Chapter 12: A Brief Warning
As they crawled out of the temple (having to dig partially back out thanks to the tower they were in being covered in sand), the group was met with the watchful eye of Malgun, who seemed to be waiting for any explanation or anything regarding news.
With a sigh, Herobrine approached him briskly, immediately extinguishing the flame in his hand as he stepped away from the temple exit.
"General. We have some horrid news. Apparently, one of these mortals managed to find a link between the endermen and a way to get to the End, and managed to tell someone before they were taken care of. We don't know who that was, or where they've run off to, so we'll have to keep an eye out for any heightened activity."
Malgun nodded in response to the report.
"...Nothing's ever too easy."
With a brief chuckle, Herobrine moved to walk past him.
"...Isn't that always the case?"
Walking down the hill they were on, Herobrine thought to himself quietly as the rest of the group followed behind him, Steve lagging slightly behind as he moved to grab his belongings before rushing after them. As soon as he rejoined them, he found his gaze being cast upwards at the sky, looking to see how far the moon had gotten while they were underground. Thankfully, it hadn't gone far, so they'd be able to cover significantly more ground this night.
With a mental sigh of relief, Steve glanced around at his desert surroundings, not particularly wanting to worry about their next set of tasks that laid before them. Of course, worry overcame him regardless, and he found himself becoming distracted from his surroundings, leading to him lowering his head in thought. He didn't want to remember the image of the fallen champion either, but his mind was being rather spiteful to him for damaging his sleeping schedule so "eagerly." He was being haunted by his fears at the moment, but he didn't want to necessarily reveal that to the others, lest he be mocked for being human and having a human weakness. Feeling his breathing accelerate slightly as he began to find his thoughts growing to be overwhelming, Steve was rather thankful for the nearby sounds of mobs as they broke him out of his focus, causing him to be alert about the beings around him. Despite his heightened attention not being so necessary, Steve tuned into the various creatures calling out around him, glancing upward momentarily to find that the group had gone quite a ways ahead of him, surprising him as he realized that being enshrouded within his worries had caused him to slow down and physically be dragged down by them as well.
He heard the familiar sounds of spiders, skeletons, and the occasional creeper as they moved on by, but what slightly intrigued him more was the sudden addition of zombies once again. As he looked around to see where they were coming from, he found himself unable to see the familiar sight of green. Instead, his gaze fell upon various, sand-dusted creatures in ragged clothes, moving across the desert floors with various degrees of limps as their bodies barely managed to be kept together. The sounds that left their mouths were buried beneath the presence of sand, as it fell from their throats in waterfalls that were seemingly rather unpleasant. If Steve had to guess, these undead travelers must've been buried beneath the sand and drowned by it at the time of their individual demises, most likely leading to their current appearances. He wanted to approach them and watch the way the sand fell rapidly from their mouths with seemingly no end, but he found himself hesitating in actually doing so, mostly due to the fear that they would, regardless of Herobrine's command or not, swipe at him.
Keeping his pace, Steve attempted to walk briskly away from the zombies as fast as he could, which ended up not being as much as he would've wanted, given that his curiosity was beginning to eat away at him even more than it had been before. Though he was still adamant about not stopping completely, he slowed himself down so that he could glance at the zombies to get a good idea of how they moved and appeared, but not enough so as to give them the chance to catch up to him. He wanted to pull out his journal in order to sketch as he walked, but given the fact that the action would require him to stop entirely, he reconsidered it almost immediately, hoping that his memory would be enough to satisfy him whenever he did get the opportunity to jot down what he'd seen.
In his distracted thoughts, Steve didn't realize that Constiere had come back near him once again, attempting to inconspicuously join him in his lonesome, failing once Steve had noticed him hopping back a couple of times.
"Ah, shoot. Welp, what're you staring at back here? Found another temple, or something?" The boy asked curiously, attempting to follow his line of sight.
Steve shook his head, glancing back toward the desert zombies.
"Nah...I was just thinking about those guys over there." Steve pointed to the zombies. "I think they're pretty interesting, actually."
