Depths (Herobrine x Mute!Reader)

Part 4: Welcome To The Nether

"Y/n! My, what a pretty dress you have on!" Steve exclaimed as you two met in the halls. Yaedal led you to him just in time! "Beautiful as it, it just won't do." His smile dropped, showing the sadness he felt for telling you this. "No.. The dress needs to be a little shorter to show the extent of the burns.. Oh! And the cuts will stand out more if you wear blue." You look at him with confusion. What exactly was this event going to be about? "Here here. I'll send Lydia with ya to find you a better one for the occasion. Oh LYDIA!!!"

"What?!"

Steve had the other Dezzer woman find you a dress to both your and Yaedal's dismay. She found such a dress he was looking for. Short and poofy. A lot more revealing but thankfully not in a sexualizing kind of way. Just made you look a lot more like a little girl. Lydia as a finishing touch also did your hair to make it look all dressy for the occasion, finishing by putting a deep sea blue bow -- same color as your dress -- at the back of your head. You looked.. younger. Didn't know whether that was supposed to be a good or bad thing.

Afterwards, you were hurried out of the room back to see Steve.

"Ahh, much better!" The man grinned, he too wearing a fancy suit for once. Red rimming to his suit along with a bright red tie. Once you were close enough, you stopped to sign.

"Will your brother be there?"

"Oh, I wish! But no." Steve wrapped an arm around you and led you towards a curtained doorframe. "Sadly, he tries his best to avoid these." Moving the curtain out of the way, Steve revealed a large audience. You froze up seeing so many eyes. The crowd suddenly erupted into a chear. You could barely breathe. Still coaxing you, the man nudged your back forwards a little, forcing you to take a step. Once you did, you decided to just smile and play along.

What...on...Earth...?

Once handed the microphone by a walking skeleton, Steve ran ahead of you on the large stage, jumped in excitement and thrust his arm out toward the crowd, facing you. "WELCOME TO THE NETHER, Y/N!!!" The crowd cheered again, another erupting roar of applause.

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You weren't really good at being in front of people, so, thankfully Steve was the one doing much of the talking. All he asked was for you to interject now and again and confirm the story he was telling.

It was all about you. All of it. Even though people kept telling you there were many out there who now knew your name.. you had been too shocked to believe it... But, now. As thousands gathered all around to surround you with their praise and love. It was scary, yes, but it was also the greatest thing in the world!

Steve told your tale to the masses, the new, updated version that had come from you yourself only a few days back.

He told of how those humans treated you; how your kind -- their kind -- was seen as nothing but a curse. It got a little uncomfortable as he went into some of the details of how you lived so terribly, but sitting comfortably on a chair on stage, there was little you could do but twiddle your fingers.

And at the end. Ohhhh, at the end was where Steve's intentions for all of this really came out!

"AND THAT IS WHY I SAY WE RALLY THE TROOPS!!" He was now shouting, thrusting his pointer finger into the air.

"YEAH!!" The audience screamed back in agreement.

"THAT'S WHY I SAY NO MORE!!!"

"YEAH!!"

"WE. WILL. NOT BE IGNORED!!!"

"WOOOOO!!!" The crowd was wild, just as eager for Steve himself to see some change. Steve pointed the mic their way and grinned wider than you had ever seen him before. Sweat stuck a few strands of hair to his face as, through his pearly whites, he laughed and cheered.

When both parties, both the crowd and Steve, had dyed down, Steve held the mic to his mouth again. He had to stop and laugh a little bit since he was still panting so hard. Much of the audience chuckled with him. Then, once he was ready, his face rose again. "...That's why we need this war."

A drumming shook the ground and the thousands upon thousands in the audience erupted again into a mighty roar of approval.

"You heard me! That's why I said.. WE'RE. GUNNA. FIGHT!!!... WOO!"

You sat there awkwardly, seeing you had little place here in this part of the...meeting?

It was in the middle of all this that you noticed something. Hiding away on one of the smaller the balconies, mostly obscured by dark shapes and strangers..was the king himself. Herobrine stood leaning against one of the doorways that entered onto the balcony, his arms crossed over his chest. It was hard to tell by how far away he was exactly what expression he had on, but judging by his body posture you had to guess he wasn't all too excited about what his brother was saying...

Strange... Wonder why?

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The meeting ended as abruptly as it had started. People were streaming out when Steve, sweaty and worn out now, came your way this time with a tired smile.

"Ight. Why don't we get us something to eat?" He offered. "Hey, Lydia, Piper, and Eeko! Where should we go get something to eat?!" He hollered to the back stage crew, who ran out after being called. Steve's own adopted.

"That was great!!" Eeko, the one who especially looked like a cute little Oreo -- though he was the tallest -- congratulated his friend, Steve.

"Aw, thanks, man! Couldn't've done it without you guys!" Steve.

"Hmm... How about...? You good with crater food?" Piper stood there, rubbing his chin decisively.

"Eh, I'm more of a flats kinda guy."

"Ooh! I'm up for some of that!!" Lydia chimed. "O..-h, as long as there isn't any marrow in it.." You had no idea what they were talking about, standing from the chair, but as long as food was involved you were IN!

"Spikesponk sound good to all 'a yah?" Steve.

"Yeah!" Eeko.
"I guess.." Piper.
"Mmm, sounds de-lish!" Lydia.

And then a hand landed on your shoulder as you neared the group. But it wasn't any of theirs, which made you jump.

"Steven, I'd like to speak with you." It was Herobrine. 0.0

"Ughh, we've already gone over this, Hero. I'm not breaking any rules.-"

"-In private." The King growled through his teeth. The hand holding your shoulder squeezed a smidge tighter. Steve stared up his older brother for a couple more seconds before finally complying.

"...Hhhh, fine." Herobrine released your shoulder and you wondered if that all was really necessary. Steve followed the stiffly walking king behind stage, where once hidden away, the two hissed and growled back and forth, too quietly for any of you guys to make out what they were saying. After a good couple minutes, the two emerged again. "Hh, alright, Y/n. Sorry, but you can't come have dinner with the rest of us." Your mouth dropped open in protest. "Because, you get to have dinner with my brother!... Exciting!" His smile couldn't have been faker.

Herobrine stood somewhat behind and to the side of Steve, Staring ahead with his hands together behind his back. Your mouth closed up again.

I mean...food is still food no matter where it's coming from.