Chapter 47: Burns so Bright
After moving away from the line of sight of the piglins, Steve and Herobrine found themselves back near the edge of the crimson forest, both looking over the deeper area in front of them carefully as they tried to reconsider their approach. Herobrine stood with his arms crossed over his chest, while Steve simply allowed his arms to fall by his side haphazardly.
"...I still wish to locate the bastion, but we need to cut through this area and keep searching for the fortress." Herobrine said quietly, expression stern as he gazed forward.
Steve looked at him curiously.
"How long do you think the piglins are gonna be out here for?"
Herobrine shrugged at his words.
"...Depends on how many hoglins they've already caught and killed, and that, quite honestly, we cannot find out for certain."
"...So…we have to sneak around in there with them?"
"...Pretty much. We just have to be cautious and careful. If a piglin approaches us directly, we'll talk to it and simply get out of there as soon as we can."
Steve looked at Herobrine with a bit of added concern.
"...What if multiple come up to us?"
"We'll just get out of there as soon as we can. There's not much we can do apart from avoiding conflict with them. As much as I would love to combat them, fighting an endless horde of piglins out for revenge would cut even more into our time here, and I don't believe that we've been keeping up with your training all too well. It'd be a lose-lose situation all around."
Finding himself not disagreeing with the other, Steve merely nodded in response.
"...That doesn't sound super fun, anyways…"
"It's not."
As Herobrine began to walk back into the forest, Steve gave him a raised brow as he went by.
"...Do I want to know how many piglins' bad sides you got on?"
Herobrine gave him a shrug, not turning to face him.
"No. That was all accidental though, mind you."
"...Are you positive about that?" Steve asked with an accusatory tone in his voice.
Briefly glancing back to send the other a quick glare, Herobrine gestured for the other to come closer.
"Don't fall behind. Piglins are smart enough to realize that splitting us up will give them a certain advantage."
Nodding, Steve quickly stepped forward, joining Herobrine by his side. His suspicious expression hadn't faded, however.
"You avoided the question, Brine." Steve said, his words trailing off into a small, sing-songy tone as he finished.
"You're asking about my history again, Steven." Herobrine responded with his own sing-song tone.
Steve gave the other an unamused expression before shaking his head and replacing it with a slightly apologetic one.
"...I'm sorry if I'm prying too much."
Herobrine left him in silence for a few seconds, causing a bit of nervousness to arise within him as he waited for the other to speak.
"...I'm only tolerating it because frankly, I'd rather have you bother me instead of panicking about our surroundings." He admitted quietly, somewhat surprising Steve with his blatant honesty.
"...Thanks." Steve responded softly, feeling a bit bad about pushing his brother's boundaries as the two of them continued walking.
The crimson forest, abundant with the sounds of oinks and squeals, was almost slightly more intimidating for Steve now that he was more aware of what was within it. Though he wanted nothing more than to retrieve the blaze powder that they needed and get out as soon as possible, the more he looked around, glancing over the strange new landscape of the Nether, the longer he wanted to stay, if only for the chance to examine the area and learn more about it. He had a walking encyclopedia with him, sure, but he wanted to see things up close; he wanted to gain that knowledge firsthand, despite the risk.
…Well, not all knowledge. Not despite all the risk either. He didn't want to know how much it hurt to be attacked by every mob within the Nether.
Keeping a hand hovering over his sword as a few squeals seemed to grow noticeably closer to them, Steve felt himself growing more paranoid, while his companion seemed to grow only more vigilant. Neither seemed to feel the need to ease their concerns with conversation, directing all efforts into keeping note of the many sounds that managed to reach their ears.
Suddenly, the sound of an arrow flying by came to them, causing Steve to jump and Herobrine to try and quickly determine the source of the danger. Before either could find it, another arrow came in their direction, causing Herobrine to draw his sword in order to deal with it.
As Herobrine cut the arrow in half, the source of the current threat to their lives stepped out slowly from behind a massive mushroom in front of them.
It was a piglin, armed fiercely with a sturdy crossbow in its hooves.
The piglin stared at them intently, though, its attention seemed to be more directed toward Steve; particularly toward the necklace in front of his chest. The stalemate between the two parties drew to a close as the piglin raised its crossbow at them, causing both of the brothers to become even more alert than they already were. To their added concern, the piglin began to walk forward.
The creature kept its crossbow directed toward them as it approached slowly, prompting Herobrine to move himself more in front of Steve as a response to the open threat.
Worriedly, Steve glanced between Herobrine and the piglin.
"...Brine. You're the one who said that you'd be doing all the talking. So talk." Steve whispered to the other, drawing a sigh from his lips.
"I know." Herobrine whispered back.
Holding up his hands to the piglin in front of them, Herobrine displayed his gloves to the curious creature, drawing its attention promptly.
"You know who I am. I'm not here to cause trouble." Herobrine spoke in a somewhat gruff-sounding language, which made both Steve and the piglin in front of them perk up in interest.
Slightly amazed by the fact that Herobrine knew the piglin's language, Steve watched the conversation play out in front of him.
"...I've…heard about you. Hero, yes?" The piglin spoke back with a couple of oinks for punctuation, its voice low in tone.
Herobrine narrowed his gaze at the creature, lowering his hands slowly.
"Herobrine. Lord Herobrine. Only those I deem worthy enough are allowed to refer to me in such…lax terms." Herobrine corrected promptly, stressing out the syllables of his name.
The piglin nodded in response.
"...Apologies. Why have you come here? Our tribe is currently on the hunt."
The piglin paused, taking a moment to glance over toward Steve and point the crossbow at him.
"...And what's he doing here with the gold?"
Herobrine quickly stepped in between the two once again.
"Think twice before aiming at him." He said sternly, narrowing his gaze at the creature. "We need to locate one of the fortresses. Quickly. Do you have any insight on where one might be located?"
As the piglin pointed the crossbow away once again, it thought to itself for a moment, leaving the two in front of it to wait patiently for a response before it slowly began to nod.
"Yes." The piglin gestured with its crossbow over to their left briefly. "...However, it lies within the lava a bit offshore. The bridge to reach it collapsed long ago, you may need to find another way inside."
Herobrine gave the piglin a short nod of understanding, following its direction with his gaze before looking back at it with a slightly appreciative expression.
"We'll manage. I thank you for your assistance. We'll leave promptly."
The piglin stepped off to the side with a nod, though it went back to keeping its crossbow pointed toward them. As Herobrine and Steve went forward, the two kept their focus on the creature, making sure that it didn't make any sudden moves to attack as they went by. Herobrine kept himself firmly in front of Steve, even moving to cover him from behind until they were far away enough. Once they were solidly away from its viewpoint, Steve turned to face Herobrine, eyes full of awe and curiosity.
"Okay, okay, I have about a million things to ask, but first...what did it say?" The miner asked quietly with excitement clear in his expression and tone.
Slightly amused by the other's childlike curiosity, Herobrine began to translate.
"There's a fortress that stands within a nearby lava sea. We can't walk right into it, so we'll have to find another way to enter the space." Herobrine explained, leading to Steve letting out a quiet "Oh…" in response.
The miner tried to look around them in order to find the distant sea that was hidden behind the mushrooms, not finding himself all too successful in spotting it.
Turning back toward Herobrine, he raised a brow.
"...Like...what exactly is the reason why we can't just walk into it? Is it heavily guarded, or…?" Steve gestured with his hands in confusion, trying to prompt Herobrine to explain further.
"There used to be a bridge that led to it. Not anymore."
Steve dropped his hands to his sides in disappointment.
"...Oh."
Silence followed their brief exchange for a minute or two, with Steve losing himself in his own thoughts before he finally remembered another topic he wanted to address. Bright violet eyes glanced up to Herobrine in an abrupt fashion.
