Steve wandered the village perimeter, thinking to himself. Since he was pretty useless at doing everything, Core had put him on guard duty. It was a pretty simple job, but Steve didn’t mind. Someone had to do it.

Steve yawned. It was almost midday. He checked his watch. “I think I can have some lunch now,” he muttered to himself, taking some cooked fish out of his inventory. As he ate, he wondered how his own village were doing.

When the village had done a vote to see if they should do the raid, Steve had been terrified. Of course, he had voted a firm ‘no’. However, he was in the minority, and thus had gotten up the next morning decked out in full iron armour. Although some stayed behind, he was one of the few unwilling people who had been forced to go along anyway. He could barely lift the heavy sword he had been given.

“It’ll be fine. It’s a surprise raid,” Sly had whispered to him. “It’ll be over before you even know it.”

But Steve hadn’t been so sure. And so, when they had arrived at Excalibur, Steve had ignored Fae’s instructions and hidden outside the village in the neutral territory. When the sky turned black and lightning came thundering down, Steve knew he had made the right choice. And when only a few of the people who had gone in came out, Steve had sat there shivering with fear, witnessing the terrible burns and scars of the few survivors.

Steve shook his head. “It’s all in the past. You can’t change it, so there’s no point worrying about it,” he whispered, finishing off the last of his fish. “Just keep on walking.”

It wasn’t particularly exciting, though, walking around the same route over and over again. Before he knew it, he had wandered off into the neutral territory between the two warring villages. “I need to go back,” he said suddenly, turning around. “Ey?”

There in front of him was a girl, looking confused and upset and very hurt. “I’m Steve. Are you lost?” Steve asked. When there was no answer, he continued on. “I’m sure Excalibur will help you like they helped me!”

“I-I’m good, I know where I’m going,” the girl said eventually. “Thanks for the help, bro.”

Steve scratched his head as the girl disappeared from sight, heading towards the village of Excalibur. “You’re welcome,” he murmured, and continued patrolling.

~o~O~o~

“Boo…” Core said, looking at the girl before him suspiciously. She gulped. “What do you want here?”

What could she say? No matter what Boo did, she was followed by accusing glares and spiteful glances. She had been dragged out of Excalibur by that enderchild’s powers, but the Excalibloods didn’t know that. They thought she was fed up of Excalibur, and had left of her own free will. However, it was exactly the opposite. Boo longed to leave her new home in the bloodthirsty village of Musket, but with Fae’s eyes on her all the time, she had been unable to escape. She had fled at the first opportunity. Ironically, Fae had been the one to throw her out. Boo was thankful for her act of spite.

“I want to come back,” Boo said confidently, and immediately regretted it. What if Core told her off for her nonchalance? What if he still hated her no matter what? What if…

“So you finally outwitted that enderchild, then.”

“Huh?”

Core looked at Boo with his impossible-to-read expression. “When you left, you were under the influence of Fae, and you had no idea what was going on. I know you think that we shunned you once we saw you going away, but I tried as hard as I could to get you back. Yet… she was too strong. She took you away, and I’ve been hoping that somehow, one day you would come back…”

“I’m sorry for taking part in the raid. I had no choice.”

“I understand.”

“Core… how do you know all these things?”

Boo looked at Core, but he was staring out the window. She walked up beside him, and saw Khet and Hal having a swordfight with wooden swords. “You used to love swordfighting…” Core sighed, and Boo nodded in agreement. “Mining too.”

“Drop!” Boo cried out suddenly, seeing the girl walk past, iron pick over her shoulder. Boo heard something land in front of her, and picked it up instinctively. It was an iron pick.

“Go ahead, then. Mine with your friend,” Core said, still looking out the window. Boo smiled.

“Thanks… leader.”

~o~O~o~

The sun was setting over Minecraftia, and everywhere people were getting ready to go to bed. Herobrine kept on hitting the obsidian block with his diamond sword, vowing to get it to break. Hal had told him it was impossible. Herobrine was putting that to the test.

“Brine, don’t you think it’s time to go to bed now?” Drop said, giving Herobrine a gentle tap on the arm with her iron pick as she walked past. As he rubbed his injured arm, Herobrine saw someone he didn’t recognise walking next to her.

