Herobrine X Reader - Love's Wither Rose (COMPLETE)

23 - Lightning Never Strikes Twice

A/N:
Sorry this one's a bit late! As compensation I decided to add a quick doodle of this story's Wither Storm!

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My eyes snapped wide open as I shot up into a sitting position. It felt like my lungs were underwater, frozen. I had to remind myself to breathe, however desperate and ragged it was: in...out...in...out. Everything, even my own gasped lungfuls of air, sounded muffled, as if it weren't just my chest in that freezing lake, but my whole body, head to toe. I glanced down at my hands, shaking in my lap; someone's fingers came to gently envelop my hand. Herobrine's voice brought my head back above the water as the last fragments of my dream sank further and further down into the icy abyss, forgotten, just as all things are when given time.

"Hey, hey," he whispered. "It's okay - you're okay."

Herobrine tenderly wiped away the tears on my cheeks that I hadn't even realised were there.

I glanced around the room, first noticing that I had been laying on a long table, with a folded piece of fabric for a pillow. Brewing stands occupied much of the walls in the spacious room, but other than that is was largely empty, only truly filled with a silence that came from Herobrine and I's quiet breathing. A silence that filled the room like the void filled the infinite expanse outside of the islands.

"What happened?" I asked at last, only having half the energy to hate how meek I sounded. "I remember when we landed in the platform, but the rest is...foggy."

"Wither affect. Probably the worst I've ever seen it." Herobrine looked me dead in the eye, expression grave and serious. "You said you were scratched by a wither rose in the stronghold."

"I was."

"(Y/N), I have never seen a scratch do that much harm; I...I thought I was going to lose you."

I offered Herobrine a small grin. "I'm still here, aren't I? You know it'll take more than that to keep me down."

"Like a few ghasts and an enderman?"

"Oh, shuddup!"

We both chuckled at the memory. It happened so long ago, now. We enjoyed the moment of effortless banter - something we could always just...do, from the beginning. Then, Herobrine frowned again.

"But seriously, (Y/N), I'm worried about you. Entity and I have done some talking, and, well, we both agree that you most likely wouldn't make it through another respawn, given what we saw with the wither affect."

"What do you mean?"

"You're on your last life, to put it simply.

"Respawns work by taking part of your soul - your life essence - and converting it into some kind of new energy, and that's what brings you back. Once you run out of your essence, that's it. Nothing that's alive can stay that way forever. There's always an end."

Another silence flooded the room.

"I want you to stay out of the fight," Herobrine muttered at last. "I want to protect you."

Whatever energy I had ignited like hellfire in my veins as I jumped off the table to face him. "You thought keeping me in the dark would protect me, didn't you? Look at where we are!

"I am not running away, or backing down. I am going to save my home, or I will die trying. For me to go on, hiding away while the Overworld falls to ruin at the hands of that thing? That's not life. It's worse than death."

"(Y/N) -"

"No. I don't want to hear it! I've made my decision, and nothing, mortal or otherwise, is going to change my mind -"