Steve was busy polishing his sword when Herobrine barged into his room. “Knock,” Steve said irritably, but Herobrine wasn’t listening.

“Steve, are you just going to sit here and let these people disappear?” Herobrine asked.

“Hmm… yes,” Steve said grumpily.

Herobrine looked furious. “We have to do something – anything – about this! Celt’s the one doing this, I just know it! You’ve seen what he’s done to your friends. How many others have to suffer the same fate? Who knows what he could be doing to the others right now?”

Steve flinched at the word ‘friends’. “Herobrine, he did these terrible things to innocent people. If he catches us trying to kill him, then who knows what he’ll do to someone who deliberately defies him?”

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Herobrine said fiercely. “I’m planning to build an army. Celt may be powerful, but he can’t fight everyone at once. Everyone counts, no matter how weak or how strong. Together, we can change the world.” Herobrine’s voice softened. “Brother.”

Steve stopped polishing. “When do we begin?”

~o~O~o~

“Chaff’s a little touchy right now,” May whispered. “I’m sorry, but we’d both appreciate it if you didn’t talk to him.”

After the incident, Chaff was the only person living in his house. Since there were only two people occupying May’s house now, the girl had decided to move in with Chaff to keep him company. Boo had the house all to herself, until she took Scar in.

“I understand,” Herobrine said sadly. “It’s difficult to live your everyday life when you lose someone very close to you.”

“At least I’m coping better than Chaff is,” May laughed forcedly. “He hasn’t been out of his room for days.”

“I’ve found that the heat of battle helps distract you from the sorrow,” Steve said slyly. Herobrine was impressed, but he didn’t show it.

“Really?” May asked.

“Yup,” Herobrine said, a little too quickly.

“Now I wish there was a raging battle I could fight in,” May said half-jokingly.

“There is. I mean, there will be,” Herobrine said. May looked interested, and gestured for Herobrine to explain further. By the time Herobrine had finished telling May his plan, she was smiling.

“So we get to defeat Celt and get Drop back; and even if we don’t, I’ll still be diverted from the sadness. Brilliant.”

“So are you in?”

“I’m in.”

~o~O~o~

The trio had arrived at the door to Hal and Khet’s house. After an unsuccessful attempt to convince Chaff to join them, they had left the house together, and were now waiting for someone to answer the door.

When Khet finally swung the door open, Herobrine went to the point. These people were used to battle; it wouldn’t take much convincing to get them to join.

“Help us defeat Celt,” Herobrine said confidently.

“Hal? Do you want to fight Celt?” Khet called over his shoulder.

“Why not?” yelled Hal from somewhere within the house. Soon there was the sound of footsteps running down the stairs, and then Hal was standing next to Khet with a wry smile. “Fighting’s my special talent.”

“I’ll join you,” Khet said.

“So will I,” Hal added.

Herobrine grinned. “Now for the new folks.”

~o~O~o~

The group found the girls talking in front of Scar’s old house. Before Jan had gone missing, the builders had constructed a quick house for Scar to live in. Although not as extravagant as Notch’s creations, it did the job. However, after Boo’s invitation to move into her house, Scar had quickly accepted, and now the house served as a memorial to Jan.

“Hey,” Steve said hesitantly to the girls. They stopped talking and glared at him before carrying on with their conversation.

“Allow me,” May smiled, pushing Steve aside. “Boo! Scar! It’s so nice to see you!”

May was sucked into the conversation, leaving Herobrine and Steve to stare at them chatting, dumbfounded. “I will never understand girls,” Herobrine murmured, shaking his head.

After what seemed like a million ticks, May finally stopped talking. The three of them came up to Herobrine, all smiles. “We’ll stick with you until the end,” Boo said.

“I want revenge on what he did to me,” Scar said vehemently. “Of course I’ll fight.”

“Aren’t we forgetting someone?” Steve said to Herobrine under his breath.

“Core! Of course!” Herobrine said, mentally hitting himself. “He’s the most powerful of us all. He’ll be useful in this battle.”

With that, all seven of them traipsed off to Core’s house.

~o~O~o~

Steve waited for Herobrine anxiously. When Core had seen all of them standing at his door, he had only permitted one of them to enter his home for a one-on-one talk. Naturally, Herobrine had been pushed forward, and now Steve was dying to know whether Herobrine had managed to recruit another member of their team or not.