Constiere raised a brow.
"...You mean the husks? Those guys?"
Turning his attention fully towards the boy, Steve looked at him curiously.
"...Husks? They're not zombies?"
Constiere shrugged.
"I mean, they are zombies, they're just...different. I don't know the specifics, but I think they're called that because they're all dried up, and whatever. They're like those little toy dolls, with the sand and stuff inside them instead of wool, or hay."
Steve nodded, taking note of the information for later.
"...Ah. Yeah, I was wondering how they got all that sand in them, but I guess that's sort of self-explanatory? Like, they died in the desert, dried up, then crawled out?"
Constiere thought to himself for a moment, before shrugging once again.
"Yeah, I think that's usually the case."
As Steve continued to walk on, Constiere paused momentarily, before a small, mischievous grin appeared on his face, falling as he caught up to the miner, feigning "innocence".
"Heyyyyyy, you ever wonder what it's like to be up close with one of them?"
Steve turned towards the other with a glare.
"...I'm not falling for that. I don't think that it's worth it to risk being turned into one of them if I get too close."
Constiere rolled his eyes.
"Puh-lease, I've been quite close to a couple of them, and I never got attacked!"
"...Aren't you dead?"
Constiere huffed and cast a glare at him.
"I was, but I got better!"
Steve, stifling a laugh, rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, every time I think I can go and explore stuff, I get hurt, somehow. Or attacked. I need a break once in a while, y'know? I'll wait to check out the husks later."
"But what if you don't get the chance to see one again?! Do you really wanna miss out on some hands-on research? I think that if you have a better idea of what the mobs are like, you won't get attacked by them so much!" Constiere whined, pouting.
Steve reconsidered his decision briefly, before shaking his head.
"Aren't you guys the ones protecting me in the first place? Also, I've had hands-on experience with mobs before, I don't think I need this kind."
Rolling his eyes, Constiere brought his fingers to whistle once again, this time directing his efforts towards a nearby husk. As it stared at him momentarily in confusion, Constiere glared at it and beckoned it to come forward, much to Steve's concern. When it still remained in place, the boy looked over to a nearby creeper, whistled again to gather its attention, and then pointed at the husk as the four-legged creature waited for orders. The creeper then moved towards the husk, and began butting its head against it. Slowly, but surely, the husk began to move forwards, mostly in the direction it was being pushed towards.
Once he realized what the other was doing, Steve felt a rush of fear run through his body.
"I said-!"
"-Calm down. They listen to us, y'know? I'm well aware of the fact that we need you alive in order to have things run smoothly, so I'll make sure that you're safe, okay? They won't attack you unless the master instructs them to."
Steve distanced himself away from the other, much to Constiere's amusement.
"No! I told you, I'm not risking it!" Holding his hands up in defense, Steve immediately turned to sprint in order to catch up with the others, hoping for some sort of safety among them.
Tching to himself, Consteire looked back towards the creeper he was commanding and waved it off, giving a few words of instruction before the creature actually walked away from the husk.
Rejoining the group ahead, Steve found himself glancing around a bit nervously as he realized that the numbers of husks that were around them had significantly increased, though, he didn't know if they actually had gotten larger, or if his attention had just been shifted towards them since he had been nearly forced to encounter one against his will. Looking at the others, he found them to be somewhat in conversation with each other.
"So, are we meeting with the informants next before we continue our search?" Andvari leaned down in order to speak with Herobrine as they walked.
Herobrine thought to himself.
"...To be frank with you, I'm not sure. I did instruct them to seek us out should there be anything of note, but I haven't particularly seen them at all since we've brought along Steven with us. There might not be anything to report, but it wouldn't necessarily hurt to be updated to confirm that nothing is happening that we should be attending to."
As Andvari nodded, Herobrine let out a small sigh.
"I feel as if we're going unbearably slow, even though we've stretched our resources as far as possible. It's so needlessly difficult having to tread these lines without brute-forcing it like we used to." Herobrine said quietly.