"Speaking about your conversation with the piglin...uh…that was interesting. Would it be weird to say that I'm...kinda interested in learning some of the mob languages now?" Steve started with a small chuckle. "How'd you learn…wait, never mind, that's an easy one."
Realizing what Steve was about to ask, Herobrine looked at him with a somewhat judgemental expression.
"Yeah. Glad you figured it out."
Steve rolled his eyes at him.
"Sorry. Sometimes I speak faster than I can think, all right? Anyways, uh…" He trailed off, a slightly sheepish expression forming on his face as he tried to force his words out. "...Um…would you mind giving me a lesson or two in speaking a little something, sometime? Like, basic phrases, or whatever."
Herobrine shrugged at him, beginning to lead the way through the crimson forest once again.
"...I can't possibly teach you every individual mob language so soon, but I can try teaching you the common languages if you so desire."
Somewhat surprised at the offer, Steve looked at his sibling excitedly.
"Wait, actually?" He paused, thinking to himself momentarily before curiosity appeared on his face. "...There's more than one common language?"
"There's one for the Overworld, and one for the Nether. Different monster ecosystems, different common dialects." He further explained. "Overworldian is easier to grasp, in my opinion. Nethren speech is more based on ancient Aethren, so it's slightly more confusing."
"...I thought you spoke Aethren, though?" Steve asked quietly.
"...I speak both modern and ancient. When I tell you that it's not easy to grasp the ancient form, believe me. I'm only looking out for you." Herobrine glanced over at Steve, only to narrow his gaze shortly afterward. "...Also, I forgot. I'm not teaching you anything about the mob languages until you learn some Aethren, actually."
A small whine escaped Steve's lips, though he was still very interested in the language he was being offered.
"Why?" He asked through his whine.
"...You were robbed of learning it as a child." Herobrine paused, giving Steve a sympathetic expression. "...Also, some specific mob languages are based in Aethren as well, so it'll be a decent starting point for you."
"Which ones?" Steve asked excitedly.
Herobrine gave him a small smirk.
"I'll let you figure that out for yourself."
Passing by a few fungi that appeared to be shriveling up, the two barely even noticed it when the area around them started to have fewer and fewer mushrooms present, the gaps between each one growing even larger. Steve could only focus on Herobrine's words, trying to take silent guesses on which mob languages the other was even talking about.
Eventually, the ground beneath them slowly began to give way to gravel as they stepped out from the edge of the crimson forest to find nothing but burning, bright hues of orange in front of them. The mushrooms around them grew absent the closer they came to the strange shoreline, and the air surrounding them became, surprisingly enough, noticeably hotter.
Steve hesitated to walk forward, feeling a bit anxious as he fully expected for the ground beneath him to fall away and lead him directly into the melting hold of the sea. However, as he stood back and watched Herobrine walk fearlessly ahead with no concern for the gravel whatsoever, he began, quite cautiously, to follow after him. Herobrine looked upward slightly, staring intently at a distant object as he approached the lava. As he looked forward, Steve followed his direction as well, his eyes soon widening as his gaze fell upon the object in question as it came more into view.
Just as the piglin had said, the fortress was standing tall within the sea of lava, coming into view just as they reached the edge of the gravel shoreline.
Steve's eyes locked onto the distant structure, a sense of both sheer awe and sheer fear coming to him as he looked at the sturdy fortress. Tall, dark purple columns of what appeared to be brick rose from far beneath the depths, rising up toward the distant otherworldly ceiling to hold what seemed to be an endless amount of bridges and pathways, all leading to large buildings just out of reach.
Glancing back down at Herobrine, a curious expression came upon him as he tried to process what he was seeing in full.
"Uh…how are we going to get up there?..." He asked quietly, trying to read Herobrine's expression as he kept his gaze focused upon the fortress.
Silence followed his words as he returned his attention back toward the fortress, trying to locate for himself any possible access points from the ground. Hearing the shifting of fabric, he looked back at Herobrine, finding him walking forward closer to the lava as he, presumably, tried to get a better look as well.
To Steve's utter shock, Herobrine, without even flinching, walked into the lava, standing in it firmly with his arms crossed over his chest. He only got knee-deep as he further examined the structure ahead of them, but as his gaze was focused on it, Steve's was focused solely on him.
He was stunned. Too stunned to speak.
"...If it was closer to the lava, we could probably just climb to the bridges up there, but I'm afraid that we'll have to teleport. we'll leave to grab Andvari and return here shortly." Herobrine announced in a slight shout, turning back to glance toward Steve on the shore.
Once he caught the other's bewildered expression, a look of confusion overcame his own features.
The two stared at each other for longer than what would be necessary, both in states of confusion and wandering thoughts. For Steve, he was wondering about how the heck the other was just casually standing in lava, unbothered and not bursting into flames. For Herobrine, he was wondering why Steve was staring at him in such a stunned manner. It wasn't until he glanced down that he finally realized why Steve was so shocked in the first place.
"...I'm used to the heat." He said matter-of-factly, adding a small nonchalant shrug to his words.
"There's 'used to the heat,' and then there's this, Brine!" Steve exclaimed, gesturing to Herobrine wildly.
Herobrine rolled his eyes at him.
"When you accustom yourself to this heat, the lava ends up feeling like nothing more than just…well, a bowl of hot soup."
"It's a bowl of hot soup that melts your flesh off!"
"...Everything off, actually." Heorbrine corrected.
"Whatever." Steve said with a sigh of defeat, a curious expression appearing on his face soon after. "...Would I have to worry about melting in there, or that just another perk the divines have?"
Herobrine thought to himself for a moment before shaking his head.
"You'd melt. You can't manipulate your own body heat to the extent that I can, as far as we know, so it'd be a certain fatality that you'd have to take a while to recover from. I'd recommend not taking any dips or dives, if I were you."
"I wasn't going to do that anyway!" Steve exclaimed in defense.
"I doubt that."
Finding himself annoyed by the other's insinuation, Steve tried to direct his attention back toward the fortress before he could say anything that he might regret.
"...We need to teleport up there? There's nothing to climb or find from down on the ground?"
Herobrine shook his head briefly.
"Nothing we can reasonably reach. Since I'm certain that we can find our way back here, we'll go and meet up with Andvari, then return shortly. Might I advise you to get ready to face a blaze?"
Hearing the mention of the strange Nethren creature, Steve felt himself grow somewhat worried for the future encounter.
"...S-sure. I'll brace myself."
Turning around, Herobrine began to walk out of the lava, surprising Steve even more as the lava on his clothes merely dripped off like water as he emerged. Walking past him, Herobrine briefly pointed to the ground before beginning to lead him away from the gravel beach.
"Leave a torch here and a few next to some of the crimson mushrooms. This is the one trail that we cannot afford to lose."
Nodding promptly, Steve went to grab said torches from his bag, placing one down as Herobrine began to lead him back to their rendezvous point.
It didn't take long for them to find Andvari and return to the gravel shore. His own journey had been as fruitless as theirs had been until they stumbled upon the piglin, so he had returned early to their meetup spot, ready to follow them back to wherever they had decided to go.
As his own gaze fell upon the distant fortress, Andvari's eyes widened a bit as he cast a brief, curious glance down at Herobrine beside him.
"The entrance bridge broke for this one?" He asked, earning a nod from Herobrine in response.
"Teleportation is the only option. I'll assist, of course, but we should probably-"
He was interrupted by the enderman placing a hand on both his and Steve's shoulders and the sensation of being abruptly moved through the air, soon finding all three of them standing upon purple bricks. Realizing what had happened, Herobrine shot a glare at Andvari, who simply responded by sending him a kind, "innocent" smile back.
"We're here!" He announced, looking away from Herobrine as he found Steve to be slightly more disorientated with the sudden shift in location and altitude.
