about the...whatever! Look, everybody knows about the fact that there's a rite you have to get through in order to get to the dragon, or whatever, and now, I finally have the chance to do it, thanks to you."
With an annoyed sigh, Herobrine looked at Raff with a bored glare, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What's with this absolute drivel? What are you pointing that sword at me for?"
Raff steadied his stance.
"You. I thought you were only a far-fetched myth, but when I connected the dots, I realized that you're all that I need to get to that dragon."
Raising a brow, Herobrine kept his gaze focused on the other's every movement.
"...How? Elaborate."
Drawing slightly closer, Raff glared at the other with as much hatred as he could muster.
"I realized that I had to find you and fight you in order to get to the dragon. I've brewed so many potions in order to cut you down and make myself stronger. You are the barrier keeping access to the dragon's gateway hidden. Without you, the portal would open up instantly. I'm gonna kill you. Easy enough to understand?"
Glancing back at the other people present, Raff's stance slightly faltered, before growing strong once again as his attention shifted back onto the demigod.
"This world is on the brink of chaos, and what's causing it is that dragon. It needs to die. You need to die."
Rolling his eyes, Herobrine drew slightly nearer to the other.
"You stand before a king and his men alone, and think that you have the upper hand? What, is that flimsy, sorry excuse for a weapon blessed by the divines? Have you been handpicked by said divines in order to be their champion? What makes you so sure that you'll get out of this alive?"
Raff backed away slowly as the demigod continued to approach him in a menacing fashion.
"...There's no other way. We don't have that much time left in this world, and you're all that's standing in the way of the survival of all humans!"
Letting out a dark chuckle, Herobrine began to close the distance as Raff found himself being backed into several berry bushes nearby.
"Really, now? You're saying my death would lead to the protection of all mortals on this plane of existence? Well, that only makes me wish to live even longer."
Drawing out his own blade, Herobrine held it out in the direction of the other's throat, expression filled with amusement as the other seemed to lose a bit of his earlier confidence.
"A lot of people want me dead, do you realize that? If you wish to have me cut your life short, then so be it, but I will not, by any means, be falling to the hands of an insignificant mortal who can't even bother to bring the correct weapons that could even manage to cut down someone like me."
As Herobrine moved to swing, Raff grabbed something from his belt and threw it immediately towards the ground right in front of him, shattering it completely.
The man disappeared into thin air, and the sound of escaping footsteps came to the group's ears.
"...Coward." Herobrine spat, sheathing his weapon with a huff. Turning around to face the group, Herobrine glared at Steve briefly before gesturing for the others to move towards the direction that Raff had run off to.
"We'll talk about the dragon later. Now, we have to catch a runaway fool who's trying to escape his inevitable demise. Andvari. Constiere. Malgun. Move."
With Herobrine's command, the others disappeared into the trees, leaving the demigod and the only remaining mortal alone.
"...You'll have to keep up with me. We can't simply let that man go."
"...Yeah." Steve slowly nodded as he lowered his head, feeling a wave of guilt rush over him as Herobrine turned to start running towards the forest.
When the miner looked back up, the demigod was already completely gone, leaving him entirely surprised.
'He's...wow, he's fast.' Steve thought to himself, beginning to break into a small sprint, significantly slower than the other had been.
Though Steve only guessed that Raff was heading back towards his camp, he found himself already rather tired as Herobrine had well-outpaced him, keeping him on his toes as he tried to keep up as best as he could with the man. Air struggled to find its way into his lungs and his legs were beginning to scream for mercy, but Steve ran on, silently praying that they would find Raff soon, while all at the same time hoping for the opposite.
Eventually finding their way back to the camp, Herobrine slowed down to a halt, glancing around as he looked for Raff, with Steve nearly collapsing as he finally caught up. Nearly gasping for air, Steve began to search for the hidden champion as well, finding just as much as Herobrine had, which was nothing.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, Herobrine moved over to the nearby portals, which were still intact, and still rather active in the case of the one.
"Might as well deal with these sorry excuses while we're here. Eventually, he'll have to come back for his belongings, and if he already escaped through here, we won't have to worry about him any longer." Herobrine stated, placing a hand against one of the empty frames.
Pushing against it with only a little force, the portal collapsed immediately, leading Herobrine to stare at its debris for a moment before narrowing his gaze at the pile.
"...Again, these are some terribly-constructed portal frames."
Going towards the other unlit one, Herobrine destroyed it as well, moving over towards the activated frame with a look of intent.
As Steve's attention was focused on the portals and the man who was dismantling them, he failed to notice the sound of quiet, approaching footsteps coming his way. Before he knew it, Steve felt what appeared to be an arm wrap around his neck, and his mouth was covered with what he could only assume was a hand. He thrashed about once it clicked in his brain that he was being attacked, gathering Herobrine's attention as the demigod realized that they were being accompanied by a third, hidden party.
"I see that this guy seems to be pretty useful for you, huh?" came Raff's voice.
Steve felt a sharp edge being pointed into his throat, threatening to both draw blood and cut his windpipe.
"Agents of Herobrine don't deserve any mercy, for working with such a demon. I'll give him a clean, easy death since he brought me to you, but let me say, you won't be so lucky, you-"
Raff, though not visible, was met with a sword to whatever area had been pierced, as Herobrine had drawn his out before either he or Steve could realize it and rushed towards the other in a flash, pushing him away. Freed from the champion's grasp, Steve moved away as fast as he could, bringing a hand up to grasp at the skin that had been so rudely assaulted. Thankful that Herobrine had come to his rescue, Steve looked back towards the others, watching as the demigod kept his gaze focused on the ground in front of him, which was currently being covered with a steady flow of blood.
