Chapter Fourteen - Notch

                                    

                                          
Not a long chapter, but certainly.... interesting, I hope
                          
Feat. The help of the WONDERFUL scarofherobrine, without whom this chapter probably would not have been realeased for like.... another week 
                          
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"Is Notch still out there?" Herobrine blinked, looking up at the unexpected question. Across the small grove of trees they were chopping down, Steve was leaning on his axe handle as he waited for a response.
                          
"Where did this come from?"
                          
"I've wondered for a while." Steve didn't change his posture, watching him with curious eyes. "I know he... put me here, and you as well. Does he still exist?" Herobrine pondered this for a moment. Did he truly not know? Had Notch never even visited him since the time he was created?
                          
"He does." He answered at last. "I visit him sometimes. Or, try, anyway. He's rarely there."
                          
"Where's 'there'?"
                          
"His server." Steve's blue eyes were bright as he eagerly awaited more details, and Herobrine felt a pang of pity. He had been left alone here, with no one but himself for company. And Herobrine, of course. No wonder he was so attached to all his animals. Perhaps that factored into his unexplained kindness? He was lonely? "He spends most of his time working. He only rarely comes to his server to begin with, and I don't visit that often, so we rarely cross paths."
                          
"Could you take me there?" Herobrine didn't even stop to think about it.
                          
"No."
                          
"Why not?" This time, Herobrine paused, carefully rehearsing his next words. A second thought slipped into his mind unbidden - I don't want him to know what I've done to you - but he pushed it away, choosing instead a carefully constructed lie.
                          
"His power would overwhelm you." Gripping the handle of his axe, Herobrine focused once more on the tree he had been engaged with chopping down. "While you may share my general appearance, inherently we are nothing alike. His very presence would likely stun you beyond consciousness."
                          
"Oh." Steve's voice was disappointed. "Are you... sure?"
                          
"Do you recall when you experienced the full might of my power?" Herobrine didn't look at him. "You were in shock. Frozen. Notch is ten times more powerful than I." Steve didn't speak for a few, long moments.
                          
"...okay." They worked in silence for the next few minutes, the only sounds being the thump of iron against wood. Steve was uncharacteristically quiet, and Herobrine found himself wondering what exactly was going on in his head. It had been a rash move to bring up such a sensitive event, but... he really didn't have another choice.
                          
"If I can't see him," The miner spoke at last. "Could you deliver a message for me?" Wordlessly, Herobrine glanced up to meet his eyes. "Could you tell him that it's kinda lonely down here in his world? I've been here for... somewhere around ten years now. My only friends have been the villagers, and y-" He cut himself off, then resumed. 
                          
"I know he has to be busy. He has to take care of the entire world, along with things outside it. But... while the world he made us is beautiful, it's... quiet." His eyes dropped to the ground. "Empty." Herobrine didn't respond. For a couple moments, the world was silent, broken only by the wind moving through the trees.
                          
"I'll tell him." He responded at last. "When I see him again."
                          
He didn't know whether or not he was lying.
                          


                          
[Herobrine]: you won't win
                          
[Herobrine]: you can't keep me here forever
                          
[Notch]: I think you'll find that I can.
                          
Blood, there's... blood, everywhere. He can taste it, he can smell it.
                          
[Herobrine]: you can't
                          
[Herobrine]: even if you never let me free
                          
[Herobrine]: i will die eventually of my wounds
                          
His head... numb. He can't feel his jaw, it's... half his face is gone. nothing but a bloody, gaping wound remains.
                          
[Notch]: Do you really think I would allow you to die before I am finished with you?
                          
[Notch]: I created you. I own you.
                          
[Notch]: You can not live, nor can you die, without my approval.
                          
Herobrine bends over, lungs straining for breath that will never come through his destroyed windpipe. a deep wound stretches across his midsection, blood seeping through the remains of his shirt and onto the bedrock floor.
                          
[Herobrine]: thats not true
                          
[Herobrine]: you cant keep me alivelike this
                          
[Notch]: You doubt your creator?
                          
Tears slip from his darkened eyes, mixing with the blood flowing from the slices in his skull.
                          
[Herobrine]: dont leavemehere
                          
[Herobrine]: dont leave me like this
                          
The door closes.
                          


                          
Herobrine woke up to the feeling of warmth against his skin.
                          
Shoving himself up, he was aware of the fire around him before he even opened his eyes. It seemed to be contained, though. While the carpet Steve had given him was long gone, the remains of fire around him had nothing to spread to, and as such stayed where it had been lit.
                          
Leaning back against the wall, Herobrine allowed himself to rest his eyes for a moment. He wasn't sleeping tonight, not anymore - he knew that for sure. Perhaps he would go back to the Nether until morning, maybe the familiarity of his home would stave the nightmares away.
                          
He cast a glance towards Steve's bed, upon which the miner was curled up in a comfortable ball. At least he hadn't awoken to find Herobrine caught in the throes of a nightmare... again.
                          
...though if he had, maybe he would have been able to cut his suffering short.
                          
Before he knew it, he found himself walking towards the miner's bedside. He didn't know why, but he didn't fight it. It was a lonely world, maybe he just wanted some company from another lost soul.
                          
Herobrine settled down on the floor at the end of the bed, leaning his head back against the wall and staring up at the textured ceiling. Beds were flammable, but he wasn't going to sleep, so there was no risk of him setting it aflame by mistake. Steve would be safe.
                          
His eyelids began to grow heavy, so he shifted his gaze to the moon, glowing through the far window. Night was drawing to a close, soon the sun would rise and he could get up for the day. Help Steve with the chores, maybe even talk him into mining. He liked it, somehow it... reminded him of when he was the same. A long, long time ago...
                          
He didn't notice when his eyes fluttered shut for a final time, and he dropped into a dreamless sleep.