Steven - A "Herobrine" Fanfiction

Chapter One - A Lonely World

In case you somehow missed it in the description, this is a fanfiction of a fanfiction. While it is possible to read it without reading the original, I would recommend doing that first, it's really good :')

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Steve's axe severed the tree trunk with a satisfying thwack, and he took a step back as the block shrunk and was sucked into his inventory. Reaching up to wipe the sweat off of his brow, he glanced up at the mid-afternoon sun, at its height in the sky above him. Plenty of daylight left to finish this grove of trees.

Shouldering his axe, Steve ambled towards the next oak tree, out of place in the savannah biome he had made his home. Call him obsessive, but he liked having different colors of wood to build with. Next to the oak grove was a small patch of birch, and beyond that were a few spruce his trees. Ironically, his house itself was made almost entirely out of stone, but he found plenty of use for the wood regardless, replacing fences destroyed by creepers alone used a few trees' worth of planks every week.

One of his tamed wolves, Skipper, barked at him as he passed by, and he gave the dog a pat before continuing on to the tree and starting to hack at the bottom block, only half of his mind focused on his axe and the task at hand. The other half was listening to the sounds of his environment, ready to act if he heard anything out of the ordinary. For now, though, all he heard was chickens clucking and cows lowing - and what sounded like a couple of his cats hissing at each other. He glanced over his shoulder just to be sure.

Life was quiet, but he liked it that way. Steve was perfectly happy in the company of his animals, spending the nights driving the mobs away and staying alive. Keeping busy helped overwrite older memories, and he could almost pretend it had always been this way. Maybe one day he would forget for good.

A sapling dropped from the leaves in the corner of his eye, attracting his gaze to the movement for a split second, but something else caught his attention and his head jerked up.

A humanoid figure stood across his wheat field, wearing a teal shirt and blue jeans. He might think it a zombie, if not for the dusty, tanned skin, rather than the sickly green of a zombie's flesh. Indeed, the figure looked similar enough to be his twin, if not for his single, glowing, white eye.

"Herobrine." The name slipped past Steve's lips in a whisper as he froze, the head of his axe resting in a block of wood. The other man was still and silent, staring at him without blinking. What was he doing here...??

The last time they'd met - well, been in the same place, at least, had been at the warrior's 'execution'. He'd disappeared after that - along with all the other people who had shown up out of nowhere. Steve had been alone since then, or at least that's what he had believed. Had he been here, watching him, all along? He had to be letting him see him, there were plenty of places for him to hide even in broad daylight. So why?

Slowly, the miner straightened up, returning his axe to his inventory. Turning in his double's direction, he lowered his arms to his sides, watching the other man carefully. Still, Herobrine didn't move.

Quickly checking his inventory to ensure he had his weapons, Steve took an unsteady step in his twin's direction. Nothing. He took another, then a third, but Herobrine paid him no heed. A nagging voice in the back of his head was scolding him, saying hey, this is a bad idea, but his curiosity won over and he kept approaching.

When he got within about thirty blocks of him, Herobrine disappeared. Steve jumped, glancing around quickly, but there was no more sign of his white-eyed twin. Running a shaky hand through his short hair, Steve started back towards his house, hoping to Notch that he wouldn't wake up tonight to all his belongings in flames.

Herobrine was not lonely.

The nether king sulked on his throne, single eye narrowed at the sheer arrogance of little voice in his head to assume so. Just as he had told Notch, so long ago, he was quite content with the company of his mobs. Boredom, he was well accustomed to, but loneliness was all but unheard of.

...so why did he feel so empty?

Angrily, Herobrine rubbed at his ruined left eye with the back of his hand. The ache never went away, even when the rest of his wounds finally gave up their hold on him. He wasn't lonely, just bored. He had stopped tormenting the players a long time ago, after the events that had cost him his eye. He wasn't afraid, just rightfully cautious of something like that ever happening again.

Notch was very busy now. Even when he had tried to communicate with his brother, the elder had rarely had time to chat for more than a couple minutes. This all but confirmed his previous suspicions, that Notch had cut him off because he wanted him gone. He was only ever a burden, after all. A glitch, to be slowly, eventually, removed.

So why was Stephanus so interesting to him? Perhaps he wanted to see a bit of Notch again, what little had bled over into his new creation. Why on Earth he would want to see Notch after he had left him alone in his world, he didn't know, but he didn't care enough to pursue that angle. Maybe he just missed tormenting the players, and Stephanus was the closest he could get to that without influencing the player base.

Neither of those options seemed right, though. Perhaps he was just curious of what the miner did to entertain himself in a lonely world. Although, from what he had seen today, he seemed to follow the same method he himself did - surround himself with loyal mobs and do his best to survive. Although, Herobrine is Creative, surviving is all but effortless for him.

Maybe he could imitate Stephanus' lifestyle for a little while, gather resources and live like the players did. They seemed to have no end of things to fill their time, at least until they got bored and logged off. That was their only ability that made them superior to him - although he could roam the infinite world to his heart's content, he was still trapped inside the game that Notch had made, cursed by his legacy to be feared and hated by the only other sentient creatures that inhabited it.

Herobrine leaned back, rubbing his eye again tiredly before lowering his hand back to his side. He didn't want to rush into any one decision just yet. He had an infinite life, and no shortage of paths to pursue. For now, he might visit Stephanus again, if nothing else but a break from the harsh heat of the Nether.

Besides, it had been a long time. It might be nice to say hello.