Six Stone Souls (The Pack)

Chapter 38

Warnings: cue the long sad backstory

    ~Rob's P.O.V.~

Preston brings the sword own, but then the words register, and the blade stops mere inches from Herobrine's skull.

"What did you say?" Preston questions, the sword dropping to his side.
"I said... I'm SORRY!" Herobrine cries, whipping around to face us.

All six of our jaws hang slightly agape as we take in Herorbine's expression. Herobrine. The ruthless killer that's levelled villages, mind controlled hundred of mobs, and killed Notch for world domination... Is crying. Small streams of white mist spill from Herobrine's blood shot and now dull eyes. Nearest to his eyes, the mist is blue, like the tears streaming down his dirty, sweaty, bruised, and bloody cheeks.

"I-I'm so so-orry..." He repeated quietly, swallowing hard.

The six of us stand there shocked staring at Herobrine, shaking weakly and sobbing on the ground. How are we supposed to react to this? I wonder, Herobrine whimpering and quivering like a defenceless child. He doesn't hold the same voice as before, where it was filled with power, authority, and deadliness. Or those times when the voice would split into two, one remaining normal, and the other low and menacing. He sounds like a normal person. Like us.

I feel something tug at my heartstrings. There's obviously something more to Herobrine than we know, because this is definitely not the Herobrine we know. And what's with his weird attachment to that diamond pickaxe? For the first time since I've been revived, or even our fight over s thousand years ago, I feel sorry for him. And as Preston moves to stab the sword through the defeated form of Herobrine, I gently lay a hand on his arm, stopping him.

"Can I kill him?" Preston asks, both confused, still angry, and uncertain of his actions.
"No."
"Just a little bit?"

I glare at him meaningfully, and he obediently shuts up.

"What are you doing Rob? He deserves to die!" Jerome spits, fur bristling.
I shake my head, dismissing the comment, and turn to Herobrine. "Well? We're sparing you-"
"Correction, you're sparing him." Lachlan's cuts in.
I glare at him before looking back to Herobrine who's looking at me with confused tear-filled eyes. "-so start talking."

I hold his gaze for a moment, and look into those dull white, tear filled, puffy eyes. And although I can't quite put my finger on it, something urges me to ask a certain question.

"What happened?" I ask softly.

It's a simple two-worded question, but it's enough to cause him to break down again, hanging his head shamefully. Behind me I can sense the confused and shocked expressions of my friends, take aback by the sudden behaviour. By this point, we've all returned to normal, our coloured eyes and auras having disappeared. Preston looks reluctant, but I nod for him to move back, kneeling beside Herobrine.

Gently, I press my hands to his shoulder area. Heorbrine stiffens under the touch, but relaxes a tad when he realizes what I'm doing. Vikk does too, and he's not exactly happy about it.

"Rob! What on earth are you doing? He's going to attack us if you heal him!"
"He's trying to trick you!" Mitch pitches in, the other three nodding hastily.
"Does this face look like the face that's trying to deceive us?" I question, watching as the wounds on Herobrine gradually begin to seal.
"But... But it's Herobrine!" Jerome utters.
"And he deserves a chance to speak."