The Sins of the Father

Chapter Twelve

Surprise! Wednesday chapter bc I'm bored. Thursday chapter will now be coming out Friday.

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Herobrine limped through the quiet forest, one hand braced against his sloppily wrapped wound as he made his way through the darkness. It was late at night, his preferred time to travel as he was unlikely to run into anyone on the road. In this forest, though, he was unlikely to come across anyone at all. These forests - in his time, anyway - had a reputation for being cursed, due to the darkness beneath the canopy sheltering less than friendly creatures. Herobrine was not concerned with monsters, though. He knew he was the most frightening of them all.

He shuffled to a stop, rubbing at his tired eyes. As he'd aged, his darkvision had deteriorated, and he could no longer see as well at night as he once did. He glanced up at the canopy, weighing his options, then teleported, appearing on a strong, sturdy branch beneath the night sky.

The moon was bright, drowning out many of the stars with its light. Herobrine reached out with his bad leg and prodded at the leaves. The trees grew fairly evenly even at this height, and the interwoven branches served to be nearly as steady as the grass below. He did have to take slightly more care to keep his balance due to his leg, but got into a rhythm quickly enough.

His thoughts had been troubled of late. Encountering the Lady of Melbourne's child had brought up memories that he struggled to keep suppressed, joyful memories that now pained him to recall. Memories of his own son, in his wife's arms.

The trees blurred before him, and he lurched back, struggling to catch his balance. He reached up to brush away the tears, and grimaced as they continued to fall. He didn't have time for this.

He had to find the portal, had to find a way to the Aether. He had been working towards this goal for years, and now, now he finally had at least a clue. Even if the Lady had been silent, her presence had told him enough - there was a portal in this area, somewhere. He would find it eventually.

And once he had, he would kill Notch. He would make him suffer for every day that Herobrine had suffered since that night fifteen years ago. The painful memories banished, his tears slowed, and Herobrine dried his face before continuing on over the trees.

Movement above him caught his eye, and Herobrine looked up with a frown.

Immediately, he jumped down to a lower branch, crouching on the thick bough as a valkyrie's silhouette crossed past the moon. He tracked the shape with narrowed eyes. A scout? Valkyries typically traveled in groups, but this one seemed to be alone. Perhaps it was a messenger...? As he watched, though, the valkyrie began to descend, disappearing through a gap in the trees.

Herobrine's hand moved to his belt, gripping the handle of his sword as he teleported to the ground. If it was a messenger, the valkyrie may have information. If it did not, at least the kill would cheer him on an otherwise joyless night.

~~

"You really like that bucket." Stephen commented, walking just behind Alexis as the redhead led the way through the trees.

"It's useful." The aforementioned bucket now hung at her side, filled with apples that they had picked off of a tree encountered earlier that day. "Carries food."

"I can see that." Stephen smirked a bit as he ducked underneath a low-hanging branch. They were very fortunate to have found the tree earlier, and Stephen felt considerably better after eating three or four of the sweet fruits. They had napped again through the afternoon, and now traveled at night. It was considerably harder to see under the trees than it had been on the plain, but that was a blessing as well as a curse. Cafos stood virtually no chance of spotting them from the sky, and it was highly unlikely that he would run into them in the woods.