Quite noticeably, as Steve glanced around to find the three of them now firmly placed upon one of the broken Nether fortress bridges they had spotted before, he felt somewhat burdened as the air around them seemed heavier, all of a sudden. Though he was willing to attribute the change to him failing to get immediately over the abrupt teleportation, he soon realized that this wasn't the case as he became aware of the fact that he'd become more lightheaded than anything else. Breathing became a slightly more difficult task, and as he tried to recollect himself, he felt a pair of hands find their way onto his shoulders as it became more physically evident that he was struggling.
Herobrine stood in front of him, giving his shoulders a small pat as he waited for Steve to calm down and control his breathing.
"Could've at least warned him a bit before teleporting, Andi." Herobrine glanced back over to Andvari, who looked at Steve a bit worriedly.
"I…yes. Sorry, Steve, it didn't cross my mind that this could happen." Andvari apologized, walking closer to make sure that the miner was okay.
With a small smile, Steve gave the enderman a weak shrug.
"Would've felt it either way." He said a bit weakly.
After a couple of minutes, Steve finally shook his lightheadedness off, removing Herobrine's hands from his shoulders as he went to walk a bit towards the edge of the broken pathway they were on. Peering over the edge, Steve felt his heart drop as he saw nothing but lava beneath them following a steep drop down. Beginning to feel his lightheadedness return to him, he pulled himself back over the edge, turning to face Herobrine and Andvari abruptly.
"This fortress won't collapse on us while we're in here, right?" He asked nervously, glancing between the two in front of him as he waited for an answer.
Both shook their heads.
"Buildings within the Nether are typically destroyed during wars, as far as I'm aware." Andvari reassured him.
"Besides, fortresses like these last for eons. They can last through several wars just fine." Herobrine added on, prompting a sigh of relief to escape from Steve's lips.
"...Good. Great." Steve paused, turning to glance around once more to look over the expansive network of bridges and buildings around them. "...Let's just get what we need and get out, please."
"Agreed."
"Yes, please."
As the two others signed on to his statement, Herobrine began to lead them forward, promptly drawing his blade. Seeing the other's sword, Steve's eyes filled with concern.
"...Is something coming our way?" He asked quietly.
Herobrine glanced back at him momentarily, noting his fearful expression.
"...Technically, yes. Piglins, dead and alive. Wither skeletons. Blazes, of course. Ghasts too, if we're truly unlucky. For your own safety, I recommend that you have your blade ready as well."
Not thinking even twice about his brother's words, Steve drew his sword, keeping it held tightly within his hand as they traveled on.
The distant cries of idle ghasts echoed louder as they found themselves closer to the roof of the Nether, sending chills down Steve's spine as he tried to search for the massive creatures, thankfully spotting none nearby. Low oinks came into earshot as a couple of zombified piglins came into view, mindlessly patrolling the fortress and paying them no mind as they walked by. Curiously, Steve kept his gaze upon them as they passed.
"...Uh…why aren't they doing anything? Aren't we invading their fortress, or whatever?"
This time, Andvari went to walk by his side, giving a slightly serious expression to him as he began to speak.
"The zombie piglins freely roam where they may since they know no better...Simply speaking, this is not their fortress to protect."
Looking back toward the zombie piglins that they passed, Steve continued to look at them with intrigue.
"...They're intruders too?" He asked quietly.
"Pretty much." Andvari answered with a nod.
"Meaning that whoever this fortress does belong to, we need to be rather wary of them. Piglins would've been a decent problem on their own, but should this area fall under the ownership of, say, the skel-"
The sound of an arrow flying close by, followed by a quick squeal, came to their ears, causing the three to look behind them to find the sight of one of the nearby zombie piglins falling flat against the ground, unmoving. They quickly found that an arrow had been shot into its head.
"...Speak of the devil. Well then, let's get out of the skeletons' targeting range, yes?" Herobrine said, earning quick nods from the others as they began to move faster into a nearby Nethren building that the bridge they were on led to.
Darting past the archway that led into the first room of the structure, the three quickly hid themselves behind a wall, with Herobrine settling himself closest to the entryway as Steve settled next to him, choosing to give him free rein in dealing with the situation.
With a look of concern, Steve watched Herobrine peer around the entrance, trying to spot the distant skeleton as best he could.
"Wasn't that a regular skeleton? Can't you just tell it to buzz off?" Steve asked in a hushed whisper.
Herobrine shook his head.
"By 'skeletons,' I meant Wither skeletons. Believe it or not, they're well-versed in different methods of combat." He said, continuing to search for their attacker.
Andvari, who had hidden himself just across from them on the other side of the archway, peered around the wall as well.
"Believe it or not Steve, but they're also strong enough to actually wield swords."
Not exactly liking the image of a skeleton engaging in close combat with him, Steve, somewhat subconsciously, pressed himself a bit more against the wall in exasperation as he directed his focus upward toward the ceiling of the room.
"Believe it or not, guys." Steve started, mocking the others for a moment. "I'd rather put some distance in between us and them! Shouldn't we run?"
Herobrine waved him off.
"Only one managed to spot us, I believe. If we left it alone, it'd certainly raise an alarm, and then we'd run into even more trouble concerning our search for the blazes."
Eyes widening at the information, Steve glanced back down at the other.
"So we gotta kill it?"
"I have to kill it. Last thing we want is for you to get double-afflicted with Nethren conditions."
Stepping out into the open, Herobrine walked back outside of the building, leaving Steve to carefully ponder his words as he went to kill the skeleton on his own.
Double-afflicted?...With what?
As Steve lost himself in deep thought, the only thing that managed to pull him from his focus was the sound of bones being violently rattled, followed by the sound of said bones collapsing to the ground. Looking over toward Andvari with a startled expression, Steve found the enderman immediately pointing forward past the wall as he focused straight ahead, prompting the miner to peer around as well.
Standing on the railing of the bridge was Herobrine, staring out toward another bridge pathway across from him almost blankly. Looking down, Steve found that the other's hands were empty, no sword in sight as he stood. Briefly glancing back to find both Steve and Andvari staring at him, Herobrine jumped off the railing back onto the bridge, approaching the fortress building once again.
"...Apologies, we'll need to take a short detour and get to that other bridge promptly." He said, walking past the two at a quick pace, which was matched by Andvari.
Almost surprised by the other's speedy departure, Steve, almost failing to process what Herobrine had even said, realized that the others were quickly leaving him as he was suddenly forced to sprint for a second in order to catch up with them.
"Wait, what did you do? Where's your sword?" He asked Herobrine.
"...The skeleton threw wordless insults at me, so, rationally, I threw something back." He explained, his tone nonchalant.
They approached a small room that led into three different pathways, with Herobrine choosing to lead them to the one on their right. The three then found themselves back out in the open, walking upon a broken bridge that led to nothing other than the lava below the building. Just in front of them, however, laid a large pile of what appeared to be black bones in the middle of the pathway, a sword planted firmly in the skull that rested upon it. A bow, formed from what seemed to be turquoise-colored wood, laid roughly a foot away from the pile. An arrow was placed upon it, having been separated from a quiver that had been buried beneath the bones. Wordlessly, Herobrine walked up, pulled out the sword with a bit of resistance from the skull's part, and walked back to the others promptly, leading them back into the room they came from.
Briefly looking at the bones for a moment in pure disbelief, Steve quickly followed after the two who had left him once again, not exactly finding himself all too eager to encounter more than one of these skeletons if Herobrine found it necessary to deal with them like he had.
The three walked quickly through the fortress, keeping their eyes peeled for any sort of movement and their ears ready for any alarming noises whatsoever. Apart from the occasional zombified piglin or two, they were, strangely enough, met with nothing else except the distant cries of the ghasts.
