"I kid you not, it took a total of thirteen hours for that zombie pigman to swim out of the lava. I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life." Herobrine said while trying to catch his breath from laughing. His stomach cramped in pain from laughing so much but he didn't care.

Alex's eyes glimmered with tears as she was wiping them away. Slowly they both died down into a chuckle. "Man," Alex started with a sigh, "I haven't laughed like that in a few good years."

"How come?"

Alex's smile came to a halt and she tugged the ends of her cloak together as if it were a blanket wrapped around her. "Well, things haven't been going smoothly for the past few years. Notch has stressed himself out to the point where he's almost unstable. Steve has gotten busier with life that he can't exactly stay home as long as I'd like him to. And then you..."

Alex's eyes fell to the broken cobble that lined the street. "It's always been tough being related to you. Yeah, your attacks are very stressful, but think about the people. Steve brushes it off like it's no big deal, but I can't handle it sometimes."

Herobrine peered up at her, sadness creeping into his veins. "What do the people do?" Her head lifted up the slightest, but her vivid green eyes stayed but a shadow to the ground.

"Some think I'm a demon. Some think I'm a witch. Some accuse me of being your spy. They say this just because you're my brother. Of course I always deny it, but after hearing those hateful words spat by every person I came across...I just had to get away." Her voice died into a whisper and he realized then why she kept pulling the cloak tighter around herself.

Alex lost the people who were supposed to protect her over the years. That cloak was her protection. It shielded her from the enemy's worst weapon - words.

"So you became Amunet. Nobody knew who you were, so nobody knew who you were related to." Herobrine finished for her, the guilt beginning to consume him. Her eyes grew larger than saucers and she shook her head frantically.

"I-I-I didn't m-mean it like that-"

Herobrine chuckled and cut her off. "Alex, it's fine. It's kind of hard to offend me anyways. I mean, I'm not the most innocent person in the world." Alex let out a small sigh of relief. They both stayed quiet for only a few moments, but the silence was already beginning to thicken. Herobrine peered up to the sky to see that the sun was starting to sag in the brilliant blue of the sky.

"We might want to start heading back to the house if you want to make it back before nightfall."

Alex glanced up to the sky and nodded her head in agreement. "I didn't know it was so late," she said as she was getting up. Herobrine did the same and was about to step out of the alley but Alex stopped him.

"Change into a cat."

Herobrine stepped back, confused if not taken aback. "What? Why do I have to do that?"

"If someone does happen to see us exit the village, I don't want them to see two cloaked people. That's just town gossip waiting to happen." She muttered the last one to herself with an annoyed eye roll.

"But-"

"No. Turn into a cat." She ordered. Herobrine grumbled and complained, but transformed into a cat when she wouldn't budge.

"Aw...you're so adorable when you're a cat." Alex gushed.

"Can we just go now? It's humiliating enough to be like this at the house but now I have to do it in public." Herobrine complained.

"You were like that in the Aether where a bunch of high ranking officials saw you. Trust me, this is a lot less humiliating."

Alex pulled her hood up, making sure all traces of her bright red hair were shadowed in her hood. Taking a quick look behind her, she stepped out of the dingy alleyway and into the clear grassland.

"We have to go into the forest. That's where the trail will be." Alex pointed slightly to the right where a dense forest of trees were located. Alex began hiking across the somewhat flat terrain with Herobrine close behind.

"So tell me," Alex said as they were halfway to the forest,"how'd you find our house in the first place?"

"Used some sorcery skills to spy on you a long time ago. I never attacked you though because I'm such a great brother." Herobrine said with an innocent smile. Well, sort of a smile. Being a cat it was a little hard to tell if he was smiling at all.

Alex snorted at him. "I'll make a note of that for when you leave."

Herobrine stopped in his tracks and stared at her. "What do you mean by leave?"

This time it was Alex's turn so stop dead in her tracks and stare down at him. "Once this Assassin chick is defeated you'll go back to the Nether, won't you?"

Herobrine was left trying to gather his words. "I-I guess...I d-don't know, I haven't r-really thought about it. I thought that maybe...maybe I could start over...b-be the brother I never was.

Not a word came after. Alex was left speechless as she stared at the small brown cat with navy blue eyes and a light blue collar. "You want...to live with us?"

"Not exactly. Maybe I could build a cottage near you and Steve-"

"Herobrine." He shut his mouth and peered up at her. Even though the hood casted a dark shadow against her face, he could still see the confusion and astonishment gleam in her eyes.

"Have you thought this through? Yes Steve and I were able to forgive you for the most part, but what about everyone else? They think you're a myth and when they find out Notch has been lying to them it won't be pretty. And what about Notch? Out of everyone in the entire world, he hates you the most."

"It was just a thought." Herobrine mumbled. "Besides, that's if we can beat The Assassin." He began walking again, this time leading Alex. She reluctantly followed, but her thoughts were too occupied with the conversation.

"What will happen if we don't?"