Steve was reaching a critical point in a conversation about creeper overpopulation with Hal when the door finally opened. Herobrine’s face was unreadable. Steve held his breath.

“Until the day I die, I will stick by your side,” Core said, and everyone cheered loudly. Herobrine gave a small sigh of relief.

“He didn’t tell me his decision while we were talking,” he told Steve. “I’m as happy and surprised as you are.”

“You don’t seem very excited,” Steve frowned.

“I’m just… worried,” Herobrine fretted. “Worried that it isn’t enough, and Celt will still beat us.”

“Brother, there are eight of us now,” Steve reminded him. “If we must face our deaths, we shall do so together.”

“That doesn’t help,” Herobrine sighed. Steve patted him on the shoulder.

“Lighten up. We need to prepare. It’s past noon, so there won’t be enough time to go to Musket today. Just relax for a bit.”

“…Okay.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Without another word, Herobrine slipped away.

~o~O~o~

The night air shifted slightly on this breezy evening. The moon had just begun its long journey into the sky, bidding the sun goodnight. It was a lovely night as Herobrine walked through the moonlit friends. The starlight brought out the softer shades in the landscape, casting blue beams upon each and every blade of grass.

Herobrine had kept on walking for the rest of the day. It had turned dark quicker than he had anticipated, but he wasn’t scared. He kept on wandering the fields aimlessly. He didn’t want to go back to the village yet, so for now, Herobrine was happy to continue his pointless walking.

Every so often, Herobrine would step to the side to avoid treading on a blossoming flower. He didn’t mind this occasional intrusion. His mind was elsewhere. Herobrine was too busy thinking to worry about things as small as flowers, but he still did this automatically.

 Herobrine thought about the upcoming battle. On his way here, Herobrine had occasionally pulled out his sword and hit a nearby tree. Every time, he hit it hard enough for the wood to crack and break. He didn’t bother collecting the rest of the tree’s materials, simply leaving what was left of the tree to float in the air impossibly. Apart from the odd bowshot at another tree, yielding the same results, that was all the preparation Herobrine had done.

He also thought about his friends in the village. Would they be looking for him? Worrying about him? Or would they simply not care? Thinking about these things only served to make Herobrine depressed, but he couldn’t stop. He wondered how many people would come back alive tomorrow, if any at all. He had never engaged in battle with Celt, so he had no idea what his battle skills would be like. Perhaps he would be a completely useless fighter. Herobrine smiled a little. What a ridiculous thought.

What was being an enderchild like? Although Fae was not a true enderchild, she could still use essence – with its limits. She was a devastating creature, capable of destroying anything she wished. She could levitate, teleport, and kill. A real enderchild would also be given the gift of being able to live indefinitely.

Yet as Herobrine had seen, being an enderchild was not all it was cracked up to be. Everyone they went, people would shun them, fear them. Although enderchildren could have whatever they wished, they did this through the methods of pain and fear. Herobrine was the only person to see who Fae really was, and that underneath the betrayal and hatred masking her, she was still like everyone else.

Suddenly the moan of a zombie cut through the silence, and Herobrine froze. The image of Notch wielding the burning torch flashed through his mind, and even when he closed his eyes tightly, the fire danced before him. The screams of the mobs. Notch’s hate-filled eyes reflecting the bright flames.

Herobrine saw it. A lone zombie, wandering around and groaning stupidly. His hand went to his bow. Perhaps Notch was right after all. The mobs weren’t supposed to live. Both day and night belonged to the people.

Herobrine took aim. His hands shook as he notched an arrow. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this. Somehow it felt right. It felt right to kill others for no reason, right to kill an innocent, helpless creature.

A myth ran through Herobrine’s mind. Zombies were actually dead people, given another chance to walk Minecraftia. If it was true, this zombie could be anyone. It could be Tiger, Poseidon, Runnel… it could even be Fae.

As Herobrine lowered his bow, his breath came out in ragged gasps. Notch was wrong. The humans and mobs couldn’t exist without each other. Light couldn’t exist without darkness. Love couldn’t exist without hate.

Black and white, yin and yang. Even though they seemed as different as the night was from day, they needed each other to survive.

The moon was already nearly halfway up the sky now. Herobrine needed to rest up for tomorrow. With one last look at the zombie, Herobrine started on the long journey back home.

My references are getting more and more obscure, aren’t they?