The sight of endless Nethren architecture utterly captivated Steve's attention as they explored the fortress, walking under sturdy archways and passing by windows that were decorated with torn banners with strange insignias printed upon them. Though some of the bricks that made up the wall were cracked and slightly singed, they didn't seem to make the rest of the stronghold any less structurally sound. There were many different hallways to turn into and rooms to explore, with several staircases coming into view, though they didn't ascend them, remaining on the main floor of the fortress. Oddly enough, Steve found himself a bit relaxed within the space, having found an actual sign of life apart from the dangerous flora and fauna of the Nether.
Suddenly, Herobrine held an arm out in front of the two who had fallen behind him slightly, stopping them from turning the next corner they were approaching as he went to glance around it himself. Moments of silence later, he gestured for them to peek around, which they did so slowly as Herobrine moved slightly more behind the brick wall.
There, floating idly within the hallway in front of them, was what seemed to be another mob. Its body was mostly hidden by smoke, but within the cloud that surrounded it were several floating, golden rods, all rotating around it in a somewhat protective manner.
"Is...is that what I think it is?" Steve asked in a hushed whisper.
Herobrine nodded as the other turned back toward him in a somewhat excited manner.
"A blaze, Steven. We finally located one." He answered quietly, his voice also rather hushed and cautious.
"...That's a blaze?" Steve asked, pointing toward the distant creature.
Herobrine nodded with a hum, soon after placing a hand upon his shoulder and pulling him back behind the corner. Andvari, without prompting, pulled back as well.
"For your first attempt, I'll let you figure out for yourself how you're going to retrieve one of its rods. It's not hard, mind you, but I have a feeling that you'll be quite occupied by the process." Herobrine said with a smirk, causing Steve to glare at him.
"Occupied? You mean that I'll get hurt?"
"A little singed, maybe." Herobrine said, turning slightly away from him.
"...What if I get horribly burned?" Steve asked with a worried tone in his voice.
Herobrine shrugged at him dismissively.
"Just a simple lesson to take with you as you leave."
Glaring at the other even more intensely, Steve opened his mouth to say something in response, only to close it promptly as he went to hold his sword properly so that he could face the blaze ahead.
With clear concern in his gaze, Andvari looked at the miner.
"Steve. A blaze is nothing like your typical mob back in the Overworld. If you feel the need to, it's alright to pull back and recollect your senses."
"But…" Herobrine tagged on with a mischievous tone in his voice. "There's a chance that it might decide to run off while you recover. You can either take your time dealing with it, or act quickly. Your choice, honestly."
Steve thought over both of their words for a solid moment or two before giving Herobrine another glare.
"What if I screw this up and it gets away? Shouldn't you show me how to fight it first before anything?"
Herobrine promptly shook his head.
"Consider this a test of your abilities so far."
"...I thought you wanted me to be safe in the Nether."
Herobrine shrugged at him.
"I do. However, learning how to face these creatures will ultimately help you out more in the long run, believe it or not."
Giving the other one final glare, Steve finally moved from behind the brick wall, placing himself out in the open.
The blaze didn't notice him in the slightest, instead continuing to face away from him as he tried to quickly think of a way to deal with the mob. Eyes wary and nervous, Steve forced himself to move forward as he decided to attempt sneaking up on the blaze.
Hearing his movement once he drew close enough, the creature abruptly looked straight at him, causing him to freeze in fear as its dark eyes fell upon him.
Immediately, flames started to rise up from beneath the smoke, soon igniting the creature entirely as the rods around its body began to circle around it faster. Unsure of how to react, Steve held his sword firmly with both hands, waiting for the creature to make any sort of move whatsoever.
His wait wasn't long. A fireball was soon thrown his way, causing him to dodge to the side as he found himself lacking in the courage needed to attempt to knock it back.
Stunned by the fact that he could feel the heat of the fireball even though he'd put enough distance in between him and it as it flew, Steve's gaze became more vigilant as he watched the blaze more intently, becoming a bit more nervous as it started to float higher into the air.
"Stay on your toes, Steven!" He heard Herobrine call out from behind, annoying him as he fought the desire to turn away from the danger that was now above him in order to send a glare the other's way.
This time as the creature attacked, it sent several fireballs rapidly down at him, causing him to quickly dodge out of the way as he went to run past it, hoping that it'd float downward in order to chase after him. To his general surprise, the farther he got away from the blaze, the lower it began to float in order to attack him, finding that most of the fireballs that were sent from above made contact with the ground and not him due to the ceiling limiting the amount of space it had to move. Once it floated down to the ground again, he found himself with a sudden idea, though it gave him a bit of pause as he realized that he'd have to draw closer once again.
Making up his mind, Steve decided to rush toward the blaze, sword firmly prepared in his hands as he readied himself to attack quickly and retreat immediately. The blaze, thankfully, didn't seem to read his intentions as he approached, choosing to ready another set of fireballs instead of float upwards once again.
Surprisingly enough, the encounter ended sooner than what he had been expecting.
His sword went through its flesh, both stunning it and promptly ending the battle at the same time as the creature soon ceased all movement. In a somewhat unsettling way, it rattled violently before falling to the ground, its rods dropping more like rocks as its main body descended gently like a feather. Breathing a bit unsteadily as he witnessed the sight, Steve found himself momentarily panicking before managing to steady himself once more, slowly sheathing his blade as he crouched down in front of the deceased creature.
One rod was already falling apart, crumbling like dust as it laid upon the ground beside the others, seemingly having been eaten by part of the fire that the blaze had created. Reaching out a hand to grab the resulting powder, Steve found himself immediately regretting the action. The second the powder came into his grasp, it began to sizzle against his skin until a prickly sensation spread throughout his hand, followed by a growing burn as he went to shake the powder off. Briefly looking over his poor hand, he found the skin there growing red in response to the burn.
Glancing back to the others, he found them approaching him and the fallen blaze as he went back to looking down at the blaze rods.
"So uh...what do we do with the powder here? It's super hot, I can't grab it for long." He asked.
To his general surprise, Herobrine let out a small chuckle at his words.
"You grabbed the powder? Just like that?"
Finding himself somewhat embarrassed, Steve's expression grew sheepish.
"...How do we keep it safe?" He asked quietly as he attempted to distract the other.
His laughter trailing off, Herobrine walked up to his side, crouching down as well in order to pick up one of the intact rods.
"These retain their heat for ages. I don't believe I saw you craft together a heat-resistant pouch strong enough for the powder itself, so I recommend leaving it here."
"...But the rods are fine to carry as-is?" Steve asked curiosity, reaching out to grab one of the rods himself.
The second he wrapped his hand around it, he flinched his hand back as the heat burned him once again.
"Ow!" He exclaimed, glancing over at the rod in Herobrine's hand before letting out a frustrated sigh.
"...Can I have what you have?" He asked in a pleading manner, somewhat joking.
He really, really wouldn't mind if he could control fire like Herobrine. He wouldn't mind at all.
Confused, Herobrine looked at Steve with an unsure expression, glancing down at the rod as well before offering it to him.
"...This blaze rod?" He asked.
Not expecting for the other to have taken his words so seriously, Steve let out a small laugh, mainly out of disbelief.
"No! No, I mean your powers. I was joking, Brine."
Looking at Steve with an unamused expression, Herobrine went to grab the rest of the rods, carrying them within his arms as he stood back up carefully.
"Sure. Let's move forward now, you two. This was only a single blaze, and we'll certainly need more rods for the powder. I'll hold onto the rods so that we don't lose them." He announced, beginning to walk off back into the area they'd emerged from. "...If I can figure out how hot they are exactly, we'll be able to keep them safe for later use."
Andvari began to follow after him once again, only to stop as Herobrine froze in his tracks abruptly, sending both the enderman and Steve into slight confusion.