"I agree. Though, if it keeps us away from the eyes of the Aether, isn't it worth it, sir?" Andvari looked down at him with a sympathetic gaze.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean it's any less stressful. I don't have a few of my powers, we're at risk of me losing more if portals continue to be opened at this rate, and above that, I believe that this is the closest we've gotten to the divines catching up with us and finally removing us for good. The humans know about the endermen, and we have no idea how much we need to travel until the world is rid of excess portals and stupid champions. Things could not be worse, right now."
Kicking a dead bush that was in his way into a scattered heap of sticks, Herobrine looked directly at the other.
"...I fear what this journey may entail for you and the other generals. The rest of the mobs, as well. I couldn't care less about my own fate, but I don't want the Aether taking you all down with me."
As Herobrine's expression melted into an unreadable one, Steve looked at the other with a bit of surprise.
The demigod was actually worried for the mobs. Did this suggest that they weren't just a means to an end for him? Was there actually compassion within the other's heart? If what the miner had just overheard was anything to consider, this meant that Herobrine had compassion for his subjects and them alone, but at least it was compassion, nonetheless.
...
Maybe he was right. Maybe Minos was right. Maybe Herobrine wasn't so...completely ruthless, as the miner had thought him to be before. Maybe reaching out to him wasn't just a fruitless effort.
In his moment of deep thought, Steve soon found that their surroundings were beginning to close in on them. The group found themselves walking past several sand dunes, all of which were decorated heavily by husks of all shapes and sizes. Subconsciously, Steve drew nearer to the others, nearly stepping on the demigod's long cape as he walked on in heightened fear. Glancing around, Herobrine noticed the number of husks within the area as well, raising a brow in slight surprise.
"...There's definitely something wrong, here. I'm forcing my influence, but the husks are still wandering amok."
Herobrine turned toward Steve quickly, causing him to flinch at the abruptness.
"...Stay close to us and don't wander off. Husks aren't too different from their counterparts, and a human would be perfect for a meal." He commanded, earning an immediate nod from Steve.
The miner wasn't looking for any reason to walk away from his journey as a corpse, reanimated or not.
Keeping as close to the others as possible, Steve continued to look around nervously, treating any movement from the various husks as a sign of aggression that he should distance himself from. His body was tense, but as an elbow jabbed its way into his side in what he hoped was a playful manner, it only got tenser as he flinched once again, turning his head to find Constiere grinning at him again.
"Again, stop worrying! They won't attack you as long as we're here!"
Giving a small smile toward the other that didn't reflect the amount of doubt that he held, Steve nodded hesitantly.
As the group continued to walk through the growing groups of husks, Steve only found himself becoming more fearful for his life. A couple of the monsters turned their gazes toward him, but as he tried to avoid the eye contact, he became more upset at the sound of shuffling footsteps behind the group. Turning back, he found that one of these husks was following them directly, causing him to slightly pick up his pace.
He hoped that they'd get away from the creatures sooner rather than later. That, or that the sun comes up soon and burns them all into ash.
"Uh...any idea why there are so many husks around?" Steve slightly slowed down as he waited for an answer, looking at Herobrine in particular despite his back being turned toward him.
"...There might be something here. Or not. I'm currently unsure." Came the other's reply quietly, repeating information that the miner was already aware of.
Steve nodded, continuing his previous pace as he thought to himself.
What had the husks been trained to do? Did they previously sense his presence, and rushed right toward him in an attempt to search for sustenance? Should he expect for them to continue monitoring him?
The sand dunes held a larger group of husks now, all seemingly staring directly at him. He didn't know why they were so intrigued by him apart from a desire to rip into his flesh, but nevertheless, he focused his attention squarely on the path in front of him. Seeing that the husks only approached them to a certain point before stopping, he let out an inward sigh of relief, thankful that the creatures at least had the decency not to all rush toward him at once.
His blood ran cold as the others in front of him stopped all of a sudden in a place where the number of mobs around them was a bit less overwhelming. They were still surrounded, sure, but at least they could see the horizon just past the line of husks.