Herobrine sighed deeply. "Then she will get us as close to death as physically and mentally possible. Don't worry about that though. She'll only take me as prisoner and just terrorize your world." He finished with, what she assumed to be, a shrug.

"How can I not be worried about that?!"

"Because...never mind. We need to get back to your house." Herobrine continued to walk graciously over the mounds of weeds that were crying to be cut.

Alex was mortified by the thought that her world could collapse under the regime of The Assassin, but she pushed those horrid thoughts to the side. She easily stepped over the weeds and took over on leading.

They were silent the rest of the way through the grasslands. When Alex stepped under the thick canopy of trees, she heard a wispy, wind-like noise behind her and turned around to see Herobrine in his human form.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked with her eyebrow raised.

"It's hard enough to travel through the grasslands as a cat; I'm not traveling through the woods like one either." He said as he crossed his arms and waited for Alex to answer.

She rolled her eyes and started back on the trail with Herobrine close behind.

"So...ya got a boyfriend?" He asked in the dead of silence. Alex was taken aback by this but attempted to hold in the shock.

"Um...sort of. It's really confusing." She muttered uncomfortably.

"How did Steve react when he found out?" Herobrine asked slyly with a smirk carved on his mouth. Alex's breath caught in her throat. She had no idea why she was so anxious talking about her relationship with Herobrine. Maybe it was because of how foreign it felt for him to even be talking nicely to her.

"Not so well. But that doesn't matter because he has no say in who I date."

Herobrine nodded while in deep thought. "You can't really blame him though. He is your older, very protective brother."

She looked down, her thoughts cutting deeper than any knife. You were too at one point.

Alex only nodded though, her head heavy with all of the memories gathering in her head.

Herobrine suddenly fell back behind her and she heard a painful grunt. Behind her, he was kneeling on the ground cradling his arm.

"Hero? Are you okay?"

"Yeah...fine." He forced himself to speak through clenched teeth. "Arm is acting up."

Alex hesitated to jump down next to him and see what was wrong. "Why's your arm acting up?"

After a few moments of heavy breathing, Hero was able to stand and talk clearly. "Uh...during the explosion my arm was broken." Although that wasn't a complete lie, Herobrine felt like he was still telling a major fib.

If Alex found out about the fight before the explosion...

It wasn't because he was scared of losing her little trust she had left for him. No, it was more of the fact that her brother had literally been possessed by a demon at the time. She already had one demon for a brother, so she definitely didn't need two.

"Wait, what? Your arm is broken? How could you no tell me or-"

"Alex. I'm fine." Herobrine said with an amused chuckle. "I've broken this arm so many times that it heals almost instantly. Of course, the pain doesn't necessarily go away that quick."

Alex's mouth hung open as she stared at him like he was insane. "You...you are the oddest person I know."

Herobrine smirked over her way. "I'm the oddest person I know too. Well, with the exception of the voices." He flicked his arm and a loud crack was heard. He breathed a sigh of instant relief and continued on his way down the trail. Alex followed but her eyes stayed focused on him.

"What voices?"

Herobrine chuckled with his deep, booming voice. He turned around like he was going to stop, but then grabbed Alex's arm and yanked her from behind so that she was next to him. She yelped from the sudden force and power.

"Why'd you do that?!" Alex asked, breathless even though she hadn't done anything strenuous. Herobrine chuckled again, but this time it was much softer.

"I want to talk to you. It's hard to do that if you're behind me."

Alex shook her head. After all the years, she still hadn't gotten used to his craziness. "Okay, I guess that's a fair point. So, what did you mean by the exception of the voices?"

Herobrine peered over at her, a confused expression playing on his face. "You don't know?" Alex shook her head.

"Oh. Well...um...I have voices in my head. That's what happens when you go insane."

Alex didn't know how to answer to that, so she just dropped her head towards the ground. All conversation was dropped as they continued on wards down the trail. The forest was filled with sounds upon sounds, but none were their voices.

After about five minutes of hiking in silence, Alex peeked over to Herobrine. His eyes were kept forward but his mouth kept moving and forming words. His hands were down by his sides but every once in a while they would move to form odd hand gestures. Alex assumed that he became so bored that he started an argument with himself.

I swear, one day I will find a person that I'm related to who isn't a complete idiot.

Alex rolled her eyes when Herobrine's mouthing of the words transformed into a hushed whisper.

He must've been really lonely in the Nether if he starting talking to himself like he was a second person.

Herobrine continued to increasingly get louder and his argument got much more intense. In fact, it was so intense that it became a humorous argument.

He had been arguing with himself for sometime that the rhythm of his voice actually caused Alex to fall into a daze, blocking out her surroundings.

It had gone on like this for awhile, both in their separate worlds. Alex had been daydreaming when an arm flew up and blocked her path. She stumbled backwards but luckily didn't fall.

Herobrine still had his arm stuck out into the air and he was examining the land in front of him intently. His "other person" seemed to gone away because he was too focused for there to be another voice.

Alex walked behind him quietly and gently touched his arm. He flinched from the contact but kept his arm firmly where it was at.