Looking down at the rods momentarily, Herobrine let out a small hum.
"...Since this was only one blaze, I'm assuming that we're not close to a breeding area yet."
"Breeding area?" Steve asked, standing up as well.
"Blazes are pretty useful in times of war, so of course, there has to be easy access to them. They're natural archers, just with the added bonus of having their so-called 'arrows' pre-enchanted, so to speak."
"...I thought it just shot a normal fireball at me." Steve muttered in confusion, looking back at the fallen blaze curiously.
"...They don't use arrows. It was just a figure of speech, Steven."
Steve let out a small sigh.
"...Could you at least not use your 'I'm telling you important information' tone when you're saying stuff like that?"
Herobrine looked at him, somewhat confused, but before he could say anything, Steve shook his head.
"Nevermind. Look, where would a breeding spot be, anyway?"
Still somewhat focused on the miner's previous words, Herobrine walked up to his side.
"Some are located more towards the edges of a fortress for easy long-range defense, while others are placed more towards the command centers as part of a last-line defense effort. It depends on whoever holds control of the fortress." He explained, thinking to himself as he finished
Passing by the miner, Herobrine continued walking down the hallway, leading them forward. Steve and Andvari quickly went to follow after him, and, as they did so, all three soon found the hallway coming to an end as the ceiling eventually became absent, leading out to another outside bridge.
Quietly, Andvari walked closer to the two, looking down at Herobrine in particular.
"...Since this fortress is held by the Wither skeletons, do you suppose that the blazes will be placed more toward the outer layers?" He asked Herobrine, pointing to the blaze remains far behind them in particular.
Pondering his words carefully for a moment, Herobrine eventually glanced up to Andvari with a bit of a shrug.
"...I'd assume that the Withers are too prideful to let other creatures do their work for them, but…perhaps that's correct. We should take a brief look around, regardless."
Continuing to walk forward on the bridge, leaving the two behind, Herobrine approached its sturdy brick railing, trying to examine nearby pathways from a certain distance. Eventually, his expression changed into slight excitement as his gaze fell upon something farther away from them.
Turning back to face the others with a grin on his face, Herobrine moved to hold the rods with one arm as he pointed out to the distance.
"More luck!" He exclaimed with a small chuckle. "They made it obvious for us. No secret rooms or anything. Placed some materials on a bridge and called it a day."
Walking closer to see what the other was talking about, Steve followed his brief direction, only to find himself growing confused as he didn't find anything in particular that was remotely of note.
"...Where?" He asked quietly, glancing over to Herobrine with a slightly pleading expression.
Shifting the blaze rods around for a moment to get a more comfortable hold on them, Herobrine pointed out to a nearby bridge, directing his attention toward a raised platform in the distance.
Nothing particularly distinct grabbed at him at first, but eventually, he slowly became aware of a few pillars of smoke coming from nearby the platform, seemingly rather numerous the more it dawned on him what they actually were.
He started to feel slightly lightheaded once again.
Noticing his concerned expression, Herobrine looked at him for a few seconds before glancing back toward Andvari, who had approached them to glance at the distant bridge curiously.
"How long has it been since you truly got an opportunity to use your claws?" He asked with a playful smirk.
Andvari shrugged, unfurling said claws and looking over them as he returned the expression.
"Perhaps too long, in terms of actual combat. Why, might I ask?"
Herobrine gestured toward the distant floating smoke pillars with his thumb.
"There might be ample target practice in store for us all, to tell you the truth."
Looking where he was pointing, Andvari gave him a quick nod.
"Hopefully, I can assist without getting burned too badly. Sometimes, I envy you and your sword skills."
Beginning to walk back into the fortress, Herobrine resumed leading the two deeper within. As he walked, he turned to look at Andvari, who had joined by his side rather quickly.
"...You know, I've never rescinded my offer. I could always teach you how to use a sword, Andi." Herobrine said softly, giving the enderman his focus.
Andvari thought to himself for a moment, leaving the two in silence before shaking his head with a small laugh.
"If how you teach Steve is anything to go by, I think I'll hold out on that offer for a bit."
Steve let out a somewhat stilted laugh at the other's words, walking behind the two with a somewhat unamused expression.
"Yeah. I don't think you'd find it all too fun, personally."
Giving Steve a slight glare before giving Andvari a concerned glance, Herobrine let out a small hum.
"...Whatever you say. The offer still stands, regardless."
"...I'll continue thinking it over, thank you."
Continuing to travel through the halls, the three went on their little journey in silence, turning their focus more towards the surrounding calls and noises from the mobs within the fortress as they became more vigilant.
Their next objective would take them into an area full of blazes. The last thing they needed was any injuries sustained from other mobs before they got there.
The second they stepped within the breeding area, a good amount of hell broke loose as they found themselves becoming immensely occupied with trying to not get hit by multiple mobs at once.
Having several fireballs being sent his way from multiple directions technically wasn't supposed to take years off his life, since he was immortal apparently, but Steve definitely felt some time being shaved off with every passing flame that flew by his head.
Though he had set somewhat of a consistent rhythm for himself, dodging and lunging forward to the nearest blaze as quickly as he could without getting too burned for the most part, he still found himself somewhat struggling. He wasn't necessarily being helped out by the fact that his breathing was growing heavier the more he exerted himself, causing him to grow more sluggish with his movements. Before he could get seriously hurt or overwhelmed, he decided to tap out, running to hide behind an archway nearby that had led to the area he and the others decided to invade.
Taking a moment to recollect himself, Steve peeked around the side, attempting to see how well the others were faring now that he had the opportunity, since he didn't really find himself with the ability to shift his focus towards them while fighting.
Herobrine, naturally, was holding his own, even seeming to be rather bored as he fought. The blazes, whenever they dared to come close, fell easily, and any that Herobrine targeted specifically were taken care of rather quickly as well. Andvari, forced to fight in even closer combat due to the length of his claws, managed to fare well alongside the other, ripping into a couple of blazes fairly easily, though he did flinch back as fire burned him with every close encounter.
Seeing his brother fight well didn't surprise him. Seeing Andvari doing the same, despite his clear disadvantages in the situation, impressed him to a point that he found himself somewhat stunned at the sight.
The enderman wasn't afraid, as far as he could see. No fear restrained his actions; he remained vigilant and ready for each attack as it came. Though his movements were less rhythmic and more in response to sudden movements spotted from the corner of his eye, he managed to fight the blazes fiercely and without much error.
Compared to both Herobrine and Andvari's individual fighting styles, Steve felt as if he was more in-between their methods. He was able to set a rhythm like Herobrine, though he wasn't as sporadic in his attack methods, but he was also prone to simply attacking at whatever caught his attention, like Andvari.
Herobrine might've been right in saying that they were going to engage in target practice with the blazes; Steve found himself growing in terms of his sword skills as he was able to examine his current fighting ability in detail, comparing his with the others' as they fought alongside him.
Eventually, they managed to get rid of the small group of blazes that had met them upon finding the bridge, collecting a fair amount of blaze rods that had been thankfully kept from disintegrating. As Herobrine held them, he found himself looking for Steve to assist him, though the miner held back from actually reaching out and grabbing a couple as worry for his own well-being came to the forefront of his mind.
"Aren't those too hot to hold? Can't you just…hold them for a moment? Until we figure out how to deal with them?" Steve asked cautiously.
Herobrine narrowed his gaze at the other.
"I'm not carrying these for the remainder of our mission, Steven." Herobrine glanced downward toward the rods in question. "They're only hot now because the blazes were just using them. When they cool a bit, we can just place them in your bag."
"In my bag?!" Steve said in disbelief. "What about the torches in there?"
"Relax, Steven. They won't ignite. Unless we heat up the rods again, they won't produce flames."