“I’m Boo,” the girl said, noticing Herobrine’s stare. “Who are you?”

“I-I’m Herobrine,” he stuttered, “Nice to meet you.”

The duo walked away without another word, and Herobrine shrugged, returning to the obsidian. Then was another tap on his arm, and Herobrine saw Hal standing next to him with a concerned look on his face.

“Herobrine, I told you, it’s impossible…” Hal said, but Herobrine would have none of it.

“I know I can do it. I’ll stay up all night just to prove you wrong,” Herobrine said defiantly, still hacking at the obsidian with unstoppable determination.

“Well, do what you wish. Just… do it somewhere else, okay? It’s kind of loud…”

“Sure.”

As Hal walked away, Herobrine pushed the heavy obsidian, far away from the sleeping village. When he was deep in the jungle, he stopped pushing, and started chopping at it again.

Finally the obsidian broke away, and Herobrine punched the air. “I knew it was possible!” he yelled, but the only reply was the clanking of bones and the growls of zombies. He looked at the sky, and realised that it was already well past midnight. The mobs were friendly, but they didn’t like having their night intruded.

Herobrine heard the hiss of a spider, and shrank back against a tree. Fear took hold of his body, and his heart leapt up into his throat, beating uncontrollably. “They won’t attack you. It’s fine,” he muttered, but the words were shaky, unsteady. He couldn’t believe his own voice. They were just meaningless sounds. It felt like a thousand eyes were on him. Herobrine knew the mobs wouldn’t hurt him… would they?

Creepers walked past, staring at him. Herobrine heard strange, inhuman noises, and bats squeaked in the cold night air. “Help…” he whimpered, terrified. He had attracted the attention of a lot more mobs now. Swallowing his fear, he stood up boldly and shouted, “I’m not afraid of you!”

His voice echoed across the quiet landscape, and mobs turned to look at him. After a moment, they carried on walking, but Herobrine wasn’t any less scared. “I’m not afraid of you,” he repeated, quietly this time. A skeleton glared at him frostily, and Herobrine gasped. “HELP!” he screamed, and he lost all his previous bravery. “SOMEONE, PLEASE! HELP!”

Suddenly, there was a flare of light. Fire. A figure approached him in the darkness, wielding a burning torch. He set the mobs alight without any guilt, and for a brief moment Herobrine saw Notch’s face illuminated by the flames. “I’m coming!” Notch yelled, “Hang on in there!”

Herobrine cowered with fear as Notch approached, still holding the torch. “Take my hand,” he ordered, and Herobrine took hold of Notch’s outstretched hand. Notch led him to a small, dark cave, but the flickering torch cast a cheerful glow on the walls, driving away the darkness. “We’ll be safe in here.”

Herobrine sniffled, shivering uncontrollably. Notch placed down the torch on the floor, and Herobrine basked in the warm light. Within ticks he was smiling again. He looked at Notch, but his face was deadly serious.

“Those mobs need to be slain,” he said. “They’re just pests, vermin. They shouldn’t be permitted to live. I’m going to go and kill some more of them–”

“No! Don’t!” Herobrine cried, and Notch stared at him. “They don’t want to hurt us,” Herobrine said softly. “I know I was afraid, but it wasn’t because of the mobs.”

Notch looked surprised. “Then what was it?”

“I… I’m afraid of being alone.”

“But those mobs…”

“I know you don’t like them, but please… don’t leave me. Even if you kill off every mob in Minecraftia, don’t forget about me!”

Herobrine’s voice cracked at the last part, and he started crying. “I just… I just don’t want to be left alone.”

“Don’t worry, Herobrine,” Notch smiled, taking Herobrine under his arm. “I will never leave you.”

Herobrine nodded. “Promise?”

“I promise… brother.”

The two of them smiled. They spent the rest of the night sleeping in the cave, the torchlight gently warming their bodies as it lulled them to sleep.

Damn, these author's notes are just getting more and more common... but there's just so much awesome fanart! Today's fanart is brought to you courtesy of SkyLover12345. There's also something else you might be interested in...

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