"...Yes, they've certainly found something. They feel it, at least, if they haven't actually discovered it." Herobrine said, glancing around to find the husks staring intently at their group with what Steve could only assume was deep hunger in their eyes.
With a clap that seemed to travel well-beyond their place in the desert, Herobrine stood tall with a commanding presence.
"Whatever it is you've found, bring it to me. Do not hand off anything to my generals, and do not approach the mortal." The demigod said, his voice loud and firm.
The husks began to shuffle around and move in various different directions once Herobrine's command had finally been registered within their brains. Steve fully expected for the monsters to at least keep their distance given the commands of their leader.
What Steve didn't expect, however, was for a claw to dig its way into the flesh of his cheek from behind him just as soon as the demigod began to lead the group away from where they were.
Nevertheless, once it breached his skin, he cried out and whipped around to see what had attacked him, only to immediately find the husk in question dead on the ground with Herobrine standing right in front of it, having moved into a defensive position faster than what the miner could process. Noticing the blade in his hands, Steve was momentarily confused at the lack of blood on the weapon, before becoming completely distracted by the fact that his belt felt a bit lighter all of a sudden, which in turn led to him realizing that the other had stolen his sword, of all things.
Though he found himself rather dumbfounded, but not all that shocked, by the fact that he'd been attacked after Herobrine told the creatures to do otherwise, it wasn't long until the miner felt the familiar feeling of blood dripping down his skin, causing him to become worried over the possibility that the wound could become infected should he not tend to it as soon as he possibly could. His next distraction, however, came in the form of a creeping, nauseating wave of ailment that overwhelmed his entire body, leading to him nearly doubling over as he felt immense fatigue that confused him greatly. His reflexes were the only thing that kept him from completely falling to the ground as he stumbled over himself, placing a leg out in front of him as he caught his body before he could face complete embarrassment. Along with that fatigue, unfortunately, came an unbearable feeling of immense hunger, causing him to grip at his stomach in both pain and immense dizziness.
Letting out a pathetic sound of what could only barely be described as agony, Steve looked on helplessly as Herobrine turned back towards him, expression full of both confusion, and, to the miner's absolute shock, concern. That concern was washed away almost immediately and replaced by complete confusion again, as well as surprise, but nevertheless, it had been there.
Though he expected more scolding, Steve felt an air of genuine confusion arise within the group as they looked at his now-pathetic appearance.
"...They...attacked you?" Herobrine questioned quietly, his voice a light whisper as he stared at the miner in disbelief.
With a laugh that ended up hurting a bit as it shook his frame, Steve glanced up at the other.
"Y-yeah? Obviously?"
He expected a harsh glare to met his gaze, but got that same look of confusion upon the demigod's face.
"...They attacked you…" the demigod repeated again, his voice even quieter as he became lost in distant shock.
Though Steve would've liked to ponder the other's words and dig into his thoughts, he found himself becoming rather hindered by the immense hunger he was facing, somewhat taking all attention away from the other as he began to panic slightly. The feeling was only getting stronger, though he counted himself rather lucky as it was taking its time to do so.
Should he eat something from his pack? Was this actual hunger, or just some magical nonsense? Why was he starving? What had that husk done to him?
Picking himself up slightly, Steve looked at the others for guidance.
"U-um...by any chance, do you know what...ugh, what that husk did? I've never been this hungry in my life."
Andvari looked at him with great worry, as well.
"Husks tend to host more dormant illnesses than your typical corpse, so I believe that you may have been attacked with one of the more potent ones."
Steve's eyes widened.
"...So I'm infected?...Is there any cure, or-"
"-It'll either wear off on its own or we'll fix it, but that's not important right now. It's utterly bewildering that they even tried to attack you, let alone actually do it." Herobrine interjected.
"D-don't they go after humans, a-anyways?" Steve asked, quietly.
"...They weren't supposed to go after you."
Herobrine turned away from him, lost in thought, as Steve attempted to distract himself from the effects that were forced upon him.