Looking at the other with a somewhat raised brow in suspicion, Steve let out a small hum in response.
"Sure, but reminder, look at how big those things are!" He pointed to the rods within the other's arms, all of which extended to roughly three feet in length. "Even if they don't light on fire, you seriously expect them to fit in my bag?"
The miner turned around and gestured toward the bag on his back, causing Herobrine to suddenly feel a bit embarrassed at the fact that he'd forgotten how much the bag was actually capable of holding.
"...I suppose not." He answered quietly, looking away from Steve.
Holding the rods carefully, Herobrine glanced around the area as he found Andvari finally approaching them after having been occupied with counting the fallen blazes.
"Sir, I do believe that we went a bit overboard. How many rods did we manage to salvage?"
Both Herobrine and Andvari looked down at the rods in Herobrine's hands, as well as the ones that were left on the ground around them, counting each carefully.
"...I'm holding eight of them. There are fourteen in total." Herobrine answered even quieter, a sudden sense of regret washing over him as he realized what they'd done.
"...Eight is enough. We can leave the rest behind and come back to retrieve them if they're still here and we need more, don't you think?" Andvari suggested quietly.
Herobrine thought to himself, leaving the others in silence until he gave them a small nod of agreement.
"...I suppose so. I'd much rather we-"
His words were interrupted, yet again, by the sound of a flying arrow, though this time, it just barely missed his head as all three of them became aware of the sudden danger, looking around wildly in order to find the source.
The sound of quite a number of bones against brick came to their ears as they soon found themselves becoming the audience of many, many Wither skeletons flooding into the area, surrounding them as they became trapped. Blackened bones stood tall above Herobrine and Steve, though not tall enough to tower over Andvari. Empty, dark sockets stared directly towards them as they looked back, with Herobrine holding the rods in his arms a bit more securely in response to the sudden threat.
Nervously, Steve decided to break the silence that had formed in between them as the skeletons continued pouring in.
"We uh...you think we made a lot of noise?" He asked in a somewhat joking manner, attempting to ease his own nerves, though he failed to do so.
"...I believe we may have, yes." Herobrine answered him quietly.
"Uh…do we fight them all?..." Steve asked the others worriedly, drawing closer to them.
Glancing briefly at Andvari to convey a silent message to him, Herobrine shook his head.
"No. In fact, we're going to simply avoid fighting at all."
Andvari placed his hands upon their shoulders, causing Steve to briefly tense up as he realized that they were about to teleport once again.
"...Too dangerous?' He asked quietly.
Herobrine nodded.
"Beyond dangerous."
The sensation of teleportation overwhelmed the miner's senses as he closed his eyes and allowed his body to be abruptly moved elsewhere, soon opening them to find himself in a new location, back within the strangely familiar sight of the Nether wastes. Though his breathing faltered slightly, he felt somewhat proud at the fact that, seemingly, he was getting more used to being moved around in the Nether, though he doubted if it would truly last. Feeling the enderman's hands leave his shoulders, Steve turned to find Andvari briefly smiling down at him before looking up to glance around at their surroundings, a look of sheepishness finding its way onto his face soon after.
"I…uh, didn't think the location through too well." He admitted nervously, causing Herobrine to send a raised brow in his direction.
"...Where are we, exactly? I'm not letting you teleport us again, so I'm hoping we're at least somewhere close to the portal."
Andvari shrugged.
"...I walked through here while you both were elsewhere, searching for the fortress. It's far enough away to lose the skeletons, but I'm afraid that we'll have to walk back to our meetup point, then make our way to the portal."
Expression relaxing into a more neutral state, Herobrine let out a small sigh of relief.
"...Don't scare me like that, I thought you took us somewhere even farther."
Andvari let out a small laugh in response, though he wasn't joined.
"I was a little panicked, sure, but not that panicked!"
Beginning to walk forward, Andvari glanced around for another brief moment before pointing off to the side, directing the two behind him toward the area.
"This way. We'll have to pass by a health hazard, mind you, so keep your eyes open and your faces partially shielded." He instructed.
As the group began to walk forward, Steve found himself briefly confused about the other's words. His confusion eventually settled, however, after a few minutes of walking went by as they traversed the rocky area as best they could without falling into nearby lava ponds or engaging with any of the surrounding piglins.
Every area within the Nether was a "health hazard," there was no actual need to speak as if any area was particularly worse than the posed their own individual threats, as far as the miner knew at this point.
Walking by mounds and hills of Netherrack, the three soon noticed the appearance of strange, vibrant purple particles that began to slowly fly in front of them, causing immediate concern to arise. The more they walked forward, the more that they were able to locate the source of the harmful floating spores that began to grow in appearance.
Another warped forest. Another set of large fungi that they had to step away from came into view.
The forest that had arisen in this area seemed to be accompanied by large cliffs reaching overhead, where even more massive fungi sat idly as vines hung over from the edges. Though they were far enough from the true depths of forest at this point to not immediately find themselves within complete danger, they were left with no other option other than to come close by it in order to locate their portal, not wanting to take unnecessary detours despite the clear interest that Steve had in doing so.
Watching the area pass by with careful eyes, Steve subconsciously raised his shirt up once more to cover his mouth and nose, though he doubted that they were even close enough to warrant any real concern considering the fact that the spores were few and far between where they were walking.
Turquoise green, hazy purple, and occasional orange spots came to his vision as he walked on by, soon causing him to realize that his attention had been utterly captivated by the sight. The repetitive colors intrigued him, but the longer he stared, the more he found his attention dulling slightly.
It wasn't until a massive spot of black within the grass came into view that he found his interest being piqued again.
Stopping in his tracks, Steve focused his gaze on the distant dark pile within the forest, somewhat intrigued as the color broke through the repetitive palette he was just getting used to. The longer he stared, the more interested he became, eventually drawing Herobrine's attention as he realized that he was no longer walking with him and Andvari.
"Steven, what're you…" Herobrine's words trailed off as he followed the direction of Steve's gaze. "...Oh no. You're not going in there again."
Steve let out a small scoff.
"I'm not. I'm just interested in that black stuff over there."
As Steve pointed over to it, Herobrine's own expression became one of curiosity.
"...Black?" He muttered quietly, placing the rods down upon the ground before walking a bit closer to the forest as he tried to examine the distant object.
Steve gave him a small glare.
"...Oh, but when you get closer to it, it's fine."
Just as Herobrine came close enough to start coming near the more abundant falling spores, he stopped abruptly in his tracks. Steve stepped a bit closer, only to pause as Herobrine turned to face him slowly.
Something about his expression caused a feeling of deep dread to rise within him. Not the kind that Herobrine caused on purpose, but...something separate.
"...It's covered in small vines. It's another...well, victim, I suppose." He said, his face rather blank in emotion.
Steve's eyes widened in slight disbelief.
"Wait, victim? Can we try and pull-"
"-It's too late."
Herobrine's abrupt words caused Steve's heart to fully drop as the reality of their discovery finally hit him.
"...W...What…?" He asked quietly, causing Herobrine to let out a small sigh in response.
"...You heard me. It's too late to save him."
...Him? Why the tone of familiarity?
"Wait, how do you know that? What if he's like us, and-"
Steve's words trailed off as Herobrine briskly approached him, stopping just in front of him to place his hands upon his shoulders and look him straight in the eyes.
"...I know death disturbs you. I know how gentle you truly are with these things, and I can only guess how much this will ultimately haunt you. I cannot stop you if you so wish, but I advise you to turn around now, and not look. It's not an easy sight."
Leaving his hands a bit longer upon his shoulders than what he initially intended, Herobrine slowly released the other from his grasp.
