Cruel but Gentle - Herobrine X Steve

Chapter 23

Almost two months. It's been almost two months. All of Dusky's wounds had healed, except her right eye. It had clouded over with a milky white. All the chocolate brown from that eye had faded away, however it was still easy to tell the iris from the sclera - they spotted different shades of white. A long, thin scar trailed across that eye, where the Zombie had struck her with that horrifying sword.

The eye was useless; it didn't work. Dusky despised it. She kept walking into objects, misjudging the distance. She kept messing up. She was clumsy. She couldn't find it in herself to play whenever Alex or (on rare occasions) Ace offered for her to join, not wanting to ruin their games with her horrible depth perception. On top of all this, the hole left when Steve died hadn't gotten any smaller; it had gotten bigger as the time passed on.

She hadn't seen Herobrine since the day he had apologised for what he had done to her. Confusion still plagued her whenever she thought about it and now curiosity had squeezed into her brain. What had happened in the time Steve and Herobrine where alone? Herobrine seemed so different...so upset. Had Steve changed him? There wasn't any other explanation, but Dusky was a bit doubtful. She had seen what Herobrine was able to do first hand.

The canine lay down on the bed which her and Steve slept in when they had first arrived at the castle. All scents of Steve had unfortunately faded over time and were replaced with a soft smell which mimicked the scent of lavenders.

"Dusky?" Came a familiar voice, belonging to a certain ginger tabby. Said cat poked his head through the door to look inside, green eyes resting on the solemn dog. "Can I come in?"

The two weren't friends, per say. Dusky was extremely grateful when she recalled how he saved her and Ace was smug about it. They had grown closer, it was hard not to with all that was going on. Yet, they were more of acquaintances than friends.

"Sure..." Ace then trotted forward until he was close enough before leaping up into the bed, landing perfectly then siting down to face Dusky (who hadn't moved from her spot). Awkward silence seeped into the room for a minute before Ace broke it. "You okay?"

"Honestly, not really..." Dusky sighed sadly.

"Wanna talk about it..?" The tabby asked, not having a clue on how to comfort others.

"N-No, it's okay. You don't have to do this...I'll be fine."

"But you're not fine, Dusky. It's painfully obvious. C'mon, I won't tell anyone about this. It's not like the humans understand us anyways."

"Ace, I said I'll be fine."

"Dusky you've been avoiding everyone! You hardly eat! Don't think I haven't noticed! Alex and Notch have too. They're worried!"

"I'm fine, Ace!" Dusky growled, getting to her paws, agitated by the ginger cat's insistence on this matter.

"You're not!" Ace hissed back, unafraid of Dusky's aggression and standing up himself. "Just tell me what's wrong!"

"I'm scared, alright?!" Dusky snapped, anger deflating. "I'm confused! It's killing me, Ace...I don't know what to do..." Her chocolate eye glazed over with built up pain (the cloudy one remaining dead) as she lay back down, sinking on top of the clean bed sheets.

"That's okay." Ace assured, moving closer, calm and determined to try and cheer up the dog.

"It's my fault Steve's g-gone..." She muttered, self-anger bubbling to the surface.

"How is it? You took a sword the face, I'm surprised the damage wasn't worse with how bad it looked! You couldn't have stopped Herobrine anyway!"

"If I was stronger-"

"No. Hate to break it to you, but Herobrine is a god. He's a powerful, immortal being who has no remorse for his actions. He's impossibly strong. The only one who can stop him is Notch. You couldn't have done anything." Dusky let out a low whine.

"...Ace..?"

"Yeah, Dusky?"

"...Do you think there's a slight chance, I don't know, that Herobrine fell in love with Steve..?"

Ace did a double take, surprised by the forlorn canine's words. Was Herobrine even capable of feeling love? Well, he was really upset when Steve died...and guilty. Ace hadn't heard many stories of Herobrine, yet the few he had portrayed the god as cold and unforgiving. Fuelled by rage and heartless.

"Why do you ask?" Ace finally inquired. Dusky took a deep breath.

"When he asked to talk with me alone, he told me he loved Steve and asked me to protect him when he came back." The cat was uncertain on how to respond. This didn't match up with anything he had heard. "He also said he was afraid of hurting Steve again...It's a stupid a idea but...what if he was telling the t-truth..?"

"...I'm not sure..." Ace admitted. "But," he placed a paw on Dusky's side. "What I do know is that it's a possibility and that you are one kind, selfless animal." The tabby then broke into a sly grin. "Which is pretty good for a dog, I guess." A snort of laughter was drawn from Dusky.

"Thanks, Ace. I guess you're pretty good too, for a cat."

It still hurt. A hole still remained in her chest. Depression still leached onto her soul. Guilt still dragged her down like iron shackles chained to metal balls. Yet now...everything felt a little lighter, the day seemed little brighter, and somehow Dusky now knew that things would all turn out okay.

After all, it never rains forever.