Abolish Herobrine

The Search Begins

Steve begins his work with the Herobrine Hunters in an attempt to buy time

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Steve's entire body rung with excitement. He should have been scared, instead. But his curiosity as usual overrode all good sense. Even knowing his greatest fault, he simply couldn't help it.

He was going to meet heroes! Straight from the legends he kept hearing about. They were humans, like him, but they had powers! They must have gone on so many great adventures. Steve wished so much that he would also one day go out on an adventure. He used to dream of it, while he spent hours in monotonous work mining in dim torch light beneath the surface.

The grimy earth and rock would spray past his face at the rhythmic strikes of his pick, while his imagination would take him to the mysterious ancient structures standing sunlit in the desert and ruins lost in the heart of the jungle, filled with deadly traps to protect untold treasure. In his mind, he would be scaling the deep underground passages where gleaming lava slowly flowed, gathering into heated red pools and diamonds sparkled in the dark walls.

Exchanging a nod with a sleepy town guard, Steve walked right into town, heading to the small park by the Market where he agreed to meet the heroes yesterday.

"Steve?... Steve! Wait up!" A voice called him from behind. Casually turning, Steve saw Grayn hurrying to intercept him. The short, aging merchant's face wrinkled with worry. Steve greeted him with a smile, which the man ignored.

"Steve! You have to leave!" Grayn immediately declared and cast about an uneasy look. Before Steve could ask what it was all about, the man stepped closer.

"Yesterday, after you left, those... those 'heroes' came to me. They asked about you! I-I told them. I'm sorry, Steve! Notch, they scared me! I swear, I thought they were going to burn my stall on the spot!"

"Oh?" Steve frowned. Despite knowing what they had done to Herobrine, he didn't perceive anything bad about them himself when they came to visit. They seemed uptight, but reasonable and polite. The merchant, though, took in a shaky breath.

"And they said that-that you look like Him! Our monster! The way they were looking at you, it was scary! I thought they were going to go after you and-and do something bad. So-so you should leave! Go away from town for a bit, so they won't find you!"

Steve unwillingly smiled. The old man's concern for his well being warmed his heart. That's why he chose to settle near this town in the first place – he really liked the atmosphere and the people who lived here. So friendly and welcoming, they right away accepted him as if he dwelled among them all along.

The man even began to stutter a little as he urgently looked at Steve, his hands grasped together. Sweat liberally trailed down his balding head. It was very warm.

"Its too late, Grayn. They already found me. They came to my place yesterday. But don't worry! They didn't do anything bad. Just offered me work." Steve reassured.

The man blinked at him, lost, then deflated a bit as relief flooded into his expression.

"You s-sure? Because... I would hate if anything happened to you, child. You are... You are a good soul. You deserve only good things to happen to you."

Steve humphed at this heartfelt declaration, even a bit embarrassed. "Thank you, Grayn. But everything will be all right. Don't worry."

"All right." The merchant accepted, calming down. "You said that... they offered you work? What kind of work?"

"Um... Mining." Steve said firmly, not wishing to worry the old man further. The man blinked at him a bit mistrustfully.

"Mining?"