Though Herobrine was most likely right about what would happen in his potential experience with the deceased figure, he couldn't find himself doing anything other than coming closer to the forest in order to see the individual himself.
His feet hesitated in moving forward as his instincts briefly overpowered the force of his ambitions, but eventually, they succumbed, driving him a bit closer to the body as he walked past Herobrine despite his careful warning.
When he got a couple of meters away from the edge of the forest, he froze.
There, lying in the grass of the deadly forest, unmoving and covered with creeping vines, was the familiar face of Raff.
The other champion's eyes were widened, yet still somewhat vibrant, somewhat alive. They betrayed the rest of his body as he laid there unmoving. The faintest remnants of a smile were evident on his face, even from a distance. Steve knew well enough what had happened to him, given Herobrine's personal testimony, making him certain that the other hadn't faced a painless death.
His brother had been correct in his notion, as he found himself growing somewhat ill at the sight of someone who, despite having threatened him in the past, was a person whose life he still cared about. He felt sickened by the fact that, yet again, he'd come across a body that had fallen due to the whole championship debacle, adding a bit of anger and frustration to his growing grief. He, once again, thought for a fleeting moment that he'd finally gotten at least somewhat numb to it; somewhat able to move on quickly and briefly sympathize with the individual that had died too soon. The corpse they found back in the temple ages ago had challenged him then and won, and the corpse before him now definitely continued his losing streak. The only main difference between both experiences was the deep, unsettling pit that formed in his stomach, along with the heaviness that had settled in his heart along with it.
Was it different now because he knew why Raff had died? Was it different because, to a serious extent, he was the direct cause of the image that had now burned itself into his mind?
With great resistance from his own body, Steve turned around to glance back at the others, finding Andvari waiting a few feet away from them, looking at him with concern, while Herobrine stood roughly a couple of feet from his current position, back turned toward him. Though he had to pry his eyes away from the corpse, Steve focused his attention solely upon his brother as he came to an immediate decision within himself.
"...Herobrine." He called out, his voice somewhat shaky.
The other didn't turn to face him, nor answer him verbally. Silence followed his words until he decided to continue speaking.
"...I...I'm going to do something stupid. Something very, very stupid."
Silence followed again, but just as Steve opened his mouth to continue, Herobrine half-turned to glance at him with a blank expression.
"...You say that with such certainty. I'm a bit concerned, Steven." Herobrine quietly responded.
Steve took a moment to process the other's response before he looked back toward the fallen champion.
"...I'm going to pull Raff's body out of there."
Blankness turned into immediate confusion and concern as Herobrine went to fully face him.
"...Why?"
Steve hadn't realized that tears had already started falling down his own face until he found Herobrine staring at him intently, waiting for his explanation.
"...I…I-I don't know where he came from. I can't return him to his family, if he even has one. What I can do is make sure that he gets a proper burial in Highland, however."
Herobrine narrowed his gaze at him.
"...And why risk getting hurt?"
"Because it's the least I can do since I got him in this situation! You too!" Steve yelled out, pointing directly at the other as Herobrine looked at him somewhat in shock due to his outburst.
"...How is this either of our-"
"You decided on cornering him and taking out his portals! You trapped him in the Nether! I...I made him get hurt." Steve continued to shout, his voice wavering the longer he thought about Raff.
Herobrine stared at him in silence, looking over his distressed expression as he left the other waiting for a response. Growing frustrated with the lack of reaction, Steve let out a small huff as he turned around, beginning to head toward the forest without the other's input.
He was stopped in his tracks, just a few feet away from the nearest massive mushroom, by a rough hand finding its way onto his shoulder and pulling him back abruptly. Angered silver eyes met his gaze briefly as he soon after found Herobrine suddenly walking ahead of him.
"Stay here." He commanded firmly, leaving Steve in sudden confusion.
"...H-huh?" Steve asked quietly, wiping his tears away a bit as he spoke.
Herobrine paused in his approach and spoke without facing him.
"Your job is to stand there and say nothing. I will retrieve his body."
Shocked by the other's insistence, Steve did nothing except nod quietly in response, despite the fact that the other couldn't see him. Without hesitating, Herobrine stepped into the forest, briskly approaching Raff's corpse. He knelt down, removed the vines as best he could with his hands, and carefully went to grab and lift the fallen champion up, faltering momentarily as he tried to shift his weight accordingly and adjust his hold in order to support the other better. Turning around, Herobrine returned to Steve promptly, carrying Raff within his arms with a bit of an annoyed expression upon his face. Though he initially attributed the other's annoyance to the fact that he agreed to do such a kind thing for a deceased human, upon him coming close enough, Steve realized why exactly he was making such a face. His hold over his nose only grew firmer as he stepped a bit away from the other.
Herobrine gave him a quick glare.
"We're just lucky he's not stiff. Otherwise, I wouldn't even bother with him."
"...I'm sorry, I can-"
"-Keep walking. The sooner we get to the portal, the better." Herobrine interrupted, soon walking over toward a patiently-waiting Andvari as Steve went to catch up with him.
"Brine, I can carry-"
"-No you can't. He's covered in warped forest…well, substances, and I'm better suited to dealing with it. Besides, he's heavier than you."
Steve, though thankful for the other's abrupt kind gesture, raised a brow at him.
"...Wait, how do you know he's heavier than me?"
"If you're so keen on carrying something, bring the rods with you then, yes? If I have to carry a corpse, then you get to carry those." He responded abruptly.
Hearing the other insist further, Steve gave up, allowing his brother to bring Raff along with them back into the Overworld. He was only able to hope that Highland would give the champion the treatment he deserved. He witnessed their work before, and it was always rather respectful of the fallen champions, no matter who they had been in a past life. He also hoped that Herobrine would be able to tolerate carrying Raff for as long as it took to bring him back.
Looking down at the rods that the other had left behind, a small whine came from his mouth as he realized that yes, he would have to carry the rods back after all.
They eventually found their portal, passing through it rather quickly in order to return to the Overworld.
Andvari and Herobrine went through easily enough, even despite the latter carrying a body in his arms. Steve, however, took a single step before tripping on himself, finding his body feeling distinctly light and unburdened compared to the pressure that surrounded him in the Nether. It felt even lighter as he soon discovered that he was falling, much to his general surprise.
As he hit the ground, catching himself from slamming his face into the platform at least while sacrificing the blaze rods in his arms, he heard a familiar laugh erupt from behind him as he turned to find Constiere approaching him, not even remotely trying to stifle his giggles.
"Ah…graceful as a swan, bright-eyes!" He barely forced out, lending a hand to Steve as the other took it, standing back up with red dusting his features.
"I try, I try." He joked, though his face burned as he tried to dust himself off.
Constiere nodded, turning to face all three of the returning group members.
"Welcome back, you thr-what the hell?" Constiere interrupted himself as his gaze fell upon the body in Herobrine's arms, bewilderment quickly filling his expression.
Herobrine gave him a shrug.
"...He died in the Nether and we found him, so Steven wished to honor him properly. I was involved, so I have to carry him." He explained, taking a moment to gently place the body down on the stone bricks below him as he took a break.
Continuing to stare at the body, a small hum came from Constiere's mouth in response.
"...Fair, I guess?" He shrugged, glancing over toward Steve as the miner began to pick up the blaze rods that had fallen out of his grasp, now noticing the red marks that had formed upon the other's exposed arms and hands. "Woah! How many did you have to fight to get that many?!"
Hearing the other's excitement, Herobrine approached him, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Too many. We were wasteful." He said, a bit of guilt and hurt in his tone.
Looking down at the rods within his hands, Steve smiled a bit proudly at the sight.
"Sadly yes, but we finally got them! Took a bit of a fight, but now we can attune the pearls and get back to work! It was a good thing that Mo was in town to make the p…"
The miner's words trailed off as he slowly went over his thoughts, soon coming to a sudden realization.