"...I feel like my powers are fine at the moment, albeit subdued compared to how they usually are...is my hold over mobs weakened, as well? Now, of all times?" Herobrine spoke to himself quietly, pacing back and forth.
As the mob generals watched him with worry, Steve stood back up fully, though, he kept his arms wrapped around his stomach as his body was wracked with hunger pains. With eyes full of sudden exhaustion, Steve looked at the demigod with expectation.
"...I think we absolutely should get that updated report as soon as possible." Came his quiet words, his glowing, white eyes slightly dimming as his thoughts seemed to consume him.
Herobrine walked off, seemingly forgetting about the injured individual he was leaving behind.
Bringing a hand up to his cheek, Steve lightly grazed the cut that was now present there, flinching as he made contact with it. Blood was slightly dripping from the open wound, but he was rather surprised (and thankful) for the fact that it didn't appear to have been that deep. Given what he was currently feeling, he didn't necessarily want to imagine what a deeper cut would've entailed for him.
At least he now knew for certain that he should definitely keep his distance away from the husks.
Though every step brought him slight pain, Steve trekked on after the other even though the mob generals were staring at him with great concern as they followed. He was hoping desperately that the sun would rise soon so that they would be able to stop and recuperate. Glancing around, he found a few trees coming back into view, making him wonder if they'd turned around accidentally. Before he could pose a question, Herobrine cast a glance back towards him momentarily, before looking toward Andvari.
"...We need to treat any other signs of real infection as soon as we can, and I don't believe that out in the open, among the rest of the husks, is the best place to do that. We'll stop underneath the trees, and then head back out to look."
Herobrine paused, thinking to himself before shaking his head.
"...No, actually...Constiere and Malgun, take your forces and begin to scout ahead. We shouldn't waste this valuable time, especially since there's a good threat present for us."
Constiere saluted while Malgun nodded his head, and both quickly splintered off away from the remaining three, going off to search on their own.
Looking back towards Andvari, Herobrine spoke quietly.
"...We need a weakness potion in order to treat his face wound. A healing potion as well, but make sure to bring a golden apple for good measure."
Andvari bowed slightly, teleporting off in order to comply with the other's command. Herobrine stopped in his tracks and turned toward Steve, gaze focused on the gash upon his cheek.
"...You will need to bear that hunger a bit longer, mortal. I don't want you to possibly turn while we're out journeying, since I'm sure that we'll need you to be able to form coherent sentences, yes?"
Nodding, Steve winced as another wave of hunger washed over him, seemingly worse than the last.
"U-uh...yeah. I don't want to turn, e-either…"
Leading Steve more towards the trees, Herobrine nodded his head slightly in confirmation.
"...Granted, you could very well become a zombie on this trip...though, I could make sure that you're more...useful, per se."
Rolling his eyes at the comment, Steve sighed.
"...Y-yeah, I really hope I'm useful to you as a corpse, y'know? Number-one priority." he said, rather sarcastically.
Narrowing his eyes at him, Herobrine stared at Steve.
"...Do you wish for me to help you, or not?"
"S-sorry! Sorry...I...m-my head isn't too clear right n-now…" Steve stammered, hoping to save himself from being denied any sort of assistance.
"...I suppose I can understand that."
As they finally reached the trees on the edge of the desert, Herobrine instructed the miner to sit down against one of them, which he did so ungracefully as his body dropped like a sack of rocks, after he'd taken off his backpack and placed it to the side. Letting out a slight groan of pain, Steve looked up towards the other, finding him to be kneeling down in front of him in order to care for his injury once again.
Was Herobrine really the only medic that they had? He wasn't complaining, but still, was the demigod the only one who knew how to patch up wounds?
Grabbing his bag and beginning to rummage through it, Herobrine spoke to him without glancing upward.
"...I believe I saw some unused cloth the last time I had to heal you that we could use now to clean your wound, but is it still here?"
Nearly missing the other's question, Steve nodded.
"Y-yeah, I think? I-I had a couple of small scraps in there...maybe?"