"What's going on?" She whispered.

Herobrine turned to show a worried expression in his blank eyes. Alex's eyes widened and she pushed his arm out of her way, which he let her.

The wooden house sat in the middle of the field, untouched from what Herobrine and Alex last saw. What shocked them was the scene that unfolded a few trees away.

Tens, if not hundreds, of black cloaks laid across the ground like a bloodstain on a battlefield. Both pairs of eyes met on the trio in the middle. Herobrine took this chance and transformed back into a car.

Alex ripped off her cloak and shoved it into a small bag that Herobrine didn't even realize she had. She rushed out through the woods with Herobrine tailing behind.

Two men were laying on the ground. One was unconscious and the other looked to be heading that way as well. One slightly older looking man was tending to the first one and trying to stop the bleeding on his arm.

As Alex ran up, far from Herobrine, she stopped suddenly and gasped. "Gabe? Wilson? What happened to them?" She asked, directed towards to man. He peered up at her and shook his head with worry and confusion.

Herobrine ran up and sat at Alex's side but no one seemed to notice since they continued on with their conversation.

"I-I don't know. Notch and I came over and we saw this. Gabe told Notch that Steve was in the house before collapsing from exhaustion. I think Wilson did too."

"Why'd they collapse from exhaustion?" Alex asked as she bent down to help mend Gabe's wound.

"I'm pretty sure they had to fight all of these...things." Gordon gestured towards the masses of black cloaks around them. Alex took a quick glance at Herobrine, but he could see all the fright spark in her eyes.

"What happened to Steve then?"

Gordon shook his head again. "I don't know. Notch told me to help these two before he darted to the house."

"I'll come back, but I have to see what happened to Steve." Her voice cracked at the end. Gordon knew better than to tell her to stay with him and help tend to Gabe, so he simply nodded.

Alex darted towards the house in such a hurry that she stumbled into the doorway. She was expecting some bloody scene with the worst possible circumstances. What she saw though, was worse.

Steve slumped against the wall, his eyes dull and the tears streaming one after another. Alex saw the bruises and his leg, but knew those were "older" injuries.

Alex's attention was drawn away from Steve when she heard heavy, unnaturally heavy, breathing.

Notch was curled in a ball in the corner of the room. His hands clenched around his head like it would stop the pain somehow.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Dare sprawled on the couch heavily breathing as well. The only difference was that he had not been conscious like her two brothers were.

At the sight of this, Alex had no idea who to help first or what was even going on. She only stood in the doorway as she saw the aftermath of something terrible.

While she had been frozen in the doorway, Herobrine stepped lightly into the house. He made sure not to make a sound as he neared Steve's feet. When he got close enough, Herobrine simply sat in front of his cast and hoped he would recognize him in his cat form.

In his dull, almost dead, eyes, the smallest hint of recognition and life sparked through them.

"H...Howard?" He croaked. His voice came out horse and nothing like his normal one.

As if to reply yes, Herobrine gently placed his paw on top of the large cast. Steve's mouth curled into the smallest smile, but it was there nonetheless. His eyes flicked over to Alex.

"Alex? Are you alright?" Steve asked, grabbing her attention. He tried to stand up but she kneeled down and forced him to stay where he was.

"I'm fine. What happened here?"

Steve looked past her, the dullness refilling his eyes. "It was a setup. Casey and Dare were both shot and were being captured by a couple of those figures outside. I was able to limp into the kitchen and shoot them with arrows until they were dead."

Steve closed his eyes tightly, forcing out more tears, and took in a hesitant breath before continuing on. "Gabe and Wilson came down and helped bring Casey and Dare back in. When they were both tended to and resting on the couch, a loud crash was heard outside. Gabe and Wilson went off to fight them and...she appeared."

Alex stared at him, her eyes wide and her throat beginning to swell. Steve grabbed the crutch next to him and clenched on until his knuckles were whiter than paper. "The Assassin appeared and took Casey. I just stood there, completely mesmerized while that glitch took Casey."

Alex glanced over to the empty love seat where Casey must've been resting. "What happened to Notch then?"

Steve's gaze moved past the couch and onto Notch. At the sight of him, Steve's face fell. "I...I don't know." He said, but truthfully he did know. He knew exactly what had happened to him.

The Assassin had started to channel through Notch's mind, digging through every crevasse in his powerful mind until she found it. The emotional key to break the most powerful man into nothing.

Steve couldn't help Notch. Hell, he couldn't even save himself. He couldn't even save Casey. And Assassin or not, it was still all his fault.

•••

Hello glorious human beings!

You're overdoing it.

You're not the one to talk about overdoing stuff. Anyways, I hope this was an okay chapter. It's not action-y or anything, it kinda just shows emotional stuff.

Why did you make me a cat again? I hate being a cat.

Because I can and it's my book.

Not if you happen to disappear...then I'd be in control.

O.O Um...okay (nervous chuckling) well I guess I'll see you all next chapter.

-Crazy
^not for long