"...Hey wait a minute, couldn't we have just asked Mo to make us some powder or rods himself instead of doing all that?!"
Steve turned to look at Herobrine with a slightly frustrated gaze, only to be met with a slow shake of the head in return.
"...No. I wanted you to experience the Nether for yourself. You'll be sent to the End, and one of the most crucial things that you'll need in order to face the dragon is experience fighting stronger mobs. This was a necessary trip."
Steve opened his mouth to shout at the other, only to be silenced completely by Herobrine raising a hand.
"...Another thing." He said, lowering his gaze down to the ground beneath him. "...I know Mojang made himself sound impressive. I know that his powers intrigue you, and that you wish to have them present for whenever we need them."
"A god with the power to create anything he wants offered to help us, how could I just ignore that?!" Steve exclaimed.
"...My brother left out one key detail about his abilities...Our brother, sorry." Herobrine quickly corrected himself as the rest of his words intrigued Steve greatly.
"...What detail?"
"...He is the god of Innovation. He has the ability to bring life to new things that have never existed before. Keyword there being new."
Looking over to Steve, only to find utter confusion in his gaze, Herobrine let out a small sigh.
"...Even if he makes something that already exists, such as a type of stone, he cannot help but add some sort of quirk to it that makes it actually new. For example, our portal."
Herobrine turned around to face the portal in question.
"...He may have made it using materials from the older portal, but it is still something new, in a way. Something about it is new, or more appropriately, off. It has something that prevents it from being any regular portal." He narrowed his gaze at it. "...I'd rather not find out what this one can do. It's too unstable to experiment with, regardless."
Raising a hand and summoning a flame, Herobrine quickly launched it toward the portal, deactivating it abruptly. Steve looked at him with a bit of a curious expression on his face.
"...So…how would his powers affect blaze rods or powder, in any way? Wouldn't it still be the same thing?" Steve asked with a slightly raised brow.
Herobrine looked at him.
"...If Mojang was to create blaze powder, something about it would surely be off, mostly to our detriment. It may end up being more combustible. It may produce flames too hot for the pearls. The flames may even be blue. The rods themselves, as well. They may disintegrate completely upon being burned. It would be something strange."
Taking in the information, Steve nodded slowly.
"...So...getting the rods normally was our best option, wasn't it?"
"The most predictable one, at least."
Steve let out a hum, lowering his head for a moment as he stared at the blaze rods in his hands intently.
Something had begun to nibble away at his mind, and he found it hard to keep to himself.
"...How...how would that apply to us?"
"...The rods?" Herobrine asked in confusion.
"No, um...him making us. How are we...off? New? Is it the fact that we're divine?" Steve asked quietly, turning back to look at Herobrine.
Herobrine shrugged at him.
"...We were his first attempts at creating life. That might be our difference."
"...That can't be it, right?"
"...Steve. Did you not hear him?"
Steve let out a frustrated sigh.
"...Look, I'm just curious. You just told me something about Mo that he didn't bother to tell me personally. You know more about him because you spent more time with him. I...I want to learn more about you two, powers and all. If it gives any clue on what I may end up having, I wanna know more about his powers too!"
"...It's almost guaranteed that you'll have different abilities, you know that?"
"...Almost, Brine. Almost. You're talking like I might end up being like you, with the power of Imitation and all. Don't give me hope."
Herobrine shrugged at him again, turning away.
"...Believe it or not, I don't exactly know what to expect when divine twins are born. I've also never heard of two divines having the exact same powers at the same time. The Aether bestows abilities upon the divines based on what it needs most…at least, that's what Mojang told me, years ago."
Looking back at the rods, Herobrine's gaze became a bit more focused.
"We can think about these sorts of things later. For now, we need to place these somewhere safe, since they can't fit in your bag." He said, pointing toward the rods in question.
Steve, somewhat disappointed by the change in topic, looked down at the rods as well.
"...If they really don't burn on their own, we can just keep them in my house. It's safe enough, I believe. Besides, Almun's always keeping an eye out on it regardless."
Glancing over to the body they'd brought through the portal, Steve's mood fell even further.
"...We'll have to leave him with the village before we do anything else, though."
Following his gaze, Herobrine let out an agreeing hum.
"Gladly. I cannot wait to remove the vine oils from my clothes."
As Herobrine examined the slight coat of said oil upon his body, Steve nodded in response, looking past Raff on the ground and instead looking toward the exit back into the mines.
After the champion was given the respect he deserved, they'd be moving forward soon enough.
Absolutely love the fact that, yet again, FF broke for the New Year lmao T_T
So! Happy New Year! Again! 2022 is already getting me pumped up cuz of some games I'm looking forward to being obsessed with (Pokemon Legends Arceus, Bayonetta 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land especially ajaksjsudh), but here's to hoping that it's gonna be a fun one!
Sorry I'm like, SUPER late for my regular upload AND delay schedule! I kept getting error messages on the site, so instead of working on the fic exclusively, I've been doing another re-read and...you know how you see errors in something way too late and you wanna slap yourself in the face? Yeah, went through that a bit, except I wanted to slap myself with a wall lmao. Changed some info up, but it's not really important. Just small details that better fit with the timeline lol. A lot of it had to do with early, EARLY chapters and stuff concerning Steve's time in the village :P Apart from that, my winter break came to a close and I was procrastinating T_T A lot of the story bits in this chapter were in big chunks, and I had like, little motivation to work on connecting them in a timely manner. Also decided on working a bit more on chapter three of I'd Be Remiss, lol.
Fun little thing that happened to me this week actually, in addition: My computer was being goofy, so I had to reset her, but uh…she ended up wiping all my apps and stuff, which is fine cuz she didn't get rid of my personal files or whatever, but that meant she took Minecraft with her, INCLUDING all of the worlds that I made in there, which meant Brickston, Crystlia, and Highland Village all disappeared T_T I managed to recover them tho! Yay! When I tell you I was having a panic attack tho, I was seriously about to cry XD
We moved through and past the Nether! In all honesty, I've been debating myself on what dynamic I want to give Steve and Herobrine from this point on (actually, from chapter 40 on, lol). Ended up finding that my most ideal option was putting Steve through a situation that I've gone through personally (as always) lmao. Specifically, it's the idea of growing up as an only child, only to have older siblings pop back into his life later on! It's weird, but I hope I can convey it well lmao. Herobrine's getting put through it too, don't worry haha
Fun fact time!:
1.) The "New" thing about the portal was that it takes you to different locations in the Nether every time you enter. The locations it brings you to are based on if a pre-existing portal is there or not lol. Definitely something that Herobrine has to destroy, but it's also something that Minos is gonna have to erase once he hears about it lmao.
2.) Speaking of Minos, he and Mo are an inseparable duo most of the time! He's mostly the guy who gives a second opinion on what Mo creates. Technically speaking, he's damage control.
3.) Yeahhhh Raff's a goner. He wanted to see if warped fungi would improve his potions in any way compared to Nether warts, but got caught up in the forest for too long. I knew I was gonna take him out ages ago, and that he had to go in the Nether, but I wasn't sure when he'd be discovered at first lol. Originally, he was going to be found back when Herobrine and Steve first jumped into the depths, but I had decided that it was too early for both Raff's discovery and their true escapades within the Nether, so as you can see, it got pushed to now.
4.) Believe it or not, in times of so-called "peace", fortresses typically breed blazes in order to take their rods for brewing. The Wither skeletons were actually doing the same! Herobrine, Steve, and Andvari accidentally helped them out lmao.
That's it for now! Just another heads up, I'ma most likely be lacking this week too, since I took WAY too long with posting this chapter lol. School started back up for me, and I'm already overwhelmed T_T See y'all soon tho!