Herobrine glared at him.
"...How am I supposed to be sure of what you own if you aren't yourself?"
Steve shrugged, a smile appearing on his face.
"Uh...I-I dunno. H-here, gimme the bag, and I'll see…"
Without reluctance, Herobrine tilted to bag over towards him, and Steve gladly took it, dragging it over slightly as he began to look through it. Eventually, he was able to find a clean cloth that seemed to be fit enough to use, and he handed it over to the other, who took it and held it within his hand, straightening himself out as he looked around for the enderman that had previously left them.
Not feeling all that comfortable while alone with the other, Steve attempted to break the relative quietness of the space around them. Looking up toward the other, Steve gave Herobrine a weak, curious glance.
"U-uh...if you don't mind me a-asking, how did you learn how to do all this?..." Steve trailed off, soon after realizing how unlikely it was to expect an actual answer from the other that wasn't cryptic.
He was met with expected silence, but it was broken as Herobrine quietly spoke up.
"...Necessity."
A one-word answer was enough to make the miner happy.
Nodding, Steve looked away.
"...I-I guess I'd...I'd have to learn that way t-too. I...If I was in your shoes…"
Herobrine cast a glance his way, expression neutral.
"...How bad is the hunger?"
Perking up at the question, surprised that the other was interested in his state at all, Steve blinked.
"...N-not good. I-I think it's getting worse, but...i-it's taking a while for that…"
Humming to himself, Herobrine looked away, losing himself in thought before returning his attention toward the miner.
"...It won't kill you, since we're treating it right now. But had you been attacked with a slightly stronger swing-"
"-I would've been worse off?..." Steve finished, earning a quick, narrow gaze from the other.
"...Refrain from interrupting me. I've tolerated your behavior so far, but you're beginning to irk me."
Steve rolled his eyes weakly.
"...I-I'll keep that in...in m-mind." He said with a strained voice, feeling a strong pang of hunger once again.
A small thought came to the miner's mind, only barely managing to distract him from the illness he was feeling.
"...W-why did you use...m-my sword to kill it? The husk?"
Herobrine stared at him.
"...Closest weapon I saw."
"...D-didn't you have a...wait, wasn't your sword...uh...e-erased? W-wait...you had another…"
Herobrine rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh.
"...Save yourself the strain of forcing out your voice. I usually keep two on me."
Before Steve could speak again, the other let out another, more brief sigh.
"...I'm particularly fond of dual-wielding. Not so much so in emergency situations."
Their conversation was cut short as the sound of the fabric of reality warping came to their ears, and Andvari appeared beside them once again, holding the requested materials within his claws. Presenting them to the demigod, Andvari let the other take them from him freely.
As quickly as he could, Herobrine tended to Steve's wound once again, dousing the cloth in his hands with the potions as he applied them to the gash. He didn't use all of the potions this time around, only using a small amount as the wound sustained wasn't as serious. Once he was finished, he tossed the cloth aside and handed the remains of the potions to Steve, who looked at the other in wordless confusion before turning away in order to place them into his backpack. After making sure that they were secure, Steve turned back to find a shining, golden apple in front of his face, its surface shimmering.
"...The potions should do most of the work, but the apple will finish the job. Take it, so we can move on before we lose any more time."
Hesitantly, Steve reached for the fruit, staring at it for a few moments almost blankly as it sat within his hands. Half expecting for it to be poisoned, half wanting to devour it whole in his hunger, Steve gave an expectant look back towards the demigod, who let out a groan of annoyance.
"It's not tainted. Golden apples are specifically made to deal with serious ailments. Zombification is included with that. You won't be harmed, you'll feel better. Do you want to risk the potions failing to get rid of all the infection?"
Shaking his head, Steve looked down at the apple and brought it up to his lips, giving once last cautious glance upward before taking a hesitant bite.