Taking another swing, Herobrine watched as the blood began to shift locations. Eventually, after a couple of more attacks, Raff began to fade into view, leading the champion to let out a groan of frustration.
Herobrine laughed.
"You've taken up potion-brewing, and you haven't even managed to figure out how to maximize the benefits of your ingredients? Even after going through the trouble of ripping them from their natural habitats?"
Raff growled at his words, glancing momentarily to the portal that was behind him as he spoke.
"I might not be perfect at it, but it'll be all that I need in order to beat you!"
Before Raff could even get closer to the other, Herobrine lit up a flame within his palm, seemingly as a warning.
"As Steven mentioned, there won't be many benefits for you if you continue on this crusade to end my life."
The two began to circle around each other, neither making a move necessarily to attack just yet. However, while Herobrine stood tall, calm, and collected, Raff was slightly hunched over, grasping tightly at his hip as it became apparent that was the area that Herobrine had landed a hit on. As Raff glanced behind him, he smirked back at the demigod, sheathing his sword.
"...I'll challenge you again soon enough. Then, you won't be so cocky."
Before the other could respond, Raff jumped into the portal behind him, which Herobrine suddenly realized he'd allowed the other to get closer to.
With a frustrated groan, Herobrine summoned a ball of flame and hurled it at the gateway, breaking through the sheet of magic almost instantly, resulting in a sound that resembled both the sound of glass breaking and a horrible, distorted cry for help. After a few moments of staring at the deactivated portal, Herobrine sighed, moving over to attempt to break it as well. Though the frame was resistant due to it having been just extinguished, eventually it managed to topple, giving off a slight wave of residual power before falling apart completely. After his work was done, Herobrine turned toward Steve, gaze full of scrutiny. Before Steve could build up a defense, however, Herobrine had already approached him, looking over his neck briefly before his gaze shifted upwards towards his fearful eyes.
"Any serious injuries that need to be corrected?"
Almost in a daze, Steve shook his head.
"N-no. Thanks for the concern, th-"
"-Good. We have more important matters to discuss. To start off…"
Herobrine pointed his sword towards the miner's throat. However, he was significantly farther away from the other's flesh than Raff had been.
"Did you, or did you not know about the dragon before today?"
Shaking his head strong enough to feel slightly dizzy afterward, Steve answered the other's question, even though he felt a wave of anxiety wash over him as he realized that he had to attempt to lie to the other convincingly once again.
Following a brief staring match, Herobrine slowly sheathed his weapon, glancing back at the destroyed portal before leaving in a huff. Steve quickly followed him, waiting for the other to start explaining himself. He had to wait a couple of minutes as the demigod sorted out both his thoughts and emotions.
"...I thought it'd be too far-fetched, but apparently not. You mortals are actually trying to go for the dragon. Unbelievable."
Curious, Steve stared at the other in disbelief.
"W-wait, so...it's real?"
Herobrine snapped back to glare at him.
"Yes, it's real. Do you know how much trouble we're going to have, now?"
Steve shook his head.
Eyes wavering in strength, Herobrine sighed, glancing away from the miner as he went to cross his arms over his chest.
"...This is the worst possible situation." Herobrine whispered to himself, though he was loud enough for Steve to hear.
Cautiously, Steve drew nearer to the other.
"...How so?"
Herobrine looked back up at him before stepping further away, much to Steve's displeasurement.
"...Considering that mortal's beliefs about my involvement with the dragon, I'd say that there's been a misunderstanding that I can only hope hasn't translated over to the rest of your kind."
Without much further explanation, Herobrine walked off, leaving Steve by himself as he thought about the other's words.
What was Herobrine's involvement with the dragon? How would slaying it even affect him?
Before he could ask too many questions, Steve began to follow him once again, looking briefly up to the sky as he wished that the sun would come up faster so that they could fully stop in order to process what had just happened.
As the group met up once again, Herobrine briskly walked towards the center, gaze filled with many emotions as he stood in front of the confused generals before him.
"We need to get as quickly to one of the temples as possible, no excuses, no rest unless the sun comes up faster than we expect it to."
"But shouldn't we be trying to deal with Raff, or whatever?" Constiere asked.
"He's taken care of. For now, we need to focus on preventing as many people as possible from reaching the End, and that begins with destroying all access to the Nether."
Briskly walking away, Herobrine left as the others hesitantly followed, but not before casting worried glances towards each other. The miner stayed behind once again, wrapped in his troubled thoughts.
Steve was beginning to feel slightly concerned about the other.
The other had been more stressed in that singular moment than he'd ever seen before, even though the dragon didn't have any sort of current relation to his weakened powers. Even though Steve now knew for certain that the dragon existed, he was beginning to doubt even more that he'd ever get to face it. Given that the beast was important to Herobrine, he could only possibly gather more information about it through him, despite whatever obstacles the demigod would place in his way.
His only question was whether or not a "betrayal" would be appropriate. He didn't want to risk losing the other's trust, and revealing that he actually knew about the dragon beforehand would only lead to such a thing.
Yeeeeee almost missed my deadline for this one too but let's goooo!
NOW we bring the dragon back into this, lol. Kinda excited, y'all, I've been thinking about how I want everything to tie in, so trying to put the pieces in one-by-one has been difficult lmao. But still! We're getting there!
Alright, time for some fun facts!:
1.) Raff is named after the word 'riffraff.'
2.) Raff built the portals the way he did because he thought that if weaker ones were connected together and one portal was lit, the magic from the one would flow through the others, powering all three, while also leading to different locations. Obviously, this didn't work, but he thought that was because the one lit portal was interfering with the others due to being slightly better built.
3.) There might not be a Champion of Ores, but there is a Champion of Maps!
Anyways, that's all for now! Leave a review if you have any thoughts or criticisms!