…
It tasted nearly divine. Maybe it was because of the fact that he had been near-about ready to eat his own arm, or maybe he was finally losing his mind, but the golden apple the other had given him was sweet, refreshing, and rejuvenating. He felt a rush of emotion sweep through him as his taste buds rejoiced, leading to him taking several more bites out of the fruit as he looked towards the other with deep appreciation.
"This is amaz-"
The words on his lips froze and trailed off as he looked up to find the other with what appeared to be a small smile on his face. Whether it was one of amusement or endearment he didn't know, but just as quickly as he caught it, it disappeared.
Herobrine stared at him, expression blank.
…
Was this awkward silence between the two, or just regular silence? Steve didn't catch a glimpse of embarrassment on the other's face, but he surely felt it on his own.
…
Herobrine turned his attention toward his servant.
"...Do you have any idea when our informants will be within range?"
As Andvari shrugged, Steve was still trying to read the demigod, taking another bite out of the apple in his hands as he watched the other avoid his gaze and ignore his presence.
Was this his way of expressing embarrassment? Had he noticed that he'd been caught, and was attempting to turn a potential conversation about the moment into something else?
"They travel fast, so soon enough. I haven't heard word from any of the checkpoints, so they might be making a direct trip." Andvari answered.
"...Do you think that means that they found something?"
"...Unfortunately, sir. Let's hope that it doesn't affect us too much."
As Steve tuned out of the conversation, he found himself with an apple core in his hands, and a question within his mind.
...Who were the informants? Were they mobs? What?
Standing back up, the demigod instructed the other to do the same.
"...You should be perfectly fine soon enough. Come on."
Nodding, Steve slowly got up, waiting for a kind of pain that never came. Though his body still felt depleted of energy, he was left with a kind of soreness that he could bear well enough for the time being. After checking himself over, he looked at Herobrine with kind eyes.
"Thanks for the help, actually. I already feel way better!"
His words of appreciation were not ignored, as the other rolled his eyes in response.
"...I don't particularly wish for your demise, at the moment. Making sure that's the case is a necessity."
Steve continued to smile at him.
"I know, but still."
The sound of rapidly shifting sand came to their ears, halting their conversation entirely. Though Steve backed away and assumed a slightly defensive stance, Herobrine and Andvari remained in place, waiting for whatever was digging through the sand to reveal itself. Eventually, a small creature emerged through the sand right in front of them, its head peeking around to glance at its surroundings before quickly pulling half of its body out from the ground. Kneeling to meet the strange creature, Herobrine began to speak to it, a bit quietly.
"What information do you bring?"
The creature erupted in a wave of various harsh squeaking noises, which Andvari and Herobrine listened to intently, but Steve found himself staring at the sight in total confusion, attempting to catch more of a glimpse of the strange creature before them. As Herobrine nodded in response to the creature's "words," Steve found his bewilderment to be too much to keep to himself.
"...I'm sorry, but what is that thing?" Steve spoke up, earning a glare from Herobrine.
"...Silverfish. They're our informants."
Steve blinked in disbelief.
An oversized worm was this man's eyes and ears?
"...Huh." Steve looked over at the silverfish, who locked its beady, black eyes with his and kept his gaze as a few added squeaks left its mouth, gaining Herobrine's attention once again.
"...I wish I knew, but that's not our priority right now. What were you saying?" The demigod seemingly answered the silverfish's question(?), causing the creature to break its focus and begin its explanation once again.
As Steve witnessed the sight in its entirety, he walked more closely to Herobrine's side, attempting to watch the exchange more clearly. He watched as the other's expression turned from light intrigue to sudden horror and deep concern. Once the silverfish had finished, Herobrine was left in deep, silent emotion, intriguing Steve greatly as he waited for the other to say anything about it.
Approaching the other even further, Steve cast a quick look down to the silverfish before attempting to press the other for information.
"...What did it-"
"-There's an important kingdom that's currently planning on electing its own champions." Herobrine answered with a slightly distressed tone.
Steve raised a brow.
"...Isn't that what everybody is doing?..."
Herobrine shook his head.
"...Not in the way that they're planning to do it. They know that the endermen have the potential to lead them to the dragon. They just don't know how. Regardless if they figure it out or not, the kingdom is building up a secret group of champions that will be sent toward the End. The silverfish are monitoring their selections, but we only have so much time to get rid of the various portals of this world before they announce their goal to the public, and it sets off another wave of copycats that'll only make our lives more difficult."
"But that's not exactly guaranteed? I mean-"
"-The kingdom has enough influence to inspire it. They plan on banding villages together to build up more resources in order to make it so. They plan on targeting us, to hit two birds with one stone. If they open up more portals, I'll lose more of my powers, and we'll lose control of the endermen first. If I can't instruct them to keep their distance, they'll wander around and get themselves killed, and then we'll be tracked down and killed as well. I've said this multiple times before, but this isn't good, Steven!" Herobrine raised his voice at him, standing up to point a finger in his chest as well.
"...S-sorry." Steve apologized meekly, which earned the other's brief, slightly more soft expression before a groan of annoyance left his mouth.
Turning back toward the silverfish, Herobrine gave it a commanding gaze.
"Make sure that all progress that they make is heavily interfered with. We need as much time as we can gather if they're going to continue with making that sort of move. If they show no signs of going back on their quest, I don't mind if you get the mobs to swarm or kill them. If they announce their plans too soon, all of our actions will be for naught."
With a few squeaks, the silverfish retreated back into the sand, swimming off to who knows where as Herobrine directed his attention back toward Steve.
"...The kingdom is too far away for us to do anything directly about it, right now. We'll have to leave everything to the mobs, and hope that we can knock down a few portals in the meantime."
As the demigod was about to speak again, the silverfish returned, taking his attention as it squeaked excitedly. After processing its "words," Herobrine nodded his head slowly in understanding. He gave a quick glance over to Steve.
"...I believe that the other two managed to stumble upon another temple. Slightly destroyed."
The silverfish continued to speak, relaying more information to him.
"...There seems to be information about a portal on its walls, though it's barely legible...We'll examine it, regardless. Any information is better than none."
The silverfish disappeared into the sand again, though it surfaced half of its body as it began to slither away.
Herobrine beckoned to the others.
"...We're following it, come on."
With a nod from Andvari and an amused look from Steve, the group set off after the creature, keeping it well within sight as it led the way.
Ughhhhh sorry for the delay! I got some news that thoroughly disturbed my spirit, so I wasn't exactly too motivated to work on this fic this week. I'm still kinda meh, so there might be a delay next week as well, sorry.
I know I've said it before, I wanna get to the points in the story that I'm really excited about, but I have to build up to them T_T Lmao I can't wait to fill this story with more of my Minecraft headcanons, it's gonna get annoying XD
We have Herobrine being a bit more vocal, now. Being stressed about all the checks and balances he has to make will do that, lol.
Fun fact time!
1.) Yes, zombification is still a big issue in Minecraftia. Magic, of course, is the main reason why zombies exist, but since they're basically walking biohazards, they tend to harbor and spread disease rather easily. "Zombification," in all actuality, either means that a zombie attacks you, infects you with some terrible disease that slowly kills you, and the magic in the world brings you back, or you get hit with the actual zombie virus. It all depends on your luck, but methods exist to treat either scenario.
2.) Herobrine, despite being well-trained in it, doesn't actually duel-wield all that often unless he knows for certain that he can win a fight while showing off. He does like to keep two blades on him, though, mostly in case something happens that renders one useless, like encountering the void master himself XD
3.) Silverfish are Herobrine's messengers and spies! Given their abilities to burrow and travel quickly, as well as how effective they are when swarming foes, they're quite useful in information gathering and spreading! They allow him to keep tabs on most of the realm of Minecraftia, though, like I've said before, most minor details don't get back to him. They focus their efforts on monitoring the information being spread within humans and whatnot, since other mobs are placed more on portal-location duty. If other mobs find a portal, they inform the silverfish, who then notify Herobrine and the mob generals.
Anyways, that's it for now! If you have any thoughts or criticisms, leave a review!
